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Good morning!
Really nice session here! He did better with the out when you used the outside arm – that gave a clearer, earlier cue. He did go to the jump with the dog-side arm, but but it was a slightly later response.Great job with the advanced level of adding crosses! It took a couple of reps to get the timing (first rep was too late, 2nd rep was too early so he didn’t take the jump, the rest were great!). As with the baby level reps, the outside arm helped him commit to the ‘get out’ and it also gave you great connection to see where he was looking, so you could then start the cross. Yay!
>No matter what I do, he gets it.
Yes, he is doing great! And you can share credit for that – you are handling him really well and you’ve taught him the foundations!
That is why we add thing like the get out because it sends him away and you can get ahead of him again 🙂 He will have all sorts of skills for working at a distance so you don’t need to try to run faster than he does. For now, we break it down and as he get more experience you will see it is easier to put together the big pieces (we do that in MaxPup 3 over the summer :))
Great job!
Tracy
This was another super successful session and the setup seemed to be perfect, in terms of showing her the lines she might have trouble with. Yay!
>She had a harder time with this one but seemed to adjust when we went back to it later.>
Was this the ‘later’ session, or the first session? Either way, it was really strong. A couple of bloopers but not many and then you had a truly EXCELLENT reward when she dug in to get the hard jump on rep 2! And on the 2nd rep on the other side too. You were quick to mark the success and throw the reward, and it was surprising to her in the best way. SUPER!
I am liking what you are getting with food, so you can play with a toy before/after but for now, keep using food in the training session.
Since we want her to keep reading lines and digging in, you can change 1 small thing every rep! Even if it is a slight angle change, or changing the distance between 2 of the jumps by a couple of feet – make one thing look a little different. It is both a physical AND mental exercise for her 🙂
Eventually we can add in handling to show the harder lines, but I really want her to find the jumps more on her own 🙂
Super job here!!! These sessions really look lovely!
Tracy
Good morning!
>We did! That reminds me, I need to do a photoshoot for her. Little superstar!>
I mean, a big part of the reason to run for real there was to try for a super cool Nationals ribbon LOL!!!!
>Thank you for saying that. Maybe I’m feeling the growing pains? I just feel like she has a better handle on them earlier. I’ll read your comments over again before our next session and make the adjustments.>
It might be growing pains, it might be a bit of “sheesh can’t we finish training this already” and it might be a bit of her being a little ‘out’ physically after a long road trip and running her pants off in the ring. When weaving deteriorates, it is often a tightness in the back. Loosen that up, and the weaves get good again.
>>and you can have the MM hidden behind a wing so she doesn’t see you throw the reward all the time.>Apologies for my lack of caffeine which equals lack of clarity LOL!!! I meant that because you’ve been noticing her watch your hands more, you can carry the reward… but do 50% of the reps as a reward from the MM that is hidden somewhere. That will be surprising in a good way, and also help keep her from looking at your hands because the reward is out on the line somewhere.
I am only 1 cup of caffeine into my day so let me know if it still doesn’t make sene 🤣
>We are headed to a trial tonight for Sat & Sunday. I am bringing tiny puppy Lew and am feeling very “We’re coming as we are and we are not ready for prime time” I expect a weekend of chaos! I suck at teaching life skills to dogs because I am a pushover and I know he is not ready for crating. PRAY FOR US!>
Thoughts and prayers 🤣😂🤣 He is so cute that it really doesn’t matter if he has life skills or not. Just carry him around everywhere in the trial environment (he is so smol!) and soak in his cuteness. You might experience some lack of sleep (it I hard with a puppy on the road!) and a little bit of the girls being “off” (lack of sleep plus a new puppy throwing off the routine) but it is all good and totally worth it! Have fun!!!
Tracy
Hi! I think all of the rain you have has arrived here – cold and rainy! Your session here looked really strong!
OMG! Her stay is looking so good! That contributed to the success of the session. Plus your cues were very clear, so she knew what you wanted. Yay! Since it was pretty easy for her, you can add challenge by moving the wings and barrel closer together, so she has to zig zag faster 🙂 You will have to cue faster too of course LOL!!
Great job here!!
TracyHi!
He did well here! The GO lines were easy and fun 🙂 Nice connection!
>I omitted the rears bc I literally used the wrong directions and the first 2 reps she turned the way I said not the way I moved. ( good dog. Bang head here)>
Yes! Good girl! But also the physical cue was late, like at :25 where she was gathering for liftoff and you were just starting the RC line. So Be sure she sees you going directly to the center of the bar, even if you start that line before she passes you (otherwise the cue is late).
The backside wraps are going well too! She is at her best when you were walking through the countermotion – running through it was still a little hard. And tossing the reward behind you is really helping too 🙂 You can gradually add more and more speed as she learns to take the jump even with the countermotion.
And she also found the backside easily when you maintained the connection until she got close to the wing. At 1:17 you ‘released’ the connection too soon (looked forward) so she curled into the front of the jump.Great job!
TracyThank you so much for the gift!!!! I’m so grateful! I wish I saw you sneak in, it would have been fun to say hi 🙂 I’ll definitely see you in July at Paws in Groton!!!
Tracy
Hi!
I admit that I was secretly hoping you’d do FAST for real, but I didn’t want to suggest it because we hadn’t seen the courses or environment, so it was more of an ‘in the moment’ call. She did great!
She looked perfectly at home in the soccer center! And I think she really likes the footing! I have never seen her run this fast OMG!
>I said her name and she turned on a dime & came out of the tunnel! That was allll me. I say Frankie’s name when she’s in the tunnel so she turns to my voice and that is not going to work for Bazinga.>
I think with more experience, it won’t be an issue. She is probably not used to big sends like this so she was paying extra attention.
>The second FAST she got! She even did an A Frame! She got her very first official AKC Q <3 I don’t have a video of her Q though. >
Bummer about the video but congrats on a great run! Did you at least get a cool Boston Terrier ribbon?
The FEO runs were also really good. Looks like she gave back the leash and lined up really well! And she was FAST FAST FAST! The only time in JWW that she didn’t find a line was when you were praising her or calling her too much (she was like “what is that cue, HUMAN?!?!” Hahaha). She had a little off course at the beginning of the Tuesday JWW because your turn cue was late – she was FLYING.
She might have left the start line in the 3rd JWW before you released her, so be careful of that 🙂 She did great here too, SO FAST! I liked the spacing on these courses too, the dogs could really run run run!!!
Looking at the weaves – I think they are going better than you think they are going 🙂
When she is on your right, the weaves are going really well! Keep adding a little more of your motion and also easier angles so see if she can control her speed and decel into them, and you can have the MM hidden behind a wing so she doesn’t see you throw the reward all the time. The only “nope” on the right side is when you tried to rear cross, but no worries, we don’t need that yet.
>She seems better on offside than onside but we are struggling.>
Yes – dog on left is HARD (this is normal). So for that side, separate it from the other side in terms of what you ask her to do. You can open up the weaves a little when doing dog-on-left reps. Ask for simple entries with you moving alongside her or a little ahead. When you are behind her and not moving as much, she curls out of them (probably just needing a bit more motion support for now).
And use a lot of line up cookies between reps especially on that side: when she has a miss, no worries, you can still use a lineup cookie. That way she won’t be as frustrated as she works through any failures (and you won’t be as frustrated :)) When she is frustrated on that side, she loses her mechanics. So keeping it easier on the hard side and using those line up cookies will totally help!
I think things are going well – she is definitely weaving on your right now we have to balance it so she can do it from your left too 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi!
I just refreshed it to be sure it is visible. You should be able to see it – you might have to refresh your browser to get it to come up. Let e know!
TracyHi! She did REALLY well here, totally looking for her jumps and managing her striding really well!!! YAY!!!! Super high rate of success!
I think for now, keep using food as a reward – it is a little less stimulating and also allows you to get a TON of reinforcement into her in a short time.
With this setup, 2 ways to proceed:
– add more of your speed, bit by bit
– separately, ever so slightly change the angles so she has to manage her lead changes and also find the front side of the jump even if it might be easier to run past it. You can do this by angling the jumps where they were here, and then changing their position slightly by moving them off the line (but not requiring any threadles or side change). Start this at a slow jog, then we will build your speed back in.
Great job!
Tracy
Hi! This is a great update! Yes, his performance in class was excellent and the deeper hits on the a-frame are great: but it is even better knowing he felt great the next day. Yay!
For the backing up to keep him straight, it is totally fine to use aids like 2 x-pens, or an x-pen and a wall to create a channel for him to back up straight.
Have fun!
TracyHi!
>
I’ll make sure there’s no medical issue and then start making a few things simpler again with weaves and teeter so it’s all happy and fun.>Perfect! And have them really ‘dig around’ as much as they can – weird little things can be restricting movement or causing pain (someone at a seminar today said her dog had pain in a tiny muscle that we’d never even heard of, but it was changing the way she was using her hind end).
>Yes, he had multiple yeehaw barks and them some alarm barking (that was indeed his voice!) although I’m not sure what he was alarmed about in that case. Maybe just all the movement all of a sudden when people started going into the ring to set bars. >
It is possible that even he didn’t know what he was alarmed about 😂🤣 he might have surprised himself – arousal is a slippery situation!
>I sure as heck wasn’t going to shush him in that moment. >
Right! Let him sing!
<
> Definitely possible. I’ve been thinking back and likely ‘no’ he has not seen quite that setup before. > Yeah, that is the hardest part of agility… ALL of the variations and possibilities they have to be exposed to. It is a complex sport!!
>I’ll keep you posted on all the medical stuff just for funzies.>
Cool! I am looking forward to hearing what they say!
Tracy
Also – do you have access to any of those white accordion gates that we often see as ring gating at trials? Or know anyone who can loan them?
Hi!
This was an informative session!
Try to shift the focus of the session to getting reward in for finding jumps (rather than trying to get complete lines or sticking to a specific order of jumps). You can mix up when he get the reward (after 1 jump or after 2 jumps or 4 jumps then 1 jump etc)to make it exciting and keep her seeking out the jumps.In this session, she had a 50% rate of success (which is also a 50% rate of failure). 2 of the successes were placed rewards, so that is not as effective as the surprise throws when she seeks out a jump.
So places to reward –
She found the jump on the lead out on the first rep – Totally a great place to reward.
She missed a jump but then got back on the line at 1:30… you can totally reward that! You got a good reward in at 2:13 for just one jump.
Stopping her for going around was frustrating for her, and you can see she was getting more unsure and actually froze up at 2:46 (this happened at the trial too). So more reward for seeking out the jumps as you slow job around will be super – think of it as a higher speed lazy game 🙂
I would be interested in seeing how it goes on grass if you take out some of the speed by putting the jumps 15 feet apart (still at 16”) and reward her for seeking out the jumps with you just walking. It is like a hard jump grid when you do this, but it is great for getting dogs looking for jumps – I would use giant chunks of food as the reward for it, as that might end up being a great reward for jump seeking (for now :))
Nice work!
Tracy
Hi!
Mixing the cues all up in this game is the true test of whether your handling was on time or not – the session went great!He was able to do the RC on the very first rep 1 – no placed toy needed, he has figured out rear crosses! Your timing was earlier and even better on the next rep and he also got it really well when you changed sides. Yay!
Go lines went well (he forgives the throw that hit the wing LOL)
He had a couple of questions about the wraps: it comes down to showing him more of the transition into deceleration, before you rotate.
The left turn wrap at :23 did not have any decel so when you rotated, it looked like a RC cue (I did the same thing on the demo video, oops!) You had a little more decel on the next rep so he got the wrap, but you can make a more obvious transition: run fast forward for a couple of steps, then as he exits the wing wrap, let him see you go from fast to slow (still facing forward) – that is the main part of the wrap cue. And when he is crunching into collection right in front of the jump, you can do the rotation.
I think the same thing happened when you did the FC wraps on the other side – at :50 it did look a little like a RC for a moment but then he caught himself and ended up back jumping. So definitely add the forward-facing decel in and I think it will be clearer for him.
>I don’t think he has great understanding of the backside though – and now I realize I was supposed to keep going instead of fronting again. >
He is cueing off the connection and line of motion right now, and that is fine 🙂 And no worries about the FC there, it looked good and made the reward happen fast 🙂 You can add the circle wrap next time.
The first one was great, really clear connection on the cue all the way til he got to the backside. Super! The connection was not as clear at :59, you were pointing forward a little more which blocks connection and turns your shoulders to the front side. You added more connection on the last rep and it worked great! You can keep your arm behind you for longer, so you don’t accidentally curl your shoulders to the front side as he is passing you.
Great job here!
Tracy
