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Hi! This went great!
She said the serps were no problem at all! And she also did well with the tunnel sends/layering the jump. The threadle went well too, her only question was whether ‘in in’ was a release or not LOL!!
Since this all went so well, you can move to the advanced level with you adding your motion before the release, and changing her start angle for the serps and threadles.
Great job!
TracyHi!
He did really well with the ‘get out’ game! Super! He found the jump each time but also didn’t go to it when you did the balance reps of running past it.
>I can see I’m not really taking a straight line like I should be and I’m angled towards the jump. >
Yes, your line of motion for the ‘get out’ should be basically the same as the balance reps. You can put a leash down on the line so you can see the line and not accidentally get too close to the jump. And that will also help you start the advanced level, which he looks ready for here.
Wind In Your Hair: this also went really well!
Rep 1 needed more connection but you fixed that on rep 2 – it was great!You can make an earlier transition into decel, starting just as he lands, to set up the wrap (it will start even sooner as he get more experienced). And when you decel, be sure to face forward rather than turn your shoulder away from the line.
You can see this on the 1st rep on the other side at :46 – you were a little late showing the decel (happened as he was arriving at the jump) and you were pulling away, which looked more like a 90 degree turn. Compare to the rep at 1:06 on that side- you had earlier decel and you were facing forward more, so he read it easily as a tight turn. Yay!
He had a bar down at 1:18 – the decel was a little late so he had trouble adjusting in time for the wrap. Your timing on the last rep was much better!
>I’m not sure if he deflated towards the end because he knocked that bar or if he had just depleted his energy.>
He did not seem to like hitting the bar there but also he was moving differently, a little hunched? So maybe he got a stinger from hitting it or he had to poop or something 🙂 His brain was still fully engaged but his body was less sure.
You can kind of see his movement changing on the last video 2 (was this done after the wind in your hair?). You can see him carrying his left hind more than he was pushing off with it to jump (:03, :14, :23 for example). He hit the bar at :43 and looked back at it, as if saying “ouch!”
The left turn RCs looked great! You were really clear as you moved up the rear cross line to the center of the bar so he seemed to have no questions.
You were later getting on the RC line on the other side which is why he didn’t read it as well. At :36, :46, :56 and 1:06, your first movement after he exited the tunnel was pulling your shoulders/feet to the left then trying to cut behind him after he passed you. Compare to the rep at :07, for example, where you went straight up the line to the center of the bar after he exited the tunnel – much clearer info.
>I guess it could be the set up, >
Part of it was that it was close to the fence, so you might have been automatically pulling away from the fence 🙂
>but I think I need to go back to a different exercise to solidify his understanding of rears.>>
I think the only tweak is to run more straight to the center of the bar like you did on the first side, those were great 🙂
Nice work here!!
Tracy
Hi!
>Did a session on the “switch” cue this morning that at the time I thought went great, nearly perfect, >
I agree with this assessment – great session on a hard skill! She did her switch each time and then followed your line perfectly when you wanted her to ignore the jump. Yay!
>but in watching the video I’m not sure if I’m “helping” too much? Too much feet turning at the jump to cue it or toy out too early to call her past?>
Nope! You were really strong and not too helpy 🙂 It is HARD to show the dramatic upper body cue without getting a little movement towards the jump but you were good about controlling/minimizing it on the side and GREAT and running straight on the 2nd side. You can see how straight you were running at :41 for example. Really nice!!!
>I also realized that when I was preparing to do the blind I couldn’t cue with the outside arm like when I wasn’t doing the side change,>
I think you got it with the outside arm and good timing though! It is HARD because of how quick you have to do it, but look at the rep that starts at :54. You cued the switch with the outside arm and saw her lock on (:55), so you got rid of that arm and started the blind so it wa basically done when she took off for the jump at :56. Nice!!! The only thing to add there is keeping your arms in tight to your ribs to make the blind even quicker.
>The blind was inevitably late because of how close the wing is to the jump- by the time she saw and committed to the jump she was only one stride from it.>
It is a tight space but you are getting the timing! That turn at :56 was really nice! Your gut instinct in the moment was correct: super strong session!
Nice work 🙂
TracyHi!
>I have struggled with what verbal to use for a “jump”.
Based on what you described, you have very specific verbal for straight/extension, wrap, 90 degree turns, and get out. The ‘missing link’ is that grey area of take the jump on a slight arc (the amount of turn is minimal and it doesn’t fit into any of the other verbals).
>Is there a way around this without having yet another verbal? >
I just say ‘jump’ 🙂 For me, that means “take the jump on a very slight curl towards me” and it has also been useful for jump-tunnel discriminations. And if I need more? I add a brake arm to turn the dog more if needed.
>The seminar presenter just stood in front of the tunnel so we could move on to the rest of the handling bits on the course but I’m still scratching my head how to approach this with “future” dogs (ie Beat).>
Do you have a course map? Or can you draw the sequence? We can map out what verbals work best and maybe even run Beat on that little section 🙂
Hi!
The good news here is that the steps to the transition were very clear: fast forward, decel, rotate. Yay!
So now… do the decel portion of it sooner 🙂 You were tending to do the decel as he was catching up to you about a stride from takeoff, so he was not really able to collect before takeoff (and was ticking the bar trying to turn in the air).
Move up the timing of the decel based on his position:
Send to the wing and accelerate til he is one body length past the wing – then decel. He will still be pretty far from the jump but will see the cues earlier, which means he will collect. Keep moving forward in decel til you see him crunch into collection, then rotate.And if one body length past the wing proves to be a little late, still? Then you can start the decel as his head exits the wing wrap.
If you start at that timing and he doesn’t take the jump, it is probably because you hit the brakes too hard and started to rotate at about the same time.
>He was wider going to the right – it was likely me,
You were a bit later on the cues on the right side 🙂 The first rep on the left was the latest and similar to what he saw on the right.
> but he was a bit distracted – adolescent boy…the struggle is real.>
Ha! I thought he was reading the timing really well here, and he gets a gold star for reading the timing on each rep rather than just turn after he saw it a few times. That keeps us handlers honest 🙂
Nice work!
TracyHi!
I think leave the distances at 6 feet for now but get the target moving. Having it stationary and that close gets her thinking about decelerating to stop. Keep me posted!Tracy
Hi! This was really nice!!! He was fast and sassy – I can’t remember the last time I heard him bark in excitement on course. Yay! He seemed to be moving GREAT and looked like he was feeling very confident. Yes, he thought the rear cross at the weaves was weird LOL but that is fine 🙂 The rest looked great.
The next step is to see how he feels the next day, physically. Make sure he till feels loose and not tight or sore.Great job!
TracyHi!
>Since this is already set up in my yard I was going to practice it some more later this week and just set her up in different parts of the circle to change it up.>
Sounds good!
> I’m not sure if I want to do it separately or do it when I get her spayed. I always get nervous when dogs have to be put under.>
Yes, that is legit, I don’t want to put the dog under extra times if I can avoid it.
>Just to clarify, putting the wrap on her actual pads doesn’t make it slip?>
If you are using power flex, you will get more grip with her pads wrapped – I think of it as unwrapped pads are like running in socks, and wrapped pads are like running in high level grippy sneakers 🙂
>I’ve already been thinking a lot about being very picky as to what judges I’ll show her under and what venues to run. Probably just UKI (judge and facility dependent) and ISC. She’s just very different from Emmie and the lines/spacing are going to be a very big deal for her.>
Yes, especially in these early days of trialing. Picky is the way to go!
>One thing I’ve been struggling with is when to actually raise her bars up. I feel like I should raise them because she’s 2.5 and I want her to get used to the height she needs to actual jump. But at the same time she seems to be having a hard time figuring out her jumping in general. My goal this summer was to do a lot of jump grids/exercises to get her used to her actual height and get her stronger.>
One of the conditioning exercises that I think would be high on the list is hind end organization and strengthening of hind end and core used to tuck it in. It can be as simple as stands to tight tuck sits to start (I use some of that conditioning in jump work too, to help the dogs sort out hind end). And then the full height bars can be introduced both in the straight grids where they provided a set point for her, and eventually at the end of bending grids too.
Let me know how it goes!
Tracy
Hi!
>
I think as soon as he understands that it is a magic cookie area, he will be happy to partake!
>This is kind of what barn hunt is for us and I think we might start scent work as my husband is interested in training Ronin in that if he can’t get rehabbed enough to do agility. Even if he is, we might do that anyway!>
Fun! And even though nose work is a relatively ‘new’ sport, there are some cool studies about how it is really great for the dog’s brain and body!
>And regarding the mats, it’s interesting you think he is shorter strided on them. He’s not very fast and they feel pretty sticky to me so I’m surprised at that idea but certainly not discounting it. >
It is something I have seen a lot and since a lot of your MaxPup classmates run at this facility too… I see it in their striding as well to varying degrees. You probably won’t see him slip. You will probably see him shorten up and slow down (my Elektra is like that).
> I would consider trying to go back up at On the Run to train again like I used to, but this location and timing and instructor works out so well for me I’m not sure that will work. >
It is a hard call – yes it is convenient and the instructor is good, but if he is rehearsal unwanted behaviors then you’ll want to pursue other options.
>I was wonderfully oblivious until one time Reacher choked on a Zukes that he’d eaten out of a Lotus ball and it fell out of his mouth and it was like the air got sucked out of the whole place. I was like “What? What’s wrong everybody?” and then I got the talk about how next time I’d have to pay $50 for that. Eeek. Sorry no that’s too much pressure when it wasn’t like I intentionally threw the Zukes on the floor or a big thing of cheese or anything. >
UGH this story crushes my soul. I was hoping they would chill out about the food there but at this rate, they are going to end up limiting the people who want to be there. Not good at all!
>But on to some video! So yesterday’s training class was pretty interesting. I tried the teeter again with someone standing kind of close by. He bailed again. But now after watching the video I do not think it’s the proximity of the human that’s the issue. But will be curious to see what you think.>
Hard to know for sure: the ‘judge’ was right there then she got weird by freezing and turning away, that is just strange behavior and the dogs know it LOL! You can ask people to just act normally when they are nearby LOL!!!
He did seem to be looking at her but it may or may not have anything to do with the teeter question. The thing to try is a teeter with no one around and see what he does.
>So based on the fact that he hopped off the side towards the person, and even wandered closer to her I am not sure that’s it. I>
He might have been trying to check out what she was doing or who she was.
> Maybe there is pain. >
This is also a possibility – the teeter is one of the last obstacles the sports vets add back after rehab for injury, because there is a lot of slam on the dog’s body. The times I have experienced regression on the teeter have been pain-based: one dog had a UTI, one dog had a luxating patella. Got the medical issue taken care of and then there were no more teeter issues. And I have certainly seen other pain-based issues in other dogs crop up.
>I’m trying to get massage this week and we have chiro on Saturday. He has no regular vet appts until Oct. but if I need to do mid-year check up of course I will. >
Might be worth it, because he is a good age to do baseline bloodwork and x-rays of the hips/spine/etc.
>But…I may have them check that teeter because another dog in class (an Aussie) who is solid on the teeter did it, but I noticed he was really looking at the floor at the tipping point both sides like he thought about bailing.>
Yes, if it tips too slowly or moves weirdly, the dogs will start bailing!
>The first part of the video is a bit of our warm up and I was getting him a little excited and there was an exciting dog in the ring so he might have gotten a little too wound up. I kind of didn’t care because he was barking more.>
He was definitely pumped up! It sounded like some of the barking was ‘yeehaw!’ And some of it was alarm barking? But I don’t really know his ‘voice’ all that well 🙂 If you feel he is tipping over into overarousal, you can add in a pattern game to balance him back to optimal arousal.
>Regardless, I’ll be curious to see what you think about this, but thinking to do only teeters at home for a bit and start back at the beginning of the training plan for with it barely tipping, etc. and see how he does.>
Yes, but clear any potential pain issues first – training at home if there is pain will make things worse, so we want that to be clear before adding more training.
>Then, he did a nice dogwalk contact but could not get that weave entry. Tried again later and still didn’t get, so we quit with weaves again too. Seems we stopped weaving and now the teeter. Either young dog weirdness or pain or something else. Need to get to the bottom of it either way.>
There was a jump right on the other side of the weaves – maybe that is a visual he has never seen? But also yes – weaves and teeter are very hard on the body so there might be something going on. He was really doing great in the weaves so to have both the weaves and teeter disappear are cues for further investigation.
Keep me posted!
Tracy
Good morning!
Having a strong stay so you can get the food into the bowl is awesome! And the reward was visible for most of it (it was out of frame when the jumps were angled, but that was no problem).
She was consistent and smooth with her mechanics here, both with the straight jumps and angled jumps. Super!!!! What was the distance? She can do a slightly bigger distance, I believe.
>Was using food and she seemed blah so I put a toy out and she was like wtf you want me to do with this so I went back to the bowl lol.>
I think the ‘meh’ feeling you got was because the food bowl was a little close and it was stationary… so she was actually decelerating, preparing to stop, rather than powering through. Definitely get the targets moving as soon as she shows understanding of what you want, even if that only takes 1 or 2 reps. You can use a dragging toy, or you can attach the food bowl to wheels and drag it 🙂 You’ll see her really power through! Fun!
Nice work here!!
Tracy
Hi!
Either one is a good next step, they have all sorts of stuff appropriate for her level (and higher level stuff too :)) CAMP is only offered in the summer, and the MasterClass can be done whenever 🙂
Have fun!
TracyYay for the coordinates! She was definitely moving better!
There were lots of failures on jump 1 – remember to make things much easier if you get 2 failures, to keep the rate of success really high. It was hard to see what exactly was happening at jump 1 (she was just outside of the camera view) but when you are too far ahead and and moving into the release pretty quickly, she avoids the first jump – that is a consistent thing so lead out less, stand still for a few seconds, really connect, then release to set her up for success.
>Good news is she did the big loop exactly to my handling. >
Yes but also there was a moment early on where she came off the line a couple of times. I think that has to do with jumping mechanics more than handling, so you can set up speed looks where you basically trot or job along and reward her randomly for finding jumps. Start with a lower bar if needed (and also keep pursuing xrays etc to make sure there is nothing going on – she is moving MUCH better on grass but still avoiding jumps so you will want to be sure you’ve looked at all the options).
>On one part I was too far behind and she cut in and didn’t take a jump and another one I think I was too much on her line so she went around. >
Yes, you can work on her having a better understanding of staying on the line but those spots looked more like she was struggling with mechanics a bit and pulling off the line.
>One of the reps I had her take jump 5 and wrap back to me.>
Yes, that was super nice!!! And she is totally moving a lot better on grass.
> So she’s really trying hard to listen and watch my cues…I felt like the wrap back to me I was actually timely and she did it so nicely.>
Yes, I agree that she was really listening to the cues and it looked great!
>I’ll wait to hear back but I’m really just debating not trialing her on mats anymore. >
I agree that her form is very different on the mats, and that is not a good thing at all – that is where frustration and injuries can happen!
>I don’t want to keep rehearsing that at trials when I can’t fix it. >
>>However I would like to keep taking class there because it’s the closest thing to me in the winter. Plus we can work on it then.>>I agree that you don’t want any rehearsal and the other thing to note is that you can’t fix it in training on the mats either… you might end up just teaching her how to jump with poor/restricted form or frustrating her by stopping her a lot to bring her back to do things. She was getting a little stressed by that at the trial. So the only possibilities would be to see if you can wrap her feet over the pads enough that she has more grip and can move normally. And if not? You might need to find alternate winter training (turf for example) – even if it I less regular, it is better to have fewer sessions with good footing and mechanics than to have more sessions on poorer footing and rehearsals of unwanted mechanics.
Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>Had the BEST weekend so far with Wayne and agility!>
Yay! This is awesome!!!!
>Overall he was a rockstar, but we did find a few triggers I need to work with him on.
For those triggers, how did he do with the volume dial games/eating food? You can also do pattern games, because those can really help him regulate the arousal changes he had when encountering the other dogs.
>Several times he looked over to the other dog leaving the ring and Wayne was definitely overaroused. Several times I struggled just getting him off leash because he was so amped. >
Before taking the leash off, if he is locked onto another dog, you can ask for a simple behavior like a hand touch or following you with a bit of ‘shadow handling’ or a high 5, whatever he likes to do that can help break him out of looking at the other dog.
Plus, it was SUPER QUIET in there which probably made the barking of high arousal dogs stand out even more to him. It might be easier to ignore them in noisier trials.
>We also had an on course distraction with a dead lizard in the dirt…LOL!>
Ewwww! LOL!!!
>His 2nd run on Friday he hit his first ever 6 string of weaves in flow and in trial! >
This was great! He got right into the weaves there like a professional!
>Over the 3 days he successfully hit 10 our of 12 sets of 6string weaves!>
Wow, good boy!!!! The weavers run looked great – he got his poles really well and also found his lines really well. Super!
>His other big accomplishment was the dog walk (remember I commented on this in our last zoom) He attempted the DW on Saturday and made it about 2/3 the way across the top and stopped and bailed off. First run on Sunday with a DW he took the whole thing and hit the contact!!>
It is great that he is feeling good about getting right on the dog walk!! Yes, we don’t want him jumping the contacts but I am happy with his confidence in terms of getting right on the obstacles.
Congrats on all of the success – the Q is nice but the other stuff are all BIG WINS and very exciting for the future!!
Tracy
Hi!
>So next time, hands down, mostly. Eyes on dog eyes. Move! Trust!>
Yes – trust, connect (because it is an important part of the cue), and use your arms to run not point 🙂
> I’m happy with the progress she has made in the last few trials. >
Me too! Significant improvements!!
>Oh, absolutely on the caffeine! Two cups, strong and black, every morning!>
Coffee is the key to success in agility, in my opinion LOL!!
Have fun!
Tracy
