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>>Forget all the nice things I said about him. He just peed on the bed.
HAHA!!! Teenage boys… LOL!
He did well slamming the board around here! To really amp up his love for it… do 1 rep for a giant reward then walk away and go do something else 🙂 We want him to want the teeter a WHOLE LOT so less is more 🙂
You can now move to lining him up at your side to have him jump on right at the end of the board, facing target position.
He is not quite ready to go up it while it was moving so if he tries to do that, stop him, give him a treat, and pick him up, We can add the mountain climber game without movement to get him happy with the height.
Great job 🙂
TracyHi!
He was really on fire here!! Yay!!Go looks good! Nice job with the connection and thrown toy!
For the FC wrap – he had a refusal there, so you can add more connection to him as he takes the first jump and more deceleration into the 2nd jump. You were disconnected (looking ahead, so he was looking at you a bit) and slammed on the brakes so he didn’t take the jump. The transition from acceleration to decel will definitely help with the commitment.
Good job with the backside! A little more connection will help with that too to get him to commit even more independently: more eye contact with your arm back will really support the line.
Fluffy blinds –
>>No idea why I am throwing my arm in the air on these pinwheels. Just need it low & back, right?>>
Yes, you had a little extra arm movement which blocked some connection so also yes: arm low and back to really show the connection will support the lines.
He was very excited to be playing for the toy! Yay! You can line him up at your side or with a sit for cleaner starts – he didn’t really know when to start so he was leaping for the toy.
To get the blinds sooner, you can let him find the jump after the tunnel more independently with you more lateral (closer to what you did at 1:04) so you can get the BC started and finished before he takes off for the middle jump. On most of the reps you were starting it as he took off for the BC jump which made the reconnection on the exit a little late.
He also did really well with finding the jump after the blind when you made a BIG connection and maintained the connection to the middle jump. When you turned ahead of him and looked ahead, he (correctly) read it as a blind and change sides.
Great job staying in motion and rewarding him even when it wasn’t perfect!!!
>>What do you think about training him to lie down with front feet on this target, then moving that to the end of the teeter to get him going to the end?>>
I am glad he is liking the teeter movement now!!!
You can definitely teach him a fold-back down on the target (front feet on it) because that will produce a nice weight shift at the top of the board. He did that at the beginning of the session but when you moved your position, he started being a bit more sideways to face you. So you can put the target on a plank and shape it there, so that he has to stay straight (or he will fall off the plank :))
Great job here!!
Tracy
Hi!
Yes, sometimes it is good to rehearse these games with he adult dog, to get the mechanics. I am sure Gunnar was very happy to help!!!
This video is the ladder grid video, can you swap it out for the blinds?
>> Do we have some catchup time coming up, or are we going straight through?>>
We don’t have break weeks, but we have some quieter weeks mixed in and plenty of time at the end to catch up 🙂
T
Hi!
The diamond looks great!!! She is showing some fantastic commitment, so you can try to start your BC earlier: as she exits the tunnel and you are moving towards the wing, stay connected like you were and use your verbal to help commit. And when she is no later than halfway between the tunnel exit and wing, you can start the blind to be finished with it before she exits the wing. That will challenge her commitment and also tighten the turn even more.Race tracks looked awesome – she is a speedy little sports car!!!
You can do a race track – tight blind combo: get her into big extension with the race track the after the tunnel cue the tight blinds. That will challenge her to collect after massive extension.
Great job here!!!
Tracy
Hi!
Have you seen the hollee roller toy? Getting a giant one of those might be a better way to do ball-to-tug – the hole roller is tall enough that she scoop it up and retrieve it, as opposed to the ball which is much harder to pick up when she is going top speed (and I don’t want her to slip or twist). here is what the hollee roller looks like if you don’t have one 🙂I use the jumbo size!
T
Hi!
>>Is there by any chance a catch up week built into this class like some of your others have had?>>
There is no catch up week, per se, but there are quieter weeks and plenty of time at the end of class to finish up 🙂 Hope you are feeling better!!!!
Good job starting with the moving serps on one jump here before adding the sends. Motion makes everything harder as you saw on the first send – you made a great adjustment to slow down your motion but keep the excellent upper body position, so she was able to get it. As you add more motion (running!) you can also angle the jump to face her more – that way you can run faster and it will be easier for her to find the line. She was doing GREAT about serping as you ran more, sop the angled jumps can let you add more motion.
For the balance wraps, you can use more direct eye contact as you move through the FC. If you are moving close to the jump not using your hand to connect and not your eyes, she might not see the line as well and was considering taking the jump.
On the zig zags – this is a great game for both girls, I am glad you tried it with Nox too! As you add more distance away from her, you might need more cue drama, like doing a full FC (arm and leg!). And yes doing it faster and faster as she adds in more speed will help too – to challenge both of you to go faster, you can move the wings in closer – they looked to be maybe 5 feet here? If so, move them into 4 feet distances and see how she does!
>>Katniss played the Pill Bug game again, but she didn’t invite me. She thinks you should make update the rules of how to play, lol.>>
OMG what a nut! She is hilarious!!! She is doing the Inner Pillbug Game – super tight turns LOL!!!!!!! And Nox was angry because it was against the rules LOL!!!!!
Great job here :)
TracyHi!
Contraband says thank you for checking in on him and he is tired of being on rest LOL!!!The serps are looking really good! The 30 degree line was really like a real serp so he read it really well! Great job with your super clear upper body cues and connection, that seemed to make it really easy for him!!!
And he was happy to jump towards you but also was not going to slam into you (always a bonus with a large breed!)
I think you can add in a bit of the advanced level with the backside element now!
The food play looked super fun, he was very engaged! That will be something you can use outside the ring too – not with quite a much running back and forth, but on leash and kind of bouncing back and forth with the cookies can be a super fun way to get ready for the agility run!
Great job 🙂
TracyGood morning!
>>yes the stays were good when I did not record….>>
The best sessions and the best runs always happen when we are not recording LOL!! She did well with her stays here, so maybe she was just depleted the last time (depletion is real!).
The ladder session was strong here. I am not sure if I love the additional 6” or not – but it is too soon to tell 🙂 She had a to ‘reach’ a little more but let’s give her a couple of days off from the ladder then revisit it maybe over the weekend or next week to see how her brain wired the session in. The first session doesn’t always tell us a lot, it is the 2nd or 3rd session where we get the best feedback from the dog 🙂
On the threadle session – it is super important that she sees the in in physical cue for a couple of seconds before the release. Of they happen simultaneously like at :39, she is likely to lock onto the wrong side of the bar. You were rotating more after that to get her in, but I think if you show her the cue with the arm back as you move into position then release, it will be easier for her and you won’t need to rotate your feet or upper body.
That does open the slippery slope of releases so be sure that the connection, the arm position and the release are distinctly separate: connect, show the arm, walk a few more steps…. Then release. Otherwise she will start to release on the connection or arm movement.
Great job here!!!
Tracy
Good morning!
>>OMG! I was yelling for all I was worth on that last line too.>>
I figured a little loud crowd support would be helpful since your legs and lungs were already working so hard! We were all yelling for ya!
>> And he shot out of that tunnel like a rocket and blew past me on the dogwalk even though I was ahead of him before he got on it. Luckily plan B of decel and yell “POLES” worked.>>
YEP! I would not have known that it was plan B if you had not told me what plan A was LOL! It looked really smooth and also I think it avoided some of the trouble many other dogs were having with the weave exit.
I think it is great that she loves the toy! No worries about running off with it, that is probably a combo of new toy and being outdoors and being pumped up that you were home.
The RCs are going well!!!! You were showing strong diagonal lines and so she was able to turn correctly in both directions. The first RC to the left was a little late but then you fixed the timing on the next rep so she did really well.
On the circle wraps – handling was able to get her to the backside (be sure that you don’t over-help and block the wing) but then she was not familiar with the countermotion element where you moved forward and she continued to wrap. Dropping the toy behind you will totally help (or a cookie) and you can also do it on the wing alone so she can say “oh yeah! We go around wings!”
The indoor session on the barrel went really well! Nice job using just the right amount of motion to help her be able to finish the wrap while you stayed in motion. This is something you can do in a rapid-fire format with cookie drops too! You can start adding more and more motion now, to show her the countermotion even when you are going faster.
Great job here!!
TracyHi!
Great job on these sessions! And yes, it was SUPER windy! I am ready for some warm, calm weather for all of us LOL!!Good job adding more connection to him as he exited the tunnel here: on the first session, you were running looking forward so while he did find the jump, it was a little disconnected. But then your connection was much better on the 2nd session, we could see your connection very clear from the camera angle! Super!
You can add a go verbal for the jump – I think you said over a couple of times but you can also cue the straight line extension with the go go go cue 🙂
>>I found the toy made it too hard for me to rotate to get my magnet arm back,
Yes! It was really big and probably pretty hard to run with. Do you have a toy that is easy to throw that can fit better in one hand? Something like a big hole roller would be great. That way you can throw it straight on the line (rather than have him come to you for the reward).
The thrown reward gets more important as we get you further and further behind – and he is ready for you to start putting yourself more and more behind by going closer to the tunnel after the wing wrap start 🙂
Great job here!!!
Tracy
Good morning!
>>When I need to lead out more than 2 jumps to keep up with J, she turns so that she does not even look at the second jump and so she skips it all together. If I could get her to face forward I could indicate the second jump before the turn rather than her circumventing it. >>
So it is a combination of a lateral distance skill and a stay skill 🙂
Separate it from the obstacles – cue her to stay and put a toy in front of her, maybe 4 or 5 feet in front of her. Lead out laterally (but not too far at first). If she holds the stay AND doesn’t move her feet towards you, release her to the toy (it can also be a food bowl or MM). That way you are teaching her to keep her feet pointing to where cued the stay, and also to release forward to the line. We can build it up from there!
>>in the case of a set of jumps I can see it working well if she finds the toy of a great enough interest to her.>>
That is an important point – the toy or food needs to be high enough value that she will choose the jump on the line to it. Otherwise, choosing a jump or tunnel towards you is higher value and will make it harder to teach her the line.
On the lap turn video – she did a great job coming to your hand! When you are adding more speed and motion, you can lower your hand (bend down so it is closer to her nose level) and also look down at your hand. That will help her see the hand in the sea of other cues and info out there. Your hand was a little high here so lowering it and letting her see it more extended to her will really help when things get even more exciting.
For the tandem turns – this is more of a moving cue, so you can be moving up the line with her as you cue it rather than stationary at the wing. The lap turns are stationary (because you are rotated) but the tandems and their cousins the the threadle wrap are moving cues. She read the cues really well here with you stationary – but motion forward might make it harder for her to see them, so definitely add in walking up the line as she exits the tunnel, and doing the big obvious hand cues you had here.
>>This is not the case if there is something more interesting following a jump that is there or even taking a jump rather than wrapping a wing. >>
That might be motion-induced, where the motion on the line is overriding the ‘smaller’ cues like hands and verbals. So adding in bigger more dramatic hand cues along with the motion on the line should help her sort it out – and be sure to direct your hands back towards her so she can see them very clearly.
Also, to make sure she is really locking onto the hand, you can have it empty or have a cookie in it. The ball or a big toy might be easier for her to see in the moment, but we want to make sure she can do it without the ball in your hand too!
Great job here!
TracyGood morning!
The jump part of the serp is going well – the hard part here was getting the turn on the tunnel exit. It looks like the tunnel exit showed a straight line past the jump, so using a turn cue before she goes into the tunnel will help get the turn. You were calling her and then also aded a left verbal later in the session: the timing of both of those can be moved up to happen before she goes into the tunnel. And, you can walk through it a few times so there is less motion and she is better able to see the line. Once she is on the line, she has it no problem, o it is all a matter of getting the turn on the tunnel exit.
She is also doing well on the threadle wraps! Yay! Only on suggestion: drop the reward on the ‘landing’ side of the wing, so she is consistently looking to go there without as much help from your arms. That will help her turn herself away to the wing. The reward was dropped there part of the time, and the other part of the time it was thrown ahead after she exited the wing. So she was relying on the arm cues to get the job done 🙂
She did really well on the bang game! I am guessing the angle of the board made it harder for her to get fully into the down? That is something we can watch as we add more and more of the teeter skills. If the crouch is a more comfy and balanced position then she can do the crouch instead of a down. The crouch also looked more comfy on the 2nd video, where she was hopping on the side.
>>We also started to try getting on from the side, but I was having trouble figuring out how to get her to the approach correctly and we lost her down & chin rest.>>
I think adding a collar or harness will help, because you can hold her in position until you are ready, then cue her to hop up on the board. That way she is also more balanced getting into position.
You can also try adding more angle to the board you have been using indoors, to see how she does with the down there. It is possible that on a more angled/moving board, the crouch or play bow is a better option 🙂
The rear crosses are coming along really well! She does best with them if you put the RC pressure on the line starting early (as you are passing the previous jump) then maintain the pressure all the way to the bar of the RC jump. If you are late with the cues, she turns to her left instead of the right. But you had a lot of reps here where you got on the RC line nice and early and maintained it, so she did a great RC! The straight line and the FC wrap both looked good too 🙂
>>I am losing her at the second jump and she is cutting behind me. I must be losing connection or turning my back too much?>>
Yes, that is exactly what was happening – you were turning your back away from her as you moved forward, so it looked like a blind cross cue 🙂 And so Bazinga did a blind cross (like at :14 and :37). Compare to 1:09, were you kept your eyes on her and she had no questions about the line.Great job!
TracyHi! I was great seeing you and meeting Vesper this weekend – she is such a great pup!!!
>>When she learned the wing wraps in MaxPup 1, I was using “zip zip” and “choo choo” and that was for a wrap like the puppy does in Send & Serp where they aren’t crossing back over the line they were on when they started the wrap. That’s what I use with Lazlo too.>>
I think it might help define the verbals if you envisioned a jump bar there (or actually put one in 😁) on that start wing – basically it would be lime jump 1 of a 3 jump. So going over a bar to get to the serp jump would be th soft turn left/right. But if you wanted her to jump tighter and come around the wing back through the gap – that is your wrap verbal. Try it with the jump bar and see if it makes more sense?
>>Also, confession time… I haven’t started our “right” and “left” verbals. >>
No worries! It is easy and fun… the minny pinny!! Great for indoor training on a snowy day 🙂
The ladder grid is going well! Her stay looked terrific! She is a little ‘hoppy’ here (up and down rather than forward) but I think it is just because the RT was pretty close (the joys of being indoors). If there is room to try this with the moving target or even a stationary toy, you can try that and how she does. Or, it can wait til the snow goes away so she has more room to stride forward.
Sends and serps looked great! I think you had easier time rotating back to her when she was on your right side, so you can rotate back a tiny bit more when she is on your left.
If you are going to put the jump bar in for jump 1 to think about verbals, rotate the wing here so the jump cups are in line with where the bar would be (the bar is in line with the bar for the jump). That can help you decide which verbals you want to use with a better visual (the bar).
Great job here!
TracyHi!
Great job with the serps! You can open up your serp arm and upper body a lot sooner – you were closing your shoulders forward like a 180 til he was almost at the serp jump, then upping up the shoulders. Having your shoulders face the jump more (center of your chest facing the center of the jump) and sooner will bring him in and also get him turning to the next line even sooner too!Opening the shoulders up as soon as he reaches the start wing will also help tighten up the exit the start wing too.
And since he is doing so well – feel free to add more motion! If he struggle with more motion, you can angle the jump so he can see the bar better. You can start with jogging get faster and faster as he gets more and more comfy with it.
Nice work!
Tracy
