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Good morning!
>>Bit of a windy day today, sorry for the sound>>
Totally relatable! February and March are so windy at my place that I often turn on the camera then turn around to see everything has blown over LOL!!
He is doing well with the moving target and set point! The stay is the hardest part at this stage and he is doing well with that (only one blooper). The best rep were when the lotus ball started a bit further from jump 2 (like at 1:32 and 2:01) because that gave him more room over jump 2. And I liked his distance from the first jump on that last rep too (it looked like about the length of a hand, tip of pinky to tip of thumb).
He is ready for more on this game: remind me how old he is? That helps direct the plan because we can’t do a ton with a large breed boy puppy til he is physically mature. I think we want to start showing either jump bumps (rather than bars on the ground) or low bars. We can start at 4” to test out if we have the right distances, and then see how he does.
>>t’s really fun to see the games pay off in class, we got better sends to tunnels and wraps with the verbals and I managed a blind cross (I dislike blind crosses).>>
WOW!!! He looks awesome, look at the commitment! Your connection looks great! And yes, you nailed the blind! He is fast so you will need blinds 🙂 I can understand why you would be concerned about turning your back on a dog with that much speed and power LOL!
>>In class he jumps with a bar during the “sequence runs”. Should I be dropping the bar completely or let him do it at this height?>>
It looks like an 8” bar? That looks fine for him and he seemed to have no problem with it. For harder things (like slices or serps) you can ask for a 4 inch bar or no bar. I think either the bar in the cup or no bar are the best options on rubber matting, because if he rolls his foot on a bar then he could hurt his wrist.
>>The class already does A-frames but Obi has suicidal jumping tendencies so I’m skipping those until he gets his head on straight and we get our handling rhythm .>>
Yes, he is definitely too young to do a-frames! That is one of the last obstacles I recommend doing with him, because it is one of the most physically demanding and we need him to have a more mature body & brain before doing it (it might end up being more like 2 years old, which is about when my baby whippet will be doing it too – all to avoid them slamming themselves with crazy leaping tendencies LOL!!)
>>(p.s. love that class is on Wednesdays now so we can tune in, we were always out on Tuesday nights for MaxPup1)>>
Yay!!!! I am o glad you can watch!!!!
Great job here :)
TracyGood morning!
This went really well, and I think he liked this crazy game LOL!! It is actually a really hard game for both humans and dogs, but you both did GREAT! He really liked the toy too – he was going really fast, which didn’t give you a lot of time to think about what your cues were but it looked like you figured out the moves and verbals before you ran him on each rep – perfect!
Video 1:
Excellent use of your arm, leg, and connection shift behind you to get the commitment behind you! And he really liked the ‘ready’ game before each rep 🙂Turning to his left harder at first but then he got it – it might be the left turn side is a little harder, or he was looking at the toy more, or both. But there was only that one question then his left turns were strong on this video and the next one too. To help make sure he is not watching the toy, you can use a toy marker like ‘bite’ to indicate exactly when the toy is available so he has no questions about it.
He did well when you added the motion – you did a great job of moving then rotating then showing the clear cues. That was great because he was flying!
He was a good boy getting the next wing when you added motion, that is correct unless you tell him otherwise – the toy marker will help clarify when you want the wing versus when the toy is ready for chin to grab.
Video 2:
This was super too!
He had a couple of questions in the beginning, going to the a different wing when you were putting them together: Wing 1 and 2 were good then I it looks like you were blocking the wing you wanted when he went to the other wing instead of the one you wanted to indicate (or the tunnel). When he could see the wing clearly: he had no questions.He was also understanding the lines here really well and going to the next line with speed and forward focus – even when your brain was trying to remember the moves and the words LOL!
Getting all 4 wings is a big accomplishment!!! Happy dance!!!!!!
Well done here! He is ready for you to add the race tracks and the mini sequences.
Great job! Have a fun time at the conformation show – he is definitely the best Papillon ❤️ You can also practice some of the resilience games from MaxPup 1, like the pattern game!
Tracy
Yeah!!!!! The power of a meatball!!!!
One suggestion: keep going with this style of meatball-heavy training, but move your teeter to a slightly different place each time. Even if it is just a foot or two away, or a little rotated, that will present a slightly different picture for him to learn to do the teeter in different places. And then do one big meatball rep 🙂 He might not be as confident yet in each new place, but it is the next step in building the teeter love 🙂Tracy
YEAH! Meatball for the win!!!!! Good to know that he just prefers chunks of meat 🤣 😂 but I think it is great to use whatever he wants!
T
Good morning!
Nice work on these! The length of the video and the sessions is great!
For the moving target – he had a couple of early releases, and that is pretty normal 🙂 Be sure that you don’t pair the release word with any typeof motion (toy motion or your motion). I think on a couple of reps, you moved and said ok at about the same time, or you said ok and moved the toy at the same time… so he might be thinking the release is about the movement of the toy or you, more than the verbal. You had a bunch of really clean reps where you did not release and move at the same time, and those were lovely!
So as we add the lead outs and the moving target, be sure that either you and the toy are both totally stationary on the release until after he moves, or you can be moving (you and the toy) for a several steps and release while remaining in that same steady motion until after he moves (then you can run :))
Wrap verbals game: this is going well! We can solidify the verbals (and get ready for the wing-tunnel proofing game) by having him hear the verbals before he moves at all. To do this, you can
let him were a really light collar so you can use a cookie lure to line him up at your side – then gently take his collar (rather than physically move him into position or hold him from the waist). That way you can say the verbals a few times and have an easier time holding him so he hears the verbal before he moves. This really solidifies the verbals!On the video, you mentioned struggling to end on a good note… actually, you don’t need to end up a good note 🙂 There is no science to support that ‘ending on a good note’ thing, so if something goes sideways, you can end the session and all will be fine. Sometimes the pups just get brain tired and trying to get one more good rep becomes impossible, so it is fine to end on a rep that is not good LOL! If we keep trying, we often get multiple failures which can lead to frustration.
The set point framework is going well! I am glad you worked on lead outing to the MM rather than using motion – that will really help as we build up the jumping skills! Being stationary will help him be able to process his mechanics better for now (we add motion soon 😁)
The MM is a good target for him! You can move it another 8 to 10 feet away – that way he can really jump the 2nd jump and stride to the MM. It was a little too close here so he was trotting over the jump more than jumping it. When he is happy to bounce with the MM further away, we can add the moving target game to this too (you can see it in week 2).What was the distance between the 2 jumps? It might be a tiny bit too wide for now, so you can shorten it by 6 inches and see how he does. How tall is he, approximately?
Great job here!
TracyGood morning!
>>I guess I’ve been terrible at tunnel exit connection for a while! Ugh>>
We handlers are notoriously bad at looking at the dogs on the tunnel exits… which might be when the dogs need to see the connection the most because they are exiting without really knowing where we are! That is why we get it going pretty early on with the youngsters 🙂
>>I have to put a lot of effort into looking right at the dog on the exit and maintaining it for the GO.
You did a great job with CM!! Think of it as saying GO to him, and not to the obstacle ahead. That is really effective for turning out shoulders to the line. Your timing was good too, because you were very connected and could see where he was. You don’t even need to use your arm to point on those go lines: just be connected and run run run, arms pumping like a sprinter like you did at :24.
At :28, you were decelerated and started your tick tick verbal right before he went into the tunnel… in theory, he should turn tight on the tunnel exit when you do that – you can see he turned and looks at you at :29 when he exited the tunnel. In this context, you can use your GO right before he goes into the tunnel to get him to exit straight. Then when he is in the tunnel/exiting, you can switch to the wrap verbal for the next barrel. Let me know if that makes sense.
>>Is it cheating to put the toy on the “go” line?Not cheating at all! It worked really well. And it is much easier than throwing it as you are working on the connection and timing.
>>Prism really needed (for me to practice) this lesson. I hope it’s OK to substitute him on the advanced component.>>
Yes, Prism can do the advanced levels. Your connection was strong!!!
Since he already knows a whole lot about agility, be sure that there are no other possibilities on the line he sees. For example at :39, you said ‘right’ for the barrel turn and did a post turn… and that actually presented the tunnel – he was correct to go towards it. You called him back in and did a threadle wrap – not sure if that is what you intended, but if it was, a tighter turn cue on the pink barrel will really help (a break arm or even a spin to get him off the line to the other tunnel).
Also, in terms of training setups: if Prism is working, he can totally ignore CM barking. But CM barking I not a good thing for his puppy brain development, because it stressful and frustrating… two things we do not want associated with being around other dogs running agility. So when it is Prism’s turn to work, Crescent Moon can be relaxing with a bully stick or something, as far away as needed so he is not barking. That will help keep the arousal/frustration down when he is around other dogs running 🙂
Nice work here!!
TracyGood morning! I admit that it is so funny and adorable when you drag her around by the toy LOL!!!!! I hope she never grows out of enjoying play that way!!!
>.At first I totally forgot I wasn’t supposed to use physical cues. >>
No worries! Doing this with motion is definitely one of the elements because motion is distracting, plus she needs to see the different physical cues. On the tunnel sends, when using motion, you can make the dog-side leg clearer by stepping to the tunnel more with it. For example at :20, you had a VERY clear step with your left leg and she had no questions. She did have questions on the other tunnel reps when the dog-side leg was not as involved, like at :40 where your left leg was hanging back.
The wraps looked good!!!
So now you can do the opposite and begin to take out the motion: line her up at your side so you can hold her collar, say the verbal 3 or 4 times… then let her go. At first, you might need to let her go and then move, but that is fine because the new cue (verbal) will begin to predict the old cue (motion) which solidifies the verbals. Then I bet you can fade out the motion entirely – whippets are amazingly verbal!! The trick is to not have the verbal and motion happening at the same time (or motion before the verbal) because that will take longer to get the verbals really solid).
Great job here!!
TracyGood morning!
Great job in class last night!! And yes – the collar holding was a HUGE success and in fact, she was fabulous with all of the games 🙂
Tracy
Good morning!
Pre-game 1 went well! She is definitely happy to wrap! You can add a lineup at your side and a gentle collar hold, so you can start the verbal so she hers it a few times… then let go of the collar so she can move. That will help strengthen the verbal because it will be separate from any motion.
>>should treats come from my hand instead of the floor?>>
Rewards can come from your hand here, so she locks into handler focus and also so it is easy & efficient to line her up for the next rep.
On pre-game 2:
>>She likes down better than sit and everything is a work in progress because she is so young, >>
She wants to roll onto a hip in the down, which makes it harder to use as a stay position for sports – so you can work on getting her to not roll onto a hip. And, you can reward the sit a lot or give her something to sit on like a small platform. That can strengthen the sit too! I think having the other dog barking in the background might have made it harder for her to process the sit cue, so it might need to be started in a quieter environment.
She did well following the toy! You can start adding more and more toy motion very gradually, so she can eventually hold a stay while you drag the toy forward about 10 feet.
For the tunnel- wing proofing:
>>Last time we tried it I could not keep her out of the tunnel – this time she didn’t want to go in>>
It might be that the wing wraps have come up in value, or that she needed you to turn to the tunnel more (or both 🙂 ) But also, the barking in the background adds an element of distraction that she might not be ready for, in terms of being able to process all the cues AND ignore the barking – note how she did really well when things got quiet. When I train my puppies, another dog can be in the room as long as they are not staring or barking because baby puppies really cannot process distractions like that yet (brains are not developed enough). So if the adult dog is barking or staring? They are voted off the island LOL and have to leave the room and go to a different area where we cannot hear them.
For this game, to solidify the verbals: line her up at your side with a cookie, gently take her collar, then stay the verbal 3 or 4 times…. Then let go and start to move. That will get the verbals really solid because they will predict the motion. If the motion and verbal happen at the same time, she will be reading motion (which is fine) but not really processing the verbals.
Great job here!!
TracyGood morning!
>>Except….. he finds running around dragging the big toy very very reinforcing so I am back to happily being pummeled if he comes back at all >>
For efficiency, you can hold onto one end of the big toy to be able to get him back for the next rep. But definitely keep working on the trading during play sessions so he can have free time with the toy (I use a “go for a run” cue) as well as trading for something better 🙂
Looking at the video:
>>When I did the session of moving toy/target alone without the wings he was not crouching like he does here so I’ll do another session without the jumps – but I also let it go here to avoid frustration>>
You did the right thing to not worry about the crouching right now – I am pretty sure he didn’t know he was crouching 🙂 He was probably feeling a “HECK YEAH THIS IS FUN” feeling and the crouch just happened. He did leave the sit position and move into the stand on one rep, but was generally good on the others (a little front foot shift to be balanced).
But the #1 most important thing about start line stays is that we don’t fight with the dog about it 🙂 So many people harass dogs about their start position and it just adds stress to the situation. I personally let my dogs pick their position at the start: I just use my stay cue and let them settle into whatever feels good. Then when they are settled, that is the position I maintain as I lead out. There are some days where they are just too excited to sit, and letting them choose to stand has really helped with arousal regulation. Plus, there’s no arguing with me and the dog at the start line 🙂
And many, many dogs do not find the sit to be a good position for a stay (because crouching and butt lifting happen and they might not even realize they are doing it). When he was standing, he was pretty balanced – so you can play with a stand stay! It will be easy enough to train: were you using a stay verbal? When he is standing, cue the stay and walk away a little, then release. Easy! LOL!
The stand is a great option because that leaning forward out of excitement will not be a problem and he will be very balanced!
Playing the video in slow motion – he is pretty organized on the set point! Yay! I think the footing might be a tiny by slippery as he leaves the stay, but otherwise he is doing really well! When you get outside on grass, you might find that the 4 foot distance is too short so you can move it up to 5 feet and see what he does.
>>I was trying for 6 inches from first bump but he finds getting repositioned at the set up very frustrating so I will work on that separately (It is also coming up in our running contact homework)>>
You will see some line up games posted this week to help with the various line ups! And on the set point, to get the dog into the sweet spot, I often face the dog to get the sit (I am on landing side of the first jump) because yes, they do get frustrated when I try to get the exact spot. And as long as he is ‘close enough’ – you can leave him where he is sitting so he doesn’t get frustrated. What is happening in the RDW homework? We can think of a different approach for that too 🙂
Great job here!!
TracyGood morning!
HUGE CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR NAC SUCCESS!!! What a thrill to have such great runs with Frankie! Please post a photo of her with her ribbons (they gave our ribbons, right??)
>>Question on the Lazy Contacts game. For a 4 on dog, is it better to have them touch the target with their paws – like a mat touch? >>
For a small Boston like Bazinga, you will probably only need the 4on behavior for the teeter, right? I am guessing it will be a running contact for the a-frame and dog walk. So for the 4on – a paw target is great! I like the smalls to have a little extra on their paw target on the end of the teeter, likes scratching at it, so that have something to do while the teeter takes its sweet time moving to the ground. It is like a slow elevator so the smaller dogs!
>>Or is it ok if they touch it with their nose? >>
I think it will be uncomfortable for her to touch it with her nose – she will have to slow way down and do weird things with her neck 🙂 Maybe a chin bob towards the target if you want? That can get the weight shift. But the paw hit and scratching at it easier and the dogs think it is fun too 🙂
>>I’m not sure which target I should use.
Try a long strip of cardboard (8 inches long and maybe 3 inches wide) that can go on the end of the board and she can paw smack it 🙂 That way it can go right at the end of the board and also there are no previously trained behaviors that might be confusing.
>>I think I can’t use “back, back” as my verbal. I am so annoying!!>>
HA!!! I have often thought that I sound like an angry duck LOL!!!!! I grew up in NYC and I can’t get rid of the accent entirely so that Fran Drescher sound comes out LOL!!!! But it is fine as long as my dogs know what I want 🙂
You sounded like a happy duck! I think you should keep the verbal, partially because it is working so well and partially because it will always make you laugh a little 😁
>>That was the make-it-or-break-it move in the challengers round on jump #16! It was death-defying to watch!>>
Yes! Was that after the dog walk? I remember seeing it somewhere but I didn’t get to watch much of it. I bet some of the handlers handled it as a threadle wrap, because that would be very effective there too!
This session went well – on the first couple of reps, she needed to see the connection and then the wrap on the 2nd wing, but then she was nailing it! Nice job to you with your connection so she knew which side to be on and which end of the tunnel to go to, and also good patience to let her get past you to the wing.
The only thing she had trouble with was when you were adding more countermotion on the circle wraps – you were correctly trying to keep moving forward right behind her while she had to finish the wrap, and she was like WHAT?!?!?! You started it a little at 1:09 and that was the right amount of countermotion pressure for now, and she got it.
The rep at 1:25 was also really good with the countermotion: you were moving forward but also really helped with connection to the ‘landing’ spot behind you.
You were moving faster at 1:38 and that was a little too much countermotion pressure for now so she pinged off the pressure. It is correct handling but it is really hard, so you can move right behind her like you did but without as much speed – and throw a reward behind you to the landing spot to help reward her for continuing the wrap even with you moving forward like that. She is pretty perfect with the rest of it so you can add this element.
Great job here!!
TracyGood morning!
This is going well! Considering what you mentioned about things falling apart when you changed position, I think she was super about finding the position without a lot of help, and with you on the side. Yay!!!
One thing to add now: stand totally still til after she gets herself into the 2o2o, don’t try to move at all to help her get straight. And if she gets into it the 2o2o and it isn’t perfectly straight? No worries! You can still put the target in, but put it in a spot that will help straighten her out. For example, she immediately offered a 2o2o right at the very beginning, so you can reward that with the target going in but put it directly in the center so she is straighter. You called her off the board on that rep, but you can totally reward her!
Since she is getting the idea of doing this with you in different positions, you can emphasize her moving into position by rewarding her 2 or 3 times then releasing her – so she can immediately offer again 🙂
Nice work!
TracyGood morning!
>>We did this yesterday and I thought we had great connection and my timing was good. But NO video. >>
That is the Murphy’s Law of Agility Videos: the best runs and training sessions happen when we are not getting video. LOL!!! I totally feel that pain!
>>Then we did it kind of without planning today and my timing and communication was off so poor Seren was not sure of which way to go. I think I was just not on and for sure my timing and connection was off but will wait and appreciate your evaulation.>>
Based on your description here, I was expecting a lot of crash & burn on the video…. But it was a really good session!!!! Yes, 2 little bloopers that you were able to fix, plus lots of good connection, verbals, and rewards. I don’t think Seren thought it was a bad session at all, it looks like he had a lot of fun!!
The first “go” rep was really good – you can say go sooner (before he enters the tunnel so he knows what is coming before he exits) and take off up the line, so you are way ahead. This challenges him to find the line from behind you!
FC Wrap to you – yes you pushed into him on the first rep, and turned your feet to the RC line so he read the RC – good boy Seren! You were much clearer about facing forward to the wrap wing and decelerating rather than pushing into the line on the next rep of that! You can accelerate into the wraps more then decel facing forward, to get even more commitment.
The RC reps looked really good – if you want the left side of the tunnel at the end, you will need to converge and push him to it more with big connection. The rep at the end looked good with the RC and then the blind to the tunnel! Nice!
The backside cue started well – maintain the cue of pushing into the line with BIG connection until you are 1000% sure he is going to the backside (which for a small dog that is inexperienced, will mean that he is just about arriving at the edge of the backside wing). The beginning of it as good but you relaxed the cue and turned forward before he passed you, so he slipped in to the front side of the jump.
Great job here!!
TracyGood morning!
>>With the plank he did want to do the 2on2off so breaking that pattern is hopefully not going to confusion things too much.>>
We will change the target spot and he will have an easy time with the new behavior.
He was a good monkey on the plank! He was happy to go back and forth on it, and turn around, no problem at all. You can use a ball too – toss it instead of tossing the treats 🙂
I was going to suggest you elevate it… then you elevated it LOL!!! What else do you have that can elevate it even more? He seemed happy here so we can add more challenge in terms of height.One other thing to add is jumping off the middle – stop him in the center and call him off the side. It is important that he knows how to jump off in case he ever loses his balance on the RDW. We want him to bail off safely rather than fall off.
Mountain climber:
ONE REP PLEASE LOL!!!!!! 🤣😂🤣 I know it is hard but it will be very effective. I am glad he wants more but we want him to be SO excited to do it that one rep is all he gets (for now).So to make that one rep magical:
Pick him and carry him to the top of the board. Let him see you put a giant glob of cream cheese at the top. Then bring him to the low end and let him proceed up the board with you alongside for support. It is fine if it is not fast yet – just do the one rep and be done. Might be good to do it right before breakfast so he is hungry too 🙂Here is a visual of the very first (very slow) reps of CB and Elektra on this game followed by the finished product:
>>I am wondering what else I should be doing with the teeter.>>
Since height is something that he is learning to be comfortable with and the mountain climber game is only one of the various elements of teaching the teeter, we can work on other teeter elements:
– how does he feel about the wobble board? We did a lot of it in MaxPup 1 and 2, adding noise adding backing up… I would definitely revisit that to see how is doing there. Then we can add a game that has other elements of the teeter without the height element.Great job here!
TracyGood morning!
>>So your “close, close, close” command is telling the dog what?
Close is my threadle slice cue, which means to come to the side of the jump closer to me and jump it in a slice. I was cuing his behavior, not mine 🙂 The dog should theoretically do the behavior regardless of what I do 🙂
>> I think I usually face them in between the two jumps. Like I cue the first jump, face them, pull them into me with my outside arm, and then send them over the second jump. I think. Is this wrong or less efficient than the double-crosses? >>
It is not wrong and it is one of the ways threadle slices are done: the other two are pulling them in with upper body while you run forward (no rotation) or with double crosses (like the double blinds). Facing the dog can be slower, so you might find she is faster with the dog blind!!
>>Blinds seem to always be the harder option for handling crosses but I do them as frequently as I can because if they are executed right they feel super smooth. Plus I’m fast so it’s not that hard for me to run ahead of my dogs when I need to.>>
Yes – with your running skills, you might find blinds to be the fastest options on course!
>>Also, side note, that was THE SMALLEST course dimensions I’ve ever seen!!!! >>
Ha! Yes! That was a while back and on an international style course, where the small and medium size dog distances are a lot smaller.
>>Did you walk the course knowing you would do those or are they second nature so you just naturally executed the blind double crosses where they were needed? >>
Totally walked it and planned it. It was a really complex course!
>>If I identified the blind double crosses correctly, they were used on more than just a threadle, weren’t they? >>
Yes, sometimes they were done on backsides, but that is a form of threadle too.
>>I’m not really sure what you mean in the last sentence of the above paragraph. I heard your “close” command in the BB Double Crosses video. I don’t really know how “in, in, in” applies. >>
I differentiate based on the dog’s line: when the dog enters the threadle on one wing of the jump and exits towards the other wing, without a ton of collection, it is a threadle slice (“close” verbal). When the dog enters on one wing and exits on the same wing, with a lot of collection, it is a thread wraps (‘in in’). I don’t think there were any threadle wraps in the double crosses videos, because we don’t use double crosses to cue threadle wraps.
>>Do you use the word “switch”? I hear a lot of people use it and I’m just wondering if this is one of those instances where that word is used on the front side of a jump when you are wanting them to turn the opposite way of the handler (but not wrap the jump wing).>>
“Switch” is commonly used as a rear cross cue on the front side of the jump as you describe. I use switch in only one context: when I want the dog to turn away and start a layering line rather than come back towards me.
>>but I get my left and right so confused, even when I practice and walk the course, that I think it’s not a good idea for me to use left and right. >>
You can totally use a ‘turn towards me’ verbal and a turn away verbal if it is easier!
>I guess I just can’t really visual what “in, in, in” would look like once a jump is set up. Do you have an example video? I>>
Here ya go!
Starting on one jump:
Threadle wrap versus threadle slice:
>>I realized I didn’t have the wings set up right! Is the middle one supposed to be in line with the outside two?>>
Yes, basically in line so it is not in the way too much 🙂
>>Was the intent to have short spacing between the middle and end wing so the maneuvers were harder? Hence the word tight, I suppose! You never said anything but I just caught it when I was editing my second video. >>
Yes, relatively short spacing but I think your set up was fine!
>>I had to stop a billion times to make sure I was doing the spin right. It just confuses the heck out of me for some reason. >>
Maybe think of it as a front cross followed by a blind cross (that is how my mind sees it)? That might be easier than thinking of it as something completely different.
>>Sad though because Kashia actually cantered most of the reps! She was feeling good! >>
You can totally post it!
>>I’m not going to practice anymore sequences this week because we have another trial on Friday. I entered Kashia in speedstakes again just for the fun of it.>>
Smart planning! Today is Wednesday, so she can have today and tomorrow off, then trial fun on Friday!
Have fun!!
Tracy
