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Hi!
Well done to you for getting these done even with school starting! I am sure it is a busy time!
The other side of the DW game is great for Nox! She got good rewards for gong straight even if she didn’t get the jump on the first couple of reps – she got the rest of them really well!
Weaves are definitely harder! Be sure to have the reward way out past the last weave, nowhere near you – it was on the line halfway between the we’ve exit and you. You can throw it almost to the other side of the poles, to really exaggerate the whole “go do the thing out there and don’t look at me” 🙂
>She struggled to get the weaves when they were to the left of the tunnel, so I ended up changing the angle of the entry to make it easier.>
Changing the angle was great! You can also simplify it and put out a base of only 2 poles there, rewarding pretty much any interaction with the 2 poles to build value for going to them and not turning back to yell at you 🙂 Then you can go to 4 poles, then 6 poles, and so on. You can use 2x2s for that, or you can use stick in the ground poles.
She did really well with the switch aways! Yes, they are a rear cross-ish move which makes them harder for sure.
You did a great job with VERY clear arm cues and good line of motion with your feets at :27, for example!
You weren’t as clear at 1:19 – your arms were smaller and you pulled to your right more, almost pulling her off the jump . You pulled a lot to the right at 1:45 but kept moving forward as you did it, so she got the switch – but I think you can keep moving forward and not pull the other way as much with your feet/line of motion.She had a question about the right turn jump before the tunnel on some of these reps: At :40 and 1:02 there was not a lot of motion towards the jump (feet were turning t the tunnel) or connection, so even with the verbals she was not sure of what to do. You changed the position of the jump before it, but you also used more motion and connection – and I think it was the clearer handling that got the line there at 1:10 and 1:35 and 1:40 for example.
On the last sequence: at 1:57 – the switch info started as she was taking off for the switch jump The other reps were sooner but something to try is to not pull away as much. For the switch aways, you can run directly to the exit wing or even a little bit of pressure into the RC line. On these, you were running away from the exit wing which can almost be the same line as a threadle wrap.
So I think the main thing here is that your arms can do a pull-then-switch move but your running line does not need to 🙂
>I was disappointed I wasn’t able to do more with Katniss. I’m not sure if she is on the mend or not. She looks much better, but her gait still looks off to me. >
Ugh, I know that feeling all too well! If your regular vet can’t find anything, and the bloodwork/rads are clear, then next step is to go to a rehab vet who specializes in the soft tissue stuff. An elbow issue might not be an elbow issue, it might be the opposite shoulder, for example. Trust your gut and keep looking to see what it is! I have used Dr. Ballengee in Burlington, NC (she is brilliant) and also Skylos in Maryland. There might be some folks closer to you, I will ask around!
Great job this summer!!! Keep me posted on how Katniss is doing!
Tracy
Good morning!
OK, why is River in a cone? Asking for her friend, Ramen, who is also in a cone (from being poor whippet life choices).
>We made it! Last Jumpers courses.>
Yay! And it might have added a bit of pressure to get them done, which is good for training the human brain!
I think the videos are mis-labeled, so the ones labeled Jumper 1 are actually jumper 2, and the walk versus run labels are backwards but I am over-caffeinated so I figured it out LOL!!!
Looking at the Jumper 2 course which is posted first:
Since you are planning your winter training with an eye on IFCS, one thing to do is take this course and work sections and time them to see which is faster. These include:
– Slice to 3-4 (towards 6) rather than wrap towards the tunnel)
– Threadle wrap at 7 rather than FC then push wrap 6-7
– send to the other side of 7 (where the 9/19 numbers are) so she slices toward the poles
– 9-10-11, wrapping the 10 backside versus sending her to the entry closer to 6 and slicing towards 11 (you walked/ran 10 as a front but it is a backside)The reason I suggest this is because it can be surprising to see which is fastest! And often the slices turn out to be faster, even if they are a bit weirder looking in terms of the line. But with the smaller dogs, wraps sometimes are faster. More extension almost always wins the day and the only way to know for sure with each dog is to time things.
Overall, I thought your walk through plan was clear (which is why it was easy to figure out that it was course 2 and not 1 :))
Other than 10 being walked/run as a front, there were 2 other spots to think about which can clarify things even more for her:– you can give a clearer tunnel discrimination at 15. Do you have a specific verbal for the other end of the tunnel?
– The turn at 18-19-20 looked a little ambiguous, she might end up in the tunnel. A brake arm and a left verbal will help, beginning at landing from 18.On the run:
The opening ran really well! Yay!
The 11-12-13 line got a bit zig zaggy, – partially because you ran 10 a as front side, and partially because you gave her a big ‘out jump’ for 11 – so she added more extension. For 11, you can add a turn cue like a right and a brake arm (look for places to use that magic collection-adding brake arm!)
For the tunnel discrimination 14-15 – Super nice arm movement to get the other side of the tunnel – do you have a verbal for it? Using tunnel for both is potentially going to cause confusion if you are not in perfect position like you were here.
Your running line had a little too much convergence in towards 17, she almost turned right at takeoff (:45). You did get your left verbal out and pulled to the left so she got it. You can run straight with connection and I think she will commit with no extra convergence needed.
She was jumping straight over 19 based on motion and verbal (turn info was late) and ticked the bar (:48) and that contributed to running past 20. That is a good spot for a left verbal and yes – a visible brake arm. I think you had your left arm up but it was hidden in front of you as your turned. So as she is at 18, you can be saying your left verbal and showing her both hands, which should get a collection to land her facing the front of the 20 jump.
Course 1 (2nd set of videos) –
Walk through:
Looks like you added an extra jump between 2 and 3?
I think the walk through handling indicated a right turn on 4 (jump after the tunnel). You used a verbal, but the left on 4 needs more than just verbal: switch away arms and/or RC line of motion.I like the layering plan to get to 7!
Don’t be as close to entry of the 10 backside, so you can be ahead on the exit of it to get a nice line to 11.
Also it will be easier NOT to do a cross between 14 and 15 then try to outrun her to the 17 backside – sending ahead to 14-15 from the tunnel exit, or doing a massive layer and switch away to the 16 tunnel can help you show a ton of convergence to 17.
You can run the ending line on your right and RC 20 like you did, or run it on your left!On the run:
Yes, you did add an extra jump after 2 🙂 It went well but when under time pressure, make sure you double check your maps to not add or delete anything 🙂
She turned right on 4 – good save and you still got 7! On the 2nd run, you had a bigger arm cue and rear cross pressure onto the line (1:48 and 2:06) and you got a lovely left turn. You might have cut into the turn too severely because she did not take 5, so one more step to commit her to it will help, and maybe a GO verbal to override the RC turn. Getting her back on the line to 6 made the turn cues late (1:51) and pushed her into the off course tunnel.
You took the extra step to 5 at 2:07 and he found the line really well! At 7 there (2:10) you were took early leaving the circle wrap – she had not passed you yet, so moving into her path put her into the tunnel, good girl!
Ended up further across 10 so the 10-11 section looked good on the first run! On the second time through there, you were still calling her when she was halfway between the tunnel exit and backside (plus not very connected/moving away) so she read it correctly as a ‘take the front’ cue (2:20). It looked great again at 2:27! She has gotten a lot better at understanding to take the jump on those backside slices when you are moving through with some countermotion. Yay!
Looking at the 13-18 line:
On the first run, you needed to be a bigger ‘presence’ as she exited the 16 tunnel to get her attention and show 17 – the motion before entering 16 and as she exited, plus late zip verbal all locked her onto the off course tunnel. You basically would need to serp across the tunnel exit with big connection to get the TW.
On the retry at :53 – keep pushing into her line to get it. She considered the turn to the jump but the positional cue overrode the arm and verbal.
You changed the plan and did the FC on the exit of the 13 tunnel and sent to 14-15, which put you miles ahead on. The exit of 16 (yay!). That easily got you the blind to the push wrap, and you would also have been able to get the serp to the TW there too. And you did run the ending on your left, but you went in too deep towards 18 – so she saw you moving to your right as she was entering 19, which pulled her off 20-21. You can hang out at 17, send to 18 without going past the tunnel exit – then you will be ahead of her as she enters 19 so you can show the exit very easily.
On the last run, you did the FC 14-15 but sent to 15 more so you were easily able to get the blind to the push wrap. And you sent to the 18 tunnel even more, so you were ahead 19-20! She still wanted to curl on 20-21 (bar down at 20, refusal on 21) so fro the handling perspective: you can send t 18 from as close to the 17 wing as possible, then get way ahead on the 20-21 section. And you can use your outside arm to support the line to 21.
From the training perspective – set up these giant lines across the ring and throw (or sometimes place) a reward for her to drive ahead to, to sharpen up the skill of driving ahead on an ‘easy’ line (because it is not so easy when we get behind!)
And you can try seeing if going a bit deeper to 18 then running that section on your right (19-20-21) can be more effective because the RC option might support 20 and 21 even more.
Great job on these!!!!! It is fun to see how well the walk throughs match with the runs!!!
Tracy
Good morning!
I agree – this was a really successful session and there is definite progress!!!!! Yay!
>With where the sun was, I also couldn’t really see so it made my body language that much more ambiguous! >
Ha! Mother Nature was helping with the session LOL!!!
On the video:
He jump reps at the beginning were really strong. On the first tunnel rep – he seemed to know it was NOT the front of the jump (yay! Good boy!) but was looking at you like “it is really legal to go into the tunnel without you moving to it?” so he ended up between the jump and tunnel (backside). But then he got it on the other reps!
>on another my toy throw was far less than ideal reward placement lol. >
He was not concerned about the one rep where the toy flew somewhere unexpected LOL the marker still told him he was correct and then he nailed all of the tunnel reps after that.
When you changed sides – he was heading to the ‘hup’ side of the jump til you reached for the toy to throw and that pulled him off at 1:02. He was great when you did not reach for the toy on other reps or moved it to the throwing hand after he was well-committed to the obstacle.
At 1:29, when you witched back to the original side – the toy was swinging more visibly than other reps so he came off the line looking at the toy.
So the next great adventure is a jump-tunnel – moving toy discrimination 🙂 In his defense, when he was young 9 years ago, there was really zero or very limited emphasis on toy markers so he probably thinks the toy swinging or switching to the other hand is part of the marker.
>Overall, I was very pleased with how he did, even with moving the obstacles pretty close together. It only took us the entire course to get him to figure out this ONE exercise, and I haven’t varied the setup at all or brought in weaves/a third obstacle. >
It is actually tremendous progress on a skill that he had super limited experience with (verbals discriminations) and I think that is bubbling over nicely into your course running too – the hardest parts of your recent courses running were choosing exactly which of the subtle handling points worked best for him. Bringing in weaves might be easier because the weave verbal is probably something he has heard a LOT but jump verbals are much newer.
>Who knows if he will still be able to do it when the obstacle positions are switched>
It is something to revisit very couple of weeks!
> when there’s more movement/in a sequence, >
I am figuring that when you support the verbals with handling, he is going to nail it. Maybe someday he can learn to nail it on verbals when the handling is doing something opposite (which is what Beat is going to learn :))
>We taught the 9 year old dog at least one new trick! >
Heck yeah! And it might be his hardest trick (verbals) so I am super pumped up for you two!!
>I think the biggest change I’ve been able to make from all this was your advice to treat myself like a student and it’s helped me stay more objective during a training session. >
This is awesome!!! That type self-talk is so important – we don’t want to sugar-coat things for ourselves but being able to look at things objectively is HUGE. That smacks down the intrusive “I suck!” thoughts and builds up the “this is what I will do” focus and goal setting. When training alone, I remind myself all the time that video is the best instructor/interpreter so that keeps my brain out of the ‘I suck’ spirals 🙂
Great job here!!!! And fantastic work all summer!
Tracy
Good morning! Great question, because we are always so nervous about bringing dogs back from even small injuries!
I always follow the return-to-sport stuff given by my rehab vet, but in general this is the plan:
I slowly add pieces of it, starting with low impact obstacles then gradually adding in higher impact obstacles. And I am very careful about surface, to avoid slipping – good grass (not soaking wet, not dry/dead) and well-groomed dirt are best! Long-blade turf (with infill, usually) that gets groomed is generally good. The shorter blade turf and the stuff without infill is usually slippery.
So the lower impact obstacles are low height jumps on relatively straight lines and gentle turns, and – surprisingly – the dog walk especially if it is a stopped contact. Over the course of multiple weeks as prescribed by the rehab vet, the bars can come up for the ‘easy’ stuff, and the harder stuff (wraps and backsides etc) can be brought in on lower bar.
I also add in straight-ish tunnels that are dry inside so there to avoid slipping. No severe bends in the tunnels, and no severe tunnel entries/exits.
The weaves, a-frame, and teeter are the highest impact so I save them for several weeks into return to sport (or longer, depending on what the rehab vet says).
And cross-training is always best, so I really only do agility once or twice a week at most. The rest of the time is spent mixing in conditioning, rest, regular life activity, and other sports like flyball 🙂
For example, Hot Sauce and CB had a very busy weekend of competing and then a long drive on Monday. They rested for the remainder of Monday and all of Tuesday, just doing regular life runabouts in the yard. Nothing structured. So I might do a few minutes of agility with them today – easy stuff on low jumps. Then the next day or two, regular life plus some conditioning. Then maybe agility on the weekend.
Hope that helps!!
Tracy
Hi!
>Max is a little distracted lately, so trying to keep it short. >
What type of things is he distracted by lately?
This sequence went well too! The forced front cross and lead out pushes looked great!
>We had trouble on jump 3. I am trying to keep my arms quiet, I think Max expects a little arm for a backside, even when I felt I was going deep into the jump.>
On the reps where he did not go to 3, he pulled into the gap because you turned too soon and he was following the line of your shoulders.
When you were more connected and ran toward it until he was more locked onto it, he got it really well! The two best reps of that were at 1:06 and 1:37. The rep at 1:37 was perfect!!! Clear connection and clear motion to 3. Lovely!
And the last run was great too – that was a FFC to the tight wrap to 3 and the GO on the ending line. Super nice!!!!!
Great job :) Tracy
Hi!
Well done with the FFCs here! You got to position, made sure you were connected and hand visible… and only after that did you release or reward. That helps him know exactly what the release is, so keep being precise like this. He also had time to process the line, so he found the correct side of 2. Nice!!!
T
Hi! This went really well!!
He had a question on the 2 jump for a couple of reps, based on where your feet were facing:
Your feet faced the slice line at :07, so he sliced. Compare to :23 and :48 where your feet faced the wrap line and he got it perfectly 🙂For when you want the slice on 2 (like at 1:07), you can handle like a RC (no spin needed when starting on your left) or a send starting on your right. I think adding the spin move at 1:35 is what send him to the last jump: as you were rotating, you faced the last jump as he was landing so that is where he went. Good boy! You did it as a rear cross without a spin at 1:49 and it was gorgeous!
Adding the cross on 4:
At :54 you got a little too far ahead on the RC, which caused you to cut in sharply behind him. He read it as a rear cross but it pulled him off the line to the last jump. If you stick closer to the 4 jump while he is in the tunnel and start moving up the RC line after he exits, the RC will feel smoother and will set up the last jump.The blind worked great at 1:10! Stay connected so the bar stays up at 1:12 (looking back at him and emphasizing eye contact).
When you did stay connected and didn’t use your arms at 1:25 and 1:54, it looked fantastic!Great job here!!
Tracy
Hi! This went well!
Go lines are going well – the further ahead you get, the more you will want to connect back to her (she hit the bar at :16 when you were looking a bit ahead and getting ready to throw the toy). When you were connected, she had no questions.
Super good timing on the wraps at :28 and :34!! She turned really well – we don’t want her to be tighter because for a dog her size, tighter can be slower 🙂
On the first RC at :47 – you got a little too far ahead, which made the RC line late because you didn’t have room to cut in and show her the line.
You were not as far ahead at :51 and 1:00, so you were able to show her the RC line for longer and she got it beautifully!>just couldn’t manage the backsides! I am clearly doing something wrong.>
On the first couple, your running line looked like the RC and your connection was not as visible, so she thought it was a RC.
You almost had it at 1:19 because you ran a really good line, pretty directly to where the bar meets the backside wing! But the connection was not as clear so she took the front. The last rep was similar – good line, but needed more connection. So run the line to where the wing and bar meet, but look her directly in the eyes until she is locked onto the backside wing. That is not easy with a tiny dog, so you might find yourself bending back towards her. The big eye contact will open up your dog-side shoulder too, so she can see where to be on the line.Great job here!
TracyHi! Totally agree, he did really well! Since this went great, time for the next steps –
– rather than facing him or even being sideways, you can be facing fully forward as he is leaping into positionAnd when that goes well… you can start adding movement! When he is jumping into position, you can be walking forward soooo slowly for now 🙂 and don’t stop until he has stopped (then run back and give him treats).
Great job!
TracyHi!
>Between obedience and conformation, I have a mostly-unconscious bias for having my dog on my left. >
Same here – partially because I am left-handed and partially because my earliest dog training experiences all had the dogs on my left, even though it was not formal obedience. But I do force myself to work the dogs on my right LOL
>I was wondering if I was “doing something” to cause the difference between dog-on-left and dog-on-right; that’s why I put the camera straight behind the start. And I also couldn’t see anything. >
I mean, it is possible that he did see something subtle that we humans didn’t notice. But I didn’t see anything major that would have caused the questions.
> I think as I become more capable (and can move better) that will go away. If it doesn’t then I’ll worry about it then.
> Exactly! Sometimes just leaving it alone is the best thing to do.
Pop out 1:
This is looking good! You can give him a left verbal and even a brake arm on the 2/6 jump (especially at 6) to get a better line to 3/7. And 8 s a backside to add some challenge for ya!
Pop out 2:
>On #2, my first plan was to do 3 & 6 as threadle slices – should have warmed them up.
> Better to have not warmed them up so we can look at the cues required! At :35, he needed a stronger turn cue on 2 starting from when he exited the #1 tunnel. You were giving the turn cues as he was taking off for 2, so he could not respond until after he landed.
For the threadle at 6, you pulled away too much so he locked onto the tunnel at :54 but you moved more towards 6 at :57 and he read it really well! You stepped to it at 1:09 too but turned your feet to the tunnel too much, so he wrapped there.
Also, the threadle on 3 takes him off the natural line to the backside of 3, so you can try pushing him to the outside there rather than threading.
>Then I realized that I could just lead out to a spot between 2 and 3 and the whole thing gets lots easier.>
Yes, that did make it easier! There was still a wide turn 2-3, so that is where letting him rip to the other side of 3 might be the fastest line. And sending him to the other side of 6 looked great!
Casper did really well on the opening of pop out 3! He had a legit question about which end of the poles at 1:43 – the high arm pointing to the entry actually caused the rest of your body to turn to the pole 12, so he thought it was a fancy entry. The ‘out weave’ and opposite arm pointing your feet and shoulders to the correct entry and he got it really well at 1:55 and 2:16!
For the dig dig on 8 at 1:59 – since you were walking it was hard for him to see the transition into decel. So, as he is exiting the weaves you can be jogging up the line. And when he is approaching takeoff for 7, you can show a big decel to tighten up the turn there.
Pop out 4 looked great!!! My only suggestion on that one is to give him a brake arm as he exits the 7 tunnel, to get a collection stride on 8. He jumped it in big extension, which set up a zig zag to 9. The brake arm will add the collection while you turn your shoulder to 9.
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
>It helps to have a Sheltie for the food reward box since they are so good at scarfing down small treats quickly. LOL!>
But also, she knows to not just run into the box and stuff her face with treats! That is a big win with a Sheltie LOL!
For the Find My Face game:
>So I should refresh her memory of it without obstacles and then start adding it in after I do late/confusing handling?>
I think a quick refresher is a good idea, then add it to some bad handling 🙂
>The pattern games help her alot and we use them as part of our warm up for classes & trials and in general, but she still has trouble coping with movement going past her when we aren’t doing them. (like entering the ring for a trial when I can’t toss treats for back & forth but the bar setters are moving back to their chairs or the leash runner is moving).
You can develop tricks into pattern games as you move to the line: hand touches from hand to hand, or spin then spin cued from different hands, etc. For Plot Twist, I have him keep lining up between my feet as I move to the line (so far, I have managed to stay upright too LOL!) At first the tricks can be rewarded but then we fade the cookies and the pattern remains and is still super helpful.
Keep me posted!
Tracy
Hi!
>You are probably thinking, why is a tractor in my video??? >
Ha! Yes, I totally was LOL!! The thumbnail showed the tractor so I was intrigued LOL!
The searches are really interesting to watch. Dogs are amazing. She is so talented and you are patient in your handling, really letting her lead the way. Her foot scratch alert makes it really obvious LOL>RDW is taking up way too much of my time and Indy’s body… so many reps. I am pretty close to jumping ship and doing a “target/okay” like she has on her teeter. I think she might be fast enough to make up the 1-2 second difference. Ha!😅>
Yes, the highs and lows of the RDW… where is she struggling? At full speed? I think training in higher arousal will help – going back to the early steps but doing them in really high arousal (lots of science as to why, but mainly it matches what she will be required to do in a trial).
But also, she is fast enough to have a stop on the DW and still win the class 🙂
Same with weaves:
>get her “mind” in the right place to get the entry. >
That is also arousal 🙂 I do lots of body awareness and weight shifting games while the dogs are in super high arousal – and same with finding the entries. So you can work simple sets of 4 poles but in really high arousal to help her get the entry – it literally will get her mind in the right place 🙂
Bummer that the pads and weather kept you from doing more, but she looked great on the stuff you worked on!!! Great job and keep me posted on how she is doing!!
Tracy
Hi!
>I have used a frozen toppl to throw as a reward in the backyard. It doesn’t work well indoors because stuff spills out of it when it bounces on the matting. I think we’ll stick to thrown treats indoors and try to use other options in the yard where Venture doesn’t like to eat his treats out of the grass.>
You can also use something smaller like a Kong with cream cheese in it – nothing will spill out and it is also easy to throw.
>Getting stuck – I agree there must be a stress component and also, it’s been really hot and humid. Even in the room, I’m completely soaked by the end of our hour.>
Yikes, it didn’t realize it was not climate controlled, so yes that can totally play a role! That makes the timer even more important, so he doesn’t get too hot to want to play.
Novice courses – he really liked these because there was lots of running! The first part on both courses went great. Then something happened on the first run (seems like he froze up but it is not visible on the video). Possibly because it was a long sequence already and he thought it was over, or something happened at the jump and he realized it was incorrect and stopped. Be sure to reward while things are going great rather than try to get all the way the way through a longer course.
>Ven is still working to do weaves in sequences as you’ll see in the video>
Weaves are another place to reward when he is correct rather than keep going. In this session, he was correct in flow at :17 but didn’t get a reward (the reward came after he stopped at the jump). Then he had 4 errors on the weaves, a reset cookie, and one more correct pass which did get rewarded.
So looking at the rate of success there: we had 7 behaviors (6 weave attempts and 1 lineup/reset) and 3 rewards – that is about 45% rate of success which can help explain why his weave success is still a work in progress. Ideally, his rate of success would be closer to 85-90%, so definitely reward all of his correct passes on the weaves and if you do reset them, line him up to be successful so he has fewer misses.
He had questions in the weaves on the 2nd video but got rewarded twice out of 2 attempts so he had a much higher success rate there.
Pop out 3 part 1:
Handle jump 2 with connection rather than point and move away – but keep going if there is an error rather than restart.>Couldn’t tell exactly why he decided I was asking him to jump on top of the tunnel>
It was the pointing – young dogs are very literal so when you stopped and pointed at 1:08, it turned your shoulders/feet to the center of the tunnel… so he got on top of the center precisely where the cues were pointing. Keeping your arm back and driving him into the tunnel using connection and a big step to it will help! And you can send from a little closer to help him learn the backside approach to the tunnel, then gradually get further and further away on the sending.
By the end of this he was tired – that 2 minute timer will really help! If it is hot, you can set it for 90 seconds. To keep things in perspective, 90 seconds is 3 or 4 full Novice JWW courses!
Part 2 – he was frozen on the start line here, which makes sense because he had done it a bunch and there was a lot of stopping and re-starting on the previous session. So you can start somewhere else on the sequence and or start without a stay.
Things went pretty well on the run that ended at 1:57! That is where you can end that session, take a break, cool off, do something else. You asked for more and he froze on the start line the got really sticky. That is great info from he so be sure to stop before he freezes up.
Pop out 4 – try to run these without any arm at all 🙂 You can challenge yourself to make motion and connection your primary cues by running with motion and connection – and no arm and no verbals 🙂 The verbals were good but he read the lines the best when you did not point at them. And he either went t the wrong side of the jump (like the backside) or passed the jump if yo pointed ahead. This is useful info from him! And same rule with that as the other sequences – no stopping if something goes wrong.
He has a good internal clock – as you are approaching 2 minutes, if there has been starting and stopping… he freezes up. So the 90 second timer can be helpful when it is hot and when you are working a lot. Finishing early to leave him wanting more will be very motivating!
Pop out 5:
The blind before the tunnel worked well! For the 5 backside, you can look at the landing spot when you serp to help him take the jump (rather than looking at him). The last jump was a little recessed here which made it harder – to keep more flow, you can send him around the outside to get to the correct side of 6.Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! The summer went by fast!
>Do you have any suggestions on how I should allocate my training time between now and April?>
Periodization! Cycle down for now: let her rest and recover from a particularly intense stretch of work. Then build up with skills stuff, then build up to running sequences then big courses, working to peak about 10 days before travel – at which point you rest. What team training stuff will the coaches be sending? That can be included but I think you have a good list to expand on from this summer.
> I was thinking more UKI@Home until the snow comes>
>> but I’m not sure what to do for course experience through the winter. Thoughts?>@Home is probably not the best option, the courses are all over the place. Probably better to set up sections and courses from IFCS and FCI judges. And when it is too cold to work outdoors, you can rent as many dirt barns as possible 🙂
>then conditioning>
This and body work should be on-going, plus build in rest as well.
But I think the first step is finding out what the team management will be sending for you to do 🙂
Tracy
Good morning!
>We had a very cool day course building for the Canadian WAO team at their private practice day. Kayl McCann, Susan Garrett, Tiffany Salmon, etc. >
Very fun! That is a great crew to watch: super experienced with that type of course. Plus Kayl has decades of experience with sport mixes!
>We got to try the courses too! Muso could do all the pieces, but we couldn’t put it all together. >
Yay!! That is exciting!
>You called it though, EVERY course had multiple “thing behind a thing” elements.>
Yeah… the challenges tend to get exaggerated and distorted. Sigh.
Onwards to courses! Send the video over via wetransfer and I can overlay them. I think they both went really well, just a spot here and there to work on:
Looking at course 1:
On the walk through, I thought that she might have needed more turn cues on 5 to get the weaves and not the off course jump out ahead. You had a lot of motion there so the shoulder turn alone might not have been enough.Also, your invisible dog sliced 11 based on your motion and feet 🙂 And a small nitpick is to remember to connect to her on the push to the backside t 19, so you are fully prepared for the run.
On the run – opening looked great! Really strong timing got a nice turn on 2.
You decelerated 4-5 so she got the turn to the poles, but sounds like she ticked the bar – that might be a place to use a brake arm as you keep turning. She stayed in the weaves beautifully! You need to leave more while she is weaving, so she doesn’t smoke you on the blind 7-8 🙂You handled the 11 TW differently from the walk through, so she wrapped – YAY! On the walk through, you had your arms and verbals going, but your forward motion and feet all indicated the slice. During the run, you used decel and turned your feet, so she read it as a wrap. Be sure to walk those mechanics so you don’t get any accidental slices.
The rest went great and matched the walk through, especially the BIG send to 16 and wrap back to 17. NICE!!! You can keep moving forwards as you do the backside push at 19 – you held still for a moment and she almost smoked you there 🙂
Course 2:
Walk through:
The walk through rhythm and timing were too far ahead on 1-2-3, so it was a bit blurred 🙂 Be precise even if it is easy 🙂 by making the handling of 2 and 3 bigger to really show the line.It almost looked like you were on her line on the blind after 6 so she would go into the 22 tunnel and not 7. I had to go check the map to make sure I had the correct #7 tunnel.
To get the jump after the DW, you can keep your arm back on the send to the backside after the DW as you run to where the wing and bar meet. Sending with your arm pointing ahead will turn your shoulders to the front of the jump.
But doing a side change then trying to get all the way up the line for 12 makes that section harder than it need to be: I think a threadle wrap on that jump (12) from your left side will get 12 easily and will also get you to the 14-15-16 section better.
And another option for the ending is that you can also handle the ending from the side of the DW closer to 23.
On the runs:
The opening went well! The weave entry is hard, it goes on the list for the winter because the entry is a little offset and they really have to go find it.
The section from 5-6-7 was hard! You got it the best on the first run, pushing to the backside and getting off her line to get the 7 tunnel. Nice!
On the 2nd run: You left the backside send on 6 too early so she took the front side and ended up in the 22 tunnel. When you re-started there, you were on her line (like in the walk through) so she correctly took 22. You got mad at her there (told her she was wrong, did not reward)… but video shows she was correct! So as always, a good reminder to never blame the dog 🙂The other hard part was the backside at 12:
At :29 the arm forward was showing the front side of the jump then you were pushing into the RC line so she had a question.
On the 2nd run the backside wrap cue was late at 1:52 (and the last rep) and also pointing ahead shows the wrong line. One thing to consider is not using a GO cue then the backside wrap cue – instead, just begin the backside wrap cue as she approaches the top of the up ramp.
The outside arm on the next rep was too much, she almost went to 13 – so part of it is just running to where the wing and bar meet til she gets on the line, and also working the skill of the RDW exit to the backside circle out ahead as a verbal cue so the physical cues are less important.
Also, it might be easier to tackle that section with her on your left on the DW: serp the 10 jump to the dog walk and do a threadle wrap on 12.
She got 16 really well! Big praise pulled her off 17 & 18 on the first run 🙂
You really left her in the poles – she stayed in brilliantly and you got the blind easily!
You rotated into her on 21 at :51 then opened back up, so she went wide based on where your motion/shoulders/feet turned to. If you rotate into her, you can finish it as a spin to keep the turn tight.
Another option for the ending line is to layer the DW so it is on your left – and cue a RC on 21 to get 22, putting you ahead for 23.
Great job here!!
Tracy
