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Hi!
>>The collar hold, she just stood there, like, “what? Why can’t I go?” I work with her off lead so much that she doesn’t quite get the collar hold.>>
She probably didn’t know that being held was a “get ready” moment and letting go of the collar was a “go” moment. Easy fix! You can gently hold the collar, toss a treat or toy a couple of feet in front of her, say ‘get it’ and then let her go. That should help her understand that the collar hold means fun things are coming 🙂
>> So… Just too many different things and being outside. It’s frustrating for us both. So time to step back a bit and do things she knows in a less exciting environment. Though she was fine in a training building with other dogs and people. I’m blaming her teenagerishness.>>
I think the great outdoors are challenging for her for a variety of reasons, so you can do the harder stuff indoors and for now, do easy stuff outdoors. She is a brilliant girlie, I am confident she will sort it out.
Tracy
Hi!
This is a really strong start – these are really hard!You mentioned needing to keep moving, and yes – that is part of why some of them went wrong – basically, for double crosses, we have to move fast AND be super connected. NOT easy! But you had a lot of good reps!
>>Missing the third wing was super common.>>
Part of the question here might have been because the middle wing was pulled forward and the 3rd wing was pushed back a bit? It was a little hard to tell from the camera angle but it looked like the middle jump was in your way a bit 🙂
Video 1 – this is a good start: hands in tight to your sides as you do the blinds will help with the quick connections.
Video 2 – As you already noted: keep moving, don’t stand still 🙂 You were standing still and pulling away from the wings, which presented the line to the tunnel and not wing 3.
Video 3 – You added more motion and connection here, so the line was better already!! Yay!
Video 4: This one was also good – one detail is to cue her to go to wing 3 with connection back to her rather than pointing forward to the 3rd wing – you can be more lateral for the FC too, which will help you stay further ahead to be able to make the conenctions and show wing 3.
Video 5 – NICE! This one had the best connection and motion so far! SUPER!!!!!
Video 6 – this one was on the other side and didn’t have as much motion as video 5 – you can send to the wing before the first blind so you have an easier time moving up the line.
Video 7 – you were a little early on the blind her, so she didn’t see the side change cue. She needed you to make connection on your right side after the FC to get her to change sides before you did the blind to the left side. Her side change is your cue to do the blind 🙂 It looked more like a spin and not a double cross.
So – my favorite was video 5!! You can keep trusting her commitment to start the first cross and be further away, then make and maintain connection as you run past wing 2 to send to wing 3.
Nice work here! Fingers crossed for the snow to melt fast!
Tracy
Hi!
>.This was so weird to me. I can’t think of an instance where I’ve ever done these before. I obviously listened to your video so I know you talked about real world application. I’m a very visual learner though so I can’t really imagine where in a course I’d use this or if I ever have used it in a course>>
These are used in more complex handling, to do quick side changes to get past off course obstacles.
Here is a bit of an explanation of one place where they are used:
I am looking for some runs where I did double crosses – I found this one, an oldie but a goodie: very complex course and you can see a whole bunch of double crosses 🙂
The double crosses went well! One thing that you are really doing a great job with is your connection – that really helps!!! She was able to see each side change and she accelerated after the 2nd blind. Yay!
I was thinking she looked a little hot after the first couple of reps, then I scrolled down to read this:
>These two practice sessions were after Kashia spent all day outside in our unusually glorious record setting temps of 70 degrees. We went on a 4 mile run and then she went on a 7 mile horse trail ride climbing a mountain.>>
Yep, she is probably wondering what happened to winter LOL!!! No worries, she worked through it 🙂 When the weather is more reliable, you can take her out first thing in the morning when her energy is at its highest level.
Looking at the Lazy Game for contacts:
>> I’m surprised I stayed so patient and stuck with it for 9 minutes.>>
Ha! Yes, that was great! It was sunny out and you were in a chair, so hopefully it was easy to be patient. And, you were rewarded with a great session!
All of these offering games are good! They will begin to help her make independent decisions on course and in training. You can help a lot with lots of rewards for tiny pieces of what you want such as any movement towards the board, or even the tiny head bobs when she was looking at the target.
She definitely figured it out because by the end she was running back, and getting right into target position: wow! Pretty impressive for the first session! This kind of session is a real brain-bender 🙂 but very very useful for getting her to offer behavior rather than rely on being helped at each step.
Great job!!!
Tracy
Hi!
>>Omg, (read in a Chandler Bing voice), could I BE more disconnected?>>
HAHAHAHA!!!! I think my dogs use this Chandler voice on me ALL THE TIME hahahaha
>>Here’s our second attempt, if it’s OK to submit it.>
Of course! Keep ’em coming!
The connection here was lovely throughout the session! Did you feel like you could see him better? Your timing was automatically good because you saw where he was when he exited the tunnel, and he was able to look forward the whole time. I think there was one spin exit where you could have been earlier, but you had BIG connection so he found the line to the correct tunnel entry. Yay!
>> I forgot about the arm part of the connection >>
Because you were focused on connection, your arms were automatically lower and pointing more to him. Yay!!!!
Super job here!!!
Tracy
Hi!
These are definitely hard! The tricky element is balancing the timing with the connection… and NOT stepping to the tunnel by accident.She normally listens really well and I was surprised when she drove to the off course tunnels with so much confidence – so I played the sections with the off course tunnel in slow motion (the first rep, :54, 1:01):
yep, you stepped to it. This girl sees *everything*!!! As you were making the reconnection on those reps, you were rotating back to her too much which is what caused you to turn your feet to the tunnel. And she has great commitment, so… bonus tunnels!The other reps early in the session starting on your right side and :46 off your left had a good line of motion without stepping to the tunnel – you were just too quick to do the 2nd blind so she never made the side change (but no bonus tunnels!).
So you can get these blinds going by using the reward across the body to make the connection back to her without turning your feet to the tunnel:
:34 and 1:09 were spins, but you can use the connection on those too!
So for the next session, you can work on one tight blind with the clear connection and no bonus tunnels. Then we can add the 2nd one in eventually too – when you are connected on the 1st one, you will see her change sides and that is your cue to do the 2nd one.
With her speed, these blinds will be VERY useful so it is worthwhile to sort out the connection.
Nice work here!!
TracyHi! These both look really strong!
Straight lines 4 ways:
This all looked good! Small suggestions to get him to look at you less and the jump more:For the Go lines, have the toy already in your hand and throw it as he takes off for jump 1. He was watching you take it out of your pocket to throw 🙂 and also throwing earlier will get him looking ahead sooner too.
You can have it already in your in your hand for the wrap too so he doesn’t watch you on that one as well 🙂 On the other side, your hands were empty and that wrap was terrific! Your decel was earlier so his wrap was super tight.
The Back reps were GREAT – you ran strong lines of pressure and your clear connection got him to the backside. Super!!!!!!! It is especially super since he had gotten lots of rewards for the front side!
The wrap at :35 was a tight blind that looked great! On the other side, the re-connection was a little late so he drifted wide until he knew which side to be on.
You can add in the rear crosses as well on this setup.
He also did really well with the countermotion game (taking the tunnel was legit because it was on his line there LOL!) Your mechanics were very clear, with your arm/leg/connection all working together. I am really excited about how well he sends behind you – that is a hard skill for small dogs but it will be such an advantage on course to help yo get ahead of him.
For the countermotion, you can run forward for more steps and decel/rotate later, so you don’t end up running backwards at all (I fall over when I run backwards). It can be one step back on the sending rather than multiple steps backwards.
You can add the race tracks on this set up too, I think he will find them to be easy 🙂
Great job here!!
TracyHi!
The set point is going well – I think she is a little unclear about the release from the stay, so you can clarify it for her: get the toy dragging, then give a verbal release, but don’t run: just keep moving forward at the same pace. We can add running at some point down the road when she powers out of the release a bit more.
For the proofing game: remember that this a training game, so live by the 2 Failure Rule. If there are 2 errors in the session (in a row or total for the session) then what you are asking is too difficult and you need to dial it back.
She had some questions on the reps that had no motion (she tended to take the tunnel on those, perhaps because you were leaning a bit as she was reading that as a tunnel cue?). She did well with the motion added but was confused about taking 2 tunnels in a row (more motion will help that too), But there were more than 2 failures here, so you will want to watch for that and break things down. And if there is a failure – don’t show any outward disappointment to her as that can be stressful.
Also, my challenge to you is to always line her up with hand cue and a cookie then take her collar, rather than reach for her and move her into position (especially if you are frustrated like at 1:54 and 2:02 and 2:30 where the moving by the collar was more corrective than it was gentle). She was avoiding being grabbed and then got really tentative about offering behavior – too many failures and the collar grabs like that were causing her to worry about this game.
Overall, she needs a bit more motion after the verbals here to help her out, especially with multiple tunnels in a row: and no punishment markers or collar grabs if she is incorrect, because that is causing her to ask a lot of questions.
For the tunnel exits – super nice commitment to the wings and tunnel! And great connection!
The timing of the left verbal and shoulder turn can be sooner (one stride before she enters the tunnel). The physical cue for the “go” was timely, so add the verbal in sooner too.
The right verbal at 3:07 and 3:20 and 3:46 and 4:04 were all timely, she was not yet in the tunnel, so match the physical cue to that by turning your shoulders to the wing before she goes in so she can see and hear the turn cue there.Nice work!!
TracyHi!
The shadow handling went well! Great job staying connected and not falling over the tunnel 🙂 She was terrific about staying on the line!
>, but toward the back side of the tunnel, she was almost cutting to the inside of the tunnel to my other side, but then would go back to the correct side. The blind crosses actually felt easier.>>
I think what was happening (and this is why the blinds felt easier) was that you were pretty far ahead, so she didn’t see the connection and which side to be on until she got to you on the other side of the tunnel. And that is probably why during the blinds, it was easier to get her on your inside arm. If you wait longer before running (like you did at :30) then it will be easier to keep her on your outside arm and she can stay on that side without cutting in 🙂
She is so funny that she still likes to be a Swiffer on the floor with her toy LOL! And her little puppy zoomie was adorable! The set point is going well – lots of power developing and her head is in a good position too. On the last rep, you started dragging the toy before you released her: that is the next step. You will want the toy to be dragging and about 10 feet past jump 2 before you release her. That means you will be outside, so if possible, video from the side so we can check out her form in slow motion 🙂
Great job here!
TracyHi!
>> Collar holding caused major confusion. >>
What was her question on it?
>>Tunnel exits caused too much running, no focus, being outside.
Yes, she might be feeling the joy of running and unable to think about tunneling right now.
>> She has foundations on several sports, we just need to get her sound.
Perfect! And those high impact elements of the different sports don’t need to be trained until the pups are in their teenage months.
Keep me posted!
TracyHi!
Things are going well with the set point! Since we are still in the ‘teaching the framework’ era, a couple of ideas about the mechanics:>> I am thinking I should have been dragging the toy longer before releasing him?
Yes – we want the toy a little further ahead when you release him and also don’t release until after the toy has moved for several feet – that way the drop of the toy or the movement of the toy doesn’t become the release. Dragging the toy for a few steps also allows him to focus ahead on the line before the release.
He is a tiny bit close to the first jump (his head was over the bar on a few reps) so you can move him back so his front toes are a hand’s width (tip-of-pinky-to-tip-of-thumb) away from the bar. His position at 1:30 might be good position but we will see what his liftoff looks like and can adjust as needed.
>>The bars are set at 8 and 12.
For now, leave them at 4 and 8 til the framework is just right – he was carrying his rear (rather than pushing from it) a tiny bit more than I would like him to do, so we can let things percolate at 8″ on bar 2 for a tiny bit longer as the moving target gets installed 🙂
Nice work here!!
TracyHi!
>.I like this a lot because I’m really struggling with chase vs. mark, and ‘get it’ is what usually pops out of my mouth (because of course a totally different word is what comes out when I can’t decide between 2 words). However, I use ‘get ’em’ (repeated 3x) for weaves. Are those words too similar?? Mochi has never had a problem with it, but she’s also special. 😉>>
It is entirely possible that ‘get it’ and ‘get em’ are too similar… and the context is not different enough because you might use a ‘get it’ toy throw on a line that could also be a line to a ‘get it’ weave entry. What if you gave the weaves a different cue? Or went with ‘chase’ for all toys out ahead?
>>We have been working on a separate take the toy command (‘strike’). Need to work this in higher arousal though, because he forgets pretty fast. And I forget to say it, of course. I need to practice my marker words without the dog, I think.>>
Yes, definite practice without him plus also, reminding yourself of all the words before each rep (like “dig dig dig strike”) will really help!
Looking at the video:
He did really well here!! He has good value for the tunnel but it is still nicely balanced with wing value. He was relying on physical cues here, which is fine of course 🙂 You were consistent with the verbals (I thnk there was one moment when you said ‘dig’ then tunnel, but you caught yourself :))
The next step is to emphasize the verbals even more: hold him by the collar, say the verbal 3 or 4 times… then let go. Then you can move to help him (eventually we can fade the movement). That will attach the verbals pretty quickly. If you move before or during the verbals, the verbals won’t be as strong because he will be cuing off the motion.
Great job here!!!
Tracy
Good morning!
>> But she seems to get the concept.
She totally did!!! Nailed it!!! The only suggestion here is to not use “go” in front of the tunnel or wrap verbal – Go means “run fast in big extension” and we don’t want her to do that here. If you were using it get give her permission to move, you can replace ‘go’ with a gentle collar hold, say the verbal a couple of times, then let go of the collar: that will give her permission to move.
>> I noted from rewatching your video that I’m using the opposite verbals. I guess it doesn’t matter as long as she knows what it means! >>
Correct! It doesn’t matter if you use the same verbals or not, as long as she knows what your verbals mean 🙂
>> Also, Saturday we had our club run thrus. I did a short lead out with the bar on the 2” mark, to a tunnel, with Paul on the other end with her tug. She was great. And this in a very exciting environment with people and dogs. She stayed right with us and worked a bit.>>
That is awesome!!!! Yay!!!!!!!!! I am not surprised though, she is a very focused pup that loves to work. Maybe you’ll do flyball with her too, when she is older?
Great job!
TracyPerfect! We’ve got plenty of time to get the teeter exactly where you like it. I saw a video of Stark’s teeter this morning: HOLY WOW it looks amazing, and he was worried about it when he was this age too. No worries!!!! Looking forward to video!
Tracy
Wowza! You are nailing it and she is responding brilliantly!
First rep – gorgeous and perfect in terms of connection and position near the wings but not blocking them. And you were patient, letting her get past you.
Second rep – also gorgeous! You can be a shade more connected at :22 when she exits the first wing: note how she drifts behind you a little, looking for more info. The rest was great!One thing to bug you about: don’t say “Go” for all the things. Save it for the straight line accelerations, and use your backside wrap verbals for these tight turns.
You are totally doing this correctly, keep going to the next challenge 🙂
Tracy
Good morning!
Super nice session here! On the one jump games at the beginning, you were emphasizing letting her turn herself away without a ton of help with hand motion. Yay! As you do that, you can stay a little closer to the wing – too much pull away is confusing for now. I am sure as she gets more experienced with this, you will be able to add distance easily. And, you can decelerate but try not to be totally stationary. That will really get this skill to be the super fancy international skill you want it to be 🙂>>For some reason they were much harder on my left.
There might be a couple of reasons for this:
On your left, your hand cue was not as clear especially with the speed from the tunnel added, so you need to show it to her more (and the winter coat made it harder too – why did MN decide it was winter again? LOL!) That is one of the pitfalls of using just one hand is that it can look exactly like the other cues if she can’t see the hand. So the decel plus showing the hand sooner and more clearly can help (you were adding value for coming to hand later in the video and that helped.
And, she is a very forward girlie on the lines (this is a VERY GOOD THING) so she was blasting out of the tunnels to find a line (also a good thing!) and you were trying not to spin, so she was not expecting the turn.
One other factor: even on one jump when she was going to the other side, she might be setting up to turn to her stronger side (she is a righty, yes? Or do I need more coffee? Probably.) So when adding speed in particular, start on her stronger turn side so it is easier for you both.
Great job here!!!
Tracy
