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Good morning!
The tunnel running looks SO FUN!!! You can add it in between the more cerebral work of the forward focus, so he can let loose in the middle too 🙂He did really well looking forward! I am glad you started moving the reward target to more of a turn line – having it out straight was encouraging extension when the physical position was a strong turn cue. That is what his feedback was about at 1:02 😂 He was like “why do you want me to jump in extension when clearly you are showing a turn cue?” Having the reward target on a turn line made more sense to him.
You can keep tucking it in more and more behind the wing (where the wing and jump meet) to begin fading it out. Since the bar is really low, it can be relatively close to- making it less visible so he will look at the bar more without needing the target.
As the behavior grows, you can start to delay the release and add in some quiet praise before the release. That way he won’t anticipate the release (like at 1:41) by releasing as soon as he looks forward. He might hold the forward focus when you delay and praise, or might flick his eyes back and forth: both are perfectly fine 🙂 You can add a forward focus cue as well when you raise your arm: that can help cue the forward focus and it is also a secondary ‘stay’ cue for a lot of dogs 🙂
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
It was hard to see her cute face for the beginning ad towards the end (she was hidden behind the wing :)) but it looks like you made really good progress getting the forward focus! You can keep adding in your lateral distance, as well as moving the reward target further and further off the line – ideally, it gets tucked in behind the wing on the landing side where the wing and bar meet, so she can’t really see it 🙂 Then we fade it out entirely 🙂
When you put your hand up to indicate the jump and she looks at it – add in some quiet praise now and even a reward tossed back to her here and there, so she doesn’t anticipate the release from the stay. She was leaning forward at the end and we don’t want to lose the lovely stay 🙂 You can also add a forward focus cue when you raise your hand if you like, but plenty of people don’t use a verbal and that is fine too 🙂
Looking at the accordion grid:
>Is she started to close? She looks odd.>
She was not too close – what you were seeing was that she was adding a stride in between jumps 1 and 2 (instead of bouncing) on all the reps except rep 3. That could happen for one of 3 reasons (or a combo):
– If you were facing her when you released her, she might be shortening up because facing her cues collection (you were not visible so it was hard to see). Let me know if you were turned away and dragging the reward.– The distance might be too big. I scrolled back to her ladder grid and the initial distance was too big, but when you shortened it at :28, she was able to bounce. The session is here:
Was the distance used in the accordion a 5 foot distance, or a smaller one like the ladder grid (looks like 4 feet?)
– she might be sore in her shoulders, and jumping short because of it. A young Border Collie coming out of a winter with lots of snow & ice could very well have banged herself around 🙂 so if there is a massage therapist or sports vet you can get in with, have them give her a massage to look for trigger points and see if that helps her feel more comfy to power through.
The reading of the distances here went great, so we can focus on sorting out why she wants to be a little short in her striding in that first distance.
The backsides went really well! You were connecting brilliant so she was getting super independent on the finding the backside. That allowed you to get further across the bar which helped her commitment to taking the bar when she got to the backside. SUPER!!!! Great job with your reward placement! The tunnel was not a distraction at all.
Since she was so good about getting to the backside independently, you can keep working your way across the bar so you can easily slide past the exit wing – that brings the countermotion exit into play so you can build up to those fancy independent backside moves like the German turn.
Great job here!
TracyGood morning!
Skizzle gets a gold star for working so well with kids on a trampoline in the background and another dog expressing displeasure about that LOL!! I noticed it immediately and was distracted (had to restart the video twice 😂) so I am sure Skizzle was aware of it! He worked brilliantly!
>I do have sincere thanks to the neighbor kids on the trampoline and the neighbor dogs barking – to help with environmental distractions.>
Right – he was not distracted. The only ones distracted by it were me and the other dog LOL!!!
He is paying close attention to your line of motion as well as your connection. When you were connected and moving up the line, he went to the backside every time. Super!!! When you disconnected to look forward (like at :25), he saw the turn of the shoulders and it looked just like a blind cross – that is why he tried to change sides there. Good boy! You reconnected so he then adjusted to get to the backside.
The weird thing about backsides is that you don’t need your arm much at all – connection is more important because it turns your shoulders to the backside line, and an arm showing the line ahead will potentially turn your shoulders away from it. So the further away you get from the entry wing, the less arm you need and the bigger connection you will need. Counterintuitive for sure! But works really well 🙂
So you can keep adding a bit more lateral distance, so he learns to stay on his line even when you are not right at the entry wing. You can also put a wing on the entry wing (or both wings) – that helps him find the backside and also, I believe the rules on all backside jumps in all organizations that have them require wings on the jumps.
>If my notes are right, I think tomorrow or Wednesday is the last day to post…this likely will be my last one. Thanks for another great course! I don’t feel like we’re ready for the MaxPup3, but plan to sign up anyways to have the progression for next steps available.>
Yes, today is the last day for videos. He has come a long way in a short time in terms of finding lines and commitment, as well as focus with distractions!!!! The MaxPup games build off of these, so I bet he will be able to do lots of good work on those too 🙂
Great job!!!!
Tracy
Good morning!
Bummer about the tree 🙁
Lateral lead out session:
You had good stay rewards throughout, after the broken stay at the beginning and on the first rep when you were on the other side of the wing! He might think the release is hand movement, so be careful to separate the two things (more on that below).
He found the jump really well and turned beautifully on the jump. When you get to the other side of the wing, you can still use your dog-side arm to indicate the jump. The opposite arm might pull him through the gap if the distance is big.
He is staring at you the whole time (one little eye flick at the jump though, which I liked!), so we can also get him to look at the jump more. You can put a toy down on the landing side of the jump, kind of tucked in where the bump and wing meet. He should kind of be able to see it 🙂
Then when you get to the lead out position, slowly bring your arm up and point to the jump – but watch his eyes the whole time. When he looks at the toy/jump, release! When he looks at it reliably after you raise your arm, you can start to praise before the release (so he doesn’t think of self-releasing when he looks at it). Then we can fade the toy by hiding it more and more behind the wing so he is looking at the jump bar 🙂
The 2 videos here were the same – let me know if there was supposed to be a different one. Great job here!!
Tracy
Good morning! Lots of good work here!!
Looking at the turn away videos:
The successful reps on the lap turns were when you let her get almost all the way to your hand, then stepped straight back and drew your hand straight back before turning her away… and she found the wing on her own, you didn’t have to indicate it.
At :35 & :45, & 1:18 you started a little early and indicated the wing while stepping back by moving our hand towards it, so she (correctly) went to the other side like.
You can still reward her on those handler error moments – she was reading your cues correctly 🙂
Tandem turns went really well – you made your opposite arm really obvious so he knew to come to the inside of the wing, then you turned her away really well.
She was really fired up during the smiley face game 🙂 She didn’t know what you wanted when you were near the wing so offered wing-to-tunnel (like in the other games) but did much better when you started moving! When you turned your shoulders to the correct line and kept moving, she was great about finding the correct end of the tunnel. The reps at 1:19 and especially 1:27 & 1:38 had really great handling lines!!
She had a couple of questions about getting directly into the tunnel on those – be sure to move slowly for now and don’t say ‘yes!’ because that will draw her focus to you. You can also put the lotus ball right inside the tunnel entry for a few reps, to give her something to lock onto.
Backsides:
Great job with the parallel line to get her to the backside! Those reps looked lovely. You can keep moving along that parallel line as you get further and further away laterally (aiming to have a path that takes you to the center of the bar).The countermotion is off to a good start too – on the first rep, she was not sure because she needed you to look back at the landing spot as you moved forward so you stayed on the landing side for the other reps. She got it easily with you on the landing side – so now you can start releasing after you have passed the wing and you are on the takeoff side. When you do that, look back to the landing spot behind you and point to it (and of course throw the toy to it too :))
Great job!
Tracy
Wow, she found a new gear of speed here! So fun!!! And she was still able to thoughtfully respond to cues. Yay!
> The first run I think I cut out too fast on the right wing so she cut through but we managed to keep going.>
Yes, that was at :06 – there was a little disconnect when you turned your shoulder, which pulled her off the line. Compare that to :29 and :43, for example when your connection was perfect and you line was parallel to hers, so she found the line with no questions.
>On the opposite side she had trouble finding the tunnel after doing the right wing but I think it was because I was going too fast to the tunnel?>
I think she was surprised that she had to collect to get into it 🙂 Up until then, it had been pretty easy to get into the tunnels! But this had more speed and she didn’t collect til she was past it (1:11). Oops!! You helped her with decel on the next rep and she found it nicely. As she gets more experienced, you can fade out the little bit of decel help.
The rest looked awesome! You had lovely connection as you drove her around the wings. I am really excited about how well she was reading those tandem turns!!!! You had to work hard to get her to the wing after it (lots of connection and acceleration) but she only had one question which you fixed on the next rep.
Great job here! It is super fun to see her getting to open up and go fast, while still responding to the cues. Yay!!!
Tracy
Hi!
Heck yeah, he did seem to love it! And I get to see his real speed (everything has been pretty controlled til now :)) And excellent job to you for running hard AND staying connected. That is not easy and you were lovely!On the first video:
The sequences looked fabulous – finding the wings and the tandem turn after the straight line all looked great! He didn’t quite get into the tunnel at the end of the first one because I think he was surprised by how much collection was needed. He got the tunnel entries on all the other reps, including the tunnel threadle! A little more decel as you headed to the wing before the tunnel threadle will tighten that line up a bit too.One little blooper at 1:44 where he didn’t come in for the tandem turn but I don’t think he could see the arm as well as previous reps (like at :54) and he might have felt some convergence towards the wing which pushed him to the other side of it. You were much more obvious at 1:52 and he nailed it.
On the 2nd video, I LOVE how he drove ahead to the wing (:05 and :38, and 1:09 on the other side ) so you could peel away to be able to beautifully execute the tandem turn on the other side of the tunnel. He is really fantastic about looking forward for his line, and not requiring you to stay ahead of him. There was some serious obstacle independence happening here!! Super!!!
One little blooper at :20 when he didn’t find the wing: it looks like you were across the line/blocking the wing, so he didn’t see it. You were definitely not blocking it at :53 and he found it perfectly.
Overall, adding the big distances really showed us that he is understanding his lines and is confidently driving to them. This is very exciting!!! Great job!
Tracy
Hi!
Congrats on her Star Puppy title!!! And it is great that you are taking her to a CU class – those are valuable games!We actually didn’t get any storms here – a couple of downpours but nothing else. I am relieved but also laughing because everything shut down and it turned out to be a nice day LOL!
T
Hi!
Very nice job setting up the backing up session: you got him doing multiple steps backwards – and they were good steps!! He was definitely getting it: He wasn’t flinging himself backwards – he was properly stepping. Super! You were getting more steps on the reps where you tossed the reward cookie between his feet so he had to back up more to get the treats. Delivering the treat in front of him tended to make him stop, so the tossing was definitely better even if he had couldn’t immediately find it 🙂
To get him to play at the end, try moving the toy away from him so he can chase it. When it was stationary in front of him, he was totally in treat mode 🙂 But if you swing it away for him to chase, or even toss it, I bet he gets right into toy mode. You can see it at the end of the 2nd video where he gets right on the toy as you move it away from him.
He definitely loves to look at you on the prop games! He is able to hit the prop AND look at you. Easy fix – we can change the reward placement 🙂
He was definitely going to the prop and hitting it really well with his front feet when you sent from your right side. The left side was a little harder at first because he might have more value for walking with you on your left side? But you were patient and he got it!To get him looking at you and your hand less, try this:
For the send hand, try a closed fist and a pointing finger, so he does not think the open hand means hand touch.
We can speed up the cookie delivery and place it so he doesn’t look back: before you send to the prop, have the cookie ready in your other hand (no clicker needed). As soon as he is heading to the prop and even before he touches it, you can say ‘get it’ and toss the treat to it. That will get him looking forward better, making the sends easier. The ‘get it’ will replace the clicker because it tells him to look ahead for the cookie, while the clicker often gets the pups looking at us. And, throwing the treat early and ahead will get him to look at you and your hands less 🙂
After he gets the treat, you can call him back to you then do the next send rep.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi! It looks cold here! I could see his breath!
This went really well – it is super hard and he did great! He had an easy time finding the backside line, so you can start moving yourself over laterally (like moving to the center of the bar, for example).
The harder part was getting him to take the jump when he arrived at the backside. I think you were waiting for him to offer taking the jump before rewarding on those first couple of reps, but you can try to get the reward in on the landing side before he even arrives at it. Think of it as a quick reward for choosing to get to the backside: you can drop the reward in on the landing side just before he arrives at the entry wing. Throwing it closer to the entry wing will also get him looking more at the bar as he comes around the wing, rather than your motion, which will make it more independent as we add fancier moves there 🙂
On the countermotion exit – the food in your pocket was a bigger distraction than motion or the presence of the tunnel 🙂 He was locking onto the food on your right side even when you were dropping the toy in behind you, poor starving dog LOL!! I thought your mechanics were good but the food was a big distraction. You switched to the food reward and that totally helped! I think that moved the visual of the food to the hand near the bar – so the next session can address that distraction and have the food in the hand closer to the tunnel again: then see if you can get him committed to the jump. The treat can then get tossed back from the hand closer ot the tunnel – it might not be the most accurate toss, but that is perfectly fine 🙂
>Forgot to say the bar is on the ground due to league course. It’s hard having all the things going on in the yard. Didn’t seem to bother him>
Ah yes! He didn’t even notice it, good boy!!!
Great job here!
Tracy
Oops! Forgot to add the visuals of the different sends:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1PKKqpU5JG-RrtbaEFa6GHi_n_YIEgX8aVr-q9WW7kyU/edit?usp=sharingI think you can tell which one got the start wing and which got the backside 🙂
T
Hi!
One thing I notice: Using the middle line up cleans up that whole line up and send to the start. Yay!The rear crosses are coming along nicely… but no more toy throws allowed 🙂 He is cueing off of the throw and not off the handling 🙂 What I mean by that is he is either jumping to the original direction (like at 1:57, 3:27, 4:01) or straight then turning as he lands (2:56, 5:03) so he is not really seeing the info in time to turn before takeoff, and he is tracking the toy throw.
I think what was happening was you were trying to get to the other side of him but that required to him to get past you – so you got to the other side a bit late then threw the RC to a good spot.
So rather than wait for him to get past then change sides, keep driving to the center of the bar and let him squeeze past you – then as he is almost at the bar, he will turn before takeoff and you will be easily able to step to the new side. Then let him tug from your hand (you can be connected and drive to the next wing when you put it out there). Tugging from your hand will prevent the toy tracking being what creates the turn.
At 3:27 you were almost too early – you were turning your feet before he passed you which can push him off the line to the jump. It will feel less scary if you keep running to the center of the bar – you were nice and close to him and the line, and you have more time to change sides becuase it is the line pressure that gets the RC (because it is visible sooner) more than the actual side change.
At 5:03 as he was exiting the tunnel – you were waiting for him and far from the line, so the cues were late – he takes off turning right then turns left when he lands. As he is in the utnnel, you can be closer to the actual tunnel which puts you closer to the RC line, so as he is exiting you are already moving forward to the center of the bar. He should be able to get past you (he is plenty speedy :)) and then you can more easily get the side change and reward with tugging 🙂
Serp –
>Making sure I handled the error correctly on this>
I see no canine error 🙂 Look at the difference in the sends on the first one and last one, you very clearly stepped to the start wing and that pointed your foot and shoulders to it, so off he went.
On the rep at :49, the send was not the same: You turned your shoulders to the backside as soon as you sent, and your foot stepped to the backside before he really got moving… so he went to the backside and serped, per the verbal “right” cue and the setup. I would have let him have the toy there :), he was definitely confused when you called him back. If he does that, you need to freeze in position and look at your feet/shoulders. There are common handler errors that produce specific responses: an unclear send where we turn to the wrong line will produce the backside on this setup and not the start wing 🙂
When you did step to the start wing – the serps looked great!!!! So make sure that first step is very clear like it was on those reps and the rest will be lovely like it was here.
Nice work!
Tracy
Good morning!
>She did 2 great wraps on the pink & yellow jump. My palm is facing down instead of back to her for the less in your face brake arm but this seemed to work for her…maybe because my shoulders made sense for her?>
I agree, those looked great! I think all the cues were clear: the hand/arm position was clear, and it was supported by decel and connection. Really lovely!!
>She was very out of sorts/restless/on edge on Friday and I think she might be like Tari in being hyper-sensitive to pressure changes (we had that blizzard looming and lots of gusty winds as the pressure dropped).>
I bet that was why – that was terrible weather coming your way!!
Lift sequences Part 1:
>session 1 -also did a bit with the soft turn arm for the 180 turns
>Those looked AWESOME!!!!! Yay!
Looking at the get out cues: You were feeling the magnetic pull to the jump and she was reading your feet more than the upper body. Ideally your feet are moving pretty straight up the line and not stepping to the out jump all that much, to help solidify the upper body elements of the cue.
She read the first get outs as a rear cross due to the pressure on the line with your feet heading that way (note how she turns right at :17 & :37 until the reward lands)
You weren’t quite straight at :55 but your line was to the exit wing so she did not RC there. You can work on being closer to the get out jump, but moving straight up the line without stepping to the jump. That way she won’t rely on you stepping to it a lot – she is definitely watching your feet!
Watch your left foot at 1:32 turn towards the next line and away from the out jump so she was not sure of what to do – you got her to the jump but that made the threadle slice late – good job continuing anyway!
And staying straight on the line will help get the next cues as well. I think you wanted the backside at :56 based on the verbal but the physical cues all said front side. As she exited the wing of the wrap jump, you were turned away and facing the front of the jump with your arm pointing parallel to your shoulders. If I didn’t have the sound on, I would have assumed you wanted the front side 🙂
Compare that to 1:11 where you made a nice line adjustment: you moved forward on a parallel line to what you wanted her line to be, to where the wing and bar meet. That got the backside! She was a little tentative because you were not looking at her, but she got it based on the line and motion. Yay!
>Her martingale leash loop is pretty roomy (deliberately so), but I have sometimes seen her still seem a bit peeved at it going over her head so I am experimenting with unclasping the loop instead. (left that here in the beginning so I had that for my own record). I had originally gotten away from unclasping it because reclasping it so it’s ready for her at the end of the session was another thing for me to do after the leash was off and before we were lined up.>
Unclasping it with 2 hands then reclasping it as you cued the spin was great! It all happens so quickly that it won’t feel unnatural when you get used to doing it.
The right cue at :26 followed by that shoulder pull did correctly pull her to that line – good listening, Lift!! You were thinking ahead to the get out cue and didn’t cue the middle jump
She is relentless about insisting you stay connected: you were not really connected at :44 as she exited the tunnel, and pulling away (thinking ahead :)) so she gave you the what-for and some cursing LOL
When you started with the 180 at 1:06 – you can do a blind cross on the exit of the pink & yellow jump because the post turn sent her wide on the line based on your position
She turned to her right (rear cross) at 1:11 because of the pressure on the line and the plank of your right foot back behind her. Good girl!
>Had difficulty with the backside after the get-out on the first try. Not sure if my keeping my shoulders more open to her path on the 2nd try did it or if it was because I wasn’t quite as far across the jump.>
It was the line of your feet/shoulders that was cueing the difference, She was really paying attention! The line on that get out to backside line should be running forward to where the wing and bar on the backside jump meet. Your upper body shows the difference: as she exits the tunnel, upper body is doing the ‘get out’ without turning the feet, then when she takes the out jump, you are on the correct line for the backside.
Stepping to the out jump at 1:23 was then causing you to turn and pull away to the backside, which cued her to come into the gap. It was clearer at 1:43 and will be even easier when you don’t ned to turn your feet ot the out jump at all.
She did really well with the pattern games!! One thing to add is doing it in hgher arousal. Get her doing tricks, barking spinning, chasing the frizzer… then into the pattern games to teach her body to self-regular when she is in that higher arousal state. That is the most valuable element of it all: doing it in arousal that matches the trial state as much as possible.
Kaladin’s video:
He also responds brilliantly to the brake arms! NICE!He saved your baocn at :17 when you pulled away and the physical cues said front side – he went to the backside after glancing at the front side. He gets extra treats! Lift is not experienced enough to save your bacon plus she likes to keep you in line with the precision LOL
The get out to threadle slice to FC looked great! You had your feet facing more forward there and he read it well.
>Kaladin flicks his eyes towards Reacher when he was moving towards us(still about half a ring away) at about 0:50 which I think contributed to him taking the line to the get out jump instead of wrapping to the tunnel (I noticed the eye flick but didn’t react fast enough to pause my motion, over-emphasize the exit arm, or do something else to help him complete the turn.>
I don’t think it was a Reacher distraction – he was assessing the handling and going with what he saw. He figured he already saved your bacon once, he wasn’t going to keep doing it LOL
At :50 & 1:17 he took the orange jump when you waned the tunnel – that was likely due to the post turn exit of the start wrap. As he exited the wing, he looked at you becaue your verbal was saying wrap. But you were facing the orange jump for a step or two, so he went there, good boy! He considered it at 1:02 and 1:46, but came off it when you stood still and called him. A spin exit will get him to stay on the line without you needing to stop.
Nice line at 1:31 – you are keeping your feet straighter as your upper body cued the get out and he was great! And on the last rep, your feet were defniitely straighter on the line as you cued the get out, which set you up really well for the threadle slice to the FC. YAY!!
> I think I actually managed to use the same opposite arm for the Get out, then the threadle slice and right into the brake arm for the left wrap back to the tunnel!>
Yes! It looked really good!
>It wasn’t until after I got Lift out for her 2nd session that I realized we had forgotten to reset jumps so Kaladin ran at 8in!>
He seemed very happy to run low LOL!
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
>It started great and then the woman you see decided she needed to tell me her life story. She is that woman in the neighborhood that you avoid talking with. 25 minutes later I finally got rid of her and proceeded, thinking my phone was still recording.>
OMG that is annoying!!! Neighbors!!!! You can always pretend you left the puppy loose and have to run inside to let her out LOL!
Looking at the video:
Your exit line arm was great on all 3 reps here! The first and last rep also had fantastic turns over the bar. WOW!
At :32, he hit the wing and the bar came down – the handling before that rep was slightly different than the other two, in terms of the line you showed him. On the other 2 reps, you were a bit more decelerated and your feet were turned to the new line (towards the street here) before he got to the backside. That was perfect! On the rep where the bar came down, you stepped to the backside more o for a moment, it looked like a slice (like a rear cross slice). Then you rotated towards the street – and his back feet slipped on takeoff so he didn’t clear the bar. No worries, the next rep was PERFECT!!! He is ready for the sequences with this skill.
Stay safe in this crazy weather – everything around here is closed (stores, schools, etc) so I am wondering what is in store! Eeek!!
Tracy
Poor Rou! Ouch!!!!!
We see pad issues at a lot of the indoor turf places in this area. Also, because I play flyball and because I have sighthounds – I see a lot of dogs with pad burns/chunks torn and also skin tears. I use something called Absorbine Silver Honey Rapid Wound Repair – it is a spray gel which has Manuka honey and microsilverBG to heal things very quickly. It reduces healing time dramatically: when my whippet rubbed a raw spot under his dew claw from running, it healed it within a few hours and he was back to normal within 12 hours.When I bashed my forehead into an open microwave door at 10pm in the RV in the middle of nowhere (not my finest moment LOL!), I put it on the deep wound and covered it with a bandaid. I really thought I would need stitches but it took 2 days to heal entirely. Crazy!
So you can try putting it on her pad, then wrapping it with some pwerflex. You will probably need to use a cone to prevent her from licking at it (sorry Rou) but I tell ya the stuff is miraculous. I have used Manuka Honey on whippet skin tears for a few years and it is great for healing but the Silver Honey spray gel is about 1000 times easier to use and less goopy.
Keep me posted!
Tracy
