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Good morning!
>>I had to modify the setup for Package 3 a little, I’ve got the length but not quite the width>>
Perfect! The length is the important part.
>Hardest part is throwing the freaking toy
TRUTH!!! I have one rep where I threw the reward over the fence. My poor dog LOL!!!
This session went really well. At the beginning, he was driving nicely to the first jump after the tunnel, but then looking back at you a bit and slowing down.
After the break, you started throwing the toy a lot sooner and that was GREAT! We want the GO GO GO verbal to predict reinforcement way down the line. The first toy was too light to throw as far as you needed it to travel. At 1:03 it looks like you switched to a ball – that was great! Even if your throw was not perfect in terms of landing spot, it would keep rolling ahead so he kept looking ahead. So even with the less than perfect throws, he was looking forward on the go verbal and running in extension rather than looking back at you.
Since he seemed to like the ball, definitely keep using it as it seems to be the ideal reward in terms of throwing it 🙂 You can add in the circle wrap stuff here too, as well as hanging back and seeing if he will drive ahead even if you are further behind.
Great job!
TracyGood morning!
The porch is a perfect place for this game!!>> She wanted me to tell you that she thinks this game is super hard and dumb>>
Yes, this is actually one of the hardest games we teach the pups because a verbal has to override motion and all of the other things they normally cue off of.
>> I tried adding in the hand signal with the hope of fading it out quickly, but even that was hard.>>
Yes, I think the hand signal ended up getting too much focus on your hand and not enough on the verbal. So keep your hands kind of relaxed and out of the picture, and dial back the motion:
Try marching in place slowly next to her and just say the sit cue (no hand movement at all). Your marching in place might be so slow that it is more like shuffling your feet in place 🙂 Then either use a ‘catch’ marker to throw a reward back to her, or a release for a reward thrown forward.
Don’t reward by delivering from your hand to her mouth at all on this game, because that will also get too much focus on the hand, plus she will want to stick closer to your hand… which makes it hard for her to sit while you continue to move forward. You’ll start to see very quick progress if mark the sit with either the catch (reward thrown back) or release (reward thrown forward)!
Nice work here!! Stay cool!
Tracy
Good morning!
>>Honestly I was pretty impressed how FAST he was at those times when he was fast!>>
Yes! Fast and efficient, with a huge stride!!!
>>if we’re ‘lucky’ with weather tomorrow and will get to AG field, suggestion what to use instead of tunnels for this “week 2 Concept Transfer: “Fluffy” Blind Crosses and Front Crosses” and next games there (Send And Go, and BC to the Tunnel, and Rear crosses)>>
You can keep using a jump or a jump wing/cone. No need for him to run through a million tunnels. You can also change games for now – the straight line 4 ways game is great for jumps only, and the countermotion game is only 4 wings (and a hugely important skill). Too keep things exciting without getting too hot or doing too many tunnels, maybe use the tunnel for one or two reps of the straight line game, then do a bunch of reps of the countermotion game with the wings only.
>> even if setup there works with tunnel, I’ll probably do only a very few reps with tunnel with him 🙂>>
Makes sense! You can plan based on how the tunnel is set up so you don’t need to move it.
>>2nd question, unrelated to this class but related to your other classes here 🙂
So I was looking for ‘weaves’ class. I see “MaxPup Obstacle Skills Series: Weaves!” but I’m not sure if that’s what we need or there is or will be a better class for what we need?>>The weave class assumes no prior knowledge from the dog, so it starts at the very beginning of the process. And we do add speed and other ‘obstacles’ (wing or jump, sometimes a tunnel) before the weaves pretty early on, so the dogs get used to seeing it in the learning process. And there are 2 tracks (2×2 and channels) so we end up going with whatever the dog finds makes more sense to him. After the first couple of lessons, they always choose a preferred method, it is pretty fascinating!
So you might find it very useful to help him understand how to weave in the context of adding speed and putting the weaves in sequence.
>>another class question. “[AU-033] The Handler’s Toolbox: Super Independent Backside Sends!”
– Backside sends is something I had to ‘babysit’ even with Golden 🙂 So I think *I* need this class for Fly! And it says it will work in small space. But from what you saw on our ‘backyard videos’, do you think I have enough space on backyard for this class?>>I love this class, it was so fun! And yes, you have plenty of room for it – even the biggest setups will fit in your yard. Most of it is a wing and a jump, or a couple of wings – very small but very challenging 🙂
—
>>and last question. Forum related. Do you know if it’s possible to have this forum showing ‘latest’ posts first? Maybe it’s some option in settings or under account that I just can’t find 🙂 For me it is showing from earliest to latest so have to scroll down all the way to read latest reply. Not a big deal but I feel like it must be ‘there somewhere’ and I just can’t find how to change it…>>We have been asking the software people who program the LMS to have a way to re-order the posts, and they keep promising it but so far, it has not arrived 🙁 I will bug them again and see if they have made any progress. I can’t imagine it is hard to do, so it is probably low on their list of things to do. I will keep you posted!
Stay cool!
Tracy
Good morning!
I am glad you found all of the pieces of the Tip It thingie! It is going to inspire me to find all the pieces of mine LOL! It has already been 2 years since you moved? Time is flying!
Letting her watch you put the cookie on the target before rep 3 was a big life changing moment for her LOL!!! After that she was all about going up the board! Time to block it off so she cannot access it without you. Her solo adventure on it was actually a really lovely drive up the board though 🤣😁
>>I’m using my old teeter because I don’t want to leave the nice new Galican one outside and realized the old one (my first piece of contact equipment bought 20+ yrs ago for Fingal) is slightly warped so it took a bit of adjusting to get it to stop moving on the tip it. >>
If possible, show this game to her on both teeters so you are teaching her to handle different boards right from the start. The smaller & lighter the dog, the more important this becomes because all of the teeters move pretty differently!
It is rattling a little so you might want to put a towel under where it hits the Teach It so there is a little less noise.
>>My plan is to move it up in height probably over 2 more sessions.>>
Good plan! I don’t think it will be a problem for her.
On the wraps & BCs video – yes, the 80 degree weather might be part of why she was not in a tugging mood and preferred cool cheese. She ran really well!
On the blinds:
Your timing was really good and you also very clear exit line connection in both directions! NICE!Send to wrap after the blind: she decelerated and didn’t drive past you fast for the collection, preferring to chase you after it. You can shift the placement of reinforcement to help her drive past the decel to commit to the collection:
Rather than reward her for finishing the wrap and getting back to you, you can throw the reward to the landing spot as you decelerate. And you can throw it pretty far, or use a frizzer or something: that will make commitment really exciting. And since she is very good at turning, we will not get wide turns 🙂 We will just get more speed into the collected commitment.And that will also help with the FC wrap commitment!
On the wraps:
1:11 – 1:20 yo mentioned had too much decel and I agree – you were too decelerated all the way through so she didn’t commit. She was prepared to drive back to you.
Be sure to run into the tunnel and along the curve of it, so she does not see you standing still when she exits (2:38) as that cues a lot of collection. And that will get you more accelerated too, which makes it easier to keep connection into the wrap. At :2:44 you dropped connection and looked forward, so she did a blind (being n handler focus from the decel creates that quick responsiveness that we don’t really want LOL!)
On the last rep, you created more acceleration by moving closer to the line, and that totally helped!!
You can also re-visit a very decelerated lazy game so she gets cheese tosses for staying on the line of jumps, even if you are very decelerated.
You can move her to the next step of ‘find the jump’ games after the tunnel, to help build even more commitment (along with the straight line, 4 ways game). All of this is about committing so I think it will keep it spicier than the pinwheel stuff 🙂
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning! Sounds like a crazy week – I hope this week is MUCH easier!!
He did well with the mountain climbers and I love the crowd support LOL!! Since he is feeling pretty brave about it, you will probably have to make sure he doesn’t start without you – maybe toss a toy between reps so he can gallop around while you reset 🙂
The next step is to attach a target at the top so you can place the reward up there before he gets on. I recommend duct tape living in your car at this stage along with a spoon. That way you can tape it to the underside of the board so it sticks up just past the end, and then you can schmear some cream cheese on it. That way he has a focal point to move to and doesn’t watch you (or his admirers 😁) When he is moving up the board confidently and independently to his target, you can start adding handling: walking past, rear cross, more speed etc.
Motion override went well – the tighter space might have worked in your favor because there were fewer options. And he get a gold star for ignoring the cat LOL!!
You might have slowed down a tiny bit but it was really minimal. So for the next session, you can start with a slow shuffle and keep moving at that speed… then gradually get faster and faster.>>he started just stopping, instead of sitting.
He could have been brained-tired (this is a surprisingly hard game, on the mental level for puppies!) and also freezing in the stand is a common BC behavior. Slowing down your motion will help, even if you are marching in place on some reps.
>>And I effed up my markers yet again. Despite practicing them.>>
It is very hard to NOT say yes! I can relate! Moving very slowly will also help you spit out the correct marker 🙂
He did well with the right turns on the TTFJ game turning right! Do I remember correctly that he had. Harder time in that direction the last time you played this game? He found his line nicely here.
He was going somewhere on the first left turn at :28 – maybe he thought he was going straight because you started a little behind him then moved forward up the line then released? When you were ahead and turned your shoulders on the last pas through there, he had no questions.And nice job with being consistent and clear with your stay releases!!! Not surprisingly, his stay has also improved because you are clearer with the release. Yay!!
The more wraps video was the blind to the wrap – this is going well! He is finding the lines really well!!! Your timing of starting the blind at :16 was really good! After you start the blind, be sure to open up back to him so he can see the connection. You finished the blind with your shoulder closed forward, eyes and hand pointing at where you wanted him to go at the jump. But when the dogs are behind us, they don’t see the line clearly (all he could really see was your back) so he we wide there, waiting for more info.
Ideally, after the blind, you point your hand and eyes back to where he is (not where you want him to be) so he can see the connection and find the new line immediately.
I grabbed screenshots so you can see what he sees when you finished the blind:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FzVbMRuaHofn3Ki5XJk8z9HJB2kkm7GJZf5I2t5U3W0/edit?usp=sharing
The screenshots also have a comparison of the connection you used finishing the blind to the tunnel – that was really nice!!!!!!
On that video, the timing and the blind are going well! And he is finding the lines really well too (and changing sides when asked, even with a tunnel straight ahead, good boy!)
My only suggestion here is to stay more laterally away from the blind cross jump and not try to get to the landing side of it when doing the blind. When doing the blind at :07 and especially at :20, you were actually showing the line to the wrong end of the tunnel 🙂 which makes it harder for him to know the turn is coming. On the 2nd rep, you had a lot of motion to the landing spot and that pushed him (correctly) a bit wide on the line.
Ideally, you would stay on the plane of the middle pinwheel jump and not go anywhere near the BC jump. Yes, that means he has to find it independently but I think he is ready for that.
Great job here! I am looking forward to seeing you at Brain Camp!!!!
Tracy
Good morning!
Lots of good stuff here!!Motion override – he is totally getting the idea here! It is a hard game 🙂
He was able to sit as long as you also decelerated. At first it was obvious and then the deceleration became more and more subtle, so it was beginning to fade out which is GREAT!So now we go to the next step of keeping you in motion the whole time. Start by shuffling sooooo slowlllyyyyy but keep the motion steady and don’t change the motion until you are 3 or 4 steps past him, then either throw a reward back or release him forward to the reward.
And as you do that – don’t use your arms/hands at all. You can either let them dangle at your sides, or keep them on your stomach the whole time. You were lifting your dog-side arm as part of the sit cue and we want to be sure he is not cuing off of the arm movement here, and is instead cuing off of the verbal only 🙂
Driving ahead is looking great, especially when you kept moving! The wing made it a bit like layering when you were on the other side of it – when you stayed on the parallel line, he got the jump. Yay! If you pulled away to get around the wing, he (correctly) changed his line to follow your motion (3:40). So keep the parallel line going and he will keep getting better and better at finding the jump. Your throws were good and your connection was lovely!
Teeter games: he was very happy to slam the bottom of the board around and having a mat to throw the treat on certainly made it easier to find it 🙂
You can add in more of the bang game, where he jumps on the side (near the bottom) and you reward in target position. Yo were rewarding in the 2on, 2off position but I think he might be too small and too light for that? Generally we want a 2o2o dog on the teeter to be over 15” and closer to 20lbs. For the smaller dogs, a 4-on behavior is faster and easier because it is easier to control the board when it bounces under them.
Backing up – he was finding the board nicely by the end! Yay! You can add him backing up t get his front feet on it too 🙂
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi!
>>I think the mad was because she felt neglected rather than the sits as i had been out with you and fusion allmorning without her she likes being in the center of things.>>
Ah yes, she might have been frustrated by that before you even started. Papillons like to be the center of things, even half Papillons LOL!
>> I actually repeated this at the show this weekend and got completely different reaction. I was careful to ensure nothing too distracting when i said sit but woth limited movement she was good. No video.>>
That is great!!!!!!
>>The lie down and bark is about rewards including attention. So see in training although less so but generally she is right in i have been too slow on rewards or askedtoo much.>>
Well yes – but it seems to happen most in situations where you ask for too much (like getting on the wobble board and she is not comfy with that). When you are asking for something she is comfortable doing, she does it without the down/bark even if you are slower with the rewards 🙂
>> But also get if am working on computer etc and she thinks i am not giving her attention. She is quick to point out my faults.>>
Ah yes, attention seeking for neglected dogs LOL!!!!
>>Got alot better reaction with wobble board on second session with pillows. Will post video tomorrow>>
Yay! Looking forward to it!!!
TracyGood morning!
This session went really well 😁
He did really well with finding the big line and jumping it – I didn’t see any bars down!The circle wrap commitment is looking really good – he was turning really well and you had nice timing of moving forward after he passes you!!! From this angle, it looks like you might have been blocking the wing a little bit at :22 and :36 – he was looking up at you and had a rounder/wider line to it. You can tuck right into the landing spot – that way he sees the full wing and you do not need to rotate to show him the bar at all (that can be confused with the cues for a backside rear cross, which does have rotation).
The threadle wrap is coming along nicely!!!! You are using the outside arm to do the come in and flip away… which ends up with your feet also rotating to the jump.
Ideally, your upper body cues all of it and your feet don’t turn at all (feet going forward are part of the threadle wrap cue to differentiate it from the slice), so you can consider using both hands here – you might find it easier to help him turn away for now, and more importantly – easier to fade out the big turn away cues. You can use the hands and then make the turn away cues smaller and smaller until he doesn’t need your hands to cue the turn away.
The rep at 1:28 had the best timing of the blind to get to the threadle wrap. You can be closer to the threadle wing, which will also help him turn himself away.
As you work the independence on him turning himself away when he sees the cue, you can carry the toy with you and toss it to the landing side of the threadle wrap jump as you move forward. Having it down by the tunnel negates the placement of reinforcement opportunity – it is fine for the simpler skills but for the newer/harder skills, definitely bring it with you so you can toss it to the landing spot and build up the independence,
Great job!!
TracyGood morning!
>>the distance on the exercise is 19 feet.
That is a very civilized, normal distance that he will see on course, so we can definitely get him organized for it.
>>I have used 7,7,7,15 then 16, 17, 18, until a stride is added. Then back down a foot at a time to 15.>>
I like that grid too! I figured he would have an easy time reading 1 foot increments, which is why I suggested 3 foot increments for the last jump which is much harder to read.
Thanks for the grid video – he did well but also watching it in slow motion… his footwork is a little all over the place 🙂 He was not consistent in his striding in the compression sections (6’) and he was definitely having to think about reading the distance to the last jump.
– lower the bar on the last jump to 16” so he gets the mechanics going before it goes to full height. Full height adds an element of challenge he is not ready for until he can effectively sort out a slightly lower height. And 16” still has enough elevation that he will sort it out.
– he wants to watch you and also is tending to lift his head/invert his back. So, let’s give him a focal point that is not a reward, so we can also give feedback about the jumping as needed. I recommend a cone (or wing) to wrap, about 18 feet past the last jump (it will move in and out as the jump moves). So it will be 5 jumps then the cone to wrap. If it is a clean effort, he gets the toy. If it is not clean, you can nope it before he gets to the cone. That way he looks forward, improves mechanics, but you can still do a bit of yes-or-no for the jumping.
When he learns that new setup with the cone, you can add more of your motion, particularly with you behind him. For now, start him in the same spot consistently close to the first jump. We might start with a cone wrap at some point to add in more driving ahead, but I want to see how he organizes with the cone out past the last jump.
He did keep the 2 bars up in isolation but watching in slow motion – he is off balance here with his butt going higher than his shoulders and head up. Then when you added the tunnel, he had so much momentum on the first rep that he lost control and tried to bounce and hit the bar. He added a stride after that, but I think he was also decelerating off of your position and motion at the last jump.
Not being able to control the momentum also speaks to possibly needing core strengthening/plyometric stuff added to his routine? What kind of stuff is he already doing? That can make a huge difference even if you only do it twice a week.
>>I threw the toy anyway (an error) which proves it is a good thing I train with almost all positives, since errors just mean extra toys/cookies.
>> These are the most true words LOL!!!! The worst case scenario is he get one extra rehearsal of incorrect mechanics, which is no big deal. Punishment (especially when we screw it up LOL) is much less forgiving. And, accidental rewards in situations where a reward is expected actually might not lead to learning/encoding – the science is really interesting!
Nice work here! Keep me posted on how he does!
Tracy
Good morning!
>>OMG, I went to an agility trial this weekend and looked at the courses which gave me the opportunity to do slices and wraps and really set the lines for Mookie. My goal was to try things out from camp and what I ended up with was 3 DQs in a row, all first places. Mookie’s speed was incredible.>>
Good for you!!!! Congrats! That is an impressive feat – getting all the Qs AND getting them at a high speed where they are also first place. WOW!!!!
>>It was hard to refocus back on camp after such an incredible weekend for us >>
You can stay on Cloud 9 for a while, it is well-deserved!

>>The warm up went well for all 3 of my boys. All 3 got the backside easily >>Perfect!

>> For sequence 2 what I thought I would have a problem with I didn’t. I could either blind or front cross 3 to 4 the first course seq 2. Course 3 of seq 2 went well also. >>Great – it sounds like they had no trouble following the handling to change the line, and you got around all of the stuff in your way 🙂
>>Course 2 of seq 2 with the send around the tunnel is where we needed to focus on. Buddy needed practice with this then he was fine. Alonso was fine with this until I decided to proof it and send him into the tunnel then the next run layer the tunnel >>
Yes, that is a hard element! I left in my blooper with my boy – it is hard to get around the tunnel without running into it AND maintaining connection. Or, sending past it to layer the tunnel is also hard and requires a lot of connection and understanding on the part of the dog. But that is why we practice it here, so it is easy when it shows up at a trial.

It sounds like they all sorted it out with a little bit of breaking it down and rewarding. Super!

>> I wound up working a lot on seq 3 and proofing by one time going into the tunnel then next time layering the tunnel. Mookie needed a come tunnel and an out jump command and he rocked it. Alonso and Buddy needed more support with verbals and an out stretched arm to layer. >>Awesome!!! It is good to know all of this for each dog, because you will see this on course for sure in the coming year. Alonso, because he s the youngest, will probably end up needing cues similar to what Mookie needs as his understanding develops.
>>Now I will look at the new pkg of stuff. Always lots of stuff to do for camp and the dogs love it >>The Hot Topics has big long lines – you are already seeing big long lines at the end of courses in AKC where the handler is not ahead, as well as across the ring – so definitely focus on getting all the boys to drive ahead. Then you can put a double or triple at the end of the line, which is where it is showing up on course a lot.
Have fun! Thanks for the update!
Tracy
Good morning!
>>Unfortunately, I found a blister on Sprite’s pad. Boohoo. Probably the ridiculous heat here. >>
Ugh, that sucks! It could be the dry grass? Those heal up pretty quickly, thankfully, but it still sucks!
>>Hopefully, we can still go this coming weekend, but I’ll have to see. Sigh. Of course, the weather is a little better still.>>
If it heals and you want to protect it from happening again, it is legal to protect her feet with powerflex in UKI!
>Pop out 1: I felt like I needed to serp to a blind on the line from 6 to 7. So, I should blind earlier and pick a better running line?>>
I think if you start the blind earlier and keep moving like you did, the line will take care of itself because you will be showing the info soon.
> I see a theme with my shoulder not being back enough on the threadles.>
Think of swinging your dog side arm back like you are pulling her through a door 🙂
>>Haha, the first opening I just messed up. I’d freak if I was supposed to get that as a threadle to 3. It was impressive!>>
And she jumped it really well too!
>>Pop out 2: yes, I was trying to get a right turn for 4-5-6. The wrap was an error, but I just kept running because that’s a useful skill and it happens!>>
Good for you!!! I always tell people to make it look like it was intentional and not an error, to keep things in flow. You were great!
>>The spin at 9 makes sense. Post turns aren’t my friend, but I use them occasionally.>>
The thing with the brake arms now is to figure out where we need a spin versus where we can just do the post turn. Course design nowadays is mostly post turns but some spin moments do pop up.
The visual for wrap v>>ersus backside slice is helpful. Intellectually I understand it. But, my feet don’t always cooperate. Maybe I’ll play in my backyard with just me while Sprite heals.>>
Here is a one jump game to get your feet happy with it:
>>Pop out 3: haha, you are funny thinking the threadle wraps are getting comfy.
They are looking SO MUCH BETTER and you & Sprite are executing them really well!!!!
Keep me posted on her foot!
Tracy
Hi!!
I am excited about your new pup!! So fun!!!!! I am looking forward to photos!!!
Icy winds sound like the exact opposite of the desert weather we have here LOL! And I agree, she did really well!
<>BTW, should I be focussing more on the packages, rather than the lives?>>
For the lives, you can get some of the skills like brake arms and navigating around other stuff that you can then use in the packages. So maybe do the lives first then the packages.
On the video:
The blind to threadle on rep 1 worked well on the first rep, but when you added the tunnel to it, I think the FCs worked a lot better because you could give her the info a lot sooner in terms of what was next. The blind sends her a little wider so she dropped the bar on the 4 jump after it. Compare to all the FC reps that had clean jumping efforts there, because she could see the line to 4 sooner.
>> Suspect I was a bit late on jump 3 given her extension jump.
Yes, a tiny bit late because the distance was tight. You can stick closer to the 4 jump and decelerate there, so when she exits the tunnel she already sees the turn cues. Moving towards 3 is what sent her a little wide.
I think you were saying right on that turn over 3? It is a left, unless the video got mirrored then please ignore this LOL!
>>Pretty sure the last bar was her watching me with the treat ball.>>
Yes, you can throw later after she lands so she doesn’t hit the bar chasing the reward 🙂
Great job here!!
Tracy
Hi! Very nice sessions here! And it sounds like she did great in Winnipeg – baby girl is growing up 🙂
On the videos:
Nice new toy!! She definitely seemed to like it when it was moving, so drag it or throw it to keep her engaged with it. When it is a bit too dead, she lets go.She is reading the lines well and wrapping well! The most important thing is to be hyper-connected as you start the wraps. This will get easier as she gets more experienced, but I think connection supports the lines for her just as much as motion does.
At 1:05 – you were ahead, there was not a lot of connection, arm forward, she doesn’t know if it is a wrap or blind, so she jumps up with a BIG MAD.
On the first rep on the other side (dog on right) you were parallel (also at 2:26) to her so connection was easier to see and motion also supported the front of the jump. She got it beautifully!
The rep at 1:42 was a little more connected (dog on left) and she got it nicely!!!
At 2:07, you are ahead and looking forward over the bar as you decel, so that shifts her into handler focus – she doesn’t take the jump
But then look at 2:44, last rep on this video: you were ahead but also very connected and she nailed it!! This is the perfect one!! YAY!
On the 2nd video –
>>I think some of the Jumping up is in reaction to her not wanting to drop the toy.>>
This is entirely possible! The toy does change arousal states so it is good to look at how she feels about it when using it! I am happy she likes it 🙂 Looking at this, I believe an arousal bridge is what she needs, to transition from the higher tugging arousal into the sequencing arousal and focus.
At :26, you took the toy and started the sequence, all in less than a second. You were not that connected and she was definitely not ready (plus lack of connection didn’t help her find the jump). So, she got leapy.
You used arousal bridges on the next rep! She did well with the food at :55 and then going back to BIG tugging!!! That is fantastic! Then to bridge into the sequence, you used food, then took a connected moment for about 2 or 3 seconds then at 1:15 you showed a clear connected line to the first jump. She ran beautifully! So definitely keep that toy moving and exciting like you did here… and build in those arousal bridges and I bet she has no more questions.
>>For the mountain climber, should the teeter be on the base (set lower) and resting on something or can I just use the teeter board propped up against the table? Just trying to see what needs to get dug out of the shed for this. (I did find my teeter tip it thingee though)>>
I use the full teeter with the ‘get on’ end on the ground, and the target end propped on my tip it thingamajig. The dogs are running up the full height teeter. Now, because she is small, you can have the teeter lower (on the base, or on a table) so there is less height. It depends on how you think she will feel about climbing it.
Great job here!
TracyHi!
It is crazy how 80 degrees probably felt really nice after all of the 100 degree days! He did great here!
>>First rep – just running circle, nothing more
Very nice! Great connection from you and he was very speedy!
>>2nd – wrap. BTW when we late tried front-crosses, I wasn’t sure what is the difference between ‘wraps’ from week 1 and ‘front-crosses’ from week 2. In other words – which one I’m doing wrong LOL because they look the same to me>>
You are correct in that they are both front crosses – a side change from one arm to the other. The wrap refers to the extreme amount of collection needed, and that he is going to come all the way back around the wing. A regular front cross does not has as much collection and he proceeds to the next jump without coming back around the wing. I call those “fluffy” because they are wider but I am probably the only one who calls them that LOL!!!
On the wrap here, the verbal and front cross started just before he gathered for takeoff (:14). You can start it earlier, because then he will collect more. For now, let him land from the previous jump – when he has landed you can start the verbal and start to decelerate, both of which cue the collection. Then as he gets to the 2nd jump and is collecting, you can do the front cross.
For the verbal, you don’t need to say ‘over’ – you can say your check verbal a couple of times, because check means ‘take the jump and turn tight’.
Compare to the timing of your wrap cues at 1:53, on the other side: VERY NICE! You were earlier with your deceleration, starting when he landed, and you also rotated sooner. He was very tight on the turn there! As you finish the FC and head to the next line, this is also a spot to keep your arm back to his nose so he can see your eyes and front of your shoulders.
The last rep at 2:01 was good too, with the timing more like the first one at :14 so it was a little late. And the turn was wider. I liked your timing at 1:53 the best!
>>Then we tried blind crosses. LOL – should I mention that blind cross is NOT something we had done often before? My Golden is fast (for me), Danes too, so I’m typically behind – means my ‘favorite’ and most-used cross is rear-cross 🙂>>
Your blind was great here!!!!!! You sent him away on the line and so you were at the next jump and finished with the blind cross here at :26, all before he took off for the blind cross jump. That is SUPER!!!!! You might not feel totally comfortable yet so you moved a little sideways out of it, but your connection was lovely and he had no questions. You can be connected like you were (low arm, eyes looking for his eyes) and move forward – he will totally find the line.
Yes, I also love rear crosses but when you can send him away on a line and get to the blind like you did here? PERFECT!
The next blind was strong too (:36) and you added a wrap at the end – add a little deceleration after you finish the blind so he can prepare his collection for the wrap front cross sooner.
>So you can see me ‘struggling’ on video trying to figure it out 🙂 And after 2 ‘unsuccessful’ attempts I just put him into his crate and walked it without him few times 🙂>
I think what was hard was maybe you were trying for a spin? The spin is the front cross on the jump, then the blind cross as he is jumping – he starts and ends on the same side of you, but with the rotation of a front cross sandwiched in the middle to create a tighter turn.
The blind at :50 was strong and also great at 1:28 on the other side! You did a post turn for the wrap after the blind on those and he did not like that as much as the front cross 🙂 I think it was not as connected (same at 1:15) so he had to slow down to figure it out. At 1:29, we have a good video of the connection: yes, your head was turned but your shoulders were ‘closed’ forward, meaning your arm was at your side so he could not see your chest or eyes as you turned away. I am sure you could see him, but he could not see the connection as well. To help him there, you can point your dog-side arm back to his nose so he can see your eyes and the front of your chest (which points to his line). He picked up speed again as soon as he saw connection.
>> He is slow but it’s either because he is doing it first time OR I’m not handling it right>>
The slow moments were the moments he was looking for more connection. He was running on all the connected moments!
>>2 times where I ‘lost him’ – at first I though because he is hot or tired or it was too many reps on the same setup; but looking at it again I think because I lost a connection with him.>>
Yes! It was connection. At 1:00 and 1:39 you were turning forward too soon and he lost connection. That connection makes a big difference in terms of knowing where to be, so he will slow down to wait for more info if he is not sure. When he is sure, he was very fast!
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
It is really exciting to see her read all 4 cues so well!!! I am sending you a high 5!!!! It went really well, I only have small suggestions for you:
The GO lines looked great!!! You can deliberately go in closer to the tunnel to see if she will drive ahead, or you can try to leave her in the dust and get miles ahead: will she still find the line?
The backsides were probably the hardest skill for her here. You can add more connection on the send to them. As she is over 3, you were looking ahead so she was looking at you at :11 and :31. If you look at her as she is at 3 and you are cuing the backside, she will send better. Then keep driving forward to the wing to support the line until she is just about at the entry wing – you were a little too early leaving on the first one. At :31 I think she felt too much pressure of you running in, so she flipped away. The next one looked good!!
She did really well with the rear cross! You can go in closer to the tunnel so you don’t need to decel and wait for her as she approaches 3 – you can be getting right on the RC line as she is over 3, then decel further up the line to get the wrap.
The wrap FC had really timing of the verbal and great job facing forward (after all of the reps to the other side of the bar, she was great to turn left here!) You can add in decelerating soon, (as she lands from 3 not when she passes you) to get a tiny bit more collection.
The sits were a little harder with the agility obstacles (and hose LOL!) around but that was probably just an indication of higher arousal… so it was good throw in a couple! Yay! She needed a little extra help but she did get it. Definitely revisit it after a bit of sequencing and see how she does next time!
Great job here!
Tracy
