[Tracy Sklenar]

Yay! I am glad you found the visuals helpful! I will keep doing them – freezing the moment in time really helps us see what the dog is seeing too!

Have fun! Stay cool!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

I think the outside arm reveals more connection than the dog-side arm when you are that far away. So it is not a bad thing at all! You probably don’t need it though – low arms, connection, parallel motion & verbals can be all her needs for now. That way the outside arm can be saved for things where he has to move away from you (like FAST sends or crazy lines :)) If he ran by the jump the first time, no reward, he will have a lightbulb moment of “take jump = big party” LOL! If he misses it twice, you can check the video – make sure your connection and motion were good! And if they were, you can help him by getting in a little closer to the line.

Let me know how it goes!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>> I can see in the videos what you mean about being early on the BC’s. Thanks, I wasn’t sure what I was doing to cause that jump to keep coming down. It makes sense now.>>

Also, you can measure the distance and see what the yardage is here. It might be tooooo big, too much speed 🙂 You can aim for 24 foot distances which will be very different feeling! Or, aim for less is you might do AKC with him.

>>I keep reminding myself to get more dynamic range for my verbals and then we start running and I feel his intensity/power and I ramp away. LOL :). I keep telling myself to start with at least a pianissimo and fortissimo between collection and a go-go-go. 🙂>>

Yes! Run it without him and practice the verbals!

>>For the left turn break arm, I added it because he was zig-zagging a line between the tunnel – 3 – 4 when we warmed up on the circle jumps. Maybe just let him figure out that line more?>>

Yes, let him sort it out – it might have been that the line was set on a zig zag, or you needed to turn him with a name call before he entered the tunnel.

Have fun!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>> I’m hoping by doing the drills with Enzo, it will sink into my head that that there are more choices than I usually consider. >>

Yes! That is the goal – what other strategies are available to get you up the line ahead of him when needed!

This went really well to help us sort that out 🙂

Sequence 1:
After the push wrap, you were at the tunnel entry when he enters the tunnel
After the threadle wrap, you were at 2nd to last tunnel bag when he enters the tunnel. That is pretty significant!

2nd sequence:
After the push wrap – good hustle out of there! As you were cuing it, you have your left arm up at :16 but it will be more effective to get a tight turn if you have it in front of his line on the way to the entry wing. You were halfway up the tunnel when he enters the tunnel.

After the threadle wrap – you were at the tunnel exit when he enters the tunnel. Again, it is pretty significant! You got the blind – he did slow up right on your heels to let you get past. You can be even further ahead if you don’t face him on the threadle wrap – move into it more so you are facing the tunnel and moving while doing the threadle wrap… then you will be miles ahead!

Full sequence looked good! Really nice lead out and turn on the tunnel exit!

Strategically: you can get more on his exit line for the FC on the 6 backside. That would be going in a little closer to 6, on the line to where the wing and bar meet and doing the FC there. That will serve 2 purposes:

– tighter turn on 6. You were wide of the line, more on the outer wing of 7 at :59 and 1:33 so he went wide there to your position

– easier line 7-8-9 which makes it MUCH easier to get 10-11. When he was wide, you had to hold position to get 7-8-9, closer to 7 and moving to 8. That delays getting past the 10 jump for either handling option. If you are closer to 6 and set a better turn, you will be able to send him 7-8-9 from closer to 6 (which also means closer to 10) and can very easily get up the line for whichever 10-11 option you want. And ifyou are further ahead on 10, the threadle wrap on 11 is even more effective because you can set a better line to it.

I timed it (of course haha) and the threadle wrap not only put you further ahead, but it was also a shade faster (less than a stride). That is good to know if there is a big line to get to forward past 11!!

Great job here! Let me know what you think!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>>I guess you must have thought we didn’t have enough to do — there are a lot of hot topics in package 3! Happily for me, my dogs “go on” really well, so that part doesn’t need too much work.>>

Ha! I added the GO lines in because it is surprising how many dogs don’t drive ahead, or slow waaaayyyyy down and have a beautiful (and unwanted) collection on the last jump. And with a big trend now of massive lines across the ring, I figured we should open that can o’ worms 🙂

I am glad we did because we need to sort out the bouncing and bar down! It didn’t matter if you tossed or placed the reward. He is bouncing with his head up, and also not powering enough to clear the bar.

First thing to do is measure the exact distance, if it is still set up. I didn’t think it was too short and it might indeed be something he sees in AKC!

>>Maybe I should shove it out a few more feet, so he has to add another stride.>>

Yes, that is one approach. He might not add another stride and maybe he will think it is uncomfortable, then add a stride? Maybe not 🙂

And I think lowering the bar might actually get him bouncing more, which is not actually want we want. I would prefer he put a stride in!

So two other approaches:

Before revisiting this setup with him, work on a ‘reading’ grid. This is 4 jumps in a straight line – jumps 1-2 and 2-3 are set 6 feet apart and very low, like 8 inches. Jump 4 starts 12 feet away from jump 3 (maybe a 16 inch bar on the first session or two, depending on how he does).

Rep 1 – he should bounce that 12 foot distance.

Rep 2 – jump 4 moves out to 15 feet – he will probably still bounce

Rep 3 – jump 4 moves out to 18 feet – he should add a stride

Rep 4 – jump 4 moves out to 21 feet – he should still do a one stride but it will be slightly longer

Rep 5 – jump 4 moves back to 18 feet

Rep 6 – jump 4 moves back to 15 feet

Rep 7 – jump 4 moves back to 12 feet

He gets exactly one rep of each, per session, total of 7 reps 🙂 The goal is that he reads and adjusts the first time (no do-overs – we want him to read it the first time, not get it right because he has seen it before LOL!)

If he has never seen a jump grid like this before, then the height on bar 4 should be 12 to help set up some success. And if he has never seen this concept before, you should be stationary, 20 feet past jump 4 (maintaining that distance as the 4 jump moves, so you are always 20 feet past it) with a toy attached to a long line. The toy is on the ground and as you release him, you move forward at a walk and drag the toy on the ground (a moving visual target).

If he has some education on this concept previously, you can have jump 4 at 16″ to start, and you can be adding more handler motion. You can be out ahead running, or you can lead out to jump 2 or 3, release, and move forward.
I do a ‘yes – no’ game on this version of it, with my focus on jump 4: I don’t place the toy, and I will only throw the toy when it is a “yes” meaning, the bar on 4 does not get touched. And a ‘no’ if it is touched or dropped. I might use a quiet ‘nope’ marker but it is very neutral, and I always follow the 2 failure rule: 2 ‘nopes’ in the session means it is too hard and I dial it back (reduce my motion or drop the bar height).

This will potentially take a couple of sessions to lock in! And it will be physically fatiguing (there is a conditioning element to it) and mentally expensive (a whole lot of mechanics processing!) so itis best for every couple of days. And when it is far more ‘yes’ reps than ‘nope’ reps, we apply the yes/no concept to the bigger lines here.

Let me know how it goes!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! I am glad you are getting a break in the weather!!!

>>I forgot to try the leadout to threadle in sequence one. It’s not something I would normally try.>>

It is lower on the priority list for now – the other skills rank higher, meaning you are more likely to use them soon. That lead out to the threadle will be useful too, but not as soon as the others. Leading out to a threadle will work really well on more straightforward setups like Jumping course 2 in package 2!

I am really liking her focus focus on all of the lead outs here!!!

>> I’m not sure if I set the jumps wrong, but I had a little trouble getting 3. I was in her way.

I think it was a blind cross timing thing causing the questions. It is more of a normal BC there so the timing is sooner than it would be on a German:
– the timing of a normal landing side blind is starting as she is approaching the backside entry wing
– the timing of a German turn (wrap exit) blind is later – it starts as you pass the exit wing.

On the first run, you went too much into the gap before doing the blind at :07 (after waiting for her to commit, which also showed decel!) so she collected. It did look more like a german with the tight turn exit, so she pulled off an impressive move to the threadle to 3!

Your line there at :20 and :39 was better for sure! The blind was a late (you were starting it when she was in the air – so you can start it as soon as you see her heading to the entry wing. That way you will be finished and showing the next line before she takes off.

>> The backside push to 6 to the blind threadle worked really well. That didn’t come to me staring at the maps.>>

Part of the goal for Package 2 and Package 3 (and 4 and 5 haha) is to get us finding places to use that skill more easily. It is cropping up everywhere so we need to be ready for it.

Nice push to the backside on 6!!!! She is finding those and jumping those beautifully. This is another spot where you can start the blind sooner (as she is approaching the entry wing) so you are finished and showing threadle before she takes off. At :28, you were a little late and she was surprised by the hard slice so she dropped the bar. You can make the threadle cue “bigger” in terms of arm back immediately and verbal. The cues at :47 was better there! You are using 2 low arms for the threadle slice cue there – you can be more upright and let your dog-side arm (left arm in this case) swing back more to show the threadle slice.

Sequence 2: The opening looked good!

On the 4-5-6 line: you got a right wrap/rear cross at 1:09 and 132 and 2:05 on 5 – I was pretty sure that is what you intended until you did a FC/left wrap at 2:39… Let me know if it was a blooper? For the right turn/rear crosses, you can show more motion up the RC line (putting more pressure into the center of the bar) as you flip her away with your hands, and a little more decel. For the FC/left trurn wrap, just decel is needed, no need to push in towards the center of the bar. I think the right turn/RC wrap is better because it sets a GREAT line back to the tunnel!

The Brake arm at 9 got really lovely collection at 1:14 and 1:40 and 2:11 and 2:46! The post turn showed her the 5 jump more than desired there. This is a spot where a spin can be more useful even with the brake arm. You got outta there sooner at 1:40 so the turn was better but a spin will get you up the line to 10 sooner and get a tighter turn on 9. I don’t love to throw in a lot of spins, but this is a great place for one because it turns your feet/motion to the next line sooner than a post turn does.

The brake arm on the way to 10 was very effective! It was a little late at 1:18 but much sooner at 1:41 (before she made a jumping decision) so she got a nice turn there!

>>Sequence 2 I struggled with jump 11 since you said not to wrap it. I’m still not sure why you can’t?>

On this sequence, wrapping to the left creates a slower, harder line to the 12 tunnel because the collection is very hard, and then it sets up a line with more turns – a left turn to get back to the tunnel, then a right turn to get into the tunnel. The slice there is a faster/easier line for the dogs (less collection) and then when she lands, she has basically a straight line into the tunnel – so it is easier plus will be a lot faster.

>> I am BAD at whiskey crosses and tend to get a wrap rather than a slice.>>

The cues that make them look different are upper body and feet 🙂
For the wrap, upper body and feet are facing forward to the next line, and your upper body & feet do not turn to face the bar at all (this includes hands, because arms pointing at the bar will turn shoulders to it.

For the slice, upper body and feet DO turn to the bar (the center of the bar, specifically) and you push around the entry wing a little to face the center of the bar, until she is past you and turning the correct direction.

Here is a visual:

On the reps on the video: at 1:20 you kept moving forward so she didn’t commit at all 🙂 Just a blooper LOL Then each rep got better and better: At 1:46 your upper body was good but your feet didn’t turn to the bar. You fixed that at 2:22
where your upper body was really good and turning to the bar. Your lower body (feet) faced the bar better and she got it. And it was even better when you got it in flow at 2:51!!! NICE!!! It is a patience manuever there – get there, decel, show RC, let her get past you… then move to the tunnel.

>>The back lap didn’t work as it was poorly executed.

Just a little more patience needed on the turn away: your position there at 2:15 was really good! To flip her away, you need to use your left arm (opposite arm) to turn her away and stay in that position (even take a step forward to the turn away line) before taking off, You took off a little too soon.

Here is a visual (I am in a visual mood today haha) of making sure the dog is turned before you take off:

>> Unfortunately, I forgot to try the threadle slice. After I’d taken a break, filmed sequence 3 and broke down the tunnel I remembered. It’s just in isolation, but I wish I would have tried it as it seemed to work well.>>

OH WOW The blind to threadle works GREAT there!!!! YAY!!!! Great job getting it – and you know it was legit good handling because she had not seen that part of the sequence in a while – and nailed it. YAY!!!!

>>Sequence 3. Have I mentioned that threadles scare me? I’m better, but still not great.>>

You are doing great! I think you are at the point where ‘normal’ threadle slices are fine and easy! And you are consistently executing the ‘normal’ threadle wraps. Now we are adding the crazy different threadles which is definitely going to feel weird at first 🙂

On the video:
You can start your backside cues for 3 as soon as she enters the tunnel – she was turning towards you then you had to push her back out, which made it harder for you to get 4. If she already knows she is going to the backside after the tunnel, you can be even further away from the entry wing of 3 and won’t need to step to it. Your handling was definitely more effective at 3:33 and 3:57 when you were further across 3 and showed the line to the threadle wrap really well!

Now that threadle wraps are getting more comfy (hopefully 🙂 ) you can do a blind on the threadle wrap exit (will feel like a spin) to get her on your left for 5 without a post turn and to tighten the line 4-5.

>> I managed to get the threadle wrap, but then got another one rather than the slice at jump 7 before the tunnel.>>

The cues on 7 looked different and she read them really well:
at 3:42 you rotated to her to bring her into the threadle, then you opened up again your feet were facing forward to the tunnel so she (correctly) did a threadle wrap.
When you opened up for 7 at 4:05, your shoulders and feet faced the jump and she read it as the slice. YAY!

To make it easier, you can take out rotating towards her when she is taking 6 – use verbal turn cues and upper body brake arms, but turning your feet to her delayed what was needed for 7.

These were hard and I think you and Sprite did a great job!!!!

>>What would you recommend next assuming I can get to the park this week? The live layering or standard pop outs?>>

With UKI coming up – layering! And if you want to skip ahead, look at the big lines stuff (just the first hot topics, not adding the threadle wraps or push wraps) to work on driving ahead on big lines, as that is a theme in UKI.

>> We are just in beginning though. I’ve only done one UKI trial with her and I think we E’d all runs. Oops!>>

You won’t need threadles in UKI next weekend unless you entered Masters Series or some of the other crazy classes 🙂 Any backsides will be pushes and they will be in flow for Beginner/Novice dogs. Remember that refusals are not counted in the beginner level!

Great job here!!! Stay cool!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

Yes, it has been a HOT summer! I am well-acquainted with sunrise training LOL!!

And I am glad you liked the setup – did you add other things like front cross wraps and stuff? I love all sorts of variations!!!

I think the session went well with Sly!! I think there are three subtle details to look at that will make it perfect 🙂

>>Sly definitely understands the handling…..when I get the timing right >>

Yes! You were pretty good with the timing, but it can come earlier 🙂 In general, the cues for whatever was happening on the magic backside jump 😁 were happening as he was taking off for the previous jump. So that was a little late, and causing the other cues to be a little late too.

For example, the blind to the threadle wrap or threadle slice should be finished by the time he takes off for the jump before it, so you can start that blind sooner: when he is landing from the jump at the top of the line, you can cue the next jump and begin the blind. Your motion down the line should help support the commitment to the jump.

That way, as you are finishing the blind, you will have plenty of time to begin the next cues:

For the threadle wraps, the is the decel and verbal. On the threadle wraps, because the blind was a little late, the decel was a little late. You ended up coming to a full stop and that is when he got it as he was arriving at your leg (:05, :40, 1:00, 1:28 are good visuals).

If you finish the blind sooner and begin the decel as you are finishing it, you will see that he turns himself away sooner and then you can move forward again sooner.

The same for the blind to threadle slice – the earlier you finish the blind, the better he will see it as a threadle slice and have time to adjust.

Something that will also help timing is using real estate differently for each cue. You were running the line after the tunnel pretty close to the 3rd jump then coming down the line for the backside or layering. If you send more to the middle jump at the top of the line, you will be able to get to the blind cross a lot sooner because you will be well ahead of him. And on the blinds, you can be closer to the entry wing of the threadle jump on both (rather than moving to the landing spot of the BC jump).

And to make the push wrap and push slice backsides different looking earlier than arrival at the backside, you can use real estate differently there too:
For the push wrap, your destination is where the wing meets the bar on the landing side, so you can send away on the previous line and run directly there. Running alongside the line then moving into the backside wrap position causes the timing to be late – that is partially what happened when he ended up in the tunnel on the first rep (you moved a little too soon there also, he had not fully committed and moving forward pushed him off the line and sent him to the tunnel).

And for the push to slice (German) – you can stick closer to the jumps after the tunnel so as he is going around the back line, you are running on a parallel line to the exit wing. That positional cue really gives him an early warning about the backside 🙂

And for the layering – strategically get really close to the jumps after the tunnel so you are sending him away to the jump at the top of the line, then setting the layer up with parallel line motion.

At 4:08 You went in too deep to the line and so as you sent to the tunnel, you also pulled away to get the layering. That caused a question: over the jump before the tunnel, he is turning towards you and looking at you. He did go back out to the tunnel, but you can get a straight line/no questions but staying closer to the 2 jumps after the tunnel so you can send him to the line before the tunnel and run on a parallel line the whole way to it.

One other thing that I think will help: use your verbals sooner and repeat them a few times 🙂 As you are finishing the blind for the threadle wrap and slice, you can begin saying the verbals and say them a few times. You were saying them a little late, and only once as far as I can tell. They were quiet (which is good for collection cues but the sending cues can be louder) but saying them once makes them easy to miss (I missed them a couple of times and yes, I have had my coffee hahaha!) So repeat them along the line until he commits, same as you did wit the tunnel layering cues at the end 🙂

Great job here! Let me know what you think!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

>> I reward a lot for efforts but you’re right it’s not consistent

I reward a lot of effort too and have been thinking about how to clarify it lately, for humans and for dogs 🙂 Because rewarding everything all the time doesn’t necessarily help build behavior 🙂 I have broken it down into a couple of chunks:

– in handling, if/when I screw up? Keep going or reward. I am developing a library of “when I make *this* mistake, the dog does *this* behavior” so in the moment we humans know exactly what we did wrong and how to adjust to fix it.

– in handling, if I am not sure what went wrong or tempted to tell the dog she is wrong, I will keep going or reward and then I stop and watch the video. I would sell a kidney to get agility people to watch their videos in the middle of a session. It is not a ‘thing’ in agility to do that and there are a lot of reps that are wasted because of it or the dog gets told they are wrong when the video makes it very clear that it was human error.

So – watch your video. Yes, it is a pain sometimes but it is so very worth it!

– in trained skills, I will reward really good tries if it is really hard and a NEW skill that also involves handling cues.

– in trained skills, if it is NOT a new skill and the dog has been successful a LOT in that same context, I consider resetting and not rewarding. After all, it is valuable info to NOT reward when there is an error, assuming it was a DOG error. It is wildly confusing to not reward when there is a handler error and the dog is reading the handling correctly. But that also invokes the 2 failure rule. And for course work, the 2 failure rule is TOTAL for the full run… not just 2 failures on the weaves, and one on the start line, and a couple on jumps… that is when it builds up too much and the dog Ubers on outta there.

>>and the weaves I always reward when she gets something I know is hard effort but I don’t always pay the weaves when right- I think that’s bc she was stopping and looking for food but I need to be better about in this context or that context. >>

I think the number one thing to do is to tweak how the reward is delivered:
– be more consistent with a ‘get it’ meaning reward is delivered. Sometimes it was get it, sometimes it is good girl (sometimes yes in other contexts). If you are super consistent that it is only ‘get it’, she will not look for a cookie until she hears get it.
– will she get a food reward from a lotus ball or treat hugger? That can make it more obvious when the reward has been delivered and there will be fewer pools of scent that might cause her to look for a treat on the ground. Or a ball? Anything that is motivating and easy to grab without leaving cookie friends on the ground and be helpful!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

I want more Puddin’ Pops!! 38 seconds is not enough LOL!!!! She did great here.

Her Papillon ears are a giveaway when she knows which jump is the one to look at LOL! Make sure you release on a release, not on a ‘yes’. I think there was a verbal release (ts ts noise?) on the 2nd run, but I think for her it would be a ‘hup’ because she doesn’t need a lot of collection here.

After watching it, I think that Puddin’ is making the transition to confident grown up dog and you can handle her like that, with info now coming earlier because her commitment is looking strong. And you can also start to give her info at the same time you give it to Sahweet – earlier for sure! And same/similar timing will be easier for you a you switch back and forth.

1-2-3 looked good!

She was surprised by the turn 3-4 at :07 and :20 (went wide looking towards the 5 jump) – that was because you were on the landing side of 3 and moving forward after the blind, which did cue her to look at 5.
Two options to clarify that line for her:
– you can treat 3 more as a serp-to-blind on the landing side, which should show motion to 4 better and take out 5 as an option
– You can put the blind on takeoff side, between the tunnel and the jump, which sets up motion directly to 4 and will also take 5 out of the picture.

NICE independent wrap on 4 at :08 and even nicer at :22!! SO NICE!

On the 2nd run – you can add a little decel on the way to 5 at :24 before she passes you. Just a little more needed, to tighten up the turn on 5 and get you ahead for 6.

That gives you more time to cue 6. Your cues were were forward and accelerated, which caused her to (correctly) jump in extension. I think you might have been helping her there more than she needed!

If you stay on the takeoff side, you can be moving away laterally and even add a break arm, so you can get a better turn on 6 and set up the RC to the last tunnel better.
Or, if you send into 5 more rather than move forward to it, you can get a cross between 6 and 7 which makes the ending much easier to handle!

I love that she drove away to an off course though!

>>I didn’t foresee that off course on the second one so I didn’t anticipate handling the turn.>>

I think you were in catch up mode there and behind her, so you were accelerating through the RC and yelling a bit. Both of which will propel her forward and that is FABULOUS 🙂 Yay! Great job cheering her on and rewarding her 🙂

Lovely work here!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
It took me a minute to figure out the sequence with you going to the inside backside of 5 LOL! I see now it is a space limitation and going to the other side of 5 for the backside was harder, even though you did get it really easily at :43 and :58. I definitely need more coffee hahahaha!

>>I was surprised she struggled initially with the distance when we did a practice run yesterday.I struggled with the extra jumps lol.>>

I totally relate – dog and human brains struggle to ignore the jumps in our way! It takes a few times to get comfortable ignoring all of the ‘clutter’ 🙂

This session went well! You got the threadle at 5 really nicely at :05 and :18, by being there, rotated, calling her as she was over 4.

The layering worked well to get you there – her only question about it was at :29 when you turned too soon. Compare to :17 and he other layering spots when you were moving forward parallel to the line.

It looked like getting the push to the backside at :43 and :58 went very smoothly! She seemed to have no questions there and you get into position very easily, with enough time to show very clear connection.

Great job!!!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! He is doing well here! The biggest highlight – I don’t think he had a single off course tunnel when you cued a backside push/wrap/threadle. SUPER!!

Looking at the little details – you used a brake arm at jump 3 at :04, and pretty massive turn cues for 3 at 1:00 and 1:15 (big decel, strong verbals, 2 strong brake arms). That is an extension line to 4, so I don’t think you need a brake arm or collection cues there (he didn’t collect at all, which he really should have done at 1:00 and 1:15 based on the strength of your turn cues there). Was he having trouble finding 3-4? He looked fine here without the collection help 🙂

You can also add a verbal ‘head’s up, something is coming’ before the backsides (push, wrap, or blind to threadle). I think a name call after he lands from 5, or using a GO GO GO TUNNEL versus a quieter “jump!” will help him organize sooner because he knows something different is happening.

He did well with the push to the backside at :17!! I think he surprised you because you had to hustle to get out of his way 🙂

>>Also is there something I’m doing that causes that far most bar to come down in the jump circle? Pulling off too abruptly?>>

That was mostly when you were doing the blind to threadle slice, and it was because you were too early 🙂

Looking at the reps:
You were too early at :35 (bar at 5 came down) and :48 on the blind (5 and 6 came down), starting it as he was over 5 so he was like “wait what?” and tried to adjust. The timing would be to keep moving forward, let him land from 5 cue 6 then start the blind. The distances are really big here, so you have more time to get the commitment. If you were doing AKC-style small distances, you would probably have to begin the blind as he was over 5, but there is less speed so he would have an easier time with the bar.

At 1:04 he also dropped 4, but no worries on that one – he was probably watching to see what you were going to do and decelerating a bit to check.

On the threadle slices, he found the line better when you moved across the bar, parallel to it. At :36 you were moving away from the threadle jump and turned forward which did not support the next jump so he (correctly) took the tunnel. Your line was much better at :52, parallel to the jump, so he had no trouble with that section at all. Nice!

He had some questions about the circle wraps, and they were due to you blocking his line and blocking the wing. At 1:05, 1:20 and 1:41, your line was blocking the wing so he was not entirely sure where to go, plus at 1:20 and 1:41 you were also moving forward before he was past you (he spun a bit on those 2 reps). Ideally, your positional cue would be on the landing side (where you put the toy, approximately) where the wing and bar meet. As he is doing 3-4-5, you are moving on the line to that position so as he is jumping the previous jump (5) you are landing there and holding position until he is past you. You can reward him with the toy for it, but his question will disappear when he can see the full wing and you move forward after he is fully past your running line.

Let me know how the blind-to-threadle-wraps go! That will set you up for the new games posted this morning!

Nice work here 🙂
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

I am excited that she has her own Chata And Friends Class!!!! Perfect for everyone. She did great!

>>Small group but she can’t expect to handle any type of league or trial if we always train alone. >>

100% agree. And she was terrific!

She was such a good girl on the start, holding the stay AND finding the first jump! YAY!! The opening line was lovely and you had a super nice blind 5-6, and lovely commitment to the 7-8 line as well.

>>still has no threshold for fixing an error.>>

Actually…. She has a ton of tolerance for it, more than you are giving her credit for 🙂 Here is what I see:

The threadle slice at 9 was a little above her pay grade (you can tweak the angle by rotating it so it is either a straight forward front side, or angle it the other way to be a straightforward threadle). She was pretty resilient to the slight chaos of trying to figure it out LOL!!! So it was good to carry on and not try to obsess on it, the threadle slice is really not an important course element for her right now.

Having the off course tunnel out there added a new level of challenge too, especially in terms of finding the weaves.

I think effort rewards for the weaves are great! One suggestion: Be sure to REALLY reward the weaves when she gets them right rather only when she gets them not-quite-right.

Speaking of effort rewards: two suggestions for those:
– bear in mind that while she does like the cookies, effort rewards also involve stopping. And I think agility dogs know that stopping means something was not quite right. Add in that she is a dog that loves to move move move… and you can overuse stopping for cookies and end up frustrating her more than keeping her happy. So if something goes wrong, just keep going like it was correct (because the video will likely show you that was correct :)) and then fix it on the next rep after watching the video.

– effort rewards must be consistent. If she gets an effort reward for one thing, and then the same exact thing happens… she should still get the effort reward! That also indicates that she is seeing something in the handling that is causing it, so you need to adjust. If she gets the effort reward *sometimes* but not others – and on the other reps is basically told “that is incorrect, try again”, she is going to get confused.

Putting this in context of the RC at the end:

You were a little early on the switch RC cue so she did not take the jump. What happened at 1:02 and 1:25 was that you were pushing into her line to change direction before she was past you, which pushed her off the line and kind of looked like a rear on the flat. She would have had to go through your flesh to get to the jump there 🙂

So with 1:02 and 1:25 being identical handling on the switch and producing the same response: 1:02 got rewarded. 1:25 got told that she was incorrect and needed to try again so she found her Uber shortly after that and left. True, you didn’t give a verbal correction or get mad at 1:25, but withholding reinforcement and going back to restart is totally an indicator of the response being incorrect (negative punishment) and also (NERD ALERT NERD ALERT) creates a dopamine drop out in the reward prediction error – which leads to a feeling of frustration.

Add in the start-and-stop from the threadle and the weaves, so there might have been a little frustration already, and withholding reward and stopping to re-do tipped her over the edge.

So if you get the same behavior twice? Reward it twice! And then look at the video to see what you did to cue it. Or, if you know, make the adjustment. At 1:51 your timing was MUCH better on the RC, and she was able to commit to the jump. YAY!

The ending line was great! She is really following the cues and your connetion looked fabulous 🙂 My only suggestion on the ending line is a handling decision suggestion: Rather than wrap her to the inside at 17, you can slice her to the outside there! It is a faster line and easier for you both. Yes, there is a juicy delicious off course tunnel there 🙂 but that is GREAT to work through. Your connection was crystal clear so I bet she would not have even looked at the tunnel 🙂

Great job! Let me know what you think about the nerdy stuff 🙂

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>>I’ve been looking/ obsessing over the pop out jumping courses.>>

Hooray! Obsessing is my favorite thing!

Looking at the pop outs:

>>I think I can do 1 through 5. But, starting DOL and stand towards 2 to push to the back side and then blind cross?>>

Yes, that is one option for sure and would work really well.

>> I’m not sure I could leadout to the takeoff side of 2 and have her take one. >

That is where the forward focus on the jump comes in really handy! You can start getting closer and closer to the lead out spot o 2, rewarding the forward focus and release to 1 with a thrown reward.

>>Looking at 5-8 what seems to make the most sense is threadle slice 5-6 with DOR and turn 6 left which sets up 7-9 better. Is that reasonable assuming I could do it?>>

7-8-9 is ideally dog on left (or do a blind at 7 to get the dog on left for 8-9). To get there, yes you can try for a threadle slice on 6 (turning her a little left over 5 then slicing out away from the course on 6). That will require a BIG turn on 5 though and is a pretty big dance 6-7. You can let her stay on the natural line over 5 to 6 and push to the backside of 6 (so she turns left and slices towards the course). Then you can do a blind to threadle 6-7 in the gap between the jumps, to get her on your left for 8-9.

Pop out 2:
Bearing in mind that one of the themes is blind-to-threadle 🙂
Dog on left 7-8. You can FC or BC 8-9 (no threadle needed there). Then push to 10 backside with the dog on your right). Then the options at 11 are:
– BC to threadle, to handle from the takeoff side of 11
– Push to backside of 11 then RC to get the slice to 12
– Push to backside of 11 serp, then flip her away to the tunnel while you stay on landing side of 11
– Push to backside of 11 then blind (German turn) but I think getting far enough across the bar soon enough for the blind would be hard on this particular set up

>>But, I’m not sure what to do to control the turn at 10 to get to 11 for a wrap. >>

Yes, the turn at 10 needs some control but 11 is not a wrap – the wrap sets up a harder/lower line to the 12 tunnel. The slice is going to be easier and faster even though it might look like longer yardage by a little.

So how to control the turn at 10? Brake arm!

>>I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be fast enough to get to the landing side of 8. So, if you send to 8 DOL and serp 9 to a blind, then what do you do at 10. Multiple turns in a row are not my strength.>>

At normal distances, you can easily send her away on the line 6-7 with connection and verbals, so you can head directly into the gap between 8 and 9 and get the cross on anding side of 8.

And yes you can do a Serp-blind on landing of 9 (or rear cross takeoff of 9) – the brake arm for 10 would be applied at the same time (as she exits 9 and you are cuing 10) but you won’t be as far ahead of her.

Looking at the videos:

Look at her looking at jump 1 on pop out 1! YAY!!! Remember to reward that a LOT! She basically looked at jump 1 before you even asked her to do it, and as soon as you pretty much arrived in your lead out position. She seems to be recognizing context and that is AWESOME.

Pushing to the backside at 2 worked well! She had hard time seeing the line to 3 but I think that was spacing – work her at 8 inches here to give her a little more room

She found the threadle nicely too. You moved a bit too early at :26 which is what contributed to the bar down the and a hard tick at :36. You can hold threadle position until she is a few feet away fro the entry wing to help her see the specific line, which will help her organize her jumping.

7-8-9 went well here! Now, bearing in mind there would be a tunnel out ahead and more speed coming into it, you can use a brake arm on 7 to ask for more collection before takeoff.

Pop out 2:
Yes, especially in the shorter distances, you would need to use big brake arm on the backside here. You had it here at :23 and she turned. You used it right before takeoff – ideally you would use it as you cue the behavior send as she exits 9. I think you can also not go all the wy up to the backside at 10 – send to it using the brake arm as part of the send cue. Not being as close to 10 will make 11 much easier!

>>I also could not get a threadle slice in popout 2.>>

Two things were happening:
– by being so close to the 10 backside, the FC put you right on her line at :32, :46, 1:29 so she did not have room to get to the backside. Being further from 10 can put you in the gap to 11 sooner and on the takeoff side.

– in keeping with the thinking of being further from 10 – getting into the gap on the takeoff side of 11 will allow you to show her a clearer physical threadle slice cue. When you did it in isolation, you had a very clear cue and she had no questions! Being further ahead will allow you to use that cue (upper body rotated to her and threadle arm all the way back)

If you are not on the takeoff side, you can also open up your threadle arm a lot more – it was closed a little forward and so that supported the line to the side of the jump she took.

>>She understands the reverse wrap cue.>>

Yes! Those looked great both in terms of understanding the cues and producing beautiful turns! Super! You can can also try a rear cross there (whiskey turn) to get the slice, or move across the landing side and try to flip her away as if there was a tunnel there 🙂

Great job! Stay cool!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

Oh no! I am sorry to hear you were sick! It was a gross hot week anyway, you didn’t miss much in terms of outdoor training opportunities!

The lazy game looked great, it is perfect as you recover from being sick!! Let him do all the running LOL!!!
He was perfect happy to zip around the lines. You can totally add in the tunnel, sendign with a verbal as you turn to face it but no need to sprint to it for now – let him sprint to it 🙂

The sending looks great. Nicely connected and clear cues, so he ws happy to get that middle jump. And he was setting up a nice turn as well, so remember to use your left/right verbals. The turns were even better when you did add the verbals!

The only suggestion I have is that you use a ‘get it’ marker when you want to throw a reward rather than ‘yes’ or praise. The ‘get it’ tells him to keep looking forward, and ‘yes’ words tend to get the dogs look at us… which means we might accidentally pull them off a line on course if we mark something with ‘yes’ (I have first hand experience with this LOL so feel free to learn from my errors).

So you would say your ‘get it’ marker then throw, then you can totally praise 🙂 as long as the ‘get it’ comes first.

Great job!!! Feel better!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!
He did great here!!!!

>>I found that I was crowding the line & moving in towards the jump! It’s hard to stay straight>>

Yes, there is a magnetic pull to the jump sometimes!! You had your wing out there as kind of a placeholder, and I think that helped you stay on the line. I also like to put a leash on the ground (parallel to the line I want to run) so I know not to go past it and not get close to the jump.

You were able to add a lot of lateral distance! Yay! One thing that worked great was when you ran down closer to the tunnel so you were in full acceleration as he exited (like at 1:52). When you were stationary and waiting for him, he would look at you before going up the line. But when you were moving, he had no questions.

You can also send to the tunnel and get way ahead, staying in motion, to challenge him to find that jump from behind you – he seems ready for that!

The other thing to add is giving him his verbals before he enters the tunnel: right before he goes in, you can be saying “GO!” Or “Over!” So he exits looking straight (and keeping saying it :))

As you got further away, your arm got higher (and you had some outside arm too) – be careful not to block connection, so keep the arms lower. This is especially true for the dog side arm – it can be pointing low and back to his nose so he can see your eyes.

Great job here! Keep adding distance and also try it getting way ahead 😁



Tracy

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