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Good morning!
The NextLevel game went really well! She is totally looking for the line now even as you get further and further away. The toy throws are harder with the added distance, but the timing was still strong enough that she was looking for the jump and seeing the reward flying before she took off. Super!
>>I feel like I have quite a bit less motion than you. I’m not sure if it’s my set up is smaller or my dog is slower or if I’m just wrong.>>
I think it there was a little less distance between the obstacles at the beginning. By the end, you had more distance and also you were running more – and she was happy with that! So you can keep adding running – that will including running down to the tunnel entry as you send her to it, then waiting for a second then running up the line, so she practices getting ahead of you. It will feel weird to wait for that second or two 🙂 but it will set it up so you are not that far ahead of her.
The Straight Lines 4 ways session went well! On big thing to note is she is starting to love the tunnel more and drive to it more independently at the end of each sequence where you cued it – that is SUPER!!
>>I’m not entirely sure I did this entire exercise all correct but hopefully I got the concept at the very least.
You totally did – very clear info! She was able to read all of the cues very easily.
>>I think my spacing was off because I once again didn’t have near the motion you do.>>
You can build your spacing up to 21 feet or so – and because your tunnel is smaller in height and longer than mine, she is taking a little longer to get through it (because she has to squish down a bit). So to keep the motion going, you can run in closer to the tunnel, run along the curve of it for a few steps, then run up the line. That will give her more motion, which is a harder challenge. And for the GO lines, you can totally get way ahead of her and see if she can still find the line of jumps.
The backside cues looked good too! Great connection! She was able to do it each time you cued it (even mixed in with the front side cues) – that is great because most young dogs are locked onto the front side of the jump. Your line of motion, connection, arms, and verbals were SUPER clear so she got the backsides. Yay!
And the FC wraps were strong too! She had nice turns – you can start the verbals and decel sooner, when she is halfway between the jumps. Great job with the connection here – that really supported her line.
>> Kashia doesn’t have solid turn aways yet so I didn’t do those with her.
To add the rear crosses, you can go in closer to the tunnel then run towards the center of the bar of the RC jump. It is not a turn away with arms or anything like we did in the connection class, it is more of a ‘normal’ rear cross so motion to the center of the bar will help get it. She will have to move ahead of you to do it, so throwing rewards to the landing side will totally help build up the rear crosses.
Keep me posted on how she does with the backing up! I am sure she will sort it out in a session or two 🙂
Great job!
TracyGood morning!
Because she is so fast 😁 I like how you set yourself up to be really far ahead for now and not moving super fast, it really helps her process the cues!>>I did get rear crosses and wraps first tries.>>
Yay!!! I think for the RCs, you can take out the decel element for now to really solidify running the RC line. The turn will be wide but that is fine because it will show her the difference between running the RCs to the center of the bar versus decelerating on the wrap wing. The backside at the end was really good! Super clear cues and her commitment was great!
Also with the RC lines, it set up a straight line to the other end of the tunnel so a BIG connection will help her get the correct end… but too much motion pressure was pushing her past it. So you can add connection without adding pressure towards the tunnel entry.
>>We had lots of straight lines just not necessarily over obstacles lol. >>
I think her questions about that were good baby dog questions! She is so very literal – definitely relying on the full cue to find the line like a normal teenager 🙂 She is definitely better with her lines each time she works one of these sequences!
Two things that will help her find the jump after the tunnel in the spots where she went past it:
At :58, 1:08 when she was on your right exiting the tunne (and 1:14 on the other side), I think the tunnel exit was lined up past the jump so she got locked into running past it. The verbal cue came after she exited the tunnel (which probably means it was heard and processed after she was already past the jump).
Moving the jump to a more visible line will help, but it is also a good spot to slow down your motion – instead of running, do a fast walk or slow jog. It should be a steady pace (no decel or stopping) but just less motion so she can ‘find’ the jump. At her stage of brain development, motion is likely HUGE to her in terms of processing, and the jump is probably very very tiny when there is a lot of motion. So we can make the jump ‘bigger’ by dialing back the motion – you are still moving, but not running quite yet.
This was not as much as a question for her when you were way ahead, because position helped her see the jump and you didn’t have to move as fast.
This is exactly what I was working on with my baby whippet a couple of weeks ago. He was doing exactly what Lu did here: couldn’t ‘see’ the jump if I was running. My newly better understanding of the adolescent brain processing issues has helped me chill out a whole lot LOL!!! I did a couple of short sessions with me trotting along – then he got it and now I can run again.
The other thing that will help is is you call her a couple of times before she goes into the tunnel – so she is orienting towards you (and your jump cues) when she exits. It sounds like you were quiet when she was going in, so she was defaulting to her natural exit of blasting out straight (and that is a good default!)
Another session with a little less motion and calling her before the tunnel (followed by a good sleep LOL!) will probably lock in the skill – let me know how she does! Nice work here!!
Tracy
Welcome back! She was great in class last night!!!!! I am excited to see her play with the next games 🙂
Tracy
Fantastic! I am excited to meet your new pup!!!! Have fun with the games 🙂
Tracy
(PS – I love his name!!)
Wow, she is doing so well with her stay AND with the toy on the ground! AND with the toy moving! Definite progress 😁 And it also looks like she is looking at the toy before you release her – nice timing with that. We will use this game starting next week.
Have fun!
TracyGreat job in class last night!
That does sound like a challenging environment, but I am betting he will be fine running in it!!!
And just under 15″ gives you a lot of options for different venues!
T
Great! The different backside verbals have certainly helped the dogs have a clearer sense of where to go 🙂
TracyGood morning!
The NextLevel Pup game looked really strong here!! Adding motion after approx :45 was easy for her, and she was happy to find the jump.
>>I tried to walk a straight line from the middle of the tunnel without creating too much lateral distance that would cause her to question the jump.
Since she is ready for you to keep adding lateral distance bit by bit, you can use a jump pole to draw lines in the footing so that you can use the lines to run on – this way you can stay closer and closer to the start wing (and further from the jump).
You can also add getting her to drive ahead by running in really close to the tunnel before moving forward again, so she ends up ahead of you. This might be harder for her, so you can be closer to the jump and throw the reward really early.
On the contacts foundation game –
>>She actually knows how to do this but in an entirely different way. I taught her when I face her and she’s coming to me, there’s a command for stopping in motion and sitting or laying down immediately.>>
Super! That is the obedience version of it! The agility version has the handlers facing away, as if we are running a course. This is really hard for the dogs because motion is saying one thing (move forward) and the verbal is saying the total opposite 🙂 You were probably moving a bit too fast for her at the beginning, which is why she needed multiple cues to get the sit going. Ideally, we want her to sit pretty quickly after the first & only cue, so to get this going you can dial back your motion to the slowest possible shuffle (barely walking LOL). For some dogs, we start by just marching in place to start this game. And then when they understand to respond to the verbal even if the motion is doing something else, then it is easier to add more speed back in.
She was definitely working to figure it out! And as she gets the sit happening faster, you can also clarify the release by either releasing forward using your release verbal (mine is “break”) or throw the reward back with a separate marker (I use “catch” for that). Try not to praise her until after the reward or release forward, so she doesn’t think the praise is the release.
Looking at the teeter game:
>>I’m just not familiar with how it’ll translate to the teeter.>>
The dogs need to shift weight into their rear end to ride the teeter to the ground, so we like to shape them to really think about their back feet on the board as sign a good thing. And it is great for balance, since the teeter is in the air and they really have to use their core strength and hind end to avoiding falling off 🙂
>>Your dog makes it look so obvious that you want her hind legs on the board but I don’t know if I’ll get that? >>
Before starting it, the dogs have been taught to back up on the flat – it is a great game for hind end awareness, so if she hasn’t done that yet then we can get that started. Otherwise, you are correct: she will have no idea that we want her to back up onto the plank.
Here is how I start it:
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyYay! Super update!!! I have found this game translates to super stopped contacts (without having to actually work on the contacts themselves :))
You can spice it up by having something interesting out ahead, like a toy on the ground – walk towards it and use your sit cue to see if she can still respond to it 🙂And I moved Ken’s question over to his thread 🙂
Tracy
Good morning!
Nice job working through the rear cross versus FC on these! At the beginning, the cues at :14 and :18 were both on the wrap-to-the-right wing so that is what she did. On the next couple of reps, your motion was more towards the center of the bar so she read the rear cross info. Yay!When you add the tunnel and more speed, you will want to be running that line to the center of the bar before she passes you, so she is making the turn decision as she lands from the previous jump. And if you are running the RC pressure line, there is no need to turn your feet to the new direction til she is just about taking off. If you run forward to the other wing then try to cut in to show the RC line, she is likely going to wrap back for the FC. And if you turn your feet to early to get the RC (before she passes you) then you will get a backside.
The last 2 reps here had the backside pushes (deliberately, I believe :)) and they looked great!!!
Nice work!
TracyHello and welcome back! It sounds like the break weeks were perfectly timed to re-charge a bit 🙂 All 3 boys are doing well – congrats on qualifying for Nationals!!!!
I am looking forward to hearing about how Sealey does with the new games. Have fun!!!
Tracy
Good morning and welcome back!!
>> his fixation on other dogs playing agility is a major obstacle that we are working hard to overcome.>>
This is not that unusual at his age. The pattern game from MaxPup 1 will be really helpful as you navigate adolescence!
Pre-games 1 and 2 are looking super, especially with him holding his stay til released while you drag the toy! YAY!!!! Onwards to the games coming tonight!
Tracy
