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Hi!
>I haven’t seen anything off with her but she is in season too and has been the last 1.5 weeks. >
Well, that can also be a contributing factor to her having a bit of trouble processing mechanics – hormones plus adolescence are challenging! Even the time before she is officially in season can bring behavior change in female BCs.
Plus she is not likely to show any obvious signs of being off is something is tight or she has a trigger point needing to be resolved 🙂 I mention that because she is adding little chip strides like at :42, :49 here (before the jump after the tunnel) and also adding small strides on the rest of the line rahter than running in extension on the low bars
>plus the footing here is not good. >
She was working the lines well but yes, the footing was challenging and she was having to run ‘tight’ in order to stay balanced. That can be part of why she was adding those strides (trying to stay balanced). She had trouble digging in to turn (especially if the cue was late 🙂 ) and then she was slipping trying to get around to the next jump (like at 1:49 and 2:32). I think wrapping her feet can help and definitely worth a try!
Nice work here!
Tracy
Hi!
He definitely gave good information! A few things come to mind:
He is definitely stressing about going towards the back of that building. It gets better with food in the picture and as he does more runs… but even with that, he still stresses about it. For example, on the 2nd speedway video – he came in with more engagement but even then would only move ot the back of the building when you tossed treats. So first thing is to figure out why. More on that below.
He was happy and moving when you were tossing treats and that helped! Yay! Separately from that, we need to get some behaviros going so when you can’t toss food, you can still get him engaged. The two most important ones are going to be:
– volume dial! What tricks get him moving a lot – can be spins, barks, hopping up for a nose touch, high five, leg weaves, etc… first we get them with food, then without food (remote reinforcement).
These are important because if he comes into the ring looking stressed, you can cue these behaviors to get him into the optimal arousal state.
– leash off, engagement on. When he is concerned, he wants to move away as soon as the leash is off. So pumping up the value of the leash off, engagement on game will really help: this can start with taking the leash off and running a few steps, then giving him a cookie or two or three 🙂 That way, the leash coming off becomes a cue that great things are going to happen and he automatically engages in that moment.
Back to the stress… it is hard to know exactly *why* he is stressing about it, because the triggers are not always the same. This time, there was no one back there. Yes, people were at the front of the ring but also – there was food in the ring with him and he was still concerned. Is it because the tunnels were dark? Did something weird happen back there, at some point in the past? Is it the weird visual od all the other stuff back there? Hard to know. But we need to help him out 🙂
Does he have that same concern at PFTF (heading to the back of the ring, even with food? I don’t recall it being an issue). Is this new for this location?
A few ideas for you –
– did we ever talk about getting a thorough physical work up for him? I scrolled back through your initial thread and couldn’t find anything. Getting a full physical check up (soft tissue check, blood work ((thyroid, tick stuff, etc)), joints check) is definitely on tap – his stress might be based in pain or illness. That is pretty common in sport dogs: we only see symptoms when they are under the ‘pressure’ of being in the ring. There are also some good probiotics you can consider to help balance gut health and reduce anxiety. One of my dogs is on Purina Calming Care and he is a much happier dog in life and sport!– for now, take out the pressure of trying to run courses in that building in a trial setting, even when you can have food. Get him going with tricks in the ring and having fun in the back of the ring (no obstacles needed for that) and then work him up to going to the back of the ring… but with remote reinforcement (food left in the front of the ring). When he is happily partying with tricks with you in the back of the ring, then add a jump or tunnel! Then we can gradually build up to the agility.
Let me know what you think! We will get him figured out!
Tracy
Hi1
> Flexible hybrid of 3 days/week in the office but they aren’t fixed days in the week and it sounds like it may not always be the full day. It’s less than 15min away and right off the highway so should he an easy commute.>
This sounds great!
>March OTR judge is Meagan Johnson.
I have heard really good things about Meagan’s courses!
>> I’ve got her entered in the Classic at 8in and am thinking I could move her to 8 for the OTR UKI trial too. It’s got a food box.>
Yes, I think she is ready for that.
>Dean said she slept most of the day.
She was encoding what she learned by sleeping 🙂
>I got done early (sadly only 150 runs on Sunday)>
That is about double what we are seeing locally in USDAA. Sadness!
T
Good morning!
Monday office work day? I will be thinking of you!!! Have a blast with the new job!
>March 7 – ring time at Fusion
>March 15 – mini seminar at OTR with Jacque H>Super!
>March 22-23 – OTR UKI trial (2 classes each day so first time trying 2 days.)>
Who is the judge? I think 2 days will be fine for her. We can play with advancing through more steps of the NFC progression.
>April 18 – Fusion ring time
April 26-27 – potentially a Teri O’Neill seminar at Fusion but don’t know if there would be an appropriate session for Lift yet>Since you are great at advocating for your dogs, it might be worthwhile if there is a young dog session? Since many seminar presenters do a TON of high level international turn turn turn turn turn turn turn stuff in the young dog seminars, you might want to do one level below what she is ready for? But also, Teri has small dogs too and probably understands that we don’t want to just work super tight crazy turns with a 12″ tall dog – we want to let her run run run!
>May 2-4 – either half day seminar with Stefanie T on Fri and 2 runs at Fusion UKI on Sunday or skip seminar and do 2 days at the trial>
It might be good to do the Stef seminar if there is a half day for the youngsters – she also has small dogs so understands how to train them. I love working with instructors that have small dogs because they tend to have a more flexible approach are great about setting up super fast fun lines with the youngsters along with the turn stuff.
>May 23-25 – Midwest Classic at OTR. Plan right now is run for realzies in SS Challenge on Friday and NFC Pentathlon a la carte Jprs and Snkr on Sat. Probably another SS run on Sunday (she can enter Pentathlon consolation SS a la carte)>
Perfect! Fun!!
>When we move to the empty hands, I’m assuming we layer that in with some reps where I have food on me for pattern games etc?>
Yes, the empty hands can still have food in your pockets sometimes… but I think that she is also going to be ready to move to the short in and out blasts where you have empty hands AND empty pockets. Start in training of course, but I believe it will be pretty easy for her!!
Keep me posted!
TracyGood morning!
He did GREAT on these runs! It looks like he was beginning to really get used to the environment and was running really well!Wow, Premier was really nice!!!! Great lead out, he found all of his jump, ignored the judges, and was fast!!! Leaving out the wrap was a good choice – it was a VERY fun motivating run for him!!!!!
>His JWW run, I decided to handle a section with a Fc instead of a BC. Not sure if I out the cross in the wrong place because it got crunchy but he came out clean & did it 23 seconds!>
This run was lovely too! You will want to look for more BC places because he smoked you on the FC, driving past and leaving you behind. This is a very very good thing 🙂 On the lead out for example, you did the FC at 1:06 with good timing, but the location was over between the uprights of 2 (probably to help support the line for a baby dog). But he was *flying* so when you finished the FC, he was ahead of you by the next jump. Ideally, you can stay ahead of him for longer, so running into a blind 2-3 is something to consider.
For the FC at 1:24, a BC will be easier to stay ahead there but I agree that it might have been in the wrong spot – putting it after the next jump would have made for a smoother line. Great job staying connected and showing him the line to get that lovely 23 second clean run!!!
>We didn’t run standard until close to 6:00pm & the wheels fell off the bus.>
Yes, running at 6pm is hard – it is a long day and it might have been getting close to dinner time, so his brain might have been a bit divided: agility? Dinner? LOL!! Even with eating treats all day, they get on a daily cycle where that can impact them. So if it is a long day, you can consider a small midday meal. And also, the dogs can get tired because the mental stamina of a trial day is something that young dogs need to build up.
The run still had a TON of bright spots! He was going REALLY fast at the beginning – a bit too fast to load onto the DW, so if it is the 2nd obstacle you can stay closer to him for now to help him load on. Lots of good lines and speed here too and yes- he nailed the teeter and ending line!! YAY!!
Great job here – he ran most of this just like he runs at home: fast, focused, accurate. SUPER!!! What is coming up on the training or trialing schedule.
Tracy
I agree! She was brilliant! The hardest thing for baby dogs is to go to a brand new place and run basically the same as at home… and she did it. YAY!!!!!
I also agree that she was a tiny bit more thoughtful on the jumping run… but that might have just been processing the footing and big new ring. It was pretty noisy in there! But she did great and absolutely rocked the snooker run.
She did well at the beginning (stays) and end of both run. I’m so excited by all of it!!
Next steps are to start running with empty hands (in class first, then in trials) as we progress to running for real 🙂 What is next on Lift’s calendar?
Great job!
TracyShe did great here! Yay!! She found her entries really well and ignored all the distractions. Good girlie!!!!
In this environment, I think you can add the 2nd set of poles. And when you are at home in your backyard, maybe start with a session on just the entries like here to generalize the behavior. Then you can very quickly add the next base to get 4 poles going, and add lots of your motion 🙂 She looks like she is absorbing this like a sponge!
Great job!
TracyHi! I could see from his expression on the start line that it was a hard environment, but he did well! The missed tunnel at the beginning of FAST was mainly that it was a weird line and the tunnel was offset so he didn’t really see it as on the line.
He definitely thought this teeter was weird! In the Premier run, he was running straight towards the judge who was waving his arms around… that might have been a little distracting. Plus the general layout of an indoor turf ring is different from what he is used to, like with the weaves right up against the ring fence. But he did well!
Outside the ring, is he able to play pattern games and do tricks? Both of these can help the distractions in the environment melt away. And on the way to the line (and after the leash comes off) you can ask him to do something fast and fun like a favorite trick – that can also help get him pumped up and ready to run!Nice work here! Keep me posted!
Tracy
Hi!
Out of curiosity, were you getting glitches on an Apple device? Ipads/Iphones/MACs don’t love to talk to wordpress or google (youtube). I never see the glitches on a PC.Thanks for the grid video! She was quite smooth on most of this! She took of a little early on the last one but that might be a product of changing the distance and of the toy placement (can be further away when working the big distances). This had you stationary, so adding your motion is definitely on the priority list.
I am gathering a list of body work people in your area! I will PM it to you. She doesn’t need to sit still for them, they can work magic LOL!!
Tracy
Hi!
>first video actually end last week was working on extending her run on- decided the first jump after tunnel wasnt issue more the later jumps so did the exercise with jump 2 and 3 close together and then moving three further out not that these two show very well in video. Definitely helped.>
She did well driving ahead here! 2 ways to build on this exercise:
Using both jumps, you can lead out less so you are not as far ahead of her when she exits the tunnel. That will get her driving further and further ahead.Use just one jump after the tunnel, and move it further and further away from the tunnel exit until it is 10 meters away! And you can be further away, either behind her or lateral from her to add distance.
Weaves are going much better with the channel and the toy! Start adding your movement so she gets used to it. And also, you can throw the toy sooner so it lands before she looks back at you. Or you can place it on the line so she can target it to, which will allow you to add all sorts of independent movement.
Back chaining the dog walk is good but like with the waves – we don’t want her immediately coming back to you after she goes down the ramp. A target or placed toy will help.
>all of these would like to place toy or havesomebody else throw it but neither possible.>
Why is a placed toy not possible? It is a good thing for her to learn how to deal with. You can also use a target on the ground that the toy is then thrown to.
>. wondering whether if placed a jump a little on it would give me time to toss forward more as dont want to toss while she is doing dogwalk or weaves. >
A jump might cause her to lift her head and leap over the contact, so a target or thrown toy is more ideal.
It is worthwhile to work out the reinforcement for the weaves and DW at this stage – that will speed up the learning and get the end results even better!
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi!
>I have a UKI trial – Speedstakes (2 runs) only Friday night so I can do the cookie chase to see if that gets him moving outside the ring. Since we know the issue do you think for these 2 runs just go into the ring and do a couple spins for me, etc inside the ring and maybe do a couple figure 8 over a jump and out the ring we go. Your thoughts.>
If you can get him to do some spins or silly tricks inside the ring as you come in and before you start to run? GREAT!!!! You can also try a ‘ready set go’ start where you gently hold his collar and say ‘ready…. set……’ then let go and say GO and start to run. I don’t know if he will like it or not, but it is something to try!
>On Sunday will be Speedway RUN THROUGHS. Since I can take treats in, planning on throwing food as we go through the gate and see if that helps. Once in, my plan is to do pattern games and tricks and see if he goes through tunnels and/or hoops, etc. My main objective doing these 4 runs Knight being happy. Any ideas greatly appreciated.>
Yes – enter with pattern games and when he is looking excited and engaged, ask for a spin then toss a treat… and if he can do that? Then you can try sending him through a tunnel and run, and see what he does.
>And just want to say THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU HELP THESE LAST FEW MONTHS. SO APPRECIATED.>
Happy to help! I feel like we are getting closer to figuring out what he needs! Keep me posted on how the weekend goes 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
Yes, you would gradually expand it to normal distances, and work it with more and more speed 🙂
T
Sorry for the delay – I kept getting an error message trying to load the video!!! Finally got it to work. Fake spring looks lovely, hopefully it turns into real spring!
> I will say I do think in the past she had a hard time on this grid so definitely looks improved.>
She definitely improved even in this session! Do you have any video of this grid from previous attempts? She had questions on the 1st, 2nd and last rep, and sorted it out really well on all the other reps!
She did best when you were not that far ahead and kind of parallel to her as she was at the last bar – that is where we see the most balanced stride into the last jump (on any of the distances). When you were further ahead as she landed from 3, she would throw in a bit of check stride then almost throw herself over the jump (:04, :26, 1:49 and the slow motion counterparts).
So you can play with getting ahead of her and keeping the bar low (16″) and see what she does when you are running AND ahead of her (passing the last jump as she is over jump 3). BTW – her stay looked great!!
And you can do the last bar at 20″ but see if you can stay parallel to her or even a little behind her, for now.
Since she was measuring up her jumping in a way I hadn’t really seen her do: do you get her seen by trigger point massage people? Between the icky ice and cold of winter and running on mats (where she has to run tight), she might have a trigger point or something restricting her a bit – and resolving that would make everything else very easy!!
Great job!
TracyHi!
Ah yes, horse snacks and the ear infection all probably contributed. I don’t think it is an issue, it just seemed outside of the norm for him.
His sequence work with the remote reinforcement looked great here – he has come a long way with that!!!! I can see the head shakes here too (from the ear infection, I am guessing) but it did not seem to cause any issue with his performance. He was fast and accurate, and didn’t head to the leash or treats until you cued him. Super!
So we need to combine this with the people in the ring. I think you can do a 2-pronged approach: maybe on his first turn in class, you can have treats with you and a LOT of people in the ring, people moving, etc. Then maybe in his seond turn: you do the first part of the course as remote reinforcement but with less pressure from the people. Then after he gets the first reward, the rest of that run can have the treats with you. When he is proficient with those, we flip it: the first run then becomes the remote reinforcement run. Let me know if that makes sense 🙂
Great job!
Tracy
