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Good morning!
This game is a great way to build value for jumps. Good job having the jumps very close for now, so you can get the rewards in easily. Leave them this close together for a few more sessions until he is zipping around them, and not looking at you or passing by any of them.
The choice of treat was great – big and very visible! Something to add that will make a big difference is a marker, like ‘get it’. When he is approaching a jump, have the treats already in your hand and use a ‘get it’ marker, then throw the treat. That way he is getting the info of ‘that is correct’ and the info of where to look for the reward (out ahead and not at you). You were quiet here, so he was not entirely sure of where to look – a ‘get it’ marker will help get him looking at the line/jumps.
At the end, he might not be able to switch to a toy in your hand that close to where all the food smells are, so you can move entirely away or throw the toy far away. Sure, he might run around with the toy but that is still a good way to break up the session and keep the excitement level high.
Nice work!
TracyGood morning!
He was definitely confident on the plank here and having it higher kept him thinking about foot placement too! I think we need to have some sort of visual target for him to run to, like a Manners Minder (if you have one) or an empty food bowl. That can help keep his head down and keep him from leaping upwards at the end of the plank.
The lazy game with the tunnel is looking great! Your connection looked good and he was terrific about finding the lines. Great job mixing up the reward throws too!
You can start adding the other games now – the timing game, and the crosses too!
>>I did notice his turn to the left over the middle jump is wider than his turn to the right.>>
Yes, I totally see what you mean (at 1:03 and 1:40 for example). It could be that the left turn was into open space and the right turn was towards a fence? Or your timing was a little earlier on the right turns? Or he is a righty? 🙂 Either way – when you add the timing game, you can turn your shoulders soon on the left turns and see if that helps him.
Great job here!
TracyHi!
Another really strong session here!I love the timing of your check cue at :11, :26, :42, :56, and dig cue at 1:12 and 1:32. They all were happening as she was over 4 so they were in progress before she landed and made setting up the wrap on 5 easier.
The hardest part for her was not the wrap collection – it was the ’soft’ turn on jump 6, the pinwheel jump after the wrap. What was happening was that on the wraps (:13 :28, :43, :57, 1:14 and 1:34)
she is turning really well! You are pretty far away from the line/wrap wing, so you end up holding still to be able to push her back into the gap for the middle jump – that worked well overall but then it made the turn cue for the 6 jump late so she was going wide on those (I don’t think she was anticipating the toy throw).To help get the great wrap collection and the nice turn on the pinwheel jump, you can drive in harder to the wrap jump. Rather than be decelerated and end up positionally a bit far from the line, you can trust her more and cue jump 3 and 4 (the 2 jumps after tunnel) and drive hard to the wrap wing… but as she approaches. The 4 jump, start your wrap verbal like you did and start to decelerate. That should put you in a great spot for the wrap – and are importantly, it will be easier to send her to the 5 jump and as soon as she looks towards it, you can turn and run to the 6 jump and 7 tunnel (which will get a good turn on 5 :))
So basically, being closer to the wrap wing will get you a great turn on 5 and also help set a nice line 6-7-8. Just remember to maintain the timing that you used here to cue the wrap 🙂
One really cool thing here was that even after the wide turn, she is driving back to the jump before the tunnel (#7) like mad, really looking for it! I think a few weeks ago she might have run past it, so it is great to see her looking for the lines so well!
She did have a bar down at :26 – as you started the wrap verbal, you did a movement with your hands that distracted her. She was better with it at :42 (ticked the bar) so that is good info – you can do random hand movements when doing the lazy game so she learns to jump nice and clean even when your hands do something 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi!
Yep, it is wild to see Minnesotans and Michiganders training outside in light jackets… in FEBRUARY!!! But it is great to get the youngsters more time on these sequences 🙂Her fast lazy game is looking good! She is really looking for the jumps even when you started running: hooray for a weirdly warm winter so you could work this at big distances 🙂 I am doing a big happy dance for how well she is looking at the line and your motion is not an issue. Yay! You can work up to running as fast as you can – you are a fast runner so we can start showing her your speed 🙂
The timing of your verbals was good here! Based on what we are seeing of her speed already (and knowing the bars will end up at 20” or higher) – you can start playing with timing the cues to be earlier now. I believe she will need them as she is over the bar or even taking off for the jump. That way she will have more time to process the cues (bearing in mind that at full height she will land further from the jump and will probably take one less stride). Plus, she will get used to hearing verbals over the bar and she can sort out how to keep clean jumping happening (or we can help her if she has questions :))
Great job! Fingers crossed that your weather doesn’t get icky!
Tracy
Behold the power of chicken!!! Good boy!!! He is looking great! Time to add more distance – spread those jumps out to get them as far apart as possible (might take a couple of sessions :))
As the distance increases, throw the chicken more randomly on the line (rather than just after jump 3), especially when he is heading to the middle jump.
Since he has decided he LOVES the chicken (yum!) you can try a lotus ball or treat hugger so it easier to throw a big distance.
Great job!!!! Thank you for the update!!
TracyHi! Training outdoors in February – crazy that you have no snow and aren’t wearing 300 layers of clothing! But fun to be able to train!!
>>especially on the subtleties,>>
There are so many subtleties in handling, especially young dogs! This was a really good session to see what she needed to get the commitment on the wrap and the collection – it comes down to connection!
Looking at the most successful reps first: the last two reps on video 3 (:22 and :39) had the most connection, which allowed you to decelerate and get the commitment too.
Looking at video 1 to compare: at :13 and :28 you disconnected by looking at the wrap jump ahead as she was coming over the middle jump, so she looks at you – that drew her off the line of jumps, so when you did the FC she wasn’t committed and just came to you.
On Video 2, you added more motion and that really helped!
At :07 there was a disconnection like on video 1, and she looks at you and comes off the line. At :20 she can see more of your face so commits a lot better! On the last 2 reps (:41 and :54) you used better motion to get commitment. Adding more connection will help allow you to decelerate and tighten those turns (she was landing then turning there).The 3rd video had more connection especially on those last 2 reps!
So to get the best collection – keep using the decel, but ramp up the connection as you do it. So when she is landing from the middle jump, your eyes can be on her eyes and your hand pointed back to her nose. As you start to decelerate, keep moving forward and looking at her – don’t rotate until you are sure she is taking the jump 🙂 For youngsters, you can stay in decel mode until you see her front feet lift off for the jump. Watching for that will help you be very connected and will support commitment too! As she gets more experienced, you will be Abel to rotate even earlier.
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy>> I think it always throws me off what verbal I should be using when it’s just the wing but imagining the jump there instead is super helpful.>>
Perfect! And that way you can decide if it is a frontside wrap, soft turn, or backside cue. Soooooo many words LOL!
Good morning! The 2 games here are looking good!!!
>>We still struggle with not seeing the treats in the grass.>>
Reward markers will help with this – a ‘get it’ instead of a yes or praise will help keep her looking forward so you can toss the reward to her line. That way she will see it landing ahead of her, rather than missing it when she is looking at you.
The sending on the first video is looking really good, her commitment is excellent! This is where you can see her locking onto the jump and say ‘get it’ and throw the reward to the line. That will help her not have to look back at you at all 🙂
The 2nd video also looked really strong!! I think you can trust her commitment even more:
On the ‘get out’ to the middle jump – send like you did but then turn directly to the next jump and tunnel (like you did at :23 and :35) rather than rotate towards her (:04 and a little at :53).The timing of the verbals was getting earlier and earlier, which is great: you can use your left/right verbal at the same time you do the physical send cues – your timing at :36 was spot on! You were a little late at :22 and :53, where you sent and then said the verbal. The verbal can start even before the physical cues but not later than simultaneously with the physical cues.
Great job here! You can add in more running 🙂 and also the wraps and crosses in the next sequences!
Tracy
Hi!
>>I didn’t realize that we would be working through some contact stuff in Maxpup.>>
We do some games here (but not the full progression like in the teeter class).
This session went well! She seems confident driving up the board (there is a tiny bit of movement and that does not seem to concern her at all).
For the next steps – you can put the reward at the end of the board rather than hand deliver it to her. That way, you can start to vary your position: send her while you hang back or move away laterally, etc. I use a big spoon duct-taped to the underside of the board so it is sticking out and easy for the dog to reach. And something soft and squishy (like cream cheese) is perfect to help ‘glue’ the reward to the spoon 🙂
Great job!!
Tracy
Hi!
These are looking really good!>>On the last exercise I initially was using a soft turn cue (swing) with wrap cue (check) at the beginning of the session. But I think dropping the wrap cue is better in this type of situation.>>
Do you mean for the middle wing? The send and FC on the 2 outer wings are definitely wrap cues (those are looking really good, especially when you were doing the full sequences). Those left turn wraps (from your right side) were fantastic!
For the middle wing: I think the FC to the tunnel is better suited for the soft turn cue. If you were doing a FC back to the other wing there, a wrap cue would be the better fit. I like to envision a jump bar there: what would the turn look like? Going to the tunnel, it is a moderate collection. Going back to the other wing, it is a big collection and she would have to come back around the wing on a very tight turn back to you.
It was hard to hear all of your verbals so let me know if that makes sense.
>>Also I don’t know how much motion and turning to use vs. not use yet either. By the last rep definitely had a perfect mix.>>
Yes – lots of good practice to play with timing! Your connection was very strong overall.Sending to the outer wings to wrap back to the tunnel looked great!
Looking at the FC on the middle wing:At :29, the FC was a little late but I think she was also surprised that a FC would happen with a tunnel right there! She figured it out quickly though – the next rep at :38 had great timing of the FC and she responded really well! Good reward there!
At :44, your timing was a later and position was not as good (motion was moving past that middle wing) so she was wider there. Compare to the rep at :57 where your timing was earlier and you were not as far past the middle wing – that set a better line and got a really nice turn!
One more suggestion:
Try not to do spins on the tunnel entry when you want a straight exit (:47, :54, :59 for example) – we will want her to turn on the exit if she sees a spin on the entry, so keep these straight exits as post turns so she doesn’t learn to ignore the spins.
Great job here!!
TracyHi!
Plank confidence is going well! You can elevate it with a block under each end, to add a bit more height. And be sure to teach her how to turn around and ‘jump’ off from the middle of the plank at each level, so she can understand how to use her body in case she loses her balance.
Nice work!
TracyGood morning!
Great job starting the lazy game here! She did really well. 2 suggestions for the next sessions – add more distance between the jumps while you walk, so she is really flying around the lines and you are not needing to do much at all other than move around lazily 🙂
When that goes well – add in jogging and then eventually running, so she finds the lines even when you are running hard (keep mixing in rewarding for each jump or two). It might take several sessions but the goal is that she works to find the jumps even when you are running really fast (and doesn’t go around them). I have been doing that with my 2 youngsters:
Let me know how she does! It will also help her with the new games posted yesterday 🙂
Tracy
Good morning!
He was super confident on the plank! You can elevate it with a block under each end, so it is a couple of inches off the ground. That will add a little more challenge!
>>Zyp was getting so excited he was leaping off the plank and maybe that didn’t matter but I tried to slow down a little to see if he would walk the plank.>>
Yes, he was excited and that is great! But what was happening was that the reward was late… so you were actually rewarding looking towards you and leaping. He would go across the plank, look at you, leap towards you… then you took the treat out and threw it. When you slowed down, he was leaping less but still looking at you (and we want you to not have to be slow or close to the board). So to get him looking straight, have the reward in your hand and ready before he gets on the plank (it takes too long to get it from the pocket to the throw). And, when he is looking forward on the plank (even if he is only halfway across it), throw the reward before he looks at you. You can also use a food bowl as a target to help him look ahead, or a manners minder 🙂
The one step sends are going well!
>>We also worked on one step sends and it looks like I might have been getting to close to the wings. >>
The distance was pretty small so you can add more distance between the tunnel and wing. That way you can stay nearer to the tunnel exit on the sends and he will move away from you.
One thing I noticed on the first couple of videos here was there was lots of barking – maybe a toy is better for him rather than food only? There was less barking when the toy came out as the reward. After rewarding, you can play a bit then trade the toy for a cookie between reps so he lets go of it and he doesn’t pummel you when you move it away.
Video 1 – good job here working out the connections he needed to see and staying in motion to the middle wing. At :22 you were disconnected going to the middle wing, so he came to you. Nice adjustment on he next rep to be more connected and get the commitment! When using the middle wing, the send is to the middle wing (not to the first wing after the tunnel) so you can send to it and do the FC sooner, without moving as close to it (which puts you in a better position to show the tunnel entry).
Video 2 – he did well on the left side sending! When you sent from your right side at :08, you had a small step but no arm and not a lot of connection, so he looked up at you. You can have more direct connection, looking directly at him, and you can also use your arm to give a swoosh forward (like bowling 🙂 )
Video 3 –
Definitely getting better with connection!! Yay! You can use your arm a little more (let it move forward with your leg as you send) and add more eye contact – that will make the send even clearer as the wings get further away.He was really good when you didn’t do the FC, followed your shoulders really well and it ended up being a tunnel threadle. Good boy! And the last rep looked lovely 🙂
Great job here!!!
Tracy
