[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning! I will have to check out the Cricket Chronicles but I can’t imagine any will be funnier than Dean’s voice – STILL laughing here LOL!!!

>>She did the rocking horses with 2 wings on a 15ft dark and sligthly curved tunnel and worked for a toy!>>

Yay Lift! Baby girl is doing great!!!

>>Got an alarm set on my phone for tomorrow so hope to see you in MP 2 Live sessions too.>>

Thanks for the reminder! I had it in my mind as March 6 for registration but that is the class start date!! I have an alarm on my phone too LOL!!! I am sure you will get a spot 🙂

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

>>Question, at what age do you start introducing the various obstacles to your young dogs?>>

Great question! It varies depending on size, breed, gender of dog, plus the specific developmental needs of each individual. The smaller and female dogs can do things a little sooner, physically, but not necessarily mentally 🙂 The larger, male dogs might take a little longer physically and/or mentally.

People get very locked onto growth plate closure as the time to start doing the high impact things but that is only a small piece of it: soft tissue development is really important and doesn’t start to get where we need to be til the dog is well over a year old. And brain development for coordination and engagement also doesn’t happen until well over a year old, closer to 15-18 months of later depending on the individual/breed.

I generally introduce body awareness stuff before they are a year old, like what we did here with getting on things like planks, using back feet, running over mats, “finding” a jump like we do in MaxPup but without a bar, shaping the tunnel. Somewhere between 10-months and 14 months I might start doing some very basic jump grids with bumps or low bars, show the dog a low tire, etc.

After the pup is a year old, I start contact foundation (closer to 14-15 months for my bigger males). I start weaving when the dog is more like 15-18 months. Jump height slowly start to come up after 15 months old and I start full height stuff after I get clearance from a sports vet – my dogs all see a sports vet when they are about 18 months old.

Nothing is ‘finished’ with my dogs until they are about 2. It is slow progression but it also eliminates frustration questions from the dogs, plus gives plenty to time to really understand how to use their bodies and how to execute the obstacles. This slow approach to developing a youngster has also helped keep them healthy, physically and mentally!

I understand that you will see any many people running dogs at full height and on all the obstacles at 15 months old, or even younger. These dogs might look good early on but what we have found is over the next few years, there are obstacle issues (lack of understanding, training holes) and also a high rate of burnout and injury with these youngsters, as compared to dogs that start closer to 2 or 2.5 years old.

Looking at the videos –
He is doing really well with his stays on the lateral lead out video! Good boy! Nice job mixing in lots of throw back rewards 🙂 (Remember to do this on your right side too, so he can do the stay on both sides – oh wait, the next video has dog on right stays, yay!).

To get him to go to the wing – after you release him, use connection and a big arm/leg motion to send him to the other side of the wing. He should go to the other side and then come back toward you. The trick will be the connection to his eyes and a big step/send to where the takeoff spot would be, if he was going over a bar there.

The decel video started with him on your right in a stay: perfect! He did well when you switched to your left side as well. It is great for him to be able to stay on both sides.

He was perfect with the decel element: without any help other than your position next to the wing, he was able to wrap the wing with a really tight collection. Super!!! When the weather clears, take this outside so you can use a jump bump. If you are stuck indoors for a while longer you can add challenge to this by getting him wilder with a tug toy 🙂 That will add challenge to the stay, as well as to coordinating the collection when he is more excited.

Great job here!! Hope to see you in MaxPup 2!!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! I feel your pain about adding marker words!!!
I found out that hard way about the power of the word “yes” when in a seminar a few years ago, my dog was lifting off for a really tight wrap at a distance, and I said “YES!” so she came off the jump and ran to me for a reward. Oopsie! I thought maybe she had a commitment problem until the same thing happened with my other dog a few minutes later. Double oopsie – it’s me, hi, I’m the problem it’s me hahahaha!! So I clarified my markers and now that issue has gone away. It takes some brain practice them it locks in for us humans (the dogs learn it in a heartbeat 🙂 )

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

>>WOW!!! That’s incredibly low!! Maybe I don’t want to join UKI if it’s that low!!! Ha ha just kidding.>>

Yes – but the rush of running those big courses makes it worthwhile, even if something goes wrong 🙂

>> I’m not looking to be anything amazing. I just enjoy the sport, enjoy some trials each year, and enjoy the bond with my dogs. I’ll leave the crazy titling and high-ranking stuff to the professionals like you and so many others. ha ha ha>>

The other interesting thing is that a lot of the folks who are not professionals do GREAT in agility – wins, titles, etc because they make it so fun for themselves and the dog!

>>I think Kashia enjoys stretching her legs for 10-15 obstacles every once in a while since we never do that at home.>>

I think she will like the bigger distances in UKI!!! Run run run!!

<<>>
Ha ha two dogs is challenging enough since I’ve only ever had one in training at a time until I got Kashia. I don’t know how you can possibly keep all the dogs and their little quirks separate!>>

6 dogs training/competing in 2 different sports? It is insanity LOL!!! The hardest part is the conditioning. I admit to keeping spreadsheets to help remember their training needs. And I also admit to calling them the wrong names on course sometimes LOL!

T

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
I am sorry to hear about your older girl passing away. 16 is a nice long life, but also it is really never long enough for the dogs to be with us.

I hope Ginger had fun in her seminar and it sounds like Grady has a blast, even if he included a bit of dock diving off the teeter – oopsie!! LOL!

Looking at the videos:

Turn aways video 1 – She did well with the tandem turns in both directions! You can start the cues sooner, as soon as she exits the wing wrap before the jump. That way you can send to the jump on a turn away and get even further ahead after it. Plus you can add more distance using less rear cross motion and just doing the hand cues with the shifting connection

Threadle wraps: these are a harder skills for sure! The best reps where when you turned to face the line you want her to take (like you did at 3:12) pretty dramatically and let her see your connection shift from her eyes down to your hands. That will also keep you moving forward better, so you can turn her away and keep moving forward (and not towards the jump). Reward placement was good!
On some of the reps you were turning towards her to get her to come to the correct side of the jump, but that makes it harder to keep moving forward so try it with your feet facing forward the whole time 🙂

Video 2: Nice hoodie!!!
She did well here too! Your upper body is really dynamic and clear! You were doing a good job of moving forward with as little step to the out jump as possible for the first part of the video – super nice!!! :15 and :38 were both really good with the upper body doing all the work ad the lower body going as straight as possible.

And she had no questions on the balance reps 🙂 Yay!

On the second half of the video (at about 1:14 to the end) you started taking more steps towards the out jump (rather than along the line) – she did go to the jump, but you will be able to get further ahead if you move straight along the line/to the next wing and cue the get out (like at :38) as a distance skill without moving to the jump.

Video 3: combos – these put together a lot of different connections. I think you used motion here more than connection, which made things a little harder. The goal is that your line of motion stays relatively the same (ideally to the outside wing of the ‘go’ jump) so you are getting all of the fancy stuff with connection and arms 🙂 The Go reps looked good!
You can also start the turn aways sooner, so she can start the turn before takeoff. On this distance, you can start the connection shift to your hands when she is halfway between the wing exit and the jump (it is a big distance so doesn’t need to start when she exits the wing there).

For the ‘get out’ – try to stay on the parallel line like you were doing in the previous video (rather than move to the get out jump) and use the big eye and arm cues. On the get out reps, you were a little “quieter” with the upper body cues and moved closer to the jump so she got it on motion but it put you in a harder position to get the backside and the front cross after it.

If you can stay further from the get out jump, you can also use more extreme connection on the backside cue – very direct eye contact (will keep her out on the line to the backside of the jump, which will also make the FC after it easier 🙂

Video 4: Deliberate Disconnection
Nice job dropping the rewards in! That really helps her! You can totally disconnect more by looking forward as she is getting to the backside entry wing. Remember to keep moving and disconnect (dropping the reward in by the entry wing) – you can use a ‘get it’ marker with the food rewards so she knows it is coming. The toy was more visible but even with the great engagement you got before each rep, she wasn’t that into it when you dropped it behind you so food might work better (throwing it in front of you will make it harder for you to disconnect). Or you can throw the toy really far but throw it behind you so she doesn’t sprint in front of you 🙂

Video 5: deliberate disconnection 2

Go line disconnection looked good! She was not entirely convinced that you were allowed to disconnect LOL! She looked at you a little between jumps 1 and 2 even with the reward out there, so you can put the reward between jumps 1 and 2, or move them closer together so it is easier to drive ahead when you disconnect.

The backside push to the wing later on this video is more of an extreme connection moment, so as she gets between the uprights of the first jump, you can turn on the big connection to push her to the backside (more on that below :))

There was a threadle slice rep at the end – really nice! One suggestion: try to be more upright on the threadle slice cues with your threadle arm extended back as you shift connection to your hand. That will keep it different-looking from the turn aways. Leaning into your hands to shift connection downwards will work better for the threadle wraps & turn aways 🙂

Video 6: extreme connection for backside pushes:
The first part was straight line go and she did well! Really nice!!!
You started the backside cues at about :57 – she got the backside cues at :58, 11:14, 2:24 and 2:32 but you can start them sooner – when she is taking off for the first jump, turn on the big extreme connection and start the backside cue. That way, when she lands, she already sees the backside cue and can head to the backside sooner (rather than waiting to show it to her after landing).

Wrap connections – you had good connection here. I don’t think she needs extreme connection on her wraps because she is already a good turner (the extreme connection is best for dogs that are not good at collection LOL!) So keep using the clear connection you had here but I don’t think you need to emphasize it more than this. You can add more exit line connection after the wrap (like at 1:48 and 2:01) because she was not sure which side of you to be on when exiting the wrap on those reps.

Video 7: Week 2 repeat
Starting with the shifting connection on the wraps – she did it was but she not at full speed, which made it harder for you to time the cues. She wan’t really into the thrown toys after the first rep – they lose value quickly when they are ‘dead’ so it was hard to get her to drive away to the jump. Maybe a food-based toy will be more effective and keep value longer? Getting her pumped up with tugging (she likes the ‘live’ toy :)) is great and then you can switch to a food-based toy for the thrown rewards.

Great job with the circle wraps, continuing to move forward and shifting connection behind you to support her commitment! You can see it especially at 210 and 2:24 and 2:45 – super nice!!

She likes the tunnel starts – I love her speed!!! – and that gives you the chance to work on tinge the cues and be earlier on your rotations for the wraps on the wing and jump (she loses steam when you were late here).

For example – at 2:37 ideally you would start to decelerate as she was over the jump before the wing wrap, so she can set up the collection (the decel happened as she arrived at the wing).
And as she exits the wing, you can start the shifting connection/sen to the jump for the tight turn. You started it at 2:40 when she was over the bar, so she lost steam when she was landed wide. Doing ti sooner will help her collect before takeoff then chase you on the next line, which will produce a lot more speed 🙂

Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>>What is the last day to post for this class?>>

Feb 21 🙂

>>This might actually be an improvement over what she used to do, which was run off every time I messed up,>>

OMG that is right! 100% true!!

>>I tend to point my dog-side arm forward and make her curl into me>>

Dog side arm pointing in those situations tends to block connection and also turns our shoulders to the front of the jump, which is why she curls in a bit.

You don’t need to use the opposite arm, but you do need to get the opposite shoulder ahead of your body without turning your feet or stopping your motion – the extreme eye contact helps as does the opposite arm.

Looking a the video: reward placement was very strong! And she gave good honest feedback about how she was reading the cues 🙂

The exit line connection was strong for about the first 2 minutes on the video, then it was not as strong (like at 2:18 and 2:29) where you were looking ahead a bit earlier. You really ramped it up at 2:25 and it helped! But also it might have been too many reps of the same visual so she was checking out a bit, plus she had not gotten any thrown reinforcement for the wings.

Looking at the get out cues, for what was successful and was she had questions about – I organized it by what she saw for the cue and how she responded.

When she didn’t take the jump:
The first rep at :17 didn’t have the outside arm or big eye contact, so she didn’t go to the jump even with the MM there.

Other reps she had questions about were at :29 and 1:15 – the dog side arm was forward on that and you were running forward.

On the reps she did go to the jump:
On a lot of the reps where you didn’t really use the outside arm, you were using your line of motion/feet to basically do a forward send to the jump (:32, :40, 1:37, 2:03, 2:09, 2:14 2:32 and 2:54) Some of it was very subtle, meaning you really have to watch your feet turn to the jump 🙂 Now, it worked, so it is not a bad thing at all! But it doesn’t keep you moving ahead of her as much has we want you to be able to, especially as compared to these:

:52 and 1:03 – these reps and strong connection and clear arm use! Your line was moving towards the jump a little more than needed so look at these:

1:10 and 1:51 were GREAT – connection, arm, and you were moving pretty straight up the line! The ideal handler path here is the same as if you were just doing the 2 wing wraps and these reps were pretty much showing that motion. Nice!!

One last bit of feedback from Nox – look at the rep at 1:24. She wasn’t going to the jump because the connection and outside arm were not in place… then the outside arm came up and the connection intensified… and off she went to the jump. SUPER!

That is why I like the outside arm on these – it helps us get the connection and shoulder in the right place without having to move towards the jump.

Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>>I sometimes (a lot of times) forget about the little things and just look at the big picture. If the big picture isn’t great, I’m usually not pleased with myself (initially). >>

The road to the big picture (achieving outcome goals, like clean runs, titles, wins, etc) is paved with the little things 🙂

>>It isn’t until way later in the night or the next day when I’m re-watching my video(s) a million times that I start to see the little victories inside of the run. >>

Watch your video after each run and you will find all the successes!

>>It’s so funny because I think I’m really great at helping other people see the little victories and celebrating the smallest of wins when they are discouraged about their performance. But I’m absolutely atrocious at doing it for myself. Pretty typical behavior, if I had to guess. lol>>

That makes sense! You need your inner voice to talk to you like you were a friend or student, rather than talking to yourself 🙂

>>You know, it’s so interesting you say this because it could not be more true. It wasn’t until last August that I’d ever gone or participated in an agility trial. I had NO CLUE how many NQs people got.>>

It is truly a high failure sport!!! A “good” Q rate is 30% in AKC. And in UKI, a good Q rate is more like 10% LOL!

>>Oh!! Great to know!! I did not know I could do my own course if I enter as training. >>

I can’t remember what the exact rule is for AKC – but in UKI, you can look at the course, walk it… then mark yourself as “NFC” on the gate sheet. And be sure to tell the judge as you walk into the ring (get her eye and say “NFC” and wave the toy if you have it).

>>I have my older dog in Speedstakes too and Saturday runs tall to small. So I’ll get the chance to run it with her before Kashia to get a feel for it. That should really help! But either way, we will just go in there and run, run, run, and have fun. The faster I run the more Kashia will stay engaged, hopefully!>>

Perfect! And for baby dogs – if she misses an obstacle, keep running, no fixing 🙂

>>I’m glad dog training sessions only take me a few minutes each night between each dog and other times I just want to keep practicing and wish their little brains could handle more! >>

Get another dog! LOL! Just kidding 🙂 Too bad you live so far away, I’d be like “here ya go, here are 5 dogs to train” LOL!!

>>Was it okay I added the bar on the last few reps? I thought that might help change it up a bit or challenge her a bit.>>

Yes that was fine 🙂 I think she just doesn’t love looking at the same setup over and over, so you can always add crazy things like a tunnel instead of a wing wrap start 🙂

T

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
This is a really good session!

>>For some reason mine doesn’t look like yours.

I think the only difference was that you were pretty connected and I was more dramatically disconnecting 🙂 Otherwise, super strong especially if this was the first try at it!

>>JJ didn’t always go for the ball. It looks like maybe I was dropping it late. >>

Your reward placement was really good – she was not necessarily expecting it there so you can move more slowly and yes, drop it sooner. Your motion will draw her across the bar so dropping it early and really dramatically will help 🙂 Your hand choice was good and your mechanics were good, so she probably just needs another session or two to get used to the reward placement. And you can disconnect more: as soon as her nose arrives at the entry edge of the backside wing, stop looking at her and drop the ball in behind you 🙂

Nice work!!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>>I do put some pressure on myself to perform well for my dog.>>

A little pressure is a good thing! I have always found that setting goals for my performance with very specific things like “maintain connection on all tunnel exits” helps me put on a little pressure but also gives me very specific things to do, to achieve that goal (along with “don’t freak out” hahahaha)

>>But given all the new elements we are going to experience, I’m nervous. I’m pretty hard on myself when I know my capabilities.>>

That is why I recommend setting specific execution goals like connection, etc – those will give you ways to give yourself feedback without being hard on yourself. Agility is really hard and so giving yourself feedback is a great way to make improvements from run to run and bounce back when things go wrong (because things go wrong for all of us in agility ALL THE TIME LOL!!!)

>> I don’t really give myself leniency for mistakes. >>

Mistakes are opportunities to learn and make adjustments. Don’t be hard on yourself for a mistake – figure out what happened and make adjustments til you find the sweet spot. The only time to be hard on yourself is if you keep making the same mistakes without trying to make adjustments 🙂

>>I’m always pleased with their efforts.>>

Yay! They are mirrors of the information they receive, so their feedback is very valuable.

>>No doubt I’ll still be extremely embarrassed if she does something wild or crazy…but I’m going to try to just let it be and keep it fun for her. >>

Perfect! Fast, fun, keep moving… and if something goes sideways, keep moving LOL!!! Things often go sideways with young dogs. I started agility with Dalmtians and oh yes there were a ton of crazy moments early on LOL!

>>I totally agree. This is actually the only reason I entered her in speedstakes.>>

Speedstakes is really fun, and if you enter NFC you can make up your own course. You can decide that when you see the course – if it looks fast and flowy, try it as designed. If it looks Stooooopid? Or too hard for her? Make up your own course 🙂

> I just want her to have an experience in a trial environment. Our first AKC show is in April. I may enter her in FAST for the same experience. >

Time 2 Beat is also great because it is usually flowy, you can do FEO, and you can skip the weaves or contacts.

>>I always jump my dogs preferred/select anyway so Kashia will be at 12″.

I LOVE this and wish more people would do that.


>>The lotus ball has been great but only with food.>>

You can carry it in your hand (no food in it :)) as a focal point for her, to help ease the transition from training to the trial environment. And do a short fun blast in the ring then run out for the reward 🙂 Just remember in AKC to put her leash on before you exit the ring (UKI does not have leash rules like that).

>> Even if I don’t have a toy, I can do FEO and just give her lots of praise and pats, right?>>

100% yes 🙂

>>This is so hard. I kept it to 3-4 backside reps with a straight through running rep in the middle and the end. I really don’t feel like that should be too much but I know I’m also comparing her to a mature dog.>>

Yes – mature dogs are more predictable. You can start a session with good cookies then whip out the MINDBLOWING cookies for getting more reps.

>> It’s just hard quitting after 2 reps because it feels like hardly any training! Like it feels like it would take a century just to master something at that rate. lol>>

Quality to quantity! That is my mantra 🙂 The number of reps is not all that important. The quality of the reps in a session is really important – the number of reps is not important. So getting 2 or 3 great reps… then be done and let her sleep on it (because that is when the learning really happens: sleep!) Multiple short, quality sessions will go a long way to getting behavior. For example, with my young whippet: I do a session on a skill I want him to learn, just maybe 2 or 3 or 4 reps. Then I might do another session later that night? Then I put the skill away for at least a few days (sometimes a few weeks LOL!) and then when I come back to it, the behavior is great.

<<>>
Great! I will task my husband with making me something. >>

Ha! Perfect!

Looking at the video: overall it went really well!!!

>>We had a few mess ups. I’m not really sure what I did to cause them. >>

On the very first rep, you were running to where the exit wing would be – that is eventually what the perfect line would be, but she wasn’t quite ready for it (especially as the first rep). The 2nd rep and the reps after it on that side (sending to a left turn around the backside wing) were all great – you had more motion to the center of the bar on the backside and it was exactly what she needed (like at :13, :21, :29, and again at the end of the video).

She also had a miss on the first rep on the other side. I thought your line of motion was good – she might have needed a bit more drama on the extreme connection but also – there was a horse distraction off in the distance and that might have caught her eye. I am sure she has plenty of experience being around horses but this might have just been enough of a visual distraction that while she didn’t leave her work, she also didn’t process the cue to go to the backside. No worries – she was great on the next reps and you were pretty far across the bar!!!

>>I kept it to 3-4 backside reps with a straight through running rep in the middle and the end. I really don’t feel like that should be too much>>

For skills like this, you can do one or two reps then do something that looks completely different (like a little combo game, or switching where the jump is (make the start wing into the jump, and the jump becomes the start wing, or add a tunnel) so it doesn’t look like doing the exact same setup/visual. That can help get more reps without her losing interest.

Great job here! Let me know what you think!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>>He sends really nicely – i just need to remember to trust him.>>

Yes – trust your sends! They set up a lot of other good handling so definitely use them 🙂

The turn aways are looking really strong – very clear connection shifts!

He did really well with the turn aways at the beginning! And adding more distance was easy for him. It looks like you were pretty far across the bar and not using a lot of RC motion, really emphasizing the connection/hands. Yay! The further away, the better, especially when using one of these turn aways to set up layering.

You can start the cues even sooner – as he exits the wrap before the jump, you can begin the connection shift and hand cues, so he get the info sooner – this will mean you can leave even sooner for the next line!
At :29 & :34, the cues were starting when he was halfway between the wing and jump which was a little late and the turns were a little wider.

Compare to :38 & :51 which were starting a lot sooner (as he exited the wing) which gave him the info sooner (better turns!), especially when there was a possibility of going straight versus turning away. At :51, your position and line of motion did indicate the backside, so remember to be moving to the jump more for the tandems.

The threadle wraps are going well too! Great job continuing to move forward through them and not rotate to the jump. On most of them, your connection shift and position (facing the threadle line) made it really clear for him (1:09, 1:23, 1:30, and then later in the sequence like at 1:50 and after that). There was one blooper (1:16) where you faced the jump instead of the line and got the tandem. But the rest were great! And great job balancing with straight line and some tandems at the end.

As you continue working the threadle wraps, he might not even need as much turn away cue with the hands – you might be able to start the cue with the connection shift/hand position then let him do the rest by turning himself away instead of waiting for the hand cue – that can allow for even more independence and have you moving forward to the next line even sooner.

Great job here!!!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>>(Oh- and hope you get a chuckle at the beginning that I didn’t crop out)>>

OMG THAT WAS HILARIOUS!!!! And actually, that is what Lift would sound like if she could speak English. Absolutely priceless!

“That’s what she says, though” hahahahahahaha

I will watch that EVERY TIME I need a laugh LOL!! I think Lift & Dean need their own TikTok channel where he provides the voice to her thoughts.

The session went really well! I did watch it after I watched the beginning 3 times LOL! She was fantastic about moving away from the treats without any drama or questions or worry. And she did all the things you asked (the down was a little harder because there was a little distraction, and she was excited so going all the way into the down was a little harder, but she did it!)

>>She’s waiting for me to move back to the treats before coming along with me. Not sure if that is an issue at this early stage or not.>>

Not a problem at all. The main goal is the impulse control of being able to move away from the reinforcement (and when you moved it to the lower table, it was harder but she was still excellent about ignoring it). And the secondary goal is to be able to respond to cues without diving onto the reinforcement that is pretty accessible – and she was great with that too. So the marker to go back is more of a “we are done and going to head back together” and not as “go dive on the cookies” marker LOL!! And that is great – I prefer that they don’t run away from us (or, eventually, out of the ring) to get to the rewards.

Great job here! 

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!
>>I do worry a bit that we’re behind on working out in public more but I couldn’t find a good in person puppy class for her and then she hit adolescence and I figured it would be super frustrating to try one then.>

It is funny because yesterday morning I was considering asking you about in-person puppy classes for her, then I decided against it because I was not sure it would be a great experience for her. And, after what we learned during covid lockdown – we don’t actually need our youngsters in a class environment and we can get them happy in trial environments without it. The vast majority of the Covid MaxPup crew had no trouble transitioning into the trial environment, even with zero access to class exposure (or trial exposure) during a theoretically “critical” time.

I have put my two young dogs in classes that start this week, but they are 13 months and 18 months old so they have had more history and exposure. And if there is anything in the class environment that I think is not great for them… I will either change it up or pull them from the class. One instructor is a friend of mine and the other is an acquaintance – plus I put the 13 month old in a lower level class just to get environmental exposure without over-facing skills. So I am sure eventually Lift will be in a class somewhere but you can shape the class to make it what you want 🙂

So, I don’t think you are behind at all, in that respect – I think you are using other environments as exposure opportunities and doing it within the framework of the experience you want her to have (and without frustration for either of you).

>>I need to do more where he’s the distraction lying in a bed nearby instead of being a barking distraction in another room.>>

Absolutely! But I don’t think it will be a problem for her 🙂

>>she’s still not convinced especially if a tunnel or other bit of equipment is out there in front of her.>>

You did lineups during the countermotion game – they were fast, snappy, highly reinforced, and it looks like she was very happy to do them! If the game then starts with a collar hold, you can add it in at the end of the line up.

The countermotion exits game went great! And the 2nd barrel (hedgehog?) is so cute!
Since she did we all with everything including letting you go all the way around the jump to the takeoff side before releasing, you can be releasing a little later, as you are further ahead so there is even more countermotion. As you add that, you can throw the rewards back sooner so they land more on the landing side and not near you at all (on the takeoff side). That will get her looking at the bar and not at you as you add more countermotion (and eventually more speed too 🙂 ) The placement might cause her to jump a little wider over the bump for now, but that will no be an issue when it becomes a ‘real’ jump because the line of motion will be so powerful that she will still have a really tight turn.

>>Now here’s something you don’t usually see -restrained recalls in MN outside in early February without a danger of slipping.>>

Yeah that is completely insane!

The restrained recalls looked great! She did best when you ran away about as soon as Dean had her, so there was high energy from the very first moment. She got to really open up and even brought the toy back! Bringing the toy back when she has the entire yard to run around in is a big win for sure! The reverse retrieve was good at the end, but the full retrieve was not as strong – she might have been toast by then. Even though it was not that long of a session, it was a lot of running/sprinting and she is not used to that!

If the weather holds up and you can train outside, you can add in blind crosses to the recalls. And you can add in distractions like different random things in the yard.

>>I was just thinking about doing the rocking horses with wings and/or barrels outside>>

Perfect!! Start with barrels and if those are easy, go to wings. And tell your work colleagues that lunch time is for puppy training LOL!!

Great job!!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning! It is so fun to see him figuring all of this out!!

Strike a pose is going well!

>>should have spent some more time refreshing the nose target, because he kept forgetting about it, but I suppose that’s part of the challenge, with a toy?>>

Yes and no – initially yes, we do want him to do the target then go to the toy. The touch doesn’t have to be direct though – he can do a bit of a drive by 🙂 as he develops the in and out behavior for serps and threadles. So if he goes towards the hand and side-swipes the target? Perfectly fine! And when we add the jump in for him to go over (a jump bump), we will move to him not needing to touch the hand target (because in serps and threadles, we want the in and out but not the hand touching, especially as you start moving).

I think he is ready for you to add in the picture of a jump between you and him for this game. My only suggestion is to clarify toy markers – I think you were saying “get it” for the toy in your hand and “chase it” for a thrown toy, which is great! Now you can take out the ‘yes’ before those, otherwise yes becomes the marker for all of it 🙂

For turn and burn – try not to have the toy as the lure to go around the barrel, because that draws his focus to the toy and not the barrel. And if the toy moves too early… he won’t go to the barrel (second rep here). On the 3rd and 4th reps, he went to the barrel really well because the barrel was the focal point (not the toy :))

So to get hm to really drive to the barrel, keep it as the focal point and also stand still facing it rather than be in the crouched and ready to run position (which also draw his focus off the barrel). Put a line on the ground as a cue for you as to when you can do the FC and move away – start the line right as he exits the barrel, then gradually moving the line further and further around the barrel so you are doing the FC sooner and sooner 🙂

The rocking horses went really well – barrels as focal point are definitely key for him! His questions here (when he didn’t smoothly go to the barrel were about the “yes” marker (because it often means the reward is coming immediately) and also connection.

At :12 and :16, for example, your connection as he exited the barrel and came to the new FC side was strong, so he had no trouble going to the next barrel. At :19 (and a little bit at :34), your connection was not as strong (you were looking forward/pointing forward instead of looking at him) so he offered a behavior that is probably cued/rewarded when he sees that position: the between-your-feet behavior LOL!!

>>He knocked our makeshift barrel over and then climbed on the peanut which was the cutest ever.>>

That was SO FUNNY and CUTE!!! He just went with it: “I know what we are doing now, mom, goat games!” So adorable!!!!!!

>>also worked on some rears to the prop, For the rears, getting him to turn left is… challenging.>>

Yes, the right turns were definitely easier and your timing was good on those (a little late on the first rep but good on the rest!)
For the left turns – do them first in the next session, so he doesn’t have right turns on his brain 🙂 and warm up with a couple of cookie lure turns to the left, on the flat. Then add in the left turns on the prop – and try the alternate way of doing it:

Alternate Rear Cross Game

The alternate game will help isolate the left-turn-only (just be sure you are up by his head/neck on the side change really early, that will get it done.

He did really well with the parallel path game! Yay! If you use bars instead of a bump, use a strip of duct tape to attach them to the floor so they don’t roll if he steps on them.

>>this was literally the first time he’s seen this mat and I thought he was great!>>

Wow, what a good boy! That went really well!!! Because he is young, he will be on the mat work level for a long time so break up the sessions with tugging after every 3 or 4 treats (keeps him feeling spicy about it :)). The other thing you can do is attach the mat to something a little taller, about an inch high, so he has to step up onto it and over it. That will allow you to shift the marker/reinforcement to back foot #4 – the slight elevation makes it easier to see the 1-2-3-4 pattern of feet at this stage, so we can mark back foot 4 (which means he has done the split rear feet criteria, because 3 should come before 4 LOL!)

Great job here!! He is really putting all the pieces together!!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning! Looking at all 3 videos posted here (1345 was posted twice):

>>I hadn’t realized how much my pushing in was a cue for him>>

Yes – at this point, he is relying on your really pushing in/rotating your feet to him to get the line, which is more than we want you to have to do.

If you are far enough ahead and able to do it, he finds the backside (but you can see he is still working out the mechanics and not 100% sure about it). But if you were not far enough ahead and/or you try to keep moving forward and not rotating your feet towards him (like at :33 and 2:07 and 2:21 in the first video, or when he took the front of the jump on videos 1348 and 1350), he would take the front side of the jump.

You will want to be moving forward not have this much foot rotation, because it is causing you to run a bit sideways. That will make other exits (like serp exits or German turns) really hard.

So, it is not about adding more handling 🙂 What will help is getting more understanding from him on the backsides, so try these (in this order, to really build understanding over the course of several sessions):
– put a line on the ground that you will move forward on, to approximately the center of the bar on the backside jump (or where the bar would be, see below 😁). Don’t let yourself go past the line, and don’t rotate your feet. Use verbal and upper body/connection, not motion pressure.
– take the bar out of the backside jump, so there is less draw to the front side of a jump, which has a lot of value.
– using the line on the ground, lead out at least 2 or 3 steps after the landing of jump 1. Then either do a psh to the outside of the backside wing (staying on your line) or have him go straight between the uprights as a balance rep.

If this goes well, you will be able to add the bar back within a session or two but when you do that, angle the jump almost 90 degrees so the backside entry is very easy to see and the front side is harder to see.

If he struggles on the wings – use only one wing (where the backside entry wing would be) so he gets used to pushing away from you.

Nice work! Let me know what you think!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

>we stayed up late watching the Super Bowl >>

No worries! I was up late watching it too – fun game!!!! Way past my bedtime though LOL!

The get out games are going well. Working out the line of motion on videos 1 and 2 was really helpful, so you could keep moving up the line (like in video 2) and still cue the get out behavior). The first video had a little too much moving towards the get out jump, but you fixed that on video 2 with the lines on the ground, so the get outs had a lot of good independence!

She had a question on the last get out at :38 (video 2) was a little late and also didn’t have the extreme connection (as you noted in the video). But the other reps all looked great!

Video 3 is the same as the 2nd video, let e know if it was supposed to be a different one

Looking at the combos:
On video 4, the get out elements looked really good! She was definitely responding to the cues (and not just going to the jump without being cued). Super!
You can use more exit line connection on FC exit after the backside. For example at :06 – :07 you were looking ahead so she was not sure where to be and she looked at you rather than go to the jump. Adding more exit line connection would also let you see if she is committed to the jump or not before you turned away from it.

The exit line connection was better at :21 but it can be even clearer, with your dog-side arm back and eyes on her. Your dig-side arm was a little forward so she looks up at your hand as she passes you (it is blocking connection and turning your shoulder forward). And exit line connection will let her know if it is a ‘stay on the line’ moment or a ‘get out’ moment or a ‘blind cross to the other side’ moment 🙂

Video 5 combo is also looking good! Remember to cue the backside after the get out jump (you rotated a little too soon, so it looked like you wanted her to come through the gap there).

Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Author]

Posts