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Hi! Great job on these!
>>but I had set the jumps at 18 feet on the dogs line I thought, but I will check it out. It might have only been 15 feet.>>
She was taking one semi-extension stride between the jumps, so I am guessing it was 15 feet? The lower bars here definitely helped and it also gives us ideas to talk about timing for collections (see below).
Video 1: Looking good! You can do a FC on the tunnel entry and then stay on your left side for the landing side of 3 – that will cue the turn on the tunnel exit and it is fewer moves for you to have to do š
2nd run – nice timing of the FC to the takeoff side of 3! She didnāt take 4 at :32 – your arm was out and you turned to face 5 as he as jumping 3. Compare to :53 with more connection and a step to 4 and she got it beautifully. Super!
Video 2: Also looking really strong!
>>The wrap turns are still very wide. I know that much of that is my timing, but also needed to include my verbals not just her name.>>
Yes, the collections on the wraps are rooted in the timing of the deceleration. On these distances, she is going to make a takeoff decision when she lands (this is typical of AKC and possibly CPE distances). With that in mind, you will want to start the deceleration as she is in the air over the jump before the wrap, so it is visible and in progress before she lands so she can adjust the takeoff point. It will feel early but on those distances, it is correct š And yes, add in her wrap verbals as the can help too (also starting no later than when she is in the air over the previous bar).
For UKI (and maybe USDAA too) – you will generally see bigger distances like 30 feet so you can start the decel when she lands from the jump. And sometimes in AKC and CPE the distances are bigger, so you can make the timing decision based on the distance coming into the wrap.
So on this sequence, you had a too much acceleration on the RC wrap, so she read the RC but jumped wide, reading the accleration. The FC at 1:12 had more decel so she was tighter on that jump.
The rest looked great! On this sequence, you did a FC right before she went into the tunnel and picked her up on your left after the next jump: perfect and quick handling!
Video 3: this had more decel on the wrap at :03 and earlier rotation so she was tighter here too. With the goal being that she can collect before takeoff, you can begin that decel while she in the air of the previous jump (but donāt rotate until you feel she is committed, which might be when you see the collection on the wrap jump. You an also use exit line connection (dog-side arm back, toy across the body and lots of eye contact :)) to tighten the turn even more
The RC wrap had a lot of acceleration so she was wider on that. She is reading the RCs really well, so decel will tighten them up too.
At the start of this rep, you did the post turn to the blind, and it was more handling for you so getting to your left was later. Compare that to the quick FC you did on the tunnel entry and getting to you left side sooner at :17 – super nice!
The RC at :13 had some decel so she was tighter – starting it as she is over the previous jump will help here too!
At :20, you had decel over the previous jump (yay!) but then a bit of over-helping pulled her off the line. You stayed on the line better at :26 but the decel was a tiny bit later (she landed).
That was a great way to fix, btw: keep going and try it again in motion while adjusting the handling on the fly. Excellent!Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi!
>> That will be an online camp or in person????>>
CAMP is online! It is our annual summer class for the dogs that are not puppies – I think this is the 12th year?
>>We still struggle with running wild at timesā¦the highest peak of perfection and then free fall into the bowels of hell.>>
It sounds like you are getting more of the peak of perfection nowadays?
>>How about start line training? That is probably super high pressure?>>
I think start line training is as hard or harder than a lot of agility skills! SUPER high pressure and add in the element of being stationary for dogs that are wired to move move move move š So hard! We are actually focusing on the start line element in the Under Pressure webinars, there is an entire track devoted to dealing with start lines and all the pressure involved š
Tracy
Good morning!
I think the jumping games went well with the bars! She did well with the moving target (had one release before the verbal when you bent over to pick up the toy, but that was legit because she probably thought it was the release and has never been shown other wise LOL!
One thing to look at here – when she was lining up at your left side, she had her right front foot a little forward (like at 1:44 and 2:28) so she did a foot tap before jump 1 which threw off the step-in for jump 1 a bit. Compare to :43 where you faced her on the line up and her feet were more even, so she stepped in perfectly. It could also be that she was a little further away from the jump when lining up at your side.
So having her front feet together and being a little closer to the jump was more effective, but I donāt want to give her BIG MADZ but fussing with her during the line up. For now, line her up with you facing her and not at your side, so you can get the right positioning and not have to fuss with centimeters or exact foot placement at your side. It wonāt make a big difference when lining up for sequence, when she has 15 feet or more to organize before the first jump. And you can separately work on lining up at your side with feet together.
Mission transition is going well!! She was able to commit really well while you decelerated! As you decelerate, maintain connection as you decel. You had great connection coming around the wing, but then tended to look forward as you decelerated so she looked up at you before committing.
The go reps went well!>>Had some feelings about the wrap even when I was trying to connect with her and have her facing the wing before asking for the wrap so switched to a leadout from the jump instead and then she decided she could start with a wing wrap after that. (SO MANY RULES!)>>
Adding the jump before the wing definitely helped! And you can surprise her with reinforcement for just the wing wrap – I realize that there is soooo much value on the jump now and we have not really rewarded the wrap in this context enough to make it worthwhile for her to adjust her rules LOL!
>>2 reps of a rockinghorse/tandem turn in the pratice jump area at Fusion over the weekend during a course walkthrough. Also got some good tugging for tricks .>>
Yay! It sounds like it was a great weekend!!
Nice work here!
TracyGoos morning!
Zig zags look good! You can add a 3rd bar, and gradually work your way back out to it (no need to start on the 3rd wing, you can start closer to the 2nd bar then work your way backwards). It is a big jumping effort, so you can put it into a rotation and visit it maybe once a week, so she has recovery time between reps on it (especially because she is doing other jumping stuff too :))
Get out – there is a definite upper-body-versus-lower-body challenge here for us humans! The more you give her the BIG connection, the better she can do the get out. You can fade out facing the duo with your feet by starting closer to the wing so your line is more parallel to hers. Then as you walk or jog forward, you can look at her immediately as she exits the wing wrap and start the upper body cues while keeping your feet straight. That will be much harder for her, so throw the reward past the jump the instant she looks at the jump (rather than waiting for her to take the jump).
Mission transition is going really well!!!
The first rep at :38 was timely, decelerating when she was about halfway between the wing and jump. :44 and :49 were a little late, decelerating as she was passing you (but you were closer to the jump, so she was close to her takeoff point). :56 was very timely but didnāt have quite enough connection – the reps at 1:00 and 1:05 were the sweet spot of timely deceleration AND strong connection. Yay!!!
Good job sorting out the RCs on the jump after the tunnel:
For the GO lines as the balance reps, you can tell her go before she enters and be sure to keep running forward. That way she is not moving in extension past decel and also not seeing you face the RC line while saying āgoā (which also means you donāt want to say āgoā on a RC because it conflicts with the physical cue and desired behavior).The first RC at 1:16 was a little early but then you were really good about moving forward on the RC line to cue the jump and the RC, especially at 1:30! Super!
Lap turns on one wing in both directions looked great! So did adding the wing before the lap turn! My only suggestion on that is to send to the wing from further away, so you donāt need to job backwards š Onwards to the tandem turns/advanced level!
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
>Your puppy is adorable. Please bring to MN when you come!!
Thanks! He is totally coming to MN!!
He is doing well with the serps! I think that he was able to find the jump when you were not as far ahead (nearer to the gap or entry wing). When you were further ahead, he ran past it. So you can send to the start wing from further away, and slooowlllllyyy walk past the jump so he comes in when you are ahead on the serps.
Also, be sure to clear the environment of anything that might be a possibility of the placed reinforcement. In this session, there were toys out on the line and he looking at them. They were in a spot where they definitely could have been the placed reward, so I can see his argument there. So for the next session, pick up the other toys so there is only on visual to process.
>>We played with a couple tunnel exits too. I need to do more of these, Mochi helpfully reminded me how important they are at our UKI trial last weekend. >>
Totally agree – the days of deceleration or spins or physical tunnel brakes are long overā¦ it is now the Say The Thing And Run The Other Way Era š He did great!!! You can move the wings further away so there is more handling visible as you run away for the next wing.
You can also clear the environment on the tunnel exit video – when he exited the tunnel and went to the first wing, there is a soccer ball (I think) and a jump bump that was visible on his lineā¦ so he didnāt know what to do there. You removed the ball which totally helped the next rep (try to have it completely out of the picture, not even in your hand, so he knows which reinforcement is in play).
Looking at the rear crosses:
>>And we tried rears. Again. I was determined to get him to turn left. I cut out the multiple attempts of me doing the same thing and expecting him to do something different>>
Try to keep the total session to 2 failures or less, so you can top a session and revisit it another day. Also, there was a high pitched squealing noise in the background, and I am sure that was not helping his brain trying to process the hard mechanics on a rear cross.
Tossing the toy helped but he was looking up and watching the toy and not the line as much on those reps. The placed reward was the right way to go here! At :25 and :39, it was too visible outside the wing. But placing it behind the wing, just past the bump like the last 2 reps, was perfect!
Let the RCs percolate for a day or two then try it again with the toy placement you used at the end here, and I bet he gets it š
Nice work here!!
Tracy
Good morning! It has been a crazy weather week with wind and storms! These were good choices for games and you both did great š
The layering game went well!
Click/treat to you for excellent toy throws here! Layering a tunnel is hard for the littler dogs because they canāt really see us, so adding the verbals and the toy throws got him off to a great start to build up a lot of confidence. You can keep adding motion parallel to his line past the tunnel, and definitely keep up those well-timed toy throws šGreat job with the pill bugs! You can add more connection to him behind you and looking down – he knew to chase your line but I donāt think he knew which side of you to be on. Turning your head to let him see your eyes (and your dog-side arm pointing back to his nose more :)) will help him know which side to be on, plus you can add the blinds too!
Diamond game: Looking really strong too! Two small details:
You can just run closer to the wings on the race tracks rather than send to each wing. That will get even more speed on the big speed lines around the wings. You can get closer to the tunnel so you donāt end up too far ahead on those that way you can connect and run.
He had some questions wrapping to his left at 1:12 and 1:46. It might be a combination of the left turns being harder for him and you were pointing ahead/looking ahead so he was confused about how to approach the wing. Compare to the better connection on the right turn at 1:25, no questions from him! So keeping your arm back and big connection especially on left turn wraps really helps set up lovely commitment.
Tunnel exits at the end – good reward throws! It was hard to see where he was when you started the cue timing, but you can use the physical cues sooner so they match the verbals.
Great job!!!
TracyGood morning!
>>It was 80 degrees today, so we waited until it cooled a bit. >>
Somehow it is summer now! Eek!
>>I typically teach this with the jump perpendicular to the line, to work distance. Am I to assume we will start moving the jump angle, or is your Get Out cue different from mine?>>
It depends on the placement of your jump on the line. My āget outā is a lead change away to find a new line. There often is distance involved but the lead change away is key. Otherwise, distance on a line without a lead change away is a āgoā or obstacle names. You can chance the angle of the jump, but for an out make sure it is not on a straight line.
At the beginning o the session, you wrapped him starting on the inside if the wing (first 2 reps) so the jump was a true āoutā where he had to lead change away from you to find the line. He did really well! You can add in putting a line down parallel to the bar, so you donāt move to the jump as you cue the out.
When you changed sides, you sent him around the other side of the wing (the outside not the inside) – that put the jump on a straight line (not an out line) and going past the jump was a threadle not a straight line. He didnāt get rewarded when you sent the other side of the wing even though he was correct, and that was why he might have been sniffy (confusion can cause sniffing). He did do the āgoā and not take the jump when you dropped your hand and cued it more like a threadle, but be sure to send him to the inside of the wing (the side closer to the jump) and then do a FC so he exits on the side of the wing further from the jump. That will set up the true lead change for the out, and you wonāt need to pull him off the straight line.
The turn aways are going well!
On the lap turns: starting him in a stay or a little further away will make the lap turns on one wing easier to cue without having to back up.Adding the wing wrap before the lap turn went well, it was definitely easier to cue the lap turn! You can send to the wing from further away so you donāt have to jog backwards (I try to convince everyone not to run backwards because we all fall on our butts LOL!!)
Tandems on one wing – keeping him on your hands longer (til he was past the wing) really helped. The wing has a lot of value, so you can mix in rewards for staying on your hands by hand-delivering a cookie before you turn him away. I think this will help a lot when you add the speed coming from the other wing, because he needs to look at your hands for this cue and not at the wing. I am excited that he loves the wing so much that we have to reward him when we don’t want him to go to it for this cue š
Great job here!!
TracyGood morning! I love obsessing on reinforcement, and I love that you are also osbessing on reinforcement š I am actually working on a webinar about it all š
>> I think luring is a good thing so long as it is advanced as the pup is ready, no easy feat. I was asking because I think the INTENTION of what Iām doing is important.>>
I think maybe rather than think of it as luring versus rewarding, think of it as timing of reinforcement (based on slicing the behavior and not lumping) placement of reinforcement. I mean, we have to put the reward somewhere so we might a well place it in a location that helps us get the next step(s) of the behavior š The choice of whether to place it in advance of starting the cues, or place it after getting a slice of behavior, will depend entirely on the behavior and context – that decision can be made before the session or when things go differently than planned.
>> If I am unsure of my goal and the intended reward criteria, I can miss a lot of rewarding opportunities (especially if Iāve chunked too much for a rewardable behavior).>
Correct! Before starting with him, here are some things to live by and plan for all before the puppy enters the session:
– The goal is to start to get the behavior (or the next step of the behavior if it is not the first session) and not get the finished product, so plan the setup and cues accordingly (that is why the Baby Level games are separate from the advanced level)
– Look for the smallest slices to reward, splitting the behavior down so you can look for that split and reward it
– Choose the best placement of reward to get those little slices, especially if it is a new behavior. This might mean you throw the reward to a certain spot, or place it in advance, or deliver from your hand: all of that depends on the behavior you are working on. How can you reward the tiny slice AND place the reward in a place that helps produce the next slice?
– Live by the 2 failure rule with young dogs in particular (I like it for ALL dogs): you get 2 failures total in a session. Not in a row – it is 2 total. If you hit failure one, it is a yellow light that you might need to change something. If you hit failure 2, you need to change something to set the session up for success and ideally get no more failure. If you canāt get success? End the session with some play and figure it out from watching the video. Or, if you get success? End the session with some play and donāt keep going to the next steps or making it harderā¦ you get more failure that way.
Why is the 2 failure rule so important? Too much failure will change the dogās arousal state and bring in frustration. With many BCs, they keep āworkingā but it tips over into frustration and frantic and over-arousal behavior which we donāt want of course – and that can get paired into the game, producing a generalized over-arousal that we also donāt want.So looking at the video with this in mind:
The get out behavior here is not ātake the jumpā, the behavior here is āshift your line to look at a new line and lead change away to that lineā which is what he did. So you can reward that even if he doesnāt take the jump, like at :16 – he looked a the jump and moved to itā¦ reward that because it was the first slice of the behavior. And the placement of reward is to throw it to the other side of the jump. (He was already past the 2 failure rule there, so the red light in your mind should be flashing to set up success).
You did start rewarding that with earlier toy throws after a few more failures and moving the jump closer. I would end the session there – he was successful and then latent learning can take over.No need to move the barrel back out in the same session or add more challenge, because this will end up being too many reps in total, and also risks more failure (he was already at 4 failures for the session and you got 4 more by making it harder – 8 failures in a session are too many.)
So there is definite human self-control in dog training LOL!!! That is why the 2-failure rule os great tooā¦ I stop myself from adding more challenge or more reps if I am already at 2 failures. I can add the harder stuff later in the week. And I am so in love with the power of latent learning that I love to put a skill away for a few days or a week, then come back to it and magically the pup knows everything š
Looking at the rocking horses through the same lens:
If the goal is to come to your hand then turn away, placement options are to reward for coming to the hand, and the turn away can be rewarded with the toy or treat tossed to the opposite side of the wing. He was great about coming to the hand immediately so placing the reward on the other side of the barrel would be ideal.It is also normal to see a side preference (canine and human LOL!) because we are all better on one side or the other. He was definitely better turning away to his left here, 100% success! Nice!!! The mechanics of turning to his right were much harder (could be a combo of his mechanics and your mechanics š ). He could do it very slowly but could not do it fast.
That is where the 2 failure rule kicks in: you had the 2 failures at 2:02, so you can stay at the ābreaking it downā level you did by doing it with him close and on one barrel (no speed into it). And the left turn aways can be done with the speed and fancy stuff.
Then in the next session or so, you can go back to the right turns and work them up – eventually the harder side does catch up to the easier side.
By continuing to ask for the right turn away with speed, you got more failure at 2:08, 2:18 and 2:25 and that was followed by frustration behavior (jumping up at you, circling you).
>>He wanted the toy so badly.
It was not that he could see the toy or wanted it more (the toy was in the same place as it was when he was turning to his left), it was that the failure was frustrating – that is important communication from the pup! If my pup says āI donāt get it, I am having a BIG MADā then it is a good reminder to me that I need to break things down and stop asking for the hard stuff in that session.
So you can set up these sessions with the harder stuff limited to the left turn away for now (the FCs and spins seem great in both directions, because those are different mechanics). And the right turn aways can be done slowly and in isolation, so he can sort it out š
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning! Lots of great work here!
The get out game is looking good – you were really emphasizing keeping your feet as straight as possible on the get out cues and that was strong! It will help get the cue really independent.
The key cue for her is definitely the BIG connection as part of the out cue (because it really opens up your shoulders to the jump), versus the softer connection (not as much direct eye contact) for the go cue. At :37 you did not have the BIG connection so she did not do the out (your shoulders did not turn to the jump as much on that one. Compare to
:42 which had stronger connection for sure, so she got the jump and you did the BC before she took off, making for a tight turn too! The other crosses were a little late, so you can try to turn sooner – the goal is to trust her commitment enough that as soon as she looks at the jump and takes a step to it, you can start the cross. That will also give us insight into how strong her commitment currently is and if we need to strengthen it more or not.Mission transition: this went great. You made very clear transitions and she was lovely!
Your decel is so powerful as a cue that you donāt need to push into the jump at all – that is why she went to the backside at :58 and also read the rep at 1:42 as a rear cross (I thought that is what you were cuing, actually, because you ran a rear cross pressure line). On both of those, you move in towards the bar so she (correctly) read them as different cues, depending on how much you ran to the bar.
Compare to 1:04 and the other reps where you were outside the edge of the wing more so she took the front side perfectly.
When she was on your right heading to the jump, you did the exits of the jump as post turns. They went well, but post turns will often be a little wider unless you decel into the send and move to the next line even sooner.
When she was on your left (1:48 and the reps after it) you added a FC and it was awesome – SUPER tight with great transitions into it. So nice!!! Also, well done with the strong connection and moving away on the rewards! That really gives her extra reasons to turn tight and drive out of the turn šZig zags on 2 bars – this was challenging for her but she was able to do it. Yay!
Zig zags on 3 bars: This was REALLY hard because she basically has to bounce AND change leads. She did better when she moved right-left-right later in the session than she did when she had to move to her left first. The right-left-right reps had the bounces and lead changes, good girl!!!! For the other side when she has to move to her left first, you can angle the bars a bit so they are not quite as parallel/serpy. You can make a little bit of a line visible through them to help her see the line better so she can work out her mechanics.Turn aways: you did a couple of lap turns on one wing, which looked good – try not to move backwards when you do these, they will be most useful when you are in position and facing her on a line. When you added the rocking horses, you did tandems so you were both moving:
The tandems worked great turning to her right, that was an easier side for you both! You gave early hand cues/verbals and also gave her room on the line to come between you and the wing.
When she was turning to her left, you were a little late and didnāt give her as much room at 3:21, 3:25 or 3:51 (she as already on there way to the other side of the wing and you moved towards the wing too).
Compare to 3:38, 3:59, 4:09 and 4:20 when you gave her the hand cues as soon as she was coming around the previous wing and you gave her room on the line to get between you and the jump – those looked terrific! You made it really obvious and on time, and you were also patient to let her get in to the correct side of the wing before turning her away. That worked great!
You can add the race tracks around the outside of the 2 wings here, mixed in with the FCs and spins that you did and the tandems. If you want to send her away to a wing and then be facing her and stationary, you can add a lap turn too (these are less important than the tandems).
Question: you had verbals here, I think they were your wrap verbals? For the tandem turns, you can add your threadle wrap verbal. If you donāt have a threadle wrap verbal, letās decide on one. Those threadle wraps are becoming VERY popular now in course design so we can get them fully trained and verbal-added, so she is ready for when she sees them on course š
Well done here!!!!
Tracy
Hi! The sequences are going really well!
Video 1 – She is blazing fast, I love it! You can line her up on an angle at 1 so it is a straight line to 2 rather than an extra turn. The distances were a little short here, so she was on her forehand a bit over jumps 3 and 4 (:03 and :30) – you can see her butt coming up higher than her shoulders. So you can give her another 3 feet or so between jumps – and it there is not enough space, run these at 12ā so she has more balanced jumping.
Video 2 – The opening is looking good!!
>In the next clip we went a step further but missed the last jump. >
I was a connection question: She ran past the last jump when you stopped connecting and starting throwing the ball. On the first video, you werenāt very connected but you were really close to the jumps so she got it. See the next video for how well your connection supports the line.
Video 3: REALLY nice blind in the opening here! Note the connection here on 5-6 – gorgeous! And she easily got the line. I bet you can run hard up the line if you can connect like that!
Video 4: the collection on 2 was easy for her! Yay! You can line her up on a slice at 1 as well here, so she doesnāt have an extra turn. She read the RC really well! You said āgoā but then stopped moving, so I wasnāt sure if you wanted her to keep going or not after the RC.
>>Here is our final attempt at putting things together. Not perfect by any means but the end of this session.>>
This was the same video as the previous one, can you repost the video?
>>We are having fun with these exercises with our middle aged dog who has such anxiety at trials that she canāt function well, but loves the back yard fun. She has so many skills that it is good to see her able to play and be successful. >>
That is awesome!! I am so glad she is having fun!!!
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
The outs are going well in terms of the upper body, very clear cues! Your lower body can be further away to make it even more independent: You are moving towards the jump with your feet, so she is relying on your feet as the cue. Putting a line on t he ground from the outer edge of the start wing going parallel to the bar will help because you will have a visual to help keep your feet straight šThe transitions into decel are going great! At :45 and 1:06 you had earlier decels so she committed in collection and had great turns. You were later at :55 so she was wider – she was just about taking off when the decel started as compared to the other wrap reps where you were decelerating before she passed you (a little past halfway between the wing and jump).
She is doing really well with her zig zags! Nice job to you for the quickness of the cues!!! The next step is to start her right next to the wing, just outside the feet of the wing, so she takes off immediately (plyometrics!) for the bar rather than stride into it. That will increase challenge! And then when she is comfy with that, we can move the wings closer together š
āØGreat job here!
Tracy
Hi!
It is so fun to have a classmate come over to train!!! Would Mason take cookies from Di? If so, she can do the line up with him: cookie, collar, cookie. That way he will pull less when she is holding him.>>I donāt know if we were really better on the first side or just lucky.
It is possible that it was easier for him to go left then right, but I think a couple of things were different between the 2 sides: when he was going to his left-then-right, he as lined up on Diās left, putting him between her and the wing so the bar was easy to see. On the other side, when he had to go right-then-left, he was also on Diās left, putting him on the outside of the line. The bar was harder to see and get to, which contributed to running past it.
It will be interesting to see if he can find it when he is next to the wing (on her right) rather than on her left when going right-to-left.
I think having you closer to the wing of 2 really helps as well on that side, and staying close to the line helped too: if you were too far away, it was hard to show him the last bar.
>>On the last rep where we finally got going on the harder side I didnāt have the toy in my first hand and we thought that maybe that was the key, but now Iām not sure.>
I donāt think it was the toy – I think it was better position from you (closer to wings 2 and 3) and very clear handling help. The toy was in the picture on the other successful reps, so I think making things clearer here y being closer really made the difference š
Nice work!
TracyThe BCs are going well! Excellent job with the verbals! Super nice connection after the blind so he knew where to be. You only had one heartbeat of turning towards him on the first one, and then the rest were true BCs (or a post turn but I think that was what you wanted in that post.
You can add the tunnel back in, so you can do this with more flow and movement (it might feel easier that way too!)
He did well with the wraps and the decels! Yay! You can add more connection to his eyes as he comes around the start wing – that will let you be even earlier plus he will drive to the jump even more independently and know which side to be on: on most of the reps, he was looking at you a little when you were looking forward at the jump. At 2:09, you were looking forward a lot so he read it (correctly) as a blind cross and went to your left side. I think the left side has more value for him in general, so if it looks like a blind to your left side he is happy to go there š Big connection will smooth that out.
It was not a toy distraction issue, because the toy was in that same hand on the other reps (including the next rep) and when you had clearer connection, he went to the jump not the toy. With that in mind, though, you can totally add in a marker word for toy-in-hand being available (I use ābiteā) so he is completely clear on when it is available for grabbing or not.
Because this went so well, you can do a mash-up of GO, FC wrap, backsides, and rear crosses. All in the same session! That makes it harder for the human end of the team š
Great job here!
TracyHi!
The wraps looked great and so did the GO lines! You can throw the toy for the go as soon as he looks ahead after the wingā¦ then race him to it š That will get even more extension and less looking at you. Your timing on the wraps was great! He collected really well – only a little bit of trouble sorting out his feet on the first one and moved the bump, but I was super pleased to see his adjustment on the 2nd one: wrapping but not touching the bump. Yay! I think you can show him this with a bar too, to help him sort out his mechanics over a bar.
He also made great adjustments on the ladder grid – on the first couple of reps, he moved the first bump with his back feet. Then at :49 and the last rep, he sorted it out and jumped it cleanly. Super! The other jumps looked clean too and he was GREAT with the stay and the moving target! I think we should start introducing bars to this one too: bars on jumps 2 and 3 to get started and if he is feeling comfy with that (clean jumping efforts) then we can add a bar to jump 1. All bars should be super low to start, maybe 6 or 8ā.
The out session was great too!!! You stayed in motion on the straight line while cuing the out and he was such a good boy to change his line and move away to the jump (he did look at you like you were nuts, though hahahaha!) And nice job throwing the reward early. You can move to the advanced level now of adding the crosses on the jump – wait til he is just about at the jump then start the FC or BC.
>>Iām back to keeping things super short and fun for him (5 min timer for the whole session, or 4/5 reps of something). It keeps both of us wanting more next time>>
Super! All these sessions looked short, fast, and fun! We have been talking to our Brain Camp neuroscientist vet about how we can use the āleave them wanting moreā concept to work on dopamine releases to get the optimal ācraveā for agility and therefore build up a lot of intrinsic motivation for the game (which should theoretically make it easier to fade out food and toys when getting ready to trial).
>>Iām noticing he doesnāt like to shift his weight onto his hind legs and Iām policing his sloppy sits. We have a fitness appointment for him in a week to start working more on these, and a sports vet (in June! ā wow they book out). So hard to tell with these youngsters if this is a puppy thing, or something else (and ofc we always worry about the āsomething elseā).>>
Totally relatable about worrying! He is young, large, and male š so it is probably just puppy stuff. He can totally learn a tight sit on a platform: that is one of the first things sports vets want us to do anyway! Get a low platform that is only big enough for him to sit with really straight tight sits, and work a few minutes of that every few days. That will really help him!
Also, he made excellent hind end adjustments in the wrap video and the ladder video, so I think he just needs to sort out his mechanics and is totally on the right track.Great job here!
TracyGood morning!
I think the distance on the ladder grid was the sweet spot! He did really well: it was challenging but he was powerful! The best reps where when the toy was a little further away from jump 3 before releasing him (so he could power her jump 3 without slowing down). That will continue to get easier to do as his stay gets better and better with the moving target.
The next step is to change out the smaller jumps to wing jumps and 4 or 5 foot bars. That will change the visual entirely and the dogs need to adjust. When he is happy with that, you can move to the advanced level where the bars are angled – that is also a hard visual change for him too (you might have to move things closer when the angles change because the distances get a bit bigger when we angle the jumps).Because it is a jumping challenge and he is a youngster, this can go into the rotation for once a week, so we donāt over-jump him with all the other things he is learning too š
The Rear Cross wind in your hair game looked AWESOME!! The rear crosses were all super (maybe even a little early on the first couple). He was looking at the pressure for the first couple of steps on the first couple of reps, but then he sorted out the line and drove ahead really well. AND turned the right way in both directions. Yay!!!!
Great job with the balance reps with the GO lines – he is getting really strong with looking forward to his line, youāve done a lovely job with consistent toy throws š
āāWas I too far in the middle of the jump for the straight line?>>
On some of them, yes, a little too close to the bar. Your motion still said āgo straightā but you can line yourself up more for the outer edge of the wing to run past like at 1:09 and 1:37 and the last rep.
Great job here!!!! I think he is totally ready for you to add the advanced level (backside wraps) to this game, which will also lead us nicely into the mission transition game posted last Wednesday.
Tracy
