[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

>I’m trying to get back in the groove but I can really only do 1 thing a day (e.g., train, shop, eat out …). So I’m hoping to train maybe every other day.>

Great! Every other day will still build the skills as you are building back up to running.

>It seems to me that he continues to show a strong preference for the obstacle nearest him but I think it is improved from Friday.>

I agree! It was hard for him to override your positional cue of being near an obstacle to go find the further one, without a big send. He had to top watching you and stop watching the frisbee to do so. But he had plenty of successes! And there was a section (1:30-1:40 ish) where he had a lot of success with minimal motion help (then his brain got tired and he lost the narrative a bit LOL).

The motion help was pretty minimal overall, so think of it as a fading process – gradually have less and less turn to the correct obstacle. And then when we *do* add real handling back in? This is going to be so much easier.

>I also think that if my location is “depressed” from the entry to the tunnel, he can’t stay out enough and defaults to the jump.>

Yes, so you can keep your line of motion on the same plane and the jump and tunnel. Also, you can tweak the setup so the tunnel entry is more visible past the jump, getting it to be perpendicular to the bar and not parallel to it. There are 2 ways to do that – you can rotate the jump and wing so that the further obstacle is more visible, or you can gently curve the tunnel so the entry is facing the line he sees more (which will make the jump harder even though it is closer).

I can draw it for you and send, in case my writing is not making sense 🙂

The other thing to consider is that even though the words are different… the pitch/volume/rhythm of the words are the same. I think many dogs rely on pitch/volume/rhythm and not the actual word, so you can help him by changing the pitch/volume/rhythm of one of the words. I yell my tunnel verbals pretty loudly and extend the word, but the jump verbals are quieter and shorter. It took some human self-control for ME because I tend to yell everything LOL but the results have been great – and not just with the dogs who I consider to be good at processing verbals. So maybe quiet your jump verbal so it sounds very different from the tunnel?

Nice work here! Let me know what you think!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>> I have one instructor that wants me to have a thrown toy that Ven will retrieve, not self reward with. So he knows how to open the lotus ball which I cannot find right now but the clam only pays when retrieved. I will go back to using the lotus ball for agility when I find the dang thing.>

Self-rewarding is not a bad thing at all, when we are building distance and confidence on lines 🙂 If the toy is thrown and then the retrieve is required to be able to get the treat, then what you are rewarding is the retrieve and coming to you more than you are rewarding line independence.

So when working a skill, choose the reinforcement strategy that fits the specifics of what you are working on. If it is the distance work and forward focus on the line, then definitely use the lotus ball so he can be rewarded ‘out there’ for the effort of going that far away from you. Bear in mind that the retrieve requirement adds work to the work of the sequence, so keep it really reinforcing so the clam doesn’t drop off in value.

Looking at the jump grids –
I think the 4.5 foot distance for the compression looked good! It was hard to tell if the 5 foot distance was an issue or not, it would take a few more reps but I think for now, leaving that distance at 4.5’ works great.

>Ven knocked the first bar twice so I might be setting him up a little close?>

I don’t think the setup was too close – I think he is pulling from his front and can push more from his rear. At 1:51 he hit bar 1 with his back foot, and at 3:01 looks like he hit the bar landing on it with a front foot. If the dogs are too close, we see them hitting the bar with their wrists on the way up on the takeoff.

>He did knock the 16″ bar once which looked like he took off too early.>

Yes, that was on rep 2. I don’t think it was early in a bad way – it looks like he was trying to really power up the in extension but didn’t quite make it. On the next rep, he added front end steps to try to sort it out – he didn’t drop the bar but I liked him trying to power over the bar rather than tippy tap into it 🙂

So based on what he was doing when he hit the first bar and when he hit th last bar, we need to get more hind end power 🙂 What is his general conditioning program? We can find ways to add more hind end strength and power to it (along with associated core strength). One simple way to do it is to use set points rather than full grids. The set point is 2 jumps set about 4.5 feet apart. The first jump is low and the 2nd jump is higher so he really has to immediately organize and push from the rear.

When doing the set point, you should still have the reward 12 feet or so from jump 2 and on the ground like it was here – but tie a string to it so as you release him, you start dragging the toy forward too. That will help keep his head down and produce more power too!

Sequence 1:
I think the walk through really helped solidify the plan so the first run went well! Great job planning the verbals!! The run went really well!

As we compare walks to runs, you can see and hear the difference in the walk versus the run here. On the walk through, you were walking and saying the verbals conversationally, without connecting to the invisible dog. On the run, there was a lot more speed in the movement and energy in the handling! You will want to practice that in the walk through too, to match the walk and run as perfectly as you can. That way the connection will feel easier and the timing will be easier too!

It was the timing at :28 that brought down the bar on the wrap – the verbal started on time but the physical cues started as he was over the bar. Practicing connecting with the invisible dog in the walk through and handling at the same speed as the real dog will help you be able to time those cues sooner (physical cues start at the same time as the wrap verbal, when he is exiting the wing of the previous jump) which will definitely help with the bars.

Sequence 2: Good job with the planning and adding the verbals here too! This sequence definitely emphasized the need to run it at his speed (with connection and verbals) before running it with him 🙂 Adding the speed changed some things!

On the walk through, the threadle on 5 had your feet and shoulders and movement all saying “front of bar” at :10 and :38.

In the run, you changed your motion and verbals on the first run to get it. The 2nd run looked like the walk through so he took the front.

Doing the backside with a post turn at :23 looked like a tunnel cue, and you said ‘here’ while you were facing the tunnel. The FC on the walk through showed the line a lot more clearly!

Adding the speed was what made it a lot harder – having to hustle to get up the line change your mechanics so it was harder to show him the info –
On the post turn, the post turn did show him the tunnel and he dropped the bar trying to adjust. You told yourself you should have done the FC – but your body did the post turn possibly because it had not rehearsed the FC at speed. And there are a lot of mechanics getting to that FC at speed- timing the decel, the rotation the connection, etc. You got it but ended up being late there.

There was one other spot he had a question – on the 6-7 line. He had a question on the first run about the line to 7 and didn’t take it on the 2nd run. That was connection, so be sure to add connection to the invisible dog on the walk through, both when you are working out the plan and when you are running the invisible dog 🙂 If you catch yourself looking ahead at the obstacles, remind yourself to look at the invisible dog 🙂

You are off to a great start with these walk-run games! I think that adding running with connection will make a world of difference 🙂

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
Lots of good runs here!!!! You were trying harder skills and really pushing/being aggressive on the lines. That is great!! It tells us what she needs and what we need to train more of. Overall SUPER nice work. Here are some thoughts:

Masters Series 1:
Good for you for trying that big forward focus lead out! Good for her of holding the stay!

She didn’t really look at the jump (kind of gave it away side eye) so that is your cue to help her out. I think your position next to the wall with your hips/shoulders turned more to it confused her. If you rotate to face 1 more that might help! That is what you did at :33 and she got it. Yay!

One thing to think about is running on hard angles to your next position. A few times on these courses (not just this one) you ran a curved line and ended up running a parallel line of motion to a line you didn’t want :). That is what happened here at :47 – you had a wide turn on the tunnel exit and you were parallel to the jump after it, so she went around it. You can be peeling away to the next line more,

You got the layering with supporting parallel line motion! Nice!!!

She almost turned to the tunnel at 1:17 – from this camera angle, it did look like a RC cue when you stepped back in towards the jump.

At 1:25 – she didn’t come on in serp. You could have looked at the landing spot to help her but the games posted tomorrow isolate that skill specifically! We are going to train the cahooies out of the skill so she will drive in hard on those.

Gamblers – nice contacts! Nice gamble!
Something happened at :17 but I couldn’t tell what 🙂 Overall, super nice!

Agility – yep, you didn’t cue the tunnel at :12, she was being a good girl!
She went off course after the reset to the tunnel at :19 (and was a little wide at :27) because you were moving backwards through the FC. The running backwards sets a parallel line of motion towards the jump she took. Run forward to the teeter (and do a blind :))

Nice teeter! She drove to the end but you released immediately, which might be why she self-releases sometimes. Be careful with be super consistent with releases.

Nice job working the turn on the tunnel after the DW!!! It was a great thing to work on and she did end up with a really nice turn. Her RDWs are looking great 🙂

Make sure you handle that last jump it looks like she was running for the exit in a “I am done, where is my toy!” moment LOL!

Masters Series agility – another really nice run!

She had a good question in the opening when you went past the line at 2 setting your line so far from 3 she didn’t see it. So you can plan to be in a more direct line to 3 there.

The rest was great!

Wow the big line around the back to the layering to the weave entry was SUPER!
Great job after that too, and you were super connected and helped her at the end when you were behind and the line didn’t make a lot of sense to her. Yay!

Jumping was great except for exiting the poles when the other obstacle car into view and you were getting ready to head to it. Homework! She was doing a bit of that on the class courses too – so you can set up an obstacle appearing at weave 8 or 9 then reward her for weaving past it.

SS – the off course tunnel in the opening was created by parallel line motion as you hustled to get to the blind, no verbals

Instead of rounding the line with her 2-3, you can send and head directly to the blind, calling her urgently to chase your line.

She didn’t get turn cues at :31 so picked up another off course tunnel – you were facing the tunnel as she took off for the jump 🙂 In a tight section like that, a brake arm will help a lot.

You can also add a RC on 2nd to last jump in that run, or keep her on your right sided using a get out cue to get a smooth line to the last jump.

These are looking really good! The more you run these big UKI courses, the easier it gets 🙂 Let me know what you think!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
This went great! I agree, it seemed easy peasy for her but she was definitely paying attention to the cues and not just going on autopilot.

>I think the one at 1:15 where she didn’t send was because my arm came up? (It was a “what’s the word?” moment as well I think, since I was switching from the tight cue to jump cue).>

Yes, 1:14 you were a little hidden behind the tunnel – your arm was higher that turned your shoulders away from the line, as if cueing the middle wing. Good reward there!

Compare to 1:25 – connection and cues began before she even exited the tunnel and she nailed it! Nice connection on the exit of the FCs on the middle wing, in particular.

Since this went so well… add more distance! That will also give you a little more time to spit out the words. How far away can you send her to the wings? Feel free to get to 20 feet, then 25 then 30 feet (in gradual increments, depending how she does). Being able to send her with 1 step to something 30 feet away is going to be tremendously useful when she starts running the big hard courses 🙂

And if you want to make it a little extra spicy as you add distance, you can put a random wing in the there so as she exits the tunnel, you are on the other side of it to send her to the wing – layering! The additional wing can be relatively close to the tunnel exit so it is easy to layer. Let me know if that makes sense or if I need more coffee 🙂

Great job here!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Thanks for the video!

The questions here was about your line of motion. On the reps where he went directly to the jump, you were using your hands but moving directly to the front of the jump or running on a line parallel to the line to the front of the jump.

The key to the threadle wraps is turning to move along a line parallel to the threadle line to the backside of the jump – that is what you did at :42 and 1:31, and he got on the threadle line. But then on both of those reps, you moved in towards the jump and that took him off the threadle wrap line.

At :43 you praised him and turned to the jump, so he was not sure where to be – looking at you for the reward, or figuring out what side of the jump to be on.
At 1:32, you stepped back towards the jump which send him to the front side.

I think on those reps you were trying to help him make the turn – you can trust him more and use decel (and maybe small hand cues) to let him turn himself away.

I grabbed screenshots of these moments! Let me know what you think!

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1d-UM-Kb4W3UrsoXcJk3fxRuGuLecvS7RF79MJP1IZlY/edit?usp=sharing

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
Pick did really well here!!! Yay!!!

I like the BC on the 1-2-3 line! You had
consistently excellent timing of starting it when he was lifting for 1 on the first rep and again at :32 and :54 and 1:39. Super! Gotta love consistent excellence!!!

On the opening, you can lead out more if possible so you are further past 2 for the blind and off his line to 3 – you were blocking his line a little bit so he had to go around you more than needed to find 3.

On the first couple of reps, you started timing the cues to wrap 3 when he was over 2 but your forward motion to 3 made the decel and rotation late at :15 ad :35 so he turned after landing.

You decelerated on time (as he was over 2) at :57 and on the last rep, and the turn was much better! Yay!

>First rep I didn’t have enough connection after 3 to send to the tunnel, next rep I connected but then lost where I was going and fudged up the line to 5>

Yes, the tunnel entry was a little offset from 3 so he needed the extra support on the line. And you accidentally ran a
banana (curved) line at :40 – you ran past it then curved towards it so he took the front.

He definitely prefers big connection on the backside cues:

At 1:00 you had great connection exiting the tunnel but were all the way at the jump so you stopped moving. That is fine as long as you maintain connection til he commits to the backside – as he got to you, you turned forward and pointed to the backside which sent him to the front of the jump because it turned your shoulders & feet to the front instead of the line to the back.

Moving into it more at 1:05 helped a lot because the parallel path motion with connection sets the line a lot better! Note how at 1:08 he had a little question when you pointed and started to step away, and he considered the front of the jump. That stepping away parallel to the bar was just a shade too early for him (he was still a stride or so from the backside commitment plane) plus the pointing changes the line of your shoulders

At 1:17 you had even more motion to the backside one and the arm point/step away happened when he was just about arriving at the wing, which was better timing for him and connection for him.

Nice ending line (especially at 1:48 when you serped and didn’t pull away from 5-6 too much). And super nice FCs at the end – he did a great job turning tight there thanks to very timely and connected cues!! He looked a little tired at the end but that might have been related to the extra bunny chasing moments LOL!!

Great job!!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
Nice tunnel exits here! You were early on a couple of the reps with the turn cues (she was landing from the previous jump) so she didn’t go to the tunnel (good girl was paying attention!!)

>I could not get the turn 3-4 because I was trying so hard to manage the turn from the tunnel so I was continuously late for 3-4.>

That is a tight, hard line and based on motion (post turn) she was looking straight as she took off for 3. She knew *something* was up and it was not quite right because she was jockeying around to the outside of the off course jump (probably to get a better look at the handling) even though she was on a straight line to it.

I think what she will need on this type of sequence would be a brake arm for 3 (both arms visible to her, similar to what you are doing at the tunnel entry but without rotating towards her). Or, a spin! The spin would also start when she exits the tunnel. Both will change her line really well – the decision on which to use will depend on how quickly you are able to get up the next line afterwards.

Great job here!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

Tunnel turns are going well!

If you are going to rotate into her a lot, might as well finish it as a spin. When you opened back up to a post turn, she saw it at :14 and went past the jump. She also saw it at :28 and almost went past the jump but then changed her line to get the jump (yay!!)
On the other reps (:06, :22) you were still rotated when she exited the tunnel, so we do want her to be able to see you in motion when she exits the tunnel (slow motion for now :))

Great job!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!
Nice job working through this! It seemed like you didn’t really trust her skill at the beginning and you were helping too much 🙂 The ideal handling is to decel as you show the cue, then let her set up the turn away on her own.

I think at the beginning you were moving too much (rep 1, where she didn’t know which jump to take) then over-helping with arms and motion to the jump (really wide on rep 2 at :15). She was a little confused at :22 when you were working 1 jump and released and moved forward, she thought it was a front side cue.

But then you showed better info at :33 and she nailed it 🙂 Then at :39 you trusted her more by giving the ideal cues without over-helping and she was perfect!
And the push wrap at the end looked great!!

Nice work :)

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

Flipping the setup worked well here! He seemed to think the closer obstacle (tunnel) was the correct one at the beginning especially after you cued it on the first rep. But then he was sorting it out – just be sure that you are in slow, steady motion the whole time so he is not cueing off of whether you keep moving or not.

You can revisit this in different contexts and setups – it can be something you play with or a minute or two within pretty much any sequence you set up!

>Now, for the pull threadle again>

This was the same video as the discriminations – let me know when you post the threadle video and we can figure out what he is reading.

>Pro Mosquito Tip: Wear long sleeves even if it’s hot. You’re sweating your ass off either way, so might as well get less bites.>

OMG yes! And you might notice in some of the demo videos I am wearing long pants with long socks – that is for mosquito and tick and biting fly protection, even though it is 96 degrees. Sigh.

Nice work here!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning! This was another super strong session! She seems to be having a great time finding the lines here, and she has a lovely balance of speed and tight turns.

>I spread the jumps out. I don’t have a ton of room in my odd shaped yard. The tunnel is still slightly offset and she did have some issues with that on some of the reps.>

The distances worked really well! And having the tunnel a little offset created slightly different lines when she was on your left, but that is great – it keeps things exciting because you had to handle the lines and she had to do some extra lead changes. You both did really well!

At :13 she dropped the bar – you got the tiniest bit past the wrap jump and decelerated a little late so she was trying to adjust for the turn in the air.

Compare to your timing and position at :40 & :58 where you stayed on the takeoff side of the jump after having decelerated earlier – she had a good turn and the bar stayed up! The timing of your decel and the position on the takeoff side was particularly nice at 1:25 so her wrap was gorgeous! On that rep, you started your decel shortly after she landed from the middle jump.

The best timing was at 1:45, where your decel began as she was landing from the middle jump – perfect! And her collection was fantastic there.

Also worth noting is that you did a great job staying connected as she exited the wrap jump on every rep, so she knew exactly where to be on the way to the next line. Yay!

On the 3rd run (and last run too), you wrapped her to the inside on jump 1. You can also wrap her to the outside there – it might be a little more distance but it is a straight line. Plus it is great prep for this type of opening (jumping away from the course on jump 1) which is really popular lately.

When she is on your right heading to the tunnel (like at 1:02 and 1:29), the slightly offset tunnel entry creates an opportunity to use more of a ‘get out’ cue than a regular ‘go’ cue. In that case, you can add an opposite arm (left arm here) to point to the tunnel as you connect and keep moving. She will see the exaggerated shoulder position and connection with the outside arm which will help to automatically shift her away to the tunnel entry. You did a bit of that by converging to the tunnel at 1:30 – adding the outside arm makes it even more obvious and that way you won’t have to move towards the tunnel as much. Plus it will really help when you are not as far ahead (like at 1:39) – the outside arm will help her move away even with you a little behind her.

Here is what I mean by the outside arm, in case you are thinking that I am nuts hahaha

Great job here!!! You can add the other handling games to this setup now too!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

This session went really well, and it is a good topic for him: he was taking a few extra strides and looking at you, asking a couple of questions. The more you got the reward out ahead, the more he was sure he should drive ahead. It is definitely hard to connect, run the line, and get the toy thrown at the right time but you did a great job!

As you keep building up the driving ahead, you can either throw the toy while he is in the tunnel so you can just run (and so he expects it out ahead and looks ahead). Or you can enlist someone else to throw it – your videographer perhaps? Or in class, hand the reward off to the instructor to throw. That way he will look forward even more because you won’t have it in your hand and he won’t see you throw it 🙂 It you enlist someone else to throw, be sure to tell them that the timing is early – when he exit the tunnel – and not when he arrives at the jump.

Super nice job here!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! The added distance was good for him, more room to open up! And you had to run more too 🙂

>. I’ve done a bit of AKC with Dellin and usually they have those pinwheels but there’s also a straight ahead jump (after jump 2) that you don’t take, so when I sprinkle, she knows she’s not going straight>

Two things to consider about the sprinkler cue –

Plan the timing, so it starts when he is over the previous jump. On most of the reps you were starting it after he landed, which is a little late for a large dog 🙂 Picture him jumping full height – he will land pretty far from the jump and closer to the next jump, so you will want him to have the info before he lands.

Also, turn your shoulders to the wrap jump sooner rather than round the curve of the pinwheel in parallel to him. Even with the sprinkler cue going, he was reading your line of motion which was facing straight after the pinwheel jump, so he was landing straight then turning after landing (when he saw you turn). So at :04 he was going straight til you changed the frisbee to the other hand 🙂 then he came towards you.
At :11 & :32 you were facing straight as he was jumping the pinwheel jump. so even with the sprinkler cue, he was not sure of the turn and dropped the bar. Same at :25 and :43 (bars up here) – he went pretty wide on the way to 5, based on your line of motion.
So along with the sprinkler cue, you can add in sending and turning to the next line as he is finishing the previous jump. Or you can move closer to it but add brake arms so he collects for the turn.

The wraps themselves are looking strong! He was collecting nicely before takeoff and had good turns! The better he turned on the pinwheel jump, the better the wrap was, so it is worthwhile to get a better turn there 🙂 And you can start the decel sooner: when he is over the pinwheel jump, you can start to decel so he can see the cues sooner (also in prep for when the bars get raised).

>We also started the back chain for the BC exercise – the wrap away and going back. I was running out of dog, so we didn’t get to the BC part yet.>

These looked great! He looks ready for the BC when he is fresh and it is not too hot.

Nice work here!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>Not long after I stopped the last video, Ven had a huge poop blowout. Not sure what upset his GI tract but he was out of commission for a couple of days. I think that contributed to not releasing from the start line.>

Poor guy! That could have contributed for sure!

> I think he got stuck because he was HOT. Even though the sun was just setting, it was still heat index 96>

Yes, it is possible because that is really HOT! Keep an eye on the freezing up on the start line though (and leaving to dive into the jumps set up next to the house) – he also did it a little on the 2nd video. You can build in more reward for resetting at the beginning and rewards for the release too, and see if that helps him drive right into the release.

>. I’m also working to use the new clam toy as a reward so his brain was melting over that too.>

He definitely likes the clam! Is he able to open the clam by himself to get the treat out? We want to make sure he gets the instant reward for the good decision, rather than the reward coming for when he brings it to you (which might reward the discrimination as well as it rewards the retrieve :)) And that can make the clam even more useful for big distance work too!

He did well with the discriminations – both of the sessions were mainly showing him that yes, it is legal to go past the closer obstacle and find the one further away 🙂 So far, most of the dogs here have the same question. Ven was figuring it out really well, so it is definitely a game to revisit. Since he likes the weaves so much, you can use that to your advantage by having the jump closer to you, and the weaves further away (replacing the tunnel, so there are only 2 obstacles out there). Then you can see if he will pass the jump to go to the weaves! And then the tunnel can get added back in at some point, so he gets to practice all 3.

Great job here! Have fun with the ring rental!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>Ok we tried it again and walla! She can do them when I cue them correctly!>

Yes! She did really well and the 1-2-3-4 opening looked great! It will get easier to cue that #1 jump as she gets more experienced but she definitely needs that clarity of cue for now.

The whole session looked good! From the exit of 4 to the backside of 5, it worked well to go closer to the tunnel and keep your arm back/connection clear to drive her to the backside and be able to keep moving like you did a 1:05 and 2:14! You were a little too far ahead and pointing forward at :18 when she did not go to the backside.

You can start moving your line of motion further across the bar – you will still want to be parallel to her line and connected, but that line can be more towards the center of the bar. That will let you get further up the next line too!

> Sticky would be like those last two jumps where she is looking up at me being super handler focused.>

That was a connection question 🙂
As she backside serp on 5, you turned your shoulders forward which actually sends her past 6 (she needed to continuing turning to her left to find 6) . She looked up for more info in both spots – you ran hard to 6 so she got it at 1:06 but you were a little further behind/not as connected at 2:18 so she missed the jump.

Ideally, you would bring your serp arm back as you cued the 5 serp on the backside, and keep it back (while looking at her) as you ran to 6. That will point your shoulders to teh line which helps her shift to her left to get it. Hold the serp arm back (strike a pose!) until you see her look at and turn to the 6 jump.

When you re-sent her at 2:21, you had your serp arm back and big connection, and she got it! Yay! That is what the cue should look like, all the way from approaching the 5 backside to when she turns away to look at 6.

For the jump after it – she just needed a little more connection there too, which turns your shoulders to the line to support the 270. When your arm was high and you were turned a little too much into the gap, she had a question and looked at you – at that point you reached for the ball, which sealed the deal and she came into the gap 🙂

I made some screenshots so you can see what she is seeing.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ZVsQG8NhDLwCDkWJ_kHL92VH0lXVEovYmasHIVBVxFs/edit?usp=sharing

Great job! Stay cool!

Tracy

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