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Hi!
>Our weather is going bad – rain turning to ice to snow, so I may lose the yard for a couple of days. Hopefully it misses you in Chicago (glad I’m not needing to travel tomorrow back to MN). I hate this time of year – it was 70 on Friday- SO CLOSE to Spring. Then back to winter gear.>
UGH!!! I spoke to the weather people and asked them for good weather in MN, but they ignored me 🙂
>The second jump was locked at 6″. He saw his conditioning person this week and he said I could safely do up to 10″ at his age, so next time I do set point, I’ll do 8″ and then move to 10″ after that. >
Perfect! We have time for a gradual progression to tall bars.
>We also are thinking he may be a 20″ dog, so we’ll see what the wicket says, when I can get one to use.>.
It would be fun to see him in 20”!
Wind In Your Hair: He did a great job finding the jump! This height can start to go up too, gradually.
A couple of ideas for you:
The start wing can be more centered so he is on more of a straight line to the jump on both sides, rather than pushing back in to get to the jump.
>My toys throws felt awkward – like it would have been better if the toy was on the ground. >
They didn’t look awkward… but they were late 🙂 That is why you might have noticed him looking at you and collecting – nothing left to look at 🙂 As you exit the wing wrap, look at his eyes: when he looks at the jump, throw the reward. That will feel a lot earlier, and will also get extension over the jump.
A placed reward is sometimes fine for when we expand the distance (which he is ready for) and also when you stay at the start wing til he exits, so he can drive ahead of you. But we don’t want to always have the placed reward, because the more we use it, the more if becomes the context cue for the behavior and the harder it is to fade. So I use it rarely but at this point we mostly throw it as soon as the dog looks at the jump after the wrap.
And you can definitely expand the distance and add more of your running too 🙂
>And I don’t know why I keep saying his wrap cue for soooo long after he has taken the jump. Yikes when I saw that on the video.>
Ha! Yes, there was a lot of wrap verbal happening LOL!! The wrap verbal should stop as he arrives at the wing – then watch his head and as he exits, switch to your go verbal and throw the reward.
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi! She did well here!
One thing I notice is that her speed is looking really good (fast fast fast!) so as you are exiting the wraps, try to keep moving: don’t wait for her then step her back to the tunnel because it puts you behind on the next line. Try to rotate sooner (before she arrives at the wing) then be moving on a line parallel to the tunnel entry so she goes to it and you are further ahead on the next line.
>after some initial confusion about the tunnel being under the a frame (just where it happened to be).>
The a-frame over the tunnel is great to introduce (she is definitely going to see that a lot in her career!) and also it is another example of having to devote bandwidth to processing. Breaking it down to show the tunnel before the wraps get added is definitely the way to go. She missed it on the first one but her adolescent brain might not even have realized she missed it (adolescent brains are weird like that LOL!!) so you can totally reward it as if she took it – her effort was really good and it helps with arousal regulation, particularly if her brain was saying “nailed it”!
>But it’s the first training session I’ve done where I really noticed the stays being a bit of an issue and also setting up had her sort of wandering and offering obstacles (hate to say it, but like a BC, terriers don’t do that!) I think there were two more reps at the end of this that I cut out that were very similar: trouble setting up, a few breaks, me rewarding the stay a few times before finally getting to do the sequence. Guess I’d like to prevent this from spiraling any further?>
I think the line up cues can be clearer, and the release can be separated from motion. On the video, motion and the release verbal were simultaneous, so she was not entirely sure when to move. If you give a distinct line up/sit cue, then praise, then slowly point your foot and hand to the wing, praise… then release – I think that will be very clear and she will get it. Her main questions were about if your movement to the wing or tunnel (even if it as unintentional) was the cue to go or not.
You can even lead out one step so it is a mini lead out! And mix in reps where you start from a collar hold.
An example of this would be starting at 2:50-ish: It was hard to know if she was cued to sit? Then your right leg stepped to the wing so off she went to the wing. She came around, looked at you… and your left arm and leg stepped sideways to the tunnel. Tunnel cue! Then she was confused – it is possible the left arm/leg were line up cues? But right now the physical is overriding the verbal because they are simultaneous, so separating them will help. And a hand touch line up or a between-the-feet line up can also help clarify things.
So I think the key will be super ultra clarity on what the release is. She is super keen to play so we want to clarify so there is no confusion or withheld reinforcement.
>Oh and there is another tunnel under the dog walk about 15’ out of view to the right, plainly visible to her past the jump wing on that side and she didn’t try to take that even once, so a tiny bit like the discrimination exercise.>
That is great!! Any offering of obstacles seemed to be because she legit thought you cued them. She was being very watchful (and eager :))
>Couldn’t really do the gentle turn on the jump wing to other jump wing on this set up as the dog walk was in the way.>
Yes, that can wait til you have it setup with more free space.
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
The other thing to consider with young dogs working on mechanics is that having another dog in the environment draws ‘bandwidth’ from the processing needed for clean mechanics (multi-sensory integration and all that fancy stuff 😁 ) So if there is something easy that she is good at like barrel wraps… then yes! You can introduce the other dogs into the environment. As she learns to use her body for finding jumps and jump mechanics, I think we should wait on having the other dogs around so her brain can be fully devoted to jumping mechanics.
Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
>On your last comment you told me to reward his stay. I do do that, but I cut it out of the videos so they’re shorter for you to look at.>
Sounds good! You don’t need to worry about editing too much, the length of your videos is good!
Wind In Your Hair went really well! You can see the power of connection – when you were strongly connected at :35 and after that, he found the jump brilliantly each time. Yay!
He was not always sure if he should go to the wing to start – when you gave a strong arm cue, like on the right turns, it was easier. When the arm cue was not clear and your lower body was rotated, the verbal cue alone was not strong enough so definitely keep supporting the verbal with the arm cue and even a step to the wing.
For the next wind in your hair session: add more space between the wing and jump 🙂 And you can keep mixing up the reps when you were way ahead versus the reps where you stuck closer to the start wing so he could get way ahead.
Great job!!
TracyHi! Welcome back! I am very excited to see her!!
> Sometimes she’ll just wipe out going around a wing or getting her toy off the ground lol.>
Oh dear! Gotta love puppies LOL!
> We haven’t worked much on any of the exercises/games that concern tunnels. Right off the bat I knew that she REALLY liked tunnels, to the point where it would become a problem (and it was starting to). I decided to just cut off reinforcement to the tunnel by putting it away or blocking off access. I feel like it may be something we could start reintegrating now that she’s had more reinforcement history for other things and we’ve done some pattern games near the tunnel. >
The wrap proofing game will be perfect for this! And if you think the tunnel will be a huge factor for her, you can start with the wing further from the tunnel so she is successful. And use GREAT rewards for the wing and kinda boring rewards for the tunnel 🙂
>I was really surprised how difficult it was for her to go back and forth eating treats between two bowls that were set somewhat close to the tunnel, especially considering we really haven’t worked on the tunnel that much outside of making sure she’s comfortable with it.>
The excitement of running through the tunnels probably releases dopamine, endorphins etc so she will be motivated to keep doing it. We will definitely work to balance things so she continues to love the tunnel but also so she loves to do everything else too 🙂
Have fun!
Tracy
Hi!
>Question firstly about the set point – would it be better to put the reward on top of one of those low witches hats instead of the ground?>
We are going to be getting the reward moving pretty soon, so no need to lift it for the stationary position reps 🙂 A big toy that he an scoop up will be best 🙂
>it’s still hopefully within the time limits.>
I am pretty lax about time limits, as long as the session is not too long and the pup is having a grand time 🙂
He did a GREAT job with the wrap versus tunnel game! This game is definitely hard because the pups are turning towards the tunnel… but sometimes are asked to wrap. He seemed to think it was super easy 🙂
He only had one question:
At 1:02, you started the verbal and let him go at basically the same time o he wrapped. Turning to the tunnel on the next reps helped, but also you can hold his collar til he hears the ‘get it’ 3 or 4 times, then let go and see if he can do it without motion help 🙂Compare to the first rep to the tunnel at the very beginning where you held him til after you started the cue. I think that gives him an extra couple of heartbeats to process the cue before moving, which can help pump up the verbal skills.
He was great on the last rep, doing the wrap after exiting the tunnel! YAY!!
You can add in the super advanced rep where you do 2 tunnels in a row, then try to cue the wrap!
Great job here 🙂
TracyHi! She did really well here! Was the 1:55 video done before the 3:06 video? It started off with a wider distance but then you moved it closer and she named it! And she did well with the distance in the 3 minute video too. Nice!!!!
I think the only hard part was the width of the jump bump – is there a way to cut them in have so you have long strips but they are half as wide? That can help her even more!
It was hard to see where the toy was – it looks like it might have been a little close on the 1:55 video, based on how she was landing? Even though she is little 🙂 you can have it far away (3 or 4 meters) for her to drive to.
Great job!
Tracy
Hi!
Set point is also going well!
My only suggestion is when you are standing still on the release, try to connect back to him without facing him at all. Being rotated cues a bit of collection cue and we want him getting extension cues.For the heights, you can have a bump or put the bar one notch lower than it was here. And you can move the 2nd bar up by 2 inches!
For the next session:
Let’s replace the MM with a toy, and have it another 6 to 8 feet further from jump 2. If he is comfy with that, you can add the moving target to this game too.
Great job on all of these!!
TracyHi!
This also went really well! Holding the stay was the hard part but I like how the moving target was producing lovely form! Super! You can mix in tossing cookies back to reward his stay as the toy is moving. We are going to combine this with the set point soon!Great job!
TracyHi!
Pregame wrap looked good here! He was impatient and wanted you to let go! It was making me laugh 🤣
You can add this to a wing if you haven’t really, and then onwards to the wrap proofing game!Nice work!
TracyHi!
>And I overdid it on the space after the jump lol. Spatial relations is not my strong point.>
I thought the spacing was good! We want him to power out and not trot out, and he definitely powered out. He did really well – he seemed to have a question on the first moving target rep (:20) and looks like he hit the 2nd jump. But then he sorted it out really well for the next reps. And that is the goal – being able to produce consistently good form, even with aroused and the handler is moving. Yay!
I think the 6 foot distance will work well and I like how he is moving to the target and not having to stop short to get it (like he did with the stationary toy). What is the height on the 2nd jump? We can add a bit of height now – 2″ higher than whatever it was here 🙂 And this can go into a once-per-week rotation, no need to do it daily or anything like that.
Great job!
TracyHi!
This is going really well! She is committed beautifully to the wings and tunnel. You had excellent connection after the FCs so she always knew where to be! And I think you got most of the verbals out – there are a lot of verbals here LOL!!!
>I think I did better with the exit connection this time and Ellie isn’t watching the toy even though it is in my hand. >
Yes! The exit connection was great and because you were very connected, she looked at her line and not at the toy. Looking at the toy might have been a product of not knowing where to be and needing stronger connection.
It was a little harder for her to find the wing after the tunnel when she is on your right (turning to her left) – it could be that the line was not as direct or she needed bigger connection there. So you can make a BIG connection on the exit of the tunnel to help her find the line. When you did that, it was very smooth! And the dog-on-left lines heading to the other wing looked great too.
The race tracks went really well also! When you were connected and running, she nailed it. Yay! She had one question at 2:04, which was also the only time you disconnected and looked ahead of her, so she came in to you.
>Ellie is trading for a liver treat, which is fine for now. After I get the toy back though, she jumps back up at my hand. This happens every time. Is there something I can do to clean this up so I don’t have to keep carrying band-aids in my pocket?>
Yes! You can make it part of a pattern game. Trade for the liver treat but instead of hand delivering it, you can toss it away to the side.. Then as she comes back to you, toss another liver treat off to the other side. Keep tossing back and forth until you are able to stand up with the toy and walk to you next starting point. That will help her learn to regulate arousal and move with you rather than grab for the toy.
>I’m back to starting with the collar hold. I can’t tell if I’m lifting Ellie off the ground or if she is leaping, but it’s not my intent to strangle her at the start line. >
I think you were pulling back a little, so that combined with being a little upright pulled her feet off the ground. Try bending over more and not pulling back on the collar at all, and see if she keeps her feet on the ground.
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
>A bit more distance (and better footing and handler path for me) than in the live class and she did well finding the jump>
She did great! Definitely add more distance between the wing and jump. You can even do that within in the session – open up the spacing every couple of reps.
>I’m not overly concerned, but I think she is one that will need to be taught jumping form given her “dock diving” style on one of these reps.>
The BW structure will look a little different in jumping form than a BC or a whippet, but she did well here! The only spot where her head was up was when you were staying by the wing wrap to let her drive ahead then throwing the toy. She was very fast there so she ended up getting to the jump and looking ahead for the toy. So you can either throw it a lot sooner… or use a placed toy on those reps (or a helper who can throw for you, when there is another set of hands available).
When you add more distance, you should still hang out by the wrap wing but also as she exits the wrap, you can run hard. That is truly teaching her to leave you in the dust as you accelerate forward 🙂 She was great about finding the jump behind you when you were miles ahead!
>I also tested out letting my old guy be free to watch, he’s usually employed with a bully stick or scatter feed to keep him out of the way. She’s a tiny bit afraid of him since he’s a grump about being bumped by a clumsy puppy so those last few reps where he was quite close to her running path represents quite a bit of pressure for her.>
I could see the change in her body language. There are some associations with the pressure we don’t necessarily want, plus extra processing in her brain – so having him further away would be better, maybe on a bed with a bully stick, 15 feet away.
>I’m not brave enough to try this with the other two that she isn’t afraid of though as there would at best be toy stealing or at worst collisions or chasing.>
I agree – not worth the risk of collision, or risk of a splat if she doesn’t reach for the toy correctly. Better to be safe!
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
>And yet … For the Wind in Your Hair game, I wondered what would happen if I just skipped the wrap verbal pre-game and tried the full game instead. Lesson learned – you get a bunch of refusals.>
While it probably didn’t help to skip the pre-game 🤣 the main thing to help here is to emphasize mechanics. Clarity of mechanics make this much easier 🙂
>This session was a little disorganized because I kept making changes on the spot. I started out with a sit, but quickly switched to a down. >
This game doesn’t need a position or stay at the beginning – she can be next to you or you can hold her collar. The connection on the send is the key element to get her started.
>Also, I started out tossing the toy for the first 4 reps and then switched to having it on the ground about 15 ft or so after the jump. I’d like to be able to have the toy on the ground more often to keep Ellie’s focus off my hands and to give me less to think about. Plus, my tosses are always late or a little off-target.>
Three of the goals of this particular game is to get the handler better at throwing reinforcement, to get the dog looking ahead even when the toy is in the handler’s hand, and to fade the lure of the toy out ahead 🙂 so I encourage you to not have the toy on the ground. Remember that the toy throw happens when she looks at the jump after exiting the wing, rather than when she gets to the jump. That also pumps up handler connection because we have to look at the dog to see where they are looking. Off-target throws are fine as long as they are ‘close enough’ 🙂
>I don’t remember why I ditched the collar hold. I suspect it was because I thought she needed me to help her more with a physical cue. >
Using physical cues in this game are fine, as long as you are connected and stepping to the side of the wing you wanted.
The first few reps were great with that! They had good connection on the sends to the start wing and step to the side of the wing you wanted.
At :26 your arm got more involved (which blocks connection) and you didn’t step to the wing as clearly, so the you got some refusals there.
After a refusal, call her back and line her up with a cookie reward so she doesn’t keep trying to offer behavior (99% of errors on these types of games are handler errors, so the cookie line up rewards the dogs for being patient with us humans 🙂 )
When you were connected and stepping to the right place without pointing forward as much as(like at :56 and 1:02) things went great! You rare clearer on your right side than your left side, so you can slow down your mechanics when she is on your left to be able to get clear sends.
And remember to make big connection as you finish the FC on the wing wrap and run to the jump – that tells her which side to be on. On the last rep at 1:09 – you were looking forward so she didn’t see connection on the exit of the wrap. She thought it was a spin and ended up on your left and went past the jump (she was correct).
>How does Ellie’s connection look? I don’t ever really notice her looking at me. >
She was great! She is not supposed to look at you – we want her looking at the line you cue.
>I noticed in the video that sometimes I also forgot to look at her.
Yes – that was where she was not as sure about where to go.
>– Any advice on the refusals? Should I change something or do you think these are happening because she just doesn’t know the verbals yet?>
Knowing the verbals better will help but you can also do these silently using physical cues: big connection to her eyes, low hand (following her nose and not pointing ahead of her) and a big step to the side of the wing you want will help get rid of the refusals.
>– Do you notice any difference between her turning right vs left? In general, she prefers right. >
It was hard to tell what her preferences were, because you were smoother on your right side which might have been influencing her preferences 🙂
>– Any difference in her jumping with the toy toss (1st 4 reps) vs having the toy on the ground (reps 5-8)?>
She did well with her jumping here. When the toy throw is late, she lifts her head but that is not a jumping question – it is more of a “where is the toy” question 🙂
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
I am glad Frankie had a great weekend! It sounds like some of the NQs were because she was flying – that is GREAT!The first standard run was great! She picked up a bonus jump because she was hustling and you did say “GO JUMP”… so she went and jumped. The rest was lovely! Weaves as obstacle 2 can be a buzzkill but she nailed it!
She also did really well on the JWW run – before putting her down to start, you can try doing a longer “ready ready ready” til you feel some muscle tension, perhaps? That might help her blast off more if she is not as perked up. The rest of the jumping lines looked great!
>she popped out of the weaves. Not sure really why. Maybe the judge was too close for comfort & she got distracted? >
Yeah, that was odd – she flew into them but then slowed to a trot. Maybe something is touchy? The judge was moving backwards so maybe that was distracting, or maybe being in the back of the ring she heard something weird from the RVs? She needs to speak English and let us know!!
FAST went well!
>We spent a lot of time trying to get the send and we got buzzed,>
You can try a stationary send like with with your arm back and BIG eye contact, because it turns your shoulders to the line you want! The arm pointing forward might have been turning your shoulders away from the line. The way you got it (fancy threadle moment) looked great!
> so I ran past the weaves. I was planning on skipping them anyway, so I was calling her but the line was perfect and she just went & did the weaves all by herself! >
That was awesome!!! Miss Independent Weaver!!!
JWW – yes, she was a little slow of the start here. What did you try before the video started to maybe get her pumped up? Are there any signs she gives when she is pumped up, versus when she is feeling a little flatter?
She picked up speed really well – and she forgave you for the RC push into her line at :15 (a little bit of side eye from her LOL!) She said a BC on the line before it would have been better 🙂
She jumped a little high/early in 2 spots here: at :28 where she hit the bar (you were a bit disconnected and looking forward) and on the last jump. I don’t recall seeing early jumping from her, so it is possible that something is a bit touchy which is why she didn’t want to weave in the other JWW run?
Very nice Standard on Sunday! I am curious to know if she will do anything silly to pump her up at the start line, even if it is just you gently holding her and saying your ready ready ready words. Your connection and handling choices were spot on (I loved the blind) and she seemed to like having more independence in the weaves (you also did that a little in the JWW run and she did great there too!)
Great job on these! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
