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Hi!
Another super nice session here! He did well on the single wrap versus tunnel. It seemed like it was harder for him to find the tunnel when passing the wing and without you moving. But he definitely figured it out by the end (and turning left as you mentioned) and it looked great! His right turns also looked good.
Things were harder with the tunnel-to-wrap combo, but you did a great job helping him out – the wrap verbal sounded VERY different from the tunnel verbal and that makes a big difference for the dogs.
Then on the other side, he nailed the tunnel-to-wrap the first time you tried it, with a nice tight turn! Yay!
You can play with making it even crazier: tunnel then tunnel again – then the wrap. That will be fun and challenging! And you can do a FC on the wing wrap and send him back to the other side of the tunnel, I bet he would have fun with that.
Great job!
Tracy
Good morning!
This was a great session! It was just about perfect! Your connection was super clear throughout. He was strong with the turns and also when you cued the GO… he accelerated straight really well! And locked onto the wings perfectly too. Super!!
There were only 2 spots were the verbal cues were spot on but the shoulder turn to the new line was a little late (the physical and verbal cues were on time on all the other reps, creating great turns and lines). Those 2 spots were the left at :33 (you can have an earlier shoulder turn so he sees it before entering the tunne) and at 1:08, where your right verbal cue was really good but you were accelerating forward so he exited a little wide.
Compare to 1:17 where you had good verbal timing again and turned to the right turn line before he entered the tunnel, so his turn was even better there.Great job!!
TracyHi! This was a good session!
She did well with her stays overall! Sometimes she was a little too good, needing a couple of releases 🙂 but I think that will not be a problem in the future.
Looking at her form: also looking good! She had strong forward focus on the toy at the beginning which really helps too. For setting up, the closer to the little stride regulator, the better. On the first rep (not including the one at the beginning where she broke her stay :)) – she was a little far from the regulator and her back feet hit it.
On the next reps at :40 and :48, she was set up closer to the regulator and did not hit it. The distance looks pretty good, we can tweak it maybe a few centimeters wider but not more than that.
At about 1:04 and after that, something was catching her attention so she was looking around and not jumping as well. Adding the thrown back cookies back for the stay was a great addition to the session , and the last rep was really good! She was set up a little far from the strider so she touched it, but overall her focus was strong.
It is possible that a smaller stride regulator is ideal for her, maybe taking this blue one and slicing it in half, lengthwise, so she has something smaller to go over. She is really little so finding the sweet spot on the stride regulator will help! Her work on the bars looks really good 🙂
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
> “Jump” and “hup” don’t really make sense as tunnel verbals, so I’m going with “gee” and “haw”. Luckily “jump” is right and “hup” is left, so gee and haw weren’t that far of a leap to make!>
Good point about jump and hup! And gee/haw are good options for the tunnel!
> I didn’t really introduce these verbals on the minny Pinny, this is her first time hearing “gee” and being asked to turn out of a tunnel.>
Since they are tunnel-only verbals, I don’t think you need it on the minny pinny – we can apply them directly to the tunnel and use reward placement to help her understand the turns.
>Those first reps of just doing wraps to the tunnel, I think I need to remember to remove my hat. I noticed years ago that with that style hat it hides enough of the side of my face that from the dogs level they can’t even see my head turned to the side. Whoopsie!>
Possibly! But also, having your arm back to her and running more forward will really help.
At the beginning, I think you were having a bit of a champagne problem: she was going FAST FAST FAST so you were trying to out run her to get to the tunnel exit… but that created questions at :09 and :30 where more connection was needed to drive her to the tunnel.
You might have been feeling the pressure of her speed (FUN!) which was causing you to look a bit forward/arm blocking connection, with sideways motion to try to get to the tunnel exit – since she couldn’t see the side info, she went with the direction of motion.
Note the difference at :40 and later on at 1:50 where you made a big connection and moved on a line towards the tunnel entry, and she got it perfectly. Yay!
Adding the soft turns:
The timing of the verbal at :51 was good, but the physical cue was pretty forward-facing so she locked onto the wing there and a 1:00 (you can reward moments like that even with just a reset cookie, because there is a 99% chance it is handler-induced). Plus, that will bring her back to you so she doesn’t keep offering and you can reset to show the cues.With the turn verbals here: because they are new, physical cues and reward placement will help solidify them. You added decel which helped – you can also add shoulder turn to face the new line and even a brake arm (all before she goes into the tunnel, while she is till 6 feet or more away from entering it). Then you can toss (or place) the reward on the exit line. I think BWs are pretty verbal and you will see that you don’t have to rely on physical cues for long, they will be easy to fade and she will respond nicely to the verbals.
I LOVED how she committed straight to the wing at 1:54 and you could easily do the circle wrap!
>I did not mean for it to be a wrap away to the left (ski) I just said the wrong word (gosh this is going to be so hard!) >
With all the verbals, it might seem silly, but give yourself a walk through on these baby dog games! That way you can slowly walk to make sure the verbals are correct… then run it and still make sure the verbals are correct… then add the dog back in 🙂 I used to have to video my walk throughs of these games without the pups then watch the video to make sure I had the verbals right. That helped me get it right for the pup, and made it more automatic for me 🙂
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
23” tall is a great size! And it was smart to warm up the MM – for a moment I think she forgot where the cookies came from LOL!! And she will get better about not moving forward with the catch cue (she was already figuring it out by the end!), but she still got rewarded for a good stay even when she did move forward:)
She did well with the set point on 2 jumps: I think her start position near jump 1 was good. The 6 foot distance might end up being a bit too small for her size (I think 7 feet ight be the sweet spot?) but we won’t know for sure til we gt her head down. She is looking up (towards you, I think) as she is jumping, which shortens the stride a bit. So to get her head down to get the jumping arc, 2 ideas for you:
– before releasing her, you can bend down to get your hand onto the MM. You pointed lower to it on the last rep and her head was already lower! Yay!
– or, you can go to the moving target. This can be a toy being slowly dragged, or put the MM on a dolly with wheels so you can drag it slowly too. That definitely will get her head down!
Nice job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi!
Countermotion is indeed really hard!
>I send her to the treat and train, a dish, or her toy while my feet aren’t facing it and I start walking away. It’s definitely a lot easier for her with the treat and train than with the dish or toy. >
Yes! That is like the backwards sending to the prop, with the TnT being even more interesting to her. It is funny that the toy is not as enticing as the TnT!
>My thought process is if she can’t even respond to the direct reinforcement marker I can’t expect her to correctly respond to an agility related cue with motion.>
Yes, that makes sense: the agility wing, for example, doe not have the same value as the TnT (not yet, as least, because she is young. So developing the concept in a simple way can really help apply it to jumps because the cue (upper body for example) needs to override motion lower/body.
Looking at the video: This is definitely a challenging game! Angling the jump was the way to go, you can angle it even more to make driving into you even easier. The TnT was in a good spot – and the serps with handler motion are HARD!! The first successful rep was hilarious – she had a lightbulb moment!!! Then an early TnT click caused a bit of a question where she would come in then push back out. You dialed back your motion and that helped too – so for now, I would say that angling the jump a bit more so the bar is more visible, plus you walking soooo slowly will help solidify the skill. You can also call her or use directionals, because verbals can help her lock onto you too.
Nice work here!
Tracy
Good morning!
This went great! I like the creative use of wings and stuff to set up the things to run around. You were showing great connection so she had really good info about where to go, and she was happy to do it. Fun!!!She was popping up a bit a she arrived at your side at the end of each rep – you can throw the cookie past you to keep her moving forward a bit without popping up. Or using a toy will give her something to grab a bit lower too. You can also decelerate sooner, to see if she can also decelerate sooner (which helps control the popping up).
One blind was a little late (at 1:09 where you did the blind to an inside turn and you apologized to her LOL) causing her to pop up a bit as she tried to hit the brakes but overall, I think it was a great session. If you have access to doing this outdoors, it would be fun to see her really open up and run run run!
Great job :)
TracyWelcome back!!! And more snow? NOOOOO!!!!!! I am ready for some warm weather!
Looking forward to seeing Millie in action – I can’t believe she is 14 months! How tall did she get?
Tracy
Hi!
>We redid the set point with a little more distance, hopefully this was better for him.>
Yes! It looks like he had more room to organize and he looked nicely balanced and powerful. It looks l;ike his only question was what to do with his front feet as he stepped into it – we want get more ‘lift’ by replacing the regulator with a low bar. That will engage the rear and core, and he will be pushing off rather than thinking as much about lifting his front feets 🙂
The tunnel turns went really well too, particularly if the concept is new to him!
The first rep whree he ran past the tunnel is pretty normal for young dogs going super fast 🙂 He didn’t do it again, so no worries 🙂The left turns were hard to see, but it did look like he was turning really well.
The right turn was easy to see (facing the camera): the verbal was well-timed! The motion accelerated straight forward which is probably why he exited pretty straight at :51. You were more decelerated and turned sooner on the next reps, so his turn was already better. Yay! Adding the physical cue of the shoulder turn being visible before he enters the tnunel will really help. along with the verbals. The sequence with the ‘race track’ at the end looked good! Yay! He seemed to have no question about he soft turns on the wing, and he accelerated forward on the tunnel exits as well.
Great job here!
TracyGood morning! Hooray for all the things aligning to allow for more training time!!
The set point is going well! Great job throwing treats back to help reward the stay, he did super well with that. I liked the line up spot you had him in at 1:52 and 2:12 – not too far, not too clsoe to jump 1, just right!
What is the distance between the 2 jumps? It might have been a little close for him to power through, so you can add another 6 inches and see how he does. You can also add the moving target (toy being slowly dragged or put the MM on wheels and drag it LOL) – that will help him keep his head down more and power through jump 2 more as well.
Tunnel exits: This is looking good too!
The wings might have been a little close to the tunnel, making it harder to give the turn info before entering n the first few reps but you did get the verbals and physical cues to him on time. He turned really well on the exits! Yay!More direct connection was the key element after exiting the straight tunnel with the go to the wing. When you looked forward on the first couple of reps, he pulled off the wing. Then with extra clear connection, you got it at 2:03 so he went to the wing. Super! But then disconnected to look forward after it at 2:05. He read the disconnect as a blind cross cue and changed to your right side (good boy!)Compare to the connection you used at 2:12 when he exited the wing, which worked great to show the line to the tunnel.
On that tunnel entry, the right cues were late at 2:13 and 2:53 so he was wide. The verbal was either when he was in the tunnel (2:13) or just before his nose went in (2:53) and on both of them, your motion supported the straight line exit. So as he exits the wing wrap before it, you can cue the tunnel and then let him see you start to turn to the right turn wing and cue the right verbal. That way he can see and hear it before he enters the tunnel, which should get a really nice turn on the exit.
Great job here!
TracyGood morning!
He was such a good boy here with his stay, the tugging, and giving the toy back! Was he also ignoring another dog/person at the beginning? I heard a dog vocalizing but I don’t think it was Zest.
The transition into getting the toy back at :58ish was great – you let him win it, he brought it back, you let the toy be ‘passive’ so he released it… and you rewarded him by giving it back. Love it! Also a super nice transition from 1:45ish to about 2:01. Many drivey/zesty 🙂 dogs need to have a moment to take the toy and shake it a bit before bringing it back, and I feel that allowing him to have a moment with it helps him regulate himself really well. He really only takes it a few feet away for about 10 seconds, during which time you move back to the start point. Then he brings it back and the two of you are working together nicely for the next rep. How are you feeling about his arousal and threshold and teamwork here in general?
The set point skill itself is going well. He is definitely pumped p, but holding the stay like a rockstar and moving really well through the set point. Because he is 3, we can add height on bar 2 a little more quickly. What distance are you using here between the 2 jumps? When you revisit this, you can raise the bar of jump 2 by at least 2 inches, or even 4 inches if you feel he will be fine with that.
The only suggestion for the next session is to face the way you would be going (towards the camera in this case) when you put the toy on the ground, rather than face him. 2 reasons for that: when you face him, you are cueing collection which we don’t need here. And when you face forward, you can start slowly dragging the toy (moving target reward :)) and I think he is ready for that!
Nice stay reward here at the end, throwing it back to him for being such a good boy with his stays. SUPER!!!
Great job!
TracyGood morning!
Smiley face is looking good! One small detail: remember to decelerate into the FC on the wings – you were tending to run fast then hit the brakes/rotate in one movement, so you can see he was a bit wide on some of the wraps. The ideal timing would be – after he exits the tunnel, you slow down but continue to face forward. Then as he passes you, you rotate through the FC and head back to the tunnel. That can help him really tighten up the wrap exits.You can move the wings a little closer together and add in the race tracks/soft turns here too!
The proofing game went great! He seems to be responding to the verbals really well – you did have some motion here, but it was fine because it was after he heard the verbal AND it also turned you to the tunnel, even when it was a wrap cue 🙂 But he got it right each time! Yay! You can definitely try the advanced versions where we string cues together for mini sequences 🙂 A gentle curve of the tunnel exit will make it easier for him too.
Great job!
TracyThat is a great update! I think your plan to start a conditioning program is perfect and the best first step. And anything that can make agility feel super fun without pain. That can be stuff like no bars and easy lines, with amazing rewards 🙂 We know he can do the technical stuff, so to help get back in the game you can keep it super simple and highly rewarding. Then adding back the harder stuff is easy 🙂
Obstacles that are hard on their bodies include the teeter, aframe, and weaves, so avoid those for a bit then gradually add them back over time. Keep me posted!Tracy
Hi!
Having the people exiting and ring crew getting into chairs as he entered was great! You didn’t have treats at the start line, yes? He did well!The instructor holding the reward was a good challenge and he did really well – my only suggestion is to throw it one obstacle later. Both throws were relatively near the ring crew and the instructor… and we don’t want to accidentally enhance his attention on them with a surprise lotus ball landing near them. So that would mean throwing after the weaves in this case, or after the tunnel when he ignore the ring crew person at the front of the ring.
If there is room behind the tunnel, try to convince someone to sit or stand behind it. That is a visual that often gets his attention at trials: the random half body sticking up from the other side of a tunnel 🙂
>he did well with this setup but then again its all familiar stuff to him.>
Yes it is ‘home base’ but still a bit challenging! Is there the potential to drop into other classes there, so the environment is familiar but the people/dogs are different? That might be a convenient way to switch things up.
Great job!
TracyHi! She did a lot of lovely work here – technical stuff went great but also she had a lot of high speed extension lines that looked great too!
>. I didn’t have a good plan for which hand to put the toy in and as I was thinking about it, she decided that was enough dilly dallying and broke her start.>
It did look a bit like she predicted the release was happening – you can add in a bit of unpredictability in those moments. Sometimes you stop, move the toy, say a few extra words, then throw a reward back or release. We humans are pretty unpredictable sometimes so training for it can add clarity on the stay behavior for her
>Hard to tell from the angle but she shot out of the straight tunnel and turned right (away from me) towards a jump pretty far away. 2nd try I said her name and she went straight to the backside wrap.>
Probably due to pressure on the line as you ran pat the jump to get neat the line and nothing else being nearby? A good guess on her part 🙂 The name call helped. Possibly a good layering situation followed by a German on the backside if the far end of the tunnel was next.
The opposite arm on the big long line at the end was great! She had to shift away slightly to get it even if you were ahead of her, and getting it with you behind her was great!
>Wanted to try layering but I don’t think I had enough of a run into it on the first attempt. >
Yes, the first rep with ‘go jump’ could have been read the way she did. The ‘out’ and line on the 2nd rep work really well! That is a hard layer!
>She cut in a bit after the curved tunnel to the long jump the first time so I tried to connect more out of the tunnel and give an earlier “go jump” but she ended up cutting behind me. Too much connection? >
It was a little hard to see because it was far from the camera, but it might have been a bit of disconnection (if you make connection and then look forward, she will read it as a blind). Also, it might have been lack of experience in running past jumps that are *right there* when the long jump was far away and not really a high value visual for her.
She cut behind you when you were heading to the tunnel under the frame, but that definitely looked like a blind cross – you finished the front cross before it, looked forward briefly then didn’t really re-establish the connection so she switched sides. Plus there was a bit of lateral motion as you tried to move around the a-frame which kept her on your right side. Compare to the next rep where you made a much clearer connection after the FC and she had no questions.
The bloopers might have been a bit of shaking off the rust of a few weeks off, plus some of the skills were quite advanced! I think things went really well, though 🙂
>I hope to get some running in the yard video later this week if the weather holds. And I need to see if I can find the video I did of her sprint drills inside at Fusion when she was about a month post-spay>
Fun!! It will be interesting to compare and see her striding!
Great job here!
Tracy
