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Hi!
>The challenge with julee is if she’s loose he will just herd her especially if she’s not acknowledging him. >
Leashes 🙂 She can greet the person on leash, and he can see her doing it.
>Other than a life skill so to speak, anything I need to do with the leash off engage to really solidify it?>
The next steps are in the Launch webinar and in the game here:
– continue to delay the reward til after the offered engagement, gradually adding more and more delay and praise and moving to a different stop. You had some delay happening in the video here and he did well
– do it with the reward *not* visible (and without playing before the leash comes off) so the visible reward doesn’t become a context cue for engagement
– get him to offer sticking his own head back into the leash (for end of run)
– incorporating it into everything, everywhere, not just when training LOEO.>Remote reinforcement didn’t go swimmingly. Poor set up.>
First question: how is this going *outside* of the agility environment? At home, in the kitchen, with treats, etc. Training it in the agility environment like this is too much of a context change and it was too hard, especially with the toy as you mentioned. He didn’t ‘recognize’ the game and needed a lot of help, which means it needs to be more fluent in simpler environments and with lower value rewards.
Also, when you brought him in on leash, you can change the order of festivities: put the toy down but don’t take the leash off. This is more like what happens when entering the ring (toy stays in one spot, leash stays on).
> He often just stands and observes so I didn’t know how to make him move with me or if he even needed to as long as he wasn’t swiping the toy. It was like an akcward first date>
Because he didn’t recognize the game, he was standing there asking questions. This is something you can play outside the ring, or out of the car in the parking lot, at home, etc – and you will see him recognize the game: the human places the thing down and walks away, which is the cue to go with her. When he starts moving away from it very easily and you can also get him to do simple behaviors, that is when you can bring it into the actual ring and use treats to get it going in there too.
Nice work here!
Tracy
Hi!
>I tried the chill game in the crating area but over by a wall where there were no crates and no people or dogs close by. All I got was whining. He did not understand why I was standing there and we were not “doing” anything.>
Which game did you use, specifically? If it was the ‘got chill’ version of it where he was just standing there… it makes sense he would whine because he has no chill in that environment. You would need to build it up in much easier environments – even being in the crating area at a trial is very stimulating.
Or, was it the “got NO chill” version, where you are doing the up and down game and getting progressively slower and slower… this is going to be the more successful game for him. Start with a fast rhythm of up and down, then slow it down very gradually as you engage less. If you slow it down toooooo much or want him to just stand there – it is too early in the progression of the game, so the game needs to move a little faster. And also, this is something to get really fluent at home and in quieter places before going to a trial.
> I did not spend too much time doing this as the environment was just too stimulating for him to “chill”.>
I think waiting for him to chill will not work, so using the up and down game to gradually get the chill happening is the better approach.
>Also, I hope this is just an adolescent phase but, um, how to say this…he is showing his male part big time when meeting people. OMG. Also, he has never learned how to control his mouth. Wants to bite clothing or going at people who try to pet him (husband included…STILL) with an open mouth…not with the intention to bite but playful. If the right person works with him and makes a fist so he can’t grab hands and then reverts to licks, we praise him for that. Husband is working on that too and once he calms down, he is better. This dog may never get a CGC!>
I think at this stage he can learn to be more neutral around people, and that will come from them *not* approaching and directly interacting. If he is mouthing clothing or hands, they should not be petting him. Ask people to just ignore him while you are rewarding him for sitting or standing near you, or playing with a toy. Having him play bite then lick then getting praised is not doing the trick, so move to a more neutral basic ignoring of people. For dog sports, we really want him to ignore them anyway so tell people they are helping your training by NOT petting him or getting too close to him (people like to help, but be firm about it!) And your husband can also ignore him unless he is very settled, then he can be petted. But if there is mouthing or clothes grabbing, have your husband just walk away, very neutral.
This will all be very easy for Brioche and very hard for all the humans LOL so you will need to be very strict with the humans 🙂
Keep me posted!
Tracy
Hi!
He is doing well coming over the jump here and doing the FC balance reps, so we can take things to the next step to get more serping:
Be super close to the jump like you were when you switched to the 2nd side (dog on left). And rather than turn your shoulder to the jump and pull to it (this is more of a post turn), you can swing your left arm (dog side arm) back to extend away 90 degrees from your shoulder – and point both of your shoulders to the jump. Ideally the center of your chest will be pointing back to Rusty – it is like the strike a pose game from MaxPup 1 🙂 except now there is a lot of moving.
The arm back and shoulder pointing to the jump will cue the ‘come in-go out’ part of the serp, as if there is another jump there. He is going back out because of the Manners Minder 🙂 If he struggles to take the jump, you can angle it towards him by a foot or so, which makes the bar more obvious so it is harder to run past it.
>P.S. What is your trick for fastening the jump bar so it stays in place?>
If the jump bar is hollow, I put the jump cup inside the bar 🙂 If the bar is solid, and I really need the dog to NOT knock it: I will put a thin strip of duct tape around it and the cup 🙂
Nice work here!
Tracy
Hi!
>I don’t know how to add a pic here (I can mess you the pic if you want 🙂 )>
If thepic is too big, it won’t attach here so feel fere to messenger or email!
> I fenced in a portion of the lower area of my yard Sunday.>
This is GREAT because you can play other fun games without being concerned about losing her to the birds without being able to get her back right away.
>We tried the smiley face game with 3 wings (I have plenty tunnels, just didn’t have time to pull them out).>
3 wings worked really well here! And much easier than dragging tunnels around 🙂
> This was the first time she was off leash in there & me doing some handling in a very long time (other than our private lessons a couple times a month 😛 )>
I love that you got to play some agility!!! You can move the wings in closer, to refresh the commitment and connection. When you moved closer to the wings and were connected, things went GREAT! You can see this at 1:10-1:14, for example.
Any of the little blooper moments where she ended up on the other side of you were little disconnections – on a couple where she was behind you and you looked forward to the wing, so she read it as a blind cross and didn’t know whree to be. Or if you sent ahead without connection, it pointed her to the other side of the wing. She was a super good girl and kept playing the game, and you were absolutely fantastic about rewarding her.
To smooth out the communication, handle with your eyes and not your hands/arms. Connection turns your shoulders to the line you want, while pointing actually turns your shoulders away from the line you want. So your hand can point to her nose as you look at her – but don’t point to the wing. The connection will click into place with more practice, no worries!
>
For now, we can direct her more during those in-between moments. This will help us go cold turkey on running over to seek birds, and will help make for cleaner transitions.
The transition at 1:38-1:58 was great in terms of the re-load engagement then right into the next rep. You were talking to her and engaging her so she had no real interest in leaving.
That is a lot of engagement (20 seconds is a long time!) so another option is to bring out a cot or crate to the training area. I often have a plastic crate that lives in the training area when I am working one of my very young dogs. After a reward, they go to a crate or cot and chill there for a moment while I reload. And during the reload, I am talking to them, interacting, letting them see the reload, and rewarding them. It is like putting our cell phone on a charging station LOL!! And gives a distinct location and reinforcement spot, no grey areas.
And, bearing in mind that Sunnie loves her baskets and her dopamine box – you can present that as an option for the in between moments: stick your head in the box to get the treats, please and thank you 🙂
I also have taught a ‘middle’ position (dog stands between my feet) for in between moments, and I can release and re-cue it a bunch of times. My dogs are NUTS for this position (classical conditioning, I guess :)) so it is a great reward station like a crate would be 🙂
>I get this disconnect in the yard (outside the fence) too! See bird, move forward, I say Get It, meet Sunnie, more snacks while I load the LB, when she’s finished, she runs off. Like in the video.>
Yes – she takes off in the in-between moments. This is where she can be standing on a cot, hanging in a crate (door can be open, or door can be closed if you need a longer time to reset), or sticking her cute head in a box 🙂
The Get It and LB are highly charged in a good way so she is coming back… but we really don’t want her leaving at all because it continues rehearsal of bird seeking and also could develop a chain/habit of recognize the end of a rep, take off, come back when she hears the Get It, if whatever she is running towards is not that exciting or not that accessible.
> How much freedom do I give her in the fence?>
It depends on what elicits the running off. End of a rep, seeing a bird? We want zero rehearsal of that, ideally, so the cot/crate/box/middle ideas can eliminate that.
In the safe fenced area, you can also develop a ‘go for a run’ cue. That gives more of a ‘permission’ moment to have a run about as you reload. It fills the need to run run run (which is also likely a decompression for her) and then you can call her back with a Get It when you are ready for the next rep.
So the antecedents (cue/triggers) to the running around are different, which will ultimately put you more in control of the behavior because you can control the antecedent. We can’t control the birds, so the birds as antecedents for now are a nope, never.
Bird? Nope, do NOT go for a run.
Go for a run cue? Yes, have a little zip around.The cued runs should be relatively short for now, so she doesn’t get too engaged with seeking birds in the environment and to maintain the value of coming back.
Perfect! Keep me posted on how her ball/frisbee obsession develops 🙂 You can play agility games with them, in the house or agility places.
> I did throw a frisbee in the fence, she ran to it, put her nose on & left once it didn’t produce snacks. I did try to make it animated, but too soon for that obsession outdoor>
Yes, too soon for outdoors in your yard, which is heavily charged for food right now and I don’t want to mess with that. Build it up indoors or in different places.
>Happy, relaxed, engaged feelings without scanning for birds 🙂
Wow, me too! Do you really think that is attainable with this nutbar?! lol! 😀>Yes! We are already on the road to it!
T
Hi!
Rear crosses are one of the hardest handling moves!All of the GO reps looked really good: the first couple of steps up the line (with you outside the line of the wings) are what cue her to go straight/look to her left.
To make he RC cues look different, you will want to be running to the center of the bar as soon as she exits the wrap wings – on a couple of the reps, you were running straight on the Go line for a couple of steps then trying to cut in, which made the RC info late.
Good job giving yourself more distance between the wing and the jump to show the line 🙂
You adjusted to be earlier on the rear cross line but then the challenge of when to cut to the new side became part of the equation. You were cutting in too early, so if she was ahead of you she wouldn’t take the jump. If you were a little ahead, you pushed her off the line (to the backside)
At 5:49, you were getting the RC line and just needed one more step to get her to take the jump. Then the reps at 6:33 and 7:21 had the right rear cross magic: you drove to the center of the bar until she was just about taking off, then you sealed the deal by changing sides. That helped her turn the correct direction AND take the jump.
Throwing the toy will help a lot too – she was coming back to you to get the reward, so she was thinking about that on the rear crosses. Throwing the toy out ahead to the new line on the rear crosses will help hr drive ahead even better!
This handling cue is also very visual, so I grabbed screenshots here too 🙂
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1kpMp6W3aVn7bvX3WMLI7UnCee4BtZ0zi5mfM1oBsmxA/edit?usp=sharingNice work here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi!
the sends and serps are going well – we can add more motion to keep her more engaged, and you can use a toy to reward 🙂
On the Front crosses for the wing: stay closer to the gap so she is sure you want her to come in the gap and not go to the jump. The first rep and the FC at :31 were unclear as to whether you wanted the FC in the gap or over the jump, because your position was nearer to the jump. You can reward her anyway there: any handling that goes wrong is handler error 99.99% of the time 🙂 so rewarding her will keep her more engaged.The serps on your left looked good!
When you switched sides to serping on your right – the slight angle on the jump is good! You can angle it sven more as you add more speed to help her come take the jump and not run past it.
Also, the upper body position will help her take the jump:
At 1:00 – you can keep your arm & shoulder open in serp position til she lands. You had it open and so she started coming towards the jump. Then you relaxed the serp amr and closed the shoulder, so she went back out on the line. It was better at 1:10 but you can rotate the upper body more: from this angle (great camera angle!) we should see the serp arm locked back and the cetner of your chest visible between the uprights, as if the center of the chest is pointing to the center of the bar
Looking at the 2nd video – I think part of what you are closing the shoulder too early is to throw the reward, so you can either throw with the opposite arm, or use a bowl for her to target to so you can throw the reward after she lands.
I grabbed some screenshots of what the more ‘open’ serp upper body looks like when you get success, versus what the closed shoulders looked like (she didn’t take the jump on those). The closed shoulders do cue layering so she was not wrong there. And you can open the shoulders back to her even more, turning at the waist as much as possible without turning your feet. Here they are:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1VBaIrYGy4zxwlEvkEXtd8Sw-pfWjx0-QmLPQNbbDO8c/edit?usp=sharing
Nice work here!
Tracy
Good morning!
>He also was distracted with all the grass that was mowed. I swear my dogs want to be cows>
For real! Mine too!
Nice work sorting out the rear crosses here! They are one of the harder handling moves because they are not natural to the dogs. Great job continuing to reward in the correct spot even if he was not turned the desired direction at first – that was all about timing 🙂
For the GO reps – you can stay outside the line of the start jwing and jump, rather than stepping in to the bar (like at :41). That might confuse him wih the first part of the rear cross cue where you do pressure in to the center of the bar. The rep at 2:44 (the GO rep on the other side) was ideal, where you were connected and stayed parallel to him.
About the RC pressure line: as he exits the start wrap, you will want the first steps to go directly to the center of the bar of the jump to cue the RC – and keep moving forward to the center of the bar until he passes you and is almost taking off.
You were a shade early at 1:10 – he knew it was a left turn but you cut behind him too early and that pulled him off the jump. The next couple of reps had more motion up the line to the center of the bar, especially at 2:14 which also had great connection to support the jump, Yay!
When you switched sides, you were a little late gettng onto the RC line (3:47 and 4:19) because you took a couple of steps straight to the left turn side of the jump before getting on the RC line to the center of the bar. So he was already deciding on a takeoff spot on those before he saw the RC info (he landed turning left then immediately turned the correct direction).
On the last rep, you got on the RC line to the center of the bar immediately as he exited the start wing and he got the RC easily. Yay!
Because this is hard to see in the moment, I grabbed screenshots of all of these moments so you can see how your position changed his line. Here is the link:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1XqPiReTDnEmT0OO2guEmq-rM9u4a9AA1qRkpyMCMC-w/edit?usp=sharing
Great job here!!
Tracy
Good morning!
I am so glad to hear your husband is home and doing well!
Rusty is doing really with this game – I think the hardest part for him him figuring out that he had permission to move on the right and left verbals, without a different release and without you also moving! That caused little delays but he was figuring it out really well and turning the correct direction. I was particularly excited to see him being able to turn away from you – that is always the hardest part for the young dogs.
My only suggestion is to keep saying the left or right as he begins to move, to attach it to going over all the bars – you were getting a little quiet on some of the reps after he started moving, so continuing the verbal will support his line really well.
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
Super fun to do some basic reinforcement/collar stuff with the baby dog 🙂 It takes off the pressure off and allows for really fast reinforcement. I think the games like you did here condition the collar touches & holds to predict GOOD STUFF HAPPENING so he is
You can see it during the hose moments: The collar hold was being paired with forward focus to the hose then the release to bite at the water. FUN TIMES 🤣. So you were basically getting help from our frenemy Pavlov to train restrained starts and focus forward, in the best way possible 🙂
The hose is probably the highest value but everything else is exciting too and comes up in value with games like this. And then of course the agility stuff gets installed in it as well, with a lovely conditioned response as well as ‘thinking’ responses.>There is a point at which Vibe becomes too aroused to respond to some cues and kind of freezes >
That is a behavior output from stuff that is physiological (HPA Axis, heart rate, pupils, etc etc) – the internal cascade of all the various things happening that shift his autonomic nervous system more towards sympathetic (the ‘freeze’ response) and indicate a recovery moment is needed.
And the hose water biting, for example, is a good example of how the ANS can shift into fight or flight because that snappy bitey behavior is very similar and probably using same/similar neural pathways in the more primitive parts of the brain. I think tugging is similar – it all operates on the same physiological functions as far as we can tell without electrodes and blood tests 🙂
I compare it to how I feel after a big agility run: I am breathing fast, muscles are twitching (but tired LOL), can’t exactly have a conversation, and need to slowly walk around a bit before I can return to my baseline 🙂
And I am not an adolescent 🤣 where that bounce back recovery takes 2 to 3 times longer.
>when that happens it usually helps if I switch to high value food reinforcer instead of toy/hose stuff and/or play cheeseball ping pong pattern game. A hand touch is still usually something he can do so I’ll sometimes try for that first.>
Yes – and what you are seeing there is behavioral output of how the physiological cascade of eating shifts the nervous system back to parasympathetic enough to be able to get back into cognitive work, allow the body to reset some of the other things going on internally, etc.
I think it is super cool in a nerdy way🐭 to see the shifts and also it supports the need to get these ‘working’ dogs to be able to eat!
So since he is an adolescent and can’t necessarily have the cognitive control to reset himself (that part of the brain is still under construction 😁), the pattern games with food and simple stuff like hand touches are perfect! That is why they are so effective with him (and probably help relatively quickly, because the operant rehearsal of them has created the neural pathways that the chemical messages in the brain can just slide right through at high speed :)) And there is good arousal regulation happening and all that fun stuff.
But, ideally, we don’t get rehearsal of the freezing at all, because we don’t want the arousal state and ANS to tip over into that to the point where we need to help him reset. His body can ‘learn’ the arousal regulation better if we never tip him over into the overaroused state (side note: this is very easy to say and MUCH harder to be perfect about with these youngsters :))
>There is a point at which Vibe becomes too aroused to respond >
The next step is to identify that point! How many reps? Length of time? Value of motivator? Environment? Failures versus successes? Sleep and recovery time from whatever was happening during the week (this is super important for dogs!)
It is probably a bit of a moving target at this age, so you can break up the sessions more (especially at this age) and add in the decompressions (pattern games, food, etc) before you get the freezing. It can be erring on the side of caution: doing maybe 2 reps then going into a food pattern. For example, at Run Wild camp, do a sequence and the as the instructor chats wth you, you can be pinging him back and forth (or up and down) for cheeseballs. This will prep his body for the next rep!
I love this nerdy stuff and I think you also enjoy the brain puzzle sciencey stuff 🙂 It is really like surfing a wave without falling off into the ocean 🙂 Vibe is really quite excellent at all the things which is why the little freeze moments are normal but also super interesting to look at.
Looking at the 2nd video: he is doing realty well with the serpy concepts!
On the wing zig zags – you can lead out more and get further ahead to set the line, which will make it easy to add more motion too 🙂
For the serps on the jump: he is doing really well with coming in to find the jump (many dogs run right past it on the parallel line). Your upper body cues are very clear and your feet are very clear too!
You can move yourself and the reward a lot closer to the jump to get more of the in-then-out action on the serp.
At :41, even though your upper body was cueing the in-then-out of the serp (left then right turn in that moment), your line of motion and reward placement was only cueing the left turn. He was questioning it a little then dropped the bar when you praised over the bar.
Your line of motion should be a little more than an arm’s length away from the jump, and moving parallel to the bar. The reward placement if several feet past the jump, on the line you are moving towards and also parallel to the bar so he has to make the second turn on the serp. The reward position would be more like where you threw it at 1:08 and 1:25, and where it was placed at 2:18 (that did get the right turn there).
Having you closer to the bar will be a lot harder in terms of him coming into the jump, so keep your motion ‘chill’ like it was here 🙂 and also you can angle the jump to face him a little bit so the bar is more visible as the handler line gets harder.
>We head to Run Wild tomorrow for agility camp and Vibe has his own schedule of baby dog sessions so wish us luck. >
Have a blast!!! I miss seeing that crew, but my flying days are done and driving across the country is a different level of insanity 🙂 They have a fantastic instructor lineup this year and I know you will enjoy!!! Keep me posted!
Tracy
Good morning!
I agree about the Leash Off engagement at the beginning of the first video – I was happy to see that there was automatic engagement even when you reached for the leash at the beginning, then very quick head turn to you when you took it off. Keep this game as part of the regular rotation with a TON of toys and partying paired in with the leash coming off because this game is fantastic for trialing! And the sequence at the end looked lovely 🙂 The last bar was because you were celebrating too early 🙂 so keep running though it. Everything else looked strong – one of the jumps was not visible but it looked like he did go get it.
>This focus one was hard but outside in general is hard for him. Leash was a pita! >
That is a particularly hard environment! Car traffic, bird noise, wind, etc. And the leash is a distraction too. He did well with the barrel element of the game (for him, the work is part of the reward). He was not tugging as well but also, the toy needs to be more active in a really hard environment. When you really moved it away from him on the last rep, he really grabbed it. Before then, when it was just kind of waving around near his face, it was not as exciting. So in the hard environment, you can double the movement of the toy for him to chase and grab 🙂
He did well with the new person coming into the building! I can see why he might not like the obedience building: super loud and boomy, that is very hard for breeds that can be sensitive to sound like BCs. He did well – you made it like agility LOL and I think he liked it.
>I brought julee with me as social support like we talked. He didn’t need it and he was only distracted by her when she vocalized. I>
This was a social learning moment and he went over to investigate what the barking was about. Was Julee barking out of frustration because she wanted to work, or out of saying hello to the person? You can have her out to say hello to the person (as long as she will be happy happy wiggly happy) because I would like him to see that! He will really learn that it is a good thing. (Remember a zillion years ago when Tugger learned to like the Chiro by watching his friend Matrix wiggle up to her?)
Nice job here!
Tracy
Hi!
I had to watch it in slow motion to see what was happening there (things happen very fast with her as I am sure you know :))She didn’t go to the toy but was definitely looking at it – that is good info! You can work her through the Under Pressure challenges and incorporate toys on the ground as part of it. That will definitely help!
Tracy
Good morning!
I am bummed to hear that he was not quite himself at Nationals and that really stinks about the Canada Open too. Ugh!!! Yay for getting on the team and a top 10 podium!! I remember how hard it was to finish in the top 10 at AAC nationals!!
And at least you can focus on his wrist now. He has had such a wide array of pains and little things, that it is good to hear that the vet will pull bloodwork – just too many different things going on to have the full picture yet. For the tests, be sure it is full panels for tick stuff and thyroid, as the smaller tests do not show a complete picture (I always have to bug the vets to do the full panels).
It is possible that the Lyme is flaring and also it could be a different tick thing (I hate ticks!). The vaccine reaction is an interesting possibility but also might be more coincidental than anything – which vaccine was it? Some have more soreness associated with it (like lepto) than others. Fingers crossed it all gets sorted out quickly! (Side note – have you ever tested his B12/folate? Low B12 and/or folate can cause ALL of this. There is a simple test and you can also just supplement with folic acid)
I am glad Aelfraed is feeling back to normal! Travel is stressful and that can totally throw off the GI, plus adolescence is hard. He might ned probiotics to help the GI and his concerns during travel? There are a bunch out there that are surprisingly helpful. OK, maybe not so surprising considering how the gut and brain and behavior are linked LOL!
>Unfortunately he thought that the auntie having the toy was not an approved reward process and after the second attempt he turned off the toy completely for the remainder of that session.>
He does indeed have specific rules about reinforcement 🙂 and that also might be a tiny bit of residual fallout from the weekend and recovering from it all. No worries!
He was finding the line to the jump after the tunnel here but you needed to run halfway to more to the jump. He was beginning to figure out to drive past you and commit in collection while you decelerated (like at 1:40, that was GREAT!) so you can add even more focus on that: rather than having the jump at the full distance away, you can move it in closer and work it as a one-step send. Get to be one step past the tunnel exit before he exits, make the big connection – but just do one step of a send (along with the verbal). This might be hard so it might require really good croissants! And also the jump can be as close as 2 meters away until he has the light bulb moment to go without you running.
Then you can move the jump further and further away, until he can go all the way without you! He is very croissant-driven so I am confident that he will be on board with this plan 🙂
Great job here!
Tracy
I agree with your decision to run her at 12″ for the CO! The timing at 12″ is probably different enough (she really doesn’t have to jump LOL) so it is good to practice that for both of you.
What you do after CO will depend on what is next on her schedule 🙂 Eventually yes, back to 16 for IFCS but she has just had a pretty intense season so it is good to drop it back for a bit, then build it back up.
Practicing the big courses at 12″ will be great for your timing! Because things happen faster. Then when doing the prep for IFCS, back to 16″ because that will need you to be precise in the timing of showing her things before she exit the previous obstacle.
Tracy
Good morning! This went really well and gives us valuable info (especially with the Canada Open coming up!). Most of what happened here was really spot on and looked great!
On course 1: the walk basically matched the run, which is GREAT! So mainly it is small tweaks in planning that will smooth out the blooper moments.
Overall the lines were really strong and her commitment was solid, so we can look at the couple of spots where she had a question.
Looking at the tunnel exit in the opening: I can see her argument about the line to 3 being a backside line: a big MUSO MUSO before she goes into the tunnel can get the turn to the front and adding a brake arm, all before she enters the. Tunnel. You faced her on it on the 2nd run and added a blind which got it but it would be good to try a bigger verbal with the arm, so you can get it in flow if it appears in the middle of a sequence (which stuff like that will :))
On jump 5, the jump before the a-frame: planning a spin there (sending into the FC then the BC) would be ideal for the turn and for your line. A spin will be a great option because it will both tighten the turn on 5 and turn your feet to the next line sooner than a post turn. The post turn turns you towards the wider line and doesn’t get you to the blind as fast.
You can also do a threadle wrap on the jump after the a-frame. On this course, doin a blind to a push wrap worked well for the sequence. A threadle wrap will get you further ahead if you needed to be.
She had questions on the jump before the DW: this was tricky to get the line to the jump. On the first run, you pushed in and didn’t turn your feet to the bar which pushed her away to the DW. On the 2nd run you were too stationary on the jump before it so she came in for a threadle. So you can keep her on your left for the rear cross and keep moving but turn your feet to the jump more.
Or, you can get the threadle jump (11) and keep moving through to a blind for the take off side of 12. That will answer her question about where to be and also get you further ahead for the DW exit which is really valuable on this course.
Looking at the DW exit: the cue to turn happened after she passed the apex of down ramp, with you behind and moving forward, so it was a bit late and she turned but not enough to the front. How early can you start the turn cues and shoulder turn while she is on the DW, to get the front side of 14? Can you do it when she is on the top ramp – will she still hit the contact?
Side note: she is more likely to be asked to do the backside in the scenario at the Canada Open, so don’t train the front side right now 🙂
Her only other question was if 17 was a slice or wrap. Your feet were facing the correct line so she did read it as wrap, and adding a bit of decel there will tighten it right up.
Course 2:
Loved the detail of walking the opening!
One thing to consider on the bigger yardage courses that can be helpful and that might have delayed/blocked cues on this course – run with connection like you did here, but not as much arm out to your sides. Run with your arms pumping on the simpler lines because that will get you places faster. A low arm can help with some spots, but prciticng with your arms out at your shoulder will cause more disconnections and also it is easier to run fast with lower arms.The walk through was generally clear! There was 1 spot where I was not entirely sure of the plan: 12-13-14-15. It was hard to see the line the handling was creating there.
Run – lots of great parts! She lost you visually on the opening – I think the cue was wrap on 1 then a quick go – then you were quiet when you ran, so she was unsure of which obstacle it was. On the repeat, the verbals were much clearer which really helped!
Too much rotation after 6 took her off the line to 7 (you did not do this in the walk through, you used a brake arm). You rotated later on the 2nd run and it worked well, but that is something to work out in the walk through so it doesn’t go wrong in the first run. I am not sure she needed the rotation at all, but getting tight turns on tunnel exits are hard so I can see why you added it!
The unclear spot on the walk through was also the unclear spot in the run – the rear cross on 13 was not quite enough pressure to the RC line (center of the bar) – but good save to keep going!!
On the 2nd run, the side change on 11 worked much better to show the line on 13 on the 2nd run! And it is more aggressive handling which is always good 🙂 One thing I remember about Muso from the lessons we did is that while RC stuff might seem like the way to go, we always get the line better doing the aggressive FC or BC.Then you can send her to 13 more, showing the decel into it as she jumping 12 to tighten the line there. The decel started when she was about a stride from takeoff, so her takeoff decision was already made. The spin was a good choice there!
On the closing line of the 2nd run, the high arm (above your shoulder) is what blocked connection and pulled her off the line to the jump. It was hard to hear exactly what you said, but it was loud & different so that pulled her focus to you and then she didn’t see the connection so was not sure which line she should be on. That a-frame is definitely a visual challenge for a small dog to see the handling, so hanging back to remain visible will help a lot – and with the layering you still have plenty of time to get where you need to be.
Looking at the weaves on this course: Double check this with a zoom in or slow motion, but I think she came out of the weaves early looking at the toy on the ground (1:54 on video 1 and :44 on video 2). Maybe I am seeing it wrong? I had to expand it and play it in slow motion.
She gave you a good reminder to not pull up early at the end of the first run 🙂 Good job running through the end on the 2nd run 🙂
Great job here!!!!
Tracy
