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Hi! This went well! It is all about the small details:
Since we are thinking about which verbals to use:
I think you were using lala (backside slice) on jump 1, but it is highly collected and he enters/exits on the same wing so a backside wrap verbal is more appropriate.Don’t forget to give him a tunnel cue after 2 🙂 Adding the obstacle name will totally help give permission to take it!
The GO went great!
For the left turn, you might need to switch to ‘jump’ as soon as he enters the tunnel at :16, the left was almost too tight and he almost missed the jump on the first rep. He found it easily on the next reps but he had already seen it once 🙂 He dropped the bar a couple of times but I am guessing it was more about the toy throw happening at liftoff.For the backside: He turned really well with his name, nice and quiet! But then you didn’t really tell him about the backside at :48 so he took the front because it was visible
You gave the name calls later after that (1:17 and 1:33), but those turns were wider – the timing of the first rep got the best turn 🙂Thinking of verbals:
At :59 it sounds like you used a lalala but it is a circle wrap so it should be your dig dig like you did at 1:32.The layering went great! Make sure you don’t cut him off too soon on the RC at 2, give lots of connection as you run to the center of the bar so he can get past you. You don’t need to accelerate to 2 as much, it is more of a send.
Small detail on the circle wraps, let him get past you before you move forward again, you were pushing into his line which made getting past you harder (more on that below!)
Great job!
TracyHi!
>> I usually see it with the dog jumping from the inside of the jump and wrapping to you on the outside of the station.>>
Yes – front side wraps.
>> I want to confirm that it can also be if the dog jumps the outside of the station and comes back through the jump?>>
I use one of the backside verbals there – if the dog goes to the backside wing and exits on approximately that same wing, I use a backside wrap verbal. It does not have to be the full circle you drew for your dig verbal – it can also be the almost full circle or come back to you on the same wing because it there is a lot of collection there.
Of the dog enters the backside on one wing and exits more towards the other wing (including center of the bar) then I use a backside slice verbal .
There is a bit of a grey area on the backside pushes so you have to base it on how much collection he needs.
let me know if that makes sense!
Tracy
Hi!
I am glad you are able to get to some classes! Jen is great!
And yeah, corn sweat. I have lived a lot of decades and have never heard of such a thing LOL!
>>My very first “real” agility dog was Terry the Malinois. I don’t think I worked with you when I had him. He had perfect stopped contacts because Ann Braue said this is how to teach them and I treated it like an obedience exercise>>
I think Terry had retired by the time I met you. And that is totally Ann… getting us to be precise in our training! She is a top-notch trainer indeed, I always really enjoyed her seminars.
On the video:
I liked the getting up the line as far as possible of your lead out position, but it was very lateral so his turn was wide, which causes you to stick around more to adjust the line. He has strong forward focus on 1 and 2… what if you led out to pole 6 or something and did the FC on 2-3 from there? That might get a tighter turn on 2-3 and get you even further ahead. It would be fun to see if you can lead out as far up the line as possible and still get 1-2.
He had a little question exiting the tunnel about continuing straight to the teeter, so you can add a Go or Go Teeter before he goes into the #5 tunnel.
I totally see what you mean about the teeter – what is his criteria, and how did you originally teach it? If you used a target, you can put it back out there as a reminder to help build the criteria back up.
>> Since Casper is going to have stopped contacts, I had better get in the habit of reinforcing and strengthening stopped contacts. That will only help Enzo’s teeter and it looks like he needs that.>>
You can also put out a training aid to help when doing sequences – a target for the stop, just like we would use a mat for the run. That helps both human and dog get it right in the sequence.
> he was mostly clean through 12 (probably a refusal in there).>>
No refusals, at least not in UKI! Getting him to find the correct side of 9 at :36 was impressive though 🙂 Good job thinking on your feet for the whole 7-8-9 section! That section was lovely in the 2nd run – Enzo can still go deeper to the bottom of the teeter there so I think your plan to clarify criteria will help.
One other suggestion – your position at 10 turns him to 11 really well, so you don’t need to call him too much. That almost pulled him off at :39. You called less there at 1:15 and it was better. I think one name call is all he needs there.
12 to the end looked great – sounds like you gave the push cue at/just after the apex of the frame so he was able to do it pretty independently. The FC on 13 and the switch-wrap on 14 set up a great ending line!!
Great job! Fingers crossed for dry grass for mowing and no more corn sweat LOL
Tracy
Good morning!
>>For the standard course I had to make up one from what was already set up in the building. I started at your # 1 jump and went to 2. Your 3 was a teeter. From the teeter which was about 15 feet from your # 4 I did a BS on 4 to your tunnel #9 to the front side of 1 to a threadle to your # 13 on the front side to your # 6 to the weaves to your #8 to tunnel 9 to 18 which I had put closer. >>
Sounds like you were able to use the existing setup and still get a lot of same/similar challenges! Yay!
>>At speed out of the tunnel to the front of one to threadle to the front of 13 was a nice challenge which I was able to work out with Mookie and Alonso.
Threadles after tunnels are tricky because of the timing – some dog might need a turn cue for the tunnel exit, before they even enter the tunnel.
>> Both dogs nailed the backside from the teeter to 4 from a large distance away so I could handle the tunnel exit to the threadle sequence. You have taught me this summer how to set up challenging stuff for me and my dogs. >
Yay! Super! And hopefully that makes regular courses at trials feel much, much easier 🙂 Training courses are a bit crazy in terms of level of challenge 🙂

>>Pop Outs from the JWW course Pop Out 1 flowed nicely for both Mookie and Alonso>>Super!
>>Pop Out 2 This was a challenge due to poles in the way so it was passable but it didn’t really flow for us as nice as Pop Out 1.>>
Yeah, darn poles – they create entirely different handling challenges and it is hard for us to run aggressively when our brains are trying to prevent us from running into the poles!
>>I loved the Zoom challenge and your Zooms have always been my favorite from Camp.>>
Me too! It is crazy how much we can accomplish with the zoom training – it is perhaps the one good thing to come out of covid times?
>>I did the warm ups separately with both Mooke and Alonso before I put them together and both Mookie and Alonso did fine. Then I went for the final course to put it all together. Both dogs needed both the turn cue to enter the tunnel plus seeing my body turn before they entered the tunnel or they would layer the tunnel >>It sounds like you got great info from the dogs about which cues they needed and more importantly – when they needed them. Those tunnel cues are useful in any type of agility!
>>The go cue for the straight exit out of the tunnel was fine for Alonso but Mookie kept flicking out of the tunnel to his right to jump 5.>>
That is great info too! Mookie might have been on that lead so the GO cue set up the line to 5. So he needs a subtle turn cue before the tunnel, perhaps, and maybe NO verbal cue to go straight. Definitely something to keep experimenting with.
>>Mookie was also in a brain fog today not listening to cues and just assuming. I guess at almost 9 ½ y/o he is allowed to have senior moments >>
Ha! Probably not a senior moment, probably more that all of those tunnels are VERY STIMULATING which changes the timing and intensity of the cues. It is like the difference in cues for my Voodoo & Hot Sauce (they need STRONG cues to get turns because tunnels are very exciting) versus my Contraband who is faster but can still process turn cues even with tunnels involved. So I adjust the cues accordingly.

>> Boths dogs layered the tunnel without an issue and both had nice threadle wraps 6 to 7 and back to the tunnel. >>Awesome!!!
>>Alonso actually did the course nicely as he is extremely verbal and listens for such a young boy. Mookie got over his jealously of having to take turns with Alonso and got it together by the end of the session.>>
Yeah, jealousy is a real thing LOL!
>>On a happy note, Alonso earned his AX AXJ this past weekend outdoors with all first places and won his T2 B class. >>
Wow! Congrats! The T2B win is especially impressive because that is against all levels of dogs, right?
>>He really knows his lines and follows my verbals even if I am out of position. I am sure it is because he is a Max Pup Grad. Mookie not so much, but Mookie has 40 rules and has always been hard for me. But we have done well despite his rules >>
The younger generation (Alonso and friends) has definitely had more emphasis on verbals from the very start. Mookie and his generation has not had the same emphasis on processing verbals so they are more motion-based in their handling skills.

>>I did sign up for the Clean Run course you are involved in this Fall.>>Awesome! I think it will be a fun thing and a lot of info for relatively cheap price!
>>And are you offering any post camp courses yourself this Fall. Just Checking >>Yes! But I don’t have a topic yet for the higher level dogs (I have the puppy classes all set). I need to come up with something fun for the adult dogs 🙂

Great job with your boys this summer! Thank you for the updates and keep me posted on how they are doing!!Tracy
Good morning!
I didn’t mean to panic you but I am glad that the rehab vet was able to take a quick look! Tight quads could certainly restrict jumping movement, so I am glad she is loosened up now 🙂 Tarot is reaching the point in her training that regular massage is probably a good thing.
She did really well with the 2 table game! You can start her on one table, get her amped up, then run across to the target on the other table – that can add more speed which then asks for more weight shift to be able to stop. I think she is ready for that!
I don’t have the teeter or weaves class on the calendar – not enough hours in the day! I think you are doing really well with the games though and don’t need the full-fledged class 🙂
Nice work here!
TracyHi!
>>I phone is being a pain- sorry.>>
Yes, sometimes iPhone and iPad gets MAD when there is a lot of memory used on a webpage with embedded video; Doing a Part 2 is perfect!
She was flying here! I love it! She also was unclear about the stay release so to be 1000% sure it is not paired with reconnection or hand movement: for the forced fronts and lead out pushes, get yourself set up, hands and feet where you want them to be – then praise her. Then either release or throw the reward back to her.
Her reading of the handling is going great! The Forced front crossed looked lovely!
On the first sequence, you can do a blind 4-5 at :15 instead of a FC – she had to go around you to get 5 and that is why she ended up on the wrong line and missed 6. The BC can be finished sooner, so you can showing the next line sooner too.
For the Lead out push at :23 – positionally, you can get closer to her line (a little more on the exit side of the bar. exactly where you would want her to run) and closer ot the jump (close enough to casually touch it without stretching). When you start moving, handle it like a serpentine: keep your dog side arm back and eyes on her eyes like a serp, to support the line. On this rep, you were past her line and far from the jump, so she was taking 2 in extension. Then when you drove away to 3 without a lot of connection, she tried to adjust and dropped the bar. Your position and connection were definitely better on the next rep! Getting your position and feet and arm all set before the release, you won’t need to step to the jump at all, you can just slide away (starting when she is approx halfway between 1 and 2) like a serp.
The last sequence looked good! You can add in looking at her more when you say “back” at 1:04 and she won’t need to look at you to get more info.
The BC works better than the FC here too (5 to 6 at 1:10) – you were in the way and that set her line up past the last jump here too, So if you get a chance to play with this setup again, try the blind in those spots (starting before she even exits the tunnel) and see how it goes.Great job here!!
TracyHi!
Wheeee! Look at that teeter! You can add a half inch of drop now 🙂 Looking great!The layering was a little hard but he did well! One thing about the smaller dogs is that have to take so many more strides, which makes the layering harder for sure! And yes, if you moved a little lateral, he was following motion. But I think you did a great job of breaking it down to show him that yes, he was allowed to go into the tunnel even when he had to layer a jump! The verbals sounded different and also your arm position was very different, so he was able to succeed. YAY! He just needs more experience with layering and it will lock in after a few more sessions.
Interestingly, he seemed to have no questions going the other way (from the tunnel to the line of jumps) – that might have been because there was so much more motion on that line. You can add more motion to the jump-jump-tunnel layer by adding a wing wrap before it, so he is already running and not starting from a stay. That might make more sense to him, plus you will be able to stay on the parallel line more easily. I think that when he sees it more often, it will be easier and the tunnel verbal will override your motion if you pull away a little.
Great job here!!
Tracy
Hi!
I think this setup worked a lot better! Yes, he totally cheated on the release on rep 1 but had good jumping form 🙂 The other releases got better and better so now we can obsess on getting him to not look up at you 🙂2 ideas for that:
Will he hold the stay if you already have a cookie in the bowl? Put the cookie in the bowl then put it down, so he knows it is there and look at it the whole time. Bending over as he released was too much rotation so he dropped bar 1 and added collection. He didn’t drop the bar on the next/last rep when you bent over to get the cookie into the bowl but his head is still up. So the cookie in the bowl (or in his lotus ball placed in the bowl) can help keep his head down.
The other thing to try is as soon as you release him and he looks forward, you can use your ‘get it’ marker (which I am pretty sure he understands indicates permission to get the treats :)) That can totally help keep his head down! Be sure to say it early so he is still looking ahead at jump 1 and not up at you at jump 2.
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
>> I was thrilled with her commitment since she really didn’t have much at the beginning of your class!>>
Totally yes! Her commitment is looking really good!!!!
Your emphasis on connection here looked really strong and really helped support the commitment. Since she can drive on her line well enough to let you get ahead of her on the tunnel exit (:29 :50. 1:16, 1:46), you can use that connection to time the turn cues sooner: As she exits the tunnel start to decel and start to use your wrap verbal. That way she can collect before takeoff (rather than jump straight and turn after landing).
Your exit line connection on the exit of the wraps looked really good!!!!
>> added a couple of other handling moves towards the end. On the last rep, I tried to throw in a tandem turn but said “check” instead of “switch” and so she wrapped the wing instead which I interpreted as Tarot beginning to understand the verbal but it could also be something I was doing with my handling. I would love to hear your thoughts..>>
Adding the tandem at 1:01 and 1:57 – what happened there was that after the backside, you got too far ahead and close to the next jump – so there was not enough room to set up the tandem – by the time she saw it, she was right at the next jump. So to get the tandem to work, you can decel and stick closer to the backside jump, then turn to the line and flip her away for the tandem. The front cross there worked really well!
One thing I noticed on this video – she was pulling over the jumps, adding more strides, rather than powering from her rear. She might be tight in one of her back legs or her back, so maybe a massage person can get hands on her? She seemed to be a little careful about using her left hind in particular so maybe there is an ouchy somewhere.
>>In addition, Tarot does not have a “right” and “left” verbal cue. Can I use the tandem turn to teach this or would it be too confusing?>>
It depends on what you want your left/right to mean. If it is turning left/right on the flat away from you, then yes the tandem turn is useful for that. If it is turning left/right over a jump (and could be towards you) then I suggest the minny pinny from MaxPup 1 and 2 to add those verbals.
Great job here!!
Tracy
Good morning!
>>I was wondering what height you think I should be jumping her. She is 17 months old and measured 16”. I have just started jumping her 16” and she seems to have no problem at all. I think I might have to jump 20 “ in UKI since she measures 18” now. But in practice right now what should I do?>>
Yes, the regular height in UKI would be 20, or you can do 16 select which is incredibly competitive! But for now – turf like that can be slippery so you can stick to 16 inches on any hard turns or new handling stuff. You can throw in 18″ or 20″ on simpler lines like go lines, with bigger distances (minimum 24 feet). When you are outdoors on grass or in good dirt, you can add 20 to the tight turns and AKC-distances. I don’t think she will have any trouble jumping 20, but I also don’t want her to slip trying to adjust on turf and potentially injure herself. That would really stink, especially as you are coming back from the knee surgery.
Looking at the video:
She is reading these decel exercises brilliantly! All of the initial games where you were basically stationary looked fabulous. One thing to note:
She also reads the rotation on the tunnel entry at :49 & :56 as a turn cue, so try to only do a post turn (not a spin) on tunnel entries that are followed by a straight line. You can see her exiting turned there and re-adjusting. And we don’t want her to learn to ignore the rotations/turn cues, if they are always followed by a straight line.Good job balancing with the GO cues too!! She did well with the verbal – nice job with the toy throws!
When adding the wraps on the 2nd jump – remember that decel and FC rotations are bad for knees… I worry about knees LOL!! So treat it like a distance send to the first jump and tunnel so you are standing there at the wrap jump when she exits the tunnel and you don’t need to hustle or decel or rotate at all for now. We don’t want to ask too much from your knee.
The less you move into it, the better the turn (1:22 for example) but keep your connection and don’t rotate too early (1:29) The decel should start while she is over/landing from the previous jump, not the rotation. And as you noted – connection does impact what she does, so when you disconnected at 1:36, she had a bar down trying to see if she needed to change sides for a blind.Leading all the way out on the line so you could be standing at the wrap jump worked great on the sectiom from 1:55 – 2:13! Really nice balance of speed and collection!!
On the yes tunnel- no tunnel game:
She had no trouble reading when you wantd the tunnel and when you didn’t – Super!!!
At 2:52 as you noted, you broke conenction so it was totally fair of her to go into the tunnel from the other side of you. She read the line and save your butt – Yay! I love when the dogs save us! Good job rewarding her there.
Sending from the other side (backside) of the tunnel was a good challenge for her – there is a lot of collection needed to get into the tunnel from that angle. She hit her head on it at 3:16! But sorted it out for the other reps.
When she had trouble finding the entry at 3:20, it was because your dog side leg was not stepping forward. As soon as you stepped forward, she got it and using the tunnel verbal helped too.
Sending her to ths start wing from further away helped you get ahead enough to show the wing behind the tunnel.
In this section she also was great about knowing when you wanted the tunnel versus when you wanted her to go past it – great conenction from you really helped!
When you leg is feeling even better it will be easy to power through the lines so she won’t have the little questions behind the tunnel but for now, sending her away to the wing before it from as far as possible makes it all easier.
Great job here!!!
Tracy
Happy retirement!!! I am so excited for you! And it sounds like things are very busy/exhausting. No worries, we have several more weeks for videos here. And if Mitre is dealing with hormones, it is fine to not do too much. I am glad she was awesome in her training yesterday!
>>. I was also wondering if I ouldmask you some weave questio s. I am working through the AUweave course .so all in all I have taken the pressure off myself and Mitre for awhile.>>
Go for it! I love weave training!
Tracy
Hi there! Lots of great stuff here, plus we can compare threadle wraps with push wraps because both are really looking great!
Hot topics:
Comparing the threadle wrap (TW) to the push wraps: I think both of these skills are well-trained and you executed them really well here! So this is a good comparison to make, because we are not looking at a strong skill versus a weak skill. Yay!On the first TW, you were past the tunnel exit before he entered. That made it faster on that section than the push wrap! On this one, give him the get out cue for the next jump (verbal and arm) before he enters to smooth out the line there.
Compare to the push wrap :38 where you were just arriving at the tunel exit when he entered. The timing of the cue for the next jump was before he went in the tunnel so that line looked good!
Adding the blind on the threadle wrap worked even better for the ending line. On the TW, you were about 2/3rds of the way up the tunnel when he entered (:17). Compare to the push wrap at :27, you were at the tunnel entry when he entered it. The threadle wrap sequence was faster here – the TWs proved faster on this type of line because he picks up speed chasing your line when you are really far ahead 🙂
The full sequence:
Opening looked good! Comparing the blind-TW-FC on the 5-6-7 line to the push to FC there: the push to FC was about 3/10ths faster in that section, even with the wider turn on landing of 6. That is probably for 2 reasons: the FC after the TW was late, so that delayed a bit of info. The TW in isolation is not faster but where we pick up more speed is when the handler is miles ahead on the next line. In this case, there was no benefit from the TW in terms of getting up the next line.To get the push to FC even faster – decelerate into the wing and do the FC right on the exact line you want him to run on (then get outta there so he has room to land :)) Your position on these (like at 1:32 for example) was closer to the far side of the bar, so he jumped out to your position and that created the wider turn there.
Standard 1:
Because you are world-team-leve 🙂 we can obsess on the tiny details 🙂 This opening is hard!
I think you can promote more speed on the opening with a forward focus/lateral lead out for more speed/better turn 1-2. Starting with him didn’t have as much momentum and he had some questions. Then as you move away, you can call sooner/more urgently before the #2 tunnel (:04) to get a tighter exit line, as you move forward to get to the takeoff side of 3 to set a better line to 4 (:05 and 1:12). Being on landing side causes the wider landing and a harder line to 4.He had a little trouble with the threadle on 6. On the first run at :11, you had a cross arm up but perhaps your shoulders were not open enough? Your feet stayed in motion there, as compared to when you got it at :17 and 1:17 and 1:22, when you decelerated and rotated your feet a little.
That is useful info, that on the crazier threadles he needs a bit of help from your feet & motion to get it 🙂 plus staying closer to the jump so he could turn his head to it and commit before you took off for the aframe.
You had the bit of decel at 1:22 with a little extra support and I think a name call after it – he read that line and found the a-frame really well!
Looking at the send to the 9 backside on the other side of the DW – you can get in closer to 9 for 3 reasons:
– to help get commitment of course 🙂 The more you converged to it like on the first run, of course, the better he got it
– to get more on the precise line you want him to run (like in the hot topics) for a tighter turn
– to set up the layering line 10-11-12. When you were a little ahead on the first run and had to decel and send to the layering, he dropped the bar. When you went in closer to 9/10 at 1:37, that set the layering line better and he kept the bar up.The 12-17 section looked really strong! Good job maintaining/rewarding teeter criteria!
There was a bar down at 18 as you started the layer – for the same reason the bar at 11 came down earlier: getting a little too far ahead on the layering line the hitting the brakes/ losing a bit of connection and pulling away. You can go in closer to 17 to set it, so he sees a lot of acceleration into it. That is a good thing to remember: support the jumping line by setting your layering/distance work from further back.
That will also get you to 21 sooner because you won’t get have to move back around the DW. 🙂 Getting there sooner will allow you to show the TW cues for 21 – a lot of forward motion and being pretty far caused the off course at :52
Compare to :58 when you got there sooner and it worked GREAT.Based on where 22 is, a threadle slice is going to be the fastest line but working and rewarding the TW is a useful skill!
Course 2:
This opening will also be faster/clearer with a stay on the slice line & forward focus on 1, so you can be basically standing at the center of the bar of 2 all before he takes off for 1. With the post turn and motion, he was not sure if it was the weaves or the jump as he exited 1.
3-4-5 went well! You can experiment witha blind to the TW on 6 to get way ahead on the next line. Plus you will get more speed in the weaves if you take off for the blind 🙂 He was pacing himself a bit because you were decelerated.
7-8-9-10-11-12 looked great! Nice weave entry!
On the 2nd run, he got a bonus jump before 12 – mainly because at :36 you cued the tunnel then took off without a ton of connection… but at 1:36 you had a bigger connection and a big step which put him directly on the line to the bonus jump. The extra jump was basically setting up a bypass, and I use disconnection on bypasses 🙂Another place to play with a blind to TW is the 13-14 section, because that can also set up the threadle on 16! The push wraps worked to get the line there (ideally you show him a little more of the wing so he has a tighter line to the push wrap), but made it harder to show the line to the threadle at 16
When coming in at full speed from the sequence, he got the backside of 16 – it was hard to hear the verbals but the physical cue did look like a backside send. I think you were calling him to come in then indicating the jump, but it read as a backside cue. A threadle verbal and arm should be what he needs (just pretend the dog walk is not there LOL!) plus moving laterally away before he enters the tunnel.
When you did it in isolation, he got it partially because of the lower arm, softer verbals and the different angle of starting (you were more lateral from the tunnel entry). So coming from the previous jump, you can show him the angle of motion away from the tunnel before he enters, and give him a threadle verbal/arm cue so he sees it happening as he exits. And I think the threadle wrap might be the easiest way to set all that up, because you will be way ahead to do it.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning!
>>Again, I am so sorry to read that you lost Crusher. It is always so hard when we lose them.>>
Thanks, it sucks, as you know. They are never here long enough!
>>. I think I might be going backwards as far as energy and stamina. But I did see the Doc and he expects me to gradually improve.>>
Fingers crossed that ‘gradually’ turns into ‘quickly’ so you are back to feeling energetic!!
And even with the grass needing mowing… what if I sent courses with the setup that is set to add additional challenges, so you don’t waste energy re-building courses? I am happy to do that! Cooler weather should help too, if that ever arrives. I learned about Corn Sweat last night – will wonders never cease.
>>The most recent estimate for “when Barb can drive again” is 12/11. I may go nuts before then.>>
UGH! What can we, members of your agility community, do to help you NOT go nuts? I wonder if someone can be your Uber to a class or trial?
>> Since my running is pathetic, I took a gigantic lead-out>
Your running is not pathetic but your bandwidth for running on these big yardage courses is limited… we can also approach these as working things with more verbals and distance, which will be hugely helpful! Bigger pieces for Enzo, smaller pieces for Casper – but both learn to work away and process verbals at high speed without needing motion support too. That can be fun!
>>At any rate, the first thing Enzo did was DW to tunnel; twice.>>
The forward motion/much hustle 2-3 plus loud verbals cued the tunnel, he never considered anything else and definitely did not process the lateral position or verbal as the backside rather than the tunnel. He might need a turn cue on the DW exit or an attention cue (quiet name then backside when he turns his head away from the tunnel).
>> I took a gigantic lead-out on the third try and at least managed to avoid the tunnel trap.>>
Well, you’ve got a well-trained stay and he understands the cues for the opening line, so you can lead out all the way to 4 if you want! If my dog had the skills, you’d find me out at 4 (my dogs do NOT have those skills LOL!) This rep allowed you to give a bit of a physical turn cue on the dog walk exit (slight shoulder rotation and decel) and he never looked at the tunnel.
>> In addition to the lead-out, I started closer to the DW and moved laterally towards the jump.
Yes – the lateral motion totally helped him plus you were decelerating while you did it which also helps. In defense of your original plan, it was a good plan! But with all of the momentum of the RDW plus loud verbals plus parallel path… he didn’t make the discrimination. You can set that up with a cone wrap instead of the DW, or start him on the down ramp, to isolate that skill. It was really the only skill that was hard for him on this course.
You did step forward into the ‘flip away to tunnel’ move for a heartbeat at :24 which caused a spin and delayed the RC.
When you repeated it at :56ish, it was even better – you seemed more prepared for him to pay attention to the cue so you got the blind 4-5! EXCELLENT connection on the BC exit there at 1:03!
>>After that run, I took some time to reconsider my plan for 4-5-6-7 and decided I HAD to get a cross in between 4 and 5.>>
The BC worked GREAT. You can also play with a flip-away RC on the takeoff side of 5 and send to 6.
The next part 6-12 looked great! Add a little collection cue for the exit of 12 to tighten that turn to the frame and it will be perfect!
Then you nailed the rest (12 through 19) with great connection, verbals, and as much motion as needed but without needing to sprint anywhere.On the 2nd run, you got to 11 really well then praised when he landed from 11, then turned away from 12 and said “come climb”… so he went to the frame 🙂 I think the praise puts him in handler focus too much and delays your cues, so no need for praise: the next cue serves the same purpose (continuing is huge praise and reward for him).
If you wanted a distance challenge: get the weave entry at 10, *don’t* try to get up to 11 – hang back by pole 8 or something. Send to 11 backside, FC to 12, send to frame… all while you are still on the other side of the weaves. I bet that he can do it and that makes 14-15-16 even easier. And a second distance challenge would be to get 15 then send to 16-17-18-19 while layering the frame! The 19 would be a ‘get out’ and definitely challenging but he is ready for high level stuff like that!
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning!
>>Yes, Synnie is running. We have a little team, just 2 handlers and 4 dogs, and because of that, Synnie has had to run Senior from the get-go. >>
Very fun! She can totally handle Senior courses. And getting her ready with 2 ring trial experience and pattern games while waiting is great!!
>>The great thing for my control freakiness is that there is no reason to overhandle out there. No titles on the line, blah, blah, blah. We are going to run our best and strongest.
Exactly! Just go out there and tackle the courses. It will be super fun!
<>And the nice thing is, since Flurry and Synnie jump different heights, that I’ll get a walk through for each of them.>>
That makes is soooooo much easier 🙂
>>We’ve been having some trouble with the contacts, especially A-frame, in trials, so hopefully this helped her to remember that this week! >>
Definitely be consistent all the time with contact releases – getting her front feet into the 2o2o is the ‘button’ she pushes to cue you to release her. On this video, you were releasing early from the dog walk each time (she was in the yellow but not in 2o2o). She didn’t self-release here, but she was slowing down, possibly looking for the release point on the down ramp. If it was not as hot or she was more pumped up, she might self-release 🙂 So be super clear and consistent with the criteria.
On the video:
Nice opening each time!!!
She got to the backside really well for the backside wrap on 4. Try to decel into it and stay near it, rather than back up away from it – that will set the line better to 5 and also help the jumping. The backing up is why she dropped the bar at :18 (trying to follow your motion).
The middle section looked great each time! Nice 5-6-7-8 line, lovely independent weeks, great job with 9-10-11!
>> We struggled a lot more with the layering on this course.
The layering is definitely hard on this course! On the first one (11-12-13), being parallel to the line really helped – you were pulling away and facing 13/14 on the first reps at :41 and 1:50. When you faced it more at 2:48, she stayed out on the line a lot better. Also, I think the addition of the jump cue really helped – at 2:48, you were saying jump jump jump after the go cues (the other reps just had go cues) so the jump helped support commitment to the jump 🙂
>> I couldn’t get the backside after the tunnel, no matter what I tried.
This is definitely a really hard section! When she was on your right, you had too much turn cue on the 16 tunnel, at :54 and 2:01, so she turned and was looking at the other tunnel when you gave the next cue. Accelerating her with motion and go verbals before she enters the 16 tunnel can help! Having her on your left go her out to the jump really well at 2:58. To help her get the backside, you can teach the skill by rotating the jump so the backside is pretty obvious (rotating it 180 degrees to start), then over time you can gradually rotate it back to the position it was in here.
>>I do notice some fatigue/frustration come into play (on both our parts) with these longer courses>>
There is a lot of yardage for handler and dog on these! One of the ways I tackle these big courses is to turn on a pop song (usually those are 3 minutes or so) then do as much as I can. When the song ends? Session over 🙂 So in those 3 minutes I can try to run it all the way through once, might work on a section, then either be finished or if I still have time, try it one more time all the way through. It makes limiting my time more fun too!
Great job here and have a fun trip! Send updates!
Tracy
Good morning! The sessions on this video looked fabulous!
He only had one question here, on the very first rep. You rotated on time but didn’t decel into the turn, so it was a bit like slamming on the brakes on a sports car 🙂 so he didn’t take the jump.
The next reps had you running closer to jump 2 so he committed but the rotation on those reps was a little late (he is already jumping when you rotated.The rep at :22 had the decel as he landed from jump 1, and it was great in that the decel allowed him to commit in tight collection and you were able to rotate before takeoff. So definitely remember to transition into decel before you rotate, to support commitment and timing.
The rest of the sequence looked strong – the cross worked on both the takeoff and landing side of 4. You can add a big go go go verbal for the ending line so he gets permission to drive ahead of you.
Looking at the forced fronts and forced threadles – nice position next to the jump on these! He had very tight lines here.
Good connection the force front crosses! He read it really well. And his stay looked great! One small detail – have your feet together a little more so then it is easier to step back to the jump with the leg next to the jump, as you exit the FFC. Your leg was back on most of the reps before the release, so you stepped back with the opposite leg which might make things less clear when you exit for a jump after it.
You did the forced threadle in the next session here and he did great too! Then you built the forced front into the sequence – excellent! You had just the right balance of patience to let him commit to the backside at 2, but turning before he reached the backside so you could show the line to 3. You nailed the timing!
Balancing with the lead put push looked great, and the forced threadle on the other side at 2:20 and the last run (with the FC exit) looked great too!
One thing that made this session wildly successful is that you were SUPER connected throughout. That helped him see the lines and also helped you have great timing here. Click/treat to you!
Terrific work here!
Tracy
