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Thank you for the update! I am glad she did well!!
>>she was completely overwhelmed, but did blast through some tunnels, and came in to me after visiting and exploring.>>
What is your pre-run and ring entry ritual looking like? I definitely recommend pattern games around the ring, followed by the volume dial game just before entering and on her way to the start line.
>> By the third run, we got through the entire course, five tunnels and multiple hoops, coming to me on the tug several times. We called it a success and ended on that.
Awesome!!!!!
Tracy
Hi!
Lots of great moments on these and great info for how we can smooth out her questions!I grabbed some screenshots from this video and the others, to capture where she had questions and what might have been happening to cause them:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1sQGcb3oXWfQAitdNuuS3LrYbR05bDJecstkAJVPUsp8/edit?usp=sharing
Three things I see causing questions:
– Soft connection (arm parallel or ahead of your torso on a send/decel) is a definite trigger for questions (and leaping)
– Lack of verbals: silence is *not* golden, according to Lift 😁🤣 and she slows down even with clear connection. Unless it is praise – that doesn’t help her because it draws her focus up to you and away from the line. She is definitely a “just the facts, ma’am” type of dog!
– Long toy dangling – I think this is causing her to question where to look if the handling is not perfect, followed by big frustration. She is more resilient to things being a little soft or quiet if there is no dangling toy. It is entirely possible that her brain cannot root out the full info on a handling cue if it is not super clear AND ignore the toy dangling.
>>I was wondering if part of her leapiness was me holding the exciting lotus tug. >>
Yes, I think the dangling toy was a factor for sure. Carrying a toy is fine, but have it crunched up in your hand so it is not as visible swinging around as you run. Bear in mind that these are not precision reinforcement games, so you can throw it a bit late but also you can have someone else throw it. I think that will also keep her looking at lines, if the rewards appeared on the line more frequently in a sequence and not from you – let them surprise her out on the line.
>>Having a toy in my hand never seemed to affect her when she did agility for a toy pre-adolescence, but that was months ago>>
The work was simpler then, and also the pre-adolescent brain is MUCH better at processing those things than the adolescent brain is.
Looking at the class video – you had the pattern game moving into the volume dial, which was great! One suggestion: add in playing with the toy during the volume dial so she gets more focused on it as a reward and doesn’t look at your hands for the first reinforcement on course.
She did well overall here and found the lines nicely! She had a question on the first jump at 2:33, where her sit was angled away from it and you didn’t cue a forward focus, so she drove the line to you when released. We can definitely pump up her forward focus on those lines! You can point her toes at the jump and lead out laterally, then cue the forward focus with a hand cue before releasing (we can work on this separately too if it is not a strong skill yet – more on that coming on Monday).
She also had a legit question about the jump after the tunnel under the a-frame, like at 3:47:
After you cued her to go to the tunnel, you got quiet, (no verbal exit cues) and your line was cuing a right turn (because you had to avoid running into the a-frame 🤣)If you zoom in as she exits at 3:49, she is turning towards you and your arm was pointing ahead of her so connection was blocked. She continued to turn right then looks like she got a bit frustrated. That soft connection on a send where you are heading away from the line is a definite trigger for jumping up. To help her out, a big GoGoGo before the tunnel entry followed by massive connection with your dog side arm pointing back to her (perhaps even an opposite arm to help her shift away on the line to her left lead, since the tunnel creates a right lead there).
Ring rental/Seq 4- she did like chasing you to the first jump! Really exciting!
Very nice opening! And super nice clear exit line connection at 1:09. She had no questions there, and then you followed it up with really good tunnel exit verbals. Super!
At 1:13 – your high arm blocked connection, note how she looked at you/curled in. It was even higher at 4:37 and she totally came off the line, seeking more info. (Check out the screenshots of these :))
To support lines, it is most effective if the arm can be low and back to her so she sees your face, or up over your head completely so she sees your face from under your arm pit 😁 but having your arm parallel to your shoulder blocks her view of connection. You were closer to the jump at 1:59 on the next video and she got the jump, but definitely keep the connection clearer so you don’t have to rely on proximity to the line.Looking at her frustration moments when she jumped up: (screenshots here too!) to see the common denonimators:
– 1:37 you had praise but soft connection on the send and no verbals for the send
– 2:46 as she was over 2, you had a subtle head turn forward (could have been the beginning of a BC cue) and softening of connection, plus your toy was dangling – she did a blind then got frustrated. Compare this to the first run (1:05) where you had that subtle head turn to glance ahead, but it was earlier and you didn’t have the toy dangling on the other side.
Then as you tried to re-start her, you were not connected back to her clearly (the arm parallel to you, moving ahead, toy in other hand) so she get frustrated there too (2:52 and 2:57). Using a quick decompression moment or pattern game, then a clean re-start will help her out there.Video 3:
She was happy to come in tugging (yay!) ad then go to food chasing – this might be a better arousal regulation strategy but she will let us know as you experiment with it.
You did not have the dangling toy here so even thought the connection got a little soft at :47 (screenshot) she was better able to get on the line. Try not to give a ‘yay’ or praise there, because that drew her focus up t you and off the line too.You had a bonus jump after the tunnel there, she stayed on the line – you need a bit of foot rotation for the FC before she enters the tunnel at :55 to get the tight turn.
1:49 – 1:52 was a good ‘silence is not golden’ moment – even though your were close to the lines, you were very quiet and when the connection got soft, she didn’t take he lines. As soon as you got loud? She got right on the lines. So definitely add those verbals in!
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>>These are perfect for walking agility!!!
It is fun to see her understanding things at a distance without needing you to run alongside her. That will be VERY advantageous even when you are back to full running speed!! There is so much distance lately in all types of agility 🙂
The hardest part here was the opening: you were tending to over-help her a little, so you got different responses (she was reading you correctly each time).
On that very first rep at :02 – she was correct to take 2 was a backside because you were on her line and stepped to the backside. She knows her backside cues, good girlie!!!
You got off her line on the other reps, but be careful of doing too much pull-then-push from 1 to 2, because you got the backside at 1:52 when you turned your shoulders back to 2, a bark (2:26) then a rear cross (3:26) when you pushed back too much from a distance. Good job free-styling there and doing a short sequence before rewarding 🙂
The most ideal way to handle it (and the easiest 😁) is like a serpentine: as she is facing the slice line at 1, you are showing the serp position of left arm back, shoulders facing her, but feet facing 2 (giving her room to get on her line). Then as she lands from 1, you maintain the serp position as you move forward, with connection, until she turns herself away to find 2 without you having to push her back to it. You can be as lateral as you want to be, as long as you use the serp handling for the smooth line.
You had a nice line 3-4-5 to the tunnel and a nice whoa cue on the tunnel each time. Nice turn each time!!!!
When you were connected back to her, the lines went perfectly (like the entire time 1:10-1:29, and on the last full run too!) She reads her lines brilliantly with you connecting and moving to the next one.She did have a couple of bar questions, and they boiled down to some legit things:
– If you over-help her (like stepping to the 6 jump which sent her to the backside at :40 or the blind-to-RC at 2:34) or disconnect (she pulls bars with sudden disconnection because the info changes and she has to look at you more, like at 4:02) things are not as smooth. When you prioritize connection and give good info, and let her do her thing? She is perfection!– This might make you chuckle: If you praise her while she is out on the line, she almost always drops a bar (2:37 is a good example). This is actually pretty common: praise is more of a distraction, because it *could* mean the reward is coming and it doesn’t give her any info about the line – so she has to look at you for more info. So, no praise needed – use handling cues or reward markers (and the praise can be for the end of the sequence or course 🙂
There was one other spot where she had a bar down, on the jump before the tunnel at 2:29. That looked to be caused by different motion on the 1-2-3 line before it where you more more lateral and got past the 6 jump. So as you were cuing the tunnel and the whoa, you were also pulling back towards the takeoff side of 6 – she was likely processing that motion as a potential turn cue. Compare that to your line of motion on all the other reps there, where you did not go past 6 so you were moving parallel to her line the whole time and she had no questions.
I think as she gets more experienced, you won’t have to worry about that level of handling perfection 🙂 and the verbals will override that subtle step. It is pretty amazing how much these dogs see in their peripheral vision!!
You ended the session with teally great connection and line of motion on the last run, so it was also perfect! That low-arm connection just makes it all soooooo clear for her. Well done here!!!!
Tracy
Hi!
It was a good session, she is giving great info and I have some ideas for you!
But she has done jumping work for multiple days this week, so give her a couple of days off from this so her body and brain can rest & reset, and latent learning can work its magic 🙂 She had a LOT of success here and rest will actually consolidate the learning better than continued training.
You can work these without her though, to get the mechanics 🙂
>>I’ll work more on a standing start line through the class but threw it in a few times. I think she might like that better.>>
For a lot of dogs, standing is actually clearer because I don’t think they realize their butt is moving when they go from a sit to stand. So as long as you maintain the criteria of “no feet moving” you might find the stand stay more effective.
The key for her is that you keep moving at a steady pace with connection and verbals, rather than stopping then accelerating.
The 2nd rep was a good example of move and talk and connect without sudden acceleration (and you also don’t need to pull away from the jump – that closes your shoulders away, presents a lot of motion, and we want her to find it even when you are just running alongside.
You can see the sudden acceleration sent her wide on the left turn moments, like at 1:09 and also at 3:13 and 4:01 (after facing her with the brake arm). You went from being relatively stationary cuing the jump after the tunnel to accelerating to the next jump… that propels her away.
Plus, the sudden acceleration and pulling away from the jump closes your shoulder away from her (you can see it more clearly at 1:10 and 3:14). That makes things disconnected which could contribute to her going wide there (moving herself further away to have a better view of connection).So to get the smooth, steady, connected line: get a full cup of water and run with it in your dog side arm low and pointing it back to your invisible dog so you can stay connected. You will immediately feel if you are slamming the brakes or hitting the gas too hard, because the water will splash out 🙂 Try to run smoothly and slowly enough to *not* spill any water.
Try it without her and if you can run your invisible dog without spilling water, then try it with her 🙂
One other thing I think will really help:
Throw the reward more distinctly close to the landing line of the jump – not as far or as wide as you are throwing it, because it is not really correlated to the jump in particular as it is correlating to going really fast out there somewhere. So the toy placement should be super consistent and maybe 15 feet past the jump (so she doesn’t splat herself getting it) and not off to the side anywhere. Throw the toy to where you would want her to take off for the next jump 🙂
And you can also throw it on the line between the 2 jumps after the tunnel so she is really driving to the line and not looking out to the big areas where the toy is getting thrown.
Looking at the brake arm: this is another good one to do with a full cup of water 🙂
At 1:31 and 1:56 and 3:56 – you had full foot rotation towards her, which shows a full front cross and we don’t want to dilute that cue. On the brake arm, the lower body movement should be exactly the same as running the line without a brake arm, with your feet facing the next line of jump – and add the 2 hand cue visible to her on top of that. There will be a bit of rotation at the waist but no foot rotation to face her unless you are doing a cross or spin. With a cup of water, you can work on the upper body showing both arms back to her, but you will spill the water with foot rotation or a sudden stop 🙂Great job here!!
TracyHi!
This first sequence went really well! Nice connection on that opening line!!!
As you bring him to the star line, rather than tug to the line then line up – do some volume dial tricks so you can see where his arousal level is before running the sequence. It is a good habit to get into for when you start trialing!
His stays are going well! To help keep the releases really clear and consistent you can raise your arm – praise – then release. Swinging your arm up and down makes him twitchy because the release comes on the next arm movement, and we don’t want to desensitize the arm movement as the forward focus cue. Lifting your arm first and well in advance of/ separate from the release will help you be able to cue the forward focus on a jump without getting the release at the same time.
After the front cross, he was a bit wide especially on the first run (where he gives the most legit feedback because he doesn’t yet know the sequence :)) That was because as you finished the FC, you had your dog-side arm near your side and that closed off the connection. You could probably see him, but all he could likely see from his lower position was your back (see screenshot). He was not sure where to be until he could see the jump. Check out the screenshot of it here:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Iou28t_gri5rm8fNWQB0_4uXJ3Oc2jmfDZTK0bw0p9g/edit?usp=sharing
To tighten that up, add more exit line connection by having your dog-side arm (left are in this case) pointing waaaaaay back to his nose and your eyes reaching back for his eyes. I get this to happen easily by putting the other arm (right arm here) across my body – when my right arm is on my left hip, my dog side arm automatically gets out of the way and the connection is much clearer. More exit line connection
4-5 is indeed a backside line as built here (plus footing is a little slippery) so good job adjusting it – but it is still a backside line without a turn or threadle on 4 🙂 As soon as you added a turn cue: perfect!
Seq 2: The RC on jump 3 works in the opening to help preserve the stay. He was not quite ready for a more than a few steps past 1, but you can also use a similar progression: lead out, stop, lift hand, praise…. Then release. This line will eventually be a moving lead out/release when he is adult, but I think you will want a more solid release before you add movement to it for now.
You can also do the lead out push or BC 2-3 by setting him up in front of 2 so he doesn’t break the stay as much.
Try not to use any “yay” as info for him on course – it causes him to look at you (“what does that mean, human?”) and caused a drop bar (seq 1 and seq 3) or he went around 4 (seq 2). Stick to information of either “keep going here is your next cue” or a reward marker.The rear crosses looked great! Super! And he found the next line perfectly with his jump and tunnel cues – happy dance!
>>I think doing 3 in one day was maybe too much and *could* be why we both fell apart a bit on sequence #3.>>
He looked pretty on-task in this clip! Sequence 3 requires the most complex handling so if he was finding lines that you did not intend, it is possible that you were cuing the line. But since it did not make it into the video, we will stick with the great stuff you got here!
We will definitely add more forward focus work so you can get the lateral lead out on 1 – stay tuned for that coming on Monday in the Zoom talk! That will make the opening easier for sure.
VERY nice timing and connection on the send to 3 at :38 (it was in progress as he was landing from 2, note how you were looking AT him as you sent and your arm moved with him to support it, rather than pointing ahead of him to the jump). (I grabbed a screenshot of the BC timing too)
That led to super nice timing of the BC 4-5 because that was in progress as he was landing from 3 so he saw the connection change and line of motion. You looked back at him more directly (better exit line connection) so he had a much clearer visual of the next line (screenshot). Super!!! Then stay calm and keep cuing so he doesn’t drop the bar 🙂
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi!
I agree – the is a great session, perhaps my favorite session of yours so far!
Well done with the connection and clear releases on the stays. She was VERY successful! She does sometimes lift her butt on the stays. That probably caused by a combination of arousal and anticipation. Throwing rewards behind her (or leaving one on the ground behind her and cuing her to turn back to it) can help her keep her butt on the ground. Also, you can consider leaving her in a stand stay at the start line – when she lifts her butt, she doesn’t move forward at all. So a stand stay might be a super easy position for her (I use this with 3 of my dogs and it is very easy for them). It is not hard to train – I just line them up and say stay and when they settle in, I lead out.
Keep that great connection on the lead outs, and it looks like you added more of a pause and praise (and some arm waving to help her be sure it is not the release :))
All of the sequence work was particularly lovely: the right balance of connection and driving lines and low arms and running at a patience tempo so you didn’t get too far ahead.
The FCs on 3 all went really well but the timing and connection of the FC at 4:08 was especially fantastic – it was in progress as she landed from 2: decel then rotate (no slamming the brakes), new arm up early to indicate collection, great connection before and after it, and that was a lovely collection there!
About that pesky last jump:
Good job showing her the last jump and trying to help her. She just does not see that as a normal front side line – she reads it as a backside line and even when she gets it, her behavior is more of a threadle behavior than a natural front side (like when you did the arm change at 3:49 and 4:48)A couple of training ideas, since I don’t think this is a handling question:
– You can see if it helps to move the last jump over onto her natural line (where she is running past it now) to be able to pump up the value for it. Now, it is still entirely possible she will run around it 🙂 but it is a good start to see if moving it over makes it more obvious.
– After moving it over, you can also move it closer (lower the bar to 16 for that) so it is very visible after she exits the tunnel.
We can also see if this is an organization question here (jumping organization) – she is turning left here, so you can set up the mirror image out of a tunnel on a right turn, and see if she finds it more easily.– you can use a break arm between the tunnel exit and the next jump to set the line better – that can help her see it, then you can more the moment she commits to it and reward it right past landing.
And if that is still a struggle, do a few reps with a placed reward maybe 10 feet past landing (lower the bar to 12 so she doesn’t splat herself) so we can use a visual target to help her set up the line. If she gets that, we can go to a visual target (but not a reward) then we fade. The target too! It would be cool to get the behavior without the toy lure and without the target, but it is also great to get the behavior this way as long as we have a plan to fade it (and we do have a plan).
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
>>Sounds like a good plan to me! Bring on the tricks! He learned to “speak” real quick this week, lol. Backup has been hard.>>
They do learn to ‘speak’ pretty quickly – apologies in advance for all the times he will offer speaking without being cued LOL!
>>That is reassuring. It has been really been confusing for me. I kinda felt like I didn’t know my dog because I couldn’t tell what was a better reinforcer for him right away.>>
Well, he is an adolescent, so it is possible that he doesn’t even know what the better reinforcer is on any given day 🤣😂.
>> I knew what to try, but he is shifty that way. The lotus fern is always a sure bet & covers both bases. I should get one of those furry lotus balls, $$.>>
Try to bring a whole bag of things 🙂 The fern as a sure thing is GREAT!! And maybe someone can lend you a furry lotus or fur toy to try, so see if he is interested before spending more money on toys.
>>All of this is super helpful – thank you! Pattern games and tricks this weekend!>>
Keep me posted! I am interested in hearing how it goes!
Tracy
Good morning! This is a great video to compare what went well to what didn’t go as well, in terms of the info he needs.
The dropped bars were all timing/position questions 🙂 so that is good info: if he drops a bar, connect more and check the video to see if your position is showing the line properly before the next rep.
I grabbed some screenshots so you can see the visuals of what went well versus where he had questions:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1wJZcp3jwL5_Nz0Yy401NgKQJbDAvscgTkjqKD3JRHRM/edit?usp=sharing
First sequence went really well! There was
Super connection from you, and really nice pace/tempo of motion: not too fast, but also not slow. That allowed you to prioritize connection and support the lines. Yay!! He had no questions – the 5 jump is showing a bit of a backside angle so a threadle cue will help him there (or changing the angle so it is a clear front side). Ending line looked great – you added a little more motion but remained connected, and he stayed on his line and jumped it really well!!I got a screenshot of your gorgeous connection 😍
The 2nd sequence did not go as well – primarily because of the info on the 1-2-3 line.
The lead out position 2-3 at :17 and :25 was indicating a straight line by being center of the bar on 2 and facing the 4 jump (your left arm was visible but everything else said “go straight”) so he pulled the bar trying to adjust when you rotated. Ideally, you would lead out and rotate your lower body so you feet are facing 3, basically making it look like a serp, and standing on the line you want him to take (closer to the left turn wing of 2 and on the way to 3. The left arm was correct to use, but the feet facing 3 and your position closer to 3 before you release him from the stay will make things super clear. (Check out the screenshots)
Running into the position did not clarify the question (:35) because you ran on a straight line until he was almost taking off (the jumping decision had been made by then) so he tried to adjust in the air and couldn’t do it (bar down).
BC opening is a good option too – the line of motion should be towards 3 and not between the uprights of 2. He was in his stay reading the line, so was preparing to so straight when you released him. Then as he lifted off at :44, you did the blind (center of the bar of 2) and dropped the bar trying to adjust then dropped the bar
Running into position is great – but the line of motion needs to be towards 3 there too.
After 2, the send to 3 needs to be more connected back to him. You were pointing ahead to the jump and turning away from it – that changed the line of your shoulders to cue him to not take the jump. Ideally, the send would have your arm back and eyes on his as you move towards the 3 jump until you see him lock onto it (and even lift his front feet for takeoff). Check out the screenshots)
The video edited out what happened next… did you keep going? Reward? Don’t let him get frustrated – it looks like you stopped and that indicates to the dog that he was wrong (but he was not). If you keep going, you will be able to keep him in a good space to keep trying. And, if something goes wrong more. Than once – stop and watch the video because you will probably see the reason why 🙂
Seq 3: He had the bar down on 2 at 1:00 and 1:32 – it is a hard jumping angle for sure! You can show a lot more motion 1-2 on this sequence. You were connected at 1:00 but not really moving, so he is asking if he should jump in collection or extension.
For the turn on 3 – the post turn did indeed cue him to take the big line around the outside, so this is a good spot to use either a brake arm (outside arm visible along with the dog side arm, as you decelerate and turn your shoulders) or a reverse spin. Both can be very effective to get this relatively tight turn, starting to decelerate into it as he lands from 2.
Pulling away more and faster got a turn but then pulled him off the line at 5 (he was reading you correctly). Remember to not change your demeanor (don’t get mad or mark him as incorrect) because he is accurately reflecting what he sees in the handling. There was not a lot of reward in this section and he was starting to get frustrated, which causes him to not be able to process the handling as well.
He had the bar down before tunnel on the layering at 2:04 – the tunnel cue happened as he was taking off the for the jump. He did better with that bar on the first sequence, where the tunnel verbal was sooner (before takeoff). So you can begin cuing the tunnel at landing of the previous jump. And when you do jump grids, add in talking over the bar so he gets used to jumping when we are talking 🙂
On the last sequence – things went a bit sideways but he was totally reading the handling correctly. At 2:07 – you stepped to the backside there so he went to the backside. You can also rotate into the FC on the tunnel sooner, so he fully sees you turned before he enters. The verbal was timely but the rotation was visible after he entered the tunnel, so he couldn’t adjust until after he exited.
At 2:09 and 2:26 and 2:31 – pointing forward which turned your chest away from the line (see screenshot). On the sending, using more eye contact and more facing the jump you want (and less pointing ahead) while really help him.
>>I did too many reps because he was avoiding jumps at the end.>>
Yes, he seemed frustrated and was running and watching you but not committing because he was unsure of what to do – ending on a tunnel-jump like you did was a great way to finish. And in every session, keep going and reward him even if it was not correct: it will keep him in the game while you sort out the handling tools.
So definitely focus on the first sequence – that is the key to handling Chip! And we will work on getting the sends and positions clarified so that those are as smooth as the lines on sequence 1 🙂 Nice work here!
Tracy
What a good boy! He is quiet with the toy in his mouth 😁🤣 so that is a simple strategy for those in-between moments 🙂 And then he starts saying “GAME ON! GAME ON!!” followed by working perfectly. There is no way I would recommend punishment of that passionate approach to training. What a great dog ❤️
Good morning!
This is a set point video, can you repost the sequence?
>>This has always been a big struggle for me because I don’t know what to do with myself.>>
Two things to do when you don’t want to move away at top speed:
– run closer to the lines on the technical sequences, so you can go fast but it might be easier to stay connected and not get too far ahead
– run connected but slower (this is not that easy to do LOL!!) Play around with jogging with connection, as this is a great middle step for young dogs as they learn to find lines while coping with all of the excitement that comes with fast motion.Tracy
It sounds like she did well with the toy in your hand! She will get used to ignoring it 😁 the more she sees it. And it will be great for FEO runs!!
Tracy
Hi!
>>I think I was getting worried and more annoyed thinking about what others think! >>
That is a *them* problem, not a *you* problem. Rev is being a very good boy and he is singing the song of his joy to be able to work with you. It is a dog sport, there might be barking LOL!! If they really want barking, they can come play flyball LOL!!!!
>>We went to a seminar last weekend and the instructor and my instructor thought maybe I should use an e-collar!””
OH H*LL NO!!! I can list all of the reasons why that is a terrible idea. He can bark on the start line (because he is holding the stay and you are maintaining criteria – things fall apart quickly if you don’t maintain criteria). And if he is barking a lot during the in-between moments, you can give him something else to do: carry something, play pattern games, chew something, lickmat, etc.
>> I said no, no, no, not happening.>>
Good! I stand with you!!!!
>> He is just so excited to play the game and I love the excitement! He an amazing dog. My first lab(I have always had GSDs and malinois) He has so much joy for everything we do and just as much drive as any malinois!>>
I agree, he sounds SO COOL and we want the excitement. The other thing is that sometimes with excitement barking, the dog doesn’t really know he is doing it so if we get mad about it… he will get confused and frustrated and bark *more*. So we either ignore it or re-direct it, and all will be good.
>> Or not exactly ignoring it but laughing with him and kind of sharing the excitement. Tug, drop, get it tug, repeat, sit walk away and release.>>
Perfect! He is singing your team’s fight song and that is great!
>> I feel that matching the excitement of my dogs instead of trying to suppress it keep us on a level together instead of far apart, more connected if that makes sense. The last thing I want to do is add stress to either of us.>>
I agree! Suppressing doesn’t work, and it will add stress/confusion/frustration and more barking. So we embrace his joy and direct his behavior to fit the games we want to play. It sounds like he is doing GREAT – I mean, he is only 15 months old and doing fabulous stuff already!
>>He comes from TK Hot Retrievers in Idaho. Jim Closson is the breeder. I can’t recommend him enough. He knew exactly the kind of dog I was getting. He knows his dogs. At 15 months old Rev already has his advanced scentwork titles.>>
Very cool! His name is familiar, I am going to check to see if any of my other Lab friends got a dog from him too.
Tracy
Hi! I am glad you tried it again, you are definitely getting it! I think the hardest part is the patience to keep moving towards the jump with connection and your arm not being far ahead, until she gives you permission to move to the next line by committing (liftoff, in this case for now).
You were looking at her at :21 and 1:03 and 3:13 and 4:29, but your pointy arm blocked her view of it 🙂 and you turned your line before she gave you permission (by lifting off) to do so.
The cheating comment cracked me up! Doing it on your own is not cheating. Moving the jumps is also not cheating, you didn’t move them enough to make a difference LOL! Putting bacon on the ground might have been cheating, but you did not do that hahaha
The runs at 2:35 and 3:49 was successful because you gave the BIG connection with less arm, and kept moving towards the jump til you saw her lifting off (she was giving you permission to move away :)) Your arm moved with her rather than ahead of her and the rest of your body was facing the jump for a lot longer.
Here are some pictures 🙂
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1KdYHXL3ZpmHb-EluX8E8_rzTUouWsBjH1mIXEnvRJos/edit?usp=sharingIt will get easier as she gets more experienced, but young dogs do need us to maintain that cue until liftoff on these sends that turn them away from the course.
Nice work here!
Tracy
Hi!
>>This weekend there is a local trial so I can take these things on the road and see how she does.
Sounds good! Have someone follow you like paparazzi to get video. Or, set up a tripod to catch you in action, so we can see what is going on.
>>I tried seq 4 and 5 tonight. I am still struggling with her not being as obstacle focused as I would like.>>
I think 2 things are happening:
– you are probably seeing a bit of value shift away from lines because the rewards have been coming at the end lately. So be sure to surprise her with more thrown rewards on the lines to keep line value very high. This is normal with young dogs (value shifts) so more thrown rewards will sort that out easily.– “Go” is losing its meaning a bit, so when you cue ‘go’ for an extension line, she totally says “nah, that is not what she wants” LOL! So be sure to use specific directionals and save GO for big lines only.
– when connection is soft (meaning you are looking forward and pointing ahead of her) she is looking up at your for more info – this slows her down and makes the lines feet sticky. When connection was clear, she was flying! Yay!
I grabbed screenshots of 2 spots where connection was not strong enough, and one spot where connection was great:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1HVkZoUdYkPAzCPbi-7YEK5aTUl12ihCa4LsmfE_rmH4/edit?usp=sharingSequence 4:
You can lead out a little more laterally, to show the line to 2 sooner. At :49 and 1:31 you were still behind 1, so she was asking if it was a turn on 1 or a line to 2.She had a question on the way to 3 at :52 – you looked forward and changed your line to the threadle wrap side, so that is what she did 🙂 It is one of the screenshots.
When you had clear connection on the next rep, she nailed it! Yay! There is a screenshot of that one too. That is a good place to throw a reward to refresh value on the line.
The ending looked good!!Seq 5 – This went well too. You can handle 1-2 like a serp before the release – arm back in serp position before the release (more like what you did on the 2nd run) and closer to the line to 2, so she jumps more directly towards 2. And adding the big connection to 3 will get her on the line for 3-4-5 without feeling as sticky – you were looking back and forth a bit, so she was slowing down to be sure about what the line was.
5-6-7-8 looked good! She was flying there! Be sure to call her before she enters the tunnel so you get a good turn on the exit. The calls are coming after she is well into the tunnel, so the straight exit has been cued – and that changes the line and causes you to have to wait for her to adjust it. So let her hear you calling and see you start to do the cross when she is still about 4 or 5 feet away from getting into the tunnel. That way she will exit turned, making the last line very smooth.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
