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Hello and welcome! Prudence is so fun!! You’re doing a fantastic job with her!
This session was really strong. The main thing I see here is we can look at the smaller details of making the ‘regular’ connection that will make a big difference for her.
You were always looking towards her to make connection, so we can look at how your arm use supports connection. Because she is low to the ground, you don’t need to have your dog-side arm up high or out to the side at all as that can block your connection to her.
When you are ahead of her, you can reveal the connection even more by having your dog-side arm down and back, pointing to her nose 🙂
When you are in any position, you can also use your arms like a sprinter by bending your elbows and pumping them at your sides 🙂 This is particularly helpful when you are behind her (she can see more connection in her peripheral vision). And arms bent & pumping will keep your shoulders open to her more than low arms at your sides will. Small details but they can be powerful!
On the first 2 reps, it looks like you had an arm out at your side, then your arm down at your side. Compare those to the rep at 1:19-1:22 and the last rep here: you were using ‘sprinter arms’ on those and that just made your connection crystal clear!!
Great job here! You can definitely add the exit line connection and combos. Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
The exit line connections look terrific here! Yay! And his turns were SUPER tight. No tweaks or recommend are needed on the connections!>>Not sure why I got a turn the wrong direction in here. Thoughts?>>
The handling showed rear cross 🙂 It is actually something that dogs give us very good feedback about:
When we are moving along the line to the wrap wing and transition into decel before you rotate, the dog always sees the correct wrap.When we pushing in towards the bar and *don’t* do a transition to decel… Rear cross!
That I what happened here:
At :27 you were in motion at the same pace and then stepped towards the center of the bar as you rotated, so there was no transition and there was pressure on the rear cross line, so he did the RC. The same thing happened at :54, so he did the rear cross there too. Good boy! If that happens, you can reward him and assume that you cued a rear cross by accident 🙂Compare the accidental RCs to the reps at :34-:37 and :40-:43 for example, where you did really good transitions into the wrap: clear decel and no pressure into the rear cross line. These were particularly lovely wraps!
Nice work here!
TracyHi!
Hooray for his terrific class performance! Yay!! So fun!!!>>to not get quite so bummed with my performance here.>>
I don’t see anything to be bummed about here, unless you edited it out bloopers 🤣😂🤣 Overall, it was strong! You are definitely stronger in terms of connection when he is in your left as opposed to when he is in your right. More on that below 🙂
On the first 2 reps, I think you were using proximity to the start wing to get commitment. When you were close at :02 he went. But as you got further away (:11) and didn’t connect, he had questions (if you freeze the video at :11 as he takes his first step, you can see how you were rotated to the other side of the wing so he was following you correctly). Nice adjustment to use connection in the form of direct eye contact on the send at :19 and :26 – much better! And so were all the other start reps.
The dog-on-left reps all looked good in terms of connection down the line and exit line connection. He had a bar down on one of the reps because your decel and rotation was late so he didn’t have time to adjust before takeoff.
Dog-on-right reps – the regular connection can be stronger by opening your right shoulder back towards him, and exaggerating the exit line connection. Sometimes it was clear but sometimes he would lift his head a bit to see it better or go a little wide. It was still good, but the dog-on-left reps were great!
>One interesting thing is that I thought he was much more happy and confident on the last 3-4 reps, but I did switch from toy to food and I think he was much more excited about a food reward.>>>
Yes – when he was going the right side reps, I think he was getting a little fatigued (of the repetition? Or of the toy?) so bringing out the food really got him pumped of again! The last few reps were fast and happy!
Well done here! You can totally work these games in your basement – the jumps being close together makes things harder for sure but it really sharpens the skills 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
I think this went really well!!! Things happen a lot faster when she has more room to really run 🙂 Your connections were really good! And our brains want to switch the toy to the other hand so good job to you for catching yourself! Even when you were accidentally switching, it was almost like you were two-handing the toy so she was still able to see very clear connection.The FCs looked good! She was turning really well!! And the spins looked good too – when you wanted her to take the jump after the spin, keep moving while you are connected to show the line.
She was correct at 1:09 to go blasting past on the new side because that was the direction you were running and the connection was really good, so she seemed to feel SUPER confident about it. Yay!
Same with 1:29 and 1:50 – She stayed on her line. If you want her to take the toy, you can present it to her and use a marker: I say “bite!” when I want the dog to take the toy in my hand.When you kept moving and connecting and ran past the last jump? She got it very easily 🙂 like at 2:33!
Your running line on the last rep just needed to be more in the gap – the line presented the backside of the jump so she was correct to almost go to the backside til you pulled her back in.
>>Side note: she was focused and engaged! Didn’t run off so high hopes when we get back in the ring->>
Yes, she was great! And there were distractions and she stayed with you. Super!! You can totally use the process to get her into the ring for competitions from the Transition To Trials class and I think she will be super successful.
Nice work here!!
TracyGood morning! Really nice work on all of these clips!!! Interestingly, you have better connection on the sends when he is on your left than when he is on your right. When he is on your left, your arm is lower and pointed at him more, showing more connection.
When he is on your right, you are tending to point ahead of him more which can break connection on bigger distances – so tell your right arm to point back to him like your left arm does 🙂
Looking at the videos:
Video 1: Nice send! You can start closer to the start wing to add more distance on the send to the jump.
Video 2: you had a little more distance here and the send looked great!
Video 3: This one was on your right – there not as much connection on the 1st send (pointing ahead go him to the jump, which turns you a little away from it) but much clearer on the 2nd send
Video 4: this is also on your right and not as clear and the left side sends. Remind yourself to look at him more when he is on your right and to say the verbal to his cute face. That will help support the connection too!
The 2nd rep was MUCH better 🙂 You can still use less arm to point ahead. Really nice lateral distance to jump 2!Video 5 – Very nice building up to the sequence! Remember to look at him as he is over the 2nd jump rather than point forward to the wing. You can keep the arm pointing to his nose and tell him very directly.
Video 6 -The 2nd send here looked really good!! Try not to keep going in a circle for too long you’ll both get dizzy LOL!!
Video 7 – This was a send on your left – really nice! Your left side sending is spot on!!!
Video 8 – This had 2 sends on the left – really nice too! You can trust his commitment and move away sooner:
As soon as you see him look at the wing, move to the cross to get there one step sooner.
SUPER nice exit line connection!Video 9 – these were on your right side and you are pointing forward more than you do on your left side. We humans have definite side preferences!
You can definitely leave earlier for the FC on this one – at :17 when he was landing from the jump he was totally locked onto the wing, so you can turn and leave (staying connected) to go grab The FC ) Nice exit line connection on the cross here too!Video 10 – nice sends here on your left, he had a lot of independence going to the wing here. You can also stay further from the jump before the FC – you ended up getting a little too close to it at :41 which sent hi to the backside of the next jump after the FC (good boy!)
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning! It looks cold there! And yes, slick footing is harder for us humans to process. That can contribute to the accidental rears (like at :32), because your brain is trying do the handling AND remain balanced on uncomfortable footing.
But, overall, I thought your connections here looked GREAT!! There was one spot where you could have looked at her more and forward less (:38) and she was wide there… but every other rep had great connection both on the line and after the cross for the exit line. SUPER!!!!! So forget the one less-than-perfect rep and focus on all the others 🙂
We can now look at the timing of the cues that got the best turns.
The best turns came when she was turning to her right and when you were NOT trying to drive ahead of her (like at :48 and 1:03). And your decel started as soon as her front feet landed from the first jump. So it was a combination of connection, decel (looked really good!!) and positional cue (hanging back, which probably exaggerated the decel too).
It was harder to get that same turn when she was turning left and you were ahead of her. So two suggestions for that (which can also be applied to when you are ahead of her on the right turn side:
Start your decel as she is lifting off for the 1st jump, so she fully sees it happening before she even lands. And as you do that, you can intensify your connection to her eyes so as she is passing you and as you are rotating, there is a BIG and very direct eye contact. More on that coming in week 4 🙂 That can help get her into a better collection especially when you are ahead of her (so less positional cue to help) and when she is turning to her left.
Great job here!!
TracyI am sure her answer to any questions will not be “run faster” but more like “here is how to send Karma on her line while you run over there” 🙂 That is the trend in European course design and totally helpful for us too!
T
Good morning!
Yes, it is so much easier to work inside in bad weather. I am ready for spring!
For the break release forward: this was harder for him!
Add a little praise here after you stop moving and before the reinforcement. You can mix things up 2 ways:
– you can mix in some ‘catch’ rewards and throw cookies back instead of releasing forward on all reps. That will help him not anticipate moving forward (he had trouble with that).– Ping pong the duration of the stay before the rewards – some easy short stays, some harder longer stays. He had trouble after the first rep on either side, with multiple failures. You can live by the 2 failure rule – if he fails twice, make it easier (like a quick throwback of a cookie for a short duration) to help refresh the stay if he struggles for whatever reason.
And if he is *really* having trouble – you can add a platform for him to stay on.
He did much better with the ‘catch’ rewards. I think you were waiting for him to do something after the ‘catch’ word? But it is not a cue – it is a marker that indicates placement. So after you say it, always throw it to him, or it will be confusing (sometimes you marked the stay with the catch but then waited and withdrew the reward if he came forward). So he had multiple good stays until released but didn’t get a reinforcement – then he started getting confused and coming to you more and more (so got fewer and fewer rewards).
Catch is like a click, so always reward after you say it. The difference between catch and a click though, is that the click does not indicate placement of any sort. Catch means “that is correct, reward is flying towards you” and we don’t want to dilute that by withholding the reward. He is not required to do any other behavior after you say “catch”. I personally don’t test the markers because that can be confusing, so I always reward just like it is a click.
>>I have a non-agility question. Teagan continues to jump up on/at me and counter-surf. I have tried several things to break these behaviors, without success. I was wondering if you can suggest a good “CONSEQUENCE” for his bad behavior.>>
Part of this is not knowing what to do instead, so definitely put a ton ton ton of reinforcement into behaviors that are incompatible with jumping up/at or countersurfing. More reinforcement for the behavior you want to see, along with less access to behavior you don’t want to see, is always a key element. For example, if he is countersurfing in the kitchen, the value of the ‘what to do in the kitchen’ behavior is too low as compared to the value of counter surfing. So you need to flip that by putting a lot more value on behavior you like (like hanging out on a bed or chewing on a bone) and denying access to counter surf (x-pen, or tether, or different room). It is work intensive at first but it is totally worth it!
>>continues to jump up on/at me>>
What scenarios is the happening in? We can plan for better behavior to reinforce.
>>I was wondering if you can suggest a good “CONSEQUENCE” for his bad behavior.>>
Step 1 is setting up a consequence for good behavior! He is a teenager, so he might have a little too much freedom for undesired behavior and not enough reinforcement for desired behavior.
There is a possibility of a neutral time out for undesired behavior, but that should be only after a really extensive history of reinforcement for desired behavior. And, in the moment of wrong-doing, he should also have the easy option to earn reinforcement. But this is a definite step 2 after reinforcement because if you use time outs (punishment) as step 1, you will get more frustration and less of the desired behavior (for example, he will countersurf faster or when you turn your back).
Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi!
>>On any given day, I cannot relax if my dogs haven’t been given a workout. It just drives me crazy to think they haven’t burned calories or met their “step goals”!>>
During heavy training and competition season, you can schedule in rest and recovery days, which will look more like happy hikes and not as much of a workout 🙂
>>Anyway, I’ll try your treat ideas tonight! I would think the grilled chicken would be a hit.>>
Bring her a little hungry and use great treats with short sessions – if it is going great, be sure to stop before she stops. Keep me posted!
>> Some of my coworkers are K-9 handlers. So I’ve gotten a close view of what works and what doesn’t when it comes to training police dogs. No way they would work for just praise. 🙂>>
Exactly! Many of the dogs are working for *SOMETHING* which can range from a tennis ball or wubba, to the opportunity to bite the sleeve, etc. Very cool that you have co-workers who do this!
>> Kashia and my other agility dog do not have that personality. They love mama but they are not focused on pleasing me. They are extremely independent.>>
Actually, sporting breeds are supposed to be very smart and very independent… so her genetics are good! Hopefully her love for high value food is just as good so we can convince her that she can be independent AND please us by playing this game 🙂
>>She also isn’t always a piglet for food. She sometimes has very little interest in food depending on the day and what she is doing (training aside). However, I have hope your chicken or salmon or cheese tricks will work!>>
That is interesting to know! So for training tonight, bring her into the session before meals and before other treats and we will see what happens. There is no one-size-fit-all approach to this, so we can experiment.
>> I just want to get to a phase where the rewards are further apart from one another. Rewarding bigger moments rather than the super small ones. I know Kashia is still learning though so I’m accepting of it.>>
You will get her there! That comes later in training as she is getting ready for trials.
Keep me posted!
TracyYou are both doing AWESOME!!!!
Working with Sabina will be really exciting! Be sure to video all the things 🙂 One thing I notice about the Europeans that is a little different is that many of them connect *under* their arms, meaning they have all the same connections but they have their arms really high and they connect by looking under the arms or over them if they are tall enough. Many of them are super fast runners so it still works! I am not fast and not tall, so my arms stay low to be able to connect AND run (more like Jenny Damm). Let me know how it goes with Sabina!
Tracy
Well done with the spins here! You were able to get them done in a small space with enough time that she was able to read the info on most of the reps!
Starting on your right, you were able to show her the exit line connection on all the reps except at :22 – now it might sound crazy, but that is HUGE because in a small space you have be super quick to pull off… and you did! Yay! Getting the connection with exit line connection made it happen – like at :30. Super!The other side was a little harder – you were just a little late starting the blind cross element of it on the first 3 rep. It was a little hard to see, but what was happening was you were holding onto your connection on the FC part of the spin for a step too long, so she committed to coming to your right like a FC exit before you could how her the blind. Compare to your timing at :58, where you showed the connection after the blind basically immediately and she got it. That set you up to get it on the last rep on your left too – super quick!
And if you can get all of that handling and connecting done in a 6 or 7 foot gap like here? Well I think you will find a real agility distance gives you LOTS more time – we will get you happy with the timing of starting it then it will be very easy.
Great job here!
TracyHi!
This also looked really strong!
>>they tend to blend into each other as I am doing them and my orange jacket doesn’t help:)>>
You did them really well so it was easy to see the difference 🙂
You did the blind on the wing here and the exit line connection looked great! You can start it earlier – ideally you would start the blind early enough that it was finished before she arrived at the wing so the exit line was even clearer. That is hard to do on a wing, so you can send to the wing and do the blind on the jump! That way you have more time to start it because you can begin it when she is maybe halfway to the jump. That gives her plenty of time to see the exit line connection and set up the turn.
Great job here 🙂 Have fun at UKI this weekend!!!!!
TracyHi! Gorgeous reps here! Excellent job with your exit line connection on the spins and check out how she digs in to drive the new line and chase you. The info was super clear! I am looking forward to seeing how see does with bars – that will give us ideas about timing the cues as well.
Great job!!
TracyHi! Thanks for posting this! It was really insightful!!!
>>I’ll admit, I’ve not done much wrapping. His shoulder and front end limping episodes have caused me to be very cautious in what I ask of him physically.>>
His wrapping looked lovely!! He is figuring out the mechanics of that beautifully. And I agree, he doesn’t need many reps of that at all.
So what was going wrong here? Not enough of the ‘regular’ connection over 1 and into 2, and then not enough decel with connection to transition into the turn. Here is what I mean:
I think the most important part of this is going to be regular connection when he lands from 1 to commit him to 2. If you are not connected, he will not actually be getting a lot of info to commit to 2 (which is why sometimes he had big questions).
If you freeze the video when he is over jump 1, you were looking forward on all reps. He was able to commit to 2 on wraps by reading other cues such as motion or proximity to 2, but you will have more success getting commitment if you look at him the whole time with your dog side arm back and out of the way (do not point the to #2 jump to cue it, especially if he is behind you, because that is blocking the connection and also causing you to disconnect. Now, you might have seen him peripherally, but the actual connection is pretty direct so he was not seeing it which is why he had questions.
Crosses
The first rep had the most connection! It was a post turn but he committed beautifully and you had great exit line connection.The connection was weaker on rep 2 and at 5, you are looking forward/pointing forward so he is looking at you for more info. He did take the jump but you switched the toy around so he dropped the bar.
Rep 3 was FC – your motion got him commitment but you can definitely connect a lot more over 1 and to 2 =. For the exit line, the toy should start in the dog-side hand and stay there to open up your shoulder back to him.
:12 and :15 were blinds and this is where the ‘regular’ connection became super important: when he was jumping 1, you were already looking ahead so he did not take 2 (he was correct to ask that question).
At :18 you used more forward motion by running past 2 to commit him, but that also cues extension which is why the blind is so scary there 🙂 Nice exit line connection!!
On the other side at :21 – this is a great angle to see the connection. When he lands from 1, you are looking forward at the 2 jump (and starting to rotate) so he is looking at you and had a question.
You were connected for a little longer at 1 at :28, but still pointing forward/looking forward (disconnected) and rocking back before he committed
:33 had the best connection so far but then you slammed the brakes and rotated at the same time (:34) so he didn’t take the jump
:37 – you were looking forward when he was behind you, with the dog-side shoulder closed forward – he didn’t see connection and looked at you.
So definitely keep the connection very clear back to him. And, think back to the Mission:Transition game in MaxPup. That is the one where we did wrap skills with running fast forward, then decelerating as you continued to move forward… then rotate through the cross. The connected decel here will help commit him to 2 really well, and that is part of what was missing here. You were doing fast forward- rotate! The decel element is what commits him in collection, so think of it as fast forward – slow forward – rotate. All while being connected 🙂
I think that regular connection will make a massive difference, so you can totally prioritize it over the exit line connection for now (because it will make the exit line connection a lot easier too 🙂 )
Nice work! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
