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Hi!
He did really well here – the game is a real brain-bender! He was sorting it out really nicely.
>He seemed confused on my go release and maybe I was placing toy in wrong spot>
Yes, this is where he had some questions where you were almost next to him then sending him back to the jump: he really had to think about that which is why he didn’t always release immediately. It will help if, after you release him, you let him see you look backwards at the jump behind you. At 1:38 you were looking at him, for example, so he stuck with you. Compare to 3:37 & 6:29 for example where you looked back at the landing spot and he was able to go to the jump. Yay!
On the more extreme reps where you were already past his starting spot before he arrived at the jump, he was able to head to the jump but then had a small cheat going around the wing to get the toy instead of going over the bump then to the toy 🙂 You can place the reward so it is more visible past the bum to help him go over it. You also added in a bit of throwing the reward instead of having it already there – that worked really well! He was able to get more countermotion than most adult dogs can do, so I am very excitde by his progress 🙂
>Oh and I signed up for max puppy 2 🤗>
Yay! It will be so fun!!!
Great job!
Tracy
Hi!
>And i didn’t think i could reliably speed up and decel without ending up on my ass!>
I have had this happen to me. Do not recommend. Zero stars LOL
One thing very noteworthy here is that even though you were focused on working on t he game (which went really well) – he had the opportunity to work in a busy, distracting environment! And he worked really well with people, cars, wind, noise, and no leash or fence to prevent him from running off… GOOD BOY!!!
I am really happy with how he did with the different cues – he saw a nice variety of decel into the FC, GO lines, and rear crosses. He read them all really well. He is reading your decel as a commit-then-wrap cue very nicely. The earlier you decel, the better he turns of course 🙂 At 1:26 you were a little late, for example – he was past you and getting ready to takeoff, so he was wide on the turn. Compare to the turn at 1:36 where he was super tight: you started your decel before he even passed you there, so he had plenty of time to set up his wrap and it looked great!
The RCs were very strong too – those have more extension so he was correctly giong a little wider. There was only one blooper where I think you wanted a wrap to his left but got a rear cross to his right (1:54). That was because as you decelerated, you also move in towards the jump and turned your feet, so it looked like a RC cue. Compare to the other left turn wraps (like at :49) where you faced forward longer as you decelerated, keeping the decel separate from the rotation, and he did the wrap beautifully. Yay!
Great job!!
Tracy
Hi! These runs went really well! She is doing well with being patient and her commitment is looking very strong!!!!
Video 1: She is finding her lines really well! Wow! This includes the layering: she was very confident with that! My only suggestion the jump lines is when you bring her to the threadle side of the jump, you can turn her away sooner (1:22) and be closer to the jump so she sees it right away.
Her poles are coming along nicely but I don’t think she is ready to have the weaves in this setup (she had weave errors on every rep). So you can practice the weaves separately but replace them with a straight tunnel here for the handling.
Sequence 2:
This also showed excellent commitment! The hardest part was getting from one end of the sequence to the other because she is so fast. One idea for you:
When she begins the layering, see if you can run up the line without your arm up – mainly so you get up the line faster. When you had your arm way up in the air, she layered well but you did not get as far up the line. When you put your arm down and just ran at 1:14-1:16, she still layered perfect but also you got the furthest up the line! And to get her to the backside (:07, :41, 1:18) – your verbal timing was good but you can add an outside arm to keep her out on the line top get the backside – you added it at :10 but you can plan for it and use it sooner even when you are ahead of her.You can also use that concept to get the the jump at the top of the line at :26 & :54 – no high arm needed, just run 🙂 and use your opposite arm if you think she might curl in towards you and away from the jump. the ‘out’ and ‘go’ verbals helped a lot – they seemed more effective for her than a jump verbal.
The hardest part for her was when there was the FC wrap right next to the weaves, and we didn’t want the weave – she was off course into the weaves a couple of times and knocked the bar on the run where she didn’t go into the weaves. So you can isolate that and reward her for jumping the tight wrap on the jump without going to the weaves. it is hard to ignore an obstacle that is so close!
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
>Now, I know we are not in perfect accord about jump heights but I went to 22 because it seems to me that a backside jump at 12 or 16 is not at all the same as one at 20 or 22. So while you want a lower height, I intentionally went to a bit above his jump height.>
The goal at the lower heights is to teach the correct mechanics that we can then apply to the higher heights. If he can’t do it at 16, he can’t do it at 22 which is even more complex than usual for him 🙂
> So naturally, I have a mental picture of a perfect wrap and a perfect backside. Casper’s backsides are not very close to my perfect picture (backside wrap is too slicey) but I think they are “adequate”.>
Great mechanics are the gateway to that perfect picture. Same with humans: to get the handling looking the way we want it, we work on mechanics step by step before adding complexity. So he is slicing the backside wraps mainly because he doesn’t have the mechanics of pushing from his rear and bending over the bar. And at 22″, without the mechanics in place, he is a bit inconsistent in what he does which makes it even harder to pull of a nice turn.
>My analysis is that he is taking off too soon on the wrap which creates a slice. A lower jump height would allow him to take off even sooner on the backside, hence the higher height. A lower jump height also means he can fling over from his front instead of powering from the rear.>
He is already pulling from his front instead of powering from the rear – a lower height can give him more time and an easier picture to get the organization on the hind end before adding the complexity of height. Same as Olympic high jumpers: they need to get mechanics on a lower bar before they can aim for the world record 🙂
Because it is hard to see in real time sometimes – I grabbed photos! Depending on the camera angle, you can see his hind end going really high and being hoisted over the bar, rather than being used to push off. From the other angle, you can see him trying to push off with his front leg (right or left leg, he tries both) before the hind end plants with weight in it for takeoff.
here are the photos:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/16O65IZJvxG8nro5J7lKySHaVqUbIkIwSpgO45BiYDCI/edit?usp=sharing>I can go back to the Kato board work to square him up if you think that is really important. I have been working on the premise that there are lots and lots of other things to teach before I care about polishing his backsides. Of course, I am happy to hear what you have to say, consider it and discuss it further.>
I do think that backside wraps are not super high on the list of priorities, but it is a good conditioning skill and mechanics skill to work them with the Cato plank to help organize himself. And that will help all footwork including front side wraps too. So it is something to add in here and there, as well as break down parts of the course that have it and work that skill in isolation.
The course work went well! Many, many excellent pieces and also places where you can use more of his independent skills to smooth things out 🙂
Looking at the opening:
Very nice send to 1 to set up the blind 3-4! Your timing was good at :11 but I loved the timing on the BC at :24! He was producing a great turn but saw acceleration without connection (bar down) You can try to send to 1 from further away to get down there earlier so less acceleration is needed. And also connection is more important than position, so you can connect more and be concerned about being up at 4 less. The RC on 5 works brilliantly and is the best option there. The timing at 1:17 was good, similar to run 1, but not as good as at :24 🙂
>Eliminate the wrap at 11 and just FC to send down the line 12, 13, 14>
We can get a better turn there with more of a deceleration into it: use your independent dog walk and as he exits after the release, show a big decel and a brake arm on the takeoff side. Running into it without a change of rhythm (decel) was cueing him to go a bit wide.
You can get a tighter turn on the jump before the teeter with either a decel & using 2 hands, or using a spin (FC/BC). This is a good place for a spin because it turns you to the next line sooner while also geetting a good turn.
Speaking of the brake hand – you can also send to 8 with 2 hands to cue commitment and the turn. Using a forward send did not give him the soft turn info (1:23 – bar down) but the brake arms will.
The FC after the teeter worked well, the RC after the teeter worked well… what if you did a RC at a distance to flip him away then send him up the next line while you layer the teeter (don’t run into it) which puts you up at 18-19 even sooner. That will allow you to add a bit of decel on the flip away to 19 to tighten the turn. Then while he is weaving, you can stay on the landing side of 21 to be even further ahead on the ending line.
>. I’m not sure I can get the cross between 17 and 18 so I’ll plan a whiskey rear on 18 and handle dog-on-left for 19 and 20. (I didn’t see 21 until I was building the course)>
I don’t think you need to get there! Layering to meet him on the landing of 18 then turning him away to 19-weaves will set up the ending line really well!
> Also popped out of the weaves which I didn’t realize until I was inside doing the video!! I am so used to my dogs doing perfect weaves; I guess I wasn’t even noticing.>
That was unusual for him! Yes, he came out when you did the FC, but he didn’t do it on the next pass through the weaves so no worries, just a rare event 🙂
Great job here!! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hello and welcome to CAMP! It is great to see you here! Rexx is a terrific and I can already see that you two are a wonderful team 🙂 Excellent session here!!!
He did really well on the first set of sequences, turning to his left to do the layering. He did so well with it that I think you can trust him more and more to your next line sooner. What I mean by that is:
When he gets to the jump passing the tunnel and heading into the layering, keep looking in his direction and using your verbals, but you can take off up the next line more (no need for your arm to be as high, as you can probably get up the line more quickly with lower arms). Trust he will take the jumps so you can go to your next position even sooner, which will get you to the BC at :37 and 1:02 even sooner and stay even further ahead (you ran really nice lines on both of those to produce excellent turns) as well as getting even further ahead for the push to the backside at :48. He is speedy, so the more we can use his independence to get you way ahead, the easier it will be to handle big courses.
He had a little more trouble on your left side (turning to his right) on the 2nd layering game – it could be the angle of finding the jump on the other side of the tunnel was a little different, or turning right is harder for him (most dogs are lefty or righty, maybe he is a lefty? 🙂 ) You did a great job helping him sort it out and throwing the reward, it really helped! You can also lead out less – starting maybe just one step ahead – so he sees more acceleration cues moving up the lines and will propel into the layering more (without you getting stuck but the tunnel). At 2:05 you had almost no lead out and he blasted away into the layering – SUPER!!
And when he is even more sure of the layering to his right, you can trust his independence to head to your next position even sooner. That way, as he is exiting the layering (jump 4) you will be almost at jump 6 for the blind or the serp to the backside.
Great job on these! Let me know what you think! I am looking forward to his next video!
Tracy
Good morning! Welcome back to CAMP! And it is FANTASTIC to see Katniss back in action and running brilliantly on hard stuff!!!!!
>You’d think I’d know how to correctly video things by now, but I messed up different things multiple times, lol>
Ha! I believe you that they did well 🙂 I know if there were issues, you would run it again to post.
Nice work on this course! Overall, you had super strong connection and really nice verbal timing!! There were a couple of tricky spots, but mostly the course ran really well!
The opening ran really well!
The timing of the right verbal and turning away was earlier at :08 than 1:17, so the turn on 3 was better at :08. The wider turn at 1:17 meant you had to push her back out at 1:20. Using an opposite arm can help with that, like a ‘get out’ cue. The 2-3 rep at 2:45 was fantastic timing – as she was landing from 2, you were giving the right verbal as you sent than turned away to the next line so she had a lovely turn on 3. Super!!
The FC 5-6 a tiny bit late at :11. I liked the tinming better at 2:48! Finishing the rotation on the FC is hard with her speed, so it would be interesting to try doing it with that timing but as a blind, so you can finish to rotation sooner 🙂
> I was actually surprised that she had such a hard time with pretty much all of the backsides. I know my handling was not spot on for at least a couple of them, but she typically does well with that skill on a verbal even when I’m not perfect.>
I think there were 2 things happening with the backsides:
For the backside on jump 9, she got to the backside really well but then ran past the jump. We can build up a default behavior of taking the bar by getting her to go to the back of the jump then throwing a reward on the landing side – don’t wait for her to take it or not, just think of it as rewarding her for going to the backside by placing the reward on the landing side. That can remind her to look for the bar. You can do it on a lower bar at first so she doesn’t accidentally splat herself by going for the reward. We can add handling to help get it, of course – but more ideally is she goes to the bar as part of her understanding of backside lines.
You can do the same on the 13 backside (reward for going to the backside by throwing the reward to the landing side). Her question about getting to the backside was mainly caused by the extra jump after the weaves causing the line to be a little bit sideways. More decel on the flip to 11 which will set the line to 13 backside better (and take out t the off course too) As she builds even more independent weave understanding, you won’t have to run to the end of the weaves and then can be ahead for the backside at 13. At 3:16 you got there sooner and already had an easier time showing the backside 🙂
> I’m still very much learning how to handle a dog who actually has forward drive and takes obstacles in front of her because they are on her line, lol. It’s an amazing problem to have!!>
Totally a champagne problem!! Yay!
>I don’t even know what was happening at the weaves.>
The weaves were sandwiched in with a bunch of jumps very close to them, so serping to the weave entry past the jump is a super hard skill. You can also handle the 9-10 more like a serp, running forward to the weaves with your dog-side back in serp position and bigger connection. Running with the dog-side arm in a normal position or pointing forward turns your shoulders more to the jump, and serping with your arm back and eyes more on her should turn your shoulders more to the weave entry.
Super nice blind 18-19 when you tackled the ending line!!
Getting the 20 tunnel with running forward to it (at a distance) really helped at the end! You had turned away a little too soon on the previous run through that section. Then when she exits the tunnel, I think she just needs a name call to get her to see the front of the jump – she ran past 21 at the end because the tunnel exit is on a parallel line to the backside, so she might have been waiting for more info if it was a front side or not and stayed on her line to the backside.
Great job here! Fingers crossed for some cooler weather ahead!!
Tracy
Hi!
I hear about the crazy weather you are having on the news here! Wild!!
>The opening couple of seconds of the video explains why there are a couple of reps missing from the start of the video. >
Eek! At least you caught it early and still got a good session on video!
To help him sort out the line to the backside, setting the line with motion more rather than send him with your arm or a step will smooth it out! To do that, your line can start closer to the start wing and move up a line towards where the jump cups and bump meet, moving up a parallel path to his line. This is closer to what you were doing at 1:02 & 1:25 & 1:41.
One thing that might actually help is if you move the start wing further for the jump! And by being a little closer to the start wing, that will give you more room to show motion along the line to help him commit to the backside.
>(there’s also a photo at the end of the video that explains why the tunnel was not too much of an off course risk. haha.)
>Tunnel or pool? LOL!!! He could have a lovely swim haha!
Nice work here!
Fingers crossed that the weather behaves itself so you can get more good rinsing in 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
>What I expected to see was a takeoff position located closer to the jump. >
It might be – but the wide variety of structure in agility dogs doesn’t make this an absolute. But what we can look for is the deceleration and collection stride(s) before takeoff (and migrating over to the turn side of the bar rather than being on the center of the bar).
>However, if you compare #7 (weight shifted) with #1 (straight), the #7 takeoff is actually further from the jump. >
That is him sorting out where to put the collection – no worries! He will sort it out as he learns it.
>The trick to the RDW is watching the contact area, not the dog. I will try to apply that principle to the takeoff area in front of the jump and see if that helps train my eye.>
This is similar – watch the area in front of the bar but also you do have to see where (if) the dog shifts his weight into the rear.
On the video:
>I realize it isn’t obvious but EVERY time I restart there is a thought in my mind about how this run will be different from the previous run. It isn’t always obvious. >
A plan is good! But be sure he gets immediate feedback that he was good and gets a reward.
>I immediately notice that using 2 hands to create the turn at #3 is getting him out to #4 then #5 every time, so that is a good improvement. And, he doesn’t need the “GO ON!” cue!!>
Agree, and agree 🙂 The brake arms help a lot!
>he is still changing leads too often. Instead of one lead change at 3 and staying on the right lead at #4, we have lead change at 3, then 4 then correct away to get #5 then lead change again to come back toward jump 6. It would be much easier (I think) if I could eliminate the extra 2 changes.>
No worries about that right now, because we are teaching him the lines and he will sort out the leads when he doesn’t have to think about the lines as much. He did well finding 3-4-5!
>I am struggling with the right turn at #5. It isn’t a true wrap, so I don’t want to use my wrap verbal but it is sharper than a 90 degree right turn. >
It is closer to the 90 degree right turn than a wrap, so the right soft turn verbal is appropriate here (I agree that the wrap is not correct here).
>My coming to a stop should, in my theory, bring him back to me sharply but that isn’t working. >
You were decelerating as he was already committed to the off course and facing the off course – so at :08, :16, :47 he was applying the decel and the here cue to the exit of the off course. The turn cues need to come as he is taking 4, so he can set up the turn on 5.
>My mental plan became: run north toward #5 and go the other way as soon as he commits to #5. Eventually we got over #5 and to #6 and I called it victory, even though the bar went down.>
This was basically a spin (at :56 & 1:08 & 1:18) which caught his attention – the first few ended to be sooner so he sees it before takeoff of 5 – and then more connection on the exit and line of motion to 7 will prevent the off course or running past 6. Your timing of starting it was better at 1:28 but lateral motion still kept him on the wider line.
It think the answer to it is the one thing you didn’t try: as he is jumping 4, cue 5 with both hands and turn your shoulders away from him and towards 6-7. That should cue the turn on time and keep you from facing forward on the line.
>On the right wraps (dig), the bar is at 12” and the helper jump is about 4 feet past the jump. I had a failure of recording but I think you can guess what happened: he was “getting” it, at least a bit.>
He was totally getting it! I liked the first rep better – there was a clearer cue with the motion then decel/rotation. The next rep was not as good (he didn’t collect as much and his back leg fish tailed out) but on that one yo were stationary then running, so he saw acceleration as part of the cue instead of decel.
>Then I did a few backsides with the bar at 22”. This is clearly pure learning that I thought he had but he clearly doesn’t. I expect to get a much better verbal response in a week or so (except I’m on vacation 7/3 to 7/17 so there will be a bit of lag. It will be interesting to see what sticks due to latent learning and what disappears due to forgetting.
>Doing it at 22” was a bit more challenging than he needs at this point – he was really hoisting his hind end over the bar and landing hard on his front. Asking him to process a hard and newer skill while doing it at a higher than normal height is why there was some errors. So keep the bar lower so he can have good mechanics while learning this. And the next step would be starting from something before the backside, like wrapping another jump or a tunnel. Be sure to set yourself up t be a little ahead to show the cue in the early stages then you can get yourself further and further behind 🙂
Nice work here!!
Tracy
Good morning! Both dogs did indeed have really strong sessions here!
Kaladin pop out 1: This went well! Excellent use of tree!
The RC worked 6-7-8 (:17, :46, 1:13) but he was watching you and not blasting as much as he can. I wonder if you can get the BC there by sticking closer to the backside at 4, sending away 5-6 and blind 7-8? I bet you can and I bet it will be faster. A bit wider on the exit of the blind but that works in your favor when heading into the layer.The layering went great and he found the weaves easily too. Super!
The layered threadle wrap was hard but he did it! That is a trend we will be seeing soon if you haven’t already seen it. If you don’t get quite as far ahead while he is weaving, you can stay accelerated longer and get even more speed into it. In a ‘real’ trial, he would have 12 poles so you will definitely not want to get too far ahead.
The TW allowed for the BC but then you were not able to get far enough across the bar for the backside -the threadle slice you did earlier was a better choice to set the lines at the end.
>I proved that Kaladin’s threadle slice cue (Come) is stronger than me thinking I was cueing the threadle wrap. >
He was a good boy there!!
Pop Out 2: This was a good one for getting the layering without a ton of momentum into it!
The send at :07 where you liked ahead and pointed forward turned your shoulders and feet to the weaves so he had a legit question there. The connected send at :19 was great! The rep at :42 was kind of in the middle – connected at the start of the send but then you threw your arm up and peeled away so he questioned it (he was coming off the jump before you said poles, so it was not the verbal cue that did it). This is a spot where you can get closer to jump 2, let him catch up, then explode forward to use acceleration to help propel him out on the line.And he found the weave really well on the last rep, that is a hard angle!
Lift’s turn:
She had a rear cross question at :24-:27 and 1:06-1:09, and it was mainly about your line of motion: Your connection was a little too far forward (causing her to look up at you) and she didn’t get past you before you converged towards the jump (which is why she went to the backside, good girl).
A much clearer line of motion at 1:30 because you ran more directly to the center of the bar until she got past you, so she was able to set up the rear. Yay! I think it would be fun to try sending her away t o the tunnel to see if you can get the blind cross there instead of the rear 🙂
Great job continuing on that first rep and she got the layering beautifully!
She possibly needs one more step forward to get the weave entry at this level of experience, passing the jump as hard! (when coming in from the wrap to her left). When you did the blind to set up the wrap to her right, she was gorgeous on the blind, the turn, and the weave entry!!She thought the threadle wrap with the layering was a little weird but she was game to try it, no kangaroo moments! Super!
Threadle slice at the end – you were a little far from the jump so when you showed the outside arm, there was some motion towards the tunnel. But this will get much easier when the TWs are more fluent at a distance, so you will be able to cue them and leave sooner.
>Looks like your forecast for next week is a bit worse than ours. I>
Yes, it is absolutely horrendous! 105 degrees! I was supposed to meet someone to help train their dogs for flyball in a place without climate control on Wednesday. Even though it would be in the morning… NOPE!!! Just too hot. And all agility will be at 5am as soon as the sun is up – we are in a drought, so at least the grass will be dry? Sigh.
But I head up to central New York (near Ithaca) to teach next weekend and might leave a day early just to escape the heat. It will “only” be in the 80s, might have to put coats on the whippets 😂 😝. And air conditioned trial is the weekend after that 🙂
Great job here!!
Tracy
Sorry for any confusion! It is the jumped she pulled off of at :15 – when she is taking off for that one, start the blind so she sees the new side really early.
T
Hi!
OMG, thank you for the kind words!! It has been an absolute pleasure being able to share in Rusty’s adventures. You and Rusty are already a fabulous team, and you are only at the beginning of your journey together. SO FUN!!!! Remember this, with tiny Rusty?
>Is there a course that logically follows this one. If yes, what one? If not, what would be your recommendation for Team Rusty?>
Yes! The MaxPup program takes you all the way through competition and Masters level 🙂 The next one for Team Rusty is MaxPup 2, which starts later in July:
Looking at the video:
Rusty seems to love the countermotion game – even though there was not a lot of motion or running needed, he was flying! And even with him being completely excited about it, he was still turning beautifully – a lovely balance of going fast AND turning tight. SUPER!
He really seemed to have no questions about committing to the barrel/jump behind you. Since that was easy for him, you can add more challenge:
As you walk past the jump and past the exit barrel, you can release him while you are still moving (rather than stop to release then move again).That might really challenge his countermotion – he might be tempted to come with you. So to help him commit even though you are moving the whole time, you can move very slowly… slooowwwww walkingggggg 😆. And if that is easy for him? Back to fast walking and eventually to jogging and running (when you have more room outside).
Great job here!! Let me know what you think!!
Tracy
Hi!
>I was focussing a bit on beginning and end of run routines… she came in on lead and at the end I picked her up after giving her “pick up” cue/put the lead back on/rewarded then moved to food was on a table.
Fantastic! She did really well!
> She is still running off during training at the Club so that’s on hiatus – I don’t want to risk losing her in the dark or her approaching an unfriendly dog.>
True, we want to keep her safe. Do you know what triggers her to run off? We can add that to the Under Pressure games.
Looking at the sequence:
She did a great job with the layering! It looks like she as heading to the 2nd layered jump on the first rep but you turned away a little too soon at :15. You supported the line with more parallel path motion on all the other reps and she had no questions. SUPER!
>My blinds were a bit late here. >
You were making sure she was staying on the line then had to hurry to get back up the line. She didn’t see the new connection in time on the first couple but then you made it super clear at :47.
I wonder what she would do if you started it as she took off for the 2nd layer jump? A big dog would not have a problem, so it will be fun to see if she can continue past the tunnel – I bet she would 🙂 Tiny dogs are trickier because they can’t see us that well with the tunnel blocking their view, so it will be interesting to see how she reads the line 🙂
Great job!
Tracy
Hi!
>I am trying to absorb your feedback on the low jumps with wrap: it is very difficult for me to see what you mean on the video; in real time it is just not happening. I can move the helper jump closer – what do you think of that? I find it extremely hard to give proper feedback in the moment because the criterion is just not black and white enough for me. I’m good with went over the helper jump or didn’t.>
Think of it as learning to see criteria on the running dog walk behavior – that takes a bit of practice to train the eye, then it is easy to see 🙂
What you will want to do is what the area in front of the jump to see where he puts his feet – does he get closer to the jump and do a little chip stride? That is the beginning of the organized collection we want! He did that on the last wrap rep you did on the video. And was working it out on the 2nd to last wrap rep. He didn’t do it on the others: on one rep he went straight (no reward). On the other reps, he landed long but was disorganized and his right hind slipped out towards the helper jump – that is the fishtailing you are seeing.
When he organized some collection before takeoff, his landings ere very organized!
I grabbed some pictures:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1B3k65aBFa8Z0NmM0PCBoXAv9jAPss2dWgU_CObfIjIM/edit?usp=sharing>What a surprise to have a course with no handling advice; almost like real life.
> Ha! There is the option of hints in the other document, but I do like it when people choose their own handling at this stage!
Looking at the video:
>We got the backside 2 easily >
Yes! And it was smart to hang out there so you could send him away to 3 and 4 rather than get too far ahead and stuck on the other side of the weaves.
The 3-4-5 line was hard for him! Your line of motion to head to 6 was correct. He jumped a little long over 3 which changed the 4-5 line, and we don’t want you to have to get to close to 5… so you can take a 2-hand approach on that entire line while you are moving towards 6. Think of it as 2 hands on the wheel of the sports car:
Send to 3 with both hands, to get a little bit of collection. If he is curling towards you over 4, use your outside arm to keep him out on the line. You got your outside arm involved at :55 and it really helped! You also converged towards it but we don’t want you to have to converge at all 🙂 The outside arm can work without the motion support.
If you can be moving through 6 and 7 more rather than moving to 5, you will see that bar stay up and no questions on 7 because you are continuing to move along the line.
Looking at the backsides:
>and 9 not as easily and gave up on 13 (2 out of 3 tries).>
Both 9 and 13 rely on understanding of staying on the parallel path to the backside… and we established with the handler challenges that he doesn’t really know that. He can get to the backside if you are ahead and driving to it… so rather than make you run to the backside more (which is absolutely not the answer here!), we can train more:
Train the backside distance in isolation, from the tunnel before it or the jump on the line before it. You can change the angle of the backside jump so the backside is more obvious (and front side is less obvious) to help him learn to stay on the line to it. I am perfectly happy with using an outside arm here too for that!
And if he really struggles, just use a wing: get him to tay out on the line to the backside of the wing. The bar is what has all the value, so taking the bar out temporarily can help him catch on faster. Then we add the bar back 🙂
The lovely independent weaves set up the 10-12 line really well!
Being able to get the backside at 13 more independently will make the 14-19 line very easy, setting up the ending to be easy too 🙂
>Also, didn’t have the oomph to get to a cross between 20 and 21. >
A RC at the end works great, you can do it on landing side of 21 to pick up the line to 22.
>My summary of our effort on this course: somewhat above our pay grade. >
Most of it was really straightforward for you and Casper! And your handling choices were strong! The 2 sticking points were the 3-4-5 line, and the backsides. So definitely try the 2 hands for the 3-4-5 line (brake arm at 3, opposite arm to show line to 5, brake arm to turn to 6 if needed). And he backsides we will train so you don’t have to out run him to get there.
Nice work!! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning! These games are all going really well, especially since they were outdoors.
Parallel path looks great! And you had plenty of lateral distance. Super! You can start further away (like back by the shed that was behind him) so he take more steps to find the jump. And you can add jogging! And if he doesn’t get distracted by the motion, add in running 🙂
Good job convincing him to sit outside – sitting on different surfaces is harder than it seems for tiny dogs!!! But he did great 🙂 And easily built to the stay. Yay!
If he is sensitive to sitting on different surfaces like wet grass or pokey grass or dirt, you can also work a stay in a stand position: I add a stay verbal to the sit position (you might already be doing this, it was hard to hear). Then when he is standing, use the stay verbal and move away, then reward pretty quickly. It is surprisingly easy to get a stand stay and it can take out any of the ‘ick’ about sitting on weird surfaces.Find my Face was super! He was like “WHY DID YOU TURN AWAY WITH MY COOKIES” and actually came to you faster than on the regular pattern game hahaha We definitely want him to think it is a fun thing to find out and this is off to a great start with that! It is a fun game to revisit. You can have a bigger party when he finds you: lots of praise then throw the next treat.
He was on fire for the rocking horses! When you were moving, he was flying. He slowed down a bit when you slowed down to do the spins, matching the decel as you stopped to reward him. The right turns were harder for him here but the left turns were fast and furious!
Yes, the spins were right (you asked if they were right on the video :)) Great job really emphasizing the connection.
One way to maintain the speed is to add more distance between the 2 barrels – that way he sees less decel and more running. And you can play with not using a hand to send him past you: sometimes that broke connection so he was not sure where to be. You can use a leg to send him but try to keep the big connection.
And you can do 2 or 3 reps then take a long break – even a “cold” June day in Florida will heat him up pretty quickly at this stage. Do you have a cool coat for him (and for the Bostons?) It is a good thing to add to his routine at this stage. I see it with the whippets this time of year too: they get hot very quickly and lose speed, even though they have a completely different nose structure than Lew 😂 So they get 2 or 3 reps, then back in the a/c as they build up heat tolerance.
Great job here!!!
Tracy
