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Hi!
I am so glad you are enjoying the class! The goal is to be supportive and positive as we help you and your girlies get super connected 🙂
>>I was pretty frustrated at myself after round 1 of exit line connection. It just felt like a disaster. >>
Definitely NOT a disaster!!!! I will be honest and tell you if it was a disaster 🙂 Plus, most dogs get BIG MAD if it is going really poorly, and she did not. She was happy to keep playing!
>>But it sure helps encourage us that are hard on ourselves when your positivity outweighs the “critiques”. I’m open to critiques, of course, but thank you for reminding me to be more forgiving of myself. >>
This is all so true! And critiques are never personal or about OMG THIS WAS BAD 🤣🤣 They are more like: “look at her more directly” or “start your turn when she lands from 1” for example. It is a matter of translating what we see on the video into actionable steps.
>>We had one blooper that I knew immediately why it happened so I almost left it out but figured I better include it to make sure I’m learning>>
That is also a big class goal: if there is a blooper (because there are a lot of bloopers in agility LOL!) you immediately know why and make the adjustment. Yay!!
>>My husband was near her ball in the alleyway so she was concerned he’d kick it and she’d miss out on the fun. But I was able to bring her back to me and still good a good performance. She just didn’t have the same “pep in her step” that she had in some of the other reps.>>
No worries! The “Daddy Might Kick My Ball” distraction is a big distraction 🙂
The first video (right side reps) went great! The blooper was on rep 2 and you identified it and fixed it for rep 3 and all the reps after that: You had more motion and more connection to get her to commit to the jump. Perfect! Remember back on the first video that she had trouble taking that jump? Her commitment there is looking a lot stronger already and it has only been a few days!!
And your exit line connection looked terrific on these – the camera is in a perfect place so we can see most of what she sees. We could see your face a whole lot which meant she could see great connection. Yay!
The left side reps were lovely too. She had no questions about taking jump 2 (your connection was spot on!!) and the FCs, spins and blinds all looked terrific. She was so confident on her commitment that you were rotating earlier and earlier on the FCs and spins, and she was still committing and turning beautifully. Sending you a big cyber high five here!!
She is definitely ready for the combos if you want to try those next 🙂 I think the lotus ball will also be great for commitment because you won’t have to worry about losing treats in the footing, so you can throw the reward more.
Great job!
TracyHi!
>>re question she will switch from toy to food back to toy but I have to be careful re the assigned value of toy to food visa versa. >>
Good to know! And you can use the high value toy for motivation and the lower value food (just interesting enough that she drops the toy) to make the transitions between the reps.
>>We can do collar hold position but have to be careful re crowding. >>
If she is not comfortable with being held, you can do a cookie line up – another good place to alternate food and toys while making the transition between reps.
>>She notices very subtle changes.
This is true! She sees **everything** That is good though and it is part of what makes her such a terrific dog!
Have fun!
TracyGood morning!
The rehearsals were good to help get the exit line connection going! You can add more speed in your rehearsals, so that you are more prepared for her speed during the runs 🙂
>>I see on the video my start cues became pretty unclear, Fritzi was super good about it but I don’t think it was very smart training on my part.>>
Yes – she was super about holding the stay. But then on the real runs, you just exploded forward before you were in a good spot. You got all the connections going but you had to work a lot harder than you needed to 🙂 You practiced them all from ahead but then had to do them at warp speed with her from behind. So be sure to lead out again when you are ready to add her to the game 🙂
FC exit :18 versus FC at :42. At :18, you nailed the exit line connection all the way through and she knew exactly where to be. It was not as clear at :42 when you were looking forward to throw the toy, so she ended up changing sides and took the jump (it looked like a blind cross from behind you). Your adjustment on the next rep at :48 was great – you held the exit line connection until you saw her commit to the correct side of you. Super!
The spins were good! You will not have to be as fast with a longer lead out but you did a great job with the exit line connections on all of them – she seemed to have zero questions. Yay!
The regular blind also looked good – there was only one rep of it but again, the connection was clear and she had no questions.
For the FCs at the end – connection was great! One thing to note – your running path actually was more of a rear cross running path because you were moving to the center of the bar of jump 2 pretty early on as she landed from 1. You will want to run straight forward for longer, more until she has landed from 1 and taken a stride to 2, then decel for the wrap, then take off the new direction. That should keep the cues looking really different from rear crosses.
Great job here!!! She is definitely ready for the combos!
TracyGood morning!
This is true, which is why I still have an Android phone & Dell PC despite my love for my iPad and MAC – sometimes I need the tech to play nicely with all things google!
The threadle versus serp session looked great! The MM is a great tool for this.
She is finding the different entries correctly and from all sorts of different angles… even bypassing the entire front of the bump to get to the threadle. SUPER!! My only suggestion is to stand perfectly still until after she is arriving at the MM. What was happening here was that you were moving as you were clicking… and that movement is what was creating the turn to the jump (especially on the threadles). Ideally, she would not need any physical cue to take the jump so for now, there is no handler motion until after she goes over the bump for the threadles (or turns the correct direction for the serps). That way, when you are running on a course for real, you won’t need to stay near the threadle or serp jump to manage if she takes it or not.Looking at the backside circles:
Her commitment is fabulous so we can really get you on the most independent line to cue it 🙂 We are going to take part of what you did when she was on your right and part of what you did when she was on your left, combine them, and then it will be perfect!When she was on your right, you were blocking the barrel a bit so she had to go out wide to get to it. So, let her see the full barrel and then move forward directly behind her tail (like you did on that section).
When she was on your left, you showed her the whole barrel. YAY!!! Then you were stepping to your right before moving forward. When she was starting on your right, you were stepping directly behind her (like at :48), leading with your dog side leg: that was perfect! You did less of the step to your right before moving forward when you revisited the game later in the video.
So the best handling will be to show her the whole barrel like you did when she was on your left, and move up the line directly behind her tail after she passes you, like you did when she was on your right 🙂
For the backside slices – she is finding the backside slices really well too!
>>Not sure if I am cuing the backside slice correctly. Sometimes I felt like I was pushing the line too hard.>>
You were stepping to the entry barrel more than she needs. The most independent training will come if you walk a parallel path to her line (rather than step to the entry). So try putting a line on the ground (a leash is fine) and you will walk along the leash and not past it to the entry wing. The first position can with the line going perpendicular to the bump, starting where the bump meets the barrel. Your motion will be parallel to that line. Then you can gradually start moving the line over until your line of motion goes to the center of the bar.
And the other tweak to add is to place the reward behind you past the bump as you move away, closer to the entry barrel (on the landing side). That way she comes around to the backside looking for the bar, and not at you.
Great job here!!
TracyGood morning!
>>Even though it’s not a NRM to ME, it is to the DOG. And that’s all that matters haha.>>
Yep! And I think we trainers do, subconsiously, intend it a a NRM marker because we are intended to tell the dog that no reward is coming. We don’t intend any negative things happening, but alas…. Stay tuned for a Brain Camp webinar on this topic in 2024 🙂 We are going to tackle some of these questions.
>>I keep forgetting to ask, were you able to find any flyball in my area?
Are any of these locations near you:
http://www.flyball.org/getstarted/illinois.shtmlLet me know and I will make inquiries!
The tunnel threadling is looking good!
>>I think I used the wrong arm on the 2nd side of the first clip, >>
Yes – I think you were still using the inside arm so keep reminding yourself to use the outside arm. And for the arm cue, you don’t need to have your arm point to the tunnel – it can be pointing more back to her . The will be very helpful for when you are not anywhere near the tunnel entry.
She is ready for the double whammy game, which adds more movement and excitement to all of this 🙂
>>In the past, she has needed the preplaced reward to understand the turn away from me, so I was happy to see her get it with a toy!>>
Yes! That was great! Latent learning is magic sometimes!
>>I included the toy play at the end because she brought the toy back to me! At the end when she looked up at me, I’m not sure if she was asking me to animate the toy or if she was done.>>
That was fun to see! My pointy dogs (all or part whippets) LOVE the toy shredding part of the game. It is an expensive habit LOL! It might be a decompression for them. Or might just be super fun 🙂
When she looked up at you at the end? Could be that she wanted you to animate the toy (‘look ma, it is dead’ LOL!) or she was done – or that she was so into the toy shredding that she was surprised to see you there LOL! Either way, it is all good and it was fine to end the session there.
Great job!!
TracyGood morning!
The tandems are going really well!!!! Yay! He did really well to both directions – just needed a quick warm up on the left turns with a slower hand movement, then he was able to do both directions with quick hand cues. Super! You can add the advanced level with the prop now!
The threadles are also going well! Yo can be closer to the jump (close enough to touch it with a relaxed arm & bent elbow). And he looks ready for you to start him on harder angles with with the initial cookie throw, so he can see the other side of the jump and has to threadle to the correct side.
>>There is not enough room for wing jumps in the training room.
When you add the harder angles, you can add just one wing and a jump bump? Hopefully that will fit in the training room. The wing will be an important visual for him.
>> I had cheese in my non-prop hand, so on a few attempts he was more focused on the non-prop hand with the cheese.>>
That is not a bad thing, though – he was getting into the groove of the threadle in-then-out! So the next step is a reward target on the ground on the landing side of the jump. It can be a bowl that you toss the treat into, or a MM, or anything that he can drive to for a reward after he comes in to the correct side of the jump. This also means he might not be as good about touching your hand target but that is also fine – we are getting to the point where we can fade the hand touch element of it 🙂
Great job on these!
TracyGood morning!
>>Should we be entering our adolescent (or easily over-excited) dogs in Show & Go’s?>>
Great question! Easy answer: Nope. His maybe 9 months old now, and he is too young for a show and go environment especially when you can’t use food (which is perhaps his primary motivator). So…. Nope! He is reaching the age where the mantra is “Patience Not Push” because adolescent brains can take 3 times longer than baby pups and adult dogs to bounce back to baseline in terms of the body chemistry when we stress them.
>> Should we stay ringside or do something in the ring? >>
You can go visit the environment and play some games well away from the ring with toys and treats. But I do *not* recommend in the ring – too many things will happen that he has not been alive long enough to be prepared to handle.
>>There seems to be a million places to get information on what we should be doing with our performance puppies, but I haven’t come across much (other than this class) about what specifically to do with our adolescents.>>
My guess is that most info out there ignores the science and pushes adolescents to do things that their minds and bodies are not ready for – the fallout is tremendous and we don’t want to set him up for that. MaxPup 4 delivers all of that information 🙂 and so do the Brain Camp webinars. But mainly you’ll want to get toy play going and pattern games from the resilience track pretty fluent – and try them in different environments. And then in a group class setting.
>>Should we be zoomy-free and very predictably in the sweet spot of the Y-D curve in practice with friends before entering a Show & Go? >>
The thing with adolescents is that you cannot be predictably anything LOL!! It is an unpredictable time 🙂 The next step would be small group classes or seminars. Show and Go activities are still many months away.
>>What about visiting trials where our pup can see dogs running in the ring?
Is it important that the pups get used to watching other dogs run while they are young or can that wait?>>It is only a good idea if he has the tools on board (such as pattern games) and he’s gotten to practice them in controlled class and seminar environments. Until he is comfy there, there is no reason to test the water in an unpredictable trial environment, so it can totally wait.
On the video:
>> I was using a higher value treat in my hand to set up the sit stays, so he wasn’t about to go away from me for kibble.>>
Great info from him about value! Going to the MM was an excellent choice and worked like a charm. He was finding the line really well! You can start to click the MM one step sooner, just before he arrives at your hand. That is so we can fade the hand touch and get him sliding in and out without stopping at your hand.
>> Am I supposed to give the verbal cue before showing the target? I noticed that Mason would tend to release his stay as soon as he saw the pose.>>
Ideally, he holds the stay while you set up the position – and then the in in verbal is what releases the stay. He totally seemed to think it was the hand movement here, so you can work the stay part of it by getting into position, praising… and then throwing a reward to him for holding the stay (set it up separately from a jump so breaking the stay is less tempting). And then when you do use the in in release, be sure you are totally in position, hand out, praise… then use the in in without moving. That should help him understand exactly what the release is.
>>We might not quite be ready for balance reps anyway though. >
Balance reps will probably be really easy for him when he gets the clarification that the release is the verbal, not the hand moving into position. So you can definitely try them!
Great job here!
TracyHi!
>>When should I switch to using the threadle tunnel cue and arm?
You can put the verbal on it as soon as she will do it very consistently when she is starting between you and the tunnel (especially on the easier angles). You can add the arm after it (much easier to do that if she will hold a sit while you do the arm cue then verbal). And you can also add the arm in the double whammy game.
>>I think Lift is tired (but cranky) on day 3. She’s still doing some great volume dial and pattern games but got leapy about the toy when she transitioned nicely on Friday and yesterday. However she thinks the cookie toss to chase me (with and without BC) into the decel and turn for cheese is fun.>>
That makes sense, when we take into account what is ‘expensive’ to her brain. Volume dial and patterns (arousal management in general) and just being in the trial environment are mentally expensive in terms of the brain energy and glucose & oxygen devoted to dealing with them. Chasing cheese and chasing you? Not expensive at all LOL! so it makes sense that she would find that very easy to do 🙂
T
Good morning!
These went really well! You hit the goal of nailing the exit line connection on each rep of all 3 crosses. Yay!The smaller space and the processing of the mechanics made the timing a little harder, but no worries at all: it will all come together when the connection on the exit feels more natural.
Nice ELC connection on the FCs! You were turning correctly – just a little late 🙂 She was already gathering for takeoff when you started, so the turns were a tiny bit wider. No worries, this will all get easier to time when the ELC feels more comfy.
The spins also had really good ELC!
Leading out less should make them feel even more comfortable. By leading out a lot, you had to do the spin really fast 🙂 leading out less will allow you to move into it and commit her while you decel to start it. That way the first part of it will be finished before she takes off so she will then see the ELC as she lands.Blinds are looking good too! I think you will find the timing even easier with less lead out here too – you were a little too early on the first rep but had better timing on the next reps.
Try not to stop after the blind – keep moving on the new line until she catches up (then throw the reward). She’s coming in HOT (which is great!) but could hit you if you stop.
Great job here!!!! Let me know how it goes at the club (and you can do the combos, which have more movement and might make the timing feel easier).
Tracy
Good morning!
>>so don’t quite understand the posting requirements so if im posting too long of videos or to much- let me know. Is it 3 minutes a week or per video?>>
You’re doing great – it is about 3 minutes (or 4 reps) for each game, for 2 rounds… so it is actually a lot of video LOL
>>So she LOVES training with food but what I was told form her breeder when she was there was that food decreases arousal and toys increase it. so we should be training with toys for agility and being engages with toys that involve me>>
Reinforcement and motivation is not quite that simple or black and white. I do agree that toys are more motivating so likely to help get engagement in more challenging situations. But training with food in agility is enormously helpful (as this video shows, and the previous video shows the challengeof training with toys) so ideally, you have ALL the tools to use: toys to tug, throw, or place, and food that be be tossed (lotus ball, for example), hand delivered, or placed (she sure found the TnT motivating!)
Then we pull out the right tool for the job at hand. 🙂
Looking at the video:
This went really well!!!! The hardest part was the initial send to the wing:>>Very very focused on the treat n train of course so she attempts to cheat to take the quicker way
Actually, she was responding perfectly to what she saw in terms of connection on that send (not cheating :))
At :01, remember to look at her and not the wing. Looking ahead at the wing turns your shoulders to the jump and that is where she went.
Better connection at :09 and huge difference at :24! Nice!!! And gorgeous connection at :32!!On the other side at :37 and :46, you were looking ahead and not at her, so she followed your shoulders to the jump. Resist temptation to tell her no (it is a handler error, after all, and she is following your shoulders correctly). Just reset with a cookie and add more connection.
Lovely connection at 1:05 and 1:14 and 1:24 and 1:35, and she got the sends perfectly.
Based on what she is seeing there in terms of connection, she would do the same behavior even if the TnT was not there.
The TnT definitely helped her find the line, even when you added more speed in the 2nd half of the video! SUPER!!!
Keep adding more motion (as much as your foot will tolerate) and also incorporate the toy – first in your hand for play before and in-between reps, then you can try it on top of the TnT as the placed reward.
>>How would I do the other connections in such a small space? like getting a blind or front?>>
In a smaller space, start it with a start wing and just one jump so you have time to get the turns and commitment. Then you can add the 2nd jump back in when you have more room.
Great job!!!
TracyGood morning!
That’s a bummer about the tire light! Hopefully it is an easy fix.For the broad jump – jumping training has evolved since the book was published, so you can put the broad into any grid with only small adjustments needed. For a set point, you can have a low bar on the first jump, then one or two boards for the broad, then I use a moving target reward. The jumping effort for a broad jump is entirely different than for a bar jump, so gradually build up the # of boards (definitely not starting full length)
Same with a longer grid – you can do a balance grid of a jump 6 feet then the broad then a jump 6 feet from the end of the broad (starting with fewer boards) and a moving target. I’ve done it in balance grids and accordion grids with the broad last and at different distances – all with the moving target reward to promote extension.
Looking at the video:
The exit line connections all looked great! Strong mechanics!!!You mentioned timing being off – I think that it was a product of leading out a lot because then there was no transition into decel which is a huge piece of the cue.
And on the connection- for her, maintain connection to her eyes til you do the exit line connection. What was happening was that you were shifting connection a little ahead of her, to the takeoff spot and then the jump- that promotes more extension which in this case, she does not need 🙂 especially when there is not a lot of motion and you are right at the jump. You can see it pretty clearly from :34-:38 and she jumped long there. More on that coming in weeks 2 and 3 🙂
Your connection at :49 was awesome! She jumped long there too because the transition is an important part of the cue for her. I think leading out less so you can decel before she lands from 1 and using that same connection will be the sweet spot especially on left turns.
The turns on the spins went well – good cues and really strong ELC!
I really liked the BC timing!!! At 1:36 and 1:53 your timing was great and so was the ELC. She was able to produce a lovely turns there! I think what was feeling off was that there was no place to run to, to help show her the next line – so some of the motion was a bit too straight ahead rather than on the 90 degree line. That’s where the turn was a little wider (like at 2:02 because you were probably trying to avoid the sidewalk). But even a bit more turning produced a nicer turn (and collection before takeoff) like at 2:19.
The blinds at 1:45 and 2:13 were too early but you successfully worked it out on the other reps. Putting these into bigger sequences will make it all feel much easier 🙂
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! She is such a fun pup!! And fast!!
You were definitely working the connection here, but having to wrangle the toy made it harder.
To help be able to establish connection before the send to the wing, two ideas:
-Hold her gently by a collar (so you have a moment to get lined up)
-Throw the toy to position down the line (so you don’t have to worry about throwing it and being connected and all the things LOL!)
That is what I did with my pup on the demo video, and it made things so much easier for me 🙂 You can also have someone else throw it.
At :52 it looks like you started with a hand on her collar and that worked great for a smooth connected start! You were connected to the first jump too. Super!
Having to throw the toy made it harder to stay in motion, so having the toy already there (or thrown by someone else) will help you be able to keep moving and connecting.
Nice job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! Hopefully using the unedited video made it easier to film and post!
Watching the dog on right reps:
She had a little jumping trouble on the first 2 reps then figured it out. You might laugh (or smack me lol) I think you actually had a little too much connection on those early reps but watching her too intently. This was causing you to almost over-rotate your upper body back to her which was shortening your stride, so she was reading a little decel maybe. After the 2nd rep, you were driving the line more and that helped!
Then on the dog on left side, like at 2:20 – you were driving even more, arm not as far back, but still totally connected. I think that is the sweet spot for her!! It was more of running at looking for her eyes, and less directly watching her eyeballs 🙂Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi! Skeeter is looking all grown up with his jumping, commitment, stays, etc. Wow!!
Fantastic job with the regular connection here! You were really being sure to keep your dog-side arm out of the way and make connection. Note how he didn’t have. To look at you at all – he just drove straight! And because he was so confident, he was even bouncing the jump distance. NICE!!! This was especially cool because I don’t think there was a placed reward that he was driving to (you were throwing it) – he was just responding brilliantly to the connection. SUPER!
The only hard part was getting him to be patient enough to let you connect before the send to the wing – he was being an overachiever and starting early LOL! So you can use a cookie there to be like “give me a moment, Skeeter!”. When you did make the connection for the send, it looked perfect.
Indoor with 2 jumps you didn’t quite have the room to get him to really drive ahead. You can get that with one jump by moving that jump further and further away. You can right next to the wing wrap and then see if he will drive ahead of you to the jump as it gets further from the wing on each rep.
Excellent job on your exit line connections! The blind at the beginning and also at the end looked really good. Those will be much easier for timing when you have more room, but the connection was really strong.
The FCs looked SUPER – the connection was very clear which is important because you are tall and he is small!
The spins also looked great! You were definitely thinking about the mechanics so as you practice this, things will get easier and then you can start the crosses even sooner. The spins will feel smoother when they are sooner – you can start the FC part of the spin rotation before he takes off for the jump, so you will be finished with the FC while he is jumping and showing the BC part of it before he lands.
He is definitely ready for the combos if you want to try those net!
Great job here!
Tracy
