Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Good morning!
>He does know how to do that hand touch line up at the side but so far has never been able to follow through with it in the agility ring.>
You can also approach this from the angle of adding more arousal regulation before he runs agility: pattern games on the way to the line! That can help a lot – it might make it harder to get toy play because the patterns will involve food at first, but it will really help with the lineups and no more tooth hugs 🙂
> It is very hard to have him be as aroused as he is in the agility ring anywhere else. However, I realized his arousal level is close in the mornings when all the dogs go to the door to go outside, so the last 3 mornings I have been asking him for a couple of hand touches (and rewarding with a toy). I had to start with just a single hand touch, not the line up, and I knew he was aroused as I got the nip if I wasn’t fast enough with the toy. This morning he was able to do a full line up at my side and also did not nip me while doing it.>
Brilliant! Great job finding this super high arousal moment and adding the lineup stuff to it!!! Yay!
>Lining up between my feet he can now do. It took him a while to get comfortable with this position and another while to actually like it. >
Great! Keep rewarding it and you will find that it almost becomes an arousal regulation tool: when he feels the arousal bubbling over, he will ask to line up.
>Yesterday, I had him do it in the agility ring. I did have food reward for him during the period that I asked him to do it but he was able to do it happily without a lure and get his reward upon completion.>
Perfect!! The can be another useful tool.
Looking at the videos:
First video: run 1 went great, perfectly connection and the blind was lovely at the end. He gets a gold star for driving ahead of you to jump 4!
Looking at the blind on sequence 2: The questions on the first session were timing questions: a little too early, a little too late 🙂 But being ahead like that can work really well!
>I think the first session I was actually too far ahead of him. >
Your position was good but the blind was actually too early at :21 (first rep) and at :46 (3rd rep) – as he was jumping 3, you had already started the disconnect to begin the blind so he never got a commitment cue to 4 (and he correctly saw the side change and came to the new side).
On the 2nd rep and 4th rep, you were a little late at :34 & :54 (he was in the air over 4 and the blind was just starting). Great connection on the exit got it done, though! Yay!
Ideally, you would be ahead and when you see him land from 3 – cue 4 and then start the blind so he sees it a stride or two before takeoff. It will get even easier as he gets more experience.
On the 2nd session: The timing was better and better, but you were very close to jump 3 which made the motion harder to show the line after the blind: you had to move across the bar laterally and if the connection was not clear, he had questions about where to be.
At 1:06 & 1:19 – these were a little late but mainly the connection was not as good as the previous session (there was less exit line connection). There is a great camera angle at 1:20 where you can see your back and no connection, so he did not know where to be and went wide.
1:30 was earlier! And exit connection was better. So he had a better line there for sure.
The blind at 1:43 (last rep there) was the best timing so far – he was maybe one stride past landing of 3 when you started the BC. Yay!!! But you can see the connection was not as clear: you were trying to connect with the dog-side hand (left hand) and moving laterally to clear the bar – so he only saw your back and went laterally to match the line of motion
So we want the timing of 1:43 but the exit line connection of the first few reps and then it will be perfect 🙂
2nd video: The tunnel threadles are going well, he is very responsive to the cues! That is unusual with young dogs LOL! And when you asked him to go straight into the tunnel, he had no questions. SUPER!
And when you asked for the jumps and NO tunnel at 1:22 – no questions. And then he nailed the last run with the go straight, jump-jump, tunnel threadle all in a row. WOW! Again, that is very unusual for a young dog. Well done! He had a couple of questions on the first part of the line on that last run, maybe a little fatigue from the reps? But overall your connection and timing were great!Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
Working the set point with emphasis on the stay was great! It helped him understand that the release is verbal only, and not your reconnection or the toy going to the ground. The tossed treats were very helpful!
And I loved that you worked up to you moving with the toy dragging before the release. That was hard! He is getting the idea for sure, so now the goal is to be super consistent with those releases (ask your instructor to help watch for that during your group classes :))
I think you did a great job with the smiley face in that big boot! Yes, he will move faster when you can more faster too but this session was terrific because he had to commit to the wings without needing you to run run run – and he did! Best boy! We want him to drive ahead of you and he did a super job here, even in the heat. You were nicely connected which really helped. So when you a run more, maintain that connection and you will see even more commitment.
Great job here!
Tracy
Hello!
>I need a turn away cue with her=- realised I dont have.>
Sequence 1:
Rather than face the 1 and send her to it as a backside, it might be faster to have both of you facing 1 and 2 and more lateral – so you can get to the exit of the #2 tunnel more easily. To get her to turn to 3, you will need to be one or two steps past the exit of the tunnel so being more lateral on the send to 1 (and facing the way you want to run) will help you get there.
You were more lateral on the 2nd run at :25 but facing way from where you wanted to run to, which delays getting to 3.
>I need a turn away cue with her=- realised I dont have.>
I think the outside arm and being a little further ahead will do the trick!
4-5-6-7 looked great! And yes, the FC on the landing side of the 7 backside did set up the off course she took on the first run. This might be where you meant the turn away cue – yes, turning away from the landing side of 7 will work well there, or continuing to move through and do a bind cross (German turn) will work well too.
You got it on the 2nd run but it puts you behind her exiting the tunnel. At this stage, you were not able to support the next jump and layer – lack of motion is what pulled her off the line. So keep moving without layering there to get her back on the line. You moved through better at 1:06 and she got it.
Good job on the last run to get the ending line: you stayed in motion and kept your arms low, so she got it really well. When you were walking and had your arm up high on the previous run it turned your shoulders to the tunnel so that is where she went.
On the 2nd sequence:
The 1-2-3 opening went well!
The FC on the landing of 4 (backside) is what set the line off course at :12 – a blind there will work well and give you enough time to get her to the line to the tunnel. You can also use 2 hands on the jump before the tunnel (brake arms) to get a little more connection).>I walked a couple of ways on a coiple of the backside and In Synch showed me (she bit) that I was so totally in her way >
2 thoughts on this:
Yes, the FC there put you in her way a little where the next line is unclear – you can start it earlier so you are finished and coming to the next line before she takes off.
But also… you were maybe only one step late and she nailed you. Ouch! Either the ‘good girl’ made her think you were delivering a reward, or she needs more work on arousal regulation!
If it was the ‘good girl’ that drew her in to bite you hard, then you will want to *not* use ‘good girl’ on course and be EXTRA clear with your reward markers. I am not sure if it was the ‘good girl’ because you were a little late on the FC at :39 and had a toy in your hand, said good girl and she did not bite you.
But there is an element of confusion about the toy in that same spot where she bit you – you were a little late getting through the FC and the toy was dangling so she went to grab it before you showed her the next line. So definitely take the toy out of the picture and clarify the markers.
If it is a common thing that she bites you on course, then more arousal regulation work needed. The game that will help in this specific context is the Find My Face game in the middle of the sequence: refresh it in the pattern game form then add it to sequences, rewarding her for NOT biting you. And if she bites you: game over. She can leave the course and you can run Fusion.
Getting through the backside sooner will also get her to the next line! The FC there will delay it, so keep moving through on the landing side and don’t add the rotation there.
You got it by doing a FC to the wrap on the other side of the backside, which worked well! But definitely keep moving through the slice backside because that is the fastest line for sure.
>So used to thinking about sending and staying out of the way with my dogs needed to make sure I do the distance collection handling when walking.>
The dogs are very different, so you will likely need 2 walk throughs to be sure you move more for In Synch and stay out of the way for Fusion.
Nice work here!
Tracy
Good morning!
>I do not think Lennan has had this checked. He had bloodwork this spring but it was a basic wellness profile so I doubt it included thyroid.>
It might not have included any thyroid values, or maybe the T4 value, which is not necessarily indicative of anything – a complete panel tells the whole story. And also the T3 value on the panel can indicate something else going on besides hypothyroidism (such as when my dog Hot Sauce had a folate issue, and the T3 was low and told us to keep looking for the cause). Hypothyroidism is not that uncommon on Border Collies, so it might be worth a look at the panel.
This is interesting about the Lyme positive test:
>The recommended follow up tests showed that the Lyme was likely not active. >
He was never treated? The sports vets near me just treat at this point, because Lyme and other TBDs is so weird and treating even if we don’t think the dog is symptomatic has had the best outcomes.
>Each time he has had a lameness, it has been able to be identified as a specific issue and the lameness has been isolated to the area until resolved. >
This is actually symptomatic of TBD in our sports dogs – yes you can find the issue but also yes, it shifts to different locations and is not necessarily compensatory.
Also, response to treatment is used as a diagnostic tool for TBD. One of my dogs had some similar symptoms to Lennan and we couldn’t find anything except lower than normal values on a thyroid panel. So we treated him with course of doxy and there were no more issues, ever.
>I did ask the vet at one point if being exposed to Lyme made his body weaker and more prone to injury and her opinion was it would not make him weaker except if there was an active infection.>
I think there is a lot we don’t know about TBD and there might be another one happening, so it is worth another look. Lennan has had more than his fair share of things going on so maybe there is something underlying it all.
Fortunately both TBD and thyroid are relatively simple and straightforward to treat in dogs! So if it is something like this and then there are no more issues, that would be GREAT!!!
Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning!
He did well with the meatballs – I am glad he can eat them anywhere 🙂 he was still distracted a bit in the environment. Did you ever try the pattern games with toys? I want to see if we can get super quick responses. Also, try to do patterns where you are both moving (back and forth) – I think these will be helpful in new environments, more so than being stationary. Less bowls, more moving 🙂Looking at the tricks: I think he is doing well with these. -keep going with them so they get faster and have even more value built into them. Spins and backing up look fun, and he well with the hand touch and high fives too. The down into the bang was something he didn’t seem to quite understand in this context, so maybe take that out of th game for now.
You can move into t he volume dial games to see which tricks are most helpful for getting his arousal state optimized 🙂
Find my face:
Remember to start this by getting him into the pattern game without disconnecting… then after 3 or 4 reps of super fast responses, you can disconnect. I think that will speed up his finding of your face: disconnecting immediately didn’t have him in the rhythm of the game, so he was not entirely sure of what to do.
And you can use a toy for the reward here too, I think he will like that 🙂
He did well will the pattern games at the pond too! I think you should be doing less with the bowls in general, and more with the back and forth in all of these locations. Movement will be fun for him and also it will be a more useful game when you go into trial environments.
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
The pop outs are looking good!
Pop out 6: The blind 4-5 looked good and he definitely drove fast to it! Yay! The whole run was connected and you were really driving, so he was really driving too.Pop out 5: he really tells us his feelings about when he can’t see connection when he slows down 🙂 At :32, you sent him into the layering with your arm really high (above your head) and not looking at him, so he slowed down and was turning his head to you. Note the difference in speed on that line compared to the other lines and the previous run: arm down = speed for him! So even on layering and distance, keeping your arms down so he can see connection will make a big difference in his speed.
Nice work on the giant course! Looking at it in sections:
Opening:
On the first run, the RC on 5 was a little late at :17 (bar down). More on that below.
On the 2nd run, you were not quite far enough ahead on 3 then disconnected to 4 (:39)
Next rep had you further ahead and connected and it went really well! Super!
When you started round 2, you pushed into the backside line of 5 (RC too early there :)) Good job continuing!
>7-8 (tunnel) I did not push him out enough, and he went up the frame.>
You can connect more to him as he exits the poles rather than point forward. And you can hang back a little so to help set the line with motion rather than have to decel to get around the frame if you are too far ahead.
The run at :59 there looked good! And so did the other runs through that middle section. Yay!
>Note: I wanted to handle 15-16 with a threadle to his right and pick him up on my left, but he went left. Slow body language? I managed to successfully continue on.>
This was at 1:12, 1:44, 3:19.
What happened was that your feet and motion were still showing the slice line on 15 by facing the jump. You were on the push wrap side so ideally, as he is landing from 14 you would decelerate and start rotate your feet towards 16 to get the wrap, rather than face 15. Great job continuing there!>Attempt 3. Finally figured it out and got to 18 where he went to the weaves instead of the jump.>
It was hard to hear what you were saying or see it, but definitely a backside verbal helps and maybe a name call before it to unlock him from the line to the weaves? The physical cue and connection at 1:53 and 2:11 and 3:28 got it nicely!
Keeping him on your left for 21-22 worked really well to rear cross to the teeter. He dropped the bar on 22 at 3:39 for the same reason he dropped it at 5 on the RC at the beginning. You can be running to the center of the bar more to show him RC info, so he knows he is turning away from you. When you stick to the wrap-side wing, he prepares to take off jumping towards you then has to adjust as he lifts off, which often results in the bar down.
He might also have been a little fatigued by then (his stride was shorter by then) – it s a big course and he has been doing a lot of jumping lately 🙂 So you can give him a few jump-free rest days to let his body catch up a bit.
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
On Kaladin’s session, I think part of what we are seeing is a preference for turning left – and not necessarily connection or arm use.
Reps 1 and 2 and 1:07 wrap to the left looked good!
Wrapping to the right: without decel and any slight pressure and he offered up a left turn.
Adding decel will help like it did at 52 and definitely like at 1:28 – just a little decel got the right turns there nicely.Looking at the backsides – the outside arm can be a little lower but mainly he needs really clear foot pressure to convince him to turn to his right:
The outside arm at :17 was fine but your feet were rotating to the fence (starting the FC before he was committed to the backside) so he turned left.
At 1:11 timing and use of the outside arm looked a little like a turn away… to the left 🙂
He slipped into the front of the jump and turned left on the backsides at :56 and 1:33 – push in harder to the line and do it til he is closer to the entry wing. That was a left turn too, but not as easy as the front side left turn. The rep 1:45 was really good – you made the line VERY clear and he nailed it.
>The last time I kept the opposite arm lower he got the backside slice (pink jump).>
You ran a MUCH pushier line to the backside wing and kept moving along it on that rep. On the others, you straightened up while he was still la few strides away from the entry wing so he took the front.
Letting him really see the pull into the threadle wraps worked really well at the end, especially the last one setting up the left turn.
>I realized I should have been telling him Go as he went to the tunnel (duh!). I think I was thinking that a wrap was coming up so Go wasn’t called for but he clearly wanted more direction on what to do out of the tunnel and needed a go since it was a send to a wrap.>
Yes – go is aid before the tunnel to get a straight exit, then switch to the wrap while he is in the tunnel (and keep repeating it :))
Adding the pressure slice of Dean and Lift (thanks Dean!!) certainly made things more exciting, long with bringing him in on leash. He definitely seemed to be wondering why they were there 😂 😆 and it was interesting to see him have trouble sitting – but I think it sharpened focus for you both! A little pressure can add a more optimized arousal state – since you are both experienced in pressure situations, you both were very focused and nailed the runs! Yay!
Lift:
Nice sends on run 1 and the last run!
> I’m guessing that caused the madz moment when the inside arm forward closed my shoulder to her. >
Yes, it looked like you were connected then as you sent, you disconnected by looking forward which turned your shoulders off the line.
>In that situation should I still reward her for the wrap (that had the kangaroo before it) >
Yes, in that case I would reward her because she de-kangarooed herself and went to the jump.
She answered her own question and regulated arousal without you needing to intervene, and she didn’t hold a grudge in an overaroused state. That was a great reward! If you had needed to intervene and help her out, it might be in the form of a reset cookie at your side (if she was unable to reset herself and needed you to do it) and send through the tunnel to try again. Or, if you re-sent to the jump you can go one more obstacle and reward. But I love that she de-kangarooed herself!!! I also love that my computer offers guidance on how to spell de-kangarooed 😂 😆
Looking at the slice video:
>Definitely got more arousal at the start lines which replicates her behavior at a trial or seminar better. >
Perfect! That is the goal of adding slices!!! A good slice for her will be Kaladin in the picture, and remote reinforcement in use 🙂
>But she stayed engaged and did sit without too much backtalk and also held her stays. Super impressed that she offered her head for the harness at the end >
Yes! This was all great! And she was even a bit faster than normal too, which is fun to see. And on the send run when you sent to the jump from behind 1:21 with your arm up (formerly a recipe for some kangaroo action), she looked at you a little then drove to the jump. That was GREAT! Nice reward there too!
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
This went really well especially for the first try! Super!
He was following the physical can verbal cues really well, and you were also increasingly fading out the physical cues.The right turn side was harder than the left turn side – one blooper and one attempt at taking the tunnel not the wing. It is possible that turning right is his harder side. Or that by that time in the session (towards the end), his love for tunnels had increased a lot 😂
He had one clever blooper at 1:22 where you were cueing the wrap but he took the tunnel. On that rep, you were also backing up (rather than rotating or being still). Dogs read backing up the same way they read forward motion, so he definitely thought it was a physical cue for the tunnel 🙂 You rotated on the next rep and he got the wrap. The attempt at taking the tunnel at the end instead of the wing was possibly either tired dog brain or tunnel love, but he finished strong and overall the session went great.
For the next session, you can fade out the physical cues even more to make the verbals stronger: hold his collar, let him hear you say the verbals 3 or 4 times while you are holding him… then let him go. You don’t move at all until after he has made a decision 🙂
>As to my wrap verbals – east east east and west west west intentionally repeated and said more softly than my left and right.>
Got it! They were very easy to hear here – good verbals!! And saying them quietly will definitely help provide tight turns when you are both running fast on course.
>Will new material be released on Monday or are we on two week segments like last time? >
Yes, new stuff is coming on Monday but it is a concept transfer with the set point jump game, and 2 fun tunnel games. That will be easy to add in while still working on week 1 stuff. We have several easier weeks mixed in with all of the weeks that have a lot of content.
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
Happy birthday Skizzle!! Fun times ahead!!!!I love your remote reinforcement word 😂 ⚡️ and yes, the neighbors were very good helpers here 🙂 It was a nice amount of background noise.
I think he was good here in terms of energy level. He didn’t know that “shazam” meant to go grab the toy – he likely believes that you will pick it up first and that is appropriate in this context.
You can keep extending the duration of moving away from the reward, and add a leash into the picture as well. That will be appropriate for ring entries at trials, where the leash will be on him.
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
Sequence 1:Run 1 went great! Pretty perfect!
Lovely connection ad motion, and the blind at the end was perfectly timed and connected, with a little bit of decel added to get a great turn.Rep 2 & 3 she didn’t take the jump after the tunnel: looked like you were a little disconnected (looking forward ) and not as far ahead.
On the first run, you were ahead and connected at :18.When she went around the jump at :42 and :55, you were not as far ahead and not really connected.
Compare to 1:14 and 1:29 – these were super connected and she got it really well 🙂
On the last jump at 1:19 you did a big post turn that was late so she dropped the bar tryin to adjust. On the other reps, you weren’t tuning there and she had no questions.
On the last rep, the blind at 1:32 was finished as she landed from 5, so she was correct to not take the tunnel. Good girl!
Seq 2:
You can start the BC earlier 3-4 ! When you see her at jump 3, you can start the blind so it is finished before she takes off for 4. You were tending to start it as she approached takeoff of 4, which made it late and wider.
The spin on 5 was the right choice! The post turn at :14 & :37 sent her wide. The spin at :55 & 1:24 & 1:48 looked great! Doing the blind earlier will make that easier to start earlier too.Tunnel discriminations: these were a really good challenge!
The key was to turn and face the new direction as she lands from the pinwheel jump so before she takes off for the jump before the tunnel she sees the new info. When you waited til she got to the jump before the tunnel (:19 & :40 & :51 & 1:24) – it looked like a straight line cue: she looked at you and decided you wanted the straight line.
Better timing at :30 and 1:07 and 1:41, where you were facing the tunnel entry you wanted before she took off and she had no questions there. Super!You can use brake arms to give even clearer info: as she gets to the middle jump, you can cue the turn on the jump before the tunnel with 2 hands, so she is already turning to face you. Then you keep turning and move into your tunnel threadle cues, which should take out any accidental off courses.
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi! Super nice session here! I think most of his barking was just excitement 🙂
The opening line into the pinwheel was a commitment refresher for him: he was relying on handling and connection, and it was hard to get there because he was also running fast!!
On Run 1 and 2 – he just needed one more step to the pinwheel jump, good job continuing.
You got that on run 3 really well, then lost connection when you got behind on the way to the tunnel.
At :58 you were hustling to get to the pinwheel jump, lost connection so he went past 3
But the rest was lovely! And the last run was fantastic.Because he needed your connection to be perfect even though your motion was spot on, you can revisit the lazy game, but do it at a jog 🙂 and be not-great with connection, while rewarding TONS for finding the jumps without you needing to be perfectly connected or ahead.
I like that you tried different options on the ending line!
The rear cross on the landing at the end was a little late. You’d need to start the cues before he takes off for the previous jump. A rear cross on the takeoff side will work well!But the blind there on run 2 was gorgeous 😍 !!!
The blind on landing side was good too but I think that blocked his line so he went past the last jump.
You adjusted that blind on the last run so it was more of a serp-blind: perfection!Interesting that the lineup has gone away… is he bopping around and barking? Or coming to your side but not sitting? You can start reminding him further away for the lineups so he is less stimulated by the jump, or use a mat to sit on as a reminder to get some reward in.
Well done here!
TracyHi! Super nice session here. She was engaged with the toy (especially when you ran with it or threw it 🙂 And she was driving to the tunnels brilliantly!!
The warm up looked good although she might have been wondering why you were stopping her 😆!
For the turn at 3- we can tighten it up by doing the FC earlier. You were doing it as she was over 3, so she was already committed to landing long. You can play with how much earlier you can do it and still get commitment:
One stride before takeoff? 2 strides before takeoff? One stride after she exits the tunnel? The earlier, the better: if she sees you starting it one stride after she exits the tunnel, she will adjust her stride into collection, and land a lot closer.Then stay connected to get her to 5. You were pointing forward and looking forward at 1:58 which turned your shoulders past it, and inexperienced dogs are very literal even though the jump was right there so she zipped past it.
In that moment, keep going! Bloopers like that are always connection bloopers, so you can carry on with more connection and then add more connection there in the next run.
At 3:07, you had great connection and she committed really well! Yay!!!!!!
And the ending line looked strong through the session.
Great job here 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
>Sunnie is targeting the bowl or little target at the bottom of the ramp. Is it ok that she does that or am I supposed to teach her to keep her engagement with me all the way down the ramp until we hit ground? >
I like that she immediately targeted her bowl and ‘got to work’ and was engaged. Trying to keep her engagement all the way down the ramp might be too much of a buzzkill and too mush pressure. We want the association to be a grand time 🙂
>She was getting distracted by them when she should have been going to potty.
>You might have to reward the first bowl then pick it up to get her to potty instead of working 🙂
I think the session looked great!! Plenty of engagement, then fast & fun progress to the next station. Then done! Loved it! We will be able to start integrating agility stuff soon 🙂
>I have raw in my treat pouch. Took me a minute to navigate the leash with my clean hand, dispense rewards (kibble down the ramp) & the hand that had raw all over it >
It was worth the wait – it is SUPER high value and Sunnie was great.
>My hands hurt from an outing at the park last night
I wanted her to explore, no definite pattern, just letting her go where she wanted to go & it turned out to be constant jerking on the long line & then birds appeared >Ouch! You might want to give her a little less agency, or maybe a harness that won’t jerk you as much if she pulls? You might want to consider gloves – we sometimes wear them in flyball for the dogs that are hard on the tug or we tug on the ball in their mouth. There are lots of cute colors too! That way your hands won’t hurt as much.
>I need it short, but would like to give her a bit length to sniff too or to potty.>
I wonder if she enters the yard on the short leash, gets the target reward when she goes to it then engages… then you can clip her on a long line or something as part of the cue to go potty? That might be a nice middle ground?
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
He was definitely happy with the blue tunnel here LOL! Good boy!
Since he was so confidently running into it at every opportunity 🙂 and he still wrapped the wing when you asked… we can move to the next steps of fading out your motion and getting him to do it independently. This might be a little challenging because he is so smol! You mentioned that he was ok with your hand on his chest to hold him: you can have your hand there, say the wrap or tunnel verbal 3 or 4 times… then let go so he can move without you moving.
You can also try the advanced level of this game, which is super fun with 2 tunnels in a row 🙂
>He lost interest in the toy, which maybe helped his stay but his “get its” were less enthusiastic. >
I totally see his conundrum! He did well, though. For now, we can take the great stay 🙂 Instead of a tug toy, you can use a food toy as the moving target: maybe the new food toy attached to a line, and a cookie thrown back to reward the stay.
>I’m also wondering if it is a good idea or not to use “get it” as a release – will it mess with the “break” cue?>
I think in this setup, it was fine to say get it. When you add to a jump, you can switch back to ‘break’ to solidify that in front of a jump.
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
>She had more propulsion when I was holding her collar with a tossed toy out there than a solid sit stay. I will try them at 5 ft this weekend.>
I think 6 feet will be her normal distance when we add the moving target, as soon as you are confident that her stay will hold up to a dragging toy 🙂
>she was stung by yellow jackets or wasps inside my tunnel. >
Oh noooooo that stinks!!! I remember you having trouble with them earlier in the summer.
>I can’t begin to tell you how much nicer this feels to work together with her.>
I agree, she did great here!!! Yay!
>I’d say most if not all the mistakes here are mine for losing connection or not practicing with the toy in the send hand to the tunnel.>
There were very few errors and they were all connection errors. Baby dogs need us to be soooooo perfect LOL!! The goal for now is to get and maintain very direct eye contact, even on the sends. If you point ahead of her, even if you are looking at her – the connection is broken and ahe has questions. You won’t always need to be this perfect 🙂 but it really helps for now.
Two examples:
The small blooper at :27 where was ended up on the wrong side of you was a connection blooper, not a toy hand blooper 🙂 As she rounded the wing, your head was turned back to her, but your right hand was pointed forward so from her view, she didn’t see the connection and thought it was a blind cross.Compare to :42 & 1:19 (on the other side) where you held your arm back and maintained very direct connection: lovely! No questions from Rou.
Something similar happened at :43 – she was behind you and you pointed forward so she didn’t take the tunnel. The pointing forward turned your shoulders away from the tunnel entry, and 1 year old dogs are very literal LOL!
Compare to 1:21 when you held the connection and got her into the tunnel. SUPER!
So direct connection is definitely the way to go.
>I do have a goal this term of trying to get my words out sooner.>
You are doing well! You can repeat the verbals too: tunnel tunnel tunnel tunnel! That way she doesn’t miss anything, as opposed to when you say it once. It is easy to miss if you only say it once because she is processing a lot of info.
Great job here!
Tracy
