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Good morning!
Great job in class last night!! And yes – the collar holding was a HUGE success and in fact, she was fabulous with all of the games 🙂
Tracy
Good morning!
Pre-game 1 went well! She is definitely happy to wrap! You can add a lineup at your side and a gentle collar hold, so you can start the verbal so she hers it a few times… then let go of the collar so she can move. That will help strengthen the verbal because it will be separate from any motion.
>>should treats come from my hand instead of the floor?>>
Rewards can come from your hand here, so she locks into handler focus and also so it is easy & efficient to line her up for the next rep.
On pre-game 2:
>>She likes down better than sit and everything is a work in progress because she is so young, >>
She wants to roll onto a hip in the down, which makes it harder to use as a stay position for sports – so you can work on getting her to not roll onto a hip. And, you can reward the sit a lot or give her something to sit on like a small platform. That can strengthen the sit too! I think having the other dog barking in the background might have made it harder for her to process the sit cue, so it might need to be started in a quieter environment.
She did well following the toy! You can start adding more and more toy motion very gradually, so she can eventually hold a stay while you drag the toy forward about 10 feet.
For the tunnel- wing proofing:
>>Last time we tried it I could not keep her out of the tunnel – this time she didn’t want to go in>>
It might be that the wing wraps have come up in value, or that she needed you to turn to the tunnel more (or both 🙂 ) But also, the barking in the background adds an element of distraction that she might not be ready for, in terms of being able to process all the cues AND ignore the barking – note how she did really well when things got quiet. When I train my puppies, another dog can be in the room as long as they are not staring or barking because baby puppies really cannot process distractions like that yet (brains are not developed enough). So if the adult dog is barking or staring? They are voted off the island LOL and have to leave the room and go to a different area where we cannot hear them.
For this game, to solidify the verbals: line her up at your side with a cookie, gently take her collar, then stay the verbal 3 or 4 times…. Then let go and start to move. That will get the verbals really solid because they will predict the motion. If the motion and verbal happen at the same time, she will be reading motion (which is fine) but not really processing the verbals.
Great job here!!
TracyGood morning!
>>Except….. he finds running around dragging the big toy very very reinforcing so I am back to happily being pummeled if he comes back at all >>
For efficiency, you can hold onto one end of the big toy to be able to get him back for the next rep. But definitely keep working on the trading during play sessions so he can have free time with the toy (I use a “go for a run” cue) as well as trading for something better 🙂
Looking at the video:
>>When I did the session of moving toy/target alone without the wings he was not crouching like he does here so I’ll do another session without the jumps – but I also let it go here to avoid frustration>>
You did the right thing to not worry about the crouching right now – I am pretty sure he didn’t know he was crouching 🙂 He was probably feeling a “HECK YEAH THIS IS FUN” feeling and the crouch just happened. He did leave the sit position and move into the stand on one rep, but was generally good on the others (a little front foot shift to be balanced).
But the #1 most important thing about start line stays is that we don’t fight with the dog about it 🙂 So many people harass dogs about their start position and it just adds stress to the situation. I personally let my dogs pick their position at the start: I just use my stay cue and let them settle into whatever feels good. Then when they are settled, that is the position I maintain as I lead out. There are some days where they are just too excited to sit, and letting them choose to stand has really helped with arousal regulation. Plus, there’s no arguing with me and the dog at the start line 🙂
And many, many dogs do not find the sit to be a good position for a stay (because crouching and butt lifting happen and they might not even realize they are doing it). When he was standing, he was pretty balanced – so you can play with a stand stay! It will be easy enough to train: were you using a stay verbal? When he is standing, cue the stay and walk away a little, then release. Easy! LOL!
The stand is a great option because that leaning forward out of excitement will not be a problem and he will be very balanced!
Playing the video in slow motion – he is pretty organized on the set point! Yay! I think the footing might be a tiny by slippery as he leaves the stay, but otherwise he is doing really well! When you get outside on grass, you might find that the 4 foot distance is too short so you can move it up to 5 feet and see what he does.
>>I was trying for 6 inches from first bump but he finds getting repositioned at the set up very frustrating so I will work on that separately (It is also coming up in our running contact homework)>>
You will see some line up games posted this week to help with the various line ups! And on the set point, to get the dog into the sweet spot, I often face the dog to get the sit (I am on landing side of the first jump) because yes, they do get frustrated when I try to get the exact spot. And as long as he is ‘close enough’ – you can leave him where he is sitting so he doesn’t get frustrated. What is happening in the RDW homework? We can think of a different approach for that too 🙂
Great job here!!
TracyGood morning!
HUGE CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR NAC SUCCESS!!! What a thrill to have such great runs with Frankie! Please post a photo of her with her ribbons (they gave our ribbons, right??)
>>Question on the Lazy Contacts game. For a 4 on dog, is it better to have them touch the target with their paws – like a mat touch? >>
For a small Boston like Bazinga, you will probably only need the 4on behavior for the teeter, right? I am guessing it will be a running contact for the a-frame and dog walk. So for the 4on – a paw target is great! I like the smalls to have a little extra on their paw target on the end of the teeter, likes scratching at it, so that have something to do while the teeter takes its sweet time moving to the ground. It is like a slow elevator so the smaller dogs!
>>Or is it ok if they touch it with their nose? >>
I think it will be uncomfortable for her to touch it with her nose – she will have to slow way down and do weird things with her neck 🙂 Maybe a chin bob towards the target if you want? That can get the weight shift. But the paw hit and scratching at it easier and the dogs think it is fun too 🙂
>>I’m not sure which target I should use.
Try a long strip of cardboard (8 inches long and maybe 3 inches wide) that can go on the end of the board and she can paw smack it 🙂 That way it can go right at the end of the board and also there are no previously trained behaviors that might be confusing.
>>I think I can’t use “back, back” as my verbal. I am so annoying!!>>
HA!!! I have often thought that I sound like an angry duck LOL!!!!! I grew up in NYC and I can’t get rid of the accent entirely so that Fran Drescher sound comes out LOL!!!! But it is fine as long as my dogs know what I want 🙂
You sounded like a happy duck! I think you should keep the verbal, partially because it is working so well and partially because it will always make you laugh a little 😁
>>That was the make-it-or-break-it move in the challengers round on jump #16! It was death-defying to watch!>>
Yes! Was that after the dog walk? I remember seeing it somewhere but I didn’t get to watch much of it. I bet some of the handlers handled it as a threadle wrap, because that would be very effective there too!
This session went well – on the first couple of reps, she needed to see the connection and then the wrap on the 2nd wing, but then she was nailing it! Nice job to you with your connection so she knew which side to be on and which end of the tunnel to go to, and also good patience to let her get past you to the wing.
The only thing she had trouble with was when you were adding more countermotion on the circle wraps – you were correctly trying to keep moving forward right behind her while she had to finish the wrap, and she was like WHAT?!?!?! You started it a little at 1:09 and that was the right amount of countermotion pressure for now, and she got it.
The rep at 1:25 was also really good with the countermotion: you were moving forward but also really helped with connection to the ‘landing’ spot behind you.
You were moving faster at 1:38 and that was a little too much countermotion pressure for now so she pinged off the pressure. It is correct handling but it is really hard, so you can move right behind her like you did but without as much speed – and throw a reward behind you to the landing spot to help reward her for continuing the wrap even with you moving forward like that. She is pretty perfect with the rest of it so you can add this element.
Great job here!!
TracyGood morning!
This is going well! Considering what you mentioned about things falling apart when you changed position, I think she was super about finding the position without a lot of help, and with you on the side. Yay!!!
One thing to add now: stand totally still til after she gets herself into the 2o2o, don’t try to move at all to help her get straight. And if she gets into it the 2o2o and it isn’t perfectly straight? No worries! You can still put the target in, but put it in a spot that will help straighten her out. For example, she immediately offered a 2o2o right at the very beginning, so you can reward that with the target going in but put it directly in the center so she is straighter. You called her off the board on that rep, but you can totally reward her!
Since she is getting the idea of doing this with you in different positions, you can emphasize her moving into position by rewarding her 2 or 3 times then releasing her – so she can immediately offer again 🙂
Nice work!
TracyGood morning!
>>We did this yesterday and I thought we had great connection and my timing was good. But NO video. >>
That is the Murphy’s Law of Agility Videos: the best runs and training sessions happen when we are not getting video. LOL!!! I totally feel that pain!
>>Then we did it kind of without planning today and my timing and communication was off so poor Seren was not sure of which way to go. I think I was just not on and for sure my timing and connection was off but will wait and appreciate your evaulation.>>
Based on your description here, I was expecting a lot of crash & burn on the video…. But it was a really good session!!!! Yes, 2 little bloopers that you were able to fix, plus lots of good connection, verbals, and rewards. I don’t think Seren thought it was a bad session at all, it looks like he had a lot of fun!!
The first “go” rep was really good – you can say go sooner (before he enters the tunnel so he knows what is coming before he exits) and take off up the line, so you are way ahead. This challenges him to find the line from behind you!
FC Wrap to you – yes you pushed into him on the first rep, and turned your feet to the RC line so he read the RC – good boy Seren! You were much clearer about facing forward to the wrap wing and decelerating rather than pushing into the line on the next rep of that! You can accelerate into the wraps more then decel facing forward, to get even more commitment.
The RC reps looked really good – if you want the left side of the tunnel at the end, you will need to converge and push him to it more with big connection. The rep at the end looked good with the RC and then the blind to the tunnel! Nice!
The backside cue started well – maintain the cue of pushing into the line with BIG connection until you are 1000% sure he is going to the backside (which for a small dog that is inexperienced, will mean that he is just about arriving at the edge of the backside wing). The beginning of it as good but you relaxed the cue and turned forward before he passed you, so he slipped in to the front side of the jump.
Great job here!!
TracyGood morning!
>>With the plank he did want to do the 2on2off so breaking that pattern is hopefully not going to confusion things too much.>>
We will change the target spot and he will have an easy time with the new behavior.
He was a good monkey on the plank! He was happy to go back and forth on it, and turn around, no problem at all. You can use a ball too – toss it instead of tossing the treats 🙂
I was going to suggest you elevate it… then you elevated it LOL!!! What else do you have that can elevate it even more? He seemed happy here so we can add more challenge in terms of height.One other thing to add is jumping off the middle – stop him in the center and call him off the side. It is important that he knows how to jump off in case he ever loses his balance on the RDW. We want him to bail off safely rather than fall off.
Mountain climber:
ONE REP PLEASE LOL!!!!!! 🤣😂🤣 I know it is hard but it will be very effective. I am glad he wants more but we want him to be SO excited to do it that one rep is all he gets (for now).So to make that one rep magical:
Pick him and carry him to the top of the board. Let him see you put a giant glob of cream cheese at the top. Then bring him to the low end and let him proceed up the board with you alongside for support. It is fine if it is not fast yet – just do the one rep and be done. Might be good to do it right before breakfast so he is hungry too 🙂Here is a visual of the very first (very slow) reps of CB and Elektra on this game followed by the finished product:
>>I am wondering what else I should be doing with the teeter.>>
Since height is something that he is learning to be comfortable with and the mountain climber game is only one of the various elements of teaching the teeter, we can work on other teeter elements:
– how does he feel about the wobble board? We did a lot of it in MaxPup 1 and 2, adding noise adding backing up… I would definitely revisit that to see how is doing there. Then we can add a game that has other elements of the teeter without the height element.Great job here!
TracyGood morning!
>>So your “close, close, close” command is telling the dog what?
Close is my threadle slice cue, which means to come to the side of the jump closer to me and jump it in a slice. I was cuing his behavior, not mine 🙂 The dog should theoretically do the behavior regardless of what I do 🙂
>> I think I usually face them in between the two jumps. Like I cue the first jump, face them, pull them into me with my outside arm, and then send them over the second jump. I think. Is this wrong or less efficient than the double-crosses? >>
It is not wrong and it is one of the ways threadle slices are done: the other two are pulling them in with upper body while you run forward (no rotation) or with double crosses (like the double blinds). Facing the dog can be slower, so you might find she is faster with the dog blind!!
>>Blinds seem to always be the harder option for handling crosses but I do them as frequently as I can because if they are executed right they feel super smooth. Plus I’m fast so it’s not that hard for me to run ahead of my dogs when I need to.>>
Yes – with your running skills, you might find blinds to be the fastest options on course!
>>Also, side note, that was THE SMALLEST course dimensions I’ve ever seen!!!! >>
Ha! Yes! That was a while back and on an international style course, where the small and medium size dog distances are a lot smaller.
>>Did you walk the course knowing you would do those or are they second nature so you just naturally executed the blind double crosses where they were needed? >>
Totally walked it and planned it. It was a really complex course!
>>If I identified the blind double crosses correctly, they were used on more than just a threadle, weren’t they? >>
Yes, sometimes they were done on backsides, but that is a form of threadle too.
>>I’m not really sure what you mean in the last sentence of the above paragraph. I heard your “close” command in the BB Double Crosses video. I don’t really know how “in, in, in” applies. >>
I differentiate based on the dog’s line: when the dog enters the threadle on one wing of the jump and exits towards the other wing, without a ton of collection, it is a threadle slice (“close” verbal). When the dog enters on one wing and exits on the same wing, with a lot of collection, it is a thread wraps (‘in in’). I don’t think there were any threadle wraps in the double crosses videos, because we don’t use double crosses to cue threadle wraps.
>>Do you use the word “switch”? I hear a lot of people use it and I’m just wondering if this is one of those instances where that word is used on the front side of a jump when you are wanting them to turn the opposite way of the handler (but not wrap the jump wing).>>
“Switch” is commonly used as a rear cross cue on the front side of the jump as you describe. I use switch in only one context: when I want the dog to turn away and start a layering line rather than come back towards me.
>>but I get my left and right so confused, even when I practice and walk the course, that I think it’s not a good idea for me to use left and right. >>
You can totally use a ‘turn towards me’ verbal and a turn away verbal if it is easier!
>I guess I just can’t really visual what “in, in, in” would look like once a jump is set up. Do you have an example video? I>>
Here ya go!
Starting on one jump:
Threadle wrap versus threadle slice:
>>I realized I didn’t have the wings set up right! Is the middle one supposed to be in line with the outside two?>>
Yes, basically in line so it is not in the way too much 🙂
>>Was the intent to have short spacing between the middle and end wing so the maneuvers were harder? Hence the word tight, I suppose! You never said anything but I just caught it when I was editing my second video. >>
Yes, relatively short spacing but I think your set up was fine!
>>I had to stop a billion times to make sure I was doing the spin right. It just confuses the heck out of me for some reason. >>
Maybe think of it as a front cross followed by a blind cross (that is how my mind sees it)? That might be easier than thinking of it as something completely different.
>>Sad though because Kashia actually cantered most of the reps! She was feeling good! >>
You can totally post it!
>>I’m not going to practice anymore sequences this week because we have another trial on Friday. I entered Kashia in speedstakes again just for the fun of it.>>
Smart planning! Today is Wednesday, so she can have today and tomorrow off, then trial fun on Friday!
Have fun!!
Tracy
Hi!
Being connected like that might feel slower to you but it is actually faster on course – you don’t have to move as fast because you can direct the timing of the cues from anywhere.Have fun!
TracyGood morning!
>>Taq does not know left and right. Is this how you teach it?
Yes, this is one of the ways we teach it. The other way is with the minny pinny which we started in MaxPup 1 and will be building on here in MP 2 🙂
This session went well! Your timing got earlier and earlier as you went along – she was definitely on fire and feeling good!!! And, in her height class: we don’t want the turns to look super duper tight at this stage, because we want to keep her in extension as we figure out just how much turning she needs in order to produce the fastest course times. That is why the 8” and 12” classes in AKC often produces faster times than the 20” class: those dogs are in as much extension as possible! I want to see the small dogs being a little wider on lines at this stage 🙂
Your timing on the right verbal at :20 was spot on and the timing of the verbal & physical cue together at :26 was perfect. I really liked her turn at :27!!!!!
You can add a little more distance between tunnel and the wings (to get even more running LOL!), and add the go lines and race tracks here too! Great job!
Tracy
Good morning!
I think she liked the nice clean, approach to the line up – and when you did move her a little , you gave her food as you did it so she went with it.
Did that put her into a food zone? Quite possibly, but I think that is fine as you build up the idea of lining up when there is pressure. The toy play will come back – and separately from the other games, you can try seeing if she will line up for a toy reward.After about 3 minutes, the pressure of lining up was too hard so even with the smooth line ups you got some avoidance. So you can mix in more silly moving stuff in between like throwing the toy around, or running into the tunnel without line ups 🙂
The proofing elements went really well! She was highly successful (just one rep of a question on the tunnel cue). Yo can add the little tunnel-wrap ini sequences, I bet she will like the action!
Great job here!!
TracyHi!
>>For example tonight we worked on 4 different things but I only posted the Smiley Face game. Should I wait until you see that video before posting the next one?>>
My philosophy about video posting is: If you have ’em, post ’em! 😁 That way you will get faster feedback rather than stretching things out over a couple of days. So feel free to put them all in the same post!
Tracy
Good morning! This went really well!! I agree – he was flying!!!!
He had a couple of questions at the beginning: the
Toy in hand on the send side was too hard on the first rep, good job putting it in the other hand where he seemed fine to ignore it. And on the other side, he had a few questions about lining up:Will he line up at your side for a low value treat (to smooth out the sends) and still play with the toy? That can make it smoother but we don’t want to lose the toy play.
His wraps are looking really good! He had one question about the tunnel cue at :26 where you disconnected and turn away too early. Be sure to stay connected and keep moving to the tunnel until he is looking at it and heading towards it (like you did on the next rep at :32). To avoid frustration (because he read your physical cues correctly) if he doesn’t go in the tunnel – keep going to the wing, get the wrap, reward it… then fix the tunnel connection on the next rep.
The mini courses at the end are looking good! You can spread the distances out more so you can run more – that will challenge your connection so be sure to maintain the low hands and big connection as you run run run 🙂 You can add your left & right verbals to the race tracks too – that will help attach the verbals t those turns.
Great job here!
TracyGood morning!
Nice work on these! You can totally spread the wings out more so you can run more and also so you can show transitions. He had some questions about finding the wings (especially on the right turns, more on that below) so you can change the angles of the wing 90 degrees so he is seeing the full panel of the wing and not the thinner slice of it. The bigger visual will help him lock onto them better.
>>Julie is fairly certain that he is a right turner in flyball, but to me he seems to turn better to the left in agility. >>
He might be a right turner, it is hard to tell here because the right turns on this set up were harder to show. But also he is really young, so making a turn direction decision needs a little more time for his mechanics to develop before you start training a box turn – partially so you truly know which is the better direction, and partially so he learns the box turn mechanics with an adult body and not a puppy body 🙂
>>Am I doing something different when asking for left vs. right turns here?>>
Yes 🙂 Part of what was happening was that you were moving on a parallel line but not really cuing the wing – so he was buying time and going wider to figure out what the full cue there. The verbal was in place, but the motion supporting it was a parallel line and walking, so he was not sure what to do. You can show a transition of accelerating before he goes Ito the tunnel (but letting him see you turning to the wing before he enters, when you also sy the right verbal). Then as he exits, cue the wing with a decel for the wrap, or if it is a soft turn, you can cue and turn.
Th other thing that was happening on the right turns was that the verbal was saying right but the body as accelerating straight: On the straight line tunnel exits, when you say right you also need to turn rather than accelerate forward (all before he goes into the tunnel 🙂 ) That way he will be able to process the turn cues in order to turn when he exits rather than after he exits. On the left turns, we didn’t have any reps with that much speed on this setup, so the left turns were easier here.
It is also possible that he needs to see more connection too: On the left turns, we have a better angle of what he sees on the tunnel exit. At 2:02, the exit was not as tight and you were looking forward with your arm forward more, and not a lot of motion. Compare to 2:19 where you were looking at him more and he committed a lot better and had a lovely turn too!
Now that we are getting into handling: Assume all errors are handler errors in terms of information delivery. With that in mind, when there is an error, I want you to just keep going rather than mark it as wrong, stop him, fix it. Doing that slows him down and the error was produced by something that is unclear in terms of the info you wee giving… so he kept slowing down (like at 1:39 you were moving on a parallel line rather than showing a turn on the wing). You can see he kept getting wider and wider there on the right turns, because he had been told it was wrong a couple of times and was widening his line ti look at you more and figure it out before coming to the wing.
EXCELLENT work on the GO lines – you had motion and verbal and connection supporting the lines, and he had very few questions! There was one later in the video where he was not locking onto the wing as much – you were decelerating and staring to turn too early (2:41) Much better at 3:09 when you added more motion and connection! NICE!!
Great job here!
TracyGood morning!
The wing-tunnel proofing looked really good! She had fewer questions going to the tunnel for the 2nd time partially because she had seen it before and partially because you had more motion support – both of those really helped her! And she had no trouble doing the wing wrap when cued, even after multiple tunnels in a row. Super!
On the set point section:
This went better when the toy was further past the 2nd jump – on the first rep, it was right past jump 2 so she hit the first bar. On the other reps, it further away which gave her a lot more room. I think the distance between the 2 jumps here is good – see that first bar at 4 inches for now, and add in slowly dragging the toy before you release her and see how she does.
Great job adding motion to the go line! She found the jump even with you way out ahead and running. Super!!!!!! So now you can change it up to add a different challenge: rather than sending to the wing then being ahead of her, you can start right next to the wing, let her just about finish the wrap… then run 🙂 This will challenge her to drive ahead of you which is a really useful skill. Keep throwing that toy really early (as soon as she looks ahead) or you can have it placed on the ground past the jump before you start the wrap.
Great job here!!!
Tracy
