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Hi!
Another really strong session here!I love the timing of your check cue at :11, :26, :42, :56, and dig cue at 1:12 and 1:32. They all were happening as she was over 4 so they were in progress before she landed and made setting up the wrap on 5 easier.
The hardest part for her was not the wrap collection – it was the ’soft’ turn on jump 6, the pinwheel jump after the wrap. What was happening was that on the wraps (:13 :28, :43, :57, 1:14 and 1:34)
she is turning really well! You are pretty far away from the line/wrap wing, so you end up holding still to be able to push her back into the gap for the middle jump – that worked well overall but then it made the turn cue for the 6 jump late so she was going wide on those (I don’t think she was anticipating the toy throw).To help get the great wrap collection and the nice turn on the pinwheel jump, you can drive in harder to the wrap jump. Rather than be decelerated and end up positionally a bit far from the line, you can trust her more and cue jump 3 and 4 (the 2 jumps after tunnel) and drive hard to the wrap wing… but as she approaches. The 4 jump, start your wrap verbal like you did and start to decelerate. That should put you in a great spot for the wrap – and are importantly, it will be easier to send her to the 5 jump and as soon as she looks towards it, you can turn and run to the 6 jump and 7 tunnel (which will get a good turn on 5 :))
So basically, being closer to the wrap wing will get you a great turn on 5 and also help set a nice line 6-7-8. Just remember to maintain the timing that you used here to cue the wrap 🙂
One really cool thing here was that even after the wide turn, she is driving back to the jump before the tunnel (#7) like mad, really looking for it! I think a few weeks ago she might have run past it, so it is great to see her looking for the lines so well!
She did have a bar down at :26 – as you started the wrap verbal, you did a movement with your hands that distracted her. She was better with it at :42 (ticked the bar) so that is good info – you can do random hand movements when doing the lazy game so she learns to jump nice and clean even when your hands do something 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi!
Yep, it is wild to see Minnesotans and Michiganders training outside in light jackets… in FEBRUARY!!! But it is great to get the youngsters more time on these sequences 🙂Her fast lazy game is looking good! She is really looking for the jumps even when you started running: hooray for a weirdly warm winter so you could work this at big distances 🙂 I am doing a big happy dance for how well she is looking at the line and your motion is not an issue. Yay! You can work up to running as fast as you can – you are a fast runner so we can start showing her your speed 🙂
The timing of your verbals was good here! Based on what we are seeing of her speed already (and knowing the bars will end up at 20” or higher) – you can start playing with timing the cues to be earlier now. I believe she will need them as she is over the bar or even taking off for the jump. That way she will have more time to process the cues (bearing in mind that at full height she will land further from the jump and will probably take one less stride). Plus, she will get used to hearing verbals over the bar and she can sort out how to keep clean jumping happening (or we can help her if she has questions :))
Great job! Fingers crossed that your weather doesn’t get icky!
Tracy
Behold the power of chicken!!! Good boy!!! He is looking great! Time to add more distance – spread those jumps out to get them as far apart as possible (might take a couple of sessions :))
As the distance increases, throw the chicken more randomly on the line (rather than just after jump 3), especially when he is heading to the middle jump.
Since he has decided he LOVES the chicken (yum!) you can try a lotus ball or treat hugger so it easier to throw a big distance.
Great job!!!! Thank you for the update!!
TracyHi! Training outdoors in February – crazy that you have no snow and aren’t wearing 300 layers of clothing! But fun to be able to train!!
>>especially on the subtleties,>>
There are so many subtleties in handling, especially young dogs! This was a really good session to see what she needed to get the commitment on the wrap and the collection – it comes down to connection!
Looking at the most successful reps first: the last two reps on video 3 (:22 and :39) had the most connection, which allowed you to decelerate and get the commitment too.
Looking at video 1 to compare: at :13 and :28 you disconnected by looking at the wrap jump ahead as she was coming over the middle jump, so she looks at you – that drew her off the line of jumps, so when you did the FC she wasn’t committed and just came to you.
On Video 2, you added more motion and that really helped!
At :07 there was a disconnection like on video 1, and she looks at you and comes off the line. At :20 she can see more of your face so commits a lot better! On the last 2 reps (:41 and :54) you used better motion to get commitment. Adding more connection will help allow you to decelerate and tighten those turns (she was landing then turning there).The 3rd video had more connection especially on those last 2 reps!
So to get the best collection – keep using the decel, but ramp up the connection as you do it. So when she is landing from the middle jump, your eyes can be on her eyes and your hand pointed back to her nose. As you start to decelerate, keep moving forward and looking at her – don’t rotate until you are sure she is taking the jump 🙂 For youngsters, you can stay in decel mode until you see her front feet lift off for the jump. Watching for that will help you be very connected and will support commitment too! As she gets more experienced, you will be Abel to rotate even earlier.
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy>> I think it always throws me off what verbal I should be using when it’s just the wing but imagining the jump there instead is super helpful.>>
Perfect! And that way you can decide if it is a frontside wrap, soft turn, or backside cue. Soooooo many words LOL!
Good morning! The 2 games here are looking good!!!
>>We still struggle with not seeing the treats in the grass.>>
Reward markers will help with this – a ‘get it’ instead of a yes or praise will help keep her looking forward so you can toss the reward to her line. That way she will see it landing ahead of her, rather than missing it when she is looking at you.
The sending on the first video is looking really good, her commitment is excellent! This is where you can see her locking onto the jump and say ‘get it’ and throw the reward to the line. That will help her not have to look back at you at all 🙂
The 2nd video also looked really strong!! I think you can trust her commitment even more:
On the ‘get out’ to the middle jump – send like you did but then turn directly to the next jump and tunnel (like you did at :23 and :35) rather than rotate towards her (:04 and a little at :53).The timing of the verbals was getting earlier and earlier, which is great: you can use your left/right verbal at the same time you do the physical send cues – your timing at :36 was spot on! You were a little late at :22 and :53, where you sent and then said the verbal. The verbal can start even before the physical cues but not later than simultaneously with the physical cues.
Great job here! You can add in more running 🙂 and also the wraps and crosses in the next sequences!
Tracy
Hi!
>>I didn’t realize that we would be working through some contact stuff in Maxpup.>>
We do some games here (but not the full progression like in the teeter class).
This session went well! She seems confident driving up the board (there is a tiny bit of movement and that does not seem to concern her at all).
For the next steps – you can put the reward at the end of the board rather than hand deliver it to her. That way, you can start to vary your position: send her while you hang back or move away laterally, etc. I use a big spoon duct-taped to the underside of the board so it is sticking out and easy for the dog to reach. And something soft and squishy (like cream cheese) is perfect to help ‘glue’ the reward to the spoon 🙂
Great job!!
Tracy
Hi!
These are looking really good!>>On the last exercise I initially was using a soft turn cue (swing) with wrap cue (check) at the beginning of the session. But I think dropping the wrap cue is better in this type of situation.>>
Do you mean for the middle wing? The send and FC on the 2 outer wings are definitely wrap cues (those are looking really good, especially when you were doing the full sequences). Those left turn wraps (from your right side) were fantastic!
For the middle wing: I think the FC to the tunnel is better suited for the soft turn cue. If you were doing a FC back to the other wing there, a wrap cue would be the better fit. I like to envision a jump bar there: what would the turn look like? Going to the tunnel, it is a moderate collection. Going back to the other wing, it is a big collection and she would have to come back around the wing on a very tight turn back to you.
It was hard to hear all of your verbals so let me know if that makes sense.
>>Also I don’t know how much motion and turning to use vs. not use yet either. By the last rep definitely had a perfect mix.>>
Yes – lots of good practice to play with timing! Your connection was very strong overall.Sending to the outer wings to wrap back to the tunnel looked great!
Looking at the FC on the middle wing:At :29, the FC was a little late but I think she was also surprised that a FC would happen with a tunnel right there! She figured it out quickly though – the next rep at :38 had great timing of the FC and she responded really well! Good reward there!
At :44, your timing was a later and position was not as good (motion was moving past that middle wing) so she was wider there. Compare to the rep at :57 where your timing was earlier and you were not as far past the middle wing – that set a better line and got a really nice turn!
One more suggestion:
Try not to do spins on the tunnel entry when you want a straight exit (:47, :54, :59 for example) – we will want her to turn on the exit if she sees a spin on the entry, so keep these straight exits as post turns so she doesn’t learn to ignore the spins.
Great job here!!
TracyHi!
Plank confidence is going well! You can elevate it with a block under each end, to add a bit more height. And be sure to teach her how to turn around and ‘jump’ off from the middle of the plank at each level, so she can understand how to use her body in case she loses her balance.
Nice work!
TracyGood morning!
Great job starting the lazy game here! She did really well. 2 suggestions for the next sessions – add more distance between the jumps while you walk, so she is really flying around the lines and you are not needing to do much at all other than move around lazily 🙂
When that goes well – add in jogging and then eventually running, so she finds the lines even when you are running hard (keep mixing in rewarding for each jump or two). It might take several sessions but the goal is that she works to find the jumps even when you are running really fast (and doesn’t go around them). I have been doing that with my 2 youngsters:
Let me know how she does! It will also help her with the new games posted yesterday 🙂
Tracy
Good morning!
He was super confident on the plank! You can elevate it with a block under each end, so it is a couple of inches off the ground. That will add a little more challenge!
>>Zyp was getting so excited he was leaping off the plank and maybe that didn’t matter but I tried to slow down a little to see if he would walk the plank.>>
Yes, he was excited and that is great! But what was happening was that the reward was late… so you were actually rewarding looking towards you and leaping. He would go across the plank, look at you, leap towards you… then you took the treat out and threw it. When you slowed down, he was leaping less but still looking at you (and we want you to not have to be slow or close to the board). So to get him looking straight, have the reward in your hand and ready before he gets on the plank (it takes too long to get it from the pocket to the throw). And, when he is looking forward on the plank (even if he is only halfway across it), throw the reward before he looks at you. You can also use a food bowl as a target to help him look ahead, or a manners minder 🙂
The one step sends are going well!
>>We also worked on one step sends and it looks like I might have been getting to close to the wings. >>
The distance was pretty small so you can add more distance between the tunnel and wing. That way you can stay nearer to the tunnel exit on the sends and he will move away from you.
One thing I noticed on the first couple of videos here was there was lots of barking – maybe a toy is better for him rather than food only? There was less barking when the toy came out as the reward. After rewarding, you can play a bit then trade the toy for a cookie between reps so he lets go of it and he doesn’t pummel you when you move it away.
Video 1 – good job here working out the connections he needed to see and staying in motion to the middle wing. At :22 you were disconnected going to the middle wing, so he came to you. Nice adjustment on he next rep to be more connected and get the commitment! When using the middle wing, the send is to the middle wing (not to the first wing after the tunnel) so you can send to it and do the FC sooner, without moving as close to it (which puts you in a better position to show the tunnel entry).
Video 2 – he did well on the left side sending! When you sent from your right side at :08, you had a small step but no arm and not a lot of connection, so he looked up at you. You can have more direct connection, looking directly at him, and you can also use your arm to give a swoosh forward (like bowling 🙂 )
Video 3 –
Definitely getting better with connection!! Yay! You can use your arm a little more (let it move forward with your leg as you send) and add more eye contact – that will make the send even clearer as the wings get further away.He was really good when you didn’t do the FC, followed your shoulders really well and it ended up being a tunnel threadle. Good boy! And the last rep looked lovely 🙂
Great job here!!!
Tracy
Good morning!
The first teeter clip looked great – she seems to be really loving her teeter! Because she watches you on the way down to reset, you should probably lift her off the high end (or help her down the board carefully, but she still drops a hind leg off in the 2nd video). The board will be moving soon so we don’t need any Belushi rolls LOL!! She did crack me up when she rolled over then hopped back on as if nothing happened (because, COOKIES! Lol! )
She did really well on the 2nd video too! A little impulse control was a good thing 🙂 She did well with the various positions you showed her – no problem at all. The only other position to show her is that you will keep walking by when she is at the end, and she needs to stay on the end and not try to do any leaping or dock diving off of it 🙂 So start it by moving sooooo sloowwwllly past the end of the board when she is at the top eating. Eventually we will add more speed where you are running past the board.
The plank confidence game looked great! She was definitely loving the speed!
>>I used 1 MM and one single-treat dispenser. It still worked!>>
This was so clever and worked great!! She was going super fast and looked very confident too.When the 2 reward devices were a little further from the plank, she was leaping a bit. The leaping went away when the devices were closer, but the leaping was a good insight into what she might do on the full speed dog walk. So, question: are you going to train a running dog walk? If so, we can get a mat target involved and teach her to target the mat between the 2 devices (without a plank at first). And when she is happy to target the mat, we can add it to this plank game to keep all the speed and not have the leaping 🙂
Looking at the wingin’ games: this is going really well! Her commitment is looking really strong. When you were sending to the wing on your left side, your connection and send timing was just about perfect (you were decelerating to set up the send, and looking at her as you sent her).
The only question there was at :39 when she didn’t commit: you sent with your left/dog-side leg hanging back. Compare to the other reps on your left side (like the next rep at :45) when you sent with the dog side leg and she had no questions. Yay!
The difference between those reps and the rep at :39 was that on all the good reps, you decelerated so you were able to take the big step with your left leg. On the :39 rep, you didn’t decel – you hit the brakes and sent, which caused your left leg to stay back. So…. Decel for sure! It worked perfectly.
She had a few questions when she was on your right side to send – there were at :04 (she didn’t send to the wing) and at :21, :36, :50 (little head checks). Those were places you can add more connection, looking at her more as you send. If she is behind you, keep looking at her as you send her past you. On those reps, you looked forward before she got past you, so she looked up at you.
The lotus ball job moment was GREAT! I love it!! She did well with the lazy game. She had some questions about that middle jump, possibly because she had to drive pretty far ahead of you. So, if she lands from the first jump on ether side and is looking ahead… you can throw the lotus ball over the 2nd jump. That will help her look for that jump even sooner, which will build up even more commitment 🙂
Check out the new handling games added yesterday, she is ready!!
Great job! Have fun!
Tracy
Hi! Nice session here!!!
The sends at the beginning looked great – he is happy to send and you didn’t have to work hard to get it to happen 🙂 We don’t want you to have to work that hard on course LOL!!
The first circle around the sequence with speed was harder for him! Yes, you can have a little more connection but I think he was having a bit of young-dog-motion-processing moment. What I mean by that is you were going fast! So he went fast 🙂 but oops, missed 2 of the jumps. On the next reps, you slowed yourself down a little (and had good connection) so he found the jumps.
Because he is fast and you will need to also run fast, you can gradually add more and more of your speed here – think of it as the opposite-lazy-game where you are gradually running faster. When adding more of your speed, though, reward each jump as you did at the very beginning of the lazy game adventures, so he gets very specific “thank you for taking the jump” info even when you are running fast 🙂
I just worked through this with my baby whippet (because whippets are all about the GO FAST and finding jumps is not always a thing LOL!!!), I have video somewhere that I can post. It took a session and a good night’s sleep for him, then the concept of finding jumps even when I was running fast locked in really nicely!
Great job here! I will find the video asap!
Tracy
