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Good morning!
>He is named after the 80’s Falco singer 🙂>
Yessssss I love it!
>Yes, 2 brake hands are something I need to work on, I forget to use them.>
We will be working on the when & where & why for the brake hands this summer – useful tool for sure!
> And good observation on the left being harder for him. He’s always had a harder time on the left for things like even jumping out of the car, he prefers to turn to the right. I don’t know if it’s a behavioral thing or a physical thing, but he’s always been that way.>
I think it is normal and simply that all dogs have a side-preference, much like humans do 🙂 I have 9 dogs and all have a clear side-preference (4 lefties, 5 righties 😂) that I see in life and in flyball. But it is really good to know!
I don’t see it in agility as the dogs get more mature because we balance the training carefully and I do lots of stretching/flexibility stuff to the harder side. By balancing the training, I teach hard or new concepts to the easier direction first, then teach it to the harder direction (usually in the same session or the next session). But early in their career, I give bigger or more helpful cues to assist on the harder side. And example of that would be serping my young Whippet to his left: he is a righty and needs a LOT of help with a lead change to his left. That help comes in the form of handler pressure, which helps a lot 🙂
>I was doing the thigh tap because I didn’t setup the course with enough room and I was afraid he’d smash into the wall (he won’t, but I thought he might lol).I should have fixed the course or just supported the jump better, he was a good boy and came with me.>
Got it! That makes total sense. And he was a good boy for sure <3
Have fun!
TracyGood morning!
>Being 2nd in SS which was the larger class also helped since he got more cup points there. >
Being 2nd in SS is fantastic! That is a class that tends to favor the bigger dogs – and there are plenty of bigger dogs in 12S!! Great job!!
>I’m hoping I might be able to catch you at OTR next June if your schedule follows the AKC corresponding date calendar where everything is later next year. >
I hope so too! I will ask Nancy what she thinks. I always assume it is the same weekend as my birthday (June 13) because that is what it has been for all these years.
>Lift is doing a lot better with agility handling. She is recovering better from less than perfect handling and is way less boingy even on sends so we’re doing something right there. >
Super!!!!
> She won both her SS classes at the Classic and was brilliant, but I carried her to and from the scoring/grooming room to the ring and she only did the 2 SS classes on Friday and then recovered at home the next 2 days. >
Congrats – both on the wins, but also the strategy of making it easier for her by carrying her, then letting her sleep it off for 2 days.
> She’s also reactive to movement at home – esp by Dean or Demi. And when she loses it, it sets Kaladin off and then chaos ensues…all when I’m trying to work at home. >
Oh dear, that is really hard! What about Dean and Demi will set it off – when they get up to move to a new location, or something like that?
>I was more focused on trying to sort out her GI issues >
Those are super important and the more we learn, the more we know that the GI is linked to all of this behavior and mood.
>I asked her if she thought some kind of meds would be a good next step and she agreed. >
Meds are good!! One thing to bear in mind is that a lot of the behavior vets are using ‘cocktails’ of meds to find the sweet spot for each individual dog. Between the GI stuff and the meds, you might want to talk to Dr. Kathy Murphy who is both experienced and quite genius in this area.
> but I would really like her to be able to function better in every day life. >
Totally agree! Daily life is more important than sporty life – and plus it influences sporty life too!
She was so funny when you worked all the tunnel reps: “IT CANNOT BE ANOTHER TUNNEL, MUST BE THE JUMP” hahahaha and you got some barking which is good! And spinning on the 2nd rep pf it. All of that helps set the ‘vibe’ of high arousal. She was really wild on the 2nd rep!
But she did it perfectly both times. SUPER!!!!!! You had her facing away from the tunnel n the 2nd rep so you can add in facing the tunnel too.The other thing to add on is the leash: get her wild 🙂 then leash up and proceed to the start line. That can help her learn to cope with her ‘on leash feelings’ as she moves to the first jump. We will definitely be adding more to the whole vibe-setting thing this summer and we can also include some of her regular life behaviors in it too!
>She had a harder time sitting but she didnt’ turn into an angry kangaroo and once she sat, she stayed put until released. I think with her & arousal, it’s harder to sit than it is to stay once she decides she can sit.>
Yes – being able to move into the sit position (or not being able to do it) is a huge indicator or arousal. One thing to consider is, in the interest of getting her off the start line as soon as possible, asking for a stay and letting her choose the position. In those high arousal moments, that can be great for agency and resilience! The deal is that we say ‘stay’ and give the dog a moment to choose. And once they have chosen, no movement is allowed until the release. I am happy with whatever position they choose! When really aroused, Contraband will choose a stand, Ramen will choose a sit, and LarryWhippet chooses a down (what the heck, Larry, that is weird hahahaha)
But that tells me about their arousal state and they also don’t move from position – win win!
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning!
Welcome back, great to see you here with Falco! (Side note: is his theme song “Rock Me Amadeus” by any chance, or am I just an old person now 😆 🤣) He is really cool to watch!!!
>Falco has great skills but when I put it together at a trial my timing etc is off or I’m not where I expected to be. >
Feel free to send along specific examples of this, in writing, on any maps you might have, or any videos! We can recreate the challenges so you (and everyone) is very prepared to tackle them at trials 🙂
The work on the video looked really strong!
The hardest part for him was getting jump 3 on the first setup, with him on your right side.
The first rep had an off course tunnel at :08 – tat was a small handling blooper where you turned away from the line too early so he came with you.
Much better parallel line running to show him jump 3 at :19 and after that!
At 1:20 you were a little earlier turning which might have been a little too soon for him (bar tick on 2).On thing I notice is that he was not as smooth turning to his left here as he was turning to his right (see below). It is possible that left turns are harder for him, so he was a bit wider on the 2-3 jump. No worries, he was sorting out how to make the bend and will keep getting better as we show it to him more.
The backside wrap on 6 looked really good!
The blind at :54 was lovely – spot on timing, and GREAT connection as he was approaching the BC jump!Is the thigh tap and check check verbal a wrap cue for the jump after the blind – he came off the line at :56. The thigh tap closed off the connection and turned your shoulders away from the jump, which is what cued him not to take it.
Same gorgeous timing and connection on the blind at 1:09! No thigh tap on the exit of it and you maintained connection, so he had no questions about taking the jump. He gave good feedback about not needing the thigh tap there and also about completely understanding the line you set using the blind. Super!!!!
Lovely blind cross timing and connection on the slightly different line at 1:23 produced the backside easily! He was a little wide on the turn there at 1:25 (almost slicing the bar), even with good decel from you. One thing we can add is – as he is catching up to you after the blind – sending him to the backside with both hands held low and on the entry side of the backside wing. Those ‘brake’ hands ask for a touch more collection and he will naturally turn tighter. It is something we will definitely play with this summer!
Other side:
The layering line and parallel path was easier for him here! Maybe he has an easier time turning to his right?Very nice connection over 5 to get the backside of 6.
Another gorgeous blind cross at 2:15! And 2:30!!!! And 2:45!!! You are absolutely nailing the timing and connection!!! Clearly the blinds are a BIG strength for you. That is great because being able to confidently blind like you did here is soooo useful on course.
Looks like you wanted the backside at 2:18 and 2:33, but got the front side. That happened because your line was pretty directly to the front side, and you shifted your arm forward ahead of him to cue the backside: which actually cues the front side by turning your shoulders to it.
So he was pretty convinced that it was a front side. I thought you wanted the front side too at 2:18 🙂 That line of motion and shoulder turn will override the backside verbal in this situation.Compare to the last rep at 2:47 where two things were a little different:
-you had a clearer line of motion on the blind cross exit, right on the line you wanted him to take
-You had your arm back as you connected to him after the blind, and kept it back until after he passed you on the way to the backside.He went to the backside pretty easily there. Yay!
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning!
He was a good boy here!!! Held the stay without a question until the reward or release so just about all of it. And when released, he understood to go to the cone, no problems at all. Super!!!!
The one blooper was at 1:55 where he scratched then stood up as if he forgot what he was doing for a moment 😂 No worries about that! It is possible that the food reward was making him a little too ‘chill’ so that is why it happened.
You can mix in a toy reward too – can he hold the stay beautifully like this when he is more pumped up? That will be great practice for agility trials! I am betting he will be successful, because I have seen his stays in some of your class videos (looking good!) and I image the duck in his field training gets him pretty pumped up too 🙂
Since this went perfectly, you can add in taking it outside (when the weather cooperates :)) and using it on a wing while adding more and more distance.
Great job here!!!
Tracy
Good morning!
>Sadly, I do have a tug-it cue, and I have forgotten to use it. >
This is totally relatable! I catch myself using “YAY!!!” a whole lot hahahaha Several of my dogs have somehow taught themselves to ignore the toy in my hand despite all of the “yay” they hear. But a few have taught me that they needed me to be super consistent, and I think Rou is like them. The good news is that because I was consistent with it when they were teenagers, they figured it out quickly and allow me to be sloppy about it now LOL! I expect the same with Rou – she will figure it out brilliantly and then it won’t matter as much if you use it or not.
>She did great!>
I totally agree!!! It looks like she was staring at the toy at the beginning, so the pattern game/eye contact moments were a great start. It seemed easier for her to move past the toy on your left side (or maybe it was the camera angle). But on your right side, she had to move past the toy that was right over her head – there were tiny hesitations but she did it each time! Happy dance!!!!
So you can apply this to the rocking horse games: 2 wings, front crosses between each wing. And to prevent switching the toy back and forth from hand to hand, have a small toy in each hand 🙂 the use the marker when you want her to grab one.
And you can also do some tunnel reps or wing-to-tunnel reps using this same concept.
>As far as building value, we have wasps nearby. Lately, they haven’t been showing up until about 10:00 am, so I’ll see if I can try some hunks of food before they show up. Better yet, let’s hope my husband can find the nest and give me peace of mind.>
Ewwwwww wasps!!!! I hate those buggers!!! The food throws can wait til the wasps are gone. I think the ‘ignore the toy’ games will bubble over nicely to building value for the jumps so you can do those when you aren’t concerned about the wasps.
Keep me posted! Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
This part of the session went well too. You mentioned something about ‘too much motion’ here, but actually your motion was good! We do want you to release after you pass the exit wing – the trick is looking back (and pointing back) to the landing spot of the jump. You were pointing back to it which helped (like at 1:24) but you were looking at him so he didn’t always know you wanted him to take the jump (even with the lurely reward placement 😂 😆)
So this is a spot where you get to disconnect from his cute face and shift your connection to full look at the landing spot. That will turn your shoulders to the landing spot too, which helps him commit. Looking at him makes the countermotion harder because it keeps your shoulders forward and never indicates the landing spot. It will feel weird to disconnect 🙂 but it should help!
If he still thinks the countermotion is weird after you disconnect to look at/point at the landing spot, you can use something like a food bowl as a visual aid to help convince him 🙂 followed by throwing the treat back to the bowl (or even having it there in advance to help him love the countermotion).
Nice work!
Tracy
Hi!
>I love your portmanteau word, lurely. >
Ha! And you win the prize for using the fanciest word ever here at Agility U!
The backside session went well – the best reps were when you were moving forward AND keeping your arm back (1:14 and 2:05 and 2:28 were my favorite reps!)
Swtting the line with motion was key (being a little ahead of him for now). When you were not moving as much, he would get in front and see the front of the bar.
And keeping your arm back with your eyes directly on him kept your shoulders pointing to the line to the backside. When your arm moved forward or you softened the connection by looking forward, that turned your shoulders to the front side of the bar.
On the successful reps, the motion forward (parallel to his line) and the arm back/connection worked together to show him the line to the backside. Nice rewarding! And I don’t think he got sucked into the tunnel at all.
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning and sorry for the delay! I was experiencing “travel adventures” trying to drive home from Minnesota which added an extra 24 hours to the drive. Eek!
Thanks for the videos, they are very helpful – I have ideas for you! There are a couple of things we can clarify for her but I don’t think we need to go that far back to do it.
One thing that will really help is a consistent marker that tells her that she can grab the toy in your hand. She might think that the toy in the dog-side hand moving near her is the cue to take it… so she is really focused on it. My dogs all went through this in their training so I clarified their marker cue – I use “bite” for when I want the dog to grab the toy, and the toy is not available until they hear ‘bite’. This helped ENORMOUSLY 🙂 I had to be very consistent early on and then they figured it all out so I don’t have to be as consistent now 😂 I let go of the toy as soon as their mouth is closing on it because young dogs will come in ‘hot’ to the toy – and if it is a smaller toy (to be slightly less visible in the hand) I don’t want to get any accidental hand chomps.
Basically, the marker teaches them to ignore the toy completely and focus on the work. Then when they hear the marker, they can grab the toy.
>If I send with the toy in the hand closest to her, it is too big of an ask.>
Looking at the first video: I see 2 examples of where we can clarify the toy stuff with a marker.
At :20, you switched the toy to the opposite hand (which draws her attention to it) and then didn’t get connection after the wrap, so she ended up on the wrong side then went to the toy because it was moving and right in front of her.
At :52 – you had better connection after the wing wrap! You had the toy in the dog-side hand for tunnel send and she was heading to it. Then there was a small disconnect as you turned away so she went with the toy because the tunnel cue was not as clear.
Yes, clarifying connection will help of course but more importantly, clarifying when the toy is available will help her focus on the handling and obstacles. The toy is exciting but we can shift her focus from it and emphasize the obstacles more for sure.
>And I night be overthinking since my background are my soft Vizslas>
I think part of what you are seeing versus the Vs is that Rou has to really get lower to get into the tunnel (she is probably a bit taller than them and also built differently) – and that collection to get into the tunnel requires her to slow down.
Also, she is great at reading decel, which will come in very useful when she is running courses!!!
For example at :39 – You were standing still at the wing so she really decelerated. No worries, things will get easier in terms of acceleration versus deceleration as she learns more about sequences. I prefer a thoughtful dog at this age, especially in the working breeds – letting them think their way through the ‘puzzles’ right now results in super fast AND accurate dogs.
>I think she’s doing great but I a not quite seeing the “confidence” I would like. I am not sure if that is the right word.>
It might be the understanding that we can help her with. When she understands, she will be a rocket ship! If she slows herself down, she is probably thinking and that is far better than getting overaroused and flinging herself at it or jumping up at you or all of the other adolescent things that could happen.
>At the end, I put it in my pants. This was interesting to see her speed slow down, which I am ok with. She might be thinking, and she might be getting a little tired>
Probably both, in terms of thinking and getting tired or hot. Plus, the visibility of the toy is a big motivator so with it hidden, she had to think about things differently.
So to help her out and make this all smoother, you can take this smiley face setup 🙂 and work on the toy stuff:
– choose a toy she likes but it easier to scrunch up on your hand and to throw.
– Add your marker word every time you want her to have it, being as consistent as possible to use it and not use praise or stopping or hand movement before it (this is hard for us humans!!)– Have the toy deliberately in your dog-side hand, and send her to a wing wrap (turning her to her easier side). She will have to go past it to get to the wing. When she does, do a FC, use your marker word, and let her take the toy from your hand. When her big jaws are closing around the toy, let go of the toy so she doesn’t grab your hand along with the toy because it might be smaller than usual 🙂
– Repeat that with the tunnel! Straighten it a little so it is easy to get her tall self into. With the toy in the dog-side hand, do an easy tunnel send. When she goes through the tunnel , use your toy in hand marker and let her come take it (letting go of the toy just as she gets to it.
If something goes wrong (like a little disconnect or something) – you can use a treat as a reward for effort or to reset her line. Or, you can use the toy marker then give her the toy. Or try to do a quick re-send to the obstacle. But don’t tug if she just grabs for it and you haven’t used the marker, because that will ultimately be a bit confusing about when the toy is available and when to focus on it.
When she has the lightbulb moment about ignoring the toy til she hears the marker, we put it all back together and it will be fast and easy 🙂
Looking at the 2nd video:
>This bled into our rear cross homework. If the toy is on the outside of the wing at all, she will wrap and run by the side of the wing.>
I think part of what happened here was that the exit of the wing wrap presented a straight line to the toy based on your position, and your RC happened a bit early so it pushed her off the line and straight past the jump 🙂
But we can definitely build more value for the jump! It sounds like we can get that by doing short blasts with super high value rewards. Those can be giant pieces of food or we can take the ‘ball is life’ approach 🙂 I have used giant chunks of cheese or cold chicken (very short sessions) because they are high value and easy to see. When she looks towards the jump as you are moving towards it, you fling the giant chunk. She might also like it delivered with a lotus ball or treat hugger.
For the ball-is-life approach – we know she loves the ball so the value transfer will be powerful 🙂 But we also don’t want her to splat herself chasing a ball! So we can do some arts-and-crafts 🙂 To use a ball effectively and safely, you can get a big hollee roller toy, cut one of the strands and shove a ball into it. That makes it easier to throw and see, but more importantly: it is a super high value reward that she can scoop up on the run 🙂
Then with the throwable high value rewards, we look at the wind in your hair games: have the exit of the wing wrap present a very straight line to the jump. Do a bunch of reps going straight and we have two approaches I like to take for this:
– you can be running up the line and as soon as she looks at the jump, throw the reward (rather than waiting til she gets to the jump).
– do a toy races variation with a placed toy. Have the toy or giant food reward (on a target) placed out ahead. Send around the wing and race her to the reward! If you get there first, it is yours to party with and she watches the party but does not get the reward. Feel free to cheat to win at first. Ha! She will probably only lose that race once or twice before she leaves you in the dust to get to the jump. Making it more of a ‘win the race’ game can build a lot of value and excitement into finding the jump 🙂 plus she will not think about it as much.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning and sorry for the delay! I had to drive home from Minneapolis and my RV was doing its best to break itself – slide, jacks, brakes… At the final gas stop 90 minutes from home last night, the battery decided to croak and it would not start LOL! But I outsmarted it and made it home 😆 only 24 hours late. I see you Bazinga email and will head to it next!
>I really think they should be birthday-months.>
Totally agree, as long as it is good weather. No snow, heat, or hurricanes allowed 😆
The minny pinny went pretty perfectly to the left turns – the little dude is a lefty! The right turns started off but he really told us that they are the harder turns for him to process.
It was really interesting that he had to walk away, do a full body shake at 1:02… then came back he could do the right turns. He just needed to reset himself to the harder side. Very cool to see!!!
Let him sleep on this for a few days to let latent learning work its magic 🙂 Then I bet he can do the right turns as well as the left turns.
Great job!
Tracy
Hello!! I think we should all just join you in the Azores!!! Your Facebook posts look spectacular!!!!!!! Enjoy the rest of your adventure and safe travels home!
Tracy
Hello and welcome! We missed you at OTR this past weekend but it looks like you had a great weekend!
Thanks for the update about Kaladin and Lift! I am happy to bug you to finish her contacts this summer 🙂
> but still trying to work through her extended teenager hyper-arousal tendencies around motion (worse in everyday life than while training).>
Fill me in on the latest scoop: I know she has boing-up at you and had trouble recovering if your connection was not perfect especially on a send. Let me know if this is still the case or if there are different things happening. My plan for the summer is to work on training/behavior as well as just handling 🙂
Tracy
Hello and welcome back!!! It will be fun to see your dogs work through these challenges. A lot of the games directly look at the impulse control and arousal regulation – that is important. And we will be looking at a lot of handling from a distance and staying on lines versus getting turns.
Have fun!
Tracy
Hello and welcome! I am looking forward to getting started!! Thank you for the list of challenges, that will be useful!
>Current challenges: teeter inconsistency, bailing at the end of weaves, >
We will use the skill challenge games for this!
>running past slices and threadle-slices, coming off a big curved line (at distance) and running past a jump, >
We will definitely work on all of this.
>not committing to obstacles if there is any break in connection (dog walk is a major culprit here).>
Do you mean she will run past it if connection is less than perfect? I am percolating ideas for you to get commitment on these even if connection is not perfect 🙂
Have fun!
Tracy
