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Hi!
You might feel rusty but the sequence on the video is looking good! We will get you feeling lest rusty. Your connection was really strong 🙂 If you point to the first jump before the release, will she look at it (and hold her stay)? If so, you can then get more and more lateral!
It was hard to see the timing of the FC with the jump out of the frame, but it looks like her head was up and she was waiting for you – so you can do it sooner. Or you can try a blind there too!
One other thing that can make it smoother – run with the toy in one hand (changing hands slows you down and draws her attention to your hands) or have it in your pocket 🙂>>Be prepared for really ugly next time with first try scenarios>>
Bring it on! It is those scenarios that give us the most info to build off of 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi!
Yes, you can go last to get less heat! I know Jana has a working spot here in the Forum but I don’t think she has a working spot in any of the live classes.
See you soon!
TracyHi!
>>Course 1 we did 1 through 13 and replaced tunnel 9 with a winged jump. Mookie nailed it X2. Buddy nailed it X2. My young boy needed a big “out “verbal with an out arm to support him to go from 4 to 5 as I layered the tunnel. >>
Yay for all of them! And it makes sense that the youngest/least experienced dog would have questions about the out – that is challenging. I am glad the verbal and arm helped him!
>>He also tended to knock bars as I layered and I really had to watch him over every jump with more focus then the other 2 dogs. >>
That is normal – he was probably trying to process your cues and the distance and the lines and and and all the things… so he lost a bit of his jumping mechanics. No worries, he will sort it out with more experience with the big layering!
>>To get the backside at 13, I tried both a forced front and a backside circle and ass pass as they used to call it and all 3 dogs read either method and both methods flowed as we went to the backside of 13 to end on 8. >>
Perfect! It is good to be able to do things several different ways – the slices are generally faster.
>>The pole blocked anything else as the jump was close to the pole. Good practice though since there are trials at this building.>>
Yeah, the poles are annoying but since they are permanent, it is great to practice around them!
>>Course 2 we did 1 through 10. Not one of my 3 dogs looked at the tunnel hole staring them in the face going 5 to 6 as I thought they would >>
Superstars! Good boys!

>> Mookie and Alonso did well. Alonso read the out jump with arm 6 to 7 to avoid the tunnel now that he had done it in the other direction in Course 1. >>Great!
>>Buddy needed an extra out arm push 6 to 7 but was also telling me that this stuff was hard for him. He did well for his second run. >>
Yup, this stuff IS hard! For the dogs that love love love agility, they are motivated to figure it out. For the dogs that only kinda like agility? They will wonder why we are making it so darned hard hahahaha
>>Moo and I are now soulmates in agility and Alonso and I are still learning each other. >>
This is the circle of life, agility-style. Remember when Mookie was so hard to handle, with all of his speed? You’ve done a great job locking in the handling with him, and I am sure you will lock things in with Alonso too!
>>Alonso’s stride length is so different then Mookie’s and I need to account for that as I cue him. Mookie is a huge gentle bird flying through the air with a huge stride length while Alonso is a flying squirrel taking many more steps >>
HA! That is a hilarious way to put it but also true. One way to deal with running two very different dogs is to set up an easy sequence and run them back to back, so you have to make the adjustments FAST! Then make the sequences harder and harder. You will get used to switching back and forth between them.

Have fun at the trial and keep me posted! Thanks for the update!Tracy
Hi!
>.1. We do grid work (could always do more)>
It might not mean more grid work… he might need slightly different grid work 🙂 The two things to consider:
~ add more speed and arousal, with the handler running/yelling directionals/moving arms 🙂 Grids can be very sterile without that and that can reduce the value! So take an easy grid like a set point and more of a handler and see what happens
~ You can modify grids to target the skills that need help, such as building the zig zag grid to full height with you running (did we ever do that? I am over-caffeinated at the moment and can’t remember LOL). And we can do ‘normal’ grids with a wrap or crazy slice at the end, to work his mechanics along with reading it with motion.>>2. We do conditioning work (we could always do more)
Same, I can always do more too. I have added 2 things that have pinpointed weak areas: mountain climbers for quads (quads are really helpful but under-used in conditioning dogs) and also some popping from a sit (on a Cato board) to a disc then pop back to the sit (for hind end strength, core, back strength, balance. My dogs found it really hard! But then as they got better at it, some other weaknesses in their form in agility/flyball improved (not surprisingly LOL!)
>>3. He drops bars mostly on slices and wraps but also on somewhat softer 180 type turns when he knows where he’s going next and is hugging the wing the turn is on and taking an efficient path to the next jump.>>Pop in as many clips as you might have so I can obsess I mean so I can look at it and see what is happening 🙂 We will be able to find patterns and sort it out. The video below is already very helpful.
>>4. Very often it is actually his freaking tail that is hitting or wrapping the top of the standard, causing it to wobble and the bar to fall>>This could be due to him needing more power in his jumping (JUST GO A LITTLE HIGHER, DUDE!) or that the info is a little late and he can’t save the bar (or both). Video will give us insights.
>>5. Often I know that’s what happens because the bar drops much later than an actual hit>
Darned gravity!
>>6. This is tons worse on light/flimsy wings>>Possibly the heavier wings/bars help him out but holding the bars better?
>>7. The jumps I’m using in these exercises are the ones he wobbles the most so I made a point of buying a set of them a couple of weeks ago at a show to see what we could work out>>You are a dedicated dog momma! Yay!
>>8. In the past I’ve mostly ignored bars but its not improving so I’m trying to become more aware of when he’s touching wings/bars (using the bells) but also trying to pause when a bar is down and assess before continuing 9. I’m generally on the fence about marking dropped bars but think at this point stopping for a second at least makes us both aware of what happened and maybe able to adjust something in the moment>>
Yes, bells and stopping are tricky – the bell might be good for you because if you hear the bell but don’t see the jumping, then more connection can be added 🙂 And stopping (which is a Negative Punishment) needs to be precisely marked/timed to be effective, in terms of marking the mechanics that drop the bar (it is annoying that punishment has to be more precise than reinforcement, darn it!) And it has to be 10000% consistent or the dogs get frustrated with us because they really don’t know why we are stopping, or they habituate to the bells. You might see some improvements in the moment because he might slow down or get careful, but we don’t want any slowing down of course!
Onwards to the video:
The first sequence looks good! And the handling in general is looking good – there are a couple of really subtle things we can smooth out to help with the bars in terms of handling.
He was a little delayed in looking at bar 1, perhaps because he was far from it and the tunnel and the jump nearer to you were both very visible. So it was a good rehearsal for looking at the jump you were indicating!
Most of the video was looking at the tail brush moments. 3 things I see here that we can totally work on. I will describe them then scroll down for ideas on how to tackle them:
First thing:
– some of what is happening is due to conflicting indicators: for example at 2:06, you were very stationary on the release, then dropped your hand and leaning forward when he was jumping and then had him stay on the line to 2. He sees all of that and was possibly trying to process it all and that resulted in less-than-ideal jumping form.For stopping him, the stopping was late here: You cued jump 2 then marked to stop him when he landed from 2 and he realized what was happening after landing from 3 (and 2 & 3 were both clean jumping efforts)… that won’t correlate to what happened at 1.
Same thing at 2:24 (similar movement& cues from you , this time your hand was going down then back up, same tail brush from him) and you stopped him sooner (after you cued 2 but indicated he should stop before he took off – but it was too late to not take the jump – but he was frustrated (we got some trash talking there LOL!!)
Doing it from a standstill on an easier line at 2:39 or walking into it at 2:52 is a reinforcement but also it is not the same question as he had on the original line, or the same handling or the same speed.
Second:
– he was having the tail hits more when you were really moving countertops the line, shoulders closed, looking back at him. That happened a few times here and I think it was what you were describing in other contexts as well. So something about that motion is also a conflicting indicator (meaning, he is seeing more than one cue and trying to figure out which to follow).
Third:
The other thing I see is that he is taking off relatively close to the jump, and that causes his hind end to lose some control – either rotating or going too high. This causes the tail to flag high (balance!) and that is what hits the wing. Aha!
Ok, so what to do about it all?
Since conflicting indicators are part of what is happening, and also since we humans will never ever be perfect… show him conflicting indicators in his grids and one jump games. Have your hand up then drop it as he is taking off. Or turn and run the other direction. Or as he is going forward in a grid, you are backing up or running away or moving laterally… all the things that might conflict with staying on the line or setting up the turn. Add them bit by bit, slowly at first so he can be successful, then ramp them up! And you can mark a bar immediately. And then it gets easier to apply to sequences.
For the pelvis rotation/butt position that is causing the tail rudder to come up high, you can pinpoint the things that get more power & reach (such as quad exercises, those pop off sits/discs I was describing, extended tech cavalettis) as well as stability (core and spine while in motion, especially side to side – I learned a good one recently for that too!). I am definitely *not* a conditioning expert but I can show you some of the stuff we do specifically for these target areas. Let me know what you already do with him and we can figure it out from there!
Great job here!
TracyHi! Nice work on these sequences!
Seq 1 – she can be on more of a slice so there is less turning on jump 1 (you will see this is a theme I bug you about LOL!)
The BC 3 to 4 was fantastic! Not risky at all there!!!!Seq 2: This was perhaps the easiest sequence she has seen in a while LOL! She was great 🙂 and you were very clear o the lines without having to move much at all 🙂
Seq 3a: she can be on more of a slice at 1 here too, rather than facing straight to the bar
This is a straightforward sequence for her too – so rather than use decel at 4… try to power through it and get really ahead to go VERY FAST and see if she can still find all the jumps!Seq 3B – she is getting more and more rotated away from the line on these LOL On this start she was facing 2 🙂 She did look at the jump but definitely keep moving her over to the slice line so she is basically doing a straight line over 1.
The FC worked great 5-6! This is another place you can send to 3 and power away up the line, to show her a lot of acceleration and see if she can still find the jumps.
One other thing to be careful of: since she sometimes goes around jumps, try to not reward with her going right past a jump like at 1:04 and 1:31 and a couple of other spots (that might be rehearsing an unwanted behavior) – either use a marker and get the reward in right after the tunnel, or have her take one more jump on the line then throw the reward.
Seq 4a: She found jump 1 nicely at 1:10! You can release with her directional too: you said “ok” (which is when she moved) then her “bye bye bye” directional (which was late so she was wide). So you can say “mark” then when she looks, “bye bye bye” to get the turn info to her even sooner.
On 4B, you said “way way way” on the same start, then as she was looking at 2 you said “GO!” So she went. And that resulted in a wider turn on 2 because the left verbal happened on takeoff. Definitely plan those verbals 🙂
The FC 3-4 went well! She is getting lots of experience with crosses in this context here and doing really well!
Sequence 5: this is more of a serp opening and she did well here too! As with the other slices, she can be on more of a straight line facing 2 here rather than facing the straight line to 1 (and 1:52 in Sequence 6). That will take out 2 turns and make the lines smoother.
I think the sequence 6 is where you started her on the other side of 1, it creates a more challenging opening but you got it done nicely!
She had more of a slice over 1 at 2:10 and did really well there. You had her more on a straight line to 1 a 2:20, so she had to turn more over 1. At 2:37 she was almost facing past 1 so had to go back a bit and get it. Ideally, she is on the first wing and can see the slice line between the uprights. She is doing well with the jumping, so you can definitely add more slice to these openings.The 2-3 line went well and she went to the backside really well! She did not take the backside at 2:15 or 2:26 (even with a decel, which we don’t want you to have to do). You got it at 2:31 by standing completely still and further away.
At2:44 you were able to stay in motion AND she took the backside – YAY! That is what we want – staying in motion 🙂 So 2 ideas for you
– on the backsides as you move through, keep moving but as you run past, shift your connection to the landing spot behind you (and then drop a toy behind you too to help draw her focus there over the bar and to reward her for taking it).
– if you need to fix something, be sure to keep your motion in there. You can perhaps move a little less fast, but don’t stand still. Use a connection shift and a dropped/thrown reward to help solidify the line while you are still moving.Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi!
>>Can you clarify what you mean by ‘response cost’?>>
Response cost is the amount of effort it takes to get the reward. So if she goes *past* a jump, you can circle her back around to the start (might take a while and be a bit clunky), so there is a lot of cost before she gets the reward (toy or continuing the fast line). If she takes the jump, you can immediately reward with a valuable reward or send to a high value speed line 🙂
>>It worked great, but I’d be nervous to plan for it – one moment too late and she’d be in the tunnel.>>
The more you expose her to the blinds in this context, the less risky it is because the dogs begin to recognize the cue and respond sooner. A very inexperienced dog will need to see the full cue before really starting to responding. But with experienced, she will be able to respond on the very first turn of your head or shoulder movement, making it far less risky 🙂
>>Are you still planning to come to that Flyball tournament in July? I was planning on coming out if you were going to be there.>>
Sadly no… my team didn’t want to go, and you can’t play in the MultiBreed tournament unless it is your regular team. Bummer!
Tracy
Welcome back and congrats on your success at the Cup! Yay!!!!
Hope you are going somewhere fun! You will have plenty of time to catch up over the summer because Mother Nature has promised to be well-behaved 🤣🤣Tracy
Hi!
>>is it possible to list courses enrolled in in order most recent to last as I have done too many courses and need to scroll to find latest – >>
it should be sorted most recent to most distant on the My Courses page:
For the Forums, you can use the arrows next to the word “Forum” to change the sorting: click on the down arrow to get the most recent forum to the top.
T
Hi!
>>still have been doing away from equipment just not in agility context.>>
She might be ready to do it in a really simple format with a high rate of reinforcement!

>> Then by the time I realise she has gone wrong she is in zoomie mode as she realised first. >>Yes, the dogs are likely to process the issue before we humans do but you can still reward! Even if she is zooming, you can toss the treats out or deliver the toy – that will both dissipate the stress from the error and also help stop the zooms!
>>some of those call offs look tricky for my timing.>>
They are not tricky if you set the lines laterally 🙂 They are definitely tricky if you run near her because she will get there sooner than you 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
You are so right about it getting really hot, really fast!!!! It is great that this sequence fits in the shade 🙂Seq 3 opening was really nice! He reads that serp opening with no problem when you are ahead on 2 like at :10 and :39
SUPER EXCELLENT timing of starting the BC 5-6 at :15 – so why did she end up in the tunnel? 2 reasons:
– it is a little hard to see from this angle but it looks like your motion and line on the BC was too close to tunnel and too far from jump, so it put her directly on the line to the tunnel
– Connection not clear enough to override the line of motion: your dog side arm needs to be back so you can make a more direct connection and so she can see itYour timing was :42 to start the blind was even better (NICE!!!) and note your connection at :43 – arm back, bug eye contact, so got it 🙂 Your motion sent her a little wide, so try to skim the wing of 5 as you start the blind and don’t go more than a half-arm’s length away from it
Seq 4: She didn’t look ahead at 1:18 but was great about finding the jump when you released her!
On the 2nd rep at 1:46 you were much further back… so it opened up the line to 2 based on your position. You split the difference on the 3rd rep, being further than rep 1 but not as far as rep 3 and she got it 🙂
>>Would it be okay to put her in her startline stay, walk out and place her tug and then release her to her tug while moving my placement each time, or is that too much of a lure and not enough of a reinforcement>>
Yes, you can totally put a toy out there! It is a reinforcement as well as a lure on the first couple of reps… then you can start to move it further and further off the line and eventually back to your hand/pocket. When placing a toy, I try to fade it pretty quickly. Usually within 3 or 4 reps.
>>In all of the starts, I’m struggling to get her to look away from me and to the jump.>>
You can use the toy placement for all of them: start each different one with the placed toy, then go to a thrown reward after a couple of reps. Isolate it on one jump for now til you see her first glance away, then fully look away at the jump 🙂
On the 2nd part of this sequence, the FC worked great at 1:20!
You got the turn 3-4 with the BC at 2:19, but as with the previous sequence your line brought you closer to the tunnel so she was wider. Great connection to show the side change!!Sequence 5: Also super nice opening! Since she understands these serpy openings so well, you can try it without stepping towards jump 2 – just moving along the parallel line – and see if she can still get it.
The FC 2-3 at 2:44 and 3:10 was really strong! Taking the step to 2 out of it will allow you to start it even soonerSequence 6: This went well too! Looking at your lead out position at 3:40, I think your position was close enough to the off course jump that she looked at it after 2 on the way to 3. For her, this sequence might not require lateral distance at all: you can stay closer to the exit wing of 1, send to 2, and get the FC to 3/send to the 4 backside and still be miles ahead for the tunnel without getting a look at the off course jump 🙂
Great job on all of these! It is really great that you are basically nailing them the first time and we are just looking at the smaller details!!!!
Tracy
Hi! Welcome back!!!
>> Big issues is bars – he mostly knocks them on tight turns when he turns tightly around the wing and hits it with his rear or wraps it with his tail, makes it rock and then the bar falls, >>
Tight turns as in wraps or slices? Let me know and we can make a plan! For conditioning, what plyometric stuff is he doing? Along with training, we might be able to target some specific strengthening things and see if that helps
>>2nd most common is when he’s in chase mode when I’m pretty far ahead to get a blind or layering with distance and speed.>>
We definitely have big lines on the courses, so you can pop out those sections and worked them in a disconnected way – first walking, then building to sprinting so he learns to continue processing mechanics while things are fast and furious. Do you do jump grids with him? You can do running (and disconnected) grids!
>>We’re also transitioning to running contacts – so there’s that new fun.>>
FUN!!!!!
>>Startlines at shows are also sometimes a thing so we’re still trying to be very consistent about that at home and shows.>>
The forward focus might be able to help that by inserting another behavior before the release! That way hopefully there won’t be any accidental pairing of the arm up or reconnection with the release, so he is less likely to leave the stay early.
>>With the heat I’m trying to get into doing a quick training session early in the morning. The only issue is that it is PRE-COFFEE and pre-food. So, I’m not always quite awake or smart yet. >>
Pre-food, ok. PRE-COFFEE?!?!?! Terrifying! HA!

Here’s the first Hot Topics Sequence 1. I watched the demo video a few days ago and didn’t realize you had done a blind on 3-4. With the lead out a front was pretty easy and I felt like it made the turn tighter for us so hope that’s okay.
He read the opening line really well on all of the runs! No problem! On the last run, he got the jump but asked a valid question about whether he should go to 1 or 4 (because you were so close to 4). So in those moments you can leave him closer to 1 while you lead out to 4.First run looked great! The FC 3-4 made sense there because you were already there and decelerated. The BC only makes sense and feels right if you are in motion the whole time and less lateral
2nd. 3rd and 4th runs – the FCs were even better! You were in a great spot for it on all of them!
Getting the turn on 5 was a little harder to gt a great one: the best ones were the last 2 reps which had the earlier decel. I wonder if a brake arm (opposite arm cuing the jump along with the dog side arm) as you decel into the send will help? The 2nd arm will help override the forward-facing-ness of the send and get even more collection.
However, he didn’t hit a single bar here so I am not sure we need to change anything!
>>Do me a favor and listen with the sound off if you don’t want to hear exactly how slowly my brain was firing. >>
Ha! Of course I had to listen with the sound on – but the traffic noise drowned out your verbals LOL!!!
>>I’m literally not always giving verbals or using the wrong verbals at times.>>
That is the pre-coffee thing. I don’t know how you did it LOL!
>> Rip’s perfect anyway here.
Yes he was! Looking great! Nice work here 🙂 Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi!
The forward focus game here will be great for more than just the start line – I bet it gets more value on lines in general which will transfer into the trial ring too!
On the first video, he did not look at the jump much (he did look at 1:54!) but he took it every single time! SUPER! If you want him to look at it more, you can isolate it as a one jump exercise and put a target plate out past the jump – that can help him look at it and then you can throw a reward to it.
He read the 1-2-3 line really well! Nice job figuring out what he needed to see on the jump versus tunnel!! At :56 – there needed to be more info to tell him it was not the tunnel. At 1:07, you had too much help 🙂 so he took the wrong side.
You did a nice job cuing 4 on the very lat rep, which set up a lovely RC on 5 to the tunnel! Yay! And great job keeping him moving after a blooper so he never realized there had been an error. Yay!The timing of the blind was good at 1:58 but you were too close to 3, so it was hard to make connection and you were running forward, so it looked like a tunnel cue to him. You can use more lateral distance by sending to 2 and 3, so you are right at 4 for the blind. That should help you get the turn and take the tunnel out of the picture.
I think on the 1B reps (video 2) he was hot and tired so he was not as accurate on jump 1 as he was on the first video. He still had a lot of success!! And I bet he will sleep on it and will be even better the next time you revisit it. If he doesn’t look at it, you don’t need to keep waiting for him – that is a lot of pressure and he was breaking the stay. He was happy when you ran the full sequence here and looked great!
>>It’s really hot here so I’m trying to make these very short sessions. Baxter does not like the heat.>>
For real! It is o hot already!!!!! Hopefully this is NOT how the summer will go or we will all be outside at 5am LOL!
Sequence 2 and 3A video:
Yep, he definitely knows where jump 1 is and he might be one of those dogs that does not look at it or only barely glances at it… but gets it right every time. So if a couple of seconds go by and he doesn’t look at the jump, you can release him and I bet he takes it. This is what you did at 1:38 and it worked really well!The sequences looked good here, no problem at all! You had 3 on the inside of the jump on sequence 2, it should be on the outside if you want to play with it again.
Seq 3B video – I am not sure he was looking at the jump when you released him but he was looking in that general direction so it worked LOL! After you cue 3, you can send to 4 and move away sooner – that way you can get the FC (or a blind) between 5 and 6 while being up closer to 6, so you don’t have to manage his turn as much to be sure he gets to the correct side of 6.
Sequence 4: Great! This is the one where he had to send forward while you are ‘downstream’ more towards 2, and he had no trouble. You can try being closer and closer to 2 and see if he will still take 1!
Nice work here! Stay cool!!!!
Tracy
Hi! Hopefully the heat clears out soon because it is SO HOT NOW!!!
>>As you will clearly see, my handling is getting less motion based and more verbal.>>
I think in many ways that this will benefit you! Course design now works best when we have strong verbals and parallel path motion plus good distance skills – but not necessarily go-faster-than-the-dog or get-way-ahead handling styles 🙂 Strategy and skills seem to be more useful nowadays!
With that in mind – you can still be earlier on the cues by planning to start to deliver them as he exits the previous obstacle: exiting a wrap, is in the air over the previous jump, on the way to the backside, etc. So for example:
The FC 3-4 at :11 and 1:10 can start as he looks at the backside as he lands from 2. That will both get a better turn (more collection) and get you facing the new line sooner. I liked your timing at 2:19 the best!
And the FC 4-5-6 can start as soon as he turns his head out of the tunnel.
>>Enzo read the line 5-6-7 as 5-6-23; I did a little zoom there and my motion clearly sent him to 23>
Yes, he was sent there, and it makes sense as a line 🙂 When we look at the zoomed in moment – at :59 you were facing the off course and you said go when he was over the bar of 6…. So he went 🙂 It also shows us how powerful the info is when you give it to him over the bar.
Compare to 2:26, where you were turned much earlier so he never looked at the off course line.
You can also handle the 5-6 line as a threadle then do a RC on the flat to 7… that will have you layering the tunnel AND the jump (maybe BOTH tunnels?) so you can be miles ahead for 10-11 🙂
>>– I had trouble with the turn from 10 to 11; I didn’t want to run and decel, so I was stuck with an (often late) verbal.>>
This turn comes after big extension layering, and it is hard to not face the 1/21 jump as you get around the tunnel. And it was moving and facing that way which was getting the wider turns. You can tighten that turn by, as he is over 9, you can begin to call him and also use a brake arm (2nd hand, so two hands will be up) to get collection and the turn to 11. The brake arm will override facing forward. It is a soft use of the 2nd arm, not a big chop, because we don’t want to pull him to the wrong end of 11. You can hang back behind the tunnel to do that – you will have plenty of time to move forward when he sees the line to 11.
And, be sure to use the tunnel verbal: when you were saying ‘come’ at 1:25, he totally read it as a threadle, good boy!
You did have a decel at 2:32 – it can come sooner and it did produce the best turn… but I think moving forward with the brake arm is going to be magic and work really well!
Nice flip to the weaves!! Jut be careful with the word “go” because it totally sends him straight forward, like at 2:38 where you used go rather than left like you did at 2:48.
The layering line 14-17 was easy for him 🙂
He did well with the turn to 17, and that is another spot you can start the cues as he is over the previous jump: left verbal and possibly the brake arm too.
>>For #18, I knew I could do it as a push from the landing side but I wondered about doing it as a call and send. Eventually, I managed to make that work.>>
Yes! It is kind of a cousin to the threadle wrap that way, mostly a lap turn. When you did it at 1:42, I think he just didn’t see your position past the wing. He got it nicely on the last rep! To make it clearer on the first rep, you can take yourself more visible on the outer edge of the entry wing.
The rest looked really good! Only one suggestion: You can handle 21 as more of a serp with shoulders facing the jump more to get a better line there. He was a little zig zaggy because you did a post turn then sent him back to 21.
Great job here!!!
TracyHi!
>>Nox is very good at looking at the first jump. I do not really know how I taught it, which is unfortunate because I’m trying to teach it to the puppy, lol! >>
Ha!! Just have Nox teach it to the puppy 🙂 Or have the puppy look past the jump to a toy. We have it in MaxPup when we start teaching toy races, and I will be adding more in MaxPup 3 about it since it is a hot topic LOL
>>She does not always continue to stare at the jump, but she always acknowledges it if I ask her to.>>
Perfect!
She did really well with the forward focus on 1 on the sequence work!
>>The challenge we had was on the first 2 sequences, she kept taking the backside of #3>>
You are not the only one who had that crop up! That is because the line from 2 to 3 is a backside line 🙂 That is also a course trend ‘hot topic’ lately – the natural line goes to the backside when we want the front side. Definitely something to look for when you walk a course!
So you can cue a turn on 2 and use your threadle verbal/arm (I say ‘close close’ in the demo, which is my threadle verbal, with a small arm cue)Moving the jump helped for sure, she saw the line as a front side.
Your blind at :38 was great! You were in the sweet spot: not too far ahead and super connected. NICE!
On sequence 2:
To set up the layering, you can stay closer to 2 and send away to the tunnel. Then as she is entering the tunnel, she sees you accelerating on a parallel line to 4 and hearing a ‘go’ verbal. What happened at :52 was that you decelerated on the tunnel send and got quiet, which cued the big turn back to you on the exit (and past the jump).You were more strategic on the 2nd rep, moved through it better so she had a better tunnel exit AND you were in a great position to cue the jump at 1:08.
Sequence 3A looked great on both runs! I bet you can get her to go to the tunnel so you can layer the jump but sticking close to 4 as she is taking it, then accelerating so she drives ahead of you to the tunnel and you are on the other side of the jump next to it.
Sequence 3B also looked great! Her understanding of the serp opening on both of these looks really strong.
You will get a tighter turn on the exit of the blind if you put the dog-side arm in your back pocket and use your eyes more to connect back to her. At 1:57 and 2:13, the camera position gives us a view of what she is seeing. That is mostly your back, so she drifts a little wide to wait for more info. If you exit the blind with your left arm behind you more and your eyes looking back for her eyes, I bet she will have a very tight turn!Great job here! You are off to a great start!!
Tracy
