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Hi!
The Serps are going well!!
She had an easy time on your right at the beginning 🙂 So on that side, be sure to keep your shoulders facing the jump the whole time until she has reaching the MM. Turning the shoulders forward changes the line, which will cause questions when the MM is not there. Also on that side, you can start her from different positions and different angles, and start adding motion before you release her (slow walking :))The other side (when she was on your left) was a little harder for her, so make sure your shoulders and arm are showing a big serp cue. You were a little more forward facing on this side (like at :12) so she didn’t come in as well. If she is able to come in really well on this side too, you can also add more motion before the release and set her up on different angles of approach.
The threadles were a little harder for her! They are a harder cue in general, so you can show her the threadle physical cue the whole time you are walking to position with your arm back and shoulders rotated. You were showing her the arm/shoulders at the same time as the release, so she didn’t always get it.
Keep moving very slooowwwwllly on this, and be moving the whole time. She had trouble processing it when you started moving on the release and you were moving fast 🙂 So if you slowly walk to position, holding your threadle arm out, and release just before you arrive at the entry wing – I bet her rate of success gets a lot higher.
When she does come to the correct side of the bar, keep your shoulders open and threadle arm back until you see her turn to look at the bar. That way she will turn herself to the bar on a threadle rather than wait for you to cue her to do it.
Turn and burn on a wing was really easy for her! You can start further away (10 feet, approx) and send to it to see if you can do the FC and run away while she is still a stride (3 or 4 feet) from the wing.
Be sure to send to it clearly, though, with a nice big step to it and connection – at 3:15 you didn’t actually send to it (by stepping to it) so she didn’t go to it. She was being a good girl!
Great job here!! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
Sounds like a really fun class experience!!
>>My take is that she needs more exposure to this environment and that her ability to eat treats more consistently and focus will improve. >>
Yes – she just needs continued gradual, gentle exposures to these environments so she can process them. Then the eating and tugging will all be fine 🙂
Introducing the wing went well! Using the same progression on both sides worked really well for her:
She was happy to eat the cookies but happier to chase you hen you added the running and happiest when the giant toy came out 🙂 She maintained commitment really well even with the added excitement and that is great! You can add the wings into the rocking horse games now, starting with easy reps and front crosses.The stays went really well too! Yo can add in some stopping and praising before releasing or throwing the reward back – that was the only hard part for her (when you stopped and looked at her but didn’t do anything for a few seconds, so she released). A bit of praise can help her understand that sometimes stopping is something you will do 🙂
She did well with the prop too! She went to it right away, but that is normal because of all value. Well done to call her back and line her up – she had an “aha!”moment there and then the stays looked really strong!Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
The FCs to the sends at the beginning went really well here!! Connection was good! Try not to switch the toy from hand to hand, so she can keep looking at the line and not up at the toy.
When you added the jump before the FC wrap on the wing then back to the jump, you can move closer to the wing to set up a send to the jump. Then, after she exits the wing, you can send and rotate before she gets to the jump to add in the shifting connection to the landing spot. You were facing forward so she committed easily (yay!). I think she is ready for the added challenge of rotation.The circle wrap went well at the beginning (:10)!
It was harder when you added the ups before it. At :54, 1:06, 1:20 and at the end, you started it as a FC on the wing then flipped her away to go around it again, which is why it might have felt weird 🙂 Ideally with the circles, you send her around it and then get behind her tail to move up the line right behind her – so she is in on the left side of the wing, you also go to the left side of the wing. Looking back to the rep at :10, that is what you did – sent her around and then basically followed her line rather than being on the other side. You don’t need to step to the side there, you can move straight forward and use shifting connection to get her to commit to the full circle wrap 🙂
<
> I don’t recommend this -8 runs is a lot to ask of a youngster, especially if the runs keep getting harder and harder in terms of reinforcement being further away. Plus, she is more likely to be mentally tired by the last few runs so that is when you can make it easier not harder. If you do a run or two with a toy in your pocket, do it in the middle of the day and not at the beginning in the end. And only try it is she seems very comfy with a few runs with the toy in your hand. She doesn’t have a lot of history of the engagement you want in the ring yet – so remember that Zig Ziglar quote! We are building to a long, fun career so these early stages should be carefully planned.
>>Only because our next opportunity are ACT test at the place we took classes and those have to be done without toys. We’re only doing level 1>>
If you can still take classes there, you might want to try a run without a toy in a class setting first. Otherwise it is a big leap to go from limited trial experience with a toy, to trial runs without a toy. The progression would ideally have class runs or ring rentals without a toy in the ring, so see how she does and introduce her to the concept.
Nice work here! Keep me posted!
TracyHello and welcome!! I am glad his foot is feeling better and the weather is cooperating!!
Looking at the video – yes, doing these isolated setups are harder than they look LOL! And that should make doing the skills on bigger courses even easier 🙂
The dog-on-right regular connections looked really strong from all positions! He seemed to have no question about driving the line on the jumps. Remember to rehearse the connection on the send to the wing – it is kind of obvious to him that he should go to it, but rehearsing looking at him will set you up nicely for the sends 🙂
On suggestion is about the toy placement: You can have the toy another 6 or 8 feet further from the 2nd jump because he was lifting his head as he was over the jump, to try to slow down for it. Placing it far enough away that he can land, take another full extension stride, then arrive at it will help maintain the form.The exit line connection on the FCs looked great when he started on your left (and you FC’d to your right). No questions at all!
I think the reps where you started dog-on-right were harder for you to show the exit line connection back to him – your left shoulder was closed forward a little more, so can see him looking at you at 1:37 and 1:43 instead of to the next line. So when he ends up on your left, make a more exaggerated exit line connection to let hm se it even more.
For the BCs and spins – it will seem smoother and easier if you run in then run out of them. You were tending to do them as sending to the 2nd jump then quickly doing the rotation. That made you have to rotate really fast! So leading out less (or starting with the wing wrap in the combos) will help you be able to stay in motion and I bet it feels a lot less weird LOL! You were getting the exit line connections in but they were tending to be a little late on the blinds (due to sending then rotating fast) which was why he was a little wide
You were doing the BCs as sends then blinds – it made the timing harder. Staying in motion and then decelerating into them (especially the BC wraps) will help you start them sooner and then you won’t have to execute it as fast 🙂He did really well on the jumping on these!! One thing for all of the exit line connections is to keep moving until after he has the toy in his mouth (I let my dogs take it and run through it). That way he can really power out of the turns, which helps with bars too. He had one bar down, at 2:15 – the cue was a little late but he dropped his feet on on the bar when you stopped moving and turned back towards him – he didn’t have a lot of room to land there 🙂 So, let him chase you through the exit line connections and grab the toy 🙂
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
Sending to the wing on the first couple of reps looked great! It probably felt a little weird when you were doing it on just wig to jump or jump-wing-jump because those sends had a lot of forward motion too. You can do a FC on the start wing and then work sending with just one step (and BIG connection :)) The fun really go going when you did the big sequence!
The sending worked better when you did the full sequence- nice job sending to the wing to get up the line for the BC between the jumps. For example, the send at :57 was really great! You had decelerated when he was approaching the jump and did big send as he landed. Yay! He is so committed to the wing there that you can easily leave for the BC sooner, so you can start it sooner. You can be headed back towards the jumps before he even gets to the wing (you started moving forward when he exited the wing) so the blind was a little late.
Making it bigger was great! And adds more hustle like you would need on a course. To set up the send, try to keep the same timing as you did at :57 of decelerating near the jump before the wing, then doing the big send as he is landing. I believe he would have no problem with that. You were running forward and sending when he passed you, so at 1:20 and 1:37 and 1:53 and 2:23 you did the send later which put you closer to the wing, which made the BC or FC harder to get to on time while staying connected.
The rep at 2:08 was the earliest one on the bigger distance, closer to what you did at :57 – he nailed it! And on the one youcan leave for the FC earlier too – when you see him almost arriving at the wing, you can head to the FC or BC between the jumps, starting it when you see him exiting the wing and looking at the next jump.
He has really strong commitment and distance skills, so I bet sending earlier will be no problem for him 🙂
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
Sending to the wing on the first couple of reps looked great! It probably felt a little weird when you were doing it on just wig to jump or jump-wing-jump because those sends had a lot of forward motion too. You can do a FC on the start wing and then work sending with just one step (and BIG connection :)) The fun really go going when you did the big sequence!
The sending worked better when you did the full sequence- nice job sending to the wing to get up the line for the BC between the jumps. For example, the send at :57 was really great! You had decelerated when he was approaching the jump and did big send as he landed. Yay! He is so committed to the wing there that you can easily leave for the BC sooner, so you can start it sooner. You can be headed back towards the jumps before he even gets to the wing (you started moving forward when he exited the wing) so the blind was a little late.
Making it bigger was great! And adds more hustle like you would need on a course. To set up the send, try to keep the same timing as you did at :57 of decelerating near the jump before the wing, then doing the big send as he is landing. I believe he would have no problem with that. You were running forward and sending when he passed you, so at 1:20 and 1:37 and 1:53 and 2:23 you did the send later which put you closer to the wing, which made the BC or FC harder to get to on time while staying connected.
The rep at 2:08 was the earliest one on the bigger distance, closer to what you did at :57 – he nailed it! And on the one youcan leave for the FC earlier too – when you see him almost arriving at the wing, you can head to the FC or BC between the jumps, starting it when you see him exiting the wing and looking at the next jump.
He has really strong commitment and distance skills, so I bet sending earlier will be no problem for him 🙂
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning! I love the music in the background! And yes, YouTube gets mad about it LOL!
>>’m calling this next video our Serp Screwups.>>
I watched this waiting to see what the screwups were on the serps… nope! The serps looked great, she came in for the jump every time! Her sends to the wing before it looked fantastic too!
What was going sideways was the exit line connection. My guess is that you were thrown off by having her driving at your like a freight train speeding down the tracks, so you were dropping the toy on the line or not making a strong connection to her eyes (it is a little scary to look directly at the heat-seeking missile speeding towards you LOL!!).
To get the turn on the exit that you wanted, you needed to have th toy in the arm across your body before she took off, and make a direct eye connect as you show her the toy. On the reps where you wanted the tight turn on the exit wing, adding motion moving forward past it will get her to see the new line (plus the exit line connection). You can try it from a stay on one jump to get the feel of it, before adding the speed back – she was soooo fast here!!!
Nice work here!
TracyGood morning! I love the music in the background! And yes, YouTube gets mad about it LOL!
>>’m calling this next video our Serp Screwups.>>
I watched this waiting to see what the screwups were on the serps… nope! The serps looked great, she came in for the jump every time! Her sends to the wing before it looked fantastic too!
What was going sideways was the exit line connection. My guess is that you were thrown off by having her driving at your like a freight train speeding down the tracks, so you were dropping the toy on the line or not making a strong connection to her eyes (it is a little scary to look directly at the heat-seeking missile speeding towards you LOL!!).
To get the turn on the exit that you wanted, you needed to have th toy in the arm across your body before she took off, and make a direct eye connect as you show her the toy. On the reps where you wanted the tight turn on the exit wing, adding motion moving forward past it will get her to see the new line (plus the exit line connection). You can try it from a stay on one jump to get the feel of it, before adding the speed back – she was soooo fast here!!!
Nice work here!
TracyUgh, this weather is the pits!!!!! We have power here and some snow on the ground, so it is annoying but not too bad. I hope you get a break in the weather soon! This is our break week, so at least the timing is good with that. And we will have time at the end of class to make up anything that the weather messed up.
It stinks about having no lights at the building, but it sounds like you had a good training session anyway! Yay!!!! Stay warm and safe – we will have plenty of time to get all the games finished up.
Tracy
Yes, it totally made me think of a warm sunny beach 🙂 Keep me posted on how he does with you ahead of him on the serps!
T
Hi!
>I think I sometimes forget to drop it because her drive for it isn’t super yet. In fact, in this whole session I basically just used the toy as a treat dispenser. >>
Yes – so far she seems to like it as a treat dispenser from your hand 🙂 Away from the training barn, you can play with putting something in it is delicious and kind of sticks out of it (like a long thin slice of cheese) – and close it only a little, so it is easy to get open. That way it is very easy for her to get it open and get a treat. She is very food-motivated so I bet a few sessions with letting her figure out the joys of opening it, and it will be a really effective reinforcement.
>>On the moving piece, I always get into a conundrum with myself. I want to run fast and ahead of her but I’m also trying to use sending skills to send her to the wing so I try to match her speed as well as run ahead. How do I balance that?>>
Good question! On easier lines, you can take off and run run run – any line where it is easy for her to follow your motion. On the countermotion lines, like sends where you send her one direction and you try to go the other direction… you can start close to the send wing and as she arrives at it, throw the reward to her as you start moving the other way. Then we will change it so as she heads to the wing, you start going the other way and then she can chase you (which she really seems to like).
>> I’m afraid if I run too far ahead, I won’t actually be sending her to the second wing because I’ll be right up at the wing waiting for her but if I don’t run, that slows her motion down too. >>
You can start really close to the first wing, wait for her to exit… then move forward to the 2nd wing and send her to it. Or, add another wing or have her go over the jump before the first wing, to give yourself an even bigger running start 🙂
Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
I’m liking his toy play here!!!
I think he was actually very clever here: it was only one or two steps to get to the toy… but several to the barrel and then wrap it then several back to the toy. So… he was just finding the most efficient line to the reinforcement! Smart!OK then, we need to convince him to not be so smart LOL!!! Have the barrel and the toy further apart, and start right next to the barrel (close enough for his nose to touch it :)) That can make it more efficient and easier to go around the barrel first before going to the toy.
Also, do a bunch of right turns first – if my memory is correct, he is a righty? I scrolled back but couldn’t find it. The first rep was to the right and he did well! The others were to the left and that was when it was easier to go behind you for the toy. Let me know if my memory is correct that he is a righty.For the class schedule – the last games are posted on the 23rd, and the last day of video review is Feb 14. That should give plenty of time to get lots done!
Nice work! Stay warm!
TracyHi! I think he is pretty engaged here on these videos! The difference you are seeing is that since he is not a BC, he will react differently when the game is unclear or the rate of reinforcement is too low. My understanding is that in his breed, you can find ancestry with Corgi and Manchester Terrier – two really smart breeds that are also going to get careful if things aren’t clear.
So on the first video, there were 7 failures (no rewards for the skills) and 8 successes (rewards for the skills) so the overall rate of success was too low. That is why he wasn’t entirely sure of what to do. The start cookies get him engaged in the game, but sticking to the 2 failure rule (2 errors in the session means you have to clarify the info to avoid more errors).
When he was not getting to the backside, it was because there was not enough motion to support his line to the correct side of the jump, so you can move faster and not be as far ahead. And, for now, he needs you to be closer to the barrel so he has a clearer idea of what to go around.He definitely liked the toy! It was more stimulating than the food rewards:
>>Should I have just stopped when I saw how focused he was on the toy,>>
I think what was happening there was not too much focus on the toy, but rather that you were a little too stationary and your arm was too far back, so it looked like a natural cue to come in towards you.
He was happy to eat the food, but for food rewards you can be really active and run and let him chase you for them, to keep the energy really high there too 🙂
2nd video –
He had a lot of good wraps here! The first 2 wraps on the first rep were really strong!
Then you disconnected at :23 so he tried to get to the correct side (bounced off your leg) but then you moved away from the barrel too soon… that is a spot to reward him rather than re-send him. Any error in commitment or being on the wrong side is handler error, not puppy error 🙂On the 2nd and 3rd reps, you had a whole bunch in a row and I think it got a little repetitive for him. So try to do 2 or 3, maximum, then reward and have a big party. Resist the temptation in this game or the backside game to do a ton of reps, so he can be fresh and excited with short sessions.
So for something like the backside game, limit yourself to 5 high energy reps (and live by the 2 failure rule). Ad for the wrapping games, do 2 barrel wraps or 3 at the most, then big rewards. Do maybe 2 reps of those, then they can be the whole session. Leave him wanting more 🙂
I think the rest of his life is fine, it sounds like he is doing well! That is not likely to be affecting what happens in training, I think it is more about rate of success and short sessions.
Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
He totally has the idea of the push cue here! Your motion and connection were really strong! You are moving towards the center of the bar and he seems to be having no problem. At about :46 you added in moving towards where the exit wing would be, and he was great there too. YAY! You can also do some balance reps where you call his name and cue the front (I would just say “Yuzu jump!”) to start helping him differentiate between the front side cues and backside cues.
The ball retrieve to the bowl is going great and so there is no grey area (with markers and voice and almost getting it into the bowl etc), I suggest adding a clicker to it. That way it is VERY clear that putting the ball in the bowl (and eventually your hand) is what makes the click happen. I did this with Voodoo:
I also do a ton of using the tenny as a reward for other things then after I toss it, I run away which encourages the pups to carry it towards me. And I tug on the ball when it is in the pup’s mouth, plus I tease the pup with it before I toss it – all to ramp up ball excitement. You can see the teasing and tugging here:
Sounds like he is having fun at all the trials too! Is he able to play with toys in that environment? I am sure he will eat cookies there 🙂
Great job!
Tracy
