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  • in reply to: Me and Sid #59428
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Hi!
    I love the “Serps Up” video titles, it makes me think of sun and beaches instead of the snow and ice we have here LOL!

    The serpy skill is looking good! You are using the outside arm which brings him in over the bar AND shows good exit line connection, so the first video looked great (I don’t think he saw the wing tucked behind the pole on the first rep but the rest was really strong!)

    2nd video – you can keep moving more through the sends and past the jump – when you stopped, he asked a question. On the 2nd rep, you can be showing the serp arm & calling him as he exits the wing wrap before the jump to see if he can find the jump when you are far ahead.

    3rd video: Nice job moving through the serp jump! That was very smooth! You can give more connection when you send away to the wing before the jump – when it is just your arm and not enough eye contact, he checks in to see if he is correct.

    You can see that clearly at the start of the 4th video – on the first send, your arm was really high so he didn’t go to the wing because the high arm turned your shoulders away from the wing. When you had a lower arm on the 2nd rep, he went to the wing right away. Super! And the Serp looked good.

    When you switched sides, you were way ahead on the serp but he had trouble with you being way ahead and went past the jump. You turned your feet towards him on the last rep, which helped him come in. The other thing you can do s you don’t have to turn your feet is as you are doing the serp arm, look back to the landing spot as if you are pointing at it – and see if that helps him come in to the jump when you are way ahead.

    On the last video, he came in for the serp jump perfectly, no foot turn needed. Yay! You were on the center of the bar there. So when you practice these, get a little further ahead so he gets used to finding the jump behind you for the serp rather than running parallel to it when you are ahead.

    Great job here! He is looking super!

    Tracy

    in reply to: Brittany and Kashia #59427
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Hi!
    Really super session here! Yes, there was a blooper or two but the best part was that you recognized it and handled/connected differently on the very next rep, so she got it right.

    Ok, the other best part was that she was speedy and engaged the whole way through. You can start running as soon as you send her to the first wing, that will get even more speed right from the first step (she was not sure if she should go because you were not moving as much, but as soon as you started moving, she went fast 🙂 )

    Just about all of the reps had really lovely drive around the wings and serpentines! It was very clear to see your arm & shoulder drop back, so she came right in.

    On the first rep where she did not come in, I think she was just going fast and the serp cue was a little late. You fixed the timing on the next rep and she came right in. Super!!

    One tiny little disconnection on the wing send at :38, but you fixed it on the next rep and she had clear info on all the other reps.

    I loved the connection and timing when you switched sides starting at :54 – you were earlier with the connection shift, so both of you were moving faster while still being accurate.
    38 wing send was needing more connection

    At 1:23, your line of motion was great (really adding some countermotion while passing the wing) and that is where the connection shifting to the landing spot (and toy thrown behind you to the landing spot) will help her commit as you move forward. You were looking at her, so she came with you, following your motion.

    You immediately fixed it on the next rep by showing more of the connection to the landing spot, and got even better building up to the last rep which had the same line of motion as at 1:23 but also great connection: nailed it!

    >>It took more mental focus from both of us than the last lesson did but I think we did alright for our first attempt! >>

    You were both terrific! It is definitely harder than the other games which is why it took more mental focus, plus she was moving faster so you had to be spot on with your timing.

    >>I wasn’t able to get ahead of her quite as much as you seemed to with your demo dog.>>

    I think it was a combination of me running for my life, wearing less winter clothes, in sneakers and on grass (easier to run on that barn surfaces) with a more experienced and older dog. You were in deeper footing, in winter clothes, and boots, with an inexperienced dog. That all makes it harder to get way ahead but no worries, that will start happening really soon.

    >> I also didn’t get that super tight turn around the jump but I realized timing is key in this one. My other dog did better with the tight turns. So maybe it’s just Kashia still learning and having that excitement to follow me with speed around the corner?>>

    No worries about how tight the turn is, for two reasons:
    – she is still learning it, so it will get easier for her when she has more experience with it
    – in her height division, tightest turns are not necessarily the fastest or winning turns 🙂 A little wider in the medium sized dogs, as long as they know where they are going, is often faster! I have a 16″ dog that puts down incredible times on course without her turns looking as pretty as my big dogs – her times are faster then theirs 🙂

    Great job here! Let me know what you think!
    Tracy

    in reply to: Julie & Lift (Sheltie) #59420
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Good morning!

    She’s got the idea of the bowls for sure!

    The spins on the volume dial are looking good! To get the higher arousal of the volume dial on this clip and the next one, add more running around like a crazy person 🙂 You can get her chasing you for the treat and even tossing the treat (eventually it might be the toy instead of a treat). The change of energy in the treat delivery (get wild LOL!) will help change the arousal state.
    Find My Face went really well – she was having no problem re-engaging and coming back to your side

    The head turn session looked really strong too – very nice tun of the head and bend of the body through the turns in both directions! She looked really balanced! You can try this with something taller and more narrow to see if she can bend even more 🙂

    >>Not sure if she feels like toys are fine in “non max pup” sessions with no tripod and that are downstairs or if she just felt more settled at night. >>

    It is possible that she associates “formal training session” with food and not toy. So you can do lots of informal, random-time-of-day, wild training sessions for the toy. You can have the tripod sitting out there so it can be part of using the toy too, but you can randomly start toy games throughout the day. There doesn’t need to be food involved – for example, you can do head turns on the cone and the toy is the reward 🙂 Or parallel path on a jump with a thrown toy, tossing it around a few times for each rep (or tossing multiple toys :)) til she chases it and grabs it 🙂

    >>can I do this by tossing a treat back if I don’t have a 2nd person to restrain her at a place where I can safely run for a longer distance than inside my house?>>

    Yes, that will still be fun!

    Nice work here!
    Tracy

    in reply to: Cassy and Oakes (MAS) #59419
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Hi!
    Totally agree, I think he really liked turn and burn! Lots of speed and super tight turns! It was rally fun to watch 🙂

    He seems to have really strong commitment, so you can start running away into the FC even sooner. By about the 1:30 mark on the video, you were doing the FC as he was arriving at the cone (left turns – on problem at all!) At about 2:30 you did the same timing on the right turns – also no questions (except for when you tried to send and do the FC all at once).

    So, on both sides, you can start the FC when he is one stride away from the cone – probably about a foot away. And if he can handle that with no questions, you can start a bit further back and start the FC when he is 2 strides away (probably 4 feet or so).

    Separately, he is totally ready for the rocking horse games. Those will be super fun to see him do!
    Great job here!
    Tracy

    in reply to: Cassy and Oakes (MAS) #59418
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    The sideways and backwards sending is looking good! He had no trouble with you being stationary, and he also had no trouble when you added the countermotion of you moving away. SUPER!!! He really had excellent commitment to the prop – well done building up all that value!

    When you send backwards, you can be on step further to the side (it will feel like you are standing in a triangle), so he turns towards you and not away (he seems to want to turn right if you are too close when sending with your left arm because it reads a bit like a rear cross and he is a righty 🙂 So being a step further away (especially when he is on your left arm for the backwards sending) will help encourage the left turns.

    >>This is a few seperate sessions in, I think we are on the right track but wanted to get imput before I keep going!>>

    You are totally on the right track! For the sideways and backwards sending, you can do the concept transfers to the barrels/wings. It is here:

    Concept Transfer 2: Rotated Sends

    The video didn’t have the parallel path or rear cross, so if those are going well, you can add the parallel path concept transfer to a jump too!

    Great job!
    Tracy

    in reply to: Cassy and Oakes (MAS) #59417
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Good morning! It looks like I never replied about this video – sorry!!!! Or maybe I typed the reply and never posted it. It popped up again with your other videos from yesterday!

    His backing up is looking really strong!!! You were clicking each step back and he was taking some very BIG OBVIOUS steps back – awesome! That can build up really well into warm up and stretches!! The next step would be to click less, letting him get all the way to the plank before you click. Start close for that for a couple of reps, then you can add more and more distance. You can also start to add a verbal cue! You can say a word like “back” or use a silly cue like a truck beeping when they back up 🙂
    Great job!
    Tracy

    in reply to: Taq 2 #59416
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Good morning!

    >>I know I need to transition off it but I’m cold wet grass it is so useful.>>

    I think it the cold wet grass is going to hamper her stay, then definitely keep using the plank! And you can do separate short sessions in the wet gras with highest value treats, to help her learn the joys of sitting in wet grass 🙂

    The backside slice “twist” is going really well! She is really starting to get independent on these and you are further and further away. Yay! As you keep playing with these and adding more independence – you can over-exaggerate the reward placement to help her come around the entry barrel and look for the bar (and not at you). To do that, as you are moving away, toss the reward behind you to where the barrel and bar meet so she doesn’t look at you at all – she goes directly over the bar to grab the reward 🙂

    On the wraps: keeping your arms low for the send to the wrap is the key, so she can see the connection and know exactly where to go. On the first one at :13, great connection until she was past you and locked onto the barrel.
    Compare that to :21, where you pointed forward to the barrel right after she left the plank, so connection broke and she was looking up at you (:22) for more info. When you stepped backwards out of it, she was still pretty close to you and not near the barrel, so she came with you. Try not to mark that as incorrect at all – you can cue the plank, reward, try again, all in flow 🙂 The next rep at :26 had bette reconnection and she got it really well!

    For the backside wraps, you can be moving forward past the barrel now so she does a full 360 turn on it.

    Minny Pinny is looking good! Adding the verbals is perfect – you were playing with making them sound different, which is important. Try to slow them down a bit and extend them, so it is more like riiiight riiiiight riiiight and less of a RITERITERITE – that will help her differentiate them from the wrap cues.

    >>I could not video it but she offered circling the iPhone tripod base>>

    That’s hilarious! Circle ALL the things LOL!!!!

    Looking at the mat work:

    >>She makes so few mistakes I am
Not sure she knows what I am clicking for.>>

    She seems to definitely understand that it was about feet on the mat! I am not sure if she knew if it was front feet or back feet, so you can click back feet very specifically – some of the clicks were back feet but many were front feet. There are two ways to isolate the back feet (I do them both, simultaneously):
    – attach the mat to a block or something that she steps up on to, to get to the mat. Duct tape is perfect for this 🙂 and the thing you attach the mat to can be about an inch or two high and as long as the mat. Anything relatively solid will work. Getting her to step up onto something as she travels across it will help her isolate the feet and it will help you see the back feet better
    – as you are working it, stare at the mat rather than at her. That way you will see the back feet. If you are looking at her, it is harder to see the back feet plus we humans anticipate things and end up clicking front feet 🙂

    You can also have 3 or 4 treats in your hand – she was watching you take the next treat out, so you will get more of that back-and-forth feel if you have the treats in your hands already.

    Great job here! Let me know what you think!
    Tracy

    in reply to: Jen and Mason (BC) #59415
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Good morning!

    The backside slices are going well! I think it went better when you didn’t use a stay because he was moving before the release on the stay. The cookie starts allowed you to be moving sooner and faster, so you were able to consistently get him to the backside. The cue looked really good (lots of connection as you moved up the line and no pointy arm :)) so remember to move straight forward and not towards the barrel.
    He only had one question, at :12 – he was headed to the backside then you relaxed the cue a bit and you started to move the toy, so he turned to you. He sees everything 🙂
    For the next steps, keep adding more distance to get further and further across the bar – and as you get further across, add in throwing the toy back to the landing spot closer to the barrel so he comes around the barrel looking for the bar and not at you.

    >>The thumbnail shows Mason in a weird position during one of his turns. >>

    He was doing a normal turn, not falling 🙂 He was in a gait that was more of a fast canter and it is not a really tight turn required there, so it might look weird on a screenshot or thumbnail.

    The rocking horse games are looking good and I agree – he loved the running part of it 🙂
    The FCs at the beginning looked good! You can run with the toy scrunched up in your hand now so the reward can be presented more smoothly.
    The spins looked good too – really nice connection on the exits of the spins!

    At :40 when you sent to the grey barrel, he was behind you and you turned and looks directly forward. That is a disconnection that looks exactly like the beginning of the blind cross cue, so he (correctly) crossed to the other side.

    You can either keep going or reward when that happens because whenever the dog ends up on the other side of us, the connection was broken and they read it correctly as a blind cross. He got frustrated when you tried to go back and re-start.

    Connection was much clearer on the other reps so he always knew where to be on the FCs (he like the turn and burn exit on one of the reps too!) and the race tracks! The only little connection blooper was at the very end at 1:29 – you were starting to look forward and point to the barrel, so if you freeze the video at 1:30 you can see that the pointing forward turned your shoulders and feet away from the line and blocked his view of your eyes (so he is looking up at you). Even though you could see him, probably, it was a disconnection because he could not see your eyes clearly and your physical cue turned away from the barrel. As he gets more experienced he will start to commit anyway, but those little bloopers are good reminders to stay connected on the sending.

    Great job here! Stay warm!!!!
    Tracy

    in reply to: Sandy & Karma #59414
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Ha!!! That is what happens when I haven’t had enough coffee and the TV is on in the other room – the TV had the words magic being played and so that is what came out of my fingers. Please ask Karma to accept my apologies!

    in reply to: Wendy and Maisy the BC #59413
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Hello and welcome!! This session looked great!
    You had great connection throughout, from the send to the wing and then down the line of the jumps – from all the positions especially when she was ahead of you. SUPER!! She seemed to have no questions at all.

    It looks like there was a placed reward out ahead, which is a good way to get this started. For added challenge, if you wanted to play with this again, you can repeat it just like this except you throw the reward instead of place it. That will challenge you to maintain connection and it will challenge her to keep looking forward and not at you 🙂

    Great job here! You can also move to the exit line connection 🙂
    Tracy

    in reply to: Vicki & Caper #59412
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Wow, this was pretty perfect!! I can just watch your head on the video and know exactly where you wanted her to go. Turns out, she felt the same way because her commitment was perfect here! YAY!!!!

    You were patient with each cue, really emphasizing the connection as you moved up and down the line: she can be the one that goes fast, you can be the one that supplies info, and it makes the dance look GREAT! The next step would be to add more distance so you can practice maintaining that connection from wherever you are – no need to try to get to the jumps, you can send and leave with the connection you had here.

    Great job!!!
    Tracy

    in reply to: Ginger and Sprite #59410
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Yes! The break week starts today and it perfectly timed! I am glad that all of the demo videos are finished because I have 3 inches of snow on the ground with an ice crust… and no warm weather in sight. Ick!!!! So yes, we have a break week and then 2 more weeks of content – then a couple of extra weeks after that because everyone is getting hit with bad weather!

    T

    in reply to: Carrie And Audubon #59409
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Keep me posted! Fingers crossed for good weather ahead!

    in reply to: Susanne and JuJubee #59408
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Good morning! Great music here to start my day!
    This session went really well 🙂 The first rep at with shifting connection at :05 was great – you were rotated and using the other arm with very clear shifting to the landing spot on the jump and she nailed it!

    You had good shifting connection at :15 and :29 too – both of those moments had really good connection but it will be easier for you to stay ahead of her and more obvious of a cue if you switch to the other hand to point to landing at like you did at :05, instead of the dog-side hand across your body. She committed beautifully which is why we can play with getting you as far ahead as possible 🙂

    She has excellent commitment on the circle wraps on the wing so you were actually able to disconnect for a heartbeat there (which is fine in that context, more info about that in the 4th set of games :)) Just remember to re-connect – at :19 you were looking ahead as she exited the circle wrap (no side info) and you were saying go – so she went straight. Good girlie!

    You reconnected on the last rep there and she nailed it at top speed. Great job here!!!


    Tracy

    in reply to: Sandy & Karma #59407
    Tracy Sklenar
    Keymaster

    Good morning! Thanks for checking in! I am so glad you are had fun with Sabina – I heard great things about the seminar 🙂 Yay! I am sure you and Magic tackled those challenges brilliantly!

    Yes, the weather is gross right now – I am in warm sunny Virginia… with 3 inches of snow on the ground and a crust of ice. Ewwwwww!! Looks like we have a few days of cold ahead but then things improve (to mud hahahahaha). The timing works out well though – today starts our “break” week so people can wait for the weather to clear before getting into whatever they need to work on. The 3rd set of games is posted on the 24th! Hopefully the cold weather will go away.

    Have fun! Stay warm!
    Tracy

Viewing 15 posts - 6,571 through 6,585 (of 21,183 total)