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Good morning! This went well!!
Your brain really wanted to do the spin on the exit of the jump instead of the post turn, which is fine 🙂 You did the spin at 1:10 and it worked well! Whichever move you choose, remember to make a clear connection back to her – I think you were looking ahead to the circle wrap and she could only see your back like at :47. You had the nicest line when you looked back at her, like at 1:11.
Looking at the circle wraps:
The first sequence with the circle wraps at :06 and :11 had really good shifting connection, so she committed as you ran forward really well!! You can shift your connection even sooner on those, like a cue that tells her “you go there” as she is beginning to pass you.On the reps where she had a question about the wrap (:29) – I have no beef with your hands/arms LOL! Yes, they were moving more than the other reps but what happened there was that as you were trying to move directly forward, you were looking at her and not shifting the connection to the ‘landing’ spot so she went with motion forward to the jump rather than the circle wrap.
Your motion there was correct though – moving directly forward. Just add the shifting connection and I think she will get it! On the other circle wraps reps, you were helping with motion by moving a bit backwards and sideway like at :49, :53, 1:12, and 1:19 – the motion pulled her around. That meant she caught up with you 🙂 And if you can shift your connection like at :06 and :11 and continue to move forward, you will stay way ahead which is SUPER useful for a dog as fast as she is 🙂
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi!
I think that most of us don’t realize we are switching the toy around, so having 2 toys helps a lot – can’t be in the wrong hand if there in one in each hand 🙂T
Hi!
>> I wasn’t sure the distance for this lesson. I didn’t see where you specified feet between jumps like you did on the last ones. What is a good distance to move the jumps to?>
The durance can vary depending on space and skills but I bet you can ty for things 18 feet apart then if that goes well, try 21 feet apart 🙂
>>Should I send videos of this one again or move on to the last lesson for week 2?>>
I am happy either way but Kashia does not seem to love doing the same thing over and over… so do the next lesson. Then we can go back to the others so she doesn’t feel like it is too repetitive.
Have fun!
TracyHi!
>>We are going to do some training runs at a NADAC Trial Sunday so going to record all those. Crossing everything that she brings her listening ears and doesnt run off… Will do mostly toy runs i think. >>
FUN!!! Do ALL toy runs. There is a history of running off so no need to risk it – make it “just like home” and do all runs with the toy visible. And if something goes wrong? Keep going. Or if you can’t keep going? Reward her. Make it the most fun to play with you – because the environment will be a LOT more challenging with people and other dogs.
My mantra with young dogs is from a Zig Ziglar quote: “Don’t give up what you want most of all for what you want right now.”
What you want most of all is a dog that is engaged and focused! What we all want right now is the Q 🙂 So resist temptation to do any runs without a visible toy, and just work through getting her happy and engaged with a toy in the ring 🙂
>> A lot of people on my facebook feed went to a UKI trial for the first time this past weekend and I saw how the food box works! Loved how that works. The next one localish is March.>>
UKI is a blast because of the food opportunities!! Is the local-ish one in Indy? That is a nice group.
>>Tomorrow and Thursday are about 32 or so- so hopefully we can get out to our field. Next Monday looks lovely at 40 degrees! She LOVES the cold so as long as we dont get anymore snow- we should be able to get out there.>>
Oooh, balmy weather ahead! It will be good to get outside 🙂 Have fun!
TracyHi!
>>I have been taking a separate foundation jumping class to focus on grids. >
Perfect!! There are some really good ones out there.
I am a bit of a nut, and I put two things into the grids that I don’t think anyone else does: a moving target as the reward, and I add plenty of motion and verbals. Many grids have the handler’s body be a lot quieter than it would be in reality, so it is a shock to the dog when we start running and yelling verbals LOL! And the moving target (usually dragging a really large toy like a giant hollee roller) keeps the dog’s head down on the line and also is better on their body because they don’t have to suddenly stop and grab anything.>>I feel like I need to focus on it with Lu because of her physical maturity. She’s very athletic but her legs/body are everywhere right now LOL. And her mental maturity I see the same thing. She has laser focus for working but is so puppy in everything else.>>
Yes it is good to focus on it but there is no training or online class that will speed up maturity. Take your time and enjoy this crazy puppy stage LOL!!
Hi!
The extended send sequence looked great!
On the first speed circle of wing-jump-jump, you don’t need your dog-side shoulder to be as far back – you might find it easier to run if you look at her like you did here and just pump your arms like a sprinter.
The big send to the wing before moving to the blind cross looked great! You are 100% correct that she knows her cues and you can trust her 🙂 Trust that send! As you see her moving past you, stay connected but get outta there and more to the BC even sooner. She has the understanding to let you do it 🙂On the shifting connection video – you were definitely decelerating and rotating sooner when she was turning to her right on the first couple of reps! Her turn looked awesome! You were not quite as early on the 3rd rep to her left, so she jumped longer there.
About the shifting connections:
>>What is difficult for me is that there is ALOT going on.
These are VERY true words! Run, rotate, verbals, and connect 2 or 3 different ways? It is a LOT!!! You are doing great though! I think your question is mainly about the order of festivities for which connection and when 🙂
Send to the start wing here with regular connection. Exit the FC on the start wing with exit line connection. Then stay connected (regular connection) as you decelerate to start the wrap… and as you rotate to the new line but you want her continuing to move forward to the jump – that is when you shift your connection from her eyes to the landing spot (and pointing at the landing spot helps too!)So it is mostly regular connection (exit line connection is a variation of regular) until you rotate, then as you move away you will be looking at the landing spot (not at her, although I am sure you will be able to see her)
Then when she is finishing the wrap on the jump, it is exit line connection so she sees where to go next.
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Yes yes yes! What a great update! It is fun to see things shifting the right direction 🙂 Keep practicing, keep using the high value reinforcement, and you will continue to see her get more and more engaged in new environments. Great job!!!!
Tracy
Hi!
>>the target was a 1l container so was about 3 inch hih and about 6 in square. This is what used for big dogs. This is what i hav been training with – if anything I wondered if it was too high. I did wonder whether a flat target that we used earlierwold be better .. but used higher to make obvious – a couple of times she actually ran into it, I had food on top occasionally but usually have a toy sitting on it. heres what we have been doing at home with running to a toy on a target.>>
I don’t think the target size was where her question was – she seemed to definitely see it. I don’t think it had enough value 🙂 So when you were saying ‘get it’ she didn’t really see anything with enough value to get. A high value cookie on it can make it more worthwhile! I think the ‘dead’ toy on it was not valuable enough for her.
On the video – I like that she was driving to the toy on the target then bringing it back! Don’t add too much distance too quickly, as you will lose the value of the toy on the target. The toy on the target might not be as valuable as the one in your hand to trade for and play tug with, but it is a good way to get her driving to a placed toy!
>>She has plenty of drive to a lotus and pod but as a toy she doesnt care about the treat in the lotus or hugger.>>
That is fine! She can use those as toys 🙂 You might notice I use a ball a lot on the demos as it is easy to deliver and the dogs love it!
Tracy
Hi!
You and Kashia looked great here! You were very connected and I totally see a difference in her drive away to the jumps – speedy and happy! She was spot on, in terms of focus, engagement, and enthusiasm. It is VERY COOL to see things coming together!!! So fun!>>I think I’m still closing my shoulders off to her too soon. I tried to think about it during the drill but once I watched it later, I think it still needs improvement.>>
I think you were good here! Yes, keep exaggerating it and working it (it will be easy when you don’t need to wear winter clothing) but she will tell you if the connection is unclear. She seemed happy with it!
>>For some reason it’s hard for me to keep the arm closest to the dog back! >>
When the weather warms up, remind me to send you a like to the game where you improve keeping your arm back to the dog by running with a drink in your hand. It is effective and entertaining, but you might end up spilling water and it is way too cold for that right now LOL!
One thought here – You can spread things out so there is more distance and more running. As the distances get bigger and even more commitment is required, you can throw her reward to the landing side of the wrap jump as you shift your connection and move away from the send. That will help develop even more speed and commitment.
The circle wraps on the cone looked great! It is fine to have started this with a cone, it might be easier than a wing for the first session. She had to slow down and think hard on those, so mix in some reps of easy stuff like just going fast on the line.
Doing the combos was great too – nice spins! She had no questions and all of your connections were clear 🙂 Yay!!!
>>I’ll continue to practice all these drills as we haven’t perfected any of them.>>
Perfection is overrated! You want them to be ‘really connected’ but no need to be perfect 🙂
Great job here!!!
TracyHi!
Nice work here! Keep going with getting the reward to the landing side of the jumps! Reward placement at :16 was spot on!! On the other reps she got rewarded, but you dropped the toy in near where you were standing on the takeoff side, so she got it closer to you. Getting it consistently to the landing side will make a big difference 🙂
On the video:
She really sees everything! On that first rep, you released and stepped forward with your outside foot… so that set the line around the jump because it shows pressure on the line (good girl!). You did not do that on the 2nd rep and she took the jump. Yay! To avoid any questions from her, point your feet forward and not sideways on the release – look back to her with your arm and eyes but don’t be rotated 🙂She is really good with the circle wraps! You can add challenge by staying in motion even more! Rather than being stationary as she passes you – when your line is clear, move forward as you shift your connection to the ‘landing’ spot 🙂
A timing suggestion as yo build up commitment on the sends and countermotion: Keep moving forward on the line with the sending and decel until you see her front feet liftoff. Then you can throw the reward to the landing spot and take off the new direction. When you are sending or decelerating, you were getting ready to move away so you were stepping backwards too soon (like at :23). If you look for her front feet lifting off as your permission to move to the next line (like at :36) then you will get much better commitment there too 🙂
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
Good job on the FCs! Yes – it is important not try to race her to the wrap jump, but rather to stay connected so you can see her commitment and time your turns.You don’t need to be all the way at 2 to get the wrap, you can be anywhere 🙂 The first rep had all the connections. The 2nd rep had less connection so she had a question The 3rd rep had didn’t have connection so she didn’t take 2.
Then at :26, you had great connection so she nailed it!The rep at :36 also had great connection and a great spin!
>>Am I doing the spins correctly? >>
Yes! Think of it as starting the exact same way as the FC wraps here – then when she has the FC wrap, you do the blind. When you did that, the spins were perfect (they are a combo of FC then BC).
At :48 – I think you were trying to go too fast to get to the BC on the spin and you got in her way, running a RC line to the center of the bar so she pushed off to a left turn (it was either that or get run over LOL! )
Compare it to 1:02 and 1:08 where you cued the FC on the wing then a BC after you saw her get the FC – nice!!!The FCs on the other side had great connection and transition on the first couple!
>>something changed and she was running behind me.>>
The exit line connection got less visible, so she was not as sure about which side to be on. You were turning forward more and trying to connection with the dog side arm at 1:35, 1:42, 1:56 so she didn’t really see which side to be on (because the dog side arm closed your shoulders forward, so she saw more of your back and not enough of the front of your shoulders).
Scroll back to the earlier reps on that side (1:22 and 1:29) when your dog-side shoulder is back so she clearly knew where to be. And at 2:12 and 2:21 you made the clear exit line connection MUCH clearer and she got it! Great adjustment!!!
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
SUPER nice session here! Just about all of it had lovely connection, so she had no questions at all. It was easier to see your connection on the reps at the beginning as you were coming towards the camera – your connection was very clear and note how she never had to look at you or ask a question. YAY!!>>There was a time towards the end I was attempting to send her from the jump around the wing and she went around the jump..>>
This was at :48 and 1:00 and 1:15 where she didn’t take the first jump. What was happening there was that as you released to send her, you were looking forward and leaning in toward the wing – so that looked like and felt like pressure towards the backside line past the jump… and that is where she went 🙂 Great job continuing to reward her and then at 1:24 you made a great adjustment! You gave better connection and less pressure onto the line and she got it 🙂 Really lovely!
Do you have any access to bigger spaces coming up? The weather has gone to poo so we might have to get creative on how to add more challenge 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi!
>>I am still struggling to figure out the balance of when my arms should be up and when they should be out of the way. I’m seeing the difference more and more, but it’s definitely a work in progress, lol.>>
Every handler/dog team develops their own type of connection, but in general: on regular lines and sends and stuff like that, the hands can be pointing down to her nose and following her nose on the lines. That will support your connection without breaking it. On anything with countermotion or turning away fro the handler (serps, countermotion wraps, backside wraps, tandem turns, threadles) then the hand/arm is generally used to support the connection shift that is used on the cue – more on that coming in the next set of games.
On the video:
You might notice she was jumping towards you on jump 1 on the dog-on-left rep. That was due to the placement of the start wing being a bit to centered on the bar, so she had to turn extra to her right to come over 1, then slightly to her left to get to 2. Lining the wing up with the wing of the jump closer to you will smooth that out.Exit line connection had some strong reps but also can be clearer on others. The main thing to do is to very consistently reach your arm and connection back to show her the toy and look directly back at her to get your new dog-side shoulder pushed back more to reveal connection. And, maintain that for more steps as you run to the next line until she has really picked it up – you were tending to show it for a heartbeat then closing your shoulders forward before she had time to really adjust. And when you made it obvious and held it longer for her to see – gorgeous!
On the first reps on your left – the exit line connection was a little harder to see at :05 (bar down). It was clearer at :17 and :26 but in those spots you can hold it longer so she sees it better.
On the other side – at :42, the FC info (deceleration) was late so she saw it after takeoff and she landed on the bar. On the next rep, you had a much earlier decel so she jumped the wrap a lot better. Yay! At :50 had a heartbeat of great ELC connection – hold onto it for 2 or 3 more strides until you see her looking at the next jump. That will get gorgeous turns and really support the jumping.
Looking at the spins:
She had a question at 1:01 -your motion had conflicting indicators with decel and RC info (pushing in towards the jumps) so she stopped to get more info: wrap or rear cross?Compare it to the 2nd rep at 1:09 – you were clearer about showing her the wrap wing and clear ELC – super nice! The exit line connection was also really clear at 1:34 and 1:40!!
Good job on the blind at the end! Rather than do the blind then drop the toy – show the exit line connection and let her drive through it and then you can throw the toy. That will give you better feedback from her about the exit line connection 🙂
>>s if you don’t mind answering them. I was wondering when Max Pup 2 is set to start.
It will start in March, date TBD 🙂
>> bought the teeter class when it was on sale for Black Friday; at what age is it safe to do teeter training?>>
There is a lot of impact in teeter training, so I don’t start it until the dogs are well over a year old. Otherwise, there is too much impact on their baby bones and joints and muscles 🙂
Great job here!
TracyHi! Super nice job on these!
Looking at the videos:
Video 1 – nice connection here! On the circle wraps, as he is passing you, you can switch arms so you can use the arm closer to the wing to point to the landing spot as yo shift connection to it (you changed arms sooner at :13 and that really helped!)Nice send to the 2nd jump on the 2nd video! He had a little question on the circle wrap at :15 because you were looking at him and not at the landing spot.
Video 3 – you added a FC on the 2nd jump so he ended up going to the other side of the wing (good boy). Nice job adding the turn away to still get the circle wrap!
You kept him on your left after that jump there on the 4th video (yay!) so the circle wrap setup was better! You can exaggerate the connection shift by pointing to the landing spot with your right hand and eyes even more so you can be ahead of him as he exits the circle wrap.
On the last video, I loved how you used your arms at :20 on the circle wrap! You transferred from your left arm to your right arm with the right arm pointing to the landing spot. As you do this, add in looking back to where your right arm is pointing, and he will commit better. You were looking right at him rather than shifting your connection, so she was not totally sure if he should follow your hand or follow your motion – shifting connection will help him follow the hand even as you move forward.
Great job here! The only detail to add is to look at and point to the landing spot on the circle wrap wings 🙂
Tracy
