[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>>I want to make sure I understand your comment about the pinwheel. 🙂 So it’s like a send to the middle jump of the pinwheel? i.e I show the line out to the pinwheel, send to the middle jump and then show the line back to jump 5 and the tunnel? So he knows the line back to the tunnel before he takes the middle pinwheel jump? Is that right?>>

Yes, a total send and go there too, rather than a speed circle. So as he is in the air for the 3 jump (jump after the tunnel) you are decelerating, adding more connection so as he is landing, you are doing a big one step send. When he looks at 4, you stay connected but are moving away to 5 and 6. It might take a bit of experimenting to get commitment to 4 but that should also cue the line nice and early, so he can set up his turns.

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Yes! Totally a send and go, get outta dodge, starting no later than landing from the previous jump. Making great connection will help with commitment! And it will also give him more time to set up the turning.

T

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

>>Very interesting that flyball creates a different environment. I want that big toolbox!>>

The only way to play flyball is to be able to function in that environment, so it is kind of mandatory. And it if funny – other dogs sports slam flyball as being too loud or too chaotic or too dangerous. Well, yes it is loud LOL!! But the precision and high level engagement is unmatched.

T

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

>>I actually had done some pattern games with her when we got there. She did okay with them but not as good as usual as she was quite distracted by everything. >>

It is normal to see her have more processing delays and have a harder time with the pattern games in new places. Start as far as needed (can be right next to your car!) and remember to play the games at home afterward or the next day, to keep the games neutralized. You will see her get better and better as she learns these!

>>I suspect as she gets more familiar with this place that it will be easier for her. >>

Exactly! It is a learning process that almost all dogs need to work through.

>>Is there any value to trying the Just like Home exercises in novel places. >>

Yes, see below on ideas on how to do it 🙂

>>The video is my last effort to do sequence 3. I didn’t show all the reps but this gives you an idea on what was happening. I tried to follow what you suggested but had very spotty success.>>

Actually, as an outside eye: there was a LOT of success here!! 2 things I see here:

– She is not ready for you to run for real yet, as in running fast in your handling. When you get going fast, she has trouble processing the handling cues/finding the jump versus her BC inclination to run really fast and go wide past the jumps, looking at you. So, the BC wide behavior takes over.

This is actually far more normal than you might realize with young Border Collies LOL!! The problem is that no one puts videos if this on Facebook 🙂 so when our dogs do this, we feel isolated or like we are the only ones with this question from the youngsters. But I see this all the time with young BCs and we can work through it.

You might see that she is not as good as she was with finding jumps when she was a young pup… welcome to the joys of canine adolescence. This is also quite normal – hard for us humans, but definitely an adolescent processing behavior.

When you walk/jogged the sequence? MUCH BETTER and she found a lot of jumps.

– doing the fast lazy game like you did at the end was GREAT! It helped her balance her arousal and she found a TON of jumps.

So what to do? For each sequence you try, begin with a go-round of walking lazy game, the jogging lazy game, throwing treats after every jump. Then give her a break and let her do some decompression like a snuffle mat (adding the decompression will really help!!).

We will keep building up the lazy game so the cookies are not thrown for every obstacle… you can be jogging and make it more variable by throwing for every two obstacles, or after one obstacle, or after 3 obstacles. It is a ping pong to build up the duration of finding obstacles as you move fast.

You can also do a rep or two with a toy and NOT the lazy game, but with you walking. I think the next set of sequences will be very easy for you to walk through. A chill walk will give her the bandwidth to process the lines better.

And keep the sessions nice and short, with LOTS of decompression in between. It is hard being an adolescent girlie!!!

We will eventually merge the two tracks (fast moving any game, walking sequences) into real handling. We’ve got plenty of time to do it, no rush.

>>I also have a question regarding using pattern games to help her overcome her fear/aversion of a lot of agility equipment that manifested when she was having her homrmone issues. Things are definitely better now but she doesn’t want to go near the tire (which is on the lowest setting and I have never asked her to go through or even asked her to go up to). She heard it rattle once and that was that. She is scared of the teeter having seen her brothers go over it when it was set to only drop about 4 inches and avoids strongly – I have not asked her to go up to it since but she did the mountain climber in the last Max Pup and was okay with it. >>

Does she have generalized anxiety or noise sensitivity elsewhere in life, to normal things? I remember her being worried about gun shots in the distance during a live class, but that is a valid concern and she came right back to work with the pattern games.

Generally yes, the pattern games can help, starting really far away at first.

But also, if there is generalized anxiety or noise sensitivity, you can do behavior work or add some supplements/meds to get her over the hump of it for now. Have you heard from her littermates about anything, or with the parents? Sometimes asking the right questions gives us answers, gently, so they don’t feel attacked because there is so much pressure on dogs nowadays – something like “hey, anyone see any concerns about noise or weird things with their pups?”

Yes, this is normal in adolescence but sometimes it is pervasive and you see it in regular life too, so we can help rather than wait it out 🙂

>>she was fine with this in June but no longer. >>

Also make sure that she has no underlying pain issues, so a soft tissue person can check for anything ouchy. And when she was spayed, did the vet get X-rays of hips and elbows/shoulders? Underlying pain can create all of the behaviors you are seeing.

3 other things that can create these behaviors:

– tick illness! Definitely ask for a C6 tick test. I have seen tick illness manifest as obstacle avoidance and noise sensitivity over and over. Fix the illness, all the concern goes away.
– UTI. If the dog has a UTI, the only symptom might be avoidance and noise sensitivity. Totally worth a check!
– Hypothyroidism. Yes, low thyroid can also manifest as everything you are seeing. While it is *highly* unlikely that is it not hypothyroidism at her age… it is not impossible in Border Collies where there is a ton of hypothyroidism that starts early on.

I can give you multiple case studies/examples of each of these in dog sports, including my own dogs and many many dogs that I know. Sure, the vet might think you are nuts 🙂 but it is worth a look because pain or illness can re-wire the brain and you will see behaviors you never saw before.

So, a full work up can give you some answers! And if nothing else, you have a great health baseline for the future.

I would not try to acclimate her to the things she finds scary til you have looked at some of the other potential causes. You can still do the pattern games far from this scary stuff, and you can still do the walking sequencing/jogging lazy game 🙂

Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

Good information from Sprite about the jackpot markers. She does seem to understand that it means go to the cookies and toys.

And later in the session, we can see some of the questions about doing the hand touch right in front of the jump and the line up being not super fast, that you’ve described. But she did do the hand touch and the line up, which is great! The latency of those might be the latency you get in trials, a little sticky, but that is fine: optimized arousal might skew the latency of those behaviors a little bit, but it might also indicate an optimized state rather than overarousal. It is all stuff we will learn by observing and will teach us what, specifically, good arousal states look like with her (spoiler alert: it can be entirely counterintuitive LOL!!)

>I used the leash and had jumps out as she still really struggles walking towards jumps. It’s becoming a negative CER and making me sad. This clip is a little long as I did both markers>>

This is an insightful video. She has an understanding of the framework of the game (yay!) and it is entirely possible that doing multiple reps of this on leash in front of the jump (with food and toys) and never being able to take the jump is resulting in lessening interest in this game.

She is at the stage in her training where the jumps and the running are the game, the action is so fun! – and by presenting her with the opportunity by moving towards the jumps then withdrawing it by not taking the jumps (for a long period, this was a long session LOL!) can result in the reduced enthusiasm for it and possibly some confusion.

Yes, the food and toys are technically reinforcement and motivators… but are they, in this context? Maybe not! And maybe being asked to leave the jumps is akin to a negative punisher to her? Maybe, if you are seeing a shift in the CER.

So since she learned the framework before the actual agilitying became higher in value, we can move to the next step and move this game into the agility context. She comes out on leash, you do a bit of play, you put the toy or treats down on the reward station, then you move to the jumps/tunnel (set up a little fun sequence with no stay required), off goes the leash, run a short sequence, mark, run to reward.

I think that next step will put this game into context and she will have the light bulb moment of “AHA! Now I know where this fits!!” Making it all more exciting.

By doing this, we are making it all a little more complex at first and there is definitely arousal self-regulation that is happening, plus we will learn a lot about her needs at the start line. So what I would *NOT* do is ask for a line up or tricks as you move to the line or a stay. After you put the toy or treats down on the reward station, just move to the line, leash off – if she is engaged by sticking with you (not taking off into the sequence), then you can put a hand on her collar, start with a send, and have some short sequence fun before marking and running to reward.

I suggest doing this all-business approach because some dogs, when learning how to surf the arousal curve, do far far better when we just go in, line up, and start. No tricks, no hugs & kisses :)) They don’t have to even look at us (many herding dogs cannot look at the handler in that moment). We have seen soooooo many dogs excel with this all-business approach when they enter the ring and that is GREAT!!

(From the human perspective, many of us are deeply concentrating when it is a hard important run, and we are all-business too!)

I suggest doing this without a line up or stay for now, because the point of the game is bringing the remote reinforcement into the context of sequencing. The line up and stay is different and hard and we don’t want to add additional challenge to something that she says is already plenty challenging. The line up and stay can come back in later.

One more thought about this:
This game is hard, in terms of mental and physiological bandwidth for the dog. So, add in decompression! If a loop is A-B-C, add the D in after the reward. Break out of the loop to let her breathe, run around, sniff, eat a hackberry LOL then you can do another rep a few minutes later. The A-B-C-D format will also reflect what she will see in classes and trials too!

>>I tried hand touches in class earlier, but she just couldn’t to it. Her brain is elsewhere and she can’t respond to much in that environment as she’s walking to the line. >>

Do an experiment and try the all-business, and see what you get in the ring. It is possible that her brain is trying to move into the selective attentional state and preparing for the sustained attentional state, and the cues to hand touch are getting in the way, creating clutter in her arousal and attentional state self-regulation.

From the human perspective: if you were focused on a run, and I was walking next to you going into the ring, and I was like “Ginger, sing me a show tune. You can’t run til you sing me a show tune.” You’d be distracted by me (“STFU, TRACY!”) and have a hard time focusing on the task at hand and processing what needed to happen. It is possible that asking for the additional behavior is distracting and unnecessary pressure.

What we want to do is play outside the ring and when it is her turn, go directly to the line and get started (all-business). And then, over the course of multiple runs/classes, observe what happens. If she able to respond to handling cues, execute trained behaviors? If so, then we have one of the all-business dogs on our hands and that answers a lot of questions 🙂 If not, then we will change things up – bearing in mind that responding to handling cues is contingent on the quality of the cue, so lack of response would be more like zoomies or other typical overarousal behavior (not wide turns or a bar down here and there, because that depends on handler timing and connection).

And, when trying the all-business – take out the start line line up and stay for now. That is a complex behavior that can muddy the waters as we figure out other stuff. Yo can use a Cato board or something to help her out on the start line for now. If she was not yet able to weave the way you wanted, you would skip doing the fully closed weaves in favor of maybe doing open weaves or adding wires or skipping the weaves, to avoid failure and frustration. So treat the stay like an obstacle performance that will go in context when she is ready 🙂

>>She typically runs after two very barky Aussies and she’s not allowed to be out when they run. >>

They sound very stimulating!! What does she do when they are running and they are out on leash? What does she do in the crate when they are running? It is a good opportunity to use working her on some pattern games or snuffle mats at as big a distance as needed while they run. And if they are now running after her, it can also be used as decompression which is great!!!

>> Once the order switched I could have her out. She’s definitely glancing around with the volume dial. Pretty split brained. >>

Yes, sounds like somewhere in the area of the divided attentional state and the selective attentional state – mostly able to attend to cues, but still aware of the environment. Is she able to engage more with the pattern games? When I am trying volume dial and still seeing the dog glance around, I will go back to the pattern games because basically the dog is saying “I still need to process the environment thanks.”

Which do you think is more helpful for the volume dial – food or toys? Is she able to play pattern games on the way to the start line in class, such as back-and-forth for tossed treats or a toy in each hand? Just curious so we can plan more.

And remember that all of this take practice (practice makes pathways!) and sleep to solidify the pathways 🙂 so you might see improvements in future classes or coming days, rather than in the moment.

>>Round two started on the table do that was much easier for her.>>

Perfect! And that lends support to adding the Cato board as a start station if you need a lead out for now. Part of the reason for that is to just make the ring entry really easy peasy fun, which will shift the CER and help with self-regulation.

Great job here, thanks for nerding out with me 🙂 Let me know what you think!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Thanks for the reminder! I do have another video somewhere, doing this while being close to flyball. But I can’t find it and it is driving me nuts!!

It is easier to do this with toys than frisbees – I was laughing because it was so hard to hold the damn frisbees LOL!! And I also added clip of another thing you should do with Levy, where it is work (which he loves) to eat a cookie tossed on the ground (which he is meh about) to tugging (which he loves). This will begin to get food into the training loop so he will eat it and so you can use it! Start all this at home and let me know how it goes!

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
I don’t think less control is counterintuitive at all 🙂 I love it!
I think it gives the dog more agency (which we know is great for them, physiologically) and it also is pretty close to what we do at home by cavorting to the start line off leash 🙂 But it is scary for us humans LOL!! I take the leash off at the ring entry for all of my dogs – but I play in UKI which is really chill about such things.

I think technically AKC allows it but I am not entirely sure. I personally don’t think AKC is a great place to start young dogs, but sometimes it is the only place available. Sigh.

And also, less control can still have the leash on – loose leash, being a little silly with the dog, remembering to breathe 🙂 Just like at home!

T

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>> It took an unusually long time (almost 2 hours) to get to class last night for our 2 minutes of ring time>>

OMG 2 hours for 2 minutes… I would need a snuffle mat FOR SURE!!! That might contribute to things feeling a bit frantic.

>>Okay, here comes the sh*t show. >>

Not a shit show at ALL!!! Plenty of good moments and great info to work with in the other moments. I see things differently than you do – I see a TON of good stuff happening and the 2nd run was totally better!! You are just going to have to believe me and not believe yourself LOL!!

So first up, the good stuff to keep:
Once you both get moving, your connection and handling energy is very good. Keep doing that!!! Lots of lovely sections!!

And she loves the table. What’s up with that? LOL!! What a nut!!!

And when things did come off the rails, you were actually good at going with the flow, you didn’t get mad at her, and you got her back on track to finish strong. That is huge!!!

And she didn’t jump on you or go feral at all. Any disconnections were short and she came back fast and finished strong.

So what to change?

>> And I didn’t keep going when we made a big mistake at the weaves, I repeated.>>

Yes, but you caught yourself and probably got mad at yourself, so next time you carry on even if there is an error.

One thing I notice is at the beginning, you are using the food almost as a lure to keep her with you… but when the leash is off and the food is not on her nose, she may not stay with you. And it was making you a little frantic (especially on that first video, after 2 hours of traffic!)

I am SO glad you posted the video because we can TOTALLY work on this!!! Yay!

So what I want you to try at the start line is the pattern game of up and down (cookies on your shoes :)) with you doing it SLOWLY 🙂 No fast & frantic to try to keep her with you. You can do a couple of tricks as you enter the ring, but then go into the up and down pattern game. Keep doing it until she can do 2 things:

a) return engagement to you pretty quickly! Use you highest value food.

b) let you take the leash off while you keep playing the pattern game and keep returning engagement to you, without a cookie on her nose and without the leash on 🙂

Slow and calm (even if you have to fake it LOL!!). You were more calm on the 2nd run and she was a lot better!

If she can do this? Run the course!

If she CANNOT return engagement to you, because the start area is so hard, try it at obstacle 3 or 4.

And, rehearse all of this on a sequence at home, from the tricks for treats, to the up and down game, to the leash coming off (yes, use your leash at home LOL!) so she has been prepared for it before the next class.

I have a game coming soon for the leash coming off, but we can start her right away with it!

I think you are on the right track!!! Let me know what you think!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! Thanks for the update!

>Still working lots of pattern games with him. Primarily up and down, ping pong and 1,2,3. Use the 1,2,3 for transport and the up and down for waiting ringside. He organically inserts some LAT into the up and down to check out what’s going on in the ring and then focus back to me.>>

Great! How is the volume dial game going? The pattern games are helpful but you will see the best results in terms of arousal regulation when we sort out how tohel him work in arousal and how to regulate arousal when not working – and the volume dial is great for that 🙂

>>Quiet crating is still an issue – the sounds of agility get him all ramped up – doesn’t have to see just needs to hear. Interestingly enough, if I put him on a mat or station right next to the crate, all is good – I’ve built enough value for mat work so he can hang in the open. Crating is getting better, down to about 10 minutes or so to settle down.>>

Being in a crate (or even on a leash) can create a lot of barrier frustration, which is why it is harder to be crated for many dogs than it is to be on a station or cot. No barriers fencing him in on a station! But… stationing is more like work and less like relaxing, so the ideal situation would be to have a place where he can truly relax, like in the car. Rest is important, so indoor crating is not that important right now 🙂 So yes, work on creating a quiet crating space for him as far from the action (you can play some music for him, put on crate covers and barriers) but be sure to give him lots of time to also relax in the car.

?>Ran him in some CPE this past weekend. Would bring him in about 10 minutes before his runs to let him acclimate – do out thing in the ring, back to the crate for reward and then out to the car to let him decompress – It’s a routine that has possibility for him.>>

Cool! You can also bring him in without running and just play some pattern games – that keeps the trial location more “neutralized” so he doesn’t go into a higher state of arousal simply by going into the building, if it always means he is going to run a course.

>>His skills are coming along very nicely. He is super responsive to my body which puts a lot of pressure on me. One wrong step and damn, I’ve sent him to the backside again>>

That is a champagne problem! A super good fast dog that is listening! Yes, it puts pressure on you as a handler but in a good way 🙂 I am confident you will get it sorted out and it will all come together.

>>Still working on building some toy drive in him. Got him playing tug in the LR now, still no chance when his arousal is up. A work in progress and I need to commit to getting it worked out.>>

Great! Keep making it a no-pressure game in a no-pressure space, and it will slowly become something you can use in other places too!

>>One other hole I need to fill is remote reward. Reliance on the lotus ball is a problem when I can’t bring the ball in with me – takes him just one run to figure out there’s nothing in it for him.>>

That is perhaps the most important skill for agility dogs! We have remote reinforcement on the agenda this week, so start it off ncie and easy as described, then we will gradually extend it til he can run a full course without the beloved lotus ball. It takes a little bit of time to do it systematically and without stress, but it is a requirement for agility success!

>> I need to start building a ring routine leading to remote reward – would ultimately love him to be dragging me back to the crate. >>

Think of it as a toolbox and you can pull out the right tool for the moment. A specific routine might be too rigid for an environment that is very fluid. For example, when fishing – I am confident that you have a tackle box and a different way of doing things, depending on your goal and water conditions and type of fish, etc. Ocean conditions are fluid, just like the agility environment, so we need a toolbox 🙂

And I think reinforcement/reward station should be really close outside the ring, rather than all the way back at the crate – it is MUCH quicker for the dogs and also being ringside makes it more predictable for the dogs (and they thrive on predictability of reinforcement). Too many things can happen between end of run and crate, and we really want to get the reinforcement to the dogs as quickly as possible.

>>He’s such a foodie so I do think that’s attainable.

Totally agree! Food is life! I am sure you will get it sorted out 🙂

Keep me posted!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>. He is missing a lot when ramped up, cones further apart or I move too fast. Just not reward ?>>

Yes, you don’t want to reward if he doesn’t hit through the box… but if he misses a total of twice in a session, then it is too hard and you need to dial it back a bit (probably more internal arousal for him but less motion from you).

>He seems to look at me more on one side than the other>

Totally agree about this! Running contact training is a little different than sequencing in that we want him to do a behavior chain on the contact and not need each part to be cued. So yes, start the cone wrap with a physical cue but then just run – you can say hit it but you don’t need to for now, and you don’t need a dig dig for the next cone because we don’t want him looking at you waiting for the next cue. If he has trouble finding the cone without looking at you, move it closer (he definitely had more trouble on your right side than on your left side). He seemed to be waiting for a cue and was looking at you (especially on the 2nd video) so we want to get the chain to be nailed so he doesn’t look at you at all 🙂

And you can change your position to be ahead, behind, lateral by changing how close or far you start from the first cone. That is definitely something that will be useful on the a-frame!

Really nice job on the sequencing!

The first run was good, 2nd run was GREAT. I really loved the send to 3 – great connection, timing and TRUST as you sent and took off. That put you way ahead and also allowed him to set up a great turn on 3. For such a big dude, he can really turn too! Yay!

The 3rd run was good too but I think he had it memorized by then LOL! He went and took the jump after the tunnel even though you were way up the line and not really cuing it. So, remember to balance each run with something different so he responds to handling and not just learns the sequence 🙂

Great job here!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
He seemed pretty happy and playful here, shaking his toy toy. I don’t see anything wrong with what he was doing 🙂 And he was minding his own business, playing with his toy 🙂 There might be a decompression element to it especially if he needed an extra moment before giving it back to you. All good!

And yes, no need to do it next to the ring. But he was NOT shaking it as part of a frustration behavior or staring at another dog. And, part of the problem in agility is that agility dogs are not trained to be able to work in any type of pressure from other dogs, so when there is pressure, handlers look to control the outside forces and sterilize the environment. In flyball, we have no choice but to train the dogs to thrive with the pressure of other dogs staring and barking at them 🙂 When my dog is in start, there are at least 3 other dogs staring at him and barking, and in start he will start behind them so he has to run past them on the way to the box. And it is no problem at all, because it is the way the sport works so we train it. Agility needs to do some of that training! But alas, the culture is to sterilize the environment which leaves the dogs under-prepared. That is why we want a big toolbox to prepare the dogs for anything 🙂

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
The timing of the BCs here seemed to be good, but I think adding the spin was causing the other errors. Both spins were late (he was already in the air when you started them) so it sounded like he hit the bar on both. Then that put you behind him for the ending line and he had trouble running past the 3 jump (partially because he is still learning to run through boxes, and partially because you were turning your shoulders a bit to get around the 6 jump.

So you might find it smoother to accelerate into the BC 4-5 then as you are finishing it and he is jumping 4, decelerate, send to 5 (no spin needed) then turn and leave. That way you can be showing him the straight line with big connection from ahead of him, as he is jumping 6, so he understands to go straight and not curl into 3.

Let me know if that makes sense! Nice work here!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>.. I found it fascinating to think about the arousal states and then the different levels of sustained focus and how much distraction they can/cannot block out.

Yes, I love that nerdy stuff! So fascinating and helpful!!!

>> I wanted to let it run so you could see all of the in-between things and the pattern and arousal games. It was cool to see him come back during the pattern game when he heard the sheep. I could totally tell what caught his attention. >>

Yes, it was insightful to see the whole session! The animal noises certainly added a distraction for a heartbeat, but then he came right back into engagement and had no issues with it after that.

Two things I think you can add to the session:
– do the pattern game-to-volume dial before every run. Your first run here was your best and it is possible that adding a little bit of arousal regulation before each run can make every run your best 🙂

– if you are going to run the sequence differently or do a different sequence, you need to walk it and plan it first before you run it. He is too fast and inexperienced for any handler freestyling, and that is why you were getting bars down (late info probably because you were planning as you were trying to also run him). So, take a moment to walk it before you run it and I bet you will see a lot of oopsies fade away.

First sequence super nice!!!! Great connection and timing, all went really well.

You will get a better turn (bar up) on jump 4 the pinwheel jump if you send and leave (2:46) rather than round the line with him/ Rounding the line causes you to be facing the fence instead of 5 so he is trying to adjust in the air. Compare to 1:38 where you were already turning towards 5 so he jumped 4 cleanly.

You can add a turn cue before the tunnel entry especially to set up the RC so it is easier to get on the RC line.

I think the next run was a bit of a freestyled run 🙂 and the handling was not as quick & clean, witj you rounding line in the pnwheel at 3:59 (ticked bar) and also decelerated through that section so there was a bar down after it.

>> On the last run, I realized I was out of position and ended up backing up

Yes – that landing side handling is hard to get to on time – think of moving forward towards the last jump rather than parallel to the 2nd to last jump – that can help even if you are late 🙂

Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! Great work here, Annalise!

Sequence 1 – Prytania was on fire here, moving so fast!! Great job with your verbals too! Nice teamwork 🙂

You are getting better at continuing if something goes sideways 🙂 There is a lot of acting involved, almost movie-star level 🙂 If something goes wrong, don’t react to it at all, just keep running as if it was totally correct, reward her, and then figure out how to show it to her more clearly on the next rep. That will keep her super fast and it is also super fun to keep moving 🙂

Good job adding more connection on the exit of the tunnel – the first rep was not quite strong enough but then all the other reps were lovely. You can also play with seeing how early you can send and leave to the 4 jump (pinwheel jump) so she can set up the turn and keep the bar up, and you can get way ahead.

For the RC, you are getting a little ahead of her which makes setting the RC line a little harder. To show the RC info sooner, you can go in closer to the tunnel so you can drive to the center of the bar sooner – no need to wait until she is already past you, she will pass you as you are driving to the center of the bar. No need to pull your shoulder to face the jump then do the RC, you can be connected and running to the center of the bar the whole time.

Excellent advice from your mom to run into the tunnel to get the RC – lovely!! That looked terrific!

The sequence with the blind was AWESOME!!! Both of you were blazing fast and connected – just be sure she is landed fully before you throw the toy so she doesn’t land on the jump trying to get it.

Seq 2 – really nice opening! If you are rear crossing you have to come in closer to the obstacle before the RC and let her catch up a little, so you can set up the RC line, just like the tunnel in the previous sequence. That will make it easier for her to pass you and read the rear cross.
For the blind, trust her a lot! When she is landed from 3 and looking at 4, you can start it. This is more like what you did at 2;33, that was really strong!!
After the blind, she just needed one more step to the jump to get past you, so yo ucan watch her head to make sure she is looking at the jump before you start the next handling move. And it doesn’t matter if she takes it or not… keep running 🙂 Acting! That is the best reward for her 🙂 and will keep her motivated and super fast like she was her.

Love how she can have a big stride on the etension line and then set up the tight turn on the spin. SO NICE!!!

>> Susan was gone for the first sequence and came back for the second. She was arranging a mat on the aframe and you can see it threw her off for a minute or two!!!>>

I think yes, having Susan there was a little distracting but see how it was all good, Prytania was perfectly focused, til you stopped when there was a blooper? That was when she sniffed then the wandered off. So if you had kept going, she is not likely to get distracted. So you have total permission to be an actress and keep going as if everything was perfect – then fix it on the next rep 🙂

Great job here!!!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! Lot s of great work here!

Tunnel versus wrap – this went really well!! You were using physical cues to support your verbal cues and that went really well. He only seemed to have a question going to his right and ended up in the tunnel a few times. It is normal that one side is stronger than the other, so the left turn is definitely his stronger side on this game.

So on the left side wraps, you can add 2 more levels of challenge for him with this game now:
– Turn he tunnel entry or change the line of the wing so that as he goes around the wing, he can fully see the tunnel entry facing him 🙂 That will make it harder to get the wraps!
– Start to fade out the body cues and do it only on verbals. Since he is so little, you might want to do this in a chair so you don’t have to bend over as much: hold his collar, say the verbals a few times, then let go so he can move 🙂 You can remain seated 🙂 Saying the verbals a few times before letting him move will help him process them without your motion.

For the right turn wraps, stay at this same level for another session (with the physical cues to help him) until he has no more errors, then you can go to the new added challenges 🙂

The advanced level is going well too, especially considering your started with the harder right turns! He does better committing to the wing after the tunnel when you step forward with the dog side leg. If that leg stays back, he is not as sure about committing. He did well on the left turns too. I think adding the verbals-only/no physical cues will make this advanced level even easier too!

Tunnel exits: well done to you for getting the verbals cue started before he got in the tunnel, even in a small space! That is not easy and he had a lot of info before he got into the tunnel. Super! His right turns here were better than his left turns – funny because he was better to his left on the wing games above LOL! But by the end, the left turns were great too. And nice job balancing the turns with the Go cue and getting the rewards thrown early!

The next step is to add wings for him to find after the exits the tunnel and also to do this in a bigger space to add more speed & motion for you both 🙂

Smiley face is looking great too – great job with the directionals on the wing wraps and race tracks!!! His commitment looked terrific on the wraps and the race tracks too.

I think you can tell hm the tunnel cue sooner, before he even exits the wrap. He was wrapping and looking at you like “what’s next?” and as soon as you said ‘tunnel’, he looked at the tunnel 🙂 When you did the race tracks, you were saying left/right and tunnel nice and early so he looked at you a lot less!

His only questions were when you turned your connection forward too early (meaning you looked ahead at the jump and not back at him). That happened on one tunnel cue and on 2 of the right turn race track moments towards the end – by looking forward too soon, you accidentally turned away from the line, so he looked up at you. All the other reps had much better connection and he did not lose his commitment. Super!!

This can also go into a bigger space… what do you have available to give him more room to run? He is definitely ready for more challenge 🙂
Great job here!
Tracy

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