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Good morning!
>>so don’t quite understand the posting requirements so if im posting too long of videos or to much- let me know. Is it 3 minutes a week or per video?>>
You’re doing great – it is about 3 minutes (or 4 reps) for each game, for 2 rounds… so it is actually a lot of video LOL
>>So she LOVES training with food but what I was told form her breeder when she was there was that food decreases arousal and toys increase it. so we should be training with toys for agility and being engages with toys that involve me>>
Reinforcement and motivation is not quite that simple or black and white. I do agree that toys are more motivating so likely to help get engagement in more challenging situations. But training with food in agility is enormously helpful (as this video shows, and the previous video shows the challengeof training with toys) so ideally, you have ALL the tools to use: toys to tug, throw, or place, and food that be be tossed (lotus ball, for example), hand delivered, or placed (she sure found the TnT motivating!)
Then we pull out the right tool for the job at hand. 🙂
Looking at the video:
This went really well!!!! The hardest part was the initial send to the wing:>>Very very focused on the treat n train of course so she attempts to cheat to take the quicker way
Actually, she was responding perfectly to what she saw in terms of connection on that send (not cheating :))
At :01, remember to look at her and not the wing. Looking ahead at the wing turns your shoulders to the jump and that is where she went.
Better connection at :09 and huge difference at :24! Nice!!! And gorgeous connection at :32!!On the other side at :37 and :46, you were looking ahead and not at her, so she followed your shoulders to the jump. Resist temptation to tell her no (it is a handler error, after all, and she is following your shoulders correctly). Just reset with a cookie and add more connection.
Lovely connection at 1:05 and 1:14 and 1:24 and 1:35, and she got the sends perfectly.
Based on what she is seeing there in terms of connection, she would do the same behavior even if the TnT was not there.
The TnT definitely helped her find the line, even when you added more speed in the 2nd half of the video! SUPER!!!
Keep adding more motion (as much as your foot will tolerate) and also incorporate the toy – first in your hand for play before and in-between reps, then you can try it on top of the TnT as the placed reward.
>>How would I do the other connections in such a small space? like getting a blind or front?>>
In a smaller space, start it with a start wing and just one jump so you have time to get the turns and commitment. Then you can add the 2nd jump back in when you have more room.
Great job!!!
TracyGood morning!
That’s a bummer about the tire light! Hopefully it is an easy fix.For the broad jump – jumping training has evolved since the book was published, so you can put the broad into any grid with only small adjustments needed. For a set point, you can have a low bar on the first jump, then one or two boards for the broad, then I use a moving target reward. The jumping effort for a broad jump is entirely different than for a bar jump, so gradually build up the # of boards (definitely not starting full length)
Same with a longer grid – you can do a balance grid of a jump 6 feet then the broad then a jump 6 feet from the end of the broad (starting with fewer boards) and a moving target. I’ve done it in balance grids and accordion grids with the broad last and at different distances – all with the moving target reward to promote extension.
Looking at the video:
The exit line connections all looked great! Strong mechanics!!!You mentioned timing being off – I think that it was a product of leading out a lot because then there was no transition into decel which is a huge piece of the cue.
And on the connection- for her, maintain connection to her eyes til you do the exit line connection. What was happening was that you were shifting connection a little ahead of her, to the takeoff spot and then the jump- that promotes more extension which in this case, she does not need 🙂 especially when there is not a lot of motion and you are right at the jump. You can see it pretty clearly from :34-:38 and she jumped long there. More on that coming in weeks 2 and 3 🙂
Your connection at :49 was awesome! She jumped long there too because the transition is an important part of the cue for her. I think leading out less so you can decel before she lands from 1 and using that same connection will be the sweet spot especially on left turns.
The turns on the spins went well – good cues and really strong ELC!
I really liked the BC timing!!! At 1:36 and 1:53 your timing was great and so was the ELC. She was able to produce a lovely turns there! I think what was feeling off was that there was no place to run to, to help show her the next line – so some of the motion was a bit too straight ahead rather than on the 90 degree line. That’s where the turn was a little wider (like at 2:02 because you were probably trying to avoid the sidewalk). But even a bit more turning produced a nicer turn (and collection before takeoff) like at 2:19.
The blinds at 1:45 and 2:13 were too early but you successfully worked it out on the other reps. Putting these into bigger sequences will make it all feel much easier 🙂
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! She is such a fun pup!! And fast!!
You were definitely working the connection here, but having to wrangle the toy made it harder.
To help be able to establish connection before the send to the wing, two ideas:
-Hold her gently by a collar (so you have a moment to get lined up)
-Throw the toy to position down the line (so you don’t have to worry about throwing it and being connected and all the things LOL!)
That is what I did with my pup on the demo video, and it made things so much easier for me 🙂 You can also have someone else throw it.
At :52 it looks like you started with a hand on her collar and that worked great for a smooth connected start! You were connected to the first jump too. Super!
Having to throw the toy made it harder to stay in motion, so having the toy already there (or thrown by someone else) will help you be able to keep moving and connecting.
Nice job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! Hopefully using the unedited video made it easier to film and post!
Watching the dog on right reps:
She had a little jumping trouble on the first 2 reps then figured it out. You might laugh (or smack me lol) I think you actually had a little too much connection on those early reps but watching her too intently. This was causing you to almost over-rotate your upper body back to her which was shortening your stride, so she was reading a little decel maybe. After the 2nd rep, you were driving the line more and that helped!
Then on the dog on left side, like at 2:20 – you were driving even more, arm not as far back, but still totally connected. I think that is the sweet spot for her!! It was more of running at looking for her eyes, and less directly watching her eyeballs 🙂Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi! Skeeter is looking all grown up with his jumping, commitment, stays, etc. Wow!!
Fantastic job with the regular connection here! You were really being sure to keep your dog-side arm out of the way and make connection. Note how he didn’t have. To look at you at all – he just drove straight! And because he was so confident, he was even bouncing the jump distance. NICE!!! This was especially cool because I don’t think there was a placed reward that he was driving to (you were throwing it) – he was just responding brilliantly to the connection. SUPER!
The only hard part was getting him to be patient enough to let you connect before the send to the wing – he was being an overachiever and starting early LOL! So you can use a cookie there to be like “give me a moment, Skeeter!”. When you did make the connection for the send, it looked perfect.
Indoor with 2 jumps you didn’t quite have the room to get him to really drive ahead. You can get that with one jump by moving that jump further and further away. You can right next to the wing wrap and then see if he will drive ahead of you to the jump as it gets further from the wing on each rep.
Excellent job on your exit line connections! The blind at the beginning and also at the end looked really good. Those will be much easier for timing when you have more room, but the connection was really strong.
The FCs looked SUPER – the connection was very clear which is important because you are tall and he is small!
The spins also looked great! You were definitely thinking about the mechanics so as you practice this, things will get easier and then you can start the crosses even sooner. The spins will feel smoother when they are sooner – you can start the FC part of the spin rotation before he takes off for the jump, so you will be finished with the FC while he is jumping and showing the BC part of it before he lands.
He is definitely ready for the combos if you want to try those net!
Great job here!
TracyGood morning!
Nice work here – you were able to work out the timing and connections and that made a difference on the skills!
For the BCs –
Too early at :04, you were already disconnected to start the blind before she landed from 1Definitely better timing to start the blind at :12 but late with the ELC so she didn’t pick up the new side (partially due to her inexperience – a more experienced dog will know that the shoulder rotation predicts blind, so you wouldn’t need to be as perfect).
The rep at :23 was good and the rep at :28 was GREAT – that rep had timing, connections, and a great line of motion so she really read the line well.
FCs – the important part here was remembering your transition from acceleration to deceleration into the collection rotation, while maintaining collection. A few reps didn’t quite have the transitions in place:
At :33- you went fast then rotated as she took off for the 2nd jump so she (correctly) jumped long.
She ran around the jumps on the next rep, possibly a little frustration? So try not to react at all if something goes wrong.
Much better decel at :56! Yay!
The rep at 1:04 had toooo much decel (no acceleration to commit her) so she didn’t commit and came off the line when you hit the brakes to rotate.
The reps at 1:11 and 1:20 put it all together – really nice!
>>I will be interested in what you say about the spins at the end of the video. To me they felt easy and natural and I wasn’t even sure how I did them. My arms might have been doing some free style stuff that they hadn’t asked me about, but I really thought she found the line well.>>
I agree – they looked great and she did really well! You had working out the transitions and connections on the FC reps and applied it all to the spins – and nailed it. YAY! I think your arms were fine: they were low and out of the way and showing the exit line connection while moving naturally. She seemed to have no questions!
Great job here!
TracyGood morning!
He was definitely getting ahead of you when you started right near the wing! Nice connection!
>>Perhaps a placed reward would work better for him to get farther ahead??>>
Yes – placed reward will totally help and also you can throw a lot sooner (when he lands from 1 and is looking at 2, throw the reward). You can also use a longer jump bar – it is possible that in order to fit himself over the bar, he is slowing down a bit because it is a narrow space.
On the exit line connection video:
>>There were a few reps that I have no idea why I was doing such a big lead out and it created problems. Or rather, that lack of commitment created the problem but I didn’t need to lead out like that.>>
It wasn’t really a lack of commitment issue – I think leading out too much caused a reverse transition on some of the reps… yo were decelerated until you suddenly went fast into the rotation (like at :44). And when that happened, you were looking at the jump and not at him (broken connection!) so he came to you and didn’t take jump 2 (like at :57 and 2:26 – you were looking at the takeoff spot and rotating towards him, but he was still behind you, so he didn’t see the connection he needed).
1:08 had a good transition and connection! And he nailed it 🙂 Adding more connection directly to his eyes as you move up the line fast before decelerating will definitely help with commitment, and doing that will also help you not end up past jump 2 on the wrap FC and spins.
Nice job working out the mechanics of the spin! Good use of motion on those reps, and also really nice emphasis on exit line connection! When you balanced those with FCs, he did really well too.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
>>Knight is a Blue cedar, out of Ginger x Atom.>>
If my memory is correct, Knight has MeToo and MyMy in his background, so he is related to my Hot Sauce (she is in the week 2 demos) as a cousin. Small world!
>>The first is my attempt at being behind inside>>
This went well!!! Try not to look forward as you exit the wing wrap (you looked forward and back at him) – think of it as looking at him directly as he exits the wrap, to start the go jump cue. It is entirely possible, though, that you were reflexively looking forward to make sure you were not going to run into anything 🙂 Try it outdoors and see how it goes!The FC exit line connection was good in terms of your mechanics! Yay! Connection was very clear. On the first couple of reps, the timing was a little harder (smaller space and figuring out weird new mechanics so you were a little late :)) But when you switched sides, your timing got earlier and you maintained the strong exit line connection, and things looked great!
And the blinds looked AWESOME – when you started to really trust the exit line connection, you started the blinds sooner and check out the gorgeous turn he produced at 1:14! Wow!
The wider turn on the other side was simply because of your position relative to the jump – you were past it so he correctly jumped to the line you were on, which was a little wider. But your exit line connection looked lovely so he always knew where to be. YAY!!Great job here!! If the weather cooperates, try it outside so you can work the timing and connections with more speed 🙂
Tracy
Good morning! Thanks for the background – she is looking great!!!
>>She was excited by the frisbee toy however by the 5th I believe we took a break and switched to food when she was reluctant to give up the toy which I read as not ready to continue. After a break we used food. She will work for food but much slower less motivated.>>
She DEFINITELY loves the frisbee! I think she was really excited and aroused when she ha trouble giving the frisbee back. She was probably game to continue, but needs a little help balancing the arousal. Question: will she trade the frisbee for a treat, then go back to the frisbee as a reward? That way you can keep her happily driving for the frisbee, without getting too aroused but also keeping the toy in the game. That way you don’t have to switch to food where she is less motivated for it.
>>I kept Clover in motion as to keep motivation.>>
That worked well when you were able to get her on your side and make connection before the send, but if you didn’t get connected or looked forward on the send to the cone, she took the jump because that was the direction you turned (:08 and 1:07 for example). So you can line her up at your side, gently take her collar, give her a little ‘ready set go’ and then send to the cone! That can be very motivating and also help you show her the connection sooner.
Your connection on the line on all of the reps on your right side looked great!! Super!!
When you switched to your left side, you were looking ahead of her a little more (like at 1:00 and 1:15) so the connection was not as clear and she was not quite as fast on the line. That might also be where you switched to food? So adding more connection and keeping the frisbee in the game can really help increase her speed and independence 🙂Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
>>Her harness is a Freedom Harness. It is not supposed to impede the dog’s motion.>>
It looks like there is a strap that sits just across the top of her chest & shoulders – so even if it is intended to not impede movement, it is just enough “there” that her brain has to spend gas processing it. We would like her brain to not have to devote any energy to that 🙂 The same thing happens when I train my dogs in flyball, which has really challenging and fast neck movement: I take their neck collars off. Even though theoretically the collar doesn’t impede movement in regular life, it certainly is something they have to process around in sport so it is easier for them to remove it.
>>As you can see in one of the clips, she takes a mmoment. This is new and has something to do with not being able to run the fence!!! >>
She was great! You can see her really processing the environment there! And great job to your for rewarding her LOTS when she re-engaged.First rep – she was still processing the environment, so more connection was needed at :29 to get her to commit to 2 before rotating. When the dogs are processing the environment, adding a LOT of big connection can really help them because it becomes easier to process when we exaggerate it 🙂 You were terrific to keep going and reward when she took the next jump.
The blinds at :44 and :51 looked really strong! Nice motion and connection to get commitment to 2, and great exit line connection!
And the spin at the end looked really strong too – you had more connection than the first rep, and she also did not need to devote as much energy to handling the environment – so you both looked great! Well done on all of the exit line connections here!
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
>>My threadle wrap physical cue is my arm across my waist. I would like to keep that cue as pure as possible–on Uki/USDAA courses,I have found it very useful. Is there another way to perform the ELC and achieve the same desired result?>>
You can do it without the opposite arm if you can get the dog-side arm all the way back and make great eye contact… but that is not something most people do when moving fast. To make the arm across look different than the threadle wrap cue, just place the open palm of the opposite arm on your dog-side hip (for me it is on my belly because I am not that flexible LOL!). So you are giving yourself a bit of a hug – it naturally opens up the connection and trains your body to do it. And, it looks nothing like the threadle wrap cue (I also use the opposite arm with my threadle wrap and the dog s have no trouble seeing the difference).
>>and the King Cake is a killer. I decided to go back to keto as I was most successful there and felt the best. but ,man, King cake>>
For real! I feel better and look better when I am doing low carbs and high protein… so why do I love high carbs so much? LOL!! I mean, I know the answer about the addictive qualities of sugar, but datum KING CAKE loL!!
Hi!
Just like you would be patient with him, be patient with yourself when learning new mechanics 🙂 When I was learning spins, I would walk up and down the hallway in my house, doing spins LOL!! My dogs thought I was weird, but they think that anyway 🙂Have fun!
TracyGood morning!
>>I am currently showing at a facility in Minneapolis that has 19 poles so the poles have become part of the obstacles–so weird but it really affects my handling and that of my colleagues.>>
Are you at TCOTC? They have a LOT of poles there and a low ceiling. I have found that it is a processing challenge for us humans to be connected, do the handling, AND not worry about running into a pole!
>>In terms of Mira–she is definitely not a bar dropper. I think I was late with my cue and she was looking for her treat. >>
Good! If bar dropping is rare, then we just note it, see if there was a cause, but otherwise let it go.
>>She is the kind of dog that has left me on course to find a treat and then rejoined me in mid-chew of that treat. I am not making this stuff up:)>>
Ha!!! Poor starving girlie! LOL!!!
Keep me posted 🙂
TracyGood morning!
>>The leash game has worked remarkably well at the end of our run or practice but I worry at the start line because she consistently looks elsewhere before I release her and I’m righteously untrusting of her taking the line.
There is a lot of pressure on the start line in general, and if you add more pressure by trying to get her to look at the jump… she is more likely to look away and move away. So you can release that pressure by lining up and moving away quickly – then release to the first jump and use a TON of rewards for going towards the first jump and not away from it 🙂
>>If I ask her to do a trick to get her engaged before we get set again she’s just as liable to leave me there.>>
Some dogs are “all business” so adding the trick might also be too much pressure. Try getting into the start and off the start a quickly as possible to relieve the pressure, and see how she does.
Keep me posted!
TracyGood morning! This looked pretty darned perfect!
The easiest way to tell if you are breaking connection and looking ahead is to watch your pony tail 🙂 You were connected on all of the wing wrap sends – then if you moved your head to look forward, you can see your pony tail move back and forth. That happened a grand total of once 🙂 And it was on the very first rep – then you were perfect. So she read the line brilliantly!
>>I used the Manners Minder as the target & she was so excited & really drove to it each time.
I back-chained the jumps before we started, so that she knew there was a bar in place and I think she did great with them.>>Brilliant training! It really helped!
>> She did knock the 2nd bar on the last rep. I couldn’t figure out why when I watched the video. What do you think? Was it “just a bar”?>>
I watched that moment a bunch of times to see what was different – she just took off differently (sooner) and didn’t quite clear the bar. Nothing in particular caused it – you were connected, the verbals were the same, the timing of the MM beep was the same. It is possible that she was just a little fatigued and she might not be used to being ahead of you (she was a little ahead on that rep) – it is a lot of jumping, especially if there was back chaining on the jumps before this session. No worries! You can give her longer breaks between reps so her power muscles have a bit more recovery time 🙂 And more practice with her being ahead of you (with you starting right by the wing wrap) will also help her out.
Great job here! You can show her the exit line connection now too!
Have fun!
Tracy
