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Hi!
On this sequence – line him up on a slice facing 2 rather than facing the tunnel – that way he is immediately on the correct line and you don’t have to step to jump 1 at all.On this sequence, add a turn cue for 3 starting at landing of 2. you said a quiet right verbal as he was in the air of 3 on the first rep (you were earlier with the verbal on the 2nd rep) and more importantly – you were not moving outta there, so you’re facing straight which cues him to go straight
Then too early on the RC on the first rep, no worries we all do that LOL!
Not moving on the 2nd rep made the RC harder and bar down.Someone in the background asked why the dropped bar was your fault – it was your fault because he didn’t know it was a left turn until he was in the air and turning to his right at 1:19. He tried to save it, but couldn’t. So, we take ownership of it and don’t punish the bar. I am glad you didn’t!
Better RC at 1L47!
Ending line – be moving and turning – when he is exiting the tunnel and looking at the 7 jump you should be turning to 8
But no matter what happens… reward with a toy like it was perfect
You did punish the bar at 2:26… you owe him a cookie because the cue was late so he was already scrambling a bit to catch up and then by the time he saw your movement to the left, he was over the bar. Go give him a makeup cookie and don’t punish bars in the sequences. I know that people will tell you to punish the bar but I urge you to ignore them – bar punishing will cause frustration because he is doing the best he can with the info at hand. He actually appeared to avoid that bar on the next rep and grabbed the tunnel at 2:36 and again at 3:00.
So if they get on you about punishing bars? Tell them to come talk to me 🙂 And I will put the reasons why you don’t want to punish bars below here.
So running the sequence clean is not that important – but developing the teamwork is! If something goes wrong, just roll with it and keep going then reward with a toy right in the moment (rather than on the group off to the side). And if you know what went wrong, try it again. If you are not sure – watch the video 🙂 That way he does fewer reps, but he has a lot more information and support!
And he is definitely processing handling so the hind end use on he jumping form is changing. So for each new sequence, keep the bars at 16 until he is smooth – and separately, practice the grids with you moving and the toy moving 🙂
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>>Here’s where I’m wondering how much to make it more like a trial by bringing him up or aiming to find the top of the curve.>>Good question! Aim for the top of the curve, a nice centered state, not trial-like.
On the sequences – these are new behaviors for him (longer sequences) and he has to process your cues. So, we want him to be in a higher arousal state but NOT trial-like, because that is asking him to process in a slightly over-aroused state, which could lead to errors at this point.Looking at the sequences:
You did the volume dial with food here – be sure to move the food more so it is like a toy otherwise it does not really effectively center his arousal state. And you can totally use a toy as well! In fact, I think I would sequence him with toys in training because it will be very motivating for him (more so than food), and I don’t think it will be too arousing.I think on the sequences you can move more in your handling – go for it! You were being VERY connected but also maybe too connected because it was rotating your upper body back to him, which was inhibiting your running speed. You were walking a bit rather than running, so that actually makes it harder for him.
One important thing is to NOT worry about getting these sequences clean or precise. Just practice going fast, being connected, spitting out the verbals, and seeing what he needs. He doesn’t need to see each sequence more than once or twice in a session.
Also, have a toy with you. You were rewarding a lot with a cookie which might not be as motivating as a toy. Having a toy in your hand will help you really place the toy at the end of a line or after a turn, rather than off to the side of the course.
Remember that we are not trying to avoid arousal or lower arousal… we are making it simulating and fast and fun! So the toy play will be a critical element of that 🙂
On the first sequence:
>>I feel like I’m just late (like the FC) and for sure when he lands really hard >>
I think it was more of a positional question than a timing question – even though you were rotating through the FC, you were going straight past 3 so he was jumping long and turning on the flat.
>>You’ll see one run where he drops a bunch of bars. He does great on grids, but adding my movement ups the challenge for both of us>>
Remember to be moving in the grids and using your moving target! But for the bars down, I think it was not a motion issue for the most part. When he dropped the bar on 1 at :35, I think it was caused by you rushing away to get to the FC, which breaks connection so he started thinking about rushing to get to you.
Then from :42 to :45 when the other bars came down, you can give him more verbals (like a wrap verbal at :42) and then run run run 🙂 On the 6-7 line, you were walking so he was not sure if he should collect or extend (bar down at :44)
Reward him anyway like it was perfect, because the info was confusing and then he will be confused if he doesn’t get rewarded, which can be frustrating.
At 1:30, you are doing the back and forth pattern game and your videographer asked if you should be slower: nope! Not for this – you can toss the next treat as soon as he re-engages. We are not going for prolonged attention, we are going for quick re-engagement. But if he is re-engaging very quickly, you can move to the next thing, no need to do a whole lot of reps.
2nd sequence (lead out push) – I could not see your position on jump 2 (the video only has him in the stay on the first rep) but I think when teaching new handling concepts, keep the bars lower than 20 for the first session – he was not thinking about jumping form on jump 1 and 2, he was reading handling, so a lower bar will help him maintain better form.
He was not sure what you wanted at 2:28 but he did take the jump! So rather than stop… keep going! Roll with it! That will tell him that he is correct (because he was). When you stop and talk to the videographer, he gets confused. I think he did get a cookie eventually there, but I am not convinced that is a reinforcement or motivator, especially as compared to staying in motion 🙂
At 2:33 we can’t really see your position on 2 but based on his line, you were not far enough across the line to 3 (he jumped straight over 2 then turned hard after landing). At 3:04 we can see you and yes – you are on the right turn wing of 2 but we need you to be closer to the left turn wing of 2 (where the cone it) – ideally, you would be standing on the exact line you want him to take (which is a little past the center of the bar) and then move towards 3 when you release him so he reads the tight line.
Nice job here! I think the main emphasis should be trying to run while maintaining connection for now – you will be surprised at how much easier it is 🙂
Tracy
Aha! Here is the up and down game.
Question – what does the search marker mean, specifically? One cookie or several cookies, or tossed or placed? I ask because you might not need a marker for this game and that will help keep the search marker clean.
For this game, let his head come all the way up for now, so he chin lifts up a little – that will help get the physiological response we want (for you both :)) And yes, take it to the practice field and see how it goes! I use this game ALL THE TIME in high arousal situations and it is really helpful.
Nice work!
TracyHi! I am glad to see you back! Sorry that it has been a rough end of summer for you and your mom 🙁
>>I’ve been struggling to figure out how to get in synch with him.
Normal and relatable! These baby dogs are rockets and need our help… and we have to learn a whole new gear of speed. So, we will all mess up a lot, no worries 🙂 Fun times ahead though!!
>>You’ll see it in the videos, but I’m frustrated with myself because during a run I tell he’s already committed to a different line, lands hard, zig-zags, drops bars etc. When I watch the video, it’s often obvious. It’s like he’s a jump ahead of me making decisions and I feel like I need to shift everything earlier or there is a long gap of molasses between my brain and body. LOL>>
Totally relatable! Try not to get frustrated – embrace the baby dog speed and enthusiasm 🙂 The super hard part about young dogs is that they need us to help every inch of the way, so we will mess up pretty regularly. As long as we keep moving and rewarding the dog – no worries at all as you sort out the timing of it all.
>>I also have lots of questions about managing arousal states. I took him to a fun match and he totally ramped up. I’m hoping to gain a better understanding of how to hit and maintain the top of that curve.>>
Think of it as surfing: the state is not static, it is always shifting. And as an adolescent, he is likely to fall into over-arousal sometimes. The first step is to get the pattern games very fluent.
When he ramped up, was it the movement of the other dogs that triggered him? Was he able to eat treats? Or play with a toy?
On the video with the pattern games – he did well with the back and forth! He is very stimulated and did need to assess the environment a little when you got closer to the road, but all of that is great!
So with the back and forth game here – add in a novel distraction and get the game to be fluent with quick responses. And take it to easy places. And definitely add in the up and down game – it is incredibly useful too!
The volume dial with the toy looked good, easy peasy! When you move to using food, use the food like a toy as well – rather than hand him the cookie in a stationary position, have him chase you hand for the cookie so he is moving. Otherwise, the food will not help regular the arousal state. And with the food tricks, keep them fast and fun as well – fewer downs and lineups, and more spins and dance moves LOL!!
>>One question I had about the volume dial. Do we want to try and discover the sweet spot or do we want to intentionally ramp up higher arousal so it becomes more like a trial? Or maybe both?>>
Both! Think of it as a fact-finding mission 🙂 What gets him to a relatively optimal state? What gets him trial-like? We need both in our toolbox 🙂 More on that coming on Monday!
>>I’m really trying to figure out when to use toys versus food and what will work best for different situations.>>
Honestly, there is no way to know right now LOL!! So, don’t worry about it – he is still in the very early stages of this AND he is an adolescent so we won’t know what works best for a long time. For now, we are building a toolbox and doing lots of trial and error and observation and laughing 🙂 You probably won’t know for real until he has a year of trialing under his belt.
>>Another thing I wonder about is he’s a pretty serious boy about working. I know you saw how he goes out and sits by jumps like he knows where to start.
Yes! It is pretty hilarious LOL!
>>So I’m wonder if it’s better to set him up and go, or add in games before so he’s more with me? Anyway, just trying to learn how to read him.>>
Definitely better to add in the games. Just because a teenager LOOKS ready does not mean the aforementioned teenager IS ready LOL!! Plus, there will be times where we will want to adjust his arousal state before training or running a course, so these games are very important. As he gets more experienced, he will start to self-regulate but we have to survive adolescence first and let his brain finish developing. No worries, we have our support group here LOL!!
Great job!
TracyHi!
>>Maisy rarely misses the first obstacle and we do a lot of tire practice! I think it might be a connection issue as you suggest. >>
That is my guess then – connection issue. She was totally watching your back as you moved away and not thinking about the tire.
>>Couple of suggestions for mini courses (and I know you’ve covered most of this but I can never find it) – directionals and break arms/collection cues >>
Thanks for the idea!! I am thinking maybe a connection/verbal combo using small spaces, such as a tunnel and 2 wings or something. We are heading into winter here, so a small space class would be fun!!
She did beautifully with her tugging during the volume dial game here! So definitely keep using the tug when you train at home, because that will help her learn to come into that higher arousal state and self-regulate.
She also did well with the food, of course 🙂 The food will be very important to practice with because that is what motivates her in harder environments. So with the food, you can add one more level of excitement: after she does the trick, you move 2 or 3 steps away from her so she chases you for it a bit! That is very stimulating and can help her in harder environments.
In the home environment, you can add a novel distraction so she plays this game near something new (not scary or weird, just different).
Great job!
TracyHi! It was fun ‘seeing’ you at the webinar! I love doing them!
>>I have a question on your feedback from the 24th about the Sends & Serps game. was I doing the send wrong? I don’t want to be missing a mechanics nuance (or big detail)>>
It was not wrong necessarily, but you can make it more ‘serp-like’ by staying close to the jump and travel parallel to the bar. You were turning a bit and ending up perpendicular to the bar – that cues her to come in and take the jump, but if there is another jump on the serp line, she would need the parallel path relative to the jump to be able to turn back out to it. Let me know if that makes sense – if not, I can draw it 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
This went well too! She did better on the out reps when you were not moving as fast – that is probably because the upper body has to override the motion of the lower body (so be sure you are moving, not standing still to send). Because the processing is hard and you will want to keep your feet straight to the line, you can give her a little more room between the wing and the jump. By that, I mean as she exits the wing wrap, the jump can be further up the line you are traveling along. She did the out on a bunch of reps but didn’t quite find the jump, so moving the jump further up the line can give her more time to process her footwork and find the jump 🙂Great job here!!
TracyHi!
>>Congratulations on your flyball win! I’m guessing CanAm is like Nationals for flyball? So kind of a big deal.>>
Thanks! It is the North American championships (we beat a couple of Canadian teams on the road to the finals) and is definitely the highlight of the flyball year!
The rear cross shaping game went well! The hardest part for her was NOT turning her feet to follow you as you stepped back to get behind her 🙂 If she has a platform behavior, you can have her sit on a platform if that helps her hold the stay a little better.
She did a great job of reading the rear crosses when you did step behind her! And she has a very flexible, long neck LOL!
So you can take this in front of a jump now – she is in her sit right in front of a jump, less than a foot away – and when you release her (either forward or from the rear cross after the head turn) she will go over the jump 🙂
Nice work!!
TracyHi!
One other idea popped into my head today as I was mulling over the weirdness of the facility rules LOLOne way to help arousal regulation at the start without conflict is to allow the dog to choose their position. For example, early in Contraband’s career, I simply asked for a stay and he would settle himself into whatever position he wanted. Sometimes it was a sit, sometimes a stand. He never chose a down LOL
But he always did it immediately and he never moved a muscle til released. That gave him some agency in a hard environment, allowed me to be happy with his stay, and gave me insight into his arousal level at the moment: choosing a sit meant he was pretty optimized, while choosing a stand meant it was hard but he was working the self-regulation.
And the runs were always good! Now that he is more adult, he just offers a sit before I even ask, because he has a far better understanding and is more relaxed in the environment.
Food for thought as you think about start lines 🙂
Tracy
Good morning!
Great job on these games, you and JJ don’t look rusty at all! These all went really well!
>>Who is really concerned about using the toy with my arm and that played a role in how I did/we did as a team.>>
You were using food a lot and that was perfectly fine, because we do want to keep protecting your arm – no rush to get back to toys or tugging until you are fully clear to do so.
You can let her “run through” the toy as the reward: when you present it to her, hold it until she grabs it then you let go of it, so she keeps moving through it. That will be better for your arm! And she can bring the toy back for a reward. We do this running through the toy in flyball, partially to protect our arms & shoulders 🙂 and partially to protect the dog’s neck – and this also works super well in agility too!
Ladder grid: Looking good!! The distances look good too, but that might change as you add the moving target (see below).
It was hard to see where the reward was on the first video but based on her form over the last jump, it was too close 🙂 On the 2nd video, you were pretty close and upright, so she was (correctly) decelerating on the last jump and lifting her head. She was preparing to stop on the last jump, which was different form than over the 1st and 2nd jump. So, since she has such a lovely stay, you can go past the last jump another 10 feet and use the moving target reward so it is slowly moving as you release her. I like what she is doing over bars 1 and 2, so this will get bar 3 the same way while also adding arousal and motion to the skill 🙂
You might also want to set her up a couple of inches closer to jump 1 (literally 2 or 3 inches) so she has a more centered arc between the jumps.
Strike a pose: Also looked good and she was really pumped up to try the game!
I thought your position on the first rep of the first video was great, and I admit chuckling when she went directly to the tunnel LOL!! But you then made the serp arm a little more obvious on the next reps and looked at it a little, so she nailed it. Super!!! And she had no trouble with the threadle – except job being in the right position for it and showing the arm and using the verbal. And the tunnel cue went well too!
And she was great about getting all the correct responses when you switches sides. So cool! One small detail of the serp is to reward from the other hand after she lands, so she makes the 2nd turn of the serp – it will feel a little cramped 🙂 but you can stop moving and have her end up in front of you and parallel to the jump, facing the tunnel. This will help build up the S shape of the serp 🙂
For the threadles, you can keep your threadle arm back and moving past the jump, rather than cuing the jump – the threadle cue means to come in and take the jump, so you don’t need to turn your shoulders to it. That can push her back to the incorrect side, as you saw at 1:10 on the 2nd video.
She is wanting to release from the stay on the arm cue for the threadle or serp, so remember to put the arm up as you move to position. If you plan is to be stationary when you release, you can pause, praise, then release. If you are going to be moving when you release, have the arm cue up the whole time so you don’t put it up at the same time as you do the verbal cue.
Wind in your hair:
1st video was the rear cross – also going really well! She must have been practicing while you were on vacation!>>I have two videos on this to share. Using a right or left verbal with this actually helped me out.>>
Yes! That is a good spot for the left/right verbals, and you don’t need the go verbal for the rear cross. She was going straight til the last minute here because you were saying “Go”, which means to continue straight, so she was reading the physical cue a bit last minute on the right turns (or not at all on the first left turn). So, keep the good pressure on the rear cross lines that you had here (that was looking good!) but change the verbals to your left or right verbals, depending on which way she is turning. We will save the Go verbal for straight lines with no lead changes.
2nd video started with a go – very nice! You can throw the reward sooner so she doesn’t look at you over the bar. The 2nd rep was a rear cross with a left verbal: perfect! On the other reps, you said go then the directional – you don’t need the go at all, because she should (and did) commit to the jump straight on the go verbal and physical cue, then had to switch to the left or right a little late. And then on the last rep which was a real “go”, she was more careful and watching you (rather than driving ahead) to see if you were going to switch to the left or right.
The Diamond videos:
The blinds are going well! This is where she can run through the toy reward and then bring it back for another reward – much safer for your arm!
As you get more comfy with the blinds, you can start them sooner – that will tighten them right up. O n the 2nd rep, you started the blind when she was about halfway between the tunnel and wing and she was already tighter! On the last rep, you had perfect timing (she had exited the tunnel and you started the blind) and that was perfect!! The last rep was a little later but still really good. As she gets more experienced with the blinds, her turns will get tighter and tighter.
One suggestion for the tight blinds – lower your arms and keep them a little tighter to your sides – that will give her more visible connection and it will also help you be really quick on the blinds 🙂
2nd video – also super strong! As you exit the blind, make the connection like you did but keep moving – you were hesitating a tiny bit as you made the connection which decelerates you more than we want (we don’t want her to catch up to you LOL!) On the last rep, you did a great job of making the connection and continuing to move to the next wing, and that made it smooth and fast!
3rd video – the race track looked great! Fast and fun, great connection! You probably don’t need to have your arm up on the race track – you might find it easier to just run.
The FCs after the big race track were harder! As as he exits the tunnel, you can decelerate into them along with the verbal wrap cue. The decel plus the cue will help her collect. Then on the exit of the wrap, especially on the left turn wraps, make a BIG connection back to her eyes (you can totally use the arm across the body like you did on the tight blinds). What was happening on those left wraps was that the connection was a little too soft, so as she exited the wing she could see your back more than your eyes. So she didn’t know which side to be on, and then when you said tunnel she went to the tunnel she was looking at (:41 – :42 was a good example of that). So make the big connection and when you see she has turned and come to the new side, then you can add the. Tunnel cue 🙂
Last video – super nice job adding the tight blinds here! Lovely connection! Those are hard to do at high speed, and you both did a great job 🙂 YAY!!!
Now you can start to push the timing up – when she exits the tunnel, keep moving forward but start to decelerate into the blind, so it will start sooner and end up tighter. If you are too early or disconnected, she will not take the wing (so that is good feedback from her).Great job here!!! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi! Great to see you here!
>>Mitre is very motion sensitive and when I try to work through it using food or toys it does not go to well. She is totally amped. I try not to rehearse it too much but still try to work though it. I move further and further away which helps. Any other tips. Or should I try the Pattern games away from distraction then gradually introduce to the motion of other dogs. Or the power up games.
Yes – the first step is to teach the foundation pattern games away from distractions (at home)until they are the easiest thing ever for her (won’t take long) then add an easy distraction. When she is great with pattern games, we will add them to the harder environments but she needs to be fluent with them first. The power patterns and volume dial game come later on, but all of that can be done at home first too!
When she is around moving dogs, can she eat? Can she tug? Let me know what she can do and what you are trying when she is having trouble aorund moving dogs.
Tracy
Hi!
The sequences are going really well!!
Seq 1 – Very nice! On both videos, you can line him up on a slice at 1 so he can be turned before takeoff, rather than facing 1 straight on which means he has to add a turn after landing.
He is reading the BC well on the 3-4 line, so now you can start it sooner: try to start it no later than when he is halfway between the tunnel exit and the jump, so it is finished before he takes off – that will tighten it right up!
>>There is a red wing on the far side of the course next to the fence that blends into the equipment and is hard for you to see in this camera setup. He blew past that jump a couple of times in this sequence.
Hard to see why he missed the jump – might be the visual clutter of the stuff along the fence (that a-frame is very visually prominent!!), or he needed more connection which always helped him get it in both directions 🙂 When you had great connection on that ending line, it looks like he got that last jump nicely!!
>>Lastly, over the past couple of months I feel like he’s becoming way too attached to me (agility wise LOL) . He seems to be looking at me a lot and curling into me rather than staying out on his line, which leads to blowing by jumps as in the first opening sequence posted above.
He might need more reinforcement thrown on the lines in the sequence (and not from your hand or thrown at the end). Also, as the sequences get bigger, it is normal for us humans to disconnect more (oops!!) so that might be why he is looking at you more. For example, on the last run of the 2nd video, he almost didn’t take the #2 tunnel because you were not conencted. So try to keep ultra connected and if he misses a jump just keep going and connect more. Stopping him will get him looking at you even more!
>>I usually carry a toy in my hand which I’m thinking I should hide but I’m not sure that’s the problem. Your thoughts?>>
He might be looking at the toy when you are disconnected? So you can carry it or have it in your pocket, but either way be sure to emphasize connection.
Video 3 – nice lead out and lead out push on 2! It looks like he read it well and you moved away to 3 with good timing too!
Good timing on the blind – be sure to keep moving to 3, rather than in towards the bar on 2, so he doesn’t run into you and also so he knows which way to set up the turn (towards 3)
>>However, Baxter seems to want to come behind me at jump #3. I feel that I’m connected – is it my feet?>>
He ended up behind you t 1:42 and it was a definite connection moment. I think you can see him, but you are not looking at him strongly enough so he doesn’t see the line. When you looked at him very clearly, he had no questions. The same happened at 2:54 at jump 3 – you were a little softer in your connection, looking ahead, so he was not sure where to go. You were much more connected at 3:56!
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
Yes, the next steps are to take it on the road to neutral happy places, as well as adding novel distractions in the environment. And the alligator toy is PERFECTION!!! Love it!!!!
T
Yes, Rising Star is a LOT tighter – but you can start outside, use the side room, and the alley near the bathrooms! And if it it too much for her, you can skip the run so it stays fun 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
>>So she starts by missing the tire… is there something I did?>>
Does she miss the first obstacle when it is a jump? She was watching you intently as you led out (you were not watching her) and she was angled slightly away from the tire. So when you reconnected and released, the tire was not on her line. You can try leading out with more connection and when you arrive at your position, wait for a heartbeat so she can remember the first obstacle, then release. If it never happens on a regular jump, she likely needs more experience on the tire as the first obstacle.
>>Then I knew the spread to the weaves would be an issue so I tried to cue when she landed but that seemed to be much too late. If I’d yelled when she was over the bars, she would have knocked them but let’s face it, she was already locked onto the tunnel when she took the spread>>
Yes that was a hard line – the weaves were really hard for the dog to see. Ideally the turn cue would start no later than landing from the previous jump, so she would take off for the spread already turned to the weaves. A turn cue there can be a brake arm or even a spin!
And the jump after the aframe needs a strong turn cue too – so definitely start giving her turn info no later than exit of the previous jump, so she can set up the turn.
Tracy
