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Hi!
>>For example tonight we worked on 4 different things but I only posted the Smiley Face game. Should I wait until you see that video before posting the next one?>>
My philosophy about video posting is: If you have ’em, post ’em! 😁 That way you will get faster feedback rather than stretching things out over a couple of days. So feel free to put them all in the same post!
Tracy
Good morning! This went really well!! I agree – he was flying!!!!
He had a couple of questions at the beginning: the
Toy in hand on the send side was too hard on the first rep, good job putting it in the other hand where he seemed fine to ignore it. And on the other side, he had a few questions about lining up:Will he line up at your side for a low value treat (to smooth out the sends) and still play with the toy? That can make it smoother but we don’t want to lose the toy play.
His wraps are looking really good! He had one question about the tunnel cue at :26 where you disconnected and turn away too early. Be sure to stay connected and keep moving to the tunnel until he is looking at it and heading towards it (like you did on the next rep at :32). To avoid frustration (because he read your physical cues correctly) if he doesn’t go in the tunnel – keep going to the wing, get the wrap, reward it… then fix the tunnel connection on the next rep.
The mini courses at the end are looking good! You can spread the distances out more so you can run more – that will challenge your connection so be sure to maintain the low hands and big connection as you run run run 🙂 You can add your left & right verbals to the race tracks too – that will help attach the verbals t those turns.
Great job here!
TracyGood morning!
Nice work on these! You can totally spread the wings out more so you can run more and also so you can show transitions. He had some questions about finding the wings (especially on the right turns, more on that below) so you can change the angles of the wing 90 degrees so he is seeing the full panel of the wing and not the thinner slice of it. The bigger visual will help him lock onto them better.
>>Julie is fairly certain that he is a right turner in flyball, but to me he seems to turn better to the left in agility. >>
He might be a right turner, it is hard to tell here because the right turns on this set up were harder to show. But also he is really young, so making a turn direction decision needs a little more time for his mechanics to develop before you start training a box turn – partially so you truly know which is the better direction, and partially so he learns the box turn mechanics with an adult body and not a puppy body 🙂
>>Am I doing something different when asking for left vs. right turns here?>>
Yes 🙂 Part of what was happening was that you were moving on a parallel line but not really cuing the wing – so he was buying time and going wider to figure out what the full cue there. The verbal was in place, but the motion supporting it was a parallel line and walking, so he was not sure what to do. You can show a transition of accelerating before he goes Ito the tunnel (but letting him see you turning to the wing before he enters, when you also sy the right verbal). Then as he exits, cue the wing with a decel for the wrap, or if it is a soft turn, you can cue and turn.
Th other thing that was happening on the right turns was that the verbal was saying right but the body as accelerating straight: On the straight line tunnel exits, when you say right you also need to turn rather than accelerate forward (all before he goes into the tunnel 🙂 ) That way he will be able to process the turn cues in order to turn when he exits rather than after he exits. On the left turns, we didn’t have any reps with that much speed on this setup, so the left turns were easier here.
It is also possible that he needs to see more connection too: On the left turns, we have a better angle of what he sees on the tunnel exit. At 2:02, the exit was not as tight and you were looking forward with your arm forward more, and not a lot of motion. Compare to 2:19 where you were looking at him more and he committed a lot better and had a lovely turn too!
Now that we are getting into handling: Assume all errors are handler errors in terms of information delivery. With that in mind, when there is an error, I want you to just keep going rather than mark it as wrong, stop him, fix it. Doing that slows him down and the error was produced by something that is unclear in terms of the info you wee giving… so he kept slowing down (like at 1:39 you were moving on a parallel line rather than showing a turn on the wing). You can see he kept getting wider and wider there on the right turns, because he had been told it was wrong a couple of times and was widening his line ti look at you more and figure it out before coming to the wing.
EXCELLENT work on the GO lines – you had motion and verbal and connection supporting the lines, and he had very few questions! There was one later in the video where he was not locking onto the wing as much – you were decelerating and staring to turn too early (2:41) Much better at 3:09 when you added more motion and connection! NICE!!
Great job here!
TracyGood morning!
The wing-tunnel proofing looked really good! She had fewer questions going to the tunnel for the 2nd time partially because she had seen it before and partially because you had more motion support – both of those really helped her! And she had no trouble doing the wing wrap when cued, even after multiple tunnels in a row. Super!
On the set point section:
This went better when the toy was further past the 2nd jump – on the first rep, it was right past jump 2 so she hit the first bar. On the other reps, it further away which gave her a lot more room. I think the distance between the 2 jumps here is good – see that first bar at 4 inches for now, and add in slowly dragging the toy before you release her and see how she does.
Great job adding motion to the go line! She found the jump even with you way out ahead and running. Super!!!!!! So now you can change it up to add a different challenge: rather than sending to the wing then being ahead of her, you can start right next to the wing, let her just about finish the wrap… then run 🙂 This will challenge her to drive ahead of you which is a really useful skill. Keep throwing that toy really early (as soon as she looks ahead) or you can have it placed on the ground past the jump before you start the wrap.
Great job here!!!
TracyGood morning!
She did well here, and the is one of the ways we strengthen the left & right verbals.
You can spread this setup out more with more distance between the tunnel and wings, so there is more running 🙂 especially on the wrap to the tunnel before the left/right turns.You had really good timing of the left & right verbals and making them sound different from the tunnel and go cues. Yay! So adding more motion will also show her the change of line as you cue the left/right and turn your shoulders to the wing you want on the exit, all before she goes into the tunnel.
On the left & right turns, you can have her chase you out of the tunnel for the food rather than stop her for it (does she like food holder toys like a treat hugger that you can throw?)
The GO lines all looked good – these had more motion and that helped get the line and the speed. Super!!!!!!
You can keep building these up into sequences to add these verbals and tunnels exits with more and more speed.
Great job!
TracyGood morning!
It was fun to see his work both of these sessions for the toy!
You might notice that he sits a little sideways or away from you sometimes – he needs a little more room on the set up. There was a plank behind him and you were very close to him (especially when there was a jump there) so a little more room will get him lining up on the first cue and also a little straighter.>>I am still working to remember to not move until after he releases. I do think I am getting better at it.>>
Totally yes! The toy being placed on the ground and the releases were happening separately. It took him a few reps at the beginning to remember the stay in the presence of the toy, so you can warm that up on the flat before adding it to the jumps.
When this game goes outside, try to video from the side so we can see his full form. He did well watching from the front, and the side will give us the bigger picture. Plus, he will have more room which will also allow him to power up too 🙂
The next step is to work on getting the toy dragging before the release, instead of it being stationary when you release him (then tarting to move it). Do that on the flat first then we will add it to the jumps 🙂
Nice work!
TracyHi!
>>Why it never occurred to me to grab his collar… sigh. It’s like I’ve never done this before>>
Ha! Each new puppy brings the feeling of never having trained a dog before, I can totally relate LOL!! Lining him up then holding his collar will let you start the verbals before you both start moving, so it leads to cleaner starts and more verbal understanding.
Super nice start to the smiley face games – he caught on very quickly! The only hard part was making enough connection to get him committed to the tunnels, especially when he had to turn left to get in. So be sure to really ramp up your connection after the wing wrap and run directly to the tunnel until you are 10000% convinced he will go into it 🙂
On the set point:
>>I think I need FAS for this drill because we still don’t have a stay. I tried treats on the ground (hence the white mat, so he could see them) but that set us up for not great positioning for the first jump bump. His focus on the moving toy seemed pretty good though!>>
Yes, FAS will help LOL!! Or, you can use a MM as the target (at least 10 feet past jump 2) while you hold him at jump 1 and send him to it. He was happy to focus on the toy, but also I agree that treats on the ground made the start harder. What was the distance here between the bumps? It looked a little wide for his age, so you can try them 6 inches closer (possibly more). I am sure the distance will change as he grows 🙂
Nice work here!
TracyHi!
>>So I thought about our life changes and decided it had to do with me leaving her with playmates all day long. Light switch back to my engaged puppy.
Great catch! She might be using a lot more energy than usual.
>>The first test was switching between toys to tug and she was great then I did food to toys and she was great.
Yay! She was ready to play! Nice work on the puill bug game – you had nice timing of getting ahead but not toooooo far ahead! And you had great connection so it looked like she knew which side to be on at all times. Yay! She stayed a bit wide of you when she was going faster, but that is fine – with the small dogs, wider but full speed is always faster 🙂
You can add the blinds here – for the 2 tunnel blinds, you can do them on the flat if you don’t have the 2nd tunnel out.
Great job here!
TracyHi!
Great job here with the moving target game!!! He did really well holding the sit and following the toy. Super!! The next step would be to start slowly dragging the toy before the release, so it is further ahead and so he is focusing downwards even before the release. If he can do that, you can do it with the jump in front of him! We add it to the set point later on, so you can do the week 1 set point framework too.Nice work here!!
TracyHi!
>>The collar hold, she just stood there, like, “what? Why can’t I go?” I work with her off lead so much that she doesn’t quite get the collar hold.>>
She probably didn’t know that being held was a “get ready” moment and letting go of the collar was a “go” moment. Easy fix! You can gently hold the collar, toss a treat or toy a couple of feet in front of her, say ‘get it’ and then let her go. That should help her understand that the collar hold means fun things are coming 🙂
>> So… Just too many different things and being outside. It’s frustrating for us both. So time to step back a bit and do things she knows in a less exciting environment. Though she was fine in a training building with other dogs and people. I’m blaming her teenagerishness.>>
I think the great outdoors are challenging for her for a variety of reasons, so you can do the harder stuff indoors and for now, do easy stuff outdoors. She is a brilliant girlie, I am confident she will sort it out.
Tracy
Hi!
This is a really strong start – these are really hard!You mentioned needing to keep moving, and yes – that is part of why some of them went wrong – basically, for double crosses, we have to move fast AND be super connected. NOT easy! But you had a lot of good reps!
>>Missing the third wing was super common.>>
Part of the question here might have been because the middle wing was pulled forward and the 3rd wing was pushed back a bit? It was a little hard to tell from the camera angle but it looked like the middle jump was in your way a bit 🙂
Video 1 – this is a good start: hands in tight to your sides as you do the blinds will help with the quick connections.
Video 2 – As you already noted: keep moving, don’t stand still 🙂 You were standing still and pulling away from the wings, which presented the line to the tunnel and not wing 3.
Video 3 – You added more motion and connection here, so the line was better already!! Yay!
Video 4: This one was also good – one detail is to cue her to go to wing 3 with connection back to her rather than pointing forward to the 3rd wing – you can be more lateral for the FC too, which will help you stay further ahead to be able to make the conenctions and show wing 3.
Video 5 – NICE! This one had the best connection and motion so far! SUPER!!!!!
Video 6 – this one was on the other side and didn’t have as much motion as video 5 – you can send to the wing before the first blind so you have an easier time moving up the line.
Video 7 – you were a little early on the blind her, so she didn’t see the side change cue. She needed you to make connection on your right side after the FC to get her to change sides before you did the blind to the left side. Her side change is your cue to do the blind 🙂 It looked more like a spin and not a double cross.
So – my favorite was video 5!! You can keep trusting her commitment to start the first cross and be further away, then make and maintain connection as you run past wing 2 to send to wing 3.
Nice work here! Fingers crossed for the snow to melt fast!
Tracy
Hi!
>.This was so weird to me. I can’t think of an instance where I’ve ever done these before. I obviously listened to your video so I know you talked about real world application. I’m a very visual learner though so I can’t really imagine where in a course I’d use this or if I ever have used it in a course>>
These are used in more complex handling, to do quick side changes to get past off course obstacles.
Here is a bit of an explanation of one place where they are used:
I am looking for some runs where I did double crosses – I found this one, an oldie but a goodie: very complex course and you can see a whole bunch of double crosses 🙂
The double crosses went well! One thing that you are really doing a great job with is your connection – that really helps!!! She was able to see each side change and she accelerated after the 2nd blind. Yay!
I was thinking she looked a little hot after the first couple of reps, then I scrolled down to read this:
>These two practice sessions were after Kashia spent all day outside in our unusually glorious record setting temps of 70 degrees. We went on a 4 mile run and then she went on a 7 mile horse trail ride climbing a mountain.>>
Yep, she is probably wondering what happened to winter LOL!!! No worries, she worked through it 🙂 When the weather is more reliable, you can take her out first thing in the morning when her energy is at its highest level.
Looking at the Lazy Game for contacts:
>> I’m surprised I stayed so patient and stuck with it for 9 minutes.>>
Ha! Yes, that was great! It was sunny out and you were in a chair, so hopefully it was easy to be patient. And, you were rewarded with a great session!
All of these offering games are good! They will begin to help her make independent decisions on course and in training. You can help a lot with lots of rewards for tiny pieces of what you want such as any movement towards the board, or even the tiny head bobs when she was looking at the target.
She definitely figured it out because by the end she was running back, and getting right into target position: wow! Pretty impressive for the first session! This kind of session is a real brain-bender 🙂 but very very useful for getting her to offer behavior rather than rely on being helped at each step.
Great job!!!
Tracy
Hi!
>>Omg, (read in a Chandler Bing voice), could I BE more disconnected?>>
HAHAHAHA!!!! I think my dogs use this Chandler voice on me ALL THE TIME hahahaha
>>Here’s our second attempt, if it’s OK to submit it.>
Of course! Keep ’em coming!
The connection here was lovely throughout the session! Did you feel like you could see him better? Your timing was automatically good because you saw where he was when he exited the tunnel, and he was able to look forward the whole time. I think there was one spin exit where you could have been earlier, but you had BIG connection so he found the line to the correct tunnel entry. Yay!
>> I forgot about the arm part of the connection >>
Because you were focused on connection, your arms were automatically lower and pointing more to him. Yay!!!!
Super job here!!!
Tracy
Hi!
These are definitely hard! The tricky element is balancing the timing with the connection… and NOT stepping to the tunnel by accident.She normally listens really well and I was surprised when she drove to the off course tunnels with so much confidence – so I played the sections with the off course tunnel in slow motion (the first rep, :54, 1:01):
yep, you stepped to it. This girl sees *everything*!!! As you were making the reconnection on those reps, you were rotating back to her too much which is what caused you to turn your feet to the tunnel. And she has great commitment, so… bonus tunnels!The other reps early in the session starting on your right side and :46 off your left had a good line of motion without stepping to the tunnel – you were just too quick to do the 2nd blind so she never made the side change (but no bonus tunnels!).
So you can get these blinds going by using the reward across the body to make the connection back to her without turning your feet to the tunnel:
:34 and 1:09 were spins, but you can use the connection on those too!
So for the next session, you can work on one tight blind with the clear connection and no bonus tunnels. Then we can add the 2nd one in eventually too – when you are connected on the 1st one, you will see her change sides and that is your cue to do the 2nd one.
With her speed, these blinds will be VERY useful so it is worthwhile to sort out the connection.
Nice work here!!
TracyHi! These both look really strong!
Straight lines 4 ways:
This all looked good! Small suggestions to get him to look at you less and the jump more:For the Go lines, have the toy already in your hand and throw it as he takes off for jump 1. He was watching you take it out of your pocket to throw 🙂 and also throwing earlier will get him looking ahead sooner too.
You can have it already in your in your hand for the wrap too so he doesn’t watch you on that one as well 🙂 On the other side, your hands were empty and that wrap was terrific! Your decel was earlier so his wrap was super tight.
The Back reps were GREAT – you ran strong lines of pressure and your clear connection got him to the backside. Super!!!!!!! It is especially super since he had gotten lots of rewards for the front side!
The wrap at :35 was a tight blind that looked great! On the other side, the re-connection was a little late so he drifted wide until he knew which side to be on.
You can add in the rear crosses as well on this setup.
He also did really well with the countermotion game (taking the tunnel was legit because it was on his line there LOL!) Your mechanics were very clear, with your arm/leg/connection all working together. I am really excited about how well he sends behind you – that is a hard skill for small dogs but it will be such an advantage on course to help yo get ahead of him.
For the countermotion, you can run forward for more steps and decel/rotate later, so you don’t end up running backwards at all (I fall over when I run backwards). It can be one step back on the sending rather than multiple steps backwards.
You can add the race tracks on this set up too, I think he will find them to be easy 🙂
Great job here!!
Tracy
