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Hi!
>> I brought her cot out and she chilled in between turns as I looked at what was next.
Nice!!
>>I had already decided I would look at my video if we had a knocked bar, but I did not get to try that out. I wasn’t sure at what height to do the skills at. I started at six for the first switch aways, but then I decided that maybe I needed a little more height for her since just runs through six. Tried 10 for next challenge… too high I heard her tick it. I then adjusted at 8, which I think was just right >>
I think 8 inches is good unless it is insanely hard for her. These looked good at 8 inches!
>>I think the session went really well overall. She remembered these skills from camp!!! I haven’t used switch aways very much since then!>>
Totally agree! And these had more layering & distance! Yay!
Looking at the switches on the jump – these are going well!!!
On these, you can get closer to the jump, converge into it more – and that added step to the tunnel on rep 2 and after that really helped her. The convergence will also elp show motion to the tunnel before even before she takes off for the jump.From the tunnel exit –
She did well too with you stepping in a little to help her find the backside. She still needed one little step to find the jump on the first couple of reps (front side too) an then she was able to nail it. Yay! So on the next session, start with that one or two extra steps to support the line to the next obstacle, then you can start fading that while you add more layering.“”We did have some stay focus issues, which has not happened in a while. I thought it was when she took off at the fence after something in the woods, but I rewatched the video and realized happened it before that. I think it was because I did not hold her to her stay criteria the rep or so before more likely!!!””
I think it had to do with the errors on finding the jump on the left turns after the tunnel – she needed more line support, was not getting it, but also was not getting a reset cookie til much later (in dog years haha). So when there are errors and you tell her nice try, you can immediately reward her for resetting next to you (think of it as a ‘sorry I messed up, thank you for not biting me’ cookie hahaha) rather than going back to the start line and giving a cookie when she is in the stay.
Great job here!! Let me know what you think!
TracyPS – when I mentioned spreading things out in the big field, you can still keep the jump and tunnel relatively close together (8 feet apart approx, or less :)) to add speed to the challenges 🙂
TracyHi!
Video 1 – handling looked good, his understanding looked good (both directions) and he was perfect on the balance reps too! He only seemed to look at the ramp on that first toy throw after the tunnel LOL! Really nice session.
>>Curious, why don’t you call that a “switch” in your example?>>
I do eventually call it a switch (like in the next set of games) but the first reps here were literally his first reps… so I wanted to be sure he was able to produce the behavior before I added the verbal.
>>(Also, I just found the slow-mo button! Holy hell! That is so awesome!!!)>>
TRUTH! I love the slow motion!!!!
2nd video – he was totally nailing this too! You can start to cue it sooner (and repeat it) so just before he enters the tnnel, he is already hearing and seeing the cue. That will really help when you bring the skill to the bigger courses where you are both running or when you are not getting to the tunnel exit (like towards the end of this session). You can also keep your hands a little lower, so he can see them more easily without havng to look up at you as he is sorting this out.
He did REALLY well on video 3 finding the backside, I think he even surprised himself! Good job rewarding even though he didn’t the jump on the first rep – that reward affirmed his decision to go to the backside, so the next reps were perfect, including when you swtiched sides. Yay!
Since this went so well, I think you can jump into (pun intended) the Super Combos handling game – he seems ready!!!
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood question! I agree, a separate verbal will help here – these turn aways are a complete U-turn for both dog and handler, and also imply big layering coming up. It is kind of like the difference between naming what to do on an obstacle (tunnel) versus a whole line (GO TUNNEL!) where you would basically be covering several obstacles and giving specific line info. Let me know if that makes sense 🙂
TracyHi!
Looking at the first video: really nice session!!! He really had zero questions about whether you wanted the tunnel or the jump backside. Yay! The tunnel sending looked great, and both the FC and BCs looked lovely too. When your field dries out and you have more space, you can spread this whole thing out to competition distances, and start all reps really close to the wing so you are running closer to competition speed 🙂 That will challenge all the things!
>> I did add a threadle wrap in to the sequence to work on it with him wrapping to his right >>
The decelerated position on this sequence really helped, he had a lot of success. You might have noticed that sometimes he got it, sometimes he sliced – it was a subtle difference in hand cues.
When you did the hand movement as “turn away *then* indicate the jump”, like at 1:10, he got it every time. On the misses, like at 1:21, the hand movement was more of a “turn away *while* also indicating the jump” so he never quite got the turn away and did the slice! Super subtle for sure. You got into the groove of the trn-then-indicate later in the session (like at 3:00) and the cue looked great!Your blinds at the end had really good arms (you noted that was what you were working on) – the tighter your arms are to your ribs, the quicker you can make those blind cross connection changes.
Looking a the 2nd video – nice job showing it to him, this was a really well-structured session! From the jump to the tunnel – He seemed to understand it and read it easily and didn’t need any motion to get the tunnel (looked like he went to it on verbal-only after the jump). The flip on the tunnel exit was great too – lovely timing of starting the cue bfore he went in! And great job breaking it all down, you really are such a masterful trainer and handler!!!
He had a couple of questions about the jump after the right turn flip away on the tunnel exit – he went around the jump at 1:05 then was a bit forwas on the jumping effort at 1:29. My guess is that he was just processing the flip on the tunnel exit and your distance/layering. So revisit it in a couple of days and do a rep or two with a slightly lower bar – I bet latent learning will works its magic and he will have no more questions 🙂
He was quite brilliant finding the backside too – it was supposed to be hard but Ripley said it was easy 🙂 Yay!In the smaller space, you can add a wing wrap to ge more motion for you both on this setup. When the field is dry, go the the Super Combos!
>.I’m really hoping to keep working on these skills since they’ve bitten us so much lately.
Yes, these skills are *everywhere* now! It is fun to keep working on them!
Great job 🙂
TracyGood morning!
>>I might actually have that exact video. I will look for it or some examples.
Perfect!
>>I’m really motivated & excited that I feel ready to examine & work on those “holes”.
I love to work on finding and filling any training holes! Fun!!!
>>We tried the Switch Aways game. This is new to us. I think I have used the physical cue before and she has read it, but it was just used improvising at some point. We have never trained it. Is there more to it that I need to back up & train?>>
Looking at the video, I think the turning away element looked realy good! We can do earlier timing on it, and also emphasize the sending after it (and reward placement).
Because it is a hand-heavy cue, lower your hand to knee-level (your knees, not hers hahaha). That will make the cue more visible for her, and also help it look different than any other cue.
And after the switch away, do an extra big step or two to get her to commit to the layered obstacle: at least 2 steps to seal the deal of the send, maybe 3 steps of convergence when you are really far away.
When you only did one step of a send after the switch or very small steps, like at the beginning then later at 2:20 and 2:28, she was not as sure about leaving for the next line. When you used 2 steps after the switch, like at :28 later in the video, she got it nicely!
For the tunnel exit switch aways – let her see lower hands and more feet for now (cheat as needed to get ahead of her :)) and als you can start your switch cue before she enters the tunnel so she doesn’t think you want the straight exit. Right before she goes in, start the verbal and let her see your hands coming up to begin the cues.
Finding the backside of the jump after the switch looked good especially on the right turns! She needed more motion on the left turns to the backside – I don’t think i was a cookie-in-hand question, I think it was more of a distance and layering question ebcause you were definnitely behind the tunnel on those!
Remind me if she likes lotus balls? I think you can throw those (or a toy or any treat carrier) more effectively to get her to add more distance after the switch – if she predicts the reinforcement is way ahead on the line after the switch, she will look ahead more and at you less 🙂
All the balance reps looked great!!
>> I didn’t need the “switch” verbal. She understood it & then looked at me like “what next?” But if I just did the physical cue and said “tunnel” she switched & drove to towards the tunnel better.>
When this skill goes into sequences where you are both moving faster and you might not be as far ahead, the switch verbal can start a lot sooner and that means the tunnel verbal can start sooner too, both of which will help her.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
>>Do you think its enough to teach “switch” doing the exercise in the course, or should I start to teach it on a wing on the flat, having my dog turn away from me and move out away from me?>>
Maybe take a moment and do it on a wing and see what he remembers? If he says “yes, I learned this, I got it” then you can do the class games. If he is like “WTAF ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT” lol then we can do it on the flat more 🙂
>>Also, thank you SO MUCH for the extension on the class! The weather here has definitely been more than uncooperative the last few weeks and I really would love to take my time getting through these last few exercises. 🙂 So greatly appreciated!!>>
Happy to do it – this has been a terrible winter of weather for everyone except those of us here in southwest Virginia LOL!! We’ve been lucky.
Have fun!
TracyGood morning! He looked really good here, it is a hard skill!!
Looking at the flip-to-tunnel: nice upper body work!! You can have more motion, you were stopping your lower body. You can take another step or two and converge towards the jump more without losing the distance advantage. This will be useful when you add the speed of the sequences 🙂
Not using a lot of motion might be why the tunnel-to-jump was harder – when there was not as much lower body movement (first rep in particular)it was harder to read unless you were in front of the tunnel exit. So you can use more lower body motion (several steps) and convergence towards the flip away as well as the upper body. That will help when you are not wanting to get in front of the tunnel exit, or can’t get in front of it because he is too fast 🙂
And on the tunnel, I bet you can let him start to hear the verbal and the hand cue before he enters (then keep saying it like a dozen times) to help set up the turn on the exit too. When you were positionally way ahead, the timing was not that important and he did well. So I am thinking ahead to the sequences and bigger courses, where you will only maybe be at the center of the tunnel and will want to switch away to the jump, using big layering.
All the balance reps looked great, he was really listening and watching! And there was the one blooper at 1:32 where he didn’t take the tunnel – it was just a blooper, I think you didn’t say tunnel and you were looking ahead, and he was looking at the jump, no worries at all. He was fabulous on the rest of them!
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>>I’m looking at the week 3 combos and I’m confused about using a switch away when it’s the jump and not the tunnel like in the first sequence. It’s seems like a serp or a serp to a blind would be better there.
You can totally use ‘up close’ handling there, like a German serp-to-blind on the serpy jump. The switch aways are used for when you are too far behind to get a serp or a German there (being way behind is getting common nowadays) and also when you need to use distance in order to get way ahead to the next urgent place on course. So you can do a switch away o nthe jump, then send to the next line and be 5 miles ahead at the next crazy part of the course. Or, picture it with a dog walk over the tunnel (also very common) – the switch away is very beneficial because you can send to all the things without getting caught stuck near the dog walk.
>> I’m not seeing a line being set that tells the dog it’s the jump and not the tunnel in that instance.
Do you mean after the switch on the jump? Very subtle line (distance work, you can see CB has a question on the first rep) and emphasis on the verbal jump versus tunnel. When I did want the tunnel, I hung back more on the switch away (didn’t step past the wing at all) to create more turn and of course I was yelling the tunnel verbal LOL!
Let me know if that makes sense!
TracyHi!
>>I do use the same verbal for backside slice & wrap. I am running out of words! I was thinking ‘wrap’ but winder if it’s too like ‘back’>>
What are you wrap verbals for the front side? I used ‘dig dig dig’ for my backside wrap because I have different front side wrap verbals.
Tracy
Good morning! The front yard agility field looked great! Yay! Big thank you to your wife!!!!!
This session looked really great.
The tunnel sending at the beginning and that was mixed in throughout all looked great. And I am glad you added the big layering, it made the last little sequence super easy (more below).The FC and BC ‘in the gap’ both looked great, he didn’t seem to consider the tunnel at all! The position of the jump here is offset just enough that I don’t think a threadle was needed for the FC exit or BC exit (he only saw the front side when he landed) so if want added challenge, you can move the first jump closer to the start wing so the wing/bar juncture of that first jump intersect the plane of the bar of the 2nd jump, creating more of a front versus back discrimination.
Loved the BCs, they looked so smooth and fast for you both!
The push to the backside was a Goldilocks moment (partially because of the positioning of the jumps.
The cue for the backside at :45 was not quite enough, he needed more physical set of the push line with you running, especially after all those reps of the front side and with him seeing the front side when he landed – definitely a good moment for a reset cookie. At :52 you helped more, and stopped your motion – probably too much cue LOL! The next two reps at :59 and 1:09 were just right 🙂 A moment of a clear ‘push’ cue then you continued your motion. Super!!!Threadle slices looked good = my only suggestion is to cue a mild turn before he chooses a takeoff point for the first jump, so he is already turning when you cue the threadle for the 2nd jump. I think a name call is all he would need here. He was looking straight then turning after landing, so a name call can get him to start turning to the correct side of the threadle jump before takeoff. If there was a tighter turn needed there, you can use a stronger directional. The threadle slices also looked really good when you went back to them after the threadle wrap session!
>> We’ve been having some inconsistently in threadle slices and threadle wraps and it’s been on my list to work on so I took some time to backchain that piece and do balance reps to help us both figure out how to show the difference. I think the 2 low hands and swirl plus early feet turning in the new direction is helping and I just need to get more consistent.>>
Looking at those threadle wraps: the biggest thing the dogs need to see is deceleration into them. So when he is over the first jump, you are already decelerating and showing your arm cues, starting the verbal (you would have already called his name between the wing and the jump so he is already going into handler focus). Then when he lands, you are delerated and can set the turn with the 2 low hands and rotation that worked well. Trying to do it without the deceleration is what messes things up. I think there is a misconception that we should be doing the threadle wraps without deceleration so I did a little Facebook stalking of the Europeans and the dogs that are highly trained with independent threadle wraps… the handlers all decelerate then set the turn. It is a little more subtle with the more experienced dogs, and there is more distance so I had to watch the handler and not the dog LOL! But the decel is consistently a strong element of the cue. It makes sense partially because it is a great way to differentiate the slice from the wrap for the dog (and we decelerate on every other type of tight collection) and partially because the physically cues require use to not be moving fast in order to clearly show them to the dog.
When you decelerated first to break things down then to add the sequence back in, he read it really well. Then when you went back to the threadle slice – no decel, different handling & word, no questions from Ripley. Yay!
The mini sequences at the end looked great! The right verbal for the tunnel exit seemed to help get a great line, and you gradually added more and more distance/independence to the jump after it. Lovely!
Great job here! Fingers crossed for more good weather ahead!
TracyGood morning!
>>like you said it’s like I did 4 days of legs for her, when she had two weeks off. When I look at it that way, yes I did too much!!!>>
OMG yes, leg day 4 days in a row – my quads would be crying LOL!!!!
>>Where I get into trouble with her is my human brain has trouble leaving a sequence/session unsuccessful. Even though I know better!!! I will really try to work on this.>>
Since there is a lot of neuroscience geeking out happening lately, here is a different way to look at it in terms of how we solidify learning (especially with adolescent dogs). The skill does not actually have to be correct in the session, because chances are the brain IS learning it and it will be solidified in the latent learning and sleep phases of learning (learning is complicated and fascinating!). What is important, though, is the pleasant feeling. So lack of frustration is a good one, and also ending before physical fatigue (feel the burn LOL!) set in. And lots of cookies and toys. Then follow it with walking, decompression, etc.
An example: I have had sessions with my Ramen puppy that were just ridiculously bad LOL!!! But I just kept rewarding, and kept them short. But then when I asked for the behavior in a future session or in a new place – BOOM! There is was. An example is the decel games we do in MaxPup – I did maybe 2 sessions and they were not great, especially turning to his weaker side. But whatever, it is fine LOL! And he did a very similar exercise at a puppy seminar yesterday, in a new environment: and the skill was not only in place, but it was the best I have ever seen it – absolutely fast and brilliant and tight, on both sides. WHAT?!?!?!?! Crazy! So clearly he learned it, but not in the traditional operant way we all obsess on.
>> if I think of fatigue as one of the reasons for the knocked bars, I won’t feel as inclined to go for the successful rep.>>
Correct! And I highly recommend you stop and look at the video after each and every knocked bar. Every.Single.Time. You will see what happened and then you can adjust on the next rep (or you can end the session). And watching the video gives her time to recover in between reps.
>> I need to make a calendar. So hard with my schedule and then the NOLA weather, but I’m going to give it a try>>
Totally understand! It definitely falls into the “do the best you can” category because there is lot going on nowadays 🙂
>>. I was discouraged this session. I wasn’t the best trainer for her. She tried so very hard!!! I’ve worked so hard to get her to try hard for me and her not have frustration explosion. >>
Feeling discouraged is part of the emotional ride with the dogs! That is why a sense of community is important, so you can vent it out, get support and ideas, and not feel isolated.
Stopping myself to watch the video after each rep especially if something went wrong has been an incredible game changer for me (we do it in flyball so why not do it in agility?). Yes, it is a bit of a pain but works out better in the long run.
>>I don’t want to ruin that! She was so perfect with her frustration tolerance here! That was a huge success in itself.>>
YES! That is huge! She kept working like a pro! Yay!
Tracy
Good morning!
The training videos look good!
>>– handler path to the backside jump & path to tunnel seem the same to me & it’s only decel that seems to work, correct?
Yes, same path 🙂 That is what makes this exercise slightly evil LOL!!! And ideally, no decel needed either but it is fine to use decel for now to help show him the difference between the layering (tunnel send) and when you want the jump). Eventually the verbals will be strong and Hoke will be more experienced with these discriminations, so he won’t need as much handling.
On the last several reps, you were moving at the same pace and on the same line and using the verbal to differentiate: that was FABULOUS! And he did really well.
The drive to the tunnel, easy peasy! He seemed to have no questions and went to it very easily even after the jump reps 🙂
On the first cue to the backside, you accelerated a whole lot to get to the backside wing, and you leaned forward as you got there…. All of which cued the tunnel because the physical cues overrode the verbal.
You did get him to the backside with decel and being in position at the wing on the 3rd backside cue, but the doing it as a circle wrap that close to the tunnel, with the sudden motion away from it, and the toy in hand… too hard, he hit the wing. That can still be a reset cookie moment because he was pretty much correct, just not perfectly correct, on a really hard skill. I know that most people say to punish the bar (stopping and withholding reinforcement is punishment) but there are a whole long list of reasons why that can make things worse, not better. After more coffee, I can sit down and write all the reasons down 🙂
Question – does your “back” verbal get used for both the wrap and the slice on the backside? That might be the source of questions on the bar… when you did the backside slice at :28, he hit that bar pretty hard because he was collecting for the wrap but then suddenly it was not a wrap and he didn’t have time to adjust his jumping. Since courses have expanded and we can’t always be in position to show perfect handling, I highly recommend 2 separate verbals because they are 2 separate behaviors.
>>Also, I guess I think if I persist with the toy in my hand & learn to be consistent with my ‘bite’ verbal, he will eventually stop focusing on the toy in my hand. What do you think?>>
Yes, but also no LOL! I think he was looking at the toy over the backside bar because it was clearly the end of the little sequence and there was nothing else to look at, plus he could see you moving it so he was preparing to chase it (which changed the jumping mechanics).
So yes, separately, work on jump jump or baby sequence stuff where you are not trying to train anything other than “keep the bar up with the toy in my hand” – you can be wiggling the toy, etc, and if he doesn’t touch the bar, he can have the toy. But that is separate from backside versus tunnel training, because it will be unclear to him if he nails the handling skill/cue response but then you withhold the toy.
I was going to suggest that you place the reward on the ground instead – but then you did it on the last rep and he was great!! I suggest picking a spot on the ground where he can also see the toy after the tunnel exit, and leave it there for all reps (tunnel and backside). That way he doesn’t look at your hands, he has to work the impulse control of the toy on the ground, and you can focus on the backside – tunnel discrimination. (A Manners Minder would work too!)
Great job building up the skills on the pre-super-combo video (2nd video here :)) He did a great job with the distance rear cross which basically ended up with you layering the tunnel even if it didn’t feel that way. Very nice!!!
And super nice job on the big combo (3rd video!). He was fast and able to get all of the discriminations! As you get more comfy with the switch aways, you can start to cue them sooner: at :03 you cued the switch away as he landed from the jump and you can move up the timing to cue it before he takes off, so he lands already turned.
Then you can add in sending to the tunnel (after the #5 wing wrap) from further away, even layering the #4 jump, to be able to be at the tunnel exit to cue the switch to the jump sooner.
The rear cross on the jump at a distance while you layered the tunnel? 🤩🤩 Gorgeous! And independent! You were in position at the tunnel exit easily to show the backside 🙂 And he was brilliant on the ending jumps. SUPER!!!
>>I like this 3 week skill format. The sequences were a ton of fun for the boy that wanted to run fast & be rewarded a lot. >>
That is good to know! I like this format too, especially since we can add in time at the end for the people who are having terrible weather.
>>I have been using the reset cookie for both dogs & getting a great response.
Yay! The more I geek out on the science behind it, the more I realize that it really helps the dogs and we actually get stronger behavior from them – so counterintuitive because it feels like we are ‘rewarding the wrong behavior’ but actually we are not 🙂
Great job on these!!!
TracyGood morning! Sorry for my under-caffeinated explanations!!
>>When you said “parallel to the tunnel” do you mean parallel to the length of it to stay laterally away or do you mean like perpendicular to the tunnel entrance so no going past the entrance in that plane?
I meant parallel to the length of it, moving down the line as if there was something after the tunnel exit (or after the jump on a layering line).
>> And, for the jump “move past the outer wing” are you thinking move parallel to the jump on the tunnel sends so that I end up closer to the middle of the jump bar? And on the front side of the jump or the backside?>>
Lordy, I was really under-caffeinated and unclear LOL!!! It is the same line parallel as the line parallel to the length of the tunnel, but the past the wing furthest from the tunnel 🙂 Front side of jump 🙂 And if I am still unclear (it is early here haha) I will draw pictures LOL!
>>I’m about to drink my coffee so all may become clear,
Reading your questions – it was totally on me due to lack of caffeine-induced clarity lol
>>Right after our session a pretty decent storm and rain hit (like 5 minutes later 😝). So, I’ll have to check field conditions to see what we can do.>>
The weather on the West Coast has been INSANE! Fingers crossed for Mother Nature to CALM DOWN and let you all have some clear weather!
T
Good morning! Hope you had. good weekend!!
>>It was totally not your feedback.
It would be fine if it was my feedback LOL!!! Clarity is the most important thing : )
>>work on the training for them because I have some sloppy “holes” in my communication system with Frankie because of it.
Yay! And does it help to know that we all have holes? LOL!!! The dogs continue to teach us what they need to know 🙂
>>I was taking a class and got feedback that I was using my “turn towards me – soft turn cue” when I didn’t really need it. I feel like if there is a 50-50 option for 2 jumps with Frankie, she needs it. >>
The cool thing is that we can apply the verbals differently for each dog. For example, my terrier/BC mix needs more turn cues than my 2 younger dogs. Is it because she doesn’t turn as well (she turns a bit like a truck compared to the noodle turns of the others – that is all structure – but she is probably the fastest dog in the house right now too…) or is it because of holes in training? Or both? I don’t know LOL! and it is fine – I give her directionals to help her in places where the others would not need it.
The best thing to do is to track how she responds to the directionals. It might be possible the soft turn cues are being used perfectly for her – or it might be valid that they are being overused and might get diluted. Frankie will tell us, and we are willing to listen LOL!
>> She knows left & right spins so I think if I work with her on jumps, it will transfer after some practice.
Totally agree! And also – that ‘brake’ arm application is amazing for these types of turns with the powerhouse dogs. Instant turns! Yes, people will tell you to never use an opposite arm, or that it will mess up threadles (it won’t) – it works beautifully when used at your hip-level and it doesn’t dilute other cues. Probably super helpful for the jump situations where she is 50-50 in terms of success.
>>Especially a tunnel discrimination after a contact obstacle.
That is an incredibly popular AKC challenge!
>> I tried to get ahead at the aframe and threadle her into the tunnel entry. Someone suggested that the threadle physical cue (off-arm) was turning my chest to the wrong end of the tunnel. >>
Do you have video? I am curious to see. Dogs cue off of far more than where our chest is pointing in threadle situations. Ideally our upper body rotates to the dog on those tunnel threadles, the outside arm can be VERY useful especially with the littles 🙂 Any errors could be caused by something else, which is why it would be good to look at video!
>>I was fairly early in my threadle training so I put it on hold for a while and was just using shoulder pulls and lateral distance.>>
Shoulder pulls can work too, and lateral distance… but they become problematic because they look like a simple post turn through a box (in other words, the same cue when we DON’T want the tunnel, and the dogs might flip away into the tunnel because it looks like the tunnel threadle cue) and judges are clever – we can’t always use lateral distance anymore. So a distinct cue is helpful!
>>This is our #1 miss in trials – especially if the tunnel is after the Aframe or dogwalk.
Feel free to send me some video, I am curious to see what she is seeing in the off course moments. It will help inform training as we go forward.
>>American Threadle vs European Threadle! Perfect! My brain gets it now. I am going to change my verbal to “close” for both & work on teaching the european style to Frankie.
Last summer I was teaching international course work to a group of super experienced, high level handlers and dogs who insisted that they had well-trained threadles (and I believe them!) but yet they could not get their dogs to do the Premier style threadles (American threadles). And as soon as we used the American style cue… boom! They could do it. So my brain finally got it – those are two pretty different behaviors that need to be handled differently for most dogs.
Have a great day!
Tracy
