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Hi!
Hopefully no more rain and DEFINITELY no snow (especially because I am driving to Chicago today so pleeeeaaaaassssseeee no snow LOL!!!!)She did well here with the quick/tight zig zags!! I think she was a little surprised at wing 4 but did make the adjustment. Yay! You can keep your arms lower so it is easier for her to see, plus now that she has seen how fast she can do the lead changes, I bet she will be even quicker next time.
>>We also did more send and serp, and I swear I filmed it but it’s nowhere to be found. She did well, but I wish I had video so I could see my arm position. We will try again.>>
Yes, I know the pain of thinking I filmed something then not being able to find it LOL!!!! If you are stuck indoors you can work more speed on the serp by moving faster even if you start from a stay rather than a send to a wing.
Great job here!
TracyGood morning!
Sounds like a crazy day with the dog visitor! Glad you were able to get training in between the crazy weather too!
Nice job on the discrimination game, it is a hard one! This is one of the strongest first-sessions that I have seen (usually there are more errors). She seems to have a strong understanding of ‘cot’ especially when you say it softly. Finding the tunnel was a little harder for her but you were great about making it sound SUPER different and saying a whole bunch of times before letting her go. Yay! You can even play this game sitting in a chair 🙂 so there is zero physical help and verbals only.
Looking at the serps: These went great!!! Only one suggestion on these: have you serp arm back sooner, so she can adjust the jumping to make the “s” line before takeoff rather than after landing.
On the first serp video, lead out with the serp arm back and with connection before you release her so she can be organized before she leaves the sit and also so she doesn’t think the release is the arm cue. Then as you get to the exit wing of jump 1, you can release her with the verbal. You will see her take off for the serp jump already turned to the next line, rather than jumping towards you then turning after landing.
The timing of the serp arm being back Video 2 is to open up the serp arm as soon as she is lifting for jump 1. You did it just before takeoff for 2 at :02 and :11, so she is not making the 2nd turn of the serp until after landing.
As you angled the jumps and added more motion, you can see that the serp arm is coming just before takeoff for the serp jump (Video 3 at :05, :24, Video 4 at :04, :20, and Video 5 at :01, :11) So she is taking off directly to you and turning after landing. If the serp arm is up as she is over the first jump, she will takeoff look at jump 3. And that will also allow you to move faster through the serp lines, which will be very useful when you add the tunnel (and more speed from her!)
>>I noticed that I need to only use the one arm and keep the other one out of sight. I look like i have helicopter arms in some of these video clips.
I didn’t really notice the other arm here because the serp arm was very clear! So don’t worry about that too much, because you made the serp arm very clear (it was probably just centrifugal force grabbing the other arm and lifting it up :))
Great job here!!!
Tracy
She was a speedster on the tunnel game!!!! She had terrific straight exits and only one moment of going too fast and running by the tunnel at :13.
When starting from the side wings – you can time the verbals sooner. The left/right/go were all when she entered, so you can keep the earlier timing of starting them when she is still about 5 feet before the tunnel entry.
At :34 proved she is understanding the GO verbal because you did a RC (which is a turn cue) but said GO so she went straight. Wow!
The RC cue at :41 was a little early turning to the next line, your feet turned before she was past you and pushed her off the line. The next RC was super nice! And nice job ending on the straight line!
On the serps – she is reading the come-in-go-out element of the serps and not running past that first jump too much 🙂 As you add more of your speed, open up the angles even more so she can find the jumps very easily (because motion is hard!) It looks like you might be a little far from the jump, which is why she is landing on the bar a few times on the one jump exercise. By being too far, the positional cue doesn’t help create the turn as much. So ideally you would be close enough to the jump to reach out and touch it with a relaxed arm – that way she can turn before takeoff and not over the bar or after landing.
>>She got the turn aways but she was tracking the toy.
It looks like that was because you were a little too far from the jump too so when she landed, the physical cue did not necessarily show the line to the 2nd jump. If you are closer to the jumps and a little more ahead, she will automatically turn to jump 2.
>>I did the same session with Frankie who loves serps and she ran past the jumps, which I think means my “usual” serp body cues are different for her. How do you evolve your mechanics when you have multiple dogs that may have different nuances? Do you just remember which dog needs different things on course or do you keep training the newer mechanics with all of them?>>
Great question! What does Frankie’s serp usually look like? I personally cannot remember a lot of different handling (currently running 4 dogs and getting 2 more ready, OMG hahahah!) so while I remember some specific individual needs, the handling is pretty much the same for the 11 year old dog as it is for the 3 year old dog. That means if there has been something I have changed, I will show it to the older dog. And if the older dog says WHAT THE HECK then I will do the younger dog’s training exercises too with the older dog. The older dogs usually just pick it up very quickly because most of the changes are to make it clearer for the dog, but there are a few things that are harder (like threadles, for example). Hope that makes sense!
Nice work here 🙂
TracyGood morning!
>>. I did realize that I need to work on a clear targeting criteria. He is still working on his hup it up confidence and he is not popping right into position.>>
Yes, for now, it is a matter of BIG paychecks (meatballs 🙂 ) for jumping on the end – we aren’t worried about position yet. To plan for position, what are you using for targets and what is your desired end position?
I love the video angle here!!! The session went well – the first rep was a spin and the timing was good! On the spin here and the blinds on the next 2 reps, you can send less and move into it more. What I mean by that is to stay in motion and ue your arms less. On the blinds, your arm got really high (above shoulder height) so he did go to the wing… but the arm being extended and high delays the quickness needed for the tight blind (because you have to draw your arm back in then turn). If the arm stays low, you will be quicker to reconnect – and that will make the blinds even smoother and tighter. The reconnection here was a shade late, so he thought the focal point was the toy 😁 and then did change sides when he saw the reconnection when he got closer to you.
So keeping your wings (arms ) in tight and low will allow you to reconnect before he even exits the wing – he is a speedy little dude (so is Skipper) so super quick reconnections will get amazing turns and lines!
Great job here!
TracyHi! Tons of great stuff here!
The lefts and rights are going really well!!! She is REALLY good at this game, especially because you were not using a lot of motion to help. When she had a question, you were good about helping her out – like at :48 and :55 when you were cuing a left but she was facing the right turn line. That was super hard so you were moving over to help her out and she got it. Yay! That neutral position where you were right in the center of the wings was a little hard, a few too many errors – so for now you can be a little off center on the side you want the turn to, and after another session or two you will find that the neutral position is much easier.
Serps looked great!! No trouble at all! You can add more motion and get way ahead – she should still take the jump as long as you look back at her while showing the serp upper body. Your wraps looked great, she had no trouble with that at all.
The sound on the video cut out after about the 3:00 mark so I will assume your backside verbals were perfect 🙂 When doing the backside element of this try not to stop and send, try to keep moving along the Serp line while you are using your connection and upper body to send to the backside. That will help you get further ahead on the backsides too!
The zig zags also looked really good – easy peasy 🙂
She had a little trouble coming towards you to her left but I think that was more about the position of the MM being on her straight line there. When you had more drama in the handling, she got it with no trouble at all.She looks ready for the next step of moving the wings closer to about 5 feet apart (or 4 feet, if they were 5 feet here). That challenges you to cue faster and challenges her to make her lead changes faster too!
The sound came back for the find a jump game! Using the ‘go’ verbal really helped and she was able to find the jump with you ahead or behind. So the next step is to add a lot of lateral distance on a parallel line. On those, be sure to tell her to ‘go’ before she gets into the tunnel so she drives out straight and not waiting for more info.
Great job here!!!
Tracy
Hi!
I agree! He is doing really well with the left and rights! And it is fun to see him working for a toy so much more now.
Since he is doing so well, we can get the verbals even more independent. You were already. Fading out your motion in this session (super!) so the next step would be to hold his collar, say the verbal 3 or 4 times… then let go (and don’t move, let him do all the moving :))
If he can do that, then you can go to the next steps where you change your angles and have him tart turning away from you. When you start the turning away, you can jump start it with a placed toy out on the line: put the toy in between the bars you want him to turn towards as you hold his collar, then start the verbals, then let go.
>>I just hope I can remember the correct direction when on course, >>
You totally will! Planning and practice will help make them very comfortable to use 🙂
He is doing well with the serps too!! As you add more and more speed to your motion, stay really close to the jump (close enough to touch it!) with your feet parallel to the bar the whole time – without moving backwards at all. We want upper body to draw him in but not motion pulling him into the jump, because motion away from the jump will make cuing the next jump on a serp line harder. The upper body can test back to him more (dog-side arm extended like the original strike a pose games).
You got more of that going at 1:35 and the rep after it with the more extended arm & rotated upper body without moving back as much. Those reps looked great! Sometimes you would also use the cross arm instead – I think the strike a pose extended arm is clearer for him and you can keep moving forward better that way too!
Great job here :)
TracyUgh! The weather has been nuts recently! Fingers crossed for calmer weather ahead.
And I am crossing all fingers and toes for good x-rays!!!!!
Tracy
Hi! It looks like it took a little longer to publish, but it should be visible now. Fingers crossed for good weather!
Tracy
Good morning!
I like your trial philosophy! Goals and a bit of competitive nature, but also keeping it fun and not allowing it to overtake your entire life (your horses and husband thank you for that LOL!)
The double crosses are going well! Super nice job with the connections!
>>Kashia also decided it was a day of more cantering than trotting so she also made it harder for me which is a great thing! >>
Yes! She had good hustle here!! One thing you can play with it keeping your elbows bent and tucked into your ribs (like chicken wings LOL!) – that will make the binds even quicker as long as you still reach back with your eyes to make connection like you did here. Having your arms fully extended and then having to bring them in and then extend them again can delay the quick connection changes when she is moving fast. Tighter arms plus having the toy either stay in the same hand or be in your pocket (so you don’t switch hands) will help the blinds be quicker and quicker.
>>I didn’t do so well with her on my left. I nearly ran her into the wing every time. >>
You did well with the connections! I think what happened with the left side reps was that the wings were a tiny bit offset, so the 2nd wing ended up right on your running line. On the other side, the 2nd wing was a little offset into a spot where you didn’t run into it 🙂
Looking at the threadle wraps:
>>The threadle wraps were a disaster! I’m not sure why it all fell apart this second video attempt.>>
You had plenty of good reps, where you decelerated, locked her onto your hands, and turned her away. A couple of reps had a little too much forward motion from you so the turns were a little wider.
>There may have been more environmental distractions than usual but I still don’t understand why she just kept squirting forward instead of wrapping the wing>>
It could have been the environmental stuff! I think there was a train in the background for a while. That, plus whatever else was happening (wind, train, etc) was causing her brain to have to split the focus to process everything so she was not really locked onto your hand cues for all of the reps – add in that she was going faster so the cues needed to be sooner, so there were some oopsies. No worries!
When there are distractions in the environment plus more speed, the hand cues tend to get a little ‘lost’ in the mix of everything else. So you can decelerate more, look at your hands and shake them a little bit (the shaking them adds motion which can help her focus on them). And, when you sense she is having trouble even if you don’t know why, you can add in rewarding her with a treat for coming to your hands.
She never left the game or got sniffy here, she just couldn’t quite process the hand cues on all the reps. The distraction processing is a normal thing for young dogs to work through, so if you see that she is having trouble (even if you don’t know why) it is fine to exaggerate the cues and reward the smaller pieces to help get back on track.
I bet the next session will be lovely 🙂
Nice work here!
Tracy
Good morning!
>>I was thinking of that song too!!! Ha! Have you seen this?>>
OMG! Paul Rudd! He is hilarious!!!
Looking at the tight blinds video: Having your wings (arms) in tighter/lower and emphasizing the connection really helped! On the first rep on each side you did not emphasize connection – so she did not see the side change. But then when you really emphasized getting the eye contact, she was able to get the side change no matter what the timing was Yay! So keep reaching back to her with your eyes (and your hands should stay out of the way like they were on the successful blinds).
The earlier you started the blinds, the easier it was to get the connection (and therefore a tighter turn) like at :19 and :50 on the first video, :10 and :40 on video 2. Those reps started when she was halfway between the tunnel and the wing, so she had a tight turn and you had time to get the clear connection back to her.
If you waited until she was at the wing, she was wider and also it was harder to get the connection visible in time.
>>there is more video footage of me trying to figure out how to correctly do the spin by myself than footage of Bazinga actually playing the game>>
It is possible that you need think of it as two different ‘moves’ (front cross then blind cross) instead of as a ‘spin’? So if you start the FC as she is passing you, then as she arrives at the wing you do the blind, it might feel smoother and easier. The earlier timing of the FC will be. The key: for example, at :13 on video 2 the FC element of the spin starts a bit late, so it was harder to get the BC element of it. You were earlier at :23 but the rep at :42 was MUCH earlier, so the BC was earlier too and the whole thing was smoother 🙂
The threadle wraps session went really well in both directions! The hand cues, verbals, and placement of reward were all super clear. You can add in. The next step of being in motion before the release (as well as trying it from the tunnel exit then through the tunnel :))
She was great about offering getting on the end of the plank and then started offering the down! She was also doing a chin target which is great – it really shifts her weight back. You can release more frequently, because after a couple of cookies she would start to shuffle back a bit or drop a back foot off the side. Yo can wait longer before placing the target in position: let her get on and offer the down, then put the target in and start the cookie parade for a couple of cookies.
>>Can I still do the “Love the slam” game while we are doing this one? We only did one session of that game, so I’m not sure if we need more of that game.>>
Absolutely! The games can all be played separately and then eventually merge into the full teeter performance.
Great job here!
TracyGood morning!
Yes, he totally would stay for hours with the Frisbee as the reward! Being in the down helped and on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th videos you were also more confident that he would stay, so you were more relaxed about it. Yay!!!
>>It is amazing how honest the dog is and that if he doesn’t do something right I know the reason will show up in the video>>
Yes! He reads every single cue you use, good boy!!!
Looking at the blinds:
Your timing and then connection on the blind on video 1 and video 3 looked terrific! He landed from the middle jump, saw your motion indicating the next jump, then you started the blind so he nailed it. Super!On the 2nd video, you were a little disconnected on the send at 1:07 so he turned with your shoulders and didn’t take the jump. When you sent again at 1:12, you were a bit too close to the middle jump so the BC was late (he was landing from the BC jump before you started it) and your motion supported the straight line to the tunnel.
On the 4th video, you were actually a little too early on the BC – you started it by looking forward as he was taking the middle jump, so it was already in progress as he landed from the middle jump… that cues him to NOT take the next jump so he came to the new line. Note the difference with the timing here and on the 1st and 3rd videos, where the BCs started after he landed from the middle jump.
One other small connection thing: As you send to jump 1, be connected to him as you send (don’t look forward to turn your shoulders). When you looked forward too soon on videos 3 and 4, he barked and didn’t take the jump because the info was not as clear as on the other videos.
Great job here!
TracyGood morning!
>>Oh good! Something to look forward to, lol!!! >>
Ha! Live by the 2 failure rule, and you won’t see the behavior 🙂 It comes from a build up of frustration, not from a single error.
Tunnel exits are going well! Nice job throwing the toy for the straight line at the beginning, and adding the verbals too! The more you worked it, the better the timing of the verbals got. You started with the verbal happening when she was in the tunnel, then at :22 you said a go right before she went in, then at :27 and :38you had great timing of getting the verbals to her when she was still 5 or 6 feet before the tunnel entry. That helped get the straight exit, made the wrap easy (nice connection in and out of the wrap!) and nice timing of the right verbal too!
On the very last go for the tunnel – add your acceleration to the go verbal so she doesn’t see decel paired with it.On the set point:
Good line ups! And practicing the leash coming off is a good thing too 🙂
Because she broke that first stay, you can warm up the stay with the moving target on a rep or two away from the jump so she doesn’t fail on the jumps themselves.>>Then she got up one other time, but I was pretty confident that she wouldn’t break again since she didn’t really leave the start line.>>
This was at 1:19 – it looked like an anticipation of the release and you were not really connected like you were on the previous reps and the reps after it. So, adding the connection will help a lot too, even before the release 🙂
She was clipping the first bump on a couple of reps – seemed to be a little excitement on the first time it happened, and she was too close to the bump on the last rep, so we will keep an eye on it and if she still has questions we can make adjustments.
Pill bug: this went well! And yes, it is challenging for us humans: we have to connect, handle, and not fall over the tunnels LOL!! You did a great job on on tunnel and on both tunnels!
>>When she catches up to me, am I always supposed to reward at that moment, or am I supposed to sometimes keep going and have her run next to me at my pace before rewarding?>>
You can mix it up: sometimes reward immediately like you did at the beginning and when you added the inside turns (she was between you and the tunnel), and sometimes keep going like you did at :26 and :30 or when you did the blind to the other tunnel. Those went really well!!!Being patient to let her finish finding the treat was good, so she could pick up the connection. If you were too early, it ended up looking like a parallel line to the other side of the tunnel (like at :39).
The inside turns were the hardest part to keep going on – so after a blind that puts her in between you and the tunnel, you can slow down and curl more towards the tunnel so she learns to bend way and keep going. On the video here, she was getting rewarded really early (for changing sides) ad that was great! The next step would be to keep going with the inside turns – and slowing down o show them to her will help because turning away is a weird thing for most young dogs.
Great job here!
TracyGood morning!
Great job here – the wing worked well as the 2nd obstacle! And he was working for baguette pieces as a reward?? Lucky dog!!!!Your connection was really clear on all the reps, only one spot where you broke connection (1:25 when he was on your left for the first time around the tunnel) but then you adjusted it and the next reps were strong.
>>Here is one thing that I do catch myself thinking about a lot — trying to make sure I get the blind cross in BEFORE he catches up to me. Once he is by my side it seems very hard to switch. Is this the right attitude?>>
Yes – this is completely correct: the blind needs to be finished before he gets to you. You can see how smooth it was on the video here at :24 and :55, for example, and at 1:53 on the other side – you did the blind while he was still behind you and he had no questions about changing sides. When he is doing this on course over jumps, the blind will feel SUPER early but will be highly effective.
Compare to 1:06 where he had caught up to you and you did the blind, which made it harder to get the side change smoothly.
To help him wait for the blind cue and not anticipate it, you can also keep him on your right the whole time (or left, going the other direction)and go around the the side of the wing rather than do the blind 🙂 And if you wanted even more challenge, move the wing further from the tunnel so you both are moving even faster.
Great job here!!!
Tracy
Good morning!
She did really well finding the jump here on both sides! Super! Good job with the tunnel refresher at the beginning. And these were good distances between the wing-tunnel and tunnel-jump, and she was committing really well.
You can start to add more and more lateral distance away from the jump now. And to keep her from looking at you, you can throw the toy sooner so it lands before she gets to the jump. As soon as she looks at the jump after the tunnel exit, you can throw it. And you can add in a GO verbal as well – starting before she goes into the tunnel to promote a straight line exit, as well as when she exits to promote extension on the jump.
On the RDW foundation – she is getting the idea to hit the target! Yay! I have also seen a lot of leaping when the toy or PT or MM is out past the mat, especially when the handler trying to vary her position (getting ahead or going faster or being behind). One thing that really helped all of these things was to tuck the PT or MM behind a wing, so it was still pretty visible but the pup would have to go behind the wing to get it. That changed the visual enough that it got rid of any leaping and allowed the handlers to move faster 🙂
The other idea is to elevate the target by an inch or two by putting it on something solid like a small piece of wood, so she has to do a 1-2-3-4 footfall pattern across it (and you click on 4, ideally). That also helped get rid of the going past it moments (and the elevated target can go right on the plank when it is time to use it there).
Great job here!
TracyGood morning!
The find the jump game looks good! Breaking it down then building it up looked terrific, he had an easy time with it 🙂
One suggestion: You can throw the reward sooner – as soon as he exits the tunnel and looks at the jump, you can throw the toy. That will get you very connected (so you can see what he is looking at when he exits the tunnel, which is very useful on the reps where you will want him to drive ahead of you) and also it will get him to drive to the jump without looking at you. When he was arriving at the jump and the toy has not been thrown yet, he looks at you and throwing the toy sooner will totally keep him looking forward until after landing.
You can add more distance between the tunnel and the wing/jump now, and you an add more motion and the different positions on the line too!
Super good job getting the moving target going with the set point!! He was great about holding the stay and then getting good form!! You can add another 6 inches between the bumps now – the moving target adds a lot of power so he might need a bit more room before the bumps. If it is too much, we can dial it back.
Great job here!!!
Tracy
