[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
She did great here!!!!
I like that these premier courses had nice open lines too, not just hard stuff! She was definitely following the handling nicely, then got to get on a big line. That way she could do the hard stuff then get to run run run 🙂 The hard stuff will get even easier sash gets more experienced.

Her stays looked great and her focus was perfect 🙂 her stay n the CPE run was impressive – most Masters dogs can’t do that! LOL!!!

Great job :)
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
He is definitely getting his feet into the box nicely on each rep. And it looks like he had some angles as well – no problem! Nice!

So the next step is to give him reward targets so he is not looking at you as he is going through the box 🙂 A manner minder is the easiest one , and you can use a food bowl on the other side. Or, you can use the manners minder only and don’t go back and forth – you can line him up to send and you switch sides so he practices on both sides.

Great job!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]



Hi! This went really well!
Warming up with the wing to tunnel looked good (that is easy for him) so it was really cool that he was able to NOT take the tunnel when you asked that first time on each side! Yay! Great connection from you is what got it to happen.

Sending to the tunnel from the backside approach was easier to his right than to his left, so you can definitely hold still longer when he is turning to his left to get into the tunnel (like you did when you did the full sequence).

You almost lost him at 1:57 into the tunnel – there was not quite enough connection but you fixed it with more connection before he ended ip in the tunnel. Then you can bigger eye contact on the next reps and he was perfect!

Great job putting it together into the longer sequence! You were connected and clear so he was really very smooth.

>>think I need to go back and work on commitment to wing>>

What was happening was that you were not accelerating enough, so he was going into handler focus in those spots. So when you tried to decelerate and do the turn, he was not fully committed and if you stopped short, he would come off the wing. So remember to accelerate, then decelerate, then as he is passing you and looking at the wing, you can do the FC. To get more acceleration, you can more the wings further away 🙂

Having the toy in the pocket totally helped him too – you didn’t have to switch it from hand-to-hand, so he didn’t watch your hands.

Great job!!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>>I need to work on that feet running with body facing the other direction thing, not my strong point.

You can try using both hands for now, because that will help the upper body turn back to her while the lower body stays forward.

>>I just ordered a teeter teach-it, and am going to borrow a teeter. Is that the method you use on the terrific teeter course? I have an idea of how it works, of course, from your videos, just want to make sure I don’t mess this up.>>

Yes! I use it pretty extensively in the class – it is a big piece of how I trained my dogs 🙂

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
Nice work here!

The serps are going well! The Tunnel to jumps looked good – you can send to the tunnel from further away so you can get further ahead!

On the 3 jump serp – very nice hustle!!! Keep your serp shoulders open to her (rather than point forward to 3) until after she lands from the middle jump and looks at 3, so she gets the info to turn to jump 3. She was ticking the bar a little when she was on your right, but you were pretty connected and comfortable on that side.

The shoulders ‘closing’ forward was more obvious when she was on your left:
As she was taking off for 2 at :48, you were facing forward ahead of her and you said go… which cues a straight line past the 3 jump (and she barked at you).

While she is in the air, ideally you would have your feet running to 3 but upper body facing her over 2. That is more like what you ddi at 1:09 and 1:50 and she got 3 really nicely! YAY!

>>I looked at the video, and if I wanted her to bypass it, I couldn’t have done a better job. >>

Ha! That is why we video things 🙂

Great job here! Let me know what you think!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

Good news – she was not flanking at all! She was doing what I call “mirroring” which is when the dog reflects the handling back to us (whether we like it or not LOL!!). She was feeling good and going FAST 🙂 Wheeee! But paying attention and she did everything the handling asked her to do, which is why she always had the “nailed it!”expression on her face 🙂

For whatever reason, there is no sound on the video, so I couldn’t tell if you were calling her before the tunnel or not (definitely call or give your right verbal when she is 6 feet in front of the tunnel entry).

So she was missing the #3 jump after the tunnel – part of it was her turning wide on the exit (needs the verbal before entry) but it was more so that you were way ahead at :04 and even more so at :13 and all she could see was your back – there was no real indication for 3, but a lot of indication for 4! Then when you tried it from a stay, you were too far ahead to set the line and ended up moving past it, so she did too. Good girl.

To get that line, you would need to not go past the wing of 3 and make sure you are hugely connected – and don’t move up the line until you see her turn her head to see the 3 jump. When you did the last 2 reps at :58 and the last rep, you helped position there til she picked up the line and it looked great!

The other jump she was running past was 5 – that was a parallel path issue. At :30 and 1:00, she was on the parallel path backside line and you were running forward, not turned to show the front so she correctly stayed on the backside line. At :37 and :42 you turned so she got the front. The timing of the turn would start as she lands from 3, so she faces the front of 5 when she lands from 4.

The rear cross went well! At :45 exiting the RC, you got stuck behind the yellow jump after the RC so as you moved out from behind it, you turned so she turned and took the jump. Good girl! It is like driving a Ferrari, isn’t it! When you did the FC wrap on the last sequence, you nailed showing all the lines, so she nailed it too.

So, nothing to worry about, she is reading everything. We need to just plan earlier timing for you and to consider raising the bars, so you have a little more time. How much jump height has she seen recently?

Great job here!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

I agree, it was not stop turn turn turn and cue cue cue. But it will make regular courses seem easier for sure!

I think she was pulling off because she was paying attention 🙂 The pull offs that I saw were all her following the handling 🙂
She might have burned or torn a pad on the dry grass, or in the tunnel as you mentioned. Poor girl! She worked really hard!

T

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

Yes, these are a lot more challenging than they look! But things went well – we are not looking for perfection, we are looking for feedback from the dog (reward all the things!) and making adjustments.

And yes, watching the video during the session will really help!

Video 1, without the tunnel:
1-2-3 looked good! As you decelerate, try to face 4 rather than turn away from it (:08), then staying connected coming back down the line. You were definitely facing 4 a lot better at :27 on the 2nd rep!
On the threadle, you pushed back into the jump and she ended up (correctly) pushing to the backside. You stayed on a parallel line to the jump at :31 and she read the threadle really well!

Seq 2: Yes, 3-4 was hard here but I think it was a connection issue at :41 – be sure you are looking at her all the time, not ahead of her to the jump.

Video 2 – I think the off course tunnel was a little close to her line here which made it harder, but the key was getting off her line after the blind, being further ahead. On the first couple of reps, your blind cross position actually cued the tunnel. Then you did a great job getting past 3 to the next line,
like at :21 and :46, and she didn’t take the tunnel anymore. Super!! So she read the lines really well, you just needed clarity on he lines 🙂

Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
I am so glad you enjoyed CAMP! You and Sly looked amazing!!

And I am also glad the layering and other skills are coming in handy… I think we will be seeing more and more of these skills so we will be prepared for them 🙂

And good for you for NOT getting sucked into negative conversations! And I agree – we agility folks go negative really quickly, what is up with us? LOL!! I have been trying to redirect people when they start that, or when they are negative about themselves or their dogs. And I try to redirect myself too! It takes work but is totally worth it.

And good for you for stepping out of a negative conversation, especially when it was clear that it was not going to be resolved positively at the time.

>>Felt a little brusk,>>

You were probably direct – which is uncomfortable for our generation 🙂 Ah, to be a millennial or Get Z with their directness (which shocks me sometimes LOL!!!)

And it sounds like you turned around her mindset too – I am thrilled to hear that she was receptive and you ended on a good note.

And the 3 wins, plus one dance class with the judge? And amazing RDWs? Icing on the cake! SO FUN!!!!!

I am thinking of a 2-level Transition To Trials in late Sept/Oct… one level for the current MaxPup 3 grads getting ready to trial, and one level with the CAMP folks to bring the mental game and handling stuff into the ring even more 🙂 I will keep you posted!

Have a fabulous vacation! I used to live in the Fingers Lakes area – this is great time of year to be there!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

This is definitely NOT a goat rodeo!! There was a lot of good work here and even being tired, you still got some great lines!

The opening looked really good, and nice parallel line handling to the backside at :25 and at :30! When you are not rushing to get to the next line, you find great parallel lines and your arms are low with great connection. Super!

He has a little trouble with the dog walk with the 2 big tunnels under it, adding lots of strides on the up ramp, looking a little off balance. I saw it a little in yesterday’s video and definitely in this one – and I don’t remember him having that question on the dog walk in other contexts. He is probably just a little inexperienced with that huge visual distraction, so it just goes on the list of things to let him see more frequently.

The one spot you did not get on a parallel line was at :35. Yes, the jump cues were a little late but also he saw you pulling away – he needed to see the parallel line motion into the tunnel to stay on the line to the jump. And even when you were not running hard to the ending line, he was still finding the line because – great connection and parallel lines 🙂 This is good to know!!! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>>The tunnel wasn’t behaving. Mine is 20ft and the course called for 15. It kept getting bunched up and Sprite got caught in it once. >>

Poor Sprite! Yes you can totally stretch it out and adjust the sequence accordingly, then run it based on the lines set there (might not be exact to the map and that is fine :))

>>We struggled with these. Plus, it was about 85 degrees and Sprite was getting tired. >>

I could tell it was hot! But I thought you both did well! Yes, a couple of spots to add more decel or earlier timing, but overall really really strong! And you had the same bloopers I had in sequence 3, so I feel affirmed hahaha

Looking at the specifics of what she is seeing in the different timing zones:

Warm up –
Go tunnel – perfect timing and handling!
You can be sooner on the left – it is a commitment cue, so you can start it at the same timing as the “go tunnel”, as she exits the wrap wing. The Left was a little late at :13 (she was almost at the 2nd jump, almost in the green zone without turn info)
You were still a little late starting it at :22 but the spin is effective there! More effective than the brake arm!

Full sequence – very nice first rep, the go tunnel was very timely and looked great!

2nd rep – nice decel into 3 before the threadle!! Nice collection! WOWZA!!! I know we are looking at other parts of the sequence for timing but definitely give yourself a high five for that!
The Go tunnel can be earlier at :51, it was later than previous reps.

Seq 1B
The 3-4 line a little too zig zaggy on the first run, too much pulling away from 4 but you adjusted that in the next run and it looked great.

Nice timely left cues at 1:06! The verbal was very timely at 1:25 but the physical cues came a stride later – try to start them at the same time (and play with the spin here, it might be more effective!)

Seq 2:
Nice threadle at 3!!! That is a hard angle and you nailed it with the tunnel exit turn cues before she went in, and the threadle cue. Yay!

For the RC at 5, you can decel more t set it up (because it is a wrap) and get more on the line to the center of the bar (:19 and :50) so give her the RC info. So you would be accelerating to the center of the bar at the beginning of the yellow zone, then decel as you get about halfway to the jump.

The threadle at 7 needed a tight turn on 6 to set it up, which means the exit of 5 needs a turn cue for 6 so she is prepped for the 7 threadle. LOL! The threadle cues actually begin at the exit of 5 so you can ask her to jump wit mild collection (a jump cue and name call should be fine) then the threadle cues before takeoff for 6.

The Right is a little late at :33 but she didn’t go in the tunnel! And it was also late at :55, it started as she was taking off for 8. So these cues come pretty rapidly there, it is good practice to spit them out as early as possible.

Seq 3 – Very nice opening!!
The 4-5 line has a lot of things that happen really fast 🙂
For the wrap on 4, you can run at the exit wing (while pulling her into the front side) so you can decel into the FC at 1:20, 1:40, 2:12, 2:30. At 1:54 you were more decelerated and got a better turn. Then as she is entering the green one (approaching the jump) you can be rotating, accelerating then as soon as she exits the wing of 4, you decelerate to start the turn at 5.

At 1:43, you had the same blooper I had (off course tunnel) for the same reason (no decel)! Yay! Merle dogs for the win! LOL! You turned sooner at 1:55 there but you can decelerate sooner as son as she exits the wing of the previous jump) and that will guarantee the turn.

You got my other blooper at 2:14 LOL!!! Great decel… but in the way so you got the backside. I am glad I am not the only one. 🙂

Gorgeous collection on the last wrap to the tunnel (no worries about 1:26 the rest looked good!)

So overall, great job here and great info from Sprite about what she finds helpful, and when she needs to see it.

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>> I did more RC than I’d like

RCs are great handling tools! Be sure to drive the RC lines aggressively and then will be very helpful. But also, drive the lines aggressively to get the blinds so you don’t end up too far behind her because you are waiting to set up RCs.

On the first one:
You can do a BC 2-3 but the RC works well too – you need to drive the RC diagonal more (towards the center of the bar on 3). At :17 and 1:09 you were on. The right turn wing so she took off jumping right then saw the RC after landing (which is why the bar of 4 came down on the first rep, she was in catch-up mode). The threadle to the tunnel went well! Ending line looked great!

2nd pop out – nice layer 1-2! I think you had plenty of time to get the BC 2-3, though – you went to a walk to wait to set up the RC there 🙂 The BC will get more speed on the 3-4-5-6-7 line too!

Last pop out (this is #4 on the sheet)
The 1-2-3 opening was great, super fast! Nice layering to 4. And you got a great collection at 5 but then you exited with a post turn and that sent her wide to the backside of 6, then sending to 7 to keep going put you too far behind for 8-9. But yay for staying in motion! You almost got it back on track and got a little in her way trying to set up a rear cross at 2:02. But yay for carrying on!

2nd run: another nice opening! The rotation to the post turn is confusing so she dropped the bar
Good job getting the front of 6 which set up the BC line 7-8- really nicely

I think you had 11 on the wrong side, you were pushing her to the backside which does make it super hard to get the blind there at 2:28. As a front side, it would be a matter of which wing to wrap.

Super job getting the 15 backside!!!!

So the only spot that needs more smoothing out is the 5-6 line, where you rotated towards her and then turned away again for a post turn. The rotation can (and should) always be followed by stepping forward out of it, either with a blind like a spin, or as a front cross. A spin would be perfect here to get 6 and keep you ahead. Opening up to a post turn after the rotation (facing the tunnel) counteracts the collection cue, so she had big questions 🙂

Great job! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>>Today we are at a trial. Our first run had a backside that I thought would pretty easily land on his line that I expected would be out further from me so I gave his backside cue but not super strong. Apparently he says he runs closer now and tucked himself into the front side. I was like, ok then, did not expect that. Lol.>>

The unexpected is GREAT info!!! He definitely likes big drama in his cues, so the decision on a cue comes down to which drama rather than drama or no drama LOL!!

Looking at the RYG challenge video:
These went well overall, so we can focus on tighter lines.

Great job on the timing of the ‘right’ verbal before the tunnel – you were timely, he read it really well. Yay!

Threadling to the correct side of 5 was easy. Very nice!

He needs a bigger turn cue on. The exit of the 5 jump, so he puts in a collection before takeoff. At :16 you were forward sending, so he was wide. You had decel at :34, which helped we still need more 🙂 I suggest a spin! So as he is landing from 4 and looking at the correct side of 5, you can decelerate and rotate into the reverse spin to get a collection before he takes off. He is at that age of being young and super powerful, so a spin will help with the turns. You might not always need a spin but will work nicely for now! He reminds me of my Voodoo – at 3 or 4 years old, he needed the rotation of a spin to get the collection. Then when he got really experienced, I could do it on a decel.

He was wide on the exit of backside 6 on this sequence – it was because he was (correctly) jumping towards your line, and you were too far across the bar of 6. Decelerate into that FC and position yourself right where you want him to land on the tightest possible turn. Use the same timing, and then get outta there before he takes off 🙂

One last detail – You had really good verbals before the 9 tunnel at :23, but don’t get quiet til he has landed from the last jump. He head checked and lost a stride there, and that loses time. That didn’t happen again, but he might have learned the sequence 🙂

2nd sequence –
He is reading the lines well here too, so we can look at the spots that can be tighter. The line to the 5 backside can be tighter – he was one stride wide because you were too far from the line to the backside at :49. Then when you pushed him back to it, he ended up going wide. It would be nice to not use a spin there, so being right on the line you want him to run (but getting off it before he needs it) will tight then line, allowing you to decel and leave a lot earlier which will tight the turn to 6 too.

As with the previous sequence, you can be right on top of his line (for a moment :)) at 6 to tighten his turn up.

3rd sequence – On the first rep, you cued a turn then took off 4-5 (turned your back on him at 1:07) so he was not sure where to go and followed your line. You can reward him in those moments because he was doing the best he could with the information he had 🙂 Is the verbal cue you were using a soft right verbal? If so, carry on! But I think it was different than the right verbal you used on the tunnel, so. I’m not sure if you have different verbals for jumps and tunnels, or if you were asking for more collection on 4.

When you kept your arm lower at 1:35 and 2:00, he read the 4-5 line a lot better. When it was above your head, I blocked connection on the first rep. Plus you were staying closer to support the line, that definitely worked better. And on the blinds 6-7 Look at how well he turned with the gorgeous connection at 1:14 and 1:39 and 2:02!! So nice!!!

You were trying to do a FC 9-10 but the high arm at 1:18 might have looked like a ‘get out’ type cue plus your motion was a bit parallel to the bar so he went around 9. He did come in at 1:43 and 2:07 – arm was lower, rotation was clearer… but the FC was later and you were on his line when he needed to be on his line, so there big wide turns.

Easy answer to get it smoother and tighter: blind cross 😉 After the BC 6-7, send to the tunnel and get outta there, heading towards the 9-10 line. When you see the red blur exit the tunnel and look at 8, start the blind so you will be re-connected and decelerating before he takes off for 9, which give you time to decel and send for 10, or spin. Lots of trust required but you both have the skills for it 🙂

You had a big go go go go go for longer on. The last tunnel at 1:50 and he really accelerated! Nice!!

Jumping 1:
Nice blind (can be sooner) SUPER brake arm to get the turn to the tunnel at :04

Circle wrap after the tunnel – we can get a collection there too. Tuck into where the wing meets the bar and rotate so your left hip is closer to the bar (you’ll be sideways :)) and your feet point to the next jump. And decel so as soon as he passes you, you take off for the next line

The other option is to handle that as a threadle-wrap – blind or front cross the exit of the tunnel so he is on your left then do a threadle wrap – as soon as he turns his head to the jump, you can take off and that will be tighter AND get you further ahead.

You had a good threadle wrap at :35 but you can exit it with a blind, rather than turn towards the jump with him (which sends him wider on the line)

The line from :39 – :51 looked great and I swear he found a new gear of speed on the line to the weaves! And yet… still collected brilliantly for the weaves <3

When you put it all together:
The opening looked great 1-8!
The call for the tunnel exit was a little late and it looks like you were blocking the 9 wing at 1:09. So when you sent him forward, he took it as a cue to go to 10. Being sideways where the wing and bar meet will also help clarify that for him.

10-11-12 looked good! That line is hard! You don’t have time to praise him on course - you said good boy at 1:21 which caused him to drop the bar and then take the front of 13. No praise allowed, only cues LOL! You also gave a soft backside push cue then turned your shoulders before he looked at it, so he took the front. Maybe this is what happened at the trial?

No praise on the next rep, only info… gorgeous! The entire line from 13 - 21 looked great! Was he running past the last jump looking at something out there, or in expectation of the reinforcement? He was definitely looking for something and was not considering that jump…

Course 2:
On the opening line, you can do the BC 2-3 closer to 3 at :07 to get him turning before he takes off for 2. You were more between the uprights of 2 going straight, so he jumped straight.

4-5-6-7-8-threadle looked good! Super! I think you were in his way for the weaves that first time, much better when you resent him 🙂

Doing that section later in the video (1:20 - 1:26) as a BC between 8-9 and then a wrap followed by a RC on the weaves looked fabulous!

Nice independent weaves!!

Try to stay closer to the line at 12 so you don’t end up being late pushing him back to 13 (he dropped the bar at 1:34 because you were late stepping into the gap which made you late turning him to 14. (14 is a backside o the map, so it would be threadle slice handling if you wanted to do that :))

Looking at the 15-16 line:
15-16 first time - great line and connection at :48. Nice!
15-16 second time - you were on the front side line to 16 and not connected enough on the send to the backside at 1:37, so he took the front.
15-16 third time - still a bit too far off the line but much better connection so he got it 🙂 Ideally, you would have the position of the first time and the connection of the last time at 1:50

Backside cue to 17 was delivered as high arm, shoulders forward so he took the front: a common theme is that when your send hand gets above your head, he goes off course. I don’t think you needed the outside arm at :59, because he was already committing to the backside there with the lower dog side arm and connection.

You were very close to getting the tunnel-tunnel 20-21 at 1:05! You need to keep moving on a parallel line, don’t slow up or turn away. Great job getting it on the last line! Well done!!!!

So overall, 4 things pop out:

on the sends (front side and backside), you can use more connection and less high arm to get him to more consistently go where you want him to go.

When you get in for an aggressive blind, then add a turn cue to the exit if there is a tight turn exit? Gorgeous!

You can set up tight lines by being closer to the exact line you want him to run (as long as you are off it when he arrives to it 🙂

Deceleration into the tight turns on the front and back wraps will also help get more collection too.

Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

Everything is looking great on these!

First video, Wingin’ It turn aways:

Really nice session! She looked great!

Great job breaking the skills down them building them up to the mini courses!

She is reading the lap turns really well. Try not to run backwards on the lap turns, because the element of decel when you are standing still will help her know exactly how tight to turn. The more you backed up, the wider she went because backwards motion reads the same as forward motion to the dogs LOL!!

She is also reading the tandems really well, and those are more subtle cues but I don’t think she had a single question. As with the lap turns, the more you decelerate, the tighter she will know to turn. For example, at 1:36, you had a nice decel into the tandem turn and she had a GORGEOUS tight turn there. The tandems will be more similar to those threadle-wraps that are all the rage right now and that tiny bit of decel will make a huge difference for her.

On both the lap and tandems, calling her before the tunnel was very effective because she came out looking for you, which made the cues very obvious to her. When you didn’t call or called late, she came out locked on the line (good girl!) so she saw the turn cues later, making for a wider turn. I think the name call was better than the right which you used here and there, because a right would be a tighter turn than needed on this setup. But calling her name one time before she entered certainly helped her out (she also did well when the name call was late and she was in the tunnel, but ideally it comes before she enters the tunnel).

Super nice job adding all the verbals when you went to the bigger sequence – and there are a lot of verbals LOL!!! If you can get all of the verbals out on something like this (left/right/various wraps, tunnel, etc) then doing it on a big course will be soooooo much easier. They all sound pretty distinct in terms of volume and pace of the verbals, which is really helpful to her!!!

Lead outs and big lines is going well too!

On the first video – she is so tiny, now that I see her in front of a 16” bar and in a stand stay! Pocket rocket!! I am liking the stand stay here… she is intense, she is ready and she is not moving until the release. She is wanting to lean forward into her front but it is hard to do in a stand because she will fall over if she leans too far forward, so she had to hold the stand LOL! And the 16” bar seemed to be just fine for her 🙂 Separately from agility, you can play around with the stand stay to help her keep her feet under herself more squarely so she knows what to do with her back feet in the stay (keep them back by her hips, rather than tuck them under her).

The 4-5 jumps on the straight line ending of the first sequence are not quite straight if you move away on the line, so be sure to run a parallel path so she picks up the line. You can see her little question on the first rep. She found it on the 2nd rep with you behind her – she is really looking for the line and that is great!

Adding the blind:
At :32 and :46, you were moving in towards 2 and late on the BC (she was taking off for 2 as you started it)

Lead out push looked great, smooth and fast. Nice timing!!!

The throwback also looked great! She has super quick feet (like a soccer star) so she can collect and turn and accelerate again brilliantly. That is very exciting! And the blind on the landing of the jump after the tunnel looked great.

3rd video
Because of her speed, the side change for whichever side you want to pick her up on should have a rotation to it before she gets into the tunnel.
So on the first rep, you were on the landing side of 3 – do the side change as a front cross to you left side, doing it before she enters the tunnel, then run like made to the landing of 3 looking over your left shoulder. Same with the 2nd rep when you were on takeoff side – hang back a little more and let her see the FC before she enters the tunnel, so you are already in position on takeoff side and looking over your left shoulder before she exits.

On both of those, you did a full post turn following the line of the tunnel then the side change – and she smoked you 🙂 So doing it before she enters the tunnel will give the cue and keep you ahead.

On the RC at :28 – your lower body indicated the wrap to the right. Placing the toy helps but at ::34 you also stepped across the rear cross line, which sealed the deal.
At :42 you didn’t step across the rear cross line, and she got the rear cross but for now, try to always show her RC pressure like you did at :53 so she doesn’t start to guess that some wrap cues are away from you when you decelerate to turn towards you. Eventually we do take that out and rely on verbals and some hand cues, but for now it will be smoother to keep the front wrap versus the RC line distinct.

Nice job adding the full sequence!!!

At the beginning you did the post turn with the tunnel before the cross so she got a little ahead of you, on the reps there, but you still did a great job with the timing of the FC wrap on 5! And on the ending line, your FC was much sooner so you were in position and connected before she exited.

The 2nd rep and also rep had a really great example of how you can show RC pressure at a distance at 1:22 and 1:44!

She is reading everything so well that it is super cool to be working on timing and position and doing the crosses before the tunnel (in the opening) to get you far ahead. And jumping full height seemed really easy for her, which is soooo nice!!!

If my math and memory are correct, she is almost 22 months old. Do you have any plans to take her to trials and start doing some NFC runs? I think she is ready for that, depending on how much experience she has in that environment. I start my dogs one jump height lower and in NFC, so the skills are easier as the environment gets harder.

Great job! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning! Nice work here!!

Wingin it 1: getting the directionals out before he got into the tunnel was definitely harder in the smaller space, but you certainly had the energy in the verbal tunnel cue to let him go straight.

When he was going to the other side of the tunnel, it was because that was the one that was actually on his line (he had to cut in front of you to get the end closer to you, so the further away the wing was, the better. Plus, when you added the FC to the wing, that changed the line and put the tunnel entry near you on his line.

Nice job with the wraps on the wings before the tunnel on the 2nd video! For the smaller indoor space, the 2nd rep with all front crosses on the wings back to the tunnel looked great! It worked his commitment to the line and also worked your FCs. Plus it put the tunnel on his line each time, so he had no questions there.

Turn aways – VERY nice lap turns on the first video! Lovely! Great timing and connection of getting him to come to the correct side of the wing. There was one rep where you were a little early on your movement (:42) – he had not quite gotten to your hand, so when you moved it looked like you were indicating the other side of the wing. When you let him get really close to your hand (2 inches away seems to be the magic spot) he nailed it. Yay!
I think the hardest part was figuring out which hand to hold the toy, so the easy answer there is to put it in your pocket or was it band so you don’t have to switch hands at all 🙂

On the 2nd video, the first lap turn was perfect and he had a question on the 2nd one. Compare the two and we can clear it up for him:
On the first one, as he exited the tunnel at about :04 you were facing him with your hand low and extended towards him, with your feet together. When he got to your hand, you stepped back with the same side foot and moved your hand back to show the line.
On the 2nd lap turn, you were later getting into position (switching the toy around) and so you were not facing him – then stepped back a little too early (before he locked onto your hand) so you ended up sideways to the wing, which sent him around the other side.

At the start of the 3rd video and on the last lap turn, you nailed it! You were facing him nice and early but you didn’t do the lap turn til he got to your hand, so he was perfect and did not ask the same questions as the previous rep. Super!

The zig zag grid work is going really well. One thing to add is a toy placed out on the line so he jumps directly to it and does not look up at you. The first video’s grid was really easy for him, soI am glad you changed the angles on the 2nd video. That was little harder but he still did really well. You can continue to ‘flatten’ out the angle, inch by inch, to add challenge. And the toy on the ground about 6 feet past his landing spot will get him looking forward and add even more power to it.

Great job on these! Let me know what you think!

Tracy

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