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Hi! Good work here!
>>Lost him to the next ring momentarily after the 1st tunnel but he reconnected quickly – is the smart move here to stop and reward the reconnection?>>
It was a really quick disconnection, and it might have been because he needed a turn cue before 3 (he landed wide there based on your motion). I think you were smart to keep going and reward later in the course – partially because that creates the reward for doing the course, and partially so there is no accidental chaining of disconnection followed by cookies 🙂 If it was a REALLY hard distraction and took him a while to come back, then yes- better to break it down and reward there and work through the distraction. But this was really minor, he came right back 🙂 So it was better to keep going 🙂
>>Off on my timing on the RC – should have taken one step more?>>
This was your Switch at :36. It looked like the RC jump was offset so you needed to decelerate on the on the jump before it to set the line then you can drive to the center of the bar and do the RC. You didn’t set the line which is why you pushed him off the line to the backside (he never had a chance to turn to the front of the bar on the RC jump).
The blind on the restart was good but I don’t think you were far enough ahead to have gotten the blind in flow 🙂 This is one of those awkward RCs where you are not ahead enough for a blind, but not really behind him, kind of parallel to him… so setting the previous jump with a decel then driving into the RC will get him to get ahead of you there.
>>I lost connection after the backside – did not see him take the OC tunnel>>
Yes, that was a hard section! A bigger connection at 1:08 was needed, a really huge eye contact because your motion could have definitely indicated the tunnel. On the reset there, you had bigger connection and less motion, and he got it. You can try keeping the same fast motion but making MASSIVE eye contact and calling him to see if he can read the line (it is a hard line!)
>>Did not use a turning cue coming out of the 2nd to last tunnel – led to a big turn to the last tunnel>>
I think all he needs there is a verbal a left verbal or a name call) while he is still about 6 feet before the tunnel and to see you starting to move away to the next tunnel. That should get the right amount of turn!
Overall though, he is looking fast and responsive! Very cool to see!!!!
Well done :) Tracy
Hi!
>>, but it seems Muso has been studying…>>
Ha! Love it! That is the whippet portion of her… train a little and come back in a week and the whippety dogs have finished the assignment and read the next 3 chapters.
She cracked me up with her backing up “let me go!”as soon as she heard the tunnel cue LOL! She had a couple of questions in the earlier part of the session but then sortied it out for the most part – and even on the last little blooper (you were saying ‘bed’ and she went into the tunnel), her movement was more of the collected movement into the bed and not the blasting into the tunnel. It is hard game for sure!
You can put just about anything next to the tunnel – a crate, a target plank, even a wing to wrap (use your wrap directional). It is a great way to keep showing her discriminations 🙂
Good job adding the leash into the lead out session – they have to get used to seeing the leash and having the leash come off.
Her stays looked good for the most part, keep rewarding like you did so she stays patient on the long lead outs. You can also add in a moment of smile/praise/breathe then release, rather that release as soon as you get to position (to avoid her anticipating that you being far away means the release is coming at any instant :))
Her lines looked good here! You definitely want to be as close to 3 as possible on the blind and the FC, without moving between the uprights of 2. The BC at :38 and the FC at L57 both had motion to the landing spot of 2, which caused her to jump straight over 2 rather than be turning to 3 (it is easier to see on the FC rep).
So you can exaggerate the line and move the 3 jump further away, so you are driving to it the whole time and trusting her commitment to 2 (and motion, verbal jump cue, and connection will support commitment as well). That will set up a really nice turn 2-3!
She confirmed that she knows how to find the lines when she read it so nicely with you on the landing side of 3 at 1:35 and on the throwback at 2:06!
Great job here!
TracyHi!
Nice teeter session here!
It is great that he is feeling very confident about the teeter 🙂 Hopefully he won’t even see sideways teeter entries on a real course, but being able to line up straight for the teeter will be super helpful (and helps with the DW too).Eventually this game adds tip to the teeter – do you have something really super solid that you can put under the teeter so it can move by maybe a half inch or less, but the supports won’t fall out? The jump wings here are fine for making sure it doesn’t move, but because he is big and fast, I would want something really solid that won’t potentially wobble or fall while he is running up the board, when the board is moving.
>>Any chance you are going to run a contacts class or rerun the weave one?
>>The teeter and weaves classes are both in the independent study phase now – I am planning the fall classes but I am not sure there is room on the calendar to run them with feedback. I will keep you posted!
Tracy
Hi!
The box work is going well – the camera dropped about halfway through the video so I couldn’t always see the box, but it looks like he he was getting all his feet through it. As you work this skill, stand perfectly still for now and stare at the box 🙂 We don’t want your motion to have anything to do with what he does. (Eventually, motion does get added).Two reinforcement ideas: if you have a MM (I believe you do!) you can have it out past the box on one side (about 12 feet or more past it) so he is driving towards it in one direction, then you can toss the treat the other direction. Also, you can start to reward on angles, so he has t come find the box AND get his back feet through it when approaching on various angles.
Nice work here!
TracyHi! This session looked great – every cue was VERY distinct, both in how the verbal sounded and what the physical cue looked like. He seemed very clear about what to do on every rep – and no looking at you on the GO reps 🙂 Yay!
>>On the wraps tunnel exits: I wasn’t sure if he should see me already turned back or see the motion of me turning back?>>
Think of the tunnel entry like it is a jump bar, and you should make the same transition of decel and rotation that he sees, all before he goes into the tunnel. So yes – he should see you turning back, and turned back 🙂 He was great about it here, I wouldn’t want him turning any tighter than he did here.
>>For a dog his size/build, what are the pros/cons of a nose touch versus a paw touch as a teeter end behavior? Is there something else you would consider? I was wondering what will help him the most and aid with the weight shift.>>
I know he is a BC, but he is built a lot like my BorderWhippet – all long legs 🙂 So a foot target only will bring his head up and bring him onto his front end – not great for speed and weight shift. But a nose touch to the ground will be *awkward* with such long legs and will also pull his weight forward. So, I definitely would use a nose target but it is more of a chin bob – that will get his weight back and his elbows bent so there is a ton of speed and also it will feel natural and balanced.
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
He looked super happy and relaxed in both of these ‘turn away’ sessions – you were really excellent with your mechanics so he was pumped up by the clarity and high rate of success. YAY!!!
>>Lap turns (AAAGH I used the wrong wrap verbal. You would think I’d have those straight by now sheesh >>
No worries! The eventual verbal for both of these moves will be the threadle-wrap verbal. And the other good news is that you only need one treadle-wrap verbal (doesn’t matter if it is to the left or to the right, because your position and the jump bar give him that info). You were using his name a lot and that was perfect for now.
Looking at the tandem turns – that 2nd rep was really good- very clear shoulder turn, followed by the clear arm cues to turn him away. Super!!! Then you were in the groove 🙂
Give him a little more support and connection to. The 2nd wing on the right cues (the non-tandem moments :)) Everything else looked great – connection, timing of calling him for the tandem turns, mechanics of flipping him away, the left turn on the 2 wings – excellent!!!
The lap turns also looked great – it is really nice to see him turning away in both directions with no questions and no side preference. Connection looked great, and your lap turn mechanics looked great too even when you were not that far ahead, like at 1:20 and 1:43. Really super!!!!
He did well with the zig zag grid! The next time you play with it, you can use the moving target (toy dragging) – I think he really liked that when you did it, right?
>>Zig Zag jump grids – I’m not sure I have these set up correctly. He doesn’t seem to be zig-zagging.>>
You are correct that he was not zig zagging yet, because the angles were very easy for him here 🙂 He was able to find a straight line, which is great. So on the next session, you can ‘flatten’ the jumps out but moving the outer wings out away from the center wings, so that the straight line he can see gets more and more reduced. At some point he will start doing the zig zag. To find that zig zag moment, you can flatten the jump by an inch or two after each rep. If he goes around a jump at any point, it is too hard – so make it an inch or two easier.
When it is easy and he looks like he is jumping straight, you can do a whole bunch of reps. But as soon as he starts the zig ag action, it is suddenly a much harder movement -so limit the sessions to maybe 3 reps in each direction, tops, and no more than twice a week. It is a really hard jumping effort when it gets into the zig zag realm 🙂
Great job here!!! Fingers crossed for more ‘cooler’ weather!
Tracy
Hi –
Poor Caper! Do I remember correctly that she struggled a bit in her last heat too? Fingers crossed that it is just a false pregnancy – I certainly know other BC girls who have acted like this during a false pregnancy.If it doesn’t resolve shortly like it did with her littermate, I have other ideas for you but for now, let’s just hope she gives birth to and weans her invisible puppies, and moves on with her life 🙂
She did well on the videos!!! On the first tunnel exit video, the GO reps looked really good. She missed the first left turn cue (went straight) – my guess is that it was because you had done several super fun GO reps, and also you were a little late turning your shoulders to the left turn line. She is very fast, so you can lay a line on the ground 6 feet before the tunnel entry so you have a visual of how early those cues will be needed. She was great on the other left turns!
Looking at the rear crosses: The verbal were well-timed, but she needed to see the crossing behind her happen before she got into the tunnel. At :41 and :50, you were still on the left turn side when she got into the tunnel, so she turned left (at :47 you never turned your feet to the tunnel so she was a good girl to not cut you off and go in it)
She got it at 1:00 – she was probably figuring out the pressure meant that you would end up on the other side (even though you didn’t make the side change before she entered). So to help her out, you can change the angle of the wrap wing before the tunnel to an easier angle that will allow both of you to move forward to the tunnel, and so you can change sides before she enters the tunnel.
Nice GO rep at the end!!!2nd video – Good go reps!
Right at :13 and :36- you never quite turned your feet to the tunnel, so she was not sure if the right applied to the tunnel or the wing. (At :46 she went in and came out LOL!)
So to smooth it out, move the start wrap wing to halfway between where it is now and where the ‘go’ wing is – and that way you can be moving forward to the tunnel (which will point your feet to it) and showing her the rear cross before she goes in. Think of the tunnel entry as a jump bar – you will want to be moving to the center of the tunnel entry and as she passes you to go into it, move to the other side of her before she gets in.The lead outs also look good! Try to be near jump 3 on the blinds – you were migrating between the uprights of 2 to do the blind, which will widen the turn. Your position for the throwbacks (like at 1:02) was right next to jump 3: PERFECT!
She also did well with the lead out pushes – you can be a little further across the bar to star (rather than dead center) so that when you move, you are past the exit wing before she takes off (she is a SPEEDY little sports car so we will get you being able to leave very early for the next line :))The cat walking through the sequence while she was in the stay was AWESOME! LOL!!!!
She did really well here and there was nothing that made it looked like she was struggling. So great job to you for keeping things fun and happy! We will do the same tomorrow in the live class – fun, happy, successful sequencing :) Great job!
TracyHi! This session went great!!!
He seemed very confident to drive up the board, finding the straight entry really well. And you were great about being sure he got rewarded at the top of the board, and then carefully turned him around. Nice!!!You can do two additional things with this:
– add slightly harder angles so he has to find the straight entry from harder approaches. You can use some cream cheese smeared at the top of the board to help him stop, especially if you start with him on the harder angles.– using easier angles, you can slide the boards in a bit so the are more alongside the teeter and sticking out less as a channel. This can challenge him to find the entry with less visual help from the 2 boards.
You can also play this game with a table under the top part of the teeter, so he runs up the board to a table.
Great job!
TracyHi!
Hopefully you are having a break in the heat! And we will be starting the class earlier tomorrow, stay tuned for that email coming shortly!He is doing well with the lead outs!
Left – nice position on the lead out – you are definitely closer to 3 and not between the uprights of 2. Super! He read the line 1-2 really nicely, so you can work in getting closer to 3 (almost touching it :)) and also, starting the FC sooner. Ideally, you would start it after he lands from 1 and looks at 2, and definitely before he takes off for 2.
Also, you can lead out with more connection to see his eyes – he broke the stay on the 2nd rep and we don’t want him to learn to leave the stay when you get past the 2nd jump.Right – you can be more connected here too – he came to you after jump 1 on the first rep because conenction was too soft and you were looking too far forward. Try to point your arm all the way back to his nose and have your eyes on his eyes the whole time to really support the line (more like what you did at 1:50, along with the jump verbals)
Breaking it down and back chaining it will really help. You did some of that on this video, super!! You can keep going along that route – start him halfway between 1 and 2, then at the landing spot of 1, then at the takeoff spot of 1. At the start throw the reward out past 2 each time to really get him looking at it, That way you will be able to keep moving past it and get closer to 3 while still getting commitment.
Great job here!!
TracyHi!
>>Still struggling but we keep practicing!
You’re doing great! Practice makes progress! We don’t need perfection 🙂
The circle wraps are coming along! Yay! You can leave them alone for now, we will eventually add them to jumps and then it will be even easier.
Serps – these are going well! I am happy to see her committing to the first jump pretty much every time because that slice line has become a really popular course opening lately!
She had some questions about coming in to take the serp jump – she was needing you to turn your feet to help her out. However, I thought your position and movement at :52 was great – you did not turn your feet, your upper body was good, and you were close to the jump… but she did not read it. She looked at it but didn’t quite know how to use her body to get over the jump so went past it (this happened a couple of other times, like at 1:30 and 1:50).
This is pretty normal with youngster – there are a lot of mechanics she needs to do to get in and out over the jump, at speed, with you moving forward a speed too. It is hard! So, since we want the speed from both of you, and we don’t want you to have to rotate your feet – the next step is to rotate the serp jump so it is easier for her to sort out the mechanics while you both run 🙂 On this setup, when you are going jump-jump-tunnel, you can rotate the 2nd jump towards her on a angle so she sees more of the bar (the wing closer to the tunnel can move away from the line you are running). So she will have an easier time getting it right, and you will be able to run forward like you did her like at :52. Then eventually, we can flatten it back out, without losing speed.
The other thing that will help her sort out the mechanics is the zig zag grid I posted last week – check that one out and you will see it is very serp-like 🙂
>>Can you suggest the next class I should take with Synnie after this one?
Stay tuned for classes coming up in mid-September! I think the next step for these teenagers will be a “transition to trials” class where we work both on handling stuff and on getting the youngsters successfully into the trial ring 🙂 You will get the notification before it goes public.
Great job here!
TracyJust saw this, sorry! And yes – it is perfectly ok! We can sort out how to make it work around your travels 🙂
TracyHi!
That is a bummer about the practice facility 🙁 Maybe the owner will understand that this is bad for business and change the policy?The videos are looking good! She is doing great!!! I grouped the feedback by topic 🙂
Rocking horse videos:
Commitment is looking really strong here! Her only questions were at the beginning of the first video, when you broken connection a little bit as you were sending to the barrel, so she was not 100% sure where to be on that first rep. Compare :07 (broke connection as you pointed forward before she was past you, so she tried to switch sides, thinking it was maybe a blind cross) to :20 and after that, where you kept connection til she was past you, and she had no questions 🙂 Yay! And if she ends up on the wrong side? Handler error, reward the dog 🙂The turn and burns on the barrels also looked great. She definitely likes her toy – so when using a toy, try not to switch it from hand to hand. The switching delays the cues, and draws attention to your hands. So you can either keep it in the same hand, or put it in a pocket, or have a toy in both hands 🙂
Skipping ahead to the Spin and Race Track rocking horse video:
very nice job with the spins here! Most of the reps had rally nice timing and connection! Now, if you miss a connection (like at 1:20 and 2:26 where she ended up on the other side of you), you can either reward or keep going, but don’t mark it as an error and don’t stop without rewarding because it is handler error, not Ginger error :))
She definitely was more jazzed up for the toy, so you can keep using it in these games.One thing I notice is that she doesn’t really understand to line up at your side to start each rep – she gets a little sticky in her sit or she stands away from you, especially on your right side. You can use a cookie to draw her in close to your side, so she understands the line up and start of each rep. Then you can release with a bit of ‘ready ready ready….’ then the verbal and physical action 🙂
You can add in more of the race tracks, where you just run run run so she gets used to staying on the line arounnd the barrels while you run. Feel free to add more distance!
Reverse retrieve videos:
She likes her toys and she likes to retrieve – she even ran past a toy you dropped on the first rep of the 2nd video LOL! good girl! You can be running away sooner, as soon as you send her to it (and before she arrives to it)
the ramped up game looked good too – nice stay! And she was able to go from a cookie to the toy – on the 2nd rep, you dropped the toy but ran away with no connection at :39 – so even though you said get it (I think) it was unclear as to what she should actually get. Indicating by pointing at it and looking at it as you release her will help make it clearer.You indicated it more clearly at the start of the next video – so she picked it up nicely! Keep being super clear on the indication of the toy (more connection, more pointing at it) – the other reps were not as clear so she was not as sure that she was supposed to get it.
She is retrieving it near you but not to you, so continuing to run away and rewarding with the 2nd toy will help her bring it to you even more.Minny Pinny:
The first video was a good intro to the setup – she had no trouble figuring out to go around all 3 wings. Nice placement of reinforcement!
2nd video, adding the tug, also good! I am happy to see you using the tug a lot, so she doesn’t think agility is only about the cookies 🙂 She also seems pretty balanced, turning well in both directions.
Adding the poles went well with both the cookie and the tug. Yay It is great to see her be able to go back and forth between the cookies and tug! Because she is small, you can angle the poles in so that they are a little closer together so it is easier for her to bounce through them. They were a little too far apart here, so even though she was bouncing, she was really having to reach forward in the bounce. When they are closer together, you will see her push off her rear more and turn her head more too.On the last clip, you added the directionals – super! I was going to say you can add them 🙂 One tweak in the mechanics: line her up at your side, gently hold her collar, say the left or right verbal a few times (whichever one applies :)) and then let go of her. That way the verbal comes before the movement, which should make it easier for her to learn it independently of motion.
You can also add the countermotion element: as she starts moving into the minny pinny, you can do a FC and start moving the other way, just like a turn and burn game 🙂Find my face – she did really well finding your face with no stress (and you had some excellent acting skills pretending you were lost LOL!!) The only suggestion is to try to only use ‘get it’ markers instead of praise so she knows to look away from you to get get the tossed treat, and for now – keep tossing the treat away so she can do another rep 🙂
Great job on all of these! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi!
>> I keep spacing that they ARE directed but not just our upper body but by the direction our feet our.>>
One thing that I remind myself of is that the upper body indicates the present, what we want the dog to do right now. And the feet indicate the future – where we want the dog to go next. It helps me remember to use all of my body parts LOL!!!
Tracy
Hi!
>>I can see I need to crate Hoke for my walk through. If I did the walk through correctly, he would be running the course! >>
Yes! We don’t want the dogs to pick up the course when we are walking it LOL!!
The opening to the weaves looked great!! Really nice lines! He is hitting the outer wall of the tunnel, so you might want to put some more bags on it – it looks & sounds like he is tumbling around in there a bit.
>>I was happy about our progress on the weaves & I left some of that training in. He was popping out at the end if the weaves when I layered the tunnel. I rewarded him anyway because it was such a good effort. >>
Yes – that is a hard challenge but definitely keep working on it – you can open up the weaves and put a target or MM out there, so he can get used to doing the weaves really independently.
After the weaves, the line to the dog walk also looked good. It looked like he had a little question on the rear cross n the jump before the dog walk in both runs (jump 12 at 1:31 in run 1, and at :41 in run 2, the bar came down) and it was a little hard to see why – I believe that you needed to put more pressure on the RC diagonal sooner, running to the center of the bar, so he could see the rear cross info before he made a takeoff decision.
>>We need to work on that turn away to the outside of the course after the DW…. I can set something up inside close to a wall.
Yes, I think the most important part will be the physical cue of converging RC pressure (you were really lateral but you can still converge from out there, and also use your arms/hands like a tandem turn so he reads the turn before takeoff). Will he stop on the dog walk if you stay in motion, or does he need you to decelerate?
Also, you had the jump cue as your release which indicates turning to his right, so by the time he heard the switch verbal and left verbals, on the first run, it was too late to make the adjustment. Switch is probably the best release verbal, because it indicates the turn away. But on the 2nd run, you said switch a lot sooner and he switched on the flat… so he needs a clarification is switch is a RC on a jump, or a turn away on the flat. It can’t be both, or you will always need to be ahead of him which is hard to do.
After the 15 tunnel, you did a RC on the first run: you can immediately be running to the center of the bar on 16 because that will set up the right turn, which will make 17-18 easier too. On the 2nd run, you got the blind which definitely made it easier! And it will be even easier if he takes the 14 jump first!
I think the main takeaway on this course is to have clearer rear cross info for him: the RC pressure can come sooner, and more directly to the center of the bar! And, clarify if the switch cue means on a jump or on the flat.
Course 2 walk through – I thought the walk through looked good in terms of the plan! You looked pretty connected and you were moving fast too! The backsides in particular looked very clear. A couple of thoughts:
More blinds, fewer fronts 🙂 Think of which is the easiest/quickest way to get your feet pointing the next direction – blind or front? That would mean a blind on the exit of the 4 tunnel, and a blind on exit of the weaves, and a blind 16-17.
Also, it looked like you wrapped him towards you on the jump before the weaves (jump 10) but the better/easier/faster line for the dogs is to wrap to the outside (to the left) there.
And eventually you can layer the tunnel while he is weaving – that will make for less running 🙂
And remember to practice your verbals! You were very quiet in the walk through.
On the run:
>>You can see us running out of gas very quickly in the humidity. The grass is also very thick so it is like running in quicksand if it gets a couple of inches. >>
I totally relate – running big courses is really hard in the heat. It is not just the running, it is yelling the darned verbals too! The cooler weather does definitely help.
Bar down at 3 – less acceleration after the frame release and earlier turn cue
>>Not enough time for that FC u planned before the teeter!>>
Exactly! The blind was very flowing after the 4 tunnel! And that set up a nice line to the tunnel – very nice backside serp at 8!!
The wrap to the right on 10 was what caused the off course- you needed to step in more to set the line to the weaves
Not being able to layer yet while he is weaving made for a rear cross after the weaves, that went well! Nice job on the backside then the dog walk-tunnel discrimination!
I think he self-released off the dog walk when you were behind, so definitely give him lots of rewards for staying on it. You can also put a target out in training to help him hold position. The push to the backside was good but I am guessing your terror sound on the FC was because you felt he was coming at you fast LOL! A BC would be quicker for you there for sure.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi!
>>Two quick videos for serp and threadle and I was interested to get your comments on my arm/body position.
The threadle was good, because the upper body was rotated back to the dog (the outside arm helps this, and the other option is to swing the inside arm back more.
The serp can be more rotated. Your arm was back, but the center of your chest was perpendicular to the bar. Ideally, you would point the center of your chest to center of the bar (you will feel a pretty significant rotation in your waist :))
Lateral lead out –
He went to the wing nicely here!!! And had good stays!! On those lateral lead outs, if they were jumps he would be making a soft turn (left or right) so to help him know what to do: connect more on the release and send (you will see a little zig zag when you release if you are not connected enough and then after he gets to the wing, hold your position and have him come to you for the reward. No need to do a FC or anything 🙂 He was a little wide on the first rep, and then on the next one you moved too early and said “yes” which is a reward marker so he came to you and not the wing. So just sending and remaining stationary will help him find the wing and then the line of exit after it.Countermotion – this is looking good! He is reading the countermotion really well, your connection shift looked great, and you are timing your sessions to keep them short (huzzah!!) The hardest part was the stay – walking confidently through the serp helps him hold the stay! When you are more twitchy, he is less sure of the release. And you can add in NOT releasing him, but instead going all the way around and tossing the reward to him for holding the stay – you did a catch rep and you can add in being past the jump when you do it 🙂 You can also remind him to stay when you arrive in position… he was anticipating a little and keeping forward, and we don’t want to create any inconsistencies or frustration.
Great job here! Let me know what you think! Tracy
