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Good morning! Nice work on these!!
Video 1:
Nice line to the tunnel! Give him a turn cue before he goes into the tunnel, then give him the upper body serp pose for jump after it to get the turn to the last jump. That upper body serp position is form the ‘strike a pose’ game, where your dog side arm is extended all the way back and away, and you are a little twisted at the waist to face the jump (but your feet keep moving forward :))Video 2 – very nice connection and handling! Try not to say ‘go’ for the jumps because it is a turn not a straight line – you can use a jump cue (which cues take the jump on a slight turn) or a left/right cue.
Video 3 – try to get a little further ahead on the jump after the tunnel, so you can open up the serp position – that way he can ask the turn to his left and keep the bar up. At :04, you were facing forward so he didn’t really he had to turn left. He did better at :33 but you will want to help him out by using your serp arm and shoulder position.
Video 4:
At :07, your line did indicate the tunnel entry he took and you said ‘get in’ when he was looking at it, so you can reward him (he was correct). You were MUCH earlier on the 2nd rep and he easily found the tunnel entry you wanted 🙂 Very nice!!!Video 5 – he had a question after jump 2 at :07 – before jump 2, your feet said to go to the tunnel in front of him, but when he landed from jump 2, your arm said not to.
Compare that to the timing on the 2nd rep, where before jump 2 both your feet and arm were telling him to come to the other side of the tunnel – that was much earlier and much clearer. Yay!Video 6 – you can send him from the jump to the tunnel from further away, so that you can get ahead and show serp position for the jump after the tunnel
Nice job coming off the kitties, Sid!!!!Video 7 and video 8 – He did well on both of these, with you on the different sides! To keep him moving forward and ahead of you on the line, you can throw the reward (toy or a visible cookie) so he doesn’t want to curl back to you.
Video 9 – you were nicely ahead of him on the first rep here! You can open up your shoulders back to him (feet keep moving forward) so that he turns himself to the left for jump 2. You were facing forward so he had a question (looked at you) at :02 – serp position will get him to look at the next jump without looking at you.
He had a question at :31 too – you said the tunnel cue, but your physical cues were all turned to face the jump or other side of the tunnel, so he was really unsure. At :55, you rotated your upper body to cue the tunnel and it was MUCH clearer for him! Super!
He found the 2nd jump more easily there too, because you err further ahead.Great job on these! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning!
Yes, this summer has been BRUTAL with heat and humidity!!! But you are getting enough training in to be making significant advances – well done!1st Serps and tunnels video: This is going really well! The footwork is the most critical part for the small dogs and you nailed it! He read the lines really well. For example, 1:17 – 1:21 was PERFECT and so were all of the other reps – the only one he had a question on was the 2nd rep, but either you started too close to the tunnel or he started without you 🙂 and you were a little behind. You got it done nicely, but being behind he gave a little head check. The rest was great!
2nd serps and tunnel video –
Also went really well!! Keep maintaining that connection between the 2 jumps, so he can find them independently, even when you are a little behind because he is FLYING 🙂You can start to flatten out the line of jumps til they are flat, but take your time and do it inch by inch so you can maintain the skills he is showing here.
>>I totally know when he went into the wrong end of the tunnel that my feet sent him there! He’s a good boy.>>
Yes, 1:23 – turned your feet and he responded. Good boy!! That will be useful on more complicated sequences! 1:51 was perfect – excellent line set by you and he read it beautifully.
Tunnel entries & exits:
>>Also worked on entrance/exits of tunnels. We haven’t spent much time on the soft lefts and rights but I think he’s pretty good on the go’s.>>
Honestly, for the littles… I prefer to have a lot of GO GO GO to get the line and the speed – the turns are easy to add later on.
On the first video, the go lines (and your Brain Camp shirt, if I am seeing it correctly :)) look fabulous! He doesn’t actually need to wrap the wing on these, we just want a straight line exit. Remember to throw the toy super early to maintain that straight exit after you add in the turns, so he doesn’t come out looking at you.
The turns were a little wide but I think that was timing more than lack of understanding. You were a little late with the verbals (he was in the tunnel) and the physical cue was straight, so he was pretty straight on the exit. You can give the verbal when he is about 5 or 6 feet from the tunnel entry and also let him see you turn your shoulders to the next line, all before he is in the tunnel.
On the 2nd video, your go cues (verbal and acceleration are well-timed! Throw the toy as soon as he is in the tunnel so it lands before he exits.
The right cue at :43 was a little late – as he was just about entering, you were starting the verbal but still running straight, so he exited wide. Compare to the GO cues at :48, which started when he was halfway between the wing and the tunnel. Nice!
Nice RC to the left! And nice RC to the right! It is unusual that a young dog can do both in the same session – clear verbals and physical cues are helping! So cool!
And he is getting more heat tolerance built up – these sessions were longer but he was able to come back and continue to play. Good boy!
Wow, the teeter tipping looks great!!! Confident little dude!!!
OK, so before we add more tip… let’s add other things he will need to see. For all of these, reduce the tip a little to make that side of things a little easier, and keep putting the treat on the board like you had here, and add:
– a wing wrap before the teeter, with you adding in the following handling:
– driving ahead (like you did here)
– hanging back and moving more slowly so he drives ahead
– moving away laterally (walking at first, then build up to jogging and running)
– a rear cross between the wing and the teeter
– a blind cross at the exit of the teeter as he is getting to the top! Do this walking at first.On the teeter itself, you can add a strip of duct tape across the last inch or two of the board, as a target for his end position. The cookie still goes on it for now in the mountain climbers, and you can also use it as the target for the bang game.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi!
Here is a link to the course map – fast, fun, CHALLENGING course! Sadly no video because I am a fool!!!! Sigh.https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rnQNoBLTG-xNshW17wAxSu_Slv82Dn9FRB5tBe9fUv0/edit?usp=sharing
Starting nice and close to the wing on the backwards sending really helped her – she has to find the wing with your feet pointing the other way AND she has to pass the toy to do it! And nice job with the verbals!
And shifting connection to the wing was SUPER helpful for her too, like at :36 where you were looking at her for a moment too long, then shifted connection and she went to the wing. Yay! Compare to :50 where you shifted your connection to the wing earlier and she went to it much more smoothly. At the end, she still needed you to be close to the wing for the right turn wraps but was comfortable with more distance with the left turn wraps – that is good to know, because you can add more distance with those left wraps but stay nice and close for the right wraps, for now.
The only things to avoid there are marking the commitment with praise, because that draws her to you, expecting the toy (because we all pair praise with the reward, even though we try to use markers :)) So if you are not going to reward, giving the next wrap cue will be more helpful.
The forward sending looked great (:57 – 1:01) – that was easy peasy for her!
On the big racetracks around the outside – you can actually connect a little less and run harder, like you did at 1:15 to 1:20, that worked really well!
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
That first rep was super funky, like a fancy TikTok reel LOL! The video was fine after that 🙂
2nd run:
Nice opening, she went to the backside really well! To get her to take the jump, try to just look at and maybe point at the landing spot, but keep moving forward – resist the temptation to rotate your feet at all or to stop your motion. She is too fast 🙂 At :11 you rotated (she did not need the extra help, she was committing nicely) and that put you late for the turn on the next jump and the bar came down (and she ended up past the tunnel, it was hard to hear if you were cuing it or not).You moved forward better at :21! She is doing really well with this skill, so doesn’t need the opposite arm to help her over the bar. This is good to know, so you can keep moving forward. Going around to the other side of the jump before the tunnel worked, but the shortest/fastest path is the inside line so definitely worth it to try to get her on it. Very nice job on the ending line!! Make sure you reward her before you look at the map!
The last run was my favorite because you were connected and stayed in motion the whole time! YAY! That is the key to success with her – never stop moving so you can be in a good place for the next line. It might not always be smooth yet because she is still pretty young, but she has a lot of great skills and the more you keep moving, the more you will be able to control the lines. This was super!!!!
>>came back and did a little more but storm came up and jumps kept blowing down.>>
I see what you mean! The weather has been crazy lately!! But overall – the issues were small and the successes with staying in motion and getting her on the lines you wanted were big!
Great job 🙂 Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning! So much good stuff here to look at!!!
>>I look at your videos inside and then go outside to run. The result is, after the first course, I forget how you did it.>>
That is fine, though – one of the goals you stated earlier in the summer was that you wanted to create your own handling plans. And you have more distance skills with Enzo than I do with mine, especially with my younger dogs, so our handling plans are likely to be different.
>>Also, as always these days, it is hot and Enzo is jumping 24”. There were more bars than I would normally expect but we survived it.>>
For real!!! Sooooo hot. These demos are filmed at 6am, usually, and the oldest dog gets to go first so he can have the coolest temps (over 10 and all black – heats up fast!)
You can see how the heat suppresses the speed of the younger dogs in the demo, even as early as 6:15am. And they aren’t even jumping full height (wet grass plus 85 degrees = lower height). So Enzo might be feeling the heat too, I know the rest of us sure do.
Side note: The package 4 and package 5 themes of figuring out how to get to opposite ends of the course showed up *everywhere* on the courses I ran this weekend as well as on the AKC courses that I saw posted. There was some sequences that we ran on the courses this weekend that were actually identical to the challenges I put into the class sequences and courses. It was crazy! These skills are gonna be useful!
Looking at sequence 1:
>>On this one, I did recall that you didn’t take a huge lead-out. It seemed to me that a lead-out was a good thing, so I ran it both ways (and walked it both ways).>>
Correct, I took a short lead out because I wanted to cross at the exit of the tunnel. But a longer lead out can put you in a different position for 4-5-6 which is also good!! There is no wrong answer in this case.
Run 1:
The opening worked really well!>>I didn’t do the flip (backside turn away) because I was easily there for the blind (although I might have been a bit late, I didn’t have to be).>>
Yes, it was easy to get the backside push. To tighten it for him – use your hands to put a ‘stop sign’ in front of him as he is passing you to the jump. You made a terrific connection at 1:0 as you finished the BC, so you can just leave your hands down by your knees, in front of his nose 🙂 That will allow you to keep your feet rotated (makes for an earlier exit up the next line!) and get better collection on the takeoff side of the jump. You moved your hands towards the jump which pulled your feet to the jump – it add more extension to the turn and delayed your exit up the next line.
I chose the backside flip/threadle wrap move because it bought be 2 extra steps to get up the line for the backside after the tunnel: as I was cuing it, I was 2 steps further down the line and on the correct side of the tunnel, so I could leave as soon as the dog turned his head to the jump. Those extra 2 steps can make ya (or break ya!) which is why we have been emphasizing the threadle wrap a lot lately).
The other reason I chose the threadle wrap was what the dog would see before he enters the tunnel (which creates the tunnel exit). On the threadle wrap, the dog sees acceleration on a straight line, so is very likely to exit the tunnel straight, which sets up the backside more easily. Coming out of the push wrap, Enzo saw the side change which put him ever-so-slightly turning to his right, making getting the backside harder at 1:08. A big go verbal will help there, before he enters the tunnel, then switch to the push verbal for the next jump.
When he exited the tunnel at 1:09, you had decelerated a tiny bit with the dog side arm coming up high – so even though the verbal was strong and your were looking at him, the decel and high arm turned your body to the front of the jump, so that is where he went.
Compare at to the re-send at 1:17 where you were more visible, lower arm, and the shoulders/leg all pointing to the backside.
Run 2 – the long lead out worked well for him, he definitely has this skill!!!
You can lead out even further so it is easier to get past the tunnel entry – this is important so you can start the FC before he takes off for 2, to tighten up that turn (on the first run and also at 2:37)
Things got a little tangled up after the FC – you did a tunnel break then the front cross ended up late (1:41) then you did a post turn (bar down because the info was late). You did a BC there at 2:41, and it worked a lot better!
He got the push at 1:47! Yay! The handling that go it was a “go” before the tunnel entry then you accelerated, facing the backside line – no arm, lots of connection, feet and shoulders pointed to the backside.
He also go it at 2:16 where you use the same opening as the first run (but did a pst turn on 5) – as with 1:47, he saw a lot of acceleration and body pointing into the backside there.
He got the push at 2:46 as well. You were post turning there which puts you behind (parallel to him as he enters the tunnel). The good part about that is he sees all the straight line acceleration on the exit. The part that is made harder by the post turn (as opposed to the spin move) is that you are further behind – so he may not read the backside cues if it was the first run. By the end, I am pretty sure he knew it was the backside at 2:45 🙂 so one thing you can do is do a balance rep – run it tunnel to front side, reward, then run the full sequence again with tunnel to backside. That will give you a clearer picture of what he reads with the cues before he learns the sequence.
Sequence 2:
>>On review, you and I were not that different,
Great minds think alike 😂🤣😁
>>I discovered that if an alarm goes off while you’re taping, it stops at that point.>>
Yes – a big technology fail!
>>By the way, who was the demo dog on this one? It was Voodoo on the first run but this one looks tiny. Too dark for Export; was it Hot Sauce Marie?>>
Yes, that was my little Hot Sauce, who thought it was utterly stupid to be out there at dawn in the heat when we could have been inside eating breakfast in the A/C haha!
7 as the backside does make it juicier for sure! But that is something we might very well see on course so it was good to practice.
On the opening line, you led out further than you did on the previous sequence so at 1:25 you were able to time the FC to start sooner AND get past the tunnel entry, so his turn 2-3 was better. You were a little later at 1:50 but he was already turning right based on your position.
Also of note – he is turning really well on the tunnel exits without needing a lot of cues, so you got a great turn on the exit of 3 at 1:28 without needing a tunnel break or any big handling cues – just a verbal and moving away. Nice!!
Very nice push to the 6 backside, very nice looking the landing spot to get commitment to the bar as you continued to move forward. Why did he drop the bar at 1:33? Looks like you were decelerating there which surprised him, plus 24” bar.
You can keep moving directly forward and let the countermotion set up the tight turn, and use the decel for the send to the 7 backside (bar there too, but that was lack of deceleration, which needed to come before the rotation to set up the collection).
You definitely kept moving forward on the 2nd run at 1:59 and he did really well! Then you had more deceleration into the backside FC which also had a better turn than the first run. You can also use more of a ‘stop sign’ with your hands as you rotate, dropping your hands in front os him as he approaches the entry wing, to ask for more collection on this one.
At the end – both options looked terrific, so the ‘correct’ option would depend on where the rest of the course goes 🙂
The switch from the tunnel exit and then layering the tunnel looked great! Then at the end of the 2nd run, crossing at the tunnel exit was smooth, easy, and fast as well.Sequence 3:
>>We went inside for a long chilling time before going out to do #3.>
Smart! This summer has been brutal!
>>So interesting that Contraband has lovely tight turns and you have to be able to send him out. In contrast, Enzo runs wide and away and I have to hang on to get the tight turns.>>
Part of Contraband’s ability to turn wicked tight and then go into full extension is due to the changes we made in the puppy foundation program… and the rest of it is simply incredible luck that he can pull off collection so easily and land in full extension. And he is even better at trials so far – faster on the big extension lines, without losing those stunning turns. Sometimes, the agility gods send a gift.
Enzo is more like my other dogs – lots of demand required for the turns and plenty of speed going out on the big lines 🙂 Speed on the big lines makes for lots of winning runs though, so I really love this kind of dog!
Watching your walk through – definitely remember that you can use your switch cue in a variety of places! Looks like you were planning a side change 3-4-5, which would require extra turn management on 4 – that is fine, except you have an exceptional switch cue. 🙂
On the run, you easily got the side change but needed more turn cues for the wrap on 4 at 4:31 – you were facing forward as he took off, so he was jumping straight. The spin after the FC at 5:01 got it a lot tighter (you can finish the rotation before he takes off). Or, lead out a little more and use a switch cue.
>>Also note that, between 6 and 7 I need a helping hand to get a sharp turn out of the tunnel.>>
That section looked good! He has been turning on tunnel exits better than ever! You can play with trusting him more on the exit of 6 to then be able to tighten up 7 and 8. He was a little wide at 8 – 4:41 and 5:11 – you were saying ‘go jump’ then right before takeoff you added a call with the post turn. He turned but was wide. You can play with adding countermotion and when he lands from 7, you can send to 8 and rotate as early as you can to head to 9 – that will tighten up the turn at 8 and get you further ahead for 9-10 too!
The switch 10-11 at 4:44 was good – you did say “go” and accelerate a lot so he was fine to take the jump, as “go” in that context could very well mean the layering line. Jump-tunnel discriminations are all the rage nowadays, so a tunnel verbal was better here as you saw at 5:15. The trick is… can you get him into the tunnel on the verbal like you did here, while accelerating up the line to the next section like you did at 4:45?
One recent addition to my set of cues is the wrap verbal versus the switch verbal (that is what I did here). So on the 3-4-5 section versus the 10-11 section, the verbal is very clarifying:
Switch means turn away and get on the big layering line (3-4-5) And the wrap verbal can be used in conjunction with the RC handling (9-10-11) to get the inside obstacle, not the layering, in this type of context. That has really helped my dogs a lot and since Enzo already has a good understanding it is something to consider! You might need a different cue for the layering cue (your switch already has a long history and does not automatically apply to layering), so something like “away” can easily be added to get that extra layer of understanding.
I was able to use my switch versus wrap on a challenge we are seeing more and more on a technical jumping course this past weekend, the baby dog nailed it and posted a time that was fastest of all heights by almost 2 seconds some pretty hot shot company. And the judge mainly does AKC judging, I believe, so I bet you see the same challenges in your neck of the woods too!!Great job on all of these!! Let me know what you think!!!
Tracy
Good morning and thanks for your patience! It is glorious to be back in the land of good internet LOL!!!
The walk through looks really good 🙂
I love how you cheered for the invisible dg at the end LOL!! Just remember to do it after he lands, because you did it over the bar on the first run and he dropped the bar.
A couple of other thoughts from the walk through:
Call and turn before tunnel 2 – on the last walk through you called but did not turn before he went in – the practice of turning that early might help determine lead out position so you can get to the correct spot for 3.One other thought – you can add a turn cue on 9 before the in in threadle, so he is already turning. That makes the threadle easier and tighter.
The side by side was cool! Either you are at his pace or ahead of his pace, which are both great! It is fine to go faster than his pace, as long as you stay connected during the real run – preparing at a faster speed will make the actual run seem easier!
Run 1 – the opening ran just like you walked it! Yay! Very nice verbal before the #2 tunnel, add in the rotation before he enters the tunnel to make it perfect 🙂
.>>I was totally surprised that he missed 6 in the first run, didn’t see that at all when I walked it. Looked at the video a bunch of times and figured I needed more connection and a slightly different handler path to cue it more clearly. Again, I totally didn’t see this when I walked it, I figured he’d pick that jump up as “on path”, especially where we’d done this layer in Sequence 2 without any problems?>>
I think he just lost you with the tunnel blocking the view – you were ahead and not that connected, with arms down (your arm was up in the walk through) so he came off the line.
The tunnel blocks most of his view, so we have to exaggerate the upper body and motion. When he came off the line, you can see he was looking up at you.
Since I am feeling caffeinated and obsessive, I went back to the previous session where he easily got that jump – what was different? In the previous video, at :29 – you are parallel to him and not as far ahead as you were in the Seq 3 video – so the parallel line motion definitely supports his layering when the big tunnel blocks his view. And your arm was a little more in use, so he could probably see that. This is all good to know, because small dog handling is definitely different than big dog handling!!
Here is that section of the previous video:
When you’re more visible like at 1:40, it was pretty clear for him (but I think the distraction of having to make yourself visible there caused the backside blooper after it on 7).
The next run was really good! You supported the line more for the layering, got the backside and set a really good exit line. Yay! A couple of ideas to tighten up 2 sections:
You can give him a turn cue on the jump before the in in (jump 9 at 2:12) – a right cue after he exits the tunnel so he is already turning on 9 before you give the in in cue. Your timing of the in in cue was really good, but he was jumping straight so his path was wider into the threadle.
And you can decel sooner and more importantly, rotate your feet as he is passing you into the wrap at 12 (2:19). Your feet were facing the bar as he took off, so he is on more of a slice line. An earlier rotation will get more collection before takeoff there.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
So much great work on these videos!
>>We do tend to struggle with turns.>>
His turns were looking really good in almost all places here. The other spots just needed more drama 🙂 More below:
RYG Pack 2
Very nice job break this all down – I think he quite enjoyed himself! Easy peasy! He didn’t seem to have any problem at all getting on the line and staying on the line. My only suggestion is that you can give him more of a turn cue from the jump behind the tunnel into the tunnel – his commitment is strong enough that I think you can probably start the tunnel cue before he even takes off for that jump (you were saying something but I could not quite hear it – a right cue? I think an obstacle name might be more effective for him here so he can drive right to it.You can also spread out this sequence and add more motion, to see if he can hold his commitment when you are running harder (my guess is that he can totally do it :))
Agility 1: Really nice runs here!
On the opening: You can add more turn cue at 5, to better set up for the threadle. I think you were saying your directional, but at a bigger distance he might need a strong name call to beak through the excitement. Also, an earlier hand cue for the threadle will help, so he can see it before he makes a takeoff decision for 5 (switching the toy from hand to hand delayed the cue).8-9-10-11 looked great FABULOUS weaves. Was he going a little wide over 8? It was hard to tell from the video angle. But overall his turns are looking really good here!
Even with the distance, you were a little in his way on the BC at :36 at 13-14. Even though you’re miles ahead, he was coming in HOT so showing him 13 made it hard to get the blind in. It is a good spot to do a RC on 14, and you can even do it at a distance to switch him away the a-frame, and you can layer the 3/13 jump on the way to 16!
The 16-17-18 section looked great! Lovely threadle! The outside arm was actually a little more than needed at 19 but I think you already knew that based on his response LOL! When you re-did that section, he found the line to the backside perfectly with just motion support and verbal from you – NICE!
On the 2nd run- the opening looked lovely again! You can keep reinforcing those awesome weaves, because we don’t want him to lose speed with you miles away 🙂
This time at 1:24 you got the blind 13-14 in a lot sooner so you were not in the way, and the line was very fast.
His turn on 14 to the a-frame was lovely here at 1:27 and also on the first run – tight AND fast!
Great job on the 15 – end section. His independence on the obstacles, plus your connection made this course look beautiful!!
Jumping 2: This course was all about the drama needed to change his line, either to get him out on a big line or get him into a tight sequence after a big line. Overall, it looked great!
Wow, your distance on the opening was impressive! He looked great on 1-7. You can give him more of a turn cue on 7 at :11. You were facing forward so he jumped long and because of the distance there was no change of motion to help him. When he exits the tunnel, along with the verbal you can give him a break arm and turn your shoulders to 8, to just get a little collection stride before takeoff.
At 1:09 you gave a little brake arm but I think he needs more drama there – you can look at his eyes and give a bigger break arm and be like WHOA BUDDY WE ARE TURNING 🙂
Interesting off course to 14 instead of tunnel #9 at :14! He was definitely in parallel line/big distance mode and your lifted your arm up high, so he took it as a cue to stay on his line.
So once he has done a big distance line, you probably need something dramatic in your handling to turn him off it – like a BIG name call to break through the excitement, and a low brake arm to draw him into the line closer to you. It sounds like you called him more at 1:10 and that helped – he eyeballed the off course jump but did not go to it.
That will also help get the threadle at :35 on jump 13 – you were in good position (it was hard to tell if he could see you between the uprights or not) and you did the shoulder turn but it was not enough to get his attention. So as he is approaching the 12 jump (when he is maybe halfway between the tunnel 11 exit and the 12 jump), you can already be calling him and cuing a big attention, so he is prepared for the threadle cue on 13.
Handling the backside as a push worked nicely there as well as on the 14-15-16-17 section in the first run! Then the outside arm sent him wide past 19 – this is where less drama 🙂 and a softer/lower arm cue can really help. The BC to 19 on the second run looked great!
It worked well on the 2nd run but at 1:22, he took the front of 15 – that was the only time you didn’t quite connect to him on any of these videos. You said the verbal. but the verbal was a little forward to the jump and the high arm turned your shoulders to the front of the jump so that is where he went.
Note the difference at 1:33 – your arm position was the same, but you were looking at him very directly so he took the backside. He dropped the bar there but that is the only one he dropped. The ending looked great after that!
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! Hope you had a great weekend!
As always, thanks for the update!
>>Mookie nailed all 4 nicely. For seq 1 Mookie could do the layer. For sequence 2 we could wrap 3 to the outside but it seemed easier for Mookie to wrap to the inside. For seq 3 it was faster and easier to turn to the outside on 4. For seq 4 we could wrap 3 to 4 in either direction.>>
Perfect! It is good to be able to turn both directions but it is even better to know which is easier for the dog, and which is faster (often the same turn – easier and faster usually pair up nicely :))
>>I needed to work on the turns for the puppy. We are still in the process of learning the turns. He needed increased support to execute the turns both to the inside and outside. >>Yes, that makes sense. Youngsters do need a lot more support especially when you are rotating the new direction.
>>Question: Are you doing another Motion Counter Motion Class on line or will just the Indep study be available. I am thinking of going through those exercises with the puppy when Camp is over. Let me know Thanks.>>
There are currently no plans for it – I will be doing some sort of short course in late Sept/early October, not sure what yet, maybe I should take a poll and see what people want 🙂
>>As for Buddy he needed extra support to go to the outside. He seems to turn more efficiently to the inside and reads it quicker and better. >>That is interesting! He might have a side preference and turning one way is easier for him than turning the other way. I like t keep track of that stuff because it does help me sort things out when figuring out handling on course.
>I will be starting nose work with Buddy next week which will give him another activity to explore. >>
Fabulous! I bet he will love it!
>>And I am glad I got in what we did for class this week as it was hard to work outside with this weather. It should be cooler next week>>
Fingers crossed for better weather – I heard this was the hottest year ever, and the past 8 years were the hottest 8 years ever recorded. I guess this is our new normal.
Thanks for keeping me posted!!!
Tracy
Good morning!
65 degrees must feel delightful!!!
>>Yet I believe we are beyond repeating it. Do you think we’re ready for Max Pup 2?
Yes, I think she is ready! And there is still time to play before MaxPup 2 starts, so you can play with anything you wanted to practice more.
>>It doesn’t cool down in Phoenix until October, nights. So we would still be mostly indoors. I’ve been using the biggest space I have…will that work with rugs? Don’t think I can get a 10 ft tunnel in there.>>
Yes, it will work – do you have access to a tiny play tunnel that can come indoors, or borrow a 3 foot tunnel?
>>How hard is it to do the Live classes, tech wise… and do you think it would be too much pressure for us?
You just need really good internet 🙂 And I recommend 2 decides (like a phone and a tablet, or a computer and a tablet). It won’t be too much pressure!
>>I’m having trouble finding the price for each level of MaxPup2?
here they are (they are at the bottom of the course listing):
Auditing is $119
Online working 199
Auditing plus live classes 199
Working plus live classes 259Thanks!
TracyHi!
>>If my understanding is correct, a serp is a “left then right” turn or “right then left” turn. Do you end up using two verbals or just the initial turn verbal? Is completing the serp part of the larger left/right or right/left context? Hope my question makes sense :)>>
Depending on how hard the serp is, I often do end up using two verbals – but the timing is pretty separated because the first one is for the previous obstacle and the 2nd one is for the serp.
So if the dog needs to turn left on the exit on a tunnel to find the serp jump, then I say “left” 6 feet before he goes into the tunnel. Then the right for the serp jump begins when he exit the tunnel (or sometimes sooner depends on spacing and context).
If it is a traditional 3 jump serp, say on obstacles 2-3-4, 3 being the serp jump:
The left verbals for jump 2 begins no later than landing of jump 1. Then the right verbal for the serp jump (jump 3) begins as the dog is lifting for jump 2, at the latest. So yes, you can use several verbals but they are not both applied to one jump.
Let me know if that makes sense.
Tracy
Good morning! I am glad to har you are both back to feeling good!!!
Yes, the double blinds are a matter of timing (too soon, too late, just right) and that applies to the motion and connection too!
2 things to think about with motion and connection in mind:
– try not to decel while he is in the tunnel then accelerate to the blind… that cues him to go wide (acceleration). Be accelerating to the wing and then decel into the blind to set up the tight turn. And keep moving to the next blind, even when practicing on one wing, so he gets used to staying in motion the whole time and will stop hesitating near you.– for connection, use fewer arm cues and a lot more connection. That will commit him sooner to the first wing and also let you know when he has come into the gap for the 2nd blind to start – and reconnecting after the 2nd blind will propel him to the next wing too! It is all eye contact, very little arm use – the arms can be tucked into your sides 🙂
The BC at :12 was a timely first blind,
The BCs :17 and :44 were too early – he never looked at the wing, partially because your dog side arm is blocking connection and turning your shoulders. So adding more connection will get you to consistently see when he looks at (and is theoretically committed to) that first wing.
At :28, the first blind was good! Then you were too quick for the 2nd blind 🙂 He never made it around the wing to connect on the new side after the first blind.
At :33, you were trying to send more but there was not enough motion to the wing or connection to him, so he curled into you 🙂 Then he needed more eye contact at :35 too.
The rep at :54 – :58 was REALLY good about connection and not blocking connection with your arm! YAY!! And the same with the following reps, you really locked into the connections there and they looked great.
Tracy
******
Hi!
>I noticed he is looking at me quite a bit on most of the different types of turns and then once he knows, he tends to speed up.:).
Yes, he had some questions! I see what you mean!
>>Is this because overall I’m late with either physical/verbals,
Yes 🙂 In general, you will see fewer questions if your physical cues match your verbal cues. They did not always do that here, thus the questions: “do I read the physical or verbal cue, mom?”
On the GO reps, showing more acceleration before he gets into the tunnel will help a lot! Sometimes you did that, but sometimes you were at the same pace as the left and right turn cues (more below) so he was not always sure. So letting him see you accelerate while pumping your arms (having your arms back was confusing to him at 1:04, for example) with some connection will help him go straight.
Als, bear in mind that Go and Ko sound alike bear that in mind), so that could be playing into his questions on the go reps?
Also, you might notice that as the session went on, he actually looked at you more and more on the Go reps – part of that was that the toy placement was late – so by the time you threw it, he was already looking at you – which builds in more looking at you. Plus, I think it was a ball toy which dogs often wheel out wide to watch the throw and grab the toy. You can see it at 1:37, for example, where he is totally looking at you and then you throw it, which reinforces looking at you 🙂
Two ideas for that:
– Don’t use a ball toy 🙂 Use a tug toy – dogs are less likely to flank out for those.
– Have someone else throw the toy, so it it is visible to him before he even exits the tunnel. You can throw it is you can be sure that he will not watch you throw it. It is not important if he wraps the wing or not, because you are giving a GO cue so he just has to go towards the wing. The most important thing is that the toy is thrown before he looks back at you.For the left/right turns, your verbals were mostly on time but the physical cue of turning your shoulders did not happen til after he was in the tunnel, so he was not sure where to go on all the reps
At :07 for example, the verbal sounded on time but your motion faced straight til after he was in the tunnel – you can say the verbal when is he still 6 feet away from the tunnel and also let him see you turn your shoulders and move to the new line, all before he goes in.On the other side, the right physical cue at 1:09 and the go cue at 1:12 looked identical physically so he had a question on the go
I think making the physical cues looked different too will really help – and throwing the toy to the line before he looks back to you will help too!
Looking at the wrap exits at :39 and :46) – the verbals sounded timely but these is another good place to show wrap handling before he enters 0 he can see you rotating before he enters (which challenges his commitment!) rather than facing straight til after he enters.
Rear crosses – the physical cues are clear and it looks like he read them every time except for one, more below on that. Yay!!!! In this case, your verbals need to also come before he enters the tunnel For example, at :55, the physical cue was good but the left verbal came after he exited so it was a little late. You can see him exit and look at you, then carry on.
His only commitment question was at 1:40 where you needed to turn your feet to the tunnel more before you did the RC, so he could get past you. You pushed him off the tunnel there 🙂 The
next rep was a definitely better but you can make it clearer by staying closer to the wing before the tunnel, then driving forward to the center of the tunnel so he can pass you, commit, and still see the RC info.Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning! I am glad to har you are both back to feeling good!!!
Yes, the double blinds are a matter of timing (too soon, too late, just right) and that applies to the motion and connection too!
2 things to think about with motion and connection in mind:
– try not to decel while he is in the tunnel then accelerate to the blind… that cues him to go wide (acceleration). Be accelerating to the wing and then decel into the blind to set up the tight turn. And keep moving to the next blind, even when practicing on one wing, so he gets used to staying in motion the whole time and will stop hesitating near you.– for connection, use fewer arm cues and a lot more connection. That will commit him sooner to the first wing and also let you know when he has come into the gap for the 2nd blind to start – and reconnecting after the 2nd blind will propel him to the next wing too! It is all eye contact, very little arm use – the arms can be tucked into your sides 🙂
The BC at :12 was a timely first blind, he was maybe halfway better the jump and the wing, and was definitely looking at the wing. Yay!
The BCs :17 and :44 were too early – he never looked at the wing, partially because your dog side arm is blocking connection and turning your shoulders. So adding more connection will get you to consistently see when he looks at (and is theoretically committed to) that first wing.
At :28, the first blind was good! Then you were too quick for the 2nd blind 🙂 He never made it around the wing to connect on the new side after the first blind.
At :33, you were trying to send more but there was not enough motion to the wing or connection to him, so he curled into you 🙂 Then he needed more eye contact at :35 too.
The rep at :54 – :58 was REALLY good about connection and not blocking connection with your arm! YAY!! And the same with the following reps, you really locked into the connections there and they looked great.
Tracy
Hi!
The tip assist should be able to keep the teeter totally stationary – maybe the teeter is a little tall? Or you can put something on the bar of the tip assist to help raise it up, like a big pool noodle?>> Is there a specific way of teaching the teter with this device? Hopefully there is. >>
Yes, it is one of the tracks in the teeter class. I use a Teach It but other people have used a jump wing that is strategically placed under the teeter board. The Tip Assist should totally work, though!
Tracy
Hi!
His commitment is looking really good, so we can adjust your position and timing to get the lead outs smoother
Looking at the end first – he read the line really well with the post turn, you can turn a little sooner but his commitment was strong!
With that in mind –
On the BC lead outs, you can be moving closer to jump 3 and start the BC when he has landed from 1 and before he gets to 2. Try not to get between the uprights of 2 (which sets a straight line instead of the turn we want). You were helping too much by being between the uprights of 2, and then didn’t do the blind til he was jumping 2 (which creates a wide landing here and potentially knocks bars when he is jumping full height)
Also, that is why he went around 3 at 1:59 – your position was pretty far across the bar of 2, and the timing was late so he did not have the time to adjust and find 3.The same goes for the FC openings – he doesn’t need to see you between the uprights of 2 – let him find it as you move up the line heading to 3, or with the FCs, you can totally lead out to 3!
The only lead out that needs to be between the upright s of 2 is the lead out push which is like a serpentine.
Nice work here! Let e know what you think!
Tracy
