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Good morning!
>>We did a session of Extreme Connection with the Get Outs today. She was really independent!>
I agree! She rocked it (and so did you)!
>> I was not able to make my body follow directions (even though my brain knew them) and didn’t stay straight for the Get Out sends, but I’ll try another session and put a leash on the ground.>>
I have always found it hard to NOT move towards the get out obstacle because the emphasis of the connection and upper body just draws us all that direction. A line on the ground will totally help, especially when she is on your right (where you seemed to gravitate towards the ‘get out’ wing more). When she was on your left side, you had more independent running lines especially at :31 (that was the most independent one of the session!) and :55 too : )
>>I am finding it is mucho. mucho key with Bazinga for me to switch things up and contrast the reps with something different. She memorizes so quickly!>>
Yes, she is a super quick learner so I can see how after a couple of reps, she would just head to the spot where she thinks you would be cuing her to go to 🙂 Smartie!!! Also, the get out is easy and fun for the dogs so they often get into “get out mode” and it is harder to get them to NOT get out LOL!
She did well with that here. When you didn’t want the get out, she was completely perfect and straight on your right side.
When she was on your left, she drifted a little wider when you were going straight (like at :12) . At first I thought maybe she was scoping out the get out wing but she was looking at you the whole time – so when I re-watched it, it looks like you were a little disconnected there (looking forward and not at her) so she was drifting wide to be able to look up at your face to see the cue. You were more connected on the right side so she did not need to drift out to see more of the info. So definitely have very clear regular connection on the non-get-out reps too 🙂Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
>>Can you help me out with what a contact training mat is? Can I just use like a yoga mat cut in half or something similar?
Yes – a cheap yoga mat (we might attach cardboard under it to keep it stable) is perfect!
>>I have a teeter but it’s not competition size. Will that work? I do go to an arena to practice courses but I’m not supposed to move their stuff so I only may sometimes have access to a full teeter.>>
Absolutely!
>>What size travel plank? Is this like a Cato Plank? Can I make one if I don’t want to spend $100 on one? >>
It is about the length of a Cato plank but can be any length. I think mine is 3 feet long and maybe 3 or 4 inches high? And mine is homemade and I think I have had it around since 2004 or something. Cato planks are really nice but you definitely do NOT need to buy one for this class.
>>I’m quickly learning how expensive agility can be so I try to bargain shop if I can.>>
TRUTH! Homemade or borrowed stuff is the way to go especially for foundation stuff because you won’t need it for that long. And the foundation stuff you can purchase is soooooo expensive. There is always a way to do a homemade version of it.
>>What size is the long plank? I’m thinking the plank of my teeter would work for this.>>
I think the teeter plank should be great! We can figure out how to stabilize it so it can simulate a dog walk plank as needed. The goal is that other than a cheap yoga mat from Walmart or something, you won’t need to purchase anything to play the games 🙂
Tracy
Good morning!
>>For the first UKI trial we are going to the Officiating Judge is Torka Poet and the Course Designer is Marko Mäkelä (Finland). >>
Torka is really nice! A European designer might mean that the courses are a little extra crazy hard LOL!! But they will be FUN!
>>I entered Kashia in Speedstakes just for the experience. I haven’t decided if I’ll do FEO or just go in there and give it a stab. >>
I always recommend young dogs enter FEO with a toy of some sort (you can use the empty lotus ball!) even if the course looks very do-able. The FEO (or NFC for UKI) will help them be super happy in the environment, which is more valuable than running for real at this stage.
>>She’s completed some At Home Speedstakes courses (unofficially since I didn’t enter her) and she did them beautifully and cleanly! Either way, it’s just great exposure for her. >>
Yay!! And I agree, it is great exposure. And it will be wildly different from training so the NFC/FEO option will help ease that transition.
>>It’s funny to me you say this right above the paragraph where you explain several different wrap commands, all by using different noises essentially…..that seems extremely complicated to my novice brain! I know another handler that does the same thing and it blows my mind. >>
You are 10000% correct to call me out on that LOL!! “Let’s keep it simple” followed by “here are the 75,000 different verbals for a wrap” LOL!!!! It cracks me up because it is definitely not simple 🙂 But the most important thing is that it all gets added gradually and over the course of a long period of time, based on priorities. You don’t need to add all the things all at once or you will drive yourself crazy 🙂
Answering the backside question:

>>>So the bar would be on the inside of the last wing, right, between me and the wing? I know that’s a dumb question because if it was on the outside, that wouldn’t be a backside jump.>>Correct! It might be easier to set it up as a full jump so you can choose the backside line in terms of what the entry wing is…. Then take off the exit wing.
>>for as book-smart as I am, you’d be surprised at how much I mess up left and right. Random dyslexia kicks in sometimes. LOL
Left and right are so easy to mess up! You might notice I take a moment before I start the dog in each rep… that is my brain saying “wait, which is left or right??” LOL!! It gets easier with practice for sure 🙂
T
Good morning!
>>While we are working on these different backsides, what is the criteria I should use for raising the jumps to her full height? Most of the things in class, I’ve used 16″, but for these I’ve lowered to 12″. We need to work our way up to her full height of 20″.>>
Great question! I use 2 separate sets of criteria:
– fitness level of the dog. Is the dog a fit, muscular beast? 😁 Then yes, bars can start to move up to full height. The backside jumping is really challenging so the dogs need to be super fit.– specific challenge in the moment: how much speed is coming into it? What environmental distractions are there (home versus class, for example). How easily will I be able to show the handling? If the environment is easy and I can easily show the handling, and there is not a TON of speed coming in… then you can start bringing the bar up bit by bit. But if something is hard? Keep is easy 🙂 Even if it is full height at home, you can lower the bar in new places so she doesn’t have to process full height jumping AND the environment, for example. Another example: all of my dogs start their trial careers a a lower height so they can learn to handle the environment while not also trying to handle full height jumping.
>>PS Should we sign up for Max Pup 3?
I think you will have fun! And the new track I am adding will be great because you can really build up some skills if anything is too simple 🙂
Tracy
Hi! I am glad you enjoyed it!!!
I think my the time MaxPup 3 gets going, you won’t feel as far behind. Plus the contact games and the different levels of handling games (especially the crazy wing games) will be very suitable for baby dogs 🙂 and then you can always go back to get the harder handling games when she is older. Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
>>This was before dinner and the first time she worked the entire tunnel session for a toy.>>
So exciting to see the reinforcement strategies falling into place! Before dinner means she might have been hungry, but you were easily able to use food and toys here. SUPER!!! Keep slowly building this up like you have done, the results are already so worth it! I mean, the tunnel stuff is great too but the reinforcement strategies are just so valuable.
The tunnel work went well – easy peasy to run through the tunnel 🙂 The threadle turning away was harder, but she did really well. She had serious processing going here, but she was great – no frustration, just solving the puzzle! The only blooper here was caused by her eating something (a bug, for extra protein maybe?) then losing her train of thought while you were lining her up.
You can keep mixing in straight tunnel stuff and the turning away into the threadle will be even easier. And I am sure latent learning will kick in and she will know it more fully in the next session at home. It might show up at Fusion on the weekend, or not because it is a different environment and different tunnel, so you can start off like you did here to ask her brain what it “knows” on Saturday 🙂
>>For the backside slice, should that stay on a barrel and a bump (vs jump wing or wings & a bump) until I get more lateral distance?>
Good question! I think it depends on value: because the barrel might have more value (longer reinforcement history) at the moment, it might be easier to add a new variable like distance using the barrel. And when swapping in a wing instead of a barrel, the first session should be about value building on the wing to transfer the game to the wing-bump setup. Then let her tell you how quickly to proceed – if she says “The wing is easy, mom!” Then you can add lateral distance pretty quickly. If she is more like “what the heck is this wing thing” then you can stick to the easier positions closer to the wing for now. Let me know if that makes sense or if more coffeee is needed 🙂
Great job!
TracyGood morning!
>>I know class isn’t in session now, and you are taking a break>>
We are still going! The forum goes on break on Feb 13 then we gear up for MaxPup 2 🙂
>>Paul is working with Chitlin. He is doing the games I’ve recently done with Kishka. He’s happy with the results. >>
This is so awesome!!!! I love it!!!! Yay for Paul jumping into agility alongside you. SO FUN! And the new training room looks fantastic.
>>I thought it might be tricky to work with Kishka having Chitlin there, but it’s working well. Today she managed to stay in her place (bed on a Klimb) while Paul and Chitlin worked.>>
Wow! Good girl, Kishka!!! And Chitlin is her mom, right? That makes is doubly impressive.
On the video – super nice session here! Most importantly, the placement of reward was spot on with her continuing to turn as she exiting the wings to get the reward. Placement of reward is really a key element for teaching these turns.
She was telling us she was a lefty today on this game LOL!! The left turns seemed a lot easier for her to start. She did get the right turns going well too – but if she is a lefty, it will be easier to start the sessions with the left turns so she gets into the groove of the game. I say “if” she is a lefty because things change day-to-day with teenagers and she might be a righty tomorrow hahaha!
Next steps here:
To be able to get smooth starts to each rep, it will be easier to line her up at your side, facing the Minny Pinny so she doesn’t start with a turn away.And when she is lined up at your side, gently hold her collar (or she can wear a harness) so you can start saying the verbal before she moves… say it 3 or 4 times and then let her go to start moving. That way the verbal is separated from motion and it would be easier for her to truly learn the verbal (rather than just watch the motion).
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning!
>>Axel has not had much enthusiasm lately>>
Is this overall or just with toys? If it is overall, you can rule out any pain issues (like a vet check to make sure his joints and soft tissues are all feeling good) or tick diseases issues with a blood test. Medical issues can cause a drop in enthusiasm for sure.
Looking at the video, a couple of thoughts:
I think he does like playing with toys, especially crazy ones that you swing around (the long toy at the end is AWESOME).
I think he does not like collar grab stuff or begin restrained by the collar or moved by the collar. He tolerates it but then when given the option to do it or not… he opts out. We’ve seen this in earlier games and I think we see it again here:
He starts off really into the toys and did well with the game. But it involved being restrained by the collar and moved by the collar. So when you wanted to do a 2nd rep of it, he got a little stressed (1:08) with big scratching/shaking it off. He as not as into the toy after that but he did play the game… and opted out entirely of a 3rd rep. Big sniffing.
The long green toy came out: game on! You told him he could have it (“all yours!”) and then when you tried to re-engage him, he said “no thanks”.
He is MUCH more tolerant of collar grabs than he has been in the past!! But also it is entirely possible that because he doesn’t like the collar holding or being moved by the collar, that it bleeds over into his engagement when he recognizes a context where it is going to happen…. So he avoids it and avoids the pressure of coming in close to you in those moments (like at the end when he didn’t easily bring the toy back).
So what to do about it?
Keep building up the collar grab as a life skill (it is a good safety skill) and pair it with food food food 🙂 But for now, don’t use it in a sports context and definitely not with toys involved.
You can replace the collar grab with a stay (even if it is a stay on a platform) or a cooke toss start or even a short, light leash (two feet long or so, and maybe on a harness so it is easier for you both). For moments when you want to restrain him, the light leash might be far better for him plus it will help you be able to be standing up, which also reduces pressure.
And if you must use a collar grab or restraint for something…. Use mind-blowingly delicious food (rotisserie chicken or steak nom nom!), or do one single rep and then go do something else.
Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
>>I think it’s mostly excitement/pay attention to me barking. She does do an alarm bark at times but less so than the high on life chatty barking.>>
High on life chatty barking is great 🙂 Also good to re-direct so she is not talking all the time LOL!
Backside slice video: super nice! And she was great about going back and forth between toy and food in the same session. Super!!
She was strong on all reps – only really looked at you with a question when she was on your left and you were moving more to the center of the bar (but did not have the same question on the next rep). Great job with your connection and line of motion here.
You can add in starting to move up the line before she looks up at you (after cookie eating :)) – that can help her learn to drive past you to the backside.
Also, since her stays are going well, you can use a stay to add the Lala as the release to the backside.I bet she can also be successful when you are moving faster, but it might need to happen in a bigger space where you can start further back so you don’t end up with no place to run to or stopping short when you get to the jump.
Great job!!
TracyGood morning!
Nice work on the games here (the videos have the opposite titles :))Looking at the stays:
>>I realized I need to do this with set-ups on both sides.>>
Yes, breaking it down into a simpler line up and shorter stays on the right side really helped – he caught on pretty quickly!
Left side is also looking strong.
On both sides, be sure that you are marking the ‘catch’ moment or releasing him forward before you move your hand – the hand was moving either a little before or simultaneously with the releases, so he was watching your hands – and we don’t want it to become a releaseFor the arousal game – he also did well! The moving tricks where he is also standing had the best results because they were easiest to do fast and accurately. When using food for this game, you can get the trick then run a couple of steps, then hand deliver the treat. That will really amp up the arousal in a good way! And hand delivering it will make it even more interactive (also in a good way). This is one of the last things I do with my dogs before I go into the trial ring 🙂
You can also do this with a toy! The toy will help him regulate his arousal too because it is probably more stimulating 🙂
>>Follow-up question regarding MAXPup2, in a number of the exercises in the current class, we have not yet worked the Advanced level exercises. Will this impact what we can do if we take MAXPup2?>>
For plenty of the gamesm it will be just fine! Fr some of the games, you might want to come back and brush up some of the advanced stuff to make the MP 2 version of it easier 🙂
Nice work here!
TracyGood morning!
>>Yes sometimes West will trade for tug but sometimes he feels bringing the ball back should be paid with food, but at least he is bringing it >>
Perfect! My motto is “Balls Are For Bringing” so as long as he is bringing it, I don’t mind if he prefers food or toys as the reward 🙂
>>So I have another intersection between flyball and agility question: West is learning a box turn and I don’t really know how to train it but a local team with great trainers has a clinic where they help people like me learn….>>
Super!!!! Who is your local team? Fun!!
>>At flyball, West has been turning on a board and sniffing at a Velcro ball but after a week of turns in a box for running contacts he could no longer get on the wall he just turned in front of it>>
It could be any number of reasons – was the set up of the board the same as it was here in your video? Or did something change (location, ball added, you moving away, etc)
I train a box turn and the feet-through-a-box for RDC at approximately the same age range for my dogs, and it turns out fine. With 2 of my dogs, I trained the box turn using the same mat I used for the RDW (the “rear feet” criteria was similar but the context was very different) and they both have gorgeous box turns. A couple of ideas for you:
<>Any OMG that-is-the-worst-thing-you-can-possibly-be-doing thoughts?>>
Ha! No! Definitely all good, nothing bad happening here 🙂 I would need to see what your handling is on the flyball wall board to see why he might be stopping on the ground in front of the board – it might be that you are too far away and he is anticipating driving back to you? Common flyball error is moving the handler away from the board too quickly, so the dog loses confidence driving to the board. See below about the ball as a helpful focal point.
>>And I see the similarity in the mechanics of both turns so I see why he is confused- I think this is another instance where he is going to sort it out in context if I just keep going- so I think I’m asking – do you see any red flags here?>>
No red flags, per se, but we can definitely help him!
For the RDW box – work it away from a wall so that he can work the skill in a way that looks very different from the wall work for flyball. I usually sit when I am doing the box stuff for the RDW and I am standing when I do the flyball stuff.
>>maybe some methods don’t emphasize turns in the box like this>>
I personally think ALL dogs in agility and flyball should do the turns in a box game you were doing here because it is fantastic for collection and turning and both sports. I have done it with my 2 RDW & flyball dogs and I am thrilled with their ability to go from extension to collection.
For the flyball box turn – when he was sending to the wall board on your video, where were you and what were you doing? You can be using some countermotion to get more ‘snap’ off the wall board. I start near the wall and indicate it for the dog, then move myself away. Because I train alone, I have the toy placed behind me so the dog drives off the board to the toy on the ground (or a manners minder for the foodies :))
The other thing for the wall work in flyball – you can add the ball to the wall as a focal point and that makes it incredibly different from any RDW work. When you say sniffing at a velcro ball, what did you mean? You might need to lower the board to get him grabbing it more reliably then raise it up again. The ball as focal point is perfect as long as he doesn’t smash himself into the board (but he doesn’t seem to be a smasher). I just added the ball to the wall on Tuesday!
This is the exact level I am currently working with my baby Whippet, so I will try to get some video so you can see what I mean (all the video so far is of the wall board so you can’t see the handling). With the baby whippet, I am training it without a mat so it is a slightly different progression.
I love obsessing on flyball box turns so feel free to ask questions, and if I don’t know the answer, I will ask my flyball gurus 🙂 I am using a different method with my youngsters and it is super easy and fun – and it comes from the fastest team in North America, so I figure it is fine to use LOL!!!
The rocking horses outside looked awesome!
>>West thought the same barrels from the living room were really scary outside >>
Teeangers… LOL!!! It will get easier as the weather gets better because you can be outside and in new environments more frequently.
You did a great job cuing the barrel wraps and using your verbals. I think you are saying “counter” as your left wrap verbal and that is brilliant! I love it!
He was committing brilliantly. He had only one question: at :19 he jumped up on you as you sent him to a left wrap. That happens when we are not connected enough. If you watch that section in slow motion (:18 – :21) you will see that your dog-side arm was moving forward before he was arriving near you/passing you. Compare to :02 when your arm was back and connection super visible until he was passing you – it was still hard for him on your right/turning to his left, but that extra connection really helped him at :02! And you made a great adjustment at :27 to hold the connection longer to get him sending past you into the left wrap. Super!!!Each dog responds differently when the connection is unclear. Some sniff, some grab the toy, some go behind us, some jump up on us 🙂 It is all the dog’s way of marking the moment as “unclear connection” so you can take the feedback and crank up the connection like you did at :28.
And yes, even though the verbals were not perfect at the end, you were smart to finish when he was successful! You both looked terrific 🙂
Great job!
TracyGood morning!
>>What is the last day to submit homework? (I scanned the course overview page but couldn’t confirm the exact end date.)>>
The last day is Feb 21! I know I put it *somewhere* but now I can’t find it either LOL!! Sorry!
The combo games went well! Since he is able to do each skill, we can now add more independence to each element 🙂
Looking at the turn aways: he was nicely able to turn away (yay!) so now you can fade to our any rear cross line of motion and emphasize the connection shift/hand cues. That way you can add distance and be further away (and we can work it up to layering eventually too!)
So as he exits the wing wrap, let him see you look from his eyes then down to your hands, then use your hands only to cue him to turn away over the jump (feet go straight towards the jump). This is hard so he might need to see this a few times on the flat, without the jumps there. On the last rep at 2:28, your line was perfect for this next step! So now you can get more turn away with the hands before he takes the jump.
He was also good about finding the ‘out’ jump so you can add more challenge there too by moving straight and not towards the out jump – the ideal handler path is identical to the path you were on when you went straight past the straight-line jump.
He did get a little caught in the ‘out’ jump vortex when coming around the wing (turning to his right) towards the out jump – so you can change it up after an out and have him do a FC exit on the wing (turning to his left) so he is a little further from the out jump and more on the straight line. I think the question was that the wrap verbal still had him exiting the wing towards the out jump, so he was going to where he just go rewarded. That will be easier when you have more space between the jumps so the off course jump is not as close 🙂
One other thing you can add is a reset cookie after an error – you can call him back, line him up with a cookie, then get ready for the next rep. That will give him a focal point to come towards in those moments and should help him start the next rep cleanly rather than offering different options to figure it out 🙂
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
Strong sessions here!It looks like latent learning kicked in and he did really well with the circle wraps here!
The MM was a good challenge for him to work through – You can put it on the other side of the wing so doesn’t have to run past it when he is on the takeoff side (and it is there when he finishes the wrap where the landing side would be. I think he needed to work it on right turns first (left turns were a little hard for him, he appears to be a righty, so when in doubt he remains engaged and offers right turns. You can see the right turn circles n the last part of the video were very smooth!
His only other question on this first video was about when to start 🙂 You can add in a line up next to you by having him come to your side, get a cookie, and then you can cue him to start when you are ready. That will help get the left turns more solid because you can start the cue (rather than him slipping away and offering the right turn LOL!)
Outs are going well too!
Because they are hard, you can reward anything that is out-ish 🙂 at the beginning stages. He went to the out jump really well when you were rotated and stepped to it, so as you add moving forward it might not be as easy because the behavior has to override your lower body moving forward. On the very first rep (dog-on-left) and on the first rep on the other sided at 1:14 (dog-on-right) your feet were straight and he went out *almost* to the wing but not quite all the way. You can totally reward that as you shape the behavior (reward by throwing the treat like you did, that was perfect). That way he gets more and more sure that we *do* want him to ignore your feet and move away based on the upper body cues, verbal, and connection. That will get you even further ahead when we apply these to bigger courses.Great job!!! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
It is weird that a post disappeared! I will try to figure out what happened.She definitely likes the chicken! Yum! The get out went well!!!
When she was on your right on the 2nd rep here: that was perfect! Your feet continued going straight (towards the next wing) and the upper body did all of the work to cue the out (connection, arm, etc). That put you way ahead and that is what we want 🙂 That allows her to chase your line more which gives her more speed, plus it will put you in better handler positions on bigger courses.
When she was on your left, you were turning your feet to the out jump and that delayed your motion, so definitely keep moving up the line with your feet straight so you can continue to stay ahead.
Great job!
Tracy
