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Good morning!
>>Meanwhile back at the ranch… lol!>.
HA!!! So funny 🙂
She did really well with the mat versus tunnel (clever to use the mat!) and I like. The added element of twist versus spin was awesome!
She only had one question, and I don’t think it was discrimination-related. At :35, she was heading to the tunnel you sent her to and you started to throw the bumper before she got in… she saw the hand moving and came back to the bumper 🙂 So it is more of a commitment distraction moment! That is something you can build into the training: can see commit to the tunnel or mat while you swing your arm around, especially with the toy?
Two other ways you can build on this:
Using the handling you used here, add a wing wrap before the tunnel – mat setup. Send her around the wing, then to the tunnel or one of the mat cues.And you can work on doing it without motion: start her between you feet, facing forward to the setup. Hold her collar, start saying the verbal cue for whichever one you want – then when she has heard the verbal 3 or 4 times, let her go but you remain stationary… and see if she can do it just on a verbal. So hard! You can add in a little motion help after the release if she thinks it is too hard 🙂
Great job here!! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning! Great job on these, Annalise!
The first video had the 3 wings game – super!! These are REALLY hard sequences and you made them look great!
She is a little hand focused like you mentioned, so you can try the games with empty hands and see how she does (and reward with cookie throws or toy throws on the line :))
The circle wraps on the 2nd run were a little harder, maybe because she was hot and also there is more countermotion. For handling, you don’t need to help as much with your hands – you can send her to the wing, and hold still for a heartbeat til she turns her he’d t start the wrap… then move forward again (you can look at the ‘landing’ spot to help support commitment, but try not to step back at all).
Tight blinds session – one thing to add is walking the sequence to practice your verbals so you don’t have to think about them when you are running. Verbals are hard at first!!
The blinds are looking good! She is turning beautifully and your connection was strong: she never had a question about which side to be on, thanks to clear connection! Yay!!!Since it went so well, you can start the tight blinds sooner, really trusting her commitment to the wing. You were tending to start them as she arrived at the wing – ideally, you are finishing them as she arrives at the wing 🙂 So to get the earlier timing, you can get ahead of her more on the tunnel exit so you are closer to the wing – and when she is halfway between the tunnel and the wing, start the blind. It will challenge her commitment but will make sequences easier!
Nice job adding the wrap on the middle wing – the FC was easy in both directions and looked great! Nice running line to help set that up!
The spin is a harder handling move – you can think of it as a front cross then blind cross, so maybe it won’t feel so weird LOL!
That last spin looked GREAT! That last sequence looked super partially because you got her pumped up, and partially evade you nailed the handling (especially the spin).The double blinds went well too – these are hard but you were super quick with your 2nd blind and that really helped! You can be earlier on the first one, which will give you more time to do the 2nd one. And on the 2nd one, try to make a bigger eye contact on the new side with her rather than use your hand – the eye contact will get her to turn more quickly than the hand cue will.
Serps: these are going well! Great job with the verbals!!
One suggestion is to be closer to the jump so she reads the lines based on motion more easily. On the 2nd rep, when she took you down (ouch!!), you were far from the jumps so she figured it was the tunnel (at least she seemed apologetic about it LOL!)On the serps, your position can be so close to the jumps that you can reach out and touch the jump wing without having to stretch too much 🙂 And that way, your motion will help set the line to the 2nd jump.
And part of that motion is the upper body turned to the serp jump. Great job with your shoulders at 1:36, turning your upper body to face the jump! I think of it as turning my heart to face the center of the bar 🙂 You can also look back at the landing spot as you run past, that will help get the rotation. That rotation plus your line of motion (feet don’t rotate, only shoulders) will set up excellent serps and keep you way ahead of her :). If you turn your shoulders forward, it will look like a regular 180 and she will curl into you.
Great job on these!!!
TracyGood morning!
>>I’m also not doing a good job of marking before I through and that will probably help too. Agility goes so much faster than obedience and I forget words or say them late.>>
Yes – it is way too easy in agility to say “yes!” for every single reward LOL!! Plan your markers in advance of the run so they are clear during the run.
>>Will there be another class that starts shortly after this one with more handling skills to keep working on so we can get more work in before the ground freezes and the snow comes?>>
Yes! We will have a new set of classes starting in mid-September that will take us through the fall season. That should give you time to get Mazi back in top shape for the big events!
The tunnel exit video is looking strong!!
On the Go reps – more connection helps her go straight! And you can move the wing in closer and make it more visible, so she has something to lock onto when she exits instead of looking at you. And you can throw the toy early, so she sees it landing before she exits on the go lines 🙂
Left and right exits – you can give her an earlier verbal (you can mark out a spot on the ground that is 6 feet in front of the tunnel entry so you have a visual spot to give the verbal) and also show her matching body language. So when you say left or right, you are also turning tat direction. On most of the rep, you said the verbal but you were running straight and accelerating so she was going wide
For example, at :44 – :47 and also at :58-:59 you were cuing a right, the verbal came just as she was getting her head into the tunnel. The physical cue was straight and accelerating, same as the go motion, so she exited straight.Compare to 1:04 – 1:06, where you said your right verbal a full stride sooner (she was a solid body length tay from the tunnel) plus you had started the physical turn cue too – so she exited turned! Yay! That is much better timing and made a big difference in her turn 🙂
The 2 rear cross reps at the end looked great!! Those are HARD but you showed her the info before she got into the tunnel, so she was able to get the correct exit. SUPER!!!!
On all of the turns – you can take out the verbal on the wrap wing that starts each rep, so the verbal for the tunnel exit turn is really salient and doesn’t get lost in the previous verbal.
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning! Sorry for the delay!! I had my reply typed in and I must have not ever clicked the submit button, because it was gone when I checked the Forum this morning 🙁 My lesson is: never look at puppy videos BEFORE coffee 🙂
All the videos looked really strong, so it was fun to watch them again 🙂
Race tracks – these are looking really good!! His commitment is really strong (as long as you don’t reach into your pocket for a cookie too early – he sees that and comes to you for the cookie).
You can definitely add more room between the barrels to get even more speed going (and more distance too, because he can stay out around the outside doing the barrels and you can handle from the middle!
Lateral lead out
Good job keeping the release separate from the motion! That helps make sure he understands that your movement is not the release. Be sure to stay connected as you walk away, that was his only question (he would stand up and move with you if you looked away before he was settled into his stay. You can also mix in throwing rewards back to him when you get to the led out position, so he doesn’t anticipate that your arrival in position means the release is coming 🙂His commitment to the barrel looked really good! In this session, you had the barrel closer to you and he was on an angled line. You can add more distance challenge to his commitment by having the barrel on a straight line in front of him… and you move further and further and further away from him and the barrel 🙂 That will give him a good foundation on the distance we will want on lead outs, and I believe he is ready for it!
He also did a great job with the countermotion! I could not see your eyes, but it looks like you were indeed looking back at the landing spot.
He commitment to the pool noodle bar really nicely – his only question was what to do once he got there 🙂
So you can help him out by having a treat in the other hand and dropping it on the exit side of the barrel. So when the right hand (at the beginning was indicating the bar, the left hand can have the treat or toy, and drop it around the barrel to help get him driving around it. And when you switched sides, the left arm indicates the bar and the right arm drops the treat.
He was more comfortable finishing the wrap on the second side here (when he was turning to his left – he was quite confident and zippy!!! So you can add your countermotion on that side first: send him back with your left hand, look at the landing spot, and as he is heading to the bar, you will sloowwwlllyyyyy 🙂 walk forward (still looking behind you). And drop the cookie at the other side of he wing to help solidify the commitment.
It might take a little longer for you to add the countermotion when he is on the other side, turning to his right – he probably needs one more session on that side without you moving and with the reinforcement dropped near the barrel, to help him finish coming around it. When he is zipping around it like he does on the left turn side? Add your movement.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
Yes, it is pretty normal for dogs to compartmentalize reinforcement like that! Usually with BCs we see toy play as being the favorite thing and food reinforcement being less of a priority for them 🙂 Most other breeds are the opposite: food is LIFE! And toy play needs to be built up to be brought into training – if the toy play is contingent on something, most puppies can cool off on the toy play 🙂 So, taking it easy during puppyhood and adolescence usually allows the toy play to blossom 🙂Keep me posted!
TracyHi!
These are 2 jump sets, starting with the send to the first jump – it went well!! You opened up your shoulder really well and that helped him see the jump! You can open it up to face the jump sooner, as soon as you are past the first wing of the serp jump (he will be landing from the first jump). You were opening up your shoulder to give the serp cue when he got past the first wing, which was a little late.
Great job on these! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
These are the 2 jump serps – these were harder for sure!
You can angle the jumps so he can see the line more clearly (angle the bars so they are facing him) – he had a few too many errors here, and we don’t want him to get frustrated.As you move through the serps, remember to keep your shoulders open to him (facing the bar) and move in a straight line parallel to the jump bar. No need to try to use your arm or shoulders to show him the in and out, just keeping your shoulders frozen in that ‘strike a pose’ position is all he needs 🙂 When you turned your shoulders forward, he correctly went to he backside of the 2nd jump. So just keep your upper body open to him and move parallel to the bars of the jumps, closer to what you did at :22.
And if something goes wrong, you can reset him with a cookie so he doesn’t get frustrated. There was a string of errors from 2:13 to 2:54 that were handler errors and he didn’t get rewarded, so the reset cookies will really help!
Tracy
Hi!
These are the one jump serps:
He is doing well with these too. It helps a lot when you keep your shoulders open to the jump bar, as if the center of your chest is pointing to the center of the bar. When you did that, he got it right every time! When you pointed your shoulders forward (not at the jump), he didn’t take the jump. If he misses due to handler error like pointing shoulders forward, you can reward him as you reset him so he doesn’t get confused because he is reading you correctly.Also, he is ready for you to have a reward target on the ground, so you can have your shoulders open to the bar and so he doesn’t watch your hands/shoulders as you throw the treat. An empty bowl would be perfect, because it is a good target and not too distracting 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
He is getting a lot better about reading the RC cues here! Because he is tall (taller than the tunnel :)) you can spread the wings out and have them on an easier line, so he has an easier time ducking into the tunnel – especially when he is turning right on the exit (definitely the harder side for him!)And as you are driving him to the tunnel, you can totally say ‘tunnel’ a bunch of times, but resist the temptation to say “go!” because the exit is a turn not a go 🙂
Nice work 🙂
TracyHi!
This was the tunnel exits with the rear crosses:
you started with good connection at :41 to get proper side of wing after right turn – super!!Looking at the Rear crosses – at first you were doing them on the flat after exit, which was harder to show 🙂
Then the wing was on too hard of an angle so he was not sure about driving ahead to the tunnel, plus he has a harder time driving ahead to his right.
But when you switched sides, he got it because that wing allowed him the room to drive ahead of you there and also, he finds I easier turning to his left. Yay!So definitely keep the wings at a softer angle so he can get more speed up driving into the tunnel, and that will give you more time to show the rear crosses too.
Nice work!
TracyHi!
The timing of your shoulder turns are getting earlier with the left and right! And so the turns on the exits are getting better and better – super! Now that you have the turns going, make sure you accelerate on the go reps – you were moving slowly so he was confused about whether he should go straight or not.He had a question about which side of the wing after the right turn tunnel exits – he just needed better connection to his eyes and less arm forward to find the side you wanted.
Nice work!
TracyHi!
This is the tunnel exit game – good work here!
The Go rep looked good at the beginning!Left & right reps – the verbal was almost always before the tunnel (you can make it even a little sooner, when he is about 6 feet away from the entry)
To get an even better turn on the exits, let him see the shoulder turn sooner too (all before he enters) – he saw forward motion before entering so he exited straight then turned when he saw you. So, try to get the timing of the verbal and the shoulder turn to match, both happening before he goes into the tunnel.
This is what you did at 1:53 – this was the best shoulder timing and best turn of this video! Yay!
Nice work!
TracyHi!
This is the crate versus tunnel discrimination:
He had a little trouble with the crate here! Sounds like there were new distractions in the background (people, dogs barking) so going into the crate was not easy for him. The tunnel was definitely easier. Maybe the crate in that situation is uncomfortable, so he didn’t want to run into it? He did read the discrimination well, but he just was not as happy about going into the crate. My guess is the pressure of the other dogs/people made him a little tentative about being in a crate in the middle of the floor.Nice work!
TracyHi –
>> I don’t think I ever made wile e 4 on clear enoug
Because it is really hard to make 4on clear!
T
