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Hi!
These are great lists! You can also be on the lookout for more things you can control in the world – who you interact with, which voices you listen to, etc. By making that list longer, I think you will feel even more empowered and in control!
TracyHi!
>>FAST run that we “got” but the Send dOn the way out a friend said “Nice Send” and I almost said “it was a mess” but stopped myself and said thanks a lot, I was so happy that I was able to focus and get it done!>>
Yes! That is a big win! Great job changing that!
>>Reinforced what I already knew – when I get focused on I really want to run this clean, I usually don’t. >>
Yep! Running clean is an outcome goal – and without process goals it is really hard to run clean.
>>Especially if it’s near the end of the day and HART is coming into play!>>
Those are things you can plan to control better: plan on small meals even if you are not hungry so you don’t end up getting hungry. Stay away from negative people if you get angry and practice your self-talk. Rushed and tired will be better controlled with planning for when to do things and when to rest 🙂
>>Ran 3 days in a row this past weekend – which I almost never do but I would like to do some bigger events with Sly the next couple of years so figured that 3 days close to home would help me figure out some of the mental aspects that I need to improve. >>
Yes, there is a certain stamina that needs to be built up for those big events.
>>Learnings, even staying home and sleeping in my own bed by day 3, I was TIRED! I can control my schedule which goes a long way to helping with the rushed feelings>>
Yes – schedule things, especially sleep. When times are busy, my mantra is “Sleep like it is your job”.
>>but I can’t control other people (not sure how to deal with this)…….and this tends to make me angry. Hmmmmm.>>
Check out the stuff posted yesterday, especially the stuff in step 4 about empathy (down at the bottom of the article). Their behaviors are their issues, I can empathize but I can’t take on their issues or get caught up in them.
>>How do you deal with other people wanting to talk as you are mentally prepping for your run? Especially students? >>
I do mental prep for it! I try to be always available for students in particular – so I am ready to talk as needed and I can warm up the dog and get ready while having a conversation. Or, I will say “let’s talk about this after the run, so I can get Elektra in the zone” 🙂
If anyone wants to talk about negative stuff, I will smile and walk away. No room for that in the day! Negative is different than problem solving with a student, though.
>>And the other one that I struggled with was when the club needs help and it seems like no one is stepping up – volunteer to ring crew and then end up feeling rushed
TOTALLY relatable! If it will hurt my warm up and prep with my dog, I just don’t volunteer. I remind myself that I volunteer a LOT!!!! So I can overcome the guilt of not stepping in all the time.
>>not feeling guilty when a club is “begging for workers” and I don’t help so I usually jump in and then end up feeling rushed getting Sly ready.>>
Their problem of begging for workers is not your problem of having to work all the time 🙂 So you let it go and get you and your Sly ready 🙂
>>Apologies for the “rambling” but again I wanted to capture these thoughts.>>
No more apologies! These are excellent points and you are not rambling. We women need to not apologize for discussing how we feel 🙂 Your feelings and thoughts here are completely valid, deserve to be discussed, and no apologies are needed 🙂
>> How do you plan a training week?
I plan based on what is coming up – do I need to film demos, and if so, which dogs? Is there a trial or tournament coming up? Do any of the dogs have pressing needs or big questions? And are there skills I want to tackle? Then I try to find one or two days a week that. I can train.
>>I’m always feeling like I’m not doing enough but then I feel like I’m doing too much for what’s best for Sly. >>
That is an interesting guilt combo 🙂 Not enough but also too much 🙂 Both of these are things that are easy to feel especially the not enough! Agility is incredibly complex, it is easy to feel behind in your training. So maybe focus on doing what’s best for Sly, which is scheduling just a couple of days for training and a good balance of rest and conditioning. I also take the dogs for wellness care to massage people and PT vets so that they can help me be on the watch for any potential soreness from over-doing things.
It can seem overwhelming, but that’s the complexity of the sport – you can try prioritizing what skills need to be worked most: for example, the balance of conditioning and rest is the top! Then some sport skills get mixed in.
Let me know what you think! Enjoy your vacation!
TracyHi!
>>the course should look familiar to you
Ha! I was just typing that is looked familiar LOL!!! Very cool that you can work it!
He did well here! The entire opening line looked great. You did an accidental blind at :32 rather than serping to the frame – but since you did it – give him more eye contact/connection as you finish it.
The serp looked terrific when you did it, nice line from the DW to the frame!
The video didn’t show him taking the off course jump at :44, but I am guessing he did based on where you were positioned. Compare that to your position at :50, which was on the wing of the backside 10 jump – so he immediately went to the backside. You can even be one step further over, where the wing and the bar meet, to make the line even clearer.
The rest looked lovely! Great job! Let e know what you think!
TracyHi!
Great job here – you did a lovely job of supporting him as he learned this and letting him build confidence (he was going FAST but the end! but not letting him fall off or jump off. PERFECT!!
After another session or two at home, see if you can get him onto different teeters in different places to continue to build up confidence. When he is more experienced on different teeters with this game, we can start to add some tip to the board 🙂Nice work!
TracyHi!
Sorry to hear about the intense heat – ewwww! But she powered through it really well!!!
And happy 10 month birthday – they are doing so well!
On the first video – very smart to start her in the shade!!! And yes, she sometimes was a little over-eager to start but she committed beautifully with just the one step send. YAY! Great job with the verbals too – we want her to just drive away to the wing/jump with just a little info, just like she did here.
On the 2nd video:
>>But how ‘bout them sends, huhhuhhuh??!!!
Oh heck yeah!!!! So nice!!! The wings were significantly further away and she drove directly to them then set up her own collection to drive back to you. Perfect!
When you added the send from the tunnel, she had a little question on the first rep. I think she just needed a little more eye contact when she exited the tunnel. She was smooth and fast on the reps after that!
>>see looking at my video I did not keep same side arm back to pick up after after wrap
Yes, you will want to point your fingers back to her nose on the exit line – you did that perfectly on all the reps where you rewarded her but you closed your shoulders forward little too much on the other reps.
Great job here! Stay cool!!
Tracy
Hi!
>>I know that you use two different verbals for wraps from the self-study class that I took, but I didn’t have the class where you actually talk about teaching the different wrap verbals. We may have to work on that. Her verbal for wrap is TIGHT.>>
It is easy to teach the 2 verbals! You decide on what you want them to be, then you name the behavior 🙂 so if you want a new verbal for, say, a wrap-left, you would hold her collar, in front of a wing, start saying the verbal, then let her go and step the wing so she wraps it. Then we just get consistent about using the verbals and the dogs pick them up rally nicely!
>>I do have one request. As we go forward and add verbals, PLEASE let me know about my timing of the verbal.
Will do! We start talking about timing in the games added this week!
Tracy
Hi! Congrats on your success at Regionals!!!!
The lazy game looks really strong. She did a great job of finding the jumps in both directions. You can add a little more distance, then do a couple in a row. Then build up to all 3 in a row, at which point you can add in the new games added today 🙂 She was really zipping around by the end here, so I am betting she will find it super easy to build up to 3 jumps at a distance of approx 15 feet between the jumps!
Mountain climbers: I guess the real question here is if Kyla is going to make ice cream cones as teeter rewards for her too? Ha!
She seemed SUPER confident here. You can add in walking past it as well, so she gets used to holding position while you move forward (rather than decelerating to be her the end with her). You might need cream cheese or something long lasting on the reward target so she can lick lick lick while you go past by 4 or 5 more steps.
After a couple of good sessions, you can add the tiniest bit of tip of the board here, and repeat the process starting from the very beginning. I start from the very beginning each time I add tip to the board because I want to support the dog by being close, in case she is surprised by the added movement.
Great job here!!
TracyHi! The lazy game is going really well!
I think sometimes he was putting himself into a stay after getting the cookie off the ground. He got over it pretty quickly though and did well when you moved the jump away.
He wants to watch you and the cookie bag a lot, so you can change the timing of the cookie toss: Toss it to the landing spot when he looks at the jump rather than when he is over it. That will get the reward out ahead of him before he looks back at you, which will start to smooth out the whole line. You were starting to do that on the reps after you put the cookie bag down towards the end, and he was already looking ahead better. Yay!
Well done here – you can keep adding distance between the jumps. When he can zip around all 3 in a row, you can add the new games being posted later today :) Great job!
TracyHi! These games are going really well!
He was very confident with the plank! I think that the plank being elevated will definitely help him isolate this feet and not step off the sides, even if there is a little bounce to it. He had some really good trotting reps and then would try to go too fast. Part of the too-fast moments were when he would run off then you would call him back – so if that happens, toss a treat so he is not starting this from a full run 🙂
And he was a super good boy on the teeter too, going up SLOWLY and turning around 🙂 You did a great job moving with him – when he gets to the top, take his collar so he doesn’t do the stunt man thing and jump off!
Lazy game: correct, there is no stay 🙂 We are too lazy for that LOL!!! (add yes Jamie should do this with Pudding :)) We start with a cookie toss back so you and he are both moving. If you use a toy, that is great but you need to throw the toy so he is not looking at you at all. The throw toy out on the line will get him looking forward. Yo can do this with 2 toys: throw one as the reward, then call him back with the 2nd one, trade, and start the next rep. By having all the reward from your hand you can see how he was looking at you more and more. We can tip the scales the other way with the thrown reward.
And Jamie totally ratted you out at the end – YES! After several failures, you will want to reward early 🙂
When he can zip around the little pinwheel without looking at you, you can add more and more distance between t he jumps.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyPS – Jamie’s idea of a bite sleeve is brilliant! LOL!
Hi!
She was great with the plank confidence game! You can add angles to the reward toss, so that she has to come back to the board on a slight angle. She can get on it on an angle (no need to get on perfectly straight) because it will be a good challenge for her balance and proprioception!
I think he has got the idea of the lazy game 🙂 She was especially good about finding the middle jump at a distance. YAY! The next step here is to go to the Lazy Game parts 2 and 3 which we introduced this morning – they will be posted on the site here shortly!
Looking at the mountain climber game – she was pretty confident overall, but she had questions about where the reward was, as you noted too.
When you put the reward on the target, I don’t think she knew to look there – feel free to tap it or let her see your put it there (she was busy getting a tossed treat when you did it). Since it is a placed reward, it is perfectly fine for her to see you place it 🙂Do a bunch of reps where she sees you put the reward on the target with you moving with her. And when she is happy to drive up the board without looking at you and goes directly to the food target, then you can go back to varying your position. She was starting to do this by the end of the session, but was a little hesitant on the sends. So you can add more support for now (with you going with her) and we can go back to the sending soon 🙂
>>Her competition jump height is 24″. In classes I’ve only worked her at 20″. What height do you think I should be putting the bars at for the games that use jumps? For the lazy game I have them at 10″. She’ll be 2 years old on Saturday.>>
How does she do at 20” in class, in terms of confidence, mechanics, etc? 24” is a REALLY hard jump height so there is no need to rush to get to it. So for the games, you can go to 12” for the lazy game 🙂 And I bet the handling games can be done at 12 to start, then we will gradually start to move them up if she continues to be super confident 🙂
Great job here!
TracyHi!
I love this post! So much great stuff happening, but these 2 things really stuck out:>>Once I reflect on it, I feel by writing down the positive things I have accomplished is in a way praising myself and enjoying the moments>>
That is great. And a wonderful introspective way to reflect on your successes – and a written record to look back on!!!
>>I did a big Thank you he has been quite a fun journey. I feel I need bonus points for not “yeah butting”>>
Yessss! 10 million bonus points for you, for squashing that “yeah but” inner critic! That’s a huge win!
Tracy
