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Hi!
>>Speed Junkie R Us, LOL!>>
ha! I feel seen!
>>Haha, kinda like this?>>
Yes! She seemed perfectly happy to do that LOL! Most of my dogs do end up doing the fast, controlled slide like that too – it is definite weight shift when the slide and very fast! And as you mentioned – it is a foot target, basically, with the lowered head and focus forward on the ground.
Keep me posted!
TracyHi!
>>She loves her ball. Do I start with her just looking at the teeter? She will have to look away from the ball first. Not sure how to get it started.
>>Maybe build value on the slanted stable board with target, move target to teeter one inch off ground.>>
I think that yes, building value on a slanted stable board, same angle as the teeter, will be a good start.
Then, move it to the teeter without any movement on the teeter – and reward with the ball (one rep!). I use the bang game for that (posted today!) but for her, start it without movement of the board.Do that for a couple of sessions, and then add one centimeter of tip on the teeter board – not one inch, which is a pretty significant amount of movement. Make it barely any movement and definitely barely any noise.
Then oh-so-gradually build it up! It is a slow burn 🙂 She will figure it out!
Let me know how she does!
TracyHoke was scared of the tip & we were a couple of weeks with breakfast on the landing table & heart for one rep jumping on the end of propped up teeter. Then on to something else for lower value treat & he eventually went back for more reps & heart. But he knew what I wanted – he just didn’t want to. Not sure how we got to that point… He owns that sumbitch now…
Hi!
I totally agree – I think your walk throughs were really strong. Connection was so much clearer and doing them faster was definitely helpful to be able to match her pace better. The first walk through was the best one, and the others were really strong as well!
>>“stop looking at Maisy’s face over bars, it makes her drop them…” I think you are saying the opposite? Anyway, bars flew like confetti. >>
Yes, she is dropping a lot of bars but I don’t think it is a matter of too much connection. Connection was good here in almost all the places and she understood where to go so much better because of it.
So yes, I am saying you should be connected and looking at her face while you move because it is the only way to show the lines and time your cues and know if she is committed 🙂
So why so many bars? A couple of reasons:
I think with the shorter distances at home, the higher bars do not set her up for success because there is not enough space to organize the turn and keep the bar up – she was inverted over the bar lot, pulling from her front. I am not sure if she is liked that on bigger courses too, but fast dogs definitely get like that in smaller spaces.
The other reason there were bars down had to do with timing or unclear cues. For example, the bar on the backside at 6 came down a lot on the FC:
Comparing the different reps at 6, the main reason for the bar drop was timing and position. At :57 and 1:38, you were starting the FC as she was taking off and you were doing it in her landing spot… so she hit the bar in both of those spots.
Compare that to 1:52 – that was the earliest FC on the backside that you did (started as she arrived at the entry wing, perfect!) which also allowed you to get off her line – she kept the bar up beautifully! YAY!!!!The other spot that was hard with the bar was jump 3 and 4 – this was also a timing of info question from her, plus jumping towards the wall: mainly, you were telling her to go and accelerating, then as she took off, you decelerated and turn so she tried to adjust in the air (like at 1:30 and 1:48). Ideally, as she exits the tunnel, you would be giving the turn verbal and decel cues so she can set it up before takeoff.
The other spots she had some bar troubles was when you would get too quiet with your verbals and body, and not look at her – you can hear her start to squeak when this happens – and that would generally result in a bar or two, or an off course like on the 7-8-9 line. You can see it on the rep that started at 1:14: 1:14. -1:23 looked good, then you got quiet with the info. She started to squeak – two bars down after that.
So I think you are doing the right thing by working the connection and faster pace of the walk through! The next step is to focus on the timing of each cue (fast dogs really demand good timing LOL!) – at the exit of each obstacle, she should be hearing/seeing the next cue.
I think connection plus timing will be the key to getting clear rounds with the bars up! So to practice that, I suggest lower bars for now, as well as locking the bars into the cup if they are hollow (putting the cup inside the bar). That way, you can practice the timing and connection and speed, and not worry about bars (and if a bar drops, keep going, don’t stop, so you can practice staying in flow).
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
>>Then finally while I was letting her cool down, I looked at my video and saw the problem right away. my feet.>>
Yay!!! Big click/treat for you! My current mission in life is to get people to look at their videos a lot more often, and in the moment. Ideally – you check after every rep if there is a question.
On the first rep (same at :23, :55 even though you said in in, she never had a chance to make the adjustment before you stepped forward into the dig dig cue. It all looked like a backside push. I think the threadle cues need more of a name call between tunnel 3 and jump 4, then a bigger swing back of the threadle arm to open your shoulders (but not foot rotation or pulling away from the line or stopping your motion). And keep threadling til you see her head come in to the threadle side, maybe even take a step to the threadle side… then you can move to the next cue for the wrap exit.
Don’t stop when something goes sideways, and don’t react to it – keep going! The adjustment can come on the next rep – stopping or reacting to it can be frustrating for the dogs.
Seq 2:
Nice GO verbal before entry of the 3 tunnel! Switch to the right sooner (exit of tunnel) – there was a little too much go on the way to 4 got a wide line 🙂The Switch works nicely at 9-10 – add some decel to tighten it up by slowing down as you start the cues. You can also play with the blind cross option by layering to get 4 so you are on takeoff side of 6, then send to 7 and cut directly to the BC 9-10.
Nice timing on the Go for the ending line!
Seq 3: nice opening!
Looking at the Threadle wrap at 2:00 and 2:06 – your shoulders and line of motion look like the threadle slice/backside push motion, so you got one of each 🙂
The key to getting it in flow is going to be turning your shoulders away from the jump (towards the camera in this scenario) as you set the turn – you were closer to that at 2:31 and she got the wrap. Yay! That set up a really nice ending line!!Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!!
Jumpers 1:
Opening looked awesome!!! Super strong connection, clear Iines and verbals – she really looked great on both the tight stuff like the blind 2-3 and 4-5, as well as the huge line 7-8-9. Yay!!For the entry to tunnel 10:
Yes, on the first run, you were a little late showing it to her. On the second run, the right cue turns her to the of course jump (is right the wrap verbal, or the soft turn? I think it is the soft turn, so a wrap verbal will be better because the 9 exit is more of a wrap)
>>Is that how I should handle it, or is there still a gap in our skills that I need to work on? It did put me a bit behind to show the next line, but I think think that if I had kept driving forward, she would have gotten the rest of it.>>
Both! I think it is a gap in skills where she doesn’t quite understand how to find a backside tunnel entry. So yes, get in there and handle it. And separately, on just the tunnel – start her in a stay on the backside of the tunnel and work on rewarding her for finding the entry: at first, you are both close to the entry, then you can move her further and further back from it. Then, start her close to the entry again and you move yourself further and further back from it 🙂 Then eventually, she will find it from anywhere and you will not need to be at the entry. Ideally, she finds it with you are the exit which makes. The 11-12 line much easier!
She did find 11-12-13-14-15 really nicely here!
Jump 16 at :36 – this is where you needed to wait for her cue to move to the next line. You curled away before she really had a chance to look. For 16, so she came with you. Try to not circle around and send to the same jump again, because even though that sometimes works, she is getting savvy to it being basically the same thing as a stop plus it doesn’t give you time to adjust the handling. Going back to 15 in flow worked a lot better – carrying on did get an extra jump but that was correct based on your line of motion, and the rest looked good!
Note the difference at 1:31 – such nice support of the line til she really liked at it, then the blind cross. Nice! Remember to not point forward of her to a jump – at 1:33, she was behind you and you pointed forward which turns the physical cues away from the jump so she got a little confused.
Jumpers 2:
1-2-3-4-5 looked great. Then there were definitely too many starts and stops, that might have been part of your regrets LOL!>>Still, I was not breaking down the hard parts and rewarding strategically with placed rewards. I’m not sure how much actual learning took place here.>>
I think the stops are not really as reinforcing as people think they are 🙂 What happens is people drop the reward and walk away, all energy dropping… I am pretty sure that the dogs notice this difference between this and a real “woohoo you nailed it” reward. The running and continuing is the reinforcing element for dogs that understand the game, and stopping in the middle is definitely a question for the dogs.
A couple of things you can do to keep yourself on track for the dog training elements if you look back at sessions and see too many reps or that you’ve done too much:
Bring a total of 5 treats with you, that is all 🙂 The rest are in the house. When the 5 treats are done? Session over!
Also, set a timer. 90 seconds, tops! Then… session over. And by over, I mean you don’t re-attempt it until after you have watched the video. My new mission in life is to get people to watch their videos between each rep, ideally, and definitely between each session. The trend in agility is to work the pants off the dog then look at the video later that day or the next day. and notice all the things we could have done differently LOL! We can use video review in the moment to make adjustments immediately, which is so helpful!
>>At about 2:53 is the start of the next day’s session, and I think I did a much better job at attempting to break it down and reward better. It wasn’t perfect by any means, so I’d love some ideas on how to improve it before a final session on it tomorrow.>>
Before running it again, skip ahead to the walk through stuff in the most recent live class and in package 4 – and walk this course, with that in mind. The most important thing that I see here is you are cuing and leaving, but sometimes skipping over the moment when you need to keep cuing until she locks onto the line – that is why she comes off the line a lot. In the walk through, emphasize continuing to cue until you see her give you the paws-up to move to the next line. That might mean less layering but that is fine, because it will also mean fewer starts and stops! And if you pull her off a line? Keep going rather than drop the reward and stop.
This is more important than breaking it down to teach her the elements, because once she has learned the course she is no longer giving feedback on the handling information.Running through the weaves is fine for now as you build up the layering – just remember you can’t do it int a trial LOL!
I think a lot of the handling was really good, any questions we just a matter of being sure she had time to acknowledge it before you moved on.
Two spots to go more smoothly:
6-7 is a tandem turn/rear on the flat, so you can use your left verbal or switch verbal on the tunnel entry but then you can use your hands/upper body to pull and turn her away on the flat.The tunnel entry at 9 is same question (mirror image) as the 10 tunnel on the previous course so she needed you to get right to the entry to show it to her.
Nice job breaking it down, but doing it as a single tunnel instead of a sequence will help>>The ending is just is us playing 1-2-3 (hard to hear my counting). I played it throughout this whole session (on day 2), and there was SOOO much less barking overall. >>
This was good!! I find the pattern games very helpful for those in-between moments 🙂
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
Really good work on the videos here!
First up, the 2nd part of the course:
Nice job setting the line 7-8-9!!
10-11-12 also went well – I think he will get more propulsion from the exit of 9 to 10 if you going in a little closer to the tunnel entry and then when he exits, he sees you in motion. When he exited and you were stationary or walking, he decelerated a lot (like at 1:13) which made commitment harder for 10. I think the instructor was saying the same thing about staying in motion, yes? It is fine to let him see you running when he exits, then decelerating to set the turn.
10-11 looked good, I don’t think he looked at the tunnel he had to run past! Super!!
Push to 12 worked nicely each time! Then handling the next section as a FC to a threadle on 13 is tricky because then you have to push out to 14 then back in for 15 which makes it a little zig-saggy from that side. It was smoother the second time, but another option is to do a spin on 12 so he exits on your left, then dog on left for 13-14 and rear cross 14. That adds clear lines while keeping you both moving, and gets you ahead for the ending 🙂
The wrap on 17 works but it is the slower choice – the slice to the right is the better option because it is easier for hm and also the faster line
In class:
>>He had his where is my leash going moment so part of the training routine is me walking and handing it to a runner.>>
You can switch up the order of festivities to help him be more successful there: rather than the stay *then* hand the leash off (which is not actually legal to do in AKC), you can take the leash off, hand the leash to the person then walk to the start line, while rewarding him for ignoring the hand off. That might help him ignore it better while building in value for ignoring, rather than getting it wrong then being called back.
Wow! The class run looked great! He is definitely pumped up in class and faster! You still maintained connection and nailed the course. YAY! All the handling looked great! If the course is still up the next time you are in the barn, you can try the other options (more motion on the exit of 9 even though he was more self-propelled here, spin on 12 to RC 14, and slice 17).
>>Getting him to drive ahead of me in the weaves is definitely on my list of things that need training attention. If I put a bowl or T&T out here, no problem. have to figure out how to fade it.>>
And yes, no worries about the weaves, it was smart to ignore the error. He was moving faster and that was why he struggled to be super precise with them.
One way to fade the target is to gradually move it further and further away, then to behind a jump out ahead, and then eventually faded out entirely. And you can ask a classmate or the instructor to throw the reward as well, as long as the human is not also visible at the exit of the poles because we don’t want her to be the target he is looking for.
Great job here!
TracyHi! I can fix the typo, but I am not sure that I want to fix it. HILARIOUS!
This is an excellent list! And I think there are some current pop tunes that fit too! I like Firework too, that is a good one! And currently anything by Meghan Trainor seems to fit my pace and mood. Here are some from my current list that I play to get the dance moves going – any will work during a walk through:
Made You Look – Meghan Trainor
September – Earth Wind and Fire
About Damn Time – Lizzo
Save The Last Dance For Me – Michael Buble
High Hopes – Panic At The Disco
Good To Be Alive – Andy Grammer
Me Too – Meghan Trainor
Shake It Off – Taylor Swift
Good As Hell – Lizzo
On Top Of The World – Imagine Dragons
Wake Me Up Before You Go Go – Wham!
Lips Are Moving – Meghan Trainor
Bang Bang – Ariana Grande
Play That Funky Music – Wild Cherry
Raise Your Glass – P!nk
So What – P!nk
Sir Duke – Stevie Wonder
Crazy In Love – Beyonce
Kodachrome – Paul Simon
Call Me Al – Paul Simon
Uptown Funk – Bruno Mars
22 – Taylor Swift
Thunder – Imagine dragonsHi! Glad you are jumping in!!! This is a huge and important topic!
>>So, I haven’t worried about the mental game too much until more recently. There’s something nice about having a baby dog that no one expects anything of. Then, once you start doing well I feel like there are more expectations and people watching you (even if it’s all in my head) and there’s more pressure to really not allow any slips of criteria.>>
This is true! And this is why the mental game becomes really useful, because of the internal and external pressures. Both exist; you are not making it all up 🙂 And the mental game becomes REALLY helpful when doing any type of problem solving.
>>This kind of came to light for me this past weekend when for the first time I started to decide to throw away some runs if we didn’t meet some specific criteria in a venue that I actually care about. I’ve been fine at doing that at the NADAC stuff we’ve played at because I don’t really care about the Q’s/venue and
One thing that stands out here is the phrase “throwing away some runs” – that seems like an emphasis on outcome goals (the Q) but in reality, what you were doing was shifting to performance and process goals which are GREAT! So, you might need to rephrase things, not as throwing away, but as working on performance and process goals.
>> I know the way I run is not typical for that venue (so I kind of get weird looks and not a lot of positive reinforcement in general even though I love how we run).
This is where the wise advocate for positive self-talk and affirmations will really help! You love how you run, he loves how you run, and it doesn’t matter what other folks think.
>>. Our Q rate was horrible (has to be with 50% FEO and non-FEO turned into training with startline resets or contact redos).
Again, this is a shift into outcome goals 🙂 Q rate is an outcome goal that does not really reflect what is happening in the ring, but can mess with your head if you focus on it. Performance goals and process goals are the key! I think Qs or wins are where we get a lot of dopamine release, and also Qs and wins can be few and far between… so our brains continue to seek out the dopamine release and we do things like ask for too much from the dog, or let go of criteria, etc. My new mantra is “Dopamine is not my friend” LOL!!!
>>The big problem is that it was so devastatingly punishing for me to do that and I was left super sad and not sure I was doing the right thing. I know it’s “just” negative punishment (taking away what he wants) and in the LIMA scheme it’s not horrifying but it was just awful. I know lots of people do it often with their young dogs but I really don’t like it and remember having this same struggle with doing that with another dog in the past.>>
If it is was punishing for you, it was probably pretty punishing for him – and potentially frustrating and stressful for you both when thinking about the neurobiological ‘under the hood’ processes that go far beyond looking at it in terms of operant conditioning. As dog trainers and handlers, we look at things too much in terms of operant conditioning but I really think that is the last thing we should be looking at. Of course, OC works but it does not exist in a vaccuum – it lives as a small element of all of the other things. Let’s look at it from a scientific perspective!
>>I really want and enjoy being very positive reinforcement focused and am trying to find better ways to deal with the startline issue without resorting to that.>>
Performance and process goals will really help! Setting him up for success! No more punishment. My guess is there is a missing link in the process somewhere, of the arousal management not being in the optimal state (he is past optimal on the Yerkes Dodson bell curve) and unable to produce the desired behavior in that state. That shifts his neurobiology and this is where you see behavior change. He might need a different way of preparing to run (clarity of cues, clarity of reinforcement accessibility, getting him to breath, getting you both to do some co-regulation, etc) He might need more clarity on the start process (and less frustration) and more NFC runs to help him with this. We can massage the internal state and the biology in the direction we want it, which makes the OC look simple!
My personal philosophy is that if I punish something in the ring once (stopping the dog, or taking him out of the ring) then a giant red flag goes up in my head and I shift to performance goals and the process goals to achieve the desired behavior. If I punish something twice? I recognize it as a “stop the madness!” moment and will not set the dog up in that scenario again, until I have a really great plan that guarantees success. There is so much more that goes on besides operant conditioning in the ring, that I want to protect the dog’s arousal management, attentional states, etc so I am super careful to not create issues with punishment.
>>>I’ve found that on the start line he literally CAN NOT sit.
Well, if he can’t sit, then we are not working in the operant realm 🙂 That answers that question LOL! So punishment of any sort if not going to be effective in the long term to get the behavior you want. Yes, that is a totally different way of looking at it, but also operant conditioning is a pretty small piece of the giant bigger picture. So much of the dog sport community is steeped in operant conditioning only, so we are trying to shift the needle in a new direction.
>> He has a great between my feet line up and automatic sit that works 100% in every other situation BUT at “real” trials. He’ll get between my legs and gently wag his tail, even lick my face if I lean down, but he truly is not able to sit in that moment. >>
This supports the theory that is it not an operant issue, but the struggle is under the hood, perhaps an arousal management question – the wagging tail and face licking is fawning behavior from the pressure especially when you lean over. He might be unable to sit or might be leaving the stay position sooner and sooner as a ‘flight’ to avoid the pressure and stress of the start (hello, amygdala!). The activation of the HPA axis that happens when he goes to the start line at a trial is sure to change his internal arousal state, plus if he does not train in that state then he will not necessarily be able to produce the stay in that state. So that is the starting point: working him in training in a state that simulates trials (it is doable!). And then doing it with reinforcement remotely! I have also added in a lot of games that produce a lot of internal regulation and also co-regulation. I can dig up some videos if you like.
>>So, lately we’ve worked more on a standing startline wait to avoid that conflict. But, if he breaks from a stand and I put him back again he offers a sit so I feel like he’s better able to control himself in a sit. Anyway, I just needed to put this down somewhere to help process it.>>
I don’t know if this is a self-control issue (I always feel like self-control discussions tend to shift the blame to the dog) as much as it is an arousal management question. The punishment of stopping shifts/suppresses arousal but does not optimize it, so you might get a sit and a stay – but not on the first attempt, necessarily, Also, we have an awareness of how the frustration/confusion of that scenario (especially for a dog that is still an adolescent) can cause more stimulation of the HPA axis – so then there is a biological association that begins to happen when moving to the start line, an automatic stress response to a higher level that makes the stay pretty challenging – and then starts the cycle of punish -> confusion/frustration -> stress that then gets built in more and more on each approach to the start line.
Also, we know that in the reward prediction error, there is a dopamine release even if there is punishment. So if he is at the start line and expects a certain thing to happen, like a release, his brain is making a reward prediction. And if you stop him and remove him, there is the reward prediction error that produces a dopamine release. And then the brain tries to return to homeostasis by dialing back the dopamine, and can over-balance…. it is all super complex and crazy and definitely not operant conditioning LOL!!!
My guess is your sadness also has to do with the dopamine release of the great moments or the unexpected moments, and your brain trying to return to homeostasis too with that over-balancing effect that makes us feel pretty crappy!
>>We did end up with some lovely runs and some Q’s and some amazing pieces of runs on some that weren’t Q’s or where we did a reset start and so blew the run that way. But, I was so down on myself I actually didn’t even bother to check a lot of our results. When they emailed results this AM I saw that we had actually won 20″ Biathlon overall – which I’d never even gone back and looked at.>>
This is where being able to set performance goals and process goals are critical – results are outcome goals and that is where the emotional roller coaster can really take over.
>>I think a lot of my sadness wasn’t about Q’s or placements or even what people were thinking of me, but more feeling like I had let my partner down by resorting to negative punishment by doing the excusing ourselves. I wasn’t at all upset with him and didn’t verbalize anything like “no,” “bad dog,” (I don’t really use no reward markers with him) I just told him the judge was mad at us and we had to leave and we quietly got his leash and left.>>
He can process the scenario and the unpredictability in ways that can create the frustration/confusion, so we really want to avoid having it happen even if you don’t use an angry tone. It is not happy-making for either of you, under the hood 🙂
>>Curious about your thoughts on not letting them run if they break and wondering if I’m the only weirdo that feels like her soul is being crushed when she does that to her dog.>>
I don’t think you are being a weirdo at all! And I appreciate your honesty. I think that you are a scientist and that the punishment doesn’t sit right with you, intellectually or emotionally.
I too would find it soul crushing and I have not removed a dog from the ring for breaking a stay in probably 2 decades. I feel that removing the dog from the ring for a broken stay places a whole lot of blame on the dog while assuming that I had prepared my dog properly and maintained the behavior properly, and supported the dog’s neurobiology properly. So, I tend to assume the issue is with me and not with the dog LOL! And yes, my dogs all have really lovely start lines, so I can get the behavior without pulling them out of the ring 🙂 And if I think my dog is struggling for some reason? I will shift into ways that can help, or not ask for a start line in that moment.
My performance goal on start lines is always “happy relaxed dog with no frustration or confusion” so the part of the process goal for that with the young dogs is to ask for at least 50% less in terms of criteria, than what they can do at home: always release before they break, and if I don’t think I can get a stay, don’t ask for one. And if I they break (has happened once with CB last March, and once with Voodoo once in 2015 LOL!), I just ask them to sit again in front of jump 2, do a short lead out, and then carry on. Then I will make big plans on how to help them, and use my next runs as NFC runs to help them out.
Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>.Hmmm, I was actually shaping FOR the sit, thinking that would capture the weight shift back. Interesting.>>
Ah! Well done, then, LOL!!
The sit definitely has a weight shift back – a bit too much for the teeter for 2 reasons:– to get into the sit, she will have to slow down a lot, which is hard to do as the board is moving. She will probably move into the sit after the board stops moving and is on the ground, but that would mean an extra long stop on the teeter which makes it harder to maintain for both the canine and human side of the team 🙂
– because the sit is soooo much weight shift back and her head gets high, you will see an extreme weight shift forward on the release… which is potentially too forward to be able to balance for the next jump (particularly on an AKC distance)So I prefer a middle ground of the crouched stand, with some weight shift in the rear but overall more balanced position with a lower head, kind of like surfing – so the dogs are balanced and not slamming their front ends, but also well-balanced on the release from the teeter.
>>If a tall dog (she’s going to be close to but hopefully under 22”) stands and touches nose to ground/target, my thinking was that is a weight shift forward. >>
I agree that I don’t want the dog to nose touch the target, especially not repeatedly to looking straight downwards. I train using a target, but I no longer ask for those repeated nose touches to the ground. I think of the target more as a way to get them looking down to position as they shift their weight back, bending elbows a little, running to the end of the board… and not looking at me 🙂
Getting into 2o2o and repeatedly nose touching, or running into a nose touch position begins with a weight shift back and then ends up in a weight shift forward… it is really not a manageable position for most dogs, based on how they are built. For example, my half whippet and my full whippet would basically have to splay their long front legs in order to nose touch “properly”. Ewwww! So I just ask for a lowered head and drive to position.
And while an almost 22″ tall Golden does not have the long-forearm front end assembly of a sighthound, I imagine a nose touch is pretty awkward too! So I prefer the crouched/low head approach into 2o2o.
>> Obviously I want 2o2o for teeter – A-frame and DW will be running – so is there an advantage to standing? >>
Yes – faster to get into position, faster to power out of position, and more balance to the next line because the weight shifts are more balanced and less extreme.
>>Is there another way to get the run-to-the-end with weight shift back and then into 2o2o? Now I’m questioning!>>
I use the visual target and reward placement to get it – all of my dogs currently have a 2o2o on the teeter (except for the 14 lb dog, too small) and they have great weight shift and do not nose touch.
>>Voulez and Gitchi both naturally shift weight back at tipping point but end up pushing down with rear feet as board makes contact, front feet off the board.>>
I like to get the dogs weight shifting at the top of the board and ride it down – it is faster, for us speed junkies LOL! And I can quick release as soon as the board hits, at the big events if needed. I use the visual target for that, but I don’t ask for nose touches – the sighthounds have front legs that are too long for that, and the terrier mix has a neck that is too short. At best, they would be able to produce awkward chin touches if I asked for it at high speed LOL!
I grabbed some screenshots from videos, so you can see the weight shift at the top of the board (2 dogs in the yellow, weight in the rear, crouched and looking down) and then the more neutral crouched position once they are on the the ground. The weight balances a bit forward after they are in the stopped position, so you can see how the are rocked back while on the board in the air, then a more evenly distributed weight shift on the ground. It is here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bK7kN_SWvnkw1IysgeEkKIwkg-Ux70Ix2SNUgkj6djY/edit?usp=sharing
Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>.Watson, I believe is reading my shoulder turns and the tandem looks similar to what he sees in my FC.>>
Do you have video? The tandem to turn away should look different from the FC: with the tandem turn, you are pulling your dog-side shoulder forward and away from him with both hands up to begin cuing the turn away (the hands cue him to flip away on the flat before you turn your feet again). With the FC, the dog-side shoulder drops back towards the dog as you rotate towards – so perhaps on the tandem turn you are rotating towards him, instead of turning away from him?
>>Should I just take out the layering of the tunnel for now? At this point either my motion or shoulder turn is pulling him off the jumps 6- 7, due to the fact I am so close to jump 5.>>
Possibly take out the layering- it adds a level of complexity that might make it harder to read the tandem, especially if he cannot see you over the tunnel! And feel free to post video – that way I can give you a better answer on why it might be hard for him.
Tracy
Hi!
>.It is pretty bad and yet so typical of every run we do – it’s always over before I can blink which makes careful course plans seem redundant –>>
Actually, this video is SUPER helpful for sorting out how to run Maisy! I am glad you posted it!
Watching the walk throughs, 2 main things to focus on which will improve the runs:
– The #1 most important thing is to make a more direction connection to her eyes in general, and specifically during the important timing spots like at the exit of the #2 tunnel, the exit of the 5 jump to get the backside, the exit of the FC at 6, and landing of 8. In all of those places, you were looking ahead of where she would actually be, which will cause trouble during the run in terms of timing and connection, causing her to ask questions about commitment. More connection will also help you plan to see when she is committed and says it is time to move to the next cue – watch her head carefully to see where she is looking, because that will tell you exactly when you can move to the next spot. More on that below.
-Then, when you are comfortable with the very strong connection – the go faster element needs to be a lot faster : ) She moves pretty quickly, so you will need to rehearse moving that fast with connection, so it is comfortable during the actual run.
Also, if something goes wrong, do not stop: just carry on as if it was correct. Then when you finish the run, you can reward her and watch the video to see what went wrong. Then, re-walk it, then run her again. I think you were stopping then re-starting and trying to run again without figuring out what was going wrong, which doesn’t necessarily help smooth things out, and can be very frustrating for her to stop when she was reading you correctly.
Looking at the runs:
The first 2 runs are really the ones that give us the most information about what the dog needs to see (although she is pretty honest and gives good feedback on all the runs!)On the exit of the #2 tunnel heading to #3, you were looking forward of her here, so she really only saw your back at :46 (she had a question, looked at you, then had a bar at 3) and at :58 (she had a question and refusal there). Looking at her on the tunnel exit and giving the go verbal like you did at 1:16 and 1:34 will really help , especially the big connection. That way she will see the line you want, and you will see when she looks at it – that if your cue to move to 4-5.
3-4-5 looked good, not as much connection is needed there because the motion was very clear.
The next big connection spot is the exit of 5, to cue the backside of 6. As she exited 5, you were looking ahead at :51 and 1:06 (so she correctly took the front side). Yes, you were saying the verbal but the motion was saying the front side, so she looked at you and had to choose.
Definitely better connection at 1:23!! And also 1:38 – she went nicely to the backside in both of these cases. I can’t see her that well as she was approaching the wing of 6, but I bet you can get the FC there as planned if you start it when she is looking at the backside wing (and before she gets all the way around to the bar). You did the RC there, and it worked at 1:40 but put you behind. That caused a disconnect at 1:41 on the landing of 8, plus you said “go!” so she went straight on the line (correctly). At 2:14, you had better connection on the landing of 8 so she got the 9 jump. Yay!!
At 1:55 – you got the backside but didn’t move, so she dropped the bar and went towards the tunnel – that was actually correct, based on your position. You stopped, which tells the dog they are wrong, so she was confused.
So two bits of good news about this video:
first, she pays complete attention to what you are doing and responds correctly every time. Super!!
second, the oopsies were all connection oopsies – so if you practice increased connection especially in the important commitment parts like tunnel exits, exits of wraps, backside sends, exits of crosses, etc – I think you will have a much easier time handling her! Always be watching her face, so you can help direct her to the next line and so you can see see when she has got the next line and is committed to it, so you can move to your next part of the plan.
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! I am so glad you enjoyed it!!
>>You have no doubt explained it many times before, but I just got the part about determining the point where your dog is committed being part of the walk thru.>>
I am approaching it differently this year, trying to make it even more specific and black-and-white for the humans 🙂
>> I put tape on the floor where I thought those spots would be. That helped me focus on the dog & check if I was right. I was surprised to find I was right about where that spot was. The one line to a back side where I was wrong, I saw he was committed a good 10’ earlier.>>
Clever!! I love it! It gives you a real-time feedback and also easy to see on video.
>>I won’t say so publicly, but some akc judges have a happy knack for it, some not so much. I will be picking parts of courses! 🙈🤣>>
Yeah, that is SO TRUE!! Fingers crossed for good course designs at the trial!
Tracy
Hi!
I am definitely a fan of going for it!!! I think EOTT will be a blast and it is totally worth it to try out for WAO. Fun times ahead!!!T
Good morning!
This went well!
Looking at the opening: a bit of motion helped with both of your handling choices on the 1-4 line.At the beginning, when you were all the way at jump 3: your position was just a bit too far away and the #4 tunnel blocked his view, so he came to you. Facing him more to step to the tunnel totally helps, but it also turns you to fac eopposite of where you want to move to next, making it harder to get the blind at 1:25 and the conneciton. So, a less-is-more approach can help: lead out so you are more visible and you can release while showing parallel motion to 2 – then it will be really easy to get to the blind for 3-4.
He did well with the line to the weaves, and also in the weaves! It was a little harder letting him get ahead of you in the weaves, he was not as comfy with that – great job throwing the reward!
Looking at the different handling for the opening at the end – on the first rep, you were a bit too stationary before he entered and I don’t think there was a go verbal, so he turned towards you at the exit (based on the position and decel). You can get him to send to 3 there with more connection, but leading out less and using more parallel line motion there on the last rep worked perfectly! And you still got to the BC at the exit of tunnel 4 really nicely, no problem at all 🙂
Great job! How did it go when you put it all together?Tracy
Hi!
I think she liked this game LOL!!! She immediately came back and got into position: GIVE ME THE TARGET, MOM!!!!! Good girl!You can make it a little crazier with a tug toy, using it both as a reward and a distraction: start tugging with her next to the plank. Then stop tugging, let her offer getting into 2o2o, then put the target in: when she boops the target, you can tug with her in position, then release her to run around with the toy (and tug to reset the next rep).
This eventually turns into the “I’m going to pull you off” variation where we are tugging with the dog in a 2o2o, and gently trying to pull the dog off the position while tugging – the dog should shift weight back and fight to stay in position:
Nice work here! Have fun!
Tracy
