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Hi!
Wow, Sprite did some impressive grown-up work here!!!!!! I am proud of her and your handling looked really lovely too – connected and good transitions in and out of the turns, and fabulous blinds!My only real suggestion is to work these skills on a 16” bar the first time she sees them, because the visual processing of the off course tunnel right there was making it hard for her to process the jumping at full height.
Seq 1:
Sprite found jump 1 on the really well, especially because you were behind her! She was definitely letting us know that it was hard with t he bar down on the first rep, and her jumping mechanics were not as smooth or fluid as they have been lately (see above about the distraction of the off course tunnel nearby).The bar down at :27 was not a processing challenge – it was the sudden decel and toy throw that caused it.
Everything else was lovely! Nice turns and lines and she did not consider the off course tunnel.
Seq 2 with the blind – very nice!!!! Lovely blind timing, lovely connection, lovely line of motion. Click treat for you!!!
She had a big bar hit (wing hit?) on the 5 jump (the backside). It was definitely an “omg this is hard” moment because the course turned towards the tunnel and you took off with big acceleration and softened connection. So the jumping mechanics got lost.
Compare to the 2nd rep at 1:28 you were more connected and didn’t sprint away as much – really nice! And then you still got up to the 8-9-10 line with the serp and spin! So that really helped her sort out handling cues and the jumping mechanics (that is why start at 16 will help, so she can learn the skill without needing a lot of jumping mechanics yet.
Seq 3 was almost perfect on that first run! The brake arm at 1:53 just need to be a little more back to her nose, like
a big “WHOA!” Then turn to. The tunnel. This is what you did at 2:05 and it worked nicely!At 2:24 you had a little too much rotation towards her, she collected and stopped like it was aFC wrap cue LOL! Good girl!! So the way you did it at 2:05 is the best answer for her there.
Great job!!!!
TracyHi!
>>I was a bit bummed that the house we fell in love with had a big oak tree in the back yard but it does provide such marvelous shade for much of the yard and our deck and I can squeeze 40×40 to the left of it if I need to. Plus – it’s a great added obstacle/distraction!>>
I agree, the house and yard are lovely! The tree is an added bonus 🙂
The tighter turn on 5 looked great on both reps! He was tight but also powered out hard and fast – that is critical to maximize course speed! And yes, he did well too when you did know where you were going – that turn to the tunnel was lovely too 🙂
And the threadle line looked great on seq 3 too! Super!!
I am looking forward to seeing you both live and in person tomorrow!!!
TracyHi!
I liked the way you set up the first session – a few serps/threadles on one side, then moved the MM and did did it on the other side. That way she always ends up at the MM.
You can have the MM a little closer to the wing, so she can see it easily over the bar for the threadle and all she needs to do is go around the wing a little for the serp 🙂One thing that happened at the end of the first video and beginning of the 2nd video was that sometimes she would one in for the threadle but then not go over the bar (she would go past it) on the way to the MM
2nd video
This was also a really strong session! You were alternating sides here, so sometimes she went towards the MM and sometimes away from it. When t he MM no longer helps predict the line, having you look at the target will really help her:At 2:01, she went to the wrong side of the wing (did a threadle when you wanted a serp). The hand target was in the serp spot, but the rest of the physical cue read as threadle: you were looking at her which looked more like a cue to come to the threadle side, and you leaned towards the threadle side. So when that happens, you can toss a treat to start the next rep, no stay or oopsie marker needed. Compare to 2:18 when you looked at the target hand and she was perfect 🙂
The third video went well too! I think you were most consistent about looking at the target hand, so she seemed to have no questions. Super!!
>>I also see that I did not always strike a good “POSE”.and needed to be reminded to do so.>>
Keep reminding yourself to keep your arm extended out away and then don’t move a muscle til she reaches the reward 🙂
>>I liked using the mat for JJ to start on. She has a better more consistent sit then.>>
I loved the mat! Clever!!! And you can use the mat to help change her angles of entry by moving the mat to the new spot 🙂
Great job here!!!
TracyHi! This went really well! I could see the prop well enough and her behavior was super clear!
She did a great job responding to the 2 different cues – the only errors were when you did it early and she didn’t really see it. Bear in mind that it is OK to reward her if she goes towards the prop and doesn’t 100% hit it – you can mark the decision to go to it and throw the reward past it 🙂 And she was also great about NOT going to the prop when you did not cue it. Super!!
So now you can add more motion as you move parallel to it, as well as a toy (because it might be harder for her to move away from the toy!)>>I also never added a verbal to it.>>
Yes, she is ready for the verbal too!
Great job!!
TracyHi!
It is possible that part of the question at the beginning of the side of the barrel and the visual of he bar (which has some value now too). Try the smaller barrel for now and see how she does!
And on the 2nd video, she di a lot better with the toy behind you. So a good plan moving forward is to use the smaller barrel and have the toy behind you for the first few reps to jump start the behavior, then after several successes you can try it with the toy in your hand )and if she struggles, the toy can go back behind your back :))
No need to add more distance til she is totally happy with this first step.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
The threadle mechanics are hard indeed! You can practice the games without the pup – do all of the mechanics while she is in a different room 🙂 I think you will find it easier if you do the cookie toss with the hand that is *not* holding the target – that should help wit h the toss.In the first video, she was coming in very nicely but going back to the other side of the jump to the MM. 2 things ill help that: place the MM in a stop where she can very clearly see it toss the bar, and give her more room between you and the jump (and dropping he F bomb at the end of the session is perfectly fine LOL! Just make sure she gets a cookie when you say it LOL!
On the second video, it loos like she had more room and did a MICH better jump of finding the line. Super! Maybe when you reset you added a little more room.The harder angles created a couple of questions for her – so if you get a failure, go back to the easier angles for a couple of reps before gradually adding the harder angles back.
>>I ditched the wings and that seemed clearer for her.>>
Yes! It is entirely possible this really helped too. On the next session, start without wings and if that goes well, add a wing back and see how she does.
>>Someone during class recommended Buddy Bites for us and the MM. They came today, bacon flavor, and Mochi loves them. AND, they work well in the MM.>>
Terrific! I think the hot dogs will work better too if they are microwaved to a crisp or frozen.
And it sounds like today’s session went well!! Great job!
TracyHi!
This is off to a good start! It is all about mechanics: The reps where you kept your hand low and slow were lovely! The reps where you hand was high and fast – she was not as sure. That is when you got some barking (especially on the right hand side) because the info was not really clear in those moments. But notice how quiet she was when it was clear. So your head turn mantra should be “hand low and slow”, letting her lock onto the turn hand and follow it to turn her head away.
>>Today I realized, that in class when you told everyone to hold their hand at their knee, for Mochi that meant my hand needed to be at my shin.

. So I got my hand at my shin and she did better. I gotta think short and small>>
Yes! Low and slow for that hand 🙂Also – you can be quieter during the session. If you are talking a lot, she won’t necessarily know where to focus her attention. So you can praise during the reward moments, then be quiet during the head turn moments.
I thought the clicker was just fine, she seemed confident with it and not worried at all!
Nice work 🙂
TracyHi!
Nice start with the lazy game here! Having the jumps really close together worked perfectly – they were nice and easy to find and get a treat toss for 🙂 He got better and better as the session went along, and he also stared to are more speed – SUPER!!! So on the next session, start the way you ended here to make sure he remembers the game, then add a bit of distance – maybe just 6 more inches between jump.sGreat job on the one step sends! The little dude is really starting to find his lines!! That makes is an easy game when you use the clear connection you had here – it looked like he could see your eyes the whole time. Happy dance!!
On this game you can add a little more distance now between the tunnel and wings – that will challenge the distance on the sends and also the connection.Ah yes, there was too much movement of the teeter. When you set it up, you can press on the top and if it moves at all, you need to add more to stabilize it. He did seem confident and happy to do it, but we want to proceed carefully so he doesn’t scare himself.
Lovely work here!
TracyHi!
Yes, you can lower the teeter and play this with a lower board. It is a long way off the ground for a little dog! Either way, I think he needs moe reward each step of the way, something super high value (cream cheese, for example, if he likes that?) And all he needs to do is get on it, get a really high value reward then hop off before you tries more (leave him wanting more LOL!) And then you can build up even more over time – both getting him across the full board, and also gradually raising the board.When you went to treats for each step of the way, he got immediately better at going up the board. Yay!!!
At about the 2 minute mark he was very brave and got most of the way up! You can end the session there. No need to repeat a really challenging rep 🙂
This is a good start! You will see his confidence continue to blossom 🙂
TracyHi! I am looking forward to seeing the videos! I think the reason that would not load the other way is that they are marked private, so they aren’t opening up. If you relist them as Unlisted, they will be visible and easier to load 🙂
Thanks!
TracyHi!
Yes – his MaxPup 1 body and his MaxPup 3 body are entirely different 🙂 So revisiting the plank work is a good refresher for the other stuff ahead 🙂
TracyYes! let’s go back to it! It will help with the heat for sure and he is a full year further along and is ready to use it in his agility 🙂
TracyGood morning! I am looking forward to seeing you today!
I loved his joyous entry to the first video – literally leaping into action!
The mechanics of the serp are really precise which is why they are hard – so you need to be in position and stationary before he starts to move. Using the cookie tosses, you can put yourself on the correct side of the jump in the right spot before tossing the cookie, so you don’t ave to try to move back and get frozen in position before he starts moving towards you. Same with the stay – be completely frozen in position before you release him.
He is reading it really well, so showing him the position before he starts to move will make it much easier. He was very successful when you did that )being frozen in the right place before he started to move) but he had misses and some frustration (running around on the 2nd video) when he was moving before you were ready. So the easiest thing will be. To get into position and then throw the cookie away to start the rep 🙂
Head turn video – yes, it felt weird because the hand use was reversed: when he starts on your left it is your left hand that sends to the upright and turns him away. You were doing it all with the right hand, which made the turning away much harder to get. So you can reverse the mechanics:
The left hand is empty when he is on your left, the clicker/treats are in your right hand. The left hand sends – and as he is going around the upright, the left hand goes to your right knee to ‘meet’ him. When he gets to your hand, draw him across and turn him away (kind of like a lap turn.And when you change sides, you will switch the mechanics – at the vern end he was on your right side and you were nailing it: right hand sends right hand grabs him and turns him away – and he was perfect! So looked at 2:30 to the end and you will see perfect mechanics.
Great job!! See you soon!
TracyGood morning!
>>I start pups on this for rally obedience and rear end awareness for obedience. The perch that I use is a bit higher than the one that you see here and I love it because it is a rubber feed dish for poultry or other animals. >>
Super! The difference in perch size for the different sports is based on what we want the mechanics to look like. For rally and obedience, the higher perch tends to lift the head and also get a bit more weight shift into the rear (less on the front) which works well for heeling behaviors.
For agility, we want the wight balanced as much as possible and a more neutral head position – that helps with the lifting of the back feet for stepping over things that we build it (which is also a highly recommend conditioning exercise especially for the groin!
On the first video:
>>I had a hard time seeing if she had both feed on the disc or not. I am not sure how to check that out better. Neither of my other dogs are black in color and I do not remember having as much trouble with them at this kind of thing. I realized that I wished I had a clicker for this so I stopped the video to get a clicker.>>
Yes, it is hard to see with darker dogs – I have found that being one step further away expands my field of vision to see their feet better. And you can get a large bathmat or cheap rug with a rubber backing, so it doesn’t slide around as she moves on and off it.
The 2nd session went well – the placement of the cookie will get her start pivoting around into position in both directions – she was already offering it when you started that! Yay! Yes, one side will be easier than the other but that is normal, especially because she already has a background in this 🙂 She definitely had a harder timing going to your right side but that will get easier with practice.
>>I do not hear me saying “get it” though.>>
No worries, add it for next time – you were super focused on the other mechanics and you had the clicker, so I didn’t see JJ looking confused at all 🙂
>>It is really important for me to expect a good perfect front from the pups, but I did not think that was our goal here so I did not want to include the cue word >>
Correct, not our goal at all here – we want movement, not a front. So she will return to center but it is a moving behavior.
On the video – going to your left side? Easy! Going to your right with the body pressure – not so easy 🙂 But she was doing it, literally one step at a time LOL! She was even getting a couple of steps by the end – SUPER!!!
The head turning to get her to turn right took a moment to click in on the next video, but she got it after you showed her turn to your left side. Then she was able to offer it a bit towards your right side! The last video also had a bit of this, took her longer to get the behavior going – it might be that she was a bit fatigued by that point, but also I think she is moving differently with the cookie use here – more front end and the hind end scoots in behind. I think the other ways to get it will get more independent use of the hind end.
>>If you think that we are ready I can add in the bars to go over on the floor.>>
Give her 2 days to let the brain wire this in, and check to see if latent learning has kicked in by doing the exact same thing in the next session. If so, the follow ing session can add one bar on the ground.
Great job!!
Tracy
