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Good morning and welcome!
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Have fun!
TracyHello and welcome back! Terrier naughty is the BEST naughty LOL!
I’m excited to see him again – he was a Rockstar in May at the seminar!!!Tracy
The regular part of the class begins tomorrow, but the first live is next week, on June 20th đ Can’t wait!!
TracyHello and welcome! I love the photo, she is gorgeous!!! Seems like this is perfect timing and she is more than ready. Yay!! Have fun!
TracyHello and welcome! Sorry for the confusion about the live classes – we are all set at the later start time so you can play đ More info coming soon!
TracyHi!
>>1. Bought a few flowers from the local farmerâs market
I love this! I like to buy flowers for the house too đ It always brings a smile to the day!
Your daily lists are so fun to read – these successes are BIG!!!! Yay!
Tracy
Hi and welcome to the mental prep side of things here!!!
I love your lists – brilliant and insightful!!!
>>I can control how I prepare myself to respond to things (delays at the startline, negative comments from other competitors, mistakes in a runâŚnot stopping to correct everything)
I can control what people I spend time with.>>>
These two things are really such excellent points. Two things that we all can totally control and sometimes we forget that! Especially the part about who we choose to spend time with: remember that *their* voices can also become our inner voices, so be sure to hang out with people who lift you up rather than drag you down.
>>One of the other things that stood out to me so far was the reminder to trust our decision to let go. I appreciate the suggestion to look or listen for a lesson if there is one in a situation and then move on instead of continuing to let ourselves endlessly spiral about our decision.>>
Yes – I have found this to really help. Otherwise, we obsess or worse: we catastrophize. And sometimes there is something to learn – and sometimes there is no lesson. And that is fine! I mean, if we looked for a lesson and sometimes it turns out that unfair or bad things happen for no reason – I guess that is the lesson. And learning to trust ourselves and not second guess ourselves is HUGE!!!!
Great thoughts here, thank you for sharing them!
TracyHello there! I love your lists here!!
Your “things I can control in the universe” is pretty identical to mine LOL!!!
And you make an excellent point about Nox’s emotional state: you can help her, but you can’t control her. It is a big change in mindset to think about ways we can help them!!
Have you tried the daily challenges?
Tracy
Good morning!
Sorry to hear about the crazy work week! Work gets in the way of the fun LOL! This is a perfect choice to play though – fast and fun! The cookie session in the beginning was a good warm up but she gives 2 paws up for the toy!
She is wrapping really well and had a TON of success here. So fun to watch! And she is going be a fabulous turning dog!!
The main thing is going to be giving MASSIVE connection after the FC and be patient with the sending, to get her into the 2nd send when you do 2 in a row. It will feel a bit slow motion at first – as she finishes wrapping the first barrel, keep your fingers pointed back to her and make more eye contact, and let her almost catch up to you⌠then send. At :51 for example, you were pointing ahead of her and rotating before she committed so she didnât commit. In that moment, it might have looked like she was going for the toy, but she was not – when you were connected on the sends, she never looked at the toy. So it was a handling question from her (you can reward and start over when that happens)
Compare to 1:12 where you were more connected and DEFINITELY to 1:30 and 1:42 where you were perfect and she nailed the wrap (never looked at the toy).
At 1:53 she had a question – I think it because you changed sides and with the barrels further apart, she was like âwait, what?â when you sent a little bit early. That is totally relatable LOL! Laughing and giving her the toy was the 100% correct response đ Your timing was perfect at 1:58 and on the last rep – it might feel really delayed but that is only because she is a baby dog and needs time to process it all.
Great job here! As she gets more experience with the rocking horses, you won’t have to be quite as perfect because she will understand the commitment. You can try the sideways sending now!
Tracy
Good morning!
>>The first thing that I am posting is three shorts at the weirdness gauntlet.
She made me laugh so hard in that first one – nothing weird AT ALL for her. She is like my whippet puppy – no big deal at all to see weird random things in the environment. This is great! She seems to have a natural, genetic resilience and that will make things SO much easier.
The game still accomplishes the goal os stimulating her HPA axis and then letting her return to baseline – she just does it faster and it is less obvious than a dog that might have more of a startle response.
>It was really interesting here to listen to JJ. She decided to approach this as a scent work activity. You can hear her sniffing the objects. I am not sure what triggered that action from JJ. It might have been that the bag looked like a container from a container search.>
That was really cool! My guess is that she was in âwe are doing a THINGâ mode and those objects looked like scent work objects. All good, we like that! On the 3rd short, the objects didnât look like scent objects so she just went about her business elsewhere LOL! Great sessions here đ
On the backing up – she definitely âlooksâ for the platform with her left hind first (but uses her other foot equally elsewhere). So 2 ideas for you:
Using this setup, you can begin the rep with her back feet on the platform. Then gently take her right hind off the platform by literally lifting her foot forward to the ground if she doesnât mind that (you might have to feed her while you are doing this) or lure her to step off with her right hind only (this is trickier) – then when the right hind only is off, reward her for putting it back on. That isolates the right hind but allows her to remain stable with the left him.The other thing you can do is something called mountain climbers, which looks like this:
It is really hard but great for hind end isolation – note the angles help her isolate each back foot. She was rehabbing from patella surgery so you can see spots where she is not totally stable yet. Please ignore the cat LOL!
Looking at the remote reinforcement videos:
>>There was an incident earlier in the evening that might have had an impact on her behavior. We had gotten a cooked chicken from Costco and it was on the counter.>>
Sometimes things happen in life that help out our training sessions LOL! I think that I would have reacted the same way if the pup had her face in cooked chicken on the counter! Plus, in these sessions, she was definitely in training mode and was a perfect citizen đ The cookie session looked great! The toy session was harder – did you see the long goodbye to he toy on the first rep, as she looked at it? That toy was definitely more stimulating but she did a great job!!
I like the âitâs time!â Marker! And both sessions were set up really well – the reinforcement was highly visible but not toooooo tempting or within reach. And you were really great about asking for a little bit of behavior but not too much – great job!
I think this will bubble over into real life skills too, so there are no more Great Costco Chicken Capers.
Nice work on these!!! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
This is going really well!! It is a BEAST of a course and you did a great job!!!
>>This time I think I was pushing harder down the line with the dogwalk and we had a big bail off, >>
The tricky part with course work is that we also want to maintain contacts while still doing the independent handling – so feel free to put targets out or contact mats or whatever you used in training, so that he can be successful on the contacts AND you can get where you need to be on course. This will help solidify the independent contacts too, especially the DW and teeter here.
Rep 1 – very nice opening line!!! The blind can start a little sooner at :03 and :44 (he was already in the air over 2) You were earlier at 1:35 (before he took off) and it set up a better turn for sure! You can also try sending him to 4-5 and layering the yellow tunnel to get up the line for the backside after the DW
The line from the DW to the a-frame was a Goldilocks moment:
Not enough support to the frame on the first run, and it looked like he needed one more step to the a-frame at :16? That threw you off a bit but great job staying in motion and getting a great line to the teeter!!Too much support at :55 and he took the backside of the jump before it.
Then it was just right at 1:46 and he nailed it đ Yay! In the âjust rightâ moment, you didnât pressure in towards the line – you stayed connected and called him and drove to the a-frame. NICE!
The 10-11 line looked good! On the wrap at 12 at 1:04, be sure to use your dog side leg to step to the jump (your left leg here). You had your left leg back and he went directly to it rather than to the jump. Compare to 1:53 where your left leg was involved so you showed more deceleration and commitment, and he nailed it there too.
On the slice rear before the teeter, great job at 2:00 running to the center of the bar to set the rear cross then stepping across his line – that looked great!
About the jump after the teeter – to get the tunnel only and no bonus jumps đ ideally you would leave him on the teeter to do it independently, so he can turn as he exits the teeter because he sees that you are already turned. Staying with him sends him more forward to the jump as you release and accelerate.
Great job on these!!!! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning and welcome back! You and Timber look great here!!!
On the video:
First rep – nice blind 2-3-4!
At 4, you did a post turn with a here verbal. He was indeed wide on the first rep – a little less wide at :25. See below for handling ideas (spoiler alert: I think a spin would be very effective here, even though you mentioned you were trying to do less of them :))The wrap on 6 will get tighter and tighter as you get earlier. At :12 you started it as he was over the bar. At :27m you were earlier and he was already tighter – yay!
>>Know I ran the wrong way on jump #1 (my error).
No worries! You still got to do that big backside send on 2, it looked great!
When sending him to 3 and moving away to 4 – you can start the verbal and move away as soon as you see his head turn to 3 and lock onto it. That will tighten that up a little (it only needs to be a little tighter :)) The wrap on 4 was strong!
>>He did knock the #6 bar on round #1 â sometimes when I keep moving ahead, he will chase me and knock a bar. Donât know if that is why the bar went down this time or that he was just seeing the back of my head..>>
At :44 it was a definite back of the head moment. At 1:10 you didnât get as far ahead and that helped, but with his speed I think it is important to get way ahead – so get way ahead but point your arm back to his nose (keeping it low) and turn your head back to him so he sees the connection.
Adding the off course jump to sequence 1? No problem at all đ Lovely!!!!
Seq 2 – He had a little trouble with the backside at 2 here. He needs more motion and connection to the backside at 1:44 – your upper body and feet and arm all indicated the front, which overrode the verbal there. On the next rep you had clearer handling but I think moving into it will be better for you both – motion supports the backside line better and also gets you moving sooner
>>BUT I am trying not to use spins so often, as they slow me down (and I am already slow).>>
So letâs focus on tightening turns and when the spin is the best option, and when it is not the best option đ I think a spin for jump 4 on sequence 1 might be very effective – the post turn shows him the wider line and adds steps for you getting out of there. If you can decelerate into the spin to rotate your feet sooner, you will have a tighter turn and your feet will be facing the 5-6 line sooner than without the spin.
Now on the 6 turn, the spin can slow down your progress to the next part of the course – so something to try there is to decel as he is landing from 5, send to 6 with your wrap verbal⌠and as soon as his head turns to look at 6 – you get outta there and run to 7. You were a little late on the sends there, so his turns were a little wide. Starting the cues as he is landing from 5 and then leaving for 7 as soon as he looks at the jump should totally help!
You asked on the video why the turn at 6 was better – I think you were referring to 2:08 (it was a really nice turn there!) You were earlier with your shoulder turn and more connected, so the line looked really good đ
On round 3, when you added the tunnel, your handling got a little less aggressive so he didnât get the same info, especially on sequence 1:
On the opening with the blind, you didât move as much so at 2:19 and 2:31 – you were in the position for the blind that pulled him through the gap so he was correct to come through to the tunnel. Compare to the other reps (without the tunnel) there where you did the blind further across the bar. So the trick is to be just as aggressive in your handling as you were with the other sequences, or even more aggressive in terms of moving up the line. Donât use any verbal corrections or stopping if he ends up off course, because he was 100% correct in how he read the handling and we donât want his arousal state to change if he gets confused or frustrated.
Sequence 2 looked GREAT! You ran it almost exactly the same as you ran it without the tunnel there. You were not quite as aggressively moving up the line as you did without the tunnel, but you were still moving really well and you were SUPER connected! Yay!
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
>>Every time I stop when Iâm running these big courses, I think crap Iâm supposed to keep going. But am I? I feel like with a 20 obstacle course, I canât keep running the whole thing till âIâ get it right. Let me know if/how I should adjust what Iâm doing with that.>>
Yep, you are supposed to keep going. Ideally, we handlers sacrifice being able to run the whole course clean in that session in order to maintain the best mental state for the dog. The starts and stops, even with cookies, can be very frustrating for dogs. When we stop, we never act the same as if it was correct – there is always and element of deflation in our body language and a drop in energy, or we toss a treat and look away, so the dogs perceive it as a time out even though they get cookies. The dogs know we should be running out there, so stopping for cookies in not as rewarding as we think it is! There is a hierarchy for them:
– keep going, finish strong
– cookies for handler errors and stopping
– getting nothing LOLAnd with the starts and stops, we end up running the dog more, not less. So if I have errors but have run the course a few times, or I am getting tired? I will stop, even if I didnât get it right, and come back to it another time.
>>sorry about the peanut gallery, it was raining so they came in with me.>>
You wonât see any thoughts on verbals here, because I couldnât hear them LOL!!!
â¨>>It provides good distraction and as I was walking to the back to start the course I asked her to weave between my legs. Itâs part of our warm up routine so she does it ALL the time. She couldnât do it. She acted like she had no clue what I was asking her to do.>>
It is because in that arousal state, she indeed had no clue. It was a legit response from her – between the arousal of starting the course and the pressure of the other dogs barking at her, you got to see the arousal go past the optimal state (which is what happens at trials). I think she did well on the course, though!!!
Looking at the course – this went really well! Most of it was really strong! There are some tricky spots but it is a hard course đ
The opening line looked good! After the weaves, look at the sections from :22 – :24 and :40 – :42 (line after the weaves to the tunnel): she was turning left and looking at you over 9 when we want her turning right and looking at the tunnel. You had great connection, but you donât need to handle the 9 jump by running parallel to it – after cuing 8, run directly towards the landing side of it, converging to the 10 tunnel and give your get out cues when she is no more than halfway between jumps 8 and 9. That should get her looking to her right before takeoff for 9.
After the tunnel – You can layer the 12/16/21 jump rather than run around it. It should help make that FC earlier 11-12, and get rid of some of her questions. I think that layering would be very proactive and aggressive (and also easier for you to do :))
The spin on 12 worked well ! She didnât touch that tunnel which is oh-so-close!
Getting 14 was hard – I think the convergence was what she needed and worked well. At :50 you did the outside arm AND convergence, and it was too much and pushed her of the line. So you can either converge into her line to push her out, or run to the wing of 14 and use the outside arm. Both can work. And if she ends up on the front? That is an easy spot to keep going!
I think getting the 16 jump with the left turn was the hardest element:
The convergence put you too far up the line at :53, which made the RC on 16 late – that is an good spot to keep going too, you can pick her up after the tunnel exit and send to 16 to carry on. If you rear cross that, there is a LOT of driving forward (not sure if the RC was your original plan).The BC there 15 – 16 worked a LOT better but then you slammed on the brakes to manage the turn on 16, which created questions from her. On the first you, the big stop in your motion and with both arms pointing down⌠feet pointing to the center of the bar and pressure to the center of the bar which correctly read are rear cross to her. You can keep going there to – just send her back around the the 16 jump.
At 1:23, trying to slam on the brakes and you 2 hands to whoa her resulted in you turning your shoulders too soon⌠so she didnât take 16.
On this type of turn, I think the most effective tool in your arsenal is your reverse spin (look at how great it was at 12!!). The spin on this type of turn keeps you moving to the correct wing, which helps her commit, and creates a great turn, and turns your feet the correct direction for the a-frame. Donât be afraid to use that spin more! Some dogs find them VERY effective – Josie for sure, and my Voodoo and Hot Sauce too!
The RC on the ending line is a little wicked too đ It has to be timed just right and even then, the dogs have to understand tunnel versus jump discriminations. At 1:36 – you tried to do the RC before she got past you, s she pushed off the line. But I liked your line to the center of the bar!
On the last rep, you pulled too much so you got the RC but it pt you out of position so she ended up in the tunnel. I couldnât hear what you were saying, it might have been âgoâ but the problem with go is that it could apply for the tunnel or the jump. So, a jump verbal will really help in those discrimination moments. That plus running to the center of the bar like you did on the first rep there and a little more patience to let her get past you should work like a charm.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyOh no, poor Dreamer! Ouch!!!
That should heal up quickly, right? While it heals, you can walk and run your invisible dog đ to practice connection and driving really aggressively! That will be great prep for when he is ready to run again.
TracyHi!
Two things you can add into the next sessions:
– walk the course several times before you run it, using magnetic fingers to point to his nose behind you. And let your eyes travel down your hand to your fingers so he sees the connection and you practice seeing the obstacles peripherally.– rather than stop when there is an error, keep going no matter what. Either stay on the sequence as if it was perfect, or freestyle a little and make up a line… then reward. That is great for reducing frustration and for helping us humans learn to think on our feet đ
Tracy
