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Hi!
>> I could not get the push out of the tunnel!!!
I think a bit of strategy on the opening line can help her! The 1st opening had a bonus backside on 2 because of your motion, but the 2nd rep there was lovely!
So to strategize getting the backside – she needs the physical cues to match the verbal. When you tried it, the cues didn’t match so she wen with the motion cues that she saw before the tunnel: At :05, she saw forward motion before entering and the push verbal started after she entered. On the 2nd rep, the timing of the verbal was definitely earlier but the forward motion was the same.
To match the physical cue to the verbal cue, you can send to 3 from a distance so you can be further ahead at the tunnel – be as close to the entry wing of 2 as possible so you basically have a straight line to the tunnel exit. She has that send to #3, no problem! That way she can see the convergence of motion to the backside and hear your push verbal all before she enters the tunnel. The convergence will happen as she is exiting 3, and the verbal should happen no later than 6 feet before she goes into the tunnel.
And by sending to 3, you will be able to show the convergence before she exits because you will be down there.
The other thing to consider is using the outside arm there: the left arm points to the entry wing of the backside while you make a super intense connection to her eyeballs 🙂
>>Also tried the agility popout where you had to threadle a jump behind the tunnel. Wanted to layer the tunnel but was not successful.>>
Yes, that was hard! She was totally reading the in in cues as a tunnel cue – do you have a separate verbal for the tunnel threadle? She was also following the motion a lot there too – some dogs are very keyed in to our motion! I believe the key is to get her to go past the tunnel with you moving away, and understanding the difference between a jump cue and a tunnel cue.
You broke it down nicely and one more step you can add: setting aside the threadle, you can turn the jump so she sees the front of it and you can practice getting her to take the jump behind he tunnel with you moving away as quickly as you did here (and show her the difference in cues between staying out fo the jump, versus coming in for the tunnel).
Then when she can stay out past the tunnel to take the jump with you running away, you can add different angles to get the threadle or backside.
You did the outside arm at the end here! Yay! You can have the arm no higher than your shoulder and pointing to the entry wing – and that massive eye contact is important with that, at least in the early stage of using it.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
It is totally within the rules to post Casper 🙂 We don’t have many rules here LOL!!! But yes, you can post videos of him, 2nd dog videos are totally allowed 🙂 Plus he is cute and that makes it impossible to ignore him 🙂
His weaves are looking great 🙂
He is sometimes a bit ass-over-teakettle in his jumping, which means his but comes up higher than his shoulders as he is processing cues. This is normal with youngster, so be sure to keep working jump grids separately so he can get the jumping form into his muscle memory.
On the 1st sequence: Because he is young, he needs all the words and all the obvious cues, early and often. Don’t be subtle LOL! For example, he definitely needs a verbal before the tunnel at :16 You were quiet and running forward so he exited wide and didn’t see 4. A name cue is likely all he needs, but a verbal will definitely help!
You had a nice decel into the threadle so his turn there looked good! You were closer to the wing of the 6 backside so his line was good there too – you can do the FC sooner (starting it as he is passing you on the way to the wing) so he sees the exit line sooner.
And definitely be big and loud and accelerate before he goes into the tunnel at the end, so he doesn’t ask questions after exiting.seq 3:
Super nice opening! You decelerated before the tunnel, so he turned better on the exit. Nice! A verbal will help too.You can give the same connection and collection cues at :37 as you gave Enzo – more eye contact, less arm ‘swoosh’ to the bar. With Casper, you did not rotate to face the jump nearly as much, you generally moved forward, so he had a really nice turn overall! Yay!
The rear cross on the tunnel is hard with youngsters: At :43, you can get on the RC line sooner by going closer to the 8 jump before it and driving right up behind his tail on the way to 9 to set the line. That will show him the RC sooner so he can adjust before the entry. I also find that placed toys help young dogs sort out the RC on a tunnel.
Great job here, he is doing really well!!!
Tracy
Hi!
I hope your husband is feeling better!!!! Sounds like a painful fall.
And yes, somehow the summer gets busier than any other time of year! But hopefully you are having plenty of fun times.
>.So, I decided to concede that I will not finish this course and just jumped right into package 3. Here is Enzo doing the Raise Your Game challenges.>>
That is great – you can always go back to the other games if you want to at a later date.
Seq 1A and 1B videos:
Very nice! I loved the bonus weave entry at the end of each – SUPER loved the fancy weave threadle at the end of the 2nd video!!! Yay!!!
The distance elements looked great – the send to the #3 tunnel and the big GO GO GO at the end with the layering – very strong skills!!! Super!
A couple of small details to tighten the 4-5-6 line up:
– use his name or a directional sooner for tunnel 3: the name call happened as his head was in entering the tunnel (:12 on video 1, :01 and :12 on video 2) . That, plus him seeing you turn to 5, will tighten the exit – you can do the blind before he exits on this line, because the jump should be on his line with the blind and he won’t go around it. You had an earlier blind at :13 on the 2nd video and it worked like a charm!
– the earlier blind will give you tons of time to decel or use a brake arm to tighten up 5 (:14)
You added a turn cue (verbal and spin, yay!) at :03 of the second video but he was already gathering for takeoff: ideally he would hear and see it starting as soon as he looked at 5, which would be shortly after landing.>> That should have resulted in a MUCH tighter turn but only helped a little. (Homework needed).>>
I think it will work, timed to be starting as he is landing from 4.
Because there are so many things happening, you can also consider a brake arm, timed to be after he lands from 4 but as soon as he turns his head to the jump
– looking at the #6 backside at ;17 of the first video, and :07 and :17 of the 2nd video – drive to where the wing and bar meet, rather than moving across it or get to the center of the bar. Moving to the center of the bar cues the slice he did there. Plus you can leave sooner from a better position, closer to the wing 🙂
When you added the backside of 5 instead of the threadle, your early blind really helped you show clear handling to the backside. Very nice!!! He jumped BIG on that slice, hmmm….. I think a deceleration into it will help him put in a stride to turn and it is worth playing with to see what he needs there:
As he is taking off for 4, you can be slowing down a lot as you show the backside cue. That might mean showing more acceleration to the blind, so he can see the transition into the deceleration there. If you are moving at a steady pace, it is harder to show decel so accelerating before the turn can help make he decel cue visible. There are other things we can do (like a brake hand as a whoa!) but it will be good to see if decel can work by itself.
Very nice opening to sequence 2, he had no trouble with the 4-5 line in particular on the first run. On the 2nd run at :27 you were quieter so he curled into you before 4.
On the FC 5-6 at :10 and :30 – note how you never went past the wing of 5 and your timing was spot on (fully rotated and moving to 7 as he was taking off for 6) – really nice!!!!! He turned really well there.
Leave sooner for the blind at :12, he had the tunnel and you didn’t start hustling to the blind til he was exiting. You got the blind, but it will be easier to leave sooner to get it. I don’t think you even really need to look at him at the tunnel exit there – just tell him to jump so you can get to the BC an be finished with it before he takes off for 9. You were closer to that timing on the 2nd rep, making the blind even earlier and that is great!
The wrap at :16 and :37 looked great! Coming out of all that massive extension, you whipped out decel, break arm (nose level!), verbal, eye contact – great collection!
You rotated towards him and then opened back up to a post turn – watch his eyes there at :17. Because you opened up to a post turn, he looked to the blue tunnel on the edge of the screen. You showed that line for a heartbeat with the post turn.
It was more obvious on the 2nd rep because you didn’t drive out of it, so he really thought the line was to the blue tunnel. Since you are already rotating towards him, finishing the cue as a spin/Jaakko will be both more efficient for you (fewer steps and earlier departure for the next line) and clearer for him.Seq 3:
>>Enzo had pretty much had it by this time. I went in and got the good food and he decided he could manage one more effort.
Ha! Good boy Enzo 🙂 He did well!
Very nice use of distance in the opening so you were *right there* for the turn at 6! At :09 and :27, you had excellent rotation, connection, low hands – super nice collection cues and very timely, so he responded beautifully.
He ended up going wide on 6 and 7 though, because you opened up and did a full post turn so he legit thought he was going back to the 3 (pink) jump based on motion there. That meant you had to wait longer to get him to 7 (:13) and the poles were out there, so some wideness.On the 2nd run he went less wide on 6 at :28 and had a better turn on 7… but both can be tighter if you move forward on the FC out of 6 rather than do a post turn to face 6 then FC. What I mean by that is as soon as he is passing you to the takeoff spot of 6, move directly forward to 7 and do not turn to 6 – just look back at it so he knows to come to your right side on landing. That will get a super turn on 6 and you will be even further ahead to show the turn on 7 (and have HOURS to get the BC before the tunnel :))
Great job here! Let me know what you think! Onwards to Casper 🙂
TracyHi!
Good work on these – some ideas on the handling and then weave ideas below.On the first course: Nice distance in the opening! Nice layering!! One suggestion: Tell him to GO and start the jump cues before he gets into the #4 tunnel, so he exits straight and doesn’t look at you (you were quiet so he exited looking at you)
He had trouble on the 8-9 bars after the DW on the first rep – he did better when you moved less on the next reps. You can split the difference: keep moving, but do the turns sooner (like you can be starting the FC rotation at 9 as he is passing you, so he has more time to set up the turn).
Picking up from the 12 tunnel, the 12-13-14-15-16 line looked really good! He had trouble with the threadle to 17 when you were moving fast and ahead (1:22). Remember to give a turn cue for 16 to help get him to process the threadle cue: when he exits the frame, you can call him no later than when he is halfway between the frame and 16, to help him go turn a bit and go into handler focus for the threadle cue. He got it nicely on the 2nd run when you were not as far ahead, and then the ending line looked lovely!!!
On course 2:
You can line him up on a slice for 1-2 (instead of straight over 1 then turn to 2). That can help with the bar there. And, as he lands from 2 – give him a turn cue for 3 (a name call is probably all he needed) so he turns and knows which tunnel it is: at :04, he took out the wing because you were saying “tunnel” but the other tunnel was more on his line – then he saw your position and tried to adjust in the air.You were a little in his way on the blind at 5 – this is a good spot for a rear cross on 6, so you can send him away to 7 and 8, then leave him on the frame to get to a side change 9-10 or get a clear RC – you did a spin from a distance and the RC info started after he was in the tunnel, so he turned to his right based on your position before he entered.
He ha trouble with the weaves at a distance, with the layering. It is really hard! To train the skill, you should use ‘open’ poles (like open channels, or 2x2s set up like channels) so weaving is easy and you can do lots of reps without a lot of impact on his body (because the distance is sooooo hard).
And the placed reward really helped him out – so, using a placed reward and open poles, you can start with just doing distance work: sending to the poles and running away.
And then you can add the distractions – like the barrier we used in the sequences, and then eventually a tunnel appearing that you run past, then eventually the dog walk. But all of this should be introduced with open poles so he has an easier time being successful.
Nice work here! Let me now what you think!
TracyHi!
>.I don’t know if this was the “right” thing to do, but I set up 3 wings in a row, like live class, this morning but spaced pretty close together. I was hoping it would be easier to convince Audie to approach the backside wraps at a walk rather than trying to blast through.>>
Yes! It looked really good and he is definitely figuring it out. Yay! Walking through it helped him see the cues better: he did best when you looked behind you (and pointed behind you) to the landing spot on the other side of the wing. He had the most trouble when were looking more directly at him, or you pointed your arm forward (especially on the left turns) – that is when he would jump up at your hand. So definitely keep looking/pointing behind yo, and use a smaller/lower send arm that travels with his nose – in other words, not getting pointing ahead when he is behind you, so he can see the connection.
>> Threw cheese balls as he started to wrap and then again when he completed the wrap.
Keep throwing the cheese balls behind you. On this video, all of the reward was coming from your hand and mostly at your side: try to have all reward thrown behind you for multiple sessions in a row, to create independence 🙂
>>Also started work on straight lines. He is turning toward me as he is going over the first jump. Can I place a toy after the 2nd jump? or maybe use the Manners Minder til he gets the idea?>>
Yes, you can have a placed toy for the go-straight lines. That definitely helps! I think his questions were connection questions because when you were connected and threw the toy early, he did not look at you. When you were not connected or late on the toy throw, he looked. The stay was probably what was making it harder, so it might be best to go to the next step where you send him into the tunnel. That way you can be fully connected when he exits, and then the timing of the cues will be easier. And that will help get the wraps and rears and backside too. The first wrap here was just a little too early, but the second one at the end was lovely! Yay!
Great job!!
TracyHi!
So frustrating to have a good session and then find out it is not on camera! Argh!!!! I hate when that happens.
>>Ultimately I figured out to set her further to the right one the start jump so she us jumping closer to the left wing. I did not see the backside on her line. Sprite did!>>
Yes – there are backsides that they see everywhere 🙂 And in Europe, the course would take them to a backside in that flow but here in the US, it is the front side of the jump we need most of the time.
>>Then we did the RC wrap. First rep blind 2-3 to a Jaakko turn. Then, we worked the tandem RC wrap. She did some decent turns.>>
Nice! She is coming along really well with her turns!!!!!
Let me know if you can get to the park today.
Tracy
Hi!
Looking at the video:
I liked the throwback starts too – he was tight and then really powered out of them more than the regular starts.
On pop out 3:
The opening looked really good!At the threadle wrap – after threading 4, you can send more to 5 (tunnel) and get the blind to the threadle wrap (you did a FC) so you can be there sooner and further up the line, a little past 6. That will help (handling it from further ahead!)
I think one thing that will help get the threadle wrap consistently is to use your shoulders to pull him away then the upper body can flip him back. At :12, you were facing him and the line, so he went back to the jump. On the next rep, he got it but you had stopped moving. Your position at 1:08 (after the flip away to the tunnel) was great!! So that position and maybe a little pull away might be super clear for him.
The circle wrap looked great!
The blind to the threadle on the opening looked great.
The flip away to the tunnel is a good skill too – I bet you can start it even sooner so he doesn’t look at you. As soon as he is getting to the backside wing you can trust his commitment and start the flip way cues.>>The threadle slice 9-10 was more challenging because a root on the oak pushed my line closer to the jump but he got it.>>
That looked great each time!! You are doing a great job dodging the tree LOL!!
Pop out 4: This also went well! He was a little wide on the turn at 3, which added a stride or two extra before the threadle. So as he lands from 2, you an give him a name call or two to get more of a right turn before 3 (I don’t think he needs a right verbal, that would be too much collection there).
The rest looked great! Layering the oak was GREAT! And great practice for when an a-frame is in your way 🙂
On the exit of the threadle wrap at 6, you can do a blind exit instead of a post turn – he might respond the same way he does to the throwbacks (very tight and powering out of it). That can also get you around the oak even sooner 🙂
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! This also went really well!
At :04 on this video is exactly what I was talking about in terms of a good transfer of connection from hand to hand – that was great!
Same at :14 – nice and smooth, without too much rotation of your shoulders. Yay!
He had a little question at :33 – there was lots of countermotion on that rep (like we would want on a grown-up course) so he had to take a look, then he got it. Great!!!
Be sure to stay off his line and show him the wing as much as possible on these (not so easy to do LOL!!) At :27 you were in his way and blocking the wing a bit – definitely a little better at :36!
Good job with the blinds – the first couple of reps were really good! Towards the end, you were ending up getting on his line a bit and not connecting as well, maybe just too many blinds in a row LOL!!
Yes, you and he are totally ready for the next games. Great job!
TracyHi!
Using the 2 wings as the different ends of the tunnels was clever! You can even start on one wing and then the other as a racetrack before doing all the wraps – fast, fun, and much easier than dragging the tunnel and tunnel bags!The wraps are going well, great job getting him to understand to do the full circle! You had a lot of motion going and he was great!
Only one suggestion: as you are cuing him to go around, especially on the wraps with the front cross exits, try not to have your send arm go as far across your body. It ends up rotating your shoulders as lot as you do that and maintain commitment to the landing spot – not a problem here with the wings, but it might read as rear crosses when there is a jump there.
Instead, send him like you did then think of it as transferring him to to your other hand to point at landing side, so the dog-side arm doesn’t twist your shoulders too much.
You were really good about not over-twisting and transferring to the new hand on the reps where you exited on the blind cross, like at 1:03 – there is not enough time to stay connected on the dog-side arm for too long with a blind coming up!
Great job 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
A quick question for you:
Would you allow us to use the clip of Caper’s resilience during class, for the upcoming power patterns webinar?
It would be used as an example of how you were able to use your foundation to help her out 🙂
In return, you’d get a free webinar ticket.
Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
Very cool info about the kibble, thanks!! I will definitely go find that locally!She did well here! A bigger crate will be even easier (it is still a little small for her)
The delay of the click went well! Try to make it more variable rather than making it longer and longer – some delays are really short, some are long, and mix it up more like you did at the very end.>. JJ made a quick decision to get back in the crate. Interesting how her mind works. :-)>>
That was brilliant! Smart girlie!!!
>>Interestingly JJ almost always turned the same way when going inside.>>
it might have had something to do with your location (turning towards you) or side preference. One of my dogs always turned to his left when going into a crate and it did not matter where I was or where the reward was – he was a very strong lefty 🙂
She was very clever offering a sit in the crate n the 2nd video! really fun to see her work through that, figuring out what was going to get the magic cookie box to throw out cookies! She was happy to worm her way into the crate, didn’t matter if the door was mostly closed LOL!
>>Many times she seemed to need to keep her head out of the crate even though she was in, but when she sat, her head and body was all in the crate>>
Probably just a matter of the crate being a tiny bit too small. She fits in it, but the next size up will make it more comfy to offer behavior.
I am glad she loves Find My Face! The session went perfectly. This game becomes a huge coping skill for the dogs, for when we handlers mess up in agility and accidentally disconnect (because we definitely do that haha!) It helps the pups not get frustrated or stressed when we screw up, because they see disconnection as a fun thing! And some rally and obedience people have turned this into a “find front” game too!
Wing wraps – both videos are looking really strong! The FCs and the spins are both going really well! A couple of ideas for you:
>> I had a hard time getting the tuggy back from JJ. I started cracking up because I have never had a dog that would play tug before, and I could not get it back from her>>
Yes, her tug drive has come up really nicely! And now that there is a lot of action with the wraps, arousal comes up too so it is harder for her to give it back – feel free to tug for a few seconds, then trade for a boring cookie. This helps get the toy back quickly while keeping arousal centered. And using a boring cookie should help her stay interested in the toy and not get cookie-obsessed 🙂
You *can* use a 2nd toy, one in each hand, but I think one toy then a cookie trade will work more easily for you both.
When doing the FC wraps or the spins, you might find it easier to put the toy in a pocket or in your wasitband so you don’t change it from hand to hand as you do the crosses – that delays the connection back to her and causes her to look at your hands more. For example, at 1:56 on the 2nd video, you switch the toy to the other hand and didn’t get the connection, so she ended up on the other side of you.
One other thought about connection: when you get connection on a side change, maintain it til she is passing you on the reps where you pointed forward before she passed you, connection broke and she switched sides like a blind cross (good girl!)
As you are sending her to each barrel, be sure to add your wrap verbals now and not go verbals (especially when starting each rep). We will want go to mean a big straight line, so the wraps are more useful here.
>> I want to do this activity next time in a greater space so that we can add some turn and burn at the end.>>
Definitely yes, it will be fun to move this to a bigger space! Be ready for her to find a new gear of speed!!
Serps – these are going well and your form is definitely looking better!
A couple of ideas for you:– She is having a little anticipation of the release coinciding with your hand coming up, so the easiest way to help her out there is to have your arm up in serp position as you move away from her and as you start moving through the serp, long before the release. That way you are showing good info and she is releasing on the verbal and not the hand movement.
Do that as well on the threadles (arm up as you are moving into position), so the arm up does not coincide with the release.
>>.When we switched sides at 1:14 I did not look at my hand and JJ didn’t either Same thing at 1:33 and then almost again at 1:50.>>
These were actually all moments when she thought the release was the hand motion, so she was moving before you were cuing. So it was not as much a matter of looking at your hand, it was more that she needed clarification on what the release was.
Looking at the threadle videos:
These are going well too!
>> Should we try this with the other hand, or continue with the same hand used for the serps?>>
That is handler’s preference (which arm to use :)) Personally, I teach the dog both: for the more intuitive, flowing threadles, it is very easy to use the same side hand like serps. For the harder threadles, like the ones in AKC Premier, the opposite hand helps a LOT. So, I show both styles to my dogs and use them as needed 🙂 depending on the course design.
>> When we switched sides, I had a hard time getting JJ to go over the jump. I tried a lot of different things on the end of this clip as you>>
On the first side, she had to turn to her right to go back out over the jump: easy peasy! On the second side, she had to turn to her left to go out over the jump: MUCH harder (and also, not surprising :))
So she was trying but couldn’t quite do it: you can keep rewarding the effort, and resist temptation to mark it with an oopsie – that is a negative punisher (along with withholding reinforcement) and can be stressful/frustrating for an adolescent dog who is trying hard (plus it is entirely possible the adolescent brain is telling them that they nailed it! LOL!)
If you see her asking a question or not fully getting the behavior especially on a left turn – keep rewarding, and keep making adjustments. I think angling the jump was a good adjustment, and angling her start position was a GREAT adjustment! The other suggestions are to get closer to the jump in your position, and change the angle of the MM so it is glaringly obvious to go over the bump to get to it (center of the bump might be the best spot).
Rewarding for the effort even if it is not the exact behavior is the same as shaping with successive approximations, and it will keep her in the game as you adjust things to get the exact behavior.
Great job here!!! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>>I don’t consider our stay reliable enough to use it in a session yet. And I don’t want to ruin it or grey it, so I’m still tossing the cookie.>>
You were very methodical about showing it to her! The stay will be ready soon, if it fine to keep using the cookie toss 🙂
Looking at the first video:
OMG also a great song!!! Bridge Over Troubled Water, one of my all-time favorites!!!Nice work with the serp!
>>I find I still need to get my hand Really low, basically shin height.>>
Since she is so tiny, we can start to get you standing more (now that we have faded out the need to actually touch your hand). So you can be more upright and think of the serp arm as a little dipped towards her but now can be way above her nose level.
2nd video added motion and went really well (also a great song LOL! Loving the soundtrack to your videos!) On this, start to stand up more too, and as you move, just kind of dip your shoulder down and look at your hand, but no need to bend over nearly as much anymore. This will really help you add more movement because it will be easier to move if you don’t have to bend over as much.
One detail – you can put the MM more on her exit line, which is on the landing side of the jump. It was more on the takeoff side here which made it harder to get to the reward.>>I may be a bit out of position in these, need to be farther down the exit wing?>>
I thought your were good! You can be closer to the exit wing if you want, but you do want her to see you between the uprights a bit.
>>Also I noticed myself following through with my arm to the MM. I think we’re not supposed to do that. But as I move down the line it just naturally happens as I would do a Serp in a sequence?>>
Correct, keep your arm back/shoulders open until she gets to the MM. On a sequence/course, you would actually hold the serp position that long as you move, because the MM signifies where the next jump would be – and if you close your shoulders too early, she won’t always find the next jump. So it is good human practice to keep your shoulders open.
>>She had a really good time in our sessions and in between the last few days. She’s been offering all sorts of stuff, even doing figure eights on the one jump wings as I reset the MM.>>
So cute! She is loving the game!
>>Now that I’m understanding more about Excitement Barking, we’re doing much better with it. I’m changing up the routine and using music. But even outside for swimming or ball we’re doing better. She’s still barking but we’ve started a little routine for it and it seems to be working for both of us, without curbing her enthusiasm.>>
Yay! Barking is communication – so we take note and carry on 🙂
>.I’m working with it instead of against it in training sessions, using your tips and suggestions. And you know what? She’s doing it less and less. We’re both happier, getting more done and, with better results. I now use the clicker, unless it bothers others, instead of the Yip which also is giving us better results.>>
I love this! You are listening to her communication, clarifying things, so she feels less need to talk about it LOL!
>>For the threadle, I don’t think she really knows the “name” yet. But she is coming in and going out like she should. So I can start moving on that too?>>
Yes, if you are getting success, you can totally add motion now.
>>It’s now in the 113 degree range here, next week 118 degrees.
WOW that is hot!
>>So around sundown I let her get in the pool then did some tunnel training in the only full shade in the yard. She did well and was so happy didn’t want to come in. >>
Yep, pre-dawn and post-sunset will be the outdoor training times. I am currently in the pre-dawn mode, because even though the temperatures are not terrible, the humidity makes it brutal to try to run. So, 5:30am training it is! Even the evenings can be too hot and humid lately. And, I can still film as the sun is coming up without baking the devices (the other class this summer, CAMP, requires course work demos so there is a lot of running and filming).
>>She now only wants her toy for the tunnel instead of the MM, that’s ok?>>
Yes, that is fine 🙂 And it sounds like she is ready for the advanced threadle stuff too!
>>And Most of All thank you for helping me to become a better trainer!>>
You are doing a wonderful job 🙂 Thank YOU for asking the questions, and approaching all of the training with honesty and clarity!!!!!!
Tracy
Good morning! Excellent music choice – love Billy Joel! I also use music to time my sessions, because each song is less than 3 minutes. So, I turn on a song, train, and be finished before the song is finished 🙂
I agree, the Minny Pinny went really well! She turned beautifully in both directions, you had great reward placement, she is using her body really well. You are totally doing it right! You can add a bit of countermotion now, in the form of a front cross – if she starts on your right, for example, you send her around to her left. And when she starts it, you do a FC to your right and move the opposite direction (it is on the demo video in case my words make no sense LOL!)
>>I tried to set it up like you had it in the video for your small dog. Bars slide onto the 4 inch slot so they don’t move.>>
She is a little younger than my small dog was at the time, and definitely smaller (that dog was about 14″ tall at the time). So the distance between the bars was good! The bars might be a little too high for her age – if you can get to a dollar store or walmart, you can grab some pool noodles and slice them in half, lengthwise – and those will be good bumps to use for now. She is a little over 6 months now, yes? So we do want to wait a few more months before jumping starts.
>>My rough slate floor is pretty non-slip.>>
Since it is so hot there, either late night training on grass can work, or you can get a big cheap rug with decent length to put under the minny pinny – she was not slipping here but she might if she starts wanting to go faster.
Great job!
TracyGood morning!
Great job here – all of the sessions look good and he is ready for the next level of all the things 🙂 Here are some specifics:
Video 1:
Very very nice work here with the verbals! And his commitment is looking really strong – you had FCs going and also spins too – he read them both really well. You can add on the race tracks, where he is goin around the outside (no crosses) to get even more speed going.Depending on the weather, take him outside to work this on the grass – he was slipping a little on the carpet because he wants to go faster!
He really only had one question here and on the left/right minny pinny – it was at the start of each rep. You can line him up with connection before the first send, those were the only parts where he was not as sure about where to be.
He also understands “ready” and wants to start without you LOL!! You can line him up at your side with a cookie so he gives you a heartbeat to be ready LOL!! I love his enthusiasm!!
The left/right minny pinny looked great on the 2nd video – again, his commitment is super strong and he seems to really enjoy it LOL!!! You did a great job with your placement of reinforcement.
With this game, you can repeat the verbals (“riiight riiight riiight” fr example) because he is doing the turn 3 times, so you can name it 3 times.
He also looks to be ready for you to add a little countermotion by doing a FC and moving the other way as he is finshnig the left or right – so if he starts on your left, he is going to his right and you will be doing a FC and be moving to your left.Nice job getting him to turn his head away on the head turns/360s! You will both have an easier time of it if you use the dog side hand to start – for example look at 1:34 to 1:39: he was on your left side, so you sent him around using your left hand, then you turned his head away uring your left hand too. Perfect! It was very easy for him to get that head turn. YAY!!! It was harder to get it when you were using the opposite hand, so definitely keep using the same side hand.
He is ready for you to go to the advanced level here, with you moving forward as he does the circle wrap/360.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
