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Hi there!!
Seq 1: Lovely! The threadle wrap was a good choice to prevent smushing Roulez on the slice exit 🙂 and it was still a relatively simple line, a common course trend lately. The handling was all connected, timely, aggressive! YEAH!
Seq 2:
The opening of the first rep was a little hard, with the bar down on 2. Strategically, being further up the line helps a lot for 3-4-5 so what I recommend is not going past the first wing of 1 (the right turn wing) so you can cue the #2 backside from the center of the bar of 2 as you move up the line (or even closer to the exit wing!) You were a little too close to the left wrap wing of 1 and definitely too close to the entry wing of the backside so got behind at :16. I know she has the skill because you did it on the next reps 🙂On the 2nd rep you did a BC on the takeoff side from the push and she was confused (didn’t take it the first time, took it the 2nd time, didn’t take it the 3rd time). I don’t think this helped the line because it made 3-4-5 a lot harder.
Aha! At :55 and 1:08 you sent to 2 from MILES away and she was perfect, and you easily got the serp 2-3! YAY!
Ideally you would turn her to her left on 4, because the right turn then the threadle made for a super complicated line that she is unlikely to see nowadays (and it will be even harder when you add the extra jump and tunnel :))
Turning to the left on 4 is an easy peasy line – so if there is not enough room, maybe move the crate over, or angle the jump a bit so you can handle the easy line and add the challenge of the other obstacles 🙂
Great job here! Onwards to adding the jump and if that goes well, add the tunnel 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
>>I will admit I’m not great at decel. For some reason, my brain has a hard time running fast and then slowing down. It’s like a very difficult try of walking and chewing gum at the same time for me. :p. I should probably go practice it without a dog.>>
You can try thinking of it differently. Rather than going fast then slowing down, think of it as leaning forward then standing up. That is a different mindset that have helped folks! If have other ideas too if that one is not helpful LOL!
Looking at the video:
>. I really tried to think of starting my blind after 3 when he was taking off for 2. I think I did better>>
YES! The blind looked really strong!!!
>>The tunnel isn’t in the right position because I had it out to train with Kaz yesterday, and I was too lazy to move it.>>
I completely relate to not wanting to move the tunnel! The problem here, though, was that the tunnel was directly on his line for the most part, so at :05 so he was 100% correct to take it. You got further up the line for the next rep, which helped him not take the tunnel but you didn’t connect so the bar came down (there is no need to stop when that happens, because you will ultimately end up doing too many reps which doesn’t help the bars).
After that you started to rush a bit, and at :24 and :38 never committed him to 2. So remember to watch his head, keep indicating 2 by moving towards it until you see him lock onto it, then move away to the blind.
>> I’m still tending to be late in my cue or in the wrong position, which still causes him to take down bars.>>
I think it is more about being reactive, meaning you are waiting to see what he will do before going to the next thing, rather than being proactive: seeing him lock onto a line then just leaving for the next thing. We will definitely be working on that this summer!
An example is at :42 – you got reactive after he landed and waited for him, tryng to adjust the turn on the flat. That made you late for 5-6-7.
So another way to think of it: be connected, watch his head. When he is looking at the #4 jump, you can stay connected but start leaving to get the 5 -6 line, rather than hanging out there to adjust his line. When he looks at the line, that is your cue to move to the next thing.
>>And I don’t really trust him to take things without my supporting them.>>
You kinda have too 🙂 If you try to support every inch of the course, you will have lovely pieces but it will be super hard to put together full runs with no errors. So, worst case scenario, you trust him and he doesn’t understand something? Cool! We can train it so you can definitely trust him in the future. I think you will be surprised by how much you can trust him!
On the 2nd video – on jump 1, you were handling it like a rear cross which can work if you step across his line. Or you can put him on your right and just send him.
On jump 2, he was fniding the backside beautifully! So the training element now is to get him to jump the bar without you having to do more than connect 🙂 so as he is passing the entry wing, you can be moving up the line to 3 but looking at the landing spot for 2… and dropping the toy. The timing of the toy drop is early, before he even takes the jump: as soon as he gets to the backside entry wing, you are looking at (and pointing to) the landing and dropping the toy. That will all help him also look at the bar and take it, without you having to stay there to help him 🙂
Great job here! I hope everything turned out well at the vet!
Tracy
Good morning!
>>Great idea about the tiny bit of food on my finger. I’ve got a tube of squeeze peanut butter but it is big and would be awkward to use. I’ll look for those little cream cheese packets, or rig up something on my own. I use a tube of anchovy paste for teeter training, but would NOT want to put that on my finger🤮>
Heck no to anchovy paste (although I would totally do it if the pup needed it LOL!!!)
>At home she always wants to be next to me in my chair or otherwise and my hand on her, or petting her.>>
This solidifies my belief that it is more of a “don’t touch me when I am intensely working” situation, which I can relate to LOL!!!! So in those wonderful moments when you are petting her and hanging out and not working, be sure to pet her around her collar, rest your hand there, etc.
>>For our collar protocol, I can now slip my thumb under her collar/pulling on her collar, with the rest of my hand on her side. She lets me move her next to my leg with that hand, even as I turn in a circle and so she moves her rear around/to the side to keep touching my leg, like pivoting her rear end around a disc while her front feet are on the disc. We’ve started to name it, ‘Come Side’. But of course we’re doing all this with her eating cheese out of my other hand.>>
This is pretty massive progress in a short amount of time! For the parts that you think are easy at this point, you can move the cheese in and out a tiny bit, so there are gaps between the eating (or a second or less) rather than continuous eating.
>>As a game itself, she lets me do it. She reacts negatively if I try to do it before a game, like the start line.>>
Arousal! Things are happening “under the hood” in terms of neurobiology. Nothing she is chooses, just biology 🙂
>>I’ll try your suggestions with a lucky mat. It’ll be fun to dance around and have her chase me. Should I try it with a tug toy?>>
Yes, you can totally try with a toy! We are basically getting her “up” by stimulating the neurobiology (the HPA axis, specifically) and the letting her neurobiology self-regulate back to baseline as much as possible with the food scatter, sniffing, etc. It is completely NOT a typical operant training game because it operates on physiology. But it is incredibly helpful! I have been doing it for a couple of years now the dogs who grew up with these games are all incredibly confident and resilient… and they are not all confident or resilient naturally/genetically!!!
Keep me posted!
TracyOh no!!!!!! I hope she is ok, I know she is getting great care ❤️
This is a GREAT time to make some lists, actually – if you have a few minutes where she is getting an X-ray or something, jot a few things down. Crabby is acceptable! I suggest this because it can be a tremendous stress-reducer to spew it all out (even if there is rage or fear or sadness) in a safe, supportive space like we have here.
>>the wrong direction so I will wait til tomorrow.
There is no wrong direction – it might just end up being a venting session and that is great, you can revise the list at any time.
Sending love and healing thoughts!!
TracyHello and welcome!!!
Yes, this mental management adventure will be filled with laughter, understanding, compassion, and things to try – we are all in the same boat, trying to wrangle our brains LOL!!!! It was really cool to hear everyone’s amazing insights!
I love your lists of things you can and cannot control. And even with the things you CAN control, sometimes we are not perfect and that is cool too – if there is a lesson, we learn it and move on. Sometimes there is no lesson, so we just move on 🙂
And thank you for the TikToks, they are HILARIOUS!!! Words to live by LOL!!! And I was watching them in the waiting area at the car service place (yes, I spend a lot of time getting in these places hahaha) and I *thought* the sound was coming through my earsbuds but nope… through the laptop speakers so the entire waiting room got to hear these words of wisdom. HAHA!!!
Enjoy 🙂
TracyGood morning!
We seem to have decent weather this week for agility!
>>I played with seq.2 last night. Watson is ready for the jump distraction so I will be adding that tonight. I will send a little video.>>
YAY WATSON!!!
>> I have a quick question about Levy’s turn. He is not as strong with the backside cue as Watson. so, in order for him to get the backside I needed to support a bit more which caused him to round jump 2 and not get jump 3. I am thinking of threadling 2 and BC 3 landing side for him to help create a better line. Your thoughts on this before I try it?>>
Trying to visualize it, might need more coffee hahaha 🙂
Do you mean leading out to the other side of 2, the takeoff side of 2, calling him to it (threadle)? I think it might be too hard to outrun Levy to the blind cross, but I might not be visualizing it correctly.Trying to outrun a whippety dog is generally a losing proposition for us humans (I have some experience with this haha) but sending to get ahead works brilliantly! So two ideas for that pesky #2 jump:
– you can angle it so that the backside wing entry is and easier line for him to find during these training stages: You can angle the jump so that the entry wing is pointing more towards the #1 jump, as much as needed so when he exits the #1 jump, the backside line is easy to see and handle, and you can still run 3-4 on your right. It might be as much as a full 90 degree change of angle for the #2 jump, or it might be just a foot or two. As he gets better at finding the backside, you can gradually angle the jump back to the original position. I can draw what I mean if it is not making sense ins writing 🙂
– you can handle 2 differently by doing a FC on 1 (right arm to left arm) and pushing to the other backside of 2 (the entry wing is the wing closer to 3) – then do a wrap front cross on the backside (left arm to right arm) so you can get the turn and keep him on your right for 3-4. It might not be quite as fast as the other line, but it will work nicely and you can work the other skills like ignoring the other obstacles nearby.
Let me know which you try and how it goes!
TracyGood morning!
Both boys did really well here – it was fun to see them both! They run pretty differently, which will definitely keep you on your toes 🙂 It was hard for me to tell them apart on the first sequence LOL!
Zane:
Sequence 1 looked really strong! The opening looked great all 3 times times, super nice blind 3-4!! And the send to 4 looked great too.With Dice, on the last run, you sent to 4 beautifully but then ran away with no connection (probably trying to get down the line to 6) so he (correctly) came through the gap to you.
About that 5-6 line with both boys:
Zane was waiting for you to give a cue to take 6 on the first run, so on the 2nd run you did a great job of driving to 6 more and giving the cue sooner.
Looking at :09 and :41 (where both had questions) versus :26 (where Zane had no questions), it was all about your line of motion. On the 2 question spots, your feet were pulling away from 6 and heading to 7, which is why he needed more info about 6. At :26, your feet were heading to 6 the whole time so he got it easily. So definitely keep your feet heading to 6 until you see his head turn to lock onto 6… then you can take off to 7 🙂>>I don’t know if it was the lotus ball in my hand on the first sequence that caused us some issue at jumps 5 and 6 or my handling.>>
Not the lotus ball LOL! He was being a good boy 🙂 And he needs a little extra support on the line because he is less experienced.
Sequence 2:
For Zane – nice adjustment on rep 2 to get the commitment to the backside: strong connection for one or two more steps was all he needed 🙂 There is a commitment plane that he needs to get to before you can turn and leave: that is a line that intersects the wing and the foot of the jump on a 45 degree angle (so he has to get relatively close to the jump t be committed). I can draw it if it is not making sense, I am a little under caffeinated 🙂
About 3-4, when he he kept taking 4 as a backside (good job staying in motion and continuing!!), two things were happening:
– your line of motion was parallel path to the backside for just enough steps to commit him to it at :14 and :27 – you pushed back in towards 3 and then ran straight for a couple of steps… BOOM! Backside commitment 🙂
– I could not hear which verbal you were using other than his name, so he either needs a directional verbal (if you were not using one) or he needs a different one (if you were using one :))
So for the line of motion, stay close to 2 and 3 until he turns his head to look at 3 – then peel away to the exit wing (outer wing) of 4). And for the verbal, start the directional when he turns his head to look at 3. Which directional? It could be a wrap verbal, if his wrap verbals are strong, because that will pull him through the gap. Or, it could be a threadle verbal to take his focus off the backside on the obvious line, to the front side (which is on the non-obvious line). In the demo video, I was using the wrap verbal because for that dog, the wrap verbal is really strong. But if you think your threadle verbal is better, try that one! There is more than one right answer 🙂
Dice was awesome! I love how he found the backside immediately!!!
>>he seemed to think that the backside on #2 was better run as a huge loop around it. >>
Yeah, baby dog moment for sure LOL! At :40 on his first rep, I think you expected he would take the jump automatically so you moved away fast. At :51 you helped more and he was like “OH WAIT I NEED TO TAKE THE JUMP” . He was a little past it when he processed the cues is he didn’t quite get it – great job carrying on. He found 4 easily and just needed you to take one more step towards 5 with connection, to show it to him.
So to help him with taking the jump at 2, you can push to the backside like you did and move away like you did in rep 2 (not as fast and with BIG connection) – and drop the toy on landing side as he comes around the wing, to remind him to take the bar as you move (the toy gets dropped before he even has a chance to finish coming around the wing, like we did in MaxPup). The backside has probably not been a priority in his training (which is great because he doesn’t need a ton of backside work yet) so he just needs a little reminder about taking the bar.
They are definitely ready for you to add the jump and then the tunnel to this!
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
>>If I start with the Raise Your Game Package, do I submit for the first sequence:
-1st rep
-second rep
-last rep
-any middle rep
Wait for feedback & then work the next one (or rework the first sequence) based on the feedback?>>You can work on more than one sequence in a session, and submit more than once sequence in a session. I definitely recommend waiting for feedback before round 2 🙂 or you can submit one sequence and wait for feedback before trying the next sequence: it totally depends on how well it went.
For example, if sequence 1 goes really well and you don’t need a lot of reps… definitely try sequence 2! But if you do a lot of reps on sequence 1, there is no need to try sequence 2 because then both you and Frankie will be too tired to get a lot accomplished 🙂Also, just because I talk about 4 reps doesn’t mean you need to do 4 reps…. if you nail it in 1 or 2 reps, you can move on to the next one.
Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
Yes, it is entirely possible that is a combination of increased speed (due to being at a trial and on bigger courses and more arousal) and decreased processing times (also due to being at a trial and on bigger courses and more arousal!). So all of it works together. And, in that higher arousal state with increased speed, she also has to process other things like her mechanics so there is less bandwidth to process cues from you! So I definitely recommend that you work her in a higher arousal state, like tugging beforehand or sending her through the tunnels a few times before the ‘real’ run.
Keep me posted!
TracyGood morning!
Thank you for the update – I am glad things went so well!!! And well done to you, for being able to switch back and forth between 3 different dogs: that is CHALLENGING!! But great practice for trials!!!I have been seeing coverage of the fires and the smoke – scary stuff! We even have some of the smoke down here in SW Virginia… hopefully we get some rain to put those fires out!!!
Tracy
Hi!
What an incredibly successful and inspiring day you had!! YEAH!!!!!!! Well done finding your successes; it is the first step to retraining your brain.
>>Super proud I did not talk myself out of this workshop because I feel not good enough. Crazy isn’t it? the workshop is all about improving the very skills I am working on and want to improve on>>
RIGHT!! It is so nutty that our inner critic tells us those things. And it was your wise advocate and wondering voice that helped you set up the email for the workshop!
>>6. Isn’t it funny how much better you feel when you take the time to organize one little thing?>>
YES! It is such a feel-good moment! And some days we don’t organize things and that is ok too 🙂
Great job!
TracyHello and welcome! It is indeed an on-going process. I have been working on it for a while too and yet it is still AMAZING the terrible things my brain tells me sometimes LOL!!!!! We just need to keep the tools sharp 🙂 Have fun!
TracyHello and welcome!!!
Don’t worry about what happens in the ring yet. The first 2 steps will make space in your head space, and give you more bandwidth to nail the in-the-ring moments from start to finish 🙂 And we will of course be working on that too!
Tracy
