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Hi!
>You were talking about visualization. I have been using it since your Mental Management class in 2019. However, I have been really focusing on it since this April and it has helped me find the flow of a course as I visualize actually running the course with Mookie. A judge saw me in the hall as I did the visualization dance and then said to me “I know what you are doing

and I do it all the time “. We went on to nail the run the judge saw me visualizing >>This is so cool!!!!! And having the judge affirm it must have felt very supportive. I love it!!!!

>>As for Boundaries: I have been ignoring any training advise to not reward the dog unless the exercise is done perfectly.>>That is a great application of boundaries – you can simply ignore it, because it is about YOUR behavior and not their behavior. You don’t need to argue or discuss – just do what is best for your dogs 🙂

>>Obedience is mostly where people want perfect or the dog doesn’t get paid. Mookie knows that if he even tries he gets paid >>In any sport, the dog being perfect is contingent on US being perfect in our handling and cues. And since that is rare LOL we can totally reward the dog for their effort and being as perfect as possible with the info we are giving them.

>>He seems more relaxed in class that way >>He is not frustrated, probably. He understands that there is reward and he can keep trying – he trusts you!

>>As for Outcome Goals: I am putting my Big One for me out there. MACH Mookie by the end of this year:) There I actually posted it >>I think the MACH is an excellent outcome goal! You might want to take the pressure of “by the end of the year” off because you have on control over the timeline: if there are weather cancellations, or a pandemic, etc – if crazy things happen and you get the MACH in 2024? You have still accomplished an amazing outcome goal.

>> A good friend at trials told me to just chip away and it will come. I liked that advice >>Great advice: keep working your performance and the MACH will fall into your lap 🙂
So thinking back to the Miracle Question in the reading for this week… you wake up and you have achieved the MACH. How do you feel? What did you do to get there? That is where you start your performance and process goal setting.

>>And that Mookie will be included in our club’s obedience Interclub Competition doing UTILITY. He was in the competition last year doing Open and we nailed it >>That sounds so fun! What is needed to be included?

Your performance and process goals all sound good! And of course you can add or adjust as you move through them.Have fun!
TracyHi!
>>You out did yourself in challenges in week two std 2 lol!! >>You’re welcome!
😂 😝 😂 >>Had two cappuccino ice creams yesterday! Oh my goodness! A coffee lovers dream

That sounds SO YUMMY! I was hoping there would be enough variety in flavors that you would get to have some all to yourself 🙂The pieces you worked on went really well here – they are incredibly challenging!!
On the first rep, with the off course tunnel – she subscribes to the Voodoo Sklenar Tunnel Rule which is he will go to the tunnel he is looking at when I say tunnel, regardless of my position. So my rule is to make sure he is looking the correct direction before I cue a tunnel 🙂 That is same for Promise: She was looking at the other tunnel, you said tunnel, off she went. Good girl! The threadle arm got her head turned and got the correct direction. I think if you give her a name call as she exits 2 and is on the fwayto 3, you will get the perfect turn.
The 5-6-7-8-9-10 line is easy… except for having to get her into the weaves LOL!!! The trick to this line is to send her all the way to 6 and then layer the 5 jump and the unnumbered jump so you can be up at 9-10 before she gets off the a-frame – then you can do a FC there (probably easier to connect with than the blind – your blind at 1:10 did have great connection!). And then from 9, you can send to 10 and easily get around the dog walk. It is all easier if you can do the big layer. But because it is such a hard layer, 2 ideas for you:
– you can put the manners minder out past the frame so she stays on the frame even with you at a massive distance– You can teach her the layer by taking the bars out of the 5 jump and the other jump, and you start the distance element by running through the uprights. Then when she is happy with that, you can run outside the wings, then add the bar back.
The visuals of the DW and the double tunnel made her head explode a bit, lots of bars, lots to process. You can lock them in to the jump cups if your bars are hollow, so you and Promise don’t need to worry about the bars at all, only the insane lines 🙂
And yes, keep training that weave entry so eventually she can do it on a verbal – the more she expects that the weaves will be out there somewhere after a big layering moment, the easier it will be for her to look for them.
>>Again I cheated with the course setup for the weaves. I moved two sets further down making it an easier layer for her so when she curls into me she hasn’t bypassed the entry yet.>>
That isn’t cheating, that is good training!
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyOr, you can pretend it is gamblers and you still get points if you keep going! Wheeee! The other option is to reward yourself with something every time you keep going after an error. Reinforcement builds behavior!
Tracy
Hi! I agree, this went well! He was doing a great job of looking at his lines!!
>>You can see me pushing on his line so hard I push him out of camera range! >>
The convergence was more than he needed so he was a little wide there 🙂 You can run more of a parallel line to the jump behind the tunnel and cue it with the outside arm and lots of connection (your running line at :26 was good!) and say the out verbals before he takes off for the previous jump. If he sees and hears the cue before he lands, he will have an easier time finding the jump.
Also, I think some of his wideness was lack of connection when you were looking forward, so he was drifting a little wide to see your face and get more info there.
>>>>When we changed direction, we had the same head check thing.>>
Yes, it was visible on the left turn exits – Be sure to tell him here to go on the tunnel exit before he enters (like at :12, you were more timely with the cue to carryon to the jump) or he will come out looking at you like at :33 and :50 when the cues started while he was in the tunnel or when he had exited. If you can start cuing the line when he is still 6 feet before the tunnel entry, you will get less had checking on the exit.
The full sequence looked good He found that tunnel entry really nicely! And did at beautiful job with the bars at 16” at the end! Very nice!
Fingers crossed for good weather so you can play on the big course! Great job here!
TracyBehind the tunnel will be great! And the tech can be challenging at first, but I told all the zoom gremlins to stay home tomorrow so it will work perfectly 🙂
Hi!
I was out at 6am this morning and it was fine til about 8am…. Then it was gross! I think tomorrow night should be fine – it is 6:30pm here and already cooling down nicely and the dogs are galloping around outside.
>>Can you explain to me again why I can’t use just one “wrap” verbal for either direction. That would sure make my poor pea brain hurt less. Wouldn’t a single wrap verbal and direction of motion send him in the right direction?>>
You don’t have a pea brain! You have a “new to all these damn verbals” brain LOL!!! The reason is that direction of motion cannot be relied on anymore past the novice levels – courses are really big, we get behind too far, and there is a lot of distance and layering work happening. So the dogs are much happier with the verbals so they don’t need to see us (which is great, because we won’t be there anyway in a lot of cases :)) We are getting happier dogs that are faster and more independent. It is worth the extra brain power needed at this stage – and yes, walking it a lot and practicing it will help it get solidified. I think you did a great job with the verbals here!
The videos looked great! I was laughing so hard at his extra judgey face at the beginning when you were doing the ready dance. LOL!! It cracked me up.
His commitment is looking really good! He is sending forward really well and also doing brilliantly with the backwards sending! And the soft turn racetracks looked great too! And you kept the session super short – it is amazing how hot it gets with the humidity especially with the running and tugging!!!
He had the little blooper at the end partially because yes, you stepped back a little early but mainly because you said “yay!” So he was coming back to the get the toy (which he did a great job ignoring :)) So try not to say Yay (it is hard!!)
On the 2nd video – this also went really well! And he liked those little noises at the 2:00 mark – so fun!
That got him pumped up to finish strong, I know you were probably both hot! You ended it at a perfect time.Just about all of this commitments looked great, so you can add to them a little more:
As he is catching up to you, you can decelerate sooner and start rotated as he is passing you, which means you will send him to the next wing with the backwards send (arm, leg, looking at the wing). You were sending forward then rotating as he was past you, so now this will be one or two steps sooner and the “new” arm will do the send. It is very much like the backwards send you are starting with, but now you are coming into it at a run 🙂He only had a couple of questions on this video:
He had a little refusal at :27, he needed needed more step from the dog-side leg to the wing there. All of your other send steps looked good.At 1:02 – he was funny when he tried to grab the toy and then went to the wing (this happened once in the first video too). Was it a distraction? Was he attempting to do the easier behavior (toy grab) instead of the harder behavior (wing wrap)? Either way, he was a good boy and went to the wing then you said “yes!” So he came back to you. So be super careful of saying yes – if you saying it before he is fully committed, he is going to take it as a reward marker (because it is, whether we like it or not LOL!) and come off the line. It was not an issue when he was finishing a wrap because he could more easily keep moving through it.
Great job here! See you tomorrow!
Tracy
Hi!
You should be feeling really great about how her training is progressing! Her skills are coming together really well and most of all – she absolutely adores working with you.
I think that training young dogs in agility is really hard, especially in sequences. We have to be basically perfect, while running. Lordy! So there will be bloopers and moments of watching the video in slow motion 🙂 But it gets easier as the pups learn the game more.
>>I am really hoping that tomorrow’s live class goes well. The fireworks the last couple of nights have had her very worried. She has had a couple of times in the agility field where she heard either fire crackers or something that made her think about them and she just wanted to go back inside. Fingers crossed. Tonight is supposed to be the last night until the end of the month>>
Poor girl!! In season AND fireworks. Bleh!!! If you are outside and are surprised by a loud bang, you can go into a resilience game (pattern game) with food or toys. I always have food or frisbees with me at this time of year.
See you tomorrow!
TracyHi!
Hooray for cooler weather and wow, 9 puppies! You will be busy!!!! A short training break will probably be quite welcome here and there 🙂
I am glad she did well at 14”! Let’s stick there for a bit and then move them up again in maybe 2 weeks, depending on what happens in your schedule and how much training you can squeeze in.
The countermotion is looking good! She had to get into the groove of ignoring the toy at the beginning but then she did a great job! Well done to you for hitting all of the mechanics so precisely: verbals, arm, leg connection shift. Yay! You also added more distance and started to leave for the next direction (moveing forward) earlier and earlier and the session progressed. Really strong session! The only thing to add is your ‘strike’ marker if you can fit it in with the other verbals (it can replace “yes”).
And well done on the rep with 2 in a row! You can definitely add more of these, doing 2 or 3 in a row. And the race tracks (zipping around the outside) will be super fun for her too, she is ready for those as well.
Great job! Fingers crossed for a safe and easy delivery of 9 healthy puppies for Mazi!!
Tracy
Hi!
>>Hoke also was much slower as a youngster. I think the things we have trouble with now that he is speedy are things not trained as well as others.>>
I can relate! There are always holes in our training that we find when the dog starts going really fast 🙂
>>The zoom class you did with Bobbie B & the vet on how dogs learn was such a huge eye opener for me & changed everything I used to think about dog training. Your feedback & your instruction have supported that new understanding & shows me how to implement new training skills. It all makes so much sense. >>
I am so glad to hear this! Our goal is to take a different approach to training and get even better outcomes!
>>I see the same methods with my herding teacher although she would never think about it in the same terms. >>
She sounds like she has an intuitive gift for it. That is really wonderful!
>>Can I still access the other zoom you did at the same time about puppy brain? I would love to have that info for working with the pup. He is a handful! I am working through Max Pup 1 with him & hope to catch up if you do a small Max Pup 2.>>
Stay tuned! I am putting up a new website where people can find all of the webinars in one place! I hope to have it ready by the end of July.
The one step sends looked really good! The connection is the key: when you were connected, she was basically perfect. She is young and still checks in to see connection: note the difference in her commitment when you did the clear connection at :08 and :29 and :36 (for the wraps) and :56 (for the left turn). Gorgeous connection on all of these!
Versus when you were pointing forward at :18 (for the wrap) and :45 (for the soft left turn) – she looked at you for more info and did not commit.So definitely keep working the big connections on these – you can also add more distance between the wings and tunnel.
On the rear crosses:
These are much harder to cue!>>xI am cutting across too flat I think.>>
What was happening was that you were pulling your shoulders/feet and motion towards the right turn wing, then before she took off you were trying to get the left turn.
When you were very dramatic about it (like at :04 and :12) she didn’t commit. You moved forward more and got commitment at :18 and :25.
The other reps were also better in terms of acceleration and reward throws, but she still didn’t see enough RC info.
So to get the RC info, you can decelerate a little on the jump before the RC jump but all motion should be to the center of the bar of the RC jump until she is past you – then you can move to the other side. That RC pressure will get her to turn left more easily.
Two other things to try for the RC:
– a placed reward will help a lot, like the MM or a toy on the ground out on the left turn line
– you can also do the mirror image and try the rear cross to her right. She might be a righty so trying to teach rear crosses was too hard to her left.Great job here!! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!!
>>It’s so hard to remember to connect ALL THE TIME. I suspected that was part of our problem.
Totally agree, it is the hardest part about young dog handling! It gets easier as they learn the game better and don’t rely on us being perfect 🙂
You can already see that happening here! She is looking for the wings nd not needing to look at you as much (at least not directly – she is totally paying attention!). This was a super nice session! The wraps looked great and you did a lovely job of staying in motion when you needed the 2 wings in a row. You were a little late on the FC at the beginning (probably making sure she had the commitment) and then by the end of the session, your FC timing was so much better! Nice! And your overall connection was much clearer 🙂
>>So, how I am I going to keep up with this girl!>>
You don’t need to keep up or out run her, you just need to tell her where to go, send her on her way there, and meet her elsewhere on the course 🙂 Verbals, distance, and commitment will make handling her smooth and fun!
We have a new batch of wing games coming tomorrow – she is definitely ready for those. Great job here!!
Tracy
Hi!
The 10 and 12 inch bars looked good – definitely add in some jump grids where you are using the moving target/dragging toy so she can organize at 12 and 14 with you moving.
And for upcoming handling sequences – do them mostly at 10, with some easier bars (straight line or wrap) at 12” and we will see what she thinks!
The pool swimming is SO CUTE!!!!!!!!! Looks like a nice cool way to end a session 🙂
T
Hi!
His commitment is looking really good on the wings here and you got all the verbals out too! Yay!
On some of the reps you were sending with the arm across the body, on some you were rotating early and sending with the ‘new’ arm. For this game, try to be rotated before he is passing you and sending with the new arm like at :16, :25, :36 for example. That will really expand his commitment and you will be able to move up a line even faster!
Racetracks looks fabulous! FUN!When you combined the racetracks and wraps – nice job with the verbals and connections! One detail on this: earlier timing when you go from the race track to the wrap. As he is exiting the wing before a wrap wing, he should already know the next wing is a wrap (verbal, decel, then rotation like he saw when you were doing the warp-only section).
For example, when he was coming around the wing at 1:06, and you had said right… then at 1:07 he arrived at the next wing and you started the wrap cue. He responded as soon as he heard it, but that resulted in a wide turn. The same timing happened at 1:22 and 1:37, and you were facing forward as you turned (more of a post turn than a FC) so he had questions there.
His only other question was a little refusal at 1:09 – things were happening VERY FAST and you didn’t look behind you as you sent him to the wing and tried to move forward. I love that you were already rotated and moving the new direction, so add the looking at the wing behind you as you send him, and it will be perfect!
Great job on all of these! Let me know what you think!Tracy
Hi!
I thought this went really well!!!!Go line – he is doing well here! You can throw the reward sooner and keep accelerating til he gets to the toy so he doesn’t see you decel or look at you.
Wrap – a little more patience needed here on the first rep 🙂 You were a bit too soon on the rotation at :14 (you started rotating as he landed from the previous jump). Compare to the next rep at :21 where you stared decelerating as he landed from the previous jump but didn’t rotate til he was looking at and collecting for the wrap 🙂 Perfect!!!
I think you might be too polite on the RCs 🙂 You can totally get right on his tail on the RC diagonal, so he has no questions. He turned the correct direction but dropped the bar on the full sequence rep – there was a little too much decel. You can be accelerating to the RC line until after he lands from the previous jump, then a little bit of decel as he is passing you. That can get the tight turn exit this sequence needs (or types of RCs won’t need any decel :))
The backside looked really good – it was SUPER obvious what you wanted, and so he nailed it. You might not need the outside arm when you are that close – the dog side arm can work perfectly there.
Great job!
TracyHi!
He certainly is pumped up for his teeter LOL!! Loud banging is his jam LOL!!! And he seems to really like his 2o2o position – awesome!!!
Getting on it forward looked really good. Super!
You were a bit too far away for the backing up, so he was “looking” for it with his back feet but also slipping off the side a bit. So to keep him finding it more precisely, you can put yourself about a foot from the board, so he can step back onto it (and not have a foot slip off the side at all, as that can hurt a bit).
Great job here!
Tracy
