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Hi! I hope you are feeling better!
Plenty of time to catch up, so don’t push yourself. Covid can be brutal! And the Thursday live is wings and tunnel, so I bet you will be ready for it! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
I think you will find the spins to be pretty easy! The trick is to decelerate before them, do them slowly, and turn towards her like a FC – then look over your other shoulder to do the blind element.These were still blinds here where you were turning away from her – rather than tell yourself to spin, tell yourself to turn towards her (barrel 1) then towards her again (barrel 2) then look over the new shoulder after barrel 2. Try to think of it as a FC, a FC, then a blind between the 2 barrels where you look over your other shoulder. Let me know if that works better!
TracyHi!
I think she did really well here! And yes, some of the barking was probably the double whammy of using the wings for the first time AND teaching a new skill. It will be easier on the barrels especially on the left turns.
The right turns look good!
Left turns are going well – they are a little harder for sure, so two ideas for you: don’t send her til she is at your side and ready, and stand still longer til she gets all the way around. You were moving a bit too early, so she was not sure if she should finish the left turn or come back to the right.>>So in light of her Right preference should I teach her only Right until we have that down? Or do both sides at the same time?>>
Do both in each session 🙂
>>And the biting my hand I think happens when she doesn’t have enough toy to grab onto.>>
Could be that, or she was frstrated here, so be sure to have her ready before you send and be patient so she can finish the full loop.
Nice work!
TracyHi!
>>BTW. Last weekend my two oldest dogs Both got MACHs. So Sureal, two MACH’s a day apart🤪>>
Wow, that is awesome!!!! Congrats! I hope that means you got TWO cakes and not just one MACH cake!
>>Although we seemed successful, making eye connect feels hard..maybe because she’s so far down?>>
I find it a lot harder to get connection with small dogs because yes, they are so low! Soooooo much harder to see. She said she saw enough connection – she never got mad or got spicy, and she was great with finding the barrels. But the reason it felt hard, I think, was that you were doing regular blinds (turning away from her) rather than spins (FC-BC combos).
>>Also I noticed on some BC spins I’m not getting my shoulders all the way around to reward with the off arm. I do think that makes it very clear for her.
The regular blinds are harder to finish quickly on a barrel, so that might be why it felt harder (because it is harder :))
>>Last weekend I found myself walking courses and practicing BCs coming all the way around with the off arm. Not sure I ran them that way in the moment, but I remember attempting to make that connection as we completed them. I need to get more fluid and make it second nature.>>
Yay! That is great!! Keep practicing and the connection will get very comfy 🙂
Video 1 (Warm up): Nice connection and timing and verbals on the FCs here! The only thing I will bug you about is switching the toy from hand to hand… it delays the cue (because you are switching it when you should be giving the next cue) and it can draw her attention up to your hands when we want her looking at the barrel. So either leave it in one hand, or put it in your pocket 🙂
Video 2 (spins): She really likes her barrels and has great commitment!! You can definitely trade the toy for a treat – she finds that very easy to do and it does not diminish her toy drive.
You did these as regular blinds (turning away from her) rather than as a spin (FCing towards her then doing the blind). That went well, but the regular blinds are harder to finish on a barrel so you can try walking through the spins (FC – BC) without her and see if it feels easier to get the connection.Video 3 (FC – spin) – very nice FC then the regular blinds were nice! You will need more room between the barrels so you can be moving more, so they feel smooth. Spins don’t need as much room but the blinds need plenty 🙂
Video 4 (combo) – Fc to blind to turn and burn – very nice (and yes you did a blind instead of a spin on these too :)) The FC and Turn and Burn are looking great!!!
Video 5 (redo) – also really good, going the other direction!!!
Note how she no longer seems to do better on one side or the other – both sides are pretty equal and that is great! Plus she seems super happy to do her barrel games 🙂 before the next session, try to rehearse some of the FC-BC spins without her, to convince your muscle memory to do them with her. Your connection looks great and your verbals are going well too!!!
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHello there!
Thanks for the Bumps video – He seems to find this to be a very easy game 🙂 Definitely plan your verbals before you start 🙂 You can also help isolate the verbals by gently holding his collar say the verbal 2 or 3 times… then let him go while you keep saying the verbals. That way he hears the verbals separately from motion and will learn then faster 🙂
Rocking horse 1:
>>I could NOT stop switching the toy in my hands. It is just so automatic for me!>>Because it is an important human mechanic, you can practice without him so your brain can multitask less – just practice doing the moves slowly and making sure you don’t switch hands. When you practice with him, put the toy in your pocket so you can be on time and not do anything with the toy that might cause him to look up.
He did really well with this outside and with different barrels and bigger distance! Yes, there was one moment when he choked a bit, which caused the rhythm to get off a bit. The rest looked really strong!
Rocking horse 2:
>> I did remember to not switch the toy hand to hand but wow that took a LOT of my brain power to overcome. >>
Yep! The multitasking struggle is real!!
>>Seriously how do I even survive and have a tough job juggling lots of stuff and yet can barely stop myself from moving a ball to my other hand!!! LOL!!!!>>
My guess is the tasks at your job are well-rehearsed 🙂 And you don’t have to also be watching a puppy for commitment LOL!
>> I do not like my positioning when heading to the barrels – I think I was really blocking his path, yes??>>
Yes, you were overhelping a little so he had to go around you. Also, because your brain was working really hard to NOT move the toy, your connection back to him was not as clear so he was drifting a bit wide, trying to figure out which side to be on. Remember to add in your dog-side arm pointing back to him, so he could see the connection. You were looking at him, but he couldn’t really see it because your arm was at your side (which blocks connection).
So, to get the connection, you can give your brain a break from the multi-tasking and put the toy in your pocket so you can focus on pointing your hand to your nose 🙂 His commitment looks great so it is good info from him that the connection was not as clear.
He did well sitting on the grass. The best stays were when you moved away then released him. Try not to go back and hand him a cookie – he either gets up to meet your hand, or leaves the stay right after the delivery. So, release forward or throw a treat back, so the stay is rewarded with a release and there are no grey moments (the broken stays are obvious before and after you go to him to deliver a treat, but also watch his front feet and you can see him tapping them or lifting them when you go in to deliver a treat on a lot of the reps there too!)
Great job here! And excellent work being diligent with the timer : )
Tracy
Hi!
She did really well here in a new environment! Things happen really fast with this game so your instinct to just toss the toy when something went wrong was spot on! And her tugging looked great!Her commitment also looked great! The race track of staying out around the outside of the wings was pretty much perfect. Yay!
The FC wraps were super strong! As you are sending her behind you, you can add in looking behind you to the ‘landing spot’ if there was a bar there – that will make it easier as you add the next level of challenge (which she is ready for): as she is exiting the wrap, you can be decelerating and starting your rotation even sooner, so as she is passing you – you are already turned and ready to move the other way. That is a lot of countermotion, so looking behind you to the wing as you send her to it will really help support commitment 🙂 If she doesn’t go to the wing, chances are you are looking at her and not the wing 🙂
Great job here! Keep me posted on how she does with the earlier rotation!
TracyHi! Lots of good work here, and great info from the dogs about what helps them find the lines!
Looking at the sequences:
Kip seq 1 – he reads turns well when you are lateral and will stay on a parallel extension line when you are accelerating, and this in an example – you can be more lateral by sending to 2 and leaving as soon as he looks at it, rather than driving to 2 then moving away. That lateral motion will automatically tighten his turn 2-3.
On the serp line, 5-6, more connection on the serp jump will help a lot too: your shoulders can be facing the bar at 5 and then when he lands you can be decelerating. As soon as he looks at 6 – you can move away to 7. There was not quite enough connection on the first rep so he didn’t turn away to 6, and then you had a lot of acceleration on the 2nd rep so he was wide at 6.
Emmie:
You were more lateral and earlier with it 1-2-3, so her turn was really nice at 2 – nice blinds!!!!You had a bit of a wipe out at 5-6 – it was from trying to go from big acceleration to a big decel. Ouch!!! So try to be more gradual on the decel, so as she is jumping 5 you are already beginning the decel. Adding more connection on the serp will make that easier: As she exits 4 and is approaching 5, your shoulders should be facing the bar (center of chest to center of bar here) so she looks to turn to 6 and not looking at you (at :53 for example she was jumping straight towards you because your shoulders were forward).
VERY nice early decel to get a nice turn at 6!!!Kip seq 2:
You had a little too much parallel line acceleration towards the entry wing of backside 2, so he went wide there (matching the acceleration and parallel line) – he doesn’t need as much help to the backside 🙂 (1:01)
You can add more decel into his turn at 4 – no need to do as much acceleration to get up the line, because then he doesn’t see as much of the decel cue which is what puts him into collection. The rest looked really good!Emmie seq 2: As with Kip, she doesn’t need quite as much acceleration to the entry wing at 2 🙂 She also went wide there.
She had a question about the 3-4 line on the first rep – you were facing forward at 1:22, almost into the gap to the backside. so she was not sure. You can use your wrap cue for 3 (starting when she has landed from 2 and looks at 3) and then move away to 4. She will follow your motion so you won’t need any threadley cues. It was really nice at 1:32! Leaving the 2-3 line sooner will allow you to decel sooner for 4 to set up the collection – you don’t need to get to the wing of 4, you can decel and send to it.
Adding the jump:
Seq 1 Kip – You were more lateral and sooner with showing the lateral motion so you got a great turn on 2-3!!! The turn at 4 was great too!Seq 2 Kip with jump: He appeared to not look at the added jump at all! Yay!
As you work the turn cues, watch his head: he will give you permission to leave when he sees the line 🙂 You were a bit sideways in your motion and pulling off at 2:03, so he never committed to 4 (never looked at it, so you can keep moving towards it til you seem him look at it.
You got the commitment at 2:17 with a better line forward to commit him – you can add decel as you move forward so you can a tighter turn too!Emmie
Seq 1: very nice line 2-3! The added jump was a harder visual for her (less experienced than Kip) – it seemed like she looked at it a little bit and was a little wider 2-3. The rest was lovely!Seq 2: This went well – looking at timing:
when she looks at 3 after landing from 2, you can start your wrap verbal and move to 4 so you have more time to decel and set the turn there, rather than accelerate more. So for her, the sweet spot to get the timing and the turn is more about leaving sooner so you can decel to set the turn, rather than running harder to each line.Seq 3: Kip
I think the FC will probably be better than the BC 2-3, because you can decel into it and not accelerate into it. Same with 4 -decelerate into the BC, so the send to the FC there has a little less forward push to it, to get the turn a little tighter.Emmie: On the first rep, the FC 2-3 went well, and the FC on 4 went well too! Super!
I thought the timing was even better on the FC 2-3 at 3:50! She dropped the bar of 2 though – after watching it a few times, I think the layering of the 3 jump as you started that caused you to have to move too far forward to 2 so she set up a bigger slice, which made the info late even though the FC was good – the position and motion cues of running towards 3 were what were late, not the actual decel/FC rotation.
Tunnel added:
Seq 1 Kip perfect! He didn’t seem to look at it at all! Yay!Seq 2: Note your starting line here when pushing to the #2 backside at 4:16 and 4:29 – you moved to the center of the bar rather than accelerated to the entry wing. and note how he was very tight to the entry wing!!! He didn’t have any of the extra yardage we saw in the earlier sequences when you accelerated to much to the entry wing. NICE!!!
He got the off course tunnel at 4:21 – he only saw notion and not connection as he was coming around the wrap wing of 4, your head was turned but your dog-side arm was forward (instead of pointed back to him) which hid the connection so he stayed on the line to he tunnel because he could not see the connection to your left side. 4:33 you mad a BIG connection, arm back, worked great! You can split the difference now: be moving up the the line like you did in the irst rep, but use that very clear connection you had in the 2nd rep 🙂
I love how you always reward!! That is SO IMPORTANT!!!!
Emmie seq 1:
She ended up in the tunnel after 3 – it looks like she read your backward motion at 4:48 as a tunnel cue, almost like a ‘pull and flick’ to the tunnel (if you watch it in slow motion you will see yourself move backwards – backwards motion reads the same as forward motion to dogs). Compare to the next rep: you did not move backwards an 4:59 and she did not look at the tunnel 🙂 Yay!Emmie Seq 2: Also super nice backside line on the opening!! You being laterally away from the line really helps both of them! You rotated a bit too soon at 5:14. Very nice FC on 4 second ime!
Kip seq 3:
Nice blind in the opening and GREAT cues to exit the tunnel!!! That was a great turn!You can wait for him more at 4, no need to go past it or between the wings- that caused you to be late getting back to the BC 5-6 so he was wide there.
You can decel more into the FC so you can get the collection and connection without being stuck at the jump there (which got the backside of the next jump when you waited there too long on this rep and again at the very end of the session).
You had a little too much motion at 6:22 so he ended up in the off course – not enough connection and too much motion 🙂 The arm back to his nose as you make biiiiig eye contact will allow you to get the turn and keep moving!
Emmie 3: Her tunnel exit also looked good! Super! Like with Kip, you can stay further from 4so you can get the BC on time 5-6. I think the FC might work better there for both dogs because it turns your feet to the 6 jump sooner.
Nice connection and verbals at 6:02 for 7-8! YAY!!
So overall themes that have emerged for both dogs:
– use more lateral motion on those softer turns and backside sends, rather than acceleration towards their line
– decelerate into the tight turns then make a massive arm-back (pointing at their noses 🙂 ) connection so you can get the turn as you move away.
– watch their heads for when the lock onto a jump or line: that is your permission to move to the next spot on course 🙂Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! Glad you are back from that crazy drive!!
The coursework went well here!!! Looking at it in sections:
The opening 1-2-3-4- 5-6-7 looked really strong on both runs (I don’t know what he was looking for after the DW on round 2, maybe he thought you tossed a treat?)
A theme for this course is “be careful which verbals you use, because he really listens” 🙂
You can see this in a couple of different spots, and the 8-9-10 line is the first one. As you were cuing the 10 tunnel, you were saying “over” and “go”, both of which are ‘forward’ cues that will keep him on his left lead there (and caused the dropped bar at :35 when he tried to adjust in the air) and we need to him to move to his right lead to find 10. A ‘get out’ cue will work better, along with more convergence towards his line (like you did at 2:12, that totally helped!
After the 10 tunnel, I don’t think you needed to call his name at all – it got too much attention on you. On the first rep there (:36), he moved towards you then had to go back out). At 2:14 you called him harder and he said “COMING MOM!” and ended up on the off course jump behind you. He was not looking at the teeter at any point, so you can probably just say “go” before he enters the tunnel and then “jump” as he exits. Your line of motion was really good, so you can trust him to follow it.
On the first rep, he went back to the tunnel after 12 (:40) – as he was jumping 12 you were moving forward to the off course tunnel and said “over”, good boy Spot! The “here” happened just before he got into the tunnel. Ideally, you would see him look at 12 after he landed from 11, and move away that early – that is more like what you did at 2:22, but he has really great commitment so you can try to leave to head to 13 even earlier. At :51 you were too far away from 12, so he never looked at it. 2>22 was the best rep in that section!
LOVELY job with the 13-14-15 section! Great send to blind!!!
>.Anyway, the jump before the frame came down a lot as you’ll see. Not sure you can hear, but I was using my wrap cue, but I’m guessing I was too late repeatedly. Do you see anything else on that part?>>
This was the other example of be careful of your verbals 🙂 As he was landing from 15, you were sending him to 16 with a “Go Over” cue, which cues extension. A 1:11, the wrap cue started after landing so he had a wide turn. At 2:29 and 3:02 you started the wrap cue as he was jumping so he tried to adjust, but couldn’t keep the bar up.
So, as you finish the blind, start to decelerate and use your wrap cue to commit him (don’t say go or over) and I bet he nails it with a great turn and keeping the bar up!
Good job adding the connection to get he backside after the frame! That line needs a lot of connection especially on a wingless jump,
Very nice ending line on the first run! Gorgeous!!!!
On the 2nd rep there, I think you pulled too much towards he frame to set up the RC, and that ended up putting you behind him for 21, so he was not as sure of the line (2:37 versus 1:31). Plus, as you mentioned, running at 8000 feet is HARD – I personally would be barely able to walk LOL – so it was hard to power up the line to show it to him AND try to breathe.One other difference between the first run and the 2nd run there:
on the first rep at 21, you were a lot more connected, with your arm down at 1:31. Compare to 2:39 where you were looking ahead with your arm up, which rotates your shoulders to the tunnel. That moment when you lifted your arm was when he turned to look at you. Let’s say it was your brain trying to breathe and not thinking about connection as much!!You kept that arm down on the last rep through there and he found the line very nicely! So sending him ahead of you requires a lot of connection, so remember to keep the arm down for those.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
The threadle slice is hard for sure, but she was doing well! The threadle wrap is a new skill and potentially she is a righty and needed to do it turning left here, which makes it a lot harder!I think sequence 1 went REALLY well!!!
As you keep working up the Look Look threadle slice, the next step is to try to be moving the whole time, even if it is slow walking, traveling directly forward. That way you can continue moving up the line and she responds to your feet and upper body cues.
Since we were talking about watching their heads to receive the cue from the dog about when you can move to the next cue:
when you do 1-2-3 and give the turn cue between 1 and 2 – keep calling her til you get a head turn off the wrong side of 3 – she doesn’t need to look at you, just needs to turn her head: then you can start the look look cue. You said ‘right’ once on the first one and I don’t think it broke through to override the motion. So you can keep saying ‘right right right right’ or you can use a name SPRITE LOUISE (if that is her middle name hahaha)That will help you be able to keep moving through the threadle so you eventually can juts keep running through it!
VERY nice timing of leaving 3 at :51 and 1:14 to go get the BC 4-5!!!! Perfect!
You mentioned during the live class that 7-8-9 would be hard for her and indeed it was! She read the 8-9 like a parallel path backside line, which is fine 🙂
You can give her a soft turn cue (verbal and brake arm) which is what you did on the last rep when she found the line really well – you started the brake arm on time (I am pretty sure she saw your outside arm come up, you can make it more obvious) and then you did say right – that can come sooner, as it sounded like it was over the 8 jump. As soon as she lands from 7, you can be saying your right verbal with the brake arm to get collection before takeoff.2nd video: Good job breaking down the threadle wrap, it is new for her and you basically had to slow her down and be like SPRITE LOOK THIS IS DIFFERENT hahaha!!
One thing I found when working the threadle wrap was that I had to really exaggerate the turn cues with the youngsters like you were doing, especially when they were turning to the harder side (which sometime did get me the wrong jump when I didn’t flip them back soon enough, oopsie, they still got rewarded LOL!) So keep doing that, even as you put it into the sequence – super exaggerated cues. It gets easier as they young dogs realize that it is a possibility 🙂
Almost all of sequence 3 was perfect! Loving your connection to see her commitment to jump 2 and jump 7 so you could move away with great timing.
I think the line leading into the tandem turn for 8-9-10 could have a stronger “heads up” cue – you said “Sprite!” and it didn’t break through the motion. So you can start it sooner and repeat it more – as she exits the wrap wing of 7, you can call her with a lot of emphasis then quietly start saying ‘right right right right’ and reward that. And show her both of your hands before starting the tandem – that should make it easier.
The challenge on those as well as getting onto threadle lines is that the verbal and hands need to override motion on the line. Young fast dogs like Sprite need a lot of “HEY YOU SOMETHING IS HAPPENING UP HERE” to break through the motion – but then it gets easier with practice and she will have it, making those lines much easier to handle.
>>. I can probably put just the three jumps up in my yard to see if we can work on it more. I’ll have to revisit the mechanics as she clearly has no idea what I want.>>
Yes – you can fit the 7-8-9 into your hard, even if 7 is just a wing to wrap around. Keep your movements exaggerated and not fast for now, and you will see her have lightbulb moments. If she is a righty, you can do the mirror image and work these to her stronger side first!
Great job here! Fingers crossed for cooler weather ahead!
Tracy
