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Hi!
That is a good question! If I feel like I need the grounding exercise, I might have a candy or gum in my car or bag or something. For smell, I might smell my shirt – does it smell like my detergent. Or smell my arm – can I smell my shower soap? If I am outside, I might pick up a leaf and smell it. Weird, I know, but effective đTracy
Hi! It was great seeing you in person last week!
I am glad he sorted out the perch work! Yes, he might have been really excited and that made it harder đ
Looking at the tunnel threadle video:
Yes, you will want to sort out which arm to use in advance đ LOL! That will make for a smoother start! He did well finding the threadle entry – my only suggestion is to keep moving as you do this tunnel threadle, rather than stop and send. For now, keep moving towards the tunnel entry you want.He is definitely ready for the next step, which is the Double Whammy game đ That should be fun fun fun LOL!!!
Great job here!
TracyHi! Youâve been busy! I am glad you got these uploaded. It was really cool watching her sort it out!
Rocking horses:
Great job starting off nice and simple and connected in the first June 1 video. You were very clear with your mechanics and she was really great! She finds a big step with your leg very helpful: compare the last 2 wraps to the right: on the first one, you were softer with the big send with your right leg, so she didnât fully commit. And on the last one you had a BIG step with the right leg and she was perfect.The second June 1 video was great too, using the toy! I like that she was able to go back to the toy after the treats! Great connection here from you and perfect steps, so she was terrific!
On the June 4 video, it looks like the barrel and the cone were a little further apart but she had no question. Super! The tooth was HILARIOUS!!! She was also really strong about ignoring the toy in your hand til you cued her to take it, even when t he toy was right in front of her nose. YAY! So keep doing this beautiful connected sending with that strong leg send in particular. And you can add in the advanced levels, where there is earlier countermotion and more speed đ
Looking at the strike a post videos: The first one (strike a pose 2 on a jump) went really well – she was able to find the serp from all sorts of different angles, from a stay, from a cookie toss, and to a toy reward and a cookie reward. She was TOTALLY getting the in-then-out serp idea. Loved it! And she was happy to play with a toy even after getting the cookie – that is a big win too!
On the 2nd video, also great. Your mechanics were really clear and she did rally well from the various angles. Because she has the concept of in-then-out for the serp, she was not really touching the target anymore: and that is great! We needed to fade that and she did it automatically. Super!
On the 3rd video, adding the threadle: this is a short session but really good. The manners minder was a bit of a distraction, but she worked through it nicely!
You can definitely do more threadles now, adding in the different angles to match the angles you used for the serps.
Down at the bottom of the videos was one more threadle video – when using a wingless jump, make sure that your arm is sticking out past the wing – otherwise it looks like a serp is your whole body is between the uprights. At the beginning, I think she was confused on a couple of the reps because most of you was between the uprights and only you hand was visible past the wing. You can help her out by putting out half of your body past the wing on the threadles so it is more obvious.
All of the balance reps with the zeros were great!!! Clear cues and she nailed it!
Prop game: get out
This is looking strong too. One thing that will help her hit the prop better is if you add more direct eye contact: as you start the out cue and use your arm, connect strongly with your eyes to there eyes – that should get the outs even stronger! Be sure to reward lots of stays – she was releasing on your motion and the arm cue. So if you use a stay, release 50% of them and reward 50% of them.Tight turn leading with the head:
This is the game with the most challenging mechanics for the humans đ And you did a super job!
My only suggestion is that you move your turn-away hand more slowly so she can process the cue clearly. It was a little quick in the beginning. About halfway through you didnât use the hand and just let her offer – she was not turning her head as much so the clicks were not are clear about the turn aways – so definitely use the hand cue to help her rather than let her offer multi-wraps.Perch work -You can totally help her more with reward placement on this, by feeding her when she is un front of you with her head up, rather than waiting for her to offer. She did get some hind end moment going with the body pressure but I bet it would be easier if you tried the return-to-center approach by tossing the cookies off to the side then having her pivot back to center.
Backside slice foundation: She did well here on both videos! More connection to her eyes and more motion (moving on a parallel line to her) will help her find it more easily. When youâre looking forward or pointing forward, she would migrate towards you or to the front of the jump.
And about the motion, remember it is not a send – it is parallel line motion, so be in motion ahead of her the whole time, moving to where the barrel and wing meet. When you sent her t it by pointing forward, it was harder for her because it was less connected and there was no motion support, so you had to get closer to the barrel. Being in motion will help you be able to get more and more independence too!Nice work here!!!
TracyHi!
>>I was amazed at how well he did with the 3 jumps and the tunnel.
Yes! It was a real look into the future: fast and FUN!!!!
T
Good morning! This is going really well!!!!
I love how she came blasting out of the tunnel looking at the #3 jump and and every time! Super!
>>I seem to have forgotten how to do a throw back.
For the throw back think of it as a half-front-cross, and you stop halfway through and throw back with the ânewâ hand. So in this case, it would be the left hand (I think you were trying it with the right at one point?) The other thing that helps is shifting your connection from her eyes to the landing spot, like you did at :21 – that was great! When you looked directly at her, there was too much pressure and she didnât pass you to get to the jump.
The RC on jump 5 at :52 and 1:56 and 2:14 worked really well!! Just be sure to stay connected moving into it- you were looking forward coming off of 3 and she almost didnât take 4 at 2:10
On the line back to the tunnel, she was great about getting back on the big one and layering! She was so good about it that you can call the tunnel cue sooner, before she even takes off for it.
The wrap on jump 4 was the hardest past for her. On the wrap towards you, you can stay a little more on takeoff side (at a distance) and think of it more as a throwback to be able to rotate sooner. It is a more awkward line than the switch away line, but she did really well!!!
On the switch away, try it as a tandem turn at a distance. As she is over 3, you can b decelerating and showing her your tandem turn hands and begin the turn away cues as she is landing. You can refresh it on the flat and on one jump, then try adding the 2nd jump (jump 3 in this case) and distance away from it – that is probably something that will work at home: tunnel – jump – jump with the tandem turn away on the 2nd jump )
Great job here!!! Let me know what you think!â¨Tracy
Good morning! These are going well – just little details to smooth out on each.
RYG 1: Nice job building up the layering and rewarding her for finding the line to 3, then to 4.
When wrapping 4: stay on the take off side more – you were on the landing side a lot on the first rep and 3rd rep there, so based on your position and motion she thought she was jumping long – and landed on the bar when you rotated when she was in the air. On the 2nd rep, you were a little more on the takeoff side and that turn was much better!
When you did the switch away there at 1:35, you were much more on the takeoff side and she was totally ready for the turn – NICE! That switch will get tighter and smoother if you start the switch cues earlier. She read your position and decel perfectly, so at the same time (when she was landing from 3) you can also be starting the verbal and using the hand cues so she sees it all before takeoff.
As you are working out the timing, she is dropping a lot of bars because the info was happening over the bars. So to help protect her from getting hurt, run these at 12â until you nail the timing, then the bars can go back up.
RYG 2 – nice job with the connection and cues to help her find the jump behind the tunnel! For the timing there, start that cue when she is between 1 and 2, so she sees it before takeoff to 2 and can make the adjustment.
>>she was convinced it was more efficient to jump over the tunnel
She is a very honest dog LOL! At :33 and :54 and 1:09 you went past the tunnel to get the jump behind it, then you had to pull away to get past the tunnel⌠which set the line over the tunnel LOL!!! She is very honest and literal.
One more little details: When handling big send lines, make sure there is nothing else on the line. Having the weaves on the line at :37 was confusing when you sent her out: voice said jump body said weaves, so she went with the body cues but she was not sure.
The line back to the tunnel after that was looking really good!
Nice work here đ
TracyGood morning!
85 degrees?
That sounds almost winter-like LOL!!!He did really well finding the jump behind the tunnel on just the verbal! You needed very little handling to get it, just connection/motion/verbal. Super! He also had no question about finding the jump even when you moved it to the harder positions. SUPER!!!
The real test was when you added the tunnel into the sequence, and he nailed it: got both the tunnel the first time and then went back out to the jump behind it at the end. You can try adding more of your motion and see if it makes a different to his processing when you are running (it might help, or it might make it harder LOL!)
He was definitely feeling the heat by the 2nd half of the video, even though it looked like a different time of day. So if it is a million degrees out, you donât have to repeat somethng that he did well.
His only question he had was on finding the tunnel entry when layering but he nailed it later on that very first time. It might have been that he had gotten a bunch of reward for that jump so he was thinking he was finished and was surprised by the tunnel cue? But he was great on all of the next reps, so no worries there. And he easily did the layering line for the closing line of the sequence. Yay!
I think he had a tunnel when you said jump later in the session too but you were both hot at that point LOL!
He is definitely ready for the bigger courses and/or pop outs. Great job!!
Tracy
Good morning!
>>You may have to include hints for the pop ups too since I donât even see the handling options that are featured that week- LOL!!!
I used to give pop out hints, but this year I wanted to get people looking for the featured skills without me. You will probably now be looking for layering options a lot more!
On the first pop out:
Hustling closer to the lines to support them better, which will also get you to better spots on course! For example on the opening, you were far from 1 and 2 so you had to push her back to 2, which delays leaving for the next line. If you stick closer to 1 and 2, you can see her head turn to look at 2 then you can actually leave for 4-5 sooner than when you have to push her back to the line at 2.She found the zig zag lines really well!!
The turn on the tunnel exit was late on the first 2 reps – the verbal and convergence and any hand cues need to begin when she is still 6 feet before the entry. On the first 2 reps, you did it as she exited. On the 3rd rep at about 1:07, you showed convergence before she entered and kept showing it as she exited, so she got it. You can treat those types of turns on the tunnel exit as a tandem turn or switch away on the flat, beginning the cues before she goes into the tunnel.
>>On #2, how do we get the back side of 5? I didnât even bother and figured just getting the turn to the jump behind the tunnel was enough of a challenge. Itâs apparent just getting #5 straight on was a struggle until I figured out what words she really needed.>>
BIIIIIIG convergence of your line to the 5 jump before she enters, and the get out cue to get her moving away (before she enters the tunnel) followed by the backside push verbal and physical cues starting while she is in the tunnel so she sees them before she exits (I would use an outside arm with my dogs there). And leaving the 1-2-3 line earlier will make it easier, which is why setting the line to 2 sooner by being closer to that line will make it easier.
2nd pop out:
>>I also need to spend even more time on the jump skills for something like jump #2 when I started course #3. I tried to support it, tried not to support and nothing I tried seemed to help her keep that bar up. They were not at 16âł. Help.>>
The line 2-3 was hard but gives us a good discussion of where to put the FC and BCs, and timing. Most to the question from her was about timing and your line (see below). We also did a class about these jumping skills last fall/winter – I can’t remember if you were in it? It was all about teaching the dogs to get organized đ
On these FCs and also n the BC on the next rep (she dropped the bar there too) try not to go across the bar (you were going to the center of the bar) because it gives her motion info about a slice and you do not want her to slice there. Think about where her ideal line would be to the next obstacle, if she was the tiniest little mouse: that is the line you will want to run on, which is barely past the wing. Your line on the BC at 1:47 was closest to that!
And, as she lands from 1, be sending and moving to the line so that she sees it, and watch her head. When she looks at 2: that is your cue to do the FC or BC. And she is likely to look at it immediately as she lands so you need to be ready đ so that the rotation is finished before she takes off (and on the correct line, I know, I am a pain in the butt hahaha)
At 1:19 and 1:47, for example, you were doing the rotation as she was jumping (ideally it would be finished by then), which means she took off prepared to slice. She tried to adjust in the air but could not do it (bar down).The RC got it done when you were stationary, but you can use a brake arm to get the collection and keep moving – it is a really hard angle to jump!
Hopefully the weather settles down so you can do more of this to play with the timing and position!!!
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
She is figuring it out but you will want to keep a placed reward out there for now (can be a manners minder!) – too many errors when there is no thrown toy (we only want 2, total :)) That way you can do the switch to the MM, and mix in some wraps to you for a toy or treat.
Think of it as first turning her on the flat, then cuing the obstacle. The arms were both turning and cuing, so she didnât always get it right. So start her a bit further back like you did at the end, then show her your hands first nice and low (as close to nose level as you can, even at a distance) – get her head turned, then cue the jump. It is a tricky skill but she is beginning to lock it in!!!
>>Should I give it a different verbal from my rear cross verbal>>
You probably can use the same verbal but we can change our minds on that later down the road if she needs more clarification :)â¨
Nice work!
â¨TracyGood morning!
>>>Iâm in so much trouble with this little girl!
This is what we call âgood troubleâ and also why we are proceeding slowly to lock in all the pieces. Imagine if she was at a trial or something and she had this question? There would be frustration getting built in. But because you are being super amazing rockstar awesome about putting all the foundation pieces together, we can figure out the answer to her question without frustration which will lead to maintaining all of that speed while keeping her in a happy arousal state.
On the videos:
The lazy game stuff on the first video looks really good – your shoulder turn was earlier for sure! And she was both finding the jump AND setting up a gorgeous collection, then powering out to the next line (this is something whippety dogs can do that other dogs cannot do LOL!) Great session!
Looking at the 2nd video – You actually had more momentum into the sends to the middle jump, and she was still great. On these sends, you had the decel and a big send, which works really well (as opposed to the decel from the previous videos where you were rounding the line with her and decelerating. The send and go worked really well here.
The blinds to the tunnel were tricky at first because of the timing when you were doing it on one jump: too early, and she didnât take the jump. Too late, and she took the tunnel đ
You found the sweet spot at 1:05 – very nice!!!When you added the send to the middle jump – you can wait for her to land and let her cue you to start the blind. When she lands then looks at the blue jump: that is your cue to do the blind.
How to do the blind with the quickness of a tiny whippet coming at you? Have your arms drawn in tight to your sides (elbows bent near ribs, hands low and behind your hips) so that all you need to do is turn your head. When your arms are out to the side, it takes a pretty long time (in whippet years) to get your new connection visible, which is why she would sometimes be wide on the blind. The low arms held in tight to you will make a huge difference especially as you start running.
I think the best arm use here was at 1:11 – 1:12 – 1:13. Your arms were low and back, not really out past your body at all. Note how she found the blind cross side change immediately AND found the next line perfectly. As she was passing you, you were saying the tunnel cue straight down to her head and that was perfection. It really showed her the line.
Great job on these!!
TracyGood morning!
>>Ha, this will make it a whole ânother ballgame
Yes, it sure did but in a really good way đ One thing I REALLY like about the send reps in the beginning where that you were asking her to drive to the wing and commit to the turn independently while you decelerated, and sent hr past you. She was pretty darned perfect! You are becoming SUPER connected with her on these sequences and that is really food with such a young dog.
I also love her balance of full out speed and lovely tight turns.
This is turning into a post about how fabulously well you two are working together LOL!!! But it is true – super lovely session!
>>I know at 1:22 I cued the middle wing too early and should have supported her longer with my dog side hand because she started to come in at first. >>
Yes, one more step would have been ideal however – you caught it IN THE MOMENT and supported her, so she could be correct. No errors, no frustration, great teamwork. That is why connection is so key!!!
>>The next rep I tried to support her better in that spotâŚ.>>
Yes, that looked good! And your timing of the FC after the 2 wings was looking strong throughout.
>> (My older dog has conditioned me to cue really early, so still trying to find that sweet spot (and knowing that can change when MiG gets more experienced)).>>
This might be a good thing because really early for the older dog might just be perfectly on time for MiG! When you add bars, you will get a better feel for what her true timing will be and you are correct that it will change as she gets experienced. In general, we start off with what would be slightly âlateâ timing with the youngsters to really help support everything, then with experience and maturity, we can cue really early and that is good đ In a perfect world, the timing would be the same for both of your dogs so you donât have to switch back and forth between timing moments for the dogs.
I am looking forward to the lazy game videos and also she is definitely ready for the rest of the sequences we did in the live class đ
Great job! Enjoy your weekend!
TracyGood morning! Sorry about missing the previous videos!
One more coffee-fueled thought about the teeter, after watching the video I missed: when he gets to the top and gets his treat, he tries to get the heck off⌠so give him the super high value treat then get him outta there so he doesnât start to think about it. And very short session will help too – I donât think he was seeking shade, I think it was too hard at the top so he was asking to stop. Only doing one or two reps will help avoid that fore sure.
Looking at the 2 lazy game videos:
First video:
He is definitely getting the idea here! He is being pretty quick to get the treats in the first one, so you can slowly keep moving while he is eating, like you did at approx 1:03. That way he can see the info (your motion) as soon as he lifts his head from the treat, and move forward to the jump without looking at you as much. Moving the middle jump out went really well, he found it really nicely!!>>and he wonât bring a toy back to me yet
As he puts this together to 2 or 3 jumps in a row, you can try a lotus ball and see how that goes!
On the 2nd video – he was so engaged with the toy! I love it!!!! And holy WOW he is fast! This allowed you to string together several jumps in a row, with the only questions being about how fast you had to move (answer: FAST lol!!!) I am loving his speed and excitement here!!!
Since he has decided to kick it up to a higher gear of speed, you can add the tunnel and start the sequences added last Tuesday in the live class. That builds on this and adds more speed ad fun. If he will do it for a toy – perfect!!!â¨
Great job here!!! Fun times ahead!
TracyHi!
He is doing so well here, lots of grown up stuff! He was finding the 3 jumps pretty easily and then finding them after the tunnel.On the left turns – he is doing worlds better!!! He had trouble when you were pointing forward, high arm, not really moving, too far from the jump. 1:12 and 1:49 (where he jumped on you, frustrated) are good examples of that. Compare to 1:37 when you were connected, closer, and moving – he totally found the jump! Then you need to move more to the middle jump (1:39) so he finds that too. So use less arm on the left turn side and lots more connection and motion near the jump. That will really help lock it in.
You are more connected and closer to him on the right turns, so he finds them more easily for sure.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
He did well on the go go go here on he first clip! He was not sure of the rear cross – I think a bunch more reps of driving ahead will help, and maybe someone else can throw the to? it will be easier when he almost automatically drives ahead of you, so you can set the rear cross line.
So to structure a rear cross session: have the jump about 5 or 6 feet further from where it was here. Do 4 or 5 reps of go go go til he basically expects it and drives ahead. Then throw in a rear crossâŚ. Then go back to the go go go lines. The heavy emphasis on the Go will make the RCs a lot easier
On the angled grid – he seemed to have zero questions about finding the line and keeping his head low! Yay! I think the first 2 jumps were too far apart (he was taking a stride and should be bouncing like he did between jumps 2 and 3) so try jumps 1 and 2 set at 5 feet apart and see how he does.
On the 2nd video:
He is beginning to get the idea of the lazy game – loving that he was able to sort it out and get all 3 in a row in both directions!!! Definitely a little better turning to his left as you noted – so keep your line very close to the jump to hep him out. The other thing that can help is if you have a bunch of cookies already in your hand – when you reach for your pocket in between throws, he is watching you and not the jumps. Having a bunch of treats in your hand will really help his stay focused on the line.He is also doing well with the wing wraps and tunnel!!!
>>Keeping my shoulders open and more connection=TTFJ!!!>>
Ha! Yes!!!! Connection really sets the line.
The wing wrap to the left needs a lot more connection for sure, that is where he was having the most trouble. I think his questions were partially because he was not getting a lot of connection there and partially because another dog was barking (donât underestimate how hard that is for young dogs, because their brains are not set up to ignore the barking – it is entirely possible the amygdala prioritizes the barking as âDanger! Danger!â Which leaves not a lot of bandwidth for the newly formed front of his brain to process cues and respond. So there are lots of little errors that can be avoided – any way to not have the dogs barking at him? It might not be as big if an issue when he is adult and more experienced, but I am pretty sure some of the errors were due to the processing and prioritization his brain was trying to do (that includes the little refusals on the right wraps too). Maybe the other dogs can get good chew bones when it is his turn, so they can be outside but not barking?
Nice work on these!!
TracyHi!
These all look really good!!!!
She is one confident girl on the mountain climbers so you will need to stay with her (which might mean moving faster sometimes LOL!) so she doesnât jump off or lose her balance.
Plank confidence is looking super good too – she was turning around really nicely here so you can add in tossing the reward off the end of the plank, so she can find her balance getting on it at a run (I promise it wonât mess up contact criteria LOL!)
Look at her being a pro in a new location and in the blazing heat! Good girlie!
Very nice commitment in both directions! I felt your connection was MUCH better into the wrap at :33 (you donât even need to point forward of her to the jump, you can keep your hand pointing to her nose). She had a little question at :12, where you disconnected and pointed forward so she almost came off the line (but the verbal and prxomitiy to the wing convinced her to take it – super!) So in those spots, remember to add a little more connection and let your hand follow her nose đ
Great job on these! Stay cool!
Tracy
