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Good morning! Rear crosses are indeed hard and take time to percolate – but you are getting them!!!
>>She also tends to spin.
Most of the spins were coming when you were a little ahead of her and started pointing forward, which broke connection so she got frustrated – when that happened she would jump up at your arm and then spin. So always keep the eye contact connection and your fingers pointed to her nose, and that will help get rid of the spinning.
>>If I say left/right, she often turns on a dime BEFORE the jump.
That happens sometimes with baby dogs! You can delay the timing of the left and right, and just say “jump” (don’t say “go” because go means straight, and rear crosses are a turn).
But mainly, I think a placed reward will work wonders for her to be able to processing finding the jump AND turning, while you are running. You can go back to the MM placed out on the landing line where you want her to turn, or you can place the toy there! A couple of sessions with the toy placed out there will help smooth it all out, because she was really starting to get it nicely here 🙂
>>her vulture stay has progressed from a “mama beats me’ look to a “bad-ass border collie” look, so I’m good with it now.
HA! That is great! Probably because you took the pressure off by just being like “as long as you hold you stay, it is all fine” so he is a happy vulture now :) Great job!
TracyGood morning!
Good job with the tunnel warm up on the first video! And he did well with the wing to tunnel, with t he wing nice and close! I think the dark color of the tunnel and the big angle of the first turn into it is still causing him to ask a few questions, so stretch it out more fully so it is less curved and so he can see light coming through from the other end. That will help you be able to add more distance between the wing and tunnel because he will commit better to the tunnel.
The short tunnel at the barn was perfect, it really helped build up a lot of value and is a great way to add more of your motion too! I am glad he had fun and didn’t want to leave : )
The barrel wraps at home are going really well This was a short, fun session! You can hold his collar or do a ‘ready dance’ til you are ready to cue him so he doesn’t start without you 🙂 He definitely is liking the wrapping!
On the 2nd video from home… yep, he said a BIG NO to the wet tunnel, especially the side with the big curve. You can work the wet tunnel question with the very short tunnel, so it is easier for him to get through and he can see the reward – and it will still be wet inside 🙂 That is what you did in the 3rd video – so now you can add more handling and move the MM further away, working up to fading the MM out so that he can run through it with you holding the reward. And you can definitely wet this little tunnel down so he practices going through a slightly wet tunnel.
And he did indeed say he was done by the end – I think part of it is that he didn’t want to offer going through the wet tunnel and there was not a strong cue, so he didn’t really offer. So with the wet tunnels, go to your highest value rewards to help overcome the ickiness of the wet 🙂
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning! Lots of good work here!
Wind in your hair He is finding the jump really well! So now you can add more handling – try to give yourself a line to run that takes you past the jump, so you can run run run on the Go lines rather than stop to throw the reward. That will support the Go with a physical cue (and you can use a verbal cue as well).
The last couple of reps were a rear cross, I think, but there was not enough connection exiting the wing wrap to how him which line to be on, so he had questions then the video ended.Send and Serp: He is reading the serps really well! You were dropping your dog-side shoulder and facing forward to come in, which got him to come in but then I think it will be hard to get him to go back out when we add the next jump. So try opening up your shoulders to “face” the jump (footwork was perfect) especially when he is on your left side, s that can cue him to come in and go back out, without extra handling.
I think the hardest part here was him going to the start wing! Make sure you have big connection to his eyes as you send, and try not to move away to the jump until you see him committing to the wing. That will make that start wing easier to find for him.
Slice jump video 1: Nice! Remember to stay close to the wing, on the 2nd rep you were far from it which makes the slicing harder.
JF 2 – perfect! (Just one rep)
SJF 3 – also perfect (also one rep)SJF 4 – you were going out to 3 wings here and he had a lot of trouble holding his stay so feel free to throw lots of reward back as you get further away, especially when there are other dogs in the room complaining that it is not their turn 🙂 That can be really distracting for a puppy! He ha one really lovely rep but broke the stay on the ret – I think he was really uncomfortable about the other dogs and how far away you were going, so he kept following you. To help him out, increase the distance very gradually, by maybe a step every few reps, with lots of rewards for the stay. The slicing is great but we all want him to feel really comfortable in the stay.
Find the jump 1 – you can add a verbal if you want but more connection will help him find the jump without questions. He had a little question here because you were looking forward.
On Find the Jump 2, first rep, much better connection but you were pressuring towards him so he pushed away from the jump. The lat rep was better for sure, as you moved straighter up the line. Definitely keep adding connection and distance from the jump.RC from the tunnel: the GO on the first video looked great! On the 2nd video, you tried to get in front and pick him up on the other side (blind cross) but didn’t quite get the connection.
3rd video had a rear cross to start – yay! The first one didn’t quite have enough pressure on his line, but the 2nd rep was GREAT and he got the rear! Super! The 3rd rep was early and pushed him off the jump. Then on the last rep he was slowing down to ask questions, so be sure to mix in Go reps to help keep the speed up.Great job here! These skills are coming along nicely!
Tracy
Hi!
>>Just so you know, that would be an 8″ bar on Mission Transition. We haven’t raised a bar over 8″ for Hola yet in any of the jumping skills other than set point.
8″ is fine for now!
>> If I work in a ladder drill or set point during the week, keep jump height and distance the same as we did before?
Yes, but the new game tonight will replace those two for a while 🙂
>>So, going forward on the basic jumping skills (wing & 1 jump) like transitions, wraps, rear crosses etc. use 8″ height for now? I appreciate the advice to use a wing and one jump to practice the different turns, that’s perfect.
Yes 🙂
>>I’m also glad to know that doing the exercises 1-3x a week is fine. We love balancing agility training time with nosework outings. 🙂>>
Yes – the more we take it slowly, the better the outcome 🙂 Everything comes together very quickly between 18 months and 24 months.
>>One thing you mentioned in rotation was contacts and weaves. I haven’t done anything with either of those although Hola does love to jump on the end and bang the teeter. Will you have a separate class on contacts and weaves? Should I be starting to work on those now that Hola is 16 months old?>>
You can start them now for sure. I have the weave independent study and the teeter independent study – not sure if I am going to be able to do those “live” any time soon,
Tracy
Hi Jes and welcome to you and Quiz!!
Victory laps with the toy are fine at this stage – and in fact there is a lot of science that we have now that supports allowing the pups to have the victory laps! We will talk about it as the course goes along, but it is fine to get victory laps for now and we will be gently shaping our way to great retrieves 🙂
Have fun!
TracyHi!
The dinosaur mask is utter perfection and the transition out of the tugging using the treat was GREAT! So much easier!
For the shaping – the value building is coming along really well! For the next session, you can do it standing and then rather than feed her from your hand after a click, you can begin by dropping it on the mask. Then go to tossing it away after the click, so she come back and hits the mask again.
>>She’s on a leash in some of these videos the which is getting in the way – I need to set up some barriers as it’s a larger basement area.>>
If she is on a leash to prevent her from leaving the session, take it as a challenge to keep her engaged with a high rate of success and tugging… so she doesn’t want to leave! The leash was getting in the way so it would be fun to try it without the leash 🙂
On the 2nd video – yes, trading for the cookie is working sooooo much better. I think the cheese was a little too high in value but she was very good about letting go of the toy without pummeling you! So try it with the lowest value reward she will trade for (kibble?) and that might be the perfect balance.
Switching toys went really well too! You can exaggerate the emphasis on the new toy by looking at it first, really admiring it and talking about it… then letting it come alive 🙂 The pups respond really well to us looking at things! And he did well giving the toy back and eating the cheese at the end!
The wrap foundation went well too! I think the leash clanging on the bowl was a little distracting for her, so this is a good one to get the leash off too 🙂 Nice job getting her to go back and forth! For the next lesion, you can start to sit on a couch, and then work your way to standing!
Great job on these :) Tracy
Hi!
Wow, congrats on her scent accomplishments! She is a really talented pup!!!
>>I know the next videos are also short, I did it before, I got your feedback about time….>>
I forgot to mention that if you have a few videos to post of different games, you can post them all at the same time 🙂 No need to wait to post anything 🙂
The blind cross video looked fabulous – her response to your blind cross was snappy! And your connection was very clear, which is the key! You can add distance by throwing the cookie further away… which will get you both running more 🙂
If I am remembering correctly, she has lovely toy play too – so you can incorporate the toy play into this game: toss the cookie to get ahead of her, then reward with the tug toy after the blind. It is a great way to build up using food & toys in the same session, and she seems ready for it.
Great job here!
TracyHi!
Ah yes! I do remember Morgan!!
>>She was my first dog that I tried to tug with and I ended up with a dog that will not bring her tug back to me. It’s super hard now to use tugging properly as reinforcement.>>
That is good to know, and also no worries – we always learn and improve and I am sure Gemma will be a totally different adventure!
She was a very good girl outside with the game!!! Her drive ahead looked great! She didn’t grab onto the toy quite as well to play tugging yet, but part of that was being outdoors, and part of that was the toy was small – so it was relatively stationary when you were tugging.
For outdoors, bring a big long toy o you can swing it around nice and low for her to chase for tugging – that will really help! I thought your session was a good length and she was not that distracted, considering she is so young. A big long wild toy will make a difference (I have a couple of toys that are for outdoor-use only, because they are really high value and really long.
>>Probably the Most important skill I want to perfect during this class is having her want to bring the toy back to me to tug and not run off and play with it by herself.>>
You already had step 1 happening here: don’t run away 🙂 She didn’t quite bring it back but she also didn’t run away, so I score it a big win! And you were very relaxed about it all (maybe you were faking it, but you looked nice and relaxed) which takes the pressure off the retrieve – too much pressure will ruin retrieves.
You can encourage her to bring it back a few ways: as soon as she has the toy, you can run the other way, happily calling her, and whip out another toy for her to trade for. Note – she does not have to bring the original toy back to you yet, she just has to come towards you and engage. That is a great next step and then we gently add in bringing the original toy back. There is no rush on that, it takes a while to get a great retrieve and I promise we will focus on it 🙂
>>We did another session (not videoed) this morning and it was the same. I think we need more practice inside and in different places inside before taking it outside. >>
You can do short little sessions like this in a variety of different locations for sure, indoor and outdoor. There might be a difference in her responses between the comfy places and the more distracting places, but that is normal and also it is fine 🙂 Keep it short and fun and happy like you had it here, and she will do great!
Nice work :)
TracyGood morning! Thanks for the update about Winn, I am glad she is responding well!!!
The rocking horse video is going well – the regular front crosses are perfect. Your position on the lap turns was too much in the center of the two wings, so he was not entirely sure of what you wanted. God job rewarding him even if it was not a perfect response, because he was trying his best to figure it out.
Positionally, the lap turn would have your hip next to the wing, with you facing him and the other wing. And then while you remain facing him, the hand/leg next to the wing are what draw him into the lap turn.
The Go video and the wrap/decel video both looked great! You can throw the reward sooner on the Go (as soon as he looks ahead to the jump after finishing the wing wrap) to get him really driving ahead. And on the wrap, have him drive out of it for a reward by chasing you (rather than stopping and dropping a treat).
Speaking of treat dropping – try to do that a lot less treat dropping and try to add more play in the reinforcement. It can be toy play if he will play with toys, or you can get a lotus ball or treat hugger and tie it to a line ,so he chases the foodie toys like tug toys 🙂 That will get even more speed and engagement!
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyUgh YouTube is being naughty!!!!!! Let me know when the videos are back up, I am looking forward to seeing them!
Tracy
Hi!
Day jobs get in the way of all the fun!!! But glad you got some training in 🙂
The turn aways are looking good! He is reading the lap turn and the tandem turn really well, basically changing his line at the first moment of the cue, both with food and with the toy. He is definitely faster with the toy… which means you don’t have time to switch it from hand to hand 🙂 That was making you one moment late on each of those. So either leave the toy in one hand the whole time, or stick it in your pocket. Moving it from hand to hand delays your cues (you probably don’t even realize you are doing it LOL!) and it draws his focus away from the cues too. I think the toy is the better reward, as long as it is not moving around 🙂
>>We ended up discussing the verbals a bit for this one and I ended up confusing myself. Is it best to keep using his name for both of these moves until we add jumps?>>
Yes – the verbals will be threadle verbals and those involve the visual of the bar, so his name is good for now.
>>If you wrap a jump (front side) with dog on right. You both face the jump’s front side. Dog jumps the front side first and wraps away from you. You turn 180 and head back with the dog towards the direction you originally came from. Is that still a wrap verbal or do you use a turn-away verbal? Thanks in advance as we talked ourselves in circles a bit.>>
That is handler choice – some people use a turn away verbal. Some people use a wrap verbal. I use a wrap verbal if the dog is only wrapping, then back into normal handling. I use my turn away verbal if the sequence then has a big layering moment, to indicate that the dog should move to line focus and that I will be layering.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
