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Good morning! Both dogs were lovely!!! I will be bugging you to be more aggressive and proactive in your handling (I am bugging everyone about that, in case you were feeling attacked LOL!!!!)
Wish did a great job! Maybe it is not above her pay grade at all! The proactive handling and big connection will really help: I am not sure she needed as much support for 3, you were over-helping 🙂 give her the big connection and run closer to it, but also watch her head so you can start the blind on time – as soon as you see her look at the jump, do the blind. Then stay connected and don’t praise – that pulled her off the tunnel. She only wants the facts on course (cues) 🙂
Good job when you kept going!
After the weaves, I believe you can trust her more – you can send to 7 and accelerate to 8 to get rid of the head check over 8 (:21). Stay connected like you did, and I bet she nails it!
10-11 is a place to be super proactive to set up the ending line. At :46 – try not to manage the gap between 10 and the off course near it – on the first rep there, you were over-helping and backing up which presented the off course she took (backwards motion is the same as forward motion :)) You stood still there at :58 which got her through the gap, but that set up rear crosses for the ending line and she almost got the off course tunnel instead of 15.
As scary as it sounds with a younger dog – you can totally handle that 11-12-13-14-15 section from ahead of her: send to 12 and run away, driving to between 13-14 and do a blind. Your line of motion should draw her to 13 and give you plenty of time for the blind! And then you can decelerate and cue the turn to 15, taking out the off course tunnel possibility.
At the end – she had a moment of Big Mad (barked at you) when you wrapped the 17 jump instead of slicing it 🙂 The slice is a better/faster/easier option, so you can get that with a rear cross.
Charm was great too!!
Charm needed more connection and a jump verbal on the exit of 2, so she could take 3 – your arm was high and you were not looking directly at her, so she was in handler focus. You started the blind before she committed, so she came with the handling. Keep going when that happens – she was responding correctly 🙂 and staying in motion is great handler training to recovery from any little bobble on course at a trial.Note the difference at :26 when you made connection and said “jump” – lovely! The blind looked great there!
As with Wish, you can leave 7 sooner after the weaves and converge towards the 9 tunnel, starting the tunnel cues (‘tunnel’ or a ‘get out’ directional) when she is halfway between 7 and 8. Wish totally understood the line, so you can handle it more aggressively – that will let you leave for 10 sooner, which lets you leave for 11 sooner, and so on.
And also as with Wish… don’t manage the gap from 10 to 11 (:41). Note how because you stayed there for a while, she started (correctly) migrating towards the tunnel and you really had to rush to get 11-12.
12-13-14 can be more proactive to get the turn to the 15 tunnel without The Clapper LOL!! You hung out by 12-13 and then moved forward into the RC a 14, which totally opened up the off course tunnel. You have plenty of time to send to 12 and take off to a blind cross 13-14. That allows you to set the turn at 14 from ahead (no Clapper needed) with decel and eye contact 🙂
She had a very nice collection on the turn on 17!! Nice! It is the slower/harder line, so definitely try the slice there – you have plenty of time to do a ‘forced blind’ aka Japanese turn on the takeoff side of 17 and I believe Charm understands the move really well! Or, the slicing rear cross will be perfect for that spot too.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
Course 1 and 2 seem to be the same link here (both course 2) – can you repost course 1?Course 2: the entire opening looked great (1-8) – and the way you handled it fit entirely with the current trend of distance on simple lines, so the handler keeps moving and yelling the cues 🙂
The line to the 10 tunnel (8-9-10) can be cued even sooner, ideally he never looks at you (:26). There is a lot happening in that section, so I looked at it in terms of what you can take out in order to give the tunnel cues sooner: Because there is not a lot of time given his speed, I believe after you cue 8 you don’t need the ‘come here’ verbal – you can be moving up the line and start the ‘get out’ or ‘tunnel’ as soon as he lands from 8 and is turning left. The come here makes the tunnel verbals late, so he looked at you – your position and line of motion are getting the come here really nicely, so I bet he doesn’t need the verbal there.
After his name at :30, add your jump verbal – the jump verbal is becoming increasingly important in these discrimination moments when the tasty teeter is really visible too. He looked at you after the tunnel but the jump is recessed, so he was beginning to assume it was the teeter – a jump verbal can help clarify for him.
Great job cuing sooner for 12 (:32) which set you up to leave sooner for 13. And that whole line 13-8 was a lot more proactive in terms of cue & leave. Yay! I will keep bugging you about that because he has a ton of skills – so a top summer priority will be to see just how far we can stretch them, in terms of how early you can leave to go to your next spot 🙂
>>. I think it went well except I didn’t give enough turning cues at #20 and he went backside on #21>>
Getting around the 15 jump makes the RC 20-21 into more of a threadle-rear or a tandem turn. He never looked at the tunnel that is right there (yay!) but the convergence of you coming around the wing of 15 definitely showed the backside of 21. So, a bit of a tandem turn into a ‘switch’ cue will definitely help!
Great job! I am looking forward to seeing course 1!
TracyFingers crossed for good weather!!! And also – when you have space restrictions, you can prioritize the sweet lines for handling and we can use the space around it to add the rando obstacles in your way 🙂
Tracy
Good morning!
I am SUPER happy with how this went – this is really challenging for experienced dogs and Sprite was fabulous (and so were you, she couldn’t do it without you LOL!)
You set these at UKI distances, which gave her plenty of room. You can also try to set these at AKC distances (more like 18-20 feet between obstacles, 2 strides in general) if you are going to add AKC to your trial calendar.
Seq 1: Well done!!!
Nice BC timing on the 2-3-4 line! Perfect each time
Move parallel to the bar at 3 (you were in her way at :10 and :31 so she considered the backside) You were more parallel to the bar at :41 and she saw the front side more clearly.Timing of decel and leaving (and verbal too, harder to hear) all were good at :16. I liked your timing at :34 even better but you had a connection break so she ended up behind you. LOVED the cue at :45! Nailed it!
>>Ideas to tighten that turn at the end? I’m not great at pulls.>>
Yes, even with the great timing, she still didn’t quite read it the way we want her to, in terms of putting a collection stride in before the jump. I don’t think this was a reflection on your pulls, I think she needs more info. The send & go leaves the handler facing forward for a bit longer, so some dogs have a harder time processing the collection mechanics (because we are facing forward so they only have the decel and verbal to go by)/ This is pretty normal with young dogs, I saw it with Voodoo and Hot Sauce at this age as well. So for now, try using the exact same timing, but do a spin. That is a slightly stronger cue with the added rotation making it easier for her to process the collection cues, and can get her rehearsing the mechanics of putting in the stride before takeoff (you can see her trying to process it!) With the youngsters, we often add the spin to clarify the mechanics for the dog, then we fade it out as the mechanics get easier for them (both Voodoo and Hot Sauce needed it at age 2, now that they are 10 (!) and 4, they don’t need it because they have mastered the jumping mechanics.
Sequence 2 also went well!
>> I gad the jump angle wrong and needed a threadle to be correct>>Ah yes, it definitely ended up being a threadle line.
You were blocking the line to the 2 backside at :52 so she went somewhere off screen 🙂 Not the different at 1:05 and 1:23, where you had a better line and she wsa gorgeous finding the backside of 2.
Then be sure to head directly to the outer wing (left wrap) wing of 4 – you turned your feet to the center of the bar at :56 so she read it as a rear cross (good girlie!) and picked up a right turn. In that moment: keep going! You were still working a lovely run there 🙂 It is a good handler training moment to carry on and not stop 🙂 because those little bobbles will come up at trials.
Good timing on your collection cues at 1:07 and 1:26 – and the rotation of the FC really helped her – nice turn! That is part of why I think a spin will help her for now, in other scenarios.
One thing I notice here is that now that she is jumping full height, you will probably need to move up the timing of the cues by a stride or so – so in sequence 1, you can start you decel as she is in the air over 5 to set up the turn at 6. And here as she exits the wrap at 3, you can already be showing the deceleration rather than see her exit then decel. This will be especially important if you do AKC courses where there is less room between jumps.
Now, speaking of the spin – on the ending of this type of line, she is already on a more natural line to the exit so you do *not* need a spin here, just timely cues – she can run this type of line as a “NASCAR” line where we don’t need the collection before takeoff, because the NASCAR line automatically turns her the direction we want (the line in sequence 1 does not have this same natural speed line). The turn at 1:11 was a little late and no real decel so she was a little wide, but the timing at 1:29 was much earlier and her turn was really good!!!! One step sooner, as she is over 5, will be perfect 🙂
Sequence 2 was first on the second video: zero problems with the added jump! You blocked 2 a little so she was wider but the rest looked great!
Sequence 1 also looked really strong! She *might* have looked at the added jump after 2 a :23? And at 1:03? Maybe? Maybe not? A little hard to tell. But she was great 4-5-6!! And you lovely blinds and also had a really nice running line more parallel to the bar of 3 on these
Since we are obsessing about the timing of the turn a 6 – at :29 and 1:08 here, you started the turn cues when she landed – when you add the tunnel, start those same cues when she is in the air and see how she does with the timing and spin. (Bar down on 7 was the sudden decel and toy throw, so keep running through the ending).
Sequence 3 (starting on the new jump :)) looked lovely! She is looking like an experienced dog on that one.
Freaking LOVED the timing of your FC at 1:18 – aggressive proactive handling and she nailed the commitment AND collection. Hooray! I mean, the first run had a nice FC but this one was fabulous! Same with te Fc at 1:23 – you sent and left. And not only did she commit perfectly, but she set up a better collection AND found a new gear of speed. Happy dance!
A suggestion: Try to run that ending line harder – because you know 7 is the last one, you are taking small steps and waiting for her. A good rehearsal for both of you would be to send to 4 then drivedrivedrive the handling to the end and run past 7 like there are 10 more obstacles 🙂
One thing that I am seeing on both of these videos and ESPECIALLY on the last run of video 2: you are starting to feel more comfy being super proactive: send and leave! And it even looks like you trust her a whole lot 🙂 SUPER!!!! Keep this up, it is all looking lovely 🙂
Great job here! Onwards to adding the tunnel!
Tracy>.It’s doubtful I can build the entire jumpers course, but it looks like you have breakouts for that too. I have the training yard Friday so I’ll see what I can get done.>>
Yes – the pop outs should fit! And any variation of the full courses will be fun to look at too.
Good morning!
Nice work here! I think a main point of focus for Dancer will be to get rid of her “what’s next” head check questions by having you handling more proactively (give the cue, send and leave!) rather than managing turns and lines.When you are proactive, she is able to read the lines beautifully and with a lot of speed. When you are trying to manage too many things, the information gets diluted and she has questions which lead to errors.
And if there is an error, either keep going like it didn’t happen or if you need to stop: reward her like she was correct (because she was :)) I see some frustration behavior from her when she doesn’t get rewarded (more on that below). Just because she won’t leave the work when she has a lot rate of reinforcement doesn’t mean she isn’t frustrated. So, pay up! Errors on course are handling errors 99% of the time.
Jumping course:
Well done on the blind between 3-4! That was proactive and you both nailed it. You can give her a forward verbal cue (like GO!) more info as she enters 4, so she doesn’t curl towards you on the exit. When you are quiet, she curls towards you to ask “what’s next” especially on tunnel exits, so defintely add more verbals to your tunnel cues, so she knows what to do when she exits.
Nice job sending to 7 (:15) so you could get pretty far up the line. Proactive! Super!
Start telling her about the 9 tunnel earlier (no later than halfway between 7 and 8) with convergence and the tunnel verbal – she was already looking at you over 8 (“what’s next, mom?”) when you said it. You can say tunnel or use a ‘get out’ directional to help her shift her line to the tunnel. And tell her before she enters 10 to go straight on the exit soshe doesn’t look back at you (:20).
A place you can be more proactive and less reactive is between 10 and 11 (more on that in the pop out below) Don’t manage the gap between 10 and 11 (:22) because it bought you the off course at :23 🙂 By managing the gap, I mean sticking around to direct her turn as she is jumping and after she lands. The key is to cue the turn and as soon as you see her look at the jump – you move to 11.
In that moment, she was 100% correct (watch it in slow motion and you will see that she was totally following the line you were standing on and your first steps of motion) so try to just keep going. If you stop, though, you must reward her – NOT rewarding her is the equivalent to telling her that she was incorrect and she was correct! She got a little frustrated by that and barked at you at :31 – and then she begins to slow down.
Managing the gap 10-11 also puts you pretty far behind for the 11-12-13-14 line, so you ended up doing rear crosses and the RC at 14 ended up being late in terms of the physical and verbal cue … and that set the line to the off course tunnel at :39. You called her off of it but you can see how she really thought it was the tunnel straight ahead and not the left turn. So you can do a rear cross there, but it needs to begin with the verbal and decel as she lands from 13 (you did it at takeoff to 14).
A more proactive way to handle it is to send to 12 as a spin so you are running to the gap between 13 and 14 on your left, but the spin allows you to both leave sooner and get a nice tight turn on 12. Then you can get a blind betwen 13 and 14, to set up the turn to 15 🙂 The timing of the turn cue on 14 is also as she is landing from 13, but being ahead to do it is much easier (and the blind is very doable there when you send to 12 and take off towards 14 :))
That will also help you set up the RC at 17, by decelerating a lot sooner on 16 (as she is exiting the tunnel) so she is seeing it and turning before takeoff – at :45 she thought you wanted her to go straight based on your motion and running forward.
Pop out 1:
The blind cross on the tunnel exit worked well, she had less of a question about going straight and not looking at you, but you can connect more to both get rid of the little head check entirely and time the collection cue at 4.Ideally that cue for 4 will begin when she exits the tunnel. At :13 and :48, she heard the verbal and saw the decel when she was taking off, so she couldn’t turn til after landing. In both of those reps, you were facing forward as she was jumping, which also cues the wider turn (ideally you would be well on your way to 5 by then) That caused you to have to manage that turn and and made the layering really hard on the first rep (you don’t need to layer, it is an easier line if you run on the other side of the tunnel) and almost got the off course at :50 and you were also saying “go” there (followed by the refusal at :54). reward her for her effort there, she was doing a good job with the info!
You were definitely earlier with the turn cues at 1:14 (yay!) and got a MUCH better collection! But… managing the gap almost got the off course at 1:16 again.
The reason she is correct to think you want that jump is when you rotate to face her, the next thing she sees if you turning back to face forward – and that is a cue to shift away to the line she sees (which is the off course in this case, based on your position and rotation). So you can either send and leave with no rotation. or you can do a complete spin (instead of turning towards her then opening up again) because a spin will also get you outta there sooner.So after you cue the wrap, try not to rotate towards her to bring her through the gap: cue the wrap as she exits the tunnel and when you see her lookinga the jump, leave for 5 (no managing the gap). Send and leave is the way to go 🙂 And if she doesn’t understand to come through the gap, we can train the skill 🙂
The reason the layering was so hard here was that 5, you were slamming on the brakes and turning and disconnecting, so she was really confused. And you turned a lot at 1:20 so she guessed it was the tunnel because it looked a bit like a blind (and, also she was offering it probably out of frustration because she had not yet been rewarded for her work, all of which was correct so far). You got it by going to the other side of the tunnel at the end, which worked really well – but because she had gone the whole time without a reinforcement, you can see the frustration in the form of more barking and also slowing down. So – think of every error as a handling error and either keep going or reward her like she was correct (because she was probably correct – watching the video in the moment will tell you what happened).
The other handling option here is the BC on the entry of the 3 tunnel – then you can send to 4 from further away (which helps with the collection and line) and gets you to position for 5-6 much more easily too!
Nice work! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
I am glad you made the list – you are carrying A LOT and I am sure it is not easy. Hugs!!!! Your strength is showing, because the load you are carrying is massive yet here you are, carving out time for all of the people and animals AND the time for yourself to post here. A giant high five to you!
You *can* control gathering more help to carry this load – asking for help is SO HARD for the women of our cohort, we somehow shoulder a whole lot by ourselves. So my question is – what can we help with? Are there folks locally who can come lend a hand, especially with the work around the property? You give so much to everyone, I know that the community will step right up to give back!
>>Trying to eat better so I feel better
Yes! And stay hydrated. And if you want to eat or drink something that makes you happy in the moment? Do it!
>>Trying to carve out. Consistent time every day to train>>
YES! It doesn’t even have to be anything hard – it can be just running around on an easy course and having a grand time with your beloved critters. It will be great!
>>Don’t always have enough time or energy to train properly
That is ok, though – try to avoid any guilty feelings or frustrated feelings about it. As long as the dogs are happy and getting exercise, then proper training can wait for now. You can do ‘improper training’ of easy, fun stuff that doesn’t require a lot of setup and makes you and the dogs smile.
>>Our Q rate is really low and I wish it wasn’t
Courses seem very tight for my big girl>>Relatable! With AKC being the dominant organization in your area, your GSPs are being asked to run on short distances compared to their stride length and power. You can help them out by running them at 20 instead of 24 (makes it SOOOOO much easier to deal with the potential of a 15 or 16 foot distance) and also picking judges who set big distances (ideally judges who judge more than just AKC, because the design rules of the other organizations require bigger distances).
>>Feeling very overwhelmed with a almost 3yr old and almost 1 yr old to train
You can set a performance goal of 1 real 5 minute training session for each of them, per week. It doesn’t seem like a lot, but it actually is plenty! Schedule it on a calendar 🙂
Dog sport I can control
>>Learn how to target my training sessions to help me and the dogs learn better and more efficiently>>Yes! Focus on skill areas you want to train or improve. Perfect!
>>Make sure we only enter trials with good surfaces to help keep bars up
Yes this is HUGE!!! Doesn’t matter how good your handling or training is, if the surface is poor. So big yes to good surfaces, BIG rings (don’t go anyplace with a small ring for trialing), and good judges. You might end up trialing less… but fewer trials with more success? Yes please!!!! That would be fabulous!
Keep me posted!
TracyGood morning!
This is a great update! And I am so glad that spotting the success helped you with the class! SOOOOOO many good things happened in that class!!!
I like the points you picked out from the Zoom – I think that those apply to most of us in our agility ‘cohort’. Many of us share the same thoughts and behaviors!
>> HALT – Needs to include Rushed for Time for me
You can change it to something like “HART” (Hungry Angry Rushed Tired) because feeling rushed is definitely legit and valid – I often feel like everything has a clock to it!
>>– I’ve gotten very good the last few years about seeing success in others and saying something. Really suck at doing it for myself and even worse at doing it with Jim, my husband.>>
So keep pointing out the success in others by telling them – and your next step is to do it with Jim. After some practice with others and Jim, it will be much easier to do it with yourelf.
>>– My Inner Critics favorite sayings “I have a really hard time getting a course in my head”, “I’m really good at this in slow motion without my dog” and “How am I going to do verbals when I’m lucky if I can remember my name some days”
Keep practicing your Wide Advocate responses to these, using phrases that can help such as “I have been learning courses for decades and this is a skill I own” (because it is true), “I am a connected, confident handler with my fast dog” (because, also true!) and “I am going to keep practicing my verbals so they become second nature” (also true and a good performance goal!)
You might not believe any of it yet, but fake it til ya make it! Because, practice makes plasticity! The plasticity in your brain will develop those new neural pathways and then you will actually believe it and it will feel so much better 🙂
Have fun!
TracyHi!
>>I had worked the opening Monday night and could not get the BC 3-4. Either she wouldn’t take the #3 jump or I was so late it was ridiculous so after giving it some thought I went with the rear at 5 knowing she could find her poles and I could still catch up.>>
I think that the RYG exercises will clear that up, because you will get the feel for just how aggressively you need to move on course 🙂 Doing the jumping course first doesn’t give that same feel, so definitely go back to the RYG challenges because they will make the big courses sooooo much easier because you will have practice being super aggressive (the RYGs will eat you alive if you are not aggressively handling LOL!)
One of the things I have been bugging everyone about so far is to be proactive (drive in aggressively, cue the thing, get outta there) rather than reactive (waiting and getting behind). So in the opening of the jumpers course, doing the RC on 5 was a bit of reactive handling in that it got the sequence but she had a questions (looking at you on the tunnel exit then slowing down to the weaves), Yes, you can catch up in the weaves but it won’t always be the weaves in that scenario LOL! And also, in training, she will be polite about questions but at a trial, my guess is that she will be far less polite about it all LOL!!
And since we have been talking about arousal – the little questions or barks you see here in training are information-seeking moments, when she is not sure what is next. At a trial, when she is more aroused, those information-seeking moments will really blow up into frustration which we want to avoid of course. So, handling aggressively will help reduce that a whole lot! It will take a bit of getting used to but will be super helpful 🙂
So – your original plan of the BC 3-4 was GREAT – if you have video, post it so I can see what happened 🙂 It is definitely the proactive choice! The other proactive option here is to send to the tunnel and blind cross the exit – you can probably send her from further away to make the blind easy and not death-defying 🙂
She had a little question about finding the #9 tunnel, so you can send to 7 from further away (closer to 8) so you are further ahead at 8, and also give your get out for 9 sooner (no later than when she is halfway between 7 and 8)
That middle section is all about handling aggresively through those boxes and staying ahead 🙂 No waiting for her! Don’t let her get into the information-seeking mode!
On the FC at 10 – cue the wrap and as soon as she takes off, your work there is done and you can move out of there to 11. Stay connected and all but head to the 11-12 section. You were waiting for her at :21 (which caused the bar down at 12 and put you to far behind to get 15, so she ended up off course). And you were waiting for her at :56 too. so she had some questions.
The post turn at 12 then the RC was also not quite as proactive as I am going to convince you to be 🙂 She almost went off course again at 1:03. I think a more aggressive way to handle it would be to send to 12 from your left as the beginning of a spin, then take off to between 13-14, to do a BC between 13-14. You will barely (or not at all!) connect on your left side before going to the right side for the blind. That puts you miles ahead so you can set up the turn on 14 to get 15.
Good job staying in motion – the ending line went well here!!!
Pop out 1:
She has a great send to the tunnel entry here, so you can easily get the blind on the exit – you were pretty close to the exit when you sent her to the entry, so strategically lead out less, send more (without going past the tunnel exit) then you will have time to order a pizza and some wings before you do the blind 🙂
By waiting for her at the exit of 3, you can see the big information-seeking moment at 1:37 and a wide turn on 4, and a big question on 5. Layering is not a good option on this sequence, getting ahead and going into the box for 6-7 will work nicely 🙂
On the 2nd run, her frustration was starting to come up, so she had a question on the tunnel exit then an off course after 4.You did the blind at 2:40 – proactive! Huzzah! Loved it! Then you waited at 2:42 as she took the 4 jump by rotating then standing still then opening back up – reactive – she had a big slip on landing of 4. And because you waited there, she was information-seeking between 4 and 5 (looking at you and barking at you), which carried over to the layering (she almost didn’t take 6).
So big click/treat (ice cream!) for the blind cross!! Then as she exits the tunnel, watch her head as you cue 4 – Josie will actually cue you went you can leave 4 and head for 5. That cue will look like her looking at 4. When she is locked onto 4, she is basically saying “yes, I see it, where next?” so it is really important that you don’t hang out there because then the “where next” info doesn’t materialize. So ideally, as she is lifting off for 4, you are halfway to 5 🙂
And yes, it might unveil a couple of spots we need to strengthen with training, but that is great! And it will also greatly decrease any information-seeking frustration, which is going to be SUPER helpful 🙂
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi 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!
Tracy
