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Good morning!
>>If I start with the Raise Your Game Package, do I submit for the first sequence:
-1st rep
-second rep
-last rep
-any middle rep
Wait for feedback & then work the next one (or rework the first sequence) based on the feedback?>>You can work on more than one sequence in a session, and submit more than once sequence in a session. I definitely recommend waiting for feedback before round 2 🙂 or you can submit one sequence and wait for feedback before trying the next sequence: it totally depends on how well it went.
For example, if sequence 1 goes really well and you don’t need a lot of reps… definitely try sequence 2! But if you do a lot of reps on sequence 1, there is no need to try sequence 2 because then both you and Frankie will be too tired to get a lot accomplished 🙂Also, just because I talk about 4 reps doesn’t mean you need to do 4 reps…. if you nail it in 1 or 2 reps, you can move on to the next one.
Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
Yes, it is entirely possible that is a combination of increased speed (due to being at a trial and on bigger courses and more arousal) and decreased processing times (also due to being at a trial and on bigger courses and more arousal!). So all of it works together. And, in that higher arousal state with increased speed, she also has to process other things like her mechanics so there is less bandwidth to process cues from you! So I definitely recommend that you work her in a higher arousal state, like tugging beforehand or sending her through the tunnels a few times before the ‘real’ run.
Keep me posted!
TracyGood morning!
Thank you for the update – I am glad things went so well!!! And well done to you, for being able to switch back and forth between 3 different dogs: that is CHALLENGING!! But great practice for trials!!!I have been seeing coverage of the fires and the smoke – scary stuff! We even have some of the smoke down here in SW Virginia… hopefully we get some rain to put those fires out!!!
Tracy
Hi!
What an incredibly successful and inspiring day you had!! YEAH!!!!!!! Well done finding your successes; it is the first step to retraining your brain.
>>Super proud I did not talk myself out of this workshop because I feel not good enough. Crazy isn’t it? the workshop is all about improving the very skills I am working on and want to improve on>>
RIGHT!! It is so nutty that our inner critic tells us those things. And it was your wise advocate and wondering voice that helped you set up the email for the workshop!
>>6. Isn’t it funny how much better you feel when you take the time to organize one little thing?>>
YES! It is such a feel-good moment! And some days we don’t organize things and that is ok too 🙂
Great job!
TracyHello and welcome! It is indeed an on-going process. I have been working on it for a while too and yet it is still AMAZING the terrible things my brain tells me sometimes LOL!!!!! We just need to keep the tools sharp 🙂 Have fun!
TracyHello and welcome!!!
Don’t worry about what happens in the ring yet. The first 2 steps will make space in your head space, and give you more bandwidth to nail the in-the-ring moments from start to finish 🙂 And we will of course be working on that too!
Tracy
Hello and welcome!!! Handling aggressively gets us to our goals faster and is SO MUCH FUN 🙂
Enjoy!
TracyHello and welcome!!!! I am excited to see Dreamer work, he is SO COOL! And I am glad you are back in action – fingers and toes crossed for a peaceful, easy summer for you and the dogs 🙂
Looking at sequence 1:
On the 1st run, you rear crossed 4 and it worked well – just needed a little bit of decel into the RC to tighten up the turn. So as he is landing from 3, you are slowing down as you move forward to 4 to set up the turn cues.
2nd run – the blind 3-4 definitely works better here and on the other runs: as soon as you see him lifting off for 2, start the blind. No need to serp him in on 3, you can just do the blind and that will bring him in. The bar came down at :55 because you were serping and he was reading it well… then you did the blind as he was in the air at 3 so he tried to adjust and dropped the barThe bar on 4 came down at 1:07 because you did the blind without connection and he was confused about where to be. So be sure to start the blind when you see liftoff for 2 so you are finished and making eye contact as he is jumping 3.
Speaking of serps… the 5 jump is a serp and he was not driving into it, and that made it harder to handle. If you pulled away from the jump and slowed down (:41) he got it, but it puts you out of position for the next line (plus there will be a tunnel there soon LOL!)
Earlier in the session, at :21, you tried to do a serp moving down the line and I really liked the handling! But he gave it a big NOPE about coming in LOL! So you can isolate the serp skill, make it like the Strike a Pose game you do with Kaz: feet pointing to the 6 jump, upper body turned to the 5 jump, arm back (and it will help if you look at you left hand too). If we can get Dreamer to drive in on the serp, this ending line will be sooooo easy 🙂
>>The second one, he doesn’t have a strong verbal backside… I know I know, I need better verbals with him since he’s so fast, and I need to give him more information. I’ve been really working on Left and Right verbals, I need to work Back verbal too.>>
Yes, a stronger backside, but as you develop that we can also get it with handling 🙂
One thing to consider is turning him to his left on jump 1 (you can change the angle to make it fit better) so he exits facing the backside line at 2. And, to get the backside – don’t use a lot of arm pointing forward. Instead, use a TON of eye contact as you run towards the center of the bar of 2. You can also use a bit of outside arm, pointing to the entry wing. And maintain that til he arrives at the entry wing because if you relax the cue too soon, he curls into the front of the jump. All of that is powerful handling and can get the backside, making the verbal less important 🙂
Turning on the wrap side of 2 worked but it is harder handling – the slices ae generally easier to handle which means you can also leave for the next line sooner 🙂
Speaking of slice versus wrap – on 4, you wrapped him to his right which had him exiting 4 facing the backside of 5 (which he took) – but slicing him to his left will have him exit 4 facing the front of 5, so the ending line will be faster and easier for you!
Lovely connection on this sequence!!!! YAY!!!!
>> I left this set up so I can add the other jump and the tunnel too.>>
Perfect! He is ready for you to add the jump. And if that goes well, you can totally add in the tunnel too!
Great job!
TracyHi!
The sideways sending looked good!
>.I get mixed up which way my body should be facing and what I should be doing with my arms and legs, even if I practice without her first.>>
You will want your hip next to the barrel, and then your arm/leg closest to it sends her. It was what you did here and it worked really well! Her commitment looked lovely and she was super happy to work for the toy.
Only one suggestion: as you send her, try not to say “go” because this is not what go will end up meaning 🙂 Use your wrap verbal.For the next session, warm up with a sideways send like you did here, then move to the backwards sends: your back it to the barrel, and you choose which arm & leg you want to send her with.
>>. I’ve created a little monster for the pool🤪. She loves to go over and jump on the first step, running back and forth grabbing flowers, etc…makes her SO happy.>>
Perfect! That is so fun!!!!!
Great job on these!
TracyHi –
The rocking horses are coming along really nicely – she needed a bit more connection for the right turns on the smaller barrel on the first video (like at 1:03) but you added it nicely at 1:09 and she nailed it. And then she was perfect on the 2nd video, even with more distance. SUPER!! Keep building this up – she is having fun and getting better and better with her commitment!!! In another session or two, you can move to the advanced level.2nd video – the right turns on the smaller barrel are locking in! Yay! She did really well here.
>>>first time outside and first time with a toy. I’ve only used treats before for barrel work.>>
This makes the sessions ESPECIALLY terrific! Lots of changed variables but she was great!
>>Im trying to use less words and line her up with the palm of my hand. This first time I asked for the toy I gave her a treat, then after that not…didn’t want to flatten out her enthusiasm with food.
I think a tiny tiny bit of food to line up won’t flatten her, as long as you are throwing the toy like you did here. And it will help with the line up!
>>When I do give her a treat, it’s just one, but it takes her a long time to eat it.>>
Small dogs give us different challenges! What if you had a little bag with cream cheese in it, or squeeze cheese, in your treat bag? And to line her up, you put the tiniest dab of it on your finger so all she needs to do is follow your finger and lick it off, to get into position? No chewing required LOL!
>> She was grabbing at my hand a lot, or maybe for the toy?>>
She was just pumped up 🙂 No worries, we will add more to the line up.
>> I think we need to start our reps more thoughtfully?
Nope! She is in a good mental state! We just have to figure out how to line her up without a lot of chewing and with no touching for now, as we build in the touching separately.
>> She seems to be rersponding to ‘Ready’.
Yay! It becomes a conditioned word that can really help the dogs get pumped up.
>> I still CANNOT touch her, it actually shuts her down. >>
Question: at home, when you are not training – does she like to be touching or petted? Does she solicit being touched or attention that way, or sitting on laps, etc? How does she do at the vet?
It is possible that she is struggling with being touched or held when she is in a higher state of arousal. Since this higher state is pretty necessary for training and eventually competing, we can help her tolerate being touched:
You can do something like get her dancing around, chasing you, higher arousal, then scatter treats on the floor or give her a lickimat while you pet the air *near* her, or pet the ground *near* her but no actually touching her. This can eventually build up to touching, collar holding, etc, while in higher arousal.
>>You’ve given me a new perspective on dogs running off with their toys or taking a victory lap while training. It actually gave me great joy to see her run around with her toy at the end of video 2 before bringing it back to me. She was ready to engage with me when she brought back. I didn’t even need to bring out her second toy to get her back
That is great! It was less than 5 seconds: she had a joyous romp, decompressed a bit, and came back wanting to play more. I loved it!
Great job!
TracyHi!
This went really well!
>> I was trying a new treat, hot dogs, but maybe too big? Thought they would be easy to see and throw. Cheese can get sticky in our heat.>>
I thought it went well – she found the treats pretty easily and ate them quickly, and returned to engagement quickly too.
>>. We’re having trouble actually hitting the prop with her feet instead of jumping over, even I’m close.>>
Remember that on the parallel path and the get out, the pup doesn’t have to hit the prop in the same way she would on the turn cues in the other games. The prop is a jump replacer, and the parallel path and get out are extension games: so you will see a bit of leaping over the prop and maybe hitting it with back feet or a little with front feet. All of that is great and rewardable, as long as she goes to the prop. She was most definitely going to it here!
>>So don’t know if we’re doing this right. I think it’s going to take some latent learning for both of us. 🤪
Yes! It was correct. It might have felt uncomfortable but everything here was good. I was going to suggest switching to your ‘get it’ marker and you already did it 🙂
>>It’s interesting that you use your off arm for this. For some reason I’ve used my off arm for the ‘out’ obstacle, especially tunnel entries, for years, my dogs just seem to get it. But people here think it’s weird and always ask me why I do it. And I don’t have a good answer, just seems natural.>>
For some reason, the outside arm got a bad rap over the years, but it works like a charm. The reason it works is because dogs read out shoulders. And the outside arm allows us to turn our shoulders very closer to the line with want, without having to run to the line we want. So it is pretty effective and useful 🙂
Nice work!
TracyHi! Welcome back to CAMP!!!!! Nice work here!!
>.. I’m not sure if adding in the jump and tunnel made a big difference,>>
Adding the tunnel was easy peasy for her, I don’t think she looked at it at all. Yay! Adding the jump *might* have been a bit of a visual distraction, because she was wider on the 4-5 lines when the jump was in? But she never went to it, so that is great!
>>and her stopping right in front of an obstacle and us having an argument about doing it.
Let’s take a different approach: rather than fixing in the moment, carry on like she took the obstacle and keep going. That will keep the frustration level down, and keep you in good position for the next section to set u even more success. The errors are handling errors, so no need to tell the her that something went wrong (she knows LOL!). Then you can fix it in the next rep (usually she needs one more step or more connection or both :)) Keeping the frustration level down is super important and will help her commit more in the long run.
For example, you two had a discussion about jump 4 right at the beginning: not quite enough cnonection and an abrupt departure so she didn’t take it. Rather than resending her (which gets more barking and frustration built in), just keep moving as if it were perfect.
You fixed it really well on the next rep at :24 – a little more connection, a little more movement towards the jump. Nice!!!
One thing I see that she needs on course is for you to keep moving towards the next line, feet always facing the next line. Any time you pull away from the line or don’t turn your feet to it, she has big questions (and good questions!) So connection is important but always moving forwards towards the next line is super helpful.
One example is when you were wrapping 6 to the left at the beginning: she didn’t commit at :15 and :28 until your feet stepped to the jump. When you were moving a bit sideways, she was looking at you for more info.
The different handling on the 3rd rep was really good because you are facing the line and moving towards the line the whole time. She dropped 2 – maybe because your position at 3 for the blind puts you too far away for her to process the jumping mechanics? She got it nicely on the next reps!!
Comparing the ending 5-6-7 on those 2 reps:
at :39-:41, you basically connected and ran straight to the exit wing, so she turned to her right. Nice!
At :52 – :54, you pulled away from 6 then turned your feet back to the inner wing (outside arm up too) and she correctly turned left. So that is good info that she just needs you to run forward to the line, to get the slice jump you wanted.The first rep with the jump added looked great! On the 2nd rep, you pulled away from 5 and so she started asking questions… then you pushed back to 6 so she got it, but was not able to keep the bar up.
The next rep was really strong too, with you running smooth and straight on the lines.Adding the tunnels: it seemed like she had no question about the tunnel here. Super!
This was a good angle to see your running line 4-5-6!
For serps, our ideal line of motion is parallel to the bar and not pulling away from it. At 1:56 you were pulling away from it, so she had a little question. At 2:07, your feet were coming directly towards the camera for several steps so at 2:08, when she was over the bar, she was (correctly) jumping straight towards the camera. You did try to step her back to 6 but she needed more time to find it – at 2:09 you pulled away to 7 too soon, so she came with you (this is another spot where you can just keep going as if it was perfect, to keep frustration levels down).The same thing happened at 2:25-2:27 and she got The Big Mads happening. You had earlier motion back to 6 on the last rep and an outside arm to help her, so she got it at 2:42. Ideally, as you leave 4, you would slide past 5 running parallel to the bar (upper body and serp arm cue her to come in over the bar) and keep moving to takeoff spot of 6.
But if something goes wrong, don’t re-end her in the moment (it conditions more frustration into the game and rehearses that argument). Just carry on and fix it in the next rep by going closer to the jump.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! I agree, these went really well!! He never looked at the off course jump: it was not on his line and your handling was clearly moving up the to the next jump on t he correct line.
>.All 3 steps, 2 reps of each step>>
I didn’t see any reps with the tunnel dropped in the middle of it all 🙂 He did well ignoring the tunnels that were nearby under the a-frame and dog walk!
A couple of ideas for you:
A small detail: run without the toy in your hand. You are switching it from hand to hand and in that moment, you need to be finishing the blind. So, it is easier to stuff it into a pocket so you don’t switch it without realizing it.
A bigger detail: You can watch his head more, so when he locks onto the jump by looking at it, you leave to the next spot. You were standing still til he took off on 4 and 6, which will put you out of position on a bigger course.
>>While editing the video I saw some variation in the timing of the blind,
That might have been the toy hand switch moment LOL! But it was overall really good!
>> he never looked at the off course jump but definitely had some turns that were wider than others>>
Yes – the earlier you left for the next line, the better the turns. For example, at :54, you left the send to 4 without standing still, and that drew him up the line really nicely!! When you were standing still on the earlier reps, he was going wider because you were facing that direction longer.
You can also use your verbals to help commit him, you were very quiet here LOL!
I think some of the wider turns were on the 5-6 serpy line. When you stayed nice and tight to 5, he was nice an tight on the line to 6. When you pulled away from 5, he jumped longer towards your position and motion then then you had to push him back to 6, which widened that turn too.
So stay really close to 5, and as soon as his head turns to 6, leave for 7 (no standing still allowed LOL!)
His only other question was at :56 when he hit the bar. You surprised him with a BIG serp arm all the way back and pulled away from 5 (all of the other serp arms were smaller and had the opposite arm involved) so he might have thought it was a threadle? So keep that serp arm super consistent to help answer that question.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>.I will spare you watching him fly the DW the first couple of times. Not sure what the deal was but it wasn’t acceptable.>>
In theory it was an “easy” exit but maybe it was harder because you were layering? Either way, yes, it is good to work on it because we want him to hit nicely even when you are further away 🙂
An overall thought on this course: I think in parts of it you are handling reactively, meaning waiting for him to respond before continuing on, and that is causing from trouble. If you can handle proactively by sending, trusting, and getting gone to the next spot, I bet we can answer his questions and smooth out the trouble spots.
Small detail on the opening: As he is heading to the #4 tunnel after the RDW, you can give him an exit cue (GO or GO jump!) so he doesn’t slow down to look at you (:12) especially because you are so far away.
Great job cuing the weaves, that is a particularly useful strength!! YAY!!!
The 8-9-10 line is a bit wicked 🙂 And this is where you were more reactive than proactive:
9 is a serpentine, ideally requiring a bit of motion across the landing side of it to move him to 10. Not a lot! But enough that as he is landing from 8 and looking at 9, he sees you moving towards 10.
At :44 you were closer to the a-frame side of the 9 jump – you gave a big arm and said “tunnel”, but that made the exit of 10 more obvious. On the restart at :52 when you started from the 9 jump, your line was perfect! So the question is how to proactively get from the weaves to that position:
Since he has such great independent weaves, you can leave the weaves and end up halfway between 8 and 9. Then cue the 8 jump (can be a backside cue, if you think he might take the front). Watch his head: as soon as you see his head pointing towards 8, you can then head directly towards 10, converging in across 9 with a bit of serp handling. He should find 9 on his own, and the convergence coming sooner will show him the correct entry to 10.
You were in a great spot for cuing 8 at 1:38 AND you even started giving the cue while he was still weaving: PERFECTION. That was proactive!
Then you got reactive: You stayed at 8 and turned your shoulders and waited for him to turn before moving again, so he was approaching 9 (1:39) at the same time you were which made it very hard to get 10 while maintaining good position (you ended up rear crossing the 9 jump on the takeoff side).
So send to 8 like you did at 1:38 then get gone up the line towards 10. Let him set up his turns: he either understands the lines and cues, or he doesn’t (and if he doesn’t, we will teach him :))
The next part after 10 also falls into being a bit too reactive and waiting too long category, which is why it was so hard. The main thing here is to handle as if the off courses were not there: what cues are needed? So for 10-11, pretend the teeter and the layer jump are not there – you would just move towards 11 and cue him to jump.
The ‘go out’ at :55 and 1:44 was too much – he went out for sure (almost to the teeter). Note how at 2:10 you didn’t use the ‘go out’ and he had a much better line to 11! Yay!Same with the 11-12-13 line – how would you handle if that off course tunnel was not there? Proactively, it would be the cross from 11-12 then as soon as he lands at 11, you would cue the wrap exit of 12 and had towards 13. Because the tunnel was there, you stuck around longer which ended up making for wider turns because positionally you were showing the tunnel as a possibility.
For example: The ‘easy’ at 1:46 on jump 12 of rotating towards him and opening up again almost presented the tunnel and didn’t get you up the line because you held position to make sure he had the turn: in this situation if you rotate towards him, you might as well finish the rotation for a spin or ketschker. That will not only get a great turn, but it takes out any motion towards the wrong line and gets your feet moving to the correct line even sooner. And the sooner you leave for the next spot, the less he will consider any nearby off course obstacles. You did the full rotation at 2:14 and the turn was indeed better, and your position was better too! Loved it!!!!
>>We were going along, 12-13-14 to backside of #1. I think this kind of error is caused by confusion between layering things and considering my position. Obviously, he didn’t get a turn cue at 14. I thought the “forward send” at 14 would include coming back but obviously Enzo and I did not see them the same way. >>
AHA! It is very useful when we get a trial error in training, and get it on video!
At 1:50-1:51 when he went off course, you had your arm up and you were saying “come here”… but moving backwards on a parallel path to his line, so he stayed on his line to the backside of 1. I think it was Linda Mecklenburg who said that backwards motion reads the same as forward motion to the dogs 🙂 so we get the same behavior (staying on lines).
Compare to 2:18 where you did everything pretty much the same in terms of position and verbals except you finished the rotation: no backwards motion and only forward motion to 16, so he had no questions about the backside of 1. So this is a good spot to be proactive too: finish the turn and head forward to the next position, rather than waiting for him to make the turn towards you.>>went on to what I thought was a lovely Ketschker at 16 but Enzo didn’t>>
I think the K turn was good too! But there was a lack of transition into decel so he didn’t transition into collection – he is good about staying on lines when you are not running hard, so if you need to get the turn you need to show deceleration even if it is coming in a spot where there is not a lot of motion to begin with.
The ending looked really good! He had a question at the end, but I think it was mainly a tired leg moment for you, from running these big courses especially if you had to repeat the DW a few times at the start! These courses are really big yardage, so next time when you run it, you can probably have more steam to run through the ending (my legs would have been jelly by this time LOL!)
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
