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Hi!
First one into the pool! Hooray!>>*** I am now watching your video from the first exercise in this package, and I TOTALLY should have watched this before running this course! I definitely handled parts of this course tentatively and not aggressively as I should have. I definitely needed AGGRESSIVE CONNECTION!>>
YESSSS!!! These course design trends require us to handle aggressively, trust the dog, stay in motion, and be very connected, to set the lines very early. And, we basically have to pretend that the off course obstacles are not there and handle the lines like we would if they were not there. That will help the dogs not even see the off course obstacles 🙂 The skills courses help set that up (and are actually really hard LOL!)
Looking at course 1:
video 1: On the opening, lead out more so you can do the blind sooner and more forward to the line: at :14 you were doing the blind but running to your right to get between the uprights of 2 when ideally you would be running directly forward to the exit wing of 3 (bar down a 3 because of this – he had to adjust his line to get 3 and then didn’t see the turn info to 4 in time).
4-10 looked strong!
10 – 11 was too careful which is why he legit thought it was the tunnel. From the a-frame exit, you can be further away away to push to 10 then turn your shoulders and drive to 12, supporting 11 but not trying to handle him off the tunnel. Pretend it is not there 🙂 The extra handling inside the box there actually did look like you wanted the tunnel threadle.
On the 2nd video, you left 10 a lot sooner and it was a lot better! Yay! You still gave him a little pull-then-push but I don’t think he needed that, plus I think he reads that push as a go-back-out cue. Handle it the same way you would if the tunnel was not there at all… you would just turn and run 🙂
That pull/push for 11 made the turn late for 12 so he looked at the off course jump.The next section on this video showed too much handling help – compare to the other videos where you ran the line more and things went better!
The FC at 12 looked good, and then definitely too much handling helping 13-14, made the blind really late 🙂 Then the first step off the teeter set him up to take the #4 jump. On the next video, you used more of a here cue and a threadle arm – how independent is his teeter? Ideally you would cue the teeter and take off, so when he exits the teeter you are most of the way to the tunnel – that will take out the off course possibility.
I like to pretend my contacts are like straight tunnels: cue them, trust the dog to execute them, and leave 🙂 No helping at the exit 🙂
And since he is a young dog still learning contacts, you can totally have a target or something there to help him execute them properly because they are a lot harder to do than straight tunnels LOL!
>>l. We connected after the jump and then when I released connection, he was like, got it mom, tunnel!! I should have used more of my off arm to bring him into me>>
I think the answer is actually in less handling, not more 🙂 You can leave sooner, be connected and just run the line – that will take out the off courses because almost all of them are not actually on his line, if we run the line early and aggressively.
2nd try on the standard course:
You started the blind 2-3 sooner which definitely helped! I think leading out even more so you are running more directly to 3 will help more too.After the frame, you totally sent to 10 better so your position was better 10-11-12 but the “here, jump” pull/push of trying to get him past the tunnel actually almost cued the tunnel 🙂
The blind after tunnel 13 was SOOOO much earlier and better, he never looked off course! Yay! You handled it like the off course was not there, and he never looked at the off course. Happy dance!
Having to go to the end of the teeter with him sets him on the line to the jump, and the here-tunnel pull/push is making him think you want him to go back out. Reward him though, he was correct!
Looking at this section here on and on the next video too – yes, leave sooner from the teeter and also he thinks that tunnel is a forward cue, meaning get on the line and find the tunnel. So since the jump is on the line after the teeter based on your position and motion, then don’t say tunnel for now – call him til he has changed his line in this context then you can cue the tunnel.
But moving away from the teeter and running to the tunnel will set the line to the tunnel as soon as he exits the teeter. 🙂 And that will also get you to the BC on the tunnel exit, which sets the ending line really nicely.
Course 2:
the opening looked lovely on the first video!
>.I didn’t support the weaves.>>
Yes – your running line was to the backside of the jump, so he was not sure if it was the weaves or the jump. You needed to run in there like you did at the start of the 2nd video, that looked great!
After the weaves, send to 8 but don’t go near it – send and leave so you can converge to the landing of 9 sooner, to set up the serp to the tunnel
Nice FC 11-12! Then you need tosend to 12, give the wrap verbal and get outta there. At :17 you were in the box handling him off the tunnel, when ideally you would be up past 13 already
The 3rd video starts with a much nicer convergence on 9 to the weaves – he turned before takeoff. Yay!
you layered to get to 11, which is great, but slowing down near the layer jump to get his attention off of it actually got him moving towards it (decel and verbal near a jump means come take that jump, normally :)) So a big GO verbal before the 10 tunnel and then just run to 11 and I bet he never considers the off course (more layering coming soon in Games Package 2 :))The FC 11-12 was nice again! You didn’t mention to him about the wrap to 13 til after he landed from 12 (:10) so he was totally looking at the tunnel. Ideally, when he lands from 11, you cue 12 with a send and the wrap verbal then as soon as he turns his head to lock onto it, you run to 13.
>> I am not sure why when I gave him his left wrap command that he turned the other way. Maybe he read my decel as a rear cross? Either way, what a good boy!>>
He turned to his right a 16 instead of to his left (:15). It was because you got a little past the line on the FC (outside the wings of the pink jump) then stepped back into the 16 jump after he landed: that is a rear cross cue and he was already ding the RC before you said the wrap verbal and turned to the frame.
So, when placing your FC or BC, try to run the exact line you want him to take. towards the next obstacle. That way you are always moving forward and you don’t end up past the line and having to push him back to the jump. Being on his line is fine in this case, because he is way behind you and you will be off his line when he needs the room 🙂
Last video – the opening looked great and I agree, he did a great job on his running contacts on all of these!
After the weaves – you got close to 8 then used hustle to get past 9, but he did not know there was a right turn til after landing so he had a bit of a zig zag line at :31-:32. You can use lateral distance more, so you would send to 8 then basically run to the 10 tunnel rather than handle close to 8 and 9. That will set the line to the tunnel sooner for him.
The layering was much better 10-11-12! The only thing to add is a GO verbal before he enters the tunnel so he exits even straighter
>.just a bar. Thinking maybe I was not providing him the info prior to the jump on where he needed to be next and he maybe thought the tunnel but then had to correct?>>
Yes, that is what happened: you started the turn info of the verbal, arm, and change of running line at liftoff to 12 (:38) so he tied to adjust in the air. Ideally, you would see him land from the previous jump and start the info as part of your commitment cue to 12 (wrap verbal, send, and run to 13 when you see him lock onto 12) Don’t go anywhere near the takeoff of 12 🙂
The FC 15-16 had a better line here, so you didn’t step back to 16 and he turned the correct direction on the wrap to the a-frame.
You ended by doing gthe 18-9-10 line, which looked lovely 🙂 If you get a change to run it again, check out the 18-19-20-21-22 line which is a little more challenging.
>>We have been working on his running contacts and I was just over the moon at how great he did in all of these runs!!>>
YES! He looked great!!
Great job on these! Let me know what you think!
TracyHello and welcome!!
I am excited to see you and Kaladin again, looking forward to you two whipping my butt AGAIN at the US Open this year LOL!!!And what the heck with the weather??? It needs to cool down, we’ve got dogs to train!!!
Have fun 🙂
TracyHello and welcome to you and the Bostons!!! I am excited to see Frankie work and VERY happy to hear that Bazinga is feeling better. YAY!!!
Have fun!
TracyHello and welcome back!!!
>.Fusion is struggling with turns when sheis running fast >>
So not getting enough collection to make the correct line?
>>and is getting alot of opposite end of tunnels>>
Is she coming off the line to come towards you, or staying out on the line or moving away to pick up the tunnel? Tell me more!
Have fun 🙂
TracyHello!
>.Yep! He really is 3 1/2!!!!
How did you know I was thinking “wow, how is he 3 1/2 already?” hahaha!!!
Welcome back! This will be a fun summer!!!
TracyHi!
>>Random question: will you always use 15′ tunnels? I see that the 2 tunnels in week 1 are 15′. And so is the tunnel in the “Raise your Game” section.>>
The RYG sequences will always be 15 foot tunnels, to make it all fit 🙂 I will throw in a 20 foot tunnel in the bigger courses throughout the summer.
>>Next time I’ll notice before I build it but maybe could you put obstacle #1 at the bottom of the page, please? Some of us (me, anyway) have very rigid spatial relationship skills. For example, I can only play red in backgammon.>>
I actually had to go back and look at where it all was LOL!! I almost always put it at the bottom of the page because of how our American brains are wired to look at courses (you will see that with the RYG and Jumping courses). The Agility courses have it up top, because of where the teeter ended up. So I think you will see that most of the time, jump 1 will be at the bottom but it will sometimes migrate to help minimize course build changes.
Have fun!
TracyHi! Welcome back! I am excited to see you and the boys! And I think we need to bribe the weather gurus to make sure it is NOT a hot summer 🙂
Enjoy!
TracyHello and welcome back! I am glad you are here and I am looking forward to seeing Coal!! He is all grown up now!!!
Have fun 🙂
TracyGood morning! Looks like a gorgeous, busy weekend!
The parallel path went well, his commitment is looking strong! It will be even easier if you can toss a cookie behind him so that you can be further ahead (or move out to the side) as you start moving to the jump. As you add the cookie throw, like at 1:16, be sure to be super connected so he can see the cue to take the jump (the connection is an important part of that) and so you know exactly when to throw, like at 1:51 where there was better connection so he drove to the jump with fewer questions
>> I can still get a lot better at the timing of my throws!
I think your throws were well-timed (can always be earlier lol) but you were saying “get it” after throwing – so try to say ‘get it’ as soon as you see him looking towards the jump, then throw it. You can say ‘go go go’ as soon as you start to move, then switch to get it.
Rocking horses:
On the outside video: He was fully on board with going around the barrels. but it took you about 30 seconds to sort out what you needed to do in terms of which arm and leg and the FC LOL! So try to walk it without him a few times, so it is very smooth when he comes on the scene.When you did get it rolling, the only suggestion is to add more connection – look at him when you send to the barrel, rather than looking at the barrel. When you looked forward a lot, he was not as sure (like at :45) because the lack of connection turns your shoulders and feet to the other side of the barrel. The connection will point everything to the entry part of the barrel.
You can see that same connection question at :05 of the indoor video. He exited the blue barrel but then as you sent to the green one, you stopped looking at him so he curled in front of you to see the connection (then ended up going to the toy because it was the only obvious thing).
Good job playing with him when that happened – it was not an impulse control error, it was an information-seeking moment. At :41 you had more connection (all he needs is a little) and he went to the barrel.
At 1:01 – you had no connection on the send (looking forward and not at him), he came to the front of you (but not to the toy).
You put the toy in your pocket at 1:23 but it was not the toy… and be careful of putting the toy away because it could be confusing to him: if he has a question and staying engaged like that causes the toy to go away, he could get frustrated and/or lose interest in the toy. So if he ends up at you or at the toy (or at the cookies), reward him and then increase the connection on the next rep.At 1:32 you had much better connection so he nailed it, then at 2:02 coming towards the camera you can see the beautiful connection of your eyes following his head allllll the way around from the send to the exit. Lovely! YAY!! I bet he will be just as smooth even with the toy in your hand, if you maintain this level of connection. SO NICE!!!
You can add your verbals, but be sure to say them to him (connection!) and not to the barrels 🙂
Running contacts:
>> I added a slightly raised platform and started standing up, but I think based on this session I made it too hard too fast.””Yes, I agree that there were too many variable changes all at once. The last session (May 30) had you stationary and low, and this one had you standing, moving a lot, adding distance, and an elevated prop (and crunchy cookies that took a moment to eat, so he was trying to eat and offer all at once). Good job recognizing that it was too much and regrouping!
The second session was only had one variable change from the session you did on May 30’s post – you were holding the mat. I think that was to isolate the front foot hit and that is fine – but same rules apply for the next session:
– just say’ get it’ to both mark the behavior and to tell him where the treat it. The “yes” is like a click, which is not informational in terms of where the treat is, so he looks at you a lot here.
– we need to fade your hand and your position out of the picture as quickly as possible, so rather than hold the mat to get the front foot pounce, attach it to something to give it that angle so he can go away from you to do it.Then we you add more variables – add just one at a time. So if you elevate the prop, that is the only change. And when you stand up…that is the only change for that session. And when you add distance, you can be stationary. Or if you add motion, don’t add distance too 🙂 That will move things along really quickly but only changing one variable at a time.
He did really well at Cabelas! So fun that these places allow dogs and there was definitely a lot to look at! Yay!
>>So far he is the least environmentally-sensitive terrier I’ve had. I hope it stays that way!>>
The 2 things you can add to help him remain this way are:
– social support from another environmentally perfect dog that he knows. For example, my whippet is the most environmentally perfect dog I have ever had (it is genetic, he came that way) so he acts as the Emotional Support Whippet for my 5 month old puppy, who is much more normal about environments LOL!! Are there any incredibly stable dogs that he knows and can be his support in new places?– play those pattern games. Any time my dogs have environment questions, I whip out a pattern game and voila! The sensitivity goes away. Cool stuff!!
>>Reacher gets SO excited about the food and toys and playing that he tends to really do a lot of vertical jumping. Not very well planned jumped either. I am worried about him getting hurt doing this but I’m not sure how to stop it without curbing his enthusiasm. Thoughts?>>
We definitely don’t want to curb his enthusiasm (which is also one of the funniest and most offensive shows I have ever watched LOL!!) 2 suggestions:
in training situations, you can have your cookies and toys prepared before you bring him into the training, you can go right into it without him seeing you get the treats or fiddle with them, etc. That will help reduce the jumping up.and if he does jump up, in life or training – try absolutely zero response to it. No attention, just keep doing what you are doing, as if it didn’t even happen. Don’t withdraw attention or treats or toys (punishment), just carry on with whatever you were doing as if he didn’t jump up at all – then you can really enhance the moment he does NOT jump up by giving him the toys or treats. Let me know if that makes sense.
Great job here!
TracyHi!
His tunnel session looked great too! He definitely loved tunneling LOL!!! And he did really well with being on both sides of you and finding the entry from different angles. Super!!!
Only 2 small suggestions:
– As you start each rep, hold him as you say tunnel a few times then let him go, so he processes the verbal before he moves. This tunnel verbal is easy 🙂 but the other verbals will not be as easy, so holding him as you say the verbal will help establish the whole “dude listen to the verbal before you move” routine that we use as we add harder verbals.
And speaking of verbals… you can add your threadle-side tunnel verbal so he begins learning to differentiate between the 2 cues.
– you can be saying your ‘get it’ for the toy rather than ‘yes’ especially on the threadle side reps, where he was more likely to look at you. So as soon as he turns he head and is committed to going to the tunnel, you can mark that moment with ‘get it’.
>.He loses interest in the Manners Minder and starts curling back toward me when he exits, but drives forward for the toy when that’s the reward>>
Yes, the toy is definitely more exciting! So using the toy worked perfectly here. You can build value for the MM by doing an easy tunnel entry then to the MM for the reward… and as soon as he eats the cookie, you throw the toy 🙂 This can be super useful if you wanted to use the MM for running contacts, because it can build up the drive to it quite nicely.
Great job here!!
TracyGood morning!
Strike a pose is looking great! He was great abut driving into the target hand then making the turn to the reward – exactly what we want the behavior to look like 🙂 And just as I was about to type that you could add a toy as the reward…. Boom! You pulled out a toy. LOL! And that went well too!
Since he did so brilliantly with this (and your mechanics were lovely), 2 things for the next steps:
– you can have the toy on the ground instead of in your hand, so he comes to the target hand then you can mark that with a ‘get it’ or whatever your marker is to cue getting the toy 🙂 This is MUCH harder so if he struggles at all (or if you think he will struggle), you can split the behavior by having the toy dangling to help him understand what to do, before putting it on the ground.
– you can also move this to the concept transfer posted last week:
you can do the concept transfer exactly like you did this session, then move to the toy on the ground after he has seen that on the flat.
Great job!
TracyHello and welcome!!! It will be great fun to see Enzo and Casper 🙂 We can totally break things down into concept work for Casper – it is stuff he is going to need to know! and Enzo can do the hard stuff 🙂
>>HOWEVER, it is the beginning of June and the temperature in Michigan has been flirting with 90. We don’t train outside at 90. So I’m hoping it will ease off a bit.>>
That is INSANITY!!! Here in the hot South, we are still in the mid 70s, maybe a day of low 80s. The good news is that the skills and live class games will all fit in your building, and then you can fit the courses into whenever the weather decides to cooperate.
(And shhhhh, all the stuff should be visible early tomorrow morning :))
Have fun! Stay cool!
TracyHello and welcome to CAMP! It is so fun to see the MaxPup grads here 🙂 His runs look lovely!!!!
>>I also need to figure out my timing of cues – not too early, not too late and preferably not suddenly while he’s in the air which increases our risk of dropping bars.>>
Yep, normal stuff with a 2 year old! We will definitely be looking at cue timing and helping him process cues while also maintaining proper form over the bar: because of his age, it might simply be a little more months for brain development to take him out of adolescence and into adulthood. All of my boy dogs have had the same progression: At age 2, hitting rails if I did a verbal over the bar. At age 3, no problem with the rails when I talk over the bar. For most of the them, I didn’t do any training and I definitely did not punish – I just let them grow up and get experienced. With one of them, I did a few games to help him but I also think he grew up 🙂 My girl dogs did not have this issue at all – gender difference in terms of processing? Or different issue? Or pure luck? LOL! Processing all of this stuff is hard for youngsters!!
Have fun!
Tracy
