Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Hi! Thank you for the update, I was wondering how it went.
>It’s a baby step in the right direction, but it feels HUGE.>
It is definitely HUGE!!! Yay!! And it was incredibly windy – that is hard for dogs and she did great!
You did a number of very smart things here on the video:
– Some pattern games/rewarding for looking back at you after looking at something in the environment
– Tricks that were engaging (volume dial!) but not over-arousing
– Balancing those tricks with rewarding her for looking back at you after looking at something in the environment
– High value treats
– Large space/plenty of room and distance from distractions
– Perfect helper dogs!This all came together for a really excellent session!!!! She was a good girl and looked almost relaxed (it would be hard to be fully relaxed in that much wind!
You can also add in a variation of the pattern game called “up and down” which resets the nervous system by getting the dog’s head moving up and down. A cookie goes down on your shoe. She eats it, then when she looks up at you, a cookie goes down on your other shoe. It looks like this:
Do you think she would be able to walk with the Toller helpers? Not interacting with them, but maybe going on a sniffy walk in the environment, moving side by side maybe 10 feet apart? That would be lovely to add: a walk through the environment with a calm helper who can model relaxed behavior.
Great job here!
Tracy
Hello! He is looking so grown up all of a sudden! But still super cute 🙂
He did well with figuring out the difference between the threadle and the serp. The jump has value (this is good!) so if he was not sure, he would take the jump instead of the threadle hand. To help him see the difference between the threadle and the serp more consistently, you can put more of yourself outside the edge of the upright for the threadle. The less of you he can see between the uprights, the more he would come to the threadle side.
>I started first with his treat and train which worked but he only walked over to it. He is not very food motivated anymore. The toy is fine it just makes everything more tricky.>
I see what you mean here –
He definitely liked the toy as the reward! It is pretty normal for a young BC to think food is silly at this stage and also they think running hard towards you is silly 🙂 But he got faster and faster as the session went along, because he was figuring out that driving towards you was the way to get the toy 🙂 You can do more tugging when he brings it back, he will love that too!About the food drive:
He was eating his treat that you used to start each rep, and that is great – it will help him like food better because you are rewarding him for eating it with work and the toy (he finds both work and the toy very rewarding 🙂 )The Manners Minder can be a platform that you leave the toy on – it is a nice visual way to help develop that in-then-out movement so your hands are empty. And it is a good self-control element because he has to ignore the toy there.
The other thing you can do is reward him at your hand for coming in to it – that will help him run faster towards the serp or threadle. You can reward with the toy – you can tug with him when he comes to your hand, or you can throw the toy behind you. Based on what he did here, I bet he will love it when you throw it behind you sometimes 🙂 and mixing that in will help him drive straight towards you too.
Great job here!!!
Tracy
Hi!
> It is for sure no pain. He is “just” not able to work in such a challenging environment.>
It is good that it is not pain! It might be the huge challenge of working in the much harder trial environment without his reward in the ring with you. That can cause the stress sniffing for a lot of dogs, especially as the challenges increased with more people and dogs.
>I presume his inability to work in such environments is a combination of a lag of motivation (choosing to work with me despite other rewarding things in the environment) and his quite sensitive personality.>
I think it is not about him choosing to work with you – he totally loves you! It sounds more like his brain gets overloaded with all of the things it has to process so he cannot perform at his best or respond to your cues that well. It is subconscious more than it is a conscious choice.
>But I do not have any clue how to solve this huge problem and train through this step by step – especially at this can certainly not only be done in my backyard.
I am wondering whether you might be willing to support me in that with some online private lessons?>Totally can! I have a lot of ideas of how to help with this – and they *can* mostly be done in your backyard because that is the only option for most of us. It gets arranged through the main office via this link:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScDxgW08hhu0HXCSIVVkiQsNxW1VY0kzXUMYZ1cuscDePr1kQ/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=104182089305835532312Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi!
> The first sequence seemed like it should be pretty easy but it was anything but that >
Yes – harder than it looks for sure! The trick to getting the blinds is setting up the line before the blind in order to get to the blind easily.
Two things that will help:
Using distance to send away so you can be on an easy line to get to the blind will help a lot. To do this, you don’t need to handle each obstacle – think of it as handling each line!On the first part of the video, you were rounding the line 6-7 with him and getting a bit too close to 7. That caused the panic moment of trying to get away to the blind on the tunnel exit. You were actually too early on the blind on run 1 (:11) and at :45 (where the bar came down) then a bit disconnected on run 2 at :28.
You were starting to lock into the timing and conneciton at 1:02 and the next couple of reps too!What can make it even easier is to think of the parallel line from jump 5 (after the first tunnel) to get to the blind on the tunnel exit. If you can get close to jump 5 and send him away on the line to 6-7, staying parallel to his line to support the tunnel entry while heading to the tunnel exit… it should be much easier!
You can use that parallel line support idea on the 2nd sequence too: as he exits the #2 tunnel, you can support the line to 3 while moving up the line into the gap between 4 and 5 to get the BC at 5 – lateral distance can really support the line as long as you are parallel to where you want him to be. That way, when he takes off for 3, you are already laterally past 4 and closer to 5, and can start the blind on the takeoff side of 5.
At :07 & :2 & :36 2 you were still heading to 4 which meant the BC started late, and that caused a rush to get the backside at 6. A little disconnection cued the front side at :11 and having to really push to get there contributed to the bar down at :25. You got it nicely at :42!
At 1:08 you were further away from 3 and it made a big difference on the rest of the sequence: you were able to start the blind earlier and had an easier time setting the line to 6!
You can use that same parallel line concept to smooth out the blind on the landing side too:
rather than go close to 3 and 4 like at :57 & 1:26 (which made the blind a little late and you were blocking the line
to the 6 backside a bit). To make it easier, you can actually get closer to the entry of the 2 tunnel and run along the tunnel a bit (til maybe the halfway point). Then as he exits the tunnel, he will see you moving forward parallel to this line to support 3, but closer to where 5 is (as far laterally away from 3 as you can get). You can keep going forward til he locks onto 4 (pinwheel jump) and I bet you would be right need the landing side of 5 and can easily do the blind and clear the line to 6.I think Sly has the line skills to do this – he just needs the cues in the form of parallel line motion to support the lines. Let me know what you think!
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
Yay for the T2B win! That is a fun class to win, because everyone is running in extension so it is definitely about fastest lines.
> In BOTH cases, when I walked the course, I had no idea if the blinds would be “OK” or not. So here is the run where I couldn’t make it happen.>
This is an excellent video to analyze because it will help you plan and decide on future blinds. The mechanics on all 3 of the blinds here were good in terms of arms and great connection. So why was the first blind super strong, second blind good, and 3rd blind didn’t happen? The answer was the setup for the blind, not the blind itself.
The first BC 4-5 was super nice, great timing and connection! One consideration is that you didn’t need to be quite as far past 4 and can be moving directly to the tunnel and not near 4 at all.
He turned wide on the tunnel exit so you had to call hard and wait to be sure he turned before doing the next blind. But you moved out of it and showed clear cnenction so he totally got it. So after the BC before the tunnel, he needed a turn cue before entering (a name call or directional is probably all he needed, as long as it happened before he entered the tunnel).
Looking at the 3rd blind: what happened before it is why you couldnt get it – rear crossing the yellow tunnel was the reason.
For planning purposes, that blind would need you to be at or past the BC jump while he was at the triple. When he was lifting for the triple, you were halfway to the next jump so he took off thinking it was a dog-on-right straight line moment. The blind at :39 started when he was lifting off (you can see his ears come up) so he tried to make it happen but you were on the line so he couldn’t get to the new side.
In the zoomed in slow motion, you can see you squared up to the jump after the triple and he lands from the triple looking to his left based on that. In terms of the connection, he did see it as he was taking the blind cross jump! But your line of motion was right into his landing path so he touched you a bit – but thankfully not too hard because you didn’t fall (whew!)
Tl;dr: it was too late for him to be able to adjust. It needed to be closer to finished when you started it. Rear crossing the tunnel then driving in to the line was what made the blind at the end late.
So how to make it work?
You had a lovely weave pole layer 🙂 Since his weaves are so good you can play running away while he is weaving to get a blind before yellow tunnel to keep you ahead and further up the line for the blind.
Or, a bigger send into the RC so you can layer the jump before it and get back up the line sooner.
Both of those options would put you passing the triple as he is exiting the tunnel and looking at the next jump. That would make the blind really easy.
And you can also have a plan A and plan B (I always have 2 plans). The plans hinge on where I am on course, knowing when the dog needs to see BC cues. If I am too near the triple when the dog approaches it? Rear cross! If I am closer to the green wing after it when the dog approaches the triple? Blind!
>>One of my buddies ran it successfully with the blind exactly where I put it, but I think he did it mostly as a jibe.>
Of course! Ha! Do you remember what he did before that last tunnel?
> I saw other folks do their blind immediately after the triple and that was where I was gong to do it with Casper except his run blew up entirely>
I liked your choice of placement – it set the absolute best line through the ending, it was a matter of getting up that line sooner.
>(he got the BC before the initial tunnel but then did the entire set of weaves and we never got that run back on track.>
I can see Casper’s argument that it was the weaves, if he didn’t get a turn cue before the tunnel. I also thought it was the weaves until you called Enzo.
Let me know if it makes sense about plotting the line before the blind to get there easily! That will makes blinds so much easier and also let you know when it is not a possibility.
Tracy
Good morning!
He picked this up really easily and I agree, he seemed to be having fun doing it 🙂
Now that you’ve added the 2nd barrel and motion, you can do 2 things to advance this skill even more and build even more independence:
– you can be giving the in in cues even sooner. As he exits the first barrel, you can start giving the in in verbal and hand cues even if you are not near the 2nd barrel yet. That will start teaching him to drive past you into the in in, to make it even more independent.
– you can fade out the hand that turns him to the barrel. Decelerate next to the barrel just like you did here, keep giving him the verbal, and let him see the hand cue: but don’t flip your hand away. See if he will flip himself away! It might take a moment and he might look at you – but you can wait to see if he offers it. If he really thinks you are crazy 😆 and is waiting for more info, you can give him a tiny hand flick to help him turn away and then we can fade it out too.
And you can mix in some regular rocking horse front cross wraps, to keep things challenging for him – he does seem to enjoy the challenges so I think it will be super fun!
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
Yes, you’ve definitely had some amazing adventures! And hopefully more coming up this summer! And they’ve been incredibly valuable to baby Vibe 🙂
>We got a fun tug ring in Utah and it’s a nice one for him to be able to shove into my hands after retrieving.>
The ring tugs are super!!! A toy company near me just adding a ring tug as a leash handle, which is perfect for UKI runs!
The reverse retrieve is looking super strong! He was really good about bringing it to you with minimal victory laps 🙂 and you were great about extended play sessions when he brought it to you – the play should last twice as long as the ‘work’ in each rep for games like this.
You can turn it into a bit of a commitment game by adding a 2nd toy in your hand: can he still go get the original toy while you are running away with the 2nd toy visible? How visible it is depends on how hard he thinks the game is 🙂 The 2nd toy can be in your hand to start then eventually work up to it dragging 🙂
And if he will hold a stay and focus on the toy: he can be in a stay while you are 15 feet away from him, for example. You put the toy down next to you and you start walking towards him – but as you do that, cue him to continue past you to get the toy. It is a bit of extreme countermotion that can be worked up to you running the other direction and he continues past you to commit to the toy (which will eventually be obstacles of course :))
Looking at the threadle wraps:
Yes, at some point in training it is normal for the value to shift into the work (obstacle focus) and away from handler focus. He was committing to the TW super well (especially on your left side). You can add your motion of moving forward into these, along with 2 different balance reps:
– you can cue the TW immediately
– You can step to the other side of the barrel to cue the regular barrel wraps towards you
– You can revisit the decel game from the early days of MaxPup, here he comes to your hand. But in this case, you cue the ‘come to hand’ (can be the hand target like you did here, and no TW verbal of course) and then do a pivot on the flat away from the barrel rather than the TW.For example, if he is on your left side, there would be 3 options you can cue:
TW to his left
Push to the other side of the barrel so he wraps to his right towards you
Come to handler then pivot on the flat to his right away from the barrel.That can be fun for him (good puzzles, which he likes :)) and helps maintain the balance of where to look rather than just at the barrel 🙂
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
>You know, part of the reason I wanted a farmdog is because I’m a novice agility handler – and I don’t need a Ferrari of a dog to learn. He’s a little quicker than I had planned on
I must admit, though, it’s fun to see him racing around the agility equipment for the joy of it.>Yes! He is a speedy little dude but also yes…. SO MUCH FUN! And it will be easier to learn the ins-and-outs of agility with a dog that is excited to run and go fast because his commitment will be better (which makes handling easier).
Looking at the video: This went well!
It was very fun to see him zig-zagging his way through the serps! A lot of training came together to get that: connection, the zig zag grids, strike a pose games, etc. Yay!!
You can actually be a shade closer to the jumps which will help show the line – you can be an arm’s length away. This does mean he has to get used to jumping in close to you but I don’t think that will be a problem 🙂
>At 0:49 – maybe I’m just too late (should be closer to jump 2) for him to take jump 2?>
It looks like he had a lot more speed there so with you running (like at :42) he didn’t quite coordinate the footwork in time. At
At :47-:49 – you were not moving quite as fast but still showing good serp cues so he found the line nicely! Dialing back your speed when adding more of his speed is a good way to break things down when there are a lot of mechanics needed from the dog 🙂 On that rep, you were a little far from the 2nd jump and also closing your shoulder forward a bit so he missed it. You got a little closer to it on the other reps (like 1:07) and he got it – so being closer to the line in general will help that.
>When I tried to have him cross from the far side of the tunnel to try a serp (1:27 & 1:38), we didn’t get it. >
I think what happened there was that he had a spill or something in the tunnel at 1:15, which seemed to startle him so he was being a bit careful after that.
As you mentioned, that also coincided with the neighbor dog barking, so that could have been a factor. Plus it is a hard line because the turns are tighter – so you can dial bak your motion and walk or slow jog through it at first to help him see the lines.
Great job here!!
Tracy
Good morning!
He did really well with the intro to the channels!
The automatic treat dispensers are a pain sometimes – so inconsistent with how they work! One of the ways I introduce the channels is to put the dog at the entry and put the reward (dispenser or toy or food bowl) at pole 4, then 6, then 8 then 10, then after 12. It helps fade out my position the end of the poles and allows me to begin sending early on.4 poles is going well from both sides! And you are adding lots of angles and handling which is great. Now that he is actually weaving, you will want to limit reps – he did 19 reps here (76 poles). It adds up pretty quickly, especially as you add more poles, so stick to 10 reps or less at 4 poles, 8 reps or less at 6 poles, and so on. The channels being wide open allow for more reps because he doesn’t have to weave so it saves his body a bit.
It sounds like the DW work is going well too! Are you back chaining it or is he going across the full (low) DW?
Nice work here!Tracy
Good morning!
>Note the inflatable tube man in the next ring! Torch knew it was there and ignored it. Good girlie!>
OMG! That was so weird to have there! She did a great job ignoring it 🙂 I was very distracted by it 😂
She did well with the tunnel exits! She naturally wants to turn towards you, so the timing of the cue didn’t matter as much – but you will want to give the turn cue before she goes in.
The GO cues looked (and sounded :)) like they were timely and your toy throws also helped her continue straight.
Rear crosses are definitely trickier! I think her questions were a combination of timing and side preference.
The first one at 1:33 was a shade late for a baby dog in terms of the motion (the verbal was definitely late :)) so she went to where she saw you last. The RC at 2:04 was a little earlier but still mainly happened after her head was in the tunnel. The last one (2:24) got it! I think the timing was a little sooner and she is learning to read the RC pressure, plus she might be more of a natural right turner.
Because RCs are hard, you can make it more visible (especially to the left turns) by making the angle of the start wing a shade easier, almost on a straight line to the tunnel. That will make it easier to show her the RC line sooner, which should help with the left turns in particular. If the RCs are still hard, you can also put the reward on the correct line at the end of the tunnel – that can help get her turned the correct direction.
The lead outs are going well!
Timing and connection on the blind were good – she thought you wanted more of a straight line because you ran more towards 2 and not towards 3 as much – you can be running with a little more lateral distance on that line, so you can be closer to 3 when you do the blind.
You were very close to 3 when you did the FC and she read it perfectly – great turn with lots of power!
The lead out push went super well too, your position, timing, and connection were all spot on! The only thing I would add there is to get into your position and stand still there and praise for a moment – then release. That way she doesn’t think you arriving in position is the release for the stay.
Great job!!!!
Tracy
Hi!
I think his brain was still pretty engaged here!! But also I think the serp questions were also about you moving fast – you were running so he stayed parallel to your line and didn’t ‘see’ the serp cues. You were definitely doing them! But the motion overrode them. So you can do two things to help him out:
Dial back your motion to a fast walk, and dip your serp shoulder/wave your hand a little to help him find the serp (without stopping).Then when he can do that with you at a fast walk, we can get you back to running (and yes, dip your serp shoulder down). But when you add running, you can angle the jump (45 degree approx) so he sees the bar more clearly. That way you can keep moving at the higher speed – you had good speed going here but then slowed down for the serp, and we would like you to be able to stay in motion 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi!
He is definitely sorting out how to find the jump on that side! He did well with you connected and not too far ahead, so you can split the difference: be ahead by slowly walking. Or, be fast but not as far ahead. That way you can build up to being ahead and being fast!
The start wing was actual harder in the first part of the session – maybe because he had to ignore all the things going on out there (tunnel-bag person, people walking a dog, cars, etc). It was good that you broke it down and rewarded that wing wrap several times. He did really well with it when you added more motion at the end, and when maybe there were fewer distraction challenges 🙂
Nice work!
Tracy
This was AWESOME!!!!!!
It was almost too easy, I was waiting for the hard part LOL!!
Loved the choices for the blinds! And watching your timing: you nailed it. The blind began as he was over 1 and finished before he took 2. The connection was super clear. He was a shade wide on that onem because you were running more towards the landing side of 2 (towards the weaves) when ideally you would be running towards 3 more (trust 2 to him).
Blind after the a-frame: perfect! He had no questions and really powered through it.
The blind before the weaves was perfection! You started it as he was taking the jump (:23), you finished it with VERY clear reconnection before he took off for the next jump (:24) and you were on the mouse line to the weave entry. He had a super nice turn, no slipping on a relatively tight line!
It all looked smooth and easy… and fast! How did his time stack up to the other times in his class?
Great job, thank you for sharing it!
Tracy
Hello!
>Sammy was great – obviously my connection is getting a bit better:-).>
Super!!
> Jazz was very good on the first day. Yesterday he started to sniff between the obstacles. But today was a nightmare. I was very careful with his “ready to work” routine. He was motivated and connected before at the start. But then he was sniffing between all obstacles the whole run – I was completely helpless.>
This is really interesting. It is possible that he has something happening that is causing a bit of underlying pain? He didn’t feel it much on the first day so he ran well. But perhaps he felt it more and more on the 2nd and 3rd days, and he ran less and less. The sniffing probably indicates that *something* was stressful to him. If you were doing the same routine but seeing less and less motivation, it could be something outside of training causing it. Do you have any video?
And it is defnitely possible that it doesn’t happen at home, for a lot of reasons, and only happens at a trial.
We do see pain be the cause of this a lot – I am currently doing a free podcast series with 2 sports vets and a behavior specialist on this exact topic! I can send you the links if you like 🙂
Looking at the video: We got some GREAT information from both of the dogs about how to set their lines and get more speed, and still get the blind!
The first run with Jazz looked good – he started off a little slower and careful because of the big sends, but I think he REALLY enjoyed chasing the line when you ran for the blind. Your blind on the tunnel at :13 was perfect!
And same with Sammy – great blind at :26 and :42! I think with both boys, you can set up the blind and get more speed on the sends by being closer to 1-2-3, especially the #3 tunnel. If you go closer to the tunnel at the beginning, you can move forward to 4 more which makes the send easier while keeping you in a good spot for the blind.
At :37 you went a little closer to the tunnel with Sammy and he was faster to get to the #4 jump, and you still easily got the blind cross at the tunnel.
Seq 2:
Nice timing of starting the blind on the takeoff side of 5 at :54 with Sammy and 2:03 with Jazz! Super! And lovely connection after the blind with both of them. They really flew through it!At 2:21 you were more lateral and decelerated so Jazz slowed down and looked at you. To maintain the speed there, you can go a few steps closer to the tunnel then run hard up the line to the blind: you will still be at a big distance away from the line to be able to get the blind, but the few steps of extra acceleration he sees from you when he exits the tunnel will cue him to run in extension too.
Sammy almost went to the tunnel at :56 (and a little bit at 1:47) because you faced it and stepped towards it. At 1:23 and 1:30 with Sammy and 2:07 with Jazz you faced the backside line very clearly and he had no questions.
Turning him to his right over jump 1 on the 2nd run set a nice line to the tunnel. You can see at 1:06 and 1:39 he had a question and looked at you. This was when you got a little too far ahead and had to decelerate, which almost pulled him off of jump 3. At 1:22 you got closer to 3 so he didn’t question it, but then when you pulled away to 5 he questioned jump 4.
That would be a good opportunity to run in closer to 2 so you are accelerated up the line when he exits, even if you are a bit lateral/working at a distance, to support the speed and commitment.
Seq 3:
At 2:36 you were running in acceleration at get the blind, so even with you ahead and lateral, Sammy ran in extension too! Yay! He was not quite as fast on the last run but there was not as much acceleration from you. The blind timing and connection was perfect at 2:40 and 3:54 and you set up the wrap beautifully, showing acceleration on the line after it so he accelerated too.You handled it the same way with Jazz and he hesitated at the tunnel exit at 2:53 and 3:11 and 3:30 – he does not like you that far ahead or that far away. But when you were a little closer and showing acceleration, he was FAST! His speed on the ending line made the blind after the tunnel a little late to start, but your position and connection were both very strong so the timing was not as important: he found the line really well.
You can try a spin with him on the exit of 5 (front cross to blind cross) to see if that gets a tighter turn – the decel alone was not as strong of a cue for Jazz like it is for Sammy. Sammy landed turned and ready to explode forward, while Jazz landed a little wider and not as fast to turn. The spin will be stronger turn cues for him.
I think the front cross 7-8 worked really well! You can start it a little earlier (when they are taking 6) and you can start closer to 7, to set up a nice line to 8.
Overall, this was really good info about what each dog prefers to see to get the most speed on the lines: going a little closer to the line before the blind helps you set the acceleration while staying lateral to easily get the blind. And Jazz is faster when you are closer in general – Sammy seems to be happy when you are ahead/further away 🙂
Great job! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning!
>understood that lap turns have me closer to facing the dog coming out of the tunnel, whereas tandems I am turned away and looking over my shoulder.>
Correct! And current course design trends call for fewer lap turns lately, but we still train them because it helps teach the dogs the concept and we never know when they will come back in style 🙂
>So – are “tandem turns” different than a jump threadle wrap “In, in”? >
The threadle wrap in-in is a super specific version of the tandem turn. Here are a couple of major differences:
– the tandem turn can be used on the flat, on the front of a jump, or on the backside of a jump. And it doesn’t always need to be a wrap – it can be a wider turn too.
– The threadle wrap is only on the backside of the jump, and it is only ever a wrap.– The tandem turn always has both dog can handler turning and going the new direction, in tandem with each other 🙂
– The threadle wrap almost always has the handler facing forward and NOT turning with the dog, but continuing on the original path after cueing the turn. I say ‘almost always’ because sometimes we do turn with the dog and face the new direction, but that is rare nowadays.>I assume that the handling for lap, tandem, and threadle are all a little different? >
Yes – on the lap, we face the dog until he is a couple of inches from the hand, and then do that arm-and-leg step back then turn them away.
On a tandem turn, because there are a number of different possibilities, the dogs are relying on our hands and timing to know where to go. And we are facing forward along the line, then turning the dog away then also turning to the new line we have cued.
On a threadle wrap – ideally the dog is a little more independent and goes by himself after we start the cues, without waiting for our hands to turn him away.
>I don’t remember using both hands for the threadle wrap. >
That is handler’s choice – one hand or both hands? I use both hands (opposite arm being visible) because it helps my dogs see the cues, especially the smaller dogs.
>And of course – you mentioned not using words b/c you want fluent behaviors before adding verbals – do you have more words (!) for the lap and tandem turns?>
Yes, more words LOL but you have them in place already! They are all about what line you want him to take:
The lap turn is almost always the same line for the dog as a threadle wrap, so I would use the threadle wrap verbal for both of those cues.
The tandem turn can create different lines, so I use whatever verbal matches the line I would like the dog to take: left, right, wrap, etc.
On the video: This went really well!!
Great job making that outside arm SUPER visible at the beginning and throughout the session. You can see how that draws him right in and allows you to get the turn away easily.Because we are talking about the differences: most of these were tandem turns, where you were basically facing forward and then turning with him back to the tunnel. Threadle wraps would have you moving towards the fence and not back to the tunnel.
When you were late (:44, 1:33) he stayed on his line which is good 🙂 Because he was flying, it is great to show him the cues and call him before he even enters the tunnel. The arm can start coming up and he can hear the verbal right before he goes in. That way, he will be ready to turn when he exits.
When you can’t get to the wing early enough before he exits the tunnel, you can pull away from the wing with your shoulders feet and show him the outside arm as you continue to move forward -that can set the turn really well even if you are not as far ahead as you’d like 🙂
He had a sniffing moment because he probably thought you dropped a treat (maybe you did :)) I don’t think he was stressed or anything, just starving 🙂
Great job here!!!
Tracy
