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Good morning!
Your Pap had lovely form on the 18” jumps LOL! Paps do NOT like to be left out LOL!!
The session went SUPER well. I loved the opening line of each rep – independent jumping skills from him, connection and strong motion from both of you EVERY.SINGLE.TIME. Love it! It allowed you to easily get to the backside and threadle stuff very easily.
Yes, the push wrap was the hardest element for him out of all of these. My guess is that it is the hardest thing because he has to coordinate a difficult wrap jumping skill while also seeing you run forward with a lot of speed (like at :11), and he couldn’t quite do it (hello, multisensory integration and sensorimotor integration!) So he was better able to get it at :23, when Mike dialed back the motion and also at :36 with Karena delaying her forward motion a bit. Both of these helped him be successful!
To help him be able to execute this skill while you stay in motion, you can use just the wing (easier to process) while you add more and more motion. And try to keep your feet facing forward to the next jump, rather than rotated to the bar, so the wrap cue looks different from a slicing rear cross cue on the backside. Using the wing, you will be able to add more and more motion – when you can run through this with a wing in the center of this sequence, then you can add back a low bar. And throwing the reinforcement behind you past the landing spot as you run forward will help solidify it too.
The threadle wraps looked AWESOME!!! Why is he able to process those beautifully when the jumping effort is similar to the push wraps? The cue for the threadle wraps have deceleration built in as part of them – the handler doesn’t move forward again til the dog is pretty organized for takeoff – so it is easier to process successfully. Which means on this cue… you can start to add more motion 🙂
Getting into the threadle wraps, you both can do the blind sooner. When he lands from 3 and you see him looking at 4, start the blind so you are fully finished with it in time to see him before he takes off for 4 – gives you tons of time to cue the threadles 🙂
The threadle slices also looked great!!!! Both of you executed really great running lines on those jumps. You two used different arm cues (Mike had one arm, Karena had 2 arms) so it might be good to decide which to use? But Ronan didn’t seem to have any questions at all on it.
He is also pushing VERY nicely to the backside slice for the German turns. You can trust him more to find the backside line but not getting as close to the entry wing, which sets up a better exit line. At 1:42, Mike was too close to the entry wing so you ended up in his way as he was jumping and landing (Ronan touched the bar there). And at 1:51, Karena gave more step to the entry wing than Ronan needed, which delayed your running line and you were on landing side when he was taking off rather than past the exit wing (and on takeoff side).
So, strategically, you can run closer to 3 and be further from 4, so as he is jumping 4 you are running a parallel path to the center of the bar of 5 (the backside jump). As he is jumping 4, you are giving the backside slice verbals then as he looks like he is heading to the backside, you slide past the exit wing.
Eventually, you will be able to cue it while you are already running towards the exit wing, but center of the bar will work well for now 🙂
The Countermotion of the German turn (you running past the exit wing as he is organizing for takeoff) so you might see some of the same questions as on the backside push wraps. As you pass the exit wing, dial back your motion and look back to the landing spot to help support him, and I think he will get it easily.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning! I am glad you posted – hope things get easier now and we have some great weather ahead!
Forrest looked great here – no problem jumping away from the course AND finding the 2nd jump on the 180 (that is a hard angle for big dogs)
For the backsides – yes, definitely add your verbal. The other thing that helps is to use less arm and make eye contact (strange but true LOL!). The arm pointing forward will turn your shoulders to the front of the bar, but keeping the arm low and making more eye contact as you cue the backside turns your shoulders to the backside line you are running towards.
Great job here! I am looking forward to the threadle videos 🙂
TracyOh wow, I am so impressed with her! She was great here – this is the most relaxed and accurate that I have seen her… and still fast! SUPER!!!!
She was very good about thinking about her organization as she approached the plank and jump, even with more speed from the wing and the tugging. There was one moment where she did not sit and took the jump, and that might have been more of a late sit cue or just a blooper, no worries. Her form on that one looked good too 🙂
By the end of the session, she was doing a better job of looking at the reward target as she was jumping (her head was a little high, looking at you, on the first couple of reps). Definitely keep the reward target there as you do this, and you can even make it higher value by either placing the cookie in it before you start the rep, or using a toy as the reward target. This will both help with her head position and also add a little bit more arousal/distraction 🙂 The distraction is great for her at this level! She is ready for more 🙂
You can also add in the backside wrap games and the slices! She is doing super well 🙂
Tracy
Good morning!
It is crazy that it was 75 in Minnesota! Good prep for Florida and also, his floof looked majestic in the wind 🙂And it is great news that the massage therapist could feel a different in his strength! This is GREAT!! And perfectly timed for the Open.
The sessions went well! Yes, on the slices, I can see his argument about layering on the first rep, especially because the timing and position of the toy placement did look a little past the jump. The others all looked good. It was interesting when you switched sides that he almost threadled to be able to jump to his right, rather than to his left as indicated by the plank. The handling didn’t really tell him either, so it was interesting to see what his choice was. Was it side-preference based? Was it because he had just gone that way a few times? Hard to know, so next time you can start with him jumping left then switch and see what he does.
You can also use this setup for threadle slice jumping. I didn’t put it into the class, but he is doing well so it is easy to add: The plank will be between you and the jump on the threadle takeoff spot – you threadles him in, get the sit, then release to take the jump slicing away from you.
For the serpy slice and also for the backsides and the threadles, I think you can now add the toy on the ground the whole time. Either the pet tutor placed maybe 6 feet away or more, or the Nemo ball if he will target to it when it is dead. That can help him keep his head down on the releases too, as you add more motion.
The front side wraps looked good – after the release you were doing a post turn, so he was not sure if he should take the jump or follow you. You can replace the post turn with a front cross (indicate the bar then cross) and that should help get rid of that little question.
This game can also have a reward target visible: on the exit side of the wrap, a pet tutor or toy on the ground to help as a focal point after you release him to take the bar. It also serves as a handy distraction for when he needs to approach the bar and sit 🙂
Great job here! Do I remember correctly that you leave on Sunday? He should probably go into bubble wrap now for any jumping, and just do some organizers on the plank or platform. See you in Florida!!!
TracyGood morning!
Good for you for carving out the time to give her this workout! The height and jump position were challenging without being tooooo challenging – she did well! The first 2 reps showed her definitely WORKING. But then the last 2 reps looked easier for her, she was sorting it out nicely. Good girl! We should leave it here (height and angle) for another session today or tomorrow and see what she says after sleeping on it 🙂
Thinking about the steps after that, I think the 3 jump setup might be best to ask her to hold onto her balance and power across 3 jumps. I think this is a better challenge than the backside challenge, which I think will be straightforward for her, based on what she is doing here.
Great job! Let me know how she does!
TracyHi!
>>couple questions as I just checked out the organizer on the slice video! So it is ok for the dog to organize on the board then before jumping the bar, place feet on the ground?
Ideally no, they go from the board directly over the bar, but sometimes they do put their front feet on the ground in the early stages, and if they don’t fix it themselves then you can move the plank in closer to the bar.
>>and because I couldn’t quite hear… it is tell the dog sit on the organizer and just a release to the reward, no jump command.
Yes, that is correct – I use a sit verbal and a release and some body language in these early stages 🙂
>>also forgot to tell you Torrin is hovering at or just below 22 inches. No official measurements yet!>>
Big dude! Nice size for jumping 20″!!!!
Tracy
Thanks, it works! Yay!
>>They are more fun than I thought they would be because we can just go out for a few minutes and I feel like I’m contributing to better jumping skills!>>
I also like these – silly fun to play and definitely helps jumping skills!!
This was an interesting session indeed, there were a couple of things happening. I think he did REALLY well overall. You did a great job with the line ups, and I think he can stay at the 4 foot bars for now. When he did do the bounces, he looked GREAT! So now it is a matter of helping him produce the striding consistently. Here are some ideas for you to help him find his striding:
– we have a club here at Agility U called “Team Fake Chill” #TeamFakeChill. I am a founding member: basically, for those of us that like to run fast and yell loud, it is a club that encourages us to pretend we are calm and move slowly – to fake that we are chill (because we are not chill hahaha). I officially invite you to join the Team Fake Chill club LOL!!
On the reps where he had trouble, you were moving too fast and being very exciting, so he couldn’t think about the precision striding required for this particular setup. For example, on the first rep, you were soooo exciting and fast moving that he was matching that by going fast but not striding properly.Compare it to the 2nd rep, you were more chill, he was able to stride better. Yay! And compare again to rep 6 at 2:36 when you were facing him, released fast, then moved backwards – he added a stride because you were facing him (collection cue).
So you can fake your chill by trusting his stay, leading out further (be at least 6 feet past jump 2 before the release, otherwise he is close to landing on the toy as he is judging takeoff for 2), facing forward, gently placing the end of the toy on the ground, then calmy releasing and walking forward, dragging the toy. I don’t know about you, but this requires me to totally pretend I am calm and chill because I am definitely not naturally this way 🙂 But fake chill will let him think about the striding and not rush to get to you.
– I also think that he is a little stronger bouncing left to right (when his left shoulder is next to the wing at the start) than right to left (right shoulder next to the wing at the start. So to even it out, leave the angles of the jumps a little more open/less flat . I think the distance/angle you had at 1:23 was a good one, so you can use that angle and leave it there for a full session. He was able to bounce it nicely left to right. That can help him sort out the striding in both directions.
– I also think he had a lot to process in terms of distractions here (people talking, etc) and then when you got to the really flat angles at about 2:57, he couldn’t process the angles, your speed and the distractions (which is why you got the running past the jumps or added strides). You were smart to try to reduce the angle! So if the environment is really busy, you can make the angles easier for now, and that will totally help!
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
>.We seem to be seeing tunnels under the DW at every trial these days so thought I’d start with this one. >>
Ain’t that the truth!!! It is a good skill to work!
Yes, the opening set up was hard here with the DW – You were stationary and I think you released with “OK” so he was correct to take the obstacle between him and you (definitely a good place for a reset cookie!)
A tunnel verbal would be a more useful release here, and releasing while you are in motion will help too (stopping for the release draws his focus to you) – he got it on the 2nd rep when you put the reward at the tunnel, but the obstacle name will help strengthen the release here and more importantly, will help him find it in context like at :53 after the wrap.
He found the jump after the tunnel under the DW really well, and wrapped well too especially with the other tunnel straight out ahead!!
The Go to the last jump was easy too. Super!
The next thing to do would be to roll the dog walk more to the center of things, so you can do this sequence while staying on the same side of the DW as the tunnel entry. I am not sure this particular DW moves all that easily, but it would be fun to try it!
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyOh wow, I watched every episode of This Is Us and never knew there were words! Thanks for sending!
>>I was watching my videos and I think I need to be tucked into the wing on the backside wrap. I was pretty far off the line. But, I was really pleased with Sprite.
Yes, if you are ahead, you can tuck in more to show the wing and wait for her to get past you. I felt she really had no questions – because a baby dog will ask ALL the questions if you are unclear LOL!
>>I think the threadle wrap is technically a flick, correct?
The OMD people called it a flick but they also recommended a backwards step/weight shift back as part of the cue. This might have changed in recent years as things evolved, but I prefer to not have people step back or even shift their weight back.
>>I’ll play with hand shaking to get her attention and having it lower. Then decide which hand to use. Yes, I think the turn away and then back will be helpful.
The dogs respond really well to the shoulders, so if she ends up on the front side of the jump: freeze for a moment and see where your shoulders are pointing (probably to the front of the jump LOL!)
>> Also, I need to decel and not be ahead of the jump wing. I’ll work on that.
I think you will be able to get ahead of the wing, if you show the cues as she is coming over the jump before it.
>>I sent Gemma 30 ft from a jump to the weaves the other day. She nailed entrances on both sides. Sprite just started 12 in line. I’ll leave that skill once she’s more confident.
YEAH GEMMA!!!! and it is a good reminder of how an adult dog has so many layers of skills that the baby dogs do not yet have. Doing 12 in line is perfect for Sprite at this stage, no need to push harder than that 🙂
Tracy
Good morning! This was a really interesting session to watch, she did really well – I love watching dogs sort things out. And that broken stay moment when she sat between 1 and 2 was hilarious LOL! Good girl!
>>Maybe a little fatigue? She had been running with her noodle brother who is cheering for her in the background before this was filmed.>>
Probably not, because she only added the stride going right to left. But if she was running around a lot, then maybe shorten that before the next session and we can compare.
I think what you were seeing was just processing – sensorimotor integration, according to my current list of geek terms LOL!! Basically – there was a LOT going on and she was trying to process all the input and translate that to motor tasks. She was successful in many ways, and was still experimenting in other ways. This is good! She is on the right track!!!
She was adding indeed a stride on the right to left reps, but even with the extra stride I felt her form was more organized and consistent on those (except for the rep at :27 where she didn’t power through 1 and landed on all four feet). She did *not* add a stride and bounced all of the left to right reps… but she was definitely sorting out her organization because she basically did something a little different on each rep with her front or rear. So interesting to watch – and I think it was more about the toy placement there.
One thing I know about these mixes with whippet in them: you are not going to see what happened in your training session until your next training session, today or tomorrow. I have seen that consistently with my 1/4 whippet, my 1/2 whippet, and now my full whippet. They have really good initial sessions, but when I come back to the skill in the next session? They have cemented the learning and can produce a lovely version of the finished product. It is so strange to me, but I have learned to just let it happen LOL!!!! It just happened with my 14 week old puppy’s sit stay. Decent first session, not sure what he really learned or understood, but lots of rewards for sits and baby stays. Next session? Able to sit on a verbal cue and hold it while I walk across the room. What the heck? LOL! Pointies… they are different.
So do I think she will look entirely different in the next session? Yes! She’s probably going to be all like “I’ve got this, human, let’s go.”
But also you can do a couple of things to help her out:
– lead out further, so when she is organizing for the 2nd jump, the toy on the ground is further past it. On these reps, especially going left to right, the toy was in the landing spot of 2 when she was landing from 1 which might be why she was organizing differently each time. So lead out 10 feet past jump 2, start dragging the toy, then release and see how she does. She seemed highly motivated for both toys, so I don’t think it was a toy value question as much as it was a processing question.
– looking at her in comparison to the jump, she is smaller than I thought she was! I love her size 🙂 But the jump height is a little high for now, so lower it to 4″ which should put it at carpal-height, and give her a little less distance between the jumps – you can replace one of the inner wings with a wingless upright to achieve a shorter distance without necessarily changing the angles.
Great job here! Let me know what you think! Can’t wait to see the next session!
TracyHi!
She definitely didn’t look tired from her training class! She did well here for sure and we got useful info about where she wants to look.She was all about watching the cookie hand here, so she was trying to sit facing you a bit more. She had some creative offerings to the challenge of being organized on the plank AND watch the cookie LOL! I think that is what you were seeing especially on your right. I am not sure it is a side preference in terms of strength or weakness, as much as it is a reflection of learning history on your right versus your left as you mentioned.
So since she is doing well on your left, you can add more motion. And since she is not as sure on your right – use less motion and help her more. You can be more stationary when she in your right (and add in more heeling games and motion override on your right as well, to help balance the learning history :))
>>I did add the food bowl as a target, but she didn’t pay much attention to it, I’m not sure it was in the right spot? >>
It was in the right spot. I think she was still getting enough cookies from your hands and also wathcing your hands deliver cookies to the floor that she didn’t feel it was efficient to watch the cookie bowl 🙂 But getting her to NOT look at your hands will help a whole lot, so a couple of ideas:
You can try having the cookie in the bowl before you start the rep (or use a Manners Minder if the cookie needs protection from Mochi or the cats haha). That way there is nothing in your hands to look at, and you can give the cues and the reward for the good sit would be the release from it, to get the cookie in the bowl after going around the wing.
Also, if you were training with food before she had eaten dinner… try training after she eats dinner. That allows her to think about her “work” more because she is not “starving” LOL!! Cats of course are always starving.
The other option is to use a toy on the ground instead of a cookie bowl – the session would have the same structure or nothing in your hands, she hops on the plank and sits, you release her to go around the wing to get the toy. A toy might be more stimulating as something to look at!
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
>>haha… swallow before the next rep?? isn’t that part of the challenge?>>
HA! For dogs that don’t love food rewards, I make sure they swallow so they don’t spit it out. For dogs that seem to LOVE food, I make sure they swallow so they aren’t dividing their attention between the task and the tasty snack in their mouth LOL!!
He did a terrific job with his zig zags!!!
>> I wasn’t exactly sure what he would need for a bounce but we got it on the first try. Currently the wings are slightly overlapped but maybe next session I will give it a go with them just touching.
The setup you had here worked nicely, but the wings touching end-to-end should work too. How tall is he?
>> I think the first couple reps he seems to put too much effort into that second jump but I think it improved through the session.>>
What you were seeing there on those reps when he was on your right side at the beginning and then later on at the end, was a rotation of his hind end over the 2nd jump. When you watch it in slow motion, you will see his right hind rotating under his body on those reps, and his left hind rotating outside his body. Really interesting! That is why he is getting a little more lift over that 2nd bar at the beginning and at the end. Basically – it is an organization skill when he is in your right and he is jumping left to right.
When he was on your left and jumping right to left – he was more organized! every first rep at about :22, he had a tiny bit of rotation then I didn’t see it on the other reps like at :28 and after when he was on your left.
Also on those reps on your left, he was stepping right into the setup and not tapping his front feet on the ground before the 1st jump – so either he was feeling more powerful, or he was a tiny bit clsoer to the first jump, or both LOL! That rep at :28 and the one after it – those were both GREAT!!!
If you feel like obsessing on it a little, you can play it slow motion on Youtube by clicking on the “settings” icon at the bottom of the video – you will see a playback speed choice in the drop down that comes up.
So keep the angles where they are for now, and I think put the bars down to 6 inches for one session to see if he sorts out the rotation when he is on your right. It is normal to see a side preference at this stage and the dogs sort themselves out in the next session or two.
And before the next zig zag session, do some of the organizers to the jump on the slices – that will specifically outline how to use his rear on the slice lines like the zig zags, and will help him stay balanced and not rotate.
>> Of course it did take me way too many reps to realize he still had on his hunting jacket… oh well he didn’t seem to mind.
I thought he looked great in his jacket! And I agree, he didn’t seem to mind 🙂
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
>>I think with the leading with his head it was a combination of both… too much repetition, and some fatigue. Also I think this is a hard exercise for him so it “wears his brain out” quicker than some of the others. We also did this about 8:00 last night just before we went home and even though he’s gotten to be very comfortable hanging at the Training Center for the day (sleeps a lot) it does still wear him out a bit and I need to remember that. It’s not like being at home all day.>>
Yes, it is possible that we were seeing some fatigue and depletion. Being ‘at work’ all day can definitely leave less bandwidth for training at the end of the day.
Looking at the moving target game – he 1000% seemed to like chasing the moving target LOL! And the camera angle was so fun, with this flying ears and ultra cuteness!
He also did perfectly when you added the jump. And his stay was great, even when the toy was moving before the release. Since he was so brilliant: onwards to adding the moving target to the zig zag jumping games! You can start by moving it after the release, then if he retrains his organization you can start moving it before the release. It can probably al happen in one session unless he starts to ask questions.
Great job!!!!
Tracy
