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Hi! The next chapter is coming! It will be a series of smaller chapters, actually 🙂 Stay tuned! More will be posted next week 🙂
TracyHi!
Based on what we know now about brain development during canine adolescence, the brain is a weird thing at this stage LOL! Sometimes the youngsters are perfectly fine with what we were doing, like noise and movement. And then they are suddenly freaked out by it, for no discernible reason. That is just the adolescent brain doing its adolescent thing, so the best thing to do is proceed very slowly and with no pressure 🙂Tracy
Hi!
>.Here’s where we are at with his weave training, working on showing him different entries and some motion. This video is from about 2 weeks ago, I’ve added entries out of a tunnel since. Also probably time to add some more poles – maybe?
He is doing well! He definitely liked it more when you were moving more (when you started from the double jump).Before adding more poles, add more speed so he can sort out his foot work while moving faster. By adding the tunnel before the poles, I think you are already adding speed and that is great (you can open the 2x2s slightly if he has any footwork questions). You can set up a speed loop: tunnel, 4 or 6 poles, then another tunnel – that adds speed AND challenges him to stay in the poles when a delicious tunnel is visible past them 🙂
>>My concentration has been on teaching him skills and now I’m going to have to work on getting his distraction control under control before I did too deep a hole – hey, he’s only been with me for 8 months. >>
You are correct – he has only been with you for 8 months and has made AMAZING progress!! He has some impressive skills already, and he is speedy too! And yes, the next step is to work on the focus stuff but you are doing that too, with the CU games, and in the class. Having to focus when he can clearly see the other dogs moving is VERY challenging, but when he learns to do that, he will be able to do anything! Plus he is an adolescent, which means his brain is still developing 🙂 Things will get easier when he reaches maturity.
>>I can teach skills and sequencing on mornings after I’ve build the course when it’s quiet in the barn, going to use the actual class for working patterns and simple stuff under distraction>>
This is a great plan 🙂 Skills are easy – distractions are much harder and definitely worth using the barn for.
>>Got him into a seminar in early November with a Lee Gibson at the green turf facility, don’t know who he is, but I always learn something>
He is a British instructor and judge – he’s a nice guy and strong instructor, I think you will have fun!!
>>Looking forward to what you come up with next -my favorite “virtual” instructor
Thanks! Stay tuned for my next set of crazy stuff (insert evil laugh here hahahaha)
Have fun!
TracyHi!
>>I took the DW ramps off and they were on the ground…so funny that he ran the ramp instead of 18🤣
HA!! That is hilarious. The dude loves his dog walk LOL!!!
>>Always helpful feedback…you notice everything!
That is the magic of coffee and slow motion video 🙂 You two looked great all summer!!!
>>What upcoming course do you think would be helpful for us?
As we go into fall and winter, I will be doing short courses with handling based on course trends – they will begin with a live seminar like the zooms here, then everyone gets a few weeks to work the sequences. The first one is on October 29th, stay tuned! There will be a few more scattered through the winter, because the weather makes it all so ‘iffy’ 🙂
>>Also, I want to send your dogs some of the tug toys that I make. What’s your address? I’ll just send a variety…any favorite colors? Fur preference (shearling, bunny, raccoon tails)?>>
Wow, that is so kind!!! My dogs would love any bunny or raccoon tail things 🙂 And blue & yellow are out favorite colors, but any colors are great 😉 My address is 181 Chestnut Grove Road, Callaway, VA 24067.
Thank you!!! I am looking forward to seeing you again in class soon 🙂
TracyHi!
I heard abut the heat wave – insane!!! I am glad it is over.All of the wing wraps back to the tunnel looked great! The addition of going PAST the tunnel was harder but when she was on your left, you kept moving and kept connected and she got it 🙂 Yay!
She didn’t expect the wing there behind the tunnel, but found it and then found a great line to the tunnel entry.On the other side, when she was on your right: you were decelerating more at the tunnel entry and closing your shoulders forward (like at :54 and the next rep), so she thought you wanted the tunnel 🙂 When you had better motion and maintained connection at 1:28, she understood to go past the tunnel. Super!
>>Got it at the end as I changed my path a little.
Your path was a little further from the tunnel, but you were also more connected and moved more – all of that helped her a lot.
She did really well with the teeter plankrobatics! You can reward her in the middle when she turns around too, not just at the end. She seems confident on almost all of it, so you can change the height of one of the tables, lowering it a little so it tips more. My only suggestion is that with more tip, she gets on the teeter when it is touching the table (not with the board up n the air) because it was too hard to balance when it is not touching the table and falls out from under her when she steps on it. So you can either start all the reps on the side that naturally touches the table, or you can hold the other side down when you want to start on that side 🙂
>>As usual there is some unusual background noise. Party music down the road this time…>>
I was wondering about that – I turned off the volume here for a minute to figure out if I had a T on somewhere in the house hahaha!!
>>What do you suggest for the pups next ?
I’m auditing the FACE class offered and looking forward to some interesting info there.>>Got FACE will be very useful! And in coming weeks, you will see a series of handling classes that will take us through the winter – shorter classes, so folks can fit them into their schedules.
Great job here all summer!!!! Fritzi looks wonderful!
Tracy
Hi!
Sorry to hear that it has been a bad allergy summer! Fall is coming!>>Her default in so many places is to wrap rather than slice for a RC. I’m sure I’m not always in the greatest position, but I also feel like it’s just what she does??>>
Well…. she reads you correctly 🙂 Rear crosses are definitely trained skills that need to be cued, like threadles are too. And if you don’t cue them, she defaults to turning to you which is a good thing! More on that below.
Course 1: Nice serp 1-2!
At 2-3 – cue a turn for 3 to make the threadle easier (:06). I use my wrap cue for these types of threadles: when she exits the tunnel, as her to wrap 3. Then as she collects for 3, do your threadle cue for 4.The RC on 5 at :10 was a spot where I think you wanted a right turn and she turned left, towards you. You need to set the RC line with more emphasis and sooner. She didn’t see you starting the RC til she was more than halfway to 5, at which point, her decision as been made. Ideally you are cuing the RC as she leaves the 4 wrap wing, right behind her 🙂 You can also use your arms almost like a tandem turn to get her attention there sooner for the RC (see Live class 4 for more ideas on that).
6-7-8-9 looked great !
10-11-12:
I think the plan was to push then RC on 13 at :28 and :55, which is really hard. To get the RC, you would need to get more to the takeoff side of 13 and show the RC cues, stepping across to the center of the bar. You didn’t do that step or two to the center of the bar, so she wrapped rather than sliced. The other option there is to keep her on your left after 12 and threadle/slice 13 – it is one move, versus the 3 moves of the side change after 12, then the push, then the RC.15-16 weaves – the RC before takeoff of 15 was more effective, and then drive harder to the entry. You can keep her on your left use your switch away cue, which is a tandem turn/RC on the flat cue – it would start before takeoff to 15 so she doesn’t think you want her to drive straight to the jump.
Good weaving!!!!! And great job getting 17-18-19!
Based on how 18-19-20 is set, 20 is a “get out” or a side change 18-19, to set up the line to the last tunnel.
Course 2:
The opening is harder tan it looks! When trying to get her off the tunnel when working the 1-2 FC wrap, (1:48-2:00 ish) show a lot more connection on the exit of the FC: right arm way back, tons of eye contact needed. Your shoulders were closed forward so she only saw motion, so the tunnel made sense to her. She got it when you stopped moving or dropped the toy, but ideally you show stronger connection so she can get it while you are running.To get the RC on 3: decel at 2 and set the line, so you can drive to the center of the bar of 3. At 2:23 you didn’t decel or face the center of the bar so she read it as a backside.
2:40 was better for sure, in terms of you feet moving to the center of the bar and you putting pressure on the RC line.You also had plenty of time to get the blind there too 🙂 Send to 1 from further away, do a big connection on the FC and and run like mad to the BC 2-3 – extra running but makes for a better line!
5-14 looked really good! (you can layer the tunnel on the 9-10 line and meet her at 11).
The slice at 15 went well, but there is a lot of turning from the 14 tunnel to get to the slice ine at 15. It might be fun to try 15 as a wrap on the other wing and see if it is faster.
At 3:09 you sent to a post turn on 17 – the post turn made the tunnel an option for a moment – she dropped the bar then missed hte next jump. At 3:42, she didn’t drop the bar but definitely looked at the tunnel – so a spin might be better there for now, and also keep working on the wrap versus tunnel discriminations to help strengthen the verbal.
On the last rep, it looked like she turned to her left on the exit of the 19 tunnel – which is correct based on your physical cues. You were in that “tunnel magic” position 3 feet past the tunnel entry, which cues the left turn at 3:45. Compare it to 3:31, where you had a stronger rear cross pressure line and it looked like she turned correctly to her right.
The ending line looked good the first time, just remember to accelerate: you were saying tunnel but at 3;21 turned and decelerated, so she looked at you: Do you really mean tunnel, mom? You did the layer at the end, and there was a lot more motion so she didn’t ask any big questions 🙂
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>.I think he’s getting coaching from Min on his contacts.
We would all much rather than she coached him in person, but there is some comfort to know that she is still with you and Kal, somehow.
>>I hadn’t planned on it, but I do think I want to run him at the Open this Fall. Adding in the fact that he has to think more at 16, I think I’ll definitely enter him at 12s even though he has a Masters bye at 16. Knowing that the jumping will be easy for him will make me feel more confident about taking him to such a large event when he’s barely 3.
I think you will like the 12s class – and I agree, he won’t have to think as much. There is SO MUCH for these dogs to think about, keeping the heights lower makes it all easier.
>> While I am a huge advocate for believing in your dog, I think the deck is stacked against him for international aspirations since he’s up against 17in BCs.
International aspirations are a good thing, but something that you don’t need to decide now. And the EO team has a better cutoff than the WAO team does for the shelties. But at 2.5, you had so much time to figure it out!
>> (Plus he’s not going to fit under the seat on a plane).
Flying with dogs is radically different nowadays, and not in a good way 🙁 I have no current international aspirations mainly because of the travel issues.
I am looking forward to seeing you at the Open!
TracyHi! Lots of good work on this jumpers course, it is a doozy! Your connection was strong and great job with all the verbals. He was being SUPER about being responsive, following the lines you set, and not grabbing any off courses (ok, except that dog walk haha). Here are some ideas for you:
Sections:
On the opening 1-2 line, you can lead out and handle it as a serp (dog on right, facinghim but feet pointing to 2). that will help you get that line without having to time a FC or the BC. Some were on time, some were late – and a serp is much easier because you can just stand there 🙂
The foot rotation on the threadle that you did on the first run works really well for this type of threadle, just be sure to practice it so that you are not late with it. Doing the htreadle with a decel on the 2nd run (which is what you had walked) worked really well! What will help you have the plan more fully in your muscle memory is doing that section faster in the walk through – that way you will be able to nail it the first time without any added rotation.
The FC 4-5 after the threadle works but it is a little late to get to after the 3-4 threadle. As you move into the FC here, watch his head: as soon as he turns his head to the 4 jump you can start the FC even if you are not yet in perfect position. The other option there is to decel at the exit of 4 and set up a RC for 5, which will put you way ahead again 🙂
The 6-7-8 section looked great!Part 2:
You did a post turn on the 10-11-12 section, which shows the line back to the tunnel for a heartbeat and also turns you the wrong direction to get to 13, putting you behind a bit – at :48 when you ran it he was looking straight when he landed from 11 then hesitated and had to adjust to make the turn. You can send to 11 and do a spin so your feet are facing 13 before he even takes off for 11, and you can leave sooner (looking over your left for the 12 jump).The threadle wrap at 13 is looking strong, he is seeming to really understand it now! The only hard part with the threadle wrap is that you have to stay there to get it and stay there to step him to 14. What might be easier for you both as a threadle slice to the outside, because it would land him looking at 14 instead of you having to work the line.
Fabulous weave entry! Wow!!!
Part 3:
Setting up the ending line is tricky 🙂
On the backside it was hard to see the handling on the walk through because you were not looking for your invisible dog, which might be why he didn’t see it on the first run. And, to get there even sooner: you can layer the 15 jump while he is weaving and you are heading to the 17 tunnel, and you can do a BC while he is weaving rather than waiting for him to exit than do a FC. Doing the BC while he is weaving will help you be further up the line for 2 reasons:
1 – to give the cue for the 17 tunnel the even before he exits the weaves, without having to rotate
2 – to get further ahead for the 18 backside 🙂On the video, the layering of the 15 jump after sending to the weaves was very effective! That got you far enough ahead that is seemed easy to get the blind after 17 and the push to 18. Interesting that he ended up on the dog walk! It was hard to see if you were blocking the wing at :51 or not (I think your position was good) but that is a great discrimination to work on! He has a TON of value of the dog walk.
Full run (Vimeo, because the youtube video is marked private):
At the beginning, You were much earlier on the BC 1-2 bu for a heartbeat he was not sure if he should take 1. Leading out as a serp will be even easier 🙂
You did a BC 4-5 , which seemed easier than the FC but was a little late – so watching his head will help get it more timely and also I think setting 4-5-6 as a rear cross will be the easiest and fastest line too.
6-7-8-9 looked great again!
He ha da little trouble seeing the 11 commitment here, as you closed your shoulder forward through the post turn. Keeping your left arm back as you commit him will help, and try the spin there if you get a chance to play with it again.
The threadle wrap went well as did the weave entry – at the very end, you did the threadle slice on 13 and it set a great line 14-15 with very little effort from you!
He had trouble with the DW discrim so definitely good to break down and use more verbals
good job staying connected there at 1:26 to help him come over the 18 jump. By the last rep, he had sorted out that it was NOT the dog walk LOL!>> I accidentally sent Grady to the weaves after 14🤦🏼♀️
Yes, that was so funny: at 2:06 you were facing pole 12 and said weave, so he did…. good rewarding there! He was listening and not on auto-pilot!
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
Yes, there is SO MUCH foundation work to do with the pups – it takes time, which is fine! No rush 🙂
>>I hope you do some more seminars like we did in this session.
Yes, I am planning that for the winter and spring – lots of short courses and online seminars 🙂
Have fun!
TracyHi!
>>Yes, the eleavtor game has her quite concerned. The bang game isn’t as bad but it’s still a bit of a concern on her part, she seems to prefer me in the front right now.
If she doesn’t like the elevator game: skip it. She is squarely in the throes of adolescence right now and we don’t need to challenge her in ways that her brain might not have the bandwidth to handle. You can revisit it when she is closer to 18 months or 24 months. And is she is kinda sorta fine with the bang game but still concerned, dial it back to where she is not concerned at all and use only reinforcement that is magical, doing super short sessions.
>>Anything coming up that would be applicable to Beka for a small space situation (my basement)?
As we get into winter, we will have a series of short courses for handling stuff followed by skills stuff that can be indoors. I am sorting out dates right now, stay tuned!
>>For next year what would be the next logical course for Beka? She’ll be nearly two.
We have a Transitions To Trials webinar coming up in October (will be posted next week). And some distance classes. After the winter, we will have a Course Trends handling class. The MaxPup grads move up to the CAMP-level courses, with CAMP being next summer.
Have fun! I will keep you posted on what we plan in the coming months.
TracyHi!
Yes, she totally like the ball getting involved with this 🙂 Yay!
She is doing well with the left and right cues, as long as you give them early enough 🙂 At :21 , for example, you had great timing of the left verbal and physical cue, both cues were very obvious while she was still a solid 3 feet before the tunnel entry, and her exit at :22 was spot on!
Compare it to :38 where the verbal was good in terms of starting early, but you didn’t really turn to the new line til after her head went into the tunnel so she went pretty straight. Part of that might have been because the ball was present and ball often means go straight when you are moving straight. So be sure to match your change of direction to the timing of the verbal, so she can see & hear the cues while she is still a full stride before entry to the tunnel.Starting right at the tunnel for the soft turns gets the turns, but I think it is too easy for you both LOL! You are stationary and on an angle, so you don’t need to time the cues and she doesn’t need to work the exit with speed 🙂 So definitely try to start far enough back that you have to deliver the early cues – I often put out a cone or line on the ground to remind where where the dog needs to be seeing & hearing the turn cues and the Go cues.
Your Go verbals were timely too, and the ball throws really helped – so be sure to match the good timing of the verbal with the explosive forward motion she would see on course – you were decelerating to throw, so try to run forward and throw.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
I think she did pretty well with the rolling thing here! She seemed engaged and happy to keep going with it. Be careful about how she dismounts: when she is chasing the cookie, the roller board moves unpredictably and she sometimes splays her front or rear a bit getting off it. We don’t want to have any weird physical sensations attached, so you can change how you reinforce her: try delivering it to her while she is on it, then use your feet to stop the rolling, then toss a cookie to get her off it.I also like to use toys more than food with these things, because the toys will generally increase arousal – which reduces concerns about movement. So you can add in throwing the ball between each rep, just being sure that she can dismount safely from whatever she is working on.
As for next steps? The introductions to noise and movement should be super gradual, almost not noticed by the pups, until they are post-adolescence. During adolescence, they might suddenly get concerned by something that was perfectly fine 5 minutes ago and that is pretty much how the adolescent canine brain works LOL! So I take all of this supe slowly til the dogs are about 18 months old or so, then I finish up the teeter – it is amazingly easy when they are not adolescents anymore LOL!!! I know that most agility programs want everything trained so the dogs can start trialing at 15 or 18 months old, but the science of canine brain development tells us otherwise. So, keep going with these little fun shaping games, use lots of play, and give her more time – then it will be very easy to put it all together 🙂
TracyGood morning!
Great job here:
Really great connection on the walk throughs! It was easy to ‘see’ where he was. For example looking at the 5-6-7 line: at :09, I could see that the threadle cues were on time as he was arriving at 5, as compared to :32 where you started the BC as he was taking off for 5, which would be late. To do the threadle, you can run around the back of the tunnel like you did. The BC would work a lot better if you sent him to the 3-4 line and layer it, so you are way ahead for the BC. And by keeping your arm locked back and not very high, he could see the connection clearly.Both runs went really well: you were connected and running great lines, as you had rehearsed. Super!!!!!
The run with the threadle worked really well! I can definitely see the work you have put it training the skill – it looked smooth and in this case, I liked it better than the BC 🙂 And the BC was a little late as you mentioned, but he went wide there (looking at the rewards) and that got you some extra time to get it done.>. Buccleigh was hesitant to go from 6-7 on both runs and I am not quite sure why. On the second run he definitely looks towards the reward. In general, I am wondering if he is a little hesitant because I am asking for the start line stay. I don’t think he is confident with it yet and I think he might be a bit worried about making a mistake.>>
I definitely saw it there, especially after the BC, and also at 1-2-3 and also 8-9-10. It might have been the stay, but I think it was getting further from where the reward was planted. Note how as he moved towards where the reward was planted, he go faster 🙂 So you can carry rewards with you, and mix those in when he is moving away from where the reward was planted. And if you are asking for a newer skill like a stay, don’t also ask for him to ignore a reward that is placed outside the ring: the brain won’t have enough bandwidth for both 🙂 So if you are working stays and handling? Carry the reward. Eventually when the stays are super confident, you can add in not carrying the reward.
Running without the reward in your hand or pocket is a skill, similar to training weave poles. The dogs need to know these skills to be able to compete successfully, but you don’t need to use the skill all the time and also, you don’t need to work that skill when you are also working something else that is challenging.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
These are hard for sure – high speed for the dogs and tons of technical handling for the humans 🙂
Something super important to remember is to reward her immediately when something happens out there:
– if all things go well? Reward in the moment or keep going. That is the easy part 🙂
– if something goes wrong? Either reward in the moment, or keep going as if it didn’t happen 🙂 that is much harder for us humans who like it to be correct, but it is much better for the dogs if we either just keep going to reward as if it was correct (because, from the perspective of the dog’s response, it was correct LOL!)For example: at 1-2-3 at the beginning of the video (you cued a tunnel instead of the #2 jump and she was correct… but didn’t get rewarded. It was handler error, so a definite reward moment. If something goes wrong and you can fix it in the moment, keep going as if all was correct. If something goes wrong and you are not sure why, assume it was handler error 🙂 and then reward immediately.
>>Stay was not good today. Going to have to get serious(on my part) and take time to reward that stay! She is pushing it again. Not wanting to down, ugh.
The stay questions from her might be an indication that the rate of reinforcement/rate of success on course is too low, and that changes her arousal state so she cannot do the down or stay, because of the higher state of arousal/potential frustration. Increasing the rate of reinforcement should bring her stay right back 🙂 because it centers her arousal into an optimal state and reduces frustration levels.
The 2nd rep of seq 1 was better per the numbered sequence 🙂 You can step forward to the tunnel after the wing wrap at :18 – you stepped sideways which widens the turn. Stay super close to the wing and take a step or two directly to the tunnel and it will be perfect (and you will still have plenty of time t get to your position for the next section)
On the BC at 6-7: The timing of starting it at :23 was really good! But finishing it was late (she didn’t see the new connection til :24) and with a youngster the finishing of it is the critical element. It is definitely a “wings in” moment, where you bring your arms in tight to your side so you can make a very quick connection shift. This is especially important with small dogs – you might even need to dip your shoulder down a bit to open up the connection sooner. And, talk to her while you are doing it: either a name call, or repeat the jump verbal with urgency, or both 🙂
The layering looked awesome!Seq 3: She didn’t get the layering in the beginning, partially because of the verbals, partially because of the physical cue. (also, 2 should be the other side of the jump, which would make it easier to find the layered line) At :33, your arm was very high which turns your shoulders and feet to the tunnel, and you were saying “go!”… both of which can indicate the tunnel.
This is another spot to immediately reward (or keep going) because she was entirely correct.You had a slightly lower arm and more parallel line motion at :40, so she found the layered line. Yay!
In the next rep, at 1:02, the cues were a little unclear and she missed #3 but you just kept going: perfect!
In this situation, less arm and more eye contact as she lands from 2 will set the line, and using a ‘jump’ verbal can totally help. if Go could means either, the Jump verbal can make all the difference. Then once she finds the line to the jump, you can add the Go go go verbals.
>>Not sure why I decided to blind so early>>
Yes, you did a blind at :43 at 4 then another one on the flat at :44 then another one 5-6 at :45. That’s a lotta blinds LOL! It was smoother when you kept her on your left at 1:03, and she was really good about staying on your line through the box! I think calling her name will tighten it up a tiny bit (which is all we need there) and doing the BC earlier will help too – when she is passing the tunnel entry and looking at 5 at 1:05, you can start it. It was a stride or two late, so she had to fix the line on landing.
The rest looked really strong, especially the RC on 9 to get the layered line at the end! At 1:13, you did one of the “RC without really RCing” moves which is great! She had to think about it (normal young dog processing) so when you went ot the GO verbal while she was over the bar at 9, she dropped the bar – for now, one more heartbeat of delay with the verbals will help her. It is a fine line with the baby dogs, right? But it all smooths out with experience 🙂
Seq 4:
1 should be on the other side to set up a serpy opening 🙂On the right turn RC at 4, you basically did the same handling at 1:23 as you did at 1:13 from the previous sequence, and she was really good about organizing her jumping! Nice!!! And you said “go” over the bar too and she didn’t drop it. Super!
She took the 9 jump instead of the tunnel in the layering section: I think the 5 jump there needs a directional, for now – kind of a ‘head’s up!’ cue that we are changing the line. It can be her name, then the tunnel verbal. She was definitely processing the tunnel verbal there at 1:26 (dropped the bar at 5). As she matures and gets experience, the obstacle name will be all you need.
She had trouble with the threadle after it (she had it then you said ‘yay!’ so she came back for the cookie lol!) – you can either keep going to the next part of the sequence when that happens, or you can use reset cookies when you want to try it again. Not rewarding anything gets her barking and jumping up, which clouds the processing and changes the arousal level. She got it when you slowed down to show it to her, which is perfect, but you can totally use reset cookies for each rep as you work out the handling cues.
Nice work on these! Lots of good info from Promise about what she needs to see! Let me know what you think! And fingers & toes all crossed for a dry weekend 🙂
Tracy
