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Hi!
The stay is going really well!!! You are adding more distance and duration really well, both at the beginning and with the jump at the end.
The stay in front of the barrel was very easy for him! You don’t need to reward the sit immediately – he was moving a bit when you handed a cookie. So you can reward only for the release, of when you throw a reward back to him.
Staying in front of the jump was harder – I am not sure if it was because the jump is more exciting, or because it was later in the session and his brain was tired 🙂 or both! So try the stay in front of the jump at the beginning of the session next time and see how he does.
He was not quite ready for you to run away when he was in front of the jump so walking away is good for now – you will be able to gradually add more of your speed to the lead out.
You can now add some praise so he doesn’t anticipate the release: lead out, stop, connect, praise… then release or reward.
The sequences went really well! He is driving out of the tunnel under the dog walk brilliantly so you can play with adding more layering: can he find that jump with you all the way near the start barrel, on the other side of the dog walk? I bet he can! You will want to start right next to the barrel so there is no send, and that way you can really set up good distance.
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
I totally agree, always good to work at trials! He is doing great! He was such a good boy, off leash, with all of the distractions behind him!
Head turns:
He is gtting the idea for sure! For the handler mechanics (which is he hardest part :)) Line him up at your side each time, to start each rep. That will make for a nice, clean rep and then the hand cues will be consistent.
So on each rep: you will get 2 wraps in a row. If he starts on your left side, you will send to the upright with your left hand. Then as he wraps it the first time, you will use the left hand to get his attention then turn him away. Then after the reward, line him up at your left side again (or switch to your right side, which means the right hand sends and turns him away).
Get out:
Looking great! He was so snappy with his responses! When you toss the start cookie, no need to wait for him: you can start moving even if you get ahead – that will show him the cue with you way ahead!And he dragged his leash her but still had perfect attention as if he was off leash. GOOD BOY!!!
Strike a pose:
>Don’t tell the competitors because I don’t think I was supposed to have treats in that ring.>
Ha! I won’t tell anyone LOL!
He looked really strong here too. The next step is to have a reward target on the ground (like an empty food bowl to drop the treat into) so you don’t have to reward from your hand.
And he is ready for you to work the threadle version of this game too!
>He did release himself a little I think on the stays.
Yes, the stay was harder: I think he was anticipating the release. So you can go to the strike a pose position including having your hand out – then throw a reward back to him for the stay 🙂
>And I tried to release him before showing him the touch target so he would release on my verbal instead of when I put my hand down.>
>I noticed that! Yay! You were really strong about not releasing at the same time as the hand moving.
Stays:
He did well here too. You had a lot of distance on these, especially the last one! Looking great in all of these games! He was really locking into the stay when you did *not* reward the sit at the beginning. He was at his best when you did not reward immediately, but rewarded after the release or when you tossed the treat back. When you rewarded the sit, he would often move right away – many dogs think the reward is the end, so they move. So – no need to reward for getting into the sit 🙂
Great job here! Have a blast in Germany!!!!
Tracy
Hi!
She’s doing really well here! The hind end use is looking really strong 💪 😀
Yes, she’s more comfy on your left but her movement was good on your right too. I think your markers were a little too early on your right, so she was stopping in that spot. She definitely liked it when you delayed the marker! But only delay by a little more each time – too much delay is when she offered all sorts of pivoting 😆The other thing I would add is more exciting and surprise exploding into play. She is pivoting but not driving to it. So play tug, use a cookie reward in position like you did here… and then mix in throwing the toy instead of the next start cookie. You can also have a toy in your armpit and when she gets into position, drop it to her as the reward (silly old obedience trick 😜)
Nice work here!
TracyGood morning! We definitely miss you here in flyball land!
I bet the puppy class is fun with Ted!!!
> I was very happy to see him switch back and forth between toy and cheese in the new environment.>
This is awesome!!!
> pattern games back and forth and up and down was a bit frantic so I will need to practice with him on leash. >
Yes, but also remember that he is a baby baby dog and his body is just learning to regulate itself. Sounds like he is doing really well in the class setting!
>This instructor teaches crate games for self-control coming out of the crate. Right now, Ted bust out as he is exuberant little guy. I was thinking perhaps it would be better to teach the concept on a platform or a bed and then start applying it to the crate when he is older. I am not a big fan of crate games as I used to be. Thoughts?>
I agree with you! I no longer use crate games like I did 20 years ago 🙂 The things I do with crates right now are safety things and good manners, like letting me get the leash on before they come busting out in the car. And, I do teach them to go into a crate on cue. But no formal stays or anything like that anymore, because it just made the crate less relaxing. We have a million other ways to teach stays and impulse control (plus crate games actually have a LOT of telling the puppies they are wrong many times).
So yes, you can teach him on a cot or bed. You can make the crate a relaxing place in class instead of it being a ‘work’ place.
Have fun and keep me posted!
Tracy
Good morning!
>I’m going to visualize more of a butt scoop type motion. It reminds me of a DEVO dance move –>
Ha! Yes, all the 80s dance moves!
>I left in what he did the second we got outside in the beginning. >
I guess his very first reaction to run up the teeter means you will want to block it off when you are not right there so he doesn’t go flying up to the end without you LOL!!!!! We will teach him that next week.
>I prepped by upping my treat game & cooking a sirloin steak to medium rare and cutting it up into Lew sized bits. A much higher grade of steak than he usually gets! He noticed.>
Whoa! For real he noticed! Also, can I apply to be your dog because I, too, enjoy a nice medium rare steak and would run up the teeter for one LOL!!!!
I think the session went great – he was a spicy, opinionated little beast, happy to work the end of the teeter board to get the treats. Brilliant!
So for the next session – let the board move the tiniest tiniest bit. You can wait a day or two so you don’t have to cook another steak haha or use something different that is equally yummy!
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning! Really fun session here!
He is doing great finding the lines, on both of the sequence here! And I think he is really beginning to recognize the context of the sends around jump 1 (away from the course) because it looked like he was really nailing that turn.
The only challenge was getting the blind cross (side note: did he find ANOTHER gear of speed? LOL! Wheeeeeeeee!)
What was happening to have him so convinced it was the tunnel? It was the lower body.
On the very first one, the upper was a bit late starting the blind at :21 (he was taking off for the jump) but more importantly, your motion was still going to the off course tunnel. Even though you had changed the upper body, all of the direction of travel was towards the off course tunnel.
You did a couple of FCs there but that was not the issue – he even barked at you (:39), like “this is not what happened” haha. He cracks me up so much! The FCs were very good because they turned your feet to the new line.
But he held you true to the motion when you added the sequence back: much better timing at 1:10 & 1:22 & 1:39 coming in from the full sequence but same motion issue. Really lovely spot on timing, trusting his sends. Yay!!
Stopping your motion at 1:24 helped him see what you wanted but he was still locked onto the tunnel because the direction of travel still told him it was the straight ahead end of the tunnel.
The blind at 1:40 had correct motion! So he got it of course 🙂 Note how as he is landing, your feet were pointing towards and more importantly, moving towards the correct tunnel entry. You slowed down to get your feet stepping the right direction, but that is what sealed the deal and got the correct line.
So to get it without slowing down, do the blind and run directly to the tunnel entry you want (run on the most perfect line you want him to take) and that should get it easily.
On the line finding at the end: fun! No issues committing at all – he would glance at you if you were not moving, so you can add more motion. This can be super lateral distance, or getting waaaaay ahead (you did a bit of that at the very end) or running to the tunnel so he has to drive ahead of you to the jump (that is a very useful skill!)
Great job! Have fun this weekend!
Tracy
Good morning! This went really well!!!!
I think the height of the bars on the jump after each tunnel exit was fine – she said she had no trouble with that at all.And the bar height when she was turning to her left on the middle jump was also fine.
It was those right turns on the middle jump that were challenging! It looks like you did lower the bar there and that was smart. She slipped at takeoff when the first bar came down, then I think she avoided it (because, ouch!) on the next rep and ran past it to the outside. She did take it and the bar did come down one more time but before we change anything in handling, I want to show this to her one more time and with maybe a couple of few more distance if possible? She might sleep on it and have it all figured out 🙂 Or she might need us to add a brake arm to help but we won’t know til the next session.On the moments where she ran past the jumps on the inside – I think that was just her being ULTRA responsive to handling: you either turned too soon, or you stopped moving a bit. That is a good thing, actually! She is watching! Adding a little more distance will also give you more room to run, which is good to show her at this point: can she still find the jumps when you are running? We can take a jump out of the setup to give her more room and see how she does 🙂
Great job here! Have fun today!
Tracy
Hi!
You posted this in the MaxPup 1 forum, so I moved it over here 🙂
This might look good>
You are correct, it looked really good 🙂
Your connection and his commitment looked really strong!
2 small suggestions:
– you can start the blind cross sooner, as he is landing from the jump after the tunnel. To get to a good position to start it that early, though, you’ll want to be further away from that jump laterally, so you are ahead for the blind.
The only other suggestion is to not praise him while he’s running – it is what caused him to drop the bar.
>but the work that it took to get here! >
Tell me more about this! Is he really distracted when you first go outside? You can bring him outside on leash and warm up his brain with tricks and really great treats – super high value stuff.
And he is takes off to do other stuff, run the sequence without him 🙂 Run an invisible dog, then give cookies to Folger 🙂
That is a fun way to help direct his attention back to you!Let me know how he does!
Tracy
Fluffy Blinds
This might look good but the work that it took to get here! It was two sessions, one before breakfast and the second after breakfast. The two wraps were the first part of the second session. Rusty wants to check out the woods, pick up sticks, take the tunnel, you name it. Also, his overall enthusiasm for agility is so lacking in comparison to Folger’s. Drives me nuts! Now on to front crosses once the rain stops.
Look forward to your feedback.
Good morning!
>Also woohoo on your
. Keep nz in your thoughts for Saturday… Hopefully we can ditch the Rightwing neoliberal asshats in power at the moment.>C’mon, NZ!!!! Hoping for a successful turn out. Now we hope that all of our newly elected people don’t screw it up and get nothing done like the last time they had the power in the government. What a nightmare it has been for over 10 years.
>Me… early… barry better not Get used to that. Hahahahhahah.>
Ha! It is so rare for any of us that I always point it out LOL
>I eventually remembered the advice i give everyone else about pattern games and just did some chucking treats side to side with Baz and he then did some amazing work, sequencing more obstacles than he has ever sequenced.>
YESSSSSS!! Great job! And I am sure you set a great example for how to help a dog be successful. This is a fantastic thing!
>Also it was guy fawkes night and he worked through fireworks going off!!!>
Good boy for ignoring fireworks! And thank you for making me go google who Guy Fawkes is – I have seen the mask but had no idea what it means. Very cool to know!!!!!
The forward focus on the line session went really well!
As you noted in the beginning, he was looking at you a little bit. Mainly it was because he was checking to be sure, because you said the verbal once then stopped moving: he was like “are you sure?”As you added more motion, he stopped looking at you even as you got pretty far away (great job adding a line on the ground for yourself so you stayed further and further away 🙂
So definitely keep adding motion, including getting way ahead and going fast to make sure he looks for the jump and doesn’t lock onto your motion to chat your line.
Great job here!!!
Tracy
Good morning!
>I have learned the importance of a ring entrance routine with my other dobe! I have a half baked plan for roulette, and we’ll play around at some upcoming trials. We have two NADAC tunnelers runs this weekend and a match one day the next weekend. My other dobe is entered so I figured I’d get some ring time with Roulette also>
A plan and a match is great! The top priority is to make it a super fun time for her, so she loves being in the ring 🙂
>I tried the plank again with me on the other side. I don’t know if that was the difference or she is getting it.>
It looked great! She didn’t mind the bouncy plank and was pretty straight! Super! You can also find other raised planks so we can teach her to jump off the middle – this is especially important for big tall dogs who are fast. I’d rather she jump off than she struggle to stay on and fall.
Do you have access to a teeter? It would be fun to start those games too!
The one step sends look great! Her only questions were when you were actually early on the send at :14 – the send happened before she got out of the tunnel, so she questioned it. But the timing on the rest was great and she committed really well in both directions 🙂
I think she is ready for you to do the week 2 sequences!
Great job! Keep me posted on the weekend fun!
Tracy
Good morning!
He definitely was looking for the jumps here! That middle jump was pretty easy for him on the sending. Super! The only place he might have had a small question was finding the jump after the tunnel. He found it, but seemed to still glance at you and slow down – so you can get lots of thrown rewards in after that jump so he is blasting to it as well.
>We did a lot to startline/catches scattered in between reps. He decided that the thrown toy is very exciting and waiting was hard.>
Great job rewarding the stay! I am glad he is loving agility but you will also want to have a stay, so lots of rewards is a good idea 🙂
>I can see my 1 step send arm is too wild. I’ll work on that next session.>
The arm can be a little lower and you can think of it as sending to takeoff more and not as much to the jump. But I don’t think we need to repeat this session – you can move directly to the week 2 sequences!
Great job 🙂
Tracy
Good morning!
>I seem to recall from years ago it was more as they get it and rewarding by tossing in the straight line that they will straighten out as they figure out were the treat will be?>
Thanks for watching thousands of hours of video during covid LOL it turns out they are just locked on the hand throwing the treat. We straighten them out really quickly by using both hands. Plus it is good for us humans to have good mechanics on the non-dominant hand too.
You don’t think that this would likely lead to less distance backing up since the reward is coming close to me rather then out where she is? That is what I would sort of expect to happen.> It will require good timing to make sure you are gradually adding distance, but you have good timing so I am not worried. And backing up to a destination will help – just make the destination gradually further and further away 🙂
>We did some more stays doing strike a pose (with food) away from the jump again and it was perfect. So will try using the toy next and then try it with the jump again. >
Yay! Super!
Looking at the rocking horse video:
The right arm sends looked strong and as you mentioned, left side was harder. I think what was happening to cause confusion on the left side was there was too much arm, not enough connection on the sends. (1:12, 1:55. 2:21, 2:54) What was happening was that the arm was swooshing forward to the barrel, blocking/reducing connection – which results in your shoulders turning actually away from the line you want her to take. A baby dog is very literal, reading it as a cue to not go to it. She knew it was not the left turn side, but also read it s not being cued to the side you wanted so she got frustrated.
Compare to the send at 3:27 which was much better – very very clear connection as she got to you, low arm, and on the send – you kept your eyes on her and used less arm. That pointed your shoulders to the line you wanted, so she got it really well.
So definitely keep your arms down and exaggerate the connection for now! It will get easier as she gets more experienced.
Nice work here!
Tracy
Good morning!
He did a great job with his first stays in front of a jump!
Yes – at first he was a little confused because his so used to offering running to the jump or being immediately cued to take it. One thing that will help at the beginning of the session will be to start him further from the jump (10-15 feet) so he is not going to be as inclined to offer going to the jump.He figured it out very quickly after that – one thing to be careful to do is to release with you in a different spot each time. You were consistently releasing when you were at the wing of the jump, so he is going to learn that the release happens when you get to the wing (like at 4:26). So change your position each time: dog on left, dog on right, past the wing, one stay away from him, 5 steps past the wing, sometimes you are moving, sometimes you are standing still… mix it up so the only true release is your verbal cue.
>Shall I better use treats when I need starts with stays?
>Yes, I think great treats will help him love stays even more. The toy and the jump mean run run run which are his favorites, so amazing treats will help him love stays more too.
He really loved the tunnel under the dog walk – super fun and he did well wrapping the barrel after it.
The wraps versus soft turns versus go straight all looked good too! Nice contrasts and he was happy to do all of them.
His only questions about where to be were when your hand got high and he couldn’t see connection (2:21, for example).
Using this set up, you can move the barrel that was near the camera closer to the other end of the tunnel, so there is one on each end of the tunnel. That way you do add more layering: he does a barrel into the tunnel, then goes to the next barrel while you stay on the other side of the dog walk. You can move the barrels in close to the tunnel exits at first so he gets the idea then add more and more distance.
Great job!
Tracy
Hi!
>Guess who did three threadle wraps in class last night? Yes, I find it hard to set my feet and be far enough off the jump to give her room to come in and turn. >
Wooohooo! You can make decel the priority, as that is the strongest (and earliest) element of the cue.
>You are correct about the decel. I tend to run past things.>
You are in good company! Decel is the hardest thing in handling for everyone, around the world 🙂
>I tried skin rolling Reese and didn’t find anything.>
Great! So it was probably just figuring out mechanics.
>I used a toy as I feel she needs to come up more. >
A toy is good for this game! I am not sure we need her to come up more at this age. She reminds me of my Voodoo… pretty chill at this stage and then BOOM! All the speed/arousal when he grew up more.
She did well here! Doing the tricks required her to take her eyes of the toy and that was hard (especially for the spins) but it will get easier with experience. She was pretty excited and ready to do more at the end! Totally engaged. Super!
>Should I try food only next time? >
Yes, and also play with toys and food in the same session. For example, as she gets better with spins, you can use a cookie lure to get it, then feed the cookie, then ask her to tug. Basically, we want to be able to play this game with toy only, food only, and also with both together. That expands the toolbox to help fit any scenario.
As you play this game: note any differences in the speed of response, or how hard she takes the food or toys, etc. And play it in different locations: the yard, on your walks, at class, etc.
>We don’t have a ton of tricks. Working on your version of baby bear which I call dancing. She likes to jump up so why not make it a trick?>
Fun! The best tricks are built off of what the dogs naturally love to do 🙂 The dancing trick will be fun AND part of physical warm up 🙂
Nice work here!
Tracy
