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Hi!
>She was unsure why the auntie had her toy toy and was pretty sure she needed to line up with her, lol!>
That was hilarious and adorable!
>Running with her versus Kida is very different especially with timing!>
I was thinking about this and I think the timing is tricky because she is a baby dog and the bars are low. So what is happening is she is landing close to the middle jump (because the bars are low, she is not really jumping like she would be at 16 or 20 inches). And because she is a baby dog AND working on a low bar, her takeoff decision for commitment is later… all of that comes together to make it really easy to be ever-so-slightly early at :13 and 1:14 for her commitment, pulling her off the jump.
However, as she gets experienced and as the bars get taller: she will have to make the commitment decision sooner to jump the taller bar, and she will better understand the blind – so your timing at :13 and 1:14 will be perfect! And the timing at :45 that got the jump here will end up being late 🙂
Remind me how old she is, so we can plan on when to raise the bars? is she 10 months yet?
And she was a very good girl at :27 – you were trying to support the jump but had a touch too much push across the jump so she read backside (that will come in handy later in her career :))
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
Your connection looked really good here! That is the connection we want. So to answer why he was looking at you and hitting bars:>. In watching the video I was kinda hunched over, so maybe that threw him off?>
Yes, that was part of it for sure. Also, you were decelerating a lot, so that was causing him to ask if a turn was coming (which is why he was looking at you instead of propelling forward). Ideally, you would be a little more upright with your shoulder ‘open’ back to him, and running faster to cue the extension on the lines.
By ‘open’ what I mean is when he is behind you, your arm can point back to his nose so he really sees the connection.
And for running faster, no decelerating on the extension lines (everything except the wraps), you have 2 options:
– you can run closer to the obstacles here (stay connected like you were) and go as fast as you can 🙂
– you can adjust the sequence so it is a tunnel and 2 jumps. Something like this, approximately: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1F7D_BCD_tXS5A6-egHEWmsWHPrq97dTlqNRGQOiT6z8/edit?usp=sharing
That will give you more room to run run run 🙂 while making the lovely connection you had here.
Nice work! Let me know what you think and see you in a couple of hours!
Tracy
Good morning!
>This was hard!>
They look deceptively simple but they are actually pretty hard, especially with bay dogs.
>We have been working the stay. Stilll figuring out which will work best for lead out to minimize the front feet. Errors happen less but randomly he only had 1 here.>
Part of it was that when using the frisbee (which is super high value and very arousing in a good way), the mechanics need to be clean and crisp. It was the mechanics with the frisbee that led to most of the questions here.
About the stays: he was happily tugging on the frisbee when you grabbed his collar and whipped it away (:39, 1:11 for example) then immediately went into the line up even as the frisbee was still moving up and away. That transition can definitely be cleaner: tug tug tug, do *not* grab his collar, get the out of the frisbee without lifting it up by your shoulders or behind your back when he lets go (trading for a treat is fine). Then settle the moment, put the frisbee into the reward hand (squish it up so it is not flapping, more on that below). Then cue the line up.
>But at the third ? Rep he jumped up at me when he was between my legs so I just decided to take a calming moment. It wasn’t terrible but he was trying to tell me things. >
He was telling you the mechanics were weird and to stop grabbing his collar LOL. You used food in the transitions from the tugging to the stay after that which definitely made it cleaner.
Looking at the stays:
He did better with his feet when he was lined up a little further from the jump and you could walk forward on the lead out. When you were closer and moved away to the side, his front feet were not set so he moved them (like at :47, his right front was in the air). You can step to the side, but give him a moment to get his feet settled before moving forward.Being further back so you could move forward worked really well at 2:07!
Back to the frisbee mechanics:
Before lining him up, get the reward smaller and settled into the hand that it will remain in for the entire sequence – and don’t let it flap around (that splatted him into a jump at 2:00)Having the frisbee out and switching it from hand to hand was delaying the blind crosses – you can start them a little sooner (ideally no later than landing at the jump after the tunnel). But more importantly, we want the new connection to be visible as early as possible. What was happening was that in the new connection moment, you were switching the frisbee from hand to hand, which delayed him seeing you make the new connection (and also draws his focus to the frisbee and your hands).
I am pretty sure that you didn’t consciously think about switching the frisbee around in that moment, so having it stay in one hand is something to set up at the start of each sequence. If you keep switching it accidentally, shove it in a pocket then whip it out at the end – precision rewards are not really needed for this drill 🙂
And getting that new connection visible sooner will help set the line to the front of the jump – he was ended up on the backside a few times towards the end because you had to stop motion a bit and open up the connection extra to find the new side, which put you on his line and sent him to the backside (good boy!). Good job rewarding those!!
Nice job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning!
>Thanks so much for pulling things together and emailing Dr. Canapp. I’m hopeful we will be able to get the mystery with Jazz sorted out.>
I am happy to help and it was actually really interesting to scroll through it all in order.
Dr. Canapp has about a zillion things on his plate so if he doesn’t have the email at this fingertips, you have it so you can pull it up or resend it. He loves a good mystery so I am thinking he will be invested in helping Jazz! I hope you get to put her on the gait mat, that is sooooo cool and fascinating.
>Trialing with Jack was hit and miss. Outside, on grass with wind and rain.>
A couple of other folks I know where there and they had a similar experience: hit and miss with the weather, the surface, the course design. Bummer! Onwards to better trials ahead!
>I considered registering with him for your 2026 Dog Camp that starts in June >
I am hoping that your plan is firmly in place and maybe even closer to finished by mid-June! And many CAMPers split the spot between their grown up dog and their teenage dog so everyone gets to play a bit 🙂
Looking at the video: I added it to the document to bring it to the appointment today!
First rep was great! She seemed surprised there was no baby bar there LOL! Excellent connection!
2nd rep – something notable – she is leaning sideways on the stay. Just noting it, it might mean nothing LOL but I don’t remember her leaning like that.
This rep started great, lots of strong connection and commitment, including letting you rotate into the FC as she was passing you and committing to the wing.She started to slow down at :27 before the stall out at :30. You were a tiny bit disconnected there so it is possible she was not entirely sure of what to do on that line for a moment.
Rep 3: a little bit of leaning here too. Interesting that she started to release then she stopped and put herself back into the sit.
She did start moving (yay!) – at :56 you disconnected a bit and left the line too early so she had a question. You can keep going rather than fix it in the moment (fixing it in the moment tends to get a stall out).
On those sends, you can use more eyes and less arm. If you look directly at her as she is taking the previous jump and cue the send, your shoulders will automatically face the line you want. When you were pointing to the jump at :55 and on the next rep at 1:05, the pointing was turning your shoulders away from the line and causing your weight to shift back. That was a bit of conflicting handling info that caused her to stop. An experienced dog would keep going, but baby dogs will indeed ask questions in moments like that.
Also of note since you are seeing Dr. Canapp today: when she is stationary at 1:08, note how she shifts her weight forward into her front end and off her hind end (but isn’t moving). It might mean nothing, but it is just something to note.
After that frozen moment: great job turning and going the other direction, then continuing even after she passed a jump – no stall out!
The connection was stronger on the last couple of reps here so her commitment was good! There was more emphasis on your motion and connection, with the arm cues being there but not the primary cue. Nice! 1:59 was the only moment there were your arm took over and blocked connection, so she stopped committing (you can also see the subtle step back that pulls her into you).
Useful visual moment though – when she stops, she is using her right hind differently than her left hind, then is trotting on the last part. Notable!
Nice job here with the sequence! Keep me posted on how today goes!
Tracy
Good morning!
That sounds like such a fun trip! I am glad he was so comfy with it 🙂
>Everybody wants to pet him because he is so fluffy, that is the only thing he doesn’t lobe until he really knows someone. But I think that is a very acceptable boundary to have and one that I can provide for him.>
I agree 100000% !! Just because he is small and adorable doesn’t mean that everyone should invade his space. They can stand a few feet away and admire but they don’t need to approach or touch him.
>But he is a loud complainer if Bazinga is gone & so am I.>
It is great that Bazinga was his helper! When you leave, you can try putting a kong toy with a little cream cheese in it for him to lick and see how he feels about it? Or a lickimat? I think the Kong might be too hard for him to get the stuffing out unless he has the world’s longest tongue LOL but a lickimat would be perfect.
>We did the parallel path game with the 2 jump stanchions and no bar there too. He worked like a champ!! I was impressed. I also got to do the resilience game on leash there and he liked that too.>
That is great! It sounds like a terrific weekend!
Looking at the videos:
The bath mat is perfect – it can be this size for the early stages of training then we can make it smaller as he gets to the more advanced levels down the road. He immediately understood to offer behavior on it – you added treats right on it in the middle, but I think at that point he already understood to get on it so you can go back to tossing the treats off to the sides. That will help promote running through the mat – and then you can mark & throw for back feet on the mat. And for the next session, you can switch from the click to the ‘get it’ marker so he keeps looking straight.
The get out session also went well! I see what you mean about him pausing before the prop: he was doing it a bit on the original side after the first few reps and definitely on the other side too when you switched. I think he was doing it because the treat landed right on or near the prop, so he thought it was more of a stopped behavior. Easy adjustment: throw the treat further away past the prop, so he keeps moving over it.
The other thing that will help is adding your movement. He is totally ready for that!
Well done with the backing up session!! He is totally getting the idea! You can sit on something low so you don’t make your back angry by bending over 🙂 One other detail: you might notice that he is curving to the side a bit. That was because the rewards were coming from your right hand so he was locked onto it as the focal point. If you have cookies in both hands and alternate which hand tosses the treat, he will stay straighter as you add more distance away from the mat.
Great job here!!
Tracy
Good morning!
>I walked into the training center with Tribute thinking it would be an easy day of walking and tossing treats and was totally blindsided when he started running! Looks like he knew the assignment and I didn’t; LOL!>
Ha! At least have gave you a warm up by walking and trotting at the start before adding the speed LOL
>I attended a full-day workshop with Diane Patterson and she said the same thing! >
Perfect! Your dogs are speedy so you don’t need to use your arms much, you can just run run run 🙂
>I have this same issue (head checking) with Tarot I definitely need to work on that.>
The get it marker will definitely help them look forward.
Keep me posted!
Tracy
Good morning!
>I walked into the training center with Tribute thinking it would be an easy day of walking and tossing treats and was totally blindsided when he started running! Looks like he knew the assignment and I didn’t; LOL!>
Ha! At least have gave you a warm up by walking and trotting at the start before adding the speed LOL
>I attended a full-day workshop with Diane Patterson and she said the same thing! >
Perfect! Your dogs are speedy so you don’t need to use your arms much, you can just run run run 🙂
>I have this same issue (head checking) with Tarot I definitely need to work on that.>
The get it marker will definitely help them look forward.
Keep me posted!
Tracy
Good morning!
Strike a pose went really well! He found the serp from all sorts of different angles and also with the toy on the ground by the end. Super!
>he had trouble with the held toy for my warm up. He didn’t want to stay as well as he did before. >
Yes, he totally thought the target hand coming out was the release at the beginning.
You can move to position, put the hand out, then throw a reward back to him to help solidify the verbal release and not the hand movement as release.
The next steps are coming soon when we add threadles!
The out session also went really well – he read the difference between the cues really well! The next step is to take it to a wider area, so you can get more distance on the out cues.
Nice work here!
Tracy
Hi!
>When you’re doing a switch (to a layer) out of a tunnel, should the switch cue happen before they go into the tunnel? >
My goal is to use the verbal and lift the outside arm visibly before they get into the tunnel (5 or 6 feet before they enter) so they are prepared for the rest of the motion (and repeating the verbal) when they exit.
Lift did this really well! All the balance reps looked great too. Looking at the layering:
Easy peasy first sequence!
The hardest part of the 2nd sequence was finding the jump behind the tunnel when she was turning left (great reward for when she didn’t quite get it but also didn’t go into the tunnel) When you moved it to be more visible and she found it easily.She gets extra cookies for finding the jump at :56! The opposite arm was a little high and you were not babysitting the layering at all… she considered the tunnel then processed the cues and went out to the jump! YAY!
At 1:21 she turned to her right when you wanted the left post turn. I think 2 things were in play there:
She was like, ‘hoooman, the obstacles are to the right, not to the left)
Also, as you were post turning, she was considering the left turn until she saw your hips then left leg step back – rear cross cue. She sees everything!You BOTH get extra cookies for continuing AND getting the layering! Double yay!
The same thing happened at 1:43 – she doesn’t want to turn left there, and you pressure back into the line and end up with the right turn. That is where a spin might be best – not because we need her to be tighter, but the FC element that starts the spin will get the left turn in flow then as you move away doing the FC and as she exits the wrap, you can do a BC to get her to the correct side.
But the winner move might be the RC on that jump! She read it really well the first time, she was very happy to turn to her left there, which supports the theory that your subtle pressure on the post turn was creating the right turn. On the 2nd rep of it, you got caught a little far from the tunnel and from the RC line so she was less sure. You can run in deeper to the tunnel so you can stay in motion as she exits and be closer to the RC line too.
For Kaladin – he also did really well here! Super!
You can get right to the end of the tunnel on the switches – if you are too far away, it pulls him too far away. And lifting your arm a bit earlier at the end of the first session really helped – you can also repeat the switch verbal cue a few times.He had no trouble with the post turn to the left that was hard with Lift, and he also read the RC there too. Even though the RC showed more collection, it was actually faster on the stopwatch than the BC to the post turn. Good ot know!
The added layering on the fly was not a bad idea – is the tunnel was a set of weaves, that is where the jump or tunnel would be for layering lately. The cue was late so he didn’t get it, but it is a good challenge for him!
>When you talk about the layer/extension line being more of the default, that’s when it’s not a discrimination too, right? I felt like I did have to use the opposite arm when I wanted the jump just beyond the tunnel for these.>
I think it depends on whether there are lead changes to find the line or not. For these discriminations, your pups both had to do lead changes to go out and find the correct line. If the jump was set on a line where they could just stay on their line and get to it, I bet you don’t need the outside arm at all. The tunnel is on their line on these sequences, so the outside arm is really useful!
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
>Our weather is perfectly terrible right now. We had a nice day yesterday. Today cold and raining. We’re supposed to have rain for pretty much a solid week. I don’t foresee any outdoor jump grids in the immediate future. The “grass” is also very squishy and not growing yet (we had a snowstorm a week ago). Next month we’ll be outside.>
Fingers crossed for the grass to dry out fast!
Looking at the video:
The warm up blinds looked good on both sides!The first full rep was very informative! At :34, he saw you decelerating into jump 3. That was a strong turn cue which curled him into you and took the send jump out of the picture (ended up with a fancy threadle wrap!). He got it on the other reps but was still turning to you when he saw the decel (good boy!) Accelerating into the line will help him send out to 4 better – more on that below 🙂
You had more acceleration on the other side which got the 4 jump better – but also took you too close to 4 which made the blind late at 1:49. The blind at 2:03 had better timing because you didn’t go as far up to jump 4.
One thing that will make handling different from handling his big brother Lennan is that because he is small and has to take more strides, you can change your strategy to not get too far ahead on sends. You were a little too far up the line which is why you were decelerating on the first few reps.
At the end of the video, you had 2 reps where you went in closer to the tunnel entry so you could keep moving and not decelerate: that totally helps set the line. Getting in closer to the tunnel entry and even running along the curve of the tunnel will cause you to accelerate up the line – that makes the send easier (and has more distance) which also makes the blind easier 🙂 As he gets more experienced, you won’t have to set the line quite as much but there is a definite strategy difference between bigs and smalls on sequences where we need to send and run back to a blind. The smalls do best when we go in closer to the previous line and accelerate them into the send – especially smalls like Aelfraed who responds really well to decel!
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
>We are adding lots of rewarding for staying again!>
Yay! She will like that! And train yourself to lead out, look at her, smile, praise, count to 3 in English and French… then release 😂 That way you won’t get into the rhythm of releasing at the same time that you look at her.
She did really well on the sequences even with the fun match noise going on!
The brake arms for the middle jump looked great on the first 2 reps! When she hit the bar ther at :35, it was likely because you hadn’t also turned your shoulders (facing straight) til after she made a takeoff decision. The other reps looked good too – just keep turning your shoulders 🙂
Getting the timing of the wrap cues were a little tricky at first – I thought the first one was maybe a little late. She got it on the low bar but it would be harder when she eventually is at full height. She almost didn’t take the wrap jump at 1:50 – I think that was because there was too much decel 🙂 You were decelerated before she took off for the middle jump and you were starting to rotate a bit too soon. It is rare that we are early, so it is fun to celebrate it LOL!
The ideal timing on this would likely be where you run in closer to the tunnel so you can accelerate more as she exits. That acceleration will make the transition into decel more obvious as she jumps the middle jump – which will also help commit her to the wrap jump.
Looking at the 2nd video: the first full rep was pretty perfect! Yay! Being able to send to the middle jump gives you plenty of time to get the blind there (:46).
And to prove it was no fluke: 2nd rep was gorgeous too! Nice timing on the blind!
>There was a few times I pushed into her line on our tough side and she started going around the jump instead of through it. That caused me to start hovering around that jump and then our issues started with the BC!>
Yes, she was definitely asking questions. One thing when that happens: keep going and reward the next part of the line. I think part of what was happening was she was not getting rewarded even though she was following the cues, so she was not sure of which line to be on.
At 1:26 – you were a shade too early for the blind and also not as clearly on the line as you were on the other side (she could see you through the gap moving to the tunnel and connected on the new side). So she was pretty correct to come off the jump, especially if there had been questions on the other reps. You can keep going to the tunnel and reward her. Stopping and withholding reward assumes it was her error (it is really never their error, always our error 🤣😂) and she had a BIG MAD and was jumping for the toy.
Timing was better at 1:47 but she needed to see you a little more between the uprights, especially if there were questions carrying over. So you can drive forward a little straighter to get commitment to the jump before doing the blind, then have someone throw the toy to the landing of the BC jump as you move through the BC. You did throw the toy at the very end of the 2nd video – doing that will definitely help commitment!You drove straighter for an extra step or two on the first rep of the 2nd video and she found the jump nicely! Yay! That would be a good place to end the session and let her sleep on it 🙂 Doing more ended up having more errors through the session, so you can totally rely on the magic of latent learning 🙂 That will be especially true on the harder turn side.
The plank confidence went great and the jump bumps added a bit of wobble – perfect! To add speed and angles, you can put a wingless upright or cone on each side as a visual aid, then send her from all sorts of angles. That will challenge her to line herself up to go straight across the plank (and you can totally have her buddy Aelfraed do it too :))
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
>although one can always work on him more. He has had prelim rads done at a health clinic on hips, elbows, stifles and spine (always get those to compare to down the road). He also had a full baseline eval with joint angle and muscle measurements at the local rehab vet (again to have for comparison later if needed). And she also checked patellas.>
That is great to have all of that done already! Yay! Were the patellas checked in a lateral recumbent position? Standing patella exams (including the OFA exam) might not show anything with strong dogs – and I am guessing he is pretty fit and strong!
Looking at the lazy game video: I would say he has a really strong understanding of the game! He had some questions about driving to the tunnel but I think that was mainly because you were not running. He was lovely finding the lines and doing the wraps! He didn’t always see the thrown cookie (like at the end), so now that he is doing longer sequences you can use a lotus ball or treat hugger.
Keep checking him for soft tissue restriction – even with a great understanding of what you wanted, he is still carrying his back feet together (bunny hop) and not running even without the bar in the middle jump. The lower bar really helped! And you can leave in the in-between moments so we can see if he is off-loading anywhere. It looked like he might have been off-loading his right hind coming around the middle jump to his left at the beginnng, and then possibly at 1:07 but it was hard to tell for sure.
He is doing a really good job with the set point! A couple of things to help him get more hind end power:
On some of the reps, it looks like his back foot is set outside of this body, a bit abducted? Those reps were not as good in terms of hind end push as the rep at :10 where he had the best foot position in the sit, and the best hind end push over the bars 🙂 So you can ask him to tighten the sit and see how he feels about that 🙂 I got screenshots of what I mean in case my words are not describing it correctly 🙂
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1psFkq0xh12eYIcfK46250o4zZmiLSObuxHXfR5zIC5Q/edit?usp=sharingAnd, add in the moving target (can be a lotus ball on a line) so he powers out after landing. He was stopping short and doing some shifting of his back feet after landing to stop for the treat, so we can get the hind end push between the jumps and after landing if he is driving to the moving target.
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi! Lots of things going on here – some I will give you a click/treat for, and some I will bug you about 😂🤣
>The video seems long but lots of toy play, rewards and stay rewards mixed in. >
It is indeed too long for a baby dog… even with different things mixed in, it is a lot of work and it was mainly running the sequence with no real breaks. Try to split it into 3 or 4 shorter sessions with 10 minute or longer breaks in between, rather than one long one. You will get faster learning and more motivation that way! He totaled at about 55 jumps which is a whole lot for a baby dog (or any dog!) in one session. When counting the strides, he was adding more strides by the end – running slower for sure. It might have been that he was tired or he was being careful, but we want fast and happy the whole time. He asked for a break at about 3 minutes when he took off with the toy. His attention was wandering at about 6 minutes. In the last 90 seconds, he was really delayed bringing the toy back, a little sniffing, and a shake off. Definitely take a less is more approach! And of course, you can run it without him so that you are not sorting out the handling while he is also trying to figure out the cues.
When you had the clear connection – it went really well! He was reading the lines well and committing really well too! You can be a little further from the jump after the tunnel laterally, running more on the line towards the middle jump, so it is easier to get the blind. That will give you more time to finish it and do the post turn after it.
The turn on the jump after the blind is definitely tricky! When you did the post turn with connection on jump 5, he turned the correct direction on both sides. When you were facing the jump and didn’t do the post turn, he read it as a rear cross. If you turned but didn’t connect, he didn’t take the jump. So definitely keep the post turn and stay connected to his eyes there.
When something unexpected happens, or getting the turn the wrong direction) – keep going! Those errors are handler error 99.9% of the time and he is correct, so stopping is going to confuse him. Plus, if you keep going, you learn to think on your feet with him and save the run 🙂
One super important thing to remember is that his reward should not be contingent on whether you get the handling right or not 🙂 He can only get it right if you get it right (especially at this age) so if something happens on course, either reward right away or keep going and reward the next thing – this is critical for young dogs! Stopping or punishing him is going to cause him to stress (some of the barking at the lineup was stress) which we definitely don’t want.
For example, at the beginning: be sure to set him up and get him ready for the first jump before you start, to make sure he is ready and you are in the right spot. At :13 he was not lined up, you were blocking his line (standing where he would need to go) so when you stepped forward to start, he took the backside line (that was correct based on where you were standing and the lack of lineup, nice try baby dog!). He was trying his best! That was a pretty significant physical correction he got there at :18 – lifted by the collar, turned around by the collar with his front feet in the air, then pushed over the jump by the collar. You can either call him back and reset with a cookie, while assessing your mechanics and position (“oops, sorry dude, I am standing in your way”) or keep going and fix it on the next rep.
At :23 is a good example of where you can keep going and reward: you said ‘go tunnel’ and turned to the other side of the tunnel. He looked at you for confirmation then went to where your motion was going. Good boy! Reward that! Walking away like that is also a punisher. Then when you reached for him, he barked at you and moved away – he had just gotten that big grab by the collar so he was not really wanting to be touched again.
There were a couple of the bloopers where you got that rear cross after the blind instead of the turn to the outside, including 7:28 where you showed frustration when you pulled him off the jump (not enough connection there)… I am pretty sure you were frustrated at yourself but it is definitely a punisher to the pup! So keep going rather than stop and mark it then re-start. If he thinks he is going to get in trouble, he is going to slow down and get careful. But if you reward him for reading the cues as best he can – he will stay fast and happy! The reward can either be the toy/treat or continuing with the sequences.
Nice work here!
Tracy
Hi!
>Honestly, I think sometimes it’s my state of mind and focus too that affects things.>
Yes, I think they can tell if we are not in a great mental state and it affects them. I often turn on silly music to sing and dance around, which helps get myself in a better focus for training 🙂 Figuring out what helps get you ready and focused to use during sessions can be really fun!
She was very into the toy here at the start, didn’t want to give it back LOL! And wow, it was REALLY weindyq1 The session went really well and she was picking up the lines really well! You probably didn’t want to throw the toy because she might have taken it on a prolonged victory lap 🤣😂 so you can use really good food for the next session and toss treats for finding the line. She definitely seemed to have an easier time turning to her right than to her left, so when you add the wraps – be sure to begin with wrapping to her right so she can get the feel of it all.
>At the start she was missing the jump >
When that happens, continuing to the next part of the sequence and rewarding something else will keep her in the game. Then you can come back to where she missed the jump (like at :39 and 4:46 for example) and add in a much stronger connection to her eyes. That is usually my first adjustment in handling when there is a blooper: add in more connection. Usually the blooper happens because my connection is too ‘soft’, meaning I can the dog peripherally but they can’t see the connection because my head is turned too far forward.
When the connection is soft and we look forward, either they look at us and go past a jump (like at :39) or we accidentally turn our feet & shoulders away from the line and they correctly follow us (like at 3:50 when she did not take the tunnel – you were turning away from it). In that tunnel moment, rather than stop even though you took the toy out – you can keep going to the next jump and then either reward that or come back around to the tunnel again.
>so I slowed down and really tried to not use a lot of arms and hands and stay turned toward her. I think that helped.>
Totally helped! It might have felt like you slowed down but actually you kept moving and added VERY strong connection after the tunnel at 4:53. Even though your back was to the camera, it was clear that you were looking directly at her so she accelerated to the jump with zero questions. You also had stronger connection to her at 4:57 on that rep to drive her straight into the tunnel. Then you had lovely connection on the last rep and she was perfect!
>We took a break and then tried to do wing wraps, but it was so windy and I also think she was ready for breakfast so she wasn’t supper into it and we stoped quickly because I’m really trying not to push things.?
Massive click/treat to you for that decision! It was a really successful session and soooo tempting to keep going! But it is always better to end on a high note and wanting more, than to accidentally go for too long. Really smart decision to revisit the wraps another time.
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
What a bummer that the closest site to your home had poopy footing 🙁 And the course design sounds even worse than the footing! PM me the name of the judge so I can AVOID – I don’t want to be on small crunchy courses either! But you were smart to just do NFC to work on other stuff without risking him on those courses.
> very few other dogs/people and very chill (especially compared to what he was seeing our month on the road with bigger Run Wild, AZ Festival, and Chicago Invitational.>
Vibe was probably wondering where everyone was hahaha
> Last time I showed him that holler roller toy type a few weeks ago he wasn’t into it but now he’s really liking it – I think it’s because baby teeth are all gone.>
This is good! The hollee roller is a really useful toy so I am really glad he is liking it now! Also good that the baby teeth are gone 🙂
The trial site is absolutely lovely – what a shame that the runnng surface and courses were poopy.
Vibe did great working his games with 2 rings behind him and dogs running in those rings. I love that they had a practice ring where he could do his puppy sequences! He was was fast on the lines and tight in the turns – perfect! Your connection was spot on which really helped too. And it lokos like he was tugging for real! Fun!
His big purple mat workl at the beginning looked good too – is that also going to be your RDW mat? He was hitting it with the split-rear-feet and that is what you were generally marking, so I figured that would be the eventual goal. You can bring it into the practice ring (I think that is allowed?) and do wing-to-mat-to-wing, or tunnel-to-mat. It is never too early to teach the pups to continue looking ahead and not at us after the mat!
> this is the weekend he also discovered that he can just spring up onto our kitchen counter and dining room table from a standstill (just to see if there’s anything interesting up there – not specifically trying to get anything). 🤣 Good times advanced puppy proofing ahead.>
OMG! Somehow I am not surprised LOL!! He must be part cat 🙂
Great job here!
Tracy
