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Good morning!
>Today’s thought: All slow agility teams run alike; each fast team is fast in its own way.
(A bastardization of Leo Tolstoy’s “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”)>This is deep, I will need more coffee to think it through… one of your classmates here was asking why no one talks about how hard it is to run really fast dogs! The thrill of when it goes well overrides the incredible challenges of learning to handle incredibly fast dogs 🙂
>I had a dear friend who used to come and train with me every Monday. It was impossible for him to run a sequence and leave before he had a perfect rep. I might be in danger of succumbing to the Bob-syndrome.>
This is good to know – I will remind you to not be Bob 🙂 Perfect is impossible in agility. We all get good at accepting “good” or “strong” because the pursuit of perfection will drive us (and our dogs) crazy 🙂
Looking at the video:
Seq 4 run 1 – he had questions (head checks) when you are not moving much, so you add more verbals so he can be confident in the lines you want. A name call before he goes into the tunnel so he doesn’t exit looking at you will help, for example. You had more verbals on run 2 so he didn’t ask as many questions.
Looking at the blinds:
Yes, the timing was really good at :14 and :32.
On the blind at :14, the timing is good but your line was towards 10. He thought he was jumping towards 10 and that is how he gathered for liftoff, then didn’t have time to adjust when you did start heading towards 9 (bar down at :15)
At :19 you are backing up facing him so he drops the bar – a blind cross might ultimately be the better option there because you can’t back up. You’ll be running forward which will help with the bars a TON. More on that below.Run 2: Very good timing of the BC at :32 and your line was much more direct towards 9, bar up!
Start the FC on the push sooner or do a blind so you are not facing him as he is jumping at :37, and then you will be facing and moving towards the tunnel when he lands.
Seq 5:
This is another spot where silence is not golden 🙂 He was wide on the exit of the tunnel because there was no info before he entered (:52 & 1:17). A name call before he enters is all he needs there, which will set up the rest of the line really nicely too.
>First off, my feet say 4 to 5 is a FC. That is because I wouldn’t go in very far and basically can stand in the same place, facing the tunnel and the FC is essentially done with zero effort.>
Totally agree! The FC 4-5 works better when you are decelerated and not having to run into it. Your mouse line should be the same though, so resist temptation to get between the uprights of 4 because it changes his line (:53) amd puts you behind for the next cues. Also, don’t back up out of the FC (2:13) I will be going on a ‘don’t back up’ mission because it delays a lot of info for him and contributes to bars coming down.
The BC was good at 1:17! The Easy cue after it was a bit late and forward moving (bar down)
Running to 4 at 1:34 made the blind late (bar down) – the line was late, not the actual head turn. And the line is a big factor in organizing for takeoff. He saved it at 1:55 🙂 I think being further up the line will help there, so you can run a little deeper towards the tunnel so you don’t run towards 4 as muchMuch better timing of the ‘easy’ at 1:36!! And also at 1:56! Showing him sooner and using a bit of decel really helps!!
Going back to backing up: the FC on the backside at jump 6 works really well too! But backing up was pulling bars a lot either on that jump or after it (:56, for example then when you get behind, also at :57).
And you had really good timing of starting the FC on the 6 backside at 1:38 and 2:00 and 2:17. The backing up bit you there as well at 2:00 and 2:18 – it caused the bar down on 7 and bar down on 6 at 2:18 and at 2:23 when you got behind.
Backing up in the FCs is causing the bars because it doesn’t give enough info on how to jump the line, so he is guessing and jumping straight at you (as if it was a recall to heel) and with extension since you are moving backwards. And if you are too close to the jump, he has no place to land (bar down) or tries to adjust for the new line. And if the info for the next line is delivered after he lands… bar down as he tries to adjust.
So, easy answer… no more backing up 🙂 Easier said than done, though.
Start the FC as you did at 1:38, 2:00, 2:17 with really good timing. Then complete the turn/foot rotation immediately with connection and move forward to the next line. Trust his commitment (because the other option is pulling bars). And that is why a blind might be a great option there even thought it is entirely counterintuitive: you can’t back up, you can only run forward 🙂 That might be the absolute best option!Looking at the broken stay moment at 1:03 – yes, we don’t want him to move when you look at him after the lead out. But dogs tend to anticipate releases if we do the same thing a lot… and so his break at 1:03 was at the exact same timing as your release at :48 and 1:31 and very similar to the other 2 releases at the beginning of the video. So be sure to be insanely consistent with leading out, looking at him, taking a moment to praise/breathe/wave your arms like at 1:13, check your email :), talk about the weather… and then release. If the release is paired with the reconnection (like the reps before the break and also at 1:31) then the reconnection becomes the release like it did at 1:03.
So while these were not all perfect reps, they are actually incredibly useful about small adjustments to make. I would gladly take these runs in practice so have the adjustments made for trials. When he knew where the line was… no bars down, period. So using the line/direction of motion as early as possible, and no more backing up will help the bars a TON!!
>I’m really looking forward to working with you in person!!!>
YAY! Dawn hasn’t sent the rosters yet so I am glad to hear you will be at QCDC!!!! It will be fun!
Great job here!
Tracy
Oh no! Technology failures are SO ANNOYING!!!!! Sorry that it happened!!
> I may have had better connection on 2 since I forget baby/green dogs need more support. >
Yes – if he was asking questions, it might totally be a connection question.
>First he was going around 2 to go into the tunnel and then he was knocking 5. So then I rewarded out there after 5 and the next rep he was good. But I think he knocked because he was looking at me.>
Yes – looking at you might be a sign of needing more connection, or he was watching you move the toy around 🙂 Video will tell us, so hopefully the weather and the camera cooperate!!!!
Tracy
Good morning!
> I love blinds and they are by far my “go to” cross, if at all possible,>
Me toooooo! I love them so much now, which is hilarious because when I started agility I was told that blind crosses would ruin my dog hahahahahaha
>the class is everything I was hoping for to help them be even better!>
Fantastic! Hope you still say that after the week 4 craziness 😂🤣
>As I like to say “I’m channeling my inner Laura Dolan” >
Well, Laura Dolan is incredibly amazing, so that is excellent to channel! She rocks!
> Hope you had a nice Memorial Day weekend. Weather was awful up here…..wet and 50s>
It is still raining but at least a bit warmer. It was wet & 50s where I was competing with 5 dogs in Pennsylvania. But better than the 97 degrees it had been 2 days prior!
And thank you for the screen captures with the Setup 1 sequences….way cool, and SO telling. I need to get in the habit of doing those when I’m really trying to figure something out.>
I love screen captures! It has really helped me understand things and that is why I really never tell the dog that it is wrong… because 99.9% of the time, I am the one who was wrong LOL!
Looking at the video:
Sequence 4: great timing on the blind at :13 and the FC at :18! Yay!
Seq 5:
We can’t fully see the tunnel exit from the angle of the video but it was not set at a easy straight line to the jump in a way that also gets you to the blind easily. He had good feedback – part of it was that he probably needed to shift to a right lead to find the line to the jump, which needs to be cued. And the easiest ways to cue it are big connection and a verbal. Silence is NOT golden here 🙂 so you can totally look him in the eye (keep your arm low and pointing back to him so he can see the connection) and use a jump verbal.Looking at the reps:
You were too early on the blind and too quiet at :32 and :40 –
I think you saw him exit but your arm was high and he didn’t see the connection. Then when he comes into video, you are already doing the blind so he never saw a commitment cue.
You went closer to the jump at :48 (still silent :)) but he said he still doesn’t see a commitment cue. He is not going to let you off the hook LOL!You went even closer and had better connection at :54 and 1:03 and 1:19 so he got it but having to go closer made it a little late, so he was a little wide. I think he will totally go to that jump with bigger connection and a verbal.
Sequence 6 warm up: Yes, connection was definitely saving the day here as you worked out the timing! And for a really hard sequence where motion *might* show an off course line, you can totally ramp up the connection. Be sure to use the opposite arm across your torso to show that exit line connection. You were using the dog-side arm, which is why it took him a few extra strides to see it.
In terms of timing, the blind starts 2 jumps before the tunnel – it was a little late at 1:40 but definitely better at 1:49 and 2:00 and 2:11 – he was seeing parallel path motion until the very last moment so adding clearer connection on the new side will tighten that up if you are late.
REALLY good timing at 2:20 and it was a MUCH better turn – yay!!!
Full sequence:
On the first blind, you had a good line of motion and timing to the blind 3-4 at 2:36 & 3:04. You went a little too far past 3 at 3:29 made it a little wider, but just one extra stride.
Great timing and connection at 2:46 on the blind 8-9-10. You can be closer to 10 to get a better line, like you did at 3:12 and 3:39!Really good timing starting the blind to the tunnel at 2:53. The timing was not quite as early at 3:47 – and adding more of that exit line connection in both spots will tighten it up even more.
One thing I noticed on all the blinds to the tunnel were that you were very quiet – you said tunnel after you saw him change sides on the blind. You can totally add at least a name call to this, to help in case timing or connection are not ideal as you drive a line that could take him directly to an off course.
So the two main things here in the spots that were harder: exaggerate the connection to get the line, and don’t be quiet during the important parts 🙂
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning!
>I took a private lesson in-person from Monica Bush. She had some great feedback for me. Hopefully I’ll be able to check in with her periodically.>
That is great!! I am glad you got good info!
The session here went really well – he is very much understanding his lines. Super! The only blooper was the blind at :44 – that was just a bit late so he didn’t get the change of side info in time. It is a good location for the blind, but to get the timing you would need to get there and finish the blind as he exits the tunnel.
The blind at the end worked perfectly: you got to the takeoff side and got re-connected as he exited the tunnel so he had no questions and drove the last line beautifully!
All of the other connections and handling looked really strong!
You might have noticed him looking at you a lot, or coming towards you a bit before committing. That happened when you reached for the ball in your pocket or when you were moving it from hand to hand, getting ready to reward. Since his motto is “Ball Is Life”, he sees all that and is not sure if he should lock onto the ball, or lock onto the line. You can see that happening at :04, :13, :41, for example.
He did get the line each time, but we can get him to look forward better by having the ball either stay in one hand the whole time, no switching, or have it in your pocket the whole time – and don’t pull it out until the sequence is complete (rather than reach for it early). Which to choose will depend on the sequence. If you want to throw it on a big Go line, you can have it in your hand. If the sequence ends on a tunnel or something simple, it is fine to leave it in your pocket 🙂
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi!
The zig zag grid went well. One thing that was interesting: He did a funky little step-in on rep 1 and also at 1:41 – both when he was on your right. It was as if he was not sure which lead to step in on, so he was switching just as he started moving. We will see if he sorts it out – and if he doesn’t sort it out, we can help. He was not doing it on the other side (when he was on your left) so I think he will sort it out on your right side too.
>He did well until the last rep when I opened up the angle a bit more and he added a stride.>
The added stride was still a good choice – I’d rather see a nice balanced stride than a big fling LOL!!!
As the angle gets flatter the distance gets bigger, so you can overlap the wings more. That way he can bounce like he did on the other angles.
Lead out video 1:
>Started out running off with the toy. Maybe being crated a lot over the weekend and a 5 hour drive home…burning off pent up energy.>
Yes, that was probably it – that is hard for a teenager! He came back pretty quickly 😂 😆
Seq 1 with the FC wrap was nice! You can decelerate even sooner so he knows there is a wrap on 2 – you can be decelerated as soon as he takes off for jump 1.
The spin on jump 2 went GREAT at 1:51 – he turned beautifully and it sets a better line to the tunnel on this sequence.
Full sequence:
The entire sequence at 2:24 – 2:32 looked really good. I liked the timing of the FC wrap here – you probably don’t need to shape the line to the tunnel as much after it. As long as you are connected and moving towards the tunnel in general, I think he will get it. The blind looked really good!On the 2nd full run: The spin on 2 looked lovely too – when you see it in the middle of a sequence you will be able to start it sooner but the timing here was good to get commitment coming out of the stay.
The rear cross was harder for him to read – as he was deciding on a takeoff spot at 3:31, you were moving to the left turn side of the wing. The RC info happened after he started taking off at 3:32 so he adjusted after landing. Great job continuing!
When you did the RC at 3:47, you were too far ahead. The timing was earlier so he knew it was a right turn, but because you were so far ahead you got caught behind the jump. That ended up cueing a really tight rear cross so he correctly turned really hard to his right. The Go cues came too late for him to be able to find the line.
So for the RC on jump 5, you can either wait longer for him at jump 4 (start moving along the RC line when he is taking off for jump 4) or you can go in closer to the tunnel exit, so you can move sooner – that will help him see the motion for the RC cues while also making sure you don’t get caught too far ahead or behind the jump which pulls him off the line to the 6 jump.
The last full run was pretty perfect!! SUPER!! That blind worked really well!
>Is is just a baby dog thing or am I not doing something right for him to keep dodging the last jump? Maybe he just doesn’t have a full understanding of “go” yet.>
It was handling – he was really tuned in and responsive to the cues.
On the first run:
When he committed to 5, you disconnected, turned away, and threw the toy (2:34) so he thought he was done and went for the toy.Got it in isolation at 2:55 by cueing it 🙂 And got it with more flow at 4:13, nice cue! And got the GO on the last run with clear cues too. Lovely! So as long as you are connected and showing the line, he will do it (and don’t throw the toy too early :))
The RC timing contributed to his questions about the last jump, so that will go away when the RCs are smoother.
Speaking of the RCs – the RC on the 2nd video is a HARD rear cross! He was reading it really well, especially for a young dog. A little more experience and a little more deceleration will tighten up the line – for now, getting the accuracy is the more important part. The cue to the center of the bar was easy to show on the warm up reps, and harder to show in the full run.
You can decelerate and kind of wait for him at 4 til he catches up – with you facing the center of the bar for the RC. Then you can move directly up the RC line without pulling to the wrap line at all. You had the little ‘pull’ to the right turn at 1:52 and 4:14 which made the info a little late for him to turn tight.
The FC wrap to the right looked great! And the GO line on the last rep looked great too! His sequencing is coming along really well 🙂
>Hope I can get everything done by the end of the session. I am traveling far more than I normally would trying to regain my #5 spot for the invitationals. I do not understand why all 3 sizes of poodles need to be grouped together for the top 5. Doesn’t seem fair compared to other breeds who have multiple sizes. >
I always thought it was weird that ALL of the poodles were lumped together like that. It does make your accomplishments with Benni even more impressive though!
>I have not done the wingin’ it games for threadle wrap yet from last week. And still have to do the forced FC.>
To prioritize: if you do a bit of the fundamental threadle wrap stuff for now, that is all you will need for a while. We do need to get them looking good but they are not a priority. The forced fronts will be easy peasy for you – the advanced level of the forced threadle will be more important and more useful on course, so you can make that your top priority out of all of this threadley stuff (along with tandem turns, which are very useful!)
>Thanks. I think we are making progress on the course work. Should be putting 6 poles together soon. Doing 4 + 2 now. See Saw almost to the half way tipping point. DW contact work is not his favorite. We start our novice class with Linda Rose tomorrow. Yay! She is incorporating jumps and tunnels for the dogs who don’t have everything trained yet.>
This is all excellent except the DW part 😂 does he find it boring? Have you added your movement yet?
Nice work here!
Tracy
It certainly makes it harder for him when there are BIG DOG BARKS aimed his way, but he is working through it beautifully ❤️
Oooh a coffee cart that served flat whites? Yes please!!!!! And yes, those long drives are exhausting especially after judging all weekend. Rest days are lovely!
Good morning –
Congrats on Roulette’s CH – and I am so sorry to hear about your Viszla… gone way too young. That is really hard. I hate cancer!!It was great that your husband helped with the jump grid! Lots of good reps here (she fell on her head a little at :24 pulling from the release, so we will ignore that rep :)) She was able to drive to the MM really well. If you think he would hold her again for another session, you can replace the MM with a dragging toy – something big like a hollee roller or a giant toy would be great. That can help with head position getting a little lower) and getting more explosiveness from her rear.
Do you remember what the distance was here between the jumps? It might need to be a bit shorter to get that hind end power but the moving target reps will tell us for sure.
Looking at the Go and Rear Cross video:
>I’m having a hard time getting Roulette to send and commit ahead of me. I tried two rear crosses and then switched up to sending her ahead to her ball. The ball is near the TNT in front of it.>
I see what you mean – the MM is nice but not all that enticing to her, so it was hard to time the rear cross cues. The ball was the definite winner but harder to see and we don’t want her to smack her shoulders into the ground stopping for it. You can put the ball in the dish of the MM so it is easy to see and grab? I used to put a frisbee on top of the MM for the dog that didn’t love the MM – that worked well!
She was getting happy with the GO reps with the ball in play, so definitely keep it as visible as possible for a while longer. We will fade it out as a placed reward and switch to it as a thrown reward when you’ve had a couple of sessions of her really driving ahead.
For the rear cross – you can go forward to the center of the bar more and cut behind her later. Because she was not fully driving ahead, you were cutting behind to the new side a bit early which caused her to turn towards you instead of going to the bar.
Continuing forward towards the center of the bar (which shows the rear cross ‘pressure’ cue) until she is almost taking off – then cutting behind her – will help get commitment for now. Then it will be easier to cut behind her sooner as the value of driving ahead builds up too 🙂
Nice work here!!
Tracy
Good morning!
I am jealous that your rain has stopped! We have a few more days of rain coming our way here.
Indoor session:
The front crosses at the beginning and the spins during the rest of the session all looked strong. My only suggestion is as you finish the spin, look back to him sooner so he knows exactly where to be – the connection is the key to that. And the race tracks went well too.
The outdoor session accomplished what I hoped it would: it allowed him to open up and run! He was able to add his speed, without slipping. Look at him running but also turning tight! So fun!!!!
>I was pleased as this is the first time I have asked him to follow my handling outdoors.>
This was excellent – he was just as wonderfully focused and engaged as he is indoors even while moving faster. Love it! His responses were spot on and his commitment was lovely too. We transfer all this to actual wings very soon, he is ready for more!
As with the indoor session, my only suggestion is to look back at him as soon as you finish the spin, so he knows which side to be on as soon as possible thanks to the connection.
You might see him get tired more quickly when training outdoors because he is running more, so adding more breaks so he can catch his breath should help that.
Great job!
Tracy
Hi!
>And I can really feel when I do these challenging sequences that my motion is missing or at least not supporting my dog.>
I think an important element will be to run in closer to the line in any situation where you do not benefit from getting far ahead – the benefit would be if you could stay in motion. But on the situations where you get too far ahead, you have to stop moving. For now, it is better to risk being late 🙂
> Maybe you have an additional video which shows how you cue it (how your arms and body cues support the line)? This would be really helpful!>
Try this:
>(You seem not to use the opposite arm in the videos on set up 2? But I would have expected to train it from the “lap turn cue” Does it consist 2 cues: “come in” and “take the jump”?)>
I use both hands for the cue 🙂 and the cue has its own verbal/physical cues, which means both come in AND take the jump. Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hello! Hope you had a great weekend!
>We had to train the “get out” first. I was happy how quick my boys understood that.>
The boys did GREAT with that, I am very impressed!!!
Overall, the sequences went really well and the boys did a strong job. And we got good information on things that will help them go faster in certain spots.
Sequence 1:
Jazz:
Your blind crosses on the tunnel exit were perfect 🙂 He seemed to really understand the line after the tunnel, so the
blind from 5-6 at :13 can be sooner. But you were spot on at :32, starting it just after jump 4.Sammy:
Your blinds after the tunnel were perfect with him too! And he seemed to understand the line after the tunnel too, but you didn’t trust him as much 🙂 Your blinds from 5-6 at :54 & 1:15 can be sooner – he actually pushed away a little bit because the blind was late and he was not sure where to be. However, you had really strong, clear connection on the exit of the blind and he really drove through it with a lot of speed.One thing I notice with both of your boys is that they really drive fast when you are connected, so your timing is less important than your connection.
Seq 2:
Jazz:
This was interesting! You had very nice position – very nice after the blind on the tunnel exit but he slowed down there. I think part of it was that you were standing sitll and also that he could not see very clear connection. I think he will be faster 2-3 if you are closer to the tunnel and moving forward to 3 when he is exiting the tunnel – and show him a lot of big connection too.You did VERY nice blinds 5-6 at 1:42 & 2:04! I believe you can start them even sooner (as he is jumping 4). Your position was very strong and your connection was very clear, so the timing was not that important and he still had a great line. Once again, connection is super important to him!
Sammy – He did great! He did not slow down when you were decelerating at the exit of the #2 tunnel. So it is not as important to keep moving for him as it is for Jazz – my only suggestion there is that you can call him before he enters the tunnel, so he expects the turn there (he was a little wide). And it is possible that Jazz will like it too!
You had really nice position and connection for the 5-6 blind with him too and you can also start it sooner. He also had a lovely turn on 6 when you decelerated to set the wrap up. Very nice!
Sequence 3:
Sammy:
He didn’t drive away to 1 without motion at 2:48. Then for the blind cross 3-4 at 2:53, you were actually a little early and very quiet, so he slowed down to figure out the line. When he exited the #2 tunnel, you were already starting the blind so he could only see your back.I think what caused this was that you got a little too far ahead. To help that, you can start closer to 1 and run into it more (which will get more speed driving to jump 1.) Then go a little closer to the tunnel – that way, when he exits the tunnel, he will see you moving forward and more connected which will definitely maintain his speed.
Jazz said the same thing at 3:31 and 4:01 – your back was to him when he exited the tunnel so he slowed down, unsure of where to be. I think he will also like it if you are moving forward with a lot of connection when he exits the tunnel, so he sees the line before you start the blind.
You did the FC 5-6 with both of the boys – I know it might feel weird, but I bet the blind will be faster for both of them! They both slowed down a but (especially Jazz) when you did the FC and it is hard to get it finished in time. A blind might be perfect and very fast!
For Jazz on the big ‘get out’ line at the end – your arm was high and he couldn’t really see connection, so he got hesitant there. This is good to know – he is sensitive to not being able to see connection, so he slows down. Try to keep your verbals going and keep your arm pointing down and back to him, so he can see your connection. That will really help him maintain his speed.
Great job here – let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi! Hope you are having a great holiday weekend!
>Unfortunately, I’ve given up on title cards lol.>
Those title cards were great fun, maybe they will make a comeback when you aren’t as busy!
>I thought she’d be tempted by the tunnel but she really enjoyed breaking a stay towards me (we use “ok” instead of break). While her stays aren’t perfect, they are miles were they were when we started class 1 back in January. I’m proud of her!>
I agree about the stay! She is doing a lot better! You can watch her as you walk away – I think she believes that part of the release is when you look back at her, so watching the whole time really helps. And you can mix in throwing a treat back to her sometimes too, to reward her for staying in her spot.
She was a perfect girlie with the jump versus tunnel! I don’t think she had any questions about which obstacle you wanted. Super!! You can make is a little harder by having her be on a little bit more of an angle, nearer to the wing of the jump opposite where the tunnel is. That way, it is a little easier to run past the jump to the tunnel when you cue the jump 🙂 She seems ready for the challenge!
Great job here!!
Tracy
