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Tracy Sklenar
KeymasterHi!
The head turns are looking good! She is definitely turning her head to lead into the wrap. Very nice!>>I realized I do not know which head turn I am clicking? >>
You are clicking the head turn that starts the 2nd time around the wing, as she turns away from you – like you did at 1:08, 1:13 and 1:20.
You can put this game into the rotation to revisit every few weeks now as you add more of the other games.
Zig zags:
She has a few questions that can answer with some tweaks to the set up!To get the bounce, try to overlap the wings so the distance is shorter and she doesn’t add a stride. We might have to experiment to see what sets up the best distance but overlapping the wings should be a good starting point.
Also, we can tweak her position and your position, so she knows to take the line and not go past jump 1:
The zig zag line is an in-and-out motion, so you want to think of her setup position as always coming in towards the first jump then out towards the 2nd jump. When you had her doing that like at :22 and 1:31. You don’t want to set her up to have to lead change away to get to the first jump like at :53 or 1:53 and the other reps where she missed the first jump.
You can place your reward target so she can basically see it on a straight line between the wings and then you can stand there – if you are in the right spot, you don’t have to do any handling, like at 1:31 when she read the line really well.
Also, reward all efforts because chances are her question is related to the set up – and if she doesn’t get rewarded, she will stop looking a the reward or get tentative and add strides. So if something goes wrong, she can still have the cookie from the reward target.
For the platform – this one does work well! Maybe put a yoga mat under it so it doesn’t slide out from under her when she gets off it?
I think you made things too hard for now when you had the toy out ahead – she was either slow to sit or too far forward for most of those reps. She had a much higher success rate when the toy was NOT out front, so stick with that for now ๐ To add a distraction out in front of her, you can start with something lower value like an empty food bowl.
But this game can definitely move to the wing now!
>>I think I found a board that will work better. question: If I tell my dog to sit, I would expect them to immediately sit rather than go to a board and then sit? this seems a little odd to tell the dog to sit and have them move forward. For those that do obedience, has this raised other problems or is it so contextual that it makes no difference. how does this look to you?
The dogs understand the context really well, based on the foundation on the platform before we added movement. The platform/plank is part of the cue. Your motion forward cues getting on it, and the sit cue is contextually paired with it (especially by the time they hear it). It has not raised any issues with any obedience skills because we are not mioving towards a plank in obedience LOL!
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyTracy Sklenar
KeymasterHi!
I love the Halloween outfit! I think we should all wear costumes to train!!!
The zig zags are doing exactly what we want them to do: getting her to think about her striding even when she is more stimulated! The choice of toy as reward added stimulation, and you running to place it was stimulating too when you started doing that,
She seemed to have an easy time of it when she was jumping right-to-left (her right shoulder against the wing, moving to the right across the computer screen). On both videos, no errors or questions in striding. Good to know!!!
The questions she had in both sessions were when she was moving left-to-right (her left shoulder against the wing, moving to the left across your screen).
On the first video, she had the striding question at 1:17. I was trying to see what was different there but really there was not much that I could see you did differently… but at 1:13 she was looking around, something had caught her attention, so she was definitely having a split attention moment.
She also had a little toe nail click on the bar at 2:45 – no worries, just interesting to note on a left-to-right rep!2nd video with the moving target – oh yes, this is why we do these games ๐ She definitely had divided attention on that first rep and the chase stimulus overrode the jump organization skill, so the striding was challenging on that first rep (also left to right!). But she fixed it right away and the rest, which is good. You will see that she will ask these striding questions less frequently in her training even when presented with distractors like motion.
My only suggestion on the next session is to start her going right to left (right shoulder next to the wing) and show the distractors there first, before asking her to do it left to right. Otherwise, keep adding the distractors, and we will start to raise the bars a bit too (after the US Open).Looking at the organizer video:
Plank in front of the wing looks good! You can add the wing wrap in before it for more speed, and the reward target. She is definitely doing well here and has the rhythm of it, so we can move to the next steps.
>>do you reward the sit? Or do I reward the sit with moving forward to the toy on the ground? Do both and vary?>>
I reward the sit like you did here for a session or two, then move on to add a reward target as the focal point. It can be the toy target or an empty food bowl or a manners minder, placed on the exit line of the wrap (past the outer edge of the wing on the takeoff side, so she wraps the wing and comes to the reward target after finishing the wrap). So when she sits, you will no longer reward her in position – instead, you will release her to leave the sit and drive around the wing to the reward target. That will fade the handler focus especially because we handlers won’t often be there) and get her head position a little lower too!
When she is happy with leaving the sit and going to the reward target, you can add speed with the wing wrap before running onto the plank. Then it is a really easy transition to add the jump with the low bar instead of just the wing in front of the plank ๐
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyTracy Sklenar
KeymasterHi!
His Zig zags looked great – my only suggestion is to maybe take the foot off the wing at his takeoff spot and his landing spot? He was touching the food on the takeoff and landing on it a bit on the landing. Small dog issues for sure, but it might be possible to use a wing without the foot there.You can definitely move on to the next step: next add motion with the moving target reward ๐ And when he is doing well there, you can tighten the angle a tiny bit more – the bar stuck through the lattice is clever!!!!
He is also doing well with the sits on the on the platform and on the flat with motion override – all looked good!!
On the platform with motion override – the added motion made it harder at first (the sit had to be more organized and faster!) but then he locked it in nicely, really thinking about being quick and where his feet were. Good boy! So now you can take the plank to the wing to begin the wraps! It will help put it in context for him when he sees that it will be involved with wrapping ๐
Leading with the head is also looking good -remember to cue the 2nd wrap, because that was much crisper head turn behavior than when he double wrapped without a cue.
The sideways and countermotion exits also looked really good! And the added excitement of the toy did not change his behavior, he turned really nicely even with the toy right there. Yay!One thing I noticed in this video… when he gets past the 3rd or 4th rep on each side, the behavior loses the crispness a bit and he goes more to trotting around the wing and not driving around it – fatigue? Too much repetition? Hard to know, but you can limit the # of reps to 3 or 4 of each thing, then do something else.
Great job here! Let me know how he does with the next steps!
Tracy
Tracy Sklenar
KeymasterHi!
I am glad he is feeling better and back in action! He looked really good here.
>.I think it went better though to me it still seems he has a preference for his right lead.
I agree – the lead change game looks good and you can totally move onwards to the 2 jump game with low bars!
And it is normal that dogs have a side preference to varying degrees. We will see it more in the other games (see below) and it is good to know, because we can start the harder skills with him moving to his easier side.
The organizers looked strong too! That plank is perfect – the right lenght and width for him to get on at speed and organize. Nice!!! It was fine to have to get that sorted out before moving to the wing LOL!
He is doing well with his sits, both from the flat and then with more speed with the wing wrap before it. Super!! You might need to give him the sit cue earlier so he can process sooner (especially when he is turning left, on your right side) He was able to lock it in at about 1:29 when the cues were earlier and also when he was on your left (turning to his right).
I think we are seeing a slight side preference: He does seem to be slightly more organized turning to his right (when he was on your left in the last part of the video). Now, it is also possible that he had learned the game, so you can test the theory by starting on that side next time and doing the left turns in the 2nd half of the video.
But if there is a side preference, it is pretty subtle. Nothing to worry about and it is just useful info for planning future sessions.
Since he did so well here, the next step is to add a reward target just past the outer edge of the wrap wing, so he has a focal point. That way, when he finishes the wrap and comes around the wing, he can be focusing on the reward and not on your hands. An empty food bowl works well (you can drop the cookie into it), or a Manners Minder or even a toy if he can ignore it on his way to the plank.
My only other suggestion is to be sure he swallows the cookie before you ask for the next rep LOL!
When the reward target is in place and he is doing fine with it (will probably only take a few reps) you can move to using the entire jump with a low bar.
Great job! Let me know how he does with the next steps!
TracyTracy Sklenar
KeymasterGood morning!
>>He really blew me away with how well he handled Ashley Deaconโs courses. (which were amazingly fun and flowing so I hope thatโs what we get at the Open too.
Ashley has definitely become one of the best course designers in the US!
>> Although I did notice heโs judging Gamblers and his Gamblers for us had 2 distance options (of roughly equal difficulty) as opposed to a lower pointed gamble that didnโt involve distance. So Gamblers finals may be interesting).
Right! Normally there is a mini gamble of sorts and then the ‘big gamble’ but I have no idea what he will do this year LOL!
>> I am leaning towards moving him back to 16in after the Open to see how his speed is now that heโs done more conditioning and jump training with this course. He has much stiffer competition at 16in given the cutoffs letting more BCs in, but I also think he can handle the height well at least for a few years and then we can drop back to Perf 12/12select later.
I agree that he can handle the 16″ height more and more. I also agree that there is a conundrum about all of the larger dogs jumping below their shoulders in 16, compared to our smaller dogs jumping above their shoulders. There is no easy answer for jump heights and the Shelties certainly have done well in AKC 16″ over the years, where the 18″ BCs run as well!
>>am not sure I want to be schlepping the plank over to the practice ring. I could bring my doughnut yoga mat small organizer just to do a little bit of organizer work though. Does it make sense to go back to the smaller organizer when weโve been using the plank? Or I can see if we have space for a ready jump with a 4ft bar.>>
I was going to suggest just the platform organizer to remind him of tight sits – you don’t even need to do it with a jump, it can just be a bit of exercise and warm up for him. So no need for extra schlepping LOL!
Tracy
November 1, 2022 at 8:31 am in reply to: ๐ Cindi and Ripley (Border Collie – 19 months old) ๐ #42401Tracy Sklenar
KeymasterGood morning!
You and Ripley looked great on Saturday! Hope you had fun at the fun match – those are sadly extinct on the East Coast ๐
3 jump zig zags looked really strong! He held his balance and power nicely; the bouncing looked easy ๐ The first few reps had him in that sideways sit (next to the wing) which gives him the element of a little zig zagging (the angles made the rest of the line straight). After about :34, he was sitting facing straight to the bar so try to keep him more in that angled position to start especially as you make the angles harder now.
You can probably flatten them significantly now so he does that back-and-forth jumping effort – if this was 90 degree and flat is 180, maybe try it at 135 degrees which should be halfway. If he is successful at that angle with the stationary toy and your chill motion ๐ then you can add the moving target. And then we keep tightening the angles ๐
The front side slice is also going well! He was thinking hard about using his rear when he had more speed coming in because it is easier to shift his weight forward. But he was successful each time!
Adding the MM was perfect – it gave him a good focal point an he did really well on those reps too. Super! So the next step would be for you to stay in motion the entire time – the cues to get on the plank and sit are the same, but you are slowly sliding through serp position.
When he is happy with that, you can change his angle of approach o include the backside approaches.
Great job here! He is progressing really well!!
TracyTracy Sklenar
KeymasterGood morning!
>> It is not easy stuff though and she is very, very much a baby!!! I think the experience thing/baby dog brain is a BIG factor in this!! >>
Yes, it is a LOT and she has only just begun competing. I like your idea of doing a lot more FEO runs – maybe consider making most or all of your runs FEO for now! This will be especially helpful when the environment is harder, like in T2B or FAST where everyone is there and everyone is yelling LOL!
>>I did take her out and practiced a lot of our previous class work on getting ready to trial!! I took her out while a course build was going on. Just seeing the equipment and the gate gets her little head spinning lol!
Great! Keep practicing those skills – the quieter classes are best for now, because it will be easier for her to be successful.
The zig zags are going well! She is generally bouncing thm nicely when you are on the other side of the jump from where she starts – she had one rep of adding a stride at :14 so it indicates that it is still challenging to her!
One suggestion about the setup: start her closer to the first jump, so she does not take a stride before liftoff – ideally, she lifts off from her sit and powers through (this is HARD!). You might need to overlap the wings to shorten the distance a bit when she starts closer, to help her out.
>>She needed a little handling help with me on the same side as her and this was her hardest for her>>
On those reps, like :34 and after, having you start on the same side as her inverts the setup so she won’t be able to bounce it – she has to go out around the wings to find the 2nd jump so ther eis no bounce line. So for this setup, you can always be on a line where she will have a straight-ish line thorugh the jumps and won’ thave to go around where the wings meet. Let me know if that makes sense or if I need more coffee ๐
Great job here!!
Tracy
Tracy Sklenar
KeymasterHi!
The dog path over jumps is about 18-20 feet for each sequence. The course maps with the grids are here:
so you can see on the very first set up, jumps 1 and 2 are about 20 feet apart and jump 2-3 are bout 33 feet apart (those jumps don’t really move :)) Then when we add the jump in the middle, it is about halfway between those 2 jumps (about 15 feet from the center of the bar of 1).Let me know if that makes sense!
TracyTracy Sklenar
KeymasterHi! Hope you had a good weekend!
She did really well here by finding the #1 jump all the different ways ๐
Sequence 1:
You started her on more if a slice at :20, and that was great! When you release her, you don’t need to push towards jump 2 as much (that is what pushed her to the backside) or pull her in then send out – you can move to the outer wing of 2 and she will find the line.Seq 2 is harder and she is doing really well finding the slice away from the course! NICE! And she is needing less handling to do it: at :21 and :59 you said jump, so she jumped ๐ It was fun to see her look at the jump and take it when you said jump, so keep being consistent about using the jump verbal release in this context.
Looks like you went back to a bit of “strike a pose” for the threadle to 2! You can keep the the threadle arm out, no need to push back to the #2 jump (that is what caused her to go to the backside at 1:11). By keeping the threadle arm in position and moving to the outer wing of 2, that is her cue to come in and go out to take the #2 jump.
And because it is a really hard skill, you can angle the #2 jump so she sees a better line to the correct side of the jump too as you work on the threadles.
Great job with all the stay rewards too – looks like she was doing a great job with her stays!!
Nice work here!! Let me know what you think!
TracyTracy Sklenar
KeymasterSo you were trial secretary AND you managed to kick *ss, finishing the IAC and winning enough classes to get the IWAC?? WOWZA!!! I bow to you! I think he is liking his 12S height and also all of the skills are coming together!!!
The video looked great!On the front side zig zags, when he was sitting next to the wing jump on the left side of the screen – the wing was moving. I couldn’t see what was causing it but I think he was either close enough that his right hip was hitting it or his front feet were touching the foot of the wing. When he was on the wingless going the other direction, he didn’t touch anything. And when he did the backsides? No problem at all. So he can be a little further from the wing on the front side zig zags ๐
The backside zig zags were hard for sure but he did a great job! He was really thinking about where to put his feets as he was coming around the wing for the backside approach, then he jumped it powerfully.
>>He had trouble on 1 backside slice at 4in,>>
That was at approx :36 – I think it was an anomaly, not any real trouble. Watch his head as he passes the backside wing: he shakes his head as if there is something in his ear. Maybe a bug in the ear? No worries, it was not a jumping question ๐
Since he had no trouble with the motion, we can add in motion motion and even harder angles (and eventually taller bars) after the US Open. But he is now in the bubble wrap phase – so you can do some plank or platform organizers but no need to do any real agility ๐ We will pick things up after the US Open.
Great job here! See you in Florida!!!
Tracy
Tracy Sklenar
KeymasterGood morning!
>>. I canโt really run yet and I forgot about the backside.You looked really strong here, and not running a lot was actually helpful for her on the challenging lines! No worries about the backside, you would easily be there if you tried for it.
Looking at the video:
She did well with all 3 variations but yes the throwback was the best (because she is a MaxPup alum and we taught that skill ridiculously early to a foot target prop LOL!!) And she was so happy to jump away from the course partially because of the value of the jump skill you were asking for, and partially because she is too inexperienced to understand the value of the full courses LOL! That is part of why I like teaching this skill to young dogs ๐
You can add in starting her on a bit more of an angle to the jump, and add in releasing with the jump cue too! But overall, looking good ๐
Slice starts: I think she was a little too close to jump 1 – she was not sure how to stride into it on the first two reps. You can move her back about one stride, so she has more time to make the decision.
Dang look at how well she is turning on 2 (:22 for example) and look at her commitment to the wrap (:32 for example) . And a MASSIVE CLICK/TREAT for you for your connection on the exit of the wrap at :33 – you were way ahead but connected so she could process the info and run really well!! More on processing below ๐Slicing away from the course was easy for her – the threadle part was hard!! But you sorted it out and the throwbacks looked GREAT! I know you’ve been working on collection and we can really see it coming together here. She was putting in the proper stride before takeoff so she could turn really nicely on the wing on the wraps!
She had a question of not taking the first jump at 1:19 – probably a little too much opposite arm/rotation on the release so she didn’t take the jump, also you said OK not the verbal for the jump (I don’t think she was simply going to the food bowl there) – she figured it out on the next reps but you can definitely fade the “ok” and to the jump verbal. If she struggles to release on the directional, you can start it without a stay: hand in collar, say the directional, then let go. Then move to her next to you but not in a stay or in a sit position – start the verbal then give a little motion if needed. then you can add the stay and release with the directional.
Also, as a young dog, she is definitely not expecting that a threadle would happen on jump 2! She was doing the normal young dog thing of finding a line (this is a good thing!) and by the time she heard the threadle info, it was too late to process. No worries at all, it is not a super important skill. The important skill here was what was happening on jump 1.
>> Weโve forgotten about threadles and I dislike them as I never seem to get it right. After a break I used food bowls to help her. But, Iโm walking backwards which needs to stop. Iโm pretty sure my position and feet arenโt ideal.>>
The food bowls were definitely helpful! Just be sure to place it further from the last jump when you are running the full line, so she can jump in extension.
Back to threadles: On threadles with sweeter more flowing lines, you can run forward through them. This is not one of those LOL!! This is more of the American-style threadle where the turn is very severe. And on those, foot rotation is highly acceptable!!! We did an experiment with high level experienced masters dogs (national finalists, super experienced handlers) on a course at a seminar last summer: there was a European-style threadle and an American-style threadle (like this one, or the ones we see in AKC Premier or USDAA), For the Euro threadles? The handlers were all easily able to get it by running forward. For the American threadles? Nope, not a single one could get it running forward – we added foot rotation on those, and every single one of the dogs got it, every time, in any context.
So if you need to get her through a crazy tight threadle like this? Turn your feet ๐
>>Also, I have a friend who constantly tells me Sprite has classic ETO symptoms when she watches our videos. So, itโs getting in my head. >>
Your friend is NOT being helpful at all. Tell the friend to STOP. First of all, “classic” ETO symptoms look like very distinct stutter-stepping, hesitating, flinging. Nothing of the sort is happening here. Also, ETO is just something agility people came up with to describe how a dog processes information, for reasons that are not fully known. It is possible that those dogs have a visual processing issue? If so, we don’t see that til the dogs are 3 or 4 years old anyway. And also there are injuries that cause jumping questions from the dogs.
>>Are you seeing anything concerning?
We know more than ever about how the dogs’ brains process information… and we know more than ever about the adolescent dog brain. With that in mind: I see a typical 21 month old dog processing a whole lot of info and doing a great job! She is still an adolescent, which means her brain is not fully developed yet in terms of the ability to fully handle the multisensory integration and the sensorimotor integration of all the things that happen in agility. This includes everything the brain needs to do, then it has to tell the body, then the body has to do it. All while running really fast.
So sometimes she is trying to figure out which lead to choose when jumping (like on the 2 reps of the slice jumping towards the course (2nd part of exercise 1), that is why she can start a stride or two further from the jump so she has more time to process. Sometimes she is producing GORGEOUS turns on the wraps (which is something she could not do nearly as well a few months ago).
Sometimes when you get way ahead and run fast and she can’t process that and lands on the bar. Oopsie! Too much sensory input and the chase takes over in the brain, leaving no bandwidth for thoughtful jumping organization (every single one of my dogs have done this at the same age that Sprite is now, which is why I don’t go to full height early on and I don’t run too fast when they are baby dogs). For example – I ran the youngsters at a trial yesterday and chose rear crosses in places where I cold have run like mad to get the blind… but the trial was in a new location (indoor barn) with an unfamiliar footing AND I have laryngitis. So with all of that to have to process (new place! New dogs! New footing! Why does mom sound so weird?) I chose to dial back the motion so there was one less thing for them to process -and they were very successful. I ran like mad with the 9 year old dog, because of all the years of experience behind him ๐
>>She could pick closer takeoff spots when running a straight line.
She is not likely to add strides on straight lines if the cue is all about extension ๐ It is our role to make sure she has enough bandwidth to process the information to a body and brain that is still changing daily, and process it in time to make an informed jumping decision! Plus, we absolutely have to consider how structure will inform the way each dog moves, which changes the jumping form picture. An Aussie and a BorderWhippet and a Rat Terrier and a Sheltie and a Border Collie and a Papillon… they are all built very differently, and will move differently, and therefore will look different in their jumping efforts. In agility, we see soooooo many BCs and Shelties that we tend to think that all jumping will look like that: well, structure informs jumping so my Papillon will never ever look like a Sheltie. And my Whippet will never look like a BC.
So please tell your friend to stop with the not-helpful ETO remarks. We all bring enough neuroses and catastrophizing and insecurities to training our baby dogs that we don’t need it from outside sources LOL!!!! You are doing everything right: training her understanding with a high rate of reinforcement, isolating her jumping skills, and letting her grow up and mature without pressure on her mind and body. I wish everyone would handle their youngsters like you are!! And since I get to see her a lot no video, I am VERY excited about what she was producing here on these lines!!!
What the future holds in terms of jumping form? We don’t know, for any of our young dogs. But we do know how dogs process information, so we can plan to educate her and deliver information in a way that she will successfully process. Let me know if that makes sense!
Great job here ๐
TracyTracy Sklenar
KeymasterGood morning! Hope you had a good weekend!
She did well here, I don’t think you added too much motion. You were slowly walking and that is fine. She needed a couple of reps to figure out to take the jump even when you were rotating, and then she was fine! Be careful not to do tooooooo many reps – by the end she was pretty fatigued (it is harder than it looks for the dogs!) which might be why she was a little less engaged especially on the 2nd to last rep.
>>I felt like when I was doing it she was lining up well, but the video shows her angling herself more than I thought she was.
She was fine with her angling there – partially because the dogs do angle themselves a little on a wrap, and partially because she was watching your food hand because she is SO HUNGRY hahahahaha (ok, maybe not starving but there was nothing else to look at other than the food LOL!) So, we can now add a reward target to this game to help her know where to look – an empty food bowl on the ground, past the exit edge of the wing, so she can finish the wrap and get the cookie without looking at your hands. The head-down position will help the jumping and she will organize herself and watch you less. She will still watch you a little but you will see her looking at the bar more.
That jumpers run was a big bummer, you both ran it really well – on the closing line there was a BIG bang (:42) and then she on the last jump, she was jumping into the fence AND into the person walking by. Poor girl, that was a LOT. The rest was great!
>>Trying to be patient because Iโve been working on this a nano second, but felt a little down today about it>
Understandable! Because you are a science geek like me – Because she is still so young, her brain is not yet fully formed and able to process ALL the things while also process & produce high speed motor patterns… you are going to see some bars in the early stages. Two things need to happen:
– she needs more experience so the big things to process (environment, noises, people walking in front of the last jump dear god why do people dog that?!?!) are no longer at the forefront of her brain, and her brain has more bandwidth to think about the little things like organizing her body.
– her brain needs to finish be an adolescent brain ๐ Nothing we can do about that other than wait it out LOL!!!
So with that in mind, and especially since she is doing so well – don’t obsess too much, just keep working on it and exposing her to different environments. You might also consider leaving her at 8″ in competition for a while, til her brain & body matures and til the training clicks into place. Then back to 12″ will be easy. I have decided that all of my dogs will spend the first year of competition at their preferred height then I will go to the regular height when they are growded up and ready, in mind and body. Contraband spent the first year running 16 and now he is moved up to 20.
Let me know what you think!
TracyTracy Sklenar
KeymasterHi!
Hope you had a fun weekend!>> And yep, he was watching my hands and not the toy. I usually keep my treats in a pocket but had on jeans and wellโฆโฆtreats wonโt fit in those pockets :0>>
I think the hardest part of the zig zags is finding a reward target that the dogs will look at LOL!!! Once we have that, the rest is easy ๐
>>The platform is 2โฒ or a little longer so yeahโฆI do think it will work for the next Organizer games.>>
Perfect! Have fun!
TracyTracy Sklenar
KeymasterGood morning! Hope you had a good weekend!
This session looked really good! he was striding really well to the stationary target and also did really well when you introduced the moving target.
Yes – the next step is to flatten the angle a little bit but also to change his start spot. Rather than have him facing the bar and line directly, have him start by sitting parallel to the wing so his shoulder and hip are right next to the wing. The further wing on this clip is the white wing, so you can have him sitting pretty close to it, with his left shoulder and hip next to it and maybe 6 inches away – that way he is parallel to the wing and the bar, and has to jump to his left over bar 1 (rather than straight). This gets more zig zag going and helps prepare him for the backside slice approaches (because the sit spot is where he would be coming around the wing on a backside slice approach).
I don’t think this will be a problem for him at all, so you can start him in that spot and flatten the angle by 2 inches or so, and see how it goes ๐
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyTracy Sklenar
KeymasterHi! I’m glad you enjoyed the zoom session, it was such a fun group of people and dogs!!!
The tunnel threadle we were mentioning is the tunnel “bypass” also know as the non-obvious side of the tunnel when she can see both entries. So if she is on a line to one end of the tunnel, a tunnel threadle would be used to pull her off that line, towards you, and to the non-obvious side of the tunnel.
She did well with the slice jumps!!! It think jumping to her left (first part of the session) was harder than jumping to her right (2nd part of the session).
Two ideas for you make it even easier:
You can use a target or placed reward on the landing side, so she has something to focus on as you get further and further away.Also, you can try releasing her with a “jump” verbal instead of a break cue. Dogs often interpret “break” as come to momma! But on this one, we want her to move away so a jump verbal might support it better.
Let me know what you think!! She’s doing well and I am excited to see more!
Tracy -
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