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Hi!
NICE runs here!!!
The runs here fall into the category of motion/connection/verbals working together early enough that he had time to adjust as needed. He had very few questions because you were moving a lot, arms were generally low (there was one or two high arm moments but on those, the arm was straight up in the European style where he could see connection from below it). Even in the layering (a jump after a tunnel at one point with you miles ahead), no questions from him.And verbals were super clear, including coming over the previous bar… no problems.
The timing of starting the cues was really good too – as he was approaching the previous obstacle, the cues for the next obstacle were pretty much underway in every moment. That is really helpful for him!
I am not sure if the 4 versus 5 foot bars or heavier bars made a difference – that is something we can track! Data is our friend LOL!
I am excited to see how he does in the seminar next weekend – I am sure the lines and distances will be great, and require you to stay in motion at all times with lots of layering. If there is a jumping trouble spot, grab the distance and we will track the data to see if certain distances create questions.
I still think something to play with is varying the levels of volume/pitch/rhythm verbals as that will match up even better to get more extension on certain parts and tighten wrap (like the threadle wraps).
And the distances on the Marin setup are good – do you still have your home setup so we can measure the exact distance between the jumps? Sometimes we find an awkward distance that we need to teach the dog – he definitely felt that setup was awkward.
Great job, keep me posted!
Tracy
Hi!
>I will say that I’m really trying to practice what I preach to my clients trying to get extreme productivity, and that’s to not say yes to everything even if it seems fun. Right now the estimated ROI has got to be high for me to do a thing! Ha!>
HA!!! Wait, are we supposed to say NO to things? Hmmmmmm. That is hard LOL!!!
>We will work on increasing challenge in our next round by putting me on the other side of the tunnel. Should I also be switching sides to turn the other direction, or doesn’t really matter for teaching the skill?>
Yes, you can totally switch sides. And if he has trouble with you on the other side of the tunnel, you can put a toy or target out past the jump to help direct his focus.
Keep me posted!
Tracy
Hi!
>I was able to cue the jump ok but I don’t think either of them really looked to the jump with out me stepping towards it and flinging my arm a bit. They are both very handler focused as a general rule I think.>
Yes – they both were able to take the jump but mainly when you were ahead or parallel to them, and they did a little zig into you and zag back out on those.
Ideally, you can cue the looking forward with your arm and leg pointing to the jump then they look at it, then you release. So you can work on it with a toy or target (like an empty food bowl) on the other side of the jump. Ask them to sit, put the reward down, then point it at: when they look at it, release them to it. You don’t even need a jump for it, you can do it on the flat inside in the A/C 🙂
Then when they are good on the flat, you can put a jump in there to transfer the skill then fade out the target/toy but keep the arm & leg cue to look at the jump.
Nice work here! Let me know how it goes with the toy or target placed out ahead of them!
Tracy
Hi!
>Heat index 104, working with the shade that was available in the back yard, first session of focus forward>
Ugh, how is it so hot already!!! At least you had a bit of shade available!
Looking at the forward focus:
>In reviewing it, I think I need to work more on getting him looking towards the jump before I release>
Yes, that would be good so you know where he is locked onto 🙂 It was a little hard to see where he is looking (black dog in the shade) but you can use a target out past the jump, or a placed reward, and build in the cue to look forward (hand pointing at the jump) as well as wait to see if he will look towards the jump before the release.
It looks like he was looking at you for these, which worked fine for the reps where you were ahead of him or parallel, but was harder on the reps where you were behind him.
Plus, adding in a low & slow arm point to the jump will help him know that the cue to look at the jump and the arm movement are NOT the release – he had a little question about that on one of the reps. And it will help give him a good look at jump 1, to keep the bar up.
>The one time he knocked the bar, I had moved it to 16″ instead of 14″.
On that rep, he was also looking at you til he was released so didn’t quite get coordinated in time. Looking at the jump will really help!
>That’s a conversation we need to have because he is really struggling with 16″ jumps. Ruled out physical issues but he’s a tad heavy so I’m working to take about 1 pound off of him plus started some rear end strengthening exercises from our conditioning instructor. >
Ruling out an issues and doing conditioning stuff are the exact place to start! Core strength stuff, hind end strengthening, and plyometrics all help a lot. And he should be as skinny through the ribs as you can get him, with big slabs of muscle on his shoulders, back legs, and down his spine.
>Are there jump grid exercises from MaxPup or other sources you would recommend we work?>
MaxPup 2 has a bunch! It is in week 8. The accordion grid is where I would look at height because the 3rd jump moves progressively further and further away (you can modify the distances to get it to be 15 and 18 feet away from the first 2 jump). And you can add more and more height to jump 3 in that grid.
Plus, the set point is the grid where most times we start to increase the height of the 2nd jump (first one stays low). That is week 1 of MaxPup 2 🙂
And some bars fall because the dog is processing info AND we humans are late (I know, I know, that is very rare 🤣😂🤣) so we will look at your timing this summer to see how early we can get the cues coming out for him 🙂
> I’m guessing different muscles are needed for him to take a 16″ jump arc vs 12″ because he rear thighs are nicely muscled.>
Yes, that is where it is the difference between pushing upwards (16”) and forwards (12”). And choosing the striding to be able to sort out how to takeoff properly.
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
Lift is doing well with the added challenges here!
She seems a bit better with the focus forward on your right side, but that could also be that you were on the same side of the tunnel as she was.
To get a faster look at the jump on your left side, you can stick with the placed toy for more reps or mix it back in a lot after you take it out. Also, when it is not in you can throw the toy to the landing spot
Kaladin: He is doing really well looking at the jump!! On most of the reps, he was looking at the jump as you raised your hand. SUPER!!! You can add a verbal to this if you want, or you can keep it silent 🙂
>Apparently I haven;t done enough “dead toy on the ground as reward” work for him. >
Yeah, that was interesting!! He looked forward really well but he didn’t go over the jump. Hmmmm. You can try a 4” bar so it is barely a jump because it is a good skill to have (taking the jump to get to a placed reward). But he is doing great looking at the jump without it!
>Taking a pause on Camp stuff until next week. Monica Bush is here this weekend and Kaladin is in a session on Sat AM and Lift on Sun PM. Unfortunately last weekend’s lovely weather has deteriorated into forecasts for highs in the low 90s… (and yes – seminar is outdoors at Animal Inn but I think parts of it can move inside) >
Fingers cross for decent weather! Outdoors in the heat & humidity is hard so hopefully they can move things inside during the hot part of the day, although the mats make it challenging.
>Or maybe the metereologists are wrong and the rain and drop into the mid 70s will happen earlier than Monday.>
This would be ideal!
>Therapist thinks her lumbral-sacro area might have tightened up again after getting released during the massage.>
Interesting! I wonder what might be causing it. Does she do anything wackadoo during daily like that would cause it? Or maybe it is a compensation from a strength imbalance? Has the therapist or chiro ever measured her muscles to see if they are all identical on both sides?
>Earlier this week I was really close to giving up on the RDW and training a stop for both dogs because after several mat sessions on the flat (over the last few months) and then switching to a low plank, both dogs suddenly decided the squish mat was lava. >
Ah yes, I recognize the “I AM JUST GOING TO PUT A STOP ON THE DOG WALK ERA”. The low plank is enough of a change that it would change the behavior.
>Then wondered if it could be physical or that a plank on a 12in table was too big a step. So did a session earlier this week with the plank on an 8in table and both dogs did much better. >
Perfect! 4 inches can definitely change the angle significantly enough.
>Still not sure I have it in me to keep going much longer with the RDW, except that I’m pretty sure neither one is going to like stopping.>
I think you will be able to get it with Lift! Plow through the hard parts!!! And Kaladin probably needs maintenance or proofing, I remember him having a good RDW!!
Nice work here 🙂
TracyHi!
Yay Pick! He did great here!!!
Looking at the forward focus game:
Either you have shown this to him before or he was very natural with focusing on the jump – he offered it immediately and was very successful on each rep! Good boy 🙂When you got behind him or super lateral, he was kinda sideways in his forward focus but then would lean a shoulder into the line as if saying “yes, I have it, release me!” He did a great job committing to the line when released too!
One suggestion:
You might consider having your hands lower, arm extended down at hip-height, rather than up high. Having your hand up at the level of your face might draw his attention up high when we want it lower, especially since he is small 🙂 Directing your hand downward to the bar or takeoff spot can help especially as we keep getting you further and further away.> Next rep I led back out to where I was before and used “catch” which I’m not sure he’s seen much in this context, but he got a meatball chucked at him so I don’t think he minded.>
He might not have seen/heard it before but it sure was a happy surprise when he realized a meatball was flying through the air at him LOL!!
> Hints on how to not let the “mark” cue become the release or to have them not anticipate the release?>
You can make the release less predictable, as it relates to the mark cue or looking at the jump. You can do this by having less predictable things happen between the mark and the release. After you cue the ‘mark’, you can
– use your catch marker and throw a meatball or something yummy to him
– use quiet praise to extend the time between the mark cue and the release. Don’t be too exciting with the praise – quiet, long, boring words are very effective for this 🙂 Then if he holds the stay, you can release him. Is the praise something he will love? Maybe not, maybe it is a little annoying… but it will result in more reinforcement in the long run because he won’t break the stays
– and sometimes just release 🙂
The pop out went really well!!!
You had super nice connection back to him on the exit of 1!
He had a question on the way to jump 2 when you moved your arm forward too soon to send to 2 at :13 – note how he looks up at you and jumps up before moving past you. You can keep your arm back on the send and let it travel with his nose (rather than pointing forward ahead of him). Connection/motion/verbal will cue the send, and the arm staying out of the way will keep the connection very visible to him.After the send to 2, you can be more lateral for jump 3 so you can easily show him the wing more, on the way to the 4 backside at :16. You were blocking it a little so he was a little wide.
Great job moving out of backside wrap as soon as he passed you at :17! Nice!!!
And breaking down the threadle slice down went really well too – remember to keep your shoulders frozen in threadle position after the hand touch so he doesn’t rely on a shoulder turn to put himself back out over the jump. And you can add more and more motion into it as you build up the skill.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi!
> Our issue is definitely bars. To be very fair I am trying 4 foot jump bars and 1/2” PVC with our flimsier plastic wings starting this week in an attempt to help him be much more aware of his body parts hitting bars/wings. AND transitioning to more 24” jumping (from 20/22 in the past).>
Yes, lots of bars here! A couple of spots where he was frustrated, and a couple of spots where he was taking off closer to the jump that I would expect (the bar generally fell when that happened, especially on jump 3).
>I’m trying a few different things fewer, more, quieter, louder cues and also delaying a blind at one point to see what handling variables might make it harder or easier to keep bars up. Any advice in this area (or general handling of course) would be greatly appreciated>
Ok, let’s obsess! And the beginning of all good obsessing is tracking what was happening when a bar came down. I jotted down what was happening when each bar fell and I have a few general observations based on that:
– saying verbals didn’t seem to cause any bars… but *not* using verbals (or being very quiet) didn’t help keep the bars up 🙂 The best run was when the verbals were super loud and clear (more on that below)
– super high arm (hand at your head level or above your head level) correlated to the bar coming down on most of the bars that came down. This could be that it blocks the connection and connection is an important cue to him, even at a distance (and especially because verbals were not in play for most of the reps).
– conflicting indicators resulted in bars down on this session. What I mean by that is if your voice was saying GO but your physical line was moving laterally away or decelerating, he dropped the bars on 4, 3, or 2 consistently.
– your timing is strong – there was only one cue I would consider late that caused a bar down (the wrap cues at 1:22)
– the best run was when there were fewer conflicting indicators: physical cues were clearer with more motion and the verbals matched the physical cues especially in terms of the energy of the verbals.
On this run (the last run :)) you were accelerating the most on the acceleration lines(2-3-4) and the verbals were louder/clearer, and more motion plus the verbals overrode the really high arm in parts of it.
So basically – the more info he gets, the better the jumping is (which totally makes sense). On the 2-3-4 layered line, you can be giving acceleration cues with you running up the line more (not decelerating) but with lower arms – I think keeping your hands lower (hip level and not above your head) will help him see the connection. And, using verbals that match the physical cues: high energy (loud and long!) acceleration verbals, quieter turning verbals: left/right/jump can be shorter with a more conversational volume, and the wrap cues can be very quiet, almost like telling him a secret 🙂
Changing the energy of each verbal does 2 things: it helps spur him on along the lines/bring in him tight for collection, and it naturally helps your physical cues match the moment 🙂
Give that a try and let me know how it goes! I think getting the 3 key elements to match up more (motion, connection, verbals) will help a whole lot. Connection is key at this stage but motion and verbals matching each other will help make connection a little less critical.
Nice work here!
TracyHi!
>We’ve worked with this skill previously, but not in awhile and we don’t use it anywhere except in training or maybe in class……run mostly AKC and some USDAA these days mostly because it’s what’s available within a reasonable drive from home. But it’s really fun to train these skills!!!!!>
I agree, it is really fun! For AKC, you can add this skill to a tunnel instead of a jump – that is the most popular opening on AKC courses (for now :)) And I bet you see this type of opening soon enough in AKC, and even sooner in USDAA, so it is good to have him know what it is.
He did well in the session here! His looking at the jump was very obvious and easy to see. He might think that the release comes as soon as he looks at the jump: he self-released after he looked at it on rep 1 (moving just before the release). He did the same on rep 2 but you stopped him. On reps 3 and 4, the releases came just as soon as he looked at the jump – which might be why he anticipates the release follows looking at the jump. So you can mix it up: sometimes add in quiet praise when he looks at the jump before releasing him, and sometimes throw the reward to him instead of releasing him. That should help avoid him pairing looking at the jump with the release and therefore anticipating the release.
>Best advice I think I’ve gotten so far on verbals was “when running a course, if using the verbal screws up your ability to be able to execute the physical cues, forget the verbal and do the physical cues right”.>
Yes, because most dogs around the world are reading those physical cues as their primary pieces of info. But also, the verbals cues are generally rehearsed incorrectly by us handlers, leading to errors on course. So I will be bugging everyone about that soon enough, it is one of the annual CAMP rites of passage LOL!!! And we will focus specifically on the verbals.
“so I don’t want to add a verbal that might potential cause confusion about what the release is”
Are you in all situations back to only releasing on a single release cue or in certain situations, when the default isn’t what you want – frontside/backside of a jump sometimes releasing on the what you want cue, like Back or just in certain situations like this one?>Oops, sorry for any confusion – what I meant was I don’t have a ‘look’ verbal followed by praise and the release… that’s a lot of words for dogs that are twitchy about being stationary for that long LOL!! So I use a physical cue for the forward focus, maybe some praise (mainly to avoid the dogs anticipating the release coming right after they look forward) then the release is the verbal directional that fits the situation best (wrap, jump, etc).
Nice work here!
TracyHi!
This session went great! Very clear, very efficient, super high rate of success. My only suggestion is to try to have her feet facing the bar in her sit (like you did at 2:08 for example) to make the jump more obvious to her when you are leading out very laterally or alllll the way back behind her.
>This behaviour has definitely morphed into a “I hope it works” set of movements rather than the original intention. I didn’t realize how far it had degraded.>
I don’t think it has degraded that far – I think you were feeling anxious about her self-releasing, which made her more twitchy about holding the stay 🙂
>. I know I stopped saying “Mark” after I led out because she was breaking if I moved or spoke.>
Ah, that makes sense. Adding in the pause after the mark cue like you did her along with the rewards thrown to her (yay!) and the praise (definitely add it next time) will help her learn that movement or speaking is not the release. Then you will be more relaxed about it, and so will she.
The first part seemed easy for her, with you on the same side of the tunnel.
It was actually pretty hilarious when you led out to the other side of the tunnel and cued the mark… she was like WAIT WHAT? Ha! Then she re-sat herself as if thinking the mark was a sit cue? LOL!She figured it out pretty quickly –
She was able to find the jump and look at it even with you back at the tunnel exit, wait for the release without anticipating it, then lay on some serious speeeeeeeed driving up the line to the tunnel. YAY! SUPER NICE!!! You can use this skill as you work on the independent handling sequences as well as the courses.
>You can just watch the first bit; it was good at the end and it’s over 2 min, sorry.>
2:16 still counts as 2 minutes, no apologies needed LOL and the last reps were great! The 2 minute suggestion is mainly to avoid people doing 20 minute sessions with their dogs.
Great job here!
TracyHi! We missed you at OTR!
> I did it with both dogs, Jims actually knows it better than Mo, because I never taught her.>
Yes, Jim’s generation has been taught this a lot more than Mochi’s generation. They are getting the training as “adult learners” LOL!
For Mochi – she was giving some very direct head turning/looking at the jump when you were ahead of her! She couldn’t quite tear her eyes off of you when you were behind her but she did do an ear flick and a slight lean. When you see that, you can release and step forward a few steps to affirm that it is the jump. You can also have a toy placed out on the landing side of the jump, to help her look forward and not just gaze lovingly at you when you are behind her 🙂
Jimothy did really well holding the stay AND looking at the jump! His only questions were slightly delayed responses, but we can probably chalk that up to your position being behind him and that was new! But he didn’t break the stay and he did look at the jump, so it is a big win! Super!
The other thing to consider with both dogs is a lower hand cue. With the hand up higher than shoulder level, it is possible that it blocks connection a bit and also that it draws their gaze upwards. Pointing it lower and more towards the bar or takeoff spot might help them look forward sooner, so it is something to try and see how they do.
As you add more distance on this game, you can also start to mix in being on the other side of the tunnel. I think they are both ready for it!
Great job 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
>Here is the first Focus Forward video, uncut until the very end after playtime, all 4 reps. I thought it went really well EXCEPT my positioning of the camera. 🫢 I’m so sorry I hid him behind the wing as it makes feedback harder. This is where stopping to look at the video between reps, like you told us to, would’ve been very helpful! 😉>
Ha! Yes! But no worries, I can see his little face look at the jump through the gaps in the wing. His beard makes it more obvious and he looked at the jump really well!
He got really interested as you moved to harder and harder positions… it was almost like he did *better* when the challenges were harder because solving the puzzle was more fun. Maybe was boring when it was too easy and just a stay in front of a jump as compared to the delicious smell of the grass , like in the early reps. Whatever the reason, he was definitely liking the game and did well driving to the jump as you got further and further back! He is ready for you to add being on the other other side of the tunnel – more challenge seems to be something he likes in this game!
>But the grass was really wet, terribly humid, and temp rising by the second so I just wanted to get on with it.>
Totally relatable – I was outside at 7am to beat the heat/humidity and wearing long pants to try to avoid the ticks. Sigh. Gonna be a lot of early mornings because it is already so hot!
> Sadly though I was pretty proud of how I sent him right away when I saw his eyes acknowledge the jump. You maybe can’t see that, but I thought he had good visual focus.>
Nothing to be sad about! Yes, he had good visual focus on the jump. You nailed the releases and he drove himself to the jump. Yay!
>What I’m less proud of is the few points where he was distracted, but given the heat and yummy smells I’m not very surprised. I will also be more fun and exciting next time to try to override that.>
That was early in the session: maybe he was like “oh joy, more stays in front of a jump, yawner” but that changed when 2 things changed:
– the challenge of the puzzle increased, making it a ton more interesting!
– you jogged back to the start and had him chase you, which made it more fun too! You can also have him do some silly tricks at the start line.Let me know how he does when you are on the other side of the tunnel!
>Speaking of heat, I did decide to give up my spot in this weekend’s Monica Bush Novice dogs ZoomZoom seminar at Animal Inn because it’s outside and supposed to be 93 degrees here.>
That is a bummer but also it is the right decision. There was no option to move indoors? The mats are not great there, so it is not a great option either.
> Honestly I just think Reacher would feel like that’s torture>
I’m with you, Reacher! Outdoors in 93 degrees and humidity being asked to run hard? NO THANK YOU! Reacher and I will hang out in the a/c.
> and I have no idea how I would convince a dog with little Zoom to bring it on in that kind of heat when I already know he’s a slug under those conditions.>
Protect the zoom! He has zoom and there is no way we would want to potentially squish it.
> I hope I made the right choice to skip but I don’t want to be tempted/pressured and risk demotivating him because of I just want to do something potentially fun. If you think I should’ve just gone for it anyway let me know – I won’t feel bad – but curious about your opinions on this thought process.>
I think you made the right choice. I would have made the same choice. Maybe you can audit to see if there are any ideas you want to try? I like to audit stuff like this – sometimes I am like ‘cool, I want to try it!’ And sometimes I am like, ‘nope, that is too much pressure on the dog, no thanks, won’t try that’. And then I don’t have to say no to an instructor LOL So auditing might be worth it? But you are 10000000% correct to NOT ask Reacher to run in those high temps. I would not ask my dogs to ‘work’ in those temps either – at best, it is too hard to go fast and have fun. At worst, it can be dangerous if they get too hot. Maybe they will bring the seminar indoors, and that will make for comfy auditing!!
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>. So for this sequence, she’s done this before when I’m trying to do a cross. I tried doing both a blind and a FC but the same thing happened. Am I too early? Or do I have to practice having her come into me on situations like that?>
Yes, you were very early 🙂 That is rare in agility, usually we are all late late late LOL! She is not seeing a commitment cue to the 5 jump as she lands from 4. Instead, she sees your shoulders turning away to the new line so begins reading a cross to come into the gap. Even when your arm is up and your head is looking over your right shoulder, from her visual perspective she mainly sees your back so it responding as if she is seeing blind cross cues (even when you were heading into a FC).
Here are pictures 🙂
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1PADWFjr7KqvhIuoEEZ1TJc3d7cJ72aNPFhYd6OuwGPQ/edit?usp=sharingTo help her see 5, a couple of ideas:
– it was hard to see the distance, I think it looks bigger on video than it was in reality? It should be about 33 feet apart, so you can make sure it is that or even closer to help her see it.
– Also, you can angle jump 5 so the bar is a bit more visible to her as she lands from 4 – it looked flat here which would keep it a bit more ‘hidden’, so angling the jump will help too! If it was angled here, you can angle it more to help her out.– you can delay the BC or FC until you see her look at 5. That means more connection and lower arms, so you can see where she is looking. And that also means she will see the commitment cues better, which will get better commitment. It is a win-win!
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi! She did really well with the layering here! Seq 1 was easy peasy for her, so you can add more motion by running to see if she will still stay on the line (there is a lot of running in layering LOL!!)
Sequence 2 also went well –
>I thought I forgot to layer the tunnel the correct way so tried it the way I thought was correct on the next couple of reps. I think I confused myself.>
You did get that sorted out LOL! It is a little harder but it was also a great opportunity to work forward focus on the jump even with you standing by the tunnel. She figured it out nicely!! !
She had some questions after jump 2 when you were layering from the other side she came in and took the tunnel. With the tunnel blocking her view a bit and your arm high as you turned your shoulders, it looked like a shoulder turn into the tunnel (more on that in the next sequence, because it is a similar visual that she was asking questions about). A lower arm and more motion towards the jump helped keep her out on the line nicely.
>And we still had more startline problems tonight.>
Yes, she has 6 or so errors in a short amount of time, so we can increase clarity based on what was happening before she stood up from the sit. I think part of it is disconnection on the lead out, and part of it is anticipating the release because it is sometimes paired with arm movement or reconnection.
One common thing is that if you feed her several treats then disconnect as you lead out, she stands up. So stay super connected as you lead out, and you might not want to feed her a treat after the sit and before the lead out as it might cause some confusion. You can cue the position, stay connected, lead out…. then add a bit of praise for holding the position as you look at her and raise your hand. Then either release into the sequence, or throw a reward back to her.
And be super consistent with the release (being connected and adding praise before the release will help this). Sometimes the arm movement and release are separate, sometimes not (like at 2:41). And sometimes you ask her to sit again after she stands up (like at 1:49) and sometimes you release her when she has stood up (like at 1:55).
A question: since her most common mistake in the sit stay is that she stands up… why not leave her in a stand stay? That might be tons easier 🙂 Or a down stay. Both of those are generally more solid positions with BCs.
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning! Great to see you and the girls here!!!
>Bazinga is recovering from a coccidia infection that set off a relapse of her GI issues. Poor baby.>
Poor girlie!!! I am glad she is feeling better!
Her forward focus session went great! You were smart in your planning: just one jump for now to build the skill, and onwards to the tunnel being added in the next session.
> Me going towards the jump & backing up was totally new, so I was interested in what she would think about that. She seemed to grasp it.>
I agree, she was great about holding her stay as you marked the jump and then moved to your position. Then she got it right each time! Super! She ticked the bar a bit on the first rep, then sorted it out and had no more questions.
You were using your wrap verbal on the first 2 reps, and then switched to the break verbal for the release. She did really well on all 4 reps, so she is reading your position as part of the cue for how tight the turn is. You might end up using the directional depending on the context and how challenging the opening line is.
> I can’t come up with a description for her focus on the jump. I’m not really seeing her look at it but I felt like I knew when she was ready.>
Yes, she didn’t seem to look at it directly, but went to it really well each time. It might be harder when the tunnel is added, but she will let us know. You can play with getting her to turn her head to look at something with a bit of flatwork fun – using a target like a food bowl about 6 feet in front of her while she is in a stay and you change you position each time to get further and further away. You can add the hand cue (and a verbal if you want) – and it can all be done inside in the A/C because I am guessing it is HOT down there 🙂
>We did 4 reps & they are in order. I didn’t play a lot in between reps – just treats & reset.
This actually worked out really well – because she was wrapping the jump, rewarding from your hand and then setting up right away for the next rep helped build understanding and keep things efficient! And then a bit of playing after the 4 reps is a nice balance. If things are more challenging when the tunnel is added, you can use the lotus ball to help her “see” the jump.
Great job here!! Onwards to the tunnel being added 🙂
Tracy
Hi! These went great! The main goal was to build her understanding of layering and big distance work, and she is soaking it up like a sponge! It is a hard skill for the smallz, because they need to take a lot more strides to get the distance covered! She did a super job 🙂
A couple of ideas for you:
On the first sequence, you can give the ‘go over’ cues as she exits 1 and is approaching 2. You gave a verbal for 2 but the ‘go’ cues can start sooner there too. And you can throw a toy for the furthest jump on the line (jump 4, in this case) as she is driving over the previous jump. It will feel early but it will reinforce her for looking ahead at the line and staying out on the line. And, sometimes placing the toy out on the line helps too (I think the toy was placed at :33?) We don’t want to rely on the placed toy all the time, but having it out there randomly can be helpful!On the 2nd sequence. she read the line better when you got closer to 1 and especially 2, so you could set the line to 3 with more acceleration and bigger connection. On the first rep, you got too far ahead and had to decelerate at the tunnel, which pulled her off the line. So as she is learning the big layering skills, you can get as close to the previous jumps in the sequence as possible, so you can drive her into the distance element with a lot of acceleration.
When you put the 2 sequences together, she did relaly well! Her only question was the blind cross on the 4-5-6 line. On the first rep, you called her name (1:02) and had a higher arm (blocks connection and potentially looks like you are starting the blind) and your line as a bit far from 5, so she pulled off the line.
On the next run at 1:16, you had a much better running line and she nailed the blind! Yay!!
Since this went so well, you can add in the next part of the sequence too 🙂
Great job!
Tracy
