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Hi! These are looking really good!
>> She’s great with a wing.
Agreed! And she is perhaps a little bored with just the wing LOL! Since the wing stuff looked strong on both sides, my only suggestion on those is to be a bit wilder on the strike exits – get excited and run faster to ger her to dig in and chase you out of it. You can take off and run and say strike and make silly noises, whatever she likes that can help her want to chase you, so that the wrapping gets super fun because it is a chase game and not a game where she stops 🙂 (Yes, I realize it might be 108 degrees so just do a little, here and there. 🙂
>>So, I think she is trying to figure out jumping organization. The markers are at 5, 10, 15 and 20 ft. Bar at 12 in on left turns and 12 and a few at 16 on right turns. Ultimately she will jump 20 in.>>
Yes, she is doing well on the jumping. Still sorting organization but I think she is in “working” memory where she has to think about it rather than “procedural” memory where it is 2nd nature. But, it will be wired in soon! The wraps are good when you are standing still facing the wing. Note how they are instantly improved by adding a bit of handling in the form of rotation and countermotion, at :45 and 1:35! Yay!
>>I wasn’t sure what you meant by the outside hand. Did I do it correctly minus the swoosh towards the jump that she doesn’t need?
Yes, that is one way to do it – basically you are rotated and the exit hand is placed right in front of the bar. You added a countermotion element by running the other direction, which she did great with 🙂 I didn’t really see a swoosh! And her turns looked really good: we want powerful bends and not slow bends, and we were getting the powerful bends here.
>>If I use the Cato board how far in front of the jump would I put it? Also, I’d then just go back down the line so I’m not having her turn and burn over it?>>
It has to be a Cato plank (the narrow one) so she has to get into a tight sit. The Cato board is too big 🙂 The plank would be about 10-12 inches form the bar (varies for each dog, so you can experiment with it). And correct, you would not want to do a tight turn and burn, so a looser variation of that turn would work.
>>I might be brave enough to film the FC with a beverage after Pilates tonight. But, I’d hate to spill my cocktail!
Start with something low value, like water LOL!!! Protect the cocktail!!!!
Nice work here!
TracyHi!
These are also looking great!!!>>I didn’t set him up well for the first rep but he did awesome the rest of the time
yes, on that first sequence and on the others, you can center him more on the bar of #1. What I mean but that is that he should be facing the center of the bar but on a slice so he can see 2 clearly and see you by looking at the uprights more than going around the first one. That would be moving him over about 2 feet to the right side of the screen here 🙂
He read the 2nd rep really well, nice job with the blind and ending line!!! And the throwback rep looked great – my only suggestion is to lead out closer to 3 but you already noted that 🙂 His stays are looking great too – I love how he sassed you a bit but he also gets a gold star for ignoring the horse.
And when you put it all together at the end? Terrific! He was responsive and tight on the blind, and super fast on all the lines. No problems finding the straight line at all, even with the reward hitting the wing 🙂
Great job!!!
TracyHi there!
He did really well with these and you were very clever to have both sides set up so you can switch directions easily 🙂 You had really strong upper body position and connection on all of these, so he was able to find the serp lines very well 🙂 On the tunnel-jump-jump reps, I think you can tighten the jump line a little bit.
>> I think st the end I had tried to straighten the angle of the jumps a little too much for what I was asking and he had too much speed coming in. So we had a couple failures and I decided to stop there for the evening.>>
My video might be wonky, but I only saw one question from him, which was at 1:05 – this might be the only spot where having the extra jumps set up did not help because he took one of the extras before coming into the serp line. I think that was more about the angle he was coming into it from – taking the additional jump after the tunnel set up a zig zag line for the serp so he ran past the last jump. Taking out the additional jump after the tunnel and the FC into the serp line will smooth it all out. Let me know if there were other errors I missed?
Great job!
TracyHi! This sounds good! We want to be as gradual as possible, to help maintain the fabulousness we are seeing here 🙂
TracyHi!
Hope she is feeling better!
>>Any advice on getting her to commit to the landing side blind.
Do you mean after the tunnel? As soon as she approaches the tunnel, call her then do the blind so when she exits, you are already passing the jump and looking at her over the new shoulder.
Or do you mean on the 1-2-3 opening? That is a matter of getting more lateral distance, so running up that line further from it but on a parallel line will help (without the bind, for now) and throw lots of rewards to the landing side 🙂
TracyHi!
I am glad you liked these 🙂 The distance skills are cropping up everywhere, not just NADAC anymore 🙂A couple of general ideas for you:
because she is quick to let you know when she is BIG MAD by leaving to chase shadows, be sure to reward all the things in handling very quickly, without letting on that there was an error (errors in sequences are either handling errors or a reflection of stuff we haven’t trained, so basically all human error :))
The two options are to either do an immediate reset cookie like at 1:32, or don’t stop at all – keep going, get her back on the line to the next jump and reward as if it went entirely according to plan 🙂And, live by the 2 failure rule. If she fails twice in a session? Make it easier, often by increasing connection or motion, or by moving the obstacle in closer when working distance.
On seq 1, by starting too far from the #1 wing, you ended up too decelerated for now. Starting closer to the wing totally helped because you can set the line in motion. When you had the motion, it was all very easy and she nailed it. Good job adding the full sequence! My only suggestion is to either do the spin at 5 sooner (decelerating as she is over 4 so you can start it when she lands) or just decel, send and go – not spin. The spin was a little late so she was wide. She found the line to the tunnel really well, even with massive distance. YAY!!
Seq 2: as you noted in the video – yes, more connection helped with the BC before the tunnel (arm back, looking her directly in the eyes like you did at 3:25). And count the failures – there were 4 failures and she was getting BIG MAD which is not a state we want her in 🙂 After 1 error with a blind exit, ramping the connection up will usually fix it immediately.
The RC on the tunnel entry looked good! She looked less comfy with it but it will be useful! So many dogs have trouble with that but it looks like she turned correctly each time. SUPER!
Seq 3 – She also did well with the jump-tunnel discrimination of going past the tunnel! In the early stages, you can be pushier with the out by driving in a little more and even use the outside arm if needed. This will also help in new environment or if she is more stimulated. By the end of this sequence, she was doing a great job of taking the jump not the tunnel pretty much on just the verbal. YAY!
And she found the backside of the tunnel very easily – as you noted in the video, just remember to connect after the tunnel to get her back on the line at 4:26 and 4:39 – plan that in your walk through, by rehearsing your arm back and delivering the verbals directly to her cute little face 🙂
She had a couple of bars down towards the end – they were probably fatigue because it is a LOT of yardage for the dogs on these (not a lot of yardage for the humans LOL!) Ad that last sequence looked great!
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
Sorry for the delay as I drove home from Iowa – thanks for your patience!Nice work on this big meatball of a course!
Looking at the walk through – overall really strong! And yes, I will keep bugging you to run faster on the walk throughs haha! A couple of decision making things to consider:
– looking at the exit of the #2 tunnel: if you feel yourself putting in a spin on a tunnel to get a turn, be sure that the spin helps you get to the next place (better than a simple post turn would) so you can easily run the new direction. In this case, the spin delays you, so a send-and-go with the verbal is a better choice.And when considering blinds, be sure you will be far enough ahead. The 2 blinds you worked were before the weaves and after the12 tunnel as you went into the ending line: you were not like to be far enough ahead before the weaves, based on the line from 3 (having to handle there) so you ended up having to rear cross the weaves. So if you have a big handling element before a blind (like at 3), consider how far ahead you will be if you are planning a blind. The BC after the 12 tunnel was easy to get to because you could easily send to 10-11 and get way ahead.
On the run – the spin on tunnel 2 actually caused the off course at 4, as you tried to exit the spin and drive to position your motion there at :56 accidentally supported 4). 1:05 was better but I like that you worked on that section so that she learned the turn and didn’t need the spin – there was a little brake arm happening there and it helped! 3:13 was perfect! You added the spin back at 3:28 and 4:02 but you didn’t need it, she was doing really well with the verbal and you moving away to 3.
>>The hardest part was bypassing the jump on the way from 4 to 5 and again towards the end before the weaves>>
This is a tricky section! It should be built so it is a slight turn away from the line and easier to ignore 🙂 It looks like it was right on her path here (she didn’t need to switch away to get the off course) which made it harder 4-5 so you worked her bypass skills and she sorted it out nicely. I think it was easier on the 16-17-18 section but you were concerned about it by then (understandably!) so you pulled her off the line a bit. In fact, I think you might even need an ‘out’ arm there (17-18) so she does switch away to pick up 18 🙂
The weaves worked well to get the entry dog-on-right, so you can rear cross the entry to get the next jump on your left on both parts of the video – it was hard for her on the 2nd session so it is a good skill to work on.
The threadle wrap at 10 is a perfect spot for that skill – she is Oh-So-Close to nailing it! When you get to that section, you can walk through it to show it to her – that way you can keep moving but won’t have too much motion, making it easier to process.
At 1:53 you sent her to the wrong side of 13. No worries – when you have a handler blooper, either keep going like it didn’t happen or reward right away like it was totally correct. If you stop, she gets really frustrated and then it is harder to start her again. She has big opinions LOL!
The ending line from 5:27 – end looked really great! Be sure to drive her right to that last tunnel at 5:39 – you ran forward and away from it, so it was not on her line and she was correct to not flick away to it there.
Great job! Onwards to the live class video!
TracyHi!
The part 1 video is listed as ‘still processing’ which means that it is stuck in a youtube vortex somewhere. Darned youtube!
Part 2: this is the 14-18 section.
The first part looked good! If you get out of position for the weave entry, you can flip her away on the flat to get it (also note that 17 is backside not the front, which might be qhy it felt awkward there.
When you re-start her, you don’t need to start on a wrap – you can go back a jump or two and come into the rep with speed. At :24 and :45 and :50 – there was a bit too much motion pressure on the line so she took the backside (correctly, based on the motion) then slowed down because she was told she was wrong… so rather than start in a spot that might be awkward to show the line, start her a jump or two back so that you can set the line with more speed too, more like 1:14 but you can also start on the takeoff side of that jump. That created a smoother start and allowed you to show the whole line really well – it looked super!!!
Nice work! Let me know when the first video is re-posted.
Tracy
Hi! Sorry about the delay here and thanks for your patience as I did the big drive back from Iowa yesterday!
These courses are looking good!
>>“Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these competitors from the swift completion of their appointed rounds”
Ha! Was it raining? Hopefully not snowing LOL!
In the ‘environment changes behavior’ department: I couldn’t figure out why she was not quite as fast here as she had been previously – the answer might be the rain. She was being a bit more careful – but still committing beautifully. She was good on the 5-6-7 and 9-10-11 lines, super strong but not ON FIRE like she had been in the recent past. She really did like the chase elements like when you sent her to 8, ran like mad and did a BC (:55 and 1:08). She couldn’t get ahead of you there (because you had a big head start and were handling from ahead) but I felt like she was not being sticky and was committing to her lines without needing a lot of help. YAY! So a few more practices in the rai (I am sure Mother Nature will be happy to help) and then her speed/confidence in the rain will be the same as it is without the rain).
Course 2 – you had a pretty massive head start 2-3-4-5 and she dug in and passed you to 5. YES! That is great! Ideally, we would like her to pass you sooner so you can layer the 15 jump: to do that, though, you would have to hang out at 2 (or pick her up at the tunnel exit at 1) so you don’t have such a massive head start up the line. I think I prefer to meet her at the exit if 1 then drive close to 2 and 3, so she then gets on the line without seeing decel with you waiting at 2.
She did not pick up the bind at 1:45 (11-12, after the DW) mainly because you were really late 🙂 The BC started as she was lifting off for 11 and the reconnection happened as she was a stride from the a-frame at 1:46. Good girl, she was correct, gold star for driving lines. When that happens, try to just keep going or throw the ball so she doesn’t think she was wrong and slow down. Definitely don’t stop, even if you are giving her a cookie. She got the turn on the next rep and you were a tiny bit sooner… but she was also being more careful. So late her throw caution to the wind and if she gets on a big line and keeps going… go with it! Keep running in any direction possible, rather than stop her. Video review will tell you layer if she was ignoring you (unlikely) or if you were late (likely LOL!)
Good job with the ending lines and the backsides at 14-15-16-17-18-19. She was finding them really well and jumping the slices beautifully. Watching this, to keep maintaining the speed on the lines, I think you can balance the technical sections with an “either/or” approach. When you have a technical section like 14-16 (those backside slices are hard and require collection), balance it like a sandwich: easy fast line of all front sides before it (like 14, then to the 5 tunnel, then 6) then do the technical 14-16, then back to the front side elements with pure extension like 13 then 16-19. That way you can work the technical handling but also maintain the speeeeeeed and independence you have been building up. Feel free to freestyle speed lines to make it happen 🙂
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
Thanks for your patience as I was finishing the crazy drive home! Your cracked lens here gives the videos a mystical feel LOL!
I think the walk through video is looking good, in terms of the shape of the course and the handling decisions. I would add 3 things to it, in this order of priority:
– more connection. Try to look for your invisible Chuck, the way you did at the tunnel exit at 1:06. The more you practice the connection, the more you will do it naturally – then it becomes habit and you won’t have think about it at all 🙂 That is when we produce the BEST handling 🙂
– after practicing connection at a walk like you did here… then go faster and faster. The goal is to be able to run faster than he needs you to run, while maintaining connection
– add your verbals 🙂 Your videographer did remind you, but I think connection and speed are higher priorities for now.
1st run – it looks like you changed your plan here on the opening – did he have trouble seeing the jump versus the tunnel on a previous run? He read 1-2 really well and just needed one more step for switch to 3 at :06.
Blooper video – he read 1-2 really well here too! He needs a bit of a name call or left verbal at 2 to pick up the front of 3 (and more connection).
Full run video –
Nice opening! Great weaves, layering and lateral distance! And you were able to show him the lines on the course really nicely!! Super! This definitely confirms that the next thing to add to your walk through is more connection – the only improvements here are to smooth out the parts where he looked at you or slowed down waiting for more info because connection was not that clear. You can see little head checks or slowing down at :14, :27, :33, :44, :54 – they are subtle but he was definitely asking for more info. So the added connection (with your arm back more so you can be looking at him more) will totally help. And yes, work the verbals in (mainly, sooner, especially before and after tunnels) but I think the connection is the top priority because the verbals seem to be more comfortable than the strong connection for now.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
I am finally done with that long drive form Iowa! Thanks for you patience!!These sequences look really strong!
On the first run: Good RC at :07! Very clear!! She could see it coming really early because you were very close to 3, which made setting the RC line 3-4 easy for you both.
2nd run – for the either/or element, you can tip her off that it is not a RC sooner: you can be more laterally away from 3 at :22 so she already will know it is a right turn on 4. Being a few feet away from that 3 jump will tell her to not expect a RC diagonal. Being close to it helps tip her off that the RC is coming like at :06 and also at :34. So the positional cue relative to jump 3 is pretty important in the RC versus post turn cues.
And by being closer to 3, she didn’t quite know if is was a rear cross or post turn – If you watch her over 4 at :24, it looks like she goes to her left lead for a heartbeat then turned back to the tunnel. So being further from 3 will let you get her the info about the turn to the tunnel even sooner.
>>You’ll notice on the third run she went around the second jump>>
I think it was a combo of Keiko saying “same boring start” (she has BIG opinions if she thinks the start is stooooopid) and you were running parallel to it for a bit too long so she was not sure if she should come in for it.
Your line at :34 was a clear RC cue – nice!
>>When I walked the last sequences, I just couldn’t seem to get to the left (farther) side of #4 – it didn’t feel right>>
The backside on 4 was there more as an illustration of what we will get if we push across the line too early (we will get the backside wrap instead of the rear cross). So to get it intentionally, you would have to get past 3 before she landed and make a strong connection and run to where the wing and the bar meet, to push her off the front of the 4 jump. Or sometimes we do that accidentally, as you can see in my blooper demos 🙂 Or , you can do the BC to the backside like you did here; that worked really well!!
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>>My shoes have gotten trashed over the summer and have been hurting my feet! If I can run better in rubber boots I think it’s time for new shoes>>
OMG so true! Your chicken boots were magical!!!
Excellent job on the push to the backside after the teeter – the turn to the 14 tunnel was much better! You have time to take noe more step past the 13 wing to push her to the tunnel. And since you are really trusting her layering skills, you definitely go to the 17 backside sooner! When that threadle wrap is more comfy, we can run this both ways and time it to see which is faster 🙂
Great job!!
TracyHi!
I am finally done with that long drive – sorry for the delay! Thanks for your patience!
I hope your A/C is fixed!!!>>I wrapped her around 1 a couple times as promise’s stay in humidity and heat is not good at all. Who can blame her?! I’m lucky she will even practice with me. I also struggle with thinking and running in this weather!
You are going to chuckle – 1 is on the other side on the map so you didn’t need to do the lead outs, you can wrap the start on all of them 🙂 And she is AMAZING to work during all this heat, it is a little mind-blowing that she seems perfectly fine with it.
On the first run –
Did you want to wrap 3, or was that an oopsie moment and you just kept going? Click/treat to you if you just kept going, that backside send to 4 was impressive! I think you wanted the wrap though, and it went well, but the slice you were working on later is a better option as it sets the line up better here.A note about the handling choices – when you have 2 decisions in a row (slice or wrap on 3 and slice or wrap on 4, and which direction on both of them): make the 2nd decision, first! So on paper, I would slice 4 the way you did it then slice 3 – entering on the same wing but exiting on the other, rather than wrapping. That will set a very fast smooth line. I say “on paper” because when the course it set, things might change. Based on the angles here, it is possible that you would want to turn her towards the dog walk on 4 to slice because it sets up a great line 5-6.
At :19 (7-8) – I don’t think you need the spin to get to the turn to the DW, and with a RDW, you don’t have time to spin. On this rep, the spin brought the bar down because it was a little late. Instead, you can try to just say left then the dog walk cues and be moving away the whole time, kind of like a fast moving send-and-go after the frame.
The line after the DW to the teeter looked great!!!
After the teeter (her teeter looks awesome!!) to 13 , you can add in more convergence with your running line and arm back/eye contact at :31 (and later at 1:54) to get her to the backside (this is especially important after a stop in momentum, like a teeter or table or even the weaves, where her line won’t carry her to the backsides like in the opening.
The layering looked great! YAY!
You can be sooner at :38 for the wrap backside at :17, or do a threadle wrap there 🙂
Looks like you were on her line 18 -19 at :42 so got the wrong side of 19, no worries because the rest of the reps looked great there.
2nd run – you sliced 3 here instead of wrapping it. For now, since she is still learning independent backside sends – keep a bigger connection (arm back, and use a lot of eye contact) along with running more of a parallel path to her line to get the backside at 3 (you were curling away at 1:05, which brought her to the front despite the backside verbal). Lower arm/more connection at 1:22 looked great!
She had trouble with the bar at 5 on this second run, so you can try to send and leave sooner because it shows her the turn info sooner: as soon as she exits 4 and looks at 5, you can send and leave. Also, is ‘get it’ her a-frame cue, or a get the toy cue? It might have bee a bit confusing for her (or maybe I am confused hahaha)
The spin on the 7 jump before the dog walk was definitely earlier on this run but I think your life will be easier if you send and leave 🙂 The send-and-leave will get the good turn at 7 and also get you further ahead for 9-10, where you ended up on her line to 10 so she took the backside (compare your line at 1:37 to your line at :24 where she took the front side perfectly.
The layering looked great on this 2nd run too, you got the BC before 17 even sooner at 2:06… but still was a little in her way. So definitely keep working on the threadle wraps so you can have that feeling really comfy and you won’t need to try for the BC.
Nice FC on the 18-19-20 section! Lovely ending!
Third run:
Good job getting the 3 backside – you can try to be further across the bar so you can move forward past the exit wing, which will give her a tight turns on the exit. She had a little oopsie running past the bar of 4 at 2:23, so opening your shoulder to connect more definitely helped her.
The send and go to the frame at 2:30 was great!
Nice job on the line all the way through to the teeter! Great job getting the backside at 2:45 – you can be further away from the teeter and entry wing, as long as you stay connected and are parallel to her path – that will help you set a better line to the tunnel
Very nice ending line too! Yes, the BC to 17 was still late but this section will get very easy when your threadle wrap is ready for prime time 🙂 And the FC at the end looked terrific.Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
Sorry for the delay, I am finally back at the computer
OK, I will assume the verbals were perfect LOL!Threadle wrap video:
I think there are a couple of small tweaks to mechanics that will make this much easier.One suggestion is to be sure to show the hand cue for a couple of steps before the release rather than release and show the hands all at once like at :16 and 2:22 for example. Moving forward and showing the hand cues for a few steps will give her a focal point for the release. If you do it all at once, she is going to assume the front side of the jump (which is a pretty good assumption :)) unless your footwork is perfect on the release and that is too hard for us humans.
Also, we can change up the rewards a little: you can do lots of reward for coming to your hands as you move but I think showing her the hand cues before the release will help with that a lot. The other spot to change up reward placement is when you flip her to the jump, throw the reward to landing and as far from you as possible – have it ready in your hand (so she doesn’t look at you switching hands with the treat, poor starving Aussie haha) and consistently toss the rewrd to the landing spot. You were tossing it when she was turning away, but it was landing near you which puts more value on being near you. If it is always on the other side of the jump, she will flip to the jump more easily.
That will also allow you to keep your feet and shoulders facing forward more, which gets rid of the slice. The rep at 2:33 did look like a slice cue, because you turned your feet/shoulders to the jump to help her commit. Keep everything facing as straight forward as possible more like 3:04.
Looking at the sequences:
Seq 1: this had some good Goldilocks moments to work on in terms of the Timing 🙂
On the first rep :
Good decel, she reads it really well!! You can definitely start it sooner. Thinking back to the WOO: when you saw her land at :09 you started the decel. On the first rep, the rotation happened as she was taking off for the wrap jump so she was a little wide then you closed your shoulder and didn’t get connection at :11, the handling almost looked like a blind so she came off the line. If that happens you can either keep going or just reward, she was reading you correctly.On the 2nd rep, trying to be sooner, you decelerated sooner at :37 but she didn’t carry on into commitment. good connection on the wrap exit!
On the 3rd rep, trying to get commitment, you drove to the wrap jump more then tried to rotate before she took off, so there was not really a good decel…. so she committed but the turn was wide. Good connection on the exit after the wrap!
So to get it just right,, like Goldilocks would want? I think you can work on more commitment while you decel. I liked the timing of your decel on the 2nd rep the best (the WOO was correct as she was over the bar of 2, so she saw it when she was landing) and I liked your timing of the rotation on rep 3 the best. So let’s combine them 🙂 You can work on getting her to drive ahead to the wrap jump on decel to get rid of her question on the 2nd rep, bu using the good decel timing, keep a stronger connection – and when she goes to the wrap jump, throw a reward to the landing side. Stronger commitment will make the timing easier all the way through.
Seq 2:
Since we need her to jump the 2nd jump already turning towards the #3 backside, you can be showing that as she lands from 1. Rather than running straight past 1 and towards 2, then pressure in towards 3 as she is taking off for 2 (:05, :23), you can be running to the backside wing of 3 the whole time – that puts you very close to the 1 and 2 wings, showing convergence towards 3 as she is landing from 1 so she can adjust her takeoff for 2. That will smooth out the zig zag from 2-3 (:06 and :25 )Super nice connected independent backside wrap at 3!!!
The 4-5 turn was challenging: Be as early and connected as possible, to show her the line and that will help keep the bars up. For example, you can be more connected on the landing of 3 to show the line to 4 so she can adjust her line sooner – you were pretty far from it a :28 and she was not sure of the line (bar down at 4 there)
>>I just need to figure out how to get her to turn the correct way on 7 where she needs to dig and I’ll do a spin and I’ll move up the line. I totally agree she’s turning the right way based on what I’m doing. >>
Wait, did you want her to turn to the outside at :13? That looked like a wrap cue to the inside, as opposed to :32 which looked like a RC cue so she turned to the outside. More Goldilocks moments here, she was reading you correctly each time: :44 was a pull & flick so she turned to the outside (rear cross). 1:03 was a threadle wrap shoulder turn. 1:14 was a 180 so she should have gone to the other side of 4. Good girl!
>>I’m just not sure how to get her to turn left and me still keep moving to get up the line. Maybe let her turn to the right and I just do a blind and get up the line?>>
To get the wrap to the inside which I think is what you wanted (like on the first rep) – you have to do 2 things: decelerate as she is exiting the previous jump, then as she is passing you (and before she makes a takeoff decision) – you need to rotate your feet to point to the next line. If your feet point to the center of the bar like at :32, it is a rear cross move. If your feet are pointing to the next jump after the inside wrap, she will turn and do the wrap (which is mostly what you did at :12-:13). You can’t really keep moving the whole time on these, because you are ahead of her: you have to decel long enough to rotate your feet and let her get past you, then you can move forward again.
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
Oh dear, somewhere in the craziness of the weekend and the long drive from Iowa to Virginia, I missed this! Sorry!!!! But it looked great 🙂 Note how clear your RC lines were at :02 and :10 on the first sequence, plus the decel at :10 to set up the RC wrap. Nice!You also had the strong RC info at :18 on the second run and a VERY clear RC diagonal at :26, which is great because she had just done all of those right turns to the tunnel 🙂 yay!
And nice connection and motion parallel to her line to show the backside at :28 to set up the FC to the tunnel. So nice!!!So looking at reinforcement:
>> I always struggle to know when not to reward. I was taught that rewarding what you don’t want is not good. But I see your point, if my handling told the dog to do what they did, then they should get rewarded.
Correct! I always remind myself that they are reading my physical cues and a little bit of verbals… they are not reading my mind. LOL! What I want the dog to do and what I actually cue them to do might be very different 🙂 So if they get it wrong in handling? I just reward because it is highly likely that my cue was wrong or late or both 🙂 Or, the dog doesn’t understand what the cue means. If they get it wrong twice, I stop and fix what I am doing to help make it clearer.
>> Often, I just can’t tell in the moment if it was my handling or the dog not following the correct handling. Should my motto be “when in doubt reward”? I think so>>
In handling, yes – but even that ‘when in doubt’, just assume it was a handling error and reward. No doubt there! And I try to reward in a place that helps the dog understand my cues, evenif the cue is late: so if the dog turns the wrong way on a RC, I am still going to throw the reward in the direction on want (adult dogs do eventually start to read my mind and forgive my late cues :))
I am sure you will encounter people who will tell you to NOT reward when something goes wrong in handling… but that places the blame on the pup, as if the pup was ignoring you or making bad choices. Thanks to being able to put videos on a big screen and watch in slow motion, I consistently see that sequencing errors are 90% handler errors (late, slow, bad cue, etc, all the stuff we humans do haha) so the dog was actually correct, and maybe 10% lack of understanding errors (behaviors that the handler *thinks* are trained but are actually not trained). So it is far far better to reward the dog and take the blame on the human side, than it is to tell the dog she is wrong – that creates a lot of stress in the dogs and leads to unwanted fallout.
Other behaviors like weaves or contacts are slightly different because, in theory, the dog should understand the behavior and get it right, regardless of handling. But that assumes a super high level of understanding in all sorts of environments (internal and external) so with contacts & weaves, and also start lines, I prefer to set the dog up for success and definitely don’t let them be wrong more than twice.
By rewarding for my handling errors and also keeping the skills work successful for the dog, the long term results are pretty outstanding: we get dogs that are fast, have a huge amount of understanding, and are very happy to be in the ring even when my handling stinks LOL!
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
