Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Hi!
OMG he did SO GREAT!! This was a lovely session! The FC wraps and the backside wraps were both spot on: he had great commitment and he had great turns. Your running lines were very clear to him (and good decel on the FC wraps) and your connection was super clear. That really helped, especially on the backside wraps: he committed a lot better when you shifted your connection to the landing spot as you kept moving forward.
Since this went so well, you can give him a higher bar to jump – this looked like 8 inches, so you can go to 10 or 12 and see how he does. The higher bar will challenge his collection mechanics, so we can keep raising the bar.
Great job!
TracyHi!
>I tried this game again to get a better line. I think I did a better job? Not too difficult for him, but I want to make sure we have the basics before making it harder.>
Yes, this looked great – it was easy for him because your cues were very clear. Yay! You can totally move to the advanced level where we add crosses on the jump.
And you can try a fun variation if your tunnel is still in that same spot: set up the tunnel so he can go into it after the out! It would be the wrap wing, you giving the out cue, then as he is heading to the jump, cue the tunnel. All while you run the same line you did here. And when you don’t give the out cue for the jump, he learns to ignore a nearby tunnel. I think he will enjoy the tunnel as part of it, and builds up some distance skills too 🙂
Looking at the zig zag video:
>Honestly, I felt like I was going this wrong like…the whole time. This is such a simple game >
Simple yes…. hard/weird mechanics? Also yes 🙂 Think of the mechanics as over-exaggerated front crosses, which is what you were basically doing on the successful reps (he would not have found the line if you were not clear with that). He did really well – but I think it was too easy and he seemed a little bored with it LOL!! So you can make it harder/snappier by moving the wings closer together to add challenge. That means you over-sized front crosses will need to come quicker to cue the lines, but that will be fun and a little silly for you both!
Nice work here 🙂
TracyHi!
> totally nailed the first side. Then he could not figure out how to do even the first jump on the other side. I even went back to the first side to show him and that did nothing to help him when we switched sides.>
The first side looked good! The questions on the 2nd side could have been that it was harder to shift left in that moment, or he was in ‘chase toy’ mode because the reward had been thrown and was still visible (context cue), or he was tired from chasing the toy (or all of the above). Start with the shift-to-your-left side next time as the first side and see how he does. You can also use a tug toy so he does expend a lot of energy chasing the toy between reps.
Since the zig zags are all about teaching the pups a relatively hard mechanics skill, you can totally use a reset reward after any errors. You can see that when he doesn’t know how to shift to his left here, he gets deflated and looks around the instant you indicate it is wrong (watch your hand that is holding the toy – it withdraws the toy).
>tried again this morning with his disc as a reward and we had some success on that harder side.>
Great! Did you do that side first or 2nd? Also, be careful of using toys that trigger the chase mode (like discs) for a precision game, because the context cue for chasing a disc can override the mechanics we need here. A tug or food might help him out more.
>The get out went better. I tried to keep moving forward instead of stopping at the spot where I was sending him out>
Yes! This went really well – he did great and you were moving the whole time. Yay!
The next steps would be to move the wing a little further away, and put a leash on the ground for your running line – that way you run the exact same line and the verbal/upper body cue what you want. That should lead you nicely into the advanced level with the crosses.Great job!
TracyHi! This went well too! Most of the reps were spot on! When he had a question, it was either because the timing was too early or you needed a little decel. Here are specifics:
The trick to the lap turns are to let him great relatively close ot your hand (6 inches or less) and then turn him away – when you did that, he was perfect each time.
When you were too early in terms of stepping back to the wing when he was still a foot or so from you hand, like at :17 and :42, it did indeed look like a cue to go to the other side (you can reward him when that happens).
Here is the visual of the timing:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1wPmcbsnzbHFkhFP4mruNYhfmPM98Ic5QZEuaa6ugy5E/edit?usp=sharingAnd when you added a bit of decel, he turned away really well. The rep at 1:25 didn’t have decel, so he went straight and fast past the wing. When you decelerated like at 1:33 and 1:44 – perfect turn!
Adding the race tracks went great, he had no questions and you did a great job throwing in a lap turn too.
When you add the tandem turns (towards the end of the video) – he read them well too! Yay! You can totally keep your hands lower so he can see them better. Plus, a little decel on the tandems will tighten up the turns on them too.
3:02 you added a spin so he ended up on the other side of you but found the wing anyway 🙂 The last few reps were great!
Nice work!
TracyHi! This also went well!
When you were behind him, you were very timely and his sends were great! Nice turns! Looks like you have lines on the ground to help out for the timing? Yay! When you were a little ahead, the timing ending up being later: you hit the decel when he was about 1 stride from the jump at :10 and :42). He still turned nicely, but you can hit the decel earlier so you can cue the tight turn and also be already moving the other direction as he is jumping 🙂> I varied where I dlowrd down and turned, but after looking at the video, I don’t think that was what I was supposed to do. I am having an off day!>
You are totally not having an off day – you were working through complex little drills with a very fast dog 🙂 When you were sending him ahead, you were nailing the timing of the decel being earlier than you might expect. So you can match that timing when you are ahead – when he a stride or so past the exit of the wing wrap, I bet that is the sweet spot for the decel to start no matter where you are.
Since he has a lot of skills on this setup, you can mix them all up to make sure he is reading the cues. You had Go reps mixed in (yay!) and they looked great. You can also mix in rear crosses and those backside wraps – it will challenge you both to be able to run them all in one session.
Great job!
Tracy
Hi!
OMG his stay looks great, even with you jogging to your start position! He even caught himself and re-sat 🙂 when he thought you had released him then realized you had not 🙂>Aghhh, It just doesn’t feel right. >
Actually, it is correct! It is just quick and maybe feels awkward? Your cues on the first rep were great. Your cues on the 2nd rep were a little late so he didn’t take the 2nd jump. But then you were quick and timely for the other reps, so I am guessing it just felt awkward because you are doing it right. The next step here is to have the wings and bars all touching, to tighten up the distance even more.
Great job!
TracyHi!
>These were really hard, as they were for Mason last year. I learned that Ellie can’t consistently do a wrap in front of a tunnel. I think it’s going to take more sessions to build that skill, so today’s video has mostly the baby-level stays without the wings.>
You crack me up because you make it sound like it will be a messy session… but it was SUPER nice! Yay! Your cues were very clear and she was very successful on the reps you had in the video. Really strong! Warm ups of just the tunnel threadle looked good then when you added the wing wrap before the tunnel threadle, she did great too.
> but we never got any wing wraps to work on the other side.>
Tell me more about what was happening, or post the video (I don’t think you put any in the video). Was she going around the wing and just heading into the tunnel entry in front of her? Could be a side preference question, or could be your turn cue (the physical cue) was not as clear as it was on the other side. You can also practice just getting that full wrap by blocking off the tunnel entries (both sides) so it is an easier visual, but then of course don’t send her into the tunnel 🙂
> I think this just needs more sessions and we’re heading into 3 days of rain, so it may be next weekend before the yard dries out.>
That can work in your favor to let her brain percolate on it 🙂
>The good news is that Mason finally was able to put this together (no video) after finding the tunnel threadles impossible last year. One year of “sleeping on it” appears to have done the trick!>
Yay! The brain re-wires as they exit adolescence and enter adulthood, which makes the hard stuff like this a lot easier.
Great job!
TracyHi! No worries about the noise!
This went really well too 🙂 The Go lines were perfect, he loves those 🙂
He is reading the decel brilliantly so you are getting really good turns! Super! One thing I notice here is that you were decelerating as he was getting near to your position. That worked in this session for the most part, because your position was in the decel zone. But, since that will not always be the case in terms of you position (you might be further ahead or further behind), you can change your position more so you practice the decel based on where he is, not to when he catches up to you.
For example, you can start right at the wing with him, so he gets ahead: and as he exit the wing and looks at the jump, you can begin the decel handling from behind him). Or, you can start much further from the wing and send to it, so you are further ahead. But the timing remains the same: when he is exiting the wing and looking at the jump, decel. Now if you are really far ahead, decel and don’t go pat the jump. You can hang out at the wing until it is time to rotate when he gets closer to the wing.
Great job!
TracyHi! These went really well! It was hard to see the 3rd jump, so you can add a wing on that last bar to make it a full jump (4 wing total in the game) and you can then stand all the way out at wing 4. That will make it a little more challenging but I am confident he can do it. You can cue faster and lower to help him be even quicker over the bars 🙂
Great job!
TracyGood morning!
Lift Heller has a busier social schedule than most humans LOL!! It looks like fun though 🙂 Nice balance of travel, trials, training, with time off in between. One thing to factor in is how she does in the summer heat – with outdoor trials, you can tweak plans if the heat is hard (or easy).
For the USDAA – how are contacts and weaves going? Steeplechase would be FUN FUN FUN if they are ring-ready!
For Quad Cities, there will be something for her level for sure – please tell Dawn that you are part of the inner circle/friends&family and should get a spot 🙂
I like the overall plan of what to run/when, and of course I know you will shift it if she is happy to run for real more (or less, but I think she might tell us more).
>Question on the between the feet line-up, does the dog swing around to your outside (either side) and then line up between your legs from back to front? Or do they go through your legs to the back and then spin around and come forward again? If the former, I’m assuming this is distinguished from the send them behind you for a restart because you straddle your legs a bit?>
Great question! I do a straddle position and stand totally still. The dog goes around one leg (my left leg, only my left leg, because my dogs and I are a bunch of weirdos) then moves into position. I say “Line up” with little or no hand movement. For the behind the back, the dog is facing me and my feet are together, and I use a noise and a big hand cue.
On the set point video – she had some good toy play here! For the frizzer, it also looked like really good chasing! You might not get tug on it in new places, but maybe just do some frizz throw games where she retrieves it and you throw a 2nd frizz, like her very own UpDog event 🙂
What was the distance between jumps here? Just curious for tracking purposes. I am not sure if it is the sweet spot distance or not. The 10” jump with the moving target went well. The 12” jump seemed to surprise her on the first rep of it (she kind of levitated over it) but also on that rep she was a little far from jump 1 so didn’t push in as well (tapped her front feet before jump 1 at about 1:45). The start position on the next rep was closer and better so she could push into the set point better. For the next session, you can try 12” with the closer set up point and see how she does.
For the toy play – I think slow roll toy play is a good way to go because she is interacting more but food rules the day. And she has always been clear about her reinforcement rules LOL!! But adding in more friz play and ball play or toy play here and there in regular life then, more importantly, putting the toy away after one or two moments, will make the toys more valuable. You mentioned something about Kaladin and the frizz… will she chase her frizz more if he is out there, or less?
Great job here!! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning!
Really nice session here! He did better with the out when you used the outside arm – that gave a clearer, earlier cue. He did go to the jump with the dog-side arm, but but it was a slightly later response.Great job with the advanced level of adding crosses! It took a couple of reps to get the timing (first rep was too late, 2nd rep was too early so he didn’t take the jump, the rest were great!). As with the baby level reps, the outside arm helped him commit to the ‘get out’ and it also gave you great connection to see where he was looking, so you could then start the cross. Yay!
>No matter what I do, he gets it.
Yes, he is doing great! And you can share credit for that – you are handling him really well and you’ve taught him the foundations!
That is why we add thing like the get out because it sends him away and you can get ahead of him again 🙂 He will have all sorts of skills for working at a distance so you don’t need to try to run faster than he does. For now, we break it down and as he get more experience you will see it is easier to put together the big pieces (we do that in MaxPup 3 over the summer :))
Great job!
Tracy
This was another super successful session and the setup seemed to be perfect, in terms of showing her the lines she might have trouble with. Yay!
>She had a harder time with this one but seemed to adjust when we went back to it later.>
Was this the ‘later’ session, or the first session? Either way, it was really strong. A couple of bloopers but not many and then you had a truly EXCELLENT reward when she dug in to get the hard jump on rep 2! And on the 2nd rep on the other side too. You were quick to mark the success and throw the reward, and it was surprising to her in the best way. SUPER!
I am liking what you are getting with food, so you can play with a toy before/after but for now, keep using food in the training session.
Since we want her to keep reading lines and digging in, you can change 1 small thing every rep! Even if it is a slight angle change, or changing the distance between 2 of the jumps by a couple of feet – make one thing look a little different. It is both a physical AND mental exercise for her 🙂
Eventually we can add in handling to show the harder lines, but I really want her to find the jumps more on her own 🙂
Super job here!!! These sessions really look lovely!
Tracy
Good morning!
>We did! That reminds me, I need to do a photoshoot for her. Little superstar!>
I mean, a big part of the reason to run for real there was to try for a super cool Nationals ribbon LOL!!!!
>Thank you for saying that. Maybe I’m feeling the growing pains? I just feel like she has a better handle on them earlier. I’ll read your comments over again before our next session and make the adjustments.>
It might be growing pains, it might be a bit of “sheesh can’t we finish training this already” and it might be a bit of her being a little ‘out’ physically after a long road trip and running her pants off in the ring. When weaving deteriorates, it is often a tightness in the back. Loosen that up, and the weaves get good again.
>>and you can have the MM hidden behind a wing so she doesn’t see you throw the reward all the time.>Apologies for my lack of caffeine which equals lack of clarity LOL!!! I meant that because you’ve been noticing her watch your hands more, you can carry the reward… but do 50% of the reps as a reward from the MM that is hidden somewhere. That will be surprising in a good way, and also help keep her from looking at your hands because the reward is out on the line somewhere.
I am only 1 cup of caffeine into my day so let me know if it still doesn’t make sene 🤣
>We are headed to a trial tonight for Sat & Sunday. I am bringing tiny puppy Lew and am feeling very “We’re coming as we are and we are not ready for prime time” I expect a weekend of chaos! I suck at teaching life skills to dogs because I am a pushover and I know he is not ready for crating. PRAY FOR US!>
Thoughts and prayers 🤣😂🤣 He is so cute that it really doesn’t matter if he has life skills or not. Just carry him around everywhere in the trial environment (he is so smol!) and soak in his cuteness. You might experience some lack of sleep (it I hard with a puppy on the road!) and a little bit of the girls being “off” (lack of sleep plus a new puppy throwing off the routine) but it is all good and totally worth it! Have fun!!!
Tracy
Hi! I think all of the rain you have has arrived here – cold and rainy! Your session here looked really strong!
OMG! Her stay is looking so good! That contributed to the success of the session. Plus your cues were very clear, so she knew what you wanted. Yay! Since it was pretty easy for her, you can add challenge by moving the wings and barrel closer together, so she has to zig zag faster 🙂 You will have to cue faster too of course LOL!!
Great job here!!
Tracy
