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Hi! It will be easier to make your schedule when you see the games – the foundation games do not involve jumping so you can start those with pretty frequent sessions. And the first part of the organizers do not involve jumping, so you can do a session of those and a session of zig zags. When everything involves jumping, though, later in the class, you will want to alternate days and not double up to avoid over-jumping the dog.
Tracy
Hi!
Good work on both of these courses – I see tremendous improvements in his turns and responsiveness to the cues! Very cool!!!
Course 1 –
Looking at the opening:
You played with a BC 2-3 and also the FC 2-3. Now that he is coming on from a right turn on 1, either worked well, but both can be done closer to jump 3. Your timing was consistently good on both of them, and so was your connection. Your motion was forward towards the a-frame, so he was following that line of motion and that is why he jumped longer, even with the really good timing. You can see he is driving directly to the line you are setting, good boy!!!He had a little question about taking the bar on the 4 jump as you ran past it -so much countermotion! When you were looking at him, he wanted to follow you. But when you shifted your connection to the landing spot and supported that with you arm back? Perfect! And dropping the reward in on the landing spot really helps, a great example of the handling & rewarding was at 1:02, really lovely 🙂
The 5-6-7-8 looked good each time! And letting him go straight on the DW til it can be braced more is a good idea.
Looking at the section after the DW:
The 9-10 blind is really strong! Looking at the exit of jump 10, where he was landing wide looking to the line nearer the a-frame… I think, for him, decel alone is not enough turn info. For example at 2:16, you did a decel and turned, but the post turn still showed the line he landed looking at. So, a spin or ‘flind’ (front/blind) might be perfect: as he is landing from 9, you can decel and rotate into a FC to cue 10 then begin moving to 11; When you see collection for 10, finish the move with the blind to put him back on your left side. That might provide the best turn info in that section.The teeter angle was a little off on the first run but it was perfect for the rest, and he was really showing some strong teeter independence on this course and on the next one too! Yay!!! He was looking at *something* past the teeter on the way to it a couple of times LOL! but his end position was great.
On the jump after the teeter, the FC to RC on 13 works and you can also do a serp on the landing side. For the FC, stay close to the jump, that is when he was most successful. When you were further from 13 and had to move towards it, the cue was not as clear (like at 1:59) when he dropped the bar trying to adjust for the RC.
The layering element looked great each time: fast and independent! YES!
On 17, the blind cross after the threadle wrap was REALLY nice at 2:06 and 2:26!!! And with such independent layering, I bet you can get to a blind on the tunnel exit to push to the backside of the 17 jump – the serp on 13 would be best for that because it puts you closer to 17 and you can send to the 14 tunnel and leave immediately for the blind. Either way, the layering independence sets up a really strong ending line!
Course 2
Really good openings here, with the BC and the FC elements – I think maybe you tried the FC to see if it would be tighter, but I think the line of motion was what was widening his line a bit 2-3: from the entry wing of 2, run more towards 3 and less across the bar of 2 for a better line each time. The BC is probably easiest to get that done.The 4-5-6-7 line looked fabulous, he is the Layering King! Fun!
One thing that was happening on this course was a bit of crowding the backside approaches 🙂 You were pushing him off the line a bit, so he had some questions. One example is at jump 8 after the layering:
You can see the crowding at :14, where you are running on a parallel line past the wing, so he was like: “do I cut in front and take it? or run past it?”
And when you held back a little at :29 and 1:05 then drove forward he was still a little unclear.So, ideally you would be running a line that shows the entry wing a lot more: for a wrap, the line is to where the wing meets the bar, and to a slice, it would be center of the bar (unless you are doing a takeoff side slicing RC, then you would go to where the wing and the bar meet). And if you get there early? Stay there til he is past you and turning to look at the bar.
The 8 jump would set up a better line as a slice there, but you got the wraps. I think that is what you wanted, but it was hard to tell 🙂 You can get the slice pretty without crowding the entry but sending him on the 5-6-7 line and layering the 18 jump to do the backside push from waaaay far away from the entry wing of 8. Then a German (serp/blind) on 8. You can also get that without layering the 18 jump.
More really good distance on the teeter here!! Just be sure he is not releasing on the ‘good’, I think there was a moment or two of that :
He had some questions on the 11-12 line, and it was similar to his question on 8 – as you left 11, you were moving forward and crowding the line to 12 so he didn’t quite know where to be at 1:35, for example (watch his head looking back and forth LOL!!
So to get the line to 12, leave 11 sooner and run to where the wing and bar meet on the landing side, so he has a full visual line to the wing – and hold that position til he is past you. And to get the tight wrap on 12 instead of the slice at 1:52 – rotate your feet as he is passing you (kind of like what you did at 1:12, but with less twist of the upper body). He sliced at 1:52 because you were facing the a-frame til he took off. You were earlier with the foot rotation at 2:51 and he read the wrap a lot better! Yay! So add in that rotation timing with showing him the full line to the backside and it will be perfect.
The RC on 13 worked well because he is so good at layering – a FC on the 12 exit would get you even further ahead. You got to a threadle/throwback on 16 (he was BEAUTIFUL with his turns there) but it sets up a really hard DW entry. Wrapping 16 to set the straight line to the DW entry is more ideal: with his layering confidence, you can easily get to the threadle wrap (to his right) or you can probably also get to a BC on the tunnel exit of 15 and do a push wrap on 16.
Great job on these! I think the last several weeks have shown some really significant improvements in how well he is responding to your cues and driving his lines – such a good balance!!! Super!!!!
TracyGood morning!
I am so glad you took this class! You did an amazing job working through everything and and embracing the challenges. It was an absolute pleasure to watch you all summer!!!
>> I had dreams of making it to national events and being very competitive,
You are well on your way! I am looking forward to cheering for you and Nox!!
>>When I got Nox, I thought we were going to do amazing things
You ARE going to do amazing things! Exciting times ahead!
>>The saying, “You don’t know what you don’t know,” really resonates with me right now>>
Yes, so true!! After all of these years, the one thing that I know is that there is so much more I need to learn. LOL!!! The learning is endless and the sport keeps evolving, which is what makes it so fun.
I am so glad you are excited for the future, both as an instructor and as a competitor. The sport of agility needs you in both capacities! Your passion to learn and teach and compete is exactly what continues to drive this sport forward <3
I am looking forward to seeing you in person some time soon!!!!
Tracy
Hi! The next chapter is coming! It will be a series of smaller chapters, actually 🙂 Stay tuned! More will be posted next week 🙂
TracyHi!
Based on what we know now about brain development during canine adolescence, the brain is a weird thing at this stage LOL! Sometimes the youngsters are perfectly fine with what we were doing, like noise and movement. And then they are suddenly freaked out by it, for no discernible reason. That is just the adolescent brain doing its adolescent thing, so the best thing to do is proceed very slowly and with no pressure 🙂Tracy
Hi!
>.Here’s where we are at with his weave training, working on showing him different entries and some motion. This video is from about 2 weeks ago, I’ve added entries out of a tunnel since. Also probably time to add some more poles – maybe?
He is doing well! He definitely liked it more when you were moving more (when you started from the double jump).Before adding more poles, add more speed so he can sort out his foot work while moving faster. By adding the tunnel before the poles, I think you are already adding speed and that is great (you can open the 2x2s slightly if he has any footwork questions). You can set up a speed loop: tunnel, 4 or 6 poles, then another tunnel – that adds speed AND challenges him to stay in the poles when a delicious tunnel is visible past them 🙂
>>My concentration has been on teaching him skills and now I’m going to have to work on getting his distraction control under control before I did too deep a hole – hey, he’s only been with me for 8 months. >>
You are correct – he has only been with you for 8 months and has made AMAZING progress!! He has some impressive skills already, and he is speedy too! And yes, the next step is to work on the focus stuff but you are doing that too, with the CU games, and in the class. Having to focus when he can clearly see the other dogs moving is VERY challenging, but when he learns to do that, he will be able to do anything! Plus he is an adolescent, which means his brain is still developing 🙂 Things will get easier when he reaches maturity.
>>I can teach skills and sequencing on mornings after I’ve build the course when it’s quiet in the barn, going to use the actual class for working patterns and simple stuff under distraction>>
This is a great plan 🙂 Skills are easy – distractions are much harder and definitely worth using the barn for.
>>Got him into a seminar in early November with a Lee Gibson at the green turf facility, don’t know who he is, but I always learn something>
He is a British instructor and judge – he’s a nice guy and strong instructor, I think you will have fun!!
>>Looking forward to what you come up with next -my favorite “virtual” instructor
Thanks! Stay tuned for my next set of crazy stuff (insert evil laugh here hahahaha)
Have fun!
TracyHi!
>>I took the DW ramps off and they were on the ground…so funny that he ran the ramp instead of 18🤣
HA!! That is hilarious. The dude loves his dog walk LOL!!!
>>Always helpful feedback…you notice everything!
That is the magic of coffee and slow motion video 🙂 You two looked great all summer!!!
>>What upcoming course do you think would be helpful for us?
As we go into fall and winter, I will be doing short courses with handling based on course trends – they will begin with a live seminar like the zooms here, then everyone gets a few weeks to work the sequences. The first one is on October 29th, stay tuned! There will be a few more scattered through the winter, because the weather makes it all so ‘iffy’ 🙂
>>Also, I want to send your dogs some of the tug toys that I make. What’s your address? I’ll just send a variety…any favorite colors? Fur preference (shearling, bunny, raccoon tails)?>>
Wow, that is so kind!!! My dogs would love any bunny or raccoon tail things 🙂 And blue & yellow are out favorite colors, but any colors are great 😉 My address is 181 Chestnut Grove Road, Callaway, VA 24067.
Thank you!!! I am looking forward to seeing you again in class soon 🙂
TracyHi!
I heard abut the heat wave – insane!!! I am glad it is over.All of the wing wraps back to the tunnel looked great! The addition of going PAST the tunnel was harder but when she was on your left, you kept moving and kept connected and she got it 🙂 Yay!
She didn’t expect the wing there behind the tunnel, but found it and then found a great line to the tunnel entry.On the other side, when she was on your right: you were decelerating more at the tunnel entry and closing your shoulders forward (like at :54 and the next rep), so she thought you wanted the tunnel 🙂 When you had better motion and maintained connection at 1:28, she understood to go past the tunnel. Super!
>>Got it at the end as I changed my path a little.
Your path was a little further from the tunnel, but you were also more connected and moved more – all of that helped her a lot.
She did really well with the teeter plankrobatics! You can reward her in the middle when she turns around too, not just at the end. She seems confident on almost all of it, so you can change the height of one of the tables, lowering it a little so it tips more. My only suggestion is that with more tip, she gets on the teeter when it is touching the table (not with the board up n the air) because it was too hard to balance when it is not touching the table and falls out from under her when she steps on it. So you can either start all the reps on the side that naturally touches the table, or you can hold the other side down when you want to start on that side 🙂
>>As usual there is some unusual background noise. Party music down the road this time…>>
I was wondering about that – I turned off the volume here for a minute to figure out if I had a T on somewhere in the house hahaha!!
>>What do you suggest for the pups next ?
I’m auditing the FACE class offered and looking forward to some interesting info there.>>Got FACE will be very useful! And in coming weeks, you will see a series of handling classes that will take us through the winter – shorter classes, so folks can fit them into their schedules.
Great job here all summer!!!! Fritzi looks wonderful!
Tracy
Hi!
Sorry to hear that it has been a bad allergy summer! Fall is coming!>>Her default in so many places is to wrap rather than slice for a RC. I’m sure I’m not always in the greatest position, but I also feel like it’s just what she does??>>
Well…. she reads you correctly 🙂 Rear crosses are definitely trained skills that need to be cued, like threadles are too. And if you don’t cue them, she defaults to turning to you which is a good thing! More on that below.
Course 1: Nice serp 1-2!
At 2-3 – cue a turn for 3 to make the threadle easier (:06). I use my wrap cue for these types of threadles: when she exits the tunnel, as her to wrap 3. Then as she collects for 3, do your threadle cue for 4.The RC on 5 at :10 was a spot where I think you wanted a right turn and she turned left, towards you. You need to set the RC line with more emphasis and sooner. She didn’t see you starting the RC til she was more than halfway to 5, at which point, her decision as been made. Ideally you are cuing the RC as she leaves the 4 wrap wing, right behind her 🙂 You can also use your arms almost like a tandem turn to get her attention there sooner for the RC (see Live class 4 for more ideas on that).
6-7-8-9 looked great !
10-11-12:
I think the plan was to push then RC on 13 at :28 and :55, which is really hard. To get the RC, you would need to get more to the takeoff side of 13 and show the RC cues, stepping across to the center of the bar. You didn’t do that step or two to the center of the bar, so she wrapped rather than sliced. The other option there is to keep her on your left after 12 and threadle/slice 13 – it is one move, versus the 3 moves of the side change after 12, then the push, then the RC.15-16 weaves – the RC before takeoff of 15 was more effective, and then drive harder to the entry. You can keep her on your left use your switch away cue, which is a tandem turn/RC on the flat cue – it would start before takeoff to 15 so she doesn’t think you want her to drive straight to the jump.
Good weaving!!!!! And great job getting 17-18-19!
Based on how 18-19-20 is set, 20 is a “get out” or a side change 18-19, to set up the line to the last tunnel.
Course 2:
The opening is harder tan it looks! When trying to get her off the tunnel when working the 1-2 FC wrap, (1:48-2:00 ish) show a lot more connection on the exit of the FC: right arm way back, tons of eye contact needed. Your shoulders were closed forward so she only saw motion, so the tunnel made sense to her. She got it when you stopped moving or dropped the toy, but ideally you show stronger connection so she can get it while you are running.To get the RC on 3: decel at 2 and set the line, so you can drive to the center of the bar of 3. At 2:23 you didn’t decel or face the center of the bar so she read it as a backside.
2:40 was better for sure, in terms of you feet moving to the center of the bar and you putting pressure on the RC line.You also had plenty of time to get the blind there too 🙂 Send to 1 from further away, do a big connection on the FC and and run like mad to the BC 2-3 – extra running but makes for a better line!
5-14 looked really good! (you can layer the tunnel on the 9-10 line and meet her at 11).
The slice at 15 went well, but there is a lot of turning from the 14 tunnel to get to the slice ine at 15. It might be fun to try 15 as a wrap on the other wing and see if it is faster.
At 3:09 you sent to a post turn on 17 – the post turn made the tunnel an option for a moment – she dropped the bar then missed hte next jump. At 3:42, she didn’t drop the bar but definitely looked at the tunnel – so a spin might be better there for now, and also keep working on the wrap versus tunnel discriminations to help strengthen the verbal.
On the last rep, it looked like she turned to her left on the exit of the 19 tunnel – which is correct based on your physical cues. You were in that “tunnel magic” position 3 feet past the tunnel entry, which cues the left turn at 3:45. Compare it to 3:31, where you had a stronger rear cross pressure line and it looked like she turned correctly to her right.
The ending line looked good the first time, just remember to accelerate: you were saying tunnel but at 3;21 turned and decelerated, so she looked at you: Do you really mean tunnel, mom? You did the layer at the end, and there was a lot more motion so she didn’t ask any big questions 🙂
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>.I think he’s getting coaching from Min on his contacts.
We would all much rather than she coached him in person, but there is some comfort to know that she is still with you and Kal, somehow.
>>I hadn’t planned on it, but I do think I want to run him at the Open this Fall. Adding in the fact that he has to think more at 16, I think I’ll definitely enter him at 12s even though he has a Masters bye at 16. Knowing that the jumping will be easy for him will make me feel more confident about taking him to such a large event when he’s barely 3.
I think you will like the 12s class – and I agree, he won’t have to think as much. There is SO MUCH for these dogs to think about, keeping the heights lower makes it all easier.
>> While I am a huge advocate for believing in your dog, I think the deck is stacked against him for international aspirations since he’s up against 17in BCs.
International aspirations are a good thing, but something that you don’t need to decide now. And the EO team has a better cutoff than the WAO team does for the shelties. But at 2.5, you had so much time to figure it out!
>> (Plus he’s not going to fit under the seat on a plane).
Flying with dogs is radically different nowadays, and not in a good way 🙁 I have no current international aspirations mainly because of the travel issues.
I am looking forward to seeing you at the Open!
TracyHi! Lots of good work on this jumpers course, it is a doozy! Your connection was strong and great job with all the verbals. He was being SUPER about being responsive, following the lines you set, and not grabbing any off courses (ok, except that dog walk haha). Here are some ideas for you:
Sections:
On the opening 1-2 line, you can lead out and handle it as a serp (dog on right, facinghim but feet pointing to 2). that will help you get that line without having to time a FC or the BC. Some were on time, some were late – and a serp is much easier because you can just stand there 🙂
The foot rotation on the threadle that you did on the first run works really well for this type of threadle, just be sure to practice it so that you are not late with it. Doing the htreadle with a decel on the 2nd run (which is what you had walked) worked really well! What will help you have the plan more fully in your muscle memory is doing that section faster in the walk through – that way you will be able to nail it the first time without any added rotation.
The FC 4-5 after the threadle works but it is a little late to get to after the 3-4 threadle. As you move into the FC here, watch his head: as soon as he turns his head to the 4 jump you can start the FC even if you are not yet in perfect position. The other option there is to decel at the exit of 4 and set up a RC for 5, which will put you way ahead again 🙂
The 6-7-8 section looked great!Part 2:
You did a post turn on the 10-11-12 section, which shows the line back to the tunnel for a heartbeat and also turns you the wrong direction to get to 13, putting you behind a bit – at :48 when you ran it he was looking straight when he landed from 11 then hesitated and had to adjust to make the turn. You can send to 11 and do a spin so your feet are facing 13 before he even takes off for 11, and you can leave sooner (looking over your left for the 12 jump).The threadle wrap at 13 is looking strong, he is seeming to really understand it now! The only hard part with the threadle wrap is that you have to stay there to get it and stay there to step him to 14. What might be easier for you both as a threadle slice to the outside, because it would land him looking at 14 instead of you having to work the line.
Fabulous weave entry! Wow!!!
Part 3:
Setting up the ending line is tricky 🙂
On the backside it was hard to see the handling on the walk through because you were not looking for your invisible dog, which might be why he didn’t see it on the first run. And, to get there even sooner: you can layer the 15 jump while he is weaving and you are heading to the 17 tunnel, and you can do a BC while he is weaving rather than waiting for him to exit than do a FC. Doing the BC while he is weaving will help you be further up the line for 2 reasons:
1 – to give the cue for the 17 tunnel the even before he exits the weaves, without having to rotate
2 – to get further ahead for the 18 backside 🙂On the video, the layering of the 15 jump after sending to the weaves was very effective! That got you far enough ahead that is seemed easy to get the blind after 17 and the push to 18. Interesting that he ended up on the dog walk! It was hard to see if you were blocking the wing at :51 or not (I think your position was good) but that is a great discrimination to work on! He has a TON of value of the dog walk.
Full run (Vimeo, because the youtube video is marked private):
At the beginning, You were much earlier on the BC 1-2 bu for a heartbeat he was not sure if he should take 1. Leading out as a serp will be even easier 🙂
You did a BC 4-5 , which seemed easier than the FC but was a little late – so watching his head will help get it more timely and also I think setting 4-5-6 as a rear cross will be the easiest and fastest line too.
6-7-8-9 looked great again!
He ha da little trouble seeing the 11 commitment here, as you closed your shoulder forward through the post turn. Keeping your left arm back as you commit him will help, and try the spin there if you get a chance to play with it again.
The threadle wrap went well as did the weave entry – at the very end, you did the threadle slice on 13 and it set a great line 14-15 with very little effort from you!
He had trouble with the DW discrim so definitely good to break down and use more verbals
good job staying connected there at 1:26 to help him come over the 18 jump. By the last rep, he had sorted out that it was NOT the dog walk LOL!>> I accidentally sent Grady to the weaves after 14🤦🏼♀️
Yes, that was so funny: at 2:06 you were facing pole 12 and said weave, so he did…. good rewarding there! He was listening and not on auto-pilot!
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
Yes, there is SO MUCH foundation work to do with the pups – it takes time, which is fine! No rush 🙂
>>I hope you do some more seminars like we did in this session.
Yes, I am planning that for the winter and spring – lots of short courses and online seminars 🙂
Have fun!
TracyHi!
>>Yes, the eleavtor game has her quite concerned. The bang game isn’t as bad but it’s still a bit of a concern on her part, she seems to prefer me in the front right now.
If she doesn’t like the elevator game: skip it. She is squarely in the throes of adolescence right now and we don’t need to challenge her in ways that her brain might not have the bandwidth to handle. You can revisit it when she is closer to 18 months or 24 months. And is she is kinda sorta fine with the bang game but still concerned, dial it back to where she is not concerned at all and use only reinforcement that is magical, doing super short sessions.
>>Anything coming up that would be applicable to Beka for a small space situation (my basement)?
As we get into winter, we will have a series of short courses for handling stuff followed by skills stuff that can be indoors. I am sorting out dates right now, stay tuned!
>>For next year what would be the next logical course for Beka? She’ll be nearly two.
We have a Transitions To Trials webinar coming up in October (will be posted next week). And some distance classes. After the winter, we will have a Course Trends handling class. The MaxPup grads move up to the CAMP-level courses, with CAMP being next summer.
Have fun! I will keep you posted on what we plan in the coming months.
TracyHi!
Yes, she totally like the ball getting involved with this 🙂 Yay!
She is doing well with the left and right cues, as long as you give them early enough 🙂 At :21 , for example, you had great timing of the left verbal and physical cue, both cues were very obvious while she was still a solid 3 feet before the tunnel entry, and her exit at :22 was spot on!
Compare it to :38 where the verbal was good in terms of starting early, but you didn’t really turn to the new line til after her head went into the tunnel so she went pretty straight. Part of that might have been because the ball was present and ball often means go straight when you are moving straight. So be sure to match your change of direction to the timing of the verbal, so she can see & hear the cues while she is still a full stride before entry to the tunnel.Starting right at the tunnel for the soft turns gets the turns, but I think it is too easy for you both LOL! You are stationary and on an angle, so you don’t need to time the cues and she doesn’t need to work the exit with speed 🙂 So definitely try to start far enough back that you have to deliver the early cues – I often put out a cone or line on the ground to remind where where the dog needs to be seeing & hearing the turn cues and the Go cues.
Your Go verbals were timely too, and the ball throws really helped – so be sure to match the good timing of the verbal with the explosive forward motion she would see on course – you were decelerating to throw, so try to run forward and throw.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
