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Hi!
He did well here! The GO lines were easy and fun š Nice connection!
>I omitted the rears bc I literally used the wrong directions and the first 2 reps she turned the way I said not the way I moved. ( good dog. Bang head here)>
Yes! Good girl! But also the physical cue was late, like at :25 where she was gathering for liftoff and you were just starting the RC line. So Be sure she sees you going directly to the center of the bar, even if you start that line before she passes you (otherwise the cue is late).
The backside wraps are going well too! She is at her best when you were walking through the countermotion – running through it was still a little hard. And tossing the reward behind you is really helping too š You can gradually add more and more speed as she learns to take the jump even with the countermotion.
And she also found the backside easily when you maintained the connection until she got close to the wing. At 1:17 you āreleasedā the connection too soon (looked forward) so she curled into the front of the jump.Great job!
TracyThank you so much for the gift!!!! I’m so grateful! I wish I saw you sneak in, it would have been fun to say hi š I’ll definitely see you in July at Paws in Groton!!!
Tracy
Hi!
I admit that I was secretly hoping youād do FAST for real, but I didnāt want to suggest it because we hadnāt seen the courses or environment, so it was more of an āin the momentā call. She did great!
She looked perfectly at home in the soccer center! And I think she really likes the footing! I have never seen her run this fast OMG!
>I said her name and she turned on a dime & came out of the tunnel! That was allll me. I say Frankieās name when sheās in the tunnel so she turns to my voice and that is not going to work for Bazinga.>
I think with more experience, it wonāt be an issue. She is probably not used to big sends like this so she was paying extra attention.
>The second FAST she got! She even did an A Frame! She got her very first official AKC Q <3āØI donāt have a video of her Q though. >
Bummer about the video but congrats on a great run! Did you at least get a cool Boston Terrier ribbon?
The FEO runs were also really good. Looks like she gave back the leash and lined up really well! And she was FAST FAST FAST! The only time in JWW that she didnāt find a line was when you were praising her or calling her too much (she was like āwhat is that cue, HUMAN?!?!ā Hahaha). She had a little off course at the beginning of the Tuesday JWW because your turn cue was late – she was FLYING.
She might have left the start line in the 3rd JWW before you released her, so be careful of that š She did great here too, SO FAST! I liked the spacing on these courses too, the dogs could really run run run!!!
Looking at the weaves – I think they are going better than you think they are going š
When she is on your right, the weaves are going really well! Keep adding a little more of your motion and also easier angles so see if she can control her speed and decel into them, and you can have the MM hidden behind a wing so she doesnāt see you throw the reward all the time. The only ānopeā on the right side is when you tried to rear cross, but no worries, we donāt need that yet.
>She seems better on offside than onside but we are struggling.>
Yes – dog on left is HARD (this is normal). So for that side, separate it from the other side in terms of what you ask her to do. You can open up the weaves a little when doing dog-on-left reps. Ask for simple entries with you moving alongside her or a little ahead. When you are behind her and not moving as much, she curls out of them (probably just needing a bit more motion support for now).
And use a lot of line up cookies between reps especially on that side: when she has a miss, no worries, you can still use a lineup cookie. That way she wonāt be as frustrated as she works through any failures (and you wonāt be as frustrated :)) When she is frustrated on that side, she loses her mechanics. So keeping it easier on the hard side and using those line up cookies will totally help!
I think things are going well – she is definitely weaving on your right now we have to balance it so she can do it from your left too š
Great job!
TracyHi!
I just refreshed it to be sure it is visible. You should be able to see it – you might have to refresh your browser to get it to come up. Let e know!
TracyHi! She did REALLY well here, totally looking for her jumps and managing her striding really well!!! YAY!!!! Super high rate of success!
I think for now, keep using food as a reward – it is a little less stimulating and also allows you to get a TON of reinforcement into her in a short time.
With this setup, 2 ways to proceed:
– add more of your speed, bit by bit
– separately, ever so slightly change the angles so she has to manage her lead changes and also find the front side of the jump even if it might be easier to run past it. You can do this by angling the jumps where they were here, and then changing their position slightly by moving them off the line (but not requiring any threadles or side change). Start this at a slow jog, then we will build your speed back in.
Great job!
Tracy
Hi! This is a great update! Yes, his performance in class was excellent and the deeper hits on the a-frame are great: but it is even better knowing he felt great the next day. Yay!
For the backing up to keep him straight, it is totally fine to use aids like 2 x-pens, or an x-pen and a wall to create a channel for him to back up straight.
Have fun!
TracyHi!
>
Iāll make sure thereās no medical issue and then start making a few things simpler again with weaves and teeter so itās all happy and fun.>Perfect! And have them really ādig aroundā as much as they can – weird little things can be restricting movement or causing pain (someone at a seminar today said her dog had pain in a tiny muscle that weād never even heard of, but it was changing the way she was using her hind end).
>Yes, he had multiple yeehaw barks and them some alarm barking (that was indeed his voice!) although Iām not sure what he was alarmed about in that case. Maybe just all the movement all of a sudden when people started going into the ring to set bars. >
It is possible that even he didnāt know what he was alarmed about šš¤£ he might have surprised himself – arousal is a slippery situation!
>I sure as heck wasnāt going to shush him in that moment. >
Right! Let him sing!
<
>āØDefinitely possible. Iāve been thinking back and likely ānoā he has not seen quite that setup before. > Yeah, that is the hardest part of agilityā¦ ALL of the variations and possibilities they have to be exposed to. It is a complex sport!!
>Iāll keep you posted on all the medical stuff just for funzies.>
Cool! I am looking forward to hearing what they say!
Tracy
Also – do you have access to any of those white accordion gates that we often see as ring gating at trials? Or know anyone who can loan them?
Hi!
This was an informative session!
Try to shift the focus of the session to getting reward in for finding jumps (rather than trying to get complete lines or sticking to a specific order of jumps). You can mix up when he get the reward (after 1 jump or after 2 jumps or 4 jumps then 1 jump etc)to make it exciting and keep her seeking out the jumps.In this session, she had a 50% rate of success (which is also a 50% rate of failure). 2 of the successes were placed rewards, so that is not as effective as the surprise throws when she seeks out a jump.
So places to reward –
She found the jump on the lead out on the first rep – Totally a great place to reward.
She missed a jump but then got back on the line at 1:30ā¦ you can totally reward that! You got a good reward in at 2:13 for just one jump.
Stopping her for going around was frustrating for her, and you can see she was getting more unsure and actually froze up at 2:46 (this happened at the trial too). So more reward for seeking out the jumps as you slow job around will be super – think of it as a higher speed lazy game š
I would be interested in seeing how it goes on grass if you take out some of the speed by putting the jumps 15 feet apart (still at 16ā) and reward her for seeking out the jumps with you just walking. It is like a hard jump grid when you do this, but it is great for getting dogs looking for jumps – I would use giant chunks of food as the reward for it, as that might end up being a great reward for jump seeking (for now :))
Nice work!
Tracy
Hi!
Mixing the cues all up in this game is the true test of whether your handling was on time or not – the session went great!He was able to do the RC on the very first rep 1 – no placed toy needed, he has figured out rear crosses! Your timing was earlier and even better on the next rep and he also got it really well when you changed sides. Yay!
Go lines went well (he forgives the throw that hit the wing LOL)
He had a couple of questions about the wraps: it comes down to showing him more of the transition into deceleration, before you rotate.
The left turn wrap at :23 did not have any decel so when you rotated, it looked like a RC cue (I did the same thing on the demo video, oops!) You had a little more decel on the next rep so he got the wrap, but you can make a more obvious transition: run fast forward for a couple of steps, then as he exits the wing wrap, let him see you go from fast to slow (still facing forward) – that is the main part of the wrap cue. And when he is crunching into collection right in front of the jump, you can do the rotation.
I think the same thing happened when you did the FC wraps on the other side – at :50 it did look a little like a RC for a moment but then he caught himself and ended up back jumping. So definitely add the forward-facing decel in and I think it will be clearer for him.
>I donāt think he has great understanding of the backside though ā and now I realize I was supposed to keep going instead of fronting again. >
He is cueing off the connection and line of motion right now, and that is fine š And no worries about the FC there, it looked good and made the reward happen fast š You can add the circle wrap next time.
The first one was great, really clear connection on the cue all the way til he got to the backside. Super! The connection was not as clear at :59, you were pointing forward a little more which blocks connection and turns your shoulders to the front side. You added more connection on the last rep and it worked great! You can keep your arm behind you for longer, so you donāt accidentally curl your shoulders to the front side as he is passing you.
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi! This went great!
She said the serps were no problem at all! And she also did well with the tunnel sends/layering the jump. The threadle went well too, her only question was whether āin inā was a release or not LOL!!
Since this all went so well, you can move to the advanced level with you adding your motion before the release, and changing her start angle for the serps and threadles.
Great job!
TracyHi!
He did really well with the āget outā game! Super! He found the jump each time but also didnāt go to it when you did the balance reps of running past it.
>I can see Iām not really taking a straight line like I should be and Iām angled towards the jump. >
Yes, your line of motion for the āget outā should be basically the same as the balance reps. You can put a leash down on the line so you can see the line and not accidentally get too close to the jump. And that will also help you start the advanced level, which he looks ready for here.
Wind In Your Hair: this also went really well!
Rep 1 needed more connection but you fixed that on rep 2 – it was great!You can make an earlier transition into decel, starting just as he lands, to set up the wrap (it will start even sooner as he get more experienced). And when you decel, be sure to face forward rather than turn your shoulder away from the line.
You can see this on the 1st rep on the other side at :46 – you were a little late showing the decel (happened as he was arriving at the jump) and you were pulling away, which looked more like a 90 degree turn. Compare to the rep at 1:06 on that side- you had earlier decel and you were facing forward more, so he read it easily as a tight turn. Yay!
He had a bar down at 1:18 – the decel was a little late so he had trouble adjusting in time for the wrap. Your timing on the last rep was much better!
>Iām not sure if he deflated towards the end because he knocked that bar or if he had just depleted his energy.>
He did not seem to like hitting the bar there but also he was moving differently, a little hunched? So maybe he got a stinger from hitting it or he had to poop or something š His brain was still fully engaged but his body was less sure.
You can kind of see his movement changing on the last video 2 (was this done after the wind in your hair?). You can see him carrying his left hind more than he was pushing off with it to jump (:03, :14, :23 for example). He hit the bar at :43 and looked back at it, as if saying āouch!ā
The left turn RCs looked great! You were really clear as you moved up the rear cross line to the center of the bar so he seemed to have no questions.
You were later getting on the RC line on the other side which is why he didnāt read it as well. At :36, :46, :56 and 1:06, your first movement after he exited the tunnel was pulling your shoulders/feet to the left then trying to cut behind him after he passed you. Compare to the rep at :07, for example, where you went straight up the line to the center of the bar after he exited the tunnel – much clearer info.
>I guess it could be the set up, >
Part of it was that it was close to the fence, so you might have been automatically pulling away from the fence š
>but I think I need to go back to a different exercise to solidify his understanding of rears.>>
I think the only tweak is to run more straight to the center of the bar like you did on the first side, those were great š
Nice work here!!
Tracy
Hi!
>Did a session on the āswitchā cue this morning that at the time I thought went great, nearly perfect, >
I agree with this assessment – great session on a hard skill! She did her switch each time and then followed your line perfectly when you wanted her to ignore the jump. Yay!
>but in watching the video Iām not sure if Iām āhelpingā too much? Too much feet turning at the jump to cue it or toy out too early to call her past?>
Nope! You were really strong and not too helpy š It is HARD to show the dramatic upper body cue without getting a little movement towards the jump but you were good about controlling/minimizing it on the side and GREAT and running straight on the 2nd side. You can see how straight you were running at :41 for example. Really nice!!!
>I also realized that when I was preparing to do the blind I couldnāt cue with the outside arm like when I wasnāt doing the side change,>
I think you got it with the outside arm and good timing though! It is HARD because of how quick you have to do it, but look at the rep that starts at :54. You cued the switch with the outside arm and saw her lock on (:55), so you got rid of that arm and started the blind so it wa basically done when she took off for the jump at :56. Nice!!! The only thing to add there is keeping your arms in tight to your ribs to make the blind even quicker.
>The blind was inevitably late because of how close the wing is to the jump- by the time she saw and committed to the jump she was only one stride from it.>
It is a tight space but you are getting the timing! That turn at :56 was really nice! Your gut instinct in the moment was correct: super strong session!
Nice work š āØ
TracyHi!
>I have struggled with what verbal to use for a ājumpā.
Based on what you described, you have very specific verbal for straight/extension, wrap, 90 degree turns, and get out. The āmissing linkā is that grey area of take the jump on a slight arc (the amount of turn is minimal and it doesnāt fit into any of the other verbals).
>Is there a way around this without having yet another verbal? >
I just say ājumpā š For me, that means ātake the jump on a very slight curl towards meā and it has also been useful for jump-tunnel discriminations. And if I need more? I add a brake arm to turn the dog more if needed.
>The seminar presenter just stood in front of the tunnel so we could move on to the rest of the handling bits on the course but Iām still scratching my head how to approach this with āfutureā dogs (ie Beat).>
Do you have a course map? Or can you draw the sequence? We can map out what verbals work best and maybe even run Beat on that little section š
