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Wind in your hair – other side – also great even with you having to avoid running into the pole LOL! Great connection and verbals!
Different angle on the set point looking great, and it answers my question from above – you were walking. So as you release and drag the toy, you can try jogging 🙂
The other thing you can add here is to raise bar #2 up by 2 more inches (if it is 8″ here, go to 10″). And when you raise the bar, go back to walking with the toy dragging so we don’t have 2 new things happening at once.
One set point rep – super nice too! Were you walking or running with the toy? If you were walking, you can move up to jogging. If you were jogging, try running! That adds a little motion challenge.
This is a rep of the set point – super nice! To keep track, this is a 6 foot distance, I think, 2nd bar set at 8″? I see more set point reps below, so if they are all strong like this one, then we can raise the bar. See more below!
Hi! This is so cool that you were able to work him on turf, he moves really well on turf!
This is a rep of wind in your hair with the placed toy – perfect! The next step is to add even more distance between the wing and the jump so he can leave you in the dust more, but you might already have that in one of the next videos.
T
Hi!
>.I don’t think she knows what ARGHHH means, but I could be wrong, it’s all in the tone after all. 🙂 I try not to do that but was frustrated by that point and it sneaked out and I knew I’d get in trouble. I left it in hoping you could give me feedback on why she was breaking, and you did! But on those days when I can’t hold in my frustration I really should just stop.>>
I think they do recognize our body language and tone (dogs are great at reading us). No judgement though, we all have our ARGH moments with puppies LOL!!!! I totally relate!
>>I’m going to go back and compare those lineups and stop changing sides for now. If the problem persists, I’ll do a “breaking stay” video.
Yes, keep me posted! She is so keen to do the agility that she is trying to stay engaged as you move away… the smooth transition into the stay will really help her.
Tracy
Hi!
We are looking forward her to be pretty centered between jumps 1 and 2, like she was here, without stretching out too much or without scrunching too much. She looked a tiny bit scrunched here, as if she had to power down to fit in the 5 foot gap. So, we will see how she feels about 5.5 feet. We are looking for that sweet spot distance to use as we raise the bar and add more challenge. That sweet spot will continue to shift for a while, and that is fine 🙂
TracyHi!
>> More rain yesterday and today. Enough already!
For real!! You are due for some good weather!!!
>>I’m still confused about using the word switch. It makes sense when it was wing, jump, switch lead to the tunnel which is a U turn. It makes less sense (to me) when it’s wing, jump do NOT take the tunnel and take the jump across the box. >>
I think the switch use on the 2 jumps will make better sense when you have all of the distance added to it. taking the tunnel out of the equation for a moment: you can switch her away on the first jump, cue the 2nd jump and stay on the landing side of jump 1 to head towards where the tunnel entry would be (the way it happens in the sequence). The tunnel there for her to go past just adds an extra (evil) challenge 🙂 but you will still be getting the big distance, layering, and ‘u-turn’ feel.
>>If I say switch for both turns over the jump after the wing what determines the degree of turn?
The timing of the physical cue, handler position, and the timing of the next verbal. So ideally: for the switch to the tunnel, I would try not to go past the center of the bar of the jump, use my switch cue before takeoff, and as the dog is lifting off, I would be already running the new direction and saying tunnel.
To get the jump, I would go more towards the exit wing (to create a little less turn) but the timing is the same: switch cues happening before takeoff and the jump cue in progress before landing. The big distance layering here requires a lot of understanding of jump versus tunnel verbal.Needing to have slightly different position and handling but the same verbal is the same as using the same verbal for a backside slice push, even if the exits are slightly different – because the only other option is to add even more verbals and I am personally not interested in that right now LOL!!
>>Also, your comment about more upper body when it’s the jump jump combo means extend my arm out?>>
On those, you can show more of that ‘check mark’ arm movement action with the opposite arm as she is approaching the first jump. You were using more motion and foot movement to get it, and it would be good to try to get it done with just the arm movement.
>>We also got the backside of that second jump a fair amount. What do I do to get the front side? More upper body and turn sooner?>>
My guess is that the 2nd jump was every-so-slightly off the line so the backside was the intuitive path and the front side was much harder to find. For now, set the training sequence so she squarely sees the front side of the bar as she exits the first jump. That will get her looking for it on a jump cue or a left cue. Then you can eventually move it over a little and add in a threadle cue to get the backside of it, if you wanted to show her that challenge.
>>On the switch out of the tunnel to the jump I felt like she was anticipating and slicing rather than turn on the flat first. That’s why I did a few reward to my hand. Tandem turns are hard for me to get the mechanics right.>>
Yes, she was not really turning on the flat – but it was a timing thing because she was not getting the cue til after she was out of the tunnel, so she didn’t have a lot of time to make the turn. It will feel weird to start it when she is 5 or 6 feet in front of the tunnel entry, but it will help her make the turn.
>>I knew I did too many reps as it was my only chance this week to get something done.
I don’t think it was too many reps overall… I think it was too many reps of the same thing without mixing in some ‘go straight’ moments so she didn’t go on auto-pilot 🙂 I think she has the mental stamina for a session of this length spread out through the day, but was anticipating or losing focus because it was the same thing too much. So you can spice it up by changing it up more frequently.
>>I was surprised the few times I said tunnel and she chose the jump.
I think it was motion overriding the verbal in those cases, plus she had been recently rewarded there – so it was more of an auto-pilot thing and less of a brain fry thing 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
Yes, this totally worked well! She was driving ahead beautifully! Be sure that you are running too – you were connected and saying “go” but rotated sideways and not running. Both you and Changste get to run on these LOL! That way she gets the feeling of driving ahead of you.Great job!
TracyGood session here! Nice with the toy placement!
It was definitely challenging for her and she was adjusting how she moved in each rep. My favorite rep was the one that started at :19. I think her front feet were in the sweet spot relative to jump 1, about 6 inches away perhaps, so she had the best push off from her rear and the most balance between the jumps and over jump 2. The first few reps had her maybe a little bit close so she had trouble powering in, and the last one was maybe a little bit far in terms of the starting position so she had to ‘reach’ more. So keep aiming for that 6 inch sweet spot away from jump 1!And now we stay at this distance and height and let things percolate a bit. If this was filmed yesterday/Tuesday, let it sit in her brain for another day or two and revisit it on Friday or Saturday. Do everything exactly the same and we will see how she does! We want it to look consistently smooth like the rep at :19 before we add challenge to it.
Great job!
TracyThis was also lovely! I admit to being worried that you were going to run into the pole LOL!!! Glad you didn’t 🙂
And it was HILARIOUS when she turned herself around to face the jump and the toy 🙂 Good girl to do the wrap when asked! And that is great prep for a common course design element nowadays: having to start on a jump that is facing away from the course.
She was super! So the next steps here are to spread the wing and jump out even more, so that you are both running more 🙂 You can repeat the go verbal as she drives further and further ahead, and you can also vary your start position: sometimes really close to the wing, so she leaves you in the dust, and sometimes closer to the jump and send to the wing, so she chases your line.
Great job!!!!
TracyHi! This was lovely!!
I think this was still the 5 foot distance, yes? If so, a plan for the next session:
– move to 5.5 feet and do 2 reps of everything the same as you did here. And if all is good (I am guessing it will be great!) move bar #2 up another 2 inches. I think it was 8 inches here so can go to 10 inches, but if it was 10 inches here you can go to 12 inches. Do maybe 3 reps like that. And send the video LOL!!! I expect it will all be lovely like it was here, but it is fun to watch her sort it out and also it will be good to see if she has any questions.Great job!
TracyHi!
I am glad she is feeling better!! And I am also glad she had fun at the practice jump 🙂
Set point – what was the distance between jumps here? This will help us keep track. And her line up spot looked really good too!
Overall, her jumping form is developing really well (it is easier to see if you watch it in slow motion because she has very fast feets!!!) My only suggestion is to be more consistent with your release, in terms of when and where you are when you release her. It won’t make a big difference on this grid (because it is an easy one for her) but it will be helpful for when things get harder and for when we add height because it is one less thing for her to have to think about.Her stay is looking good so ideally, the toy is on the ground about 10 feet past the jump, then you release and walk forward dragging the toy. I think you were not really trusting her stay LOL so you were releasing, getting the toy in, and running all at once, at different spots. So she didn’t always seem to know if she should release when the toy moved or not. Moving more slowly will help her hold the stay as you lower the toy before the release.
The pill bug games are looking good! Things looked easier when you didn’t get quite as as far ahead, like at :26 (it is hard to maintain connection when you are way ahead on these), You were great about varying when you rewarded in terms of how many steps. And she was generally great about staing on one side of you unless you did the blind (the only accidental blinds where when you were a little disconnected, probably trying not to run into the tunnel LOL!!)
She did really well when you cued the blind cross too! Super!!
And yes, I feel your pain about running into the tunnel, that definitely adds an element of excitement to this game LOL!!
You can definitely add the 2nd tunnel when you get a chance.
>>I’ll be on hold from April 1 to 12th. I’m traveling to stay with my Mom while she has surgery.
We will miss you! Hoping for a speedy recovery for your mom!!!!
>>I won’t have any dogs with me 🙁 I’ll watch all the videos though so that we can play when I get back. I’ll double down on our efforts this week so that we don’t fall too far behind.>>
No worries, there is plenty of catch up time built into the class and also at the end, so you don’t need to feel pressured to keep up 🙂
>>I missed the flyball tournament! I was so bummed!!! I hope they run it again.>>
ESPN did a great job and there was a Boston Terrier running too!!!! It is on ESPN 2 and I am sure they will run it again 🙂
Great job here!!
Tracy
