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Good morning!
>>rewarding after the handling challenge each time instead of heading back to the first jump out of the tunnel.>>
No worries about that, it is ALWAYS good to reward sooner with a young dog 🙂 It was a really strong session!!!!
I think this is looking really good, and the jump heights have come up a little more – it adds challenge but he seems perfectly fine with that. Yay! He is showing excellent commitment and understanding of the cues, so now we can look at the tiny details of where he is looking and timing.
Looking at each of the 4 cues:
For the GO lines – he is driving ahead really well! For these, you can have a placed reward out there, 15 feet past the jump, for those, so he doesn’t look back at you at all. You can leave a manner minder out there if you want, or a toy. I prefer to leave it out there the entire time (the whole session) at this stage – and then the GO reward is triggered by your marker when you see him driving straight. That can help solidify the “stay in extension, look forward even when I am behind you and there is nothing else out there” 🙂 If it is only out there for the Go lines, it becomes more of a lure and not as much of a reward, if that makes sense. You can throw the toy like you added when he was coming out of the tunnel, but I think he would still want to watch you throw it no matter how early you threw it 🙂 so the placed reward will help keep him looking straight.
Wraps – also looking good! He is really organizing himself nicely!! Little details to consider here:
At :09, starting on the jump after the tunnel, I think you said “go” on that first jump then the dig cue, so he got it but but was a little late on the response because he was looking forward and had to switch gears.He is getting into high level skill work now, because he is ready for the commitment cues to be sooner and he is executing them really independently: looking at the wrap at :41 coming out of the tunnel, you started the verbal and decel as he was in the air which is really good timing especially for a youngster… but he was looking at you over the bar which means either he needs it at liftoff, or he needs more connection (you were looking a bit forward), or both 🙂
He committed really independently and turned beautifully, so you can totally try starting the cues sooner and looking at him a bit more. You were earlier at 1:18, it looks/sounds like you were more connected and definitely started before liftoff to the jump after the tunnel – he barked at you but then went and executed a gorgeous wrap. It is a little hard to see but I don’t think he looked at you on that one, or if he did, it was a vey small look.RCs – these are probably the hardest cues here, and the least ‘natural’ for the dogs 🙂 On the rep with the 2 jumps at :18, you start with a Go cue so he was looking straight for a while there too, then turned his head just before takeoff.
When you added the tunnel at :49, this is a typical scenario where you will probably be using the RC for him. As he was exiting the tunnel and heading to the next jump, you turned and faced straight, which kept you pretty laterally away from the RC line (:50). At :51, you are starting the cue as he is over the bar but you were really far to his left, so he is looking at you, gave you a little verbal feedback LOL and then did the RC on the center of the bar of the RC jump (which means the RC was a little late).
When you did the full sequence at 1:25, you ended up a little ahead as he was approaching the jump after the tunnel, so you said ‘go go go’ but also decelerated laterally, so he totally looked at you 🙂 Like the previous RC rep, he did go do the RC on the center of the bar, but we can smooth out his questions. There are two ways to smooth it out and keep him looking forward:
When you send him to the tunnel, you can then drive more into the RC by heading to the wing of the jump after the tunnel more directly, so when he is exiting the tunnel and approaching it, you are at the wing and facing the center of the bar of the RC jump. You might have to decel a little there to set the line and let him catch up – but as soon as he is approaching the jump, you can accelerate up the line to the center of the bar of the RC jump. He will pass you and read the RC sooner.
The other option is to set the RC line up by running closer to the tunnel then running up the line, staying in motion – so you are passing the wing of the jump after the tunnel very close to it, and facing the center of the bar of the RC jump the whole time. That cues the RC on the red jump before he even takes the white jump 🙂
And you can use your right verbals on both of these.
Backside push – nice timing of the push cue at :24 and at :58 out of the tunnel, he was seeing/hearing the cues over the first jump so he got to the backside nicely! A little bark there on the first rep with 2 jumps, but I think that was more of a “this is stimulating!” bark than anything else 🙂 And on the full sequence, you did the same timing of liftoff for the white jump to start the push cues: perfect! And being consistent like that is SO helpful for him!!!!
He does bark sometimes on transitions or when there is pressure on the line – for now, I am thinking it is just excitement/stimulation and not frustration, because I don’t see any other frustration behaviors, he is successful, and your reinforcement is very consistent and fun 🙂
So overall, I am loving the high level of the timing here and how he is responding to the cues! Little adjustments (plus experience) will get him looking forward at the lines more perfectly.
Great job! Let me know what you think! And if you want to, you can do the mirror image next time so he is turning the other direction on these.
TracyGood morning!
>>Good suggestion about being dogless. That’s how I figured out what to say. I use Chaz as trial dog when I’m not sure, so she doesn’t shut down. I almost put tape with letters…I think I might do that
Smart to ask Chaz to do it first! We want to be fully prepared for the youngsters, so we can get it right the first time and do fewer reps overall – my youngsters get annoyed with me when I mess it up LOL!!!!
Have fun!
TracyI think this is looking a lot better! Try to keep all the rewards in the bowl for now, partially to keep him moving back more and more (you can wait longer to let him get front feet on now too) and partially to keep his head a little lower (he watches your hands when you are delivering from your hands, which lifts his head too high for ease of hind end use – if you keep your hands a little lower and just drop the rewards in the bowl, his head will be in more of a neutral position and the bowl will allow for a good focal point.
Nice work!
TracyYes, a reset cookie is OK to keep your elf on Team Chill 🙂 and also, remember the 2-failure rule so that she can be very successful – if she fails twice (in a row or in the session), make it easier by dialing back the challenge so that you can set her up to get it right.
Hi! Thank you for the reminder! Here are some videos of the spin, also known as the reverse spin -it is designed to get more collection. It is basically a front cross on a jump followed by a blind cross on the flat:
Here are a couple of explanation videos:
Here is what is looks like when it is more of a wrap on the jump, similar to the turn in Sequence 3 (this is what I am doing at jump 3 on sequence 3):
It won’t muddy it at all – the arm positions are very different, as are the verbals and and motion that go with them 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
>>not sure if it’s possible to make 2 more fluid for her of if the collection is good and she’s being safe>>
The opening looks good! I think the threadle opening works well for her and easily get you to the blind 6-7-8 (that looked great on all 4 reps! Really brilliant!!) She was jumping 1-2-3 really well, just the right amount of collection, and totally safe.
One thing to note on the tunnels: Don’t be quiet when she is approaching tunnels, especially tunnel 8 – tell her to go take that jump with some verbals and motion.
On the first rep, you decelerated at :18 and got quiet before the tunnel so she pulled off the jump. Stay in motion there both to get the jump after the tunnel and to carry on if something went wrong – you stopped and didn’t reward and she went to barking at you. Eventually you sent her to the reward (15 seconds later) which rewards the barking more than anything else). You kept moving a lot better on the 2nd rep, which helped her pick up the line to 9 and that allowed you to get the BC 10-11.
On the 3rd and 4th reps, you had strong motion and clearer verbals for 9, which allowed you to get the BC even better 10-11! Yay! The best verbals were on the 3rd rep, so keep being loud and often with the verbals 🙂
To help with the line to the backside, as she is landing from 10, she needs a turn cue for 11 – so you can add a left verbal and start turning sooner which will also get you up the line faster for the 14 backside.
>> I tried to push on the first one but backside slices are super hard for her>>
Does she hit the bar or the wing? I have some things coming that can help this – the first one is sequence 2 from last night, which helps to get the dogs looking at the jump bar on the backside slices like 14.
On the first rep, you wanted to push to the slice, which can totally work! Looks like you used an outside arm for 13 but might be better to use that outside arm on the push to 14, plus really direct eye contact to propel her out to it. If she doesn’t get it, no worries: Keep going there too and fix it on the next rep with more drive and connection to the backside. Carrying on without marking anything as an error is great to get the speed and flow of the course and making sure she doesn’t get frustrated.
The threadle there is probably a better line than he push to the backside (threadle slice, not the threadle wrap) but hard to get from the position coming from the previous section – after the push on 12, you can add a turn cue on 13 (a name call will probably be all she needs) and then when she is turning towards you at 13, you can add the threadle cue for 14 (just before she takes off for 13) (reward that too when she didn’t know what you wanted, reward in the moment)
You got it as the threadle wrap at 3:22 but I think the slice there would be faster and easier for you both! Let me know what is happening on the slices and we will sort out how to help her.
On the ending line – it looks like the last tunnel was set slightly offset, so the entry was not a ‘go’ but more of an ‘out’ which is why she ended up in the other end of it at 3:26, because that was the entry on her go line, good girl! Good job carrying on, she was correct 🙂
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>>first, I think I understand the break arm but have never used it. How do I train it?
It is really natural for most dogs, so we can just do i tand they respond. Take a look at this and let me know what you think:
>Second, your sesame street thought about jumps (O, C, L) makes sense but that about those jumps that are not clear, for example on skill set 4, on jump 4 rather than going to 5, what if I had been going to the unnumbered pin wheel jump. I need a decell over 4.but it is more of a C turn than an L turn.>>
For the in-between moments, it depends on the dog – I try to give them as much as needed but not too much because too much will dilute the cue. So if the C is the wrap verbal, and the turn is not a very clear wrap? I will use more of the L turn verbals. If the turn is soft but not really the L shape? I will just use a jump cue. So if you were going to the backside of the pinwheel jump like a traditional AKC 270, I would use a left verbal then my backside verbal – it is still not a wrap. If it was the front side of that pinwheel jump, for most dogs it would be a left then maybe a threadle verbal. For some dogs who do not collect well, it would potentially be the wrap verbal.
>>Finally on a pinwheel, what is the verbal?
Depends on the stride length of the dog – for bigger striding dogs or dogs that I need to get collection before takeoff on that middle jump, I would consider the left or right L shape verbals. For smaller striding dogs or dogs that don’t need collection? I just say “jump”.
Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
The video link is not working, I think it is the link to your youtube page and not the link to the video, so youtube won’t let me in. Can you repost it?>>Working on magnetic fingers and practicing talking to him not the obstsacles…except HEY…what happens when I am behind him (or should I always plan my path to be IN FRONT of him?)
When you are behind, you connect to his eyes but connecting to the back of his head 🙂 No need for magnet fingers when you are behind 🙂
>>(or should I always plan my path to be IN FRONT of him?)>>
Well, we are going to TRY to always be in front of him but he is fast with a giant stride – so I expect you’ll get behind on some lines too, so we will work on rear crosses as well and handling from behind 🙂
Tracy
Hello!
Yes, your internet started out misbehaving but then it got much better LOL! This sequence looked GREAT! I could hear a distinct difference in your verbals and could see a difference in your lines – and she nailed it! YESSSSS! Well done, member of Team Fake Chill! And she was great with that flip because we have trained it in other contexts and just tossed it in here 🙂
You and Promise were great last night, so much brilliance!!!
>>Also, friendly reminder for the GO proofing exercise for knocking the bars.
Take a look at his: basically, we proof it by adding the distractions (like the GO verbal) and reward heavily for not touching the bar:
Have fun!
TracyHi!
>>He’s on his 6th week of being therapeutic with Zoloft. I’m really liking what I’m seeing from him. He seems much happier also. >>
This is great! Yay! We want him to be happy 🙂 I am beginning to see it in your working sessions too, which is also great. So now we are going to take things to the next level in terms of the dog training aspect of it (the handling is MUCH easier when the dog training pieces are in place). And by dog training, I mean getting that relentless resilience and fight to work and the “want to” to be in the ring. With that in mind:
Yes, he did well here but I want to shift your focus in these sessions to get even more success! There were SO MANY triggers/distractions here: thunder, fireworks, pool, 3 dogs barking (including one growling/crate rushing), people, heat (he was HOT, note the little stagger at 2:52), all sorts of obstacles and such at the base of the tree… that the challenges you were going for on course were just too much and he failed way more than I want him too. I counted 19 failures where you communicated that it was a failure by marking or stopping in 5.5 minutes, not including jumps he went past or off course tunnels. Plus, he didn’t want the reinforcement you had available in the ring (which can be a stress response to the distractions and to the failures).
So since the distraction/trigger level was so high, higher than usual – dial back the challenges on the course. Short lead out, simple lines, fast lines, no tight turns or backsidey threadles or anything. Bearing in mind the 2 failure rule is in place for course work, you need to dial back the challenges in order to balance his needs with the distractions so you can get TONS of success in with almost zero failure.
That will bring him to a higher level of work – yes, we are framing it in terms of operant conditioning (reinforcement, success, failure) but the operant conditioning gives us the framework to change how he feels in the environment and with those triggers. And when he is very happy with far fewer distractions/triggers, then you can add back the harder handling (but that 2 failure rule is a lifetime rule!) Assess the environment before you make decisions about what you want to run. If the environment is challenging? Dial back the handling/couse wok challenges to pactically guarantee success. Looking at the line from the a-frame, for example: between the existing distractions and the visual distraction of all the stuff that is there, a challenging threadle to a challenging weave entry was too much and he failed a whole lot. He stayed with you generally, but that doesn’t do anything to help the underlying state of happy, relaxed focus we are trying to get. So in this case, you can do the a-frame to the front of the jump and skip the weaves, because that was all too hard. And the 2 failure rule provides a safety net if we miss the difficulties in the environment. If the dog fails twice… dial it back or stop asking for it so you can get success on the next rep and and on all the other reps.
You’re already doing a lovely job with these, and I think your handling will be really perfect when he is managing the distractions better! I think this should be the main focus this summer: happy-making getting him on these lines and the big “lemme at it!” attitude, no matter what the distractions or stresses. Setting up the session for that and the 2 failure rule will be your go-to guidelines 🙂 Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! Great job on these! And the sheep seemed to be providing some music and the horses were totally moving along with you LOL! And the feedback from your husband totally cracked me up (he was correct, of course :))
>>I took a couple days last week to work on throwing the cookie on the line especially on tunnel exits. Whistle quickly figured that out and I think it showed on the jumpers runs.
1000% Agree! He looked great, no real head checking at all!
Opening:
On both reps, the threadle plan looked smooth but facing him produced a slower blast off the start line. You might be able to run into a blind on the takeoff side to get more speed, or push to the backside from your left and run into a blind on the landing side to get him on your right for 3-4-5. He seems to REALLY love chasing you into those blinds, and it does not matter to him at all if you are a shade late.Nice blind to 7! Keep moving after you send to the tunnel – standing still causes him to slow down, and causes you to lose your momentum, which makes it harder to get up the next line. You can also give him a go verbal before he enters the tunnel
He really liked the blind at :19 and 1:00 at 10-11! If you are moving more 7-8-9, you can get there even sooner – it was a little late, happening as he was jumping, but he loved the motion and powered through with a lot of speed
On the 14 backside section: On the first run at :25 – it almost looked like you forgot 14 was a backside? The cue was a little late, you can be moving to it almost as soon as he exits 12 (he will pick up 13 on his own). You moved into it much sooner on the second run at 1:06, but you were not as adamant about it – the connection on the 2nd run was softer, and you didn’t push the line as much, so you ended up turning your shoulders to the front side which is what he took. The strong verbals and more pressure on the line really helped him get it the first time
He got to the backside but didn’t take the bar without extra help, so check out Seq 2 of the games from the live classes to help him learn to take the jump after a backside as a default behavior
You totally had a blind on the ending line of the first run at :35! As soon as you cue him to go into the 15 tunnel, keep up the loud go go go verbals so he is more independent on the 16-17 line which puts you further ahead to get the blind more comfortably. You did more of this on the 2nd run and easily got the blind! Yay! You can trust him to take jumps on his path more – as you are running for the blind here, you can be saying “jump” and no need to make a big connection on your original side then do the blind: you can just run like mad and do the blind, connecting on the new side (the left side in this case)
>My blinds could be smoother but not sure how to achieve that. Also,, Can I run these without using my arms so much ?
I think the smoother blinds can be helped by using your arms less, and also yes – you can keep your arms down and just run for most of this, using only a low send arm here and there. I think what will help the most, though, is staying in motion the whole time. For example, after 7, you can be moving towards the tunnel and using verbals, rather than sending without a lot of motion. That way he will pick up the 9 jump more easily without you needing to send (which is a decelerated cue) and that will allow you to get to the BC 10-11 more easily and sooner. You don’t need to get there much sooner at all, because he likes it when you are running on the edge and barely getting it done – it seems to like his fire LOL!!
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
It was great seeing you auditing in the live class! Maisy did well here – The warm up reps looked good!>>I can see a couple of times I pointed her into the tunnel, oops.
Yes, that was at :21 and :24, and it was the same exact blooper that I left in the demo video of running forward too much and blocking the jump, which overrides the verbal cue. Oops!
You adjusted well and moved over, so she read the line to the backside really well at :36 and the reps after it.
>>Not sure why the jump before the tunnel kept falling. When I put it up to 14″, she did better – on the last rep.
I believe it was because there was a lot happening over the bar: you are moving into her landing spot AND turning her away – and she didn’t quite get it coordinated for the first several. Then, she caught on ot hte meaning of the cue and did much better at the end! The slightly taller bar might have helped too, or she might have figured out the cue, or both.
Great job here!!! Did you get to try any of the other sequences?
Tracy
Hi! I think both of your runs here were lovely! You had a ton of great connection, lots of excellent timing, aggressive handling choices, and her commitment and responses were just lovely 🙂
Nice BC 3-4 on both reps! You had a tighter turn on the first one, you let her stick in extension more on the 2nd one so I timed it – it appears the 2nd one was faster! That surprised me a little but that is why I timed it 🙂 She is like one of my dogs – as long as she knows where to go, the prettier looking collections are always slower. Good to know!
Rest of the opening looked great, both times. YAY!!! For that threadle section 10-11, the threadle verbal can start before liftoff for 10 at :22. You sent to it and moved away sooner (but a bit backwards) on the 2nd rep at 1:14 but the threadle still started on landing, so you got pretty much the same line but the bar on 11. I think the forward movement of the first rep plus adding earlier timing (giving the verbal just before liftoff) will make it perfect.
I don’t do or recommend a ton of spins, but I think the spin would be better for her at :27 and 1:22 – the decel then post turn was a bit too wide, partially because the post turns will be wider and partially because it did not tell her way was next (the post turn shoulder and foot motion shows a lot of things before it showed the line to the tunnel). The spin would be faster here because she can immediately see what is next and power to it, like she did on the BC at 3-4 here.
I bet you can get a BC before the tunnel at :34 – she read the decel and tunnel threadle but she slowed down a lot. You were not running hard so if you ran hard there, the BC will be easy and then you can even add a spin to the tunnel entry there to get the turn on the exit as you run to the ending line. You did use a verbal on the tunnel but it was right after she entered – use it sooner, 5 or 6 feet before she enters, and keep calling her, and you’ll get a great turn.
Almost got the backside wrap at 20 at :41! So close!!! One more heartbeat of decel, letting her take a stride to the jump, will help. And then as you move forward past it, look back behind you to the landing spot to support commitment. That is the only spot where I think she can use more commitment. You waited there longer but further back on the 2nd rep – you can split the difference by continuing to move forward like you did on run 1, but decelerating into it on run 2.
Great job here!!! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
