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Hello and welcome back, it was great seeing you in the Zoom last night 🙂 felt like early Covid times LOL! I’m looking forward to seeing the Sheltie crew work these sequences!
TracyWe talked about that last night, I’ll post the video shortly. And we can keep talking about it in terms of what you’ll want to pull out of the larger sequences to work on, according to the needs of each dog.
THi!
Yes, these courses can be more challenging than they look, because the speed and lines require a lot of timing of both motion and verbals… and if one thing gets off kilter, you can have a domino effect with the cue timing and the dog ends up off course. The goal is to get everyone handling everything earlier 🙂 with as much consistency of verbals (and stripping out unneeded info) and staying in motion the whole time. It becomes habit if we rehearse, rehearse, rehearse 🙂 I am watching to see where the earlier timing is important -both to get the course cleanly but also where you are losing time on course.
Course 1:
Good job on 1-5, that is a hard opening and you got it consistently!
On the 5-6-7 tunnel-jump-tunnel line: give all the cues earlier 🙂 And don’t be quiet when he is in the tunnel, as that ends up causing him to have a delayed response to cues when he exits (he generally looks for you when youare quiet, and that causes zig zag lines). Tell him to go straight before he enters and tell him againwhile he is in it, and as he is exiting 🙂 The tunnel cue at :21 late (he was already coming to you) and not repeated enough verbally and your body cues peeled away at :22. You were much better at :49 by saying it earlier and supporting with physical cues, and you also threw up and outside arm to support the line (I am a supporter of those outside arm support cues LOL!)
YEAH for the backside after the DW at :52! And 3:02!!!! So nice!
10-11-12: One thing I notice here and in other places on both courses is that the “come” verbal might not be specific enough in terms of how much turn you want, and he is needing deceleration if you want a better turn. But decelerating all the time is hard because then you can’t get where you need to be. What is the specific definition of ‘come’? We might want to consider narrowing the criteria of it. At 11, he was jumping long for that tunnel threadle. You can also consider a soft name call before it, then the tunnel threadle verbal? remind me what his verbal is for the tunnel threadle and we can play with timing there.
More on this below, but I think there is no time to praise him during handling segments on course (during weaves, maybe, but not during jump and tunnel moments). An example is at 12-13, the tunnel to the straight line to 13: the ‘good dog’ praise turned him to you and off the line, which got the off course at 1:00 and near off course at 1:08 when you had to push him back to 13. Because the threadle sets up a rear cross on the entry of 12, telling him to Go or jump (or whatever appropriate forward cue he needs) before he enters the tunnel will smoooooth out that line and set up a good turn to the a-frame. When you did it without the rear cross on the tunnel at 1:40, he looked straight after the exit and that made the line to the jump and frame quite nice! That is good to kepe track of: when you are ahead and accelerating and it is NOT a rear cross, he will exit straight. Behind on a rear cross? Verbal forward cues are needed.
On the line from the frame to the threadle to the weaves – On the Come come flip at 1:12 for 15 – you can hold the verbal and the body cue longer til he decides to come 🙂 And can you start it while he is on the frame? It started when he got to the ground and was already striding to the jump, so it was late info.
The next rep answered my question: yes, you CAN start it on the frame because you started the flip cue on the frame and he nailed it. Later though, the verbal was ‘in in push’ so be sure you are consistent with the verbals there.
Weave miss: you said “of all the things” when he missed made me chuckle – I was surprised too, but it is a hard angle of entry. Definitely a hard weave entry, as he missed it again at 3:15 – for course running, go in one more step to support it and keep facing it like you did at 3:38 (for training, keep working those ‘soft’ side entries as they are very popular right now). I saw a fun little idea for this entry during a Zoom Q&A session with a Russian handler last night, if you are interested in hearing it!
On that jump line after the weaves: this info for 17 can come sooner, to set up a good turn to 18. By sooner, I mean it needs to start no later than exit of the poles and aybe even start it while he is in the poles (especially with the visual of that big delicious dog walk!!).
At 1:32 – you said come for 17 and he was already gathering for takeoff – he was wide and that made the switch cue at 19 wide too, because you then wait for him to come back to the line to then be able to give him that cue. You don’t have to wait, though – if one cue is late, the next cue can be right on time to get back on track. Same with the timing at 3:22 (cues as he was lifting for it) and the bar came down).At 1:51, you got a better turn there with decel but that put you too far behind and accelerating into 19. You can get the switch with decel and the RC even when you are behind, by decelerating and starting the cues when he is lifting off for 18. This is closer to what you did at 3:24 and 3:46 and he did a good job with it! He was not 100% sure of it (fell on his head a bit) so it is definitely something to keep showing him. He is questioningthe tightness of the switch at a distance, so you can add 2 things: call him again after it to show him the tightness, and accelerate away to the next line (and reward) so he drives back hard to it.
Ideally, you would leave him entirely in the poles, consider layering 2, to be up past 17 and heading to 18 as he exits the poles – that should set a sweet line an a great turn at 19!
Ok, now about that praising:
Be careful of praise instead of info – it delays the cues and he is waiting, I am seeing it a lot on course here. Good boy for him waiting for info, but it might get you into fault territory later in the sequence somewhere. For example, after he got the threadle at 15 at 1:45, you praised. Watch his head: he flicks it back and forth trying to sort out what the next line is.
And the “good boy” for the tunnel threadle at 12 (3:08 for example) doesn’t give line info so he curls into you and has to be pushed back out.For him, I think the correct behavior can be marked with the next cue and that will be super reinforcing (for you both :))
Course 2: This one went more smoothly for sure!
Timing of push to 3 at :13 was after he landed from 2, so he had to adjust. Play with starting it before he takes off for 2. so he lands facing 3 🙂
Then when he is taking 3, you can be saying the right cue for 4 (he took off looking straight there at :16) then when he has 4 and is turning, you can accelerate (he slowed down between 3 and 4, waiting a bit). This was a domino effect moment – the whole section can be faster/smoother by starting the cues before he lifts for the previous jump.Nice layering of the a-frame at :20 – he had a big question but the more he sees the layering concepts, the fewer questions he will have . I think your timing was good there (that teeter cue started nice and early amd you had parallel line acceleration), it was a lack-of-experience question.
On the reverse wrap at :25 (teeter-jump-weaves) – you can be in that center-of-the-bar position to cue the entry to the wrap, but then you need to move forward out of it so he sees/hears the wrap cue too – you held position there at the center of the bar and he jumped wide as indicated by your position. You don’t need to blind cross the exit, you can still RC the weave entry like you did, but moving off his line will make for a sweeter turn there.
He had a good turn on the weave exit because you started the verbal before he finished and you were in a great position! (:30). Trust his commitment more (and stay connected of course) so you can push past the wing of 10 there to show the line to 11 – all before he organizes his takeoff for 10.
Jump – DW- tunnel looked great and you put yourself in a strong position! You said “ENZO” before he entered the tunnel a : 37 and that seemed very effective there. The “right come come” and decel might thave been too much – he stopped at tunnel exit, waiting for more info. So maybe just the big ENZO and the a jump cue as you move up the next line will keep him moving. When you worked the end again from the DW, you used right right right in the ‘early and often’ method between the DW and the tunnel and kept moving, his speed and line was MUCH better there throughout!
On that closing line – the first rep got zig zaggy because you had extra acceleration coming out of the decel from the tunnel after the DW. The 2nd rep was MUCH clearer, the only thing to move earlier in timing is when you send him away to 17 with his check check (1:19), you can turn and get outta there for 18-19. You didn’t start the FC til after he had landed and come around the jump at 1:21 so he was coming to you rather than driving the line Then the acceleration cued a big extension and things got zig zaggy 15-16-17 – I would turn him left at 17, as soon as he gets the crrect turn over 16, send to 17 and FC to 18.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHello and welcome!! I think you will find that we can make it work for any skill level… we have all skill levels here from baby dogs just getting started in trialing and Masters dogs who compete nationally, and everyone in between 🙂 I am excited to see you and Hoke in action!
TracyHello, great to see you here!!! Select is a perfect age for this – onwards to getting more miles on him and into more trials 🙂 Have fun!!!
TracyHello and welcome to you and MOOSE!!! It is so fun to see you here online 🙂 Fun times ahead!!!!
Tracy
Hello and welcome!!!
I am hoping Kippy feels better ASAP, that must be so hard to not totally know what is hurting him. And Emmie is ready to pick up the full load, she is a perfect age for putting all the pieces together 🙂 This year FLEW by! I am excited to see you both 🙂
TracyTo get the courses into the Course Designer program, use the tiny text I included 🙂 Copy the full text including the words “start course designer” and “end course designer” and then paste it into a blank course map in the program. That should work! Let me know!
TracyHi!
>.what are you actually saying and where? I can hear the ‘tunnel’ cue, do you have a ‘jump’ cue? or di you use “go” for the jump after the tunnel?
Just before the dog entered the tunnel, I was saying “go” to ask him to exit the tunnel straight. Then I was saying “jump” for the jump after the tunnel, and left/right to indicate the middle jump of the pinwheel (meaning, that that jump and turn left/right depending on which side he was on).
>>and landing off that jump, do you use left or right for heading to the middle jump? It seems to me that if you do, they should rightfully be taking the jump on the same plane as the one they have just taken (and back into the tunnel without the middle jump). Or do you use right and left on the middle jump only?>>
The left/right is a cue for a soft turn on the jump in the middle, so the dog would land facing the next jump (not all dogs need this – my smallest dogs would not, and would just hear a “jump” cue there, and Sassy is probably similar to that). Left/right is a jump commitment cue, not a turn on the flat cue (also not a wrap cu), so when the dog is landing from the jump after the tunnel, the left or right verbal is intended to tell the dog to take the middle jump in moderate collection to make the turn. Let me know if that makes sense 🙂
TracyOH NO!!! MORNING BAGEL TRAUMA! The only cure for that is… more bagels, of course. Veggie spread sounds delish – what did you put in it?
Now I am hungry… and I have bagels in the house…. LOL
Good morning!
I love your 3-wing tunnel – clever!!!>>> I didn’t include but she does run by the jumps.
Feel free to include that – those moments help me give you ideas more than the perfect moments 🙂
Her understanding of commitment as you start those blinds is really outstanding when she is on your left! Just perfect!
On your right, she is definitely not as comfortable as you can see when she came off the jump at :27 and was a little sticky at :33.
>>I am thinking to get her better turning to left, just doing pinwheels with the sends and race tracks with rewarding, making it easier?? I think that’s what you suggested before.>
Yes – more value for commitment when she is on your right and turning to her left will help: lots of right-side lazy games to strengthen her left turns, breaking down the sequencesa bit, and getting closer to the line and delaying the crosses a tiny bit. It will all balance out in the coming months.
>>She had trouble with getting the jumps after the wings to the left, so I broke it down and then did some racetracks.>>
That was great dog training and really helped build up more value.
The FCs at 1:06 and 1:18 were good to see but they are definitely harder than the blind 🙂 You would need to start them even earlier to get them finished and out of the way before she needs the line. This is a spot where the FC is not worth it, compared to the blind – compare the last 2 reps, where the crosses began at roughly the same time: the 2nd to last rep was the FC and she had to wait for you to finish. The last rep was the blind… and it was perfect 🙂 So the BC wins this round for sure 🙂
>>I remembered I really needed to be lateral to get to the crosses. I’m impressed with her lateral start sends.
Totally agree, she was GREAT with those!!
>> Maybe with your help, I won’t be late for my fronts like I am with Chaz and Tali lol. I do really want some distance with her so I can get places and not be late.>>
While I do think some of the FCs here could have started earlier, I don’t think the question is about being late on the FCs here… I think it is about if the BC is simply the better option. And, in almost all AKC, which is your primary venue? The BC is the better choice if the handler can execute it confidently. The FCs feel late (even when started on time) because they take a long time for all of us to get our rotation in, when a BC would already be finished 🙂
So it might not be a timing issue with Chaz… it might be a ‘do more blinds’ thing 🙂 We will definitely be working on knowing when the BC is better (and vice versa) as this class continues 🙂
Nice work! Let me know what you think!
TracyHello and welcome! I love this photo of her 🙂
The week 1 skills sound like they are going well! You’ll find her getting faster and faster with these too, get your running shoes ready 🙂
T
Good morning!
Nice work here! I agree, we don’t really want more speed from her… but I think we are going to get it anyway hahahaha 🙂On the one step sends – think of sending to takeoff then moving away to the next line (more like what you did at :49), rather than sending then moving around the line (like at :19 when she pulled the bar on the middle jump).
I also notice she is bringing the toy back much faster 🙂 Big difference in just a short time!!
When adding in the full sequence – if your intention is to send to the middle jump, you can decelerate into the send, so as she is approaching the jump after the tunnel you are slowing down to prep the send… then as she is landing, you can send & leave (which will also make the right or left directionals sooner). I think you did an especially great job of that at 1:37!!! 2:08 was good too, but the verbal as a bit late and yes… your arm was a bit high 🙂
If you are running through it, try to start those left & right verbals as she is approaching the jump after the tunnel, so she hears it super early.
Timing sequence:
>>going to have to move up my timing on stuff like this for now – way late trying to say the verbal on landing from the previous obstacle. Probably needs to be on the take off side for now>>
I think what was happening here on the first rep was that you were seeing her land and then starting the verbal, so the verbal coincided with her being halfway between the 2 jumps. Try to anticipate: when you see her getting ready to takeoff for the previous jump, start the verbal so it happens in the air, and also while she is landing.
You anticipated it all much better on the 2nd rep and after that – and bear in mind, that you will be saying a lot of these verbals more than once, bringing the timing up to cover all your bases: early, on time, and even late just to be sure for now LOL!
>>do you think we should stick with 4″ or move to 6″??
I would go to 6″ for her, but lock them into the bars so we don’t get any desensitization to dropped bars as you both work out your timing and mechanics.
Nice work here!!!!! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
