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Good morning!
Hope you had a break in the rain! It has been bad here!!
>> Keiko started out well, though she got twisted around at the end of the first run and made up her own ending. 😉 I”m really not sure what happened – perhaps I needed to go closer to the far jump? Did I do something strange with my hand that made her take the jump on the wrong side? I just treated it as though it was correct and she seemed quite happy.>>
It was good to treat it as correct, because she read you correctly LOL!! At :44, you turned your shoulders forward with a high arm, so she said “aha! I know that one, it is the threadle!” Good girlie! On the layering, she definitely likes when you move parallel to her on the other side of the tunnel, so moving forward more with your arm lower and more eye contact will help.
>>On the second run, her daddy came out to watch, and she wasn’t able to stay focused. Or perhaps I started moving laterally and signaled with my arm too soon? It felt to me like I was doing it the same way as before, but perhaps, with him watching, my timing was off for both of us? >>
She was totally looking to her left 🙂 when you were on her right. My guess is that is where The Daddy was watching LOL! So it was not a handling question, it was a “OMG DADDY” question LOL!!
She was a little distracted on the last run too, looking around – not sure if she was pooped out with the humidity, or looking for the dad, or wanted more motion…. but one thing you can do it to up the value of the reinforcement. On a simple line where you are running and there are not many challenges, you use the lotus ball. But on the big layering, or when The Daddy is there, or when it is hot/humid (humidity really is hard for the dogs)… you can bring out the frisbee 🙂 and reward a lot. That can balance out doing the same things a few times, or when there are distractions or not a lot of motion. (or all of the above).
If you get a break in the rain, try it with the frisbee 🙂
>>How long do we have left for posting and feedback?
Til September 17th! Plenty of time for more fun 🙂 She will like the games from the live class last night 🙂
Nice work here!
TracyGood morning!
Looks like he is feeling better and I am glad the chiro helped!
>> And I was thinking the same as you about just starting the Doxy for Ronin anyway, but hubs doesn’t agree exactly and he did improve with chiro work. So I have an appt. soon for lyme re-test and also going to do full X-rays of joints too just to be sure.
A lot of vets offer the doxy cycle now because it can help the dog when diagnosis is challenging… and TBD is challenging to diagnose! If there is a tick issue, it might not be Lyme. So I think the fuller test is a C6 to check for more. Hopefully it is nothing!
Lots of good work on these videos! Yay!!
Video 1:
More connection needed on the landing and takeoff of the 2nd jump.
On the landing side (first rep), he ran past it because you kept him on your right and should have already done the blind to your left. The right side with your shoulder closed forward caused him to run past. When you revisited this at 1:08, you opened your shoulder to serp him in and that totally helped! But it delayed the blind so he had to slow down when he landed. So instead of serp-then-blind, you can just do the blind like you did at 1:25 and 1:37 so he drives right in. Those were great!When you worked on the cross on takeoff side of 2:
On the 2nd rep, I think the tunnel is not quite far enough past the line for him to see the jump, so he needed more room which you gave him on the next rep so he found it nicely 🙂About the line back to the tunnel: yes, he had connection questions 🙂 the tunnel verbal is not enough when the connection doesn’t indicate which side of the tunnel (he could see the other side past the jump)
At the end of the rep at :48, you were running hard and started looking forward as you passed the jump – he no longer had side info, so he stopped to sniff (lack of info is stressful!) If you freeze the video at :50 you can see your back is to him, your arm is out, you are saying tunnel… and he is sniffing because he doesn’t know which tunnel entry you want. When you reconnect at :51, he drives to the tunnel. Connection is powerful!
Note the difference at 1:33 on the same line: you were much more connected so he found the line, no sniffing. 🙂2nd video: rear crosses
Yes, very clear rear crosses here! And it was good to see that you clearly cued the wrap to the right at :49 – the handling contrast was clear so he had no trouble. And doing a blind after the tunnel then the rear set it all up nicely!
You added a FC on the landing side of the jump after the tunnel at 1:12, I think the blinds you did there were better because they kept you both hustling up the line.
Video 3: FFCs looked good! Definitely add them into sequences so he can see them in context now. He had no trouble reading them and also read the lead out pushes well! It helps that he has a great stay 🙂
With him sitting close to the camera, I get a good view of his movement: he is doing “rolled” sits, meaning he is rolling his hind end under him, which pops his legs out to the side. You can see it at :29 and :45, especially with his right hind. Usually the dogs give us a tight sit, feet/knees/legs aligned, unless something is up like a bit of soreness or core strengthening needed. Definitely something to ask a soft tissue vet person about! In these videos, he is extending nicely with his front but not his rear, so have them take a look to make sure he is feeling good and just needs some conditioning 🙂
Video 4: Aha! Sequences! Perfect! Even with the added distance and longer stay, he read them really well. And good timing from you, no early twitching lol!
You had a disconnect at 1:34 so he took the front of the jump (which is actually correct, it should be the front of 3 not the back after the throwback, he must’ve been reading the maps LOL!)
On the lead out push at 1:49, you were rotated the wrong way: have your feet facing the next jump and upper body opened up back to him, like a serp. The body position for the LOP is the same as the forced threadle that you did at 2;18, except the LOP is more center of the bar versus the threadle is at the wing (where you were). He read the threadle perfectly!!Video 5:
>> Tried another toy option for reward, but still no excitement. Back to the treatball!
That’s pretty normal at this stage, no worries. Have you tried a treat hugger? I think he might like that one too!
You can also see him rolling into his sit starting at :18 – he loses his hind end when he lands from jumping up, then rolls back after sitting at :21ish. Could be any number of reasons, but it is something the sports vet folks are on the lookout for. 🙂
Going past the tunnel is indeed weird at first. The wing wraps to the tunnel looked good! And yes, he was a little sticky going past the tunnel, but probably because it was a new concept. He sped up as soon as he knew there was a wing back there (you can totally run into it more, rather than sending, that’ll feel less awkward for now) You can build the love more by tucking the MM in at the wing behind the tunnel, so he can get his treats out there without you 🙂
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning! Congrats on your PACH2!!
The wraps to the tunnel looked great!
On the first rep going past the tunnel, she totally thought you were NUTS haha!!!
You switched sides for the next rep and she found it much easier to go past the tunnel – was it because it was easier for her on your left? Or because she had seen the concept? Not sure, but I think the reps on your left were overall easier for her. She got faster and faster passing the tunnel on your right, but she was still asking a few questions there.
So, keep working it on the right side and she will continue to get comfy with it 🙂
She was also great about finding the tunnel entry, even on those slightly angled backside approaches! Yay!!!
Great job!
TracyHi!
This was a good session! The wraps directly back to the tunnel were super easy for her.The first time going past the tunnel was definitely harder 🙂 I don’t think she was looking at the tunnel, but it was hard to pass it and when you closed your shoulders forward a little, she was not sure where to be.
When you went past the tunnel the 2nd time, you kept your connection open more and you called her name more – both of those really helped clarify the line for her. It is Harder to keep connection because she is so small! I’ve found that sometimes it is easier to stay connected by dipping our dog-side shoulder down towards the dog because it helps us see the dog, and helps the dog see us 🙂
Great job here! Let me know what you think 🙂
TracyHi!
>>Lead outs- while I whole heartedly agree I don’t want to fight and I’d love
To let her offer, I will have to think on alternatives to help her. I’m planning to do competition obedience and chata is either too young or just isn’t that dog that can distinguish the difference so When I started to allow the offering, her stays and fronts and all the things we play in obedience got very unclear in that setting.>>She is too young – currently full on adolescent and does not know how to distinguish. On;y ask for things you know she will be highly likely to be successful with. And if she is not successful? Ask for something else, or stop asking. Otherwise it gets into a stressful situation. I think the context and cues can be clarified so she understands stays & fronts in obedience versus agility starts.
>> We are working foundations stuff but that also causes her stress. To help her , we worked on a Klimb to get her sit with out the offering of all the things including lurching. She needed a high platform for success.>>
So use a high, small platform for sit in obedience. And a mat or something and use the down in agility.
>>So if I “ask” for it, I need it- not to sound like I’m being a hard ass on a young pup.
Well, that is where the stress is. You asked for it, she said she can’t… you don’t need it when you can change the question and ask for something that she CAN do. And if you think she might answer “I can’t” when you ask for something – don’t ask for it! Otherwise, yes, you are being a bit of a hard ass on a young pup LOL!!
>>A lower platform will put her in a down again.
I think a down is a fine position for her at the agility start line. She feels comfy in it, she has been asking to do it, you can easily use a mat or something… not sure why it has to be a sit in agility?
>> I love the challenge and will find a way. Unfortunately I think life and timing of when I have access to actually train and get video done is causing me more trouble because I don’t have the time to stop and deal with and given situation which makes for bad dog training. I will own that for sure.>>
I know you love the challenge 🙂 so now the challenge is to listen to her: she is asking for a down on the start line so why not try that? Wouldn’t it be a nice efficient problem-solver if she did a down in agility then you didn’t have to worry about the agility sit versus the obedience sit? Then it becomes fun for all!
T
Hi!
Lots of good stuff on these videos!
Video 1, rear crosses: be sure to set the RCs with the decel to the line, rather than try to keep running and turning only your upper body (like at :06).
You were clearer at :15 and :22, then GREAT at :33 with setting it with decel. And the next step it to try to take the forward-pointing shoulder turn out of it (just leave your dog side arm back) – I think the shoulder pull was creating questions here and in the FC wraps (see below).
>> first working the RC to get the wrap – which she did do but is REALLY WIDE. Not sure how much of it is:>>
The turn was fine 🙂 My guess as to why she was missing the jump after the RC is that it was set so the natural line was to the backside, so the 2/4 jump needed to be about 2 meters further away so it was a natural front side. Yes, she can be tighter on these RC wraps and the wraps in the other videos, but right now she is powering like a BEAST (this is a good thing!) and I don’t want to slow her down. We will shape our way to the very tight turns, especially as the bars start to come up.
Video 2:
This is also going well! The cross before #2 worked great here on the first rep.
>>– rep 1 – one pretty sure she slipped in the tunnel at the entry.
Time to put about 10,000 more bags on that tunnel – it is moving a lot and she is going to slip too much. Also, you can give her the turn directional on the tunnel exit here instead of her name – she is turning beautifully!
>>rep 2 – she took bars at #3 and #4 but but looking at the video i think she same out of the tunnel and stumbled (or was just off balance) just a bit so was off balance for those?>>
On that rep at :43, you were in the way of her line so she was trying to read the line AND jump all in one moment, and didn’t quite make it happen. At 1:02 you cleared the line sooner, and she had no questions 🙂
Video 3: Yes, definite questions about the RC versus FC here! I think 3 factors were in play:
– when you are cuing the FC, you were stepping to the middle of the bar (for example at :04) so she reads RC pressure
– you were ‘pulling’ your shoulders here, which looked a lot like the shoulder pull you did for the RCs
– she did a bunch of RCs to the right already (and I think she is a righty, too, yes?)So, she was convinced you wanted more RCs.
When you were more on the correct line, it was not an issue except when you moved into it at :34 because it looked a bit the same.
You got it all worked out for her by the end, but be super careful not to use the pull & flick upper body for the RCs because I think that is where the confusion is coming from. The shoulder turn and decel (no need to step to the center of the bar, just move to the wrap wing) can be for the FCs, and you can set then drive the RCs without pulling your shoulders to face the bar.Video 4:
The sequences looked good! The FC on 3 looked good on the first few sequences. Be sure to decelerate into it when she is landed from 2, so she can organize to collect more. That will also help the various ending lines, especially the blind, because she will have a better angle to the next jump. On the blind, keep your arms in and start it as soon as she rounds the FC wing – you put your arm way up high at :34 then did the BC as she was taking off, so she had to catch it on landing.
The BC in the opening to get up the line looked good at :46! Remember to decel as soon as she is over the jump before the wrap so she can organize for the wrap sooner (she dropped the bar at :48)
You were a little late getting the blind at 1:04, no need to go as close to the tunnel entry there =- you can send her and barely g past the first jump. You were a little sooner on the decel, but I think you’ll see the collection more and more as she has taller bars and more experience.
>>Have a right/left question for you on this.
>>Would you use left/right on either:
– the turn from #3 to #4 (#8 to #9)No, just a name or jump. I would use a right verbal on the tunnel exit.
>>– the balance wrap where we take the jump rather than the tunnel.>>
Maybe, depends on the dog, and how much collection they need.
>>I chose not to because isn’t not an immediate 90% turn after the jump. Would that be correct?>>
The L has different variations, so this is a possibility. I can be that 90 degree turn or softer versions of it, so it is possible to use here if the dog needs it.
>>To me it felt like the natural line for a basic turn so not necessary.
it will become more apparent when the bars go up – you will be able to see how much collection she needs. Over low bars? Probably not needed. Over a 20 inch bar? Might be very helpful!
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! Nice shirt!!!
I feel like the crazy big courses this summer in CAMP had you well-prepared for the big UKI courses here! You were GREAT! Hustling, connected, so fun to see! No worries about any little blooper, you both looked amazeballs.
>>I did get a huge tooth hug after the second run as I was cheering🫣🫣! I’m going to have to work on going to leash and chomping on it. I toned down my excitement (as in I said easy easy let’s gets the leash lol)for the last one and she only looked like she might tooth hug me😂😂😂! The crazed eyes slowly disappeared>>
Hahahaha!!! The babies need to know what to do at the END of the run too… because there are no leash rules, I generally grab my leash and run for the reward LOL!!!
The double tunnel was fun, the spacing was fun, the flow was lovely – who was the judge? I just did a UKI trial this morning and the courses were poopy and the spacing was TINY (15-18 foot distances with bad angles, bad tunnel curves, etc – I made up my own stuff NFC for a few runs then left LOL!!!) Oh well, I guess I need to come trial with you 🙂
Great job!
TracyGood morning! I heard about your heat wave, fingers crossed that the temperatures are back to normal now!!
This session went really well overall – you did a great job of NOT blocking the wing 🙂 am also of moving forward and not rocking back. He was able to commit really well on both exercises! Super!!!
>>What you said made sense. For this session I tried very hard to not block the wing! I had a new “thing” crop up in this session where he turned right instead of wrapping left around the wing. Maybe he thought I was doing a “rear cross” at the wing. The second side was better and I tried to be fluid and not step forward and then backward (to get him to be successful).
Interestingly Mike said Ronan also turned right for him at the same wing / wrap. Unfortunately he didn’t video his session).>>I see what you mean, at :09 and :14. I can see what was causing it for you (probably the same for Mike too) – I think he was having a bit of trouble in the sand with not being able to dig in for these turns, so he had to slow down, which means you hd to slow down too. And on those 2 spots, you ended up side-stepping into his space, which flicked him away to his right. He was reading the line of pressure coming towards him (yes, probably reading the pressure as a RC on the flat cue). At :23 and :35, you did not do the side-stepping (you continued to face forward) and he foud the left turns. Later on,
1:45 and 2:08 were good examples of being patient to show the wing and let him get past you, without side stepping, and he did really well there too! Let me know if you can see what I mean by side-stepping into him on those earlier reps versus facing forward and moving forward on these last few reps.Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
Looking at the Serps:
>>She’s been good on all the parts except this set up. I ended up putting everything closer together to see if the space helped and it seemed to. Is that acceptable to do that? >>
Putting them closer is fine, but I think the set up was harder from the tunnel exits and your angled jumps were reversed. The angling should make them easier to see but they were actually harder here: the jump after the tunnel became a backside and the line to the 2nd jump got really harder pretty fast 🙂 So try switching the angles: set both jumps up as a completely straight line from the tunnel exit to start with, then gradually angle them closed while maintained a straight-line view from the tunnel exit until the jumps are almost flat. That reverse angling might be why she was having trouble? She didn’t really have trouble here but you can see her having to make more adjustments than needed because of the angles.
Lead outs:
>>once we get to the take off side of 1 she couldn’t do it. Some really bad tosses to try to help her commit.>>
I think the commitment question is more about stress on the start line and lack of connection. Here is more:
There is too much correction on the start line and that is stressing her. Here is what I see:
At the beginning – what’s with lifting her chest up while she is sitting, and then I think you said no or something in a firm voice in response to a little twitch?
Then look at 1:15 -1:45:
You said you ‘I need you to sit’ at 1:24 but actually, you don’t need her to sit 🙂 Stay, yes. Sit? Nope. She can hold a stay in any position. You are getting some stress behavior on the start line (looking away, twitching, position changes). Then you said ‘I’m not going to fight with you’ but yet, you were fighting with her. LOL! So… stop fighting with her and make the stay a stress-free space! If she has trouble sitting, let her do the stay in a position that works for her so there is no issue and you can both concentrate on the task at hand (the sequence). If she wants to do a down? Cool! She can do a down. Or a stand. Or you can just use a ‘stay’ or ‘wait’ and she can pick the position (I do this with 2 of my dogs and there is zero fighting with them, and great stays). Agility has the freedom to do this and it is so much better for the dogs to sort it out as a team rather than try to enforce something that might not be the best for one member of the team.After the 30 seconds of fighting with her about the sit… BOTH of your were thinking about the sit stay – and on your release you were very disconnected so when she landed from 1 at 1:46, all she saw was you back and the BC starting, so she didn’t take 2 (correctly, from this view)
At the end, you were still a bit disconnected but the earlier throws helped her see the line to 2. So try to be MUCH more connected (more direct eye contact, arms in closer so they don’t block your eyes, etc) so when she lands from 1, she can see the cues for 2. The BC doesn’t need to start til after she lands from 1 for now, so being clear on the cues for 2 will help that (and no fighting on the start line will help it more than you realize too :))
Tunnel entries & exits:
The ball is fine to use: she likes it a lot and basically brings it back 🙂
The Go lines look great!
The soft turns can happen sooner in terms of the physical cues. The verbals are timely but you are running forward while saying them, so she is not sure if she should go straight or turn tight (she is splitting the difference, good girlie 🙂 . So let her see the left/right physical cues of you moving away to the wing you will want, all while she is still a solid 6 feet from the tunnel entry (along with the verbal) and the turns will be even tighter.The RC info can be sooner when you are turning her to her left. At 3:09 and 4:16 for example – late pressure caused her to continue straight. You were showing the RC info after her head was in the tunnel, so she didn’t make the turn Compare it to much earlier info at 3:57 where you were right on her tail and she nailed it 🙂 Yay! So start close to the wing and after she wraps the wing, get directly onto the RC diagonal (so she sees and hears the cues 4-6 feet before she enters) and she should be reading it really well in both directions.
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>> As you can see in the video, he went around the far wing (perhaps distracted or my position was showing a backside). I didn’t fix anything, just continued on as if nothing happened.
This was a great run!! Looking at the blooper – I don’t think it was a handling error. Watching his head, it looked like he was distracted by something on the wall. The electrical boxes? He was definitely looking up at *something*. You were brilliant about continuing and then doing the independent weaves to DW – that looked AMAZING!
All of the pop outs looked great!
Pop out 1
Threadle opening looked GREAT! The a-frame is a big distraction but you were able to get his eyes off of it – you can add a verbal wrap directional as he is approaching 2, which might be stronger than his name in this scenario. And cookies on the chair went well too! He did well with the person sitting on the ground 🙂Pop out 2: These also looked really good! He was not quite as fast or sure of the threadle at 2: You can lead out a little more on these before releasing, so he sees you nearer to 2 and with your threadle arm out sooner to smooth out the threadle to 2.. and it will also help you get past the tunnel sooner too! As soon as he got 2, he was very fast so you had to really hustle to get there.
Pop Out 3: you did a great job navigating through all of the obstacles in your way LOL! It was very aggressive handling and he LOVES LOVES LOVES when you handle like that. He is at his best when you send him and run to your next spot, like you did here. YAY!!!
Pop Out 4:
Also really strong! For the ‘turn” cues, add more rear cross physical cues – pressure on the RC lines, and also because these are tighter rears that needed to be set, you can use your hands to set them up by grabbing his attention with your hands, then flipping him away.Great job on these! Let me know what you think!
TracyHoly bananas! Great run! You were hustling but also maintained connection!!!! She was a VERY good girl with her stay, her bars, her lines, etc. Yes, the FC was late and I will try to talk you into doing a BC on those types of lines anyway LOL! I loved your right verbal at the end but the RC cue was a little late (:20) which is why she read it after landing. But overall – a GORGEOUS run and a great example of teamwork!!!! LOVE IT!!!!! How is UKI going today?
T
Hi!
Nice work figuring out how to set these different types of RCs!
One thing to be careful of is ‘pulling’ with your dog side shoulder when she is behind you: that is when you point your dog-side arm forward to the jump and turn your shoulder towards the jump. She spins and barks when you do that (for example at :03 seq A, :51 on Seq B, 4:10 on the bigger sequence), probably because it breaks connection and your upper body and lower body are saying different things. She did much better with less arm pointing forward to cue the line (this is true for her in all cases, not just RCs :)) and with smoother motion.Seq 1:
You drove forward through the RC at :12 nicely, and nailed it at :28, then the rest of the sequence runs went really well.
Nice connection! And nice BC at 5-6 to get to the tunnel 🙂Seq B – When you didn’t point forward to 3… she got the RCs really well here too 🙂 Her only question was at 3-4> The turn on 3 is not really a right verbal, so she was turning right and you had to push her back out. It went much better when you didn’t use the right verbal and told her to jump or go, then it was really easy here and on the later sequences.
To help set her on the big lines, you can use bigger louder GO verbals and also tunnel verbals. You are conversational with the vebrals, meaning a normal tone – and the louder verbals (shouted!) can really propel her away to those lines, which can help you get waaaay ahead for the jump after the tunnel.
Seq C – the wrap RCs looked great at the beginning! In sequence, you needed to keep moving forward to them as you decel like at 3:27, but with connection (not enough at 3:55 and 4:10). If you pointed forward or hit the brakes, she had commitment questions.
Great job putting things together into the bigger sequences! The first big sequence was a little harder – remember to keep moving through al l the cues with your arms low and kind of out of the picture, paired with the big loud go & tunnel cues to get her on the big lines. The 2nd big sequence at the looked great! You were in motion and connected the whole time, so she read it all really well. Yay!
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyJumping 2: this went pretty smoothly!!! As with the first course – the bones of the walk through are really good, good plans and good pace! Now, add tons more connection 🙂 try to look for the invisible dog on the exits of all tunnels, when sending, exits of crosses, etc – visualizing the dog will really help prepare the connection for the actual run.
Also – plan more big distance layering to be able to get to the hard spots where handling is required. Layering will allow you to set her on a line and get to those spots pretty easily 🙂 For example, layering the 11-4 tunnel to get to 10 sooner and maybe even a big layer of both th e11-4 tunnel and the 7-23 jump to get ot the 15-16 line (or definitely just the 7-23 jump). and layering the 11-4 tunnel will help you get to 23-24 sooner too!
First run was really good, and so were the other runs! Most of the lines went well, you were a little too far from the threadle wrap at 10 (keep working that skill so you can get closer to the wing and she will still come in for the threadle side rather than take the front)
Then I think the only other hard parts were because you tried to run the lines with her rather than layer, so it was harder to get to the handling spots. For example – any line that you could clearly get to? Went really well! The lines where you got behind (like the BC 15-16, and the ending line 22-23-24) – were because you tried to run the lines with her rather than add the big layers 😉
So this is a good course to isolate the big layering lines, like after the 11 tunnel, send to 12-13 and keep the verbals going and parallel line motion, while you layer the 7-23 jump and do he BC 15-16. When that is going well, you can meet her at the end of the 11 tunnel so you can send to 12-13 etc and layer both the 4-11 tunnel and the 7-23 jump to get to the BC 15-16 🙂 Fun! But also a really hard skill so you will want to work it independently with a ton of thrown rewards.
You can also play with connecting more on the exit of 19, sending to 20/21/etc while you layer the 4-11 tunnel to easily get ahead at 23 🙂 If you can layer that tunnel, you will be waitnig for her at 23 LOL!!Great job here! Let me know what you think about the layering ideas.
Tracy
Good morning!
>>When I was editing, I saw A LOT of connection issues and my arms were often pointing at obstacles and not the dog or her path when a lot of the problems occurred.
Yes, that was the cause of most of her questions, so when you walk the courses: doubly emphasize arms down, BIG connection. Walk (and run) with a water bottle in your hand so you can make biiiiig connection – and know when you break connection because you will feel the water spill LOL!
>>I know some other things were due to holes in our training (like sending ahead and not turning in to bark at me!).>>
Yes, you can train more of this… but it was a connection issue as well (see below).
Walk through looked good – your plan was clear, the walk through had “good bones” meaning the structure was strong! Definitely add more connection and also, look for places you can use layering. These courses are really big, so layering becomes a “must”. Trying to run all the lines with her will willresult in being out of position at some point – but big layering will make it all much easier. If you can’t get the layering while running the whole thing, try to work just pieces of the courses to get the layering skills going and reward the skill.
One other idea, to help keep her frustration level low and minimize spinning/barking: If something comes off the rails – don’t stop and fix in that moment, as that gives her barking fits and it is hard to unstick her, plus we don’t want that barking rehearsal. So if you know how to fix the error on the fly, you can run her back to the previous line without stopping, and connect more or get clsoer to the line, for example. If you aren’t sure what happened, ignore the mistake and you can either keep going as if it didn’t happen and get her on the next line, or throw a reward off of you if you have to stop (to reward the effort but also unstick her and stop the barking :)) And try to go exclusively to thrown rewards rather than any reward directly from you hands. All of this will help her get on and stay on lines as you work up the handling skills.
Lots of smooth lines here, so I will pinpoint a few of the harder spots:
On the opening: Your plan for 1-2-3 was good, but at :53 and 1:23, you needed to drive to 3 more. You were really good at 1:38, that is a great spot to throw a reward.
Blind crossing the openng worked better to show her the line to 3 like at 4:09 and 5:50.
Yes, as you mentioned in the video: to get 5-6-7 you need to leave her in the weaves and also ideally layer the #2 jump. More connection directly to her (less arm pointing) will help her see that 5 jump that she had a lot of trouble seeing. You can add a lot more connection so you don’t rely on the MM as a lure – the physical cue needs to support the verbal, which it did at 3:40 and 4:18 for example and again a 6:03. That was when you had your arm back and more eye contact and more motion to the jump, rather than pointing forward (which turns your shoulders away from the line, especially when your feet are turned away too)
The baackside at 15 is hard for sure! You can definnitely use more connection an dlower arms, but it is a great spot to try layering to get there so it is easier for you to cue her to take it.
Also 4:57 and 5:09 – on the video you asked if her offcourse tunnels were a connection issue? Yes 🙂 you ran through the backside really well rather than staying to help her, but she needed to clearly see your eyes – so she got it nicely when youmade a very direct eye contact so she knew which side to be on.
Nice work! Onwards to course 2!
Tracy
