Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Good morning!
Happy New Lens to you!The tunnel-bed discrimination is going really well! She seems to have a high rate of success here – my only suggestion is to delay the cookie toss for the bed by one more heartbeat to be sure she is really going to it. Several of the cookie tosses were a little early, which might have been a lure to the bed (which is fine to start but now you can delay a tiny bit).
The next step is to pull up a chair so you can sit and she can be between your knees rather than one on side or the other of you, which makes things harder because there are no body cues at all. It is a perfect game for indoors when no running is allowed 🙂
Have fun! Let me know how it goes!
TracyHi
I didn’t see any frisbee on the teeter and contacts video, so maybe you are referring to the video of handling dated July 23rd (feedback on July 24th)? In there, there info about the frisbee, specifically this:“get that reward out and flying ASAP. You were tapping it on the ground and then he walked away, sniffing. So every time something happens, correct or not, I want you to keep going and reward as if it was perfect, with a flying reward. Stopping and turning to him and leaning over is not engaging with the toy (similar thing happened at 1:00, but then you got the frisbee moving a lot more and he re-engaged.)”
So keep playing with the frisbee, but keep it moving and not just putting it down in front of him.
Was there a different video that I missed?Tracy
Hi!
This one is more complex and needed a bit more walking, there were only 2 go-rounds on the video before you ran her LOL!! Even on a short sequence, that won’t be enough to really have it ready to run.
The main thing here is that in the walk through you were working your plan but not your execution and that is why there were bloopers. The execution relies on connection and timing (the plan is more about the handling choices and verbals and handler path). Watching the walkthrough, you were looking at the obstacles and so the next step will be to look at your invisible dog (or where she would be, like at the tunnel exit at 2, landing of 3, around the back line, etc).So when you ran the course with her, you working working the execution for the first time and that is why there were 2 trouble spots.
A definite place for more cnonection is the tunnel exit 2-3 especially if there is a RC on 3 – you would need to connect to set the RC line. When she turned the wrong way on 3… keep going! In keeping with the One and Done theme: You can still go clear with a right turn there, and it teaches you to stay in the saddle if things go a little wild.
The near collision 9-10 at 1:30 was a connection issue – even though you said jump., you rehearsed the body cue of facing the tunnel at 1:13 (and you can see it in the overlay at 2:03) in the walk throughs. The big sends involve a lot of connection to make sure the dog sees the line.
So your planning is very strong – the next think I will bug you about then is to work your execution to be connected all the way through, so we can basically see your invisible dog, and you are running Invisidog at the same pace as the real dog 🙂
Nice work on these! Let me know what you think!
TracyThis also went nicely! On the walk through, keep adding all the connections, all the time. Work each line to see your invisible dog, and if you re looking ahead ask yourself if she would really be ahead of you.
Also, try not to run backwards – if you feel that happening in the walk through, try to work it so you finish the rotation and run forward out of it. Running forward will get you further up the line and also able to show decels more as needed.The other think to note on this one in terms of handling/planning is that she might need a directional on 7 at 1:01 rather than a tunnel verbal (she hit wing on the way to the tunnel) . A left verbal when she lands from 6 can help that!
From the training side, I thought your timing and verbal and connection and brake arm for the right verbal at 3 were all good at :53… but she still jumped long towards the tunnel and needed an urgent name call. So this is a great training setup to working on strengthening the right verbal and handling, versus the ‘go tunnel’ verbal and handling.
Onwards to #3!
Tracy
Hi!
The walk through looks good – I think you should probably not have her in the ring while you are doing the fast walk throughs there because she is gong to try to respond and things will get messy 🙂Your lines and motion and verbals all look/sound good… but try to get more connection on every point. The rushing the imaginary dog was because you were looking ahead of where the real dog would be. Being faster in the walk through is fine, but only if you are fully connected – so focus on ‘seeing’ where she would be. That will also give you a good sense of the timing.
>> You’ll see the RC didn’t work on the first try.
Looking at the blooper in the opening: The Lead out position at :42 on walk through versus the real run at :58 were very different, which is why she didn’t know which jump was 2. The run matched the walkthrough much better on the next reps.
Great job on the verbals, both in getting them out and making them sound different!
The off course on the first run was about the obstacles off to the side – without them there it would have been fine but always check the surroundings for off course obstacles LOL!
Nice work! Onwards to #2!
Tracy
It is not ideal to turn himself around – you might have to do more of a smear of the reward, so he stays there to lick it more. Or, you can reward him again at the top for waiting for you to get back, then helping him off.
T
Hi –
>>I was going to have two commands, but as we progress I’m thinking the way we are teaching the teeter that “teeter” is the only command I need (but I’m usually wrong)?
It is fine to have teeter as the cue for the full obstacle including the end position. Or, some dogs do better if you say “teeter” and then a target cue like touch. For now say touch and then see if you can fade it – we need touch for the bang game.
>>haven’t put words to dw yet, I may just use touch all the way around. Am I thinking along the correct lines or should I stay with two different commands
Since they are two different behaviors (2o2o versus 4on) I highly recommend different verbals or he will get very confused. So if touch is the 4on behavior, then you would need something else for the dog walk.
T
Hi!
Wow, impressive work, Todd! It looks great! She looks very confident. Bummer to hear about her tight teres but she should be feeling fine soon.My only suggestion is to place the reward further up on the board. The reward placement here stops her with her front feet too far back. You can have the reward placed just on the very end of the board, or on a target that is attached just past the end of the board. That way her front feet go all the way to the end of the board rather than stopping short. She was not stopping short because of a confidence issue, she was stopping short because of where the cookie was LOL!
She only had one question: At :56 you were ahead AND running. Choose one or the other for now, ahead OR running. Then it will be easy enough to eventually do both together.
For the next session, change the reward placement and see if she is still super confident. If so, you can then add the tiniest bit of movement to the teeter, so it tips a cm or two.
There were 2 videos here but they were identical – was there supposed to be a different one?
Keep me posted on how she is feeling! Great job here!
TracyHi!
Yes, it is SO HOT out there! Eek!!!!
This one and done sequence video was good, because the spots I thought could be improved in the walkthrough turned out to be the trouble spots in the run.
Watching the walkthrough, I felt you could be more connected to her at the tunnel exit of 4 and the exit of the backside wrap at 5. And that is where she had questions on the run:
>> I was late with my verbal AND my handling, disconnected ever-so-briefly, and my white dervish said – I’ll take the tunnel!>>
She was correct 🙂 That is where the cue pointed 🙂 It is not so much that ytou were late or slow, it was the connection that caused the questions. You were looking forward, a bit disconnected on the tunnel exit at 4 (both times) so she looked at you before going to 5 on both reps. Also, you were disconnected on the exit of the backside wrap at 5 the first time (looking forward at 6, which is how you walked it) so that is why she thought you wanted the tunnel (the pointing forward/ disconnect turns your shoulders to the tunnel there. You had MUCH better connection there the 2nd time and she easily found 6. Yay!
So in your next walk through, emphasis connection in 3 major spots:
– all tunnel exits
-exits of wraps
– sendsGreat job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
Nice job on this one too! You were a little rotated on the first rep but then you got into the rhythm of running forward for a few steps before deceling and rotating. He is quite tight and zippy around the wings! Commitment looked great – my only suggestion is to be sure that you don’t block the wing as you run forward and connect back to him. You can plan to run directly forward from the wing you can see, so that should keep the next wing visible (you were bowing in a little bit which ended up blocking the wing).
You can definitely keep building this up to the point where you do all 4 wings in a row 🙂 and remember to throw in some race tracks too 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi!
He looked great here! The Go lines looked really strong!
The placed reward is valuable for him on the Go lines – he drives almost all the way there to jump 2 without it, but the placed reward gets it done the rest of the way. So for now, have the reward placed out there as a focal point when workong at full distances.The other option to fade the placed reward on the Go line is to move the 2 jumps in closer together. Wth super low bars, put the 2 jumps 8 feet apart, then 10 feet… and so on til you build back up to competition distance. Doing that, you can throw the reward when he lands from the first one and is looking at hte 2nd jump, so the reward lands pretty early.
>> I wanted to try a wrap on the second jump coming that direction and watching the video, it looks like I didn’t decelerate to cue the turn. Is that accurate?>>
Correct – at :58 you were just beginning to decelerate and he was already jumping the 2nd jump, going straight, good boy. When that happens – either keep going or just reward immediately, rather than resend.The resending conveys that there was an error (but from his perspective, there was no error because he responded correctly) and also with the resending there is always some confusion (like when he spun instead of taking the jump). So it is better to just continue in that moment then fix it later on. You did a great job carrying on at 1:16 when you got the accidental rear cross:
>> Also, what did I do that cued the rear cross on the next rep?
It looks like there was some pressure in instead of forward facing decel, which he read as a rear cross cue – and plus rght is his stronger side, yes? So he might have been thinking something needed to happen but wasn’t sure what, so defaulted to the stronger side.
>>So, I tried a few different things, but they weren’t the right things lol. I decided to finish up with a straight go in the other direction and end it there.
It was good to finish on the straight line, that looked great! You can try a couple of things on the left wrap – try it by facing forward longer and doing a decel but not trying to be on time with the rotation. And he is still struggles to wrap left, you can take the bar and the other wing out to do a refresher with wrapping just the wing.
Teeter backing up: he is doing well here! You don’t need to reward him in position – you can mark the backing up then have him come forward to get the cookie… which gets more backing up after he gets the cookie LOL! You can add a little more height to the board here, to add a little more challenge.
Great job on these!
TracyHi!
>> I could see Artie was slowing down (probably because of all my errors!) so I gave Maewyn a shot
Maewyn is always welcome to come play! One thing about the errors though… don’t stop for errors – just carry on as if they were fully intended to be that way. If you stop and re-start, even if she gets a cookie, Artie might get careful or get tired or both. So… no stopping! Errors are handling errors, so no need to stop, you can get her back on a line and keep going. Doing that is also great pracice for keeping things together when there is a little bobble on course at a trial 🙂
I think these went well overall! The Package 3 walk through work will help even more with the first run, best run theme.
One thing I notice about these runs is that you say each verbal only once, for the most part, and the verbal is very short… so she is really relying on the physical cues. That might be contributing to her watching you a lot. Definitely add more verbals in general. Repeat them a LOT, don’t just say things once – repetition will help her process them and not have to look at you, just like how you repeated the verbals in the independent weaving section on course 1!
Course 1
I like the blind in the opening! Trust her commitment more and trust your line more: you can start the BC earlier. As soon as she lands from 1, you can begin the BC. At :02 and 1:09 an 1:29 you started it as she was one stride from takeoff, which means the decision was made (which is why she was wide on landing). You were a stride earlier at :56 but I think you can be even earlier by seeing her land then start the blind.The layering to the tunnel worked well!
One thing to definitely plan more of is saying the tunnel exit cue before she enters, You were too quiet at :08. You got the nice early left at 1:01 but then forgot the blind. At 1:33, you did a landing side RC but I think she had a lot of questions, so the BC after the tunnel is the best bet 🙂She didn’t take the tunnel at 1:12 – this is Mae, right? I think Artie has better independent skills which is why when you tried to cue something and leave, Maewyn did some unexpected things LOL!
The tunnel – out – tunnel section in the middle looked great each time!
On the 10-11-12 line – you were not very connected at :19 on the push cue and your motion was towards the front, so she did not respond to the verbal (and she only heard it once). When that happens, just keeping going as if it was correct, then fix it on the next run. That will keep her running fast and happy!
On the 2nd round through there, great independent weaves! If you are going to stand still on the landing side of the next jump… you need to wait a pretty long time to be sure she has made the turn and also as you move forward with all that countermotion, look back behind you to the landing side and keep repeating the jump cue. The sudden explosion of motion with you looking at her pulled her off the jump, because she was still pretty far from it.
Course 2: This was mostly perfect!
The opening looked great here! Try to layer in the opening, to work the distance skills and also put you in a position closer o the jump/tunnel discrimination.A bit spot where she slowed down here was at 16. You were decelerating a lot and pointing forward to the jump, which closed your shoulder forward. so there was not enough connection at :39 & 1:29. You did give her a quiet ‘hup’ but she was slowing down to be sure – so start the hup sooner (as she is over the previous bar), repeat it several times, and keep your arm back/eyes on her eyes so she can see the connection better.
The only other detail is if you are going to blind after the poles. be sure to reconnect very strongly with your arm back and eyes on her eyes so she takes the last jump. On the 2nd run, you kept her on your right and she was perfect there.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>>These were fun! Both fluffballs nailed it the first time.
YES! That is the goal! Nail it the first time (and see if there are any areas for improvement in the walk or run for future courses).
>>Glad I watched your demo video first. I originally had too much layering on the brain and was going to run down the opposite side of the tunnel while they did jumps 6&7, but that probably wouldn’t have worked well when they were coming out of the wrap on 5.>>
You can totally freestyle your own handling and layering! I put the demos in for handing ideas but there are plenty of options. These demos were mainly to see where my walk through prep was good and where it was not so good 🙂
Kaladin: Great job with the walk through! The handling choices were clear and the verbals were VERY clear.
One thing to add to your rehearsal: Add more connection all the way through. You were disconnected from your invisible dog on the release from 1 where you released then looked forward (he would land behind you, not ahead of you haha). You can also add more connection on the exit of the 5 backside to send to 6, and also the
ending line of 9-10-11. These spots did not hurt you in the run at all, but it is good to be super connected all the way through because then it becomes habit. The #1 mistake in agility is disconnection, so the more it is a habit, the less likely we are to disconnect.The run looked great – you had all the connections in the opening and exit of 5 here, but I will keep bugging you to rehearse the connections there anyway to really get the habit engrained perfectly.
You had plenty of time on the 5-6-7 line before 9, you even added a flappy tappy because I think you were there so early you didn’t know what to do hahaha He was moving plenty fast, but he had a lot of yardage to cover so that is good to remember: make sure you take the yardage into account on the big sending moments – you have plenty of time to get where you need to be.
You had a little disconnection at the end – it didn’t hurt you here, but I will keep bugging you to connect as much as possible all the way through.Min’s walk & run also looked good! You were a little more connected to her (especially on the exit of 5). Running off the line meant that she was already ahead, so your connection there was correct as compared to Kaladin’s where he would have been behind you on the lead out.
She also had a lot of yardage on the 6-7-8 line, so you had plenty of time there too to position for the tunnel exit. Interestingly, at :13 on the walk through and at :40 on the run, you scooted past the tunnel exit on the blind and deceled there (a bit of a hand punch on the walk through, and a flappy tappy on the run) – that was actually too much turn cue for her – you said “right right” on the run and she almost didn’t take 9. So you can totally move forward into those lines for her because she can turn really well on the tunnel exits.
Great job here! Onwards to sequence 2!
Tracy
Good morning!
Kaladin: He is doing really well on a really hard skill!! Extra credit to him, because for most of these he had to drive towards Nemo in your hand then turn away from Nemo in your hand (HARD!!!)
>> but just look at him pounce on a nearly dead Nemo when I dropped it behind me>>
That was hilarious!!
He had a high rate of success, only a couple of questions from him:
At :08 when he went to the other side of the wing, the verbal release and movement and hand cue happened all at once, so he didn’t process it.
The other successes early on had a stop in movement at first , then the cue, then the release. Then you added movement and the cue, before the release, and he was great on all of those.
His only other question was at :49 where he really wanted to push away to the other side – he might have been trying to turn towards you to look at Nemo? Hard to know exactly, but you can totally mix in rewards for coming to the correct side of the wing to maintain that value for the ‘come in’ element of the threadle.
Min did really well too, especially because it is not a skill she was “raised” on – but she was really driving around that wing at the beginning, especially for treats!!
Then… SO JUDGEY WHEN IT WAS THE TOY AND NOT FOOD DURING LUNCH, though hahahahahahaha
It can all be food from your hands at this point for her, she did her best/fastest work when food was in play. Her questions and severe judgements might be because the ball triggers a response where the dogs expect it to be thrown forward, so she had a little trouble driving in and turning away from it.
>>I feel like I can keep working on this “for fun”, but when the chips are down, I had better have worked on my own sprinting to get ahead and handle these situations some other way.
I used to be totally on board with that… but I think we need to train the patootie out of this skill now because the judges are making it nearly impossible to run courses without it, even for the fast running handlers like you. The small/medium EO courses coming through today are requiring that skill. (I personally think the courses are disappointingly crunchy for the smalls/mediums so far).
>>And in answer to your earlier question about fading the wing, that’s the only wing I have that fits next to my weave pole base.>>
hmmmm maybe a pool noodle zip tied to the 2nd pole? Then you can fade it by cutting in it half and then into quarters, etc.
Great job here! Onwards to the one and done sequences!
TracyGood morning!
Ugh, that stinks about the seminar, I hope she has a very mild case. I guess it is our new normal.
On the video:
I think he enjoyed the tunnel game here, both with and without the a-frame in the picture – run through a tunnel, get a cookie LOL! He was juts fine with the angles too, which is great because taller dogs sometimes struggle with harder angles. Easiest thing ever and he was happy to offer more 🙂To prevent the extra tunnels, you can line him up with a reset cookie at your side so he sticks with you rather than offers another tunnel. You can do the same reset when you have the a-frame there – the good news is that he loves doing the obstacles, so we can convince him NOT to do them til cued by using a reset cookie at your side.
I am not sure he needs the target plate anymore for these, especially because you had to go over to it to put the cookie on it. I don’t think he is using it as a focal point, so you can switch to throwing a reward (like a lotus ball) so he can get rewarded independently while you move away to wherever the next line would be, without you needing to go put the cookie on the plate.
Great job here!!! It is fun to see him looking so fast & confident 🙂
Tracy
