[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

>>The perfectionist in me is conflicted, lol!!

Ha! Agility is a really imperfect sport LOL! It is messy and on the edge… which is why we don’t need to get these courses to run perfectly, we just need to glean information about what to work on so the next set of courses (especially at trials) goes even better 🙂 And because there is a fatigue element (physical and mental), we can’t keep going (handler or dog). Plus, with training courses… they don’t really ever run perfectly because they are so hard. We leave the perfect runs for trials 🙂

These were good sessions here on the courses! I think 2 main themes stood out, in terms of skills to work on:
– the dog training skill of sending to tunnels while you layer
– the handling skill of connecting after a cross

here is more about that and other stuff too 🙂 Lots of great work here!!

Course 2 –
At the beginning: on the FC & BC training section, a small detail that can make a big difference at full speed: when you are doing the FC, keep your new dog-side arm extended back to her, fingers pointed to her nose to open up the connection. You were closing your shoulder forward and keeping your arm at your side – so even though your eyes were on her, she is not as likely to see the connection when coming in full speed. She is looking at shoulders more than seeing your eyes. You can see that when you were moving fast at 2:34, she went wide. More on that below.

Same thing on the backside circle push: your arm should be back to her, letting her find the wing: and if she sees the wing, she should go around it, no extra help needed from your shoulders pr motion – it is hard to see from the video here, but it looks like the extra motion and shoulders were pushing her into the tunnel. When you had less shoulder help at 1:07 and 1:20 and 1:36, for example, she did a lot better with finding the wing

On the full run:

The opening looked really good, all the way through the weaves! Yay!

After the weaves: I think the tunnel send with the layering is in the one-more-step category, and lots of reward at the tunnel exit for going. She was on her way but then lost confidence that she was correct to keep going when you were peeling away. It is more of a dog training moment than a handling moment, so more tunnel sends with a throw reward in these layering moments will help convince her that she is correct. She just needs more experience on that skill.

For the BC after the dog walk – with the added speed, we can see how the closed shoulder doesn’t give her enough info. Freeze the video at 2:32 as she lands from the jump after the DW: you can see that your right arm is at your side which closes the shoulder forward, so her only info is motion (and verbal). So even though you are looking at her, you are not connected – because connection is a handling cue, where the dog sees center of the handler’s chest, which is showing the line. So to get the connection, we change your arm position – as you exit the cross, point your dog side arm all the way back to her nose, it will be fully extended behind you and away from your side.

She did a great job finding the backside, yay!!! And the little spin before the a-frame was caused by the same thing as her question after the dog walk: dog side arm forward, so she did not see which line to be connected to. That is another spot where you can have your dog side arm all the way back to her nose 🙂

Course 1:
You had a bar down at 2 in the beginning – you can do the blind sooner, basically as soon as she exits the tunnel and you see she is looking at 2 – a slightly longer lead out will get you there sooner.

The tunnel layering here was hard for her – so that is a good skill set to pop out of these courses or any of the courses – find the tunnel for layering and reward reward reward with a thrown reward. She gets very close to the tunnel then second-guesses herself a bit.

For the FC at 11, looks like you got stuck behind the wing of the jump after it at :44 so you can either be further past the wing of the FC jump, or use your out cue to get the tunnel on that line.

From the stationary start, there was not enough momentum to get the frame as a layered obstacle, but she would probably get it coming in with full speed!

After the frame – I think you were saying “right” at 1:22 but it is a left 🙂 And as with the line after the DW in the other course, this is a good spot to open up your dog-side arm behind you and let her see more of your shoulders.

For the big ending line – I think you left out the 17 tunnel which made it harder to get up the ending line ahead of you. Since she will curl in on a go line unless you outrun her, you can place the reward past 21 so she can continue to drive ahead even if you lose steam.

Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!
This looked really lovely! The angles definitely helped him so you could just keep moving. It looks like you had a little shoulder ‘dip’ too, which is great!
For the next session, 2 suggestions:
– open the angles up again so they are easier, so you can run faster 🙂 We are going to want to work up to full speed before making the angles tight or flat. For now, you can be running faster (same serp form with the upper body) and let him see you between the uprights, which can be accomplished by running closer to the tunnel to start. Then you can get further and further ahead (might take several sessions) so eventually you are a step or two past the serp jump (and he still serps it).

– add verbals! Which verbals you add are up to you. You can call his name, or use a jump verbal, or use left/right verbals. But serps definitely need some verbals so now is the perfect time to add them.

Great job!!!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

>> Yes, Kenme is a general “take a jump and turn a little” cue and the left and right are the L shaped turns.

Sounds good! And of course, we can add handling to match the verbals.

>>Please continue nagging me about my intonations, I like your suggestions about tunneltunneltunneltunnel, and more “corre”, please continue reminding me (you have my full permission hahaha). I am getting better, and I am now remembering on course if I am mot giving them a bit of more different intonations.>>

You are totally getting better! It is something that I know you are good at because you have done it in the past, so I am happy to keep nagging hahaha

>> I like that verbal for this type of discriminations, if I say Left, it could also be tunnel, but with Shasha he should now it is not the tunnel, makes sense?

It depends on what ‘left’ means, specifically. For me, left is too tight of a turn to mean tunnel, so I would use left there. To get the tunnel, I would either say tunnel or ‘jump’ which is probably similar to Kenme.

>>Are the Plyo exercises you mentioned to me before part of the LYD Camp 2022? (I have not looked at package 3 yet).

They are coming in Package 4 🙂

>>BTW, I did not get an email for your comments today

That is odd! Check your spam box – it might be in there. If the ‘email notification of replies’ box if checked, it might be in the spam box.

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

The mountain climber game looks good too! There is more tip to it and more noise, so he is slowing down ever so slightly before reaching the end. With that in mind, don’t add more tip for now – leave it where it is for a few sessions til he runs all the way to the end. You can also put a towel over the noisy metals parts to reduce the rattling – it is hard to tell if the noise was from the teeter assist or the teeter itself, so a towel on the teeter assist will help, and a tunnel sand bag on the base of the teeter will keep it quieter and also prevent the rebounding/whip that it is doing as he arrives at the top (you can see it bouncing up and down a bit).

From a handling perspective, keep walking past the end of the board, try not to stop when he stops. Do several more steps past the board when he arrives at the top so he stops before you do, to help give him the sense of what the future independence will be 🙂

Great job on these!!! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
The first session of the bang game went well, in terms of the lazy game transfer. By standing, you were drawing his head up so keep getting that reward in super low so he looks down to the target (produces better form). Since this went so well, you can do one or two reps of this in the next session to refresh the skill then move to the advanced level, where you are both at the side of the teeter and he leaps into position.

Great job! Have fun!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

Yes, it was a little hard to see exactly what he was doing, but looks like he did really well – getting right back into the 2o2o position. Is the 2o2o your future dog walk position? If so, you can consider moving the foot target a tiny bit further from the end of the board, so he is a little more stretched forward (just an inch or two) because that will create better form on the dog walk. The teeter position as a 4on should be right at the end of the board, targeting on the board not off of it.

Nice work!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Yes, you can shorten the tugging time. Also, I’ve found that with some dogs, tossing the toy and letting them run around with it a bit helps too! I use a “go for a run” cue when I do that 🙂

Using low value food and high value toys in the same session also helps, if she will keep playing with the toy.

Keep me posted!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>>, I’m raising it to 16/20 on the set point

Sounds good – try 14, then 16, then 18 then 20 in successive sessions.

>>She was humping the air/me.

Oh dear! LOL!!! Were things going really well, or lots of toy play, or errors? I am trying to figure out why she got so stimulated.

>>Teeter-Actually sorry editing-She was worried on the 1st then got more comfortable.

Great! You can definitely still weight the board to reduce the whip/rebound of it, especially as you add more height.

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

I totally feel your pain about the heat! It has been a crazy hot summer! I am not ready for winter, though hahahaha

[Tracy Sklenar]

I agree – there was plenty of opportunities in a trial where she will LOVE this rather than a stay. Plus, you are an incredibly fast runner so you will still have a tremendous advantage on course!

T

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>>A question about the threadle wraps. This looks like the “Flick” (OMD) that I’ve learned elsewhere and have practiced with the girls. Are there any important differences or body motions I should use with the “flick” that will improve my handling threadle wraps?>>

I think the major differences between what I am calling a threadle wrap and the OMD flick are

– with the flick, there was a bit of leaning back and hand cue to take the jump by the handler to commit the dog to the wrap, and we don’t want to lean back at all (we can start with a hand cue but eventually want to fade it)

– OMD was not very big on verbals… but things have evolved a lot so we want a specific verbal for this move that is different from the other verbals. “Flick” would be a great verbal for it LOL!

>> I love this dog, and really enjoy running her. She’s feisty, fun, and loves agility.

She is hilarious AND talented! It is so fun watching her!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Perfect! The toy on the toy in the NFC runs can help bridge the gap between training and trialing for the weaves.

T

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>> I find that I “need” – either for real or because I think I do, to get a course “in my head” and that if it’s not in my head that it’s not going to matter how many times I walk it. And if it’s in my head I can frequently “get through” it, even if I don’t walk it.

I think that part of it can be in studying the course map and looking at it from outside the ring before the walk through, to convince yourself that it is in your head 🙂 Doing the faster walk throughs gets the course into your muscles and your vocal cords 🙂

>>she got all the expected answers; weaves, contacts, dada, dada. The “correct” answer, whatever is after a tunnel. All about that connection.

Ah, I totally believe it! We all rely heavily on our motion… and the dogs cannot see us in the tunnel. A common error is that we don’t let the dog see the new line or hear the new verbal well before they get into the tunnel… and then we are not connected when they exit. I can see why the obstacle after the tunnel would be an issue!

>>I think that also at play here is the strength of his backside verbal. I almost never get a head check or hesitation if I’m good about the timing of a GO on entrance to the tunnel and almost always get that little wobble to a backside out of tunnel, even with good timing of my verbal and good connection…..combination of understanding of the cue, stronger connection needed and experience? We occasionally get the wobble from a line of jumps, but in those cases it’s almost always because I disconnected.>>

My guess is it is a combination of inexperience with fluency on the verbal, and also maybe more convergence towards the backside before he enters the tunnel is needed.

>>Do you want to see the whole walkthrough? That’s a lot of video for you to watch! Or I could edit it to the last couple of at speed walkthroughs…..or something in between.

the full walk through is fine, I can scroll through it or put it into fast forward if needed 🙂

T

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
Great job on this session – the layering looks good!

First rep – yes, you pulled away too soon so she didn’t see the layered line. You made a great adjustment in the 2nd rep – great job setting the line to get the layering! You were connected and moving forward for longer so she had no questions.

3rd rep – nice timing on the left tunnel cues, you can run away even sooner on that and it will help drive her into the tunnel even more.

She did really well with the threadle-switch on the last 2 reps! You were a little late with the switch on the 4th rep, she was almost all the way to you. You were much earlier and converged in with pressure on the 5th rep, and she was great!!! She missed the last jump at 1:01 – you can turn your upper body to face her more on the out jump to the last jump – your arm was up and shoulder turned away so she followed the line of your shoulder. That is why I often use an outside arm with the ‘out’ moments, to shift the dog back out to the line by turning my shoulders towards it, without accidentally turning my shoulders away from it.

Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>>A few reps from yesterday and today.

The reps on the video are looking good – from the handling perspective, you can move the serp arm back sooner: you were moving itward (parallel to your shoulder) when she was exiting the tunnel, then swinging it back. You can have it swung back when she exits so she can see it sooner and so you don’t have to worry about timing.

>> Yesterday I was able to leave the toy on the ground. This morning it made her head explode. The 3 from yesterday I had the jumps pretty much in the normal position. Today I did the little sequence and I had to dial it way back and angle the jumps. By the last rep, I had straightened them a tiny bit.
I know I need to work through the toy on the ground (she used to be able to ignore it, but lately she has been scoping for it – like tunnel to the toy with no attempt at any of the in between). Which is also making jump grids difficult.>>

This is probably a combination of normal adolescent brain development (where they “know” something one day and it is completely gone the next day LOL!) and maybe a bit of rushing/arousal – but 100% yes to working through it!

One thing to do is just have a toy out there on the ground somewhere all the time… so it is not the main focal point of the session. You can have a toy in your hand to reward with as well – and sometimes you send her down the line to the toy on the ground, with the appropriate marker. And other times you reward from your hand (also with the appropriate marker).

So for example, with the sequence you did recently that had the 2 jumps straight after the tunnel and you did the Go, the FC wrap, the RC and the backside: the toy can be out there in Go position the whole time, but only gets used when you cue the Go and a ‘get it’. And you balance by doing a wrap and a reward in your hand with the ‘toy in hand’ marker.

Now, it will be challenging for sure but will also help solve the issue of focusing only on the toy on the ground – break things way down to show her that the toy on the ground is marked a certain way versus the toy in your hand. She has the markers, so it will be easy enough for her.

Also, make sure that when she is skipping things like the jump after the tunnel or jumps in a grid that she is not avoiding something that is too challenging (height, distance, motion, etc can make all of it too challenging). With some dogs, the challenge being too much is obvious because they sniff or leave But with others, the challenge being too much is less obvious because the questions/stress present as higher arousal behavior or “naughty” behavior of going directly to the toy. The dogs are not naughty at all, they just have questions that are being presented differently. Dial back the level of challenge in those moments to see if that is the cause.

>>At her class last night, I was the only one there, so we did a little serp work in a different place and in a short sequence and she was amazing – showed her a little angle for a couple of reps, then she was fine with the jumps straight.

AWESOME!!! I love it!

>>We also did a little of the tunnel exit game last night – go from tunnel to another tunnel straight ahead and then a couple with turns out of the tunnel. If I had know I’d be the only one there, I would have brought my tripod!>>

I bet she really enjoyed having 2 tunnels! Very fun that she had the class all to herself LOL!

Great job! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

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