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Hi! These games are quite a workout! You two looked great.
Countermotion step 3
This is going well! And it is helpful to begin sorting out what cues she needs to see. More transition into the decel before you rotate helps her, you can see it in the difference between the first and 2nd reps. If you slam on the brakes or run forward too soon, she doesn’t know where to go (same on the start at :37) but with a little bit of decel into the rotation? Perfect! And grea job maintaining connection and spitting out all the verbals!!Step 4: Also going really well! Great connection and you got all the words out! Sure, you might be holding onto the words for too long, but I am not going to worry about this right now at all – you have all the other pieces in place (connection, transition, verbals, quickness, toy marker,commitment) and she is reading it all super well! YAY! So don’t worry about fine tuning the length of the verbals, that will come with the bigger courses.
Steps 5 and 6 – I think she likes the race tracks haha! Very nice! And the wraps also looked great (and so did the connection and commitment). Only one thing to remember: As you go from the wraps to the race tracks. remember to make the verbals sound different – the wrap verbals can be choppy like you had them, but then make the left/right verbals more elongated like they were at the very beginning – rii riii riii and leeeleeee leeee. Yes, take a breath in there sometimes, but the differences in how ou deliver the verbals will be helpful on bigger courses.
>>Question about Week 3 Concept Transfer Straight Lines Four Ways. For the Rear Cross wrap the verbal would be the wrap command but I don’t recall any game in MP2 where we did those verbals with the dog on the ‘wrong’ side of us for the verbal. EG/ DOL and do the wrap turn to the left. >>
We did early on with the turn away games on wings/cones, so the pups will be fine. Make sure your physical cue is clear first, then add the verbal back on.
>>Oh, one other q – are there no pdfs for Week 4??
Yes – they are all posted. There was a glitch in the original publishing but should be all good now!
Have fun! Nice work here!
TracyHi!
This is looking really strong with the wing for the wraps and backside!! She is better able to commit to it while you work out the cue timing – nicely done! You can add in having her chase you out of the wrap or backside, by driving back down the line to the tunnel rather than rewarding there. Give this another session or two, then you can add the rest of the jump back to the wing 🙂At the beginning (when she is most stimulated), she is a little confused about the start procedure – a little mouthy, a little jumping at your reward pouches. You mentioned she was frustrated – were there failures before this, or was this the start of the session? Either way, let’s help her out: line her up at your side (use a cookie to help get her into position), then connect with her and send her to the first obstacle. That can smooth things out and get rid of the mouthy behavior.
Nice work! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
I went to that regional for many years when I lived in the Northeast, it was one of my favorite events! And you are correct, it is a busy, electric environment. Nutpse might have been mentally tired after 3 runs. Amd i tis a hard environment for puppies too, I can see why Changtse would struggle. Sounds like you worked through it and she did well!! Super!
The motion override is going well!!! I think the transitions from the toy play to the movement to the sit cue were clearer, so she was more succesful. The only spot where the transition was too fast was at 1:41 – you had just tossed the treat, praised her, and then walked away and said sit pretty quickly – she was like, ‘wait, what?’ LOL! She did it but she was not fully ready, so the resonse was delayed.
Using this same clean transition of making sure she is moving with you for several steps then cueing the sit – you can add a little duration to the sit, taking another step or two before throwing the reward back to her. Remember the 2 failure rule, and don’t take toooo many steps before rewarding her 🙂>>Will you be posting the Zoom Seminar? If yes, where?
The recording and games are posted on the course syllabus page in games package 4:
Nice work here!
TracyHi!
This is such great news!!! You did well to choose a good location and to wait to be sure she had the skills to handle it. I am thrilled for you both! A new chapter has begin and the best is yet to come. Congrats!!!T
>>Riot’s not a shoe biter! LOL. Not sure what he was doing there.
Ha! I was wracking my brain trying to remember if he was a shoe biter and trying to see if that was what he did there LOL!!!
Hi!
>> So many down ramps, so little time😂😂.
Story of my life. I feel your pain 🙂
>>The weaves-her entry was great, but she consistently popped out at 10. I think I gave this 3 goes. Ideas for a last pole skipper.>>
When working moving away from poles, I might place the reward for her to focus on, or throw it to the opposite side of the weave so she doesn’t try to pop out to chase my next line. You can also open up the last couple of poles so they are easier to stay in, if you have channels or 2x2s!
This video is the same link as the previous video, can you repost the standard1 video?
Thanks!
TracyHi there!
Good timing of the left and right at the beginning! Try not to serp the jump before the dog walk – the flip away doesn’t show her a good line to the dog walk… and also it puts you miles behind your speedy elf on a running dog walk :). So, two options to consider there:
you can play with a BC from the poles to the jump, then another BC to get her on your left on the takeoff side for the next jump to send and leave, so you are ahead of her for the running dog walk.
or, you can serp to a blind on the landing side of the jump before the RDW – but that is more running yardage for you and I am not sure if puts you far enough ahead like the 2 blinds would. (you did this at the end of the video, it was hard for you to set a good line to the DW, so I vote for the 2 blinds :))
It was a little hard to see, but I think she missed the jump at :23 and :36 (I think you said go after she exited the tunnel) – and you wee trying to get the BC on the landing side of the next jump –
>>. I realize now after watching video I needed a right command!
Yes, or a name call, before she enters the tunnel 🙂
You an also do the blind cross between the jumps after the tunnel so she sees the line more clearly because you are closer to it.
At the end, you handled the last backside as more of a threadle, without the blind… that worked well! She got the jumps coming down the line and also got the backside. It puts you a little further behind for the next jump but in a better position for the threadle at the end – she was a little surprised by the in in threadle at :28, it was a little late, but you were earlier and she got it nicely on the next rep
>.My dogwalk is still a work in progress(I have a leaper😂) so started on down ramp, (except the time I could not resist and yeah she missed the target😂😊)>>
Ah, the RDW…. the ups and downs or training it are crazy LOL!
Nice work here 🙂
TracyGood morning!
I feel the pain about the heat! It has been hot and humid, and we have had 3 days of rain here – ewwww
It was hard to see the angle of the wing (or whatever you sent her to :)) but it looks like 1 was not on her line from the start so you would need a serp arm and connection at :03 to get her to take it. She got it the 2nd and 3rd times nicely, so something might have been different in her line there.
Then, make sure she can see the wing of 3 – when you wanted the wrap on the 1st rep, you were blocking it at :04 so she was not sure if she should take it. The ideal position is where the wing and the bar meet, so she can see the whole wing.
Nice line 4-5-6!! Her teeter looks FABULOUS.On the 2nd rep, very nice blind to get her to see the slice entry!! Good rewarding there! And the connection to the backside was REALLY clear on the 3rd rep, so she didn’t bark at you 🙂
She is still learning the default to take the jump after the backside – so totally drop the reward in as soon as she gets to the entry wing as you move through, each and every time for now, especially in these big courses. That will really help build up her understanding.
The refusal on the jump after the teeter is a training thing, same as the backside slice at 3 – dropping the reward on the landing side will help as you move away so she doesn’t chase your motion on the backside wrap. She got it the 2nd time through at 1:01, but you decelerated to help her. The handling on the first rep was correct – she was past you and looking t the jump, so you were correct to want to move forward to the weaves. The training will help her fully understand that move.
Nice weave entry! All 3 times!! A blind cross when she is finishing the poles will help you get a better line over the next jump – she dropped the bar at 1:15 because you were late finishing the front and getting out of her way 🙂
>>Question on serpentine going to dog walk after weaves … is that a left-right command. I’m still having trouble wrapping my head around what words to use in that situation.
For her, yes – because those are not very tight turns for her.
Great job here! Onwards to part 2!
Tracy
Good morning!
The FCs on the wing look great – your timing and connection is strong, and her commitment is really strong too!
I think the only challenge here is that the tunnel is really long, so you have no place to go and end up standing still or rotating too soon – that was part of what was happening on the left turns where she was not committing (the decel and rotation was too early for her left turns, which are not as strong as the right turns at the moment). So two ideas for you –
extend the tunnel more so there is less bend in it, and she can faster through it. And you can move the wings away even more, so there is more momentum for you both.
Also you can face forward for long on the left turns, to help her commit – then throw the reward out past the wing as you rotate and move away. You did more of that on the spins at 1:17 and after that, and her commitment got so much better on the left turns.The circle wraps are definitely harder for both human and canine! Rather than try to do a lot of handling with these, let’s do a lot of training so she gets the idea of finishing the wrap as you move past it. Have the toy in the opposite arm from where she is and walk through – as she is beginning to go around the wing – throw the toy (can be a lotus ball) behind you while you keep moving forward. That will help build up the countermotion here and then you won’t need to help ger with a lot of upper body movement.
Also, be sure that she is pushing to the other side of the wing for these, not pulling in between you and the wing. You did it perfectly when she exited the tunnel on your right but when she exited on your left, you pulled her in between you and the wing and flicked her away. For these, send her to the other side of the wing 🙂>>She doesn’t know the sit while moving but I’m starting my motion while she does 2o2o. Can I just video that? I’m still struggling to train contacts and keep up so that’s why I haven’t worked on the sit.
I think the sit in motion is one of the most important pieces of contact foundation, so I prefer to get it solid before training the 2o2o. If she can do a sit or down while you are moving, then is it MUCH easier to get her to do a 2o2o when you are moving. You can start the sit in motion with you just shuffling your feet, moving soooo slowly 🙂 That will jump start the process and then you will also see big improvements in 2o2o training.
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! Great to see you here!!! I am glad your mom is going better, that myst be a relief for you all!!
Yes, he was curling into you when you were standing still, but it was also probably that he was watching your treat hand as you reloaded from the pouch, so I am glad you went to having the treats already in your hand when you were moving and not in the pouch. The movement and the treats ready in your hand totally helped.
I think the board on the ground was not clear enough t him that we wanted all of his feets on it LOL!! So, easy fix: elevate it a bit. Do you have several bricks or cato boards or something you can put under it? That can help define that we would like him o be on it and not near it LOL!! He seems totally confident so the next step would be to elevate it anyway, so let’s just move to that step.
>> I felt like adding a few inches of height to see if that would help, but decided to wait for your feedback first.
Yes, great minds think alike hahaha The plank on the ground was just too simple for him – if we make it a little harder by raising it, I think it will work better.
>> very much looking forward to the Argus seminars in a few days, I think you will luck out and experience how nice our summers can be here
I am so excited that you will be there! I have been watching the weather like a hawk LOL!!! It will be fun!!!
Tracy
Good morning!
>>I’m late and think I’m connected back, but I’m not getting my head turned fast enough>>
Timing and commitment look good (for example, 1:22 was great and most of the reps were very much the same). And her questions were not about how quickly you were turning your head, but how you were using your arms to show the next connection: too much dog-side arm forward (dogs just don’t cue off of that at all) and not enough connect-across-the-body.
I think the connecting across the body will make a massive difference on the blind cross exits, here is what I mean:
You can see the dog-side arm as part of the cue at :04, :32, 1:13, 1:47 and 1:57 – you used the dog-side hand low and forward and then looked forward so she never saw the side change. The reps at :16 1:37and 2:55 were also using the dog-side hand, but it was further back and you decelerated which helped pull her in. At :54, you had your arm furthest back but I think that was harder than connecting across the body would be.
The crosses on the middle looked good, so no worries about those at all!
>>Sprite was getting tired towards the end here.
I don’t think she was tired, I’d say this was a little too many reps of the same thing – she might have been slowing down because it was a lot of reps of the same thing and even when she gets rewarded, I think the dogs have a send of when it was not correct based on if we stop, or how we act or sound. So since this is all handling cues – act like she was AMAZING and read it perfectly (because she did LOL!)
The commitment to the wing on the 2nd video looked fabulous, which made your timing easier too – really nice!!!!
I think you should connect-across-your-body on the exit of the crosses here too, especially the FCs – she was wide on the cross exits, because for a moment she could only see your back and had to wait for more info. As soon as she heard the tunnel cue and saw your line of motion, she accelerated to it. She seemed to be hesitating a tiny bit on the spin exits too, so that amped up connection there will help too!At :52 though, you had a moment closest to connecting across your body – as she is rounding the wing, your right shoulder is all the way back and your left arm is visible to her: that was her tightest turn! No questions as all!
This is more of what we want, so practice doing it very deliberately. Yes, it will be SUPER weird feeling at first but with consistent use, it will become muscle memory and then you won’t even need to plan for it.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning! She is doing well here!
The first rep being the most important rep, in theory – a couple of ideas for you:
Starting with the pattern game: It is a good way to bring her into the environment for a work session for sure! Try to have the treats in your hands already, for quicker reinforcement and less digging in your pocket. Also, bear in mind that pattern games are for acclimation to the environment and don’t necessarily get the pups into the right state of mind for training – so when she is engaged, do a couple of tricks to really optimize her state of arousal so you know if she is ready for the cues for the game. Her ability to respond to the trick cues (or not) will tell you if she is ready for you to move into the harder game. Going from a pattern game into ‘work’ is probably why she was not successful on the first rep (and again at 2:30ish when she had a pattern game and tug break) – she was not needing to assess the environment as much, but not yet ready to work. The tricks in between should help that!
And when beginning each new session – it is totally normal for the adolescent brain to be unable to produce skills that looked great recently LOL! So, to help set her up for success, start off 50% easier than where you left off from the last session. That will also help get success on the first rep.
She definitely loves the teeter slam! Great! I think the board was a little too far off the ground to start the backing up, you can try it lower at first (half inch off the ground) so it is very easy to step back onto. You can also have her start all 4 feet on, then lure her front feet off – then let her step her 2 front feet back on. That will build to being able to lure all 4 feet off and having her more easily get her back feet back on without wanting face it and hit it with front feet first.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! For some reason, it didn’t publish properly (the placeholders were there but not the rest) I reloaded it all, so should all be visible now 🙂 Let me know if you still cannot see it.
TracyHi!
I think Sassy is liking these sequences!!! She is getting VERY fast without losing any of her accuracy! This is exciting! And nice job with your connection throughout!!First run – very nice! You can start to get a little further ahead now to start the BC sooner. When you see her halfway between the 3-4 jumps, trust her commitment and start the blind! You were waiting a bit while she was in the tunnel so I think you can totally get up the line sooner.
2nd run – perfect timing of starting the right verbal! See if you can start the BC just after you start saying right. It is a big commitment for a tiny dog, but I think she can do it.
3rd run – the FC should start at the same time as the BC, which means you need to be even further ahead for the FC because it takes longer to finish. You started it a little late :33 (she was taking off for the FC jump) and then she had to slow down and wait for you to finish at :34 (she was very patient :)) You were definitely earlier starting it at :48 and 1:06, so she moved through it better. I think you will find that the blinds are easier on these in general, and faster too!
Something funky happened at :55, I don’t know if she had an itch? LOL!!
One thing to be careful of: when running her, try not to call her name unless you want a turn. For example, on the last sequence, you were running it saying “go Sass go Sass” which might be confusing to her as to whether she can go or pay attention to you LOL!! So stick to the name for turns only 🙂
Great job!!! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
He was certainly enjoying the games on the first video! Fast and focused! Being in the shade helped, as did all the running The Go, the wrap, the backside all looked good! The rear cross had the correct verbal but the line of motion was to the wrap side until it was too late for him to adjust. Good job rewarding it anyway. So, for the rear cross, you would be accelerating to the center of the bar of the RC jump, so he reads the pressure of the cue and turns away. When you work it, start it from the tunnel so you are not ahead, meeting him at the tunnel exit and doing a go go go a couple of times, then throw in a rear cross with you running towards the center of the bar of the RC jump.2nd video – adding the tunnel was fun for him! Add more connection, especially on the 2nd rep where you were both looking ahead and his was not sure where to go. The 3rd rep was a lot clearer so he got it. Yay! On the backside pushes, you can make more connection to his eyes and keep your arm back a little more: that will turn your shoulders to the backside line sooner, so he will read it even more easily.
Be careful about saying go go go then a different cue – we don’t want to dilute the go by saying I THT hen doing a wrap – so rather than go, you can use a jump cue then a wrap or a push.
And great job using verbals and obstacle names, rather than praising a lot – it was very helpful to him!
The countermotion is awkward from a standstill, you are not wrong LOL!! But he did fine here! YOu were not blocking the wing (ok, maybe a little at :39 where he didn’t know where to go LOL!) and his commitment is getting stronger and stronger. Perfect! The goal of the countermotion game is to get him to continue to commit even when you are fully turned and rotated: mission accomplished! He did especially well when you were moving in and out of it all. Yay! You can totally take this commitment game now into the games we did in the Live class on Saturday!
Nice work here! He seemed to be a great combination of super engaged, fast, and accurate!
Tracy
