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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!
TracyHi!
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!
TracyGood 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!
TracyYes, 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!
TracyHi!
>>, 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
I totally feel your pain about the heat! It has been a crazy hot summer! I am not ready for winter, though hahahaha
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
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
Perfect! The toy on the toy in the NFC runs can help bridge the gap between training and trialing for the weaves.
T
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
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!
TracyHi!
>>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!
TracyHi!
You have been busy!! Good to see you back here 🙂
>>When do I raise the bar in the accordion? Last time, she was out 20′.>>
If her form is good, you can be raising it (she is 19.5 months, approx, right?) What is the current height on the last bar?
>> She did really great I feel except the jump going to me, to the left. I put a 2 of them>>
Those reps looked like she was not comfortable jumping into the pressure of you standing still (that is pretty normal, many dogs share that opinion at first) so she was offering the next jump. You can revisit the strike-a-pose game with the target, and have her come over the jump, touch the target in your hand, and a get a big reward 🙂
She is doing well with the serpentines! As you keep working on them, 2 suggestions:
– spread the jumps out more, so she has room to land, take a stride or two, then takeoff. They are really close right now which makes then much harder, especially with then are flat like at :55. You can have the wings of the jumps 10 feet apart at least, so there is plenty of room between them.– help her less with the arms moving in and out, so that the ‘open’ serpentine arm/shoulder and running line is the cue, rather than your shoulders moving in and out. If she is relying on your hand cues, then you run the risk of being late which is what happened on the last rep at 1:05 – she was past the 2nd jump before you moved your arm to indicate she should come in. So, spreading the jumps out and also keeping them more angled will help – don’t flatten out the serp line until she is really happy to find the angled jumps without you needing to do arm cues to help her.
>>Tonight she was really tugging and fast 😀 unfortunately she was getting a little too aroused (talked to Jennifer) but so happy with her speed.
Tugging and fast is GREAT! When she was too aroused, what was she doing?
On the bang game:
She did well with getting on the board right at the end! Try to start her very close to it, and facing downwards to the target, so she knows which way to go. I like to gently hold the dog’s collar til they are lined up and I am ready.The board was not moving at all on the bang game, but it had a lot of ‘whip’ when you did the mountain climbers, meaning both ends of the board were moving up and down, and rebounding a lot. That worried her so by the 3rd rep, she was concerned. To get rid of the whip, you can tape weights to the underside of both ends of the board, so they don’t flap as much, if that makes sense. Then she will like it more because it will be more predictable in terms of movement and sound. And having weight on the bottom of the board so there is no rebound to it will also help the bang game, if she was concerned about the movement of the board on that one too.
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>>On the video it looks like I’m quite far past the middle of the jump when I cue him to go, but I don’t think I was quite as far over as it looks, but maybe I still should have cued more when I was closer to the middle?<< Serps are definitely hard because the dogs all naturally prefer to run parallel to us and not into us. I don't think his questions had anything to do with your position, that all looked good - it was purely a dog training moment, not a handling moment :) >> Also I think I’m using my off arm in here when I shouldn’t – do you think so?
Because we use connection better, we don’t need to use the off arm for serps anymore – we can just do dog-side arm back, connection, and run 🙂 Because he is small, you can drop your dog-side arm, dipping the shoulder a bit, so he can see the serp cue a little better.
To help him understand the serps while you are moving, I think angling the jumps will be the best way to go. You were helping him by dialin back the motion, which was great! So now we can add back the motion (he likes motion :)) and make the line clearer:
Using this setup, the wing further from him on the first jump can move towards the house, and the wing at the exit of the 2nd jump can move towards the field. that should allow him to see both bars, mostly, from his start position, so then all you would need to do is run along, release him, and keep your upper body in serp position. You can see these angles in the more advacned sequences, starting at 3:07 on the demo video. And if he is fine with the 2 jump sequences with the jumps angled, you can go to the sequences that add the tunnel 🙂Nice work! Let me know if the angled jump idea makes sense.
TracyHi!
Terrific job on the lazy game! What will your final end position be: a down on the board? You can shape your way there with this game – you were great about marking that initial weight shift! You can let him hop on the board and instead of putting the target in for hopping on… wait til he starts to shift into the down 🙂 And eventually you can have him jump into the down to get the target in. You can release him more frequently from the position (with a thrown cookie off to the side) so that he can hop back on 🙂
He did so well with his backing up!! That board doesn’t seem high until we see how it is above his hocks – he really had to ‘find’ the board by stepping up pretty high for it. What a good boy! He is so thoughtful about his body, you’ve really done a great job with him about it.
I don’t want to add more height to the teeter for this game for him, so you can see if he can now back up into the 4on position.
Great job on these!!! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
