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Good morning!
The threadle wrap session went great! What really helped was when you decelerated for her to get to your hand – that set up the turn really well so she really had no questions. Deceleration is a huge part of teaching and handling the threadle wraps, so that really helped her. You can go to the next step where you decelerate but you don’t have to totally stop: can she still read the turn away cue when you are still slowly moving? That will be a good challenge. We build on this soon by adding the cones/barrel.
>however Sunnie wasn’t feeling the love for chasing her toy toy.>
Feel free to add video of that, so we can figure out ways to get the toy more enticing 🙂
Strike a pose went great too!
> I am super proud of this kid, so many little pieces that we’ve training all along are put together in this exercise! stay, impulse control, hand touch that morphed into a cue! >
Yes! And we add motion to it soon. It is really cool to watch the young dogs put it all together. The MaxPup level 3 dogs just started their course and Boom! They are running sequences, no problem at all. VERY cool!!! Good job to YOU for doing all the small pieces so it is easy for her to put together the big pieces!
She did really well finding the serp position from all the different starting points. She had the occasional crime of passion by gong to the bowl (1:43 for example) but she was super successful overall.
>Should I try this with cookies in the bowl now? >
Yes, cookies in the bowl would be a good next step – it works best when you put the cookies in the bowl before you set her up in the stay, so her attention is more on you and less on the bowl. If she is in the stay then you put the cookies in the bowl the game is MUCH harder because it really draws her eyes to the bowl, so we can add that later.
You can also try it with a toy on the ground, or a ball.
And if you have wings, add some wings to the uprights to give her exposure to a visual she will see If you don’t have wings, add the barrels or cones as wings 🙂 That way she can still find you for the serp even though the jump looks different.
>We did get a good game of chase with the toy toy after strike a pose!!>
Yay! Did you throw it or run around dragging it? We can keep track of what gets her excited for the toy after all the cookies 🙂
Great job!
Tracy
Good morning!
The threadle wrap foundation went great! He seemed to find it really easy to turn away in both directions/on both sides. So cool!
Since it was so easy, you can move to the advanced levels with your motion. I am confident that will be easy for him too 🙂When you are adding your movement, you might have to get your hands lower (at his nose level) to start this so he locks onto the hands and prepare to turn away, and doesn’t just follow your movement forward.
>Sorry about the cat but as you can see Rusty pays no attention.>
No worries, that cat is adorable! And it is good practice for Rusty to ignore his friends while he is training 🙂
Great job!
TracyGood morning!
OMG it was windy! Mother Nature was being very helpful LOL! But your pattern game warm up was lovely: Dublin was not interested in the environment and had great session.
And I am also excited that after all of those good cookies, he got into the tugging!! Yay!
He was getting faster on each rep and blasting past you, which allowed you to rotate and be moving the other way sooner. Yay!
Small blooper at 1:31 – that was the only spot where your connection shifted ahead of him so he didn’t see it – and that ended up turning your shoulders to the threadle part of the cone. So, he did a fancy threadle wrap 🙂 Good reward there! Handler errors should definitely lead to a reward for the dog 🙂
The rotated sends looked good too! You were actually doing them in flow earlier in the session, when he was driving past you to get to the cone and you were able to rotate sooner. When I freeze the video as he is getting to the cone in those moments, he is either seeing you in the sideways send position, or in the backwards send! Yay!
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
Really nice job with your connection and motion here! Being super connected really helped your timing and her commitment.On the first video:
>I’m so late with my verbals!>
First rep was good timing with most of the verbals! You had a few extra tunnel verbals (while she was in it and when she was exiting it LOL) which was funny 😆 but you still got your right verbals out and turned your shoulders. The left verbals on left verbals on the 2nd rep were good timing too!
On the 2nd video:
OK yes, you were late with your verbals on this one 🙂 The dig verbals for the wrap started just before takeoff – but she responded brilliantly to your decel so still had a really good turn! You might have actually decelerated too early 🙂 so she slowed down more than needed for the wrap.On the 2nd run – the verbals were still late and on this one, the decel was late too so she was a lot wider.
The ideal timing is to run in extension until she lands from the middle jump, then decelerate while facing forward. Then as she collects for takeoff, you can start to rotate for the FC. That will be the sweet spot!
Nice work here!
Tracy
Hi!
Side note: he seems to be very focused working outdoors now!!Good job working out the timing here!
On the first video:
You had a little too much “go” at :16, which made the right verbal late and the shoulder turn late. So at :18 you really pulled your shoulder which caused disconnection so he looked at you and almost came off the line.
Compare to the timing of the left verbal at :36 – spot on! Timing and connection were clear so he had no questions. You can be ore connected and drive more directly to the tunnel at :38 – he head checked towards you when you looked ahead of him and turned your shoulders away from the tunnel a bit.
The last rep was the best one! Clear connection all the way through, and the timing of your verbals and motion were all spot on. SUPER!! Try not to bend over when you are connecting, as that will slow you down and might cause him to slow down too.
Wraps: The connection looked good and the cues were clear here (decel, verbal, rotation) but they can all come sooner 🙂
For now, you can start the deceleration when the landing from the middle jump (continue facing forward to the wrap jump a you decelerate). Then as he approaches takeoff for the wrap jump, you can do the FC rotation. This will get a little earlier as he gets more experienced and as the bars get higher.
The takeoff decision gets made shortly after landing from the middle jump, so you will want to get the info to him before that.
On the video here, the verbal and decel for the wraps started when he was about a stride from takeoff at :45, 1:52, 2:59 so he was wide (turned after landing) and ticked the bar on a couple.
The decel cues at 2:25 and 3:22 were a stride earlier so he turned better (but you can still be earlier 🙂 )
He pulled off the jump at 3:07 – you were too early with the rotation as you noted, but what really pulled him off was that you didn’t decel. So the rotation was like hitting the brakes hard on a sports car 🙂
The rep at 2:30 (wrap on the jump after tunnel) had the earliest timing and the best wrap! You started your decel about a stride after he exited the tunnel and that allowed him to set up a lovely turn.
Great job here! Have a wonderful weekend at the trial!
Tracy
Hi!
Lazy game part 2 & 3:
He sent to the middle jump really well – you can spread the distances out even more so you can work in even more distance here. And the lazy game adding the tunnel went well too – he ws picking up speed without you needing to add your speed either – yay! We really want him to be able to drive these lines even if you are not perfect.
Then when you added more of your motion: easy peasy, he drove the lines beautifully! You had really nice connection and he did super well.
One small detail: Be careful of the hand signal for wait because he thought it was a nose touch at 1:04 and almost broke his stay moving to your hand 😂 I don’t think he needs a hand signal for the stay.
Looking at the one-step-sends: also went really well! Remember to add in the exit line connection of looking back at him across your body (getting the dog side arm out of the way) after the front crosses, so he can really see connection and have super tight turns. You were putting your dog side arm out, which actually widens the turns a bit because he will drift to wait for more info. On the exits where you did have the exit line connection visible to him (like at 1:57 and 2:20), his turns were really tight!
Nice work here!
Tracy
Hi!
I agree, this is going well!
Good job working the timing here! It really made you prioritize the connection (that was my secret agenda haha) and that all looked great! Verbals were good too (the first right was not the same as the 2nd right :))One thing to bug you about in terms of timing: You should turn your shoulders sooner for the pinwheel jump to get him to land facing the next jump. You were tending to be facing straight over the jump so he landed straight. Keep the shoulders turning so he can set up his collection even more.
You had one opposite moment, too early on the big shoulder turn (with a decel before it) at 1:32 pulled him off the middle jump. Good boy for listening! The rest of the motion (like at 1:54) all looked good.
He had a bar down at 2:30 – he was not quite ready for the big acceleration of the line so pulled the bar then came off the tunnel when you disconnected. I think you can show him the big acceleration again and I bet he sorts out the striding perfectly.
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi! This is the same link as above that gave me an error message. Ca you check to see if the video has a different link?
Thanks!
Tracy
Hi!
She certainly loved all the connection here on the first video! YAY!!! Working the timing by connecting more makes a huge difference and she did a great job on both sides here. Nailed it! You can probably add in the tunnel verbal when you are saying “go go go” because it will tell her specifically where to go.
The 2nd link gives an error message – I think it is to your log in page and not the actual link. Can you add the link?
Thanks!
Tracy
Hi!
These all went really well! A couple of ideas about timing, but otherwise this is a very useful cue that he executed brilliantly, and set you up to be in great position for everything else. Yay!Video 1: Nice connection! He loves distance work, so you can be telling him away before he even gets into the tunnel. The FC on the backside and the serp both looked awesome! And check out how tight his turns were on the wrap on jump 1!
Video 2: since you don’t want the get out line after the tunnel, call him before he gets into the tunnel. He really looked at the off course jump, so calling him before the tunnel will get a perfect line to the jump (without the risk of an off course bonus jump 🙂 ). The away/out jump was great of course!
Video 3: this was also the get out jump then the FC on the backside. Super nice!
Video 4: this one had the away followed by the in in – that went GREAT! And it was pretty easy to handle a complex sequence by sending him to the out jump. Yay! Because he read it so well, you can add in the wrap exit cues sooner on the in in jump (:32). You started them over the bar here, but you can start the rotation and verbal for it as soon as you see him come through the gap to the correct side of the jump.
On the ending line of this sequence (8-9-10) you can give the last away sooner. You started it as he was in the air at :38 when he was already jumping towards you, so he made the turn on landing. Ideally he will turn before takeoff, so you can start that cue no later than when he is halfway between the 8 and 9 jumps so it is almost a straight line to 10.
Video 5:
This went well too! The cues before the tunnel entry about where to look on the exit will really help! He was turning towards you on the exit of 4 and had to work hard to find the 5 jump. And he was totally heading to the off course at the end and found the straight line a bit late, so you can use verbal before the tunnel to really help him in both spots.Video 6: Another vote for the verbal before the tunnel here 🙂 He almost got all the way to the off course at :07. I think a name call is all he needs to go straight and not cnsider the off course, and the away cue before the tunnel entry will give him permission to go find that line 🙂
Video 7: this was probably one of the first sequences you ran, and it went well but the verbal-before-the-tunnel thing will tighten the tunnel exit lines for sure 🙂
Video 8: this went really well! The get out timing can come sooner here – I think the timing will be perfect if you start it when he is no more than halfway between 4 and 5.
Your connection was great on all of these! Super work here!
Tracy
Hi!
>Copper has started barking A LOT at me in both training and trial runs. >
There are multiple reasons why dogs bark on course, and some breeds bark more than others. Aussies definitely bark on course sometimes :). Here are some of the reasons:
– having fun, tons of excitement! Usually the dog is barking but looking at the line and not at the handler.
– frustration: late cues, or handler disconnection, or lack of understanding. Usually the dog is looking at the handler during this.
– collection: late cues or having to slow down (usually looking at the handler)
– frustration about errors: when the handler miscues and fixes, the dog perceives it as a punisher (because stopping is punishing, especially when the dog read the handler’s cues correctly. And fixing obstacles when the dog doesn’t quite understand. (usually looking at the handler)
And nipping is usually when frustration adds up: certain breeds get mouthy. We never want the dogs to get to the point of nipping the handler out of frustration – then the handler stops the dog, which creates more frustration.
>please let me know if you have other suggestions for how to stop this behavior.>
The main thing is to assume all errors on course are handler errors (even if you don’t believe it in the moment 😂 the video always shows it as handler error) and on handling sequences: keep going no matter what, no fixing. If something goes wrong, that is a signal to connect more or give earlier cues.
For weaves and contacts: if he misses a lot, more training needed before you will want to take them into the trial ring.
And, since we humans are not perfect… teach him all of the resilience games that little Bandit is learning 🙂 There is one coming soon in Bandit’s class that teaches the dogs how to self-regulate when something goes wrong on course.
>I could use coaching on the timing for calling next moves. For example, do I call a direction change or the next obstacle before a jump or right after he lands?>
The week 2 games work specifically on timing! For a big dog on AKC courses, you will want to be cueing the next thing when he is in the air over the previous jump. That way he already knows what to do when he lands from the previous jump.
With timing in mind, looking at the video:
For the first wrap at :13, you the decel and rotation all came at the same time (when he was about a stride from the jump) so he pulled off. You fixed it and he started barking.
Ideally the wrap cues begin when he is at the middle jump (jump before the wrap) and the first part of the cue is a forward-facing deceleration. That is the big head’s up to him that tat turn is coming. Then when he is collection and getting ready to wrap, you can do the FC and move the other way. Decelerating and rotating at the same time tend to pull dogs off the jump.
On the 2nd rep at :38 you had the decel more clearly distinct from the rotation so he committed nicely! But it can still start sooner (note the barking here too) – he did not quite have enough time to collection before takeoff (same at :57). At 1:40 you were accelerated for too long so he took the jump but turned after landing.
Compare that to 1:19 where you had an earlier decel and then rotated as he got closer to the wrap jump: that was really nice!
Working the wraps with a bar (even if it is a low bar, like 16”) will give you easy-to-see feedback on the timing – if you are late, he will hit the bar or turn after landing. If you are on time, he will collect before takeoff.
The other thing that will help the timing and help him bark less is to look at his eyes more and point at the lines less. When you were moving away from the camera at 1:05, for example, we can see what he sees: your arm is out pointing ahead of you and you are looking ahead so he is barking, checking in, and slowing down to be sure he is right. You can play with running the whole thing silently, just looking at his eyes 🙂 That will really lock in the connection!
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi! These games all look great and he is hitting a new gear of speed!
The plank session was so fun to watch! The board probably did have more wiggle to it but that is a good challenge.
He really enjoyed the toy as the reward, and you did a great job asking for more in terms of how much to do on the plank. He cracked me up towards the end when he got on, ran across it, then did a victory leap off the end 😆
It looked like a great confidence booster for him!Well done with the lazy game too 🙂 Your lazy was really good 😆 and he did great. He REALLY loved the next steps with the tunnel and the sending – wow! He was finding lines and plenty of speed! I think you were both really tuned into the game so the kid noises didn’t eben register. Really nice!
It looks like you’ve graduated from the lazy game and can move to the sequences added yesterday.
Great job!
TracyHi!
The bigger distance lazy game went well! It gave him more room to run for sure – this is a game to revisit a we add more course work, and you can reward every couple of jumps or every 3 jumps instead of each single jump. That will get even more running.
The independence of the lazy game sure does make sequencing easier and faster! This is the most I have seen you hustle with him – he was really finding a new gear of speeeeeed!
Your connection and timing were really good, he seemed to have no questions and no judgement against you LOL Only one handling suggestion:
For the middle jump: you can send and peel away from it to set the turn. At :32 he ran past the jump before the tunnel and I think that was partially caused handler motion. At :30, you were facing the middle jump and moving almost on a backside line cue to the jump after the tunnel, showing extension cues. So he stayed on the parallel path to the backside which zipped him right past the jump.
You had a little decel at :44 and :57 so he got the jump (you can see him land long at :57 and adjust to find the jump). But I think sending to the middle jump then peeling away down the line to the tunnel will give him collection cues for the middle jump and set him up on a perfect line to the next jump.
The 2 backside reps at the end looked great! He was fast and balanced in both directions – super! Your connection really helped with that too, just lovely!
Nice work here!
Tracy
Good morning!
>There were some surprises, some good ones where he did some things awesome that I thought would be difficult, but also some less happy surprises. 2 of the runs, he decided I has wrong right near the end of the course and went straight instead of doing the thing I was asking him to do. >
I am guessing that it was just a bit of rustiness after the time off. Frustrating, yes! But a lot of brilliance without the benefit of the full year to prepare.
>We struggled hard with threadle wraps. We apparently do not have that skill in the way it was presented this past weekend. >
The threadle wrap skill has gone completely wild lately – it is like the judges have been trying to find ways to shove them in at opposite ends of the course.
>All of the threadle wraps were off the line in the opposite direction to where we were heading next and each time I thought he was committed but then he pulled off. I’m guessing he sees me leaving and chases me. >
That is another spot where I am guessing the injury layoff hindered the prep – he was still learning the new level of threadle wraps in the trial setting. So commitment was a little harder than normal. That will also get easier as you get the experience under your belts.
>We had 1 amazing run where we had a refusal that was 100% my fault because I was worried about a section leading up to the weaves and he did it so perfectly I didn’t cue the weaves in time. All the rest of it I got him his cues in time and he responded exactly as I would have expected and it really was awesome. >
That is fantastic!!!! So close to perfection!!!
>Overall though, he did feel more consistent throughout compared to other times, so hopefully we are getting there.>
You totally are! And I am very impressed with how well you did on really hard courses without the benefit of the full year to prepare. Wow!!!
>It made me happy to see all the shelties doing awesome things at tryouts!>
I look forward to seeing Aelfraed out there in the next year or two 🙂
>He weighs just under 20 lbs but is definitely more front end heavy, although his back end is improving as he grows up.>
A 20lb dog can do a fantastic 2o2o but the 4on is also terrific. He is right on the cusp! Either way we will focus on the weight shift and getting him to the end of the board.
>He definitely enjoys ice cream as long as you have the correct flavour (he’s a bit more discerning than Lennan) of strawberry being the best but vanilla also being acceptable. >Oh, I agree with this: strawberry for sure over vanilla.
>He really is crazy for bread though, especially with butter, but will also accept plain bread. >
There are a lot of bread opportunities though: white bread, bagel, croissants, baguette…. Endless rewards LOL!
>So far he has been very clear that he will not accept help when on equipment. He says he will do it himself. He wants us to be close but not help. >
You can try having a target with a piece of bread on it at one end to send him across the board to… and then he can run back to you across the board. A helper can place the bread then move away so he sees it but doesn’t feel over-helped LOL!
>but something new he will not accept any help. He has since figured out how to turn on the box, at home, doing it for himself.>
It is really interesting to see how different dogs approach these puzzles! Some dogs get melty and need all the help. Some dogs (AELFRAED!) are like “leave me alone, I will figure it out” LOL!
Onwards to more fun!
T
Good morning!
>Played with the teeter, two feet on for reward with me out of the picture. She caught on quick.>
Another puzzle solved, according to Jazz 🙂
>Tried to get her to back up on it, had minimal success with back leg movement, but not much and not onto the board. I’ll raise the drop a little bit for our next session. >
Since we are also sorting out *something* that hurts in her hind end…. I bet the lack of backing up is part of that. So let’s leave it alone for now and focus on front end behaviors. She was happily offering all sorts of brilliant things so we can avoid anything that might possibly be ouchy. She doesn’t seem concerned about any movement or sound!
She also did great on the plank – it was wobbly and she was great at balancing while going across it.
Next steps: raise it a little more 🙂 If you can get it a foot off the ground, we can teach her how to dismount it from the middle. This is super useful for learning how to safely get off the dog walk if she loses her balance.
>Chiro isn’t in agreement with the other vets initial diagnosis of iliosoas tendonopithy. The area of Jazz’s discomfort doesn’t line up with a soas injury. >
The iliopsoas ouchiness usually comes from somewhere else at her age (since there has not been any repetitive overuse or traumatic injury) so your Chiro is really helpful in keeping that open as an option. Yes, her psoas might be tight or a little ouchy, but it might just be something related to what the actual cause is.
>Definitely needs US to get proper diagnosis. >
Totally agree. You’ve already got x-rays so the U/S will be ideal to really see whatever might be happening.
>I decided to have this done by Dr. Canapp so I’ll be cancelling the 4/22 US appointment in Sacto and making one with Dr. Canapp. >
Hopefully they can get you in soooooooooon. What has been working best for getting in fast is tagging him on social media. It is possible that when he gets tagged, he (or his schedule people) see it and bump up that dog into an earlier appointment. I am pretty sure that is how I got my Elektra in so fast – mid-December appointments became possible dates a month earlier after social media tags. I can work the social media end if you don’t want to.
And since I am currently collaborating with him on a series of podcasts feel free to tell him that I sent you. Whatever it takes to get little Jazz sorted out ASAP!!!!
>The good news is that the discomfort wasn’t as intense this visit, so things are improving.>
That is GREAT. And when you get the appointment, hopefully your chiropractor can send notes from the appointments? And I can go back through MaxPup 1 & 2 to find the videos where were seeing possible ouch moments.
>I’m still in a holding pattern on my treatment plan. Should have an idea of what to expect after visits on Monday.>
I am hoping you get lots of answers on Monday, I am sure you are ready to move forward.
Keep me posted! And we will keep moving forward with the foundation games here!Tracy
