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Hi!
> I thought maybe I went too long and just looked for something reasonable to end on.>
The entire session was just under 3 minutes, and the behavior changed just after the one minute mark… so definitely not too long for him based on what we know he could do.
> Do you think the repetition made him think I wanted something different, despite the cookies?>
Knowing him, I don’t think so? He is generally happy to repeat the response with cued behaviors like this and doesn’t shift his behavior when repeating things after getting rewarded unless it is an obvious shaping context where you were asking him to offer. And he was not stressing or being told he was wrong or anything, which can cause behavior shifts. So something had changed to cause it. I will watch again later after having more caffeine to see if anything stands out LOL
If he had just done a long session of something else right before it, maybe he was brain tired. Or maybe moving towards the camera was a different enough visual or a tighter space? Hard to know! But for the next session, start with the same setup and see what he says!T
Hi!
To clarify – I don’t think he is suffering emotionally or physically 🙂 I think he gets sloppy with his mechanics (like when he grabbed your whole hand, OUCH!) or asks for breaks to cool down. Because he is soooooo driven to play and loves working with you, he will stick around and keep playing. He does not seem put off by repetition and when he is fully adult, I am sure he can go for the longer sessions with zero issues. But the shorter sessions will allow him to cool down and keep his mechanics crisp while protecting your flesh 🙂
T
Poor buddy!!! Ouch!!!! After the stitches come out, you can also help it by putting manuka honey on it, or silver honey spray. Both of those are kind of miraculous, as I have learned from having whippets who get skin tears and wounds all the time.
Keep me posted on when he is ready to play! Fingers crossed for super speedy healing.
T
>Good morning!
The single blind flatwork was gorgeous!
The double blinds are harder, but mainly because she is really fast 🙂
When doing the double blinds – give yourself a longer lead out. That way you can start the first blind as soon as you release her, which will give you an extra heartbeat for the 2nd blind. She was still able to get the 2nd blind on most of the reps, which means your connection was good!
The wing work also went GREAT! You might have felt a little late (you mentioned it in the video at 1:26) but no worries: you were really focusing on the mechanics of the connection. Georgie says you nailed it! She was easily able to find the new side every time. So we will keep getting you earlier and earlier, without sacrificing timing. The connection is actually more important than the timing. so your focus on the connection mechanics is top notch!
Speaking of timing:
>maybe not fast enough (I’m almost never fast enough), not sure.>
One major emphasis in this class is not about running fast or trying to be faster than the dog because that is not reality 🙂 But we can use send strategies or get to places sooner (without having to be faster) and also keeping our arms in tight to our bodies, we can be really quick with the blinds. Your arms were pretty tight to you, which will be very useful when we add the jumps!!
>When it comes to the regular blinds, I’m not sure I can do a good job with getting my arm up upon reconnection after the side change, that can tweak my back. But I’ll do my best.>
One thing we can do is play with what works best without tweaking your back. Having your arms in really tight (elbows bent and touching your ribs) can help your entire upper body move as a unit more from the waist, which can protect your back more. Or, we can play with having you dip a shoulder for the connection which is also effective! Try walking with the bent arms and doing blinds without her, so you can be nice and slow, and see how it feels for your back.
> If I should bring this up at a later time, or it’s outside of the scope of the class, please let me know>
Thanks for posting the video, it is totally within the scope of the class! We want to see how the blinds work in the real world 🙂 Good for you for getting video – plus it is fun to see Georgie all grown up and looking fabulous!
I know the run didn’t work out for the Q but it is great for future Qs. I think if we get a little more connection, she will keep the bar up at jump 1.
> I haven’t done any blinds for a while.>
Yes – I think she was simply surprised by the blind in the middle – you sent then accelerated away. You might have even been a stride early on the blind – keeping your arms in tighter will help this too so she doesn’t see your back turned with both arms up.
> I’m thinking I pulled away too soon on the first one, and that’s why she dropped the bar, but just curious how I can maintain a good connection while trying to get into location for the blind.>
Yes, but also no 🙂 Give us a few weeks here and she will have a lot more experience with stuff like that and won’t have to think about it. The bar will stay up, she just needs to expect that the blind might happen on course. I love that you tried it and it was close to perfect!
The easiest way to maintain connection (until you have to disconnect for the blind) is to keep your arms lower. An arm might fly out on the send, but then pull it back in to run. That will give her a clearer view of the connection. Having your arms lower (or pointing low back to her) will help her see lines better overall. She dropped the #1 bar here because on the release, your arm was high and was blocking her view of connection. I am sure you could see her peripherally, but I am also she sure couldn’t see you and was asking a question over the bar (which is why it fell).
>The blind after the weaves seemed to work.>
That was lovely! Totally worked!!
Great job here!
Tracy
Hello!
>Millie is on RanR for a couple of weeks….came into season and hates her panties>
Poor Millie!!!! Hopefully she gets through it fast and can play 🙂 Sly is happy to take all of her turns, I think 😜🤣🙂
First video:
The first part were spins (FC on the wing, BC on the flat) – those all looked great and your connection mechanics on the exit of the blind were lovely!> including the bad trainer moment when I was surprised by the off-course tunnel and didn’t reward my dog.>
Normally I am like “reward the dog, it is all human error” but in this spot at :28 – it was more of a ‘dogs aren’t robots’ moment LOL! There was no real reason to take the tunnel based on handling there other than perhaps he thought the wing wraps were dumb? LOL! Or he thinks that you do a lot of either/or so he was anticipating that rep would be a tunnel send? You did a FC pretty much the same as all the other reps, with the rotation finished before he exited the wing. Maybe you were further away? But again, there was nothing in the handling or verbal to indicate the tunnel so it is the rare occasion where not rewarding was fine. Let me know if you saw something in your handling that cued the tunnel because I didn’t see it 🤣😂 He almost never makes mistakes and I am sure he enjoyed the extra chase the ball time.
The 2nd part of the session had some true blinds (where you were turning away from him, no FC before it) – the difference in your verbal was cracking me up because it was a lot more intense than on the spins. Those went well too – nice connection mechanics!!
To get a tighter turn on the wing and to make it easier to get the 2nd blind too, you can start the first blind just as he arrives at the wing (or even before he arrives at the wing because he has really good commitment).
You can keep your arms in tighter on these rather than have them fully extended – that will make the blinds quicker for showing the connection on the new side.
Now on the 2nd video – he was correct to guess that it was the tnnel at :09 (and later on at :53 – the motion was moving towards it, there was no verbal, and the blind was not completed in terms of connection until he was well past you. You rewarded him at :10 and that was a good choice – :53 was rewardable too.
Your best timing was at the end – I think you gave yourself a bit of a head start on those so you were able to start the blind before he got to the wing and be reconnected with great mechanics before he exited the wing. The rep at 1:04 was awesome!!!
Your connection on all of the reps was really good – when he could see it before he committed to the tunnel he made the side change even if you were late. Getting a couple of steps ahead of him made it easier than trying to run into it with him.
After the tunnel at :09, you were earlier on the next rep (and had a verbal) which totally changed the line. You were late at :31 but talked to him so he got it (same at :48, where you were quiet). The good mechanics/connection really worked there!
But yes, lock onto the timing you had on the last 2 reps. Those were lovely!!!
He is ready for the crazy 2 wing game 🙂
Great job!
Tracy
Hi!
>The physio checked him and yeah he had some tight spots, most likely caused by a certain heffalump brother with emotional regulation issues humping him! And he was a little tighter on one side, which made sense for his difficulty bending on the cookie stretch.>
A big click/treat to you for taking care of his body, even though he is still young. I wish everyone would do that!!!! I am sure he appreciates all the care.
T
I hope you had fun! When you are comfortable with water, you can move to things you like more like coffee, ice cream, beer, wine hahahaha.
>But I assume that Sammy will support me in breaking this habbit by jumping up on me whenever I forget it:-)>
YES! If he jumps up at your arm, it is communication that he cannot see connection. It is like he is tagging your arm to remind you 🙂 and that is your cue to look at him more.
Have fun!
Tracy
Good morning (or afternoon for you :))
Sammy was SO GOOD here!!! He made extra sure to NOT hit you. Good boy ❤️ he was thinking really hard about it and leaping high up to be careful not to hit you.
Jazz seemed to think it was the craziest game ever 😂 but he was also really good about not touching you. The expression on his face at the beginning of his turn was so cute!
When you had your back to the bar and were in the middle of it, both boys read it is a cue to come around to the backside – that makes sense, because they have probably never been asked to take the front side with you right there and not looking at them. They were both really good about taking the front side when asked, even though they both thought it was a strange new game haha!
Since this went really well, you can move on to the one jump games.
Great job!
TracyGood morning!
He is doing well here! His commitment is building really nicely!
He had a couple of questions when you were doing 2 wraps in a row:
When you rotated too soon and were facing him, it was hard for him to find the line to the wing behind you. Facing him would either cause him to go back to a different wing or he would come directly to you.
You got the best commitment when you would send backwards to start but then moved forward for a few steps before decelerating/rotating for the next send. Those cues worked perfectly!! Great examples of that were at 2:48 – 2:52, 3:40 – 3:48, and 5:33 – 5:39. Really super!!!
2 things on the dog training side of things:
Definitely keep the sessions shorter – 3 minutes of this is really all he needs before he should get a break. He will totally keep working the whole time even if he is tired, but that is when unwanted behaviors crop up like grabbing your hand (7:16) or leaving (8:00). He will come back when you call him, so be sure to stop the session before he gets tired – setting that timer and build in more breaks before he looks like he is tired is the way to go.
While you are sorting things out in to set up the handling & verbals for the next rep, have him stop moving and stop offering wings and running sequences like at 1:19 – 1:46 🙂 Having him just chill and do nothing for a moment will help him stay in handler focus, save some energy, and will make for super clean starts when you are ready for the next rep.
Now, it is entirely possible that he doesn’t have a lot of natural chill yet in the working environment 🙂
You can use a stay if he will hold it, or will he hang out on a cot or Klimb? You can reward that: treats for standing on something and staying there as you walk the course.Nice work here!
Tracy
Hi!
This was a really interesting session!The first minute of the session went great! The left side reps at the beginning were really strong.
The right side reps were harder at first (a little slower in terms of responding) but then he was able to get those sits pretty quickly too.
After about 1:10, something changed and you got stands and downs, even on the left side. You were moving towards the camera, so maybe there was a visual or something that was causing the game to get suddenly harder?
He did get the sit at 1:55 but it was a different sit. The sits at the beginning of the session (moving the different direction) were nice tucks sits. The sit at 1:55 was more of roll back sit, and a bit heavier in the mechanics – it was harder, for some reason. There is no requirement for tuck versus roll back with this game, but it was super interesting to see the difference!
He was getting the sits more and more by the end, including more tuck sits, but it was still harder. I don’t think the first minute was so mentally challenging that he got mentally tired. Do you remember what he was walking towards when he was having trouble? The camera was there, but may be there was a toy or pile of treats or something? All of that can make it harder so it will be good to know how to add challenge (or subtract) if he finds something harder.
Great job!
Tracy
Good morning!
>Last night we took a whirl at it again focusing on staying closer until she shows me further is ‘ok’.>
That was really successful! She found the backside really well. Your connection and timing were all spot on!
You were starting pretty far away then converging towards her a little – you can add in starting laterally away but not converging at all (staying on a straight line that is parallel to her line).
>The barrel crash at the very beginning threw me for a loop, more like Yikes & wanted to process but I couldn’t that quick lol>
Hitting the barrel happened when you gave the ‘yes’ marker and presented the treat – she drove to it and hit the barrel. The other reps had similar timing and she was much better about not hitting the barrel.
>I don’t know what happened, she was a little cray cray, a little unfocused, not sure if she was tired (ha) adolescent (6 mo old today) or what! >
Spring has sprung! She was ready for fun times! My dogs were also really high on life the last 2 days too 🙂
So what happened was that the session was probably too much of a controlled loop – line up, release, reward, heel back, line up, release, reward, line up, release, reward, etc. All of it was controlled and all for cookies. There was no opportunity for her to bust out her dance moves between reps.
You can see her start to think about other things before lining up again – then taking off at the end.
That is pretty typical of pups and adolescents (she is just entering adolescence 🙂 ) – they need to move a lot. It is their brain developing that is getting us all sorts of extra movement LOL
So if we don’t provide dance breaks, they will take dance breaks 🙂 That can include running around, exploring the environment, etc. The training rep takes a lot of self-control and mechanics. Releasing to a dance break after each rep or two makes a massive difference especially in hard environments like the great outdoors.
With that in mind, you can open up the loop in training:
Line up, release, reward DANCE BREAK! Then after she has busted out her fancy moves, repeat the process.
The dance break can come in the form of tugging, getting a ball/toy that you have tossed, or even running back and forth for treats. Giving our adolescent dogs these dance breaks make all the difference in training plus they are super fun to watch and join in on 🙂
You’ll figure out what are the best breaks for her (it will change a lot during adolescence so now worries if what worked today doesn’t work tomorrow).
Nice work here! Let me know how she does with the added breaks!
Tracy
Good morning!
He did a great job completing the circle wrap while you stayed in motion the whole time. That is the hardest part for the dogs – good boy!!! Great job staying in motion but not tooooo much motion and staying connected too.
He seemed like the left turns were easier here (:55 – 1:10, for example). He drove directly to the barrel, shifted his weight into his rear, turned his head and stayed tight to the barrel. Yessssss! Perfect! He did it at :55 when he was coming in on a harder angle, but he also did it when he came in with more speed and from an easier line at 1:02. On the right turns, he was a little wider and looked like he was still sorting out how to get that turn tight – these were also really good and for the next session, you can show him how to tighten them up by doing what you did at :55 –
On that rep, you were on a harder angle, a little closer to the barrel and you let him get in front of you for a straight shot to the barrel. That can help tighten the rights up. You did a bit of that for the right turn at 1:23, but you can make the angle a little harder too.And since his commitment looked good: stay in steady motion until you are 99% sure he will finish the wrap (he will be most of the way around the barrel). Then mark the toy as available take off and run for him to grab 🙂 If he comes in hot for the toy, you can let him take it and run through it so he doesn’t crank his neck or your shoulder. Adding the running element of the reward is really good for convincing the pups to dig in with their rear – and his commitment is really strong so he is ready for that 🙂
Also it was fun to see him work the whole session with a toy! Yay!
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
It was very fun to see Rusty understand this as if he had already read the textbook and worked on it without you LOL!! Super great job! He was fast and most of all – he understood to finish the wrap with you moving forward. That is the part that young dogs often have questions about and I didn’t see Rusty have questions. SUPER!!!
Since this went brilliantly, you can add a little more challenge to it:
Start a little further back so he has 4 or 5 strides to get to the barrel. You can also be a little further to the side, so he can fully see the barrel. When you start moving forward, be sure he can still see the barrel so he can accelerate past you. As he gets past you and starts the wrap, you will get on the line right behind his tail and keep moving forward.
This adds a harder countermotion element! But I think he is ready 🙂 If he needs extra support to finish the wrap, you can look behind you as you walk forward.
I also suggest moving over so he can see the barrel fully because we don’t want to block the line on course. We want him to go past you to get to it, but not have to cross in front of you to get to it. That will actually keep you being able to move even more as he learns his commitment skills.
The other thing to add now is the backside circle wrap verbal! It needs to be different from the regular backside verbal because it needs to cue a lot more collection and we don’t want you to have to use extra handing to help that.
Great job here!!
TracyGood morning!
>I am trying very hard to keep things clear for him but have some work to do on my handling. He is a sensitive one at times. >
As we work on handling with baby dogs, the main thing is to reward basically all the things LOL!! The hardest part of agility is that the dogs have to rely on us for all the info on course – sorry, dogs hahahahaha. Our adult dogs know the game well enough that they can figure it out if we are unclear. But the baby dogs do not, so we just make sure to reward a zillion things. And I have a game coming soon to teach the pups to have fun even when we humans mess us LOL! 😂
>He seems to get the stay but then I see him yawning. >
Adding lots of rewards and mixing in non-stay starts will help! And more tugging now that your hand is on the way to recovery.
>I had tried it both ways the day before and he was still going to the toy. I think because it was the 1st time we had played tug since my surgery it was just too hard for him also >
He does love the toy! Your plan to place it and then reward him a lot on the way to the start spot will help! And we can also start with easier things to reward, such as an empty bowl or even a slightly-open back of treats. Those will be a good challenge but not as hard as the toy 🙂
>I agree on the wow for the wobble board. We have taken it very slow like you suggested.>
We have time on our side as far as teeter training goes. So keep taking the slow, high value approach you’ve been doing because the results are fabulous!!!
>For the backsides. I have only one verbal now. I mainly do AKC. My in person instructor told me I do need the two verbals for backsides. >
Yes – AKC has evolved a lot in the pat couple of years in terms of using both types of backsides. So I think you need a backside slice verbal (I think your ‘around’ will work for this). And a backside circle wrap verbal (I use dig dig dig dig because I can chop it up for added collection support). “Back back back” is also a good choppy word for the backside wraps, and a nice contrast to ‘around’.
>To be honest I am a little confused when I would use each also. >
There are ‘grey’ areas on backsides to define exactly which verbal should be used, so it depends on the amount of collection (because I absolutely do not want more than 2 verbals for backside pushes haha!)
I base it off the exit wing and it is all about the dog’s path, not my handling (although these are both backside pushes and not threadles):
if the dog has to enter on one wing and exit towards the other wing – it is the slice verbal. If the dog has to enter on one wing and exit tight to that same wing? It is the wrap verbal 🙂
Visuals work best for this:
Here is the circle wrap. -the dig dig dig is very quiet.
Here are some slices (there is a bit of training at the beginning but you can see the full slice at about :45 seconds:
>I am probably overthinking it which is one of my faults lol.>
You are not overthinking! And planning/clarifying is NOT a fault at all!!! Dublin appreciates it! Let me know if the backside stuff makes sense 🙂
On the video:
He was SO HAPPY the toy was back! Yay!And he is tall now so you don’t have to lean over as much LOL!
These wraps around the cone are full 360s, so that would be the backside wrap verbal (eventually, it is not needed here).
He did a super job driving around the cone to the dragged toy – really nice body bending and turns!
Since he did so well here, we can isolate his head turn even more: you can line him up at your side, send him around the cone, As he is coming around the cone, the same hand that sent him will now meet his nose (you can have a cookie in the hand) and draw his nose past the cone, then slowly turn him away to get to wrap for a 2nd time. The instance he turns his head to start the 2nd wrap, you can mark (click or verbal marker) and toss the treat around the cone.
This is a more cerebral version of it so you don’t need to move, you can just hang out in front of the cone. And he only needs to do 2 wraps in a row to get the reward – then you can tug and line him up for a the next rep.
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning! Really nice sessions here – and a good balance between the very thoughtful pivoting and the run run run backsides 🙂 She did super!
Pivoting is going well! You are getting some definite steps in each direction! I think it is a little harder when you were moving your right side towards her – that was where there were fewer steps and she would sometimes jump up to the cookie hand. The other side seemed easier – so when you are moving your left side towards her, you can ask for more steps. When you are moving your right side towards her, keep rewarding just a step or two for now.
She was also offering pivoting when she got back on the barrel – you can get more steps there by delivering the food with her head slightly more turned. For example at :15, you rewarded by delivering the treat with her head a little turned to her right. You can turned it a little more towards her shoulder – it is a fine line because we want more steps but we don’t want her to fall off the bucket LOL!! You can experiment with how much to turn her head for the cookie to see what works best.
The backside slices are also looking strong. She seemed to really understand the concept of finding the ‘other’ side of the barrel and coming back over the bar. The toy really made it fun for her 🙂
She had a couple of questions on your left (at 2:55 approx) but I think that was her locking onto a cookie in your hand perhaps. You got rid of the cookie and the questions disappeared 🙂
As you add more distance away from the barrel, you can actually use your arm less (and connect more). You had a little bit of pointing ahead on your right side, which might be too much arm when we add it to a jump – too much arm blocks the connection and turns our shoulders to the front of the jump. But your left arm position was great: supporting but not pointing and she saw the connection. So she got the backside with you pretty far away by the end. YAY!
Excellent job here!!
Tracy
