[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! This was fun to watch, he is reading everything really well!

Seq 1: this went well! I think for the “go” line at the end of a sequence (on all of them, not just seq 1), you can have a placed reward to keep him digging in rather than slowing down. He continued forward there but was floating to the last jump more than driving to it. A placed toy can simulate puppy toy races: you can race him to it and if you get there first (not likely, but ya never know haha) – it is your prize to party with 🙂

Seq 2: The 2nd rep was definitely better! He was not 100% sure about the layering on the first rep but then was great on the 2nd rep! It would be good to see if you can turn and leave the tunnel soon to head up that big line, getting miles ahead, rather than wait a bit for him. It would be a good challenge to ask him to find that line with the layer when you are ahead.

Sq 3: He had a bar down at 5 on the first rep at 1:28 – I think it was that you were too far forward ( sending to 4 from too far away which put you up near 6 as he was taking 4-5) and didn’t quite get your shoulders turned on time so he was trying to adjust in the air. You were earlier getting your shoulder turned there at 1:44 and 1:59 and he did really well!! I think in this scenario, it would work better to get closer to 4 – you can be more lateral on the lead out to do this while still cuing the right turn on the tunnel exit – then you can be near the wing of 4, send to 5 from between 4 and 5 -then be laterally away from 6-7 to show that line. That can hep you get shoulders turned sooner and also keep your further ahead for the end (you can try to get a BC between the tunnel and the last jump too!)

Seq 4: This opening went well! Yes, maybe a little too much “go on” for 1-2-3 but you switched nicely into his left and he turned well at 2:16. You were alter with the left cues by about a stride (verbal and physical cues) so he dropped the bar at 2:39. Also, you didn’t layer at 2:39 – I think the layering helped him because you had to decel to do it, which helped set up the turn.

>>I am using way too many “go ons” here watching this back and not giving him the info he really needs.>>

Yes, too much go on at 8 (I see what you mean about saying go on too much 🙂 ) You can use a more generic “jump” verbal in those situations and save the go on for the big go on lines.

>>Also feels like I’m coming in too hot to the wing wrap in sequence 4 and should be showing some decel and giving the verbal sooner instead of a go on for the jump after the tunnel.>>

At 2:22, you were beginning the decel cues with good timing but your connection turned forward to 9 and your decel moment was a bit too short – so he looked at you, barked, dropped the bar of 9. Same at 2:47, but the bar was already down (but his exit was wide because he didn’t see as much connection there. And I think he ticked a bar on that last rep (it was harder to hear the last rep, for some reason).

After watching the reps, I think what is happening is that you wee going from acceleration to the rotation – so he committed, but had a question about it and also it put you so far ahead he couldn’t see the exit line connection. (The question on the first rep was the disconnection but you were more connected on the other reps).

Your timing of starting it was good, so as you start the verbal – decel while moving forward or a couple of steps until you see him starting collect then rotate and call him and make a big connection (you were saying “go on” on the wrap exit, but he is still turning there so you don’t quite need to go to a forward cue yet).

Grear job here! let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

A couple of ideas about session planning:

>>he video does not follow the rules because I returned to the start several time to try to get the first couple of jumps. I did use the cookie reset which kept him focused and working with me. So 0-1:22 is just the first 5 obstacles and it never worked very well. Then we went on and reset a couple of times for 8 and 9. >>

Yes, sometimes it happens that we have a good plan but for whatever reason it doesn’t work or the dog doesn’t understand the skills, or both – so if you find yourself working a section of it multiple times, that can add up to 20 jumps or more so count it as the first full run. Otherwise, we risk overworking or frustrating the dogs by working sections and then trying to run the big courses a couple of times. I probably would have ended the session at the 3:00 mark because he had done a lot already.

Also, remember that if something goes wrong: Carry on, don’t repeat, don’t fix – he doesn’t like the starts and stops, it seems frustrating to him. He much prefers that you carry on, like at the very end of the first full run.

One more idea: does he like a lotus ball or treat hugger? I know you’ve told me but I am a little sleep deprived and can’t remember LOL!! You can use a treat-based toy like that to throw on the lines (and for backsides) to get even more independent commitment.

On the opening – I think more connection will help get the line – you were looking forward each time he went off course, so try to run with more eye contact. And if he goes off course? Carry on and fix later. 3 should be a backside (you are cuing it as a front) so that might be why the lines felt strange. The middle section went well! I liked the blind after the teeter!!!

He has some backside jump questions – he got to the backside nicely after the teeter, but didn’t take the jump. And he had trouble finding the backside at the end and keeping the bar up. Definitely check out the game in the Package 1 Live class (sequence 2) where we work this skill so you can reinforce him for taking the jump and you can move through.

The ending line went well when you were more connected and gave a clear backside cue – so your next focal point in handing can be staying connected all the way through – you had a great run in round 2 and then disconnected at the very end, so he missed a jump at the end.

>>I was getting it out to try it and Buccleigh grabbed it and wanted to play with it. This is the first time he has spontaneously showed an interest in any “toy”.

That is hilarious and also terrific! A new toy! He was super stimulated so had trouble lying up with it present – if you are going to run with it, maybe cut it I half? It is pretty long and floppy LOL! It certainly does help keep your arms down but it will be easier to run with if it is smaller.

>>He did engage at the end of the run but not with the same enthusiasm. I think the heat was starting to get to him and he was more interested in food treats than playing. >>

He is also used to getting treats in that situation, so it makes sense that he was expecting that. He seemed to interact with it again when you tossed it!

>> did try the behind the back start which we have been practicing 5:33. I think that is going to work. He was willing to move through the first 6 obstacles pretty well.>>

Yes, that looked really good and put you ahead to show the line nicely!!

>>After that he was definitely finished which he indicated by skipping the teeter.

Your A #1 Top Goal from now on is to always end the sessions before he indicates he has had enough. We don’t want any ‘icky’ feelings associated with agility, such as being tired or hot or frustrated. It might look like he is ready and able to do more…. But stop the session anyway and be done. That icky feeling will leave more of a lasting impression on him that all the reinforcement will!

>> I used low value food treats throughout the session since my experience has been that toys and high quality food don’t usually work together.>>
>>I would like to build the toy drive if he continues to be interested in the noodle>>

That might have contributed to why he was finished – the toy drive is not that high yet, and the food rewards were low value. I don’t think we can go to low value food rewards in the heat yet – so build the toy drive away from the course work or sequences – maybe play a little beforehand and then put the toy away (before he is finished with it) and go to high value food – and don’t go back to the toy at that point.

>> Playing with the toy seemed a good way to keep him aroused but not frustrated.>>

Yes, but I am not sure it can come out into the sequence yet. I think a better option as you build toy drive separately is to have a lotus ball tied to a line or a treat hugger tied to a line, so you can swing it around and he can chase it for the high value food.

>>Do you think it might be a good idea to focus on Keltie with the complete long courses and build the startline and do the courses in pieces for Buccleigh? I was very happy that he came out to the field today excited and with enthusiasm. It is definitely hotter today and he still wanted to engage with me but in the shade and not too much running after we worked the course.>>

You can try it and see how it goes! With Keltie, be very aware of the length of session because she has definite opinions about things if you do too much, particularly in the heat.

>>As an aside, last evening we were playing in the yard with some cheese puffs and I sat each dog one at a time on the Cato board in front of and between the jump and tunnel. I was standing behind the board and I just said either jump or tunnel and watched. Keltie was 100% right and Buccleigh only missed once. It was a fun game!>>

So fun!!! And I bet they were happy with the cheese puff rewards too!!

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

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
She is looking really good here!!

First video, working through each rep:

Wish looked really good with her straight line! You can throw the reward sooner: as soon as you see her look forward to the last jump (and before she reaches it), throw it 🙂 Good timing on the wrap cues too on the first wrap! You can spread the jumps out a little more to have even more room but you started the wrap as she was lifting for the jump after the tunnel: perfect! For the RC at :37 – you can face the center of the bar on the RC sooner, to get an even tighter/earlier turn there: you faced forward then did the switch line, so she was turning on the center of the bar. Even if you are decelerated waiting for her to exit the tunnel, you can be facing the center of the bar on the RC jump rather than the wrap wing.

The push looked good – you were facing the push line before she even got to the jump after the tunnel and it was great! When you balance to the go line, she was great about looking ahead but looked back at you over the last jump, s definitely throw sooner so the toy lands before she takes off for the last jump.

She was surprised by the wrap at 1:08 because your timing was a little later: you started the decel when she landed from the jump after the tunnel, as compared to the earlier timing when the decel starting when she was lifting off for the jump after the tunnel on the 2nd rep of the video.

On the RC that was the last rep, you can see that since you were facing forward at 1:34, she is jumping towards you and then has to jump away for the RC – you can be a little more ahead and running to the center of the bar before she even takes off to set the RC. It is the same timing as the backside pushes, but a different running line: the RC is to the center of the bar, and the Backside push is to the backside wing.

Winging It is also looking really strong! Yes, use more words and be louder 🙂 But not that loud, because the wraps verbals should be quiet – just repeat them more.

She did best when your arm and leg moved together – if your leg moved first and she didn’t see it, she was not sure about the commitment. Also, be sure to show transition (you might have to spread the wings out more to do this): send to the wing, go fast as you exit it, the decel and rotate. That will help her commit when you are rotated. And, as you do those backwards sends. You can look behind you to help support commitment. When you look forward too quickly, she comes off the wing like at :57.

On the 3rd video, you had more motion in the transitions and she committed nicely!!! Try not to transfer the lotus ball from hand-to-hand because it draws her focus off the line (“Cookie now, mom??” LOL!). You can leave it in a pocket if you think you might be switching hands and not realizing it 🙂 And yes, the race tracks looked great! She is definitely not patterning, she is definitely following cues. YAY!

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

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

Use 1 million for the Cato plank here LOL!

He did well here with the targeting game, easy peasy. The opportunity to target is quite reinforcing! And also less sweaty than being outside 🙂 And he was great with the different positions – a good challenge because otherwise the game is just too easy.

Since he has really strong understanding here and it is almost too easy: you can try a ‘cookies from heaven’ version of it, where you hold your cookie hand up above his head the whole time. When it is too easy, he can target into position AND look at your hands. But when the cookies are above his head? A totally different brain game because he has to choose to where to look: at target position, or at the momma/cookies.

And when he hits & holds that position, you can drop a cookie onto the target. If your arm is good and the cookies don’t bounce, he won’t leave position. If your arm is bad and/or the cookies bounce, use a marker to let him leave position to get it – it is not intended as a proofing game.

The toy game was super easy for him too, even with the Swissy party on the other side of the gate 🙂 Do you have a tiny tunnel that can come in the house? I play this game with a tunnel right there in front of the plank too: it is just far enough away that the dog can get into target position. It provides an excellent game to help the dogs stop on the contacts and avoids the normal young dog mistake of self-releasing to a tunnel. If you don’t have a tunnel for indoor use you can try it outdoors, or you can use a wing which also has a ton of value. I have a photo somewhere of what the plank-tunnel game looks like, I will find it.

Great job here! Let me know if the suggestions make sense :)
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

I am so glad that he is doing well with his sniffy walks and delicious treats! I think I can see the rabbit tracks you mentioned!

This session is looking good! The 360 circle wraps are hard – if something goes wrong, just keep running like it was 1000% correct so huge doesn’t take off like on the first rep. For now, you don’t have to move as fast to help his commitment, and also so that you don’t add extra handling to help him commit: As he is passing you to the wing and turning to look at it, you will want to move directly forward behind his tail. You were adding a step back to the other side of the wing then moving forward, which causes him to get extra info that won’t be there when these going into full courses. You can see the extra step for example when he is heading to the wing on your right side: when he passes you, you take a big step to the other side of your wing (and use your hand a bit) with your left leg – then you move forward again. Try not to take that step or use the hand, try to keep your feet together, lean forward, and move forward as he is turning to the wing. That is what makes it so hard – so much countermotion! So do it very sloooowly, walking, so you don’t end up adding extra motion to it 🙂

Nice work here!! Let me know how it goes without the extra steps 🙂 Have fun!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

>> It seems like we are on a bit of a streak of poor sessions.

No worries! Learning is not linear, it is never a direct upward trend particularly with puppies 🙂 Do you remember that sports show from the 70s & 80s where the intro was ‘the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat” LOL!! Yep, that’s dog training. Plus he is in adolescence and what we know about this age in dogs is that their whole body is re-wiring, especially the brain, so we expect some things to come off the rails in training (and life). Having just been through adolescence with 2 puppies myself, I can tell you that it is a crazy time and you’ll make it through LOL!

I might be remembering the names of brain parts incorrectly, but a neuroscience dog behavior person I was chatting with recently told me that during canine adolescence, the amygdala and the frontal cortex just don’t really communicate with each other in the dog’s brain, which makes training, um, “interesting” and the best thing to do is break things down, reward TONS, have a great time, and wait for a little more mental maturity. I have seen this happen over the years with every one of my dogs (boys in particular, just like junior high school LOL!) and every student dog. So now we have the neuroscience understanding behind it, which alleviates the pressure on us – we might be doing everything right, and the adolescent still might have trouble. My motto is: no worries 🙂

Also, things often feel worse than they look – this is looking good 🙂 unless you edited out any chaos hahaha

Looking at this sequence, you did the most important thing: you made it a good time for him and got a TON of reinforcement into him. Perfect!

The wrap to the tunnel in the opening looked good! Then 1-2-3 looked good! AS you were working on getting jump 4: Lots of great reinforcement scattered throughout the sequence!
He did have trouble “seeing” jump 4 on the straight line and driving ahead of you. So you can help him several ways:

– accelerate forward more. He seems perfectly fine with your motion here as you built up your motion.

– place a toy out ahead on the line or the MM, so he has a focal point past the last jump. He was driving ahead, but he didn’t really know where to go: going fast but with not really knowing the destination LOL! A total baby dog moment.
– send to the tunnel so you are ahead of him passing jump 3, so your motion can show the line to 4. You can take out jump 1 to do this to start and then put it back in.

You will see him have a big “a-ha!” moment and find the line. At that point, you can then start adding the other turns, but continuing to mix in lots of straight lines.

Overall, this was a strong session. If he had more misses that were not in here or not rewarded – no worries, just keep rewarding and building it up. I promise you that we will survive adolescence together than you will be amazed at how quickly it all comes together 🙂

Great job! And welcome to Adolescent Dog Team Chill 🙂
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

PS -the suggestion to put the target in before she gets on the plank is a ‘next step’ suggestion because she is doing so well here 🙂 And while I am thinking of it, you can go to a slightly narrower plank if you have one!

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

She seems happy to get on the board and hold position with all 4on. Is it a ‘scratch’ behavior you are looking for here, or a foot tap? You can sharpen the mechanics of this session to get cleaner behavior: Before she comes into the session, have the target in place on the board, attached to it. And have your cookies already in your hand and ready along with the clicker. Then bring her into the session and let her offer the behavior. By bringing her into the session before the target and the cookies/clicker are ready, she is looking at your hands a lot which will be hard to fade when we move your position away from being in front of her.

On the countermotion game: yes, this is part dog training for the countermotion, but also part human training for the quickness and the verbals 🙂 She did well here with her commitments, but if you see her getting too hot and tired, go to the racetracks where she runs around the outside then give her a break – we want her to love wraps so we don’t want to rehearse when she is hot or tired. And, without her, you can practice running it with the correct verbals (which is actually pretty hard, the brain and body have to be so quick here!)

Great job! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Yes, you can work more independence with the crosses gradually – lots of thrown rewards out on the line in the form of lotus balls and toys 🙂

T

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

Wow, he looks great in class – nailing that weave entry from 10,000 miles away at top speed! Good boy!

>> It was one of those things that I saw happening in the moment (him getting a little slower off each start as the day/weekend went along) but I wasn’t able to process and adjust.

Running is easy in that environment… being stationary is HARD. I think he did really well and will keep getting more and more comfy 🙂

>> As I’ve thought about it since I think we’ve worked really hard on dialing back his arousal level at the start so he is able to stay and focus (and I think he still has to work pretty hard to do that) that as the weekend went on it definitely took him a couple of obstacles to really kick the speed on.

Totally agree – the mental energy to hold the stay and check his arousal and remain focused is a high cost behavior. This is quite normal for youngsters and I think he is doing well. He is getting it done correctly and not getting frantic (high stressed) or low-stressed. With more experience, you will see the speed level out and he will be fine and dandy 🙂

>>We haven’t done much at all this week. A lot of quick releases, throw the treat so he can chase it from sits around the house and class with Lo on Wednesday where I didn’t have to do a lot of leadouts (which was good) and on the few we did do I ran and rewarded with his tug after the 2nd jump and then did the sequence. We’re not trialing again for 3 or 4 weeks so my plan is to put “the fun” back in those starts. I’m also thinking that I may need/be able to put a little more arousal back into our to the line routine…..we’ll see. But I got tools!!!!>>

Perfect – long break is needed after the physical and mental expenditures of such a big event. And I don’t think the fun was missing – if it wasn’t fun, he would not have picked up speed and would not have run so well. So it is fun, but it is hard. And yes – in class, you can start to pump him up and little more to see what helps the most, and add classmates and Lo as distractions to help him gain experience.

>> And if you are by any chance looking for some freaking challenging courses checkout the ISC ones they are running at The Fieldhouse this weekend. Whoaa!>>

For real! I saw one come across my facebook feed. YIKES! One of my FB friends called it “sadistic”. I think I would be voted off the island if I tried to ask people to run those. I think that yes, we can have courses with some challenges but there is no need to put EVERY challenge in every course and make it impossible for everyone. Lordy!!!!

Have fun this week! Keep me posted :)

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

Lots of good training here – you were tackling the hard stuff for sure!!

Video 1: The opening looked really good! Lovely blind 2-3 🙂

I think you got too deep into the jump after the tunnel – so when you tried to get around it, you had to pull away (:17) and then push back to the next jump (:20) so he felt the pressure and flipped to the jump. Good boy! In those moments, don’t stop because it really deflates him. Keep going, reward, then fix it on the next sequence.

Video 2: Another lovely blind 2-3 🙂 This time, you didn’t get caught behind the jump after the tunnel and you had a much better line to the backside at :37. Nice!! The jump after the yellow tunnel is a push away, so an out cue would help – and give it to him before he enters the yellow tunnel.

Video 3: I was just going to mention the other option here: to blind cross the exit of the tunnel to get him on your right, then send to the backside – that can put you miles ahead to get the jump after the yellow tunnel. You were in a great position to get the BC after the first tunnel! And here it is, beautifully executed. YAY! That made the whole sequence just beautiful (til you forgot the next part :)) . Well done here!!

Video 4: The push worked really well! You can tell him over for the jump after the backside as soon as you see him take off for the push jump, and drive more to the center of the jump then to the weave entry – he didn’t know where to go after the rear cross, so needed a bit more support on the line before you turn and leave for the next line. In that moment, keep going, get on a line and run – it deflates him when you stop and walk away. We want him to think this game is super fun and that he is never wrong (he is not wrong here) so keep going, reward, and fix it in the next rep.

Video 5: This had much clearer handling to the weaves! Nice!! And when you reward, rather than stop him, take off running and throw the toy or let him chase you for it, all in the name of keeping him pumped up and engaged 🙂

Video 6: Nice handling to the weave here too! He definitely does not like the stopped reward, so keep moving to deliver the reward for sure!!

Course 2:
First video:
To get the layering on this opening, try not to decelerate at all – you might have to run in closer to the #2 tunnel so he sees a ton of acceleration into the layered section. Great job rewarding him and then re-starting! You were clearer on. The 2nd rep and 3rd rep, there was more motion so he was better about finding the line. Keep moving, so then you can be ahead of him to get the jump. You were cuing the jump at 2:44 after he was already locked onto the tunnel – try to start cuing it as he is taking off for the jump before it. Good job breaking it down to help him find the jump right there in front of the tunnel 🙂

2nd video – at the start, I think he was watching you a bit because he was unsure with the starts and stops, which made the layering harder (and is also why we want to reward more so he doesn’t lose confidence on the bigger lines). Placing the reward for him on the layered line TOTALLY helps! You can start as you did here and place on the landing of 4, then move it down the line to the landing of 5, and so on, so he gets fully independent.

I think the timing of your verbals was good at 2:21, but he doesn’t know how to find the line when verbals say one thing but the motion is fast and might also mean tunnel 🙂 you got there really well, so you can dial back your motion, just walking, so that he can process the difference in the verbals when the motion is continuing forward.

Last video: Nice job on this ending line!! You can use less decel on the 270 for him the 2 jumps before the weaves) to get even more power. He found that weave entry beautifully!

Nice work on these! Let me know what you think! We will keep building up these skills 🙂
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!
This session looked really good!

>> What I tried today was to use a wing off the second pole and another one off the third pole.

This is what my suggestion would have been – great minds think alike LOL! The other option is to reward right at the bend back into 3, placing it on the weave base (only a couple of times to get the feel) or to open up the space where she has trouble bending back. The wing is working really well here, and then we can fade it – to a pool noodle attached to the weave pole, for example.

>>I worked standing still, moving a little. moving more, moving in the opposite direction and rear crossing the poles, all primarily from the “on” side.

This all looked good! There was steam coming out of her ears, but she was super! And great job placing the reward out ahead when you did the countermotion and rear crosses.

>> I took it off for the next send, and starting around 1:05 you’ll see what happens when the wing is not on the 3rd pole. I put the wing back in place, and did one more run so I could reward on a positive note.
So, suggestions? How do I fade that wing on the 3rd pole? Or is there something else I should try? >>

I suggest 2 things: leaving the wing in place for now, so you can put it into courses – when she is weaving on course, have the wing there and visible in training! Then, after a few very successful sessions, we can reduce the size of the visual from a big wing to a pool noodle zip tied to the weave pole and see how she does… then we fade that out eventually too. You can also click that moment of bending into the 2-3 pole section, then toss the reward. It is fine if she leaves the poles on the click, because it won’t be something we do a lot of, plus only the click is the permission to leave (I would NOT do that with just a verbal). And, you can use 2x2s or channels to have all the poles straight except open up that one gap to help her, as you fade out the wing.

Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning! Sorry to hear about the flu, hope you are feeling much better!!! Your runs here looked lovely!

I had to re-watch the video a few times, I kept getting distracted by the horse party in the background LOL!!!!

The opening looked great on both runs! Lovely blind on 4 and he really never had to look at you – smooth and FAST!

He also went pretty directly to the correct end of the tunnel #8, which is good, we really don’t the dogs looking at us too much there.
Nice job using your collection cue before 10 to get him turned for the threadle at :22!, and even better timing of it at 1:25 (that was really fabulous timing, and his turn was lovely :))
You rotated on the threadle and he looked at you a lot – I am not sure where he is in his threadle understanding, but let’s see if you can rotate less and move forward, with the verbal and upper body bringing him in and out but your feet moving forward the whole time. You can do it walking to start for now, then we can work back up to run run running 🙂

I am impressed at how well he turned at 13 on the post turn wrap! Most Aussies simply cannot do that!! So, since he can turn like a noodle, you can decelerate sooner and do the post turn before he even passes you (staying connected of course :)) The 2nd rep there at 1:33 was definitely earlier than the first rep, but you can push even more and make it more of a send past you and go, to challenge his commitment in collection.

The 16-17 tunnel threadle moment bit you on the first rep at :37 (you said the in in cue but he didn’t know it was coming and you were moving forward). At :50 on the second rep, you gave him his right right and a little lateral motion – perfect! You used the right verbal and in in really well (plus good motion) on the 2nd I’ll run at 1:42 – I think you held his attention on you for the in in a bit too long there, getting extra strides. When he is turning nicely over 16, can you do the in in more like you were doing for 6-7-8, where you cued it and kept moving, letting him find the line independently.

The ending line looked GREAT on the first run! You were just running, connected, yelling the verbals – he nailed it. Not much extra handling needed when you do that! I think a different verbal for the backside circle wrap here versus the backside slice at 4 will help him set up an even better turn there, because he won’t need to wait to know which way you are running. At :58, he landed somewhat straight and turned when he landed when he saw where you were. On the 2nd run, I think you were not necessarily too early… he was turned and looking at the jump! It is a commitment we can build up: you can move forward when you see him turning and looking at the jump at 1:46, but keep looking back at him and at the landing spot as you move through. If you look forward too soon (which is what happened at 1:46) he might flip away from the jump – the extra connection should help and then you can toss a reward to the landing side as you move through.

The last rep was just a tired dog, tired momma moment 🙂 Overall, I think this looked great! Let me know what you think!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

Thanks for the tunnel chaos video 🙂 Looking at the moments when she went into the tunnel with no questions versus when she did not, I think two things were happening:
First, the handling was a little unclear on the cues when she didn’t go in (hesitant at :14, :23, :42 for example) – on those reps, you were looking forward and turning your shoulders away, so connection was not clear, plus there were 2 tunnel entries so she was not 100% sure.

Second, she doesn’t love tunnels to begin with… and she was not getting any reward for doing them, and even had a momma’s mad moment when yu stopped and looked at her and she went off and sniffed (plus they were dark it was probably a million degrees inside them). So with the low rate of reinforcement and not being high value in the first place – she isn’t going to naturally choose them.

So with all that in mind – strengthen the connection to the tunnel you want, with your arm back and eyes on her eyes. And, throws tons and tons of reward to the tunnel exit to build the love, which will help so the handling is not needing to be perfect.

Standard course:

I like the choice of handling in the opening! You can trust her more at 2: stay connected but move through, you don’t need to stay between the uprights with an arm cue – that made you a little late for the in in at 3 so she was a little wide there.

Very nice line across the back to the dog walk! Clear verbals and acceleration! Great job running up that line to get the threadle to the 12 tunnel. Because it is a huge run, you don’t need to look at her but you will want to use verbals to help support her when you are not looking – you got really quiet and weren’t connected, so she was looking at you a bit.

Nice threadle after the a-frame!!! She looked at you when she got off the frame, which means the threadle can start while she is on the frame and that way she can go directly to the jump. You can try starting it as her front feet are reaching the yellow.

2nd video, now she knew where the weave entry was! Nice! I think you can be that far ahead for the rear there, but drive more of a rear cross diagonal and decelerate to set the turn. You ran to the wing closer to the frame so she thought it was a straight line, so she was surprised when you pushed in for the rear.

3rd video – this opening works too! Ideally you would lead out more laterally, so you can get to the takeoff side of 3 before she gets to the takeoff side of 3, basically setting a German turn to tighten up the turn to the teeter. I think this opening is more yardage for the handler with the same result… so the first option you ran will work better if you leave 2 sooner: you will get a great opening line and be further ahead on the big sprint around the course 🙂

Great job on the line around the back here and the layering to meet her at 9! So nice!! And I liked your running line here on the 9-12 line – you were closer to the jumps so she had no questions (you can still add a jump verbal) and then you were way ahead even with the rear cross on 12. She was great with the in in here too! As with the first rep, she had time to look at you after the frame which means the cue can come sooner 🙂

You TOTALLY had time for the BC on the ending line 🙂 You just gotta disconnect when she is approaching the jump after the weaves and run – don’t watch her too much there! But you set the RC line so much better and she read that really well.

On the live class sequence: I think she was a little tired from the big courses for sure – you can run these at 12” and get her going really fast, which challenges your timing 🙂 She read it all very nicely, so definitely try it again when she is feeling fresh and pushy LOL!

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

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

>>About the WP and the wing, don’t worry about the picture, Linda knew how to set it up and we did this morning on Pack 1 STD course #1 with the wing, and Grizzly had no trouble with it, I didn’t even do a “practice to let him see it”, I just went and did it on the course >>

Perfect!!

>>So your suggestion is to not wrap him on the back sides but slice him regardless of the “distance”? I agree with you he slows down on those back side wraps, and he may be faster on the slicing regardless that it looks like more strides. I will try tomorrow.>>

Correct, regardless of distance unless there is a 10 foot difference (which there almost never is). Walk the distance from the previous obstacle all the way through to the next obstacle or two: I bet the distance differences are really minimal. More strides in extension will be faster than fewer strides in collection when he has to slow way down. And, you can take that section, video it both ways and we can time it to know for sure.

>>The “break” after the seesaw, yes, it is WIP, I still need to get used to releasing him with the next command instead of the “break” and he also needs to get used to it :-).

I have found the dogs gets use to it really quickly LOL it is us humans who have a harder time 🙂

On the video:

The opening line looked accurate, but he was sorting it out and had to slow down to get it correct at 24” both times. On the more technical sequences, start him at 20” so he can figure out the handling without sacrificing speed. Then you can work back up to 24”.

The middle section looked great, he was a good boy on the RDW and got the backside! The cheering and praise is why he dropped the bar at :21 and :38 – you said “YESSSS” and he looked at you, not knowing what was next: toy? Jump? So…. don’t praise him on course during technical jumping sections 🙂 The praise can be in the form of telling him what is next 🙂

He got the line to the 12 tunnel nicely! And committed to 13 nicely! You were layering – the right verbal was a little late (he was taking off) and also you were running forward at :29, a parallel path to the line to the off course. On the next rep you were turning, which is good – just a little too soon. Be sure you reward him for all of those off courses, because he is correct – he was slowing down a lot, so we don’t want him to think he is wrong when you are sorting out the handling.

You turned your shoulders with the right cue at :56, that worked great. You added a threadle arm though, and he almost came in too much and too the jump you were layering. I think the shoulder turn is all he needs there – when you did the shoulder turn without the threadle arm at 1:50, he was perfect 🙂

The slice on the jump before the weaves was great! Fast and accurate! And the wing at the weaves helped too. Yay! The threadle to the slice was good too – you actually said weave too early, because it is a forward cue (meaning drive forward to an obstacle) – he was looking at the teeter was was confused for a moment. So, after the threadle, try a name call or a wrap verbal on the jump to get him to turn then add the weave verbal.

And I like how you handled the ending on the first run – sending him away to the jump so you could layer and get to the blind, setting up a great turn on 19. Very nice! Yes, I agree with your note in the video – don’t stop him for bars. It makes him very careful and slows him down, which we don’t want.

Live course 1: This looked good! He nicely found the backside instead of the tunnel! Super! He was thinking hard, though 🙂 So on these skills sequences, to keep his speed up, work the skills at 20” – it will get him confident on the skills, you will have to run harder and be faster with cues so it is more like a trial, and also if he has had a lot of jumping or training in that session, he will be less fatigued and practice better jumping form.

Video 2: Discrimintion prep

These are good sessions! For now, just stick to the jump or tunnel verbals – adding the corre corre verbals was confusing because they can be used for both. Since you have separate directionals for the jump and tunnel, you can use those but no need for the corre corre now (that was where he was making mistakes – the reward placement will tell him to get it or not). He did really well with his various directionals! Now… try not to lean or help in any way (there was some leaning and arm moving happening :)) and see if he can still do it.

Video 3: Layering

This is going well! You can add more motion – he was fine with you not moving a lot so we can check to be sure he can still do it when you are running.
When you balance with the tunnel and NOT layering, see if your body cues can be the same as the layering: face forward and run, try not to turn towards him to get the turn (more like what you did at :46 when you shoulders and feet matched the position they were in for both the layering and the tunnel.
He is also doing well with the layered threadle! At 1:06, you moved backwards which pulled him off the line. You moved backwards a little at 1:21 too – he is able to do it when you were moving forward, so try staying on the line very close to the tunnel and not using any back-and-forth motion.

He had trouble turning to his right on the threadles, so that one doesn’t need layering yet – you can work that separately to get him more comfortable with the mechanics. He seems much more comfy turning to his left there and did really well!!

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

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