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Good morning!
He was definitely “hot” on the FAST run! It might not be a bad thing, though… I think he was super engaged! he probably needs to just learn how to run when he is hot like that, meaning start with simpler stuff and more normal lines. The backside at 2 was too hard for now, because he was moving fast and you tried to leave, but he didn’t know how to take the jump without your help. So that independent backside understanding is definitely something to work when he is very simulated. And same with resets and fixes – when something went wrong in the send, you were trying to fix and he didn’t know what you wanted… so he drifted around trying to figure out the line then he froze. For him, definitely have a ‘No Fixing’ rule because it makes the lines disjointed and that is hard for him to know what to do.
>>The Kryptonite video when Grady froze is on Carol’s phone. I will try to find it…He was staring at me and would not move. All the distractions were just too much! I think I finally went back and tossed a treat to get him to move.>>
He did something similar here by the tunnel in the send – a frozen moment til you called him out and set a nice line. I have seen dogs freeze up when they are stimulated but don’t know what to do in the distraction moment. I think his freezing here was more about trying to reset and fix, which is why the ‘No Fixing’ rule is a good one for now.
Eventually you will be able to reset and fix in the ring… but that is after he learns both levels of Find My Face in practice and after he is happily running normal lines 🙂 when he is stimulated. 🙂
Looking at the standard run video – he looks so much more relaxed and engaged outside the ring nowadays! Yay! You can give him a bit more leeway to look around or look down, because when you ask for the engagement (volume dial) he gives it to you immediately!
I don’t think he liked being petted on the start line while in the sit, before the lead out – it caused him to stand up and shake it off. Most dogs don’t like that and either shy away from it or shake it off, so you can play with a hands-free sit-stay cue and then lead out.
I loved the focus and speed on the release!!!
About the off course after the DW… I chalk that up to the ‘joys of the running dog walk’ LOL!!! He was locked onto the straight line and you were a little late turning away (plus the turn away was subtle) so he went straight. You would have to turn sooner (when he was on the top ramp) and more strongly to get that line with his speedy running dog walk. I also recommend turn verbals (like a right cue) for the running dog walk for these types of lines. He was a good boy!
The rest of the run was a good indicator of why I like the ‘No Fixing’ rule for him for now – when he was on the table, you went with it like it was correct, and he ran the next part of the course with focus, engagement and lots of speed. YAY!!! When he ended up on the a-frame off course, you fixed it…. and that popped the engagement bubble. Dogs often lose engagement and struggle with focus when there is even the tiniest perception of being wrong.
You didn’t do anything mean to him LOL or you didn’t tell him he was wrong, specifically… but dogs are sensitive to fixes and perceive them as being wrong. So, for now, just keep going – it is hard in that moment to know what to do, but my mantra is “go with the flow’ 🙂 If the dog ends up on a line I didn’t want or anticipate, then I just keep the dog moving on the line even if I am making stuff up at that point LOL!!!!
Now, the reason he ended up on the a-frame and almost took the tunnel instead of the jump earlier in the course is just that with his sped here, he needs more practice running big courses like this with off courses scattered everywhere. AKC used to use jumps as the off course potential obstacles, but now there is a trend in AKC (and the other organizations as well) to put a contact or tunnel as the delicious, looming off course while we have to handle the dog to a less-visible jump. Grady is really smart, so a bit of practice and he will understand it better and you will also be able to turn sooner.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning! This is going really well!
The lead out line that you walk is less important, now that he understands the setup and has such great commitment (he is really showing fabulous commitment for a baby dog!).I also really love how he is setting himself up to turn, which is one of the main goal of this game. The positional cue and handling indicates one of those ‘soft’ turns which is actually a really hard turn! He is doing a great job. As he gets older, we will be gradually inching up the bar so he eventually can nail it at full height without losing this turning ability. We have plenty of time for that though, so when you revisit this you can add 2 inches to bar 1 and see how he does.
A couple of little suggestions as you build on this:
On the first couple of reps when you were on the takeoff side of 1, it looks like you were not stepping forward with your dog-side leg at :07 and :14. He still understood the cue (yay!) but stepping forward with the dog-side leg (same side as the arm that is pointing to the line) will allow you to push off and leave better. When you were on the landing side of 1, you were using the dog side leg and it was easy to see how well you could push off and run the new direction.Since his understanding looked lovely and his jumping/turning looked lovely… you can start to ‘leave’ sooner for whatever handling you choose. You were supporting commitment til he was just about at takeoff for jump 1, which is perfect for what he needed. On the next visit of this game, leave a step sooner: when you are on the landing side of 1, try to rotate for the FC, for example, when he is still a stride before takeoff for jump 1 (about 4 or 5 feet approx). That’s will challenge him to maintain commitment and turning skills while there is more motion and getting us closer to ideal, adult dog timing (which will be basically indicating and leaving as soon as he looks at that jump :))
Two little handling ideas:
When you are landing side of jump 1 and want to do the wrap exit (instead of a full front cross) – yo can play with a throwback, which is indicating the jump behind you with the same arm that cued jump 1. In this case, it would be your left arm: your left arm indicated jump 1, then when he lands from 1, you shift your connection to the landing spot and indicate the exit wing of 2 also with your left hand. It duplicates what they learned as wee baby dogs when we did those sideways and backwards sends to the prop 🙂 And it gets a great turn with a more efficient handler line because you don’t have to rotate your upper body nearly as much as if you changed hands to indicate 2.When you are the takeoff side of 1 and landing side of 2, you can add a serp! When he is committing to the 1st jump, you can move parallel to the bar of 2 with your upper body facing the bar and lower body moving forward (not rotated) to see if he can find the serp jump from behind you (start slowly at first then add speed when he is happy with it).
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! Yes, you can add 3 more from the original 3 foot distances but I really like what she did here!
The goal of this particular exercise is to teach the pups to be ‘flexible’ with their one-stride between jumps. So on rep 2, she correct does a smaller one stride. On rep 3, she does a longer 1 stride (YES!) and then back to the smaller one stride for rep 4. Good girlie! So keep bringing that 3rd jump further and further. At some point she will have to go to 2 strides (3 hits of the front feet between jumps 2 and 3) and that is fine 🙂Her only question here was on the bouncing on reps 1 and 5. She was not using her hind end as well as she was in the other reps, so she was over-jumping a bit. The way to help her with that will be with the set point, the first grid we did. Revisit the set point once a week, I’d say the first jump can be 8” and the second jump can be 12” for now, 6 feet apart 🙂
Great job! Let me know how she does on the set point and the next session of the accordion. No rush to do either, we don’t want her to jump every day.
Tracy
Hi! Big thanks to the hubby for all of the video 🙂 ASCA is a good organization for FEO runs.
Omg the various animals! But he didn’t look too distracted! That is great! And I am happy to see that he loves the toy in this environment too.
Overall, I think he did really well! After watching the videos, I have a couple of ideas for your pre-run routine and at the start line to keep building on his success here.
Two details that can really help:
When you are waiting for your turn and you have a few minutes before you run (especially as you enter the ring area environment): add in the pattern games. Those cookie toss pattern games can really help him get comfortable and look around less.On the way to the ring area for the 2nd run, for example: Note how he is not able to really engage or respond to the cues as much, because he wants to assess the environment. This is the perfect pattern game moment because the pattern games give him the framework to sort out the environment and allow him to self-modulate his internal state by assessing the environment and returning engagement ot you.
Then, after he is very quickly able to offer engagement with the pattern games,you can move to the volume dial game (tricks!) But when you were trying for the tricks without pattern games, ti was harder for him to respond and get into that optimal state of arousal.
So the order of festivities would be 1) entering the environment with pattern games, and when he is offering engagement 2) volume dial tricks in the last couple of minutes before the rung.
The engaged chill looked good and can be mixed in after the pattern game at any time where you need to hang out and you don’t want to do a million tricks LOL!For the volume dial tricks, to get him into the optimal state of arousal for the run (higher than the pattern games would put him): you can reward the trick by having him chase your hand for the cookie, rather than you delivering it to him while he is stationary. The movement will get him more ready to run run run 🙂 And in the last moment before you enter the ring, you can play with the toy 🙂
When you arrive at the start line, you can play with the toy then take the leash off, then ask for a stay. He seemed really engaged and happy to play! It was great!
The 1st run looked really good. And I lean towards agreeing with your thinking about the 2nd run – if you kept going, he would have kept going too. Stopping might have been confusing so he checked out a bit. The Find My Face game will help that 🙂 because he will become more resilient to stops in the action.
>> hope the scheduled June UKI trial is happening so I will have a chance to try again. We don’t have many options. I noted our August AKC trial will have two rings running simultaneously. Not sure if he can handle FEO under those circumstances. It has been many years since we had a two-ring AKC trial in Utah.
The UKI would be a perfect next-step for him! A two ring AKC trial might be very hard… before then, will you have the opportunity to get him into any agility group classes or smeinars? Two-ring trials are much easier if he has had experience with more ‘chaos’ in class settings 🙂 Even if it is a random class somewhere, it can be useful! I put my young dogs in classes a few steps below their ability-level so they can concentrate on distractions and not have to think about the agility as much 🙂
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
The kryptonite runs from 2020 and late 2021 were good to see the original Sprite, before he had se much more in his toolbox with you. He still struggle with his big kryptonite but he is already so much improved!!
>>I did map out his reward hierarchy so I had his highest value. How I deliver the reward is a factor with the reward value. He often won’t take from hand but will chase a tossed item.
Ah, this is great to know – for him, it is not simply the good cookie, it is the good cookie moving in the lotus ball. Definitely a good one to remember!
>>>I was able to practice his tricks, start line at home in mock set up with gate while she was nearby with the other dog. He was more interested in the toy with food than her. That same toy has no value in class. He did take glances over but returned focus quickly. I tried to send him to her for his reward but he preferred his toy.
This is great! He is doing so much better with such a challenging distraction. He is so interesting with the reinforcement shifts when the kyptonite get added. Some of it comes down to simply having more than one high value reinforcement available: if you whip out the reinforcement you think is what he will like, but he doesn’t want it at that moment, you can switch to the other one. It is hard to predict what he wants in that moment (like wanting the toy here) but if you have more than one, you can shift gears instantly and still get high value reward to him. The level of distraction makes it harder but he is making big progress!!!
On the video:
>>it seems they let the grass turn to weeds and I finally realized it was hurting his paws.
Ouch, poor buddy! I see him lifting his little feet! That adds a whole extra layer of challenge but he was mentally engaged! Lots of distractions in the environment and below his feet. He couldn’t do the jumps but the cartoon lead out definitely got him interested! You can do ti moving away from him and not facing him, I think that will help the engagement as long as you stay connected with your eyes 🙂 He did an impressively good job, considering the ouch feet!
>>got the lineup order for his 5/21. It’s a small trial and he’s first in both runs. And the judge from his last UKI run is 2nd.
Perfect! It will be fun! After class on Monday, we can start planning for it 🙂
Great job!
TracyGood morning! I am so glad to hear your mom is doing well!!!!
>>Even with only 2 dogs before me in a JWW run it could turn into 3-4 minutes or longer because you know, shit happens🤣 but we now have tools for re-engagement!
This is SO TRUE!!!! It happens all the time and there is a Murphy’s law of it: it happens all the time to the dogs/handlers that don’t have the tools to cope with it… and it almost never happens to dogs/handlers that have good tools. So since you have good tools now, I expect those ‘shit happens’ moments will stop happening LOL!
Lots of great stuff on these videos! overall, I am really excited by what he did at the trial!
Video 1 – pre-run and FAST: Yes, you ended up waiting for a long time before the run – this is where you can do an extended ‘engaged chill’ so he doesn’t do high level engagement for a long time. You can switch to engaged chill or maybe a bit of pattern game (which is pretty chill) until the dog before you goes into the ring, then you can go back to volume dial for the lead up to your run.
Video 2: He a happy in his pot-run too! I don’t think the video of the run is here though?
Video 3: This also has a lot of time in the ‘volume dial’ state before the run – he was responding really well and was very engaged, but dogs lose steam if they stay highly engaged for too long so you can mix in more engaged chill 🙂
His run looked great – and yes, the judge was really in your way on the line to the weaves and Grady was fabulous! When you say ‘pretend it was FEO” do you mean that you went in with the attitude of making it fast and fun, in and out? Mission accomplished! Nice! And he looked very happy with his post-run cookie celebration 🙂JWW video: I am really liking his focus and responses outside the ring, with the high energy tricks! This was approx 90 seconds of volume dial before he went into the ring, I think that is a good amount of time for him. Nice line up. REALLY fat and focused on the release! He thought about having a sniffed at 2:04 but then reset himself and kept going (GOOD BOY)
>>we had some extra time due to the float toward the judge.>>I am not sure if that was judge-foot or if you gave a massive “OVER” and point and motion to the jump after the weaves.. and didn’t tell him he was turning til after he landed (I think it was more of a late-cue issue and not a “hello, judge!” issue 🙂 Grady came right back as soon as you called him – I think the big cue to the jump and extra motion, plus facing the finish line, he legit thought you wanted him to go straight. The rest looked great, congrats on a lovely run for the Q!! And he was happy to eat all his treats afterwards 🙂
>>on this run he took the first jump to DW and then straight to the table instead of a curve to the right…it was an, “I’ve got it mom and I’m sure that I am right” moment>>
It is possible he was correct and the turn info was late 🙂 Dogs don’t often go to the table as an off course LOL!
T2B: more lovely engagement outside the ring -he really likes the tricks and barking and jumping around 🙂 This was also about 90 seconds of engagement before the run, a good length of time for hi warm up indeed!
I really liked this run! He was a little confused about the release on the start line, your arms were swinging a bit so he was not sure if you released him.>>he spent about 6-7 seconds on a float>>
Yes, about 4 seconds of floating (I timed it because I am a nut haha) however – still a big win! In the past, he would struggle to be able to resist the distraction and continue with amazing focus. But in this run, he brought himself back from the distraction pretty quickly and then was amazing for the rest of the run (very speedy – which is why you ended up rear crossing, but your connection was lovely and you were able to shift gears without hesitation!). I was very happy with how well he flew by the judge and then at the end, flew past the sniff spot from early to continue to the teeter. Lovely run! And nice post-run celebration too.Jww 5/8:
I think he has the volume dial game pretty solid now – only 45 seconds of tricks before the run and he was very engaged. You might need more in the beginning of the weekend but as he gets comfy, these 45 second – 90 second lengths work really well!
There was not enough connection (eye contact from you) on the release and opening line and that caused him to not be sure about the opening line, but the fix and go allowed you to re-establish the connection and practice running off the line. Nice!Standard:
I am also happy with this run, SO FAST AND ENGAGED!>>I was quite a bit ahead on the dog walk and didn’t indicate the slight right turn early enough or Grady thought it was the end of the run.
I think he had a big case of the “I AM GOING FAST” and couldn’t quite get himself turned for the jump. And you were feeling his speed and also going fast, so you were late on the cue. No worries, still a great run.
>One of the individuals that I occasionally take lessons from said that the dog walk was awesome, but we actually missed the contact zone…judge also missed the call>>
I zoomed in and slowed down to see if it was a tight call… nope, he missed LOL!!! But the agility gods giveth (no call), and the agility gods taketh away (off course after it) LOL! But still a really strong run!
On the training videos:
Cartoon versus all business? The cartoon definitely gets him pumped up. And on the 2nd rep, where you reconnected and gave him that sly look and crouching posture, he broke the stay which is a sign of more stimulation. The all business lead out was perfect but that is in training mode – it is possible that at a trial he will do better with the cartoon lead out, because you want more stimulation (but do shorter lead outs so he doesn’t break). The running release is also really fun and he did well in the JWW run with it! Definitely play with that just be sure to add in connection so he is able to know what the opening line is.I just loved this kryptonite round Robin that you, Carol and Kaia’s hander did! Such a a great way to embrace distractions and make it fun to train through! I already saw Chuck’s videos, it is fun to see it from Grady’s perspective. You seemed like the ringmaster here, thank you for doing it! You were so funny and helpful!!!! It was hilarious to see Grady’s flying ears pop into the video here and there as he as jumping around before his run LOL!
On his first line up, there was noise behind him but not growling so he did well – he was able to speak on cue, line up, hold his stay on the running lead out… perfect! I would just add a little more connection of looking over your shoulder but I agree that the running lead outs are great!
>>Grady absolutely froze on the start line when Chuck was growling when playing😳>>
I don’t remember seeing this on Carol’s videos? When he froze, was he looking at you or at Chuck? And what helped him move off the start line: running or cartoon silliness, or all business release?
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
>> I agree she is taking off a lot faster,
MASSIVE difference. She is head up, running hard off the start line.
>>and without a leadout we get disconnected almost immediately.
For now, you can plan easier lines in the opening and also have her set up on angles that are simpler for her to be facing the line you want when she explodes forward even if you don’t have a longer lead out.
>>She also doesn’t have nearly the “obedience / commitment” to verbals as I thought she did – or at least not in the presence of so many people.
It is the people/Kryptonite. The brain can’t multi-task the reflexive response to the people and prioritize the operant response to the verbals. Reflexive always wins out (DAMMIT, PAVLOV!!!) which is why we work so hard on changing the reflexive response (as you can see on the start line)
>>and there was so much ring crew / spectators against the exit wall.
Yes – that was a whole lot of weird looking distraction!
>>Our reward station was required to be in another part of the arena).
So you couldn’t have your little pile of stuff in the ring area? Why do agility organizations/venues gotta have such silly rules? Sigh.
>>I decided to not run today — I want to be able to work on all of the above when I can actually control the setting / distractions / rewards and have a plan. We went to the trial but I couldn’t come up with a course plan for the first 2 games that could avoid running straight into ring crew.>>
You’re smart! You are making good progress so it is important to be able to keep that going. If there is no way to keep it going? No need to run.
>>First up – Find My Face in a bigger space and with equipment. You’re right, I haven’t really begun to stretch that game beyond the first step.
She is really good at the first part of it, so the 2nd part will help in those moments of disconnection.
>>The good news is that at the trial this morning she drug me over to the practice jump and was super with our silly walk lead outs. I’m glad to have stopped for the day on that positive note.
Perfect 🙂 I am really liking what I am seeing! The final frontier is the people Kryptonite! Then it will all click into place 🙂
Tracy
Good morning!
Great job setting up the Kryptonite games and distractions to practice trial-like behavior! I love how you all worked together to help the dogs, it was really wonderful!Going in order of the videos:
1st video (titled Warm up at PK):
He was very close to the action and had trouble responding or tugging – you can move further away and to get responses to tricks, and also in that close proximity, you can be doing pattern games to help him Handel the environment.He liked the silly lead out 🙂 there was some big crash noise behind him and he was able to return to engagement after it!
2nd video (titled run 4): Kryptonite with leash runner
The leash runner made me laugh out loud, that was brilliantly obnoxious LOL!!!!
He was like WHAT THE HECK hahaha You can release sooner, he was being good til she started hopping lol3rd video (titled Warm up 2):
He was better able to engage here on the tug toy! Yay! So you might need to be further and do pattern games on the first run or two of the day, if this was later in the day and he was more relaxed.Excellent distractions happening behind him! Lead out looked great, release looked great, sequence looked great. He doesn’t want to tug on that toy, so you can open it and feed him from it.
4th video (Titled run 3) Kryptonite leash runner
This is hard for him! Stay closer on the lead out with people that close, great suggestion to reward him then start over. The other thing you can do is pattern games near people, so he learns how to handle being close to them and staying engaged with you.
You can release nice and early with the leash runner distraction, so he maintains engagement. He did well here!5th video (titled run 5):
He did MUCH better with the hopping leash runner here! Good boy! And good job getting back to the reinforcement right away. Really nice!5th video (marked run 6):
This didn’t have any dog training on it, it had the humans figuring out if the video was on or not LOL!6th video (titled Grady):
Grady was a most awesome distraction with that silly lead out – fast and focused! Chuck did well too – one thing to consider is that you can release sooner, while he is looking at you. When you get further and further away, he has more time to think about distractions behind him. So if there are things happening which might be difficult or distracting, you can release him while he is still looking at you so he is more successful.7th video (titled Kia and Chuck): You three humans were amazing here, I wish I lived closer so my dogs and I could come train with you too!! It was a trial-rehearsal round robin: brilliant!
Awww, Kia is such a cool whippet! She was totally like “WHY ARE THERE CRAZY DOGS AND PEOPLE BEHIND ME 🙂 but she did well!
Chuck did well here too – as with the other reps, my only suggestion is that you release sooner, while he is still looking at you. There was crazy stuff happening behind you and he did well (so did Grady :))8th video (also titled Kia and Chuck) is the same as the 7th video – let me know if it was supposed to be different.
Overall:
You were all brilliant to embrace the trial stresses/distractions and work through them with games and reinforcement. The dogs were AMAZING! While waiting outside the ring with Chuck, if he looks super distracted or if it is early in the day or session: add more pattern games and if he still is having trouble – move him further away from the distractions. And the other suggestion to remember is to release earlier when there are big distractions behind him – you were brilliantly connected on those lead outs, so you can seize the moment of engagement and release, even if it is not in perfect lead out position.Great job! Are you three able to re-create this in a barn setting, where you have lots of trials?
TracyGood morning!
I see a big difference here: Her head is lower, she is definitely more extended and using her hind end with more power! I marked the striding of this session and compared it to the striding of the previous video in parentheses (wet grass and stationary toy):
Bounce (short bounce)
1 stride (1 stride)
Big 1 stride (2 strides)
Power bounce! (1 stride)
Bounce (bounce)And even the bouncing on the first and last rep here looked more powerful and forward than the more ‘dainty’ bounce on the first and last rep of the previous video. I like how she was able to do a one stride then a bigger one stride then a power bounce on reps 2, 3, and 4! Hooray!
So definitely keep the dragging toy going. And you can revisit this grid with that 3rd jump moving gradually further and further away, a little at a time, to help her stretch our her striding.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
On thing about the verbals – in order to keep us under 10,000 different verbals 🙂 we have to have a ‘roughly right’ approach to applying them. So for the left/ right versus wraps, visualize a jump bar there (the dog would be approaching the jump bar straight as they are heading to the wing: what type of collection does the dog need for a jump bar there, where does the dog need to look, and how immediately does the dog need to come back around the wing? Moderate collection, looking to the left/right, not needing to come back around the wing right away? Soft turn verbals – even if the dog comes back across the plane of the wing eventually. Massive collection, head turning a lot, needing to come back around the wing immediately? Wrap verbals. Agility has a lot of ‘grey area’ so I make the verbal decision based on how much collection and where the turn goes.
This goes for the tunnel exits too: if the dog needs to turn soooo tight that she would immediately come back out and cross the plane of the tunnel exit? Wrap. If it is an approximately L-shaped turn? Left or right. If it is a wider, gentle turn, needing very little collection? Just a name call is good.
And one more idea to add to it all 🙂 – make your verbals sound different, beyond being different words. This includes volume, pitch, length of word. Your wraps/ soft turns/tunnel cues are all very similar in pitch/length/style of delivery so that makes them harder to differentiate. The ‘forward’ verbals like Go and tunnels should be louder and longer: GOOOOO GOOOOOOO and TUNNEL TUNNNNNNELLLLL. The wraps should be very short and very quiet, almost whispered 🙂 And the soft turn verbals should be medium volume and medium length (which is why I make mine sound like questions, so I can’t yell them LOL!)
On the first video – I think the timing of the blinds is going much better! And I think the soft turn verbals are correct here – a wrap would be if she is going back to the tunnel like you did at 1:24. One thing to make the blinds even easier is to keep your wings (arms :)) in tight like you did at :57. When you were letting your arms come up and out (like at :29), it takes longer to get all the way around for the blinds. So keep your arms in tight to your body (elbows to ribs). But also keep your shoulder open to her to make connection: If you close your shoulder like at :43, she will not see the cue to the wing and just come to you.
Looking at the verbal for the middle jump (the one with the bump on it) – it becomes more dog-specific (and having a full height jump bar will change things too, eventually). For my little dogs and my 15” tall Elektra dog – no soft turn cue needed there as it asks for too much collection in a spot where they actually need to extend. That is what happened at 1:48 with Beka – a little too much collection (also because you were not moving a whole lot). You moved more at 2:05 and 2:38 and she got it!
Now, picture the middle jump having a 20” bar eventually… she will probably need the collection cue for the soft turns (my 20” jumping dog sure does) but it remains to be seen how see will move when she is jumping full height (my guess is she will power through lines and will need the collection cue there :))
2nd video: Her commitment looks really strong on these! I’d say she loves the race tracks LOL!
First couple of reps she was looking at the tunnel a lot, partially a bit of patterning, partially you hadn’t quite decided what you wanted to do so you were not moving a lot. For the patterning and tunneling even when you rotated like at 1:13 and 1:21, I would revisit the wing/tunnel proofing game now that everything is outside AND more exciting 🙂
Picturing bars where the jump cups are: on the red wing on the right side of the screen, I would use a left verbal there to get her to the red wing on the other side of the screen and a wrap verbal to get her to the red/blunt jump with the bump (coming immediately back across the plane of the jump)She had a bit of a question at 1:32 – doing the soft right while accelerating into the bind was hard for her to read (we want the verbals and physical cues to match at this stage) so she was a bit wide – a decel and even a FC would work better for a tighter tunnel exit there.
Nice job getting the blinds in to change sides before the jump bump! She was hustling which makes it harder, but you got the connections to her and she was both able to pick up the new side AND get committed to the jump after it as you turned and left – this is VERY EXCITING!!! Super cool! It will be easier when bars come into the picture because you will have more time, and she will have an easier time applying jumping skills to all of this because she has a lot of understanding of the handling already. Hooray!
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! I think these are some of the most engaged runs I’ve seen! Yay!
Yes… put the lotus ball on a rope or bring 2 in the ring with you: one for throwing, one for getting the first one back haha!
She is the calmest and happiest I’ve seen her on the start line. The pre-run video before gamblers looked good- she was pretty relaxed and pumped up!
Not asking for a sit definitely helps.
One thing I’d like to add is that when you have engagement at the line and it is a stressful spot (like the start area on run 3) you can just get a quick trick and run run run. 🙂 that way she won’t have time to even briefly disengage! She likes the running a whole lot, so responding to a trick cue then immediately running? I think that will continue to build engagement (and make it easier to add a stay back in because the stay will just be another “trick” 🙂My only other suggestion is to plan your courses better 🙂 some of your lines were a bit exotic haha! And we want to keep her moving – so keep choosing simple easy lines for now… and if something goes wrong, just get her back onto a simple fun line 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi!
Lots of good things on these runs!!
The main thing I see on all of them is that you really didn’t have to fight for engagement at the start line and release – she was offering engagement when you put her down and the leash came off. That’s HUGE!!!I also thought she was pretty darned fast on the releases into the course. That is also huge!!!
Super happy with both of those developments 🙂She showed us the next things to work on:
More Find My Face game on course, so if there is a little error or disconnect or lateness, she will still be engaged. I know you have played the game, but i don’t think you’ve had a lot of time to do it on course recently. That will really help!And, more reinforcement for running past people- that is a kryptonite for her, indeed! Running past the white gate lining one side of the ring was really hard, plus she also had a harder when the course turned towards the exit and reward (she was heading to the reward/exit). So keep playing the cookie kryptonite games with people, and also with your remote reinforcement work on course – set up short sequences heading away from the reinforcement. And, the further away from the reward station/exit gate she gets, the more you will be you cue going to it. That will help her love moving away from it, and not want to drive to it when you turn that direction.
Great job! How did today go?
TracyYikes! The Border Collie lunging at the end was scary! Poor Skipper!!
It was very clever of you to hand the leash off early -that gets rid of the leash runner guy with the bucket (what is up with buckets in PA trials? LOL!)
I think she was SUPER engaged when you put her down (win!), she immediately turned to you, no sniffing (win!) , she could do her tricks (win!!!). – but could not sit. To be honest, I think your sit cue is poisoned and just should be eliminated. She was engaged, she put herself in a stay, lined up, ready to go… then you said ‘sit’ and the pressure turned on and she checked out.
So… no more sit! You don’t need the word and you don’t need the position 🙂 If she is engaged, does her tricks? Just ask for a stay and lead out, releasing quickly! I am happy with everything that happened til you said ‘sit’. No more sit word or position, just use a stand stay 🙂 Maybe the sit will come back eventually? Or not. The sit is not important, the engagement is important 🙂She had some trouble running past the wall of people, so yo can start the run moving away from them to establish confidence then eventually swing back around to run past them.
The handling came off the rails a bit near the weaves, but I think that was more of a handling error (it was not that clear) and not an engagement issue.Let me know how tomorrow goes!! Remember: NO SIT!! 🙂 Stand stay and go go go 🙂
T
Hi!
I am sorry to hear about Katy! That is a bummer 🙁
Whistle sounds VERY fun!!! Doing both MaxPup 3 and CAMP is a lot of running (for you LOL!) you can do both if you feel like all that running 🙂 The other option is to sign up to audit CAMP and then if you think you can work both, you can bump up to working! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
Yes, she was totally turned off by the wet grass LOL! She was making good striding choices but was a little “hoppy” because she didn’t like the wet LOL!!
Two ideas for you-
I think she was a little too close to the first jump on reps 1 and 2 – the setup a tiny but further from it on reps 3, 4, and 5 looked more comfortable for her.
Also, try the dragging toy now (I think the reward was stationary on these). You can attach the lotus ball to a line or something so it can be pulled along the ground – start with it where you had it here, then starting moving it, release her, and keep moving it til she gets to it 🙂 That can help her keep her head down and power forward more to drive the grid.Great job! Fingers crossed for dry weather ahead 🙂
Tracy
