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Hi! A ton of good stuff happening in this video!!!!
I am really impressed with her stay, when you put the cookie and toy on the ground, and even more so during the moving target game. YES!!!
Her jumping coordination looked pretty good so far – it was a little hard to see from the front but she didn’t look off balance at all. When using food as the target, get low with the food as you release to help keep her head down (I like her head position on the moving target much better anyway :))
>>Chata sits are weak. I am working on some different ways to motivate and maintain. I swear there’s something in the Vizsla DNA. She gets it with treats- I posted some intermittent treat sits so you can see she’s way more confident. >>
Watcing this video with that in mind… I don’t think she understands the verbal as the sit cue, I think she is associating it with a body cue.
Like at :29 on the first video, when you raised your hand and leaned into her. And raised the hand at 2:15 and 2:23 too 🙂On the 2nd video, you raised the cookie at :05 and :23 to get the sit. At :48, you raised the cookie hand but the toy was dangling so she was not as sure. Also, raised cookie hand at 1:29 and 2:06 got the sits 🙂
So… I think your current sit cue is a hand signal especially when a cookie is involved.
No worries though!
>>>> I am working on some different ways to motivate and maintain.
Use the hand signal to help her: say the verbal sit cue then after 1 second, use the hand signal. New cue (verbal) will come to predict the current cue (hand signal) and then you can easily fade the hand signal – just be sure that verbal and hand are not simultaneous!
>>Also- I’m seeing a timing issue of my cue so will adjust on that.
Yes, she needs a momen to be ready, especially after eating or tugging 🙂 Speaking of tugging – play tug with her more rather than letting her shred the toy. Build the engagement while saving money on toy replacements at the same time LOL!
Question about the reward marker ‘get it’ – does it mean to get the toy/treat ahead of her or the one tossed to her? I think separate markers will help clarify for when things get more complicated. I use ‘get it’ for out ahead and ‘catch’ when I am throwing it to the dog.
the wind in your hair game looked great! The wraps look good, definitely happier! I think she did well with the toy present – no thinking issues, just mechanics challenges. You can ramp up the cnonection on the wrap, especially when she is turning to her right – that was harder for whatever reason. Either it was a more challenging side, or you have more value being on your left side than on your right (or both?) But you did a great job of adding more connection and breaking down the turn after she had questions at 2:56 and 3:01 on the wing wraps.
I think you are ready to add more running to this one! Wheeee! Be sure to get the connection like you did here… then run run run 🙂 You can place the toy out ahead to help her find the line, because you will be at the wing and helping her make the connection.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>> I don’t acknowledge the mistake (my fault yes) but I should be treating.
If it is a training error, like she pops out of weave poles – you can call her back, reset at your side to line up, give a cookie for the line up, then try again.
For a handling error, where something goes wrong in a sequence like this? That is 99% of the time going to be the fault of us humans, so you can just reward her decision right there as if it was completely the correct decision (because it was LOL!)
Have fun!
TracyHi Wendy! These look great!
On all the reps: your connection was terrific on the wings! Your verbals sound great!! She was not distracted by the toy in your hand. YAY!!
You can add more connection to the tunnel exit – your running line was good here and she saw the wing after the tunnel, but remind yourself each time that as soon as she goes into the tunnel, the next place to look is at the exit and not at the wing.The left and rights were going well! On the first right turns, your arm got a little high and that distracted her – but then on the others, you arm was in a great position, connection was lovely and she got it. Super! You can add even more motion to it: run faster without sacrificing the connection or verbals 🙂 You can also spread things out so both of you have more speed.
Great job here!!!
Tracy2nd run – all good by keep yoru arm down for th ‘right’ and lookat her on the utnne exit
left was better yo ucan run more on those! and then the righ at the end looked good
Hi!
>>Nikita did 6 blinds on a Jww course. Help!!
6 blinds? FUN! But 24″ AKC spacing is really challenging.
>> Any seminars coming up ?
I have the summer stuff but haven’t figured out topics yet – the two weekends are July 30-31 and Aug 6-7 near Greensboro NC.
On the video –
He is good at turning in a circle on the flat – reward each one s he doesn’t get dizzy LOL! I think you were using a general around cue which is fine, because it is not the same as your jump directionals.On the go versus left – add motion 🙂 Standing still and sending was too easy for him 🙂 try to be moving through the serp line (landing side of the left turn jump) to get both the go and the serp – if you close your shoulders forward and yell go go go, he should layer the jump (you can throw the toy early or place it out ahead to help start the behavior. And for the left into the serp, you can use serp handling (open shoulders and connection) to help him come in. Start this by sending away to the start wing so it is easy to get in position without having to run too fast. Then flip the setup so he still has a right turn option for the go versus the right as well.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>>Well she’s over the place behavior and is back to normal lol!!!
Teenagers. Sigh. HA!
She did well on the circle wraps! A couple of ideas for you:
Start further back so she can drive the line ahead of you – you were too close at :07 and :30 and then made a really good adjustment to move further away!
>> I wonder if she thought maybe I was rearing on the left side?
Yes, in some moments, I think that was part of it – there is a great angle at 2:14 where you were very close and rear crossed her before she had a chance to lock onto the wing – she was a good girl to do the wrap anyway, but starting a solid 10 feet or more away will help her have more time to get to the wing.
Also, start on more of an angle so she can see the entire wing – you can be on an angle kind of in line with the far wing of the jump. You were putting yourself on the line to the wing, so she couldn’t see the full wing – so when you didn’t move as much, she got it but when you moved faster, your line pushed her off the wing.
The last section has a clear angle on it: At 1:4 and 1:55, your foot/leg was on the line that she needed to be on, which puts too much pressure on it for her.
Also the tunnel was out there on some of the reps, so she might have been having a hard time turning away from the tunnel? But I bet if you started further back and on an angle, it would not be a problem.
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>> And you can see how the other ring behaviors later in the course all refer back to the start line.
yes – but not just the stay, also some generalized anxiety about the people and dogs and stuff behind her there.
>>As you know I have been working closely with Perry and Jessica on this start line protocol and yes it is not working but Jessica insists we are close. I am not sure exactly how to judge this but we have amped up the pressure in class which I think is contributing to the ring improvement although I can’t say for sure it is exactly improving the start line.>>
I think making the classes more trial-like and less like a library definitely helps, because it allows her to get reinforcement on course with those trial-like distractions present (especially because they run trials there).
>>Leaving the building and the collar grab came from them. I know that that the one collar grab in the video looked awful but it was better than letting her wander off – i know it adds to stress.>>
Since she is getting a LOT of collar grabbing (punishment, which could also be a positive punishment because it is not necessarily a good feeling) and if you find yourself leaving the building a lot – then we want to take the punishment out of the picture and put the onus on you, the trainers, to find ways to use positive reinforcement so successfully that you don’t need to punish. And when she truly understands, you won’t need to touch her collar or leave the building.
Personally, I rather the dog wanders off to sniff. Sniffing helps them bring their heads back to a better space and collar grabbing makes things worse. So if my dog needs to tap out, it is bad for my ego but I am basically fine with it, as a dog trainer – in that moment, I cringe but I also need to find a way to teach the dog to want to tap in!
>>I am totally committed to taking this class and doing the exercises but I am going to have to figure out a way to not just throw out their coaching (especially when I am in class).
So in class, tell the instructors that you have a new game for the start line and there is a wager of a bottle of wine in it for you 🙂 What, in class, sets her up for success? Cookies in your hand? Short lead outs? Rewarding more frequently on course? Do that in class and tell them you are going to win a bottle of a fine red from me, and they will be on board (because it is true and maybe you can share it with them hahaha)
>>For example, maybe running away from her when she blows me off so she has to come chase me. Spending more time on the recall training (oy) so I don’t need to use the collar grab.>>
First, change your mindset – she is not blowing you off, that is simply not something that dogs do. If she is tapping out, then she is having a struggle about something. Identify what it is (ideally, before it happens) and reward reward reward by running and moving away from the distraction, before she taps out.
>>One of my theories is that the carrying her in and putting her on the ground is creating a problem. I started doing that to mitigate issues with the leash having to be put in a bucket and to get the leash runner out of the picture.>>
I don’t think it is the carrying her in – it is the bigger picture of the anxiety about people or pressure. So if we tackle the underlying cause, you will see massive improvements!!
>>Here is what I would like the set up to look like. You can’t see but I have treats in my hands to start.
This is a great line up! Be consistent with how you reward and if she sits sideways… who cares, go with it LOL!! You kind of nitpick the exact position and it makes her a little frustrated. Add in movnig forward after she sits (she holds the stay) with you throwing rewards back to her.
Looking forward to more and having to buy you a nice bottle of wine hahaha
Tracy
Hi!
>>Thanks for the insights and plan. We will try these tonight and see how it goes.
Yay! Maybe a classmate can video, or your can bring a tripod?
>> For both of these, bring reinforcement into the ring and do tricks for treats or toys (whichever is higher value in the moment) as you go into the ring
>>At what point would I start the tricks?
Would I do them leash off or on?
In class, he’s in crate so I take him out and put leash on, then walk to start line, take leash off. Other dog finishing might be out if he’s not first. They always have to set the bars for him as he’s only dog his height.>>Such terrific questions! Every dog is a little different… for your first run, try taking him out before his turn and do some tricks outside the ring while he previous dog is finishing. That will get him focused and also let you know which reinforcement he likes at the moment 🙂 Then as you walk in, do a few more tricks for treats. All this is on leash. Then when you think you have his engagement, take the leash off and do another trick or two for treats… then if you think he is focused, try the agility.
If you like what he does, repeat the process for the next run(s). If you don’t like it, mix it up – different reinforcement, different tricks. You can totally experiment to see what works best!
>> Ok, so cookies or toy in hand, not pocket. So I should skip performing weaves obstacles since he does not do those unless inside, right? I never know what other items he may do wrong so I should continue and not correct, right?>>
Yes, yes, and yes 🙂 For now! Let’s make being in the ring an incredibly reinforcing thing 🙂 And if you think he might have an error, you can just skip the obstacle entirely – like the weaves, or if you think he might jump over a contact. You can reward the obstacle before it, do tricks/treats or the whip it game to move to the next part of the course 🙂 then carry on.
>> And check out the remote reinforcement game
Ok, so you want us to do this one now before the other two?>>Yes, let’s move it up to start now, because I think it is one of the critical pieces to figuring out Sprite.
Have fun in class! Let me know how it goes!
TracyHi!
Glad you are enjoying it! You are doing a great job!
>> It will be super hard for me to not ask for attention / engagement but I believe you, so I will keep working on it and will get some video of Tricks for Treats in the quiet training arena tomorrow.
Sounds good! Standing still and letting the dog offer is hard but useful because when it comes down to it… the dogs gets to choose and there is nothing we can really do about it 🙂 They can choose to engage, or not! So these little games should swing things in favor of making the choice to engage.
>>And if time allows I’ll also try the Remote Reinforcement and / or the Volume control because I think those will puzzle me more than others.
Yes, but not in the same session. They are brain-bending games so we don’t want to do them all together.
>> I am at Argus at least twice a week, often quite a bit more, so whenever there is something specific you want me to try let me know. I have an agility class with Jordan and with Jill Crawford, plus a nosework class.>>
This dog has a busier social life than most people I know, myself included haha!! With all that in mind… you need to schedule days where she does nothing in terms of training, and just gets to walk and sniff and pee on things and run around and nap. That time off will prevent depletion and help latent learning. Training everyday is a bad idea, even if it is different skills or sports, because the dogs can never quite get rested and refreshed. For example, my 3 year old dog traveled on Friday, competed Saturday and Sunday, and trainde a couple of skills today. So tomorrow she will get to sleep in the sun, have a sniffy walk or two, and do zero training. There is so much pressure in the dog training world to train something every day and I am against that (and the science is tending towards NOT training every day too :)) because the dogs need to rest in order to cement the skills and be ready to train for the next session.
On the video –
“”Maybe I had a preconceived notion that the hallway wouldn’t work well and I should try again?>>
I thought the hallway worked well – the preconceived notion that it wouldn’t work probably distracted you LOL!
>> Surprised because I can’t get much distance from the treats, but that’s surely your point.>>
Yes – so you split the behavior into just a couple of steps and not lump the behavior into big distances.
>>The antecedent arrangement of setting up the camera, putting the boy dogs away, and getting out treats is a strong predictor of training
and I think you can see she thought we were getting out of the hall and going to the other room – and she was ready to GO.Yes, both are conditioned responses and that is fine 🙂 You can put the boys away 30 minutes sooner (sorry boys) and setup the camera then go look at emails or watch TV before starting the training to help reduce that a bit.
She did really well here! One thing to add is a little more interaction after you feed the reward – you can praise and talk to her! Then put the dish down and walk away quietly. That will help build praise in as an engaging thing too! Picking up the dish, rewarding, then putting it back down before walking away was very helpful to her, basically telling her: this is where the reward is, game on. She was MUCH crisper about moving away from it when you did that (like at 1:35 and 1:42)
>>Then we both thought about my mistake until about 1:00 and she gave up and returned to the food without me (but didn’t steal, hurrah!) >>
She and I were both wondering what you were waiting for there LOL! And then I think she was guessing that perhaps she needed to offer going to the good table? When in doubt, reward, reset, start over.
>>Then a couple of good reps, then at 1:57 I guess I was waiting for her to come further to me, into the dead end of the hall.
She and I were both wondering what you were waiting for there too LOL!!! She fulfilled criteria – moved away fro the food with engagement – so you don’t need to ask for more 🙂 Remember to ping pong and do some really short distances too!
>>I have a question on the Volume Dial game – do you want us to do 5 tricks then assess, then try something else to “adjust the dial” and assess, maybe two or three times back to back like you did in the demo video, so we can see comparison in real time? Or do you want us to just do the 5 tricks, assess, then stop (and repeat something different at a later time)?>>
Try to see if you can get her into the optimal state: if she is engaged and excited after 5 tricks? Cool!! If she is not (looking away, sniffing, scrolling on facebook LOL) then do a couple more to adjust that dial like in the demo. If you can’t get the engagement, no worries, you can end the session. This is a good one to do at class too!
Nice work here! Have fun!
TracyDifferent words is good – try them in different tone/pitch so they are easier to differentiate, especially in more challenging environments.
Hi!
>>I was thrilled with how she did. If 100% was best ever starts (ranked on speed, focus, directability, not handling), these were in the high 90%. Third start was like the first. Fourth was like the second except a little barkier, a little stickier, and a little more distracted. Fifth was a little more of the above. So if I lost 5% of the package on the 4th, I lost about another 5% on the fifth.
Awesome! This is good!
>> Honestly that felt most like mental fatigue with maybe a little physical fatigue thrown in.
Yes, and also it is possible that you don’t have the full understanding yet on how to control her volume dial as the day gets later or she gets tired 🙂 This is where I would go to the toolbox of action tricks and start asking for the crazier ones, and bring out the better toys or treats 🙂
>>She did hold every stay that I asked for all day. The last seminar we had some intermittent problems with broken start lines.
Good girl!!!
>>I do find that I struggle a bit off the start too. I work so hard to maintain her focus and not spin up with her that I then tend to be late and forget cues off the start.
Relatable!!! it is better to keep things simple and reward early, then pick up with the handling after you have rewarded the good start behavior.
>>> 5 8 minute turns are tough for me too.
Yes – 8 minutes is a LONG time. And the physical fatigue by the end of doesn’t help either. Maybe you can split your turns into 2 4-minute rounds?
Tracy
Hi! This is looking good and now I want some cheese puffs!
Even with cheese puffs, she was sometimes taking a while to get back (especially at the beginning) so you can do pattern games with the cheese puffs to help estabish the “hurry back” 🙂
You can now build in the dismount and stay. When you add teh dismount and stay, you can move away just like you do with your current stay behavior – just tell her to stay and then takeoff 🙂
>>Do you think it would be a mistake, or helpful, if I taught Roulez to bark on cue?
If you do it as a trick and reward it a lot, you might find it helpful especially in training, when you can use it to increase her arousal. And if she is barking at you on cue (and not out to the universe) then you can get good focus from it! I also teach barking dogs how tot be quiet on cue (for example, Voodoo barks, clacks, and is silent on cue – he isn’t silent for long, but it is keeps him thinking between the noisy moments haha)
>>btw, both dogs got the Let’s go down!!>>
Yeah! Remote reinforcement is so useful!
Great job!
TracyHi!
>>wanted to know what would be best
>>Should I continue to work all three or pick one?Work all 3 – he will tell you which is best in the trial environment.
The video is looking good. We will throw out the first rep (he just couldn’t find the treat).
What does line up mean, specifically? Move to position or down or stand or? I think he believes it is down wherever he is, based on the timing of your cue. Through the leg was good a very fun snappy setup but I think line up should be used as the cue for only one of these behaviors, not both – they are different behaviors (I think it was the same verbal cue).Tapping was good but you can also just reward for getting to your side, rather than going into the down. That will help him move to your side faster, then I think the down will be easy.
>>The pressure of me standing over him is a lot so we worked that a bit too.
You can split the behavior for now and just toss a cookie through so he runs back and forth for more sessions so he loves to find that spot between you feet. And, you can bend over less – cue him to come to the spot then stand up so there is less pressure.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
Really good work here varying the amount of steps before you went back to the cookies! Yay! He was great with this. You don’t need to say ‘yes’ because we don’t want yes to mean leave for the cookies (like if you say “yes!” for a great weave entry :)) so you can just say the marker word 🙂The other thing you can do here is be more boring LOL!! Walk away more casually: you should watch him to look at his responses, but move a bit more slowly and with a more relaxed posture. That way he can engage when you are exciting, and when you are just acting normal 🙂
Great job here! Have you gotten a chance to look at the engaged chill game? That will help too! I scrolled back but didn’t see it, let me know if I missed it!
Tracy
Hi! There are so many good things happening in these videos! I totally see why you want to sort out the little details – he is really talented and has a lot of great skills!!!
He definitely has trouble in front of the crowd – could be that he is a little nervous about the people and dogs (the barking dog in one of the videos seemed to be a definite distraction!) or he knows his reward is out there – or both. All of the stuff in the back of the ring was great! Anything in front of the crowd we either slower, or he would get distracted and look around, or he would tap and out leave (like that weird start facing the wall and crowd before the dog walk).
So yes – keep playing with the line up! I am glad he likes that game 🙂 And the top games to look at are the pattern games (we will use them to get him relaxed near the crowd and ignoring the people and dogs) and the remote reinforcement game (which will teach him that yes, the reward is outside the ring, but ignore it til cued).
Let me know how the games go! We will be building on all of them soon.
TracyHi!
>>That CONNECTION pop up really showed me where and how to execute connection for countermotion (the “WHY” is clear). I also have your COUNTERMOTION seminar to work through (that’s next). Everyone around me is probably tired of me saying, “Tracy said this and Tracy said that.” I don’t care. Learning is awesome!>>
I am glad you are enjoying them! Connection is my favorite thing to train!
>> Your reference to this was that it was a good thing (because Prism read it properly), but I thought you said NOT to face backward (Like we all have done for years) but to keep moving forward.
Sorry if I was not clear, sometimes more caffeine is needed! A grapevine or false turn footwork in the threadle is not a good thing 🙂 Feet should be moving forward to the next line and not to the dog. Upper body can rotate (some use a dog side arm, some use a cross arm) but feet should not rotate.
>>[in re-reading this, I think I should video what Barb has taught me for physical cue on Threadle and see how that fits. In this class we have been trying to train verbals such that the motion does not help, but I get the feeling this maneuver ought to have the correct physical cue associated with it]>>
It can totally help a young dog to see the handling (I was doing some handling in the demos). My guess is that Barb is teaching a European-style threadle with feet moving forward up the line (facing the future) and upper body doing a cue (indicating the present)
>>I am sending video of SERP vs. Threadle (to challenge the VORTEX temptation).
I can’t get the sound to play on these (I tried a couple of devices – is it just my side of it or did the sound somehow come off?
Watching without sound –
>>. I see a question mark over his head when he takes the SERP jump without the big leap he does when it is really a SERP.
on the serps at the start of video 1, you are a bit far from the jump and not moving on the serp line, so he correctly jumping in longer to match the line you are setting. For a serp, you should be close enough to touch the jump and moving parallel to the bar the whole time and not away from it laterally That will eventually be your line on the threadles too
You ran a better line, tighter to the serp jump at 1:18 and 1:55 on the 2nd video, for example, and those serps looked really strong and slicey 🙂
For the threadles:
The threadles have a high failure rate so reminding him to wrap the barrel is a good thing (without sound, I could not tell if you were cuing the wrap vebal or not on the failure reps). When cuing the wrap on the barrel, to set up the threadle, though, try to keep moving ever so slowly towards the threadle jump and don’t do it as a full post turn away from the barrel.
>> I see confusion more than Vortex
I agree – he doesn’t understand it well enough yet to do it at speed and with a balance option. I think that is fine and at his age (14 months now?) that his threadle understanding should still be worked on one jump and not from a barrel on the flat angle with serp balances – just too hard for now. When you were getting him to come in during the 2nd video, you were decelerating and rotating which is probably not what you will eventually want. I do an around the clock threadle game with the youngsters, adding my motion on one jump before adding an additional wing or jump. Here is an example:
>>Yes, I WANT to use the marker word, “GET IT” in place of “YES” but I often forget. I DO have “MINE” for the “toy is not available”.
We all forget or spit out the wrong thing – ask me how many times I yell TUNNEL! when I want a jump, or call the dog by the wrong name hahahahaha Oops!
>>The reset cookie (which I think should be called an effort cookie——- but I get it, because we are resetting for the next rep) is really working.
I totally call it an effort cookie in my regular life and in my flyball training 🙂 Agility people don’t really respond to that for some reason (not sure why) so I have switche to calling it a reset cookie and they are happy LOL! And that makes the dogs happy. But you are correct: it is an effort cookie that is placed in a way that also lines up the dog for the next rep, while giving me a moment to figure out how to help the dog get it right 🙂
>> Prism now expects a cookie at set up instead of fighting with me and the toy.
That is AWESOME <3 He is more relaxed and not frustrated!
>> And since we are on this topic…I have been wondering about the dogs who bite their owners at the end of a run (because they are used to tugging a toy at the end of a sequence) and dogs who run to get their leash (and miss a last jump or turn by the gate). Does your experience plan on this when the toy is thrown or placed OFF the human?>>
Both of those are training errors, not doggie errors 🙂 (Side note – I have see National Championships lost because the dog ran to the leash on the ending line and didn’t take the last jump. More than once! EEK!!!)
Both issues have to do with the dog not understanding the reinforcement procedures: the biting is a high arousal frustration behavior because in the trial setting, the dog is frustrated, aroused, and doesn’t know what to do at the end of a run (because the handler has not taught end of run procedures, not because the dog is used to tugging). The dogs who go grab their leashes also do not understand reinforcement procedures of remote reinforcement (how to ignore your reward until you are specifically sent to it).
I have not had an issue with any of it with my dogs or student dogs, because we teach the dogs all of the reinforcement procedures involved with training and trialing, and keep a high rate of reinforcement so they are not frustrated 🙂 I was just outside teaching one of the baby dogs the reinforcement procedure for flyball: leave the frisbee on the ground, go 80 feet away to get the ball, bring the ball all the way back to the frisbee, out the ball on cue and take the frisbee on cue.
>>Thank you for the wide open courses and spacing advice on the exercises.
I am SO WORRIED we will never get the turns at speed.>>It is normal to worry about those things with young talented dogs! I have lost sleep over such things with my young dogs (which makes me laugh at myself a bit, but it is the truth!). You are TOTALLY going to get the turns you want, we just don’t want them yet. He has the body, brain and training to get the turns, but right now we want him understanding and going fast while being thoughtful. The rest will get built in then BOOM! it will be there 🙂
>> I KNOW I need to trust the process and keep showing him the progressive challenges in brief segments (my first super fast agility BC).
Yes, but it is hard to trust the process when it is your first time through it. You can look at a timeline of expectations, tat might help:
He is 14-15 months old, so what we want now is SPEED SPEED SPEED FIND THE LINE GO FAST while maintaining reinforcement procedures, thoughtfulness, and good mechanics and coordination. He is not nearly in his adult body so it doesn’t matter what the turns look like now – as long as he is coordinated and thinking, we are in a good place.At 18 months or so, you should see more of his adult body (my two 20.5″ tall intact male BC-types were not in their adult bodies til after 2 years old) but he will still be a little gangly and sorting things out. You want to focus on speed and line at this point, letting him power through those with an occasional turn then back to speed.
At about 2 to 2.5 years, he can start trialing, he will be mostly physically mature. When he is in his adult body, you can then ask for the real turns and they will be there, without sacrificing the speed 🙂
I debut dogs a little later than a lot of people, especially male dogs. I have friends and colleagues who have their big boys out running at 15 or 18 months – full height, doing all the things. I bring the boys out closer to 2 or 2.5 because I want more confidence and power and understanding, plus I want them to be physically ready (starting a dog with all the things in competition at 15 or 18 months does not bode well for long term soundness).
>>Once she and I learned power steering, it seemed like she slowed down, such a smooth and efficient jumper.>>
Did you quantify that with a stop watch and YPS tracking? It is possible that she was just as fast or faster, but smoother so it felt slower. My best runs and high level wins felt “slow” because they were so in sync and smooth. The worst ones feel fast because they were a wild ride LOL!!!
Let me know what you think!
Tracy
