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Really nice run with Kaladin here too! He commits to wings & barrels a little better than Min does, those spots spots seemed a little easier for you. But he is less experienced so needed more help in other places.
Yes, as you mentioned, you can be a little earlier on the 2-3 wing to jump in the beginning – he commits really well to wings, so you can trust that and turn before he even arrives at the wing. You can also trust his tunnel commitment more at :05 and send to the tunnel more while leaving for the next line as well. Basically, skimming the tree (don’t hit it LOL!) rather than going in a couple of steps close to the tunnel like you did here.
It sounds like you started your left cue pretty early here, right after the tunnel exit, and before the blind – this is great! That way he can get info even if you can’t start the blind at the same time as the verbal starts. That line looked good!
He has great barrel commitment even if you were pointing forward a bit. A little strategy to get to the blind down the next line: after the BC, hang out by the exit of 7 instead of leaving. Then, send him to the barrel (8) so you are now miles ahead for the BC 10-11. Running to 8 adds more yardage for you and that is harder without the extra time a tunnel would give you. Sending to 8 more will give you the one extra step you need to get the BC 10-11.
Also, you can keep your arms tucked in at your side more instead of extended back on the BCs, because it will make you quicker with the reconnections – all you need to do is a head turn, no arm changes, which is much quicker when you are flying down a big line.
Nice timing on the backside push at 14! He is less experienced so he needed one extra step of motion, which you gave him to help support the line. Yay!
As with Min, he had a moment of hesitation on landing at :23 – there was not a lot of connection, so he hesitated until he heard the tunnel verbal. So start that verbal sooner and add more eye contact as he is jumping & exiting the backside, and that will tighten up that line too!
And for both dogs, something to consider is slicing the other way on 14: enter on the tree side, exit on the outside. That has a better exit line to the tunnel, and a relatively easy entry line on the tree side, so might end up being faster and easier!
On the ending line – at :27, I think you were helping his barrel commitment more than he needed there which made the BC harder on the exit. You can treat it like a tunnel, in terms of send timing and connection, but instead of a tunnel cue you would say left or his wrap cue. And start the BC befoer he gets to it. This is another good “wings in” spot, meaning bring your arms in to your side. The BC could have started sooner, yes, but he was not able to read it because your left arm was high and a bit forward so he didn’t see the new connection. Arms tucked in reveal the connection better, so the dogs read it better.
On the redo, you had a much better barrel send! And also note the difference in arm position – your dog-side arm was lower and back more, so he could totally see the connection and found the new side with no questions. Yay!
Great job with both dogs! Enjoy your gamblers classes and your fun day ahead!
Tracy
Good morning! I like he creativity to make this fit, I think it still had all the challenges!
Opening – even without jump 1, you can be sooner on the blind for the wing of 2 – she was looking up at you waiting for the cue to 2. So try to push her limits of wing commitment to show her 3 before she even arrives at 2.
3-4-5 was great!
The tree in the yard is like a pole in a training facility – forced your line around it. It made the blind a tiny bit late. Yo can start the verbal left sooner so she knows it is coming, even if you have to get to the blind a bit late due to tree interference. She did read it nicely! The barrel reapplying the tunnel takes out the discrimination element, but I think she would have read it anyway.She has a little trouble committing to the fox barrel at :13. It could have been that her barrel commitment is simply not that strong (she has not seen a lot of barrels lately), or that your arm/shoulder was forward (so she was unsure of the line) or she doesn’t like foxes LOL! Probably more of the arm too far forward and lower value for barrels 🙂 causing you to have to go all the way to it. That made the line to the BC 10-11 a lot harder – partially because you had to go to the barrel, partially because you had no tunnel time that would have made the BC easier to get to on time. You were able to get her to see the new connection even though it was a little late, which is great! You can also practice a rear cross here – you won’t need a ton of RCs with Min, but they will come in handy when you do need them!
She was a little sticky going to the barrel at 12 as well – I think the cues were happening at arrival to it, so as she lands from 11 , you can already be starting the lala cue and sending to it.
Nice push to the backside at 14! Great send, great running line, and she totally understood her job! The only little thing to add here is a bit more connection to her eyes as you pass the exit wing, to tighten that turn. As you passed the wing at :24, you were looking ahead. So when she landed, she drifted a little because she was not sure which side of you to be on until you gave the tunnel cue. So more connection (and an earlier tunnel cue, even as early as her feet touching down) will help tighten up that line.
Really nice ending line! She definitely is sticky on the barrels so that makes you work harder for commitment, but you got the blind in nicely! Great job! I figure if you can get this course done with wings or barrels in the important places, then it will be easy with jump and tunnel instead 🙂 Nice work!
TracyGood morning and welcome! Great to see you here, I am glad he is feeling good again!!!
>> QUESTION: When you refer to submitting a “Round 1” video, do you mean all the sequences in a lesson or just the first one.
It is all the sequences – it doesn’t mean you have to post them all at once, you can do as many or as few as time allows 🙂
See you soon!
TracyGood morning! He is looking good here!
It was hard to tell on the video about the timing of the verbals – some where indeed a little late but I think most were fine. And his response seemed to match when I think you were giving the verbals 🙂
Opening – This looked strong! You can add a verbal wrap cue (but not a decel, no time for that :)) on exit of 3 to tighten the turn to the teeter. The back line of the tunnel-jump-tunnel looked smooth and fast!
Yes, he was wide to the backside off the RDW as you mentioned at :32. You were giving a lot of go go go cue, so he went straight. If possible, give less go (maybe one?) and while he is on the DW, no later than the top of the down ramp, switch to the backside cue. That is trickier to maintain the RDW criteria with but a good training opportunity so he can hit it and make the turn too.
Good turn to the 12 tunnel in flow! It was harder on the re-start because you were not able to show him the low of the flow of the line when starting that close, but you go it in flow off that fast line.
MIdcourse: An earlier turn cue on 13 to turn to the a-frame will help him – you were saying something (I couldn’t hear exactly what) but it did not override the physical cue of running straight, so he landed straight and looked straight at the tunnel ahead at :41 before turning to get the a-frame. You turned sooner at 1:52 (when he was approx halfway between the tunnel exit and jump) but I think it needs to be even sooner: ideally when he exits the tunnel, you are giving a soft turn verbal and beginning to turn to the a-frame, so he can adjust before takeoff.
The threadle was the hardest part for him. On the first run at :43 you started it late (when he exited the frame, ideally it should start while he is still on the frame) but also he likes more lateral distance on those, almost pulling away from it. And when you tried to move towards the threadle jump, he took that as a cue to the front side. So it is not really a timing question, it is more of a training question to get him happy to let you stay closer on those. More below 🙂
Ending line – he was really good with that weave entry! For the wrap at 19, he was really good reading the deceleration and outside arm which started as he was exiting 18! Nice! You can trust his commitment more and then rotate and turn sooner. You were facing forward as he was lifting off for 19, so he was a little delayed in driving back around the jump (waiting for you to finishing your turn)
The family participation at the teeter was the cutest thing ever!!!! Is that a double decker stroller? So fun! And the teeter looked good too 🙂
And having the kiddos on the field during threadle practice is good because you had to keep a happy reaction to the threadles hahahaha!So about the threadles – I think he would like for you to use a line of motion that involves you pulling away then pushing him back. That requires, however, a level of perfection in timing that borders on insanity 🙂 Plus the threadles should be trained to override motion, so you can pretty much run straight. He was having trouble letting you do that, which means we can train the skill more. You can do it at a walk, but with the proper line of motion (which is pretty directly towards the wing, not moving away from it, giving him enough room to get past you) – and then showing him. That even when you converge a little, we still would like him to threadle (it was on the convergence that he was taking the wrong side of the jump). Start it at a walk so he can process the cue with motion, especially off a running a-frame. Then if that goes well, add more and more motion. If it is hard for him, you can take out the bar and just do it on a wing, so show him the line that you want without the distraction of the bar.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! Your timing is definitely improving, I see lots of good things here! Yes, please send the video of her swimming the jumps, I wanna see what happened 🙂 Generally, swimming jumps is an organization issue (more on that below)
Looking at the wraps first –
The wrap at :09 looked MUCH clearer in terms of transition into decel and rotation, and she nailed it! You can finish the rotation and leave even sooner now 🙂The wrap at :32 did not have the same transition from fast to decel, it was only decel so she didn’t read it. It is normal that they don’t read decel-only at this stage, the need to see the transition into it in order to read it
:57 – she was about to do the wrap but she was not yet ready for you to move forward before she was committed. The toy might have been too big of a distraction there, so try with empty hands and see how she does.
You had a good transition at 1:21 so she had a good turn there too!
And, when you were rotated at the wing on the last rep, you had better patience to not move forward towards her too soon – one thing to try is to put your hand on the takeoff side of the bar, a little lower, to ask for more collection rather than on the landing side.Soft turns – she is totally sorting them out! Note the soft left turn she did at :23! And another good one at :31! She also was getting herself organized for the right soft turn at :49. A good left soft turn at 1:01 and 1:12. Was she swimming on the right soft turns? I am happy with what I see with the soft turns here so far – there is a lot to organize! But what I think might be happening on the swimming moments, and on the wraps, is that she is not ‘sitting’ into her hind end enough – she is trying to get it all done on her front end. So we will work to help her organize for sure!
First up: super tight sits. Have you worked her on getting. Tight sit, on a platform and on the flat?
Second – the motion override game we are starting tomorrow 🙂
Then I might add a few more hind end games that I have used for running contacts and for box turns, which work beautifully to help with turning! And I have a game that I need to film that helps this too. But first: the tight sits and the motion override game.Let me know what you think! She is doing well so we can totally help her with any of her questions.
TracyHi!
>> was not in love with this session. Usually she’s happy to work toys or food but I think I needed her toy.
Her get it game led to more sniffing then usual. Environment was changed with the doors open but not sure that had anything to do with it.>>Any possibility she is coming into season? Also, the doors being open is a massive environment change for a dog bred to work in the outdoor environment. It is entirely possible that there was scent drifting in from the outdoors that was messing her up a bit. I think you might find a good balance of tossing a cookie then having her drive back for a toy.
>> Once she starts jumping sits are hard. And yes I got creepy and weird on the one rep since I didn’t think she was going to stay.>>
I think maybe the stays were the hardest part here as you mentioned (she was feeling SPICY) so you can always mix in stay rewards like you did at :54 and also do different positions (sit, stand, down) as her stay positions. That way the sit doesn’t lose value and you can totally reward all the variations of stay. When the dog gets spicy and the sit is hard, a stand stay is often VERY easy to ask for instead! And you can get all the reps in with no arguments about the stay 🙂
>> I did more reps then I wanted because when I sent- she would not turn but go straight so I thought to throw more as a lure to help.
So I’d like to clean this all up. I wonder if she was just bored?>>Yes the session was harder but also I think you did too much repetition of the same thing: 3 minutes and 45 seconds of one step send on your left with cookies only might be a snooze fest LOL! So doing cookie toss then toy will help. It is also possible you were working to her harder side – is she a righty or a lefty? I can’t remember LOL I think switching sides more frequently will totally help too!
She wasn’t turning because your were pretty stationary and not moving away. So, send and as she is heading to jump 2, you can move to jump 3 and reward on the line to 3. That will help her understand that this send predicts a turn, so she will set herself up to turn.
I think this was overall a pretty decent session, so try adding the toy in a bit and moving away after the send more and switching sides more – and see how she does! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
I think the first run, best run is great for us who might like to ‘too much trainer and not enough competitor’ as you mentioned: it will actually require us to “up” our training game and be better prepared, which checks the boxes for being a trainer AND competitor 🙂
The first sequence looks great. Placing the toy on the middle rep helped – it is hard to go into extension into a wall. Your connection, timing of verbals, and motion all looked great!
Loved the 2nd sequence! Timing of the verbal ‘right’ cue on the tunnel was terrific both times. On the 2nd time, you kept moving and he was perfect: got the turn AND allowed you to layer the line, which will be very useful! Nice!
Sequence 3: You were more “chill” on the release for the opening line here, so he was more chill which translates to looking at you more and more strides. You were quieter with the release and tunnel verbal, so you can keep the energy higher and give a louder verbal to maintain the speed up the line on that first rep. For example, look at how fast he is on the ending go go go line with the energy and acceleration 🙂 Wheeeee!
On both reps here, you were beautifully connected on that center pinwheel, you moved with him, and he read it well. So an extra challenge: don’t go into the pinwheel with him, sending him to it instead 🙂 So, you can go a little deeper to the #3 tunnel and when he is approaching 4 – decelerate and send him past you to 5, so you can take off and support 6-7 from a distance to get way ahead. You can even try for a BC at the exit of the 7 tunnel! He will like chasing your line like that, and with his speed, any opportunity to get miles ahead is helpful.Great job on these! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! He is looking really good! The lazy game totally helps 🙂 And I agree – his need for the earlier cues in the WOO makes me believe that he is feeling a lot more confident 🙂
One thing about bloopers: as we work to put together the big pieces of coursework, if something goes wrong, don’t fix it: either keep going to the next line, or reward and start over. I think when you stop and bring him back to fix a piece (like a missed jump), it just interrupts the flow and gets you out of position for the next thing, which could mean more bloopers.
A couple of ideas for you:
Run 1 –>> well. He is still wide out of the tunnel which makes getting the jumps or turns after difficult. >>
He is very forward coming out of tunnels (which is good!) and your tunnel exit fo 2 here doesn’t exactly point straight to 3… use your left verbal for 3 but use it a lot sooner. You said it as he was exiting at :02 so he went past 3. Ideally, you are saying your left cue before he even enters the tunnel (6 feet before he enters it) and he will hear it and see you turning. At :04 is a moment where you can keep going rather than reset him to jump 4.
The left verbal will also get a good turn on the exit of 7 at :14!Run 2 – your left was earlier on the tunnel #2 and he was better with his turn! It can be even earlier, starting as he is about 6 feet before the tunnel entry.
Looking at the wrap:
As you deliver digdigdig at :16 and :31 for the wrap at 9, make a really strong connection to his eyes with your arm back. You were looking forward and ahead of him to the jump so he read it as a blind cross and ended up on the other side of you. Your connection was better at :41, he could see your face more, so he correctly got the wrap. Super! I think a more ramped up and direct eye contact will really help there: by looking very directly at his eyes (with your arm back), he will see where your shoulders and chest are pointing, and have no questions about the line.
>> My plan was to set up the jumpers course for next week. do you think I should hold off on it?
You can totally move to the jumping courses! Remember the early tunnel exit timing, and the direct eye contact to set up the turns 🙂 Have fun! Great job here!
Tracy
Hi! Great to see you here!
>> fun. My goal for camp is for him to have fun and for me to get some handling feedback. I am hoping that agility fun will translate to agility focus, but if not, that’s okay, too.
I think fun will translate to agility focus, because of all the happy feelings associated with the fun 🙂
>>I am doing some of the pattern games with him still, but also not putting a boatload of structure on him. I am trying to read what he needs and respond accordingly.>>
Perfect! The most happy-making thing for dogs is to understand how to earn reinforcement and how to feel good in any situation, so reading his needs and helping him will make a big difference.
>>As for his agility, I wasn’t repeating sequences unless there was a handling error or something I wanted to improve. We definitely did the Hamilton “walk more, run less” version of agility tonight. It kept him fresh and enthusiastic.>>
Yes! I see no need to repeat things if you and he got it right.
>>Looking ahead to the jumping courses, there is some wicked hard stuff in there. I can only set full courses up at Bad Ass, but I may set up smaller portions of them in my tiny yard and post that first, if that’s okay.>>
Yes! You can totally pull out the interesting looking pieces and work those rather than the full course.
Sequence 1: he did really well with Clover cheerleading nearby!! Good boy!!!
1-2-3 was great! He had a question about driving forward to the last jump after the tunnel, so you can help him by either throwing a toy or lotus ball as soon as he looks at the jump after the tunnel, or planting it there so he can drive to it without it being thrown.Seq 2: excellent job with the swing cue! When you say it and leave (that was great timing and connection), give him a few more verbal ‘pings’ (like a name call or say swing 2 or 3 more times), so he can located you faster when he exits the tunnel. He turned perfectly but then was like “where did she go?” So hesitated a bit there.
I liked how you went back to sequence 1 after you did seq 2 here, it is great dog training to keep him balanced (and throw the reward sooner for the go to the last jump, so he doesn’t veer towards you at all).
Sequence 3 went well! With you closer to the tunnel exit after the swing, he had no questions.
At :44, your shoulder was turned forward which broke connection as you turned, so he didn’t take 5. That is exactly what happened with my demo dog, Elektra! You were right to keep going, it was a handling blooper so continuing was correct so he wouldn’t think about it as his fault. Compare your upper body position there to when you did it again at 1:26, where you had your arm back more and more connection, and he was perfect. YAY!He had a little visit at :58, not sure if he had done enough repetition or there was a really good distraction? Either way, good boy, came right back. Training with another dog around is really important, so he is overall doing really well. And when you re-started at 1:21, you used a short lead out and that really made his line look GREAT!
Seq 4:
He is getting really independent on his verbals! At 1:37 on 1-2, he wasn’t really lined up straight to the tunnel and you cued and ran away: and Super Poodle went and got the tunnel. YES! Good boy! Same at 1:57 on run 2 and 2:39 on run 3 – good boy!You said go go go go for the tunnel, and looking at how it is set up: he was correct at 1:41. The tunnel was not facing the 3 jump, so he ran the straight line exit correctly. Again, it was smart to just keep going. It woul be fair to give him a left verbal which is what you did on the 2nd rep and he was lovely.
When he was approaching 5 at 1:47, you were turning away too early, so he came off the tunnel entry you wanted. You have a longer WOO there to cue and leave 🙂 Watching his head, you will want to keep moving forward and saying GO TUNNEL til he lands from 6 and is looking at/heading towards the 7 tunnel, then you can leave for 8-9. Same thing happened at 2:07- then he checked out and visited. I don’t think it was a distraction issue, more of a “calling an Uber” issue because he had failed twice. So if he fails once, you can over-exaggerate the next rep to help him out. You made sure he got it at 2:49 and that was great! And you still had plenty of time for the wrap cues – you started the verbal and decel right on time, but you can trust his commitment more and rotate sooner (you were facing forward when he jumped when ideally you should be rotated and gone): he committed and turned brilliantly there!
Great job 🤩 Let me know what you think!
TracyYes! Keep trusting her, and using your distance skills. Repeating the important cues will really help (like turn cues, or Go cues for when she is way ahead). I think she is doing really well!
T
Hi! This is looking great!
>> Maisy is fast, lol, I am sure you hear that a lot. I am often not where I need to be in time…>>
Yes, I hear that a lot, but also – she is FAST!
You don’t need to try to get to positions on course – the goal is going to be to be able to give her info from *anywhere*, no matter where you are: she will get the info when she needs it 🙂
Seq 1 – even though this was a super easy one for her, it is great for practicing timing and connection. You nailed it, both times! Yay!
Seq 2 is actually hard for a very fast & confident dog like Maisy, because we need to make sure she turns on the tunnel exit. And you got it ! Super! She seemed to know exactly where to go on the tunnel exit. The bar came down at 4 because you stopped so she stopped, then you dropped the toy.
On the 2rd rep, you started the right verbal really early (:25) so she actually did not take the tunnel, and turned right on the jump. This was VERY cool to see, and will help with the timing when we do NOT want the tunnel on other courses. You did say tunnel, I think, but it was really a quiet cue right at jump 1. So you fixed that on the other reps, by saying it a few more times and you don’t need to say your right verbal til she has landed from 2 and is looking at the tunnel. You were perfect at :33! And again at :42 – lovely!
So definitely move on to sequences 3 and 4, she looks great. The other thing you can do on these 2 sequences is add more speed: maybe start her from a wing wrap 5 meters away from jump 1, so you are both running faster into the sequence.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! Yes, it is totally good to give Keltie a turn here 🙂 And overall, it was a very successful session for her! Your connection was great throughout, well done with such an important element of handling!!!
>> think I am seeing a trend in that I often find myself moving faster than I think on the first run. >>
I think that for most of it, you were NOT too fast or too far ahead- and she likes it when you are ahead and running! On runs 3 and 4 when you didn’t run as fast, she decelerated too so was not as fast. So feel free to run fast fast fast as you maintain this connection. We can time a couple of spots differently and that will help with the bars!
She had a little trouble with the bar on jump 4. At :09, you ran forward fast then turned as she was lifting off, so she dropped the bar. On the 2nd run at :30, yo were a shade sooner but not soon enough (bar down). You were a little earlier there at 1:00 and 1:30 for runs 3 and 4, but she had learned the sequence so didn’t touch the bar.
So to be able to run fast AND keep the bar up, it is a timing thing: when she is, at the latest, halfway between jumps 3 and 4, you can call her quietly and start to turn (without breaking connection :)). It will be a matter of keeping your arm back, maintaining connection and turning your feet & shoulders as you continue to move forward towards 4 and 5. That way she should have time to process the cue and made the adjustment before takeoff.
For the wrap at jump 9 – she is doing REALLY well with this, so it is all a matter of decelerating sooner: when you she has is landed from 8, decelerate and send her into the wrap. When she has passed you, turn and go go go! You were good at :40 and 1:12 on the wrap cues but you were GREAT at 1:42!! Look how early you did it, and she nailed it. Super!!!!
I agree with you being happy with her speed and enthusiasm! Your connection and staying in motion really helped this. Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHello!
Well done playing with your sorcery arm 🙂
The first 2 reps were about sorting out shoulders: you turned away too much so he read it as a threadle wrap on the 1st rep, then almost a rear cross on the 2nd rep. More connection to his eyes was needed as you used the arm, and that is what you gave him on rep 3, very nice! Positional, you were a little far from jump 5 so he didn’t take it, but you fixed that on rep 4 with the good brake arm and the connection/jump verbal for 5. Yay!!!This will be a good tool in your toolbox to help get collection after extension lines!
If you try this again, everything looked strong,, my only suggestion is to start the decel for the wrap even sooner, so you are already decelerated and cueing the wrap when he lands from 8, rather than right after he lands. I think we can get more collection on takeoff of 9!
Great job 🙂
TracyGood morning! Hopefully you get a break from the heat this weekend!
On the blooper runs – I notice he looks away as you lead out, and I remember him doing that on your sequence 1 runs too. Is that something you see from him normally? If so, we can help him look at you as you lead out, because that will get rid of the broken stay blooper (and I think he took off after that because he realized there was an error).
The successful run looked really good!! The timing of your physical cues were all strong. Because he is so fast, you probably don’t need to have your dog-side arm out as you run – to slows you down and isn’t something he needs. Instead, you can have the dog side arm down and pointing back to him (rather than to the side and pointing to the jumps) because the arm back will maintain as you run (which helps him see the line better) and makes us all faster runners. :))
The verbal cues sounded go – the only thing I suggest doing earlier is calling him on the tunnel exit. You can start to call him right before he goes in, then again when he is in it, so he knows exactly where to turn to on the exit.Great job here! Onwards to sequence 3 and 4 🙂
TracyGood morning!
This looks (and sounds:)) great! I think your timing was spot in throughout – you might have been a little earlier on the right turns than on the left turns but both were good. And her commitment looks good too! Her only question was at :59, where you turned your shoulders too abruptly at the tunnel so she was not sure if she should go in it.
So now… repeat this game at a run 🙂 can you be on time while running to? And you can add the other sequences too 🙂
Great job!
Tracy
