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Hi!
She did great here too – she was easily able to line herself up from the crazy angles, even as you faded the board. Super!!!! You can add more tip to the board if you like – that will challenge her balancing lining up for the board because it will be harder with more movement 🙂 But I think she will still be fine, she looks really confident!!This game is something to revisit here and there, as the board gets more and more drop to it, to keep reminding her to line up and use her hind end.
Nice work!
TracyHi! She seemed super confident here, the rebound didn’t bother her at all! One little tweak to the mechanics: you don’t need to hold up the board with your foot, you can let her jump on and the board goes to the ground (the bang game) and then slide your foot under the board to move it around. If you have your foot under it when she jumps on, I worry that your foot will get squished 🙂
Getting the other teeter is great!!! The more experience she can have on different teeters, the easier it will be to transfer the skill to trials. I bet she will do fine with the new one – start with some basic bang games and see how she does.
Great job here!
TracyHi!
I don’t want to jinx anything… but he seemed downright happy to be playing on the teeter here! It was a cool session!
>>Show on the road last night… you will notice Iam.not using a toy. In the 5 minutes of play before with toy he was good, but I brought out cheese and he would not play with toy. I decides to.just reward with food this session.>>
I think that was a good choice – adding too much pressure with the toy verbs food could add stress, so just going with what he wanted was fine. That balance of food versus toy is something to work on but separately from the teeter.
>>I was thrown off guard when he did not stop so I did.nothing.>>
Yeah, you looked surprised LOL!!!! I think he actually did an AMAZING teeter there and was sliding into the weight shift, and just lost control of the board a little – you can cheer for him on that, it was a great try. You were kind of like, “let’s do that again”, very chill, was good: he did not get worried at all, he just tried again and did great!
>>At the end you can.see him not doing the bow (weight shift iwant)
Not a big deal at all, I think it was because of where the reward was. He was kinda sorta doing it, not nearly as well as on earlier reps. I think it was because you were moving past the teeter and rewarding after the release, so he was all ready to release 🙂 So mix in more reinforcement in position and then reward on the release, and you will see the weight shift come back.
The most important part was that he was happy, did a bunch of reps, and was highly successful!! YAY!!!
What is next on your training schedule in terms of new locations or trials? He is doing well!
Tracy
Hi!
>> think I just threw up in my mouth a little when I read this. 🤣
Ha! A little puke is good for the soul LOL
>>He is in a handling class but we don’t use the teeter. But I can come in early and add in the teeter.>>
Perfect!
>>I have a couple places I could rent and do the teeter, Lynn’s and Paige’s but that involves finding the time to drive there. I’ll work on making that a priority.>>
Any local friends with a teeter in their yard?
TGood morning!
First up, the backsides – nice! She is great about staying on the parallel line to the backside. That is such a useful skill especially with NADAC in her future (not because of backsides, but because of all the distance challenges!)
On the first video, I think that little bit more connection on rep 2 helped her drive nice and tight to the backside. When you were not as connected, she had questions: you were less connected on rep 1 and she looked up at you with a question. And at :39 you were nlooking forward so she drifted wide. So that little bit of eye contact is all she needs for a great line.
The handling challenges all looked super too. She did a great job with the countermotion/serp exit – you helped her take the jump a tiny bit by swinging your arm back, which provided a nice support of connection too! My only suggestion there is to remember to throw the toy behind you to the landing spot, to keep the value really high for taking the jump as you run forward (the faster you go, the more she might want to chase you). The front and blinds on the landing side to the tunnel all looked good! Really lovely!On the circle wraps on the 2nd video – she seems to have good understanding of what to do but we can tighten her line getting there. She was going really wide on the way from the wing and that also bubbled over to the slice backsides. One thing will be more connection – when you look forward and not at her, she drifts wide to get a better view of what you were looking at. Looking at her more will tighten that up for sure. And calling her name coming around the wing (before the backside verbal) will help too). Adding more motion *might* help but with BCs, sometimes more motion gets more drifting.
Speaking of verbals: she is doing really well with her verbals, so I also recommend 2 different verbals for the backsides: one for the wrap, and one for the slice. The wrap versus slice are significantly different jumping effort, so the different verbals will really help her plan in advance 🙂After the serp, she had a little trouble knowing where to be. For example, at :23 I think you wanted her to go forward but you were pointing forward & looking forward, which didn’t show the line so she thought you wanted the tunnel or wanted her to come to the toy, Towards the end of the video: at :56 and 1:03 you were looking forward too, so she didn’t know where to be and read it as a blind cross (correctly, that is what the blind looks like). You fixed it by emphasizing connection and it was so much better at 1:11! YAY! So keep emphasizing that connection – connection and motion are the two most important things to the dog for knowing which line to be on.
One more thing to think about – be sure to reward a to and with a lot of engagement. On some reps you totally did this, and she was very engaged! On some reps, you were probably planning the next rep or something and either didn’t really engage or didn’t reward at all. For example – At :28 – :32, the rep looked totally correct and there was praise but no reward. That can add some stress because it is not clear to the dog what was correct or not. So play heartily as you plan you next rep 🙂
The lateral lead outs looked great! She held her stay really nicely and found the jump really easily – exactly what we want 🙂 And, check out how nice her turn was on that jump as she read your position. Yay!!! Remember to be consistent on the releases – I think some of the reps had the release, some had a directional, and some she released on arm motion. Releasing on the directional is fine especially when you are miles away and if she is looking at you – and try to reward her for NOT releasing on the arm motion 🙂
Great job here!!!! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
Thanks for the video! I think the reps you left in looked really good – have you had a chance to go back to work the angles where he had errors?
In thinking about the setup, I would like to tighten the poles up even more and think it is important to keep the same setup while that variable changes. So yes, let’s leave the MM there for now, maybe a little further away. And you can move the wings further down the poles so you can send him around them and add harder entries (he will recognize the setup which will set him up for success). For the next session, try it with a lot more movement (run run run!) and when that goes well: you can tighten then poles more 🙂 At this stage, you might find it easiest if you line them up straight, then angle them open by maybe 3 inches (so they are a little tighter then they are here). See how that goes, starting with easier angles and gentle motion, then adding back more motion and angles if he is doing well.
If the environment is really challenging, you can keep the poles a little more open – try to run out and train a bit when the environment is challenging because I think it is a great opportunity to get into a trial-like state without having to go to a trial 🙂Nice work here! Let me know how if goes!
TracyThank you for the update!! I am glad she came through it really well. I’m betting she will be back to herself today 🙂 Keep me posted!
Tracy
Hi!
>>What do you think of the 8″ jump height for Robbie for this exercise?
I think he looked good! 8″ is the right height for this.
>>Looked like Vanessa and Ruby did this drill with speed and impulsion…
You’re comparing apples to oranges here! Those two are small females, he is a large male. There is going to be a dramatic difference in maturity and approach to the games. Those two girls have to other challenges that he does not have 🙂 So, no more comparing: you will end up putting pressure on in ways that won’t help him 🙂
>>I thought he looked more rounded the first 2 jumps when he was faster and only raised head at the 3rd but I will watch again.>>
He was placing his feet in different places on those (closer to the bar) so I thought he was more balanced when he was able to place his feet in the center of the gaps.
>>he’s just not that frisky or animated. He is a thinker…and a latent learner for sure. Amazes me sometimes when I try something a few days later after an intro and he nails it and is ready to go on. >>
Latent learning is an amazing thing!
>>Just was wanting a bit more gitty up by now. Hoping I can bring more of that out of him.>>
You can bring it out with a lot of super fun, high rate of success games where he gets to run and learn with no pressure.
>>In between all this technical stuff I do short sequences (from Trkman or others from past classes etc) with lots of tunnels/jumps fast stuff which he loves and does turn on some jets. Same at some live seminars we’ve been to.
And always lots of chase games in various locations. So. Much. Work. When they are thinkers vs doers.>>Trust me when I say that doers have lots of other challenge – such as getting them to think when they are hyper aroused in a trial setting. He is about a year old – that is really immature for big male dogs, so take your time! Let him percolate like a fine cup of coffee 🙂 And don’t measure his skills against the skills of others – each dog brings different things to the table, especially at this age 🙂
And be sure to do the wing games too – that will get you hustling, they are MUCH harder than they look for the handler and wicked fast for the dogs.
T
Hi!
>>One thing I noticed in this week’s backside exercises is that you appear to use your off side arm to “push” the dog out to the backside. It reminds me of your “out” command exercise.>>
Good eye! I was using a bit of an outside arm to help the dog because he wanted to curl in off his line, so I was changing his lead to get him back onto the backside line.
>> I recall from previous backside exercises that the dog side arm stays back to keep your chest from pointing towards the bar. This made great sense to me. But I can’t recall you talking much about the off side arm coming across your body as a push. I may have just missed that part. I am happy to give it a try, I just want to make sure I am viewing and understanding this correctly before doing more backside exercises.>>
I didn’t talk about it because I think this generation of dog probably won’t need it – they will learn to stay on that parallel path. I used it with my youngster because at the time of filming, he was strongly left-handed (left- pawed? LOL!) so the setup made him really want to turn a little too tight. He balanced out right after that and doesn’t meed the outside arm. We use it a bit to help the dog, but try it without first to see if you can get it done with out the extra help. If your pup needs it… you can totally add it by pointing that outside arm out ahead, to the entry wing, while being connected to the pup’s eyes 🙂
Let me know if that makes sense!
TracyHey there! Good to see you here!
The backsides are all about teaching the dogs to stay on a parallel path to you and NOT look at the distraction of the bar. The connection helps but I also think you can add more motion – if you move faster, he is likely to move up the line faster too, which will put him on the backside more easily.
The bar is a pretty massive distraction, so you can isolate the skill to a wing as you move further over, laterally. That will keep your feet moving forward too – when he got it nicely at :15 and :47, for example, you were moving forward more and your feet were forward.
When he didn’t get it like at :18 and :36, for example, you were not moving as much and the upper body was causing your feet to rotate – so he came in and took the front of the jump.So make the motion and line and feet pointing forward more important that the upper body. For the upper body, yes to the dog-side arm back and connection, but don’t do it sooooo much that it causes you to slow down or turn your feet.
The countermotion reps at the end looked great! Easy peasy! Next time, release later: you were releasing while you were still on the landing side here. So you can keep walking, get to the takeoff side, pass his position: then release and indicate behind you to take the jump 🙂
>>do we have a couple of weeks yet to go?>>
Yes, we have until the last day of May 🙂
Nice work here! Let me know if the backside ideas make sense 🙂
Tracy
Yay! This is all looking really good! He was a little more chill here than the sliding seesaw 🙂 he likes wild times better hahaha! Is he in a handling class? I think this needs to go into sequences, first in the form of the crazy elevator game and then adding in more and more full teeters. He is ready for more grown up stuff 🙂 Keep that value super high and you can keep showing it to him in different scenarios. Are there any other teeters you can visit?
Great job!
TracyOh yay! 12 poles! And a little bit of squeaking as he weaves too LOL!
I think the home session was really strong – warm up then gradually putting the poles together so he was super successful. Try to mimic that at LU so he is successful there too on those first reps – you can pull the 2 bases apart and then pull them back together to be able to do that. He did really well when you broke it down for him so he could recognize them.I definitely think doing the 6 poles in sequence is next on tap! He looks great!!!!
Tracy
Good morning! I am glad to see in you in action: how is your foot feeling??
>>She’s focusing on me a lot. (Maybe just because it is taking me awhile with my crutch and getting into position) >>
It could be a number of things – part of it is you are DA MOMMA 🙂 and also part of it might be that she is emotionally connected to you, things have been different recently because you are not moving as much as normal, and the crutch is a weird/different thing on the agility course 🙂
I think it is a great way to introduce her to weird things she might see, like ring crew or a judge, etc. She was DEFINITELY more focused on you but she worked it through. Good girl 🙂
>>And I am giving her her release word “break”. Should I be saying “Break-jump”? Or something?
I think there are a couple of things that will help here –
the main thing is to set her up a little further from the jump and try to convince her to keep her feet straight to face it (my dogs all wanted to turn to face me so I ended up sitting them facing slightly away LOL!!!)And your position was good, but you can change where you send to: on these reps, you were indicating the jump and the land spot. Switch that to stepping and pointing to the takeoff spot, 3 or 4 feet in front of the jump. That will open up the line of your shoulders and she will see more of the line to the jump. So you will be even more angled in the lead out: with her on your left side here, your right hip will be next to the jump and left arm pointed more back to her – and then as you release, the cue will be more like tossing a toy to land on the takeoff side of the jump (an invisible toy haha!)
And yes, you can get closer to the send jump if she has questions.You can say your release and then your jump cue or a right directional here.
She did REALLY well when you were on the other side of the wing, I think she found that position easier!
>> I suppose the more you do this, the better they understand it.
Yes, totally! She thought it was weird at first but then she was figuring it out 🙂 It is the kind of thing we will need with her speed, so keep playing with it til she is very happy. The other thing you can do to get the ball rolling is to place an empty food bowl or a toy out on the line, on the landing side of the jump, and send her to it, tossing the cookie into the food bowl if that is what you use (it will be kind of like way back in the first puppy class when we sent them to the prop :)) That can help give her a lightbulb moment so she stops looking at you 🙂
Great job here!! I bet you can also do the 3 jump accordion grid because you only need to walk to the reward target then stand still 🙂
Have fun!
TracyGood morning!
Wow, it got really hot, really fast out there! Eek! Setting it up the shade was a smart move!He did well here 🙂 The most important thing to remember is that it is a form exercise and not a speed exercise 🙂 The balance, coordination and power we elicit here will transfer beautifully to jumps when he is adult and that in turn transfers to a ton of speed.
When you asked for form: set him up, led out, released and let him do his thing, thinking about his form – he was lovely! Centered in the 5 foot distance, balanced, coordinated. Those reps were strong. He had 2 questions on the first bar – at :15, he hit is with his front feet lifting off, so he was probably a bit too close to jump 1. Moving him back a couple of inches will help that. At :20, he hit the bar with his back feet – that was a form error where he didn’t push off as well, but he fixed it after that.
I think the 5 foot distance was better than the 4 foot distance – the only adjust I would make to the 5 foot distance is to move the MM another 6 or 8 feet further away from where it was there, so he can stretch to it (food tends to collect the dogs more than a toy). On the 4 foot distance, it was a little compressed and served more as an extended cavaletti. So I would keep 5 feet as the distance with the goal of getting it up to 6 feet with him still being balanced and hitting in the center of each gap.Comparing the stationary reps to the reps where you were moving or letting him run through it – the stationary reps were much better in terms of form. When you were moving or letting him run, he lost his form and was ‘short’ (especially on the running). What I mean by that was he had his head up and his front feet were landing closer to the bar and less in the center of the gap. That generally means he is pulling from the front and not pushing from the rear. Since we don’t want that rehearsal, keep this a very form-centered exercise, no need to push for speed 🙂 And also keep an eye on the # of reps – this was 11 reps, which is the total I would suggest for 2 sessions spread out over a couple of days. I prefer to work the concept on 4 or 5 reps, get the rehearsal… then let the dog’s brain rewire to it and come back in a couple of days. That way you get more of the good form without risk of fatigue and ending a session on form you don’t want rehearsed.
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning! Great job raising the excitement level here, he was definitely wilder and that was good!!!
I think we can approach the next steps in 2 ways, with the main goal being to raise the rate of success – he was at about 60% overall but that was because of the misses when he started on your right side. Those were all arousal based – it is much harder to make that collection when he is really stimulated, but adding the stimulation is going to be super helpful in the long run.
So when he is starting on your left, where is he currently at 100% – keep the arousal high and add in more angles. I think the poles can stay at 1.5″ for those, no problem. And with the high arousal and poles at 1.5″ starting on your right, where he has more trouble:
>I wonder if actually keeping the same level of excitement and staying at 1.5″, but sending from a more 1 or 2 o’clock angle>.
Yes – start at 12 and work very gradually over to 1 and 2, moving over by an inch or two each time so he gets to rehearse the collection with a lot of success.
Separately, we can talk to him about the harder entries in high arousal, at the 3 and 4 o’clock side of the clock:
in a separate session (because it is a pain to change the width of the poles LOL!) so high arousal sessions with the poles much more open (2 or 3 inches, wherever he has success) with you running and him very excited 🙂You can also talk to him about that entry collection by whipping out a base of 2 poles, putting them straight, getting him completely nuts: then working the hard angles on just the 2 poles that are straight. That can really isolate the collection and also make it easier because it is the only thing out there 🙂 A session or two like that can help him get the weight shift and then you can go back to the full set of channels with all the speed and arousal.
Let me know if that makes sense! Nice work here!
Tracy
