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Hi! I love that you are posting!! Hopefully it is easier to not have to edit, and just slap the whole video online 🙂
The barn videos are looking really good!!! That nose bop bounce looks great, SO FUN! I like how you are starting with a bit of pattern games then into the bop bouncing 🙂 She did super well ignoring the toy station and her agility looks marvelous. 2 suggestions for the next barn time especially with Aunt Shelly 🙂
You can do flyball-style recalls (but using agility scenarios :)) past the people waiting area (that people waiting area is a true kryptonite for her!) – send her into the tunnel in this scenario then run and let her chase you past the crowd, then eventually through the crowd with the toy obvious at first, then hidden later on 🙂 I think directly tackling that Kryptonite is something she is ready for.
Also – tjhe sniffing is greatly reduced and her pattern games look good here and in the Find My Face game, so we can up the ante: will she eat a cookie out of the dirt? I think tossing the cookie into the dirt for the pattern game can help her lift her nose from the scent on the ground in this situations, which is a good skill to have!
Find My Face – very nice start with the pattern game and pivots! She did really well!
When you added the jumps, she also did well – at 1:44 and after it, she was correct to not take the jumps because you had stopped moving and you turned. She did well finding you! If you want her to take jumps in the next ssssion, keep moving past them (but not a big deal if she doesn’t take them because there is no real cue for them – we are trying to teach her to save yer butt haha)>>. I did notice a bit of angry Smurf when I added jumps
The barking was an indication of frustration, so reward sooner – the instant she makes the decision to stay engaged and even kinda sorta finds your face? Reward for now 🙂 Don’t do another pivot away at this stage 🙂
Remote reinforcement videos:
>>I do think the picture of leaving stash on leash without visible toy has some negative feelings and/or just some stuff I don’t want built in.
Yes, it might have some icky emotions paired with it so you can totally keep the sessions where she has to leave the stash SUPER rewarding and short in distance and duration. Your plan on lots of rewards for tiny pieces is great. Remind me – will she tug on a leash? Or, a leash that she thinks is a toy? Yes, she would still have to learn to ignore it but it is a good bridge to get from outside the ring to the start line.
I would take 2 separate approaches for this:
– there is a lot of physical and mental energy that goes into this game, so do one rep of it (leaving the stash, doing the tricks, running back to it) and then give her a break. You can work with the puppy in between 🙂 Then Lanna can do another rep. The rest in between will help solidfy the behavior and keep it strong for the whole session. On the first video, you lost her at about the 3 minute mark because she was a little mentally tired at that point. On the 2nd video, I would have stopped after 1:03 ish where she got her reward, then give her a break 🙂 That also helps her rehearse it as one complete sequence of events, with a finish to it.
– The backing-up-nose-bop looked great! She seems to really love it! Use it as part of this, but also work on moving away from the stash with just moving, no high energy tricks, just walking to a start line. Start with just one or two steps of just moving, then you can gradually extend the duration. The reason for this is that you can move from the rin entry to the line without relying on the tricks the whole way, saving the tricks for when you arrive at the line – it will be a nice balance for her!
I noticed at the end of the 2nd video here was the cartoony lead out… she seemed to really like it! YAY!!!! It will either help get her attention if there are distractions – or if she turns out to be more of an ‘all business’ girl, the cartoon games are great to raising her level of stimulation to ‘proof’ focus.
>>Her kryptonite (if I ever get to that part of the homework) is really fast dog running and barking so I can’t walk her in off leash (at least currently).>>
You can control the environment by having a gate between her and the running dog – and she can be dragging the leash, etc, but no access to chase the dog. Also, pattern games are probably the best first step when you tackle that Kryptonite. And I have personally found flyball classes and practices to be PERFECT for this 🙂 I really wish this country was smaller, it would be SO FUN to be close enough to do agiltiy and flyball together!!!
>.Monica Bush seminar Friday and WAG UKI Sun.>>
Fabulous! I hear lovely things about Monica’s seminars. And UKI allows for a zillion NFC opportunities! You can start with level 1 (just like home) and see how level 2 goes (empty hands) and then if that goes well and there are easy runs – a level 3 in and out!
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
I agree, this went well! And I didn’t see much difference between the runs where the toys were obvious, versus the runs where it looked more “for real”. Excellent!Looking at the videos: I also agree that carrying in her in is helpful – you can also work on putting her down and letting her offer engagement, and then asking for some tricks, especially for when there are distractions.
1st run – very nice! Yes to the little glance at the ring crew on the way to the teeter, I can see it too but she was otherwise fully engaged and did a great job!
2nd run – a handling idea to help her see all the jumps on her line: when you are ahead here at :17 (and on the previous video after the first tunnel) – keep your arm back for more connection (so you can see her eyes and she can see your eyes a bit) to help support her line. When your arm was high and parallel to your shoulders like it was there, it changes the line of your shoulders, breaking connection and pulled her off the jump.
In this run, with DP in your pocket, you can whip it out at the end to reward in the ring before she jumps in your arms.
3rd run –
>>. Going to the line and popping off Posh’s leash, I noticed Posh kept turning to look at Sharon.There was also some type of alarm barking happening that I am sure she heard, which could have been distracting. I don’t think it was Posh barking, right?
If you see her being caught by a distraction, take an extra moment to keep her leash on, ask for a trick or two, get her engagement – then pick her up and restart the sequence that brings you to the line and into the run. It only takes a few seconds but can make a big difference!
>> I don’t believe Posh as ever seen someone Sign, let alone the leash runner. But it went well, even with NO treats or a toy. >>
Excellent! I score it a win in a new situation!
last run – yes, she was looking at the judge at first but the funky dance really changed things!
>>But I decided give it a go, whisper singing early and funky dance. It kept her attention on me and it worked. Go figure?
Oh yeah! Totally worked! FUN!!!!! And she looked solid in the stay too, then focused on the run. SUPER!!!!
Great job here! I agree, she is making real progress and also you are using the tools that help her. SO FUN!!!!
Tracy
Good morning!
Lots of fun stuff here!!!
>> Since he’s trialing this weekend, I always like to practice line ups at RR (always- this will be our third AKC trial 🤣)>>
Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse! That is always a good thing 🙂
>>So I may have found a small gap in our training here. I’m not sure heeling has context when the leash came off and he was released. He kept offering a down… like why would we do anything but agility, frizz, swim, or lie down?>>
Totally see that! He was recognizing the context differently when there was no food involved – on leash, heeling. Off leash – other tricks and down. Thanks for the info, Fever! So, two tracks for this:
– for now, use the heeling on leash as part of any on-leash portions of pre-run prep (outside the ring in the final moments, as you get him to the line and lined up). Be sure he is cool with it without food in view.
– start to play it with cookies in your hand and off leash. Start a few sessions in a very easy environment to be sure he can do it, before you add it to any challenging environments.>>>I’m happy with what he’s offering but need to brush up on the heeling. You mentioned doing the heeling with RR games but I feel like I missed a step. Was the release too much?>>
I think he is letting you know the context in which he understands the heeling – on leash, and possibly with visible rewards (or rewards in pockets). So split that as you make sure you’ve covered all your bases: RR with heeling on leash, cookies in pockets but the marker to go back to the reward station.
If that goes well for a session? Go to RR with heeling on leash, nothing in pockets.Then eventually, start it on leash then add in the off leash and see how he does (this will be after the off leash practice, separately, with visible and available reinforcement.
He totally loved that leash! If shoving the leash in a pocket during a run is a ‘thing’ now in AKC, be sure to practice that too 🙂 And be sure to mix it in as the reinforcement rather than use it as sole reinforcement. The leash might end up being a bridge – a lower value reinforcement in the ring that indicates exiting to the higher value reinforcement. So you can practice that too – mouth on leash then run to bumper.
And, for the lead outs – definitely silly and fun! And very frolicky 🙂 The only thing to add is more eye contact and connection so he sees your eyes, and so you see what he is doing. It looks like you were looking ahead the whole time but it is hard to see clearly on the video. Adding in the eye contact will let you know when he is ready to go, based on the closed mouth, tighter muscles, etc. And you can play with seeing if the bigger movements are more interesting to him, versus smaller, tighter movements like creeping away, which can also work really well. He will let us know.
Great job! Let me kno what you think!
TracyHi!
>>What do I do if the pairing doesn’t work? If I toss her the ball and she ignores it because of how she feels? It has been known to happen when her tank is on the empty side at a show. Have I created a new issue if this happens?>>
The good news/bad news is that it seems that positive pairings take longer and almost never happen immediately. So one time of throwing a ball and she thinks it is ‘meh’? No new issue created. (The bad news is it takes a lot of reps to get the positive conditioned response – while if something bad happened, it could take one rep to get the negative conditioned response. Sigh.)
>> Some of what I see doesn’t make sense to me, even from the scientific/behavioral stand point, but it does in her little brittany, so I am just trying to help her.
The stuff that doesn’t make sense is the stuff we can’t see or measure – like why the serotonin/dopamine/cortisol balance is not the way it ‘should’ be. That is probably the underlying reason why some of the operant conditioning stuff that should work, just doesn’t seem to work. Neuroscientists are actually working on all of this for the dogs, so hopefully more answers will be available soon. And when she was a youngster, I think we didn’t take any of this into account, bu we are all evolving 🙂
>> So thankful that you are taking the journey with me. 🙂
I am grateful you joined! It has been great watching you train and geeking out on the training with you – and amazing to see her progress!
Tracy
Hi!
It is great to be ouside!>>She was AMAZE BALLS! We did the course you put in the notes in both directions.>>
Totally agree, she looked great. Happy dance!!!
The baby level looked lovely. Wing-to-tunnel was easy for her. My only suggestions are to give her a little more direct connection on the tunnel exits (like you did in the advanced level), and to use your ‘tug it’ marker when you wanted her to get the toy – you used her name sometimes, a get it sometimes, and tug it sometimes so she wasn’t driving to you entirely there.
And the more you do this, the more youwill be comfortable staying in motion – a couple of spots got a little off kilter (1:03 and 1:27) because you were watching her too long so she didn’t know where to go. Trust her, connect, and run for your life LOL!
Advanced Game – really good connection! Any suggestions I had about connection in the baby level got sorted out in the advanced game here.
>>You will notice I don’t use words on one wing – still not sure what command (if any really) that turn needs to be. I think it might not need to be anything.>>
Do you mean the wing before the tunnel? It migh tend up being a soft turn cue – envision a bar there and see what works best – I would use a left or right for my big dogs (and maybe just a genreal jump verbal or nothing for the littles who don’t need to collect on a bar in that scenario).
>> I am way too slow on the last wrap to the other tunnel entrance, she either cuts behind me or at least looks at doing that.
You are not too slow… just a little late 🙂 There is a difference!
You needed to start the spin sooner so you are done sooner for the connection – at :34, for example, you started when she arrived at the wing so you didn’t get connection and then at :35 you said go tunnel… so sh ewent to the tunnel she was looking at – good girl! She was correct, that is exactly what ‘go tunnel’ means 🙂Note the difference a :47 – you started so much earlier, as she was passing you but still a stride or two from the wing – so when she exited the wing at :48 you already had your eyes on her on the new side. Perfect! It was great!
>>I am in big trouble as usual – LOL!
You are in GOOD trouble! She is going to be FUN FUN FUN and we also have 10,000 verbals now in her foundation, so you will always have a ‘tool’ to cue her on course 🙂
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! Monday night class night! Yay!
>>I will see how it goes in class tonight. Last week I ended last run with the clam in hand since he was having a harder time.
You can do it if you think he is ready. Maybe first run with the toy in your hand – second run empty hands? Then see how he does and decide what you want to do for his 3rd run. You will still have reinforcement in your pockets, but not in your hand.
>>the Find My Face is next up on the list of games for him and it will be fun to put it in action!
I may need to call it Find My Legs. About half the time he ends up in middle even when my legs are together he shoves his head between them. I did get him to wrap a column and take jump a couple of times.>>OMG that is hilarious but it also can be dangerous for when you truly disconnect on course – he could trip you LOL! You can try to reward before he gets to your feet – it can be more like “Find My Face From A Few Feet Away” lol
>>I tried the cartoon and calm lead outs but couldn’t tell much difference at home. At first he looked at me a little puzzled like what are you doing? I’ve played the crazy lady game which is talking to nobody and using other words before release on proofing boundaries. Three times he did not release during cartoon and once he broke the stay on calm. It will be easier to tell in class as he does not have much patience and will start on his own.>>
Part of the entertaining of the cartoon game is when the dogs look at us like we are nuts LOL!!!! Yes, try them in class and see how it goes!
Have fun! I am excited to hear about how it goes!
TracyHi!
I totally saw it and answered it… in my mind. Oops! Here ya go, sorry for the delay!>>Toy selection has been a challenge for us for sure. I chose the frizz because it was a new location and we’d be there for a bit. That being said, he really likes his bumpers too. I need to try bumper versus frizz on the string.>>
Yes – I think we are at the stage where we narrow the reinforcement choices to things that can be conveniently used on the road and in a trial setting: bumper, friz biting or on a string, food, tug leash, etc.
>> I could tell he wanted to play, because he kept picking the frizz up- idk if it was because there was food too or just because we had been going on for a bit.
I think he wanted the long throws. He loves those – but so hard to use in a trial setting.
>> I did let him take a quick nap between our second to last and last sessions- he was out cold in the car.
Poor tired dude! And there is some science now that says that sleeping is important to learning, so I am glad he had a sleep!
>>Remote reinforcement started off well, he was great on that first rep with the frisbee behind him! And I think the first rep is the most important. Yay! So now add in things like walking with you and tricks with you, rather than wing wraps – think of it as moving from the entry gate to the start line and all you have is yourself
>>Should I start incorporating leash play into this also?
Yes, great idea. You should start rehearsing the scenarios you would use outside the ring – partially, we are developing a routine, but also we are developing tools so you don’t get locked into a routine and can switch gears at any moment. So yes, use the leash play in the remote reinforcement because you will need the leash as part of it and I think he likes it as a reinforcemen too!!
Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>>Our next USDAA will be late June. I will see if Scott Lovelis will let me throw the ball in the ring.Fingers crossed!
>>When to reward will be the trick with her. Thoughts?
Depending on the course, a few obstacles in, with a thrown ball? Then get her back with another thrown ball (bring 2 with you :)) and keep going 🙂
>> I sent you video from the weekend, just because I wanted to share and see if you think she is doing better.
I will go find it! Is it in the email?
>> I don’t want to inadvertently reward the down attitude, but would love to make the experience more rewarding up front for her.>>
I think the appearance of the down attitude is not a choice, but more of a reflexive response to the environment – so we can’t really reward (or punish) a reflex. Think of i tmore as pairing: pairing the environment at the start of the course with the ball, so the environment becomes more exciting because exciting things happen there 🙂 That will change the reflexive response, which will appear outwardly as being more ‘up’.
>> I know you say to slice thin and reward approximation, but I am just not sure what I am rewarding depending on when the ball comes out. 3-5 obstacles and exiting to the reward has not helped in the past, but that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t now.>>
I don’t love exiting to the reward if we can use the reward right in the ring – reward in the ring is best for pairing 🙂 About exactly when? I like to reward the decision to move off the line, so I reward that early and often if the dogs feel a little suppressed on the start line.
>> If I am understanding what you have been teaching us, I think the ring entry/start line has inadvertantly become a stressor for her and I now have her programmed to respond in a negative way both physiologically and behaviorally.>>
Pretty much! I don’t think you have programmed it, necessarily, it is more that it is a reflection of how she feels in certain environments.
>> My previous attempts to change her mental state may have only added stress as they were all about performing tricks.
Right! Because we were asking her to do operant things while we needed to handle the underlying reflexive/Pavlovian responses first. It is dogs like Tango who have taught us this lesson, and that the underlying ‘feeling’ needs to be tackled before we can go for the operant stuff like tricks.
>>The more relaxed offering of behavior mixed with the concentrated but very limited tricks of barking (which she will also offer) and a few spins and hand touches may be helping her because they are helping me relax too. 😉>>
yes – and less pressure too! And the pattern games help a lot because they allow her to assess the environment while also pairing the environment with good things 🙂
Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! I bet things are nuts with the end of the school year! No worries, these videos all look good 🙂
Totally looked like she is taking a nice breath here on the first video! Yay! Have you tried putting this game into any pre-run routines? It definitely calms her 🙂
FMF: I am glad she also loves the GMAB game!
She did well with you walking and disconnecting, no problem at all.>>I’m wondering though how I go to calmly walking to the next level of adding obstacles! As I’m typing this I’m starting to think maybe I added to many obstacles! I think she needs her cake sliced super super thin on this and lots of pieces😂😂. Help lol!! Help me not go from trot to racetrack>>
To get her to take the jumps even if you disconnect, I think you need to be moving more. At 1:32, for example, you were stopped and too far from the jump so it was fine that she didn’t take it. Keep acting lost 🙂 But also keep moving towards an obstacle and reward her for taking it -but bear in mind that it is OK if she doesn’t because we are not actually giving her cues 🙂
>>Judys- she was a rockstar! Her very first seminar, what a girl! It was the perfect length! She did so fabulous! No Issues coming into the environment, which we can sometimes have! She took food no issues and her toy drive was AWESOME!
This is awesome news! She did really well in the new facility, new footing, different people. Be sure to let her get settled into the stay before you lead out – you were kind of doing the lead out and release and stay all at the same time so she had some questions. But everything else looked great – I LOVE that the instructor was emphasizing fast lines and a lot of go go gooooo! Perfect for young dogs!
>> So of course I asked her to sit and she was like”WHAT THE HELL!!! WOMAN THAT IS NOT HOW WE DO THINGS! HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND!!!”>>
Well, Promise is certainly not going to keep her opinions to herself hahahahaha She got you back on the right track LOL!
>>In other news, my training club has lost their field😭. It’s officially shut down now. I am holding my class at my house for my students. For new environments, I’m going to have to beg friends and I may not have the weekly exposure I had before 😞 and that she desperately needs >>
What an absolute bummer 🙁 Maybe you can give yourself a spot in your class? I have done that in the past and my students liked it – they could give me feedback, they could be ring crew, we had many laughs and the puppy got good training 🙂
Great job! When is her next trial or seminar?
Tracy
Hi! She is figuring it out nicely and your cues were mostly correct 🙂 She was definitely figuring out that she needed to listen for the verbals because you might not be sending her straight to the tunnel ahead!
I think was was blowing your brain a little was when to use the tunnel threadle cue versus when to use the regular tunnel cue – that was making you think hard and delaying the other verbals.So when she needs to put herself between you and the tunnel and go to the other side, you can use your tunnel threadle noise. And when she stays on the outside line and goes right into the tunnel, that is your regular tunnel word 🙂 At 1:13 and 1:20, she was between you can the tunnel and did the threadle, so that is where you can use the threadle noise instead of the tunnel word.
>>I could not think what to say when she came out of the tunnel to go to a threadle after a tunnel cue. >>
Do you mean to tell her to go into the tunnel on the threadle cue? the threadle noise is all she needs there (plus motion). Or you mean for the reward? Let me know what you mean and we will sort it out 🙂
Nice work!Tracy
Hi!
I think that most of this is going super well, she was almost 100% in terms of getting to the backside – and that is where the handling and verbal are important. The only front side error was a combo of not enough connection and too much motion away from the backside line. So keep doing what you were doing to get her to the backside.What we need to focus on is what happens after she gets to the backside, in terms of creating the default behavior of taking the jump. She is waiting on a handling cue and looking at your hands and not at the bar – and the reward timing and placement is late (which is why she is waiting and looking at your hands).
That is why her success rate on taking the bar was lower, as compared to finding the right line to the backside.
So two things will help her look at the bar and not at you:
– Angle the backside jump so the exit wing is pulled forward, making the bat visible on her line as she gets to the entry wing.
– Reward sooner and never from your hand – as soon as she is just about arriving to the backside entry wing, drop the reward in near that same wing. The placement exaggerates her turn there, as you will probably be moving across the bar to the exit wing and the placement turns her towards the entry wing a little. But it gets her looking at the bar immediately as she gets around the entry wing and takes her eyes off you.You can keep moving and handling after the toy drops, so she ignores the handling for the heartbeat to find the bar. This includes when you are doing the countermotion exits – you can still be running forward, but she should get the reward on landing side regardless of where you are and not from your hand.
Those little tweaks should solidify her understanding, which makes everything else easier for handling 🙂
Nice work! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! Super nice session here, I think all reps at all distances looked great 🙂 and nice stays too!!
I think eventually he will bounce that 10.5 distance but I liked his choices here, especially the bounce at 7.5 on rep 2 and that he did it again perfectly on rep 4 🙂 Rep 4 is often ugly for dogs but he was lovely!So, keeping 4.5 feet as the compression disgrace between 1 and 2 for now… when you revisit it, the distances for reps 2 and 4 can be 8 feet next time (leaving rep 3 as 10.5 feet). Then if he is happy at 8 feet (bouncing) then rep 3 can go to 12 feet. Then on the next sessions, reps 2 and 4 can go to 9 feet (or 8.5 if he wants to one-stride at 9 feet). And then rep 3 can go to 15 feet, which will eventually end up being a big extended one stride distance.
I’d revisit these once a week, tops, for now. You’ll see things come together more after 18 months, when his chest has dropped and he has muscled up 🙂 so think of these as conceptual but not the finished product 🙂
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
On the lap and tandem turn video:
I have no complaints about your timing or mechanics 🙂 we want to have the dog be very close especially on the lap turns. I think she was just feeling goooood and needed to see that these were collection cues 🙂And I love that you used the front crosses to by yourself time to set up the turn aways. LOL! Brilliant!
Lap turns:
The first part with just one wing was really good in terms of timing, she was figuring out that she had to turn away, so she was not zippy with the turns and was optimistically looking for the cookies 🙂 but she got better and better as the session went along, ending up really nice and tight!One idea to help her set up the tight lap turn – it was hard to see where you were looking but look at your magic cookie hand as you draw her in and turn her away – that hand that can help her decelerate into the tight turn.
Tandems are also looking good! She is figuring out that these are collection cues here too and did really well. The happy bouncing in the early moments after you added the speed of the front cross was all good – I like that she was having a good time with these! And like with the lap turns, she ended the session with really lovely tight turns 🙂
Zig zags: looking good too!!
Yes, move faster for now, and soon enough she will recognize the game 🙂 and you won’t have to be as fast with the handling. She was already starting to recognize the pattern here and do it more independently.Next session, move everything closer together so you have the bar of 1 touching the wing of 2, and move the 3rd wing in to touch the bar of 2. That way there is no space between the bar and wings 🙂
And yes, that means both of you will need to be quicker! If it is too hard, you can angle the bars/wings so she can see a bit of a line down the middle (bar 2 angled towards the tire in this video, bars 1 and 3 angled towards the camera). That might make it even easier for her to read without you needing to worry about being late 🙂Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyEek I hate when I lose a post! Ugh!
But it sounds like a good trial for Tango! Being able to turn things into noticeable differences is AWESOME because history was not in your favor. So your training has really been impactful if the difference is noticeable already. YAY!!!!!! Some of her start line behavior might be pretty reflexive at this point, so with changes being seen by others as well… that’s pretty amazing 🙂
I love that you got a side eye from her and turned it into a good run! Ha!!!Thank you for the update, it is a great start to a Monday!
Tracy
Good morning!
>>ahve tried this in the past and she doesn’t drop the toy with the out, just runs by towards the other toy and then decides if she is going to let go or not to pick up the other toy (both are milkers). Same thing Rayven did when I did this with her.
With the rain I tried a bit of fetch in the basement and gave her some cheese if she dropped the toy when she got clode to me. Had some success with that. Seems cheese might be more important then toys.>>Got it – so keep strengthening the out with the 2nd toy present. The 2nd toy doesn’t move until she has released the first toy, so the ‘out’ gets paired into the way to get you to present or throw the 2nd toy. It is a good one to do indoors in a small space! And also building the out value with cheese is great. The cheese can start close to you and then eventually you can toss it to set the scene for using tossed toys instead.
>>>Another contact question – I was intending on buying the teeter course to work on this summer. Does it cover everything start to finish, including the way you are teaching the 2o2o now?
Yes, start to finish including the teeter-specific 2o2o (3 demo dogs and 2 of them do the 2o2o).
>> I am also a little confused about the tracks mentioned on the course, especially the uphil/downhill ones.>>
The behavior is split into tiny pieces and tracks, so the uphill has to do with driving up the plank and the downhills have to do with driving into end position.
On the videos:
Baby level:
Yes, she had a little trouble with the lead out, great job rewarding it a lot – she had no trouble in the advanced video from what I could see!She really had no trouble with the sends. She seemed to have very strong commitment and she was setting up the turn nicely in both directions. Interestingly, the praise at 2:09 and 2:38 was actually a bit distracting to her, drawing her focus to you a bit too much before the release so she had to adjust back out. The praise marker might also be a reward marker (indicating reinforcement from you) so you can try the lead outs with the same pause to get into position but not the praise – the release can be just as affirming for the stay as the ‘good girl’ 🙂
advanced video:
Yes, this went well too!! She reflects the handling really well, that is the good news and the bad news LOL!!!>> . I used le and ri when I should’ve used dig and check on the FC we did.
Yes, the wrap verbals are better for that. She read the handling brilliantly though, very happy with that!
>> On the DOL side where I just tried to do a 180 type turn to the 2nd jump she kept coming inside the jump. I think I did a couple of things wrong – turned away too soon and didn’t say connected. Although she had no problem with that on DOR but I did stay connected better.>>
I agree, it was a connection issue, you were turning your dog-side shoulder away (I call it ‘closing your shoulder’) so as she landed from the jump, she could really only see your back and was guessing at :44, :57 and 1:28. Compare that to 1:14 and 2:16, for example, when you keep your shoulder more open to her so she can see connection – and she totally knew where to go 🙂
>>it also feels like I am too still but given the position of the leadout it is hard to show any motion.
Most of the lateral lead out stuff on real courses will allow you to move away pretty quickly, so the lack of motion here was more of a way to practice the connection 🙂
Great job! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
