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Hi!
>His rewards today consisted of croissant and buttered dinner roll.>
OMG! I volunteer to be your dog. Those are two of my favorite food groups!
He was perfect. You running? No problem. You staying behind? No problem. You moving away laterally? No problem.
Since this is going perfectly, you can add 2 more things:
– getting further ahead and keep moving past the teeter for 5 or 6 more steps after he gets to the end (do this a a walk at first in case running is too exciting and he wants to jump off)
– staying very close to the start wing and rear crossing the teeter. This is the hardest one! But I think if you use some high quality carbs then he will have no problem 🙂
Finding the with him on the other side went great too. He was just about perfect! He looked at you a tiny bit when you were close to the tunnel on the reps where you wanted him to drive ahead at the beginning, but that went away as he did a couple of reps of that with the throw reward. He was driving ahead pretty significantly by the end! You can also place the toy out there sometimes before the rep, so he leaves you in the dust and you can even play with running as hard as you can. The lateral went really well. He had one rep where he ran past the jump towards the end (1:27). That one was kind of an anomaly, I think – he might have been looking at you a little more because your shoulder was a little closed – the connection was a little soft for a baby dog learning to find the line with you ahead. You had more connection on the next rep (your shoulder was further back and you looked at him more directly) plus an earlier toy throw, so he was got it.
You can play with delaying the toy throw on the reps where you are ahead to be sure he is looking at the line and not at you or watching you throw the toy.
Great job!
TracyHi! She was great here, getting more and more confident with each rep! It is so funny that she is also working for bread LOL!
>She accepted help on the way up the first time and by the end she didn’t even care for it! >
Yes – by the beginning of the 2nd rep, she was like “get out of my way, I am going to the bread” LOL!!! That is great and also means we can keep working on independence!
Since she didn’t need your help going up the board, the next step is to fade out Auntie Kyla. The easiest thing to do is attach a target to the end of the board (either right on the end, or sticking out at the end but still really close to the end). I have used plastic targets or spoons, duct taped to the board. And then place the reward on/in the target (letting her see you do it) – then you can go to the end of the board and let her go up it. She might need help the first time, or not LOL! But she will definitely need you to help her get off the board.
When she is happy to run to the end of the board, you can add in your motion of walking it past it or laterally away from it too.
Great job!
Tracy
Good morning!
The single wing sends for the countermotion went really well!
When you added 4 wings in a row, she didn’t quite commit to the 4th wing (you were too quick to hit the brakes and rotate all at the same time, and also she hadn’t done 2 in a row yet so 4 was a big leap).
For the handling there, be sure to decelerate facing forward for a couple of steps then rotate to help her commitment (more like what you did at 1:29).Also, when you told her she was wrong, she took off. So rather than tell her she was wrong, just keep going or move the other direction and reward.
The race tracks around the outside looked strong! They are hard at first because the pup are used to wrapping, so she checked in with you a little but kept going. Nice job with the connection! Then it was easy to add the wrap when you wanted it.
On the straight line 4 ways game:
The GO looked good! The wrap at the beginning looked awesome!! Great timing on the cues for the wrap! She has a little back jump when you did the wraps again towards the end – she just turned too tight! Then she fixed it on the next rep. When the bars are taller, I don’t think back jumping will be an issue at all.The rear crosses were harder for sure (they are the hardest ones for dogs and humans!)
For the RCs – remember that there is a high likelihood that errors are handler errors so the RC rule is reward in the new direction even if she turns the ‘wrong’ way when she takes the jumpOn the RC at :36 you were too far ahead so your RC pressure pushed her off the jump (throw the reward over the bar anyway). It looks like she got a cookie there after it but you had already marked it as wrong .
On the RC at :44 and :52, you were not too far ahead but starting that close to the jump made the RC info really late – so she was correct to turn right there because there left turn cues happened after takeoff. Reward her on the left turn line anyway. Stopping/no reward and marking it as wrong, or praising but not rewarding will be confusing to her! She got the next RC but I think the reward was placed out there – it is more ideal to let her give you feedback on whether the cues were on time (based on how she chooses the turn) and then throw the reward.
Here are two screenshots of what she was seeing – on these, she was already turning to her right based on the previous info, and the RC info is starting when she is already in the air. Ideally, you would be on the new side already.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1NPTiOljDldr66cl8Hm0EtxCA1PTgGRjgFpCP0JMgBrk/edit?usp=sharing
Also, if go means straight and switch means RC, just stick with switch for the RCs – she was looking at you at the end when you were saying go go go but not really accelerating, the hopped into a switch.
To get the RCs more smoothly, you can run closer to the tunnel so she is not that far behind you, then really accelerate up the line to the center of the RC bar. That will cue her to both drive ahead AND to turn the correct direction.
The backside at the end went great! Lovely job showing clear connection and the correct line of motion. Nailed it!
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
This went really well! She found the line to the jump with speed and consistency, and you sharpened up the connection which really helped her look forward and not at you. Super! She was able to do it with a bit of distance and also driving ahead.
Keep adding distance – when the wing is at the furthest point away from the jump, be sure to stay really close to the wing as you run up the line. You were migrating back to the jump which negated some of the distance challenge.
The other thing to add is to send to the tunnel and take off up the line, getting way ahead so that you can be passing the jump when she exits the tunnel. That will be a good challenge (and be sure to work on the other side in the next session).
Nice work!
Tracy
Hi! This session went great! She found the line really well and she even got into the tunnel at the end. She hesitated the tiniest bit then drove in. Yay! Do you have access to a light color tunnel? I wonder if the darkness is what she doesn’t love.
> I think she slowed down before the second tunnel as she was waiting for me to toss a treat after the jump.>
This is possible!
>I was pleased with her forward focus. After reviewing the video I think that I could have kept moving forward parallel to her line rather than stopping and sending>
Yes, she was great! No questions! And also yes – you can keep running. I think sending was actually harder than running, but she might want to chase you if you get way ahead? We will find out how she feels about motion!
>Switched to food and had great attention/focus. It’s not my preference to work with food, but need to stick with what’s working for her, so food it is.>
The first rep looked like a fun toy rep then switching to food was good! She was fast and happy 🙂 If she has trouble finding the food, you can introduce a lotus ball or treat huigger, but you were doing a great job throwing the food. But a food toy that she can grab the food from without help will prevent her thinking that arm movement is possibly a thrown treat.
You can also use a ball 🙂 maybe have 3 balls so you can start bouncing the 2nd one when she doesn’t bring the first one back LOL
>Dr. Canapp was super helpful.>
He is really passionate about helping!
> Gait analysis did register a slight off loading to the left rear.>
I love that gait analysis thing! And if I am reading this correctly, she was shifting weight off of her right which would make sense based on what your chiro said.
> His X-rays showed the patella moves up almost out of the groove when in extension and moves down almost out of the groove on the down side when leg is contracted. >
Really interesting! So not quite a grade 1? On the right side only? That movement could explain why she would randomly freeze – her brain was probably like “what the heck is that weird unstable feeling?” And it could explain why there was a bit of psoas ouchy at the rehab vet you saw and the hip ouch that the chiro was seeing. But if there was a serious psoas issue, Dr. Canapp would have found it with his bounce test (I am sure he did it during the exam).
>Strengthening exercises, no activity restriction, and continuing to train backing up would be helpful. Feel fortunate that there will be online rehab sources available.>
Yes – backing up is a good one! And quads are critical to hold the darned patella in place. My favorite quad exercise is this one:
It requires lifting one back leg at a time, isolating the quads (and avoiding the cat haha)I am happy to hear that Seattle is the plan! I hope the waiting period goes FAST because that sonds really difficult. I bet UKI trials will let you enter day of show! And there are soooo many lovely trainers to work with. And Dr. Leslie Eide is there and she knows all about conditioning to strengthen knees (she worked with me online when I did it back in 2020). If you want to look into agility stuff in the area, I can make some inquiries for you!
Nice work here, it is great to see you both running!
Tracy
Hi!
Lots of good work here!Mountain Climbers:
He was definitely more confident the 2nd time, possibly because the board was more stable and also your movement helped. What will make the most difference, though, if is you have the cookie placed at the top before he gets on th board (and before he starts to move). That way he can drive up the board without needing you to stop at the end to put the cookie there – and we can build a lot of independence that way too.Bang Game:
> I am learning that Copper does not like collar grabs.>
To build the love for the collar holding, you can line him up at your side, take his collar, then give him a treat 🙂 rather than move him by his collar. He didn’t seem to like being moved by the collar (that’s reasonable!) so lining him up then taking the collar will work better than lining him up by using the collar.
He did well jumping into position! We will stay at this version of the game for a bit as you build collar grab love because it becomes important for the next steps.
For the dog walk: He is doing well here too. The next step is when he is waiting on the plank, you can change your position more so you are not always starting besides him. You can be way behind him, or lead out past him, or even start pulling away laterally. Show him lots of variations in position but stay at a walk for now: running and being in a different position might cause him to leap.
A-frame: He had the correct concept of striding at the beginning of the first video, but I think his mat needs to be bigger – it might be too small for him to hit with back feet at speed and also hard to mark correct versus incorrect consistently (some of what you marked wrong in spots was marked correct later or in the second video). He slowed himself down and added strides to be correct, but we really want him to kind of gallop over it like he did at the beginning of video 1.
For a bigger mat, it can be about twice the width of the mat here – that way he can go fast and still get lots of correct hits as he learns the striding. And if he doesn’t hit it, don’t make a big deal out of it. You don’t even need to tell him he is wrong: lack of reward will tell him. You can call him back to try again.
Now that there are a lot of things to do with all 3 contacts, you can put them into a rotation so you don’t do all the things each time you train. Build in days off from contact training and from mat work, to rest his body and keep him from thinking it is too repetitive. That way he will come in fresh and spicy to each session, like he would be at a trial.
Nice work here!
Tracy
Hi!
The teeter session went great!!! He was happy to drive up the board, adding a little more speed from the wing wrap before it. Since this is going so well, you can add two things:
– walking past the end of the board as he arrives at the top. Walk 2 or 3 more steps after he stops so he doesn’t need you at the end of the board.
– add in tugging between reps, so he learns this in a higher arousal state so he can still do the teeter even when he is really excited like at a trial.Looking at the straight line game:
> we took breaks to get thru this game.>
Each handling game has a lot of variations, so it dosn’t need to be (and shouldn’t be) all tried in one day. That is a lot on a young dog (he did about 45 jumps here which is too much for a youngster), and the hardest stuff comes when they are tired (he was fried by 8:15). Split these up across 2 or 3 days or the course of a week, so breaks aren’t needed 🙂
On all of the variations, going straight looked good! And your wrap timing was really good too, starting with the decel on the jump before the wrap. His commitment looked strong!
> My RC mechanics need a lot of work but I trying to be mindful of where my feet are pointing because the one time I got the back side.>
For the rear crosses, you are actually getting too far ahead which is why they were hard (and you pushed him off the line at 1:29 – reward the dog there!) To be able to run forward to the center of the bar, you can tuck in close to the jump after the tunnel and as he is catching up, you can run forward to the center of the bar. That will cue him to pass you AND turn the new direction.
>However,I am amazed at his backsides because I haven’t done it since the game in Max Pup 2!>
Yes! Those looked lovely! You were running to the correct line and had big connection, so he had no questions. Super!!
>This was the first time he responded to “tunnel” without hearing “break” first. Yay!>
That went well! Looking at him instead of looking at the tunnel made a big difference and he sorted it out really well.
Nice work here!
Tracy
Hi!
The fluffy blinds went great! There is some serious teamwork happening now 🙂 You are emphasizing connection and it is making a big difference!
He did a great job finding the lines! On the 2nd rep where you added the blind – he found the side change then on the next jump, you were facing straight so he went straight to the tunnel.
On the next rep after the FC, you turned a bit and he immediately read that as a turn and not the tunnel.Small blooper on the line up and send at :49 – you wanted the front of the jump but you had him on your left and stepped to the backside of the jump so that is where he went. Good boy! He found it easily starting on your right side.
Small connection break at 1:32 and 1:51 on that middle jump – good job continuing and increasing the connection on the next reps!
The blind at 2:08 was my favorite! It was the most on-time to start & finish it, so he had a great line there! You started it early enough that it was finished before he took off for the middle jump: perfect!
His only real questions were when you stopped moving along the line – he was not sure if he should decelerate with you or carry on past you to the obstacle. For now, you can overrun the line a bit, accelerate more than needed as he learns to commit to lines. Then with a bit more experience, he will be very comfy passing you as you decelerate.
>I need to stay organized, because by the end, he was more flat.>
That might have had more to do with your motion – when you slowed down, he slowed down. When you ran – he was still very zippy and fast. A sound caught his attention towards the end but he was really engaged through the session!
>It seems like he’s listening nicely. I need the practice more – saying the correct word and being in the proper position are a challenge for me.
He is totally listening! And you are not alone in feeling that it is challenging to always spit out the correct words and get in the right spot and keep your arms down AND look at the dog LOL! Agility is hard 😂
He was great with his mountain climbers!!! Yay! Fearless 🙂 The next step is to put a reward at the very top of the board so he runs up it without you and gets rewarded. I have used a tiny dab of cream cheese at the top or squished a dog treat on it (so it doesn’t fall off). That way he can run to the top and not need your motion at all 🙂
Great job!
Tracy
Good morning!
>I mentioned that we’re definitely seeing a shift in tugging during training thoughts and that he tugged as play and as reinforcement this past weekend at the trial. He also tugged nicely in his little in-person class last night (the one that he almost never gets to go to since we travel so much).>
Yay! This is great!
>I haven’t actually worked on that with Vibe yet but he’s seen Ripley do it and my hands/position also helped.>
Good mechanics plus social learning for the win!
>Ripley is NOT a good wingman.
If we were in a bar together he’d be the prettier, funnier, more charismatic friend who’s a horrible choice for that.>This is hilarious! I can totally see Ripley out at a bar. He’d definitely be telling the best stories and have a circle of people around him having a great time.
Big Mack looked exactly how I look at a bar: trying to pleasantly hang out, sometimes engaging, but preferring to be in pajamas eating takeout and watching cooking shows hahahahaha I see you, Swissy!!!
I think Vibe wanted to play with him but he is just so big (Swissy head is larger than half of Vibe LOL) that there is some fun puppy behavior to watch here (changes in posture, face licking…) – and good job Big Mack for that big play bow and getting low to see if Vibe would play.
And through it all, there was some lovely play with Vibe! I see what you mean by him bringing the toy up to your hands. And he was really pulling back on the toy, truly tugging, so fun to see!
>I love his little side-windy rubbing passes he does to try to entice Big Mack (the Swissy) to play in this video – so cat-like.>
Yes – that along with the quick face/mouth licks was just enough to try to solicit play without being super annoying to the adult dog.
>hey are pretty cute together so if you’re just bored and have nothing better to do (super doubtful knowing you) feel free to enjoy it all.>
Ha! Definitely not bored but it is always fun to watch appropriate, lovely dog behavior. There was some cool communication happening there!!
Thanks for sharing it!
TracyGood morning!
She did really well with the wobble board and the bowl here – it was in just the right spot to get her into the 2o2o position.
>Am I taking the purpose of the bowl away by putting extra treats in after?>
She was happy to get the extra treats as part of the reward! It was a good way to introduce it.
The next step is to swap the bowl out for a target (like a plastic lid) that can help get her into position, then you can put the treat on it. That leads us until all sorts of other fun teeter games 🙂
The backing up session looked strong! When you revisit this, you can have the towels gradually fading out so she is able to put her back feet on it while the board fully wobbles 🙂
Nice work on these!!
TracyGood morning!
Thanks for leaving the bloopers in at the beginning – it helps us illustrate what disconnection looks like versus connection.
I am pretty sure you saw her on the blooper reps but she didn’t see your eyes/front of chest mainly because you were using your arm to try to reconnect after the blind. That ‘closed’ your shoulder which blocked her video of connection. Young dogs in particular will not read the blind with the closed shoulder and new dog-side hand indicating the line.
I just posted this explanation in the upcoming blind cross class, it might give you more explanation:
I also grabbed screenshots for the blinds so you can see what she is seeing:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1hU8nYOTDc5UkMNIUKL0z5uE9649-qOuFR-zQKYTCf20/edit?usp=sharingRep 1 was disconnected because she could not see your eyes and the front of your chest, plus your motion was forward to the tunnel in front of her.
Compare to rep 2: gorgeous, clear connection and no questions from Bokeh.
On rep 3, same thing as rep 1: disconnected with motion going to the tunnel. Making the same big connection you made in rep 2 will help.
She got the blind really well when you added the full sequence! 3 things made it very effective:
– nice timing! The blind started as she was landing from the middle jump so it was finished before before she took off. Perfect!
– connection was clear as she was over the bar! Remember to keep connected and not get your arm involved until she is past you
– motion towards the correct end of the tunnel was excellent.
The last rep at 1:07 was even better!!!! Perfect! Timing was great, line of motion to the tunnel was spot on and connection was gorgeous. Nailed it!!!!
I included the screenshots of the timing and connection of the blinds on the sequences as well.
Great job here!
Tracy
Great question – I ended up buying it because it was so useful. But I also have a lot of young dogs LOL!
But before you buy it… maybe put the word out and see if you can borrow one? I am sure someone in your area has one sitting in their garage that they aren’t using for now. You won’t need it for more than a few months. I can ask on my Facebook page if you like!
Or, you can use an adjustable saw horse type of thing from Lowes or Home Depot. That is what I used before the fancy devices existed LOL!
T
Good morning!
I loved her Speed Ears at the beginning: flipped back for extra speed LOL! So cute!
Super nice job here! The smaller spacing on these setups means both human and dog need to make quick adjustments and you both did great!
Great video of lovely timing on 2nd the rep. At :27 you were starting the blind as she was landing from the jump after the tunnel – this is important because it tells her what is next before she lands, so she was able to make the adjustment before takeoff for the next jump. That will be especially important when the bars are at full height and there is less room between the jumps.
At :28, she was still a stride away from takeoff and you were already connection on the new side. SUPER! You were already pretty quick here – you can be even quicker by keeping your arms closer to your torso – bending your elbows and keeping your hands low will make for quicker blinds than when your arms are fully extended away from the body.
Super nice timing on the FC too! The difference between the FC and the BC on these reps:
Because the BC doesn’t involve us having to rotate our feet, you were fully finished with the turn before she took off (:28).
With the FC, you started it with great timing but because there is so much foot rotation, you were facing her over the bar at :49 and 1:12 so she had t add collection to let you finish the turn. The BC is definitely the winner in this scenario! You executed them both really well in terms of connection and timing though 🙂
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
Going across the board went well – she got pretty happy to slam it on the noisy floor! For now she is depending on you to help get her into the 2o2o position, so you can add a target at the end if you want to fade yourself out.
She was not quite as sure about backing up onto it – it is probably easier to control the tip with front end than it is with back end 🙂 The best reps were when you were letting her sort it out on her own and take small steps back – when you were feeding her and moving your hand back, she was not thinking about using her back feets 🙂 so ended up more sideways. You can add towels or blankets under the board to stabilize it a bit til she gets more certain of her back feet – then I think it will be easy to take them out because she is happy to slam it when moving forward.
Nice work here!
Tracy
