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Good lord – how is it Thursday?? I got out on Sunday and enjoyed those final hours of lovely shorts weather and played the starfish. That was a really fun way to end the outdoor agility season – or at least probably the last time I’ll be willing to drag out a tunnel! Now my front yard has been buried under two rounds of snow.
Since we hadn’t done those turn aways since…August?…I was super pleased that he was getting it nearly every time. We played with a few of the different courses and it was cool to see so many different skills coming together. After I turned the camera off, we also work on tunnel threadles by wrapping that lone wing alongside the tunnel and he was really confident doing both “tunnel” and “kiss, kiss”. 🙂
Good luck playing in the US Open! I’m excited to have a three day weekend playing all the things with the girls. I didn’t realize you were sponsoring the team part or I would have entered that for fun too!
Christina
Saturday morning was so fun! Thank you for the opportunity 🙂
So, here’s the video that was forgotten last week – turn-aways adding some more distance. My timing is a bit better than the first go.
The first exercise from today (backsides) was a little harder for us, so later this evening I did that one again. Still a couple of misses, but lots of success. And I set it up with a bit more distance for the backsides than I had this morning. I did notice he would go to the backside but was tempted to run past the jump – I’m thinking I should do better reward placement to support coming in despite my motion?
From this morning – do you think I should start doing 5 feet for him for jump grids? I’ve tried it in the past, and seemed to be ok. Just don’t want to push if it’s not of value at his age (9
Months now).I saw that star exercise that’s posted- WOW! Guess I’ll see if I can give that a try to tomorrow before the snow moves in 😉
Thank you!
ChristinaTHANK YOU!! That is all such helpful feedback. And I LOVE your ideas for the next class – that would be perfect to keep us moving along, even if it’s at a slightly slower pace. I have a friend that has just put together a smaller, but nice indoor space with brand new matting…so I’m hoping that I can work out renting that space for some of us to use because it would be big enough for the exercises we’ve been doing.
And the contact training accountability group would be just what I need – I was planning to focus on that over the winter months so I feel like you read my mind. I had to go back and look at my post to see if I mentioned that 🙂
I’m excited that I’ll be able to join for the last live Saturday class!!
Christina
Hi there! I apologize that this may be a bit of a video dump. We’ve worked on different skills over the last week or so, but I just finally had a chance to edit and upload the videos tonight.
The one I’ve had the hardest time with is the zig zag. On one side, we were just struggling, struggling. I got a little frustrated, he got frustrated. I did simplify to get some success, but with any distance, he just kept coming straight to me. When I set him up on the other side, he did it perfectly each time. It’s really interesting because I watched my last video of this exercise and back then he was struggling with the side he did perfectly this time. I forgot about offsetting the jump to help him…maybe that would have made a difference?
We did the jump grid again (set at 4 feet) and I switched to bars instead of bumps and did the straight and angled grid. I think he only nicked the first bar once – we have been continuing to do cavelettis which is hopefully helping.
Tunnel threadles with the wrap went well and he had fun with that. Although going to the next step and mixing up the “tunnel” and “threadle” will be good proofing.
We continued with “Get Out” and added a little more distance and speed…and I tried adding more handling. The “get out” was working well, although trying to add a cross at the end was not super successful. The connection was just not happening because the turns were NOT tight. He was more like, hey, where the heck are you going?
We are going to try to enjoy four more days of “summer” before winter is probably back for good. I was wondering – are you planning another round of classes since this one is nearing the end? Although there is still so much advanced material to work through from the first two courses, I’m sure we can keep ourselves quite busy for awhile…but your feedback is so helpful! Unfortunately, I know some of this will become difficult to practice once we loose outdoor training.
Thank you!
Christina
ChristinaHello!
Thanks for all the great feedback. It all makes so much sense!I wasn’t able to watch the Saturday class, but I did get to TCOTC this morning to work a little more inside. My yard still has a little too much snow…but temps will hopefully take care of that by later this week. But I was super impressed that it looks like you were filming your videos while it snowed!!
We started with get out. I was just thinking about this particular game from the first class, so I was excited to see us advancing it! Presto did really well. As usual, I was a little less coordinated. He never failed to read the “get out” – that seems very clear to him. It was a little trickier to NOT take the jump, but I think in looking at the video I sometimes had my off arm out a bit when it should have been out of the way and my should was too rotated to the jump. I also didn’t toss the reward quickly enough on those reps.
Then we played some wind in the hair with wraps. Boy, he was having fun running. I was so pleased with how quickly he was picking up on the decel cue and wrapping enthusiastically. I did notice that he wasn’t taking any extra collection stride for the turn…but is that because he isn’t having to jump yet?
Finally we played turn aways. At first he wasn’t quite getting it given we haven’t done this in several weeks. I was probably rushing him a bit. But once he understood he was supposed to go around the wing, he was brilliant. I think my handling got a little lazy at points – and I kept forgetting how I was supposed to send him around the first wing. I think I was supposed to send and then turn away with the same hand, but it just felt all wrong on the left side. Sigh. Luckily, Presto didn’t seem to care much.
He is getting so much more comfortable at TCOTC. For fun, we did some parallel path work with the tire and he was perfect with me ahead and behind and with lateral distance. And then did tunnel to two jumps that were angled, so he had to slice them both – and he powered through. We luckily also got into a foundation class at On The Run with Deborah Yost, so he now gets to work agility in another new environment and this time work around other dogs. I’m so relieved I am finally filling this gap in his training!
Thank you!
ChristinaHi! I’ve recorded some training over the last several days, but only just had the chance to edit and get it posted. The weather has been awful, so unfortunately we’ve been pretty limited.
We went back and worked on the serps with the wrap. He’s reading it most of the time and I think I’m getting more consistent with not using hand movement, although maybe sometimes my shoulders are too rotated.
And I did rear crosses with a wing in a new place. He is driving ahead nicely…but we are still figuring out the rear crosses. 🙂 He is showing me that he turns to the right more easily than the left. But that may also because I think my timing and body movement looks a bit better in that direction. Anyhow, as long as he likes driving ahead, we’ll get that RC stuff figured out!
I also put together some video of “find the jump” with me varying positions (he even let me layer a pole!), then included some tunnel to rear crosses. Again, doing great driving ahead out of the tunnel. Rear crosses were harder with the tunnel, maybe the additional speed? But he eventually would look in the right direction.
I decided to go back to the minny pinny because I thought working the verbals in that more controlled exercise can only help with the bigger/faster ones. I think overall he is getting better and turning the right way with my position varying.
I don’t know when the ground will be clear enough of that white stuff to do anything outside…but today I brought a few wings inside and we did some zig zags. I can be doing that, cavelettis (he sometimes just jumps all three at once, but he’ll settle into trotting through), and the minny pinny in my basement. I’m also hoping to bring in my 3 foot tunnel and some tunnel bags when my husband’s back is turned. He’s a patient and supportive man with my agility craziness, but some things are probably better as a fait accompli. 😉 That would also enable us to work on turns out of tunnel and the serp proofing. Got to keep these puppy brains busy!
Thank you!
Hi! I totally have cavalettis! I couple years ago I created my own concoction out of PVC (what can’t you make with PVC). I did one session with him a couple weeks ago, but now that my downstairs space is cleaned up again, I’ll definitely do some more work. That’s a great suggestion!
Also, I was at TCOTC the other day and did the zig zag game (didn’t get any video) and as you suggested, turned my body before I released and that worked like a charm. It was great to see him be successful right away!
And tonight we tried out the diamond. Fun! As always, he was keeping me honest. There is one rep where I disconnect for the blind a fraction too early and the little dude just turned on a dime to follow. 🙂 But he was really great. I really have to MOVE on the blind because he is RIGHT there on my butt. He picked up the correct side every time, which was pretty cool. There were a few reps where we struggled a little at the tunnel if it was the final obstacle: once he took the wrong end and a couple times he was a tad hesitant about going in the second time. Not too worried, but just was noticeable to me. But he was also great at staying focused despite surrounding distractions like neighbor dogs and cars driving by.
And love that Elektra walked across your keyboard! HA! These dogs certainly have a sense of entitlement, don’t they? 🙂
As always, your feedback and advice is so appreciated!
ChristinaThanks for all the great feedback – definitely helps reset my mentality on those games 🙂
I gave the jump grid a try this evening and did some variations to see what you think is working best for him. Overall, he was going through the grid successfully (one stride in between) and also doing some good start line stays. I tried spacing between 4 to 5 feet and at the end also tried using a toy for a reward. I think he got faster with the toy. And I think he looked a little more comfortable with 4 feet. I did see he him doing some leaping initially, but I moved the reward out just a little further and I think that helped. It does sound like he’s ticking the jump bumps.
Safe travels!!
Christina
Whew, stuff is definitely getting a little harder!
Presto was doing really well on the zig zag game initially, but we seem to have taken a slight step backwards. When he is on the same side of the jump as me, he keeps coming forward instead of going through the wings. In retrospect, one thing I didn’t pay attention to was if it mattered which lead change. I can’t say that I’ve noticed so far that he has a strong preference for turning right vs left, but perhaps this is a subtle preference coming out?
And we played the new rear cross game. Also took a bit for us to figure it out, but we were starting to make it work together. I also changed toys after the first session because that first one didn’t throw very well! But I wonder if I need to move the first wing back further and wait a bit more at the wing because maybe I’m too “on top” of him and not letting him get ahead enough?
And when we got home I pulled out the short tunnel to try the serpentine proofing. I think he has pretty balanced value for the jump and the tunnel at this point, but was really sensitive to any sloppiness in my handling…which was frequent 🙁
Poor baby boy, he was trying very hard. I was admittedly getting a little frustrated with the zig, zag game. So important to remember to just stop and give us a both a mental break. We’ll probably lay off that game for the week – so much else to do anyway!
Christina
Hello!
Did a little more work on a few games.Here is the video of us playing zig zag both with the jumps wider, and with them narrower. Feels like its going really well, although I think getting that first slice when I add a fourth jump will be harder. Would it make sense to start him just a little further back (not right on the wing) when I add another wing so there is a moment or two more for him to read my handling?
And we played the tunnel exit game. I added a little more distance from the wing to the tunnel and tried to be more intentional about cuing the turn with my body. He was doing great with the turns. Although the go-go didn’t work as well. More practice 🙂 While I’m playing this game, I tend to feel like its not going well. Although when I watched the video I saw lots of good stuff – especially his turns!! I absolutely love how tight he is wrapping and totally leading with his head.
And then minny pinny. I just kept working turns with me in different positions. I think he’s getting pretty close to being ready for the bigger challenge of me being in a more neutral position. There are a couple of times he needs to think it through, but makes the right choice. I think my neighbors must wonder if I’m directionally challenged with all the LEFTS and RIGHTS I’m yelling these days!
We’re heading up to our cabin, so I’m throwing a few wings in the car…but no playing with tunnels for a few days 🙁
Thank you!
ChristinaThanks for the feedback! I played the zig zag game again tonight, although haven’t had time to edit the video. But I did both really wide gap and then down to 4 foot. You are so right, he definitely opened up and ran with that wider gap and the 4 foot made brains hurt. I had to be so spot-on with cuing the first turn!
And we played the serp game too. I definitely had to sharpen my handling, because sometimes he got really focused on just getting to the manners minder, but we had a lot of success too. I can see how this and the zig zag game really work together.
And tunnel turns. These are so super hard. I actually started this with a really short 3 foot tunnel so I could try to isolate introducing the turn cues (and do more reps without tiring him out so quick). With the camera angle, I watch his head and he seemed to be getting the idea. I tended to lure a bit with the go-go by tossing the toy earlier.
But it got SO much harder when we played the full game. I had trouble getting all my verbals in…and I really wasn’t sure he was picking up on the tunnel exit verbals because he was pretty wide. Wish I’d put my camera in the other corner to see his head better…next time. I think the arousal is much higher in this game, especially with a young dog, where there is so much coming at them they don’t necessarily process it all. But I can also see this is a great proofing game. So, my inclination is maybe to take a step back and play a mini version of this with the wings by the shorter tunnel to simplify it again?
As always, thank you! He really seems to have fun playing these games and I can totally see how confidence is bringing speed out of this little guy. 🙂
Christina
Good morning,
Stars aligned and we had some fun training yesterday in lovely brisk fall weather.We did the zig zag game which was fun. He was doing really well with a little body motion support from me. I just love what a great worker this little guy is.
Also had so much fun with find the jump. Really starting to feel like we are doing some agility!! I can see that I’m still throwing the toy too late. We did this in two separate sessions about an hour apart, but I think he was still getting a little brain tired in the last few reps since it was late in the day. I could see he got a little slower and also we had a couple mistakes. Mistakes were a result of my handling, but when he was a little tired there was clearly no room for error! We had to move to our front yard for the first time to have enough space. I was a little nervous since it’s right on the street, but he was super focused the whole time.
We also got out this morning to start working the minny pinny. I hope I wasn’t taking it too fast, but we did try a few turn-aways. With a little adjustment, he was figuring it out.
Hope you are having a great weekend!
ChristinaHi! We got out to retry the set point exercise again. I set him back a little further and also did it with 4 foot gap (like last time) and then expanded to 5 feet. Definitely will appreciate the feedback on how he is looking…I think his initial collection was better moved back a few inches and that the 5 feet gap is better.
Hope you had a safe drive home! It was so fantastic to run Sole last weekend and meet your pups!!
Christina
Hello! Welcome to Minnesota 🙂
I got a chance to get Presto to TCOTC today and so we played a couple of the games there, which was good for both of us.The video has our session with the wrap discriminations from today as well as a couple days ago. I’ve move the wing closer and he is pretty good with the wraps, but sometimes struggles a bit with the tunnel send (body support helps!)
It was also great to play the wind in our hair game in a new place. I added a jump bump and after a couple reps, also started tossing the toy at the end. It was at the end of our time, so I think he was getting a little tired, but did a nice job of focusing on his work rather than just running off to the toy 🙂 Although in watching the video I realized I was doing post turns rather than crosses!! Always something, right. 😉
Thank you!
Christina
