So... Here is the plan. As agility is easier to show as to explain, you'll be getting your homeworks in video form. You'll always get some new assignments, but you need to keep practicing the old ones too - we'll be checking back on those here and there, so don't forget to keep working on those!
This class program is very extensive and after discussing it with 1st class students, I decided to give you some more time for last three lessons: first three you'll get every 2 weeks and last three every 3 weeks and we'll also make a 2-week break somewhere in between to let you catch up. As always, taking things slowly is always better and takes you to the goal faster as rushing things up, that's why I'm giving you more time for your homeworks.
1. restrained send to cik/cap - the purpose of this exercise is to play a nice chasing game, while teaching great sends, distance work and commitment - see how early I can start running in the other direction when sending Le to the jump.
Things to pay attention to:
- height: If you only did cik&cap on other objects so far, start with a jump stanchion now, but without the bar first: and then put the bar VERY low - max. 5cm (2 inches) for smaller dogs, 10cm (4 inches) for BC size and bigger. You can then add some height every 5 sessions: 3cm up for small dogs, 5cm for bigger dogs - SLOWER with young dogs! If you already did cik&cap with more height, do this exercise on your normal height, send a video and I will tell you if it's o.k. or you need to make it lower.
- distance: Start the dog very close to the jump first and then further&further every next try to slowly add distance. If the dog turns back to you (as Le does once in my video) or waits for you, start closer again and add distance more gradually.
- angle: Note from which angle I bring Le to the jump and in which direction I run away to reward. The purpose is to teach them to jump close to the stanchion, NOT in the middle of the bar! That's why I always do this side approach FIRST and do lots of it before trying any straight approaches. Check the angle again as it's not the best angle to see and many people do it coming to the jump facing it and then running parallel to it away and then the dogs are back-jumping the jump. You want to come to the jump from the side (nearing the stanchion/wing first) and then run away perpendicular to it.
- speed: You can't expect much speed with multi-warps, but you definitely want it now. Restrain the dog, wait for a good pull, let him go and run away for them to chase you&the toy. Make sure the dog is rewarded when still moving - don't stop and reward: run and reward! 🙂
2. If the first part goes well, you can also do some figure 8s + chase it game: it's the same game, only that you use two jumps now and run from one to another, sometimes still rewarding the first wrap, sometimes 4th, sometimes 2nd, sometimes 5th, sometimes 3rd... Note the angle of the jumps (side approach again!) and the distance between them: you want BIG distance to get good speed - something like 10m/33'. Again, you want the jumps under this angle to make sure the dog is jumping close to the stanchion, not in the middle of the bar. DON'T do figure 8s on one jump, it teaches the dog to jump in the middle!
3. restrained send to a tunnel (obstacle discrimination!) + come to hand vs. go game
Restrain the dog very close to the tunnel, as he is pulling towards it, say "tunnel, tunnel" to them: pulling in the direction of that thing is what you want when you say "tunnel" - and then let them go. Slowly add distance. Later on, you can add more obstacles (jumps&contact) close to the tunnel to make the discrimination harder: only say "tunnel" when the dog is pulling in the right direction, you can feel it if you hold him. You do the same with jumps: call cik&cap and release to the jump that is first the only thing around and then add tunnels closer&closer. The goal is teaching obstacle discrimination AND actively pulling towards obstacles you call (as opposed to hanging with you, waiting for you to take them all the way to each obstacle).
To train even more things at the time, when the dog is out of the tunnel, either call to hand and when he is at your side, either do a front cross or a shoulder pull (see the video) and reward for closeness - OR say your magic "run FAST" word and throw a toy ahead when the dog is catching up with you - meaning that you're moving in both situations, do NOT stand still when you send!
To make it even more challenging and train three things at the time 🙂 you can also add more tunnels and jumps around, like this:
Try to change it some every time, like bringing the other tunnel closer, or curving it sometimes, or using a jump instead, and also try running by it (to the other entry maybe) while calling to hand so that the dog needs to stay with you even when you’re actually moving towards the tunnel/jump and similar.
4. independent weaves
If you haven't started weaves yet, set 12 poles in two rows (left row must always be 60cm/24inches closer to you when you stand in front of the channel in order to teach them correct entries), at least 1m apart, restrain the dog at least 3m before the channel, throw the toy through and release. As the dog is running to his toy, sometimes just stand back, sometimes run after him, on both sides, sometimes far, sometimes close, sometimes run and stop, sometimes run and turn etc. The purpose is to teach the dog to ignore your body language when in the weaves and complete the task. Slowly switch to a static toy 4m after the channel, bringing the two rows closer&closer as you practise independent performance (I'm using bowls with treats with Le as she isn't too excited about dead toys... - but I quickly switched to a toy, thrown after she is out then to get more speed). See the video for some ideas on what to do when the dog is in a channel. If the dog already knows the weaves, send the video of how independent it is. If it's not, go back to the channel. With puppies, you can start the channel work, but only play with it max. twice a week, to not progress too fast as you don't want to close it to the point that requires real weaving before the dog is fully grown. But you can do a lot of work on independence and entries without doing any real weaving.
Have fun!
Hi all ! Today : weaves with adding difficulties.
It’s not easy to restrain then send the ball correctly !
Not serious Pascal with tries at 20 cm without help !!!
But 30 cm seems good isn’t it Silvia ?
Some next sessions, I think I will work width from 40cm to 30 cm and more difficults entries !
Yes, there is no hurry with making it so narrow, you can stay with 30cm a bit longer, focus on entries instead and slowly make it more narrow per 3cm at the time.
Hi Silvia,
here is Amy´s cik&cap and we are having so much fun 🙂
Gabi, Amy is so cool! I love both of your dogs!!! 🙂
Melanie, thanks for your sweet comment !!
Great, Amy sure seems to like agility! You can run more perpendicular away from the jump after the wrap, that will allow you to leave even earlier. But all in all, great job, she sure understands the wraps great! Time for some figure 8s!
You and Kelly and your hands! Oh my! I’m so confused!! LOL!!
Anyway, I guess for Spur I feel he needs me to use the away from him hand for these wraps or it’s too much pressure using the hand closest to him? This is our attempt today. My dog yard barely melted enough snow so I brought a jump out there. He wasn’t too keen on the different footing, going from snow to grass and at first he was worried. I couldn’t really get much speed going because further back was that bush, so then I moved to a farther area, but it was more of a straighter approach to the jump. It gave us more speed, but probably not the right approach as he then took off too early?
We sure lost some approach speed in this location, but at least his ears were up and he was trying. He’s such a worrier. Hopefully, my agility yard will melt by the weekend and I can get some more practice done. As with all things “Spur” he needs a LOT of time working things out! I try to keep sessions really short, so all the reps are included here.
Question -- I have lots of little tunnels that are easy to set up. Do you think it would be good to start him through a short tunnel to get more speed and get him happier? I could do tunnel to wrap/jump to tunnel or is that defeating the purpose of getting him to drive and commit to the jump only? Of course, I would have to meet him out of the first tunnel to send him to the jump, but if I curve it that might be do-able? He drives so well to tunnels. I do think once the snow melts I will have more area to get more speed and that will make him happier, but it is always possible we will get more snow.
Or maybe I just need to keep working like this and he’ll start feeling better about it once he has more practice. This is only our third session, so maybe I am expecting too much. Jumps are definitely not his favorite obstacle as he worries so much about knocking a bar, so this exercise is really good for him!
It actually looks pretty good to me, but yes, you could certainly set tunnel-jump-tunnel instead to make it more fun and then throw in some of just jump-tunnel restrains in between. I use the outside hand too when going so close to the jump, it’s when I’m sending from far that I will use a dog-side arm. I don’t think it’s more pressure though, I think the opposite hand ie. front is more pressure as dog-side arm ie. side, no? It’s no problem to sometimes use a straight approach, we’re mostly doing side approach to teach them to jump close to the wing instead of in the middle of the bar + to make it easier for you to see where they land. You could as well angle the jump of course.
OK, I’ll try another session and see what we get and maybe I will try different arms depending on the distance, if we get more speed. 😀 I know my arms are a little high and “flappy”, but he’s kind of used to that, LOL! Is the height right for him? I only did left wraps because you had said he wasn’t as tight on those in the other videos and so I lowered the bar on that side. I think he was tighter? I forgot to add the wing.
Oh, duh, yeah, I could have angled the jump!!! 😀
Yes, this looked pretty tight, despite the camera angle is not the best to see it. And you actually don’t really need a wing…
I don’t understand why different arms are used depending on the distance? Aren’t you asking for the same thing whether you are close to the jump or not? Why use an opposite arm when close to the jump? Wouldn’t an opposite arm indicate a turn away from you? Just trying to understand.
I use the opposite arm as a collection cue and will use it as a precue for front crosses. If I’m far from the jump, an opposite hand will pull the dog to me right there. So I use the normal arm to support forward motion and keep them in extension until they get to the jump and collect there -- that’s what cik&cap allows me to. Cik&cap means collect over the jump and can be said very early, even if you (and the dog) are very far from the jump -- that’s why I love it 🙂 I can get the same nice collection without saying cik/cap IF I’m right there at the jump with my collection arm at the exactly the right moment: if I’m too early, I’ll get collection too early and if I’m too late, it doesn’t work anymore. That’s why I’m such a big fan of verbal cues -- the timing is so easy there. Whenever I can, I will do both though, collection verbal cue + collection arm. For rear crosses, I use dog-side arm and pushing on their line to cue it.
Okay, I understand. Thank you 🙂
Hi Silvia,
Here ares my videos of WiFi doing Cik/Cap. Should I switch to a wing now?
Thanks,
Theresa and WiFi
Sure, you can try a wing! Keep adding distance to the sends and run away perpendicular to the approach line as that will allow you to leave earlier without pulling her off.
These are two cik&cap sessions over two days. Her rights are not as tight as her lefts so I have been working more on them as you suggested. It seems to make a huge difference where I send her from, and also if I don’t run she is not as tight. I was much closer to the jump the first session yesterday (which is next to a school at playtime in case you are wondering about the screaming!) as I got told to move off the football pitch where there was lots more room!
At one point she turns round-I thought it was because she knocked the jump but I was saying dig (right) while she was doing check (left). Only just realised that!
Todays session didn’t go as well in that her rights were wider than yesterday-I wasn’t sending her from the same place though and also I was sending her from further away. Should I keep doing it as I was in the first session or challenge her more?
I think I pushed her on by keeping running on the second to last one where she went really wide (on the second session)?
First session yesterday:
Second session today:
Proof how changeable the weather is in England-yesterday sunny, today we stopped because of a hailstorm and the jump kept blowing over !
Lefts look really good, but yes, rights need some more work, so focus on those mostly and for now help her be tight with your position -- use whatever gives you best wraps and throw in some multi-warps for the widest ones. Once she is nice and tight on close approaches, slowly add distance -- slowly enough that she is still mostly successful. You can add more distance for the left wraps.
Second video wasn’t working properly and I will have to put it on again. Sorry!
This afternoon we focused on challenging weave pole entries and proofing the weave poles by me stopping more abruptly and being in different positions. This is only Lil’s 3rd session working on these new weave pole challenges and I am amazed at how much she has improved! We also did SENDs and GO ONs with a tunnel. My matting is too slippery to work on FCs and post turns plus I think “GO GO GOs” are just what Lil needs right now to find the perfect balance between handler and obstacle focus. Lil appeared to be having a blast. I know I did!
That stop at 1:37 was terrific! Good girl, Lil!
Thanks Diane! Until I watched the video, I didn’t realize that I stopped my feet AND my mouth at the same time! That combo certainly made it more challenging for Lil. Silly me!
WOW DEVORAH!!!! Lil looks AWESOME-look at her DRIVING to the tunnel and PAST you!!! I read your last post about the toy drive and such (“permission”) to use the ball, etc and I am just so happy for you! I think she’s faster for the ball than the MM-is she? I’m Pruli’s mom (the black lab) and she didn’t tug when I got her at a yr and I remember working on it in such a tedious fashion, until we started taking Silvia’s class and then same as you-when I was playing for real, the way she actually LIKES to play, it all came together! It looks like you are having tons of fun and those weave entries WOW!!!! I keep neglecting this….
Thanks Kelly!!!! I know. I can’t believe how much more speed and drive Lil has in just one week of Silvia-style of play. ps-- I also “worked on playing” tug with my dogs (an oxymoron if there ever was one…HA HA HA) and I did get them both to tug but Lil rarely got really crazy about tugging.. until now. All it took was evoking her natural prey drive in a way that comes naturally to her..chasing and catching fast moving little things! Pruli is doing great too!
Kelly, and Yes! Lil is much faster with the ball than the MM!!!! Plus I love that she is now often catching the ball mid-bounce vs. pouncing on it.
That’s sure a really great progress already! Looks like she figured out what this game is about! And yes, I also think go is more important as come at this point. And she sure seems to like it! Really great distance skills with tunnel sends and some really cool entries!
Here’s my second video of Yoshi working on cik&cap. Tomorrow we’ll work on the tunnel.
I forgot to add- I have finally named the behaviour- tick for clockwise and tock for counter clickwise. I forgot to bring Yoshi’s harness home so I had trouble holding her.
I love your basement!
Cool, but your verbal cues are mostly too late -- use them as a send and say it as soon as you send her around it. Try to have her drive to it more independently, you’re helping her a lot -- I think more as she needs 🙂
I’m going to my training building. I’ll work on that today!
Amy, I tried your lifting up on the harness idea with both of my dogs and they loved it! I was so surprised. I really didn’t think there was any hope for the harness because they’re both so ridiculously polite. Thanks!
Diane!!! Isn’t it funny how the “polite” dogs seem to enjoy that??? It sure surprised me. It’s almost like it gives them permission?
I know, it was so strange. My husband has trained them to sit when they feel any pressure on their harnesses (so they can sort of put a stop to their own reactivity when they lunge after something), so pulling backward did not work at all. They just go right into a sit. But pulling UP? Brilliant!
Here is Spencer in the weave poles. It’s just one time through for you to see his poles. He has great entries and I can leave him in the poles laterally. Right now the ball gets him so excited that he pops if I throw it before he is out. Maybe I’m supposed to wait until he exits. I have to work the other challenges like stopping and let him continue etc. He struggles with that.
Yes, that sure looks good! -- But there are always some extra challenges that you can introduce 🙂 I prefer to do it on somewhat open channel though, to not make them weave too many times.