We're starting with real sequences today, you'll get a new sequence every time and we'll always be running them in parts, starting with a small part and then adding more&more obstacles, just as you can see in the video - reward where I rewarded and then start from 1 again, meaning that you'll always be doing the whole sequence only on a 4th try or so. Whole sequences will be pretty long, to get the flow, but do NOT run a whole sequence again and again - you can run little parts several times, but the whole sequence only once or twice. Always run it without the dog first and only when you really know it, try with the dog. After every try, PLAY, give a dog a break to rehearse the next sequence on your own and only then try again.
Don't keep running the same sequence for 2 weeks!!! You can either think of another sequence on your own or keep working on multi-wraps and sends (from lesson 1 and 2). Also, don't forget to keep working on weaves and contacts, we'll get back to that later!
And Bi on the same sequence to show how things should look like on a low and then higher height:
1. introducing straight lines: after all the cik&cap work, it's time to introduce some straight lines and extension jumping too. Set a straight line of 2 or 3 jumps between two tunnels (or simply use one if you don't have two), start with some cik/cap to tunnel, cik/cap to tunnel, then straight over the first jump to cik/cap on a second jump back to tunnel, then two straight jumps to cik/cap on a third one, cik/cap again on a next jump etc. - just think of something, putting more and more straight jumps in between one and another cik/cap. See a video and again another example here:
2. sequencing: start with cik on 1, run in for a front cross between 2 and 3, ask for cap on 2 from the landing side, RUN for cik on 5 (extension jumping on 4), another cap on 6 and finishing with cik on 8, rewarding in the direction of 9.
3. bang the see-saw game: if you did the "closing drawers and doors" trick, then you're all ready for this new game. If you don't have a see-saw, you can use a small plank with something underneath so that it moves when the dog pushes it with front legs. If you have a see-saw, either lower it almost to the ground or support it so that one end is 10 to 15 cm (4 to 6 inches) off the ground and have them push it down with front feet - you can then raise it somewhat more off the ground. Do not promote 4 feet, 2 feet is better to teach them to push. Jackpot for most powerful pushes and eventually stop rewarding the gentle touches. Reward away from the see-saw, you want a push&go (I'm not doing very good job on that in the video, I forgot to bring better treats for that - a toy would actually be even better). ONLY work on this part (step 1 and 2) for next 2 weeks (no 4 feet yet!) - I included next steps in the video just to give you an idea what's the plan 🙂
I'll be answering your comments till Friday 29th. Then I'm leaving for EO and have the camp after that, so we'll be on break till 15th August so that everybody can catch up AND you can practice cik&cap some more. We're introducing straight lines too today, but if you only started with cik&cap when the class started, you still need to do quite some work on that anyway - especially exercises 1 of lesson 1 and 2! You can also keep adding height... So, plenty of work for everybody! The second week of this lesson will be from 15-21st August, with no video commenting in between. I like those breaks as they take some pressure off and I can always see a huge progress after the break!
Hi Silvia,
Can you just tell me if I’m now closer to what is expected or what I still need to fix:
Thank you
Céline
Well, her turns are beautiful even with just cik&cap, but yes, I would change hands even sooner 🙂 But don’t worry, it gets easier once the dog has really good commitment, it’s o.k. that way for now.
I am on vacation with my new iPad and ca t see felines video. Is this a slow connection for me or did she post it privately.
Sorry, I mean Celine.
It’s not private, I can see it, so the problem must be somewhere else…
Hi Silvia, the sequence and the contacts for lesson 3. Is the handling o.k. in the sequence? Fine is a little bit wide on 2 and perhaps therefore she somtimes gets the wrong entry or is it my FC (the shoulder? my hand?). I will restrain her the next time in sequences, I should have a better start position then and a better cik on 1.
The contacts: Here we are now. We played with start position. The first three runs were whole DWs (1 -- bad throw and therefore leapy, 2 -- high hit and leapy ?, 3 -- same as 2, on 4 she had a bad start, all other ones are down ramp and center plank: 5 -- nice ?, 6 -- I jackpotted it, 7 -- contact, 8/9 -- high hits, 10 -- she got a jackpot.
Looking forward to your comment.
Cool, nice handling and tight on all but 2, not sure why she doesn’t really collect for 2 -- you could put a bar down for few tries to get her tighter there. That would put a wrong entry to a tunnel out of a view yes, but that went well for first few times, when you move in the right direction. She only notices it when you’re standing there instead of moving with her -- and then in next tries, you stand there again to block it, but in fact, you’re just giving her time to notice it -- moving in the right direction is always better as trying to block things, dogs can read the direction the best when you move.
For RC, the best is to post to RC class. I actually liked the tries with full DW the most as she has the best hind feet separation there. She is higher as ideally as she seems to be trying 1.5 strides on a down ramp… 2 would be better for her size… Maybe you can get 2 with a static toy? Looks like it’s time to switch to a toy thrown after (see lesson 3). Try to tape the whole DW so that I can see how she is striding.
Yesterday night I already thought that I was pretty much static before the tunnel. I will try running to the entry.
I`ll tape the whole DW with static toy and will post it to RC class.
Hi Silvia,
We are a bit behind with the lessons, but here is a video for the 3B sequence. Over the break we did a lot of multi-wraps & now the bar is set at 12″. Watching this video I think Elsa would do just fine with a better handler… 🙂
I think every time she refuses or knocks rails it is because of my late & inconsistent cueing. 🙁 I watched Carol’s video to see how she handled the cik&cap turns and I think we were doing a little better than what shows in the video today--must be “stage fright”… 🙂 Today was the first time in a long time that she refused a “cap” but when I looked at how I didn’t support her with my right hand & how I moved past the jump, it’s no wonder she refused! Guess I need to practice more without a dog!
Looking forward to your comments. Thanks!
She sure is very tight!!! What you would need to do now is lots of send to wraps and the straight line exercise (lesson 3 and 4) will be very good for her too, as we need more obstacle focus, she is watching you all the time (and many bars go down because of that, she doesn’t pay much attention to jumps as she is watching you so much). Of course, you could support her more for 2, go closer to the jump and show it more -- but she could also find it on her own if she looked for something to wrap on “cap”. Somewhat earlier cues and more training for obstacle focus would definitely make it easier. But hey, great motivation, speed and tightness and no other problems other than that cap!
Thanks Silvia! When you say, “send to wraps” do you mean what we did in lesson 1, part 1—working on commitment by moving away as they are jumping/turning? And do you think throwing the toy vs. tugging for a reward would help to keep her focus off me more?
I will work on the straight line exercises…well, if I can keep up 🙂 Elsa is so FAST and I am so SLOW… 🙂
Thanks!
Exactly. And yes, you’re right, throwing a ball is better as tugging for too-handler-focused dogs. Straight lines, build gradually: send to the tunnel and get enough of advantage there for one jump straight, do a wrap on a second one, send back to the tunnel etc. It’s hard to do more as that with handler focused dog, but with better sends, things will get easier and you’ll be able to do longer straight lines soon, don’t worry.
Hi, just to say you, that today focus away in slalom was really better!
Bye
Great! Maybe there is hope for Croatian Sheepdogs too 🙂
This is our teeter banging and sequence work for Lesson 3.
Thanks,
Mara
Cool! She looks ready for the next step on see-saw and you can also raise the bars some, her wraps are very nice.
That’s great news!
Thank you!
Hi Silvia:
Here is Bender’s Lesson #3 work with the sequences. With the extension and collection exercises we do have the occasional dropped bar….I have the jumps set at 22″ which is the height I am presently at with cik & cap. Of course I will need to slowly move up to 26″.
And here is the teeter work. I have continued with the bang game. I tried a full teeter at the low height at the of this session. I wanted him to get used to the speed and the drop. But I would like him driving more to the end of the board first. Should I raise the height and continue with the bang game?
Shona and Bender
Wow, Shona! Loved watching your great handling & Bender’s extension to collection in the sequence. You can really see him adjust his stride—very cool!
Great job!
Thanks Kathy. I am having great fun with teaching Bender. I have really only focused on collection work since I realized at a young age that Bender’s obstacle focus and drive was really strong!
Great job!!! His collection&extension work is really great, very nice extension and obstacle focus and yet very nice collection when asked for it. Great job! The cik&cap sequence went really well too, he is somewhat wider when you’re on the landing side though, but then, you don’t use your verbal cue in those situations… -- why not, it’s also collection? For dropped bars, you can stop and reset them. His collection is definitely good enough that you can put the bars somewhat higher too. For the see-saw, you can raise the height too and try to get him to jump on more at the middle now to do one stride more on a see-saw and do some more of that before going for the whole see-saw, despite I think the second one was actually pretty good already.
Thanks Silvia. I am very pleased at how the extension/collection work is turning out. Doing this exercise is the first time I have put it together. What a great and simple exercise and certainly a key foundation to continue throughout Bender’s career…. I hadn’t noticed that I am not using the “dig” collection cue on landing side before. My only explanation is that I think I have mostly looked at it as a “send” cue. I also haven’t handled much on the landing side before -- although Bender has been trained on Linda Meklenberg’s recall to heel position.
I will raise the height to 24″.
Pleased that you like the teeter progression. I was worried that if I asked for too many full teeters that I might not be practicng driving to the end….So I will raise the height and work on some side approaches where he lands in the middle like in your video.
thanks, Shona and Bender
Yes, I first use it for sends to wraps as there is no height yet. But as soon as I have some height, I start using it in many different situations, with handler on different places, to help them understand it means go straight ahead and take that jump in collection -- regardless of handler position (ahead or behind). Of course, you can’t do that when you are using wings only (with no bars), but at this point, it’s definitely time to use it in situations like that too.
Thanks, that makes perfect sense.
first here comes Toby’s weave update, i combine tunnel and jump along with weave poles training.
The 2nd video is our first session on this sequence, I think that we are getting there 🙂
Great weaves and very impressive wraps again -- only that one on 2 could be better… Maybe do some multi-wraps there to remind him of the tightness? You could also help with body language more and show it with more front. But you two are really doing great job, your verbals are in time and Toby has great obstacle focus and is still very tight. Looks ready for the next height!
Silvia, thanks a lot for the advice, i will work on that with him. We’ve been busy trialing last weekend, and Toby got Q in starter gambler in his first trial 🙂 right now we are catching up the class and working on the sea saw. more vids will be up very soon
Wow, congratulations, very cool!
Thank you 🙂 I didnt expect anything from him at first trial, just wanted to have some fun, but we had more fun, the Q was a bonus lol
Hi there Silvia, sorry a bit slow with getting video of lesson 3!!! I got my little guys to video me today before i change for lesson 4 sequence set up.
I am quite down because i feel her drive is quite low, ( def. see a pattern with her when in season and even weeks after, with her drive! ) so not getting the greatest picture!
I hope you see some good! Thank you.
Definitely many good things 🙂 Your handling is very clear and you’re mostly in time with verbals and Spy understands it really well and wraps great in all situations, even when coming from extension. Really great forward focus and yet responding to your cues immediately. Definitely looks ready for the next height. But yes, I can certainly see the difference in her drive, she is really not herself, it shows especially in cik&cap sequence. But I guess if it’s hormone related, you can’t do much about it… The good thing is that it will pass…
Hi everyone!
Here comes our lesson 3:
I left the sequences rather un-edited if there is anything to comment on the “in-between” training. I feel like she is not really running the fastest she can, more bouncing as she waits to get the direction for the next thing to do.. is more obstacle focus needed? Or will it come with more experience?
And then I added some of the multiwraps, which we had problems with last time. I think it is getting better but still needs some more training.
The most important comment would be that 4 is not cik -- it’s “jump”. It’s very important to NOT use cik for extension as that’s very confusing. Other than that, great job with the sequence, in time with your verbal cues and she is definitely faster as last time!
Still, more obstacle focus would definitely help… Of course, it comes with experience, but you can speed up the process by doing lots of sends to cik&cap, lots of straight lines and rewarding her with a thrown toy instead of from you your hand. But her obstacle focus is actually pretty good in straight lines, it just seems that she doesn’t understand cik/cap as a send… So more sends to cik&cap so that she doesn’t pull off so easily. It’s sometimes your body language that pulls her off, of course, you sometimes turn too sharply and pull her off, try to support her line more -- but better understanding would help too.
GREAT pushes! Ready for the next step! GREAT progress with multi-wraps too! Keep working like that, you can also slowly add some more height.
Oh yes, I see now (after your comment) that 4 is just “jump”. I sometimes find it difficult to judge if it is jump or cik&cap. But of course, the critera “extension vs. collection” is a good help!
YEESS!! We got some positive feedback (and something going right for us after all the misery with running contact! That’s like a “click & treat” for ME! 🙂
Very nice that we can proceed with the teeter. I am just not sure if I should have 4on or 2o2o. How can I know which is better/suitable? She weights 8.5 Kg, does that speaks for 4on or 2o2o?
🙂 I would prefer 4on. Have her jump right at the end and do lots of rewarding there so that she memorizes the position.
Grace was doing really well w one jump so we started trying the sequence again tonight. The good thing is that she’s over her phobia of my lawn (when we started this course she wouldn’t step on the grass for any purpose other than going to the toilet). She’s still knocking the rails a lot -- should i stop every single time she does it? A few times i was too late to stop so i rewarded anyway. It’s a good sequence bc she has to cik & cap without knocking in order to get the reward of the tunnel.
Should i keep doing what i’m doing or go back to one jump?
I made the 2x2 angle a bit easier and she did really well with extra movement and me falling etc
I would definitely still do lots of one jump stuff to be able to reward every time she clears it, but add more&more movement from your part as that still seems problematic. And, sends can always be better anyway 🙂 But you can definitely do some sequences too. You can also try hanging something on a bar, like some clothes of strong colors (like life jacket 🙂 ) or a plastic bucket or something to get her attention on a bar more.