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!
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 now, but without the bar for first 3 sessions: 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 wing, NOT in the middle of the bar! That's why I always do this approach FIRST and do lots of it before trying any straight approaches.
- 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 and the distance between them: you want BIG distance to get good speed - something like 10m. Again, you want the jumps under this angle to make sure the dog is jumping close to the wing, 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 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!
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 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.
Have fun!
Hi Silvia, the third part of our homeworks here. Next time we will fix the tunnel. We tried with toy and restrain and with a ball without restraining Fine so you can comment both variations. The handling part is something where I´m very unconfident so I`m looking forward to your comment and tips.
I think your handling is perfectly good! Really nice and smooth! I don’t see any handling problems here. For come to hand games, I prefer tug toy, though, she was certainly tighter there as with the ball. The best is to have both ready and then reward with tug for pulls and front crosses and with a ball for going straight. You can also start sending her from further apart and you can also mix in some obstacle discrimination work -- see my reply to Inge.
Thank you. I will try to have both with me and then let her tug for turns and pulls and for running I`ll throw the ball. We will also put an obstacle into the picture.
Here is our video. My main focus is on Byuti (first dog in the vid). If I am not clear with my body she goes berserk. In some sessions I have used treats to slow her down. She has problems when on my right side and we are still working on the wrap on this side.
Hope the weather will permit to videotape the tunnel session.
Cool, it was smart to put that bar down, she was too wide on a higher bar, but very nice and tight when you put it lower, so after a couple of sessions, you can add 5cm more -- but not more as that for now! One jump exercise is also good practise for your front crosses, you’re somewhat late with those on figure 8s -- but every next try is better! It just takes some repetitions to start to feel it in your legs 🙂 -- looks like you’re getting there! Good that you have many dogs, happy to run some more, so that you can practise! 🙂
Hi Silvia,
We finally go to doing our first lesson. Rue has not yet been taught the verbals for cik/cap, but was taught to wrap cones/etc very tightly. I am just starting to put the verbal with the behavior, so kept the bar on the ground. I’m also not yet sending from very far, but that is something that I would like to work on. Rue and I continue to work on our speed and motivation, so I look forward to your ideas with that.
Weave independence is something we also are really in need of. Her entries are pretty good and I can do crosses before and after typically without a problem, but we never did do anything as far as proofing her to ignore what I’m doing while she’s in the poles. This is the first time trying some of that. I am using 2 bowls with food at this point.
Thanks for your thoughts! We will try to do the tunnel assignment soon 🙂
Kristin and Rue
And here’s her tunnel stuff 🙂
Cool, her tunnel commitment looks really good, so you could try sending even more and leaving even sooner. It usually transfers to the jumps really well too. Great handling after the tunnel, very tight come to hand and nice “go”!
Well, I think that’s a really nice speed for sends to the jump!!! You do need to gradually add more distance (leave a mark on the floor), but I think the speed was really great! It’s of course good to start with no bars first and then after a couple of sessions more, you can put them very low at first -- no hurry with that, you can do all the sending&commitment work on low jumps already. Nice independence in weaves too -- try to work on entries at the same time -- entries are never that good that you can’t do some more work on those 🙂 I think we had a long discussion on motivation somewhere within this class, if anybody remembers where -- please help 🙂
I believe the long motivation discussion is on July 7th, at 06:11 in replies to Catalina (page 11).
On July 7th @ 17:00 there was a discussion on weave pole entries with Nancy (page 11)
Lois
Thanks!
Thanks Lois!!!
Thank you. Yeah Rue is really really speeding up, but I really have to put a TON of energy in to get any out. She’s kind of a Regan-like dog too….;-)
So I’ve not taught her cik/cap yet at all. I need to get to work on adding the verbals and doing the multi-wraps because I’m sure we’re very much behind there.
Rue is 3yrs old and already competing at the Masters level, but I’m really looking forward to going back to the foundations in order to work more on independence and continued understanding on her part to increase her speed/motivation. I end up doing a lot of running with her, which is fine because I can, but I know she could be faster if she were confident to send ahead of me more.
I agree, it’s always good to run with the dog… -- but it’s even better if while doing so, the dog is pulling for obstacles on his own too 🙂 It makes running and pushing easier and the speed even better. Also, for dogs with this problem, I like to use a thrown toy as the reward the most -- simply because it makes more sense. However, I didn’t realize how important it actually is until the experience with Le: with her, I was rewarding with a tug toy from my hand for a very long time as she wouldn’t fetch the ball back and the speed was never really a problem for her -- but commitment and distance sure was. Interestingly, her commitment, sends AND speed got dramatically better when I started to reward with a ball (once she learned to fetch… -- that was quite a project 🙂 ) -- just another idea to try.
Hello Everyone,
Here is a compilation of 3 cic-cap training sessions. We’ve done some tunnel work, but had to put the tunnel up because of rain.
In video, I try a multi-wrap at 1:00 and it doesn’t work, I need to try more often. I haven’t done too many, but wanted to see if you could spot what I’m doing wrong.
Overall our cic-cap is progressing. I’m moving in the right direction, I believe Speed’s wraps are tight most of the time — but say so if they’re not. I sometimes get the cues mixed up but practice will solve that. I sometimes hesitate after sending him or stop moving and he stops moving — see 2:00. I’d like feedback on those moments.
We finally went to the field today, it was terribly warm and humid at 8:00am. Speed was not into doing just cic-cap. He wandered off to do the A-frame and the dogwalk on two occassions (see 2:55). My friend Robin (auditing class) and I decided since he has motivation issues, that doing the A-frame with some cic-cap might be good for him in the heat. I think it went pretty well, but please point out anything we’re doing wrong or if you think adding the A-frame wasn’t a good idea. I edited out several minutes of him wandering off when we tried to do cic-cap only.
Thank you very much Silvia. You’re the best for watching each video and coaching!!!
Lois & Speed
I found Silvia’s reply to Marla on July 4th @07:06 about working through confusion doing a multi-wrap. It’s a great example and that answers my question on what to do with multi-wrap.
O.k., great, it’s good you can still find things 🙂 Your front crosses are getting really nice and cik&caps are nice and tight too, but do spread the jumps even more and let him go get them more on his own (in figure 8s). Adding distance gradually will make his commitment better and the stopping problem will go away. Using an A-frame is perfectly o.k., but still angle the jump for 90 degrees to practise the difficult approaches. A couple of sessions more and you can also add some height.
We’ve been working on cik/cap with the wings and i haven’t been happy enough w our progress to add a bar yet.
This is a combo of a few sessions. We’ve been getting some good wraps but they are v dependant on my body position. When we started fig 8 our turns were horribly wide so didn’t want to practice that. Realised i have failed to communicate to Grace that it is about tightness, so we did a mellow shaping session this morning on tightness. I’ve left this session unedited so you can see our fumblings -- think we’re starting to get the idea
When Grace runs towards the camera (I had a pile of toys by the tripod), I think she thought “well, if you’re not going to reward me i’ll go and get my own toy!”
Unfortunately we have to leave the farm tomorrow and go back to uni (I’ve already taken an extra week’s holiday to play w my dog!)
Ive finally read every single post -- v proud of myself 🙂
Camilla,
Is Grace a Portuguese Water Dog. I’m envious of your multi-wraps. We’re still working on that. Also envious that you’re wearing a coat. It hit 99F (37C) today. We’re taking a few days off waiting for the heat to break. The low is 74F (23C) with high humidity. Boooooo……
Good for you reading all the posts. That’s what I’m doing while it’s hot and trying to make notes.
Lois
Thanks Lois 🙂 Yes, Grace is a portuguese water dog. I was wondering what breed Speed was the other day when watching your vid -- i couldn’t work out if he was a labradoodle or a portuguese water dog. I just read your intro post which says he’s most likely a PWD. i find it hard to tell by looking, prob best judge is how cheeky they are! (I tell lots of people Grace is a portopoodlewaternoodledoodle -- just for fun!) Grace is about to have a radical haircut bc she’s getting dredlocks..we’ll be able to compare them both with no hair 🙂 That’s funny -- it seems most people in this class are getting v jealous of my winter woolies 🙂
Yeap, that’s a good way to tighter wraps… Doing some multi-wraps within figure 8s.
I should be able to video my tunnel and more Cik and Cap tomorrow. Sparrow and I were at a party at the lake yesterday. I swim with my dogs a lot. We even swim courses. She was a bit tired so I did not want to push the training today.
I am a bit confused about the 2 on 2 off. I am planning on running contacts. Here is a clip of what we did today. Wanted some feedback before I continue.
That is the neatest little 2/2 trainer. Is it some kind of exercise device for adults? Nice training facility!
Nancy
The 2/2 trainer is actually a human exercise platform for step work. I found it on clearance and knew I would come up with some dog use. This is the first time I have used it.
Thanks for the comments on my facility. It is my dream come true. Set on five acres with a stream, fields, woods. On a quiet dirt road.
I feel very fortunate to make my living doing what I love.
If you want to do running contacts, then you don’t need to do 2on2off!!! 🙂 I wrote just for those who didn’t decide yet that they can try both and see what they like better.
I think I would like 2 on 2 off on the See Saw. Running on A and dog walk.
Thoughts on this?
Sounds good!
Hi. Here’s our first video for lesson 1. I started to practice 6 days ago, so these are 1st/2nd sessions for each exercise. It’s getting hotter and hotter here. Last night it was 32° C at 8pm. We’re starting to work only after 10pm. And there are ashes everywhere, gift of our dear volcano, Mt. Etna…
I saw you already posted lesson 2. I hope to find a better place to train since my garden is too small for the sequence and our training center is not ready yet.
Well, talking about this video, I’d appreciate to get your feedback. Shape usually drops down if I don’t reward her, as you can see sometimes in the video. Then I have to encourage her to get up and try again. I know I should put the jumps more far away from each other for figure 8 and say more “gira” before the turns. I realized after watching the video that I call her to hand too much and cue the obstacle too late. And for the tunnel session.. sometimes she tries to steal the toy in my hand before I can actually do a FC or a pull. I don’t know if you can see that in this session, but it happened during other sessions I didn’t film. Maybe it’s time to refresh some “toy refusal” trick from puppy class lesson 1. 🙂
Anyway, here it is:
Wow, Shape grew some more! How high is she now? But yes, I agree with your observations 🙂 You need more distance and you actually don’t need to call her in between figure 8s at all, just send her with gira right away you don’t have time for all. Tunnel exercise is going really well and I think she is doing really well considering how hot it is. I think this first sequence, you can fit in your garden, you can set the two jumps closer to each other as on a picture, it doesn’t matter as you never go from one jump to another anyway, so you can just make the sequence more narrow, no problem.
Hi Silvia…
here’s a little tunnel sends and some weaving and sloooooooooow cik&cap sends… I think I need to get out the soccer ball again maybe and she’s still not circling more than once on work around the pole… although beginning to offer it after a little hesitation in the cap directions, not yet cik… she offers putting her head close to it, so thats good…
this video was from a few days ago, maybe after I take her for a soak in the lake and she cools off we can video more of where we are now, which is not that much farther, but some
Dinah
…more of our beginner cik&tap today… she was very worried/distracted about the bees and flies in the grass so it was hard… I edited but I confess I left in some of the (boring??) parts where she pauses to think about what I want her to do, she does seem to be trying to figure it out… and as she was starting to give me a little more than once around in the tap direction I stuck with it for this session… because before this she was mostly making a loop around and just back to me… At the very end (if you are still watching) I do a few “sends” and these do seem to cheer her up, however sometimes she is making her tight turns AT the pole instead of around it…
I mean she knows “go around” but that means a wide turn around and back to me…. around fire hydrants, trees, benches, etc. on walks
ANY other suggestions on how to make this more fun for her and less of a lesson???? I am afraid I am making it too tedious
: (
thanks, Dinah
Silvia… here is our cik beginnings.
Stella much prefers cap… So, am I handling this ok? Am I demotivating her, by turning her back to cik? what SHOULD I be doing to get her to practice more cik?
Is it ok the way I tend to lure and also sort of cue sometimes to encourage more wraps??????
And again… my question is how to make this more fun… she is so slow, maybe because she is bored, maybe because she is thinking so hard, maybe because she is worried about what is right and what is wrong…
after we finished and I turned off the camera, I got her to tug on a squirrel frisbee to help her shake out her seriousness and sent her around the pole a few times to chase the frisbee and tug some more…
So, maybe that and the soccer ball tomorrow as agility class is cancelled… is it too early to try figure 8s?
oooooooookaaaaay, here we finally have some enthuuuusiasm today, BUT less thinking… how to strike the balance?????
Was this session totally useless, waste-of-time, too silly?
struggling here, Dinah
PS: good news since this morning… this afternoon she was giving two circles both directions for meatballs (sorry to say, no video of that)
By sends, I don’t mean you need to be static. The way you handle at 1:25 was great: moving to give her more speed, but still having her focus on an object -- what gave you a nice, pretty tight cap. The other tries were just very confusing for her, she doesn’t know it well enough to handle it like that. Try to reproduce more tries like the one at 1:25.
Sure, you can help her to keep circling, you can as well help her even more -- see my reply to Gabriel. Spread the two objects further apart so that she can do some running in between. And yes, try to use a toy and occasionally, also do just one wrap before going back to the other object, as a preparation for real figure 8s. If that goes well, you can try the real ones too yes 🙂
Now that she knows it’s about the object… Maybe just show her you want the second/third wrap -- and reward with a toy? Getting more wraps will allow you to select for the tightest one, so maybe that’s what you should focus on the most. With sends, wait a little longer before you start moving in the other direction to not pull her off, she doesn’t know the exercise well enough yet to have very good commitment, so… Just support her more.
On shoulder pulls and front crosses, turn more, for 180 degrees, to make her work harder to stay close. Weaves, you control too much, I would definitely open a channel and let her do her job independently. Great speed at figure 8s… -- but no tightness… I think you need to do what Camilla is doing and what we discussed with Jonina: multi-wraps on each object before sending her back to the other one in figure 8s. For sends, you don’t need to be static, you can move with her to make it more fun. Figure 8s include sends too and she actually sends well, you just need to move with her some. But she doesn’t seem to understand it’s about tightness, so we need some more multi-wraps work.
Questions:
1- being new to the “moves” and terms like “Front Cross”, “Send” et al, wondering if there’s a video on these terms so I can wrap my head around them faster? I googled the internet but it’s pretty lame in terms of descriptions. It’s a bit tricky with the footwork but it’s FUN!
2-we are making progress on cik/cap! I was wondering though, what do you say when you want your dog to jump a few consecutive jumps in a row in a straight line, until you needed them to wrap? Maybe that will be a different lesson 😛
1. That’s exactly why I marked in my video which is front cross and which is a shoulder pull… Did you check that video? I know it’s hard to do it at the beginning, but you can at least see what you’re going for there. -- And the send is anything when the dog goes ahead of you…
2. Yes, that will be a different lesson. Not there yet. 🙂
Silvia, I do not have a set of 12 channel poles but I have a set of 6. I have two regular sets of 6 as well. I may be able to do 12 stick in the ground posts.
Recommendations please.
I did not get to train today. I spent a good part of the day at the ER with one of my instructors/friend. Looks like she tore her rotor cuff.
I will try again tomorrow.
So sorry to hear about your friend… I would go for 12 stick in the ground poles. Meantime, start with 6 channel poles -- you can mix training on the two some if 6 is more convenient for you, but I would definitely want to try 12 here and there too.