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,
At what age do you start your weave poles? I have an eight month old puppy. I feel he is too young to start any ‘real’ weaving. What would you suggest?
Thanks,
Maureen
Yes, definitely too young for real weaving!!! But if you want, you can start some channel work, focus on independance and entries and once it gets so close that he would need to start to actually weave, just leave it alone and finish it later. Because no, they don’t forget. You can do A LOT about entries and exits without having the dog to actually do any weaving, that’s why I love channel so much.
hi all
I did have lot of work record, but having tech problems whit it ;(
so here is some of are 1 jump work.
thanks sinead
Very cool! He looks in a very good mood this time, loved his speed and barking 🙂 Do lots of one jump work, mix in a figure 8 here and there (with 2 to 4 wraps, not more than that) and keep it short, fun and intense. That’s already a very nice send for such a small dog (it’s harder for them as there are more steps in between for them) and he is nicely tight now!
Hello
Here is our first video.. hopefully not last.
Sirkka has been limping her right front feet and has not done any training lately… 🙁 Hope doctor finds whats wrong with her..
Also her teeth were getting of so thats why she gets a threat from hand in most of this video.
She doesn’t like restraing at all she wont go anywhere after that.
And she is very sensitive on handlers movement when sending her to jump. She has the eye maybe thats one reason?
But as you can in the video we have a lot do but we’ll have wait until she does not limp after traing.
Br Anette&Tuomas
Sooo sorry to hear about the limping… For how long is this going on? And so far, they couldn’t find a reason? I sure hope she is back to running soon!
And yes, I have had this same problem with my BCs, they have lots of eye too. I practised tons of recalls to hand -- rewarding only when coming in straight, not in a circle. Do it static, in slow motion, while running fast… -- as often as you can, no agility equipment needed. Stop the circling as soon as it happens and try to avoid the situations where you know it will happen, so that she can’t practise it.
For cik&cap work, at first, always bring her to the jump from the most difficult angle, not straight (see the videos) as you want to promote her staying close to the close end of a bar, not going over the middle. From the same reason, turn the jumps for 90 degrees for figure 8 and also spread them out some more, so that she can run more -- once she is allowed to run again of course… You could also use a ball if she doesn’t like to tug because of the changing teeth. Some multi-wraps would be good too, you could do some of that with treats and low speed while she is on rest. Keeping my fingers crossed she is back to running soon!
She has limped maybe 3 weeks now. They did not examine her enough.
But i guess this week we get to know whats going on..
In worst case we continue with Paula but she is only 5 weeks now.. 😉
What a cute picture! Looks like Paula needs to do some growing before she can join in! 🙂 If you won’t be able to participate in this class, you can also switch to the next one, no problem!
🙂
Sirkka was in doctor today and they operate her next monday. She has OCD (osteokondritis dissecans) 🙁 We hope operations go well..
Sooo sorry to hear about OCD… The good news is though that usually they recover completely very soon and don’t have problems later on, I know many BCs who had OCD as it’s very common in one of the most widespread lines here and despite it’s really sad they need to go through the operation, they all come back to agility very soon and can perform without problems. And hey, now THAT is tight!!! Great job! Will be keeping my fingers crossed Sirkka is back soon!
The baby is so cute and I’m totally impressed that a 5 month old puppy didn’t accidentally knock him over. What a great dog!
Nancy
I love the baby in between, so cute 🙂
Hello Silvia,
here’s Toby’s first session on the cik&cap, we did on sending him from my left side only, will work on sending him from my right side and figure 8 later. In the video, i threw the ball instead of dragging the toy around, is that ok?
Thanks
Wow, that’s very tight ‘cap’. Well done -- Hopefully Grace and i can copy you 🙂
Thank you 🙂
Great!!! It’s o.k. to throw a ball, sure, whatever he prefers! Time for a left wrap too and then you’re all set for the next height.
i figured that he’s faster when i threw a ball than dragging a toy around lol Yes, we will work on the left wrap. for the left wrap, im a bit confused, we send the dog to the far side bar instead of the side of doing right wrap? im not sure if my question makes sense lol
also my tunnels were just ordered, i will be able to get them in next 2-3 weeks. so without a tunnel, what else can i use to teach come to hand or shoulder pull? In the meanwhile, we will be working on the figure 8 too.
Thanks
P.S we just picked the puppy up yesterday, her name is Smores 🙂 I will get her into your next puppy class.
My puppy Smores
Oh, wow, welcome Smores!!! Congratulations! Really adorable!
Here is some of the cik&cap work Matilda and I did yesterday.
Cool! Spread the object even further now. And try to reward the tightest one, not the widest one 🙂
Thank you. Yes, I notice I did reward after she did a rather wide one. I put up another video last night with the posts about 10 meters apart. I’ll have to look at that one again now and see what I rewarded.
Hi There,
Here is our homework so far. I have to apologize because it is not edited (Problems with Media Maker extensions and youtube) for next ones I will try to sort it out.
Please remember that we are newbies and we got the jumps and the tunnel two days ago! But the most important thing is that Darwin Loooooovesssss it!!!!.
Video with tunnel on the way…!!!
Yeah, Eva!!! I love it! He really likes that that ball! 🙂 Looks like you two have a lot of fun! I couldn’t tell at all that you just started a couple of days ago 🙂
Hi Jeny! Yes I got the tunnel yesterday from Ibay I found a second hand one with a very reasonable price after nearly gave up because of the prices in the websites and I have been bugging my boyfriend for nearly two weeks till he made us the jumps…!!! The funny thing is that I am not sure who of the two of us is enjoying more!!! :).
Jennifer someday I have to post in my youtube channel a video of me trying to convince Vesta to do Agility…Buddy is a very focus dog compare with her…!!! May be I will upload it tonight just for the Craig!!
Yeah, tunnels are ridiculously expensive. The cheapest version is to buy ventilation tube as they use in mines… I just got some from a mine company, they are 1/4 of a normal tunnel price and last even longer, the only down side is that you can’t get them in pretty colours 🙂 -- just black 🙂
How much are tunnels in Europe? Here in the US you can get a 15 ft tunnel for $150. The good ones are made by companies that manufacture large party tents and tarps.
http://shop.ntiglobal.com/store/index.php?p=product&id=4&parent=8
this is the link to tunnel manufacturer
Yeah, I got mine for 57& sterling or 64e. It is a 4m professional tunnel but the downside is that we dont have any equipment here in Ireland (good business to exploit by the way…:)) and they have to ship it here so the shipping fees are even higher that the tunnel.
I am very happy with my purchase!
thats where i ordered my tunnels from 🙂 very good price with free shipping
I think 15 ft is from 250e on + shipping of course… I think all dog stuff (crates, toys, food…) other than training and vet care is cheaper in US as Europe.
That was great, well done Eva & Darwin! Made me smile
Very nice and fast! For cik&cap, try even harder approaches: coming from the side of the jump, not from in front -- see the videos. Keep adding difficulties to entries. If he tends to go away with a ball, try to have several ready and just pick the other one if he leaves with one.
Hi!
About the Cik/Cap (sin/took):
I started with it in february, learning sessions based on the DVD. So first shaping around a pole inside the house, then a tree, etc…
At home and at the agilityclub it went pretty good, but in competition it was terrible. Or he had very wide turns or he didn’t jump at all. That’s the main reason I took this class. And I’m very happy because it allready give me an idee why it didn’t work as it should. I noticed I have difficulties with sending him to the jump and run in the other direction. Hyper is a quite independent dog, but commitment could be much better.
Yesterday I had the second session (started later because of exams). I didn’t edited the video so you can see the total image (with other lessons I will shorten it in, but maybe you have a better image like this). The first short session I had a lot of errors just like the one on 00:26.
I didn’t use a clicker for this sessions, because I wasn’t aware my hand sometimes click, till you noticed it… I just try to reward for good ones.
I hope later this week I can send a video of the other assignments and a progression with the sin/took.
Sorry for the barking in the background, there was somebody angry for not participating in this video 😉
The best thing why I love this video is Hyper’s tail 🙂
Hey Tamara your video says private? I want to watch the cute tail!! 🙂
I can’t watch it, it says Private.
It should be oké now 🙂
If you worked on it before all the way up to full height, you can as well do those exercises on full height. He sure is tight and fast like that, but yes, the commitment could be better, he needs to learn it’s a send at the same time -- once he gets that part, refusals shouldn’t be a problem. Wide turns when excited could still be an issue, so try to put him in the same excited mode in trainings too. Try some really hard cik&caps when you come from a straight tunnel and you’re running really hard too for example -- those are always hard, when you are asking for collection when still running hard to get in for front cross or something. Once he can do those in training, I’m sure he can do it in competition too.
Thanks Silvia!
I was not sure about the height. Maybe I make it harder at full height for teaching the sending/ commitment. Teaching one thing at the time or start right on full height?
Here is my first attempt at video. Cik and cap is harder than I thought! My dog was doing a figure 8 around the jump-I can’t figure out why.
Kathy,
Take at look at around 1:50. When your dog takes the turn and you throw the ball, your are signalling the jump again. It’s very subtle, but your hips/shoulder are facing the jump. I don’t see that as much the first time he/she does the figure 8. If you are going to reward with a throw you may want to time the throw so his/her nose has just passed the upright.
Hey Kathy,
what a nice Lab! he’s so shiny! I love the play growl!! my old dog used to do that 🙂
Ditto--I have a friend looking for a lab with that kind of drive. Really nice.
Thanks Mary! You’re right! Thanks for pointing that out
, I wasn’t sure of the timing of when to throw-I will revisit Sylvia’s video.
I think it was your arm “pointing” at the jump when you threw the ball.
Thanks Jennifer-He is so much fun!
Hi Kathy. For cik&cap why don’t you try to send the dog from the angle that Silvia shows in her video? Maybe it would help to get rid of figure 8 around the jump…
Silvia, I just started to practice with Shape. I’ve had guests at my house during last week so I couldn’t do much. I got the tunnel only yesterday. And it’s VEEEERY hot here. We can work only after the sunset. And even then, we do very short sessions. I was thinking if it wouldn’t be better for us to be participants in the next class, as it’s only going to be worse here during the summer. But then I thought that we could work and post videos for the best that we can do, even if it won’t be our best performance. What do you think? Would that make her have a wrong attitude since she’s not giving her best?
Hope to be able to upload a video soon.
Laura
Hi Laura,
It’s very hot here in Florida too. It would be better for us in the winter months. I can only practice very early in the morning and even then it’s already close to 28C and the mosquitoes swarm on us. I was hoping to use the indoor practice space at our training club, but there are issues with renting it. Oh well, I guess we’ll stick it out now with less training. It actually works better than I thought with very short sessions.
Stay cool!
Jen
Oh girls I am so jealous! I miss the hit…Here in Ireland is still 12 degrees and raining… ! No summer at all this year…! however, we have problems with raining..no training yesterday and I doubt it about today…!!!!
Haha, Eva,
Do you want to switch? 🙂
No training here today either because of humidity level 🙂
Yes, very short sessions should be o.k. even in heat, the important thing is to not try to keep them going when they’re obviously tired and hot.
It’s as you want, you can as well switch to winter class if you prefer. I think for Shape, it’s o.k. as long as you keep it short and see she is happy about it, even if she can’t give it all. You can also try to wet her down before running or get her a kids pool so that she can go in and lie down if she is hot. How hot is it after sunset?
After sunset it’s about 28/29′ C. With a very high percentage of humidity… And getting worse…
They have their own pool which I set up almost every day, but she doesn’t go and lie down… I wet them down every day though.
She looks happy as long as we keep it short. I try to work when she feels best. But she’s slower than normal.
Maybe when you’ll watch my first video you’ll be able to tell me what you think. Thanks anyway.
Hm, yeah, that’s hot… Wet her right before the session and maybe also in between, but definitely still keep it short.
Ok, I will do that. We are expecting 40 degrees during the day in a couple of days… 🙁
Huh… I don’t even know how THAT feels! It doesn’t get over 35, 36 here.
I’m glad you don’t know. It feels BAD! And we even reach 48-49 in august every other year. Times to stay INSIDE with air conditioning on…
I’m with you, Laura. It’s not fun. It is usually around 40C and very humid here, about 95% humidity.
It’s like running around in a Turkish steambath 🙂
Ahah, Jennifer, it’s so true! 🙂
Oh no, 49!?! -- Maybe you should switch to a winter class afterall!
Maybe if it gets that bad also this summer, I might decide to stop. We’ll see how it goes…
Cool! Very fast AND tight! Try the side approach to the jump now, you want to challenge him some more now. That way, you will also run further from the jump and he won’t be taking it again. Great weaves!
Arf… two hours to download just one video! ^_^
So this is my first video on Cik and Cap traning.
I know that I do a lot of mistakes. But certainly I can not see them all.
She has some terrible ones, some bad ones and also really good ones.
I think I have to train the distance and maybe use less my hands and more the words cue.
In any case I’m really happy to see how she is crazy to do that.
Other videos are arriving … slowly … ^ _ ^
Very fast and mostly tight -- the wide ones (like the first one to the left and then again to the left in figure 8 -- obviously she is worse to the left?) -- just don’t reward, but do some multi-warps instead, those are really good! And yes, keep working on distance and commitment, those are hard for the barky ones anyway 🙂 Practise left wraps more as right ones, she is really much better to the right. But yes, she sure looks happy and enthusiastic and it!!! 🙂
Thanks for your answer!
In the video, when she goes too far to the left, I remarked that it was because I accompany her too far, so she’s deported. If I accompany her less far right she is more tight.
But I have to get used to her by accompanying her less far to have tighter runs or she has to learn to be tighter even though I accompany too far?
When I teach her CIK and CAP, I had teach her first turning on the right, that’s why I think she’s more comfortable in right than left, but I will train her more over the left . ^ _ ^
Sure, it’s hard for her to hear me when she is barking. That’s why she is more focused on my body language than what I said to her …. she must learn …
And I have a question about the use of the “out”.
In what configuration you use it?
For me the “out” tells the dog to move away from me, to take the jump from the rear. But does not necessarily tell to turn tight.
Following our direction or following the course design, it would be better to use Cik or Cap to ask the dog to turn really tight. But I fear that with the Cik or Cap the dog will be confused by my request and first take the jump and turn tight, instead of first turning tight behind the jump and then jump.
I do not know if I explain well?
hello,
i am sorry but i think i forget to présent me.
my name is élizabeth, i live in france. my dog is a russell terrier, Nana, she has 3 years old. i want to do this class because i am not a good coach or a good handler for my dog.
nana is a very generous dog, so i need to learn.
my english is very bad, but i hope it will be understanding.
our first work :
in 1 week i learn a lot with all the vidéo and comments
Wow, nana looks like lots of fun. She is so fast 🙂
Great job, great speed! Some turns are somewhat wide though, especially to the left, so I think I would make it lower for such a small dog, that’s quite of a jump for her already. Set it lower and do some more left wraps, some multi-wraps too, to make sure she is staying as close to the wing as possible all the time.