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!
Today Grit and I played another game with our little jump + tunnel set up today… Go Tunnel vs Tic/Toc
I’m not super thrilled with how she was wrapping her jumps. Maybe I shouldn’t have played this at 14″? Would you stay here and just let her figure it out a bit, or do you think we should drop her back down?
The good news is, she wasn’t dashing into the tunnel over and over like before!! 🙂
Yes, maybe 14″ needs some more work on just the multi-wraps and figure 8s… What was the height she was jumping in that seminar, she looked super tight in that video? Maybe you could do the closer side of a bar on 12″ and the far side on 14″. But yes, no problems with the tunnel anymore! Do try a FC on a landing side too though, that was the situation when she ignored cik/cap. It’s easier to leave the tunnel alone with a send as when you’re running in for RC.
The seminar jumps were at 12″. I don’t think she was quite as confident there, and not quite as fast. I think I will try the angled bars and see how she does with that. And yes, do even more driving in! 🙂
As suggested… 🙂 I angled the jump 12″/14″ and just did a couple of wraps for comparison…didn’t seem that much diff to me…she’s just not driving up to the base of the jump.
And then we moved on to the “tunnel hole discrimination”. As you cleverly imagined, this was still challenging for her. But look who started to figure it out!!! 🙂
Hm, yes, still not that tight, but definitely great progress with the tunnel hole discrimination! Maybe mixing in some more multi-wraps would help? sometimes sending her for one, sometimes asking for another one, when she is not as tight as wanted.
Hi everyone, I’m camilla from Australia and i’m repeating this class w my portuguese water dog, Grace. We are going to be joining you guys for the first month until we head to europe for the april lolabu land camp 🙂
Silvia, here’s a video from a few days ago with serp and our first tries at push. We were having a lot of trouble with the middle jump in the serp so i included all the problems, but after reviewing the video it looks like i am just way too far out, which seems to be pulling her in a zigzag pattern. I noticed that she is doing 2 strides bt jumps instead of 2 -- which i assume is because i am so wide. Is this right?
The pushes seemed to go pretty well 🙂
Cool, pushes sure make more sense to her. Still, try to have a more distinct body language when pushing, to avoid her pushing out on her own -- don’t just run, but do a strong step with dog-side leg to the wing of the jump, together with a high arm that becomes a low arm then for pulling her over. For serpentines, you are too far out yes and way too much behind. When she comes out of a tunnel, you need to see her over the 1st jump, with you standing somewhere between 1st and 2nd jump -- try it while leading out first, your position was pretty good when leading out, and then with the tunnel. Serpentines get very hard when you end behind, so you need to get enough advantage to be in front the whole time.
Hi Silvia,
I just got back from vacation and only started working on lesson 1 with WiFi. I haven’t gone through all of the comments yet so maybe you already answered this question. Do I need to get WiFi to keep circling the post before I add in my motion away? She doesnt understand yet to keep circling as she only goes around once. Do I need this on a verbal without motion before I progress to the step you described in lesson 1? Do you expect them to keep circling on a verbal or do you add an arm cue?
Thanks,
Theresa and WiFi
Hey Theresa! I’m not Silvia, but I can answer those! 🙂 You can just use your motion/arm cues to help WiFi continue to circle. No need to get it on verbal alone before progressing. Of course, up to you how independent you want it, but I can tell you that I still use little motion cues to help Grit continue to circle if I want more than one wrap. Hope that helps!
Thanks!
Yes, it’s as Melanie said, you can definitely help with your motion and arm cue!
It would be the arm closest to the dog then or the arm closest to the post?
I try to practice all with both arms because I learned from doing the course last time that it’s better if the dog can read the wrap in different circumstances (like sometimes for a front cross, sometimes for a rear) and my dog could only read it if I did my arm exactly the same way every time (so when we got doing the rears at the end I had a little trouble!). Hope this helps!
Hard to explain, so I’m just including a video from next lesson, when we’ll do multi-wraps 🙂 -- you can see how I use the hand there. With beginner dogs, I might actually even change the hand for a moment after they complete the first wrap, to help them turn away from me.
That was a good refresher, but now I am wondering about my “proofing the hand” plan with Pruli…Maybe I should abort mission on that and just stick to the way we were doing it?
Yes, I didn’t completely understand your plan… Could you tape it, so that I can see what you meant and can comment if it’s a good thing or not. I do use both hands, but in different situations ie. dog-side arm to send to cik&cap and opposite arm when I’m right there at the jump. On rear crosses, I use a dog-side arm and pushing on the dog’s line.
I’m going to watch that video at least 100 times! 🙂
Thanks Silvia! That helps. I guess I am just unsure what I need and what the behaviour should look like before I progress it. I am doing another training session today then I will post video so you can see where we are at.
Sure! Questions are always welcome! I just didn’t know how to explain well, so I though the video might help more 🙂
Here’s our first try at sequence #5. I have it at 50cm instead of 60 so that i can get my handling right first. I was really happy how we went at the start of the session 🙂
This was a great lesson for me in precueing. I had never done it before. I really noticed the change at 3-4-5 between the first attempt (when i used the Grace side arm) and the second time when i used the opposite arm. How does she know what it means? It seemed to help a lot! I’m a bit confused why 3 is a ‘right’ rather than a cap… I thought it should be a collection cue. Also, a bit confused why 4 is a cap when she is jumping towards me. I’m really trying to get my head around when to use cik/cap on courses and when not to so i know at trials when to use it (we’re going to our first trial this weekend)
We found 12-13 very tricky. How can i do that better? Is it because i am moving forward too fast that she goes right past it?
THANK YOU!!!
Cool, very nice beginning! 3 can be cap for long-jumping dogs yes -- it’s a limit case. But 4 is definitely cap as the dog needs to change the direction for 180 degrees over that jump… If something is cik/cap or not doesn’t depend at all on what your position is (landing or take off side, close or far) -- you need to decide based on the line the dog is coming from in relation to the line you want the dog on after the jump. If the dog stays on pretty much the same line or there is just a curve to it, it’s go or left/right and if the dog needs to shorten a jump to stay on correct line, then it’s cik&cap. -- See where she lands after 4 the first time. -- To prevent that, it’s a cap 🙂 That would let her land in the right direction.
Then very nice middle part and the problem with 12 is again the old problem of not helping her over the bar enough. You spend too much time going in with her instead of doing just one strong step in that direction and then you’re too much in a hurry to get to 13 and she pulls after you. Don’t go too deep for a push, so that you’re faster at the 2nd wing and then you can pause for a moment there and pull her over the bar with a lowered arm and shoulders turned towards her some. When you turn all the way (with your feet too), that pulls her over the jump nicely too, but it’s harder to get to 13 then. So try just shoulders and ideally, you are further along the line, as with any serpentine, that will give her more room to land AND a better line to 13.
Ok, thanks so much 🙂 That all makes a lot of sense! I see now that i am going WAY too deep for pushes -- i think I feel like i’m going to fall over if i take the strong step! … but i’ll keep trying and might have to start focusing on balance tricks for myself rather than grace! I definitely don’t want her to start doing pushes on her own bc apparently australian courses virtually NEVER have pushes
Thanks also for your detailed explanation of cik/cap -- that is much clearer for me now too 🙂
One more question -- at the moment i am using ‘Go’ as my command to go forward and jump in extension. Therefore, i am using it at the moment as my command through serpentines. I have also noticed i use it on course as my ‘accelarate towards that obstacle command’ like in this sequence when she is going towards the tunnel. I also use it when she is racing around having fun to get her to go faster. Is this ok or do i need a more distinct command to use for my extension jumping?
Hm, yes, I do have two different cues for that, go for the two situations you list and “hop/jump” for jumping in extension. I will sometimes use just “go” instead “jump-jump” for something like an easy straight line, but I do like to use “hop” when they need to search for a jump some more, like in serpentines for example -- especially with beginnings dogs who sometimes need a reminder jumps are important and they should look for them rather as just running ahead fast 🙂
Squirt and I tried a figure 8 with the jump standards 25 feet apart. It was fun to see him go between the two jump standards. I even gave him a bad cue and he did exactly what my bad cue was. He’s a good boy! Then we tried from 5 feet away with cik/cap with the bar on the ground. It was cool to see him learning where to put his feet. We did a few tunnels too.
He makes me laugh!
love the enthusiasm 🙂
Wow Heather! What a great little dog! You move very very well! Beautiful team to watch. I hope I never see you guys at a trial 🙂 HA HA
What a great relationship you have with Squirt! You can tell how much fun you’re both having 🙂
Heather-you run so effortlessly! I thought I was watching Daisy Peel! 🙂
Thanks to everyone for the lovely compliments about Squirt and I! He’s a blast!
Still doing great with all the exercises! I would do a couple of more sessions with a bar on the ground and then raise it a bit -- but it must really be just a little bit for such a small dog!
Hi Silvia,
I will definitely put that bone on a rope! We are in North Carolina currently so much more in the way of grass to work with and the bone wont become a dirt ball like it is in AZ!
With Gemini I’ll keep working on more independence and more trust!
I noticed that about me pushing the girls off their line too — so I expect when we train more and I trust more I’ll be better about staying out of their way. So funny we often worry about being in the dog’s path after the jump but not so much on the set up to the jump and clearly that’s just as important.
Thanks,
Carrie
Exactly, I think you were pushing out some in order to help and when you just trust them they can do it, it will be easier to stay out of their way! It’s important to stay out of their way both before and after the jump yes!
Here is my video of Mya weaving. I haven’t practiced her weaves in about 2 months so I have no idea where this came from…Apparently she is pretty enthusiastic about her weaves? She was taught on 2x2. Is her weaving style ok?
More Check and Cap. I think I need to run more perpendicular to the jump rather than parallel. She wanted to go straight through the jump a couple times. I think I will put the bar at 4″ next time.
More Tunnel sends the correct way as instructed in the homework. Maybe less bending over? Also do you think the toy is too much of a lure?
Amanda, Mya is just magnificent! I love watching her!
Thanks Kelly! 🙂
Her weaves sure look good, nice style! See my reply to Louise for some extra challenges you can test her with. The cik&cap is going well, you can maybe try some of figure 8 and if that goes well too, try it with the bars. Very nice and tight on come to hand after the tunnel, you can sometimes try it without a toy in your hand too to make sure she can do it without it too -- it’s usually not a problem at all, my dogs actually don’t even notice if I have a toy or not.
Hi everyone
Some training at home today sorry about the weird camera angle as started to rain as we were about to start so under the veranda the camera went 🙂
Although on reflection might not be a bad idea different camera angles give a different way of seeing things!
Remember how i said we don’t tug- I had been working on this awhile back but only ever had success at home thought I should try again he loved it -- although if I feed at all no more tugging so will try away from home again soon -- trying not to feed!
Oh and much faster loading on to you tube late at night -- thanks for your feedback 🙂
Now to the weaves -- independant entries not too much of a problem but really need to work on stopping when he is in weaves seems if we fail more than once it mucks us up totally so will keep working on this maybe not be so sudden in my movements and work on this more gradually?
Really enjoying course so far learning heaps from others videos as well as all the comments 🙂
Oh yes, I’m sure he will tug wildly by the end of this class! Drop the toy on a string to the ground every time, let him chase it, grab it and then try to make a toy fight back, trying to escape, just as a real prey would do. Try to stay away for now, use a string to move it and don’t bend over him when playing. Don’t bring treats at all when working on it, let it all be about the toy!
For the weaves, add challenges more gradually yes, OR, even better, open the channel some so that he doesn’t need to weave so much + it’s easier to stay in and then you can challenge him some more. Melanie who did this in October class with her experienced dog can attest that it won’t hurt his performance in trails or classes on closed weaves AND it’s much easier on their bodies. I would also lower the jumps some, this is really high for a small dog like this and he doesn’t know yet how to land in the right direction on high jumps like this… But he sure looks very enthusiastic about his cik&caps!
Yep, I can definitely chime in for the weaves. My experienced dog, Smitten, really took her weaving skills to a WHOLE new level from this class!! I was worried about doing so much weaving for her, so opted to do all the exercises with a very small channel, to be easier on her body. All I can say is WOW. She can hit a weave entry from ANYWHERE now, and she still tries to weave just as hard at a trial, but I was able to teach it with no stress on her body!
This is exactly what I’m hoping to do with Byrdie, so glad to hear about your experience with Smitty! Now if the UPS man will just show up with my weave poles!
Melanie, did you continue to use your same verbal cue even with the weaves open? I just wonder if he’ll find that confusing.
You mean “weave”? Yep! No issues. She just thought she was weaving faster! 🙂
LOL! Okay, thanks!
Will give that a try I have some channel weaves that I can borrow -- Yay I love having a plan 🙂
I now have channel weaves -- he is running through them well now after initially trying to weave one side -- I have closed them up quite a bit -- how narrow should the opening be now to use as proofing to not put too much strain on him. He is driving forward really well even with me stationary -- I’m loving this as I have always had to drive forward with him in the past. Thanks for yet another way to gain speed in a fun way -- Benji loves to run 🙂
Oh yes, channels are a great way to get them to run and get the forward focus! You can keep the channel as wide as he is, so he is doing just a very minimal to none weaving.
Thanks -- it is a long weekend here so hope to have some more videos to upload by the end of it 🙂
Hi again
Thank you. I took your last comments on board and would ask if I have made any progress in my mechanics. On the video this time I also have Dylan, my other agility dog who has back problems but still loves to play -- I find the whole process easier with him, only tried it first time with him today. Beginning to think it is my own lack of trust and confidence in Ponto (who is reactive and used to be very fear aggressive) causing my hold back.
Oh yes, that sure looks more like it! Now just slowly add distance to the sends and then next you can try figure 8s again, but with far spread jumps. Work on tunnel send separately from that and don’t forget to either say go and throw a toy or call to hand -- but go + a thrown toy is even more essential for velcro dogs!
Hi, I’m Aleta and I am auditing this time (fractured foot, so can’t do any real running). I have a 9.5 month old BC named Enzo. On the tunnel come to hand or front cross exercise, do I click as soon as Enzo’s head turns toward me, or as he completes turn and drives in to me?
Oh, I hope your foot heals fast! For come to hand, choose the moment while he is circling with you -- choose the moment in the circle when he is the closest to your side.
Thank you, Silvia. That is just what I needed to know. 🙂