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!
Our first video with cik/cap, we havent trained that before so it´s new, she begins to understand but she is pretty slow out so I haven’t added a cue yet. I put up a pole on the side of the jump to make it look less like weaves but when i watch the video i wonder if that confuses her, it looks like she is about to turn to early.
In the end it´s the start of our first weaves-training, unfortunately the battery died, i started to put the toy on the ground and it went well, do you think i need to put the rows closer? She wanted to run on the side at first so i moved them further away. Do you think its confusing to do this exercise if the dog have started with 2x2 (and does 6 poles now) or can i combine those exercises?
We did some more weaves today and got it in the camera, its a little close so its hard to see what im doing sometimes. I tried different things but it was most difficult when i stopped ore with me on her left side. Im not chore if i would keep the toy on the ground longer to make it easier instead of throwing it?
Yes, certainly set a static toy at the end to train situations that are still difficult for her! -- OR introduce difficulties more gradually (less abrupt stops).
Cool, that sure looks nice and tight! You could put a jump bar on the floor to make it look less like weaves. OR, you could simply use a cone or a bucket or something. I think she understands it well enough to start with restraining her to add more speed towards the jump. You can combine 2x2 and channel yes, I think the confusion will go away soon so you will soon be able to set the poles closer together.
Hi Silvia, Hi classmates,
I am Simone and taking part from Germany with my 1,5 year old Border Collie Fame. Because we only logged in two days ago, I till now only had time to tape our cip&cap & some of our “making the seesaw noice and movement to a fun exercise”.
Sometimes Fame doesn´t finish her run around the jump, but turnes around and comes to me. Is the distance to the jump to big or do I run into the opposite direction to early -- should I wait a bit longer?
Hopefully I will manage tomorrow to tape the other part of our homework.
Thanks for watching.
Simone & Fame
Looks nice and tight! She sometimes pulls off because you leave so early and in that direction. We want to be able to leave early, so keep working on that -- but try to leave in the direction perpendicular to the jump. You want to come from side approach and then leave perpendicular to the approach line. You can also try it with low bars next time. For the see-saw, click as soon as she pushes it down with front feet and then toss a treat/toy so far she can’t do 2on2off.
oh no -- I didn´t realise I was running in the wrong direction ;-( Does that mean, that if I send her around the left wing with cip, I need to run to the right side of the display window? I think I understud what you mean, I just wanted to check again…..
Exactly. The best is always to check some videos of others first (and read my comments to them) -- that’s why we do it in a class form!
Silvia, here is Grit practicing tic/toc at the trial this weekend. We did 12/14/16″ and I thought she did pretty well. I saw her confidence take a hit last week when she knocked a wing over, so I didn’t want to put pressure on her to go fast. However, at the end I felt like she would be ok to speed it up a bit and she seemed to like it!
What do you think?
Looks great -- ready for some figure 8s on 16″!
It’s not often that we need to wrap a jump in AKC but today we had one, a jump near the end of the course in jumpers that needed to be tightly wrapped. I did not know if I should use the “cik cik cik” command with Frisco since so far we’ve only done it in multi wraps around an object, and 2-3 sessions over a very low bar. I did some cik&caps (more ciks than caps) on the practice jump before the class but at a low height. I didn’t know if it would transfer on course at full height and the jump was at a weird angle and I wanted to be sure he’d take it so I just said “jump” and of course he jumped it really wide.
Anyway….my question is, when do we start using the cues on full height jumps? I realize in training we slowly raise the bar as the dog is ready for it, but if we’re competing every weekend at the same time, should I just go ahead and use it now? Will he get it at full height and in the excitement of competition? He has always jumped way wider in competition than at home. I don’t want to use the cue either if he’s going to ignore it. Won’t that turn it useless?
Your thoughts?
You can only start using cik&cap in trials once he can do it nicely at full height at home -- he can’t do it at full height for now, so using it would just teach him to ignore it and would end up useless. So keep working on it at home and at trials, just handle as you would without cik&cap…
Sammy’s very first session with channel weaves. I had the channel very wide at least 1m. We had a couple of ‘run-bys’ but he did it ok, although I didn’t feel good about the session. Probably just need to do a bit more and give him a chance to get the idea.
Looks good to me! They do need some time to get the idea yes, so just make it easier for now, run him to a static toy after the channel and practice independent performance meantime. Then narrow the channel some and introduce slight angle to the entries.
Here is our first attempt at figure 8’s. He wasn’t running all that fast but it was after doing the weave poles and it was very hot -- it’s summer here 🙂
I’ll have to try the camera from a different angle because you can’t see if his turns are tight or wide -- when I was running it, some of the turns looked a bit wide.
It sure looks tight to me! But yes, he could drive to the jump even more, so you can still do some one jump sends, adding more distance and forward focus to his sends.
hi all,
this is our first attempt at “wrapping” around the stanchions at this angle and second time running through a bended tunnel training. Apparently it was a one-way tunnel -- but at last Vini figured out that there were two entries to the tunnel 🙂
The come-to-hand/FX Vini didn’t understand -- something we need to work on..
Hi Carina,
do you remember me and my foxterrier Bubu form Silvia´s April camp? I´m so glad I met you here!!! Is this your small puppy? Nice job as usually:o).
Svata
Hi Svata,
Of course I remember you (how can one forget the deer leg ;-)) -- and I was recently thinking of you. I have bought the flight tickets and booked a hotel for the Agility World Championship and wanted to ask if you were planning to go as well 🙂
Yes, this is my new puppy, Vini -- she is now 10 months old. I thought Sookie needed company and I got a puppy after same sire as Sookie.
Are you coming to the camp again this year?
No, I will not come to Silvia this year becouse of my work. I will stay at home and cry:o))).
Of course I will visit AWC. I live in Liberec, so I hope there will be some time to talk with you AND if you would need anything -- just ask… You will compete with Sookie?
Welcome to this classroom. We did nothing with Bubu during last year so I´m glad that we have a new motivation and some friends here:o).
My website is: http://www.foxtrotlik.estranky.cz -- some infos are already in english -- contact and so on…
I´m really glad you are here!
S.
Sad that you are not coming to the camp -- it would have been fun! But am indeed looking forward to seeing you at the AWC! And thanks for believing Sookie is at a level to compete at the AWC -- but we are not there yet -- hopefully soon 🙂
I will follow you and Bubu on your website as well -- thanks for the link. And I’m indeed happy to see you here too 🙂
Looks good, fast and tight! Keep working on her commitment, so that you can start leaving sooner and sooner. But try leaving perpendicular away from the jump, that will allow you to leave earlier without her pulling off. You can also try it with low bars next! Keep working on her drive to a tunnel too and when you want her to come close and stay there, don’t forget to call her! Not sure what made her turn in a tunnel, sometimes it happens when the tunnel is not nicely curved, but forms more like a V instead of U shape… But it sure goes away with more experience 🙂
haha.. yeah, calling her name will probably have made a difference 🙂 I was training wraps today on a clean-run jump and she was both fast and tight so thought I will introduce the figure 8 in next session -- but do you place the two jumps on a horizontal or vertical line? Or doesn’t it matter?
Sounds great! It does matter how you set the jumps for figure 8 -- they need to be parallel -- see some videos 🙂
Hi,
our weaves for the first time. Now I realised that Bubu/toy is too close to entrance/exit. I will repair it. But I think she didn´t noticed any poles around her, she just follows the toy…
Yes, try more distance next. You can also set the poles somewhat closer, might be easier for her to notice them then! In the next step, you’ll be throwing a toy, but for now, it’s no problem if you leave it there as a kind of a lure.
I´m sorry about this stupid question but I really don´t know if I do weaves good. I´m a little bit frustrated.
I made a chanel from poles, I made it more narrow (feet and half) to make Bubu notices it and I let her run through. She sees the toy through and I restrain her. I move around and she is very independent -- we practised it without any obstacles -- we tauhgt her not to stare at me but to stare at the toy (focus on the toy). Now she stares at the toy but if the toy is only little bit away from linear direction, she goes out of the chanel. We did it many times last two days but I think she didn´t understand it at all. What do I do wrong? I tried to do it with cup of food but she doesn´t want to go so far from me because of the food…
Yes, a static toy mostly only works for pretty much straight exits and entries. Once you add so much angle she is choosing not to do the channel first, you either need a helper with a toy at the end who will only give her a toy if she does it right or you need to start throwing a ball after she exits -- running with her and throwing as you see she is about to finish the channel -- but not sure if she will focus ahead well enough at this point? Might be easier with a helper.
Well yes, she is really not ready to go ahead alone.
So helper “steels” her a toy if she misses the exit? I´m a little bit afraid if she will run for the toy if there will be possibility that toy will not be there:o))). She is smart in many ways:o))). But yes, I (we) will try it. And if I restrain her, run few steps with her and then I throw or I let her stay, go to the middle of lenght of weaves and release her and throw -- can I use it also? I can´t have helper everyday:o))). And for throwing the toy this should be much shorter distance so I could be able to throw it correctly…
Sure, you can do it like this when you train alone. When you have a helper, have him/her hold a toy and show it to Bubu, standing at the end, but only throw once she is coming out.
OK. Thanks. I´ll try and tape it:o))).
Hi Slivia & classmates, we manage to do short shoting on cip & cap at home and slalom on agility field. At home, we can use toy as motivator, on agility field fooed is still main motivator. Hopefully “tunnel part” wil follow soon. Jasna & Demi
… well we desparately need help with uiploading viedeo, If I go unders “prebrskej ” botoon and add link min ecomptuter just freeze. Any advice would be very appreciaated.
Hi !
You need to push your video on youtube first, so you will have the
address of your video youtube. Then
you don’t have to use a button, but just cut and paste directly in the text message the full address of your video on youtube and replace http by httpv
Ok ?