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!
your first response was : Why did you set the bars so high? Can I see him wrap just a stanchion? Looks like you were rushing with height some… You need to add distance and speed first and only then start raising bars. Also, see some videos to see which approach to choose – we’re only doing more challenging, side approaches for now, no straight approaches. And we try to run away then to promote chasing and speeding out of the turn.
Sorry but I have to present him with the appearance of a jump or he doesn’t “get it” because of the way he learns. He’s not a dog who does “tricks”. But I can put the bar on the floor and try wrapping around the stanchion. Gordon is a puppy and not driven to go through the uprights yet but I will try to come from the side. I’ve watched the videos but the videographer was following the dog and I couldn’t see your position so I asked about that but couldn’t find the response to that question.
second response:
Cool, but don’t forget to do something specific after a tunnel: either say go and throw a ball or say come, circle with him for at least 180 degrees (either front cross or a shoulder pull) and then reward that. Aso, take his enthusiasm for a toy to your advantage and make it all a wild crazy fun game rather as arguing with him over that toy – it really hurts his attitude… Practice “you can only get that toy/food right in front of your nose by doing something else but trying to steal it first” while doing tricks at home and on agility field, just steal and quickly take a toy out of his reach for now.
I don’t understand about the toy. I can play with him with the toy but don’t I eventually need to have him give it up to me? I don’t understand who is supposed to be stealing the toy and when. If I put the toy in front of his nose he’s going to try to take it and I should allow that?
I’m sorry if my video is bad -- but there are tons of videos of others that are very good and show it really nicely, so please see one or two of those and it will all be clear 🙂 Do not present him a jump at all. Present him a cone/pole/stanchion and have him wrap it. Lure if you want. Add distance and have him drive to it. Then use a jump, but with no bar, he doesn’t know how to jump in collection yet. If he really doesn’t think, then you need to progress even more gradually! -- See some videos of others to get a good picture of what we’re going for.
To get a toy back, offer him a treat or another toy, then quickly hide a toy and continue the session. Apart from that, teach him that the presence of a toy doesn’t mean a toy is his, that he needs to earn it first. But do that away from agility and as a game, without the pressure you’re putting on him now as it really affect his attitude.
Cherie, here’s our 1st video, in case it helps at all…definitely not perfect either!!
Melanie, you are so fun! Your dogs are lucky to have you as their “person”. 😉
Cloudine, you are very sweet. I’ve had some pups with VERY high standards as to what was “fun” through the years…. 🙂 Wouldn’t allow me to get away with any less!!
Here is the 2nd part of our homework of Lesson 1.
On the weaves especially the focus was better some time ago. We already practised some difficult entries and I was able to cross behind of her -- but something must have happend, that she lost her confidence. That´s why we are now practising on just getting her focus on the weaves. Or Silvia do you think it is something else than her focus problem? Would you continue the training in just doing “normal” entries until she is more confident?
We also had some problems with the front crosses after the tunnel -- Fame bounced into my leg twice. Is that, because I turned to early?
At the moment I´m naming the weaves, tunnel, cip&cap more than only once -- do you see a problem in that? Should I stop that because it is necessary that Fame does the next obstacle even I say it only once? Or should I continue that way and start maybe slowly to say it only half as much and later only once?
Great shoulder pulls! On front crosses, try to turn and then immediately move (back towards the tunnel) -- don’t stand still, so that she has more room to turn and doesn’t crash into your legs -- jackpot when she turns tight. She doesn’t look completely confident about those weaves no… Maybe if you left a toy after, she would handle distractions better? Try to start her from more of an angle every next time to add difficulties to her entries. And, I know it’s a common practice in Germany, but you actually can’t click twice without rewarding in between… Choose one specific thing that you want to reward, click that and reward. But yes, you can talk to her as much as you want, I repeat cues too, my dogs like it 🙂
ok, thanks for the tipp with the front cross -- I will try again with moving back to the tunnel. I understand what you mean with the two clicks -- but I wanted to give her an ok, that she went into the tunnel, because sometimes she seems not so sure………should I better only say “good girl” or as we say “gutes Mädchen” 😉
Concerning the weaves: I tried in the session before to put a toy at the end of the weaves -- but than her focus got even worse -- she only had eyes for the toy and run past the weaves. That´s why I took it away again. You say I should start with more difficult entries -- but I am not really happy with her working the weaves the way she is doing at the moment. I would wish myself a bit more power and speed 😉 Just a bit more crazyness or confidence. So I was thinking about maybe puting the channel a bit wider so I can focus more on her entries than on her working the slalom till the end? What do you think? Or maybe having the channel at the beginning a bit closer togehter and widen it at the end, so she can get more speed? Because as I have mentioned above she already had some nice entries -- but with a wider channel? Could it be, that I maybe proceeded to fast?
Sure, you can say “yes” or “good” as a confirmation in between! And yes, I would open a channel some, so that you can focus on entries and meantime bring it closer together VERY gradually to keep her confidence and drive.
Here are some of Spencer’s figure 8’s. Should I have more space between the jumps? The second video is some weave pole work. Do I have the channels open enough?
Great weaves! You could open a channel even some more to not make him weave too much. His independence is great already, but you can still try some more extreme entries. In figure 8s, he is wider as ideally… I don’t really see any effort to stay close… -- Could be because of wings’ legs… Maybe you could try on cones first to see what you get there? Spread them further out yes to practice commitment and distance skills too. Definitely do some multi-wraps too, to teach him the importance of “tight”.
Hi Silvia, Here is Spencer doing cik with a single upright. The legs are much shorter which I think helps and I’m using his ball which he has much more drive for. His third time around I think is his best yet!
Oh yes, that sure looks more like what we’re going for! I would do some more of one upright sends and try to leave earlier&earlier as that will make him tighter coming out of the turn (just like he does on that last try), then try figure 8s with two uprights and then change one of them for a real jump, for his better side wraps first -- to help him transfer a behaviour to jumps too.
Spencer is getting more consistent with his cik but still not quite as good as his cap. Here are more weave challenges and entries.
Cool, the ciks are sure getting really good too! You can play with figure 8 some too now. With the weaves, mostly focus on other side entries as finding a 1st gap is harder as going around the first pole -- no problems with those!
Hello in lesson 1.
Sunday I did some more cik/caks with Kiss on another field, and some more waves.
I tryed to figure out what is best for her -- throwing the toy when she starts the waves or just leave the toy on the other side of the waves. My observation was that I’m throwing quite bad…but she starts running more when she sees the ball. When I put the ball on the ground she was running to but more with same speed all the time -- I think maybe thats better at the end…or should I get a helper that will run away with the toy (he is not always avalible though)?
We manage to narrow the corridor for half the wight were we started in this session.
I just love her tightness on the wraps, she is touching the sides when she is turning -- I just hope she will not knock them down eventually 🙂
The second exercise -- we tryed some 8s. She was doing ok, first not so confident, but at the end she was really running.
We did the tunnel too but unfortunately the camera was not cooperative. It was better -- I did 180 degrees turn and she gets it a little bit more now.
Cool, great speed, commitment and tightness! Definitely time to set the bars to 10 or 15cm. Do all the exercises again on a new height then. For the weaves, I would for now use a static toy so that she focuses ahead while you can do some distraction training (running-stopping-turning-falling etc.) and once she is fine with all that and just drives straight, start throwing it. By then, your channel will be somewhat closer already and she will be weaving some, so she will be a bit slower and it will be easier for you to throw well.
I have a question about the tunnel work. We say our magic word for GO when they are in the tunnel and toss the toy and run to get them driving fast out of the tunnel. Then for come to hand or shoulder pulls we are saying their name in the tunnel and calling them to us. This is to teach them that when we call their names they are to look for us, right? I know that probably seems simple and self explanatory, but one mistake I made with Roscoe was to not have those distinct tunnel commands and if I said his name in the tunnel it usually sped him up and he blasted out really wide.
So, with Spur that same thing is happening because I start with his GO and toss the toy and run, then next time I call his name for come to hand and he STILL blasts out. I try again and he quickly catches on and the next time when I call him he comes nicely. I just want to be sure this is the point of this exercise? I am trying to stay REALLY close the the exit for call to hand, is that correct? I do want to teach Spur to exit tunnels tightly as with Roscoe I sure missed that part of his training, LOL!!! Tunnels to Roscoe always meant blast out fast!
I think Spur will get this really quickly and I am very happy about that, but I just wanted to be sure this was the point. 😛
Are you using a straight tunnel? Try a curved tunnel for come to hand first, to make it easier. You can try to be close to an exit first yes, despite it doesn’t matter so much with a curved tunnel. I stand very close to an exit for tight turns out of straight tunnel first, but here, we’re not really training turns off the tunnel but rather coming to hand when called even if running full speed. Hope that makes sense?
OK, yes, the curved tunnel. OK, so I wasn’t totally clear, I don’t need to stay close to the exit. Thanks!
Hello again!
Here’s our cik/cap sessions since the trial (which I will upload soon) these are two sessions over one day, as you can see I am wearing the same outfit 🙂
Anyway- I should have waited to do the second session I think because I didn’t realize it was so hot and I think that made her slow&tired. But I did, so what can you do, right?
Also I did the first session right after RC training, where was my mind today!?
Tried wrapping wings for the first time!
Actually am trying to say ‘cik’ or ‘cap’ so correct me if I use it wrong.
How do you like this?
I will do tunnel exercises later this week (today was too muddy) and I had to order some channel weaves, so we are waiting on those to do weave exercises!
Let me know what you think!
When doing one jump sends, the 2nd approach you chose is the good one -- don’t push her around as in the 1st approach. That was quite a height change when you add a bar, but she actually did great and was very tight also with a bar on. But yes, she looked too tired for sequencing, so you got some pulling off as the speed was not right and you were there too soon and static… Also, you can’t just keep clicking without rewarding: reward after every click! You can next try figure 8s with bar on -- spread the jumps well apart and try to say your cues sooner, she will need it sooner once the bar goes up.
Okay, will do! Yeah I never realized how high the bar became and how much I click until I watch the video, I will work on it. Okay I will try and remember that for next session, thank you very much.
Today I worked on turns to the left only. I started with the bar on the ground and then went to 4 inches. I thought the last couple at the end looked a little better than yesterday. When I add more distance it seems more difficult for her to take off close to the wing.
Oh yes, that certainly looks much better!!! Add distance gradually enough that she is mostly successful and redo the wider ones, just like in the video -- those were very good decisions on what to reward and you got some really great wraps by the end already!
Cramming Lesson 1 into a 20min. session last night with TeePee. We’ll do weave poles tonight.
Great! It was good idea to lower the bars some, she was really tight on angled bars! You can go to the next height, but maybe angle it again. Very tight on shoulder pulls and nice sends to a tunnel, no real problems! I guess you can always work on driving to jumps/tunnels even more, make it extra exciting and maybe try it with a ball, many dogs dig in even more for a ball. Great job!
She has more experience. She’s Frisco and Tat’s mom. But she pulls off obstacles very easily. When I try to go faster in trials I sometimes forget to really support the obstacles and she’ll miss them especially if I move laterally or slow down at all. She is very in tune with my body movements. I have to really concentrate and make sure I support everything with her. I fear it’s my late cueing that has made her unsure of the next obstacle all the time. So I think working on sends and getting earlier commitment will be a big help for us.
It’s hard for her to dig in on this floor but the snow is almost all gone. I think 2 more weeks for drying out and then we’ll be outside!! Yippee!
Tonight I’ll videotape her weave poles but she’s a pretty good weaver so I’ll start right away on the suggestions you gave me for Frisco. I want to try putting the chute parallel to the poles.
Yes, I noticed she is very sensitive to your body language -- almost too dependant. That’s why I think a ball should help -- it gives them more obstacle/forward focus and more of “just run” attitude vs. “where is my handler going” -- of course, you want both, but with her, I wouldn’t worry about handler focus for now.
We have been working on tunnel sends and Zip is doing much better with coming to my hand with shoulder pulls and front crosses. When I watch the video it seems that my calling his name may be a little late. Should I call as soon as he enters the tunnel? He likes the “go” command so he can run after the toy when he exits!
Oh yes, nice and tight! You can try calling even earlier, despite it sure looks really good already! I normally only call as soon as they enter when I want a turn out of a tunnel already.
Last night’s work with Tat. We had a one hour obedience class, where she worked really well, then I put her back in the car for 45min. to let her rest while I worked my other dogs. Still…I think she was tired. This will be so much easier when I can do really short sessions at home.
I think her wraps are okay but she really doesn’t send very well, she likes to think about it, then do it but rather slowly.
With the tunnel work, I tried doing as you suggested Silvia, using alternating toys and trying to get her to chase me, but I was not very successful. I think by this point we were both tired.
I think tonight I’m only going to do tunnel work with her and hopefully I’ll be able to make it one big fun game for her.
I tried another session with Tat and her tunnel sends using two toys and I’m not being very successful. I have included our entire training session here (sorry for the length) to show you exactly what happens because I find myself getting frustrated, and that’s never a good thing in dog training especially with a puppy. And sorry about TeePee making all the racket in the background.
I would give two toys another try and try to really join in in her game, mark with yes as she catches a ball and try to party with her about it, run around with her some and then show the next, real fun toy. You can try it home with no obstacles and maybe 5 tennis balls, throwing one after another for her and trying to make “yours” more fun as “hers”. You can see what you get that way at home first and meantime keep working with a tug toy in agility, to avoid frustration. She also looks really hot and tired by the end, so give her more breaks in between, change the dogs in between -- but then, that might not give her much rest if she keeps barking when others are running 🙂
I know :-). I did keep all the dogs in the car last night while I had a class first, because they do bark a lot once inside the building when they see other dogs working. But then I brought the two girls in together. Next time I’ll bring one dog in at a time.
The night before I had put her away after her class for 45min before working on the tunnels to give her a break too. She seems hot and tired by the end, but then when I let her mom out of her crate, Tat starts running around like crazy trying to get her mom to play with her…
Last night I couldn’t really get her to come to hand after the tunnel. Can we use food for that? I think if I called her and fed her, she’d come better, then I would use a toy for the go. Food close to me, toys away from me? Or is it better to use toys overall?
Yes, you can try food for come to hand so that she gets the idea. I would then still switch to a toy as they normally drive in better for the toy, but it’s perfectly o.k. to start with food. And yes, I can imagine she still had energy to play with her mum, but doing agility is still different, especially with young dogs who still need to think about it.