O.k., time for your first homework!
1. find a way to make your dog run as fast as he can, tape him from the side and study his striding in slow motion or even frame by frame: how far apart his hind feet are, how far forward hind feet reach over front feet, how long and high the stride is, how his back look like and where his head is: many people think you want low head for running contacts, but in fact, you want the head look exactly the same as when running full speed in the fields 🙂
2. have a dog run over the plank, tape him from the side and compare it with the video above - you can tape it at an angle you're currently at. If you're just starting, restrain the dog before your plank, carpet or whatever you're using, throw a toy and release. Slowly bring the dog further away from the plank to really have them come to the plank with full speed. You don't need to overdo the distance, especially if you have long plank/carpet, as finding the plank could be problematic or the dog before you add some more height on it. Mark anything that looks like running in the fields from the first video, jackpot when feet are close to the end of a plank/carpet. Don't forget to click it or at least mark it with your voice! I prefer clicking, but you can also first use a voice and start clicking later, when you know your dog's stride better and can predict it better.
As we already discussed in comments before, we're for now throwing a toy in advance, letting the dog chase it, in order to get full speed. So yes, the dog is rewarded every time with a ball - so make sure that you really make the best tries even more special, use excitement in your voice, a play of tug on his favourite toy or food if that's his real preference - in short: make a party about the really good ones and don't worry about not so good ones - just throw that ball again! 🙂
3. to make it easier for the dog to understand what you're clicking for on that plank, we'll be teaching some tricks that are the best to help them understand how to use their feet and that you might be clicking them for using them. The two things you will try this time is cavaletti work - walking the dog over drawers or boxes on the floor - and teaching the dog to step with front feet on an object and clicking for any movements of hind feet: the final goal is a full circle in both directions, but first click even for just a weight shift and then go from there.
Post a video with all 3 assignments, first two also in slow motion please! This is a good check-up for those who are already running their dogs on a raised plank and a good stride-study that will help you see and mark the correct striding better for those just starting.
Also, read through the comments and see the videos in introduction page, you can learn a lot through videos and comments of others. Once you see your dog is running nicely, with an even stride, hind feet separation and hind feet reaching further from front feet (see discussion and video on that we had in comments!), you can put a brick or something under one end of the plank and have them run over slightly elevated plank - I'll tell you when you're ready based on the videos you'll send.
Left front foot just left the ground, hind feet reaching forward - this is what I mean by hind feet reaching over where the front feet were.
And this is what I mean by hind feet separation: hind feet hitting two different spots as far apart as possible (vs. staying parallel, hitting the same spot).
Hi! I just joined you guys as an auditor. Looks like people have some great progress already!
I’m Meredith Biehl in Milwaukee, WI USA.
I’m using this class to work with my 14 month Border Collie mix Rêve for running contacts.
We already have done plank work, but I need to work on her speed. She knows many rear-end awareness exercises already such as balancing on a dynadisk perch work (pivoting around both directions) and has done cavaletti work.
Welcome! Have fun!
Barb and Mercy trying to post again
That’s beautiful!!! Great job with both the tricks and running the plank! After 5 or 6 sessions like that on an elevated plank, you can go to next height! Looking very good so far!
Hi Silvia
Barb and Mercy here
I decided to send this video of yesteday’s session because Mercy had 5 leaps in a row ( I did not copy all 5 for the sake of time) but they were one after another. It is rare for him to leap. He also had some high hits. We were in a new location with a new board and the ends were not painted yellow. There is a very small green mark on the side of the board indicating where the yellow should start. I send Mercy into a tunnel which is about 15 feet from the board for the start. I did adjust the tunnel back after the leaps. This is his worst session. Today’s session there were no leaps, all were in the yellow, but he did step off the side of theplank once or twice.
Well, considering how much of really nice running you got, I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Was the plank the same length as yours? I also didn’t understand what you meant by adjusting the tunnel back? Is your further back? And when you moved that one you got better hits or?
Anyway, I really wouldn’t worry about this too much, definitely take an opportunity to train in different locations, but it’s normal his success rate can be lower at first. I would keep raising the plank though, he has great style!
Thank you
Yes the plank was the same length and I moved the tunnel back about a foot after his misses. That did make better hits.
I will raise the plank now. Should that be about 4 inches?
Barb
Yes, raising it for 4 to 6 inches at the time would be perfect. Happy training!
Hi
Barb and Mercy with the first session where the plank was raised 4 inches. My clicking was a bit off today. And the counting of runs is off due to my video partner missed several runs of the dog and just had me or the plank.
Barb
Perfect! 3 sessions like this more and you’re ready for the next height!
Thank you
I will get in at least three more sessions at 8 inch height. After that, is it best to continue running the plank in the same way, by running through a tunnel to the raised plank? At what point is it best to put the plank at the end of the dog walk? I don’t think Mercy would have as great speed from standing on the DW to the plank. I do have a DW that can lower to12 inches (using crates). I think I would still have to use a tunnel to the dw for speed. I don’t want to rush anything, just concerned to have the right equipment as we progress. I think that I read that a table is not ideal to use and and as we raise the height, props will be more difficult to come up with.
Thanks again
Barb and Mercy
Sure, if you have a low dog-walk, you can use that for your next step! I usually keep using a plank until the dog can jump on it and then put it on a normal height dog-walk (too lazy to lower it 🙂 ). But we can use a low dog-walk now, raise it gradually and then see if we want to switch to normal height with a lowered plank at one point or just keep working on it until full height -- depends on either we will want to promote flying over the apex or not. -- With that length of stride, probably not 🙂
OK Thanks
How high is the plank before you put it on a normal height dw?
I thought it would be a good thing to get him running on a dw when it is low since he has no experience on a dw yet.
Barb
With Le, I put it on a dog-walk as soon as it was too high for her to jump on as I didn’t have any appropriate object, but I was only starting her in the middle of a down-ramp at the beginning and then very slowly brough her back -- she was too young to run the full dog-walk anyway. Also with a low dog-walk, I would first walk him over to the down ramp and then restrain and send to a toy and then start further&further back. When you’re close to the half of the height, we can see if plank on a normal height would be a good idea or not.
Hi
Several more sessions done at 8 inch height. This is the latest one.
Barb and Mercy
Looks great. Ready for lesson 2 and next height 🙂
A la séance d’hier nous avons eu plus de 50% de bon running !!!!!!!!!! c’est la première fois !!! j’espère que ça va durer ! même très fine une planche a toujours un rebord par rapport à l’herbe et avec ses 32 cm de haut et ses minis pattes … dès que la planche sera un peu en pente je mettrai dessus la zone électronique qui est très fine
yesterday we had over 50% good running !!!!!!!!!! is the first time! I hope it lasts! even a very thin plate has always an edge over the grass and with 32 cm tall and her small paws … when the board will be a bit steep I put on the electronic mat which is very thin
At this stage, you can use an electronic contact as a more accurate click, but you still need to see what she is doing! Not every hit is a good one! Especially with little dogs, it’s very common they’re hitting even though they’re actually jumping! So don’t trust the electronic! It’s o.k. later on when you have 100% running and work on foot placement, but for now, it’s really very important that you focus on form of running and NOT the hits!
hi silvia -- here is our first homework assignment, first attempt. thank-you!
terri/wicked
Great hind feet separation! Play with starting positions a little bit to find one that gives you lower hits -- that was all running, but mostly with somewhat high hits, so vary the starting position to get something to jackpot. For pivoting, work some more on independent circles without you moving to get her more fluent. When you start to move, you want her to come directly in all the way -- for now, she is mostly staying two to three steps away from a perfect position. I think some circling without you in the picture would help the most with her rear end understanding. Have fun!
hi silvia -- we are working on above. can you clarify what you call a session, and how many you would recommend in a day? thanks, terri
I usually do one session per day, with about 20 repetitions. You could do two with 15 or so.
hi silvia -- i am working on various starting positions and timing with my throws, and wicked is definitely running, but continues to have high hits. do i just keep at this and expect improvement? also, i am having some trouble keeping up with all the comments. they seem to be in the intro and in lesson 1, and thru all individual students. any suggestions on how to find them all?? i don’t want to repeat questions. thanks!
You mean she is hitting at the same spot no matter where you set her? In that case, I would try to change her striding by making a plank longer, maybe using two one after another? Or maybe use a carpet instead?
To see the new comments, the best is to use a comment feed as it lists you comments from the latest one on. I’m also thinking to put the answers that would be important for all to see in bold or something, so that I don’t explain the same things over&over.
A great question about comments!! A list of important answers or bold type would be very helpful. I remember reading something, forgetting where I read it and then feeling bad when I ask a question that has already been addressed. I hate to be a problem student and asking questions that have been answered!;)
Yeah, there is really so many comments that it’s hard to follow… I’ll try to bold what is important for everyone and leave individual answers as they are, but it’s sometimes hard to decide, many individual answers would be helpful to other individuals with the same problem too 🙂 But I’ll try and see how it goes.
yes, it seems she always hits very high (sometimes i am only sure using slo-mo), or misses the yellow entirely. the frequency of total misses is new. i am not clicking or jackpotting anything. last nite i had a little more success with a couple deep hits if i put her very far back in a stay, then got ahead of her, ran, and threw the toy as she approached the plank. but by that time she was getting tired, slowing down. i was going to try that again when she’s fresh. i think she’s also slower if i put her too close or restrain, and faster if i use a tunnel. my plank is 12′ -- should i put 2 end to end? thank you, terri
Sure, try that again. If it gives you better hits, just stay with that for now. If not, put two planks end to end yes. She probably enters the plank at the same spot if she exits it at the same spot, so different length will probably give us different exit -- hopefully a better one 🙂
we had a much better session last nite using a tunnel. no misses, a few high hits, but many/most deeper in the zone. we actually celebrated a little! i’m thinking i will do a few more sessions like that, and if we stay successful, i will video for you. so, should i wait on putting the 2 planks end to end for now?
Sounds good! You can stay on one plank then if it works now.
hi silvia -- i was tempted not to send you this clip, since it really is the worst session we’ve had all week. but it’s the only one i had edited (still having trouble with that), and thot you would have some suggestions for us. we are still sending to a tunnel, mostly about 15′ away, i throw from behind at the beginning of the plank. thank you, terri
Well, for the worst session, that’s pretty good! 🙂 Definitely nothing to worry about, jackpot the lowest hits, don’t click the leaps. -- She needs to learn the difference, so it’s o.k. to have a leap here and there. Could be something happened there though as it does look like she is really trying not to land on a plank… -- maybe try to support the plank some more so that it doesn’t bounce at all? But as I said, if that was your worst session, that’s pretty good. As soon as we get rid of those leaps, you can go to next height.
hope i am replying in the right spot -- i didn’t get that option after your last comments. would you be willing to tell me which passes are leaps? i think we only had one leap today, but i’d like to make sure i’m judging correctly. i do sometimes realize i click too early and wish i hadn’t. i will support the plank and keep working at this! thanks! terri
Yes, you marked it correctly. The leapy tries were in 2nd session: 1st, 4th, 5th and 6th (I think -- you didn’t name every try, the one after my 6, you say 8… hm).
Hi,
This is our latest session. I am a bit frustrated as she seems to be slowing down and loosing her enthusiasm for it. It’s taking her longer and longer to come back to me and she is not running as fast as she used to. It seems that the trouble started when I started to ‘jackpot’ the really good runs. Now she seems to run slower after the first ball in anticipation of the frizbee or a treat and if she does not get one, she goes slower. Plus on more and more practices she will run by the board or jump to the side at the end more and more. Any thoughts on this?
I tried lowering the plank to just one brick under the plank to see if that would make a difference, but she still would jump to the side (that is not on the video -- battery died 🙁 ). Any thoughts on this?
Well, your set gets really rocky at 0:51 and you obviously didn’t notice it and fixed it, so then she starts to run at the side… To me, it looks a lot like that’s the reason for her running at the side. Or she did that before, with a more stable plank? Anyway, you definitely want to make that plank more stable, fix it as soon as it gets rocky. If you think she is slowing down because of a treat/frisbee as a jackpot, then you can for now not use it. But maybe you just did too much of it in too short time? Each dog is different, I think you can’t do as many repetitions with a Sheltie as with a BC… How many did you do per day? Maybe give her a break for 3 or 4 days now to make her forget about the rocky plank and then start again, but making sure you don’t do too many.
Thank you. I will let her rest for a few days. We have been working on a lot lately -- RC, tricks and lots of handling practice too. You are right, she is not a BC so I do need to limit our practice time to shorter sessions. She’s shut down in the past too, and I do not want to repeat that again.
Yes, I did notice that the plank was rocky, but much later. I will make sure it is much more stable for her the next time we practice.
Thank you again.
This is my first video with Mason, my ten month on Phalene…I posted in the introductions I was having a problem with ‘bouncing’ instead of running but I think we have more running now. He is fastest when running to me with another dog and worst when I restrain him and send him to a toy without me.
He prefers to run on smooth surfaces to grass (he doesn’t like all the prickly weeds around here on his dainty paws!) I don’t yet have a good eye for this but I think his feet separation is best on the last clip where he runs on the footpath. We have been working on cavaletti & tricks will post that video over the weekend.
Do you think we are ready to start on the plank now?
A dog that doesn’t like to run on grass! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Sorry, had to laugh about that one! He might then be very happy on a plank 🙂 And yes, recalling to you is definitely better as sending after a toy, so you can start your plank or carpet work that way, but you will eventually need him pull ahead on his own too -- but as I said in another comment, that’s much harder with smaller breeds as BCs, so you can work on that away from that. Start with recalling over plank and at the same time definitely teach sends to cik&cap and tunnels and play a lot of fetch. Try throwing lower and much longer as on a video and release him somewhat sooner. Another really good idea that comes to mind are frisbees. If you find a small enough frisbee for him 🙂 you could throw him rollers, that usually puts them more in a chasing mode and eliminates the bouncing. It’s hard to throw a roller exactly enough for a plank work (at least for me! 🙂 ), but it can help with the way he chases other toys too.
Thank you for your advise as always very helpful, He is not so bad on very short grass as he can see spikey weeds, stones and little holes etc 🙂 He gets more confident all the time and then he hurts himself on something, he is only 6lbs so very easy to hurt himself on little things other dogs never even notice. I read the comments re the Sheltie’s and fully took it on board as it can be hard when you have a little one without the same working drive to remember this when we watch all the collies 🙂
What do you mean by ‘rollers’ do you mean toys that roll like a tennis ball? He has millons of toys he likes so I’m sure we can find a roller 🙂 He likes send to tunnel and I have your CIK & CAP dvd that I was doing with my collie cross until he got CCL injury so I can practice with Mason too. I see what you mean about my throw too…very girlie 🙂
I don’t have my plank work finished yet so here is a video of (bouncy) cavaletti’s and pivot…we still need to work on one side, I neglected this side when training so have to go back now 🙂 Will post our plank before the weekend!
Great job with the tricks! Looking forward to see the running too. Any toy that rolls is pretty good for that use yes, but my favorite are frisbees, thrown as rollers, so that they roll on the floor at the side… -- See Caroline’s video. And yes, RCs are indeed the easiest with BCs and similar dogs who will run full speed after the ball no matter what. If you have to address issues like not running full speed ahead of you, you have at least twice as much work! But the good news is that once you have it, it transfers really nicely to other areas of agility, so it’s definitely worth the effort!
I’m glad I’m not the only one struggling to get full speed running. It’s also encouraging to hear once I get it it should transfure to other areas of agility. That would be wonderful!!!!
Yes agree worth the effort and teaches us lots 🙂
I have to apologise for lack of plank work video, I have been sick with tendonitis for the last ten days so cannot do any running, bending, lifting 🙁 just back from Doctor and no improvement, hope to not fall too far behind!
Oh, so sorry to hear about that! Well, rest well and send videos whenever you get better! How is Charlie?
Charlie is doing really good thanks, he is progressing very nicely, agility is not in our sights for the summer but nice long walks please god 🙂 I am feeling much better today too so I hope to get my husband to help me tonight with some plank training 🙂 YAY
Plank Work Video (charlie peeking out from the house with my other two), he knew we were doing Silva’s homework 🙂 He misses his handling course!
Do you think we can move on to lesson 2 yet or should we stick at this stage for a wee bit longer? (I was 12 days unable to train with him, we had done 3 sessions prior to this). I think by the end of this session tonight, he had a bit of a light bulb moment. I jackpoted one that I shouldn’t have on reflection of the video, when he got closer to the end we played tug and messed around a little, he still needs me for motivation but with more experience and confidence (and training!) we will get there, I hope 🙂 He is a mama’s boy 🙂
I think racing him to a thrown toy works the best. He is definitely leaping when you’re recalling or standing still and sending and the last try is not perfect either as the toy is too close to the plank. Did you try it with one that would roll, that helps to avoid the problem? I would definitely stay on flat for several more sessions (10?), then start raising it and only then go to lesson 2. That first step is REALLY important, if you skip the running part and go on, everything falls apart at one point. I sure hope you’re all fit again, looks like you’ll be running a lot in next weeks to catch up! 🙂 Happy running!
We are really stuck, nothing much as changed. I have been sick but my brother kindly offered to take on his training as we were already so far behind. I am back to his full time training this week and I’m getting 50% jumping (or leaping I should say -- my brother the same!) and the other 50% he runs flat. We moved to a little teeny rolling tennis ball the good news is he has become very interested in this and much faster but now he doesn’t really care if we have a ‘party’ or not, he got the ball. We’ve tried tunnels, cik & cap and its still 50/50 which makes me think there is not much learning. I’m not sure where to go now, we cannot move on to the lesson 2 never mind lesson 3. My bigger dogs have all have it perfected but he is the one I really wanted to do the course with 🙁 Can anyone offer me some help to stop a little 3kg midget jumping off the end of the plank like it was the end of a pier before I go over a pier lol
Well, that’s something! He loves to chase his tennis ball! Can you find a pattern in what makes him leap in those 50% and what makes him run in the other 50%? Do you have a video that you could post, maybe I can see something that would help us getting a better successful rate? Is it the same if you use a carpet instead of a plank? Also, is there another thing (a tug toy or a special treat?) that he would like even more as that ball and you could use it for a jackpot? Sorry it took so long to respond, I sure hope you got some more running by now! And no more pier jumping! 🙂
Yay, great news! 🙂
Hi Silvia,
this is our very first session for running contacts. We had difficulties restraining Fine, so I send her into “tik” before running over the plank. The plank is very wide, we couldn`t manage a thinner one. But I hope you see enough for giving us some tips for the following training sessions….
So far so good! Gradually move a cone for cik further away and start throwing sooner as she sometimes gets bouncy close to the ball -- I usually throw as soon as the dog is in the line of the plank, before she is on. Also, because of that edge with the floor, I would either do flat work on a carpet or move directly to slightly elevated plank in order to make that edge smaller. You definitely don’t want her stepping on it and starting to avoid that spot, that’s why.
Thank you for comments. We tried it with several planks and this plank was wide enough. The edge was a problem for us too, today we will modify the plank, so that there will be no edge anymore. I`ll try to throw sooner.
Hi, this is Carrie from Arizona and I’m in the class as an auditor. My dog is Twig, an Italian Greyhound, who is very speedy. She runs agility as if she is coursing. I’ve chosen to do running contacts to preserve her attitude and drive. I have to say filming her running free was enlightening.
Here’s my question: At full speed she has a nice level head, but she very rapid turnover with 4 strides/second. In slow motion I can see the separation of the rear legs, but I’m failing to see it on the fly. Any suggestions on what to key in on for rewards? Not jumping = reward?
Thanks
It’s very important you see what she is doing in order to know what to reward… At the beginning, you could have a helper who would click for you and give you an immediate feedback on how she was striding, but you will need to learn to see it, so keep taping her, review in slow motion then and for now, just reward what you think is running, not jumping -- that’s good enough for a start. If she is running full speed, then you can be sure she is running, not jumping anyway 🙂 Is she a retrain?
Hi Silvia,
Thanks for the prompt response. I do have some agility friends who can help with the clicking. I’ve also made my video set up super efficient so I’ll be taping every session.
Yes, Twig is a retrain. Her 2o/2o was very nice until a few months ago when she began freezing on the contacts and once in awhile she wouldn’t even come off the startline. It was like she’d go into some locked in state! So I took some time off and trained some fun tricks as well as retrained her release. Her speed, confidence, focus and drive are the best when we are running full speed.
Hi Silvia:
Here is my homework video with Tai. I think the running on the carpet is good enough to go to a flat plank…have that now and will start in the next couple of days! Looking forward to your feedback….
Anne & Tai
Great job with both tricks and the carpet! You’re definitely ready for a plank, you can even raise it a little if you will be getting the same movement on the plank. You can first put it on a carpet, so that it ends where the carpet is ending. Jackpot the best hits!
Hi Silvia 🙂 this is my updated homework with Liryk. Higher cavalette and the full set up for the dogwalk. I didn’t reward the first one as I thought it was a high hit….. do you think I was unreasonable in doing this?? Still working on her being able to pivot without my help!! This bit is challenging but fun!! :-p
Megan