For more on running contacts, it's best to join running contacts class or get a Running Contacts DVD. This page is meant for those who just have a quick question or want to show their finished product - you are very welcome to do so, it still brings a smile to my face when I see a beautiful running contact, it's something addictive about it. It is on times frustrating as well... - but it all makes the end result even sweeter. So... Happy training, everybody!
The classes you can join at the moment: Beyond Foundations and the two Handling classes (all without time limitations – you can join and finish at any point). |
 Silvia Trkman is known for bringing every dog, from her first dog on, to the very top of the sport. Her dogs are known for great speed, tight turns, running contacts and long and injury-free careers. Silvia is in agility since 1992 and is– 3x World Champion (with two different dogs)
– 5x European Open winner, with 4 different dogs (Lo, La, Bu, Le)!!!
– National Championships podium and World Team member with every dog she’s ever had – National Champion for 22-times (with 5 different dogs of 3 different breeds) – World Team member for 19-times (mostly with at least two dogs at the time – sometimes four 🙂 ) |
Hello!
Once we had a nice wide and fairly thin board I quit getting the leaps/skips/etc from Tess. Thank you so much for your advice. Now we’re up to about 10 inches from an easy distance (easily allows for decent and deep hits). My question would be that although I’m getting running 99% of the time, and my girls are running very fast, I’m not seeing as much leg seperation from them that I used to get.
Do you think it would be wise to lower the board flat again, and only jackpot really nice leg seperation, or should I continue adding height and jackpotting deep hits (so long as they remain runs) and that the seperation will come with time? Occasionally I get really nice seperation, but a higher hit and so I don’t want to jackpot that. That’ the reason I would lower the board flat again if I start jackpotting seperation instead of deep hits.
Thanks!
Try different starting position and accept high hit with good hind feet separation for now -- and then try to select for lower ones.
Thank you so much! That seems to be working much better for Tess.
One thing I noticed with my other girl, Soph, is that her speed when running in general has slowed down- not just with RC training but even when fetching her favorite treats/toys or chasing the other dogs or myself to get a reward. It seems like her enthusiasm is just wearing thin like maybe with all the running games/training we’ve been doing she’s starting to get tired of it (which is very unlike her, but we’ve also started taking daily long walks like you suggest for fitness so maybe she’s just tired in general). I’ve been training with her when she’s excited & hungry and only using special toys/treats for motivation so I don’t think it’s a lack of value in the reward.
But I have found that if I send Soph through a tunnel or over a jump before turning back to run her mini dogwalk that she is MUCH faster/happier then if I simply start her on the middle plank or on a straight approach. This seems to be working great and is getting her to run fast again, but I am assuming that this will give her too much inconsistency on the set starting distance away from the planks that sets her up to hit the end of the plank nicely each time (we haven’t gotten to the point where she’s learned to seek out hitting deeply quite yet). Do you have any suggestions on how to still get a set start position even with her running through a tunnel or turning back after a jump? Or do you think that when she comes out of the tunnel/finishes her turn after the jump that that will act as a consistent enough starting point (I assume not do to the variability in stride, tightness of turn, etc)?
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. Soph is usually a very easily motivated girl, so it’s very odd to me that she seems to be getting bored or loosing her enthusiasm (unless she’s just plain tired from the new exercise as her stamina has never been that great). So I’m glad that I’ve discovered how excited she gets from this, but if you think that this will cause her starting distances to be too inconsistent for the point that we’re at in training then I’d be glad to know that too.
Thanks!
Tunnel at particular spot is consistent enough starting spot. I would give her a break first though, maybe she is sore or not feeling well, it’s unusual their motivation goes down -- it always goes up through the process.
Thank you and yes, I agree. I’ve read over and over again how their motivation rises throughout this training so it just struck me as odd. Between the new exercise and the rise in temperature last week I think it just proved to be wearing on her. Other than this morning she’s had several days off now, but I think I’ll give it another several days and then see what happens. I took her out this morning since it was cool and lightly wet weather and that’s when I discovered her excitment over taking the tunnel first.
Thank you so much 🙂
Hi Silvia!
I would be very happy if you have time to look at our running contacts video. We have just removed the extra plank (a week or two ago). When starting with teaching RC, Brie always gave me hind feet hits (really well separated) and have been doing so untill we raised the plank really high and then removed it -- since then she’s getting almost all hits with front feet. No change in other movement I think, she’s still running with very nice hind feet separation (now often after the DW). She’s still getting hind feet hits every now and then too, though, but not in a majority (like before).
I am wondering if is it Ok to continue rewarding that (she hardly ever misses to hit the zone, but has now switched more to front feet hitting), or should I somehow go back in process of teaching?
and here is one of previous stages with extra plank:
Thank you so much in advance!
Well, if you look at the real DW contact (below the plank) in the second video, she is hitting with FF already then 🙂 The additional plank prolongs the DW and changes their striding, so it’s actually normal she is hitting with FF now as you practised that with that plank. But it’s perfectly o.k., it’s actually safer as this DW is pretty short, so she will probably hit higher and therefore with rear feet on longer DWs -- you might want to try the DW in Sneberje, that one is really long.
I noticed that she would hit it with front feet under the extra plank already but I thought she might learn to adjust her strides with really slow rising of the plank, but she somehow immediatelly chosen to switch it, and is still getting all hits so I just kept rewarding of course.. I just wanted to check if front feet hits are also just as ok as hind feet, which was the thing I have always been jackpotting.
I’m glad to hear she’s doing ok!
Ivana said we will go to a different place soon to try out her contacts in different environment. I think she mentioned Krim. I’m so thrilled to see what will happen. Running contacts are really fun! We both love it.
Yes, FF are fine, but she might switch to RF anyway as it’s more comfortable -- most dogs who started off with FF (Bi, Gyp etc.) switched to RF on their own. Try as many different DWs as possible yes, but Krim one is pretty short too. Mine and the one in Sneberje are longer and usually the hardest for RC. When do you start competing?
Oh still a lot of time before her first competition, she’s 11 months old now. She will turn 15 months exactly at your agility camp in August! 🙂 soooo looking forward to it!
And I’m also hoping for your handling classes, if(when) you decide to open it at your center?
Oh, still plenty of time then. Not sure about those classes just yet, I have like a permanent lack of time huh…
Yep, we’re not in a hurry. Neither would be even if competitions started next week 🙂
Aw, totally understand you about time. It would still be wonderful to visit you again soon. I will still keep fingers crossed that you might decide to fit those classes in. 🙂
Hi Silvia.
Here are two videos of Zushi’s first official competition 🙂 🙂 🙂
Gitte and Zushi 🙂
That was great! Many clean runs for a first trial and GREAT contacts! I’m sure we see you at the Worlds soon! 🙂 Great job!
Yep but we have had a GREAT Teacher 🙂 I haven’t joined other classes than yours. Puppy Class, Agility Foundation and Running Contacts 🙂
Thank you very much 🙂
I think you must have done something right too! 🙂
Here are two video of Mias running dogwalk in competitions! We did not get any fault yet and I am really enjoying it!!! Thank you so much!!!
Great job!!! Really cool contacts, great wraps and great handling! Way to go!
Thank you very much!!! 🙂
Hey Silvia! I’ve been working with both my girls on your RCs and I personally think we’re making great progress! My girls are racing fast and have good seperation and it’s gotten to the point where I do not even need to be real cautious about a consistent starting distance as they will adjust to make up for it. Both girls seem to have a nice understanding of what I’m asking for and my one girl is finally starting to build some amazing enthusiasm whereas before, when she was confused about the criteria, her drive was beginning to lack. I’m sure we still have a long way to go but I am really happy with the progress we’re making currently. I LOVE seeing them adjust/extend their stride so that they hit nicely 🙂
However, I also like to constantly be researching and seeing what others are doing with RCs. On almost all of the online forums, blogs, etc that are discussing different methods of RC training I keep seeing people say that your method is simply about running vs jumping/leaping and just the dogs natural stride- no mention of running deep or adjusting. It is starting to annoy me with how so many people are judging this method without seeming to even have an accurate understanding of it. I keep reading that long-strided dogs can’t possibly consistently hit the contacts with this method because their “natural” stride will carry them right over the contact.
Does it sound like these people I am writing about just do not fully understand the method? Or have I come up with some strange idea somewhere along the way that it isn’t about the dogs natural stride but more so about the dog learning to adjust so that it can come down deeply into the contact no matter where it’s striding would have “naturally” taken it?
Thanks!
Well, didn’t you see the video I posted of Bi showing 3, 4 and 5 stride pattern and hitting with all different patterns? I guess that answers your question, no? I posted many other videos of dogs doing DW in 3 steps, so I feel absolutely no need to fight with those thinking it’s not possible with long-striding dogs 🙂
Okay thanks! 🙂 I didn’t think I had an inaccurate idea of what this method is about but with SOOO many people giving the same faulty opinion it had me wondering if I was the one who didn’t understand correctly….
And yes, I’ve watched many of your RC videos and all are amazing! Okay, so I will just start ignoring those inaccurate statements and just keep on working with my girls on your wonderful method 🙂 Thank you!
Yes, I think that adjustments are such a simply observed fact that those who don’t bother to watch a video or two to see it are not worth to spend any extra time on…
Hi,
My dog, Rozz, had perfect RC on the dogwalk until I this spring. He now jumps every now and then. And when we hit the contact he hits it with his back paws and not his front paws( like this:
rel="nofollow ugc">). The plank board I trained him with is 540km away at my parents house.
He is only 2 yrs old.
He went from (dont mind the handling…):
To:
Now I have swallowed my pride, and asked for help.
//Tobias & Rozz
Like this:
Hind feet are great, better as front feet actually. But to know why he is missing, I would need some more info… Like several slow motion videos of the misses (and some of the hits) to help me see a pattern -- I can’t say much from one miss and we need to know the why to know how to fix it… What I do see is that on that try that he misses, he is slowing down on a top plank and then his striding is off and he misses. If all his misses are from this reason, I would recommend training on many different DWs to build his confidence and speed on new DWs. Is he missing in training too?
Our training has its ups and downs. Sometimes he misses almost all the time and other he hits them spot on every try, except when I throw a ball too soon. He has missed two times of six on competition
That’s still not enough info… I need the why. Tape it, put it in slow motion and study what is different in his striding on his misses vs. hits. Find his best approach, his most difficult approach etc. Also, what is a too soon thrown toy? Didn’t you practice RC with a ball thrown in advance? It’s important he knows how to hit even in the excitement of the flying ball/trials! A toy thrown in advance should be the easiest scenario, no?
I cant get my movie making program working. But there is still great news 🙂 I figured it out! instead of throwing the ball i just lay it on the ground several meters away. in 2 months he have missed the contact 2 times in training + competition.
When I threw the ball, he slowed down so he could see if I was throwing the ball or not.
Problem solved ;D
Great!!!
Hi Silvia 😀
Wondering if I could get your view on this video?
I’ve started training Edge’s running contacts and I’m wondering if you think he is over reaching on this one?
Just an update on Liryk too while we’re here 🙂
We were going great guns in competition but unfortunately while I was away at the WAO she injured herself with a grade 1 tear of her iliopsaos muscle, so she’s resting for the next 8wks 🙁 I wanted to say thankyou for your puppy class as I really believe her flexibility and core strength from all your tricks, has saved her from a complete and more serious tear. Thanks again for all your classes!!
Megan, Liryk and Edge 😀
Great to see Edge again, I see he did some growing! 🙂 His DW looks good, that’s not an overreach no (overreach is when hind feet hit unnaturally far after front feet). What he is doing here I call “dropping FF down”. He is going for 3 strides and would normally miss, but then shortens the next stride to throw
that FF in. It’s actually a great sign as it means he understands his job and can adjust his stride in order to hit, but it’s not the easiest way to hit, so not the easiest behaviour to maintain. So hopefully, you get some other type of hits too? If yes, all is good 🙂 If not, I would change his approach to change his striding and get some more variety.
So sorry to hear about Liryk’s injury, I hope she is back soon!!! And I hope WAO was lots of fun!
Thanks Silvia!
LOL yes he did grow quite a bit 😀
I looked back on the other videos of that session and he does give a variety of hits, back foot 3/4 of the way up the blue contact and back foot at the very end of the blue, as well as that front foot hit. Will change his approach though to see what else I get, thanks!!
WAO was LOTS of fun 😀 Though I did miss not having my own dogs to run 🙂 It was great to see so many awesome handlers and their dogs though!!
I’m confident Liryk will be back in no time, she’s very unimpressed at the lack of running 😛
Megan, Liryk and Edge
I can imagine Liryk thinks it’s not fair she doesn’t get to play yes! 🙂 Very cool you are getting such a good variety with Edge -- seems like he is understanding the game really well already!
Thanks Silvia!!
It’s definitely been soooo much easier 2nd time around 😀
Hi there Silvia. We have started all over. The video is of our 4 th session on carpet. It is almost 6 m long. I have not be rewarding, ( just throwing the ball) but starting from good spot that gives us the best hits, actually just trying to learn to SEE RF !!! And i don’t think i see any OR at this point? I think i am getting there finally, with SEEING that is, but would like to know please which type of hits to start rewarding. i think it should be RF but know you have said FF is ok too but don’t want her to go back to FF only. Should i stick with the carpet until i am happy that i am seeing RF well and rewarding correctly? Thanks kindly
Great, no OR!!! I would stay with the carpet until you can see and JP RF yes. Normally, FF are fine too yes, but knowing her OR history and FF preference, I would R only for FF and only JP RF hits. 8, 9, 10 were perfect -- keep this starting spot and make a big deal out of tries like this! And once you can see it well, switch to plywood with carpet over it!