Belle and I ran this weekend at the QCDC NADAC trial. Despite the time change, I think Sunday was our better day. On Saturday, I just seemed to keep saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. The first run of the day was Chances, and I just totally blew that one in my walk-through analysis. I'll be doing a separate post about the Chances course. In the two regular classes, our first A-frame was iffy and the second wasn't a two stride hit. Belle's A-frames were much better in Touch n Go.
On the first Regular run, there was an A-frame/tunnel discrimination. I wanted to make sure Belle was looking at the A-frame so I used her name. Unfortunately, she was already headed right for it when I said "A-frame.....Belle" instead of "Belle, A-frame." Additionally, I dropped my arm as I said "Belle" and like a good girl she went into handler focus and came straight to me.
On our jumpers run, I opened my mouth and said "out" when clearly, I should have just kept it shut. In Hoopers, I thought I failed to save the run by saying "hoop" when I meant "tunnel." After editing the video, Belle was pretty much on her way to that "hoop" and nothing I said would have stopped her at that point. To get to the second tunnel, the handler had to indicate to her dog before she entered the first tunnel or while she was in there that a sharp turn was a-coming.
After these various misspeaks on Saturday, I resolved to keep my verbals to a minimum on Sunday. Unfortunately, that decision bit me in the butt in Chances--I'll be doing a separate post on Sunday's Chances course, also. I decided to use only "hit it" to indicate the A-frame on Sunday, and that seemed to make a difference. I thought Belle's two A-frames in Regular were much closer to being true running A-frames. I was also very pleased to see the improvement in her dog walk. We haven't worked a whole lot on driving into the 2o2o because I was concentrating on the A-frame. When we did work on it, I noticed it messed with Belle's mind in regard to what was expected on the A-frame--after working on the dog walk, she would offer a 2o2o on the A-frame.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Friday, March 9, 2012
One of Those Finer Points
I went out this morning to see how Dusty and Belle would do with yesterday's Chances course. (We had the same kinds of problems with it this morning as we did yesterday. Go figure.) However, I specifically wanted to work on the "out" from tunnel #6 to jump #7. It's essentially the same move that gave us trouble on the course from February 23rd.
Watching yesterday's video, I could see that even when Belle and I were successful, she still curved toward me before moving out to take the correct jump. I thought it was because I was not saying "out" until she was emerging from the tunnel. However, today I tried saying "out" earlier and earlier, and the result wasn't pretty.
On one of today's attempts with Dusty, I inadvertently put pressure on the line from #7 to #8 as he exited the tunnel, and he did jumps #7 and #8 perfectly--no head check, no bobble in his line. I realized what I did, but I had to give it some thought before I realized why it worked.
When I put pressure on the path from the tunnel to #7, I found myself moving toward "X" or standing still as the dogs exited the tunnel. This resulted in the dogs seeing me in a more or less recall position, while from my viewpoint, I was concentrating my efforts on pushing the dogs out to the "X." The direction in which I was moving was not really the direction I wanted them to take. Additionally, I was looking almost directly at them as they came out of the tunnel, and direct eye contact is an innate signal for handler focus, which is what I was getting, much to my dismay.
When I changed the direction of my push toward the green "Y," the dogs did not see a recall image--they saw me moving in the direction of the course and were able to move to the correct jump with little or no bobble in their line. I created a short video with Belle demonstrating the effect of facing the two different spots on the course.
I look forward to trying out this new technique on similar course challenges to see if it always works.
Watching yesterday's video, I could see that even when Belle and I were successful, she still curved toward me before moving out to take the correct jump. I thought it was because I was not saying "out" until she was emerging from the tunnel. However, today I tried saying "out" earlier and earlier, and the result wasn't pretty.
On one of today's attempts with Dusty, I inadvertently put pressure on the line from #7 to #8 as he exited the tunnel, and he did jumps #7 and #8 perfectly--no head check, no bobble in his line. I realized what I did, but I had to give it some thought before I realized why it worked.
When I put pressure on the path from the tunnel to #7, I found myself moving toward "X" or standing still as the dogs exited the tunnel. This resulted in the dogs seeing me in a more or less recall position, while from my viewpoint, I was concentrating my efforts on pushing the dogs out to the "X." The direction in which I was moving was not really the direction I wanted them to take. Additionally, I was looking almost directly at them as they came out of the tunnel, and direct eye contact is an innate signal for handler focus, which is what I was getting, much to my dismay.
When I changed the direction of my push toward the green "Y," the dogs did not see a recall image--they saw me moving in the direction of the course and were able to move to the correct jump with little or no bobble in their line. I created a short video with Belle demonstrating the effect of facing the two different spots on the course.
I look forward to trying out this new technique on similar course challenges to see if it always works.
Chances - 03/08/2012
The winds have abated somewhat, so I was able to set up a Chances course in preparation for this weekend's NADAC trial.
The hardest part of this course is getting to the #7 jump. On my first attempt with Dusty, I ended up against the back line after completing the serpentine, and was unable to move in the direction of #7 when he exited the tunnel. The second time, I made sure I had the room to move. Unfortunately, I failed to plan for handler movement toward the tunnel after #9. However, to my surprise, Dusty continued on to the tunnel with verbal urging and a couple of arm pushes.
Since this course included a couple of bonus lines, I gave it a whirl with Belle. I was expecting the turn from #3 to #4 to be difficult, and it was. I didn't think #7 would be that much of a problem since I certainly had room to push forward. However, sometimes timing is everything, and I was dismayed to see how late I was in my send to #7 with both dogs.
One last thing to look for in the video. When Belle and I finally make it through the whole run successfully, notice that I am bending forward as she finishes the dog walk. At the time, I wondered why she failed to stop. However, now I know. The best way to reinforce a stopped contact is to stand up straight. Bending forward is an acceleration cue. That's why sometimes it works when you run out of running room in Chances or Gamblers.
The hardest part of this course is getting to the #7 jump. On my first attempt with Dusty, I ended up against the back line after completing the serpentine, and was unable to move in the direction of #7 when he exited the tunnel. The second time, I made sure I had the room to move. Unfortunately, I failed to plan for handler movement toward the tunnel after #9. However, to my surprise, Dusty continued on to the tunnel with verbal urging and a couple of arm pushes.
Since this course included a couple of bonus lines, I gave it a whirl with Belle. I was expecting the turn from #3 to #4 to be difficult, and it was. I didn't think #7 would be that much of a problem since I certainly had room to push forward. However, sometimes timing is everything, and I was dismayed to see how late I was in my send to #7 with both dogs.
One last thing to look for in the video. When Belle and I finally make it through the whole run successfully, notice that I am bending forward as she finishes the dog walk. At the time, I wondered why she failed to stop. However, now I know. The best way to reinforce a stopped contact is to stand up straight. Bending forward is an acceleration cue. That's why sometimes it works when you run out of running room in Chances or Gamblers.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Don't Be Afraid to Ignore the Line
Finally, the snow has melted again, and I was able to set up a new Jumpers course for distance practice. Here's the course I chose:
When I finished setting up the course, I decided it would be a long time before we could tackle a course like this in a trial setting--like probably never :-) From the bonus line, it just looks like a sea of hoops, so I had to work extra hard to memorize the course from my vantage point behind the bonus line. Then I had to look at the course from Belle's point of view. I did a little bit of tweaking to make hoops 18/5 and 15 more visible to Belle. I decided the hardest spot would be the turn from 7 to 8--I knew Belle would develop lot of speed before she got to 7 and the off-course hoop at 15 would be the next logical obstacle.
Because of the difficulty of the turn from 7 to 8, I decided to try handling the course from the 70-foot line first. As I suspected, it took some thinking and some work to figure out how to best handle the turn. What seemed to work best was a combination of Belle's name and "wrap" given as she approaches hoop 7 and my sharp movement toward my right.
I thought getting from 14 to 15 might also present a problem, since 15 really isn't in Belle's line of sight when I'm 40-50 feet away. However, Belle had no problem finding that particular hoop.
This course lends itself beautifully to handling from a very small area in the vicinity of (75,40) point. I tried it with Dusty, and was very pleased with how well he did. He even stopped head-checking when I started to urge him on with the "whishing" noise I use when Belle is weaving.
When I finished setting up the course, I decided it would be a long time before we could tackle a course like this in a trial setting--like probably never :-) From the bonus line, it just looks like a sea of hoops, so I had to work extra hard to memorize the course from my vantage point behind the bonus line. Then I had to look at the course from Belle's point of view. I did a little bit of tweaking to make hoops 18/5 and 15 more visible to Belle. I decided the hardest spot would be the turn from 7 to 8--I knew Belle would develop lot of speed before she got to 7 and the off-course hoop at 15 would be the next logical obstacle.
Because of the difficulty of the turn from 7 to 8, I decided to try handling the course from the 70-foot line first. As I suspected, it took some thinking and some work to figure out how to best handle the turn. What seemed to work best was a combination of Belle's name and "wrap" given as she approaches hoop 7 and my sharp movement toward my right.
I thought getting from 14 to 15 might also present a problem, since 15 really isn't in Belle's line of sight when I'm 40-50 feet away. However, Belle had no problem finding that particular hoop.
This course lends itself beautifully to handling from a very small area in the vicinity of (75,40) point. I tried it with Dusty, and was very pleased with how well he did. He even stopped head-checking when I started to urge him on with the "whishing" noise I use when Belle is weaving.
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