I have been watching a fair number of agility videos on YouTube lately. Reverse spins are getting very popular. I like them in the right situation. Saves my knees and can give the dog more information about what is next in certain situations.
I compared two scenarios that are getting common for reverse spins (RS).
I set up a course to play with this concept some and then watched the video. Most times I learn way more from the video then I do from actually running a sequence.
Here is the video of my session:
#1 with Tangle, he had a nice turn and understood where he needed to go. I want a tight turn and I want to take off in the direction I am facing. Standing still, and with my position into my dog tells them to collect.
#2 - The distance between the jumps is about 18 feet, standard for a trial. I don't want a tight turn, just a turn and I certainly don't want any collection since it isn't needed and I want a fast time. In this situation I got a tighter turn than what is required and I felt like I was behind.
Here is a Coach's Eye comparison. The RS is slower than the forward motion.
Split #2 - Split demonstrated nicely that he thought a tight turn was coming and to get the correct jump I had to correct his path. He was correct, the RS for him is asking for a tighter turn. Also, it is not giving any indication that we are going to continue motion forward, it told him a very opposite story. If I continue to do RS's in this situation I believe that I would dilute my turning cues with Split. Something I have fought hard to get :)
When I am walking a course I look at the course as a series of (dog's) lines. I want to cue as much of a line as possible and give the dog as much advanced information about where we are going. In the case of using a reverse spin to go out to the far jump I am not giving them much information. I believe there are better handling choices.
I had 10 minutes free today and decided to pick up my copy of Clean Run. The first page I turned to was the "Editorializing" section and an absolutely fabulous commentary by Kathy Keats on abuse of power.
Bravo Kathy for writing about a topic that needs to be "outed" in Agility. Abuse of Power!!
I have to say this struck a real cord in me. I have attended several seminars where the presenter was less than professional when it came to the ethics that Kathy talks about. This presenter did not treat everyone with respect, not even close. There was rudeness, bulling, and intimidation. I am not a weak person so at some point I do fight back against the intimidation. But I walk away from seminars vowing to never attend another seminar again. They have an impact on people's lives, but is that really the impact that they wanted to have? I think not since they earn a living giving seminars!
A quote from the article "The good coach will be concerned primarily with the well-being, safety, protection and future of individual performer. There must be a balance between the development of performance and the social, emotional, intellectual, and physical needs of the individual" -Code of Ethics of the British Institute of Sports Coaches.
There are so many reasons for treating your students and seminar attendees well, and very, very few for treating them poorly.
It gets them to take another seminar/class from you if they feel like your words were valuable, and encouraging.
We ALL try to treat our dogs with respect, kindness and reward often. Why then do teachers not treat their students like that? Click N Treat works for all animals, even humans.
Good information is to be guarded? No, if we all contribute to raising the level of competition and competence, doesn't that make the competitive environment more fun. Isn't a fair race more fun to win then having an overwhelming advantage?
If students are allowed to question what you are saying it contributes to your depth of understanding of the topic as well. You get something positive back.
People who abused their positions of power has got to be my #1 pet peeve. I don't care if it is politics, teaching, parenting, or the work place, it is just wrong!
Way to go Kathy and as my mother would say "you can catch more bees with honey than vinegar".
I went to a USDAA trial down in New Mexico this weekend with Tip and Tangle. We were going down to pick up some more qualifications for Cynosport (Nationals). Not sure if we will make the trek to Nationals, but always want the option for a good road trip (ok, maybe Tennessee isn't the ideal destination).
I was driving back to the motel after Friday's Team events telling my husband about the day. He asked me how the day went, in which I replied it was "OK". Just "OK", not awesome, not horrible. Being the good "ASS" (Agility Support Spouse) that he is he asked me to go into detail about the day. Why was it just "OK"? Did you not get your Q's? Did the dogs get hurt? Were they not wanting to run (I would know Tip is dead if she didn't want to run)?
Tip's team placed 1st in Team and Tangle's team got second (thanks to my awesome team mates). Why then was the day just "OK"? I should be thrilled with those results right?
We executed the runs well enough to place high. The courses were awesome, fast and technically difficult. Judge was funny. The club was friendly. What more could you want to feel great right?
I remember having these moments in music. I would walk out on stage and start to performance. Yes, I got through all the notes perfectly, but I didn't "feel" the performance. We get the applause at the end, but you didn't feel that you earned them.
I realized what really THRILLS me about agility and what makes my day. When I can walk away from the day knowing that we ran as a "team". We, as a team, "felt" the run deeply and ran with that effortless, fluid motion. That is a GREAT day for me.
When I have the kind of runs with my dogs where we run as "one", I walk away from a day of agility loving the sport. This is not something that you can see on film and it isn't something you can describe. It just "is"! It is that fine dance that you have from the moment you hit the start line. You look back and your dog is just waiting for that moment when you release him. From the moment you release him it is like synchronized swimming. You both execute your part of the run in tandem. You don't "think" about the cues, there are no worries about off courses, there is just the feeling of fluidity of motion between you and your dog. It leaves you in a state of pure joy regardless of the outcome.
The pure joy of being together
These runs don't have to be placements, nor do they have to be perfect, they just have to "be". Although it is not her original idea, Daisy Peel wrote an article on the moment of "Unconsciously skilled".
These runs don't come every trial for me, but when they do the "high" from the experience is enough to carry you through to the next perfect run. I am a junky of the unconsciously skilled run!
PS, to give credit where credit is due. Tip did have one of these runs on Sunday and Tangle on Saturday. So, was the trial a success? It was!
Trying to be true to the new year and my goal to lighten up a little while training.
The dogs and I went over to the park to run and stretch. After that we did a bit of proofing contact behavior with the travel plank.
The dogs did surprisingly well. I was surprised and please with Tip. She is my queen that has lots of moments of brilliance which is sometimes peppered with no impulse control. I love her to death and most of the time I don't mind that she is constantly testing the rules (I have put the frustrating days behind us).
Tangle did great. Broke a couple of times, but that is ok. Gives us an opportunity to clarify the behavior. I am trying really hard to keep his dog walk contact solid.
Poor Split has been retrained one too many times and not by a person who knew how to retrain behaviors (it was me). To compound his problem, he was initially taught a 4 on, which when I think about it now the criteria is next to impossible to communicate to the dog. Then I tried to retrain the behavior to a 2o2o. So, now I am thrilled when Split gives me either!
In this particular video I was only working with a medium value toy. After this, I brought out the tennis ball (over the top value) to make the game even harder. I didn't incorporate too much motion into this for 2 reasons. 1 - I have a strained muscle and was hoping to get it healed, 2 - that is the hardest for the dogs and I wanted to keep a high rate of reinforcement today and just renew their love for the end of the board.
Next session we will put in more motion, forward and lateral. I will begin to reinforce the dog maintaining the forward line.
I thought she did a really great job describing some of the feelings that you go through while training running contacts :)
This blog entry has been in the making for quiet some time. It is a hard one to write. Why? Because I am almost always somewhere between heaven and hell on this topic. My thoughts and what I am learning is constantly evolving on this topic. What I know for sure this morning, is not what I will know for sure this afternoon.
What I do know for sure (almost always)
Training running contacts is more of an art than a science
What works for one dog does not always work for the other
You have to be diligent and committed to not let the frustration affect your relationship with your dog
Explore what EVERYONE has to say about teaching running contacts. You may need the nugget of advice later on.
Have a running contacts support group. This process can make you Bipolar.
Why the journey? I love having a reliable running contact. For me, it adds better flow to running the course. For the dog, I know they love it more than a stop. I will admit, also it is about the challenge of learning how to train this!
This is our latest footage on the running AF. Fairly typical, one thing goes great, other aspects need work. Tangle had a fairly consistent day. Split was technically in the yellow, however he was hitting much higher than usual. My goal is to have them hit between the first and second slate in the yellow.
From this point, I am slowly introducing handling around the AF and trying to get both dogs to have a consistently deep stride.
But today, we will work on other skills that are packed with fun for both the dogs and I. Again, it is the commitment to maintaining a strong and happy relationship with my dogs.
When I think of backyard training what typically comes to mind is: training alone, working on very targeted skills, and working in smaller spaces in my backyard. What kinds of courses and skills can you train in small places?
Then I really started to think about my "training program" (I will call it that so it sounds really official) and it occurred to me that I have done some things that people might perceive as crazy and I have trained my dog in places (and people probably did perceive me as crazy). Really the whole world is your backyard and you can use it to learn/train/proof fundamental skills. You just have to have a little crazy in you :)
First, let me say, I am an introvert. Not just a little bit introverted, but a lot!! But the thing that I have going for myself is I get possessed by my goals. That possession/obsession tends to carry me through some things that I would otherwise find painful--like training in crazy places.
I find that the thing that drives me to do crazy things is proofing some kind of skill with my dogs. Tangle has been the victim of this most often, but all three of my dogs are not strangers to the oddity of my ways. With all of my dogs I am trying to bridge the gap between "he does it perfect in the backyard" and "he can do it perfectly in a trial". Right? The holy grail of agility dog training.
Does your dogs have a brilliant stay at the start line, but could not, for even a second stay in the kitchen? The skill hasn't been proofed in all sorts of placed or in all sorts of ways.
When I was trying to get Tip to have more independent weave poles I loaded a set of six in the car (now I would probably load 2 sets of 2x2's). We went to a quiet park, to a noisy park with lots of people (where we gathered a nice audience), to a horse barn at the fairgrounds (while throwing tug toys at her), etc..You get the idea. Tip does have very independent weave poles now, BTW.
I have a plank (not painted or anything fancy). Tangle I practiced his 2o2o in many different places. In the front yard, back yard, at a trial, at a construction site. You get the idea. He can do his 2o2o with amazing distractions now. And really, distractions are what is going on at a trial.
Tangle Tug Tour #3
One of my more recent "tours" was in the name of getting Tangle comfortable playing in strange places. He was very good at playing at home (you know because you just play in your backyard and don't get the dog out). He would NOT tug any place but home. Tugging is essential to getting him warmed up and ready to drive through an agility course. So, I loaded my dog and a few of his favorite tug toys into the car. We tugged at a quiet park, at the bank and Starbucks, at REI, and at 13,000 on top of a mountain. Any place I don't normally play with my dog. I wanted him to know that playing is important.
I proof start line stays on a soccer field. No equipment, just me and the dogs. I train it in a pack. All three dogs are in a sit/stay, I start running, I call one of their names and give the release word "OK". The others must stay until their name is called. There is motion, I throw toys, I use the other dogs as distractions. Yes, I must ultimately proof in the agility ring, but if I can get close before I get there I am happy. Agility rings at trials aren't frequent enough, are expensive, and you only get a few shots! (Tip can do this skill hands down, but can't stay in the ring--why, because I didn't proof it there--ops).
So, really my point is that we are only limited by how we define "backyard". Don't be confined by what is simply behind your house. It is probably better for the dog in the long run anyway.
I would encourage you to read/listen to these statements. They all make excellent and strong points why we need to evolve and improve equipment safety!
Make up your own mind! If you believe that this is an issue I encourage you to get involved in your local community to bring about the changes that will keep our dogs safe!
This is a picture of a dog just last week that was seriously injured on a metal jump. The dogs eye was cut and was WAY to close for comfort to the actual eye. She could have lost her sight had it been any closer. If the jump had only one cup (none above the bar), this dog would have been safe!
How many times do we have to cringe when a dog gets hurt on equipment before we do something about the safety?
I am not an old timer in agility, but I have been in it long enough to have a lot of ups and downs. So, when I have an "up" time I certainly know enough to take a moment and fully appreciate an accomplishment. It keeps me driving through to the next opportunity to appreciate our accomplishments.
We had a USDAA trial this weekend. I entered two out of the three dogs (Tangle and Tip). It was the very last weekend to qualify for Team at Cynosport and we were honored to help another team qualify.
The icing on the cake was that both dogs ran great and had several notable accomplishments. Some can even be measured in terms of wins or titles :)
I don't enter Tip in all the events. At 8 years old, I am conservative about the mileage I put on her. She ran 2 Standards, Gamblers and a Jumpers. She ran beautifully, listened really well, and just generally seems to be feeling great. She got a 1st in Jumpers and set the fastest time on course of all dogs/all jump heights, Performance and Championship. I think that constitutes feeling great, for which I am thankful!
Tangle had an awesome weekend as well. Huge accomplishments for the weekend, but what really gave me pause was looking back on his last 8 months (since he started USDAA). My initial goal with Tangle this year was get him mileage, running with confidence, and qualified in at least one USDAA Cynosport event since it was going to be in Denver. I would say that we more than met that goal.
(Pinch me now)
Tangle has:
4 Team qualifications
3 Grand Prix qualifications (2-2nd places)
A Semi-Final Grand Prix bye at Cynosport
1 Steeplechase local qualification at Regionals (3rd Place)
Starters Dog, and Advanced Dog Titles and is now running everything at the Master's level in USDAA
But, really, best of all. The speed and confidence that he has picked up in 8 months is AMAZING to me. And, best, best of all....he barks in his crate and comes out ready to play at trials. Seriously, yes, this is the best to me. Speed, titles, etc...come if the dog loves the game. Well, this dog LOVES THE GAME!
So, as Tangle's handler, he put me on notice this weekend. I was in his way several times so I better get my ass moving faster :) What an AWESOME problem to have!!
Sometimes you just know that something is right or will just come to be. And, sometimes you need to remind yourself that you know this.
I keep relearning that I must have faith in my son. He has developed into an awesome person-a leader that is smart, wise, gentle, fair, and just all around compasionate person. I know this about him. But, he is just a teenager and when I fall back to my parent roll I have to remind myself that he does conduct his life in a manner that is more exemplory than many adults I know. I keep coming back to having faith in him.
Tangle is another "old soul" that I have faith in. From the day I got Tangle I knew him and knew he was an old soul. He is a wise and thinking dog! He is already leading my pack, but from the sidelines.
When Tangle was really young it was amazing to me how he just "got" foundation and agility. Geez, maybe it is because my teaching methods and knowledge are so much better this time around? Yes, there is some of that, but the other significant part of the equation is Tangle and his innate abilities.
Tangle had his AKC debut this past weekend. He went 4 for 4. Q'ed in everything. That was not our goal at all. These Q's weren't the novice Q's that I have had with my other novice dogs. With my other dogs the runs were ugly, but somehow we stayed on course, the judge looked the other way on a contact, and somehow we crossed the finish line in time, spins and all. Tangle's Q's were well earned. My old soul went to the startline, did his job, was my perfect team mate! I am very proud of my 16 month old boy!
Now, should his run be faster? That is where "Patience = Faith". I know that he will gain the speed. I know that he will develop explosive starts. But I also know that patience will pay off on this one. He is learning to do his job in the ring well. It is only then that you can do something fast AND accurate.
I set up a course today that was based on a USDAA Grand Prix course. I had to tweak it a little due to course size and I still don't have my chute completed sadly.
I choose this course for two reasons, 1) it allowed good speed from the dogs 2) there was a spot with speed and then a tight turn.
I am trying to run Tangle on courses that allow for nice speed. He is a large strided dog and I am trying to build his experience base to open up and run. He has to either bouce jump if there is a short distance or take a shorten stride. A shorter strided dog can just take a full stride.
With Split, now that he has hit a new level of confidence he needs work on watching me for turns.
In general the course ran really nicely. Fast with a few handling challenges. The same challenge was present with both Split and Tangle. The most challenging sequence was 7-8-9-10. The speed starts at #5. You and the dog are racing through the course, the last thing the dog sees before going into the #7 tunnel is full extension cues (ie, you running your ars off), and then you need to ask for collection at #8.
I tried three different handling strategies with this sequence. When the dog came out of the tunnel, I called the dog's name and used my outside hand to cue the turn, decelerated to get the collection and a turn. Then I set the line to #9 and the teeter. This worked fairly well. The next strategy I tried was getting ahead of the dog but cutting the line almost hugging the weaves, FC on the landing side of #8 and then set the line to the teeter. The bar came down with Tangle. Finally I cut the line on the inside of the weaves, decelerated, got the dog turned on #8 and was ahead to show the line to the teeter. This was the most successful, but I have to say I am not sure that I would be brave enough to try this in a trial.
I am actually very pleased that neither dog took the dog walk. Right now that is heavily rewarded for Split since he has such a spetacular running DW last weekend (he should have a 2o2o).
I decided about 8 months ago to change our style for running a serpentine. We are changing from a style where I turn into the dog to bring her back over the jump to me. I am told that the new way I want to run the serpentine is the Linda Mechlenburg was of running a serpentine.
The best way to describe it is running in a straight line parallel to the line of jumps and only using your hand to direct the dog. So, to send the dog over the jump, you point to the jump, when they are on the opposite side and you want to bring them over, you drop your hand to your side.
This new way makes a ton of sense to me. The biggest reason is that I am keeping my path free of extra movement (girations). When I am running Tip (she runs 7 yards/sec), this is important. Split is going to prove to be as fast.
I have really been struggling with training this. Split/I are better at this than Tip/I. I think this is a foundation issue. Last month at camp, Jerry Brown helped me identify the foundation elements that I needed to have with the dogs to do this. Tip being my first dog, I never trained her to jump to my heal and come to my hand. I have since trained those, but they aren't second nature to her. Split I have trained those since the beginning. Secondly, I think I am doing something which I can not identify.
The exact problem that we are having is on the middle jump. Both dogs want to keep running past it and not come in/over if I am moving too fast. I can get them to come in my dropping my shoulder and putting my hand back, but this is not the ultimate behavior that I want.
So, tomorrow I am going to film myself and see if I can notice anything odd.
I am a dog agility enthusiast. I have owned Border Collies all my life, but only currently have I begun to do agility with them. Right now, I have two BCs, Tip and Split. Tip is 4 years old and Split is 1.5 years.
