Jack and Groovy PVR Assessment

Assessment

Simple, simple answer, Jack! Look at 8 seconds: do you see that orange disc? Do you see the escape route? That body position looks exactly like a clockwise go around. She’s just doing what she knows.

This happens when the handler fails to set the lure properly. You’ve gone too far, rotationally speaking, too fast. You also could hold the cuing hand up a bit more to draw a larger diameter pattern for her.

Pull After Commitment

Let’s say the camera is 12:00 on the clock face. @0:07 Groovy is at 11 o clock. You are at 8:45. You should remain at 9 o clock until Groovy commits counter-clockwise. @0:08, she has not commited and you are already facing 6:30 on the clock. This early pull, pulling before the dog has committed will open up the clockwise go around escape route to your left knee – where the orange disc is.

This is super common, and I’d be willing to bet it’s going to go on throughout this video. I’ll try to pick out a few key moments and highlight them in terms of flatwork.

0:15-0:45

You can see a lack of intent on the lure here with the right hand. Are you leading, following or helping? I can’t tell. Can you? Set that target and pull, not just with the disc, but with your body. Intend to lead her around. If she doesn’t go. Stop and reset then try again. When she goes, MarkShort for “Positive Marker”, a Mark is a word or signal given at the exact moment a desired behavior is performed. It’s like a clicker. Mark can also mean the act of marking... it and reinforce by starting the drill.

This lack of commitment to the lure by the handler is part of the problem on your PVR.

You might want to pick her up with the clockwise PVR after first setting the flank. This will allow more experience with flowing flatwork. So set the flank… pick her up clockwise… make a toss… then pick her up counter-clockwise and challenge her.

You can, and should mix this up so you get a mixture of performance of the behavior, challenging your dog and success. You keep setting up exactly the same set up and you’re getting the same result.

0:45-1:00

She’s really doing a lot of clockwise circling – 3:1, I’d say, and most of it is happening during set up. Try turning clockwise yourself when she’s moving clock. When she hooks up counter-clockwise, then go. Again, your intent on that lure, that stop sign you are giving her is just not working. Neither you nor her expects it to work.

I think you could do some Front CrossOn a Front Cross, your dog switches Flanks in with you in front of them. From Clock to Counter Clockwise Flank or vice versa. Taken directly from the canine agility world, the Front... work to fix this quite easily. If you have a strong front cross, that stop sign you are giving her should mean something.

Have you done foundational set up moves with counter clockwise go around? Have you worked it with discs?

1:00-1:30

@1:06 – hell yes! Did you see that pickup? And it was well marked and reinforced. You need to get that happening before she walks around 3 times… Also, did you notice how it kind of looked like a FrontFront is a stable position directly in front of the handler. Front is an traditional obedience skill. Usually your dog sits in this position, but standing is often acceptable as well, especially in... CrossA Cross is an canine agility term that describes a change of working sides. Your dog moves from your left to your right (Heel to Side) or from Clock to Counter. Crosses are...? More of that!

The more I watch this, the more I am convinced that you need more counter-clockwise go around work from Foundational Set Uip Moves. Did you work that during week 1?

Clockwise PVR as IceBreaker – 1:40-2:00

@1:46, pull her around Clockwise for once. ChangeIf the dog is standing underneath you, facing in the same direction, you are in Change position. This position is uncomfortable for many dogs due to the intense positional pressure that often accompanies... your pattern, let her experience the freedom of movement you are offering her. She has not had any chance to contrast that with what she is doing. This standing around waiting is being budgeted right into the game – it’s what you guys do.

Work some clockwise PVR as an icebreaker.

Why it Broke Loose 2:00-2:15

This broke loose because she’s a herding dog and her balance point was tripped. She got to about 8:00 after that catch (@2:00) and she was already around. Her arcing catch forced that. That is essentially setting the flank at 270 degrees, and it’s part of the reason why we do that.
Where was the Mark on all of those moments of commitment? It worked, but does she know what it was that worked?

Watch for the Balance Point – 2:15-2:45

I knew this one wasn’t going to work, as her approach was a bit to head on for you, she did not pass that balance point. She came in from 10 o clock instead of 8:00. It was close, but it wasn’t enough to convince her that she should continue on that track.

In fact, that balance point is part of your issue all over the place thinking about it… @2:18 you are too late. She had already crossed over when you offered the cue for the other direction. You should have set that cue at 2:16 or 2:17 to have any hope of it being taken. If you stop frame just before 2:18, you can see that she’s already committed to going around before you set that stop or counter cue. She’s passed the balance point. She’s gone.

Where’s the Clock? – 2:45-3:00

Where’s the clockwise PVR? Many skills work in antagonistic fashion. Spin and Twist (clockwise and counter spins), Go AroundAn Around, or a Go Around is the traditional disc dog set up move. The dog goes around the handler’s body in a clockwise or counter clockwise fashion allowing dog and handler to... (counter and clock), PVR (counter and clock), On and Off, Bite and Drop, Duration and Release… each of these concepts is taught best when working both antagonistic skills at the same time. They define each other and exclude each other and promote understanding of each skill.

You need to work more than just constant counter-clock, because now you’ve got an around the world and she’s no longer taking your cues,”Oh! He wants an around the world…” and now you’ve got the skill but not the understanding of how to do the skill.

3:00-3:30

And there you go! heh! Interesting finish. Largely happened due to scale and that balance point. Also she was pretty much on flank the whole time (no real frontal approach) which sets a line.

This is what I do naturally when working with dogs that have a decent outrun. I set and place targets so that it’s likely that the dog will continue to move on the pattern that I am looking for. It’s cheating, essentially, using reward placement to make things happen, but cheating is important if you are to ensure that the skill is performed successfully.

I hope all this makes sense…

Disc Dog freestyle sequences have a starting position, often it is Front PositionIn the Play+ philosophy, "Position" is the final stage within the "Next" phase of a Cycle of Play. It acts as a pivotal link between the "Next" phase and a new "Now" phase. – dog standing in front of the handler. Set Up MovesSet Up Moves are tricks that are used to establish timing and position in disc dog freestyle. Traditional tricks include: Around, Through, Backwards Through, and Scoot, but any or all of your tricks,... are ways of getting set up in time and space. They get the team into position and in time.
Most players have a go-to Set Up Move, or 3, but it is important to have a variety of entries into the positions that start sequences to keep things interesting and to display and enhance flow.
In this epic video there are 13 different set up moves, some are fairly standard, and some are pretty clever. Below we’ll name and define them and talk about usage and pros and cons.