[Julie Heller]

Leg Bumps – 12/7/23

We had done a session of this at EOTT using some cheese and then a toy for a few reps and it went quite well. Then she thought I had 3 heads when I tried it at home. (and I have no idea what on earth she was trying to eat during the beginning part). However we got some tugging before, in the middle and after. In the middle, I tossed a treat when she stopped to look up at me and there was no gremlin jumping.

2 questions – I don’t have a ladder. What’s a good substitute? poles stuck through low holes on cones?
Is Lift’s parallel prop work strong enough that I should try the jump?

• This reply was modified 1 year, 6 months ago by Julie Heller.

[Julie Heller]

Backing up to mat -12/6/23
Progress! Lift and Kaladin chased each other around the backyard this morning and then each got a snuffle mat when they came inside. Got her to tug before doing the backing up session but let the play session go on too long at the end where she got distracted by a bit of cheese on the ground and then jumped on me.

Stay Games –
The backing up was short and easy for her so we did this next with her offering a down. I had stated to introduce “catch” with offered sits and downs last week but spooked her when my tossed cheese accidentally bounced off her head. So I did a session where all I did was say catch and toss it off to the side near her without having her offer a position. I’m not sure that she has much understanding of catch vs get it when I’m still close by but she’s moving to the thrown cheese instead of jumping away now. I’m going to stick with the food version of this game for a bit.

Tandem Turn
She napped most of the day before this session before dinner. Still turning easier to the left but I am also right-handed. Had to think about coming to the MCH when the prop was out. We did a short play session with roadkill raccoon in the kitchen after this. Plan for tomorrow is so.e goat Tricks and maybe the leg bumps since both should be easier for her brain.

[Julie Heller]

Lap Turns – 12/5/23
Did a session for the lap turns with both directions (completely forgot about looping them so Lift scored extra cheese). It feels like she turns more easily to her left, but she was getting the right turns too.

She was in a toy playing mood after the lap turns so did a bit of experimenting with working on playing with a dead toy.

Interesting point about her being hangry but the strike a pose session in the hotel room was after her breakfast. However I often do a training session before breakfast at home and while she usually works very well for treats, she’s been so-so lately on toys and I think more so in the morning (Lap turns and the dead toy videos above were after her small lunch). I’m not sure if it could be related to more teething (she did lose a tooth at EOTT) or just some other adolescent phase where she often likes playing with toys but sometimes doesn’t think they’re a good reward after being asked for a behavior. I’ll have to look at my notes but I think it comes up more often with newer behaviors so maybe she just can’t process how a toy is fun when her brain is overheating with thinking about the behavior? In which case should I shift to using mainly food for rewards (esp for newer behaviors) and try here and there to mix in a toy decompression break until her brain settles down more?

[Julie Heller]

Strike a Pose – 12/4/23
Got one more session in this morning before hitting the road. Should have placed the toy before I tossed the food as I think the toy’s movement made it harder for her to focus on the target hand. Did well with the empty food bowl though.

[Julie Heller]

Wing Wrap & Turn&Burn – 12/3/23
Finally got a hotel room with carpet for better traction! So got to use my hedgehog collapsible toy bin for wing wraps. (Although not sure why each hotel we stayed in didn’t believe in overhead lights!) She got a bit creative, but we haven’t done the back and forth much with toys and she completely ignored the pile of treats next to me that I had for Kaladin (who didn’t stay down but did stay out of the way on the bed).

Lift did really well on her first agility road trip and is now much better at pee-ing in new places. I had her in the building a couple of times each day to do resilience walks and pattern games – at first during walk throughs but had her in there when small dogs were running this morning. Also got some tugging in out of the way spots in the main room. (even though she lost a tooth sometime this morning). She also is much better about handling the typical noises (cheering, barking etc) at a trial. The first trial I took her to she jumped and then froze when people cheered. She just kept doing her pattern games or tugging even when the crowd was cheering today! I’m really glad I brought her to EOTT (and really happy I didn’t to the US Open!)

Kaladin might have preferred that she stayed at home and didn’t bug him when he wanted to nap, but he was an amazing dude this weekend. Super fun courses (and thankfully not quite as long as Tamas’ courses at the Open) and even had 2 runs with no course faults (just some time faults). The 2 Es were a momentary timing thing on my part while the rest was brilliant. He gets the next 4 weeks off all agility. (except for puppy-sitting the agility puppy that is!)

[Julie Heller]

Strike Pose – 12/2/23
We found a nice quiet spot to play outside. Accidentally started on her harder side but then figured it out.
Plenty of great work inside and out with resilience patterns and even a bit of tugging inside in a quieter corner

Makes sense on the stay game and glad to hear I can use the same threadle arm cues.

[Julie Heller]

Toy Races & BC Flatwork on the road in PA – 12/1/23

Lift got to go on a hike with Kaladin this morning, some resilience walks inside and outside at EOTT and did her pattern toss games inside (during walk throughs and by the vendors) – I carried her into the building to make sure we didn’t encounter someone else unexpectedly in the narrow hallway but then I was really impressed with how quickly she grabbed the tossed cookie and re-oriented to me. She also spent a lot of time napping in her crate in the car. We also did some toy races out in the big back field and 2 reps of the BC work where she started running past me when I was pivoting so we did this session at the hotel when we got back and I rewarded with food for the decel and pivot. There was no one around on this side of the hotel but I was really happy with her tugging outside.

Looking ahead for when we build on strike a pose for the threadle work. For Kaladin, I cue the threadle slice with “Come” and my off hand up a bit and across my body (it’s not usually very high). Works great for him. With Min I did the inside hand back and then switched her to the off hand even though she was smaller. Recommendations for Lift given she’s going to be small too? (and my threadle wrap is usually 2 hands and lower to distinguish it from the threadle slice)

And question on the explosive stays (not there yet but I like to look ahead to prepare) –
Tug- Stop tugging & wait for offered sit. Then “break” to release to tug.
Is this a case where break releases her and the tug is the reward? Wondering about using “grab it” to get the tug or is it better to be very clear about using break and then presenting the tug?

• This reply was modified 1 year, 6 months ago by Julie Heller.

[Julie Heller]

Tunnel Shaping – 11/29/23
I got this short training Tunnel as an impulse purchase at the Midwest Cup in June before Lift was born and I was so excited to use it for the first time this morning. She chased Kaladin through at 10ft dark Tunnel right after we brought her home and was happy to offer going through it here. I quietly moved to the next room after this and she tugged without acting like a wet gremlin that was up after midnight.

Notifications aren’t in spam. I just unchecked and rechecked it to see if that does anything

Goat Tricks – Bosu – 11/29/23
We did a second session before we left. Wasn’t too sure about the tipped over Bosu at first but then started hopping on and off.

Lift did her first road trip seatbelted instead of crated. Kaladin survived the experience. Tomorrow we go from the south side of a Chicago to Latrobe, PA. (Since I’m not young and crazy like Shantel who does the trip in one 14hr day.

[Julie Heller]

Prop RC & Turn & Burn – 11/27/23
Tried this in the morning to see what she’d make of it. First she started out being a leaping Tasmanian devil even though she had been tugging like a maniac upstairs and this was the first thing we tried to do this morning. Then she settled down. She’s not sending ahead easily which makes it different but she did end up turning in the correct direction (last time without a spin) so got cheese each time. She also thinks that circling around to start again is stupid and you should go back and forth when the prop is involved.

OK – so I have the checkbox checked but am not getting email notifications for your responses, but the good news is we’ve got some ESP going because tonight I was thinking, hey – I should see how she does on the Turn and Burn before it comes up in tomorrow’s live session and the answer is not too bad. Also -she was in a bonkers mood so I had to do something to make her little noggin think a bit tonight.

Keep forgetting to get video of it, but we are working on having her tug closer to me and up my leg a bit. And she’s gotten so much better at working through Kaladin barking in protest from elsewhere in the house. When she first came home she was incapable about thinking about anything else when Kaladin barked.

[Julie Heller]

Wing Wrap Barrel -11/26/23
Tried it this morning and she stalled out some and also wanted to cut between me and the barrel when going left to right if I was sitting or standing. Then she got a walk and napped most of the afternoon. She needed something to do before dinner so I circled back and voila! One jump on me at the end as I was moving away from the barrel with her toy but she had a lovely tug break in the middle and was much quicker and smoother about wrapping the barrel

Backing up to mat – 11/25/23
And this was from last night which I thought I had posted but apparently not.Different room last night. Pretty good when 1 or 2 hind feet stay on the mat but does think it’s easier to turn around to get on the mat if 1 or all feet come off.

[Julie Heller]

Wing Wrap with Food – 11/25/23

Makes sense on the food and arousal. She really likes food but it doesn’t send her over the top. (unless you are preparing her meal which is a different thing altogether in her book). I’ll try moving to another spot in the room before tossing the toy too.

Decided to go back to this but with food since we didn’t do much before I left for the Open. Takes her a little while to warm up but then she got into a good rhythm and was thinking through it so I let it go on a bit longer. She does seem to switch to the toy easier if I pick up the food bowls. No signs of the Tasmanian Devil during or after the session.
She also got a nice sniffy walk on trails with Kaladin after this and has been mostly zonked out since then. (except for some excitement at getting lunch)

[Julie Heller]

BC-Decel Seq – 11/24/23

The interesting thing with her is that I’m not seeing signs of overarousal/brain frying while she is working for food. If it is there, it comes out when we try to switch back to the toy.

We did a short session at Fusion this morning (not included is her awesome toy races while the previous people were packing up and leaving on the other side of the barrier).

Then she went on a sniffy walk on some trails with Kaladin and has mostly been passed out in my lap or chewing a bully stick since.

Her breeder has a complete jungle gym of noisy things to climb on and over so she came being pretty confident about moving and noisy surfaces. All my other Shelties respect a baby gate that is leaning against a doorway. Lift likes to smack the gate with her front paws so that it crashes to the ground (at which point Demi bolts in the other direction and Kaladin just stares at her in confusion). Then she trots right over the flat gate to escape. So I’m not anticipating issues with adding sound, but will do it slowly incase she’s having an adolescent moment.

I told her if she wants to stop growing at 12.5 or 12.6in and focus on fur instead that would be just fine with me, Or she can keep going and be a teeny tiny 12in dog in UKI and USDAA.

Backing up to Mat – 11/24/23

Tried this after she napped all afternoon and then ran around the yard with Kaladin. Not a really high state of arousal but she was thoughtful and switched back and forth between food & toys. Took me a few tries to figure out the best distance to get her off the mat. Just had to laugh at her creativity going around my leg at first.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 6 months ago by Julie Heller.

[Julie Heller]

Goat Tricks 2 – 11/23/23

Happy Thanksgiving! Apple pie and cranberry sauce are done over here and we’re doing the Blue Apron Thanksgiving box so it makes for much simpler prep for the feast.

She had a mellow few days at home with Dean and Demi after her farm stay but she was probably a bit worried about Kaladin and I not being there. Anyways, we did this short Goat tricks session this morning and then went on a nice sniffy walk on some trails in the woods after breakfast. She’s mostly been napping on my lap or a dog bed in the kitchen while I’m cooking since then.

What’s the best thing to do if I get the over arousal/over tired jumping up at me behavior in the future? Switch to some pattern cookie toss games and call it quits? Give her a snuggle and call it quits? (she usually calms down if I hold her quietly as opposed to holding her and revving her up)

For backing up onto a mat, do you mean like a yoga mat or something almost flat to the ground?

Goat Tricks – movement stuff –
She had done a bit with a single versa disc before. Don’t think I had 2 together before. She’s also had 1 or 2 previous sessions climbing onto the soft side of the bosu. I haven’t rewarded much for her staying on it before this

[Julie Heller]

Thanks!
Do you use “get it” for both a thrown reward and a “go get the dead toy” marker?

I’ve used “toss” a lot with Kaladin for pattern games but I’m betting he’ll transition to a “get it” easily since that does tend to naturally slip out. I’ll try it on his walk tomorrow and see. (I do a lot of tossing treats to the side or in front of him to keep him occupied and more relaxed when other dogs are passing.

I find I do better if my directional cues make sense in my head so think I’d have a harder time with Soft. I do use “poles” for weaves so am leaning towards Haw. I’ll see what I think when I actually get to the point of training those directionals.

I’ve gotten a lot better about using yay as my generic encouragement word on course but I do still find myself telling Kaladin “What a good dog you are. Yes you are” as we walk distractions. Of course “yes” comes out of my mouth a lot when shaping since I prefer not to deal with fumbling with a clicker and treat and Kaladin does understand yes (contextually) as meaning look to my hand for a treat.

Games 2 – Toy Races – 11/22/23
We did some toy races first thing this morning (well – after Kaladin got his walk). She beat me to it when I’m heading away from the camera but didn’t grab the toy so I stole it. Then the next time she did grab it ahead of me…and headed off to the dog bed to chew on her prize.

Plankrobatics – 11/22/23
OK -so this is a long one, but I’d like your feedback on what I should have done differently. After we did the toy races, I moved down to the basement for the travel plank. We’ve done some perching on pods and discs pre Max Pup so I thought I’d see what she though of my plank. Turns out she thought it was lots of fun to get on and off and I even got a turn near the end as opposed to a hop off. So then I figured I would end with a bit of tugging and was about to head over to turn the video off, but ran into the issue of her not wanting the toy and trying to jump up at me instead. She did this a bit when I first brought her home but she would stop if I acknowledged her by giving her a little hug and then it faded away and I hadn’t seen it in a while even if I was switching back and forth between toys and treats. I’m not sure if it came back because she didn’t want to come off the board for the toy in the first place. I tried bringing her arousal down by using a pattern back and forth and some other easy behaviors with food, but she was having nothing to do with the toy. I’m not really sure what prompted her to finally grab onto it when she did, but we tugged for about 3 seconds and then I let her win and run off with the toy for a bit before I rescued it from being eaten.

Backing Up – 11/22/23
After the morning’s “Maul the Momma” session, she had breakfast and then settled down in my office for a nice long nap until lunch. After lunch she didn’t look like she was ready to settle down for her afternoon nap so I decided to see what I had with backing up. I had done a session or two of shaping backup several weeks ago, but I like this method much better for getting more independent hind foot movement and keeping her head in a more neutral position. She does a bit of jumping up at me before engaging with the toy, but in this case she goes to the toy faster than in the morning when she was more frantic about not grabbing the toy. I had originally planned to tug a bit and then do a few more backing up reps, but decided to stop with some good tugging instead. (and after I had turned the video off, I did 3 reps of tossing “roadkill raccoon” and then moving away for her to chase me which she did so we had more tugging parties since she didn’t drop the raccoon on her way to me)

• This reply was modified 1 year, 6 months ago by Julie Heller.

[Julie Heller]

Marker Cues Questions:

I have been working on/planning on the following marker cues but I have some questions:

Get it – Get Tossed or dead toy away from me
Grab it – Tug w/held toy
Treat – duration marker – treat delivered to mouth
Yes – treat from hand – move out of position
Toss – thrown treat away from me (often to side)
Catch – tossed treat/toy -can move to catch it (haven’t started this with Lift yet, but have it with Kaladin)
Eat it – treat in dish

Questions:
– I’m thinking of combining toss and get it into a cue to go get the toy/treat. My thoughts are I often default to saying “get it”, but is it important to distinguish between toy & treat w/the marker? And should get it be more about driving ahead as opposed to the cue I will use with the pattern game or the backing up when I toss the treat between their legs? (Right now that would be a toss cue for me which is maybe a bit more thoughtful than a run and get it for the toy).
– I picked “Yes” for the come get the treat from my hand since that is what I tend to default to say when I want the dog to come to me to get a reward out of my hand. However there is the tendency to use Yes when I”m excited that they did something (like hit a weave pole entry) and that is a situation where I don’t want them to break off what they are doing and come to me for a treat. So I”m thinking about switching to snacks. But if I do that, does “yes” have a specific meaning or is it just a generic encouragement workd?
– And thinking ahead to directionals, I clearly need something other than “Left” given her name. Is Links (German for Left) too close to Lift? Do I need something else for left? Haw or Port maybe?

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