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She hadn’t been to Fusion for several weeks but she’s settling in faster each time. I can’t figure out how to post a picture in here or get a link from my personal wall FB post so I forwarded the Grinch photo post to you in Messenger.
Oh yes – back to Puppies and how you can’t over-connect with them! And she is definitely all about “The Thing” and stopping to tug is just preventing her from doing her thing. So if I keep asking for the tug away from the Thing and then creep it closer I’m hoping/assuming we’ll be able to convince her that tugging can be part of the Thing too.
I haven’t done much with tunnels with her at all. I had one session at home right after the Open where I was trying to use the toy as the reward (before we realized how much that broke her current set of rules) and she was having nothing of it. This was the next time she saw a tunnel after that.
Here’s what we did yesterday:
Strike a Pose – 12/18/23
She was rather bonkers when she got up yesterday morning but she settled down a bit doing tricks for food with Kaladin in the kitchen. Then I got her to tug using a new toy (a stuffed hedgehog) in our family room before the strike a pose session in the basement. Was pretty impressed with how well she did her first time going to the right. Got her to tug upstairs after this too.
RDW Foundations
I found 2 small boards I had covered with yoga mats and put them together covered with a larger mat. Since she’s not flailing as she trots/lopes across it, they hold together nicely. Were you thinking of something a bit more elevated for her?And I see I’m a bit of a fashion disaster here in my post work even comfier clothes.
I did the up & down pattern game with both Lift & Kaladin this morning – they give it 4 paws up
Well today she had a 5hr nap in the afternoon & evening while we were at Dean’s concert & dinner so way less exciting than posing with the Grinch in the photo booth yesterday! For the balance sessions on the Get Out, are we aiming for her to default to driving to me as opposed to using her name to keep her off the prop?
Rocking Horses – 12/17/23
Booked time at Fusion this morning and was happy to see the ring had been cleared for cleaning and not reset for classes next week yet. Yay for not having to dodge around agility equipment. I let her sniff around the ring and by partway around she lifted up her head to look at me so we did the pattern game. Then she was tugging like a fiend so I decided to do the barrel games with a toy. She also chased me across the ring a few times for the toy after this.Tunnel
After her rocking Horses, I popped her back in the car with a snuffle mat and let Kaladin chase his frizzer inside. Then I swapped back to Lift. She’s only done the 5ft red one at home and at first she stared at the 10ft one and kept circling around the opening. So I shortened it up and tried again with this video. I didn’t want to push my luck with the toys so used cheese.Get Out – 12/16/23
Lift had a busy day with a walk with Kaladin in the morning and a field trip to the OTR UKI trial where she practiced her pattern game in the crating area and the arena room, wrapped a cone a few times in the back room, posed with the Grinch, played with Deb Y’s Blaze, and practiced being measured (need a lot more practice but she’s comfortable on the table with the measuring arm moving around behind and above her. And I got her somewhere between 12 and 12.5in). This session was after dinner. The Get Out to the right was harder for her but she tugged before and after in the same room!
For the RDW mat stuff, I used the cato board with a mat over it for Kaladin. Would that be confusing if I also sometimes ask her to station on there or does the context make it clear?
Parallel Path Jump Bump – 12/15/23
Was bonkers when she got up so we did some easy behaviors in the kitchen with Kaladin for food first. Got her to tug with no jumping in the family room before and after this session. Didn’t zoom out enough but she’s lying on a mat before and after. I added lateral distance she did look at me and start to come towards me but then focused back out on the jump.
RDW Foundations – 12/15/23
First session of this but between the prop and the parallel path she thought this was easy. Experimenting with having her chase me for food before and after the session. Then going to another room to play. She did tug without leaping after this. What has been working well is to use a new toy (one I don’t usually use to tug with her) and to casually walk while dragging it around.I wasn’t sure if the prop was the reason for thr bowing out on the tandem Turn but I can do some reps with her driving or past me too.
Tandem & Lap Turns – 12/13/23
She did some tugging upstairs before and after this session in the morning. Also did a short session perching on the pods and some trick training in the evening.
Barrel Rotated Sends – 12/13/23
Clearly need to work on actually staying on the cato board separately but the rotated sends seemed a lot easier and I started adding verbals for the forwards ones. And we had our retrieve success after I came home from work (even though she hadn’t had dinner yet)
I can’t figure out how to post a picture in here so I’ll message it to you – question on size of mat for running contact foundations work. I also have a about a 36×30 box (I think it’s about that – it fits on the bottom of the a-frame) that I am pretty sure is hiding somewhere in my shed. Is that too big for her at this stage?
OMG – totally forgot about wrap verbals! (and I have so many verbals – geesh!)
She was able to tug twice without jumping up during the live session about a session’s worth of time after her turn.
And we did some goat tricks this morning (both sides of the bosu and 2 stacked versa discs). My wobble board was out on loan and I”m getting it back on Saturday so I can start experimenting with a bit of noise underneath it too. (She was fine on the wobble board when we tried it pre-Max Pup)
Barrel Rotated Sends – 12/11/23
That is totally it! Just because I think playing with the toy is the warmup to a working session doesn’t mean she thinks it’s the thing to do. And we all know that Sheltie Girls have very definite opinions on how the world should work. That wasn’t me talking about stationing behavior but I have been meaning to work on it more. I did a bit of Cato board work a while back and have done more mat work since the mat is so much easier to move around (we did some at EOTT and she rocked it there). She has a better understanding of staying put on the mat even though I think the cato has the distinction of having a raised surface.
Completely forgot about the send forward warmup but she figured it out and even got it going to the right. Mat was too close t
o the action so she went to it instead of me after a rep. Had mixed results getting her to tug in away from the training area after she came off the mat at the end. However she was pretty bonkers coming into this session (I think the 11deg temps really woke her up this morning.
Turn & Burn – 12/11/23
Did this over lunch after I read the Live session email saying we should do a refresher on Turn & Burn. Got some opinions on switching from food to the toy at first but then she decided chasing the long fluffy toy was fun. (Even to the right)
LOL! Rush like a percussionist! Dean thought that was funny too.
Barrel Sequence & Toy Races – 12/10/23
This was after breakfast and a nice long sniffy walk in the woods with Kaladin. We tugged briefly upstairs and then she decided to get all jumpy downstairs, but as an experiment, I sent her around the barrel anyway and lo and behold she chased and grabbed the toy and did a few more reps. So go figure. We also remembered how to turn right with the help of an extra food bowl for a rep.
Parallel Path Jump Bump
Tried this one after lunch. She went ahead and started as soon as I put her down so I just went with it. She’s better on my right (staying more in the middle of the uprights and not missing any of them in that direction. My “get its” were late. She’s just starting to move her head towards me a bit after she goes over the bump when I could have said get it as she was heading towards the bump. Should I be using wingless uprights?
After this we went back upstairs and she did some baby retrieves with a fleece tug with no jumping up.Thanks for the music analogy. I think I tend to rush the treat delivery because I’m thinking about rewarding quickly and before they get up, as opposed to letting the marker cue due its thing and predict the reward.
Leg Bumps – 12/9/23
This was after a morning walk with Kaladin and breakfast. Started with the cheese off the ground and then moved it down. Easy Peasy even with it between my legs for her to go by on each pass. And then she wanted to keep going over legs for more cheese at the end. LoL.I got greedy since the leg bumps went so well and shifted into the stay games after her short tug session. She had a very strong default sit in front of me when I brought her home so I purposely didn’t reward it too much and started working more with her on my side. Now it looks like I need to shift back to more rewards for the sit! She had a pretty snappy sit on cue several weeks ago but clearly that needs more attention. However at least she is not spooking when I say catch and toss food near her! Do I need more of a pause between marker and the toss? I feel like I pausing as I do it but the video looks like I’m running it together. It’s also hard to hear me cue it sometimes so maybe I need to get more deliberate and a bit louder about the whole process.
She’s very boingy in general and it seems to be more frequent recently. (Not just when training. She’ll bounce off the back of my legs when I’m standing in the kitchen. At first I thought it was a demand for attention but now I’m wondering if her brain is just overheating and she needs a bit of reassurance to reset. If I wait a bit and then crouch down and pet her she seems to relax into me and then trot off to go do her own thing with Kaladin or a toy. It may be a fluke but it also seems like she is more likely to grab the toy instead of jumping if I am on the ground and also if I bring her in next to me and touch her more first. Might be a coincidence or maybe she settles just enough to focus on the toy after the short hug. She has been snuggly since I brought her home and will often settle if I pick her up and let her snuggle up against my neck.
And she’s definitely in the throes of adolescence. More so than all my previous dogs…or maybe I’m just blocking out random behavior at this age with Tari and Kaladin was just more subtle about it. Lift is definitely not subtle! Min was an old soul from the time I brought her home. Lift also still has teething going on. She has a lot of adult teeth but still has puppy canines that are smaller than her adult incisors.
The differences by the hour and what she notices is just so interesting. I did a lot with her from when I brought her home at meal times where I would work with her doing something easy (hand touch, head through leash loop) while her raw food is in a dish on the ground. (Kinda of like a modified crate games but without all the opening and closing of the door and waiting for the sit) So she is amazing at driving past raw food in a dish on the ground on the way into and out of her crate. Last night I asked her to release from the crate and put her head through a leash loop while I was holding the full dish off to the side and her head exploded. Ran back into the crate and then out again but couldn’t do the behavior. I put the dish on the ground about a foot off her path and no problem. Head into leash loop. Picked up the dish and then she could do the leash loop again.
I didn’t try the barrel with the toy since she’s been rather meh about the toy as a reward during a game unless it is the toy races. But I’ll try a left turn around the barrel toy race combo.
For the comment on the prop and having the food already there are you talking about having it down on the ground already or just on the counter so I’m not placing it before asking for some toy play?
Prop Countermotion -12/8/23
She got to run around in the backyard with Kaladin before this and then did a bit of snuffling before this. We hadn’t worked on this since the Live session.
Barrel Sequence – 12/8/23
This was after work and before dinner (but she is still getting lunch). She decided she really wanted to only go around the barrel to her left. When I knelt down to make it more like the wing wrap foundations she did go to the right, but I just worked her to her left after that. She was able to go around the barrel to the left even with cheese in the food bowl behind her.
I can’t remember for sure where the cheese container was in the first leg bump section but I think it was on the ground since it doesn’t fit well in my pants pocket when I”m sitting down. But maybe it was in a different spot in relation to me. I’ve done a lot of work with her when the food container or dish is on the ground next to me but who knows what is going through her little noggin.
Something like this for cones & poles? 6 poles, 12 cones. Lowest height is 2.5in
And the link won’t load but it’s on Amazon and called: Glimin 6 Sets Dog Agility Hurdle Cone Set Include 12 Agility Cones 6 Agility Rods Dog Agility Training Equipment Adjustable Obstacle Training for Dog Agility Course Pet Outdoor Games (Orange, Yellow)
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?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.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?
