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Elevator Game & Bang Game – 4/7/21
Catching up on some videos from last week when I was busy getting my new phone set up and then driving to Toledo and back. (and as for the target fading – uh I think I missed that game…will need to go look)Took the Elevator game on the road. I think that “smaller dog-more concentrated weight on the end of the board” theory is it.
Then did some weaves and circled back for the Bang Game.
Channels – Tightening 6 poles – 4/12/21
Tightened up the channels a little bit. The RCs are coming along nicely, but I pushed it a bit too hard on the counter motion near the end and ended up tossing the toy as he was popping out. Whoops
But he’s at home and it was 50 so he was very happy.Thanks, Tracy.
I think Kaladin was lucky that he was 5 monhts when the lockdown started, so past that super important early socialization period, but clearly the year of more limited outings after that has had an impact. Good thing he’s a fairly outgoing Sheltie naturally (for a Sheltie that is!) He’s been to a few trials (outdoors and indoors) in the last year but no where near what Min and Tari had done by this age.I was describing his behavior to Christina & Dawn and it made me realize that while he’s been going to class there for a few months (previously he was in another room for his foundation class), it’s still not familiar enough for him to be comfortable, especially when you add in the new barking dog and that fact that I was in a rush to get him in the ring. Instead of telling the class that they should reset the bars to another height because I had gotten there a bit late and didn’t have him warmed up yet, I rushed him in the ring. He was OK enough to do a prompt line up and sit but not OK enough to run the sequence.
I’ve got some open ring times and handling mini seminars lined up for him so that we can practice doing things in other places and with people watching. And we also have some outdoor trials starting up in late May.
Downhill – 4/9/21
More slope and practically to the ground.The Downhill session in the morning went so well, we decided to jump to end position in the evening.
2×2 – straight but further apart – 4/9/21
Kaladin says yes to the sets being further apart. Started at 8ft apart and very slightly open and quickly went to both straight. He was doing so well looking for the 2nd set I started moving them closer and ended at 5ft apart.
As an added benefit, today’s rain break was over lunch and I got to use my new Samsung S21 to video without testing the effectiveness of the water resistance before I even find a case cover for it.Question on how he is exiting the 2nd set. I used Nemo so he would be more excited and run more, but I am noticing him exiting towards me a bit as opposed to staying straight on the reward line. Is that an issue if he’s not looking at me when weaving? Because if the course went to the left next, I’d want him exiting that way.
2nd question applies to weaves but is a bit more general. It has to do with his relaxed outlook on agility 95% of the time. He’s definitely a thinker and gains speed when he understands what he’s doing and he’s still young (almost 18 months), but I am starting to feel like he should be picking up more speed than he usually shows. I think part could be conditioning (turns out his core strength is pretty good for a young dog, but we’re improving that with Darcy, I also think he needs more aerobic conditioning so we’ll be working on that too). He loves his Nemo ball and chasing me. He slows down if the space is smaller/more restrictive or he isn’t sure about the footing because it is new. He is also pretty sensitive to the environment (other dogs/people moving around). So maybe I am seeing a stress reaction to environment but last night in class he would barely get out of a trot for an easy jumps/tunnel handling sequence. There was a new dog in class and that dog had been vocalizing a bit in the other room where they are crated. His class is also in a smaller area and it’s often hard for me to really run in the sequences. That was an extreme example, but we’ve also been struggling with how to get him really running his plank instead of trotting. (using his raw food at breakfast is our most promising ploy so far). This video clip is similar to many of our weave sessions where he picks up speed in the poles, but I’m still trying to figure out how to get him to pick up speed heading to the poles. (I have another clip from Wed with channels and using the wings, but he also tends to think wing wrapping can be boring…) Feel free to tell me I am being a Nervous Nellie stressing over nothing and he’s still a baby.
The 2x2s were 4ft apart but it’s not like you can see that with the straight up perspective in the video. I’ll push them back to 8ft and open them a smidge at first and see if I can work them down to both straight and then start moving them closer again. We’ve got rain/thunderstorms forecasted for the rest of the week and I’m out of town this weekend. (I’m driving a Sheltie to Toledo to pass her off to my sister who will take her her the rest of the way to my parents in NY). So prepare for more teeter videos since it’s inside!
Channels – 6 Poles distractions – 3/31/21
And I forgot to post this one!Experimenting with using his dish for the target.
Tried some countermotion when he was near the end of the poles and twice he finished and wrapped back to me. I wasn’t sure if I should send him back to the target or reward him back with me.
Didn’t blink at my moving more laterally as he went through the channel, but does react to RCs2x2s – Straight and Almost Straight – 4/6/21
So every few days we’ve been working through the progression of angles and distance. We got down to both sets at 1&7 and at regular distance easily. Then we straightened the first set and moved the 2nd out about 4ft and started back at 3&9. Got to straight and 1&7 easily with various distractions but we’re getting stuck going to both straight at 4ft. This was our 2nd session trying to close the 2nd set and each time I’ve ended up re-opening them a bit. I got 1 rep of both straight (around 1:50) and should have just stopped there. Oh well.
Not sure if I should push the 2nd set a bit further back and go from 12:30&6:30 to straight or if I should keep the 4ft distance and hang out at 12:30&6:30 for a while.Elevator Game – 4/5/21
For a fluffball he’s kinda heavy on a board. Had some trouble keeping him on the board before and during countdown but the actual drop didn’t seem to worry him.Rebound Game – 4/3/21
Started with about 1-2in of tip. Board moving was just fine given the cookie supply.Downhill – 4/1/21
Scaled back the tip to 5in (actually left the measuring tape by the teeter so I can stop guessing about tip)
Seeing as how he jumped onto the high end without waiting for me to pick him up I’d say doing this right before breakfast is motivating to him. He’s in a fast trot but it’s a pretty determined rush down the board and it looks like he’s shifting his weight back a bit to make sure he stops and gets his dollop of raw.In looking at the 3rd set of games released on 3/29, are there particular pre-requisites before doing any of them? Obviously raising height on the bang it game is just a futher progression, but does more tip need to be place on uphill or downhill before trying the elevator game or the downhill to end position?
Got it on the line up cookie.
When adding tip you mentioned the Leap on. For a 2o2o are we looking for leap all 4 on to the edge and then move to 2o2o? Or leap on straight to 2o2o?
Bang it on Teeter- 3/31/21
Ths first session was done right before breakfast when the other dogs were already eating. 2nd session was after dinner. He’s definintely more jazzed up when he knows breakfast is waiting upstairs. I did get him jumping in to position slightly ahead of me towards the end of the 2nd session.
What exactly am I looking for in watching for his using his hind end more. Is it just more of a jump in to position? I’m having a hard time getting him close enough to the board that he doens’t put a front paw on the board as he gets in to postion.
Plank – Various from 3/23- 3/30
So I’ve been experimenting to come up with ways to consistently get his fluffy little butt out of a trot on the plank, but then dealing with some more misses because he’s had too many reps while trotting.He’s likes chasing thrown toys, but will tend to turn is head to watch if I try to throw it as his immediate reward. (Dead toys in front of him are typically boring).
My motion often gets him moving faster, but of course too much of my motion just makes him launch up in the air. (I am seeing a similar thing with his teeter training where he is fastest/most confident if I am moving even if I’m behind or ahead of him).
Having more space to spread out in (especially outside) tends to motivate him more.
As you mentioned, too much of the same thing tends to slow him down (boredom? who knows). So with that, I decided to try mixing things up a bit more just to see what would work. I also decided he could do a trick for a reward if he trotted through the target, but it would be treated more like a miss than hitting it. (I bent this a bit if he had 2 errors in a row with a launch and then broke in to a trot)We tried adding a bit of height to the board just for something different, but that involved him needing to start right on the board (or the porch step or platform I was using) and he often trotted because he didnt’ get a running start at the board. We tried this in 3 different locations with similar results so I am currently trying to find some ring time with a low DW just so I can try starting him on the top plank so he can pick up some speed going down the ramp.
3/29/21 – Added in more of my motion and staying ahead. Got some launches and misses, but he was actually running. Used his frizzer for the reward so was getting some head turning.
3/30/21 – Even with the few launches, I liked this session. I used his raw food at breakfast in a Toppl for the reward. (the Toppl prevents him from gulping the whole meal and I don’t have to deal with spooning out a portion from the dish) He seemed to do better if I was carrying it and running it out to the dish target. When I had it in the dish ahead of him he either got it when he missed (whoops!) or started pulling up to stare at it (He will do that with his favorite ball too sometimes when it’s not moving). He has a few reps where he jumps up a bit and lands in the target. I’m not sure if that was by design or accident, but he had at least 2 feet hit so it got rewarded.
Adding 2nd Set – 3/29/21
Ah-hah! So you keep the first set at a fixed angle and then isolate the distance or the angle of the 2nd set as the variable. (Further distance and tweak the angle. Then closer together but back to 3/9 before tweaking the angle again) Then when you work up to first set at 1/7 and second set is closer and 1/7. You get to start over with the first set straight and the 2nd set further out and 3/9. Rinse & repeat. I was trying to tweak the first set angle along with the 2nd set and distance. No wonder it got muddled.So this video was this morning’s session where first set is at 1/7 and the 2nd set started further away and changed angles. Then started to get closer. I did another session in the late afternoon and we got to the 2 sets being regulation distance with the first at 1/7 and 2nd at 2/8. It was really windy all day, especially in the 2nd session so I was so happy that he ignored all the blowing leaves and the kids playing across the street. (blowing leaves are a huge distraction for him). We even threw in a threadle side entry. Unfortunately it was so windy that my little gorillapod got blown off the fence on the 2nd rep so I got a few minutes of a close up of the driveway on video.
We experimented with a tennis ball for his and he warmed up as we went along but it’s clearly not as high value as Nemo so we went back to Nemo later.
