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I may see what she thinks of broadening the definition of “leash” to mean run to it with me and stick your head through the loop when I pick it up. It’s still a thing to do that she knows gets her to treats and it’s not a different work for me to remember. Otherwise I’ll say “yay!” as praise since “good girlie” just doesn’t come out naturally at the end of a run. And while I run mainly USDAA & UKI, I do some AKC ISC so I think I should keep to having the leash on the dog as we exit. (plus both Fusion & On the Run can be pretty congested so I’d probably get dirty looks if we ran past a few people to our station with her off leash). If I thought she would like to tug on the leash, I’d tell her to get it, but while she will tug on her fleece leash at home, I’m pretty sure that would just annoy her as delaying the food in the ring. (shiv in my sleep – LOL!)
Is there any issue with using the pristine furry lotus tug in the ring when it usually has food in it in other situations? She does like to chase and pounce on it, but she doesn’t always pick it up since it’s bigger than her head.
Youtube was being weird last night with links and editing.
Here’s rep 2 – https://youtu.be/Eyjz0kpAOZQAs always, thanks for the super detailed feedback that makes sense of my ramblings and pulls me out of whatever rabbit hole I’ve fallen into!
Lucky for Lift that there are no UKI or USDAA Trials at TCOTC – land of a forest of I-beams! (I think you taught there years ago – you probably blocked that bit out). I’ll add pole wrapping/lazy game to her list of things that I can do when she’s cleared for more motion post-spay.
My brain just stopped and couldn’t function when she had trouble with jump tunnel at the beginning. Will definitely not ask for a tunnel as the first obstacle in a future NFC run – unless it’s short, light and straight maybe.
I can visit classes to work on pattern games and moving around with other dogs around. It will be easy to keep that separate from doing sequences since she can’t for a while. And do TSA game at home (add in Kaladin and/or Demi on cot/in crate as “easier” distraction – in quotes since they are familiar but Kaladin is her favorite interactive toy)
New plan for tomorrow’s drop in class –
Higher value rewards (we do have leftover turkey that got frozen and can come out again). Use pattern games with high value treats to get to the ring instead of figuring out TSA game. Treats in the ring (may be visible or not, but have them on me). If things go off the rails, freestyle it and re-start with something on a line (if necessary) Remote reinforcement station in ring nearby if I use it for 1 rep.Toys are still a work in progress. Great tug/chase at home (and out and about) outside the context of “we’re doing agility”. Frisbie is something that she thinks of as “I grab it from Kaladin and run around and bop him on the head with it” She’ll go for it the first time I toss it but then looses interest if Kaladin is not there. Balls/rolling things get a variable response. Sometimes they’re fascinating and other times not so much. She did an extended game of fetch to my hand with a ball a few days ago but often if I throw one after a jump she’ll run at it and then by it without engaging with it much less bringing it back. So I think NFC will be a food box thing for her at least starting off. (and luckily I run a lot of the UKI trials in the area and we offer it)
I think the Yay comes out more often when our original plan gets thrown out the window and I’m free-styling. It also comes out when I finish a run/sequence and I don’t have a reward on me. When training with Kaladin, I tell him to get it and toss his frizzer at an end. Lift gets a tossed toy or treat (right now mostly food). So now I’m re-thinking what I want to do at the end of something with Lift when I don’t have the reward on me. Is it just cueing her to push her head through the leash and then Happy Hour and out of the ring we go? Does she need something else between last obstacle and leash (some kind of trick)? Or maybe Ms Keep it to the facts does just want the next cue that gets her closer to the reward? In which case I might need to add something that means go to your leash since “leash” is put your head through the loop while I”m holding it and we can hope that she is driving ahead of me on that last line. We’re working on a jump into my arms but it’s going slowly so that won’t be ready that soon and may never be something she really loves to do after finishing a run. She will often voluntarily want to hop into my arms/lap, but less so if she’s just been moving.
Games 4 sequences at Fusion – 12/1/24
How on earth is it December already? Trained with Kristin & Khamsin this morning. Had some moments of brilliance and others that weren’t.Rep 1
The ring setup had been tweaked and the a-frame was no longer in the way in the back so we used a different tunnel and set up the games 4 sequences the direction as pictured and with a 15ft tunnel. My plan was to try part of sequence #1. I did a mix of pattern games & volume dial on my way to the first station. Then got rid of my jacket and extra treats. With the sequence far away from the gate, I decided to jog over there and apparently that was just too much for Ms Lift’s pop rocks. There’s a short break in the middle of the video where we went over to the 2nd station (where the NFC reward box will be), got a treat and came back out again. She was better after that and I experimented with picking her up and taking the leash off while she was in my arms. Not sure if that is something I want to do going forward, but I think I might try it again but give her time to shake it off after I put her down. Again had the issue with sending to the tunnel so ditched sequence 1 and just made something up on the fly. (I don’t think you can hear it but I muttered to myself to stop saying yay after she did go in the tunnel). On the plus side I did remember to point back to the tunnel on the exit so got the jump after it. This was the first time she has hesitated with the leash loop after training so clearly we still had some feelings to process.
Rep 2
This was after a snuffle mat and some hanging out on her cot behind the solid side ring barrier (but able to hear Reacher & Kristin – actually just Kristin since Reacher was a silent little good Schnauzer). We did our pattern games/volume dial over to the ring entrance and past Kristin & Reacher. Both Lift and Reacher thought that was too exciting so add going by dogs to the homework list since I’d rather not resort to carrying her alot at trials. Walked in briskly but kept her on leash and got a much better line up (I had treats in my pocket this time but saved them for the end of the sequence). Guessing the run by the jump after the tunnel was a bit about my inadvertent “yay” and bit about me moving laterally off the jump. Still had big feelings about jump-tunnel so I had her do spins for cheese and then we tried part of one of the 3rd sequences. No hesitation on the leash loop after the visit to station #2.
Rep 3
This was after a break in the car for 2nd breakfast. Offered her the tug toy outside of the ring by our cot and she was sort of interested but then backed off and looked like she was about to erupt in barking so I put it away and she settled back down again. Khamsin and Mochi obliged us by walking around outside the ring this time including about 10ft away as we were getting ready to go in. (Mochi is an awesome neutral dog who is completely uninterested in Lift so she was fine with this ). Got sticky on a release so I switched to having her spin right before the jump.
After another break, we also did a short (45sec?) rehearsal of going into the ring while Kristin was picking up numbers on the far side of the ring. Taking off the leash, doing a lead out on the flat past the reward box and releasing her where she promptly started to angle over to it. I called her and she came back, ran by it with me and then I gave her the Happy Hour cue. (only to find out that I had forgotten that I had moved the chair & dish to around the corner so we got the leash on and ran out). On the plus side, she completely ignored Kristin walking around on the other side of the ring.
I have her signed up for a drop in class on Tuesday as her last training session before she gets spayed on Wednesday. My plan is to work on the TSA game past the dogs that will be waiting for their turn in the aisle near the ring gates and some super simple 2-4 obstacle sequences so that I can focus on the line up & end of run stuff and some remote reinforcement work (maybe bringing my chair and the dish into the ring? It won’t be there for a trial but I’m guessing that it’s good to move it around and test whehter she can work around it until being cued to go to it).
After Friday’s mini group training, I got ambitious and actually registered her with UKI and started thinking that maybe I should enter her in a class or two in the Jan 11-12 Fusion trial just to test getting in and out of the ring. She will be cleared for sprints & tricks by then but barely any jumping (4 in a row at 8in is the guideline). I can put her in 4s or 8 at either the very beginning or end of the class to minimize the chaos of getting to and from the ring. She turns 18 mo later in December so I can put her in Jumping which will ensure I won’t get greedy since we haven’t trained weaves yet. Then after this morning, I’m questioning that idea as I think she’s going to need a lot more practice on how to navigate getting to the ring past the normal trial chaos. And while it’s 6 weeks-ish out, I won’t have a bunch of opportunities to work on that given her spay and what is available for classes due to the holidays. My opportunities are maybe a fusion training session on Dec 29 (tbd on the holiday booking) a 3 day USDAA trial at On the Run (I am planning on letting her tag along on Fri & Sun so she gets Sat at home to chill), a drop-in class at Fusion on Jan 7 and a ring time rental on Jan 10 (not sure if Khamsin or Kristin would be able to join me though since they’re gainfully employed and all unlike me). On the plus side, I can control a bunch of variables at Fusion trials that I secretary since she will be in a crate under my desk at the front corner of the ring (when not crated in the car – depends on the weather) and has a small private warm up space in that corner that is blocked off from general traffic. Then she has a short walk to the ring entrance. I also usually put my happy hour station for Kaladin back at that desk so it’s also close to a ring exit. And I have a mid Jan, mid Feb and mid April Fusion UKI trial with an early Feb MAC USDAA at On the Run in the middle. So my grand plans were to try going in and out in mid Jan, maybe 1 run at OTR in early Feb if it went well at Fusion in Jan (not sure – she is less familiar with OTR), a bit more at Fusion in mid-Feb, and then maybe actually a mini sequence or two with the reward box for mid April. I know that is looking pretty far out, but I was thinking that the sequence of trials was convenient which made me start thinking about starting her off in mid January and then seeing how it went.
And separate topic – since I keep blurting out “yays!” mid course, should I figure out a way to train around that? It might just be easier than my trying not to say it. Wondering if I should try something like – cueing a trick – saying yay! – cueing another and then rewarding with tossed cheese. Also looking for things I can do in the early parts of the post spay recondition plan that don’t involve extended sprinting or jumping. (working on remote reinforcement with tricks on the flat and going by the station before cueing it is also on the list)
Fusion 11/29/24
Rep 1 – power patterns and part of sequence 2
Added Kristin and Reacher/Ronin to the Lift & Jimothy show and we set up the Games 4 sequence as a mirror image to avoid moving the teeter. The sequence is a but adjuster since the 20ft tunnel was available. Did patterns games on the way in and on the way to the ring entrance with some volume dial mixed in. (Ronin provided some nice distraction with his barking) Purposely didn’t give her too much time to settle inside because I wanted to test how she did as we were early in the class and didn’t have much time to warm up after the potty break outside. I also set up the 2nd station where our NFC food reward box goes for Fusion trials. Got a jump up when I closed my shoulders after the tunnel and she went between the pole and the jump near the end but pretty happy with our first “NFC test” where I left the treats outside the ring.
Rep 2-
Had a short decompression break with the snuffle mat and chewing on the bully stick while Reacher ran. Then did a bit more. I had treats in my pocket for this one but empty hands when we started. Need to remember to cue my “happy hour” before we are almost already there.
Rep 3
This was after a break outside in the car for 2nd breakfast in a toppl (and shortening one of the leg straps on her coat!) Made it easier by bringing the treats into the ring for the volume dial game. Did more pattern games in the ring since it was hard when Khamsin and Mochi walked by the front of the ring. Then she held her start line like a champ as the boarding dogs erupted in the next room. Unfortunately I tuned that cacophony out and didn’t realize she needed a reward sooner so had to take a short break after the leaping lizard eruption at the tunnel. We came back to try the threadle slice out of the tunnel and then decided we had better quit and have a party outside the ring.
She’s getting a sniffy walk later today with Demi and tomorrow off.
Friendsgiving was fun but we don’t get a lot of leftovers so we solved that by ordering the Blue Apron Thanksgiving feast which we are cooking for ourselves later this afternoon.
Remote Reinforcement – 11/27/24
Happy Thanksgiving! So happy we are going to Friendsgiving so I don’t need to host or drive further than 30min to get there.
Lift pratically exploded when Kaladin and I got home on Tuesday night. Dean did a really good job with her (even doing her conditioning exercises and neutralizing pattern games!) but Demi barely plays with her so it’s good we weren’t gone any longer. (Wish me luck next week after she gets spayed and I might need to sit on her to keep her from boinging!)we moved the RR outside and near a jump. I ping ponged it as it seemed hard for her to move away from the treat with the addition of the jump.
Power Patterns -11/28/24
I missed getting to this one before we trekked down to Florida. Forgot about putting the leash back on on the first rep so we did it again. And yes – it is snowing…on top of the oak tree leaves because the oak tree is always late to drop leaves and our leaf guy is MIA. I used small pieces (because she is small and doesn’t need to get a tummyache) of the St Rocco’s treats which are apparently very yummy and take a while to chew. She got to demolish a collagen chew after this. I have Fusion booked tomorrow and Sunday (sharing with Khamsin and maybe also Kristin) and then she gets spayed next Wed.hmmm – in order to cue a different position stay, I should probably train a stand stay first! LOL- OK – will add to the list of things I can do with her post-spay.
Definitely a brilliant training plan! And so efficient too!
I totally took the last tunnel in the first rep for granted and she was quick to tell me about it. And in my mind I was saying right for the turn out of the tunnel way in advance of her going into it but it was clearly as she was entering and too late so the wide turn. I felt like I was going too deep to the jump before the wrap but that she needed it to not 0ull off.
At home when I inhaled on the leadout her ears pointed forward more and I could see her tense her muscles. At Fusion I didn’t notice the muscle change from the front but can see it from the side in the video.
If she is having trouble lining up in a sit due to arousal (or whatever), I have been either asking for a motion trick and/or tossing the treat to have her chase it. Is that a good approach if she gets sticky? I am trying to not have a treat in my hand when I ask for the sits but I’ve also done a fair amount of using the treat to get her into a position (like for the ang game).
And I’m assuming it is not an issue that I do sometimes do the tip toeing to lead out and then reward the sit by throwing the toy back?
As in the cartoon mashup doesn’t always precede a release forward but can be a release out of the sit to catch the toy.We just drove by Fiery Gizzard Trail in eastern TN. Such a cool name. Might have to stop sometime to check it out.
Games 3 – Drive ahead sequences – 11/16/24
Khamsin and I shared a ring rental on Saturday morning. We were too lazy to move the tunnels so tweaked the drive ahead course to be 2 jumps to another tunnel. (that toppl really can travel far when you chuck it on mats!) The bark on cue seems to work better for her than a jump up (a newer trick on cue).
Engaged “Chill”
Took the opportunity to try for some engaged chill after Lift’s sequence work while Jimothy was working so that she had some arousal to chill from. She wasn’t keen on being on the chair (probably would have been fine with a canvas chair or a bigger one). I did speed up the pattern game again when she started to notice Jimothy running (the first part of the video was Khamsin setting bars so the sounds weren’t so exciting). She also hung out a bit standing on my lap before deciding she was done. (she will hang out sitting or standing in my lap a lot longer at home but it’s less exciting there)
Releases Part 1
This was after Lift had a break (and 2nd breakfast) in the car while I did a few jump grids with Kaladin and let him play with his frizzer. First lead out is the inhale. (I had more a of a reaction from her when I did this at home). She held all her stays, but had to tell me about what she thought about lining up. I did edit out 20sec of her getting the treat out of the lotus ball off camera after the last rep. (and yes – that is Khamsin and I talking about the US Open and how any weather that doesn’t involve a hurrican is a good thing)
Oh- that re-conditioning plan was from our chiro/rehab vet, Dr Julia Tomlinson. My regular vet is amazing but pretty sure she will say to keep Lift quiet for 2 weeks and then follow directions from Dr Julia.
Dean sent me a picture of Lift sacked out on the living room floor after he took her for a walk with Demi and then a video later of her pulling Nemo & Dorie toys out of her Finding Nemo snuffly coral reef toy. So sounds like day 1 without Kaladin and I went well. See you in Jacksonville on Tuesday.
Games 3 -Sequence 1 & tested RC – 11/14/24
Decided I wanted to try this again in the yard before I take it down for when I’m gone. Lowered jumps to 6in to see what that did for her jumping and threw the creamcheese toppl. No issues with the rear cross, but I kept it easy by not doing the straight line first and leaving the tunnel out. Made a bigger deal about the backside cue and got it this time. It’s out of the camera but on the last rep the toppl bounced off the fence so she pulled up and stared at it until I moved it for her. (silly girl). After she finished part of the cream cheese she politely trotted next to me as I carried it across the yard to get her leash and stuck her head through the loop to get the toppl again. No jumping up on the way in and we did a snuffle back in the house.
After dinner we did some tricks with her “slightly squashed skunk” toy and she gave me really snappy responses when I asked for a sit and led out so I did an inhale while looking back at her and her ears snapped forward and she released faster. Tried a 2nd one when I did 2 tip toe steps and she thought that was great fun too. Then Kaladin (who was lounging on the couch) decided to join in and she dropped the skunk and started jumping on him instead. I think she may fall into the camp of liking the cartoon mashup. We’ll see.
I am laughing at your spot-on response that boinging at meal prep is annoying to household life. (how did you guess that was a likely scenario?) Actually she was fine for quite a while and then Demi started getting more excited (the dog is a complete sloth unless it is meal time) and Lift started chasing Demi around the dining table which is next to the counter where I prep meals and then boinging. We’ve experiemented with different approaches but lately the best one has been me trapping Demi between my legs so she doesn’t run around and bark and letting Lift circle the table if she needs to blow of steam, but pausing operations if she barks or boings. As long as she’s not running on empty for other reasons, I typically only need to pause once or twice and then she either stands and watches me or trots around the table without yapping. Side benefit is that Kaladin has gotten a lot better about meal prep and keeps offering sits if I need to pause for Lift to settle a bit.
Test results came back and the ACTH Stim test was normal so the unlikely possibility of Addisons is ruled out. Thyroid was also normal (and on the higher end).
She’s going to get a whole lot of latent learning soon since I’m gone for 10 days for the Open and then she gets spayed a week after I get back. I got a detailed reconditioning program from our rehab vet which takes her into the end of January. Luckily she’s allowed to do some playing with toys (if no vigorous tugging) a lot sooner than that and she gets to start sprint work (aka – working on the cartoon mashup releases) at the beginning of January about 4 weeks post op.
Games 3 – Seq 1 – 11/12/24
Lots of decompression activities on Sunday & Monday. Was going to give her another day off but then noticed the forecast was crappy for Wednesday and she’s going to have extended decompression time soon while Kaladin and I are at the Open so I set up the Drive ahead sequence in the morning and then we did our sniffy walk and a nap before trying it. (before I set it up, I went outside with her and a creamcheese toppl & dish to see if she would drive ahead to the toppl in the dish. I thought it would be more obvious sitting in the grass in a dish than just on its own, but she thought it was a weird alien and kept circling around it. Driving to a dish with treats in it was easy peasy as was chasing a thrown toppl.)
So I decided I’d put cheese in her dish and use it as a target beyond the last jump but have the toppl ready to go and off to the side (i stashed it in a bush) just in case I needed to throw something. She thought charging ahead to the dish was great (although her jumping form suffers over the last jump even though the dish was at least 20ft beyond it – I was starting to run out of yard!). I didn’t drop enough treats for a better snuffle in the grass when I was done and she started jumping up at me as we were walking back into the house while on leash (side note – she will just jump up on regular walks too and not always because of over-arousal – sometimes it’s because we stopped (like to pick up poop) and she thought it took too long, but other times there is nothing going on and we’re just walking down an empty trail and she’ll start boinging. It’s like she just gets bored with staying on the ground!)
After that she goit a snuffle and I experimented it a bit with what she might like for engaged chill (jury is out but one possibility is that she likes to volunteer to pop into my lap as I am crouched down and just sits there on my thighs as I scritch her chest. This settles her but is obviously not the most comfortable chilling position for me!). Then I realized I had left the toppl outside in the bush and decided we should do a one and done with me throwing it. So a few hours later we went back out. This time I remembered to take the leash off first and see what she did (stayed engaged yay!) instead of unhooking it was she was distracted. I got the front of the jump out of the tunnel instead of the back and am pretty sure I started rotating in too soon (hard to tell at a distance), but kept going and found out she will also happily drive ahead when I chuck a toppl ahead of her. I let her decompress by finishing the cream cheese and also tested her leash loop behavior with the toppl on the ground (also pretty good). This time she came in trotting nicely at my side with no boings even though I was also carrying the tripod in my other hand so thinking the extra decompression after did help.
Nothing much going on today (she had her vet visit to check for stuff – no results yet) and we’re heading out for massages. She’s been napping since she got home from the vet.
So how long does this “teenage/my brain parts don’t talk/things are super hard for me” stage last again?
Since the following applies (summarizing here more for myself!):
– Tug & agility is super hard – tug-1 rep of something easy – tug – stop (and decompress)
– Food & agility is hard but not as hard as tug rewards – volume dial (with barking & movement to amp her up) – up to 3 reps – stop (and decompress) – If I lose her behind me, try to keep going since it was no doubt caused by me disconneting. Lotus tug (with food) is between the two so maybe one or 2 reps with that?
– The more that we can do with getting her arousal up, doing a thing (or two/three) and then decompressing down again without any leaping lizard episodes, the better and eventually this will help build her resilience (and when her brains do finally start talking to each other again, that framework will be in place to do more stuff eventually)
– Lots more neutral pattern games/ general decompression (bully stick chewing, shredding cardboad, sniffy walks where nothing exciting happens (like dogs lunging at her or bikes flying by out of nowhere), napping, playing with Kaladin (usually), and snuffle mats/treat scatters all work for her)
– She needs at least day off between hard thingsI have these questions:
1) Does it make sense to do very many in-person classes at this point? Or do I keep adding them in (maybe every other week?) but plan on using treat rewards for a while until I can get more consistent good results with a toy at home?
2) Where do things like her RDW foundations (going nowhere very fast and soon to be slower since I have a week before I leave for the Open and then we’ll probably have snow when I get back) or short teeter sessions fit in? Is that more like a harder agility sequence so should alternate with those?
3) Does it make sense to substitute in a jump grid session (dragging the lotus tug) instead of a short sequence session?
4) Thoughts on whether I should try 1 rep with a toy and then do a treat scatter and switch to another rep with food? (after getting success with 1 rep with toy & quit)
5) Does it make any sense to consider an NFC run before I have a more solid toy (not lotus tug) reward behavior in place? Sure I could probably have her ready to do the food reward box sooner, but not sure I want to do that and then try to introduce the toy in the ring after that. Kaladin is a dog that can switch back and forth more easily and I did do food reward box NFC with him when did some teeter bang it games but he transistioned pretty smoothly to NFC with frizzer since he loves his frizzer so much.
6) Can I use pattern games to help get her back if she’s lost her puppy marbles? (example – we finished a walk with my sister and her 2 dogs and were going down the driveway back to the house. Her 2 dogs started a rambunctious play session while still on leash to work of steam (from behaving themselves as joggers & cars went by) in the front yard. Lift really wanted to join in. I kept moving her further away and when she finally glanced sort of at me, I tossed a treat and moved into a pattern game. Her latency sucked at first even with moving further away, but then she got into it and eventually I was able to walk her past the playing dogs at a distance and got some good responses to trick cues)In answer to your question, that was her first wrap a tree in NY session. I have done a bit of wrapping around my oak tree at home but we haven’t done it lately.
She was such a trooper around my young nephews too. Made the 6yr old’s day when she agreed to sit on his lap next to me (with cheese as a reward).
The flight home was hard for her. She had puppy Xanax before both flights and was very calm/napping the whole time on the way out. Started out that way on the way back, but had a bit of a puppy panic attack when the engines revved for takeoff (it was especially noisy and vibrated alot). I had my hand down by the mesh of her bag (luckily) and it must have been very slightly unzipped because suddenly she burst out of there and was in my lap. I had to hold her for about 10minutes (with her panting heavily) before I could settle her enough to get her back in the bag before the flight attendants noticed she was illegally in my lap. After that she settled down and was a model canine citizen the entire rest of the time and then came out of the bag calmly at the baggage claim looking like nothing had ever caused her to panic. So needless to say we took it easy today with a sniffy walk, chasing Kaladin around the yard, a neutral pattern game session followed by a snuffle mat, and a short toy session with tricks when she came up to me with a toy.Tug games in NY – 11/9/24
More decompression yesterday and today with shredding cardboard and chewing. Also some neutral pattern games followed by a snuffle. Did another RR with her breakfast this morning in the front entry way. Didn’t video but she had better responses to cues and walked by it with me. She is also looking at me expectantly to cue a trick or Happy Hour. Then did a walk (took the 3rd time but she figured out that she can walk politely with my sister’s Sheltie & Collie without trying to play with the collie half the time….apparently we haven’t practiced walking with dogs other than Kaladin and Demi much).Video is an experiment with her tug toy after a nap. I wanted to see if she could tug and then segue to wrapping a tree as pseudo-agility. Answer today seems to be good for 2 reps with the tug and then needed a decompression.
Remote Reinforcement- 11/7/24
MaxPup – NY edition – complete with my parents trying to move a bunch of toys right by us in preparation for my nephews showing up. Lift was a champ on the flight (with the help of a bit of Xanax since she was a little bit anxious on her last flight) and walking with me in Flushing where we stopped to get Singaporean takeout. (the Xanax was mostly worn off but probably helped with that too since she is not used to walking in cities much less NYC). Lots of decompression (napping, shredding, bully stick chewing, some sniffy walks, snuffles….) yesterday after the flight and today. Earlier in the day she was enthusiastic about tugging with me and bringing back her squashed skunk toy so I decided to up the ante with the remote reinforcement and used her raw meat meal. On the first rep she turns the wrong way on the cue but the 2nd rep she had a snappy response to the trick (even after she gave it a glance when we walked by it to get back in the camera angle). I did a neutral pattern game later in the day followed by her snuffle mat.
1 Jump at CSZ – 11/3/24
Gave her a break on the Find Face game and experimented with amping up her arousal with an active trick right before asking for the jump. Did not get sticky on lead outs (even with me using the obstacle name) and had faster, happier line ups. CSZ has 3 separate warm -up jump areas so I grabbed the one furthest from the ring near the end of a class when the remaining dogs were mostly clustered by the ring. I did step in when she noticed the 2 poodles (one a puppy at the end of the leash) going by with a handler who was busy talking to someone else. We did do a pattern game/volume dial by the podiums earlier in the morning followed by a snuffle mat and then bully stick.
Our snow did melt when we were gone but it’s also supposed to be raining off and on the next 2 days and then I’m flying (with Lift) to NY to visit my family from wed-Sat. So we’ll take the pattern games/volume dial etc on the road.
In other news, Kaladin decided that Camille Cargol was OK in his book after he had to roll his eyes at her for a bit when she worked on the tightness in his neck.
Remote Reinforcement- 11/2/24
RR at CSZ off in the corner of the warm-up area but with traffic going back and forth. Did regular pattern games to warm up and made sure to empty the treats out of my pockets before walking away from the main reward the first time. This was her 3rd? time out and about – just did easy pattern games and a bit of volume dial followed by bully stick chewing and snuffle mats the first two so she could settle in.
Kaladin gives 4 paws up for Petr Pupik’s courses (as in he’s sacked out now after having fun running 4 of them today – levels 2 & 3) A2 clean but he slowed down to question 2 threadle wraps. Other 3 had an off course due to handling but he did amazing layering and was really flying.
