[agilitywawa]

Hi Tracy:

TS: And you should teach him the more active version based off the up and down game, for higher intensity moments where you can see he needs to chill but isn’t chilling, so you can start the game to help.

–Will do.

TS: This is a good one to do near strange people to get him to overcome the approach response: go near a person (tell the person you are doing this!) and use the earliest steps: leash off and you immediately take off running the other direction (away from the person) and delivering rewards. This can condition a turn-away or ignore-the-person response, which is always a good thing.

— I love this idea. The instructor would be willing to help with this. Definitely want to do it earlier in class so he’s fresh and making better decisions.

TS: What is he doing between turns, in terms of recovery to be able to extend his mental stamina? And what is he doing the day(s) leading up to class? You might need to plan extra rest/sleep/food and limit work, and see how that sets up for the mental stamina.

In class, after his turn he goes out to the car, has water and goes in his crate. When the dog ahead of him goes into the ring, I get him and we station (or last night worked on the crate). On Sunday, he went for a nice hike (I had been at a trial with Dellin in the middle of the day, so he was resting most of Sunday). He gets about 5 miles of hiking most days – if I can only do one thing for him due to time constraints, that’s what I pick – it’s best for his overall sanity – he likes his time in nature.

Tuesdays are usually his lightest days due to my schedule, so lots of rest, not much work.

I have not seen any behavioral fallout from going to class – he’s not extra _____ (fill in the blank) on Tuesdays. He’s always extra, but not abnormally so following class.

I’m so happy this class as NFC plan is working out! In January he could barely go into OTR let alone take an actual class with dogs in the other ring. He’s really made huge progress in his life skills (that has been our main focus since last winter).

Thanks,
Joan

[agilitywawa]

Hi Tracy,

Watched a lot of the videos this weekend. I was happy to discover that I already have been doing an engaged chill type behavior with him (without knowing). He’s the perfect height that when he is sitting next to me his head is at hip level. When I have been places where people need to talk to me, or we are waiting our turn for something, I have him sit close and I rub the side of his head (so that my arm is on the outside of his head). He enjoys this and it allows me to maintain control of his head without looking like I’m doing anything. He has trialed in NACSW and when volunteers need to talk to me, or we are in a staging area, I’ve done this and it’s been great. I will continue to do this.

When I take the leash off for the engagement game, should I be using his marker that food is coming to him? I did this leash off, engagement on last night in class. He is all business as soon as he gets in the ring, so he did not have any problems with this game. Offered the focus immediately. Since he was doing well, I also did it with setting him up in front of a jump and then taking the jump.

He had another great class last night. I did 2 bowls on his first turn. Then did the leash off engagement, and some obstacles. He even worked on his teeter a little and it was on the fence between the 2 rings. Weave poles also were great. And his start lines have been terrific.

I did notice that on his last turn, the mental fatigue was real, so we kept it much simpler. I’m thinking that on those last turns I should just do some pattern games if I am going to do anything.

I also started “project soft crate”. I don’t have my cardboard barrier yet, but I was sitting right next to him and the door was open most of the time – like a transition from his cot. He did well. I am definitely going to get the barrier.

Question on the remote reinforcement – I’ve done a fair amount at home (and he had done it in previous classes). Is it ok to start the baby steps in the ring at class? Set my toy/treats on a chair in the ring, take a few steps away and mark? Then start the progression in class like you do at home? If this is a good plan, I can start work on it next week in class.

Thanks,

Joan

[agilitywawa]

Hi Tracy,

TS: This is still a big success! Looking away is no big deal – just processing 🙂 How long did he look/how long til he went back to the pattern? We can track latency.

It was only a few seconds – I think it felt longer to me in the moment. He did not get high watching, he was just checking it out.

TS: When he is on the way to investigate a person, will he recall to you *before* he gets there? And it can be a clear “get yer butt over here right now” recall when he takes the first step away to investigate. Mals appreciate the clarity of the “do this NOT that” because of how their brains process work (which is a bit different than most other breeds).

Yes, I think I could call him back before he gets there. The class situation – it happened fast and the area was so small that there was no time.
Turning her back on him would likely not help, but walking away might.
This did happen in the second half of class, so fatigue, as you mentioned could have been a factor.

“Kingdom of Judge” – lol, he’d enjoy that. I have seen those poster boards at trials – that would be a good thing for him to have in his set up.

I had to go to the office yesterday, but it did allow me to watch the class recording on the commute. I’d say that Judge is a sign tracker. Like most Mals, he wants to work, does not really care what the actual work is as long as he is doing something and I’m in the picture. I know that I do need to keep working on the remote reinforcement though.

I need to listen to the sign tracker/goal tracker parts again – it’s not all super clear to me.

I need to read the games as well – which will probably help me sort out what to do for him.

I though the quiz about quantity vs quality was interesting too. It makes sense – I’d rather have a one nice thing (shoes, bag, phone) than 10 cheapos of the same thing. We have been brainwashed by the whole jackpot reward strategy.

Thanks,
Joan

[agilitywawa]

Hi Tracy,

The downside of my new class is I miss the Monday calls now.

We had our second group class last night and we were able to do more. I started each of our turns with the 2 bowl pattern, then a couple of spins, then took the leash off and did some stuff. On one side he did the teeter, a couple of jumps and a tunnel. I picked the equipment that was not on the fence between the 2 rings. On the other side, he did weaves (one of his most solid obstacles), a tunnel and few jumps. The weaves held up – and he did them at speed out of a tunnel as well.

He had a small bit of distraction on the second side (after a class had started in the other ring) – during 2 bowl pattern- he did look away at the dog running in the other ring, but he returned to the pattern. At the end of class, we had a couple of minutes left and I went back into the ring and did the pattern again and he did not look over to the other ring.

He also got himself into a bit of an adolescent moment. He took a jump up near a corner of the ring and the instructor was standing there. He decided to go over to her, which he really does not want to do. He sniffed then barked at her. He did recall back to me immediately and we had a big toy party. I think it was the tight space – all up in the corner that contributed to this.

If there are specific things I can do with people, she is willing to help out.

Overall, very happy with how it’s going. He was able to do some stationing on his cot before his turns, spend time in the car and navigate the building. He even disengaged from 2 dogs in the earlier class who were hard staring at him while he was on his cot. One handler was completely oblivious and the other saw her dog doing it and she redirected her dog. I have my head on a swivel in these situations – he is not a dog who has a lot of tolerance for being stared at, so he did a great job last night.

I think I’m going to start working on having him in a soft crate too – thinking about the inevitable winter.

Thanks,
Joan

[agilitywawa]

Hi Tracy,

I will watch him at home – so far he’s nice and relaxed. A big thing for him are walks in nature, and I try to get him out most days for at least an hour of hiking (fortunately I live right near a large park reserve). The walks really keep him grounded.

I don’t have issues with him being off leash, so I can plan for leash off, engagement game. He likes tunnels a lot, so something short with a jump and a tunnel would be good for him. I can also work on his teeter end behavior to refresh that – another thing he thinks is fun – slam the board. He was doing the whole teeter last Fall, but it has been sitting.

I’ll look at the class material again too in terms of more things we can do.

Thanks,
Joan

[agilitywawa]

Hi Tracy,

Judge saw the chiro again yesterday and everything had held up, so he is feeling good.

We did our first group class last night. It went very well! Is a pretty quiet time at OTR – for the first half of class, we were the only class and then halfway through, another class started. All quiet dogs, a lot of small dogs in Judge’s class, so the energy is good and pretty calm. I’ve been told that sometimes there is a private lesson going on in the other half of the ring during our first 30 minutes, but not last night.

It was so empty that I could use his cot for some stationing before his turns (no one in the warm up area but us). We were also able to do a little walking around in the building.

For his turns, we sat at the ring gate, went in, did the side to side pattern game with bowls – he was giving me very good attention. Then we did some tricks – some spins, shake, then we tugged. He was great about outing the toy (he usually is, but the environment did not cause this to fail).

I was able to do the 2 bowls in various places in the ring. We were tugging when other dogs were running on the other side – one went over the dog walk next to fence when we were pretty close and he did not stop tugging. We also did a set up in front of a jump and released to strike the toy.

In between turns, he would go back to the car, then come in, be on his station and have his turn.

This was a good time of day – it was quieter, but not so quiet as to be weird. I could see that the next hour was going to be much busier – lots of people coming in and the energy seemed to change, so I think I have found a good spot for him.

I kept in nice and easy, leash stayed on, although I did drop it a few times – when were tugging and I resisted all temptation to do more.

I will need to come up with slightly more plan for next week.

Thanks,
Joan

[agilitywawa]

Hi Tracy,

By the stationing, I did not mean directly outside the ring – we have distance. I’ll have to see what’s what when we get there to see if there is somewhere I can put a cot.

Can certainly leave the leash on since his breed tendency is to make bad choices that involve going into the pressure of the things he does not want to see. Is a more realistic plan to enter the ring, do some tricks, play tug, maybe do a 2 bowl pattern (can’t put food on the turf directly) to see what that looks like, do some more tug? I do plan to crate him in the car for most of his downtime.

The food thing is hard – he has had significant GI issues, so he has a selection of treats that work for him and he will happily eat – they are mostly dehydrated raw type foods in a couples of proteins (only one of which is his actual current approved protein)- his diet is pretty tightly restricted by his TCM vet and it is working well to keep his GI in order. If I offer him novel things (even at home), he will not eat them – he will examine them, throw them around, take them to the dog bed, toy with them and then ultimately leave them uneaten (it was pretty funny to watch that with one piece of popcorn). Anything like cheese or hot dogs are not possible – he used to like cheese – I suppose I could use a tiny bit and see if I have an intestinal fall out, but I have to be really careful. I do have some special toys that he only sees at agility and really likes. The top toy is his disc however.

I will dial my plan way back!

Thanks,

Joan

[agilitywawa]

Hi Tracy,

We are signed up for a class that starts on Monday at OTR. He has worked at OTR before (well, I guess you saw him, lol). At class times there’s a lot going on though. The typical way he starts is stationing on a cot outside the ring to settle in a little after we enter the building. Then we do some pattern games and allow him to make good life choices.

I feel like I need to have a script in my head for Monday. I’d start the same way (stationing, pattern games), then enter the ring, ask for a couple of spins, if I have good focus, leash off, party with toy, leash on. If that goes well, I’m thing about leash off, a couple of steps with me and a set up in front of a jump. Release and party with toy. I tried to pick a more quiet time for class – some days/times are better than others. Is there anything else you would recommend for our first night? If the environment by the gate is too much, I would move deeper into the ring.

I feel like I need to start pretty basic with him since he has not been in a group class since puppyhood and the most challenging parts of this will be navigating the building and the fact that there could be dogs running on the other side of the fence.

Thanks,
Joan

[agilitywawa]

Hi Tracy,

He was pretty locked up – almost all of his thoracic vertebrae and the left scapula were locked up. So not minor, but not hideous injury! Everything got worked out. The vet was shocked at (a) how good his gait looked prior to adjusting him when watching him trot around and (b) how little reaction he had to the massive adjustments. He’s so stoic. A few more days of leash walking and then swimming will be ok as we ease back into working. I think too much disc may have been the culprit – he is mental for disc and while he is not a reckless dog, he does land hard and as you’ve seen, he’s a big boy who gives it his all. The chiro vet is coming back next week for the other dogs so she can recheck him and make sure all is good.

I have identified a possible class at OTR for him that starts in a couple of weeks with someone I know instructing (who will let me do my thing). I need to talk to the other trainer who is helping me with his manners training to get her take on whether he’s ready for that and make sure I am also working on those protocols (for neutrality and manners). OTR will be a big challenge with 2 rings running at once, so I don’t want to overface him.

I can talk to his team about what they think about getting baseline x-rays.

In the interim, we can keep working on teh pattern games and more remote reinforcement.

Thanks,
Joan

[agilitywawa]

Hi Tracy,

We are seeing the chiropractor this morning – hoping it’s something minor.

We have played find my face before and he remembered that when we tried it last night. I also started refreshing him on his remote reinforcement marker since we have not used that in a while. I did that with food and a toy.

The call last night got me thinking more about NFC for him, not at a trial, but as a way to get started in a class setting. He has not been in a group class since he was a puppy – once adolescence hit, there were too many people and too many dogs way too close to him in tight spaces. He has been working hard all winter on neutrality and minding his business, and has made huge progress, so I may be able to look for a class where we can use that setting as NFC to get comfortable in a class setting and not “do” the class.

Joan

[agilitywawa]

Hi Tracy,

Just checking in. Last week I was able to do some of the sequencing homework. Judge was really struggling with keeping bars up (at 18″), which was suspicious. He had a massage on Thursday and then started limping. Frantic video sent to all of our professionals… He has been on house arrest (leash walking only) since last Thursday. The limp was gone by Friday, but he can’t see his chiropractor until tomorrow. Hopefully an adjustment is all that he needs cuz he’s not happy with the current situation. And it’s hot again. 97 yesterday. UGH.

I plan to be on the call tonight and hopefully there are more games we can do inside. I do live near a Cabela’s and a Home Depot, so we could go there too.

Joan

[agilitywawa]

Hi Tracy,

We were at Canine Sports Zone this weekend for a trial (looks like we are just missing you!). They have a huge warm up area and it was a small trial, so I was able to bring Judge into the building and do some homework. We did back and forth and up and down. He started slightly slower with the reconnection to me, but then got into a groove and was offering eye contact quickly. We did a little moving back and forth too.

They have warm up jumps in little fenced areas so that each has it’s own accordion gate. We used those for ring entry, leash off and party, then exit and repeat. He gave very good attention as soon as we entered, so I also took a couple of steps and the we sort of set up in from of a jump. That all went really well.

We also did some stationing on their podium. Not part of class, but part of his life skills program – watch things go by and be neutral about them. Also did some measuring practice with the wicket (he does not care when I do it or when Terry does it). I may need to work on “strangers” – he’s generally neutral with people, but they don’t usually touch him. He’s over 22, so we will only need one measurement for any organization since he will have to jump 24, but I want him to be comfortable. I do have people who can help with this. We have plenty of time – he’s nowhere near trial ready.

After tomorrow, the heat is supposed to break for a few days, so hope to get to the sequencing homework!

Joan

[agilitywawa]

Hi Tracy,

Posting to keep myself accountable. Like everywhere – still super hot and now really smokey, so we are not doing the sequencing assignment yet. Early next week, it looks like it will get better.

We’ve done 2 sessions of the pattern games – Judge has done a lot of these, so we are doing back and forth in motion and on leash. He has also done up & down.

I realized that he does know a lot of “tricks” once the definition was reframed – he has left and right spins, backing up, leg weaving, shake and paw, army crawl, sit pretty. He likes the spins the best. We did the volume dial game with spins and a toy reward – he prefers toys to food. Then after the 5th one, when I stopped, he sat and stared at me. We’ve done 2 sessions of this with the same end result.

I’m having an internal debate about barking on cue. Malinois is probably French for “loves to bark”, which I personally hate, but since he already grooves on it, maybe I should consider using it to my advantage. TBD.

This weekend, we will have the chance to work on the road on our pattern games in an agility environment. Judge spent the winter (and is continuing now) working on his manners and neutrality, and the patterns have been a part of that.

I enjoyed the webinar on Tuesday – lots of stuff that we worked on when he was very young, but have not done a lot with recently, so we can dust off our remote reinforcement marker (“candy”), and our leash on/off work with party (and add the next steps of offering engagement and then ultimately moving with us).

Glad that a lot of this can be done indoors cuz we’re going to be more or less stuck inside for the next few days.

Joan

[agilitywawa]

Hi Tracy,

Things have been so hectic recently that I have not gotten back to the setup. We’ve done some set points to keep working on jumping, worked on weaves (he’s doing amazing), and his RDW. I’m feeling the pressure of summer ending and there being too much to do. We saw our conditioning guy yesterday and we talked about jumping (and showed him) and adjusted our exercises. Judge is well muscled, but he tends to use one of his rear legs more, so we want to address that.

I’m not sure if Max Puppy 4 will work out for us – stating at the end of October means weather could start to be a factor after a few weeks. BOOOOOOOO! I guess I’ll see what kind of Fall we have…

Thanks for a great class!

Joan

[agilitywawa]

Hi Tracy,

We started the big lead outs, big lines lessons. We had a lot of failure on module 1 – that blind cross. I’m not sure if my set up is just too tight for him or what. I thought my blind was timely.

Then in the afternoon, I went a different route – forced threadle, forced FC, lead out push. That went better conceptually, but he still drops a ton of bars and they are only at 14″.

I worked some set points after that (not on the video). He needs a lot of jump work.

Thanks,

Joan

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