[agilitywawa]

Hi,
Ha! Grudgement is the perfect word for her reaction.

We did some backsides, threadle and reverse retrieves tonight.

Backside – I put down a leash on the floor to keep myself honest about my position. I even left in the end of a couple of reps where she BROUGHT ME THE TOY TO MY HAND 🙂

Threadles – trying to make sure she was not leaving when my arm started to move. She did really well – grudgement period is over.

Question – I do use the other arm for my threadles with Mari and CiCi and I’d liek to do that with Dellin, so how do I transition?

“Reverse retrieve – while she was technically correct, she literally made me snort with her passionate (not!) trot to you during the retrieve portion LOL!!!”
She usually saves this kind of move for right after I tell someone that she is mental for toys 🙂

We adapted the game with more tossing the toys as she was coming back. The HR were proving difficult for me to pick up quickly so I switched to the udder tugs.

Thanks,
Joan

[agilitywawa]

Well, it has taken several days to get Dellin back doing the threadle – she took A LOT of offense at my stepping on her (memo to self – don’t do that again). I had to move the jump to a different part of the room for several days, change out the jump for a wing, go back to the prop for the nose touch to get her to come to the back of the jump, yada yada, yada. I used mostly toys and yesterday I was able to use the MM again and she ate the food. But we are back now – I was able to put the jump back in the original spot where there’s more room to video, lose the hand target, and I started using a word. I used look, look, look with Mari and CiCi but I find it kind of hard to say, so I opted for “In” – hopefully I can remember!
Sorry that the toy is off camera on that first side. It’s hard to get everything in with the space.

Then I did a little bit of reverse retrieve – it’s hard in the small space to really run away, but so it goes. Used HR then udder tugs. Side note – she has been doing some retrieve to hand with those little green HR that she loves so much which is good for her (with me sitting on the floor still).

From my previous homework on the backside where you said:

Try to start further away from the barrel, as close to the camper as possible – it looks like you are starting with her and then bending your line a little to commit her to the backside by moving towards it then away. So if she is further back and even in a stay, yo can be ahead and moving when she start moving, so you can be very straight. That will allow you to start to work your way over to positions 2 and 3, which I think she is ready for (these were position 1 mainly).

Is position 2, like the middle of the bump? and position 3 where the second wing would be if it was a jump?

Thnaks,
Joan

[agilitywawa]

Hi,

I misunderstood where to stand on the threadle work! So I went back to it tonight. After one rep, I accidentally stepped on Dellin’s paw (not hard) and she a very dramatic reaction. After which she would not leave her stay to come to me. I moved the jump to another part of the room and had to start tossing treats back and froth just to get her moving through the jump. I used some toys too and let her chase them. Hopefully she won’t hold the grudge for too long or I may have to try the threadle in a different place.

As you can see in the video, she is physically fine and we did the backside exercise with no problems. I was trying to move parallel to the bump – I just don’t have much room. The treats were also bouncing some, so they may not have ended up in right place all the time, but she really likes these, so I was trying to keep her happy.

Joan

[agilitywawa]

Thanks for the feedback. I revisited the games with the tweaks – hopefully I’m on the right track now.

Pivot with jump bump:

Backsides with me throwing the treats (very bouncy treats):

Head turn – trying to fade the big hand motion – not sure if I’m doing this correctly:

Lastly, the threadle. This did not go as well as the first session. First, she had little interest in the MM, she’d run to it, pick up some kibble, drop it on the floor and then ignore it or maybe eat one after playing with it. I left her last rep with MM in where she gets “stuck” (staring at the thing she does not actually want – lol). So after that rep on the video, I moved to the toy. She was more excited, but I had more errors. She was good in “position 1”, but as I tried to move her closer to the middle of the jump or position 2, she was taking the front side of the jump. When that happened, I’d move back toward position 1 to get success and then try to move back to position 2. I left a couple of those in the video so you could see and let me know if I’m doing something to cause that. I don’t think we had any successful reps at position 2 today. I stopped after doing the one side since I though we had been at it long enough.

Thanks,
Joan

[agilitywawa]

Hi Tracy,
I tried out the new games. I have to tell you, I did literally LOL watching the video of Export. With his back to the camera, the black patches on top of his head and the mohawk, my first reaction was, is she training a goat to pivot?? Then I realized who it was 🙂

Here’s some baseline pivot stuff for us – going both ways. I don’t know if this is too “obediency” for what you want.

Then we tried the backside slice game. You may be witnessing the very first successful use of the MM! She used to run up to it, sniff the treats and walk off, so she has made huge strides since class started.
She definitely turns wider going to her right – maybe the MM was not placed correctly? Although I am starting to suspect she is a lefty, so this is just her more difficult side.

Then we tried the threadle game. I was surprised how quickly she figured that out.

Last, the head turn game. My mechanics were a little clunky and she did not want to follow the hand all the way around the cone at first, so there may be fewer reps going that first direction. But then she started to figure it out.

Thanks,
Joan

[agilitywawa]

Happy New Year!
I see our crap weather has made it all the way to the East coast!

Got it on the above. It may be a while before I can get back to a big space 🙁

Ha – “Dellin seems like a dog who speaks in ALL CAPS when she is working 🙂”
Yes, and I think she was also thinking STOP TOUCHING ME, I’M WORKING! She has some definite opinions. And when she’s not working, she is otherwise very cuddly.

I forgot to show you the remote reinforcement – her marker is “candy”. I did a couple of simple just walking away from it to remind her and then we did some simple behaviors. Note the extreme chewing on rep one. LOL. In the other class we took, she had gotten to the point of more “work” before the reward (she was quite young when we took the class). I have also used toys for this.

Then back to the contact mat. Started with the mat raised and then took it away to see if I could get the timing of the click correct. She was a little bouncy this morning – I think she usually keeps her rear feet separated better.

Thanks,
Joan

[agilitywawa]

Happy New Year!
On Friday we had the opportunity to train in another new place.
We did some more rocking horses and turn and burn – trying to remember to do the front cross, not the post turn. I think I only forgot once 🙂 Dellin did cut behind me once – was not sure why.

The we returned to the tunnel – some sends and a couple of threadles. My threadle word is “here”, said like heeeeeere with the adults.

And then we had better space for get out with the prop – I tried to remember to keep moving and it was easier to bypass with more room.

Thanks,
Joan

[agilitywawa]

Thanks for that! I may have another opportunity on Friday to work in a bigger space and I’ll focus on those comments.

Here’s the serpentine – I actually touch the wing so I know I’m in the right spot. LOL.

Then we did a little with the contact mat. I started with it on the floor for a number of reps then I put it on a plank. Wondering if you see any visible difference in the reps.

I started watching the new videos. Dellin has a marker for remote reinforcement – “candy”. And we took a 6 week class on using it with both food and toys, so she has some history (although it has been sitting for a while). Now that she is more happy about food, I bet it will looks different!
Thanks,
Joan

[agilitywawa]

Hi,

Question about the contact mat – I’m not sure what this would look like:
“You can also elevate it by attaching it to something higher (maybe 2 inches tall) so you can isolate the back feet because she lifts them to get on the mat.”

Thanks – I’ll keep moving on the go out. Otherwise it looks like that awkward moment where you are stuck on the gamble line attempting to direct the dog…

I’ll also do that serpentine exercise standing closer to the jump.

Last night I got a chance to do the rocking horse in a big space and on a new surface – dirt. I also did a little with the tunnel – a few sends with her on the outside and then a few with her on the inside like the threadle (and I used my word).

Since we were in a new space, new surface and there were people behind us, I started off with just some single wraps and worked up. And also did a little turn and burn. She had some trouble ignoring the toy in my hand at the beginning, but seemed to work through it.

[agilitywawa]

At home trials – not jealous at all as we head into days where the high temp is below zero.

Thanks – I’ll get closer to that jump. Tonight I have the chance to work in a larger area (barring bad weather), so hoping to do the rocking horses. I may have to use cones since they are more portable.

After a break from the contact mat, I got that back out – I was really working on throwing the treat sooner and not having her look at me and I think there has been some improvement.

Then we worked on get out with her prop. Bypassing it when she was on my right was much more difficult for her. I guess optimally, I’d need more space – that’s a pretty tight bypass!

Then a little retrieve to hand. She was getting a little sticky toward the end of this, so I cut it short.

Joan

[agilitywawa]

I hope you enjoyed your day off!

To get her better grip to dig in on the rocking horse, I could do a ring rental and work on the rocking horse and revisit some of the tunnel game.

We did the next steps of the serpentine – the dish, then toy in hand and then toy on the floor. I took the target out of my hand. I just worked this one game in our session.

Thanks,
Joan

[agilitywawa]

I have been working, but no video -did another session of RC following the above directions – waiting for head turn, moving prop to correct location, etc. and that went pretty well.

Retrieves – I sat on the aerobics step and that went well – no problems.

I wanted to try out the new games after watching the video of class. I found some treats that she is really crazy for (at least now – the novelty may wear off) and she worked happily for those. Her attitude toward the food has definitely changed quite a lot in the last 6 weeks.

Here’s the serpentine one – we did 2 reps from each position on both the left and right:

Then we did the rocking horse – super big fun 🙂 – here are the baby steps.

Then the get out. I have seen a lot of this recently with tunnels and use the off arm with the older dogs to get the correct end and it’s really effective.
I started stationary very close to the prop and then found out that the camera was not on! I had done some stationary get outs and a few bypasses that were not on video. The bypass is very hard for her. Once the camera was on, I just did a little for you to see – we were near the end of the session, so I did not want to go on too long. I was tossing treats behind us – so much chewing that she does not return quickly (and it was the end and she probably had enough treats) – I edited out most of that.

[agilitywawa]

I’ve been working on the rear cross for the last couple of days. Today I started without the prop, but moving and giving her the “break” to move. Then we added her prop. She’s already starting to turn her head in anticipation, so I think she’s beginning to understand.

Then I put the garbage can out with a leash on the ground as the bar and worked on the sending with the step back. Then I added some motion out of it. Still turning wider to the right it seems. On one rep, I did use the wrong word (oops). She hit me hard in the right knee toward the end of the session when we were tugging, so I might look a little gimpy – was still walking it off on those last few reps.

We’ve also been working on the retrieve to hand and it’s coming along. I do lots of fast reps where she drops the ball in my hand and I roll it off my hand on to the floor so there’s a little movement and she is picking it up quickly. I’m still using primarily the small red ball and the bigger HR. She has managed to return them to my hand from several feet away when they rolled off. At this point, I’m still sitting on the floor. Is the next step to get more upright?

[agilitywawa]

We tried the next step of the rear cross progression. I started where we left off yesterday for a few reps per side, then backed up 6-8 feet and walked into it.
I think I’m rewarding in the right place now- thanks for pointing it out!

Contact mat – I was able to eliminate some of the looking at me. I think the click causes her to turn her head and look at me. I tried to stay upright to throw the treat (by the end I may have succeeded). I used cheese so it would not be so bouncy. Again – thanks for the mechanics -I want to do it correctly!
Cuz good mechanics = happy informed dog.

Retrieve:
“She had high latency on getting the red ball and hollee roller, meaning she did not get it right away and we can shorten the time between cue and response.
I do that flyball-style, with a little bit of ball wiggling, passing it back and forth between my hands, getting the dogs jazzed up”.

My bad – I thought this was supposed to be a dead toy/object. I tried again doing a little rolling of the toy – Dellin was acting a little unsure about what to do – like it was a trick. She did have one rep though where the toy rolled away and she went after it maybe 6 feet and delivered it to my hand, which is huge for her. I feel like there’s a fine line with her with the toys- too jazzed and she’s biting and tugging and then delivering to hand goes out the window. That’s why I started with those 2 toys. She had no history at all with the small red ball (it’s one of Didi’s favorite retrieve objects). But I probably have some more room to be more exciting before we cross that line.

Garbage can: “So now a question about handling style: you cued the sideways sending with the arm across your body (the arm furthest from the barrel).”
Well, I did not know I was doing that, but no I don’t do that. I think part of MY problem is that when there is one thing (can/wing), I get confused about which wing it would be on the jump and what move I’m doing. When I do that move with Mari on a real jump, it is always the hand closest to her cuing it when I step back.
Yes, Dellin has seen wings, so it sounds like I can use one in place of the garbage can. I think if I actually put both wings out, you’d be able to follow what I was doing (or maybe I could follow what I was doing. LOL)

[agilitywawa]

Thanks for that new video on the RC – SO much better for us! My space is very small and this works well there.

Parallel path – I was still having issues with her looking at me. I started with a toy – the first rep was OK but then she got overexcited and was turning back to me- THROW THE TOY. I tried sending to toys on the ground but it was chaos. I switched to food. As long as I was ahead of her, it went better. I think the small space does not help game. Maybe I should just go one way (so the jump isn’t in the middle of the space) and start trying the manners minder at the end (?) I feel like she’s looking at me a lot.

Another short session of the contact mat and trying to click the rear feet (and look at the mat, but my head got cut off, so I can’t confirm that I actually was. In my head, I was. LOL)

Did some more with the retrieve to hand. To pick up the thing = “get it”. “Give” to give it. Those are my very sophisticated cues for Mari’s dumbbell too, so I sue them for a lot. Dellin did well with the little red ball. I tried the hollee roller for a couple of reps. More difficult, but she did a couple and we quit.

After all those treats, she was happy to blow off some stream with the toy and her garbage can. Trying the backward sends.

Thanks,
Joan

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