[Amy Sannes]

Hi Tracy –

Thanks again for the feedback.

>You only need a semi-clean release 😂🤣 What I mean by that is you want to be able to get the toy back pretty quickly and NOT have to fight him for it or wrestle him out of his mouth.
Appreciate this, and will try to incorporate both food and toys together for more games, even before we have “perfect” toy play skills. I’ve not had perfect toy skills with my previous dogs, so although I have some ideas of toy behaviors I’d like, I can’t let it sideline me from using toys for an extended time.

Also thank you for suggesting a reward marker that means “behind” the dog (for the stays, here). Hadn’t really considered it before, but can appreciate how that helps direct them to the reward. And for the stays, having a prop for duration is something I can get behind – I used one successfully to help a previous dog pass her 1 minute obedience sit (after many failed attempts).
I’m fine not using “ok” for this exercise…the reward marker serves as the release cue (you said as much in your demo video, I just didn’t pick up on it with the first viewing 😉

Tried the lap turns again, but I should’ve tried without Skizzle first, because I wasn’t stepping back or ready on time for the cookie toss. Gives me empathy for when the puppy brain is unable to process information.

Worked on wrapping the barrel by advancing the toy around it. After the missed first “wing-it” attempt – things went well. https://youtu.be/sqqkuMY3ef8?si=eGwzVg1Ku-u6quHK

We did a pattern game with a distraction added. Next time I will add the distraction with stealth – or a take a break to add it before resuming the game. I appreciate at 39 seconds where Skizzle shows me how the hat is on his mind. https://youtu.be/Tfp7qixSdQQ?si=qABLNtCc4WzPB6qG

And we attempted turn ‘n burn. I’m excited to have Skizzle wrap a barrel; he’s still figuring out why it’s supposed to be a fun activity. I need to do way more burning (might also make it more fun for him to chase the toy. LMK if there are previous steps/games that would be good to review to help with the wrap. https://youtu.be/tq9x-IN9A7c?si=GDwe3EpQl0scA-bW

Actually – if you think there are specific games I should try next/soon – please let me know. I need to take advantage of the ridiculously warm/snow-less winter weather and also practice some outdoors when there’s enough light.

Thanks again.

-Amy

[Amy Sannes]

Hi Tracy –

>I always think every dog should have a PT person on their team.
Thanks for this recommendation – as well as for Leslie Eide! Having been in sports myself, this makes sense…just wasn’t something I needed with my previous dogs.

And thank you for the feedback on specific videos. All different games today, but I will incorporate game-specific feedback in next attempts at the same or similar games.
>You can also start to change positions, getting yourself higher (sitting on something) with the goal that you are standing eventually 🙂
This repeated advice is something I need to incorporate. I feel like Skizzle’s so smol that I need to be right down there with him – but the final picture for dog sports has me upright.
>Or, since he got moving more and then was happy to eat – maybe he needs to get tugging or just running around a bit more before starting with the food, to increase his arousal state.
Can’t say I tried this today, but I will try it soon. As for playing games with toys – I am interested, but for some games, I would like to have a clean toy release first. I haven’t done much to that end…with the retrieves, I’m only beginning to see the drop.

We tried some additional games today.

Here is our baby lap turn. https://youtu.be/geA5XhNzMBM?si=oz72haD8WwSYk9fT

And baby tandem turn. I need improvement – struggled to have treats and arms in the suggested location. https://youtu.be/eH4yvF04ML0?si=j0lmoWEBJrwq1mR7

For both of these pre-prop trials, it seemed to go ok (esp. not spinning and staying on the floor), though he’s pretty excited for the treats. (I didn’t want him disinterested in the food reward like he was for the threadle wrap foundation – when he didn’t drive back to the hand). I don’t have the value of food motivators or the timing of training (related to eating and daily activities) figured out yet.

Then I tried lap turns and tandem turns with the prop. And he seems so food-crazed that it’s not a clean training loop…too many extra spins, hops, frantic behavior.

And then we played with the beginning work for stays…the release. You can’t see my face, and I’m quiet – but I’m waiting for a sit or down without intentionally cueing. I thought this went all right for a first attempt.

-Amy

[Amy Sannes]

I hope you had a great Christmas, Tracy!

Skizzle enjoyed a busy Christmas, greeting all kinds of new people and dogs, and charming many of them. His leg seems to be much better. Today marks one month after the initial injury. Please let me know if you see movement that concerns you…or if you think we’d benefit from PT or a canine fitness referral. I’m trying to intersperse less physically demanding days with more active ones…and trying to make sure the injured leg moves independently. Seems to be much improved.

Hoping to take advantage of this week for catch-up. I’m having a great time trying some of the games. Skizzle’s a lot of fun to work with.

We tried the threadle wrap foundations – baby level from this week.

And some collection. I see from the video on the first attempt, he was still chewing a treat when I was trying to encourage him into my hand for another treat.

We tried the wrap game beginning with a barrel. Vito’s game has not resulted in the pattern of turning back and forth, and it shows in this game. For the prop being new to him for this game, it went decently…and as expected for a dog encouraged to interact with new props. Oh, puppy! Possibly too soon to judge, but maybe it’s easier for him to turn to his right around it than back to his left? Hoping to leave this alone for a couple days and see what latent learning brings.

Here’s a bit of retrieve play. We’re just starting – with select toys that aren’t as fantastic – to get a drop for the same toy to be thrown. Interspersed is some toy trading, as that was the previous step. Super pleased with his interest in playing with me and continued retrieve (even if he doesn’t drop it).

And lastly is backing up. The stool on one side is an attempt to keep him a little straighter in reverse. Despite not-the best training, I see snippets that suggest he understands the idea of the low platform as a target…and maybe that he understands moving his back end in reverse is desirable.

-Amy

[Amy Sannes]

Hi Tracy –

Appreciate the offer for bubble-wrapping Skizzle. He probably needs it. I’d rather be slow getting back to things now rather than struggle with a recurring injury for months and months. He injured his right rear leg – likely from trauma (not sure what) – where he had a laterally luxating patella. So he was initially hop-skipping to avoid using that leg. I’m’ still seeing an occasional hop-skip – mostly when moving faster than a trot (though I’ve mostly been trying to restrict to trotting or slower).

I tried a training session with kibble – but he didn’t eat any of it, so aborted. Here’s another couple games with treats I thought were less exciting – but maybe he was still a bit too hungry. Better than the previous attempt, though. And nice to see him using his brain to get to the prop!

Started with the beginner pattern game. Thought the stool was reasonable for this to help keep him low. https://youtu.be/12JfNWxqZLw?si=Y9-qK4rsoxq3zIlX

Then tried the parallel walking. I’ve got so many years of making a clicking noise – that it’ll take more video review and diligence to move to verbal reward markers…I’m aware and working on it. https://youtu.be/ELVOusZwDRY?si=M8mgVGzJor6KF1kz

-Amy

[Amy Sannes]

Hi Tracy –

Skizzle had a couple weeks of exercise restriction, and now has the go-ahead to resume activities. Fingers crossed this injury does not return. My plan is to resume slowly and try some of the games that are at a slower pace for another week or so. As you can see from the video, Skizzle wasn’t on board with four-on-the-floor or a slower pace. And I made the mistake of using too-exciting treats (sometimes it seems like it’s either exciting or not-worth working for).

So here’s his strike a pose. Watching the video, it looks like I could try to lower the target so he doesn’t need to jump up to hit it.

And here we tried parallel walking with the prop. The excitement of the treats made it too difficult to notice the prop – well, that, in addition to being back in the training space and working on a game we haven’t done anything like for 3 weeks, and my very-late clicks.

-Amy

[Amy Sannes]

Hey Tracy –

Just dropping you a note to say that Skizzle and I are sidelined for a bit. He’s limping, so we need to sort that out before resuming the course.

-Amy

[Amy Sannes]

Thanks for the feedback!

Have a few of the exercises we’ve worked a little on.
The plank, I need to find a stable option… between a couple rubber Cato boards would be better.https://youtu.be/1gelWZBuq1Y?si=OMghiDbFqSLxSKVX

Included the wrap game. Still trying without any obstacle. I feel like this is a good representation of how it goes…which is not really back and forth, as Skizzle loses interest in the food before long and doesn’t have a release for toys. https://youtu.be/Y1peNtkLqX4?si=7i_YmcisQnChadHj

Also played with reinforcement markers https://youtu.be/mZeeoVpaIaY?si=GM4BgOfeo_yrg4Ii

…and backing up. He was way more jumpy here than a previous, unfilmed session. https://youtu.be/1b0LJe6z-v0?si=3-ByasYK6e-lUKry

[Amy Sannes]

Had a busy weekend. Here’s another goat tricks and multiple toy play. Seems like he excels at both.

[Amy Sannes]

Had fun playing goat tricks today. He’s seen these objects before, and has explored climbing on them during playtime.

[Amy Sannes]

Thanks for the feedback!

Here are the stealth self-control games. Still struggling with making the treat easier to find. I felt like I had bad luck with these throws, but I appreciate your feedback that i just need a better setup…esp. with speed and distance both likely to increase.

First step:

And with the novel, uninteresting item. Well, I thought a can of corn couldn’t possibly be interesting…but, puppy!

[Amy Sannes]

I’m having fun playing these games with Skizzle – they really show off his speedy, bouncy, playful self.

Prop Game – Added a dance before, and started on the opposite side. He got the jump on me for the first rep, so I didn’t move closer to the prop, but switching sides seemed to be confusing – or maybe I was? I wished I had been closer the whole time.

Blind Cross – Played in the yard, with more room to run. Skizzle seemed to catch on to the game and start to race to the toy (and win). I can appreciate the value of the game for handler and dog.

Goat Tricks – https://youtu.be/pmnI6LVro20

[Amy Sannes]

>He ate the cookie, drove to the toy and even brought it back.
I love that he is starting off working for both food and toys and able to switch between the two – both ways. I try to continue to use and offer both with some changes during training sessions. So far, so good!

One short session, with sending to prop. I had to go back and spend a couple short sessions adding value to the prop before trying this again. This video is a good reminder to continue to practice both sides. https://youtu.be/cbcHOdcubio?si=M3t3wddsumFOrfkk

[Amy Sannes]

>To build up some collar grab love, a couple of ideas…
Thanks for this – will start working on it – for sport, for life.

>I think his only question here was finding the initial tossed cookie.
I swept the floor – for half a day, there may be fewer pieces of the outdoors 🙂 He’s not super treat-motivated, so removing other potentially-interesting tidbits might help.

Here’s a driving ahead with cookie-toss instead of restraint.

Here’s some blind-cross play…showing each direction. I am thinking-it-through slow. I think I also switched hands on the second one, which I will try not to do in the future.

And here’s some wrap play – with treats. Probably my third attempt – the previous tries, he ditches the game in the first 20 seconds (boring). My switch to toys was slow and awkward, so I will save that for another day. https://youtu.be/ysHuI68GruE

[Amy Sannes]

>The next step to this would be to do it with you sitting in a chair, so we starting moving you off the ground but still keeping the target low enough that he can hit it.
Thank you for mentioning this. Small dogs are new to me, but all the activities I plan to do have me upright – so I need to practice that way, at least some of the time.

Here are a couple of the next sessions.

The first one – drive ahead – didn’t go that well, because he finds the collar grab aversive (as do I, since he’s reaching around to bite at that hand). Maybe I need to work on this separately? Skizzle came with a pre-installed retrieve and brings toys back to me to play. I haven’t broken that yet, but think the collar grab with toys might have that effect. Any suggestions? I did try a couple more reps – they were similar to the last one.

The drive to handler went well. Tried both sides and included one with a toy. I should place my hand closer to my leg, and I need to practice the verbals for food from hand (“here”) and grab the toy in my hand (“grab”).

[Amy Sannes]

>Is Skizzle one of the puppies from Dannika?
Yes! Danika recommended this course 😉

>Do you mean mat work where he gets on a mat to relax?
Yes – to relax, or as a place to wait – though that is already morphing into lying down on the mat, enough that this foot-touch can be different.

Here’s our nose-touch session. Still not using “get it” and I forgot to block off the cameo dog, Ada…next time. I am pleased with this session. Likely a quick transition from a hand-touch. He’s more excited to play the game, less distracted (noises often catch his attention) and he didn’t care much about Ada’s breach.

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