[Amy Sannes]

Thank you for helping give my training direction!

We tried more plank work – adding cued behaviors and the tug. He does slide off with the tug – losing connection with his feet a bit. Glad he wasn’t concerned with that. He’s not following my hand target very well (fair judgement of what he thought of target without food), and after this, I switched to food for a short time.
How should I incorporate that he loses connection with his feet more when using the tug? Into future training? Is it about testing/training in different states of arousal?

[Amy Sannes]

Tracy –

Thanks for talking through this offering game, and the benefits of waiting for Skizzle to offer the behavior! My tendency is to help too much, and I need reminders to foster independence and confidence in the dog. Also appreciate that he’s still young, so extra chewing might break his train of thought…among many other distractions 😉

Here’s a game we didn’t get to during the first course: plankrobatics. Skizzle probably wishes I were more into parkour, and has no problem moving on the plank.

[Amy Sannes]

Thanks for the feedback. For giving permission to grab the toy – I need to use my words more in training, for reinforcement and the rest. Appreciate the reminder.

Here’s the wrap with me standing. Reviewing it now, when he’s looking to me for information – it seems reasonable to cue him to wrap the barrel. He transitions from auto-wrap to checking in for information – first at 27 seconds, then again at 46 seconds. Probably similar to my previous comment – could use words or signals to help him out. 🙂

[Amy Sannes]

Thanks again for the feedback – I will try not to get ahead of myself (and Skizzle’s) skill level by pairing difficulty and novel locations – better one or the other before combining.

I will try this exercise again in a spot with more room to run.

For now – I tried the wing wrap exercise. Started with food – Skizzle remembered working on this before, and is a pro moving back and forth. This is our attempt with toys. He loves his toys and tugging. Hi toy release isn’t as great as I thought it would be by this point (though it accurately reflects our training 😉 ). It’s a little awkward with his reluctant release, but I don’t think there’s much conflict here.

[Amy Sannes]

Thanks for the feedback! I appreciate your suggestion about taking it outside! I think I can either take the exercises to the higher levels and try them in novel locations – or both. That would hugely benefit Skizzle. I train too much at home with him, so feel free to remind me to get out there for this training!

We played at a scent work trial this morning. Just out of view are the 90 cars covered with shade cloth. There wasn’t too much happening at the edge of the parking lot, but I am proud that he settled into the work quickly in that environment. Cookie into bowl – I ran away – hand touch for tug. I gave a tongue click – where I should say grab (marker for biting tug in hand).

I should also try this – as you suggested – outside with room to run – where I make him work to catch up with me – really running (no leash/harness needed).

[Amy Sannes]

Your class is a great value! I look forward to taking it again and using it to keep me on track. I’m sure Skizzle will love getting back to these exercises with more movement.

Here’s Skizzle doing some hand touches and deceleration into turning. Looks like I’m turning a bit too quickly.

[Amy Sannes]

Hi Tracy

Had more life stuff. And we’re working on some tricks and nosework, so less agility work for a bit.

Here’s some baby serp exits. Pleased with Skizzle’s interest in circling the barrel and playing.

Thanks for the great course!

-Amy

[Amy Sannes]

Hi Tracy

Skizzle had his break. And watching the latest live class, I realize we really need a stay. It’s a work in progress…baby level at this point. And sometimes it’s decent, and then at other times the whole concept is gone. Which is ok at this age. When there’s no stay, I change to games that don’t need a stay, or just end the session for a while.

Here are a couple pieces of games we’ve worked on. I’ve been working on the Threadle slice. The stays and knowing the direction to the reinforcement are both coming along.

And we did Minny pinny with the poles to go over. This seemed easy. I didn’t remember to hold his collar, and he’s still not a fan of this (and I need to spend some time improving his emotional response to holding the collar). https://youtu.be/QouGAevFXNs?si=YbdPt1QE2EZVIzjg

Feel like I’ve fallen off the training wagon a bit, but looking forward to working towards the skills we need for these latest games.

-Amy

[Amy Sannes]

Thanks for the feedback – good stuff to ponder!

>lift of the front paw which can sometimes be a canine question mark
Didn’t know that – so now I’ll have to pay attention and see when this is offered. At baseline, he lifts his paws (any of them individually, even the back ones) semi-regularly. One of his (cute) quirks is drinking water with a hind foot lifted.

>What if you changed the vowel and make it “loo loo loo”?
Love this! Thanks.

>For rocking horses. He was actually playing find my face when the info was not as clear!
Great feedback for me – and fantastic to see this response from him! Thanks for pointing it out.

Thanks very much!

-Amy

[Amy Sannes]

Hi Tracy –

I’m busy with weekend travel this month – so intermittent training with Skizzle. The break is probably good for him. He’s getting spoiled by staying with my dad – who adores him.

We did a short pivot session. Latent learning seems to have happened here – I’m getting consistent lateral stepping with the back end. Very pleased with this progress. Have a little pitter-patter with the front feet that I will try not to reward.

We played find my face. So glad you have this integrated into the training now – because I thought it would be easier for him to approach my front – and it doesn’t appear to be. He is directing towards me – but just as happy to hang out behind me as in front.

We did a little Minny Pinny. I think I’m going to use “lolololo” for left (though maybe I shouldn’t because it sounds like “go” and “razrazraz” for right. I was pleased at this first attempt for the game.

And we did a little rocking horses – some with the bonus spin (maybe some in the proper direction). I cut out some of the tugging and tug-for-treat exchange for time. We are having moments of disconnection, probably exacerbated by my learning these skills. This is one I probably should practice without Skizzle first – my brain isn’t processing my movement very well. 😉 Through all of that, I do think his willingness and tendency to circle the barrels is improving in general.

Thanks Tracy!

FYI Skizzle will have some time off until early next week while I’m away.

-Amy

[Amy Sannes]

Hi Tracy –

>Are you saying “park it” for his station? I love it! And he is doing well with staying on it!
Yes! That’s the cue I use. Makes me smile! Also made me think about “target” and “hit it” – those both sound close to “park it,” so I might need some different words (maybe “touch” or “tag”). Nobody else will ever be able to run my dog (but I’m probably ok with that).

Speaking of – I was going to ask you if agility folks are going to look at me sideways for using “flick” for threadle slice. I think I picked the word up from somebody’s post on the forum – and I like it – and don’t want to use “close” (that’s my heel setup cue). I guess my question is if there is a “standard” use for the word “flick” in agility?

Also – sometime recently you mentioned not creating frustration by withholding rewards. Thank you for saying as much. I know better (both recent previous dogs would walk away if unrewarded), but Skizzle is fun to train because he keeps going. I will do better by him if I protect our relationship with rewarding effort. I quite like variable rewards (higher value for what I’m looking for; lower for effort), so should integrate those into our training. I should also reward effort and assume that I’m not giving clear information (as is so very often the case).

Some old and new games over the past couple days:

We tried backside slice – seems to be going well. I need to be more consistent – not sure why I’m saying “yes” here – when I should say “grab” for the toy or “Get it” for thrown treat. Trying to inch my way laterally into the middle and opposite side of jump – but I lose him if I get to far. Might work better to ping-pong the distance laterally. Also – I need to stop throwing my arm towards the barrel.
From the last time: >I think you were saying “back” once, but you can say it several times as you move up the line to support the commitment.
I’m not very good at repeating cues – in obedience (which I enjoy competing in), I take pride in giving a single cue (esp. since you’re punished in the scoring for additional ones). It’s also a pet peeve for a dog’s cue to be “sit sit sit”. But I can appreciate that there’s little downside to repeating cues in agility. 🙂

We did a short Turn N Burn session. I was trying to quickly move away from the barrel so he would see my backside when he came around. Went ok…still working on our “out” mechanics for tugging 🙂

We did some rocking horses. It’s coming along nicely…better movement from one barrel to the next. I was trying to make eye contact when exiting the first barrel.

And we’re working on backing up. One hop-py attempt, but I like the rest of the stepping back. Getting more steps, but I probably should experiment with changing my position, as you previously suggested…next time.

Like his brother Checkers (fun to see his progress in this course, too!) – 5.5 months – and a whole lot of fun!

Amy

[Amy Sannes]

Tracy –

Thanks again!

>It takes some experimenting to figure out what works best for him in different environments, and that will also change as he goes through adolescence into adulthood. So we revisit the game a lot!
Thank you for reiterating that this game should get used lots – I will try to regularly bring it into the beginning of a training session as a temperature monitor for Skizzle’s readiness to work.

Here’s a long one – strike a pose transfer for threadle slice. It took a couple sessions for Skizzle to understand what the Manners Minder meant (and to go there automatically). Things I think I can do better on – saying the cue (“flick”) earlier (aka enforcing no early release from mat). And I don’t love his jumping up to tag my hand getting built in here – I understand it was just a starting point to get the dog to come behind the jump before going back to the reward. How would you suggest moving in that direction?

We also tried threadle wrap around barrel (“InIn”). I feel like I need to shape this movement. I wish that he guessed if a barrel was present he should wrap it, but with Skizzle that’s just not happening. No hurry on my part – and the puppy brain changes day by day, week by week. He’s 24 weeks now. I feel like I’m contorting myself to encourage him to wrap the barrel – which it doesn’t sounds like will benefit us in the long run. 🙂

In Flagstaff, we’re having the driest start to winter – apparently for the past 110 years! Which has been great for potty training a puppy 😉 But I don’t love watering my trees mid-January.

Hope you’re having a great day!

-Amy

[Amy Sannes]

Hi Tracy –

Having so much fun working/playing with Skizzle. He’s excited to train, starting to be more thoughtful at times, and happy to play.

We tried the arousal dial game. I appreciate that this will be valuable in away-from-home environments (and maybe even the backyard). His interest in sniffing/hunting for critters seems like something I’ll have to compete with for attention. I think he does well here with toys and treats and is able to respond to simple cues. https://youtu.be/cqOYoSPUCUc?si=EFPaYAB_7Ilkhz27

And we’ve been doing some short perch sessions. I think we’re continuing to make decent progress towards isolating hind end movement around. https://youtu.be/KQOWavbGuKc?si=cDWP0I7pSbgjrmDV

-Amy

[Amy Sannes]

Hi Tracy –

Was excited to attempt the some of the same games again, with your feedback.

For the backside slice foundation – this round went much better! Still not super far laterally from the barrel, but Skizzle is more consistently wrapping. https://youtu.be/W47sXkJ6JUg?si=Y0m5KI0ZBeFqdrF3

We’ve done some short sessions of backing up – I’m quite pleased with the progress he’s making. https://youtu.be/3ljUCg4rrjw?si=YfE6wQE83kMmYTUk

I had time to make a new perch for pivoting – I call it the pivot trivet – since the main piece is a wooden trivet. Added grip tape to the top and felt feet to the bottom. I thought it would be perfect – it’s close, but it’s not quite heavy enough. I may continue to use it anyway, as long as I don’t see him deterred or altering what he offers because it moves occasionally. As far as pivoting goes – starting to see more hind end movement. I’m trying to give a cookie for front feet on and then waiting for lateral movement. Reading your feedback again – I should work on placing my reinforcement directly in front of me to encourage him to pivot towards front. I probably need to eliminate the cookie for getting on the perch, to also encourage that movement.

We’ve tried a few rounds of quick head movement – like you said, it requires 3 hands. I thought this was a very decent effort. https://youtu.be/7IMD0gj0t80?si=g2XILJ1FRnB7x3Sd

I have a busy weekend, so Skizzle will get a couple days off of training.

-Amy

[Amy Sannes]

Hi Tracy –

Skizzle and I tried out the exercises with the live session last night. It seems like we’re off to an ok start. I feel a bit inspired by the demo dogs to add some impulse control and place work – we should get started on place and ability to work with a toy on the ground :

But for now…

Here is our backside slice foundation. Still a little sticky pre-wrap, but better after he decided to wrap. I tried a few (later) where I was further laterally from the barrel – but then he didn’t wrap at all. https://youtu.be/zZNnhOsT7-s?si=z44dJcgnWVRckCp2

And the strike a pose 3 transfer for threadle slice. Watching the video, he was popping up to tag my hand, which is probably undesirable…could try a target stick – though at the moment he likes to bite it 😉 I will have to try moving the setup toss…he didn’t have any inclination to wrap the standard when I tried here, or I wasn’t in the right place for it. https://youtu.be/gcjOC7er6GI?si=KaEN2KK0Dp516crL

Here’s some pivot work from today – first time trying to throw behind me. I started working on pivots maybe a week ago. He gets that his front feet need to be on it. I worked through not sitting with his front feet on it (you can see a little of this here). A shorter prop might help him sit less – I just don’t have anything ready right now (too bad don’t they make those rubber bowls smaller). https://youtu.be/02sPD9fPRv8?si=bmonaJr4gWmWMp5d

Thanks

-Amy

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