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Okay, that’s a good start. When you submit your video, I would like for your focus to be on all the right things that Tiki did. I would agree with what you said went right, but I want your focus to shift to the two of you working together as a team. Having confidence in your dog and your handling is a BIG part of gaining speed. You two have some VERY nice skills and she is a great little dog.
Much better play for the reward!
I would be super careful on the slippery floor. Amazon sells a very large yoga mat or you can get some mats or an left over roll of carpet. I certainly don’t want you to risk an injury or cause him to be cautious because he is worried about slipping.
For your stays, be sure that you are black and white, meaning that if you ask him to stay in a certain place and he creeps forward out of it, you return him to that same place (happily).
Your play is much better, great job! I would also like to see shorter sessions. 2-3 stays and loads of play.Hi Dana,
Glad to have you both here! How is Diamond with people away from agility? Look forward to seeing some videos and working with you guys!Definitely intersperse the two. Part of the reward process should be play. Don’t worry, I have to go back and rework those numbers too (especially when training for big events). If agility mostly means play, think of the desire you will build for the game at any level?!?!?
Sure, I think we do have to be aware of how we play with our dogs and what they like and don’t like. Have you ever played with a dog toy on a stick?
https://www.chewy.com/outward-hound-tail-teaser-refill-pet/dp/113717?utm_source=google-product&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=hg&utm_content=Outward%20Hound&utm_term=&gclid=Cj0KCQiAz53vBRCpARIsAPPsz8VngWzQxP9kCUi65nH-K9muLsfQJaPJdcDw08A7vOwstAn8Xbj6Qn8aAt4REALw_wcBI would think a terrier would love something like that. Or have you put the toy on a rope so that he can win, but you can still get it back? Typically when I have a dog that won’t bring a toy back it is because they rarely get the opportunity to win the toy and therefore don’t find the fun in bringing it back. I think it is smart to revisit some of those foundation games.
Being fun has to be creative. Having had multiple dogs, I know that each dog’s play mechanics are different. I can’t play with Pepper (the bc) the same way I rough house with Rocket the aussie. Pepper would get her feeling hurt. What really turns him on???Okay, so a couple things. QUIT BEING SO HARD ON YOURSELF!!! When you beat yourself up as a handler and tend to focus on all the bad things you did on a run, that becomes your thought process! I want you to go back on all those runs and list 3-5 things you did right. YES, even the one with the cookie scatter game. The other thing is your expectation is that she is going to leave and when she senses disconnect or lack of confidence, that is her invitation. Make sense? I want 3-5 things that YOU BOTH did well in each of those runs. Be specific, well times cross at such and such jump.
Hi Diana,
The only run that came through was the NADAC run. Did you upload them to youtube? That is the easiest way to copy and paste the link here. That run looked good. She seemed to get faster as the run went on? Tell me a bit about her play drive, toy drive, what do you do to get her excited and “fired” up?
Are you still using the mat? What was the foundation work that you did with the mat? This will give me a better idea as to how to go from here.
You lead outs sound good, but I think we may be able to do more if we can look at the mechanics of play that get her fired up.Okay, so with the catch me game, I assume that is your sock? I would tie it to a rope about 3-4 ft long and drag it around. I suspect it is demotivating for her because it is hard for you to get low enough for her to chase it. Make sense? Think of it in terms of a dog chasing a small animal, it is on their level and easy for them to see.
Don’t rush the plank work. You are actually rewarding her for getting off the plank by throwing the toy. Meaning that the toy is presented as soon as she hurries up and leaves. Make sense? So, I assume she have a running contact criteria? I would like for you to place the reward at the very end (about 2 dog lengths away). You are going to start her 2-3 feet from the end of th plank. Hold her, get her all excited, she should know where the cookie is, then release her to it. If she drives to the lotus ball, drop a few more cookies into the lotus ball and jackpot them. You are going to backchain the dw this way 2-3 feet at a time switching sides. Make sense? Don’t raise it yet, I want more speed first. Let me know if you have questions.Have you worked on the tugging and mat work away from the house? I would start in the front yard (somewhere semi-familiar), then the neighbors yard, then down the street, then somewhere new and so on. When I take a young dog to a trial for the first time and ask for toy play, I literally find a quite corner, go very first thing in the morning when the building opens, or late in the day. This takes much of the distractions and pressure off of the activity. I also ALWAYS make sure to quit while my dog still wants more and if my dog quits before me, I will get them back on the toy, then quite as soon as they start tugging (letting them win) and carry the toy. Let me know if you have questions.
I like your tricks, those are nice and active tricks!Great! There will be a few games in Lesson two that will help with value of obstacles. Trust me, we are all guilty of not rewarding jumps enough 😉
Sounds good! When you are working on the backing up, be sure that you reward him “while” he is still moving. Dogs get super sticky on their backing up because they take a few steps back pause and we reward. You want to keep him backing up, so reward him for active movement when he’s in motion. Enjoy the rain 🙂
YES! Less is more with these guys. When you do too many repetitions, they begin to think that what they have already done is wrong and get creative, stress or slow down. Change it up, go for a walk, do some tricks or head to the house. With Pepper, I saw the most progress with our speed, desire to train and excitement for agility when I would take a handful of cookies (or set a timer for 5 minutes) and that was all I allowed us to do. I would do this 1-3 times a day. Even if we were learning a new skill (those have to be broken down and more training/reps take place), I still kept it super short. This forced me to focus on quality training and not quantity. Of course that is easy to do if you have access to equipment in your backyard, but you can do a lot with just a few jumps and a tunnel. Does that make sense?
Okay, great! I would like for you to take 10 cooking out and reward for 10 jumps. Jump, toss the cookie (10x). Then I would like for you to set up a jump shoot (4 jumps in a straight line about 20′ appart), and have something at the end for her to drive to (tupperware bowl with a lid on it or if you have a treat and train). You will back-chain this sequence. Start with 4, then 3,4 then 2,3,4 then 1,2,3,4. Each time driving down the line with her. I want to see this on video. I may have you play the race game with her, but I want to see the work first. Make sure when you get to the end of the line and open the bowl the food comes from the bowl and not from your hand. Make sense?
