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The company I work for can help by working directly with your vet, if your vet is open to it. Feel free to email me at Bobbie@BehaviorVets.com and I can send you some information.
Hope I helped clarify RC during the Training Chat Night Live this evening. 🙂
With the Pattern Game, move your arms just a bit more, when rewarding side to side. You don’t have to be so discreet. 🙂 Your movement will catch her attention in case she doesn’t see the food fall while noticing other things in the environment.
Thank you for explaining that. This class is designed to give you tools. You have to choose what works best for you and your dog.
Sorry to hear you are dealing with a chest cold. It is hard to train our dogs when we don’t feel well. And when they are used to regular activity, it’s harder on them and us. 🙁
This video looks good!!!! Well done implementing the Snuffle Mat. How do you feel about this video?
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Hooray!! So what did you do differently to help the session go so well? Do you think it was the Snuffle Mat breaks?Video 2-
So when he finds your face, reinforce him right in front of you, while praising him, before tossing another treat. Otherwise, looks good!I am not seeing a reply about working with a Veterinary Behaviorist. Can you please repost it? So sorry!
Oh, you came up here!!! Nice!!
Callie looks good in this video! I think for a trial, to be ringside, 5 min is fine. No need to have her lay there for 10 min.
I totally get it! I have been exactly there with Topper. And when the stars do not align, the stress I used to feel, which I am sure Topper felt.
This is where you modify your plan. In AKC, I either shorten the run and then run out of the ring to reward. If I am doing USDAA or UKI or an AKC run that allows NFC, I bring in a toy or hide the toy in my pocket and offer it at some point during the run. I had to do this at a small UKI trial in September. Topper was struggling because it was warm for him and the event was in a barn (no climate control). He struggles in the heat.
By adjusting your plan, you can use it as a resilience conditioning opportunity. Initially, I was disappointed at that trial in September. Just 3 weeks earlier, in August, we attended a trial in a building that had A/C. Even though it was hot outside, he did really well in the ring. I thought for sure he would do well at the trial in the barn, so I did have to coach myself so that I could see how to best support Topper.
Working time and downtime. All the pieces of the puzzle. 🙂
Then the dog park is a perfect place to practice where you can also control the distance. If you can, either bring a person to video you or set up a tripod.
When doing RC, you are never withholding food- that can be punishing and can have an effect opposite to what we want. We are not training a skill when practicing RC. We are attempting to shift the dog’s internal state, which is about emotions. You cannot train a dog to be happy or upset or scared or frustrated. Those emotions result from experiences and perceptions. Training skills is teaching a dog to do an action and then building upon that action. Does that make sense?
Just feed Sprite every 5-7 seconds, no matter what. Place the treat on the same spot on the mat each time for that session of practicing RC. It’s totally fine if her head comes up. In this video, she looks good.
I’m glad you see the value of how to work the pattern games at the startline. Feel free to take video in class and let’s see how it goes.
It’s good to mix up high-value treats. Cheese every time doesn’t have the same value as the first time. Are there other people food options you can use with Avery?
Regarding your question about the Snuffle Mat…a few things to consider and then I leave the choice up to you. This class is designed to give you tools. You have to choose what works best for you and your dog.
– When you feel anxious before stepping into the ring, what do you do? If I feel my anxiety start to rise, I do deep breathing exercises. Think of relaxation conditioning as a way to self-regulate.
– We won’t know if RC will help Avery unless you try. You know that listening to a meditation app for ten min after you run wouldn’t work for you–we won’t yet know what works for Avery. Perhaps RC isn’t the right tool for Avery.
– If Avery runs a course for 30-60 seconds, she can have a Snuffle Mat for 1-2 min and it will not impact her muscles. You can still do a cooldown. You could also cool her down and then give her the Snuffle Mat. Where you need to be more concerned is when the temperature is really cold and when you are attending a seminar and Avery might be working a sequence for 6-8 minutes.
Find My Face is one of the tools that can help in the ring. Same with Pattern Games using hand targeting. You can also use tricks that she enjoys. The goal is to condition the behaviors by practicing them hundreds of times outside of the ring and reinforcing them with food. Then, when you bring them into the ring, the behavior you ask for has a ton of value for Avery.
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Good work with the Pattern Games! Time to take the show on the road and practice in different contexts. Start with your backyard. 🙂Video 2-
This video is helpful to see. You’re doing a good job with him.Video 3-
Great job giving Robbie the toy even if he missed the jump! He was able to fix it without you withholding the toy. 🙂So what I mean to say is that when you are *not* practicing Find My Face, keep moving. In general, from the videos that I have seen, you don’t move forward as much as what might be more helpful for Veloz. Also, sometimes, you raise your opposite arm to send him instead of the dog-side arm to send him. Just watch the last few videos you have posted of you working him through a few jumps.
When you are practicing Find My Face, you have to act better, lol! I couldn’t tell that you were practicing it because it didn’t look *that* different from when you are working Veloz through a sequence. If I can’t tell, then Veloz definitely cannot tell. 🙂
What might help is setting up a bigger sequence so there is more yardage for both of you to cover. Then the difference will be clearer.
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Great! Keep practicing this Shadow Handling at home, in class, and in new environments. His focus on you will continue to improve. I think Leo does better when he has a “task” to do while you might be doing CC/DS with him. What do you think?Video 2-
Great work! A perfect opportunity to help Leo practice regulating his arousal! He looks good! Keep bringing this game into different contexts. Practice this game at home as well when there isn’t anything going on. If you only practice the game in challenging environments or triggering situations, the game could end up predicting these contexts. Or the value for the game will decrease. If you practice it 1-2 at home, for 1-2 min, that would work.
