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Ahhh! I am so happy you’re here!!
I didn’t know you got to work with Rosanne! That’s great! Raven’s run was excellent! Amazing weaves with distance!
Do you have any videos at trials, classes, or seminars where Raven barked at ring crew in the middle of a run?
Joan!! She did great!!!! The fact that you were able to call her off the judge in this video, and then continue to run with you with focus and fast is amazing!! This is part of the process–you’re building her confidence so you will have ups and downs, in the same weekend, or even in the same day.
I recommend not competing two days in a row, definitely not 3 days in a row. Sign up for one day, just 2-3 runs. This is a good plan to build resilience.
I love that Amanda used the ribbon-technique to avoid creating any pressure with repeated startline sits! Perfect way to balance Keiko’s first time at a big seminar!
Really great set up! Especially the gate and use of the Manners Minder! And her coaching to keep the reinforcement rate (every time she told you to give cookies) high to help keep Keiko focused and enthusiastic.
I’m happy to see Keiko relaxed in the crate! Definitely keep working with Amanda too!
That’s amazing!!! Wonderful!! Try doing this 2-3 times per week, but start with 5 minutes inside the store. Every couple of weeks, build the time by 5 min. See if you can build it up to 20 min. And give him treats throughout his time inside the store. Then give him the Snuffle Mat again after exiting the store. 🙂
I understand cost concerns and that you must do what is best for your household, that being said, please always keep in mind that Grizzly is not pain-free. It is clear by how he moves and the luxating patella.
Food is motivating and can be key in training a dog. The problem you are having does not lie in using food, the problem lies in you not having taught Grizzly to earn the food by ignoring it in favor of offering agility behavior: stimulus control. Taking away the food is not the answer.
My dogs have been taught to go to their reinforcement (both food and toys) when cued, and to run with me in the course until they hear that cue. I am able to leave the food or toys on the ground and they have learned to ignore it and play agility with me. When I say, “get your cookie” or “get your toy,” then they go to the reinforcement. And until I say that, they stay in the agility game with me. Your agility instructor can help you with this. It takes time and a lot of foundation training to be able to achieve this skill.
The science tells us that food is a reinforcer. Reinforcers build behavior. For something as challenging as agility, petting and praise is not enough. Especially with Grizzly who isn’t inherently motivated by agility. I know this because I have lived this; I have two dogs who do not find agility inherently reinforcing. You’re asking Grizzly to do a very hard job for a very low pay by giving him only pets and praise. He doesn’t value pets and praise in the same way he values food in the context of agility. It’s not worth it to him.
What’s missing in your training plan is using appropriate food as the primary reinforcer it is, then fading it out, slowly. Withholding food can be confusing, and thereby punishing, which only adds to Grizzly’s insecurity about what is expected of him and agility itself. This is particularly true, given the history of corrections.
Consistent application of good science is the only way out of the training hole you’re in. You can do it, but you have to commit to it as the science of dog training is designed. If you only want to play agility for fun, then make it fun by paying the dogs with a primary reinforcement (food that they love) and teach them commitment skills, etc. Grizzly’s anxiety comes from inconsistent training, punishment and a lack of knowledge of how to earn reinforcement.
This may sound blunt, but I think it’s important to understand why Grizzly isn’t performing that way you want. Between the history of corrections, the confusion about reinforcement and how to earn it, and his luxating patella causing discomfort (and possibly pain at times) is why Grizzly is sniffing and not loving the game the way you hope.
For the Play, Settle, Play, you can also play with food or without food. It doesn’t have to be with a toy. Have you taken any of Tracy’s courses around reinforcement and play?
Whenever you put the mat out to practice Relaxation Conditioning, you are using food. The notion is to help the dog settle by practicing the exercise as designed. Does that make sense?
What the vet said: “Able to subluxation L patella. R patella stable.” This can cause intermittent pain. Whenever the knee cap pops out, there is pain. When there is pain, it can cause worry. And the worry can be associated to whatever is going on in the environment or whatever activity the dog is doing at the time. And when this kind of thing happens, it can affect the psoas muscle. I have heard of this happening to other agility dogs.
Would you consider seeing a vet that specializes in dog sports? Where are you located?
That’s awesome! She is looking at the dog weaving and then coming back to you! 🙂
Keiko is definitely focused and upbeat Shadow Handling in your yard.
Another thought, the ortho vet focuses on bones more than soft tissue. Can you find a vet who specializes in pain management? Most specialty vet hospitals have one.
That’s great to hear! Thank you for being so quick to act!
Keep practicing the exercises in class and give him time. Keep working with your instructor. As you shared, there is a history of correction. Grizzly might worry about you, his performance being right, the environment, etc. This could result in sniffing, because it’s a displacement behavior, meaning when something goes wrong according to Grizzly, he checks out–that’s the sniffing.
It’s great that he was medically cleared, but the vet did note that the way Grizzly moves is not like your average Black Mouth Cur. As a result, perhaps jumping at the his current height doesn’t feel good because of how he is structured. Does that make sense?
It makes sense that his brain was fried by day 3. I heard there was A LOT going on at the US Open. And many rings!
I’m glad you guys had a good time!!
Video of Grizzly doing different behaviors:
I can speak to this because I saw this with my dog who ended up having a partially torn ACL. Grizzly doesn’t look like he is pushing off with his hind legs when jumping onto the bed. He pushes, but then kind of pulls with his front. It’s like he’s using both halves of his body to get up onto the bed.He goes up the stairs so quickly so it’s hard to tell! lol!
When Grizzly walks into the room where Bear is already laying down on a bed adjacent to his, he paces instead of trots. Pacing looks like the front and hind right leg move in unison and the front and hind left leg move in unison. Typically, when a dog is walking normally, the opposite legs are moving in unison.
When he is walking on the trail, he is trotting and it looks normal. I agree with you that his sit position looks off, perhaps wide-set, even slower than you would typically expect. When you ask him to lay down, he lip licks, avoids eye contact, lowers his head a bit–this could be because of the history of correction-based training; he might be worried about being corrected. I agree with you about the stiff walk, his hind end. It really helps to watch both dogs doing the same behavior to see the difference. I am glad you were able to see it too!
When Grizzly is going over the jumps in your yard, he looks okay. He might have been feeling okay at this time. It could be a pain that comes and goes. Or when he is feeling really good, he ignores the pain and does what you ask.
Yes, he looks alright in the way he moves. I do think that the history of correction is why he might slow down ad times. For example, in the December UKI video, when he missed the backside, you yelled the cue for him to go to the backside, and he stopped, and it took a bit for him to get going again.
Perhaps something has been going on this whole time, and it’s been progressing.
Ha! I love it!
I think I wasn’t clear with my communication–you don’t need to put the mat on the elevated platform. Relaxation Conditioning can be done separately from the Go to Place game. You can, but it’s not necessary.
It’s time to take both of these games on the road! Have you practiced these games in class? At seminars? In your front yard (with Keiko on leash for safety)? Look for places where there is stuff going on in the background and practice these games. 🙂
So sometimes arousal to the point where the dog cannot think can result from a lack of confidence. Or it could be coming from a place of being really excited about what’s going on. There are lots of reasons why arousal might get so high that the dog cannot process information effectively.
Do you have video from the herding lesson?
Let’s focus on continuing the games in this course. Things will improve with time.
