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Alrighty then. It’s looking like great minds think alike and I need a new verbal for RAF. Sorry if you hate AI but here’s the discussion Chat and I just had. I’m leaning toward “tap, tap” over his current “zoom, zoom”. CHAT’S INPUT ON MY NEW CUE
Interesting about the more musical/cadence stuff. I need to think about that more. I’ve been using my that little wireless mic for Ripley’s runs to better hear my timing and volume, but I could probably do more for verbal clarity. Especially for our nemesis the running aframe. His natural stride is a 1 hit that hits just above yellow and it’s been a HUGE struggle to try to get a 2 hit in trials when his stride lengthens out and he’s aroused. Gonna think about that.
This morning we did a short session on strike a pose and some lap turns. Just baby level so far. Strike a pose makes lots of sense to him, he’s less sure why he should drive into me for the lap turns if I’m just going to flip him away so he started to flank a bit. I’m also feeling super awkward and I think it;so just being used to a taller dog. I broke it down and look forward to your input and advice.
Yes, mini cheeseballs, $2/can on Amazon. We’re stocking up before our big road trip (CA to WA to AZ to IL). They are great for working out on grass or dirt (especially since I’ve only been using Vibe’s puppy kibble for training and small brown kibble is tough on brown dirt or tan carpet).
So far in walking through crowds of people and dogs he mostly focuses on me, if he sees a “friend” which is kind of all people and the dogs I’ve checked for puppy friendliness and let him meet he may look at them but typically reorients to me. I try to say “Go say ‘hi friend'” to let him know he can go visit. Without that he’s actually gotten pretty good about not electing to go see people/dogs. I’ve used a hand touch at times to make it clear I’m not having him go say hi, especially for his favorite people. I’ve also used some cookie magnet with him.
For moving pattern games in the past I’ve done the “1, 2, 3” game. Do you have others in mind in that situation that don’t involve the stopping, bending down (and possibly triggering any thoughts from other dogs about a cookie on the ground) that the back and forth and up and down game do?
Also, I see verbals is up this week. So, I’ve got LOTS of words, I’ve actually played more with Ripley lately with not giving verbals at time and letting my motion and position give more info since I find sometimes a sudden verbal is more likely to cost us a bar or a blown contact. But, we do have them and use them regularly. I plan to use the same words for both dogs, I can barely manage a single cue much less different ones for different dogs. I am a data nerd, so they are all here in my Notion database of verbals (try not to laugh 🤣) – RIPLEY’S VERBALS
Some clips from this weekend. Almost no rain, so the boys got to run and play on this trial site’s awesome field. Little bits of training near the ring that went well. Luckily it was a small 2 ring but 1 judge trial (Roger judging) so nice options to train during walk thrus and on the side of the arena not being used when dogs were running.
It is so wet and cold out and we are sooo bored. I did some hoops and barrels work with Ripley since he’s going to CPE Speedway Nationals in May (after 2 CPE speedway trials we did for fun without much actual recent training on that stuff) and Vibe got very jealous.
So, I made a baby version with the barrels for him. We also worked on “tails” LSM (reinforcer delivered behind) and some toy retrieve. We ended on some pattern games and arousal mobility stuff because by the end of the session my exciting “toy, toy, go, go” stuff was getting not only Ripley (behind a baby gate in the kitchen with a squeeze cheese stuffed pickle enrichment item) but also our Swissy (behind a bay gate behind us) all amped up and barking.
We’ll head to a trial tomorrow where we’ll have space in the covered arena for some training. Any suggestions for what to think about working on there?
Barrels
Tails and Retrieve
End of Session Pattern Games and Arousal Mobility
Curious if you caught any of the “Kynology” workshop weekend that was presented live in-person and also live streamed in December? I signed up for the live stream (slightly misled about the focus but also always interested in seeing anything “new” out there) and watched the full session recordings during a road trip.
It was super interesting how some actual science was presented, but with interesting bias added in that if you’ve never actually examined the original science could be convincing. It was also fascinating that with the emphasis on the 3 quadrants other than R+ when it came time for the actual demos with owners and their dogs it was the most fluent trainer (for bite sport dogs) who was advocating for less control, less compulsion, more reinforcement, more engagement with the dogs, and appearing to bite his tongue when others were actually trying to use the techniques the lecturer (a different guy) was advocating for.
I could see how someone watching without a background in the content could be led down a path that might not be ideal for most dogs and owners.
So, a bit of an ugh! on the seminar. Not Vibe, he was awesome. But, even though it was at an agility place and I think everyone in the class was an experienced agility person, and it was called “Drive, Focus, and Control” it was HEAVY on control, medium on focus, and not much drive work. It seemed much more like an old school pet dog training thing. I don’t think the guest instructor has done much agility and mostly does board and train on owned pet dogs.
Lots of mild to moderate to serious compulsion, coercion, punishment stuff in the explanations and demos. I really don’t like it when frustration and extinction bursts are used as a primary tool for training. When a forward focus was demoed with the facility’s owner’s 18 month old dog and the dog repeatedly did the cartoon yoink where the dog bolts to the end of the long line, the instructor steps on it and the dog’s body goes flying forward while their neck jerks back, I don’t really find it funny or instructive. A bit of Serenity prayer mantra on my end.
Anyway, Vibe was so good, and I just didn’t need to, and wouldn’t have, taken away the choice, control, confidence and optimism I’ve been encouraging in him. Still a great opportunity to work around other dogs in a brand new location and he had fun. 😉
Here’s a clip of the 3 main little turns Vibe had. Recall to handler with an x-pen barrier to go around. A kind of follow me exercise (where Vibe was sure the tree stump was a new parallel path prop 🤣) and then training go to mat and lie down on mat (we got bored so we added in some distance/distraction stuff at the end to get some Startline stuff done in the environment.
Bonus – some snippets of MaxPup Fast Trackers in here since both Dot and Roulette were there.
Seminar Day
Okay, some training at the trial today during a class and then off leash during a course change just outside the ring.
We did a few different things:
1. Backup to some stacked dog beds
2. Backup to an elevated dog bed with the front feet off and angled against a chair
3. Pattern game 15 feet from the ring then <10 feet from the ring
4. Turn and burn around a big traffic cone
5. Some hand touch stuff
6. Voluntary collar grabHe had lots of fun and we also played with his tug toys in various places around the ring and outside in the grass yards.
We also signed up for some kind of little puppy training thing tomorrow and Ginger and her new puppy will be there too I think. 😁
Training at a Trial
Thanks for yesterday’s feedback. Super helpful (and wonderfully supportive) as always. 😊
We’re getting there – slowly but surely – with understanding his reinforcement procedure preferences and helping him move more fluently through arousal states. I suspect in the not too distant future I’ll laugh at needing to work to increase his arousal.
So, this AM we did a short session before we hit the road to let Ripley play at a NADAC show (main goal for him is a nose smush behavior at the end of a high arousal run instead of going to his leash and grabbing it to prepare for UKI Invitational where there’s chaos and unpredictability at the ring exit where leashes should be +/- dogs lunging at their toys near Rip’s valued tug leash – we won’t be using a tug leash there). 🤣
So, we worked on some toy related LSMs – grab it, drop it, tug. Interspersed that with pattern games (Rip’s infamous cheese ball ping pong minus the cheeseballs). Fun, easy session, and we’ll see what fun stuff we can do at the show today (any suggestions if you see this before we’re done there?).
Tug LSMs and Baby CU Pattern Game
Okay, I swear to god I’m not ignoring your feedback on cleaner LSMs and cues for switching reinforcement. You are 100% correct and I know this stuff, it’s just not yet showing up cleanly in our training. I’m going into our sessions without as clear a plan as I normally have with Ripley because I don’t know where our toy drive and food/toy switching will be day to day with Vibe.
BUT, this week I’m seeing a lot more consistency and ability to switch effectively and figuring out which toys work for what (which is a bit of a moving target still with teething but getting better).
So, I got your great feedback from yesterday’s session after I trained him this AM so I’m not fully following your recs but I will be going forward. Some of it did show up but not super cleanly YET.
I love LSMs and the clarity they provide so I’ll get my sh@t together very soon.
Today we worked on the handling sandwich and it went pretty well – he was perfect – I just need to give him the clarity we’ve been talking about going forward (also I read the instructions days ago and could have followed them better). I’m going to start reviewing videos and field guides last thing the night before so that when we do our early morning training I’ve got my act together.
Another milestone that might or might not be visible in the video, but we’ve got “ears up” this week – they’re big and adorable.
Toy Play – Toy/Food/Toy Switching – Sandwich Stuff
Okay, thanks for the feedback and suggestions on yesterday’s stuff. We’re still working on fluent arousal mobility. He tends to be very focused and serious when we train so it’s still hard to get him to go from “work” to toy play, but getting better.
Today we worked on prop sends – parallel and countermotion. I interspersed more toy play before, between reps, and after and he is getting closer to what I expect we’ll end up with as far as fluency in switching and using toys as actual reinforcers.
Prop – Parallel and Countermotion
Yeah, the body awareness continues to be unusual for his age especially with how fast he’s growing and how hard it must be to keep adjusting to his new daddy long legs.
Thanks for suggestions on next steps. I tend to revisit skills with progressions with a few days off in between so I made a list of those steps.
We worked on a straight send and go on barrels at a show this weekend so I went ahead and did the full 360 style this AM to start with something more arousing to also work on tug play. I’ve modified our AM routine a bit to minimize Ripley’s frustration since we had some build-up leakage this weekend at the UKI Festival. So, Vibe gets his kibble in his giggle ball while I train Ripley, then Ripley gets his pickle with peanut butter/squeeze cheese while I train Vibe starting with toys.
I feel like it’s a better routine for both of them so far.
Turn and Burn
Okay, we haven’t posted for about a week – work was crazy and so we spent more time on toy play, dog dog play with brother Ripley, trick training, and off leash decompression walks (mostly to manage my stress levels, but good for the boys too).
We were at a UKI Festival trial over the weekend and got lots of distraction proofing (plus just Vibe getting to see his fan club). 🥰 One benefit of all of our “get measured” training was that he wanted to beeline for the podium every time we walked by it. 🤣
This morning we worked on backup. I first shaped this about a month ago when he was 11 weeks old and he learned it faster than any dog I’ve trained to do it before. We revisit it periodically because he likes it a lot but I haven’t yet started to stand up. I’m thinking that’s a good next step for us?
Here are his first 2 sessions from about a month ago and his session this AM. I like to use the jump bumps (or a wall) to help them stay straight at first and then fade them.
January 11th and 12th first shaping sessions
Today – 2/9/26
More fun with Vibe.
Last night dealing with my longer work days to finish the impact report he said “If you can’t beat ‘em join ‘em” when I was working late. So, now he treadmills. My wife caught it on camera so I let him offer it this morning to see if he decided it had been a bad or good thing. I’m gonna have to dig out the dog treadmill and set it up next to me as he gets older. 😊
Vibe Treadmill Fun
You asked if he had a single paw raise behavior and he didn’t, so I decided to start working on that. When I was looking for target sticks to help I found this cute extendable plastic fist target that I’d forgotten about so decided to teach him a fist bump for fun. It’s gonna be a fun trick that will help us get our “real” single paw raises in the future.
Paw Raise/Bump Trick
We ended our pre-breakfast (for me/actual breakfast for him) training session today with some bigger boy style tug (thanks to Ripley’s assist with this through the week). So, more of a cued “grab it” on a presented part of the toy and the more low row back and forth “tug” on that cue.
Bigger Boy Style Tug
Yeah, the Swissy is silent, Rip does a deep grunty growl and the little growls are Vibe’s. Rip is used to “fake” tugging with the Swissy where he holds and pretends to tug but kind of isn’t because if the Swissy releases it’s a lot of work for Rip to put the toy back in the Swissy’s mouth. That’s great for the pup at this stage because when he needs to regrip the tug is still right there.
There’s a point in Plankrobatics clip where Vibe is kind of stacked and you can see his current build a bit.
We did Toy Races and some Plankrobatics on his Galican wobble as well as some conditioning style position changes. Saw some issues with my position on mechanics when I reviewed that I’ll work on. We’ll also move this stuff back to his Cato plank and some little sit sized platforms my wife made for me.
Toy Races
Plankrobatics
