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Hi!
I listened to the recording today and it was so cool to hear you answer my questions in the forum live! I wish I had made it live but the recording was just as good. When you explained the reasons why we shouldn’t see stress in the ring later on based upon how we’re progressing and not stopping the dog, etc, makes a lot of sense. My one question is weave poles- is this a case by case situation? I’m thinking of the two different scenarios- one where the dog missed the entrance and couldn’t collect in time which you could fluidly bring them back around and try again so it wouldn’t be a stop and punishing scenario, versus, the dog popping because the environment is too hard. I”m not sure if we should always keep going or are there situations where you would try again and if they failed a second time, then keep going?
So many things to think about! But so far this journey is going really well so I’m excited to see where we are next year since she’s only 20 months old.
Looking forward to MYOB this weekend which is exactly what my other dog needs!
Hi!
We did a quick weekend at AKC where we did one FEO run Saturday morning and then jumpers run Sunday afternoon where I just did five obstacles for a quick in and out. I was planning on doing two FEO runs Friday but that darn work thing got in the way. I was a bit nervous about the Sunday run because we have not done much remote reinforcement. I also had two options for a fun course- one involved 10 obstacles and the other involved five. I opted for the five since I felt she would be very successful with that smaller course and I wasn’t sure about the longer one. Boy that was tough from the human perspective since I drove all the way there and sat around to basically run for 20 seconds lol! Pepper did great on both days but she did amazing on Sunday. She seemed to completely understand the concept of where the treats were outside the ring- which I was very impressed with. I love how you walk through this process because at where I trial there are very few people do anything like this and it can take some courage to go against the grain. So, even as an auditor, I’ve gotten a ton out of this class.
I’m making my plan as to how to progress from here. We have a NADAC trial in January where I can do FEO on every single run. So my thought was to bounce back-and-forth on whether I bring a toy in, put it in my pocket or do short sequences without. I was also going to use this trial to do FEO with her weave poles in contacts since those are still relatively new for her.
After the January trial, we have a three day February AKC trial. The FEO runs are all first thing in the morning and the novice runs aren’t until hours and hours later. So I’m not sure if doing an FEO that early with all that time between is going to be beneficial? She will relax in the car but that’s a long day for a baby dog. She is used to sitting in a car because she travels with her brother for Nosework competitions but it’s still a long day. What are your thoughts on that type of delay?
Maybe you touch on this tonight- if we start competing and things are going great but then we start seeing some stress what is your suggestion? Would you go back to doing the FEO runs, and/or short, small, easy sequences at trials? I feel like with my last dog as we moved up her stress also increased. I would say 99% of that was me because she was my first dog and all of a sudden I was doing things I never imagined with her like going to big events. So obviously I’m working on myself but I am conscious of not repeating this pattern with Pepper.
Love this class, and loved all of the live chats as well! Yay science!
I had all the best intentions when I signed up for the class that I would be able to train but the weather has not cooperated at all! We’ve had the hottest summer I can remember and then when it’s kinda not 110 it’s been thunder storming. So we ended up taking an unplanned break from agility, but mentally it might have been just what I needed. I also had a Covid scare from work (thanks unvaccinated co-workers) I’ll try to post something before the class is over but I’m just glad I can go back and work through the material if it ever cools off!
Totally brain freeze on the threadles! I think o get it now. Work has started back up full time and I think my brain isn’t used to it!! I think it makes sense now .
Sunday night we did another find em session. I did focus games at first and then my first couple of attempts with the frisbee had a 95% fail rate . After four reps I stopped. We did more focus games and then tried training the teeter- which went fine. So im thinking the value of the weaves isn’t quite there especially compared with the teeter. So after the teeter session and a break I went back and opened the poles up more, no frisbee and worked on running. He seemed much happier (minus a few confusions with set ups after the rep). I also noticed during this training session I have rewarded the middle (in between my legs) too much and I need to start reinforcing being at my side more. I’m working on that away from the weaves and agility. This set up he was much more successful so I think with the environmental issues he needs clearer rules and more open polestar. Let me know if you think I’m on the right track with this.
Sounds good!! He’s starting to understand the end position which is exciting!
Last night we did another session with the tunnel. The last tunnel session he did ha e a super high value rewards- leftover filet from a high end steak house . I had no idea he would be that I do it since she’s usually just blah with steak. This time we used his normal high value of cheese. Overall I think his balance was better of these and he did great in his end position. I tried to be mindful of my mechanics as well.
I’ll try fading the target on elevator game after we do some more high arousal on the plank.
Hope you had a safe drive!
It’s been a windy few days so maybe the wind was more of a factor than I had realized but I do see what you’re saying about his failure rate.
I did a session with just 2 poles and threadles Thursday night. I didn’t use the frisbee since i was trying to understand where the gap was. Overall I think this went well and he was getting the entries. Should I do more sessions and add the frisbee?
Last night I tried to do another session with the set up same as Wednesday. After playing some quick focus games we started training and as you can see we had zero success on the first several reps from different wings . The only success was when chapter took the weaves on his own. At that point I decided to train some station games and focus games closer to the wall where we had people walking. I wasn’t planning on weaving again but those went really well and he was showing me he was ready to work . So I did a quick second session of weaves with no frisbee and I started making it as easy as possible with no motion and the added challenges as he seemed able to handle. It’s frustrating feeling like we’re moving backwards but it seems like there may be a gap of understanding since I had the same issue as Wednesday night when I did the first session. Thoughts?
I definitely wasn’t going to have him on the equipment with 50mph. My plan was to do plank end position games. Ironically when I went to train we had a small break in the winds. I worked on adding more speed my part and a little more duration for him staying in position. I also didn’t use the target. I think this went well. He only had a few misses and one I think he thought a cookie had been thrown. This is feeling much better and I tried to make sure my mechanics were clean which I didn’t decent on I think. Let me know what you think!
I definitely wasn’t going to have him on the equipment with 50mph winds. My plan was to do plank end position games. Ironically when I went to train we had a small break in the winds. I worked on adding more speed on my part and a little more duration for him staying in position. I also didn’t use the target. I think this went well. He only had a few misses and one I think he thought a cookie had been thrown. This is feeling much better and I tried to make sure my mechanics were clean which I think went decent. Let me know what you think!
I had to walk out the threadles in the living room to understand it but I think I got it now! I had no idea that was the issue so that’s very helpful. I’ll be sure to isolate that skill.
Here is our session last night. I had a few reps with too much motion on my part but Chapter was happy to try again. His attitude and persistence in training has really improved. He’s starting to swim the poles now so should I add the verbal or wait until the poles are closer together. I also tried To run more but it was a tough balance on too much motion versus trying to increase motion as well.
It’s crazy how this is all coming together!! I did have a target on the elevator game reps but it’s a black lid so it’s hard to see. When I do start to fade the target I should go back and do all the games and build up right? I’m pretty sure that’s what the fading video said but I wanted to be sure.
Here is our warm up from tonight. I’m not sure why I thought I couldn’t play this game on the real end of the teeter- total brain freeze but I got it this time.
I added the tunnel and I started with the sit before the tunnel and then after that went well for several reps I added the tunnel. On the last rep I tried a blind to be on the other side of the teeter and almost didn’t make it to catch the teeter. He had a few misses on the end position but overall I think this went well. The added motion didn’t seem to make his brain completely explode!
Let me know what you think! Tomorrow we have 50 mph winds so if I do train I’ll probably do some very simple teeter games because the wind is always a distraction. But we also trial out here in very windy conditions so I think it will be good to work through it.
That all makes sense and as frustrating as it is in the moment I agree in the long run this is a good thing to work through. Prior to our weaves last night I did a bunch of easy tricks to see where his head was at in terms of focus . That went well so we went ahead and trained. I left the poles open at about three inches which is where we were two sessions ago (I had tightened them of the last session). Since he was so distracted last time I wanted to make it easy. Chapter has some great reps and several not so great. I felt like he had too many failures here and I also clicked the manners minder twice by accident. I did try to do a different rep after the whoops. In the video there is a whoops at the end and it looks like I went back and took a short break to play tug and do simple tricks to re-engage before we resumed.
Since he struggled a lot with the 12 o’clock entries I did a quick session after a break of just those. I think he has a gap here so I’m thinking if I should go back to less motion and no wing and build up this side like I did with the off side entries. Let men know what you think.
Thanks!
I tried to keep in mind target position, throwing treats back to him and proper use of verbals in our session last night . I was much happier with his target at the end and I think his speed up the board was faster as well (could have been the filet leftovers he got for treats!). I was most proud of his focus . He really wanted to run across the yard but he didn’t. The one time he started to he came right back so that was great! Should I keep with the wraps or do you think I can add a tunnel?
Here is our warm up regular elevator
And here is our crazy elevator
Thanks!
Here’s our session tonight. I underestimated the environment distractions today. Feral cats were running through the oleanders, people walking on the street and I’m not sure what was so exciting at the end. I did tighten the poles slightly but it was tough to keep his attention. He didn’t even care about the frisbee on some reps and wouldn’t bring it back. After he ran off the last time he did zoomie laps for two minutes non stop and then I made him stop by taking him inside. I struggle with these sessions- should I just stop or should I make things super super easy and then stop if he can’t work? As frustrating as this is I agree with you that it’s helpful for future trial distractions. Hopefully if we can work through this trials will be easy!
I was wondering about the no reward on the bottom and what to do since he got so many other parts right. Totally makes sense to treat the uphill. I did that this session. I forgot about the stand behind on the first rep but then remembered (new things are hard for me lol). By the end I think he got the idea to look ahead. The think this session went well especially since we took a week break. Everyone got sick this week so we took more time off.
Prior to the crazy elevator game we reviewed regular elevator and end position. I tried really hard to keep moving.
Here is the crazy elevator game
Lastly tonight we did the end position on the plank and I tried to add more speed with running. Overall I think this went well. I didn’t notice on the moment his one back leg is off. I probably need to pay more attention to that so it’s not part of it. Right before the last rep he didn’t get rewarded and I was trying to circle him around but I think he thought he missed the treat so he was trying to find it. I do think he’s watching my hands a lot- any tips on that?
Thanks for the feedback!
