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Awesome! We are doing some here in Boise this weekend. He is getting a ton of stimulation. First trip since last October. He’s actually barking in the trailer if people or dogs walk by so I’m just trying to keep him calm and give him treats for his diligence. It seems to help. Any advice you have for keeping him calm and quiet is appreciated!
The first time I did this resilience game he was distracted but I forgot to hit record on my phone 😜. After a couple hours we did it again and I think he did wonderful! Agility is indoor and this is a little space outside away from the action.
Edit… And you can still see how he shies away from me at the end when I touch his harness. When we walk around I call him to me often and give him a treat then let him go. On leash of course. And I’m occasionally touching his collar too so he doesn’t think it’s a bad thing.
We are still working on some of the resilience games… Should I post those here? Or should I just post the current class stuff here?
I haven’t started the regular work for MP2 yet. I’m on the road this weekend and didn’t really bring much. 😜
Whew! I’m so glad that I don’t have to do boring crate games! LOL Yeah, I like some basic manners in and out of the crate, but beyond that, I don’t really care. Casper is so awesome crated at a trial. He’s quiet and relaxes, chews his bone, or sleeps. Doesn’t cry at all. He reserves the crying for the mornings at home when he wants to get up and I do not. :p Or when I pull Dreamer out at training and Casper knows he’s training, then there is also lots of screaming. 😀
I love the resilience games for trials. I don’t think or train well at trials, but I do want to do something with Casper while we are there. So this will be perfect. Yeah looking at my video, I should have just let him look at The Thing right at the start. It looked like a wrap someone had been wearing around their wrist, so I’m sure it had some weird smells. And yup, third day, really tired puppy. I do want to bring him, though, because if I leave him home with the boring spouse he is so energetic when I get home, and I want to sleeeeeeep. 😀
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I agree! By allowing him to feel happy around bar setters, etc – he will have MORE focus in the ring. The dogs that are stressed or uncomfortable are the ones that tend to “visit”.
<<<That sounds so awesome! Yeah, I don’t want him stressed or uncomfortable. And I love that he’s happy and friendly and wants to say hi to people and friendly dogs. 🙂
Oooo but I’ve had it drilled into my brain that I’m supposed to really do crate games from when they are little puppies. I actually don’t do that, lol, I’ve kinda considered myself lazy. I’ve done a little work having him wait to come out of his crate at home, but not much. So if I ask him to wait at home he will. But he doesn’t really like to! So maybe it’s okay that I haven’t really been working it. So today I made sure he wasn’t going to leap out of the crate, but didn’t really ask him to do a hard wait.
Thanks for saying that his brain is still growing and things will go up and down with him for a while. I need to hear that! He’s a smart little guy and I want him to enjoy just being a puppy too. At trials he gets to say hi to lots of people and friendly dogs and I don’t mind. I don’t worry that he will cause him to visit jump setters in the ring. I think we’ll work out a good working relationship when the time comes.
Today the environment was too hard for him for the resilience game. And there was a weird thing in the corner he had to check out. And I wasn’t using as high value treats so this session told me all those things lol.
Thanks for all the input! I’m looking forward to max Pup 2.
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They will all be in the 7-8 month range in that march time period. What happens in that time span is they make massive leaps forward in transferring the concepts and they are not yet fully in the throes of adolescence – so we might start them all with a puppy-version of the game then build it up
++++That sounds really good! In looking forward to him having more of a brain. Lol I’ve been so busy the last couple of weeks I haven’t had time to do much with him. Today at agility I was looking through the resilience games progression and thought I would see what we have. I think he did really good. Though we still need to some basics. It’s a super hard environment. I picked a low traffic area but people still walked by. And he was really interested in the bleachers. So after we did this he got to walk up and down them and check it all out. And he found an errant piece of popcorn 🍿🤣
Anyway this is what we have at trial. And it took a good five minutes to get out of the crate in the car today. He gets sooo excited. And I want him to wait before I let him out. As food motivated as he is, he still isn’t super interested in treats when I have him wait to be calm and not burst out of the crate in the car. 😛
Thanks! Haha, that’s the nice thing about dog training at home, jammies! 😀
My bad thing about teaching Woof and Quiet is I’m super bad at putting that into a behavior chain. They woof, so I can say quiet so that I can reward for quiet. So I kinda teach my dogs to woof when I’m teaching them quiet… LOL. Bad Trainer! But I’m sure he will learn it quickly!
Yeah I’m happy that he’s not running off with the toy! This boy has the attention span of a knat. LOL. Like 5 seconds. 😀 but it’s something to build on!
I will do some more of the arm/leg send to the target too, and the barrel, to help him understand. Not only does he have a short attention span, is just so immature too. So I’m trying to enjoy the cute puppy age. But sometimes he tries my patience! He was chewing up the rug this evening so he was put in the crate with a bully stick instead. He’s so busy!
Teaching the bit cue sounds awesome, I’ll work on that too. 🙂 And I like the idea of tossing the cookie to the opposite side for the perch work. 🙂
The platform… I was being lazy and didn’t want to go in my car and get the bigger one I had at the trial. So I used the smaller one I had at home. I totally agree that the smaller one is more difficult. I had started him on that when he was little but quickly went to the bigger one so that he could more easily get his four feet on. So… I will get the one out of the car. Sooo hard. LOL
I did get a working spot in Max PUp 2, but now I”m not sure if he’ll still be too immature for that class. Think he’ll be okay? I figured I can puppy stuff down for him if needed.
Today at flyball practice he LOVED the circle of love and seeing All The people and getting treats and then chasing me for a toy. That pretty much burned up all his brain cells. LOL. But we tried some counter motion… and I put a harness on him for the Super Fun Place and he didn’t even seem to know it was on. But All The People are SO COOL that he couldn’t really do anything but be a puppy. Which is okay, it’s all fun! Man he LOVES that training barn!
Thanks for the reply! Yeah fortunately my dogs don’t body slam play like other breeds. However, my Kromis have taught Casper how to bark. LOUD. UGH! And with all Casper’s energy, he thinks barking is super fun now. Oh well. :p I think that’s an issue that is more than my little training brain wants to tackle. haha. He is still quiet in his crate at trials, which is the most important thing. 🙂
Instead of letting him chew up the couch, we did some training this morning. He had a little toy so I put all the other dogs away and tried a little play retrieve with him. I don’t think he really likes the hallway because it’s tiny and weird. So we just did the front room. I think I see teeny tiny retrieves. 🙂
( and I bet you are saying, wow, she has new jammies pants! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 )
And since he has so much energy in the morning I continued with the toys. This barrel video is a bit long, but most of it is me being too far away and him jumping to grab the toys. :p. I want to get to the barn again and work this some more on my own, I think he’ll be a lot better there where we have room.
Also worked the perch box a little, and yup, throwing behind me so he approaches differently definitely helps him put his feet on first, then moving his rear around!
Last we did some baby platform stays, and my husband came up and talked to me, but I figured whatever, it’s a good distraction. LOL
I did have a great couch day! With a long nap too.😉
That makes sense that since he wasn’t feeling well he was more aware of everything going on around him and the food didn’t keep his attention as much.
I do think I have chained together coat, harness, car. So hopefully that will fade since I won’t put the stuff on anymore. I can put some super yummy freeze dried liver in the crate when I put him in the car so hopefully it’ll get better.
That’s a great idea about having something he really loves after I put his harness on. I can do that at the training barn and then let him chase Dreamer though the tunnels. He would think that’s awesome fun!
I am bummed that this is the first year in years that we have so much snow and I can’t work on the backyard. But then again it’s a nice excuse to veg in the winter lol
Yeah, I also would prefer laying on the couch all day! That is my goal for tomorrow, Monday. LOL.
Thanks for the feedback. I did a little bit more today (Sunday), but Casper had diarrhea last night. I gave him the ham off my sandwich yesterday… that is what I trained with in the video; it was really high value. Last night (Saturday night), though, he woke me up at 3 am and 5 am with diarrhea. And today he threw up in his crate a couple of times so he wasn’t feeling very well. So, I mainly did let him sniff and check things out when I had the platform out. Whatever was on the far right corner in this video was very weird for him, and he did the stretch to sniff and see what it was. As well as some silly woofs. When I watch the video I really hear all the different sounds. I tend to tune them out when I’m actually there, since they are so normal for me I just consider them background noise. I’m sure they are very strange and distracting for Casper.
>> Was someone trying to talk to you while you were trying to train him? People are not always good at reading the room LOL!! You were great to just pay attention to your pup 🙂 <<
Yes someone did start to talk to me. :p I usually don’t mind, it happens a lot, and I just work through it or stop the training session. 🙂I like the idea of cookies on my shoe! I didn’t do it but I will in the future. 🙂 This video is more sniffing and walking around than platform work. But he was able to work a little, which I think was pretty good.
Later when I tried the barrel wrap he was really distracted. His girlfriend Jilly did walk by and by then he was done. So I figured I wouldn’t push it and let him be done.
Back to the harness and coat issue… << Interesting! Was he always hating this, or just started? Or just at the trial and not at home? >>
He hasn’t really liked coats or harnesses and I have had to put food in his nose and let him eat when I put them on. But only in the last couple of weeks has he gotten bad. I can still put them on, but at home, once they are on he runs into his crate and doesn’t want to come out. I was thinking he didn’t like the car, but he’s never been car sick so I think it’s the coat/harness he doesn’t like, not the car. Since it’s winter, it’s coat, harness, then car lately. And it could transfer to the car too if the coat/harness happens preceding the car every time. I’m sure he will like summer much better. lol.
My other Farmdogs like their coats and harnesses because it means something fun will happen. My Kromis tolerate coats but aren’t crazy about them, and love their harnesses because also they mean something fun will happen. Like Dreamer doesn’t care for his coat when I put it on, but then once it’s on he’s fine and acts normal. Most of the time I just have the attitude that, well, they can deal with and tolerate it because it’s part of life. But Casper is totally sinking and doesn’t get over it until I take everything off him. And while usually, I’d just try to let him deal with it and get over it, I think his reaction is more intense and he totally pouts, and I don’t want severe of a negative reaction. And it could potentially transfer over to other things and make them icky, too.
My parents always just wanted me to deal with stuff when I was a kid, but then they could also put me in situations that were so uncomfortable (mainly social situations I hated and couldn’t handle when I was very young) that it was pushed too far. So I want to be aware and not push things too far to make life more difficult for him.
<< I will keep pointing it out and delivering cyber-click-treats to you 🙂 It sounds like you are rewarding loose leash walking, and you are making the trial a good place to be (COOKIES!) without introducing any potentially sad-making outerwear 🙂 >>
aww, thanks so much! I could use chocolate with my clicks lol. And yeah that darn sad-making outerwear! 😀
<< (Bear in mind that Farmdogs tend to not freeze like a whippet would, so coats might not be needed LOL!) >>
Actually, Farmdogs can actually get super cold! Jet and Connor will shiver when it’s under 50 degrees. :p For a breed that originated in the dark cold north, they easily get cold and don’t have that super thick coat of nordic breeds. Which is good, because I don’t like long hair. When I was looking for my small dog I wanted Small Dog, Short Hair, Not a Terrier. 😀I will get him a sight-hound martingale that is nice and wide and will be easy on his neck. I will also keep working to make the harness a good, happy thing. I’ll keep clicker training it to get him to offer to put his head in with super high-value treats. Then after he’s getting it on, I can combine it with a super fun thing that he will love.
<< That sound you hear right now is the sound of my two pointy dogs knocking at your dog, so they can come live in the land of personal propane heaters LOL!!! Lucky pup!!!!! (And I would do the same LOL! >>
LOL yeah, when I got him out of the crate he was so toasty warm! I did steal the heater a couple of times to warm my feet that were wet from walking in foot-deep snow. 😀
Thanks!
Ok great thanks for the feedback. I will try some other toss directions with the perch box. I think I was tossing closer to my side a little but it wasn’t working great but now I don’t remember why. Heh.
I’m at a trial this weekend and it’s cold and dirty so we haven’t done much. I didn’t want to toss a treat in the gross floor so for his platform I did hand feed him. And I used a garbage can as a barrel which seemed ok lol. And he’s still not really playing with toys with this many distractions.
So I have a question. Casper is recently hating his harness and coats. Like just the last two weeks I did find out that his sire is the same way. But… Is this related to him but liking being touched when we play tug? I am thinking it could be. When he has his coat and or harnesses on at the trial this weekend he really dumps and doesn’t act like himself at all. I don’t want him to be like that. But I don’t want him to be cold. And I don’t want him to pull on his collar either and hurt his neck. So I’ve been walking him on a collar with no coat and using lots of treats so he’ll stay close to me and not yank his neck. It’s been ok. I also bought him a warmer bed for his crate and a small personal propane heater so he’ll be warm. (Good hell, seriously dog? 🤣🤣🤣)
So what are your thoughts on this? Thanks!
Thanks so much for your feedback! I think I need to go to a barn just by myself so I can see what he’ll do off-leash and just with me again. 🙂 Other people and dogs are also great, but to get him to focus on me without distractions I think is also great. Being patient with myself seems to be good to be patient with him, too.
I’m doing okay, taking one day at a time. Casper sure is a happy guy to have around. 🙂
Today I did a little of the perch box where I threw the treat to the side and let him come back, put his feet on, and move his rear. I don’t know if he thought I was clicking for the rear-end movement or for putting his feet on the box, since they both seemed to happen at the same time. And this was our second training session. The first one I had to figure out how far to toss the treat. If I toss it too close to the perch box, he’ll actually move into position to face me before he puts his feet on the box. So I thought that was interesting.
I also worked a little on the stay platform. In the beginning I had to remember what I was doing, lol. But, he was not prancing around on the platform when I fed him on it, so I thought that was good. haha. He did offer a little begging on the platform, too cute, hehe, but I didn’t click until he had all four fit down. I tried to do some distance and duration while he was on there.
Thanks so much for your kind words. Yeah, I was thrilled with his tiny retrieves. :). Baby steps, literally. hah. He is an adorable puppy, making me laugh even if I don’t feel like laughing much. 🙂
I still haven’t done much… but I wanted to get out today and work with the dogs a little. Nothing serious, and I don’t know if I even did a good job myself. Mostly Casper and I walked around the barn, and I did some of the resilience treating to the side and front with my words. That is what I did first. This was his third time in this barn, and finally he was able to play a little. We just did a little cone wrapping with this real fur toy he likes. And, as you can see, a major distraction behind us. I didn’t trust him not to run off, so again he had his leash on and I stayed very close to him. But I was really thrilled he played with the toy!
And I did a little stay on a platform. It’s not his platform, so I thought he did pretty darn good. And another distraction came in while we were working. I also didn’t trust him not to run off, so kept close and kept his leash on. He looked, but he stayed for me. This is hard for him so I didn’t want to push it much and didn’t work it for long. And the video isn’t great. 🙂
I have signed up for Max Pup 2, and I don’t know how much I”ll be able to do in a timely manner, but having this class and Casper to work with helps me a lot on a day-to-day basis. 🙂
As you know my dad died a couple of days ago so I probably won’t be posting much for a while. Thanks for your feedback. I didn’t actually realize that any behavior between the click and the treat can become part of the behavior, which made me laugh and was eye-opening. I am pretty sure I have put that in my other dog’s training lol, and I would like to not have it for Casper. 😜 So I really appreciate you saying that!
This morning when I was talking on the phone to my mom I was also playing with Casper, because playing with puppies is very therapeutic. And he was taking a few steps towards me with this mostly chewed little ball that he likes.
So of course I had to get some video, though he did better before I videoed. He did chase the ball a little and brought it back to me, though he really wanted to bite my hands. It was a little painful but I thought worth it for a baby tiny retrieve LOL.
Thanks for the feedback! Yeah my house is teeny tiny, so I can work the threadle at the barn or once I can get outside. Dreamer has so little collection that I hope Casper will have more. Though Casper will be small so I don’t know how much collection he’ll need to have.
Wasn’t the pool noodle cute? LOL he does make me laugh this silly guy. It’s all about play for him, which is awesome.
Yeah, I was thrilled he could work at the barn with people out! There weren’t any dogs out, he may not have been able to resist a fun dog distraction. 🙂
Changing focus a bit, I have been during perch work with him since he was little. I usually step around the perch, so that’s where we are now. However, I really like your idea of tossing the cookie at an angle, then when he gets back on the perch and moves his rear to face me, click/treat for rear movement! I can work on that.
We also did some platform start line stays. I tried just on the floor at first, and he just bounced all over the place lol. But the platform works wonders!
Oooh yeah, good idea to release him from the crate to something he really likes. 🙂 You have such great ideas. :). He is really liking wrapping that barrel. Wrapping in general. too much so as you’ll see by today’s videos LOL
I am trying to be more conscious of trading him for things (which I do multiple times a day lol) and see if he’ll take a step toward me. I think I need to use a treat higher value than kibble. I’ll put a bowl of freeze-dried liver out, he loves those, and I bet he’ll come towards me more for those!
That is very interesting that your dogs didn’t like that sound I made either! Actually, I have never made that sound before. heh. I was wanting something loud that would get his attention, and it just came out. So note to self, do not use that. I don’t want to sound like something dying!
Very interesting that Casper is like your Contraband and Export. I don’t think I’ve had a puppy this independent before. So as they say, each dog teaches us something new. Which is another fun part of having a new dog. I do appreciate your telling me that things will come, I would probably be getting frustrated otherwise, and I don’t want to get frustrated. I see his potential, I just need the tools and the attitude to harness that attitude.
Thanks for those videos! They help a lot!
On to training… I went to the Sir Robert barn on Sunday with the group and that was awesome. I went in the morning to play some flyball, I want both Dreamer and Casper to do flyball. I’m pretty sure Dreamer is gonna be a natural. 🙂 And I hear Jana is taking the online course from your flyball captain so I’m looking forward to learning from her. I did flyball a lot before 2016 and it was fun. Mostly with my BC Mix and Jet. Anyway… so Casper was a bit overwhelmed again. He did great with little recalls in the morning, but I think by the afternoon he was tired, even though he did a lot of waiting in his crate in the car. The last thing we did at the barn was a little tunnel, kept it super easy, and I think he did great. We did more too but just baby things.
This morning I got out the new barrel. I want him to be able to do the barrel at the barn and figured it’d be easier to have one just like it for now. He did a really good job. I just backed it off to the basics with toys.
Then I tried the Strike a Post Threadle with a jump. He really really REALLY wanted to wrap that upright! I started too hard, so I probably need to give the touch target a lot more value than it currently has. As you can see, he was really going out of his way to wrap around that jump upright.
First Time:
Second Time. At the end of this video, the Manner’s Minder stopped working. It’s a really old one and the remote isn’t very reliable. I need to bend the metal bits to get it to work. I need to look into finding a replacement remote so it doesn’t stop working on me!
