[frankie]

Thanks! He is very good about toy work most of the time. Although we use toys somewhat differently in agility, having clear rules around them is super important, so that’s something that I can teach 🙂

The flyball mat work is all new to me, so I am glad to hear we are doing it right! I watch your videos several times, first at regular speed, then in slow motion, to get as much of an idea as possible of what I am trying for. The videos are really helpful!

[frankie]

Here is the combo agility mat and two toy video
His cue to take the second toy is ‘ting!’

[frankie]

This is some target mat work we did today. I feel all thumbs still, but getting a little more organized. He ran off to visit friends off camera at one point, but came right back. He definitely turns better to the right.

Thanks for all your input. I did some two toy work while working on his running contacts today, I’ll post as soon as I edit it. It was fun for me to combine his agility work with the flyball toy work. Usually in agility we just have them bring the one toy back and tug, so this is a different game and I am really having to think about my timing!

[frankie]

Here’s me, cheating again 🙂

Know Me bowing from puppy class video. Sorry that there are other stretches before it!

I try not to be lazy…

• This reply was modified 10 months, 3 weeks ago by frankie.

[frankie]

I have some questions about the two tug game in Unit 4
Do you proof this by sometimes not giving the ‘yes’ cue and expecting the dog to continue to hold the original toy even when they reach you with your toy in hand?
If the dog runs all the way to you with their toy, but drops it before you say ‘yes’ (your dog did this in the last retrieve) do you continue with the the ‘yes’ and reward every time, or do you take a step back and have them work more on holding it all the way to you?
Know Me generally is starting to understand that he should bring his toy all the way back and wait for a release cue, but sometimes he will drop a step or two early, so I have not added a huge amount of motion yet. I’ll shoot some video today.

[frankie]

Thanks for the video, makes a lot of sense. We can do that!

[frankie]

One of my students made me the blocks. They’re actually from designs that Anna Lee Sanders’ Canine Conditioning Coach instructions on building your own conditioning platforms https://canineconditioningcoach.com/platforms-in-canine-fitness-part-3-building/ I have sets for all of my dogs (except Know Me because he’s not done growing) and use them for so many different things! Feel free to share

[frankie]

Disregard how slow we are. Just checking that this is what you meant re direction.
I will move further back when he figures it out.

[frankie]

Backing up steps

I didn’t feel comfortable at his stage of physical development having him do actual stairs so I set up three low steps. I can add more, but right now he’s having a hard enough time going thoughtfully up these 😂

[frankie]

Recall with distractions –

This is something we do a lot of in puppy class. He’s pretty good most of the time, given the parameters of being 4 1/2 months old. I struggle, physically, with running so I don’t often run away, I make myself interesting in other ways.

[frankie]

Yes, makes sense. And I don’t worry about things conflicting as long as I understand it so that I can present it properly. As long as I know what the differences are, there won’t be any confusion in the long run. It’s kind of like doing competition heeling with a conformation dog. At first they struggle with the difference between gaiting and heeling, but as long as the trainer is clear, they can easily do both. The hard part for me right now is that I need to be clear and I am learning all new stuff. But going to audit Julie’s flyball boot camp really helped me understand a lot more of the details.

[frankie]

I spent a lot of time this morning thinking about the turn on the mat. For running contacts I want Know Me to run straight on the mat and not look at me at all no matter where I am. But also, both for flyball and contacts, I want a four foot freaking fast hit, with an emphasis (at least in agility, and I think this is also true for flyball, but let me know if I am wrong) with a strong separated rear foot push into a canter forward.

So, provisionally, since he has just started striding on the mat, and is getting some nice canter hits with his rear feet with the TnT (this video was working with distractions, but you get the idea)

I had the idea to orient the mat differently, nearly against the wall, with the TnT next to me, and use a different verbal cue, which I can fade later on down the line when the two behaviors are on different obstacles and not so similar. I added a pole at first to show him to turn, since that is something he is familiar with. Obviously, very much a work in progress, this was our first attempt. Does this make sense?
Do you have any thoughts?

[frankie]

Cheating because I am recovering from Covid and have done NO training since July 24th. This is a video from my puppy class of Know Me doing 2 tug work, similar, but we need to add a verbal drop cue rather than just the presentation of the ‘new’ toy (which I what I do now) and I need to turn my body so that it’s not facing him. What else should we change?

[frankie]

I am recovering from Covid so re-reading all my posts and your comments, and also thinking about his size. He grew very quickly and then leveled out, so I think he will be a moderate size, with a fair amount of bone, more than an average whippet, but on par with most male BCs. He can be very coordinated when he takes the time to think about his legs (his body is more coordinated than his brain right now). We have done no training for a week, but I am hopeful that today or tomorrow I will be well enough to get back to it.

[frankie]

Here is our backing up video – https://youtu.be/8AbwTVI0fWw?si=cETetgx_TjtvYE7E
He is pretty uncoordinated right now, so I am not pushing for any distance. This seems to be as far as he can go and still go in a straight line 🤣

[Author]

Posts