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Still struggling with the end position – I made a foot target by covering a strip of cardboard about 12″x4″ with blue tape. She was doing well touching the target wherever I put it, and then lying down, although I have not been able to put it on a wobble board, as I only have a very small one – I could try it with a platform though. In this session, I was trying to sit on the ground, so that she wouldn’t cue off my position – she wasn’t getting the down at first, but then she got it. I still don’t think this behavior is very strong – any suggestions welcome. I’m thinking maybe I should get more of an automatic down on the target, and maybe I need to make the target bigger (maybe more of a 12″ square).
Thank you for this feedback – I had not really noticed how she was hitting the poles from the R side. So we today we tried your suggestion, repeating the same game, this time throwing a food reward (meatball halves). I thought this went well – although she did still hit the poles sometimes – I noticed that she seemed to hit them more when there was more motion from me – so I tried to dial it back a bit when she was hitting. Throwing the food reward was definitely a good idea, as she was very happy with the meatballs, but not losing her mind….
We also repeated the open channels today, with motion, as I realized I needed to repeat this exercise with motion without pausing before running – b/c the motion definitely distracted her from finding the entrance, especially on the L side (we did this exercise previously, unfortunately without videoing it – and she missed almost all of her L side entries) – today she did much better – she missed her entry from about 8 o’clock, so I went back around the clock until she got it again. Wondering if it would have been better to have just repeated the same position with no motion.
I just posted 2 clips of our first sessions with straight poles, which we did last Sunday. So then today we tried adding the second set. Have to thank you for pointing out my habit of waiting before moving during the sends “with motion” – so here I tried to make sure that I ran immediately, though I think there might be a couple of times when I forgot.
This clip is from the weekend when we tried the 2×2 at 6 to 12 o’clock. While she did OK on the near-side, she did not really get it on the off-side (1 to 6 o’clock) – after a few misses, I decided to stop the session, and start again later in the day.
So for the next session, I decided to go back to the MM, and opened the poles slightly – she picked it up quickly, so I straightened the poles, and then went back to using the toy – all still sending her from stationary position.
Tried Yowza with 12 poles today. I forgot to say “get it” to her, and I did find it difficult to throw the toy in a timely fashion. I had planned to intersperse the MM for some of the rewards, but the MM had a mind of its own today, with many freebies, which I don’t think was my hand slipping – and at the end it just went doo-lally and kept dispensing willy-nilly. Yowza didn’t seem to be interested in it at all, I think b/c she knew I had the toy in my hand.
So I mixed up the sends and entries here – around the clock, and some with and some without motion. I thought she did quite well, despite my problems with rewarding her….
Today, I tried using a foot target for Yowza on the teeter. I did one session before this to familiarize her with the blue tape for the foot target. However, the session did not go so well, as she was not independently touching the target when on the see-saw, so I ended the session early, thinking that I should do more training with just the blue tape target on the floor, so she has a better understanding of the function of the foot target. Need you feedback on this!
Today we repeated the 2x2s at the 1 to 7 angle with added motion after sending her to the poles. At the end you’ll see, she had had enough of the MM and went to grab her toy, so I ended the session there.
Later today, we did the Channels – first with stationary positions from 10 to 2 o’clock, then with extreme motion – first moving laterally away, then with rear crosses, then moving in opposite direction. For these, I threw the toy for reward, but it was hard to throw the toy without her looking back for it – but I think, for the most part, she was looking ahead while she was actually in the poles – what do you think?
Got to stay with friends on the way home from OK – the barking in the background is from 7 Irish Wolfhounds. I didn’t have the MM with me, so my friend was my automatic dispenser, as well as my videographer. I increased the angle to 2 and 8 o’clock here:
1 and 7 o’clock here:
More at 1 and 7 o’clock angle (sends from 3 to 6 o’clock), followed by threadle sends to 2 and 8 o’clock angle:
So we did this Monday of last week, before i got your feedback from our last video – so, unfortunately I didn’t use the target, as you suggested for this. We’re back home now, so hopefully we can repeat this with the target tomorrow – though I guess I should send her round a cone when I use the target, rather than her backing up.
So I tried the channels using the MM as a “target” as you mentioned, and threw toy for reward. Added a lot of motion this time. I thought she did really well in this session – as always, your opinion appreciated.
>>So, with the down at the end of the board, did you use a target to train it?<<
Not really – I tried putting a treat on the board for her to get, but she would get it before she got into the down – so I mostly held the treat at the end position, and then clicked when she was down, and gave her the treat. I tried using the MM, but found that she would get up out of the down to get the treat. So, at this point, I am only having her do the down end position on a moving board, as I am also teaching her 1RTO for her DW and Aframe contact positions, and I want her to distinguish the two positions – does this make sense to you? In this session, I was also clicking for a forward/downward pointing head position. Also thinking, maybe I should have been sitting down for this also. If you think she is doing OK here, I will go back to having her back up into the down, with me sitting, and I’ll add a little more tip, as you suggested for our last video. I am going to be away for 10 days (NAC in Tulsa) – so will get back to all this when we get back next week.
<< One thing I noticed was that she was hitting the poles – I think it was that they were too tight for her to run through, but too wide for actual weaving, just a slightly awkward distance for her>>
Yes, I agree. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to adjust those channels at Mark’s place, as you need a special key to adjust them. So, in the future, I will only run the channels at home, where I can use 6, and adjust them how I want. We will work on them again tomorrow. She definitely prefers the toy over the MM – do you think I should continue throwing the toy for her, like I did in that last session?
Today we were at the training center, and they only have 12 pole channels, so we tried the round the clock entries with the full 12 poles. Also, I forgot to take the MM, so I tried using a toy. I didn’t use it as a target, as I didn’t have a way to stop her from getting it if she did it wrong, so I threw it for her instead.
Today we tried the End Position game – backing up. The end position that I have chosen for her is a down on the end of the board – feedback on how we did much appreciated.
