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I’d like to build continued value for tugging and frizz and be as exciting as a swimming pool
The whole agility trial loop needs work, walking to the start line, doing the things, and leaving as well as other performance sports- mostly leaving and taking a reinforcer when you’re super high
Week 2!
One thing that you mentioned in the zoom call is that my ready to work protocol may be too boringContinued engagement is something we still continue to struggle with. He has gotten much better but I still have instances where he will go off on his own and sniff or check out. I suspect continued behavior loops will help with this but was looking for ideas on assessing whether he can work.
This weekend we had a session in Carrie’s yard. Three other dogs and Roulez in standing heat. While this may have been too much to ask, prior to starting sequencing, I had him on leash heeling and walking with me. 100 % engagement, great eye contact, taking food well, and whining with excitement. He was responding to commands without hesitation. As soon as I took the leash of, immediate disengagement and sniffing (pee licking too).
I was able to get more focused sessions once Roulez and the other dogs left the yard but don’t really know where to begin when faced with a situation like this. Ultimately this left me super frustrated in the moment and after that one session fighting for his attention, I put him up until everyone left.Once everyone left, we swam first, played with strike, tugging on the frizz, retrieving the frizz and adding agility in between. I was happy with his action and attention at that point.
And you can have him tug on different toys too, it does not have to be the friz
Hahaha I tried this with a tug toy and a frisbee and blew his mind wide open š¤Æ
No food so so he was super excited about tugging. I asked for an out and around. Threw his frizz and he just stood there š¤£. I have no idea what he thought was going to happen but it was such a good laugh. He really preferred tugging the soft toy today over frizz.
The behavior chain works well
Work the soft frizzer. Apparently not so much with a tug.Iāve already reached my 10 minutes for the week and itās only Wednesday š¤£
Just a super quick session with the frizz because I think this is the ticket š and we can build on it. Iāll keep working this. I think we can easily find a groove.
Heās a big fan of tugging on the frisbee we swapped for at the open! Thanks again for that!!!!
Hard discs not so much his jam for tugging. Thereās a fine line between being hardy, tugable and fondness. Iād give the rubber frisbee high marks for all three categories. Chuck itās meet the first two but explode after one session. He brought back a hard disc when given the choice of two. He will play whoosh over strike with that. All good data points. Super exciting!
Randomly, do your dogs ever rub their mouth raw from the frizz? I wonder if thatās where some of the aversion to tugging with a hard disc comes from. He bites hard in the back and can have abrasions from it sometimes.
So ā using something he really likes, such as a thrown friz ā you can start to play a little bit of ā1 second of tugging then I throw the frizā Donāt be greedy with the tugging, he just needs to pull the toy a little then you can either throw the friz, throw a cookie, or throw the toy. Consider tugging a behavior for now, not a reinforcement.
I love that you put it in this context. I have trained an around before throwing the frisbee and that get’s offered pretty willingly.
thanks!Toy food combo
A few thoughts
First of all, my shirt under my sweatshirt is red. I promise itās not high waisted granny panties hanging out to you or anyone watching the video. Itās a red tshirtNow that Iāve cleared that up
I think I paired too high of a reinforcer- cheese with tugging. I chose cheese because it would be well seen on the grass but I think I inadvertently created some conflict here. He likes tugging, he doesnāt adore tugging.
Thereās one moment where he disengages and runs off. No idea why. I didnāt hear a sound that startled him. I donāt think he hit himself with the tug (around the 1:04-05 mark)
He came back and we tried again. He just didnāt love it. I tried with the frizz, tugging but also wasnāt feeling it. I suspect it was food related but am not 100% sure.
I suspect I need to up the energy level with the tugging. He mostly loves the chase and bite aspect over static but welcome all thoughts on self improvement. My mechanics are still a bit sloppy here too.How does he do in terms of going back and forth between food and a tug toy
He does pretty well with this. There are some situations where he will refuse food but that usually comes with over arousal. In general training heās really good with switching.
At some point I want to plan an end of run routine. Heās much better in agility because weāve got a high reinforcement protocol and he understands I do the thing and get toys and or food
When we tried dock diving, heās getting super high coming off the dock and looking for things to react at coming off (mostly other dogs near the dock but really it could be anything because heās just looking to fixate). Itās a bit hard because heās frustrated and wonāt take food. I havenāt tried tugging but Iām not sure that will be something he can do either because heās high and frustrated so I want to work that before we are back at the dock.Was that at about 1:00ish? He did look spooked about something.
yes it was
You can use reinforcement procedures to help him understand that going in a crate or on a Klimb still means reinforcement in in play (it is a great opportunity for more ācatchā or using a MM!)
yes, I need to be more mindful on working this before he disengages. He really hates coming in the house when things are over so I need to continue this work. It had been so much better this summer when it was 10000 degrees outside and I was consistent about reinforcing coming inside after a session but now that it’s cooler this avoidance has come back.
Bones day part 2- still in pajamas though š
Toy playSo his toy play has evolved a lot over this past year. He used to bite me A LOT when Iād go to get the toy from him which Iām sure youāve seen. Iād say we have about an 80% improvement in that which I also think youāve seen š. Iām no longer getting abuse screening questions at the doctor so Iām totally satisfied with that š¤£.
Heās been in a box for many days with a BIS nearby. Heās a little sloppier here than Iād normally see if heās exercised appropriately.
We had one large victory lap. I went for a toy with a better bite surface to practice strike but unfortunately donāt have a matching toy which is usually my way to handle the victory lap. I will admit this is a struggle with tug toys specifically. I usually donāt let him have it because he will lap and it adds extra training time to our session. I look forward to your ideas on this š¤£. Lately most of my practice rewards have been frisbees and I have many so he doesnāt tend to lap with them. He finds the chase of the frizz more reinforcing so he will spit it out and come back to restart the game.His catch was SO MUCH BETTER with a non food item. I do think this could be helpful for increasing arousal.
Do you have marker cues specific to your frisbee?
I foresee the words here being a problem for me. I already want to stress about something. Get it has been my go to for toy on the ground versus me running with a toy so Iāll try to keep that as clean as I can. Iāve worked strike in the past and think I can keep that one clean because itās unique
I plan to do more dock diving this year and for dry land I want to work jumping/popping up to bite a toy/frizz. Would you use strike in that situation or a new word? #overthinkersanonymous
Phewww home from the open. I really intended to spend all day in my pajamas in bed but Noodle the Pug informed me that it was a bones day. Hereās some of our food work. So glad I got to see you at the Open! Thanks for all your hard work with the event and pudding shots! Hope your travels go well.I really like playing the search game with him. It has been some what life changing with his reactivity and nervousness. He really is able to focus on this in busy and tight environments and think clearly. We play this ringside often. I played it a few times by the stalls at the open but didnāt get out my tripod.
Snacks, I think he is understanding. I went with whoosh for following the hand because I tend to say shhhh too often in play just to raise arousal.
Iāve seen other trainers note that tossing food to face can raise arousal. He is SO BAD ad trying to catch food. Callie is a wizard who can catch multiple pieces of food from one toss. I donāt feel like it raises his arousal because heās so uncoordinated at it. He can catch the frisbee and bumper at high speed and height so I donāt quite understand how it doesnāt carry over but apparently itās not the same š¤£. Itās not my go to because he often misses
Some observations I had. Iām not sure my snacks and whoosh look different enough? Do they need to be different?
I left a point in where he ran off. Not sure if he got spooked or something else happened that I didnāt observe. Heās really bad if he thinks he will be put up for Callie to work about coming back to me. Iāll usually get Callie out like I did here to show him heās not going up.
Arousal worksheet
1. Raw meat (ground beef, steak), freeze dried chicken (must be soft)
2. Cheese
3. Parm crisps
4. dry cereal
5. kibble
He does not like crunchy treats in high arousal situations or stressful situations. He sometimes will completely refuse food or take food and not swallow (NOT AN AUSSIE)Toy reinforcement
1. FRIZZER (chasing thrown frisbee above tugging)
2. Bumper
3. Bomber ball on a bungee
4. any type of sheep toy
5. tug toy
Frizzer has a good bit of value and we play often. He can now play frizz environments that used to shut him down (low level thunderstorms/gunshots/fireworks). He also recovers much faster from stressors when the frisbee is out.Activity reinforcement
1. Swimming, thinking about swimming, looking longingly at a pool where he could maybe swim, reminiscing on how much he loves swimming
2. Chasing (preferably a frizzer, sheep, or his sister.. occasionally the mama)
3. Sniffing
4. Rolling in stuff (carpet, dirt, dead earthworms…)
5. Digging
Swimming pretty much always has value regardless of the environment or arousal state. It can be quite the distraction if he really wants to swim because it’s his passion. He can also swim around scary noises and it can help bring back up his arousal if shut down.
Chasing also very reinforcing, not always easy to put on stimulus control if it’s another dog or sheepOh no! Are you still in Texas? It looks like there was a lot of damage!
Yes. It looks like we will be here until at least Wednesday because we canāt safely re-enter the state. The main power grid for Orleans Parish and Jefferson parish fell over into the Mississippi River so thereās no telling when we will get power back.
Hi there
Just wanted to give you an update. Iām not sure Iāll make the submission for the last lessons (jumpers im looking at you). Carrie and I went to Houston for a USDAA regional and home got pelted with Ida. Itās looking like we will be without power and AC for awhile so things are up in the air. I really really appreciated all your help. Hopefully there will be another class youāre offering soon so we can keep working!
Probably because you walked that section and didnāt *run* that section in the walk through.
Aghh you keep throwing me curve balls here in what I think Iām understanding.
So since this was course 2 and the second obstacle was a tunnel, I did a lead out. I donāt usually run past the first jump and start my run after the commit to the second obstacle. I felt like 0.53 I was starting my run thru?Plus, listening to the background, he might be sensitive when Carrie is yelling at Roulez to be quiet which happened a couple of times when he was on course
I really feel like Fever would be the human guy who is into poetry and saving the sea turtlesā¦.
What are your suggestions for approaching this? In this case, this is not my yard. At trial, people treat their dogs not the nicest and itās on display for everyone one? Do you stay aware and reinforce engagement more?
For example, thereās one person here locally that I canāt even watch run because she screams at her dog so much her entire run. It makes me so upset every time. What would be the best way to handle that situation, if say you had to run right after or a few dogs after?d (or bang head on wall for not blocking it off LOL)
Ughhhhh I also forgot about blocking. Iām just going to stand in the corner and be wrong with all my wrongness š¤£.
I really am trying with not deflating him but he can pick it up so well. I really need someone to consistently bust me about this in the moment unfortunately. I am doing better with not giving any verbal no reward maker. Man that was hard to break too.
I like youāre CER analogy. My nurse and I talk about how sometimes you end up in the forest (forest being an analogy for several things) but itās really hard to see that youāre in the forest until youāre in the middle of the fucking forest. I can see him have a moment of disengage and then I canāt get him out and it keeps getting worse with start and stop because Iām trying to fix it.Course 3
I made an effort to not duck up how I learned this one.
He was sad here. We got the off course tunnel. In the moment I thought my blind was late. Watching the video, it was executed before the take off of the jump so I donāt think it was that late. He may have needed a name call on that. Second time, I tried to be earlier and call.
We got the off course dog walk and he didnāt really recover from that. He pooped shortly after and just was mopey š. He really didnāt want his toy but was working lower energy for food.I didnāt even see the DW as an off course because again it wasnāt on the map. Youād think at package 5 I would have learned this but alas, Iām a slow learner apparently.
Iāll just be rewatching kick as course 2 videos š š
