[Lynne Schroeder]

Ok, I will add them to our repertoire. One can never have too many tricks 😉

[Lynne Schroeder]

The first segment is getting her excited then going to her relaxation exercises. I am not holding her down just getting her into position and using her relaxation command. I am looking for her to blink, yawn, lick her lips, decrease in respiration and muscle tone. Sometimes I will massage her from here and she will fall asleep, sometimes we break and play. She is getting very good at quickly relaxing (better than I am LOL) when she is on her side. I am adding more distraction and also have started to ask for relaxation in a sit when my hand is under her chin. Eventually, I would like to train it as just a hand on her side so that it will be more readily available to use when out and about.

The second part is our version of find my face, with me raising my fist in the air. This is working well for us when we are confronting others on a trail and most recently yesterday at barn hunt practice where we were waiting with a Border Collie in a very tight space. Typically, she turns back to look at me and I raise my fist in the air and she knows the game is on. My question regarding this game is what happens when you don’t have food or is this just conditioning them to have a positive reaction toward “scary” situations?

The cookie toss game is in there as well.

[Lynne Schroeder]

Hi,

Ok, so we are on the right track. She does bring the ball back each time, even went she went to run out of the ring for her treats. She did get the ball and give it to me off camera.

We have been working a similar game to “find my face” all summer from Sharon Carol’s course. I think it is called EOD or something like that. Basically, look up at me without me asking for it and you get a treat. How would I use that in the ring without treats? Just hold up my fist and wait for her to look at me?

We also work Brenda Alouf’s relaxation technique. She is very good at it when laying down. I now need to practice the one where she is standing so that I can use it on course…but only in NFC.

[Lynne Schroeder]

Hi,
So good to see the “real Bobbi” today as opposed to the talking head on my screen LOL

Here is a video of our 2 runs today. She was super happy to meet many people outside the ring, wanted to meet dogs (but I didn’t allow it), was able to do all of her warm up and tricks in various places throughout the building and ringside.

She was not as focused as she was at our Y2K9 runs and the ability to utilize running away from the judge did not materialize.

In the video you will see her slow down between the 3rd and 4th jump as she spots the ring crew located at the back of the ring. I used the ball to get her attention back and keep her going over #4, then rolled it by the ring crew as well which didn’t phase her. We then continued on and she ran to the gate after the tunnel because she knew her treats were there (another issue entirely). I was able to get her back and do a couple jumps at the other side of the ring and then exit for her treats.

In the second run my plan was to throw the ball past the ring crew. I never thought that she would lock onto the ring crew on the right of the screen and pass the tunnel! Again, I used the ball to get her back and then threw it by the ring crew to the left of the screen. She seemed happy enough to say hello. Then again heading to the ring crew on the right of the screen she stops and I can’t get her back on recall so I use the ball.

Unfortunately, I won’t have the opportunity to NFC next weekend so my plan is just to walk her in and run her 2-4 obstacles directly to the finish and out to treats. At the next NFC run, I am thinking of walking her out to see one of the ring crew, then bringing her back to the startline and running her in a short sequence past that particular ring crew. If she freezes, I will go and just touch her side and tell her to “leave it” and finish a jump or two and leave the ring. I don’t want to keep using the ball to break her freeze because I fear that she will start to think of it as a reward for visiting or freezing.

Sorry, for such a long explanation…and we only did 2 runs LOL

Interested to hear your thoughts.

[Lynne Schroeder]

Good Morning,

In answer to your questions:

Journey doesn’t care about anything when she is outside of the ring and has never not wanted to go into the ring.

When we are walking and she wants to jump into my arms as far as I can tell it is in response to a sound, though I cannot always hear the sound. I say this because there are a few things that I have heard that silicate the response. One is a rooster crowing (though she doesn’t care about that anymore) and the other is an area on a trail that we frequent where the river is especially noisy (this has happened in the same spot on the trail the two times we have walked there). The other times I typically don’t know what causes it but now there are times when I can just give her the “go see the world” commmand and she doesn’t bother jumping in my arms.

I am a bit familiar with BAT and I would say I practice it often. My dogs are spoiled and get lots of hikes off leash/leash dropped throughout the week. That means I am spoiled too, right 🙂 So they are free to figure out the environment on their own. The actual trigger part is a bit of a puzzle for me. She is a bit wary of children, so I will go ahead and use BAT by a playground etc.. The other trigger is the puzzle. We can be walking on the trail and have another dog approach and she is completely fine and wants to interact however, during the same hike we can happen upon a different dog and she barks, lungs and snarls. I never know what actually triggers it unless the other dog starts lunging first. It also seems to happen more if I am walking both dogs or walking with a friend and their dogs. Also, she has no problem with all the dogs at class, agility trials, friends’ and familiy’s dogs.

[Lynne Schroeder]

I am spending a lot of time with you lately…I just sat down to watch some more of the seminar and your reply popped up lol

OK, so I really don’t know what I will have at the next trial when I ask the judge to stay in the ring. In the past, once she saw the judge it was game over so perhaps I will have the judge stand 5 feet inside the ring and plan for her to “pass” the judge from very far away on her way to the exit. I assume we still want her to see/acknowledge the judge. That way assuming all goes well, she will be rewarded quickly after seeing the judge.

Now, what if things don’t go well? What if she wants out as soon as she sees the judge? My plan is to see if she will give me a nose touch and then run out of the ring. Sound good?

On another note, when we go for a walk at times Journey seems to become stressed and wants to jump in my arms. I have been letting her do so, spin around in a 360 so that she can see everything in all directions, then place her on the ground and tell her to “go see the world”, which 98% of the time she does. The other 2% of time she needs another spin around before going off to explore. Just wanted to get your take on this. I was wondering if I might build it into our startline routine since she does seem to trust that all is well after her little survey 😉

[Lynne Schroeder]

Hi,

She really has a great understanding of her skills, so I don’t think it is a matter of full understanding. She goes faster on the contacts and in the weaves most likely because they are consistent. She works very fast in the basement, slower in the backyard and at practice. She is not an obstacle focused dog and is really working for the reward not the joy of the game (at least thats my take lol). If she knows there is a treat at the end, then I get speed. In fact, in the last 2 trials before the scare, I said “let’s go get your Kong to her while running and then I really got some speed. Hey, you gotta think out of the box right 😉

To that end I am working on training her to know that there will be a treat at the end of each run/sequence as opposed to a treat ball being thrown out at random times on the course. I think she is beginning to understand as she is slowing down when running away from the treat. Careful what you wish for 😉 😉

It took the entire spring and summer to work up to the distractions in the video that I posted. First one person in the ring, then the person moved a hand, a foot, waved their arms, took a step, ran with us, two people etc. etc.. I was fortunate enough to be able to do this in 4 different settings but honestly, she didn’t really have a problem with this. It is really just the trial setting.

Hmm, I need to think about the judge at 30ft. Something doesn’t feel right about praising her to run away from the judge. It seems as though I would be encouraging her to stress when she runs past the judge?? The work I have done so far was to get her to ignore the people in the ring.

Point taken about the pressure 🙂

[Lynne Schroeder]

Assignment #2

Hi Bobbi,

So I have sent you the video with the scare by the judge and our last trial where I asked the judge to move to the side. In between those trials there were many where we walked into the ring, she spotted the judge and we ran out (at first with a leash on then after doing a couple jumps etc.). She was happy to walk into the ring but would scan for the judge at first and shut down immediately when she saw the judge. So the timing has changed quite a bit over the months and the outward physical displays of stress would last from when the judge was spotted to when she left the ring. Right or wrong(???), I would always reward her upon exit as I felt she was making a massive effort just to walk into the ring.

So that is the acute story but perhaps there is more to this story (again, who knows). Journey always performed well at trials but at a slower pace than at home or at group practice. Could this have been stress related and that incident with the judge just threw her over the top? So perhaps the total run is somewhat of a stress event?? To that end, I have been working on her speed at home and working on distractions in class.

At her last run (repeat video) she is moving well, glances at the judge and the ring crew who are on the down side of the A-frame, slows down for a second then continues on, maybe even a bit faster to get away from them ;).

What do you see/think?

[Lynne Schroeder]

Hi Tracy,
How long will we have access to the course content? We never made it past the second installment due to the heat here in NJ. Hoping things cool down soon so that we can tryout the rest of the courses. #3 looks like a ton of fun 🙂

Lynne & Targhee

[Lynne Schroeder]

Do tell how you use food “in the ring”! I am asleep don’t think she would care to run back for a toy once she gets in the rain it’s all about moving forward. But for food she just might do it;)

[Lynne Schroeder]

First Course:
Opening looked good, weaves were very independent – a little hoppy in the middle maybe because she was all like “WHERE ARE YOU GOING MOM” haha! Not sure what they normally look like when you run with her but she was a good girl to stay in them! That set up a great line on the jumps before the teeter (easy peasy!) and the teeter was also beautifully independent, which made getting to the next line easy too!

*** The surface was a little tough for her and I think that contributed to the hoppy middle of weaves.

Ah yes, on that 12-13 line: don’t say “go” unless the dog is looking the correct direction at :35 🙂 I have learned that the hard way LOL!! Also I don’t think you need to step in as much there – you can just slide through a serp there and let your position and motion show her the line, rather than have to pull her in then do a big step out. That extra step in is what helped set up the accidental Go push.

*** Thanks, I can totally see what you are referring to. In my second attempt I was trying to control the turn heading into the fence but I can totally see what you mean and will give it another try 🙂

Her teeter looked AWESOME on the next rep! She had a bar down on the jump after it at :41 – you closed your shoulder and took off there, which is what likely contributed (not jumping high enough also contributed lol) so with such an independent teeter, you can keep your shoulder open and connection on her for longer to help support the bar there.

*** Awesome, independent teeter! From your lips to God’s ears 🙂

She wrapped at :46, I think you wanted the slice? The slice is the better line. It looked like you got the wrap by stepping in too much and making it looked like a RC there.

Did you want wrap at :51 on jump after frame? I *think* you wanted the wrap there too, but your feet said slice and your upper body supported the slice (facing the slice landing spot and leaning forward). If you want the wrap, be more rotated so your butt is facing the wing and your feet are almost facing back to the a-frame. However, it is possible the slice is faster there!

Because you were a little behind there, the tunnel to DW line after it needed more of a GO GO GO to get her to go straight to the DW and not curl in (you got quiet there). And I think she was supposed to stop on the DW? You might need to repeat the stop verbal as she is at the top of the down ramp – what are your verbals for the stop versus the run? You had great position there at :58!

Course 2:
On the wrap versus slice at 3, it looks like you were blocking the win on the slice so she got real mad at you 🙂 Let her see the whole wing, so position yourself where the wing meets the bar until she is passing you.
Also, I would bet you that slicing to her right on 3 is faster – it sets a better line, no really collection, and the yardage will be same or similar. I know that small dogs can sometimes be faster on the wrap than on the slice, but I don’t think this is one of those moments – the wrap here has a ton of collection and does not set all that good of a line to 4 or to the weaves. You were in a better position there at 1:26 so the wrap itself was prettier… but it still sets wider line 4-5 than the slice does. If you get to play with this course again, try it both ways and we will time it.

***. Jump 3 was up against the fence, there was no room for a slice, not for Targhee and certainly not for me LOLOLOL

I think the BC at 1:14 while she is in the poles is a perfectly fine handling choice! But it was a little too much for now – definitely worth training on though, but just starting it slowly and while moving along a parallel path. It will be a totally useful skill!
You had plenty of time to do it on the next rep, you were able to get so far up the line that you had to actually wait for her to finish weaving LOL! That made 6-7-8 really easy. She went wide over 8, looking at the a-frame: a stronger ‘brake’ arm can help (having your upper body a little more rotated and outside arm more obvious) or even do a spin there – she doesn’t need a lot of spins, but this might be a good place for it.
Teeter looked good!!! You can reset after the reward by sending across teeter again to then continue on for the rest of the sequence. Video ended there, boohoo, was there more? It is like a cliffhanger!!!

*** Oh, sorry about the cliff hanger. The rest was fine but I ended up training the stopped DW (I sing “spot, spot, spot” the entire way across the DW for the stopped. For the running I give her, her directional once she is on the up ramp.). I figured you wouldn’t want to watch that 😉

Great feedback! Looking forward to trying out your suggestions 🙂

[Lynne Schroeder]

Hi,

Thanks for the feedback!

I am trialing this Saturday in UKI.

Yes, my verbal is “get it” which I use to mean “get it” i.e. get the toy/treat on the floor. Should I be using a unique command for this exercise only?

She did really well with the treats and yes, she likes to tug on her leash (I do have another fluffy one), but as you can see she is more interested in food than a toy and will go off to hunt down the tiniest piece of food if she catches a whiff 😉

I don’t know if you remember but she becomes “frozen stiff” when we go to set up in the ring and I am not able to get her to engage in a simple trick or play. She acts like she is in a trance and inches forward until she can’t hold it any longer.

This exercise seemed to help her a lot. Shall I continue to do what I did today but put it in the context of a sequence in preparation for Saturday?

[Lynne Schroeder]

…and now for our much needed trial transition/start line training 😉

This was most of our first session. I cut out a few that were similar and my walking to pick up the leash.

[Lynne Schroeder]

Hi,
We worked the first and second course this morning. We are also revisiting the stop on the DW and Teeter as you will see and of course we are forever working the start line.

I gave her the “go” command on the first run which sent her down the opposite line.

I think she popped out of the weaves on the second course because I started my blind WAY to early 🙁

Looking forward to your analysis.

[Lynne Schroeder]

Can you refresh my memory on how we comment below an existing comment. Did we just cut and paste into a new comment box then go from there?

Anyway, as far as the visualization goes, when I was on the fencing team in college and working with a sports psychologist, they had us visualize a “perfect bout” prior to the actual bout. I guess that’s because fencing didn’t provide any walk-thrus lol 🙂 So I guess that’s why I try to visualize the course even before walking it so now I will just memorize the course prior to walking it and visualize it afterward 🙂

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