[Kathy]

Hi Tracy,
Thank you, that will be great to get some help with that. I am going to review Buccleigh’s videos with your comments and then we will practice the arm back eye contact connection.
I worked with Keltie today on sequence 4. Buccleigh did 1,2, and 3 so I think this is OK with the multi dog video rules. If not, let me know.
We did 4 runs. I think I am seeing a trend in that I often find myself moving faster than I think on the first run. In this case, I was beyond the jump we were supposed to wrap (9) before my brain said wrap. Keltie got her reward and I took a moment and walked the course again. So for the second run I focused on completing the entire course and remembering to decel and cue the wrap. Keltie has been very slow on most of her runs, but recently she has picked up her speed and she was really moving on the second run. I am not sure if that contributed to all of the bars. I tried to not get so far ahead on the third run. She didn’t drop bars but I think she might have been a bit slower. The fourth run was accurate and I think she was ready to move on to something different so we stopped there. Overall I was happy with the runs both with her speed and enthusiasm. I think that the turn from 4 to 5 was the hardest part of this sequence and I am wondering what I could do to handle it better (maybe handling contributed to the dropped bar). I feel like I should have been letting her know the turn was coming on the landing of 3 but I am not sure how to do that.

[Kathy]

Hi Tracy,
You are the second person to suggest the behind the back start, “I also teach a behind-the-back slingshot start”. Do you have any videos or suggestions on how to train this. I think it would be very helpful but I don’t know where to start with training it.
I haven’t ruled out a good startline sometime in the future, but right now it increases his stress level when I try it. I am trying to build happy fun experiences so alternatives to a startline stay would be really helpful.
Kathy

[Kathy]

Hi Tracy,
Here are some videos of the first ESC’s I did two runs of the first 2 exercises and they seemed to go pretty well so I moved onto the third. On the first exercise first run, he looked at me when he left the tunnel and started to curve into me a little. So on the next run I tried to say go jump before he entered the tunnel and he didn’t look at me. For exercise 2, first run, I was really focused on getting him to turn out of the tunnel which it did but i was so surprised I forgot where I was going. I took a little break before the next run and walked the course again focusing on the line I wanted to run. The next run was good. Then we moved to the third exercise. On the first run, I felt like I lost the connection to the dog after the tunnel and maybe that’s why the bar came down. I walked the course again to clarify where I wanted to run so I wouldn’t have to turn my head to look. It seemed to help. He dropped bars on the next run but the last run was really good. I am a little uncomfortable giving the verbal cue to turn before he enters the tunnel. I am worried it will make him turn before he enters, so I think I could be a little late. What do you think?
In the instructions, you said we didn’t need to do all of the repetitions if it was going well, but please let me know if I moved too quickly. It was a fun exercise and Buccleigh was really having a good time.

[Kathy]

For the exercise you posted this week you say to play with your dog. Food or toys, their choice. Buccleigh prefers food. But, how do you play with food? Do you mean doing tricks or things that that you would reward with food? Is the idea to do something with them that gets them excited and then help them to learn to relax? It seems like playing with toys might work better for this if I can get him to engage.

[Kathy]

Hi Bobbie,
Our latest adventure was kind of discouraging. We went to a trial in the same location where we were 2 weeks ago. We had some success then, but not this time.
We did 3 runs. FAST (8:17 AM) and he stopped. Standard at (9:30 AM). This one I decided to just run a couple of obstacles and then get out of the ring to reward quickly. He was eager to go and left a little early which caused a bit of a misunderstanding between us but we were able to reach an agreement and continue.
Jumpers at 3:00 PM. I had another quick course planned but it didn’t work.

I don’t know what is going on but I am thinking that we aren’t ready for this venue.
Here are some things I noted to think about.
1. This trial was much bigger than the one 2 weeks ago. There were at least twice as many people and dogs and it was very busy.
2. I mostly crated in the car except for around the time of the runs when I brought both dogs into the crating area. Buccleigh ran first so he didn’t spend much time at all in the crate before the run. Both dogs seemed to be relaxed in their crates.
3. I did a warm up on the jump before each run and then we did shadow walking, some tricks and pattern games while we waited. I alternated between working the games outside and in the waiting room. Before runs 2 and 3, I brought him down to the arena floor and let him watch and hang out while I fed him treats for a little while. He interacted well with me. He was focussed and eating treats.
4. Before the first run, we entered the ring and then they discovered that they hadn’t changed the table height or the A-frame and then they had a long pause while they figured everything out. Buccleigh was clearly getting nervous as we waited. I tried doing touches which he could do but he was looking at the people in the ring nervously and did a couple of quick alarmed looks over his shoulder.
5. There was another shorter equipment delay before run 3 and I took him out of the ring for a minute and then back in again. Also I was doing a pattern game and tossed a treat while we were waiting outside the ring entrance. The treat bounced toward a crate that had a dog in it (I didn’t realize this). When Buccleigh chased the treat the dog reacted (unfortunate but not unexpected). He didn’t seem upset at the time.

Finally, I wanted to let you know that my other dog who also is concerned was more concerned this week than she has been at other venues recently. This is making me think that maybe this was a little more than we were ready for.
I am beginning to think that I should stop trialing here for a while. There won’t be any of the smaller trials here until next fall. There are some run thrus in July and August, I could sign up for.
Here are the videos:

[Kathy]

I think our posts might have crossed. Here is the video where he stopped.

[Kathy]

Hi Bobbie,
It is difficult to crate outside. The center is in a shopping mall and it doesn’t feel safe to leave the car windows open more than a couple of inches. The door to the facility opens directly on the parking lot which has cars driving by continuously so the door is locked during class to make sure no dog accidentally escapes.There is a back door to a loading dock which I have used a few times just to get out and further away but the same problem of security exists. and there isn’t really a place to park back there.
I agree with the 2-3 run limit on trialing. I have noticed that Buccleigh is a lot more relaxed both in class and at trial after his first run. So the ideal situation for us is a T2B or FAST class first to expend some energy and then we can try for the standard and jumpers.
I need a little help with the “don’t fix it” rule. You can see on the last video that if he gets ahead and doesn’t know where to go he will look at me and he gets confused especially if I am not in a position to give a clear cue. Then he starts the spinning and barking. I have tried to go on but it gets really messy as he will follow but bark and circle so I can’t give him any clear direction. I think pausing for a moment so he can collect himself is a better idea. It is hard to wait him out but in the last video, but it really didn’t take too long and then we were able to continue. I don’t know if he thinks this is a correction. To me it feels more like I am letting him say what he needs to say and then when he is ready we can move on, but maybe I am endowing him with too much of a “human mind”. I know from experience that when he is in a barking frenzy he can’t think straight.
Here is the video from the last run of the first day of the trial when he stopped. You mentioned in the chat last night that you would like to see this.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 1 month ago by Kathy.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 1 month ago by Kathy.

[Kathy]

Hi Bobbie,
Here is a video in the back room of class last week with a snuffle mat. I set up the camera so I could see what happened when I was not in the room. This is a very distracting environment for him. Usually I need to be with him, playing focus games to keep him quiet.

We had a trial this weekend. It was a CPE trial and we were scheduled for five runs for two days. On the first day, he did pretty well but stopped on run four. So I scratched run five. On day two, I decided to do only 4 runs. I scratched one and chose to run the first, second, third and fifth classes. I also put him in his crate in the car between runs. On the first day I had him in an ex pen with my other dog and they were having a wonderful time partying (definitely not resting). I also noticed that I was really tired by the end of day 1 and not excited at all to be running. On Day 2 I ate more ( I frequently forget to eat at trials) and was careful to be very upbeat and enthusiastic. Day 2 there was no stopping. He was frustrated and barking at me on both days but always when I was behind and not giving him clear directions. I didn’t correct anything when we ran. Sometimes I needed to do a reset to get us going in the right direction. You can see this in this video. I stopped at about 15 sec when he was barking and not thinking but I waited about 5 sec and then we connected and went on. He doesn’t stop barking but we definitely made eye contact and it was like he was saying ok we can go now.

This was the last run of the trial and he was a little more aroused than I would have liked. We were doing the shadowing walking but we were close to a couple of dogs that he was worried about. They gave us as much space as they could but I know he was thinking about them when we entered the ring. The pattern game where I toss food on the ground would have been better but not possible in this ring since I didn’t want him to eat the waxed and oiled felt and dirt we were running on. I think I learned that it is very important for me to be confident and enthusiastic. I am working on improving my handling and I think it is good proctice to reward him for what ever he does even when it isn’t what I intended.
Most of our runs were fun and exciting even if they weren’t perfect so I am feeling positive. He was always eager to enter the building and the ring and I had to bribe him with good cookies to get hem to leave the building after the runs.

[Kathy]

here is a video from class today. This is a private lesson so it is quiet with few distractions. We did a couple of really short sequences with a reward at the end. The instructor (Kim) and I are not sure why he wanted to go behind me out of the tunnel. At first we thought that I lost contact but when I corrected it he still wanted to go behind me. Do you think the cookies on the chair were too hard to ignore or can you see something else?
The last ru was a longer sequence but I couldn’t get it all in the camera frame. There is a set of 12 weave polestar the right just out of the frame. He popped out of the last two poles when we went from the double into the poles and then there was a send to a jump and then a front cross back into the poles. You see me standing there because I was waiting for him. He cam out of the poles early and knew that just wasn’t’t right so he went back in and did a few more before he realized I was waiting for him to do the tunnel. It was interesting that he didn’t go behind me when he came out of the tunnel on this run.

I have class tomorrow night with five other dogs in the class so I will get a video there too.

Here is a snuffle mat video. We have used this a lot in the crate. When he is really aroused it keeps him busy but only if he doesn’t have to work too hard to find the treats. I had given this to him earlier in the evening when we came in from a walk on the beach. It was a very exciting walk with lots of wind, blowing seaweed and big waves which he loves to jump in so when we got home he was really high. He ate the obvious food and then moved on. Then about and hour later when he was calmer he came over again and I took this video. I think it is interesting what he does at about 52 sec. into the video.

[Kathy]

Hi Bobbie,
We have been following the “no mistake” plan in one of my classes and I will ask to do it in the other class, too. I have also been doing it at home.

AT AKC trials the most we ever do is 3 runs a day. We are signed up for 5 runs this weekend at a CPE trial. Most of the runs are games so the courses are usually really short. I am viewing it as an opportunity to get in the ring and do a few things and then out for the reward. It’s like a desensitization exercise for me. I want to enter happy and excited, do something fun and quick then leave and have a party. That being said I will carefully watch Buccleigh and if he seems tired or too excited we will cut the day short. I am not going for Qs. I just want him to be happy and enthusiastic. This is helping me to be less nervous, too which I think is helping the dogs.

I have been using the reinforcement strategy in class and also when we practice at home. I do have treats on my person discreetly hidden just in case Buccleigh loses it and I need to throw a cookie scatter to get him back. So far, I haven’t needed to do that very much. I also tried to use a similar reinforcement strategy at the trial. I had the treats just outside the door where we exited and I showed him where they were before we went in the ring. Then we had a party as soon as we left the ring. In the one training run we did, I didn’t try to go back into the ring since going out meant going outside and I would have had to get the leash on and off and I didn’t want to risk a loose dog outside.
One comment, neither class has a ring entry or exit so I have just been putting the reward on a chair and calling that the entrance. He knows that is where the cookies are and that’s where we go for the reward. At home I move it around the field from time to time so he doesn’t get used to just one spot. He has no trouble figuring out where the cookies are!

I am going to video snuffle mats tomorrow. I have used one before but he doesn’t seem to work too hard to get the food. I am going to try some higher value treats and video to get some input from you.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 1 month ago by Kathy.

[Kathy]

Hi Bobbie,
We went to a trial yesterday at the same venue that I showed in our first videos. We haven’t been to a trial since then but we have done two run thrus and I rented the ring twice. In addition we have been to some fun runs at another venue. We have been practicing the focus exercises at all of them. This was a USDAA trial and a bit smaller and quieter than the AKC trials we have attended here in the past. Since this was our first USDAA trial we started a the first level so the courses were not too complicated. I think it went well. He stayed in the crating area with breaks to potty and walk all day (7:30 AM- 5 PM). He was able to settle and sleep between runs. We Had 5 runs. The first was early in the morning and it was a MISC run so I just let him run the obstacles in a big circle and he was happy and able to do everything. I have videos of the first official run (Gambler). I forgot to turn on the video for run 2 (Standard), then we did Snooker and ended with Jumpers. We did well in Gambler. No hesitation on his part. I was really happy with the standard run. He got on the table and the seesaw with no problem. Once again, no slowing down or hesitation that I can remember. He came out of the weaves two poles early -not sure why, but I ignored it and we went on. The next run was snooker and you can see on the video he stops at the second jump. I gave him a verbal tunnel cue for the next obstacle and then he went and picked up speed. Unfortunately the judge made a mistake and called the run, but then he realized his error and told us to go on. At that point Buccleigh let me know that this was just not right! The good part was I did get him to settle enough to go again. Unfortunately I couldn’t get back on track with the handling so we dropped a bar but we were able to make a good exit and we left happy. On the last run I tried to get him more into the game before we entered the ring. So I did a lot of warm up jumps with lots of food rewards. I let him watch some dogs and mixed that up with tossing food in a pattern game as well as fast shadow walking while we waited. He entered the ring and was barking but it wasn’t uncontrolled barking and he stopped when we started to line up. I wasn’t sure he would go but he did! And I was working hard to keep up. I had some handling errors but he was as attentive as he could be and he seemed to be happy. So I think that a lot of good things happened. I feel like I am starting to get a better handle on when he needs calming and when he needs a little excitement boost.
Up until today the reward in this venue was always in the lower left corner of the ring and Buccleigh was always faster moving towards that corner. This time we exited through a door in the upper left. He adjusted to this pretty easily. I was expecting it to be really difficult to get the weave entry when we had to turn away from the usual “reward corner” But he was fine.

[Kathy]

Hi Bobbie,
Here is a video of our third session. He seems somewhat relaxed but he does stand up a couple of times in the 10 minute session and then he immediately goes down again. I am wondering if he might be thinking about trying to get a little closer to the food. He is definitely focused on the food. Should I be trying to decrease the rate at which I am feeding? The food breaks into tiny crumbs which is why is doing a lot of licking.

Kathy

[Kathy]

We practiced at home today and started with the shadow handling and ended with it. I also used in briefly as we transitioned between exercises. He can get pretty excited during a short sequence and this seemed to center him a little so we could continue.

I will do that with my instructor. I wasn’t aware of my lack of clarity so this was a real “AHA” revelation. I can see if I am not clear how frustrating that can be for Buccleigh.

We did the relaxation exercise last night for 10 minutes. I had both dogs on their blankets one on each side of me and lots of crumbly treats. I watched TV and they watched the treats. I think it went pretty well. I didn’t video but I will tonight since I need to have a way to monitor their ears, etc. Do you want us to share the video? If yes do we send you the entire 10 minutes or can you suggest what you would like to see if we edit, please. This was an enjoyable exercise!

[Kathy]

Hi Bobbie
Good question about the A-frame. In thinking about it, I realized that I wasn’t clear myself. I think I was thinking that I was calling him off the discrimination so when he took the A-frame the first time, I thought that was OK. But I guess the instructor wanted me to call him to me and reward so that’s what I did the second time but at that point he was clearly going to the A-frame and had his feet on the bottom of it before he turned and came to me.

On a very positive note, we attended a fun run today at a venue in Maine where we will be trialing in 2 weeks. I practiced the shadowing being careful to reward every couple of steps. He did well and we walked around the waiting area like this while we waited for our turn. We had a great run. It was a simple course so there was only one side change after a tunnel which meant that I couldn’t make too many mistakes. He was fast and confident for the 60 sec. we were in the ring. I repeated the process for our second run. He was confident and fast again. I tried some variations that weren’t perfect which he let me know about by barking but he didn’t shut down and we left the ring happy. I like the shadowing. It requires focus but it’s more relaxing for both of us to keep moving. I don’t know if that is the intention but it felt pretty good today. Here is a short clip of the first run.

I can’t wait to try the relaxation conditioning exercise. I am expecting it to take a while to learn since it’s hard to imagine either of my Shelties falling asleep if there is any food involved. 🙂

[Kathy]

Buccleigh likes food. That’s our primary reward. He can get super excited about some treats (meat). I use that for end of runs or for really hard stuff. I often use kibble when I need him to think since he is a little less focused on getting the food and more on the task. It’s a judgement so I always have both on hand. He will tug but only in very relaxed environments.He will rarely do it anywhere close to agility. It almost seems to make him frustrated and angry if I bring it out. He will chase a ball but not for very long unless I reward it with food.

We practiced shadow walking today. I have a video and would like to make sure that we are doing this correctly. I did it both on leash and off leash. He seemed to have good focus and it seems like this would be something that we could use in the ring when we don’t have a leash. I think the squeeze bottle you suggested would be good for this.

You said I should practice making errors. I have a video from class on Wednesday that really mimics what I have been seeing in trials. The mistake I made here wasn’t planned but it did turn out to be illustrative. This class is pretty loud and distracting. I crate Buccleigh in the back room but the wall doesn’t go all the way to the ceiling so it is not very quiet. There was a new dog in class who entered the back room on a leash and with his owner but very quickly. I had my back to the door and didn’t see him enter. Buccleigh was in his crate with the door open and I was feeding him treats to try to get him to calm down. The dog surprised Buccleigh and I think scared him so for the rest of the evening, Buccleigh was reacting to this dog when he could see him. During the run all the dogs are crated but they are in the room where we run. So Buccleigh was a little higher on the arousal scale-maybe similar to a trial. I miscued the A-frame so he went in the tunnel. It took a couple of attempts for me to get the handling right and Buccleigh by this point figured he knew that the tunnel was the right way to go. The instructor wanted me to call him as I cued it. I did and he took the A-frame. But the instructor didn’t want me to reward that because he should have come to me since I called him. So we did it again and I literally called him off the A-frame. That’s when he shut down and you see him wandering around. I tried the pattern games and with some encouragement he continued but not enthusiastically. He left the course to go to the treats. That’s when I switched to the high value treats and rewarded a lot when he was on the table (this is off the screen on the video). Then he finished with more enthusiasm. In retrospect, I think it would have been better to use something to block the tunnel so Buccleigh could only make the correct choice while I worked out the handling. I think he would have not been so distressed. He looked really confused when I called him off the A-frame. I think it was good that he was able to run again at the end.
Here’s the video. I edited it a bit to try to keep it short.

[Author]

Posts