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Thanks for the feedback!
We worked on two new things this weekend (actually 3 but one has nothing to do with this class).
Serpentine Concept Transfer
OMG, despite me practicing this without the dog – seriously I did – I really botched my first few reps. LOL! Oh well he got cookies anyway. I kind of got my act together at least a few times, but he just moves so much faster than I’m used to with my other dogs and I’m not adapting fast enough! Good problem to have but makes for messier sessions. I will try again soon.
Remote Reinforcement
I ended up moving more than I intended on this one, but his motion for some reason was making me feel compelled to. I’m not sure this was very good in that case. Happy to get feedback!
We also played both days out in the big agility field, which is finally functioning this season after some fence-mending. With Ronin out for injury it wasn’t a priority, but now I want to take Reacher out there. He has never seen that field and I figured we better just get acclimated with some treats and toy play in that large, enticing, smelly, totally new to him space before I ask him to do any work. I think I did have him go around 1 jump wing a couple of times, otherwise it was just play with toy throws and then letting him go sniff around, then re-engaging for play/treats, then more sniffing if he wanted, etc. I thought he might be a bit overwhelmed by all the new free space, but he was more focused on what I had going for us than I thought he would. Should be able to get out there for some agility practice soon!
~Kristin
Hello! I really appreciate all your detailed feedback! I went back and re-watched all the videos with your comments in mind and it was SO helpful. Thank you!
>>if he has a question and staying engaged like that causes the toy to go away, he could get frustrated and/or lose interest in the toy. So if he ends up at you or at the toy (or at the cookies), reward him and then increase the connection on the next rep.
I’m so glad you explained this because I really thought the issue was because the toy was visible vs. a connection problem but you were so right (of course!) when I looked at it again and I absolutely don’t want to do anything to get him discouraged. Whenever imperfect things happen, I will reward. That’s so much more fun anyway.>>We definitely don’t want to curb his enthusiasm (which is also one of the funniest and most offensive shows I have ever watched LOL!!) 2 suggestions:
I will DEFINITELY check out that show! I love a funny and offensive show. Letter Kenny is one that also comes to mind, but may only be funny if you grew up in Canada or very close to the border like I did. LOL!
Great advice on the jumping up. I think this one will be hard to stop and I’m hoping will diminish with maturity, although it might not! But I’ll try to be prepared with things and if all else fails will just ignore as you said. Rewarding when NOT jumping also makes a lot of sense and I will do that.Here is our Get Out session. What’s super embarrassing on this one is that I didn’t say “Get It!” to get the treat even once! What is wrong with me!? I guess I needed a moment and to complete the stress cycle but I didn’t. LOL!! In this session I debated having him do a sit/stay vs. the treat toss so just kind of experimented with both a bit. Not clear if one way was better or not this time around, but I’m sure with more motion it will need to be cookie toss in the future anyway.
Let me know what you think!
KristinHello!
We did a lot this weekend! Reacher is definitely getting a training break tomorrow.
We worked on the Parallel Path outside yesterday with a Lotus ball and I tried to go faster and throw sooner. I can still get a lot better at the timing of my throws!
We also did Baby Level Rocking Horse before it got too hot and had to take it inside.
I totally forgot to add my verbals.
And then later today we advanced the Rocking Horse. Again, I forgot my verbals… DOH!
Running contacts… I added a slightly raised platform and started standing up, but I think based on this session I made it too hard too fast. After a few failures we quit here and I regrouped.
Determined on the running contacts that in addition to making it too hard too fast, I skipped a step I usually do with training running contacts. I want that touch on the board to be very intentional, more like a slight pounce at this stage. So I went back to what I usually do and will take it forward again soon.
We also did a Resilience Walk at Cabela’s. He was SO good! He was very unruffled with everything and liked to just stop and look at a lot of things, in between the confidently walking through the place. I basically let him drive unless he was intending to go visit people. 🙂 But he ignored most people and I don’t think he barked even once. We even took the elevator which he thought was no big deal. So far he is the least environmentally-sensitive terrier I’ve had. I hope it stays that way!
One other thing I wanted to ask you about… Reacher gets SO excited about the food and toys and playing that he tends to really do a lot of vertical jumping. Not very well planned jumped either. I am worried about him getting hurt doing this but I’m not sure how to stop it without curbing his enthusiasm. Thoughts?
As always, thanks in advance for your feedback!
KristinI will definitely try elevating the mat for our next round. I LOVE that idea so much! Currently looking for something with just the right elevation…
Meanwhile, we did some Parallel Path and Rotated Sends. He was anxious to start without me both times. Ha!
Hope to get back to the running contact work this weekend; I know how long those take and I think Reacher may not be as thoughtful as my past dogs about that task once speed really picks up. But it is still so much fun!
Kristin
And in the category of “what is the laziest thing this exhausted human can do that requires almost no energy but is still considered dog training” I offer my running contact training session.
I actually really LOVE running contract training! It’s so much fun. I had done a session with Reacher and the mat before a long time ago before this class, and I had done a refresher with me super close up last week once without video, so we’ve progressed in two sessions to this one.
Unlike some running contact trainers I do not require a split rear foot as the ultimate goal. For my dogs that I’ve tried that with it was always less clear to them IMO than just front feet on. Maybe it’s not as fast but I think I get more reliability and that’s my goal vs. speed. 🙂 Anyway, just explaining my criteria not that we require that at this stage anyway, but if we progress then you know what I’m going for.
This session I was late on a few clicks and I normally don’t reward for backing up to hit the target but at this stage I figured I’d reward that thoughtfulness and effort. 🙂
Let me know your thoughts.
Kristin
Thanks Tracy! Roger that on the tunnel threadles. Will start on easy angle first and add in the verbal.
Great feedback on the Handling Combo session.😂 Made some adjustments and tried again. I also learned that setting your timer on the phone causes your video to stop! So my last rep was cut off a teensy bit early but I promise it was the last because I heard the timer (and it ended well). I tried clicking the MM earlier in general but maybe was still a little late on a few reps.
Any additional adjustments?
~Kristin
Hi!
>>Your tunnel bags are cracking me up! But they totally work!
LOL! Yes, those blankets are really heavy and beats having extra sets of tunnel bags for inside. It’s kind of funny!We started the threadle side entries, only doing one side this session to not get him confused again.
This Combo session with the 360… I’m not proud of it. Started out okay, but it was much too long a session and also I didn’t like the lack of engagement with the reward due to using the Treat & Train, but it did give me more of a chance to think about what I was doing on the next rep. Despite that “thinking time” by the end I could not run in a proper straight line and confused the heck out of him as far as what side I wanted him to be on. In fact I wasn’t really sure either, if I was doing a blind cross or not. Anyway, I was reminded about planning, and setting session timers from this one. You are probably sitting there thinking, “WHY, OH WHY do I tell people these things because they never listen to me!”😂
Let me know your thoughts.
Kristin
Yes, I felt the same about his confusion on that last session, which then made ME unsure if I was supposed to have him take it from hand or throw. My mind was suddenly empty about that part. LOL! So I just finally picked throw, but neither of us were sure what to do with the reward!
We have lately worked on the stays and tunnel.
Stay:
Tunnel – note that I have had him through a tunnel a few times before, so we didn’t need to start at Baby level:
Both videos are uncut. I thought he did pretty well. A few questions here and there and of course always room for improvement. He certainly is an enthusiastic little pupper.
Let me know what you think!
KristinThank you Tracy!
We worked on a short session of Strike a Pose this morning. I thought it was okay but let me know what you think of my positioning for him. I was trying to be low to keep it easy.
~Kristin
Ha, yes, Rich is a very intuitive trainer and I love it when he’s around to help! Good point about the connection being the more critical factor in a good decel than which hand I was using – I definitely could see how actually the jumping past was more about slightly late decel + plus toy too high and obvious.
Today we worked a bit on the turn and burn and go. I did forget to add the verbals but will get them started next time. I think I need a bigger, more obvious toy for grass that long! 🙂 And it seemed like when I was holding his collar with my right hand he was a bit more annoyed with it, but we got through it. Also, I wasn’t sure if I should be stepping forward with my leg as I’m letting go to help indicate or to start with it forward and just let go.
Not sure how I got the formatting a bit messed up so it’s standard width but wasn’t going to redo it; should still be visible. These were all the reps but I cut out a bit of tugging to save time.
This pup is so much fun!
KristinThis is SUCH good feedback, Tracy, thank you! That’s why you’re the best at what you do!
Tried the cross, decel, go with a helper this time. Although, DOH! I wish I had thought of the Manners Minder before that last session. I’m definitely going to do that next time if I don’t have Rich to hold.
I think this went better but still mistakes on my part needing smoothing out. I used the wrong hand on the decel a few times and in that case he would often lunge at the toy on the turn. But maybe slightly smoother than the last time I hope!These are all the reps but I cut out some of the tug time to make it shorter:
Thank you!
KristinGreat feedback, thanks! I worked on the countermotion again, as well as the wraps utilizing your tweaks and it went well. So well that I didn’t think it worth posting the video – assuming I did take some. I may have missed a few!
But what did not go well was the cross, decel, turn combo. You said you wanted to see the crappy sessions – LOL!!! I have a good example of crappy for you! Ha! Few things wrong with this, just to name a couple:
1) Treat + toy in same rep no worky – doesn’t care about the toy in that case so will try something different next time
2) My decel was too abrupt
3) Crosses still late!
… and probably a bunch of other things.Decel:
Decel and Go:
Rear Cross practice went a bit better. He is so VERY strongly RIGHT-pawed that I’m quite surprised at how well he did turning to the left in this session. I had practiced this before (video didn’t work) and he almost always turned to the right no matter what, same setup as this time. Maybe latent learning had an effect!
Give me the good, bad and ugly commentary! 🙂
~Kristin
Ronin update: The ultrasound did indeed provide definitive answers, so that’s good. They did look at both sides and also double-checked patellas. It was fascinating to see the difference in the good muscle on the right compared to the one on the left. So the official diagnosis is that he has a grade 3 out of 4 strain of the left medial head of the gastrocnemius, meaning there was a partial tear and some inflammation and scarring in the muscle.
I had to re-look up that muscle in my canine anatomy book to see exactly where it was – not very commonly mentioned.
I’m sad that we won’t be able to join the young dogs seminar with you in June!
>>do you have a big hollee roller toy?
I DO! He doesn’t seem to be a huge fan of it so far, but maybe I will try stuffing something inside to see if that improves it’s desirability.We did practice some more games!
Plankrobatics:
Need to get my longer plank out, but this worked for now!
Parallel Path:
After watching the video I see on this one that I ended up being a bit farther away laterally than I thought I was and thus it was harder than I intended, but he did okay with it anyway it seems.
Countermotion:
Again, after watching the video I feel like my positioning was off and I should have left a clearer path for him to get to the prop. Where I was standing on both sides he kind of had to curl around me to get to it.
Wing Wrap Right:
Reacher is a righty and so I started with his easier side first on this one. I thought he did pretty well, but let me know what tweaks I need! And sorry about the unhappy screaming Ronin in the background because he’s once again left out. 🙁
Wing Wrap Left:
Also went well considering this is his harder side. Tweaks?
Send me your thoughts!
Oh Tracy, I really appreciate your notes about what to have the doc check on Ronin. I’ve certainly had dog health issues before, but other that a slight sprained carpus this is my first experience with an orthopedic problem. New territory for me for sure! I will have them double-check the stifle/patellas while he’s sedated for the ultrasound tomorrow when he will be too groggy to protect it. 🙂 THANK YOU for sharing your experience.
Back to Reacher, but kind of related to Ronin, you might want to turn the sound down for part of Reacher’s training video below because there is a VERY ANGRY Ronin barking in the background because he was left out of the game and Rich let him out into the screen porch. Sorry about that!
The entire session was almost 3 minutes, but I cut a bunch of the playing/tugging to get it down to around 2 min for you. I present Toy Races:
He was even trying so hard to get it one time that he totally flipped over trying to stop. OMG speaking of not wanting orthopedic issues Reacher…Let me know what you think,
KristinThank you Tracy! Yes, Reacher is quite a character. The first time I had him on that mini teeter maybe back in late March or early April he was just a maniac on the thing. I was glad he actually controlled himself a bit more this time when he tried it. I will definitely do the cookie tosses forward to keep him from stopping next time – great feedback!
Roger that on the wraps too. Will stay closer for now doing the left turns.
The blinds were fun. I did rewatch the video to see what you mean about his running and sounds. LOL!! I tell ya, this one is different from all my other pups. He’s going to keep me more on my toes I think. Can’t wait to see what his future brings. Anyway, I think I can get in two blinds, and will start the first earlier. We should be able to move into the big agility space outside now too – just a bit of fence to fix and we’ll be in business!
Yes, Ronin is injured and it’s something that’s bugged me since about last August but then I wasn’t sure I was seeing it, then it got worse, then better, I tested for Lymes and other tick-borne after that based on what he was doing (I’d have bet $500 on a tick problem, but nope), and then pelvis radiographs and stifle and front assembly and vet was stumped and then it was better again. But it kind of kept coming back and I wasn’t sure which specialist to see since I’ve never needed to before, but he was just doing something too odd / wrong for such a young dog intermittently that I finally couldn’t ignore it anymore and gained confidence on what to do based on the Canine Sports Medicine class I’m taking. Anyway, preliminary diagnosis received last week from an orthopedic surgeon is “muscle injury to his proximal gastrocnemius muscle, where it originates from behind the knee”. Will confirm with ultrasound this week and see about treatment and how long we might be out. So… 🙁 But I’m very relieved to have an answer for something that’s been nagging at me (and him) for so many months. Poor guy!
Anyway, so, that leaves more time for Reacher training. We worked on backing up today. I had started to teach this before class, but didn’t get super far. My reward markers were messed up on this one, and I realized that he can’t yet do it with a verbal only, but it’s a start!
~Kristin
