[Kristie Foss]

Hi, Bobbie,
I wasn’t sure, so put the mat on the platform just in case. She goes to both with no problem (including the platform without the mat. 😉
Keiko has been doing the settle-on-the-mat work since puppy classes, and does it at home, in classes, wherever she sees her mat plopped down. Sometimes she’ll even got to a platform in class or in a friend’s yard. She’s got a real positive association going. 🙂
I’m posting here a shadow handling video with clips in a few different places. The first clip is from Mary’s class and you can see the dog working on weaves on the other side of the fence. The next clip is in our leaf strewn agility area and the clip after that is in the same location without leash. The last clip is from her class in MA and we did the shadow handling while others were coming in and getting set up. She is obviously most focused at home but does pretty well in other locations, too. We practice this behavior when we visit places like PetCo and Tractor Supply, and this was a huge part of the 4 Out and About classes we’ve done. The classes were each 6 weeks long and we visited a different location each week so she had lots of focused treat walking in different places, with different dogs and people. Unfortunately, no human contact due to Covid restrictions.
Here’s the video. ~Kristie

[Kristie Foss]

HI, Tracy,

Here’s our Reinforcement and “things to be aware of” lists. :). Thanks for this exercise. It’s a good one and helps us be more aware of our pups’ preferences – which can be very different from our own. ~Kristie

Reinforcement Hierarchies

Food Reinforcement

1. Something new and smelly or from someone else
2. Meat (ham, hotdogs, meatball,etc.z0
3. Cheese
4. Freeze dried meat treats
5. Kibble

Environmental aspects that could affect reinforcement value:

•Presence of something of higher value, such a favorite toy, or a special person
•Being in a new situation or place, or near new/other dogs
•Seeing her “sisters” getting something different
•Soft treat falling in dirt or sand so it picks up debris
•Handler (my) nervousness in a situation, such as before a run at a trial
•Weather (storm, high wind, etc)
•Strange noises
•Critters, farm animals, other distractions

Toy Reinforcement

1. Squeaky tennis ball
2. Discs or similar objects that can be thrown far (squirrel)
3. Flirt Stick
4. Toys with squeakers, dangling parts, able to be tugged
5. Hard toys that are good for chewing

Environmental aspects that could affect reinforcement value:

•Presence of something of higher value, such as food or a special person
•Being in a new situation or place, or near new/other dogs
•Seeing her “sisters” playing with each other or a different toy
•Handler (my) emotions or attitude can affect how much fun a particular toy may be
•Weather (storm, high wind, etc)
•Loud noises
•Critters, farm animals, other distractions

Activity Reinforcement

1. Chasing a human-thrown toy – disc, ball, etc
2. Playing with another dog
3. Playing other things with a human (tug, agility)
4. Walk in the woods
5. Snuggles and belly rubs

Environmental aspects that could affect reinforcement value:

• BIG distraction, like a delivery truck coming up the driveway next to the play/agility area
•Resource that needs guarding (food or person)
Hard to think of too many things that would make her turn down any activity. She loves to be doing,, doing, doing. She has a good off switch, but tries hard to use it as a last resort. 😉

[Kristie Foss]

Hi, Bobbie,
Here’s a video of Keiko’s Go to Mat work. She cracked me up when I tried to pick up the mat and put it on the elevated platform, and she kept standing on the mat. As you can see, she’s quite happy with her mat, and will go to it from a good distance. Is there anything else you’d like me to do with it at this point? Thanks, ~Kristie

[Kristie Foss]

Hi, Bobbie,

I plan on taking her to her crate in the car during some of the time when other dogs are running. She is fine in her crate in the car, but seems to get anxious if she is left alone there for too long. That’s why I plan on doing our “car/crate rest” sessions together. I may try short periods with her in the crate alone – I’ll see how she’s doing. I want this first seminar to be as positive an experience for her as possible.
The presenter is Amanda Shyne. I’ve known Amanda for several years, and have taken many of her online courses. She has seen Keiko in video in her classes we’ve taken over the past 1.5 years, but has not met her in person. I know Amanda will help us modify things if necessary to keep it positive and upbeat for Keiko. The workshop is on Obstacle Commitment, which we did online not too long ago, so I expect some of the exercises to be somewhat familiar – at least to me. :).
I’m hoping I can get one or two of the participants to do some taping of us.
I’ll be posting that after the weekend.
~Kristie

[Kristie Foss]

HI, Bobbie,

Thanks for the thoughts on the Snuffle Mat. We’ll use it everywhere, since it really seems to help make her happy and more relaxed.

Yes, I was so pleased with how this session went. We had class in the same location a couple of days later. Class had a couple more dogs and people, so I pre-placed food rewards at the spots where she had to land into the audience. The first time she came to that spot, she was a bit cautious – jumped, went to the treat, but was looking at the people and dogs while eating. After that, she actually ran to that spot looking to see if there might be more treats an ignoring the others. So nice! :). She was leery about entering a tunnel that ran parallel and about 6 feet from the watchers. Placing a treat dish at the end of the tunnel had her running through it well. We finished class with a rousing set of jumps and tunnels that didn’t require her to head directly into the group. She was moving fast and happy and trotted to her crate with head high, mouth open eyes sparkling. Those who hadn’t been there on Saturday remarked at how well she was doing.

We have lots more work to do, and I’m pleased at how this is moving along. We have our first big seminar this coming Sunday. There will be 8 or 9 other dogs and their people, some of whom Keiko knows, and others she doesn’t. It will be held in the same indoor area as her class, so that will be familiar. I have a question: As you know, the room is somewhat small and crowded with equipment, crates, etc, so there has not been any fencing between the set up and the watchers. They do have expandable white gating that I could put up in front of or around Keiko’s crate area, or we can just try to be as far away from the set up and others as possible and then add the gating if it seems it would be helpful. I don’t think we need to cover things up so she can’t watch since she seems to like watching the other dogs when they run. I do want to avoid having dogs run up to her crate.
So – suggestions? Ideas? Thanks, Bobbie. This class is really helping us move forward.
~Kristie

[Kristie Foss]

Hi, Tracy,
Thanks for the note above. I worked on the initial Reward worksheet (which I assume is for our own info and you don’t really want to see it) and have started reading the procedures for the various rewards. This is such good info!

Okay, so back to this class. Here’s some work we did today on week 4 Threadles. Keiko seemed to pick this up well, but I’m letting it simmer for a bit before we do to the 2 jumps side by side. Looking at the video, I was wondering if I should try this set up again but with the tunnel out of the way so I can run parallel and away more than I did? Other suggestions? Thanks!
~Kristie

[Kristie Foss]

Thanks for the great explanation! In the “olden days” they just said to get the food out of our hands and not where the dog could grab at it, so I learned to switch. I like the rationale you describe, and I’ll have to give not switching a try, especially with Yuki who has always been an opportunist. 😉
When do we get to that exercise? I don’t want to give her a reason to start jumping at my lotus/hand until I have the right tools. Thanks!

[Kristie Foss]

Hi, Tracy,
As always, thanks for the very specific feedback – sooo helpful!

Just a word about the lotus hand changes — I had to work hard to train myself to do that! When I was first training Yuki, she would jump up at the hand with the lotus or other treat. To save my hand being attacked, and get her to focus on the task and not the food, I taught myself to change hands so the hand cuing the dog was always empty.

Given my rather long history doing this, is there any other reason, besides my cue timing, that I should not be changing hands? Can I improve my cue timing by switching the lotus sooner? Other ideas? I just really like not having the reward in my cuing hand…

~Kristie

[Kristie Foss]

Hi, Tracy,

We did a bit of running between the tunnel and jumps in the last exercise and Kieko stayed parallel, didn’t try to take the outside (off)jump. Nice. 🙂

Then we worked on the Outside Arm exercises. I think there may still be another set we missed, but I was pleased with my girl and what she did. When I did the threadle motion I did something strange on the first go-round. It worked, but I don’t think what I did is in the technique books. ;). Then we did it from the other side, and I think my handling was more what you’re looking for. Here ’tis:

[Kristie Foss]

HI, Bobbie,

The video above IS in Mary’s class working on Keiko jumping into the audience. (That’s Mary putting treats in the bowl.) The rest of the class is just on the other side of the short fence holding my iPad that is doing the videoing. This is an example of where she is now about jumping into the audience. We did start farther away and she wouldn’t always jump. As you can see, she is doing better and better even as we get closer.

I am already using the snuffle mat in our Massachusetts class both before and after a run. I use it there because that is a tougher situation for her. I can certainly use it in both places, I wasn’t sure if that might dissipate some of the effectiveness, so was using it in the tougher location. I planned on posting that information and a video of her running there, but was waiting for you to see the video above since you asked us to not post more than one thing at a time and to wait for your feedback.

About the snuffle mat. Did you want video of her actually using the snuffle mat in her crate? Or just of the runs she does sandwiched between the snuffle mat use?

The snuffle mat has been working beautifully. Yesterday we had a 2-hour workshop with the MA instructor and a couple of the dogs from that class. (Keiko’s Monday afternoon instructor offers us occasional weekend workshops.). Keiko ran happy and well. When she was in her crate she worked on the snuffle mat, then just lay quietly watching the other dogs run. She wasn’t even bothered when I left to walk the sequences or listen to the instructor. Then, after her run, she’d go to her crate and settle down, waiting for treats to appear in the snuffle mat. ;).

The video below is from the 2-hour workshop. She did use the snuffle mat before and after these runs. The first clip shows her actually running to one of the women in the class (who happened to be taping us). Keiko is getting more and more comfortable with others and has started approaching people herself to say “hi”. Many of my lotus tosses are heading toward the “audience” and she wasn’t flustered at all. There is no fence separation between the course and the rest of the participants in this setting, and she used to be very leery of running toward them. That has really improved, as you can see.

These runs were some of the best she’s ever done there. She was connected, and having fun. After the first 4 or so runs, I changed rewards and ran with a flirt stick. I think you can see that her pace picked up a bit. She seems to like changes in reward rather than just one thing the whole time.

The last few clips are of weave work. This is the best she’s ever done the poles in this class. She used to balk at weaving toward another person or dog. She did have a sniff-the-bar moment, but I was able to refocus with the “find it” cue, and she ran well.

Here’s the video:

[Kristie Foss]

Hi, Bobbie,
Just wanted to share a bit from Keiko’s Thursday class with Mary. We were focusing on her ability to jump into the “audience”, especially at the start line. This was a particularly tough day because one handler was running her own dog and also her son’s dog (he wasn’t able to be there so his dog barked a lot), AND we had a new dog starting in class for the first time. So, a good bit of barking from other dogs as well as newbies in the room.

The first exercise was on the edge of the room, and facing away from the group and Keiko was quite happy. She also did pretty well jumping toward the “audience section” from that same location at the edge of the room. In between turns, we toileted outside, and then she settled down on her mat and watched the other dogs run while in her crate. I randomly crumbled treats onto the mat when she was resting and appeared relaxed. I plan to try the mat outside of the crate in the next class.
The next exercise put her right in front of the group. We decided to have her jump to a treat a couple of times before doing the sequence. There are three clips of her running after jumping into the audience. On all of these she was a bit slower than in the first set of exercises. This is pretty normal for her. She tends to slow a bit when she’s working things out or there is a challenge she has to work through – like jumping into other dogs and people. She did the sequence the first time, and I decided to try treating after the aframe the second time. As you can see, I lost her. Mary commented that we were seeing her “does this mean we’re done now” behavior, so we obviously need more work on the dish-dish game before we can do lots of mid-sequence treating. In the next run , I did not treat until we were finished and she did fine. Not particularly speedy, but we were connected and she finished happily.
I thought Keiko handled the new dog, extra barking and having to jump toward them really well. Yes, we have lots more to work on, but I’m pleased at how she is starting to handle this type of situation. Comments or suggestions? Thanks, ~Kristie

[Kristie Foss]

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions, Bobbie. We did try treating after small sets of obstacles, and that’s when we ran into the problem of her shutting down because she seemed to think the treat meant the game was over. That’s why I’m working on the dish-dish activity. I think that once we have more practice with obstacles between the dishes she’ll get the idea that treats mean “Good job! – now let’s do more!” At home, we do short sets, then I throw her tennis ball or frisbee for a minute before we “do agility” again. That doesn’t really work well in the class setting, so the focus and pattern games are good options for us. In indoor classes, I also use a soft toy on a flirt stick, but the dirt floor in the arena makes it a mess.
Looking forward to seeing more pattern games. ~Kristie

[Kristie Foss]

Hi,
Interesting. Okay, we’ll try running between the tunnel and jumps and see how/what she does. Thanks for the suggestion. 🙂
My but this class is moving quickly! Of course, losing almost a week to weather didn’t help us. I’ll have to see what we can get done this weekend.
Thanks,

~Kristie

[Kristie Foss]

Hi, Bobbie,
A couple of things. I have a video from a class of Mary’s that demonstrates some of what Keiko does in class and what Mary and I are trying. I’ll put that up at the end of this post.
First, I wanted to visit the relaxation mat. I thought I’d already commented on that exercise, but see that it was only in my mind. ;). Keiko has been using a mat as a relaxing, safe, comfy place to be since pre-K classes. She has used mats in class and at home and when visiting others, with leash and without. Currently, in classes, she is on a mat inside her crate. She lies down and relaxes – sometimes watching what is going on in the room, sometimes looking to see if I’m in treat mode, sometimes just putting her head down and “chilling.” Today in class there were 2 dogs taking turns barking and carrying on when their handler ran the other dog. Keiko basically ignored them, and I scattered random treats when she was just lying there. She is more relaxed when I’m near her crate than when I have to walk the course and go to the far end of the arena, but she doesn’t cry or bark, just watches where I’m going. All my Aussies have watched me when I’m away from the crate, so I don’t find Keiko’s behavior different in that regard.
On to class. This video is a couple of weeks old. It demonstrates a couple of Keiko’s “stress” points. She is not comfortable moving into the “audience” – both dog and human. Mary has had us practice this type of beginning so we can work on this area. The lotus tosses you’ll see here after the jump were very helpful breaking Keiko’s focus on the audience, and bringing it more to the activity we were doing. The other piece that occurs at the back of the arena shows what happens when there is a mistake and I try to re-do it. She had already done the sequence a couple of times, then I turned too quickly and pulled her off the jump after the tunnel. At that point, she shut down and it was difficult to get her reconnected and happy again. We took a break, a walk, and watched others run. Then did the sequence again and you can see in the last clip her increased enjoyment and speed.
Mary is having me do a couple of little games with Keiko. One is the “find it” game where I call her, show her a treat that has been hiding behind me, say “Find It” and toss it for her to get. The idea is to build focus, help with recall and re-focusing, and make it fun. Mary also feels that Keiko tends to think that when she is treated on the course, that is the end of the exercise. When I treat and ask her to continue, she seems confused. So, I’m starting a 2 dish game where we run fro dish to dish and I drop a treat in each dish before running back to the other. We are starting to put an obstacle (jump, tunnel etc) between the dishes to help build the idea that we can get a treat and then keep working.
Here’s the video:

I welcome any comments you have about the video and/or the other things we’re working on. Thanks so much!
~Kristie

[Kristie Foss]

Hi, Tracy,
Thanks for all the info above regarding verbals. I did feel too many words would drive her crazy. — besides, getting them all out in a timely manner would be tricky or impossible. ;). So, I’ll try a few things and see what works best for us, but less is more, and repeats of one cue is a great way to go. Thank you!

On to the next exercise. We did the Things in the Way sets. I was really pleased with how well she did. Any suggestions for something we should tweak or try?
Take care, ~Kristie

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