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We are still working inside. Teagan really needs the mental stimulation, so I am trying to do 2 or 3 exercises a day….plus obedience, tricks, puzzle games and whatever else I can come up with to burn off some of his excess energy. Most of the videos I did with him today are very short.
Take note, you will see him jump up off to the right at the beginning of the Ladder Work video. Re his jumping, I am now trying to keep my hands low, as he tends to jump up when I have something in my hands and I have my hands up high…DAH! In the Leg Bumps video, you will hear me say GOOD, at one point when he was seated and NOT JUMPING UP at me. I am trying to reinforce feet on the floor as much as possible, in as many situations as possible.
We tried Leg Bumps, which I modified to Cavaletti Bumps, as, if I went on the floor, I’d probably never get up, and there is no one here to save me…LOL. He did fine with this exercise. Given all his jumping, I suspect he will be a good jumper, whether it be in agility or dock diving.
While we were at it, we tried Ladder Work. This puppy needs a hind end alignment. He is always swinging his hind end out and usually to the left. I have tried putting him through the ladder since he was a baby puppy and he definitely has trouble with this one. I tried a toy first, then food. He is so fixated on the food I don’t think he has any clue as to where is feet are going. Suggestions???
Finally, we tried Perch Work. He did well with this. I had tried this before on my own, again when he was a baby puppy, and he couldn’t move his hind end. Today, he did not have a problem.
Laura and Teagan
First off, thank you for helping me with this challenge. I know it is not part of the class.
>>Part of this is not knowing what to do instead, so definitely put a ton ton ton of reinforcement into behaviors that are incompatible with jumping up/at or counter-surfing.
I have been reinforcing when he does not counter-surf. I taught him to go to a bed or mat in the kitchen and toss him cookies when he is there…he gets tons of reinforcement for this behavior. He’ll stay there for a while, but if I turn my back or move around the kitchen, he will stray off of the bed/mat. He even runs to the bed anytime he goes in the kitchen, to get a cookie. I also reward him if he just sits or lies down in the kitchen. He understands OFF, but has not connected the dots to not counter-surf in the first place. At times, I will at times, also put him in his crate, to not give him the opportunity to counter-surf. Am I doing the right things? And it’s just a matter of time for the bad behavior to end?
>>What scenarios is the happening in? We can plan for better behavior to reinforce.
He jumps up/on me when I have things in my hands. You have probably seen this behavior in some of the videos. This boy is a major chow hound. Again, I am reinforcement good behavior. He gets rewarded when he does not jump up. I walk around with treats in my hands and play the It’s Your Choice and Eye Contact games.
He’s better when I can see him, he’s bad when he makes a sneak attack from behind me. I have had him launch from behind me to get something in my hand. I think it is getting better, but looking for any new approaches to continue to break the bad behavior.
Worked inside today…just easier. We tried Start Line-Break/Get It. I have used Okay for release from the start line with my other Labs, but thought I would try Brea with Teagan to make it clear, as I use Okay for basic obedience behaviors. He did well with this exercise.
We also revisited Start Line/Catch. He was having trouble staying in place, but did get a few reps.
I have a non-agility question. Teagan continues to jump up on/at me and counter-surf. I have tried several things to break these behaviors, without success. I was wondering if you can suggest a good “CONSEQUENCE” for his bad behavior. Teagan is a bit more lab than the ones I have had in the past, so he is definitely challenging my training abilities. I appreciate any suggestions you might have. I highly regard your training abilities.
Cold and windy today. We started working on Start Line Stay, starting with CATCH. HE did okay with this.
>>And he looks ready for you to start him on harder angles with with the initial cookie throw, so he can see the other side of the jump and has to threadle to the correct side.
Thanks for the positive feedback. I am a bit confused by the comment above. Can you explain better what you want me to do with this exercise?
So, we are back to icky weather, so we worked inside today. We tried the Tandem Turn. I think he did great with this exercise. I do need to be more careful going LEFT with him. He is definitely a righty.
We then went back to Strike a Pose and I put up a jump with the jump bump. There is not enough room for wing jumps in the training room. I had cheese in my non-prop hand, so on a few attempts he was more focused on the non-prop hand with the cheese.
Teagan had another new adventure yesterday, as he attended a Performance Puppy Obedience (competition) class. It was good to work him with the distraction of other dogs. I don’t plan to compete in obedience, but thought more obedience can only help his agility and me with handling him in various sports.
Today it was back to MAXPup. We tried Lap Turn. He did well with this. I need to get better at lap turns with my left hand.
We also went back to add the jump bump (per your direction) to the Strike a Pose exercise. There are 2 short videos for this.
Happy New Year!!
Teagan had Friday and Saturday off as I was trialing. On Sunday, I was not trialing, so I took him to the trial site for his Resilience Walk. It was a very active, noisy and large arena. I did not get it on video, but he did great!! Met lots of people. Met some dogs. Laid down quietly while I was watching the JWW ring. He also got to pick out a new tug toy for playing the 2 toy game, and for being a good boy! Better still, he did not get car sick in either direction.
So, today we are back at his training. We tested out the new tug toy. Having a similar toy worked better.
Next, we tried the Retrieve game, using 2 squeaky toys. I had trouble, mechanically, trying to hold 2 toys and him. He did manage to do ONE retrieve. So, I still have the retriever who doesn’t retrieve. LOL I am sure he’ll catch on. Still working on finding 2 toys that will get and keep his attention.
Two rainy days. We took yesterday off, but did a few short exercises today. He is a little energizer puppy, so I thought we could do a few exercises today. Each session is under 2 minutes…and when we were done, he did not want to leave the training room. He is wearing a harness in these videos as I am trying to desensitize the harness, as he has made an association between the harness and the car. He gets car sick and fights me to go in the car. If he saw me with the harness, he would hide in his crate. I am trying to work through the motion sickness problem.
First, we tried strike a Pose. I think he did great with this one. He obviously remembered the prop.
We also have been working on his Backing Up on to something. His hind end awareness isn’t great. I’ve tried using a Cato board, but had to resort to the Wobble Board, which was just an incline, not a step up. Other than he needs a hind end alignment, he was finally able to do this.
We also tried the baby Retrieve exercise. I had played tug with him before this exercise, but he would not go after the tug toy. I changed to a squeaky toy. He did run to get the toy, but is still not bringing it back. My retriever that doesn’t retrieve, LOL. I am using the verbal Grab It for this exercise.
Thanks for the positive feedback on the Parallel Line/Countermotion exercise. BTW, this time around I put a 6lb weight in the prop (bag) to make it harder to pick up.
It continues to be on the warmer side, so we took the Blind Cross/Decel/Go exercise outside today. I played a little tug before the exercise and then he played the keep away game with the tug toy. Once he knew I had cheese, he did not care about the tug toy anymore.
I also moved where we did the exercise in the yard, to change things up a bit. I think we did okay with this one. It is still difficult at times to keep him focused on the game rather than hunting for stuff on the ground.
Merry Christmas!!!
We were able to work Parallel Line and Countermotion outside yesterday. As you will see once he knew there was cheese involved, there was a lot of focus on my hands. He did manage to sort of go towards the prop. Some improvement, I think. Not sure what to do about his food obsession. Suggestions?
We took it outside today to try Turn and Burn and Predictability. We did better with Turn & Burn. I used a toy as a reward, as he is so food obsessed. I did lose him a few times between tries, as he was off hunting in the grass for rabbit poop. A trick his siblings taught him…UGH!!!
The Predictability exercise went well and I was using Get It this time around. I did use string cheese, so it was easy to find in the grass.
Brrrrrr, it was cold out today, so we are back in the small room to try the Resilience Predictability exercise. I used string cheese so it was easy to find. He seemd to do well with this exercise.
So, we are back inside today (cold and windy out) to try Blind, Decel, Go Go Go. I used string cheese so he could easily find the treat. I did play tug will him, but did not get it on video.
It’s warm but raining today, so we tried the Baby Retrieve in a small room upstairs. First, it gave him practice going up the staircase…he is still learning that he has a hind end. LOL
Next time I will put the camera in landscape mode, as you can’t see some of the close tugging we did. He also played the keep away game, but he did go after the tug toy.
