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Hi Tracy,
Today I did a session with Hero incorporating all the above advice. I think it went well. I started with bang game 2 reps so he did something that didn’t bother him. Then we did two reps of downhill and he was ok with that. The first rep he self released, but he had already stopped and I was slow to treat him.
Next I decided to try my luck with one crazy elevator. I sent him round the wing and caught the seesaw a few inches off the ground. My countdown and cue were super quick and he seemed to not really notice the difference between that and the other two games.
L.
Hi Tracy,
I got Rusey to come through the gap! She read my body language. It really helped to put my non-dogside arm by my hip to rotate my upper body more.
Which game/s should we go for next to get the most bang before the course ends?
L.
Hi Tracy,
Thanks for the advice. I secured the seesaw and fed one treat low on the seesaw before doing a quick countdown. The first rep Hero didn’t know what was coming, but the second rep he bailed again. So because he didn’t do a complete second rep, we did a third and he was OK.
L.
Hi Tracy,
We started with normal elevator this evening, two reps. That seemed to go fine. So we did two reps of crazy elevator. I fed in position when Hero reached the top of the elevator, and I had the elevator at half height. But when I started the countdown Hero got nervous and jumped off. He did this on both reps. Is he scared something bad will happen? I watched his gait after and he is not lame. Have I poisoned my countdown? Maybe I should try something else?
In any case, we won’t do this tomorrow. I can only fit in one session when I get home from work and before it gets dark. So I’ll give him the day off tomorrow and see what Wednesday brings.
L.
Hi Tracy,
Just a quick video tonight for your evaluation. I wanted to start slow and low on the seesaw. Hero and I played the bang game with half of his usual height. Then we went into some uphill stuff with a wing wrap (sorry not captured on camera) and minimal tip. He didn’t seem to have an issue with either of those exercises and he wasn’t scared of the noise. He has rested for almost two weeks now and seen the physio who could not find anything wrong. He might have been having some pain I wasn’t aware of but he seems ok now.
How should we progress the sessions now? Can we go back to where we were at prior to his injury, with the crazy elevator game? I am conscious that class will end soon, and I will be away for four days over this coming weekend. But at the same time I don’t want to see him do another backwards slide or have any pain.
L.
Hi Tracy,
Hmmm, no problem to rest him for a week, poor Hairy. I can take my seesaw to be altered in the meantime. It is the correct height (500 mm at the pivot) but not the correct length. I think the new length is 3600 mm and mine is 4300 mm.
“Yes! Watching the bang game video, he was not engaging his rear properly as he normally does. Look at the second rep – totally front end focused and hind end got very high, and his left hind slipped off. I don’t know if he tweaked something there or if he was already sore, but he appeared to be off-loading from the left hind (and hind end in general) on the rest of the session, using his front for most of it.”
I did notice his back leg slipped off, but didn’t realise this could be a response to an injury. I don’t think he was injured in the session, probably sore already. The problem is everytime the physio looks she can’t find anything wrong. He is stiff as a board when she touches him and I have to have him in a muzzle, so probably not ideal for finding subtle injuries.
“I have plenty of ideas of how to look for things.”
That would be helpful. It is really hard to see what is happening.
“I think you mentioned this but did not leave the limping in the video. Which leg was it? Do you still have the video? Or was it on the video and I missed it?”
I started a session and then I stopped and we came back to it later, 20 mins or so, that’s why I didn’t post it because the new session was a completely new video. I found the video, it’s only a few seconds and now that I watch it back, I feel bad! He was hurt on the first rep and he actually limped back to position and I made him do another one! He is holding up his right front paw. Crying face.
Maybe he is still hurting from this? But that doesn’t make sense if his is loading his front end and not using his rear. That would make me think it is in a rear leg or his back.
I’m glad we had this chat and I will look forward to hearing your thoughts. Hero was supposed to do jumpers this weekend but I will keep him quiet and leash walking instead.
Thank you
L.Hi Tracy,
Tonight we started with the Bang game with a single thickness of yoga mat half the width of the usual target right on the edge of the seesaw. Hero was still able to do the game and he put his paws on the mat sometimes.
Then we went into the crazy elevator game. I warmed up with normal elevators no trouble. Then I had him sit 2m back from the seesaw and run onto it. Then I added a barrel wrap and the wheels fell off. The first couple he did the slam and self released. Somehow he got freaked out. I couldn’t see that he was injured or anything. Then he would round the barrel and stop just over the pivot point of the seesaw. Then I would call him to the end and as soon as I started the countdown to slam, he abandoned ship. I did this a couple of times and realised we weren’t going to get anywhere, and didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. So I took the seesaw down low so he was basically stepping on, getting rewarded and releasing.
Can you see something funny happen in the video prior to this? What am I missing? Do you think he landed funny and it hurt? He has been ok with the noise previously. Do you think this has been building? Starting with the not wanting to step on the target anymore? The only incident I can think of was a couple of weeks ago. On his first rep of elevator he landed in position, then when he released he was limping. Then he walked it off and carried on with the session no trouble at all so I thought he just landed funny. He has had a history for intermittent lameness, but vets, xrays and physios cannot find a reason. He hasn’t had an episode for months now. I hope this is just a blip and doesn’t become a thing. What should I do from here to get his confidence back?
L.
Good evening!
I swear each exercise we do finds another hole in our training lol. I tried the send ‘n’ serps today. The serp was easy for Ru, as was the push behind. But oh my goodness the front cross to come through the gap!!!! I realise as I watched my video that Ruse does not see me connecting with her long at all to come through the gap. Is this all that’s going on? Should I connect with her sooner at the wing rather than near the jump?
L.
Hi Tracy,
I had another go at the find ’em game again. I see what you mean about the layering. It’s not something we do in agility usually. When I stepped past the weaves with motion and helped Hero to the tunnel he got it right every time. When I slowed my motion and gave the weave cue early he was able to make the decision to go to the weaves no problem. When I added more motion by sending him round two wings first and then asking to go to weaves, I blew his mind lol. He kept taking the tunnel. I broke it down again and then built it back to the two wings prior to the weaves and he was able to do it.
L.
Hi Tracy,
Today I did some more fading of the target with Hero. I don’t think he was really using the target much on the plank, so he didn’t really notice me sneak it away after a couple of reps with it in place.
We did some more downhill work, starting with a couple of bang game reps first. Hero is stopping short of the target now, so mostly I rewarded right in front of the seesaw, but a couple of times I released him to the reward.
This was our first time playing the crazy elevator game. The first rep I did normal elevator, but Hero was a bit weird. He came off the seesaw and I wondered if he got a fright, or if he hurt himself. But as we carried on he was fine so I don’t know what that was about. He didn’t have a problem with the crazy part, and enjoyed all the extra treats.
L.
Hi Tracy,
A little more minny pinny with Rusey Dusey today. She was quite good when she was being held by the collar in a particular direction and pretty much chose correctly. A couple of times she was between my legs and I bent down and held her collar an gave her the direction, but she was not able to choose correctly. So she needs some more practice to know which word means which direction.
L.
Hi Tracy,
This is my last post for the night. Today we set up the 3rd find ’em challenge, and it was hard! We started off with a hiss and a roar with Hero nailing the weaves, and one tunnel entry, then it kinda went sideways after that! Good to know what Hero finds most rewarding right now!
Left entries to the tunnel seemed not too bad, but I had to help after each failure on the righthand entries. But he did not have too much trouble coming back to weave. I guess he’s had so much reinforcement for that over the past few weeks! He tried really hard.
L.
Hey!
Ruse and I worked some more minny pinny tonight. Things seem to be going a bit better and she is turning her head when I play back the video. How do I transition from having her on one side or the other and giving her the cue without motion? She was reluctant to move at all because she didn’t know what I wanted. I obviously need to do a few more sessions so that she understands what the words mean.
We also had another go at the head turns on the cone. I got semi coordinated about half way through lol. But her head is definitely wrapping the cone and the body is following.
L.
Good evening!
That’s understandable about doing the weaves and seesaw on alternate days. It’s quite a lot of work for the joints.
We did a target fading session today on the plank. I started with the same size target as last night, slowly, then built motion. It was going really well so I made the target even smaller. Hopefully you can see it on the edge of the board. Hero didn’t have a problem with that. Do you think it could go even smaller before I take it away completely?
L.
Good Evening!
I had a cunning plan to move the barrel on the downhill, so that it makes the end of the seesaw closer to the ground without the stool. This session started off a bit shaky, with Hero not sure about going all the way to the end. I added in some bang game part way through. I think he is fine with it, but I probably should have started with a couple of bangs so he knew what would happen. I don’t think the seesaw is raised much further than when the stool was under it.
Next we went to the elevator game and I tried to add more motion as the game went on. It was pretty successful. I weighted the seesaw today so that we didn’t get as much movement when the seesaw banged to the ground or on the reset.
Finally I took the plank outside. It might be hard for you to see but the target is now half the depth it was before, but still spans the width of the plank. I started out with too much motion which caused failure. When I backed off a bit we got more success.
L.
