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Week 1 – Goat tricks
We do this all of the time and have been since his first day here (probably 6-8 different objects per day). He came with goat skills pre-installed, and I have had fun rewarding him for climbing on just about everything in sight.
I’ve been holding off on doing it for this class, because I honestly couldn’t think of an appropriate and safe object that he hasn’t already been rewarded for climbing on. Finally, I remembered a suitcase under my daughter’s bed that he’s never seen, so we did this today.
As you’ll see, this wasn’t really about shaping, but he does look a bit like a goat! 🙂
Please let me know if there are other ways I should challenge him with this.
Edited to add: I looked ahead to Week 2 games, so I see the next step in challenging him. We have several moving, wobbly items and he has been on them all a bunch already. My challenge often is slowing him down to think about his foot placement. Like a baby goat, he’s kind of “all in” on this sort of game!
Thanks,
LyndieNose Target
You’ll see that he lost focus on the spoon at one point (when I’m holding spoon low on my right leg). I waited him out and he problem-solved.
Wing Wrap with 2 Toys of Equal (High) Value — can you say bunny fur?
Compared with when we did this with two bowls and kibble, the toys seemed enticing enough even when “dead” that he wasn’t ready to pull off and switch to the other side without me bringing that 2nd toy to life. I suppose I should have tested my theory about this. Alas, hindsight is 20:20. Next time.
Week 1: Send to Prop
Usually, if I’m going to use food and toys in the same session, I do toys first, then food. This time, I flipped it. It took a bit of effort to get him really locked into the toy, but once I did that, I really liked his confident drive to the prop. Let me know what you think.
Thanks,
Lyndiemore Drive to handler
Is it easier for you if I post at the end of my thread like this, instead of attempting to group posts by game? The OCD in me is wanting more organization options in this forum! 🙂
Thanks,
LyndieThanks for these suggestions! I had a sense of this issue as we were playing. Your tips will help me clean it up.
After he hits his target and I click, I am moving away to keep it exciting. I realize that this is kind of combining this game with elements of the drive to H game. Is that OK? Standing still with treat just seems less motivating then giving him a way to drive back to me.
Thanks,
LyndieSend to Prop – Session 2 and outside
I included a still photo at the start of this video from the very first frame of the video that I discovered when I started reviewing and editing. I have my back to him to turn on the video camera. In the background, the little man is sitting at attention waiting for his session to begin!
Drive to Handler – Session 2
Here’s our first drive to handler session outside. We do this sort of thing almost every day with whiplash turns on his name to practice recall, but the turning is somewhat new, and the double turns I threw in today are totally new. Midway through video, you’ll get to see how he handles something unexpected in his environment. This is exactly how he responds to anything unexpected that he encounters. It is quite cerebral. He observes, processes, and then resumes whatever we were doing. As I’ve been putting him in different situations, I’ve now probably observed this same response at least 100 times, and he doesn’t stray from this pattern. What is happening is that his transitions back to whatever we were doing are getting faster as he gains experiences. He was raised with ENS and puppy culture protocols, and this response seems entirely consistent with that conditioning.
Questions!
If in throwing the treat, I’m “sending” with right hand and right leg, should I be starting my run away as if this were a post turn (starting with connection still on right, then blinding to pick him up left) or as if there were a FC (crossing immediately to connection on left then blinding to pick him up on right)? Ultimately, he needs to see both, but are you wanting us to focus on one vs. the other right now? I think I did a mix of these in our session, because to be honest, I hadn’t planned the piece in my head sufficiently when we started. Thanks!
Cool! My super exciting teenage puppy holder arrives after school today, so we will practice tomorrow with her assistance!
Week 1 – Blind Crosses
I’m using a bath mat as a treat target to help him find the thrown treat quickly in the grass.
Re: him not tugging when he brings the toy back to me. I think this is an artifact of the retrieve game we’ve been playing. I’ve been tugging with him with a food stuffable toy, then throwing the toy, then rewarding him for the retrieve and release of the toy by opening the toy and giving him food out of it. Sometimes, instead of the food, I reward him with tugging on a 2nd toy, so that we’re alternating toys across reps. So, he is becoming trained to race back to me with the toy and release it to my hand or drop it at my feet. I did this from the beginning because a certain yellow mentor of Wingman’s has a history of excessive celebration.
I can certainly incorporate the two-toy concept into these games, and/or be relaxed about how quickly he returns the toy.
When we do recall games with whiplash turns, I throw treats or a toy or wait until he’s caught up in a great scent, then take off running and call him to me. Often, in those situations, I’m dangling a tug toy as I run. A bit similar to what you’ve outlined for the blind cross game. I’ll need to do that one outside too, because we’ll need real estate for that!
