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Hi Bobbie,
I shared the training yard with a friend today. Sprite was definitely too aroused, so she struggled with the games. We then just practiced team chill while she watched. Later we went to a park which I’ll show later. She was better there as the distractions were more noise and not dogs running.
Ok, that makes more sense. I do have a question about the relaxation training. We were working on they when my home phone rang. I only answer if it’s my Mom. Everyone else knows to call my cell. It wasn’t Mom, but Sprite got up and went to lie in her dog bed. Do you let them be done or call her back? It wasn’t 10 min yet. I didn’t move or answer the phone.
I’m trying to add shadow handling and the pattern games to training. Hopefully, I’ll get to a park this weekend. Is this a right idea to start with? I had her do the snuffle mat earlier after several reps of the weaves.
I am using her meal for the relaxation. But, you didn’t comment on what you saw in the video. I feel like she’s just watching my hands waiting for the treat to drop. What’s the next step for relaxation? I’m unclear what I’m really supposed to reward especially if I’m not looking at her. It’s confusing to me.
The prior question was for the shadow handling as you said I wasn’t rewarding enough. How often do I need to reward in that exercise?
Hi Bobbie,
How often do you want the reward? We are using a ton of food for this class and I need to watch the volume. So, how much builds the resilience?
Here is the last minute of relaxation from last night. Gemma is on her cot. Otherwise, she’d be barking in another room and you can hear it everywhere in the house. That relaxes no one!
Hi Bobbie,
She’s not sequencing in class. I’ll see what’s set up when I have the yard on Sunday. We played around with shadow handling. We’ve not really done much circle work, but I know it’s important. Here’s our first attempt. Inside circles are much harder.
Hi Bobbie,
I had the agility yard today. Sprite knows a snuffle mat. Unfortunately, “termite” is her nickname and she’d eat it if I left it in a crate with her. We played find my face and getting lost on course. I wasn’t sure if we were supposed to feed in front for finding our face while lost. But, it made sense to do that like rewarding a standby position. I had a few other getting lost on course, but they were off camera. Oops!
Yes, Sprite is not super bendy and Tracy wasn’t concerned about her jumping style. I’m not sure she’ll be perfectly centered over the bar like some people prefer.
Her eyes were checked as a puppy and were fine, but she has not had them checked since then. I think it’s adjusting her body. She likes fast straight lines and she still has divided attention. The instructor told me to put the toy in the grid to help her. I was told to put it before the bar and after the bar. Sprite doesn’t collect naturally, but I don’t think it’s a vision issue. However, I might be wrong. I don’t think that particular grid is building her confidence. It’s supposed to teach them to look for the bar and not just the wings.
Was she relaxed at all? It was hard for me to tell. I DO have limited peripheral vision, so it’s hard to tell if I’m not looking at her. We can try again tonight.
Here is pattern games. Sprite is so so with toys, so I never really trained a great out as I didn’t want to take away something she was reluctant to get in the first place. We’ve worked hard on toy skills and she’s better. But, if she’s too aroused she won’t pick the toy up. The lotus ball is much more rewarding for her.
Hi Bobbie,
I am not sure Sprite was distracted by the lotus ball. She tends to take off early and I did a lot with just wings as a puppy. I am not sure she’s reading the bar and where to takeoff which is the point of that particular grid. She was jumping early with the toy at the end of the grid too. But, I agree she didn’t seem fazed by the error and I absolutely rewarded as she’s trying but not understanding where to put in her stride.
Here’s our first attempt at relaxation. I feel like she’s just watching my hands. Since I’m not looking at her it’s hard for me to see what to reward. I was randomly counting between 3-7 most of the time. This is kibble mixed with some meatballs. Also, what do you do to end the session? Just get up and walk away? I decided to do my older dog afterwards, but had to put Sprite away. That may undo any relaxation. I understand why this is important, but I’m not clear as we move on what exactly should be rewarded.
Hey Bobbie,
This is from today. We are doing a jumping grid with only one bar and Sprite tends to take off early. She crashed a jump so I just showed what happened afterwards. We are working on treat magnet transports. Overall, she didn’t seem too bothered by the error.
I have a question about the relaxation lecture. It sounds like we stop at 10 min even if they haven’t relaxed. Do you want to see 10 min videos? That’ll be hard for us. Can we use kibble for this? It’ll be a lot of food for 10 min a day.
Hi Bobbie,
I don’t have video for the resilience exercise. Is there something I can set up at home? We mostly train alone, but she is in class now. I’ll see if someone can film Tuesday for me.
I just returned from Wildblue dog camp in Tahoe. 58 people and 75 dogs. Sprite did well, but was highly distracted. She sniffed the grass a lot, but smells were everywhere. So, hard to know how much was simple distraction in a teen versus stress. However, she won me a bottle of wine by finding the liver treated Kong in a sea of plastic balls in a kiddy pool in 2.51 seconds!
She did get overly aroused during an agility class when a particular BC ran. I moved her away and was ultimately able to get her to calm down. But, I’m not sure how many seconds it was. She sat for photos on a pier while she could see dogs running on the beach to the side. However, she was watching them and not looking towards me or the camera. So, we stopped before something happened like leaping off the pier.
She did earn her CGC and a novice tricks title there. She was great in the tricks testing which was the last thing after 5 days of camp. LLW during the CGC was a struggle as I couldn’t get her nose off the ground. But, I asked her to walk doing hand touches and that was easy for her. She stayed, did her sit and down and recalled. Whined a bit on the 3 minute separation, but she did pass. 3 minutes in a LONG time.
She doesn’t bark while waiting and overall waited patiently during her classes. If she was tired, she might jump up on me for petting. It was a lot! Of stimulation.
So left would indicate a tighter turn in this case. I do get confused sometimes when to use them and when to be quiet on soft turns.
She did smoke the serp line and that was one and done! I don’t feel like she’s that fast as I don’t have frenetic barking in my ear. But, she’s going to be fast once she has all of her confidence. She likes straight lines and decel is still a work in progress.
A question came up with a friend about BC timing for a contact. Once they are on the correct line to the contact can you blind before they actually get on it? That’s what I tend to do with Gemma who has excellent obstacle commitment. If not, what is the correct timing of a BC with contacts?
My next question is when to bump her up to 20 in? We are mostly practicing at 16 in as she sorts out handling maneuvers along with jumping effort. How do you determine when it’s time to learn the skills on the actual jump height?
Thank you so much Tracy! It’s always a pleasure to work with you. I’ll look for the short sequence classes. Plus, I think I’ll do resilience with Sprite. It’s probably too late to reprogram Gemma. But, I’d like to get Sprite the best start possible. Gemma can play along for fun. It can’t hurt her.
Hey Tracy,
The heat wave broke! But, now we have air quality issues due to fires. I had the training yard and just pieced together really short sequences. Sprite has never seen the wall before. It’s at a super low height. We’ve only done a few broad jumps a long time ago. She also did 4 weave poles which was great in a new environment and they were just sitting there. I didn’t show you that. We are working on angles with 6 weaves in my yard, but it has been on hold a few weeks due to the extreme temperatures. I did one serpentine sequence and she rocked it. That’s the last thing we did. This is over 3 sessions on the same day.
Let me know what’s next!
Hi Tracy,
It is ridiculously hot here all week. 116 yesterday! So, not much going on. When is class over and what is our next step?
I might do some travel board stuff later.
Hi Tracy,
It’s a delicious Cosmo! One of my specialties. I was laughing filming this as I felt ridiculous.
Ok, more serp work. I still need to turn back more and connect as she sometimes went behind me.
Also, I did RC tunnels as we struggled with that in the past. Last one I have my water bottle. That’s hard as I’m trying to watch the bottle AND the dog. Not too much spilled, but it wasn’t easy.
Have fun at your seminar. I know two lucky people from my area that are there!
