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I went to YouTube to watch the video of the 2019 NAC Finals. You had a great front cross to the teeter (lots of handlers were late or on their dog’s line). I also agree with David H.’s comments: Pepper has a big stride and eats up a lot of ground!
Flynn is still working on understanding how the “reward station” works. He’s so sad that I won’t have a toy with me all the time, but he needs to give up that pacifier. He had some moments of brilliance but some mistakes, too. I never corrected him for running around the jump or taking the off course tire (…same old problem: I sped up and was too far ahead so he looked so somethings else to do, ignoring my lateral motion and location). In this session he gots LOTS of play (70%) mixed with his work (30%) and not too many repetitions.
Week 3: Drill #1
Threshold: he’s at his best on his raised bed. I can have the bed near or close to the ring. It’s his “safe spot”. If it’s closer to the ring he won’t tug, but he will reluctantly take food (not enthusiastically). If I ask for a “trick” before giving the food, he’s also reluctant because his mind is intensely focused on other things. THANK GOODNESS, when once he’s “working” in the ring, he never looks at things in or out of the ring (dogs, ring crew, judges). It’s the waiting that adds stress. I’ve tried to keep him busy with tricks, but he is hesitant (like you saw in the video) when he’s stressed.
I don’t have him out a lot and if I do, he has to have 100% of my attention because of these issues. I also like to volunteer when I’m at trials. I learn a lot when I watch others run.
Thank you for the collection exercise video. Nearly all of my collection work has been wraps on the take off side. Coming in to pressure is a large “stressor” for Flynn.
Flynn has an issue of tugging and being perfect in the practice jump area, then shutting down as we get near the ring. My goal was to work closer from the practice jump to the actual ring (the yellow area in the upper left in the video). To the far left, out of view of the camera, is the dreaded crating area ~ Flynn’s “Valley of Death” where he “fears to walk” and becomes over aroused. He would not even focus on me in the practice jump area (…very unusual for him). I brought him outside the practice jump area and he was still to “focused” on the creating area. I didn’t even try to go closer to the ring. I’m so jealous of handlers who have dogs that just stare up and them lovingly, waiting for the next cue (LOL). He acted like I didn’t even exist. Notice all of the masks and social distancing. I really don’t think masks bother Flynn and I think the social distancing is GREAT for him since he’s worked up near other dogs. This was our 11th dog show day since May 28th (either exhibiting or he came with me while I was judging), so I don’t think the “COVID time off” is the reason for his arousal state.
He is not neutered and will be 23 months old tomorrow. I wanted to leave him unaltered unless there was a good reason to neuter him, even though I have no intention to ever breed (I have never done that). Also, I hear that it can make aggression worse. Thoughts on that?
Next day: still no focus in the ring. Ran a modified JWW course, intentionally leaving out the weaves because he was stressing and had been refusing to weave in previous classes.
Thanks for the advice about the “front cross/threadle” arm for tight turns. He definitely needs information very early so he can be “right” and never stress.
Flynn is from strong herding lines, but I have no experience with herding and neither does he.
Here are examples of “check”, “whoa”, right/left:
Thanks for the pep talk. I will not give up on Team Flynn (…dogs are for life), but I want him to love agility like I do. He can definitely be like greased lightening (ran Fast CAT in 27 miles per hour), but he can also shut down with over faced and be as slow as a turtle and sulk.
I had a spectacular little cavalier who would drive any line of obstacles that I would set. My cavalier would check in with me, then take all of the obstacles no the line until I gave a turning cue. Flynn seems to push off the line so easily (maybe that is too much HF, especially when I invade his space, but I want to drive ahead (fronts and blinds) rather than “steer from the rear” (rear crosses); although I can change my handling style if needed, but hopefully it won’t come to that. He’ll drive for obstacles, but he can’t take my physical pressure when we are driving towards the same obstacle (we’re working on this with “circle work”). I hope you were able to fix it with Keen.
It think it would help Flynn to stay on the line if I could teach him to turn tighter, but I think the biggest issue right now is his relieving his stress. If it doesn’t feel good to him he loose enthusiasm (can you blame him?). He won’t even play when he starts to feel nervous and he can feel nervous even when he does not get to pick which toy we play with. Here’s a video of me trying to play the “two ball” game with three balls.
Video for Week 2 ~ Lesson #1: Flynn was a rock star (probably because I had a toy in my hand). The reinforcement station was a great addition, but he still wants the ball I have in my hand.
Tricks that Flynn knows:
– jump into arms (he hates this)
– roll over
– spin
– sit/down
– weave between legs
– nose touch (he hates this)
– crate games (foundation skills)Here’s a video playing games in the living room. His favorite thing to do is “herd” the cavaliers outside. He get SO excited when I ask him if he wants to go outside, then he waits at the door for a cavalier to come out. He will just stand there if a cavalier won’t cooperate and play “sheep” for him.
Week 2 ~ Assignment #2
The homework videos are about 3-5 minutes long, but they are 70% play and 30% work <wink>.
I picked assignment #2 to do first because my tunnel was already set in that position. I did two recordings, the first video shows his very first attempt with mistakes and the second video was our best effort video. You can still see in the second video how he hates to disengage from the toy. It’s like he’s pouting as we leave his toy go to the line (slow to line up, sticky sit, lobes around the start jump instead of zooming into position). I really like the idea of reinforcement stations! Maybe he just needs to learn this new routine. Seriously Flynn, you get your toy after only five obstacles! There’s no reason to pout!
I’m not sure that the Lazy Bastard game is really for Flynn. He likes to take obstacles, but hates to make mistakes (that’s when the wheels come off the bus). When stressed he takes EVERYTHING in sight. Here’s his first run of the weekend in Erie (about 9 off course obstacles during his “stress looping”, even after I asked him to jump up on me to refocus and connect ~ he takes another off course because he jumps straight even when I decelerate and turn).
Assignment #2 ~ First attempt:
Assignment #2 ~ Second attempt:
Master Standard run (I call this the “selfish bastard” run; I think he takes every obstacle except the one that I want):
Master JWW run (he’s super wide and obviously does not like to work close; I’m probably working against his herding genetics):
Many of our mistakes come from jumping every jump in extension, even when I decelerate and move away laterally. I would love to find the best way to tighten up his collection on turns. He is naturally very athletic but jumps and turns like a school bus. In the JWW video you can see that’s he’s stressed and distracted from the start (won’t heel close to me). The JWW run was his BEST run of the day, but look how wide he is. If I get near him he pushes out too far from the pressure. He would be awesome at NADAC but AKC is our life right now.
***Any advice for teaching tight turns at speed? He’s good on the flat, but straightens out when you add speed. We’ve done lots of jumps wraps, but when you add speed he’s back to being the school bus.
My next trial is tomorrow, MONDAY the 15th! Countryside is having an AKC “double~double”. There are eight classes: two Standard & JWW at both Master & Premier levels. If I could use Premier as FEO, I definitely would. I get free entries for course building. I’m willing to do “speed circles” or one jump, for the Premier courses. The running order is: Master STD 1, Premier STD 1, Master STD 2, Premier STD 2, Master JWW 1, Premier JWW 1, Master JWW 2, and finally Premier JWW 2.
Here is a recording of the run that immediately followed the recording of the Pre-Run routine that I sent. He can definitely run faster, but when I speed up ~ he flanks around jumps. That happens at the a-frame in this video. I stayed in “third gear” for the first ⅔ of this run and then put it into 5th gear to get a cross after the a-frame, and <BAM> he flanked around the tire. He can be SO fast when I have a toy in the ring. I will say, his weaves at the end were fabulous. That is very unusual, because usually he “falls apart” once there is a mistake (whether I fix the mistake or not, he knows there was a mistake and then he starts refusing other things, especially weaves or the teeter). He did VERY well mentally with repeating the tire.
My typical trial weekend: I work Mon-Fri and then get up on Saturday at 4:00am and leave the house by 4:15am to drive to Erie, PA by 7:00. Another course builder and I lug around sandbags, tape the weaves, help the judge adjust the course and then obsess, because Master or Premier is usually first. I get my dog out for bathroom breaks and then about 10 minutes before the run I begin the routine that you saw in the video. Usually we will also play with a toy and practice verbals (left right, backsides) at the practice jump. Occasionally I go to Latrobe, PA or the Cleveland area. Next weekend, I’ll be in Cleveland. Saturday night I’ll stay at a Red Roof and repeat the process on Sunday. I was in Lewisberry, PA at the trial on Thursday, drove to Erie for three days of judging (Flynn and one of my cavaliers tagged along and you saw that we had some fun at the beach), then Flynn gets to compete tomorrow! That very unusual since there are never Monday trials at Countryside (…that was prior to COVID). I work for a school district, so I was able to course build since I’m off for the Summer.
Yes, that makes a lot of sense. He did not do as well as he did the previous week, but better than two weeks ago (they have been having trials at this site since the end of May.
I can definitely incorporate circles, figure eights, perch work (…he does not have a bark on cue).
Thanks!
Thanks for the video and the advice. I’m judging this weekend so I won’t be able to set up the speed circles again, but I will start training with a toy on a “station” from now on. I’ll also try not to shown any non-verbal or verbal signals when there’s a mistake (…boy, that’s not easy, but saying or doing anything that draws attention to the mistake won’t help Flynn).
Here’s a 5 minute video of a recent pre-run scenario that is common for us. Does Flynn seem stressed or over-faced? We really enjoy the music that they play while the dogs are running. I think that helps reduce the pressure.
0:00 – We come out of the crate room and immediately onto Flynn’s mat (his safe space). He’s totally focused on me and the treats. I walk around him to change positions, ask him to get on and off the mat, ask for tricks, and continue to reward his focus on me.
1:01 – Flynn checks out the poodle sitting in the chair (gets R+ for looking back at me after stretching to the end of his leash).
1:33 – Treats for tricks
2:54 – I bring out the fur leash for tugging because we had a rare moment of extra space. He continues to tug while dogs and people circulate around us.
4:22 – I moved the mat to a location closer to the ring as it was getting closer to our turn. Chilled out together for the last minute prior to our run.
I tried to upload the video from my phone, but that didn’t work. I’ll have to do this in two steps (YouTube –> Agility U.).
Next time I will try the “toy on the table” method, since he always runs well when the toy’s in sight. I only did this twice because it was 90 degrees and he was brilliant …can’t improve on perfection <wink>. He gave me two great runs and then we played with toys! 10% work + 90% play!
p.s. I like what you said about “me being different” with a toy. That’s so true! It’s like a security blanket for the handler too. At my next trial I will convince myself that the toy is in my hand as we run.
Question for the speed circles homework: In the videos, both of the students run with the toy in their hand so that they can reward in the middle if the dog is struggling and then “gets” it.
What should I do with my toy, given that my guy is having trouble transitioning from one on me to toy off to the side or not visible?
– In my hand
– On my person, but hidden
– Off to the side and race to get it after the run
