Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Hi Bobbie
Here are three short videos from the 20th where we worked on a backside jump. The first 18 second video is where Buoy ran off on me. I didn’t realize that my friend stopped recording when he ran away; I would have liked you to see it. The second two videos are from our second turn about an hour later.I look forward to hearing your thoughts on these.
The next two videos are putting on his harness.
Meeting every other Monday 1:30 starting Feb 6 confirmed
he doesn’t jump into my arms but I would like to teach that. After the last trial, I am working on collar grab again.
I vary how I use treats for the harness. Sometimes I lure him with treats and sometimes I don’t show him a the treats until after I snap each clasp. I use the 15-Perfect Fit harness; it comes in three separate pieces to get a good fit. My k9 PT helped me measure for it. He’s fine once it’s on.
ASSIGNMENT #1
I’m retired and have two papillons, Fisher is 12 yo and Buoy 3 1/2 yo.
Buoy excels in Scentwork and we are now learning to work through higher level challenges. He is eager to work and has no issues at trials. However, agility is another story.
When I started FACE 1, at trials, Buoy would run away frantically and try to escape the ring, even jumping onto ring crew he knew.
WHAT WORKED FROM FACE 1: Not correcting errors, High ROR, Crating in car when possible, Find my face in class, Shadow handling.
IMPROVEMENTS: Overall, Buoy is much more resilient in class although there are times when he will walk off and sniff and not always come back.
VIDEOS: First video is a weave seminar last November which took place in our class training center. The clip is a few minutes into our turn, he initially got the entry and then we struggled with my handling. He had great resilience, you will see he kept trying to get the entry and did not give up. I was thrilled. I crated him away from all the other dogs and kept giving him breaks away from the barking dogs.
Second video is from this past Sunday at an agility trial, running FEO. Totally different outcome.
The GOOD: He stopped after the Aframe. He is supposed to have two on/two off but the fact that he stopped at all was great.
The BAD: He did not hold the teeter the first time, it’s his favorite obstacle and he rarely leaves it. He just ran off after that and we never connected.
The UGLY: Second FEO run. Unfortunately, no video. He took three obstacles and ran off sniffing, I could not get him back for a while. He started to tug so we could leave then ran away towards the exit but for the first time EVER, I could not get him. He would not come to me and stayed about five feet away, dodging me. I started to panic. I even opened the exit gate, hoping to grab him as he left but he wasn’t buying it. I finally got him and left the ring upset. I shed some tears on the way home.
I finally came to admit to myself that Buoy doesn’t trust me. Even at home, if he thinks I want something he may be suspicious of like picking him up or something else, he moves away from me. I live in a small apartment so while it’s annoying, I have not dealt with the issue. I will cue “pick up” and then bring him to treats and put him down and sometimes he will come to me while I’m in the kitchen and paws me to pick him up. When he sees his leash and harness, he runs away unless I lure him with treats and even then, he will growl while I put his leash on. He’s not so bad with collar but still doesn’t like it. He’s also affectionate. He must be touching me whenever I am sitting down. He doesn’t mind grooming. Thank goodness he loves to play.
A friend recently commented that we are given the dogs who will teach us lessons. If that’s the case, then I need the Sesame Street version because I’m not getting it. LOL
AVAILABILTY; Mondays and Tuesdays are best.
Hi Bobbie
I just want to thank you for all your help – I enjoyed working with you. I have lots to work on but you’ve given me great information and I feel like I have a solid plan to move forward. My agility instructor and classmates have already noticed a positive change.My plan is to continue learning/practicing the games — I want them to become second nature. I am making up “flash” cards to carry with me so when I get distracted, they’ll be handy.
I will only trial FEO. Thinking long-term, I want to come up with a concrete measure of when to try a trial run without physical reinforcement in the ring. Not sure what that will look like.
I hope to be able to continue working with you.
This video is a snippet from class. I made several mistakes and made sure he didn’t know it. I have to admit, it’s actually been a relief for me to stop worrying.
Thanks again.
Goretta & Buoy
I spoke to my instructor about everything I’m working on with Buoy and asked her if it was ok with her if I switched my focus from skills to helping Buoy’s mindset. She was all in which I’m very happy about.
Here is our first attempt at Assignment #8. It’s long because I didn’t know what to pick out for you to review. I assume you can just fast forward through it. Let me know if I’m wrong and I’ll be sure to edit to one minute. Thanks.
We did three runs in UKI today, all NFC. I did not fix anything and tried to keep it light and fun. This was in our training facility so he knows it well but there are only three people in our weekly class vs. the trial. This was a low-key trial yet he was over threshold because he would not let go of the toy and I started to get sniffing.
We worked out of the car and I put the snuffle mat in his crate. After our runs, he was trying to jump into the car to get to the mat which has not done before. I was glad about that. After reviewing these runs, I think I could be more connected with him, especially at the start of the third run.
Looking forward to your comments.
Thanks.
I guess I jumped the gun, LOL. I was saying “hand” so he knew I wasn’t tossing it; in her video, Tracey mentioned letting the dog know where the reinforcement is coming from.
In this video I realized about half way through that he was jumping on me to get the treat which I don’t want so I started to bend down and give it to him before he jumped. I like this game a lot because Buoy doesn’t like to come in close to me. I have probably picked him up one too many times 😏 and he won’t come near me when I take out his leash and harness.
Comment about Relaxation game: we’ve been doing this almost every day and I’ve noticed that it can take Buoy between 2-3 minutes before he lays down. He hasn’t gotten to the point where he is completely chill, rather he watches my hand to track the cookies. Plus I am breaking Cheerios in half so he watches me do that expectantly. Sometimes he will even get up again for a minute or so. I have been doing this with both my dogs at the same time, one on either side. I’m wondering if that may affect Buoy’s demeanor. I am going to do it separately starting today to see if there’s a difference.
On another topic, I mentioned that Buoy excels at scentwork, totally different dog from agility. He’s relaxed and super eager to play the game. Do you think it would help if I played these games and used the snuffle mat at Scentwork trials? To help get him used to them in a different context? My worry is will he associate the games with his anxiety from agility and start to worry at scentwork? I don’t want to ruin scentwork.
Thanks.
Like this?
Here is my first attempt at your version of Find My Face.
I play this game a little differently where I toss a cookie, he runs to get it while I wait for him to turn around. Then I toss another cookie in a different direction. I have not waited for him to return to me before tossing the next cookie.
Hi Bobbie
I’ve been reading and re-reading the handouts. It’s all so interesting, makes so much sense and now I’m trying to sort it all out and figure out how to put it all together so it becomes a “pattern” for me. I know, practice practice practice. 😉That said, a few questions:
Self-Control Depletion: How can I figure out when he’s using his self control “fuel”throughout the day?
Last week I sublet a spot in an agility class. We have only been to this location once before last January and only had one class going on. It’s a horse facility. On this day there was a second class running. Our total running time was just over three minutes. We started out fine but had a handling error. The video clip is just after receiving instructions. I was holding him in my arms during the instruction. I guess I had Selective Attention from Buoy and I didn’t give enough importance to the second class.
Right after the first video, I got this reaction so I ended the session. Much too late now that I see it. Also, I realize now that I felt very rushed and I’m sure that contributed to Buoy’s state of mind. Sigh…..
My question to you is do you have any tips on evaluating an environment before proceeding? I totally did not give credence to the second class going on. I feel like an idiot now.
How long should I wait before calling it quits during a lesson or training session? One recall? Two? Something else? My current instructor likes to end on a good note, even if it’s just having him take one jump, reward and leave the ring. Do you agree?
Last question, I have entered two UKI trials so I can go in with a toy. The first one is in my training center and the second one is not. Should I go ahead with these or stop trialing all together?
I have been practicing the exercises and made a list of the games so I can keep track. I have a video clip but will wait to hear from you about this current post.
Thanks so much.
The good thing is that any dog that attacks a person or dog is evicted so the dogs are gone.
I understand your scoring, thanks.
I’ve entered two UKI trials, one of them at my training facility. The extra people will add stress.
Assignment #2, Measuring Resilience
This was difficult and interesting, having to really examine Buoy’s body language more closely than I have been. Poor pup, I feel bad for what I’ve been putting him through. I will do better!
I went back through lots of videos and had five but I am only using three, labeled Videos 3, 4, and 5.
I would rate a 10 stress level if he panics to leave and won’t come back. Thank
Video #3
Stress lasted 8+ seconds, Stress level 8
I am sure he was stressed well before where the clip starts. I rated it 8 because he tried to leave but came back to finish the run and then took off again.
https://youtu.be/lWDnwsAOe3IVideo#4
Stressed probably the entire run, Stress level 10
I found video of our first Rally trial, I am embarrassed looking at this — hindsight is 20/20 I guess. I have no doubt that if he were not on leash, he would have bolted.
https://youtu.be/r0tkIUa2V84Video #5
Stress 5 seconds, Stress level 3
The video is not great but hopefully shows enough. I live in an apartment complex with lots of dogs. Last year, one neighbor’s small dog was killed by an off leash lab. Previously, that lab had charged us (I was walking two dogs) and I avoided disaster only because the lab’s owner and daughter managed to get to the lab before he made contact with my dogs. Since then, I only walk one dog at a time. Last week, another neighbor’s 10yo mellow Aussie was mauled by two large dogs who broke away from it’s owner.
Both my dogs will bark and lunge when I walk them around the complex. They don’t do it at trials or anywhere else. I have been working hard with them to CC and have made great progress.This clip is from this afternoon. It would have been a smoother transition but I had the camera.
https://youtu.be/pmZSU65NZj4Ok, will only run FEO. Just to double check, he should see that I have a toy?
I will pull out of my non-FEO eligible classes. If I can’t, should I just scratch or would it be reasonable to go in and do two or three obstacles and then leave the ring and reward? I have no problem scratching, it was just a thought.
I will stop trialing in barns. I see now that he does do better on turf.
Here’s a class video. Thanks.
