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Nice job getting that big body into that tiny box!! He knew exactly where to put those back feet.
Touch – very nice on the sides and the high reaches! Even the low one on the floor I was impressed he recognized.
Here – You can start to add some more enthusiasm when he takes that first step towards you. Well done.
Two Tugs – So “Get This” is going to be the words you say when he finishes the finish line and you tell him he has carried the ball far enough and can spit. He’s an A+ tugger and has the concept of switching down really well.
Impulse Game with food – he said that’s dumb what a breeze haha. And the end he said was a trap LOL.
Recalls! How fun she and Maze get to grow up training together! You can hear thunder foot rolling up behind you on the mats. He has a lot of body and I want to encourage (as much as we can) the super quick acceleration steps for him in particular. So I would likely do 60% short recalls, 30% medium and 10% long recalls until he’s doing multiple jumps. The short ones would be letting go when you are 4-5 steps away, tug really low. So he feels like you are just in reach so he digs that much harder. With you being further out – he is really extending the stride to cover ground (but that’s not going to help with striding/acceleration off the box).
She looks like all the blue cedars I see LOL but I did confirm it on Facebook. I was bragging about her today at my flyball tournament setup to the other blue cedar owners. 8″ is perfect – I’m super excited to see how she turns out.
That’s interesting to learn about her. I wonder if you could even shape the ‘get on a klimb’ with a tug using that arousal.
Tug/play then when she is high ask her to get on the klimb or touch the klimb and immediately engage back to the tug if she does anything. I’m with you though – I prefer a dog that can work for both food and tug (or if I can pick only one I prefer food). Happy to hear she’s building it up.
With Akona, what is the word that you say when she crosses the finish line and you are ready for her to spit her ball for the tug? That’s the word we want to use for Astra to switch between tugs. You say YES a lot (like me!), which I think you know so that’s why you were trying to use ‘here’ or ‘okay’.
She’s really good at switching between the two!! And when she knows you have another toy in your hand it looks like she will still bring you the one that is in her mouth to your hand. (Fingers crossed she won’t be the ball spitting whippet type!)
Tell me more about her personality now that she is settling in more with you. Is she more reserved?
I thought this was a neat game or you giving her the agency to build confidence on her own. Normally I would have been like, put her in the box so she knows it isn’t lava and then would be more willing to go back in. But you were cool and patient and when she NAILED IT you could see her whole body just vibrate with the excitement and energy that she did it all on her own. So for “trying something new on your own” I think you did this exercise beautifully and helped her grow a lot there.
If that assessment fits her – I would add in more things to the box after she’s comfortable with the cardboard. Tinfoil, bubble wrap, ice packs, bags of cereal, etc. And doesn’t have to be in the box – I do a lot of “obstacle courses” with my puppies of trusting me to lead them over things that are wild but worth it. Like a trust fall exercise.
YAY! This was well worth the wait. First off your excitement and praise for her is contagious. I was smiling the whole time I got to watch the video!
Here Game – perfect – I loved to hear her pitter patter of feet on her way to you. If you wanted you can add a Good Girl or similar praise on her first step towards you since she’s been 100% committed.
4 Feet – excellent! I was nervous to start when you placed it so far away and she didn’t seem to know the behavior. But clearly she did!
Two Tug Game – I will not lie… at first I thought you sped it up in double time because she was shaking so fast and zipping back and forth so quick.
Nose Touch – excellent – loved to see her reach high and low. Also looked like you were incorporating some chin rest too which I use for mine as well.
Impulse Control – this was the only exercise that appeared more difficult for her, but of course after 2 reminders she was like okay, I got this. And that could have been because she was already a little tired from the previous play. She was still perfect and controlled her body.
Recalls – whew she’s fast – love your play and happiness each and every rep. People often act bored doing something as mundane as a recall – but you make each of them fun and that’s going to pay off when she runs 3.7/3.8 like her blue cedar cousin Fran I just had.
Ready, Set, Break – normally I tell me students feedback about how they are silently cueing the break by anticipating the ‘break’ and dropping their shoulder, or making eye contact (so the dog is reading lips maybe?). I don’t think I need to share that with you because you can and do purposefully proof that already by dropping low, teasing with the tug, etc. You made them shorter when she was getting tired and couldn’t hold her distance as well – and I have no doubt if you did a boring calm walkout you could make it 75’+. Is she good at standing still when she’s being held by someone else for a restrained recall – or does she wiggle and squirm?
How is she measuring so far – do you have any concerns or worries on that aspect as a height dog?
Perfect timing for this class – he has been looking really coordinated for a 6 month old boy too – I bet he picks up each exercise quickly!
I just stalked Jinka on Facebook and oh golly does she look like a good time. She is a quick little thing and looks like she enjoys doing lots of adventures. Hopefully we can get you hooked up with some nearby teams for some of the passing/racing drills. But luckily we can do majority on your own (just like how I train all my flyball dogs!).
Can you change the permission on YouTube video to be unlisted – right now it is set to private and I can’t view it. Thanks!!
I LOVE LOVE LOVED every second of this video. Textbook perfect toy play. You will clear with what you wanted her to do, you were silly and fun and engaging and thus she wanted nothing more than to exist in your bubble with her treasure. I was curious if she would chase you around if you ran away with that Wubba in her mouth and clearly she would!
“I feel like you are going to need gloves with this one” OMG that was hysterical.
Great job having the tug be low for head driving down. This was a long recall, so be sure to mix in some medium and even short recalls. The short recalls where the dogs are right behind you are great for that quick collection off the box (simulates the fast steps they need to get in for striding before the jump). When they do longer recalls they stretch more and it’s not as urgent.
She’s going to be a lot of fun. 🙂
Here Game – She is getting super snappy!! I feel like she turns left majority of the time – do you see that already in day to day living?
Change up one part of your game since you are using cookies to get distance – when you say HERE – you give the cookie to her. The idea is that immediate reward is on your person. Find me cause I have the best thing. After she gets that cookie, send her to go get the lame other cookie (you could 100% hold her and say Ready Set Go or just toss the cookie really fun like you are already doing). In this game – I could use two levels of values like a charlie bear for leaving me, and a meatball for coming back.
If you think about it like a recall off the box – the idea is to go straight to the owner – you wouldn’t toss the cookie/tug reward. You would be engaging! So it brings back in that one piece.
If you were to just walk her off leash at practice does she stick to you? Or would she take a few steps away to sniff something where you can call her off? I like to also have some of the dog’s agency built in where they 100% are making the decision to leave that person they wanted to visit or smell that was interesting.
Hey Jo!
Working on figuring out why I didn’t get a notification on this thread you made! Sorry for the delay in responding.
I didn’t use the mat for Mose because he didn’t have the foundation for it. He knew the Cato board to target before the box, but didn’t know targeting the mat for his back feet like I teach in my foundations course. I love the mat target training – I feel like it easily transitions from mat on the Cato board, to mat on the slant board, to mat on the box (I don’t do vertical wall board).
Working on that online Cato – I feel like such a juggler right now trying to squeeze 48 hours into a 24 hour day!
