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Looks like my comment didn’t stick when I watched this video. She did a great job following, especially when she was determined to get the stuck ring treat.
I can tell when you give the immediate YES with motion away you are getting snappier pushes versus the lingering licks. She might be one that likes a touch with you moving a bit, so it’s a little bit of a moving target.
She’s going to be a little fitness guru. Backing up with your hand lower helped her because the weight stayed distributed (versus when your hands were high that shifted weight back and caused the sit). She also has a gorgeous bow, as all whippety things should LOL. You can keep cookie on the nose or just hands lower for now as she keeps up with the backing up!
What a good girl! She seemed happier to go around the left leg, so if you wanted to toss that cookie behind you on the ground when you do the right legs that might help her get the hang of it. Sometimes the whippety ones can be pressure sensitive but it looks like she will have a lot of value and love this game. And I’m 100% fine with you placing hands on her for a READY SET GO chase this cookie I throw in front of you. So she has an extra bit of fun after being ‘caught’.
Your foam pad worked okay to start but let’s move her to a square Cato board for the rest of the mat work. I haven’t been taking them back to the floor – so when you see instructions that say remove the platform in the coming weeks – ignore those and just stay on the Cato. I want her confident in pushing and stepping and that foam pad was flopping around too much. But it was neat to see her tuck herself smaller to get all four feet on it.
I love how well she is switching between toys!!
One change to your setup. The toy she has ‘dies’ and goes still. Then say YES and bring the new toy in the other hand alive. That YES is what is marking “spit this out and get this new one” which will eventually down the road be “spit this ball and get this tug”.
Right now you are marking YES after she makes the decision to switch toys, but I want YES to be the marker word that cues that it is okay to switch. I really like how she goes back and forth so easily.
Perfect! I liked how crisp and loud you were with the HERE and as soon as she moved to turn her head you were moving in the opposite direction.
She is a strong tugger. How does she do if you tug and let go of the tug, maybe even run away. Will she bring the tug to you to ask to re-engage with you?
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?
