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Hi Tracy. Hopefully more video today. I’ve been busy getting ready to go to the Open so poor Vinny hasn’t gotten much attention. My friend Norm took him around the AWC course in segments last week and he ran beautifully for him. I can see how my anxiety plays a role in his arousal 😉.
Question about his arousal around my dogs. He can get so excited that he will go after one of them. Usually it’s Marky because they play together outside running and chasing each other in high excitement. Yesterday they were all in their dog runs (2 dogs each run), he’s with Gibbs who he loves to wrestle with in the house. Gibbs is almost 14 and a willing participant but I monitor them so he doesn’t get hurt. They don’t wrestle in the runs but for some reason yesterday Vinny went after Gibbs. I immediately yelled at him to stop and he did. I know it’s excitement and not meanness. He’s easy to stop now. He wasn’t when he was younger. Fortunately it rarely happens now. When leaving the house he goes last with the corgi through the door or he’ll turn around and chase whoever else is coming out (corgi Prue does the same 😊). He’s very herdy and that can be annoying. I never try and play with them all together because they will start fighting unless we’re out in the open field behind the house. Then I can throw a chuckit. When they have excessive room like at the beach they are great. I’m not sure if there’s anything else I can do. Although all 5 of them get along he has not endeared himself to all of them. They all keep one eye open when he’s around 😆.
Thanks Tracy.
Since inside is such an arousal starter for him I did split up being inside vs outside. I think being inside really increased my anxiety so next time I won’t try to be inside much at Rising Star. I’ve had 3 dogs who were crazy excited outside the ring but they could all listen and focus on me ringside. I think that’s why this is so hard for me. I almost want to just let him be because it’s hard for me to watch him struggle. But I’ll keep moving forward with what we’re doing and your suggestions. I do see improvement.
I’m at the Open next and leaving him home so I can focus on Marky. I will try to get in some practice sessions at home this week.Thanks for all the support. It really helps.
Hi Tracy.
At the trial at Rising Star. T2B was the first class, small too tall. I’m exhausted mentally and physically. Trials are not fun with him for me. He did great though. Here is the sequence of events. I walked to the building in a controlled manner. He was good up to the door. Inside while everyone walked the course I did the tap game. It went OK. I went back out and got 2 toys. Tugged all the way from the car to the door. That was pretty good. The next video was him tugging in the building. I switched to a more high value toy but that’s isn’t on video for some reason. The higher value toy was even better. Then they started running. He couldn’t play anymore outside the ring. It was a little better in the massage room. Worse upstairs. I went outside a couple of times to walk and play on the practice jump. When I walked back in the last time it was our turn so we went straight into the ring. Third video is his FEO run. No complaints there except I’m mentally and physically tired. Here’s one video. The other 2 will follow in a separate post.
Thanks Tracy. He wouldn’t tug outside the ring either. But I think we’re getting closer to him being able to do that. And he took the food from my hand but wouldn’t take it from on top of my shoe or the ground. But I’ll keep doing pattern games at home and maybe he’ll transfer that to the trial sites at some point.
I’m on the wait list Nov 5th weekend but he can work outside the ring even if we don’t get in the ring that weekend.Hi Tracy.
I haven’t had a chance to try another sequence with adding tugging and motion as discussed above. I did have a seminar yesterday and the morning was young dog. No video unfortunately but here’s how it went. The seminar was outside and there were only 4 people/5 dogs so not a crazy environment. When I brought him over from the car and got up to the ring he couldn’t focus on me. So, I moved back until I could get a response. He wouldn’t do his pattern games at all but he would tap my hand so I did one to one hand to and food. I was able to get him to walk, not drag me to the ring. In the ring he was close to perfect. Start lines were good and I only did a few so I didn’t push it too much then let him leave from my side. All in all a positive experience. I know it will be tougher at Rising Star. When I’m there next weekend I’ll get some video.Thanks Tracy. I think I have more understanding now. I’ll reread this a few times as I work on this part. You’re correct, I’m uncomfortable and I need to break through that. No matter what I do he’ll be fine. 😊 I need to allow myself to make mistakes as well as let him make them too. I’m going to try another sequence today when I’m not so tired. Let’s see how that goes.
Oh boy. I was too tired to take Vinny out tonight after working in the yard all day. But he was itching to do something and I wanted to try some of what I mentioned in the above post. He tried 😊. I really couldn’t hold up my end. I stopped and grabbed his Hol-E roller to work with that in my hand for a little extra help. I loved when he turned to me when I was working on getting decel to #3. We’ll try again when I’m a bit fresher 😊.
I have a question about the volume dial. Vinny is always ready to do agility. I don’t ever feel the need to get him even more aroused. I started doing a hand tap for food with him to try and get him to focus on me. Can’t say he loves that game. Doubt he would do it outside the ring at an agility trial at this point. I’m not sure what I should be trying to do. He has his warm up exercises which are back-up, side step, spins, stand to down or sit. That’s outside where we have space to move so it’s removed from the stimulation that over aroused him. But what can I do inside that would engage him? Right now he won’t tug or take food outside the ring. This is where I feel I’m stuck.
Thanks Tracy. I realized I shouldn’t have stopped when the second bar dropped and that’s why I gave him the toy right away 🤪. My bad. Great feedback.
Hi Tracy.
Here is Vinny doing sequence 1. I wanted you to see everything from start to finish so I didn’t edit much out to shorten it. If I let him he would constantly be running circles around me when we are walking. I use the same cue as in herding to get him to walk behind or beside me. When he lines up on the start line he always wants to be in front of me and I always need to ask him to move back. You’ll see he started in full run mode :-). I didn’t take a break after the first complete run to show you a bit of his escalation. Then I did the pattern games again and did another try. He was out by himself so no distractions and was pretty good.
So glad to be here and continue to work on Vinny’s arousal. Here’s a little history of Vinny at agility trials.
What type of stuff is happening outside the ring, causing the struggles? When Vinny sees and hears agility his total focus goes to the ring and he doesn’t hear me or see me. He won’t tug or take food. He can watch Marky do agility at home now without wigging out. Here’s our progression at Rising Star where I often trial. At first I could only walk around two sides of the building where I could stay at a good distance away. Going inside was not an option. Now I can walk around the edge of the whole building. When we get to the front of the building he starts to get excited and I start to lose some focus. In the building when he’s downstairs I have to stand by the far wall near the entrance to get a sit and partial focus. He may take treats but will not tug. He pretty much wants to drag me into the ring but once in I have no problem removing the leash and going to the start line. I would say most of the time he has held his start line but he’s pushing to leave and may start to creep a little. He is easy to get a leash on and leave the ring when done. I’ve started to crate him upstairs in a wire crate 🙂 covered. The more hyped the dog in the ring is the more hyped he is. I haven’t brought him with me in a while. I want to develop some kind of routine ringside that will hold his attention. I’ve done the 3 exercises in the first lesson and I also have him sit and tap my right then left hand back and forth for treats. I felt like that had him engaging directly with me. I’ll be trialing Marky the weekend of the 28th and can try some things ringside with Vinny. He is not entered. I entered him on Nov 5th for his first AKC trial just to get some ring practice so will need a plan. It will be a standard class which will be his first time on contacts in the ring. I don’t know if I can FEO in that class but I will not be running to try and Q.
Thanks for the feedback. I left the building right after I turned off the video. He went in his crate in the car in the parking lot. He relaxes very well there. I was very pleased with how he reacted in the building. In the past he couldn’t relax at all. I’ll do shorter sessions in the future but just wanted you to see everything. I loved seeing his tail wagging. We’ll try games next time.
At home he still gets pretty aroused working but I’m seeing improvement. I’m also seeing that he is regulating himself and will take a break when he needs it. The fact that he can take a break and watch me and Marky work without barking up a storm is soo helpful.
I’m trying to figure out what would be a good start line routine for him. I don’t need to get him excited. I usually ask “ready” and train them to bark back at me. Vinny doesn’t need that. I started to give him a body pet once he sits and thought maybe my touch would relax him. Any thoughts?
Hi. I have some video of Vinny at the trial yesterday. He was not entered. He has never run at a trial yet. I felt ready to bring him in the building and see what he thought. The videos are a bit lengthy. We went from a separate room on the main floor where he heard the end of a class to the loft area where he could watch course building and then runs. He escalated once the runs start but he did well. You can fast forward some of the videos to where he’s more chill 😊.
Thank you.
I have started doing the pattern game part 1. It is very hard form him to focus on me when the other dogs are in the house moving around. He’s fine by himself. I want this to be very strong so I can try taking him in the agility building. He can focus on me doing agility even if the dogs are out but not away from agility. He has a STRONG herding instinct. I’m at a trial this weekend and it shouldn’t be crowded. I was thinking of bringing him in with his snuffle mat. He won’t focus on me on the way in but I feel I need to start somewhere. What do you think?
