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Good morning!
Looking at the toy placement & side changes:
>What didn’t work – hiding the static toy behind the barrel. I tried to connect , I tried to call him – no way. When he knows where is his toy – and I don’t have the toy – he just ran straight to the barrel, ignoring my side switch. >
Actually, it was a connection question, he was not ignoring you 🙂
Remember that connection is what HE can see, not what you can see 🙂 and he is low to the ground so the connection needs to be obvious to him at this stage. You might have been able to see him on all of those reps but he did not see the connection. Here is what I mean:
On the side changes – when the toy is visible on the new side, he goes to the new side. When the toy is not visible:
When you are connected and he sees your face (:32, 3:20, 3:39) and your arms are low and not blocking the view or pointing forward: he also finds the side change. The key is to get connection and get the side change before you try to cue the barrel. That is what you did here and it worked well even with the toy out there.
But when you are not connected and he can’t see your face (your arm blocking it, like at 2:47 & 2:55 & 3:04 & 3:24) he does not see the side change. What was happening on those was you were trying to cue the side change AND send to the barrel at the same time, but that ended up with your arm blocking connection and him not being able to see your face at all. So he stayed on his line, good boy!
Having the toy past the barrel can confuse the issue though, so I am happier to not have it placed out there: he was not wrong to stay on the same side when there is no clear connection, but then not getting the toy reward can be confusing to him. So work more on getting connection then cueing the barrel, then throwing the toy (the barrel commitment is not a problem at all, so connection can be your main emphasis for now).
Another thing that will help is to use a clear consistent marker to get the toy. That will help him from getting it when you don’t want him to get it 🙂 You were using a lot of praise which is great! But a consistent marker like ‘get it’ will help him have more success with the placed toy rather than running to it.
No need to place the toy on the RCs either, because then the toy becomes the cue (he just goes to the toy) and the handling doesn’t matter as much. But the handling needs to be a bit clearer to get the RCs more consistently.
To get the RCs to be close to 100% successful, you can change your running line:
rather than pull away so he can pass you the try to cue the RC, you run forward to the center of the bar. That cues him to pass you AND to turn the RC direction. That is closer to what you did at 2:38 but that one still had a little pull away so he looked up at you to see what you wanted.
Here are visuals with the running lines on them:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/10Bh4M4P2PRcP5Id52dr3-Vw1UjQ5bD6hRX_u1G5If8s/edit?usp=sharing
Getting so far ahead then requires you to pull away to let him get past you, then rushing to push in to get the RCmight not always be on time and will put you far behind on the RCs that are not wraps (most RCs are soft turns or accelerations to the next line),.
For example, that is what happened at 2:09 – you pulled towards the right turn side then tried for the RC but it was too late and he didn’t see the turn. At 4:19 you pushed in too early and that pushed him off the jump.
The successful reps had you moving towards the center of the bar sooner! Yay! So you can set that up a lot sooner: start closer to the little barrel so you don’t get too far ahead. And be running forward to the center of the bar the whole time until he has passed you and locked onto the bar. Your acceleration forward will cue him to pass you, and your line to the center of the bar cues him to do the RC 🙂 Changing to the new side happens after these 2 other things – it is not the actual cue. You will be happy with how well he reads it when you get comfortable with it 🙂
Nice work here!
Tracy
Good morning!
He did great here! The only hard part was finding the treat fast enough LOL You can add wings to the jump (mainly to show him the different visual).You can also throw a toy as the reward – that will be fun and he can also practice retrieving it 🙂
How are the rear cross games going? We can add them to the jump if he is getting the concept with the simpler games.
You can also play with rotated sends and turn & burn… but using the jump! This bumps him a little ahead (the current versions use the barrel) but I think he is ready to see a more advanced level. And if my memory is correct, he is doing well with a stay – so you can use the stay to begin working on a bit of forward focus: putting a bowl or maybe a boring toy (if there is a boring toy in his world) on the ground then lining up into a sit a few feet from it, you can release him to it when he looks at it. And if he can do that, we can add the jump to the game.
Great job!
Tracy
Good morning!
Looking at the backing up: it was totally NOT an epic fail! Just needs a little tweak in spots.
When doing it on the flat, you can do this sitting on something low so your hands can stay low without angering your back 🙂 We need the hands to be low, so she can keep her head lower. When your hands are high (when you are standing), she lifts her head to look at your hands, which produces a sit. And sitting on something will help prevent her from going entirely through your legs, although that was really cute 🙂
And you can use the clicker to mark the movement, but to get more backing up we can change the reward placement: instead of hand-delivering it to her mouth (which causes her to stop & sit), you can toss it low through her front legs like trying to get a puck past a hockey goalie 🙂
Using the little platform as a destination totally helps – I think she is getting the idea of it but it was a little too small for her. Use something bigger so she can start with all four feet easily on it so she can stand without sitting or scrunching up.
Then instead of thinking about back feet at first – lure her front feet off the platform and let her step back onto it. Front foot awareness will lead to back foot awareness 🙂 so after a couple of reps of that, you can lure all 4 of her feet off and I bet she steps backwards onto it beautifully!
The lap turn work on the 3rd video was really great!
To get the tandem turns smoother with 2 hands, you can be facing the same way she is moving (instead of facing her like the lap turns). Just be sure the hands are super visible.My only suggestion is to keep your feet together for longer – move your foot back when you move your hand back Your hand had great timing and your foot was early 🙂 Being early can lead to questions about which way to turn (like at 1:02 and 1:16 & 1:28 & 1:38) because it makes your hands too early there too. That was your harder side, so slowing the hands down and letting her get also to your hands before moving will smooth that side out.
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
>We discovered that other puppies smelly treats at class and in the dog show ring may blow her mind a bit.>
Yum! You might have to fight fire with fire and bring mind-blowing treats for her too 🙂
She did really well with the out cue! The arm was very clear and she was happy to move away to the prop in both directions. Super!!!
The next step is to add your motion of walking on a straight line past the prop the whole time – sometimes cueing the prop, sometimes just walking past so she sticks with you.
>I think I need to use out.>
Yes, I think ‘out’ is perfect! You can add it now as you add movement.
The beginning of the threadle wrap went great too. She is more than happy to follow the hand cues, so you can now add your movement to this as well – moving forward cueing the U-turns as well as moving forward and cueing the full circle.
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
I think this session went pretty well – it is hard to do 2 in a row and putting the toy away really helped. When you had it in your hands and switched hands with it, it drew her attention a bit too much (:30). But having it tucked into the back of your pants worked a lot better. Going from handler focus on the front cross exit to the obstacle focus on the barrel is coming along nicely, and I think you will be able to get more tan 2 in a row pretty soon. But we really don’t need more than 2 in a row right now – maybe a 3rd is nice but I stand with Reese on this one: too many reps are not fun 🙂
>She lost interest and started off to eat hackberries or grab her ball under the tree. I gave her a break and tried again and got a similar result.>
She went to investigate something on the very last rep here – but came back almost immediately. You can totally reward that.
I do think the switching from handler focus to obstacle focus & ignoring the toy & ignoring berries/ball on the ground is mentally expensive for her right now. So you can structure the session to do a 2 or 3 reps then she gets a break. Then on the next session a few minutes later, add the novelty of a different toy for another few reps. Teenage dogs are really into novelty and that can help her continue to ignore stuff in the environment when the skill is no longer novel.
The other thing you can do is get a bunch of hackberries in a bowl, and bring them indoors to use as the ‘novel-exciting’ (and higher levels) for the stealth self-control games. They are a pretty big distraction in the outdoor environment so we might as well tackle them, starting in small steps indoors 🙂
Nice work here!
Tracy
Hi!
The environment was crowded here with big dogs and he did great! I am super happy with how well he is working for food even though toys are still his main love 🙂And there were a LOT of challenging dogs around in both videos! You must have filmed during the 20” class because there were hyped up Border Collies everywhere LOL!
On the first video:
He did really well with the border collie behind him looking at him at the beginning here then tugging behind him later. Benny was aware of it but still ignore him. That same dog barking at his handler (1:12 ish) was a distraction – that deep woof might have felt like it was alarm barking or directed at Benny (from Benny’s perspective) but you got his engagement back with cookie tosses the tugging. Perfect!He gave a small woof at the dog that suddenly appeared behind him – I don’t blame him at all for his response! It was rally sudden to have the dog burst out and lie down right there. Benny barked a little and you made a great adjustment by getting the cookie tosses going, then playing, then moving him away. And he finished strong there.
He was also super good on the 2nd video – the spins and serpentine hand looked beautiful and he was completely focused, right near the ring. YAY!
Well done!!
Tracy
Hi!
Hope you are having a fun weekend!
>Sends to wraps and cones were fine >
I agree, he did really well 🙂 He had some questions after the jump, about where to go next. That was all about connection. He needs you to maintain more connection back to him at this stage so he can see your eyes and face more when he is behind you.
When you had your arm blocking your face or you were looking ahead, you got a zig zag in his line (like at :03 and :20) or accidental blinds where he did not see the side change (like at :28, :44, 1:08)
Your connection at 2:10 was fantastic and he had no questions – he could very clearly see your face and your arm was low.
I grabbed some screenshots so you can see what I mean about the connection and also about the rear crosses. They are here:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1r81w5BSoHXApKuJZPETRjU0TnCf8drkQ3VDn-oAkVAU/edit?usp=sharing
About the rear crosses – there were 2 types you were cueing here on both videos: rear crosses with arm cues (like tandem turns) and forward moving rear crosses.
On the first video, I think at 2:20 you did a few reps of verbal-only on the RC and he was not quite ready for that. You added arm cues at 2:48, 2:51, 4:17 but they were a little late. He was already at the bar and turning to his right before you showed the RC cues. He makes his decision about 2 feet from the jump at the latest (you will see that on the screenshots).
Then you started holding him and showing the outside arm before you let him go… that was a HUGE help for him! Yay!
Then you had a forward moving rear cross at 3:52 (starting further back) – he saw forward motion to commit to the jump, and by the time he saw RC info of your motion heading to the center of the bar, it was too late and he was already getting ready to take off in the original direction.
This session shows us two things about his rear crosses:
When you are close to the jump, the pressure into the center of the bar and the arm cues really help.When you are further from the jump, though, the motion of the pressure into the center of the jump is more important than the arm cues.
Looking at the 2nd video: You changed your timing here and it went great! On the RCs that started close to the jump like at :02 & :18 & :35 & :51 (and later too) your cues were all before he got to the bar & made a takeoff decision – arm and leg working together which really helped.
Sometimes your leg helped too much and you stepped to the backside line before he passed you (like at :42) so that is where he went – there was too much pressure and it was too soon.
The reps at 1:18 & 1:32 were more of a forward moving RC and the timing was MUCH sooner on the motion to the center of the bar then to the other side of him – so he did great! YAY!!!!
You will see screenshots of those too, to compare to how early he needs the information.
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
>It seems like if he gets started having lots of focus on other dogs it’s hard to get him back.>
One thing you can do is add more play, like with a favorite toy or ball or his beloved flirt pole 🙂 These sessions were all with cookies which are a bit calming. And if he is too calm, other dogs might be more noticeable for him. If he is more pumped up and playing, he is likely to not even notice the other dogs. And you can also do tricks-for-treats and chasing you to get him more pumped up using food.
Strike a pose went really well – he did a great job staying engaged with the leash off and with all the activity around him. He really likes the praise! The game itself ws very easy for him and the mat to throw the treat onto was definitely helpful!
>I keep forgetting not to move through lol. So when he touched and gets the treat my body wants to move.>
You were fine in terms of movement here – on most of the reps, you were rewarding from the correct hand and kind of leaning that direction. But that is good! You were not closing your shoulders or walking or anything. There was a rep or two where you didn’t have the reward ready so there was a lot of movement but overall, the movement was fine here.
For the backing up – he is getting the idea! He does seem to be using the mat as a ‘destination’ which is great!
>I’m still figuring out how far away I should be from the rear foot target so he steps back. Hi I think he was reaching with his feet.>
I agree that he was reaching back for the target! 2 things will help you get more distance:
Having you standing up was inhibiting the backwards movement because he was lifting his head way up high. Ideally your hands stay low (chin level for him) so his head stays in neutral position and then he can back up more. The only way to do that without making your back really angry is to be sitting while you train backing up 🙂
The other thing is that he was going a little sideways because he was targeting off your right hand, which was the hand all the reward was coming from. So you can get him to go straight by having rewards in both hands, and alternating which hand throws the reward. You don’t need to use the clicker anymore, because that would require a 3rd hand haha!
OMG! He has made tremendous progress with his stays! Look at him! Very nice 🙂 He did a great job holding the stay with dogs and people walking by and a jump there (even though he doesn’t have a lot of value for the jump yet).
These games are going really well – you can definitely add more flirt pole and tugging to it to see how it all goes when he is more pumped up 🙂
Great job! Safe travels home!
Tracy
Good morning!
Lots of good work here – it looks like he is back to 100%. Yay!Front crosses and spins (front/blind) with the toy on the ground looks great.
He was great with the pivot too – next time you can try it without a toy in your hand – will he still choose to follow the handling? I think he will 🙂When you are home, you can replace the toy on the ground with a tunnel. I know he will follow a front cross then the cue for the tunnel, no problem. But will he follow the cues to pivot with you and NOT go to the tunnel that is right there, until you cue it? That will be a fun challenge and very useful for upcoming jump-tunnel discriminations.
Start the jump as far away from the tunnel as needed until he can do it – and then move it closer and closer if it is easy for him 🙂The stay training is going really well – you are making it really FUN for him and that is sooooo important 🙂
His stays in front of the jump were strongest when you stayed very connected as you walked away. When you disconnected on the first rep, he came to you. But on the next reps, you were very connected and he was successful. So in new environments or when he is really excited, be super connected on the stay to support him.You won’t always need to be super connected like that – as he got more comfortable with the stay, you were able to walk away with less connection needed to support him (like at 4:58 and after that, as you moved into the recall-to-hand position).
>He cannot hold start position with the toy on the ground yet, >
Yes, that was the hardest part. Throwing the toy was too hard for him but you can switch it up: place the toy on the ground on one side of the jump, then use another toy or food rewards to reward him as you both walk away from it. Then he can line up and sit facing the toy on the ground. That can gradually add the toy on the ground, and I am sure you will be able to build up to fading out the rewards for walking away and build up to throwing it.
I also love how you played again after getting the leash on: many dogs avoid the leash going back on because it signals the end of the session. I know a lot of Papillons who are hard to catch when the leash comes out! But getting the leash on AND playing more was great because it helps him be happy to get the leash on because the game continues 🙂
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
He was so cute, following you around as you figured out where to put the prop 🙂
On the rear crosses: his value for the prop is looks fabulous so we can actually simplify the cues for the rear cross! Less sending and more simple motion will make it even easier. You had a lot of good reps here but also had to really hustle to show the RC – we can make it easier.
On the reps where he had questions, you were starting with a stationary forward send, kind of waiting for him to go then trying to get behind him to the new side really fast (like at :53).
It will be easier if you move forward as the main part of the cue to start moving to the prop. Then you can be moving forward the whole time (he will move past you) and changes sides without having to sprint to it 🙂
Your dog-on-right reps were more like this and they were smoother than the dog-on-left reps but I really liked the dog-on-left rep at 1:21 too!
It also teaches him to have handler pressure on the line right next to him. Your rep at 1:43 was really great (my favorite!) in terms of moving forward rather than doing a send step. That added a lot more handler pressure and he noticed it for sure. But that is the ideal line and when that is more comfy, the RCs will be even smoother.
Looking at the backing up: He is offering some steps but with your standing and the treats up high, his head his high which inhibits the backing up a bit. So he seems to understand that it is “move backwards to the concrete” which is great! And we can get his head lower (into more of a neutral position) by getting your hands lower. Having your hands at chin-level for him will lower the head into a more neutral position so he will be able to back up more freely.
The trick is to get your hands lower without making you back angry fro having to lean over. I highly recommend something to sit on 🙂 A low chair or fitness ball or something that you can sit on and have your elbows on your knees, so your hands can dangle to his chin level. That can solidify the behavior – then you can add a verbal, then you will be able to stand up again when the verbal cue has more understanding.
Really interesting about the pet store trip!
>this time he really noticed the birds at eye level, and was nervous. >
Because birds are weird living dinosaurs LOL!
>He was nervous to inspect the cage on the floor and we were about to leave when the terrier switch flipped, he plopped down and his tail started wagging and he was absolutely fixated. >
That might have been the whippet in him too – they are murderers! 🤣😂
> He did not want to leave, but once they were out of sight, he responded to the pattern game again. It was a very interesting sequence of events.>
Not being able to do the pattern game was probably a sign of his central nervous system being kicked into the sympathetic mode: fight or flight! And dogs can’t really eat in that mode which is why he couldn’t eat or respond right there. When he was further away, his nervous system probably balanced back to parasympathetic (rest & digest) so the pattern game food became salient again. These are automatic responses that override choice at this stage, so having him a lot further from the critters at this stage will help a lot!
For example, I have a firm “No Murdering” rule for the hounds and terriers, so did a lot of work early on with patterns and rewards for ignoring critters, getting closer and closer very gradually. It does work and it is a lot better than the alternative of having to clean up their murder scenes LOL
Great job here!
TracyGood morning!
>I’m still on the road and I’m pretty tired so not getting much in.>
I totally relate – even on super fun trips, it can be exhausting! You are getting in plenty of training and exposure for Fix. Note how engaged he is in the middle of dog show madness, especially in the stay video. As you were lining him up to start the stay game, a giant dog walked by and he never lost focus on you. That is incredibly valuable!
Using the wall in the warm up area for the rear crosses was very clever! And there were a TON of distractions (buzzer, people, etc) and he was great! I can totally understand letting him drag the leash though 🙂
You were able to get past his shoulder each time so he read the rear crosses. Super! Your line of motion on the 2nd side was ideal (when you were heading towards the camera) – you were getting more ahead of him and less lateral, making the rear crosses super easy. It will be fun to try this when you have more room and we can try it with the prop too.
Looking at the stay video: I am so proud of his focus! The stay looks really good. Note how many distractions there were – the normal dog show distractions, plus at the beginning check out how the pug behind him is watching and air sniffing his treats. Fix is aware of it and ignored it. And giant dogs walking by, people talking… and you got stays! YAY!!!!! Good for you, good for him. It might seem like a small stay session but it was actually a huge success!!!!
Great job here!!!!
Tracy
Good morning!
I agree, she rocked it! Lovely session! And a good example of how she lays on the speed as soon as she knows the game. I am also really excited about her lineup & stay behavior. And the bowl position was hard – very visible outside the wing and easy to get to without serving – yet she had zero questions. YAY! We revisit this game soon, so no need to repeat it for now. Hopefully the weather clears up for some of the games that can go outdoors 🙂>Sprite played afterwards with a toy in the ground and Reese watched from her crate quietly. Hmmmm.>
Nice! Something to add in is taking a game she nails like this one and adding a tiny by of arousal regulation to it. Reese takes a turn. Sprite takes a turn. Then Reese gets another turn after watching Sprite. That little change in internal state will be minor but a great prep for her future in agility: she will learn early on to watch other dogs, regulate, then go in and nail her turn. Let me know if that makes sense!
Gret job 🙂
Tracy
It probably wasn’t there – sometimes the server needs to update on your page. That whole Oct 13 class was glitchy in terms of tech (you’ll see LOL) and so I am not surprised it was glitchy in terms of updating on the page 🙂
T
Hi!
>Did I do the right thing by waiting her out when she was sniffing the treats and not immediately following me? >
100% yes! She was still actively engaged with the scenario… she just needed to sort it out. It was only a few seconds.
>If you add the leash to this game I’m assuming it stays on the entire time?>
Yes, at first – but then you can even add the leash coming off as a ‘trick’: leash off, she stays engaged? Jackpot time!
> Sprite does get turns. She just works herself up and sings protests or encouragement. Who knows?>
I am pretty sure those are songs of protest LOL
>This is just a basket with rags that lives in the laundry room. I wasn’t sure what other room to use as going out the front door requires a leash. This is on the way to the potty yard and backyard.>
This was great – something new and out-of-the norm in an environment that she is comfy with. She was definitely aware of it (checked it out twice) but no signs of fear or big stress. If we have electrodes or saliva tests, we would likely see a small pulse of activity in her HPA axis, and then check it again in an hour or so and she would probably be back to baseline. Perfect! It ‘teaches’ the body to regulate.
Fingers crossed for the rain to stop!
Tracy
Hi!
You might have needed to refresh the page? It should be here for you:Let me know if it is not there.
Tracy
