Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Hi!
>For the teeter I was planning to do 4 on. He seems to like 2o2o though, so now I’m not quite sure.>
2o2o is a clearer position and he likes clarity! But he needs to be heavy enough to do it without getting thrown off by the teeter board. I would say 8.5kgs or over is definitely doable for 2o2o! But less than that gets a little iffy. How much does he weigh? If he is in 4on range, then we add a fun behavior at the end of the board so he will like it and have a clear thing to do. I teach my small dogs to dig at the end when they arrive there (my Papillon is 5kg and my Pap mix is 7.5kg). They both enjoyed digging at the end of the board in training. I faded the digging after they had been competing for a bit and were still driving to the end of the board.
>Aelfraed says he is a big fan of chasing the auntie! He did start to figure out that pouncing on the treat hugger was also fun. Even though he over-ran it and went back for it most of the time, he was happy to snatch his bread and butter out of it himself when he got to it, even jamming his face into it a few times.>
PERFECT!!! I didn’t see him looking at you and once he got on the Go line, he was too busy to even bark at you LOL!! Ok then, Shaelyn has been hired to be official Bread Runner. The next step is to have her out there the whole time, and you add in the turns, etc. so her presence is not the indication to run straight: it is the GO cues from you that are the indication for both of them to run run run 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi!
She did well with the target here! Very smart! The next step is to not have the cookie on the target 🙂 Let her get to position and you then place the cookie on it. And you can change your position so she can do it with you anywhere, even with you walking.
And turning around on the plank was easy peasy for her. When you are back at the training facility, is there an easy way to take a plank off the dog walk? That would be fun to introduce her too if possible.
Great job!
Tracy
Hi!
He did like the peanut butter and wanted to lick it off, but he did not like the movement of the board here. What was happening was that there was too much ‘whip’ of the board for now – the MAD teeters are very light so the board whips up and down a lot. You can see the vibration on the part that was off the ground when he was at the top and when he was off it, and you can see it move the tip-assist as he got on it too. That makes it harder for the dogs – he was not a fan of the whip and vibrations. He did great on the first rep going up the board and eating the PB at the top. But then there was a lot of whip getting off it that is when he had a big full body shakeoff after it – then ran past the board and was reluctant to get on it. After that was when he was not comfortable at the top (as compared to the first rep).So keep going with the peanut butter but you can stabilize the board more:
> I also think maybe I should put a sand bag on the tip-it.>
Totally yes! Maybe a couple of sand bags on the base and on the feet. I also suggest a sand bag on the base of the teeter (ideally one on each leg), and a towel or something under the top of the teeter where it meets the tip it. That will all greatly reduce the whip and help him be a lot more comfy running all the way up it. And will he be happy to let you pick him up off the end, rather than let him run down it? Most of the weird movement is happening when he is running back down the board, so since he is small we can avoid it by having you pick him up 🙂
Nice work! Keep me posted!
Tracy
Good morning!
> I’ve been deliberate in choosing words/sounds that are distinct from one another, but I haven’t thought about how I say them.>
I have spent quality time obsessing on this, which I am sure surprises no one haha 🙂 In a nutshell: tight turns work best with short, quiet consonant-based words/sounds that can be repeated rapidly and softly.
Soft turns work best with a more conversational tone and volume, elongating words and emphasizing vowels.
Extension lines work best with very loud repeated words that are elongated and emphasizing the vowels: gOOOOO gOOOOO for example.The wingin’ it game went well! He was committing really well even when you were sending fully rotated. When you were doing 4 wings in a row, the first couple had the send then moving forward then rotating. Then you stayed in the rotation and ended up running backwards a bit – so you can move forward out of each send for a few steps before decelerating and rotating. That should feel more comfy than moving backwards.
> A few questions at the end of the racetracks related to my change of motion, I’m sure. >
I think the race tracks went well – the dogs are used to wrapping these wings so the race track on 4 wings is hard! It looked easier turning to his right than to his left, but the left turns went well til wing 4 where he had a small question. That will disappear with a bit more experience.
You also did a good jobs with the verbals!! There are a LOT of verbals in this exercise and I think you were almost 100% with them until the very end where a loo was happening and it should have been a razz 🙂 But yes, the physical cue is the salient cue for now, so he still got the correct line.
Looking at the straight lines 4 ways video:
The tunnel exit points him a little past the cactus jump, almost to the backside of it. So when you showed acceleration into the tunnel and an extension exit at :07, he ran a parallel path to yours which put him on the backside line to the jump. He adjusted and came in to get the next jump – reward that for sure, no need to go back to fix the jump he went past because he was reading the cues on how to exit the tunnel which sent him past the jump.
At :20 and :32, you had less acceleration into the tunnel so he turned and found the cactus jump perfectly! To get the wrap a little tighter, you can start the decel and verbal for it when he is jumping the cactus jump so he lands knowing what to do next.
Nice job with the backsides on the last 2 reps! You did a blind to get there at :33 – you can start the blind 1 stride sooner by sending to the tunnel more, so you can get past the cactus jump sooner.
Your line to the backside at :52 was really strong! On both of the backside commitments, you can keep your arms back behind you more and use direct eye contact as the primary cue along with your motion. I know it sounds so counterintuitive 🙂 but that direct eye contact shows him the exact line of your shoulders and center of your chest. The arm blocks that so it took him a little longer to adjust. Think of it as saying the backside verbal directly to him rather than pointing at where you want him to go.
Great job here!!
Tracy
Hello and welcome! Great to see you here!!
Lovely job getting her tugging as you entered the ring. She loves that toy!!! You can totally trade for a treat to get it back rather than hold her collar (that seemed to cause her to want the toy *more*). For my toy-driven youngsters, I trade for a treat and toss it to the side, which gives me time to tuck the toy away. And this game doesn’t need a stay. You can add in stays as the games get more complex.
It took her a moment to lock into the jumps here – they are very close together so it was hard for her to reduce her speed to find the line. Easy solution: spread them out 🙂 She wants to go fast and I am here for it!
Nice job getting lots of treat throws for her and she was able to find the line. Keep the bars lower for now (8″) because the smaller distances plus stopping to get treats can make it harder to adjust for even a 12″ bar.
She found the jumps brilliantly in the 2nd video! 2 suggestions: Keep mixing in rewards throughout the line, not just on the last jump.
Also, you were connecting really well. You can be more upright and connected, rather than leaning over as much.
Since these games went really well, you can add in the next steps with the tunnel and with the sends. That will lead really well into the sequencing!
Great job!
Tracy
Good morning!
> I managed to not use her release verbal until our last rep. Sheesh.
I guess I was using all my brainwaves on my body mechanics.>New mechanics do take up a lot of bandwidth! It helps me empathize with my young dogs when they are trying to concentrate on learning new mechanics for a skill.
Great job with your mechanics here! She is reading the blinds really well and running FAST FAST FAST! That is why you could hear the thundering Bazinga hooves LOL!
The view from behind was really helpful: when you were early with the blinds, it was really easy for her. But when you were a little late by starting the blind when she was more than halfway to you – if your re-connection was quick and clear, she changed sides immediately (:59, 1:06 for example). Now, I am not saying that you should be late 🤣😂 but it sure is nice that your connection is powerful enough that it overrides timing!!
Since this went well, you can give yourself a longer lead out and try getting 2 blinds on the flat 🙂 and you can also start the wing and tunnel games. Keep planning your mechanics before every rep – there were a couple here where the toy was in the incorrect hand but overall, the mechanics were spot on.
Great job!
Tracy
Good morning!
>We are enrolled for yet another course 🙂>
Welcome! You are going to be busy LOL!!!
>I will be working with Copper for this course, but thinking Bandit can do some of the games as well. Please let me know if that is the case>
I think Copper can do everything in Week 1 for sure (he has already done some of it in MaxPup 1, like the BCs on the flat and the handling combos). He will be able to do some of week 2. Week 3 and 4 are likely to be Copper full time because they are pretty complex.
> here is my first clunky round of flatwork with Copper.>
I think it went really well! It probably felt clunky because the mechanics were very different. That clunky feeling will go away and it will become second nature.
Flatwork 1 – this went well! The first couple of reps just needed a longer lead out. There was not quite enough time for him to see the connection before he had to make a decision. You noticed that and at :59 did a longer lead out – then the rest of the reps were great!
Flatwork day 2: The single blinds went great!
The doubles need a much longer lead out so you have room to get way ahead and show him the 2nd one with enough time. He has a great stay, so you can do a 20 foot lead out with the first blind happening right after the release and the 2nd blind happening a few steps after that.Next steps: doing the flatwork while jogging then running 🙂 When you do that, you might find that it is easier to bend your elbows and keep your arms in tight – that makes the blinds even quicker 🙂
After you can run and do the good mechanics, add the wing games and the tunnel game 🙂
Great job!
Tracy
I am SO GLAD that I am not the only one who yells PIVOT! like Ross every time I see the word hahahaha
And that gift is AMAZING!!! So cool!!!!
He did well with the pivots here – after the first couple of rewards, starting to delay the find it/cookie toss was the key to getting him to pivot. When you were too quick (rewarding as soon as he got his feet on), he was stopping there. But when you were waiting a bit, the pivoting began for real! So… keep waiting 🙂 You can mix up how long you wait before the reward: some will be quick waits, some will be longer. That will allow him to offer more steps. You can even mix in some rewards for being centered in front of you so he has a good reason to get into that center position 🙂
Great job here!!
Tracy
Hi!
>Your instructions would teach it be shaping. As you can see, I lured.>
There is a definite element of helping (food lure or body pressure lure) to get the pivoting! I am perfectly fine with that all, I like lures 🙂 as long as we can fade the lure when we can’t use it as a cue. For agility, we can totally use food and movement 🙂 but for obedience, we will want him to be able to pivot without body lures or cues (more on that below)
Having him step over the bars was harder for 2 reasons:
– the floor is a little slippery for the balance required (you can see his back feet slipping a bit. Can you move it to carpet or grass?
– yur hands were at your side, so he lost the focal point that helped him pivot. Earlier, your hands were in front of you but a bit high so he was looking all the way up – but if you can have your hands in front of you but halfway down your thigh – I think that will be perfect!>I need to work to phase out the lure.>
Two ideas for you to phase it out!
– you can fade out your movement. Rather than taking several steps, you can take one step and reward him for taking several. Then fade that to just taking a half step (one foot moving towards him). Then when he can do that, you can stand still and let him offer.
– you can start with you standing in front of the perch, and him off to the side. Release him to get on and he will likely get on and pivot towards you. And if you want to reward pivoting into heel position, you can place the reward at your side to encourage him to keep moving into heel position.
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi1
Thanks for the video. It looked like a ton of fun! He did GREAT playing, especially in the smaller matted area – there was a lot of pressure with all of those people and dogs watching but he was so happy to play!>Tribute was all in! He had no issues with any of it and I honestly don’t know what I did differently so I don’t know what to repeat!>
From what I can see on the video, you were eliciting a lot of drive to the toy and tugging by throwing the toy, and using a really long toy for him to chase. The toys were moving away from him, not towards him, and you were also moving away. All of that, plus the high value furry fun toys, will get fabulous play/tugging like you had here 🙂
Great job!
Tracy
Good morning!
> I had Carpel tunnel surgery on my hand last Tuesday.
I hope you are feeling better and healing up quickly!
He was so cute when you said “cookies!” – he always seemed so surprised LOL! But he did super well moving away from the treats. You can also use a toy for this. The behaviors you asked for were a lot of obedience which will be useful for obeduience and rally. You can add in some silly tricks (like more hand targets, high fives, spins, etc) that are good for agility 🙂 And you can add in using the leash – having it on to walk away from the treats then taking it off and asking for a trick – that helps simulate entering the ring on leash.
Pivoting is also going well! He was having an easy time when you were moving – pivoting back to center independent of your motion was a little harder, especially moving to his left, so you can add more of that. And for obedience, you can reward him for pivoting all the way around to your side (if he takes a couple of steps back to center, you can place the reward at your side to help him get the idea that it is a good place to be.
> I have pivoted up and down from foam pad also but have not done over a pole. >
Time to add a pole! Be sure to duct tape it down on the ground so it doesn’t roll under his feet 🙂
Nice job with your threadle position, he understood that really well on the first rep – then yes, he had a moment of obsessing on the manners minder (because. YUMMY STUFF!) He worked through it really well, though, and it added a nice distraction challenge! He was still lovely with his stay and the threadle, even if his lineups were a little backwards LOL! So cute! You can mix in serps too, so he reads the difference in your position.
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning! He did great here with the threadle versus serp! Your position helped make it very clear. Super!
Only one suggestion, about the stay release:
When you leave him in the stay, get your hand and feet in position, hold for a heartbeat or two or three (maybe evenb add some quiet praise), then release him. That way he won’t think the hand movement is the release and cause confusion later on when you move your hand and don’t want the release.
Since this went really well, you can add a couple of things:
– a toy reward from your reward hand
– the reward on the ground – this will change for the serp (reward on the landing side line) versus the threadle (reward on the other side of the bar).
– and you can fade the target out of your hand, and just use an empty hand now.>As he gets bigger, he looks more like Elektra every day. Is she a BorderPap? If so, how big/tall is she now as an adult?>
Elektra is 50% Papillon, 25% Border Collie, and 25% Whippet. She is 15″ tall and weighs about 15lbs. And yes, Bandit does look a lot like her!! Both of them are super cute 🙂
Great job!
TracyOMG Jazz – she was absolutely adorable as she was absolutely not bringing that ball back to you LOL!!! I love her spicy spirit so much (although I am sure you were not loving that moment LOL)
Ok then, Operation Keep The Joy But Bring Back The Ball Is Underway.
I love her speed and joy when running the sequence at the beginning. You cued a right turn and it was such a gorgeous turn that it took her off the next jump! She would need more extension there, but she looked fast and happy.
So we need to figure out how to get the darned ball back or at least get her to come back to you without it – you get a click/treat for looking for patient here trying to get it LOL!!
She seems to be avoiding giving up the ball, like when you tossed a treat and she grabbed the ball again as quickly as possible when she thought you were going to reach for it.
So we can take reaching for the ball out of the game and can do back and forth ball games: throw one ball, then run the other direction, throw ball 2.If/when she chases ball 2, throw ball 3. If/when she chases ball 3, go grab ball 1, lather rinse repeat. She doesn’t need to bring the ball back for you to throw the next ball. Or you can use a disc! That way she is not going to think you are trying to get the ball back – you are just throwing things around.No need to try to do this when trying to train something else, you can actually sit on the ground and do it for now (she does like it when you are on the ground, do I remember that right from the Loretta seminar?). Or bring out your morning coffee or something and just throw things around.
Since this approach may not work :)we can try a social learning approach! This is how my lazy self has taught retrieves to several of my dogs (especially Contraband who used to take his toy a stand by a tree and refuse to even come in the house LOL). Jack is a willing participant!
Bring out a bucketful of balls and discs. Have both poodles around. Throw one for Jazz – she can do whatever she likes with it. As she is parading around, you can then play with Jack however he likes to play: ball or toy throw, the trade for another ball or toy, or even a cookie – then throw a toy again. You will see Jazz start to get interested and you can ask her if she would like a turn (I literally say to my dogs: ‘do you want a turn?’)
If she comes towards you – throw a ball for her, then resume your game with Jack. She will watch and figure it out and get involved. Might take a couple of sessions but she will turn on to the idea of coming back to you (with or without the toy – what matters is that she returns herself to you :))
On the 2nd video – this was fun to work out the timing with her! Jack is more experienced of course and recognized the setup, so he did beautifully.
Jazz did GREAT with all of her stay releases! You can also tweak the opening to send from the other side of the jump so you don’t need to always start with a stay.
On the first run, you did the cross on the middle jump then got a little fancy with another cross 🙂 – but you kept going and that was great!
One of the things that Jazz was doing here was turning really well on the middle jump. And because she is inexperienced, when you were sending to the middle jump so responded with a tight turn so you had to push her back to the next jump before the blind.
So rather than send to the middle jump, you can be further away laterally and accelerate into the line to get more extension on the middle jump – that can make it easier to get up the next line for the cross!
>I automatically defaulted to a front cross for 2 of these.>
No worries! You were working to commit her to the line AND stay connected… this is not easy with an inexperienced dog! But most importantly you stayed connected and kept going, and she had a grand time 🙂
She was so funny on the last rep – when you sent to the middle jump, there was a lot of decel and she was like “are you *sure* you want this much turn?
>Note – I left Jack in so you could see that I do know how to do this (if you had any doubts haha).>
I had no doubts! And I also have green baby dogs so I know how hard it is to run sequences with them 🙂
Great job here!
Tracy
Hello and welome! I am happy that Elektra and I have started making your head explode a little 🙂
>I thought that the “correct” blind cross involved the handler moving across the dog’s line so that the dog’s path didn’t adjust. >
There are definitely a small percentage of blinds where this is the case and it is basically a simple side change with no turn or line adjustment for the dog (“A” in the video). We have to be careful about it, though, as it puts us handlers into the ‘death zone’ which can cause a collision.
But the vast majority of blinds now are used to adjust the dog’s path (“B” on the video) – and the handler path (mouse line🐭) is the key to doing it, along with mechanics of the connection. Timing is relatively important but not as important as line of motion and connection clarity.
I start talking about the mouse line in Wing Work 2, but we go really in depth with it in week 2 and beyond. I didn’t emphasize it much in week 1 because without the connection mechanics, the line of motion is not relevant on blinds – the connection clarity will make or break the blind.
It is completely stolen from the Europeans who have mastered the fine art of blind crossing 🙂 On the flat, you can really see the dog adjust (plus without an obstacle, she is a little hoppity so you see it even more). When we add jumps, you will see it as turn strides before takeoff, depending on the specific line.
Have fun!
Tracy
