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Hi!
>>I think my mechanics are getting more of a workout than Tess 😊
Ha! That is so true – these games are all about handler mechanics and also about being careful to not give too many hints with our mechanics LOL! Your videos look terrific, though, I think things are going well.
Wrap video: Great session here!!
I love that you were able to fade your motion a lot and she was still correct. She was incredibly successful on this game – On her one error, you can give a little quiet oopsie so she hears that it was not entirely correct then carry on like you did. She was barking and tugging and excited, but still accurate: PERFECT. Notice how she is picking up speed!You can move the wing in closer to the tunnel to make it a little harder 🙂 And also you can add MORE motion into the wrap, meaning send her into the tunnel, meet her at the end then drive forward into the wrap (giving the wrap verbal) – and see if she can still get it even with the flurry of motion 🙂 And vice versa – you can stand still after she exits the tunnel and without motion, send her back into the tunnel.
>> I’m making an effort to use my verbal and not lure with the toy.
You were great!
>>I want to improve the retraint. I don’t like her up on her hind legs like that. eek
She was excited so pulling herself up. You can start her in a sit stay or hand on her chest so she doesn’t stand up 🙂
Serpentine:
This is also going well, and this one in particular emphasizes handler mechanics at first.
On the first rep – your shoulders closed forward and you were moving, so she did read it as tunnel on the release. On the 2nd rep, you have great upper body serp position and she nailed it, good girlie! And wow, she did well with the sirens distraction! When you went back to the tunnel cue – you can exaggerate closing your shoulders forward so she really sees the difference.
I think you can add motion to this, showing her the difference in the cues as you start to move.>>. I also noticed how I hover over her for a sit. That’s a lot of pressure!>>
She didn’t seem too worried about it, but she was distracted by the sirens LOL! You can try a hand touch line up?
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! I am glad you are feeling better!
>>because Enzo is brilliant and I might be known to occasionally skip steps, I put out the manners minder (MM). I didn’t like the way I was throwing the toy.>>
This is my rule about skipping steps. If it works, then clearly it was brilliant fast tracking. If it fails, then I am lumping. LOL! So I do sometimes try to skip steps to see how it goes 🙂
On the wing reps – he did really well, it looks like he was about 100%, yes? You won’t see a ton of speed on these because there is no real motion or momentum, so that session was pretty perfect. Repeat the session… but with absolutely zero motion. Either be crouched or be upright – but don’t move til he makes a decision to either wrap or go. You had some movement on the first part – after about :25 you moved a lot less and that was good on the wraps – sho the same lack of motion on the go.
You can even pull up a chair and do it while sitting!When you added the MM – I think it was actually a great training session for him. He was not entirely ignoring the wrap cues, he was collecting… but the Siren Song Of The Manners Minder drew him in to his doom on the rocks LOL! He was going to it but he was entirely unconvinced that he was correct, based on his striding LOL! Too funny! On the 4th rep, I think you had started to figure it out and then gave him a tiny step to the side, so he got it – then it was easy after that. It was a good brain scrambler! So we will chalk it up to brilliant fast tracking 🙂
For this set up, I think we can make one tweak: don’t just mark collection in front of the jump: wait until he turns his head for the wrap. That is something that will really help with the turns, so that he makes the decision even sooner because the head turn is getting rewarded – which will create better turns as well. So be totally stationary and silent until he turns his head, then throw a party 🙂
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracHi!
Your PJ bottoms are perfect!!!!! Love it!He was a really good boy on this first one! He was reading your deceleration at the blue jump perfectly! You were a little late getting into the decel on the 2nd jump (I thought you were going to run straight) so he was wide. On this set up, since it is really hard to outrun him – you can do the decel at the first jump then after the 2nd tunnel – stand still near that first jump and use your verbal Go Go Goooo! And see what he does 🙂
On the 2nd video – you set yourself up to be at the 2nd jump a lot earlier so he saw the decel sooner (before he had to make a takeoff decision) and he nailed it. And the Go at the end was easy.
So…. you can add challenge by standing relatively close to the tunnel, maybe halfway between the jump and tunnel and see what he does if you try it all on verbals 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi!
She is really good at the lap turns! Look at her whip around the wing, especially to the left (she is really leading with her head through those turns and bending nicely!) She is also doing really well turning to her right but I think she is slightly better on her left. – on those, you were able to deliver the cue really quickly after she arrived at your hand. On the little oopsie moments, I think her questions had to do with your leg movement. When you were too early with stepping back (:28 and :43) for example, she didn’t read the lap turn. When you were later, meaning you kept your feet together with your arm stretched towards her until she was almost at your hand: fabulous! So even though she is coming at you with a lot of speed and power, remind yourself to be super patient and don’t move feet or arm til she is about 2 inches from your hand. Keep connected her eyes and then you can even look at your hand to help draw her in. At :43, I think the leg cue was early and you looked back to the wing (a bit of a connection break) so she ended up on the other side of you (I don’t think she was going for the toy :))
The tandems also look really good!!!! I am very excited about how well she focuses on your hand cues when you ask her to. Yay!!! This requires a similar amount of patience – be sure to let her get almost to your hands before cuing the rest of the turn. I think you were really quite lovely on these!
On both of these turns, you can exaggerate the movement and deceleration into them when turning her to her right, that will help her shift into the turn and be a little tighter. The turns to her left were great, no changes needed there 🙂
Great job!!!!
TracyHi!
Yes, my first thought was the mini pinny games for solidifying the verbals, and you can add in wrap verbals to that one too! We were working it with left/right turns but wraps are good to!
Using your short tunnel, you can put 3 bowls at the exit, kind of like a triangle: one straight out, one to the left, one to the right. Sit in a chair and send him through with just the tunnel – go!, tunnel-left, tunnel-right, and wrap verbals. The cookie to gets thrown to the corresponding bowl and the wraps are rewarded back at you. Maybe I should film it with my youngsters, I haven’t taught it to them – Hot Sauce can do it but she is not ready for tunnels yet. Let me know if that makes sense! You can start with motion to get the concept going then fade the motion.
Using the dummy MM is a great idea LOL!
He did really well on this short clip, so I think you can definitely try the 3 bowl approach (or have the MM out ahead and bowls on each side). I am feeling inspired to try it to! Let me know what you think 🙂
TracyGood morning!
>>Stark worked on the same thing as Sizzle today>>
FUN! Plenty of what we do in that class is appropriate for Stark – and you can post his videos there too (folks are invited to work more than one dog within the general time limits of the videos – so if you do a minute of Stark’s work and a minute of Sizzle’s work, then you are perfect!)
I am super happy with the backside slices, look at him whipping his head around the wing and towards the bar! Keep going with those early drops, they are really upping his commitment as you were able to show countermotion, blinds, speed, etc. NICE!
Sit wraps – I think this younger generation has the head-turn foundation so this will help them pick up their circle wrap jumping really nicely. He did really well and looked to be whipping around the wing here too (and he did not give you any WTF looks for asking for the sit near the wing LOL!)
Zig Zags grid – he is definitely getting the side-to-side action going here! He was adding strides on a couple of these (2 hits in the gap between jumps rather than one). It did not seem like a left versus right thing because he did it both directions, and I don’t think it was a fatigue thing – just lack of experience because he has not been alive that long. It is possible that the gap was too big to elicit the bounce and the one stride was easier (because, well, it is easier indeed LOL!) so you can try to elicit the bounce by having the wings of the jump overlapping rather than touching end-to-end. That is what I will be doing with Elektra when I show her this – she is a little shorter than Stark but not by much. I couldn’t really see if your wings were end-to-end (like I had with Contraband) but I think they were, so try them overlapping and see how he does!
Woot woot on the teeter! The first rep is never the indicator how he he feels about it. It is the NEXT rep when he knows it will move. He appeared to NOT have any concerns, which produces a big happy dance! My only suggestion is to move the wing you are sending him around so he has a straight line up to the teeter (he had to get on it from an angle here). You can gradually, oh so gradually, ping pong more tip in: do a couple of sessions like this, then make it a little more tip, then back to a couple more easy ones, and so on. I am excited about his confidence and speed!!
Great job!!
TracyGood morning!
>>He’s been a bit sticky about releasing on a verbal cue when on my left, esp if I am slightly behind the end of the board.>>
Do you mean he would rather stay in target position than release off it, like at 1:06?? If so, that is a champagne problem LOL! Most dogs are a little too happy to leave target position LOL!! No worries about it and no recommendations to change it other than tap you legs or the ground to encourage him off the board. I have never seen this be an issue with young dogs when we get them on course, I have only ever seen this early stickiness produce amazing contact behavior 🙂
I was super excited with his bang game!! He definitely finds this easier with the target already out there. When you did not have the target, he looked up at you a bit. So, leave the target there and then it will be easy to fade when he is more experienced. You were plenty fun and exciting to get arousal going 🙂 Because it is a smll area, you can add challenge while arousal is still in a calmer state: at this stage, you can play the game with the variation that your feet will be anywhere in the room *except* next to (parallel to) the target and either you will be standing still the whole time, or in motion for 2 more steps til after he stops in position. This means you can stay back, walk past , walk laterally, etc. I add the 2-more-steps-after-stopping criteria so that we don’t accidentally get into a rhythm of stopping as the dog stops, because they learn to read that as a cue to stop. So think of it as combining the bang game with the motion override game 🙂
I am not sure how much room you have to add more movement, so feel free to get all creative about it LOL!!!
The other small space thing you can add is taking the same exact session as here… with a distraction sitting out ahead. Nemo ball, for example, just sitting a few feet away. Or the Pet Tutor. Or a bag of treats. Can he still look downwards to his target position?
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
>>I’m now seeing verbals will be a must since I struggled with the wraps due to his speed.
Yes, my bigger faster dogs convinced me on this too 🙂 The more verbals, the merrier!
>>I see what you mean and his back being curved up. I’m not super worried about that right now, especially since I have continued to lower the tip assist on mountain climbers and his position has been fine>>
Perfect! If it shows up elsewhere, we can deal with it.
>> We did a nice short session here and his targeting seems to be getting better.This looked really solid!!! Yay! So…. let’s build up it 🙂 2 ways to do this (you can do both, concurrently):
– with you in that position, you can add more height to the board so there is more tip.
– with the same amount of tip you had here, you can add in standing up in front to see how he does (then we move you to the side if that goes well).
The backing up was also really good – you can see him thinking about independent use of his back feet. Yay! I agree with ideally he will be able to eventually back up to all 4 on with no mat, but this is AWESOME so far and he was not relying on the mat. You can move a little to help him, but mainly just let him sort it out (as a body awareness game, we are not on a timeline – he doesn’t have to be perfect on this one in order for us to keep moving forward in teeter training :)) Over time, you can delay the reinforcement to when he has all 4 feet on the board rather than use your position to help him out too much.
>>All went well until heard the noises behind the fence and wanted to run over. Massive temper tantrum! I redirected him with some pattern games but I definitely can see that he needs work on this area a lot. I’m going to try to do some sessions I
During the day and at night during high volume Neighborgood times.>>I think this might be the key to getting engagement in different areas! And honestly, it is a little harder in our own backyards in many ways than it is at trials. I am excited to hear that you were able to pull out pattern games and help him out! That is great! Start with easier environments and then yes, I bet you will be able to build up to him being engaged while crazy things are happening all around him 🙂
Great job!!!
TracyGood morning! Lots of lovely work here!!!
Backing up:
I agree with your assessment that early in the session he did not know it was about backing up – he seemed to think it was about getting on it however you can get on it (and he was getting rewards for that). Changing the picture TOTALLY helped – starting him so that the option to back up was the quickest route, with the MM much closer to he was barely off the platform. Big help! Very nice! I would leave this set up in place for a couple more sessions til it is more of an instantly recognizable set up, then you can move to fading out the bed – I think if you start the same way (very close to the platform, facing you, but not so far away that turning round it easy) then he should generalize it pretty nicely! He is using his hind end really nicely, with independent steps and not hopping.The Rocking horses are going really well – excellent use of legs!! He seemed to have zero questions on the sends and also the connection on the exit was clear too. Very nice!!! You can move to bigger wings/barrels when you have more room, as that will allow for playing with timing so you can leave earlier.
Stays – he is doing well with his butt, but moving his front feet a lot and reading some kind of pattern for the releasing. I was looking for the pattern and it was either a time rhythm after 3 seconds, or a movement towards him – or it could have been you opening your mouth to inhale, but I couldn’t see your face LOL! One thing I think will really help – define the release and reinforcement markers more clearly – it seemed like “free” was a couple of different things (go to the MM, or get the cookie from your hand, or come forward) so he was trying to sort it out. If ‘free’ is your forward release cue, then don’t have him turn back to the MM or get a cookie from your hand after saying it. In the MM reward moments, use a different word. And if you are going to hand-deliver the treat, that can be yet another word (I know, soooo many words LOL!)
In terms of a hierarchy for stay training: the release forward is the least important, that is super easy, so do that the least (you didn’t do much of that here). The anchoring with the MM is really nice – but also be sure to do a ton of reinforcement without the MM so that anchoring is not the cue to hold the sit, if that makes sense. I think he will settle more as you move away if you incorporate more of a ‘catch’ cue where the reward is thrown back to him as you move away (the response cost/lack of efficiency gets rid of a lot of movement when we do that). Plus that will help clarify when/how the reinforcement is arriving. The hand-delivery seemed to be causing him to move as the reward was coming in, so that should be lowest on your hierarchy because we don’t want to chain in motion, and yet we don’t want to withhold the reward that was about to be delivered if he moves – so I suggest avoiding it entirely for now til he is more settled into the stay.
One more thought on the stay – when you are motionless and extending duration, try not to face him quietly – many dogs perceive that as the international sign for “offer behavior” and he was doing a bit of that. But rocking back and forth was causing the foot movement as he was following the motion. So you can split the difference by either adding motion by moving away as if you were doing a lead out on a jump or if you are stationary, add in quiet praise so he doesn’t think we are waiting for an offer.Parallel path:
Commitment to the parallel path is looking really good! He is really fast about this which makes it harder to get the reward in before he is done – the next session of this should be outdoors so you have the time to throw before he gets to the jump. If he misses one, just turn and start the next rep rather than freeze til he realizes he missed it – if we decelerate/freeze on course we don’t want the dog to offer a jump behind us 🙂 But to help get rid of the misses – let him find the cookie and then you start moving again. When he was looking for the cookie and you were standing still past the jump, he might have been thinking it was a reset moment? I don’t think it was a poor commitment moment, I think it was a “I’m done, let’s do another rep!” moment where he was coming to you to restart, good boy 🙂>>And wraps where we worked hard on waiting until we were sent!>>
Perfect! Was there a video here? I don’t want to miss anything. I am guessing they looked terrific!
Great job! He is advancing beautifully!
TracyHi!
>My cookie comment is more related trying to ask her to stay…she has no clue.>
Ah! Got it. Definitely try the Want To Stay games, those should help.
Keep me posted!
TracyHi! Good question!
There are currently 5 MaxPup modules, plus 3 adjunct classes (Jordan’s Running Dog Walks class plus my teeter/weaves class plus Want To Stay – Ready To Go).So the 5 MaxPup modules are:
* this one 🙂* MaxPup 2 which is building in more handling concepts and begins teaching jumping concepts and proofing games. That one is 5 working weeks spread out over 8 weeks)
* MaxPup 3: Putting It together (young dog sequencing and contacts foundations) This one is 6 working weeks spread out over 9 weeks.
* MaxPup 4 CAMP (baby dog track) This is our annual summer handling class but with shortened up sequences and high level skills work for the youngsters
* MaxPup 5 Transition To Trials – this is a many-months class designed to bring the pups into their first trials.
As for timelines: this group of MaxPuppers is pretty young, so there will be a break before MaxPup 2 so that they can physically mature a bit. Plus we will wait for the weather to break a little 🙂 I am guessing mid-March for that one, which puts MaxPup Putting It Together over the summer. That is perfect timing for this group because they will be more in the year old range (the current Putting It Together group started with the dogs between 10 and 14 months old).
The contacts & weaves classes will be early summer, because we build to full contacts & closed weave poles – the dogs need to be over a year old at least, or older for the larger dogs. For example, Contraband is just 15 months old and just now physically ready to do the real jumping, contact & weave training 🙂
My guess is that CAMP will probably not be on the table for this group of MaxPuppers, they are a little young but the transition to trials will likely be late summer/early fall. So it will all be spread out because we have to let the puppies physically mature and grow before adding the hard stuff like jumping for real, contacts & weaves. I tend to let the veterinary professionals decide when the dogs are ready, not my training interests LOL!!!!!
Let me know if that makes sense!
TracyHooray for a lovely session AND hitting record! LOL! Video proof of success!!
He is doing well. At the beginning of the session, he needed a bit of a mental warm up, meaning you can hold still for longer before stepping back into the FC. When you start the session, you can give him a warm up by sending then holding your position until you see his head turn to commit to finishing the wrap – then FC and and do the same on the other side. I like to give youngsters 2 or 3 warm up reps like that… then you can start pushing and doing the FC sooner. After he got in the groove, you were able to do the FCs sooner so the warm up is designed to help eliminate the early questions.
Speaking of questions – at 1:25 he had a frozen moment, big question. It looks like you left the Hallmark moment of magical connection too quickly 🙂 You had a heartbeat of connection to his eyes as he finished the wrap and then you turned your shoulders forward, which changes the line (presents a blind cross option) and blocks connection. So, he abstained LOL. To help out there, hold your connection moments longer til he is almost back to you, then go into the next send. And that is one of the reasons why I like to reward even when the dog ends up on the other side on these – I prefer them to choose commitment over abstentions by freezing (or abstention by biting my foot)
The other thing to work separately that will also add challenge to these are the Turn And Burn games – working up to seeing if you can do the FC before he arrives at the barrel. That will transfer nicely to the Rocking Horses because he will let you leave earlier and you won’t have to wait to see his head turning.
Great job!!! So much fun stuff here!
TracyHi! I think the addition of the MM is great, it is something we do with dogs that can handle the distraction 🙂 His value for the touch spoon is high enough that you could add the MM and he didn’t lose his focus on the spoon. It was challenging, for sure! But the MM simulates the challenge of another obstacle out ahead on a serp and he has to come in on the serp anyway 🙂 I would move the MM about 2 feet further from the jump and also closer to the landing line if that makes sense – it will be on a line closer to a tight line for him, but he will come over the jump and turn and take 2 or 3 steps to get to the MM 🙂
You can also use the toy on the ground! We have that added in with the next stages of the Strike A Pose games 🙂
One more suggestion: be closer to the jump. He was able to come straight over the jump and turn after all 4 feet were over it. To encourage him to turn as he is arriving at the jump so he ‘lands’ already turned (teaching him to set up the collection before the jump when he sees that cue. So your ideal location relative to the jump will be close enough to touch the wing, with a relaxed arm/slightly bent elbow. You should then see him turning before he arrives at the bar and when he is on your side of the jump, he is turned and facing the MM. Let me know if that makes sense!
Great job 🙂
TracyHi! He seemed to have a little trouble leaving on the sends on some of these at the beginning, so you can tweak the mechanics of it a little to smooth it out. I could see your feet and they were good! But I could not see your arms or eyes, so be sure that the arm cue and shift in connection also goes with the leg step (it might have been :))
The thing I think will help the most is a ready moment to reset between the reward and the send (rather than looping the behavior by sending right after the treat). After he gets the cookie, put him back into handler focus by having him come in front of you, talking to him (I say ‘ready ready ready’) and when he is fully engaged: do the send. I think the send was happening a little too quickly after the treat and he did not see it clearly on the way back to you, so his response was not as crisp. When you had a little more of a reset towards the end of the video, things got much smoother and his commitment looked good! So the handler focus reset moment should be a solid 2-3 seconds long until he is looking up at you and saying “send me! Send me!” And then you will be able to have those lovely responses on each rep.
I see a recording of the rocking horses below! Yay!!!Tracy
