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Hi!
>> How long do you want us to have the puppy stay on the object?
At this stage, not very long. A couple of seconds, then release to play, then he can offer getting on again.
>> how long is the maximum amount of time you want us reinforcing the goat behavior on the object? 2 minutes?
The whole session can be two minutes but he can be on and off the object multiple times in that time – he does not have to stay on it for the full 2 minutes. The goal is that he gets experience offering getting on and off a wide variety of things š So if he finds it really easy, rather than add duration, you can switch to a different object š
Tracy
Hi!
He was great here š Nice job getting the cookie hand at your side and low, so he could slide right into position. Super! I think the timing of you hand going into position and the speed of your pivot were both really good! An idea for you:You can toss the cookie back to the starting point to send him to it, rather than walk to the start with him – hold him, toss it, send him to get it. Then as you move away, look back for him more – he canāt really see your eyes as you are moving away here, so he is not sure which side to be on as he comes towards you (you can see him zig zag a little behind you). A little more eye contact/connection will sort that out nicely. And by sending him to the cookie from 10 feet away, we are folding in other behaviors: sending/driving ahead, and giving you a bigger head start for the decel š
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
Playing along during the live is fun!!!!!
Thank you for the update!
>> While he has seemed to switch back and forth between food and toys effortlessly in his training before these games, they are bringing out that he does seem to have a slight preference for toys.>>
Good to know. You can raise the value of food you are using, go to something a little better when you need to keep the food and toy play balanced.
>>Prop game. Itās going fine. I stole the dustpan idea and switched my prop. This seems to work better. His drive to the object could improve a bit and probably will with time. I have not added much distance yet.
I love the dustpan LOL! For now, build value for another session or two before adding distance – he will let you know when he is ready for you to add more distance.
>>Targeting. No problem. Weād already done hand targeting, so using an object for a target was not a big leap.
Perfect!!
>>>Drive to toy. WE HAVE THIS DOWN 1000%! šImmediately. My moton has zero effect on distracting so far.
Ha! That is great! And I am glad that your motion is not distracting at all. This is a good game to take on the road to help get him into new places and lots of playing happening.
>>Decel foundation. No issues. Weāve done a lot of heel work already, so this is just that with the other side added.
Great! And that also means the pivot is easy for him? Iād say the only difference to consider here is that you will want to get the cookie down to just below his nose level, so he does not look up at you.
>>Blind cross foundationā¦no real issues, I just need to take it to a little bit bigger space than my training area.
Yes – any big place is the next step, and if you have access to other people: do this as a restrained recall (if he likes being held. If not, no worries :))
>>Goat game. Heās been climbing on all sorts of surfaces since he first started moving around and has already been doing wobble boards and tippy boards before we started this class, Plus getting up on all sorts of things while out āhikingā. I havenāt found a surface that bothers him to get on. Yet.>>
Perfect here too! So, to skip ahead a bit – get him to tug on while he is on the wobble board, to begin promoting weight shift to the rear on a moving surface.
>>Wrap foundation. This is the one weāve struggled with a little. Now, I CAN send him out around an object, like a laundry basket, already (before this class). But I still started from scratch with this. I ended up switching from food to toys. And then (this is when I discovered heās a lefty) I ended up using a slightly higher value toy in my left hand for him to turn to the right around the object to. I can tell the game hasnāt 100% clicked yet, but his understanding has improved.>>
I am glad you started from scratch! Shaping it this way has led to some amazing commitment further down the road, plus it is a fun way to work on shaping moving behaviors. It is possible that the stationary-ish food was not all that exciting to him, so you can try tossing the treats a little rather tha plopping them into bowls and see how it goes! It might take a session or two but then I am sure it will lock into place.
Thanks for the update!! Keep me posted!
TracyHi!
Your connection and quickness of doing the blind looked great. The first 2 reps were really strong… then he had a lightbulb moment and was faster on rep 3, so you were late š He still read it because your connection was good! The last rep was earlier so he read it sooner. I think the main thing here is that you need more room to be able to connect to him on the original side, then make the blind š To keep this game fast & fun, you can do it as a restrained recall: maybe Karena can hold him while you run away and when you are at least 30 or 40 feet away, call him – connect on one side as she lets goof him, then no later than him being halfway to you: do the blind š
At the trial this weekend, you can enlist other folks to be the holder! But only do this if he likes being held by other people, not every dog thinks restrained recalls are fun. But if he likes being help by others, the restrained recall version can give you more distance to have time to do the blinds, and it is also a great way to teach baby dogs to ignore strangers and distractions at trials!
Have fun! Great job here!
TracyHi!
Your connection and quickness of doing the blind looked great. The first 2 reps were really strong… then he had a lightbulb moment and was faster on rep 3, so you were late š He still read it because your connection was good! The last rep was earlier so he read it sooner. I think the main thing here is that you need more room to be able to connect to him on the original side, then make the blind š To keep this game fast & fun, you can do it as a restrained recall: maybe Karena can hold him while you run away and when you are at least 30 or 40 feet away, call him – connect on one side as she lets goof him, then no later than him being halfway to you: do the blind š
At the trial this weekend, you can enlist other folks to be the holder! But only do this if he likes being held by other people, not every dog thinks restrained recalls are fun. But if he likes being help by others, the restrained recall version can give you more distance to have time to do the blinds, and it is also a great way to teach baby dogs to ignore strangers and distractions at trials!
Have fun! Great job here!
TracyHi!
>> when I moved to the yard, building it up to about a 10 yard toss ahead of me.
NICE! That is a significant distance. And I am guessing he is leaving you in the dust?
>>With the prop game he is now targeting the boot with a front point, side point, and a rear point at about 15 feet away. He has come a long way in a couple of days!>>
Yay! This is great! 15 feet is also a significant distance – very exciting!!!
>> am taking the boot with me to a trial this weekend to work on the games with some distraction.
Perfect! Both games are great for a trial setting. Start up close for the first reps to see how he does and if he is fine, you can move back to the bigger distances. Have fun and keep me posted!
Tracy
Hi!
>> Slow down. Hmmmmmm. You know I own Gemma! But, yes, I will try.>>
Ha! Welcome to Team Chill, where we try to move slowly with our puppies š LOL!
She did well with her prop! Are you also using this for hind end pivot, or is she generalizing that rotation from other training?
She has a lot of value here so we are really going to build on it! The main suggestion here is going to be… slow down LOL!!!! I know, I know š This game is not intended to be any sort of real loop – it is one behavior, then a few seconds of the ready dance, then a distinct send. So after each reinforcement, call her back to you, get her engaged with your ready dance party – and after 3 or 4 seconds, cue the prop with the send. You wonāt notice much of a difference when it is up close like it was here, but the clear, distinct sends will be really helpful when you add more distance. Plus, youāll be folding in more arousal (followed by commitment) and teaching her to alternate between handler focus and line focus.
And speaking of more distance… you can add more! She is ready to see you move further from the prop with both the forward sends and the backwards sends. She looks great!!!!
And the sideways did look a little backwards but we are building to backwards, so that is fine š And Gemma was a good girl!!!!
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyUgh, sorry!!!! Thanks for bumping it back up!
The background music here was great at the beginning! And the mat tugging is both hilarious and brilliant. He doesnāt have a great out on the mat but I think that is actually fine – you can make it a bit of a wrestling match to really keep the mat value high, because that mat is golden: he relaxes on it and you can also use it as a way to get him stimulated before the run. I donāt think I have ever seen anyone else do this, but it is brilliant!!! Putting it on cue will help but donāt worry too much if he doesnāt let go of it that easily for now.
I wonder how the big name behavior experts will feel if we all adopt this ātug on the relax matā game? But I think it is GREAT!!!!!!!! And he does this outside the ring at a trial too? Perfect!
The other thing I would do with this is use it as the remote reinforcement – so at the end of the run, he can run over and tug on his mat. It can sit outside the ring (or outside the sequence in training) and it is a great remote reinforcement!
Great job here! Let me know what you think! I am off to teach my dogs to tug on their relax mats LOL!āØāØ
Tracy
Hi!
>> loved having the Zoom chat last night! Itās makes the online classes more personal and keeps me motivated!
I agree – it was so fun to chat with all of you!!!! I think. I will plan more of them besides the ones already scheduled.
>>Also, I got in a working spot with Skye at Level Up! Canāt wait for you to see and work with him in person!!!!
Hooray! I think the last time I saw him, he was 8 weeks old!
>> Iām going to have to train myself to be consistent. I was at an agility trial this past weekend, and I had a tug toy in my hand. I said āget itā, and Flurry looked out toward the floor expecting to find a treat and didnāt tug on the toy. >>
Ha! She is so smart! I love it!
On the video:
As soon as he moves to the toy after your tug cue, you can make the toy come alive even before he grabs it. As long as he moves first, you can then go wild with the toy š
He did well with the tug and the out! You can do this with lots of different toys. He was starting to offer behavior when there was a little delay which is fine – yo can definitely use this procedure in shaping sessions!
Question – can he tug with his Outfox on?
Get it also looked good – when you have more room, he will be even higher. He did start a bit of thrashing – let him win with that, really celebrate it because it will build up the value of the tugging which will make being outside with distractions even easier. You were tending to stop the thrashing by asking for him to out within a second or two š
He did think you were a little weird with the shhhhhhhhhh at first – but mainly because I think he was waiting for a release perhaps and doesnāt know that shhhhh is the release? You can add a little opposition reflex on that so that he knows that he is allowed to move towards the toy.With Flurry –
>> Thereās no physical issue, I think that she keeps looking for possible food options.
I can relate, I am also always looking for possible food options LOL!
>>I caught myself saying āget itā for the in the hand cue.
I relate here too! There are times when the āget itā pops out so keep working on actively using the other markers.
Her session looked really strong! The cue to out seems to be when your second hand gets on or goes towards the toy? And that is fine, as long as you remember š She did get better with a one-handed out later in the session, so maybe it only applies when she is really excited.
For the bringing it back – you can do a get it and as soon as her mouth is on it, present a higher value toy in your hand and ask her to come back to tug. Then we can delay the presentation of the 2nd toy until she is on her way back with the first toy. You were very fun, getting her to come back!
And catch is the easiest thing ever for her.And as with Skye – definitely start putting all of this into regular training and trialing. They are both ready for these to happen in āreal lifeā š āØāØGreat job!
TracyHi!
Great list of markers! I like the āyoursā and āmineā – anything that makes us chuckle is a winner!
>> I donāt think I had a cue for take the toy thatās presented to you cause I donāt think Iāve ever used a toy that way! I either throw a toy for him to chase and bring back, have a preplaced stationary toy or drag/wiggle the toy when I want to tug with him with it. Hmmmā¦guess Iām wondering whatās the advantage/reason for having him take it from me instead of me wiggling it?
Part of the reason is to help the dog understand very clearly when the toy in your hand is āin playā (available as reinforcement). And for some precision behaviors, we stand still and present the toy. I think your wiggling is also probably moving it away from him so he chases you hand a little? Or is it wiggling in a stationary hand? I separate the moving toy in hand from the stationary hand, to help the dog understand when to lock on to either and also how hard to approach it (there is a different bite strength on these, and I like to protect my flesh LOL!!). And since we run with toys in our hand a lot, a separate moving toy cue is useful.
>> Wondering if I should ātestā this type of toy again and see what he thinks? Is this making any sense?
Totally! You donāt need a marker yet if the scenario or type of toy is not reinforcing š
>>My other question is about your Shooo cue. Again I donāt have a cue for this. Sly has become very good about understanding the toy that Iām carrying is mine until I give/offer it to him either by wiggling it, dropping it on the ground and dragging it or throwing it. I think thatās all the ways I usually give it to him and I think I usually say Get it. Which probably isnāt as ācleanā as it could be thinking how Get it means leave me and get the reinforcer, which mine does but I also use it when I want him to chase the tug. Hmmmā¦. Is thatās where your Shoooo cue would come in?>>>
Yes, not having a āchase the fast moving toyā is not as clean as it can be. Is it disastrous? Nope LOL! I mean, Voodoo and Export and all of my older dogs figured it out š But the youngsters have a much easier time ignoring the toy in my hand that I am running with, so I can then use the shhhhhhh application to get them to really drive to the reinforcement while I stay in motion. It sounds like a lot of the toy procedures you have involve you either throwing it or you are relatively stationary – this one can allow you to keep running. I use it to get a lot of speeeeeeeed š and if they donāt hear it, they should not look at the moving/dragging toy.
>>Sorry for all the thinking out loud, trying to get it all straight in my head!
No problem at all! I love these discussions!
TracyHi!
yes, there was a lot – I guess it is good that the US Open took up the 2nd week so people could take their time looking through it all. Positive reinforcement is a MASSIVE topic!
>> 1) Pretty much anything that is in a ziplock bagā¦.seriously, if I bring out the Ziplock bag he āknowsā that thereās good stuff in it
Thatās hilarious! And awesome – positive conditioned emotional response at its best!
The food rewards all look good, except this:
>>5) Doesnāt particularly like cheese
Wait, what? LOL just kidding. My Elektra is not a huge cheese fan either.
>>When he is over the top aroused (usually caused by either insecurity in a new environment or something over the top exciting, like fast noisy dogs doing agility) he sometimes canāt take a treat until heās removed from the āthingā. This doesnāt happen very much anymore>>
Glad it is diminishing in frequency! Was he able to play in that context? Or he was too distracted and getting further away was the only thing that helped?
>>Toys:
1) Medium sized Hollee Roller, has to be a medium
2) Floramicato Fluffy Jelly Fish Tug
3) Kehu Raspberry Tug
4) Any tug with fuzz, even better if it has a little ball on the end
5) Balls, softish, not too big>>Excellent list, he has great taste in toys.
>>Chasing the Hollee Roller might just be his favorite thing on the planet. If heās āstressedā at all he has to do a couple of laps before bringing it back.>>
That is fine – there is some science about ācompleting the stress cycleā so I think it is fine to let the dogs have a moment before coming back. It is a great indicator of where they are, mentally, in a session.
>>Activities:
1) Free runningā¦.just run, run, run
2) Chase a thrown ball, especially a Hollee Roller>>Fun! Does he like swimming or barking or anything else?
Great list!!! Onwards to your next question š
TracyThese are all really good, and all on the agenda in some form that is either specifically what you mentioned here, or can easily be tweaked to it! Reinforcement is a massive topic so we are going to look at how to creatively apply these procedures to all sorts of different things š
Keep the ideas coming!
TracyHi! Since that happens with her with enough frequency that we note it, I suggest skipping sequencing for now and just working on establishing reinforcement procedures. She is doing fabulously well with sequencing and she is really young – so we can help get rid of the over-arousal moments with reinforcement procedures š And if you try to train something and canāt get her into a more relaxed state, you can totally stop the session, go in the house, then try again later š
T
And the remote reinforcement with the toy: she was definitely more excited LOL! With the food, she almost heeled with you. With the toy, there was more bop to her step, higher respiration rate, more circling. All good! You were saying get it here which is fine – and probably good for self-control. I guess it is a little different than with the food, where she is probably more likely to want to grab the toy or leave you for it? And letās go can mean to get the treats when you hand them to her from the bowl. The extra markers are fine but also it is one less thing to have to remember.
Great job on these! We will be building on them soon :)āØ
Tracy
