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Good morning!
He did really well here! One thing to play with is having the placed toy for the Go reward out there the whole time so he can work through turning versus going, with the distraction out ahead. He had a bit of trouble there when you did that and then he was wrapping but offering the ‘wrong’ direction – but it was a wrap, so that is good 🙂 When that happens, you can give him reset cookies for coming back and lining up at your side – that can maintain a really high ‘umbrella’ rate of success while you work through the harder skills. And then the big rewards can come for the correct directionals. Dogs are brilliant at knowing the difference 🙂
As an added challenge – you can have placed toys in 3 positions: in the Go reward spot, in the left wrap reward spot and in the right wrap rewards spot – so he gets immediate reward for being correct. Or, you can use empty food bowls for that instead of toys, then toss a treat to it. He is really good at ignoring toys on the ground til cued, so that might be a great way to help clarify the verbals!
He did really well carrying out to the wrap jumps while you decelerated, which will be really useful when there is a dog walk in your way in the middle of the course LOL!Yes, I think he is ready for you to start hanging back more and more in the next session! He does better when you are pretty early with the verbals, so keep giving them early and often 🙂
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi again! I’m going to have to check out the Teddy The Dog clearance, I need some warm pants!
Kaladin did really well here, he remembered from puppy class!! 🙂 No real questions from him other than at 53 when he turned wrong way – I think there he was reading your body cue – your feet turned towards the tunnel so there was a bit of rear cross pressure. You were more forward on the next rep at 1:00 so he turned the correct direction. He is ready for the next step: Angle the jump so it is a backside more and less of a front side. It is a harder visual but again, I think he will have no problem at all.
Min did indeed have trouble going all the way to the PT, which is interesting because it was hard to take her off it in the previous session LOL!! Moving it closer was great. You can put it smack dab in the middle, halfway between the tunnel and the jump – it will create a turn on the tunnel exit, but that is fine for this game.
This is not something that Min learned in puppyhood (sorry, Min, we didn’t know we needed to teach it!) so it is a little harder for her. Starting closer to the wing or tunnel will help, especially when you change sides. That can really help jump start the behavior and you will be able to move back quickly and add motion quickly too.
I think the backside slice was the foot step when you stepped to indicate the jump and the leaning over might have had a little bit of backside pressure too (she is all about the independent backsides right now 🙂
She probably needs to see this for one or two more sessions before you angle the jump, just to smooth it out and raise the success rate – you’ll see her lightbulb go on and then it will be a quick progression to angle the jump. It is good prep for the Open, I am really sure we will see jump-tunnel discrims!Great job here! Have fun and stay warm!
TracyGood morning! I hope the 11 year old recovers quickly, that must be scary for all involved!!!
Kaladin did really well here! I think squishing it up actually was a flood thing for him – Squishing it was good for confidence building for him for the go because he was definitely asking questions about if he really should go with you all the way back there and not moving. I suggest leaving the distance there and not expanding it, until he stops asking questions and is a deranged maniac driving out of the tunnel haha! It will probably only take a session or two to get that. The Left turn was great, so overbalance into the go for now, so he drives out more. The turn will deteriorate a little bit but it will be easy to recover when you need it and ask for it.
Min – ah yes, she was all about that PT, poor underfed critter haha! Ok then, for the next sessions, no more PT because Nemo doesn’t stand a chance against the PT. Instead, maybe go to empty bowls: Maybe try 3 empty bowls – One in the go reward spot, one in left reward spot, one in right reward spot. They will be targets/focal points but not as much of a lure as the PT (and not as much of a distraction haha) so you will be able to get the behavior then toss a reward to the bowl. That should help!
Nice work 🙂
TracyGood morning!
>> Technically they are supposed to be universal but I typically send her from my left side to wrap right and from my right side to wrap left.>>
Agree! And getting the turns away from us – soooo much harder! But you did a great job with a little bit of handling help and that was when she was most successful. So you can proceed with this with the verbal cue first then the little bit of handling help for the turn away when you are cuing it. My motto is “help as much as needed and as little as possible” 🙂
She did well here on these – I think her main questions were when you were not moving at all. So 2 ways to work this, bearing in mind that the goal is not that you are stationary, but that she can do it even when you are not visually ‘in the picture’:
On the bigger distances, you can support with a bit of handling by walking or using hand movement to show the line or turn you want. You can also modify the tone of the verbal: the go go go can be loud and long, the turn cues and be softer and shorter.To take yourself out of the picture more, you can bring the wing or jump closer to the tunnel exit so it is easier to get to the wing – and you can be relatively stationary back by the tunnel entry and rely on verbals and tiny movements.
Those two things can then merge together – the wing or jump can move further away while you fade out your motion more and more.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
I totally understand the whole “too lazy to retrain the 8 year old dog” hahaha! My 8 year old just puts up with hearing the new verbals by accident and somehow figures it all out anyway LOL!Kippy was great here – almost all of the reps were on your left side and he is REALLY strong on your left (that is something to keep track of – are we seeing a side preference, and does that need to come into play when making handling decisions on course). His commitments were largely spot on in both the go and the turn reps, plus he did well turning on the tunnel exit to when asked – so I think we can look at timing! He is good at listening, so for the go go go you can just say it early and often like you did here.
For the turn on the jump though, if you were too early (if he heard it just before entering the tunnel or right at the entry) he had questions: so you can experiment with cuing the tunnel and starting the turn verbal for the jump when he is fully in it so he hears it when he exits. You can also give a quite “go” before he enters the tunnel then switch to the turn verbal – the go will cue the straight exit on the tunnel and that will get him looking for the jump more.And there was one rep where he went around the jump – he was not fully on your right there, but you were more on that side of the tunnel. That is an interesting pattern and we will try to sort out why he does it – I don’t recall that being an issue at all during the CAMP class, but maybe we never asked for these skills! Or he might need an adjustment or a massage for a trigger point, maybe something is tight that he needs released. We will see if we can sort it out.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! This went really well!
She wants to look at you a little on the go go go lines, so keep up those nice early verbals and also early throws, they really help her. I think having the jump out ahead for the next session will also give her a good focal point to drive ahead even more 🙂
She was quite brilliant with her soft turns, especially considering this was her first exposure to it! The first rep was PRICELESS and so cute, thank you for leaving it in the video with her bunny hops!!! Her turn was pretty good on that one, she just didn’t know where to look for the toy. Then the next reps were all fabulous – really nice turns!!She is definitely ready for the wing and jumps after the tunnel to get added in.
Great job!
TracyGood morning!
This was a really interesting session! I agree, it is worth building the value on his GO skill. He is really good when he is on your left, and I like how you broke it down to help him then built it back to include the tunnel then faded your motion.
He really had a lot of trouble when he was on your right! Did I see it correctly that he ran around the jump a lot? So he has some ‘organization’ questions on the go when you are not there, and that is affecting his commitment. Interesting! So, for the right side, you can break it down even more and have the jump even lower, and closer to the tunnel exit – and support with some motion. You won’t need a lot of motion, maybe just walking, but you can then fade it out.For when he is on your right, continue having the placed reward. When he is on your left, you can progress to throwing the reward and not having it placed – supporting with walking up the line will help too when the reward is not out ahead.
Nice work! Onwards to Emmie’s video!
Tracy
Good morning! These sessions looked really good! Honoring that 2 failure rule really makes a difference, I believe: the dogs end up being more successful overall and they learn more quickly, without frustration. Yay!
To help solidify the verbals even more, you can separate the verbal from the motion: say it, then move, separated by a heartbeat or two. For example, when you were working the left on the 2 jumps at the beginning, say the verbal without moving, then give that little bit of motion that got the turn (rather than doing it simultaneously). That will allow him to hear the left verbal and predict the motion that follows it (dogs are brilliant predictors LOL!) so he will start to really solidify the verbal alone.
He did really well with the tunnel!!!! I think he is ready for even more independence now: you were about halfway up the tunnel as he exited on these, so the next session can include you starting closer to the wing, so you are maybe only a quarter of the way up the tunnel… then even closer to the wing so you are only at the entry of the tunnel when he exits it. That will add tons of independence on the jump line (you can use handling while you are way back there but the verbals will be doing most of the work). This will eventually build to where you will be able to have him working well away from you, such as when there is a dog walk in the middle of the course and he has to take the tunnel under it and do a sequence on the other side of it.Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
Lots of great work here!
>>Enzo has seen exercises somewhat like today’s. In particular, his “go on” is pretty good. I try to plant a toy at the end of most training courses to support the long exit lines. >>
I agree – the go lines here were really good, it is definitely a strength for him. Because he is so strong with it, your verbals were able to be late and he would still go. The go verbals were happening when he was already in the tunnel. Not a problem at all for the go skill, but it is rehearsal of late verbal and will likely delay the turn info on the tunnel exit, which is not as strong of a skill. So even with the easier go verbal, try to get it to him while he is still a solid 6 feet from the tunnel.
Getting the go on 2 jumps was really good too – definitely a strong skill.
>>Alas, when trialing, he has more than once dropped the last bar when I have tried to send him independently on an exit line. Therefore, I try very hard to handle the last obstacles and, often, an obstacle after the last one.>>
Totally agree!!! Everyone should run to the invisible final obstacle or to the fence – it is easy to get into the habit of decelerating as the dog approaches the last obstacle and so many bars come down because of that.
Doing the go line after the tunnel without a lot of handler support here is more to build up to doing it from the other side of the dog walk – picturing the dog taking a tunnel under the dog walk then executing a sequence after it, while you remain on the other side of the dog walk. Such a popular trend lately!
>>In today’s training session, he had no trouble with the big GO but he didn’t generalize Left and Right after the tunnel. That surprised me and we had to go to the exit of the tunnel to refresh it.
>> training. I see that it doesn’t tell the story very well. He had a lot of trouble with tunnel, jump, left/right. He is quite proficient at simple left versus right but, apparently, the chain was too much. I moved to the exit of the tunnel and did a lot of left/right to help him get it.>>
I think this is where the late verbal was causing the questions – at approx 1:10, the jump left cue was late so he had already switched into ‘look for the ball’ mode. He got better as you broke it down and also as the verbals got earlier.
You can also “squish” the setup so that the tunnel is short and the jumps are low and closer – that means he will have less motion and will already be in more collection, which might make it easier to get the left and right on the jump from the tunnel. Then when he is getting it, you can spread it back out. You can also add a little bit of physical cue to it when it is closer and easier to see – not full out handling, but a little foot step from behind to see if it helps support the line.
The left and right on one jump is hard but going well – the visual of the jump draws him left so the right is harder. The little bit of handling help was useful to him for sure! But latency was still high, meaning there was a significant delay between cue and response (he didn’t even start moving til the 2nd cue, he was deep in thought, steam exiting ears and all that :)) So you can help with a very precise order of cues: be totally stationary, say the cue once, then after you say the cue, move a little bit to help. The order of delivery is critical here to get low latency and independent verbals: if you give the verbal and move simultaneously, he won’t really get the verbal independently because he is watching motion. But if you say the verbal then move after a heartbeat, he will pick up that the verbal predicts the motion, then he will move faster and more confidently on the verbal alone without the motion.
The “No Peeking Game” might be the funniest game ever!!! I totally am going to try it with my dogs! And he was such a patient dog to stay there til you got back, then he nailed the sequence. Brilliant! Do more of it, it is great for placing the reinforcement without tipping off the dog where it is in advance. Love it!
>>I was using a ball on a rope. It worked well when I planted it but not so well when I tried to throw it. I would prefer to use a Chuck-it ball and thrower but he is not a reliable “let-er go” of a plain ball.>>
Yes, half the planning here is which toy to use LOL! Will he trade the plain ball for a treat? That is my loop for training these with the tennis ball: throw the ball, get the retrieve, cue the out, toss the cookie, grab the ball 🙂
<<We were having such fun that it probably went on longer than was wise. By the end, he was becoming much more reliable but we will need to do more training to cement the concept of multiple things strung together with verbals.>>
He didn’t seem physically or mentally worn out, so the session length was probably fine for him. I usually like the short sessions but sometimes a longer session works well to sort out how to get the skill where we need it to be when the dog has questions.
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! I see what you mean by one side being easier than the other! The first section was perfect when he was on your right! The second section was much harder; I am not sure why – nothing in the handling was telling her to go to the tunnel, so either it is a difficult side for her or the wing was “hidden” in the shade and she didn’t really see it. You can try doing it with more sunlight and moving more directly towards it like you did at 1:05, and if that doesn’t work then yes, move the wing further from the tunnel. I thing it might be the wing being too shaded (poor maybe there was some other visual which made it harder for her to see the wing?) so you can move it away from any visual distractions and see if that helps.
Nice work here! Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow!
TracyHi! This looked really good too! On most of the reps, I could see her turn to look at the obstacle when she her the verbal cue before you let her go, and that is exactly what we want. Yay! She had one error, no big deal – motion and a bit of handling will help get it perfect. I see you have added the motion below, so I will go to that video now since it is the exactly right next step 🙂
Nice work!
TracyHi and welcome!!
This session went really well! A couple of ideas for you:
The Go lines looked good – you were ahead of her on the tunnel exit, so try them with your not ahead – place yourself closer to the entry so she can drive ahead on the Go exit (but keep throwing the reward nice and early like you did here).The left soft turn was pretty good on the first reps but it was REALLY good when you placed the toy to help her! And then it was also good on the other side. So one thing you can do is leave the placed toy there the whole time – and sometimes cue the soft turn, and sometimes cue the go go go (have a 2nd toy you can throw as a reward to reward her for the go). I think that will help solidify the go versus soft turn.
>> Should I try the Distance Skills Part 1 or wait until she has more clarity between the soft turns and “go”?
I think she is ready for the distance skills, she was differentiated the GO versus turn well enough here 🙂
Great job!
TracyYay! Congrats on Chief’s big win! That is awesome!!!!
For the turns – in general, we don’t want to ever slow Chief down 🙂 Let him run in extension as much as possible, so he can make slightly wider turns but they are faster because he never slows down.
River is a little different – we need some collection but also bearing in mind as an Aussie, her power is in her hind end and running speed on the flat. So we do need to ask for collections and get her head turned, but it is likely that the fastest, most competitive turns for her will be when you get a little collection to get her head turned and then let her set up the rest to power up the next line.
You can sort it out for sure by running a sequence a few different ways: full on extension versus asking for some collection versus really getting a TON of collection on turns. Then time then and compare 🙂 You might be surprised to see that the wider lines produce the faster turns in many cases.Tracy
Good morning! So fun to see MC got to play too!!!
>> I think I know the answer, but should I have different 90° turn cues for jumps vs. tunnels? I used Left and Right, but I suspect that might cause confusion when there is a discrimination?>>
There is a lot of discussion about this in the agility world, and also include running contact exits in it 🙂
I personally have the same 90 degree turns verbals (left and right) and also the same wrap exit verbals on jumps and tunnels because of how the cues are timed:
I say “tunnel” (or tunnel tunnel tunnel haha) to commit the dog to the line, then at the 6 foot distance or so, add the directional. If I want a jump, I use the directional – if there is a discrimination, it is always the jump unless the dog hears the tunnel cue: so in the face of the jump-tunnel discrims like in game 3, tunnel means tunnel and the directional means jump. The dog won’t hear a directional on a tunnel until after they are committed to the line to the tunnel.
No confusion from the dogs on this. Let me know if it makes sense, I have not had a lot of coffee yet today 🙂Both dogs did really well on the video!!! River looked great and got faster and faster – when she started barking, I knew you were in good shape haha! The left turn for her is the strongest, so lots of rewards for go go go and for the soft right are good to keep in the training rotation. It looks like the physical cue for the soft right was a little late, which could be why the turn was not as good (especially after all of the go reps). The soft left looked earlier and she also got the idea really quickly, producing some fabulous turns.
Chief did really well too! Bearing in mind that we don’t want very tight turns from him because we want him running in full on extension, your soft turns from him can be more casual (quieter cues) with slightly wider rewards lines – the goal is a NASCAR race line so he never has to slow down. And, for him, over-emphasize the go go go lines so he can drive out straight and almost too far LOL! With small dogs, I like to just get them going ridiculously fast and not worry about turns as much: that is the key to the small dogs wins that I have seen 🙂
Great job with both! I think they are ready for you to add in the distance games with jumps!
TracyGood morning!
Holy cow, his teeter looks AWESOME!!!!!!!!!! I am so excited that he is going to the end like that!!!!He did a great job on the tunnel games! He seems to naturally want to produce the softer turns, so on the first video he was looking for you a tiny tiny bit on the Go exits, especially when he was on your left. So keep throwing early and often on the go go go eps, to help him really look forward. He was getting better and better as you did it, and I think having a jump out ahead will also help because he will have a jump to target to. Getting it great without a jump is important for the bigger distances, so you can alternate playing with a jump out ahead for the go and with nothing out ahead.
The turns video looked great – I think the only suggestion is to reward a tiny bit more on a tighter turn, closer to a 90 degree turn. He was finding it pretty easy to turn when he was turning towards the side you were on, and a little bit tighter will make it perfect for trial situations. He wasn’t choosing the wide line, he was targeting the toy throw, so changing the placement to a tighter line will change his line too.
He did REALLY well on the soft turns turning away from you – that is really hard! Your toy placement really helped him out there, well done to you for getting the toy into position to help him produce the behavior. That is going to really help him pair the directional with where to look for the reward, which will solidify the directional.
The crosses looked great – easy as pie, because he has great commitment you had soooooo much time to make the cross. On the FCs, my only suggestion is to call him – it is hard for him to see you on those, so he didn’t know where to look on the exit right away. A name call or directional will help him find you immediately and drive the line.
I think he is ready for you to add the distance elements of the next game here! The tunnel independence is really looking confident so you can increase the challenge now 🙂
Great job!!!
Tracy
