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Good morning! This is going really well!
The wraps on the wings and the drive back to the tunnel on the ‘yes tunnel’ moments looked great!
When you wanted her to NOT take the tunnel:>.When she avoided the tunnel, she sometimes sneaked in the wrong side of me – probably my fault, >
Yes 🙂 LOL! It was subtle: when you kept your shoulder open and big connection until after she got to you and past the tunnel entry, she was perfect (:14, :30, :48, :57). But when she was still behind you and you turned to point forward and indicate the wing on the other side of the tunnel – boom! Tunnel. She read it as a blind cross on the flat (:09 and :44 where she almost went into the tunnel are examples). It was the matter of one or two extra steps but those made a big difference.
When you added the bigger sequences, the same thing happened – when you were a shade too early to indicate forward (1:20 and 1:59), she ended up in the tunnel. Compare to 2:25 – perfect! Great connection for the correct amount of time. So keep that super clear connection and arm back until she is passing you.
She did well finding the tunnel entries on the left turn entries (coming from your right arm). It was harder when she had to turn to her right (coming from your left arm) so be sure to wait til she lines up (like you did at 2:29) to make the turn to get in on that side. She was totally starting to get it!
>> I kept throwing the toy out ahead of the tunnel, when I should have been rewarding her after she turned back toward me>>
Yes, keep rewarding on the turn line to support the positional cue. You kept catching yourself throwing too long LOL!
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>>maybe not later at night. (but my usual lunch time training session got bumped due to walking them then instead of at oh-dark-30 with the neg 20 windchills (only about neg 10 windchill in the middle of the day but at least it’s been sunny!)>>
Funny, I was just thinking about how nice it will be when we have a few more hours of daylight in the morning and evening! It will make things easier. Doesn’t even have to be a lot warmer, just daylight would be nice (although warm would be GREAT).
>>so I let go on just the slightest pull back. >>
That was good! Also, you can double check that he knows that he can pull it out of your hands on the flat – we might be taking for granted that he knows that pulling hard on it can lead to a win and a victory lap LOL!
He definitely thought tugging on the bosu was not his favorite. It might be that it was a little too small of a playing field for all 4, and too high to do it on a 2o2o? You can try it next to a small table or something that he can put his front feet onto for more balance. When the ball was balanced with the curve side up, he did pull back with his front feet on it, and that is a good start.
When you are doing it on the Cato board, he was definitely asking some questions LOL! So you can let him win just for taking the toy in his mouth, then build up to the weight shift – I think this is what you did at the very end of the video.
One other way to jump start it is to use a bully stick or pig’s ear or something he can really grab like that – gross, I know, but very effective to get weight shift LOL! As long as he doesn’t resource guard, you can use it instead of the tug 🙂
I think the sand granules might be fine as long as his feet are dry, and he might be comfortable with the height of the wobble board?
Keep me posted! We can convince him that this is fun LOL!
TracyHi!
The yes tunnel – no tunnel games are looking good! He is reading the BCs on the flat back to the tunnel really nicely! He was super tight on the line at :08. He was a little wider at :26 but that was more of a reflection of your running path – you were moving away from the tunnel then back towards it, so he was chasing the line correctly.
On the backside tunnel exits – a little something to obsess on LOL! I think the wrap cues are better suited for this because he is wrapping the exit, coming all the way back past the tunnel plane, more than a left or right exit which is 90 degrees-ish. He was turning nicely but this might help him find you more easily on those.
On the threadles on the wings –
>> So I added the cue and of course he didn’t come inside the wing the first time. At 1:17 I can see my outside arm is up but my shoulders aren’t really opening to him so he probably just saw my back and went around.>>
I think it was more a matter of him just needing to learn the threadle skills more – we haven’t really emphasized them yet, it has been a lot about ‘get on yer line!’. I think your handling was very similar as on the later reps (maybe you were moving faster on the first ones) so it was not about handling but more about helping him pick it out of the motion and process the cue. He got it with the stationary reminder and with his name added and less motion – probably needs to see that on each context change. When he was in full motion, he didn’t process it so when you reminded him, he was great! But then when you changed the sequence, he needed to see the reminder again. So you can use the first rep as the reminder rep and then gradually add more speed.The race track moments looked great – he liked running around the backside of the tunnel and was super good about not considering cutting you off to grab the tunnel! And the last rep looked good too, fast and fun!
More verbal obsessing:
>I was going to use In In In for both his threadle wrap and threadle 360 cue since they both involve a threadle and a collected jump. I was thinking my motion forward or back could happen soon enough that he would know whether to accelerate out of a 180 wrap or continue curving around for a 360.>>If I am understanding this correctly, I agree – and in in is different from his threadle slice, and we use threadle slices soooooo much more often than threadle wrap/360s. I will re-read this after more coffee lol
Nice work! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
He is reading the FFCs really well! Following them with a fast line is really helpful because he generally does NOT need a lot of pressure to turn – so he wondering why you are standing still for so dang long LOL!!! Even leaving early was still a lot of standing still for him so you can have the ball with you and when he arrives at you, fling the ball for him to chase. It is a good skill for him to know even if you use it rarely because he turns so well. The connection on the turn and the exit on both of the first 2 reps looked really good!!He didn’t commit to the tunnel at 1:05 – it looks like you got a little too far ahead, no place to go so you stopped and then turned your shoulders away too much at 1:05 so he was looking at you.
RC at 1:14 looked good!!! You can play with getting onto the RC line even earlier but he powered through it nicely here!
At 1:31 you had a little shorter lead out and more connection til he committed to the tunnel so he had no questions. And the RC at the end of that rep at 1:33 was great – it looked like you were on the RC line a little sooner than at 1:14, and plus he was turning into the wall – and the info was clear enough to convince him to do it, NICE!!!
>> I really like the last one to the left where he chipped in a stride to collect more right before his turn.>>
I think this was a combination of the verbal, being on the RC line a little sooner and a little decel at the end of the RC diagonal. Really nice!
>>And I also have to remember to start working on his post run routine. I’ve done pieces of it off and on but should use it more in his training so that he sometimes has to get leashed up and then get his reward. >>
Yes, sometimes for sure! I don’t think he will need it a lot, he is not looking around for reinforcement elsewhere.
>>I also did teach him to jump in to my arms but am not sure if I will use that at the end of runs or not. The extra 10lbs he has compared to Min has an exponential force impact as he’s running up my leg.>>
I always admire and fear for the people who do that with big dogs LOL!!!
Great job here!
TracyGood morning!
>>Ever had one of those moments where you type all your stuff in, just to realize that the site had timed out and nothing got saved. Y>>
EEK! I feel that pain. I have not had a time out issue on this site but I have had the crappy satellite internet go out when I hit “post” and lose things – I find that the back arrow usually recovers it. And thanks to Facebook, I generally type the reply on a post it then copy & paste – things get lost on FB all the time, so annoying!
Good news about the physical clearances!!!!
Teeter video:
The hardest part will be getting the down while you are running, as you can see at the beginning of the video and at :49. So you can do tons and tons and tons of motion override with the down position on the fkat- it will transfer really easily to the down on the teeter.
When you were walking he was doing well – interestingly, he couldn’t down until you were past the end of the board, so I wonder if it was either a matter of taking a moment to get the weight shift, or if there is a positional cue element to the down?
So you can play with sending him ahead of you to something to down on, like a target on the floor – so he starts shifting back to the down while you are still behind him. And you can have the MM out ahead so he doesn’t curl back to look at you.>I’ve been doing it with tugging – when he wants to tug>>
You can ramp the tug up separately, he might just be associating some of the skills work with food rewards.
You can also use a bully stick or something to get him tugging on it and weight shifting (as long as he doesn’t resource guard).
Tunnel threadles – good job mixing up some big fast lines in there!
double whammys are going well, I think you were clear about your arm and feet.
When you moved to the jump, the arm was great and just keep reminding your feet to keep moving 🙂 – at :36 you were a little stationary.
Looking at :50 (where he didn’t read it) versus 1:00 (where he did), I think it is mainly about your line, there was a subtle difference in your line of motion: on the miss, you were moving a sideways so your feet/line were unclear. At 1:00, you were more turned to the wall and moving that way which seemed much clearer for him. So you can rotate more so you are moving parallel to the path you would like him to take. It will get easier when the verbal is more solidly understood.Decel video:
This makes my heart do a happy dance! I don’t think his collection could be any better – it was really tight AND we were (on purpose) not really helping other than decelerating. Any more collection will just end up being slow. So now you can add back the transition: decelerate then rotate and see how it goes especially on the reps where perhaps you aren’t perfect (consistent perfection is impossible, but consistent clarity is totally possible and the decel adds that clarity). I thin he really drove out of the turns to chase you – ad the balance of the big fast lines looked great too! Every time you raise the bars, revisit this game so he can look at what he needs to do to collect or extend on the higher bars.Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
No such thing as quarantine thighs – I think of it as “survival pounds” because we made it through 2020 🙂
His soft turns on the wing are looking GOOOOOOOD! He is collecting soooo nicely! Thinking back to the collection games from the beginning of the class, I think he has made enormous progress with collecting before the wing on these and is asking far fewer questions. There was the one oopsie at
:18 – you had a lot of acceleration and a tiny bit of lateness so he didn’t read it (he could have read it late, but the distraction jump grabbed him instead). But then at :23 you were clearer and he was paying good attention – then after that he was able to process the cue when there was more motion and even if you were not perfect with timing. Some of the reps were perfect, some of the reps were less than perfect (not as early, but not quite late) and he was fine, turning nicely on all of them. Now, you don’t need to be perfect with timing if he understands how to respond quickly and listen to verbals. Perfect timing is impossible to do consistently, so I love that he processing things and not insisting on perfection. Good boy! He was *particularly* awesome with the blinds!
The next step would be to replace the turn wing with a jump and see how he does, gradually raising the height of the bar.Great job! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning! I like the reminders that you are using – those basically set performance goals for each rep, and it was really effective!
The serps looked really good! For the Go lines, he just needed one more step to be really sure that was was supposed to go. You can use a MM out ahead, pas the Go line – when you cue the Go, mark the instant he looks at the line and click the MM so he continues to drive forward. Then you can eventually delay the MM click building up to when he arrives at the jump. And you can balance it with serps, sometimes rewarding from your hand and sometimes clicking the MM on those too. That way the MM is there and useful for building up to the layer – but it is not a lure 🙂
For the layer, you can replace the jump with just a wing to get started. I think once he gets the joys of the GO GO GO then it will be much easier to get the layer 🙂
Nice job here! Le me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
>>We did parallel path yesterday, but I wasn’t wearing a bra and decided not to share that with the world>>
Ha! I feel that!
He did really well here on the Rocking Horses!
rep 1 – nice!!!! Very patient and connected, which is perfect 🙂
I also love the play in between the reps – this session emphasized the play and that is great!!rep 2 – this one started off really nicely! It was hard to see exactly what happened when he had a question at :49 but I think your leg was too early on the send and then the arm happened after it, so he was confused (baby dogs are very literal). When he was correct on other reps, the leg and arm moved together and started moving just as he arrived back at you. It will get easier and you won’t have to be as perfect when he has more experience 🙂
rep 3 – he ended up behind you and jumping for the toy at 1:07 – this was not a toy distraction, it was that the send was a tiny bit disconnected (meaning, you looked forward to the wing while he was still behind you). Many puppies end up trying to grab the toy when we accidentally disconnect, so be slower and maintain the eye contact until he is past you. The jumping for the toy will go away when the connection is smoother and when he has more experience.
>>Also, tugging and retrieve. I block the retrieve, but he is doing so good and it is hilarious because that thing is as tall as him, but he gives it all he has! >>
OMG yes! The tugging and retrieve were awesome!!! What a good boy!!!! I loved it!
>>He is getting very consistent bringing it back to me. He likes that way more than winning.>>
That is awesome – rare, but awesome! And I know that just about every puppy owner is jealous hahahaha!!!
Great job here!
TracyHi!
Here is the movement! What I suggest for this set up because he is a downhill skier more than a mountain climber 🙂 Have him start at the top and go downhill – then off, then start again at the top (pick him up to get him there)
And then you can have him in a sit at the top and you lead out – and release so he can ‘chase’ you downhill. Now, he is doing well doing uphill especially after the first couple of reps – but we can focus on the part he really likes (downhill) because it is actually an incredibly useful part of teetering 🙂 Let me know if that makes sense! Great job!
TracyHi!
Yes, this is exactly it! Stick at this level for a bit. He was happier going downhill than uphill for whatever reason – so when you add a little bit of motion, start him at the higher end (no movement) so he can go downhill to make it move a little and then jump off and run around (or into a tunnel wheeeee!) I don’t mind having them jump off from the low end rather than stop because it is easy to train the stopped position when we want it.
Nice work!Hi! He is doing well here!!
>>I do need to keep remembering about connection- I get worried about where I need to be and I forget about connection which is the most important!>>
Yes, super important with baby dogs! We kind of forget about it with the experienced dogs, but the youngsters remind us immediately LOL!!!
>> I ended up putting the toy in my jacket because I was struggling with the handling with the toy in my hand. I felt like he was too focused and distracted by the toy and was following the toy instead of the handling. I wasn’t sure how well it was going to go, but I think he did better when I ended up having the toy out of sight.>>
That is great! He did really well, and it is also useful because it helps transition to trials (where he has to run without seeing the toy in your hand).
Tunnel threadles:
He is making progress here! One thing to consider on these – there is no need to go back to dog side arm to cue the threadle side of the tunnel, it is a trained cue where he can just leave you for the threadle side of the tunnel. You were threadling him in then going to the other side to send back out – you can keep threadle arm up and moving towards the end of the tunnel you want, and that is his cue to go find the other end of the tunnel – you won’t need any additional arm cues.
Speaking of the tunnel reps on Rep 1 & the last rep – these went well, so you can keep moving your feet towards the threadle end to let him figure out how to turn himself away. You can meet him at the exit of the tunnel so you have more room to stay in motion.Wing – tunnel rep 2 – nice line of motion to the tunnel! He did well on that side.
On your right side – this was a harder side for him (turning to his left):
rep 3 – This is where he went ot the next wing and not the tunnel, because your line was too much to the other wing (:23 you were facing the wing and swooshed him forward to it).
Rep 4 – you were better with your line here but moving fast enough that he didn’t process it. 3 ideas to help him on the left (and on the right too)
– you can rotate your shoulder more, to exaggerate the turn. You will still be facing the threadle end of the tunnel but ‘pulling’ your shoulder more as you show the htreadle arm too.
– slow down to a slow walk and make a lot of eye contact (but keep the good line you had on rep 4 and don’t turn your feet :))
– you can move the wing over to a more center location, so his line is not exactly straight to the entry of the tunnel 🙂 That will make it easier to find the threadle entry.No need to really add the threadle verbal yet, you can us a wrap cue on the wing and his name 🙂
Deceleration:
> I’m not sure he understands standing still means decel>>
I agree – I think I left a hole in the foundation where this generation of dogs just doesn’t really understand that decel is predictive of turning (oopsie, my bad!) – they are great with rotation but that means we have to be PERFECT in handling – which is nearly impossible. So…. we are going to fix the hole with this game. You can see on the one jump rep that you were perfectly still and he jumped long like he was continuing down a line LOL! So when you were doing the line coming from the tunnel, your decels were good but you only got a turn when you were rotating.
> I’m wondering if I need to start rotating earlier because I’m not sure he understands standing still means decel –
Nope – for now, work the standing still until he slithers around the wing 🙂 Otherwise you will be locked into having to show perfect timing on your transitions. He is just too fast for you to have to always be perfect 🙂
>>should I got back to one jump then?
Yes – I suggest one jump for a full session on both sides. And if by the end of the session he is really collecting before takeoff, then you can move to the next step: alrady basically standing still near the jump, send to a tunnel so he has more speed but you don’t have to move.
My guess is he will be like my smaller dog, Elektra: she was wide when I started it but within these 2 sessions, she caught on and nailed it, so I could add back the handling without having to be perfect 🙂 Chapter is more ‘bendy’ than she is so he will catch on fast AND you will see some really beautiful turns.
>>I think you said this was the last week of lessons but we could still post video on the thread until the end of the month- did I read that right?>>
Yes – I figure we can keep working on this stuff til March 1 and then we will move on to the contacts and weaves 🙂
Great job here!
TracyHi!
OMG, -10…. eek!! It is ‘deep winter’ here with temps in the high 30s and I am FREEZING hahahahahaha definitely not spring but definitely not -10 🙂 Stay warm!This session went beautifully! She never even looked at the Pet Tutor. Brilliant girlie!!! Your FC “pop offs” were great. You can add in going straight – lead out less, keep moving and release so she gets forward motion and should go to the Pet Tutor. Mix that in with the decel, on both sides. I really don’t expect her to have any problems with it but it will be a good challenge. And good for indoor training!!
>>I honestly thought she would go right for the Pet Tutor (especially since she was doing some running contact mat work right before hand where she did go to it.) She blew my mind here. I even moved it closer for the last couple reps to test us more. Love the efforts of my baby girl here.>>
I agree – she was awesome! And we need the dogs to understand that certain behaviors are independent of our body language (contacts, weaves) and that others are entirely dependent on body cues (or verbals) – jumps are definitely all about watching the physical cues. She nailed it!
>>Full disclosure I had just gotten out of the shower so hair is wrapped up and comfy clothes on. I figured at this point what the heck, might as well provide some entertainment since we have all been together trying to keep our sanity and puppies trained the last 7 months lol.>>
Ha! See, I would not have even noticed if you hadn’t mentioned it – I only noticed the pants because I thought they were cute and fun looking 🙂 Over the summer, I got myself a little together for videos but at this point, I am all about pajamas and pony tails hahaha!
Great job 🙂
TracyHi!
The minny pinny went nicely! It is serving our purpose of naming the left and right behavior – great job starting on angles and also with delivering the reinforcement on the bend line, so he could really follow through on the left or right turn. He is treating it like a bending cavaletti, doing a nicely balanced trot. That is perfect for this age and he is sorting out how to work his body. Eventually this turns into a bounce grid but he is a little young for that (I generally don’t do that with big male dogs til closer to 10 months). He seemed pretty equal on both the left and the right, which is great!!!
>>On the first few reps, I clicked out of habit. And I saw his reaction to the click and clipping the bar, so I stopped.>>
Oh, I feel that! For some things I make sure I leave the clicker in the car (not even in the house where I would be tempted to pick it up LOL!) One other thing I noticed is that he finds the moment you reach for the cookies in your pocket to be a distraction. 2 ideas for that: in your ‘wrap the wing while I fidget’ game, add in reaching in and out of your pocket to help him not be as distracted by it. And on the minny pinny games – have the treats already in your hand and not moving until after he has exited the bend. This will help him learn the two skills of ‘ignore the treats’ an ‘use your bod’ separately, then we can add them together 🙂
Great job here!!
TracyHi –
>>Your feet stay parallel to dogs path even for the send?>>
It will ultimately depend on the angle of entry the dog is coming from, but on parallel path where the dog is already on the line to the backside – there is no reason for an additional step so we don’t use it in the teaching progression either. And on simple lines of entry – we don’t handle with a step anymore and it is really easy to get the behavior without it (that app has been updated, thanks to the Russians and Germans :)) If the angle of send if very severe, I might use a send step. So we teach it from the ground up without reliance on send steps except on very severe angles.
Tracy
