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Hi! Sorry for any confusion!
About splitting the behavior – we want to split it into small enough chunks that he is successful 90-95% of the time. That means adding the distractions or challenges very slowly so he continues to be successful.
>> So Hero is still stepping off instead of staying on the target when he is on my right (his left). Are you saying that I keep moving and if he steps off without release that I should not reward that? (I don’t want that behaviour so that makes sense). And I only reward him for holding position by releasing him forward to the MM? I am confused about to make him realise he should hold position.>>
Correct – only reward him for holding position correctly, not stepping off then back on. However… the goal is to not have him step off or to withhold reinforcement. That is where the splitting comes in. If moving forward at a walk causes him to make the mistake, split your motion into smaller pieces such as moving VERY slowly not even a walk. Or moving off laterally and not forward. Count failures or behaviors that don’t get rewarded: 1 is generally not an issue, but when you get into 2 or 3 or so, you need to split the challenge into smaller pieces.
>or do you mean, even if he steps off and then corrects himself, I should reward him with a “catch” low and behind him. Then if he holds position all by himself without correction he can be released to the MM as his reward?>>
If he steps off and corrects himself, I would not reward that any more (but also try to not have it happen by introducing what causes it – motion – more gradually). If he holds position without the step off, then you can reward back behind him with the catch or forward to the MM (to help keep him looking straight).
Let me know if that makes sense: the goal is to proceed slowly enough that he is highly successful so you can reward all the things 🙂
T
Good morning!
Yes, he is definitely loving the elevator game!!! He is confident and his end position looks strong! Wow, it is LOUD but as long as he doesn’t mind, then it is fine LOL!!! The fast countdown works well, now add back your target cue. The height of the board looks really good – how much does he weigh? You can add a little more height to it but we don’t need much more height at this stage. Instead, you can add in your motion – starting with a low height, give the countdown then target cue then as you drop the board, start to walk forward (same as you do with the Bang Game). It will challenge him to hit & hold position as you are moving AND while the board is dropping. Double whammy! I think he will be fine with it but it is always safer to start with a lot less height on the board.Speaking of the bang game – keep working on fading the target. But the elevator game is now the main focus 🙂
And one more thought – on the elevator game, I think you can also take out the teach it entirely at this point, so he gets used to seeing the full visual of the teeter with no props 🙂
The downhill game video is marked private 🙁 Can you reset to unlisted?
Thanks and great job here!
TracyHowdy! Definitely NOT a fluke! Very exciting!
A couple of little suggestions:
the warm up with the elevator game is great, I would just add in a hop on cookie. And then during the fully ‘crazy’ elevator game, when he runs up the board – definitely keep rewarding when he arrives there, and you can also keep rewarding during the countdown. On the early reps, when you were not rewarding, he was looking around like “WTH!!!!”. But then when you started rewarding during the countdown on the last 2 reps, he was more confident and able to focus ahead more. Yay! I don’t think you will always need to keep rewarding during the countdown, but it will help for now!One other little detail: when you are raising the board, raise it sloooooowly LOL! Think of being in an elevator – you want it to go slowly and not rocket ship up 🙂 When you raised it fast, he was a little concerned. So let the elevator rise to the penthouse slowly, lots of cookies, then the countdown then drop 🙂
For planning: whip this game out every other day or so. Basically do it just like you did here with the couple of extra cookies and slower lift of the board. No need to do it every day because there is a lot of impact on the body when the board hits the ground. If possible, move the teeter to different spots in your yard and at LU. But the bones of the game remain the same until next Monday, where we take it to the next level 🙂
Separately, without the crazy elevator game, keep working on fading the target out on the bang game. Let me know how that is going!
FUN TIMES!!!! Great job!
TracyHi!
Yes, she was still concerned but I am happy to see her still jumping on. Yes, the rebound of the board was hard for her, so you can grab the board to help it be quieter and not bounce as much. She seemed to do better when you were doing more of the elevator game (probably because it eliminated that rebound issue).
So what I would do is a quick confidence rebuilder for a couple of days: lower the tip a little, and do random one hit wonder elevator games (or low bang game hits), and don’t make too big of a fuss about feeding in position – you can release her off the board and throw the reward far away from it 🙂 And try not to do too much at all – a high value one hit here or there will make a big difference and also leaving it alone for the most part will wash away the concern 🙂 And you can still do the high value rewards even when it is not a perfect presentation of the behavior. Each of my dogs had a detour like this in their teeter training, so I gave them a little break, did some high value one hits where I rewarded any interaction with the board, and also did a lot of releasing away from the board to a favorite toy or giant meatball 🙂 That reduces the pressure and allows them to get back to the happy place (which they all did :))When is your next class or lesson? Taking the behavior on the road where there is a bit happy reinforcement history can help too!
Tracy
Hi! The in person class sounds so fun!
It is useful to watch the newer lessons only if you can resist temptation to rush or skip steps 🙂 Otherwise, it is better to watch them as you need them 🙂
Tracy
Hi! This is fun to see – real weaving!!! I love the side view too 🙂
His success rate was super high – my only suggestion about the angles an such is that the very first rep should be a reminder from an angle he finds easy and without a lot of speed (he tends to miss the first rep of the session or of the day). At this stage of training, I start my dogs at my side at the 10 o’clock angle at the beginning of each session, so they recognize things (when they are more experienced, I mix it up more). Also, he was focusing ahead really nicely!>>I guess this is the point where I can also start using my real weave command? And next time we train is it ok to change up the middle poles?>>
Yes – definitely time for the real weave cue. Yay!
So for the next session in a day or two, I would narrow the entire channel a tiny bit more, to about 2 inches – that will help him get more into the striding without being too challenging yet. At this stage you can keep doing the angles as the poles are still relatively open. When he is happy with that for a couple of sessions over a few days, then you can go to the game posted yesterday about getting to 6 straight poles. That is when we dial back the challenges temporarily so the dogs can focus on the poles getting straighter.Let me know if that makes sense! It is fun to see him getting it!!!
TracyGood morning!
He is doing well here!
On the first video with the 2 poles – he is starting to get the collection for sure! Try to delay the reward for one more heartbeat: you were throwing it when you saw collection but now you will want to see collection AND make sure he gets into the entry 🙂 I think that is what happened on the last rep – you saw him start to collect and threw the reward, but he never got in. I don’t think that was too hard of a step for him – I might have asked again (maybe on the other side and with less speed, especially after the oopsie reward). You can also add poles 3 and 4 further away, so the straight poles entry are more salient and less buried in the visual of all the poles for now. I think he is ready for poles 3-4 to be added for sure!>> Since straight entries seem to be the problem child, should I just keep working those or add the other angles in the find em game?>>
I would work the different angles too, to keep those fresh and keep the entry value high. You can plan to alternate: straight entry, angled entry, straight entry, different angled entry, etc. That is to make sure you do the straight entries and not just the angles 🙂
Channels look really good! Yes, you can work up to 12 but also, I suggest starting to tighten up the 6 you have here. There are 2 lessons posted on that: in a nutshell, the first step is to tighten all the poles by the width of a finger, repeating the entries successfully – until you get striding. And then when he can do all the angles and such with some striding, the next step would be to tighten the inner poles to the straight line, then the outer poles. It took me a couple of weeks with Contraband doing one or two sessions a week, just to give you a general time frame. Fever is more mature and experienced, so it might happen faster but there is no rush 🙂
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
CAMP is a really fun class, I look forward to it every year 🙂 I think the coupon question is just part of the standard sign up, I didn’t send anything about that. Hope your computer gets out of the hospital soooooon!!!!
TracyPS – embedding the 2 poles in a course will also have the nice side effect of her being able to easily find the poles on course!
Good morning!
>>I need to tell you that a week ago Keiko surprised me from behind when we were playing the indoor chuck-it game, took my feet right out from under me, and I landed flat on my back. Running, bending, and just general moving is still quite painful. >>
Ouch1 That sounds so painful!!! I am glad it is just bruised but still, that sounds painful.
>>So, I’m doing my best to be exciting and run in our sessions, but I’m not doing as much as I’d like.>>
I thought you were pretty darned exciting! No more running or excitement needed, it was great! I would have never known you were running in pain – you were fast and fun!
>>That said, I think today’s session went fairly well. I took your suggestions – go rid of the chuck it so she didn’t have that to focus on, tried to get her excited before runs (she was pulling on her collar for the tunnel each time before I let her go), and made a fun sequence of tunnel, weaves, tunnel, Manners minder.>>
I agree! Her understanding of the entries was impressive, with you way ahead nd hustling. Nice!! She was fast and striding when she was in the poles and seemed to really like the tunnel after it. Plus, she didn’t pop out of the poles to get into the tunnel after it – gold star! Yay!
>> I hoped that would speed her up a bit. I put the tunnel in a variety of spots between 10 and 2. And a couple of times she chose to take the tire, too.>>
>>She wasn’t a lightening fast BC, but she moved into the poles each time with confidence and ran to take the next tunnel and get the reward. I>>Yes!
>> noticed in the video that most of the time, she strided into the first set and bounced out at the end. She may turn out to be a swimmer. I think she may not show a definite stride until there are more poles – or do you think differently?>>
I think we will see for sure when the poles are more closed on 4 or 6 poles. Probably a bouncer? But lots of bouncers do a little swim stride to get in and then bounce, depending on the difficulty of the entry.
>> What I found especially interesting was the crossed outside leg stuff she did when approaching the poles from the 10 position. Odd.>>
Yes, I think it is just young dog sorting out the striding stuff, with da momma far ahead. I don’t think it will be an issue but we will keep an eyeball on it.
>Okay, so let me know what you think about the video. I am wondering what might happen if I just ran her through the tunnel from straight on and kept doing just that. Start with poles at 1 and 7 and turn them slightly after 3 runs, and so on. Other ideas? My little thinker is making ME think!
>>I know, she is making BOTH of us think LOL!!!! Here is my current train of thought, let me know what you think:
– striding? going nicely! Not complete yet because we are figuring out how to get her to run to the poles and that will affect the striding.
– understanding of entries? YES!
– understanding of staying in? YES! Even with you running and with a tunnel out ahead. Perfect.
– so the main focus now is convincing her that she can run to the poles and not slow down to think about it. And we don’t want that to be based on your speed or excitement level – you are already fast and exciting! I think it is a conditioned response: when she sees poles, they stimulate a thinking response in her so she slows down. And when she is in the poles, the conditioned response is now associated with the flying squirrel, so she speeds up.So with that conditioned response in mind, we last piece of the puzzle is to convince her to drive to the poles in that “think less” style – every dog is a little different with that, so we need to pair the entry with a super high value activity and reinforcement. The middle/exit is already paired with that (thus the speed). So the things she likes most are: running fast, sequencing with tunnels and wings and probably the teeter too, the flying squirrel, the momma running.
Based on that, I think we can shift the conditioned response by just taking 2 weaves poles (1 base) and sticking them in the middle of a sequence or course. They should be wide open enough that they are easy, with the angle of entry pretty straightforward so there is no thinking involved. And run the sequence: jump, tunnel, tunnel, 2 weaves, jump, tunnel, for example. Start with something fast and fun then carry on after the 2 weaves, treating them like a tunnel in the middle of the sequence. Wheeeee! The reward can come an obstacle or two later down the road.I think that will help shift the conditioned response because the value of running the sequences will transfer to the poles! The first step is to find a sequence she will sprint through. Then swap out a jump the 2 weaves.
When she runs to the 2 weaves, it will be super easy to put the rest back in because her understanding of the rest is strong.
Let me know if that makes sense or if I need more coffee haha!!
Tracy
Hi!
She definitely liked the Go Go Go lines after the tunnel! Nice! And she did really well wrapping the wings on just about all the reps. She was wide once or twice on the wing on the go line back to the tunnel, but I think that had more to do with you driving away without as much connection. She was great on the connected turns!On the right turn exits of the tunnel: looking at :31 :41 1:01 and 108, your verbal was on time! Yay! But your body was still showing go go go so that is overriding the verbal. At the same time as the verbal, let her see your body turn: and then run away on the 90 degree exit line so she can chase you to the reward (don’t wrap then reward, as that puts more value on the wing than on the tunnel exit). And to be able to accomplish this, I think you can make the setup smaller in terms of spacing – that way you won’t have to run as fast to get to the tunnel exit and you can show the info before the entry. I think you have a lot of distance here which is super fun! But it is making you run everything in full on acceleration so you are not showing her the physical turn cues to support the verbals. Try the distance between the wings and tunnels being more like 4 metres, maybe 5. Very close! That will allow you to show the turn cues without the pressure of needing to sprint up the line 🙂
Nice work! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
She is old enough to start learning the a-frame!
If possible, choose Dr. Overall because you can see her in person. Tom’s program is more generalized so you can see if he will work one-on-one, but I he can’t see you in person so Dr. Overall is a really good bet 🙂
THi! Lots of good work here!!!!
That real world minny pinny was fun!! A real life agility setup LOL!
Wind In Your Hair – nice job here!!!! Your connection on the go lines looks great and so she was able to find the line. Good toy throws too! The rear cross was definitely harder like at 1:36, she was looking at you and you tried to cut in for the cross, so you got a little tangled up. If you stay closer to the wrap wing for longer, she will have more time to get ahead of you for the rear crosses. And, throwing the toy early can help out on these 🙂 She was much smoother on the rear crosses to the left! So keep working that good connection and early toy throws (as she is passing you), and she will get the rears to the right. And balance with lots of go go go driving ahead, so she looks at you less 🙂
The Serps and threadles are also looking really strong here! One thing that will help is if you reward a lot of stays – she was a little impatient and didn’t always give you a moment to get settled LOL!
I like that choice of toy, also – stimulating but not mind-exploding! It was a great choice for reinforcement. The serps all looked really good when she let you get into position, and she did well even with your motion. And the tunnel balance looked solid too! Nice!
One suggestion on the threadles that you added at the end – show her the physical position and then use the verbal to release her (that is why she needs to be patient and let you get into position :)) – at 5:01, you did the physical cue and the verbal all at once, so she was moving to the other side of the jump before she had a moment to process it. So let her see you in the threadle position for a couple of seconds before the verbal and I think she will be very successful and you won’t need to rush or turn your feet.Ladder grid- I agree, this went well! Her form between the jumps looks lovely!!! Good job setting it up with the distance (6 feet works perfectly for her) and the toy placement out ahead, with you on the long lead out. On your next session, start her closer to the first jump, with ehr front feet just a couple of inches away from it to challenge her to use her hind end more because she won’t be able to run into the grid, she will have to push off her rear.
One more detail: Be a bit more boring LOL! You are really exciting with the Go verbals here, but we don’t want to be exciting on jump grids because it might be oversitmulating to the dogs – instead, just release and stand still or maybe say a quiet “get it” so she can think about her coordination. You don’t need to urge her, as that might cause her to rush and might be why she dropped the bar on the last rep. As the jumping get more complicated, we want to be relatively boring LOL!
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>>Yea. It’s hard to connect big time and then throw. But I am getting used to it. It really makes a difference with Ruby. I really connected with Sport and we were a very consistent team. Maybe I got away from it a little with Jedi?? Now I need to go back to it with Ruby. >>Yes, it is hard to connect and run and throw! It is really hard with puppies but then it gets easier and we don’t have to connect as much. That is also why we teach all the verbals 🙂
>>She will be jumping 16″ Me and Bonnie measured her at 15 1/2? 15 3/4?>>
Whoa that is a perfect height. Watch out, 16″ height class! Oh crap, I am in that class! Eek!! Fun times ahead 🙂
On the video: omg she cracks me up, I think that the GO cue might be her favorite ever! But then she was great on the right turns. Yes, a tiny bit wide on the first ones after all the Go cues but then watch her head in the tunnel! When you said go, she was looking straight before she exited. On most of the right cues she was looking to her right before exiting the tunnel. And even when she was a little wide, she was adjusting quickly. Good girl! Nice job getting the verbals in earlier, that totally helps her pay attention to them, You can keep expanding this – how much distance can you add? We will be building on this soon.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! He is doing a really strong job with the 2o2o!!! Good job!
Yes, try to line him up so he is more parallel to the board and closer to the end, so he leaps on in preparation for the bang game 🙂
My only tweak is to try to get him to look at you less when he is getting into position. Convincing him to look down and forward will help him shift his weight on the teeter. He is all about the cookies in your hands (poor starving dude haha). So two ideas to get him to look forward more at the target and not up at you:
One thing to do is have the cookie in your hand, ready to drop in and rather than hand it to him, toss it back to the target area between his front feet. It will be harder for him to track the hand/arm movement so he will look at the target more and at your hands less.The other thing you can do is have a toy or empty food bowl or Manners Minder about 6 feet away from the bottom of the board. When he hits his 2o2o position, you can release him to the reward out ahead. That can help him focus ahead and not on you.
Let me know if that makes sense! If he can do a session on the plank where he is hitting and holding position like he did here and also looking down/forward more (and not at your cookie hands :)) then we can move it to the teeter. Yay! Keep me posted!
Tracy
