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Good morning! He is doing really well with his turns and burns! Yay! Keep doing that angled L-shaped exit like you were doing on the reps coming towards the camera (he was turning to his right). When you were going away from the camera (he was turning to his left) you had some reps where you moved back more towards where you started, which is fine but you can add more challenge with the L turns because there is more countermotion.
You were also starting to leave earlier and earlier, which is terrific!! His commitment looked strong. Woot! So…. keep mixing in an early departure here and there, working up to leaving just before his nose gets to the barrel set up. And to keep him committing, as you start to leave really early for the FC, toss the reward back to him at the exit of the wrap, so the value of commitment stays super Hugh.
Great job!
TracyHi! He was such a good boy here!! The food bowl is a great replacer for the MM, he was VERY keen to go to it! Plus it is great that he is still portable so you can carry him. He did a great job here on the sends, he figured it out immediately. Because he was so brilliant, you can do the next session by adding a bit more distance, both in front of the tunnel on a straight line and also sending from angles on the sides of the tunnels. You had some angles starting already and he was great! And when you are sure he will take the tunnel (like he did here :)) you can totally slap on the tunnel verbal.
I think one more short session like this and then you can switch him to the inside so you can start on the threadle side (where he is between you and the tunnel entry, and you send him in so he turns away to find it).Great job! He is figuring this out really quickly, smart AND cute, the total package 🙂
TracyHi! Hope you are enjoying your weekend!
Both of these sessions looked really great!!
Serps: I would say this was really strong. Your line and connection was great, his reading of the handling was great! I would say he only had one question: on the last rep, on the yellow jump, he has a subtle mis-read of the jumping effort. He put himself very close to the outer wing rather than make the turn earlier to be more centered. So far, 5 or 6 of the pups are doing something funky on that 2nd jump – either having a jumping question or pushing themselves to the backside. So, stay tuned for more serp preparation things coming in the next set of games, that will help him sort out the jumping fully. For now, if you revisit the serps, angle the last jump ever so slightly open for now so he has an easy jumping line.The blinds and lead outs also look good! On the blinds – timing is looking good, connection looks good. Yay!! I think your running line can be more direct to the jump after the blind. It is hard to tell for sure on this angle but it looks like you were converging in towards the BC jump and then out to the next one, so he had a little zig zag on his line. You can skim the outer edge of the BC jump and head directly to the exit of the jump after it and see if that smooths it out. His commitment looks good so I think he we will be fine with it.
His stays looks just about perfect, I think the one where he broke was because you had stopped, then moved forward so he was thinking it was the release. Oops! So you can give him a little reminder if that happens, like a stay verbal or a good boy and then move again, if you don’t want him to release.
Great job!!
TracyHi!
>>Also, I didn’t trim this video very much so you could observe and critique the reward versus jackpot.>>
That was helpful!!
>>Funny thing, however. When I studied the video at slow speed, it seemed to me that he was turning his head pretty well most of the time but not adding a “good enough” collection stride on the less excellent efforts. >>
I could see a difference in the head turns that correlated to the quality of the turns. And the head turn was affecting the striding, which also correlated. And he was thinking about it, which was GREAT to see!
>>At any rate, since I left in a lot, you’ll be able to see how I judged them at the time. I mostly agreed with myself (how nice*) during video review. Except for 3:50 where I gave some eye contact help, I mostly tried to be “the same” for every rep.>>
I agreed with all of your choices on the first part when he turned to his right. I agree with your choices for all except 1:30 when he turned to his left (I thought that was a good one but not a jackpot one). I think that the left side is his weaker side (do I remember that correctly? I really need to keep a spreadsheet for all the dogs, including my own LOL!)
So since he had a much easier time here turning to his right and a harder time to his left, a couple of ideas:
– add challenge to the right side reps by adding more motion (bar can stay high).
– bookend the session with right turns, so we can hopefully maximize the two things that get remembered best: primacy and recency. Full disclosure: I might be extrapolating a human learning thing with that, but learning is learning and it certainly can’t hurt to try 🙂
– simplify the challenges on the left turns by having the bar a little lower so he can be correct might often and more easily. And put the left reps in the middle of the session and don’t do too many 🙂 He was really thinking about it and produced some truly excellent head turns, but was also slowing himself down to do it (and maybe fatigued on the last rep).2 other ideas:
– you can cue it with decel like you did here, but add a turn and burn exit to help give him even more reason to want to turn his head to turn tight: turn and burn is a tight FC on a 90 degree line that takes you parallel to the jump bar (but not over it) – let me know if that makes sense, I am sure I have video so I will go look for it too. I have found the turn and burn to be really helpful in giving the dogs a reason to turn tight without having to show them the obstacles. And you can still differentiate between good, great and crappy 🙂 Good gets a cookie when he arrives and some praise. GREAT gets tugging or a throw toy or something exciting. Crappy gets a ‘you’re cute!’ but not parties 🙂
– you can also work on flexibility through the neck and body in conditioning exercises – what is in his repertoire of bending exercises for conditioning? You can see if he can get extra bendy to his left 🙂 I have a couple that I can video for you if you want.You mentioned adding a little more connection to help him out – that is great! Connection will allow you to see the head turns better and reward them. You can also click the jackpot ones.
>>My biggest initial problem with training the running DW was that it took me a very, very long time to develop my “eye”. Being able to see front feet versus rear feet on a zooming BC is a big deal. So I had the uncomfortable experience of watching myself do a poor job of deciding whether a given rep was good or bad. Hard enough to learn that skill when you are getting correct feedback. Almost impossible when the feedback is bad.>>
OMG yes this is SO TRUE. In fact, it is such a difficult trainer skill that I have added this skill to the puppy class curriculum. We break it down to an easy puppy level – not because I care about teaching a running contact (it is just a fun puppy mat game) but because we need to teach ourselves how to see what their feet are doing. Live and learn, I wish we had started that with previous generations of puppy 🙂
Great job on this one! Let me know what you think!
TracyYay! Being a foodie is very helpful for building value, because you can totally do a lot of quick reps for treats without tiring her out 🙂
keep me posted!
TracyHi there! I found the serp game, sorry to have missed it!!
Your lap turns look good! You can place yourself a little closer to the wing, maybe just past an arm’s length: that should help drive her in very directly and set up even tighter turns.
The tandem turn also looked good!!She is show super balance between line focus and handler focus, even when you added speed from the tunnel: no change in her ability to focus on you versus the wing. SUPER!!!! Love this! And your mechanics are really solid, with my only suggestion being to be closer to the wing on the lap turn (you can see there is a little zig zag in her line as she comes to you on the lap turn).
When you play with this again, add in more running from the higher level sequences, where she does the wraps or race tracks, and sometimes you throw in a lap or tandem turn. And if you have the space, spread it out a little! Adding speed and the balance of being sent around the wings will make it more challenging, but based on your training here: I don’t anticipate her having any trouble. Yay!
Great job!!!
TracyHi! She did well here at the beginning! Note the hind end use to put herself into the 2o2o, and then when you pulled the target, she hopped right back on. You had good timing of marking the hind end on and getting the target in, then pulling it when she came off. I think the barking was just arousal – she was still thinking and offering, so the barking was probably her opinion on the game (“why do you pull the target when I come off, just keep feeding me, human!” LOL!!) The higher arousal did make it harder for her to offer the behavior, but that is fine: we want her to think it through in arousal. One thing you can do is clarify the release for her – get a couple of cookies in, then release her (before she moves off the board on her own). I think she might have a good understanding going of getting into position but is not necessarily sure of how long to stay there or when to release (which might be why she is cursing, I mean barking haha!)
Great job!
TracyHi! I did miss this, sorry! Thanks for pointing me to it!
The one jump game looked really good on every single rep except the last one: she did something funky with her striding there at :30. I think she was just on a harder angle and needed a moment to get organized.
On the 2 jumps: when the first jump was the serp jump, she did really well on your left but was pushing to the backside on your right. And we saw a similar thing when you did. the send to jump 1 and serp jump 2: she is stronger on your left than on your right. I think she is trying to set herself up to turn to her left more and is having trouble setting up the angling jumping effort to jump to her right. Aha! And several of pups are doing the exact same thing (I think we are up to 5 total pups doing the same thing :))
So – for now, angle the jumps a little so it is easier for her to find the correct side and and not push to the other side (or threadle). The flat angles are just a little too hard for the moment. And, in the next games package, I will add a jump grid to help the pups sort this out so then we can work to flatten the jumps again.Let me know if it makes sense and how it goes!
TracyThis is such a great update, thanks!!! I am picturing him smacking it and it is making me laugh lol!!!! Very cool to hear his is enjoying the process 🙂 keep me posted!!!
TracyHi!
yes, we try to balance what the dog brings to the table. So some of my dogs, like some of your dogs, were naturally a little under-aroused in sport needed us to be crazy loud wild lunatics. And then some of our dogs are naturally a little over-aroused and then need us to be CHILL. LOL!! Chill is NOT natural for me so to be honest, I totally fake it and the dog is happy haha! Welcome to #TeamFakeChillHe looked awesome on the teeter!!! I loved his drive to the end and more importantly… I love how he waited there, shifted is weight. GOOD BOY! Yes, I would say the mountain climbers you’ve done are really paying off. Yay!! You don’t have to ask for more targeting than he is already doing there (arriving in position and waiting) because that is the exact posture of what he will be doing when he arrives at the top of the board. Just try to get there quick enough that he doesn’t turn around LOL! You can add a little more jogging in to add challenge. The extra targeting will come into play as the board moves more, when all the pieces come together. But this looks fabulous and you are well on your way to a great teeter!
Question: this was in the daytime and he didn’t appear to do any zooming off. Does that happen when the teeter games are in play? Or did it used to happen and not it has stopped? (I think you said it used to happen but I need to scroll up and look :))
Great job here!
TracyHi!
The first couple of teeter reps looked really good! Then on that 3rd rep, there was more drop or something and he said “WHOA! Different!!” That is totally normal. But then he continued to think about it – so as you add drop, stick to the super limited number of reps in a row. 1 or 2, tops, then either be done for the day or go do something else. That can maintain the grand slam level of reinforcement 🙂 If you did 5, 6, 7 or so reps then 2 things are happening: he is going to start to think about it (and we don’t want them really thinking about it because it is a weird obstacle indeed LOL!) and also the value of the reinforcement goes down because you are breaking the jackpots up to accommodate the added reps. So in effect, he is working harder for less pay LOL!! So you can do more reps on the easy ones with no or little motion – but when adding tip, stick to the Thanksgiving-dinner-style reinforcements and super short sessions 🙂 Pretty soon he will just freakin’ love the teeter and will be insane for it, and then you will be able to get lots of reps without having to jackpot them all 🙂The GO reps are looking good! Giddy up! He isn’t necessarily running to the wing but I don’t care, I love the blasting out and then there will an obstacle there for him to commit to.
For the right turns – yes, the wing was a distraction so good idea to move it and then it looks like you put it back after several successes, but a little further away. And got a nice right! yay! And balanced with the go. Good dog training there!
He has the most trouble with the right when he has just experienced the glory of the go go go, so helping him with a lowered tone and less motion is definitely the way to go (no pun intended haha) for now. It was hard to see where he was when you were showing the physical cue for the right: it is possible he needs to see it sooner, at about the 6 foot mark before he enters the tunnel (lay a leash on the ground) – that can allow him to fully see the cue and process it before entering. I know I had suggested a 3 foot location as the timing spot, but now that the pups are feeling the wind in their hair, we might have to back it up to 6 feet. For example: Contraband now feels the wind in his hair of the ‘go fasts’ so his timing has gone to the 6 foot spot in front of tunnels. Elektra does not yet feel the wind in her hair with tunnels (only with dragging the cat around by the head) so I wait for the 3 foot spot with her). Stark has probably moved up to the 6 foot spot for the physical cue and you can start the right verbal even sooner!Great job here! See you later this weekend for some handling fun fun fun!!
TracyWow, that is some super nice backing up for such a baby dog!!! Really good form, gives us a good view of how she moves. Nice! And since this is going well, you can be a little tiny bit pickier now: try to not reward the head toss reps – the first 3 of the backing up reps were great then she had a couple of head toss reps and then a good couple towards then end.
If she head tosses, she is pushing from her front (and also probably sassing you LOL!) – it could also be that she is stimulated so getting hoppy and not thinking about balance and hind end as much. So if she does the head toss, you don’t have to click or toss the treat, you can just praise, call her back, give her a lick or tiny taste of the cookie, and see what she offers. I don’t want to withhold reward because that might make her hoppier 🙂 If she consistently gets hoppy 3 reps into a session or so, that is just puppy hind end fatigue (it is a real thing! LOL!) so keep your sessions to 2 or 3 reps then let her run around with a toy, then do a couple more. That way you can really expand on the beautiful form you’ve shaped!
Great job!
TracyHi!
Those are perfect tug toys for her size! And she seems to really like them. I think the toy play is going nicely. She leaps into your lap for the retrieve, adorable and also useful! Have you tried this kneeling? We can gradually get you more and more upright.
Other ideas:
You can incorporate harness grabs or reaching for her or touching her to happen right before the big throw: I take the puppy by the harness or collar and then immediately throw the toy before she can even think.
How is her food drive going when toys are around? It looks good on the other videos. I do a like of Operation: Swallow The Damn Cookie with my BC-ish dogs in this game: 2 toys and some non-descript cookies, Throw the toy, party like you did, get her to eat a cookie (she doesn’t have to earn it, just swallow it) and then throw the toy (criteria: swallowing :))Great job!!
TracyHi!
She is just so fun to watch!
On the wrap versus go – the wraps are looking good and she is too funny when she curses at you first then does it. We know she loves wrapping to her left so it cracked me up when she got mad at you after the Go reps!The wrapping to the right is harder for her, so a tiny bit of leg help (just one step) will make it perfect.
About the GO lines, you totally read my mind: I was thinking that the Manners Minder could totally help – and it did 🙂 But it also made the wraps harder – but she got it! Yay!!! She still curses at you a bit but she was doing it 🙂
The wraps to the left with the MM out there were REALLY great (and the one accidental hit of the MM remote was actually fine because it happened right as she turned her head to turn left.Good job rewarding the GO moments by clicking the MM when she looked straight. She was not 1000% convinced to keep going and pass the cone (she loves the cone) so that was great timing of the click.
One thing you can do to help the GO moments is to have the wing closer to the jump. That will make the cone wraps harder because they are closer to the MM, but that is fine: those wraps are her stronger skill for now so you can increase the challenge there (and help with a little bit of handling as needed).
Simple decel:
This looked great on the jump! She turned beautifully AND she did the go really nicely! I like that she to think about it when you went back to the wrap after a couple of Go rewards – perfect challenge! When you came back to the wrap after the 2nd set of GO reps, she was perfect. (Also: nice stays!!!!)When you added the tunnel – she had some questions about whether or not to take the jump: I think that was a connection thing. When you were a little more connected as she exited the tunnel she was perfect in her commitment. When she had the questions, you were looking ahead and also beginning to rotate into the FC – so she just went into handler focus. So keep adding that little bit of connection as she exits the tunnel to support her commitment.
She only had 2 other questions here on this one:
She did a Rear Cross at 4:31 – and if you watch it in slow motion, you can see that your left foot was pointing to the rear cross line as you stepped in. She was paying attention!!
And then at 4:59 she went straight – that was because you were late in the decel, so she made a takeoff decision based on you accelerating.
So these were good errors – she was paying attention!!Soft turns – this went really well, she does not seem to be looking too far ahead an she is watching the handling REALLY nicely! You can increase the challenge by putting the MM out past jump 2, or put the tunnel out past there… or replace jump 2 with the MM or tunnel.
In the second part of the session, you read my mind again and put the MM out there. Great minds and all haha! At 3:21 she went straight but I think that was a late turn cue and not the call of the distraction. The rest were REALLY strong!!Overall she is paying excellent attention to the verbals and to the handling, she looks great!! So you can add challenge by replacing a jump distraction with a tunnel or moving them all closer together. Also, you can add more emphasis to the GO cue. Her turns look outstanding so now you can focus on go go go without much running 🙂 We might over-balance the value on the big lines, but I think that will be excellent prep for running big courses 🙂
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
