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Hi!
Practicing up close on the various angles looked good, he had a really successful session! You can also revisit this sometimes, just to remind him of the harder entries without having to do a full set.The angled poles with 4 poles also looked good! He is beginning to stride here – a bit of swimming! When you have 4 poles out, try to add more motion so you can build up to running while the poles are still a bit open (and use the TnT so he doesn’t look at you :)). And you can totally add the wings to this setup in your next session!
If the session with the wings goes well… you can move to the next step of the progression: poles 1-2 are straight and poles 3-4 are wide open at the 3&9 angle 🙂 At that point, I am betting that you will be able to move quickly through the progression.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! This was a really lovely session! You did all sorts of crazy handling and motion and angles, and he seemed to have no questions at all. YAY!
It looks like poles 1 and 2 are a bit open at 2&8 maybe? And poles 3 and 4 are wide open. So, let’s close them up a bit 🙂 Start with poles 1 and 2 going to 1&7 so they are pretty angled, and then if/when that is fine, you can go to poles 3 and 4 at 2&8. This might happen in the same session, and you might also find it easy to get poles 3 and 4 to close up to 1&7 as well!
That means you can get poles 1 and 2 to straight pretty soon too (at which point, poles 3 and 4 go back to being wide open) 🙂 It probably won’t take him long to work through the progressions of closing the poles up – yay! Keep working all the angles and handling challenges, he did a great job!
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! This session was interesting – she was hitting her body against the weave poles pretty consistently on the right side sends and was a bit wide on the left side sends (but did touch the poles a bit when they go straight). So while she was pretty accurate in getting the entries and poles 3 and 4, I would like to get her to not hit her body on the weaves as she enters (mainly so she doesn’t hurt herself!)
I think it is from the stimulation of the toy here without the MM as a focal point. We can play around with different ways to reinforce her so that she is a little more thoughtful when going into the entry on the right side and doesn’t smack into the poles – I think the answer is going to be throwing food. The MM can be out there as a focal point, and you can be chucking bit pieces of cheese or something similar. The throwing will bring some excitement to the game but not as exciting as the toy – and you can add more motion and she will still be a little more thoughtful about finding the right side entries.
The bit of wideness on the left side entries will take care of itself, I believe, as the 2nd base of poles 3 and 4 gets a little more angled 🙂 So for now, keep things where they are and try the food throwing and see how it goes! Leave poles 1 and 2 a little bit open – as much as needed until she stops touching them as she goes through on the right side.Let me know if that makes sense! Nice work!
TracyHi!
She is doing well! On the first video – The left side sends went well and also she was getting the right side sends until you had the one bad throw (rewarding her for going past the entry.
We have all made the oopsie throw on that exact angle, and it amazes me how quickly it changes their behavior into NOT hitting the entry LOL! And that is exactly what happened and why she started asking questions. One reward only builds behavior that we don’t want LOL! Behavior we DO want takes many rewards. So, since incorrect throws will happen, we can avoid her continuing to offer the unwanted but accidentally reinforced behavior: after that incorrect throw happens, don’t ask for the same one angle of entry on the next rep – immediately change to a different angle on the other side, something she will get really easily. Go back to the angle that had the oopsie reward later on, and be sure to reward it correctly. I learned that it was important to just do different things after bad rewards, thanks to all of my bad rewards LOL!On the 2nd video – it was good to ‘cleanse the palate’ with the open angle and the MM – she was fine with the harder angle that had the oopsie reward earlier. She was not passionate about the MM so I am glad you went back to the toy. The left side was easy here and right side looked great too. Be sure to add motion to these 🙂
Nice work!
TracyHi!
Very nice intro session on the channels! He picked it up really well and seemed to have no trouble finding the entries – the additional 6 poles and the MM further away are a visual distraction, but he only had one error that he fixed immediately. Good boy! And yes – they stay wide open while you add in even more motion (he had no problem with the motion you added) and the other crazy handling stuff 🙂 It is a lot of running but it is straight line running with very little repetitive bending, so it is still OK to do a little more than we would if he was actually weaving.On the 2x2s – it is fine to do a little warm up/reminder on the slightly open 1 and 2 poles, then straighten them up. Also, it is normal that poles 1 and 2 can be straight on one side but need to be a little angle on the other side (and, very often, they are straight on the left side sends and angled on the right side sends, which is what Presto probably needs too :))
I think poles 3 and 4 being close were NOT a problem at all 🙂 So for the next session, try angling 1 and 2 a little when he is on your right. He did well enough on the left that I don’t think you need to angle them or change anything – I suggest one more session just like this on the left side sends and see how it goes.The other idea here is to NOT use the MM 🙂 I was watching his eyes… they were focused entirely on the MM the whole time when he was going around pole 1 on the right side sends. I wonder if he will look at the poles more if there is no MM, and you just throw the treats? A toy might be too exciting but big cookies might be just right. I think he has enough MM experience that he will still drive forward without looking at you, but going to the thrown rewards might be just the thing to help him find the poles and not pass them on the right side sends 🙂
Nice work! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi there!
Looking at these 2 videos, I think we can separate them into the 2 sides of the clock: the 7-8-9-10-11 side and the 1-2-3-4-5 side.
On the 7-8-9-10-11 side, I think he is really beginning to get the idea! Yay! Use a cookie to line him up on the side you want him on – he should be on your left here and he likes to put himself on your right. But a cookie will help that, because he likes cookies more than he cares which side of you he will be on LOL!!! So a cookie lure to get him on your left side if perfectly fine. The only other thing to add on this side is to be sure your motion is parallel to the poles and not towards the poles, just to be sure that he can leave you to go get into the poles.
On the 1-2-3-4-5 side, where he is on your right – this is much harder for him, so he is not quite ready for poles 1 and 2 to be straight on this side. It is totally normal to be working on straight poles on one side, and open up the angle a little on the other side. So when he is on your right, open up the poles to 2&8 for a session to rebuild the value, then do a couple of sessions with them at 1&7. Then you can inch them back to the straight up position. He was failing a lot so he was losing interest, and then you started helping with body language – that gets him into the entry but will end up with him relying on your being there to help. He got it a little better on the 2nd video, but you were also helping more 🙂 So to teach him to weave independently, open the first 2 poles back up a bit until he really ‘owns’ the behavior.
The other thing that will help is to set a timer on the sessions. The first video was almost 9 minutes and he said it was tooooo long – he checked out starting at about 4 minutes. So set a timer for 3 minutes, tops! That way he will love love love the poles because the sessions are short and fun, and you will leave him wanting more 🙂 And if you don’t end on a correct behavior? That is fine, you can stop when the timer goes off even if he didn’t get it right, no need to keep trying to get a correct entry. Then during his break, you can figure out how to set up success which will make for a better session on the next one too! Think of it like this – better to spread out the 9 minutes of training into 3 sessions of 3 minutes where he is totally engaged than to have one session where he loses his energy at about 4 or 5 minutes into it.
The 2nd video was 4 minutes which is a much better length of session, about as long as I would recommend – and he was much more engaged.
Let me know what you think of the plan for poles 1 and 2 to be straight when he is in your left (7-8-9-10-11 side) and slightly open when he is on your right (1-2-3-4-5 side). Have fun! Fingers crossed for more good weather!
Tracy
Hi!
She is so widdle next to the big wings!! She looks nicely balanced here – I look to see if she is striding the same way each time, with the front feet landing approximately in the middle and then an equal arc over jump 2. She was doing that on all the reps except at :24 where you were hanging back and not moving as much. She was a little shorter in the landing spot there, but that might be because she was looking up at you on the release. You can wait until she looks forward then release when you hang back, or you can ask for the sit then throw the toy (so it is easier for her to mark). I bet that will get her landing in the same spot as on the other challenges. Let me know!
Great job here 🙂
TracyHowdy!
Since millennials will take care of us Gen Xers when we are old and decrepit, I will gladly teach you about old school clocks LOL!!!I think the easiest thing to do is line all 4 poles up straight, then angle them off the center line. Then you can think of it more like inches off the center and you don’t have to worry about a clock 🙂
I think he did a GREAT job on the 2x2s!! Woot!! Bending, striding, angles, etc. Next step: add in the Find Em game with the wings, so he comes in with more speed. Use the angles you had here.
Then after that, without the wings, poles 1 and 2 go straight and poles 3 and 4 are perpendicular , and you’ll be able to be move through the closing of the poles pretty quickly 🙂
I think the hardest part about the channels was the rewarding on 12. When you used the MM, he was great on 6 with all the crazy handling. So. Even though he doesn’t love the MM as much as the toy, I suggest using it for the handling challenges on 12 poles, so he drives through as you do your cartwheels and all lol With the MM out there, you can run more and he will be successful even as you add motion.
Separately, you can do 6 poles and tighten them a bit – with less handler motion and a thrown toy.
Nice work! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
I think he knows it has something to do with stopping at the end, but I am also not sure he knows that it is touching the tape. He seems to he getting the idea that stopping at the end is independent of your position or motion, and that is great!!!
So, to help clarify that we want the foot target, we can make the actual target more salient. Put the strip of tape on something thick enough that he has to step up with his front feet onto it (for now). It can be something that is maybe half the height of your thumb, so it is low but also a clear step up.
If he doesn’t see it as a step up, you can make it a little higher (it is easy to fade).
Then tape it to the end of the board and click/treat the step up for a session or two. I bet that clarifies things for him!And then as soon as he realizes that we want him touching the target right at the end, then we name the behavior – then it gets moved to the board. Yay!
Let me know if that makes sense, I think it is the last piece of the end position puzzle.
TracyHi! He is doing really well, this is going to be boring feedback LOL!!
Keep going with the one hit wonder approach to the uphills, adding more tip after maybe every other session if he remains happy like he was here. You can also change up the buffet on the target, so there are other high value goodies 🙂
The targeting looked really strong too – he had a little trouble doing it when he was excited by the toy at first but then was really good when you revisited it at the end. I think the only thing to add here is moving past the board as he is moving into target position. Work that on the plank first. The rest of the challenges, though, look ready to go onto the teeter to get the Bang Game started! Yay! Keep the target in place for now to help get the bang game rolling and gradually add in challenges.
Great job! Let me know how he does!
TracyOops, I missed where you said the board was a few inches from the ground. Yes, we want her to go from the 20″ table to the ground and into target position. But first, how is she doing with target position on the plank and the bang game? If she is doing well, you can have the downhill game go to the ground, using the target to get her into her end position 🙂
TracyHi!
Before trying out the teeter, try getting him on the wobble board with a toy: one hit, then throw the toy, then end the session 🙂
You can trade with another toy or treat to get the toy back. Then later in the day, try another one rep session.
If he likes it… we can move to the teeter!
TracyHi! He is totally getting the idea of the soft left/right turns versus the go go go! When you told him before he got into the tunnel, he was really good! When you were a little late, he was wider especially on the right turns. For whatever reason, he might have a harder time turning right.
At this stage, I think his tunnel commitment is strong enough that you can add the verbal left/right/go (along with the body language) when he is a solid 3 feet from the tunnel. You can lay a leash on the ground 3 feet from the entry and when he is getting to the leash, go to your directional cue and move to the next line. It will feel early, and it will challenge commitment 🙂 If he comes off the tunnel, then you can move more slowly but don’t change the timing to later – you can dial back the motion and reward at the tunnel exit (on the line for whatever you cued: straight for go, or turning for left/right)
Now if your timing is spot on at the 3 foot mark and he still doesn’t quite read the turn, try it sooner 🙂 For some dogs, 3 feet is the ideal spot. For some other dogs, the tunnel is sooooo stimulating that they need a turn cue more like 5 or 6 feet before they go in. But either way, he will be hearing and seeing the cue before entry so he can respond to it at the exit.The soft left and rights can be added using that Minny Pinny game we did last night and also on the ‘racetrack’ games around the wings. And the wrap verbals can go in when you are wrapping him back to the tunnel. You can develop a general “wrap towards me” cue and then later on, add in a “wrap away” cue (this one is a little less important at this moment). And with all the practice with these baby dog wing & tunnel games, I am totally confident that the verbals will be Really easy for you when he is running grown up courses.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
The toy produces different behavior for sure!
You can give him the ‘get it’ cue right after the click, so he knows that he can keep going. The get it is not a behavior as much as it is a “reward will be out there” marker.I like the hand cue!!!!! You can use 2 toys in training: get it when you want to reward him out away from you, then reset him back for your ‘hand’ cue. That will be useful, and will also be great for when you want to reward him tight to you.
The other thing I would add to this clean mechanics thing when using toys, is a clean ‘give’ cue. He sometimes regrips and sometimes is not quick to let go, so this is similar to the line up resets: rather than lean in or pull on the toy, you can say the cue, relax your hands, then let him choose (might take a moment at first LOL!). And when he relaxes his jaw, you can reinforce that choice: either with a high value food reward or with a cue to take the toy again (“hand” would be perfect). And food-then-toys will also raise the value of food. The clean ‘give’ cue will make reinforcement easier out on course too – but definitely train it in sessions like this one, so you can get it in place before all the excitement of running and jumping comes into play 🙂
Nice work here!! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning! I totally agree that being able to train with food or toys in hand is MUCH more efficient! And also good for saving the flesh on my hands because the dog is not grabbing for things.
BCs are often not all that excited for food in work, so in these training sessions, you can be using food and a toy to help loop things. That will accomplish 2 goals: to be able to be very efficient and precise with the reinforcement, plus the toy will build the value of the food.
I also think that you can incorporate the food or toy into the resets, which will be really helpful when you are doing more exciting things like working on wings or jumps. More on that below 🙂
The ‘get it’ for the cookie was good here! The timing would be after the click, as soon as possible – if you click then wait for more than a heartbeat, he will look back at you (clickers tend to produce that). So the order of events would be:
Click
Get it
TossAnd then to add to it: after he gets to the ‘get it’ cookie, call him back to you and use that recall moment to reset him at your side for the next rep. You can do this with another cookie and as he is coming in for the cookie, use the cookie to turn him around or get him set up at your side.
With one of my dogs, I reset for the next rep by saying “ice cream!”, she comes back and follows the cookie hand back into position at my side.
You can also use the toy for this:
Get it cookie, come back for a toy (which, paired with the cookie, will raise the value of the cookie as long as you watch to be sure he eats the cookie :)) and then tugging him back into position (or tug then a line up cue).The line up cue will be really helpful – he was not having trouble here, but he was having trouble in the class last night. So to line him up, you were using the collar to move him around and he didn’t like it – you were getting some opposition reflex and avoidance. The reset procedures either with food or toys will both solve that issue and make it fun for him to line up in the face of really exciting stuff. That of course will make for a fabulous start line in the future! If you have to move him and he doesn’t like it and you are pulling him, he will get stressed about it and then things can get muddy.
I do eventually teach the dogs to let me hold or move them by the collar, but only as part of a bigger line up or reset: for example, I am training weaves with my 17 month old dog: I line him up at my side to start with his toy (or food, depending on what I am using the session). After the line up, I put my hand on his collar (this got another reward early in training) – then send through the poles. Reward is thrown (“get it!”) then I call him back and reward him while also resetting him for the next line up… then the whole thing repeats (hand on collar, send, etc). He is happy because he knows the line up is the start of the game, and I am happy because I can get a ton of reps in without fighting with him LOL!!! And this has bubbled over into his start line in front of jumps, because he knows how to line up when asked.
Let me know what you think! He is doing really well!!
Tracy
