Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
I am hoping it warms up SOOOOON!!!!! Ready for spring. And I think the value for the MM will come back, the liverwurst is a great idea!!!
Hi! Hope you are having a good weekend!
>> Looking forward to see what you have for us on Monday! It was so funny to get to the end of the write-up on exercise #7 and to read your comment about “now go on to track #7!” Hmmmm….circular thinking? 😉>>>
Ha! Probably an error in proof reading. I will take a look 🙂
>>Question – are you getting any other courses set to go? Since the weaves are best with breaks in between sessions, I was wondering what other classes are coming up. Keiko said she wants MORE>>
Right now, the next handling class is the CAMP class, but that is in June. I am planning on doing a “Pandemic puppy engagement games” class sometime before then, to help the pups get out to the new places with focus – probably in May? I will be looking at the calendar for that later this week 🙂
T
Hi, long time no see LOL!
He did great here! Yes, there was legit weaving happening!!! Because of his size, he should do the 2 leg bounce. When you watch the demos, watch Hot Sauce’s work because she is similar in size and build. Getting him to single stride ‘swim’ the poles is possible but it would slow him waaaay down because he would have to reach – the bounce will be easier and faster.
So on the next session, everything the same as you had here except show him harder angles at the ‘bottom’ of the clock: 8-7-6 and 3-4-5. If he can do the harder entries with motion for 2 short sessions: tighten the poles after that. Yay! And then I am confident he will be weaving, so we then slow the progression down so we don’t overwork him.Great job here!!!!
TracyHi!
Yes – think of your fingertips pointing back to her toes 🙂 And the verbals will totally help too! Keep me posted on how she does on the other games.
TracyGood morning!
Nice arm swoosh on the wraps in the proofing game, note how she had no questions about going to the wing! Yay! When rewarding her, be sure to present the toy low and keep moving, letting her get it – you were moving away but pulling the toy up, so she is beginning to leap for it and that can lead to leaping elsewhere on course. So a nice low toy and letting her get it will help that out a lot.
On the rights – yes, what a difference on the turns on the tunnel exit! The camera is in a great position: we can see you doing the physical and verbal cue before she enters, and then we can see how nicely she is turning on the exit 🙂 Happy dance!
She had a question about committing to the wing with you that far away – mainly because your arm was way up and it was rotating your shoulders away so she was not sure if she should follow you or take the wing. The arm a little lower, maybe more at waist-height and definitely no higher than your shoulder, will help clarify that for her.Course 2A:
Your arms were more shoulder height her and it really helped! The first run was really strong! On the 2nd and 3rd run, your right cues were a little late so she went straight (good girl, she was correct to read the physical cue that way) So as she exits the wrap on the wing, connect like you did (it was lovely!) and accelerate out of it, so I you then have time to decel and step away from the right before she goes into the tunnel.2B:
I think one thing that can help get the right turns tighter are if you accelerate into the GO for the tunnel before it, which will get her driving out faster (as soon as she exits the wing like at :07 and :27 you can accelerate and start saying go go go). That will put you in a better position for the straight ahead wing, so you can then leave it sooner and give her the right cues sooner.
I don’t think she has any trouble turning right, I just think that on this particular course, cuing the right turn is harder than cuing the left turns out of the tunnels 🙂 You can also draw a line in the footing to help remember where you need to give her the cue (3 to 5 feet in front of the tunnel entry). When she gets it there, the turn is really lovely!Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
Yay for numbered courses! Fun!
On the first run – she is doing really well here when you are connected. When you ‘close’ your shoulders forward, she gets a little confused. Your opening was lovely than after the wrap at :14, you moved your left arm up and forward – that broke connection a little (we have to be soooo connected with the baby dogs) and also it is possible she was thinking you wanted to deliver the reward. You were perfectly connected on the rest of it and she was great!
So after that FC, keep looking at her with your left arm pointing back to her, don’t bring it in.
2nd run – this was very similar to the first run: lovely lovely connection and lines except for the exit of the FC at :34 where you pulled your arm in and she jumped up. The rest was PERFECT!
At :57 on run 3, you kept the arm down more and she jumped up less (she thought about it but then decided not to).The little oopsie on the tunnel at 1:02 was because you were rear crossing the tunnel but stopped moving, so she was not sure if she should keep going or not. I don’t think you needed a kiss kiss there, just needed to keep moving for another step or two (like you did at the end of the video)
On the next run, you are really emphasizing the connection at 1:20 in that FC spot and she still wanted to jump up – so good job with the connection, and it is possible the jumping up is more about her not being sure when she should get the toy. A couple of dogs are asking the same question so I posted a game about it yesterday that should help. Also, you can add your verbal here to help her understand to continue on and not try to leap up.
And then one little oopsie at the end – not enough connection at 1:24 so she didn’t know which side of you to be on – then you fixed it really nicely at the end. Yay!So overall I think your connection and teamwork is starting to look *fabulous!!* Keep emphasizing it and talking to her, and check out the game from yesterday to help her know when the toy is the right choice or when t keep working. And yes, add in the right verbal or any verbal you can throw at her, to help support all of the lines and to help her keep driving and not jump up 🙂
Great job!
TracyGood morning!
On the channels – because this is a new and potentially weird video for him, you can introduce them with the MM starting in them, then gradually moving down the line so he understands what the additional poles are all about. I think part of what’s he was doing was ‘falling’ out of the poles, meaning the centrifugal force after the entry was pulling him to the side, so he was popping out rather than fighting to stay in. The MM being in the poles (and for a bit, can be right on the last base) will help that and it will help him stay in straight poles eventually too.
It was easier when the poles were at 3&9 but I think you can tighten them up a little and do the MM-progressing-down-the-base session (or two) to help him understand the concept.On the 2x2s – he started off really well! You can also have food as part of the reset but I think that using the disc will actually be a critical element of the weave training. What I suggest is leaving the MM there and having the disc in your hand – the arousal of the disc was causing this to do lots of speeds but also missing the 2nd base – so if you have the MM there as a focal point, it is easier to transition into the arousal of the disc. Start by carrying the disc but rewarding with the MM… then go to rewarding with the MM. The aruosal of the disc is useful – if he can weave with the disc, it will be easier to get him to weave at trials when he is aroused!
The MM session went well, which is why I think we should move into the disc now 🙂 And in the MM session, you can see the centrifugal force thing as he is on the outside of the 2nd base – he is staying in, but definitely drifting out. That would explain why the channels were hard! But that will go away as we tighten the poles.
Before you do more though, give him a ‘blank slate’ day with no training. He has had a busy week 🙂 so let him chill his brain so the new stuff cements, then come back to it and I bet you see a lot of learning is locked in.
Great job!
TracyHi!
Yep, training is always very up and down. And that is normal 🙂 When you hit a brief “down”, you can dial it back or sit at that level for a bit longer. On the downhills, he was not as speedy for whatever reason – so you can do a couple of very short (One hit wonders!), super high value sessions – with some frisbee before and after. I don’t think the tip wears all that different, so you can leave it where you left it here and see if a couple of sessions with no changes help build up the speed with the extra tip here.On the wobble board with speed – he actually was sorting it out with speed! You can take it back with less speed as the distractions go increased, but I think this session looked better on video than maybe it felt in the moment? I see him making a BIG effort to stop in target position and ignore what you were doing as you moved. YES! So this is a good one to do several sessions with, gradually adding the speed back, mixing it in. He is making progress here for sure!
He was also doing well on the bang game – be SUPER quick with the rewards and with the reset on the line up – you might need the higher value rewards for the resets! I am glad he is liking the teeter so much but your job will be easier if you can convince him to not start without you. And keep the target pretty close. There were a couple of moments where it was a little far away and he had to stretch to it, which then caused him to curl to you. When it was closer, like at 1:32 and after that, he really had great form.
So yes – it took a moment to get this rolling in terms of the resets and the quick rewards but then the rest was GREAT! So do one more session just like this, starting off really quick with the mechanics, and if that goes well – you can add a little more tip 🙂
Great job!!!
TracyUGH about the lockdown!!!! What happened???? So sorry to hear it. Fingers crossed that the vaccinations get to Canada in mass quantities asap and you will all see the light at the end of this crazy tunnel.
Targeting: looks good! Her mental maturity certainly makes this all easier. I think you can start fading the target, either by cutting this one into smaller pieces or when outside, gradually covering it with dirt or grass.
Wobble plank – also super good! For this one and the other target plank, you can have her wrap a cone before going across the plank, to get even more speeeeed 🙂 And then – fade this target too. It might take a couple of sessions to fade it but then we can really move forward putting the teeter together.
Uphills – I think we should bottle River’s confidence and sell it on Clean Run, it would be in high demand! She was a little bit like “wait, what?”on the first rep but then was great! She had one other in the middle that was not as confident, but that is an outlier.
For now, the uphill game has gone about as far as it can go – so you can revisit it but there is nothing to add (for now :)) Shift focus into the end position games: bang/elevator/rebound with the target, downhills with the target, and fading the target on the plank (separately).
If you can do that in the next week or so, the games coming in the next game package (April 12, I think) will be a big step forward for her. Exciting!Great job!
TracyHi! Yes, I think a target will be clarifying but also if you are just having her back up into position – I think she did really well here! We do want her to be able to back up into position. She was starting a little sideways, but I think that was mainly because you were off to the side. For the backing up, you can be directly in front and see if she will go straight. You started helping her go straight with your hand held out there, but it willl be even easier if you are in front of her. I like how she was really ‘looking’ for the board with her back feet, even with several inches of tip!
For the bang game, you can be on the side and use the target more, especially as you add moving away.
Nice work!!!! Welcome home!
TracyLOL! You were not a slob – that first session is always about “which hand goes where OMG where did I put my 3rd arm?” LOL!
As far as focus – you should see a shift in the games towards end position and balance at the end of the board, because th uphills are about as far as they can go for now – and more downhill work requires the end position looking really strong. So focus on that and fading the target on the plank and you’ll see things come together really quickly!
T
Good morning!
yes, I totally would like to know what they are thinking sometimes! I think the chasing the squirrel then wanting the food might just be the association of poles with food reward from the beginning stages? It also might be that in regular squirrel games, you don’t have cookies but you do here, so she might think the game involves chase the squirrel then reset for cookies.
She was faster here for sure (and still accurate!) I don’t mind that she likes to think and then turns on the speed later in the progression. In fact, I prefer it: I want the do to have the baseline of thoughtful understanding so when they are going fast, they are still accurate 🙂 That is much better than “raving lunatic fast” but with no accuracy and no thoughtfulness.
So for the next session, do one more like this! I bet you will see even more speed into the poles.
Then, with new games on monday – I bet you will see one of those games layer on the speed even more, and we can also adjust the angles. Let me know if that makes sense – she is right on track!Great job 🙂
TracyHoly cow, 7 Irish Wolfhounds LOL!! I bet they are really nice dogs 🙂
I think Yowza really loved having your friend as the dispenser! She was fast AND accurate! On the 1&8, she did a great job hitting and holding all the entries. She was touching the weave poles on the right side sends, so we will keep an eye on that as she adds striding, so she learns to not try to move the poles.
She did not seem to have any trouble on the 1&7 angles, just be sure to let her get in before the click (I have also accidentally clicked fly-bys, oops!) She slowed herself down on the right side entries to think about them and so she was really bending and she was not touching the poles anymore. That was great to see – great decision!
On the harder entries on the 3rd video, she was also getting the crazy ones – she might have been a little tired too as she was a little slower, but it is possible she was thinking it over.
She also did a fabulous got with the threadle entries. Super!!!
All 3 of these sessions were almost perfect with a super high rate of success. So, the next step is to go around the clock again for another session, with you moving (poles at 1&7 are probably fine for that). These sessions were all sends, so i want to make sure the movement is all fine – then when the movement seems like no problem (it might take one session or several sessions) – add the second base for poles 3 and 4.Great job here!
TracyHi! I would say he was very happy to run across the board here! And the TnT on the other table was a great focal point for him. Nice!!! He was maybe a tiny bit slower when you sent him ahead, but not in a worrisome way – he looked great to me and he will get even more comfy driving ahead, the more he sees it. So…. add some more tip! You can lower the table on the TnT side, but then prop up the other end so it is not too much of a difference – the tables probably lower in 4” increments so you can put some towels or dogs beds or something under the teeter on the tall table side, so he only gets an inch or two more of tip. Let me know if that makes sense.
Great job!
TracyHi!
Excellent description, it totally makes sense 🙂
It is actually a pretty common confusion with the more experienced dogs. Do you have a target out on the line, like a MM or a food bowl? And early click or throw will help establish the reward line, so I totally recommend it as a visual aid on the line.
You can set him up on a slightly easier angle to help him get it and then inch your way back over ot 3 and 9.
If he insists on doing it the other way – leave those angles alone until you add the next angle – that will help and he will still be able to learn it easily without getting frustrated.
Let me know if that makes sense!
Tracy
