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Good morning!
The combo game is off to a great start! She is committing brilliantly and letting you do the FC pretty early! Super!Here is a good challenge: after each rep, can you walk her back to the cone with cookies everycouple of steps, rather than holding her collar? I bet she can do that.
For the next steps of this, you will want to move her to the turf side of the building so she can really grip the footing. The mats are a little slippery for agility, so she was being careful. The mats will let her run run run more!>Many more distractions going on at the training facility. I also need to build more distance to the cone.>
It was a good decision to stick with the easier step and move on to other stuff with higher levels of distractions there! And distance to the cone will also come in the rocking horse games.
The parallel path game also went great. That first click seemed to surprise her (which is a GOOD thing!) and then it was really easy. Great timing here on your clicks for the first session!
For the next session: you might want to click the first rep or two to get her back into the groove, but then you can replace the clicker with a ‘get it’ marker then toss the treat. The get it marker will keep her looking ahead better than the clicker will. And you can mark & throw as soon as you see her committing to the jump setup so she really drives ahead it without looking at you.Tunnels were a lovely break from the more ‘intellectual’ games with the cone and jump setup. You can add in leaving the toy where you play with it… then walk her to the next spot with cookies and not holding her collar, then line her up with cookies. That will also help her focus on the tunnel and not run into the side of it when she is thinking about the toy LOL!
The lap turns and tandems went super well too! I love how she is driving directly to you even with the prop there, and she is turning away really well too. The prop had a little more value by the end but she still came to you pretty directly especially on the last rep.
>Watching the video I see I’m stopping after the turn. I need to keep moving forward right?>
Yes 🙂 After the turn away, keep moving as if the prop is the net obstacle (which it is :)) because it is the motion that cues her to go to it.
And you mentioned in there that she seemed to think you were tossing treats on a couple of reps – I agree, she had some confusion on that. This is a good spot for a get it marker too because if you say it, she can look for a treat. If you don’t say it, she will keep working. So you can replace the clicker with the ‘get it’ on this game too.
Great job here!!
Tracy
Good morning!
>Back to SOTC today and when I pulled in and saw several other cars I almost left! I don’t know why. >
This is very relatable! Training our baby dogs in public without the support of our ‘dog family’ is anxiety-inducing!!!
>Bella is not going to do anything bad but I felt this pressure at that moment to make sure she had a positive experience amongst the additional distractions.>
When you feel that anxiety, you can remind yourself that you have the tools as a trainer to make it positive for her. And, you have a lot of phone-a-friend options where you can message a lot of us for help if needed (me, Tina, etc).
>Way to make her feel more empowered by panicking, LOL!!>
To be honest… when I am having a bit of a panic, I let the young dog experience it before I almost myself down – they can read/smell the anxiety. I am not being insane or anything, jut being nervous. It is what we will be like at a big event so it is actually incredibly valuable for the youngsters to experience that since we can’t always be calm 🙂 And then we both work through it and it is great for the present AND the future.
And Tina was secret filming? LOL!!!! Good! Always film even if you are nervous!! That way you can learn about the distractions!And always come armed with SUPER high value food that is different from the norm in case something is hard.
Also, was there a chimpanzee there or a dog making monkey noises? LOL!! That was distracting!
She also heard someone saying “ready ready” and looked over before returning engagement to you (it might have been Donna, who she knows).
Her pattern games and especially tugging all looked awesome! The sit game looked great! And it sounds like the tire and tunnel went great too. A big win for both of you in so many ways!!!
Great job 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
>
I do think the pattern games and tricks for treats are doing a pretty good job keeping his arousal level at an ok level before going into the ring….but entering the ring is a bit of a trigger to amp him up.>I am glad the games are helping! You should also get him into higher arousal states in training so he is in a more trial-like state. And entering the ring should be a trigger to amp up 🙂 His stays and openings look good!
>Today was the third trial day in a row….which probably wasn’t a great idea on my part. >
So tomorrow is the 4th day?
>Not sure if I should pull him tomorrow or switch to NFC….>
I would pull him. There s a possibility of depletion where he will have. Lower threshold for frustration and will react more easily to things. 4 days is a lot!
>or see what he looks like when we walk into the ring.>
Seems like a plan in advance is a better idea LOL!
>His weaves have been pretty good in training. He has hit some amazingly challenging entries and has stayed in a VERY high percent of the time….but he seems to be losing that in trials. >
In training, get him into a much higher arousal state and do it without a toy with you. In trials, NFC the classes with weaves so you can reward them in the ring. This will help bridge the gap!
>I know I need to spend time on his teeter>
Yes, he doesn’t know what to do so I suggest not putting him on it in a trial. He didn’t know what to do in the standard class and got really frustrated after almost hitting you and falling off it. The teeter is not quite ready for prime time yet 🙂
>did brave a blind in JWW but he was pissed at me for not giving him clear info I should have just kept going and not repeated the jump to tight tunnel. >
Yes, that was just late info, it was good to just keep him moving. He was correct on the lines there.
>Then I let the weaves go>
Of all the options, I think just continuing was the best option. He gave some independent weaving, even if it was not 100% correct. And if you pulled him out, he is likely to jump on you – so better to just keep going.
>In Std, there was a tough turn to the teeter with the aframe right there>
Yeah, that was ick course design! Poor dogs!
>.my position wasn’t great and he was pissed here also>
Part of that was that he didn’t know how to do the teeter at that speed.
>If I run NFC tomorrow, I am not sure if I will be feeding his frenzy because tugging would amp him up. I think I will look at the course maps and if they have a crazy challenging area, I may do NFC and make up a nice flowing course. Sound like a plan?>
I would just call it a weekend and let him rest tomorrow – 4 days is a lot and he was short on arousal regulation in these runs. That way you can also switch focus from course work at trials, to the ring behavior which are the missing pieces (obstacle skills, resilience, etc) A nice flowing course might still result in something happening or him jumping on you at the end – he is really coming at you! He just needs some more of the foundations in place so he can manage the parts of agility that are unpredictable (handler errors, internal arousal, end of run, etc). Those small pieces make a big difference!
Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi!
Super clever to use the lines on the ground!!! This session went really well. He totally remembered to turn away! He had a couple of question when you added motion but then you slowed down a tiny bit and he got it. Super!These were mainly the u-turns (with the reward tossed behind you are moved forward). At the end you had a couple of the full circles and those looked great too. So for the next session you can add more motion to the u-turns (walking faster) and more circles too!
Great job!
Tracy
Hi!
This was fun to revisit, especially in a new place! It was forward focus, yes, but you also had a ton of reverse retrieve going on. Yay! He did great with the retrieve (you should try flyball with him!) and I am loving his engagement here, including following you with the toy at the end. So fun!!!!!Great job!
TracyHi!
>had my ear buds in so you get less wind noise>
Are those ear buds what are giving you the great sound on these videos? Wow!
>About half way through the nextdoor neighbour dog starts barking (it was pretty loud>
Even with the ear buds I can hear how loud it must have been. It was a bit worrisome for sure! He did well recovering from it and the last wrap was his best one!
When you come back to this one, you can start close enough to touch the barrel and be sure to make eye contact with him as you move the arm forward. I think that all help him with commitment to the barrel right away! And then we can get him into the rocking horses which are super fun.
Great job!
Tracy
Hi!
Both of these sessions went really well! He read the RC line really easily. And the chicken was very yummy. Remind me – how did he do with the RC on the prop? That would be a good one to revisit if it has been a while.The box session went really well too. The beginning where you had to try different toys was HILARIOUS! He is a very clear communicator. Great job shaping him to stride through the box by delaying the rear bit by bit by bit. There was one rep where he totally missed the box (no reward) then I swear he stomped through it like he was BIG MAD hahahaha made me laugh. What a good boy!!
I am guessing you are planning on a RDW with him? Have you picked out which method you want to use? We can add that foundation here.
Great job!
TracyHi!
The MM us usually not my first choice for rewarding – I prefer the interactivity of tugs and treats, but sometimes the MM is great.I think the discrimination training was hard on his brain but not his body. Maybe today’s training can be more physical and less brain work?
T
Good morning!
Great job with the motion on this game – overall really great session!
Interesting about cheese for the resets – no cheese visible, no reset. Hmmmmm we can sort this out because it will help at trials too. You can have a Treat n Train sitting out past both obstacles, centered between them so he doesn’t use its position to guess at which one you want. You can also start the game without him if he is waiting to see the cheese, then pull it out when he wins the game with you 🙂
>He had one mistake that was my fault I think, I was saying tunnel but did a spin.>
I wouldn’t say it was your fault, it was more like it was a really hard challenge and the verbal did not override what he thought the motion was telling him. We do see errors in this game and errors are helpful!
That one error had a spin and you were not connected (which is one of the challenges we show the dog here) – he seemed offended to be told he was not correct LOL!! The next rep had a little more connection and he did great.
>Do you think he’s comfortable enough for us to try position 4 next session?>
Yes position 4 should be easy for him with connection, and then you can add the other positions with a little less connection. Maybe be semi-connected so you can peripherally see him rather than totally disconnected 🙂 But he is ready for that too, as long as you are not running yet – just walking when you are adding less connection.
Great job! Hopefully the rain is not too bad!!!
Tracy
Hi~
This was an excellent brain workout for him!!! You can see him really trying to solve this puzzle – it is a REALLY hard puzzle for sure! And for a dog that is relatively new to this verbal-only game, he was largely successful.>So here is his video; he was pretty good at tunnel versus “jump not a tunnel” but, alas, he is pretty random about which side of the jump.>
His effort included looking at you while processing the info – and for this game, that is perfectly fine because it means he is trying to sort things out. And I believe that is why he was ending on on the other side of the jump when you were cueing the jump: by the time he processed the verbal to mean NOT the tunnel, going to the backside was right there. So I think his offered ‘answer’ to your ‘question’ on those reps was “not the tunnel” which in that moment meant either side of the jump.
>I should have brought out some food for reset cookies. Since he thinks food is “meh” I forgot but next time I will bring it. >
The food can come into play on those “not the tunnel” answers – the backside of the jump is semi-correct and at these early stages, you can reward him with a good food reward as you reset at your side. I praise, deliver a good treat (if food is generally ‘meh’ when working, treats without value won’t affirm the ‘not the tunnel’ answer). And when he gets it fully correct: not the tunnel AND front side of the jump – big big toy party like yo were doing.
My only other suggestion is that when you play these verbal only-games, you can make your tunnel cues bigger-louder-longer, as if you are really running. Your jump cues were quieter and shorter, which is what they would be on course. The difference in verbal delivery will really help!
>At the end, I just isolated the jump and tried to work on front versus backside wrap versus backside slice. I fear we will have to clean that up before we can progress with the jump versus tunnel.>
Don’t worry about front versus back of jump right now as verbals only – jump versus tunnel is more important for what is coming up in his trial future and you can give those semi-meh food rewards to reset after the back of a jump answer. We move on from this pretty quickly so I don’t think front versus back will be something you need to worry about right now unless you have big ISC courses on your agenda.
>And another thing…when we are running courses, I don’t feel that Casper is TOO handler focused. His “go-on” is pretty good and he stays committed to things pretty well (at least that’s what I think). In this little exercise, however, he looks back at me a lot. It is particularly obvious on video.>
I agree and his strong line focus is why I am not worried about him looking at you in this game – I am kind of glad he is trying to assess all the info and not just throw himself at obstacles! He won’t look at you when we give him back some motion 🙂
>Also, I will try harder with the two mistake rule. Most of my life I have used a different two mistake rule: if he does it wrong twice in a row, then change something.>
This is where the food resets can come in handy – a toy-driven dog does differentiate between woohoo toy party and here’s a cookie let’s try again. It helps keep the success rate high while isolating the behavior we want.
>What about using a manners minder set out so it can be used to reward either the jump or the tunnel? That might help with forward focus, don’t you think?>
I think it is fine to have it out there as long as it is halfway between the 2 obstacles so he can’t guess based on where it is located. It might also be a massive distraction where he turns his attention to trying to get it to beep rather than listening to your words. I am not worried about his forward focus, you all see him look at you a bit on these stand-still games but not on the games with motion.
Great job here!
Tracy
Keep me posted and have fun at the trial!
> Sultry University. lol.>
OMG!!! That is hilarious. Maybe a new business opportunity as long as they don’t need me to be the poster child hahahahaha
Hi!
>As far as the set up – I paced out 8′ between the middle of the tunnel and the middle of the jump. That’s correct isn’t it? Should I change that up any? >
Yes, it is correct – maybe the wings are tall and that is why it looks closer? But it is a perfect level of challenge for him!
I really liked this session – he had a big breakthrough moment when you were moving faster and cueing the jump and he almost missed it…. but then came around you t find the jump! It was an excellent reward, because even though it was not perfect, he was really working the processing! Yay!!!
He seemed to have a hard time going to the tunnel after doing several jump reps in a row. Taking the break was good and definitely helped. One thing to consider is changing how you see the verbals slightly, so there is more than just the word to help him: ‘jump’ can be quieter and said in a more choppy way. ‘tunnel’ can be loud and long and extended. Right now they sound similar enough that changing the style of how you say them might make a huge difference.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyWelcome to you and Luc! It is great to see you here! That makes at least 3 cool Cockers in the class 🙂
Have fun! Safe travels home to AZ!!
Tracy
Hi!
Yes, plans a-b-c-d-e-f are needed for running young dogs 🙂
>.but I also didn’t want him to be over the top and biting me on course! So asking for the sit gives him something to do which doesn’t involve biting me!>
Is he actually biting or just hitting you? We don’t really want either of course. I think he pummeled you before the sit 🙂 My personal rule of thumb is that the dog cannot bite or jump on me if I keep moving the whole time 🙂
T
