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Hi!
Two super nice sessions here!!!!
Targeting on the wobble board looks good! She was hitting and holding position really well with you moving as fast and independently as you could in a long narrow space. And she was holding herself pretty darned straight when you sent her way ahead of you. Happy dance!
The planned target cue is ‘tee tee tee’, right? You can add it here so it begins to mean: run across the thing that moves and do a 2o2o. And when you get into a bigger space, add a cone wrap before it to challenge her with more speed. She was great here! At home (and in a new space :)) you can add in tugging before and after each rep, to see if more arousal makes her behavior different.Bang game with end position this is going well too! You were a little too exciting at the beginning, be more chill LOL! More chill will help her find the position right off the bat. When she realized what the game was, she was great! Being chill will also help her find it on new teeters in different places, which is definitely something you can start doing, depending on how much access you have to different places.
Add the target cue to this one as well, because the next step needs it – start with her right at the very end of the board, so she has to leap directly into position rather than get on the board a the top of the contact then move down. That also requires you either being right near the edge of the board, standing still at first, then immediately moving away. Because we are putting you right there, it takes out any physical cues to help her (it is all in the new games posted on Monday). And wear shoes, I was afraid the teeter board would mush your toes LOL!!
Great job here, onwards to the next steps!
TracyClever setup! I am loving everyone’s creativity!
She definitely seemed to think she had entered a bizarro world on this – but then immediately got into the game with confidence. We will keep her initial need to assess the situation when we get into the transition to trials games!
She did well here at the end! You accomplished part 1 of this weird game: letting her know that the top of the board will be unstable and building value for balancing on it. Yes, I think the bigger peanut will make all the difference to get her whole body into the weight shift position. You can keep this setup as it is, and add the peanut to it – so the board rests on the little penut here, the bigger peanut is just after that (lengthwise so she can get all 4 feet on) – do you have a peant holder so it does not roll out from under her?
The box as target was brilliant LOL!!!! So if you have a bigger box… use that with the bigger peanut to get her to target to the cookies with her head a little lower. Or, depending on the size to the peanut, maybe the seat of a chair would work?
Great job!!!
TracyHi!
Try something like a dab of peanut butter so she stays there longer and you can go back to help her get down from the board. I am glad she is driving up the board so nicely, but we do not want to encourage dock diving!I think the easiest thing to do is a 2o2o on all of the obstacles, if she has a strong 2o2o on the AF and DW. You *can* teach a 4on for the teeter, but she is going to step off into a 2o2o a lot because of the history on the other contacts. Then it can get frustrating if you tell that she is incorrect to do that, so you will need to be super careful as you train the 4on that she fully understands it, so things don’t get muddy. It takes a lot of dog training – very doable, but also you might just want to stick with what is already in place. The 4on won’t be faster for her – and she will have better control of the board in a 2o2o position with her front feet anchored on the ground.
T
Good morning!
Oh good boy with the bowing and weight shift!!!
I loved hischeating and how he was willing to patiently lay there while you fed him LOL!!!!!! So funny! You can see him measuring the balance as he moves up the board here, so more reps of this is great! Do a couple of cookies then release, so it becomes more about arriving in position and less about him staying there. If you can get your hands on something less stable than the bosu, like the peanut, you can use that too! Or a fitbone balanced on a big disc or something.I love the groovy music in the background lol
If you have room in the house, you can have him wrap a cone then run up to the bosu with more speed!
Great job with your setup here, I think it will help get us to our goals!
Tracy
Hi!
>>Is Hot Sauce not using a physical target? I don’t think I saw one in the video
She is using one, it is a clear plexi with a strip of black velcro under it (from the teach it). It is much fancier than CB’s target which is made from any random piece of paper that I can find.
>>Are you rewarding for the correct position or also hitting target/scratching target? (It looked like Elektra was getting rewarded for position)>>
Because the demos are her very first session on these, I was rewarding fast when she chose the position. The scratching will come back in future sessions.
>>Did we shift to a target word as opposed to a general “whee” (or whatever the generic “go do your thing” word was)?>>
Yes – during the targeting games on the plank in package 1, the target cue gets attached. If that went well, we can proceed to the targeting games here, with the target cue.
T
Hi again!
String cheese is magic! I am glad she likes it! And she was doing well going back to the toy – that is not easy with such a delicious treat. And the high value treat really helped her get right into the sit. Yes, at the end, you dropped some – but she gets a gold star for not diving on it until you released her LOL! Good girlie. You can get crazier with the toy in order to get her back onto it when faced with cheese deliciousness. The other thing I do with my food rewards is mix in some of the lower value rewards with the cheese (as in, literally mix them together in a bag) so the lower value stuff gets cheese small and cheese grease on it, so it becomes higher value – but the dogs are still able to tug when I use it because it is not as exciting as the actual cheese.The serp exit looked great!
When you cue the barrels behind you, you can now start to ‘swoosh’ your arm less – you were drawing a full circle around the barrels with your arm, and she was fine with committing to it with your feet in countermotion position. Since she did so well committing, and because you are going to start adding countermotion, you can change the arm cue: just swoosh only to where she would be taking off (and look behind you like you did, it was great) and not swooshing the full circle around the barrel. This is so there is less arm motion helping her – because pretty soon your arm won’t be there at all (you will be run run running :))LOVE all the ‘pizza’ rewards – she looks happy to hold the stay while you get the rep ready and that is very helpful especially on this type of game where mechanics are SO important!!
One other thing – since she is doing do well, You can also use your wrap verbals here rather than the go verbal.
Great job!!
Tracy
Good morning!
>>Outside I’m using higher value treats. Maybe I need to do that downstairs too. She gets distracted easy, so it’s been a challenge outside and I put her back on the line. Hmm….good Idea. Do some tricks in front of distractions. >>>
Yes, as the weather improves, definitely go to higher value treats and toys outside because the environment is very exciting 🙂 And if the lower value treats are not enticing indoors, yes you can totally use them there too. And of course, lots of high value toy play 🙂
This was a really good session on the rocking horses! Her commitment looks REALLY strong and her turns are lovely. She is following all of the cue: FC, Spin, or race track. Yay!
2 little details:On the Front Crosses: Send forward less on the FCs (use more deceleration before you send her, rather than leaning forward into the send) so you can rotate more easily and sooner. You decelerate and rotate sooner on the spins (those look really nice!) and the FCs can be the same early rotation, just picking her up on the other side for the FCs.
Nice connection on the exits, she seemed to always know where to go!On the sends, when she is behind you, use less arm sending forward. Here’s more specifics: when she is on your right side for race tracks as you are pointing forward, the pointing breaks connection when you are ahead and she barks (and comes off the line, thinking about a tooth hug or grabbing the toy) You will see this at 1:13, it is a good example. She wasn’t trying to grab the toy, she was frustrated because she didn’t know where to be because connection got unclear. And she cusses when that happens LOL!
So keep your arm back more and a little more eye contact until she is passing your leg, then your arm can come forward as she is passing you. You did just this at 1:42! It was lovely! Nice low arm further back, better connection for sure: no barking from Miss Ruby and no consideration of giving you a tooth hug 🙂 She just glided right to the wing 🙂 YAY!Excellent! You can put this on jump wings, as soon as the snow melts or as soon as you get back to Bonnie’s place.
Great job!
TracyI think that would be fine to begin to give the sensation of the world dropping out from under him so he can shift his weight and balance!
Oops, I missed it, sorry! Thanks for the nudge 🙂
This is going really well too! Wow she is really powering down the board into position!! YESSSS! I like her head position too – low and straight. Her facial expression is cracking me up: she was powering down the board but the look on her face was so chill, like it was nothing at all in terms of challenge. Yay!
I am glad you faded the cones so you can move to the next game, because we are going to position you to be where the cones were to start it:Placing yourself where the cones where: now move to starting with your feet at the very end (toes lined up with the edge of the board) so she is encouraged to get on at the very end and basically leap into position rather than stride down into position. This will also allow you to challenge her to hit and hold position while you move past her (rather than behind or next to her), because when she is comfy starting at the very end, you can start moving forward as soon as you say the target cue to let her start moving onto the board. The mechanics get really specific at this stage, because we are incorporating target position into the challenges AND adding tip 🙂 If she is having no trouble at this tip, add a tiny bit more every couple of sessions and see how she feels about it. The goal is two-fold: to add all of the challenges (running past, crosses, etc) and to get the board pretty high off the ground in coming weeks.
Since you are going to be so close to the board and she likes to start without you… wear shoes so your toes don’t get mushed by accident 🙂 I was worried about them here LOL!!!Great job 🙂
TracyYou can use the bosu ball and/or the peanut as long as it has a holder. Don’t do the elevator game yet til we see the weight shift here (and the rebound game comes before it :))
T
Yes – but they are going to struggle with the elevator and rebound games if they don’t understand this one. One stuff do you have? We can rig something up! Do you have a dog walk? What type of inflatable do you have? Or a giant couch pillow? Let’s brainstorm!
Hi! This went really well!
>> So, I don’t know if the 2×2 work has helped him figure it out…or if it’s the limited space so it keeps me from adding distance.>>
When it goes right, we attribute it to brilliant dog training. When it goes wrong, we attribute it to environment. HA! Just kidding 🙂 It is possible that the other sessions helped (I mean, they certainly didn’t hurt LOL!) plus the more limited environment helping… either way we will take it.
Overall, it was a very high rate of success session. Good sends, good motion, and a couple of threadle sides too! Yes, a couple of early clicks but he still did well. He had a question or two but the hardest part was after you did the one bad click: clicked for getting to the correct side of the poles but he did not enter the poles. Oops!
I have done that exact same thing more than I care to admit on the same exact entry… and my dogs immediately offer the same thing of NOT entering the poles on that side (must be easier that way) so at this point, after a crappy click, I don’t wait for the dogs to work it out (it isn’t their fault LOL!) – I do an apology reward by basically sending from nice and close on that angle and dropping the reward right into the entry. That prevents them from obsessing on the behavior that I just clicked crappily and gets them right back on track, no frustration from the bad click. So, if you do a bad click – no problem, just do an instant apology lure and then back to good clicks LOL!
For the next session, challenge him to see if he can still make those entries with the Manners Minder out ahead (I don’t think it was visible in this session). That is a big distraction on those hard entries.
Great job!
TracyYes, it is even more apparent when they are driving ahead of us! But it is there when we are running past (not just Stark, it is interesting to see a bunch of them doing that!)
The game is posted! Have fun!
Hi!
>>AHHHHH! When you swear you posted something – but somehow you didn’t >>
I feel that pain! Also terrible when the whole thing is typed in, click post… internet fails and it is all gone. Sigh. Been there and it only happens on the really long replies that took an hour LOL!
On your video:
He had LOTS of good reps here!!! And I agree, the focus forward was really strong! One thing I notice: he would drop a foot of the side or be slightly ‘rolled’ on his hip (off balance) on the rep you noted and here and there throughout the session – especially when he was on your right. It was subtle, but it was there enough that I was thinking that it will be important to strengthen the down itself. I don’t think it is a understanding question, I think it is a puppy-body question 🙂 He is what, only 13 months old? So he is still developing core strength. I am seeing the same thing in Elektra (just turned 12 months old) – she is like a bowl of Jell-O in terms of core strength as opposed to Hot Sauce who is 2.5 years old and has been doing fitness exercises.So for Presto, you can do core strengthening stuff that will really help! I am NOT a PT/rehab professional but I know that there are a ton of ways to work core strength – posture work on a plank and balancing on inflatables, sit-to-stand on the flat then on inflatables (also hind end strength on those!), ‘tight’ positions (I work ‘tight’ tucked in sits on a very small platform, so I imagine a tight tucked in down on a narrow plank would work too!
Also, 2 down-to-stand-to-down games:
this one with as little foot movement as possible:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTXvu1_8oi4and then the same thing, but you are holding up one of the dog’s front feet as he is changing positions. I have a video of Export doing it somewhere but I can’t find it right now. I will keep looking! Hot Sauce can do it now too so I can get a video of her doing it.
I am about to post a game that will address this specifically too. Stay tuned!
About the toy: he ended up with a great rep at the very end! Was the MM still in position when the toy came out to play? If so, you can still use the MM but just carry the toy, and then fade it in as a reward sometimes. If it was not there, you can put it back even when you use the toy – it will help maintain the focus ahead and also help balance the arousal 🙂
>>Hey, any suggestions where to get a rubber surface for a teeter? I think my wooden plank at home is just too slippery and had thought about one of the skins from clean run. A little pricey…but then again I only paid $50 for the teeter…so not bad in the end.>>
I just ordered a couple of tunnels from Max200 and remembered they had this:
https://www.max200.com/see-saw-complete-replacement-surfacesLooks pretty cost effective for a wood surface? And they are good in terms of reliability. The other place is called Rubber On The Run but I hear they will take money and NOT deliver the rubber 🙁
Tracy
Hi!
His uphills are looking really good, except for the jumping off part! I think peanut butter might be the answer if you have the real stuff without the xylitol in it (I am sure the peanut butter in NZ is actually real peanut butter and not the crap we get here LOL!!) Peanut butter (or cream cheese) will keep him there longer because he will have to lick lick lick and not grab-and-leap.I am *super* excited about what he is doing on the board though – he really wants to slide into the end and that is GREAT 🙂 because of the speed and weight shift. It is his decision but so far it is fun to see. Next session: add a tiny tiny bit more tip 🙂 Wheee!
Targeting session:
>>I positioned myself more to the front of the plank and he seemed to target better, not because he understands the game, but because my body position is luring.>>
Yes, but that falls into the “get the behavior” category (science! Ha!) He was actually quite brilliant about target to end of the board and smacking it repeatedly – the trouble was mainly about keeping his head low and and not looking up to you. So, I here is a cookies from heaven game that we teach in the puppy class as a prep for contact training. You can do this game first to a hand target and then on the board for the target position.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0s2ZzBTZbxA
(the 4-on demo is towards the end of the video after the explanations)When Hero can do this, we will move you off to the side and repeat the process 🙂 Then things will move forward onto the teeter very quickly!
>>He is so enthusiastic. It’s quite good having a foodie dog because I am sure that makes shaping so much easier!>>
Yes! He loves food and he seems very confident with the planks – it is SOOOO much easier and more fun! Yay!
Great job here, let me know what you think!
Tracy
