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Good morning!
Hope the heat isn’t too bad for you!! It has been a rough couple of weeks for a lot of folks.She looks great here – I love the confidence! She has always been pretty coordinated considering how young she is, and we can really see it here. That is unusual in a REALLY good way 🙂
>> I need to find some good treats that work well in the dirt.
Have you tried a Treat Hugger? Clean Run makes them and there are a ton of copies floating around – great for tossing treats on surfaces where a treat might get lost in dirt or sand or grass.
>> And when I threw the toy, I was spending way too much time calling her back after she ran off with it! So I just didn’t have the patience and had to adjust.
Totally understandable! I think sometime this week I will get a video together about how to convince the pups to bring back the toys really quickly – it can be frustrating for us humans if we want to train with a toy but the pups take a long time to bring it back, especially in the heat. If I don’t post it by the end of the week, feel free to remind me 🙂
>> BTW, I had to put things under the ends of the DW to keep it from moving, based on its design.>>
It was a good setup!
>>Needless to say, we have been working on both the teeter and low DW. She has no fear.>>
This is great! On this setup, she was super happy to turn, hop on it, run across it, etc. Yay! So the next step would be to challenge her balance by raising the plank so it is at least a foot off the ground, or maybe 18 inches up: then have her hop on in the center of it. That is like a gymnast jumping on a balance beam and it will challenge her to use her balance skills! We do this with the board low in case she slips off. And when she hops on in the middle, having her turn around in both directions is good too – I think that will be easy for her. And, with the board a foot or so off the ground, ask her to jump off the middle of it (rather than run off the end). Jumping off the middle will teach her how to jump off successfully if she ever loses her balance running across it at full speed. At some point, all dogs lose their balance on a full height dog walk. By teaching the hop off skill at these early levels, she will be able to hop off like a cat and avoid injury rather than fall off and get hurt.
Have you decided if you will be training a stopped contact or a running contact? As the board gets higher, you’ll want to put tables under it or something so she doesn’t run off the end, as that might dilute the stopped contact or running contact criteria that she’ll be learning in the next several months.Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning! Great to see you and Cowboy here!!!
The lazy game is a great warm up for Cowboy – at first he was a little distracted by the food in your hand but then he was TOTALLY on board with finding the jumps. He needed to work through that same progression when you switched sides and the food was in your right hand. But that is great, because we need the dogs to find the jumps no matter what the distraction is… food or toy in hand, you running, verbals, etc. He was great! Hope your other pup enjoyed it too LOL!So now that he has the concept of the Lazy Game, you can expand the distances so he drives away even more. And, you can add the games we did in the live seminar on Saturday – they involve specific send cues, more motion from you, and crosses! Wheeee! He is definitely ready. You’ll find those on the course syllabus page.
Great job here!!
TracyGood morning!!! Olive was a complete rockstar during the seminar!!! You are doing a great job with her. I think I saw an email come in about the next seminars – we will make it work 🙂 I will reply there later this morning 🙂
Tracy
Hi there! Welcome back! I am glad to see you back in action after the surgery 🙂
I am glad you were still able to work her a bit while you were recovering – she did not look rusty here! The lazy game is a good warm up for the crazy stuff we are adding 🙂
She caught on really quickly. One thing that is important here is to keep moving the whole time – if she misses the jump, don’t start, keep strolling LOL! No jump = no reward, so she will figure it out real fast haha! She was already figuring it out really well onthe first video here!
And on the second video, when you added motion, she was even better. Yay! I love how she is finding the middle jump AND turning so nicely on it – so many dogs struggle with these soft pinwheely turns and she is setting herself up beautifully without needing help. Happy dance! And, as with the first video –
if she misses, keep moving, don’t bother to even mark it (be lazy hahaha) and she will figure out that no jump means no reward.
On thing I notice in both videos is that she seems better on your left side (smoother with better commitment) than on your right side (I think she had more misses on your right) so you can do a little extra lazy game on your right side to balance it out.>>At .52 she was focused too much on me??
Just a young dog moment – that is why we play the game to be like: look for the jump, not for the momma haha 🙂
>> At 1.16 you can see me waiting for her to start coming and not taking off with out her so I can just go one step in and turn. That works good.
yes! You can totally take one step and send her and then leave. That will build nicely into the next games. Did you see the seminars games I posted yesterday? They use this setup (plus a tunnel :)) and she is ready for you to do them. There is more sending and also crosses and sequences are added.
Great job here!! Let me know what you think!
TracyHooray for obsessing on timing!
Watching the bounce striding in slow motion – he is rhythmic but doesn’t look totally comfortable – he looks a bit squished. He looks a LOT more comfy with the swimming. Yes, some of that comes from the poles being open but the comfort and the faster time do lead me to wanting to convince him to swim. So, if you have the patience to close the poles VERY slowly (boiling the frog :)) then I think we should do it! Basically, we would start where the poles are open just enough to get comfy swimming and leave them there for a while. Then we would oh so gradually close them, centimeter by centimeter. At some point the swimming will lock in and then he will be fine with it all. I did this with my Voodoo when he was young, and he has had great swimming poles ever since.
Let me know what you think!
TracyThat makes sense! You can use the Transition games to help Rosie learn to ignore those leash runners stealing her leash 🙂 And practicing walking into the ring and not being carried is great for Lily! I agree that it can help get engagement and it is a great skill to have 🙂
Hi all!
The first live seminar is starting in a few minutes on Zoom!Here is the link:
Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81670247448See you soon!
TracyGood morning! The setup looks really great! And having it a bit tighter adds more challenge 🙂
Full run –
Opening looked good 1-4! I think you’ll get more speed up the first line if you drive down to the #1 tunnel more so she sees more motion as she exits. That can also open up more connection to help support the line.
She was a little wide on the exit of the 5 tunnel because the FC was late starting (she as already in). You can call her before she goes in (3 feet from entry) and if it is hard to get to the FC position AND rotate, I think you’ll find that starting the blind will be easier: you can start the blind and keep moving into position.The middle section (5-6-7-8 -weaves-tunnel) looked great! I don’t think she needed the right here and handling cue to coming in over 6, I think she had it so you can keep moving up the line. Nice independence on the weaves!!
She also read the tunnel exit after the weaves really well – you didn’t need to give a “Keiko right here” you can just go with the ‘over’ cue – the right here moment brought too much focus back up to you. I think this is part of figuring out what she knows and where to trust her. In your next course running sessions, you can play with not trying to control the lines and only calling obstacle names and see how it goes! The less we call their names on course, the more they will drive lines. Yes – keep cuing turns and lines, but try not to control them, if that makes sense. Basically: cue and leave, and see how she responds.
At the very end getting into the last tunnel: the flip on the landing side can work if you use less motion as you exit it: at :32 you were moving parallel to the bar and your left arm & shoulders were pointing out towards the line she took (I think a table is out there). So the motion and upper body cued caused her to read that line (good girl!) To get it, try standing still on the flip away then moving directly forward to the tunnel from the wing on the inside of the course, not the one she is turning towards. A wrap verbal will also help here.
Run 2: more motion up the line in the opening and she was faster. Super!
At :47, the FC is still a little late on the tunnel entry but you got the ‘right here’ out sooner so she was better prepared for the turn on the exit. The rotation of the FC delays you from getting to a good line 4-5 so you were a little in the way, plus it slows you down 🙂 I definitely think you’ll like the blind!
You still had a bit of “right here” over 6 but it was less – and she was fine, she was making the turn really nicely anyway 🙂oopsie on the weave entry at :57 – I think she was moving faster and you were not as far ahead. Definitely a good line to practice with a lot of speed, as you revisit the weave skills. Doing one or two passes a day, or every other day, is a good idea to sharpen the skills. I like to do it on alternating days, so that the dog has a break for a bit of latent learning in between. The results have been better that way. When I am able to train every day, I will try to alternate contacts on one day, weaves the next day, then contacts, then weaves, and so on.
At 1:17 after the tunnel, she shot away and took the off course tire (definitely rewardable!) That was because you were trying to control the line by staying right at the tunnel exit to get her attention: your position there plus the line of your shoulders indicated the tire – good girl for taking it! She almost took it again at 1:23 because although you were a bit further up the line, you were still facing that way and not moving. So…. this is a perfect “cue and leave” scenario! As she exits the weaves and you cue the tunnel, start to move up the next line – with connection and verbals, but let her find it based on your motion. That should set a really good line and take the off course tire out of the picture.
The other benefit to moving up the line and not waiting for her at the tunnel exit is it will give you much better position to get the last tunnel 🙂 Yes, the wrap at 1:30 takes the wide turn/off course out of the picture and she is wrapping beautifully… but it is a slower line for both of you and on the more complex courses, will delay you from getting up the next line because you have to step back to the tunnel to cue it (rather than just yell tunnel and leave for the next line).
I bet that leaving the tunnel exit will get you up the line to get either a blind or a rear cross really nicely to get that last tunnel!
Run 4 – nice opening again, lots of motion, lots of speed!
At 1;44, your verbal on the tunnel entry was timely and she saw you beginning your cross (decel and rotation starting before she went in). Nice!! (Feel free to try the blind too if you want!)At 1:50 you gave almost no extra help turning her over 6 – she was perfect. yay!
She found the weaves really well here – you drove up a bit more to help that. And you started to leave the tunnel better… but then stopped so as she exited at 1:57, you were calling but also facing the tire – so off she went. Good girl! It is a giant leap of faith and trust in the dog, but try it with continuing to move and not stop to get her attention. In terms of verbals, You can call her right before she enters the tunnel and also use your left verbal. You can try the ‘right here’ cue as long as you don’t stop moving. If she sees and hears all that starting before she enters the tunnel (rather than you stopping to get her attention), I believe she will be able to make the tight turn tunnel exit.
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!! I interested to see what happens when you cue and leave on that tunnel – I bet it makes the ending line easier too!
Tracy
Hi! Sorry about the purple fading in, I’ll play with more visible colors 🙂
You *should* be able to see photo of the maps on the page – when I checked just now, I see them on the Sequences page but not on the Jumpers or Standard courses page. Those links seem to have been broken. I will get it fixed today! Sorry for the inconvenience of it all. Have a great day!
TracyHello and welcome! It will be fun to see you and Cowboy working these skills!
As for which hand to toss the treats… since it is the lazy game, you can toss with whichever hand feels lazier 🙂 As long as the reward gets to the location, either hand is fine for this game 🙂
Have fun!
TracyHi !
A couple of things get collection on the wings:
Verbal, the decel associated with just one step, rotation, and the only thing a wing really elicits is collection. A one step send is pretty decelerated so should not get extension: even if I am late rotating on the one step send, the dog should collect. If she is going wide on sequences, you’re probably a little late with the info and we are definitely going to work on that (starting tomorrow in the seminar).Hi! I must have just missed the teeter video – she is a super confident little mountain climber, I love it!
2 little details for you, both about the end position:
When rewarding her at the top of the board, reward further up the board so her front feet are as close to the very edge of the board as possible. That will really help encourage her to go right to the end of the board.Also, after she gets her treat and you are having her come down the board – after she turns around, have her hop off the side on cue when she is just below the pivot, rather than letting her run through the end of the board to the wing. We don’t want her to rehearse running through the end of the teeter because it will dilute whatever end position you want to use eventually. Hopping off the side won’t dilute it (and also won’t cause confusion about running ng up or down it).
Great job! You can totally add more of your motion to this now too.
TracyHi! I think this went really well!!
I couldn’t read all of your subtitles (bad internet connection!) But overall, she was keen to move away from the goodies and engage with you. It sounded like you used a click noise in the beginning? Then switched to a let’s go. Her only question seemed to be that she went over to the cookie table when you said “good girl”, so be sure to say your marker word and try not to say good girl LOL!! At least for now. Dogs are brilliant at sorting us out 🙂This is totally worthwhile to train! It is a difficult skill, plus you can use it if you do any “at home” trials, plus you can use it with future dogs. And, ya never know… between this game and the ones coming up, she might start to like the trial environment! I think our “technology” for getting the dogs happier in that environment has improved dramatically 🙂
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
