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Good morning!
>>I think the moving parts of this one made smoke come out my ears. I think I may be too early on my toy placement looking back- maybe lu-rly… although me moving, aiming, watching was SO HARD.>>
I feel that pain! While you might have been a tiny bit early on the straight-on reps here and there, overall I think your timing was fine and NOT lurely 🙂 he was totally heading to the entry on those – and if you were too early, he could have easily gone around the poles to grab the toy. So it was good! And also a nice distraction for him to maintain his commitment to the poles (especially on the harder entries) in the face of the flying toy! Yay!!!!
>> My aim was pretty good here so I am proud.
Agree! I am impressed!
>> He did super. Zero failures other than an early take off without a release.>>
Also agree. He freakin’ rocked it: fast and accurate! And the early takeoff was just a crime of passion, no big deal.
You can use two high value toys to help get rid of that massive victory lap 🙂 I use 2 frizzers with Contraband so that he comes right back. I don’t mind victory laps all that much *except* they are incredibly inefficient in a training session: these boys run around and get hot & tired, which reduces the length of the session. It looks like it was only that one big lap, so you probably only need the 2nd toy right at the beginning.
>>I didn’t need to do any collar restraint to get him have forward focus for this session. I felt like he was working without it. In general, I try to avoid color grabs in high arousal because they can sometimes lead to tooth hugs but we’ve gotten a lot better >>
Got it! Makes sense. I think his forward focus here was lovely! But don’t give yourself a lead out on the ‘easier’ entries – start him right next to your leg like you did on the harder entries. That allows him to feel the driving ahead or driving away from you to get into the entry.
Super session here! Next session, angle the poles more 🙂 Wheeeee!
Remind me about your access to channels – you have a set, yes? I think you should also add in some channel sessions 🙂Great job!
TracyGood morning and welcome! He is SO COOL!!!! I am excited to see him learn to weave 🙂
This session was super nice! He is very clever and figured it right away 🙂 Dogs that have been shaped sort this out REALLY quickly 🙂 I love how he got faster on the part of the session after the cookie re-load (or whatever that break was LOL!) There were lots of little breaks in here, and that is great. At 1:35, you were changing your position and I was not as sure what the line of poles were there – you were alternating between entries and back-and-forth shaping, I think? So, you can now formalize it into the progression with the clock and move past the back-and-forth offering. Poles can start at 3and 9 (with your v-shape cookie target at 6 o’clock) and he will only go one direction (towards 6 o’clock) and that is where you can change your start position – but don’t change the cookie position (reward target line). The reward line is what really helps define the line of weaves which makes adding the angles easier. So while he can get rewarded for coming back to you through the poles, it is more ideal that you can him around the poles, line him up, and re-send.
Because he was so fabulous here, you can start the poles at 3 and 9 on the next session but I am betting that you will very quickly be able to angle them to 2 and 8. Yay!
>>I genuinely appreciated how you provided the fantastic field guide. When I saw it, I thought it would be helpful. Unfortunately, I forgot to print it out so I apologize in advance because I am sure I forgot some of the steps.>>
No worries LOL!! I have a photo of it on my phone (which is always nearby haha) and use the phone to scratch in my notes for easy saving in the photo section. The most important part is trying to remember what to do for the next session 🙂
>>BTW: After looking at the video, I can see that I have started baking in “head checks”>>
Head checks are normal during the first shaping session, especially when we are waiting to be sure the dog gets between the poles and while the dog is learning about the reward lines. When you go to the around-the-clock angles with the reward target always being in that one spot – he is going to head check a lot less. Also, early on with the poles still pretty open, it is easier to throw really early so Cowboy will keep looking ahead.
Great job here!!! I am looking forward to more!
TracyGood morning!
I think this session is a useful for answering some of his questions! There are a couple of things structurally in the session to change in order to get more clarity for him, which will also bring more accuracy and more speed 🙂 Yay!first, definitely put a timer on the session to take a less is more approach. A short session will also leave him wanting more, which will help with the speed. We humans don’t feel the difficulty of a 7 minute session because we are not really moving 🙂 He was walking here so we want him to start to jog/run – and he will only run if the session is very short (2-3 minutes tops). If he expects the sessions to be long, he will not offering running because he is going to conserve energy (smart!) You can do several short sessions a couple of times a day – but keeping them short, fast and fun will really help.
Also – obsess more on your rate of success – he had a whole lot of errors here, which is also part of the reason the session was long and he was walking. If he fails once, make it easier right away, or switch to a spot where you know he will get it right, then go back to the harder spot. When that rate of success goes up, his speed will also go up. And if there is a spot where he can’t get it – you can leave it til the next session. I leave trouble spots pretty quickly if the dog is failing and I can’t help him out 🙂
Using a 1 failure rule for a few sessions will pump up the rate of success and then when he is running, you can go back to the 2 failure rule. Remember that the 2 failure rule is really for the entire session, not just one spot on the clock. (Also, the line up cookies keep the rate of success high, because they do count towards the math of the rate of success :))
To help get that rate of success very high, take out the threadle side entries for now and focus on the sending side entries – so anything on the 11, 10, 9, 8 side of the clock (the Pet Tutor is at 6) should begin on your left side. Any sends on the 1, 2, 3, 4 side should be from your right side.
>>Related question is the threadle the wrap around the poles to the entry?>>
Threadle side entry is kind of a rear cross entry, where he has to slide between you and the poles to make the entry and where he has to turn away to get from the entry to pole 2. Another way to look at it is that the other side of the poles (2nd pole here) might be the more ‘obvious’ entry. So a threadle entry would be him on your right side for the 11, 10, 9, 8 angles and on your left side for the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 angles.
You can use line up cookies to get him where you want him before you send him, so he is lined up in the right direction. The balance of reps on the last couple of sessions has been a little too much on the threadle side of things, and I think he is confused as to which direction the weaves go.
For example, with the harder entries at 8 o’clock – at 1:40 he was on your right and your position was blocking the line to the entry so he was not sure about how to get past you. When he was on your right, he was offering going all the way around the poles to make the correct entry from the other side – which is actually quite brilliant! But we don’t want him to do that LOL! So this is a good spot for you to use the line up cookie to get him on your left and send him on your left at 8 o’clock.And that will also reflect on the opposite side of the clock at the 5 oclock spot: when you sent him from your right side: excellent! When he was on your left (the threadle side) he was confused about which way the line was going- and that is why for now I would keep him on your right side for the 1-2-3-4-5 side of the clock until those entries are super solid. I think when he lost even the easy entries, it was just a product of lower rate of success and long session. He did get them back later but we don’t want to lose the easy entries.
On think you can add is your motion, especially from the 12-1-2-3 angles (on your right) and the 11-10-9 angles on your left! Sending and walking, so he gets used to the idea that you will be moving too 🙂 I think he will like that!
Let me know if it makes sense! And of course let me know how it goes 🙂
TracyHi! I thought I replied but clearly I never hit “Post”. Sorry!!
>>Robbie is so easy I have to remember to go slow…we are at the obvious end of straight tunnel in 2 sessions. Not on verbal but working on that too.>>
If he can do it with the physical cue, that is great! You can add in the verbal and you can also stand still and only use the verbal 🙂 That tunnel threadle verbal is a lifesaver LOL!
>>And he completely gets the threadle slice with the strike a pose…dives in between me and stanchion, over bump to his toy..no more hand touch. I had to slow down though because he was self releasing when he saw me go into strike a pose. Did more stay work etc and he’s better now. Will keep throwing his toys back intermittently to support his attention on stays.>>
Good boy! The hand touch does get faded, so I am glad to hear that he is really getting the threadle idea!!! Onwards to adding motion! And yes, keep rewarding the stay as it will serve you well if you have a serpy opening on a course, and it will also help him maintain contact criteria if you show serp or threadle handling before he finishes the contact (especially on a running contact where you will be hustling!)
Keep me posted 🙂
TracyHi!
>> I do have a second teeter that I can set-up that is not a competition teeter. I think it would be good for her to get on that one because it moves a lot more.
I 100% agree! I like to show dogs the other types of teeters and not just the beautiful, quiet ones 🙂
>>I also can try to get to some friends’ teeters this weekend hopefully.>>
Perfect! Even if you can’t get there this weekend, it is something good for the future 🙂
On your video – she did ask a little question on the very first rep, but then yes, I see what you mean: you couldn’t keep her off of it LOL! Good girl!!!! And she also didn’t mind the turning around and going back down, which is all sorts of movement and noise too. She was happy with the rear crosses, with you sending, with you driving ahead, crosses, she was a happy girlie. And she was relaxed enough to spend quality time at the top of the board to be sure she got every crumb of the reward haha! Excellent session!
You can move the position of the wing supporting the board to add a tiny bit of tip, I think she is ready. And when you get outside and have introduced the teeter outside, you can definitely add the wing, I think she will like that!One other thought – since you are training the 2o2o, you can rig a target that is past the end of the board so she goes further up the board and gets her toes right at the very end. Before I had the teeter teach it, I was very fancy (not) and used duct tape to attach a long spoon to the underside of the board. It stuck out just far enough that the dog would put her toes at the end of the board and reach forward off the board to get the reward – and I also bent the spoon upwards so the dog didn’t have to reach down too much to get the reward.
Great job! Keep me posted on how she does with more tip 🙂Tracy
Hi! You’re going to laugh – I think the end behavior might be too easy for him, so he is able to get it right AND look at you for the cookies. Because he is smart, we can make the behavior harder and then he has to to do more to get the cookies – which translates to looking at you less 🙂
2 ideas for making that happen – try elevating the target a bit, having it on a thick piece of cardboard or something so it is something he can almost step up onto. Since it is a foot target, you can also consider having it as a strip across the length of the end of the board so he can put both feet up on it.The other idea is to that rather than just have him touch the target when he gets there, add one more behavior, something fun that will keep him focused on task. I have my 4on dogs scratch at the target, so they drive there and scratch scratch scratch… and that keeps their heads low, they look at the target, and they love it 🙂 Does he like to scratch or dig? If so, we can shape it to the target and then add it to the teeter. And a super fun end behavior like that will also really help build the drive to the end of the board.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi Helen! I think we have entered the stage of the uphill and downhill games where my replies are going to be super boring! They are all starting to sound like this:
That was great! He was fast, he was focused, he looked REALLY confident and drove all the way to the end. Now… add more tip.
So on your next session can have a tiny bit more tip… you can get creative about what you use to support the board while incrementally adding a more tip because we only want maybe another half inch of tip here.
And if I am wrong and he is NOT ready for more tip, and you see him slowing down or getting worried or leaving the session… immediately go back to the level you had here on this video.
I think he is enjoying the cheesing here: cheese on the end of the board, cheese for the stay… he looks happy with all aspects of it LOL!
Great job!! Keep me posted about how he does with more tip.
TracyHi! I am glad the snow is receding!!! Fingers crossed that things will dry out quickly 🙂
Backing up is going well! She was really thinking about finding the board with her back feet and you had some good distance going!! I’d like to get her head a little lower – You were leaning over to keep the rewards low but she was still lifting her head… so you should sit or this one (either on the floor or in a chair, whichever is more comfortable), so your cookie hands are low enough that she lowers her head. I think ideally her chin would be at the center of her chest – that will really open up hind end independence and weight shift! And the more we can convince her to lower her head, the better 🙂
End position: really nice!! She is driving straight and fast, hitting position with complete focus and accuracy, and only after that is she looking for you. Fabulous! It looks like you were able to add all sorts of challenges by changing your position and she didn’t change her behavior at all. GOOD GIRL! So, take this to as many different places as possible, even if it is just around your house 🙂 And if possible, prop the ‘get on’ side of it up so the board is angled. A FitBone or something similar is perfect because it adds movement but is also going to hold the end of the board pretty well.
Mountain Climbers look great too! All of your RDW work has built a lot of plank confidence so this seemed easy for her. She drove ahead beautifully! Rear Cross? No problem. When you have more room, you can add more of you driving past the end of the board (I am thinking this will also be no problem for her at all). Using this setup… add more tip 🙂 Start with just a little bit of tip and see what she thinks of it! Her response will let us know how quickly we can proceed, but so far she looks amazing!
Great job here! Let me know what you think! Onwards to the next steps 🙂
Tracy
Hi! Great session here too! All of the momma-running challenges look great, so those can all get added tip like I mentioned above. He definitely had a “what the?”response to the rear cross and also a little bit when you were decelerating a little later in the session. I am glad you abandoned the rear for now, because we don’t want him asking questions LOL! So, approach that separately without much tip at all: put the BEST rewards at the top (peanut butter? Squeeze cheese? Rack of lamb? Lol) and just work the sending where you are stationary and he goes up the board entirely without you. Get him barking first haha 🙂 He might be slower at first but that is fine – as long as he goes up the board and eats the thing. Then you can go get him to help him off the top. We haven’t really focused much on sending him without you because we have really wanted to support him, but I think he is ready for the sends now!
Good plan for teeter-tables later. It is gorgeous weather here, I hope you are getting the same!
Tracy
Hi!
On the first video – I think the teach it placement relative to the teeter worked well here, it was sitting on the rubber thingies, yes?
He did well here! He was moving up the board but not racing up the board – so for the next session, do the exact same amount of tip so he gets more into the racing up the board. And when coming from the wing, help line him up so he has a really straight path – he was finding the board fine from angles but he has to slow down to do it and we want him to go full bore up the board 🙂 We are now entering the ‘adding tip’ stage of the games so in general, we spend 2 or 3 short sessions like this at each tip, then add more.The session at LU also went well. I gotta say… I think his best reps were when you got him barking before you started (SORRY KEVIN!! Ok, not sorry, but ya know…. haha!) So, get him barking, make him deranged, then giddy up. He did well at the original tip, and did well with the added tip!!!
So a plan of attack for the next session:
* Barking 🙂
* One run up the board at the easier tip he had here, very little tip. Assess: Fast and happy? Add a little more. Not happy? Either repeat or go back to easier tip.
And repeat the process for another rep: barking, up the board, add more tip (just a half inch).
Then on the last 2 reps – go back to easier tip! That will finish him on a bang of excitement and easy challenge.
Let me know if that makes sense!Bang game is looking great!! Especially the left side rep – BOOM right into position. Fab! Try to get reward in right away for getting into position and then release. Don’t add any type of ‘stay’ challenge to it here on the teeter yet. You can totally do that on the unmoving plank, but for the teeter I would like him to be in the ‘you can do no wrong’ mode for a while longer. I don’t want to tell him he is wrong for anything related to the teeter at this point, so we won’t ask the questions about staying yet haha! Those questions can be asked on the plank and on the start line.
Have you don’t bang game at LU recently? That can definitely go in the rotation, plus you can add a tiny bit more tip on this game at home too.
Great job!
TracyHi! Here is how to change the photo:
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Have fun!
TracyHi!
I was totally thinking of Hairy Maclary! I didn’t know the author was from NZ!!! So cool 🙂 and yes my dogs all have a first name, a middle name, and about 35,000 nicknames each haha! “Ginger Weirdo” made me laugh out loud LOL!He did a great job on the mountain climbers here! The session had a good structure – starting with supporting him by going with him up the board, easy! Then adding more challenges. When watching, I look to see any dips in confidence, change in behavior, questions on any of the different challenges… Nope! His answer to all of your questions was “GO FAST!”. Nice! Seems totally confident so…. add more tip 🙂 Just a tiny bit more. The goal is that he does not really notice the added tip and is happy like he was here, with similar structure to the session – start it easy, then add more challenge and excitement.
The other thing you can do (before adding tip) is add the wing before the teeter so he gets used to running up the board with more speed and excitement. And yes, be sure to help him off the board so he doesn’t leap off LOL! It is a sign of confidence in many ways, but we still don’t want him to leap off the top 🙂
Great job! I will go get the avatar info and post up here in a minute for you.
TracyHi! The tip here seemed to be no problem, which is great! I think partially it is because he is happier with the tip in general (hello, peanut butter!) and also because there was less tip here.
For the end position – he was getting the idea of where to put his feet quite nicely (because you were consistently placing the reward well). So the next step is to get him to not look at you 🙂 It is an easy answer: we will be adding a target to this game, as we add in the end position. The specifics on all that comes in the next games package on Monday, but feel free to get a head start and put his target out for him to drive to. We will add it in, get the end position going really well, marry a few games together, then fade the target over the next bunch of weeks 🙂
The other thing you can do is add more tip (without the target) but instead of waiting for him to move into position, just move your hand in as he is leaping on to get the reward into position so the treat is there as he is landing on the board – that will encourage 2o2o quite nicely too!Great job on all of these!!
TracyPeanut butter is magic indeed, so is squeeze cheese based on what the other dogs in this class are saying LOL!!! I need to go shopping 🙂 Check out his tail on these reps – definitely in happy position! And don’t take this personally, but after you sent him down the board, he didn’t give a hoot about what you were doing or where you were going. It was all about getting to the end of the board LOL! Good boy 🙂 He is driving straight through the tip with no questions and no concerns from what I can see here…. so if possible, add some more tip, just a little 🙂 I am excited by all the progress he is making!!
T
