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Good morning! This was a good session!
He did lose his speed a little towards the end – it might have been hot or the bloody tongue or he might have been careful after he had the one error where he went to the toy without the weaves. Overall though – very nice session!
My TnT is also being weird so I feel your pain with that. I still use it as a target even if it is not a treat dispense – for Contraband, it stays out there as a focal point and I throw a frisbee for the rewards because he prefers the frizzer anyway 🙂 So Fever might like that too – TnT as the focal point but toy as reward.
The session was really strong! The toy as the target on the ground was easy on the straight entries but it provided EXCELLENT distraction work on the harder angles! And that is exactly what he needs: choose to collect to make the entry even when there is an ‘easier’ option that he might find rewarding. He was terrific! He did well on the sends and when you added motion.
So, since it went so nicely and since he is not starting from scratch: go to the angles of the weave poles. Do a quick session with the poles at 2 and 8. if that is super easy peasy mac’n’cheesy? Next session is 1 and 7 for the weave pole angle. We want to add the collection challenge early on, because that is your main goal.
The other thing I do with the 2x2s which is an advantage over the channels – I move them someplace different for every single session 🙂 You’ll start to see that in the demos: all different spots around my house or in the agility field LOL!!! It helps the dogs generalize the poles rather than doing them perfectly in one place for a while then having to start over in a new spot. I think he is totally ready for you to just plop the 2×2 base in a new spot each time.
Great job here! Keep me posted!
TracyGood morning!
I will answer the easy question first:
>> Also wondering how to decide to use a threadle arm vs open shoulder (which I do for jump threadles)?>>
It depends on a couple of things:
First, how responsive is the dog to verbals? If the dog is GREAT with verbals, the physical cues are not all that important. Some dogs can process verbals better than others when the wind is rushing through their ears 🙂
Second, of course it is personal preference, but here is how I decide:
I train BOTH arm uses on jump threadles – the open shoulder/dog-side arm is used when it is an easier threadle and also when I am in great position. And for dogs that process verbals better.
I use my outside arm for the really hard threadles and when I am NOT in great position, particularly when I am behind the dog. That little bit of extra help goes a long way to giving info to my teammate – when I am behind on a hard line and yelling verbals, basically the dog is driving the bus at that point so I am going to try to give as much info as possible because I cannot/will not turn my feet at that point.So…. same goes for tunnels 🙂 But in general, tunnel threadles are ALL harder because course design has put the dog squarely on the line to the incorrect end of the tunnel and also has put my slow butt behind the dog. And, something about the way I train makes my dogs really love driving to the tunnel 🙂 So I almost always use the opposite arm on those as it is really clear.
Some other folks only use the opposite arm for tunnel threadles (or any threadle) and it is the only time the dog sees that arm.
So it is a combination of your preference, the dog’s ability to process verbals at high speed, and what works best for you and the dog.
>>On tunnel threadle do you have a demo video on progressing past the obvious end?
And when to graduate to a curved tunnel?>>We add all of that in the 2nd and 3rd MaxPup classes, building to sequences that involve full on tunnel threadles coming down a fast line.
Progressing to a curved tunnel is gradual because I don’t want to wrench baby dog bodies (dogs fall in tunnels ALL the time). So you can, separately from threadles, start to do “banana” curve entry or exits in training (I personally avoid the tighter curves of the tunnel that we see in AKC style courses here, in favor of softer banana curves.
And for the threadles on the straight tunnels, you can use the double whammy game where you end up threadling to the other end from way back on the other end of the tunnel. Then build up starting from in front of the “wrong” end and sometimes driving the pup into it, and sometimes threadling to the other side, with the motion progression of you walking, then jogging, the running.
And, when the tunnel is a bit curved and the threadles are good on the straight tunnel, blend the two together and the voila! Tunnel threadles on curved tunnels 🙂Let me know if that makes sense!
TracyGood morning!
It cracks me up that you call him Hairy hahaha!!!!And you should be able to see the Weaves class now – it took a minute for the websites to talk to each other, but I checked on it and you are definitely in. Onwards to weaving! Fun!!!
Good job on both of these sessions, he is really just such a fun dog!!!
On the end position session – because this is a new concept (stopping at the end of a plank rather than run run run), you can totally start off by being in front to help him line up then moving off to the side. It will be easy enough to get you standing and moving in coming days. He was doing a really good job about putting himself in position and getting his hind end on the board.
I feel the pain of accidentally clicking the wrong thing just once then having to undo it haha! I did that in the weaves class (I think you can see it in one of the demos) and rather than frustrate my dog, I decided to go in and help him as an apology for my error 🙂 As soon as I helped – he got right back on track and didn’t need help. I guess that is the good news and bad news about clicker-savvy dogs, right?AS he is building this skill, the one thing I think we can add to his targeting here is a specific focal point. Because it is mainly a foot target, he is looking at you – which makes the straight foot targeting harder because it will turn his body. 2 ideas to get him looking straighter, both involving reward placement:
When you reward, plop the treat either right down on the tape or just past the edge of the board so his toes are at the very edge of the tape. If you consistently get the reward there, Mr. Efficient is more likely to stop looking at you. Now, I say more likely only because he is quick enough to watch you move the treat AND look at the reward placement spot. With that in mind, another option:
With 4on dogs, I like to have the reward target attached to the board, somehow, when the teeter starts to move. That keeps their heads straight. The easiest thing to do is to tape a spoon to the underside of the plank so that the cup of the spoon is sticking out just enough for the treat to be placed in it and for him to reach it while keeping his toes right at the edge of the plank. I do that on the teeter for sure, so we might as well install it here on the plank early on the learning stages to give him a focal point.I know, a spoon and duct tape is not super fancy but it is cheap and easy LOL!!! Let me know if that makes sense, I probably have photos or a video of it from when I trained the Papillons (I will go look after I post this :))
Hooray for the wobble board arriving!! It is a perfect sized board too, for what we need it for 🙂 I am very glad to see he was super happy to get on it and move it. It is a little small for him to turn around on, but he will probably figure out how to do that within a session or two (the cookie lure is fine for getting him to slowly turn around on it).
Because he seems perfectly happy with it, you can add in other wobble board games:
– you can be further away from it and when he moves the board, reward by tossing the cookie off to the side so he runs off, grabs it, then drives back to it. The way to make the reward appear is to move the board 🙂 And if he starts to slide to do that? Even better! (I like sliding on the teeter because of the weight shift).
– separately from the jumping on, you can cue him to back up onto the board. If he has a back up cue, you can totally use it – start him all 4 on it and cue it. Then he can have his front feet off, then all 4 feet off. It might take a few sessions (or less, or more LOL!) but it is a great game for that all-important hind end awareness and weight shift.Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
She is a brave on, hoping on the middle to run to the top LOL! I allow those types of shenanigans early on, because I want the complete confidence on the board before it starts to move.
She did really well with you near her and moving with her – the big lead out made her head explode a tiny bit on the first rep of that (possibly trying to go too fast to get coordinated going up the board?) But then the rest of the reps were great and she was great with all the challenges. Super!!!Since you mentioned she has already seen a couple of inches of tip – the next session can totally start with that tip, adding challenges, and see how she does. As always, her response will guide us as to how quickly we can add more challenge and/or tip. And add in having her jump off the side on cue (which she was basically doing here and not really running through target position).
Nice job! She is making quick progress!!
TracyHi! I think sometimes when they freeze up on the dog walk, it is indicating a confusion as to which is the long board and which is the moving board. Mountain climbers will totally help too – I think having a table next to it will allow for easily getting her off the top of the board. Let me know how it goes!
YAY! Good update! Yes – next step is to go all the way around the clock on both sides. The 11-10-9-8-7- side can have relatively straight poles and the 1-2-3-4-5 side can have angled poles.
Then the next step is for you to add your motion 🙂
Have fun!
TracyHi! I think the Pet Tutor does make a quiet, pleasant beep (at least in comparison to the super noisy Manners Minder LOL!)
You can submit 5-7 minutes per track, per week of video. All of the info is in the Weaves User Guide 🙂
Have fun!
TracyReally nice session here on the Mountain Climbers!! It is never the first rep, it is always the 2nd rep that tells us how the dog feels – he looked good and happy on the 2nd rep and beyond, and was driving up nice and high on all of them! Love it! And doing this game in little sequences is happy-making for him too – very nice. I would stick here at this level of tip for 2 more short sessions, just to really make it solid… then add in a tiny bit more tip. This is really lovely progress!!!!
Tracy
Hi there!
The bang game looks great here: he was really keen, drove to his end position, and it was a nice short session. Yay! Probably took longer to put on your shoes than it took to train him HAHA! More bang game is coming on Monday but basically one thing to add: Start both you and him closer to the end of the teeter by putting your toe right at the edge (bit not under the edge, ouch!) so he is also right at the edge – practically lands in position (rather than stride down through the yellow). This will allow us to add challenge to the weight shift and balance of riding the edge of the board down. He seemed to have no trouble with any of the challenges! Yay!!!
Great job!
TracyHi! Fingers crossed for warm weather ahead so Bindi can finish the teeter! I am excited to hear she is already at a 40″ drop! Nice!!!!!!!
Tracy
Hello!
>>Hi there, hoping as an auditor this is the type of questions I can ask.
Yes this is exactly what you should use the class for!
>>We have struggled with the teeter and have taken many breaks. (she has been cleared physically in 2021 by chiropractor and rehab specialist)
Medical clearance is always the first step! Yay!
>> Went out yesterday, didn’t realize someone had moved the 12″ table so that it was not under the teeter enough to catch up. It was just butted up to the end when it dropped. Before I even knew what happened, she went running over it and it dropped to the ground. It scared her and maybe it jarred physically, she did not expect it.>>
Bummer! But in a way, it was good because it tells us that she is still really uncomfortable with the teeter in general.
>> now I feel like we’ve lost all the ground we’ve gained.
Probably not! But it is a good opportunity to root out and fix the underlying concerns.
>>My plan is to give her several days off (though I’m dying to get right back at it), increase the 2 tables so there is les of a tip and build her back up again. Any suggestions would be welcome.>>
To be honest (which is why you are here LOL!!) – I would just start over. Because she got so worried with one rep that was different, it means we can work through and find the hole, fix it – then you will have no issues in the future. And by start over – work through all the tracks, especially the mountain climbers and downhills. Do it incrementally but with the shortest sessions (1 or 2 reps) and large quantities of highest value rewards (can be a favorite toy or activity, it does not have to be a cookie! Or it can be a full meal)
>>She has no problems stepping on it to slam it down, it’s when it’s going down with her on it that she doesn’t like. It might be a foot up off the table and she’ll reach up and bring it down and hop on.>>
Sounds like it is a driving across the moving board thing, which is addressed in the uphill and down hill tracks (especially the uphills, I am not sure if she has ever really done the entire mountain climbers progression?)
The other thing that is different about mountain climbers is that it provides more of the actual visual of the edge of the teeter hanging out in space, with no table there as a visual aid, if that makes sense. It is like running up a cliff and not seeing what is on the other side LOL! So I really think that will help her.
Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
Yes, he was not super keen on the downhills. Of course, there is a normal up-and-down progression each time we add a challenge or change, but I was watching to see what might have been making him feel “meh” about the downhills – I think it was the bouncy bouncy clatter of the board behind him as he was at the MM. It was really whipping up and down a few times behind him.So to fix it – You can do the downhills to the MM with the MM closer so he stays all 4 on the board (which will stop the bouncing) and you can also grab and hold the board so it doesn’t bounce around for now. I also suggest towels or a mat under each end to dampen the noise and reduce whip for now.
Eventually he will be fine with it, but he was a little “what the?” with the bouncy bouncy right behind his butt. The uphill has no bouncing like that – and it was REALLY cool to see him offer it even when he was not totally comfy with the session. And yes, it was smart to go with offered uphills!
When you switched to the toy – that went better because the toy is stimulating AND if gets him off the table and therefore further from the bouncy bouncy whippy whippy activity behind him LOL!!!! So you can keep the toy involved and even let him run right off the end across the table. And he can get rewarded for running across, and then again when the board moves & clangs to reset.I think he is fine with the one reset movement and noise, but on the downhills the board was doing several and he was not totally comfy with that. Not freaked out, but just thinking it was weird. So try reducing that and I think he will be fine 🙂
Let me know what you think!
TracyEEK!!!! That is nuts! I am glad you are on the road to fixing it. I had the same thing happen with pole 9 of my channels – rusted in position. Grrrrr! Fingers crossed for warm weather and easy times ahead 🙂 I am looking forward to seeing Bindi weave!!
Tracy
Helloooooo! And welcome to you, Fever and Callie!
I think you will find this a really fun progression, since he already has an understanding of it and value too. We will really emphasize the angles of entry – if you have 2x2s, I suggest doing that part specifically for the collection to enter because you can reward the entry so quickly (also in the channels, I put the Manners Minder at pole 3 to get that started, it helps immediately. And Miss Callie can join in for the ‘stay in all 12’ games which we will be doing with some proofing too LOL! I am excited to see you here!
Tracy
