Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Hi! These sessions looked really strong!
The recalls look great! She was very into it! You can do crazy things like change directions, or try to hide from her 🙂 Keep it unpredictable and fun!
And the perch work is also going well. I think the height of the bowl might be just fine – she has grown 😂 and it didn’t look like she had too much weight in her rear here. And she was pretty balanced with her movement! She was pivoting nicely back to center after the cookie toss, and also following your hand too. I bet she will start to offer it if you don’t have your hand out there – it might be fun to see by standing still and not helping with the hand (and click/treat when she does move the hind end).
Nice work here!
Tracy
Hi! Really nice session here! You were tackling the minny pinny AND the toy retrieving and I think you made great progress in both!
>I had two toys i didn’t think I was doing remote reinforcement because I had the treats on me, but the learner determines the reinforcement and he let me know that toys are his preferred reinforcement.>
Yes, he gave great info about his love of the toys 🙂 Good job sorting that out quickly so he could then be very successful! I think the best thing will be a cookie for finishing the wrap then tugging like you did starting at 3:56 and afterwards. Those were lovely reps! For the next session, you can add what you’d like the verbals to be: I think you were wanting to do a turn-towards and turn-away verbal but maybe I am remembering incorrectly?
>We also did some work with toy swapping and letting him win. I have ordered some more of the very expensive toy that is his favourite …. so expensive… Temu for the win. Hahah
>That went well! He was not going too far away with the toy he won and came back to the 2nd toy pretty quickly! And you were high energy and fun, which he found very engaging too. Very nice! And yes, we will all need to get 2nd and 3rd jobs to pay for all the puppy toys 😂
Nice work!!
TracyHi!
She really seemed to like the ball retrieve game! Great forward focus and drive to the ball!
A few more verbals will really help answer her questions:
She drove right to it on the rep (maybe because it was still rolling?) but I think on the 2nd and 3rd reps she needed a verbal cue like get it – you were quiet and she was not sure if she should go to it.
And you can add her ‘out’ cue for when you want her to give it back and go to the toy.
Lateral lead out video:
Great job getting her excited to play then lined up! She looked excited but also solid in the stay. Nice job with the rewards!
About the send to the barrel:
Your position relative to it was great! To get her to drive to it, you can rotate to face it a bit: your hips and shoulders will be facing the object, and your step/arm will be pointing to the ‘takeoff’ spot (pretend there is a bar. There :)) That will give her a stronger indication of the line to the object. When you were releasing, you were facing straight forward, which pulled her past the object. And it does indeed look like a threadle wrap line, which she offered too at 1:26 (overachiever! Good girl!) So facing the object and stepping towards it should really help.Great job here!!
Tracy
Hi!
Is everyone sharing the one poor raccoon, or did you all get the same toy? LOL! She definitely like it!!
The pups all had some questions about the connection/line to the wing, versus the toy. She had a little trouble with the left turns, so when that happens you can switch to the right turns and see if that is easier. It is possible that the combo of ignoring the great toy AND turning right was too hard.
When you did ask for the left turn, she did better for sure! Having the barrel on a better line (it was too far off the line on the very first left turn rep).
She also had questions about whether it was toy or barrel, especially when you were not that far ahead of her on the tunnel exit to set the line. So you can send her to the tunnel from further up the line, so you are at least halfway to the barrel or more when she exits the tunnel.
I am glad she she was into tugging on it, but when you get that many questions from her (“tug or barrel, human?”), you can tuck the tug into a pocket to clarify that it was the barrel and not the tug.
>I might have gone 1 rep too much, lol>
Yes, when you took her off the toy and took her collar, she deflated because there were too many errors. Remember that you are only allowed 2 errors total in the session 🙂 and it is perfectly fine to tuck the toy away and bring it out after the wrap.
Nice work here!!
Tracy
Hi!
Minny pinny is going well! She figured it out really quickly and looked strong in both directions (although she seems to prefer turning to her left). Nice job rewarding her in the position parallel to the wing to get the additional turn on the ending!
Adding the bumps and the verbals went great! Click/treat to you for holding her so she could hear. The verbal a few ties before she started moving, to really build up the understanding of the new verbal.
You can totally reward with a toy here too!
On the rocking horse games: Great jo getting her tugging! I think she needed an extra moment to line up and go into send mode when you transitioned from the tugging to the cone send. So you can get the toy back, line her up, take a moment… then send her. You were both a little twitchy on that first rep at :50 so the line up moment will help.
I am not sure if she was looking at the toy at the beginning or had trouble turning to her right – getting her going with food looked really good, so you can add the toy back in and see if more connection helps her ignore the toy. The FCs, spins and race tracks all looked strong here!!
The stay game is going well! She seems pretty happy to stay and get all those rewards thrown back to her 🙂
When you released her to the cone, I think you were a little far from it on the first rep. You adjusted to be a bit closer on the next rep and she did great! So you can be just 3 or 4 feet away at first, then gradually add more and more distance to the lateral send.
Tunnel rocking horse:
>I started on her stronger turning side but she kept cutting behind me. She was fine the other direction. Thinking maybe she was going for the toy I hid it and she got it right. Not sure if that’s what it was original was doing something else different……>
I think her left turns might be the stronger side at this point!
And it was a combination of things that were causing her to cut behind you:
On the reps where she went behind you, it was because as she exited the tunnel, there was not a lot of connection and giant flapping animal pelt LOL 😂 on the other side (which also happened to be the left turn side). So I think there were a combination of factors:
The suggestion to try one on the other side was great! You had a LOT more connection AND it was going into a left turn (and I think the toy was a little more subdued :)) so it went a lot better!!
I grabbed screenshots of the difference in connection on the right turn side versus left turn side:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1_jY94Owap2YQj5SNwEVsWbz1QX_qE4DvVFjQKDdtiME/edit?usp=sharing
And at the very end, you made a HUGE connection while containing the flappy toy and she was able to get the right turn. Yay!
So the big connection is a big win, and also containing the flappy pelt into a smaller toy that is not swinging around will really help too.
Nice work here!
Tracy
Hi!
I agree, he did great!!!
>He is having trouble focusing on the mama(or maybe the toy too)! >
Do you mean focusing *too much* on the mama? His questions were about your hand/arm position on the sending – they were good questions!
I grabbed screenshots for the moments. It ll happens so fast when he is running, but the screenshots tell you what he thinks is clear info and what is causing the questions/arm chomps.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1dNXzzwA9uErfQV8WFMVyKWoKVMLJO4KBMGwHNuCD5Dk/edit?usp=sharing
What wa happening was when you pointed ahead of him as he exited the tunnel, you either got a big look/spin back to you, or he chomped your arm. That is because when we point ahead of the dog on a send, it blocks connection and turns our shoulders to a different line. So they either turn towards us to look closer at our line of motion, or they get a little frustrated and jump up/deliver a tooth hug.
Compare to the moments when your arm was low, pointing to his nose (so arm was back when he was behind you until he was past you) – that was when he was GREAT to the wing. No questions, no tooth hugs 🙂 There was a rep or two where he came off the wing at the last moment but that was because you rotated away a heartbeat too early.
So for the next session – move the wings in a little closer so it is easier for him to find them and easier for you to run with your arm low and locked back to his nose the whole time. As he exits the tunnel, think of it as doing the send with your arm pointing to his nose and looking him right in the eyeballs as you deliver the verbals 🙂
>I’m not sure why I threw the toy>
Ha! I thought it was a good throw, to reward the go after the tunnel.
>so I brought out the treat and train.>
That definitely helped but I want to see if we can train your arms 🙂 and we want the feedback from him that the treat and train does not allow for because it is so visible. On the very last rep, your arm was very pointy and he went to the MM. But I am not sure he would have gone to the wing if the MM was not there. So moving the wings in closer and running with your arm locked back and following his nose to see if that helps with commitment to the wings.
> I think on the whole he was much better on not hitting the wings as he was doing in the previous turn and burns. >
Totally yes! He was a good boy with that!!
Great job!
TracyHi!
He is correct, tunnels and jumps are FUN LOL
>Will probably try in front of contacts and weaves first as he has no association with those at all and then build up to the exciting obstacles.>
Perfect! And you can have him sit with his back to the tunnel and see how that goes (he might think you are nuts though :))
Tracy
Good morning!
Backside slices: he is doing really well finding his backsides! You were doing a good job of trying to release separately from movement so he didn’t think the movement was the release. You can take several steps before the release (you were tending towards 1 or 2 steps, which is why he would sometimes predict the release and move early) and you can also mix in throwing the reward back while you are still moving forward for multiple steps.
There was really only one oopsie, on the first rep on your right – more connection was needed (he took the front of the jump) and you adjusted on the next reps and he did great!
One suggestion: rather than have him come round to the front side of the bump (where the 2nd wing would be) you can either do a FC and reward him closer to the entry barrel, or drop the toy on the landing side of the bump closer to the entry barrel as you move away. That will get him looking at the bump more than at you – having him getting the toy on the far side of the bump was beginning to pull him past the bump – he was not looking at it to go over it (like at 2:00 where he didn’t go over it at all).
Serp with motion:
>and you’ll see on the right he doesn’t have the value for me >
I think that was mechanics, not lack of value: the way you were moving through the lead out was enhancing the toy and not the serp line.
The first reps on your left were really strong – you were placing the toy then showing the serp line starting from the other wing. Ideally, you would place the toy, then start next to him and walk through the serp all the way about the jump starting on the non-toy wing to really show the line. You can have him sit then place the toy, or place the toy then have him sit: but either way, your lead out line should enhance the line by starting at the non-toy wing as you move through it.
On the other side, your lead out lines totally moved to the toy, which draws his attention to it. On the first one, you did something disconnected moving over the bar, so he broke then left. On the others, you were walking to his toy, then back to your position near the center of the bar or exit wing, so it actually drew his focus to the toy more and he went to it. He did better when you stopped moving, but I think if you had a clean line through the serp, he would have a lot more success: starting next to him then walking around to the non-toy wing and through the serp.
>and you can’t hear I don’t think but to get success I had to say touch. >
It is OK to say touch but then he really should touch LOL
>I could have been better on the dog training part for sure but I also don’t want to always have to be perfect bc that’s not real life ?>
You don’t have to be perfect, true! But the setup has to be clean and clear so you don’t get more than 2 failures. In this case, walking slowly through the serp line starting on the non-toy wing will be clean and should be clearer.
Nice work here!
Tracy
Hi! His tail does look longer than his whole body here LOL!
Great job getting the mechanics sorted on this one! It is hard for the humans because we have to be pretty perfect for the pups to figure it out. You were definitely getting the hang of pulling him around then flipping his nose away, so he figured out that it was the turn away you wanted.
One thing that will really help is if you line him up at your side each time, then send him into the wrap, then turn him away for a second wrap. That will make it smoother feeling than when you were starting with him facing you you, and he will also learn to approach the wrap by turning his head rather than coming towards you.
>I think that means anticlockwise is his stronger direction … as previously noted i find the whole left and right thing very mysterious>
I have met auntie lot of agility folks who think in clockwise or anticlockwise, rather than left or right, and that is perfectly fine! The second direction did look stronger but it might have been because it was second. 0so on the next session try anticlockwise first and see how it goes.
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
The pool is a big help for the heat, I am glad he enjoyed it!
And yes, it was a good resilience moment to recover from the bin moving unexpectedly. That is exactly why we work resilience games: something weird happens and the puppy bounces right back. You responded with a lot of treats and he worked through it immediately, including wrapping it! I think he was slightly more hesitate wrapping it than wrapping the blue barrel: but by the end of the session, he was wrapping it as smoothly as the blue barrel. Super!!
Even in the heat, you can take a tug break after every couple of wraps to keep him driving more – and then a quick paddle followed by more wraps 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi!
>I’ll see if I can get Barry to watch other people’s dogs>
As crazy as it sounds, it can really help! Does Barry have any small dog friends he plays with, that will also retrieve a toy/ball/disc? That can be a fun and useful play session!
T
Good morning!
I am glad you are enjoying the bite size pieces of training 🙂 I had a conversation with a MaxPup alum at the US Open who said that they were surprised at how small the pieces were at this stage, almost like we were moving too slowly. But then he saw how quickly it came together when the pups were closer to 18 months old and then flew through all the levels – this dog is MaxPup class of ’23 I think, and was just selected to his first World Team 🙂 Now, a lot of us are not interested in international competition (currently not on my radar, I am too old and lazy haha), but we do want a long happy successful career (in multiple sports) and bite-sized chunks of training will get us there 🙂And I think you are already seeing how well Bokeh is putting things together – on the serp video, we can see the working relationship with you looks fabulous (happy, relaxed engagement), and the skills (stay, ignore cookie in bowl, serp from different angles, collect before arriving at the ‘bar’) – all fantastic! As you added harder angles, we could really see her understanding of the in-then-out of a serp.
It was HILARIOUS on the first rep of the other direction when she came in perfectly then went back to where the bowl used to be. Ha! Behold the power of reward placement! But that also gives her a nice resilience moment: something unexpected happened, and she was not concerned or deflated at all. She was perfect on the next reps. Fabulous!
The concept transfer to the wing went perfectly: she was like “this is so easy, is it supposed to be hard?” LOL! You were easily able to add the verbals, a bit of countermotion (running away) and worked both sides. You can add even more ountermotion by doing the FC and running away on a 90 degree angle – instead of back to where you started when you sent her, you would be running to the left or right away from the wing.
>I was very happy in class that all our foundation on the barrels transferred well as we were the only one not doing the foundation on wings.>
Oooh, I love this – generalizing behavior is challenging for young dogs so to be able to go to a new place and do the thing like she does at home is amazing!! And it frees you up to be able to work on other things in that environment, like processing the challenges of the people/dogs/etc in the environment. I am sure she did great with that too.
Nice work here!!!
Tracy
Good morning!
This session went really well! A nice mix of warm up wraps, stay rewards, going straight – super fun and also showed us that she has a lot of understanding of a lot of skills!
I thought your connection was strong on the straight lines and wraps and that really helped. And I was super glad she did not hesitate to release and was happy to tug. Yay!
On the left turn wraps (dog on right) she was watching your handler motion – if you tried to leave early, she would not go over the bump. She was a little stronger on commitment on your left side (right turns) but my guess is the you almost had toooooo much decel by standing completely still so she was too ready to turn 🙂 We can test the theory: instead of a stay, add a wing wrap or a short tunnel before the jump – send her to it then decel at the wing of the full jump so you will be moving into it, and let’s see if more momentum helps her commitment in commitment at this stage.
Yes I think Fast Track is perfect – you can fly through it and focus on the advanced levels. It will end when she is about 11 months which is perfect for moving to the next stages of foundation training. And if it suddenly is way too easy (a lot of things can happen between now and mid-January!) then we bump you over to MaxPup 2.
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
Nice tugging! She was really loving the toy! On the rocking horses, overall she is driving to the cones really well! And when you were connected to her and not using your arm to point ahead, she doesn’t even need to look at you: she just zips to the cone. Yay! So definitely keep your arm back and eyes on her eyes.
The toy in your hand sometimes made things unclear, so be sure to squish it up and maybe stick it in a pocket so your hands are free. You were switching it from hand to hand and it was dangling in front of her sometimes so she didn’t know where to look and went for the toy. When the toy was not dangling or switching, she knew exactly what to do 🙂Tunnel rocking horses are also going well! Like with the cones, when you were connected with your arm pointing back to her, she knew exactly where to be. But if you were not connected, she would have to guess – you can see that at 1:21 where both of your arms were kind of at your sides, so when she exits the wing she only really saw your back and had to guess. If she ends up on the wrong side, assume it was lack of connection and reward any, then connect more on the next rep like you did at 1:34.
Her stays are going well! Rewards and releases were looking good too!
For the decel, try to stand totally still – don’t step forward to turn your shoulders (standing till is hard for us humans LOL!) She was really good about collecting to turn!
She did have trouble seeing the thrown reward – so use a toy 🙂 On the straight lines we do want her looking ahead and not at you, so a more obvious reward will make that happen 🙂
Great job! She is looking great!
Tracy
