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Hi!
I think for the most part, you covered all of the exercises here 🙂 There is room for improvisation, because it is more about concepts than specific sequences.
The FCs on one wing at beginning looked really strong – good timing and connection and she was tight in her turns!
The second part was all about the spins to the other side of the tunnel: you can start your rotation sooner – it is a FC before she gets to the wing so the blind is done before she exits the wing. Your best one there was at :37, that had the blind done nice and early so she had clear connection and a smooth line back to the tunnel. Yay!
On the circle wraps, a couple of ideas for you:
– you can use a lot less upper body, and I think that will help smooth things out! You can cue her to go to the wing with your dog-side hand – but then as soon as she passes you, you can just move forward to your next spot. No need to continue to support her line with your arm or by turning your shoulders: once she is past you, you can move forward and change your connection for whatever exit you want. The foundation training to finish the wrap will take over, so you won’t need to help with your upper body (your arms can stay low and tight, and that will make the quick connections feel much easier. I thought she was really 100% about finishing her commitment to the wing when you cued it, even as you moved forward! Good girlie! If she ends up questioning commitment as you move forward, we can look at the timing (be sure she is past you) and also change the placement of reinforcement to reward her behind you (tossing it back to the wing as you move forward).
Turning your upper body to the wing can also cause questions when we have the full jump there, because that upper body turn also cues the slicing rear cross on the backside – upper body facing forward if what cues the circle wrap over the bar.
– you can show her more of the wing, try not to get on her line or block her view of the wing. There were a couple of times she had to go around you.
– reward more! She checked out after the 2:00 mark because you stopped rewarding (or delayed the reward for long enough that it was not in the editing), so the rate of reinforcement really dropped (plus she had already done a bunch of reps in the heat). It looked like she did a good job at 1:32, 1:45, 2:00 but there was no toy reward following her effort. I think you were thinking about what you wanted to do, but make the engagement and reinforcement the top priority and then she will stick with you.
Note how when you went to 3 wings, you started reinforcing again, the rate of reinforcement came back up, and she was a happy camper even though she was hot. So be sure to reward, reward, reward 🙂
Nice work here!! Let me know if the idea about the upper body makes sense.
Tracy
Hi! Compressed will make it harder for timing because everything will happen so fast 🙂
I’m glad he is feeling better!!Hi! Thanks for the update, I am very glad to hear everyone is ok now!! Looking forward to seeing your videos 🙂
Oh no! Did they xray her toes? Looks like toes or wrist… did you check that her nails are fine, pads fine, nothing embedded? Poor girlie!!
Hi Deb!
Charlee looked great here – she was pretty perfect with letting you go *anywhere* while she did the teeter. NICE! You can definitely add more motion (jogging then running) and more challenging lines (like you moving away at a 90 degree angle).The next part will be fading the Manners Minder from the picture… depending on how she has been trained in the past, you can either replace it with a target of some sort (like a plastic lid) or move the MM further and further away from the teeter so it is still a focal point but less easy to see.
And you can definitely add in the sequences too! She looked great here!Nice work 🙂 Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
Great job on these! On the first run – keep working “turn and go” as a theme: turn and go when she lands from 1, send and leave when she is approaching 4 – see how early you can do both so that you are fully facing the new direction before she makes a jumping decision rather than rounding the curves with her (which causes you to end up facing forward too long, and that is why she dropped #2)Yes, I liked the blind too!! One little detail – as she exits the 5 tunnel, you can be positioned closer to the 8 jump – then you can send her to 6 & 7 from a more lateral position so you don’t have to run all the way to back 8 – with a bar there, that motion of running back to 8 might open up a slice to the wrong end of the tunnel. Your position is good there with the blind, but sending to 6 and 7 from more of a parallel line will let you move directly ‘downstream’ to the blind rather than running on a slice line to it.
seq 3:
One small detail at the beginning – most of our dogs are locked into the front side of a line as we do leads out, so you can start the “in in” cue sooner by getting your hand position ready before you release her so you can immediately do the in in cue, before she even takes off for 1. You started it after the release, and she landed from 1 looking at front side of 2, then came to backside at :30 and :44 (there was a little zig zag). It was really subtle but getting the cue in sooner will make it a straighter line and also help when she is in higher arousal, like at a trial.Good timing on push to 5 after the tunnel – she looked at you a little but that is probably just lack of experience with backsides after tunnels.
>> I am using my verbal turn cue before she goes in. I could try a physical cue as well since she still seems to be blasting out.
I could hear it clearly and early on the 2nd rep – not sure if you did it on the first rep too where you didn’t cross? The physical cue totally helped on the 2nd rep but also the early verbal was great too.
The spin on 10 looked great – lovely turn and you got far ahead on the ending line. Yay!
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyYay! He did well here! He had the one oopsie at the beginning when you added the verbal but didn’t really show him the hand cue yet – that hand cue really helps for now.
Based on how well he did here and that you could already add motion – you can move to the last part of the game where you show him the 3 different cues: the send to the other wide of the wing (the ‘normal’ wrap), the ‘dig dig’ threadle wrap, and then the ‘take nothing’ to just follow your motion.
Great job!!!
TracyHi!
Good list of verbals! It all made sense to me.
>>Do the weaves need their own theadle cue?)
Yes, I think they will need that – but it is a lower priority at the moment. We might need it for US Open?
>>Uh and the generic “yes” that is confusing my dogs but that I feel compelled to “mark” good behavior instead of just reinforcing it by cueing the next behavior.>>
Yeah…. I feel that. It is a human self-control and human re-training moment LOL!
Tracy
Hi!
>>I find it easier to time the crosses earlier when I am FC-ing vs BC-ing so I think that is what is making the FCs faster for me.
Double FC – 4:89
Double BC – 5:11That could be a good reason for it! For the first blind, you would basically have to take a leap of faith 🙂 Also, I think the outside line on the 2nd blind made the difference – you set that line with a lot of acceleration and you ran a wider line than the FC, so she was wider. If you can do the first BC and then decelerate into the 2nd one, right on the line of the wing – I bet it gets faster. And the FC can also use a bit of decel and getting right on the wing. #Obsessing LOL!
>>Jpg 3 –
Late BC – 4:96
FC to left (less late and tighter line because I was better at sending on the lala – 4:68I think the key here is not the FC or BC… it is how far away you can be and send to the backside. The further away you can get the send, the easier the FC and BC both become in terms of timing.
>>Question on the Instant Focus game in Games 3. I used a baseball cap as my prop for get-outs in MaxPup. Can I use that again if I would like the behavior to be a foot target or should I get a new prop?
Sure! I used a different one because I thought it would be a good challenge for me to start from scratch with something new.
T
Hi! Good start here, this will be a good behavior and good prop for this game!
If you don’t want him to pick it up and you just want him to touch it -you can hold it in your hand for longer (rather than put it on the ground) and click sooner, so you can isolate the nose and prevent him from picking it up. Also, changing the placement of reinforcement can help – have it either from your hand or toss it up high to him, so there is a response cost for picking it up (in terms of delay in being able to get the cookie).
But, for this game – any behavior that is happy-making and high value is perfect! So when you take it to new locations and he picks it up, reward anyway 🙂It looks like the behavior has a lot of value, so you can definitely start the next step where you take it on the road!
Keep me posted, great job here!
TracyHi!
That restaurant sounds good, I will definitely check it out!Looking at the course in sections:
I don’t think you needed deceleration in the opening, just one more step to commit to 2 then you can peel away. You were peeling away too soon so he came off the line: let him land then send him with connection to his eyes and a low arm (don’t point forward to the jump). The line up was not a bad place, necessarily (except at 2:38), I think the first couple of off course DWs was a frustration behavior – even though he got rewarded for the openings, he still has a sense that something went wrong and I don’t think he is a fan of the start and stops in training (even with rewards). You were definitely clearer with the send at 1:05 – clear movement and you did it when he landed from 1.
He definitely had some trouble with the backside at 4 – part of it is getting him to default to taking the jump as you run past, so you can work it by tossing the toy behind you as he gets to the backside (rather then cuing him to take it then rewarding). We want to toss the toy really early – it is partially a reward for going to the backside, and partially a way to create taking the jump as a default behavior as you leave so you don’t have to stay there to cue it (like at 1:37, 1:55, 2:38). He might have had a harder time here because it was right in front of the street (pretty big distractions) and/or because it was a right turn. He did not have trouble later in the course when he was doing the backside before the DW, when it was turning left, turning away from the street, and also going towards the DW which is really high value.
>> I felt like I was stopping to reward there appropriately before moving on.>>
Yes, but it was a stopping reward – which he might not find all that reinforcing. I think he much prefers moving rewards and a lot less start-and-stop in training.
>>I had one lapse in judgment by screaming yes because he got that freaking right turn out of the tunnel and I lost my mind with excitement. I’m in the 12 step #justthefacts program and the first step is admitting I have a problem>>
Haha yes, I am in that same program – I think I am on step 3 which means I have given it to my higher power and also which is the step where I take inventory of all my faults? Step 4? I am working that one too LOL!
>> When he actually does the skills I’ve trained it makes me so excited. (Why I don’t know because it’s not like I haven’t invested the time and am asking him to do things he doesn’t know>>
Well, we get excited because it is exciting 🙂 So nwo we all need some human self-control so that we don’t screw up the next section of the course by yelling “YES!” lol
When sending to the tunnels: The better you connect directly to him, the better he commits: At 1:41 you were using the verbals but didn’t really have connection, so he didn’t take it. Compare it to 1:59 and 2:43 when you had connection AND verbals and he was perfect 🙂 The same goes for the straight tunnel later in the course at 3:59 – more connection will totally help! And, in that situation, give your ‘go tunnel’ cues while he is in the previous tunnel – you were calling his name there and then said tunnel, but the name cues him to look at you and we want him looking at the tunnel.
Nice job with the the RC at 2:03! It would be a BC there when you have more time thanks to weaves instead of a straight tunnel 🙂
He did well on the RC and you threw the toy… and he checked out because he has a limited threshold for the stop and go in training, unless you are running with the reward (2:06). So while nothing was necessarily going ‘wrong’, he seems to find the stop-and-go with a tossed toy to be generally not fun. That is good to know! So…. keep going rather than stop. And if you want to reward – keep running and let him chase you, as if the course is finished.Yes, he was striding high on the RDW… when you put the RDW in course work, we want to rehearse correct behavior. So I use all of my props, not just the mat (Hot Sauce has the mat but also a flyball jump and the MM to help her when I am running courses). Then you can fade it in the full course work – but you won’t want to rehearse the high striding because it will become harder to recover the good striding. And we don’t want to tell him he is wrong… so we use the aids.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
Nice work on this one, glad you got it in even with life and crazy weather getting in the way (you have had some CRAZY weather in your area!!)
Great job here, especially with it being your only run – really strong!! I looked at the spots where she was checking in, and it was mainly happening on the exits of contacts & weaves, more ideas o that below (the jump & tunnel lines didn’t appear to have any checking in, yay!)
On the video:
It looks like you cued 4 as a front side – it should be a backside if you get a chance to run it again – it is a little harder that way 🙂
She drove right to the end of the teeter but checked in before the weaves. In general, try to gve your ‘what’s next’ cues either before she exits the contacts/weaves, or as the release off the teeter. I couldn’t hear if there was a release verbal on the teeter or if she is a hit-and-go dog – if there is a release, use your weave or go cue as the release to get rid of the check in. If she is a hit-and-go dog, then give your weave cue as she is arriving at the top of the board (she should still ride it down – no leaping off allowed even though you have given her the next cue – that is similar to RDW training, where we give the next cue but still expect them to maintain criteria).Hooray for the BC 7-8 at :19, great independent weaves!! Super!!! She had the tiniest hesitation after the weave exit… you can start your tunnel verbal when she is at about pole 10 so she can drive right out to it after pole 12 🙂
She looked at you coming off the a-frame – part of it was your position, closer to the DW and not really on the line to the tunnel, so to help smooth out her question you can drive in more across the a-frame contact and accelerate to the tunnel. Also, for verbals – start your a-frame exit verbal when she is at the apex of the frame – you can tell her to go tunnel (or ‘out’ tunnel, if she has a turn away cue for that line because it is not really straight). You were a little quiet and late, so when you are quiet, she looks for you (which is generally a good thing).
At :32, after the #13 weaves – you can try to send to the backside from further away to get more ahead of the RDW for the line to the tunnel #16. That will help smooth out her question/check in after the dog walk. But, more importantly, say go more than once and say it LOUD (don’t be gentle with it LOL!) – you said it once time kinda quietly as she got on the top ramp of the DW on the first rep and then didn’t say it again til she was off the board and looked at you. I think saying it loudly and several times will really help her get it right away. For example, at :58 you said it 3 times and she did well! And really smart dog training to also work on the turn cue for the other side of the tunnel – she did great!!
And nice ending line too after the tunnel – really well done!
Great job here! Let me know what you think! She is SO FUN to watch and you are doing a great job with her.
TracyHi!
This is a really good game for him to help smooth the transition to new environments and set him up for success.
Good shaping session with the foot pod in the house – don’t be toooooo picky on this behavior for this game. You were trying to get just one foot and not have him roll it, which is great for using the paw pod for fitness but for instant focus, we are happy with any simple interaction. That is why we want a pretty meaningless prop, so you won’t care at all what he does with it LOL!The first moment outdoors shows us why we play this silly game 🙂 You can reward that very first movement towards it, when he made the initial interaction – true, it was not even close to what he was doing in the house but it was interaction, so….. we reward it. I generally lower my expectation by about 50% when I am in a new environment for this game. When he didn’t get rewarded, he tried to leave (stress behavior) so that is insightful! When doing instant focus in new places, you can have a lowered criteria expectation for now, so the rate of success stays high (I place the reward to help the accuracy but also reward just about any interaction). If the rate of success stays high, he will be a more relaxed dude in new places – but if he fails, he might stress a bit. So at first the lowered criteria expectation (any interaction) will set up the success and then over time, you can build it up to higher expectations. For me, it is like behaviors in the ring we ask for at the beginning of their trial careers (short stay on the start line, jumps, tunnels) versus what we ask for as they get more comfy in new environments (long lead outs, weave entries, contacts, etc).
Nice work here! Let me know what you think! And try to take this on the road as much as you can 🙂
Tracy
