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Hi!
I feel the pain of the heat and humidity! Anything done in the morning needs to be done at 6am here!
On the video – this looks great! Perfect position! It is so hard to stand still LOL! She did a great job of coming in and going to the lotus (you can totally still give her the ‘get it’ cue as long as you stay frozen like that for now :))>>Her last set cracked me up. I put her in a spot where she had to pass by the lotus on her way to the wing. Look at the careful avoidance she gave it!>>
That was *hysterical* !!!!! She is so dramatic LOL!!! But, good girlie, she got it right! Yay!
>>Anything else you’d like to do with this now, or are we headed for motion soon?
Motion is coming soon – but first, do a session or two where you show her the difference between the serp position and the threadle position (and associated verbals) – all in the same session, alternating. You can see the demo in the Advanced level of the game video. If she does well with that, we will add motion. Yay! Great job!
TracyHi!
>>Barrels
I’m pleased with the distance and sends I have with her, since I’ll need that down the road. You are suggesting that I send less and run more – is this so she sees more different types of motion and speed from me? >>Yes – sometimes do the sends, sometimes run in and out of the turns. We will teach her all the options, she is like a sponge and soaks it all up 🙂
>>Also, you suggested I exit forward which will cause her to speed up the chase. This is what I was doing with the reward on the wing side – to increase her speed and tightness on wraps. I can certainly do that around the barrel, too. Both with a reward and with my own running.>>
Yes, perfect! Stay nice and close to the barrel so you set a really tight line.
>>Yes, she almost stuck her nose up in the air over the MM.
She almost looked offended that we would even suggest such a thing. LOL!
>>I, too, loved the moment when the thought processes kicked in and she said, “so this is what you want!” Those a-ha moments are the best!>>
Agreed!! So fun to see her light up!
T
Hi again!
Another training opportunity at a trial, that is so awesome!! He did really well, both with the games and with the environment. Lap turns look fabulous! We will do a concept transfer on those soon.Are the tandems feeling more comfortable? They look really good! Just remember to keep moving as you walk forward – you were doing a really good job of turning him away and then turning your feet, it looks great!! You commented right at the end that it felt better, so hopefully it felt comfy. You can try adding in the prop to these now! Great job!!
Tracy
Hi there!! This also looks great! Baby dog is doing really well 🙂
One tiny slightly obsessive detail 🙂 – when you do the arm motion as part of the send, you can use the arm as a gentle cue forward, but then kind of let it relax and not follow his line. when you were following his line with the hand, it was turning your chest more than needed, which delays your exit a little bit because you have to unwind your rotation before you can leave for the FC. If you relax and lower the arm as he starts to move, you can turn your chest the new direction even sooner which translates to leaving even sooner 🙂 The chest turning to follow his line is causing you to step back and then do the FC – one extra step that you won’t have time for when he is in full on speed demon mode as an adult LOL! If you don’t follow his line with your arm/shoulders, you will be able to turn and move away more immediately.
No worries about the oopsie at the end, he had a TON of good reps and many that were similar. He is doing great! You can start a little further away so you can leave for the FC as he is arriving at the barrel and then before he gets to it 🙂 He is also looking ready for the rocking horse game!!Great job!
TracyHi! He is doing really well with this too! His targeting looks great and that really helps establish the behavior. Yay!
As with the serps, you can stop feeding at the hand target – only rewards are in the bowl, so he can get the rhythm of the in-then-out to build the default.
And I see you are pre-planting the cookie in the bowl (did I miss that on the serp video? Maybe – he is cute, it is distracting :)) so now you can just send him to the cookie with your verbal cue (I think you said ‘eat it’) but not physical cue to help develop the default commitment to the bar without any arm or shoulder motion. That is the hardest part – keeping your upper body frozen, no pointing 🙂
He did an AWESOME job of threadling even when he started *right next to* the cookie bowl!!!! I am impressed!Well done!!
TracyHi! You’ll be fine, don’t worry about screwing up the signals – that is why we do all of this on a random prop 🙂 It allows us to figure out the exact mechanics before transferring it all over to the real equipment. You always maintain a high rate of success, so she is happy to let you figure out your signals. You’re doing a great job with her!
TracyHi!
This is going really well! The bowl is a good target for him – exciting but not mind-blowing. I love how he is setting himself up for the turn here!!
You can play and do tricks on the way back to the set up, and give set up cookies too.
We can move to the next step, where we fade out the actual touch of the hand – as he is coming in towards the hand to touch it, cue him to get the cookie in the bowl – don’t feed the hand touch anymore 🙂 The easiest thing to do is have a cookie already in the bowl, so you can keep your upper body completely stationary and just use a verbal get it. This is the gateway step to adding motion!
Great job 🙂
THi!
>>Wing Wraps
I’m not sure if he doesn’t like the toy as much as food or if i’m asking for too much too soon and break the sessions up.>>Overall, he is doing really nicely! Bear in mind that he is only 5 months old 🙂 You might be pushing things too quickly sometimes, and sometimes the toy just needs to squiggle around a little more 🙂 But, mainly, any struggles had to do with connection:
On the first session: nice job using a noise and not saying go!
Add more connection on your send and after the FC. On the reps where he went beautifully, you were looking at his eyes. On the sends or exits of the wraps where he had a question, you were looking ahead too much or too soon. For example, at 1:40 and 2:19 it is a great angle – as you exit the wrap, we can’t see your eyes so he reads it as a blind and goes on the other side. Then the send after it wasn’t as clear (high arm blocking the eyes) – he gets a little grabby at your hands or toys when he is frustrated, so take that as a sign that he can’t see your connection 🙂
So keep arms nice and low, your hand should hang our near your knee, and make lots of eye contact for now 🙂2nd session – good start with your rewards!! On the ‘wrong way’ where he curled in to the inside of the barrel, that was because the connection moved forward rather than to his eyes. So if that happens, reward a trick and connect more on the next rep. I suggest rewarding a trick or something when the barrel wrap isn’t perfect because 99.99% of the time, it is something we humans are doing wrong and rewarding a trick keeps the success level high while allowing you to reset and try another rep – if he doesn’t get rewarded, he loses a bit of the excitement especially outside in the heat (relatable, it has been HOT out!) So at 1:33, when he was a little stuck (you were sending with an arm and leg but not a lot of connection), you can call him back, do a spin or something, give a cookie, then reset with more connection.
He definitely likes the connection!! And his wraps are SUPER when you are connected, so keep reminding yourself to look at his eyes.
Threadles are looking really good, he is totally getting the in-then-out chain idea!!!! Only one suggestion on these sessions: join Team Chill and don’t move as he is doing it – stay totally still til he gets to the MM. You were moving your shoulders as he was passing you and walking forward. It is not a problem on this one jump, but it will dilute the independence when we add motion to this 🙂 Otherwise, this looks great and he is really getting good at it!! Actually one more little suggestion: on the outdoor video, you were a little too far from the jump at the beginning, stay about half of an arm’s length away from it.
You can move to the next step if you promise to be on Team Chill: fade the hand target element and let him swoop in then out without touching the hand 🙂Get Out:
>> then we got some “Get Out”. When I went back and reveiwed the video, I used the wrong arm. Ugh, poor dog. We will have a better session next time.Oopsie!!! That is another reason why I recommend rewarding a lot of tricks in between if things are going wrong… I totally feel the pain of looking back at the video and realizing I was doing it wrong LOL!!
On the indoor video: this is looking really good!!! One suggestion to make it a little easier – start him behind you (stay or cookie toss) instead of moving up the line next to you – that way you can set your line and cue without turning your feet towards the prop. Also, makes it easier to do the balance reps when you are ahead (he will anticipate the get out less). One other suggestion is to keep your arm below boob-level, more towards you hip, and less above boob-level (not near your shoulder) – it will be easier for him to see and it will be easier to run fast when you do this cue 🙂>>Getting training done outside is so tricky right now. The grass is so wet and then it gets so hot. I know different environments is important but dang, come on mother nature.
Yeah…. truth!!! No rush though, he is looking terrific so you can squeeze in tiny bits wherever you can.
>>What do you use in your MM? My kibble keeps getting stuck and it really disrupts our training sessions. For your viewing pleasure and for a good laugh an impromptu It’s Your Choice Session.
Ha!!! I hate when the MM jams yet I am too cheap to buy a Pet Tutor. I use kibble and Zukes.
>>>Also, we used a little laytex pig for our toy retrieval session the other day. so cute and funny. I’ll video another session and share.
Awwww yay!!! Can’t wait!
Great job here 🙂Tracy
Hi!
This was actually a good choice of music for turn and burn – dramatic, tension, excitement…. LOL!!
He did really well here, especially considering it is a new item to go around!!! A little less arm motion will help – for example, at :24 amd :29, you had a small arm motion and a LOT of eye contact – he sent really nicely and you left nice and early. (He might have tried to do a hand touch on the way to the barrel LOL!). At :49 you had a big arm cue and it blocked connection, so he had a question (looked up at you). So keep working the smaller & lower arm motion and maintaining the eye contact.Strike A Pose – this tune fits the session too – more relaxed LOL!
He did really well here coming in over the noodle. The toy on the ground was really hard at first but I am excited to see he worked it out! He is doing a great job of bending his body to make the turn, that is an important element of this game. Yay! My only suggestion is to remain perfectly stationary as you are cuing him to get the toy, try not to turn your shoulders forward to it at all (I am thinking ahead to the upper body cue for serpentines :)) Great job here! Keep adding the harder angles 🙂>>I went back to using the target in my hand, primarily because when I am using the toy, he comes at my target hand with an open mouth and lots of teeth. 👹 We are working on hand targeting with a closed mouth in separate training sessions, but now what I get is him smushing his nose up against my hand and his little front teeth biting my palm.>>
The target for this is fine, because now that the toy is on the ground, we can fade out the tooth hugs – oops, I mean the target hits. The advanced level is to have him come in and go out without actually touching your hand, just seeing it as part of the cue.
>>this after I finished filming, he moved on to music from Hamilton. 😂 The orchestra is playing a pops concert outdoors at the drive-in movie theater later this month.>>
OMG that sounds like a HOOT!!!!
>>When it is sunny, he only gets outside time in the yard on leash to potty so he can’t rehearse the compulsive behavior.
Smart!!
>> I have done a few very short training sessions in sunny conditions with varying degrees of success. In general, he will not work with me and can’t respond to well-known cues when he is fixated on the shadows.
Question: will he eat or tug in that moment? Will he eat or tug if you move him further from the shadows? There are games that can be done if he will eat in the vicinity!!
>> I am concerned enough that I have decided to call my vet.
Smart! Is the vet a behavior vet? There is a LOT of good behavior stuff out there nowadays!
>>Honestly, I am torn about putting him on behavior meds. He isn’t an anxious dog (in fact, he’s a happy-go-luck little guy) and this isn’t really interfering with his quality of life. But it is interfering with my training goals, so I feel as if I’m being selfish. Have you ever dealt with this with any of your dogs?>>
I have not dealt with this specific thing with my dogs, but it is pretty common. The meds would not be for anxiety, they would be for the compulsive behavior and work on the brain receptors differently to help. You are not being selfish – in fact, you are catching something and working on it *before* it really becomes an issue.
I have an agility student who dealt with something similar with her yougn agility dog (an Aussie) and she has a ton of great ideas. I can ask her if you like!
>>My main reason for bringing it up is that I’d love to be in my yard for the Tuesday night class since we need a bit more space, but if it is sunny at 5:30pm MT, he might not work for me. So I’ll play it by ear. I could always move downstairs to my basement. Right now, the forecast is for partly cloudy skies.>>
Play it by ear – we can always tweak the order so you can be outside when it is cloudy 🙂
>>I heard about the earthquake this morning. Did you feel it?
Nope, I miss all the excitement! Didn’t feel a thing LOL!
Tracy
Hi! She did a great job here (and her whippety tail is the CUTEST thing ever!!!)
Yes, she does want to offer her sits and downs at the beginning 🙂 If my memory is correct, she loves her toys and can go back and forth between toys and food – so at this stage you can warm her up with a bit of tugging near the mat, then send to it and click – after the click, you can toss food back towards you or past you (to help line her up again) or you can tug after the click. Adding the tugging will change the state of arousal just enough that she will be less likely to offer the sit or down as you get started. Plus, it raises the excitement level and challenges her to still ‘find’ the mat when she is more excited – I think she is ready for that 🙂
>> I think I screwed up with my signals a couple of times by not making them very clear.>>
It looks like sometimes your arm was a little high and it blocked your eyes, so she was looking up at you a little. You can use a lower arm and less turn-of-shoulder, trying to get a bit more eye contact – and that should feel smoother. Agility handling is weird that way – when we *add* eye contact to the dog, the dog looks at the handler *less*. They read the chest/shoulder direction, and a little more eye contact on the send cue can turn the chest/shoulders towards the prop to help the pup see the cue better. Let me know if that makes sense 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi!
Totally agree: The serps are looking really good! My only tweak is to use your no-target hand to drop the treat in the target without moving your shoulders – easier said than done LOL! That will help keep your shoulders frozen and not turning forward, more like what it will be when you are running.
Now, he seems to be fully figuring out the serpentine chain here, so you can also just go to the next step: let him come in towards you hand then back out to the dish: and *then* you can plop the treat in it. At this point, we are fading the actual touching of the hand so he is going slide in then out like he wanted to do at :29.
Also, do I remember correctly that he likes the ready treat? You can use that here too!
And I just need to point out how nice your ‘get it’ throws were – perfect accuracy to line him up, very impressive!!!!
Let me know if that makes sense – he is doing really well so we can move to the harder stuff 🙂Hi there!
>> Lennan had already had a small brain explosion earlier in the day as we visited an agility trial (where he was overwhelmed at first but then eventually relaxed) and also took a walk in a new urban location (where he behaved excellently).>>
Awww I am so glad you were able to take him to a trial! That is so helpful for young dogs. I am jealous! Yay Lennan for being such a good boy!
Smart to balance that with fast & fun and no heavy duty thinking 🙂
He definitely is finding the joy in the running between the jump uprights and he DEFINITELY loved chasing the frisbee thing! I think your throws were fine 🙂 And the toy choice is great because it is *highly* stimulating and he has to find the jump even when highly stimulated (an incredibly useful skill for young dogs!)Turn and burn looked great – you can tie that frisbee to the long toy so he can chase it without getting your hand (he seemed to like that toy the best 🙂 One thing about the toy – he is getting excited (which is a good thing) so you can tie the frisbee as a focal point. And when you present the toy, presenting it kind of draging on the ground like you did at 2:30 and 3:00 will help bring his eyes to the end of the toy and away from your fingers :))
Good job rewarding on the ready ready! And also really nice job leaving earlier and earlier on these wraps – at arund 4:10 you were starting to leave when he just one step part you – very challenging but he nailed it! Nice!! And it sounds like you have your verbals going too – excellent!
Great job here!!
Tracy
Hi there!
>>I only taped our run – forgot to hit the record button for the walk thru.
I feel that pain – I did the same thing yesterday with a demo video for puppy class. Did the whole demo… never hit play. OOPSIE hahha!
I loved your run! Excellent job going with the turn on 6 – there was a frozen heartbeat where he looked at you and you looked at him, and then you ran and he got back into it. Yay! That kind of stuff happens at trials (at least, it happens to me haha!) and being able to NOT freak out and just keep going is HUGE. You got right back in gear and had a beautiful run for the rest of it. That is also likely due to your preparation: you probably knew the rest of the course well enough that the little frozen moment didn’t distract you, and you let it go and go right to where you needed to be next. YES!!
You did a lovely job gauging your lines on the rest of it – ahead and working the lines, but not so far ahead that he had any struggles or lost focus. On the threadle at 6, if you push back in, be sure to plan pushing in towards the exit wing (towards the house on this view) so you don’t accidentally show a switch.
>>Watching video I felt my FC at #8 was late but I am trying to not rotate too early and end up waiting for him on those long stretches – that is when bars come down or he disengages.>>
It was maybe a stride late? Not terribly late, but he could have powered out faster after landing. I wonder if a blind could be better there because you can finish it sooner? Or, if he relies on your feet a lot on those turns, then the FC is better. That is something we can set up and do both, and compare!!
Great job here 🙂
Tracy
