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Hi! She did great with the minny pinny and also with the staying engaged even in the in-between moments! I love that she was standing there looking at you as you were getting ready for the next rep.
Any movement away from you was actually her trying to start the minny pinny LOL! She also had one question when you pointed then dropped your arm back… but she caught herself and continued around the wings. That is great!
And you made it a little harder on the last 2 reps by doing the FC when she got to the middle wing – she was perfect. Then you ended the session… click/treat for everyone! Super!I don’t think you were saying the left/roht verbals here, so you can totally add those. And you can start the FC even sooner: just before she arrives at the middle wing. Then if that goes well, start it just after she arrives at the first wing.
Great job!
TracyHi!
>I especially enjoyed when he reversed in order to tell me it was time to go the other direction. We hadn’t even tried that direction yet, he just knew!>
Right! That was hilarious!!! He was like “keep up if you can, human” LOL!!!
He also had a moment in the video below where he was like “look at me, leading with my head into the turn” at :54-ish when he started without you. Too funny! And the whole session went really well. The bumps were easy to add, so the next step is to add the verbal (holding him, say it 3 or 4 times, then let him go). And after a few reps, if he is still fine with it all – add in the FC and run (turn-and-burn style) because that will make it even more fun!
Backside circle wraps are going well! His commitment looks really good! When he was ahead of yo, he was nice and tight into the turn because he could lock onto the barrel (like at 1:07). When you wee ahead, he had to go wide to get around you – so you can tuck in to the inside of the barrel til he ias past you, so the turn can remain tight to the barrel.
You can add his backside wrap verbal here, and then add more motion in the form of you moving faster.
I agree, the threadle wraps are going well! The left side seemed easier but I also think you were closer to the barrel and decelerating a bit which totally helped – he he got the right turns nicely when you stayed closer and decelerated
You can move to the next level of the one where we add a barrel wrap before the threadle wrap – that will add a bit more motion too, so it is another place to decelerate and be near the barrel until he turns his head away and starts the wrap.
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
The morning session looked great – he turned really nicely on the tunnel exit when you cued him – great timing with the left verbal and the decel! He also drove straight nicely too – didn’t curl into you or consider the other jump that was off his line. Super! My only suggestion is that for the straight line exits, you can give a straight line verbal cue before he enters the tunnel (like “Go!” And keep saying it to support the line to the jump after it.
In the afternoon session, you had more physical cues on the left turn tunnel exit (brake arms and also a spin on the tunnel entry, along with decel) and that also helped get a nice turn! Just be careful to *not* use the spin (like at 1:51) when you want the straight line, because we don’t want to dilute it as a turn cue.
The first real question he had was when you were serping while also staying in motion at 2:11 (the previous serp rep worked but you stopped moving up the line). The motion was correct, so we need to figure out which cues help him (and also expose him to the possibility that yes, we might alternate between straight line and serping in this context).
I think this is where cues before the tunnel (go versus a strong name call or turn cue) will help a lot! Using your GO verbal and a post turn go the best results later in the session. Compare that to 2:37, for example – you did a spin on the tunnel entry and you were saying ‘over’ I believe – but the spin cues a turn and over could be either jump so he took the serp jump instead of the straight line.
The GO helped on the rep where he accidentally took you out! You can throw the toy on the go lines, for self-protection 😂 And it helped on the reps after that too 🙂
When you want the turn and you are moving on the parallel line – that first rep is the hardest if he had just gone straight. The motion looks basically the same (he had an easier time serping if you decelerated or pulled away, but you will want to be able to keep moving forward and serping) so the upper body and verbals are what need to be different. I think a STRONG name call/turn cue (even brake arms!) before he enters the tunnel will help. You can spin but I am not sure you will be able to get far enough up the line for the serp. But the strong cue will help a lot – you were using his name quietly towards the end of the session, but that was after he had already figured out that going straight was not the right answer 🙂 So to get it on the first rep, try a really strong name call/brake arms – and keep calling him as you serp the jump.
The blind worked great here! You were prioritizing the side change/new connection and that got it done every time (even the one rep that was a little close :)) He was able to really see the side change even with all the motion.
Great job here!!
Tracy
Yay! Those are big steps forward! I like that they are beginning to coexist peacefully 🙂 Bringing a puppy into the house can certainly be challenging but it is super fun when everyone settles in 🙂
T
Hi! This was a great session to help us figure out how to help him regulate his arousal. Arousal is unavoidable in dog sports and it is actually helpful… so we need to work it out at this stage.
>ust so you know, I have been doing the toy game you gave me A LOT. It has helped, but as today shows, it has not yet resolved the issue . . . >
That game is super structured and ask a very specific question without a ton of arousal. The volume dial game is all about ‘messy’ arousal and we got some good answers here!
But OUCH about the chomp first aid!!!! You can always leave profanity in, I would not be offended and I might have dropped an F bomb when it happened on the video.
>but I still love him, lol.>
Of course! The arousal is what is going to make him an absolutely fantastic sport dog!! And he is very lovable. And we will get a handle on the arousal for sure.
A couple of ideas for you:
– since this game is all about teaching his body to self-regulate arousal, you can definitely add in food whenever the toy is in use. A little bit of tugging then food rewards, especially when you ask for him to give the tug back. It can be something like 75% food, 25% tug for now.
– you an incorporate decompression right into this game: arousal with the toy/food volume dial game, then a snuffle mat, then arousal with toy/food, t hen a snuffle mat. It really helps balance the physiology. Here is my ‘chompiest’ dog doing it (only a toy here but I also use a ton of food with him):
About the toy: when you are working with the toy, I think he needs to know where it is so he actually thinks about it *less*. When you had it behind your back, he was thinking about it a lot! Looking there a bit, not ale to process cues as well, etc. So you can put the toy someplace where knows where it is and can see it. Normally I would say something like just keep it in your hand in front of you or stick it in an armpit… but I worry that he might chomp for it so for now, just put it on up a table nearby. He can see it and if he feels the need to grab it, your flesh is not in danger.
And when you do present it to him to grab, deliver it lower so it is more at your knee level and less up by your chest, or you can dangle it out to the side. That will require a little more impulse control for him to let you get it there before you tell him to have it (but that is a good thing!) – but it will also reduce the grabbing in areas where it really hurts if he misses the toy and gets you instead.
Let me know how he does with the food being the bulk of the reward and the toy just being a small part of it.
Nice work here!
Tracy
Hi!
>So, I’ll have to do more in and out. Unfortunately, she can’t really be loose in the kitchen as she constantly steals items off the table or jumps up onto the counter tops, chews the cabinets or chairs etc>
Yes, more in and out but also supervised hanging out in the house goes a long way. The snuffle mat for a few minutes is good, and then she can be hooked to you or hanging out on a mat while you move around and do stuff in the room for a few more minutes. That will also help her settle in to being loose in the house.
> She hasn’t earned many free privileges yet.>
I don’t think puppies earn it 😂 I think it is a whole lot of supervision and cookies for being in chill on a mat 🙂 or playing with a toy.
>We tried rocking horse 2 in the house due to rain and wet grass outdoors. The good news is she’s better able to function in the living room. Yay! I’m still struggling with getting her to send. So, the BC is too late as I’m literally in top of the cone to get her to commit.>
Her commitment skills have really blossomed! So cool!!!! For the sends, the less you use your arm to point forward, the better she sends. When you were pointing ahead to try to send her, she always stopped and looked up. So try to keep your arm back and look at her more as you step to the cone, rather than swing your arm forward. That will keep the connection even more visible!
The other thing which will make it easier to get the blind is using a bigger object to go around. The cone is small so once she starts to wrap, she is basically finished with the wrap in a heartbeat. Yo can revisit a bigger barrel for her to go around, which will give you more time to get the BC in more comfortably.
Nice work here!
Tracy
Hi!
>The bar was locked into the jump cup- yikes!>
She is a powerful girlie!!!
Thanks for the threadle wrap link!! She is doing really well when you started next to the barrel: once she has turned away, she is fantastic about finishing the wrap. Yay! I think what was happening with the motion when you were both moving forward was that there was too much countermotion: if you were moving steadily past the barrel and wanting her to turn away, there was a cue conflict so she was not sure where to be (especially when she needed to turn right and you were still moving). But when you decelerated a bit by the barrel: she nailed it (like at :10, and also at :58).
So you can be moving up the line – but when you get next to the barrel, decel and hold your position: then when she begins to wrap away, you can move forward again. Decel is actually a big part of the cue even at the highest levels so it is fine to use it here 🙂
Great job!
Tracy
Hi!
I am a firm believer in the 2 mistake rule, but it appears that i cannot count. >>
Ha! Same here. And it is always easier to see these things by watching the video than it is to feel/see them in the moment.
>I was having a very negative nancy day because it had been a hard week, and I had a bad night’s sleep due to all the adult beverages, and other things too numerous to enumerate.>
Oh no! Hoping you got some good sleep now!
>(I had braces, I would never wish those on a dog)>
SAME!!! But people here do it, so I am glad to hear Barry will not need it 🙂
>I hope UKI is going/went ok. I’m always available to help course build/ring crew…. just the minor matter of distance, and I’m not sure I’d be allowed through your border as an official Union delegate.>
Just a small distance! We begin tomorrow morning at 5:30am. Sigh. And I am not sure you would want to come to this crazy country when you live in beautiful New Zealand!!
>I apologise, put your sunnies on before viewing… the legs are out again.>
Mine are even worse LOL!
This session went great! Lots of movement, lots of reward, and lots of success even with weird distractions (like the rando guy behind the camera). I think that was playing into why he went *next* to the tunnel a couple of times rather than through it – nice adjustment to change sides and then he was successful.
>We managed to move the skill on too, even with all the distractions, we managed to reduce the lure.>Yes, that was great! It was so funny when the toy was on top of the tunnel – he was like WHERE DID IT GO haha
You can play with more of the threadles/double whammy and even start to curve the tunnel a bit.
Great job!
TracyHi!
He totally thought the Minny Pinny was the easiest thing ever. Yay! He was SO FUNNY starting without you when you were trying to reload the cookies LOL!! Ok, since it was so easy… onwards to little bumps on each wing for him to go over, and then adding the verbals you want to use for your soft left/right turns.
On the rocking horse video: I am glad he is not having the ICK about tugging in the dirt anymore!
>He was jumping at me rather a lot on transitions though. >
Th jumping up happened when your hand was blocking his view of your connection. Behavior is communication 😂 so he was communicating that he couldn’t see the connection by ‘tagging’ the arm that was blocking it. If you play those reps in slow motion, you can see that your hand was down at your side when he exited the barrel then moved forward ahead of him – that closed your shoulders to the line and he couldn’t see connection, so he told you about it.
In the spots where you did not block connection – like at :13 and 1:17 – he had no question and zipped directly to the barrel. So to get more of that, you can keep your hand all the way back to his nose as he exits the barrel, and make a big eye contact – and leave your hand back at his nose as you step to the barrel.
And, since we humans are not always perfect with connection, you can throw some of the rewards out past the barrel so there is a lot of value for going to it, even when the hand position is not perfect 🙂
He did great with the recalls! It was a good way to get him liking the dragging cookie ball because the excitement overcame any potential grit ick 🙂 He really was great about running back to his auntie/holder! You can mix up the game a bit by sometimes running around her in a circle then taking off for the recall – that makes things very exciting!!!
The pattern game was a really good choice when the other person came in – it helped him reset and finish with a great recall!
Nice work here 🙂
TracyHi!
She was totally bringing the toy to you!!! This is great! You didn’t really have to do much to get the toy besides reach for it, so it counts as binging it to you (and no sprinting past you LOL!!). It was very cute how she had to shake it dead first then bring it 🙂 Do you think you have enough room to do the reverse retrieve in the house? She will love those.
The perch work is also going well! I think she did best on the rep at :15ish – you tossed the treat to the side, then she got back on and pivoted to face you, and you rewarded with her head slightly turned to get even more steps! The other reps were too good (with you moving towards her) that rep at approximately:15 was the best one in terms of her using her hind end without you needing to also move.
>This block is double the length of the original one but I think I still need a larger and square perch – looking for a 6x6x2 block.>
Yes – I think the height ia perfect! But square is probably best.
>Definitely see the adolescent brain/behaviors kicking in. She seems to have the “you can’t make me” attitude… I have to work more at getting her engaged, but once she’s into it she’s all in.>
I often wonder if adolescence in puppies is starting earlier, in the same way (for the same reasons) that adolescence in humans is starting earlier? We would usually have a little more time with her and her cohorts, but we are for sure seeing adolescent behavior. I think the ‘you can’t make me’ that you are seeing is the adolescent brain thing of processing delays and also the part of the brain that is wanting to take risks (and the good decision making part of the brain is not really developed yet LOL!). Think of it as a brain struggle more than anything else – she is really a good girlie so any independence or delayed responses are just her brain doing its teenage brain thing 🙂
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
>Unfortunately I was practising running without my treat pouch at the time she came out of the tunnel and got the surprise in that course… wish I could have rewarded when she came back!!>
Ah! Bummer! You can also use your remote reinforcement word there (like “let’s go!”) and run out to get the treats!
I am excited to hear she is doing well with Find My Face! It is a useful game!
She did really well with the tunnel threadles!! I bet you can use you ‘here’ verbal to mean tunnel, so you don’t have to say here-tunnel. Just say ‘here’ and drive to the tunnel entry you want, so she turns herself away to it.
And she had no questions when you cued the left and NOT the tunnel – SUPER!!! Her last reps were GREAT – responding to all the different cues with heavy machinery beeping in the background. You were a little late with the tunnel threadle cue at the end but she saved you and got it (extra cookies for Grace!)
She only had one little question and it was when she didn’t take the jump at :33. I think you were a little further away and disconnected – it was not problem when you were further away AND connected. Lovely!!
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
>Probably wrong use on the softer wing—it’s always tricky for me to decide when I have tight wrap, softer turn and one that can just be an over.>
You can make the decision based on how much collection you want: BIG collection to right back around the wing? Wrap verbal. Medium collection to set a good turn but not wrap the wing? Soft turn verbal. I think these were more about the soft turns on the jump (and wraps on the wing).
> this was a cue on 2 for collection to set up the threadle—I wish I could take credit for figuring it out myself but picked up from a couple different unrelated instructions and it’s proved very logical and useful for me.>
Yes – threadles always go better if we use a turn cue to set up the line we want!! The turn cue fits the context but I definitely agree with the philosophy of using a turn cue before the threadle.
>It may not have been apparent, but the reason I reworked Challenge 4 / Sequence 4 at home was exactly for the reason you mention—not continuing with the forward motion and open approach. I got only minimal improvement on correcting all that extra help. That is absolutely a priority for me to fix. I can’t afford to hold back and help there.>
Aha! You can try it at a steady walk the whole time – that way you can get accuracy and stay in motion. And if he is fine with you walking? Then you can go to jogging… eventually working up to running as long as your feet are forward and there is no decel or rotation 🙂
>I honestly was surprised I did that—it just happened in the moment. I’m still puzzled what possessed me at the moment unless I saw something that I can’t see in the video or zoned out.>
It was probably a weight shift thing: as you cued the jump, your brain knew you wanted to drive away so you pushed off into the rotation.
>Thanks so much and safe travels. Asssume you are Open-bound.>
Thanks! Yes, Open-bound where I lead the crew that builds ALL the courses in all the rings. I am only running the dogs a little so I can recover for all the 5am course builds LOL!!!
Tracy
Hi!
Threadle wraps are going really well! They were at their best when you started him from the sit at the beginning, super tight!
On the left turn threadle wraps – When you add motion, be sure to decelerate at the barrel until he turns his head away then you can
When he was having trouble getting the right turn threads wraps, check out your feet – they were pointing to the other side of the barrel. But when you pointed them straight, he got it. Yay!
When you wanted the right turn TWs with motion: he gave us good insight into how early he makes his decisions! If you did not have the cue going when he finished eating the start cookie, he went to the normal wrap side. So having the cues started just after you throw the start cookie (or start him from a stay) will help deliver the info sooner.
When you added it to the rocking horse game: he did better turning to his left but he also did well getting it to the right after a few reps! Super!
When you were cueing the threadle to take him off the natural line (starting at 5:31) he needed to see more shoulder rotation to pull hm away from the line (turning to your right when he was on your left). When you didn’t do that, you ended up pushing him to the non-threadle side. But when you did do it, he was able to get the threadle so be sure to really exaggerate that ‘pull’ off the line – that is what you did on the last 2 reps and he got it in both directions! Yay!
Great job!
Tracy
He did really well with his retrieves here! Good boy! He was s cute when he dropped it and then caught himself and went back to get it. It seemed like he wasn’t bring the toy all the way to your hand, so you can reward when he gets close enough (like you were doing here) or even when he gets close, whip out another toy to tug on – that can really get him bringing it as close as possible.
One thing you can add to this game is to have him sitting facing you, while you dangle the toy. Then 3 things happen at the same time: release him (with a get it), drop the toy or throw it behind you, and you run forward towards where he was sitting before he passes you to the toy. You were starting to do this at the end of the session and he did great, is yo can ramp it up with even more countermotion.
Great job!
Tracy
Hi!
>When you say mix in praise. I had stopped praising him as I was leading out upon your advice. >
Yes – that was because he didn’t need praise the whole time because we didn’t want him to think of it as an additional stay cue.
>Do you mean when I lead out and stop and connect, I should praise
first and then say catch or break? >yes, sometimes: lead out, stop, connect, lift your hand…. then 3 options are available: praise then release, or just release, or throw the toy back. We will add a 4th option soon where we ask him to focus on the first jump.
>Or do I stop, praise and move again and then catch or break?
That might confuse him and cause him to break – if I lead out, stop, praise, then decide I need to move again (sometimes I am in the wrong place haha) then I will cue a stay again before moving so the dog doesn’t wonder what the heck I am doing.
>Also, I feel like I’m walking out so slowly that I might be lending to the anticipation? Should I walk more normal speed? I’m trying not to increase excitement with my motion.>
You can totally be more normal – but as you add more speed, do shorter stays so he can be successful. Our goal is that you can eventually run to your lead out position.
>And if he breaks, how should I address that. It’s bound to happen.>
The very instant he moves too soon (before the release), tell him he is very cute (truth), it was a nice try (truth) but you aren’t going to reward that (all truth). Then go back and reset – all of it is very cheerful but absolutely not cookies or toys or running the sequence. Then if you think the stay was to hard? Make it a shade easier for the next rep. Or if you think it was not toooooo hard? Try it again – but if he fails again (2 failure rule) then you definitely want to make it easier.
Let me know what you think!
Tracy
