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Good morning!
Yay! It is great that you are working the skills, and I see that she is really beginning to drive in to you AND think about the next line – for example at :13, she looked ready to take the backside jump correctly (and then you rewarded her for driving to the backside)
Great job adding the blind at :21! Nailed it! At :34 you were just a little too far away from the jump and a little late on the blind, She thought about saving you but wasn’t sure – so in that moment, you can re-cue the jump then reward her, to help build the “thank you in advance for saving me” understanding 🙂
The next rep had 2 of the backside blinds and both went well! And the backside blind on the last rep also looked great – you are more comfortable with it and she is beginning to anticipate that the cue to take the jump is coming. Yay!! Great job training it! My only suggestion now if that you can move the timing up for the blind by one stride: on these, you were waiting until she arrived at the backside wing (passing the edge of the wing) then starting the blind. Now that she understands it so much more, you can move the timing to one stride early – when she is almost at the backside wing, almost arriving at the edge of the wing but not passing it yet. I think she is ready for it!
Great job! And yes, onwards to the next set of CAMP games 🙂Tracy
Hi!
>The loud go go at the tunnel was actually mo mo (tight turn) need to remember to tone it down a bit
Ah! I think it needs to be more than toned down, I you can alter it a little to have a better response: it is too easy to yell the O vowel (MO MO MO GO GO GO) so it all ends up sounding the same. Perhaps alter it to muh muh muh – which is MUCH harder to yell when running, it is naturally quieter and also sounds very different from Go. (Yes, I do run around yelling verbals to test them out, ask the neighbors :))
>>The double blind is a weakness of ours. I need to figure out how to train it. Ideas ?
Fortunately, the double blind doesn’t take much training – it is one of those “natural” handling cues that dogs read if we get it right. So it is a matter of getting us humans to be more comfy…. I think that most folks in this class are NOT comfy with them so I am posting a skill set for them later today 🙂 It is all about timing & connection. You can see a bit of about it on the skill set from 2 weeks ago with the backside blind to blind.
>>Starting the blind while she is in the tunnel is the same thing you told me to do last week, I didnt remeber.
That is a good thing to add to your walk through – reminders about when/where to start the cues relative to tunnels.
>> Is it a pretty safe rule to turn your head and start the blind when the dog is in the tunnel ?
Nope – it is specific to the sequence. If the dog is in a tunnel and my motion & new connection on the exit of the blind will support the next jump, then I can start it early (while the dog is tunneling). If the dog is in the tunnel and I start the blind early and my motion/new connection will pull the dog off the line, then I need to wait until the tunnel exit so the dog can see the commitment cue to the jump after the tunnel. Stay tuned for a skill set about it today too 🙂
>>Remember the days when you waited until the dog was one stride before the jump before you gave the next cue ?
Oh heck yes, the poor dogs LOL!!! Or when we would “wait to see commitment” and then start? Oy, so very late. We are getting better. Habits are hard to break indeed!!
T
Hi!
These went really really well, so I am going to bug you about the tiny details where we can get more trust and more speed. One thing I have seen with Ivan is that he has pretty fabulous skills – so now I am going to bug you to trust those skills and challenge him by leaving sooner (even disconnecting to run run run in certain spots) so he can maintain the high speed across the sequence. When you stick around for too long, he slows himself down to wait. He is very polite LOL!!!I didn’t see any issues with the higher bars at all, he did well!!!
On the video:
The opening line of the first 2 sequences: 1-2-3 looks fabulous, he really drive to the tunnel. You had a slight hesitation as he was exiting the tunnel at :08 and :33 and :53 and 1:19, moving in a bit too far to the tunnel exit, so he collected more than needed at 4. If you were going to the tunnel exit to avoid getting too far ahead for 5 (which TOTALLY makes sense), you can tweak that to go deeper to the tunnel entry and then accelerate away, so he doesn’t see any deceleration as he exits the tunnel.
You had more acceleration on that line 3-4 at 1:43, so he extended more too.His send to the 6 backside was great at :12 – perfect verbal, perfect connection, he appeared to completely understand what to do. So, at that point, as he is heading for the backside: disconnect and run into the gap to 7 and do the blind to reconnect on your right. At :13, you were too helpful LOL! What I mean by that is you used a come verbal and turned your feet towards him as he was taking off and stayed near the exit wing, so he didn’t see the blind until after he landed and exited the wing at :14. He had to slow down to let you clear the line. You were less helpful (in a good way) at :38 and :59 by cuing the around and then running through it more – and he did a great job committing! That allowed him to see the line much sooner and have more speed to 7. You still had your opposite arm come up and that delayed your blind (especially at :59 and 1:48) – I bet he does not need th opposite arm to support commitment there at all. At 1:23 and 2:18 you didn’t really use the opposite arm there, you just opened up your shoulder so you got around the wing even faster. I think he doesn’t even need that, and you can just disconnect and run.
Let’s find out if he truly understand the backside cue to mean “go to the backside AND take the jump” so cue it like you did and then leave and see what he does 🙂On the threadle at :18, you had the verbal going but rolled your shoulder away so I think he read it as a pull and flick and sent himself back out to the backside of 9. At :44, it was the same shoulder pull and his name, same result. But at 1:04 he had a better view of your threadle arm (more rotation of the upper body towards him) and also you pulled away from the line a bit, and he got it. Yay! He also read it nicely at 1:29 when you added the next section (next sequence).
The straight tunnel out there is actually on his line after hte threadle, so he was correct to get it (he took it on the previous rep, too), so you would need a wrap cue and probably an opposite arm to treat it like a discrimination. I see you moved it after that LOL! Darned tunnels hahaha!Without the tunnel in play on the line at 1:53, he read the exit of the threadle jump perfectly! Now, trust that serpentine jump even more: as he is approaching it, keep moving towards the tunnel. The connection is still important (it is not one of the disconnect and run moments) but you hesitated there to help pull him in and he doesn’t need it – it caused him to have to slow down and look up at you. You hesitated less at 2:25 but he still saw a little decel and a little pull away from the jump, so he lifted his head. On this serp jump, keep your chest open to the bar and your eyes on him, but stay ahead and run towards the tunnel line – it is another spot to challenge his skills. If he has a question about commitment, we can train it. But I think he will be happy to commitment independently there.
Seq 3 – Really nice! I can bug you about trusting him more for the tiny details on this one too 🙂
When he is committing to the #3 tunnel, you can drive away directly to the blind cross 4-5 to try to get it done no later than him exiting the tunnel. You were moving more at 2:35 so he was faster – but you were not past 4 early enough so the blind was late at 2:37 and 2:57 and he slowed down for a stride to let you clear the line.
The backside send looked lovely! And you moved through the serp at 2:41 more smoothly and he read it perfectly. You hesitated a bit and pulled away a little on the serp jump at 3:01 so he looked up at you and slowed down – you can totally just blast through it.Great camera angle on the around after the tunnel at 2:43: he exits looking at you for the around cue, which means he is ready for it a lot sooner. As he is entering the tunnel (6 feet before he gets in) you can start the around cue: say it before he enters then again before he exits and then one more time after he exits (or 2 or 3 more times :)) blanket the line with it so he hears it early and often – that way he can exit the tunnel and blast to the backside. The around cue was earlier at 3:05 so he had a better line to the backside (fewer questions).
Then, just like that #6 jump on the previous sequences: when he is heading to the backside, you can disconnect and run to the blind. You were watching/helping as he was jumping the bar, so he had to jockey in to the new line after he landed. On the very last rep, he dialed his speed back and waited a bit more, but we want him to blast as fast as he can 🙂
So – take the risk of trusting him more and handling the serps and backside slices less, so you can blast to the new spot – if he has an error, no worries we can train the commitment more if he needs it. Great job here, let me know what you think!
TracyHowdy!!! This is also on my current list of obsessing 🙂 And because of that, I have custom skills sets coming tomorrow for this exact thing. Because yes: we need the backside slice cue to be a compound cue meaning go to the backside and slice the jump. I have found that this level of understanding helps the jumping significantly, partially because the dog has the info sooner and partially because the handler is already on the next line (which also cues the jumping). Voodoo used to spend quality time hitting the wing with his shoulder on these but that has stopped now that I re-trained it as a default behavior. And I tortured my seminar attendees (I mean, trained the dogs haha) on this default behavior this past weekend and all of the jumping issues stopped.
I have NOT found any of the prop methods to help all that much (like shaping the jumping with a cone or whatever) because when the prop is not there the understanding is also not there.I do have a plyometric game I play to help the jumping – so strengthening is a bit piece of it too.
T
Hi!
>>yes Zing loves her straight lines to tunnels. She will adore the AKC novice course (except for the table, which will probably be a running table). It is on my list to be working jumping skills. I just moved her up to 18″ the day before this vid so she is still trying to get it all sorted out. I wanted to wait and work the jumping skills until she actually had to “jump”.>>
Ha! A running table!!!! Please teach it as an online class: Springboard To Table Success lol
>>We worked the threadles last night (kind of like your demo), but with a cone and bar. She totally cheats and doesn’t jump the bar LOL. But I worked them again this morning with a jump, but the bar low on the one side. I think this lowers the complexity of the task for her and her speed is much better. Once she got everything sorted out I put the bar low on the other side to get the tight exit wrap.>>>
Perfect!!!!
>>I will keep working Pinwheels, I love the wing wrap in the middle. That really helps.>>
Keep me posted!
>>Question for you. I looked through all the exercises and I would like to set up the Masters 3 course for Zing. I don’t expect to run it as a course, but I really like the setup. There are lots of skills for us to work and in a way that I can’t babysit. Do you mind if I skip to that?>>
Totally fine to grab that course and work it! You can do things in whichever order makes sense 🙂 I have some ‘default’ skills sets coming tomorrow too, meaning getting the dogs to take the jump on complex skills as part of the initial cue so you can depart for your next destination on course 🙂
T
Hi!
Do you mean changing your avatar? If so, I will copy the directions below. If not, let me know and we will figure it out 🙂>>you don’t know you need to train something until it doesn’t work like you think it should. >>
Wise words, indeed!!!
>> My dogs all know the backside slice, however, they don’t know how to slice while I am proceeding onward on the course. >>
That is a common struggle!! Lots of folks are seeing the same thing.
yes, you are correct about the progression in terms of getting you further up the line while tossing the reward back to the landing area. I would start it with the reward being there earlier (before the head turn) to help create the default behavior.
Because this has come up with many of the dogs this week, I have skills sets for it coming tomorrow!!!! I will post the entire progression 🙂 Stay tuned!
Tracy
Hi! Hope the weather is cooling off a bit, it is brutally hot here!
These disconnection skills are really good for her to play with – she has, in the past, wanted really perfect connection LOL!
On the GO lines – nice job! You were nicely disconnected and she didn’t seem bothered at all. Yay! You can actually disconnect even more, as in look totally ahead and don’t even turn your head, running as fast as you can 🙂On backside lines – I think these are less comfy for you, in terms of trusting and disconnecting: on the first rep, you were waaaay too connected LOL!!! You actually helped her over the bar 😁 You were better on t he next rep in terms of leaving with less help over. the bar and she was great. Keep working to NOT hang out at the bar and NOT use your hand to point to it on these backside serps: as soon as you see her heading to the entry wing, trust her to take the bar and just go go go get outta there 🙂
That goes the same for the rep at :49 – you had a lovely send to the backside and then at ;51, you stayed there and dropped your left arm in and pointed at the bar. She doesn’t need that, you can just leave for the next line at that point. That will allow you to pick up the connection on the exit line for the next jump.
On the next rep, yes the back cue was a little late but good job keeping her moving and getting the timing nicely on the next rep. You moved through the serp at 1:14 much more nicely, you didn’t point at the bar as much. You did still point at it a little and she ticked it with her toes. Same on the next rep – only a little tiny point at the bar LOL! But I will wager you a 6 pack of nice craft beer that she does not need the point. I bet she will take the bar with you moving through it and not pointing 🙂
Good job on the ending reps with the GO line from the tunnel… these were a little harder for her as you were more disconnected, she definitely gave you a “what the WHAT” look over the first jump after the tunnel LOL but she stayed on her line and you got to great position! Yay!
So as crazy as it sounds… keep working these disconnection games because it will help her not require you to be so perfect in connection.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! Glad you had a chance to catch up! Hopefully you are busy having fun and not working too hard 😁
Video 1:
On the first run, she was in ‘thoughtful youngster’ mode LOL! She was thinking about the lines and that was bleeding off a bit of speed – but I LIKE the thoughtfulness as a sign of things to come! It is better to think before speeding at things LOL! So, when she is being thoughtful on the bigger courses (especially in newer places) which means her commitment is a little stickier, you can over-help the lines by exaggerating the connection more. Sure, it is a fine balance: sometimes it is tooooo much but on this run, you can exaggerate the connection 1-2 and from the straight tunnel to the curved tunnel (she was checking in with you on both of those spots). It looks like she ended up on the wrong side of 4 but that was the line you were setting with your running line and also that was how the jumps were set, so it made sense to her.On the second run – she was more comfy and you were better connected so 1-2 was nice!!! You had more of a ‘here’ on 3 to get the correct side of 4 but then said GO! so she went 😁 The way the angle of the jump is set here, it is more of a threadle line than a normal FC line, which makes it a bit harder.
You kept a nice high rate of reward as you worked through it! Yay! On your wit wit wit cue at 1:25 wish, is that a bypass cue? If so, she was correct to bypass 4. If it is your threadle cue, then yes we can help her default to taking the jump at 4. She did get it there after a few passes, but I do have skills sets coming tomorrow to help with the default of taking the jump after being threadled in, so you don’t have to handle each part of it.
She got better and better on the 2 tunnels! She was a little commitment-sticky on the wrap at the end, so that is a place to over-help with more connection for longer to support the commitment, for now.Video 2 (last part of course 3):
The opening of the first run looked good! When she got to jump 4 after the witwitwit, you can cue the jump with your left arm back (:09) to get your shoulders pointed more towards it. She was heading to it until you pointed forward to it with your left arm, which actually rotated your shoulders away from the line and then she came off the jump. The same thing happened at jump 6 at :17.
On the second run: at 1:10, this falls into the “don’t say tunnel until she is looking at the end of the tunnel you want” category LOL!!! You released and turned forward ever-so-slightly (going into a softer connection) so she read a possible blind cross – and at that moment, you said the tunnel cue… and she went right into the tunnel entry behind you. That is something I have learned the hard way LOL! On the next rep you had a lot more eye contact from what I could see so she didn’t read a potential blind. When I look back at the very first rep, you also had a lot of eye contact and she stayed on the correct side – so this is also a good spot to exaggerate the connection.
At 4 at 1:56, you had more connection and less pointing, and also moved more towards the jump so she committed very nicely.
At 1:58, she was on the line to 6 and then you pointed forward before she passed you – this turned your chest away from the line so she had a spin there. Try to keep your dog side arm from being less of a part of the cue, particularly on sends: it should be lower and softer like you had it at 6 at 2:21 where you send her beautifully! Super nice! And a perfect place to reward and stop 🙂 Yay!Video 3 (attempt 1 course 2):
Glad her pads are feeling better! She was MUCH faster here – cooler weather? More comfort there? The speed reduced some of the accuracy in the handling but that is fine 🙂 It looks like you did the cross too early 2-3 so she didn’t take 2 (it was hard to see because you were mostly out of the picture) but it might have also been position: it looks like she never considered 2 and was just running like mad to get to you.
On the serpentine at :12, she ran a parallel path to you and didn’t take the jump. I think there were 2 reasons for it: you had your shoulders closed forward and didn’t have a connection. And, she needs more understanding of the default to come in and take the jumps on seeps. It is on my list for the skills sets posted tomorrow, that has been hard for a lot of the dogs here!
On the fixes, you called her and hung back a little so she got it. I think driving ahead like you did on the first run is great, so definitely call her but also put your left arm way back there so the center of your chest faces the bar to open up the serp position while your feet run forward.
She got it almost as a default when you went back through there at :57, yay!!! She just needed a more intense connection from you on the exit in order to know which side to be on. The ending one looked nice! Great connection! Keep powering through that last jump – when you pull up too soon, she was thinking you wanted a collection so she started to pull up too.Video 4 (Course 2 try 2)
An idea that might help her on the part line is to lead out with a lot of connection – you did this on the 2nd rep and she was able to hold the stay and *almost* take jump 2 (ignoring the people :)) And yay for the extra connection to help her get 2 AND the reward on the next rep. I love how you reward her for getting it right on the hard parts!!!
After the reward rep, the opening line looked really nice. When she is more experienced with finding 2 you can move over a little bit more on the line towards 3 to get the turn a little more perfect but it was pretty darned good here and super fast!
She did well coming on on the serp jump at 1:49! Be sure to give lots of connection on the landing so she knows what the next line, and give the connection while she is still over the bar of the serp jump. You were looking forward a bit so she kind of hopped in behind you. The connection helped make the middle section look really good and you also had more connection on the serp at 1:57 so she read the exit line nicely!
At the very end, 2:03, you decelerated and looked forward on the last jump, so she looked up at you: stay connected and accelerate so she can keep driving to the end.Seq 1 video:
VERY nice! Nice connection here and she was pushing you, so you had to move fast 🙂 Yay! My only suggestion on this one is that you do the blind 4-5 sooner: you can prepare to do it while she is in the tunnel so it is underway as she exits. You handled it more like a serp blind at ;15 so she didn’t see the new side until she ws landing at :16.Seq video2:
also really nice, super easy for her 🙂Seq 3 try 1:
This also looked really good! The entire opening line looked good – you can do the BC 4-5 sooner (as suggested above) which will make getting away from 5 even easier. She ended up in the wrong end of the tunnel because you had a slight hesitation coming away from 5, which turned her left over 6 at :11, then when you said ‘tunnel’ and pointed forward so she stayed on the line she was on.
Compare it to the last video where you got away from 5 a lot sooner so your running line made it much easier to get the correct tunnel (I think you used your leg as a barrier there LOL!) Now, to make it even easier, ramp up your serpentine connection to the extreme level so she can push away even more easily.Great work on all of these! She is really develop course running skills and it is so fun to see! Let me know what you think.
TracyHi! Very fun to get him out into a trial setting!!
He ran BEAUTIFULLY 💕💕💕
I am so excited for you!!!On the tunnel question: I think it is a young dog commitment question: that was a massive turn cue and he used to seeing them and responding on a jump, so a quick response. He was turning around in the tunnel, trying to make a quick response LOL!
So, you can train it with a short tunnel, one that is maybe 5 or 6 feet of squished up tunnel if you don’t have a short one. You can show him a gentler version of the cue and then reward at the end (does he like a Manners Minder?). Then fade the reward to the side so he can’t see it as early. When he finishes the tunnel and turns, you can then start to gradually extend the tunnel.
And when using the cue on a big tunnel in a course like in your class – no need for such a strong cue 🙂 Or, do the strong cue and ask the instructor to either throw the toy for you or to allow you to place your toy or manners minder out there That way you can reward for finishing the tunnel THEN turning LOL!But overall the run looked amazeballs, I am really excited about your teamwork with him!!
The seminar this past weekend was in a covered arena building (Hog Dog in Millersville MD) – great footing but NOT air conditioned. 90-something degrees and humid by midday. However, everyone was masked the entire time, including during the runs, and we were only the normal level of sweaty 🙂 So, with proper precautions, I think agility will be able to move forward as long as people are happy to follow the precautions that will try to keep us all as safe as possible. My area (VA and MD) have decent numbers in terms of the virus, so I plan to stay in this region and avoid the hot spot areas. I think NJ is doing well too!!!
How did the nosework go?
Hi there! Hope you are having a good weekend!
I am excited to see your videos, but they are listed as private. Youtube likes to change settings a lot LOL! Can you reset them as unlisted?
Thanks!
TracyHi~
Yes, the current plan percolating is same set ups, you ahead. But I am also curious to hear how it goes with the various backsides/serps/slices on courses, either from class or from UKI at home trials. If you have backsides/slices on any of those, feel free to pop video in here especially if he is having trouble. I have 2 ideas on how we can advance these grids (either with adding counter motion or by making the slice angles harder) but I want to see how these first grids “settle in” on course with the challenges they are designed to help master.T
Hi!
>>’m looking at the German (backside blind) at :10 and :25. It seems to me that he is going to have to learn to recognize that formation and trust that I am out of his way on time.>>>
Well, yes… but also he can learn to execute it independently so you can head out for the next destination 🙂 I guess it falls into the category of ‘train it so you can use it when needed and don’t use it unless you need to.”
>>Just like a regular serpentine, I want to see him see the bar before I scoot out of position.
He sees it, though, and waiting there for longer might give him a different set of cues than what you want (decelerations versus extension, where the next turn is exactly and so on, which could delay processing of the cue and take off point decisions).
>>I had plenty of time (and available speed) to leave sooner but I was making sure he took the bar. Otherwise, like a normal serp, he can easily slide past without taking the jump at all (since my motion will be out and away from the jump).>>
Yes, I totally agree that he could have easily *not* taken the jump! But that is a dog training moment where we can use training to get him to take it based on the cue: for example, on a backside serp, the backside verbal means “go to the backside and take the jump”. Otherwise you have to cue and support all the things. For me, as my understanding of the training under the handling has evolved, it is the same as my weave cue: weave means to get in and stay in the 12 poles while I leave, because where I am heading away dictates the next line. If I have to help on the poles at all, then the next line is doable but much harder (been there with some of my dogs… very difficult to support weaves and handle the next line because judges are very smart LOL!!)
All of this is inspired by the Europeans 🙂 I have spent quality time obsessing on what they do differently to produce the results that I want in terms of high speed, super tight turns, not much connection needed, arms can fly around LOL! and so on. And it keeps coming back to the dog training: the understanding that they have put on their dogs is far deeper than the understanding I have put on my dogs (at least the 5 year old dogs and older) so I have to rely on the fabulousness of my physical cues more than they do. My younger dogs have better understanding of the training underneath the handling and I can already see the difference – exciting!
>>Also, as I’m sitting at the computer, I’m wondering about collection cues. By waiting at the landing, I show the deceleration I need to get to #7 (as opposed to the tunnel or backside of #7). ??>>
This actually brings up a conversation I had a few years ago with Kayl McCann from Canada, a talented agility handler (I am sure you have heard of her or perhaps seen her at USDAA in Michigan years back?) She had a GREAT explanation of the German turn that totally stuck with me: basically she said that the best turns come when we are in Jaakko turn position on the takeoff side before the dog arrives at the takeoff point. So the deceleration or tight turn cue is done on the takeoff side of the German, not on the landing side – which involves getting there 🙂 Now, that was 6 or 7 years ago when we were first playing with the OMD concepts and the more European styles and part of the reason (at the time) was to assist the dog in taking the bar. In retrospect, I think it was really about creating the independence and default behavior of taking the jump while the handler moves to the next line. Let me know if that makes sense, I am severely under-caffeinated today 🙂 😁
>>I’ll have this setup in the barn at least through tomorrow – I’ll try to make time to run out and try it again while leaving sooner at #6. I’m just not sure that is part of my handling system. 😊>>
It doesn’t have to be 🙂 You can play with it, take what feels comfortable and is fast/tight, and leave what feels icky 🙂 Enzo will also get a say in the matter: the feedback from the dogs has been SUPER valuable in this process!!! Worst case scenario, it s a jumping/proofing game. Best case scenario: You use the tool on course successfully. I am excited to hear more about how it goes!
T
Hi!! Hooray for going from food to a toy! That is a BIG exciting breakthrough!
She was a happy girl on the prop sends. For the next session, start further away, maybe 6 feet – send and click like you did here, then have her come back off the prop back to you fo the reward. She had great hits here, and because of her length she didn’t have to come back to you to get the reward. So moving further away on the send will allow her to hit and turn and come back (and then it will be easy to add the week 2 stuff, which she looks ready for!)The blinds are looking good!!! I am really excited that she went from food to a toy so easily. You were NOT late on your blinds (I will totally tell you if you were LOL!) and it looked like you did connect – she says it was fine because she came to the correct side each time. If you don’t connect, she is more likely to end up on the wrong side of you. I think it might have felt awkward because she had t find the treat and then you ran: so you can use an empty food bowl with a treat in it to send her to, which will allow you to run earlier and then I think it will feel more timely. You can also add more distance by using that, which will make them feel even easier 🙂
Great job!! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
I agree, this looked good! I also agree, the foot movement on the kitchen session was definitely the flooring, so try to keep him on carpet or grass so he can keep his feet from moving 🙂 Now, he already has a strong stay behavior so we can play with this to help him learn to still have that great stay even when arousal rears up. He seemed perfectly happy to hold the stay and let you throw treats back to him LOL!!!! So – you can build on this by doing it outside and with a toy (Nemo ball!). Start off with short reps to keep him successful. You can also do it in front of exciting things: what does he find exciting that he might want to move towards? And, if you can get him barking and jumping around, you can get him revved up before you play and after each reward, so he learns the joys of stays even when he wants to jump around and bark 🙂
You can also cue the sit or down with a verbal, so it is less about offering a position and more about responding to the cue. He looks definitely ready for that.
Nice work!!
TracyHi!
I don’t think there was too much pressure here in that he was avoiding the game, I think it was more that the Nemo ball is played with in a certain way and he was trying to elicit that: it looked like he prefers to have it thrown or kicked for him to chase, so he would toss it at or near you then step back, fingers and paws crossed that you would toss it it again. Then when he went into the down, it didn’t seem to be a shut down sad-making down, it was more of a ‘herding the ball’ type of down (because this toy elicits that response in this situation). So, an idea: after the initial thrown and drive to it, move away from him rather than towards him (he definitely was moving way from you when you moved towards him after he got the ball on these reps). Let him have a trot about, then go get the toy (or have him bring it, whichever is easier), then throw it a few more times so the reward is very much about the play with the ball and not as much about getting the ball. And each start of the game will come to predict the play with the ball the way he likes it 🙂
I like your plan of pingponging the tossing versus placing of the ball – you can toss it and vary the timing of your release to it: sometimes before it lands, sometimes right when it lands, sometimes a second or two after it lands. You can mix up your toy rewards but probably not in a way that he has to ignore Nemo to play with another toy – he might not find a different tug to reinforcing if the ball is in the picture, so you might want to build it separately first and then meld it together.
Nice work! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
