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Hi! It is always so fun to see pups’ first tunnel sessions LOL!! This was a really good value building Session 🙂 He definitely loves the MM and does not have any fears of the tunnel! Perfect! I think things went better when you started lining him up starting at 2:41 – when you were waiting for the offering earlier on, he was not quite sure of what to do. On the next session, you can line him up to start it like that and do a few reps to warm up the skill and then maybe add on the verbal like you were doing here – but don’t put the verbal on the harder angles until you have warmed up those too and know he will do them. He was really picking it up beautifully by the end!!!! You can also put the MM inside the tunnel to jump start this (especially on different tunnels) at first because it splits the behavior so nicely – the MM can be halfway through, then 2/3rds of the way through, then at the end, and so on. He won’t need the MM for much longer on this, so I am thinking of it more as an easy way to generalize tunnel value.
I think maybe another session or two like this, and you can then add in the threadle foundation of starting him close to the entry but between you and the tunnel so he finds the entry by turning away to it.
Great job!
TracyHappy New Year! This was easy peasy for him, the wings are a pretty big visual. Yay! Super!!! A couple of ideas with an eye on the future – in the future, when you are moving along the line, we will want him to look at his line of jumps and not at you. So, with the goal of keeping him looking forward and head straight:
Since he looks up when you click, so you don’t need to click anymore at this point (and if you do click, reward immediately out on the line because when you clicked more than once, he was totally watching you LOL!) And you can also verbally mark (a quiet yes) and toss sooner: look for the moment when he decides to look at the line and move towards it, before he even gets between the uprights, and then toss the reward so it is out ahead before he gets between the uprights. The goal is to be early enough that he doesn’t look at you (but don’t withhold reward if he does look up at you, as that is likely to cause him to look at you more LOL!)
You can also add challenge with lateral distance – he had no trouble with you out ahead (happy dance!) so now you can use your moment while he is getting his cookie to move a step or two or three away laterally from the parallel line – then start moving forward again 🙂 He is going to have a nice big stride so lateral distance will be your friend on course 🙂
Great job!!
TracyHappy New Year to you too! I am looking forward to a year where I can see all of these puppies and their people in person! I hope to get up to the New England area for some agility, it is one of my favorite agility communities.
>>What happened to week 4? Did I miss something?
Nope, you didn’t miss anything, I screwed up. Oopsie! I fixed it, it should now say week 4. And the 4 lessons should be visible (Serpentines, tunnel wingin’ it games, Bang game and running contact foundations). If they are not visible, let me know 🙂
Have a great day!
TracyHi! She did really well here!!! She slammed that hind end down pretty quickly, really isolating the hind end which is what we want 🙂 When you are able to get more running room, yes, add more running LOL! But at home, you can add challenge by getting her wilder with a toy or a ball then playing the game (dogs often lose their precision when they are feeling wild :)). Also, you can add challenge by moving towards something enticing: a toy on a table, a bowl of food, or anything that might draw her attention (I think you have a tunnel there, so you can move to the tunnel and cue the sit as she approaches it :))
And also be sure to work this on your left and right sides. You can also add challenge by mixing in down cues (I think she is pretty strong with her verbal down cue?) and if she has any trick cues (like spin or wave or something) you can mix those in too! The goal is to convince her to listen for verbals while you are moving 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi! I think using the tippy board to play this is perfect! And this is a great indoor game because she gets a good mental workout and we move closer to the goal of getting her head down and weight shifted. I don’t mind that she got on “forwards” then found the position (rather than backing up). She was still thinking about her body position and offering behavior, and where her feet were. Question – when you originally trained 2o2o, did you use a target? I think you told me but I can’t remember (more coffee needed LOL!!) I think if we give her one more thing to do in her 2o2o (target something with feet or nose) and place the reward right on the target, you will see the head position automatically lower and she won’t look at you. I did the feet target with my younger pup and she gives me feet and also nose (bonus!) – and so her weight shift is good and she doesn’t look at me as I move around.
>>She’s not a big backer-upper.
Most pups at this stage prefer to get on forwards. But the backing up is great for hind end on the teeter – and more importantly, great for jumping/weaving/fitness in general. So you can work the backing up separately, like onto a thick mat or low dog bed or something: starting her on the bed/mat, and start by just having her lean forward then lean back (you can lure her into the forward :)) Then you can have her come off with her front feet, then step back on (back feet on the whole time) – that can progress nicely into getting all 4 feet off then backing up onto it. So while it is not super important that she backs up onto the teeter, I think the skill will be very useful in your toolbox for all sorts of other agility stuff (and obedience too, from what I from my obedience & rally friends!)
Great job!
TracyHi! Happy New Year! She definitely has no problem with the snow LOL!!!!! Love it! Fingers crossed that it melts though 🙂 She seems really confident to drive across the board! I think the only thing we can add to that is getting her head down and a bit more weight shift so she can control the tip of different teeters. I have more games for that coming soon!
Tracy
Hi!
Like with the wobble board, I think it is fine for him to get on with the front feet then turn around for now, then you can help set him up for the backing up onto it. It still totally accomplishes the goal of hind end awareness – and I am betting that over time it will get easier for him to “find” it by backing up without needing to get on it facing forward at first, if that makes sense 🙂 When you set him up for the backing up by cuing him to step off, he was really good with the backing up and also was straighter.
He is in the perfect place to now start the elements of the bang game that I posted (should be visible already, I need to go double check it :)) – it starts off relatively chill to maintain this thoughtful progress and then we start getting the pups crazier 🙂
Great job!!
TracyHi!
He is doing well here too! He had a little rhythm going of: get on front feet first, turn around, follow the cue to come off, then back up onto it, then PT reward. It works really nicely – you can get a cookie for the getting on moment as well (and the PT is definitely more of a jackpot even though it is probably the same cookies LOL!) He was really good slamming with more noise and I liked when he didn’t get it immediately, he slammed it AGAIN (“hey, did you not notice that I moved it?” LOL!)
With the tug – it was interesting to see the value hierarchy when it comes to the wobble board… the toy is just ok but the food is higher value and conditioned into it. When you got a bit more movement into it he seemed to be more interested in the toy but then he cracked me up by not releasing when the toy was the obvious reward LOL! So, since the wobble board/teeter is pretty difficult, you can follow his lead and keep up with the food rewards and maybe mix in some some Nemo Ball (and Nemo’s friends :)) when you have room to through it around. The wobble board & teeter require a high enough value that the pups lose themselves in the passion a bit – and if food is the way to it, that is perfectly fine 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi! Happy New Year! This is looking really good, he is getting right into position and straightening himself out 🙂 You can add a bit of challenge to this lazy game by angling the plank a little (prop up one end with something stable) and also taking it on “road trips” to different places – such as your living room, the hallway, or anyplace different LOL! You can also have other dogs milling about as added distractions 🙂
I have a bit of this added into the bang game (posted this morning) so feel free to start it on the teeter too!Tracy
Awesome!!!! Sounds like he is doing well! If he is worried about the teeter, start it at half height then work your way up, depending on his comfort level. Keep me posted!
Tracy
Hi!
>>I think he would have tugged if I had started moving around but I was feeling lazy.>>
Well, it is called the lazy game LOL!!!
>>And I’m still laughing at your qualifying comments on slowly boiling a frog>>
Take it with a grain of salt, I admit to never having boiled a frog LOL!!!!
Really cool session here. I like how he immediately got on the plank – you can drop the target in when he does that to get the game started as a jumpstart. He was offering all sorts of behavior, it just took him a minute to get to the one you wanted 🙂 And he can do nose and foot on the target, I am happy with both LOL! The more criteria, the merrier. I taught the foot scratch to Elektra and she added the nose touch herself (she was never taught to nose touch anything). But – layers of criteria will last longer, so if the pups want to offer foot AND nose… cool! We will take it LOL!
Brilliant boy after the first toy break to immediately offer the target position, and after that he did really well! You can break it off more frequently: do 2 or 3 treats for targeting, release/toss a treat away (too lazy to get up and tug LOL!) and then let him leap back into position to ‘train’ you to put the target in 🙂
And, then we move it over to the teeter! I will post that one tomorrow 🙂
Great job! Have a great last-day-of-2020!
TracyHi!
Whoa! What a massive difference in his mountain climbers! He went from “WHAT THE HECK IS THIS?!?!” to “Let me at it, look how FAST I can go!” I love it! He is the perfect example of why I like this game 🙂 You were a perfect supportive momma when he was not sure, and then you were great about letting him rip when he was feeling confident. Since he is doing so well, you can add other elements: driving away (ok, walking at first LOL!) by continuing to move past the teeter as he arrives at the end and stays there. I also added in rear crosses – I wrapped Elektra around a wing and then as she past me to get to the teeter, I rear crossed on the up ramp. I think Sly will be fine with this because he is driving to the end so nicely (Elektra was fine too, because she knew where the cookies where LOL!)His plank entries also look great – you challenged him with more speed and he was fine with it. I mean, hopefully we *never* see these crazy dog walk entries but I always want the dogs to know what to do in any situation they might find themselves in. The clear cylinders appeared useful and also I don’t think he was considering wrapping them – I think they were helpful for him. I think he was looking at the plank and not at the cylinders. For this game, you can also go to a higher ramp. I think that was a Klimb on the other side of it, so you can also switch out to a taller table? That will change the mechanics of getting on the board from angles (I do this with boards going up to a 24″ table eventually).
Great job here! Have a happy last day of 2020!!!
Tracy
Hi! Hope you are enjoying the holiday!
>>For W4 Turn & Burn and W5 Rotated Sends, is it ok to use a jump wing? WM is used to them and that is what we were using in our latest wrap games.
Generally yes, it is ok… unless he is hitting the wings with his shoulder as he comes around them. If he is not touching the wings, then you are fine to use them. If, as you add excitement, he starts to touch the wings – we work through that on a barrel 🙂 I like to get all of the undesired behavior worked through on a non-agility obstacle, then put fabulous behavior on the real obstacle. Most dogs do not touch the wing. But some do, and we don’t want them to think that pushing the wing is a good way to go faster LOL! So start on the wing, and if he is fine – perfect! If he is touching it or moving it, let me know and we will teach him not to 🙂
Have fun!
TracyHi!
>>So much content here, Tracy, I’m hopelessly behind, but BliZZard and I are having fun!>>
I am glad you are having fun, I think you two look terrific! I know there is a lot of stuff – with my pups, I just try to do a different topic for a minute or two each day – so on Thursday, I do a little handling game. On Fridays, I do a goat game. And so on 🙂 If I have time to do more, cool! If not, no worries because it all gets done eventually 🙂
On the video –
BC foundations look really good and his focus in that distracting environment was REALLY good! Looks like there was someone else in the ring and there were folks outside of it and he was a superstar to play the game with you. Yessssss!!
Great job with the cookie toss and running away with clear connection for the first part – the timing of the blinds were great! I think he needs a little more eye contact as you reconnect on the new side, as it took him a couple of steps to realize he should come to your other side. You had your ‘new’ arm low and back but it might have been blocking his view of your eyes – so you can make a little adjustment by having the new side arm further back and the original arm wrapped across your belly – and lookg for his eyes and show him the reward with the original arm (now the opposite arm) across your belly. That should help him see the change sooner and have quicker responses to it. Let me know if that makes sense; I might need to drink more coffee haha!I was just about to suggest a toy for this game and then you whipped it out, perfect! You can also use the toy in the arm across the body to help establish that initial connection when you reconnect after the blind: for example, if he starts on your left, the toy is in your left hand. Then you do a blind and he needs to change to your right: keep your right arm way back, look for his eyes, and use your left hand (still with the toy in it) across your belly to open up that initial connection. It is not something we do forever, but it is a great teaching tool for the pups to get them to explode to the new side 🙂
Got tricks – he is a confident little dude, I love that! And yes to needing 453 arms for these games 🙂 For the smaller stuff, I suggest using your armpits: toy or prop tucked into the armpit will give you more of an extra arm to get stuff in and out. You can probably do that with the plastic lid you started with here (I think that is what it is). Good job rewarding for him getting all 4 feet (especially back feet) on that – it definitely has value, he was thinking about his body, nice hind end awareness, and he didn’t seem to mind the texture or the little bit of noise his feet made. Perfect!
When you break it off for toy play – he likes that toy (so do I LOL!) but he likes it when you keep it moving away so he could chase it – but then you were getting some tooth hugs I think (judging by you saying “ouch!” a few times LOL!). Now, I like sporting dogs to have hard mouths on tug toys so we don’t want to discourage it but we want to protect your fingers (fingers are pretty useful…) – so you can tie this awesome toy to a longer toy. Then when you present it, it is easier to keep moving because you can drag it around for him to chase and also he is less likely to grab flesh by accident because the cool part of the toy will be further from your flesh.The big disc was a great choice for a next step, he was definitely ready!!! I like how you were getting all four feet on this one too. For now, stay closer to it – you were moving back from it and I think he was trying to offer staying near you, thus the 2o2o you were getting when you wanted all 4 on 🙂 You can also toss the cookie off to the side as a reward and reset him, then he can come back and get on with all 4 feet (you can jackpot all 4 feet in position then release – the jackpot should make an impact and also holding position is a great challenge for his body!)
The other thing you can do on this big disc is get him to sit on it. That is great body awareness and future conditioning – a nice tight sit on the wobbly disc!
When he dismounts, he is pushing off with a good bit of power and the disc was beginning to slide. You can see if propping up some towels around it will hold it in place, or you can use something more substantial – I have an inflatable donut holder that I use, or you can have the disc in the corner of the room so 2 walls help hold it. I like his power and I don’t want him to hyperextend getting off or scare himself if it slides too much.
The wobble board is a great next step – I don’t think he will have any trouble at all 🙂 You won’t be able to stick it in your armpit or lift it on or off the table, so you can do tug breaks by moving further from it (off camera is fine) or you can tug right on it! Fun!Not sure where you are with teaching backing up – but because he is doing so nicely with getting on all the things and putting his back feet on them, you can totally add in backing up onto them.
Great job here! Let me know what you think and keep me posted 🙂
TracyHi!
>>Since the post above, I did the prop game 1 with kibble. Worked much better. She does sometimes drive to the prop without my cue
Great news about the kibble! It makes it a little easier to balance with the toy drive 🙂 If she leaves you to go to the prop before you send her, you can add in more of the ready dance and give a kibble for looking at you! hen she gets another kibble for the send. That can help her learn the patience of waiting for the cue 🙂
>>I was pleased with our recent smaller space drive to me. She seems to be getting it.
Yay!!! Good girl!!!
>>I will have to try the redirect for the foot thing. She really likes my UGGs or anything with shoe laces. And if I kick my shoes off, those sharp little teeth get my feet. OUCH!!
Yes! I feel that pain, literally LOL!! Figure out what triggers it and start there with redirecting: my youngster grabs my foot when I enter the room she is in (even if I was only gone for 8 seconds LOL!). So every time I enter the room, I give her a toy or toss some treats on the ground – it conditions her to do something else with her mouth. At first she gets it when I enter before she makes a choice… then after a couple of weeks, I would let her have a moment to remember to NOT grab my foot… then I would reward it. She got much better very quickly 🙂
Keep me posted! Happy New Year!
Tracy
