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Hi!
She is doing really well with the Minny Pinny – I think she went to visit her friends because there were too many reps for treats (especially since it was the 2nd round) so it was not as exciting as visiting her peeps 🙂 Even with the tug break, she might have thought it was too stationary & repetitive so the steak easily caught her nose (and belly :))You were doing the minny pinny with you standing still and lots of stationary food rewards – to keep it more spicy, you can have the toy with you and tug more frequently. And you can add in doing the front cross and run away. Keeping things a little less predictable in a fun way, and with more movement will help her stick with you!
It sounds like that is what you did with the tunnels – fast, fun, short session with a lot of movement 🙂
Nice work!
TracyHi!
I am glad your recovery is going well!! You are moving really well and he did great 🙂 No worries about things feeling a little off, it is probably just the drugs LOL!! He did really well going to the toy even though there was food in the picture too 🙂 He loved it when you were moving it around to chase it!Since the stays worked so well, you can add in having him stay in front of something like his prop or a jump, anything exciting 🙂
And his retrieve is looking good!!! And yes – he doesn’t want to ‘work’ for toys but playing before or after training is still incredibly effective. That way the toys are legit play and not pressure or any time of conflict between you and him.
We missed you at the Open! Most of the courses were SUPER nice, perhaps the best set of courses in years. Hopefully this trend continues for next year!!!
Great job here!
TracyHi!
>how in the world did you find time to review a video today? I wasn’t expecting to hear from you until the Open was over. >
There is some downtime here – I didn’t enter a lot of classes because there is so much course building. It is nice to sit down and look at the computer 🙂
He did really well here!
One thing to consider is the timing of the switch on the jump: you can start the switch cues (verbal and physical) for the jump before he takes off – ideally it is 2 strides from takeoff or more so he has time to adjust before takeoff. It can be the release here.You were doing it on landing so the turns were wider.
Your timing of the switch on the tunnel exit was really good! Which hand cue do you plan to use for it? Sometimes you used the outside arm, sometimes dog-side arm. When you were doing the dog-side arm (coming towards the camera on a lot of those reps) he was exiting the tunnel towards you and waiting to see motion to know if he should turn away or not. The outside arm going up before he enters the tunnel can help build more independence because it is earlier and also you can turn him away without also needing to step to the jump.
>One thing I noticed was the time I spent saying the switch as he exited the tunnel, he moved slowly and the second he heard what I wanted next he sped back up. That was especially true on the tunnel to the back side slice. Any suggestion for how to avoid that moment of hesitation?>
That was him waiting for motion info – the verbal switch conflicted with the dog side arm looking like a go straight cue, so he was waiting for your feet to turn. On a few reps, you used your outside arm to set up the backside push and that went really well!
>Just for grins, I tried to do some other cues from the tunnel to the jump just to see if he could do it>
Yes! That was clever! The backside pushes were great and also the backside circle wraps were great too – you had good physical cues supporting those that he could see even on the other side of the tunnel.
The threadle slice was fun to see – what is the physical cue for your ‘in’ cue? It looks like your dog side arm was down at your side so he had a question – maybe a dog-die arm swinging back and high will be clearer?
>When I tried the threadle wrap, I realized that was super hard for him – he did it but it wasn’t my best thought process and he was super confused. >
There was not a lot of time to get all the info in 🙂 You had to finish the switch then immediately get the TW cues going – in less that 8 feet of space. But he was able to get it and that was great!
Great job here! I love the creativity of adding the other stuff on the jump after the tunnel!!
Tracy
Hi!
He did great here, what a good boy! Great stays, attention, tugging, releases… brilliant! And there was plenty of distraction. Just be sure to stay engaged with him when you give him the toy at the end so he doesn’t take it on a tour of the area 🙂
Also of note: how he tries to give you super fast high fives when you line him up (1:54) LOL! It took him a moment to recognize that it was NOT a high five cue LOL 😂😝
One thing you can add at the practice jump is bringing him in on leash, taking the leash off, lining up… that is great practice for future runs! And if you have a friend who can be your leash runner, you can teach him to ignore people who are nearby or taking his leash. And that means you can also add in putting the leash back on, then giving another reward: that is valuable for the end of his runs in the future.
>Played lots of pattern games as we came in and out of the building and walked around the rings. Wicked tugging today too.
>This is great! What a good boy!
Great job 🙂Tracy
Hi!
>She wasn’t that interested in the toy initially, so I started with food – should have gotten a dish for tossing but I hadn’t planned on using food.>
Because young dogs tend to have value shifts on rewards you can build in a test drive of the toy (or food) by playing with her first before attempting the training. That way you can both get her really engaged and see if she wants the particular toy or not 🙂 She was definitely moving away when the toy moved towards her (or standing still) so keeping the toy moving away worked really well. And the 2nd toy was DEFINITELY something she really liked 🙂
And for this game – you can deliver the food from your hand rather than throw it, because the FC on the wing asks for handler focus.
>Once we got connected (no bark, no leaf distracting her and a toy I could drag more easily>
Yes – once you had engagement and the fun toy, the game was great! So it is worth adding the playing beforehand to get her ready to ‘work’.
Was she able to engage before you started the game, or was the game the start of the session? You can add in the volume dial game before each training game, to help get her engagement dialed in.The tunnel threadle reps looked GREAT!! I agree that the right turn away was a little harder so you can slow down your motion there: let her see the hand cues moving slowly. If you are too quick, I think it is harder for her to sort the mechanics so moving slowly will really help.
Great job!
TracyHi!
She did really well sending straight to the tunnel but definitely had a harder time turning away into it. To help her out, start on less of a hard angle with the ‘close’ threadle – you can be almost straight so she sees it better when she turns away and you start moving.
And when she does turn away, don’t say yes or good girl (that is what caused her to come out of the tunnel 🙂 ). Use your get it marker instead so she drives to the toy.
She really likes the toy! Play with her when she brings it back rather than take it away – the food for taking it away is nice but without playing with the toy, she might stop bringing it back 🙂
Remote reinforcement:
Is your marker work “Cheetos” That is hilarious!! She did really well here. I think starting this on leash will help -she didn’t really know where to go when you were moving, so the leash servers as a context cue to move with you. Keep gradually adding in more distance and more tricks, she is doing great!She also did really well with the minny pinny! I think she is more comfy turning to her left, so you can start that way, then switch to the right when she remembers the game. You tend to start her turning right (on your left) but I think that is a little harder for her.
She also did well with the bumps! I think the bumps were a little too far apart because she had to extend the bounce rather than collect. You can scoot the two outer bumps in towards the center by maybe 6 inches and that might be the sweet spot for now to help her comfortably bounce the turns.
Nice job adding the verbals! You can hold her and say them a few times so she hears them before you let go – that will help make them more independent so we will be able to add in more handling down the road 🙂
Great job!
Tracy
Hi!
>oops – I guess I forgot that one. Here it is…>
Fantastic! He seemed to have zero questions. We actually saw this same basic thing multiple times here at the US Open 🙂
>Then I went on to do the Ch 6. We had a couple booboos on this one, lol.>
Overall, it went really well!!!
> I didn’t get the other jumps we weren’t using out of the way at first. >
He offered some bonus wings at :12 but they were indeed on his line LOL! Good boy!
His only real questions were on the GO lines. He was looking at you a lot. It might have been that you were looking ahead, so he was looking at you for more info because connection was too soft. So you can add in looking at him more (look at his butt if you are behind LOL!) because that turns your shoulders to support the GO line better.
It is also possible that he was looking at you to track the toy throw – so you can place a toy or MM out there and use it as the GO reward, provided it is also out there for the turn reps so he doesn’t just run to it like a lure 🙂
He had another question on the serp at 1:21 where he hit the wing. You can have your serp arm back more (like it was at 1:27) so he sees the in-then-out line.
>I just BARELY made that blind on the last position of the wing>
Yes! You can actually turn your head to t start the blind well before you get to position so he sees it as soon as he exits the tunnel.
>And of course, you can make fun of his nickname. I just can’t help myself. ha!>
I love his nickname! Just try to keep the pitch of it as the turn cue consistent – who it got high pitched, it sounded like a go verbal so he came rocketing straight out of the tunnel LOL!! When it was in a lower pitch, he was turning brilliantly.
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi! Lots of nice work here!!
Wing wraps went really well! – no need to go faster for now! The most important thing is to stay connected and you were great with that! Going faster tends to cause us to disconnect. You were connecting and using your verbals so she did really well. She is fast so it might feel like you were late but your timing was good!
She only had 2 questions in the session:
At :42, you tried to send her and she didn’t go. That was because your dog side leg did not step forward to support the send. It was actually pointing to the other barrel, which is where she went. You used your dog side leg on all the other reps and she had no questions.
You were getting a tiny bit of jumping up at your hand, here and there (like at 1:36), That was happening when you were moving your hand forward too early which blocked a bit of connection.
Compare to 1:50 and 2:07 for example, where you kept your hand send a sa relatively minor part of the cue, letting your hand stay low and follow her nose. Those were very smooth!
Her brother Quill also watches hands a lot on this game, and keeping the hands “quiet” and low really helps him too.
You can also reward differently – not from your hand with a treat – so she has a little less value for it in this context: have empty hands when cueing the wraps, then do a turn and burn and whip out a toy so she are not looking for food as she goes by your hand 🙂
Minny pinny with the bumps also went well! Because she us zipping around it indpendently, you don’t need to support with shoulder movement at all 🙂 You can send and be stationary til she is about half way around, then do a FC and take off to reward.
>Clobbered jumps on one rep, but seemed to sort that out. I guess that’s why jump bumps!>
Exactly!! She seemed to have an easier timing collecting to do the turns here when going to her right – it seemed like it was harder for her to organize to her left (more feet on the bumps) but I am sure she will sleep on it and the next session will be very balanced 🙂
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
>He said the toy was not an appropriate reward for this activity, at least not today.>
The toy might have been too short or he was feeling grudgey from the hold?
>Is the hold to start critical? He seemed to jump and twist around when I was holding his collar.>
The hold is semi-critical: it allows us to attach the verbal s a lot more easily by saying them before he moves, so they become a cue separate from motion.
But we don’t want him to hate it! That will attach negative feelings and we definitely don’t want that. So you can give him a treat, slide your hand to his collar, then let him go pretty immediately for now. Then over time gradually build up the hold until he realizes it predicts good stuff about to happen 🙂
He did super well with the bumps here! I think you were very quietly saying the verbal? It was hard to hear, which is fine as long as he hears it 🙂 If you were not using them, you can totally add them even without holding him yet.
He did great with find my face! I think it is a good resilience game for him because I don’t think he thought it was totally fun yet – he seemed kind of like “wait, where are you going, human?” But then rewards were definitely welcomed 🙂 so with a few sessions of this under his belt, he will think it is fun when you disconnect 🙂
He did see to think the revere retrieve was TOTALLY fun though – the running around was super fun. I think part of the reason why he might not have been bringing it directly back (a couple of fly-bys for example) was context: this was a wide open field for running, versus a ‘work’ situation.
So I am curious to test the theory and see if it brings it directly to you or tries for the second toy, when the opportunity to ‘work’ is available. That can be one of his favorite games (like tunnels with the Auntie :)) The wide open field may elicit more of a ‘yeehaw! run around response where the context of a training scenario might elicit a bring it right back response, to be able to earn it again (it is the moment of being told he has earned it that can create the big dopamine spike :))
For the next reverse retrieve session, try incorporating it into a fun training setup and see how it goes! And if. I’m wrong 😂 then we will take a different approach to get him to bring it all the way back 🙂
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
>I have a tendency to rush things and think that sets us up for sloppy cues. it’s based on not trusting her commitment so rushing setup cuz I think I’m going to “lose” her attention. I’ll work on cleaning them up.>
I can totally relate to the pressure of keeping a puppy engaged! But I don’t think you were rushing – it was more that the big visual of the super fun toy was overriding the other cues. It is easy to see on video but much harder to see or feel in the moment.
She was SUPER with the serps! The thing I was MOST excited about was the stay. You lead out, stoped, started moving again (all good!) and then released… and she held her position til the release on just about all of them – one was a little early but the rest were great.
>It looks like I should have the reward dish further out so that she can really drive forward from me. >
Yes, on the serp and the threadle, you can place the reward bowl where the next jump would be on a traditional serp or threadle, so on kind of an L shaped line pretty tight to the serp or threadle. That all get her turning nicely to the next line.
>Also noticed that my position seems to collapse for the threadle, much better when I’m able to remember to keep my arm/hand away (and chest aimed that way as well)>
I think the threadle cue can be a bit more exaggerated, in terms of the threadle arm swinging back and more twist at he waist. It is actually almost exactly the same as the serp cue – but the threadle cue has a different positional cue attached to it, a different verbal, and you can also swing your arm back on the threadle if you like.
On these screenshots, you can sew how ‘open’ the serp cue is, and so you can make the threadle cue look the same! And staying in position a heartbeat longer until she is coming to you will help too.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1-mUhv2i-YaXHJNH_cf1H3zImSKRgDCQ0VdlmbiZE55Q/edit?usp=sharing
On the misses, such as at :54 & 1:22 the verbal was good but as you moved, your shoulder closed forward so she took the front.When that happens, tell her she is cute (truth!) and give a reset cookie 🙂
When your shoulder was ,ore open when she was on your left side in the last part of the session: she did much better! The open shoulder plus holding position a little longer really helped.
Great job!
Tracy
Hi!
He looks so good with his new haircut! What a cutie!!!
I agree, he did really well with his stays here and seems to be handling the environment really well! He seemed VERY pumped up but held the stays really well with big distractions.
He took off with the toy one time because he really did not know it was not allowed LOL but thankfully he didn’t go far. It took him a moment to hold the stays when you did not have a cookie in your hand but then after a couple of reps, he was back to being perfect. What a good boy! And there was some significant barking in the background!
He was lining up well but then he appeared to think the stay hand cue was a cue to do a hand touch 🙂 He held the stay really well when you didn’t do the stay hand cue, so I don’t think you need it.
Next up is leading out with quicker motion, so you are walking faster then we build up to jogging to your lead out position.
>I tried doing the moving serpentine before we left for the trial but it did not go well so I think we need to practice more without movement. >
Was he going around the jump and directly to the toy on the ground? That might mean you need to move more slowly and look at the target hand (and shake it a little :))
> It was maybe my mechanics with the cookie toss…>
Yes, it is possible the angle of the cookie toss was too hard?
>I have not used the sit/stay for any of the games yet. Not sure if I should?>
You totally can! Start with it just on the flat, no jump: move into the ‘strike a pose’ position, praise, then release – be sure you are not moving your hand and releasing at the same time, because then he will think the hand movement is the release. But yes, I bet he is ready for you to use the stay for that game.
Nice work!
Tracy
This is a good video to have! When we are trying to figure out what was happening, I first watch to see where the dog is looking because that is usually the easiest tip-off.
In this clip, she seemed to be unsure of where to look what to do when the toy was very visible as she was coming to you after exiting the tunnel: was it a take the toy moment, or was it a turn away moment? She didn’t recognize the turn away cue with that toy in your hand. (It was a really exciting looking toy and she is only 25 weeks old :))She did well going to the tunnel when the toy was not in the send hand and you stepped to the tunnel. And when you said tunnel but didn’t move, she moved to the toy.
So I think clarifying the cues will help. Two approaches:
– cue the turn aways with an empty hand, so there is no question from her about whether she should follow the hand cue or look at the toy.
– the toy can be in the send hand sometimes and also you can do turn aways on the flat with the toy in the dog-side hand. When you do that scrunch it up to minimize the visual of the toy and also clarify the verbal that means she may grab it from your hand (my verbal for that is ‘bite’). She seemed to know it was not just a ‘grab the toy’ moment but didn’t really know she should turn away from the hand. I do give her a gold star for not just launching at the toy or grabbing your hand!I think the leaves are just normal “ooh these are crunchy and interesting” puppy stuff, and at the end of this clip she knew the tunnel thing was not going quite right so she turned her attention to the leaves. So if the session is not quite right, no worries, keep your energy high so she stays fully in the game as you try to adjust to help her out.
Nice work here! I will keep you posted about the upcoming Maxpup stuff!
Tracy
Hi!
>Tunnel needed tunnel huggers – yikes!>
Yes! She did a very good job of not getting caught!
> bar kept dropping>
Yes, that bar did come down a lot! I think 2 things were happening:
If you were facing straight and turned late (when she was in the air) or backed up, she didn’t adjust in time and hit the bar (like at :21 and 1:17).And it came down on a couple of starts – on those, I think she was too close to the jump and didn’t have enough room to push from her rear. Compare 1:23 to 1:28, for example. She was maybe a stride further away at 1:28 and cleared it nicely! At 1:23 she was just a little too close and didn’t set up her hind end well to push off.
>she took the wrong side of the wing. >
On the tunnel exits, you can be more connected to show her which side of the wing you wanted – on the reps where she curled in and you didn’t want that side, you were looking forward and a little early with the turn cues. So to keep her on the line, big connection made it much smoother for her to go find the wing.
Great job!
Tracy
Good morning!
Tunnel to the straight line went great! She was happy to drive ahead of you from all of the starting positions there.
You can use bigger, louder GO verbals that get repeated more to really emphasize the go in situations where you need her to ignore the jumps on the side.I think you were trying to use a spin to get a tighter turn on the tunnel exit for a few reps – maybe to not have her take the jump at all? If you didn’t want the jump at all, a FC before she goes into the tunnel separated from the BC of the spin (which is a FC-BC combo) can work along with a big collection verbal. To cue the turn to the jump, the spin would put you too far behind – but she did really well following your line through the blind crosses there!
Turn versus Go was harder for sure! I think she didn’t really know that going straight was a possibility and was defaulting to turning left to the jump. You shifted gears really well and basically taught her the concept that yes, you CAN layer that jump and go straight when she is ahead of you! That is a good starting point for the next session and it is a very useful skill.
You can also leave a reward out there past the jump, as long as it is out there for every rep including the turns where she does not go to it. That will make it easier to reward when she is driving straight (and make it harder to get the turn).
Great job!
Tracy
