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Hi! Thanks for posting these!
I would classify the Sunday teeters as definitely better than the Saturday teeters. I think the main thing here was not about the teeters – he was a little uncomfortable in the trial environment so was a little uncomfortable on the teeter.>> How to do all this without many repetitions on the teeter or do I put some sort of invisible cushioning under the teeter?>>
So to bring the home version of the teeter performance into the trial environment, I think two things will help:
– acclimation into the trial environment so he is more relaxed and excited
– having a reinforcement he loves in the trial ring.On Saturday, he was feeling the pressure of the ring and he was not really into the toy. On Sunday, in that first run for sure, he was REALLY into the toy and that immediately helped the teeter. Yay!
So I suggest running courses without teeters in the trial ring to get him to feel relaxed and comfy: with a toy on a few runs would be ideal. Then, introduce the teeter (with that great toy) using the games … and then with some more experiences like that, he will be able to do that same teeter as he does at home š
He did well with the elevator game! He was a little short stopping on the full teeter, but it was still good. So rather than do lots more teeter at home, focus on getting him happy and relaxed in the trial environment and he will also be great on the teeter šLet me know if that makes sense!!
TracyHi! Looking great!!!! I think the grass as target cover is a good way to proceed – she looked strong on all of the end positions here. On the plank, it looked like she might have been āreachingā for the target by stepping forward a bit too far, so be sure to have the target relatively close to the board so her front feet stay on it. If she was just reaching forward even with the target close, then keep placing the reward all the way back by the edge of the board to help her stay close to it.
I think the teeter looked great! Her first full rep was really strong š She was a little wobbly at 1:14 but that might have been fatigue. She finished strong after that!
So, keep on fading the target on the plank and on the elevator games. And, add the teeter into sequences with both the crazy elevator game and the full teeter.
Great job here!!!
TracyGood morning! She looks great! She is finding her entries REALLY nicely and her form in the poles is really good too! She is thinking hard about staying in as you move and as the frisbee came out to play also š
On the 6 poles, keep adding motion and angles of entry! She is ready for that with the tug toy. With the frisbee, it is more of a proofing game š One suggestion is that as you add motion, hold the frisbee in a really quiet position or in the hand opposite the weaves. She failed when you had it in the āI am about the throw it positionā LOL! Eventually you will be able to add that back when she is more used to weaving in the presence of the frisbee.
One placement suggestion: her biggest questions were when she was on your right, she wanted to look at you and the toy and would pop out at the end (this seemed to happen on your right more than on your left). So to help her NOT look at you, you can overcompensate with the reward placement by throwing it to the other side of the poles, opposite you, so she looks away to get it. You do that a bit when she is in your left and she is good about not looking at you there, so you can do the same when she is on your right.
I think she is also ready for you to do the 6 and 6 boxcars to start building up to 12 poles!
Nice work here š
TracyGood morning!
I am glad he is feeling better!! He seemed to be feeling good here and the games looked great. The bang game was slightly better in terms of weight shift when he was on your right versus on your left, but it was still solid! And the uphills looked really strong, particularly when he was coming in with speed after the wing wrap.So, I would progress this by going back to the elevator game: do a little bit of the ānormalā elevator game as a warm up then into the crazy elevator game (progressing from the stay, from the wing, then from the tunnel).
The one thing I do recommend highly is to do very limited reps, even more so than normal. Because you never really found the root cause of why he was hurting, we want to progress very carefully so he doesnāt end up banging himself too much. So do literally 2 or 3 reps in each session, then stop and wait a few hours or a day to see how he does. That is to protect him physically and mentally too! I think the teeter performance will be finished up really easily, so it is also important to very limited reps so he can retain his soundness too š
Let me know if that makes sense! He looks great here!
TracyHi there! Really nice session here, she is making tremendous progress!!!
I agree – on the moments when she bailed, I donāt think she was spooked. I think she was more trying to figure out how to run up the board with you ahead and running. The bailing off happened when you were pretty far ahead and moving fast (especially when you suddenly moved fast).
So, to help her get the idea of running up that narrow board as you are also running, ease her into it: warm up each session with you only a little ahead and walking so she can get organized and move up the board. Do that a couple of times, then gradually move faster and faster.
And when you add the wing, start off with you moving slowly and not that far ahead, to get her into comfort zone with that too. Then you can layer in the speed with that too.I think she will only need another 2 sessions of that and then she wonāt need the support as she gets on the board š
She was fabulous at the end of the board and with the dropping into target position!!
She is not a fan of the rebound of the board, so you can focus more on the rebound game for super high value rewards. You can work just that game in isolation, without all the tunnel bags so the teeter is extra wobbly š That will help her be fine with the rebound under her and then she will shift into it rather than bounce off of it.
Great job!!!! If you have access to a tunnel, I think we will be able to get the crazy elevator game with the tunnel started this week too!
TracyYay, terrific! The visual of the 4 poles was a little bit distracting on the first couple of reps, I think. He was not as accurate and a little bit wider in the bouncing – but then perfect in the set of 4 poles. But by the last 2 reps he had it all worked out the poles 1-6 looked great and so did poles 7-10. So…. straighten those last 4 poles out! You can do a couple of reps and if it is easy peasy for him, immediately add poles 11-12 so you have 2 sets of 6. When you get to that, be sure to show him the 2nd set first, then when he is successful, try starting at pole 1.
He looks great here!!! So close to 12 straight poles!
TracyHi!
Good questions here! In thinking about it, I really think it is more about comfort in the trial environment. If she is a rockstar in training with the toy in your hand or pocket (or cookies) the next step is to get her to be able to do courses with weaves with the toy outside the ring – and then run back to get it or have someone else throw it in as a surprise reward.
And, definitely more NFC in the trial environment with a toy. Do the first bunch of NFC runs *without* the weaves, so it is not all about the weaves (too much pressure). Just get her into the environment with the toy obvious, and make it a party. Then have the toy hidden and reward her as a surprise. Then with the toy obvious, ask for the weaves… eventually working up to asking for weaves with a hidden toy. That can help break the ice to get great weaves in the trial ring too (by making the ring a more relaxing place to be). The other stuff (like handling a certain way) all kind of band-aids it and tries to cover her not being totally comfortable.I donāt think I would retrain it at this point – a lot of dogs her size bounce and it works beautifully for them š
let me know if that makes sense!
TracyHi there!
Good job on these sessions, he gave really good info to guide us!
Looking at the session separately:
I think the first session was a little inconsistent with the reinforcement placement so he was having to multitask the different placement and it was too much. You were tending to reward back at you or from your hand after turning tight on the exit, so he was definitely asking questions. So, be super consistent with always throwing the reward on the line so he doesnāt have to think twice about it. And to help get him in the groove when warming up on poles 7-12, start in the straight line where he would be coming from when exiting poles 6 (to help get that line of poles into his view).Yes, his striding was a little all over but I think it had more to do him trying to figure out where to look tp get the reward so he couldnāt also think about the striding.
In the 2nd session at Carrieās, you were so much more consistent and so was he! Yay! As he works out the footing, you will get some misses but no worries, that is part of the process. He was definitely rhythmic and looking forward, a much better Session!
So now that he is seeing all 12 poles, we can help him think about the striding more – if these poles are totally straight, take a long striding of rope and angle them open so a string can pass through them straight but that is all š That would be less than half an inch, to get the 12 poles AND the striding.
let me know if that makes sense! He is super close to having them all finished and polished!
Tracy
Hi! He did really well here!
Separating the two skills: he looked absolutely perfect on the āgo straightā moments and never looked at the off course jump. (At least that what it looks like, I couldnāt hear all the verbals so let me know if he was struggling LOL!) That is terrific, especially with a tempting visual right there. YAY!!! You can have your dog side arm trailing but remind your outside arm to not come out ahead of you so he doesnāt confuse it with the get out arm.
He also did really well with the get out cues, also quite perfect – my only beef is that you were running towards it and setting the line to the jump with motion/line, rather than pushing him away and running straight š It is a little harder to see on the angles of the camera at the beginning and the end of the video, but you can it more clearly in the middle after :19 approximately. So lay a line on the ground to help prevent you from running towards the jump on the get out š It is not wrong, necessarily, to set the line with motion to the jump but in this case, it doesn’t teach him to move away to give you the positional advantage of being far up the line.
And the FC and BC after the jump will be even tighter if you are not moving to the jump wing – when you did that, the turns were good but if you are already lateral, the turns will be super tight because your position will really drive him through the turn.
On the one rep at about :22 where he didnāt jump as smoothly – yes, I think you were a little late on the get out cue – you started on a great running line but the upper body cue was a little late and then the lower body stepped in towards the wing. The rest of the reps were earlier and he was very happy with that š
So, as you work the upper body cue to move away, you can soften it a little to allow your feet to keep moving straight šGreat job! Let me know if the ideas about the running line make sense.
Tracy
Hi!
>>When I said fade the āpushā, yes exactly for the reason you saidā¦way too late. I was referencing the backside wrap, currently push, pick, pick, pick.
So, make it just pick pick pick? And that cue is only for the backside circle wrap? I like it!
>>> And backside slice (german), currently push, essā¦.. So if the backside is more of a 180 (go to the back, take the jump, and continue in same direction you started), would you consider that a sliceā¦ Hence my comment on needing 4 or 5.
For the slice – I use my back cue for anything that is not a circle wrap, because it is a similar approach to the entry for them. Then, if needed, you can use a verbal for the wrap exit or a name call for a softer FC or BC.
>> My mind gets confused when I think about what it looks like when doing a threadle when the jumps are set like a serpentine vs when you are approaching a jump in front of you. Seems that maybe in that case, one should just move their butt so it ends up being a push or something easier to handleā¦.>>>
It is sometimes easier to threadle, so definitely worthwhile to work on š
>>We have tons of NADAC here, but USDAA will always win out. NADAC is kind of filler, but I enjoy it. We also have a lot of AKC (whether I like AKC or not usually will depend on the dog!!) I wonāt waste my time or $$ to do it just for fun. I expect Indy will be fairly successful, so maybe I will start liking it. My cattle dog likes AKC just because the times are more suited for her, but she loves to spin and tell me off! Havenāt done any UKI, would need to go down and visit BADASS in Utah (Keith is awesome, but I have enough to do here).>>
Sounds good! And you will like UKI too but it is hard to justify a long trip.
>> Indy got her paw stuck in her crate (trying to open it herself, I think) so resting her a bit. I think she is fine but may be a bit sore or bruised. Keeping an eye on it!>>
Ouch! Poor girl! Hope she feels better soon. Enjoy your weekend!
Tracy
Hi! He is definitely getting better and better at stopping while you run!! Yay!!! This is so helpful.
I think that we can add to little things and that will help out with the questions from this session. He was getting further and further forward off the board as the session progressed. He was stopping, just further forward. So two things:
– check the position of the target after each rep, so it is in the right spot for the next rep. When it gets further away, he moves to it so he ends up further off the board.
– you mentioned him watching your hands, and I think that is happening a little but also the placement of reinforcement is contributing to him coming further off the end of the plank. As you move past, I really like the reinforcement of tossing the reward back to him. But you were actually tossing it ahead (a little to the side, but ahead). So that was building value of releasing off the board and wanting to pull forward off the board. On the cookie tosses, aim to throw it a little behind him or right at the target, to build the value for staying close to the end of the board no matter where you are. He might still watch your hands a bit (nothing else to watch here after he gets into target position :)) but that is fine for now. The other thing about the cookie toss is to be sure that you give the marker (āget itā) before you move your hand to throw š If you throw before the marker or at the same time as it, he will be cuing off your hand and not the verbal.Let me know if that makes sense! I think the progress here is great and these little details should help. Nice work!
TracyGood morning! I hope you all feel better!!!!
He did well here on these games! On the first video with the movement added to the elevator game, he did really well hitting and holding his position as you moved. I think it was just the right amount of motion too: enough to be challenging but not so much that he was failing. Yay! So definitely keep going with this game mixed in a lot: it is low impact so you can do more reps while he sorts it out, gradually adding in more and more motion.
The crazy elevator game is also looking good – he is balanced and thoughtful driving up the board, which is great because that is what he will need when things get going even faster. He did think it was a bit nuts to move to the end position while you were stationary LOL! But he figured it out and you were patient to let him sort it out š Keeping the target in closer to the board totally helps – after each rep, check to make sure that he hasnāt accidentally pushed it away.
I think on the next session, you can combine the elements of these 2 games: warm up with a little motion on the elevator game like you did here, then do a bit crazy elevator game with the same amount of motion after you cue the target position. That will start getting us closer to doing the full teeter š
Nice work here!
TracyHi!
Yes, the elevator games start to add in the speed, now that the she is sooooo good with her end position and looks so confident! Yay! My dogs didnāt start going fast until the crazy elevator game and then adding the tunnel brought it all together š
I am excited about your field trip to the trial!! It has been really hard to get these youngsters ready for anything – we just donāt know how they will react to the environment. But, that is fine: underneath it all, Sundae is a stable, smart girl. So it might take her a little while to get used to the new environments, but I know that she will. And AKC allows training in the ring now, so you can bring a toy in to help ease the transition.
I think we are indeed heading to the new normal, whatever that is. The newest CDC mask (or, should I say, no mask) guidelines came down right as I was arriving in the RV for the first of 7 days of seminars. So now it is all about what to do about masks and vaccinations and… it is a little nerve wracking.
Keep me posted about the trial! I canāt wait to hear how she does!
Tracy
Hi!
Really nice teetering here!!! New environment, different footing, different teeter – he looked very comfortable. That is terrific! I think he was a little forward in the weight shift at the end of the board because he was hashing out the different rate of fall of this particular teeter, and also maybe because the target was a little far for him? So he was reaching a bit. But that is not a real concern at all, you can move the target closer. And at home, you can start to fade the target on the elevator game.He did well with the person hanging out near the dog walk. I think you can also add random person distraction on the elevator game, just having her nearby like a judge would be. But donāt have the person there for the crazy elevator or full teeter, I donāt want him to do anything except focus on the board on those.
Great job!
TracyHi! I think he is making progress with the poles but I agree that the session was more about how to engage him with the difficult environment.
We often donāt realize the environment is difficult until we are into the session – at that point, it is fine to switch gears and stop trying the weaves.
One thing that I think will help is to take something really simple that he can do (like standing on a board or getting into a box or something) and in them moments when the environment is really difficult – engage him with that. If he might leave/zoom, then I recommend a leash so you can set up a very small training environment and he is more likely to engage and less likely to leave.
So for example, if I know that the environment is going to be difficult, I will ask for engagement first and see what I have in terms of focus and reinforcement. The dog will come out on leash, I will try to get some play going, see if he will offer that simple behavior on the box, reward, then play. If I can get that engagement, I might continue on to the more complex skill like weaves… or not. LOL!! Sometimes I discard my training plan entirely to just work on engagement and reinforcement in the environment.It will actually speed up the weave training because it eliminates the distractions by helping him to focus through them, even if we donāt actually work on the weaves. And it helps you understand how to engage him in the trial environment, where hopefully there will be no feral cats š
Let me know if that makes sense!!!!
Tracy
