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Hi! Yes in MP4 will will introduce the get out cue and also work more on serpentines at speed, which involve “drive in but DO NOT TOUCH THE MOMMA and turn back out” – while you are converging because that is what we do on serps a lot. We can also play some “don’t touch da momma” games, I had to do those for Voodoo who used to thing slamming me was SO FUN hahaha.
Tracy
Hi there!
I am glad the snow left as quickly as it arrived!!omg the chicken right at the beginning, that cracked me up – it looked like it was putting itself in a start line stay LOL!
You started off the threadles with a bit too much upper body motion on the first 2 reps, nice job catching yourself after the 2nd rep. The rest looked really good! Nice position, nice connection!
On the rep where she didn’t come into the correct side, maybe it was that you were too close to the wing, or too exciting on the get it ? Either way, it wasn’t an issue after that. gShe did a great job of holding the stay and ignoring the distraction on all of these. Yay! And she was starting to understand the full behavior, turning her head to go back out. Very nice!!
At 1:43, you changed the verbal to “get close” – remember to just use close, otherwise the “get” might confuse her with the ‘get it’ cue.
The serp balance looked great! She had one oopsie of just going to the toy, but that is fine because she fixed it really nicely. Overall, the had a great line on these!! Nice!
On the dig dig wraps, you are moving forward to much on the first 2 reps – your voice says wrap but your body said GO! You were moving less forward and turning more after that and it was much clearer for her 🙂 She is still learning the verbals, so the body language is still important. You were able to get in some really early turns and she showed good commitment! Only one oopsie on that, but you had not stepped to the wing before leaving. When you did give the one step at the very end from a big distance, she nailed it! Great commitment and lovely turn! Yay!
Nice job!! Fingers crossed for no more snow 🙂
Tracy
Hi! Yes, I think you can set it aside to revisit later. Do you have video of her not taking the last jump when on your right? That is interesting! I wonder if she is strongly one-sided and had to abort mission on your right in or to preserve balance. Definitely pull these grids out again, here and there – I put them in a rotation to run through maybe once a week or every 2 weeks at this stage, especially as you add sequencing (which tends to get dogs a bit off balance).
And yes, post the advanced decel games, I would love to see her enjoy the art of full on running LOL!!!
T
Hi! Sorry about the snow, hopefully it melts QUICKLY! We are all ready for warm weather 🙂
Good session here! She is sorting this out and was definitely less frustrated here! My only tweak is to try not to help if she freezes with a verbal cue – you can split the behavior more by putting the target in sooner or ask her to hop off then back on if she ‘forgets’ about one of her feet (which seems to be what happened on that 2nd rep :)) And then continue with those big verbal parties when she does get it right! And then quiet again like you did when she came off by accident at 2:00 approx. Target position = party on! Party off when it isn’t target position 🙂
Nice job!!!
TracyHi! Bummer about the internet connection, I feel that pain!!!
He is doing really well with the decel exercises.
On the first couple where you were relatively close to the wing, he was pretty perfect. Good job with then adding in a bit more challenge! When you did a shoulder turn at :27, the wing was right there, so I think he was fine to commit to it. And good balance with the go!
He had an error on the bigger challenge right after that, but it was a combo of he had just gotten the toy on acceleration and then you could have been one stride sooner on the decel. You were sooner on the next rep and he was perfect. At :57, great decel, just add a little more connection – he wasn’t sure which side to be on for a few strides so was drifting behind you 🙂You can add challenge to this by replacing the toy with a tunnel 🙂 Acceleration and a tunnel verbal mean, well, tunnel 🙂 And you can do the decel/shoulder turn to mean NOT tunnel 🙂
Nice job!!
TracyHi!
I think the jumping on the set point and grid all looks good here. He was balanced and also powerful. About the oxer – separating by 2 inches was fine, it looked like a very clear visual. So, these grids/challenges go into the rotation to revisit maybe once a week or as a quick warm up before a sequence, while also keeping an eye on how many jumps he does per session and per week. You can also add in some motion, like leading out less and walking forward as you release. Over time, it can and should be built up to running but that is months worth of work, spreading it out.
You had been wanting to add more height to bars in sequences, so you can gradually build it in. I suggest doing it very systematically and gradually (we have tons of time now, anyway!) – bearing in mind that he has to focus on jumping while also watching handling during sequences and that is not something he has to with the grids! So – pick one spot on a sequence where you can be ahead and giving a very clear cue – and put that one single jump at 10″ for example. I prefer to start with an extension jump. Then maybe 2 jumps. Then next time, revisit and see if he is ready for more. On collection jumps, you can add one slightly higher bar in a spot where you can basically guarantee you’ll be there to help. Show him the higher bar by having him go over it a couple of times and then run the sequence. Eventually, you will be able to have all bars at full height as needed.On the wrap criteria – I think a couple of things might’ve contributed. If this was done after the set point and grid, then he had “take the jump” on his mind. And on the wrap right, a cleaner transition will help: as you took the toy away, it sounds like you said “ready” – and he said YES I AM READY and ran to the jump before you got the collection cue out LOL! So after the toy moment, take his collar, start the collection cue and then let go and see what he does 🙂 Let me know how it goes!!
Nice work here!
TracyHi there!
>>Yes her name rhymes with go and no. I didn’t really think of that when naming her. But I think she responds better to her name than my go cue, so I think I should change the go cue instead. At times I think she checks in with me no matter what I am saying, but it would be good to have more clarity.
Well, never tell her no, she is too cute, just give her whatever she wants LOL!!!!! And maybe use RUN as your extension cue on course instead of Go?
>>Also you mentioned helping with a warm up routine. I don’t have a good physical warm up routine. I just have been doing some attention exercises. What do you suggest?
When she is more adult and running courses for real, I recommend a visit with a rehab vet or PT so they can assess her needs and give you very specific things to do. It is super cool to have dog-specific stuff, I have different ones for each of my dogs based on age, build, strengths/weaknesses, etc. A general format that I think is common for ALL dogs: trotting in a circle for a couple of minutes in each direction. Slow puppy stretches, following a cookie lure – but don’t hold the stretches for a long time, just a couple of seconds. Body tricks are great too like give paw, backing up, push ups like sit-stand-down. A couple of explosive recalls (I have my dogs stand on me to get their cookies after a recall). That will take a 5 minutes or more for a warm up, which should be good!
She was a super good girlie powering through her grid! Wowza! I particularly liked the first 3 jumps. She started to lift her head and invert a little towards the end of the grid – I think she was doing it either because you were slowing down or she was slowing down for the reward, or both 🙂 It is not a problem, and we can tweak it a little – you can do this with 4 jumps to get more space so the reward is further away (I do like your improv jump, though :)) and you can lead out less (maybe to jump 3?) and release while you are walking forward – that way you are moving the whole time and she can power to the reward too. Overall, though, she looks great!!!!!
Nice job!
TracyHi! This is a fun game to keep working the understanding! She did a good job figuring out the behavior – I have some tweaks in mechanics for you to help speed things along.
For this offering game, you’re going to have an easier time if you are in front for now. Being off to the side is causing her to face you which isn’t the straight position you’re working towards. She was frustrated and barking (haven’t heard her do that!) so be sure to help her out. Eventually you can be off to the side, but that is more of a proofing thing for the finished behavior and not really a training thing.
You can also feed her a little higher to help her not lie down in position – the sweet spot is probably about 6 inches off the ground, low enough to help the targeting but high enough to discourage a down. Something to play with to find that sweet spot. If she goes into a down, no worries, keep rewarding and just change the feeding position a bit.
When she is trying to figure it out, try not to talk to her – it draws focus to you and away from the plank, plus I think she might he waiting til you help her out – that might be why the barking increased through the session and she only got into position when you cued it (by asking things like ‘what do you have to do’) . So in the spirit of letting her offer it independently because the plank is the cue, stay quiet 🙂 The plank is the cue for now, just as simply being on a dog walk is also a cue for the 2o2o position (a verbal cue is fine but I also expect the trained adult dogs to do a 2o2o on the DW no matter what, so we clarify that for them here on the plank by letting them offer without additional layers of help:))
Good progress here! Let me know what you think and keep me posted!!
TracyHe is really fun 🙂 I think he is just still a young boy – so the distractions plus heat plus thinking… it dampens the tug a little. But it will all come together as long as we keep it short and fun! I think he just doesn’t like a lot of reps on the same ol’, same ol’ unless it involves running the whole time 🙂
And yes, I am always on the quest for the Busy Bee hahaha!Yay! Glad you are enjoying! And yes, it can be paralyzing to try to do ALL the things! You can always go back and add anything as needed – who knows, the extra verbals might be important in a few years? Or not 🙂 Have fun and keep me posted!
TracyH Tricia! This was a cool video to watch, even just the 3 reps. I think he was surprised on the 1st rep – jumped in nicely on the 1st two intervals then was like WHOA THIS IS DIFFERENT haha! He pulled it off by was definitely a little “short” in his landings near the jumps. 2nd rep – he is already adjusting (challenge accepted!) and powering through differently. Rep 3: totally different! He was balanced but also powerful, working out how to handle the changes in distance. I think he is really getting into good form too – more rounded, head down, fast, balanced. Yes! Very fun to watch him sort it out! Revisit it maybe once a week in your training rotation. Nice work here!!!
Tracy
Hi! First rep did look pretty strong on this video (10″) and 2nd rep was not quite as good, probably the distraction moment that you mentioned. I suggest leaving the set point in this configuration, alternating between 8 and 10 inches over the course of several sessions (over a week or 2) then alternate 10 and 12 and see how it goes! He is moving forward so we can move forward and add challenge, slowly 🙂
Have fun!
TracyHi there! Both of these are looking good – he seems to have found a new power in his hind end and was really powering through both of them. He stayed balanced on the first progressive and might have been a little over on his front at the very end of the 2nd grid, but I am really happy with how he is pushing into the grid and powering through. Same with the 1st set point – power! This set up might be the right set up to really let him show us what he has 🙂 I will check back for the 10inch grid!
T
Hi! I love your fact sheet LOL!!
She did really well, screaming kids are a great proofing distraction!She has such quick feet in this grid – effortless and it seems like the grid and distances were no trouble. I thought she was a little “hoppy” at the end of the grid on the 1st 2 reps, meaning she was lifting her head and popping up more than jumping forward – but that smoothed out on the last 2 reps so either she found her rhythm, or the toy placement changed a little, or both – but the last 2 were really strong!! And her stay looks fabulous, which is so helpful.
Yes, go to 5 jumps when you have access to them or use the 8 inch height as the 5th jump so it has the biggest distance (should not be a problem for her). But you can do this on 4 jumps too, no problem, til we are all through the stay home order.
Nice work!!!!
Tracy
