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Good morning!
Mountain climbers – there is some tip added and he is doing well! And the added speed from the wing wrap before it looked good: he was fast and you were able to blast by, do crosses… he never looked away from his task.
The sending without you was not quite as perfect as when you were running by, he stopped a little short on the way to the top and was not as fast driving up it. So for your next mountain climber session, 2 things: start with this little bit of tip and do 3 quick reps:
1 – warm up & reminder where you move with him and past the end
2 – sending him ahead
3 – either sending him ahead if he needs to see it again to get more speed & confidence, or if he was as strong on rep 2 as he was on rep 1, you can add the rear cross to the game here.After those, add a tiny bit more tip to the board and do the ret of the session with you running with him, running past, etc. Those elements are ready for more tip.
The 2nd game (teeter-tables) was really interesting to watch! He is not yet 100% happy with this game – he was really having to think about where his hind end was and how to balance (and that is fine, because we want him to think about that!). He lost his back foot off the board when you got excited – which might be why he sometimes was having trouble with the teeter when you were running or during a course. It is hard to multitask body awareness and balance, when da momma is running/cuing/etc!
I am confident that he will sort this out very quickly though – using the same tip as you had here, give him 2 more sessions of just back and forth across it and let him guide you about how he wants to pick up the pace. When you see him leaping on faster, turning around fluently and moving down the board faster… you can add more speed too 🙂 And when he says “I got this” and is going faster than you, turn the game around so he starts at the top and only goes downhill, with him running (either with you or as a recall). As soon as he sorts his body out on this, things are going to move very quickly. Yay!!
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyPS – I forgot to add in that when she comes down the board, you can ask her to hop off the side, on cue – so that she doesn’t build a habit of running down the board and hopping off the contact zone 🙂
T
Hi and welcome! I am so happy to see you here 🙂
This is a really strong session! I see what you mean about the little bit of wobbliness. – she didn’t seem overly worried however, I agree – more stability will bring more confidence. A different jump wing would work, or a couple under the teeter to hold it up – look like you had 2 there?
The other thing you can do is tape a spoon to the underside of the teeter so she goes one step further to get the cookie out of the spoon, which also opens up you not having to face her (she might have been slowing down a little early because you were facing her).
But overall, this is going well! If she has another session where she is going straight up the board like this, definitely add in some of the challenges of you moving past, sending her, etc. She is off to a great start!
Have fun 🙂
TracyHi! Did he start without you on the first one? LOL!!!
Also notice how he sits and stares at the end of the board when he is in a sit LOL!
He was well with no tip but he did GREAT with the tip added! I think that part of the video was the best part! When you had some tip and came in from the wing – he drove right to the end and didn’t seem to be crouching at all (I did see sone crouch earlier in the video, but not when he was coming in from the wing).
So now as you add tip (and as the teach it arrives) you can also go for the wild and crazy routine so he is too pumped up to think about the tip: if you have a tunnel and some jumps available, do a crazy sequence where he can fly… then bring him over to the wing-teeter set up and see how it goes! His response will of course guide us as to how quickly to add tip, but he is making big progress!
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyAh! She is so fun! This was a great lesson in “Emmie needs to sort it out first then goes fast.” She totally needed to assess the situation in the beginning: “where does it tip? What is this setup? When does it move?” You were great: ‘come to the end, eat a cookie. Easy!’. You were perfect in your no-pressure, tons-of-cookies approach, it really helped.
Emmie’s response? “Game on!” I love it! She not only got fast and confident going uphill but she was also not concerned about the movement or noise going back down the board. She has value for her 2o2o position so was offering that, both when she was unsure of the uphills and then even after she was happy with the uphills.
When you had your back to her because you were planting the cookie – I could totally see her plotting to jump on the board. HA! So funny! But also great – very confident. There is no way a worried dog would do that, and since this game is all about building confidence: happy dance!!So at home, stay on this setup for another session or two, and then we will begin to add in tiny bit of tip.
And a question: what is your access to other teeters? It would be great if you can get her to play the first step games on different teeters in different places, but that is easier said than done!Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
It was really cool to see her think through this! The behavior from your previous backing up sessions was there (when she very deliberately engaged and lifted the back feet) but as you noted – a whole new ball game on the teeter!!!! The progression during the session was very good – part of it was you figuring out which mechanics would help set her up. A couple of ideas for you to help get her more in the groove – she reminds me of my older puppy (2.5 years old) who had a virtually identical session or two the first couple of times I asked her to back up into the teeter. Mainly, she had some understanding that it was backing up but she was not 100% comfortable yet doing it onto the moving board.
So, since she is comfortable with backing up onto a non-moving plank and moving forward onto the slightly moving teeter end, you can split the difference: prop the teeter so the end is not moving (like the plank) and get her backing up onto the end that is not moving.
When she is happy to do that, you can gradually add in some tip to it, being careful to only mark the backing up and not the turning around to get on (she is clever, but you were good with only marking backing up LOL!)
2 ways to set her up for success on the teeter before it moves which will translate to more success after it moves:
– you can the plank lay right next to it (or over it if it is really stable) for a reminder session on the plank then immediately go over to the teeter.
– you can introduce the backing up with more leaning back and forth – meaning, start her with 4 on the board – cue her to step forward into 2o2o, then back into 4 on position. Then you can move to having her in 2o2o, and getting her to lean forward (cookie lure is magic for hits :)) without moving her feet… then lean back (still in 2o2o). Then if she is happy with that – have her back feet come barely off the board, with a little more leaning forward – then see if she will step up back onto the board into 2o2o.The stepping up also brings up a question: on your non-moving plank, is she stepping up or is it flush to the floor? If she is stepping up backwards: fabulous! If it is flush to the floor and she doesn’t have to step up, you can transfer the backing up behavior to other stable surfaces where she has to step up. Let me know if that makes sense.
The other thing you can do is make it a tiny bit harder to turn around to get back on the teeter (and therefore easier to back up) by using your cones to make a channel – pull them forward past the end of the teeter plank so there are closer to where her front feet are in the 2o2o and see if that helps (of course she might go around them entirely to get back on, but sometimes a channel really helps the backing up behavior.
You are off to a strong start here! Let me know what you think and keep me posted on her progress 🙂
TracyWait… you’re just gonna slip that in about flyball?!?!? Ha! So fun!!!!! We will need to do some flyball sooooooon!
Good morning!
he is doing well here!
On the ‘downhill’ video: he seemed happy with the movement AND the noise! The mat under the end where he got rewarded was clever and definitely took out the noise element. The teeter resetting onto the barrel made noise – but it was far away and he was also off the board eating cookies when it made noise, so he did not appear to react to it at all. yay! The reset slam of the teeter is definitely something dogs react to, so keep releasing him and tossing treats so he hears the reset slam and eats the cookies.
Your placement of reward here was spot on – low enough to get the bow but not the down. That will set up nicely for the eventual end position!
Using this set up, revisit it just as it is for another session. And if he is still a happy cat on it 🙂 you can then add a little more tip for the session after that.I love the number 8 wire solution board LOL!!! It moves in all directions and makes a bit of noise too – perfect 🙂 He was trying to get him body on it but he was also trying to follow the cookies (because, he is sooooo hungry haha) – so on the name visit to it, try just letting him offer getting on and balancing and we can do the ‘pull you off’ games when he is more balanced and on the other wobble board when it arrives. The added game for it won’t be post til March 15 here (16 for you) so it gives you the week to play with it 🙂
>> Thanks for the information about the weave course. I assume this would be good for a retrain of both my dogs to solidify in their brains entries and exits? Is it too much work for Hero to do this course now, alongside seesaw training?>>
The weave course is good for retrains because it starts from square 1 and goes all the way through – and this time, I have included challenges early on that I wish I had taught all of my other dogs early on rather than after they learned 12 poles. It should really help solidify entries and exits, plus we can do some problem solving. It won’t be too much training, because neither the teeter nor the weaves should be trained every day… so it forces us to slow down and be very systematic. I train each skill every other day, with a day off in between (and often with a day training totally other things too LOL!)
Great job here!
TracyHi again! I just suggested adding tip after watching your previous session, so I am glad you did. She totally noticed the tip (they are supposed to notice the tip) and it was overall a good session. But yes, you did add too much tip for this first session by going from half an inch to a full inch, so I am glad you went back to half an inch.
She was stopping short on the full inch tip, which means she needs another couple of sessions on the half inch tip. Those sessions can be really short – 2 or 3 reps with high value rewards. And also, as you add tip, mix in craziness between reps: for example, with Contraband, I throw the frizzer and get him tugging between reps and he does not think about the tip when he is wild 🙂
Don’t go on to adding more tip in the mountain climber track until her performance looks basically the same as it did without tip 🙂 Then add a little more. Some of the tracks will take longer than others, and that is fine!
Along with mountain climbers, you can mix in the downhill game and the end position games in different sessions on different days, so you can make progress on all of them (they build together in a couple of week). That way it is not all about the one game.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning! This looks fabulous! She was really confident on every rep, driving to the top with a happy waggy tail. And that included the sending ahead and the rear crosses. She was also super fast. And she didn’t hold a grudge on the reps where you forgot to have the cookie pre-loaded hahaha! Excellent session. You got most of the challenges in, the only thing I would suggest is to try moving past and doing a FC or a BC as she is coming up the board, so she gets used to Staying on the end of the board even when you are turning and crossing.
And if she is happy with the crosses – go back to the easier challenges, without the wing… and add a tiny bit of tip. VERY tiny, less than half an inch and drape a towel or something over the top of the tripod teeter holder so there is minimal noise when the teeter hits it. I suggest the tiny tip and minimal noise because I want to protect this progress and keep her VERY confident. Her response will guide us to let us know how much tip we can add, and how quickly 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi again!
I think she likes this LOL!!
This also looked really good with the bumps and bar added in – she was still bending really nicely!! And no trouble bouncing the distances (she had one moment of distraction but that was not a big deal, she came right back). You had lots of good starting positions (in the center) and the verbal was there too. Nice!!!!
Because she caught on so quickly and because she was sooooo excited – definitely add food into the routine here 🙂 Use the toy to get her focused, then trade for a cookie, line her up – then send, then toy as the reward like you did here. That will help for a couple of reasons:
First, she will be less bitey if she learns to make a smooth transitions and food rewards are involved.
Second, with only the toy, you were holding and pulling back on her collar to get her set up (so she wouldn’t start without you LOL!) but that was very stimulating so she was getting more ramped up than we need her to be (and that brings on the growly bitey behavior). If we needed her to get motivated, I would suggest holding her collar and pulling back like that… but she was perfectly motivated so you’ll want to be calmer, gently holding her collar, no pulling back, front feet on the ground.
And that extra little bit of calmness will also help her not rush the last jump – when you were running away and she was really pumped up, she was putting her feet down on the last bump a couple of times – she was just rushing a little to get to you 🙂 So, if you are not quite as fast, she will think about her feet a little more.Yes, when holding her we would want to say the verbal then let go of the collar. The other thing you can do is ask her to do a sit stay in front of the first jump – she is so confident with this (yay!) that we can totally ask for a stay now, so she doesn’t just send herself into it. That will work nicely for start lines at future trials, when she is going to be really excited too 🙂
Great job here! Let me know what you think.
TracyGood morning! Wow! I see grass and not snow!!!!!
Ruby was VERY happy to be outside doing this LOL!
And as you mentioned: she caught on really fast and was perfect. Nice bending turns to both sides! And even though she was very excited and tugging like a crazy girl, she didn’t lose her head and she maintained good balance and bend. Excellent! My only suggestion is to start her more in the center (where all the wings meet) so that she can bend even more into the first turn. In order to do that, you’ll probably need to get her to settle next to you – she was very pumped up so you can try getting the toy back then giving her a cookie so she takes a breath and gives you a moment to line up… then send her.Great job! I see you added the next level below. Yay!
Tracy
Good morning!!!
He is looking terrific! Interesting that you noticed him having questions on the opposite side of the send side. His first rep (starting on your left, turning to his right) was spot on! yay! The other reps were from your right, turning to his left – he definitely had questions 🙂 It was hard to tell if he was seeing your slightly-different movement on that side (on those reps you stepped back with your send leg rather than moving away like you did in the first rep) and that definitely caught his attention. Or, after the first rep, he might have realized that it was a chase game so he was all about the chase da momma rather than commit to the wings.
And it is also possible that he is a righty not a lefty 🙂
So a couple of ideas because I think it will cover all the bases:
For now, because he was wanting to come to you rather than around the wings (for whatever reason) – shift the reinforcement so that as you do that front cross and leave, your toy lands on the other side of the wings. So as you are leaving, he is seeing his toy there to grab. Start it kind of in the middle of his loop around the wings, then when he gets it – you can gradually change the position of it so that he sees it just before he exits, and then after he finishes the wrap. So basically you are tossing the reward back to him as you leave, so it becomes more about ‘go around the wings’ and less ‘follow da momma’ 🙂
Let me know if that makes sense! I think I do that in some of the demos, I can find the moments if you like. I have done it with all of my dogs at some point because, like Disco, there is a day when they would rather chase me and the toy then go do the wrap LOL!
And, on those left turns: move more slowly for a bit so he can think about how to get himself to turn left 🙂 But if you were seeing this question on both sides, start both sides a bit more slowly so he can figure out where the reward will be, then go back up to your full speed here 🙂Great job! Let me know what you think and keep me posted!
TracyHi! This went really well too!
She found the backside tunnels really well! And paid perfect attention to the differences in your connections for when you wanted the tunnel and didn’t want the tunnel. Each rep looked great! The only tweak would be to add in a little name call on the tunnel entry before she gets in, so she turns a little tighter in the exits on the first couple of reps – she came charging out and didn’t know you wanted her to turn on the exit to face the wing.
>> I’m wondering if I should be putting the obstacles a bit farther apart and running more? This amount of motion does save my knees, but I’m wondering if she needs more space to open up?>>
I think this tight spacing was perfect for starting: she is a little slower which leads to being able to pay attention more, and it saves your knees especially with the ground being iffy.
She did well, so as soon as the ground is safe: yes, open it up so she can run run run! But no need to do that til it is save to run and not muddy/icy/rutty.Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
She is doing well here! There are a couple of things that we can clarify for her that will make it even smoother.
On your 1st run – add in the wrap cues. The wraps out of the tunnel with just physical cues were really good here (and also at the end of the video on the last rep) so you can totally use your wrap cues on those.
Your cue to the send to the far jump was also strong at :12 and :25 but you said “go on” really strongly… so she went on and jumped big 🙂 Then she was surprised that it was a tight turn. Notice how much tighter it was at :41 without the Go On verbal. So, the good news is that Go On has meaning! For the sends to the wraps, swap it out for the wrap verbal and I think it will be great.At :50, I think 2 things happened to have her curl in towards you and not take the far jump –
on the previous reps, the go on cue verbal was paired with coming right back, so she might have been offering coming right back.
and, I think the timing/location of the cue at :49 was too early for her to think you wanted the red jump (at this early stage of her career :)) – it was happening before takeoff for the jump after tunnel, so she likely assumed it was for that jump.
You did repeat the cue after she landed but the connection was forward to the far jump, so she was unsure and curled in. As strange as it sounds, connection to her and leaning forward into it (less arm send and looking ahead) will help with the bigger sends.Part of it is also her youthful inexperience: you needed to be at or one step past the jump after the tunnel to help her realize you wanted the red jump. You can see at 1:01 you got to that spot and did a really nice transition: she both committed to the red jump AND turned really well!
When you added the transitions and the physical cues – she looked fabulous on the tight turns, even with all of the speed & extension coming in before it. Yay!
Great job here!
Let me know what you think!
Tracy
