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Oh no, sounds so awful 🙁 the photos on the news look so scary 🙁 keep me posted! I don’t think you are being flaky at all, I think you’re had a bumpy road. Fingers crossed for easier times ahead so you can keep playing and posting!
Tholy cow she is SPEEDY on some of these, as if the video is in fast forward LOL!!
Bouncing is a hind end skill and young dogs often don’t realize they have a hind end LOL! So we teach them 🙂 On the minny pinny, try it with just 2 of the jumps at a 5 foot distance (from the center of each bar) and see what she does.
On the line of jumps – that is something we call a balance grid, and I love that type of technique training! You can break it down for her – start with 3 jumps, low height, 6 feet apart from center to center. Leave her pretty close to jump 1 so she does NOT have a running start (so she has to push of from her rear). You lead out 10 feet past jump 3, put a reward on the ground, release her and stand still – that is usually the starting point to get the bouncing. Here is a visual, one of my youngsters doing this for the first time when she was 10 months old. Her distances are 4 feet because she is only 16″ tall, so Keiko should be approx 6 feet. If she adds strides at 6 feet, tighten it to 5 feet. If she tries to takes several jumps as one, lengthen it to 7 or 8 feet just to get the concept rolling.
Let me know how it goes!
TracyWow, great job! I love the distance! You can incorporate that tunnel that is nearby – do a lateral send to the barrel then keep her on the line to the tunnel, yeehaw! Fun! I think she is also ready for you to replace the barrel with a jump wing here (you can also do a lateral lead out to the tunnel – we often see tunnels as start obstacles especially if you do AKC!) This skill can get built into a lot of different things since she is doing so well with it 🙂
Tracy
Hi –
>>Fizz hurt himself yesterday going for a dead toy so now I’m all freaked out about dead toy reinforcement. 🙁>>>If he OK? What did he do? Ouch, poor guy. I have gone to using a giant hollee roller if I want a dead toy so the pup can just scoop it up, otherwise I just use the manners minder. Young dogs don’t seem to are enough about their bodies, poor things!
>>I was trying toy ahead and food from my hand. This was mostly good except the last one where I was out of position and he ticked the wing.>>
I think this looks really good! You can play with moving faster so you are out of the way and up the line more – he is bending nicely so just needs more view/room on the line. You can also tuck the Pet Tutor in behind the wing to reward behind you as you start to run forward, or the PT out ahead if he is going to slam himself trying to get the toy. He is being pretty thoughtful with his body around the wing, so on the 2nd and 3rd reps you were a little too close and that hitched the line around the wing. Also, looking at his head position – feeding from the hand causes him to look up at you when you aren’t moving that fast, so you can either move faster and have him chase your hand, or trigger the PT sooner so he can drive to it without looking up at you. A toy that he won’t splat himself for would be good, but we can totally stick with the PT for ‘placed’ rewards so he doesn’t break himself!
>>I didn’t do any work today. I’m so paranoid now. Why are dogs?!>>
I totally feel that pain! As long as he isn’t hurting, you can work him on things that he won’t slam himself into, like the PT as the reward because he will be careful coming into it. The giant hollee roller and also a really big Jolly Ball are good too – things these dogs can grab, at a run, without having to slow down to get them so they don’t end up slamming or twisting their bodies. It might not be as high value as a toy on the ground.
Keep me posted on how he is doing!
TracyHi there! Great question! I have seen him do this on your videos, so I know what you are talking about. We ideally want the dogs to look at us, but it is NOT necessarily a MUST for now. Not all dogs want to look at us because there is a fair amount of pressure on the start lines. My 12 year old dog, when she was competing, used to have to hold a stay sideways to the first jump and she would find a point to stare at that was unrelated to the first line (and definitely wasn’t me or the first jump). It was the only way she could manage her arousal. It freaked me out at first but then I just went with it: she never broke her stay, never dropped the first bar, and always read the first line correctly. (She would often stare at the judge before the release, which freaked the judge out and was very entertaining for me hahaha). My Pap, Nacho, would always hold his stay and look away until the release for the first year or so of competing. And Export, my oldest dog, could never really look at me when lining up – he would just stare at whatever. But he always held his stay and always got the first line right. So….I just figure dogs are weird, and so am I haha!! I do play games with my younger dogs to help them want to look at me, so Voodoo, Nacho, and the 3 youngsters all now watch me as I lead out – more for my sake than for their sakes hahaha.
A couple of ideas for you to try:
– You can jog/run to your lead out position – it makes it a bit more challenging for the stay, but that is fine because he seems to have a great stay!
– You can talk to him as you are jogging/running to your lead out position. Either “gooooood booooooooy” or “ready ready ready” depending on whether you think he needs a bit of support to hold the stay as you run, or a bit of pumping up. I use “gooooood booooooy” with Voodoo and “ready ready ready” with Nacho.
– if you are going to be standing still during the release – when you are arrive at your position, crouch a little by bending your knees and breathe in through your mouth like you are using a straw to inhale… that gets focus!
– sometimes, release while you are running to your lead out position – be less predictable :). This is especially useful on straight line openings or big extension line openings like when you are running into a blind cross.
– mix in a lot of what I call “throw back rewards” – when I am moving away from any of my dogs in a stay position, I randomly say “catch” and throw a reward back to them. It can be a treat or a toy and it is relatively unpredictable. Sometimes I do it when I am moving to position after just a few steps, or after 20 steps, or anything in between. Sometimes I do it when I arrive in position for the release and stand still. It is interesting for them so they tend to look at me the whole time. I also do this at trials, when running in UKI for example: I leave the toy and Leash behind them (or MM outside the ring for Nacho) and sometimes release forward to start the course, and sometimes give them the “get your toy” cue to reward the stay (for an NFC run). UKI is great in that a toy can. one into the ring for every run, real Q runs or NFC runs, so it really helps the dogs understand the procedures 🙂
Let me know if this makes sense and how he does!
TracyYay! Keep me posted! I figure we can simulate agility trial distractions as best as possible, without going to agility trials or classes 🙂
Hi! yes, you and I are on the same page about the land and go, land and go – Keiko was on a different page and she was reading these mostly as cavalettis 🙂 the balance on these bending cavalettis looks AWESOME (cavalettis are really great for balance, strength, so many things!) and she definitely thought we wanted cavalettis when you moved them in closer. She did give a little bit of the bouncing when the bars were a little further apart at the beginning and I also think what will produce the bounce is if you turn your shoulders rather than stand still. That can help give her ‘permission’ to move with more impulsion over the bars – I think standing still is telling her we want decelerations so she is doing them cavaletti-style. So, add in turning your shoulders like a big post turn and let’s see what she does, using the distances you had at the beginning (the distances at the end are tight enough that she will still want to trot :))
Nice work here!!!
T
Wow, she looks awesome here!!! her head was so cute on the first rep when you started moving: mom, where are you going? Then she was perfect – tons of independent commitment happening here and you are pretty far past the jump when you release her. Nice!!! You can mix up the timing of the release now, just to add variety: sometimes release when you are still on the landing side for a regular serp – your line of motion will continue on that side, parallel to the bar, no counter motion. And sometimes you will do the counter motion that you did here and release when you are past the wing. Let me know if that makes sense 🙂 Her stays are looking fabulous too!!!! Great job 🙂
TracyGood morning!
>>She’ll ignore “dead” toys and open food, no problem. I’m beginning to ramp that up by making the toys more alive, especially a thrown tennis ball or me shaking her flirt.
Sounds like great next-steps for the progression!
>>Her Daddy is a huge distraction, and so we have him come out and watch us practice. So far, she is able to do little things, but can’t do too much before she wants to visit him. She will come back to me, once she checks in with him. At this time, he has to be inside the ring. If he’s on the outside of the ring, she just wants to be with him. Her other over the top distraction is our oldest dog who loves to run back and forth on the other side of something, like a section of fence, or going around a planted area. When they’re both on the same side, it’s no big deal. But running back and forth or around with something between them is thrilling. That chase drive kicks in.>>
These are great distractions to have access to, especially since you can control them 🙂 You can start by just seeing if she will do the simple tricks for treats/toys with the distractions visible but not terribly exciting. Then, as the distractions get closer and/or move more, ramp up the excitement level of the tricks and rewards. It is a great way to both teach her to ignore them and also to see what helps her the most when there is a big distraction present.
>>Unfortunately, we are not in an agility class at this time. The classes we are taking are things like “Hiking with your dog” and “Out and About”. So she is with other dogs in controlled (on leash) outside public situations, and has to do obedience things in that context. If you have any other suggestions, please share. >>
These are good real-world classes in a time when we don’t have access to our normal agility classes. I think the first thing to do is identify what distracts her – probably stuff like other dogs running :). And, see if you can get her to do the obedience games/tricks/tugging while that is happening. Maybe the classmates can assist by providing distractions like doing fast recalls while you are setting her up in a stay, kind of like a dog finishing a run when you are moving to the start line? I also like to do criss-cross recalls (with safe dogs in safe environments, of course :)) or side-by-side recalls, to simulate running a course while other dogs are also moving (2 ring trials!). I like to throw in flatwork handling in these recalls too 🙂
Let me know if that makes sense!
TGood morning!
>>>> rather than the rewards being next to you or coming when he is moving back towards you, you can switch to tossing the treat to the other side of the barrel. This should reward moving away from you, which will help. And that way, your arm position won’t matter as much
Do you mean throw the reward towards the other barrel? So like he comes around the wing, and I throw the reward out ahead to the other wing?>>
Sorry for any confusion! Toss the treat to the barrel he is going around in that moment, to reward him for committing to it as you move away – so it is more like rewarding him for approaching the barrel, and not necessarily for finishing the wrap around it. So, as if there is only one barrel – reward for the barrel that you cued as you move away from it.
Minny Pinny looks really good!! He looks pretty balanced on both sides and I *really* like how he continues to bend through the 3rd jump, even without you needing to get the reward out there early. Nice!! Great job with the reward placement. He is perceiving this as a cavaletti-style challenge so you are getting a nice bendy balanced trot. As you build it into jumps, he will start to jump and bounce it. When you can do it outdoors, you can add a little more sped by starting further back to see if he can bend into it with more speed. The other challenge you can add now is a slight variation on the starting point: rather than starting him relatively straight to the 1st jump, you can start him on an angle (placing him near the center of the little set up, where the 3 wings meet) so he is bending before he even approaches #1.
I think the tunnel rocking horses actually were good to start in a small space LOL! He did really well – the smaller space allows you to show him everything clearly without trying to outrun him 🙂 His commitment is looking good 🙂 My only suggestion is that you keep your arm back more as you make connection when you are ahead of him (as he exits the tunnel, for example). Your hand should ideally be ‘reaching’ towards his collar at all times, rather than being used to point to obstacles, if that makes sense. So, as he exits the tunnel and you are ahead, you can make connection by opening up your shoulder back to him while you ‘reach’ back towards his collar (a figurative reach back, you don’t actually need to grab his collar hahahaha). That will make things easier when you add in more space and more speed 🙂 If you do get a chance to take this outside, go for it! You will enjoy the speed of it (and so will he) and then you can totally work on how he needs to see connection and commitment cues 🙂
The serps are looking good! Yes, he anticipates the release once or twice but you did a really good job of reward, reward, reward! he has come a long way in a short time with his stationing! I was trying to see why he went past the jump on a couple of them and why he took the jump on others – I think that he does best when you release when you are in the center of the bar. When you release at the entry wing, that was when he was running past? That might not be the reason but that was the only thing I could see that might be different. It looks like you were looking at your hand, so feel free to shake your hand too. I think the errors are just a normal part of the training progression as you add more speed, so looking at it, shaking the hand, even calling his name can help! But overall, he looks really fabulous on these, you have added a lot of motion and he is doing great!
Nice work! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi again! Another great session here on the lateral lead outs! She was correct but not yet entirely convinced that leaving you at that distance was a good thing, note the trotting LOL! The 2nd rep had more speed out of the stay but then she slowed down to be sure. That is perfectly fine, I much prefer it when young dogs slow down a bit to be thoughtful rather than fling themselves at things insanely LOL! So – since her stay was perfect and she was accurate here, do 2 or 3 more short sessions just like this – sometimes rewarding back at you, but also mix in throwing the reward to the barrel/wing sometimes to shift some value out there to it. Her turn will be great, so I don’t mind tossing the reward out to the barrel to help convince her to leave you to go to it. When she drives to it more – add distance, gradually moving up to 15 feet away from the barrel (parallel to it). That will take a few sessions but I think she can nail it! Great job!
TracyHi! She did really beautifully here too, it is a nice start to being able to get focus in any situation. The tugging was definitely more stimulating, she was pretty chill with the treats alone. Now, we don’t always need to get her super stimulated, sometimes treats are better – it will be trial and error as she begins her career 🙂 So next steps for this game: two approaches:
1 – add distractions. Can you get the same/similar focus from her, with distractions in the environment? For example, start small, with maybe a training bag or container of treats on a chair nearby. Then build into bigger distractions – another dog running around? “The Daddy” walking past her? All of this will help prepare her for the ring and for all the distractions that come with it. Is she in a group class at the moment? If yes, and if there is room to do it, you can play this while other dogs are running agility (think of it as the beginning of your pre-run routine!) Experiment with different things (food, tug. different tricks, etc) to see what works best.2 – get her porridge really “hot”, make her wild (flirt pole maybe?) and then do a stay/lead out 🙂 Basically, that creates her internal arousal as the distraction, just like it is at a trial for many many dogs. Can she still focus and hold a stay when she is as crazy as possible? So far, she is fabulous so I think you are ready for challenge her! I teach all of my dogs to “self-chill” like this when they get wild, internally 🙂 because the trial environment might make her wild. We want her to have the tools to cope even when things are really exciting – so far she is completely stable, never seems to lose her head, so I think this will go really well 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi! This went really well – she held her stay perfectly, you had plenty of speed – and her commitment was excellent. You were pretty far past the exit barrel when you released and she had no trouble with it – yessss! Both sides looked equally good, and I think she liked it because she was driving through it. If you aren’t already doing so, remember to run back and reward the stay and also to throw a reward back to her on the landing side of the jump, to maintain value for commitment. Next step – put it on a full jump with 2 wings and a low bar, to give her the complete visual. She seems totally ready for that!
TracyGood morning!
Yes, he did a great job on his station! Yay!
On the threadles – this is moving along very nicely 🙂
A few ideas to keep moving forward:
>> And with the trheadles, I think my arm wasn’t far back enough on a couple?>>I thought your arm position was fine! You can play with using a cross-arm to see if it helps him differentiate. I teach both styles of arm use to my dogs.
On the reps where he did not come in (went straight to the Ready Treat) – 2 ideas for you:
– It is possible that the visual of the reward was overriding your physical cue, so you can shake your threadle hand to add a little more saliency to it, and also be sure to look at it (it was hard to see where you were looking, your head was cut off LOL!)
– also it is possible that “ok” as the release was too confusing. In general, OK in that context means “stay on the line” or “take the front side” so you can change the release to the threadle verbal rather than OK. I am pretty sure that my most experienced dog would take the front side of the jump on the OK cue and only threadle on the verbal, even if I am standing in the position you were in 🙂If he misses and heads to the ready treat, you can happily call him back (I use the pup’s name or a “c’mere, silly!” or a chuckle) so he doesn’t get to the RT and wonder why there is no cookie 🙂 Then reset like you did and ask again.
He did really well with the catch moments, after the first one – I think he was surprised like you mentioned (he was anticipating a release based on the context) and you did not have a cookie ready – you can still toss it back even if it is late in that moment, even if he moves forward – the catch word just means “reward arriving back near you” and doesn’t require any behavior from him at that moment to get it. You had the cookie generally ready and tossed quickly on the next catches, and that really helped 🙂 The cookie can be in the threadle hand like you had it, or in the remote hand – as long as you don’t accidentally also toss the remote back to him (I’ve done that by accident LOL!!!)
The serps looked terrific! He did anticipate the first verbal as a release forward (you said catch) but you still got the reward to him. So in those very first moments (which tend to simulate start lines at trials, where he is most anticipating a release forward to the jump) – have the cookie ready if you are going to do a catch toss, so you can say it and toss it immediately 🙂 The rest were great because he seemed to remember that the catch as a possibility 🙂
This is an appropriate place for the OK release, because we do want him on the line he sees and to take the front of the jump. I thought he rocked it! Even with motion – no problem. So, you can ramp it up: start next to his station, walk through the serp line on the landing side of the jump with your serp arm back and release (keep moving) when you get near the exit wing. You can start off oving slowly but add speed if he is finding it easy 🙂 And of course sometimes don’t release forward, sometimes toss back a reward or walk all the way around and hand deliver a reward 🙂Great job here!
TracyGood morning!
Oh wow, where are you? Looks *amazing*!!! Brilliant use of vacation structure for a little bit of agility training LOL!
His head turns look terrific – the 2nd wrap is looking really good (he does need a bit of a hand cue for it, which is perfectly fine, I really prefer is the dog does not keep offering a zillion wraps in a row LOL!) but also note how he is leading with his head on the first approach as well: that is ideal and you can totally reward it! So when he whips his head around on the first approach you can click that and then toss the reward out past you so he completes the full circle. And since he is doing so nicely leading with his head, you can start a little further back to challenge him to do it with more speed coming into it 🙂>> Lennan seems to totally get it when he is turning to the right but not quite yet turning to the left.>>
I think this is when he was offering 2 in a row to the right, but not to the left? Yes, he did offer the doubles on the right – there was the tiniest bit of physical cue (you were leaning in a little) for the 2nd right turn, and there was no lean-in on the left. And also he might has slightly more ‘slither’ to the right than to the left at the moment 🙂 So keep helping with the hand cue for the left – you will see it even out quite nicely! I also do lots of flexibility games, like puppy stretches and weaving through my legs to help even out the flexibility on both sides. But I think he is really understanding the concept of “turn your head” on both sides and that makes me do a happy dance!
>>Also, when does this course end for posting videos?
Last day is Sept 15th, which gives us time to turn it all around for part 2 🙂
Enjoy your vacation!!
Tracy
