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Hi!
>Charley’s first formal plank work: >
How fun! He was great about getting on it with all 4 feet and turning around – he was happy to turn to his right, so next time you can try turning him to his left. He was SUPER about playing with the toy too – nice job remembering to take tug breaks to keep him excited!
Excellent progress with his wrapping game! Being able to stand up while he wraps is setting you up for the next step we will add on Tuesday 🙂 Super! Can he do the wrapping around a cone or barrel too, something softer for when we add more speed (in case he hits it). And nice job getting him playing too. You can make the toy longer by tying it to another toy, so he can chase it as you swing it around without you having to lean over and without him having to reach up for it.
Nice work!
Tracy
Good morning –
The drive to handler went well! He was very strong with coming to the hand. During the pivot, try to be quieter – he was not sure if he should look at your hand or up at your face when you were praising him.
About the bending over – for this game, the bending over is very helpful actually for him to lock onto your hand. As we add more running, we will get you bending over less and less 🙂
He was great about offering to get right on the tray! Super! Rather than have the treats on the table, you can have them in your hands for two reasons: to get the rewards in fast (there is a time delay when you reach up to get the treat, which causes him to look up at you more than we want) and to teach him to offer behavior with you holding treats 🙂
For the next goat session, you can add in shaping to get all 4 feet on the tray (or use 2 trays to give him more room to get all his feet on :))
>He often seems to be ‘sniffing out’ the food rather than finding visually.>
This might be the case for sure You can put down a solid-color towel of a contrasting color so it is easier to see the treat and you can also point to the treat to show him where it is and find it visually.
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning –
>My fjrst attemot she only liked one of the toys. So, i changed them to similar toys>
Good job changing to similar value! You were very compelling and exciting when you turned your attention to the new toy, she of course turned her attention to it as well. It was fun to watch!
For the retrieve:
Having the bed there might be making it harder: it is a cozy place to hang out with the toy 🙂 It is good to keep the retrieve in a smaller space for now, so maybe put the bed in the kitchen when working retrieves?
And the retrieve is something that requires her to override her non-retrieve impulses 🙂 So rather than do a training session on retrieves – just toss one in sometimes. The first one was really strong! Then you can skip doing more at that moment and maybe go back to the two toy game or something else, then do another retrieve later. You won’t get as many reps in but they will be high quality reps!
Nice work 🙂
TracyGood morning –
Hope the showing went well!
>Today I tried to use the toys with the cone but nope, he wasn’t into playing.>
He was interested and engaged, at least until a dog was visible not too far away. The environment was hard to play with the toy with you sitting, but he did get a few good reps in!
He did better with the bowl to bowl! Next step with that game: you can be standing up and dropping the treats into the bowls 🙂 When you tried to play, were you standing? Just curious to see if he was able to chase to a toy that as swinging around fast or if he said nope when you were sitting.
He did well with the sends – nice job using the hand and foot! It was hard for him to leave the cookie hand to go to the prop but he did 🙂 Yay! The only thing to add here is the ready dance to get him jazzed up before the send. You’ll see snappier responses to the send when he more jazzed up.
He is ready for the advanced level here too (sideways and backwards sends).
Great job!
Tracy
Good morning –
Agreed! I also like the bowl as the target for the reward (your cookie toss aim is impressive!) as it is getting her head lower to the task and away from your hands. The ‘yes’ draws her up to your hands. That is really one of the big reasons that we start with foot target prop – to work out reinforcement strategies for when we transition to the “important” stuff 🙂 like the jump wings.
She also wants to get leapy and bounce off of you a bit when she is getting excited here (:17, for example). This send game also adds in the arousal regulation so she doesn’t build in the leaping up at the hander. Most of the BorderWhippet-Paps offer leaping up at us early on so we can help her regulate to maintain 4 on the floor when she is in a higher arousal state. The folks with the BWxPaps who didn’t help the pups learn to regulate had to work through bitey behavior later on in arousal. So, we will help her out right away 🙂
You can do the tiniest bit of the ready dance: knees bent, a little excitement…. Not toooo exciting but not very calm. And when she holds herself still without jumping up (you will see muscle tension and excitement), you can reward her either with a treat or with a send.Great job here!
Tracy
Love the name!
The video still sin’t showing up. If you are embedding directly, it might be too big. Loading it to YouTube will make it easier to post here with the URL. Let me know if that helps!Tracy
Good morning –
>but the treat became lost in the grass.>
Doing this outside definitely gives more room. You can try putting a towel down on the grass then tossing the cookie onto it, so he can find it more easily.
He is reading the bind crosses really well! Great job to you for getting the connection and toy placement on the new side.
As you build up more speed in bigger spaces, you can use a longer toy (maybe tie two or 3 toys together). That way, you can deliver the you low enough for him to grab and tug on, without you having to lean over as much.
He did really well going from treats to toys in the next video too! You can start to add in more of the stealth self-control elements (the novel-neutral object). He seemed perfectly engaged here and ready for the next steps.
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning –
He was excellent on all the planks and moving board in his playground! I love his confidence. Great job adding cookies in: the more he eats cookies while also getting lots of toy play, the more he will love those cookies 🙂 You can even move the objects closer together so he can move across them like a hiking trail.
He was very brave with the baby teeter! Does he like to eat cream cheese or any type of soft cheese? If so, you can put a bit of it directly on the end of the teeter so he can run to it and lick it off the top (the start laying the foundation for real teeter training in the future :))
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
Heck yes, this is looking a lot less leapy and a lot more ‘obstacle’ focused. Yay! She still wants to look at your hand a little bit so you can play with marking the prop hit then throwing the cookie forward past you, rather than a hand delivery. If she likes a lotus ball or treat hugger, you can use that to throw the food as it might be easier.
>I think I need to be closer to the prop and use no hand?>
A little closer yes, but not too much closer. She is getting the idea! And a little bit of hand, especially when you are sideways or backwards on the sends. You can also exaggerate the leg movement on the sends, using a BIG step as part of the cue. That can direct her focus downwards too, and away from your hands.
We have other games coming which will get her a strong focal point to help shift her focus off your hands, so I think she is completely on the right track.
Well done!!!
Tracy
Hi!
>He does seem to get bored with things when I do them too often. >
Terriers don’t love to do things over and over – you can move to the next steps when he has been successful, rather than do the same thing again. Mixing it up more keeps it fun!
>I wish I thought everyone was my friend! Hahha.>
Ha! Same here LOL!!
Bowl to bowl video – yes, this is definitely gross dirt to kneel in! He did great with you on the chair and I am really excited that he was able to do this really well in a new place. Almost perfect!
Part of shaping this is planning what to do when it goes wrong: at :26 he cut in front and didn’t wrap. Rather than respond to it by talking to him and moving him or moving the cone: do nothing. No reward, no response. Let him think it through and solve the puzzle 🙂
He was stating to get a little bored by the end (looking at you) so break it off after very 4 or 5 cookies and either play with a toy or just run around like a crazy person LOL! That will keep the energy and engagement high.
Do you have more cones? You can make a taller pile and then you can add in standing up: the taller pile might help make it easier for him to wrap when you are standing.
Looking at the foot target video: He was offering the target really well! We are going to make it more exciting now 🙂
Right before each send, engage him by talking to him asking him if he is ready ready…. Then do the send. And rather than throw the reward when you click, have him come back to you for it. That will get explosive sending and drive him right back, which sets up the next rep really well too 🙂
Great job here! Have fun in conformation this weekend!
Tracy
Hi!
Since Igor can help (thanks Igor :)) and your trained dog can help, we can do a modification: the goal is basically to get him to move past a fast moving dog without paying any attention to it. Motion is very arousing!
You will have your other dog in a stay, and Igor will lead out about 10 feet away. And you can put a wing next to the other dog (a foot away, or less :), since Benny is great with his wing wraps.
You will send Benny to wrap the wing then come back to you. And when Benny gets to the wing, Igor will call your other dog so Benny has to ignore the other dog moving. They will go in opposite directions and will teach Benny to ignore the motion of a dog very close.
It is a variation of this game, where he have people helping but you can use a stay & Igor on one side, and the wing wrap for you and Benny 🙂
It builds up into some crazy games and we will also add calmer games to help him ignore dogs 🙂
Let me know if that makes sense, or if I need to drink more coffee to explain it LOL
He did great with the bolster! The other dog was a little bit of a distraction, yes, but you made a great decision to get low to start that game. That helped remind him that the bolster was for wrapping. Then you were easily able to stand up.
When you are standing, staying closer will help for the first session each time you add a new object, to help generalize the wrapping to all the new things.
Also, since food is not his favorite and we want him to love it more 🙂 you can tug more in this game: for example, he can wrap one time, get a cookie, get a tugger. That will really build up the value of the food because it is paired with the toy 🙂
He really loved the bolster wrapping with the toys, of course (did you see him offer it while he was holding the toy at the very beginning? Good boy!
>I was standing, but in order to switch toys – I need to hold the tugging toy on the ground. So I was leaning a lot because I have to tug lower with him, then hold that toy on the ground to switch.>
You were great! You were standing up when he needed to offer but did a fantastic job of getting the toy low as the reward. He is ready for the new games on Tuesday 🙂
Looking at the forward focus on the cone:
Since he has a lot of excitement already built into the restraint, a couple of ideas for you:
– when using the restraint and the toy, having him wear a collar or harness will also you to gently hold him so he is pulling less than he would be with you holding his chest or shoulders like here. This will allow you to use the toy, but still get the forward focus without him jumping around.
– you can use his food targets in this game, and it sounds like he will be able to do a stay with the food target. So you put the food target out, get the forward focus from the stay, then release him. That will be less stimulating than the toy, but that is fine to get the forward focus skill. We will be adding the sit with the toy later in the class 🙂
Great job!
Tracy
Hi!
>Ok that Pyrex was not as big as I thought>
Ha! Yes 🙂 When she is comfortable with the texture of it, I think she will have no problem compressing herself to get all 4 feet in. For now – do you have a second Pyrex? You can put it next to this one, so she can put her front feet in one and her back feet in the other. We can use all of your kitchen equipment to give her objects to shape on 🙂
>I was happy with how she went back and forth with the toy. >
Totally agree! She was super! You can keep the tugging session shorter, so you end it before she leaves to go offer behavior for more cookies 🙂
She definitely noticed the novel object! Because it is hard, you can use a food reward for the stealth self-control games – that can help direct her focus better. Tugging is hard when the pup is trying to ignore a distraction, but I think eating is not hard 🙂
You can keep using kibble when the toy is part of the session, and for the stealth self-control if it is food-only, you can use great treats.
Nice work here!
TracyHi!
She is definitely a confident little goat!!! And I am glad she likes coffee haha!
She seemed super happy to tug on the tippy board and offer getting back on it for the toy too (it is cool to see her offering behavior to get the toy!)
The noise seemed like no issue at all. You can take this tippy board to different surfaces to have fun exposing her to different noises as well!
She has some pretty impressive balance on the bosu ball too LOL!! You can ask for position changes, such as sit to stand: that is a great balance test 🙂 Have you tried turning it over so the ball part is on the ground and she has to balance on the flat part? That is extremely challenging, so you can brace it for less motion by shoving a bunch of towels under it, or using some of your other inflatables to inflate it. And if the top is slippery, you can put a yoga mat over it for extra grip. That might be a good challenge for her!
And she was a rockstar going back to the toy after all the treats. Overall, a super session!
Tracy
Hi!
>I can try dog park away from dogs, or outside the fence to avoid any contact. but benny doesn’t notice anything when we tug and chase toy – he already ignores dogs when we play together. but when he is farther away fetching the toy – he may get distracted.>
I think the dog park will have too many unpredictable dogs and people, so it won’t be helpful. When you are at a class with your other dog, maybe someone there can help? If you can find a helper, I can send you the next games. It helps build the confidence without relying on the tug or chase.
In the meantime, stay tuned for the games coming on Tuesday that do not involve toys or chase at all 🙂
Toy wrap video:
His forward focus to the cone & line to the toy looked great when you were close! When you moved back too far, he went around to his stronger turn side (1:12). Staying a bit closer helped!
Since his forward focus is looking good, we can add 2 things:
First, add the forward focus cue. That is a hand cue and can be a verbal cue (such as “look”) if want verbal cue too. Eventually this becomes when he is on the start line, you are in a lead out position, and you use a hand cue (and verbal) to get him to look at the first jump.
To get that started, place the toy like you did here and hold him – but quietly point towards the line you want him to take with your other hand. When he looks at the line, let him go and you can say your wrap cue like you did here. If he has no problem with the hand cue, you can add the verbal – but doing it from holding him so he doesn’t confuse the hand cue with a stay release.
This first part should be very easy because he can see the toy. That means you can then go to the 2nd part, which is moving the toy even further around so he looks part it to the cone rather than going directly to the toy. This is where the self-control comes in 🙂 The hand cue will indicate the looking at the line and at the cone (not at the toy). When he looks at the line to go around the cone, then you can let him go.
When he understands this with you holding him, we will add the stay so he can do it from a stay and with you standing up 🙂
He was very confident to get up on the disc and sit! He was so cute when he took his toy squeaky to up there 🙂 And yes, add some noise to the other stuff he already plays on and see how he feels about it.
Since he did great here, you can make a small pile of things for him to climb around on by putting things next to the disc – a couch pillow, the buja board, another disc, a small plank, etc. When there is a pile, we want him to think carefully about his feet and his balance, so using food will be better for him than the toy where he is very excited and wants to do things very fast 🙂
Great job here!
Tracy
Thanks for the video!
The jumping up seems to be coming from a combination of a bit more arousal (more arousal is expected here, with more movement and the toy play) and also from her not being entirely sure where to look (so she is a bit locked onto your hand).
A few things that will help:
You can be more predictable here and change things up less by using the same order of festivities each time, and same marker & reward placement . What I mean by that is start each rep with a moment of connection where you are both stationary (this is the ready dance, but can be quieter for now like you did at :16). The quiet connection is the settling moment where she can regulate arousal and he will also know the send is coming, so she can be ready to go to the prop. When you were moving into it without that or from the leg weave, she wasn’t expecting the send so came up to the hand.
Then send her to the prop but stay connected, looking at her more than at the prop. It can be more of a leg step as the send and less of a hand for now, as she learns to drive away to it.
Then when she hits it, mark and reward the same way each time – can be the cookie in hand marker or toy in hand marker, but when it was different (like at :25 when it was on the ground rather than in your hand, or late when you switched to food in hand) you got her leaping up to the hand.
Part of the leaping (like at :25 was the expectation that the reward placement was from your hand like it had been on the previous reps and she was surprised when it wasn’t. At this stage, keeping the reward placement consistent will help built the send and take out the leaping.
I also notice that she was not hitting the prop – you can be a bit closer so she actually touches it, which will also direct her focus away from your hand & reward, and keep her looking lower and not hopping up 🙂
Her excitement level is great and she did well trading for the toy, so now we just need to direct her focus to the prop more than your hands 🙂
Nice work!
Tracy
