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Good morning!
>>Outside I’m using higher value treats. Maybe I need to do that downstairs too. She gets distracted easy, so it’s been a challenge outside and I put her back on the line. Hmm….good Idea. Do some tricks in front of distractions. >>>
Yes, as the weather improves, definitely go to higher value treats and toys outside because the environment is very exciting 🙂 And if the lower value treats are not enticing indoors, yes you can totally use them there too. And of course, lots of high value toy play 🙂
This was a really good session on the rocking horses! Her commitment looks REALLY strong and her turns are lovely. She is following all of the cue: FC, Spin, or race track. Yay!
2 little details:On the Front Crosses: Send forward less on the FCs (use more deceleration before you send her, rather than leaning forward into the send) so you can rotate more easily and sooner. You decelerate and rotate sooner on the spins (those look really nice!) and the FCs can be the same early rotation, just picking her up on the other side for the FCs.
Nice connection on the exits, she seemed to always know where to go!On the sends, when she is behind you, use less arm sending forward. Here’s more specifics: when she is on your right side for race tracks as you are pointing forward, the pointing breaks connection when you are ahead and she barks (and comes off the line, thinking about a tooth hug or grabbing the toy) You will see this at 1:13, it is a good example. She wasn’t trying to grab the toy, she was frustrated because she didn’t know where to be because connection got unclear. And she cusses when that happens LOL!
So keep your arm back more and a little more eye contact until she is passing your leg, then your arm can come forward as she is passing you. You did just this at 1:42! It was lovely! Nice low arm further back, better connection for sure: no barking from Miss Ruby and no consideration of giving you a tooth hug 🙂 She just glided right to the wing 🙂 YAY!Excellent! You can put this on jump wings, as soon as the snow melts or as soon as you get back to Bonnie’s place.
Great job!
TracyI think that would be fine to begin to give the sensation of the world dropping out from under him so he can shift his weight and balance!
Oops, I missed it, sorry! Thanks for the nudge 🙂
This is going really well too! Wow she is really powering down the board into position!! YESSSS! I like her head position too – low and straight. Her facial expression is cracking me up: she was powering down the board but the look on her face was so chill, like it was nothing at all in terms of challenge. Yay!
I am glad you faded the cones so you can move to the next game, because we are going to position you to be where the cones were to start it:Placing yourself where the cones where: now move to starting with your feet at the very end (toes lined up with the edge of the board) so she is encouraged to get on at the very end and basically leap into position rather than stride down into position. This will also allow you to challenge her to hit and hold position while you move past her (rather than behind or next to her), because when she is comfy starting at the very end, you can start moving forward as soon as you say the target cue to let her start moving onto the board. The mechanics get really specific at this stage, because we are incorporating target position into the challenges AND adding tip 🙂 If she is having no trouble at this tip, add a tiny bit more every couple of sessions and see how she feels about it. The goal is two-fold: to add all of the challenges (running past, crosses, etc) and to get the board pretty high off the ground in coming weeks.
Since you are going to be so close to the board and she likes to start without you… wear shoes so your toes don’t get mushed by accident 🙂 I was worried about them here LOL!!!Great job 🙂
TracyYou can use the bosu ball and/or the peanut as long as it has a holder. Don’t do the elevator game yet til we see the weight shift here (and the rebound game comes before it :))
T
Yes – but they are going to struggle with the elevator and rebound games if they don’t understand this one. One stuff do you have? We can rig something up! Do you have a dog walk? What type of inflatable do you have? Or a giant couch pillow? Let’s brainstorm!
Hi! This went really well!
>> So, I don’t know if the 2×2 work has helped him figure it out…or if it’s the limited space so it keeps me from adding distance.>>
When it goes right, we attribute it to brilliant dog training. When it goes wrong, we attribute it to environment. HA! Just kidding 🙂 It is possible that the other sessions helped (I mean, they certainly didn’t hurt LOL!) plus the more limited environment helping… either way we will take it.
Overall, it was a very high rate of success session. Good sends, good motion, and a couple of threadle sides too! Yes, a couple of early clicks but he still did well. He had a question or two but the hardest part was after you did the one bad click: clicked for getting to the correct side of the poles but he did not enter the poles. Oops!
I have done that exact same thing more than I care to admit on the same exact entry… and my dogs immediately offer the same thing of NOT entering the poles on that side (must be easier that way) so at this point, after a crappy click, I don’t wait for the dogs to work it out (it isn’t their fault LOL!) – I do an apology reward by basically sending from nice and close on that angle and dropping the reward right into the entry. That prevents them from obsessing on the behavior that I just clicked crappily and gets them right back on track, no frustration from the bad click. So, if you do a bad click – no problem, just do an instant apology lure and then back to good clicks LOL!
For the next session, challenge him to see if he can still make those entries with the Manners Minder out ahead (I don’t think it was visible in this session). That is a big distraction on those hard entries.
Great job!
TracyYes, it is even more apparent when they are driving ahead of us! But it is there when we are running past (not just Stark, it is interesting to see a bunch of them doing that!)
The game is posted! Have fun!
Hi!
>>AHHHHH! When you swear you posted something – but somehow you didn’t >>
I feel that pain! Also terrible when the whole thing is typed in, click post… internet fails and it is all gone. Sigh. Been there and it only happens on the really long replies that took an hour LOL!
On your video:
He had LOTS of good reps here!!! And I agree, the focus forward was really strong! One thing I notice: he would drop a foot of the side or be slightly ‘rolled’ on his hip (off balance) on the rep you noted and here and there throughout the session – especially when he was on your right. It was subtle, but it was there enough that I was thinking that it will be important to strengthen the down itself. I don’t think it is a understanding question, I think it is a puppy-body question 🙂 He is what, only 13 months old? So he is still developing core strength. I am seeing the same thing in Elektra (just turned 12 months old) – she is like a bowl of Jell-O in terms of core strength as opposed to Hot Sauce who is 2.5 years old and has been doing fitness exercises.So for Presto, you can do core strengthening stuff that will really help! I am NOT a PT/rehab professional but I know that there are a ton of ways to work core strength – posture work on a plank and balancing on inflatables, sit-to-stand on the flat then on inflatables (also hind end strength on those!), ‘tight’ positions (I work ‘tight’ tucked in sits on a very small platform, so I imagine a tight tucked in down on a narrow plank would work too!
Also, 2 down-to-stand-to-down games:
this one with as little foot movement as possible:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTXvu1_8oi4and then the same thing, but you are holding up one of the dog’s front feet as he is changing positions. I have a video of Export doing it somewhere but I can’t find it right now. I will keep looking! Hot Sauce can do it now too so I can get a video of her doing it.
I am about to post a game that will address this specifically too. Stay tuned!
About the toy: he ended up with a great rep at the very end! Was the MM still in position when the toy came out to play? If so, you can still use the MM but just carry the toy, and then fade it in as a reward sometimes. If it was not there, you can put it back even when you use the toy – it will help maintain the focus ahead and also help balance the arousal 🙂
>>Hey, any suggestions where to get a rubber surface for a teeter? I think my wooden plank at home is just too slippery and had thought about one of the skins from clean run. A little pricey…but then again I only paid $50 for the teeter…so not bad in the end.>>
I just ordered a couple of tunnels from Max200 and remembered they had this:
https://www.max200.com/see-saw-complete-replacement-surfacesLooks pretty cost effective for a wood surface? And they are good in terms of reliability. The other place is called Rubber On The Run but I hear they will take money and NOT deliver the rubber 🙁
Tracy
Hi!
His uphills are looking really good, except for the jumping off part! I think peanut butter might be the answer if you have the real stuff without the xylitol in it (I am sure the peanut butter in NZ is actually real peanut butter and not the crap we get here LOL!!) Peanut butter (or cream cheese) will keep him there longer because he will have to lick lick lick and not grab-and-leap.I am *super* excited about what he is doing on the board though – he really wants to slide into the end and that is GREAT 🙂 because of the speed and weight shift. It is his decision but so far it is fun to see. Next session: add a tiny tiny bit more tip 🙂 Wheee!
Targeting session:
>>I positioned myself more to the front of the plank and he seemed to target better, not because he understands the game, but because my body position is luring.>>
Yes, but that falls into the “get the behavior” category (science! Ha!) He was actually quite brilliant about target to end of the board and smacking it repeatedly – the trouble was mainly about keeping his head low and and not looking up to you. So, I here is a cookies from heaven game that we teach in the puppy class as a prep for contact training. You can do this game first to a hand target and then on the board for the target position.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0s2ZzBTZbxA
(the 4-on demo is towards the end of the video after the explanations)When Hero can do this, we will move you off to the side and repeat the process 🙂 Then things will move forward onto the teeter very quickly!
>>He is so enthusiastic. It’s quite good having a foodie dog because I am sure that makes shaping so much easier!>>
Yes! He loves food and he seems very confident with the planks – it is SOOOO much easier and more fun! Yay!
Great job here, let me know what you think!
TracyHi! He is doing well trying to add in the additional layer of behavior here! The 2o2o position is pretty strong so now it is a matter of “keep scratching”.
2 ideas for you:
You can work the scratch behavior separately to build up to multi-scratches 🙂 Away from the target board, hang out and let him offer… and let him get annoying when you don’t reward one scratch so he offers more scratching. Ping pong the rewards – sometimes 2 scratches, some times 5, sometimes 3, and so on. That can help build to non-stop scratching.On the scratch board and also on the target board, I think we need to teach him to do the behavior even when the cookies are moving. When you moved the cookie hand, he would stop and watch the cookies 🙂 We want him to keep doing the behavior even as the cookie hand is moving – and I think the cookie hand movement was why he was stopping.
So, you can try some ‘rule outs’! That is when we rule out the movement of the cookie hand as being the cue that reinforcement is coming. He should keep doing the behavior even as the reinforcement moves. I found a video of Export doing it with a toy, but Kaladin should do it with cookies (and later on, the Nemo ball!) – specifically, when Export was doing continual hand touches while the toy was moving like I was going to throw it. That is what we can teach Kaladin, starting with the ‘keep hand touching while the cookies move’.
Here is the link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XA3B6NvPuJg
Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
On the mountain climbers:
There is a good amount of tip on these now!! He is stopping a little short before the end of the board on these, shorter than I want him to – no more height for now til we get the weight shift sorted out. I think you can see what I am talking about on the last rep – he stopped short and lifted his head and kinda leaned back, which is the international sign for “I don’t know what I need to do with my body as the board is moving under me more”. Elektra was doing it when there was a lot of tip, and a few other dogs here are doing it (check out Krome for the big dog version of it). So before adding more, let’s do the detour of teaching them how to use their bodies in that moment. New game coming soon 🙂On your downhills –
>>I started where I stopped off at yesterday. I felt like maybe he was hopping off to avoid the bang, not 100% sure but I wanted to be positivie.
Maybe to avoid the bang? Or to pounce on and grab the toy? Hard to tell – I am leaning more towards toy grabbing in preparation for a victory tour. Also, there is more speed when the squirrel is involved so he might have been leaping because he didn’t know how to control the weight shift. Or all of the above. LOL! But it did not seem like a worry response because he got right back on.
>>He was a little bit slower when going after the food but not hesitent. I added in some tip, which he didn’t seem to mind.>>
Right! The food will cause them to all be a little slower plus there was no table to land on, so he know he had to stop. I think we can convince him to stop later on the plank but he was not acting worried about it.
>>>My plan is to pick up exaclty where is left off for our next session but probably use his raw to see if I can get some more drive to the end.>>
Sounds delicious! Peanut butter, smoked salmon and cream cheese are also big hits for my dogs along with the raw. I am sure my neighbors want to know why I am out there in my pajamas with plastic bags of animals parts LOL!
>>Bang Game and end position with wobble next. I have to get creative with the wobble as I don’t have a wobble board.>>
Hmmm, can you beg/borrow/steal one? OK, not steal but… You can take a square piece of wood, attach a yoga mat to it and a ball in a sock to the underside 🙂 No need to be terribly fancy. Do I remember that you have a tiny teeter tippy board or I am remembering wrong?
Stay tuned for the new game, posted as soon as I finish watching videos here!
T
Hi! I guess it is good news that she started without you? LOL! Good girl!
I heard about the snow in your area – bummer!!! I hope it melts ASAP!This is a bit of boring feedback 🙂 Not much to say other than it was excellent, let’s add more tip LOL!
She did great here – she was actually being a bit pushy which I personally LOVE LOVE LOVE – a little sassy bark, a little starting without you a few times – yay! I look at her being pushy as a sign of confidence and understanding – and that is GREAT! She was moving really nicely across the board and I don’t see any concern on her part. And the pushy behaviors were not frustration behaviors, they were more like “let’s go!” behaviors. How easy is it for you to add tip? I am not sure how easy it is to change the table height here, or if you can change the teeter height a little? I think she is ready for a bit more tip here! Since you have a little wait til the snow melts, we can focus on tip changes indoors for now 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi! Great session here! Adding the tip seemed to be no problem at all! (BTW, Elektra says smoked salmon leftover from breakfast is the BEST TREAT EVER for teeters. HA!) He seemed very happy to drive up the board! I feel confident that you can keep adding a tiny bit more tip with these fast & fun jackpot sessions. I have a balance game coming with the movement (will post it later this afternoon) that I think he should see before we add a TON of tip to this game- many of the dogs are struggling with the weight shift at the end when there is a lot of tip and losing confidence. The new game is to help them understand how to control their bodies while the world is moving under them 🙂 Since he is *gaining* confidence on this game, we will work the other one to help prepare him for when more tip is added. Stay tuned! Great job here!
TracyHi!
Nice session here! He was finding most of the entries consistently, and with motion from you, and the poles were more angled. Yay!
2 ideas for you:
– he wants to look back at you when he is “done” which is just after he enters the poles. So, try to throw as soon as his head ducks into the poles (and forgive yourself if you sometimes throw too soon LOL!) You were getting earlier and earlier as this session went on, and that is great! The other thing you can do is move your reward target another 10 feet further away, so you have more time to get the reward in – he is definitely driving to it so having it further away will help keep his head straight for longer 🙂– he had not trouble with the entries except for the entry that was at about 2:30 (3 o’clock was good, it was the slightly ‘softer’ entry there that was harder for some reason). So, you can isolate that entry with a clicker session, starting pretty close to the poles with them at 2 and 8 for a few reps: start close (close enough that it is easier to get the entry and harder to curl in to the other side of it) on the 2:30 angle and send him – when he gets to the correct side, click and toss the treat between the poles. Then after a couple of reps, when he is confidently moving to the correct side, delay the click til he gets into the poles. Then tighten the poles to 1 and 7, and repeat the process. Then add distance! That will help that entry gets as solid as the others.
Separately, you can tighten the poles not to 12 and 6 so they are straight, and work all of the strong entries (for now, avoid those hard entries until you have had a chance to clicker them on the angled poles :)) You can work the straight poles and then the harder entries will catch up 🙂
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>>When adding the threadle entries, Hero kept trying to do “middle”, our start position for agility. I had to keep closing my legs or else I ended up with a ginger weirdo between them>
I noticed that! HA! You can use a line up cookie to have him come to your side instead of trying to add the middle LOL!
>>I tried to run straight with each rep (not my forte!).>>
The line up cookies will help this too, because you won’t be in motion before the send – that way you can give the send cue to start him and then just leave for the line without stepping to the poles at all. Overall, I thought your running lines were fine so you can add challenge of taking out your motion between the reward at the MM and the send to the entry: call him back and line him up, then send him without movement towards the poles.
This should help the threadles too, because he will figure out to NOT try to read your motion but to just go find the poles no matter what crazy thing you do 🙂 He did really well with the threadle entries, he just had a few questions on maintaining the path to the entry when you rear crossed behind him. More experience will help him sort that out.
>>When practicing extreme entries from 7-5 Hero kept adding in the number on the ground as something to pivot round before doing the weave poles. Is this just my body language making him do that? Or does he think it must be more complicated than just doing the poles?>>
I think that was all of the speed and motion happening sometimes after he got the MM cookie and as you got him near you to send back. Wheeeee! So line him up nice and tight to you so he does not add the number cones as obstacles LOL! We don’t want it here because it dilutes the difficulty of the angle of entry as he is shaping his line wider around them. If he keeps doing it, you can move them out of the picture so he can’t do it (it is not like he needs to see them LOL!)
Because he did so well here, you can tighten the poles to 1 and 7, and then get them straight, with all the entries and motion 🙂
>>I didn’t get to viewing the poles next to the tunnel yet, so maybe since we are not actually weaving yet, we can have another session tomorrow and look at that. But if he is using numbers as pivots, weaves near a tunnel will be interesting!>>
Yes, this stage of the progression is not hard on their bodies, so you can totally do this tomorrow if you want. It might be difficult because of the value of the tunnel! Or not, it might be easy peasy for him. It addresses a really common weave entry discrimination that I am sure you will see on course at the higher levels 🙂
Have fun! Great job here!
Tracy
