Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Hi! Yes, the waving elephant definitely helped make it more stimulating so we got a better look at his striding because he was happier to play our crazy game LOL!! Good boy! I think the value of the jumps will increase in coming months so you won’t always need a moving toy out there, but the exciting toy certainly helps for now!! I am happy with his striding – even being more stimulated, he didn’t lose his form and his form was nice when he went faster (that is rare but definitely happy-making!). Are the bars on the first 3 jumps fixed in position? I think he can push from his rear a bit better on those is they were a tiny bit lower. Revisit these grids here and there, maybe once a week, to keep the form developing.
Yes, I am a big fan of alternate behaviors to work through unwanted behaviors: going to a bed or cot (stationing, as some folks call it) really helps in my crazy, oops I mean ACTIVE house with 9 dogs and many terriers haha! And it helps give the dogs something reinforcing to do in those self-control moments – it is easier to choose self-control when there is something else that is incredibly reinforcing to choose! Here is a bit of Getting It Right The First Time (turn up the volume for explanation):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtA3UvBsNsshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GebavUK8eY
Have fun!
TracyHi! Great session here – short, sweet, effective! Yes by starting at 18 feet you were working on 2 strides not 1 stride but you still got good training done – the challenge was to see if he could read the grid and extend the stride without adding a stride that isn’t needed… his answer is HECK YEAH! He was consistent and smooth in his striding in the balance element then did a 2 stride on every rep here (18 or 19 feet) that looked balanced – he never lost his balance, he just read the grid and adjusted. Very cool to see it happening! Next session on 2 stride, you can do on rep at 18, one rep at 19, one rep at 20 – see if he adds a stride at 20 which would be fine). And yes, revisit the 1 stride at 15 at some point to work on that too. Nice job here!!
Hi again! That little tunnel might be the cutest thing on this planet! She did beautifully on these – little tiny girl doing better than most adult big dogs! I LOVE how she drove out to the pinwheel jump, especially on that last rep. You didn’t have to do much to get her to do it and that allowed you to move away down the line on the 2nd rep & 3rd rep – she definitely seemed to love the chase element of that, but she didn’t lose her mind – she found the jump correctly too! Nice work throwing the reward to the middle jump on some reps, keeping the value high. We build on this tomorrow, she is most definitely ready. Well done!
Tracy
Hi Anne! This was really interesting to watch (I watch all the grids in slow motion because the dogs move so fast LOL!)
On the 1st rep, she took off early. 2nd rep – NICE striding. 3rd rep – she split the difference between reps 1 and 3 – not quite leaping but maybe not as balanced as rep 2? And the last rep, where the jump was further away, she was nice and balanced again. What does it mean?I think she is still sorting it out and just needs more experience, reading the grid plus the reward plus the leaves LOL! But she is always adjusting for the better so she is figuring it out in a really good way. The balance grid looks really great on each rep. So re-visit this striding grid here and there in the next couple of weeks, especially as we add more challenge, and see how she does as she gains more experience 🙂
Nice job!
TracyHi!
>>If you only knew how many times I told myself to stay in place, it’s hard. Needed bars like you had.>>
Yes, I feel that pain, that is why I put the box down haha!And yes, she was a lovely combo of thoughtful but also fast – perfect!! She did a really nice job finding the lines and also setting up the turn (the type of turn on the pinwheel jump is actually pretty hard! She set up the pinwheel turn to the left better than to the right, but I think that got better with experience – the right turns were as she was figuring out the game and then left turns were after she figured it out 🙂 You had a right turn at 1:32 that was better than the rights at the beginning of the session, so I think on the next session – start her turning left on the pinwheel jump, get her in the groove, then go to the right turns.
She didn’t appear to have any questions when you added distance – yay! So you can definitely re-visit this with gradually increasing distance, I think she will be fine with that.
Nice work!
TracyHi!
>> (it’s just because you commented on her solid start line)
Haha sorry, my bad 🙂
The grid is looking really good! Glad the growth plates are closed and the chiro vet says we can proceed with more in terms of jumping! She had her head a little up on the early reps but the last couple were solid in form. There are two ways to proceed here, separate them out into different sessions:
in one session, move the last jump out progressively by a foot each time: 15, 16, 17, 18 feet and see if she can extend her one stride.
in a different session, raise the height of the last jump – 10″ for a rep or two, then 12″ for a rep or two, and see how it goes!
At some point, we will add height and different distances, but not until we see what she thinks of the different variables.It took her a moment to get the hang of the lazy pinwheel, but by the last rep she had it on the first video! Nice! Then she was great on the next video. Yay! You can start the next session with a reminder of this same distance then see if you can pull the middle jump out a foot or two to add some distance.
Nice work here!!!
Tracy
Wheeee! This was fun. As 2 of my dogs would says, “Balls are LIFE.” Glad Enzo agrees!!
I am also glad that he does NOT lose his head when he is more stimulated… I cannot even begin to tell you how lovely that it is!!
On the jump grids – I am going to assume he is balanced in the ladder element of them, I can’t see them but he is balanced on the jumps that I can see! Most of the reps were really lovely! OK, they were all lovely but he had some questions (subtle ones): what was the distance between the last 2 jumps at :13, :15, :17? He tried to take a big extended one stride at :13 – not the prettiest one stride ever, but I appreciated his effort. He appears to have not enjoyed how it felt in the moment, because on the next rep (same distance I think) at :15, he added a stride (2 stride distance). But then that wasn’t comfy, so he tried a nicer looking one stride at :17. Yay! Depending on the distance, you can make it one or two feet shorter, so he gets really happy with the feeling of the extended one stride, then we move it back out.
Same thing happened at :21 – he tried a big one stride, didn’t like it, added back a stride at :23. So you can tweak the distances more gradually – let me know and we can game plan.The pinwheels are all looking good, great job driving in then driving out, he could chase you and the drive ahead, a nice balance! He liked chasing you to the backsides too! Really nice at 20″ – speed and drive without sacrificing the turns and jumping style. Nice! Only 2 bloopers, but both handler-induced: the bar down at :48 was just a dramatic stop and toy throw as he was taking off. And at :58 he bypassed the jump – but the handling did look like a backside push and you were saying go tunnel, so he just scooted past the jump. No worries! A ‘do no wrong’ approach and reward all the things like you did will help him really open up.
Well done here! Let me know what you think!!
TracyHi!
Yes, the stay is the hardest part of this! It end up being over 30 feet, not so easy! So you can back chain it for the stay – start in front of the last jump of the balance grid, then the 2nd to last jump and then back at the first jump. You had 4 jumps in the ladder, you can also pair that down to 3 jumps to make the entire grid a little shorter for the stay element.
He did not seem to have any trouble with the striding and got better and better as he saw it! He is doing 1 stride on the 15 feet then 2 strides on 18 feet, but it was well-done. He might go to a 1 stride when he is older and the last bar is higher, but I think he is doing well on this right now – the jumping is easy, the stay is hard 🙂On the lazy pinwheel, I think you should pull it in closer so he finds it easier and gallops more. If he appears a bit not-into-it, you can pull it in closer mid-session and also add more motion – the goal is that he gets zippy through these, so if you see it is hard on any given day for whatever reason, you can make it easier 🙂 Plus, since this doesn’t have a lot of motion and we know he really loves to chase you, you can mix in a few reps where you run if he lets you be lazy on the first jump or 2 – I think running to chase you is a big reward for him 🙂
About the # of reps – I generally count the # of jumps a dog does in a session (especially a young dog) so if the reps are broken into little bits like here, you can try to limit the session to 20 jumps. We just don’t want to overwork their bodies 🙂Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
I feel that! The MM is LIFE for so many dogs… except when it is in a jump grid. LOL! So strange but I have seen it before.
Hi Nelci! He is looked good, his jumping style is starting to mature really nicely and he is growing into his body. Nice!!! One specific detail about the send step – try not to step towards the middle of the pinwheel jump, think of stepping more towards the takeoff spot. That will keep your shoulders more open to him and therefore your connection will be more open to him. When you step more to the wing of the middle jump, it risks turning your shoulders away/breaking connection and that can cause him to pull off a line. It didn’t happen here but it might happen on a bigger course when there are more obstacles to choose from.
He dropped a bar on one rep, i think it was a combo of the step to the wing of 2 and then you were praising over the bar – so you can add in some verbals over the bar to proof it, then reward for keeping the bar up.
Everything else is looking really good! You can add in a tunnel before this to add speed for him and challenge for you to get your timing and cues and connection at a higher speed 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi! I think overall, if we make the training less about thinking and more about silly fun, I bet he will be less likely to eat stuff. Even in high rate of success sessions, he will sometimes eat stuff during resets or if the challenge is difficult. So let’s take a double approach – lots of toys instead of food (they tend to keep him happier in training) and lots of engagement during resets. So feel free to use a toy during the jump grids – he is NOT a lunatic so I am confident that he will be fine if you make the grids more exciting with dropping a ball after you release him or dropping a tug toy 🙂
On the resets – you can keep him tugging or throw balls around, and also mix in bringing him back by the collar with the chatter you did in the class today – I call it talking dirty hahahaha – he seemed to like that! And very short fun sessions then quit.
I think that approach can help with the commitment stuff too: fast, fun transitions with lots of engagements during resets.The paper challenge is an interesting puzzle. Yes, do the its yer choice games but you can also do it in the form of the ‘getting it right the first time’ variation (have you seen those? If not, I will get them for ya!) and then transfer it to real life house situations like with paper in your kitchen or something. Also, have you taught him an alternate behavior, such as sitting on a bed? You can teach him that, in the presence of paper, to go offer sitting on the bed and he will get jackpotted. And have a bed or cot or something in each room where he might grab paper 🙂 What does he do with the paper when he gets it? I wonder if he can be rewarded with the paper? Let me know what you think and we will keep planning!
TracyHi Tracy,
>>on the Send&Go pinwheels, with Voodoo on the last reps with a lot of distance you used your arm to help the dog, so when the distance is greater can use the arm to send?>>>
Awww baby Voodoo!! The arm was NOT the main part (or even a deliberate part) of the cue, it was just flappy form with me trying to take a big step to the middle jump. So yes, an arm can be used on the send because you will find that the physics of the motion is going to want to get your arm to move (centrifugal force). It will feel really weird to not move your arm at all and that might make you too stiff or awkward, instead of moving freely. So big step, big connection… and if your arm flies around, no big deal as long as you can maintain the connection and the step (my flappy arm was high but didn’t change connection). The main thing is to NOT use your arm to point forward to the jump when the dog is parallel to you or behind you – that breaks connection and turns your shoulders away from the line you want.
With Hot Sauce, I am MUCH better about being able to stay connected and keep the arm better behaved LOL!!!T
Hi!
It is perfectly fine to keep that last jump super low (all the jumps super low) because of her age – we can teach all this as concepts then the bars can start to come up when she is “of age” which will be sometime after a year old. There is no rush because there are no trials and she is still a pup 🙂First rep – yep, self-release – speedy but then she lifted her head when she was coming up the line, perhaps thinking “oopsie!” LOL!!
2nd rep – ok, she did the same leaping between 3 and 4, so it was not an oopsie thing like I thought on rep 1.
Rep 3 – same leaping. I think the leaping between 2 and 3 was not because she has a jumping question, but more because of the reinforcement. Sometimes the reinforcement elicits a leap and a pounce, and I think that is what she was doing here (I see that same pounce in lots of dogs :))But on rep 4, she did NOT do the leap/pounce, she had nice striding – so, what did you do differently on that last rep? I can’t see it on the video, but I am wondering if you changed the type of or position of the reward? Whatever you did…. keep doing it LOL!!! Or maybe she just sorted it out? Let me know! And we can do other things to get her to target the line on grids without leaping, such as a different type of target (less stimulating). Her form on the first 3 jumps looks good and she doesn’t look off balance at all, so I think it was more about the reinforcement. Let me know what you think 🙂 Nice job!
TracyHi! Her commitment on the pinwheels looked GREAT! The middle jump was miles away and she had no questions. Yes, your arm was a little pointy 🙂 but it is something she is likely to see happen on course and I was very happy to see her commit anyway. You can toss the reward out past that middle jump more – you were marking the commitment but throwing for the last jump, so feel free to mix it up. You an also add challenge by running after more when she commits to the middle jump: can she still commit to jump 3 when you are hauling butt away? That would be a good time to reward jump 3. And if it continues to be really easy for her (yay!) then you can add a tunnel in and start in a tunnel before and after the pinwheel 🙂
Nice job!
THi! Her commitment on the pinwheels looked GREAT! The middle jump was miles away and she had no questions. Yes, your arm was a little pointy 🙂 but it is something she is likely to see happen on course and I was very happy to see her commit anyway. You can toss the reward out past that middle jump more – you were marking the commitment but throwing for the last jump, so feel free to mix it up. You an also add challenge by running after more when she commits to the middle jump: can she still commit to jump 3 when you are hauling butt away? That would be a good time to reward jump 3. And if it continues to be really easy for her (yay!) then you can add a tunnel in and start in a tunnel before and after the pinwheel 🙂
Nice job!
T
