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Hi Nelci! This will be fun! You should have received the first email just a few minutes ago – I didn’t send it until I had everything loaded properly.
I will post a new package each Tuesday and you will get an email when it is posted. And, you can click to get email replies to all of your posts 🙂
Can’t wait to see little tiny Grizzly!
Tracy 🙂
Hi – it was a little hard to see the reinforcement here, it was just out of the video for most of it. But yes, having a plan for reinforcement will help a lot and it will keep the session “cleaner”: if cookies distract from toy play, don’t have a cookie in your hand or pocket, just sue the toy. And a big cheese ball will work but the treat hugger is probably easier to throw.
She is definitely getting the idea here! Yay!
A couple of ideas for you for these games and as we move forward into MaxPup 4:
On the wraps, make sure she start specifically on one side of your or the other – I think it was a little unclear on some reps because she was in front of you already or sideways, so line her up to help set her up for success.For the Go, help her out with a few steps forward – after multiple wraps, she needs a little more help, even just leaning. But then remember to NOT lean on the digs. The slightly different body language will help. And, repeating the Go verbal as a long, repeated word a few times will help too!
Try to take a less-is-more approach to the sessions. This one had a LOT of reps… it is mentally a bit too much for youngsters to do this many reps. It is easy for us humans because we are not really moving… but the dogs are running/wrapping/jumping/tugging so they will be tired before we realize it (mentally and physically). So try to do maybe 10 reps per session, one session every few days – no more than that. It takes between a minute and 90 seconds to do 10 reps, which is a perfect length for a training session! And the shorter session makes it much easier to track rate of success. You’ll see that in play here in MaxPup 4, where the dogs will have more intensity of work, but in fewer sessions.
Nice job! Onwards to more fun stuff!!!
Tracy
Hi!
>>I was very uncomfortable being restricted from motion and handling.I could tell LOL!! I feel that, I like to run around a lot too 🙂
>>She obviously didn’t have an understanding of what I wanted , and I really don’t know how to fix it. Is it just a matter of more repetition?
Not more reps – fewer reps with calmer mechanics. You were trying really hard to produce the behavior but that caused the mechanics to get a little muddy, which was confusing. Here are some ideas:
I think changing the mechanics of the session will really help – stand up, stand still on the sends 🙂 Try not to run in then run out – that was a lot of motion and a lot of energy, so it wasn’t always clear. And the verbal digdigs can be quieter, almost whispered, to help draw her in. When she had too much leaning forward from you or really loud verbals, it propelled her straight. Part of what the dogs read on the “dig” versus “go” is our energy, so lower energy will help the wraps!
And, work these with less distance away. You were pretty far on some of them, which makes it harder because either she had a long way to send without your motion, or you used motion and that was too hard. So maybe 6 feet away – which should allow you to be relatively still on the wraps and add more leaning/energy/motion to the go cues. Physically, they were looking the same on some of the reps and the verbals were loud and chattered – so making it look distinct and sound distinct will really help: like a loud GOOOOO GOOOOOOO GOOOOOOO and a soft digdigdigdigdig. On the video, they were both similar: GOGOGOGOGOGODIGDIGDIGDIGDIG so it was harder for her to differentiate.
>>She also appears to get a bit nervous when we work too long, or tells me in no uncertain terms that she doesn’t uNderstand.
Teehee, I like it when the dogs get mad and sassy, it means they are getting invested in our crazy game! Yay!! I don’t think 3 minutes is too long if the rate of success is high – but it was not here, so she was letting you know. Use your 2 failure rule: if she fails once, note it and maybe ask the same question again. If she fails twice… back off the difficulty, re-visit your mechanics, set her up for success. And the 2 failure rule is not 2 failures in a row…. it is 2 failures in the entire session! If you can reduce failures, you will find that she can work longer and her learning will be faster.
Let me know if that makes sense!
Tracy
Hi!!! On the decel – I love your exaggerated decel!! You can the toy into view as soon as she lifts her head generally towards you. She is definitely a doer, meaning she wants to go do the things (even if she doesn’t totally know them like the weaves LOL!) so getting in a ton of reward for acknowledging the decel like you did here is great! And letting her take the toy for a runabout is great too, because she seems to be one of those dogs that LOVES to run 🙂
Grid: she is definitely getting the idea of the grids, I think they are easy for her at this point. She added a stride in the last interval at 1:04, but I think it was just that the food bowl was too closer – you adjusted it and then she was back to perfect. Yay! She is being thoughtful in her work here, which is what we want. Woot!!!! You can add motion to all of your grids – the reward remains in the same spot, and you can lead out to the last jump – release – walk forward. Gradually lead out less and less so you are moving the whole time – and then you can gradually increase the moving to a jog then a run! Her performance should be the same… that will be hard 🙂
Nice work here!!!! It has been great seeing her blossom into such a cool agility dog!!!
TracyHi!
>>I was never good at RC. And somewhere along the way over the years, I used my dog-side arm to kind of sweep across my hips as a sort of “flip” cue for lack of better description. I remember we used to pull the dog to us and then flip them away on the switch lead path (or at least that’s how I learned it long ago). And since I’ve had very little opportunity over the past 5 years to train a dog, I guess I never re-learned correct execution. I can see my dog-side arm in that first segment coming across my body. Is that wrong? Should I work on not doing that?>>
Ideally, your do-side arm stays at your side – the coming across the body is what I mean by over-turning to the straight line, pulling – so yes, try not. I used to lay a leash on the ground for my running line to help me get my rear cross lines! That might be something fun to try!
>>The only thing I didn’t really get to revisit was the serp and threadle but he seemed to do well on the serp with motion. So then really just the threadle that I never had a chance to add much motion to and definitely no height except maybe 4″ so the bar didn’t roll.
Yes – the serp with motion was going fine, and that is more important than the threadle. So if the one thing that didn’t get trained a lot was the threadle… that is perfectly fine 🙂
>>All in all I think we got thru pretty much everything!
Yay! That is awesome!!!!
>> I just read rules for trials in June/July that you have to wear a mask pretty much all the time except when running your dog or are outside. Yuk…does not appeal to me. Seems like outdoor trials would be a better idea…>>>
Yeah, to be honest, I don’t see how any of the rules for June/July will work – there are massive gaps, there are areas of spread that haven’t been addressed, and way too much potential for things to go wrong. Plus, in the NJ/NY areas, June and July will be way too soon – I saw some trial listings for mid June in GA, but there case load is still going up, so I have no idea who they are going to make that safely work. And I totally agree – small outdoor trials sound like a better idea to start with – but not soon. I am supposedly co-hosting a trial in a covered arena (so sorta outdoors) in early August, in North Carolina… I have serious doubts that it will happen. I guess the only option is patience – that is NOT something I am good at LOL!
But yes – onwards to MaxPup 4!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good morning!
>>For the one step send on the wrap vs GO, am I still starting out by holding his collar and saying my tight command before I take the step to send?
Yes, I like to do it that way – it emphasizes the verbal and helps set the pup up for success.
>>LOL…my “running backward” on the rocking horse thing was actually supposed to be the step back send!
The magic is in the deceleration, so it is easier to turn, step and go. Plus, the decel is a helpful for for the dog.
>>you must spit out your coffee watching some of these!
Never! Dog agility is complex! And just when we get it figured out with the dog and become a smooth team… we go get a puppy and start over LOL!! I feel that pain haha!!
On the videos:
the 10″ set points anf the oxer are starting to look comfortable. The 12″ set points and oxer are going well too, he is definitely reading it and sorting it = not comfy yet but getting there 🙂 So here is what I suggest for coming weeks – hang out at the 10″ set point and oxer, but add motion: lead out to the jump, release and walk forward. Then gradually add more motion – jog, run. Then lead out less, and go back to walking – then build back up to jogging and running. Basically, we are asking him to keep sorting it out as we add the major distraction of motion.
Then, start to revisit 12″ – stationary at first, then adding motion.
This should take weeks, at least 🙂 but we have time on our side so might as well use all of the time 🙂 Full height jumping, imo, is only used when cycling “up” for competition (then we go to back to lower height for a while, when in between events). Since there are no events on the horizon, there is no need to try to cycle up quickly.Rear cross video:
>>Should the dogs be able to read a RC on body motion alone or does it need a verbal too?Yes, the dogs should be able to read RCs based on body language, The verbals help but at this stage, the body cue alone should do it (because you are physically “in the picture” and not miles behind :))
Also, any time there is an error in sequencing like this clip – assume it was handling and reward him – either immediately or ask for a trick and reward. That will allow you to work through a number of reps, as needed, without lowering his rate of success and potentially causing frustration or stress behavior. In handling, if we do it right, they do it right. And when we do it wrong… youngsters will almost never do it right. So – reward lots 🙂
On the first rep: You started on the good rear cross diagonal. Keep running forward, though, towards the center of the bar so he can drive ahead and commit. At :06, you pushed in too soon to cut behind him, so he (correctly) pushed off the jump – it looked lik you were pushing to a backside wrap. Here is an opportunity to reward him, rahter then turn and re-start.
After driving forward on the RC diagonal, the timing of the cutting in behind him will be later – he will be closer to the bar.At :15 and :27 you adjusted by pulling toward the straight line and slowing down as he took the jump after the tunnel – then cut in way back behind him – he read it but was unsure, and you ended up way behind (and he didn’t take the next jump at :29). Driving forward on the diagonal will both help cue the RC and keep you from getting too far behind.
You can see his questions more clearly at :35-:36-:37. He reads the pull to the 2nd jump – then you push in too soon, so he for a moments jockeys back to the right (as if going to the backside) then comes back in to the front And on the other side – at :50 and 1:00 and 1:09, he turns to his right first then curls away on the flat to find the RC (at :51) and sin’t able to find the RC at 1:01 (turns towards the straight line) (I would still reward him, partially because he was trying to read the info and partially because rewarding by you will help him try to sort it out when info isn’t perfect :)) At 1:10 he jumps straight on the 2nd jump and turns to the new line on landing.
So, we need to change the info a little bit to clarify for him. The emphasis should be more on the rear cross diagonal – both moving along it towards the RC jump. and also staying on it a lot longer. The RC diagonal goes from the wing you are passing on the jump after the tunnel, to at least the center of the bar of the RC jump (2nd jump after the tunnel). Go in deeper to the tunnel, in this set up, so you don’t have to decelerate. As you are passing the wing of the jump after the tunnel, run alongside that rear cross diagonal towards center of the next bar, staying connected to him but NOT trying to cut in behind him. When he is almost at the RC jump and committing to it – then you can cut in behind him.
I think what is happening is that you are decelerating and turning to face the RC jump, which makes it look like a straight line – then trying to cut in way back (close to the jump after the tunnel) – so it is causing some questions.
Let me know if that makes sense!On the mini pinny with the distraction – he definitely struggled to to ignore the distraction, so keep using physical cues (like the shoulder turns) to help him out. I think he also needs a verbal cue to know when he is supposed to go to the distraction – he got praised but wasn’t entirely sure, so a “get it” cue of some sort will help clarify that – particularly because I don’t think this treat dispenser beeps at all. The turns and verbals will all be solid as soon as he has more understanding and practice on when to ignore the device, and when to go to it.
Nice work! Enjoy the rest of the weekend!!
TracyHi!
Super! He looked really good on his wraps in both videos (wing only and on the jump). Yay! You can progress forward now by adding a bit of xsend and leave motion. Use a one-step send (starting maybe 10 feet or 12 feet from the jump) – send and leave before he gets to the wing or jump. When balancing with the GO, you might have to move a little bit to help but he certainly got it without motion at the end of the 2nd video! Yay!!On the rocking horses + decel – fun!!! You can exaggerate your deceleration as you move forward, for 2 reasons:
1 – it will help you rotate and leave more smoothly – on the first rep you had a lot of momentum so ended up running backwards a bit on the send at :13.2 – it will help him see it sooner. On the second rep at :25 and then later at :55, you were late and a little too subtle – so he read it late and took a stride past you. You can reward that – he responded 🙂 When the dog responds late, I reward and just assume that my cue was late 🙂 If the dog does not respond at all and I am 15 feet away from the other wing and I started the cue while he was still behind me… then perhaps no reward should be forthcoming LOL! But if you can exaggerate it y standing up more obviously and start as he exits the wrap of the wing, he will read it better. I am pretty short so in order to exaggerate the decel, I have to first exaggerate the acceleration by getting really low and a bit bent forward – so when I stand up, the dog sees a big transition.
You were earlier at :35 and 1:00 and he responded really nicely 🙂
You can also through in circles/post turns on your shoulder in the middle of the big rocking horses 🙂>>Threadle is one that I have the problem of him taking off with the toy which makes it a pain in the butt for filming!
You can tie it to a REALLY long line or use the Manners Minder! It does get a bittle inefficient if there are victory laps after every rep 🙂
Nice work here!!!
Hi! Yes in MP4 will will introduce the get out cue and also work more on serpentines at speed, which involve “drive in but DO NOT TOUCH THE MOMMA and turn back out” – while you are converging because that is what we do on serps a lot. We can also play some “don’t touch da momma” games, I had to do those for Voodoo who used to thing slamming me was SO FUN hahaha.
Tracy
Hi there!
I am glad the snow left as quickly as it arrived!!omg the chicken right at the beginning, that cracked me up – it looked like it was putting itself in a start line stay LOL!
You started off the threadles with a bit too much upper body motion on the first 2 reps, nice job catching yourself after the 2nd rep. The rest looked really good! Nice position, nice connection!
On the rep where she didn’t come into the correct side, maybe it was that you were too close to the wing, or too exciting on the get it ? Either way, it wasn’t an issue after that. gShe did a great job of holding the stay and ignoring the distraction on all of these. Yay! And she was starting to understand the full behavior, turning her head to go back out. Very nice!!
At 1:43, you changed the verbal to “get close” – remember to just use close, otherwise the “get” might confuse her with the ‘get it’ cue.
The serp balance looked great! She had one oopsie of just going to the toy, but that is fine because she fixed it really nicely. Overall, the had a great line on these!! Nice!
On the dig dig wraps, you are moving forward to much on the first 2 reps – your voice says wrap but your body said GO! You were moving less forward and turning more after that and it was much clearer for her 🙂 She is still learning the verbals, so the body language is still important. You were able to get in some really early turns and she showed good commitment! Only one oopsie on that, but you had not stepped to the wing before leaving. When you did give the one step at the very end from a big distance, she nailed it! Great commitment and lovely turn! Yay!
Nice job!! Fingers crossed for no more snow 🙂
Tracy
Hi! Yes, I think you can set it aside to revisit later. Do you have video of her not taking the last jump when on your right? That is interesting! I wonder if she is strongly one-sided and had to abort mission on your right in or to preserve balance. Definitely pull these grids out again, here and there – I put them in a rotation to run through maybe once a week or every 2 weeks at this stage, especially as you add sequencing (which tends to get dogs a bit off balance).
And yes, post the advanced decel games, I would love to see her enjoy the art of full on running LOL!!!
T
Hi! Sorry about the snow, hopefully it melts QUICKLY! We are all ready for warm weather 🙂
Good session here! She is sorting this out and was definitely less frustrated here! My only tweak is to try not to help if she freezes with a verbal cue – you can split the behavior more by putting the target in sooner or ask her to hop off then back on if she ‘forgets’ about one of her feet (which seems to be what happened on that 2nd rep :)) And then continue with those big verbal parties when she does get it right! And then quiet again like you did when she came off by accident at 2:00 approx. Target position = party on! Party off when it isn’t target position 🙂
Nice job!!!
TracyHi! Bummer about the internet connection, I feel that pain!!!
He is doing really well with the decel exercises.
On the first couple where you were relatively close to the wing, he was pretty perfect. Good job with then adding in a bit more challenge! When you did a shoulder turn at :27, the wing was right there, so I think he was fine to commit to it. And good balance with the go!
He had an error on the bigger challenge right after that, but it was a combo of he had just gotten the toy on acceleration and then you could have been one stride sooner on the decel. You were sooner on the next rep and he was perfect. At :57, great decel, just add a little more connection – he wasn’t sure which side to be on for a few strides so was drifting behind you 🙂You can add challenge to this by replacing the toy with a tunnel 🙂 Acceleration and a tunnel verbal mean, well, tunnel 🙂 And you can do the decel/shoulder turn to mean NOT tunnel 🙂
Nice job!!
TracyHi!
I think the jumping on the set point and grid all looks good here. He was balanced and also powerful. About the oxer – separating by 2 inches was fine, it looked like a very clear visual. So, these grids/challenges go into the rotation to revisit maybe once a week or as a quick warm up before a sequence, while also keeping an eye on how many jumps he does per session and per week. You can also add in some motion, like leading out less and walking forward as you release. Over time, it can and should be built up to running but that is months worth of work, spreading it out.
You had been wanting to add more height to bars in sequences, so you can gradually build it in. I suggest doing it very systematically and gradually (we have tons of time now, anyway!) – bearing in mind that he has to focus on jumping while also watching handling during sequences and that is not something he has to with the grids! So – pick one spot on a sequence where you can be ahead and giving a very clear cue – and put that one single jump at 10″ for example. I prefer to start with an extension jump. Then maybe 2 jumps. Then next time, revisit and see if he is ready for more. On collection jumps, you can add one slightly higher bar in a spot where you can basically guarantee you’ll be there to help. Show him the higher bar by having him go over it a couple of times and then run the sequence. Eventually, you will be able to have all bars at full height as needed.On the wrap criteria – I think a couple of things might’ve contributed. If this was done after the set point and grid, then he had “take the jump” on his mind. And on the wrap right, a cleaner transition will help: as you took the toy away, it sounds like you said “ready” – and he said YES I AM READY and ran to the jump before you got the collection cue out LOL! So after the toy moment, take his collar, start the collection cue and then let go and see what he does 🙂 Let me know how it goes!!
Nice work here!
TracyHi there!
>>Yes her name rhymes with go and no. I didn’t really think of that when naming her. But I think she responds better to her name than my go cue, so I think I should change the go cue instead. At times I think she checks in with me no matter what I am saying, but it would be good to have more clarity.
Well, never tell her no, she is too cute, just give her whatever she wants LOL!!!!! And maybe use RUN as your extension cue on course instead of Go?
>>Also you mentioned helping with a warm up routine. I don’t have a good physical warm up routine. I just have been doing some attention exercises. What do you suggest?
When she is more adult and running courses for real, I recommend a visit with a rehab vet or PT so they can assess her needs and give you very specific things to do. It is super cool to have dog-specific stuff, I have different ones for each of my dogs based on age, build, strengths/weaknesses, etc. A general format that I think is common for ALL dogs: trotting in a circle for a couple of minutes in each direction. Slow puppy stretches, following a cookie lure – but don’t hold the stretches for a long time, just a couple of seconds. Body tricks are great too like give paw, backing up, push ups like sit-stand-down. A couple of explosive recalls (I have my dogs stand on me to get their cookies after a recall). That will take a 5 minutes or more for a warm up, which should be good!
She was a super good girlie powering through her grid! Wowza! I particularly liked the first 3 jumps. She started to lift her head and invert a little towards the end of the grid – I think she was doing it either because you were slowing down or she was slowing down for the reward, or both 🙂 It is not a problem, and we can tweak it a little – you can do this with 4 jumps to get more space so the reward is further away (I do like your improv jump, though :)) and you can lead out less (maybe to jump 3?) and release while you are walking forward – that way you are moving the whole time and she can power to the reward too. Overall, though, she looks great!!!!!
Nice job!
Tracy
