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Hi!
My reaction is mostly gone, aside for some swollen glands in my jaw.He is hitting his target position with OOMPH here! When you added more of your motion at 1:04, he didn’t quite maintain the position but he was fine afterwards and also when you added tugging. My only suggestion is that when he is driving ahead of you, you can release him forward to the reward on the target so he doesn’t try to look back at you.
Otherwise, keep adding more motion and excitement – taking this game outside and adding a wing before it, so you can really get running. He seems to be having no trouble with the movement of the board or noise, so we can add more targeting challenges 🙂>>Apparently I misread your note about the fit bone under the plank and thought it was the end with the target so that’s how we trained it last night. >.
Ha! That just makes it more like the weight shift game or the rebound game: targeting on a wobbly board. I am glad he was happy!!
Great job here!
TracyHi!
I think he is getting the idea of the channels here! The mistakes were good ones – just entering in the wrong spot to get into the channel, and only on that one entry. So for the next channels session, move the MM a little further out and add more motion. Then I think you will find it very easy to start to angle the poles. They are all at 3&9 here, so you can quickly go to 2&8 and add in all the crazy handling challenges.
Great job here! And have a blast with Nosework tonight!
Tracy
Hi!
The 2 poles sessions looked good – at this point, you can add motion to all warm up reps and keep lack of motion for anything new and/or weird 🙂
Adding poles 3-4 definitely were little harder! Because the new poles were the new variable, 2 suggestions: poles 1 and 2 can go back to being slightly open to start, and start your reps on top-of-the-clock easy sends (like you did at 1:17, where he was sent from approx 11 o’clock). He is VERY good at the hard angles on 2 poles but the visual distraction of the new poles make those hard angles even harder, so building up from the easy angles is a good way to get things rolling. As soon as you showed him from the easier angles: boom! The harder angles came right back and then he was great.The toy is very exciting! And since he loves it and we will want to use it… you can have it in your hand or pocket but only use the MM, to kind of desensitize the stimulation the toy brings 🙂 Then every now and then, when things are going well, you can throw it as a reward 🙂
I would bet that the next session with this setup will go really nicely with all 4 poles – starting with the easy angles, progressing to the harder ones. If that is the case, do another session on this setup with your motion. If that goes well… moves poles 3-4 in closer to 1-2 (but not angled yet) and do a session with entries and motion.
At that point, we will be able to begin angling poles 3-4! So it won’t take all that many sessions to get that rolling. Fun times ahead!
Great job!
TracyHi!
Yes, this was harder 🙂 You can start her back more in the middle of the pinny, and then use a little hand cue or a cookie on her nose (with a slow hand lure so it is easy to follow) to turn her away from you. She didn’t really know that it was ok to do that on the right turn side! But she was great on the left turn side – maybe she is a lefty today 🙂 The toy on the line helped, but you can also try that cookie on the nose hand cue to turn her head away before she enters the pinny. Let me know if that makes sense! And you can start on the left turn side next time, so she remembers that it is OK to turn away from you and that will make the right turn side easier too 🙂
Nice work! I am sure she will figure it out really quickly.
TracyHi!
Fingers crossed to get in off the wait list! And she is a perfect size for the 16″ class!!!
She looked really good here – I agree that both sides looked really good wih nice bending and bouncing! And she was great without motion too. Yay! I am glad to hear you are doing it outside too, she finds it easy so it is a great setup for the distractions of the great outdoors (neighbors!!!!)
I see you posted the next steps, she is definitely ready for that.
Great job!
TracyHi! Lots of great work here!!
Left/right video – Yes, I can see her watching the distraction at the beginning. You can take that moment to see if she will engage with you with tricks or tugging or both, to help her learn to ignore the distraction – it will set up a higher rate of success! She is doing well with this game! I liked your position for the right turn start at :36, ever so slightly over near the wing you want her to enter the pinny on. That is a great way to get her to process the verbals from the neutral position while avoiding the left turn vortex 🙂 After a couple of sessions like that, you can progressively move back to the center position.
Serps – these are going really well, great job staying closer!!! On the first video, the jump was angled a bit opposite and made the serp jump harder, more of a backside (which is why she missed on the first rep) – the wing closer to the MM can be pulled forward so the bar is more visible as she exits the wing, making it a clear line to the front side.
On the 2nd video – really nice! Great job being nice and close, and she did a great job on the jump. So now… add more speed 🙂 You were walking so now you can move up to a faster walk or slow jog.Zig zags – these are also going well, she was a good girl in the stays and also responded well to the handling cues. And yes, I agree it is also a nice foundation for those lateral lead outs 🙂 She looked good on both the 3 wings and the 4 wings, so two things to add:
– You can line her up more ‘sideways’ to the first wing so she has to shift more immediately (she was facing into the gap between wings 1 and 2 here) Her hip can be right next to the wing, making her stay position parallel to the wing.– You can move the wings in a little closer to challenge her to make the shifts side-to-side more quickly! That will be useful for jumping serps and backside slices when we add bars.
Find the jump 1: She is finding the jumps nicely here and responding to the Go verbal. One little detail – add more connection on the tunnel exit by looking at her more when she exits and not straight ahead. When you looked at her coming around the wing wraps, note how she did not have to look at you – perfect! When you were looking ahead when she exited the tunnel here and on the 2nd video, she looked at you because it was not immediately obvious where you wanted her to be. The connection will help that.
You can see it on the 2nd video too – great connection before and after the wing wraps, note how she doesn’t have to look at you at all but is responding perfectly. So add that little bit of connection on the tunnel exit and she will look forward more.
You can also throw sooner: as soon as you see her lock onto the line to the jump, throw the toy so she sees it sooner and doesn’t look back.
I think she is ready for more motion on this game, you can be running up the line, staying in motion – and also sending her to the tunnel from further away and you get way ahead, to challenge her to find the jump when she is way behind you.Great job here! Have fun at the USDAA trial this weekend!
TracyHi!
He is really doing nicely here! The left turns away from you are the hardest, but that is normal. He is most successful on those when you have the clear transition into the setup.
As with the other sessions, we can clean up the transitions into this and that will raise the rate of success. The markers for the reinforcement can be installed here too, as well as the clean starts and resets – because he finds this setup pretty easy, it is a great way to get the mechanics going!
For example, he comes into the environment with engagement. You line him up at your side right side, send with left verbal and physical cue for the left turns – then reward with toy or cookie with your right hand so he comes across your feet – then turn him away to the next left rep. That can line him up really nicely! I think on a couple of reps he was kind of wandering into it, not really sure when to start and this will help. As with the wing wraps, the running rewards make it harder to reset, but you can run, reward, engage as you come back, reset (line up cookies are useful) then make a clear send into the setup.
If I remember correctly, he did not fully love his collar being held yet, so you can use this reinforcing setup to build it into the line up: as you reset him, you hand can go near the collar or one finger under the collar, cookie, cue to start. It makes the line up/reset easier for you and also he will start to offer up his collar, because it means the game is starting sooner 🙂Eventually, the dogs get really good at reading context and we get really good at resets/line ups that we can revert to adding in some Woohoo! Yay! stuff LOL! But it is fun to obsess and sharpen the mechanics which will make it all much easier.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
Good work here – he is DEFINITELY showing more value for independently driving around the wing without you needing to help too much. YAY!!!! Since we are currently obsessing on clean sessions, a couple of ideas for you 🙂The start of the session should be as clean as the rest of the session. He needs to know exactly when to start – so you can either bring him into the training environment after the wing is set out, then line up in the start position, or you can bring him in, line up in a start position and then set the wing out. If both are happening (he is milling about and you put the wing out) then he won’t know when to start offering (that is what happened here). The line up and engagement before starting the session can make for a seamless transition into the start (which bubbles over nicely into start lines and such).
This becomes especially important when you want the left turns – he is most definitely a righty 🙂 And without a line up, he is going to offer that right turn loop. And since there was no real cue to suggest a left turn… he isn’t exactly wrong. So it gets confusing when he doesn’t get rewarded. So the engage, line up, then start can allow you to be very clear and clean as to which turn you want. He is perfectly happy to turn to his left when asked… but if left to his own devices, he will choose right turn 🙂
And the other recommendation is to plan your verbals and markers before he comes into the session so you be super precise (there are a lot of words nowadays in agility LOL!) You, like me, tend to be more of a Yay! and Woohooo! type of person. So for precision on verbals, I remind myself a lot about which words go where, and when before I get the dog involved. That way your ‘get the toy’ marker and your ‘get the cookie’ marker will be immediate on the first reps, which will make the whole sessions smoother. You had the markers in there… but later on in the session. And since there are so many words 🙂 you can either click or use a verbal yes/yay, but I don’t think you need both. You can click then do the event marker, or yes then do the event marker – or just use the event marker because it is really powerful as a conditioned reinforcement. You were doing that a bit with your food marker (AiAiAiAi :)) And that is great! Just be sure not to use the event marker as the send cue, which was happening at 1:43 – so he was a little confused. He was on the way to the wing and heard the AiAiAiAi and came back for the cookie, which is correct per the marker.
Soooooo many words LOL!
So now that his value for the independent wing wrapping has gone waaaaay up – you can add more looping in and include the cue (the video edits make it harder to see what was happening in between reps):
Say you are bringing him into the environment after the wing is in place and you want a left turn wrap. Engage – line up on your send side for the left turn (your right side) – cue the left turn with arm, leg, and now the wrap-left verbal (fun!) then be quiet. He goes and wraps to his left and you mark then deliver the reward… and while delivering, you are also moving him into the line up for the next rep – you can deliver the cookie or toy from your left hand and also use it to reset him into facing the wing for a send into a right turn.Now, when we are running, agility gets a little less clean and a little more muddy 🙂 This clean loop thing doesn’t always take into account the running and throwing LOL! We can plan for it though – for example, on the turn-and-burn reps where we run off and the dog chases us for the reward, you can party when he gets there, then move with him back to the wing – reset, line up, send.
Let me know if that makes sense! After the line up/reset is sorted and the various words are second nature, the next step would be to put this onto the rocking horses 🙂
Great job!
TracyGood morning!
She looked great here! The way you added the collar restraint was just right: it added a little bit of ‘yeehaw!’ to the game and she was able to maintain her thoughtful responses while also going really fast (and in the presence of the toy). Perfect!
On the first rep, the tunnel was a distraction which is why she had a question – then she sorted it out really well on the left turns! Her rights were also good and she loved the the collar restraint, it got her totally jazzed up 🙂
When you added the turn away left cue – you had a little physical help but that is fine to get her understanding that turning away is perfectly acceptable! You faded it on the right turn. I LOVED her response on the right turn rep – she was lined up facing the left turn to the tunnel… she had to think hard to turn away from the tunnel without a lot of physical help from you (I think there was some steam coming out of her ears!) but she did! Good girl, Arty!!!
Then it was easy – and great job finishing the session with easy reps 🙂
So using this setup, you can fade your body cues (but still use the collar restraints, she loved that) and then gradually work towards that neutral position. She is doing really well sorting out the verbals!
Great job, let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>>One of the things I noticed with this is that he’s “better” off my right than off my left. Need to put my “good trainer” hat on and do more of these games off my left, can you tell I’m right handed?>>
Holy cow, I relate to this! I turned my teeter around so all the demo videos had to be done from my right side – you might notice that all of the early demos were done on my left side LOL! Oopsie! So now I have to work my right side or I will end up blocking the camera 🙂
He is doing really well with these games!
On the downhills:
You can move with him on the left side reps for now or be out ahead, that is where he was moving through the tip the best. When you were hanging back, he was thinking more about your position. I think that will balance out when he has more experience on the left, an also as you build to the end position. It looks like the board is just a few inches off the ground now, so you can try taking out the metal bar that is catching the teeter, leaving the little uprights as a visual aid: and let the board go to the ground or land on the PVC base. Have him target in position and let him proceed at his own rate as he moves down the board into target position – exciting times ahead!!!The rebound game is also going well – he has a little bit of a threshold in terms of the number of rebounds before he pops off – it increased as the session went on, but to help build the love you can stick to one or 2 rebounds, then release. As he gets happier with it (and more experienced), you can add a little more height to the rebound: he might experience a rebound as much as several inches, so we can get him happy to shove the board back down by gradually introducing more height to the rebounding.
The bang game is going well, I was laughing – the discussions about whether or not he could have the food out ahead was completely taking his mind off of any challenge presented by the movement of the board LOL! Yes, there were a couple of different variables changing that caused some errors (from our perspective) but he got to eat a LOT of cookies, so he seemed happy LOL! And also, you did make progress in the ‘don’t watch the momma’ department 🙂
You can go to an empty food bowl for him to focus on, and then toss or drop the reward into it – that can split the difference between watching you and self-releasing to eat the treats 🙂
I think he is ready for more height on this game too! Especially if the two of you are hashing out when he can get the cookies out ahead, and he doesn’t have to think about the height of the board at all.Great job here! And onwards to the elevator game – I am guess he will do well with the food bowl out ahead for that game too. Start without it so you can get the rewards in fast, then if he is watching you, you can add the bowl target out ahead 🙂
Have fun!
TracyHi!
This is also going well, she likes her end position job a lot! The added height seemed to go well!>>When I set up right next to the board she steps onto the board often with her front feet to push it down and then adds her back feet.>>
Yes, a little – not too bad, though! It is definitely a bit of front-then-rear but then are very close together. Not quite the full leap on, but heading that direction.
Getting her a little wilder with the cone for jumping on is fine to help convince her to jump on 🙂 My only suggestion is to move it closer right to the edge of the bottom of the board, so she jumps on right into position rather than higher then step down. That will help her leap right on into position and also continue to raise value of the end of the board. But overall – she is doing a great job with the end position work and the bang game!! You can keep folding in more height 🙂
Yes, the rebound spooked her a little but note how she got right back on and was fine in the next rep – I heard cheering and praise when she had her “what the heck?” moment and hopefully she also got a cookie or toy – not so much tp reward the position, but mainly to classical condition the rebound of the board with good things happening. The board rebounded on her because she was going fast (yay!) a little forward, reaching for the target – I think the rebound game will help her a lot so you can show her that the board might move under her, but she can push it back down and get paid heartily for it. That is happening with my 35 lb dog who is a bit forward at the moment too – the board is rebounding a solid 6 inches! You’ll see it in the next set of demos – but because he has had a decent amount of rebound game, he just shoves it back down LOL! Emmie probably weighs about the same? So she will get used to shoving it back down with the rebound game.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
These look great too! Tunneling before the teeter added a nice layer of excitement to the game! And right as I was making a note that you can start to fade out the help of your instructor… she was gone LOL! Great minds think alike.
I am happy with how she was driving up the board at :27 and :33 – those were the best about basically going all the way to the end and weight shifting almost at the very top. Yay! Those were also when you were a little ahead and staying in motion. When you decelerated, she was weight shifting sooner. So you can fade the instructor out when you are continuing to move, but I would leave her there for a while longer when you are adding in decel or rear crosses – it is a good focal point for Emmie so she is not trying to read you body language 🙂
The end position will soon be the focal point, but for now we will use her favorite instructor on those reps 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi! I think we are now getting your rain and fog LOL! Still better than cold and snow 🙂 I will be heading out to video stuff between rain storms today too 🙂
I am SUPER happy with how she did with her downhills to the ground in this video!! She really seems to like the ‘job’ of the end position so the movement of the board is less relevant. Perfect!
>> I have to find a different set up to be able to increase the drop as she was doing really well with the incremental increases on this game. I have a question on this game. Would you replace the table to table game with this one or continue to do table to table?>>
Yes – this game is the ‘end’ of the downhill table-to-table games, where one table would be faded so the board could touch the ground. So at any ‘home base’ training (literally your home, and also the school where I think she is very comfy) – use this new setup to get the incremental drops that we will be building on.
And in these comfy locations, very gradually add a little more tip, every couple of days, with super high value for the ‘job’ of the end position (mixing in LOTS of bang and elevator games too)In new locations – we can consider using the tables again but honestly, I think she is happier doing end position work, so the end position games will help more in new places 🙂
Great job on this one – keep adding tiny bits of tip!
And you can release and throw a toy around, if she finds that super fun too 🙂
Tracy
Good morning!
He is turning into a wild man for the teeter, in the best way! I cracked up when he tried to run up it as you were trying to reset for the next rep LOL!Excellent session here. He seems totally confident – is that the feeling you are getting in the moment? Sometimes it translates differently to video.
A couple of ideas for you:
You can start to let go of the board sooner, so he is moving into position as it is falling. You were saying paw, he was getting into position, then you were letting go. So you can now move to saying paw then letting go immediately, so both Nuptse and the board are moving at the same time. You did this at 1:14 and he was perfectly fine with it (because, treats. LOL!)I like that you moved to the cookie target out ahead rather than from your hands or loaded on to the target. He was great – it added the challenge of getting into position without the help of food right there. No problem, says Nuptse! Good boy. You were more consistent about using your OK release word on those reps, and that is great (your release on the earlier reps was more along the lines of “yay!” LOL!) The clarity of the release will make a big difference!
So on this game, add more height so the board is a little further off the ground.
Also – how is the target fading going on the plank? We will be merging some of the games together, so make sure you revisit the target fading in advance of the new games 🙂
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
Definitely an interesting session! This is totally normal: one side is progressing faster than the other side 🙂 The left side sends are ready for the straight poles at 1-2 and probably also a bit of angle at poles 3-4. The right side is not ready for the straight poles 1-2 – I think those need to be a tiny bit open for him, til he gets up past the 90% success range with you sending from all angles and adding motion.
At the moment, his rate of success on the left side sends seems high enough (1 miss, maybe 2? I didn’t do the math LOL!) that you can move to the next step by adding more motion and angling poles 3-4.I did do the math on the right side sends: when the poles are slightly angled, he is working at about 90% rate of success with you not doing a lot of motion. With the straight poles, the rate of success dropped to approx 45%, depending on how we count the offers where he was trying to sort it out (I did do the math on this one LOL!). So I suggest another session on the slightly angled poles 1-2, with motion. And if that is hugh success, you can angle them a tiny bit more – not quite straight, but almost straight: and start up close and personal so he has an easier time bending.
The other thing you can do to help him on that right side is to drop the reward right in between poles 2 and 3. I think poles 3-4 are a no-brainer for him at the moment, easy peasy – but enough of a visual distraction that you can add value to bending between poles 1-2 and dropping the treat on the line between poles 2 and 3 (that would require you being pretty close for accuracy, unless you have great aim LOL!!)
>>So, not quite sure if I should work this a little more – or start adding a little angle to poles 3 & 4 while still working the right side entries?>>
Yes – think of it as 2 distinct behaviors (I am doing this with Elektra at the moment too):
On the right side sends, work towards 2 sessions in a row at 90% success with the poles being angled *almost* straight with you being able to also add motion… then we can straighten them out 🙂
But the left side sends can progress with more angling of poles 3-4! You can separate the sessions: do a minute or two of the left side work, give him a break – then later on and only do right side work. This is all totally normal with young dogs – they always have a stronger side 🙂
>>But he was looking at me a fair bit – but it didn’t stop him from going through 3 & 4.>>
Yes, he was looking back – I think it was the clicker 🙂 Clicks are very compelling so he was looking forward til you clicked, then he looked back at you. The easiest thing to do is not to click LOL! I mean, we can work on getting him to not look at you when you click but that would be done away from the weaves – so with the weaves, you can mark with either a quiet “yes” and then throw, or use a location-specific marker such as “get it” which means a thrown reward out ahead for my dogs.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
