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Hi there!
I use set point to introduce the bar and then introduce height with the dog’s focus where I want it to be. I don’t know if it fixes things that might be an issue but I do use it to introduce concepts (and I can find issues on it, if there is an issue). That being said… I see no issues with Enzo, he looks really lovely. So, objectives: adding motion would be the first one for him. He does everything the same, it is you that we change 🙂 as you lead out towards the toy, release while you are moving forward to it. At first, release when you are a step away. If that goes well, release as you are passing the jump. If that goes well, release before you get to the jump. Keep moving on all of them – first at a walk, then at a jog, then build to a run. You can also add in distractions that cause dogs to drop bars: flinging arms. sudden decels, verbals over the bar, a tunnel out ahead – all introduced here in a high success format. The objective is to basically say to him: maintain your form even with all of these variables.
If the form changes for the worse, we make it easier by dialing back whatever the root distraction was or by lowering the bar. It helps with foundation for running courses and I don’t think it will be all that difficult for Enzo, he appears to have great structure, great body understanding and lovely form 🙂
THello and welcome, great to see you here! Re-visiting puppy foundations can help get adult dogs happier in the ring too 🙂 I believe I met Mighty Mouse, because his name is pretty amazing!! We can fold in some things to help build his confidence in other situations if you like!
Offering the jump:
He did really well, seemed to really power away from you!!! You can add angles to this game for him: start at a variety of angles around the clock and walk past, big rewards for getting to the jump even from the weird angles. And when you do the turns, you can mix in having him chase you for the ball (which he really seemed to love :)) as well as some times throwing it where you he was landing as you were doing.Because he is more advanced and did so well, you can add a little distraction. Pick something that he finds to be an interesting distraction – like a (closed) food bag on the ground, as far as needed so he can be successful 🙂 That will lay the foundation to be able to help him find the joy in the jump even when faced with something he doesn’t like as much (which we can totally add in, gently, at some point too!)
Nice job on the rocking horses! You were really getting the timing going of just enough patience to do the send and trying to be earlier and adding distance. His commitment looked great! Yes, I think you can for sure try leaving earlier on the next session. At 1:03 and 1:13 you were rotating earlier and he had no trouble from what I could see! So you can play with rotating as he is passing you!
Another option on the simpler version (without as much rotation) is to move closer to the tunnel, so he has to “find” the wing wraps with the tunnel distraction there – and sometimes cue him to run through the tunnel. Fun and more difficult!Very nice work here, you are off to a great start!!
TracyGood morning!
Good work here, I bet it was nice to get to the barn!
Set point – good job on the first session! And she moves really fast so it is hard to see in real time. I think she did a really nice job of sorting out her footwork in here! A couple of ideas for you fo rthe next session:Feel free to use a big cookie lure to get her to sit very close to the cross poles and sit straight ) If she is sideways she has to bend into it which is difficult. I put myself on the other side of the cross bars and lure into the sit when starting this, then step over the jump. Not very graceful but works haha!
Since she seems to love the MM, you can delay the click til she gets there. I think clicking early got her a little too excited on the first rep LOL!! The rest looked good with the delayed beep.
What was the distance between the cross bars and the first jump? I think we can give her a little more room maybe sliding them down so she has another 6 inches or a foot. And moving the MM a few feet further away will allow her to land and take an extension stride to it on future reps.
Bending! Nice! She definitely likes it LOL!! She sorted it out by trotting then went to a run, which is great. You can add in using a toy, and also get the bars in for part 2. We will be building it into the next steps later the week. Fun!
>>As an FYI, Work is going to try to stay open through this (animals will continue to get hurt and sick). I’m picking up an extra 1/2 shift Wed night (Influenza A) and as we have a doctor going on maternity leave and are already short staffed, I may have to disappear for a time at some point.
Thanks for letting me know!! And thank you for being there for the animals, these are crazy times. We will keep the classroom open as long as needed so you can keep playing even if your schedule gets busy.
Tracy
I can try to get a photo 🙂 But you have the tips of the cross bars touching right in front of where he is in a stay – you can un-touch them and have them sticking out a bit wider, so he is sitting further back from the first bar. Let me know if that makes more sense. I might need more coffee haha!
Good morning!
>> I will say he is a dog that does not like much repetition in training so less is more
That is usually an indicator of a low rate of reinforcement. I don’t suggest we work the dogs til their feet fall off, but if the dog is checking out then we look at raising the rate and you’ll see a big change. Rate is not just for the exercise we are trying to do, it is for every behavior in the entire session.
>>Sometimes I get so caught up in the assignment and getting video that it becomes too serious!
I think sometimes we all focus on the exercise and that is where I see rates dropping. I have learned to watch all layers and that really helps!
>> I hope it’s okay with you that I used the device that I had for CAVU when we did Susan Salo.
Absolutely! The spider set up is great for this 🙂
I think the set point is looking good. I would put the MM maybe 6 feet further away, so he can land and take an extension stride to it. What were the heights of the bars? His form looks good!
The wing bending looks really good- this game is partially to teach the bending, partially to teach the concept of going around all 3 wings for the next steps 🙂 I think he was perfectly happy to zip through it and moving to angles and part 2 was wise!
Part 2: he was also fine and dandy on this one. You can angle the bars so they are sitting in the bottom jump cup, to add a little challenge. When we make this an ‘official’ bending grid, we will close the distance a bit – but for now I think you can ask him to bend more by you asking for a tighter exit line (almost back to the first wing) – you were exiting a bit straight so you can add challenge and more bending by having him come back around to that first wing, as close as possible to the wing itself.
Nice work!
TracyGood morning!
Nice session here! Tunnels – she did a great job with her commitment here, so she is totally ready for you to add verbals before she enters: name call, or left/right, or GO! then run the direction the verbal would predict and throw the reward (or have her chase you for it, I think either is fine at this point because her commitment is niiiiiiiice :))Stay tour looks great, especially because she loves her tunnels so much 🙂 Nice throw backs on the rewards! Because she is so lovely in her drive for obstacles, put a shit-ton (<---- scientific word) of value on her stays so she almost looks bored at the start line LOL! She has come a long way with her stays in the last few months and she looks GREAT!! Good work! Tracy
Hi there!
The bending is going well! You can step it to less and let him offer by whipping it around it more, I think he would be happy to do that. And when you do add handling, you can turn and leave as soon as he approaches the first wing. You were stepping sideways to wing 3 then leaving, which we can fade out to add independence.
He is a big boy so the more independence on bends, the better! He did really well on the bars element of this too – for this game, stand still on your next session. Based on what is coming next (Friday!) you will want him to be able to do it without you.Set point:
Yes, this is where they eventually see full height (eventually LOL!)He isn’t really targeting the reward and that is affecting his jump style, so a couple of tweaks:
put yourself right out by the toy, maybe even crouching or pointing at it. Or, replace the toy with a food bowl – we want his head to be straight so his form is straight. I think part of the reason he wasn’t targeting the toy was that you were not in the same plane as the toy, so putting yourself there (right on it at first, then we can move you parallel away from it) will help too. No changes in height needed for now, in fact you might even lower the 2nd bar to get the striding more forward and less up & down, if that makes sense. But I think changing how he targets the reward will create that.He did a really good job of ignoring his sister’s singing haha! Yes, he has to learn to happily ignore other dogs, and he is well on his way 🙂
Nice work!!
TracyGood morning!
Bending – he is doing well! He seems to think the 3 wing set up is a little odd, but that will go away when he sees it a few more times. Yes, you can run out of it to get him to accelerate and chase (I love running in these games!) but also let him drive around without you moving – an ‘all of the above’ approach (because there won’t be much handler motion in the next stages of the game). He is definitely ready for part 2 with the bars added in!!Set point: He is getting the concept nicely, so we can add challenge and and let him extend his stride a bit. A couple of tweaks for you to do this:
– move the pet tutor further away – it should be one full extension stride past landing so he lands and takes a giant stride (he is taking a stride here, but it is a collection stride). I didn’t say that in the instructions, sorry!! So it will be more like 15 or 18 feet past for him.And when you stand near the pet tutor, don’t face Robie – be facing the direction he should travel (yes, look back to him, but generally facing forward and not him) . He has a great stay so it should be easy to do this.
The cross bars can be opened up a little so he has more like a 6 foot distance to the first bar – you can take a wingless jump and use those uprights to get the cross bars a little further away. And for now, keep the 2nd bar lower – I would put it at 8 inches for now, to get him lower and more forward. These tweaks are designed to get a little more length in the stride, more forward and not as much up and down. He seems ready for these added tweaks, as he overall seems to have nice control of all those legs LOL!!!
Nice work here!!
TracyHi there!
She was totally pumped up, how fun!!!!
I agree that you can add in more countermotion, leaving before she is in. And also adding in more verbal turn cues.When you cue the tunnel, be sure to cue with connection and arm back, taking one step – at :45 when she took the end you didn’t want, it was kind of cued because you were looking a little too far forward and movign away as you cued.
The last rep had terrific challenge – you sent and left, and she nailed it! Good girl 🙂 Yes, keep building on that. So fun! Well done!! It makes me happy to see her so happy <3
Tracy
Hi there!
>>I combined multiple sessions here and realized after spending time editing that I should have split it into 2 shorter videos so do with it what you will…either speed thru parts you don’t particularly need or want to see or just watch half of it one day and half the next or…whatever. I will pay closer attention next time. This one still keeps me under the 6-8 min total for the entire week. By the way, are we going Tuesday to Tuesday for the videos? Each Tuesday we reset the clock and have 6-8 min total?>>
Don’t worry too much about it – the time limits are general guidelines so we don’t over-work the puppies. I don’t really keep tabs on it, and you don’t have to post or monitor it that closely. Combining videos like this – that is fine 🙂 If I think you are training too much or going way over the time limit suggestions, I will let you know to dial it back LOL! Otherwise, you can kinda keep track to avoid over-training and don’t need to worry about it. If you are posting 20 minutes a week, well, maybe that is a bit much. But 10 minutes over the week because there was an issue or you didn’t edit stuff in between? No worries. The week resets on Monday or Tuesday, depending on how your life is going at the moment – again, I am pretty chill about it – I keep general tabs to make sure puppies are not getting drilled but I don’t count time limits to the second and you don’t need to either 🙂
>>Part 1 is getting some tricks and engagement prior to approaching the “ring gate” where I begin the “stay tour” using the gate, a jump and the tunnel. Notice he also “offers the jump” when I’m trying to set him up (I’m probably too close to the jump but he does like to offer that…I’m thinking I need to figure out a way he doesn’t take the first jump at a trial when he’s not supposed to yet). We are not trialing and don’t plan to for awhile.>>
I love engagement and tricks prior to any sport training, such a great thing to include in your routine!! And setting up ring gates – that is a good visual. Build in TONS of rewards for it, food and toys – he did a lot of this engagement without food or toys (or it was delayed) so he did some climbing on you. At his age – it should have basically a 100% rate of reinforcement. When he is closer to trialing, we fade it but for now, he needs a reward for each trick, every single one.
Also, watch for signs of readiness because you ask for a sit. That includes how quickly he responds to cues, how solid the responses are, and where he is looking. On your first go-round here before the first sit, he wasn’t really ready – not as quick as he can be in his responses, not as precise and when you asked him to sit, he looked away. So to improve this, make the tricks and rewards more active: ask for a hand touch, for example, and when he does one (even if it isn’t perfect), go wild with the cookie or toy, run around, jump around, etc. Do several in a row (with tons of reward) until he is fast and accurate in his responses and can’t take his eyes off of you.On the second go-round, he was tugging nicely and yes, I agree that he wasn’t sure what you wanted. As he is tugging near an obstacle, try facing him and using your verbal sit cue – without a physical line up cue. When you were trying to use your hand and leg to line him up, you stepped to the jump (1:32) and that is the cue to take the jump… so he was correct. So work the verbal without any body motion, and facing him is a good way to start (as long as you aren’t bending over or leaning into him – just stand up casually but don’t move towards the jump).
The other thing I do on stay tours with my dogs that love to offer is to build the leash into the routine – play and move towards the obstacles on leash. Get the sit – reward reward reward THEN take the leash off (during the sit). This can allow you to add in a physical line up cue (but add in any physical cue that might look like a step to a jump really far from a jump so he doesn’t get confused).Also… be less concerned about exactly what angle he sits on for now… just reward sits. He did figure out what you wanted and sat and then you tried to move him into a better position. I would just reward that sit, release, ask for another one maybe closer to you, reward, release, and so on. Otherwise he does a whole lot of work with very little reinforcement, so the start line becomes a place of stress and not of fun. Also, be consistent with what the cues mean – when you were in front of the jump, you were slapping your leg and I thought it was meant to be part of a line up cue… but then in front of the tunnel, you were slapping your leg and it was more of a ready cue before a send (no stay). So that can also contribute to confusion, as it might mean 2 different things.
The tunnel turn work is looking good, he is committing beautifully and turning nicely on the exit! Yay! You can mix in some straight exits too, yelling GO! and then taking off straight, throwing the toy out ahead on a straight line.
>>I feel we have a good toy play relationship but he takes great joy in doing a few laps before he will bring it back.
Some dogs do have fun running around with it and it takes longer to get the retrieve. A few ideas – does he have the opportunity in life, not in training, to just run around like a crazy man with toys, no retrieve required?
I have also found that dogs do laps during training when there is too much pressure – so make sure your rate of reward is super high, and also give permission for the laps (I tell my dogs to go for a run). Cheer for a lap then trade him for something else – either a cookie or a different toy to take on a run. Also be sure that when he *does* bring the toy back in these situations that you let him win it again or give him another one – don’t take it away or put him right back to work/training, as that can cause the dogs to avoid bringing it back.
>> For this video, since he was just doing his own thing no matter what I tried, I walked into the garage as if I was going back inside and then he came to me and we had a party and continued on.>>
My guess is that it was too much about the work, too much pressure, and not enough about the toy party. I stay with the dogs if they need a pressure release and I don’t bother calling or trying to trade if there is simply no way. I don’t leave or hide anymoe (I used to) because then the dogs learn to stay away til I leave. He is really young, so as you keep an eye on a super high success rate, letting him blow off steam and have more running opportunities with his toys (including the training toys) and keep making it rewarding for him to bring it back, the victory laps will go away.
Nice work here!!
Tracy
Hi there!
Looks like it is drying up nicely there!
Rocking horses are looking good 🙂 Good connection, you are really making sure you are connected and she can see it. Try not to switch the toy from hand to hand, it will end up delaying your handling when you add in the running. Plus I think she was seeing it moving and anticipating the throws. In a couple of spots, you were looking a little forward and pointing forward, connection was not as clear – so she wasn’t as ure. An example is 1:06 and then 1:27 and 1:37. Compare it to the reps where you held your connection as you sent her to the wing, like the reps at 2:00 ish and you can see how much better she commits even with all the distance added in.
I love how she went and took a wing when you aksed if she was ready: she said heck yeah!! LOL! Loving her commitment and value.On the lazy game – nice job building value and letting her offer. She seemed like a very happy camper LOL! Just be sure you keep moving forward for another session or two – when you tried to rotate too soon, she came back to you and didn’t go over the jump. As value builds, you will be able to add that back but for now, keep moving forward to help her.
Very nice work here, she is becoming the Commitment Queen!
Tracy
Hi there!
Good boy on his wing wraps, he is doing really well! Try to maintain eye contact as he comes around the wing, resist the temptation to glance forward to the next wing. You looked ahead on the first couple but then had perfect connecton at :14 and he turned really nicely! There wasn’t enough connection at :20, so he just came to you. Eye contact is important for baby dogs, to show them the side we want and also direct our shoulders to where we want their line to go next. It was much clearer at :25 and he nailed it 🙂 You did some blind cross (spin) moves on these, keep them to FCs for now to get the connection really perfect and we will be adding the spin/blind exits soon 🙂Tunnel fun: sending forward was great! Yes, the rears were too hard – I start rear crosses on short straight tunnels, so you can re-visit them by crunching up the tunnel (but they are a low priority, because they get much easier when he has had more value time. And yes, you did a few too many reps with errors, so remember the 2 failure rule – if he fails twice, you need to make it much easier or do something else. So on the tunnels, add value using the sends and then do increasingly early front crosses – let him learn that you might leave by sending then front crossing when he is about 3 feet from the tunnel entry. We can add all that and verbals before going back to the rear crosses.
Good job on the jump games, he is showing really nice commitment so far! Yay! Yes, ideally, Slider isn’t getting in the way but I understand the whole old dog thing 🙂 I like that you have a series of different verbals for the wraps and the backsides – this will be incredibly useful in the future (plus we will be adding in GO very soon too 🙂 ) When you are playing with these, we really want to build a lot of value for taking the front – so think about the ratio of front side to back side of the jump. I suggest 10% or less on backside training at his age. So say that, over the course of a couple of sessions, you do 20 wraps or front side stuff… 2 or less of those should be backsides. There reasoning behind that is two-fold:
first, in his career, he is going to need amazing commitment to the front side in a ratio much higher than he will need to the back side. So I like to make sure that is in place then adding the backside is relatively easy and we have plenty of time for that.
Second, backside jumping (even over a bump) is the most physically demanding so I do very little of it with the baby dogs.
You did very little of it here, which was wise! So keep it at a low ratio and keep putting excellent value on your fronts.Nice work!!
TracyHi!
For now, it doesn’t matter 🙂 We are not really asking for a specific striding effort, we are looking to teach the bending concept for now and we will add striding later.T
OMG that is the cutest tiniest tunnel ever! She is doing a great job of learning to drive through it – it is all about value building at this point. She is doing best on the curved tunnel when you stay on the inside of it. She had a little more trouble when you started on the outside and did a rear cross (starting at :15) – you can start that skill on a straight tunnel, then easily go back to the curved tunnel.
I’d say within another session or two, she will be smoking you and driving away to the tunnel – at that point, you can add in leaving earlier and calling her before she enters, to give her the turn cues.Great job!
TracyHi there!
It looks like you are doing a great job with the toy play! And holy cow, Mochi is totally on board with driving to the jump – yes!!!! She picked up speed VERY quickly here (and that is a VERY VERY GOOD thing haha!) so you can time your reward throw to come sooner. On the first rep, you tossed the toy as she was heading to the jump, before she looked back at you: perfect!
As she got faster, you were a little late on the throws and she was looking at you. So, you can anticipate her drive to the jump and toss the toy out ahead as she is on her way to it, so it lands out there before she looks back at you.
Also, she appears to love the toy most when you are moving it around, so you can tie it to a long line – then when it lands, you can start moving it around so she can chase it and grab it.Nice work here, excellent value!
Tracy
