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Hi! This is the same link as the plank link, can you repost the backing up link? Looking forward to seeing it, plus we add on to the backing up tomorrow.
>> We had some really good reps (last one, especially), but some were kind of disorganized.>>
Disorganized is fine at his age 🙂 We see the smaller dogs get organized sooner than the bigger dogs, and generally the girls get organized sooner than the boys. So my Elektra (small female) is 9 months old today and she is FAR more organized than 14 month old Contraband (large male)
Tracy
Hi!
>>. I would say we have definitely built value with treats for walking on the plank, which might be why he was so interested when he saw this setup.
I agree, which reminds me of the other thing I was thinking about when watching your video above – intersperse toy play breaks into ALL of your shaping with treats at this stage. What I mean by that is 3 or 4 treats for getting on something, for example, then move off it for some tugging. You might need to move pretty far away to get tugging after food, and use long crazy toys, but it is worth it! You’ll actually get him to be more engaged and he will be less likely to leave to get on things, to get food games started LOL! Plus it teaches the dogs how to self-modulate arousal and balance food & toy play. It is not easy to start but totally worth it in the long run 🙂
He is doing well on the planks! He is really looking like he is thinking about where all of the feet are doing, and I am glad to hear the turning around is going really well today (it was going well on the video too!) This is the type of thing to file into the “Progress Not Perfection” category, because he is really young and still learning gross & fine motor skills, plus every time he masters it , his body grows and changes so he has to master it all over again LOL!!!! So his progress looks great and I am sure when he is full grown, he will be amazingly coordinated. Yay!
Let me know what you think!
TracyThis was his first time seeing them side bv side. I was trying to give him a wider plane for his turning practice.
As you’ll see, he definitely used the full width to make his turns, and to my eye, there was no side preference in this setup. I started with the planks side by side, then separated and had him back on a single plank. These planks are thicker than my travel plank, but they are still lower than the travel plank in its elevated option.
Monday update: We were just out on the phield for free play. For just a minute, I encouraged him to walk on one of the dw planks, and he did a full 360-degree turn to the right without stepping off plank at all, and he came very close to doing it to his left.
Hi! This is a good session for planning! It is pretty normal for the dogs to see things as being different that we didn’t even notice 🙂 I can see his argument: things looked different, he lost the first toy race, and he has been paid a zillion cookies for getting on things lately. So it makes sense that he would go to the planks.
>>I let him off leash on the phield
There comes a time in every puppy’s life, where they need to enter locations, even ones we think are familiar locations, on leash. WM might have entered that stage. For example – Nacho had to be on leash in my own field for several months LOL! Voodoo had to be on leash til he learned to stop car chasing. Hot Sauce had to be on leash for about 2 seconds because she is NOT normal hahahahaha!! So I think the best step now is to have WM enter every environment where he might consider other options, with his leash on . Then you get some play or some tricks for treats (because you might not be able to get toy play in all environments yet) – then when you see him engaging with you, the leash can come off (or not, some dogs are like Nacho LOL!!!) The leash being on allows us to create a richly reinforcing environment that is skewed towards what we want 🙂 The latency of engagement will tell you how long he needs to enter new environment on leash – if he is able to offer engagement instantly, then the leash doesn’t need to be in the picture. If it takes months? Then that is fine too 🙂
And in the new places, start with short sessions with several high value toys tied together, so you can swing them around and get him wild or it. So the next time he goes out to the phield (knowing that it will look totally different), you can have the bestest toys and WM on leash – and just try to get him to party with you, no need for any real training. Do that a couple of times an then you will start to see engagement shifting, then you can start fading the leash and getting more training in. Let me know if that makes sense!
Tracy
Hi Lori!
>> The dogs are so different and at different stages.
So true! It was a really fun group!!
>>I had quite a bit of trouble with my iphone though (mine is the one labeled iphone with no name associated with it) and it kept losing connections, even though I would log out. Both SAT AND SUN had really overcast weather here which might contribute?
I have found that weather does contribute to wonky connections on Zoom. With my devices, I find that turning them off the non again and it helps.
>>Sometimes, I have found breaks for my dogs help to not “overload” them. Thanks Tracy for all your expertise and patience.
I totally agree!! I like to give dogs breaks so that we can all come back feeling refreshed and ready.
>>I picked up on some wrong verbals when viewing this submitted film.
Ha! I do that too – oops, I used the wrong verbals! It happens 🙂
Your videos are looking really good! Baby dog is doing grown up stuff!!!
Video 1a – I think maybe Kai thought this lazy game was a fabulous cookie bonanza? LOL!! I love how he picked up speed on the lazy part! And no trouble finding the jumps. Then when you added your speed, he really drove the line! The one-steps sends were great! He wants to look at you a little, so keep throwing the rewards rather than handing them to him and that will help him continue to look straight. Your connection looked fabulous. When you added the verbal timing, you were actually a little early, which is a very very good thing!! You were saying it just before he took off, which is fine because he will eventually be jumping a pretty tall bar – so the timing will need to be pretty early. You might not be able to wait til he lands to deliver the next cue, so early is good for him. His sends to the jump after the tunnel also looked great!1b This is also looking good. His commitment is looking strong so on the transitions into the wraps, I think you can add in decelerating sooner – when he lands, slow down and keep moving forward – so just before he passes you, you rotate and do the FC before he takes off. You were slowing down when he was closer to the jump and rotating when he was jumping so it was a little wide on the turn. He is reading the deceleration really well so you can challenge and test his commitment by turning sooner – if he has questions, you can toss the reward to the landing spot of the wrap jump to help build the commitment even more. Your connection looks good so I think you will be able to be a little sooner on the decel and rotation. And also add on your wrap verbals (so many words LOL!)
Great job here! Looking forward to more!
TracyHa! Yes, I know I said there would be things other than Blinds LOL! There were some FCs too 🙂 It is all posted over on the Course Syllabus page now 🙂
I think this went really well and you have really strong send cues… which makes it MUCH easier to get back down the line to the BC to the tunnel. And also yes – keep your arms in tight so you can do the blind and get the opposite arm involved, because she totally thought that was clear! Compare it to the reps where you arms were further out away (like the last rep) and she was slower/asking more questions than the times your arms were in closer and your connection was very clear.
Great job with the rewards for the one step sends as you turned and left! Yay! You can hang back by the tunnel like you did at :40 to have a super easy time getting the BC. When you do move into the blind, remember to give your jump cue as you start it, so she can be 100% sure you want the jump. That way you can disconnect to start the blind sooner, rather than wait for her to commit to the jump then start it. You had verbals going on the sends but then you got quiet on the blinds.
Great job! I think you will find these useful!!
TracyHi! She doesn’t have to revisit the mountain climber game, but I do think we can get her to do more of a weight shift at the end of the board. Overall, she seems confident particularly when you are also moving – she doesn’t yet love it when you are sending her ahead without you, but that is normal 🙂 She is a bit forward, on her shoulders, so when the board drops, she gets a little off balance. She is taking the landing of the board more on her shoulders than by balancing on her rear and core, if that makes sense? But, we work that in different games (not mountain climber) so we can isolate it differently. Has she played the bang game?
T
Hi!
I agree, plank work is going really well! Your motion didn’t bother her and she was working to line up her hind end. She was tending to line up her hind end just after getting onto the board – so on the next session, you can throw the reward further to see if she can line it up just before getting on and get on a little straighter ( this will work you up to angled entries on a full height dog walk eventually so she knows how to do it in case she ever needs to)
She did a good job turning around on the board – it is not easy! You can add a little challenge to this on the next session by raising the plank a little, if you have cinderblocks or something, so it is just a couple of inches off the ground. That way she really has to think about keeping all 4 feet on the plank!Nice work!
TracyHi! This is going well!
One thing to think about is throwing the reward more, the further away from you she is. She was sending really really well, but all of the rewards were tending to come after she finished the tunnel – so as the session on the wings and tunnel went along, she lost some of her zip out to the wings. So mixing up the placement of reward will help keep the speed balanced, especially in moments when you aren’t running like mad 🙂 I tend to reward tunnels a little and sends to wings and jumps A LOT, by throwing the rewards out to the landing side. Your connection and send mechanics looked really good!!
The sends on the jump pinwheel looked really good! She saved you a little at 1:52, you didn’t step to the middle jump on the send but rather turned away too early, just using an arm and a verbal. However, that is why we train arms and verbals, so the rest of the cue doesn’t have to be perfect. Yay!! The rest of your sends looked good. I think the bar drops were just a combination of tired and connection breaks – at 2:13, you looked forward and gave the cue as she was taking off, and she pulled the bar there. I think I will be posting some proofing games for that because we all make that little mistake, and we can teach the dogs to keep their feet up 🙂
Nice work!!
TracyHi! I think he was Mr. Perfect on this teeter game!! Love it! I think give him another session just like this and if he drives to the end like he did on the last rep here, then on the session *after* the next one, you can give him a tiny tiny bit of tip.
>>The teeter has been a struggle too since Chapter was getting over threshold once it started moving and would cause him to bark and take off running. With this exercise he seemed fine and to keep his composure and I did like his drive to the end. Progress!>>
I agree about the progress! Tell me more about the threshold issue yu saw previously – how much tip was there? Did he take off barking and running after successes or failures, or both? Either? LOL!! It is actually pretty common for herding dogs to get overstimulating by the teeter moving. Which brings me to my next question… when the wobble board was moving, how did he do? Give me all the details so we can game plan his teeter progression 🙂
>>Since this course has so many different elements- can we post video of jumps and teeter, etc. or should we stick to one at a time?
You can totally post different videos at the same time (or videos containing more than one game :))
>>I’m also going to skip the other contact games since Chapter has a good running aframe and dog walk so that’s one area that is going really well!>>
It is ain’t broke, let’s not break it LOL!!! We can focus on the teeter and also other concepts.
T
Hi!
This was very cool that she immediately started offering the wrapping, as soon as she recognized the set up. Smart!!!! She also seemed to be equally balanced going to her left and to her right – I didn’t see her having trouble one direction or the other when the upright was close to you. When it was a foot or so away from you, I think she lost her chain of thought after a minute and then was cutting in front of you – and she was only cutting in front going one direction (from your left hand to your right hand) which could mean turning left is easier for her than turning right. You were wise to bring the upright back in a little to get success going again. So when she is going from your left to your right, have the upright in a little closer so it is easier on that side.
You can also go to the bigger object now, keeping it close to get started there too.
Great job! She looks great and is a ton of fun, like always 🙂 

TracyHi!
>> Ugg…I can’t sit cross legged and I can hardly kneel because I had knee replacement in the good leg a few years ago. LOL. Mechanics with my prosthesis don’t work to sit cross legged.
Ah! We can totally tweak the mechanics to make it work. Sit on something that feels comfy – I ended up sitting on one of those inflatable donut things but you and also sit on a low chair. Sitting sideways totally worked too. Feel free to work out whatever feels comfy!
She thought this was the great day of her life – so many easy cookies!! The cookies hitting the bowls almost sounded like bels ringing, very festive. You were SUPER fast getting her into the rhythm and then she was able to maintain the flow really well… until you started talking to her LOL!!!
I do think we need to add in some praise where she keeps working and doesn’t just look at you (for example, picture her hitting an amazing weave entry with you 30 feet away, you will want to praise and you’ll also want her to keep weaving :)) So when she is doing something, start by quietly adding praise: “gooooood giiiiirl…” and see how it goes – don’t be too exciting in your praise because she loves to engage with you when you are exciting 🙂Great job here!
Hi!
>>oy I never had a little dog. There will be some things to get used to.
Yes, they move differently! And also BCs move differently than non-BCs, so there is a bit of a learning curve at first but you are doing fine 🙂
>>She will be perfect!
Correct! She already is perfect!
>>Now I just need to remember to get BELOW the knee.
Yes! To keep her head straight or slightly downwards.
>>And then I could see the weight shift in these video’s too.
Yes, it was rally cool to see her doing it! She is lovely!
Hi!
I love how she *immediately* transferred this to the soft crate as the wing. She seemed to have an easier time turning to her left (going from your right hand to your left hand). Those were fast and fluid and pretty immediate! When she had to turn to her right, going from your left hand to your right hand – she totally had to think about it a little LOL!!! That is fine – my two pups both showed the same side preference in this game (left) but now it is much more balanced. She didn’t appear to need extra help on the harder so (we will give her help if at any point she asks for it) so for now, just be patient and let her think about it. I think of it as being the same as when you ask me to pick something up with my non-dominant hand. I am left handed, so it is easy to grab something with my left. But if I need to grab it with my right, it takes a moment to think about it at first then gets better with practice.
Great job here! She looks fabulous! đź’•
TracyHi Glenda! You are rocking this! Great job on this video!! She is getting faster and faster on each one. Let’s talk about the perfect reps first – all were perfect except one, which is why we really focus on what went right. Note how quick her turns are getting into the recalls (my flyball friends call them “whiplash” recalls LOL!! And she was straight and tight to your running line. Your mechanics of the reward presentation were great: very clear connection and you got the toy LOW so her head stayed low. Perfect! The only oopsie here was on one rep, she turned so fast to drive to you that I think you were surprised and offered the reward with the wrong hand – that made the blind info a little later than the others but she did get to the correct side. Yay!!
Great job! And yes, the more you practice, the more these crazy mechanics will becomes second nature and then you won’t have to exaggerate them or think about them as much 🙂
Great job!
Tracy
