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Hi!
>> “focusing on many aspects of positive self-talk to perform at your peak and using self-talk to overcome fears, negativity and failure”. I usually do not have thoughts of “fear, negativity or failure”. Maybe the opposite, I am usually very relaxed, so I may need to get more excited and pumped up. I love doing agility because I love the training, going out, spending time with my dogs, and with friends. I love challenging myself, the competing allows me to do that. I trust my dogs and myself, so I am usually not nervous (like I was when I used to run Jetson hahaha). What about “I get excited when I am going to run my dog.”>>
Yes, maybe you are too calm and need to pump up a little more? Rather than thoughts of fear/negativity/failure, do you ever think about lofty outcome goals such as winning or world teams? Those thoughts can be as detrimental as negative thoughts, and just as distracting.
>>The more I think about it, the more I don’t know what else to write. I consider myself a very positive person, maybe too positive at times. Maybe I need higher goals?
Yes, go for the big goals in your affirmations:
* I am competitive against the very best handlers
* I run to winWhen you say “too positive at times” what do you mean?
>>About the lessons learned on Saturday with Manca’s courses. When I run Master Series Agility, there was a straight tunnel (#3), after I sent Lilu into the tunnel my mind wondered, I believe it is a consequence of not visualizing the dog taking the time in the tunnel, I have seen this before when you have asked us to compare our walk throughs vs. our actual runs. So my mind wondered, and then I was not 100% sure what was next, thus my error on 5-6. I think I just spent time waiting for Lilu to come out of the tunnel instead of getting into position to handle the next obstacles.
This is interesting! Didn’t something similar happen at Cynosport?
>>Also, I keep finding out that those specific obstacles or steps that are not 100% defined/clear in my visualization is where I make mistakes, like in the 11-12, I know I visualized connecting with her exiting 11, but then my handling at 12 was not 100%, so then another mistake. This is also not new. I remembered that at Cyno I made an effort to visualize connecting after single obstacle,
So you need to plan/rehearse/visualize more than just connecting – connect while giving the next cue, seeing her respond, then giving the next cue, and so on.
>>but then I had a lot of time between the walk through and the actual run, which I don’t have at a local show (excuses?).
I think it is partially a short term versus long term memory issue. It is all a matter of how you use your time 🙂 When you have a short amount of time, you need to visualize while you are getting the dog, warming up, etc. If you have hours and hours before the run, you need to visualize at least 2 or 3 times each hour to keep it ‘fresh’ in your mind.
Which do you find easier: short time before the run, or long amount of time?
>>With the visualization exercise from Day 1 “Mental Prep training Part 1”, I learned that even though I need to visualize routine tasks that I do on a daily basis (which I first I thought it was going to be easy), I am not paying attention to details. For example, if I visualize myself getting out of bed, I forget to turn on the lights, or something simple. So it has been a very good experience and I have been trying to practice it more often (but still 1-2 mins, not yet 5).>>
This is important and it goes along with the stuff you mentioned above about missing details or your mind wandering. A new affirmation for you:
* I pay attention to ALL the detailsAnd it is a good run reminder: pay attention to the details in the walk, in the visualizations, and in the run! And on the run, I think you did forget that she had to do the whole tunnel LOL! So you ended up standing there and then got behind which resulted in the off course. One of the things we do with small dog handlers is have the handlers gauge their running lines, so they don’t get too far ahead and so they don’t stand still (small dogs hate that LOL!). So you need to add the detail of gauging your line: don’t send to everything because tunnels take time. Run in and run out of them so you can be moving and in a great position.
Let me know if that makes sense 🙂
Tracy
Hi Mary! I thought Hammer was insanely cute, and now you show up with Wolfie! OMG!!! Cute factor = 8 zillion!!!!!! Seriously, Corgi puppies are adorable 🙂
On the first tugging video:
>>, I’ve been using this little spare bedroom as the place where we have been practicing some baby obedience stuff, like taking the dumb bell, etc., and I’ve been using only food in here.
So she had made a pairing in the room being associated with food, which made it a little harder to get the toy play. When bringing toy play into an environment that might already have a food association or after she gets a treat, you can get that toy crazier – your second toy here was nice and long and attached to something, so you can really swing it around and get her chasing it (like you did at 2:05) or you can get up, run to a new spot, get her chasing it or you can throw it. I like moving puppies away from the cookie spot after they get a treat, to get the pup out of the pool of scent and to get the toy and pup moving (which is generally more engaging). You can also use just one ultra-boring treat then bring the toy back out 🙂 She did really well with the toy at the beginning and then she did really well getting back on it at the end (she seemed to really like chasing it when you were moving it around and making silly noises :))
On the 2nd video: These are all perfect things to shape with a baby pup! My main feedback on all 3 is to keep your hands still 🙂 She appears to be really food motivated, so she will watch your hands if they are moving and come towards your hands. So keep your hands totally still and let her offer 🙂 Then get one hand in for a reward then back out then stationary again. That will really help get behaviors rolling for now as she learns to offer behavior when she sees food rather than come towards your hands.
Getting on the bowl is going well, we will be expanding that soon! For all 4 feet in a bowl, I suggest a bigger bowl 🙂 so she can easily get all 4 feets in without having to do much compression to do it. The sports vets/PTs are advising against too much compression nowadays.
Also, when she is in a stationary position (on or in the bowl for example) you can start adding in a release word to get her out. It can be your regular stay release, or it can be a ‘get it’ style release if you are going to toss a treat. Adding it now will help us ‘install’ the cue for when we want it even more 🙂
Great to see her get right back on the toy – excellent choice of toy and you immediately got it swooshing around, so she immediately chased it. YAY!!!!
Nice work!
TracyYay! I love them name Mayhem too!
And yes, work through the early games – we can add to them if they are too easy, and you can take them on the road to new places!
And yes, add the toy to class along with the treat. We want to be able to reward with ALL the things, Let me know how it goes!Tracy
Hello and welcome! I am excited to see you here!! Spy is SUPER COOL 🙂 You are going to have a blast.
>> I fluctuate between being incredibly excited about working with him and so terrified of messing him up that I don’t want to do anything
I completely feel that and I think everyone here feels that!
About messing him up:
We have 3 goals:
* To NOT mess us the stuff we have messed up with past dogs 🙂
* To find new and creative things to mess us and forgive ourselves when we do 🙂
* To surround ourselves with supportive helpful people who will help us sort out our new creative mess ups hahaha!!My youngest dog is almost 17 months old – I have managed to NOT make my normal mistakes with her, yay me! But I have had a grand old time making some new errors LOL!! But I forgive myself, I have not messed anything up, and my friends/colleagues/instructors are very supportive 🙂
Have fun!
TracyHi there! Yay for shaping! It is more about human training than dog training 🙂 Teehee!
Her toy play was really strong and gold star for being able to go back and forth from food to tugging! That is not easy and she was great.>>While watching the video it was clear that I was trying to help with my body position and placement.
Yes, you were mostly standing still 🙂 but you can stand still more 🙂 You were a little twitchy LOL! Placement of reward *should* help but ideally it comes after the click and not before it (as a lure).
>>Demi has no clue she has hind legs.
Ha! Actually she does, but this brings me to my biggest bit of feedback:
bigger box.
The behavior goal, based on what you were saying in the video, was 4 feet in the box in a stand… but I would not have know it without being able to hear your voice (and Demi doesn’t speak English that well yet haha) – so the choice of box made it really really hard for her to fit her back feet in while her front feet were in. It would require a pretty massive spinal compression which is pretty uncomfortable for a large puppy which is why she didn’t offer it.
Easy solution: bigger box, big enough that she can put all 4 feet in naturally and not have to do compression to get into it (the vet/PT folks really don’t want us doing big compressions anyway, so you don’t have to worry about getting her to squish herself into something tiny).Some more ideas for you:
Go for smooth, clean transitions – as you tug with one hand, get a couple of cookies out and grab the prop with another hand – then get the toy back and put the box down in as close to one moment as you can get it – and then you will be ready to roll and not moving around or getting stuff out. It took 10 seconds or so to make your transition, which is a long time in dog years 🙂I also recommend soft treats that need no chewing, to make for rapid reinforcement.
break things off during correct behavior and before she gets stuck. If you break off a behavior while she is stuck (sitting or standing and looking but not offering) with a release then a tossed reward… it will actually reward the stuck behavior and you will get more of it. We humans think of it as a “reset” but the dogs think of it as a reward so are likely to offer it again (which is what happened when she would offer more sitting or standing looking at you). If she does begin to sit but also puts back feet in box, you can place the reward by tossing it (before she gets stuck in position) so she moves through and doesn’t hold a sit.
And she gave interesting feedback on your reward placement at 2:41 – you clicked by didn’t move your hand, so she jumped towards it. That tells us that she is moving towards your hand a lot (you can see her reaching forward earlier in the video) so you were getting more of that. to help her not jump towards the hand, be sure to click then move your hand towards her (or even past her) so she stays where she is after the click.
Good work here! Let me know how it goes with a bigger box!
Tracy
Hi!
She is looking good! You have good toy play going on here and I really like the “Gimme” to hand! Woot! The session might have been a little long and that is why she lost the gimme a bit towards the end of the first part? Brain fatigue is a real thing 🙂 The toys look to be of equal value – you might be a little more right-handed dominant in this video so just be sure to tug with your left a lot too (something I need to pay attention to as well!)The food session towards the end of the clip went well… not surprisingly for a BC, food is interesting and even with the hand touches and high rate of success she kinda loses a bit of excitement for it (note how she looked away there, when she didn’t look away at all in the toy sessions even with Hoot moving around). There wasn’t much else going on but the food can definitely be more exciting, here are some ideas:
Reward with the food with the same level of giddy-up as you do with the toy: verbal excitement and moving so she has to chase the food a bit. You were quiet and in precision mode with the treats here – I like that for a shaping session but to build excitement into food, you can use it just like a toy (party time!). You should be sweaty after using food in play 🙂>>if I ask for a sit at the door she will take one cookie then she will wait for a release. She will not take more food.
My dogs say to that you should not ask for a sit at the door, problem solved. HA!! Just kidding 🙂 I think what you are seeing is a great indicator of internal state and will help us train through a common issue before it becomes an issue! So the indicator of internal state is that the possibility of release to go through the door is so exciting/arousing that food is no longer a reinforcement, it isn’t interesting, maybe it is even a punisher at that point. So, we need to raise the value of food and also help her be able to eat the food when faced with a super stimulating distraction.
You can start at the door with incredibly high value food – steak! Cheese! Portion of a meal! Beer! (Oh wait, that is for you). Most of us use low value food treats for door behavior but a really high value food might be a good helper here.
To raise the food value – pair relatively medium or low value food with super great tug toys, in low to medium stimulation settings (such as shaping something really easy). 2 things will happen: The food will get paired with the toy in a situation (work) where she is likely to accept the food, therefore raising the value of the food. And we introduce the concept of “eat while you are excited by the possibilities ahead” – the excitement of offering behavior and the visible tuggie are a good start to this.
Then, add the concept of “eat in the presence of something really stimulating” to toy play: have low value food, high value food, and a couple of great tug toys. Can she eat treats while the tug toy is on the ground and she is about to be released to it? Can she eat while you are swinging or dangling the toy? Can she eat after you have thrown the toy? (You might need to have her on leash :))
Criteria: Swallow. Not just put it in mouth – swallow. Then you can reward with release to the toy or another toy on you or the super high value treat. And she is likely to be able to do one treat, so criteria might include 2 cookies 🙂And at the door, start her further away so she is less stimulated. You can also lower stimulation level by not having the other dogs around (she might be predicting that they will run or she will get to chase them). Start as far away as needed so she eat 2 treats 🙂 You can have her do a sit on a mat away from the door.
You can also desensitize the door sitting by ‘unpairing’ it from the release to go through it. She can still do a sit near the door 10 times a day, but 8 of those times do not involve the door opening or the release through it.
It is a great concept to work through now, so we can have strong control of food as a reinforcement when things get really exciting in agility!
Let me know what you think!
TracyHi Christine!
For daily life with restrained recalls, if you don’t have a helper, you can do cookie recalls 🙂 That is where you hold the pup and toss a cookie into the corner of a room or 10 feet away on the grass or rug. Be sure the pup sees the cookie – then let her go and tell her to get the cookie. As she is heading for the cookie, you can start creeping away the other direction and when she eats the cookie (let her swallow it LOL!) then you can call her and ruuuuun! Then reward the recall. Use cookies that are easy to swallow 🙂
If you have grippy surfaces like carpet, you can do this in and out of different rooms in the house.
I also highly recommend recall field trips, just to find random helpers for restrained recalls. You can go to the vet office or local pet supply store or dog-friendly café – ask a kind stranger to hold the pup for a moment and do a short recall. It is a great socialization tool also, because it teaches the pup that people are cool and that you can also ignore the people and run to Da Momma 🙂
Tracy
Hellooooo! I am just going to call her PTG (Pop Tart Gilley) LOL! Terriers are a little different than, say, BCs hahaha but you will love every moment of it! I am looking forward to more about PTG. And best of luck at EOTT, we are cheering for ya!
Tracy
Hello and welcome! What is the pup’s name? Bonnie did MaxPup work with Edward when he was a pupster too 🙂 Keep us posted if you have any questions about how to work through this online class stuff 🙂 And have fun!
TracyHello and welcome to you and Demi! It will be super fun to see her, she is a perfect age to get started with *all the things* 🙂 Yay!!!!
Tracy
Hello Amy and Clover! This will be great fun to see her blossom 🙂 I do think there are some differences between girl puppies and boy puppies, and definitely differences between breeds!! I am looking forward to your videos!
Tracy
Good morning!
These are good – they are more in the category of reminders for your routines and run reminders, so we can tweak them a bit to make them into more forceful affirmations.>>I will continue to find and visualize the good from a run – there is always something good to remember – it’s what keeps me coming back for more.
can be something like:
Today I am brilliant at finding the positive in each run>>I will wait until Monday to analyse what went wrong, only positive thoughts on trial days
can be something like:
I am a positive partner to my dog and fellow competitors on trial days>>I will do my best to avoid letting him know about mistakes, I accept that I probably own 100% of the mistakes and the no’s, damns sighs and other expletive’s coming out of my mouth are probably doing nothing to help him with his confidence – they are hard to control though.
into
I always look forward in each run and let go of any bobble immediately>>I will avoid celebrating until we are done done with a run. I continue to visualize me shouting you did it while he was on his way to the finish jump, seeing him look look back at me and then taking down the finish bar.
ha! Don’t visualize the error 🙂 Visualize you running hard all the way to the leash then celebrating. The affirmation can be something like
I will add the leash as the last obstacle and drive all the way to it.T
Good morning!
>>EX: jump hard turn to weaves but a Tunnel is facing the jump before the weaves.
scene: Tanner takes jump turns to weaves enters correctly but pops out of weave 4.
run reminders: ( hard turn, pause )or Tanner LUVS tunnels I need to Turn hard pause for a couple sec as I go forward to the weaves.
Performance Goal :Tanner not taking tunnel and just entering weaves ( turn, entering and completing weaves)>>Bearing in mind that performance goals are *your* performance (and not his), I would tweak this to be a performance goal if timely cuing of the turn to get the weaves in view and take out the tunnel possibility. That is a performance goal specific to that course.
A general performance goal (run reminder) can be staying patient while enters the weaves, don’t rush, be stationary until he is entered and has made the bend back to the next pole, then moving forward.
>>Outcome Goal: Tanner turns
paused long enough for Tanner to realize we are turning and enters weaves correctly Both outcome goals were achieved !! while at the same time other areas were not and that is what we need to continue to work on in Training : instead of handler racing him to weaves ( to make sure he see’s the entrance) Handler needs to trust dog & training Then should have slowed down my momentum and steps. So Tanner will slow down enough to get his backend positioned better to be able to stay in the weaves to complete them.Yes – keep working in training so you don’t have to slow down to help him get in. But the run reminder of “be patient an let him enter the poles before moving forward” can stay on the list as you train him to fluency.
>>Periodization: I never knew there was a word to what I did before we left for natls but this is very close to what I would do. Especially the week of natls ( packing car, traveling ect) Toby would not do any agility 7 days before natls. I always thought this was the time for him to just be a dog has much as he could especially with us traveling on a few of those day. Appreciate you adding this in definitely can do further research on it.
Yes! And periodization should allow for rest. No last minute cramming needed 🙂 But rest is important!
Keep up the good work!!!
Tracy
