Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Hi!
On the perch work:
A few ideas for you:
First, set a timer for a much shorter session, this one was 3.5 minutes which is really long for a body awareness session. Set the timer for 2 minutes at most then be done. The session fell apart a bit here after you got past 2 minutes.Second – all cookie rewards should be delivered on the perch, I think it was a bit confusing when you would toss treats away so he would sometimes step off possibly in anticipation of the treats being tossed. When you want him off the perch, use a release work and play tug.
Third – stay closer to the perch 🙂 you were far enough away that it was harder for him to know what you wanted.
I think he is doing well overall and these 3 things should help! Yes, move slowly but I don’t think his questions were about your speed 🙂
Tracyhi there! He is doing well on his foot targeting! The best reps where when you had a really clean transition, starting him at your side then sending clearly with the dog side arm and leg, like at :34.
When he was confused with the set up, 3 things were happening:
You were a little far from the target to send backwards to it, so he wasn’t sure. Also, you were not using the dog-side leg, so the feet were relatively together and it looked just like the set up position. Also, when you were sending forward, you were looking at the target so it broke connection a bit. So, try to use the dog-side leg, be a bit closer (when sending backwards) and look at him 🙂
Nice work!
TracyHi there! Hope you enjoyed the holidays!
Foot targeting:
She does like to look at you, so a couple of ideas:
Make a clean transition into that first rep by gently holding her collar, getting ready, then sending. You plopped the target down and so she’s not entirely sure when to start. Same thing for when you called her back and wanted to resend: line her up, then send.
On the one step sends- yes, you were too far 🙂 start closer and the other thing that will help is if you make more connection and not look at the target. It will feel weird to look at her as you step forward but it helps point your shoulder to where you want her, so she will send more easily.
Also on the sends, make the clean transition by holding her collar with her facing the target & looking at it so she knows exactly when to start and leave you for the target.On the recalls:
Great job with the fast transitions of the hand off!! And using different helpers too, it all helps her! She seemed much happier to be held. Yay!!!!
About getting to you then leaving… I think it is about the reinforcement. When you were chucking food, she didn’t leave you. When you presented the toy, she left to check other things out. So, in this situation, the toy is not high enough in value – so use a food reward 🙂 eventually you might be able get the toy involved again, but no rush – the goal is to make it super rewarding and the food will accomplish that.Perch work:
I like how happy she is to hop right on the perch and play this game!
You will owe me $10 every time you say uh oh to her! Break that habit 🙂
With the clicker, try to isolate hind end movement rather than getting off the perch (your release word can help her get off it). That will help get even better hind end, especially on the side that was more difficult. On the easy side, try to fade your movement a bit so your foot is reaching towards her but you aren’t stepping as much towards her. On the harder side, you can help her more but click and treat more often too, for every rear foot movement.Foot bumps:
She was a good girl here too! Because of her size, you can start to throw the treats further away from you, so she can hop more fully over your leg. Then after she gets the treat, you can tap on the outside of your other leg so she can hop back across both legs (then throw the cookie pretty far). This will add more speed and be super fun!Nice work here!
TracyHi!
He’s very clever! I think he is going there because of all the value – every time he gets there, you click and throw the reward back behind you. So, while it is fine that he lines up there, two thoughts:
– add motion away, moving forward, even if it is a tiny step.
– be sure to work both left and right sides, so he can line up on both sides. Also, you can cue him to sit so that he doesn’t offer backing up or only going to your left side.
Keep me posted!
TracyHi! Because toy train with so much reinforcement, AND you video sessions, AND your sessions are short… you are not going to break the dog 🙂 sometimes a session goes sideways but it is easy to catch and fix for the next session. And your sessions really don’t go sideways – some just aren’t as perfect as others LOL! Overall, he’s doing great!
TWoot woot! he is making his retriever ancestors proud 🙂 The retrieve is looking good and yes, he totally gave you the look of “what’s the big deal, I do this all the time” haha!!
Be sure to work both sides so that he turns both directions to chase you. And you can start with a bit of restraint by holding his collar while throwing the toy, letting go after the toy lands – it builds even more drive to it. You can also try the harder version which is to drop the toy next to you and let go and run away at the same time – it will be more tempting to just chase you and harder to do the retrieve, but I think he is ready for that.
Nice job on all of these!
TracyHe was so clever here! Good boy, check out him reaching for it with his back feet! Any hind end awareness game is a good game 🙂 I realized you can also do this on a balance disc if you have one: perch work exactly the same way, except now he has to balance his front feet on one of those discs – much harder and great for core strength!
T
hi!
He is indeed doing well here! You did take a little long to release him on the first go-round but I think it was mainly because you were trying to get him into the camera frame 🙂
Now onwards to the next step of fading your movement: rather than move your whole body, try just moving one of your legs – reach out with your toes towards his back toes and reward any movement. The goal is to get him to move around with his hind end without you having to move.
You can also add a jump bump for him to step over, I think he is ready for this. When adding the jump bump, continue to use your movement at first to help him move, so he get the hang of stepping over the bump. It is a great body awareness and strengthening thing to have him do this!
Good job!
TracyHi! I love the clicker sits too 🙂 And yes, totally tell him to get it (I am surprised your partners-in-crime didn’t remind you during the training session LOL!)
Start to add in more movement right away – the goal is that you are walking away almost immediately, rather than standing still. And walking away confidently, even if it is one step. When you were moving away, you were careful, so he wanted to come with you. So when he sits, start taking a confident step away but click & throw almost immediately.
You can also add praise between the sit and the click – he offers the sit, you praise and then click/toss. That can help bridge the gap as you add more movement too.
You can resubmit if you like, but it doesn’t have to be the same thing – you can post a video of the next steps of adding motion & duration.
nice work!Yay, he totally was fine with all of these. Nice! As with the mousepad shaping, have a handful of treats ready so there is no delay and you can get the rewards in really quickly. When you go to get one out of your pocket, he ends up looking at you – and we really don’t want the agility dogs looking up at us at all.
Because he is so confident with the different textures and movements, you can add sounds to these – get some bubble wrap to put under them, or put the wooden ones on a hard wood floor so there is some crashing and banging – that will all help prepare for the teeter 🙂
Nice work!Yes, this was much better! You did a nice crisp blind and he was less distracted by all the stuff in the environment. Did you switch to a different toy? That might have contributed to. This was a nice rep!
Hi – I am not sure if it was disconnection here or if there was too much visual ‘clutter’ for him to find the side you wanted – with the other obstacles out there, he was probably seeing too much stuff and not able to isolate where you wanted him. It looks like he does like the toy, right? A high value toy will help and I think he likes this one.
Hi! He totally like the mousepad! As with the suitcase, you can drop the reward right on it rather than feed him from your hand – that will get him looking more at his ‘work’ and less at you. And have a handful of treats ready in your hand – there was a bit of a delay between him hitting the target and you reaching into your pocket. Have those cookies ready for faster treating 🙂 And when you want him to get off the mousepad, remember to use a get it cue when you toss a treat. Small details that will help in the long run. I think he is ready for the next steps!
nice work!
TracyHi! He was really into that toy at the beginning! If he chomps fingers by accident, you can reward the out or trade for a treat so he backs off a bit.
Yes he was a little hesitant at first, I guess he thought the suitcase was a little weird with the bars as you mentioned. One thing to help him would be to tweak the placement of reinforcement: rather than hand it to him, try dropping it into the suitcase after the click. That will encourage him to get even more into the suitcase to get the treat. And then even when he was happy getting all the way into it, you can drop the treats in and that will encourage him offering a down. This is a fun trick to build on – you can shape him getting in and going into a down – then you can teach him to pull the lid closed on himself LOL! Nice work!
TracyOh this is really nice! And good girlie for not flinging herself at the manners minder! Yes, this was nice and balanced. I didn’t want to suggest a MM because I was worried she would not want to trot, but she did really well! it certainly makes your life easier to use the MM! And it bodes nicely for RDW training that she doesn’t lose her mind over the MM and fling herself at it.
You can build on this by angling the bars on the Canaletto – she still trots through but the bars present a different visual by being more zig zagged – you can create it by moving the cones supporting the bars closer or further from each other. Let me know if that makes sense.
Nice work here!
Tracy
