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Good morning!
>>Yea. Maybe I should do the “switch” for the wrap away from me. Hmmm….I think I like that. I had a switch with my first dog, but that was just on a rear or any time we changed direction. I think I like that. You could use it if you are on the landing side of jump too I would think. Depends where you are going I guess. How do I train that? Just with the rear on the jump and the verbal Cue?>>
For a regular rear cross, I suggest the directional that names the line (left or right). For the tighter ones, you can train the turn-away game and name the behavior as a switch cue:
https://agility-u.com/lesson/prop-game-3-turn-aways-rear-cross-on-the-flat-foundation-2/>> I’m sure I know what you mean by a tunnel threadle verbal. Is that going to come in the class later more?>>
You have started it with the tunnel game already, that is where you can add the verbal. And there is more about it here:
https://agility-u.com/lesson/tunnel-threadle-verbal-cue-and-double-whammy-3/Have fun!
TracyGood morning!
>Once the puppy is doing the serp or threadle they do not have to touch the hand? coming toward it is good enough? >>
Correct – we don’t want them to actually touch us during the full in-then-out behavior.
>>I am not sure when to allow the full hand target touching to fade and not lose coming toward hand as part of the criteria.>>
When the pup can do it from a wide variety of angles, and when I am going to add motion: I fade the actual touch of the hand because it becomes difficult to touch the hand while I am moving. By the time I add motion, the in-then-out behavior should be well-understood and named, so it should be easy to fade it.
Tracy
Good morning! These are looking really good!
Circle wrap proofing: the first couple of reps on 1 jump alone looked great! She had a question when you added the wing: at :29 she had questions about the post turn on the wing (wrap or tunnel, she was looking back and forth a bit based on the physical cue) then at :31 even with the verbal, you pushed into her line before she had time to really get past you so she turned into the tunnel. She would have had to go through your legs to get to the backside, so the tunnel was a better choice 🙂 Compare it to the next rep at :38 where you were clearer on the wing that you wanted the wrap and also stayed in the backside positional cue for an extra moment til she was past you – and she was perfect on that one. Yay! So I don’t think the tunnel is a distraction for her – she just needed a moment to get to the backside.
The slice send to the backside was good and the other wraps were also good! She is going to the backside nicely and committing to the bar as you leave – that is exactly what we want her to do. Very nice! You can start raising the jump height a bit too, I think she is ready for that challenge.
One question: are you using the same verbal for both the slice and the circle wrap? It sounded like push for both – I highly recommend different ones because they are very different jumping efforts and you can tell her about them a lot sooner with different verbals. In this game, she is reading the difference based on your position which is fine for when you can be right there 🙂 but things get harder when you are not ahead of her or able to show positional cues. Food for thought!Through the box – these are also going well! The FCs at the beginning were a little hard , but I think that was mainly because you were not finished with the FC as she exited the wing at :55 and your right foot was exactly on the line to the backside (she was a good girl to read that!) ou backed up at 2:00 and got it, but it will be easier to rotate on the wing sooner so you can be moving up the line to show it to her.
The Backside through the box looked really strong and independent! Nice!!!
And the backsides to the inside wing also looked really good, you showed really good info and she followed it beautifully.
On the lap turn versus throw back – I think you can get lower with your lap turn hand (bring it down to her nose level) and keep your feet stationary until she is just about a tthe hand – then move the arm and leg together to step back and turn her away. When you were moving back and turning her too soon, it looked like a throw back so she was not sure which way to go – she leaned more towards the throwback even on the one that she got right, so sanding still and drawing her all the way in then turning on the flat will help her differentiate. The throw back cue looked good so it becomes especially important to make the lap turn look different.And great news that the Go reps went well! That is an important balance.
Great job on these! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! This is a really good list, you have covered just about all of your bases!
>>My big issue is the “wrap away from me I guess”. Maybe I just need to add a verbal and Dig,dig,dig just stays the same>>
There are 2 options to consider:
You can add a verbal that means ‘turn away’ – a lot of folks use “switch” for that.
Or, you can keep ‘dig dig’ to mean wrap left and add a different verbal for ‘wrap right’ – and then it is not about towards or away, it is more about which direction to turn – which also covers towards and away.
>>“Back,back,back” is my back side. Go to the back, take the jump.>>
I recommend having 2 distinct backside verbals: one for slice and one for the circle wrap. I use back for the slice and dig for the full 360 degree circle wrap. I will come in handy later on so she knows really early if she needs to do a lot of collection for those difficult circle wraps.
With the baby dogs, I am also doing a jump threadle and a different tunnel threadle verbal.
Food for thought! Let me know what you think!
TracyHowdy!
>>I really can’t wait for more daylight. Granted I need more sleep but not having it pitch black as much would help too.>>
Yes and yes to all of this. We are in the midst of an ice storm here, not fun at all – dark, grey, icy and the dogs are soooooo bored LOL!
>>Should I be saying target or just letting him offer it?>>
Yes, you can get the distraction going then say target. You can also get the distraction going and start him on the side, so he leaps on and into position from the side (kind of like the bang game).
He was wildly NOT distracted here LOL! You’ve put a foundation of “if you want it, look at your task” on him so he thought this was easy peasy. What a good boy, it is almost as if the distraction was the cue to get to work. Love it!
I snorted at the double sheltie party on the board LOL! Min was *hysterical* LOL!!!!
You can also switch out cookie distractions into something better… swinging toy? And if he can do that… start to go to distractions that potentially stimulate other behaviors. For example. with Contraband, the frisbee stimulates him to want to run run run so in order to earn it, he has to sit and stay. So for this behavior, we are asking Kal to look down and step briskly into a 2o2o. The Nemo ball stimulates him to want to freeze til you kick it… so that might be a great high level challenge (Nemo From Heaven haha) – Nemo goes overhead and when he gets into the 2o2o (Kaladin, not Nemo), you release and throw the ball 🙂
Let me know if that makes sense!
>>However he recently moved out of sports foundation and in to beginning agility when a spot opened up so he got to play the bang game on a new (and clattery) teeter tonight. His ears twitched the first time but he rocked it even with me sending from more lateral distance. He also got to hang around and do tricks and get treats when other dogs banged it.>>
This is awesome! I love that he is getting that exposure. He is a level-headed dude so I don’t anticipate that we will see any anxiety behavior, but it is good to be able to get him into these different environments.
Great job!
TracyHi! This is a really good start – she was a little uncertain at first of why we would want her to tug AND stay on the thing LOL! So getting her to tug and stay on is a great start – the more you do this, the better she will feel about shifting her weight back. You can also work the weight shift back on the ground next to the board, then build the 2 skills together.
The step is a really good platform for this but I think the angle of it was a little too high for now – you can use it flat like you had it for the cookies from heaven game, and have her in her 2o2o position. That can provide enough of an angle. The tippy board was a great option – now that she doesn’t think you are tooooo crazy for asking her to tug on it, you can do the 2o2o on this one too and see if she will keep her front feet on the carpet and back feet on the board.Nice work here!
Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! She was great here! Completely on task, except for one small glance over her shoulder – probably when your husband entered the room. What a good girl! So…. add some challenge 🙂 Start with her with all four feet on her platform – be a little extra crazy and wiggle the cookies right above her nose, tempting her… then cue her to move into her 2o2o position. That way she will be a little more distracted and tempted, which will challenge her to focus downwards on her ‘job’ when the distractions are a little wilder 🙂 The moving into position is the hardest part, so this can start to work that skill before she needs to do it on contacts 🙂
Have fun!
TracyGood morning!
This is going well!>> I have found that she likes toys best when they are thrown or I’m running with them. Otherwise, treats are tops. Tugging in a relatively stationary space works, but is not high on her reinforcement list. >>
This is good to hash out now, as it will make it easier when you get into new places. Things might change in different environments but this is a good foundation. It doesn’t really matter which we use (toys or treats) as long as we can get her into the right state of focus for the environment she is in.
She did really nicely with the game! I think she was looking at your closed right hand on a couple of reps (“where’s the food, mom??!” LOL!) and also she didn’t totally realize that she could go with you to get the treats – she looked so surprised and stayed where she was. Ha! But this is a great foundation for entering the ring and going to the start line. Fingers crossed for an easy and fat end ot the winter so you can start getting it all back outside. The more she can see the concept of working with the treats somewhere else, the easier it will be to transition to the trial ring. You can also track which tricks put her into a higher state, and which are calmer – so that way you can adjust according to the environment. When you are working indoors at home, you can add in other distractions like your husband, other dogs, etc. to see how she does!
Great job 🙂
TracyYes – time and patience will help, and quick reinforcement when he relaxes his jaw and lets go of the toy 🙂
Tracy
Yes! Make a list of what you already have for verbals, and what you would like to add! That helps to prioritize things and set training goals too 🙂
Tracy
Hi Joni!
This was an interesting session – totally agree that she was much better turning to her right than to her left, and I think that was caused by her just being better turning to her right at the moment 🙂 I scrolled back to see what her side preferences have been: when we started, she was a lefty. But now it looks like things have shifted and she is a righty. Interesting! But good to know. On the next session, you can use that to your advantage: start her on your right so she is turning to her right – then switch to the other side so she is turning to her left – the right turns will give her a good warm up for the left turns. The other thing you can do is make the tunnel more obvious by NOT having the MM as obvious, either not using it at all or putting it inside the tunnel – so the tunnel is the only visible option. When the MM is really visible, she was trying to turn to her right to get to it LOL! With my littlest pup, I had the MM literally inside the tunnel for a while 🙂And on the right turns, you can keep adding more and more distance to add challenge. The left turns might take a little more time to add distance, which is fine 🙂
Nice work!!
TracyGood morning! This is going really well!
The wraps on the wings and the drive back to the tunnel on the ‘yes tunnel’ moments looked great!
When you wanted her to NOT take the tunnel:>.When she avoided the tunnel, she sometimes sneaked in the wrong side of me – probably my fault, >
Yes 🙂 LOL! It was subtle: when you kept your shoulder open and big connection until after she got to you and past the tunnel entry, she was perfect (:14, :30, :48, :57). But when she was still behind you and you turned to point forward and indicate the wing on the other side of the tunnel – boom! Tunnel. She read it as a blind cross on the flat (:09 and :44 where she almost went into the tunnel are examples). It was the matter of one or two extra steps but those made a big difference.
When you added the bigger sequences, the same thing happened – when you were a shade too early to indicate forward (1:20 and 1:59), she ended up in the tunnel. Compare to 2:25 – perfect! Great connection for the correct amount of time. So keep that super clear connection and arm back until she is passing you.
She did well finding the tunnel entries on the left turn entries (coming from your right arm). It was harder when she had to turn to her right (coming from your left arm) so be sure to wait til she lines up (like you did at 2:29) to make the turn to get in on that side. She was totally starting to get it!
>> I kept throwing the toy out ahead of the tunnel, when I should have been rewarding her after she turned back toward me>>
Yes, keep rewarding on the turn line to support the positional cue. You kept catching yourself throwing too long LOL!
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>>maybe not later at night. (but my usual lunch time training session got bumped due to walking them then instead of at oh-dark-30 with the neg 20 windchills (only about neg 10 windchill in the middle of the day but at least it’s been sunny!)>>
Funny, I was just thinking about how nice it will be when we have a few more hours of daylight in the morning and evening! It will make things easier. Doesn’t even have to be a lot warmer, just daylight would be nice (although warm would be GREAT).
>>so I let go on just the slightest pull back. >>
That was good! Also, you can double check that he knows that he can pull it out of your hands on the flat – we might be taking for granted that he knows that pulling hard on it can lead to a win and a victory lap LOL!
He definitely thought tugging on the bosu was not his favorite. It might be that it was a little too small of a playing field for all 4, and too high to do it on a 2o2o? You can try it next to a small table or something that he can put his front feet onto for more balance. When the ball was balanced with the curve side up, he did pull back with his front feet on it, and that is a good start.
When you are doing it on the Cato board, he was definitely asking some questions LOL! So you can let him win just for taking the toy in his mouth, then build up to the weight shift – I think this is what you did at the very end of the video.
One other way to jump start it is to use a bully stick or pig’s ear or something he can really grab like that – gross, I know, but very effective to get weight shift LOL! As long as he doesn’t resource guard, you can use it instead of the tug 🙂
I think the sand granules might be fine as long as his feet are dry, and he might be comfortable with the height of the wobble board?
Keep me posted! We can convince him that this is fun LOL!
TracyHi!
The yes tunnel – no tunnel games are looking good! He is reading the BCs on the flat back to the tunnel really nicely! He was super tight on the line at :08. He was a little wider at :26 but that was more of a reflection of your running path – you were moving away from the tunnel then back towards it, so he was chasing the line correctly.
On the backside tunnel exits – a little something to obsess on LOL! I think the wrap cues are better suited for this because he is wrapping the exit, coming all the way back past the tunnel plane, more than a left or right exit which is 90 degrees-ish. He was turning nicely but this might help him find you more easily on those.
On the threadles on the wings –
>> So I added the cue and of course he didn’t come inside the wing the first time. At 1:17 I can see my outside arm is up but my shoulders aren’t really opening to him so he probably just saw my back and went around.>>
I think it was more a matter of him just needing to learn the threadle skills more – we haven’t really emphasized them yet, it has been a lot about ‘get on yer line!’. I think your handling was very similar as on the later reps (maybe you were moving faster on the first ones) so it was not about handling but more about helping him pick it out of the motion and process the cue. He got it with the stationary reminder and with his name added and less motion – probably needs to see that on each context change. When he was in full motion, he didn’t process it so when you reminded him, he was great! But then when you changed the sequence, he needed to see the reminder again. So you can use the first rep as the reminder rep and then gradually add more speed.The race track moments looked great – he liked running around the backside of the tunnel and was super good about not considering cutting you off to grab the tunnel! And the last rep looked good too, fast and fun!
More verbal obsessing:
>I was going to use In In In for both his threadle wrap and threadle 360 cue since they both involve a threadle and a collected jump. I was thinking my motion forward or back could happen soon enough that he would know whether to accelerate out of a 180 wrap or continue curving around for a 360.>>If I am understanding this correctly, I agree – and in in is different from his threadle slice, and we use threadle slices soooooo much more often than threadle wrap/360s. I will re-read this after more coffee lol
Nice work! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
He is reading the FFCs really well! Following them with a fast line is really helpful because he generally does NOT need a lot of pressure to turn – so he wondering why you are standing still for so dang long LOL!!! Even leaving early was still a lot of standing still for him so you can have the ball with you and when he arrives at you, fling the ball for him to chase. It is a good skill for him to know even if you use it rarely because he turns so well. The connection on the turn and the exit on both of the first 2 reps looked really good!!He didn’t commit to the tunnel at 1:05 – it looks like you got a little too far ahead, no place to go so you stopped and then turned your shoulders away too much at 1:05 so he was looking at you.
RC at 1:14 looked good!!! You can play with getting onto the RC line even earlier but he powered through it nicely here!
At 1:31 you had a little shorter lead out and more connection til he committed to the tunnel so he had no questions. And the RC at the end of that rep at 1:33 was great – it looked like you were on the RC line a little sooner than at 1:14, and plus he was turning into the wall – and the info was clear enough to convince him to do it, NICE!!!
>> I really like the last one to the left where he chipped in a stride to collect more right before his turn.>>
I think this was a combination of the verbal, being on the RC line a little sooner and a little decel at the end of the RC diagonal. Really nice!
>>And I also have to remember to start working on his post run routine. I’ve done pieces of it off and on but should use it more in his training so that he sometimes has to get leashed up and then get his reward. >>
Yes, sometimes for sure! I don’t think he will need it a lot, he is not looking around for reinforcement elsewhere.
>>I also did teach him to jump in to my arms but am not sure if I will use that at the end of runs or not. The extra 10lbs he has compared to Min has an exponential force impact as he’s running up my leg.>>
I always admire and fear for the people who do that with big dogs LOL!!!
Great job here!
Tracy
