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Hi! The Bravery Course looks a little like my living room hahaha!! It had some really fun ideas for super weirdo things for the dogs to interact with along with more normal looking things. Such great stuff for puppies! He seemed completely fine with everything except maybe having to get his leash back on LOL! He probably needs some recalls off the Manners Minder, so he learns to eat his MM treats then comes back to work then back to MM and so on – that way he doesn’t avoid being reached for when the MM is around 🙂
Nice work here! The next step would be to let him offer more on these mini obstacle courses so he can leave you more and not follow the cookie as much.
TracyGood question!!!!
I generally only reward at the target on those reps, but that is with a pup who automatically re-engages with me (lucky me!!). My previous pup did not have natural engagement like that as a pup, so I would give a small reward for coming back and engaging. Let Lanna guide you, I think she is more like Hot Sauce in that she is likely to naturally engage, so a reward at the target is all you’ll need. But it is also fine to mix it all up, keep her on her toes 🙂
TracyGood morning! She is doing well with the concepts here and the value for the target looks really strong. Yay! A couple of ideas for you:
On the sending forward (in the early part of the video) and in the step backs (later in the video), add in a clearer transition into the send so she knows when to leave you and also so you don’t have to take more than one step. You can engage her, talk to her, give her a bit of a ready steady…. then the one step (forward or backwards :)) That will also get more speed to the target.
One thing I see here (which is a common thing as we teach these skills) – she is faster coming back to you then sending away from you (pretty normal at this stage and good to identify!). To balance the speed and get as much speed leaving as driving back, balance out the placement of rewards. All of the rewards here were back at you (which helps explain the speed difference) so be sure to toss at least 50% of the rewards out to the target while you are sending and/or moving away. You might end up putting more than 50% of the rewards out there when she hits it, and that is fine! Let her speed dictate any shifts in placement of reward: if she shifts to leave you on the sends at warp speed but is slow or sticky to come back… shift the value back to rewards from your hand. That value will shift back and forth throughout the training process, so look for any speed differences.
>>I see that I am leaning over, sigh
I think you were fine, I didn’t notice the leaning over as a bad thing here. It all looked pretty natural to me. Sends tend to lean us a bit – either leaning into a forward send or leaning away from the step back – as long as it was connected and natural, it is fine 🙂 She seemed to think it was connected and natural too!
>>The run off in the middle was to a toy lying on the ground. It struck me as a frustration/confusion behavior (I’d love your opinion).
I think it was a combo of things – the toy tossed behind you definitely was a hard distraction (note how she looks at it when you toss it there). She was a good girl to head to the target (I *think* she touched it with at least one foot? Hard to tell?) and then you had turned and moved towards the toy… so she had a “nailed it!” moment LOL! She likely thought the toy was the reward – but then you reacted and she might have had an uh-oh! moment. So it began as what she might’ve thought was a legit reward then a little bit of confusion. This is where you can use the toy as a reward (starting her closer to the target so she has a better hit) and also you can toss treats out at the target when she hits it, to balance the value of leaving you to hit the target, especially when the toy is visible.
Overall, really good session! She is still targeting nicely as you show countermotion and rotation, which is going to be super helpful when we add in cones & wings and tunnels and such. Super fun!
Nice work!
TracyYes, you can use anything – a perch or shoe or any random object 🙂 We transfer it to wings/cones/uprights eventually, when the understanding to come around is fluent.
T
Hi there!
I would personally not use the RDW mat for this – the behavior that I use on the RDW mat has to do with the rear feet, and that could get messy/diluted on this behavior. For the handling games, I am happy with a “touch it anyway you need to” criteria and I don’t care if the pup pounces on it, whacks it with a front foot only, stands on it, etc – all things that are not likely to be desirable on a RDW mat 🙂 The RDW mat proofing is more likely to involve more specific criteria, so I would keep the concepts separate for now. When HS was a wee puppy learning this (before the RDW mat work), I used a baseball cap as her “obstacle” for these games 🙂 to keep the RDW looking really different.Food for thought!
TracyHi again!
On the perch work – He did a good job of getting his front feet right on it. I think the bit of gentle pressure of one foot moving towards his back foot will help him isolate back feet (not your whole body, just stay in front of him and reach out with your leg/foot). By turning his head, he is likely only thinking about his head 🙂 plus if you use too much movement, it is harder to fade the movement out.You can also add in a clicker: getting on the perch with front feet gets a bit of quiet “good boy” praise but a click/treat for the back foot movement might help him realize that it is back feet we are hoping for.
>> I left the play part in because when he thought there was food on the ground he didn’t want the toy. Eventually he went for it, but had to work at it. Any thoughts on that?
He was probably in the center of a pool of scent, plus near the perch, plus near the cookie couch… so the toy wasn’t as salient. Moving it around more and getting him moving really helped, so working it til he engaged was really good! Yay! If he struggles in that situation, you can throw the toy or move to the other side of the room – that will get the tug toy more salient and he will likely engage very quickly.
Nice work on these!
TracyBravery Day LOL! I bet the dogs thought is was “Humans Are Weird But We Will Happily Eat Their Cookies Day” haha!
On the couch cushion – if Wager tries to jump in, be sure to reward Spot before telling Wager to get back on his place 🙂 Spot seemed perfectly happy to get on the cushion, movement and all. You can add tugging on the wobbly cushion – that adds an element of weight shift that makes it a little harder. You can also do position changes: sit, stand, down as he keeps the cushion stable under him.
I think he is ready for sme noise! A baking pan or bubble wrap are great for indoor use. Do you have a wooden wobble board? If he is comfy on one of those, you can put it on hard surfaces to create noise.T
Hi there!
It is fine to post several videos – the previous issue was due to a limit of # of videos that we didn’t know about, but we fixed that so you can post 20 videos per post or something like that 🙂Dual training:
it is great that you already started this, it is so helpful! Both boys seemed to do well on this (hi Wager!). You had Spot them hold a down which is fine, but you can also have it be “just stay on the station (couch)” so you don’t have to maintain criteria of the down when you are further from the station (outdoors, for example). Either way is fine, and they did really well! Yes, continue on your plan to fade out the hand signal, I don’t think he needs it at this point. And you can add in more active games/tricks – when you first add more excitement, be sure to raise the rate of reinforcement for the couch dog 🙂T
Thank you for the update!!!! It sounds like a great weekend, where 80% of your runs were great! That is at least double the ‘norm’ for agility. Yay!!!
Next up is going to be a stress-free starts class – stay tuned!!!
Tracy
Good morning! Nice work on these!
Foot targeting – good value going here! You might have added a bit too much distance too quickly, but the next set of games will help that (coming today!). You can toss cookies both ways, so she comes back towards you on some of the rewards to get the cookie, and you can toos the cookie apst the target so she hits the target on the way back to you. For next games, you might need to get the target to be stationary – either tape it down or put it on a surface where it won’t slip as she whacks it LOL! Also, you had really good play breaks, she is doing really well continuing to play even with the target out there AND with distractions of the videographer talking and the barking dog. Yay! She will be ready to add the new games that will be posted later today.Dual training – I think terriers believe they are exempt from having to wait their turns hahahah! I feel your pain. You can increase the rate of reinforcement for the terrier during the waiting process, either with more tossed cookies or a chew bone. You can also be less exciting while she has to wait, doing stationary behaviors instead of moving ones. Lanna, on the other hand, was a really good girlie!!! Stayed focused even with the little big sister joining the fun AND waited her turned on the cot. It is a good game to add, as it is also a stealth self-control game combined with a coping game – Lanna will learn to chill out while watching others work, without needing direct engagement from you. Yay! Good start to your dual training here!
Nice work! More coming later today 🙂
Tracy
Super YAY!!!! I love it!!! It is especially great that you were able to get him to repeat it – not a fluke 🙂 And I like that he brings it to you then hops up on you on cue – that will help keep you from being pummeled with flying BC. Ha! Great work!!!!!!! I know it can be hard to get video with little sessions squeezed in throughout the week, but it is really terrific to see the results coming together 🙂
Tracy
Yay! Good boy ignoring about 10 million distractions everywhere! Wowza! 2 ways to advance this game:
First, take it on the road so you can use real life distractions like people he knows and other dogs (maybe practice with Christine and Josie :))
Second, start to leave earlier so we introduce the concept of countermotion (you sending him away while you are immediately moving in the opposite direction). I suggest using 2 toys for this so he doesn’t choke on a cookie:
Have a toy in your pocket. Hold him and throw a different toy- when he is locked onto it, then send him, telling him to get it.
Just before he gets to it. Start running the other way and calling him. Ideally, he finishes his job of getting then chases you with it while you run.
If that goes well, you can start leaving sooner and sooner (just be sure to tell him to get it so he has permission to get it and not chase you :))
Let me know how it goes!!!
I will be posting more about the clicker stays sook, glad they are helping!!
TracyGood morning!
This is a terrific application for the backing up! He might need help with the transitions, maybe a hand target so he knows when to come forward and also to help keep his head straight and down – he likes to watch your cookie hand and pocket (poor starving Aussie hahaha!)
Now about being straight – you can use some props to help him for now – have the bone perpendicular to a wall (so the wall helps keep him straight on one side of you) and then use a broad jump board or part of a wall jump (on their sides so they are providing a 6 inch or so barrier) to create a channel. The bone is between the wall and the broad jump board – and you start him right at the bone like you did here, then gradually work your way forward. The channel helps keep him straight! Backing up straight is really difficult: dogs have a stronger or weaker side, plus they are multitasking, plus they are watching the cookies LOL!! I personally don’t think I could walk backwards in a straight line either LOL!Nice work here! I love the bone idea!
TracyGood morning!
She was a good girl on the backing up and I think the flyball slat is a great choice- visible but not too hard to step over. I think the bit of confusion had more to do with reward placement – by clicing when she was at/just over the slat then rewarding from your hand, she was likely thinking you wanted her to go to the slat and stop. Now, that is not a bad thing for getting more backing up, because you can gradually increase the distance the slat is away from you so she has to back up more and more to get it. This would work if you used it to create a backing up to put front feet on the slat behavior.
The other thing you can do is change the reward placement, to help get those front feet past the slat – click for getting to and going over the slat, then toss the treat through her legs so it ends up encouraging her to continue backwards (not stopping at the slat or coming back to you).
Her form is looking good so you can pursue both of these, with different props: back up past something like a jump bump (throw rewards) and back up to front feet on slat (hand her the rewards).On the perch: A Dick Francis novel? Best shaping session ever, teaching a behavior AND creating literacy. Yay! I love Dick Francis!
Ok back to dog training haha!
Because the c/t were all coinciding with front end behavior, she was offering a lot of front end behavior and I think the hind end behavior was coincidental (particularly on the first set before the tug break). To help her settle on the perch, you can just feed her a few times for standing still (no clicks needed): cookie cookie cookie cookie cookie to remind her to just stand there, then wait to get an offered hind end movement – that will produce the c/t. That way she will get settled onto the perch sooner and you can really isolate the hind end. She was totally recognizing that there was a slat there to interact with, which is PERFECT!! She is an active girl so the more she recognizes hind end things needing to happen (in any situation) the better! You are still doing a great job of making transitions in your training, getting a nice balance of food & tug, and a high rate of reinforcement. Click/treat for YOU!Cart video:
She is a total mountain goat LOL!
The first part of this video was really all about getting engagement with several distractions: all of the ‘stuff’ and the new people coming in – good for you for making it a priority, because it really is the most important thing 🙂
In your transition, she offered the cart really quickly and so you did get the reward in fast – maybe have the treats in your pocket so you can be even quicker and she recognizes the situation as “offer now” rather than hop on when momma isn’t looking LOL!
The offering of the cart looked great and she seemed perfectly fine with the movement, and she was happy to do it when there were peple (and maybe dogs?) nearby. Mission accomplised! Add some noise to the car, maybe some noisy keys or jingle bells added to it so she begins to learn about the joys of things that move AND make noise. You can also have the cart sitting on bubble wrap so there are crackles and pops as she hops on it 🙂>>She also is having trouble if I move away and tug without picking up the object.
Yes – so pick up the cart. Ha! Just kidding LOL!!!!! That would be funny, though 🙂
Since you can’t pick up such a big item, distance is your friend: running away and getting her to chase the toy can help a lot. Or enlisting a friend/student to move the cart for you can help!>> As you can see, she finds jumping on stuff highly reinforcing:).
Goat! Love it!
>>I have been very careful to make sure I am waiting until she has engaged with the toy and I can signal the end of tug. Should I be building in another delay? I just know that self serve “agility” can create issues.
Yes, keep making that the top priority – engagement! You can do play sessions near the obstacles without any shaping involved – just play with the toy, chase the toy, etc. That can help maintain the value of the toy play and the engagement as the distractions of obstacles/people/dogs get added. If she has trouble engaging, you can do toy throws and toy races, as well as attach the toy to something like to swing it around. Then add back in a little bit of shaping, then back to lots of yeeehaw engagement fun.
You can also build in a delay of cues where you move away from the bigger props – get engagement, get the toy back, give it back to her, etc, from maybe 10 or 15 feet away. Then, if you want to go into the shaping from that distance, you can add a send to the prop (permission to leave you to begin). In the early value building stages, remain close to the prop by running back to it after getting engagement with the toy – then we add sends later on (the foot targeting assigment today begins looking at that, specifically).
Self-serve agility, where the agility obstacles and running are more reinforcing than the engagement or toys/treats, is indeed undesirable. So your focus on getting the engagement is great! You can take the baseline games into the different environments: any toy games, toy races, etc – and that will make a lifestyle of engagement even as more distractions get layered in.
I think you and she are doing a great job!!! Let me know what you think.
TracyGood morning!!
Yes! She did really well with all elements of the countermotion: maintaining focus on the task, the retriecve, and the drive to you. Yay! You can mix up the reward – sometimes it is as you did here, presenting a new toy (I would delay the presentation a few more steps at this point) and sometimes ask her to bring the retrieved toy to you for a game of tug (then let her win the retrieved toy).
My only tweak is a connection detail which we will add more of next week: reward across the body (a la Tereza Kralova and Jenny Damm) not with the dog side arm. So if you are looking over your right side here as you run away, the toy is in your left hand being presented across your right hip. The drive to handler we get on that is pretty amazing plus it really opens up connection.Pivoting is going well! I looks like she is thinking of it as a ‘pivot to side’ which is perfectly useful and also accomplishes the hind end goal. One thing to move to now is fading out your movement, so you can stand still and she pivots back and forth without you moving. You can help cue the direction with a step/reach towards her with one foot or wait to see if she offers it (she might or she might be waiting on your motion). Eventually we can add a finger cue, like mini air traffic control LOL!. This will further increase the independence of the hind end and allow you to incorporate the ‘step over’ element by putting a jump bump on the opposite side of the perch from where you are standing (we can work it up to several bumps to step over). This is not only terrific for coordination, but it is a great strengthening/warm up tool for the hind end (psoas in particular, from what I have been told).
Staying straight in the backing up games is SO hard! One thing that helps is to be up against a wall and create a channel with a brod jump board (turned on its side) or part of the wall jump. Start by having her back out of this channel at the very end, then gradaually work her up closer to the beginning so she has to back out of the full channel (3 or 4 feet). You can also have her back up through a ladder, starting the same way: begin with her at the very end and have her back out of it, gradually adding more and more of the ladder to back out of
Her backing up form looks good with the cookie! As soon as the toy came out to play, she went to the bunny hopping at approx 1:13 (pushing off her front) or sideways (which was better form than the straight back bunny hopping). The form improved a bit but her head was still up (toys!) so I recommend sticking with food rewards for this and gradually incorporating the toy – the excitement of the toy changes her form (excitement does that to form in a lot of things LOL!) so you can still use food but have the toy present – off to the side, then in your pocket, then in your hand. If her form remains good, you can tug a little before the food rewards and eventually work up to the toy being the reward. Introducing it gradually will build up to being able to maintain excellent form even in higher arousal, which is a great skill for dog sports in general.Ooh, backing up the incline is harder!!!! She was able to get up it but losing her form (the last rep was pushing off the front). So start it at the top of the incline so she only needs one step of good form to get to the top for the reward. Then if that form holds, start a couple of feet below the top – get the good form, then progress gradually to the bottom of the incline. The goal is to maintain form closer to what you had at :52 (which is really hard for a pup 🙂 )
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
