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Helloooooo Linda and Mookie!
Thank you for sharing your success!!! That is so amazing, I am doing a happy dance for you!!!! 5 of 6 with placements is a pretty amazing success rate in agility!!!! Well done to you for implementing these ideas so nicely!
On the run where you didn’t feel as prepared… what did you do differently, or did you skip anything? It is important to evaluate that as well so we can avoid skipping things in the future đKeep practicing these skills, they will continue to get easier and easier for you to execute đ
Keep me posted!
TracyHi again!
>>Hereâs the beginning of the motivated stay video where he was sticky.
Got it! No worries đ I don’t think he was overly aroused there and frozen, I think he was waiting for more info in the form of “perhaps mom will show me something or ask for something” but then he made a great choice. You can release immediately when he asks that question đ And, soon enough, we can add a sit cue so he can be 100% certain of what we want there.
>>So, part of my issue with being outside ⌠He is obsessed with putting EVERYTHING in his mouth. He was in the emergency vet for 3 days because of eating a poison mushroom. He eats leaves, acorns, sticks, pebbles, etc.
>>I like your idea about tossing treats when heâs on the way to grab the toy when weâre outside. Since he has to wear a net on his head, maybe I should always be carrying another toy with me to toss back at him instead of treats.Ah, I do remember that from seeing it on Facebook! The Outfox is great and he can pick up toys, right? So yes to the idea of tossing toys rather than food in that situation.
>>I donât have any grass. All I have is gravel and leaves. Heâd have to sift through the leaves and gravel to find the treats and then will probably put them in his mouth:-)
Ok then no tossed treats outside đ But you can set up the situation inside and toss treats to rehearse the replacement behavior.
Does he try to grab/eat things even with the Outfox on?>>Iâll try the toy races outside without his head net (Outfox) on and see what happens.
And also do some heeling with Outfox on at first then (with toys) then without the Outfox with treats. I think moving self-control games are useful too, we will be looking at those soon đ
>>He really is a lovely very talented boy. The future is bright as long as I can keep him from eating up the outdoors.
Totally agree! He is a great guy đ And he will learn not to eat everything LOL!
Tracy
Hi!
>>Just confirming that I am seeing what you did. â Line her up at your side, holding her next to your leg, *then* throw the toy. That way she is already facing the straight lineâ. I did this on the first race right?
I think the 2nd rep was a better example of it – she remained where she was lined up and the toy was ahead – check out how she was pretty straight. On the first rep, you moved her back to push back and that caused her to push off the pressure and go a little wide.
>> Yep, I am sure she will smoke me in the end. I have no fear in that one.
The ‘smoke ya’ is strong in this little one for sure đ
T
Hi!
You gave yourself a great challenge!
Did you post a link? I donât see it but maybe I am looking right past it?>>Set it up at 1:30 didnât run it till around 3:30 â 4:00 pm
Did you walk it right after set up? That 2 hour time difference simulates a real trial!
>>I can tell you with Tanner I felt confident in what it was but frustrated with both boys that I couldnât get enough room to feel like I could move in my handling.
Ah! Great distraction – just like at a trial where the course might feel âtightâ and not enough room between obstacles.
>>. I was concentrating more with the verbal conversation going on and trying to tune it out with Buddyâs run and just didnât feel the connection that I had with Tanner. Did make note to myself about having verbal conversation around me to work on in my memorization and visualization. I also made note to myself to praise Tanner more when close handling ( I had forgotten about when working on my run reminders for Tanner ).>>
And this is exactly why we do these exercises… to make notes and add to what we need to do at an actual trial. Mission accomplished!! Yay!
>> my mind wasnât thinking about it until I walked back in with Tanner.
Were you able to pull up the visualizations and remember it clearly? How did it feel?
>>I was adding lots of extraâs for me in this exercise just to see what I need to continue to work on. Such as Running boys back to back , verbal conversation distraction and not really mentally rehearsing this course prior to running it. You are right it does take continuation of working on this. Besides things that I wouldnât have thought about until it happens to make notes to had to my work on this.>>
Perfect! That is exactly why we do it! Running clean in practice is not as important as learning what we need to do for trials.
>>I did chuckle to myself my one friend that was talking in the video said 3 different times to me I think you should re video this run with Buddy before turning it in to your instructor.
ha! yes, we want to post the first efforts, not the perfect efforts LOL!
>>your right being positive in my response she couldnât come back with much of anything else but OKAY even tho it took 3x to get her to listen. lol I know what she was wanting me to turn in the best thing ever and her intentions are good. I canât be perfect all the time ;)!!
This was also an important mental prep moment… most people have very good intentions and want to help… but wow, sometimes what they say does NOT help at all LOL!! So you had a great rehearsal of how to use positivity to extricate yourself from the help đ
>>I canât wait till next week to discuss with how things went with my check list of mental routines. After this exercise I have a feeling there is going to be a whole lot more added on and thatâs okay.
Yes! It is perfectly okay to keep learning & adding, because we are always learning and adding đ
Keep me posted!
TracyGood morning!
yay for puppy class recalls! So great to do them in a zillion places with distractions too đOn the tug sit tug video: he was offering his sits nicely! SOme were faster than others but he was great with the toy releases and NOT jumping for the toy, choosing the sits instead. Good boy!
Be a little clearer with the release – sometimes it was OK Get It and sometimes it was Yay or yes. You were more consistent as the session went on – I think you can choose either OK or Get It, you donât need both for him at this point. I use the release from the stay I will want to use on the start line. He did really well as you added more duration too – be sure praise as you extend the duration – at the end, you had a long duration rep and he was looking around because it was soooo quiet LOL! If he does look around, juts wait, donât step towards him – let him make a decision. And after a rep where he looks around, follow up with 2 or 3 reps that are super short and quick.
The whole session was really engaging and exciting! Well done!!!!Tracy
Good morning!
She was a good girl on her tug sit tug game! I think the distraction of the moving/barking family members was too much early on, in terms of getting her to look at you immediately in this game – we donât want to build in looking away while moving into the sit. So add the distraction more gradually, maybe with the dog stationed nearby so they are present but not moving as much in the first parts of the game. Then you can add back more distraction gradually. We donât want her to multi-task, we want it to be automatic đ Then each time you add an element – like walking away, turning away, jogging away, bit countdown… dial back the distractions at first so she can be super successful.
About rewarding off to the side – it is not super important until you get to the level where you lead out and are turned away, like a lead out over the first jump. Then ideally you would reward at your side, but not off to the side, if that makes sense. For now, all the releases can be to drive to you holding the toy.Toy races:
Yes, the goal is straight line acceleration especially with herdy dogs that might want to drift out/flank a little đ She is mostly perfect with it and she definitely likes to drive ahead! Two tweaks:
– Line her up at your side, holding her next to your leg, *then* throw the toy. That way she is already facing the straight line. Donât throw it too far away for now, keep it maybe 6 feet for now – we already have the drive ahead đ so now we can isolate the drive-straight and not drive-slightly-to-the-outside.
– Donât use the stay for now – her stay behavior is fine, but it is all SO EXCITING that she is flanking on the release a little bit then driving back in – which might be why you feel like the toy placement is not correct. Yes, toy placement can be more straight ahead, but it was more of her going out then coming back that you were seeing. So – no need for her to feel the wind in her hair quite yet haha! Take out the stay and some of the excitement and shorten the distance so you can get her totally straight đ I am 150% confident that she will have no problem accelerating ahead of you when we add more distance LOL!!Nice work here! Sheâs looking great! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
On the stays game – He is doing well! We can build on it since he has gone through a lot of the levels already. A couple of ideas for you – try to turn more sideways so you are facing away but still connected with him, rather than facing him at first. This will begin to simulate walking away during a lead out. You can add more distance here too (just a step or two further away) which also builds in more duration. And, great job releasing and moving *after* he moves. Yay! So now one more level to add is release – he moves – then you explode and run and get a little wilder in the play. He was releasing by then wasnât really sure or explosive, because you werenât moving. So you will be able to get even more explosiveness out of the release this way… which in turn will add more challenge to the stay.
On additional challenge you can add is a visual distraction/excitement, since most of these stays will be done in front of something really exciting (like a jump or tunnel). Use the toy as the distraction – can he hold his stay while you dangle the toy? And hold it while the toy dangles and you are counting? This will eventually build up to holding his stay while you put the toy on the ground (he can look at the toy) or while you toss the toy. All are good challenges, just start with small pieces so he can be super successful.When you say âstickyâ, how long does it take him to get himself into the sit? This is all good for balancing excitement/arousal with thoughtful behavior.
On the toy races:
A couple of tweaks on mechanics: Start with him already facing the direction you want to run, and *then* throw the toy. On the first rep, you tossed the toy then turned him around, walked away, positioned him… that lowers the drive to the toy. The next rep had better drive to the toy because he could face it the whole time.
Also, have him next to you before you throw it, but no need to physically turn his body either before or after the throw – he doesnât seem to really like being moved like that (note how he looks away at 1:15 when you move his bum to your side. So he can be slightly sideways if needed, he will sort it out đ
When you got to it first and then ran the other way, he definitely got excited by that!! Nice!
One last thought on this one – try to only do it on surfaces where he can dig in with his feet – dirt and grass come to mind đ He is not really using his hind end here, probably because the surface doesnât have a lot of dig-in options and also short distances. You can see that he is keeping his back feet together and jogging along rather than digging in. So, using longer distances where he can really open up and grass or dirt will engage his hind end more – that in turn is great for speed building and hind end awareness.About grabbing for stuff in the yard… I think that developing a routine of not grabbing it will help. It isnât a terrible thing to grab for the toys but we donât want him trying to race you to something in a casual (not cued) setting, because sometimes we donât want him to grab what you are picking up or investigating. And also it should help him not ever grab your hand by accident (ouch!)
Since it seems that he is aware of the stuff out there and recognizes when you are going to pick it up, letâs train an alternate behavior (because trying to race him to it or get mad about it will probably cause him to grab it sooner LOL!). So as you move towards the item to pick up, letâs change his response:
You can toss something away (like a handful of treats) in the opposite direction and tell him to get it. This will start to get him to look for his treats as you move towards the item, to counter condition the impulse to race you to it.
Then when the impulse is reduced, you can start to cue a behavior – a wait of some sort. A sit or down (whichever he likes better) our a stand. I tell my dogs to âwait a secâ which basically means âstand stillâ. And then I reward that with something tossed to them. So while you are out and about in this situation, have treats at the ready so you can work this every time – it will be a quick learn for him for sure!Let me know what you think!
TracyHmmm, goat game suggestions… what do you have that moves a bit? A doggie hammock or maybe something at work like a moving cart? Just be sure to put a rug or mat on it so it isn’t slippery. Skateboard?
Also, position changes on or in things: sit, down, stand, give paw.
And, different surfaces and textures that make different noises and have a different feel: a giant metal mixing bowl? Baking pan?
Moving kids toys like a truck?
I will keep mulling it over đ
TracyHi!
>>I like your suggestions on the restrained recalls and I decided to started having people at work hold him and get rewarded and immediately.
Yay!
>>I thought to remove any agility type things and take away some of the arousal to see if that helps him learn to tolerate being restrained.
Yes, great idea, especially because we don’t really want agility to be arousing until he is, like, 3 years old haha! I want him to come out early on being very thoughtful, almost slow. Then we can make him nuts haha!
Great job carving out training time at work! The sit tug sit is going well – the first bunch were great, then at about 1:20 you waited too long. Go for shorter sessions (30 second or so) then be done for a few minutes – a 2 minute session might be too long for now. You can add in quiet praise before the release – goooood boooooyyyyyy – to help him understand that he doesn’t have to offer 10 million things đ That will also help extend the duration. And we will add in motion at some point, no rush. I also have another way to teach a stay coming down soon, because honestly the sit-tug-sit was a nice start with Hot Sauce but it didn’t solidify the stay for her : )
Great job being still on the release and not moving and releasing at the same time (the first one was a little too close together but the rest were spot on!)
Now one thing I notice is that he leaps & grabs for the toy. Let’s work on this, getting him to transition from the drop of the toy to the sit (or whatever you would be training next) without leaping up. This leaping up could pop up in a variety of places where the toy might be in play or there might be a lot of excitement, so a side trip into a bit of self-control here will help. Here is a layer to add:
rewarding her for *not* jumping for the toy as you move it away from his mouth to transition to the next part of the game.Tug tug tug and then relax your hands, keeping them low, give an out cue if you have one, and wait. Let him back off the toy, release it, relax himself – don’t move the toy, just leave it there. He might re-grip, but just stay chill đ
At first, when he releases it, donât move the toy: just take a breath, let the stay toy there, then if he can remain backed off and not leaping for it – tell him to get it (he doesn’t have to sit – criteria is stand still, don’t grab, don’t leap).When he can do that, you can go to the next step of: after he releases it, slowly move the toy away (to the side, not upwards) then release him to get it if he can stay chill and not leap for it. Then you can add in moving it upwards â at this point, he can be in a stand or offer a sit â but I bet he starts to offer sits pretty quickly.
This will add a layer of self-control which will also help you be able to move away while he holds his position đ
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi again!
Having the helper was great, even with the little extra restraint and a little push haha! The extra restraint seemed to pump him up more! And he wasnât bothered by the push – that little push is actually common in flyball restrained recalls LOL!
I think the best ones are when you run away immediately like at :50ish – so be sure to hand him off, run run run then call. Wheee!
Try to take these recalls to a whole lot of places to introduce lots of distractions.
One more thing – I mentioned it with the toy races too – try to be more engaged with him during the tugging between reps. Give him eye contact, face him, play, touch him ,etc. You are tending to be turning away from him and moving back to the start spot rather than engaging, which dampens the engagement and enthusiasm. Plus, with more engagement using the toy, it will be easier to fade the toy later on.
Nice work here! Have fun!
TracyGood morning!
Cat-like play is fine too đ Mix it all in!On the go to toy game:
The first rep was great in terms of drive to the toy! We need a better plan to get the toy back đ A couple of ideas:I suggest playing in a long hallway if you have floors that arenât too slippery so he has fewer options to take it and leave.
And, donât move towards him, move away, run away, whooping it up – and then when he begins bringing the toy towards you, you can offer another toy to engage him.You did go to the toy tied to something longer – try to get him super engaged on it then throw it further so he can really drive to it, I think it was too close to start with. Plus:
>> When he didnât give it back I told him he was naughty in a silly voice and just went and got the leash. He dropped the toy to come see what I was doing and when I came back in I just walked over and picked it up and put the leash on. I donât think he felt punished.>>
It sounds like a negative punishment (withdrawal of reinforcement – interaction/end of game – to suppress unwanted behavior) so it is entirely possible that it did suppress the enthusiasm on the next reps. So try the ideas above so he gets lots of reward for driving to it and you can prevent running off with the toy while also keeping it fun. You can also let him win some of the reps! Throw the longer toy as far as you can too, that will make it a real race đ
One last thing on the toy races: during the tugging, stay engaged longer rather than tug as you go back to reset. You were tugging but also turning your back on him to go back for another rep. It was tugging but not really play. So celebrate with him, play more directly for at least 5 to 10 seconds. Then take the toy and reset (and you can reward him for giving the toy back too!)Be right back with the 2nd video but gotta charge the device first LOL!
T
Good morning, thanks for changing the privacy!
On the tugging video, he did indeed do well! I think a couple of tweaks will get it even stronger! Try standing up more, but using the super long toys. – and swooshing them around on the ground a little faster – fast enough that they are exciting, but not soooo fast that he canât grab them. He does seem to want to get his mouth on them, but when you are sitting on the ground, it looks like he wants to chew them more than tug on them. And then when you switch toys, you can move the previous toy more out of the picture (put it up on something) so he has a clear idea of what exactly is âin playâ. On other idea: I notice that when you push him back hard, he doesnât seem to like it – he looks at your hand or he stops tugging for a moment. So donât push him back – try stroking his neck or chest or cheeks with a tiny bit of pressure – that can get him to pull back for good tugging rather than be a turn off.
On the shaping video – the behavior you wanted was very clear, yay! Two suggestions for the shaping part of it:
Attach a non-slip mat to the surface of the laundry basket, so he doesnât slide everywhere when you release him đ
And, speaking of the release – feed in position for the behavior then use your release word – then when he hops off , toss a reward. That will help build in a nice release word too!About the tugging here – it looks like his food drive is higher than his tug drive for now, with the food being so close (or perhaps the food was too high in value to be able to tug with the food so close). That seems to be why he wasnât interested in tugging – food was right there! It was either in your hand or in your pockets so he couldnât get past the smell to want to tug. No problem! We will separate the two – when you want to tug after using food, leave all the food in one place and then run to a different room in the house and start partying with his favorite toy. Be sure that there are no cookies in your pocket or hands – he isnât ready for tugging with a cookie so close yet. And use boring non-stinky treats đ
When he can eat a boring treat then can tug in a different room, we start to move things closer and closer, building up to tugging while you are holding steak in the same hand. This will take as long as it takes LOL! Could be one session (which would be highly abnormal) or weeks (normal) or months (also normal LOL!!)
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi Ann and welcome to you and Mochi!!! She sounds *adorable* đ
>> 1. We are having some difficulty with the Any Toy game. When I switch to the second toy, she is very focused on finding the first toy again (usually I sit on it or put it under my shirt).
This is a high quality problem LOL! I love that she is enjoying the toy!
>>I am trying to be very exciting with the second toy and she may sniff the second toy or mouth it half-heartedly for a second, but loses interest and wanders away or sits and stares at me to try to get the first toy back. I have had some success when switching from low to high value, but not with 2 high value toys or going from high to lower value.
Because she is so young and we want to keep the games super fun – stick with the low-to-high value as your primary mode of playing the game. You can then work up to medium-to-high value, and then eventually high-to-high and high-to-low value. It can take a bit of time, there is no rush.
To help facilitate the value changes you can try a couple of other things:
If there is a high value toy she particularly loves, maybe have 2 of the same exact toy so you switch back and forth to get the concept of âswitchingâ a bit happier for her? For example, my pup loves frisbees, so I switch back and forth between frisbees. She is not likely to be able to go from frisbee to one of the crappy boring tugs that I have… so I donât ask for it LOL! Maybe she can do it eventually, but no need for it now.You can also change locations. She seems smart and the old trick of hiding the toy in your shirt isnât working LOL! So when you go from one toy to another, maybe run to a different room, leaving the first toy behind. So the high value toy can stay in the bedroom while you run into the living room to get the next toy. Eventually you can get them right on top of each other, but adding distance between the toys for now can help!
>>2. When we play the toy races, the more excited she gets, the more she wants to bite the hand that is restraining her and not look at the toy. Maybe I should have her on leash?
Do you mean having the person restraining her hold a leash rather than hold her? Yes, absolutely! That is one option for sure. The biting of the restrainer can be a frustration behavior and/or she isnât comfy being held while the momma leaves – so the other option is to do very quick transitions:
Play, hand her off, and as soon as the holder has her – call her and run, so she gets released almost immediately and doesnât have time to get too aroused or bite the holder.
You can start these fast transitions with the leash first, then go to restraint.
When she is happy with that, you can add longer holds and more time/distance before you call her.
Also, when you hand her off, will she eat a cookie from the restrainer? Does she seem happy at first and then the mouthiness comes out when she is stimulated?
Let me know what you think!
Tracy
