Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Good morning! Lots of lovely work here!!!
Backing up:
I agree with your assessment that early in the session he did not know it was about backing up – he seemed to think it was about getting on it however you can get on it (and he was getting rewards for that). Changing the picture TOTALLY helped – starting him so that the option to back up was the quickest route, with the MM much closer to he was barely off the platform. Big help! Very nice! I would leave this set up in place for a couple more sessions til it is more of an instantly recognizable set up, then you can move to fading out the bed – I think if you start the same way (very close to the platform, facing you, but not so far away that turning round it easy) then he should generalize it pretty nicely! He is using his hind end really nicely, with independent steps and not hopping.The Rocking horses are going really well – excellent use of legs!! He seemed to have zero questions on the sends and also the connection on the exit was clear too. Very nice!!! You can move to bigger wings/barrels when you have more room, as that will allow for playing with timing so you can leave earlier.
Stays – he is doing well with his butt, but moving his front feet a lot and reading some kind of pattern for the releasing. I was looking for the pattern and it was either a time rhythm after 3 seconds, or a movement towards him – or it could have been you opening your mouth to inhale, but I couldn’t see your face LOL! One thing I think will really help – define the release and reinforcement markers more clearly – it seemed like “free” was a couple of different things (go to the MM, or get the cookie from your hand, or come forward) so he was trying to sort it out. If ‘free’ is your forward release cue, then don’t have him turn back to the MM or get a cookie from your hand after saying it. In the MM reward moments, use a different word. And if you are going to hand-deliver the treat, that can be yet another word (I know, soooo many words LOL!)
In terms of a hierarchy for stay training: the release forward is the least important, that is super easy, so do that the least (you didn’t do much of that here). The anchoring with the MM is really nice – but also be sure to do a ton of reinforcement without the MM so that anchoring is not the cue to hold the sit, if that makes sense. I think he will settle more as you move away if you incorporate more of a ‘catch’ cue where the reward is thrown back to him as you move away (the response cost/lack of efficiency gets rid of a lot of movement when we do that). Plus that will help clarify when/how the reinforcement is arriving. The hand-delivery seemed to be causing him to move as the reward was coming in, so that should be lowest on your hierarchy because we don’t want to chain in motion, and yet we don’t want to withhold the reward that was about to be delivered if he moves – so I suggest avoiding it entirely for now til he is more settled into the stay.
One more thought on the stay – when you are motionless and extending duration, try not to face him quietly – many dogs perceive that as the international sign for “offer behavior” and he was doing a bit of that. But rocking back and forth was causing the foot movement as he was following the motion. So you can split the difference by either adding motion by moving away as if you were doing a lead out on a jump or if you are stationary, add in quiet praise so he doesn’t think we are waiting for an offer.Parallel path:
Commitment to the parallel path is looking really good! He is really fast about this which makes it harder to get the reward in before he is done – the next session of this should be outdoors so you have the time to throw before he gets to the jump. If he misses one, just turn and start the next rep rather than freeze til he realizes he missed it – if we decelerate/freeze on course we don’t want the dog to offer a jump behind us 🙂 But to help get rid of the misses – let him find the cookie and then you start moving again. When he was looking for the cookie and you were standing still past the jump, he might have been thinking it was a reset moment? I don’t think it was a poor commitment moment, I think it was a “I’m done, let’s do another rep!” moment where he was coming to you to restart, good boy 🙂>>And wraps where we worked hard on waiting until we were sent!>>
Perfect! Was there a video here? I don’t want to miss anything. I am guessing they looked terrific!
Great job! He is advancing beautifully!
TracyHi!
>My cookie comment is more related trying to ask her to stay…she has no clue.>
Ah! Got it. Definitely try the Want To Stay games, those should help.
Keep me posted!
TracyHi! Good question!
There are currently 5 MaxPup modules, plus 3 adjunct classes (Jordan’s Running Dog Walks class plus my teeter/weaves class plus Want To Stay – Ready To Go).So the 5 MaxPup modules are:
* this one 🙂* MaxPup 2 which is building in more handling concepts and begins teaching jumping concepts and proofing games. That one is 5 working weeks spread out over 8 weeks)
* MaxPup 3: Putting It together (young dog sequencing and contacts foundations) This one is 6 working weeks spread out over 9 weeks.
* MaxPup 4 CAMP (baby dog track) This is our annual summer handling class but with shortened up sequences and high level skills work for the youngsters
* MaxPup 5 Transition To Trials – this is a many-months class designed to bring the pups into their first trials.
As for timelines: this group of MaxPuppers is pretty young, so there will be a break before MaxPup 2 so that they can physically mature a bit. Plus we will wait for the weather to break a little 🙂 I am guessing mid-March for that one, which puts MaxPup Putting It Together over the summer. That is perfect timing for this group because they will be more in the year old range (the current Putting It Together group started with the dogs between 10 and 14 months old).
The contacts & weaves classes will be early summer, because we build to full contacts & closed weave poles – the dogs need to be over a year old at least, or older for the larger dogs. For example, Contraband is just 15 months old and just now physically ready to do the real jumping, contact & weave training 🙂
My guess is that CAMP will probably not be on the table for this group of MaxPuppers, they are a little young but the transition to trials will likely be late summer/early fall. So it will all be spread out because we have to let the puppies physically mature and grow before adding the hard stuff like jumping for real, contacts & weaves. I tend to let the veterinary professionals decide when the dogs are ready, not my training interests LOL!!!!!
Let me know if that makes sense!
TracyHooray for a lovely session AND hitting record! LOL! Video proof of success!!
He is doing well. At the beginning of the session, he needed a bit of a mental warm up, meaning you can hold still for longer before stepping back into the FC. When you start the session, you can give him a warm up by sending then holding your position until you see his head turn to commit to finishing the wrap – then FC and and do the same on the other side. I like to give youngsters 2 or 3 warm up reps like that… then you can start pushing and doing the FC sooner. After he got in the groove, you were able to do the FCs sooner so the warm up is designed to help eliminate the early questions.
Speaking of questions – at 1:25 he had a frozen moment, big question. It looks like you left the Hallmark moment of magical connection too quickly 🙂 You had a heartbeat of connection to his eyes as he finished the wrap and then you turned your shoulders forward, which changes the line (presents a blind cross option) and blocks connection. So, he abstained LOL. To help out there, hold your connection moments longer til he is almost back to you, then go into the next send. And that is one of the reasons why I like to reward even when the dog ends up on the other side on these – I prefer them to choose commitment over abstentions by freezing (or abstention by biting my foot)
The other thing to work separately that will also add challenge to these are the Turn And Burn games – working up to seeing if you can do the FC before he arrives at the barrel. That will transfer nicely to the Rocking Horses because he will let you leave earlier and you won’t have to wait to see his head turning.
Great job!!! So much fun stuff here!
TracyHi! I think the addition of the MM is great, it is something we do with dogs that can handle the distraction 🙂 His value for the touch spoon is high enough that you could add the MM and he didn’t lose his focus on the spoon. It was challenging, for sure! But the MM simulates the challenge of another obstacle out ahead on a serp and he has to come in on the serp anyway 🙂 I would move the MM about 2 feet further from the jump and also closer to the landing line if that makes sense – it will be on a line closer to a tight line for him, but he will come over the jump and turn and take 2 or 3 steps to get to the MM 🙂
You can also use the toy on the ground! We have that added in with the next stages of the Strike A Pose games 🙂
One more suggestion: be closer to the jump. He was able to come straight over the jump and turn after all 4 feet were over it. To encourage him to turn as he is arriving at the jump so he ‘lands’ already turned (teaching him to set up the collection before the jump when he sees that cue. So your ideal location relative to the jump will be close enough to touch the wing, with a relaxed arm/slightly bent elbow. You should then see him turning before he arrives at the bar and when he is on your side of the jump, he is turned and facing the MM. Let me know if that makes sense!
Great job 🙂
TracyHi! He seemed to have a little trouble leaving on the sends on some of these at the beginning, so you can tweak the mechanics of it a little to smooth it out. I could see your feet and they were good! But I could not see your arms or eyes, so be sure that the arm cue and shift in connection also goes with the leg step (it might have been :))
The thing I think will help the most is a ready moment to reset between the reward and the send (rather than looping the behavior by sending right after the treat). After he gets the cookie, put him back into handler focus by having him come in front of you, talking to him (I say ‘ready ready ready’) and when he is fully engaged: do the send. I think the send was happening a little too quickly after the treat and he did not see it clearly on the way back to you, so his response was not as crisp. When you had a little more of a reset towards the end of the video, things got much smoother and his commitment looked good! So the handler focus reset moment should be a solid 2-3 seconds long until he is looking up at you and saying “send me! Send me!” And then you will be able to have those lovely responses on each rep.
I see a recording of the rocking horses below! Yay!!!Tracy
PS – you can also build on this by changing your position to sitting higher or standing. He can certainly see more challenge here.
Hi! This was really fun to see, he totally sorted out the target to hand, no problem. What was really interesting was the more difficult concept of “there is food in it, put it in my hand to get the food.” (At least, I think the food is in the yellow thing and the fuzzy thing you used after it :)) That is a difficult concept because of the distraction level of the scent of the food and the proximity to it (literally in his mouth!). That appeared to be the initial distraction – he would grab it, start to retrieve, get caught in the food smell (and maybe taste) but then finished the retrieve. That is amazing on several levels! Very cool!!!! It should make toy retrieves even easier 🙂 I have friends who have taught their sporting dogs to retrieve things like eggs or hot dogs, because sporting dogs have ther ability to carry a hot dog to us and not eat it LOL!!! I am sure other breeds can do it but I am not brave enough to try 🙂
Great job here!!!
TracyHi! Thank you for the update, I love to hear about her progress!
>First work week of the year was very busy! Indy & I are further behind.
You are doing fine! We have a break week this week to give everyone a chance to catch up a bit.
>>Our small space Blind Crosses are good.
Excellent!
>>She will get on almost anything but likes to default to the sit position.
That is fine, a sit is a good default 🙂
>> We need to work the Buja a bit more and then the stay part. I also started the plank work on an aerobic step.>>
That is great to add this week or next week, I think she is ready for that.
>> With treats she is all over anything, but if they stop coming she loses focus in a moment.
Do you mean in shaping sessions, if they are not coming because you are waiting for something more, she loses it? You can do a session in a small room like a bathroom (where there is no place to go, not much to look at) and let her work through that – delay the cookies to get a little more and if she loses focus, just wait… when she returns to focus, the cookies start coming again. Yay!
You can also break off cookie sessions with toy play – so she has shorter sessions with more energy between. That way she won’t go into a cookie-zen-mode where it is easy to lose focus 🙂 Toy play will help keep the engagement high.>> I shaped her 4 feet into a large bowl in just a few minutes! (I lowered all my adjustable contacts to puppy height because she won’t stay off of anything – she has no fear. I was out there just cleaning up with both dogs. It turned into catch the puppy before the down side).>>
Hooray for being fearless, but also it was smart to lower all of your contacts haha!! She is keeping you on your toes!
>>Worked the wing wrap with a barrel. She is doing awesome. Work both with treats and with toys. I believe I have learned she is left pawed. And I can cue it from a few feet back standing and she flies around it. Occasionally, doesn’t make it all the way around.>>
This is great! If she doesn’t make it all the way around, you can wait one heartbeat longer til she is turning her head and more likely to come around. If she is left-pawed 🙂 then you can keep the right side reps a shade easier for now as she evens out in her balance.
>>We have done the basic back up a number of times and it has improved nicely.
Perfect! Keep revisiting it as she grows, so she remembers where that hind end is 🙂
>>Hopefully, we can finish up week 2 and start on week 3 this week.
Excellent! You will find that things build on each other so it won’t feel as much like you are behind.
>>PS Seems as she is getting taller, my shoes are less of a target.
Ah, perfect! Plus she is maturing and that helps!!
Tracy
Hi!
On the cone wrapping:
OMG the videographer “is that allowed” was too funny, he should do a sports announcer narration on the training videos! LOL! She is doing well on these – don’t move the cone out away from you until the back and forth is pretty automatic and almost irresistible to her. She was getting invested in the game, but was still considering her other options 🙂 You can also use loud cookie drops – it is an auditory lure 🙂 – as a warm up to get it going. And, thinking about it – you can totally play this game with 2 toys. She likes food and you have done a great job bringing up the food drive but I bet she will get fully invested in this game with 2 toys. That is how I taught it to my BWxPap! Her drives are VERY BorderWhippet (toys first, food later) so when she was in the 12-16 week old range, I did most of this with toys.She is the queen of the goat games! Super confident! And I love this inflatable thing, I need to get one. She seemed just fine to get on it, stay on it, no worries about the movement or the height. You can challenge her balance with a bit of tugging on it, it is a wide enough platform. I think she will be fine to do that. You can also have her turn around on it or sit on it if she will offer sits (just to get more balance and hind end stuff 🙂 )
Great job!!! She is doing really well!!
TracyHi!
Excellent choice of prop – it is very salient and super cute too. I love her very obvious front foot hits! Lots of intent. She was a good girl when you moved to the sends and also hilarious 🙂 Try not to say ‘go’, as that will mean something else – no verbal needed at this stage but you can totally make a noise to say something silly 🙂 For the distract portion, do you have an engagement word you like? You can talk to her and engage her (I do the Ready Dance) and then send – so it teaches the pups to go from handler focus to obstacle focus. And it builds a lovely engagement word: my dogs could be passed out asleep and if I say “ready” they spring to life with total focus LOL
“”Not totally crazy about her turning it into a drop, but I assume we can work that out over time. “”
On the sends, when you feel value for the prop is high enough, you can get rid of the drop by changing the placement of reinforcement. Send her to it then have her come back to your hand for the reward. She is unlikely to want to drop when she will be coming back to you (and you can use a toy for it too!)
>>Also tried taking the show on the road to a petstore. She wasn’t willing to work avidly for food, but we were able to get some basic work for a tug. (She above — paps and play>food).>>
Road trip! Yay! Again, that strikes me as BC behavior, not Pap behavior. Usually we can get the Paps to eat but we can’t get the BCs to eat. SHe is super cute, she looks like the Budi dogs from Seiter/Tucci in Florida! She did a great job playing and targeting in this new location! Yay!!! Was she willing to put a treat in her mouth? You can work on eating in new places by using a super high value treat – and when she swallows it, reward with tugging (swallow is key so she does not spit it out when your head is turned haha) She doesn’t have to work for the food, the ‘work’ is swallowing the cookie 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi!
>>Yes, the pap makes for many new experiences. When she came home at 8 weeks she was NOT interested in working for food.>>
That is really interesting! I would think that is more of the BC than the Pap? Paps are PIGGIES.
>>Happy as a clam to play-play-play, but food, eh … not so much. I’ve also noticed that weirdness about walls and interacting with something up against a wall. Huh?>>
This also sounds very BC. Maybe Mudi too, I just don’t know enough about the breed. Voodoo (half BC) was very similar in the All-Toys, No-Food at this age. I had to teach him to eat, it was bizarro. LOL!! Not sure about the wall stuff? That could be any of the breeds LOL!
Good job working the harness grabbing – that was TOTALLY Papillon hahaha You might need to start with reaching towards and building to touching because she was really avoiding it with some impressive skills and a little drama hahaha! I am sure you are already doing hand touches? This helps with Papillon collar grabs and you can also do body targeting where they target their side or hip to your hand? This is a definite life skill for all Pap types 🙂 Nice work!
TracyBummer about the lack of more nice days!!! I am ready for spring weather 🙂 But he did really well here!!!
Parallel path to the jump:
He did well on the parallel path! It think the hardest part was finding the food after the throws! He was wanting to look up at you a little which is normal because there is not much to look at other than you! So, to help keep him looking straight: mark the moment he looks at and begins moving towards the jump, and then throw – so the food will be flying before he even gets to the jump. If the arrives at the jump, he will look up at you – so throwing sooner for the choice to look at and moves towards it can keep his head straighter.Serps – once you got the angles going at the beginning, he did really well targeting to your right hand! Very nice! He had a little more trouble one the new side with the chain, he was wanting to go directly to the right hand (cookie hand) and had to think hard about hitting the target hand first. Are you right- handed? He might have more value on treats coming from your right hand, which makes this side of the serp a little more difficult. You can help him by moving the left hand/target hand a little, and the visual of motion might help catch his eye (and up and down movement, like a wave). On both sides, you can move the cookie box out to where you want him to start from, and use your cookie through to reset that next rep – so he targets, you show him the treat in the reward hand, then let him see you toss it to the cookie box – he eats, and comes right back to the target hand.
Turn and burn/wing sends – these were really good commitments! You were using the sideways send leg with is good – he really cues off the leg, so I will keep bugging you to use it. Working in a small space, you can add in more of the turn-and-burn feeling by starting closer to the wing, right next to it – cue him to go to it then move away right as he starts moving to it. That can help with the countermotion concept without needing to wait for good weather 🙂
Great job!!!!!
Tracy
