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Perfect, I love to help dogs feel the wind in their hair LOL!!! The lazy pinwheel and the jump grid are more about precision, so the giddy up plan can be applied to the regular pinwheel. Feel free to put a tunnel in front of it to start it, then send to the middle jump, then run away (with connection, of course :)) so he chases you over jump 3 for the reward. Wheeee!
And you gave me an idea to add to the week 2 package to help build more speed and let the pups loosen their ties – thank you, I will put it together!
Enzo sounds like my Voodoo (big dog) and Hot Sauce (medium terrierish dog). Thoughtful early in their career, lots of knowledge. Not speedy lol Then we add in a dash of giddy up and a ton of speed develops without losing the trained skills. Fun!!!!
THi Nelci!
Sorry for the delay, I just saw the question!
>>, I am confused about how to follow the video rules “please submit a maximum of 4 reps total for each game and each training session”. If I do one circle to the L and one to the R to begin with, that is already 2 reps. Then I can only move the jumps once for another two reps (L and R), for a total of 4 reps. Or can I do a bit more for this game as in your video? I would not train more than 4-5 mins with Griz anyways. Forgive me but I am very literal (as you already know
It is amazing how quickly the number of jumps adds up on these short little drills, so the 4 rep limit on the submissions helps us not accidentally drill the dogs. So you can do more than 4 reps, but I want to see the first one, the last one, and a couple in the middle – which also discourages folks from running it over and over til it is perfect haha!! And if you only get 4 or 5 reps in, that is also fine – save his body & brain, we have lots to play with 🙂
The lazy game is looking good! You can give your verbals sooner, as he is over th eprevious jump or for the line to the tunnel, you can say it as he is landing from the pinwheel jump (“Jump tunnel tunnel tunnel!”)
He read the closer distances really nicely – speedy and also turning. As the distances got bigger, he slowed down a bit and was collecting a bit too much, especially on the jump after the tunnel and heading to the pinwheel jump. So I would leave the distances in closer for this game (they don’t need to be moved out in one session) each time you revisit it over a few weeks, only make one adjustment in the distance – that will help keep him powering through it and not over-thinking it.
Nice work here! Let me know if that makes sense!Tracy
Hi there! You are off to a lovely start!
You can totally use your verbals in the lazy game 🙂 I think the dogs would sell us on eBay if we were not moving AND we were silent hahaha!!He did well here for a first time on this crazy thing! Yay! Try to praise a little less – he would look at you when you did, which drew his attention away from the line. Instead, reinforce more frequently – randomly toss it out there every 2 or 3 obstacles. And if he misses one, definitely reward when he gets it the next time around – like when he missed the jump after the tunnel then got it on the next time through – yay!
For now, keep the distances in relatively close- he will let you know when to spread them out yby going really fast, not touching the bars, and not looking at you like you’ve lost your mind hahaha!!!!>>Was able to do both exercises in one session without losing his interest too much.
Excellent! Less is indeed more!
He is doing well on the pinwheels! Be careful of your verbals – it isn’t really a go because we don’t want extension on the middle jump, we can a moderate collection – so maybe just over or a jump cue.
He was at his best when you went one step past the first jump to the pinwheel jump, then sent. When you were parallel to it, he went (good boy!) but not as fast – when you hung back (:44) and didn’t really step, he didn’t go. You fixed it nicely on the next rep with a good step and being omre more step past jump 1. So keep doing the one-more-step 🙂 It is setting you up nicely! Great job with your verbal markers when he commits to the middle jump! When you makr it, I bet he would love it is you then ranso he could chase you for the reward – his favorite thing (except maybe for gopher digging haha). You can also mix throwing a reward out past the middle jump as you move away.Nice job here!!
Tracy
YAY!!!! Always great to have you in class 🙂 I see Enzo has been doing well with the UKI home trials!! Any particular challenges that you found he struggled with? I am changing up the curriculum and it would be fun to add new things 🙂
T
Hi there!
I think hashing out the reinforcement will make the lazy game much easier – you can throw a charley bear or something obvious then call him back to you to get another treat to reset, that can help. It is also possible that the challenge was set up with a little too much distance to start with (considering the lack of motion :)) so that is what was causing some of his hesitation:
Video 1 – This is a really good start, especially the first rep. Keep turning your body, feet too, not just your shoulders – your feet were getting a little stuck, probably from trying to stay in the box 🙂
Video 2 – I think the struggle here had more to do with the rewards, he was predicting that the rewards would come in that one spot LOL! Probably because they had come in that spot already and he could still smell them. Pulling the the middle pinwheel jump in closer will really help too, it reduces the challenge a tiny bit.
Video 3 – In terms of the movement, you are a bit too sideways so I think he was confused about whether to go or to turn – keep turning your feet and I think he will find it easier. He definitely had questions on the middle pinwheel jump but I think it had to do with you being perpendicular to the jump rather than continuing to move.Video 4 – great job turning your shoulders and feet here on these reps, he was great! I think these distances are a couple of feet too spread out though, he is still not entirely sure. The continued turning of your feet and shoulders made a massive difference, though!!
Grid: I agree, this was hard! He was less comfortable on the tighter distances (15 and 18) and settled in at 21. He changed up how he approached the last jump on each rep, so we just have to show it to him again 🙂 He had some really nice jumping efforts in there and I don’t think the toy was too stimulating (he was balanced in the ladder element of jumps 1-2-3) – so at some point later this week, show him the exact same session, no changes. We are basically teaching him to read – he did a good job on this first session, but needs to see the book again 🙂 I bet he is much smoother on session 2 🙂
Nice job! Let me know what you think!
THi!
>>Question: is the second pinwheel exercise dependent on the first, or can that be worked on separately?
I think the 2nd pinwheel will be much easier of the lazy pinwheel is looking good – and it did (above) so you can try the real pinwheel 🙂
On the video:
He is doing a great job figuring out how to one-stride the big distance!! He had a little trouble on the ladder element of it (first 3 jumps) – dropped the bar on the 2nd jump (1st rep) and ticked it later on as well – so when you revisit this, if he hits or ticks a bar, do the exact same rep again. If he is clean in the jumping, you can consider changing something. If not, ask the question of the same grid one more time – and if he still has a question, make it easier (lower bars are the easiest way or less exciting reward). On the rep where he dropped the oxer – I think you were too exciting, urging him on like a racehorse LOL!! It distracted him – so be pretty quiet for now. And you can ask the question again by doing the exact same grid again – and see what happens. If he drops it again, then yes, lower the bar.Nice work here!!
Tracy
Hi there!
Yes, it is so easy to do too many jumps and drill young dogs (any dogs) so the posting guidelines will help make us all more efficient 🙂
Nice job on the lazy pinwheel – you can actually move a little more, as long as you are not too helpy 🙂 I thought your arms were fine here. The 1st rep, 3rd rep and 4th rep all looked great – note your connection especially on the send to the tunnel. Compare it to rep 2: you disconnected and said tunnel to the tunnel… which turned your upper body to exactly where he went 🙂 Calling him back, sending to the tunnel and rewarding was fine. Remember to always say the cue to him and not the obstacle 🙂 You did it perfectly on the others reps, YAY!! Nice job!
TracyThis is a perfect place for your question!
For the striding grid, let’s leave the oxer at 6″/8″ until we see what he wants to do with striding. Then we can play a little with height – no need to build up height for a couple of weeks and even then, we will take it slowly. He is so young and we can challenge him with striding puzzles rather than height for now 🙂Hi Nelci! This will be fun! You should have received the first email just a few minutes ago – I didn’t send it until I had everything loaded properly.
I will post a new package each Tuesday and you will get an email when it is posted. And, you can click to get email replies to all of your posts 🙂
Can’t wait to see little tiny Grizzly!
Tracy 🙂
Hi – it was a little hard to see the reinforcement here, it was just out of the video for most of it. But yes, having a plan for reinforcement will help a lot and it will keep the session “cleaner”: if cookies distract from toy play, don’t have a cookie in your hand or pocket, just sue the toy. And a big cheese ball will work but the treat hugger is probably easier to throw.
She is definitely getting the idea here! Yay!
A couple of ideas for you for these games and as we move forward into MaxPup 4:
On the wraps, make sure she start specifically on one side of your or the other – I think it was a little unclear on some reps because she was in front of you already or sideways, so line her up to help set her up for success.For the Go, help her out with a few steps forward – after multiple wraps, she needs a little more help, even just leaning. But then remember to NOT lean on the digs. The slightly different body language will help. And, repeating the Go verbal as a long, repeated word a few times will help too!
Try to take a less-is-more approach to the sessions. This one had a LOT of reps… it is mentally a bit too much for youngsters to do this many reps. It is easy for us humans because we are not really moving… but the dogs are running/wrapping/jumping/tugging so they will be tired before we realize it (mentally and physically). So try to do maybe 10 reps per session, one session every few days – no more than that. It takes between a minute and 90 seconds to do 10 reps, which is a perfect length for a training session! And the shorter session makes it much easier to track rate of success. You’ll see that in play here in MaxPup 4, where the dogs will have more intensity of work, but in fewer sessions.
Nice job! Onwards to more fun stuff!!!
Tracy
Hi!
>>I was very uncomfortable being restricted from motion and handling.I could tell LOL!! I feel that, I like to run around a lot too 🙂
>>She obviously didn’t have an understanding of what I wanted , and I really don’t know how to fix it. Is it just a matter of more repetition?
Not more reps – fewer reps with calmer mechanics. You were trying really hard to produce the behavior but that caused the mechanics to get a little muddy, which was confusing. Here are some ideas:
I think changing the mechanics of the session will really help – stand up, stand still on the sends 🙂 Try not to run in then run out – that was a lot of motion and a lot of energy, so it wasn’t always clear. And the verbal digdigs can be quieter, almost whispered, to help draw her in. When she had too much leaning forward from you or really loud verbals, it propelled her straight. Part of what the dogs read on the “dig” versus “go” is our energy, so lower energy will help the wraps!
And, work these with less distance away. You were pretty far on some of them, which makes it harder because either she had a long way to send without your motion, or you used motion and that was too hard. So maybe 6 feet away – which should allow you to be relatively still on the wraps and add more leaning/energy/motion to the go cues. Physically, they were looking the same on some of the reps and the verbals were loud and chattered – so making it look distinct and sound distinct will really help: like a loud GOOOOO GOOOOOOO GOOOOOOO and a soft digdigdigdigdig. On the video, they were both similar: GOGOGOGOGOGODIGDIGDIGDIGDIG so it was harder for her to differentiate.
>>She also appears to get a bit nervous when we work too long, or tells me in no uncertain terms that she doesn’t uNderstand.
Teehee, I like it when the dogs get mad and sassy, it means they are getting invested in our crazy game! Yay!! I don’t think 3 minutes is too long if the rate of success is high – but it was not here, so she was letting you know. Use your 2 failure rule: if she fails once, note it and maybe ask the same question again. If she fails twice… back off the difficulty, re-visit your mechanics, set her up for success. And the 2 failure rule is not 2 failures in a row…. it is 2 failures in the entire session! If you can reduce failures, you will find that she can work longer and her learning will be faster.
Let me know if that makes sense!
Tracy
Hi!!! On the decel – I love your exaggerated decel!! You can the toy into view as soon as she lifts her head generally towards you. She is definitely a doer, meaning she wants to go do the things (even if she doesn’t totally know them like the weaves LOL!) so getting in a ton of reward for acknowledging the decel like you did here is great! And letting her take the toy for a runabout is great too, because she seems to be one of those dogs that LOVES to run 🙂
Grid: she is definitely getting the idea of the grids, I think they are easy for her at this point. She added a stride in the last interval at 1:04, but I think it was just that the food bowl was too closer – you adjusted it and then she was back to perfect. Yay! She is being thoughtful in her work here, which is what we want. Woot!!!! You can add motion to all of your grids – the reward remains in the same spot, and you can lead out to the last jump – release – walk forward. Gradually lead out less and less so you are moving the whole time – and then you can gradually increase the moving to a jog then a run! Her performance should be the same… that will be hard 🙂
Nice work here!!!! It has been great seeing her blossom into such a cool agility dog!!!
Tracy
