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Good morning! Hooray for great weather, finally!
> the first 2 reps he was grabbing for the toy>
I think there was a bit of confusion for sure – you were rotating too soon so he was driving into you. At :03 and :13 you started rotating and running a bit sideways, which also brought the toy hand across in front of you, so his focus was drawn to your hands.
Compare to :09, :18 and the reps after that – you faced forward as you decelerated and he was able to commit to the wing. Then you rotated and he had no questions (and didn’t look at the toy at all). Super!!!
> The Big Lug can wrap himself pretty tight around those wings>
Yes! He might be a big dude… but he has a lot of power and I know he will be able to set up great turns!
As you play these games, I think you can decelerate sooner as long as you keep facing forward and don’t rotate til you see him locked onto the wing. And definitely don’t rotate and run sideways towards the wing š Once you have rotated, you should run back to the tunnel.
One other thing to remember (so many things to remember with young dogs :)) is to plan and use your markers – I couldn’t really hear them here but also, the toy-from-hand marker becomes very important as we start running more with the toy in our hands. Clarity of markers will help him not look at the toy at all, even when your cues are not perfect (it is too hard to be perfect in agility!)
Great job here!
TracyGood morning!
Stay looks great! And he is focusing directly on the toy and driving to it when released. SUPER!!! This gets applied to the set point, after he has seen the set point with a stationary reward a couple of times.
Because the transition from toy reward back to the game is important, we can sort out ways to smooth out that process:
>He was unwilling to trade for a cookie but I did use one to line him up!>
Yay for the line up cookie! For the trade cookie:
What type of cookie were you using? We definitely want to be able to get the toy back without the collar holding (because that can create over-arousal/frustration) and we also want to make releasing the toy very rewarding for him! So for getting the toy back, use a really high value (human-grade) treat. Many toy-driven dogs will trade anything for a piece of rotisserie chicken LOL!
Then, more importantly – give him the toy back. Don’t make getting the toy back all about the toy being removed in favor of doing the next thing. Gripping the toy rather than ‘outing’ it often gets built up because we take the toy back and there is no reward. Instead, we remove the toy (which is actually a negative punisher) – and even though we are going to do another rep, the stay is not intrinsically rewarding yet that it can be used as the next step after getting the toy back.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning! Welcome!! She is so cute and fun! These games are going well.
She was very happy to do her wing wraps at the beginning of the first video. Super!! My only suggestion on these to help solidify the verbals is to line her up at your side then gently hold her collar… then let her hear you say the verbal 4 or 5 times before you let her go. I think she was relying on you stepping to the wing, which is why she was not as smooth on the last couple of when you didn’t step to the wing. Letting her hear the verbal then letting go of the collar should help her propel herself to the wing even more, while attaching the verbals nicely too.
I think the set point is also off to a great start. She has a lovely stay which really helps! We will want to add the moving target to this, so be sure to re-visit that pre-game too.
>Here is the set point ā I used 4.5 feet but maybe I should have stuck with 4.>
How tall is she? I think the distance was good here – you can start her a couple of inches closer to the bar, so she powers in off her hind end more (and reaches forward with her front less – the further she is, the harder it is for her to really push from the rear). Try getting her front feet to be about 6 inches from the first bump and see how she does with that.
It was hard to see exactly where the reward was, but her head was lower on the 2nd and 3rd reps which made for better form than the 1st rep, where her head was high. So definitely keep it lower. And you can also move it further from the 2nd jump, so it is 12 feet away or so – that way she can stride out to it which will make it easier to raise the height of the bar.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning! These are looking good!
The wrap versus tunnel went really well! One small suggestion to further solidify the verbals: face forward to the wing on both cues and try not to move at all š One the wraps, you were already pretty rotated and that physical cue might tip her off as to which it is, making the verbals less relevant. So try to be in the exact same position (belly button facing the wing) for both tunnel and wrap verbals – that can be a good challenger for her! And it looks like she is also ready for the advanced level, where you put things in flow, like tunnel-wrap and even tunnel-tunnel, wrap with you basically showing as few physical cues as possible.
Tunnel exits:
> I donāt feel she knows the turn well so I decided to not do the wrap and just reward where she should go. Is that ok?>
That is fine if you are working to make the turns more solid! The wrap will be the easy part š
Small detail: Try not to lift her up when you are holding her collar (or let her lift herself up) – sometimes they fall on their heads when they start with their front feet in the air. Keep your hand low so her feet stay on the ground as she shifts her weight back to get ready to go.
Timing of the GO verbal heading to the wing was good but at :08 be sure to connect – if she dosn’t see connection, you will get zig zag lines/refusals because the connection supports the line you want.
Sending to the tunnel from further away so you are ahead more easily really helps – you were further ahead at :30 and that helped but definitely emphasize connection too like you did at :50, where you were ahead AND connected. That one looked great!
>Tunnel exits: since throwing now makes me anxious I did place the toy down for the go. >
That is a good toy for throwing, she is not splatting herself for it because it is big. Also, instead of dropping it, you can also drag it like a moving target which also allows you to control the decel a bit (this will work on the turns better than on the Go lines).
For the placed toy – she naturally curls to her right back towards you on this so having the placed toy closer will solidify the ‘go’ on the tunnel exit even more. It was a little far away so the visual did not override her interest in looking for you on the exit – it worked on the 2nd rep when she knew it was there, but having it closer on the first rep will be perfect!
Turns on the exit: almost all of your verbals were on time. Yay! I think the only one that can be earlier was the left verbal at 1:06 (her head was already in the tunnel).
With all of the verbals- match the physical cues to them, so she can hear and see the cues. You were tending to run forward while you were saying the verbals, so she was turning more after she exited. Saying the verbal then letting her see the physical cue too (shoulder turn is all she needs) before she enters should be perfect!
Great job here!
TracyHi!
Be sure to connect after the start wing (or the wing before going straight to the tunnel, it was not always the start wing :)) On some of the reps, he did not take the tunnel because when he exited the wing, you were facing forward and he didnāt know which side to be on.
So, if he goes around the wing and doesnāt take the tunnel, you can assume it was a connection error, send him around the next wing, and reward. Big eye contact as he exits the wing will show him the line to the tunnel.
For the right turns – the first rep or two had late verbals but then it was hard to hear if you were saying tunnel and right, or just right? Either way, letting him hear ārightā before he goes into the tunnel will help a lot. And, matching the physical cues to it will help too – he was seeing a lot of acceleration straight, so he ws going straight. If you can turn your shoulders when he is still about 5 feet away from entering the tunnel so he sees it, you will have great turns.
On the left turns, your physical cues showed the left turn earlier, so you got some really good turns when the verbals happened before he went into the tunnel too (like at 1:25).
You were much better connected on the last rep and it looked great! Yay! The connection is key for him and also showing/saying the turn cues before he enters the tunnel.
Great job!!
TracyHi!
He was so funny, almost looked surprised by the toy reward on the first rep! But that type of surprise is good! This went super! Did you feel like it was more fun for you both? The expression on his face at the very end certainly seemed happy š
You can let him tug for longer, and you can let him win the tug (running around with it can be a bit of useful decompression for him). And to get the toy back, trade for a cookie then toss the cookie off to the side for him to chase. Pulling on his neck to get the toy back might tip him into overarousal, but cookie trades will be great š
At :47, he went around the cone but didnāt get rewardedā¦ all of the physical cues (like lining up then letting go) indicated he should go to the cone, so be careful not to send mixed signals š
Since this went so well, you can take this process into the other games as well – I think the tugging will be a lovely way to help him balance arousal! And being careful to limit failures and reward resets will help a ton too. He looked great here!
Tracy
Hi!
This went great! The main thing here was to balance arousal, and it looks like he was very successful (he is naturally good at arousal regulation!).
For the tunnel cues, stepping to the tunnel definitely helped and it was more stimulating! The pattern games balanced things out and he was very successful.
He only had one take-the-tunnel blooper and that is fine: we need some errors here and there so he learns the difference. But overall, super successful!! It was hard for him, he was breathing hard at the end (steam coming out of his ears LOL!) but he did great. Yay!!
Onwards to taking this outside when the yard is dryer!
Great job :)āØ
TracyHi! Sounds like you are having a fun and busy weekend!!
>We have really been working on the pre-run engagement and having success. He mostly ignores the other dogs and is really engaged with me.>
Super!! He looked happy, relaxed, and engaged here.
>After one of our zoom chats where the fur tugs from tugawaycuwin was mentioned I ordered a few more and found the āfur flingerā is perfect for Wayne (I can use it for pre and post run engagement and shove it in my pocket)>
Perfect! They have a lot of good fur toys, I just bought a few more LOL!
He was really good in these runs! The behind-the-back starts worked really well – I especially loved that when you took the leash off, he remained engaged and didnāt start without you. That really allowed you to set up a nice opening line!
About the contacts: he considered getting on the a-frame here but then he was not sure. Do you have access to contacts that can be lowered, so he can confidently get on them in flow from jumps or tunnels?
>the Standard Course time was around 24 seconds and Wayne did it sub 12 seconds!>āØ
Holy wow!! He could have done it twice and still been under course time! So fun!
Great job here!!!
TracyHi!
>I noticed a lot of knots in her shoulder muscles, so I gave her some amateur massages after the trial.>
Amateur massages are great! Have you ever done skin-rolling? That is what the real massage people have me do with mine as part of their warm up and cool down.
>Here are Frankieās latest TSA games. We ran past the gate and then back in these. She had some distractions that got her attention here & there but I just waited for her attention to shift back to me and we kept going.>
She did well here! I think she is understanding the whole āleave the treats outside the ringā thing and is also pretty resilient to any handling bloopers. Her early videos of this were filled with her looking back at the treats outside the ring like WHAT THE HECK and now she is very fluid!
āØ>You will hear the monster-noises that is Bazinga not wanting to wait her turn too!>
She sounds like a rage-filled cat-dinosaur cross LOL!
āØ>Iām trying to get her to bark after she gets her last treat before we go inside the gate too. I forgot to try it at the start line. I will add that in next time.āØTSA 1>Yes! I love the cue for it š And whether or not she barks will give you good insight into how she is feeling inside.
>Iām trying to decide between doing FEO as our first run of the day or just doing the first run for real since she has been doing really well with the first 2 runs of the day. Maybe just surprising her with FEO when the FAST course is not one of our favorites.>
Go for it! She will give feedback about whether a real run first thing is the way to go. She has been successful with it. And you can always change your mind at the last minute, if the environment is hard for whatever reason.
>She has 2 more QQs for her MACH4 and then I can drop her to 8 inches. >
I think she will like 8 inches š
>Our only other thing to work towards is her Agility Grand Championship (we need 26 FAST, 22 Premier STD, 22 Premier Jumpers and 9 T2B Qs) but Iām not sure I want to make that a āgoalā. I want to keep things fun for her that is really my priority.>
I think if you keep things fun for her like you are doing, and keep her fit and sound – the AGCH will happen naturally without needing to even chase it.
> If I do work towards that, I think I would want to drop regular JWW and STD. I donāt like doing more than 3 runs with her in a day. She seems to have spoken about that.>
That is a great plan! If you donāt need the JWW and STD, you can save her for the other classes. Plus Bazinga will be running those classes pretty soon and that way you can focus all on her š
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
Hooray for the weaves!!! Are they easy to throw in the car and take different places?
>We did the TSA game today and Iād love some advice. She gets so amped up during this game that sheās started being bitey. Sheās grabbing at my clothes and biting the leash so wildly that sheās a menace! HahahaāØIs it too much for her? Maybe she doesnāt need it whereas Frankie does need the added excitement?>>
I think it is good to rehearse the āup and downā of arousal regulation, and that is why the game is useful. Plus we get feedback from the dog – she really wants to do more tugging! She keeps reaching for the leash even in the in between moments. So you can ask her for calmer behaviors and then let her tug on a tug leash or a toy. She regulates really well when you do that, and it will help direct her teeth to the leash/toy and not your flesh š
>Really the runs were a mess because we were both so discombobulated with all the wildness.>
The runs were not too bad at all! It was that 3rd jump – you needed to be further up the line (longer lead out) to be able to connect and push in to get it. Being a bit behind pulled her to her left, and she had to go slightly right to pick up the jump.
>tried running the course with her again later after she calmed down and she took all the obstacles like a pro. (We both did better).>
Did you lead out further? Canine arousal also shifts human arousal, so if you were more relaxed it is possible you led out an extra couple of steps.
>We have a 1 day trial next weekend (that I think Iāll be able to go to) and a 2 day trial the following weekend.āØThen the Boston Terrier Nationals!!! That will be fun! There is a tunnelers fun run that sheās going to love!>
OMG BT NATIONALS!!!!!! That sounds like so much fun. Where are they holding it?
>I have an FEO progression question with weaves.āØWhat should my criteria be for attempting the weaves in the novice ring with a toy? Once she is comfortable doing 6 weaves at the field where we take training classes? Should she be doing 6 weaves with an obstacle before and after at home and at the training field? >
I would say yes to both of these. You can add an obstacle before and after, even if the weaves are not closed up yet.
Not for AKC novice – you can get her in there with the 6 poles š
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Welcome! Thank for the video, it was really fun to watch! These games will be GREAT for helping build up arousal regulation and finding that sweet spot that works for you both! The skill of going around the cone is easy peasy for him, so let’s look at setting him up for arousal regulation success! He is a very cool dog!!!
A couple of things to tweak in this setup:
– for now, don’t have the other dog in the room watching the training, make it about you and him only. Having the pressure of another dog watching intently draws bandwidth away from the part of his brain needed for arousal regulation. It splits his attentional state and I don’t think we need that yet (it might not outwardly seem like it divides his attentional state, but it is extra input the brain has to process and filter out, so let’s remove it).
– let’s have you standing up! Sitting low to the ground makes it harder to line him up, and that was a source of frustration.
– does he play with toys? If so… let’s get a toy involved. (if he doesn’t play with toys, let me know and we will do other fun things). Using just food is not doing the trick for arousal regulation – I think he needs an outlet to party with between reps. This might seem entirely counterintuitive – but lining him up for a cookie, doing the rep, rewarding with a hearty game of tug, letting him win the tug for a few seconds (and maybe run around or rip it up a little LOL)… then call him back to you using the food with the pattern game we did in MaxPup 1. Then line up next to you for food, repeat the process. The outlet for the arousal followed by the pattern game for arousal regulation can make a huge difference. Trying the training as a tight loop using food only is actually not useful for arousal regulation for many dogs, and I think he falls into that category. Toy play paired with pattern games is a great outlet and balancer.
– be extra super clear with the reinforcement and the line up. The session was all good til :50 when you didn’t give him any info about the line up, so his arousal tipped over into frustration and we got cone biting, hitting, etc. Standing up to play between reps, the pattern game, then a very clear line up can help the arousal remain optimized and eliminate that frustration!
Nice work here! Let me know what you think, especially about getting more toy play involved š
Tracy
Woohooo!!! I think Spotlight will LOVE the Wind In Your Hair game š And the proofing game will be fun too!
T
Hi!
>. Can I raise the height of the bars? Both were locked in at 8ā³ this week.>
The first bar will always be low, it is just a stride regulator. The 2nd bar can go to 10″.
The pill bug games went well! One suggestion is to not have the toy dangling from your hand – based on it being highly visible and then when she arrives at it, you are delivering it to her. So it seems like she is thinking that the game is to go to the toy. This works fine for the outside circles, but it would be even better to get her doing them with connection and not a toy target. Targeting to the toy is what is made the inside circles so hard: she was coming straight in to the toy. So if the toy is out of the picture, you can use connection to get her to bend around the tunnels and it will be a lot easier. You can do the inside circles at a slow jog/fast walk to establish the turn, then eventually crank up the speed again š To reward, you can whip the toy out of a pocket or use a food reward in the moment, with tugging in between reps.
Nice work on the tunnel exits too! In the moments when you were super connected, she was perfect! Connection is definitely a big cue for the youngsters – so if something goes wrong, assume it was a connection question and use less arm to cue the obstacle and more eye contact as you run.
For example, she had a little zig zag exiting the tunnel straight at :05 and :26, looking at you first before going to the wing – try to be connected to her on the tunnel exit to get the line and not pointing forward. The connection turns your shoulders to the line you want.
>I think Ellie is starting to know her wrap verbals, but I really doubt she has any idea what left and right are. She and Mason both went wide on the right turn out of the tunnel, so Iām curious if there is something Iām doing to cue the drive forward out of the tunnel when I really want a right turn.>
That was a timing question from her on the reps at :37 and :47 and :57 and 1:07. The right verbal was late, happening either after she went into the tunnel or just as she was sticking her head into the tunnel, and your running motion was forward. So the last thing she saw/heard was forward motion which is why she exited straighter. On the left turn exits – the timing can also be earlier but your physical cues were already showing the turn before she entered, so she turned well! The ideal timing is that she sees/hears the cue when she is still a solid 6 feet away from entering the tunnel – you can put a line on the ground to give yourself a visual of when to cue the turn.
> The race track to the right took a few tries to work out the bugs, >
This was a connection question (if she jumps up at you, it is her way of saying ‘more connection please!’):
At :38 pm right turn race track – you were disconnected with a high arm and looking forward as she exited the wing, so she jumped up then was not sure which side of you to be on for the tunnel cue at :40 (you had turned to look forward and it did look like a BC cue, so she changed sides).Compare to :48 which was more connected to the wing so she got it really well! Then you broke the connection to the tunnel so she jumped up at :51.
The rep at :58 – 1:01 had great connection all the way through, so you got a great line there! And the last rep with the wraps was super connected so she read it perfectly.
It was fun to see Mason, he definitely remembers the skills and was great to give yo ua test dirve on the course š He basically did the same things Ellie did, which is good because it indicates where the handling can be clearer in terms of connection, or sooner to get the turns.
>I canāt decide which dog to work first. Having Ellie first avoids her tiring herself out from screaming in the house during Masonās turn, but having Mason first gives me a chance to figure out my handling with a dog that isnāt learning things for the first time.>
Is there a place that Ellie can be, in the house or even in the car as long as she doesn’t bake, where she can be calm and not scream? That is a good skill to have (relaxing when it is not your turn to run agility). I think you can mix up who goes first, but finding a spot where she can chill while waiting is a good thing for sure!
Great job here!
TracyHi!
>She has a lot of value for the wraps, the tunnel not so much (oddly). I also think she might have been a bit reluctant to leave the toy/treatsā¦much quicker to access reinforcement if you wrap? >
I agree with your assessment – the wrap probably has more value, it is easier than the tunnel, plus it is closer to accessing the reward. The tunnel is further from you and the reward PLUS she has to lose sight of you, so it makes sense that she would want to stick closer to you.
The wraps are looking fantastic so we can build up the tunnel send:
For now, after you say the tunnel verbal, take a step towards to the tunnel to help her go to it. And, more importantlyā¦ throw the reward to the exit of the tunnel. The rewards here for the wrap and the tunnel were close to you, which is part of why she wants to stick near you š So if the reward for the tunnel is thrown way past the tunnel exit, I am sure she will be very happy to leave you to race through it. It might take a moment to get the toy back š but you can trade for another toy. Changing the reward placement for the tunnel should get her driving away really nicely.
Great job here!!
TracyGood morning!
She did great here!
>I was really surprised that she didnāt jump on me.>
Does she sometimes jump up when you are running? Your connection was super clear here and you had good timing on most of the reps so she seemed to know where to go and had no trouble keeping her feet on the floor š
I saw a tiny bit of jumping up potential when you were late in the earlier part of the session – at :53, for example, the blind was late so there was a little jumping up as she got to you. It might be a bit of frustration and a bit of her not decelerating because she was less sure where to be. Compare that to the blind at 1:02 – great timing and connection, she did not consider jumping up at all!
Later in the session you were a little late on two of the blinds (1:19, 1:39) but she was happy and relaxed, working at a very high rate of success, and didnāt consider jumping up. Yay!
At 1:10 you got pretty far ahead so she was not sure which side of the tunnel to find you on – she chose the other side based on your motion, and that was a good choice. You rewarded her (yay! Excellent reward, because it was a bit of a handler error there) and then adjusted your position to be more visible on the next reps, which went really well.
>Should I try to reward her coming into my side as straight as possible or does it not matter?>
You were getting your rewards in before she got to you, so she was coming to your side and not curling in front of you – that is great! She doesnāt have to be perfectly straight at your side but we donāt want her to be curling in front of you.
Since this went so well – yes to adding the toy for more excitement š And also yes she is ready for the double pill bug š
Great job!
Tracy
