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Hi!
> I have no idea what the beeping was. I didn’t hear it. Must have been concentrating very hard – lol!>
That is because your adult brain can tune it out very easily. Her puppy brain had to work hard to tune it out but she did great!
>Side-swiping the hand target – How do I judge that? Do I consider she is coming in as long as she goes through the stanchions? Or should she still be coming close to the target?>
She should be heading towards your hand and making the S-shaped line we want even if she doesn’t touch the target. Basically, it should look like a grown up dog doing a serp where they don’t touch our hands 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
>Tried to do crate training in the living room and she zoomed all over after the release. It’s hard for her to focus in there now. Previously she did ok.>
Seems like she is in an active, zoom-filled stage! If she is zooming a lot, you can add zooming around to appropriate places: on a long line in the park, in the yard, in front of the house, etc. That way she gets the ‘must zoom zoom’ need fulfilled and won’t feel the need to do it in the house.
The pivoting is off to a good start – you can toss the treats on an angle that I more toward your heels/off to the side/almost behind you. That way she gets her front feet on but pivots back to center with more steps.
Also, because she is still small, do you have anything lower (maybe an inch tall) – a lower perch can distribute her weight more evenly and a tall perch puts more weight in the rear (so she is less likely to move it).
Nice work!
TracyHi!
>He has trouble finding the tossed treats and gets a little put off.>
Being outside definitely game him more room, which is great! You can put a mat down for the treats to land on, making them easier for him to find (and move the mat around to the different positions). But also, I think he was a little put off by not being sure when the toy was available.
For placing the toy on the reward line: try to put it down (rather than toss it, that was hard) then reward him with cookies for walking with you away from it to start the next rep. And use your ‘toy’ marker when he comes in to the threadle side. Tossing it got him a little too focused on the toy and I think walking away from it with food rewards will help him focus on the game – plus I don’t think he liked being moved by the collar, so walking away will be more fun for you both!
We can also clarify when the toy is available after he comes to the threadle side of the jump: When he touches your hand, don’t turn your shoulders to the jump – that is what was pushing him to the other side. You can stay frozen in position and use your toy marker – if you move and he goes around the jump but you’ve already said the marker… no worries, he can have the toy and we can smooth out the mechanics on the next rep. It was when he was told yes then no that he was unsure of what to do.
He is doing well understanding the game, so I think clarifying the rewards will smooth it out really well.
Nice job here!!
TracyHi!
I love that he loves the perch work! I think what is causing him to stumble a bit is that he wants to go faster (which is fine because I think he generally has the correct mechanics) but his head is too high to go faster AND stay balanced. He was having to reach way up to get the treats and that was causing him to lose balance on his hind end.
An easy adjustment to try would be to have your hands lower, so you can deliver the treats with his lower jaw more parallel to the ground (that would probably mean your hands a few inches above your knees?)
That should allow him to keep offering the fast balanced perch work while staying balanced, and you wouldn’t need to reward faster because he will be able to offer more steps without jumping upwards.
Nice work here! Let me know how he does with lower hands!
Tracy
Hi!
Happy Halloween! 🎃👻This is going well! He definitely understood to keep wrapping so you didn’t need to help him a lot with your hand. You can stay even closer to the upright so he can be even tighter.
The tandems also looked really strong! You can give him a cookie for lining up at your side so he doesn’t start without you LOL!!!>I will definitely send you a video of Spirit when he decides to nip and go over the top.>
Yes please! Usually that behavior is rooted in frustration, so video will help up figure out why he is having a Big Mad about something.
>Also I really noticed with him more then any of my other dogs that I have trained is that he needs to try it one day and then the next he has it. Yes I know there is a word for this and you have spoke about it so many times but the mind is blank.>
Yes! Latent learning! It is crazy, right?!?!! Learning is consolidated in the brain during sleep, so that is why we see the understanding ‘appear’ like that. Really fascinating!!
Great job here!
TracyHi! He is getting the idea here very nicely!
He did better once the toy was in your armpit not your hand, and sometimes a little lure can jump start the behavior.He was trying to offer a left turn (these were all right turns) – is it because he is a lefty today, or the visual of the white bump was drawing him that direction? So for the next session, start him on your right and see if the left turns are easier (or not :))
Great job!
Tracy
Hi!
He did well going through the box – the only question was finding the rewards 🙂 Yes, big white pieces of cheese will help! But also, I think what might have been causing him to miss where the treat landed was you were saying “yes” (s he looked at you) then “get it” so he looked forward but missed where the cookie went. Try to just say ‘get it’ so he keeps looking forward.You can also use a MM for one side and a tossed cookie for the other side.
>(also some SSC – there was a little bowl of treats next to the camera, which i showed him before we started).>
Wow! Good for him!!!!!
Nice work!
Tracy
Hi!
The TW foundations went well! The full 360s and the u-turns both looked good – I think he liked having more action when you tossed the treat behind for the u-turns, so you can toss it ahead for the 360s. And you can add the next step with your motion now too!
>I had previously tried to show him to pivot by stepping towards him. He does not appreciate that.>
Some dogs are fine with it, some dogs HATE the body pressure – ewww! He seems to like solving puzzles, so I can see why he preferred this method!
He was offering some good hind end movement! To get even more, we can tweak the reward placement: When he stops at your side or a little short of center, you can feed him either directly straight in front of you to see if that helps him rotate all the way to center, or you can feed him with an exaggerated head turn towards his shoulder so his bum continues to move around the perch in the direction you want. Then you can toss a treat to the next side and do the next rep. He might not need this adjustment because he might sleep on it and have it perfect for the next session 🙂
Great job here!
Tracy
The head turn game went well! You nailed it on the first rep then were a bit too quick to click on the next few – you were clicking when he got to your hand bt before he turned away. That is why he was a little confused 🙂
The other side (starting on your right) went better because you were slowing your mechanics down – but still clicking a little early on a couple of them.That is why he would look at you instead of turn away (click was happening too soon). So delay the click a bit to be sure he is turning away. I think the best example of that good timing was at :28.
Looking at the threadle slice video:
>Food tossing is a fine art, I am convinced! >
Ha! Yes, this is true!
He did well here coming in from slightly harder angles! I am happy with how well he found the threadle hand! The MM and the jump setup are a big draw but he was really good about coming to your hand. If you are feeling brave – replace the MM with the toy on the ground as the reward 🙂 That will be challenging!!
Great job! Have fun at the trial!
Tracy
Hi!
>Threadle wrap foundation was rough the first session- trying to get her to turn the correct way and/or not jump. our 2nd session– on a different day, was perfect. Same with remote reinforcement work.>
So cool to hear this! It might be latent learning at work!
Threadle slice – 2 ideas for you!
You can use a reward target of some kind (MM, food bowl) so she can come in to the hand target then send herself back out without you needing to move.
About getting her to threadle and not serp:
It was hard to see from this camera angle but I think your position was a little too much between the uprights (too serpy) and not enough outside the wing of the jump. She was going to where most of you was visible – the serp! So for the next session, line yourself up so your belly button is in line with the outer edge of the wing – that way at least half (or more!) of you will be visible outside the line of the wing and in threadle position. That should help her see the threadle.Remote reinforcement went great – she was SO FUNNY with her feet on the chair and supervising the cookies being placed for her LOL! Then even funnier STANDING on it LOL!!!
I think she did a great job of ignoring the food. She doesn’t have to sit to start the game – you can just put the food down on the chair and walk away. If you think she might steal what food then you can have it in a covered bowl or something so she can’t grab it.Since she did so well with the beginning steps, you can repeat them but use a toy instead of cookies. And, if that goes well, you can ask for some tricks or other behaviors before saying your ‘let’s go’ marker.
Great job here!!
Tracy
Hi!
The u-turns (reward thrown back behind you) looked really strong with you standing till and also with you moving! I thought you did well with those even if they felt weird. It looks like it was harder on your left side (his left turns) but he did really well.
He also did great with the full circles – try to keep your hand lower and move it slowly (and slow your motion down too) so he can read the full circle, especially on your left side. But overall, I think it was a really great session AND he didn’t eat your hands off LOL!!
Nice work!
TracyHi!
I think jackpot is a great word for the remote reinforcement work! She did really well here and is definitely ready for more challenge. You can ask for a trick or a sit or a couple of different behaviors before saying the jackpot word 🙂 You can also use a toy for this, as it might change the arousal level which is a good thing 🙂
She also did well with the perch work – I see what you mean by her being stronger on your left side but she also did well on your right side!
To advance the skill and get more hind end use, you can put the perch in front of you. That will answer the question of:
Is her hind end movement incidental to staying in heel position, or is she really using her hind end independently? By having it in front of you, she will use more hind end more and her front end will be pretty stationary the whole time. Plus, you can add a pole on the ground for her to step over.
The only issue you might find is that she might only want to go to your left side if the perch is in front of you, so you can help her with a hand cue or foot cue (stepping towards her the tiniest bit) to indicate when you want her to go to your right side.Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
I didn’t know Jarlsburg was lactose-free! Good to know!!
I agree, this session went well! She was mostly perfect when heading to your left hand. When heading to your right hand, she had more trouble possibly because it was her harder ride combined with the food bowl being in play, so she was seeing you through the uprights more (after having looked at the food bowl) and not in the threadle position as much.
For that side, you can keep her coming in on a slice and not position 2 for now so she is more successful. Try to stick a 2-failure rule: if you get 2 failures, make something easier. In this case, the angle of the start would be the thing to tweak if you get 2 total failures.
I think the different verbals will also help: her name can be used for the serp, but we can add your threadle slice verbal to help her differentiate when it is the threadle not the serp. Add it on the easier side and easier angle, where you are reasonably sire she will get it right.
You can also move the food bowl in closer to the bump, so she can go directly to it more easily without you having to move as much. I think maybe a foot past the bump will be perfect!
>I was using the MM and she was much too interested in it. My hand target wasn’t even a thought in her poodle brain.>
The MM is LIFE!!! You can separate that skill from the game here: just ask her to do hand touches with the MM in the vicinity. If she touches your hand, you trigger the MM. That can help her understand how to get you to trigger the MM (by doing a ‘thing’ you are asking her to do :))
Nice work here!
Tracy
Good morning!
She is off to a strong start with the rocking horses! And there was some distraction in the environment – what was that beeping? I am sure that her brain was devoting some attention to that.
>I discovered she can turn much better to the right than the left.>
Yes, I totally see what you mean! The turns to her right (off your left) are pretty easy for her!! At the beginning, she really wanted to turn right on the left turn wing too 🙂 She had some creative ways of offering it LOL!
> Not sure if it’s from obedience where she’s more comfy on my left,>
This is a possibility – be sure you do all obedience exercises on both your left AND right side (I know, I am a crazy person haha) so she is balanced with that.
>if it’s just her stronger turn direction >
It might jut be a turn preference – most dogs have a turn preference at this stage. You worked it out really well – clear, slow mechanics produced a bunch of lovely left turns by the end!
>Going forward should I do more reps on her weaker side or keep it even?
>Keep it roughly even. When doing 2 in a row, start with the harder side then after the FC send to the easier side. That will make for easier mechanics for her and get more success on the harder side. And keep the mechanics slow and clear on the left turn side.
Rotated sends: I agree, these went well! She committed with you forward, sideways and backwards! AND you got a bunch of left turns! They were harder so you can be closer to the wing on those and hold your position longer. When you stayed in position until she was about halfway around, she got it. But if you twitched an moved a little too soon (as she was arriving at the cone), she came back towards you.
The left turns will catch up pretty quickly so keep showing them to her and she will sort out the mechanics.
The strike a pose concept transfer went great! And she turned smoothly in both direction 🙂 Only one tweak in mechanics: your feet should point towards the reward hand (where you would be going next) and not to the serp hand 🙂
Since she did really well here, you can add in using a toy as the reward – first in your hand like you did with the treats here, or on the ground so she comes into your hand then out to the toy. You can also use an empty food bowl on the ground under the reward hand then plop a cookie into it. The goal would be that she comes in then turns herself back out. You might see her side-swiping the target hand at this stage and that is perfectly fine because it means she understands the in-then-out.
Great job!!
TracyGood morning!
>By self control fold in game are you referring to the remote reinforcement game? Which game do you mean? There are tons of games.>
It is the one involving forward focus and wrapping a cone while the toy or bowl gets further around it until she has to pass the toy/bowl in order to get to the cone. I know she has done the first parts really well so it would be good to keep advancing this game:
>I tried toy remote reinforcement with the new high value toy. She struggled and stole it off the table. Later, she tried to jump on the table and fell over backwards hitting her head. Stunned her. So, I had to move toy toy to the fridge top. This is HARD for her.>
The good news is that the new toy was purchased to be high value and easy to hold onto – mission accomplished! It looks like it has fur on it and that takes it to a whole new level. And that probably made it too hard for this game at this stage (novelty plus fur). So an easier less interesting toy will work better.
Also, if the toy is very high value, you can split the behavior a bit by giving her cookies for walking away from it. The remote reinforcement game might not have enough value in it yet for her to understand why it is good to leave a treasure behind. Putting it on top the fridge helped but I think using a little bit of food to help build value for leaving toys is a good way to split the behavior at this early stage.
She was able to sit at the end, so she is definitely making progress!
>The jumping up is becoming a problem. Today she leapt into the chair in the kitchen. She’s going to hurt herself.>
She is persistent! Puppies are really active at this point – I often remove chairs if they might get up on them even if I am right there, and I also get a zillion chews that I rotate through (so there is novelty plus an outlet for some of the activity level). Plus lots of getting the pups put running around, leash walks, etc. to burn off some of the steam so they are less ‘busy’ at home.
>This clip is long as she didn’t want to release the toy.>
The toy was super high value, so be sure you mix in rewards for releasing it – it can be cookies, or giving the toy back. If the toy goes up on a table or something after she releases it, she is less likely to release and more likely to hold onto it.
Nice work here!
Tracy
