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Hi!
The serp session went really well! The ‘easy’ side (left turn on the wing) was perfect! And the slight angling of the jump on the hard side was really spot on – it really helped him, along with your arm being back in serp position and clear connection. You were able to add getting pretty far ahead on that serp, and you were able to return the jump to the original position within a few reps.
He did well with the balance reps too (the wraps on the wing). To add more challenge to it, do the FC and move along the line past the jump so he looks at your upper body connection to give him info on which side of you to be on. The FCs here went great, but you FC’d away from the jump and the balance reps are ideally FC’ing towards the jump.
>. I also watched the collar grab videos. You can see that I am trying really hard in this video not to grab him so thanks for those videos too. >
He does best when you line him up then hold his collar – it works a lot better than using his collar to pull him where you want him to be 🙂
>When our sessions are done he does not want to go back upstairs….he gets a bit defiant when I call him to climb the stairs with me. Guess I will need to either pick him up and carry him or put a leash on him to signal that our training is done. He would very much like to stay and play.
>That is a champagne problem! He loves to train with you 🙂
You can end each session with a run around with the toy then a treat scatter or snuffle mat. And also yes, you can use a leash to help signal that he can come upstairs because training is over. Then when you are upstairs, you can give him a way to wind down after training like a bully stick or something like that chew on.
Great job here!
Tracy
Thanks for the video! She was offering a lot of really good stuff here but she did have questions about the turning away and the harder angles.
After watching it, I do think a visual aid will jump start the turn away element. And an empty food bowl that you can then toss the treat into will be perfect! You will be able to fade it really quickly.
Also, the best refs where when you were holding her, said the verbal, then let go. The ‘letting go’ moment I also a cue to start – when she was not being held I think she was also not entirely sure when to start moving, so adding in lining her up and holding her will be great.
Keep me posted on how she does!
Tracy
Hi!
His tugging is so great! I love it!!!The “get the behavior” of the SSC game looked great! He’s ready for you to add the novel neutral exercise.
>Do I need more room to play so there is more distance between us as he goes to get the treat & come back to me? I can expand a little further into the next room (tiny house problems!)>
This looked like plenty of room to add a novel-neutral thing off to the side, but you can also expand into the next room 🙂
The goat games also went well!
>I am not sure I did this right. The reset cookies may have been wrong>
Nope! You did it right! You were nicely patient to let him offer all 4 feet on the object! You can probably do a reset cookie more often, so he chases it then runs back to get on the thing. You can also switch objects more frequently, or make a playground of a bunch of objects! That will keep it super fun!
Wing wrap foundations are also going great! Yes, he noticed when you changed position but then carried on wrapping. Good boy! You can add some tug breaks in too. For the next session, start with you standing up. That will lead us into the next game which is coming soon 🙂
Great job!
Tracy
Hi!
<She’s not a big ball girl, but I haven’t tried it much either.>
Not being too much into balls might be helpful – she will engage with it but will also be happy to trade for treats or a tug!
> When she runs off it becomes a game of chase.>
The trade game can be worked on separately and toy play for now doesn’t need to have thrown toys.
>Independently, I’m working on a retrieve with her toys and a platform.>Awesome!!
She did super well with the turn and burn!
The first side (right turns) looked great! She was excellent with her commitment. Her only little questions were when you were not quite connected so she looked at your face (2nd rep). And later in that session you didn’t step forward as well with your dog side leg so she was a little sticky.
>We are struggling with the ready dance and she’s trying to jump to snag the toy out of my hand>
On the left turn side, you were not using your dog side leg, so I think that created questions. Try keeping the toy scrunched up and step forward with your dog side leg on the send along with your hand and connection, and I bet she does great!!
>Also, I moved the leash the wrong direction on the left turn. Oops>
Ha! No worries, she had great commitment on that side too 🙂
Nice work here 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
He was absolutely fantastic with all of the different surfaces! He was really good about getting on each one, even when there was a lot of movement. So the next step is to combine them all into a playground by having them all on the floor (touching or slightly overlapping) so he can walk around on them and jump on and off, while you walk around and reward.>he was a little confused thinking I was trying to give him a treat wehen I went to grab his collar
Yes, so showing him a flat empty hand helped. You can also reward him for reaching towards hom but not touching him, so he gets very comfy with the reaching too.
Great job!
Tracy
Hi!
The advanced level is also going well!! Excellent decel on these, especially on the 2nd rep where he was really able to collect and turn. Yay! Your treat throws were really good, nice and visible!
Note how he did grab on the toy here between th reps to tug, and he walked off at the end holding the toy. This tells me that you can use the toy in the game too: instead of throwing a cookie at the end to get the go go go, you can throw a toy! I bet he will love that and drive to it brilliantly. Plus it brings the toy into the same moment as the treats which is a super useful skill. Let me know how he does with that!
Great job here :) Tracy
Good morning!
This went really well! He is reading the handling cues nicely! Your blind cross looks very clear to him and you were decelerating beautifully, so he was able to drive to you and offer a nice tight turn. Super!!!
He was interesting in tugging, but you took the toy out of the picture before he really latched onto it. You can give him more time to grab it and play: it is excellent that he wants to play tug even with food in the picture! And you can make the toy longer to really swoosh it around nice and low for him to chase and grab 🙂
Nice work!
Tracy
Good morning!
I hope you are feeling better. The flu sucks!!!
>I definitely do not think it was our most productive session, but then I remembered just getting feedback helps!>
These were very productive! I am glad you posted! The most productive sessions are when the pups have questions. Plus she is really cute to watch, so it was fun for me 🙂 Thanks!
Backing up is going really well. Only one suggestion: keep your hands low, down by your knees, so as she backs up she doesn’t look up to your hands. Looking up was stopping her backwards motion, but if she keeps her head in a more natural straight position she will be able o back up more. You can move to the next step where she is backing up to a mat (in the 2nd half of the demo video), because that will also help add more distance.
Turn and burn: yes, she was very excited! But that is a good thing.
As you get started, ou can do a brief ‘warm up’ by having her wrap back and forth with the food bowls to help transfer the wrap concept to the barrel.
>She is soooo excited she tries to go right after the toy instead of following my direction around the barrel, how should I handle this in the future?>
At the beginning she was grabbing the toy a bit, but you worked through that very quickly. On the sends: something was making her want to go to her left not to her right. Maybe she is a lefty and was asking to do it to her more comfy side? I see that all the time in the early stages of this game, so for the next session have her start on your right side so she wraps to her left.
As you send, be sure to maintain eye contact and just use a small arm point – that supports the line you want because it keeps your shoulders pointing the entry side of the barrel.
Now, if the next session brings out the same questions even when starting on your right so she can turn left: we can provide a focal point for her. Place an empty bowl halfway around the barrel to help her see the line (but you can reward from the toy in your hand).
For the next session, you can also add the line on the ground so you have a focal point for when to do the front cross and run away 🙂 After sending her around the barrel, be perfectly stationary until she arrives at the line in the ground at the barrel exit, then do a FC and run so she chases you for the reward. You can save the running element until you are fully recovered from the flu, though 🙂
>I tried sending with treats in my hand and that worked much better as it was less visually stimulating for her.>
Treats are definitely less visually stimulating, and also she might associate treats with wrapping more than the toy.
I am looking forward to hearing how she does turning to her left! And if she asks the question once or twice, you can immediately put the visual aids (bowls) in to help her out.
Nice work here!!
Tracy
Good morning!
The video is marked private so YouTube wouldn’t let me see it, but here are some ideas that might help:
>She’s OK on my outside leg, and she hasn’t really connected the verbal directional when turning away from me.>
You can use a target/reward placed between bars 1 and 2 on the turn way reps, and have her close enough to the bar that it is a minimal turn away (almost a straight line). The targeting (can be a food bowl that or tug toy) really jump starts the turn away for pups that think it is weird 🙂 When she gets it right once or twice, you can move the target/reward to between bars 2 and 3. Then we can fade it out entirely so it is in your hand.
>She seemed to stall out if I had her sit/stay.>
The stay might muddy the waters because she has to think about holding the stay AND turning away which is probably counterintuitive in that moment. Stay releases have also had her turning towards you so far in life 🙂
> I think she may stall out when she doesn’t quite understand what the game is. >
This is where the target or reward placement will be very clarifying.
Let me know what you think! And if you can reset the video to unlisted, I can watch to see if we can come up with other ideas.
Tracy
Good morning!
Looking at the serp game:
Dog-on-right went well! He serped really well and was good about going to the toy on the ground but not skipping the jump to get there.You don’t need to use a big arm swing for the serp to get him in, we want it to be an automatic default when your arm is back in serp position.
>We struggled with the right turn send and I believe it is because I am much better cueing with my right arm than my left plus I guess I was not where I needed to be to get the serp although initially he did it just fine.>
A couple of things where happening here:
On the other side, you were using a big arm movement to get him to come in on the jump. You were not showing that cue here so most of the reps all he saw was your back as he exited the wing. On a couple of reps, you were in threadle position and did a big arm movement so he threadled, good boy!When stuff like that happens (multiple errors)… stop and watch the video to freeze the moments where he has a question, rather than withhold reward grab him to pull him where you want him to be. That can be confusing to him.
For the serp arm cue, you can turn more at the waist and lock your arm back (like the Strike A Pose games) as you move through the serp line. If he misses, you can change the angle of the jump toward him so he sees the jump bar more and can come in to it, rather than wait for you to do a big arm movement. Turn the jump as much as needed so he can find the line easily. Your line of motion and the toy placement are exactly the same as if the jump was in the original angle.
>I do have a question on giving the “right” or “left” verbal on the wing….isn’t that actually a wrap?>
It is actually a soft left or right because the dog is not coming all the way back around the wing. When you add the balance reps, we cue a wrap FC on the wing which takes the pup off the line to the jump entirely.
>Looking at the zig zag video, seems that you pair the verbal simultaneous with the arm cue to release the dog. I just don’t want to confuse him on his stay by releasing when I move my arm. Is that a problem? Can I say break and the do the arm push or will that be a late cue?>
You can try saying break then moving the arm, but it might be late. The other option is to put your arm and leg in position, wait a second, then release. The cues will need to be quick on the first couple of reps so he can be successful, and then it will get easier when he recognizes the game 🙂
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
>So I’m going with you that the nobs on the pods feel weird lol! Should we revisit them from time to time or wait until she’s older?>
I am glad she did great with all the shaping! You can wait til she is older with the pods. We can do plenty of fun stuff without them 🙂
>Since Sunnie came home, when I throw a toy for her I say Ready ( I don’t know why, it just came out LOL)>
I can relate – I somehow build READY into a crazy valuable word but that is perfectly fine and very useful!
Her pointing moment was so cool to see! Genetics are great 🙂 I think she knew to look forward but did not know where specifically to look. The 2nd rep was great. You can add in ‘ready’ as you focus forward word when we eventually bring it to a jump!
She was looking forward really well here too – you were holding her a little longer later in the session (then putting the treat in the bowl after she wrapped the cone) and that was ideal!
For the next session when she is on your left, you can keep moving the bowl around the cone so she has to pass it on the way to the cone. And you can repeat the process on your right side too. And you can work both sides using a toy instead of the bowl.
She looked super happy to tug on the wobble board. The movement did not seem to bother her and she retrieved the toy directly to the middle of the wobble board. I love that you were pulling on the toy and she was really shifting her weight back. Super! A longer toy will let her pull back even more and you won’t have to and over as much 🙂 The next step is to move the wobble board to a surface that will be a little noisier when she slams the board around.
>While I had her engaged in toy play we went off to the races- this was FUN!! She was ALL in LOL!>
I am so glad you two had fun with this one! This is one of my favorite puppy games because it is silly fun and the driving ahead is great for multiple sports.
She was on fire! You should probably get the first toy out of her mouth before throwing the second toy LOL because she can’t run as fast with the big toy in her mouth. Was she doing the pointing again at the end here?
For the next session of this, add more space for more running. If you have a long carpeted hallway, that would be great (we want her to have good traction). If the weather is decent, you can do this outside! But most of the country is having terrible weather so it might be an inside game for a bit longer.Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
>For the wrapping should I continue to use that pop up then?>
Yes, I think that will be the best bet. Your cone tower is also a good option.
>Get It! Is the same for me. Thrown toy or food. I think he has this one. It was one of the 1st things I taught him.>
He was definitely having fun with this one! He was so cute trying to find the exact spot to carry the toy by but his retrieve looks great!
For the other toy markers: since he is very driven for toys as well as food, a marker which differentiates if he is coming in for the toy or food will save your hands from getting puppy teeth on them 🙂 He will know when to grab for something and what exactly he is grabbing for (which helps him know if he should come in hard for a toy or soft for a cookie).
>Cookie room service lol. Cookie to his mouth. Is it ok to deliver no mater where he is? Vs having snacks?>Yes – you can have a marker that says that you are bringing it to his mouth and a marker that says he can move forward to it.
>Catch! Couldn’t this be get it?>
They are different placements: get it is ahead of the dog and the dog moves forward to it. Catch is when the reward is thrown back to the dog (or behind the dog) so they stay where they are (but they can move to get the reward)
>Find it. For when I mess up and drop the cookie he was supposed to get with the yes LOL.>
Ha! Perfect!
>Scatter- Drop a bunch of cookies on ground as reward so I can do something else or end session>
Great!
The session on the video went well!
>Someone once told me to have two identical toys to try the toy swapping so I did that today with him in the 1st exercise>
Identical toys may or may not make a difference to the dogs, but value does! Similar value makes it easier (which is probably why people want to use identical toys). He did great with that and also when you used different toys!
I personally prefer using different toys/ similar value simply because in regular training life, it is easier to use the toys that are easiest to grab in the moment and it is often hard to find where all the identical toys are 🙂 It is a little more practical to use similar toys and eventually any toy you have.
I agree that these sessions went great! He is super fun to watch and he seemed to be having a grand time playing with you! And getting the cookie in there for the drop was great too. We will definitely keep this skills going as he grows up.
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
His driving ahead looked great! He was focusing forward on the toy really well and winning the race unless you had a big cheat to win 😂
At the very beginning, you used a toy for the first couple of reps – he did great driving to it! After getting to the toy, it looks like he was waiting for you to tug with him, so you can grab the other end of the toy and tug (no need for cookies in that moment). If there is a treat in your hand or you take it out of the pocket, he might focus on that more than the toy.
The rest of the session had a lotus ball toy which is also really liked. They are useful toys but not as interactive as a tug toy, so be sure to use lots of toys for this game.
Nice work!
Tracy
Good morning!
He was so cute sitting on the plank at the beginning – did he offer that all on his own?
The down was harder (ne behavior, narrow plank) but he was able to do it and that is great! Standing up after the down was harder on the first rep but I was impressed with his balance on the 2nd rep of that – wow!
Since this went so well, you can let him offer at higher speed with a little more arousal. The easiest way to get that is to tug a bit before you start, and also to toss treats to the side to reward for hopping off then reward him again for running back and hopping back on the plank.
The tugging on the wobble board went great too. The toy was the perfect length so the he could grab it and shift his weight back to tug and to balance with t he movement: that is the weight shift we will want on the teeter. Super! I might have gotten his toes caught under the board once or twice as he was tugging. He might need to move up to a bigger wobble board sooner if you have one!
Te next step with this wobble board it to move it to a surface that will make a different noise. It seemed pretty loud here but we can add a bit of metallic noise – you might be able to get that with putting a soda can under it too.
Great job here! Have fun at the trial this weekend!
Tracy
Hi!
I love that he is already driving ahead so well in toy races! And brings the toy back 🙂 Super! I think it is also building in some collar grab fun too – super happy waggy tails on those reps! And a nice resilience moment when something loud dropped and he bounced back right away.
Be sure to do this on both side to help him turn right as well – I think these were all left turns. And you can be more laterally off to the side to help he doesn’t turn to his left then turn to his right 🙂
He was so funny trying to get on the wobble board before you even put it down! And UGH about it not recording the first session! He did super well hopping on & off (great foundation for if he loses balance on the dog walk!) as well as turning around. His downs to stands were great, very impressive for a baby pup!!!!! Yes, give him more room to stand so he doesn’t end up a little hunched, but I was impressed with his ability to move from the down to the stand to the down on a relatively unstable board. You could use this Galician thing as part of his Parkour adventures – adding stacks up different things around it so he can practice climbing up and down different levels. The true conditioning stuff should be on the lower objects and stable objects but the position changes are still good to do on the allergy/moving planks!
Great job here!!
Tracy
