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Hi!
>>10 days weather forecast shows high 90 to 105. UGH. So I guess we’re stuck inside>>
It is not even July and the summer weather is already nuts! We have extra time in the class o no one feels rushed, because the weather often gets in the way.
About his motivation:
Agility is HARD for the big dudes! They have to fit their big selves into small spaces and onto/in small obstacles… so we can really make it worth his while and then you will see the speed blossom:I recommend 3 things to help:
– Go with really short sessions. Get him pumped up before you train, and end the session after 1 or 2 reps. He will definitely be craving more! Even if he is slow… give a giant reward then be finished. The science behind this will work in your favor and you will get more motivation.
– since he likes toys, you can use toys more by attaching them to a line or another toy, then drag it and let him chase you for it, or throw it and let him run around with it. Fun fun fun! And if he says ‘no thanks’ to a toy in the moment because he wants food? Give him the food (and use really really good food :))
– get him pumped up before you train, with goofy tricks for fun rewards. Does he bark on cue as a trick? Or do anything easy and fun? Do a couple of those then when he is looking excited, you can try a bit of the agility. That will stimulate his arousal, which is great for getting more speed.>>Interesting that in in-person class, with other dogs in the class, he is much better – faster.>
Probably because his arousal level is higher (in a good way). So raising his arousal level with tricks will help too.
He did amazingly well with the plank! Good boy! Yes, when you have a more solid plank, you can elevate it a bit – putting blocks under it so it is very secure and a few inches off the ground will help him work his footwork and balance.
Turning around? Yeah…. Maybe NOT haha! But you can flatten an a-frame f you have access to it, or widen the playing field by putting 2 planks next to each other – I bet he can turn around on it like that!Great job! Stay cool!
Tracy
Hi!
>>And I’m caffeinated enough at this point to understand!
This is VERY relatable LOL!!!
Have fun!
Tracy
Hi! Lot of good stuff here!
Ooh, the purple sky is cool on the first video!One-step Sends:
Sending is looking good! She has good commitment and a lot of self-propulsion, so she is happy to go to the wings without you. SUPER! And great job adding the verbals!As the distances expand and you work to hang back more on the sends you can amplify the connection by making a bigger connection as she exits the tunnel. You had peripheral connection going on most of it, and she hd questions on the reps where you were looking ahead of her (like 1:20, 1:44, 2:03).
So to pump up the independence of the send, you can decel sooner so you are stationary as she exit, but make a BIG 👀 connection and show the big leg step/arm send.
This is also a great game to practice exit line connection, where you look back at her with the dog side arm pointing back to her (not pointing at your side). This will be good for Katniss (and Nox!) so you can finish a FC, point the dog-side arm back to her as you make big connection, even put the opposite arm across your stomach to push back the dog side arm even more. For example, at 1:32 and 1:48, you are finishing the cross and closing your shoulder forward, so connection is not as clear as it will be with exit line connection .
Mountain climbers – this is going well too! Placing your food reward in the center of the plank so she doesn’t have to turn to you to eat it (like at :59-1:03) was much better for her balance.
When moving with her, be ready to move at her pace – if you are not ready or slow down, she turns around like at :49 (which is fine, she is still figuring out if she is supposed to go or not). So have the cookies ready and move with her so she can go at whatever speed she wants 🙂 And having the reward on the target at the top of the board will get her even happier to leave you in the dust. I think you had it up there at 1:52 and beyond. I loved her drive up the board when you recalled her!!!
And I agree that helping her turn around is better than trying to lift her off 🙂
The next steps of this game are to build up more independence so you don’t need to be near her or facing her, then oh-so-gradually add tip. We have plenty of time to add tip, so another couple of sessions where you add more independence will be good over coming weeks.
The plank confidence game is going great! She seemed to have no questions about running across, hopping on, hopping off, turning around, etc. This is a game to revisit maybe once a week or every two weeks, just to keep things fresh as you add other games.
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
He was really good about going up the teeter! It is a lot of height and he seemed pretty darned confident!
>>I opted not to add any real speed coming into it, because he wasn’t totally confident. >>
He will start adding in the speed, and that is when you can go to the next games.
Since he was moving pretty quickly already so it was hard to keep up and get the treats to him: You can have the reward placed in advance at the top – a smear of cream cheese or peanut butter can be at the top so when he gets ahead of you, he has a focal point and reward. You can create a target like a spoon or spatula you can duct tape to the underside of the board, so it sticks out a little and can hold the reward. That is better than putting it right on the end, especially since it is not your teeter LOL!!!!
>>Generally these went fine when I told him to take the wing instead of telling the wing to take the wing>>
Yes, I think this went really well!
He has a lot of self-propulsion already, so all you need to do is ramp up the connection to go with the one step, and make sure he sees the one step. You were actually a bit early on a couple of reps, the end happened while he was in the tunnel so it was finished when he exited (connection and leg already pointing to the wing) so he didn’t go to the wing (:30, :51). You had one rep (:07) where I think the connection and step were just too subtle. But then when you had connection and he saw the step to the wing? PERFECT (:03, :19, :23, :43, :57, 1:04)! So exaggerate the connection and step, and let him see it as he exits the tunnel.
He looks ready for more distance between the tunnel exit and the wings – add maybe another 2 feet and see how he does!
Great job 🙂
TracyHi!
I am glad he was feeling well enough to play!He was definitely finding the back and forth on the plank to be pretty easy. Yay! The next step would be to get the plank higher (maybe a foot off the ground, with blocks or something to support it). And have him hop on and off in the middle – this will help teach him to be able to safely hop off if he loses his balance on the dog walk. It happens to all dogs at some point, so the first thing I teach them is how to safely dismount a plank 🙂
He had a pretty normal response to the first time on the mountain climber game: Whoa! This is tall! But there is food so it is basically OK.
It was a short session so I give you a massive click/treat! The short, high value sessions are the way to go on the teeter for sure. He probably needs one more session just like this where you gave lots of treats as he walked up. When he starts to drive past you, you can go to the next step: have a reward placed at the end of the board, like a shmear of cream cheese, so he can go up and lick a high value reward (the licking gives you time to get there and help him off the board from the top :)) You can duct tape a big spoon to the underside of the board, so it is sticking out enough for him to reach without leaning forward or bending over too much, with his feet at the end of the board.
Great job here! Stay cool!
Tracy
Ah, bummer about the bar! The rest of it was really nice!
There might have been several factors contributing to the bar:– jump to weave starts are awkward for inexperienced dogs because they have to collect into the weaves. When did you say the weave cue? She might have been collecting into your stationary position then trying to extend again to the weaves then collect again. It was a short distance!
– I think she was at a hard distance away from jump 1 and had to throw in a short stride before takeoff. So either set her closer to the jump so she only needs one stride. Or further so she can take a BIG stride before liftoff. I generally opt for further 🙂
– I think processing had something to do with it too: yes, she’s processing your cues and the course, but also her brain is being bombarded with stimuli from being outdoors and this is what might have drawn just enough bandwidth away from processing her jumping mechanics: note the leash runner reaching in with a device and dragging her leash away. I’m quite sure her brain had to process that!
So ask the leash runner to chill til she is released, and/or toss the leash a lot further away.
She might be coming in hot, but it looks like she sat relatively quickly and held her stay!
And you’ll see the courses and sequences this week are shorter in distances, and you can shorten them up more. I mention it because she really had to work hard to deal with the distances. She pulled it off! But I definitely want to show her more AKC distances so she doesn’t have to work nearly as hard to measure the striding.
It was a really lovely run. Are you entered today?
TracyGood morning!
I am really loving her drive up the board on the mountain climber game! She was really beginning to drive to the end and not think about slowing down in the middle.
To help get even more drive to the end, you can have the reward already there, so she can focus on running to the end and not think about where you are. That way you can begin to run past, rear cross, etc…. And she will just go directly to the end 🙂
I used a spoon and duct tape to attach it to the board, so the reward and be past the end of the board (that is where her head is when she is in her down). And a little bit of cream cheese on the spoon. YUM!! She doesn’t have to do the down at the top of the board yet: she can run up, lick the cream cheese, then do the down and you come back and give another reward. She is gonna LOVE the teeter LOL!
She is hitting the board with a lot of power now and that is great! It is also moving the wing around under the board, which could cause the wing to fall and the teeter to full drop (that would possibly surprise her too much and make her hesitant which we don’t want of course). You can put tunnel bags on the feet of the jump and see if that holds it in a more stable way, so it doesn’t fall out from under her.
On the handling games:
She is showing really good commitment here!!>>I realized when watching the video I am late with my verbals a lot!!! >>
On the game with the jumps, I think your timing was good! My only suggestion with the jumps there is that you don’t need to use “go” at all (because she is turning the whole time, slightly). You can use ‘jump’ because that can indicate commitment with a mild collection and keep using the left/right for the middle jump like you did here.
One step sends to the wings:
Nice connection and sending here, she is doing well!The timing of the verbals was mostly good here, I think only the first rep ws a little late but the rest were starting on time. At 2:06 for example, you started the verbal along with the send as she exited the tunnel. And that is great timing!
One tweak:
Try not to say “go” before any of the other verbals like ‘go left’ at 2:10, or go before the wrap cues. The left/right and wraps cues are commitment cues, and we want to protect “go” as the big extension cue for her to accelerate on a big line. If she hears ‘go’ too often associated with turns, we might lose that big extension. So, as you walk these sequences, practice the verbals without the ‘go’ and all of the verbals will be even more solid.
Great job here! You can expand the distances between the obstacles on both games here, and we will be building on them on Tuesday 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
>>I have another, maybe odd, question. I have no verbal for the teeter.>>
Not odd at all! Do you mean, no cue for getting on the obstacle? Or no cue for stopping? Or both?
I think she will eventually need a different verbal for the teeter (as the obstacle name) so when you send her to it, she knows which obstacle you want and also that it is the teeter and not the dog walk (sometimes the angles make it harder for the dogs to see the difference at high speed).
Using ‘wait’ a your target cue at the end sounds like it is working very effectively, so keep doing it. As you add the teeter into sequences (like doing a wing wrap or tunnel before it) you can add a teeter verbal quietly as she is heading to it, to be able to name the obstacle.
I use the word “teeter” a the obstacle name (not very creative hahahahaha) so the dogs can drive to it pretty independently. You can add something like that quietly so it doesn’t turn into a disconnect, and your motion will help support her line to it.
Let me know if that makes sense, or if I need more coffee hahahaha!
Have fun!
TracyNow I say very little, until “wait” at the end. At this point, unless I lure her off with a treat, she just stays there, 2 on 2 off. Same with the AFrame, there I’m using “up”, like the others, and “wait”.
Good morning!
>>Yes, keeping my arm low is always a unconscious issue. I never know I’m doing it until I see videos. >>
I used to be a giant arm-flinger and I fixed it by running little sequences with a bottle of water in my hand. And it was open – so I felt the weight of it and knew where my arm was, and if I started getting my arm to high the water would spill and remind me to keep me arms down. It is a fun summer game! We have it coming later in this class.
>>She is target trained, both with a floor one (pot holder), and I have the MM.
Perfect! I like the pot holder better as a target because it is easier to fade out than the MM is.
>>On all contacts she is pretty solid until a release, sometimes even just staying until I throw a treat. I’m still open to any advice for letting her run ahead and wait. >>
Working on just the down ramp, you can have your target at the end of the board in a spot where she can do her 2 on 2 off easily. And send her to it, without you moving until after she gets to it. Then you can move in and give her a reward. Start with her very close to the end of the board, then you can back chain til she eventually can go all the way across the obstacle without you 🙂
>> she is progressing well and really running, hitting hard, and solid 2 on 2 off.>>
Awesome!!! Sounds like teeter training is going great!
Tracy
Good morning!
>>Yes I noticed it and I was so happy with it! “Motivation” is something we’re ‘struggling with’, he is not a ‘Golden Retriever” who will ‘work anywhere and everywhere and for anything’ LOL>>
Yes! One of the way we build motivation is with a really high rate of reinforcement… but on a bit of a variable schedule so there is an element of ‘surprise’ (which can lead to a dopamine spike which is partially where motivation comes from :))
>>Is ‘motivation’ also covered in this class, or that’s something that ‘will just come’ – as I saw yesterday with him! >>
Yes and no LOL!! We cover it here by keeping an eye on success rates and using lots of play in ways that the dog enjoys. And session structure also plays into building motivation, so we can look at that for sure. The motivation gets built in as we get the games and sequences going.
When he is struggling with motivation, what is happening? What are you seeing in the session or as distractions? Let me have as much detail as you want to share and we can sort out how to help him 🙂
>>Teeter – you know I’m actually glad that this ‘teeter fall’ happened as I was video-ing it and you were able to see it! >>
Yes! It was a perfect video angle! And a lot of youngsters like to go fast on the teeter but keep their heads too high and don’t shift their weight. So it probably feels like the ground dropping away from underneath them as the teeter moves, which is where they lose their balance and fall. The good news is that while he didn’t freak out or anything, he also decided that he did not love how it felt and changed his behavior for the next rep.
>>I’ll use reward in-front of teeter instead of in my hand.>>
Perfect! That will help him look ahead which will also help with the weight shift.
This video: Wingin’ It. I’m using 2 wings instead of tunnel I don’t have more wings so using jumps without bars in-place of ‘wings’ in setup.
He definitely liked the sending and had great commitment! Yay! His turns are nice and tight. Do you have a wrap verbal? You can use that as you send.
He thought the 2 wings as the tunnel-replacer were a little weird LOL!! So you can get him hyped before sending him to them. He might like a little ‘ready ready’ with a bit of a little dance with him 🙂 before the send. For that little dance, I ask the dog is they are ready, bend my knees a little, get crouchy… then when the dog is like “heck yeah, I am ready!” I send to the wing. Then you can get more speed in the tunnel-replacer section and even more power into the sending.
And if that goes well you can add more distance on the send wings, to build up even more commitment and distance.
>>I’ll try with tunnel next (need to figure out how to stabilize it, I don’t have tunnels bags and since the tunnel is 26 inches, can’t find where to get those)>>No rush to add the tunnel til you can get tunnel bags sorted out – it is such a hard obstacle for the giant breeds tat we want to be sure it is completely safe s we don’t risk his joints. Tunnel bags are expensive and you are correct, hard to find for 26” tunnels. So you can try a ‘do it yourself’ method. Two ideas for you:
– bags of ‘play sand’ from Lowes or something, placed inside of sturdy black garbage bags (the sand can stay in the original bag). Then each garbage bag can be secured as tunnel bags by tying a knot in the bag and ten using a towel or strip of fabric to tie the bags together.– you can use jugs of water as the weight or bags of landscaping rocks. Both are heavy and can rest on the ground, holding the tunnel in position. I put them in garbage bags to cover them and make them easier to attach like tunnel bags with strips of fabric so they act like tunnel bags 🙂
I will ask some of my agility folks what they are doing for easy tunnel bags, and let you know if we come up with any other ideas 🙂
Great job here!
Tracy
Hello and welcome! Great to see you here – Tarot is lovely!!!
Let me know what challenges you ran into and we can be sure to pinpoint them here to build more foundation.
On the lazy game – we can get more commitment here and less looking at you with a couple of little tweaks:
– because there is no real momentum in this game for jumping, lower the bars to 8 inches so it is easy peasy to get over the bars 🙂
– Tarot was looking at you a lot so we can use this game to get more forward focus on the line.
2 ways to do that: have the toy hidden (when it was in your hands/behind your back/under your arm, it was a little too distracting, we can work on that later when we have more forward focus).
And have treats ready in your hands to throw for each jump. On rubber mats, you can throw a piece of string cheese or something really visible (rather than a lotus ball) to quick rewards for each jump and then you can get a reward for the next jump and so on. I also throw treats on turf and grass, using the non-crumbly, visible treats so the pup scoops up the treats and then continues to the next jump.
The goal is that we build up to Tarot flying around the jumps without looking at you, and without you having to move fast 🙂 or having to be close to the jumps. That won’t take long, and then we can add more distance 🙂
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
Baby Yuzu is growing up! I loved his seminar video from Casey’s session!
The lazy game is going really well – this game is a nice complement to running the bigger sequences because it teaches him to commit to a line even if you are not perfect in your connection or motion (because who is ever perfect? LOL!)
He was really good about finding the line to the middle jump – I think he had one miss (no reward) and then was 100% after that 🙂 That is the gaol: No jump = no reward, so take all your jumps, sir. Yay!
So two ways to advance this game:
Using food, spread out the distances more and more and more (we build on this coming up this week). How far away can he work, without you needing to sprint?Using a high value toy, use the small distance but keep the toy visible. Can he look for his line and NOT watch the toy? That teaches him to focus on the line even when he is really stimulated by motion – and you can throw the reward after every 2 or 3 jumps. Try to throw when he is looking ahead and not at you.
And if he is fine with you holding the toy… add the bigger distances to the game with the toy.
Great job here! Stay cool!
Tracy
Good morning!
>>I have been involving food before and after. Iam pleased that she is finally starting to develop some food drive when things are fun over the last month.>>
That is great! It is so helpful to be able to use food in training. She did great with all the food sessions here!
>>I lifted the plank by about 4 iches tonight. It didnt make any difference (no video edited yet) do I need to lift it more or do I just need to slow her down and help her understand the value of staying on the plank>>
Maybe both – lift it a little more, make sure it isn’t slippery, and use really high value treats so she will be interested in staying close to them. Does she like licking treats out of a kong toy or something? You can try that so that she is moving more slowly between rewards.
On the teeter game: She is figuring out if she likes it or not LOL! A couple of ideas:
Instead of just luring to the top of the board then feeding the treat, you feed her the treats every step or so. And a big reward can be placed at the top of the board in advance (like a bit of cream cheese) so she has a focal point and then a big reward at the top.Also since she is not entirely comfortable yet, limit the length of the sessions to 1 or 2 reps – this had a lot of reps and she was getting progressively less interested in doing it. If the teeter is easily adjustable (or you have access to one that is adjustable) you can also play this game with the teeter maybe half the height, so it is not as up in the air for a small dog.
Wing sends:
She definitely thought this game was fun! And she looked great – so fast, and very focused!!!
Couple of ideas for you as you get more handling with her:
Try to send to the dog side arm, and add more connection to her eyes and not looking ahead. Think of it as having your hand low and to her nose, and your eyes looking for her, as you start the send.
You were tending to send with your right arm even if it was the outside arm, so remember to get your left arm involved too 🙂Try to get a little further ahead of the tunnel entry for now. That will probably mean sending to the start wing from further away – that way you can connect more as he exits, which shows the line better For example at 1:18 and 1:30, you were behind and looking ahead so she curled back to you
Compare to 1:56, where you were a little ahead and connected nicely, so she went directly to the wing with no questions
Being a little ahead is helpful too because she was able to read the motion and that helped even if connection was not perfect. But when you were a little behind and very connection (like at 2:40) she read the line really well! She seems a little stronger turning to her right than to her left, so definitely support the left turns with a lot of motion and connection to help her commit.
You can throw the rewards on this game – especially on the tunnel exit, throw the rewards long so she drives out really far. Because she is so small, we put extra commitment on the little dogs. Here in the USA, they run the same distances as the big dogs so they have to take a lot more strides between obstacles – I think this is the same in NZ where the jump heights are different but the distances are the same for all dogs.
Lazy game is going great! The start cookie can be thrown onto a towel or something o she sees it easily. The rest of the game went really well! He is finding her lines nicely and also finding the treats nicely LOL! Good girl! So keep gradually expanding the distances and re-visit this game a the distances get bigger and bigger.
Great job here!!!
TracyHi! Hope you are keeping cool!
Lazy game:
This is going well! He was learning to find the treats in the grass and also find the jumps, but was figuring it out nicely in both directions! You were perfectly lazy 🤣😂 and did a great job wandering past the jumps.You can keep moving and if he goes past a jump – no cookie, just keep moving. That will be a big lightbulb moment for him! Jump = cookie, no jump = no cookie 🙂
Adding a bit of distance is going well too – the middle jump was a little harder for him to find at first but then he found it pretty easily. Nice job with your cookie throws, they landed on the line to the next jump and that helped set him up for the next one.
Next steps for lazy game are to do multiple jumps in a row between rewards – mix it up for sometimes it is 1 jump, sometimes all 3, sometimes 2, etc.
Wingin’ it: he is doing well here too!!
You might have noticed he was a little ‘sticky’ on some of the sending after the tunnel. That was because you were actually a little early on the sends 🙂In those moments, your arm was a little too forward, which blocked connection and turned your shoulders a little away from the line, so he was checking to be sure he was correct.
To get more speed, you can add more connection to his eyes as he exits the tunnel and before you send forward to the wing. Your arm can be low and pointing to his nose as you connect – then when you see him, let him see you step to the wing and swoosh your arm forward to show the line. That will help him see the cue a lot more!
The video angle of when he was on your left shows that slightly early sending at 3:58,4:05, 4:51, 5:54 and 6:47 for example. As he exited the tunnel, you were sending/looking ahead and so he slowed down to look at you and read more info.
>>I wanted to see how he would respond with his tug toy. I asked him for one too many reps.>>
He actually did BRILLIANTLY in the heat! And he played tug really well (of course, don’t over-do it in the heat but he did really well).
His question at the end was not caused by being hot or tired. It was the same too-early send as the other side: at 7:24, when he exited the tunnel, you were already looking ahead/pointing ahead so he had to slow down to figure out where you wanted him to be (which side of you) and where you wanted him to go. The extra connection and low arm pointing to his nose will get him flying to the wing there.
2 other things in this game:
Your verbals really help him commit! Yay! And you had nice clear exit line connection after the FCs so he read those lines really well.Well done!!!
Tracy
Hi!
>>I started to use a toy but was concerned the additional amp up from tugging would make Ven too hot.>>
I agree that the toy use make them hotter… I only train super super short sessions with the toy in the heat, and mostly I use cold treats and that seems to help.
>>No cool down in sight. Extended forecast is nothing but triple digits and humidity with no precip.>>
Ugh! This seems to be the new normal. I take the dogs out to train at sunrise and depending on humidity, I can get out at sunset too…. and I live in the mountains, where it is supposed to be cooler! Oh well, I guess I will sleep during the winter and get up early/stay up late in the summer LOL!
He seemed perfectly happy in the heat
On the video:
>>1. Are the wings too far away from the tunnel? (10-12′)>>
I think they were a good distance! His questions about the send did not seem to be distance-related, but rather connection related. Ideally, as he exits the tunnel, your dog-side arm will be low and pointing to his nose, with your eyes on his eyes. Then you can step your dog-side leg forward while looking at him and not ahead (that is the counterintuitive part!) while your low arm travels with his nose.
When you did that? He was great with going to the wing, like at 1:29.
When your arm got really high, though, it blocked your connection and turned your shoulders away from the line (plus you didn’t always use your dog-side leg with the high arm) so that is when he had questions – you can see it at :25 and 2:51 for example, and also at 3:05 when your feet were turned away from the line to the wing.
So definitely keep your eyes on his eyes and low arm, sending him with the leg step and low arm like you are gently bowling him to the jump 🙂
>>3. We weren’t able to go around the two wings with a front cross. Is it just me being late showing the FC or something else? Is there an exercise we need to go back to on this?>>
Two things were happening here. When he was not taking the middle jump, it was a connection/high arm question. For example, at :32 and 2:10 – your arm is high/blocking connection and pointing to the wing, which turns your shoulders past the middle wing and into the gap to the tunnel so that is where he went (good job rewarding there!!)
Definitely better at 1:09!!! So on that send to the middle wing, the low arm and big connection will turn your shoulders to the line you want and he will read it a lot better.The other thing happening was sometimes the lure of the tunnel was SO EXCITING that even when you got the FC, he didn’t read it. No worries, he was starting to figure it out at 2:18 so he saw the FC because you really exaggerated it – lightbulb moment for him! And he had a nice FC the other direction at the end!
So keep exaggerating the FC exits and you can also revisit the FC on a wing with the tunnel very close by from Maxpup 2 (but I bet he sleeps on it and will be perfect next time you try it :))
>>2. Should I have stopped at 2:30 ish rather than reverse the pattern?>>
He actually seemed fine to keep going for a bit! The errors/questions were more about the connection and not because he was tired or too hot. Good boy!!
Great job here!
Tracy
