Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
She might not even realize she is doing that 🙂 You can also play with start positions that don’t have the crouch – a down is great and also a stand is a possibility. That can help her be super solid in terms of not moving and also not crouching.
Tracy
Good morning!
Keep me posted on how it goes!Yes, there will be a MaxPup 2 starting for this group when are done with MaxPup 1 🙂
Have fun!
Tracy
Hi!
>I wanted to ask about whether we should practice the games some before videoing. >Nope! You can get the first reps on video because usually those are helpful! And then we can also track how things progress through the session 🙂
Tracy
Great question! I train all my small dogs with the front foot targeting right at the end of the board – it is a VERY effective method and I am glad Jessica is using it for Brioche. I also teach small dogs to scratch that target at the end, to give them something to do as the board goes down and to maintain the weight shift. The teeter game with backing up will not get muddy – you can have him back up to the 4-on position right at the end of the board. Reward him for getting his front feet on as well as his back feet.
T
Good morning! Welcome back! Great job in Chicago: those courses had basically ALL the challenges on each of them!!
I am glad the ultrasound came back looking good! And I am defintiely interested in learning more about how the biome changes will turn out!
>For threadle slices – do you use all open arm (thats the inside arm being open & behind, right?) or still use some cross arm threadle slices?>
I haven’t used a cross arm for threadle slices in a long time – I used to use it if I was behind or it was a crazy line into the threadle slices, but course design in UKI has evolved to the point where the open dog side arm is all that is needed. It is a relatively big movement back, like pulling open a door. If I did Premier with those threadles or regular AKC with all of the tunnel threadles, then yes – the cross arm would still get used.
Looking at the threadle wrap videos: I think the key is setting the line by turning away from the jump… without getting so far away from it laterally that the jump is no longer clear as the place to turn back to.
I think ideally for her you will want to be relatively clsoe to the jump, probably not more than 3 feet away from it, but turning away from it to set the line you want her to take (and so she doesn’t read it as a front side cue).
So the decel & turn away will make a big difference. You can see this at the beginning of the 2nd video: on rep (and also on rep 4)1, you were pretty close to the line to the jump but your first steps up the line turned you away from it so she got it. On the other side on rep 2, you pulled a bit to your left while also decelerating, so she got it. That was a little far from the jump so she looked at you. Compare to rep 5 on this video where you were really far from the jump so she had a big question.
The reps on the first video didn’t really have the line set close to the jump. Either you turned away by using a ton of lateral distance (reps 2 and 3 on the first video) which makes it hard to turn back to the jump. Or on the first few reps on the other side, you didn’t turn away at all so she would look at you then was like “what’s with the hands and name call when your motion is saying front side” then she was getting mad LOL!
You had an accidental TW at 1:27 – you decelerated near the wing and stepped away to your right (watch your right leg): threadle wrap!
So being close like that with decel and turning feet and shoulders slightly away should get both the threadle side and the turn away.
> were my mechanics better?>
Lift said your mechanics were better, except for the accidental rear cross at :45 where you were hovering too much and pushed her to the right. But she forgave you because the next rep was a lovely wrap 🙂
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning!
Getting the backsides on one jump is actually harder than in flow because they are sitting there staring at the front 🙂 The dogs both did really well! The main thing here is to be sure the opposite arm is pointing to the entry wing of the backside not the exit wing. That rotates the shoulders to the line even better and shows more connection, and both Artie and Ringo read it well!
When you were pointing to the exit wing (especially when they were on your left side and moving away from the camera), the read it as a front side cue.
For example – it was hard to see from behind at :35 & :37 but based on your shoulder position the opposite arm was pointing more to the exit wing and not the entry wing
When you were pointing it to the entry wing at :50 and then at 1:04 for Ringo – a subtle but clear difference, so they got it easily. YAY!!
I grabbed a couple of screenshots to show the differences. On the reps where you indicated the exit wing, both dogs went to the front of the jump. On the reps where you indicated the entry wing with the clear outside and connection: both dogs got the backside every time. Yay!
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1rTPYtnjz7ArIBx5eeXAgn5NQETSqIxuMJx41BY8yXnU/edit?usp=sharing
>Looking at this video, I realize I need to be a better partner for praise and rewarding efforts!>
They will be happy to get all the cookies and toys 🙂
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
Yes, threadle wraps are hard but they are also very popular… a threadle wrap or two showed up at the recent AKC nationals. When that happened, it means they are on the way into regular courses so we all need to get ready 🙂
I think Kashia has more value for driving to your hands, which is why she was figuring it out! And Kastella has a ton of value for driving to jumps, which is probably why it was harder for her.
Working this on one jump really helped – the dogs have a lot of value for going to the front side of the jump so it takes a bit of training to show them this fancy new move 🙂
The hardest part is the the dogs have to following hand and subtle motion cues to get to the correct side of the jump, so there are two things we can do to help them:
On one jump:
You can leave them in a stay and lead out past the jump – then lock them onto your hands, rewarding when they get to your hand, then flip them away to the jump. And reward again 🙂 That will build up a lot of value for coming to the correct side of the jump.Then as you add motion – still try to be ahead of them instead of parallel to them to show the cues. To help the cues override the visual of the front side of the jump, you can turn your shoulders and feet away from the jump, almost pulling them away to get them locked onto your hands… then flip them back only when they get to the correct side. I think this will be important for Kastella in particular, so you can really exaggerate it for her at first.
For now, you can use their names to get them to see the cues to come towards you (and not take the front of the jump). Then when they are both consistent with it, you can add a fancy verbal 🙂
They are off to a good start! Keep me posted on how they do!
Tracy
Welcome back!!
> Still putting the finishing touches on my “stoplight wings>
Ha! I love it! They look great!
He was doing a great job of finding the first jump at the beginning of each rep and also whenever he was done chewing 🙂 He was definitely looking for the jumps! But I agree with what you noted: the chewing was interrupting the flow. He was not losing focus – it just took a while LOL!
A treat he can slurp down will be better for sure and then both of you can keep moving. Another option is throwing the lotus ball for when you are going to reward more than one jump in a row: you will have to reload it between reps but it will help randomize when you reward and can carry smaller bits that need less chewing.
That will also make it easier to add steps 2 and 3 – because he is looking for the jump so well here, I bet it will be easy to add those.
Great job!
Tracy
Hi!
She did a great job here! She was very happy to send to that middle jump – that included going past you when you didn’t lead out much and when you were not moving much, I am really liking how she was setting up her turns!!
>Now looking at it, should I have done a bigger send and less walking?>
There are a lot of different ways to be lazy 🙂 You can lead out less and then just kind of wander through the pinwheel. Or send more and walk less. Anything that feels pretty lazy will be correct.
She looks ready for adding the tunnel in too!
You can also add in throwing rewards back for the stays – that might have been the hardest part for her because even the lazy game is exciting LOL!
Nice work here!
Tracy
Hello!
She did find this challenging! She figured out that hitting it with a front foot got the cookies to come out of the MM but she looked startled by the movement or sound (or both) each time. She was motivated to keep trying 🙂 so for the next session we can split the behavior more. To do that, stuff a bunch of towels under the wobble board. That way it only moves a tiny bit and only makes a little bit of noise. When she has a couple of sessions where she smacks it happily and offers more than one foot, then we can start fading the towels out from under it.
Nice work here!
Tracy
Good morning!
He did great with the lazy game – he seemed a little shocked about how easy it was 🙂 But he was finding the jumps really well without a lot of help from you in terms of having to be perfect in handling or connection. This is basically an anti-perfect game: please find the jumps even if we humans are not perfect 🙂
I am also really happy with his enagement because it is kind of a ‘boring’ game in terms of rewarding, but he never got lost to the birds or leaves or smells in the environment.
>After I did this I put a toy and in my hand and he took all 3 jumps easily…more motivating for him I think.>
Yes, I can totally see how the toy would be more exciting 🙂
Since this went so well, you can keep increasing the distances and also add in steps 2 and 3.>Are you counting the lazy game as “jumping” work? Just so I know for repetitions.>
Yes – even with the low bars, he is still jumping.
Looking at the plank games:
I think this might be the first time outdoors with the plank? He offered a ton of lovely behavior on the first video – lots of getting on, trotting back and forth, no questions at all. And his footwork and balanced stayed lovely even after the tugging which increases arousal. He got faster on some of the reps there.
Turning around on the plank also went really well. You can add in position changes like stand to down to stand, or sit to stand without moving his front feet 🙂
Since this went really well, the next step is to elevate the plank. So you have cinderblocks or anything that are stable enough to support the plank 6 inches or so off the ground?
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
This first lazy session went GREAT!! She was working hard to solve the ‘puzzle’ and she did a terrific job!
Yes – if she is not sure or misses a jump, keep moving around the line and reward her for taking the jump. You nailed that at the beginning of the first video. It gave direct and specific feedback on what gets the cookie versus what does not get the cookie, in a way that seemed to make perfect sense to her. She figured it out brilliantly here! You can use verbal markers for the cookies tosses like a ‘get it’ (you might have been using quiet ones) or you can keep being lazy hahaSession 2 – also went great – she was driving even more than session 1. She was having to find the middle jump by driving ahead and had a couple of questions about it, but worked through the questions. Jazz really likes this “figure it out, kiddo” approach LOL!
The Jack and Jazz tandem combo was HILARIOUS and also useful! Jack was like “what the heck is happening here” but you gave him cookies anyway which was perfect. As you noted, Jazz seemed to be feeling competitive and took her skills to a higher level: fast and finding the jumps! YAY!! She missed the middle jump on the first round – right turn, or she was figuring out why Jack was there? Hard to know til the next time you try it. The other reps looked great 🙂
If you wanted to use this tandem poodle concept without a tunnel, you can add a 4th jump instead of the tunnel or even a cone or wing. It looks like she was very successful! This competition for reward and a little bit of jealousy does change performance – there are some interesting studies!
Have you seen this clip from one of the studies? I feel like Jazz is the monkey who is getting the cucumbers LOL! Look at how fast that monkey delivered the rock on the 2nd rep at :18!
>Things I noticed: 1) work on “handling” this from more of a stand still, rewarding more often between the individual jumps, rather than “sending” her and rewarding at the end.>
Yes, rewards spread out everywhere on the line will be very useful! Jazz always likes these puzzles so we can keep the rewards as surprising as possible without being too predictable. We humans are very predictable, according to dogs LOL!!
>2) Definitely is still hesitating with the right turns. We have an appointment with a soft tissue specialist here in Sacto on Thursday.>
Thursday as in today, or next week? Fingers cross for easy answers!
> I also plan to follow up with Dr. Canapp after that.
If needed, I can help get you in – I’ve been working on the podcast project with him as you know, so I can ask him directly. Hopefully you won’t need it at all!
>I’m not sure if I’ve posted these as you outlined in the course intro info so if changes need to be made, let me know. >
No changes! This is great – short, fast, fun sessions with limited jumping even though they are only jump bumps. We have reached the training stage where we get hyper-careful about repetitive movements like jumping and I thought the sessions looked great.
> I really appreciated the Brain Camp session this morning. (pain and behavior) Very relevant for us – thank you!!! that’s all for now – thank you!>
It was fun to ‘see’ you there! I am going to get them to do a podcast on the biome stuff they were talking about. That is a huge topic that I know almost nothing about.
Great job here!
Tracy
Perfect!! I am glad he has no restrictions and just needs conditioning support. Yay! I will add you to Supersized so you can jump in there as needed 🙂 You’ll see both classes show up for you in a few minutes.
Have fun!
Tracy
Hi!
He did well offering behavior on the pile! Great job breaking up the session to get the arousal high again with tugging. It took him a moment to turn his attention back to the pile after that (plus the wind & noise in the environment takes up some mental bandwidth too). It looks like he was able to stand near the pile in in the middle but not offer a ton of behavior. You can move around the pile a bit so he offers more behavior on the other (taller) objects, because it looks like he was sticking to the ones close to you. So having you walk around can indicate to him that the other objects are also available for walking around on 🙂
On the running contact video:
I think he might need a longer mat because he was only getting 3 feet at most on it here. So unfolding it to make it longer can help, and be sure that you are staring at the mat and counting all 4 feet before rewarding. Some of the rewards here were for the first back foot while most of the rewards were for front feet.Backing up:
>no more sits still not very straight or offering yet>For for no more sits! And starting him on the mat then luring him forward helps. Don’t worry about straight, we can focus on getting him offering. To do that, lure his front feet off the mat with the cookie hand but then don’t move the hand at all. Let him make the first movement to get you to reward. You were moving your hand backwards on these so he only moved when your hand was moving. You can also use a bigger mat so he can get all 4 of his feet on it without having to scrunch up. That way you can get his front feet off then let him step only the front feet back onto the mat. That will help him realize it is about stepping back and not waiting for your hand.
Nice work here!!!
Tracy
Good morning!
>I guess I get confused with when I need to look at him vs looking where he needs to go often.>
In agility, there is a lot of discussion about this 🙂 And what works for every single dog is looking at them in almost every situation. I know people say that is not the case but then when we watch videos of them… they are looking at their dogs 🙂 So always look at him.
There are a couple of excepts, and the main exception at this point is countermotion. If he needs to pass you and do something behind you (like backwards sends) then you can let him see you shift your eye contact from his face to where you want him to go. All of this works brilliantly because it turns our shoulders to the line we want.
>. I am assuming I should not use the same amount of time each rep so change it up. Since we have not done many from a stay I had not thought about it.>
Yes, mix it up as much as you can – we humans are creatures of habit and the pups are brilliant about figuring out our patterns and rhythms.
>my release word is go. I guess I never thought about it being an issue. To me go means move.>
Aha! Then that makes complete sense why you used it 🙂 So if Go is the release then we are going to want to add a directional for accelerating ahead on the straight line, like at the end of the course for example. You can use something like “Run” as the directional for that!
He was a super good boy with the rotated sends on the new cone for the first part of the session. Then yes, I see what you mean about something catching his nose on the ground. The begining of springtime is a challenging time with baby dogs who have never experienced it before.
You added more toy play which really helped and I noticed that any time the toy was involved, he was all in! When you wanted to reward with cookies, the distractions would increase. You were not doing anything wrong, it is just a matter of information from Dublin.There were a couple of reps where you moved away a little early or said yay a little too soon so he didn’t finish the wrap, but it was still good to reward because he was engaged and trying hard! With the environmental distractions, he just needed a little bit of extra time to process and execute the cue response.
So for the next session – keep bringing the great toy, maybe bring 2 great toys so you can switch it up. And, better food – or maybe just different food rewards. I think of it as fighting fire with fire 🙂 The treats that are valuable indoors might not be valuable in the battle for engagement with bunny poo as the opponent, so better/different treats can help! And since we don’t want to upset his GI, we can also stick to really high value toys for now. And then it will be easier to bring regular treats back into the game when he has more experience working outdoors.
>s I questioned when watching the video if I was sending for the wraps on the correct side.>
I thought you were good! It was overall a good session, with the hardest part being that the smells in the environment were catching his attention a bit. Great job working through it!
Tracy
