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Hi!
Are you saying “park it” for his station? I love it! And he is doing well with staying on it!For the threadle slices, I think the main suggestion here is to get fully into position, be stationary for a second or two… then release.
If you are moving backwards while releasing, he won’t really know what you want consistently as the presents motion to the front of the bar. This is what happened at :37, 1:09, 1:15 for example: you were stepping backwards into position, said flick as you were moving and hd the hand out – but the physical cue was not in place so he took the front side – handler error! Rather than mark it as wrong (try not to say oops or any marker unless you would wager $1000 that your cue was perfect LOL), reset with a cookie. If he gets it wrong twice? Stop the session and watch the video to see what was causing it.
Compare to the rep at 1:28 – that was a lot better because you were stationary for longer before the release. Try not to release and move your hand at the same time, because the hand movement will become the release (this was happening a bit towards the end).
Also, backing up over the bar draws his eyes over the bar. When you changed sides, walking into position like at 1:59 and the reps after it on the other side draws his eye to the threadle line and he was much more successful. There were a couple of errors on that side – partially because he might not be ready for the station to be centered in position 2 yet, and partially because he can see almost all of you between the uprights – you can have at least half of your visible outside the threadle upright so it is a clearer picture. And standing still so he can process the cue before the release will really help him see where to be.
>And I don’t love his jumping up to tag my hand getting built in here – I understand it was just a starting point to get the dog to come behind the jump before going back to the reward. How would you suggest moving in that direction?>
That will take care of itself as the MM grows in value, and when we add movement. I expect it will start to go away on its own in a session or two.
Threadle Wraps –
He did well here, this is a hard behavior. With this game also, don’t mark or make a big deal of an error – it can frustrate him, so you can just reset with a line up. Try moving him a bit forward so his shoulder is past the barrel as a starting point. He seemed to know to turn away, but then was not sure of where to go. So two options:
– As soon as he turns away, toss a treat to the other side of the barrel so he moves around it.
– or, we can give him a focal point! Put a reward plate (dish or target that you can drop food into) or the MM out on the other side of the barrel so as soon as he turns away, he can get the reward either bu you dropping food into the dish, or clicking the MM. That can help solidify the concept of turning away and wrapping the barrel as a chain 🙂Great job here!!
Tracy
Hi!
>We are moving to the barn once a week and it’s a distracting environmen>
Yes, new places like that can be really distracting! Have you taught her the pattern game from the resilience track? That will be incredibly useful for getting her comfortable and focused in new environments. The pattern game can help her ignore people! Toy play too!
For the tugging – good job keeping the toy low! For new places, I think a long toy like you used was great (she really loved chasing it). Do you have one that is flatter (easier to grab) and maybe has fur on it or fuzzy stuff? That is easier on her mouth for tugging and you can keep moving it away so she can chase it.
>Im way behind and plan on working through this but should I prioritize so I’m ready for max pup 2?>
The resilience and stealth self-control stuff are really important! For the other games – not much to prioritize, they are all helpful and build on each other. Even getting to do the baby level of everything once or twice would be good!
Nice work here 🙂
TracyHi! The backing up here looks great!!! She has really good balance and movement in the rear for such a young dog!!!!
I think her only question was about the release and the reward: the ‘yes’ and ‘ok’ didn’t drive her to the reward, so you can use a cookie-in-hand marker perhaps? Or, hand deliver the cookie to her in position at the destination (that seemed to be what she was looking for :))
Great job here! Keep adding distance!!
Tracy
Hi!
>I was struggling with this because I tend to use “heel” for finding heel position as well as the action of heeling in motion, and I told myself I would use something like “let’s go” as a cue for a moving heel for future dogs to try and make things more clear>
Asking for a moving heel at the end of an agility run might be hard, with all that adrenaline and with him likely to be ahead of you. A more general marker will be easier for you both!
. >But…dogs are a lot smarter than we give them credit for and the context can matter, >
100% yes! Context is so useful!
>but I was worried I would be in the obedience ring and say “let’s go” and my dog would shoot off to our set up for cookies lol.>
One thing with the let’s go is that they go with me, so if I don’t go anywhere, they won’t either… they will think it is weird and they will judge me, but they won’t run off to grad stuff 🙂 Plus, they know the context difference between agility and obedience so I don’t think it will be a problem (but also different markers is a good thing 🙂 )
>One thing I learned today is that Charlee Bears are garbage treats. To me, they’re great: cheap, easily available, a good weight to throw, and they show up on my grass and mulch yard. Blast thinks they’re uninteresting and make training boring as all hell. >
Ha! Yes, motivator levels are decided by the recipient LOL!!!! My dogs also think Charlee Bears are stoooooopid. LOL!
Rocking horses: I think this was a Charlee Bear session – he was doing it, but not very excited about the paycheck 🤣😂
I see the difference on your left side sends versus the right side sends – mainly it is a connection question. On the right side sends starting at :45, your arm was already pointing ahead to the next wing as he exited the previous one. This blocks his view of connection and turns your shoulders away from the next wing, so he came into you. The left sends were all the ones you started him on in this session, so the connection was clearer. Ideally, as he exits the wing, your arm is pointing back to his nose and you are looking at him, then as he gets closer to you, you can step forward and send with your arm. That will help him see the connection clearly.He did well turning away with the threadle wraps! Remember to keep your feet facing straight (parallel to the barrel rather than facing the barrel) – your feet facing straight will make it easy to add motion ). It will feel weird to be stationary with your feet facing forward, but it will get him focused on the hands so when your feet do move forward, he won’t need them to be part of the cue.
The Get Out – was this a session with the better treats? He was definitely happier!
>I liked the effort and enthusiasm to reward>
He was definitely enthusiastic!!! Yay!
> and keep the chain going.
You don’t need to chain or loop this one by starting the next rep as soon as he eats the previous cookie. You can get out a tug toy and tug back to the starting spot, to set up the next rep.
>I’m not sure how accurate I should be asking him to be, >
He doesn’t have to fully hit the hat, but we do want him to lead change away. So setting up each rep individually without you running yet will help a lot. He can start behind you in a stay or with a tossed cookie, so he can see you cue him from ahead. That, plus not moving as fast, will help direct his focus to the prop and get the lead change. I think he was mainly focused on your running here so he got it when you moved closer to it. We can add more distance and get that lead change by putting you ahead and also having you walk for now 🙂
The tight turns session looked great! He had lovely head turns (a little better to his left in this sessions, but the right was also good!) Yay! He smacked the upright with his booty on the first rep and then he fixed it and did not touch it again – SUPER! That is part of why we do this game: to get the pups to NOT touch the upright as they are bending around it. This is a good one to revisit here and there as his body continues to develop into adulthood and as he begins to do more jumping stuff.
Great job!
TracyHi!
One thing to consider with the waits is that you will want to use a station or something all the time for now, to establish a wait behavior before any and all sequences, so she doesn’t get too used to starting with you right next to her. A station can be very clarifying for her!T
Hi!
>Since I mainly use an iPad, I thought it would be better to start a new one for us.>
Yeah, at some point when a thread gets big enough, iPads and iPhones give errors messages. Weird!
>We had 2 days of trialing this past weekend. On Friday, I was pretty discouraged after our 1st 2 runs because he was so disconnected and running to check everything out. Then he came out on the 3rd and last run of the day & laid it out there.>
He might have needed a day to settle into the environment? Hard to know with young dogs, so maybe the next trial, enter him in only one class that runs in the afternoon, and make it a really simple FEO course, and see how it goes.
If he gets distracted in the ring, don’t stop your running – you can keep running and handling an invisible dog. At some point he will catch back up to you 🙂 It is more fun for him that way and will help him stay focused.
>Here’s his Novice FAST FEO run so you can see what he did or rather didn’t do.>
This one is listed as unavailable, can you reset it to unlisted?
>Here’s his Nov JWW FEO run later, as in MUCH later, that same day. i decided to bring him back down the line of jumps after the tunnel rather than heading to the weaves.>
I loved this run!! He was thinking hard and did a great job 🙂 It think it was a GREAT decision to not ask for weaves are the hardest, most complex obstacle and he was telling you in the other runs that they are too hard for now in the trial environment. If you get him comfortable in the environment, it will be easy to add the weaves back in 🙂
>Here’s his Nov Standard FEO run after that. I just altered out line off the teeter for this run & took him to the DW rather than on to the weaves.>
This one is also listed as private.
>If you would prefer to have all the runs in 1 video, please let me know!>
Posting them individually is great, and probably easier than editing them together.
When is your next trial? Have your classes or league started back up?
Great job here :)
TracyHi! Why were there 2 judges in the ring? Weird! Stalkers! LOL!
I think this also went well.
>I think working her start line on the last run of the weekend was asking a lot of her – although she did really do a good job.>
It looks like she got it right twice! Yay! And she was generally finding the lines really well – and the spots she missed jumps were legit questions from her 🙂
After the release, you just needed to more specifically cue jump 2. On both passes through there, you were pointing at it with an extended arm perpendicular to your shoulders – that blocked connection and turned your shoulders & feet away from the line, so she didn’t take it. Keeping your arm back and stepping to the jump will get her to take it on that type of line.
The jump after the tunnel that she missed at :46 was the same lead change away as on the previous run. It was also a moment of you running really fast without a lot of connection, which pulls her off the line. So prioritize connection over getting way ahead on course for now.
>by the time we got to #7 and I was asking for a wrap turn, it wasn’t going to happen.>
After that FC wrap, you can use exit line connection to tell her which side to be on, rather than running away with the toy in your hand. She really liked the chase 🙂 but didn’t know where to be in term of which side of you, so the turns were wide through there.
Overall, all of these runs went well! And we can see what helps her (clear connection and not running very fast) versus where she loses the line (running super fast without connection).
In the interest of keeping you connected and not getting too far ahead for now… you should plan some rear crosses 🙂 Not only are they a useful tool, but you won’t need to try to get way ahead and risk disconnecting.
Great job on these!
Tracy
Hi!
>Although it was missed in the video, I did have my friend hold her at the start line again. She was pulling away from my friend and went around all the jumps so I reset>
Was she eager to start, or uncomfortable being held, or both? It is OK to not have a holder – it will give you motivation to add the stay to the runs 🙂 You can bring stays in with very short stays and throwing rewards back in the NFC runs. You can also use a station at the start line in UKI NFC.
She did really well here too, found the lines really well! I think there was one jump missed at :44 – it looked like that jump needed a lead change away to get to it, so a ‘get out’ cue and more motion to it, even an opposite arm, will help. That is a place you can keep going rather than stop and give her the toy. We don’t want to punish her for missing it, but we don’t want to specifically reward it with the toy either 🙂
On this run and on the previous run, you had large chunks of the course that went beautifully – both of those sections had great connection and you were moving but not running really fast. Keep that in mind for future runs!
T
Hi!
I agree! This went great!!! The entire second part of the course from 8 to the end was AMAZING!!!>I had my friend come in and hold her at the start line which didn’t work great>
I think she was being held pretty far from jump 1, and you were not connected enough before the release and pretty far away so she just didn’t see the line. So the holder can have her closer to jump 1 so she can see the line better. And you don’t need to be as far up the line for now, because she needs you to support the line – there is a lot going on at the start of a course 🙂
One thought on these runs:
Rather than stop and tug when she goes around something, try to just keep going and reward her for finding the line or get her on a line that you want to work by circling back around over other jumps. We want lots of reward for finding the jumps, rather than for going around them. And since finding jumps after tunnels is hard, you can throw the reward for that!
T
She did well here! And it was a really nice course for young dogs! I am glad you were not too nervous 🙂
Doing the FC 2-3 pulled her off the line to the tunnel. I think your verbal said tunnel but your physical cues said no tunnel.
There were a couple of disconnection moments in the 2nd half of the course – you were moving fast but not really connected so she was chasing motion but not seeing the specifics of the cues. That will go away as you both relax into the trial environment 🙂And nice ending!!!
T
Hi!
>I was able to FINALLY get Lu in a class for the next couple of weeks. It is a skills class for UKI – but I know the instructor and she is going to break down things for Lu’s level. >
Perfect!!!!!
>Other items we are working on is a jump grids class>
Great! You can start adding full height on some grids, like the set point. Be sure to add your motion as early as possible so she can learn good mechanics while you are moving.
> and finally starting to train our dogwalk through an online course. We haven’t done any work on the dogwalk because I felt like she needed to mature more. She still does 🙂 but I think it’s a good time to start now. >
Agreed!
>Obviously, I’d really like to improve my handling with her as well but I think that is just going to have to wait some more until spring/summer but at least we have some class time. >
The class and the upcoming seminars will really help with that.
> We also got our first official measurement which we did a lot of prep for prior to it. She did a really good job and the judge made it really easy for us. Official measurement is 21 inches :-O Big girl LOL. >
Perfect height for UKI!!!!!
>One thing I’m not sure how to address, is moving her up in height. I think she is still learning how to move her body on new surfaces. >
Yes, different surfaces can make a huge difference. You can start moving the height up on surfaces that she is familiar with, and that have enough grip that she won’t slip. I start with easy jumps (like straight lines) then go to harder jumps (like wraps) and eventually do REALLY hard jumps like backside/threadle slices and backside/threadle wraps.
If she hasn’t seen full height yet then yes, I think the next trials should be 16S too.
Onwards to the runs!Tracy
Hi!!
The stuff you were doing while waiting outside the ring looked good – hard to see all of it but looked like patterns, tricks, maybe some chill. He is definitely better about ignoring the exciting dog in the ring than I have seen in the past!
>What would have helped me here – some more tricks or hand touches at the line He definitely had the Pwd on his mind, went selectively deaf on me for a moment.
>Was he looking over his shoulder at the other dog walking past while he was on the start line? He released well on the 2nd release cue and was SUPER fast!!!
Yes, you can ask him to do another thing or two or three as you set him up, just before the leash comes off and before you cue the sit stay. That can help re-orient him to you. You got very quiet and calm as you entered the ring, and it be the opposite: get big and exciting! He was REALLY good about releasing to you and not heading to the dog though. That was excellent practice for trials!
>For his last couple of classes, I”ve broken out the course challenges and worked on them as short sequences -limiting disconnects and upping the ROR.>
I noticed that here! You worked on the handling with smaller skills mixed in with bigger lines. Perfect!
What happened at 3:00 – the cue was unclear so he zoomed to his right. Did he come right back?
One thing that has been wildly effective is when the dog leaves… the handler keeps handling as if the dog is still there (running the course, verbals, etc.) There is no stopping and no calling the dog back… just keep going as if you are running Cody 🙂 If needed the instructor can gently interrupt Coal, but you should ignore him leaving and keep going. What we are seeing is that the dogs return VERY fast (and get rewarded somewhere later in the sequence) and soon enough they stop leaving in the first place.
Yes, you will feel weird handling without the dog. But it is fun and effective!
>He’s got the end of run part down pretty well – knows where the jackpot is and is towning me back there LOL>
Yes, that part he is fabulous with!! Yay!
>Long lead outs like I needed here = abandoning him at the line. Add more talk more connection? I needed the lead out to have a chance at getting the blind in after 4. even with it, I didn’t make it there in time – he may be a bit faster than I am>
A couple of ideas:
You can stay connected and use some quiet praise to help keep him connected to you. I also think mixing in lots of randomly throwing the lotus ball back to him as a reward can keep his eyes glued to you (because he will never know when the prize is coming!)Something else to try is jogging to your lead out position rather than walking – that is exciting and can override the excitement of the other dog 🙂
In a trial setting, courses are not likely to be as complex yet so you won’t need a long lead out yet – so definitely stay closer and talk to him to help him stay connected.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyOMG that first rep was HILARIOUS!!! Good for her for sorting it out, good for you for letting her sort it out. She needed to see the framework then the rest was really strong. Brilliant! I mean, she did make it to the threadle side of the jump for a heartbeat before going back around the wing to the toy LOL
Then the wing tried to fall on her but she was resilient to that weird moment 🙂
I loved your exuberant celebrations when she got it right – it was a wonderful balance to the calmness of the rest of the rep.
It is time to add your threadle wrap verbal, either on the release from a stay if you use one, or as soon as she gets to cookie on a cookie toss start.
And when you have that verbal added, you can go to the advanced level where you are showing her the serp versus the threadle in the same session.
>(finally an exercise that didn’t make me feel like I’ve never trained a dog before!)>
Ah yes, puppy training is all about making us humans feel like we are brand new to this training thing LOL I can relate!
The backside slice game went great too!
>Indeed my jump bump is very short, only 3’ which is very evident in this exercise but I think fine while there’s very little speed coming in.>
Agreed, it was fine for this session. She was adding her own speed 🙂 but seemed to have no questions about the bump. And your reward placement was spot on, which totally helps. Do you have a second bump, or even part of a foam wall jump or foam long jump? You can put that next to this one to create a long bar/bump 🙂 A longer bump will give you more room to add more distance as you move your line more and more to the center of the bar, and past it. That will also make going to the advanced level easier too.
Only one suggestion: You can start moving up the line sooner, just before she grabs the treat, so you are not stationary when she first looks at you. This will make adding lateral distance easier because your motion will be showing the line before she even moves.
It sounds like you were adding the verbal for the backside – perfect! It will help you add the more advanced skills and it will also help you show her the difference between the backside slice and the cue for the front side.
>If she was a pony of a BW (like CB size) it might be too easy to skip it, but I think it’s ok given her current small size (not yet 18” tall).>
She is about 6 months old, closer to 7 months? She might top out at around 20”, which is a really nice size. My CB is 20.5” which is small compared to the flyball BWs who can get up to 23” and 24” tall (affectionately known as gigantalopes). CB only looks big because I am so short haha!
Great job here 🙂
TracyHi!
The threadle wraps are definitely on the right track now!! He is coming to the correct side then looking at the bump/MM. Watch his pointy ears, and you can see him turning his head to the bump and not looking past it 🙂
The second side was stronger here (as usual for him :)) so on the first side, don’t move the MM back as quickly – leave it close to the bump longer. It was a little too far back on the last couple of reps on the right turn side, so he was not turning his head to the bump as well. The 2nd direction (left turn) looked great!Let this behavior rest for a bit (aka, do not obsess on threadle slices LOL!) so that latent learning can work its magic. Come back to it in a 3 or 4 days and see what he knows 🙂
He definitely loves the backside slices! He gets to run 🙂 Nice session here! You were further across the bump for sure, and he seemed to have no questions. You can keep moving further across the bump so you are eventually where the exit wing would be. You will also want to do this in a larger space, so you can balance with cues for the front side and so you can do the advanced level of the game too! You might have to start with the simpler levels (you being closer to the entry barrel) in a new place, but I think he will sort it out very quickly and you can add the new challenges too.
Great job!!
TracyGreat job with the rear cross – this is definitely a hard skill! You can make it easier to appear on the new side sooner by staying closer to him. As you moved to the other side, you were also adding lateral distance. So you were visible on most but not all of the reps 🙂 and he turned the other way on a couple of the reps. You can get there for all of the reps by walking forward on the same line he is moving on (heading towards the camera, using the setup you had here). That way you can get ahead of him on the new side very easily and he will read it correctly each time.
Nice work here!
Tracy
