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Hi!
Prytania was a willing helper here!! Quill did great! You had him doing sit and downs here – you can ask for a variety of behaviors: hand touches, tricks, heeling, etc. Maybe for field, he can do focus forward on a toy (as if marking a bird?) while she is chasing a ball? All of that will be fun for him with his Prytania distraction š
The toy video while Prytania was running around/squeaking the ball was also good! When he was only tugging, he was *definitely* aware of her – I think he did better when he had a ājobā (first video) or when he was in the sit here in the 2nd video. He as great holding the sit while you threw the ball! This would be a good place to add the forward focus: when you put his toy on the ground, wait for him to look at it then release him to it.
The wraps are going well! You have the low and slow hands happening, and that really helps. Plus I think he was figuring out to not try to chomp the cookie hand, and follow it instead. It really helped!
Take a look at the advanced level of this, where we do the full 360 circle wraps (backside circle wraps). He is ready for that!
Great job :)āØāØ
TracyHi!
>Tugging ā Iāll have to try that when Bella isnāt in season. Added layer lol!>
You can fight fire with fire with the highest value toys on a line, and swing them for him to really chase!
>Been wanting to do the SSC with friends. We have focused more on recalls from friends building confidence in his people shyness>
He might prefer the SSC with people rather than recalls. Recalls kind of forces the interaction. And if he is not comfy, he doesnāt really have the agency or freedom to ignore them. He might really like the SSC a lot better!
>I was going to ask a bout the toy on the ground. I donāt think I officially introduced the concept. He does know get it but doesnāt transfer ānot ā get it lol!>
That gets baked in with the initial strike a pose game – we get the toy dangling really early on, then on the ground. The markers really help and it is in that game where we introduce the concept of ādonāt touch it til we mark itā.
I also put a toy on the ground and walk away, giving the pup treats.
And we use a toy on the ground in the SSC work – novel/exciting is the spot for it.
>And no I didnāt video that one either. I will when we get to the final spot and the toy can be next to him.>
Donāt wait until you have the finished product to videoā¦ video the early sessions so you can see where the improvements can be made. That will make training more efficient and speedy!
On the coming in video – what treats were you using? They were good, he was eating them. But you might want to go to the mind-blowing level. Also – I think the up and down pattern game is probably not the most helpful one because it requires him to be relatively stationary. That is very hard for an adolescent learning to ignore things in the environment! I think the back and forth (tossed treats) will be a more effective choice of pattern game for this scenario.
About the toy:
>thought any toy would do but he didnāt love the one I used for the shpile>
I donāt think it was the toy itself, I think it was more about how you were using it: you were bent over him, the toy was relatively short, and you were squiggling it in front of him, almost like swiffering the floor LOL Then you gave up and walked him away – his face was like, huh?
When you broke off the session to play a bit on the middle and at the en – he engaged really well with the toy when it was moving for him to chase and grab! He let go of it almost every time you smack his shoulder, so maybe donāt smack the shoulder š
For toy play homework: make the toy into a live fun squirrely thing to chase and grab! Use the full length of the toy, or better yet – tie 2 toys together so it is 4 feet long. Then stand upright (leaning over the pups reduces toy play) and move the toy away from him to hose & grab. Use plenty of room and make it a game! I bet he will totally get into it. I bugged Christine out the game thing so you two can hold each other accountable. Squirrel, not swiffer! š
He dod well with the shpile! He got all feet on almost everything really well – he seemed to avoid the paw pod things and that is fine – I donāt think they feel good on puppy feet. So you can use the other objects and make them more random and piled up for him to climb around on.
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
Bummer about the panties but she did great with the shpile on the mats!! She seemed confident to put her feet on just about all of it, including slamming the wobble board LOL! She seemed to be actively avoiding the paw pods, and I donāt blame her – the little nubby things seem like they hurt LOL!!!
She was not quite putting her hind end on everything so you can put some towel under the wobble board and reward her by tossing treats to the other side to get more end engagement.
And she is interested in the toy – that was along toy, so use the full length of it so you can stand up and really swing it around. When you are bending over her and only giving her half the toy, she canāt grab it as well (maybe she is trying to grab your flesh, which we appreciate!!)>I should have planned better for her getting to the pile before me to support the rocker board. I didnāt realize itād be that loud.>
She seemed maybe a little surprised but not offended š But having it wobble less and be softer/less noisy will help encourage more hind end use.
Great job!
Tracy
Hi!
He did really well here!
The verbal-only game is looking good! And so is the sequencing š
When you had a lot of motion in positions 1, 2, and 3 – the hardest part was when you were not fully connected – he pays close attention to your physical cues but if the connection is not clear, he is following motion to the obstacle he sees (like at 1:17, for example).
You can reset after oospies with a cookie, so he still gets rewarded for his effort. When you are running fast, add lots of connection by looking straight back at him and making eye contact. That will totally help him know which side of you to be on.
Separately from being beautifully connected and running fast – you can add in being a little disconnected like you were toward the end, but dial back your motion even more when you are ahead so he can sort it out š Interestingly, the tunnel was harder than the jump when you were a little disconnected so that is a good one to work on!
Great job here š
āØTracyHi!
>>>I think at one point you said āyour brain is brainingā and that is the funniest thing I have heard in a while LOL!!!!!!!!
Hahahaha!!! Iām glad that made you laugh! š That made my day!>I laughed ALL DAY about it. So funny!!!
Position 1 went really well – She had no problem at all reading the cues. Your connection and verbals were super clear!!
On the 2nd video – your positions did indeed look different! This went well too.
When you were ahead at :12, you had a bit of a disconnect, looking forward- so it looked like a blind to her and she took the jump even though you were saying tunnel. And she had a connection question at :59 and 1:33 and 1:50 for example – taking the jump instead of the tunnel. I think you were ahead and she couldnāt see connection, so was guessing based on motion.You can open up more connection there to get the tunnel by using exit line connection: reaching the opposite arm across the body to push the dog-side arm back, which reveals more connection.
Separately, you can work on more of the disconnection by slowing down your motion and not being too far ahead – and deliberately softening the connection. By reducing the motion, she can prioritize the verbals and be able to get the correct obstacle. That is HARD but she is ready!
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
Handling 1: The sequences went well, in terms of finding the jump versus the tunnel when cued. Super!!
You get sniffing on the way back to restart, as you get the treats ready – it is enough of a disconnect that he starts singing around. After the reward, can you send him to a station? So if you have a cato board or something, you can reward for the sequence, snd him to his cato board (reward that) then you get ready for the next rep – then you call him to you to start it. It can set up a cleaner transition between reps and help diminish the sniffing.I think the is something to use for sure – the same disconnect happened in all 3 videos, during the reset back to the start, which was causing more sniffing on the next rep each time. Since we donāt want him to sniff at all, you can teach him to station so you can reset to start the next rep without losing him to sniffing.
2nd video:
Your position and release at :12 actually did call him past the jump – so keep going! Or tell him he was a good boy and reset with a reward.
Stopping without a reward indicates that he was wrong, which can be deflating so he ended up on the top o the tunnel and then lots of sniffing. Since the environment is challenging, never tell him he is wrong especially because he is probably never wrong in how he reads the handling š3rd video – he had a little trouble with the less connected reps which means he just needs a little more time to let you fade out the connection to challenge him with processing the verbal only. The outdoor distractions might contribute to that – his brain is processing a LOT so perhaps he canāt quite pick out the verbals and is relying on motion.
4th video:
>I brought out the lotus ball since he was doing well at staying with me and working.>He does like his lotus ball! What kind of treats did he have? You can also tie the lotus ball to a line and swing it around for him to chase – that is both fun and also can help overcome environmental distractions!
On this video too – if something goes wrong, keep going! He did wrap the wing, but you walked away to go reset the bar which is deflating. To help with the start him further back – and I think the side of the wing was more of a handler error than a dog error š so remember not to let him think he was wrong at all.
>I can tell his focus is split even though there was no one else around.>
Yes – challenging environment for him! But we do have tools to help out.
>ām going to try starting with the sniff and dismiss walk around the field while my classmates are walking the first course. >
Sniff and dismiss is only somewhat effective because you need a lot of time and you need full access to the area – neither of which are useful for trials. And you do run the risk of something really interesting for him to find that he canāt dismiss š So a bit of sniff and dismiss is OK but we want to use other games to help him engage immediately.
I think the most important one will be pattern games! The back – and- forth pattern game is the most useful one, so you will want to revisit it at home then bring it to the field. And use the highest value food he will eat. I use stuff like scrambled eggs, rotisserie chicken, and lately one of my dogs loves FreshPet (ewwww). That high value food with the understanding of the pattern game gets pretty immediate attention when they enter the environment.
The stationing on a cato board between reps to reset will also be huge – that is where you are getting sniffing too. So do one rep with a huge reward (no telling him is wrong) then onto the stationā¦ then get ready for the next rep. Those in-between moments are critical too!
And you can use the pattern game to come out at the start of each turn – and make each turn super short and crazy fun – even 90 seconds might be too long as he gets used to the new location.
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi! These went really well!
The push to the backside looked good – he committed when you had your arm back and the pointing forward at :12 actually drew his attention to you (he took a step towards you) because pointing forward changes the line of the shoulders to the front of the bar.
The threadle was easy because the jump was on an easy angle for that š
FC after the backside worked but it was hard to finish the FC quickly enough to be fully off his line. The BC at 1:09 was fantastic! The timing was spot on and you were finished very quickly so he had a clear view of the next line.
>They are nowhere near on verbal alone and we arenāt even at consistent performance yet, especially due to my mechanics inconsistency.>
I would venture to say that threadle wraps around the world are not on verbal only š 99.99% of dogs are also getting some type of physical cue, which is great!
Looking at the threadle wrap on the wing at 1:26 and 1:40 and 2:01 – nice job setting the line after the blind! A little decel will help him read it and turn himself away so you donāt have to help as much. Decel as you set the TW line is a big factor because it helps the dogs collect and turn themselves away.
He did really well with the threadle wrap on the inside wing of the jump! That is crazy hard! You donāt need to go as close to the wing before it – you can send him to the wing after the tunnel , and that should keep you a bit further ahead to set the line to the TW with a bit of decel into it.
But overall he got really hard TWs with a tunnel right there – well done!!
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
The cookies session here was great! Even in a new and distracting environment, he was super engaged – in fact, I think he really likes this game! The more he did it, the more pumped up he got. Fun! That is great he likes this because he is going to need this skill for his agility runs!
He did well responding to the sits and downs. You can also ask for tricks, or a couple of things in a row now, to add challenge!After the surgery, it might be fun to shape the retrieve so you can stay off your feet and still train him and keep his brain busy š We can also work on some verbal discriminations where you can stay off your feet and send to a wing or tunnel, and toss treats š Hubby can set stuff up for you š It will be fun and hopefully it will tire PoweR out too!
Great job here!
TracyTotally yes!! The reverse retrieve involves you running the other direction and he can chase you (and you can reward with a 2nd toy) so I think it will be a fun addition to the retrieve games!
T
Hi!
>Big news! Benni earned his NW3 Elite title on Saturday!!!!! Holy cow! It took us 8 trials to finish this. Some learning experiences along the way. So Brioche got lots of sniffaris.>
WOW!! That is awesome!!! It seems like he finished that title pretty quickly. Well done Team Benni!!!!!!!
Tunnel Threadle verbal:
He did really well here! It seems like his right turns were a little easier for him here than the left turns, but you were able to get lots of good left turns reps by being a little slower and very clear with the cues.To really solidify the verbal as an independent skill – try holding him by the collar, say the verbal 3 or 4 timesā¦ then let him go. The verbal and the arm movement were happening at the same time here, so he was highly likely to be processing the physical cue more than the verbal.
The double whammy went great!!
He got into a bit of a tunnel vortex (offering the tunnel before you were ready LOL!) so you can buy time to get ready by lining him up with a treat, or tossing a treat to the side so he is going to get it rather than offering tunnels šHis stay work is also going really well! I know you want the tight sit, but he didnāt like it when you poked his foot back in. So you can try lining him up at your side by having him start facing you then following your hand, turning around, then lining up at your side – that will help get a nice tight sit! You can also working the between-the-feet lineup you did towards the end!! That also promotes the tight sit. If he keeps popping his feet out in the sit, yo can have him checked to be sure he doesnāt need an adjustment or have a trigger point or ouchy that is restricting his tight sits.
He is holding his stay brilliantly!!! I am so proud of him!!! So now you can work the stays with a toy – he will be more excited so release or throw the reward back sooner so he doesnāt break. The toy and tugging becomes critical because he will be very excited in agility and we want this great stay to carry over to when he is really pumped up.
The last video with the sits had a good angle from the video – his back legs do tend to be a little wider than his hips in his natural stance, so the very tight sit is a little uncomfortable. Along with the sit training, core strengthening will probably help him hold everything in nice and tight! That can be stuff like stand to down, stand to sit (rollback and tuck sits), some balancing on an inflatable, etc. The way he is getting a more complete strengthening and can really help.
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
>He was a little flat to start, and there were some sniffy decompressions>
Maybe he was not as sure about driving fast with you facing him, at first? He was definitely thinking about what to do, both in terms of coming in to you and going over the bump. Plus, holding the sit took a lot of brain juice (he did really well!) so the little sniff diversions might have just been indicating that it was hard.
But like with the previous video, you made the toy really fun! And that helped him work through a relatively challenging game!!
>(although that last rep, he broke!) >
He stayed really well and yes, left the stay early on the last rep. To be sure he doesnāt think that the hand cue is the release, you can get into the threadle position, extend the handā¦ then either praise before you release with your threadle cue, or toss a reward back to him. It is possible that he thought the moment when you dipped your shoulder down was the release, even though you hadnāt said the word yet.
Great job!!!
Tracy
Hi!
>Canāt believe itās been nearly a week. Iāve had a rough one with the old black dog of depression.
I am sorry, that is so hard! Sending love and support!
> And it looks like Edithās clearance to start training again may have been the wrong call. VetPhysio is worried itās disc disease. Need to get an xray. >
Ugh that sucks. I hope they get it sorted out ASAP and it is an easy answer.
>(I also just discovered an out of place toof on babby Barry ā Heās gonna need braces!)>
Oh no! I do know of many dogs that have had braces and they do fine but still, I wish you and Barry didnāt need to deal with it!
>Also sorry your country is in such a place! Your recent elections give hopeā¦ but I cannot imagine your health insurance nightmare.>
Yeahā¦ pretty much an epic disaster here that will take decades to undo. I donāt have to deal with the health insurance until December so I am refusing to even think about it at all. Part of what is happening with the disastrous government here is one section (minority section but hopefully strong enough) is holding out to be sure that the health insurance issue does not end up being as horrible as it looks.
I did look into moving to NZ! But it turns out the the NZ government really only wants either super rich (nope not me LOL) or in super useful professions (they donāt consider ādog agilityā to be super useful LOL!!). So if anyone wants to adopt an adult with 9 dogs, that might be my only chance LOL! šš
He was a good boy with the tunnel here!
>At 1 min he was freaked out by something at my neighbourās house (they were on their deck, behind the camera). He had a couple of moments where he was worried about the neighbour but by the end of the session he started looking for the tunnel I think.>
Yes, I see that something did worry him! A dog was barking in the background there so maybe he was picking up on something that the other dog was worried about too? Plusā¦ adolescence š You will see on-and-off times where he is sensitive to things even if they are familiar things. But he worked through it really well and had a bunch of strong tunnel reps! You made the toy play fun fun fun and that really helped.
This tunnel looks like it is scrunched up to make it shorter for now – but I think he is also ready to see a longer tunnel!
Gret job!
Tracy
Hi!
>I believe he will tug in the parking lot as heās done this before but will test it next week.>
Keep me posted! Are there any toys (like frisbees) that he is so wild for that the dirt might not be an issue?
Backside slices – he did great! He was finding the line to the backside really well on both sides. You can add in moving up the line to center of the bump and then eventually even further over to add a lot of independence. My only suggestion is to toss the reward a little closer to the entry barrel, almost over-exaggerating the placement so he curls around the barrel and look directly for the bump. The placement here was a little too parallel to the bump, which might end up sending him past it when you are building in more handling.
Threadle wraps: These went really well too! Once he turned his head away, he was really strong with zipping around the rest of the barrel especially to his left. The right side seemed a little harder but he was sorting that out really well too! You can start to add more motion into it, as long as you maintain the decel right before the hand cues to turn away.
Backing up is looking great! He is pretty straight and using his back feet really independently! Wow! Once you got past the first minute or so, he was not as straight: probably a bit of fatigue, so you can break things up every 2 oe 3 reps with a bit of tugging to allow the muscles to reset.
The next step is to get the plank moving a little, just a little tiny bit. It might be something like using this board and having a bunch of towels or mats under it, so it moves the tiniest bit when he backs up on it. Starting with barely imperceptible movement that might be too easy is better than surprising him with something too hard š
On the foot targeting video:
>He seemed to be thinking about pivoting to start with.>
Ah yes, I can totally see his thought bubble: āIs this the pivot thing, human?ā So you can start the session with a quick reward for front feet and the tossed treat, just to remind him that this object is what we move over and not pivot on. Then the rest will be easy to lock into the back feet, like you were doing by the end of the session.
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
>I had to review your verbals with mine to make sure I was using the right verbal for us. I use āin-inā for my threadle slice. Glad you had the class post with your verbals listed! >
Yes, sorry, my threadle verbals are backwards LOL šš most people use in in for their threadle slices – somehow it is my threadle wrap cue and I am too old to change it now LOL šš
On the video: she figured this out really well!! The stay was super useful again, allowing you to set up the turn away and verbal – even when you started her further back! SUPER!!
Both sides went really well
When you added 2 barrels – the slight bit of decel really helped set up the turn away brilliantly. Both sides looked great here too! The first rep was her only question – and that might have been partly because she was surprised but also you didnāt decel on that rep so she was not expecting the turn away. All of the rest looked awesome!
>lost two of her teeth in our morning tug/play session. >
OMG! I did notice she was extra chewing LOL!! But she was game to keep working and playing!
Great job here!!!
Tracy
Hi!
He was a really good boy here, totally engaged even with big distractions!>Things we are working on- coming into the building. I came in the main door ( not the normal one he uses) and worked some patterns. He is having some squeals when other dogs are working on the floor so I need to work this more then the tunnels if ya know what I mean lol!>
Patterns are helpful! For when other dogs are running or in the tunnel, you can try a pattern game with amazing food, or you can even try to get him to tug!
āØ>Heās still having a hard time with when he should run to the people friends and when we should go to the ring to work. But Iām just redirecting for now.>Try playing the stealth self-control games and adding people as the exciting things and the āslicesā. That will really help!
Threadle slices: The stays really help here because you were able to set up your position and have a clear release. Click/treat for you! The next step would be to have a reward target on the ground to replace the cone and cookie throw: You can have an empty bowl to toss the treat into, or leave a toy on the ground (and use a marker like āget itā to indicate he can go to it.
My only suggestion is to break this session up with tugging and partying instead of doing cookies for all of those reps in a row š That can also be a great way to incorporate the toy on the ground as a reward – he looks ready for it!
>Our theeadle wrap not good. I canāt get him to come to me and not just seek the barrel. Iāll video next time for sure!!>
Video please! It was probably lack of clarity of the cue or it was late (he was already locked onto the barrel. Video tells all!
>Loving him so much. Loving working with the dog in front of me, which we always say but I really am with him because heās so different to me. Heās so smart he makes me see him and chill!>
This is great! These boy dogs really worm their way into our hearts š
Great job!
Tracy
