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Good morning!
>I noticed you using a bar to measure, I thought brilliant, so cut a 3’ bar today.>
Ha! I think I need to do a webinar on all the lazy things I use to get things done in agility LOL!! I have many lazy hacks. Yes – I have 4 foot and 5 foot bars that I use when I am too lazy to actually get a measuring tape out (I am ALWAYS too lazy for that). And my weaves poles are 36 inches long, so I have the 3 foot distance too LOL
Super nice session here!! Her stay looks great. She stepped into the first interval (jump 1 and 2) perfectly each time: powerful and consistent. Consistency is just as important as anything else because it means she doesn’t have to really think about it, she can just do it. Yay!
>Reps 2/4 she just took a big bounce jump.>
Yes! It is an awkward distance and she did great! We want her to be able to extend her stride like that.
I think she will eventually bounce the 3rd distance too (12 feet) when she is all grown up 🙂 She added a collected one-stride which was lovely and balanced.
The next thing to try is the moving target – that will give her ‘permission’ to fold in even more power 🙂 and you will see the difference in rep 2 and 4 in particular. On those reps, she wanted to add power but she also had to prepare to stop at the target. If the target is moving, you will see her use her hind end to power through even more.
You can also add in more distance on jump 3: you can move it to 12 feet on reps 2 and 4, and 15 feet on rep 3! I think she is ready for that.
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
He liked your marching on the lead out LOL ok maybe he didn’t but I found it entertaining LOL
Be sure to NOT look at him (:44) and look at the landing spot instead (1:15). That is a pretty massive difference in how he commits to the bar. I don’t think he will always need you to look at the landing spot but it is super helpful in these early stages. And it will help when you add in the backside games too!
Also – you can drop reward in behind you to really solidify the commitment to the bar (rather than commitment to you). You can use giant treats to drop on the landing spot to get a bunch of fast reps in a row. Or drop the toy which he will love, but it takes a tiny bit longer to get it back (which is perfectly fine of course :))
Tunnel reps looked good too!
You can add more speed to this one now – moving a little faster but maintaining that lovely connection to the landing spot that brought a lot of success.
Great job!
Tracy
Good morning!
It looks like you FINALLY have good weather!!! And great job keeping the session short. One of my current mantras with my 2 year old dog is DON’T BE GREEDY so I can totally relate.
He did really well with looking at the toy!!!! It is coming along nicely. The harder part was getting him to not be looking around in the stay.
I think if you make things happen faster as you get everything setup, he won’t look away for butterflies LOL That was pretty funny at the beginning but he didn’t break his stay and then he immediately looked at the toy when you cued it.
The 2nd rep was harder but he again held his stay and looked at the toy (eventually). And the last rep was the best!
So to make things happen faster: get him wild with tugging, get the sit, jog to put the toy down maybe 10 feet away, then jog to your position, praise, then point and see if he can keep his eyes on the work. The great outdoors is challenging in spring time! But he held that stay, looked at the toy when cued, and didn’t run off with it or anything goofy 🙂
The next step involved fading the toy and getting the jump involved again. Use a wing with a bar attached to it. Put the toy just past the bar on the landing side but close to the wing – still visible for the first couple of reps. Then if he is successful, you can start to ‘hide’ the toy behind the wing, bit by bit, fading it out so he is looking at the bar when cued and is trusting the toy will be there even though he can’t really see it. When he is successful with that, we can take the toy out entirely and use it as a thrown reward. Let me know if that makes sense! Nice work here!!
Tracy
Hi!
>apologize for my friends camera skills, lol. I hope you can see enough.>
It worked well! All of the important stuff is on the video:)
The first rep was interesting! He read the step so well that he pushed to the backside! That is still rewardable 🙂 And good to know that he doesn’t need a massive step. You took smaller steps on the other reps and he didn’t consider the backside.
We can smooth out the release process by adding the next part of the game that I think will be useful for him. If you released and your arm/leg was not fully in place, he sometimes would go past the jump. So we can add in getting him to focus forward on the jump before the release:
Lead out, and very slowly lift your arm to point to the jump but don’t release. Be angled enough that you can be connected to see where he is looking. When he looks at the jump, release him and then throw the reward. Getting him to focus forward on the jump will make your job as a handler much easier :). If he doesn’t look at the jump, you can place a toy on the ground past the jump, to give him the idea that we would like him to look forward.
He might think that the arm movement is part of the release – that is why I suggest moving your arm into the position very slowly for now so he doesn’t think it is a release 🙂 And you can throw rewards to him for NOT releasing when you move your arm into position.
He was flicking his eyes towards the jump a lot here, so I think it will be easy to get him to look at it! Then his rate of success on that first jump will go to 100%
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning! I hope you are feeling better!!!
Backside challenges are going really well!
Looking at the Countermotion exits first – super nice! He is definitely getting the idea of this! For the next steps on the exit, add in staying in motion while you release the stay.
Basically you will be walking through the line the whole time and when you pass the exit wing, say the release word , and look & point behind you to the landing spot (then throw the toy when he goes to the jump). This will help you be able to be past the exit wing and he will still take the jump.
And because you are going to be releasing while you moving, 2 ideas to maintain his lovely stay:
– don’t change your motion when you release. Slow, steady motion the whole time 🙂
– Sometimes walk through the line but don’t release, and reward the stay instead 🙂Putting it together:
He went to the backside brilliantly! Good boy, I don’t think he took a single accidental front side. Super!
He had questions about taking the jump on the backside when you added more speed/staying in motion to put it together. He was able to get it when you were changing your motion to help him out, so now the next steps are to get him to commit while you stay in motion. A couple of ideas for that:
As you are moving through the backside – you can swing your dog-side arm back like a serp arm and look at the landing spot as you move through so you don’t have to change your motion. And get that reward in for getting to the backside (like you did at 6:05 and a bunch of other lovely reps) rather than waiting for commitment then rewarding.
You can also angle the jump so the bar is more obvious as he comes around the entry wing – that way you can keep moving and begin to reward for commitment to the bar.
I think the combination of keeping you in motion on the countermotion exits with looking at the landing spot on the backside pushes will help him commitment to the jump, then we can add more speed from you 🙂
Circle wraps at the end: this is where you had a gorgeous connection to the landing spot on the last rep, and he nailed it! Super!!! It is this same connection to the landing spot that will help him get the commitment to the bar on the push backsides.
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
She is definitely getting the idea of the ‘get out’ cue!! Your cues were really good – for example, on the 2nd rep and after that, your feet were totally straight on the line and your upper body did all the cueing. Super nice!
She did have a little more trouble as the wing got further away – you can reward those ‘close but not perfect’ reps by throwing the reward anyway 🙂 She didn’t make it all the way to the jump on those but she definitely heading that direction. Moving the wing in closer helped too – adding distance might be a matter of adding it more incrementally in tiny bits. But she is well on her way to getting it!!
Her biggest question in that session was about the send to the start wing. If you looked ahead at it or pointed to it without connection, she didn’t really go to it. But when you connected to her eyes like at 2:15 – she zipped right to it 🙂 So definitely keep the connection on those sends.
Looking at the zig zags:
I think you will have an easier time if you lead out to cue the movement rather than try to run with her. When you led out, like at 1:10, you were showing the cues with big arms and foot movement and she read it well!
When you ran with her, you had to be super quick to get it 🙂 because it becomes a really hard serpentine. Leading out to face her will help show her the line changes a bit sooner (partially because she will expect it, based on the context & setup).
You can also angle the wings slightly so the bars are more visible as she moves up the line.
Nice work here!!!
Tracy
Hi!
> It’s super frustrating that food helps settle her but also can very easily make her sick.>
Super frustrating for sure! But also indicative that there is something going on in her gut biome that can potentially be throwing off her nervous system. The two are definitely linked! I can get some names of folks who can give advice on balancing gut biome, nutrition, etc. The science is really piling up that links gut health with behavior.
I see what you mean about the hypervigilance. Rewarding her to check in with you rather than tossing treats can help shift her focus off the environment plus it can also help her indicate what concerns her (because she will flick her view towards it)
It walking into the ring is hard and ‘expensive’ , you can totally carry her in especially in hard environments.
Have you ever shown her the super bowls pattern game? That one might be more useful too, because it uses visual targets that take out the scanning the environment.
For flyball foundation stuff: the check ins with you are a good one!
Also, recalls past other dogs. When there are 2 people, you can have one person walking the other dog past while you recall her on a parallel line.
She can be in a stay, and to start with you can have her 10 feet away then you can get her closer. Ideally the other dog is a calm helper so maybe Kristin can walk Kaladin? I am sure he will do it for the cookies 😀Hi!
This went well too, especially when you added the motion. He was fast and snappy with his responses!!>I noticed in the video that I had my feet pointed toward the prop some of the time
Your line was good overall! You can place a line on the ground for you to walk along, because that will prevent you from migrating towards the prop 🙂
>I called him to me with my arm pointed towards the prop>
Yes, especially on the first one – the arm totally said to get out. The look on his face was so funny, he was definitely trying to sort it out 😆 so for the straight line reps, the dog side arm is ideal so you can save the opposite arm for the get out.
Great job here!
Tracy
Aha! Good for you to add the motion, this TOTALLY made more sense to him! Very nice! Since this went so well, you can add more distance here too. Yay!
T
Hi!
I think he was expecting a release, perhaps, and didn’t realize he was not in a stay? That might be why he didn’t really move when you didn’t move. He did well when you were moving, so you can add the next step, where you are moving 🙂 It is a moving cue anyway, so we don’t need to worry about doing it with you standing still if he thinks it is weird 😉When you are moving, you can start pretty close to the line to start then add more and more distance away from it laterally. That will help jump start the behavior then I think it will be very easy 🙂
Nice work!
TracySuper nice start to the rocking horses! The single sends looked great.
When you did 2 in a row, he had a question on the 2nd one because it looks like your leg was stepping past the barrel on the 2nd send, blocking it a bit.
When you switched sides, you did not block to barrel and he found it with no questions. Yay!
He really lit up when you started using the toy! So definitely keep using it 🙂
When you moved the barrels a little further apart, he had a question on the send: if you look at him more as you step to the barrel (and point ahead a little less) then he will see your shoulders pointing to the line better and commit even better.
You can keep adding distance between the barrels. Great job here!
Tracy
Hi! Glad to see you back!
> I have completed week 5 and some of 6. If I keep doing 1 week at a time, will I be able to send in videos for a few extra weeks?>
We have an extra month built in here for video submissions – the last games are posted March 30th and the last day to post is April 27. If that isn’t enough time, let me know and we can swap into the Supersized class that is still running so you can still post 🙂
>Also wondering if you have any suggestions on helping him settle? He is a busy, busy puppy no matter how tired I get him. He has to stay in an expen when I’m not directly supervising him because he is still super destructive. He has lots of chewies and toys, but throw rugs and pillows and cushions and blinds are much more fun.>
Sounds like a normal teenager LOL so yes, keep tiring him out and giving him lots of activities/things to chew on.
To get more settling in the house, you can take some time where you know you will be able to sit on the couch and watch TV – and when he is already tired from other busy activities) and he can be in the room with you, some chewies, and a dog bed. You can tether him to you with a leash, then sit and relax (and basically ignore him). If you have another dog who will be very relaxed, you can have that dog help out by providing social learning.
Do it for a very short time, just letting him do whatever until he settles. Clear the area of any things you don’t want him to chew on (tethering will help prevent him from chewing on things that you can’t remove), and keep redirecting him to his chewies as needed. Short bursts of this mixed in with xpen time when you can’t chill with him or supervise him will help!
You’ll see that he will settle for longer periods and you’ll have to supervise less and less.
Tracy
Hi!
>Then i turned on the camera for this session and he checked out, I thought about getting the tug toy out but didn’t want to nag him, i did a couple of hand targets for food but he was like, meh. so waited til he opted-in to training>
Yes, if he had just done 2 sessions of multiple minutes with food, then you’ll want to give him a break and a toy to play with and re-energize for more.
Sniffing and checking out for a bit was his way of taking that break.
>He gave a very wobbly first rep so i gave a low value reward – then you see we quickly gain confidence and nail it. >
I think that first rep was rewardable – you were a little far from it and the step to it was not as clear as the 2nd rep, but he did indeed go around it! It looks like you were reaching towards him to reset and he stood still, and that is when the cookie came out. But you can totally reward the effort of that first rep, especially since he was not all-in when you were wanting to start the session.
You got the toy involved after that and he did great!
On those forward sends, you can connect more by looking at him and point at the barrel a little less. When you point forward and look forward, it actually turns your shoulders to the other side which was where he was going on the first rep and at 1:25. When your shoulders are clear (like on the sideways sends) he got it right each time 🙂
The backwards sending was harder for sure but he got it! You can shift your connection as he is passing you to look behind you at the barrel to help support his commitment there.Nice job!
TracyHi! This went well, he was able to find and offer behavior on the mat. Great start!
Your plan to elevate it by putting some foam under it is great – it makes it more obvious to him, and will also help you isolate your criteria. If you will want to have him hit with bith rear feet, start rewarding when you see that last foot hit the mat. You can at the mat rather than watch him, as that often makes it easier to see all the feet. And I literally count feet 1-2-3-4 and reward on 4 🙂Nice job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
>Yes the Farm still has sheep. They also have cats that try to sneak into the building.>
Yes, that is a lot! He was a good boy!
He was good about consistently bringing the toy back to you! The smaller space really helped (he didn’t have too far to go with it) and you were good about really tugging for a good amount of time before switching to the next throw.
>Seem most with a lot of fuzzy. Problem is he likes to eat them too>
Fuzzy is often a favorite when they are still growing in all the new teeth 🙂 and some dogs prefer fuzzy toys forever too! For the eating them – having the 2nd toy was helpful and you can also try having him trade for a cookie when he gets it back to you.
You can add in more space and see if he can still bring the toy directly back to you! You can also try throwing it and running the opposite direction to see how that goes 🙂
Great job!
Tracy
