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Good morning! Hooray for MaxPup 3!
>>Are there going to be live sessions for it? >>
There will not be live sessions – the original MaxPup 3 lives were multi-hour seminars (3 hours, I think?) and that was back when we were all pretty much at home doing nothing LOL!!! I tried it spread out across a couple of weeknights but life has gotten back to the normal crazy schedules, so now the content is a bit updated and also tweaked to be at-home seminars that you can do all in one multi-hour session with lots of breaks, or spread out over multiple sessions. The most recent MaxPup 3 folks have spread the sessions out which has allowed for repeating skills and adding new stuff, and that has worked well 🙂
>>(not that I really need more things on my calendar since I want to get 2 of the Camp live sessions for Kaladin!)>>
Yes, I figured trying to schedule live sessions for Maxpup 3 was going to be nearly impossible for all of us LOL!
>>So a quick release added to where the chest strap connects to the saddle part of the harness? Do you go over his head when putting it on but use the quick release just when taking it off?>>
For a harness, the quick release can probably be anywhere on the strap. Ramen’s is a martingale not a harness, so the release is on the collar (and it is pretty and fluffy LOL). When I first put it on, I slip it over his head (because he doesn’t mind it at that point). Then I use the clip to get it off. Then when it needs to go back on, I can either clip it then slide it over his head, or put it on from under his chin and then clip it. I like the flexibility – sometimes he has a toy in his mouth so I can put it on again or take it off while he can still hold his toy 🙂 It was Robin’s idea to add it and I am very glad I did.
On the tandem turn video –
Yes, she is totally recognizing the cue (the hands and the position too) and is responding early in a good way. Check out the rep at :34 and also at 2:00 where she turns to look at the wing for the turn away as soon as the cue starts – this is going to bode well for independent threadle wraps!>>Had about a minute of her being completely distracted sniffing at something on the ground in the middle – no idea what it was.>>
Yes, something caught her nose at 1:18 – maybe a cheese scent in the grass? Or some type of other smell? But it definitely looked like a scent question. If she is getting caught in drifting cheese smells, you can go to a food-holder toy like a treat hugger because that can help isolate the smell and prevent a pool of scent from flying around.
On the accordion video:
>>She also didn’t think much of me adjusting the jump distances and even did a lap under the deck during one of them. >>
You can bring her station out and she can chew a bone or hang out on it while you are moving the jumps! I know she has a background in that behavior but it might have been a while since you used it?
The session is going well – the bounces are going well on reps 1, 2, 4, 5. The 3rd rep was the one with the questions indeed (and it is the hardest rep, so that makes sense). She didn’t release on the first release, and took the line with her head up a bit so the jumping was a little inverted. It was definitely a puzzle for processing! Show it to her again in a couple of days and see what she does – her brain probably just needs to lock in the mechanics.
>>I feel like the 1 stride distance can spread out a bit more. She looks like she was shortening her stride to fit it in.>>
Yes – it is good to have a variable stride! I do want her to see the 7 foot distance again to see if she can figure out the mechanics puzzle. When she is fully adult, she will probably be able to bounce it but for now it will be good to see how she sorts out the distance! And in future sessions, you can move the 3rd jump out more to present different puzzles – you can do 6 feet and 9 feet for example.
Great job here!!
Tracy
Good morning!
Look at her go on those sequences! Super!!! I am so excited for her future!
On the first couple when she was on your left: SO NICE!!!
First run – super nice connection! She was really fast so the timing on the FC between 2 and 3 can come sooner (starting when she is halfway between 1 and 2 is probably the sweet spot), but the connection is more important and you nailed it.The second rep with the throwback also looked good – when you are throwing her back at 2, you can back up less (leading out a bit more laterally) and look at the landing spot sooner (as you point to it). She is ready for that cue to come sooner too!
On the other side, dog on right:
Great lead out and release… but you were not connected at all so she just came to you. Compare to the next rep where you had lovely clear connection before the release (:19)It looks like connection was the question at :27 too – you are looking at the jump and pointing to the jump, but she doesn’t see enough info on that and at this point is going to just come to you. You can reset her with a reward because when that happens, it is entirely possible that the pup doesn’t have enough info to get it right – after all, based on your position, it could be a forced front cross so she kind of has to guess)
You gave her a bigger step at :31 and a verbal, both of which totally help! But add in more connection back to her eyes before the release, as well as stepping to the takeoff spot (even though you are on the landing side). That will mean you are slightly rotated which is great for this, because it will also cued the turn that is coming.
Nice work here!!!
TracyGood morning! 85 degrees doesn’t sound terrible but 80% humidity is DEFINITE melting weather! Ewwww! Hopefully the storms clear out the humidity without making things too wet.
Looking at the videos:
Reps 1 and 2 went great! Great job with the connections and verbals. The tandem turns are going well – you are probably able to do the turn away with the hand cue even sooner, because especially on the 2nd video he was locked in to the cue really nicely! And the threadle to the tunnel at the end of both looked strong too.He had a question at :09 on the first one and :07 pm the second one (same spot in the sequence, coming out of the tunnel to the soft turn wing) because the tunnel is long, you can spread the wings out as much as possible and run in closer to the tunnel, so there is motion when he exits. That way he can see the wing and the connection, and will keep moving up the line.
On the 3rd video, you are doing the tandems a bit sooner and he is reading them better and better each time! Nice!! They are definitely going well. Super!!
>>Venture demonstrated the ridiculous tunnel behavior he started this week, WT#?>>
That is actually not that uncommon! My dogs have done it and I remember some of my smaller dogs running along the top of the tunnel a couple of times LOL! And I have been plenty of dogs do it at this stage too. What is probably happening is that the angle of entry to the tunnel when sending from there is a really hard collection AND they have to take their eyes off of us to do it… AND we are taking off and running (it never happens when we are stationary!) So the youngsters don’t quite get it all organized and run past the entry. And the neuroscience people tell us that the adolescent brain might be telling the dog that he absolutely nailed it perfectly (thus the confusion when we are like, dude, that was wrong. LOL!)
It will go away, and we can help them 🙂 When starting at that angle, send and walk away so there is motion but it is easier. Then gradually add more motion – and reward the tunnel when sending a those angles.
And if he goes past it? Two options! If he looks confused if you tell him he was incorrect, it is fine to keep going on that rep and reward at the wing. Then on the next rep, you can slow down your motion and reward him for getting into the tunnel.
If he does not looked confused if you stop – you can call him back and send him again, but with less running as you send and then reward the tunnel.
As he develops the mechanics of the turn into the tunnel, he will definitely stop running past it or standing on it looking at you LOL!
Nice work here 🙂
TracyHi!
He did great here with you both the takeoff side and on the landing side. Super! Nice job with your releases and the reward throws too. Easy peasy!
Since this went so well, you can add distance two different ways: keep the wing & jump close like they were here, and move his start position further back from jump 1. Or, keep him close to 1 like he ws here and move the jump and wing further apart.
When you switch sides, though, and he is on your right side – do exactly what you did here on your left to be sure he can do it on your right too.
Great job!!!
TracyHi!
The proofing game is looking great! The tunnel cues were easy for him and were very distinct in terms both physical and verbal cues.He came in each time on the serp cue – your shoulder was closed forward on these, so it might be more helpful to use and open shoulder/upper body rotation (think of it as center of your chest rotated to face the center of the bar). There are two reasons for this:
– The serp is a 2-part cue (come in then go out) and with the shoulder closed (perpendicular to the bar) the cue only shows the ‘come in’ element. By opening the upper body towards the jump, you will be cuing both the come in and the go out elements of the serp.
– when in motion, a closed shoulder on both the tunnel cue (even if your arm is a little ahead) and the serp cue will start to look a little too much the same. So, having your arm back and shoulders rotated to face the jump will make the serp look distinctly different as you add more and more speed, building up to running 🙂The threadle is looking really good too! Your arm cue and shoulder position was very clear. You can keep the arm in position and shoulders open for longer, until he looks at the jump. That way he will find the jump without you stepping to it, and that will bring even more independence to the skill.
Since he did so well, you can keep adding motion! You had walking at the end, so you can build up to jogging 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi! I hope Jackpot is feeling better!! Poor guy!
>> I still have other videos already cued for review that I completed before this last submission. I’ll start posting those games, one at a time, to clear them from the desk >>
If you have videos that are ready to be posted, feel free to post them at the same time (rather than one at a time). That will speed up the feedback process!
Tracy
Yes – it is here:
Hi!
>>I think my mechanics on the “wait” are still incorrect. Why is it so hard???
Because stays/waits are one of the hardest things! Dogs are brilliant at pairing things, and also motion is a HUGE cue for dogs. So it is super easy to pair motion with the release and then motion (of a hand or head turn or subtle things) becomes the cue. Sigh! I think you did a great job here really paying attention to the releases and NOT pairing them with the same motion consistently. Sometimes you were stationary, sometimes moving, etc. All good!
Looking at the accordion:
You might have noticed that he was not really powering up the line on these, and it was because he was trying to read handling cues and not the grid. This is because you had different cues going and also they didn’t match the toy placement so he was being a little careful (good boy!)For the accordion, because we want him reading distances and not also having to read handling, to get the power jumping it is best to lead all the way out to the reward then release. You were moving slowly on the first 2 reps so he was matching his pace to you. On the 3rd rep, you were stationary but the toy was ahead and you were near jump 3, so he was not sure if he should power to the toy or pay attention to your decel. The same happened at :48 (4th rep) where he put in a collection stride on 3 (good boy!) because of your position. And he had a bit of a hitch stride (watch his front feet) at :56 – you were stationary but said get it so he was trying to figure out which to pay attention to: position/motion or toy.
So you can make it all easier if you and the toy placement are indicating the same thing 🙂 Leading out to it will help, and also having the moving target of the dragging toy will help a lot! I think you will then see some really powerful striding on that because he won’t have to think about handling cues or decel.
The Backsides session also looked really good! Only one little blooper at :08, where I think you were just a little too far across the bar near the exit wing (as compared to the first rep and the following reps) and not moving a lot to support the parallel path. On the other reps you were a little closer to the entry wing (looked like you ended up on the line to the center of the bar) and he did great!
GREAT job dropping the reinforcement in! You can add more motion to this, jogging up the line then working up to running 🙂
Great job with the countermotion! Nice job dropping the toy – excellent timing and placement there too. When he is comfy with you sending to the backside from further across the bar, you can add the fancy exit 🙂 with countermotion to begin to set up backside serps (with the wrap exits) or the German turn exits.
Great job!
Tracy
Hi!
Short video, yes, but great session! He did really well! Only 2 small details to add for the next session:– he might be an inch or two too far back from jump 1 (literally, an inch) to get that sweet spot for takeoff. So you can try to cookie lure him so he is in a sit maybe 4 inches from the bar and we can see if that centers him between 1 and 2 a tiny bit more.
– as the 3rd jump moves further away, the reward can be further away too so she doesn’t have to decelerate to it. So the reward will always be about 12 feet from jump 3, no matte where jump 3 is 🙂 And, since he is doing really well and his stay looks great, you can add the moving target to this game too!
Great job!!!
Tracy
Interesting to see this! When it was going over her head in the ‘traditional’ way, she flicks her ears a lot, kind of like a horse flicks their ears when flies are being annoying or there is a weird feel. When the harness was sideways, she didn’t flick her ears. She put them down and back for long enough to get the strap over them, but it was a different movement that seemed to indicate a different mood about it.
Watching this and also I think you said she doesn’t love it coming off over her hear – you can probably alter the chest strap to put a quick release buckle the harness doesn’t have to go over her head – it can add an easier way to get it on & off while retaining the benefits of the harness. I got a martingale made for Ramen with that release clip on the next part – he doesn’t mind it going over his head but he tries to “assist” by moving his head back really fast and ends up looking like a flailing fish LOL!! Robin made it (I cannot remember the name of her company, but it is Robin from MN who is at OTR).
Keep me posted!
Hi!
Thank you for the kind words! It has been fantastic having you and Kashia in class – you are an awesome student/trainer to be able to take written info and videos, and translate them into real time training with your dog. The progress has been amazing and an absolute joy to watch. Thank you for being open-minded and willing to try crazy things 😁 – Kashia is doing GREAT!
Looking at the video: this went really well!
The 2 reps of forced front crosses with the throwback at the beginning looked great!Going to the other side was harder because the angle 1-2 was harder to see – she really had to think about finding the correct line (plus I am sure she was a little distracted by the storm coming in).
But after the storm she had it figured out – no questions about finding that line! Super! And you had really strong connection to get her to jump 2 and also show the backside of 3. Nice!!The last part had a couple more forced fronts. There was one little blooper at 1:41 where you stepped back too early (right after she landed from 1) so it did look like a cue to the front side. Compare to the next rep (and previous reps) where you were stationary until she was just about reaching the backside and those were perfect!
Great job here! Hope to see you in future classes!
Tracy
Hi! I am glad Frankie is feeling better. Poor girl!
>>Do I do the 2×2 track lesson 1 one day (like Saturday) and then on Tuesday do the Channels track lesson 1? And switch back and forth between the tracks as they progress? So, do different tracks on different days but work through both at the same time?>>
Yay for being able to borrow channels! Yes, you can alternate sessions, every couple of days. Or, do a little of both on the same day (like 5 reps of 2x2s, and 5 reps of going down the channels) if you can limit yourself to just a few reps of each. Human self-control is hard LOL!! As the poles gets more and more closed, you will likely begin to see a preference where she is more successful in the 2x2s or channels and that is where you can choose which to do. And if you don’t see a preference, you can choose whichever one you like better 🙂
The first reps were great with a reward in position then the release – super! When she froze in position, she was probably waiting for another reward in position. On the successful reps with the release, it was very clear that there would be no more rewards in position (you were upright and facing forward more. And on the frozen rep, you were reaching to the cookie pocket on the first one, then had another cookie in your hand on the 2nd one. I think that there were cookies in your hands on the others, but something about the body language when she didn’t release was saying “more cookies coming” so she kept offering the position 🙂
You can start to add movement – eventually you will be running past the teeter, but you can start with fake walking 🙂 And see if she can hit and hold position. And if that goes well, you can go to slooowwwww walking and eventually we will add more and more speed.
>>On one rep she didn’t let me hold her & jumped up on the teeter and I froze and didn’t treat her and I can see that it messed with her confidence. >>
If she slips away and gets into position, you can release her and reward in a line up position so she still kinda gets a reward, but also she doesn’t start the game without you 🙂
She did great with the decel game! She offer great collection and that is rare when beginning this game LOL!! She was also coming all the way around the wing after the first rep – it is very easy for small dogs to back jump but you delayed your FC a tiny bit on the next rep or two and she didn’t back jump again.
She sends were AWESOME!!! She powered past you and still got a great collection. That looked amazing!!! So you can start to add FCs on those too, to challenge her to maintain her commitment while you are turning and moving the other way (back towards the tunnel).Great job!!
TracyGood morning!
>>You will see a nicely executed FOOSH (fall on outstretched hand) with a roll. No human or dog injuries>>
Yikes! I am glad you were not hurt! Ginger was trying to help you up!
The lead outs are going really well, she is reading the lines perfectly! The one detail to add on all the different types is to be heading more to 3. On the blinds, you can be lateral on the line the whole time, so before she even lands from 1 she will see your lateral motion heading to 3. That will set up and even better turn. And if you can lead out a little more, you will be able tp get the crosses started before she takes off for 3 which will help too.
For the FCs, you will definitely want to be closer to 3 when you start them because they take longer to finish than the blinds 🙂 If you are too close to 2, the rotation of the FC will indicate a straight line for too long, so being closer to 3 will help her see the cues soon. Same with the throwback at the very end – be right at jump 3 for that so se cam use your position to drive directly towards.
For the lead out pushes – your position on the lead out should be in the center of the bar of 2, but be fully rotated so your feet and upper body are facing 3 before you release. You were tending to rotate and release in one motion, which does indicate a straight line before the turn. You might not have full been trusting her stay, so you can rotate then throw a reward back, so she doesn’t release on your rotation into position.
Looking at the teeter reps – she sure is motivated for the food, especially the meatballs! But she is not yet fully convinced she loves the noise and motion of the teeter, so take a less-is-more approach for these games: rather than 8 or 10 reps of the same thing for smaller bits of the reward, do only 2 maybe 3 reps for HUGE rewards then be done. Leave her wanting more! This will develop more drive to the end of the board and will also stop the session before she notices the movement or noise more, and before there is too much repetition.
On the bang game, she was more confident so you can add a target so she gets into target position – are you planning a 2on, 2off for her, or a 4on position? That determines the target placement.
She really loved the meatballs for the mountain climber, but we can set this up so that she drives to the top more and doesn’t slow down
Put a giant chunk of meatball at the top, and help her to get on straight each time (helping her turn around seemed more comfortable than lifting her off). Do maybe 2 reps of that for big chunks, then don’t do anything else on the teeter 🙂 You did several as the mountain climber then switched to the full teeter, and she slowed down on each full teeter (looking for the pivot and waiting for the noise – it is a noisy teeter for sure!) She kept doing it because the meatballs were so motivating, but you will find that you will get more confidence and speed across the board by doing very few reps for those meatballs 🙂 and a gradual progression to adding tip.Nice work here!
TracyGood morning!
Nice work here! I think the hardest part was the stay… with the toy as the moving target, I think she movement of the toy has been paired with the release too much so she thinks the moving *is* the release. That was causing a bit of confusion on the lead out and that can change the jumping, so 2 ideas for you:
– with the ladder and accordion grids, stick to a stationary toy on the ground so you can make the release really isolated from any movement.
– separately, on the flat and one jump, do some stay sessions where she holds the stay while you put the toy down, begin to move it, then a few steps later add the verbal release.Doing these separately will be good because then she only has to process 1 thing: the grid, or the stay release when the toy is moving.
The jumping is going well, she is actively sorting out her striding as the 3rd jump moves further away. You can start to work up to that 3rd jump being 12 feet away then 15 feet away, so she can see realistic stride distances (and eventually 18 feet away, 20 feet, etc).
Because this involves a decent amount of jumping and she is young, you can take the grid out once or twice a week. The stay work can be done more regularly because it is a lot less jumping.
Great job!!
TracyGood morning!
The lead out game looks great! The course trend for this skill has basically evolved into more of a dog-training skill than a handling skill – meaning, we leave the dog in front of the jump we want them to take and we go basically anywhere to release them to it (I am seeing a lot of that on the WTT courses!)
So yes, your arm can be a little lower and you can direct the motion more to the takeoff spot (whether you are on the takeoff side or landing side). But also, it is good to get her to take the jump from any angle and with you anywhere 🙂 Since she did so well here and you already started adding angles, you can continue to add more angles. Keep adding the various slices and also instead of her facing towards you on the slice, you can start gently angling her so she is facing away from you on the slice.
If she is on your right side: the jump is at 12 on a clock and when she is facing straight, she is at 6 on the clock. The angles you added were in the 5 and 4 on the clock direction. So you can now also add the 7 and 8 on the clock direction. Let me know if that makes sense 🙂
Her only question was at 1:27 on the throwback, so you can look more at landing there and less at her, while throwing the reward to he landing spot as you move away to help her come around the wing and not back jump.
You can also add more distance between jumps (but with her on easier angles so we are not hitting her with a double whammy of challenge 🙂
On the backside video: She did really well with you n the line to where the wing and bar meet! You can start to inch over to get further across the bar – the parallel line motion and finding the sweet pot of where your dog-side arm should be will be on tap when you add that. I think you can also run more, as that forward motion will help propel her up the line.
The countermotion looked really strong too, and it will help with the throwback question she had in the lead out video. She is just about ready to have the backside cue and countermotion exit get put together 🙂
>>I tried flipping the loop to the side of doing it 180 with the loop on top and she seemed to like that better. I’ll have to get video of it and see if I’m imagining things or not.>>
That is clever! I know lots of small dogs who don’t love things going over their heads (or is it dogs with more coats, because maybe their fur got caught?) But having a sideways approach is smart!!!Nice work here :)
Tracy
