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Hi!
That was very smart to introduce the tape measure line so she didn’t think it was a toy LOL!!!
She seemed to have a big breakthrough here!!! She was targeting your hand a bit on the first few reps, but at :34 it was like she had a big lightbulb moment – then she was driving around the barrel perfectly! You were able to do the FC earlier AND you had a toy in your hand! Super!!!!!
Since this is going really well, you can also look at the Handling Combos games – they incorporate the barrel wraps as well as some of the other games (blind crosses and driving ahead).
Great job!
Tracy
Hi!
She was so funny here – at the beginning she was like I GOT THIS LET’S GOOOOO Then waiting for you with one foot on it when you reloaded? SO CUTE and hilarious!
I agree, this was a really good session!
>(Had one yesterday on that same town green where she worked so well last time, but this time she left working to go jump on a person, so we won’t be able to work off leash in public any more 😔)>
Sounds like adolescence is arriving, it is your Christmas gift LOL!!!! It is ok to dial back freedoms in early adolescence.
The value for the parallel path is really locking in, and that allowed you to get rear crosses easily at 1:00 and 1:17. Timing was good on both of those! But I also think turning left might be her stronger side, because that timing on the right turn cues was not working as well.
The timing of the right turn RC at 1:27 was very similar to the previous RC, but she turned left (possibly because she had just turned left, or because she is a lefty or both).
When you moved up the line forward while changing sides, she was able to commit – at 2:19 yo were legit late because she could still fully see you on the left turn side.
But at 2:39, that was the best timing of the session – moving forward and fully on the right turn side so she nailed it. Yay!!
At 1:42, 2:10 and 2:33 you were actually a little too early 🙂 You were a little ahead of her so as she was just getting past you, you were pressuring in behind you. She is starting to read the pressure as part of the RC cue which is good! Her commitment to the prop was better when you were pressuring into the RC line and moving forward towards the prop (as it if it was on the center of the bar of a jump)
I think you might need to start running on these – doing the parallel path game at a jog, so when you do the RC part of it, you can move faster to the new side to make yourself more visible there before she arrives at the prop.
>I guess still more than two “failures” so I should have done more just going with her on the parallel path?>
Yes, but you were actively in “let me help her out” mode – and even with a few more failures, she still got reinforced a if they were successes. So you hit the goal of getting the training going while making sure she didn’t get frustrated.
Great job here!
TracyHi! Orlando sounds like a blast!! That event always seems so fun!! Sounds like a really wonderful road trip!
Firi did super well in the new place with his barking friends!! It is especially cool that he worked with so much focus and engagement since he loves small dogs!
He definitely seemed to enjoy doing the tunnel-to-dish game 🙂 Nice timing of the marker (just before he entered, but when yo saw him turning his head and ducking down to definitely enter. Yay!
He did better and better about being able to ignore the placed cookie in the dish when you had lots of food reinforcement happening as you walked away from the tunnel. That will help you be able to walk away with him without holding his collar 🙂
He only had one question, and that was at about 2:08 when he almost went directly to the dish. I think that was probably because the previous rep (1:52) was a lot closer to the tunnel entry, and the rep at 2:08 was almost at the tunnel exit. It was a pretty big change, so he had a little question but then was able to be successful after that.
Since he did so well with the threadle side entry and turning away, you can add your tunnel threadle verbal!
>We started with food then when I did the other direction I used a toy. It was so much fun. Went to check the camera and forgot to turn it on. Waaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!! So you don’t get to see it.>
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry LOL!!! The best sessions happen when we forget to turn on the camera 🙂 But since he did so well, you can move to the handling combos!
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
>I’m sure no one would notice. “Who’s the skinny one?” Esther? You might want to feed her more.”>
Just get him a thick Border Collie colored coat, no one will notice. LOL!
> I was not using my verbals – wasn’t sure if we were supposed to for this exercise.>
You totally can! I tell everyone to use their verbals as early as possible in the training, but if the verbals are new and the handling is new, then you can prioritize the handling over the verbals for now.
>Tonight we did sad indoor things. >
Ha! You can get a lot done indoors and it is a whole lot warmer!
For the get out:
Yes, you can add the verbal now! He was reading the physical cue really well.
>I think my issue would be if we had to bypass the prop – he’s so drawn to it- as soon as the bag hits the floor he’s on it. And my arm was not even up and he’s going to it.>
A couple of thing you can do to help him:
– for the next session, move the prop closer to the wall so you have more room laterally. That way there is a very clear line to you and a very distinct moving away to get to the prop.– For each rep, lead out so you are ahead of him when you release him, but about 5 or 6 feet – and not moving with him to the prop. That way he can see/hear a clear difference between the ‘get out’ cue versus the ‘stay on my line’ cue. Moving with him is not as clear as a lead out will be.
Then, when you want him to stay on his line with you, you can call his name and make your dog-side arm obvious (feel free to shake it a little :))
>Baby level of the strike a pose serpentines with the jump -no issues, no cutting behind me.>
He did really well here! Thinking about the circling – it might be something he does when arousal level is higher, and there is more pressure (serps have pressure because the dogs have to drive right in at the handler). But pressure and arousal are not the same as stress, so it is not concerning other than try not to let him rehearse circling you, ever 🙂
And since he does this serp behavior SO NICELY with the jump… no need to do it without the jump 🙂
Two details here:
Be sure to separate your hand motion of the serp hand going into position from the verbal release (he was starting to release on the verbal). Get yourself entirely in position, wait a heartbeat or two, then release.
Also, I think you are a little too far from the serp jump (he can fit his whole self over it with you there without having to turn). Get closer to it so you can touch it with a casually bent elbow. That will help him collect and turn before the bump, not after he goes over it.
He is ready for the next steps on this game:
– you can get an empty bowl on the ground and drop the reward into it, to replace feeding from your hand (it would go right below where your reward hand is, on his line to the exit wing). And you can use a toy! The toy can be in your reward hand then get to the ground as well.He did well with the 3 different positions here, so you can all exaggerate position 3 (the hardest position) and have him start on an even harder angle, to ask for more collection.
Great job here!!
Tracy
Hi! I think the target totally helped, as soon as he figured out to target to it! Yay!
before adding more distance, you can reduce the angle to board so it is much easier for him to step back onto (all he will have to do is lift his back feet about an inch to get onto it). There are 3 reasons for that:
– it will be easier to add distance away from it if stepping onto it is easier – and you can start him further and further away from it
– a lower board will keep him from shifting his weight onto his shoulders (we don’t want any headstand effect, because it is hard on puppy shoulders).
– the lower board can turn into a wobble board to add motion under his feet 🙂 That is a nice teeter foundation too!Since he was happy to target to the board, you can add more distance away to see if he can go back more steps. Brace the board with a bunch of towels or something under them so it does not move at first. Then if he is happy with that, you can fade out the towels gradually, so the board moves more and more… eventually he will be backing up onto a board that moves a lot 🙂
Great job here!
TracyHi!
I am so glad you had fun, and hopefully the content will continue to keep you busy as he continues to learn!
>looked around to see if there was any UKI or USDAA events near me just to try some different venues since we run NADAC (and maybe some day in the future will dip our toes/paws into some AKC). Unfortunately there is no UKI or USDAA events in my area on the calendars yet. >
My guess is that the UKI stuff just isn’t posted yet – that sadly doesn’t get posted that early! And there is not a lot of USDAA around, unfortunately.
>We will be running local NADAC trials in January, March and April.>Perfect!! Plenty of opportunities. There!
>Also very interested if you are able to set up a follow up forum as discussed in the Zoom!>I will get it sorted out after the holidays, when I have more brain power to come up with a good format 😁🤣😂
>This might sound silly, but is there a cheat sheet for all of the different pattern and arousal games. I tend to get stuck in routines and revert back to the same games.>Do you mean a list of all the different ones, or a general chart of when to use a pattern game? I do have charts like this in the planning section:
If it is the different pattern games, think of it as The Big Two:
– back and forth (which also builds into Find My Face)
– up and down (which builds into engaged chill)The main arousal game is the volume dial game (tricks for tugs and treats), which you can use any time – the trick is to figure out when it works best, based on how he responds 🙂
>(oh and I will sneak her secret in here because no one else is probably reading this post 🙂 …. her BIG secret that I can not wait to announce in all public forums….she is in the 2025 Puppy Bowl!! >
That is SO COOL!!! Now I will totally be watching! FUN!!!!!!!!!! I will absolutely be cheering for her!
>I enjoyed your teaching so much, that I would like to get her into the live Max Pup3 class. Do you know when you will be offering it next?>Right now we are about 2/3rds of the way through MaxPup 1, so the next class is MaxPup 2 (March). You can transfer your enrollment into that one! Then the net MaxPup 3 will be in June or July, which would make her the correct age for it 🙂
Thank you for the update! Keep me posted!
Tracy
Good morning!
You’re right, she looked at you like you were an alien 👽 LOL!!!!!I think the tunnel verbal has value and also a specific verbal energy. And movement towards the tunnel has value as a cue too. But the new verbal alone doesn’t have value yet.
So we can use it in a specific order to get the tunnel threadle verbal to have meaning and value:
Say the new cue (tunnel threadle verbal) then the “old” cue (either the tunnel verbal or movement to the tunnel.
So it can be zoom zoom zoom (I think that’s what you are saying 🙂 ) then tunnel tunnel tunnel without moving. Or it can be zoom zoom being completely stationary… then keep saying it as you step to the tunnel (kind of what you did at the end of the video).
That should help her understand the new cue, because it predicts the original cue coming. Then we fade the other cue (like the tunnel verbal) and maintain the value/meaning of the new cue.
Let me know how it goes!!!
Tracy
What a stunning place to let the dogs have a run! Wow! Alaska is simply amazing. The dogs looked like they were all having a grand time ❤️
Have a fantastic Christmas 🎄 and happy New Year!!!!
Tracy
Hi! This went great!
On the first run without the toy: Nice teeter! Nice sequence! Nice job praising her at the end of the run (with the sequence curling back into the course) and *then* running back to the toy. Perfect!
It was very cool to see that the teeter behavior was the same without the ball as it was with the ball. She drove brilliantly to the end. She is releasing from the teeter at the same time every time… sometimes you say th release word at the same time, sometimes he is already in motion when you say it. So be sure to be consistent so she doesn’t end up learning that the slam is the release, not the verbal.
Only one suggestion for the start of the sequence when you were working the remote reinforcement:
If you are going to work trial behavior… add the leash in because it will be part of the picture and can also change the context entirely. The leash will always be in the picture at trials, so ideally it is at least regularly in the picture at home too 🙂 especially when working remote reinforcement. That way there is no huge contextual leap at trials when the leash is involved. Plus, if the leash is mainly used at trials going into the ring, it can become associated with the higher arousal levels and possibly stress. Using it at home will help keep it neutralized 🙂 plus it helps both of you be able to work the pre-run plan with the mechanics of dealing with the leash 🙂
Great job here!
TracyHi!
Dean was a perfect leash runner LOL! We owe him!!! He was trying to act pretty invisible and not be a distraction, but that is different from normal human behavior so it ends up being distracting. Note how she shook it off both times the leash came off.
The nicely done babe moment was hilarious!!!
I was going to suggest he be a pushy leash runner and you did that on the 2nd run. Perfect!! She did well on both of these. And she was great about getting the leash on too, even with the treats *rightthere* on the 2nd rep.
This is something you can have Khamsin and Kristen do this weekend with you – everyone is a stalker leash runner 🙂 or walking around the ring like ring crew, judge, etc. It is great exposure for the pups (you can have food in the ring with you because the other people might be a significant challenge.
Nice work here!!
Tracy
Hi!
>He does know the 1,2,3 pattern, that would be a good one for moving him from A to B>
Definitely! That is a good option. Or moving hand touches! He likes those a lot and he can leap around while doing them (which he also likes a lot LOL!)
>OK, no more foot stomping.
Yea, I’m pretty good at ignoring unsolicited advice. Got a great one from the judge this past weekend – I should arm the ring crew with squirt bottles when we train LOL.>Unsolicited advice is usually the WORST. Maybe one time out of every 1000 times, someone offers something useful. But otherwise, it is not helpful LOL!! I think squirt bottles fall into the same category as foot stomping – it is weird and punishing, so he is going to associate ring crew people with being weird and punishing… and therefore need to be investigated before he can ignore them. He ignores people he knows because he has already investigated them, great! The goal is to make ring crew people into boring things: not fun, but also not weird/scary, so he won’t feel the need to check them out.
> she does accept me as her flaky student>
You are the opposite of flaky! You are always looking to expand your knowledge and help your dogs. That is great!
> For the near future class runs will be all about rewarding passing ring crew instead of rewarding performance – he goes by I mark with praise and toss his lotus ball – yes?>
Yes, perfect!
>As far as the ring crew placement, I put out the chairs when I build the course and I generally pick “in his face” locations. Should I make it a bit easier for a while?>
Great question – I think you can keep the really prominent placement on jump/tunnel lines, he is ready for that. But not yet for weaves or contacts, that might cause errors. When he is able to ignore any ring crew shenanigans with jumps & tunnels, then you can add back the weaves & contacts.
Keep me posted!
Tracy
OMG! She did great! She is already fast and going to get faster 🙂 YAY!!!!! To add a little challenge, you can angle the jumps so she sees a slightly different ‘look’ to them. Her line will be the same (straight) but you can show her this parallel path concept on slightly angles jumps too 🙂
Nice work!
TracyHi!
The first session with the bowl seemed to really clarify things for him about the left turns. My only suggestion is to have multiple treats in each hand, so you can do very quick reinforcement – things happen very fast with Checkers! LOL!
He did do well with the toy on the one rep you posted – if he was turning it down, it might have been too much food association with the bowl in the picture before the toy came out, so he was not as interested in the toy. Or maybe he is teething. Or both 🙂
On the 3rd video – he still had a cookie in his mouth from lining up so when you presented the toy, he was still actually eating. I bet he would have played after that, you would need to let him swallow the treat before sending him to the barrel.
Be super connected on the send, making sure he is ready by making eye contact then maintaining eye contact through the send. At :45 he was eating (cookie hand in front of his face) and then suddenly you sent – so he didn’t really see connection and went around the barrel to his right. That is still a rewardable response, because at this stage we are entering the Handler Error Era LOL!! Based on what he saw (the rotation of the shoulders without connection looks like a natural blind cross cue) so he was correct. So you can call him back and reset him with a cookie, then make a bigger connection so he knows which side of you to be on.
When you were connected on the other left turns, he did them really well! Those looked great!
Looking at the running contact box:
>I am very impressed with my puppy’s ability to canter through the box while staring at me the whole time.>
Yes, impressive LOL!!!! I think part of it was because of your position – right next to the box. He could easily do the box and look at you 🙂 So you can change your position and make it harder to do the box AND look at you: put yourself on one side of the box, and send him through it to the bowl on the other side of it. That way he has to look forward 🙂 You can make it easy: put the bowl in the box at first. Then put it just on the other side of it. Then get it further and further away. This will be a good game to noodle around with while you pump up the value of the T&T.
Adding the handling combo with the dish:
>We played this way too long- I didn’t set a timer and lost track of time trying to figure out the food bowl and line up stuff.>
I think that might be the #1 homework: set a timer every single time 🙂 This is especially important if you are doing multiple games because then you can end up training for 15 minutes… which is not helpful for puppy brains. Put a post it on your camera that says “timer!” 😁. Or take 10 treats with you and leave the rest in the house, that is another good way to keep sessions shorter.
To get him to leave the dish, the empty dish was the definite right choice – it has value but not so much value that he couldn’t take his eyes off of it. He did really well! Getting him to leave a treat in the bowl will probably be easier when he has his collar on and you can hold and feed him while walking away from it.
>You’ll see we had some issues actually getting the front cross, some was me forgetting it, some was him blasting behind me.>
The ending up on the other side of you was a disconnection question – he couldn’t always see enough connection to know which side to be on. Ideally, your arm is pointing back to him rather than at your side, which will allow him to see the front of your chest and your eyes. On a couple of those moments (2:54 for example) he is exiting the barrel and you are looking down at your side with your arm at your side – so that rotates your shoulders forward and looks like a blind cross cue so he went back to your left side. On a couple of the other reps (3:13 for example) you were definitely looking back at him, but your arm was at your side so he didn’t quite see the connection. Compare to 4:06 for example when your arm was further back, so he saw the side info very easily. Yay! The further back towards him your arm is, the easier it is for him to see the side info 🙂
You can see a side info question on the last video too! He was great about going to his toy! At 1:07 and 1:35 you had your hand really low but next to you, which blocked the connection so he only had motion as the cue – so he stayed on his line to the toy. Try being more upright and running forward, but having the dog-side arm pointing all the way back and downwards to his cute little nose (while looking at him, of course 🙂 That will help him see the connection because they cue off of our eyes & shoulders much better than off of our hands when they finish crosses.
>He’s having some big feelings lately, more alert barking to noises and he burst out of the house (on leash!) barking at my neighbor’s young child across the street, even though he’s met that child and loves her. So we’re just working on keeping the brain calm and happy and not asking for anything too stressful in everyday life right now, and getting more rest>
Ah, sounds like adolescence is arriving! Those are typical adolescent behaviors. I am glad you are adding rest in – lots of rest really helps. And you can also take a look at the decompression stuff added this week! And getting those pattern games to be super fluent will help too, because you can use them to help with arousal regulation especially in new places or when unexpected things happen.
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi! It works now! Youtube is weird 🤣
I first need to admit my admiration for a camping spot big enough that you can do the wrap game in it!!! Nice!!!
It went really really super well – nice commitment!!! My only suggestions are small details that will move you forward to the advanced level:
– as he is exiting the barrel, you can open up your shoulder and your connection to him more by pointing your hand all the way back to him. You were looking for him with your eyes really well – but your arm was a little bent and next to you, which blocks his view of your connection
– you can repeat your ‘wrap’ verbal several times, to blanket the distance to the barrel (and future jump) to support him as you add more distance. You might also want to consider different verbals for when he is wrapping left versus wrapping right.
– add the toy now! It can be before the game starts, then do a couple of reps for treat, then back to the toy. And if he is good with that in terms of arousal regulation, then you can do the whole game for the toy.
>seemed pretty focused on the game (and not jumping up on me – Yeah! Maybe the 30 minute run on the beach took the edge off him! LOL!)>
Yes! He had no arousal questions at all, which is great! That is why we can gradually bring the toy in – maybe do the 30 minute run on the beach again before using the toy 🙂
You can apply these and move forward to the advanced level 🙂
>he jumped up on the picnic table bench….so I just went along but he seems a lot more balanced on it!>
That was amazing!! I guess that is latent learning/sleep dependent plasticity in action LOL!!! And it actually created a bit of a handling discrimination: barrel versus plank! You switched sides and made it a lot easier for him.
Great job!
Tracy
