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Good morning!
>I also really appreciate your suggestion to review in slo-mo. I’ve been videoing my dog training sessions almost daily for 7 years, but I’m not sure I’ve looked at them in slo-mo before this week. I was an athlete, and slo-mo was integral to reviewing video for my sport.>
Very cool!! What was your sport?
>I’m not sure why I haven’t used it in dog training yet>
I didn’t really think of using slow motion when I was only training/running agility. Participating in flyball has really gotten the slow motion review into my soul 🙂 There is simply NO WAY that I can see what is happening in real time with a dog running the whole pattern in 3.5 seconds… while I am 90 feet away and with 3 other dogs and handlers in the ring. There is no way LOL!!! And using slow motion and freeze frame has really helped tons in agility and general dog training too!
>I’m also relieved to hear that I’m mostly not super early moving my hands>
Yes! That is huge! I was inspired by your work to look back at some of my videos: early in sessions I am very precise, then that wanes and my precision is not nearly as good later in the session. Good to know so I can remember to maintain the good mechanics.
>We went camping in the Arizona desert – and had room to run. >
Wow! This was so fun and the area is gorgeous!!
He did really well with his engagement and enthusiasm in this new environment!!
His ability to go from food to toy to food to toy is looking great.>All of the reps started with releasing Skizzle to get the cookie from a dish – which gave me time to run away from him.>
Perfect! And that also added the challenge of food-to-toys, which he had no problem with. Yay! And the bowl was a clear visual because finding the treat on the ground might have been challenging.
>On the blind cross coming towards the camera – I start out with the toy in the correct hand, but then transfer it to the same side he’s coming to.>
On the first rep moving away from the camera, the mechanics were spot on. You can take a moment to plan mechanics before each rep, and remind yourself to not switch the toy around 🙂 We often reward from the dog-side hand so it probably feels more natural to switch and you might need to remind your hands to not switch the toy 🙂
>For the toy chase – really toy race – maybe he looks caught off guard by my presence close? I think this is the point, right, to get them used to running adjacent to the handler (for agility)?>
Yes – he was a little surprised by your proximity and/or speed, and then he was being polite when you reached for the toy even when he got there first. And also yes – the goal is that he is comfortable with running a line and you running hard too and nearby. So to get him to be *less* polite 🙂 and grab the toy, 2 ideas for you:
– throw it like you did and then let him go to run to it… and if you get there first, you play with it without him by lifting it up higher and teasing him (but don’t let him tug on it :))
– then after a few seconds of that, immediately go into your next rep by holding him, throwing the toy… and when you let him go, you can move forward but with less speed and proximity so he wins and grabs the toy. Then you can play tug with him, or cheer him on if he takes a victory lap with the toy. Victory laps are acceptable in this game because the winner gets to party without the loser for a moment LOL!!! Let me know how he does with that!Great job!
Tracy
This is looking super strong too! As with the self-control game, you can use a ‘get it’ marker to indicate the thrown treat (the ‘yes’ often gets the pups looking at us instead of at the line). You can add more distance here too, as well as starting with her to see if she will move ahead of you to it (which sets up the rear crosses nicely).
>I tried the counter movement after this one but my timing was way off. Will try again maybe tomorrow.>
She might have been tired – she did a lot! And when you try it again, be sure to send with an empty hand and look bak at the prop to help support her commitment.
Great job these!!
Tracy
Hi!
Novel-neutral went really well – you don’t need to say ‘yes’ and ‘get it’. Your ‘get it’ marker will tell her both that she was correct and that the treat is tossed, so you can stick with ‘get it’ only.
In the novel-exciting video – it is in those initial moments when a distraction is present that we want the pups to ignore them – the cookie bag was too close for a very food-driven pup 🙂 We want her ideally to not go investigate it all (especially in the first moments), so you can add the novel-exciting object a lot further away, or higher up on something. She was able to work through it, but ideally she doesn’t go to it on the first few reps.
The open bag was really hard but she did well! As with the previous video, have it a little further away at the beginning (like up against a wall in this setup, or on a chair). That way she doesn’t investigate it in the initial moments. When she is able to fully ignore it, you can move it a little closer 🙂
Nice work!
Tracy
Hi!
Sitting down was ideal here and you got some solid rewards in! It is a strong start! You can leave your hands down in front of you so she doesn’t lift her head up as much to look at the cookies.And since you got this started, you can move to adding the target to the backing up – that will give her a destination and should help get even more steps backwards. You can see it on the demo video and the description is in the “Adding Challenge” section here:
Nice work!
TracyGood morning!
She was great with the pattern game! Super! On the patio? NO problem, easiest game ever. In the grass? Also the easiest game ever. PERFECT! Your timing was really good and she was engaging beautifully.>No problem with this one as if I have good she won’t leave me lol>
That is great! Having this game in her ‘toolbox’ will help when you take her to new places that might be challenging – especially as she moves through her adolescent stages 🙂
And you can use the pattern game with to work through the stealth self-control games too!
Nice work 🙂 Tracy
Good morning!
>Like what do I do about the fly bys on the prop? Does she need more value on it?>
I think she has good value on the prop! What was happening here was she was trying to look at you, and was moving a little bit away to the other side of the prop in order to do so.
She was probably looking at you because you were using a ‘yes’ marker, which gets the pups looking up at us and watching our hands toss the treat. So to get her looking at the line and not at you, switch to a ‘get it’ marker: when she hits the prop, say ‘get it’ and toss the treat. That should keep her eyes on the line and reduce the fly-bys 🙂
Turn and burn:
Yay for the line on the ground with turn and burn! It provides a really useful visual for the timing of the turn. She is showing good commitment so we can add 2 things to adjust in the mechanics of this game, to really maximize the countermotion commitment element:
– Keep your starting point exactly the same on each rep, facing the barrel from the exact same spot, so you can move the line to adjust the timing. You were moving your starting point which made the timing different and caused you to leave too early. Then when you changed sides, the line on the ground was not on her exit point so it was hard to know when to leave and when to make it harder 🙂
– you were running away from the barrel on a perpendicular line to it, so now you can change your running line to show more countermotion – run on a line parallel where she exits the barrel but in the other direction. That way she will go all the way around the barrel The perpendicular line doesn’t have the full circle here.
As you add more countermotion, you can delay your ‘yes’ (or toy reward marker) til she is all the way around. You were saying it as she was arriving at the line, which was pulling her to the toy. She was not incorrect to do that, because the markers do mean “go to the reward”. So since the line is for you and not for her 😂😝 you can move when she gets to the line but don’t mark her as correct until she exits the barrel.
Backing up:
Strong start to the backing up here! She was figuring out that stepping back was the way to get the treats! Super! To add more distance to it, you can play with adding the target as a destination. You can see it in the ‘Adding challenge’ section here:Great job!!!
TracyHi1
>Treats: that was the chunky dog roll – freshly cut – as it “matures” it gets a bit crustier! >
We have treats like that here – a popular one is called Freshpet and one of my dogs is WILD for it. It gets crusty when left out but it is better than how hot and gross it gets when it is in my pocket hahaha GROSS!
>>He was also probably hungry and now has more adult teeths for ease of chomping (currently no canines cos they’ve all fallen out).>
Adult teeth certainly help!!
>I did a pattern game in the kitchen at the factory and he had super low latency.>
Perfect!!
>Arousal: It doesn’t help that FRANK is also hyped after training so they bounce off each other – and earned themselves some quality crate time hehe.>
Do they play together to burn off some of that excitement?
>Yesterday was baby Barry’s 5-month birthday! Where did the time go!?>
Awwwww 5 months already! He is such a fun puppy!
Tracy
Hi!
Nice job looking at different ways to get the behavior!On the first part of the video –
You might have been too far from the target at the beginning, so it was not really on his radar and he was not sure where to go as he backed up. You can start each session with his back feet on the target to help him orient towards it (you did some of this on the 2nd part of the video and it really seemed to help him!)To get him backing up more and looking up/sitting less, you can keep your hands really low by either remaining bent over so your hands can be at or below your knee level – or sitting on something so it is easier to keep your hands low without potentially making your back painful 🙂 The goal is that he can focus on your hands and keep his head in a more neutral position, with his lower jaw approximately parallel to the ground. When his head was higher, it was harder to back up and easier to sit 🙂
In the 2nd part of the video – having the narrow space definitely helped him offer a more precise backing up!
And when adding the target, you had him start on it before asking him to step back to it and that made a big difference for him. Super!To help get the back feet stepping up onto it more, you can start each rep by asking him to put back feet on it, then the lure off so he steps one foot off or maybe 2 feet off – and then he can immediately step back onto it. By doing it with each rep, I think you will make that association that it is about getting feet onto the target.
You can also split the behavior even more with a bigger target and having him start with all 4 feet on it: then lure him forward just enough that a front foot comes off… then reward when the front food steps back onto it. Pups seems to have a bit more awareness of their front feet, so getting the front feet to step backwards as the first order of business might give him the ‘a-ha’ moment that helps him back up with rear feet too. So when he can step both front feet back onto a big target, you can lure all four feet off and then begin isolating stepping back with back feet too!
Great job on all of these!!
TracyHi!
>Mine are a little different, but he actually knows them all pretty well >
Perfect! It is a system of communication so having a set of markers/meanings that you both understand is great!
>except catch with food, which is hard >
Tracking bits of food is HARD – the visual system of the puppy doesn’t have the same experience as an adult to be able to track food even when it is hard to see. And yes, balls are much easier and probably more fun haha!
To help with food tracking with puppies: before adding the marker, I show them my hand movement of tossing it with a couple of movements before the actual throw, so the pups can lock onto it before I throw. You did something similar before your ‘good’ marker on the video – letting him see the treat before delivering it.
>as long as I get the markers out of my mouth right.>
Yes, this is relatable!! That is why we are adding them early in life and practicing them… for us humans to be able to get them out haha!
On the video: you have a really nice toolbox of markers for several situations! Yay!! Keep adding them into your training sessions, planning in advance which one(s) to use so it is easier to say them 🙂 And try and say the marker before moving your cookie hand or toy – having the movement before the marker will dilute understanding, so I check that all the time by watching the video in slow motion to see which comes first: the verbal or the hand movement?
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
Wing wrap standing up went really well!!! He is doing a really lovely job of letting go of the toy and offering to do the wrap, without a lot of attempts at re-gripping the toy.
He was sometimes needing a 2nd ‘aus’ cue, but that was when you were still actively tugging. He released the toy pretty immediately when you let the tugging hand get passive for a second or two, so you can continue to use that passive moment before the verbal to solidify the toy release in this context. And separately, you play with getting him to respond to the aus cue even when the toy is still moving.
>I used ring gating, but, now, watching video, I hope it was not too similar to a wing.>
It was a little similar, but in a good way! That similarity will help us bridge the gap into add the real wing (which is coming soon, I promise LOL!!).
He is ready for you to play the turn and burn game – for that one, a soft barrel or cone is good to start with because in his excitement he might touch the barrel or cone, which is fine. But with the ring gating, it might fall over and startle him which we don’t want of course.
Great job!
Tracy
Good morning!
His forward focus is looking fabulous:)
He is driving back pretty well here too, after getting to the toy! Even the wider turns were not lengthy victory laps at all.
The best drive back to you was when you turned and ran the other way without waiting for him – he drove back pretty immediately (3rd rep, :45ish). When you were more stationary, he came back pretty quickly but not as quickly as when you were moving away fast.So just before he grabs the toy, call like you did, do the front cross, and run away the other direction without waiting for him. That should help convince him to drive back immediately. And you can keep your toy hidden til he is almost all the way back to you with the original toy, as a way of getting him to retrieve all the way to you.
Nice job!
TracyGood morning!
The pattern game went really well here! I know it was not the *most* distracting environment for him, but there was still enough going on that he had to work through. You can see him processing things, especially whatever he was seeing/hearing/smelling off to his left when he was facing you. And he worked through it really well!
And when you played with food instead of the toy – fun! That was a great adjustment to keep it fun even without the toy.
You can take this game on the road to different places, using super high value food if you go somewhere hard (like near the ring at an agility trial :)) And every time you play this game in a hard place, do a short session at home in a quiet place with NO distractions to keep it neutral: we don’t want the game to only be associated with arousal or distractions.
The novel-exciting object was a good challenge! You can see him look at it as you were tugging him out to your starting position. He did really well ignoring the cookie bag after an initial investigation, and he also did well ignoring the toy (although he clearly knew it was there, based on his response at the end when you sent him to it 🙂
One thing to adjust is to run on the recall, just like you would if there were no distractions in the environment.
Standing still and facing him is not as exciting as running, and he will be able to process the self-control challenge better if there is more exciting in the game with you.Also, by being stationary and near the novel-exciting object, your position actually enhances it and he might be *more* interested in it because usually when we are near something, we are asking for interaction with it. So you can have him chase you for the recall – moving past the object and not staying near it.
Keep introducing various novel-exciting objects into the simple games! And that will be great brain preparation for when the environment throws novel-exciting things at him 🙂
Great job!
TracyGood morning!
She is SO CUTE!! And so smart too!!Toy races went well! Great job connecting to her as you were holding her to see looking forward! She was definitely getting here first on the first couple of reps then was *almost* winning the toy when you did the push backs. On those, she did get to the toy first but it was low so it was hard to pick up. To let her really win, you can get a taller toy that she can scoop up (like a holleee roller) so she can grab it as she arrives rather than stop to try can pick it up.
Keep adding distance to these so she can get further and further ahead of you as she gets bigger and bigger 🙂
Blind crosses:
Lovely! Nice job with your timing and your connection after the blind was PERFECT. You can see how snappy her side change was!
The only hard part was that she had trouble finding the start cookie LOL!! It might have been that there was other stuff in the corner (dust or whatever) or the sunspot was changing the visual, so you can make the start cookie more obvious. But once she locked onto it, you were great with running away and doing the blind. Yay!Stealth self-control:
She definitely likes the cookie recall game! She might have been a little too close to the novel-neutral object for now – she had to check it out both times 🙂 So you can play this game (and the next levels) with the self-control object further away so her brain can process it but it is much easier to go past it without checking it out.
Goat tricks – nice job shaping interaction with the disc! She seemed perfectly happy to put her front feet on it, and then she was hilarious when she was lifting it with her head! Good job *not* clicking for that even though it was super cute LOL!!
She offered all sorts of front end stuff but no hind end – that was probably because the disc was small and it was inflated a lot so there was not a lot of room to comfortably get her and end on too. I don’t think it was a lack of confidence, I just think there was not enough room for her booty LOL!
So to encourage her to get her hind end on too, you can expand the playing field by putting multiple objects out, close together, so there is plenty of room for her to get all feet on them without having to scrunch up. And, if you are using inflatables, take out about 50% of the inflation. That will allow her to balance – if they are fully inflated or over-inflated, so probably doesn’t have the coordination to balance on them quite yet.
Great job here!
TracyHi!
I don’t think I ever watched That Girl long enough to know the theme song! But I recognized the theme here on this video!
She did well wrapping a new object here! She also was offering turning to her left when you were not moving the bowl or putting the treat in it – the left turns get better and better each time! Right turns remain strong too. When she could see your left hand putting the treat in the bowl or moving the moving, she went to the hand. There was a lot of movement in the first part of the session, then you were standing still. She was waiting for hand movement to some extent at that point, I believe – but when you didn’t move, she started offered going around the suitcase. Yay! A good example of how she was waiting but the hand movement pulled her between you and the suitcase was at 2:50.
So at this stage, have the bowls already set where you want them to be, and you can drop or place treats in the bowls after she is almost all the way to them. You can start with the object close to you again but then it will be easy to get a bit of distance. And in the transition from the tugging to treats, you can also have the treats already in your pocket or bait bag, so she doesn’t watch you grab a bunch as that might also put her focus on your hands right at the start.
I would do maybe one more session (trying not to move hands until after she is wrapping to the bowl) then head into the turn and burn game!
Nice work!
TracyHi!
>. I did a session earlier that was just two bowls and he really struggled because there was a dog barking. >
This is where a pattern game from the resilience track can be used and also the highest value food – after he is really good at the pattern game at home, you can take it places like the wallpaper factory and use it there to help him assess the environment. Barking dogs in the distance hard for him, probably because it is weird LOL
There is a pattern game element to using just the 2 bowls so it wa a good choice of games here too.
What were those treats! He did not appear to have to really chew them, he basically slurped them down – hooray!
Good job adding the cone. You can scoot the bowls in closer to your feet so there is more wrapping fully around it. He seemed to have no question about the wrapping with you standing up and even corrected himself when he almost went between you and the cone. Super!!
You can do a warm up like this in the next session (bowls and cone) then try the turn and burn game!
>This was also his first time playing with the inflation too. >
It took him a moment to get into the inflation – it might have been that the bowls/cone setup was right there (cookies!) and you were bending over backwards(harder to tug) plus a dog barking in the distance somewhere. But then he got into it! Yay! You can attach the inflation to something longer (I put a knot in a fleece tug then thread the other end through the end of the inflation). That will allow you to swing it around more, which will help overcome the environmental distractions too!
>He is very aroused when we got home, I think partially cos it’s so late (got home at 10.20pm!)>
Yes – I think that dogs have a circadian rhythm that is not that different than us humans! So if that was unusually late and he was doing stimulating things at a time when he would normally would be winding down, you will see more arousal. Training and being in a different place that is challenging will release cortisol, adrenaline, endorphins, etc – all of which is the opposite of the body’s natural rhythm at night 🙂 so the arousal was probably a reflection of that.
Great job here!
Tracy
