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Good morning!
>She still grabs near my hand. A ball on the end doesnt draw her necessarily.>
She is likely grabbing a mouth-level for her, high enough to have a good grip for tugging. That is fine as long as she doesn’t grab your hand. And by letting go of the tug, she will grab a little further down in anticipation of being able to run through the toy (rather than tugging from your hand), then adjust down to the toy closer to the end of the toy.
She did well with the N-N game!
>Maybe next time I’ll use something less obvious. But, she stayed in the game.>
It was interesting that the plant was really interesting! It was probably novel enough that she had to investigate it a bit: what I mean by that is that it was sooo out of place there that she was drawn to the novelty of it. So you can ‘split’ that and have it up on the coffee table or ottoman. So it is novel but not as novel 🙂 And also you can use novel items that don’t have the interesting smells that a plant might have. Mix it up, using different novel objects is good!
And if you want to do an experiment, you can get her stimulated with tugging before starting the session. You can set up the novel object and start tugging in the kitchen for example, then move into the training area and see how she does with the pattern game: does the higher arousal state her her filter out novelty in the environment?
She climbed right onto the Klimb 🙂 back feet too – excellent! No struggles due to increased arousal from the tugging, she was very in control of all her legs 🙂
You can put a rolled up towel under it or a pillow so it moves a little bit. You can definitely add in another thing for her to move around on – putting a couple of objects together so different feet can be on different objects 🙂Great job!
Tracy
Good morning!
>I even brought my chair so I could pick up the bowls and the cone and put them away, and still have everything we did be in the view of the video camera.>
Smart!!!! Excellent setup makes for a great session!
>And I’m playing with him a lot between toy throws because you said he didn’t like it when I took it away so soon.>
Yes – most dogs learn that if they grab the toy or bring it back, we might take it away and make them ‘earn’ it again. So….. they stop playing or stop bringing it back. The play should be the longest elements of the session so he stays engaged and doesn’t run off with the toy.
Video 1:
The play looked really good here at the start! He drove ahead really well, no questions and no distractions.
And you were also starting from different spots here, rather than always going back to the same start spot. That kept the driving ahead game super fun!Bowl shaping went well, no problem here in this first video. Good boy!
When you went back to the toy, throwing it got him really juiced up and playing. When you tried to get him to tug from your hand right where the cookie bowls were, he was not as interested: probably because of the food scents and the toy being very small. Moving away from the food scent totally helps!
And you can use a longer toy so you don’t always have to throw the toy: tie a few furry crazy toys together so you can swing them for him to chase (think of it as mini lure coursing haha). That way you can get toy engagement without throwing and running.
>And this is a little squeaky purple octopus
that he loves.>You can try tying it to a long toy so you can drag it: the purple octopus is on the ground bouncing along for him to chase and grab and tug and squeak 🙂
At around 1:11 in the 2nd video, he stopped and had a trouble moving to his right to the bowl. The same thing happened at 1:24 – my guess is that he is a lefty 🙂 He had no questions going to his left here, so we will keep an eye on whether he favors his left side a bit. It is really good to know if he has a side preference because we can help him out on the harder side and teach new concepts to the easier side 🙂
Great job here! You should be SUPER PROUD of how well he is playing and training in a really hard environment! His puppy brain might be tired, so if you have another day there today you should choose really easy games where he can run and chase you 🙂
Tracy
Good morning!
Love the song! 80s tunes are always great hahaha It does seem to suit him really well 🙂
On the first video:
>Aelfraed said that a lateral lead out is a no go. Worked on reminding him on 1 jump with a food target but could not get both jumps together unless I was closer. >
It is definitely challenging! You were breaking it down really well – I think the most effective elements were when you had a target out past jump 2 and cued forward focus to it. One way to break it down is to always have the target out past 2 and you over by 3 – but he is really close to 2 to start. Then the only variable that changes is you gradually move him closer and closer to 1, then eventually to the takeoff side of 1. By having all the variables if your position and the reward placement in place, it can help him understand the line and positional cue. It might take a few sessions to build it up but that is perfectly fine 🙂
When you did more of the sequence on the first video, he was running around jumps a bit – possibly just some leftover frustration from trying to sort out the opening.
On the 2nd video which was the rest of the sequence:
Working out the turn cues for 9-10 went well. Without the strong cue 9-10 he stayed on the line to the backside at :26.
You turned your shoulders more at :48 but that almost pulled him past it. It sounds like you used a threadle verbal at 1:38 and that helped! You can pull your threadle arm back more to support the verbal – the threadle seems best for him in this scenario.
He did really well finding the backside and taking the jump when you added the countermotion at 1:09 & 1:20 and especially 1:44!
He had small questions heading to the last jump (1:27) when you were a little ahead and at 1:57 when he needed to drive ahead to it – the big connection at the end (last rep) kept your shoulders open to the line better, so he drove ahead with no questions.
Looking at the threadle versus backside video:
He did well knowing to *not* threadle when you wanted the backside, so I think his question was more about needing a backside cue. He had to shift away slightly to get to that side of the jump, so the ‘go jump’ verbal might have been a bit grey because it indicates staying straight on the line. He was looking at you for confirmation which is why he hit the bar.
And yes, missing the threadle the first time after a couple of backsides is why we do balance reps so he doesn’t go on autopilot 🙂
>Also tried a moving release. I really wasn’t sure if he would be able to stay if I started running but I think he liked it, mostly because I didn’t go very far before releasing him.>
It is something to add in here and there, to build it up as you also keep building up the stay.
>He seems to have regressed with his stay again recently. It did seem like he was improving for a while but now is finding it challenging again. >
Sounds like part of the pretty normal joys of adolescence 🤣😂. You can help him out by sometimes using a low platform for him to stay on, if that is easier for him. That way he can do some successful stays on t he flat, but also have an easy time. Using a platform on harder stays (like the lateral leadoff) will be good because he only has to focus on one challenge at a time. And real stays can be used on simpler lead outs.
>Currently one of his best times when he will choose to be still is posing for pictures on rocks or logs when outside in different places. >
Ha! He likes the attention that supermodels receive. Maybe his other theme song can be this:
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
>We’ve been busy with our bird training, taking it on the road; >
This all sounds great! So many fun environments and she is getting to really explore 🙂
>We also visit the indoor birds
Sunnie is more interested in the feathers when she’s not playing with the super bowls>This is good! Knowing that she is aware of the birds helps us know that she is actively ignoring them during the training 🙂 Does she go over to investigate them when she is free to do whatever she wants (bowl game is not in play?) She seemed stimulated in the session on the video: almost startled and surprised on that first response 🙂 That is good too because it means we are working in a higher arousal state (and happy surprises in training can result in better learning) and she is perceiving the fake bird setup as a bit of a challenge 🙂
>would say it has decereased because I never let go of the leash outside the fence anymore & I try not to be predicatable with the food rewards for check ins. >
This is great – we will take decreased! It is partially due to the management of not allowing it to happen, and partially due to the food rewards you have built in and the exciting action of the flying LB 🙂
>The bolting to the gates to Look has decreased, yes she still looks but the whole running to the end of the leash is SO much less.>
This is HUGE!!! It was the bolting we really wanted to change. YES! Keep going with all the different things you are doing – it all comes together to really shift behavior.
Building the gate area in is also going well:
>Now what she does is looks and then if there is nothing to see, sharply turns for her “Get It” flying LB or food!>
You are seeing more cognitive choice now, rather than impulsively freezing or staring. Yay!
>After reading your comments that day, I googled some of the terms. I got some really cool articles, blogs on it! >
Ah, down the nerdy rabbit hole haha. It is one of the only things that I think AI is actually great for. You can ask ChatGPT or Gemini for peer-reviewed, high ranking journals and articles on certain topics. Then ask it to summarize if the nerd-speak is tooooo much (sometimes it melts my brain haha). The specific prompts get rid of the articles that are just useless or inaccurate.
Looking at the rocking horse video – I love how she was scampering around at the beginning. Trotting, sniffing, having fun but NOT obsessing on birds 🙂 Totally normal and delightful.
She is also staying engaged in the in-between re-load moments after the reward is delivered and you are digging out the next reward. One thing I notice is that she is whirling to face you right after the reward, which is great compared to when it used to be harder to keep her engaged in those moments.
When she went to the other side of the wing like at 1:11 & 1:33, it was because you were actually too early on the turn away cue (we are almost NEVER early in agility so it is fun to be early sometimes haha). You moved your arm and leg back when she was a foot or so from your hand, so the cue looked like a backwards send to a ‘regular’ wing wrap.
Compare to 1:24 & 1:59 & 2:08, where you held your position until she was about an inch or two from your hand, then stepped back. That was perfect timing!
At the end you added race tracks and I think it was getting you a bit turned around. To add the turn away, you can have her on your left for example, and go around the outside of the wings. Then after a couple of wings, you will face her and extend your left hand to her (your left hand will be next to the wing) then do the turn away/lap turn you did earlier in the video.
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi! You and Brioche made the sequences look easy and not complex at all!
Sequence 1 – very nice opening! Nailed the threadle! He had a small question from 1 to the #2 tunnel (turning towards you a bit), but that was because you were stationary on the lead out. You can lead out less and move sooner so he accelerates directly to the tunnel.
To set up the layering in flow:
tell him the “out jump” cue before he goes into the tunnel then again as he exits – but don’t stop moving 🙂 Staying in motion and being connected will get the jump and make the blind earlier at the end.
It looked great when you put it together!The 2nd sequence looked great 🙂 You can tell him the cues for the right on 4 and send & leave when he is at 3 – you did it at takeoff for 4 (:56) so he turned after landing rather than
You decelerated into the FC with great timing there at 1:12! You started decelerating as he was jumping 3 which is great. You almost rotated too early (he almost came off the line when he saw you rotating), so remember to face forward as you decelerate before you rotate.
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
Great job working through the German – you were really nailing the parallel line and she found the backside easily. You can forward faster so you are totally out of the way when she is approaching takeoff and needing to land – but remember to throw the toy to the landing spot to maintain her commitment to the jump
> As you can see, she was tired of my shit and decided to reward herself for a job well done. (With the tips of my fingers as well)>
Ha! Yes, it ended up being too many reps of the same thing and you were starting to take things a bit for granted like at 2:14 where you turned a bit forward while giving the backside cue so the bar came down.
> On the last sequence I think I went to far from the throw back on number 9 that she thought it was the jump in front of it?>
Yes – you were moving forward looking ahead, so she moved forward too. The sequences were definitely sharper on the first couple of runs, so to keep things sharp you can mix in different sequences more frequently.
Nice work here!
Tracy
Hi!
>My daughter was so excited about your offer! That is very kind of you. I love at her age it’s the one thing we love to do together that I don’t get attitude about lol. What class do you suggest? Her dog is pretty much the same as Scholar.>
It depends on what she wants to work on – if she wants to film and get feedback, she can jump in with us here! If she wants to work on other skills independently, we can put her into any of the classes 🙂
Looking at the first video:
You are quick with your tight blind at :22 at the beginning! Fast rotation and lovely connection – super nice!I don’t think you have time to praise him on course 🙂 He is all business and speedy! On the sequence that started at :56, you praised him and that ended up pulling him off the line a 1:00. Think of the next cue as the praise 🙂 Compare to the sequence that started at 1:25 when you just gave cues and kept running (no praise) – really nice!
> he probably keeps going in the tunnel bc I keep ending it after the tunnel and giving him his toy>
He definitely loves the tunnel but I think it was more of a connection question when he had some trouble finding the wings on the far side of the sequence. To get him to commit to those wings at 1:00, 1:45, 2:00, 2:09 and 2:13, connect to him more (BIG eye contact) as that will keep your shoulders facing the line you want him on.
One other suggestion is to line him up very clearly to face the start direction each time. When he was not totally lined up, he didn’t always know where the start was.
On the 2nd video:
He did great driving ahead on the line for the Go cues! Yay!
On the rear crosses – he is still sorting these out, they are HARD!! The first RC was a little late, because he was taking off as you started showing the RC line. The 2nd one was better even though he didn’t take the jump – he recognized that it was a turn! To help get the RCs more smoothly, you can stay right at the start wing until he just about exits. Then start runnng forward to the center of the bar. That will help him drive ahead and see the new turn direction coming.Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
>She was NOT impressed with no toy in hand. Very confused. >
I think the toy being on the ground is training is very hard – she is marking her line off of it. It is like the toy on the ground indicates a reward marker for it can come at any time, so she focuses on it a lot. You can try running with a toy in your pocket instead of your hand when working full courses. And separately, leave a toy on the ground when doing short sequences but don’t use it as the reward all the time – mix in a lot of rewarding from your hand or a pocket toy.
One thing I notice on both of these courses: we need to increase her threadle understanding on threadle slices. She might come in for the slice but does not send herself back out. She is relying on you to cue that, which is really hard in terms of timing, and causes you to have to stay too close to the threadle jump (which causes trouble further up the line).
To cue her to come in for a threadle slice, the turn on the jump before is important. On the 7-8-9 line on course 1, you can bring the brake arms up at the exit of the 7 tunnel to get the turn on 8 – than at 8, go to the threadle arm.
That brings me to my next question: what are your threadle slice arm cues, and threadle wrap arm cues? There are moments when they kind of look the same, which might be why she is looking at you a lot to be sure of what to do on the next jump (instead of sending herself to it).
So in that 7-8-9 section, you can use 2 arms when she exits the tunnel then swing your dog side arm back for the threadle slice.
We can isolate sequences like this (and also the 14-15-16 line) to be able to work that skill and get her to come in and send herself back out – the positional advantage you will get from that will be HUGE! Then you will be able to send to 10 with 2 hands (no decel or rotation) and be ahead to set the line for the 12 threadle wrap.
Being up there and moving like at 2:32 was great! It was the right combo of line, motion and arms. She seems happy to send herself out to the jump on threadle wraps.
For the rear cross on 17 – try it with less arm, and more motion to the center of the bar. Cueing it was arms was pulling her towards the right side of the jump and motion to the center of the bar will get the left turn there.
Looking at course 2:
You can blind cross at 8 instead of doing the pull to the tandem turn 🙂
On the opening, she must have been able to see you on the threadle line at 1. The other reps were better because she could see the bar of 1 then the threadle at 2.
Much better push to the backside with connection and low arms instead of pointing forward on the 2nd run (2:20). The first run had a little too much pointing forward which turned your shoulders to the front of the jump.
You had a little too much go to 6 so it was a little wide 🙂 You can see if she will drive to the jump on the right verbal, to get commitment and the turn.
The 7-8-9 section and the 13-14-15 section looked similar in terms of physical handling cues, which might be why she was questioning 14 and waiting for more info. The low hands to pull her in might look too much like a threadle wrap cue, so the more upright posture and arm swinging back can make it look different and help her send herself out to the jump.
The ending line looked great!
Nice work here!
Tracy
Drive to handler game went really well! He was more than happy to drive to your side, and he was GREAT about bending with you and not letting his butt swing out wide 🙂 You need more room to run now, to show him you really running then doing a true decel. You can take this outside if it is decent weather (good luck with the decent weather part LOL) or to a long hallway or to Level Up 🙂
Blind Cross video:
I swear I thought you were holding Spotlight at the beginning but it was the toy hahahaahahaLove his line up and stay! Good baby dog!
>Warning! He also managed to untie my shorts and one of the games. I know this will make you laugh!>
That was hilarious!!! Ha! But he kept it family-friendly 🙂
The blinds looked great – you were super quick and had excellent connection & toy placement on the exit of the blind.
He needs more room to run with this game too – outside or to the bigger spaces of Level Up are next! How does he feel about being held by people? You can play this game as a restrained recall, which will allow you to be runnng before he even starts to move 🙂 This is a fun game to add people to: if he loves people, this will teach him to ignore them. If he has mild concerns, you can hand him off quickly to the holder and then run and start the game, so it will get him happier around people. If he REALLY hates being held by strangers, don’t do this as a restrained recall 🙂
>. I then decided to incorporate a cookie into training and see if he could switch to a toy. I knew this would be hard for him.>
This blind cross game is a great game for food-to-toy! Even though he has a lovely stay, you can start with a cookie toss. Use a boring cookie 🙂 Then when he gets the cookie, take off running like a crazy person and drag the toy after the blind. The excitement of the running will get him away from the cookie smells, and will also get him ramped up to attack the toy 🙂
When you did the cookie to the toy games:
>You’ll see in the toy to cookie game that he did have a hard time playing with the toy after he got the cookie but I eventually got him to play.>
I think it was more about toy value here than just wanting food. Here is what I mean –
On the first video: I think he was interested in the toy, but the toy itself needed to be wilder and longer. When he got to it (:17, 1:05), you stopped moving and the toy went towards him and it was up high. Even when you got it lower and squiggled it around – not exciting enough. Throwing it was more exciting! But then it is a hard toy to keep low enough for him to really grip. He did get tugging on it when it was moving more but I think this toy needs to be attached to something so it can be long and crazy like the Floramicato testicle toy from the blind cross video 🙂 And when food is being introduced, use the longest craziest toy you can find and keep it low and moving all the time. What is the craziest furriest toy you have? Or you can tie a bunch of toys together for one crazy wild toy 🙂
Throwing the toy sooner on the second video got engagement pretty quickly! He is not as driven to grab it when you are squiggling it around on the floor with you bending over. Also, that toy at your side is not as enticing unless you are really moving. This is good to know! Especially with a short toy that is not fuzzy.
So if you consider a hierarchy of toys at the moment:
the long foramicato toy is A level. The red figure 8 toy is B level. You can turn the figure out toy into an 8 level toy by attaching it to another toy (maybe something with lots of fuzz or fur) so you have a long fun toy for him to chase.You can see the A level toy in action in the driving ahead video 🙂 It is fuzzy and long and squeaks and you can drag it and squiggle it all around 🙂 and he didn’t want to give it back 🙂 Perfect!
He drove ahead really well! You can take this game outside and to other indoor places to get even more distance where he can leave you in the dust 🙂
On the dead toy/live toy video:
> I felt like this was a good session of him learning that he needed to play with the toy that I was presenting him.>
It was more about learning his current hierarchies 🙂 Don’t frame it as him needing to play with a particular toy, because sometimes we choose the wrong reinforcement for a puppy and in order to make training and playing really reinforcing, we need to immediately make an adjustment. Insisting on any one toy adds a lot of pressure to something that is supposed to be fun and rewarding, and we don’t want him to get the ick from the pressure of it all. He was very clear about the hierarchy here and at this stage it is better to go with the A value than to insist on the B value. He wasn’t cheating, he was providing very important info 🙂
He zipped right about the wing at the start (you can totally use barrels as we add more speed and challenge). But then he was presented with the B level toy in an un-enticing way. Oops! You can note that and tie the B level toy to the A level toy in that moment.
For now, go with the A-level toys with the A-level presentations (and tie B level toys together to make them A-level toys). Just gets lots of fun play everywhere. It doesn’t matter which toy or if he shows a preference, because showing a preference still indicates a desire to play with toys. So if you are offering one toy and he pops behind you to grab the other one? Go with it for now! Play play play! Then tie the toys together to get them both more A level. At this stage of learning to play with toys, we don’t want any impulse control in the form of “ignore the great toy in favor of the meh toy” because we want him to be insane for toys before we add any impulse control to which toy he plays with 🙂 You can even make him finding the fun toy part of the game: “ermahgerd, you stole the magic toy toy, so fun!”
Then when you can consistently get lots of toy play, you can start to narrow it a bit and get more of the B level toys and less enticing presentations involved. But for now, go for the “omg toy play is SO FUN” toys and wild play style 🙂
When you switched out toys, I think you choose two toys from the A and B hierarchies again – then it became a lot of pressure about the undesirable toy. It is like saying he needs to eat a cheerio in the presence of cheese – you got stress (biiiig yawn, leaving, sniffing) and some interaction with the toy but not necessarily true play with the toy.
A faster approach to get him playing (and a more fun way :)) is to start with everything being an A value toy for now! Tie them all together, get running, choose toys with similar value when training with two toys 🙂 And if you choose wrong and he says a toy is very ‘meh’? Don’t insist on playing with that toy exactly how presented – change it up! Tie it to the super cool toy 🙂 And swing it and throw it. The value of the A level toys can transfer very easily into getting play to be a super fun thing even in the presence of food – then that transfers nicely into playing with any toy (because it is paired with the A value toys, by literally having them tied together LOL) It will be pretty easy to slide in B value and even C value (crappy toys LOL) in as he gets more into the toy play with consistent A value toys 🙂
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning!
First of all – she is SO CUTE and I am very distracted by that LOL!!!! Totally brings a huge smile to my face – cute and smart!
The session went really well – she has lovely value for her prop and you were able to use a few different markers too. She drove back to the prop each time after the reward. Yay! I think she is ready for you to move to the next steps here:
At the start of the next session, do a little bit of letting her offer smacking the prop and use your ‘bravo’ marker to toss the treat – while you are standing up. If she thinks that is hard, that can be the whole session. If she is like “this is easy peasy!” then you can move right into the send game (posted on Tuesday).
How does she feel about toys and tugging? We can start to incorporate that if she really loves it, or we can keep it separate if she is still building the love for tugging.
Great job here!!! Can’t wait to see more 🙂
Tracy
Good morning! Very fun to get your baby dog training in on the road! I love that Run Wild has all of the room to do it (I think that is where you are).
Do they have any body work people there? Since Vibe is at the age of starting to do more ‘stuff’ that has impact, it is a great age to also get him happy to have a trigger point person get hands on him. I don’t see anything concerning, I just mention it because it is a good thing for high level sports dogs to be comfy with this and get a baseline before the really hard stuff begins 🙂 so I figured I would mention it.
Looking at the jump grids – they are nice puzzles for him!! When trying to solve the puzzles of how to move through them, he works them more with his front end than with his rear end. This is totally normal 🙂 so a couple of ideas to get more hind end:
On the straight balance grid and the first session of the angles, keep the bars lower for now (2 or 4 inches lower than they were here). Having them a bit taller was pulling him onto his front end then causing some crunch into the mid-back, and keeping them lower will make it easier to get hind end push off and a more rounded form.
I think he was on a platform for the start of those – he was tapping the platform with his front feet before takeoff so either have the platform closer so he can just push off from the rear, or let him stay without it (where he doesn’t seem to tap before takeoff).
He had a couple of questions about the stationary/placed toy when you were not out there – definitely don’t be totally stationary (he had a good question about whether he should go to the toy or pay attention to the strong positional cue). You can move forward to the placed toy, just start a little further past the last jump at first, so he can be comfortable that yes he can drive ahead to the toy.
The bars were lower on the angled grid in the 2nd half which led to better organization but the distances looked wider – he was pulling from his front a bit on that to manage the distance, so you can move them in a little closer to help him push from the rear more.
The Zigzags with bars were definitely a brain bender for him – his front feet were trying all sorts of different approaches to it 🙂 Let him sleep on that for a couple of days and when you revisit it, you can also angle the jumps a tiny bit so he can see a line through them, creating less side-to-side movement for now. No need to add the angled bars yet; the ground bars on the jumps were perfect for now.
He did well with the mission transition game! You can start your decel even sooner: wherever you are when his head exits the wrap barrel, start to decel 🙂 His has very strong commitment so the earlier decel will let him have the info sooner to collect sooner.
Because of his strong commitment, pointing your arms towards the jump as you decelerated was actually a little too much of a forward cue, and he was wider on those turns. When you didn’t point forward with your arms on the decel – just kept your hands low and quiet more like at :49 – he had really great turns! This is good to know in these early stages.
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
>Thanks for the toy links. The one site is really roadkill! I’m not sure I can handle that. >
She does have toys that are not actually roadkill 🙂 but they are high quality for sure.
>So, I get my coffee and look for my feedback. Disappointed when there’s nothing in email. Eventually, I sign on to finish watching this week’s homework and see you did respond. Then, I found it in my junk folder! WTH…. NO ONE puts Tracy in the junk folder! Stupid algorithm.>
Ha! Those bastards!!!! I do try to get feedback in before wake up for the West Coast when the schedule allows it, but emails need to not get spammed out LOL
>she’s more methodical rather than speedy at this time.>
I am happy with that at this stage! She has plenty of toy drive and speed on the games that don’t require being methodical, so it will work out to be a great balance.
>Are goat games supposed to be elevated items?
Goat games are about variety of stuff to get on 🙂 So stuff that is flat is great (like the cover here) and then yes, we want to elevate stuff because it will help her get her hind end on. It is easier to “know” where her hind end is if she has to step it up onto something.
She did well offering behavior on the cover, but it was hard to get all 4 feet on – she would have to crunch herself up with you standing that close. So you can be a little further away to give her more room, and also do a bit of shaping on the Cato board and Klimb – and make a little trail of stuff for her to walk across. It is all about just offering getting on and moving around stuff, even if it is created as a trail or a pile 🙂
>You can see she still targets the junction on the toy. This is a different one with more stuff at the end.>
Keeping the toy long will help – if you watch your mechanics, she tugged lower on the toy when the full toy was extended (like at the end). When you scrunch up the toy a bit, she tugs closer to your hand (where she probably gets the best grip). She is not as likely to accidentally catch your hand in a tug scenario like this – letting go of the toy for her to drive through it will make a big difference when she is running into the toy.
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
She definitely liked that toy! Yay! The driving ahead reps at the beginning looked really strong and served as an exciting warm up to the prop game. We build on this soon, so adding the collar or harness will make the next steps easier.
She did well sending to the prop and hitting it! I think she perceived you pointing at it at 1:26 as a down cue LOL but overall she did great, including when you rotating for some sideways sending too!
Definitely add in the ready dance next time – you will see more ‘snap’ on the send, really driving to the prop on the forward sends and sideways/backwards sends too.
The other thing to add is to break this up more so it is not all of these cookies in a row 🙂 With the session being all about cookies and relatively long, we get trotting. If you can break it up every 3 or 4 cookies and party. That can be getting her to tug (pulling the prop up while yo do that) or even running around and flinging treats to the far corners of the room – anything that spices things up a bit. That will get you more running to the prop and explosive behavior which carries over into the rest of agility too!
I was excited to see her go back to the toy at the end! She couldn’t do it with the prop still on the ground (because the prop is paired with food which is too powerful an association for her to tug around at this stage). But as soon as you pulled the prop outta there: tugging! That is BIG!
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
He did really well leaving the helper behind to chase you, especially because they were having a love-fest right before you started!He was definitely speedy! Keep moving when he gets to you – I think stopping and playing with the toy was not as much fun for him as when you were still running.
> My helper told me I did the blind cross exercise wrong tho oops>
I thought you did it right! The first 2 reps were perfect with great connection. On the 3rd rep, you switched the toy to the dog-side arm which is not as clear in terms of connection as when you rewarded across the body on the other reps – but still super good!
The drive to handler went great too – he was totally into it and the food was VERY rewarding. The helper was very good about holding him until he looked forward. Also important to note was that he totally ignored several other dogs walking around – he had every opportunity to leave to see them, and chose the game with you each time. That is BIG! Yay!
> I sometimes forgot to decel lol. >
Yes – that was my only suggestion: decelerate more on the reps were you ran too much. But overall, you were high energy and super fun, so Fix did an awesome job!! Yay!
Well done 🙂
Tracy
