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Good morning!
>we can’t use a cookie to release the toy and then go back into toy mode yet. That’s not his current preferred order of operations, but we are getting closer.>
You can make it into a bit of a wild game, where the cookie gets the toy back then you toss the toy again for him to run to or chase with you dragging it. With a lot of herding breeds, we insert food in as part of the game then a lot of movement to the toy because the movement of the toy dragging or flying gets the pups back onto the toy pretty quickly and without conflict.
> So, we’re using a bit of a Chirag Patel “drop it” means treats are going to appear so that treat gathering is more of a cued behavior which is where I think his mind works best. >
Chirag Patel has great stuff, and if my memory is correct he also competes/trains in different dogs sports along with his work in the behavior field.
>On that big fluffy thing he’s surprisingly not actually shredding it. >
Interesting! It might be repeated chomping? That is still a good thing 🙂 and a less expensive habit for decompression 😂😜
>We do always end with a treat scatter and then a snuffle mat in his x-pen after training with puppy nap time.>
I think that is a terrific way to balance him after the excitement of training and great for long term health/arousal management.
> I’ll keep an eye on that decompression cycle during and after arousing play. >
We have found it to be helpful through puppyhood and adolescence (ok, especially adolescence LOL!) and the interesting thing is that one of the indications that adulthood has arrived and adolescence is over is when the dog no longer needs or asks for these in-session decompressions.
>The first week I got him the over-arousal biting was pretty impressive (my hands are just now healing from that week) but he’s getting much better about it the past 2 weeks.>
Chompy!! Great job redirecting it into play because I would not have guessed based on the videos.
He was a superstar in the send to prop video! Yay! Nice job keeping things exciting with talk and interaction, and using food rewards in a fun way. And very nice transitions from the ‘woohoo’ chatter of engagement into the quiet clear sends. Super!
He seemed equally strong in both directions so I don’t see a side preference here. Did we ever figure out a side preference for Ripley? LOL! We might not see one and that is fine too of course 🙂 He was rounding the line to the prop instead of going directly to it – he might have been using that to get a bigger peripheral view of the full info, and he will get straighter when he sees the game again.
The next step would be to get a little tugging involved, even if it is at the beginning and then you use treats as rewards. The goal is to eventually use a toy for the whole session, but he is really young and time is on our side so there is no rush. The is usually a bit more arousal regulation with food in these early stages, so we can gradually add the toy to maintain his lovely work here.
The toy trade for treats at the end is going well! He was happy to find the treats of course 🙂 My only suggestion is after he eats the treats, you can make the toy more active so it breaks through the treat odor – this toy is perfect for throwing or dragging, and the chase fun can help bring him right back into play.
Great job here! I am really remembering why I loved the Koolies so much!!!
Tracy
Hi!
She did great here! Her stays were excellent then she released with a ton of drive to the toy. Super!!!
The next step is for the toy to be moving before the release: to have the toy moving before the release, put it down and slowly (oh so slowly LOL) drag it for 3 or 4 steps then release. And you can mix in throwing rewards back to her after the toy is on the ground and moving so she doesn’t think the toy on the ground/moving is part of the release.
>Jumped the gun a little bit in one of them so I placed the toy down>
That was probably when you started moving fast before the release so be sure your motion is slooooowwwwww before the release and the release doesn’t come with the motion beginning.
>I tried a stuffed holey roller, but she ignored it and went for the fuzzy handle so we just used the long fuzzy tug toy.>
Interesting! I would have guessed she would have loved the stuffed hollee roller. We might need to get her a huge fuzzy toy or combine a couple of toys, just to give the toy a slightly higher profile off the ground to elevate her head position a tiny bit more.
Great job here!
Tracy
Hello and welcome to you and the girls!!!
>why do these dogs hate toys with me? I would love them to play with me, but they absolutely will not.>
Ok let’s solve this puzzle!! They tug with each other but not you? Have you tried some crazy high value toys that are only available with you? I am thinking of those super long flyball-style toys that have a lot of fur. I have a raccoon on a bungee which is 3 or 4 feet long and the dogs are NUTS for it because I can swinging it around nice and low for them to chase. You can tie several super long fur toys together and see how they do (and don’t have any food in the picture, it might be hard with food present).
Keep me posted and see ya later in the live class!!
Tracy
I can totally relate, I have a 5 dogs aged 3 and younger. EEK!!! So I alternate training days and do my best, and somehow they all get trained eventually 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
>To be honest I wasn’t sure how well she’d get near me with it. We’ve mostly worked with balls with my back lately. Tug is a little higher value. I’ll give it a go in the backyard. The tug is a bungee type but it’s a short bungee. I’ll see if I can find my longer one.>
To save your back, we can save tugging for the games that absolutely are best with tugging. For other games, we can use balls or giant hollee rollers or big jolly ball other big ball-like-toys that you can throw and she will like but you don’t need to tug on. You can use the big ball toys for the driving ahead games, then a food reward for coming back.
On the video:
Driving to handler looked great! She had no questions on either side. When she is coming in straight to your side, keep your hand a little lower so she doesn’t need to lift her chin. When you added the pivots, your hand was lower so her head stayed lower – super!! And she pivoted really well at your side. You can add more distance so she is running faster and has to decelerate even more 🙂
>Sends to target. Ok this is where we need help. Send to the paw target. As soon as I add a hand, she checks my hand – provably checking for a cookie?>
Getting the pups to NOT look at us or our hands is one of the big pieces of this game, along with shifting from handler focus to sending. She definitely has excellent value for the prop! Super!! And she sent brilliantly to it with your foot movement. When you added an open and empty hand like at 1:38 and 1:44, I think your sends were lovely and she did great!! So definitely keep going with the open hand pointing at the target along with the leg step and connection you had here.
Having cookies in the other hand helped her move away from cookies, so after a bit more training we can put cookies in your send hand to see if she will move past them.
The only thing to add here is the handler focus before the send: face her and engage her with a bit of saying ‘ready, ready’ and maybe even a little bit of getting her excited – then send her. That incorporates the shift from handler focus to the obstacle focus, and a bit of arousal regulation because she will learn to do all of that while she is very excited 🙂
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
>I forgot to add all of the videos to one post. Sorry>
No apologies needed! You can put them all in one post, or split them into different posts – you can do whatever feels right for you!
The first video here is the same as the post above (let me know if it was supposed to be a different one), so this reply will be for the drive to handler videos.
The Baby Level (treat in hand) went well! He is super happy to drive to you and pivot with you.
Only one suggestion for this video: Try to have the treat in your dog side hand – you had it in your right hand when he was on your right and on your left. We will use a treat across the body for a couple of other games (like the blind cross game) but for this, the dog side hand will work best.Advanced level: He drove in really well to the empty hand, easy peasy! You can add in the pivot and then get the cookie to him faster (before the petting and praise) to keep him nice and tight to your side.
Great job here!!!
Tracy
Hi!
Great job with this session, he was focusing forward really well and driving to the toy beautifully. He seemed to have no questions about the game when you added your running. Super!
He had a little trouble at the start of each rep – staying a bit out of reach or circling on some of the reps. He might have been avoiding the collar grab a bit because you were pulling him into position – you can get him into the lineup at your side before taking his collar by tugging to your side, then gently holding his collar as you take the toy out, then quickly throwing the toy.
You also used lineup position between your feet which he definitely seems to like! And when you hold him after he lines up, try not to pull the collar – he is interested in the toy so I don’t think you need to ramp him up at all.
You can also use a cookie to line him up before taking his collar – depending on whether you think he will play with the toy after a cookie. You can try it with a boring cookie and a his favorite toy!
Since the forward focus went really well, you can add more distance to the throw so he can really run run run!
Nice work!!
Tracy
Hello and welcome to you and Maui (and sister Carley too :)) I am excited to see more of Maui!!!!
Have fun!
Tracy
Hi! This session went great!
The forward focus looked awesome and she drove brilliantly to the toy.
One thing worth noting is the lovely mechanics of your line up before the toy throw: food to get the toy back, delivery of food to get her lined up, collar grab, then quick toss. Perfect!
You were quick to engage with the toy here – what would she do if you let her win the toy and you ran the other direction? You can reward even a step towards you by engaging with the toy on the line, or presenting a 2nd toy.
>I can get some delivery to hand with MUCH lower value toys.>
Delivery to hand at 6 months is pretty awesome!!! And we can start to shape bringing the toys towards you and not running off with them, with the higher value toys too 🙂
Since this went really well: how is she doing with it outdoors? That will be harder because of the environment, but the understanding of the game is very strong so it might be worth it to see how she does in the great outdoors 🙂
Nice work!
TracyGood morning! All of these games look great 😊
First video:
Good job getting Bandit to grab the toy at the beginning! You can keep the toy swishing around a bit more, especially in the presence of food when you do the tug breaks during the session (and you can pick up the object so he can focus on the tug without thinking about the foot target :))Your timing of marking the interaction with the object was GREAT here! And you got some lovely offering – value is definitely building for the foot target!
You can add in using a ‘get it’ marker for the cookie tosses – that way you are building understanding for the marker as well teaching Bandit where to look for the treats.
The shower was interesting to smell LOL 😂 but Bandit came back to offer again and had multiple clear hits! Love it!
Driving ahead: His forward focus to the toy looks lovely – it was easy to see on the last rep facing the camera. Good boy!
He did a great job driving to the toy and he even brought it back on the first rep. Super! It will be easier for him to bring it back when he is bigger and can carry it more easily.You can take this game to difference locations where you can add longer throws, so he drives ahead even more. And you can also start adding your motion by walking forward after you let go of his collar to drive to the toy.
Drive to handler: His face was so cute on this one – it was almost like he was surprised at how easy it was LOL!! Super nice! Nice job bending to get your hand low, that is not easy to do with a tiny pup! Since this went well, you can add in more distance by throwing the start cookie further, so he can move faster back to you and decelerate to your side. And you can add in the pivots so he is turning with you too.
Great job here!
Tracy
