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Hi!
I think he really enjoyed this game 🙂 You can build it up in a couple of ways since he was pretty perfect here!
You can add lateral distance on this game – throwing the reward at the same spot but you are increasingly further away from the jump
Or you can stay closer, and add more motion – jogging then building up to running!
And eventually you can do both – lateral distance and more motion. Fun!
As you add distance and motion, he is going to want to look at you at the jump (nothing else to look at 🙂 ) He was doing that a little here. To avoid building in looking at you, you will want to change the timing of the reward throw: when you see him looking at the jump setup, throw the reward ahead past the jump so it lands before he arrives at the jump. That will reward his forward focus on the line and help him not look at you over the bar.
Great job here!
TracyGood morning! This was a very successful session!
The coaching from your friends was hilarious! And he did a great job ignoring that tunnel out there!
You were really good about balancing getting him a little jazzed up and also walking/staying connected so he was very clean on all there barrel wraps. That is exactly what we want him to do: Rehearse great mechanics while going fast 🙂 Yay!
>I didn’t realize until I saw the video how far back I was starting him. No wonder we had a couple of misses.>
Actually, I thought your starting spot was a good challenge for him, and your timing of starting the FC was spot on for almost all of the reps – you had your line on the ground at just about the entry to the barrel, and you nailed it on all but 2 of the reps. He was lovely!!
On the 2 reps where he did not wrap (1:26 and 1:38), you were too early to start the FC. He had taken one step past you but was still a step or two away from the barrel when you started the FC, so it was just a little early. You can work up to that, by moving your line closer and closer to your starting point.
And only 2 misses in a session is actually a good thing 🙂 We don’t want to go past 2 misses though. We don’t need to have 100% success because the dogs do learn from sometimes not getting rewarded. When he does have a miss, though, don’t mark it with anything verbal (even if it is happy) because he jumps up at you. We don’t want to build that in, so instead you can call him back and do a quick cookie reset at your side. That gives him something to do (line up) rather than jump up when something goes wrong, but it is also a calm indicator that he was not correct. Plus it rewards effort because most errors are this point are handing errors (like being too early :))
For the next sessions with the barrel, you have 3 options (feel free to mix them all in to keep things spicy :))
– you can do what you did here, and add a toy and a little more motion (for more excitement)
– you can keep using food and walking, and work on starting the FC sooner
– you can move to the rocking horse games with 2 barrels 🙂Great job!
Tracy
Good morning!
>Now my ocd is kicking in bc I’m like I trained the things in order of the things and did the things correct so why did I mess up the things I trained LOL! Or more so it’s just Julee is processing things they way she thinks it was meant to be. .. I hope.>
I don’t think there is anything worth getting OCD over 🙂 There are so many things to train with young dogs that it is probably a shift in value towards the toy being on the ground as the cue to get the toy, then frustration when it was not. We all develop cues that we didn’t mean to develop – how many people have accidentally taught the release from the start line to be movement (like a hand being raised or head turning back to him) instead of a verbal? I sure have LOL
>>You mentioned not getting the toy always simply games- do you have one in mind bc yes toy races always paired motion run get toy so I want her to learn that difference.>
I think the fold it in game with the cone is a good one to start with because there is no control position to start with, you are marking forward focus by releasing her, then marking getting the toy. The toy starts off on an easy line but it quickly moves around the cone so it she has to pass it to get the correct entry. So when she looks at the cone, you let go of the collar – and then when she gets to the cone and starts wrapping, you can use your get it marker.
Also, strike a pose with the toy on the ground is a good one – she gets the toy when she hits your hand and you say the marker, so she doesn’t go directly to the toy on the ground.
T
Hi!
>Tug sit game and looking at toy if I drop
It you still have to wait for the break or get it cue. Toy place further ( past handler) directing in line with dog. Handler uses arm to teach dog to look at the toy and add a verbal cue – other trainers didn’t start the FF game like you did so I rolled with that. She’s still not allowed to get the toy until I say get it.>Right – but how it can be confusing when using the placed toy in “don’t just run to it” contexts is:
– there is a control position being cued in tug-sit-tug and in the forward focus game if is starts in a sit. Those, plus toy races, also *always* result in the dog going directly ot the toy once she starts moving. So it makes sense that her brain directs her to the toy when she is moving and looking at it.>Game 3- wing vs toy ( also started with seminars ) toy in front of wing where they would normally grab it after the wrap. Hand in collar and as close to wing as needed. Cue either get it for the toy OR the wing wrap. So basically a verbal discrimination. These games started early on and she thought they were dumb so maybe there’s still some of that and I did put it away until she was ready but she’s done well. >
If she thought it was dumb, possibly too much failure early on, so there is frustration built in? Or before her verbal cues/markers were strong enough, so it was frustrating? That is why I start with the very simple moving the toy around the cone (stealth self-control folding it in) and by living with the 2 failure rule.
>So yes she seems to think getting a toy on line is the answer but should be only on permission.>
I think it falls into the category of “what I think I have trained versus what I have actually trained” LOL!! And all of what you decribe as having permission begins with more control of the motion, and doesn’t have you running. Your motion is permission to get what is on the line, which is why slowing down your motion and getting the connection going will be super helpful.
T
Good morning!
This first video was a really great rehearsal of the pieces that a lot of young dogs struggle with! Doing it with one dog and cookies in the ring definitely helped but you can see she did find it a little challenging (a bit of jumping up and barking) but did really well.
Having Khamsin loop Mochi around to enter on the other side was great! You can have her come in sooner, before Lift is on leash, so Lift can experience the distraction of another dog entering the ring before she is finished with her run 🙂
Talking to people is a great distraction during the pre-run moments… because we always seem to end up talking to people (answering questions, talking about runs, etc) as you can see when Bulldog Guy came in unexpectedly.
The waiting at the beginning of the 2nd video is also useful – there is a lot of hurry-up-and-wait in dog sports LOL! They both did great here, outside the ring and inside the ring! Jimmy looked surprised to see her there LOL! But it was a great exposure for both. You can both come into the ring sooner, and even do Volume Dial tricks with both in the ring! The next steps would be to have Lift come in for treats while another dog is finishing a line, like tunnel-jump-celebrate.
>What I really like is how she followed me off towards the camera at the end while ignoring Jimothy playing on the line. (if she’s not tuned in, that kind of activity would result in her trying to check it out or boinging/barking at it)>
Yes, that was great! I think it was partially that you were really engaged, and partially that she is learning the value of the end-of-run games 🙂
3rd video – wow, this warm up area really is secluded LOL!! She did well ignoring the excitement of Jimmy and Khamsin. The movement into the ring was actually a little rushed but that is GREAT because that is likely to happen at a trial LOL!
I think the boinging at your side at the end is just part of her shtick – she does it when she is excited but not necessarily frustrated. The frustration boing is more at you and more noisy, I think 🙂
>We’re back for more fun with Khamsin, Kristin & Dean tomorrow. (Lift got her sniffy walk, in 16deg temps, and has been busy with her collagen bone as I upload videos.>
Since there are several of you – add in getting people into the ring. Maybe one person can be the judge, one can be ring crew, and 2 people have dogs out? Again, thank you to Dean!!! His help is very appreciated!
>Khamsin and I were talking about how with each dog we focus more on the “non-agility” stuff for preparation and were wondering how on earth we got as far as we did with our first few dogs that didn’t benefit from this!>
I think we forget many of the early challenges we had in the ring. Facebook memories reminds me hahahaha but having all of these tools has made debuting the young dogs sooooooo much easier – now all they have to deal with is my handling being late hahahahaha
Great job here! Keep me posted on how today goes!
Tracy
Good morning!
Turn and burn is looking good!! You were very connected and smooth, so she was very fast and smooth! And no barrel hitting, yay!!! There was one moment where she went forward and didn’t take the barrel at all – there might have been something out there but also be careful not to block the barrel – you were a little on her line there at approximately :36 and did the FC really early. The other reps had you a little more off her line and doing the FC a tiny bit later, and she was awesome!
Check out the rocking horse game from this past week, I think she is ready for it!!
Fabulous to use the MM in the rear cross session! It provides a big focal point to help the pups for sure!
Be sure to get to the new side though – on these reps, you were putting pressure on the RC line but actually showing the RC info (side change) before the prop, so the MM was getting the turn for you (not the handling). You an see it at :59 if you play that moment in slow motion: you are visible on her left side as she is hitting the prop at 1:00, so she is preparing to (correctly) turn to her left. She did turn left and then went to the MM. Same at 1:15. You moved the hat closer to the MM so at 1:34 she did not turn to the left, even though your position was the same as the previous 2 reps. She was getting the turn away to the MM on the next reps, but you were not on the RC side so here are some ideas for getting to the other side to be sure she is reading the RC and not locking onto the MM regardless of handling info.
>Didn’t seem to matter how soon I crossed behind she’d turn towards me. >
Do you have video? It is possible that you were not getting to the new side early enough to get the RC 🙂
When you are getting that turn back to you, be sure to get to her other side she sees you on the new side before she arrives at the prop. One way to do this because she is fast is to start a little ahead of her – throw a cookie toss back behind you and after she gets it, you can start moving up the line towards the center of the prop (as if it was the center of the bar). Then as she passes you, get to the new side and keep moving forward to support the line to the prop (on the new side). It is ok if she doesn’t quite hit the prop as she is making the turn to the new side.
And you can definitely still have the MM out there! But balance it with parallel path, where there is no side change and she does not turn to the MM – you throw the reward ahead on the straight line. That can give you great info about what she is reading! And if she turns towards you on a rear cross, you can freeze the video to see where you were when she was one stride away from arriving at the prop. You will want to be fully visible over her shoulder on the new side.
Great job here!
TracyGood morning!
Looking at the video, I think there some things happening that created a domino effect, tipping her into overarousal/frustration. It is great info from her!! And this is also why video is AWESOME because it really helps us figure things out.
In no particular order, because it all was happening at the same time:
The toy on the ground to work this concept was really arousing and difficult – especially since it is possible that she has learned to just go to the toy on the ground (based on what you said yesterday). So there might have been some frustration building up: “human, what is all this other stuff, why are we not just going to the toy on the ground?”
She could tell the difference between the reps that were correct versus incorrect based on your reaction, even though she was getting the toy each time. Plus you were changing your behavior during/after each rep, which was not that predictable and can be frustrating to puppies. This included different reactions as she got to the toy (not negative, just different and she was like “huh?”) and also stopping her to get the correct side on the FC.
The connection on the exit of the FC at barrel was not clear enough so she didn’t know she was supposed to come to the new side and not stay on her line. You could see her, yes – but don’t think she could see the new side because you were trying to catch her with your dog side hand being close to you. Dogs just don’t read the dog-side hand at our side as a cue to changes sides while we are running. Puppies miss the cue, and adult dogs learn to drift wide waiting for more info (but I digress LOL!)
So trying to pick her up with the dog side hand next to you: That closes your shoulders forward and she didn’t see your eyes or front of you chest – and those are the cues that baby dogs need to see when changing sides. Ideally, you would have your (new) dog-side arm pointed all the way back to her, as far back as you can get it without it falling out of the socket haha! You can use exit line connection to help that, with your opposite arm coming across your front and resting on your dog-side hip to really push that dog-side shoulder back so she can really see the new connection.
So with the shoulders closed, you were running a bit sideways as you were trying to get her attention, so she was reading motion and going forward to the toy: partially because there was nothing overriding the motion, and partially because the stimulation from the toy was making it hard for her to process anything else that was more subtle or physically higher up, like your hands or eyes. The motion and the excitement of the run-to-toy-since-it-is-on-the-ground pulled her focus downwards.
To help confirm this theory: Note the immediate success at 1:30 when you were holding the toy and it was not on the ground. She was able to process things better.
As you were working to get her to come to the new side:
Stopping her for the cookie on the FC stopped your motion so she read that, and then cookie on her nose got her attention… but that opened a different can of worms:
Adding possibly the frustration of knowing that the other reps were not quite right, plus now the cookie was higher value than the toy, and possibly a bit of confusion about why the stopping was happening and not going to the toy.So she wanted the cookies in that moment and with the frustration that had been building up: you got leaping up when you tried to get her on the toy.
You calmly interrupted her then went to a pattern game which was great. I am not sure I would have tried the wrap game again until she had had a bigger decompression and until I had figured out what happened (more leaping, she was not ready, so you were wise to step away from the session.
You came back later with a higher value toy so she did it but note how she moved away from you with the toy – this might be a bit normal for her, but also she might have been wanting to shred it to decompress.
So what to do? A few ideas:
– definitely be more consistent about the placed toy not always meaning go to it immediately. And start that separately with really simple games.
– For now, take the placed toy out of this game and use an empty food bowl instead. I think that might be less of a powerful focal point for her? And less arousing overall?
– As she exits the barrel, make a huge exit line connection, dog-side arm back, opposite arm across your belly… and walk forward so she can really see it (fast motion can muddy the waters). As it gets easier, you can add running
– as you get success you can add the toy back with it in your hand kind of like what you did at 1:30. But have it in the opposite hand as she exits the wrap (and place it across your belly to emphasize exit line connection) then throw it forward for the go go go (the food bowl is not needed at that stage.I think then you will be able to go back to the toy placed on the ground – but also have a 2nd toy in your opposite hand as you finish the FC, to give her a clear focal point in that moment and great exit line connection.
Let me know if this makes sense or if I need more coffee 🙂 She is doing really well overall so I don’t think this will take long at all!
Nice work :)
TracyHi!
I am so glad he is cleared to play! Yay! What was the injury? I can help you sort out what to do, based on where we need to bubble wrap him 🙂
>My plan is to resume slowly and try some of the games that are at a slower pace for another week or so. >
We can tweak the games so you are sitting on the floor or on something low, to help him keep his feet on the ground.
On the strike a pose video:
Everything is great about the mechanics here! Your position, your timing of the click, and the reward placement – lovely! He was understanding it really well. So we can tweak it by having you sit on something low: an ottoman? Stool? Or do you have any of that inflatable fitness stuff like a peanut or donut? That can work too. That will get you lower so he won’t pop up to touch the target.
The other thing to add is an empty bowl on the ground, as the reward placement target (it will go kind of below where you were delivering the cookie here and your feet will be pointing at it )) That way you can drop the cookie into it – and he will start keeping his focus lower, knowing he is going to it after touching your hand. And if he doesn’t touch the hand as much because he is kind of side swiping it on the way to the bowl? Perfect! That is the behavior we will need in the long run 🙂
You can move right into the concept transfer of this game (posted this week) even with you sitting on something to stay low.
On the parallel path video:
He surprised himself by landing on the prop at the beginning LOL! You were very smart to get down low for a bit, then shape it. He was definitely starting to remember it! He is very locked into your hands so you can tweak the game to make it more about the target and less about your hands:
Rather than do this as a parallel path with you walking back and forth, you can stand a few feet away on 1 side of it. Then send him to it (or let him offer going to it). When he is on the way to it, use a get it marker (not a click) and toss the cookie past the prop ahead past the prop. In order to make the timing of the throw early enough, it is perfectly fine to throw it before he hits the target. You would be marker his decision to move forward to it and more importantly… not look at your hands 🙂
>And I made the mistake of using too-exciting treats (sometimes it seems like it’s either exciting or not-worth working for).>
You can experiment with when the best time to train with food is – I have found that my food driven puppies work best *after* a meal. I usually give them a partial meal, then use decent value food and get a really nice balance of interest in the food reward: motivated for it but not insane for it LOL!!! I almost never work food-driven puppies for their meals, because it is mentally too hard (unless I want to do something that involves no thinking, just doing LOL!)
It is great to see him back! Nice work here!
TracyHi!
>we did backing up to a low mat last night for his “night snack”, and he’s so freaking clever- we progressed super fast using his kibble, I will try to do another session and actually press record 😉>
Yay! And the best sessions happen when we forget to hit ‘record’ LOL!
Looking at the videos:
First video – yes, he is super quick around the barrel! You can move yourself more slowly so you can point your hand back to him, more like what you did at :35. On the reps where he did not read the side change, you did have your opposite arm across the body but the dog side arm was next to your leg (not pointing back and down to him). That blocked his view of the connection, so he didn’t always see the side change (especially on your left side).
The parallel path game was fast & fun, he did great! But more importantly – check out how far back your dog side arm was here – that is what we need on the exit of the FCs 🙂 Your arm was pretty extended back to him with a low hand – and plenty of space between your hand and leg (the hand was not next to the leg :))
>cue with both arms pointed back to him to open my body>
The opposite arm doesn’t have to be back to him, it can be resting on the dog side hip to help open up your dog-side shoulder. Your dog-side arm does need to be pointing back to him like you did in the parallel path game.
You can see good dog side arm back to him at 1:16 on the 2nd wrap video – super clear connection and he had no questions! Yay!
He has figured out the game and know he will be going to the bowl of course 🙂 So when sending him to the barrel with the added distance, wait a little longer before moving away from the send – let his head get to the barrel.
On the video where you ran to the toy – he did great here too! And your connections on the exits of the FC were looking clear, both on the first rep at :15 and also later at :50.
Adding decel & turn – very nice job getting his attention for the decel after all the reps of driving forward to the bowl! Yay!
OK one more thing about the arms 🙂 When indicating the bowl or toy on the ground, don’t point forward to it 🙂 That is a rehearsal of disconnection and shoulder line change that will come back to bite you when we add more obstacles 🙂 So as you use your dish or toy marker, keep your arm back and say it to him even as he passes you. It will feel weird but you will be happy to not have the forward pointing habit 🙂
>I’m really happy with his send commitment to the barrel (when I cue correctly)!!! I think we’re ready to work more on the rotated sends to the barrel and maybe try the rocking horse two barrel game.>
Yes, for sure! And those are fun 🙂
>also trying to build in cookie scatters for decompression in our training sessions- the decompression guide was a GOOD reminder! We also do off leash walks/hikes with friends (either just my 3 dogs or with Danika’s pack) once a week, and more when possible. And chews a few nights a week 🙂>
This is awesome!! So good for his puppy brain and body ❤️Keep adding more as training gets more intense, which of course coincides with adolescence LOL He might like snuffle mats too or lickimats for the days when you can’t get the walks in.
Great job here!
TracyHi!
I agree, this went really well!! You did great! She was into it and really driving hard to you, but also collecting for the turns really well.You were making clear decels on almost all reps, so she was really able to set up her collection – then balanced really well into driving ahead for the toy race ending 🙂 Super!!!!
You had only one little blooper, a disconnect at 1:50 that read as a blind cross as you did the pivot. You can just reward that, no need to ask for a touch – when they end up on the other side of us in that situation, it is always handler disconnection showing blind cross info 🙂
My only suggestion on this is to accelerate more so it is easier to show the decel – you might need more room to do this, or start closer to the tossed cookie so you really have to run after she gets it 🙂
If you are happy with her barrel wraps, you can take these skills to the Handling Combos game!
Great job :) Tracy
Hi!
> Let me know how we can transfer my Independent Study Max Pup 2 to the live version >
Sounds good! You will get an email when the course is posted (probably sometime in late January) – then either post here or email me to remind me to transfer it for you!
Tracy
Hi!
>Had a chair positioned at the end of a 3 jump to tunnel sequence – that one was not problem, marked it with a “good boy” followed by a lotus ball toss.>
Nice!!
I just thought of an idea! What if you did a remote reinforcement version of this and give the lotus ball to the ring crew person, with very strict instructions to quietly throw it after Coal is past them and after you mark his good choice. That can combine the remote reinforcement concept (dad doesn’t have the treats!) with immediate rewards for ignoring ring crew.
>Had another chair positioned behind him at the startline – that one was tough with the pressure behind. Did some volume dial games, some ready steady Freddy slow lead outs and some one jump focus forward to help him work thru it.>
Awesome – chairs behind the dog at the start line are SO HARD!! Good job working through it!
>Last chair was positioned next to a tunnel about 3 feet behind the entry. 1st rep the ring crew got a bit rude playing with a towel, he fell into the trap.>
Dog abuse! LOL! Just kidding 🙂 You can arm the ring crew with the towel and with the lotus ball to throw when Coal ignores him.
>But then I started wondering what was I marking and rewarding, successfully passing the ring crew or the tunnel performance itself.>
Might not matter which you were marking, as long as he keeps doing his tunnels and keeps ignoring the ring crew 🙂
>Also did some work with him watching me placing his lotus ball on a table and then doing some work with clean hands – did have some cookies in my pocket. I think I need more work on fading the visual of the ball in hand.
Yes, that is good! You can fade the visual of the ball for sure. You can also hand it to your instructor or ring crew to throw, so it has the double whammy effect of reward AND distraction. They can leave it in a pocket until it is time to throw, so he is not seeing it in their hands.
>All sounds OK?>
Sounds great! Really good challenges for him and sounds like he did really well sorting them out!
Tracy
Hi! Nice session here!
The first run is always the most insightful when we are playing with variables! Great job with the leash added and the husband added , very good to expose her to those things. You stuffed the leash in your pocket which is AKC-legal. You can also show her the leash being tossed away, which is UKI & USDAA-legal.>seemed to me she felt the pressure of his presence.>
Totally agree!! Without the pressure, she might have been able to find the line more after the tunnel to 3-4 on the first run (like she did at 5:17), but definitely needed more support here because of the pressure. Could also be that the hat and hoodie are making you move differently, which is harder for young dogs to process too (so much to process with young dogs!!) That is definitely a good reminder for young dog – extra support and connection! Good job to you for continuing and supporting her.
On the 2nd run, you didn’t have quite enough connection on the lead out – she was standing up for a long time (in dog years haha) then she released when you reconnected. The reconnection on your lead outs might be getting paired with your release (they are happening too close together in time), so add in staying connected as you lead out, then praising, then releasing.
On the 3rd run, she had processed the pressure in the environment and smoked you out of the first tunnel 🙂 So interesting to see her say “I GOT THIS!” And also definitely good to recruit people to hang out during her practices. The more the merrier!
For the threadle – you will want to be further ahead to set it up, so work it without pressure like you were doing in the 2nd half. The husband pressure made it hard for you to be miles ahead for the threadle, but that is fine because by the time she ‘needs’ this skill in competition, she will be very used to having people in the ring with her 🙂
As you move through the threadle, you can be a little closer to the threadle jump because your position is part of that cues her to turn back to the jump (about an arm’s length away from it and moving parallel o the bar). When you were further ahead (like at 5:20) the threadle was very easy and smooth! Super!!!!
You started the other sequence on the last rep – you can call her sooner (using your right verbal) at 6:34 then as you do the serp to blind at 6:36, shift your connection to the landing spot to support the countermotion – as you are moving forward past the wing of the jump, you can use your left arm and eyes to indicate the landing spot to help her commit.
Great job here!!
Tracy
Hi!
>She got her 6 weave poles yesterday! Here is a shameless 14 second clip!!!
I’m putting together a montage video from day 1 that I’ll post on FB.> OMG! She is doing great! And yes, she was totally thinking hard about getting it right – she is already pretty fast in them and will keep getting faster! I am looking forward to your montage 🙂
Looking at the videos:
On the first video:
She is doing well with threadles! On the first few reps when you were a little ahead of her, it looks like you were a little far from the threadle jump so remember to be within an arm’s length of it. If you are too far away, she might not move away to take it.When you added more to the sequence, she was definitely reading the ‘come in’ part of the threadle. Yay! She had questions about going back to the jump – I think this was mainly because you were either parallel to her or behind her (depending on which rep it was). To help her in these early stages, you can lead out more to get ahead, which will allow you to set the line more (and you can move closer to the jump more there too!)
Adding more to the sequence on the 2nd video: She was coming in on the threadle really well here too!
To help her see the slice line on the threadle jump, we can get you further ahead of her (when she is more experienced, this will not be as important 🙂 ) You can send to the tunnel more and support the jump after it with more lateral distance, so you can stay ahead more for the threadle. You were getting close to the jump there at :15, :44 and 1:12 so she had questions about which way to turn on the threadle jump because you ended up behind her
She got the slice at 1:13 because you did a great jump of running hard towards the slice line. Yay! She did the left turn on the last rep (wrap not slice) and I think you did want the slice there – to differentiate slice versus wrap, your verbals can be different and also for the wrap, you can decelerate and use both hands to turn her away. She will then figure out that continued motion (no decel) means slice, even when you are not ahead of her.
>We are not getting all the obstacles>
I think you were meaning the line back to the tunnel here – what was happening was that you got a little too pointy (arm high pointing at the jump and tunnel) so she had some questions about the line back to the tunnel. The arm pointing at the obstacle turns your shoulders away from it, which is why she come off the line or looks at you.
It feels counterintuitive, but the further away and further behind you get, the less you will want to use your arm and he more you will want to stare at her and run 🙂 Even if you are staring at her butt and running LOL!!
Nice work here!
Tracy
Hi!
>She had a very strong touch on the left ( this is the one I use for all things) the right she was t coming in on occasion so I did pay it randomly when I thought she needed help>
Maybe use your right hand for more touches in other contexts LOL! 🙂 But I think she did well on both sides here!
>Can I tell you I feel like I have a mental block every time I stand of which way the target vs the feet go.>
Yes LOL!! Your feet point to where the next jump would be (towards the reward). And if she breaks the stay because you were noodling with your feet, reward and reset. She got frustrated and jumped up when you were figuring out your feet and moving, but she didn’t know what the release from the sit was.
Looking at the toy on the ground:
She did really well with the toy in your hand, elbow bent so the toy was visible but not that tempting.
When she started going to the toy in your hand towards the end of the first session, it was probably a TMRSDT issue: Too Many Reps, Same Damn Thing. So she was probably just ready to play and tired of the hand touches over and over. Even with the pressure of the other dogs, she did well because there was no TMRSDT 🙂
So to get the toy on the ground, 2 ideas for you:
– introduce the concept of the reward being on the ground but doing a session with an empty food bowl on the ground and cookie rewards 🙂 That might be a good bridge to be able to get her understanding to target to the hand even with a thing on the ground.
– using the toy, split putting the toy on the ground into smaller pieces. She can do it with it dangling from your hand and our hand kind of high (elbow bent). Can she do it with your elbow straight and toy more visible, not as high? Then with your arm straight, and toy dangling down by your knee? Can you make the toy longer so it is resting on the ground? And so on, until you can get the toy all the wy on the ground. And yes, you can totally reward the target with a really high value cookie to help jump start the ignoring of the toy element of the game 🙂
>it has always been get it if I’m between her and toy or just break when she looks ( focus forward ish) >
For the serps, don’t release her if she is looking at the toy (I don’t think you were here?). And I am not sure what you mean about you between her and the toy, but probably a forward focus line like toy races? This context is different enough that she will figure out that it is not a forward focus game.
>Could I use a touch cue ? I mean then I’m not really teaching the impulse to ignore the toy.
>You can add a verbal touch cue if you like – you are already giving a physical touch cue 🙂 by extending the target arm and looking at the hand. You can also shake that target hand and reward her for coming to it when the toy is on the ground.
Nice work here! Let me know how it goes getting the toy to the ground!
Tracy
