Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Good morning!
>Omg this was a mess! >
Actually, she did have some good learning and by the end she was able to wrap the barrel rather than go directly to the toy! That is a big win!
She was not able to read the front cross side change, but that was more of a timing and experience thing: She was going behind you because the motion was stimulating and the toy on the ground was probably GIANT-SIZED in her brain 🙂 (processing is interesting and the brain really does make things bigger like that). So she didn’t see the small detail of the connection on the new side. But, she was wrapping the barrel so it is still a big win!!
Because it is an impulse control game as well as a wrapping game – if she is incorrect, don’t try catch/grab her or physically put her back in position – let her be incorrect. No biggie. She will be able to tell based on your response that she was not quite correct in her choice.
Trying to catch her can cause her to move away faster from your hands reaching for her and can build in some ick to being held at the start of games, which we don’t want of course. For example, when she is correct, you can join her with the toy and have BIG tug party, lots of praise and interaction. When she is not correct – sure, she will get to the toy, but you can tell her she is very cute, then reset the game without tugging or the big party.
In the early stages, going around the barrel instead of just racing to the toy is definitely correct (even if she didn’t see the side change, because that could be a human timing or connection issue).
>Should I try a less valuable toy?>
Yes – but also, since we want to continue to build the toy love, you can teach the concept with food (which she is also loves a lot). You can start it with an empty food bowl where the toy would be placed. And if she does well, you can put a bag of treats in the empty food bowl. And you can also reward her from your hand on the new side after the front cross at the barrel. I think when she sees a session with a food reward, it will be pretty easy to add back the toy on the ground because the impulse control will already be underway.
>Ps this killed my back too.>
Ouch! This might be another reason to teach it with food: start by putting the cookie bag in the target bowl. Then walk away and food reward her for moving with you to the barrel (rather than bending over as much). Then you can send to the barrel (sometimes adding in holding her) and be more upright, which should make your back happier.
>We also worked on capturing a sit I did not video- boring since it took 2 mins to get one>
You can help her out with a small sit platform for now! Something that is only big enough for a nice tight sit – she can hop on it and assume a sit position. That will be a fun way to get that started without her needing to offer a sit.
You can also play all the stay games with her offering any position – down, stand, etc. The criteria is “no movement except wagging tail” 🤣 so you can still work the stay easily 🙂
Great job here! Keep me posted!
Tracy
Good morning!
>I am confused myself with too many cues and my dogs have no problem finding crazy tunnels entries, so I would not add verbals for it now. >
I can TOTALLY relate to not wanting to add more words 🙂 If it ever becomes something he really needs, it will be easy to add on eventually.
>Update on our walks: When I take Benny in the park – first he barks and tries to get to other dogs. I use long leash. I move away or to the side – he follows me immediately, and doesn’t pay any arttentions to dogs after first surprise-bark reaction.:)>
This sounds like a BIG improvement! Yay!! Keep supporting him like that, and bring toys/treats to play with and he will continue to get better about ignoring other dogs.
About the rear crosses:
This is a skill we definitely want him to have – there will be places where the driving rear cross like this is the best (and perhaps only 🤣 ) option.You set up the first part of the session beautifully (and came back to that later) where you had the toy placed in the turn direction, so you could show him the physical cues for the rear cross abduction help him be successful.
Having him do the RC turning away from the toy was too hard for now, as you noted – you can come back to this after he gets a little more understanding of the physical cues (not just verbals).
Because these driving rear crosses are a motion-based cues, starting him further back from the jump so you could drive to the center of the bar before he has to make a takeoff decision then doing the cross before he takes off is very important!
He needs to see pressure to the center of the bar before he makes a take off & turn decision because if it is late, he turns to the wrap side of the jump. For example:
At 1:02 and 2:01 you were late showing the info so he did a wrap (he was already past the decision point and into the takeoff point when you showed the RC cues). Same at 2:26, and he questioned if it was a wrap or not.
Compare to 2:06 & 2:34 for example where the info was much earlier, so he turned correctly for the rear cross even with the toy on the wrap side of the jump! SUPER!!!
So keep working on the RC info coming sooner by starting him further back on a relatively straight approach to the jump, so he sees the RC handling info very clearly before he has to choose which way to turn. You can place a toy on the ground for now, but I don’t think he needs it 🙂 And his response will be good info about whether you were late (turns to the wrap) or early (goes to the backside because you pushed in ahead of him, or turns on the flat because you pushed off the line too soon) or perfect (does the rear cross 😁)
>I would better focus on tunnels and wraps…>
Yes keep training these too, but I bet with another session or two of rear cross training, his rear crosses will also be amazing. As he sees the rear cross more and more, he will also be able to respond sooner and won’t need as much perfect info.
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
The sideways/backwards sends to the barrel looked really good! Yay!
No worries at all about the speed to the barrel right now. It is a challenging game with the self-control on the toy and with you facing the other direction! The toy is *right there* in front of her and she has to both ignore the impulse to grab it AND go around the barrel. Her brain is working hard and she is doing GREAT! I would much rather have a puppy at her age be able to execute all of this cleanly: not leaping for the toy in your hand when you cue the barrel, going around the barrel without smashing it. Good girl 🙂 The behavior at this stage generally translates to great commitment AND impulse control AND mechanics when she is sequencing, because she has solved the puzzle with cognitive control rather than flinging herself at it LOL
Yes, she had a couple of interesting offers on the right turn side (like gently trying to take the toy on one rep, and going around you instead of the barrel on another rep) but those were actually very clever. And you didn’t reward so it didn’t get repeated.
You will see the speed start to percolate more and more as we begin all these concept transfers in coming weeks and also when we add the rocking horse games (starting this Tuesday! Yay!) Her current understanding is well-positioned for success: it might take a moment to sort out the mechanics but then it will be super fun to see her do it!
>Yes, she walks about 45 min or so daily. I do sometimes practice while on a walk. >
Perfect! Throwing in some practice on walks especially if she sees something interesting in the environment is a great way to keep the games sharp. If I remember correctly, you’re doing a pattern games class with her so you can of course play a variety of different games on walks or at new locations.
>Her first seminar is actually Friday with Dudley Shumate.>
How fun!!!! I think Dudley will make things fun and educational for her! Dudley really prioritizes making it fun and motivating for the dogs. Is it in a location she has been to before?
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi –
I am sorry to hear about your aunt! And that sounds like a really long drive. At least you did get some training in even if you didn’t get video. No worries about video!>This is sending to a prop using food and toys. I don’t think this is the best or smoothest we have done. She is looking at me alot and doesn’t always hit the prop. >
This is going really well, actually. When you were using cookies only, she was hitting really well. And she only looked at you after she hit it, probably because the job was done and there was nothing else to look at 🙂
When you added the toy play, the excitement level changed of course 🙂 and that is where the hits were not as good. She was able to hit it on your right, but was swinging out a little wide on your left. So you can definitely still use the toy to get her jazzed up, then tuck it into a pocket (for now) and go back to food when moving back and forth past the prop.
I do think you will be able to get more focus forward if you take this parallel path game and do th concept transfer to a ‘jump’ (not really a jump, and she isn’t actually jumping LOL!) That will allow you to mark and throw sooner (before she looks at you) which will really solidify the forward focus on the line.
The concept transfer is here:
Nice work! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi! It looks like she loved the extra room to run at the big field! Yay!
She did really well with the collection sammich 🙂 I think that leaping up at the hand you mentioned at the beginning was just because the hand was a little high (you can see it again at 1:12). When you lowered it and added a little more decel: no more jumping up. Yay!
She did really well with the acceleration after the pivot. Yo can leave something to drive to there (like a food bowl or manners minder or cookie bag) so she drives ahead of you.
Since this went so well: onwards to the handling combos! They have similar concepts but incorporate the barrel wraps 🙂 She is ready!
It was great to see the toy play in the turn and burn game! She was committing nicely!
>I probably should have removed the extra wings. It didn’t bother her but probably was extra stuff not needed at this time.>
Yes, for now isolate it to one wing so she knows 100% which one you wanted. That will get her driving to the wings even faster. And, remember to et a line on the ground that moves to help you do the FC sooner and sooner. Without the line as a reminder, we all fall into a rhythm and always do the FC at the exact same time. She is committed really well so you can use the line on the ground to help you do the FC earlier, working up to being able to start it before he even arrives at the wing.
Great job here!
TracyHi!
The retrieve games looked super fun 🙂 She was a wild woman for the toy and was great about bringing it back! She wanted to chew on it a bit so you can reward her for bringing it back with another toy (of similar value) so the trades will help prevent her from trying to chew the toy.And take this game on the road, to get a retrieve in as many places as possible 🙂
She did well with the goat tricks too! To get more engagement on the small black disc wobbler, you can roll up some towels under it so she doesn’t see as much of a ledge and is happier to get on it. That one seemed to be her least favorite out of all the options there. And nice job ending with fun tug 🙂
Since this is going well, you can move away from the goat tricks and work on backing up – we are going to add backing up to to a moving board pretty soon 🙂
Great job here!!
Tracy
Hi!
>Benny invented his own game first – LOL. He remembers our past trick – running around large objects to switch toys. He tried first this game with the tunnel!:)) He got entries first when I started closer, but he was sure that it’s ‘large object’ wrap when I moved him farther from the tunnel entry>
That was interesting! But he fixed it very quickly then did great on the rest of the reps on your right. He had a harder time on some of the dog on left reps – he wanted to go fast! But getting into the tunnel from that angle required collection.
Sending him from the threadle side when he was on the inside went well on both sides. I love how he was turning his head to look for the tunnel before you let go of him. Super!!
Do you want to add a different verbal for that? It sounded like you said tunnel here too.
I recommend a separate verbal for the threadle tunnel entries that differentiates those from regular tunnel entries.When adding the wing wrap – he had done a bunch of tunnel reps so he thought th first rep was still a tunnel rep LOL!! When you were closer to the wing or stepping to it, he did a lot better.
>So I think I need to add discrimination early to avoid patterning? >
Yes! And at first, have the toy in your hand so there is no context cue for where you want him to go – he was reading the toy on the exit of the tunnel as a ‘go to the tunnel’ cue. And if it is in your hand at first, you can also reward the wing wrap with the toy (and not with sending to the tunnel :))
And when he is good with that, the toy can go back to the exit of the tunnel which makes the wing wrap cues harder! And then yes, you can send to the tunnel as part of the reward or you can have a 2nd toy in your hand to reward the wing wrap.
Looking at the wing wrap games:
He did really well with you starting far from the wing. And he also did really well with the circles (like backside wrap) that you started at abut 2:00.
One thing I noticed was that on the successful reps, he was still able to see you on the other side o the wing as he started the first turn into the wrapping.
But on the reps where he did not finish the wrap (1:33, 2:25, 3:32, 4:46) – you were passing the wing when he started the first turn into the wrapping. Aha!
So that is the next step for training even more understanding: start closer to the wing so you can be past it as he turns his head to the first part of the turn.
This will be much harder, so he can go fast but you don’t have to run full sped yet – you can fast walk or slow jog at first, then throw the rewards back behind you to the wrap (like you did at 4:53 and after. Then when he is happy to finish the wrap with you past the wing already, you can add more and more of your speed 🙂
Let me know if that makes sense! Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
>
I tried this on it’s own, not sure she liked it as she moved away from it.>Hard to know – when you did it at the beginning of the video, she didn’t look offended and tugged really well. So maybe it is something useful? Might be worth it to try again to help limit bending over.
>Roast Beef for the win!>
The roast beef was definitely a big win! She could ignore the toy on the ground but also played with it when cued. Super!!
She was strong with reading the post turns, and she was great about following the FC side chase when you added it later in the session. The only questions were about committing t the barrel when you sent her on a few reps, but that might have been more about having a hard time leaving the roast beef 🙂
Since it went so well, you can add in more challenge: after the FC on the barrel, decel and pivot with her at your side before you accelerate to the toy. You should probably throw the toy further away so you have more room because she so speedy 🙂 and we don’t want her to get past you before you have time to do the decel and pivot.
She was so cute on the wobble board with her wubba at the beginning LOL! She was training herself haha : )
The part of the session where you were actively involved looked strong too. She was happy to slam around on it, and happy to bring the toy back after you threw it. She brought it back onto the board, which was great to see! She was also happy to work the board with treats.
Since this went so well – you can focus on adding to her backing up skills, because when she is backing up pretty independently we merge the games: she backs up onto a moving board.
>one you mention threadles with that. Just wondering how feasible/appropriate might direction-based handling be there?>
I think the tunnel threadle is already direction based – it tells the dog to find the other side (not the side on the line). But you can also use the directionals to turn her to face the direction you wanted then cue the tunnel if you like.
> I’v never been terribly successful teaching even a direction-based left/right out of the tunnel but I haven’t really spent that much time on it. given the curves of tunnels I am even wondering if it is reasonable?>
Tunnel exits are different than tunnel threadles (which are entry cues). And you can make this direction-based as well: the front side verbals apply to those, and those are the dog’s left/right/straight regardless of handler position. Or another trend is to have separate verbals as a tunnel cue for each type of tunnel exit, but that requires 3 or 4 more verbals 🙂
Let me know if that makes sense! Nice work here!
Tracy
Hi!
She did great here in the driveway in front of the house! Yay! Do you leash walk her around the neighborhood? It would be fun to take this game on the road if it is a walkable neighborhood. But the front of the house is great for maintaining the pattern games and also keeping them neutral (not associated with high arousal or pressure or anything).
>Plus, I was in an in person class and used the great chase as a break for her. It wasn’t filmed, it she did well.>
Fun!!! Any good young dog seminars coming up? It would be fun to go to some, she is ready, as long as they aren’t expecting her to run 15 obstacle courses 🤣😂
Nice work!
Tracy
Hi!
It looks like Ripple was a happy girl on her walks at Jones Road! How did she feel about being inside the building when things were busy?And no worries about the 0-for-6 with the other dogs 🙂
>Hucky had a weave brain fart all day no biggie probably a team effort>
Poor dude! If he still had weave struggles, maybe he needs a chiropractor or massage? He has had a busy few weeks with a LOT of travel so might need to loosen up joints and muscles.
> but the courses are getting harder and harder for a big girl like Mae.>
Yep, I am seeing this too – tight tight tight for the bigs! You can try running her with a ‘brake arms’ meaning both hands up so she gets even more turn cues?
Keep me posted on how the weekend is going!
Tracy
Hi!
Super nice session here! I think he likes turn and burn 🙂
He seems to be a total righty 🙂 Turning to his right (starting on your left) was SUPER easy and smooth. When working the next session to his right/on your left, you can add the wrap verbal:Hold his collar or harness, say the wrap verbal a few times then let him go and step to the wing.
He seems to definitely not be a lefty 🙂 The reps on your right side/his left turn (the first part of the video) were much harder for him!
To help him out on that side, be a little closer to the barrel at the start of each rep – when you were a few steps away, the toy was VERY salient and the wing was not as salient. But when you were closer to the wing, he did better processing how to ignore the toy and wrap to his harder side. So you can make that direction easier for now – it will catch up to the right turns really quickly.
Thank, Muso, for teaching him the tunnel LOL! He did great! Finding the entry on the harder angle to his left was harder of course 🙂 and finding the hard tangles to the right were easier – solidifying the theory of his current side preference.
But since this went so well, you can add the threadle-side sends and I bet you will be able to add the tunnel threadle verbal really quickly soon too! Yay!
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
This is off to a good start! She had a high rate of success finding it, even with a lot of competing distractions in the environment – hackberries, falling leaves, etc. True, the added lateral distance at the end was a little too hard but no worries. In the next session, you can add the distance a little more gradually and be closer to her when she finishes eating the treat (rather than being ahead of her, which might draw her attention away from the new jump setup for now).Nice work! It will be fun to see this skill blossom!
Tracy
Welcome to little Ted! I can’t wait to meet him!
> One question. He does cry for about 5 minutes when he is first put into his crate. I have ignored it and he has quieted down.>
This is normal and to be expected after all of these big changes. When he goes in his crate, you can give him a little licky toy or chewy so he can self-soothe. I also like to put the crate right on the bed next to me at night, for the first couple of nights 🙂
> My concern is that perhaps I maybe inadvertently creating a little barrier frustration? >
I don’t think so! He is simply learning about his new life.
>Ted previous crating has been in a big expen with all his litter mates.>
Yes, so it is a big difference. You can get one of those puppy heartbeat toys! It is a stuffed toy with a battery-operated heartbeat that helps puppies settle into their own crate 🙂
Tracy
Good morning!
>Well that makes me happy lol! I very rarely told I am too quick in anything >
I figured that would give you a chuckle LOL Same here – no one has ever accused me of being too fast in agility LOL!!!
>Today I am finally taking her to an agility trial to start some resilience work since she’s all bee free. Will try to get video!>
I bet all of the bee trips to the vet did a lot more for her resilience than you realize. The medical side of things definitely stimulated her resilience systems (HPA axis etc etc) and I am sure there was some stress with being handed off to the vets… but also it looks like those vets and their staff made it a loving, happy experience for her. That is HUGE for her resilience!!!
So yes, have fun at the trial and make it happy and loving just like the vets did 🙂
She definitely enjoys turn and burn 🙂 Great tugging!!
I think this game needs to go out to the barn when you revisit it, so you have room to run run run and also so you can run to the sides rather than back to where you started her
When you take it out to the barn, add the line on the ground at her exit spot for the barrel – this is not for her, it is for you to tell you exactly when to do the FC and run to the side. That will allow you to move the line progressively back to the entry side of the barrel, so you are doing the FC earlier and earlier systematically and without being twitchy 🙂
And since she is doing so well – add your wrap verbals too!
Great job 🙂 Let me know how the trial goes with all of your dogs!
Tracy
Good morning!
>Ha, he is a crazy little ball. >
He is a perfect and fun little ball of energy 🙂
The backing up is coming along really well! Good boy! We are now really seeing him take deliberate steps with each foot to go backwards relatively straight, rather than shuffle backwards
He is so funny and cute when he sometimes just turns around and does a bow, the looks at you like he won the gold medal LOL! Love it!
Since this is going so well, we will start to build on its couple of ways:
– you can put the mat he is backing up onto on a very slight angle, so he is backing up on a small hill 🙂 But the angle is very very slight, because we don’t want any overextension on his shoulders or back.– we can make the ‘destination’ here move a bit (as part of teeter foundation, so he is happy with things moving under his hind end as he is balancing). For now, it can be something as simple as putting a small rolled up towel under the mat, so there is a tiny bit of instability as he backs up.
Great job here!
Tracy
