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Hi! He did great here! And the environment is definitely distracting – watch his ears really processing everything (dog noises, handlers yelling, obstacle noises, there is a buzz from the lights, etc). I don’t think I have ever seen his ears work that hard. It was actually pretty quiet which makes those sounds even more obvious. What a good boy!!! He was super engaged.
In that environment, you can bring your remote reinforcement station and work a little bit of that too!
>We worked some pattern games closer to the action but I didn’t get it filmed.>
How did he do? I am thinking he did really well 🙂 Was he able to do any tricks?
Great job here!
TracyHi!
> I hope you had a fabulous time at the Open and are having a safe/uneventful drive home.>
Thanks! It was a crazy week but a smooth uneventful drive home.
>>My question is about the best command structure and sequence to use for this. I know you mentioned in the video about having a different command for the leash, but how do you best stack that and the “Let’s Go!” to teach the dog that the reward is coming>
I don’t stack it, as that can be confusing or sometimes result in anticipation. The “let’s go” marker is an immediate “we go to rewards” so you can mark getting the leash on with the let’s go marker 🙂
For the time between the last obstacle and finding the darned leash and getting it on? I use praise, clapping, asking to find the leash, etc to bridge that gap (exactly what depends on the dog). So it might be something like “yay, good boy, where is your leash, c’mon!” then when the leash is on… ‘let’s go!’
And for an inexperienced dog, I am running to find the darned leash as if it is the last obstacle on course, to help them stay engaged.
>how do you keep them excited through all that and understanding that the reward is coming?>
Practice at home and in FEO runs 🙂 They pick it up pretty quickly as long as the like having the leash put on.
>Like when I finish the run do I just jam those two commands together like “Collar! Let’s Go!” then leash up and exit the ring (or the treat station bowl to start in this case)?>>
I think “collar” might be a bit of a buzzkill after a great run, so a verbal party is a good thing. And if you say ‘let’s go’ before the leash is on, he might start heading for the reward (because that is what the marker indicates).
>I’m just trying to think of what is most effective here while he’s still learning. I don’t want him all deflated by the team we end the run, get the leash on, then run to the reward even while just starting out. Thoughts?>
He won’t be deflated if you tell him how brilliant he was as you run to the leash 🙂 I think he will be happy 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
>did they ever figure out the dog walk issue?>
They improved on the dog walk issue but I don’t think it is fully resolved – there were still a lot of dogs that thought it was a teeter.
>>Here’s our 1st session with the mashup game – he started out ready to break, but then figured it out.>>
He was great! It definitely pumped him up! You were asking him if he was ready. He said HECK YEAH and was expecting the release on the next verbal… but you were saying something else at the beginning so he was a little twitchy. You made an excellent adjustment and just kept the ready ready going a couple of times and he sorted it out. So since this game will put him right on the edge of breaking, don’t have too much conversation other than ‘ready’ and the bent knees – he was great! Super excited! And we don’t want to dampen that by making him think too much about what you are saying, or possibly having him break because he thought it was the release coming.
> I could try this tomorrow night at class, but that would take the distractions up to the top of the ladder. My plan for tomorrow was to keep working on ringside chill to volume dial to ring entry.>
You can do your plan maybe for the first class run? Then if that goes well… try a little bit of this with a short lead out. If it is too much and he breaks? No worries, you can have a laugh and dial it back. But I think he liked it and so it is a fun game to bring into the ring!
Great job 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
> I’m thinking I might just start letting her have a turn in Em’s class each week. The setups are usually the best there and lines are always nice since it’s an international class.>I think this is a great idea!!!
Lots of good stuff in this video – your connection overall is super strong, so mainly the questions here were about fine tuning the timing of where to step to and when.
She had a little trouble on the first FC – use exit line connection there, to show her how tight the turn is (:14). You stopped at :29 so she did it but we really want her to do it with you in motion and exit line connecction with that exaggerated arm across the body makes it clear. Also, be sure to use your soft turn verbals if you were not alreayd using them (it was a little hard to hear).
Speaking of verbals – she did the big layering line really well. My suggestion is to use big loud GO verbals on those, and save the softer jump verbals for when you don’t want her on those big lines. Saying jump might be a little unclear to hear when there are 52 jumps nearby LOL!
Big WOW on that huge connected lead out! You were early on the FC on the first rep there, finishing it as she landed from 1 so she was correct to not take 2. Let her look at 2 and take a stride to it before the FC. The lead out push worked a little better but she was on an offset angle and almost didn’t take 2, so you held position but that caused the bar to come down (the turn was not cued early enough).
The backside wrap pushes were all about where you stepped 🙂 At 2:34, 2:55, 3:05, 3:17 – show the backside wing as you decelerate and rotate a little sideways and don’t step forward to it – that is what was pushing her off the line. In the sequence coming from the tunnel, for the first few reps you were decelerated then accelerated and stepping to the backside… which pushed her away. I htink she was reading you correctly on those. Decel and small footsteps are your friends there, more like what you did at 3:41.
On the last sequence – I think you wanted a wrap on the jump after the tunnel? This is a decel spot too – decelerate and face the jump until she cues you to rotate (her cue will be collecting for takeoff). Your rotation is not what gets the collection, it is the deceleration – so if you rotate too soon, she comes off the jump.
Nice work here! I will catch up on the other videos shortly!!
Tracy
Hi!
>She like to chase more than tug especially when there are interesting things going on. >
Yes, she was telling us that on thee videos for sure! You can double the length of all your toys (tie them together :)) so they are much easier to swing around – that is the main reinforcement/motivator right now. More below.
>but even then she wants to choke up >and bite where my hands are…>
This is pretty universal, dogs do this a lot when they want a better grip. So the more you keep it lo and moving, the less she will come up to your hands to tug.
> she did not want to tug but was happy to be with me. She is pretty people and dog friendly.>
She might need an acclimation period with food/pattern games before she can feel comfy playing with toys.
>I put her back in her crate and set up my tripod and food station near the practice jump.>
>She did so many good things here including calling off the dog/owner who were super close. These toys did not seem super exciting>Yes, she did really well!
The first practice jump session looked strong! I think she is telling us that food is higher value in that environment for the moment so you can start with the toy then quickly switch to food in between reps with the toy. I think you were doing some of that but it was hard to see. You can have her chase you for the toy or keep it swinging around like a flirt pole, then reward a heartbeat of tugging with tricks for treats 🙂
On the 2nd session, you can see how she likes it when you swing the toy away but when you stop moving it away, or move it towards her, she is not as interested. And when you are wanting more tugging and start moving your hands to her or pushing her back – she also says no thanks to tugging. So keep swinging it away and then get to the food pretty quickly after some toy engagement.
Side note: it is possible that TaqTaqTaq and back back back will sound too much alike on course, hmmmmm. You did a backside here and it got me thinking, but that is obsessing for another day 🙂
Set up session:
Another good example of the toy chase being really fun (and that toy was particularly awesome). The catch of the toy in this environment was not as much fun as a food rewardThe stay and the engagement looks great! It is a really challenging environment and she was all-in here!
Great job here!!! She is getting more and more comfortable at trial sites!
Tracy
Hi!
>I’m going to need your sources, please
Time to shop! I will get you some good shopping links 🙂
>Here is a Find My Face session. Do you think we are ready to bring it to the agility field?>
Yes, she was great here and really happily zipping around to find your face. Yay! You can take it into agility and deliberately mess up and reward her for finding you (or taking obstacles if they are nearby :)) Don’t do too much of it because it is mentally hard, but a little will be great to add now.
Her ears at the beginning of the sequence video were adorable! So cute!!
I loved all the play in between the reps here – so fun to see how much fun you make it for her!
The sequences go best when you are not as concerned about her speed 🙂 When you are trying to out run her, you sometimes disconnect and that pulls her off the line. If you are just thinking about showing her the line? You two look fabulous! Here are examples:
She had trouble taking the first jump at 2:01 – her line up was facing the tunnel and the motion was not clear to the jump, so it did look like a tunnel cue.
The rep at 2:48 was better because you were facing it more but you can add in more of the dog side leg stepping to the jump.The rep at 3:02 had that dog side leg then you ran to the next jump without really cuing the tunnel so she came with you (the voice said tunnel but the body said no tunnel :))
So definitely work each line until you see her looking at it, then go to the next line. You worked the line to the tunnel on the last run, but then didn’t connect after the tunnel so she came to you.
Last video:
The first run looked great – you worked every step of the line with connection and motion, and she got it!
Same great connection got the blind 2-3 and the send to 3! Then yes, don’t reach for the toy on the way to the tunnel 🤣😂 but to really help her drive ahead to the tunnel you can intensify the connection to her and run more directly to the tunnel. You were pulling away a bit on the one where she came off the line but then you absolutely nailed it on the last one!!! Super!!!!
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
Good job adding the tricks in before the sequences, I think it really helped him focus! You can use toys here too, as they will help get him more stimulated like he would be at a trial (and faster too, like at a trial). And when he was checking out at the end – it might have been that running for cookies was not motivating enough? Or maybe higher value cookies would be helpful too.Overall, when you were really connected (looking at him with nice low arms :)) he ran really well! Sequence 1 was like this, and also the section from 2:44 – 2:52 was my favorite part because it was he most connected so he was very smooth on those lines!
In a couple of spots, your arms were pointing ahead and you were looking ahead, so things were not as connected and he had questions. You can see that at 1:01 for example, when he didn’t take 3. And also at 3:19 (you were looking ahead and all reaching for the treats 🙂 ) and 3:49.
So keep that nice clear connection and low arm handling and you will more and more of the ver smooth lines 🙂
He dropped bar 1 a couple of times because you were late on the FC there – you can start him further back from 1 so you can start the FC sooner. Or you can turn him the other direction (to his left there) so you don’t need the front cross and so he has a straight line to the tunnel entry.
On the last sequence, you put the BC between 3 and 4 then ran the outside, so he had questions. I think it will be easier if you put the BC between 4 and 5, so you are on the inside line the whole time – that will be easier to show him the turn at 5 and you won’t need to push him to 5.
At the end you noted that he was finished and he did check out a bit. You can add in more toy play to keep him in the game more, because that can be super motivating! And it allows you to practice at trial speed 🙂
Nice work here!
Tracy
Hi!
> yes, doesn’t everyone walk around 24/7 with cookies in their pockets?>
well, yes hahaha!! I have to check all of my pockets to be sure they are empty before doing laundry 🙂
>“And in training like ring rentals, you can try short sequences/short courses with no reward in the ring” – so we did try this yesterday, leash off – setup and run 4 obstacles – leash on and out to reward, got some good drive from him to the reward target.>
Great! This was definitely harder for him – you can see him moving more slowly on the first couple of obstacles! He was successful, yay! You can tweak this to add more running off the start line, so the arousal of the running overrides the challenge of having no treats. A simple line that is straight and has a tunnel or a-frame can be sure fun!
The other suggestion here is to use his remote reinforcement marker earlier in the sequence – and as he is moving away from the reward, rather than as he is arriving at the exit. We want him to understand that yes, the early part of a course can be rewarded too! And we also don’t want him to think that every line towards the ring exit is the place to run fast to get the rewards 🙂
Nice work here!
Tracy
Hi!
I agree, this went really well! The stay worked better than throwing treats in the leaves – he had trouble seeing it and that threw off your timing. That was also when he didn’t quite read the pivot and was not as sure of where to be. Because it took him a little longer to find the treats, you turned too soon so connection broke and he read it as a blind cross. On the other reps, you had bigger connection so he had no questions. Yay!
As you add more running, be sure to show him the decel by slowing down somewhat dramatically before he is halfway to you – that way he can collect and turn really tight as you pivot.
Great job here!Tracy
Hi! He did great with the bowls so adding the cone was easy – you can use a bigger rug or bigger carpeted area so he doesn’t slip when he is trying to go fast.
he did sometimes squeeze in between you can the cone, see moving it away from you in smaller increments worked great! When it got to maybe a foot or o away, he had the most questions – so move it out more gradually so he can have a lot of success.
Before adding more distance, though, let’s get you working towards standing up: keeping the cone in close to you, try this game with you sitting in chair. Then if he is happy with that (and he probably will be :)) you can try it with you standing up 🙂
Great job here!
TracyHi!
>>but after a few plays, he always had a favorite.>
I can totally see that here! That is good to know, so you can use his favorites in harder situations. And, you can raise the value of the lower value toys by rewarding him for playing with them by whipping out the higher value toy 🙂 So to help him want to play with the lower value toy, you can hide the higher value toy (in a pocket) and also be standing, so he can chase the lower value toy around. Let me know how it goes!
Nice work here!
TracyHi! Nice work with this course! Were there treats in your pocket (looks like maybe yes?) but definitely empty hands.
Doing this with another person there was a little more challenge in a good way (and not tooooo hard so he was able to be very successful)
He was deefinitely aware of the other person – note how at :34, he is looking at the new person while you lead out. So you can definitely take a look at the lead out games from the last package and see if maybe the cartoon mashup game will help him in that type of situation.
The handling went really well! Parts of the course were really tight so you couldn’t really run, but you stayed connected and he still kept moving really well! And then on the big lines where you could run – he loved it!
>>One oops on my part rear crossing the see saw – not something I train enough, with his stopped contact>
Yes, you were a little too far ahead for the rear cross so ended up pushing him off the line to the teeter. No worries, he was resilient to the fix on the teeter meaning that he didn’t lose engagement of motivation, he just stuck with you, reset, and carried on really well. NICE!!!
So for his next class, maybe do empty hands (no lotus ball, maybe give it to the instructor beforehand) and a couple of treats in your pocket? And in training like ring rentals, you can try short sequences/short courses with no reward in the ring (mixed in with plenty of reward in the ring :))
Great job!
TracyGood morning!
I think he had a big breakthrough/lightbulb moment with the wrapping, where he figured out it was not just going fast back and forth to the bowls… it was about the upright!
The moment at :27 when he caught himself, backed up, and went around the upright was so cool to see! What a smartie! The rest looked great!
One suggestion: You can have the cookies closer, like in a pocket or bait bag, because reaching up to get them changes the flow and you had to stop him from offering. It will be easier to just scoop a few more out of your pocket without stopping the flow.
For the small upright here, you can transition to sitting in a chair, then standing (but no need at add distance to the upright because you position changes are a big enough variable change.
You can also get a barrel or something bigger for him to go around (while you are sitting).
The goat pile was fun to watch! Interacting with the pile was more interesting than tugging at first, so you can start the tugging further away and bring out your best, craziest toy. Yo can move to another room if that helps him tug more and think about the goat pile less 🙂
Think of the pile as an agility course, and the toy play as engagement with you – we want him to engage with you more rather than thinking about leaving to run the course without you LOL
You can walk back and further along with the piles, getting him to turn around, follow, etc, so there are many varieties in the surfaces and angles.
On the self-control video:
>(All I can think is fold in the cheese!!!>
YES! That I exactly what it is intended to make you think of 🙂 I was going to be sad if no one thought of it LOL!
He was definitely game on for the bowl here! You can use a bigger cone so it is really obvious (or a laundry basket) or anything big to go around.
Good job adding the forward focus indication with you hand – keep that for every rep. He really flew through the easy levels of this.
Well done getting the tugging at the end and then smoothly starting the forward focus with the toy!
You can move the cone to be more directly in front of you, so the bowl is even more visible as a challenge. He will basically be starting next to the bowl or toy, and going all the way around the cone to come back to them.
Nice work here! Have fun at the trial!
Tracy
Good morning!
On the tugging video:
>I think it helped us at least narrow down which toys he prefers and are easier for him to grab at this age. You mentioned something longer and skinnier, which I had used previously but it was a bit cumbersome both for me to handle and for him to target and grab. He seems to like to grab close to my hand no matter what type of toy we’re using though. And that’s something all my dogs like to do, so did I unconsciously support that behavior with my toy skills? >
I think he did really well and likes a whole bunch of toys! Don’t choose any to stick with, use them all 🙂 About him grabbing it or getting closer to your hands:
When tugging, try to keep his lower jaw as close to parallel to the ground as you can and not pointing upwards. When you lift your hands and his chin is pointing upwards, he is likely to come up the toy towards your hands, to get a better grip (the physics of tugging LOL!) because it is hard to grip when his lower jaw is perpendicular to the ground.
When his lower jaw was parallel to the ground, he was further from your hands and able to really pull back. So I don’t think it is about which toy, I think it is more about where keep your hands: lower hands is more effective for him.
Also, I think as you do more tugging, you are getting your hands closer to his face which (along with lifting his chin) might be why he gets close to your hands 🙂
He got a bit tired at around the 2 minute mark (he was not standing up or weight shifting as much) so you can set a timer for the high energy tug sessions and do 90 seconds, then give him a break 🙂
Toy Races are looking really good! And yes, doing this indoors limits the distractions but that is perfectly fine 🙂 When you take it outdoors or to new locations, start at the easier levels where the toy is dropped right in front of him, to help him manage the distractions. If he says there are no distractions, then you can add more and more distance and racing 🙂
When tugging here, remember to keep your hands lower so his chin is parallel to the ground. When you did that, he had a great grip on the toy (even shaking it a bit) but then he was not having as easy of a time when you lifted his chin.
Great job getting to the standing position with the wing wraps! He was great 🙂 Note how he did not need to process the other dog having a nice drink in the kitchen – he kept working, no failures there. He had a little trouble with the added distance but that is something we will keep building up. Nice job getting him successful when he had a little question there.
We are adding to this game very soon so might only suggestion is to rotate the wing 90 degrees, so the flat side of it is facing your and not the jump cups.
>are the bowls supposed to move all over the continent while doing this exercise? lol>
Ha! And yes, the bowls sliding every where are pretty hilarious! No worries, we fade them out this week 🙂
On the prop game –
>, as there were a few times he stopped just short of the prop.>
I think it was not necessarily a lack of understanding of ‘go to the prop’ but it was more of a distance question at first (you were a little too far away to get really great hits). Then it was a criteria question: you did reward a few almost-touches… so he offered a few more of those (then barked at you when you didn’t reward it). So you can reward only the full-foot touches and no toenail-on-the-edge touches, and I think you will see things progress very quickly. As you establish that criteria, though, start really close to the hat so it is easy for him to get it right at first.
>>Also, I feel like I’ve put “ready ready ready” as a cue for food scatter or something. Several times I would get him ready to go and as soon as I said “ready ready ready” he would snap his eyes to the floor. Any thoughts on that one? I didn’t mean to do it!>>
It is entirely possible that you are using ‘ready’ somewhere in life that he has picked up to mean food scatter 🙂 That is fine, as long as you catch yourself 🙂 We humans teach the pups all sorts of words we don’t intend to have the meaning they end up having, and ‘ready’ is definitely one of those LOL! But it did not interfere with his game here, so no need to worry about it 🙂
Great job!
TracyGood morning!
>It tends to stick to my fingers because it is 35C/95F here at the moment.
Wow, that is HOT! You can try freezing tiny bits of cheese so it defrosts as you use it, and is not as melty?
Great job with the goat games – especially the 2nd rep where you had the cookies ready before the object went in and you could reward immediately. She did a great job offering behavior! On the next session, you can add in tossing the reward away to see if she come running back to offer behavior on the object (and you can use different objects too of course 🙂
>She does lose her train of thought a few times.>
That might just be processing or needing more toy breaks (but yo did have good toy breaks here!)
Stealth self-control is looking good here too, I love how she a go back and forth from food to the toys!
>I noticed during the SSC when a novel item was introduced she forgot she was looking for a treat…>
The scented candle might not have been neutral enough for her to entirely ignore – the scent might have been strong or interesting to her, so you can use something more boring 🙂 or you can be further away from it. It is ok for her to check it out and then return to work, as that helps her brain process distractions. But being able to fully ignore a distraction in the environment is great too!
Nice work here!
Tracy
