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Good morning –
Hopefully last night went better in terms of sleep!The resilience pattern game looked good! It is a great way for puppies to explore the world đ You can add in slowly walking back and forth, to both add motion and expand her exploration area.
She was in a little bit of a âhang out and chew the toyâ mode during the retrieving, so tossing it a little further helped her orient it back toward you. I am not sure it was a retrieve when you did that as much of a swinging back to hang out with you and chew the toy đ but we will take it! And it is something to revisit when she is feeling spicy and more interested in running around. It could be something as simple as a different time of day.
>But, outdoors she snags the toy, runs away and has a party of one. Should I add a leash to the toy outdoors?>
Yes – add the leash. When she is retrieving it really well at home, you can also play the basic retrieve game sitting on the grass outside. At some point, she can have a âgo for a runâ cue added to be able to run around with the toy, but that can be after she will bring it back đ
>Line ups are the bane of my existence. I rarely get it right!>
A game you can practice throughout the day without any formal session is the line up, collar hold, toss something:
It builds her love for it and allows you to practice the mechanics.
Nice work!
TracyHi!
He did well on his games here!Yes – the marker/throw can come sooner. Think of it as marking for commitment to the jump (not arriving at the jump). That way the treat is landing before he arrive at the jump setup. He started looking at you more partially because the markers were late, and partially because you gave him a âhey!â when he couldnât find the treat. But that is on the human side of things (treats bouncing or crumbling or hard to see) so a white treat that doesnât crumble would be better, or use the toy đ
Since he did so well, this game doesnât need to be played much at all because he is still very young and we donât want to add anything that resembles formal jumping.
>What is up with YouTube? It does not copy if I do two in a row and then I end up sending a repeat video.>
YouTube was having a hard day! It sometimes upgrades its code and then things take a minute to catch up. It seems to be working fine now thankfully, and the parallel path video showed up twice.
He is making HUGE progress on his stays!!! Super! He was great to respond to the first sit cue because you were walking and suddenly said âsit!â He and I both were like WHOA! Hahaha!! And he turned completely sideways to face you – then did a big shake off (yes, it was hard!) So you donât need to be walking before the sit cue. You can be stationary and give him a casual line up cue so he expects it and doesnât turn to face you as much – plus is simulates the line up at a jump.
You did a nice rewarding while staying in motion and I think he is really starting to figure out what catch means – he turns and looked behind him at the end. Yay!! You can add in stopping, praising, then rewarding with the âcatchâ. And sometimes mix in releasing him forward to come to you.
Looking at the retrieve video:
He is on to you for the 2 toy game⌠if he has the better toy, he knows not to bring it back for the less favorite toy LOL! Smart đ So throw the less favorite toy as the reward – then the favorite lambs wool toy can be the reward. That worked GREAT!!! Eventually it all evens out and he will bring it all back. And you can get a bunch of fun/different toys (have you tried real fur toys?) because he might love those too!Great job on these!
Tracy
Hi –
>do I stop my movement and then say âcatchâ/throw food OR do I keep moving (obviously in slow motion) while saying âcatchâ and throw food?>Both! If you stop, be sure to praise, pause, then mark/throw. If you keep moving, be sure to stay connected then mark/throw. Or, re-connect if you look away, praise, then mark/throw. We donât want any change in your motion or change in connection to be associated with the release đ
T
Hi!
Super nice session, his stays are going REALLY WELL!! Yay!
One suggestion when you line him up – have his feet facing the direction you will walk away, so he does not get tempted to move his feet or break the stay to face you. He was perfect here but I want to help him stay perfect đ
Also, you did lots of rewarding while you were still moving away (that is great!) When staying in motion – if you look away from him (which is perfectly fine) just be sure that you donât re-connect AND say catch/throw all in one motion. That might cause him to think the re-connection is the release.
Since this calm version of stays AND the ball version went so well, try it with a tug toy! You might need to make the stays shorter because he is more excited when you do a lot of tugging before and after the stays đ But it will simulate his future trial-excitement đ
Great job!
TracyHi!
She did well here! One thing that will help is to have the bag appear in the environment without her seeing it appear – she would see you putting the bag down on when you introduced it, which totally enhanced it. So she was pretty convinced that the bag was something to interact with for the rest for the session.
So you can have it already on the ottoman or couch, for example, whence comes into the room and start playing the game as if it is not there. Then if you want to move it to a new spot, toss a cookie for her t ago chase on the other side of the room and then when she turns to come back to you: the distraction is in place đ
If she does pick it up – you can totally interrupt that. And if she keeps interacting with it, you can put it on something higher so it is still present but easier to ignore.
One more thought – when marking the behavior you like, you donât need âyesâ and âget itâ – the âget itâ plays both roles of telling her she is correct and where to find it. So the get it will be all she needs đ
> As I waited her out she got it â could almost see the wheels turning in her brain>
Yes! She was thinking so hard!! What a good girl!
Great job!
TracyHi!
>To clarify, if she walks BESIDE the prop I still donât reward? If she leaps over it and doesnât touch it, then I do reward?>
Yes – but if she goes past it once, dial back your speed so she can hit it successfully so there are no more failures.
>One of yesterdayâs videos was lured around the barrel. Let me know if I should try the cone or the wingless. >
Yes, she did well with the lure! Try the wingless, it will be easier for her to see.
>Do I go back to the two bowl game first if itâs a new prop?>
Since we are using the toy as an aid, I donât think you need to go back to the bowls.
She was super happy to chase the toy around in the barrel in the video here and you were able to get lots of nice wraps! The hardest part for her was lining up – you can put the toy on the ground or under your arm so both hands are free. That way you can use one hand to cue the line up, the other to feed, and the first time can reach for her collar.
Do one more session like this in a day or two on the wingless upright, and then we will add the next steps đ
>Dot was extra cranky last night for an unknown reason. She barked in her crate on and off all night which is a first for her. Prior she has slept all night quietly. Took her out several times and she didnât necessarily have to potty. She just couldnât settle for some reason. So, I suspect sheâll be tired today.>
She might just need a day to decompress, for whatever reason. Remember, she doesnât need to do structured things every day đ
Backing up to the mat is looking great! She was curling a little but that might have had to do with the rewards all coming from you right hand – you can see her lock onto that and move away from it rather than move backwards on a centered path. So alternate with hand delivers the treat: sometimes left, sometimes right, to help her stay straight.
Nice work!
TracyGood morning!
>but it didnât seem to me like he ever didnât want to do the activity.>
It is possible that he has a reward hierarchy of work then food/toys. So we can use âworkâ as a reward for eating đ depending the context and if he gets super choosey about when to eat treats. It is something to watch as he grows up and gets all of his teeth in đ
>Apparently we need to start training with linguine because he was quite excited about that.>
OMG!!! That is so funny!!!! He was actually quite graceful, slurping it down. I mean, linguine is DELISH and maybe you can let him watch you eat, then go do a training session using a bit of whatever you ate đ I have used pasta in training because dogs do love it!
>I had felt he was adding the couch to his obstacles as opposed to leaving the activity.>
Yes – totally agree and the couch was easier than the other stuff, so he was offering that! Note how on the setup in the video below, he did not offer any couch reps LOL!
Looking at strike a pose:
>We did the strike a pose again to experiment with rewards and he really does not think that a toy is an acceptable reward for this game. He will play between reps but will not go for the toy if he has not received his cookie. He did think the cookie dish was perfectly acceptable.>I love the feedback from the dogs about what THEY think the appropriate reinforcement is LOL!! Maybe he thinks this kind of stationary game where you are facing him is like shaping, where food is the correct reward. Then in between, obviously we play with toys LOL! I just love his opinions and communication. The session itself went really well so we can certainly incorporate his feedback into the training: strike a pose has food rewards and play breaks in between. He might change that when you start moving, and that is fine too đ
The chase the anti game looked great – the helper here is getting a great work out LOL!! He is driving directly to her and straight and they will be super useful when you are adding in big lines on jumps in the future. He seemed to have no change in behavior when you were running, so you can run even sooner to add more racing to it. I am not sure you will win without cheating LOL but he did great!
Rear crosses:
Good job getting further and further from the prop as your starting point – he was locking onto the toy at first so you were not far enough behind to get the RC. But then at 1:04 he was driving ahead and you got the RC really well! I like how you made a big fuss over the RCs with toys and treats for a long, fun reward, then went back to the parallel path for a bunch of reps because he was starting to watch you a bit.The RC at 2:13 was a little late in terms of you getting to the new side before he got to the prop, but you immediately adjusted that on the last rep so he was able to turn correctly.
I am doing a happy dance about how well he can find the turn in both directions when you show it to him. SUPER!! Most puppies have a hard time with that and he says it is easy đ
He is definitely turning around really well on the plank! In both directions! It is really fun to see his coordination developing. Another happy dance here. It seems a little stronger/more fluid to the left and he chose the left turn (even though it was turning away) on one of the reps so he might be a lefty. But he is pretty balanced with no strong side preference and no limitations, and able to control his mechanics really well. Yay!
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
Most (all?) conditioning classes use lures or food as a guide, and that is great. This platform might have been good a few weeks/months ago, but it is a little too narrow for him now – parts of his legs are hanging off the side so he is not comfortably sitting and is going past a tight sit into a squished sit, which is why he had so much trouble. He just needs a slightly bigger perch to be able to get on and move easily into a tight sit.
For the sit – yes, you can lure him into the position but I also urge you to not worry about it too much for now đ You can either focus on the sit position, or the stay – but if you try to do BOTH at the same time at this point, you will end up focusing on the exact position and not reward him when he responds correctly (like at :33). That can lead to confusion and stress, so at this stage it is one or the other not both. He was able to follow the cookie lure to be relatively at your side and I am glad you didnât mess around with him being a bit off to the side – being tight to your leg is easy to shape, to make the stay very happy and fun!
Looking at the retrieve:
He brought it right back really well on the first rep⌠then seemed to realize that the game was not that fun with you sitting so he was less enthusiastic about it. Clapping didnât seem to really get him into it but standing was definitely better! Tugging is more fun with you standing! So keep standing and mix in exciting things like you running away (fun!) and whipping out a fun different toy to surprise him with for bringing back the first toy.The running contact work is very similar, just starting him from a different angle and rewarding near you to the next look. Are you looking to reward front feet or back feet? You were sometimes giving the yes marker for back feet (rep 1, rep 4, rep 5, rep 6), sometimes for front feet(rep 2, rep 3). If it is back feet, the first back foot or 2nd back foot? This is all the stuff to work out now on the mat, and stare at the mat to really see it.
Great job here!!
Tracy
Hi! !
The intermediate game is a pure shaping exercise – you can shape him to pick up anything including random objects that are not toys. That is great for obedience! Or for teaching him to bring you the TV remote haha!Tracy
Good morning!
â¨Quill sure loved his formal introduction to the tunnel, with his human sister helping!! The angles were a little more challenging so definitely keep working around the clock angles. You can even toss a toy into the tunnel so he gets it pretty immediately after getting into the tunnel! A big piece of cookie or any toy he will bring back is great for that, so you donât have to crawl into the tunnel LOL!!Great job!
Tracy
Good morning!
He did super well with the barrel wraps then driving to the toy. He was really excited by the toy but did his wrap., and you were clear about which side you wanted him on. You can use food in the in-between moments because he is aroused and food (like a pattern game) can help with arousal regulation and help him walk back to the start without grabbing for the toy.
Pivoting without going to the toy might have been extra hard because he had done a bunch of wrap-then-toy and so when he exited the wrap if you were still moving and facing the line to the toy⌠off he went, good boy!
Separating the pivot from the wrap helped! He did GREAT pivoting on the flat with the toy right there đ
And on the last rep, you finished the wrap and made sure to be stationary and clearly indicate the pivot – and he pivoted. YAY!! So for future games with this, you can send him to the barrel from a little further away, so when he exits the wrap you are stationary and indicating the come-to-my-hand. That way he never sees even a tiny bit of run-to-toy cue (motion or facing it).
He was slipping a bit on the floor, so he is probably reaching the speed level where you will want to do this outside or on mats, or get long yoga mats to cover the wood – we donât want him to splay or hurt himself going fast!
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi!
This went really well!! She didnât really understand how to play with it when food was present, but when you start to approach it as shaping the retrieve with food as a shaping game and not a tugging game things really got rolling! Yay! She *does* like the toy, so keep rewarding small bits of grabbing/pulling on in the presence of the food (that was hard!) You were making it harder very quickly, so be sure to watch to see if she gets frustrated at all which might mean it is too hard.You can keep moving forward with this – putting a toy on the ground for her to pick up for treats, and building up to throwing a toy for her to pick up and get treats for picking up and eventually bringing back!
Nice work!
Tracy
Hi!
The barrel as the RC creates a different type of RC – more of a tandem turn where you arms cue the behavior (you can see her looking at your arms) rather than the traditional rear cross of you cutting behind her path. Tandem turns are more of a pull to the correct side and then a turn away, like a rear cross on the flat. Tandems are super useful, so definitely keep doing them!At :47 and :54 when she went to the other side of the barrel, she was correct – your footwork and line created that and pushed her away from the tandem turn line. So if there are errors in handling games, assume they are human errors đ And reset with a cookie đ
To help her read the traditional rear cross of you driving up the line and putting pressure on the RC line to cue behind her before takeoff, keep trying the prop game!
>(the prop she doesnât always hit it turns before hitting the prop).>
That is fine for now, she can be near it, as long as she turns the correct direction.
And you can try the alternative RC game posted yesterday – that one will also help her read the traditional RCs.
Nice work here!!
Tracy
Good morning!
She did well here! Yes, food is her favorite thing đ
The food in the bowl might be the hardest challenge for here, so being close to it was very hard. Yo can have it on a chair in a corner of the room so it is present, but less challenging and she will try to grab for it less. And be sure that the food you are tossing is MUCH better than whatever is in the bowl, to help with the challenge.Nice work!!
Tracy
Good morning!
I think the difference between the stationary send near the prop (which looked great!) and the big distance/running to the prop blew her mind đ When you started that far back and starting running, all of that took the prop entirely out of the picture.
So split the difference. Start by progressing with the sending and doing the parallel path game (so she can see motion) from gradually further and further back and when you hit the 15 or 20 range, you can start to move forward after the send and cut behind to the new side so she can drive forward and read the RC. For now, donât run and donât be too exciting because that draws her to you and of the prop.
>I started out with cheese in my hand but even after I put it awayââ>
Start with cheese in the opposite arm. And I think it was more that you were running (fun fun!) and less that you were holding cheese.
We can also place something on the target to help her look forward when you are moving (like a bowl) and that will help! And check out the alternate RC game added yesterday – that helps too!
>Markers-â¨food from hand â snackâ¨thrown or placed food- searchâ¨multiples of thrown food- scatterâ¨toy from hand- takeâ¨thrown or placed toy â get it>
Great! And you might hate me for this⌠it is possible that snack, search, scatter all sound similar to her so she isnât really processing them. Try to emphasize the vowels: ACKs, EARCH, CATTER to make them sound pretty different.
Nice work here!
Tracy
