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Good morning!
The wing-tunnel game went really well – I also think the game started off too easy for his level of brilliance 🙂 You can totally start the wing 2 feet from the tunnel for the very first rep 🙂 no need to start it far away then move it in gradually, especially on his home turf where he is not also balancing environment challenges.
My only suggestion is to hold him next to you, and let him hear the verbal a few times before the two of you start moving. That will make the verbals really strong and independent without any reliance on where your body is positioned or turned to.
I think he only had one error here which is great! An error or two is actually useful for him, in terms of processing – getting it right 100% of the time and not as informative as getting it right 90-95% of the time, because the ‘nope, that was not how the reward gets to play’ is useful info when you deliver it happily like you did.
When you get a chance, he is ready for the advanced level of this game 🙂
>not that he would repeatedly do a short sequence and then run to the hose on the other side of the field in his baby dog class at Power Paws last time we went – whoops!>
Ha! Of course LOL!!
>but he sure remembered where the hose was).>
Behold the power of classical conditioning! The hose must have made a big impact 🙂 Fun!
Wind in your hair is going well – your connection was really strong and he drove ahead beautifully (and seemed to be successfully NOT running to the hose without a cue :))
As you work on this, you can adjust the start wing position so it is closer to the line you have to run. That way, as you do the FC and move up the line he doesn’t see a lateral position from you and think that is the direction he needs to be going. On the first side, he was exiting the wrap towards you because of the line then finding the line. On the other side , it was positioned better so he had a much better line to the jump after the wing.
The next step for this game is to *not* have the placed toy as the lure: you carry something to throw, and throw it as soon as you see him looking forward to the line (no need to wait until he takes the jump).
In a seminar setting, you can have someone else holding it and when he looks forward, that person starts jogging/running forward and dragging it, so he drives ahead to a moving reward. I mention this because a very common seminar game is getting the youngsters to drive MILES ahead of the handler: and ideally we don’t rely on lures for that, plus with all that speed built up I don’t want the pups to splat their shoulders trying to stop for a ‘dead’ toy. A person running and dragging it is a fun, safe way to reward it.
Smiley face: he had a couple of questions at first about driving around the wing back to the tunnel: he went to the wing then looked at you as if asking: now what, human? So you can break it down a little to be more on the line to the tunnel when he exits the wrap (and less lateral). That would mean positioning yourself between the wing and tunnel so as he is approaching the wing, he sees you decelerating/rotating and driving right back to the tunnel.
For the race tracks/soft turns: add more connection to help him look forward at the line and not up at you. At :55 and 1:00 on your right side and 1:15 & 1:21 & 1:42 on your left side
And when you point forward to the wing as he exits the tunnel, he drives out wide and looks at you (1:13, 1:19).
I grabbed some screenshots so you can see how you looking forward & ahead of him causes him to check in to see what the line is:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1fOHzt8zczXaZXl8UVv7KrGInORJyU-k9x-OG6aiiDek/edit?usp=sharing
So for the race tracks, emphasize looking directly at him rather than forward or pointing forward – that all get him looking at the line and not at you 🙂
>I might work ahead over the next week to try to make sure he’s as successful as possible in his baby day.>
You can work ahead but don’t cram 🙂 He is ready! I am sure one of what Taner presents will be easy for him and some of what Taner presents will be hard 🙂 But that is all good! The best prep will be to give him a 2 day training rest in the 2 days before the seminar, so he is fully rested and ready (and not mentally depleted at all).
And if there is anything you see at the seminar that might guarantee failure or is too hard? Break it down to set up success – you are great with that.
>we just played tug, did some retrieve and some jump to tunnel or tunnel tunnel jump 2-3 obstacles at 8″ to make sure he was comfy in the environment.>
I am sure he was happy and engaged and comfy 🙂 And I am sure that he ignored all the people to work the you 🙂
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
>For the set point I am trying to figure out if I might be able to start that in the basement. He would probably need 6 feet between the jumps but I am not sure if the MM would be far enough out. Does that matter for the 1st time?>
Yes, I think 6 feet will be the right distance for him. For the first time, you can have the MM closer and it will be fine – that first session is really just an introductory session. Then when you take it outside, you will have more room to put the MM further away.
>Also for the wrap vs tunnel do you think my baby tunnel in the basement might be ok to start with too?>
Absolutely! The baby tunnel will be perfect 🙂
Have fun!
TracyGood morning!
>the lazy part of the one game. As soon as you said that I am like that is perfect
>Ha! I am a BIG fan of anything I can be lazy about haha!
He did really well with the verbal session here!
And while we are being lazy 🙂 The only thing to add here is holding his collar while you say the verbals (with him lined up facing the cone) – say the verbal 3 or 4 times then let go of his collar. That will get him going to the wrap without you even needing to move your hands 🙂 That will build nicely into the first ‘proofing’ game that can also be done without you needing to run.Great job!
Tracy
Good morning!
The jumping element of the set point is looking really strong, so we can focus on the stay element. He is speedy so we definitely want a stay!I think the presence of the MM along with the jump setup spiraled him into super high excitement at first, but then the rewards thrown back to him helped clarify things for a few reps.
Then when he was breaking the stay – I think he was associating your arrival at the MM with the release, meaning you were releasing as soon as you got to he MM so he started releasing when you got to the MM. Clever pup! Associative learning is fast and powerful (for better or for worse 😂)
To help him hold the stay and not anticipate the release, mix up when and where the release happens for now so the only thing that predicts the release is the verbal and not where you are or if you stop or move. Sometimes the release is while you are moving up the line. Sometimes you stop at jump 2 and throw a reward back to him. Sometimes you got to the MM but throw a reward back to him. And sometimes you go to the MM and stop and praise… then release. That way the arrival at the MM doesn’t get paired with the release.
>I think most of them were excited barks and maybe a few were anticipatory/frustrated barks?>
All of the above? Teenage dogs don’t even know why they are barking half the time LOL!! So he was excited and happy and mad that he had to stay but thrilled to be playing LOL
Great job! Fingers crossed for decent weather… I have been out at sunrise to be able to train at all this summer. So hot!!!
Tracy
Hi! I totally agree that foundation is the most important thing, and she is only a year old: the perfect age for starting these next steps. These sessions went really well!!
Looking at the set point:
Her stay is coming along so nicely! Yay!>I have apparently only stood in front of her asking for a sit stay. I’ll work on that also.>
Ah yes, lining up at your side will be useful.
She looked good with the set point here – Do you think you can lead out all the way to the Manners Minder before releasing (without damaging the lovely stay)? That will help prepare her for when we add the moving target.
And separately, you can work on her holding the stay while the moving target goes to the ground, then releasing to it. We will combine the 2 games when she is ready.
>We also did some left/right wraps with a toy in my sending hand to refresh the concept of being able to ignore the toy until cued (even when the cue is very late!).>
The left & right refresher session went well and your markers were really good! I think she told us that the left turns were HARD and you needed to be pretty perfect with connection – all of the bloopers were to the left turn, when you were a little less connected . So for now, be super connected on the sends into lefts, over-exaggerating the connection. When you did that, she found the lefts nicely! The right turns are much easier for her, so you didn’t need to show the exaggerated connection there.
Great job!!
Tracy
Good morning and welcome!
OMG how fun, a Ridgeback!! I love hounds 🙂 and you will see hounds throughout the demos (whippets and lurchers). They are so fun! And I am glad you are feeling excited again 🙂 Roxy sounds fantastic and looks great on the video.
>That said, it means we might be missing a few assumed foundational skills or named skill ideas you taught in that course (that I’ve already caught wind of watching this week’s videos). >
No worries! If there is a name to something that doesn’t ring a bell, just ask 🙂 And we can build in anything missing that will help these games.
>So, I might have some questions as I go along and need to work out what we already do that might be a bit different and how to adjust….>
Ask all the questions! That is what we are here for 🙂
>Roxy does single jumps and tunnels (I’m still only jumping 12″ but am probably ready to move her to 16′ soon). >
She is only 13 months and a large breed, you can keep 12” for a little bit longer to let her body mature (and her brain mature too :))
>And can do short combos of 2-3 things without a lot of independence (me moving with her close to jump or a Treatntrain at the end of a set of obstacles. >
Very cool! We will now add in more independence so there is a nice balance of her seeing close up handling as well as her getting to do stuff on her own.
>I hadn’t started commands for wraps before the pre-games >
The pre-games are an easy way to attach them to the behavior, since she is good at wrapping a barrel. And she had to move away from the cookies to get the cookies 🙂
It was a great session on the video! She is gorgeous! To attach the verbals more strongly, one suggestion: have her wear a collar and be closer to the barrel, so you can gently hold a collar while you say the verbals 3 or 4 times. Then you can let her go, so she is not seeing hand motion and hearing the verbals at the same time (her brain will prioritize the hand motion and not the verbal). But if you hold her, say the verbals while holding her, then let her go – she will blast to the barrel without needing any motion which creates great understanding and more independence
>and for rears I use left and right (but I haven’t started that with her at all and I can tell from one video that for that’s just a more general directional for you.)>
Left and right for me are 90-degree turns, so they are relatively collected and not as collected as a wrap. So the left and right can be used for rear crosses or regular crosses or post turns, because they cue the dogs to turn left or right on a pretty tight collection.
>It’s a bit awkward bc the heat index was something stupid like 105 today so we’re in a hallway.>
The hallway was a FAR better choice than being out in the gross heat and humidity!
I agree, she did great with the moving target – she is a powerful girl already! And it is already getting her head position where we want it: down on the line and not up at you. Focusng on the line promotes eve more speed and great jumping mechanics, so I am happy with what she did here (along with the impulse control of holding the stay :))
>She’s got somewhat thrilling toy/tug drive (compared to most RR not most agility dogs ha) but she doesn’t like a totally dead toy on the ground and of course she loves food more then anything. >
She does have lovely toy drive! And my guess is tha she wants that toy to move so she can chase it and track it. That is the fun part for her LOL!! Dead toys are probably dullsville for her. I don’t use very many dead toys anyway (for that reason, and also because I don’t want the dogs splatting there shoulders to get a dead toy). So we can use moving toys like the one you had here, and is we do need to place a reward, it can be a food reward in a bowl or a manners minder.
>She is doing some switching toy to food and back if the food is mid-value (which I’ve never been able to do before). Understands and is somewhat obsessed with the TnT.>
This is all great!!! And she might also like some of the crazy fur toys that we use in flyball, like raccoon pelts attached to bungees 🙂 It sounds like her food-toy balance is developing beautifully.
Great job here! I am looking forward to see more!
Tracy
Good morning!
>We are seeing the chiropractor this morning – hoping it’s something minor.>
Keep me posted! I have been thinking about him!!
>We have played find my face before and he remembered that when we tried it last night. I also started refreshing him on his remote reinforcement marker since we have not used that in a while. I did that with food and a toy.>
Awesome! You can refresh the remote reinforcement without leaving the house 🙂 You can put his rewards on a counter in the kitchen, then go into a different room, do a thing or two, then mark and run back to the kitchen for the rewards. And you can extend the remote reinforcement concept by moving to rooms further and further from the kitchen, as well as doing more stuff in each room 🙂
> He has not been in a group class since he was a puppy – once adolescence hit, there were too many people and too many dogs way too close to him in tight spaces. He has been working hard all winter on neutrality and minding his business, and has made huge progress, so I may be able to look for a class where we can use that setting as NFC to get comfortable in a class setting and not “do” the class.>
Ooh, I like this! He *does* need to be in a group environment because it has so many opportunities for training with environmental challenges that are so hard to recreate elsewhere. And a big yes – you don’t want to DO the class as in running courses, you want to train the dog as in giving him what he needs to thrive in that environment.
So the real question is… who is teaching a class that you can talk to about making it happen for him? There are lots of great instructors in your area so I am confident you’ll find a good fit. Rule out any pain issues before you start that though, because if something hurts his brain won’t have the bandwidth to handle all of the environment challenges in a class. I do full sports assessments at this age for my big dogs (radiographs, hands on evals, gait analysis, etc) so it is a good opportunity to look at anything you haven’t done yet with him.
Keep me posted!
Tracy
Good morning!
The walk through challenges are away harder with baby dogs because it is harder to predict what they ill do and how much support they need.
I think the walk through is looking good! He is a baby dog, so you might need to over-exaggerate the connection (especially on the line from the tunnel exit to the jump at 2-3 and after the BC) and rehearse that in the walk through more.
Nice stay reward! And he somehow found even MORE speed here, wow! Was it cooler weather so he was feeling double extra spicy? That extra speed also means the walk through will need to go faster too 🙂
On the run – his extra speed made you hustle more but that is great! I think the 2 spots where he needed big connection were indeed on the tunnel exit (1:18) and after the blind (1:27). But that will all smooth out with more experience on the lines for him – and he will recognize the blinds more and drive in sooner. For now, the exit line connection is the critical element of tightening the blind so showing it as early (and with as much exaggeration as possible :)) will help him drive directly to the new side rather than drift a little.
He was definitely stronger on the 2nd rep in both of those spots! You held the connection more and pushed in more as you mentioned on the jump after the tunnel! And he recognized the BC sooner – you can still give him more exit line connection with the opposite arm (right arm in this case) reaching across the body as you finish the blind to push the dog-side (left) shoulder back so he really sees the connection.
By comparison – I am confident that Lennan would not have had those questions because of the difference in his experience level.
I am SUPER happy with how well he is driving the lines with speed and forward focus! Wow! Baby dog doing grown up stuff! And your connection was lovely.
Great job!
Tracy
Good morning!
>NE item was an open bag of really stinky Mighty Wolf Duck treats. This was from Sunday mid-morning when it was already in the low 80s.>
Did you get a break in the heat today? I am not too far away in Wisconsin and this morning it is a glorious 67 degrees as compared to yesterday’s 95 🙁
The treats are a great challenge but also the heat is a pressure challenge: the treats are more of a cognitive challenge (the brain makes a decision) but the heat is a bandwidth challenge because the brain has to devote significant resources to keep the body cool even when asked to run hard. Brains are busy in the heat!
Lift: she did great! Sneaking a peak is normal but she did super well overall. You should probably do this with 12 poles sometimes too since she is a baby dog and needs more exposure on 12 poles.
>So the first rep was funny, I realized after she took off to the 2nd jump that I had released her with “jump” instead of break and Jump does mean take the jump and keep going on your line…which she did!>
Yes, and your body was pointing out to the jump so she was correct, good girlie!
Since she did so well (only questioning a really hard entry) – one approach to this is to change the challenge as often as possible. Since the treat bag was relatively easy for her, you can send her into the house for a moment (which might piss her off 😂) then change up the challenge: maybe a frisbee on the ground, or something different enough. You can still work through the hard entries but with a different challenge in the environment after every rep or two.
Kaladin was also super! You can also change up the challenge with something entirely different each time. While watching him, I was also thinking that a tunnel or jump would also be a good exciting challenge. The ‘novel’ element could be the position of the tunnel or jump being near the weaves (the obstacle itself is not novel). And that can also be introduced to Lift, but perhaps a little further away than what you can challenge Kal with 🙂
Great job here!!
Tracy
Good morning!
Great job on these!!! You were really connected and kept going even if there was a small error, making adjustments on the fly. That is hard to do but you were nailing it!Watson: lovely runs! Fast and connected! He is really paying attention to your motion and upper body cues, which is resulting in mostly perfection with the occasional blooper if he sees something you didn’t intend.
The opening looked great and I LOVED the front cross to threadle slice at :05! Lovely!
The FC in that same spot was really strong at :19 but then at :20 for a heartbeat you looked forward and he slipped right past you to the tunnel. These little dogs are slippery!! LOL! Great job finishing strong and nailing the ending on that run. At the very end, you had another lovely FC there and BIG connection (followed by reward) to bring him in on the line. Yay!
He took the back side of 9 at :14 and 1:11 because you are a little closer to the line than you needed to be for him, and then your shoulders opened up and pointed him to it – the little dude sees everything! You got it nicely at 1:19 by being a little further away and not showing as much shoulder rotation towards him – you might have also called him there but it was hard to hear on the video.
Wow, fantastic connection with Levy!!!! That makes all the difference with him – super nice first run! And you were connected really well and worked that last jump because I think he was considering running past it. Super!
On jump 1 of the 2nd run, before you release him, be sure to open your shoulders back to him like a serp so he sees the cue to take jump 1. He will also do better on the line if he is lined up on a slice – he was a bit straight to the jump here. At :01 on that first run he was lined up on a slice and your had your shoulders & arm back to him, and he had no questions about taking jump 1 🙂
A big click/treat for you for making an excellent adjustment with the serpy lines. At :28 on jump 8 and :36 on 12, you didn’t show an open serp arm so he layered the jump. But terrific adjustment to show definite serp cues at :53 for 8 and at 1:01 for 12!!! Very nice!
After the serp on 8, you had a little too much stepping towards 9 so he read it as a turn away cue. Great job continuing there though and not stopping for the small blooper.
One thing to try with Levy is, instead of the FC on the 4-5 line, you can try a blind cross there 🙂 Because he has less time between jumps to see the cues, the FC would have to be even earlier to get a tight turn. The BC can start at the same time as the FC but the key difference is that the blind will finish sooner (no foot rotation) so you can show him the new line a ew steps sooner which will get the tighter line.
Overall, though – fantastic work with both dog!!! Fingers crossed for better weather ahead!
Tracy
Good morning!
Overall these went super well! Just a few small details to look at:Pop out 1 – you decelerated into 3 but he still looked at 5 before seeing the weaves (slightly wide turn) so you can add brake arms: as he is exiting 2 and heading to 3, keeping moving & decelerate but show him both of your hands on the way to the 3 jump. It naturally cues him to add a stride and he will land looking at the weaves.
>At the end of the weaves, I gave him the cue Out to take jump 5, but not sure that cue is correct. Probably better to have a directional (on the flat) cue?>
He totally got it based on the body language! What other contexts would you use ‘out’ in? You can use a turn away verbal instead of out if this is not quite the right spot for out. You can use something like ‘switch’. But he did really well with the physical cue.
And the rest looked great: I really liked the spin you did at 8 to get he best possible line to 9-10.
Looking at pop out 2 – a context where I might use the ‘out’ (meaning to move away from me) would be 2-3, to get a smooth line there (and handle it like a serpentine with the dog side arm back and moving a bit towards 3.
Small detail: when you did the front cross on 8, you stepped away a bit back towards the weaves and away from the line to 9 (:50) so the turn was wide there. Yo can stay really close to the 8 jump for the FC to get a really tight turn to 9.
Pop out 3:
The opening looked good – note that 5 is on the threadle side of the jump, so you can do a FC on 4 then a threadle slice on 5. The rest looked lovely! He is doing the layering into the weave entry really well on these!!!One thing you did really well on all of the sequences was maintain connection and keep your arms low – yay! Well done!
Tracy
Hello!
Nice job introducing the set point here with the soft jump bumps 🙂
Forward focus to the MM looks good! He seemed pretty organized and fluid.
So since that went so well… onwards to replacing the MM with the moving target. The moving target will begin with the MM is now, but you will release and drag it forward. If that goes nicely, you can quickly switch to dragging it forward before the release (mixed in with 27 zillion stay rewards haha)
It will add so many important elements in these early stages: proprioception in arousal (building on the good ol’ shpile game haha), jumping organization with handler motion, more speed, etc. You will just be walking for now but it will build up pretty quickly 🙂
My only suggestion is to, for now, always be parallel to the MM so there is no conflict between deceleration and a turn cue on the jump, versus driving past you. But we will be switching to the moving target anyway, so it should not be an issue.
>He’s doing a baby dog “Fun with Jumps and Tunnels” session with Taner Dogan>
FUN! That will be a blast.
>(I used Rip’s old version to get a headstart during the MaxPup 1 break >
Smart! Ha!
>Want me to parcel those out or give you a few at a time for feedback?>
Lay ‘em on me! Post everything you have – I have about 36 hours of full on computer time so now is the perfect time to check them out (probably starting tomorrow, because we have some live stuff for lessons and Maxpup 4 tonight. It might be easiest if they each get their own post in your thread? I am looking forward to seeing them!
Tracy
Hello and welcome back!!! Lew is definitely wanting to be an agility dog 🙂 And yes, we can do quieter stuff while he heals up after the surgery.
The wrapv erbals session went well and I see what you mean by the harness opinions 🙂 We don’t need to do much that involves being held, but it is useful so you can do a bit of a lineup ritual that he will like: line him up with a cookie lure, feed the lure to him as you take hold of the harness, then give him another treat. It is a 2-for-1 deal – 2 cookies for one collar hold LOL! I think he will find that acceptable because when you did something similar (like at 1:33) he was fine with it – but adding the cookie lure into the line up position will make him extra fine with it LOL!
I think part of his big harness opinion was also that it was preventing him from cutting behind you to get to the cookie in the other hand faster – gotta give him bonus points for creativity and efficiency! LOL!!
The wraps looked great and the verbals sounded great, he is ready for the next games 🙂
He was really great about holding his stay for the moving target intro – almost perfect! I think he was starting to pair the release with the toy being put on the ground, so be sure to vary the release timing: sometimes the release is quick and sometimes the release is after a few seconds and sometimes after praise.
And the more you moved the toy, the more he grabbed it so definitely keep it moving. When food was in the picture, he wants the food so for a toy-only session you can keep food out of the picture. And with the treat hugger toy, you can totally have the cookie already in it – whatever helps him look at the toy will work really well. I have also used a cookie bowl attached to a line (duct tape!) and the manners minder attached to wheels for the foodie dogs 🙂
Great job here!
Tracy
Hello and welcome back! It will be fun to see him work through these more advanced games 🙂
Really nice moving target session here! He seemed to have no questions about it on the flat or on the jump. And great job mixing in tons of stay rewards.
It looked like he was focusing on the toy as it was moving? If he was looking at you, you can wait to release him until he looks at the toy, to keep solidifying the forward focus.
Great job here!
Tracy
