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Hi! It is so cool that you all set this up!! Extra thanks to Dean as leash runner and judge 🙂
Looking at the video – the ring entry stuff seemed to be the hardest part for him, especially at the beginning where
there was a lot of action with an exciting dog finishing and a loud handler 🙂 You can bring him in doing pattern games for that.
He did a lot better on the 2nd round! And you can see it was a little hard at the end, when things were very busy – note how he does a full body shake when entering in both of the hard spots at the beginning of the session and at the end! Letting him observe the ring crew was good, he worked it through nicely. Watching the other dog finish (at the beginning) was harder so that is when you can add the pattern games right in the ring and also do tricks for treats 🙂I know we are working to simulate what will happen at a trial but we can ease the transition into it with pattern games and food being visible the first couple of times a he gets exposed to a variety of new and different challenges. And definitely bribe/convince classmates or people at any upcoming seminars to help out with this too 🙂
Great job with simple sequences too, the challenge came from the environment so you didn’t need the sequences to be very hard. He did well with the noises and with Dean standing there! Also, he seemed to do well with Lift coming in and with the leash runner delivering the leash. And he did great with the weaves and ending line, with all the people moving. I am sure his brain ‘noticed’ these things and it was definitely challenging, but he was still able to execute the agility with a lot of engagement and speed, which is great!!! It will get easier and easier for him to actively ignore them 🙂
>He did better with a dog coming in while where were going out vs. the other way around (I am sure because he knows he gets his treats when we leave.)>
Yes – he probably associates getting the leash on and exiting with food 🙂 And the start area is a lot harder, because the next thing that happens is ‘work’ not treats. You can have him do one jump and then get treats in the situations where you are adding a lot of environmental challenges.
Looking at the stay video:
For the stays, it is about finding that sweet spot for each dog. For him, I think the main thing will be to lead out with connection doing that bit of tense body language… but not too pressure where you are leaning towards him. Think of it as leaning away, creeping away while watching him, but not moving or learning towards him. Looking at each rep:Rep 1 had no pressure (in terms of leaning towards him) but also no connection, so he released when you were lifting your arm and beginning to look back at him (dogs learn very quickly that these physical cues are the release if we pair them with the verbal release). Be very careful to not pair connection or motion with the release 🙂
Rep 2 – this one had sooooo much pressure with bending over him, doing a lot of ready ready then creeping away, so he got overaroused and could not hold the stay (and he said some curse words LOL!)
Rep 3 – this one was a better balance of connection by looking at him as you moved away and not a lot of pressure. He did well (you know it is exciting when the other dog joins in LOL!) I think this was my favorite rep!
Rep 4 – this was like rep 2, with too much pressure from leaning over him so he couldn’t hold the stay.
Rep 5 – not a lot of connection but a throwback reward – be sure to be connected even on these, so you don’t pair the marker with your movement.
Rep 6 and 7 – He held the stay here nicely! You can add more connection here and a little bit of creeping away – you didn’t have a lot of connection on these, so your release and movement were all close in time which could pair movement with the verbal release (ending up with movement being the release).
Rep 8 and 9 – I think these had too much leaning over him and too much ready ready ready, creating too much pressure (similar to rep 2)
So what is likely to work best is to be connected and watching him the whole time, saying ready quietly as you creep away with a little bit of tension in your body language, then release, then run. That seems to be the sweet spot, and you can gradually extend the duration of the stay as you add this.
>and I forgot to mention our other NFC class day victory was being such a good boy while standing under the wicket to get measured. We’ve been working on that but I was pretty sure would not be ready for prime time, but we had to get measured anyway and I was so surprised at how nice he stood for it! Measured 14″ which is good for UKI I think (for 12″) but bad for AKC so we’ll see what nice judges I can find for that!>
Hooray for good measurements!!!! Yes, 14” is great for UKI. For AKC – is it 14” and under for 12, or 13.9999 and under for 12”? I have some measurement tips for when it is time to get the measurement 🙂 Both of my girl dogs are right on the exact measurement number for agility and flyball so I did help them prepare on the day of the measure… but I also shaved the coat on the whithers. It was not a pretty look for a couple of weeks, but both easily got measured in. After all, the judge is measuring to the shoulder and not how much coat there is. For example: Elektra’s UKI measurement was 15” over and over, (with her full hair LOL!) but for Flyball she needed to be 14.999 or less. Shaved shoulders and some other things got her at 14.75 for both her measurements.
I have had multiple vets over the last 2 years try to find that testicle to see if we could move it and no one has been successful.>
Fingers crossed that they find the testicle so the surgery is minimal!!! Any whippet racing people in the area? I swear they can find any testicle, anywhere, any time, it is magical LOL!!
Great job here!
TracyGood morning! Sounds like a fun weekend!
Backing up onto the bed:
Getting only front feet off went great, so definitely do more reps before getting all 4 feet off all the way off. He was really good with stepping each foot back individually when only front feet off and with back feet barely off – but if his back feet came all the way off and a few inches away, he was not fully sure of what to do (and kind of scampered back sideways ))Looking at the cato board video – good job turning it so he didn’t have to be scrunched up, but yes, I agree that it was too tall for now for his back feet to step up onto. He can do it eventually! But for now, we can keep it easier 🙂 You did a good number of reps of just front feet and that was super strong – that is what you can do on the bed for now too, to work on the stepping backwards mechanics.
>I’ll need to get something else here- any suggestions for a flatter plank to try? Maybe just some plywood?>
A plywood square about the same size as the bed here would be great – and to keep it from being too slippery, you can get a cheapie yoga mat and cover the board. The pink board I use the in the demo is a piece of wood with a yoga mat stapled to it 🙂 and to make it wobble, I added more wood on the bottom (but started it without the wobble).
Get out game video:
>here he thought my off arm was actually throwing a cookie so he kept sprinting forward looking to it>
I can totally see his argument here that it did indeed look like the tossed treat LOL! If you watch the pointing hand, you can see your arm go from bent to straight very quickly, and your hand go from relaxed/curled to fingers opening fast… that is exactly what a cookie toss looks like.
When you slowed things down, it started to look different and he started to figure out that it was more than just find the cookie. But one tweak to help make it even more distinct for him
Rather than point with an open hand, you can keep your fist closed and point with a finger. That definitely does not look like a cookie toss action. And doing it more slowly like you were doing at the end here will be good too.
>I wonder if maybe next time I try this I should start with just basic send to prop reps to get that in his head?>
You can, but you can use a closed fist/finger point there too to help introduce that.
I went back to compare the get out mechanics with your normal sends – you did use an open hand on the sends, but the back of your hand was facing him so it did not look at like a cookie toss. On the get outs, your palm was facing him which does look a lot more like the cookie toss.
Rocking horses: This is going well and great job using both the toy and the cookies!!
>He thought there should be a cookie in the middle every time so getting the two barrels smooth was a little harder,>
Actually, he was asking about connection! When you looked at him directly before and during the send, he did great! When you were not looking at him when he exited the previous barrel then looked ahead on the sending… he had questions. So connection is key (connection with small dogs is hard because our arms can block their view)!
For example, compare :42 when he had a question (not enough connection, you were looking ahead) to 1:20 where you gave him a lot more connection and he got it very smoothly 🙂
And at the end, at 1:52 as he exited the barrel you were looking ahead without a lot of connection to him. You could probably see him peripherally, but he could not see your eyes. The compare to the last rep at 2:09, where you had your arm further back and looked at him as he exited the barrel and maintained that on the send, so he found the next barrel really well! Yay!
So really exaggerate the connection after each wrap and on the send. It gets easier as the pups get more experienced, but for now the connection will be super exaggerated 🙂
Speaking of connection… look at how great your connection was on the barrel wrap to the bowl! Perfect! He had no questions 🙂 That is the connection you will want as he exits the barrel in the rocking horse games. And good job not pointing ahead to the bowl 🙂
The strike a post concept transfer looked awesome!! He is ready for the next step – add a bowl on the ground (below where you were rewarding him here, with your left foot pointing at it) so he can slide in for the serp then go directly to the bowl for the reward. You can drop the treat into the bowl. This will also mean he probably won’t actually hit the target, but that is correct: as long as he still does the in-then-out shape turn, he doesn’t have to hit it anymore. And it helps up start to fade it out 🙂
Great job on these!!
Tracy
Hi!
I think he really enjoyed this game 🙂 You can build it up in a couple of ways since he was pretty perfect here!
You can add lateral distance on this game – throwing the reward at the same spot but you are increasingly further away from the jump
Or you can stay closer, and add more motion – jogging then building up to running!
And eventually you can do both – lateral distance and more motion. Fun!
As you add distance and motion, he is going to want to look at you at the jump (nothing else to look at 🙂 ) He was doing that a little here. To avoid building in looking at you, you will want to change the timing of the reward throw: when you see him looking at the jump setup, throw the reward ahead past the jump so it lands before he arrives at the jump. That will reward his forward focus on the line and help him not look at you over the bar.
Great job here!
TracyGood morning! This was a very successful session!
The coaching from your friends was hilarious! And he did a great job ignoring that tunnel out there!
You were really good about balancing getting him a little jazzed up and also walking/staying connected so he was very clean on all there barrel wraps. That is exactly what we want him to do: Rehearse great mechanics while going fast 🙂 Yay!
>I didn’t realize until I saw the video how far back I was starting him. No wonder we had a couple of misses.>
Actually, I thought your starting spot was a good challenge for him, and your timing of starting the FC was spot on for almost all of the reps – you had your line on the ground at just about the entry to the barrel, and you nailed it on all but 2 of the reps. He was lovely!!
On the 2 reps where he did not wrap (1:26 and 1:38), you were too early to start the FC. He had taken one step past you but was still a step or two away from the barrel when you started the FC, so it was just a little early. You can work up to that, by moving your line closer and closer to your starting point.
And only 2 misses in a session is actually a good thing 🙂 We don’t want to go past 2 misses though. We don’t need to have 100% success because the dogs do learn from sometimes not getting rewarded. When he does have a miss, though, don’t mark it with anything verbal (even if it is happy) because he jumps up at you. We don’t want to build that in, so instead you can call him back and do a quick cookie reset at your side. That gives him something to do (line up) rather than jump up when something goes wrong, but it is also a calm indicator that he was not correct. Plus it rewards effort because most errors are this point are handing errors (like being too early :))
For the next sessions with the barrel, you have 3 options (feel free to mix them all in to keep things spicy :))
– you can do what you did here, and add a toy and a little more motion (for more excitement)
– you can keep using food and walking, and work on starting the FC sooner
– you can move to the rocking horse games with 2 barrels 🙂Great job!
Tracy
Good morning!
>Now my ocd is kicking in bc I’m like I trained the things in order of the things and did the things correct so why did I mess up the things I trained LOL! Or more so it’s just Julee is processing things they way she thinks it was meant to be. .. I hope.>
I don’t think there is anything worth getting OCD over 🙂 There are so many things to train with young dogs that it is probably a shift in value towards the toy being on the ground as the cue to get the toy, then frustration when it was not. We all develop cues that we didn’t mean to develop – how many people have accidentally taught the release from the start line to be movement (like a hand being raised or head turning back to him) instead of a verbal? I sure have LOL
>>You mentioned not getting the toy always simply games- do you have one in mind bc yes toy races always paired motion run get toy so I want her to learn that difference.>
I think the fold it in game with the cone is a good one to start with because there is no control position to start with, you are marking forward focus by releasing her, then marking getting the toy. The toy starts off on an easy line but it quickly moves around the cone so it she has to pass it to get the correct entry. So when she looks at the cone, you let go of the collar – and then when she gets to the cone and starts wrapping, you can use your get it marker.
Also, strike a pose with the toy on the ground is a good one – she gets the toy when she hits your hand and you say the marker, so she doesn’t go directly to the toy on the ground.
T
Hi!
>Tug sit game and looking at toy if I drop
It you still have to wait for the break or get it cue. Toy place further ( past handler) directing in line with dog. Handler uses arm to teach dog to look at the toy and add a verbal cue – other trainers didn’t start the FF game like you did so I rolled with that. She’s still not allowed to get the toy until I say get it.>Right – but how it can be confusing when using the placed toy in “don’t just run to it” contexts is:
– there is a control position being cued in tug-sit-tug and in the forward focus game if is starts in a sit. Those, plus toy races, also *always* result in the dog going directly ot the toy once she starts moving. So it makes sense that her brain directs her to the toy when she is moving and looking at it.>Game 3- wing vs toy ( also started with seminars ) toy in front of wing where they would normally grab it after the wrap. Hand in collar and as close to wing as needed. Cue either get it for the toy OR the wing wrap. So basically a verbal discrimination. These games started early on and she thought they were dumb so maybe there’s still some of that and I did put it away until she was ready but she’s done well. >
If she thought it was dumb, possibly too much failure early on, so there is frustration built in? Or before her verbal cues/markers were strong enough, so it was frustrating? That is why I start with the very simple moving the toy around the cone (stealth self-control folding it in) and by living with the 2 failure rule.
>So yes she seems to think getting a toy on line is the answer but should be only on permission.>
I think it falls into the category of “what I think I have trained versus what I have actually trained” LOL!! And all of what you decribe as having permission begins with more control of the motion, and doesn’t have you running. Your motion is permission to get what is on the line, which is why slowing down your motion and getting the connection going will be super helpful.
T
Good morning!
This first video was a really great rehearsal of the pieces that a lot of young dogs struggle with! Doing it with one dog and cookies in the ring definitely helped but you can see she did find it a little challenging (a bit of jumping up and barking) but did really well.
Having Khamsin loop Mochi around to enter on the other side was great! You can have her come in sooner, before Lift is on leash, so Lift can experience the distraction of another dog entering the ring before she is finished with her run 🙂
Talking to people is a great distraction during the pre-run moments… because we always seem to end up talking to people (answering questions, talking about runs, etc) as you can see when Bulldog Guy came in unexpectedly.
The waiting at the beginning of the 2nd video is also useful – there is a lot of hurry-up-and-wait in dog sports LOL! They both did great here, outside the ring and inside the ring! Jimmy looked surprised to see her there LOL! But it was a great exposure for both. You can both come into the ring sooner, and even do Volume Dial tricks with both in the ring! The next steps would be to have Lift come in for treats while another dog is finishing a line, like tunnel-jump-celebrate.
>What I really like is how she followed me off towards the camera at the end while ignoring Jimothy playing on the line. (if she’s not tuned in, that kind of activity would result in her trying to check it out or boinging/barking at it)>
Yes, that was great! I think it was partially that you were really engaged, and partially that she is learning the value of the end-of-run games 🙂
3rd video – wow, this warm up area really is secluded LOL!! She did well ignoring the excitement of Jimmy and Khamsin. The movement into the ring was actually a little rushed but that is GREAT because that is likely to happen at a trial LOL!
I think the boinging at your side at the end is just part of her shtick – she does it when she is excited but not necessarily frustrated. The frustration boing is more at you and more noisy, I think 🙂
>We’re back for more fun with Khamsin, Kristin & Dean tomorrow. (Lift got her sniffy walk, in 16deg temps, and has been busy with her collagen bone as I upload videos.>
Since there are several of you – add in getting people into the ring. Maybe one person can be the judge, one can be ring crew, and 2 people have dogs out? Again, thank you to Dean!!! His help is very appreciated!
>Khamsin and I were talking about how with each dog we focus more on the “non-agility” stuff for preparation and were wondering how on earth we got as far as we did with our first few dogs that didn’t benefit from this!>
I think we forget many of the early challenges we had in the ring. Facebook memories reminds me hahahaha but having all of these tools has made debuting the young dogs sooooooo much easier – now all they have to deal with is my handling being late hahahahaha
Great job here! Keep me posted on how today goes!
Tracy
Good morning!
Turn and burn is looking good!! You were very connected and smooth, so she was very fast and smooth! And no barrel hitting, yay!!! There was one moment where she went forward and didn’t take the barrel at all – there might have been something out there but also be careful not to block the barrel – you were a little on her line there at approximately :36 and did the FC really early. The other reps had you a little more off her line and doing the FC a tiny bit later, and she was awesome!
Check out the rocking horse game from this past week, I think she is ready for it!!
Fabulous to use the MM in the rear cross session! It provides a big focal point to help the pups for sure!
Be sure to get to the new side though – on these reps, you were putting pressure on the RC line but actually showing the RC info (side change) before the prop, so the MM was getting the turn for you (not the handling). You an see it at :59 if you play that moment in slow motion: you are visible on her left side as she is hitting the prop at 1:00, so she is preparing to (correctly) turn to her left. She did turn left and then went to the MM. Same at 1:15. You moved the hat closer to the MM so at 1:34 she did not turn to the left, even though your position was the same as the previous 2 reps. She was getting the turn away to the MM on the next reps, but you were not on the RC side so here are some ideas for getting to the other side to be sure she is reading the RC and not locking onto the MM regardless of handling info.
>Didn’t seem to matter how soon I crossed behind she’d turn towards me. >
Do you have video? It is possible that you were not getting to the new side early enough to get the RC 🙂
When you are getting that turn back to you, be sure to get to her other side she sees you on the new side before she arrives at the prop. One way to do this because she is fast is to start a little ahead of her – throw a cookie toss back behind you and after she gets it, you can start moving up the line towards the center of the prop (as if it was the center of the bar). Then as she passes you, get to the new side and keep moving forward to support the line to the prop (on the new side). It is ok if she doesn’t quite hit the prop as she is making the turn to the new side.
And you can definitely still have the MM out there! But balance it with parallel path, where there is no side change and she does not turn to the MM – you throw the reward ahead on the straight line. That can give you great info about what she is reading! And if she turns towards you on a rear cross, you can freeze the video to see where you were when she was one stride away from arriving at the prop. You will want to be fully visible over her shoulder on the new side.
Great job here!
TracyGood morning!
Looking at the video, I think there some things happening that created a domino effect, tipping her into overarousal/frustration. It is great info from her!! And this is also why video is AWESOME because it really helps us figure things out.
In no particular order, because it all was happening at the same time:
The toy on the ground to work this concept was really arousing and difficult – especially since it is possible that she has learned to just go to the toy on the ground (based on what you said yesterday). So there might have been some frustration building up: “human, what is all this other stuff, why are we not just going to the toy on the ground?”
She could tell the difference between the reps that were correct versus incorrect based on your reaction, even though she was getting the toy each time. Plus you were changing your behavior during/after each rep, which was not that predictable and can be frustrating to puppies. This included different reactions as she got to the toy (not negative, just different and she was like “huh?”) and also stopping her to get the correct side on the FC.
The connection on the exit of the FC at barrel was not clear enough so she didn’t know she was supposed to come to the new side and not stay on her line. You could see her, yes – but don’t think she could see the new side because you were trying to catch her with your dog side hand being close to you. Dogs just don’t read the dog-side hand at our side as a cue to changes sides while we are running. Puppies miss the cue, and adult dogs learn to drift wide waiting for more info (but I digress LOL!)
So trying to pick her up with the dog side hand next to you: That closes your shoulders forward and she didn’t see your eyes or front of you chest – and those are the cues that baby dogs need to see when changing sides. Ideally, you would have your (new) dog-side arm pointed all the way back to her, as far back as you can get it without it falling out of the socket haha! You can use exit line connection to help that, with your opposite arm coming across your front and resting on your dog-side hip to really push that dog-side shoulder back so she can really see the new connection.
So with the shoulders closed, you were running a bit sideways as you were trying to get her attention, so she was reading motion and going forward to the toy: partially because there was nothing overriding the motion, and partially because the stimulation from the toy was making it hard for her to process anything else that was more subtle or physically higher up, like your hands or eyes. The motion and the excitement of the run-to-toy-since-it-is-on-the-ground pulled her focus downwards.
To help confirm this theory: Note the immediate success at 1:30 when you were holding the toy and it was not on the ground. She was able to process things better.
As you were working to get her to come to the new side:
Stopping her for the cookie on the FC stopped your motion so she read that, and then cookie on her nose got her attention… but that opened a different can of worms:
Adding possibly the frustration of knowing that the other reps were not quite right, plus now the cookie was higher value than the toy, and possibly a bit of confusion about why the stopping was happening and not going to the toy.So she wanted the cookies in that moment and with the frustration that had been building up: you got leaping up when you tried to get her on the toy.
You calmly interrupted her then went to a pattern game which was great. I am not sure I would have tried the wrap game again until she had had a bigger decompression and until I had figured out what happened (more leaping, she was not ready, so you were wise to step away from the session.
You came back later with a higher value toy so she did it but note how she moved away from you with the toy – this might be a bit normal for her, but also she might have been wanting to shred it to decompress.
So what to do? A few ideas:
– definitely be more consistent about the placed toy not always meaning go to it immediately. And start that separately with really simple games.
– For now, take the placed toy out of this game and use an empty food bowl instead. I think that might be less of a powerful focal point for her? And less arousing overall?
– As she exits the barrel, make a huge exit line connection, dog-side arm back, opposite arm across your belly… and walk forward so she can really see it (fast motion can muddy the waters). As it gets easier, you can add running
– as you get success you can add the toy back with it in your hand kind of like what you did at 1:30. But have it in the opposite hand as she exits the wrap (and place it across your belly to emphasize exit line connection) then throw it forward for the go go go (the food bowl is not needed at that stage.I think then you will be able to go back to the toy placed on the ground – but also have a 2nd toy in your opposite hand as you finish the FC, to give her a clear focal point in that moment and great exit line connection.
Let me know if this makes sense or if I need more coffee 🙂 She is doing really well overall so I don’t think this will take long at all!
Nice work :)
TracyHi!
I am so glad he is cleared to play! Yay! What was the injury? I can help you sort out what to do, based on where we need to bubble wrap him 🙂
>My plan is to resume slowly and try some of the games that are at a slower pace for another week or so. >
We can tweak the games so you are sitting on the floor or on something low, to help him keep his feet on the ground.
On the strike a pose video:
Everything is great about the mechanics here! Your position, your timing of the click, and the reward placement – lovely! He was understanding it really well. So we can tweak it by having you sit on something low: an ottoman? Stool? Or do you have any of that inflatable fitness stuff like a peanut or donut? That can work too. That will get you lower so he won’t pop up to touch the target.
The other thing to add is an empty bowl on the ground, as the reward placement target (it will go kind of below where you were delivering the cookie here and your feet will be pointing at it )) That way you can drop the cookie into it – and he will start keeping his focus lower, knowing he is going to it after touching your hand. And if he doesn’t touch the hand as much because he is kind of side swiping it on the way to the bowl? Perfect! That is the behavior we will need in the long run 🙂
You can move right into the concept transfer of this game (posted this week) even with you sitting on something to stay low.
On the parallel path video:
He surprised himself by landing on the prop at the beginning LOL! You were very smart to get down low for a bit, then shape it. He was definitely starting to remember it! He is very locked into your hands so you can tweak the game to make it more about the target and less about your hands:
Rather than do this as a parallel path with you walking back and forth, you can stand a few feet away on 1 side of it. Then send him to it (or let him offer going to it). When he is on the way to it, use a get it marker (not a click) and toss the cookie past the prop ahead past the prop. In order to make the timing of the throw early enough, it is perfectly fine to throw it before he hits the target. You would be marker his decision to move forward to it and more importantly… not look at your hands 🙂
>And I made the mistake of using too-exciting treats (sometimes it seems like it’s either exciting or not-worth working for).>
You can experiment with when the best time to train with food is – I have found that my food driven puppies work best *after* a meal. I usually give them a partial meal, then use decent value food and get a really nice balance of interest in the food reward: motivated for it but not insane for it LOL!!! I almost never work food-driven puppies for their meals, because it is mentally too hard (unless I want to do something that involves no thinking, just doing LOL!)
It is great to see him back! Nice work here!
TracyHi!
>we did backing up to a low mat last night for his “night snack”, and he’s so freaking clever- we progressed super fast using his kibble, I will try to do another session and actually press record 😉>
Yay! And the best sessions happen when we forget to hit ‘record’ LOL!
Looking at the videos:
First video – yes, he is super quick around the barrel! You can move yourself more slowly so you can point your hand back to him, more like what you did at :35. On the reps where he did not read the side change, you did have your opposite arm across the body but the dog side arm was next to your leg (not pointing back and down to him). That blocked his view of the connection, so he didn’t always see the side change (especially on your left side).
The parallel path game was fast & fun, he did great! But more importantly – check out how far back your dog side arm was here – that is what we need on the exit of the FCs 🙂 Your arm was pretty extended back to him with a low hand – and plenty of space between your hand and leg (the hand was not next to the leg :))
>cue with both arms pointed back to him to open my body>
The opposite arm doesn’t have to be back to him, it can be resting on the dog side hip to help open up your dog-side shoulder. Your dog-side arm does need to be pointing back to him like you did in the parallel path game.
You can see good dog side arm back to him at 1:16 on the 2nd wrap video – super clear connection and he had no questions! Yay!
He has figured out the game and know he will be going to the bowl of course 🙂 So when sending him to the barrel with the added distance, wait a little longer before moving away from the send – let his head get to the barrel.
On the video where you ran to the toy – he did great here too! And your connections on the exits of the FC were looking clear, both on the first rep at :15 and also later at :50.
Adding decel & turn – very nice job getting his attention for the decel after all the reps of driving forward to the bowl! Yay!
OK one more thing about the arms 🙂 When indicating the bowl or toy on the ground, don’t point forward to it 🙂 That is a rehearsal of disconnection and shoulder line change that will come back to bite you when we add more obstacles 🙂 So as you use your dish or toy marker, keep your arm back and say it to him even as he passes you. It will feel weird but you will be happy to not have the forward pointing habit 🙂
>I’m really happy with his send commitment to the barrel (when I cue correctly)!!! I think we’re ready to work more on the rotated sends to the barrel and maybe try the rocking horse two barrel game.>
Yes, for sure! And those are fun 🙂
>also trying to build in cookie scatters for decompression in our training sessions- the decompression guide was a GOOD reminder! We also do off leash walks/hikes with friends (either just my 3 dogs or with Danika’s pack) once a week, and more when possible. And chews a few nights a week 🙂>
This is awesome!! So good for his puppy brain and body ❤️Keep adding more as training gets more intense, which of course coincides with adolescence LOL He might like snuffle mats too or lickimats for the days when you can’t get the walks in.
Great job here!
TracyHi!
I agree, this went really well!! You did great! She was into it and really driving hard to you, but also collecting for the turns really well.You were making clear decels on almost all reps, so she was really able to set up her collection – then balanced really well into driving ahead for the toy race ending 🙂 Super!!!!
You had only one little blooper, a disconnect at 1:50 that read as a blind cross as you did the pivot. You can just reward that, no need to ask for a touch – when they end up on the other side of us in that situation, it is always handler disconnection showing blind cross info 🙂
My only suggestion on this is to accelerate more so it is easier to show the decel – you might need more room to do this, or start closer to the tossed cookie so you really have to run after she gets it 🙂
If you are happy with her barrel wraps, you can take these skills to the Handling Combos game!
Great job :) Tracy
Hi!
> Let me know how we can transfer my Independent Study Max Pup 2 to the live version >
Sounds good! You will get an email when the course is posted (probably sometime in late January) – then either post here or email me to remind me to transfer it for you!
Tracy
Hi!
>Had a chair positioned at the end of a 3 jump to tunnel sequence – that one was not problem, marked it with a “good boy” followed by a lotus ball toss.>
Nice!!
I just thought of an idea! What if you did a remote reinforcement version of this and give the lotus ball to the ring crew person, with very strict instructions to quietly throw it after Coal is past them and after you mark his good choice. That can combine the remote reinforcement concept (dad doesn’t have the treats!) with immediate rewards for ignoring ring crew.
>Had another chair positioned behind him at the startline – that one was tough with the pressure behind. Did some volume dial games, some ready steady Freddy slow lead outs and some one jump focus forward to help him work thru it.>
Awesome – chairs behind the dog at the start line are SO HARD!! Good job working through it!
>Last chair was positioned next to a tunnel about 3 feet behind the entry. 1st rep the ring crew got a bit rude playing with a towel, he fell into the trap.>
Dog abuse! LOL! Just kidding 🙂 You can arm the ring crew with the towel and with the lotus ball to throw when Coal ignores him.
>But then I started wondering what was I marking and rewarding, successfully passing the ring crew or the tunnel performance itself.>
Might not matter which you were marking, as long as he keeps doing his tunnels and keeps ignoring the ring crew 🙂
>Also did some work with him watching me placing his lotus ball on a table and then doing some work with clean hands – did have some cookies in my pocket. I think I need more work on fading the visual of the ball in hand.
Yes, that is good! You can fade the visual of the ball for sure. You can also hand it to your instructor or ring crew to throw, so it has the double whammy effect of reward AND distraction. They can leave it in a pocket until it is time to throw, so he is not seeing it in their hands.
>All sounds OK?>
Sounds great! Really good challenges for him and sounds like he did really well sorting them out!
Tracy
Hi! Nice session here!
The first run is always the most insightful when we are playing with variables! Great job with the leash added and the husband added , very good to expose her to those things. You stuffed the leash in your pocket which is AKC-legal. You can also show her the leash being tossed away, which is UKI & USDAA-legal.>seemed to me she felt the pressure of his presence.>
Totally agree!! Without the pressure, she might have been able to find the line more after the tunnel to 3-4 on the first run (like she did at 5:17), but definitely needed more support here because of the pressure. Could also be that the hat and hoodie are making you move differently, which is harder for young dogs to process too (so much to process with young dogs!!) That is definitely a good reminder for young dog – extra support and connection! Good job to you for continuing and supporting her.
On the 2nd run, you didn’t have quite enough connection on the lead out – she was standing up for a long time (in dog years haha) then she released when you reconnected. The reconnection on your lead outs might be getting paired with your release (they are happening too close together in time), so add in staying connected as you lead out, then praising, then releasing.
On the 3rd run, she had processed the pressure in the environment and smoked you out of the first tunnel 🙂 So interesting to see her say “I GOT THIS!” And also definitely good to recruit people to hang out during her practices. The more the merrier!
For the threadle – you will want to be further ahead to set it up, so work it without pressure like you were doing in the 2nd half. The husband pressure made it hard for you to be miles ahead for the threadle, but that is fine because by the time she ‘needs’ this skill in competition, she will be very used to having people in the ring with her 🙂
As you move through the threadle, you can be a little closer to the threadle jump because your position is part of that cues her to turn back to the jump (about an arm’s length away from it and moving parallel o the bar). When you were further ahead (like at 5:20) the threadle was very easy and smooth! Super!!!!
You started the other sequence on the last rep – you can call her sooner (using your right verbal) at 6:34 then as you do the serp to blind at 6:36, shift your connection to the landing spot to support the countermotion – as you are moving forward past the wing of the jump, you can use your left arm and eyes to indicate the landing spot to help her commit.
Great job here!!
Tracy
