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Hi!
She really had an easy time figuring out which side of the apple tree to go to! The threadles made sense to her and that is great 🙂 She had one miss in the middle, but that was mainly because you were a little too far away from the tree 🙂
I think you need a second apple tree to have a full jump hahaha or you can add a barrel or cone to make it look like a full jump. That way you can show her the difference between the serp and the threadle positions.
Great job!
TracyHi!
Hope you had an easy flight home last night!
>My “upright” is my newly planted Apple trees. LOL>
Brilliant! LOL! She did really well with the backsides here on your right side – you lined her up in just the right spot to have that parallel path to the backside. Be sure to keep moving as you say the cue (like you did at :44) – of you stop too soon, she might not be convinced to go all the way without you.
When you switched sides to have her on your left, your left arm was pointing forward ahead of her which actually turned your shoulders to the front of the jump (so that is where she went at 1:04 and 1:13). She got it after that but you can also think of the backside push as more of a moving cue with you moving up the line the whole time, rather than a send without moving along that parallel line to her. You were moving when she was on your right side and that made it very easy for her.
Nice work!!
TracyHi!
Yes, Purina is lovely! The event was a little messed up though LOL!!
The concept transfer for the serp is going well overall! I see what you mean by her being stronger on the slice approaches and the wrap approaches are harder. I think that the food bowl is just a bit more salient on the wrap approaches – it is right there 🙂 Shaking the hand helped a bit and she did have a lot of success! The wrap angles are fortunately not that important 🙂 so I am really happy with what she is doing here!
>She does better when my arm is more fully extended
It is hard with a small pup – ideally your arm and torso would form a 90 degree angle, with the center of your chest facing the center of the bar. But with a small dog, you can dip your shoulder downwards so she can see the hand easily. It is like agility yoga 😂 and I think it will make more sense when we add add motion.
I tink she is also ready to see the threadle concept transfer we added last night – it builds very easily off of this 🙂
>I’ll need to come up with something else that is high value and doesn’t upset her system.>
Poor girlie! How does she do with small chunks of chicken or turkey? Or freeze dried stuff, like salmon or beef? I often mix kibble in with a bag of really good stinky stuff, so it has the smell and a bit of the flavor but is easier on the GI 🙂
>Question: Will the video lessons and the forum be available for viewing after the class ends? I plan on using the time between Max 1 and 2 to continue to work on things. Hoping that I’ll have access to the materials during the break time.>
It is lifetime access – it is all yours to view for as long as the site is alive (hopefully another 20 years or so haha) and everything can also be downloaded.
Nice work here!
Tracy
Hi!
>I do not understand sequence #2. It says to threadle your dog to #4 but I can’t figure that out at all. I looked at your video in slow motion and put on my thinking cap and everything. All I can come up with is: if you send your dog very wide around #3, then his natural path is to the backside and so you could argue that you had to “threadle” him in with an “IN” command. >
Yes – it had to do with the line from the 3 wing to the 4 jump. The way I had it set up, a post turn/send to 3 would set up a parallel path/natural line to the backside and therefore a different cue was needed to get the front. With the current trends in course design, I want the dog to stay on his line even if it takes him to a backside.
>Seems like spinning #3 would have the same impact.>
This depends on exactly how it is set up. And feel free to assess what you have set up and make handling plans, even if it is a little different than the demo. The actual line on the ground takes priority over the map 🙂
A spin would have to be really decelerated to get a tight enough turn based on where I had it set up, so a threadle can keep me moving better. At :52 on the demo video, you can see the dog adjust his line to the front side of the jump.
Looking at the video – your set up had the wing a little further over where indeed so it was not exactly a natural line to front or back of the jump, and a good spin should get the front side of the jump.
Rep 1 – you can begin giving him the push cue as he is approaching the wing, so he adjusts his line before he exits the wing to head directly to the backside and also so you don’t have to move as much to the backside wing of the jump.
Begin the FC (on the landing side) as he arrives at the entry wing of the jump so you are finished & reconnected sooner to get the send to the wing. The delay in the FC either pulled him off the wing or blocked the jumping so he hit the bar. The FC at :27 worked best!On sequence 2, think you did use a threadle verbal but he would benefit from the dog-side arm swinging back too there. At :40, he went to the correct side of the jump but was looking at you the whole time.
The send to the wing at :49 tightened the wrap so the front side of the jump was more on his line. You can add a wrap verbal there if you were not already doing so (hard to hear it on the video)
On sequence 3 – sending to the 4 backside from further away makes the FC of BC on the landing side of 4 even easier. I think the ideal spot for you would be where the wing and bar meet on the side closer to the tunnel. So use your connection and verbal like you did here (I think I heard the verbal!) but don’t use as much motion to the backside entry wing.
The FC worked at 1:08 but you were on his line a bit, so he went around you and kept the bar up – gold star for the bar!!! And gold star for the bars on the blinds too – your work over the summer is really paying off because I think he would have been hitting those bars 5 months ago.
And good for you for trying the BC at 1:13 and 1:18 and 1:29 – I know it is not your favorite handling move! I feel likeI should reward you with sushi or something LOL!!!!
I think the rep at 1:13 had you a little further across the bar so that allowed you to clear the line more – the was the best BC. The reps at 1:18 & 1:29 had you more in his way.For the BC, you can send to the wing and give the big connection and loud verbal push cue… but maintain a parallel path to his path as you move toward the exit wing. That will make the BC easy for you both!
Sequence 4 (with the threadle wrap) – nice job warming up the TW on the wing!
On the first rep, he could not keep the bar up on the FC at 1:45, you were too much on his landing spot there. But he got the TW nicely!
The next rep went much better in that you gave him more room after the FC. This is a spot where you can ask for more independence with the backside push verbal and not moving as much to the entry wing – let him find it on the parallel path so you can get to a better FC position (and maybe even try it with a BC there 🙂 )>I was amazed that he did the threadle wrap between the tunnel and the jump.>
What a good boy to get the TW on the jump next to the tunnel! WOW! The spin on the wing set it up nicely – you were clear with your come-flip cues on that rep. On the next rep, you were actually too early on the flip cue: he had not had enough time to get on the correct line when you flipped him back out to the jump (2:16) – compare to 2:24 where you did the ‘come’ cue long enough to see him change his line – then you cued the flip. Beautiful!!!! Nice timing there.
>Btw, the “shadow alien” is actually a ladder with a tripod bungeed on it.
> Ha! That’s hilarious!!
>I’m wildly busy for the rest of this week and showing Sat/Sun, so I don’t know if I’ll get to the next week in the next week.>
No worries! We have the 3 extra weeks at the end built in for people to work through the stuff. The course is front-loaded for the folks going to the US Open.
Great job here!!
Tracy
Hi!
>For the next session, should I stand or sit?>
Whichever is comfortable and won’t accidentally give her physical cues 🙂
>Over-thinking thought of the day:
I’m wondering if I’m confusing her with her startline by lining her up & saying “jump”. I always release her with a “break” verbal at the startline and it is almost always a jump. If I use a tunnel at the start, I think (I bet) I just say “tunnel, tunnel” so she may be more used to that.>This is not over-thinking at all! Clear release verbals are great. I think that jump and break are both verbal releases, so either are fine. The dogs know a variety of releases (I bet she knows ‘tunnel’ as a release too :)) so you can choose jump or break. I usually use break on a line of jumps where I want him to take the line directly to me. And I tend to use the obstacle name for lateral lead outs.
Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi!
Great job looking at the hard spots here! She did well!>Went back on the things causing us an issue: getting to the jump beyond the tree. I ended up moving it in closer to make it easier.>
The tree sure makes things interesting for the line there 🙂 Trying to cue with a hand and pulling away was pulling her off the line. Moving the jump in closer helped a lot, and you were supporting it ,ore with more and connection. Super! Also, you can angle the jump a bit so that she sees the bar more clearly when landing from the previous jump and going past the tree.
>Having to manage that jump slowed down the rest of the course especially on the line with the blind (or RC) to the tunnel.>
Sending to it did make it harder to get the BC, but you seemed to trust her more here and the blinds definitely started earlier. She saw it coming and did not have to make a big adjustment after landing. You can keep playing with how early you can start the blinds on these lines.
>The other issue was the tight right turn out of the tunnel. I used weave poles instead of jump bars so there was a bit more space between jumps and tried to cue earlier: still late but a bit better.>
Your timing was definitely earlier which really helped. You can add a name call before the right verbal – that might tighten it up even more. You can add in moving the jump back to the original position and alternate a “go” exit (to take that jump) with the tight right turn exit.
For the BC on the jump after the tunnel on that sequence, you can move through it sooner by starting the blind and moving to the next jump as soon as she has exited the tunnel and is looking the correct direction (towards you :))
> Had some trouble getting her in the tunnel if I tried to not move past the 4 jump. This is not on the video. She reads decel well, lol. So we broke it down and I ran to the tunnel a few times.>
She does indeed read decel well! You can try leaning forward as you decel, to help support the line to the tunnel. We will keep working on tunnel sends so she won’t need as much support for them 🙂
Great job here!!
Tracy
Good morning!
>Tried to do some rear cross with the prop. It didn’t really go that well. He didn’t want to go straight to the prop at first for some reason and then once he started going straighter he didn’t want to go ahead.>
I think he might have been a little too “chill” doing this with cookies 🙂 When you got him a little more pumped up, you were able to get a good RC at at 1:00 and at the end! Try this with a toy – tugging, getting him pumped up, then throwing the toy as the reward for the RC. That can get him driving to the prop which makes it easier for you to get the RC.
He did well with the rotated sends to the barrel! The toy was in play, so he was more pumped up for the game.
>He didn’t seem that interested in the cookie plate but also did fine without it.>
Agree! I think it was a useful visual aid at first but he seemed to really prefer the toy reward. He still did good wraps for a cookie from you hand, but for this game you can shift the balance of rewards to the toy 🙂
You can use the barrel for the rocking horses too (if you have 2 barrels, or a barrel and a cone are fine too), I think he is ready for more action there 🙂
And what a good boy for helping the other dog! He emits good vibes 🙂
>What are your thoughts on where to go with his foot targeting for now? Tried a mat in the box he worked on before and also a larger flat mat. He seemed happy with both. Should I do more with either of these?>
He did well with these. We want to keep advancing his footwork – especially getting him to know where to put his back feet – without being boring LOL!! Two much repetition might be a snoozefest for him, so here are a couple of things I did with young dogs. Basically, I am looking for a 1-2-3-4 footwork pattern: front-front-back-back, and I mark/reward on #4 (2nd back foot). I start with a relatively big thing with a mat on it for the dogs to go up and over (easier for the dog to do, easier for me to see 🙂 )
Then I turn it over and have a relatively big thing for the dogs to go through with the same 1-2-3-4 pattern.
Then I use smaller things to ask them to compress their stride into a smaller space: first with an up-and-over, then getting their feet into a small box 🙂
I am always trying to mark/reward foot 4 and have the cookies on an angle – with lots of tug breaks or even using the tug as a reward.
I dug up some visuals, pardon the pajamas hahahaha
First session up-and-over:
Second session up-and-over, going to a smaller object:
Third session – up-and-over on the smaller object, then I inverted it:
Small dog doing the 3rd session:
The edits here were the tugging breaks.
Nice work! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning!
Awww the sniffari was perfect – I am sure it will take some time for his body’s physiology to bounce back to normal, so don’t worry if he seems to need extra rest or extra walks. The hour walk was probably amazing! And I am glad they got the hairspray out LOL!!!
He definitely seems happy to be back to tugging and doing puppy games!
Doing the 360s while you walk forward was great!
He did find it easy peasy to follow the food hand and the spins looked easy and smooth.
>the toy was a little too much excitement. He really has trouble following a toy. He just wants to grab and run.>
The toy in the hand when you did the spin cue was a little harder – partially because he was faster (it was more exciting) so you were late 🙂 When you were earlier and clearer, he did well with the toy in your hand. So you can help him by moving the toy hand more slowly and sooner so he can lock onto it a something to follow and not just think the toy is in play.
Also, I think we have not done a lot of toy-in-hand and asking him to follow the hand, so he is not as good at it as compared to following a cookie hand which he has probably been doing since even before you got him LOL!
I also think you can clarify when the toy is available for grabbing (and by extension, when it is not :)) by consistently using a toy marker for when he can grab it from your hand. I use ‘bite’ for that, which helps the pups understand when to grab it but also when NOT to grab it 🙂
At the end, he was bringing the toy kind of close, but moved away when you reached for it. He did let you grab it to play tug at the end and then I really liked what you did: you gave it back to him, instead of taking it away. Sometimes when the pups bring it close but don’t let us grab it, they are concerned we are going to take it away. So getting him to bring it, play tug, then letting him have it back will go a long way to building the retrieve up!
Great job!
TracyGood morning!
The tunnel session went really well!! Yay!!
To add more independence: You can hold him and ay the tunnel verbal a few times then let him go – that strengthens the verbal so you don’t need to use as many physical cues.
And I think he is ready for you to add the threadle verbal to when he is on the inside (between you and the tunnel) and has to turn away to it.
>I discovered I have to keep it calm as you will see in the video, otherwise he goes over the top. Circling, trying to nip me, etc. >
Yes, this was very calm 🙂 and he was great! Do you have video of when he goes over the top? Please post! Behavior is communication, so we can look at it and figure out why it happened, and then fix it from there. Arousal is unavoidable in agility, so we can help him out now rather than wait til he is older.
The lap turn is going well! And so is the tandem. These were actually more like threadle wraps – with a tandem, you would also turn with him and head back the new direction. With the threadle wrap, he turns away to do a full 360 while you keep moving forward in the same direction. Either way, you both did great!
And on the one rep on the lap turn and the one rep on the tandem where you were too soon made it harder for him to be correct, but you handled it well by simply resetting with cookie and trying again. Perfect!
>Going to keep working on them since these turns will be used on the course.>
Yes – the tandems and threadle wraps are very popular course elements right now! The lap turn is not seen as often anymore, but it was a great way to start teaching the pups to turn away.
Nice work here!!
Tracy
Good morning!
> I have some baggage from early training days where I tried too much too soon and thought better treats should overcome the challenge. This was not a successful strategy, and even thinking about it, I have feelings of frustration. I also felt like I was trapped always using the best treats – which then lost their value. I misunderstood some instruction, and underestimated the challenges of training.>
This is totally relatable and a great description of the challenges of training. There is so much adjusting and individualizing training approaches that it can be challenging, frustrating, and super fun – like a really hard puzzle. Reinforcement is the hardest part because it is incredibly complex and goes way beyond what we think of as a reward.
>Today, I am a more savvy handler, and Skizzle is an easier dog to work with – he works for his kibble every day! And toys!>
Yes! You have a really strong skillset, he is a fantastic puppy, and also the two of you have a lovely relationship which also helps in training 🙂
>We have continued to work on the parallel path – I’m trying to help him understand the relevance of the jump equipment, instead of playing fetch in the presence of it. >
I love the way you framed this approach! And I think you made big strides here – the session was kind of a combination of the 2 bowl pattern he already knows and toy play as an important element. It went really well and he was offering the jump a lot! I didn’t count the success rate because he approached it as a puzzle worth solving – he was persistent and got lots of rewards. And he was handling the feedback of ‘that is not correct’ really well too – that is a really important element. Part of the resilience we want in our dogs is the ability to *not* be correct but still be persistent. Plus, the excitement level was high but so was the success level 🙂
>Should I be more patient with this, and continue working on it until he’s correct more (>80%) before moving my parallel path further from the side of the jump?>
The 80% rule is a good one but I like to be a little more like 90% with adolescent dogs due to their ever-shifting adolescent sensitivities LOL! But some errors are a good thing – the errors create that bit of ‘friction’ that we need for learning and motivation. And 80% can sometimes be too low for the individual dog, depending on the intrinsic motivation for the type of ‘work’ and how long the session is. So I prefer to just use a 2-failure rule: if I get 2 failures (in a row or in the session), I will make it a little easier to try not to get a 3rd failure. That will put the session between 80-95% without having to do math haha
We can achieve that 80-90% success level while adding in harder challenges by manipulating variables. Basically, pick your challenge for the next couple of reps in a session: more lateral distance? Moving the bowls further away? Adding more motion? When one variable gets harder (like you want to add lateral distance) – make another variable easier (by moving the bowls in closer). That way you can set up success while building in the other stuff you want him to see.
>This exercise – and his playing fetch, instead – make me think “uh oh.” It seems like having value for going through the jump standard is very important. I appreciate the process, though…shaping the dog to run through the uprights.>
The shaping process for finding a jump is definitely key and getting it sorted out now will bring great commitment to his career in any sport with jumps 🙂 I really appreciate his feedback about the context (outside with the toy) possibly being a cue for playing fetch! And retrieving/fetch is so fun and motivating that all it might have taken is one or two throws for him to develop that love LOL!! But it is fun to receive feedback from the 4-legged team member and try to incorporate what he loves (the toy and running around for it) in that context and build the value for a different behavior.
This is something to keep revisiting every couple of days, to keep building value and adding challenge, while allowing latent learning to work its magic in between sessions 🙂
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
I am glad you are finally having decent weather! It is fun to have the first tunnel session on video!!!He did really well here – you made a choice to use the toy in the last part of the session, and I think that was an excellent decision. He was not as interested in the tunnel for treats or the MM, but he definitely got more excited for the toy! So for the next session, you can have that toy tied to another toy to make it a meter or two long – that way you can have him on one side of the tunnel and toss the toy to the other side while you hold one end of it. Then as he enters the tunnel, you can start dragging the toy for him to chase 🙂 I think he will really enjoy that and the value will transfer easily to the tunnel.
And yes, keep building up the MM value separately. Better treats can help and also more experience with it will help too (then I am sure he will become totally obsessed with it LOL!)
>I also still have the lesson plans from your MM class that I did ages ago!>
That is so funny! I just pulled that info back up because people have been asking and so I am going to post it on the BrainCamp site 🙂 If you remind me when I do get it posted, I will add you to it there – it is basically the same info, so no need to buy it or anything.
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
>I think one set of my new tits shows up soon. >
Wow, I didn’t know you can get tits through the mail hahahahahahaha darned autocorrect is always good for a laugh 😄 😆
The remote reinforcement session went GREAT! I think she already had a foundation for this because you often leave the cookie bag on the table when kitchen training:) but in that scenario, you had treats in your hands or bait bag. That made for a pretty seamless transition here and she was lovely with her engagement and responses. And she ignored Sprite who was right there at the gate! Yay!
In the house, you can expand this 2 ways:
Use a toy on table
Leave treats or toys on a table or raised surface, and go into another room! That can be like entering the ring 🙂>So, I’m struggling with space for the harder games. I’m not sure she’ll lay attention in three yard. There is a small section by the gate without hackberries. Maybe, I’ll try the RC there with a long line. I’m a little concerned about the wrap exercises dragging a long line. What do you think?>
This remote reinforcement can go into the back yard, because you can do it on leash! It is an engagement game so it also (indirectly) address the ignore the distractions of the great outdoors.
Yes, the RC on a long line game is good for outside, especially on the prop which she is loving!
You can bring proprioception stuff outside for the shpile game!
And check out this week’s SSC slice game – we can get the hackberries involved 🙂
You can also do the parallel path game outside – long line can drag, and do it in 20 seconds blasts: one or two cookies then wild toy then she can watch Sprite do something.
The wrapping games are coming along nicely, so we don’t need them outdoors yet – start with the other games and when the engagement is a little more tipped in your favor, we can bring wrapping back. I figure that will only be a few more days.
Great job here!
TracyGood morning!
I’m so glad it was a fun trial weekend!! And it sounds like what you did with her near the ring was perfect.And I agree that the backing up session went really well! She’s getting it! Her backing up was better (and she didn’t offer sitting) when you kept your hands just below knee-level.
For next steps:
– keep scooting your chair a little further away like you did here, to add more distance
– you’ll see the Part 2 game (week 6 I think) where we add a little bit of an angle to the board and then let the board wobble a little bit 🙂No rush to get through the levels – it is a good one to revisit once a week or so. She’s doing great!!
Nice work 🙂
Tracy
Hello and welcome!!! I am excited to see Bazinga work on these!!
She definitely likes the tunnel a lot LOL!! But she was definitely figuring out that this was a game of not just ging to the tunnel – it could be the jump too! And I agree, I could see her lightbulb going on 🙂
She was very excited to try this game, and might need a bit more of just going to the jump without you moving. I am not sure she knows that going to the jump is a possibility if you are only saying ‘jump!’ It was easier when you moved it closer but a short session or two of value building for the jump alone (from between your feet with only a verbal) can balance it out her love for the tunnel 🙂
For the next session, 2 suggestions:
– have her between your feet rather than at your side because being at your side might indicate the obstacle on that side (which was the tunnel here).
– hold her (a harness might be easiest) then say the verbal 3 or 4 times before letting go. If she moves as soon as she hears a sound, she might guess based on what just happened or higher value, or if she picks up that you do things in a certain order (we humans are very predicable haha!!!)
Great job here! You are off to a great start!
Tracy
Hi!
These runs were beautifully connected which is why he was so successful, even with the line of motion being relatively similar for both obstacles! Yay! There was still plenty of challenge – note how he was wide around the wing on the early runs because he had to still process the discrimination. Even with clear connection, the jump and tunnel were still *right there* and bombarding his brain with info. But he did GREAT and by the end, he was nice and tight around the wing.>I think our biggest “problem” is that I am not allowing the verbals to come to the fore. I tend to allow the handling to do all the work. Not exactly what we are hoping for…. I did remember to at least say them (after the first try or two).>
Part of it is definitely getting the handling crisp and clear, so it is easy to handle the sequences. Feel free to handle them silently!
But also yes – we want the verbals to be able to override motion so also do reps with the verbals. And you can actually dial back the connection to let the verbals come to the fore. For example, on this setup – the handler rotation at the wing (FC or spin) deliberately does really indicate the next obstacle – the upper body does in the handling, and/or the verbal. So to emphasize the verbal more, ‘soften’ the connection by looking at him peripherally so you can kinda sorta see him while you are saying the obstacle cues. Start the verbals as he is arriving at the wrap wing. and at the beginning of this ‘soft’ connection try not to move too quickly because fast handler motion might make it too hard. Just walk with minimal conneciton and see what happens! Eventually we will go to ZERO connection 🙂 and lots of verbals, but let’s start with softening the connection first.
Nice work here!
Tracy
