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Hi! These went great!
>I usually warm up with tugging and then decided to ask for a reverse retrieve so I know it isn’t entirely correct.>>
That was actually a lot of fun! He did great! Just be sure he sees the toy when you throw it 🙂 but overall it was great fun and he got to practice his retrieve! Yay!
> I will see if I can work on “Prop Game 1: Building Sends And Commitment”>
Perfect!!
>2) Vito / Two-Bowl Game – Here was my progression:>
This also went really well! You made big progress!!
>I noticed that Tribute looks up at me each time before moving to the other bowl.>
Nothing to worry about! I think it was mainly when he was turning to his left (going from your right to your left side). This will even out when we get into turn and burn, and the rocking horses!
I think he is ready to start turn and burn, and start with him on your left so he can begin with his stronger side.
>3) Strike a Pose (intro to serps) – This was harder than it looked! I need to clean up my mechanics!>
Ha! Yes, you need 6 arms haha! I thought you did well though! If you look at your target hand and shake it a little, he will drive in more directly to it.
Great job here!!
TracyHi! These went really well!!
>Space was a LEETLE tight since I built it off of where my tunnel already was for a course I ran with Roots.>
I think it was fine! She seemed happy with it and it introduced the send to the tunnel under the DW really well.
> I was super proud of her tight turn on #3 of that first sequence both times through! >
Yes! You can totally trust her more on that – when you see her lock onto the jump after she exits the tunnel, start the FC (or try it with a BC! Fun!)
>Then the second half of that sequence I basically had to stand still or she overshot the line to that last jump. >
What was happening there was that you sent really well to 5 (so nice!!!!!) but then stopped…. Then accelerated again. It was the acceleration that cued more extension and your shoulders were facing that way, so she went past the jump. If you send and take off and turn your shoulders sooner, you should not have to stop your motion. If this is still set up, try it so we can see what she needs with your motion!
>The rep where she skipped #1 was totally my fault, she never once acknowledged the jump and I should have waited for that.>
Yes, and you turned when you released so she was all in for the tunnel 🙂
Since we were talking about jump heights – you can try jump 1 at 14” because you are clearly showing it to her before the release and she takes it in relative extension.
>The second sequence was much more comfortable for me with the lead out push. She had that one bar because I didn’t get out of her way early enough, and then after that I watched and waited to see if the bar was going to come down and never really cued #3. >
Yes to both of these 🙂 One thing you can also do is get your arm fully in the serp position (because it really is just a lead out serp) before the releae, so she has the info sooner.
>Trying it with the blind, it felt really hard to be off her line and connected and moving the right way to cue #3. >
Two things to get the blind to be more comfy:
Lead out more 🙂 She came off the line HOT HOT HOT (I loved it!)Keep your arms in tight like chicken wings to your ribs – that will make the re-connection much quicker which tightens the blind. Your arms were out and high, so the connection was not super clear for her.
The rest looked great!
> but no matter how early and how connected I tried to be, her line looked the same.>
It might have been timing of the reconnection the arms too high – feel free to post the video if you still have it so we can see why the blinds were not as smooth as you’d like.
Great job!!!
Tracy
Yes, jump-weaves-reward is tempting… except if he misses the weaves or pops out, then the plan goes sideways 🙂
Bear in mind (and perhaps I have not made this clear enough) that MOST of what is happening in the ring is absolutely brilliant. Truly!!! That is why we are going to take our time to build up the pieces that need a little polishing to make it all brilliant! He is not even 2 yet, right? So we have plenty of time to make it ALL brilliant. The potential is stunningly amazing so I want to protect the brilliant stuff (but not depleting him) and take his ‘feedback’ from trials to develop training plans to answer his questions.
Rest and playing games outside the ring (tugging the pattern games for arousal regulation, for example) will be great. And since you probably have several leashes, you can keep him on leash (near the ring) and send him to another leash on the ground to begin practicing for the end of run routine.
Keep me posted!
T
Hi!
>We don’t have flyball, we have flygility, with insane turns, weaves, and low contacts.>
What are the insane turns?
> but the boxes aren’t like your boxes. There’s a pedal, that releases an arm that flings the ball up in the air.>
Very prehistoric boxes LOL!! The boxes here and in Europe are like high tech sports cars LOL
>I just worry flygility is not great for dogs’ bodies.>
That is a bummer! Flyball is actually safer for their bodies than agility is here. Very few injuries and dogs tend to have much longer careers in flyball.
> Just in the last year we’ve started hoopers as a code in NZ. But it’s still more “agility with barrels and hoops” than the hoopers I see overseas. It’s distance work that i’m keen on achieving with Barry, cos I’m not built for speed haha.>
Hoopers is catching on here too and it looks like FUN!!! The tunnelers game looks like the MOST fun but the organization that sponsors it doesn’t like to use a lot of tunnel bags so alas, I can’t let my dogs play because they will splat themselves with minimal tunnel bags.
T
Wow, that is good to know! The ear buds are very effective. I thought you were wearing a microphone!
And BIG hooray for Edith!! I know how hard it is when a dog has a painful thing happening.
And maybe you’ll get a stretch of good weather too! Keep me posted!
Tracy
Good morning! How was the trial? Did Sprite get to run? How cold was it that you had to wear winter clothes? LOL!
>When we got home she was zooming in the backyard which is fine. But, now she’s starting to dig. Sigh!>
Zooming is great! It is actually a decompression for a lot of dogs. So is digging in many ways – yo can direct the digging by doing something like teaching her to dig at a scratch pad so she can dig AND file her nails down 🙂 Or get her a kiddy pool with dirt or a bunch of balls in it to dig in 🙂 Digging in a great outlet and great for shoulders.
The pattern game was fantastic! Super fast responses and there was a LOT going on in the environment. Really great! You can add in your motion by walking back and forth, and if that going well, you can move her around the site with this game too (starting at the perimeter so she can be successful). I also play this near the ring (as close as possible/as far as needed) during a walk through and even when dogs are running so the foundation near the ring is all about engagement before she knows what the excitement is all about 🙂
Great job here!! Keep me posted on today!
Tracy
Good morning!
The combo game is off to a great start! She is committing brilliantly and letting you do the FC pretty early! Super!Here is a good challenge: after each rep, can you walk her back to the cone with cookies everycouple of steps, rather than holding her collar? I bet she can do that.
For the next steps of this, you will want to move her to the turf side of the building so she can really grip the footing. The mats are a little slippery for agility, so she was being careful. The mats will let her run run run more!>Many more distractions going on at the training facility. I also need to build more distance to the cone.>
It was a good decision to stick with the easier step and move on to other stuff with higher levels of distractions there! And distance to the cone will also come in the rocking horse games.
The parallel path game also went great. That first click seemed to surprise her (which is a GOOD thing!) and then it was really easy. Great timing here on your clicks for the first session!
For the next session: you might want to click the first rep or two to get her back into the groove, but then you can replace the clicker with a ‘get it’ marker then toss the treat. The get it marker will keep her looking ahead better than the clicker will. And you can mark & throw as soon as you see her committing to the jump setup so she really drives ahead it without looking at you.Tunnels were a lovely break from the more ‘intellectual’ games with the cone and jump setup. You can add in leaving the toy where you play with it… then walk her to the next spot with cookies and not holding her collar, then line her up with cookies. That will also help her focus on the tunnel and not run into the side of it when she is thinking about the toy LOL!
The lap turns and tandems went super well too! I love how she is driving directly to you even with the prop there, and she is turning away really well too. The prop had a little more value by the end but she still came to you pretty directly especially on the last rep.
>Watching the video I see I’m stopping after the turn. I need to keep moving forward right?>
Yes 🙂 After the turn away, keep moving as if the prop is the net obstacle (which it is :)) because it is the motion that cues her to go to it.
And you mentioned in there that she seemed to think you were tossing treats on a couple of reps – I agree, she had some confusion on that. This is a good spot for a get it marker too because if you say it, she can look for a treat. If you don’t say it, she will keep working. So you can replace the clicker with the ‘get it’ on this game too.
Great job here!!
Tracy
Good morning!
>Back to SOTC today and when I pulled in and saw several other cars I almost left! I don’t know why. >
This is very relatable! Training our baby dogs in public without the support of our ‘dog family’ is anxiety-inducing!!!
>Bella is not going to do anything bad but I felt this pressure at that moment to make sure she had a positive experience amongst the additional distractions.>
When you feel that anxiety, you can remind yourself that you have the tools as a trainer to make it positive for her. And, you have a lot of phone-a-friend options where you can message a lot of us for help if needed (me, Tina, etc).
>Way to make her feel more empowered by panicking, LOL!!>
To be honest… when I am having a bit of a panic, I let the young dog experience it before I almost myself down – they can read/smell the anxiety. I am not being insane or anything, jut being nervous. It is what we will be like at a big event so it is actually incredibly valuable for the youngsters to experience that since we can’t always be calm 🙂 And then we both work through it and it is great for the present AND the future.
And Tina was secret filming? LOL!!!! Good! Always film even if you are nervous!! That way you can learn about the distractions!And always come armed with SUPER high value food that is different from the norm in case something is hard.
Also, was there a chimpanzee there or a dog making monkey noises? LOL!! That was distracting!
She also heard someone saying “ready ready” and looked over before returning engagement to you (it might have been Donna, who she knows).
Her pattern games and especially tugging all looked awesome! The sit game looked great! And it sounds like the tire and tunnel went great too. A big win for both of you in so many ways!!!
Great job 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
>
I do think the pattern games and tricks for treats are doing a pretty good job keeping his arousal level at an ok level before going into the ring….but entering the ring is a bit of a trigger to amp him up.>I am glad the games are helping! You should also get him into higher arousal states in training so he is in a more trial-like state. And entering the ring should be a trigger to amp up 🙂 His stays and openings look good!
>Today was the third trial day in a row….which probably wasn’t a great idea on my part. >
So tomorrow is the 4th day?
>Not sure if I should pull him tomorrow or switch to NFC….>
I would pull him. There s a possibility of depletion where he will have. Lower threshold for frustration and will react more easily to things. 4 days is a lot!
>or see what he looks like when we walk into the ring.>
Seems like a plan in advance is a better idea LOL!
>His weaves have been pretty good in training. He has hit some amazingly challenging entries and has stayed in a VERY high percent of the time….but he seems to be losing that in trials. >
In training, get him into a much higher arousal state and do it without a toy with you. In trials, NFC the classes with weaves so you can reward them in the ring. This will help bridge the gap!
>I know I need to spend time on his teeter>
Yes, he doesn’t know what to do so I suggest not putting him on it in a trial. He didn’t know what to do in the standard class and got really frustrated after almost hitting you and falling off it. The teeter is not quite ready for prime time yet 🙂
>did brave a blind in JWW but he was pissed at me for not giving him clear info I should have just kept going and not repeated the jump to tight tunnel. >
Yes, that was just late info, it was good to just keep him moving. He was correct on the lines there.
>Then I let the weaves go>
Of all the options, I think just continuing was the best option. He gave some independent weaving, even if it was not 100% correct. And if you pulled him out, he is likely to jump on you – so better to just keep going.
>In Std, there was a tough turn to the teeter with the aframe right there>
Yeah, that was ick course design! Poor dogs!
>.my position wasn’t great and he was pissed here also>
Part of that was that he didn’t know how to do the teeter at that speed.
>If I run NFC tomorrow, I am not sure if I will be feeding his frenzy because tugging would amp him up. I think I will look at the course maps and if they have a crazy challenging area, I may do NFC and make up a nice flowing course. Sound like a plan?>
I would just call it a weekend and let him rest tomorrow – 4 days is a lot and he was short on arousal regulation in these runs. That way you can also switch focus from course work at trials, to the ring behavior which are the missing pieces (obstacle skills, resilience, etc) A nice flowing course might still result in something happening or him jumping on you at the end – he is really coming at you! He just needs some more of the foundations in place so he can manage the parts of agility that are unpredictable (handler errors, internal arousal, end of run, etc). Those small pieces make a big difference!
Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi!
Super clever to use the lines on the ground!!! This session went really well. He totally remembered to turn away! He had a couple of question when you added motion but then you slowed down a tiny bit and he got it. Super!These were mainly the u-turns (with the reward tossed behind you are moved forward). At the end you had a couple of the full circles and those looked great too. So for the next session you can add more motion to the u-turns (walking faster) and more circles too!
Great job!
Tracy
Hi!
This was fun to revisit, especially in a new place! It was forward focus, yes, but you also had a ton of reverse retrieve going on. Yay! He did great with the retrieve (you should try flyball with him!) and I am loving his engagement here, including following you with the toy at the end. So fun!!!!!Great job!
TracyHi!
>had my ear buds in so you get less wind noise>
Are those ear buds what are giving you the great sound on these videos? Wow!
>About half way through the nextdoor neighbour dog starts barking (it was pretty loud>
Even with the ear buds I can hear how loud it must have been. It was a bit worrisome for sure! He did well recovering from it and the last wrap was his best one!
When you come back to this one, you can start close enough to touch the barrel and be sure to make eye contact with him as you move the arm forward. I think that all help him with commitment to the barrel right away! And then we can get him into the rocking horses which are super fun.
Great job!
Tracy
Hi!
Both of these sessions went really well! He read the RC line really easily. And the chicken was very yummy. Remind me – how did he do with the RC on the prop? That would be a good one to revisit if it has been a while.The box session went really well too. The beginning where you had to try different toys was HILARIOUS! He is a very clear communicator. Great job shaping him to stride through the box by delaying the rear bit by bit by bit. There was one rep where he totally missed the box (no reward) then I swear he stomped through it like he was BIG MAD hahahaha made me laugh. What a good boy!!
I am guessing you are planning on a RDW with him? Have you picked out which method you want to use? We can add that foundation here.
Great job!
TracyHi!
The MM us usually not my first choice for rewarding – I prefer the interactivity of tugs and treats, but sometimes the MM is great.I think the discrimination training was hard on his brain but not his body. Maybe today’s training can be more physical and less brain work?
T
Good morning!
Great job with the motion on this game – overall really great session!
Interesting about cheese for the resets – no cheese visible, no reset. Hmmmmm we can sort this out because it will help at trials too. You can have a Treat n Train sitting out past both obstacles, centered between them so he doesn’t use its position to guess at which one you want. You can also start the game without him if he is waiting to see the cheese, then pull it out when he wins the game with you 🙂
>He had one mistake that was my fault I think, I was saying tunnel but did a spin.>
I wouldn’t say it was your fault, it was more like it was a really hard challenge and the verbal did not override what he thought the motion was telling him. We do see errors in this game and errors are helpful!
That one error had a spin and you were not connected (which is one of the challenges we show the dog here) – he seemed offended to be told he was not correct LOL!! The next rep had a little more connection and he did great.
>Do you think he’s comfortable enough for us to try position 4 next session?>
Yes position 4 should be easy for him with connection, and then you can add the other positions with a little less connection. Maybe be semi-connected so you can peripherally see him rather than totally disconnected 🙂 But he is ready for that too, as long as you are not running yet – just walking when you are adding less connection.
Great job! Hopefully the rain is not too bad!!!
Tracy
