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Hi!
>>1) I saw you are coming to MN in June and I’m really bummed it’s those dates because that’s the Midwest Cup so I won’t be able to make it. Are you planning on coming back sometime this year?>>
It is such a bummer!!!!! I won’t be in MN again this year, but I will be in Quad Cities in August and possibly in Middleton WI in July if you want to come play!
>>2) Do you know when/if you’ll be opening another Maxpup class for puppies? My friend’s mom just got a puppy and she was wondering about classes.>>
I think the next one will be in the usual spot in November, but I will keep you posted if something starts sooner!
Tracy
Good morning! Nice hoodie 😁
Good job on the RCs! I think the info was earlier when she was on your right in the 2nd half of the video, like at 2:29. You were closer to the RC line so the pressure to the center of the bar was earlier and more visible. She was able to look forward a lot better on those! On the other side, earlier in the video, when she was starting on your left, you were a little further from the line so it was harder for her to see the RC line. She was looking to her right for a few strides before switching to her left over the bar. Getting closer to her as she exits the tunnel will help set that line even more smoothly.
>>So she seems to be good with a toy outside for 3-4 reps and then the poprocks go off. Should I try just stopping at 4 reps? Or maybe mix in food to give up the toy between reps to see if that calms her down so that she can do 5 reps?
A couple of ideas for you:
Since it might be a processing/arousal regulation thing we are seeing and we don’t need duration on the toy play (that will come as she matures), you can end at 2 reps with the toy so there are no pop rocks opportunities or even getting close to pop rocks zone. Or end at 1 minute, which is 2 or 3 reps with the toy. And in between toy reps, you can let her walk back to the start without tugging – tugging back to the start might be over-stimulating for now and might not give her adolescent brain a moment to bounce back.Also, when the toy play is in the picture, don’t stop or reset if there is a blooper – that also makes arousal levels change and harder to self-regulate. In this session, the leaping up happened after a couple of little bloopers at the wing and the RC at 1:22 pushing her off the line (you were a little too far away starting it there). You did reward her at 1:22 and on the next RC, but I think the frustration management (resilience) was the struggle there from the wing questions. So you can add freestyle “I meant for that to happen” moments where if he ends up on the wrong side of you, you just go with it and run her into the tunnel and reward. You did stop asking for the wing at one point and just started at the tunnel, which is great.
I think when food is in the picture, you can do the longer sessions or reset after a little blooper. The food is just easier for her in terms of processing skills and arousal regulation. Her toy play is really looking great so you can do it in the shortest bursts for now and it will totally build up even more over time.
>>Question on the advanced level with the standards for the next “obstacle”, if you are curving to the inside standard out of the tunnel should you be using the verbal turn cue instead of Go?>>
Yes – you can use your soft turn verbals when you want the turn and mix in GO GO GO and reward straight 🙂
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
The layering looks fantastic! She is fast fast fast, jumping really well, and getting a tight turn to a tunnel. SUPER!!!! This is especially important for small dogs because they have to run the same big layers and big distances as the big dogs, and she is nailing it.
I mention the good jumping form because often if the pup has questions, they will have a head-up or flingy jumping form. Not here with Taq! She had lovely form while working at high speed and at a distance. Happy dance!
You can mix in going straight after the layer jump and NOT always coming back to the tunnel, so she doesn’t think every tunnel she passes is a tunnel to come towards 🙂
Looking at the rears: the hardest part for us humans is to not use any forward commitment cue that involves squaring up her line to the jump. What I mean by that is any shoulder turn or foot turn to face the jump straight on will also commit her to a straight line (and not the RC). I think you might be trying to send her past you and then show the RC, but ideally that happens simultaneously. If you send her past you to the jump, she is going to commit turning the direction of going straight on that first rep and the RC info will be late.
You can see that as she exits the tunnel at :36 and :44 and :50 (upper body and left arm swinging forward which turns your feet forward and which indicates straight line/right lead). She turned right on the first rep – and she turned left (RC) on the others because she figured out the context 🙂
So to consistently get the RCs especially to the left, keep your dog-side arm back and as she exits the tunnel (or even just before it), you can be immediately moving to the center of the bar without squaring up to the jump at all. Your motion on the line will tell her to go past you, and that same motion will tell her to turn away for the RC. Let me know if that makes sense!
>>Maybe it was the camera angle? The same one that adds 50 pounds.>>
HA! That would explain why I look so slow in videos LOL!!!
Nice work here 🙂
TracyGood morning!
>>AI never tires, but sure it gets confused!>>
So true! LOL!!! But will eventually figure it out and I am sure it will replace me in the future LOL!!
>>Edit: I rewatched your runs with Elektra in and cleared it up that it should have been soft tur cues.
Yes – soft turns on those because they are doing more of an L shape of a turn and not a C or U shape around the wing. It will be easier when we add bars in so you can see the turn he is doing over a bar,
>>Seems like I’m not yet there to goof around on the spot with verbals, and I just need to stick to a pre-determined concrete plan so I don’t muddy those for him. (like going out and practicing blinds for the figure 8 before getting him out to play).>>
I always do a quick walk through to plan verbals before I add the dog – it might happen when the pup is running around with a toy and it gets easier as we practice it 🙂 You are doing great!
The figure 8 with the crosses are going well! There was a small question from him on the very first rep but then you increased your connection and he was great with all of the other reps. You were also adding some decel into the wraps and that helped tighten them even more. Super!!! Both the FCs you did and the tight blinds looked terrific.
The race tracks look awesome! Great job maintaining connection while running and then still getting the tight blind and exit line connection after it! You are making that exit connection super clear and so he is able to go fast, turn tight, and know exactly where to be. Click/treat to you!!!! You can make up courses on this setup to mix in the big race tracks with wrap FCs, soft turn FCs and BCs, etc. It will have all the speed of running a big course with him!
Great job here 🙂
Tracy
Good morning!
CM did well with the layering! The placed reward really helped him out. I think starting the session with the tunnel entries turned down so the tunnel itself is there but he can’t get into it will help eliminate the errors – running past a tunnel entry is HARD for all dogs especially baby dogs 🙂 And then if he does well, you can open the entries up again in that session to build to the next steps.Zig zags are also going well! You can turn the wings 90 degrees so the jump cups are facing each other – picture jump bars being there like on a giant serp 🙂
He got it really well when you used your leg to step to the line but without the super big clear step (like at :47 and 1:03) he did not lead change away from you. That is just bay dog stuff, of needing a really dramatic cue to break through all of the visual processing (the wing, your position, etc) and mechanical processing (how to use all of those fast legs!) that he is doing in that moment. Prism won’t need that because he is an adult who has learning history and strong mechanics to rely on, so it probably felt a lot easier when you did it with him 🙂 CM will get there for sure, but feel free to use big dramatic cues for now 🙂
The serp versus tunnel versus threadle looked great! It sounds like you were using your release word on the threadle reps – since he did so well and your position/arm cues were so clear on the threadle, you can switch to releasing with your threadle slice cue on those.
My only suggestion is to make the serp more obvious with upper body rotation before you release him and keep moving parallel to the bar and not away from it as you serp. Everything else looked super strong!!!!Great job here!!
Tracy
Good morning!
Yikes! You have some crazy weather coming up!He did really well with the layering game here! I think the freeze dried chicken is a winner – have it in your hands already because when you drop your arm to reach for it, he totally sees that and looks up at you (and stops looking at the line).
Speaking of arms – you can keep your arm a little lower and more connection, even at the distance. For example, when your hand got really high (like above your head), it can turn your shoulders away from the line and cause him to look at you (like at 2:00). But when your arm/hand is lower, at your shoulder level or below it, he can see the cues really well (like at 3:40). Arm position will get less important as he gets more experienced with layering, but for now the shoulder-level or below hand position is very helpful for him.
For future sessions, you can start further away to get even more momentum to the start wing and also move the start wing to the other side of the tunnel (non-layering side) so he goes around the outside of it to get to the layering line. And as you do that, you can mix in rewards for staying on the line so that the layering line maintains the value (otherwise the tunnel and coming back to you will end up with the most value).
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
He did really well here – he was able to find the line to the jump even with the big tunnel there. Good job throwing the toy – that helped support the decisions he made because sometimes he did have a big of a question mark over his head. The earlier you tossed the toy, the better for him to support his good decisions.
Since the other side might be his harder side, you can throw the toy even sooner : as soon as he rounds the start wing and looks at the jump line. And he doesn’t have to go to the wing after the jump on either side, that wing is just a visual aid to help keep him looking forward.
>>Question, since he was sort of wrapping around the first stantion I was using my left wrap verbal (flip). Is this correct?>>
It was correct for this first level. As things expand and the wing moves over a little and the tunnel entries are visible, a wrap verbal might open up the line into the tunnel. So more of a “GO!” verbal will help for the layering, so he goes in extension to the jump on the other side of the tunnel.
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
She did well on the zig zags! You can add foot movement to help her and also, lower hands – if you have your feet moving and your hands more at her eye level, she can probably see it better and process it sooner. But, no need to worry about it on 5 wings, you can do that on 3 or 4 wings.
>>I think we’ll come back to it at some point because I can see some value in reading crosses from a distance,>>
This game actually builds to a jump grid for slice and backside jumping, and that will make it easier to get the 5 wing added in too 🙂
She did well with the serps! When you added the backside: the reps she had questions about were when you were sending to the wing but pulling away to the reward, rather than moving forward to support the backside line. When she was on your right, I think the line was easier for her so she found the backside. When she was on your left, the line was definitely harder and that is where forward motion on a parallel path to the backside will help. At 1:36, for example, you can see your feet and lower body pointing to the front side of the jump, along with your shoulders. You had more forward motion at 1:46 and after that, which totally helped her see the line there. Super!!
She did well with the ladder grid, even when she sat backwards LOL!!!!
I think the 4 foot distance is a tiny bit short for her now – try 4.5 feet and we will see how we like it! Also, you can move the reward further away so she can power out of the grid – a stationary reward can be 15 feet from the 3rd bump. Or, you can use a moving target!Great job on these!!
TracyHi!
>>Lift likes the frizzer mainly to steal it from Kaladin and then jump on his head and smack him with it.>>
Seems like a legit endeavor LOL!
The circle wraps are going well – nice job with your reward placement behind you and the connection shift to help commit her. The best reps where when she could see the barrel better (being sent ahead before you started to move, as opposed to :52 where you moved early and she had a little trouble with the pressure on her line).
And she was great about finishing the circle while you moved up the line behind her.
>>Do I need to be more to the opposite side of the barrel if it is standing in for the standard?>>
Do you mean letting her see the whole thing, like being where the wing would meet the bar? Yes, that worked really well. If you mean something else, let me know – I blame the eclipse for my lack of brain power at the moment hahaha
She did really well with the Minny Pinny too! Turning away to the right was easy. Turning away to the left was harder – she did turn her head away but couldn’t quite process the turning the body to the left too. She was not frustrated at all – it is possible her brain was totally telling her she was nailing it. So what you can ad to the left is tossing a cookie to her left over the bumps as soon as she turns her head. That can affirm the head turn and help with the mechanics of turning the body too.
Great job here 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
Look back at this from MaxPup 1:
I particularly like the clicker stays, because it really isolates the release. Be VERY careful with your mechanics: don’t move your hands or cookies until after you click. Same with a release or throw back reward… say the word first then move your hands. Dogs are brilliant at seeing everything and it is possible she thinks that your movement is the release and not the word.
T
Hi!
>>I tried more actual serps in the backyard, and it was mostly a disaster. I had to turn the jump almost perpendicular to the wing to get him to see it>>
There was probably a lot to process there (the skill, motion, being outside, etc) so he couldn’t find the jump. Driving in hard to the handler is not a natural Border Collie behavior!
Slowing down the motion like at :22 for a bunch of reps, and keeping the jump angled will really help solidify the skill. You were able to get him to take the jump but he had some failure right off the bat – you can start where you left the last session with the highly angled jump to see what he remembers 🙂 And you don’t need to get the jump flat in the session – getting him to do it with you moving is more important than getting the jump flat. He was having success with that here (yay!) so you can angle the jump again and add more motion next time indoors. And angle it a lot outdoors because there is probably so much more his brain has to process.
Since you have the FAS-assistance plan in place for the ladder grid, you can add the reward target on the ground. Having him jump with you holding it then throwing it is causing him to jump looking up at you and curving a little. So, have it down on the ground about 10 feet past the last jump. And if he does well with it stationary, you can try dragging it 🙂 Thanks to FAS for holding!!!
Zig zags looked great too 🙂 adding the wing went very smoothly on both directions, so next time you has FAS-availability you can add a 4th wing. Yay!
Great job on these!!
TracyHi!
The RCs are going well – when you get immediately on the RC line, she reads the super well like on the right turn RCs and the left turn at :40 and :49 (she had a question on that one because you were stopped and turned your shoulders to the right turn wing for a moment before getting on the RC line).
If you stop moving or move forward on the straight line, she doesn’t see the info in time. That is what was happening on the left turn RCs. So you can go in even closer to the tunnel, run the line with it, so you don’t have to stop (they can hear that we have stopped and come out looking at us, like at :21 and :27. You were stopped there and turned facing straight (and at :21 said go as you started to move), so she was taking off by the take you did the RC line. Remember to reward that anyway because there is a high likelihood of handler error on these (the right turns here indeed handler error :))
The layering looked great! She was happy to stay out on the jump line, no problem at all!
>>. I was not sure about my fronts x into the tunnel. Late???
Yes, late at 1:12 and 1:18 because you were hustling to get past the tunnel and making sure she was committed to the jump, so the FC was visible when she was also past the line to the tunnel. You can turn a little sooner, as soon as she lands from the jump – that should get a nice line for now! Turning much sooner than that could potentially pull her off the tunnel entirely so we want to keep her happy to stay in extension for the layering.
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi! He wasn’t upset with you 🙂 He was trying to solve the puzzle 🙂
>>The strategy there was to run along and stare in his eyeballs until he looked at the jump and then throw the toy.>>
Perfect! This worked well with the go lines.
For the RCs, what was happening was that you were a little late on the first several because you were running forward like a go line, then cutting in for the RC at the last moment (like at :18 – he is taking off and turning left and you were just starting the RC). On the reps where he did a spin in front of the jump, you were also cutting in a little last-minute but he had not taken off yet. Then he started watching the toy, so when it was behind you back he was not driving forward as much so even with earlier timing, the RCs didn’t quite happen.
Two ideas for you to help out:
– stick closer to the wing wrap then get on the RC line to the center of the bar as soon as he exits the wing wrap. He won’t be past you yet, but he will pass you as you run forward to the center of the bar.
– use a cookie throw and even an empty food bowl as a visual add for him, turning the correct direction. That will get him looking forward more than a toy does for now, and then we can bring the toy back in later on.>>I went too long into scientist-debugging-mode)>>
Ha! Yes, with mammals (humans and dogs for example) we don’t want to go past 2 failures total, because then we get frustration or unwanted behavior change (like being sticky). I have been doing some thing with AI recently and it has been fascinating how many time I can tell it that it is wrong and to try again, and it tries again with the same gusto LOL!!!! But with the dogs, adding something to help will keep the frustration away while building the behavior.
Nice work here!
Tracy
Hi!
The RCs are going well! Your info is clearer so he is able to process it and make the adjustment to turn away in both directions. Super!>>I think on at least some of these Mason is turning after he lands instead of before.>
Even though you might not see the collection before takeoff, his head is turned and he is prepping the turn before takeoff, so I call it a win! Yay!
Two small details as you get ready to move to the game using the tunnel:
As he exits the wrap wing (and the tunnel when it gets added), you will want to make a bigger connection as you move forward, because it will get him looking forward sooner. At :10, for example, you can see him looking up at you while you are looking ahead and it takes him a couple of strides to process the info. Compare to :33, for example, when you look at him more so he looks ahead sooner and that makes the RC even easier.
You can also be more direct to the center of the bar like you were at :16, try not to take any steps towards the backside line until after he has passed you. That is a subtle difference but will be very helpful when adding the backsides.
That is why he slipped into the front side on the first rep of the backside jump – it looked the same as some of the backside handling, with motion to the backside line than at the last minute you pointed forward and looked forward… which cued the front side and RC at :05. Remember to reward reward reward anything that could potentially be a handler error – and if you are not sure, reward then go watch the video 🙂
>>On the first side I’m helping Mason with an arm behind the bar. I know our goal is to not have to do that. >>
On the first side you were helping more than on the 2nd side – you had the arm out on the right turns, but just used a connection shift on the left turns. I agree – the left turns were smoother! His commitment was good on all of those but the one suggestion is to throw the reward back to the landing side rather than dropping it near you. That will help with commitment as you add more speed and also help him not touch the bar, because he will be looking at the landing spot more and you can move faster through it.
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
Nice job building up the layering here!!
I think the hardest part for him was the send to the start wing. To get it more consistently, you can make a bigger connection to his eyes and give yourself one step of a lead out so you can set the line from in front of him. If you move at the same time he moves, it is harder to get the sending going to add distance (which is why you ended up running in past the tunnel more).
Once he was past the start wing, you were able to get a lot of reinforcement for the jump which is great! You can throw the reward as soon as he looks at the jump.>>I realized after we worked that I should have been shifting the first wing closer to the tunnel as I moved that direction.>>
Yes, you can move the start wing so the jump is the only thing layered but also you can throw the reward for sending to the wing on the other side of the tunnel.
>>Do you think this direction is ready to add the tunnel?>>
Yes! Do a little warm up reminder (especially if you move the start wing) and then open up the tunnel entries to see how he does 🙂
>>It’s in the 80s again today and after we went this direction, Ven told me he was hot and I think that’s why his enthusiasm for the toy waned. >>
He is right, 80 is hot! So you can wait til there is shade and try it – there is a lot more running for the pups than humans on this game LOL!!
Great job 🙂
Tracy
