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Good morning! She is doing really well finding her lines on the serpy stuff here!
Even though the angled lines at the beginning after the tunnel are not all that hard for her, try to rehearse the arm back/open shoulder of the serp rather than pointing forward ahead of her . That gives her the picture of your lower body running while your upper body is rotated, and associating that with the in-and-out of the seps.
When adding the sequence (starting at :29) – do a spin on the tunnel entry đ and then handle the serp with dog in right (on landing side of the jump after the tunnel) to make it more of a serp. You were on the outside of the line so it had some challenge for her but being on the landing side will definitely add a strong serp challenge for her.
You can do the same with the mirror image sequence starting at :55, getting on landing side of the jump after the tunnel)
>>I probably sabotaged myself with the distance>>
Yes, I think that was part of it and also it changed the lines. The exit of the tunnel was set on a hard line to the jumps so she needed a turn cue before she entered. That made it a bit harder to navigate the lines and stay in motion. For example, at 1:08 you had a very subtle step to the backside so that is where she went. Good girl Lu! That will serve you well in the future on those big UKI courses!!
One other thing I notice with her is she is very responsive to her markers đ She goes to the reward as soon as you say it. At 1:37 – give yourself a window to see before you say âget itâ so she is definitely taking the jump, such as waiting until her feet are in the air. She was coming to the jump here but not quite taking off yet⌠you said get it so she did LOL!!! That happened on one of the early reps too – and if you mark a behavior, be sure to reward it anyway so the marker doesât lose strength. Delaying the marker will help her not bypass a jump to get the toy.
Changing the jump angle at 1:53 coming down the line to the tunnel totally helped and so did your lead out position (not as far up the line). You can lead out less and do it more as a serp in motion!
Nice work here!
TracyGood morning from lovely Florida!!
I almost snorted coffee out my nose on the first rep of the first video hen she smacked the crate with typical Bazinga emphasis LOL!!
She does like that a crate a whole lot and finding the tunnel was *hard*! But then in the first video I think she got into a loop of âdo whatever was most recently rewardedâ and at the beginning of the 2nd video too.
>>I changed the way I was saying âcrateâ to be more like my âjumpâ verbal and less loud & fast like my tunnel verbal.>>
I think that was GREAT and totally helps – I am not fully confident that dogs can distinguish the actual word⌠but I am definitely confident they can distinguish word + pitch + rhythm + context! It sounded totally different by the end of the 2nd video and she did well.
The other thing that might be locking into place is the discrimination concept: the possibility that it could be *either* of those objects and she has to process the verbal (and your position, to a lesser degree) to get the reinforcement. That is a brain bender for dogs! So keep practicing like you ended here and she will keep improving đ
Winginâ It video:
>>I have a question about the collection cue you mentioned. We havenât trained a collection cue yet. How would I introduce that? Is it something like âwhoaâ or âeasyâ for the verbal with a decel body language?>>
I was just being unclear LOL!!! Sorry! The collection cues match the turn you want from the dog – left/right or wraps, for example. I do use a âjumpâ verbal for very casual collection that is too wide for left/right, but there is no additional collection verbal needed. The wrap here worked perfectly.
For the tunnel threadles – great job letting her turn herself and drive to the tunnel rather than relying on an addition l cue from you!! Yay! She was great and that is exactly what we want. When you added the wings, yes the FC put you on the wrong side for a few reps but you had it at the end and she went to the tunnel threadle very independently. Super! You can add more running to this: can she still find the tunnel threadle when there is more motion?
>>I think I am fine with just the crouch/play bow and not the chin touch since the teeter will have some kick-back when it is in motion.
Yes, and the chin touch might actually pull her weight forward into her shoulders and we donât want that. So crouch/bow and low chin will be perfect! The other thing I like to do with a 4on and small dogs is to teach them to dig at the target. That gives them something fun to do while waiting the decades it takes for the board to drop, and it keeps their weight back. Does she like to dig at all?
>>But I am guessing that we try to keep as much of the down position as we can and let her fade it as needed as she gets used to the motion once that is introduced?>>
Yes – she will give us feedback about what works best in terms of position as the board is moving.
She did great on the video! She was alternating between a flat down and a bit of a bow but that might have been your position in front of her. You can use the target at the top of the mountain climber game and see how she feels about being that high off the ground and getting into position – that is probably what will happen when she is doing the full teeter!
Since she is doing so well with you in front of her, check out the Bang Game as the next step – it basically begins to move you off to the side where you will be when running the full teeter.
The lead outs are going well! Great job pumping up the value with all the reinforcement! She read it really well! Running into the blind was easy for her – you can be even more lateral as you move to jump 3 so she reads the position cue even sooner.
She had more trouble with the lead out to the throw back with you all the way at jump 3. When you leaned in towards jump 2 at the end of video 1 and video 2, she got it really well!!!! The bigger visual with you leaning must have made your feet more obvious to her so she found it really well.
The lead out push definitely made 1-2 very obvious! To support 3 more, I think all you need t add is a clearer connection when she lands from 2. You were looking forward to 3 which turns you shoulders past it a bit. If you keep your arm back (think of it as a crazy serpentine) and look at her eyes, then you will be showing the line with your shoulders and she should nail it đ
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning!
Is your marker âpaydayâ? I love it!! Clever!!!
The session looked GREAT!!! This is such a hard skill and he is doing it very independently both towards you and away from you with very few errors. He was also able to do it with you moving the other direction (countermotion!) which is a super useful skill. And he could do it from the neutral position. Happy dance!! Great job building up to that!!!
The next thing to do with this game is simply change to using a toy reward. That will change his internal state, I believe – higher arousal đ And that is a good thing, because when you are running real courses we will want him to be able to process the verbals when he is more aroused. Many, many dogs struggle with that so I like to add the arousal in early enough that they are very good at processing verbals even when they are pumped up.
So start with easy reps with a toy reward, and see how he does with it. If it is easy for him, you can add the harder positions and turn aways. If he has questions, keep the toy in the picture (because it is an arousal question) but stick to the easier levels until he is very solid.
Great job here!
TracyHi!
>>I do have plenty of different toys and can change up. Heâs been doing a lot of grabbing at the toy, but I will definitely work on that. I want to use toys, just donât like the self-serving distraction that Iâm getting at the moment. Just another little challenge to train through. >>
Tell me more about the toy grabbing… is it when you are running little sequences? Or during the ‘in-between’ moments as you reset for the next rep? You can use food to help him line up and then toy as a reward. During sequenes, add in a marker that indicates he can grab the toy from your hand (you might already have one) and also try to note when it happens: after an error? When things are going really fast? When he needs more connection? We can get it sorted out!
Tracy
Good morning!
I am glad you had fun with the layering! We are starting layering skills early with the pups because it is sooooo popular in course deign nowadays đ
Video 1 – the turns to his right looked great, he had no trouble finding the jump and layering. He had a little more trouble turning to his left: the turn itself is harder for him and the dog walk *right there* is a giant visual that requires brain processing (and bear in mind that as an adolescent dog, he actually has *less* bandwidth to process that than he did as a puppy or will have as an adult.)
>>When he goes around the jump, is it right for me to call him back and get him to take it? I donât think I did it in a demotivating way, but you will tell me, lol! >>
You lived by the 2-failure rule on this video: didnât allow for more than 2 failures and helped him out. You can also use a line up cookie and re-start the rep, rather than âfixâ it. That way he can get the line up cookie (which maintains a high overall success rate) and also you can set up the skill in flow. And you were very nice about calling him back.
>>Also, when he goes around it, to me it seems like he is focusing on the toy toss and not just looking at me.>>
I believe what you were seeing there was him processing the pressure and visuals of the situation, not the toy throw. The visual of the DW (which is a massive processing challenge even if he doesnât actually know what the DW is LOL!) plus you pressuring into the line at :52 plus the new layering skill of the tunnel between him and you⌠all of that requires processing so he was definitely processing it. But he wasnât not always able to process it in time to go over the jump. So you can slow down your motion, or work the other side without the dog walk there so it is one less element for hims brain to process.
The 2nd video went well too! Note how much easier it was for him turning to his right with the dog walk there⌠easier to process in that direction! He was great about ignoring the available tunnel entry and going to the jump.
One suggestion: when sending around the start wing, donât use your wrap verbal followed by the layering. The wrap should get the super tight turn that brings him to the tunnel. You didnât use it on all the reps, but we want to be super he doesnât learn to ignore the wrap verbal for when you will want the tunnel and not the layering đ
Only one little handler blooper: at 1:07 you said left left but were late with the cue, relatively stationary and then turned and didnât say tunnel so he was very literal and just turned left LOL! You donât need to fix that at all – he was correct. Good boy! The rep after that looked much clearer.
Great job here!!
TracyGood morning!
Thanks for your patience waiting for feedback! I spent Thursday evening and all day Friday driving from Wisconsin to Florida. Letâs just say that this country is very, very big. LOL!
Great job back chaining the ladder grid. She was reading it with the bounces in each gap, no problem. So now we can get more power and propulsion. The PT being relatively close was making her striding more casual (for lack of a better term in my not-very-caffeinated-state) because there is no sense driving hard to a stationary food robot. So you can move it further away and see if that adds excitement. Or we can go to the moving target/dragging toy or food bag. That will definitely add impulsion! She is not struggling at all⌠I just want to et her more pumped up so she can sort out the mechanics of how to do this with power and arousal.
>>Had a moment where she was having trouble sitting on my left so we did a spin trick and then went back to the right. Later she was fine.>>
I think maybe she lost her train of thought⌠I can totally relate LOL!
>>(I claim Invitational hangover as my excuse for that one!)>>
Ha! That is valid – I donât know how you have the physical or mental energy to do such good puppy training sessions at all this week!
Toys before & after and food during a session works great! The food in the session can also get lots of fast, efficient reps while the toy brings the excitement to the game.
The session itself was super successful – yay! For at home training, you can add challenge by turning the tunnel so the entry is directly facing her. You might need to use a weave pole asa jump bar for that to have enough room, but I think she will be fine with that đ
The serps versus tunnels went really well!
>>I should have rewarded a 2:40 â in my head my arm was back but clearly it was forward and indicating the tunnel and then moved back too late >>
Yes, but when in doubt you can use a line up cookie on the next line up and stay, so that can balance out any possibility of having withheld a reward by accident.
For the first threadle⌠I think she was shocked LOL! âThis was a serp game, human!â So you can take a break in the session, throw a toy or treats around, then come back after some play to show her the threadle as the first rep of a ânewâ session That might help her see the threadle right away. After that first rep, she was great with the threadle too.
You can start adding some harder angles for the serp and threadle, very gradually moving her more and more towards center of the bar as the starting position. It might take a bunch of sessions to inch her over there while maintaining a high success rate, but eventually she will be able to find serps and threadles from crazy angles.
Great job!
TracyGood morning!
Thanks for your patience, I spent Thursday night and all day Friday driving from Wisconsin to Florida. Eek!
He did really well with his teeter game here!! The round target might actually be too big for his little feet⌠you can try something smaller, like a folded over piece of duct tape đ I am glad he was offering the 2 paws and bow! That will make for a great end position on the teeter.
The tandem turn session also went really well!
On the wing – this will be easier to practice if you start him in a stay and take a step or two ahead of him. That way you can how him the cues before he starts to move and before he gets ahead of you. Moving with him was delaying the info, and you can see the turns were smoother when you were ahead on the next two elements of the game. (The other option is to be done with the wing-only element and now only start with the tunnel đ )
Starting from a stay at the tunnel exit made things much smoother! You can show him the arm cue before the release – just be sure to make the release and arm cues not happening at the same time so he doesnât start to think that the arm cue *is* the release.
Adding the tunnel went very well! Since he is âblindâ in the tunnel, you can start the hand cues as soon as he goes into the tunnel. That way he is guaranteed to see the cues before he exits, making for great timing.
Since the physical cues are going so well, time to think about verbals! When the tandem turn is on the front of a jump, you can use your regular jump directionals. When it is on the backside of the jump, you can use your threadle wrap verbal. For this game, since there is no bar, we can use it to add your threadle wrap verbal.
Great job here!!!
Tracy
Hi!
I throw chunks of string cheese for my dogs or freeze dried salmon treats (they are very visible too). Charley Bears are visible as well!Tracy
PS –
>>I donât think Iâve ever really considered where my position is when I cross so that my dog knows which way to turn.
You are probably doing it naturally đ because your dogs are turning the correct direction. Being able to push harder on the RC lines will help the harder RCs get the correct turns too.
Hi!
>>So about the rear crosses. So is that the correct position for a rear cross? Or is that just what Kashia needs to be able to read the left side? Like should I already be near or on the left side when sheâs going into the tunnel just in general if Iâm waiting her to turn left? >>
Generally, yes, the rear crosses are greatly helped when we set them from a little further back and drive up the pressure line so the dog can see us moving to the left side, if we want them to turn left for example. On jumps, it is easier for the dogs to read the info if we aren’t perfect. But on a tunnel, the RC info needs to be visible very early or they will turn the wrong way.
T
Good morning!
Good morning!
The rear crosses are definitely tricky with timing! When she turned the wrong way on the left turn rear crosses (like at :16, :37, :45) when she entered the tunnel, you were still on the right turn side of it. So you position override the verbal there.Compare to the successful reps, like 1:26 for example: you were right on her tail from the moment she left the wing wraps, so she saw the RC info before she entered the tunnel and was able to turn left. So you can be pushier on the line and get really close to her while she is still 10 feet from the tunnel, so she can see all the info before entering.
Lead outs video –
>>However, I think itâs still great to practice and Iâm not saying Iâll never use it or need it. Just giving my back story on my inexperience or use of lead outs>>
True! You might not need lead outs now, but I agree it is good to practice in case you want to add them in (and in practice it gets you way ahead to practice handling).
She did really well! She has a really good stay! The blinds looked great! She also read the lead out push really well too. For both of these, you can ad a little more positional cue to get an even tighter turn: for the blinds, be running towards 3 the whole time (donât go anywhere near 2).For the lead out push, you can be more between the uprights of 2 when you release her, which shows her the turn to 3 even sooner.
I think she totally remembers the turn aways! Super!! And your cues were very clear. The lap turns worked great when you were rotated and facing her when she exited the tunnel. There was one rep where you were a little late so she went to the other side of the wing but the rest were great! You can add in the tandem turns (where you face forward instead of facing her) and that will lead nicely into the threadle wraps!
On the zig zag video – the visual on the first rep must has looked weird to her because she broke her stay and didnât take the jumps. Nice adjustment to support her line with motion! When you revisit this one, you can flatten then angles a bit by pulling the outer wings a few inches away fro the inner wings – that will add more challenge for sure.
Great job! Enjoy your week away, I hope it I something fun and relaxing!
Tracy
Good morning!
>>Do you have a suggestion to help me with her placement. This is something that I am struggling with her on when I line her up at a start line.>>
The 2 things I would suggest would be a cookie lure to start with (that eventually turns into a hand cue to line up where you want her). Or, you can teach her to line up between your feet – that way you can stand where you want her to be, she runs through your feet, and then she is in the perfect spot đ
Video 1: she was responding really well to the physical cue here! You can use her name less and her directionals more, for the wraps and also for the tunnel threadle. The will help solidify them for when you are not ahead of her or when things are moving faster. It sounds like you had the verbals added in the next videos!
Step 1 and 2 and 3 looked good. One suggestion is to let her turn herself away to the tunnel threadle when she see the cue, rather than you cuing it – that way
ou donât have to do 2 cues there (come in and go out ) and she can just drive to the correct tunnel entry.Looking at the video that had the little blooper: It looks like you were earlier with the rotation at :06 (when she got it right) and your arm was more visible. At :22 when she went straight to the tunnel, you were facing that end up the tunnel longer and your arm was not as visible.
Compare that to the last video where your threadle arm was very visible and you turned sooner, so she got it really nicely. So on the harder side (or on both sides, when you add more speed đ) you can make the arm cue really obvious and also turn your shoulders before she arrives at the wing before the tunnel, so she sees the new info before she exits the wing.
Nice work here!!!
TracyGood morning!
Super job with the blinds and lots of good stay rewards mixed in too!
The first several reps had good connection but where a tiny bit late (starting as he arrived at the wing). You were them working on doing the timing earlyier, which is great!
On the reps where he did not take the wing (:45 and :56), it was not a timing question about the blind, it was more that you were looking forward when he exited the tunnel, so he never got a commitment cue for the wing (and he drove to you instead).Compare to the rep at 1:07 which was at the same timing as :56 (he was a little less than halfway to the wing) but you connected at the tunnel exit so he knew to commit. That made the blind tay!
The race tracks looked easy peasy! For extra giddy up đ you can add in taking the race track around ll 3 wings, including the one near the camera.
Great job!
Tracy
