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Hi! Thanks for posting these…
Overall, I think the environment is way too hard for him to do these games successfully, especially if food is not super high value. You have been to this place before and your adult human brain was able to tune out the massive level of distraction. His teenage brain was not.
Speaking of food – what kind of food were you using? I would be interested in seeing what he does with giant pieces of rotisserie chicken, for example. Or 2 inch chunks of steak.
OK, back to the environment:
From my human perspective, the environment was a bit overwhelming/overstimulating to me. Soooo much stuff everywhere and very tight spaces.
And if seeing it and hearing it on video was distracting to me, I bet it was a sensory bombardment to his inexperienced adolescent brain. All the different visuals of stuff and people, all the smells, all the noises, plus the travel to get there. Tooooooo much so you are not getting the progress you would like. Turn the volume up and you will hear beeping noises and crashing noises that your brain could probably tune out in the moment but his brain needed to process it.
So what was happening was that yes, he was eating… but also the eating and the engagement was high latency (slow response). That indicates his brain having to process soooooooooooo much and really could not tune it out.
>Up and down was simply too much
Yes – that situation was tipping him over into anxiety, understandably: he was like WTF IS SHE DOING when the girl was climbing down from where she was. I was also like “what the heck is she doing up there?” – my experienced human brain was completely drawn to the sensory input of the girl doing something weird, and I could only see and hear it. That situation was really weird so he was anxious about it. You were right to move him out of there, but also we don’t want to put him into the pressure cooker where there is anxiety possible because it causes associations between the pattern games (and eating food) and pressure, anxiety, stress.
I am quite sure my experienced adult dogs would also be like WHAT THE HECK IS THIS PLACE AND WHY IS THAT GIRL CLIMBING DOWN FROM THE WINDOW?!?! So his response was actually appropriate, imo.
And he was eating in the up and down game with Bella there – but he was still not comfortable and latency was high (slow response). Note the crashing noises in the background.
>Chase has grown up on patterns and we did Bobbie seminar last month with Chase full day>
Since he has lots of experience with patterns:
do you have a baseline video of him doing this at home with no distractions, so we can see the difference in latency? How fast does he eat the treat then return his engagement to you? That baseline is important because it tells us if the challenge we present is too hard (latency slows down a lot and doesn’t get faster) or just right (hard for a cookie or two, then returns to looking like the at-home behavior).Basically, we need to turn off the pressure of this situation because it might be producing a stress response more than it is producing a relaxed, engaged response. Using the baseline of the patterns at home, I would want to see:
– what is the latency out of the car at the back corner of the parking lot? If and when that matches the baseline… you can go closer to be maybe 20 feet away from the store entrance. When that latency is same or similar to the home baseline, you can change environments again to increase challenge.
That happens over multiple sessions across weeks, with multiple sessions of neutralizing the patterns in between (did Bobbie talking about neutralizing the patterns?)
>He can eat any time when we just wander around a store with our friends. Not sure it matters or means anything. >
Eating, or engaging, or both?
So it is possible that the pressure of the situation and the massive distractions are too overwhelming. Backing it way off will actually produce faster progress!
Let me know what you think.
Tracy
Hi!
>Like everywhere – still super hot and now really smokey, so we are not doing the sequencing assignment yet. Early next week, it looks like it will get better.>
Yeah, it is really smokey for a lot of people! And the heat is not helping. Fingers crossed for better weather ahead!
>We’ve done 2 sessions of the pattern games – Judge has done a lot of these, so we are doing back and forth in motion and on leash. He has also done up & down.>
Perfect! Keeping these games refreshed so he is SUPER fluent with them is very helpful.
>I realized that he does know a lot of “tricks” once the definition was reframed – he has left and right spins, backing up, leg weaving, shake and paw, army crawl, sit pretty. He likes the spins the best.>
These are excellent tricks! Yay!
> We did the volume dial game with spins and a toy reward – he prefers toys to food.>
Since he likes his tricks and his toys, you can build some value for food: spin, eat a cookie, get a tuggy. The spin is fun, the tuggy is fun… eating is the ‘work’. But it rapidly becomes fun too! We really need food as part of the equation because it is good for his nervous system & arousal regulation, and it is really great to have as a motivator/reinforcement when you are in tight spaces or in a crowd of people & dogs. Tugging is harder in those spaces.
> Then after the 5th one, when I stopped, he sat and stared at me. We’ve done 2 sessions of this with the same end result.>
I take that as a “what’s next, human?!?!” which is great, as opposed to scanning the environment or jumping up for food or toys. That might be what he looks like when he is in the optimal state for some sort of work.
>I’m having an internal debate about barking on cue. Malinois is probably French for “loves to bark”, which I personally hate, but since he already grooves on it, maybe I should consider using it to my advantage. TBD.>
That is all valid, although I though that Malinois was French for PLEASE SHUT UP. Hahahaha!!!
I have NOT taught my half Mal to bark on cue because the only behavior he does that I don’t like is he will bark at other dogs that are tugging while he is waiting before his run, unless I am actively engaging with him. It comes from him wanting to take their toy 🙂 but it is annoying to me. I am sure that I can redirect him and teach him to bark at ME on cue, but also sometimes silence is golden. And I am able to optimize his arousal without barking. I reserve the barking on cue for 2 types of dogs: the dogs that can get suppressed or worried in a challenging environment, or the dogs that have great arousal regulation in place and I want to get them REALLY hyped up before a run. My 2 year old half Mal is neither of those – confident in all environments so far, and brings his own hype, so no barking on cue is needed.
>This weekend, we will have the chance to work on the road on our pattern games in an agility environment. Judge spent the winter (and is continuing now) working on his manners and neutrality, and the patterns have been a part of that.>
Wonderful! Get video!!! Video will give you a bigger picture than simply observing in the moment will.
> lots of stuff that we worked on when he was very young, but have not done a lot with recently, so we can dust off our remote reinforcement marker (“candy”), and our leash on/off work with party (and add the next steps of offering engagement and then ultimately moving with us).>
Yes, dust it all off in this wild world of adolescence and new locations 🙂
>Glad that a lot of this can be done indoors cuz we’re going to be more or less stuck inside for the next few days.>
And you can add plenty of challenge at home in the lovely air conditioning.
Keep me posted!
Tracy
Hello and welcome! I am excited to see you both!!! Are you getting hit with the smoke from the fires in your area?
Tracy
Good morning!
>Unfortunately there are no classes in my area that focus on proper foundations.>
That is a bummer, but I am sure they will let you use your time in the ring for easier setups where he won’t leave.
> And to be fair I even had this issue when I went to Star Puppy and we were doing very basic, mostly lured behaviors. He still wanted to go visit.>
This confirms that he needs to work on very basic skills that are easy, but the primary focus not being the skill – it is more about finding amazing reinforcement, and teaching him to tune out the distractions of other dogs. Trying to do that while also working on harder skills will backfire.
> I think it is just more reinforcing for him to play ( what he thinks is happening) vs do the tricks, skills momma is working on.>
Yes, but definitely consider it a stress response as well – seeking other outlets for reinforcement is part of that. If you look at it as a stress response and frame it differently, you will have a lot more patience to sort it out in training. if you look at is as a reinforcement issue or him blowing you/being naughty, then you will have a lot less patience to help him through it.
> I do keep his sessions short because of all this. In that class we were only doing the Dogwalk 2 times (he has lots of history on dogwalk at this point. So I don’t think that was too hard for him.>
He left the session, so that is information that the ‘ask’ was too challenging in that environment. Too challenging in easier environments? Probably not too challenging. Too challenging in that environment? Yes.
> He did do a trial FEO and since it was AKC and he couldn’t leave to go visit he was amazing. Well surpassing all my expectations for his first try.>
This is great!!
>I have not found his I really want to work with momma switch yet..>
One thing that works for a lot of young dogs is social learning. They watch you work one of your other dogs on something simple (someone can hold him on a leash), then he gets to do it, then back to the experienced dog, etc. The other way social learning is used is the dogs work in tandem (on a setup that is safe for 2 dogs to work at once). Both dogs do wing wraps at the same time, for example. Social learning is incredibly powerful and might help him understand how to stay in the game while optimizing his arousal state to help him tune out the environmental distractions.
Tracy
Hi –
I understand how frustrating that can be!
>No he is not avoiding he is leaving me to go try to visit a dog in a crate >
That is totally an avoidance behavior. Seeking outlets and reinforcement elsewhere while avoiding doing what is being presented in the ring.
>I spend most of my time in class trying to get him back.>
This is where the avoidance comes from too – he kept getting brought back to do something he might be able to do in terms of the skill level, but cannot consistently do in terms of ignoring the challenges in the environment. And if you are frustrated and the bringing him back gets harsher, there is punishment built in so it becomes a cycle of more and more avoidance.
I don’t have the full picture so I can’t tell you exactly why it is happening, but the something is tipping the scales towards leaving/going to the other dogs and we have to tip it back to sticking with you and doing the stuff in the ring.
>I had a very high value treat called Saint rockos, which had worked well the previous week), I usually use real beef, lamp and pork that I grill for training treats.>
So if treat value is very very high, we look at other reasons he would leave the session. That can be stuff like the skill is too challenging (rate of success too low), not interesting enough or too repetitive, sessions are too long, he senses your frustration and avoids getting caught (especially if he might get grabbed and brought back).
> Even simple drills he will leave me. I spend most of my time in class trying to get him back.>This is feedback from him that the drills that we think are simple are actually not simple to him, given the challenges in the environment. So it is time to focus specifically on that rther than focus on agility skills. I recommend dropping him back a few levels of classes and working on more basic foundation stuff (even stuff he already knows, that will work even better) but do it in a foundation environment where there are multiple dogs working at a time on leash on the floor. For example, a group of dogs out working on pattern games, going to a station, wrapping a cone, etc – on leash with other dogs nearby. That is where the learning needs to happen and when he can do that, everything else like sequences and obstacles will be easy!
Let me know what you think.
Tracy
Hi!
>This did not go as expected but lots of valuable lessons.>
That is the best part of doing these walk throughs! With the young dogs, it generally does not go as expected at first, but the lessons make it much easier as we practice.
>I forgot to turn the camera back on when I went to get her. >Oh no! That is a bummer!
Looking at the walk through – thanks for getting it on video!! Your handling choices were good and your verbals were very clear too!
>I do not think the walk-through was as fast as the actual run.>
I agree, I think you have to move faster on the real run. But more importantly: she has a lot of yardage to cover, so she will actually be behind you more on this sequence. You were tending to look ahead of you, as if she was ahead – but with the amount of distance she has to cover the line she would still be behind you there.
>My first run-through I noticed I lost connection at the startline after ‘break’ and swivelled my head to the tunnel instead of watching her.>
This happened on the walk through too, you can see connection shift to the invisible dog ahead of you when the real dog would still be behind you 🙂
>in the first, she wrapped the backside before the tunnel. I talked to the camera and said I’d re-run but get further along the bar and keep moving. This seemed to work and it was a nice run.>
Yes, with her speed, getting further across the bar for the rear cross will really help.
Looking at the run:
The opening went well! Overall, the run went well – the only tricky part was the backside.>There is a limit to how far I can push on her line – she missed the backside althogether>
Yes, you stepped into her line at :14 before she passed you, which both pushed her off the jump.
At :39, you started looking ahead of her a she thought you were beginning a blind cross (disconnection followed by shoulder rotation). So maintaining connection back to her when you are ahead will fix that blooper. But the rear cross there looked great, you let her get past you to the bar before you moved forward. Be sure to turn to the tunnel immediately after it – you stepped forward and that is what locked her onto the off course jump.
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi!
Kaladin’s sequence:
I think doing all the blinds here worked really well! Nice BC on the landing of 2 both times through! And the blinds through the 6-7-8-9-10 section worked great 🙂
Yes, there was a little shoulder turn to the front of 5 at :13. Letting him see you rotate and pull into the TW like you did at :39 & :57 made a huge difference!
2nd sequence:
At the very start of the run, you can lead out less 1-2 – run into it more to get more acceleration off the start line.
>Took the shorter route to start over and bumped him out a little bit to make sure he was jumping #1 again angled to the left and not into the shed.>
This worked really well!
But the rest of the double whammy went great! He was really hustling because the lines were clear and you were very connected!
Lift’s video:
>Seq 3 – She clearly thougth I was in her way when I did the backside slice/blinds -so much for trying to shape the hairpin turn a bit from 7-9.>Yes, you were running them at Kaladin’s pace and he tolerates you being a little in the way 🙂 She said you need to get there faster 🙂 so you can clear the line.
Trying to send her past you for the backside at :34 by pointing forward caused question – if yo get behind, keep the dog-side arm back and keep BIG connection, which will get her to the backside. You can also add an opposite arm in (pointing to the backside wing), as that will support connection and help show the backside as well.
Looking at the threadle wraps on 5: The f irst TW was really good at :25, you helped her with a tiny bit of motion back to the jump. At :46, you were still pulling away from the line when she got to you so it was harder to send her back to the jump. Being a little closer to the jump (maybe 5 feet away) will help both with her know which jump you want and also with being able to fade out the little bit of motion towards the jump.
One thing I noticed on this sequence, though, is that she is able to bounce back a lot more easily to the challenges of when she gets a Big Mad. She used to not be able to recover and get back on the line, but she was much better able to do that here and even sent herself back out to the threadle wrap! Good job rewarding that.
Seq 1:
>-Threadle slices definitely need more work. She isn’t confident about coming in >
I think it is because when she is behind you, she sees a closed shoulder which indicates staying out on the line. You can see it here it 1:16 –
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Nr8s-0Gf3I5Bav-ZR-TTDzEct6VnOs4FXKJh6Tss9Ec/edit?usp=sharingYou have you threadle (opposite) arm up but I don’t think she sees it. The right shoulder is supporting the line to the backside of 3.
Compare to when you isolated the threadle slice at the end, and she could totally see the upper body rotated. So be sure to rotate the upper body towards her more when you do the threadle slices in flow.
Bearing in mind that the last thing they see before going in the tunnel is what produces the line on the exit of the tunnel – at 1”27 you ended up too close to the tunnel so before she went in, she saw you hit the brakes and peel away. That, plus the name call, got too much turn on the tunnel exit. You got the backside but you can stay closer to the jump before the tunnel and send her to the tunnel more. That will allow you to set more of a parallel line to the backside before she enters (rather than get caught too close to the tunnel) and it will be easier to get the last jump.
>I also did a NN session asking them to do tricks inside last night using my Breyer horse (Phar Lap) propped against Kaladin’s US Open Trophy. Neither one deigned to notice the distraction.>
Yay! I am sure their brains noticed it, but also it sounds like it was easy for them to ignore.
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi! Lots of good work here!!
Looking at the different sections in both runs:
At the very beginning, it looked like you were on the left turn side of him so he was pretty convinced it was a left turn. On the other runs, you were clearly on the right turn side and he had no questions.
The Big Drama of the threadle verbal and arm swing helped him get it much more easily! The first run did not have the Big Drama but the others did 🙂 And on the 2nd full run, you let him see you do the BC before the threadle cues and it worked really well!
Looking at 3-4-5-6:
He was finding the backside entry wing really well on 4, but looks like he ran past the bar on the first run. So you decelerated to help him get it on the other runs. Ideally, you would stay in motion so you can get up to the wrap jump at 5, so you can try opening up your arm like a serp as you run, and throw lots of rewards to the landing of 4 to help him commit more automatically (rather than chase you line of motion).That will allow you to decelerate more for 5 and turn your feet to the tunnel – and the closer you can get to it, the tighter the line will be after the BC. You were a little far from it so that widened the line to the tunnel.
Getting the 7 jump was hard! There are a couple of options:
– you can give strong turn cues before the 6 tunnel, so he exits turned. You were calling after he was in the tunnel, so he exited wide and you had to rotate to try to get him to 7. If you give a BIG verbal and let him see brake arms while he is still 6 feet away from entering the tunnel, she should turn really well on the exit.
Or if you can leave the wrap at 5 early, you can get a BC on the tunnel exit! That will be harder with his speed, though, so giving the turn cues for the tunnel exit when he is still 6 feet or so away from the entry will make it easier to handle 7 from the landing side.
The 8-9-10-11-12 line went well! Good boy with the weaves! Depending on how it is built, a threadle slice on 11 might set a faster line to 12 than the backside wrap.
12-13-14-15-16 also went great the first time! Yay! You had a disconnection at 1:43 so he launched at 13 and landed on the bar, so definitely stay more connected like you did on the first run.
For the wrap on jump 18, decel and rotate towards him more so he is basically running across your feet – your feet will be facing 19 and your back will be facing the wing of 18. That will be nice and tight! Facing the 18 jump at 1:52 and doing a post turn and tapping was very wide, I definitely think the rotation into the BC like you did at :54 was the better option.
At the end on jump 19 – at :56 you were beautifully connected and decelerating, so he committed and had a lovely turn. At 1:53 you were facing forward (a little disconnected) and turning away from the jump so he turned with you and did not commit. The connection at :56 was definitely the winner.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi! These runs went really well with both boys!
Watson’s video: Super nice work!
As you found out on the first run, 1-2 needs a threadle to 2. Then you did a really nice job with the 3 backside and layering and push to 5! Lovely!>Push to FC was not the best handling option on Jump>
The push went great and you were easily able to get to the far wing, but the FC on the landing of 5 took him off the line to 6: he almost went to the backside on the first run and he went into the poles on the 2nd run – a blind will be better there. As soon as you see him heading to the backside wing, turn your back on him and do the blind.
He was so close to getting the layering at the end! Staying closer to 7 til he gets there then accelerating will help him find the line and stay on it with you running parallel – that way you won’t get caught at the poles and have to decelerate then pull away, which is what pulled him off the line.
2nd sequence:
The FC on 2 looked good! It sets up a RC of weave entry – did he miss the entry? It was a little hard to see but it looks like he missed (and exited on the wrong side) You can also do a spin (FC/BC) on 2 so he weaves on your left side, taking out the need for a rear cross.He found the next line really well – Yes, after 6 you had 7 on the other side of the jump then added the ending of pop out 1 🙂 But it was smooth, fast and connected!! He is layering that ending line like a champ!
Levy looked great in the opening too! Nice layering! And 8″ was a good choice 🙂
Like with Watson, the FC on the landing side of the backside jump also put him in the poles on the first run. You slipped at :38 so he run past it but the front cross at :45 sent him wide. Definitely a blind cross for him there too 🙂
>Levy I pretty sure I shouldn’t have tried to layer the 2nd time>
I think working that layering is great and definitely a useful skill for Levy. Running past the poles with him almost sent him past 8, which supports the argument for layering 🙂 . You were very close to getting the layering at the end! It is partially handling, partially training him to layer:
From the handling side,
At :12 he was convinced it was the poles because as you started pointing ahead, you also turned your shoulders and faced the poles (so he turned with you).From the training side: He got the first jump on that last run, so you can build the layering up even more by throwing a reward out past the 8 jump and towards the last jump. That will help him understand how to stay on the line with you on the other side of the poles.
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
>Early morning runs before it gets too hot.>
I totally relate to this! All agility is done at sunrise because our highs are going over 100 degrees this week 🙁
Video 1, 2, 3 went really well – excellent handling choices and clear connection and motion throughout! The 2 double whammy runs also looked great 🙂 I think she was a little gassed out on the 2nd double whammy, not quite as fast probably but that is a lot of yardage for a small dog!
The transitions from the end of the 1st sequence back to jump 1 in the double whammy runs were absolutely gorgeous and she was so fast there!
2 small details about the handling:
You will get a smoother line 3-4 (and 8-9) if you open your arm for a serpentine on jump 3 & 8, which will get her looking for 4 & 8 sooner. Your shoulders were closed forward so she was looking at you there, and serpentine handling will show her the line to the next jump sooner.>The transitions from 4 to 5 was a bit wide, but it kept her going.
>I liked your choice of the BC there! It worked really well – and it was tightest when you ran closer to the 5 jump (like at :37 on the 2nd video). When she was wide, it was because you were running a wider line more towards the tunnel then pushed back to the 5 jump.
>The main thing with Rosie is to keep her going and not walk through the course. You asked how old is she. Rosie is 12.>
Omg! How is she 12 already? Time flies! And I totally agree: keeping her moving is the top priority. On the first run, you made sure to get close to the 4-5-6-7-8 line and that really helped her – even waiting for her in the tunnel was the right choice so you didn’t get too far ahead. So planning your runs to stay very close to all of the lines, even going a bit wide and past obstacles if needed, will help keep her in motion.
You can the same plan with her as you did with Lily, but you can also consider running on the outside of the line and doing more blinds to get there with her. She loves chase you, so that will keep her moving!
For example, you can do a blind cross 2-3, and another 3-4, and then between 7 and 8 to get her really chasing the line. It is extra work for you but adds a lot of motion support to the line.
She was able to complete the double whammy runs but I think that is probably too much yardage for her to do twice. So you can mix up the training:
Rosie does 1 run, Lily does her runs, then Rosie comes back to do a double whammy just once. She was able to run the first double whammy but had to walk the 2nd one because even with a break she was still tired. So, she only has to do it once 🙂 and Lily and do the rest 🙂Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
>Sunday he unfortunately lost his brain and was not responsive to any cues that weren’t going straight (which were a lot). >
Interesting! Can you think back and identify anything that might have been different that day or the day(s) leading up to it. It sounds like an abnormal day so something was going on – depletion? Something hurting? Something in the environment? Its only they could speak English to let us know!!
>The good news is that all his dogwalks over both days were absolutely perfect with 2 rear feet in the contact zone!>
That is good!!!! Yay!
>He took today off to have a rest day. We might train tomorrow but it is supposed to be roasting hot so will see if that’s possible.
>Yeah, the temperatures have been brutal and I think you are also getting a lot of smoke? We are getting some of it here too (and a temperature of 106 today). Additional rest days are good if the weather is not cooperating.
Alfred is doing really well with the pop outs! We can break some of it down to pump up some of the skills.
>I got a couple of jumps on the wrong side. >
No worries! The sequences are flexible 🙂
First video:
The first sequence looked really strong! Lovely connection and he is finding his lines really well. It would be fun to see if you can send him to the jump past the tunnel while you layer and meet him at the tunnel entry (useful skill for when weaves are added).2nd sequence:
At :42, the turn was a little late so he dropped the bar – I don’t think he needed you to run as much to that jump to commit him to it.For the threadle wrap at :48 – this is also a good spot to break down and solidify the TW understanding. Ideally you would decelerate when he is at the previous jump and give the cues, without having to do as much motion with feet/shoulders/hands, and he would drive past you to do the TW. Ideally your feet would be turned to the next line and not back to the jump and he would turn himself back to the jump.
He might not yet know how to do that, so you can start with a stay at the previous jump to give yourself a lead out, getting closer to the TW jump. When he can do it independently without as much help and foot turning, you can give yourself less and less lead out so he can do it more and more independently passing you.
He had little questions about the threadle slice at :52 and 1:01 (barked and looked at you before going back out). You can show more threadle slice upper body cues so he can turn away to it more independently (and the verbal if you were not doing that, it was hard to hear if you were due to his singing voice 😂).
2nd video –
Very nice opening – the backside wrap and line to the tunnel went well. That made it very easy to get to the blind after the tunnel. Nice connection there!
He questioned the go line at the end (:13) – it might have been that he saw you switching the toy from hand to hand? Breaking it down more helped but he still looked at you – so you can place a reward out there for the end of the sequence and race him to it to help him drive ahead more.
But also, the 2nd to last jump is not an easy front side to find, and he needs a lead change cue to then go back out and get the last jump so a ‘get out’ and opposite arm cue can help there!
He missed the 2nd to last jump at :51 because the backside line was the parallel path as you accelerated – a threadle cue there will help get him to come in (followed by the ‘out’ cue to get the last jump).
His backside wrap is getting nicely independent in the 2nd sequence! Great job rewarding it!
You were a little too early moving away from the backside at 1:17 and a little disconnected, but super nice handling of that backside at 1:32, 1:40 and 144! Moving through and dropping the reward on the landing side is definitely helping him get the backside and commit to the bar really well here too.
I am excited to hear that he was a good pup at the trial! It sounds like he is settling in really well.
>A few people have asked me recently when I will start trialing him. I don’t have an answer for that right now but it made me realize that technically he could trial in speedstakes now! That just seems crazy.>
Yes, there will be a lot of pressure to trial him but I agree with you – he is still really young and there is no need to trial him. You will see ideas for the trial environment in MaxPup 4. At some point soon, if he is happy in the environment, you can totally do a UKI NFC run with a toy at 8” and do little easy things on a Speedstakes course – mainly to help him learn that being in the ring is a super fun thing 🙂
Great job hear!
Tracy
Hi!
This was an interesting session and a great challenge to choose!!
> I think mentally he isn’t focus enough to do them. And it’s not just weaves. Sometimes at trials (usually outdoor ones) he acts as if he’s never been trained lol. He’ll pick a line and stick with it regardless of what I’m doing.>
It definitely sounds like a processing thing – trying to process the environment and process the mechanics of the weaves… and it doesn’t always go well for the weaves.
>The last trial I decided to do several NFC runs to help him get in the right state of mind and that helped, we had a pretty good weekend overall.>
Super!! The environment is different when there is a toy in the ring for sure! But it is very helpful to do NFC.
>So, first rep (no distraction) fine. Second rep (with a plastic bag) fine.>
Watch that 2nd rep closely… his striding is different. Aha! The plastic bag IS a processing challenge!!!
>Then I decided to bring out the big guns. He’s a covid puppy and once we started back at class when he was younger, I realized not training around other dogs was a huge issue for him (he couldn’t focus). So, I bought several full sized plush dogs which seem to get him every time lol. So, the Beagle distraction got him on the first try but then he got the weaves the second time.>
I was distracted by the beagle too hahaha! He did get the weaves the 2nd time… but it looks like the striding was different on those too! And it sounds like he smacked a weave pole as well.
So because we are seeing striding changes on the neutral object – stick with various novel-neutral objects for a few more sessions. Keep changing objects and changing the locations of the object and the weaves (and get him HYPED with tugging and tunnels :)) until we are not seeing striding changes. Then we will jump up to novel-exciting 🙂 The goal is to stick at each level long enough so that he can get consistent striding and processing in a variety of locations and with a variety of different challenges.
> He will often times not even try to do the weaves the first time but after he knows they are there, he may be able to do them>
The processing probably prevents him from even perceiving the weaves the first time, so that is definitely something that will go on the list when we get to the harder levels the 4th and 5th packages! I am excited to see him work through this – we will be super systematic and you will see a big difference in the weaves and overall on course!
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
Apologies in advance for boring feedback, it is mostly about how lovely these runs were! Yay! You were rally great about keeping lower arms and being super connected!!> I struggle with blind crosses>
Based on these blinds here, I’d say you don’t struggle anymore!!! They were fantastic.
Looking at the runs:
Run 1 – gorgeous, connected, and fast!!!
I couldn’t hear if you were using any verbals, so feel free to use verbals as long as you stay as connected as you were here.run 2 – another lovely run with a gorgeous blind, well-timed and well-connected!!!
runs 3 & 4 – These went really well too – he got the front of the last jump on the first rep – you can show that line sooner and push to the backside line as he is committing to 4. (1:27 and 1:56). When he is heading to 4, you can start heading to the 6 backside as long as you stay connected like you were. No need to square up to face the line to 5, you can converge directly towards 6 and he will take 5 and head to the backside of 6 and not the front.
You got it at 1:58 with a lot of connection and outside arm helped a lot too! Super!
Run 5 & 6 – Fantastic timing of the BC, great connection, he had no question on which side to be on during the first full run and also at 3:02 on the 2nd full run.
You blocked the wing a bit at 2:27 so he thought you wanted the blue tunnel, good boy!Compare your position at 2:27 to your position at 2:42 where you showed the wing (lined up more to where the wing and bar meet) and he had no questions. And you nailed it in flow at 3:03! Lovely!
Run 7 – lovely connection and serp to the backside!
Run 8 – another lovely connected run with a beautifully timed blind cross! Nailed it! Be sure that after the blind you are still letting him see the wing – your running line should be more towards where the wing and bar meet (making the backside wing very visible to him). On this blind at 3:52, you were a little more on his line, so he went wide around you to find the wing.
One thing I noticed was that he would drop the 1 or 2 bar. Perhaps he was fatigued? But is it also possible that he gets off balance when you release him to jump 1 because he is too close to it. He leans into the start (you can see it at 3:20) and gets a little off balance because he is close to it. When he was a little further from the start jump on the last run, he kept the bars up nicely! Sosetting him up with 2 or 3 big strides before the 1st jump might help a lot with those bars.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi!
He did great with the back and forth pattern game here! At home, you can add your walking back and forth.On the road (driveway) – it was a little harder with critter noises and bird noises 🙂 but he did really well! This was excellent rehearsal of assessing the environment and returning his attention to you. For his next session, you can start like this and if he has an easy time, you can add in walking back and forth. If you think he might take off to chase something, you can do it on leash – adding the leash is a good thing anyway, because he will be on leash outside the ring at a trial.
Great job here!
Tracy
Hello and welcome!
He did well with his NFC runs here! They fit into the “Just Like Home” category from this week.
Lovely connection and he did great!
One note – if he goes past a jump (for whatever reason) like in the first run, don’t stop and reward that… keep going til you get back on a line, then reward the obstacle. That way he learns to save you and take the jumps anyway even if the handling is not perfect 🙂 Stopping when he goes past a jump and rewarding, even though it is a handler error, can inadvertently reward going past the jump so it is better to keep going for another jump or two.
On the 2nd run he thought the people moving around near the start were hard! He was looking at them and then did a big shake off. Good info to have! But he held his stay and ran really well!
It *was* appropriate to stop and reward when he took the off course tunnel, because you sent him to it 🙂 and he committed to an obstacle.
Overall, he is looking for lines really well and pretty comfy in the environment!!
>do these count in the 5 minute tally for sequences or is that for the MaxPup content only?>
These do not count, that is for the sequences 🙂
Great job!
Tracy
