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Good morning!
>>I wasn’t sure if I should video more on the foot/nose target games, but I’ll be working on those over the weeks before we get to the games that really need them.>>
You can bring the foot target game into the send game we added on Tuesday. The hand target came doesn’t turn into anything else for a couple more weeks, so we will refresh it when we are getting ready to use it 🙂
>>We worked a little bit on driving forward and forward focus before the sun went down (darn time change).
He is so cute and this is such a fun session! And I agree, the time change stinks 🙁
The field work and the driving ahead here will really work together to build a lot of confidence and independence. He was great here, pretty perfect forward focus, and you were fantastic about looking at him to see where he was looking then releasing him forward to the toy. He was fantastic about driving to the toy and even better, bringing it back! Yay! You kept the retrieve fun by running away from him and it all looked really strong.
He was perfectly happy with you adding motion. When you added distance plus motion (when the angle of the camera change on the video) you can let go of him and let him move first, so he gets the feel of driving even more ahead of you. You can let him take a couple of steps before you start moving.
>> A lot of it is working away from me, so he took to this game like a fish to water. He’s also starting to teeth, so despite his strong grip and urge to tug, he did have an ouchie moment during our tug session>>
Yes, that was a big ouchie at :38 but he was resilient and stayed in the game. He probably just caught a tooth as you said in the video – you can try for really soft toys for a while, and keeping the toy even lower (letting him pull back on it but you don’t move your hands a whole lot) can also help while he is teething.
Great job here!!
Tracy
Good morning! These are looking great! Is he coming to the USO with you? I am not going to HJJ because I have to be in Jacksonville on Monday (yay, course building….. LOL!)
He is off to a great start with the wrap shaping!
2 mechanics suggestions here that will make things even easier:– Have the treats ready in your hands before the bowls go down, so you can drop the treat in the very instant he goes to the bowl in that first heartbeat
– use both hands for this, so each hand drops a treat into the bowl near it rather than one hand crossing back and forth. Using both hands makes it easier to stealthily add a treat to the bowl when he is eating from the other bowl.
After a few warm up reps, where he sees each hand drop the treat into the bowl, you can move to the stealthy step where, as he is eating one cookie, the other hand drops the next cookie in the other bowl… and we wait til he goes over to it. That bridges the gap from dropping the cookies before the behavior, to getting him to offer the behavior without seeing the cookies first 🙂
And when he can move back and forth very easily, you can move bowls back behind your knees a bit to add more curve to his line.Decel and driving to you looks great! He drove right back, collected to your side, and was nice and tight to you. Yay!!! And the pivots at your side are looking really good too!
For now, have your magic cookie hand lower (probably just at your knee is the right height) so he doesn’t have to lift his head up – the goal is that his chin stays parallel to the ground.
You added a ‘toss’ marker for the cookie toss on some of the reps – that is great, so keep adding it on all the cookie toss reps (so many words LOL!!!)His nose bop to the target is the CUTEST thing ever! He built value for this very quickly. Super! Remember to use your toss marker for when you are tossing the treat away – and if you have a cookie-in-hand marker you can use that for when you were delivering the treat from your hand. If you don’t have that yet, no worries, we will add it later 🙂 This game can go on hiatus for a couple of weeks, we start using it in week 3 🙂
I love how he got right back on the toy at the end of this sesssion! Super!
He did great focusing forward on his toy! Remember to hold him before you toss the toy, that was when he did best and you were able to add more distance. You had a marker going for the toy here (I couldn’t really tell what it was, sounded like Pax LOL!) and that is good – as he is learning it, you can mark it then get in and play with him if he feels hesitant about grabbing the toy when he gets there.
He is ready for more distance (doing this outdoors will make that easier too) and when you have some more distance, you can also add your motion! Yay! When you do add more motion, keep the sessions shorter – it is a really high energy game and you can see by the end of these 2 minutes here that he was tired and not engaging as much. You can do 3 reps, perhaps, then end the session even if he wants more 🙂Great job on these!! See you at the Open!
Tracy
Good morning!
Driving ahead: I totally see what you mean by him *not* loving the holding portion of this game. His forward focus to the toy looks good, and he loves the toy, and he brings it back! Super! So let’s not bring the collar holding into this game yet, since both of you don’t like it 🙂 And we don’t want this dislike to get paired into the game and have him start avoiding it. So, we will separate the game from the collar hold, and build them up individually for now. This is pretty normal 🙂
To keep building this forward focus game, you can do a cookie toss away so he is a little behind you. Then when he eats the cookie and looks back at you: throw the toy and tell him to get it, to develop the forward focus. You will be able to add motion to this as well, as soon as he is driving past you to the toy.
To build up some collar grab love, a couple of ideas:
– using really high value food, can stick a finger on his collar (on top of it, not restraining him at all) then toss a treat that he can go get. Do several reps of that, then be done with the session. The next session can be a finger gently under his collar, then an immediate cookie toss. Then over multiple sessions, you can go to a couple of fingers, adding a slight delay before releasing to the cookie, etc. But start off easy so that he feels you gently touch the collar before you quickly toss the treat, so he is really comfy.You can also add in some line up fun – a cookie lure to get the pups at your side or between your feet, gently touch the collar, then immediately release forward to a treat or toy. I thought I had video of this but I can’t find it, so it is on my list to video today 🙂
Drive to handler looked great! Fabulous response to his name. He drove right to your side and collected so he wouldn’t shoot past you. Your hand position was spot on! And nice job decelerating into the turn when you added the pivot. And hooray for him getting back on he toy at the end!!!!
I think his only question here was finding the initial tossed cookie – you can use a mat or bowl to get the cookie in or on, so he has more of a target and doesn’t get lost in interesting smells 🙂
Great job!!
Tracy
Good morning!
Driving ahead looks great – she sure does love her toy!
She is focusing forward to it most the instant it first lands, so you can be prepared to release almost immediately. If you wait too long, she looks back at you – so watch her as you throw it so you can release her to it sooner.>>Who knew that a working dog didn’t come with a natural retrieve like most of the Spaniels 😆>
Ha! She retrieved it…. eventually. LOL!
You can work the retrieve into this: as soon as she goes to the toy, you can turn and run the other way. And then you can reward her for bringing it back towards you by offering a different toy or a cookie.She told us in this session that she didn’t necessarily love the collar holding, so we can help her out. A couple of ideas:
– it looks like she was able to go from a treat to the toy pretty easily here, so you can line her up at your side with a treat then put your hand on her collar. That way there is no moving her by the collar, which might be what she doesn’t like.-Also, be ready with the toy so that the collar grab lasts for a really short time and you can release to the toy very quickly. That will help her pair the collar grab with the fun of the game.
– if you are holding her collar and she is kind of sideways to you, you can adjust your position and toy throw so that she is more relaxed next to you (rather than moving her)
– you can do a number of short fast reps with cookies! Cookie lineup, collar hold, throw a cookie, let go of her to go get it 🙂
The prop shaping is looking good! I love how she is generalizing the ‘hit the thing’ with her feet. It will be easy to move to a bigger prop when you find the sun hat 🙂
But even if you stick with the baseball hat, she was 100% ready to go to the first prop game – sending! When sending, remember that they start with the engagement and handler focus of the ready dance. This brings us the arousal regulation element as well as the shifting from handler focus to line focus element. Then when you send, use your arm and your leg in big gestures. You were using a small footstep but we want the big arm movement involved too. And on the sideways sends, you can step to the prop with the leg closer to it – you were using the opposite leg which will make it harder to move away when we add countermotion.
Great job here!!
Tracy
Hello and welcome!!! I didn’t know Yowza had puppies – SO FUN!! I’m excited to see Arrow! Who is the daddy?
Have fun!
TracyGood morning!
>>The idea here is to teach them the concept that they CAN drive ahead of us,>>
Yes- to teach them to drive ahead with forward focus, while we hustle along ahead/next to/behind them. And also to start to build the understanding of when to drive ahead and when not to drove ahead.
Adjunct behaviors layered in here include getting the handler connected by watching the puppy, adding arousal, a little bit of retrieving, happy collar holds/gentle restraints (a bit of arousal regulation in there) and teaching us humans to use the various words we need to use 🙂
About those words:
>>especially if we give them a verbal cue that supports some object/obstacle ahead of them, not that “get it” becomes the cue to drive ahead correct? >
Correct! Get it is not my drive ahead on a line cue. That gets added pretty soon.
Starting with a get it type marker helps solidify the marker for the pups and helps get us humans to use it 🙂
And then when we have the behavior of driving ahead, I like to name this new behavior “go go go!” But I don’t want to add Go until I have the pup driving ahead nicely.
You can hear me saying Go to my big pup (Contraband the blue merle BW) on the demo video when I’ve added movement.
>>So we would just be using the cue that means grab your toy (Toy toy for me) and not our drive ahead cue (go-on-go for me)?>>
In the early training, yes – I use get it to support getting the behavior and as an easy way to strengthen the get it verbal.
Once we get driving ahead and motion is added? You can switch to your “Go” to be able to start building that cue.
The dogs *might* need us to use both Go then Get It when they are learning this or when working with placed rewards later. But the Go cue is also predictive of reinforcement on the line, so it is ok if the get it marker gets faded in that context. I would never place a toy on the pup’s go line and expect them to run right over it (seems rude LOL and could devalue the placed reward). So if I’m yelling Go Go Go and there is a toy on their line, the Go cue indicates they can have it. My verbals in agility often have a predictive reinforcement element, which makes them much easier to train and remember.
Let me know if that makes sense, or if I need more coffee 🙂
Tracy
Good morning and welcome to you and the adorable Rip!!!
It sounds like you are already really knowledgeable about agility, so I’m sure you’ll enjoy the adventure with Rip!!!
Keep me posted on how he does with the games 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
>> I’ve done enough with you to have connection burnt into my brain.>>
It looks great!!!!! Nice exit line connection here!
>> It does get overridden on occasion by my desire to know where I’m going.>>
Ha! This is totally relatable 🙂
The leash off engagement on game is going well – he was quite perfect here! In these quiet environments, you can surprise him by taking the leash off at random times – as soon as you enter the ring, while you are walking, before he sits, after he sits, etc. Mix it up to keep him on his toes 🙂
>> It does start to degrade if there’s stuff going on behind him. So keep building incrementally by slowly building the distractions?>>
Yes – take the excellent stuff he was doing here, and add a distraction behind him. It can be a giant bag of treats right by the ring gate as he enters the ring, if you are training alone. Or have a person standing by as leash runner to add people distractions. And any trial-like distraction you can add will really help him – so if you see him noticing something in the environment in class or at a trial, you can note that and use it in this game.
Great job!
TracyHi –
>> I almost think I will do drills>>
For most of your waiting time, do the plain ol’ pattern games (back and forth, up and down) rather than tricks or anything super active. The active stuff can both get her too aroused too quickly, and also doesn’t let her really process the environment.
>> then do a mini snuggle (food brings her brain down) >>
Yes to the snuffle! Do it further from the other dogs, because a snuffle mat will attract other dogs near the ring especially novice dogs.
>>and then put toy and food in a container on food table outside of ring and with two to three dogs ahead try to do chill by rubbing her chest and having her come up on me.>>
That might be too long for her, especially that close the ring. 2 or 3 novice runs can take hours LOL!! So you can put the toy and food up on the table and bring a few more pieces of cheese or something with you, to give her in those last moments of waiting. This is especially useful if something happens like there is a delay or a dog approaches her.
>> We have an obedience trial Friday here and I’m bringing her in just to see how it goes
Perfect!!! Let me know how she does!
Tracy
Yay!!! No worries about the handling – you are a great handler, and you can totally break it down into baby dog elements. It will be great to get her into new places!! FUN!!!
Hi!
>>However…when we first get in the building she is nuts to see him. Over the top, crazy. So, this was the same with the leash runner at the trial. >>
Aha! That is a great training opportunity!! Since you can predict it will happen, you can come in prepared with awesome high value treats and before you even enter – start the pattern game. Let her sort out the environment and ignore him as soon as you enter. Stay as far away as needed til she stops being nuts for teacher 🙂 This will transfer nicely to being ringside as well!!
>>It’s when I’ve envied my friends with aloof, non friendly Whippets that just want to cling to them.>>
I love the friendly whippets though 🙂 My Ramen whippet and my Lurchers are all very social but thanks to the pattern game, they appear aloof because they can ignore people. One of the Lurchers is around is breeder all the time at competitions and acts completely aloof like he doesn’t even know her…. until he gets the cue to go see her then he goes nuts with delight 🙂 The pattern game is what got him to be able to ignore her.
>>I’ll add more people to the ring. We did this for one person’s Golden.>>
Perfect! And before trying to sequence, use the pattern game to get her focused with you. That can set up a lot of success.
Keep me posted on how she does!
Tracy
Hi!
>> I am just not sure how to deal with this little “bitch”.>>
Tell me more about what you mean by this, because she is a perfect girl on all of the videos 🙂 Is she snarky or reactive to other dogs that come close to her? Lunge or bark or…? Or is she just super aroused?
Let me know and we will make a plan 🙂
>> Is there something I should do to work through this in steps easier? I am ok until I have to line up and I don’t want to work her up even more.
>>Absolutely – and you will want to work this in a trial environment before you enter her for real. Or if you enter her, be prepared to pull the run if she is struggling being close to the ring. Many agility trial areas are very very tight, so we want her to feel comfortable before getting too close.
Also, you can enlist a friend to help with the whole waiting in line thing – the friend can wait in line for you as you hang back, or the friend can help keep other dogs away as you work with Roux.
But the main things will be the pattern games to get her to ignore the other dogs/people/etc. The pattern games from Package 1 need to be very fluent so she knows them in her sleep – then you take them around the ring in different situations. So start with those, and let me know how it goes! That easily turns into the chill games but mainly they help her relax in the environment and regulate her arousal.
Tracy
Hi!
>> I have a very talented 2 yr old field breed male golden retriever, Olee. I haven’t been able to enter any agility trials, even FEO, because of his start line behavior. I do settling games outside of the ring. I make sure we’re connected when coming to the line. As soon as I take the leash off he starts to run around. He will come back and I reward him when he comes back but as soon as I ask him to sits, it starts all over again. If anyone had this problem and successfully resolved it, I would like to know how you resolved it. Thank you for your help!>>
This is actually a pretty common struggle! And we have successfully resolved it. Here are a couple of ideas for now:
The zooming away is often a sign of overarousal and stress, which he is seeking to relieve by zooming. For now, stop trialing so we can sort out what he needs to be successful. 2 of the most important things will be to:
– teach him how to work in higher arousal and regulate the arousal. The pattern games help but also, the volume dial game REALLY helps! And add in decompression (snuffle mat is a good possibility) to help him with arousal. The A.R.E. Toolbox games address all of this. Calming games alone do not help, because he is not going to be calm 🙂 Getting him into higher arousal in training at home and in class is really important, while adding the distractions he might see at a trial: other dogs, people, etc.
– At home and at class, work on the Leash Off, Engagement On game. This game plus the A.R.E. Games can really help him!
When he is ready to go back to trialing, we can ease him into it by not even taking the leash off at first so you can play and get him rewarded in the ring, then gradually working through the NFC progression. But for now, start by teaching him the games and not trying to do any NFC yet.
Let me know what you think!
Tracy–
Hello and welcome! He is gorgeous and smart!!!
Both of the pre-games are going well. I like your choice of prop for the foot targeting LOL!! Great timing and markers in both sessions – he did great!
When he is targeting the hat, he is trying to work out how to watch you AND hit the hat 🙂 So we can help him understand that he doesn’t need to watch you and he can focus more on the hat. A couple of options for this:
– you can try it standing up, which makes it harder to look at you and easier to look at the hat (theoretically :))
– you can also mark sooner – using your get it, you can mark and toss when he looks at the hat, before he touches it. Then you can build up to look at it and touch it, but marking looking at it might be a great first couple of reps.
– and when he looks at it, you can mark the behavior but rather than toss the reward – you drop it right on the hat. If it perfectly fine to use a different marker if the ‘get it’ is for tossed rewards.The hand targeting looks great – he is focused pretty directly on it and hitting it really well. The only thing to add here is to begin standing up – you can start it in a chair at first, then work your way to standing. We have a few more weeks before we need this game, so he will be taller then and it should be easier to stand 🙂
Great job on these!!! I am excited to see more!
Tracy
