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Hello and welcome!! I am in Virginia too!
Have fun with the games here! I am looking forward to learning more about Tiva!
Tracy
Good morning! All the games look great!
He is doing well with his forward focus – you can definitely add more distance to the throws and all the motion of the Advanced Level. You already have motion going, so distance is your friend 🙂 Be sure you are looking at him and not at the toy, before you release him, to establish connection and see where he is looking.
He will get ahead of you to get to the toy, and that is great. To help with the retrieve: as soon as he gets to the toy, run the other direction, call him, and present something for him to drive back to: another toy or a treat! He doesn’t have to bring the original toy as this stage, this mainly focuses on getting him to not take the original toy on a drive through the countryside 🙂The decel to handler looks great – he is fabulous at finding the treat in the grass and immediately re-engaging (also, excellent choice of food to make it easy for him). And nice decel as you added motion, giving him early info so he decelerated beautifully too. Yay!!! For now, the next step to add is arousal 🙂 Use a tug toy as the reward for the decel and see how he does. You can then add in more distance so both of you have more acceleration before decelerating.
Prop sends: The forward sends and sideways sending are looking really strong! One thing to add: more ready dancing before each send 🙂 This is not a looped behavior – it is a get him nutty (handler focus and arousal) then send him (obstacle focus). You can stay close to the prop as you add arousal, then if he is happy with that, you can add the backwards sends and then a little bit more distance away from the prop. You can also do this with a tug toy 🙂 For the treats and the toy – I think you have some really good food and toy markers already, so feel free to use them with this game to replace the ‘yes’ marker.
Shaping the wing wraps with the bowls was easy peasy, he did great! You are standing, there is distance, he was lovely. Yay! You can add in breaking this up with tugging after every few reps (adding in arousal early in the training). And you can also change the cone to be different things to go around: laundry basket, suitcase, etc. This can help him generalize the concept!
Excellent job with the blinds! Really lovely exit line connection, he saw it very clearly. Because he has excellent commitment to going to the treats, you can start moving forward as soon as he is heading to the treat so you have more room to run – and potentially do 2 blinds! Great job adding the toy in, he did well there and seemed to have no problem working with the more exciting motivator 🙂
The games to add for him at this point are definitely the goat tricks (he is a lot bigger than he was originally LOL!) and also the first steps of the self-control games. I think he will find those super easy, but that is exactly what we want.
Great job here!
Tracy
Hello and welcome!!! Great to see you here!!! Trayce sounds adorable!!
>>She has unfortunately been on restricted activity for 5 weeks due to a bizarre knee injury and is just coming back to activity slowly…well she does NOTHING slowly but you get the drift! It has been killing both of us!>>
OMG! That sounds hard. How much longer does she have in terms of being restricted? Poor girlie!!!
Tracy
Welcome back! It sounds like a wonderful trip!!
>>what’s the secret to obtaining all the wonderful off leash skills I saw. maybe it’s being able to reward with a restaurant meal LOL.>>
I am willing to experiment and see if the restaurant meal is the key LOL!!! I think it is mainly lifestyle – dogs are European cities are raised in the lifestyle of being off leash but ignoring other dogs, going to cafes, etc.
Find my face is going really well! You can toss the reward even sooner: as soon as you see him looking for your face, you can reward. He doesn’t need to come all the way in front of you or make very direct eye contact.
Remote reinforcement is also going well!
>>with remote reinforcement – maybe step 1? I’d like to see some more drive from him back to reward, I’m thinking that will develop as his understanding does.>>
Absolutely! But I think he did great here. He knew exactly where the cookies were, but look at the last rep: he did his hop up nose touches with speed and precision, and didn’t just leave you to grab the rewards 🙂 He moved with you really well and that is exactly what we want. Keep building this up and check out the new games I added on Monday – he will be ready for those very quickly 🙂 And we can even incorporate a bit of this in class!
Great job!
TracyGood morning!
>We definitely need to work on that start line stay, Like most BC’s he just wants to do everything fast, you should see him at disc, I take his leash off and give the ready signal and Wayne starts going around me in circles until I start the disc throwing.>
You can start adding that in right away! We want to get the stay strongly established before agility gets even more exciting 🙂 For example: As soon as his leash is off in agility, ask for a sit (or down, that is fine too) and reward him for *not* starting the course without you 🙂 This will mean using the leash even in your yard, because that will give you tons of reps where you can reward easily, without as much arousal and excitement as you will see in at a trial. And in disc – when the leash if off, ask him to sit or down, and cue the around or start throwing until he is in position. That will give you lots of moments of reinforcing the stays while playing the games he loves.
>>Again I used the equipment I had and my hard was a bit narrow so we improvised>>
The setup worked great! Yay! You had some sits happening at the beginning which was great – use that at the start of every run, partially so he gets used to sitting and staying, and partially so you can line him up to see the first obstacle. When you were not getting the line up as clearly, he was not as sure of where to go (hoop or tunnel) at the beginning, like at 3:30. But then at 4:24, you did a stay and a wait, and that helped him find the line beautifully! Super!
Some handling ideas to help make it even smoother:
For the tight turn cues (I think you were saying “tight”), you can begin telling him no later than when he is halfway to the hoop (like when he exits the tunnel, you can start telling him about the tight on the next hoop pretty early there. And when you are telling him, say it to him (being connected) rather than looking at the hoop or pointing ahead of him to it. Looking at him a bit more and pointing to his nose 🙂 will turn your shoulders to the line you want him to take. Looking ahead or pointing ahead will actually turn your shoulders away from the line you want him to take, which is why he had questions about sometimes taking hoop #5 or going straight the tunnel at the end of the sequence.
On that line to the tunnel at :38 and 1:25 for example – rather than point ahead of him to cue it, keep your arm back towards him and make a bit of eye contact. That will keep your shoulders pointing to the tunnel. Pointing forward turned your shoulders away from the line to the tunnel so he was not sure of where to be (if he should stay on the line or come in to you). This holds true for the send to the hoop closest to the camera – point at him more and look at him as you move forward, rather than point ahead as you indicate the hoop.
You converged to it at 2:08 and 2:38 to help him get it, but adding more connection with your arm back and less arm pointing forward will help maintain the distance and line to the tunnel.
To get him to turn to his right on the rear cross, you can stay closer to the previous hoop and then as he catches up to you there, start moving towards the center of the hoop you want him to turn away on. That will help him know to go to the hoop and turn away, based on the pressure on the line. If you get too far ahead and stop moving on the left turn side of the hoop, he will turn towards you.
You can also give him more breaks 🙂 He was getting worn out LOL! Border Collies will keep going but that is when things were not as smooth at the end- he was tired and you were pointing forward a lot so the info was not as clear. Be sure to do the sequence once or twice, then give him a break so he can catch his b breath and be ready. The break will help you be able to stay connected too!
He did really well with the Find My Face game! The garage was perfect because there were some good distractions. If he gets caught up in a distraction and 5 seconds or so go by, you can call him back and start over – and disconnect less so he realizes you are still asking for engagement. You can also use higher value food (cheese, chicken, meatballs :)) to make it very exciting 🙂
You did a great job of picking up the speed of the rewards and he got right back into the game. Super! Then he was finding your face very quickly. You can add in a toy to this game, playing tug every 30 seconds or so, to add arousal and excitement – which will simulate how he will feel in the ring at a trial!>>Another big win with Find My Face tonight: Wayne got grumpy at my PWD and I was able to get Wayne to Find My Face and reward him to interrupt his undesired behavior.>>
Wow! Real life application!! That is very cool 🙂
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning! The garage was perfect for this!
>>I also did the carry the little tank in. There is a theme since of course she also does not enjoy being carried. She is not one who loves touching most of the time.>>
For the dogs that get carried, I have tweaked the game to be “Dog down, engagement on” – when I put the dog down, I train them to engage immediately the same way we do when taking the leash off (I usually take the leash off when carrying them). This was happening pretty well for you when you were carrying her here.
You might also find that she does better when she is walked in on leash rather than carried because she can better regulate her arousal when moving and able to sniff the ground, so that is something to experiment with and see how she feels about it. If she doesn’t like to be carried, then pairing being carried (ick!) with entering the ring can associate the ick factor with the ring entry.
When you were taking the leash on and off, she seemed to think it was awfully fun to get treats when the leash came off and when it went on. I don’t think she loved getting the collar part of it sliding over her head, so something to consider is a clip on the collar part so you unclip it (and it falls away). And then you can re-clip it and get her to slip her head into.
On the Remote Reinforcement video:
She did well moving away from her reward station, no problem at all. You can definitely have a little chair or table to bring to trials to serve as her reward station there, to help make things more predictable.When presenting the toy, try to be more upright and move the toy away from her (like a squirrel). Leaning over her and presenting it right in front of her was dampening her enthusiasm for it a bit. But when you tossed it (like at 2:34) she was very happy to chase it. And it will help her to not grab your hands or near your hands 🙂
She was easily able to do her tricks and also do her stay with the reward station. Super! For the sits and lead outs – you can have her closer to the reward station but facing away from it. The reward will be behind her, just like at a trial. She might find that challenging… or not challenging at all LOL! But we definitely want to show it to her.
For the RR game, she seems ready for you to move to the new one with the pattern game and the jump, to incorporate moving to the start line.
She did well with the leash on at the end! And I love how she immediately engaged with you when you put her down after being carried. SUPER!!
Great job here!
Tracy
This is BETTER than agility! Wow, what a huge win for you and for Hunter!! And I bet your vet and the techs were so happy… the vet folks love dogs that are easy to handle. YAY!! And if he can be that relaxed and successful at the vet office, I know we can get it in agility too. SUPER! Thank you for sharing it!!!!
Tracy
Hi!
Sorting out the leash/collar situation is definitely worthwhile!! This is especially true if it is a clip or buckle and even more true if you are doing AKC where the collar/leash being on is critical. This session went really well. And it is perfectly fine if you have not fully developed an end of run ritual yet – that will probably happen after you get her into the NFC scenarios at trials and see what she needs at the end.She did great here! She seemed perfectly happy to do the leash on, leash off, and eat all the treats LOL! And she did well moving her neck into it as you presented it – really nice! You can add a little bit of this to before/after your home training sessions – leash on to the line, take it off, do some training/sequences, then leash back on to head back into the house when you are done.
>>I still haven’t figured out if I’ll tug with it or not at a trial. I typically don’t and usually have an actual toy with me.>>
She was happy to tug with the leash, which is useful for AKC. I have also found that sometimes young dogs will start leash tugging before a run if they are having an arousal struggle and they are trying to communicate that or regulate their arousal. For UKI where the toy is with the leash, you can totally tug to get out of the ring then fiddle with the collar at some point.
Great job here!
TracyGood morning!
The RR game is looking good!
You did a great job ping ponging the amount of time between leaving the toy on the chair and marking/going bck to it.As soon as she realized the game was about the toy, she got a little sticky about leaving it (especially when the toy was on the floor). And a little bit of this was happening with the treats. That is an easy adjustment though – add a leash to the game and start asking for some tricks, so she begins to understand that there will be something to do rather than think about going back to the toy (or treats). And I think she likes to work, so adding tricks and stuff should be super easy for her. That will then make for a really easy transfer to adding a jump and line up, then simple sequences too!
Great job!
Tracy
Hi!
>>. There is so much to think about out there>>
Totally agree! Agility is a complicated game!!! Just trying to remember 2 main points (like being super connected and don’t stop to fix anything) and you will have an easy time.
Sounds like the FastCat weekend was fun! And he did great with the Find My Face game here too 🙂 He was very patient with your disconnection 🙂 And got lots of cookies for finding you! Yay! He didn’t always come around to the front of you, but that is fine: he was still looking at you calmly and patiently, even though he was behind you. That is rewardable. Try a couple more sessions like this, then we can add it to a little sequence 🙂
>> Now I see why there is frustration when I disconnect and I think this game is definitely going to help us through those moments in the ring.>>
Right! Plus he will be working in a higher arousal state when it happens in the ring, but the arousal regulation of “don’t yell at or jump at the momma” will really help him stay cool when there are handler bloopers, and he will even begin to find lines to save you 🙂
Great job here!
TracyHi!
>> I need to find some new fun toys!! She likes the one I was using the best, but I’m sure I could find something else even better.>>
Yes – variety is very useful because even a high value reward can lose value when the dog get it repeatedly.
>>I think my dog training brain was tired since the tunnelers runs happened at the very end of the trial! I definitely could have kept her engaged better in these last two runs. 🙃>
That is something to remember as you work through weekend trials – you will get tired too, so be sure to rest, fuel, hyrdrate yourself too, and don’t try to do too much so you are able to be ready to play with the baby dog 🙂
> In AKC, can the dog grab the leash before you put it on them? Are they allowed to tug while still in the ring if you are making your way to the exit?>
Yes and yes, as long as the leash is attached before exiting the ring.
>>We played the Find My Face game. She was a bit confused in the beginning and just stood there while I got myself sorted out, lol, but then she got the hang of it.>>
She is figuring it out well – remember to start it with a regular pattern game before turning away. And also, remember that she does not need to come in front of you or anything… she just needs to be patiently engaged. So keep half an eyeball on her so if she is behind you and finding your face, then you can reward her.
>> She did get a little mad when I used it in “a course,” but she was able to keep working through it. Am I starting this step too early?
>>I think it was probably too many reps and also reward sooner – they have limited patience with us 🙂 so be sure to do it maybe once on a sequence then move on to staying connected.
She did well with remote reinforcement too! Bear in mind that you don’t need to do this with a bowl of treats on the ground. The goal is to establish a predictable reward station, so it can be a covered bowl or bag of treats, or it can be placed up on something. The toy was easier because we often do leave a placed toy on the ground so she was more familiar with the concept.
When you did it outdoors using the agility table, she seemed to recognize it as a reward station and had no trouble moving away from it. So you can add in using a portable table or chair that you can take to trials too! And you can use that for the next remote reinforcement steps too 🙂
Looking at the sequences: They are going well and your connection is really strong! I think the main thing to focus on is using your position more strategically so you can begin the crosses sooner.
Sequence 1 went well – strategically, you can stay more lateral and closer to 3 so you can send 4-5 and have an easier time getting to the BC. Going close to 5 made it harder to send to the tunnel and hustle to get the BC on time.
Staying closer to 4 and 5 and the tunnel made the RC line easy to get to – just be sure you practice your verbals before you run so she hears the correct ones 🙂
Handling from the landing side of 7 – strategically, you got close to 5 so at 1:31 you were not far enough across 7 and she thought she was jumping straight (bar down as she tried to adjust in the air). If you stay closer to 3-4 and use parallel line motion to send to 5 and 6, you can be across the landing side of 7 as she exits the tunnel. And then show her a serpentine upper body, with your right arm back and shoulders facing the jump so she takes 7 turning to her right to land facing the 8 jump.
Looking at the BC to spin sequence – the BC can start one stride sooner but more importantly: make a big exit line connection (dog side arm way back, opposite arm resting on your dog side hip, big eye contact) back to her at 2:33 and 3:17 so you can decelerate into the spin when she lands from 4. If you are looking for her peripherally, she will go wide (not seeing the line at 2:34 and 3:18) and your timing will also be late (spin started as she was jumping 5 at 2:35 amnd 3:19)
Reaching for the toy and softening the connected pulled her off the line at 2:40 – you were very clear at 3:24!! Yay!
Loking at the RC on 5 –
At 4:23 – you pulled to the left turn then as she was gathering for takeoff, pushed into her line and that is why she pushed off the jump (good job continuing there). She adjusted over the bar at 4:54 – she was turning left at takeoff but then saw you push in so she changed to the right over the bar. Ideally you would go up closer to 4 to set the RC line, which is the center of the bar of 5, so she can be turning to her right before takeoff.One other thing to consider: giving her longer breaks when running sequences. You did these all in a row and she was tired at 3:12 and then she did not want to line up at 3:55 – you can use her tongue length to decide if she needs water or a longer break. She did a lot of running in a row here, so a longer break was definitely needed so she took a break for herself, but I would take that as feedback to not do the next sequence – her stride was shorter and she was not moving as fast on the last 2 reps. So limit to 2 sequences in a row, then take a water break and give her a few minutes to recover between the next runs.
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi!
>, I think our chill may be closer than I thought. I think what felt a bit “off” is it “felt” like his engagement with me was conflicting with his focus/desire/arousal to get into the ring and line up. Hope that helps.>
You might be feeling the arousal regulation part of it – yes, he knows he is going into the ring soon, but also he needs to just wait without you needing to feed or entertain him non-stop, and without him staring at/barking at/etc the dog in the ring. So he will be stimulated and not sleepy 🙂 He doesn’t need to be fully engaged with you or offering behavior – just peripherally engaged. He can casually watch the ring, look around, etc, as long as he stays near you and doesn’t get caught up in what is happening in the ring.
>>I think we are ready to work towards remote reinforcement as we’ve done that previously in practice. I was planning to focus on that as well the next few weeks. Does that sound right?>
It sure does! Keep me posted 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
>>He was super successful at the trail this weekend! I was thrilled with what he gave me. He had a great time. >>
That is great! Yay!
>>We ran the entire weekend at his preferred height and did FEO for 2 runs the first two days and one run the last day. We did no toy showing (it was in my pocket) and we started with two or more toy rewards the first day, 2 rewards and then practiced a start line on the 2nd day and one reward during the midlle of the run on the third day during jumpers since it was his only run. He read my handling and I rewarded after we completed a handling turn and/or weaves. >>
Very nice!!!!
>>No bard down the entire weekend.>>
BIG HAPPY DANCE! YAY!!
>>The one improvement I wanted to ask you about is right before we go into the ring. They had an extra set of baby gates about 10 feet from the entry gate. Pattern games and the volumn dial worked outside this area. Inside the ring he was paying attention, ready to go, and was all business. He seemed like he was settled at the start jump.>>
The extra set of gates is weird and you can always stay outside of them rather than have to cope with 2 sets of gates.
>>The first day his toy was enough to play the volume dial inside that 10 foot barrier. The 2nd day his toy was not enough motivator to get him within that wait area for the first run. He wanting to go in. For this trail, that is where they want the dog that is right about to go in. On the second run of the day, I could play the volume dial with his toy in that area.
>>The third day he only had the one run and I worked behind that area and we could play the games. I kept the time in that area really brief. I could get behaviors, but he didn’t want the toy (food was non-existent). He wanted to go into the ring.>>3 days is a lot for young dogs – just being in the environment is a lot, so what you were seeing was probably depletion. You can keep him further from the ring when he is not taking the toy or food, because that indicates an arousal regulation struggle. Moving him further away to a spot where he *can* eat and play is useful. Also, what kinds of treats were you using? You might need to go up in value: meatballs, rotisserie chicken, etc. Regular treats might not be strong enough motivators in that scenario.
>> he would put his muzzle in my palm, but his mind was not “chill”.
His mind does not have to be chill 🙂 We just don’t want him to be over-aroused or requiring a steady stream of treats and toys.
>> In the next few weeks, I wanted to figure out how to help him up close to last waiting area/gate. I was thinking maybe working more on chill, but wasn’t sure. I of course figure out the basic plan for that weekend.>>
The closer you get, the more powerful the motivators should be – super high value food and toys, plus patterns that require movement (like the back and forth game). You can do the chill further from the ring (no need for it right next to the ring gate yet).
>>He was great exiting the ring. He sat and got his leash on most times. I mixed it up with letting him tug on the toy as we went out after the start line and weaves.>>
Yay!!!! Great!
>>One additional question. He measures exactly at 22 inches. One judge had him at 21 7/8″. The other 22 1/4″ and then got 22″. Are there ways I can help set up for him measuring at 22 so he can jump 20″? With his OCD history in both shoulders (and for longevity), I’d like to be able to jump him at 20″ if possible.
Be sure he is very comfy getting stacked and having his feet moved, while keeping his head straight. Then you can play with the best head position – chin parallel to the ground? Slightly elevated? Slightly dipped? I use a peanut butter jar to get the dogs to change head position – they lick it while it move their head a little to get the best measure.
And before bringing him to the measurement, make sure he has run run run run run run run run so he is a little tired and relaxed. And don’t let him pump up on water til after the measurement. And be sure he is fully pottied 🙂 All of those can make a difference!
If you have someone else to help, they an hold him while you step and just stand in front of him with your hands relaxed to help position his head. That can often get a nice relaxed measure too!
Tracy
Hi!
I am glad she did well in the trial! Yay!
>.. She did visit the leash runner, and the secretary’s desk, but returned pretty quickly. She’s getting better at working with other dogs and people working in adjoining rings at our little training class.>>
Can you get your classmates to come into the ring during her turn, to act as ring crew, leash runners, etc so she gets used to the crowd in the ring?
On the videos:
Video 1/Discrim 1: She is getting even faster!! I love it! The opening line of jumps looked good. She was a little confused about the tunnel discrimination, mainly because the leash toy was on the line and I bet she thought it was toy time (that is valid when there is a toy on the line). I couldn’t really see what the handling was over the jump before the tunnel but she figured out pretty quickly that you wanted the tunnel not the toy.
Discrim 3 (2nd and 3rd videos): the jumping line went well too – to help her find the pinwheel jump (#4) more easily, you can send to the tunnel while hanging back at jump 1, then be connected like you were when she exits the tunnel (that was great!) but be heading past 3 and getting closer to 4. You went a little close to the tunnel exit and then helped her more than she needs at 3, which made getting the 4 jump harder.
\>> no doubt she read something in my body language, or just auto pilot. >>
It was a combination of the leash being basically on her line so she went to it, then when she realized it was not the leash, she curled towards you and took the tunnel she saw. On the video where she did it correctly, the leash was a little further away and she had figured out not to go to it.
Discrim 4: This went really well and I agree, I think this is the longest sequence she has run in class! Yay!
You were further ahead of her when she exited the tunnel at :25, which made getting the line to 4 a lot smoother! Super! You can start telling her go tunnel sooner (as soon as she lands from 4) to help her drive ahead more easily. These were set at nice big distances, so finding the tunnel will get even easier when she has a bit more experience. And nice job getting the jump and not the tunnel at the end! Yay!
Great job here!!
Tracy
