Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Good morning!
>>Our treats were on the DW right behind the camera. Should I move them out of the field altogether like I at a trial?>>
You can set up a reward station, like on a folding chair that you might take to trials. And let the reward station be right outside the course, then sometimes out of the field. I use that station with my young dogs because they recognize it and it makes the reward more predictable.
>> We don’t have a DW yet.>>
You can totally start NFC/FEO stuff before the contacts are finished 🙂
>When we go to other locations, he runs around sniffing everything so I’m pretty sure he won’t stay with me yet. >>
So before doing NFC/FEO, let’s sort this out! Can you get him to different agility places, and see if he will play pattern games, do tricks, play with a toy, do recalls, etc? One thing I am doing it taking my youngsters to all sorts of novice-level seminars to be able to get them on course and playing on simple sequences, in all sorts of new places. I do Novice level stuff because I really don’t want to focus on crazy backside-threadle-layer-cartwheels etc when I mainly want to focus on getting them focused and engaged in the environment 🙂
And at the local trial in December – rather than enter him, can you bring him to the environment to play games outside the ring and in the environment, mainly to see how he feels about it and what he finds motivating.
Any UKI in your area? I ask because it is VERY young-dog-friendly and you can have helpers in the ring to make it more fun and successful.
>I say Yes all the time when he does something good. It’s such a bad habit and he totally thinks it’s the marker word.>
SAME!!!! I had to train myself to NOT say YAY or YES all the time with the adult dogs, so I have gotten much better. And in my NFC runs with the younger dogs now, I have somehow developed a “YES SIR” that is the come-get-your-toy marker. LOL!!!
Using your stool as the reward station worked great!! He was able to ignore a new person (dog dad? LOL!) and he was perfect! You can be more connected to him as you walk away and add the leash as well (because the leash will be on when you move away from the treats and into the ring). You can also add a trick or two: move away from the reward station, ask for a trick, and then when he does it (even if it is not perfect :)) you use your marker and run back to the treats.
He looked kinda interested in the toy, and it looks like the toy is a good furry crazy toy – but with the possibility of food there, he was not interested. You can see if he is interested in the toy if you throw it a lot or drag it away like a deranged squirrel for him to chase. I have had a lot of success with my food driven dogs by attaching a furry lotus ball to a long toy – they love chasing it! At first there is food in it, then it becomes a toy by itself.
>>He loves tugging with his brother. He’s not that much into it with me unless brother is right there.>
When they aet tugging, watch to see what gets Indy going: is his brother moving it away? Hoarding it? What instigates the play and keeps it going? You can then try to simulate that with him and the toy 🙂
Great job here!!
Tracy
Good morning!
>>My dw was in the way but I was too lazy to move it which forced a slice on 8>
This is entirely relatable, I hate moving the DW and I haven’t yet won the lottery to buy one that I can move with one hand LOL!
>>I edited and gave some nice long toy rewards but West said Yay! No start lines!!>
Yay for both!!!!
The sequencing is going really well 🙂 There are some small details that will make it even smooth – pictures might be more helpful here, so I grabbed some screenshots to illustrate the points, you can find them here:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1eiqQq6E5Cl3XU0QLMuz_wfH_KE5070ytORfJfOoSLaw/edit?usp=sharing
On the opening line, I think you were feeling the pressure to send to the tunnel and get up the line, but you were pulling away a little too soon at :07 which caused a question. You were much clearer at :20!
And as you were planning the blind, you might have been feeling the pressure of getting there and left the tunnel send too early at :14. :25 was better but he still had a small question 🙂 :41 was even better !
So be sure to be connected and maintain the parallel line til you see him lock onto the tunnel, then you can move to your next spot.
(You can stay on the line by 4 more so you are more laterally away from 5 more like where you were at 1:02 and even further over, which gets you to the BC even sooner)
Being further over at 1:02 actually helped you get the blind on landing of 7 at 1:07!! He found that to be pretty clear (bar up!) even though you might have felt like he was going to run over you LOL
It will be even easier if you are further over to your destination on 7 by staying closer to the 3 jump as you send to 4, 5,6. At 1;21, you ran close to 3 and that is ideal – stay on that line as you send 4-5-6 and the landing side blind will be super easy (so will the takeoff side blind)
Going back to the blinds on takeoff side – you got there nicely and your line was good, so now easily now add more connection back to him on the exit of the blind, and stay connected to help him keep the bar up (he looks at you when you were disconnected, especially over the bar at :29 and :44, so the bars came down) You can also add a jump verbal which should direct his focus to the jump and not at you.
You did the RC at 1:27 and it worked well, you can go in a little closer to the tunnel to set it up so you don’t end up behind – he dropped the bar here on the last jump but that was mainly because you both had to pull up in order to not run into the dog walk.
On the last rep, you did a serp on landing side of 7 – really great connection!! You can stay more lateral on that one too (it almost looked like you were going to the RC line because you got in close to 5).
And as you serp, open up your dog side arm back more so both of your shoulders face the 7 jump – he knew to take 7 but because your shoulders were forward, he took it straight at 1:43. At 1:44 he saw motion to 8 and tried to adjust midair (and ticked the bar). Open serp shoulders will tell him to turn to his right, so he can do that before takeoff for 7.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning!
Sequence 2 is looking good too!
Even though you are still on walking restrictions, you can add in decel to get the FC wrap on 5 – that will tighten it here, get you into better course positions because you can decel to hang back in places where that is helpful, and it will all get your brain trained to decelerate when you are back to running 🙂
You are doing what I call “big walking” with nice long strides. As she lands from 4 (the middle pinwheel jump) you can keep moving forward like you did, and go to small walking (short strides).
The timing of your rotation for the FC at :14 was good! But since there was no transition into decel, she didn’t know it was coming and didn’t collect til after landing. It was like changing lanes on the interstate without a blinker 🤣
Your rotation was earlier at :46 and she had a better turn – the decel will help that even more too.
The rear cross at :31 was TERRIFIC! Especially after the wrap on the previous sequence, you had to be spot on with the info… and you were. VERY NICE!
Wow, look at you getting the blind while walking!!!! Your tunnel send really helped that and in fact, you were a tiny bit too far past 4 there – too far ahead! But that is great because you didn’t have to run to get there. So you can actually plan to stick a little closer to the line 3-4 so when she lands from 3, you can start the blind being approx at the wing of 4 (and passing it)
The way the end of the sequence was built, it seems like the line from 6 to 7 causes the 7 jump to be on the backside line (position and angle of the jump). That is why you got a lot of backsides – that was the natural line when you gave forward cues. And that independent backside line is definitely a skill we want!
She got it a few times when you pulled your shoulders more or were further away from the line or behind her – but the best and clearest rep there was at 2:45 where you had your opposite arm up for a threadle along with calling her name – she totally got it. So when you are walking the course, look for those natural backside lines so you can handle her to the front side where needed (with the threadle arm and threadle verbal).
When you revisited seq 1:
She was hilarious at 3:11 and on the last rep – you cued the tunnel and she looked at you like “ARE YOU SURE” because she had just turned on the 5 jump a bunch of times LOL! Good girl!
Revisiting the Serp at 3:14and 3:38 went well, you were staying on your line and serping it nicely!!! She was not quite as speedy on the big tunnel send (probably because it was the end of he session and also she was double checking to be sure you definitely wanted the tunnel) so it will be even easier to get to the position for the serp when she is feeling spicy at the beginning of a session because you won’t have to handle the tunnel send for as long as you did here.
Great job!!
Tracy
Hi!
The sequence looked great – really nice connection throughout it, which showed him the lines clearly. Really nice tight turn out of the tunnel!!!You can spread things out for him a bit too, so he can see trial-spacing 🙂
He worked really well without the treats in the ring, and then you praised – then the video ended (of that section) so remember you can use your marker worker to go get the rewards outside the ring.
Do you have any NFC plans or fun matches coming up? He looks ready to take things on the road 🙂
He is doing well on the teeter! It is hard for a small dog to do it from one jump without a lot of momentum, but he is doing really well driving to the end of the board. He does that best when you are at or near the end of the board, so you can keep that going for now (and continuing past, like you did here).
Adding it into bigger sequences will make it even easier to get him always driving to the end of the board. And continue being super consistent with your motion (not toooooo much speed running past the board for now :)) and verbals (he totally thinks that “yes” is a release to come get the cookies, so the release and reward markers will work a lot better to help him hold position).
Great job here!
TracyHi!
>>When you plan, do you also move? yes but her speed doesnt always fit my planning and now we are starting to get more it is coordinating the start when I am focused on her wait . but practise wil help.>
To really make my planning good, I have to run when I planned. My goal was to run faster than I needed to when I ran the dog. Was it exhausting? YES!!! But it was totally worthwhile because I sorted out my timing very quickly.
>jumping is her default when she thinks something is happening or she want to play or she gets impatient because she dooesnt know what is happening. >
I see that in lots of Papillons/Papillon mixes/small dogs (mainly because we humans let it happen because it doesn’t hurt like it would when a large dog does it :))
All of my small dogs jump around before starting – but they don’t bite and the find my face game has replaced jumping mid-course when the cues might not be clear, so definitely work on that game too. For her, the criteria will be find-you-face WITHOUT jumping up so you will need to be quick to reward.
Another thought with her is that all cookies can come on the ground: rather than feed from your hand where she jumps up to greet the hand, you can toss it to the side so it is all about stay down on the ground and not leaping as much.
>Limited room at this site I havent got out to the other site lately but will go back redo then.>>With smaller spaces, you can remove a jump so the handling is mostly the same, but the distances will be bigger.
>when I try and line her up she loses it . but am working on it separately so not too many layers.>
I agree that the start line is very complex with a lot of layers. Will she line up following a cookie? I also taught 2 of my young dogs to line up between my feet as a fun trick – it is fun for the volume dial game and also is useful for lineups on the start line.
>some lead on off work. Had to do somw extra reinforcing of lead as she is not used to haveibg a slip on lead but it is what I want for ring. >
She did well here! I think tossing the treats on the ground instead of delivering from your hand will help reduce some of the jumping up (she has an impressive vertical leap LOL!!)
The pattern games helped her settle a bit so one idea is to begin with the back and forth game so she can keep moving and then bring things in closer for the up and down game.
2 other ideas:
Have the toy visible at all times (in your hand, for example) so she gets used to working without leaping for it. Then you can use your marker so she knows when to get it. You were sing your marker, but it was coinciding with you taking the toy out, so she was leaping for the toy.And since she loves the toy and the out is a little delayed, you can say your cue (I think you are saying “mine”) and then trade for a treat – that will make the out response faster.
>also want her to put her head into it.>
That is a great one! I think she will like it as a trick. And the leash can be used to tug on like a toy – that is legal in NZ agility, yes?
Looking at the sequences:
She did well with her engagement when the leash came off!!The stays at the beginning of the sequence are definitely getting better!! Because you get a lot of errors without a clear stay and line up (she would go to the wrong sequence or not take jump 1, for example), we can now focus on getting you to be able to get the stay and take a one step lead out. Will she hold a stay on a platform or mat? You can totally use that here.
When you tried to get her to line up with a cookie, she told us that she doesn’t really know how to follow a cookie lure into position so she just took off (stress response). So at home, teach her how to line up at your side for a cookie, on both sides of you. That will be easy to transfer to a jump.
Also – it looks like she is learning leg weaves so you can easily make that a stay by lining up between your feet!
The middle part of both sequences looked great: super nice connection 2-3-4-5!!!
It was hard to see the end of seq 1 because of the tree branches 🙂 But it looks like you did get a good BC in there at the end of the 3rd run and also at 3:32. Yay!
Sequence 2 – the beginning looked strong! VERY nice FC on 5 at 4:09 and at 5:12, excellent timing and connection there. Lovely!
She had some questions on the way to the last jump: too much “here” and not enough connection so you pulled her off the last jump on the first rep.
You had less “here” at 5:15 but your arm was ahead which turned your shoulders away so pulled her off (try not to reach for the toy as that also draws her focus off the line). Keeping your arm a little more back towards her nose (like you did on the 3-4-5 line) will show the connection and show line a lot better.At the end, was she avoiding being caught? You can have her do tricks with you back to her leash – then when the leash is on, reward, take it off again, then do another sequence 🙂 That will help make it fun to come back and get the leash on 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi! Sounds like a great weekend!!!!
Looking at Lift’s video:
She did great here in a challenging environment! I think the environment pumps her up, though, in a good way – her posture, ear set, tail set, and muscle tone all looked more stimulated than home or even at Fusion. And her engagement was great!
I was going to suggest taking off her leash, and then you did it LOL She continued to be perfect (I don’t think she loved dragging the leash, and that is fine because leash dragging is not really anything we need and she does not appear to be a flight risk LOL!). In fact, she almost looked confused about why you were not doing more LOL!!
If there is a practice jump – you can do this at the practice jump! Bring a chair or something to put the cookies on – then have her doing towards the jump and you can use your happy hour marker for moving with you, tricks by the jump, lining up, maybe stays/leadouts/releases… she will let you know if you can add more, based on her success rate and engagement. Doing this at the practice jump during a walk through or course build would be ideal, because you won’t feel rushed and you won’t be in the way of dogs getting ready to run.
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi! I agree, these went really well!
I loved your high energy bringing him into the session and before each run! Ignoring outdoor distractions is hard and the energy level of your play before each run really helped him get pumped up for it!Run 1: Only small suggestions for you here, it was overall really strong!
On this sequence (and sequence 2) you can send to 1 from your right side rather than send from your left and rear cross it – that can make it easier for you both!The only question he had was on the tunnel cues at :40 and :50. You were running without a lot of connection, so he looked up at you at :40 and almost did not take the tunnel at :50. He doesn’t need a ton of connection, but a little more so he can see your face and having your arm a little further back will make it much clearer for him.
Run 2:
You had clearer connection on the way to the tunnel at 2:42 here and he said it was great! He ran a fast, smooth line to the tunnel.
This one went really well too – the only suggestion here is to not go past the wing of the 4 jump to begin the blind (2:49) – that makes the turn a bit wide.
Something caught his eye on the ground at 2:47 so that might be why you got further up the line than expected. You can see him hesitate and look to his right, then resume driving the line.Your connection after the BC and the ending line looked great! Super!!!
>>Reacher thought the remaining tiny bits of slush on the ground were just too irresistible and stopped to eat it so we just quit. Even really good treats were not luring him away! I’m sure he was eyeballing it the whole time and I’m lucky I got too runs.>>
I think there might have been a few things in play: working outside and ignoring the ground distractions can be very mentally depleting, especially with the high energy play before and after each run. I know the total length was only 5 minutes, but he might need a break after each run as he build up the mental stamina .
The other thing happening was that there was a weird noise in the background that his brain had to process out – like horns blowing in the distance?? He was engaged at 4:20 and you were getting ready to do another sequence… and then the noises started at about 4:22 – you can see him look off in the distance like “wtf?” LOL!!! So it is possible his nose to the ground had more to do with the weird noises than anything else. You can hear them on the video but I bet you didn’t hear them in the moment because you were really focused and engaged.
Great job here!!
TracyHi!
This went pretty well and had a lot of strong points!
She played a lot and stayed with you, finishing very strong!In the run, I think there were 3 moments where she said “this is hard”:
– moving from the start line into the course without playing (I don’t think she knew what was happening so you got a little sniffing)
– the super dark tunnel with you moving away. It looked like a black hole LOL but she figured it out really quickly 🙂
– too much decel asking for the wrap after the tunnel, that was a little disconnected.But you stay connected and kept playing, so the rest was great! Yay!!! It looks like the course was not as pretty, in terms of being able to make up a fast, fun FEO run 🙂
>>We warmed up with the 5 tricks for treats at my rv. Then we crated ringside for 10 mins then warmed up for toy.>>
Maybe I should not have used treats?>>I think a different progression might be more helpful:
Crating ringside can happen, but the pattern game can happen before and when she comes out, a bit more pattern game after it to start getting ready for the run.
Then, when the dog or two before you is running, do the volume dial right outside the ring, right before the rub. That helps optimize her for the rub! Doing it at the RV and more than 10 minutes before probably caused her to lose that optimal state (which is possibly why you saw some distraction outside the ring).
The pattern game is for food, and the volume dial can be toy or food or both 🙂
Even though she isn’t entered today, you can pretend she is running to try these – pick a dog to run after, and do the patterns followed by volume dial near the ring… and see how she does in terms of engagement.
She might be a little mentally tired, so be sure she gets some good decompression too 🙂 she’s doing great and I’m super excited for you!! Any UKI or USDAA coming up, or a class or seminar you can drop into?
Tracy
Good morning! Hope you are having fun at CSZ!
She did well here! I like how she moved away and was able to quickly respond to cues! Super!
For the RR game, you can put the treats in a bag or something, or up higher so that you can simply walk away and let her choose to go with you (or not haha) – there is no having to go back and cover with your hand to protect the treats 🙂 I think that will help simulate moving into the ring even better. And make sure your hand is not in your pocket as you walk away and there are no treats in your pocket either – dogs are brilliant and that could tip her off that the treats are with you in the ‘ring’ LOL!Nice job with the leashing up! And nice tugging at the end!!
>>Is it important that I give her the treat when we get back to it as opposed to her grabbing it?>>
I think you going back with her and handing it to her better simulates what will happen at a trial, rather than her running over and grabbing it. It is an extra layer of impulse control and also an extra layer of the patience the dogs need/delay in reinforcement when they are leaving the ring and we go to the cookies 🙂
The warm up before the RR game was find my face – it is a hard game for the pups (lots of processing) so the regular pattern game is gong to be a better mental warm up (requires less bandwidth). Then when you separately play Find My Face, do a warm up of the regular pattern game where you stay engaged for a few reps… the gradually add in the disconnection. That helps to embed the disconnection as the cue for the engagement you are already getting in the regular pattern game, and also has a more automatic happy conditioned response because the dogs love their pattern games 🙂
>>Oooh – I have to email Casey soon about seminar topics. I will be sure to ask for a young/novice dog handling session.>>
Perfect! I will see her tomorrow and give her a heads up 🙂 And I am sure you can fill a novice/young dog clinic in your area, lots of folks will come!
About the measuring – having the coat cleared under the top layer is perfect LOL!! And yes, having a more tired dog who is pottied and not filled up with water helps.
I have also used entire tubs of peanut butter and cream cheese to change the dog’s head position while being measured (low head and high head are not as desirable as neutral head). Letting the dog stand there and show their face into the tub, I move the tug slightly to get the dog standing in the right spot with the head in a good position for lowest shoulders, and they don’t mind the judge bringing the wicket in because they are stuffing their faces LOL!
>>it finally caught up with her and she just stopped on course.>>
Yes – and even then, because she outwardly appeared perfectly healthy, a lot of vets would not be willing to do a full thyroid panel. I am grateful for vets who listen to our crazy ideas LOL!!!
Have fun this weekend!!
TracyHi!
>>Good idea on the video for the rehab vet!>>
My rehab vets have trained me well LOL!! They love video 🙂
>> Reg vet did not do folate. I’m thinking our local lab does not run it, but I’ll ask. Maybe it can be added. >>
I believe that it is part of a cobalamin panel? But folic acid is like B12 in that it is water soluble, so he will pee out anything his body doesn’t need 🙂
>I inquired about thyroid, but she was reluctant to order it given his lack of typical thyroid symptoms (stable weight, good quality skin & coat).>
That is the crazy thing about it in dog sports – we have seen thyroid issues over and over without any of the traditional symptoms. The coat looks great, skin looks great, weight is stable or they have lost a little weight, etc. But yet – thyroid panels come back with troublesome values and hypothyroidism. I can list probably 200 dogs at this point, some as young as 2 (those were Border Collies) that I know personally with this from over the years (I am old hahaha). I chalk it up to we dog sport people are SUPER vigilant and we see the very first changes, such as “running a little slower” or “randomly sore”. With my dog, it was that he was dropping the bars on the double and triple, and a little slower in afternoon runs.
>> I’m going to pick up the b12 & leave some poop. I’ll see if I can get the poop sent out for analysis as some things are not always caught on a float. >>
Keep me posted on the poop! LOL!! Did they do a urinalysis?
>Yeah – the conversation was very much around possible IBD. I say let see what the poop tells us first, particularly since he does not have vomiting or diarrhea (not even slightly).>
Yep, sounds so familiar. Cosmo is an only 2.5 but still, I think you would have seen *something* if there was an IBD issue? Sounds like his poops are perfect 🙂
Thanks for the update! As you are sorting out the potential for medical stuff, you can still play the foundations of the engagement games. We can gradually add them as he gets to feeling better too!
Tracy
Yay! Baby dog is growing up and doing a great job with the teeter! He is driving to the end really well!
You can start to add in things like slowly walking past the teeter without stopping, until a few steps after he has stopped (then reward of course 🙂 ) I suggest doing it at a walk so your speed doesn’t pull him off 🙂
>>Do you want to see video of sequences that he ran that aren’t part of this course?>
You can post them if you like! Any sequence work is great for adding the games like showing him the NFC progressions (like empty hands and the other games coming up) as well as the find my face game in sequence, and eventually remote reinforcement too!
Great job here!
TracyHi!
>>OMG. After a week of crummy “practices” & holding up a leg going down a particular set of stairs, I made an appointment at the vet. >>
Get video of the leg-holding on the stairs! It will help the rehab vet. It could be something (one of my dogs had an issue when she would do that on the stairs), it could be absolutely nothing (my highest achieving agility dog held his left leg up on stairs for all 16 years of his life, and it was just a habit, nothing was wrong).
>>She could find nothing wrong with Cosmo on physical exam; patellas rock solid in the groove, no obvious pain, good rom in the hips, nice gait. >>
>>We took some blood and I requested b12 levels for kick & giggles. >>
Yay! Did they also get a folate level?
>>Well, we found out today he’s on the low side of normal (suggestive of poss IBD). I am going to supplement Cosmo & recheck in 12 weeks. He has normal stools & no vomiting, so I am not sure an ultrasound or a diet trial is something I will follow up with at this time. >>
That is the exact journey my girl had – low side on B12 but not clinically low… but her folate was definitely low. Normal GI but they were all freaking out that she had IBD. She is 6, we would have seen it long before now 🙂
I did do an ultrasound and chest X-ray for her because she is 6. I am pretty sure they were looking for cancer but they didn’t exactly say it that way (they didn’t need to). But I doubt cancer is an issue in a 2 year old dog!
Did they find any inflammation markers in the blood work? All negative to tick related stuff? I am guessing the T4 was normal but did they look at T3?
>>Fecal analysis is probably a good idea though.>>
Yes – my girl came back positive for Giardia which was a complete surprise too, because she was so normal in the poop department. The vet said it was probably that her immune system was weak due to the B12/folate issues.
We treated the Giardia, supplemented the B12 and the folate (I use something for humans that is folic acid OTC from a local pharmacy). Everything has returned to normal: all bloodwork (her T3 on the thyroid panel was really low before we supplemented), all muscle soreness has resolved, and she is back to full force and speed in training and trialing. I hope your journey is as simple as hers!
>> Will also see the rehab vet on Tues…just in case.>>
Great! Bring videos, they love that LOL!!! And because there is that stairs hopping, ask them to dig around in the psoas area and other spots that often ‘hide’ from the rest of us 🙂
And keep me posted!!!
Tracy
Omg! She was on fire!! What a fantastic debut!!! Fast, focused, and finding her jumps. You were connected and got lots of reward in. And she was happy to go get the leash at the end (happy waggy tail) and then play more. SO AWESOME!!
>I got greedy maybe on the double. I just wanted her to see one.>
Ha! That’s how I train my spreads too – at trials, in NFC runs. 😆
Have fun tomorrow and I am crossing all fingers and toes for a tunnel!!!!
Tracy
Looking at the FEO runs, here are some ideas for you!!
>>Toy is highly visible in hand.
Yes, but he is really only getting it at the end and sporadically at the weaves. So it is not as much of a true FEO and that doesn’t really help us shift the balance of value into the full ring (it is mainly at the end now :))
>>I have trouble rewarding mid-course…. It seems once something interrupts our runs (reward or mistake) it’s hard to get back on track.>>
What was happening was that after the reward, you didn’t quite re-establish connection so he didn’t know what line you wanted. So plan your rewards on course to be more in the early part and middle part, then you can send him to a jump he just did, wrap him over it, and be ahead to have very clear connection on the next line. The connection is key to getting back on track after a reward.
>We got the weaves first try in JWW!!! After that there was a lot of handler focus again. >
Good rewarding! The handler focus came from lack of connection after that.
Speaking of connection:
>A good startline but some pogo-ing and bouncing off the mama.>
The jumping up and down at the start line was a bit of arousal/frustration because there was not a lot of interaction/connection. You can play with him, talk to him, do a trick or 2 or 3 😁, let him tug on the toy, then line him up.
And the bouncing off of you in the runs was when you were not connected. What I mean by that is your arm was forward and your were looking ahead of him, so he could not quite see the line you wanted. The jumping up is more likely to happen in the higher arousal of the trial setting – in the home training, he is not as aroused so he will not jump up as much when you aren’t connected (but he did early in the video posted above!)
>>He was super handler focused on the run (he tends to be like this anyway) and I think this was the cause of most of the “mistakes”.>>
If he jumps up at you, take it as a communication to give stronger connection (low arm, looking at him more). Jumping up or extra handler focus means he doesn’t know where to go next, so he is looking at you for more info. When you feel the extra handler focus, add more connection 🙂
>>Some pattern games (back and forth and up and down)>>
He did well with these! Yay! Rather than hang out on the podium to do them, take them to the floor and also ad the moving back and forth. That will help him acclimate to the busy area a lot better, plus we don’t want to have an association of the podium being the fun place to be 😁. We want him to think the whole place is a place to be relaxed and engaged.
You can also skip the practice jump 🙂 That can deplete him before a run, when we need to have him at full force. Replace the practice jump time with the volume dial game tricks. That will really help get him focused for his runs and will also help on the way to the start line.
How is he doing with his remote reinforcement game? That will be a critical element as we build up his trial skills.
>>I don’t know how to fill in the holes here…. I’ve done more foundation with Brodie than any other dog and he’s the one who’s struggled most with the trial environment.>>
The holes find us! The agility skills foundation and the trial environment skills foundation are different and as you mentioned, very dog-specific. You might have started trialing for real before he was ready (I am not sure how old he was when he started trialing, but many dogs struggle in the environment if they begin in early adolescence (15 months – 18months), especially if the don’t have a lot of NFC/FEO runs early on.
And it is possible that the rate of success in the weaves was affecting things too – he is at about 50% success here and that is too low in that environment. I prefer 90-95% success in the trial environment.
So what to do? Start over with the trial career 🙂
Take the weaves and contacts out for now, and just do super connected runs, playing at the start line, with jumps and tunnels and toy reinforcement during the run, in all the different parts of the ring (not just at the end). Establish that smooth connection so you are both super comfy with each other in the ring. Don’t ask for weaves (you will be tempted! Resist!!) for now because he might fail and we are then faced with a conundrum:
– Stop him to fix, which add more stress?
– Keep going and reward even though they aren’t ‘correct’? (I am personally fine with that but most people are unable to do that).So rather than risk more failure, take them out for now.
When he can do Step 2 (empty hands) NFC runs successfully, and maybe some simple sets of 6 weaves with a toy in more distracting training classes (people around) and medically cleared, then you can go back to Step 1 just like home and ask for weaves. Then continuing to work through the NFC progression will help smooth everything out! This starts at home – so the first place he should see the “empty hands” (toy or treats in a pocket) is at home or class. Then as we add the other steps, he will see them in class or at home first too – and when he is successful with that, those steps can move into trials.
It doesn’t take that long, but it is very systematic because we want to set everyone up for success 🙂
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hello and welcome! Great to see you here!!
>> quickly make it to excellent jumpers and open standard. Then the weave refusals started>>
Since it was a bit of a ‘sudden onset’ issue with an obstacle that requires so much of the dog’s body, be sure to clear all medical issues if you have not done so already. The earliest manifestation of injury or illness is often weave refusals only at trials (physiological processing is different at trials than when the dog is at home base). On my list of things to check are: all orthopedic joints including x-rays for hips/spine/shoulders/neck (much easier with small dogs LOL!), a patella exam *with the dog laying down on his side* because a standing exam often does not uncover a patella issue with muscular dogs, a full soft tissue exam to be sure there are no restrictions/trigger points/painful areas/injuries, and bloodwork to look for inflammation markers, thyroid levels, folate/B12, and tick illness. It might seem like a lot but it has been CRAZY how many dogs have an underlying pain or illness that manifests as not weaving, or visiting, or stress, and only at trials. Working at home or with a toy in NFC often ‘hides’ issues because the food or toy is so motivating that dogs will work through pain or illness.
>> Reading the “rules” again helped. Initially I thought I needed eye contact>>
Eye contact is a bonus but not required 🙂
Onwards to the videos!!
The sequences are looking good! He had some good feedback about connection and timing for us 🙂 Some ideas for you:
One thing overall –
He runs really well looking at his lines when you run with your arms lower and lots of connection visible, like at :10 – :14, :36- :38 and other places. If you are not looking back at him or your arms are high, he has to look up at you to get more info and that slows him down. So – keep your arms low and look at his eyes as you run 🙂On the first sequence, to get the BC more easily from 4-5: You can send to 3 from further away and not run as close to 4 – just send to 3 and then run towards 5, beginning the blind as you go (when he lands from 3). Your motion should cue 4, and a jump verbal. You were trying to cue 4 so that made the blind late so he jumped up at your hand at :08 and :29 because he was not sure of connection and you were a bit in his way.
The turn at 5 worked best as a brake arm (2 hands) like at :32 – it can come sooner, as he lands from 4, but they will be easy when the blind is sooner too. You don’t need the spin there, which will also make it easier to accelerate up the next line.
Doing the BC between 3 and 4 also worked really well, just add in connecting sooner after the blind so the push to 5 (:51) is also sooner. That will get him turning to go to 5 before takeoff for 4.
Seq 5: You can get in closer to 2 so you can show acceleration to 3-4-5 and big loud GO TUNNEL verbals- you were decelerated and quiet so he stayed in collection on that line.
Adding acceleration might put you on the takeoff side of 6 but that is great because you can then decel and show the FC before the enters the tunnel. He saw you accelerating to get to the landing side of 6 before he went into the tunnel, which cued a wider turn on the exit there.
That can also keep you off his line on the landing of 6 – at 1:50 you were in the way as he takes off for 6 so he had to wait for you to clear the line, good boy not hitting the momma! Your position was definitely better at 2:21 where you were not on his line 🙂
Good job rewarding him when you did the extra blind LOL
A comparison to the lines where you were connected and he was looking forward at the line: You were looking ahead on the last line at 2:28 so he was looking at you and not driving the line as well.
Sequence 1 (last one on the video :))
You can set up the start so you are not as close to 1 and you need don’t run the curve of the tunnel with him. Doing that made the FC at 2:42 late – he was in the air over 3 as you started it so could not adjust til after he landed. Ideally, you are a couple of strides ahead as he exits the tunnel so you can decelerate and begin the FC no later than halfway between the tunnel exit and jump 3.
You were more accelerated on the last line to the tunnel and he was much faster there and committed sooner! Very nice!!!
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
