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Good morning! He was fantastic here! And he was even faster and more excited about playing this new game. Super!!!
If you have a handler blooper in class where you can’t keep going… you can totally play this game and have a big party when he finds your face 🙂
I think he is also ready for the next step, where you add this to a really simple sequence: start running it then deliberately mess up and stop and disconnect. When he finds your face: big rewards! Yay! He doesn’t have to take obstacles on his way to find your face, but it is perfectly fine if he does.
Great job here!
TracyGood morning!
>>UKI is limited nearby, but I’ve been keeping an eye open for it. Colorado is starting to ramp up, but driving there can be dicey in winter- depends on weather. 🙂>>
Yes, the winter weather gets in the way. Any USDAA nearby? They have very similar FEO rules to UKI, and the courses are a little more straightforward than UKI for baby dogs. And the trials will be very small, which is also good for youngsters.
??Thanks for the emphasis. 🙂 I purposely signed up for preferred, lower height and plan to run NFC to keep focus on figuring out what he needs and having fun. I still get nervous with my young boy. 🙂>>
Yes! It cracks me up that we have all run other dogs for all of these years… but bringing out the youngster is nerve-wracking hahahahaha
>>I think starting with empty hands makes sense as we usually practice either with the toy in my pocket or back at a location. The late summer trial went well, I think my main mistake there was not entering at a lower jump height.>>
You can tug on the way into the ring, the stick the toy in your pocket. Be sure to have spots planned where you will reward him and stick to that – it is very easy for us humans to NOT reward during the NFC/FEO runs, but that defeats the purpose of them at this stage 🙂 Getting a good sequence then having a party is super important 🙂
>>I’m looking forward to reworking remote reinforcement with you again as well as working going through the gates. His love of the game is still changing and I can feel him ramping up 🙂>>
Sounds good – I imagine it will not be hard for him. I think that the main thing now is sorting out what he needs before runs and after runs.
>>Question: Facebook sent me your link to this master class timing https://agilitymasterclass.com/>>
Facebook is very smart hahahahahahahaha
>>How do these classes work versus this class or your summer camp? Is this something we would be ready for or is it beyond our current skills? >>
MasterClass is a 4-module giant single topic thing (50 games/sequences or more, I think?). In this case, it is timing (huge topic, right?) and all of the games/sequences/courses are focused on getting great timing. It starts with foundation stuff (geared towards finding the timing), then goes into skills drills, then builds to course work across the levels: Novice, Advanced, Masters, International.
It has lifetime access and the working participants have a year to submit their video (the year begins on the date of the first video submission).
So it is probably twice as extensive as CAMP and also more singularly focused on what it takes to get great timing. CAMP leans more towards tackling current course challenges and handling “moves”, training skills, etc. The MasterClass is more about tackling a huge variety of challenges, with timing as the main focus. Plus MasterClass has trial video review, from the perspective of looking at the handler’s timing.
It is something that all young dogs can start and over the course of the year, build up to the hard stuff. Let me know what you think!
Tracy
That is fantastic!! He is a teeter maniac LOL!!! And it is hilarious that he will do it for kibble. I am glad to hear he is getting so much exposure to all of those different teeters. Super!!!
Hi!
>>“He had two moments at the back of the ring where he was not with you (1:32 and 2:04) – was he finding a line because cues were late, or distracted by the other ring or ring crew?” – probably a bit of both I did not show him the decel he needed to get the turn into the weaves which launched him towards the distraction of the other ring. You can hear Karen telling me it’s all on me.>>
When that happens, keep handling as if it didn’t happen – use verbals and keep going (even if you make it up for a moment) then reward. Stopping, even if he gets a cookie, can cause a drop in motivation and focus – movement is key and that will help avoid him thinking anything has gone wrong.
>>“I think jut tossing it away as fast as you can will be better” — what’s your thought, the faster I can get him started after the temperature games the better?>>
Yes – the more you stay connected and lead out with connection and release, the more engagement you will have. When you leave him in his stay to hand the leash to the person, you have disconnected and he starts to look around (which indicates a shift in arousal). We don’t want that, so if you put him in the sit as soon as you are taking the leash off, just toss the leash away so you can be super connected and quick to lead out and release him.
Another option to play with is getting the leash off sooner, before he is in his sit. I like to bring the dogs in, take the leash off and get rid of it (sometimes handing it to the leash runner as I go past them) then play with the dog to the line (volume dial!), set up the lead out, etc. Taking the leash out of the picture sooner really lets me know where the dog is, in terms of arousal & engagement, and helps me stay a lot more connected 🙂
On the video – you can see him looking around as you walk away without connection here. He reconnects when you reconnect or when you reach into your pocket for cookies, but in those moments of looking around his arousal state and engagement are shifting, so distractions in the environment become more obvious. Now, it is ok if the dog looks away for a heartbeat then looks back at us, but ideally handler and dog have connection on the lead out before the release.
Looking for his leash at the end of the run can be a super useful end of run ritual! You can add in having the leash-on-chair set up there and he continues past it to do a sequence, then you can add in the marker to go find the leash.
>>We go place the target together close to the crate orI place it somewhere obvious by the exit gate.>>
I’m also thinking that I can use the target to get the lotus ball out of my hand – leave it on the target and send him to it>>Perfect! Both of these will be very useful as you build up the remote reinforcement games!!
>>I’m out now till mid November – off to Italy this afternoon – yay for us>>
Safe travels! Have a blast! I am sure it will be amazing!
Tracy
Hi!
>>When is the last day we can post for this class?
The current last date is December 30th, but we might run over into the new year depending on weather and stuff 🙂
>>I’d consider USDAA too but there’s nothing local any time soon.>>
I just ran a local USDAA – I had 3 dogs entered who had never done USDAA but since they were all running FEO, I didn’t get them measured 🙂 And I ran my 19″ tall rental whippet at 12″ and no one batted and eye lash 🙂 So don’t worry 🙂 And I think I ran UKI NFC without getting measurements the first few times. They don’t really care as long as you are doing NFC.
T
I’d prefer not to have to focus on getting a measurement yet since that will probably be a project in itself and I think I’d be able to just run NFC without a measurement for the weekend in UKI. There’s a lot of CPE in the area but I’ve never competed in that venue so I think I’d be a little nervous myself about rules etc. I’d rather just focus on her than worrying about myself lol.
Hi!
>>I actually think I did this for the FEO run, lol. 🙂
Perfect!!! Some dogs need the patterns after the volume dial, but most fit nicely into the pattern game then volume dial ritual.
🤣🤣🤣 I think I’m going to struggle with that in the beginning with Kat. She is so fast that I know my brain is going to be thinking about getting to the next thing and not want to wait for her to commit.>> That is a normal struggle with young dogs – it doesn’t matter how long any of us have been doing agility, we all get twitchy with the young dogs LOL!! That is part of why the Find My Face game was invented. In the demo video with baby Contraband, I was SO TWITCHY. In his masters run at a trial last weekend? Smooth and calm and confident. But I was twitchy with the young dogs LOL!
> True, she might have been mentally tired with those as indicators. Or frustrated or aroused. But either way it is good to finish early before the dog gets tired.
> OK, that is weird. LOL!!!
>>This is our debut FEO video. We ran Nov. JWW. My goals were for her to hold her start line and stay engaged the whole time in the ring, which she did fantastically!! One of her best doggie friends was in line behind us, and she was able to ignore her.>>
She did great! And having a friend on line behind her does make it extra challenging! Remember that you can play with her and talk to her on the way to the line and after you take the leash off – that will relax both of you (but mainly you, it will relax you more LOL!)
>>I did not plan to stop to fix anything, but I ended up doing that twice. 🙈 The first time, I didn’t think she was going to take the jump after the one she missed>>
Yep – no stopping allowed! The course was a tiny tight little AKC course and add in footing that is harder to grip… so you were late on the info, she went past the jump. If that happens, don’t have a change of energy, don’t stop or fix… take it as a cue to you to connect more and show the line more. Then when she gets the next jump? Reward! Keep her confidence high! And remember that you are not there to run the course the judge set – you are there to show a few lines and reward and have fun.
>>I cannot remember if I gave her a turn cue, and I know (after watching the video) that I was too close to the jump and didn’t turn my shoulders early enough.>>
Correct, the physical cue was late (should have started at landing of 1) and the send to 2 actually looked like you stepped to the backside line of 3 (which is where she went – good girl!!!!)
>> Should I just ignore when she misses a jump and assume it was always me? She tends to go around jumps a lot, so I worry about reinforcing that too many times.>>
Yes – if she goes past a jump, it is handler error of late/unclear info. She didn’t find it reinforcing to run past 3 or the jumps on the ending line, she knew something was not quite right.
For going around jumps, is she tending to do it more on these short distances, and on turf/mats? She really doesn’t go around jumps in her training videos, which are bigger distances and on really great grass footing. Turf (and mats) require more processing to be able to turn because she has to move differently, so the cues have to come sooner (especially on those itty bitty AKC distances LOL!!)
>>For the second half, I know that it was a late blind that made her miss the jump>>
Timing was a little late at :54 there but mainly, you were running towards sper posiiton without connection, so she was (correctly) staying on the parallel line line a layer or setting up a backside threadle. Good girl! Then as soon as you started the blind, she was like “oh crap, gotta turn!” but she was alreayd too far past the jump and the turf is not grippy enough that she could have gotten it last minute.
She did get back on the line immediately and took the red jump – that is super rewardable!!
>> I was worried about possibly sending her over the double and triple at a bad angle (assuming I could have gotten her to keep going forward), particularly since she’s never seen those two jumps before. I just put her back on the line to give her a better approach rather than actually fixing it.>>
Ideally, rewarding her for the red jump would be first, then setting up for the ending line (it is a lot for our human brains in the moment LOL!)
The AKC rule of not being able to throw the reward makes the big ending lines tricky, espeically with the triple as the last jump (really, judge? for baby dogs where the handler is guaranteed to be behind from the previous line? Sigh).
We really don’t want to reward those from hand. So if you see that in a run, do one jump (the first one on the line), then reward. Then set her up in a sit stay (this is legal, you did it really well at :49), lead out, get another jump or two from ahead, then reward – that way she can see the line and be supported, without having to drive ahead on the spreads.To solidify those big long lines, UKI NFC is the absolute best bet: You can bring a helper into the ring and the helper can throw the toy on the line for you. Makes it so much easier!
Great job here!!
Tracy
Hi!
>>Sorry we have been at the nationals – a good way to make it ran hard.
I hope it was fun and that the weather was not too bad!
>>In Synch did great with pattern games, waits and trick work around the ring>>
That is fantastic! And it will set a good foundation for when things get even more exciting.
>>I didnt try when it was raining hard as neither of us would have been impressed.>>
That is relatable! I wouldn’t want to do it either 🙂
>> At the moment she is highly focused outside the ring. am Thinking I might try to do a couple of jumps at ribbon trial in dec between courses will see how she goes . Might change things when she realises she can actually run in the ring.>>
That would be great!
>>Yes definitely need to tidy my handling and verbals- the blood rushes to my head and ever thought in my head disappears- her and fusion a bit the same silent is a struggle. I also havent taught her alot of verbals at the moment buyt then fall back on needng to talk.. my problem not hers lol>>
More planning needed before each run, then 🙂 Plan 4 things: the handling, the connection, the verbals, and the reward. With young dogs, it takes a lot longer to plan things than it takes to run things 🙂
>>I suppose my thought was that she worked really well in the seminar on food and that kept her arousal down a little.>>
Because she is doing well with food and toy right now, you can and should use both during the rewarding to help balance the arousal. We want her to learn to self-regulate, so rewarding with a tug then giving treats to get the tug back, then a quick decompression with food (treats tossed in the grass, or a snuffle mat). Avoiding the arousal won’t help 🙂 So we should definitely approach the arousal using food and toys.
>>I tend to be too slow to pull out and throw the toy or drop it onto the ground.>>
You can also work very short easy sequences with the toy in your hand (or a lotus ball with food) – this has a dual purpose of getting the placement of reward out very fast, and teaching arousal regulation because she has to actively ignore the toys to find the jumps. Very short, simple sequences are important, though, so she can be successful.
>>which is true but I tend to get a charge and a bite .
We definitely don’t want the charge and bite! Having the toy in your hand and being able to throw it on the line will help (then working on being able to get the toy back, so you are not worried about throwing it). For example, you can throw a treat toy like the lotus ball or treat hugger so she gets the treat on the line but is not likely to run around with the lotus or hugger. Then you can reward her with the tug for coming back.
And the find my face game helps with charging/biting too 🙂
Sorting the reward use/placement and getting rid of the charge/bite are high priorities, more important than hard sequencing at this point.
>>I think I need to work on a finish behaviour of go get toy rather than grab it off me.>>
For sequence work and training – using your reward markers will make all the difference. Running with a toy in your hand is a great way to start this: rather than praise or stop a sequence, use a ‘get it’ marker for a thrown reward and a ‘take’ marker for a toy from your hand. Be super consistent with short easy sequences to both help her understand and to let you practice using the markers. If she is unclear about how to earn the toy, she is likely to bite you 🙂
>> I dont know but thinking when get to ring need a behaviour that is not bite the momma as soon as do last jump. probably a sit wasnt the right thing>>
Yes, that gets built off the remote reinforcement (we start that plus end of run behavior this week). In NZ, are they allowed to tug on their leash? You can send her to her leash. Or, you can teach her to jump in your arms on cue. Lots of options!
Tracy
Hi!
>>She got the weekend off from training and hung out at the agility trial this weekend. And because I’m exhausted, we went on walks the last two nights instead of training. This weekend she’ll be tagging along to WI to Canine Sorts Zone while Emmie competes at an ISC trial.>>Perfect! She can practice all her games near the ring at the ISC trial! And since you were exhausted, it was better to go for walks and not train – we humans are better when are rested too 🙂
> One of the things I notice about training young dogs is OUR humans brains have a lot of processing to do too!!! Masters dogs are so much easier LOL!!! In our excitement, we lose precision behaviors like connection or reward placement. or correct verbals, etc LOL!!! Just like the dogs do LOL!!! But if you focus on the reward placement, your brain will be able to do it 🙂 And since she loves to chase toys, you can create a little reinforcement loop: If she takes the line you want, you can reward with the placed toy in the good spot, then as she brings it back to you, throw another toy long distance for her to chase. A double whammy of fun!
>>I try the water on the next round of sequences. I’m sure there’s plenty of places it’ll be applicable there too.>>
Yes, it is applicable everywhere 🙂 We have 80 degree weather coming today, so I will be out there without the dogs but with a water bottle to get my arms under control again LOL!
>>You posted your Master class on timing in one of the groups. Do you think that would be a good next step from Lu? Or too advanced for her?>>
Good question! It starts with foundation work and then skills work then novice through masters course work (the last module is international course work) – so yes, it would be good because it doesn’t begin with insanely hard stuff 🙂 And working participants have a year to do it, so you have plenty of time to get the hard stuff done too 🙂
>> Julie and I were discussing some NFC options and I don’t think we would have one until December (and I’m not certain if I should enter Lu in it yet/if she’s ready for it yet).Is that something that could be posted in that class?>>
Yes and no – MasterClass doesn’t do view review for NFC stuff in particular. The trial video review is more about looking at timing, which is still applicable to young dogs (their timing needs can be wildly different from run to run, and different from our adult dogs).
Lu is ready to experience NFC/FEO in UKI, USDAA, AKC, or even CPE 🙂 You can get in there and play and do tunnels or one jump games – no need to run sequences at first. We are just getting her into the environment to have a grand time, see how she feels, let her practice some arousal regulation, some pre- and post- run rituals, line ups, etc. Zero pressure to run sequences. I think UKI is the most friendly for that, but if there is any USDAA that is great too – very small trials and similar NFC rules as UKI has. I just did a day of USDAA locally and it was GREAT for my young dogs in particular! 2 days of NFC so far (and no interest in trying to get a Q) have been fantastic for Ramen (the baby whippet) in particular, he is suddenly a very engaged, confident teammate who is looking really ready for more. Maybe I should teach him contacts and weaves LOL!!! And Lu will do the same thing – you will see her begin to blossom in that environment – it is really cool!
Tracy
Good morning!
I hope the pattern games at Lowes went well! I am sure he was great 🙂
The sequence went well too – the adjustments you made (as well as on the forward focus session) were all exactly what I would have suggested, so click/treat for you!
On the opening line – lining him up on a slice at 1 instead of straight was very helpful for him, and then showing the 1-2 line as a serpentine showed the correct side of 2. When you closed your shoulder forward and stepped to 2, you showed the push to the backside that he did. When you kept your shoulders in serp position and feet moving forward (at 1:12), he found the line to 2 really well. You used your second hand there too, but I don’t think you will need that as long as the serp arm stays back like you had it there.
The rest looked really good, he is finding his lines really well!!! My only suggestion is to start giving the turn cues for the tunnel exit before he enters. You got quiet and were accelerating into position for the FC, so he exited straight then adjusted. Ideally you would be using your verbal (a right verbal or his name) and starting the FC when he is still about 4 feet away from entering the tunnel. Sometimes we can’t show the physical cue for the FC at that point because of hustling to position, but you can start the verbal to let him know the turn is coming.
He is making really good progress with looking at the jump! Putting the toy out on the other side really helped, so keep revisiting this with the toy on the other side for a few reps as you put yourself in various lead out positions so he gets really comfy looking away from you. My only suggestion when you place the reward out past the jump is put it another 5 or 6 feet from from the jump, so he can land from the bar then take a big stride to the reward (rather than shorten up to avoid landing on the toy).
All of this forward-focus stuff was originally developed for breeds of dogs who loved to stare forward at ‘work’ that might not be moving (cough cough Border Collies cough cough hahahaha). So many other breeds prefer to stare at us, or stare at things that are going to move (again, that is us hahaha) so using the food or toy out there really helps them get convinced to not look at us 🙂
Look how close the teeter is to the ground! YAY!! He is doing really well driving to the end! Are you able to get him on teeters in other locations, especially different types of teeters (MAX200 versus MAD agility versus ClipnGo versus Galican etc). That is really important for our small dogs, because the speed of the type and weight of the board makes a big difference as I am sure you have experienced.
>> is it ok that he came off it one time although he wasn’t released? Or should we be holding the end until released?
I think on that rep he drove to the end really well and didn’t shift his weight in time with you running and praising, so came off. No worries, it was a ‘good’ error 🙂 but ideally you don’t want him to do that – because that will muddy the end behavior and eventually lead to more errors and slowing down.
It looks like on the next reps you helped him by getting the reward in quicker and not being as far ahead. So you can build up to moving away more and seeing if he will hold position as you get past the board – you can try it without running as much to begin with, to help him out. You can also use a visual target at the end of the teeter board (I used duct tape, super fancy LOL!) to help him remember to stop as you run past.
Great job here!!!
Tracy
Hi!
>>I have already done this at 3 different locations and never an issue. In class I had people yelling, dogs right at the ring side, my instructor being a judge, etc.>>
Great! We will add that back in when we add the remote reinforcement games in. It is definitely a different picture for the dog when the food is outside the ring.
>>Gave Knight 2 down days since he was a busy boy this past week. >>
Smart! Rest and recovery is great!
>>Going to start to work on playing with toys. >>
Keep me posted about what he likes!
>>This is a video of Find my Face.>>
He was fantastic here!! Absolutely perfect about seeking out engagement. Yay! The only thing I suggest adding is a bigger reaction from you when he *does* seek out engagement after you disconnect: when he finds your face, give him a big GOOD BOY!!! with smiles and praise, then toss the treat as a reward and to reset the next rep. That GOOD BOY! moment will definitely be surprising and exciting in a good way 🙂 And being quiet like you were was perfect for the disconnection moments – he was fabulous. You can totally play this game outside the ring as part of his mental warm up.
Great job!!!!
TracyHi!
>>He was quick, taking away my margin for error.>>
Yes – he was really fast!!!!
>>Had some ring crew out on the floor, we’ve been doing this for a while, so the class people now have limited distraction value, going to have to figure out how to up that.>>
You can totally crank up the distraction level and have them wear hats, or be eating snacks (you might have to bring bribery for them to eat :)), crinkling treat bags, and even playing agility videos on their phones (not all of these at the same time though hahaha)
He had two moments at the back of the ring where he was not with you (1:32 and 2:04) – was he finding a line because cues were late, or distracted by the other ring or ring crew? I kind of looked like he was finding a line and needed earlier cues, but I was not sure.
>>Also worked on handing off the leash – I’m probably better off handing it to a leash runner or placing in on the ground next to the boy instead of throwing it.>>
I think jut tossing it away as fast as you can will be better – when you walked away to give it to the leash runner, he started looking around. So handing it to the leash runner is a little disconnecting. You can toss it on the ground and use that in the remote reinforcement games so he understands to leave it alone during the run. That way you can lead out, stay connected, and help support his engagement.
>>I liked the hand bops while walking to the line in round 2 – going to work on building that.>>
Yes! That looked great! And the runs went really well too. I think the most important thing now is teaching him the levels of the remote reinforcement game, to fade the food from your hands/pockets and prepare him for trials.
Nice work here!
Tracy
Hi!
>>Am going to switch to a leash she can tug for exiting and a snuffle mat for once we get back to crate area to decompress her.
Perfect! Leash tugging is legal in most organizations and it is basically like having a toy in the ring 🙂 With that in mind, be sure to use the leash as part of the remote reinforcement games so she learns to ignore it while running a course.
>>I am practicing in class without toy in hand and taking it out when I reward.>>
Fantastic! You can mix in having the toy in your hand… and having the instructor hold the toy so it begins to get moved off your body.
>> do you have strategies for what to do after run is over. We always have so many people at ring exit. I usually just exit and go to my crate to reward. Roux however, isn’t a dog I can just let lead me to her crate (yet) for a reward and ignore all the other dogs. I can grab food and use that to treat her and then use that to get back to crate. Food keeps her focused on me and I will see if a leash she can tug on some helps also.>>
Can you set up a reward station not too far from the ring exit, something like a folding chair? And you can put a tote bag or something with some treats in it, so you can reward her after a run then comfortably navigate her back to her crate.
And feel free to tell people to move 🙂 I say stuff like “coming through! Watch out!” to get them moving out of the way.Looking at the video:
The view from the deck is spectacular! What a great time of year!Roux did great with Find My Face. You can add arousal too, by tugging first to get her more stimulated then try the game. We can add it to sequences soon too!
The cat also figured it out really well 😆The exit line connection looked awesome!! Front crosses on the wings? Lovely! And you sorted out keeping your arms in closer, which made it easier.
Adding the jump to wing went really well with the FCs and spins too. Moving it to 2 jumps worked great too! Check out how tight her turns were, and she had no questions about the bars. Yay!!! I think there was one rep where she did a rear cross instead of a FC (because you stepped to the RC line) but you kept going and fixed it on the next FC. Nice!!
At the end, you did the blinds – this was the only time when the toy was moving to the dog side hand (rather than hand across the body) so the connection was not as clear. Keeping that toy in the dog side hand when you start and as you exit the blind will make it even clearer and tighter 🙂
Great job here!! You can definitely apply the exit line connection to the sequences.
Tracy
Good morning!
Great seeing you in the chat last night!
After you mentioned that one of Lift’s littermates copes with frustration by butt-biting 🤣 I was thinking that find my face is going to be GREAT for her! It basically uses disconnection/handler error as a cue for a trick – and I have found that it is fabulous for arousal regulation because, well, we humans mess up a lot LOL!!! So even those moments of disconnection where we hesitate (even when we don’t mean to hesitate) – it is a trick for a fun and hopefully incompatible behavior from the other coping mechanisms: jumping up, biting, spinning, sniffing, zooming… a wide range of behaviors are covered LOL!!!
She did really well in the video!!
>>She seemed more curious about why I was turning away than worried>>
This was perfect – we want a curious reaction, maybe a little judgmental 🤣 but no worry. And you can amp up the dopamine release (as best we can tell without electrodes) by having a BIG surprising response when she does find your face – big verbal praise, lots of excitement, and cookie delivery.
>> this was in the more training-neutral spot of our bedroom where we’ve done tricks and stuff but not wing wraps or anything looking more like agility. >>
It was a good place to start it an introduce the concept – and then yes, you can totally move it to more stimulating places.
>>I plan to try this again but in the training room (maybe with a wing sitting out) and outside to see if I get different results. >>
Ideally you get this same exact response every.single.time. So there is no need to ramp it up really fast because what she did here is exactly what we want every time. It would be great if she never tips over into the overarousal, so take it slowly and let her body ‘learn’ the arousal regulation. After I introduced this game to Voodoo, for example, he never tried to bite me on course again – he was adult when I taught him this, so I didn’t have adolescence to deal with, so with my younger dogs I proceeded more slowly because, well, adolescent brains are unpredictable 🙂
>>If when I get to that point, I get the leaping lizard instead of curious Lift looking for my face, is the best plan to just keep moving as if it was planned or to stop and do a treat scatter to decompress her?>>
If it does happen when we eventually put it in a sequence, you just keep playing the game – when she stops leaping (regulation) and finds your face, have that big exciting reaction and yes, you can reward with a treat scatter as that might help with decompression. Then before the next run, set it up so you are avoiding any of the triggers (disconnection with countermotion is her main one) so her body can continue to regulate.
She did her volume dial tricks but also yes, she didn’t get that aroused. That is mainly because volume dial will get the dogs into the optimal state of arousal for the task at hand… and hanging out in that bedroom does not require a lot of arousal so it was actually really good that she did that! Yay!
>>I often get the sense that she’s sort of ramping up but not much when we play it with food.>>
It depends on what the next rep(s) looks like. If she is fast and focused, then all is good! You can also move the food more in the volume dial game (have her chase you a few steps, then do a spin before you deliver the cookie). And you can use a toy, or a food-delivery toy. And experiment to see what works best in different environments.
>>Tapping her on the chest and having her chase me can amp her up but she can also have big feelings about that so I haven’t wanted to do that much.>>
Yes, I think she doesn’t like that, so the arousal is not the happy, focused arousal we want and more of a frustrated overarousal.
>>I think I’m going to need to stash a container of treats in my garage so that I’m ready with a treat scatter (or snuffle mat) as I come into the house from the garage. >>
Very clever! You can bring in the snuffle mat, give it to her, and walk away without interaction. Make coming home into a non-event and the snuffle mat will help with arousal for sure.
>>What was the arousal regulation issue with low cortisol levels?>>
This was back when vets didn’t really know to look for Addisons, plus he was atypical Addisons so the low cortisol wasn’t clear until he almost died (2006 or something?).
But behaviorally, he was unable to process the stress/changes in arousal level of being in non-home environments. He would go to a trial and was very slow and sniffy and worried. So of course people thought it was a motivation or training issue. And then he had some random soreness, so for a while people thought it was a shoulder injury.
Then his atypical addisons tipped over into typical, and the emergency vet took one look at his history and diagnosed him. We never even did the ACTH test because he had been given a long-acting steroid as treatment for what my vet thought was bone cancer.
So, they treated for Addisons and the dog went on to have a great life, winning a national championship and being on several podiums. He lived to be 16ish.
Early symptoms included changes in blood sugar, weight loss, strange behavior of being ‘flat’, and GI issues. The ‘flat’ behavior was relevant to him specifically, other dogs struggle to process stress in different ways.
>> Asking because we just did a GI panel on Lift due to intermittent GI upset (often stress related if it’s not bunny poop ingestion) and the only thing that came back was slightly low cortisol levels. Vet thinks it’s unlikely she has Addison’s but we’re doing the test in 2 weeks just to rule that out.>>
It is good to do the stim test anyway – and then hopefully be able to root out the source of the GI issues and supplement to improve cortisol levels.
You might consider a baseline thyroid panel too (Michigan State is the gold standard).My dog Hot Sauce had weird performance issues over the summer and after bloodwork out the wazoo, soft tissue evaluation, GI ultrasound and a chest x-ray… she came back with a very low T3 (a thyroid value is that is *not* correlated to bing hypothyroid), some inflammation markers, and a low folate/B12 level. So we supplemented her folate and B12… everything now is within normal ranges and she is back to competing like a beast (and playing with the puppies at home).
So it is worth it to explore medical stuff. Worst case scenario is you end up with a fantastic baseline as she ages. We see weird little medical things causing behavior changes over and over and over, so it is always a good place to go to as a first resort 🙂 I could go on and on with all of the cases over the decades (because I am old now hahaha) we have seen of dog sport behavior related to underlying medical stuff.
Nice work here! Keep me posted!
Tracy
Good morning!
>>I was late coming into the meeting this evening because I wanted to run Indy on sequence 4 when I got home from work. >>
I saw you pop in! It is good to get the sequence in before you lost the daylight – shorter days make scheduling harder for sure!
Great job working through the lateral lead outs! On the first part of the video, he had trouble with the combination of you being lateral and a little behind him. You can show him that by placing a toy on the other side of the jump to get him to look forward when you indicate it. He was Abel t find the jump on the last couple of reps – it was a little hard to see if he was turning his head or just flicking his eyes to the jump, but either way he was taking it nicely! I think if you can get him to turn his head and look at it for a few seconds, it will be easier to know if he is going to commit or not when you are further and further away from the jump. He probably just needed a reminder session and will be fine with it in the next session 🙂
The rest of the sequence looks really good! And it looks like he is jumping full height with no problem – even with all that crazy wind!
Great job 🙂
Tracy
