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Good morning! Sounds like the Toller specialty was a blast!
>>When he is barking at me on the dock he is ready to go.>
Most dogs are really engaged while barking 🙂 I highly recommend putting it on cue as a trick and then we can use it in agility too!
>>A real win as I was worried about this being a completely new environment.
It is indeed a huge win!!!!
>>We have used pattern games to decompress and engage and it really helps.
Looking at the videos:
He is engaging really fast with the pattern games and that is great!
Only one suggestion: For the up and down game, place/drop the treat on the ground rather than deliver it by hand, so we can get the benefits of him breathing more as he picks it up off the ground (olfaction is great for arousal regulation!)His action tricks look good! I think the hand touches and spins will be the most useful (and barking on cue 😁). The sits and downs were good too, but I think touches/spins will be more exciting.
To help these tricks get him really pumped up to work, two ideas about the reward:
– reward after each trick so it is a 1:1 ratio of trick to reward.
– since he is food-driven, you can keep the food moving as the reward. This can happen by you running away from him (chase da momma!) for a few steps before delivering it, or having him spin again to get it, or chase it with a short toss.At the very end you said something to him about a toy: if he will play tug, this is a GREAT game for a tug toy! You can use tugging in combination with food to help really optimize arousal and engagement.
>> When he goes into the agility ring and I cannot take in food he then disengages and wants to run.>>
No worries – we have a plan for that! We will be teaching him how to stay engaged even with the reward outside the ring. That will begin in the set of games coming on Monday.
Great job here!
TracyHi!
>Did a bit of chill after coming out of the crate -then some pattern games – into the ring and then turned up the volume a bit. Got good focus from him,
I agree – he had great focus and speed! This order of events might be the one you do at trials too – you can amp up the volume dial even more (unless you were doing it outside the ring and it is not on the video). He did well with the high hand touches and then held his stay really well. I am not sure how chill he is on his cot (he is working a bit, offering behavior) but that is not a bad thing 🙂 The pattern game helped get him ready to work before entering the ring.
>>but it was a challenging opening sequence for us, a couple of redo’s and yes he got rewarded well.
Yes, those were huge lines! When he didn’t take the #4 jump, was he just running past it (handling) or was he thinking about the other ring? It was hard to tell but I think it was handling perhaps, and you got it really well on the 2nd rep. And the rest looked great!!!
>>And yes, distance work may be next on our agenda LOL>>
He was finding his lines really well here and the weaves looked great – similar entry (kind of the mirror image) to what you were working on in the seminar!
Great job! Let me know how the seminar goes today.
Tracy
Hi!
>>I’d love to see Larry’s new fave toy! I bet Bazinga would be loco for the fur! Did Ramen do FEO too!? I’d love to see videos!!!>>
I will get a photo and message it – the toy is currently buried in the car somewhere LOL!!
I am going to play the videos in the Monday zoom chat to discuss what I did and why, in the hopes to give folks ideas, but here is a sneak peak:
>>Thanks for the ideas on how to “fade the trade” We did a little session in the house with just a blanket (she is a laundry stealer) and when I said out & moved to where we keep the treats, sh let go & followed me. As soon as I gave her the treat, I went back & played again. We repeated it a few times. I’ll keep it up & switch to a toy & then 2 toys. This will be a helpful tool to have, so I’m motivated to teach it!>>
This is awesome! She learned the game really quickly!
>>Ok, this gave me a huge lightbulb moment because I am trying to keep up with her. If I can stay connected, she can get the information & take the obstacles independently without me having to be right there.>>
Exactly. Yes, keep moving, but running connected is more important than running fast. And in the panic/excitement of running our young dogs, we humans cannot seem to run fast AND connected. So choose connected over fast 😁
>>I took her to agility league last night. We did the up & down game on leash and then we did 3 small sequences with a bungee toy & the volume dial game! I got video!!! It was so fun! I did use treats to get the toy back but she was really good about letting go.>>
All 3 video clips here looked awesome! She was very engaged and SUPER fast on the sequences! She seemed even faster than she is at home, and she is already super fast at home. And you were super connected so she found the lines really well. Yay!!! The RC was a little late, but no worries, just keep moving and she will find the line.
In preparation for AKC FEO, keep running as you show her the toy, so she can get excited about it without you needing to throw it (which is not legal in AKC). If you have another league night coming up, you can treat it like an official AKC FEO run and go in on leash with an amazing toy but no food, and do a short fun sequence to see how she does 🙂
Great job!!!
Tracy
Hi!
>>I also entered her FEO/NFC at a small outdoor AKC trial in a jumpers class. My plan to do some start lines, ring entry and rewards!>>
Rather than start lines (which are really hard and there are plenty of opportunities for errors), make her first experience in the ring as a fun & fun party time. Bring her in playing, reward her again for staying with you when the leash comes off, then start on a jump or tunnel with a simple send and so some really easy sequences of 2 oe 3 obstacles. Trust me when I say that will be *plenty* and you don’t want to start with the control of a stay in an environment where arousal is high and so are stress levels. The stay can go in very easily when she is very happy in the ring 🙂
>>I am going to bring a holee roller on a fluffy rope. If she seems unsure when we walk in I will ask for some spins. If she is not comfortable we will just play in the ring. >>
Bring her in chasing the toy! And doing some silly tricks for the toy. And don’t wait til she seems uncomfortable to make it about play… go in with the approach of “let’s get you very comfy as the top priority”. If she is comfortable in the ring? Everything else is SUPER easy. So spend her first FEO just having a grand time with play and some easy obstacles. If she gets uncomfortable, then things are going the wrong direction and we don’t want that to happen.
The most important thing is to look to the future of what you want long term in her career: happy and fast! Ask her for stuff that is at least 50% easier than what she does at home, because the environment is so hard. So only do happy fast things like playing and tunnels and easy lines. All of the complex hard things like stays or tight turns or longer sequences can get added in later 🙂
>>The good news is that I can’t cheat since she does not have any idea what weave poles are. My competitive juices will have to stay dormant.>>
Perfect! I also keep myself from getting competitive by entering at a lower jump height. In UKI, you can ask the trial secretary to put you in any height you want, because you are running NFC. Keeps us from doing too much, too soon!
I was going to show these on Monday to give people ideas about NFC/FEO runs, but here are the very-first NFCs run with Larry The Rental Whippet. The goal was to have a fun time and do one sequences and play with the toy. You can’t really see the beginning of the first run, but on the 2nd run you can see how I played then just sent him over a jump to start, no stays, just lots of fun stuff and rewarding. This was UKI so I could throw the toy and could go in without the leash. You can’t do that in AKC, but a long toy will fix that problem 🙂
On the video: this went well! Great job rewarding her even when things were not perfect 🙂
The first run went well and yes, directionals will help! Be sure you walk the sequence thoroughly and include the directionals, so you have practiced them before you run her.
Line her up on more of a slice to 1. She was facing a straight line to 1 which added a turn on the landing of the jump.
The RC went well. Yay!!!
For the BC to feel smoother, you can send to 3 from the landing spot of 2 so you are in a much better position to get the BC.
You got it on the 2nd run but it was late (bar down) because you got too close to 3 – hanging back and sending her ahead after she land from 2 will make a big difference.
The rep at 4:09 was better in terms of the sending but she didn’t take 4. That was because you ran directly to 4 and did the blind on her line, so had no place to land and read it as a backside cue. Ideally, you send to 3 and run towards 5, clearing the line for her to take 4 based on your line of motion. Compare your line at 4:09 to your running line at 2:33, where you were heading to jump 5 and she took 4 nicely (bar down because she was adjusting in the air based on the cue timing).
2nd video:
>>I did a late front (my specialty in stead of a blind) Double Oops! I was a line dancer growing up and I just default to matching the timing- I need to lead!>>
I think the FC is a good option on this sequence, because it gets your feet turned to the new line quickly. But yes…. Do it sooner 🙂 You started it as she took off for 3. After she lands from 2 you can be indicating 3 and starting the FC so she sees it finished before she takes off for 3. Being more lateral on the lead out will help too, because then you can get past 3 even sooner. Everything else looks great!!!
Nice work here 🙂
TracyHi! This was a good session – her up and down had movement is what we want, because of how that movement creates arousal regulation. Cool!
>>She first thought she shouldn’t touch the food and later offered a down.>>
I think both of those might have been related to “this is really easy, surely it is more complex than this” LOL!!! So you can use a marker for her to get the treat so she doesn’t think it is an impulse control game. And you can do shorter bursts of the game (30 seconds or so) so she doesn’t go into the down. It is possible that the back and forth game will end up being more useful for her because she can keep moving, but a short burst of this is great too because you can do it in a small space.
Nice work here!
TracyGood morning!
>>You forget all the things that have to be trained for these young dogs to be one seasoned veterans who will save your runs when handling errors occur!>>
This is SO TRUE!!!! The youngsters need to see every.single.part of the cue and there is no saving our runs. I am grateful for my experienced dogs who allow me to be a slacker LOL!
He did really well with the sequences and I agree, he was in a new gear of speed! Yay!
You can add a stay in front of jump 1, to see if he will read the line with you more laterally away towards 2 and 3. He did really like it when you played with him then ran to start the sequence, so being able to do it both ways will be great.
Your line of motion looked really strong. One thing to try is to run the sequences without pointing ahead as much (keeping your hand down towards his nose more). That way he can see connection better and will drive the lines even more. Pointing ahead changes the line of your shoulders and that changes the sends like at 1:28. You wanted the jump, but pointing ahead turned your shoulders to the tunnel so that is where he went. If your line supports the motion like at 3:13 it is workable to point ahead, but if the motion is not perfect the pointing can muddy the info.
You worked all 3 crosses between 4 and 5: rear, front, blind. Yay! The blind was the winner, because you were able to send to 3 and get ahead really well. So the BC info was timely and accelerated, so he got to go even faster. The FC takes longer to execute with the foot rotation through it, so the blind is a better option here. The RC was good to practice and he did really well! It is useful to have the RC in your toolbox for when you can’t get to the blind or front crosses.
You had one rep of doing the BC 2-3 from sequence 2: really nice connection and he got it easily! Super!
The teeter is also looking good, he is almost ready for it to go all the way to the ground (keep lowering the bar that catches the teeter so it is almost to the ground :)) When you go back and reward him, keep the reward low, placed on the teeter board, so he is not tempted to look up at you at all and keeps looking at the end of the board.
Great job here!!
TracyHi!
>>I’m also wondering if I should incorporate going through the gate barrier as well. I noticed at the trial, that walking through the gate seemed to kick up his arousal. Should I work that as well since the practice facility conveniently has gates?>>
Yes, you totally can – you won’t see much difference, though, until we add the remote reinforcement element to it (coming on Monday!!)
>> I’ve always had stopped so I gave the next command at the end, but it makes sense. Wish I had an auto-brain reprogrammer, but I will start working on that now!
Yep, those darned running contacts make everything go faster and my brain sometimes is still slowwwwww LOL.
T
Hi! I think he is looking really good! Some ideas for you:
Even in training, have him come in on lead so there is no cavorting amongst the obstacles (a habit we don’t want to develop :)) Plus, it will allow you to make the leash part of the ritual and that way the mechanics of using it will be very familiar. Plus, there will be no extra arousal associated with it (and you can get him to tug on it, in preparation for AKC trials!)
The patterns looked great, the volume dial looked great, he is great about going from treats to the toy . His tricks were fast and snappy! Super!!!
>>Chill is still one of the harder skills for him.>>
It is definitely a hard skill! You can try putting it in a different spot in the progression: pattern games, then chill, then volume dial. The volume dial is the game that cranks him up into the higher arousal, so chill will be a lot harder. Building the chill off a pattern game will help a lot – more on that coming next week here in class 🙂
The sequencing is looking good – nice connection!! You had a little disconnection at the end, so remember to maintain it all the way through (easier said than done!)
For straight exits off the contacts, yes to placing the reward but also cue the line a lot sooner. For example, the cue to go straight after the frame happened when he was exiting the frame and looking/turning torwards you. Ideally, he would be hearing & seeing the cues as he is on the apex of the frame, and no later than middle of the top ramp of the RDW 🙂 Give those cues early and often LOL!
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hello and welcome!! Big things ahead for your little tiny boy!! HA!!! I am excited to see what he does in the next few months!!!
Tracy
Hi! Looks like a beautiful day for training!!
>>. No pre agility training run. A bit of tug, some tricks (Paul didn’t get much of this before each run).>>
Awesome! She looked super focused here!!
>> Though I might be over stepping my time limit here, I’m including three videos of #4.
You are definitely *not* overstepping! You have never overstepped LOL No worries about the time limit 🙂
>> Let me add, the last 2 were after doing this about 10 times. My dogs do fine with lots of repetitive stuff, and most have for quite a few generations. It tends to be the way I train. >>
It is a really short sequence, so I think that was fine (plus it looks like she was getting rewarded a lot and not getting frustrated). One thing I have learned about whippets is that they are happy to repeat stuff as long as we humans are not blaming them for errors LOL!!! And you always seem to be praising her and rewarding her, which is great!
And also, they have incredible latent learning ability so anything that is does not appear to be ‘learned’ in the training session, will be learned as they sleep on it and they come back in future sessions with the skills looking really great. Whippet latent learning is the most incredible thing I have seen in all these years of dog training! I have never seen another breed (or lurchers) match that latent learning ability.
>> As you see in the last one, she was even perkier and focused than the first ones>>
Yes, she was still super engaged! Breathing harder because she had been working, but still very happy to run fast because of the clarity and reinforcement you brought to the session. Click/treat for you!!!!
Video 1: you had her on the other side of 1 here (and on the other videos) which turns 2 into a push to a backside – and that is definitely more complicated, but you got it. Yay!
On this run, she was correct to go straight to the tunnel 3-4-5, that is the direction you were facing, so she drove to it very confidently 🙂 Good girl!
video 2 – you were much clearer with your decel and shoulder turn at 3, so she had a great turn and found 4 perfectly. On the way to the #5 tunnel, she had a question about finding that entry where she would have to turn away. You can be more connected and keep moving directly towards the entry for longer, to help her sort out how to make that approach to it. The ending line looked great!!!
Video 3: you were super connected 1-2 and that made things very smooth there! The turn at 3 was lovely again, and you were more connected on the way to the 5 tunnel. She still had a little question and looked at you, but that is something she will sort out with more practice (and when she sleeps on it LOL!) And the ending looked great here too.
You can start to expand the distances so they are more and more like competition distances – 18 feet between jumps at least, and you can build up to 24 feet or so!
Great job!!
TracyHi! This went really well! For the next session, you can wait a heartbeat longer before tossing the next cookie: let her lift her head more to look up 🙂 On these, I think most of the engagement moments were glances towards you so we ask her for more. She did give good moments of looking up at you (like at :24, that was my favorite :)) so you can wait for those now 🙂
Since you have this going really well, you can take it on the road to different locations and see how she does! Nice work!
Tracy
Hi!
>>. I muted this because it was a friends’ training day so everyone was outside and barking obnoxiously>>
Ha! So since we can’t hear them, we will assume your verbals were all perfect 🙂
But good practice for her to have other people and dogs around!>>I tried really hard during the session to stay connected at the startline with her.>>
You did great! How do you feel the stays went? I might have missed a couple, but I kept track: she had 7 correct out of 9, almost 80% success, which is really good! And on the 2 where she moved, you gave very fast feedback – she stood up on one and she took jump 1 on another. When she broke on that rep, maybe your hand moved and she thought it was a release? Hard to see, but try to release with the verbal first then move your hand, so it is ultra clear.
Very nice runs here! Excellent opening line, lovely layering, terrific timing of the FC on the tunnel, terrific conenction on the tunnel exit. Her turns on the tunnel exit was FABULOUS.
When layering, feel free to tweak the sequence to add in balance reps for her so you can bring her in off the layered line too (rather than just making it all about the go go go 🙂 )
At 1:39 – she missed 1 – you were not really near the line and disconected when you released. You can keep going, finish the rep, and fix it on the next rep. That was the only time she had a question.
The hardest part of this sequence was at 6, getting the turn. The key will be showing her decel and collection cues as she exits the tunnel. Ideally, as she is exiting, you are slowing waaaayyyyy down and either showing a strong brake arm (opposite arm going towards her nose) or you can even do a decelerated spin to get the wrap.
You were tending towards an accelerated shoulder turn and pulling awya positionally, but the motion was overriding the position and was cuing her to go to the off course. Try to stay decelerated and handling the collection til you see her ‘crunch’ into collection on the takeoff spot and turn her head – that is your cue from her that you can run to the next line 🙂
You can see that the decel will be effective, because your cue at 3:47 had a decel as she exited the tunnel so the turn was better! You accelerated without a brake arm or spin, so she didn’t go off course but was wide.
At the end, you did it from a BIG decel (being stationary) and she was great! Add in the very clear brake arm (to her nose :)) or a spin and see how she does with that.Great job here!
Tracy
