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Hi there!
>>I tried out being on her line and it worked great!!!! Should I always be positioning myself like that except for backsides where she works need to see the wing? Or is this just on openings?>>
Do you mean on the sequence 2 lead out push? Then yes, that is the spot to position yourself in, This can vary slightly depending on where 3 is, but that is the general position. And if you are doing a backide on jump 2 then also yes, you would change your position to show the wing more clearly. It is not just for openings, it can be used in serp position on course (although it would be a slightly different context but the same general idea of being on the line).
Looking at the sequence 3 video: Lots of good work here!!!!
Nice lead out! I love that she has such great independence on the opening line here!!
>> I feel her confusion with this sequence was my incorrect position which was really apparent when rewatching the video.>>
Yes, she had some questions based on the handling, so 3 things to keep in mind as you work her on these:
– always keep going, don’t stop her even if there is a blooper (it is not her blooper LOL!) That gets you both thinking on your feet and making adjustments in the moment, which is a very valuable skill!– if there is an error, watch the video before the next run. I recognize that this is not a normal part of the agility world LOL! but I am on a mission to change that. It will streamline your training and get a lot more success, a lot faster.
– she is quite brilliant at following the handling! So if she goes wide or drops a bar or goes off course… you can show the handling cues differently and watching the video will give you the insight into what went wrong.
Her excellent understanding of the lead out means you got to great position for the BC. You can start the blind 3-4 sooner, no later than halfway between 2 and 3 (it started at liftoff for 3 at :25 so she couldn’t adust til after landing)… and probably even sooner because she is fast! Ideally, it would happen when she has landed from 2 and looked at 3. That will tighten the line up more.
I think keeping her on your left for 3-4 then doing the RC on 5 is a great plan! It requires a brake arm (2 arms) because the shoulder turn does indeed indicate the big line she took there at 1:20.
You did play with the timing of the brake arms and that was great! At 1:51 it was visible late (liftoff for 3) so she tried to adjust in the air but couldn’t quite do it.
The timing of starting the brake arm was 2:42 was better, but it was still a bit late (after she landed from 2 and moved to 3) but then you were facing forward til she took off and not using the brake arm, so the bar game down.You asked about what to do with the dropped bars… if you are willing to wager $1000 that it was her error and the handling does not need improvement (meaning, there was no late/unclear handling or a conflicting indicator where voice or hands are showing one thing, but motion showing another), and if you can stop her before she takes the next jump, then you can stop her and give her feedback about the bar.
But if you are not willing to lose that $1000 wager because it might possibly have been handler error, then keep going and reward the end of the sequence. Then, look at the video in slow motion and see what the handling was showing when she was taking off for the bar.
I personally have learned to never wager the $1000 because the video ALWAYS tells me what I did wrong, and the dogs don’t have a crystal ball to figure it out if the handling is not clear LOL!!
I don’t recommend the bad bar thing because by the time you do it, it is a little weird and potentially aversive from the dog’s perspective, and it doesn’t correlate at all to what went wrong – and the dogs slow down a bit (“mom is being weird!”) They sometimes keep the bar up on the next rep, but that is more of a product of better handling, the dog having figured out the sequence so might not have needed the handling and the dog being slower to be more careful (all of of which happened here).
Compare the handling at 2:42(bar down) where the cue started a bit late and at liftoff you were facing forward and not really turned, and not using the brake arm, to the handling at 3:18 (bar up) where the brake arms started at liftoff to 2 so she had a lot more info when she landed and looked at 3. And at takeoff at 3:19, you had a lot more decel and both arms cuing the jump, so the turn cues were much clearer.
On the reps at 4:08 and 5:30 – the bar stayed up but that was more a produyct of the cues being late so she jumped really wide.
>> I feel her confusion with this sequence was my incorrect position which was really apparent when rewatching the video.>>
Yes, she gave great feedback there! Too much shoulder rotation, and arm pointing forward ahead of her? She got the backside (keep that in mind for when we do want the backside of the jump, like with the threadle wraps!!) But when you had less arm pointing and more connection? She took the front of the jump perfectly. Yay!
No need to stop there if she took the wrong side of 5 – keep going! You can then reward her and look at the video. Stopping in the middle and rewarding can still be a bit frustrating to the dogs, because they totally figure out the difference between when we are like “YAY! GREAT JOB!!” at the end of a sequence versus “Hmmm what was that, try again, here is a toy”.
The best line there was at 6:30 where you nailed the arm not pointing, connection, and a very clear handling line to the front of the jump. NICE!!
I like that you added layering on the last line! It is a very useful skill! She did best when you had lower arms so she could see the connection there too (some dogs like high arms in layering, she likes lower arms so she can see the connection).
Great job! Let me know what you think!.
TracyHi!
>>– he is able to eat, with reasonable distance (15-20 ft from gate) alternating between stiff staring at running dogs and engaged with me – mostly engaged – occasionally staring>> – he did play pattern games where he would look around and offer re-engaging with me and when he got stuck staring I was able to interrupt and he re-engaged>>
Great! What type of treats were you using? You might need to go up to insanely high value treats (rotisserie chicken has been a winner lately 🙂 ) And if he freezes up, you can move away. One thing to add in the pattern games is more movement, both of you walking back and forth. Staying in motion can really help with arousal regulation! Standing still is very hard.
>>– to actually enter the ring we had to decrease our distance and I had him locked on the tug (when he is really over threshold (often at flyball mat time) he will not tug – so this is still good)>>
He did well with the tugging! When you took the leash off and he stuck with you, get him on the toy sooner so he doesn’t have toooooo much time to himself to start thinking about other things like his sister outside the ring 🙂
>>– he did “tricks” (we need to work on tricks, he did hand touches, sits, downs, spins) for food outside the ring – his toy “out” was not great which made tricks for tug challenging>>YAY!! You can experiment with trick – tug – treat and see if that helps get the tug release happening faster while maintaining good arousal regulation.
>>– west likes fuzzy toys but I have been moving toward toys that are less self rewarding to take off to a corner to dissect and in training he is ok with my choice of toys but in this environment I wanted his favorite toy to compete with distractions- much harder to “out”>>You can work on the out of the high value toys at home too, even using multiple high value toys so the reward for the ‘out’ is another awesome toy 🙂
>>– and in general, tugging in public has been a work in progress always and if I add too many rules and contingencies he says “no thanks”>>Yep – because then it is rules and work (puke) and not fun play. You want to have a style of play with clarity on how giving the toy back gets more play, but keep it simple and fun.
>> and sometimes he felt his trick should earn him a high value food treat (which he knew I had in my pocket)>>That is fine, he can have a treat in those moments 🙂 Asking for food instead of the toy might actually be an arousal regulation attempt on his part, so you can definitely go with it and see where it takes you.
>>– so i didn’t bring trick for tug into the ring, yet>>You can ask for the simplest one at the next trial and see what he says. If he says he can’t, no worries, you can use the tugging and the sequencing.
>>Second and third – my goal was to let him run some sequences – but I struggled to keep up and to restart him – they were very similar -* I included one of these in video>>
Since you are not asking for a stay yet, plan all of your starts so that you can send him and gt ahead to show the next line. When you did that? LOVELY!! When you tried to start with him? The info was unclear so the handling didn’t work as well. And don’t reset bars, there is not enough time in the NFC runs for that 🙂
>>Fifth – (in video clip) was usdaa not uki and I had a last minute realization that I had to take his collar off (I know – tiny difference and we’ve practiced putting it back on, but still it’s a thing)>>
OMG thank you for the reminder – I am doing USDAA next weekend for the first time in years and I totally forgot about the collar thing LOL!!!!!! And yes, it is a thing indeed!!! And something to be practiced.
>>- and that 2 of his littermates were running directly after him>>
Hard challenge! He did well!!!

>>It’s him getting used to the environment and me getting used to him simultaneously>>Yes – time is on your side though, he is only 16 months old (maybe 17 now?) so you have plenty of time and also he will continue to mature.
>>Overall I was very happy – he wasn’t thinking about leaving the ring for the distractions>>
Yes! He was great! And he ignore the kid that was running leashes, and he ignore the music that was playing too. Good boy!
>>I want to slowly start incorporating more self control and thinking maybe at a 1 ring trial>>Yes, quieter trials will be better. Rather than approach it as self-control, approach it as asking for other skills like short stays.
>>I tried to pick manageable sequences and when I felt that I was unlikely to fix the handling error with another attempt I moved on / like both rc attempts in the video clip – and when I felt we could potentially fix it, I tried again, like with the tight turn to the tunnel that he kept layering>>
He was correct in those moments, in terms of what he was seeing in the handling. So no need to fix handling – try to set it up so you are a bit ahead and if something goes wrong? It is probably late info (no worries) and you can reward or keep going. The handling doesn’t get trained in the NFC runs – it is the being happy in the ring and working together in that environment that gets trained, so you can focus on that and not worry about handling yet. Emphasize connection and staying in motion and reinforcement.
When you had your arms low and you were connected? That looked great! So plan for more of that and you will see things come together really nicely 🙂
Nice work here!
Tracy
Good morning!
Awesome news about the sequence!! Have fun with #4 today!
>>The other thing that helped, but won’t work in a trial setting, I took her out to run about an hour before any training. She was more focused and ready to work. I’m hope age will help. Plus learning that agility is just as much fun as playing fetch.>>
I agree, letting the dogs run doesn’t help in a trial setting 🙂 Leaning into the pattern games and the volume dial game before training totally helps! It is all about arousal regulation and those games help with that tremendously. At home, I use these games as a mental warm up before training so the dogs are learning to regulate their arousal – and my dogs almost never get a chance to run around before training LOL!!
Age will help, but not til the dogs are 4 or 5 so I love seeing the arousal regulation really help them 🙂
Have fun!
TracyHi!
>>Coal was on his way over to say hello – never went back that way the rest of the day. Yes Ana did use the occasional “AAK”>>
So if that happens, you can give him treats right afterwards to offset the weirdness/aversive moment. I think teaching him to ignore dogs crated in the ring can be done without the freak outs which are going to actually add tension to a situation where we totally don’t want tension or weirdness. He didn’t go back over there, but that was probably more because he thought it was weird/aversive and that can throw arousal levels off kilter in ways that show up elsewhere.
>>Do not toss the target to the instructor – LOL
Ha!
>>Working out of the car is our friend – keeps him much more relaxed.>>
Yes! I totally agree.
>>8 minutes on the floor is a loooong time – tough to keep focus and engagement going, especially when repeating sequences – more ping pong food tosses to keep him going?>>
The pattern game while she was explaining the plan was great! And you can also mix in sometimes jut gently holding his collar during the in between moments if the presenter is explaining something.
And even if things go wrong, reward with the same enthusiasm as if everything went to plan rather than be quiet and give a treat. The things going wrong are 99.99% of the time handler error (like when he took the jump after the tunnel instead of the weaves because the turn cue was late). So big enthusiastic reinforcement there was warranted because he was correct and working hard.
That will also help overcome doing a whole bunch of reps of the same thing – doing too many reps and stopping a lot without enthusiastic reinforcement was causing him to check out a bit. You can see him looking around then checking out.
And, use volume dial more because that helps the arousal state a lot! And the enthusiastic rewarding also helps keep the arousal state high 🙂
>>I keep thinking I need to dial him down when we get to the line. Maybe what I need to do is dial him up – get him excited for the work.>>
Yes! The science (Yerkes Dodson, 1905) says UP is optimal! And so do the responses from the dogs 🙂 Higher arousal state helps get great performance and also helps the dog ignore distraction. So start with the pattern to shift his attention to you, then get the tricks and treats going to increase his arousal level.
The other thing to add in is bring different types of rewards. As the sessions get longer, bring out better rewards towards the end of each turn and. The end of the day… start with cheese, perhaps, then go to chicken or something super high value and new to keep him excited! Changing the type and value of food rewards is really helpful for maintaining arousal and engagement.
>>Have another seminar tomorrow afternoon – Anything I should be doing differently?>>
I think this next one is a handling seminar? If so, remember to reward him enthusiastically after errors…. Because they will be handling errors (yours, not his LOL) And stopping without reward or quiet rewards will flatten him out. And break things down to help him out so he gets clear info and lots of reward.
Let me know how it goes!
Tracy
Good morning!
>>He struggled with the blind. I think part of it is he prefers jumping 8 inches but his jump height will be 12 inches.>>
Actually, he was reading the handling correctly and while yes, a lower jump height is probably easier, this was more of a handling error and not a dog error. Here is what I mean:
At :16 and :42 and 1:06, you released him from the stay and then disconnected by looking forward/pointing forward as he landed from 1. So he was seeing your shoulders turn: right shoulder coming forward and the left shoulder become engaged back toward him… which is a blind cross cue. So he was correct to change his line and NOT take 2, because on those reps the cue specifically (and accidentally 😁) said to not take 2. He was being a very good boy to read that cue!
Compare to the run at 1:34 where you were looking at him with your arm back til he committed – that was a clear “take 2” commitment cue. And same at 2:51 as you moved into it and also on the last rep (that was the best rep with the connection clear enough to commit him to 2 and also getting the BC done in time for him to read it. Yay!
So if there is an error on course… it is super critically important to keep going and ignore the error because
99.99% of errors on course are handler errors that the dogs are reading correctly. Stopping to tell him he is wrong is going to frustrate him and slow him down as he tries to figure , which we don’t want of course 😁 And if you are sure it was a dog error – still continue and reward at the end, then go watch the video to be sure the info as super clear. And if it was indeed a rare dog error? No worries if he got a cookie for it or continued, you can reward the correct behavior next time and there won’t be any fallout. But with young dogs especially, they are very good at showing us what we are cuing and they do not save our butts on course LOL!!Running this as a rear cross went well – your line of motion supported his line. You can also be more connected here – more pointing back to him and less ahead – that will get even more speed on the rear crosses because he can see the lines more clearly.
Great job here!
TracyHi!
I have post it notes on my fridge for stuff like this, and it is very satisfying to pull them off and crinkle them up after something gets done! And I can move things around if the schedule changes. Plus, pretty colors make me happy LOL!!!This looks like a great schedule for the week!!! You will be amazed at how the less-is-more schedule actually produces faster results. Our human brains struggle with that A LOT but it really does work 🙂
T
Good morning!
Back & forth and the tricks look awesome! What is your schedule looking like, where you are bring these games to new places? She is ready for that 🙂
>>Sit pretty??…>>
Avoid sit pretty for 2 reasons:
– when there is a lot of action and a lot of arousal, she might not really be able to balance properly without wrenching herself
– my sports vets all agree that sit pretty is not great for the spines of our sports dogs. If the dog offers it? Ok, but don’t reward it too much. And don’t use it on cue.Standing on back legs is good! And leg weaves, bowing, backing up, and high fives are all good action tricks.
Sequence 1: wow, look at you running with lovely connection all the way through!!!!!!! And she nailed it, of course. Click/treat to you both! You can start the FC on 3 a shade sooner, when she is about halfway between the tunnel exit and the jump. Nice connection on the exit of the FC! You can maintain that connection all the way through to 4 (then you got back into great connection to the end).
The GO verbals were great on the GO lines, but remember to mix in turn verbals for 3 and 5. We want to keep GO as the cue for extension only, so plan to add in the verbals for the turn and try not to say GO for every commitment.
Sequence 2 also went well! Look at her great stay! And I love the long play session at the end of the first run – so fun and motivating!! And on the 2nd run, where you ran into the blind? I am doing a massive happy dance about her stay!
Lead out push:
On your lead out at :17, you were on the wing of 2 closer to the tunnel. To cue a clearer turn line to 3, you will want to be more on the center of the bar of 2 – and start moving at the same timing you did here (and with the same connection – timing and connection were great!)Timing of the blind cross on the 2nd run was 🤩🤩 fantastic, and you had plenty of time to show clear connection on the new side. This was a great run too, and I think the turn 2-3 was better because of your position on the blind.
One detail: Use a wrap verbal on 3 at :20 and 1:27 instead of GO 🙂 As you walk the courses, start planning those verbals so you don’t end up saying go or over for everything.
>>(toller national was not enough so I drove 5 hours south for agility)>>
Ha! Sounds exactly like something I would do LOL!!!
>>Hairy Barky ran 4-5 dogs before us while we were at set up.>>
Bwahahaah great description!
>>Cricket immediately got STIMULATED, tail all a quiver, inner terror coming out, and I did back and forth pattern with cookies. It took exactly 2 cookies and she was 100% at a perfect state! She has an adorable little dial.>
YES!!!!!!! This is great!
>>YOu are brilliant by the way. >>
Credit really goes to Leslie McDevitt and her original Control Unleashed program. We just take the patterns and add/build/tweak/etc to get them into dog sports 🙂
Great job here!
TracyHi!
>>Okay yes but I also she her when we first come out running around offering stuff before I am anywhere near the equipment and she does alot of running over stuff with Robyns dogs. I work hard to prevent this now as I want to make sure I am part of the picture and I am not always.>>
I am glad you are preventing this! It is definitely an undesirable rehearsal. I think at this point, you can eliminate free running around the obstacles (especially with other dogs, as that can encourage chasing other dogs) and have her wait in a crate or on a platform, then bring her out on a leash. That will really help you direct the reinforcement and build value for more desirable behaviors.
And when you are working on sequences, be sure the other dogs are not also on course. On the first video below, the other dog was running with you and that is far more distraction than either of you need (and can also be dangerous!)
On the video, incorporating the food went really well! It looks like she was able to eat the treats and go back to the tugging really well. And her tricks looked good too!
>>Interestingly enougn latency doesnt change with environment (until get to high level of doing agility) if anything more focus higher environment>>
Her latency was generally good (low) here! And yes, the more stimulating environment can actually optimize arousal state for a lot of dogs – especially these purpose bred mixes.
One idea:
To keep building the ‘mine’ cue, you can sometimes give her the toy back when she releases it (that is the ultimate reward for that behavior :)) You can do it when she release very quickly, to give a massive reward for the quick release of the toy.Also, the toy release is an indicator of the arousal level and if the session goes on too long – after about 2 minutes, I think she needed a break because the responses slowed down and she was looking around more. Set a timer for the session to be 1 minute total. Then take a break (even if she doesn’t appear to need a break).
The waits are going well!!!
Add a bit of praise before the stay release, and add in NOT moving when you say the release word. You are doing a fast & forward movement of body and hand on the release… which she might think is the release 🙂 She appears to know that the other movements are not the releases (hands up high or you spinning around) but the movement of the release looks different and he probably thinks that is the release. So lead out, stand still, praise, then release but don’t move til after she has take a few steps.On the sequencing video –
>>First video had an issue with robyns dog – one hassel when train somewhere else but thought In Synch handled well what was not great.>>
Yes, definitely contain the other dog so you have no visitors on course. Having to use a lot of brain energy to avoid the other dog is not something we want her to have to do right now, plus there is a collision danger for both of you.
Now that the waits are going well away from the agility, you should definitely add them to the first jump. It doesn’t have to be a long wait, but you will want to be able to stand still and say the release without moving, so she doesn’t start the run when you turn to face the jump. So ask for the sit, turn and face the jump (slowly, to help her understand it is not the release), praise, stand still, then release.
She ran the opening line really well, even being chased! Having to avoid the other dog (for both of you) leads to timing errors and that contributed to why she dropped the bar on 3 at :34. Nice connection on the second run and she found the lines really well, especially the big line to the last tunnel!
>>Second video I needed to stop and sort out the wait when she was close to the jump>>
The second video is the same as the first video, can you repost the 2nd one?
Great job here!
TracyHi!
I think 2 things were happening here and they were combined to make things go sideways:
>>Now lecturing myself that she is probably depleted from having to think for a few sessions over the last few days while the furry lotus tug is in my hand and that I should just post this and go find something else to obsess over that doesn’t involve training Lift.>>
Yes and yes LOL! And I don’t think that it was because of thinking or the toy, I think she had a very busy week of doing things and not enough rest or decompression, so things went sideways today. Scrolling back through the thread, she had something every day this week (home training or class or photo shoot) so that piles up the amount of hormones stimulated inside her. Plus, if your schedule has changed, her rest cycles are probably different too.
So one thing to do is schedule her week – and that needs to include days of no training at all (just decompression walks and rest and hanging out). Those days off are the absolute best thing for her mind and body, and sleep is the best thing for learning.
Try to limit sequence work over jumps to 3 days a week, maximum. Once you get into 4 or 5 or 6 days, then she is doing to get physically and mentally depleted and the sequencing won’t go well.
>>This morning she woke up with ants in her pants and raring to go.>>
That might have meant more that she was over-stimulated and needed decompression and rest, not necessarily training.
The other thing that was happening was your connection on the morning sequence was not all that clear. It was “soft” in that your dog-side arm was closed forward so you probably could see her but she could not really see the connection or which side of you to be on (like after the blind at :53, at 1:41, 2:01. Now, when you kept going like at :53? She went with it and didn’t have a frustration response.
But at 1:41 connection is unclear, she almost reads it as a blind then you stop and then the connection at 2:01 was unclear (she could only see your back) – and you stopped in both of those moments and withheld reward. That stopping after unclear connection is always a frustration trigger for her, so you got the BIG MADS especially after 2:01.
Add in being depleted from a long week, and she couldn’t really recover.
So with the connection – if she pulls off a line, always keep going, even if you have to freestyle a sequence. Then go watch the video and freeze it in the moment before her question – you can see if your dog-side arm was far back to her nose and revealing connection, or if it was at your side (which blocks connection). Then before the next sequence, ramp up the connection so it is very clear 🙂
>>then got barky about lining up (not sure if it was lining up in the course facing out, because I was holding her new favorite lotus tug or just because.>>
Yes, possibly facing away from the course possibly, or the toy, or because you’ve been rewarding barking lately 🙂 But also it might have been an indicator that she was not really ready to train.
The decompression walk was a good idea! Then end her day on that – resist the temptation to figure things out with one more session. She did do the sequences, but she was slow and a bit frozen in between reps, so we don’t want to rehearse that. Probably physically tired at this point too. Remember that you can rely on latent learning – let her sleep on it even if you didn’t see the full behavior when you were training! The learning is encoded during sleep so that makes not doing more training even better! Less is more for dogs, especially adolescents 🙂
>>As I was heading back into the house, she started tugging like crazy on the empty lotus tug so on a whim I turned on the video again and did 2 easy sequences (aka no sending to a jump for a turn) with the lotus tug – no leaps – seemed really happy so called it quits and went inside>>
Resist those whims! The excitement with the toy was probably not a request to train, it was probably just letting off some steam – so it is best to not keep trying to figure out what was happening and just end the session instead. She ran the sequences but I think she was toast and needed a nap LOL
I think watching video between reps will be incredibly useful too – if she has a BIG MAD about something, you can keep going to finish the sequence then watch the sequence in slow motion to look at connection or anything else that might have contributed to her questions. That will give you higher quality reps and also give her breaks in the session too!
>>go find something else to obsess over that doesn’t involve training Lift.>>
Yes! Or, obsess on her training by making a calendar of what she does each day (and stick to it) to avoid depletion. That is on my agenda for tomorrow: dog calendars for 6 dogs LOL!!
Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi!
>>I don’t know why I keep missing the connection!>>
Maintaining connection is the *hardest* thing in agility!!! We humans make connection errors, not just with baby dogs… it was the number 1 error at the world championships this year too!
>>Here’s Indy’s run on the 2nd sequence. I should have tried a blind & a rear>>
The sequence looked great! Your connection looked lovely here 🙂
You did the lead out push here – you can be a little closer to 3 and less between the uprights of 2 to get the best turn.
Also, you can definitely try the blind here. The lead out push is a collection cue (standing still & facing him) and he doesn’t really need the collection cue in this situation. He is small and he turns really well, so you can let him blast on these lines – that is why I think the blind might be your best option. Even if the blind produces a slightly wider-looking line, I think it would be the fastest option for him.>>we moved on to the teeter. I realize that’s not in this class but I included the video of moving right into the teeter after the sequence. We are slowly dropping it & he could easily jump off but he does stay on.>>
I am happy to look at his teeter 😁 He is doing great!!!! You can add a jump before and after it, or even the tunnel before it, so it starts to be part of a sequence. That will making it even easier to put into courses when it drops all the way to the ground.
Great job here!!
Tracy
Hi!
Yes, the GetRevd games looked to be in sessions of maybe 90 seconds to 2 minutes or so. But even with that, the patterns were going on longer than needed. For example, session 2 started at 1:48 approximately – and at 2:07, he started to check out (20 seconds in) and then by 2:17 he was definitely wanting to check out (30 seconds).So with that in mind, aim for 15 seconds or less of a pattern game and then move on to the next thing. Higher value food will help him be super engaged and even extend the duration of the pattern games, but duration is not necessarily the goal at this stage.
You can also have him enter the ring in higher arousal – tricks! Chasing you!And the volume dial game. You can start with a short pattern game and then go into the volume dial tricks.
And to help make that happen, use food rewards that he cannot resist 🙂 When the environment is hard, I use rotisserie chicken or scrambled eggs meatballs or other crazy things that the dogs never get at other times… and that they are absolutely wild for. That will also help when you are doing the stay games like you started with – stays are very motivating when arousal is already a bit cranked up thanks to the volume dial game 🙂
Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi!
>>Getting ready for toy play for FEO – what do you recommend/what should I be trying to incorporate?>>
I was thinking of you today as I was doing FEO for the first time with the two whippets!! Larry The Rental Whippet really only trains for food and runs flyball for food… so for his FEO today, I attached his furry lotus ball to a bungee toy that had a raccoon tail on the other end of it. He totally loved it!!!! That is something that Bazinga might like too – bungee was very thin so she can get it in her mouth easily. I can send a photo if you like!
>>AKC doesn’t let you throw the toy, so I usually do tug with Frankie but I only do it once on an FEO run – at the end. I’m thinking with a baby dog, I’ll want to do it more than once.>>
Right! I like to use tug at the start line, during the run to reward things (and for forgiveness when I screw up haha). The long lotus ball-bungee-raccoon combo was great for rewarding without throwing. I did throw it a bit because UKI allows it, but I also rewarded from hand too.
>>She likes to play tug and I have a bungee lotus ball that she loves. I can use it with no food for FEO.>>
Perfect! And the fur-covered one that I used today has never had food in it, and he liked it just as much. And Bazinga has better toy drive than Larry Whippet, so I think she will be happy.
>>Currently we are still trading & she is pretty strict about the rules – hahaha. She gets the ball open & then I give her 1 kibble & say “out” and pick up the ball. I need to fade out that 1 kibble. But how? any good ideas? Trade for another toy to start?>>
You can totally trade for another toy! And you can also change the game a little: tug on the toy and then relax the tugging and get her to give it back to you: and when she does, she can have the toy back. Because yes, being able to get the toy back right away will make your FEO runs MUCH more effective because you can reward multiple times, rather than once LOL
You can also move the kibble further out of the picture: it can be on a countertop next to you… then in the next room… then further and further away until she doesn’t need to have Trade Laws anymore 🙂
On the sequence 2 video:
>>I am not keeping good connection past the first few obstacles. >>You can try running slower 🙂 I know, that sounds nuts 🤣😂 but running fast can get very disconnected with arms pointing everywhere. If you give yourself a nice long lead out (her stays are looking good!) and then just run at a medium speed, you will find it much easier to be connected. Trying to out run a speedster like Bazinga is pretty impossible LOL so running super connected will be very effective.
>>Should we be doing the volume dial game before each rep?>>
Since you were throwing a toy, I don’t think you need to do volume dial every time – she was pumped up! You can add it in here and there, especially later in the session so she stays pumped up 🙂
The lead out work went really well!
On the lead out push – you can be more on the line you want her to take, so a little further over to 3 and not on the center of the bar of 2. Think of it as a serp so you will be facing 3 and showing the line by moving to 3 no later than when she is halfway between 1 and 2. You were a little too far over on the center of the bar at 2, so she jumped straight.
The send to 3 is where you can run more slowly – you were hustling and ended up being a little disconnected. So as she lands from 2, you can be super connected and not moving that fast (decelerate into it) and that will help her see 3. You were slower moving but very connected on the last rep, and it was perfect!
The BCs went really well! You had good timing of starting it at 1:06 and great timing at 2:18 and the last rep!!!! On those, you saw her landing from 1 and lookin at 2, so you were doing the blind before she reached that halfway point. Super!! You were a shade early at 1:46, it was finished when she landed from 1, so she was correct to not take 2.
On the last rep, the opening was perfect then you were a bit disconnected on 4 so she didn’t know which line or end of the tunnel you wanted. I think the connection is a little rusty because you had been focusing on other things lately, so you can sharpen it back up by tackling each sequence by looking at her the whole time (no arms!) and saying all the verbals to her cute face 🙂
>>We are traveling next weekend to a trial and to stay at a friend’s house so I’ll be able to advance to doing the games in new locations then.>>
Perfect! Her Back & Forth and Up & Down games are definitely ready to go on the road. Her responses are super quick and that is exactly what we want! You might need higher value treats if the environment is really hard, but she will let you know based on the speed of the responses.
>>We got a hi-10! The hi-5 is hit or miss, she’s giving me both paws for that. I must have lumped!>
She might be so excited that she wants to give you a high-20! LOL!! All of the tricks look good, and you have a good set of them! These can go on the road too – that will tell us which are her favorites and are easiest in hard environments: the spins? The high 10? Leg weaves? The easiest ones that are the most fun are probably the ones we will rely on when the environment is hard.
Great job here!!
Tracy
Hi!
His weaves are looking great! Wow!!!>>Couple of times left him ina sit stay for a bit too long – yes?>>
Yes, and I think that used up a bit of mental focus (when you were getting the bowl to use as a reward target) and he had a hard time get backing on track after that. But he did! Yay!!
During the in between moments, he had some free movement to go back and forth between her and you, which I think is fine. That gives him a chance to relax and not have to think about stuff as you plan the next rep. You can play pattern games during the in between moments too! Then when it is time to work, back to the hand touch game or the leg weaves (like you did near the entry of the weaves, those were great!)
As you moved to the line at the very beginning, great job getting him pumped up with the hand touches. That was a great application of the volume dial game and he was VERY focused and fast! Love it!!!
>>1st time meeting Ana so there was a bit of mugging especially knowing she had a handful of our cookies.>
Where was he going when people freaked out at :56? Towards her? Did she give him a weird noise at 1:33 when he went to her? I think that level of response to him checking things out actually makes him focus on that stuff *more* because he was like “that was weird, I need to look at that”. If people just ignore him and carry on, he is going to look at them less and less 🙂
I think he did really well here – very focused, fast, and accurate with a hard skill in a distracting environment!
Tracy
Hi! I hope you had a blast at Toller Nationals!
I loved watching her do the back and forth game! She knew it was back and forth… but sometimes she would skip the “looking at da momma” part and wonder why the treat was not thrown 😂🤣. You had great timing of waiting for her to engage with you, so keep going with that great timing.
You can add in walking back and forth, and also doing it on leash (because she will be on leash when you will need this game, outside the ring). In harder environments, you might need food that she can slurp down rather than chew, so she can re-engage more quickly.
>>Not sure about the up and down with a little but I got some squats in!>>
Ha! Yes it is more exercise LOL!!! I actually use this game as a bit of a hamstring warm up for my sorry self before a run 🙂 She did great on this one, appearing to have no questions at all 🙂 This will be very useful in tighter quarters!
This game and the back & forth game can go on the road, taking it to a variety of locations (basically, anywhere you go, you can try this 🙂 )
Great job!!
Tracy
Hi!
The distance you are working on now will serve you really well, even when you get back to full running 🙂 She is dong really well!!Great job comparing the 3 lead outs!
She had a little question on the first run and did not take jump 1. I couldn’t see where you had her set up, but my guess is it was off the line because she never even looked at 1 🙂 You can keep going when that happens rather than tell her she was wrong. At :48 (and all the other reps) she was in a better position and she got it nicely.
Looking at the lead out push from landing side of 2: To get a better line to 3, you can be positioned directly on the line to 3 (which also means closer to 2). You can decide what you want her perfect line to be… and that is exactly where you stand when you release her from 1 🙂 And so you don’t get run over: get moving to 3 no later than when she is halfway between 1 and 2.
On the runs, you were positionally too far from the ideal line: you were center of the bar of 2 and pretty far from it (backing up on some runs) so she was jumping straight over 2 and she was not sure if there was a turn to 3 until after she landed. You can see it ay :58, 1:33, 2:05, 2:36, for example. She did get to 3 on some of them but you had to push back pretty hard to get it (she yelled at you a couple of times LOL) and on one of them (;59) you pushed back a lot and she thought it was a rear cross. So being on the exact line then moving forward to 3 (think of it as a lead out serp) will really smooth out that line.
You did a couple of FC lead outs (3:07 and 3:55). Positionally, those work well because you are showing the line to 3 sooner. You can lead out further (her stay is looking great!!) so that you release her when you are already a couple of steps past 2. That will give you more time to do the FC (starting ideally no later than halfway between 1 and 2 – you were starting as she took off for 2 so she landed wide there).
I think the blinds were the best option here! You were leading out pretty far here which helped too. They are easier to finish quickly, so timing was less important like at 4:11 and 5:09. You started the blinds as she was lifting for 2 on those reps but you were able to finish them fast and her turns were good!
The run at 5:39 was my favorite! You took a longer lead out, and you started the blind after she landed from 1 and looked at 2. That is PERFECT timing!!!! You were moving along the straight line past 2, so keep your line of motion heading to 3 like on the other reps.
She only had one other question, which was the bar on 4 (jump before the tunnel). If you disconnected, pulled out the toy, and said tunnel over the bar: the bar came down every time. When you stayed connected and were quieter, and didn’t pull out the toy while she was approaching the jump? She kept it up every time 🙂 For example, 6:24 – really nice!!! So on those ending lines, keep the toy out of the picture until after she finishes the jumping and stay connected to support the line. I think it will not be an issue when you are able to run more, because you can support the line with acceleration too.
Great job here!! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
