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Good morning! Hooray for good weather, finally!
The rocking horse game looked GREAT!! Your connection was lovely throughout and that really helps support her line. And you got the directionals in the right spot too! The more you practice with the directionals, the less you will have to think about them. You can add more distance between wings now, and add the advanced level 🙂
She also did well with the stays outdoors – it is harder when the pups are more pumped up, but it will really help for the future when they need to do their stays while being pumped up 🙂
The next steps are to get you to be moving away and not facing her. I think part of the reason you felt like she would going to blast off the board at any moment was because you were facing her and rewarding from your hand.
So two things to add, to switch things up and start to get the distance and duration:
– ask her to sit but start slowly moving away and turning away
– While you are doing that, reward by throwing a treat back to her (or a toy). I use a ‘catch’ marker then I throw it. The catch marker doesn’t mean she has to catch it 🙂 it just means a reward is being tossed back to her and she can move to get it.That will help her learn to stay in the spot while you move away – do short increments at first but she is smart and I know she will figure it out really well. Plus, that will allow you to fade the platform – it is helpful but we need to plan to fade it out too 🙂
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
Yes, turning off can be a sign of stress, for a variety of reasons. Adding in decompression during the training and before he turns off will help! That will also keep the sessions short, which is very helpful with young dogs. What kinds of decompressions do you see him liking the best?
The other thing to be sure of in training is a super high rate of success – be sure he is getting a good reward on most or even ALL reps.Keep me posted!
Tracy
Hi!
The GO reps looked great!
The first wrap rep at :17 was lovely too – nice timing of decel then rotation. Same at :49! On those reps, you decelerated for a few steps then as he approached the jump, you did the FC. Lovely commitment and collection from him, you can really see him bending as he came around the wing at :49!
On the blooper reps, you were a shade too early on the rotation at :26 (he was still pretty far from the jump for a baby dog) so a couple more steps of decel will help.
Then at :32 you slammed the brakes 🙂 and turned which pulled him off the jump.Because we don’t want you to have to be perfect 🙂 and we want to expand his commitment: Rather than reward when he doesn’t take the jump, or resend to the jump from up close (which doesn’t help your timing or his commitment :)) – in the blooper moments you can just keep moving and send him back to the wing to start the next rep seamlessly, and adjust your timing. Then you can reward for taking the jump either from your hand after the FC or by throwing it to the landing side of the jump.
>It’s going to be 80 today and he got a little hot. It was just below freezing 2 weeks ago.>
It has been a WEIRD winter!!!! I am ready for spring!
Nice work here!!
TracyGood morning!
She was great with the straight line versus get out here!!
Well done on all the straight line reps, she was really good about NOT grabbing the jump even on the 2nd side when the start wing was really close to it!!!
For the ‘get out’, draw a line number the dirt closer to the start wing to help your feet stay straight. Your upper body (connection, arm, eyes) were great but your feet were magnetically drawn to the jump, so a line in the dirt will keep your feet on the same line as they were on for the straight lines past the jump.
On the other side:
>Right side was wonky at first, but I also had a floating arm. My get out cue somehow morphed into go out on the right side too.>
I think the arm was good here in the video, but on this side you can add more connection very directly to her eyes. That will help her shift away even more. And yes, the verbal shifted to ‘go’ for a heartbeat but was back to ‘out’ at the end 🙂
I agree that she did well with the zig zags! Yay for the stay!!! The quicker you cued the lines, the quicker she did the lead changes 🙂 so you can totally cue as quickly as possible. Because she is still growing, you can revisit this every couple of weeks to see how she does as her body continues to change. When she is in more of her adult body, we can add shorter distances to get the lead changes even quicker.
Looking at the decel/wrap video:
>The first tight wrap I tried she ended up pushing to the outside of the opposite wing. I knew I was getting pretty close to her line if not almost on it, so I think that’s why she went far out.>
Excellent observation, I agree completely. If I wanted you to cue her to the backside, that is exactly what the line would look like 🙂 Also, the delivery of the verbal was loud and long, which is a forward cue and less likely to be interpreted as a wrap cue which is quieter and shorter, almost choppy sounding to match the deceleration.
I think your verbal is “way” so you can deliver it like waywaywayway instead of WAAAY WAAAAY WAAAAY if that makes sense 🙂
The other reps had a much better running line! Yay! The next step is to decelerate sooner: when she has exited the wing wrap at the start, you can start your decel even if she has not passed you yet. Keep facing forward until she is very close to the jump (almost taking off for it), then do the FC. That will help her commit in collection without you needing to be there at the jump too.
And excellent job with your connection and reward delivery after the wraps! That really got lovely tight drive around the wrap wing of the jump.
Great job!!
Tracy
Good morning!
Really nice session with the Go versus RC, in both directions! He read all the cues really well. I was watching what your line of motion was doing as he exited the tunnel – the GO reps were all spot on in terms of the cues were you showing him. The left turn RCs had your feet already showing the line to the center of the bar, so he did super well! On the right turn RCs, your feet were still facing straight for one more step – so even though he did read the pressure and RC when you started it, you can add in getting on the line to the right turn RC even earlier 🙂The Out versus Straight went well too! I love that he never grabbed the jump when you were cueing the straight line.
For the ‘out’, you can be more dramatic with the cue. When you did that with BIG connection, he had no trouble finding the jump. You can see it clearly on the 2nd side. When he was not a sure (like at :23), it was because there was not enough drama in the connection – the big drama of looking very directly at him is what turns your shoulders to the line (along with the outside arm), and when you were non-dramatic 😂 at :23, your shoulders never really turned to the line.I think he is ready for the advanced level where you add the cross at the end!
Zig-zag grid: What a good boy holding hi stay on the mat!!! Love it! You can work on fading the mat by making it smaller and small til it is the size of a post it note 🙂
He did well with the bars and the lead changes. He was slowing down as he got closer to you but that was because you were facing him (which does cue collection). Eventually we will have you facing away, no worries. I think the next step for him here is to use weave poles instead of jump bars because those will shorten the distance which will ask him to do the lead changes faster!
The wrap game is going well and he gave you great feedback about timing! All of the go reps looked great, click/treat to you for mixing them in a lot!
About the decel and timing: I thought the timing of your decel was best on the reps where he did not take the jump 🙂 You were decelerating a little after he exited the wing wrap, and before he passed you. Your rotation was too early for a baby dog, which is why he did not take the jump. Your timing was ‘grown up dog’ timing 🙂
So definitely go into the decel at that same timing – but keep facing forward/moving forward slowly until he is most definitely going to take the jump in collection. What does ‘most definitely’ look like? Because he has quick feet, I’d say ‘most definitely’ is when his front feet lift off the ground. That is your cue to do the FC.
You won’t always need to wait to see that, but it will get commitment in collection for now with timely decel cues. And you can add in throwing the toy to the landing side of the jump as you do the FC, to pump up the commitment in collection value.
Now, if you are early by a heartbeat and he doesn’t take the jump:
Rather than throw a reward when he doesn’t take the jump or resend to the jump from close to it (which doesn’t help timing or commitment), you can keep moving and send back to the wing to do the next rep. Then throw the reward to the landing side when he does take the jump.He did take the jump on the other reps because you ran forward longer and decelerated later – you can see those turns were a little wider! So we will work his commitment understanding so you can go with your natural instinct of good deceleration timing.
Great job here!!
Tracy
Hi!
I am glad you tried the chair – this went great! He is SO FUNNY – everything he does is so fast LOL!! He literally exploded backwards on that first rep 😂
My only suggestion is to keep your hands low the whole time, so he keeps his head lower. You can do that in the chair by leaning forward and putting your elbows on your legs and letting your cookie hands dangle. That will get even more backing up because you can flick the cookies further back and faster (while he is still moving) – while also keeping his head down. When his head comes up to look up at you, he stops backing up o having the cookies tossed low and while he is still moving will help that.
Great job here!!
TracyGood morning!
>This is SO cool!! Thank you for sharing that tid bit! >
I mention it because a lot of people get worried when the dog sniffs during work… but working breeds sometimes need to sniff to clear their heads and solve the puzzle. My now-2-year-old is half Malinois, so he was definitely putting himself into problem solving mode like Sunnie did here.
Looking at the videos –
You did great on the harder side here! I would not have guessed it was your harder side. What made it challenging was that he had to chew the start cookie then she came FLYING back to you after the start cookie so it is possible you were surprised on the first rep! But you started to expect it and then your timing got really good! You can keep building up the distance with this game, adding in the advanced level and taking it to different places you might have access to.Looking t the turn and burn games:
She was VERY into the tug toy at the start of the first one here!
One thing to add is having her wear a collar because that will smooth out the beginning of each rep. By lining her up in a sit with a cookie at the beginning, she might have thought she was in a stay – and that made it harder to get thing going at first. Having a collar on her will take out any stay confusion because you can have a finger on the collar start your verbal wrap cue while looking at her – then let go so she can start wrapping the barrel.
>This tug has a lotus ball attached to the end (it came like that). I would like help with my logistics using this tug as a reward.>
Your logistics of presenting it were lovely! You have 2 options for this toy: you can use it as a moving lotus ball lie you did here, where she is getting the end of it and opening it up to get the treat.
Or, you can use it as a tug toy where she tugs on it – but having the treat in the lotus ball part of it will always lock her onto the cookie. So since she was interesting in tugging, you can do this game with a long fun tug toy without the lotus ball, and see if she will tug on it (and not be looking for food – I think she will!) Use a big crazy toy and let her chase it and grab it for tugging.
Looking at the left turn video – she totally wanted to turn right here so adding the bowl definitely helped. The next step to build it to the turn and burn game like the right turn side is to have the bowl be out there almost at the exit line, but the bowl is empty – it shifts into being a visual aid only. Then as she gets to the bowl which is almost at the exit line, you take off and present the fun wild toy. She might ask ‘where is the bowl cookie’ at first, but then she will sort it out immediately. And then we can fade the bowl out entirely by just having it keep moving around the barrel until it is hidden.
There was definitely something in the barrel – a Lab nose is never wrong LOL!! And since she was trying to figure out the left turns, her nose caught wind of *something* LOL!!
Great job here! Let me know how she does with those left turns on the barrel!
Tracy
Good morning!
>She has no interest in food or snuffle when she’s running amok with the toy. It’s like the Tasmanian devil. But, I can try to react less and see if it helps.>
You can still put it down, eventually it will become interesting.
Another option is to channel her right out the door into the yard with you – just says something like ‘let’s go’ and run for the door, then go let her run around with a ball or something. Lots of options!Backing up is going well! She only didn’t really back up when her feet were already on the mat – she was like “I have already arrived, human” hahaha
So be sure to step a little further away each time so she can find the mat and be somewhat straight to it as well. You had a lot of reps where her front feet came off but her back feet stayed on, so you can be a little furtherer away to get her back feet off as well.Nice work!
Tracy
Hi!
He is definitely getting the idea of the RCs, reading the pressure of the line as the turn cue the new direction. YAY!!And I love that you were using a toy as the RC reward – he was joyful with it and I am super excited to see him playing with the toy even though cookies were also used in the session. Good boy!!! It was so fun to see him scampering about with his ‘prize’ after each successful rep ❤️
Since he is doing so well, you can keep adding distance – and as you get further back, start right next to him like you did on the very last rep here (1:29). That allows you to show the cue sooner (because he gets ahead of you sooner) and you were also able to go faster! Yay! And be sure to throw in a couple of balance reps where you go straight and do NOT do the RC, just to be sure he is watching the cues and not guessing that it will be a RC 🙂
Lovely work on all of these!!!
Tracy
He is paying really great attention to the hand cues on the tandem turns here! And your mechanics looked strong too 🙂 He read it well with both the dog-side arm at the beginning, and with the outside arm during the rest of the session. I think the outside arm got him a little closer to you and also got a tighter turn, but that could have also been because he was figuring out the game 🙂
He also read this really well in both directions – that is unusual in a good way! Usually pups have a strong side and a weak side on this game, but he was great on bth sides. Yay!
Like the lap turn, this game is ready for the advanced level where you add the prop.
Great job!!!
TracyHi!
He was so funny at the beginning when you put the cookie in the bowl, circling it – it was HARD to ignore but he did a great job!He didn’t want to line up at first, so what you can do in that moment is reward him with even better cookies for walking away with you (rather than circling the bowl or heading to the barrel without you). Then when he can walk with you, you can ask him to line up at your side (more cookies!) or even do the between-the-feet lineup (even MORE cookies LOL!!) That will help him ignore the distraction of the cookies in the bowl while also lining up, which will transfer really nicely to start lines on course!
He did really nicely wrapping the barrel, so the line up will make it easier for you to cue the start of it. It was cool to see him understanding that it is the ‘work’ that indicates the cookie in the bowl is available rather than just grabbing the cookie in the bowl. So adding the line up will also become fun work for him, which is what I saw when you were practicing the stays. When he lines up closer to you, you can also add in front crosses on the barrel as well as the wrap verbal.Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
He is also doing well with these! You were actually early on a couple of these 🙂 If you move your arm and leg back too early, he might not come in fast to your or might not turn away (like at :44). But if you keep your feet together and your hand extended to him until he is just a few inches away then move them back to cue the turn, he gets it really nicely 🙂 :38 was a good example of the timing with your hand cues.
He looks ready for the advance levels – adding the prop to the lap turns! I see you have started the tandem turns in video here too.
Nice work!
TracyGood morning!
The stays are coming along really nicely!!! He likes the line up between your feet for sure and that allows you to walk directly forward like a lead out. He had one little blooper when you went further but the rest were lovely. You can add a little bit of quiet praise before you release, and keep adding distance.
I was not quite sure what the marker word for the reward being thrown back was (you used a couple of different one), so that is really the only spot to clarify for him. The rest looked strong! You can also add in stays in front of something, like an empty food bowl or anything that is mildly enticing 🙂
Great job!
Tracy
Good morning!
I am sorry to hear about the hamstring/adductor! OUCH!!!
>I do not use “get out”, I use just “out” with Benni. But Brioche gets the concept.>
Using ‘out’ is perfect!
The session went really well! I was super proud of him for NOT grabbing the jump when you were indicating the straight line. That jump has value and he followed your line perfectly.And he also did great finding it when you indicated the out. Be sure you are using the outside arm more directly to the jump wing (like at :14 on the first side and 1:13 on the 2nd side). Yo can have that arm even lower and more direct to the jump wing (the exit wing) so that he sees it very clearly.
At 2:02 you did not point the arm at the jump at all, so he was confused: once said out but the body cue did not support it. The arm clarity will help him to get it as you add more distance.
He is ready for the advanced level where you add a cross!
Looking at the turn aways: this also went well. He did best when you stepped straight back (like at :48) and rather than step to the wing at all.
Delaying the cookie throw helps him finish the turn!The only bloopers were related to timing and visibility of the cues:
At 1:43 you were early 🙂 And when you moved your hand/leg it looked like a ‘throwback’ indication to the other side of the wing. Much better at 1:55 – you waited til he almost arrived at the hand, then arm and leg moved back to indicate the turn. Nice!!! You can also have your cookie hand extended directly to him rather than next you, as that will make it even easier to see.Using the toy went great! I think that made the cookie hand more obvious and he turned really well when you let him get almost to the cue hand before starting to move.
He is ready for the advanced level of this game (tandem turns).
About the eating – keep me posted on how he is doing. Avoiding the raw might indeed be a bit of GI upset or pain (mouth pain?) and the freeze dried food might be easier to eat especially in a training context.
Nice work here!
Tracy
Good morning!
>He isn’t driving ahead totally yet so makes the timing so tough when rears are harder for me anyways lol!!!>
At this stage of training, you can do a lot more reps of driving ahead and just a couple of RCs thrown in here and there.
>Took a break and rewatched the video and realized I had it set pretty advanced lol! >
Click/treat to you for watching the video!!! Most people don’t watch the video when it is the most helpful thing for figuring out why something isn’t working.
>Retried with wing further in to tunnel and he was 100 percent!!! >
Yes, that was really cool. He rocked it! You can also mix in a couple of tight wraps on the start wing and then cue the tunnel 🙂
>The last are my own lol
No worries! You still kept a high rate of reinforcement. But let’s talk about arms for a moment:
I think part of his question was arm position. It was high and slightly above your shoulder level, and in the spots where he did not get the jump (like at :49 and 1:09), I think the arm position blocked connection and turned your shoulders off the line. When you had a little more connection, peeking under your arm – he got it.
Arm position is handler’s choice on these! You will still want to be connected and also want to be able to run fast, so with that in mind:
– you can keep your hand/arm lower so there is more connection and so you can run faster– You can keep your arm even higher, so you can connect from below your arm and still have your shoulders pointing to the line. It would be a ‘feeding giraffes’ position 🙂 but that is relatively common in Europe, where arms are high and handlers are connected below the arm.
– You can also sometimes use the opposite arm to send him out!So I think the only arm position you do not want is the one perpendicular to your shoulders, as it turns your shoulders away and blocks connection.
Let me know what you think about the arm options!
Great job here!
Tracy
