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Hi! Looking at the videos, I agree – they went great! Yay!!
Reward station video 1: really good! Looked easy peasy for her! And yes, the ball at the station is hard! The sparkle ball is the highest value, so if it is in play as the reward, keep it as the reward for when you are working the remote reinforcement skills. Otherwise it might be distracting and that is a can of worms you don’t need to open when working on the other challenges like remote reinforcement.
Video 2: Barking mom distraction? No problem! The sequence looked really strong – nice connection !! And nice teeter!!! One thing to be careful of is not always going to the reward station when you run towards it on course – many courses run towards the exit and then loop back around into the ring, so you will want to show her that in training. That way she will be prepared for those courses that loop past the exit but don’t actually go to the exit in that moment. She seemed to anticipate going to the reward station because you were running towards it, so we can definitely add in the looping past it.
3rd video – as you were walking away, she was still engaged with the reward station. So be sure to engage with her as you walk away rather than pull her away 🙂
At the end of the first run, you can see her thinking that running towards the reward station meant it was in play, so definitely add in looping past it fora few more obstacles and having the sequence end somewhere else.So since this went really well, a few ideas on what to do next:
Remember that the remote reward skill is useful and getting the leash back on before rewarding is a great skill to work! But mix in lots and lots of training on sequences without the challenge of remote reinforcement or getting the leash on, and rewarding right in the moment on course. That will help maintain a high value for agility!
>Ok tomorrow the U is planned with Ginger I was planning on having her outside the “ring” watching for a first rep and then maybe sitting in the ring and then standing.
Maybe that is too much?>It might be lack of caffeine, but I am not sure what the context at the U is in terms of the ring – an agility opportunity where people are added? But definitely add in people: that is the big thing that challenges her and the piece you can definitely add to agility with the reward in your hand, and then when that is smooth – add people to the remote reinforcement games. I think that is the last piece of the puzzle to put into play: being able to work successfully around people 🙂
And that can start with pattern games through crowds, or simple agility stuff with people *right there*. The more you can add in that challenge with immediate reward, the easier it will be to add them into the remote reinforcement elements too!
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! Let me know which ones I missed – I did reply to the last videos but maybe I missed something?
T
Hi!
>I’ll be honest I’m struggling a little organizing all the material into a training plan but I think we’re doing ok over all with the games themselves, just trying not to “leave any behind”! Currently doing 1 training session per day is working best for me.>
One session a day is great! One way to organize things is to categorize them:
– handling on the flat
– barrel wrap stuff
– body awareness games
– prop games
– SSC/resilience gamesAnd you can pick a category and work it on that day, then do a different category the next day, and so on.
What will start to happen is that the categories will begin to combine. For example, handling on the flat will combine with barrel wrap games. And pretty soon prop games will combine with those too, so it will be all be one category. Rotating through categories will mean everything gets touched on and you won’t feel like you are missing anything, plus it keeps things in balance.
There will end up being fewer categories, so you can even spice things up by picking one came from each category which will total to about 3 games per session.
I think it is great when your mom makes appearances in your videos!!! And it is also good for him to learn to ignore distractions of family members 🙂
Turn and burn is going well. Really strong session – great warm up to make sure he had it outside, and you had a lovely balance of being quiet while he was offering then exploding with excitement when he got it right 🙂
He was able to sort out going around the barrel really nicely, which is going to be the foundation of a whole lot of things coming up 🙂 I *think* the right turns are the easier side for him (seemed like left was a little harder, but maybe that was because you did the right turns first?). So for the next session start with the rights turns again (dog on left) and try to do the FC even sooner. You will find it easier to time the FCs if you have a line on the ground, so you can lay a light leash down to give you the visual focal point to get the FCs sooner and sooner (as the line moves).
The prop game also looked great! He is able to take these skills into the great outdoors brilliantly! You can bring the prop to different places too, to help him learn to work/play in all sorts of new places!
>I tried to add countermotion but my brain couldn’t quite clunk into gear there.>
I think you will find the countermotion feels easier when you send sideways or backwards to the prop, because you are already facing the new direction and more easily able to slide away. You were sending forward here, which is great but also probably why the countermotion didn’t feel natural.
So that is a good next step: adding sideways and backwards sends outside, which should make countermotion really easy.
On he BC to decel video: you can decelerate as soon as you start the blind. He is a speedy little dude and so if you do the blind then take a couple more steps, you are actually a bit late in the decel and he is a little wide driving into you. If you do the blind and as you reconnect, you also decelerate – you will find that he collects super well into the pivot!!
I am glad you brought the toy out – we don’t want him to think that being outside is all about treats! He did get into it which is great!
The next step here adds the barrel, and he is ready for that!
Great job!
TracyHi!
This was a great walk! She seemed very comfy! At least until she tried to greet the little kid that screamed LOL!
Then she was like “that was weird” and carried on. It was a good bounce back!
The store had a LOT of big distractions, so you will want maybe stand in one spot and let her watch the world, or stay in the less noisy aisles.
And if something weird happens (like a scream LOL!) then you can give her treats so there is an association that screaming kiddos = treats! Yay!
Great job here! Hope you bought her a nice Christmas gift 🙂
TracyHi!
An earthquake notice? Holy cow!!
>Send right and left. We struggled.
Did you think there were struggles in these videos? Because I think they looked really good! He was sending really well! And your markers and rewards were clear too.
First video looks good (right turns) – he was pushing the prop away so you can either move forward to stay at the same distance to it or pull it back to its original spot.
The 2nd video was the left turn sends: he did great! He was grabbing the prop with his mouth too LOL!
So let me know where he was having trouble – sideways sends, or more distance? Or with a toy? He was super here so we can sort out what his questions were.
Great job!
Tracy
He did great here too! Great job bracing the donut and egg so it was more stable. He was super brave here: the foundation you’ve already done is really shining through! Yay!
I loved his trail of “stuff” to run over 🙂 The inflatables and pillow were easy 🙂 The wobble board was harder to balance on, sports this is another spot where you can reward him a lot lower – by reaching up for the reward, he was losing his balance. You can also put a couple of rolled up towels under it, so it wobbles a lot but doesn’t slide around as much.
You can also see if he will play tug on the wobble board – keep the toy nice and low, to see if he will pull back on it 🙂
Great job here!
TracyHi! He did really well here on the plank!!!
Only one suggestion: when you reward, reward lower so that he doesn’t have to reach up to look at you or get the cookie. That was part of what was causing him to get a little off balance.He was not slipping off here, but I can see that if he is going faster and looks up at you for a reward, he might skitter right off the plank 🙂 So getting him to look down a little for the reward will help him stay balanced.
Great job here!
TracyHi!
Thanks for resetting the videos! YouTube definitely does weird things sometimes : )
Turn and Burn to the right went well! You were able to do the FC really early so his countermotion and commitment were looking great!
My only suggestion is to begin with him at your side, facing the barrel. When you were sideways to it and he was facing you, he was not always sure about where to go on the send and would jump up on you. So facing the barrel with him at your side, also facing it will make it much smoother. You can hold his collar and start saying his wrap verbal before stepping to the barrel to begin adding that.
I think his questions on the left turn send had to do with 2 things:
– the sideways start (where he was facing you rather than facing forward), so you can both be acing the barrel to start.
– Your yes marker is taking on a meaning of ‘come to reward right now’ so when he was in the midst of wrapping you would say ‘yes’ exuberantly… which would pull him off the wrap. Then he lost a little confidence about when he should follow you or not.
So, you can start the FC when he gets to the marker on the ground… but don’t say “yes” or get excited about it until he finished the wrap. That way he can see the countermotion but not have any confusion about when the reward is available.You can also replace your ‘yes’ with toy-specific marker (I say ‘bite’ for the toy in my hand when the dog knows that marker) so he doesn’t start to think that yes is a come to you right now marker 🙂 It might be in other situations, so you definitely don’t want to use it here.
Nice work! Let me know if that makes sense!!
Tracy
Hi!
>Dellin does not have a “get out”, I may have trained it (since she took this class), but I have not used it. I might use left and right for her in those situations (trying to think what I do…but coffee hasn’t kicked in yet).
>We can definitely discuss it more as we get to the ‘get out’ – it does not fit the turn that a left/right creates… and it is not a rear cross. It is its own special beast LOL!! So it might be something to add – it is SO helpful on UKI courses!
T
Hi! He did really well!!! The first run was definitely hard – the environment was so challenging! But he was able to tug and that is a big win! The next 2 runs got better and better, with run 3 looking more like what he can do at home. Yay!
I think his biggest question was the ring crew – so in classes, definitely beg/bribe people to come sit around the ring to be ring crew 🙂
On the 3rd run, you did a ready-set-go start of holding them taking off to run. That was the most effective! So you can do that tomorrow too, to set him up for success: do a tunnel like that as the start, the take off and run calling him. Try to work the inner part of the course (away from the ring crew :)) to make the environment easier.
Great job! Keep me posted!!!
Tracy
Hi!
>Work keeps getting in the way of agility!>
Doesn’t work know that agility is more important? LOL!
The agility at this new location is looking good! There was some noise in the background that provided a bit of distraction but she processed it really well – you can see her looking around. It might have been a rabbit issue but also the noises in the background were challenging. But then she sequenced really well!! And surprise: Sparkle ball!
She seemed to have no questions about responding to the pattern games then tricks to get going, then ignored her reward station til you cued her to go to it. Super! The next step would be to leave the sparkle ball at the reward station 🙂 But she also ignored all the bunnies really well!!! Super!!!!
>I need to try the U sat or my mom’s place. Invitationals are next week so I also need to focus on momma dog😀>
Perfect! Getting more people involved will be very useful. And the Invitational will be a blast!
>She was a bit reluctant to sit but that was the off side start line that we noted was a problem A few weeks ago.>
Ah yes! And definitely something to remember when you are planning her starts, to set her up on the easier side until you have had time to build up the value for the harder side.
>Tester and A frame are at full height and I am adding in sequencing for those. Working on her mat which is going really well now.>
Great! It sounds like the teeter and frame will be ready for FEO soon too!
>Ps do I need to do more of the ping pong between food bowls?
This leash seems to be working well for her.>
Do you mean the pattern game with the reward stations? I think in easier environments you don’t need to, but when it gets harder like adding more people, it can be super useful to help her ignore them.
Great job here!!!!
Tracy
Hi!
>We are only entered in 1 class this weekend on Saturday. Hopefully it will be a good course to try starting at the startline & doing some more obstacles before bringing the toy out.>
Keep me posted!
>There are a bunch of young-dog friendly USDAA trials in Florida over the winter, and starters jumpers is jumps & tunnels only. And the runs are cheap! LOL!! Something to consider 🙂 I will be in FL over the winter so I will go with you if there is one that fits the calendar. > OOOOOOOO! I would LOVE that if we could find one!!! Do you have any suggested dates/trials?>
I will gather a list!
>Oh boy, she sure knew right where to go at the end of the sequence! LOL I will need to do a contrast session where we turn back into the course and not go directly to the bowl.>
Ha! Yes! We want her to hear a lot of the marker to go get it when she is moving away from it and heading back to the course so she doesn’t assume that heading towards the exit means she is definitely going towards the exit 🙂 Lots of courses loop back around after passing the exit so it is good to practice that too. So you can even do a FC on the last jump to turn her back down the line to the tunnel- then send her back through the tunnel before marking that it was time for the rear 🙂
The sequence went well – fast and fun!!!
Only one suggestion: On the very first rep, you can lead out more to the tunnel to set the line to the tunnel. You got caught behind the wing of 1 a bit which got her curving towards you, so the line to the tunnel was hard for her to read. She got it nicely on the other reps because she saw the sequence and because you were giving her a bit of a ‘get out’ arm too.
Great job here! I am looking forward to hearing how tomorrow goes!
Tracy
Hi!
>I am so glad that I had all the games fresh in my mind because I needed pattern games and volume dial for Kaladin waiting to go into Gamblers finals. For some reason they thought it was a good idea to lower the score sheets in a bucket banging down the concrete wall from the scoring area in the stands and then have someone run them to the office to do the cummulative scoring. Not sure why the cummulatives scorer couldn’t have sat up by the scoring table or used a Google Sheet but it is what it is. Kaladin thought the martians were invading the first time he first saw the bucket being lowered and then the racket that it made. Luckily I still had lots of treats so I had him doing pattern games on the concrete steps behind the podium since tossing tiny brown treats on dirt can be a bit too hard when the bucket aliens are about to attack you. I got him mostly back but he was still over-aroused going into the ring and he actually jumped up and pushed off my belly pretty hard before I cued it at the start. I asked him for another one and then we just ran. I still wonder if part of the reason why he popped his weave poles (in the opening since I knew the gamble was an exercise in futility) was a bit of a holdover of him still getting over the craziness at the startline.>>
Wow, good for you for using the games to help him out!!! That method of sending the scores is really unexpected, to say the least! And yes, it is entirely possible that the weave issue was a holdover. He regulated really well but a small error like a weave pop can be caused by that.
>And – I have a Galican Dogwalk with a brace and I use it. It’s not the Intercan line they have at the US Open – I think it’s their Lite line. I didn’t notice that the DWs didn’t have a brace at the Open until after the issues started happenign. (and Kaladin never ran on contacts in the covered arena because we scratched Natl Rnd 2).>
Yes, there was a LOT of movement on those dog walk planks, that was part of the problem (but not the whole problem). So many details combined to create a pretty big issue.
>Other stuff from the webinar – I think I’ll add the swing behind running start to Lift’s toolbox in a few weeks and see what she thinks. >
This is a fun one, I think she will like it!
>Also wondering if another option is to take the leash off, let her shake, move towards the line, ask her to push her collar into my hand, say ready and take off. Might not work if she’s too aroused and bouncing, but offering her collar is pretty strong and there’s no stay involved (set position or her choice)>
If she likes the collar part, then yes! Also does she know how to line up between your feet or we’ve your legs? That is the entirely the opposite of leaping up and might be really helpful to have in the tool box!
> We’ll also work on the offered stay which will be a new skill since I don’t currently have a “stay” cue for my dogs -it’s the position not an additional stay cue.>
I will try to get how I trained it on video – it is kind of like the game Freeze Dance if you ever played that 🙂
>I also had an interesting FB Msgr chat with the gal who has Lift’s brother – the other little one. He’s also very boingy and is the one that will jump up and try to bite her at times. Turns out he’s very similar to Lift in thinking that toys are great fun outside the context of agility but can’t handle the arousal of them while doing his agility work. >
I think it is great to talk to littermate owners and compare notes! So helpful to discuss similarities!
>When I met him at the end of August at the Canandian Open he was a tugging fiend even with that much excitement around, but apparently that doesn’t transfer to his agility job right now. The other male litter mate is with Bev Benson in Winnipeg. She’s not training him for agility now but he’s also incredibly boingy by nature. So it’s got to be some kind of a genetic component in there (or genetics plus early environment flipping that switch on or something like that).>
Probably all of the above: genetics plus environment. Do either/ both of the parents do it? It is a frustration behavior in general, so we can really focus on frustration reduction to survive adolescence 🙂 and help her out 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
The sequencing is looking good and big tunnel sends are always good work for UKI! And your connection was clear which is really helpful.>, my plan going forward is to get off the line quickly so I will be dropping or short tossing to the leash runner. >
Perfect! And as you are leading out be super connected and you can even try a bit of the cartoon silliness or a quiet ready-set game to keep him pumped up on there start line. When you are too quiet and not connected, he loses energy and was starting to scratch a bit early in the session.
>He’s got the go tunnel down fairly well, it worked out well in the 1st set. Should I have used the go also at the tunnel exit, it might have helped with his checking in with me.>
Tunnel sends are looking really good! And yes, if you want him t continue on a big line afterwards you can totally use a big GO cue as well as a jump cue.
Thinking ahead to the trial, you can talk to him more on course in general: his name, obstacle cues, directionals – that can all be very engaging and help cut through the distractions of the trial environment.
>2nd set, I can see that the verbal said tunnel, but my body said jump at the 1.42 mark.>
Yes that was definitely a conflicting indicator moment: voice said tunnel but body said jump 🙂 so it was a good place to reward or keep going. When you are trialing, you can really exaggerate the cues to support each line.
>Whole session is an example of less arousal = less speed. Now I’ve got to read the YD stuff and see what arousals effect is on learning – is he learning more when he’s thinking clearer? >
YD is not about arousal and learning, it is more about arousal and performance. So the more optimal the arousal is, the better the performance will be 🙂 The trick is to find that optimal sweet spot – and that is usually higher arousal than people think it is. That is what more connection on the start line, getting off the line fast, more verbals, etc – that can all be more arousing, which will increase performance! And using the pattern games and snuffle mats, etc. is to help him regulate all that arousal.
Nice work here! Let me know how it goes this weekend!
Tracy
Good morning!
Looking at the prop game:
>But then I started questioning if I should reward it or not because the point isn’t so much the foot target as it is the staying on his line, right? So I just rewarded the effort, but let me know how I should be doing this so I can do it right next time!>
Yes, because this becomes an extension line (over a jump eventually) you will see different mechanics in his movement. He made a great adjustment in mechanics to stay on his line and also go fast. So you won’t see the foot smacks we see on the other games (because those are about turns). And you were 100% correct to keep rewarding his commitment to the line, because that is the goal 🙂 Yay!
So the next steps of this game are to add more distance laterally away from him 🙂 And also, you can stay closer to him and start with him next to the cookie toss… so he drives ahead. That will build in nicely to the rear cross game which I think he is ready for too!
YouTube is hiding the next two videos from me (they are marked private). Let me know when they are relisted so we can figure out why he had trouble on the left side. Could have been brain-tired from the effort of being awesome on the right side! I am looking forward to seeing.
Great job!
Tracy
