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Good morning! Congrats on the scent trial success – sounds like the girls are doing amazingly well in that sport too!
Nice work here on the videos!
Shifting connection Video – The earlier rotation worked really well on the wraps here! She committed really well and you were able to rotate and move the new direction long before she got to the jump. Nice!
For the circle wrap, you can leave sooner there too, by moving forward again as soon as he passes you rather than step sideways or back (that keeps you on the side of the wing where landing would be when ideally you are already past the takeoff side of the wing.On the serp videos:
>>ended up just being a photo. I forgot to hit video>>
I hate when that happens!!
The first send on the first video was not connected, so she went to the jump backside which is what the physical cue indicated. Remember to reward her in those moments, even if she went someplace you didn’t intend 🙂 She is reading your cue correctly. The rest of the sends to the start wing on both videos had great connection, so she went to the wing right away.
She read the serps really well when you were moving parallel to the bar. Yay! Nice shoulder position! When you are parallel to the bar, it is not that important that you show a big connection shift. But the exit line connection will help her know which side to be on (at :32 you looked forward so she saw the shoulders move and correctly did a blind).
When you add countermotion (end of first video and in the 2nd video), you will definitely want to show the shifting connection back to the landing spot. At :50 on the first video there was more countermotion but you were looking at her cute face instead of the landing spot, so she read it as a cue to not take the jump. That is rewardable too!
On the last rep on that video and on the serps on the 2nd video, you slowed your motion/turned your feet there and used more arm – you can also add in more connection shift so you don’t have to slow down or turn your feet – that will allow you to get even further ahead and add more countermotion to the exit of the serp.Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>>Were you running as fast as you could while staying connected to your dog?” >>
So true!! We are not sprinters, we are football wide receivers charging down the field while watching for the throw from the quarterback (the dog :))
This session went really well! He was super confident when you were ahead on both sides. On the left side when you were behind him, he was not as confident on that rep and added strides (:12-:14) but he was totally confident driving ahead on the other side. He might have needed more verbal support in the form of repeated verbals on the dog-on-left side.
Since this is going well and we use regular connection in every game, you can add in the combos and other games as well. Great job here!
TracyHi!
This went well too!
You can send earlier to wing 2 here as well – your send to wing 1 looks great, so you can hang out where you sent from, make the big connection, and send to wing 2 from there 🙂 That will make it even easier to get past ht exit wing of the serp. You were sending to 1 then taking a few steps towards 2, so the connection was not as clear (she looks at you at :02 and :32) and then you are further from the serp jump.The shifting connection on the serp and the exit line connection both look great!!!
Nice work here!
TracyHi!
>>You know—the airplane arms you see handlers use. I am the other way and use almost no arms>>
Yes, we definitely don’t want the airplane arms! Think of your arms as extensions of your eyeballs and use them in places where they help. Otherwise, you can keep them low and out of the way 🙂
The countermotion is looking good here on the Serp 4 video! Your connections looked great 🙂 You can send her to wing 2 even sooner: as soon as she finishes wrapping wing 1, send to 2 and that way you can get even further ahead 🙂
For the wrap on the exit, you were giving her more room than she needed 🙂 You can run past the wing close enough to touch it, and that’ll create a super tight exit line. That will be more challenging for her in term of commitment, so remember to show a big connection shift as you run forward (and point the landing spot).The exit line connection looked great 🙂
Onwards to video 3 below! Great job here!
TracyHi! This session went really well!
You had great shifting connection on the FCs from your left to right sides, and early rotation, so she had great turns at :14 and 1:36 for example. Wowza!!
On the other side, you were not as early with the rotation and connection shift at :29 but much better at :43!!
Good job with the connection shift on the circle wraps! To make it easier for you to shift connection and move forward, you can use your outside arm to point back to the ‘landing’ spot as you shift your eyes there too, rather than the dog side arm wrapping across you. The dog-side arm coming in front of you makes it harder to move forward while showing the shifting connection.
You did use more of the outside arm at 1:38 and it helped show connection and keep you moving forward sooner 🙂
The rep at 1:17 – 1:18 shows us how much they respond to connection – at 1:17 you looked at her so she started to move to the wing but then at 1:18 you looked at the jump so she started heading to the jump too 🙂 Similar thing happened at 1:33 – you tried to move to the jump but didn’t shift connection to the wing, so she didn’t commit.
She committed brilliantly on all of the shifting connection moments!
On the last rep, you were doing FCs and that put you on the wrong side of the wing for the circle wrap. But it was smart to take a break because you had both been doing a great job 🙂
Nice work here!
TracyHi! I am glad you are liking the break week – hopefully it gives everyone more time without feeling the pressure of trying to get it all done in a short timeframe.
Your exit line connection looked perfect on both videos here! Super nice!!! You can let her chase you to get the toy reward so you can see her exit line as well.
Building up to the serps where you need to be even further ahead so you can pass the exit wing to set up the wrap exit:
You can get more distance on the commitment to the wing send by looking at her more directly as you send. If you are looking forward to the wing, she looks at you a little (like at :03 and :28 of the first video) and waits til you are closer to the wing to commit.And for the serp cue, especially when she is on your left – you can have your arm fully extending away from your torso, perpendicular to it – and that way as you pass the jump, you can have your shoulders facing the jump bar more and it will be even easier to shift your connection to the landing spot.
Great job here!!
TracyHi!
She transitioned to the wing really easily! Yay! And doing it with the toy was great too 🙂 You can add in the turn and burn as the next step and then we will transition the other games over to the wing.
The Minny Pinny is looking good and I think the Say verbal is a great choice!! She did well with the skill – you can add little things t o go over like half-pool-noodles to act like bars. She definitely had opinions about her collar being held or being moved by the collar. So, keep collar holding separate from the games for now and from tugging. Separately, you can build up the line up and collar hold with food which she seems to always be happy with 🙂 Use a cookie lure to line her up at your side. Then take her collar and immediately throw a cookie to let her get it. That can start to build up the line up and collar hold in a fun way but with no other contingencies required.
I am glad the choose your own adventure went so well!
>>even if she wanted to switch midway since I hadn’t put the other toys up>>
This is fine for her to do 🙂 and far better than the other options she could have chosen! Plus, they were kind of on her path there, so it was fine to do a switcherroo.
>>Had a moment near the end where I had gone on too long and she threw in a leap>>
Yes, set a timer for these sessions or limit to a set # of reps because the toy play is more physically and mentally expensive for her… so she is more likely to lose steam after a minute or so.
About the leap – it was a little later in the session and it looked like she didn’t like the push back at around 2:50. Plus, the visual of the toy dangling might have been hard for her (the wing is new so not as much value for ignoring the toy?).On the backside video – Yes, she made it pretty clear that it was cheese as the reinforcement LOL! If you want a toy only session, the cheese probably has to be in a different room.
The backsides looked really good here! And adding in the stays was lovely too!
>>Should I have used the lala to release her from her sit? I wasn’t sure she knew it enough to feel it was a release so used break.>>
She probably doesn’t know it as a release yet, but you can add it: as you start moving up the line, start the Lala then if she doesn’t move, say the release. The Lala will soon come to predict the release, so it will then become the release 🙂
Great job here!
TracyHi!
This session went really well! He definitely liked the toy and you set up the session so he had a lot of success. Yay! Only one suggestion:
On the backside cue, try to move to where the PVC meets the barrel so he sees the full barrel like you did at :56. You were sometimes moving to the outer edge of the barrel which blocked it a little.>>The east – west front feet bother me more than I thought they would.>>
I think he can play agility, no problem! A lower jump height might help for a longer career, but there are plenty of opportunities to let him run at a lower height and still be very competitive and have fun 🙂
Nice job here!
TracyHi!
>>Planning on using this to shape jumping into progressing smaller crates for her upcoming flight!>>Great idea! You can shape her to run into her flight bag!!!
Sorry about the rain – you are getting crazy weather!
The threadle and serp game is looking good! On the threadles, remember to keep your shoulders open and facing the bar until after she is at the reward. If you close your shoulders before then, you might inadvertently cue her to go past the bar (like at :24). Keeping the shoulders facing the bar even as you move will help cue it – otherwise you will end up staying there managing the bar.
Fingers crossed for good weather ahead!!! Nice work here!!
TracyGood morning!
>>
There are so many things I want to work on but I am trying not to overwelm West>>This is so true: so many things! But he is like a sponge and learns really quickly. So, taking your time to work the little pieces will all come together nicely!
>>– West had a very hard time working with me holding a toy at agility – kept grabbing it when it moved>>
Something like when you were cuing a wrap, he would jump up at your hand with the toy in it?
>>– Discussion was on me being more consistent in using “get it” or “tug” when he is meant to take the toy, >>Yes – saying a marker will help a lot! I have also found that agility dogs jump up at the toy in our hand when the connection is not as clear a they need it to be, so adding more direct eye contact into the cue makes a massive difference. If you have a video clip, feel free to post it so we can see if it was connection or not.
>> I was thinking about flyball recalls where I call his name and run holding a toy and he is supposed to grab it>>
We don’t get the confusion in the flyball-style recalls because the context is soooooo different looking: in the recalls, the toy should be long and dragging on the ground, which is permission to grab it 🙂 Yes, you can totally use a marker (get it) but the position and use of the toy is so completely different that we don’t see any confusion from the dogs. For my baby whippet, for example, he is training in both sports. If the toy is in my hand, he doesn’t grab for it until I say “bite” or throw it with a “get it”. And then on a recall, if I cam dragging a long toy on the ground as I run away, he goes for the toy. This can happen in the same session in a flyball session (I can’t think of a single time in agility where I would run away dragging a toy on the ground where I want the dog to ignore the toy…)
>>– Do you do anything specific to try to avoid that kind of confusion or do you find it sort of works itself out with context>>Context-dependent learning is very powerful so there has been zero confusion with the flyball recalls versus toy in hand (or placed toy on the ground) for other skills games. Adding a marker doesn’t hurt, but the context is doing all of the work 🙂
The ball retrieving looks really good!!! I see a future flyball dog! The food to line him up was definitely a good idea 🙂 When you say he was not as interested in the ball when the food came out: it looks like he was still going to it, maybe he had some moments of not going to it as well? And you can use food, a ball, and the toy in the same session: food line up, ball retrieve, toy reward 🙂 But for flyball, the ball should be a little lower in value than the food or toy especially here at the beginning stages, so it is fine that he liked the food or toy a little better 🙂 It is MUCH easier to train flyball if the ball is just a behavior and not the most beloved thing ever 🙂
Great job here!
TracyGood morning!
>>I think my tremendous performance anxiety is kicking in. I find it hard in public (which doesn’t actually include places like classes and seminars, where I CAN be loud and crazy, but actual PUBLIC with lots of people around) to be as animated as I want to be. Does that make sense?
Totally makes sense! You can start the tugging a far away from the people as you want to be, so you can be comfy with it! That will be good for him too 🙂 Then as you both get more comfy with it, you can move it closer to the ring 🙂
He did well on the tunnel video and was also very adorable 🙂
On the left turns at the beginning, he was very strong with the cue until you got to be a little past halfway back on the tunnel. That was where he had some questions (after :30 approx) becaue the other end other tunnel was visually in the picture.
He had a couple of errors (2 failure rule!) so you made it easier by moving closer to the tunnel entry. That was great! After an error, though, you can immediately call him back to a line up with a cookie, to reset and so he doesn’t get frustrated with being told he is wrong (and then offer a bunch of extra tunnels).
The only thing I would add on these left turns is to start saying the verbal 2 or 3 times before you let him start moving, so the verbal can get really attached to the behavior.
When he has had a session when the 2 failure rule as been invoked, it is useful to end on the success and not re-attempt the hard stuff or switch sides. You can see how he had a couple of errors in the session then kind of checked out a little. The reset cookies after an error will help too!
>>He had a significantly harder time turning right into the tunnel than turning left. I have been thinking he’s a right turner, but maybe not?>>
It might have been that it was the end of the session, and it might have been that you were angled very differently than you were on the left turns. On the left turns, it looked like you had him at your side and your were both facing the direction you wanted him to move On t he right turn reps, it looks like you were more sideways and starting to rotate away, which might have confused him. Try it by lining up the same way you did on the other side and see if it helps him find the right turns more easily.
The Minny Pinny looked good too! Try to say the verbals a few times before you let him go – so he hears it 3 or 4 times then you let go (to help attach the verbals better without any motion needed :)) As you work these, try to be consistent in how you deliver the verbals: the rhythm and tone will help him learn them. You were sometimes doing a short choppy word “rightright” and sometimes a single longer word “riiight”. I think the slower longer word will be a good choice because you can then make is sound really different from wrap verbals.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>>What does a “little play” mean? I feel like she isn’t super into any of the little games I’ve attempted recently.>>
Just having her chase your hands for treats, short bursts running back and forth, seeing if she wants to chase a toy you throw or slide around… all without worrying too much how her interest in the toy or food compares to her interest at home. It is not likely to be the same, so it is fine to let it build up over time like it did at home too.
>>And for tunnels, I’m unsure if I should reward with toy or food? The first few rentals she was really excited about chasing down the toy out of tunnels, but now not so much. So I guess I should use food?>>
You can let her give you in-the-moment feedback on that. Before starting, toss out a couple of toys and see if she chooses one. And if so, throw it after the tunnel. If not, use really high value food (rotisserie-chicken-level value).
>>I think I keep trying to change things because she isn’t into what she seemed to work before. She is unpredictable to me so I don’t know what to do.>>
I think putting criteria on engagement might be making it too hard right now, because it adds pressure to you both when you try for more engagement with you or the food or toy. Her brain will be split trying to process input from the environment as well as play the games, so it is fine if it is good engagement even if it is not the same as at home.
>>I think what’s throwing me is that we had some really great rentals in this location where she seemed into the reinforcement, games and work, but now not so much. And that makes sense with her being a teenager and the space changes (different visual, smells, etc.), but I’m unsure how to respond to that.>>
Jut keep reminding yourself that development and training is not linear and some days will be different than others… and it is all good 🙂 Short blast easy stuff in new places is the way to go! And lots of little breaks.
>>Yes! I’ve taught her to put her head through like a slip lead, but I think she needs more practice in new environments before I can ask her to do it here.>>
Keeping the power of rehearsals in mind… if she is avoiding getting the leash on, I would bump the leash on skill to the top of the list in new places so she does not rehearse avoiding the leash going back on. Make it easier than it is at home, starting from square on – but definitely add in some shaping of the leash on so her history in the new places is more about the leash on and to avoiding.
>>This is what I tried to do at this most recent rental because our last one she wasn’t super into the work.
Can you flesh that out a little bit more so I have a better idea of what to do? >>I think when she was not as int the food or toys, you ramped up the running/throwing more than you needed to. You can settle things down more in terms of excitement level when things are hard for whatever reason, and also keep yourself very predictable. Throw a cookie a couple of feet, let her eat it, let her look at you, do a quick recall. That is very predictable like at home, which makes it easier to process in a new environment. If you throw the cookie really far and run really really far, she has to find you which is actually a little harder to process. It is definitely a less-is-more process 🙂
On the videos:
>>I’m not sure if I’m doing the collar hold/amp up part right, she doesn’t seem to be excited, but maybe she needs more repetition with it? >>
She did well with being held! Ideally, we want the pups to be still but with some muscle tension (not flailing or pulling on the collar) and then when you let go, they should move forward immediately. That is exactly what she did! And it will be even better if she gets happier to grab a dead toy:
>>But dead toy has never been as exciting as moving toy for her so it’s understandable.>>
This is something to work on at home so it becomes a stronger reinforcement strategy. You can do it with more focus forward games using this collar hold, where you throw it and let it land, then let her get it when it is ‘dead’.
Her wraps went well, so keep adding the collar hold and you can start to gradually add more distance away from the wing.
The serps with motion went well too! The threadle session on the last video went really well too, so for both of these skills: You can keep adding more motion, very gradually, and you can try showing her serps and threadles with motion in th same session. IT will be easy if your release positions are very clear: before the entry wing for the threadles, when you are across the bar nearer the exit wing for the serps.
>>And some tugging after where I sound downright possessed lol>>Ha! You sounded totally fine to me 🙂 LOL!
Stays looked great too! You can practice incorporating the jump but moving nearer to it as you lead out, stepping over the ‘bar’ 🙂 and basically playing the same exact game (maybe making the lead outs shorter and rewards faster at first) but with the jump in the picture. That will help bridge the gap to building the stay and fading out the Cato plank.
Nice work here!
TracyGood morning!
>>So guessing all that and the new space was the driving factor in why she was so leapy with the toy.>>
Yes – processing the new environment and processing the toy was probably not easy enough, so you can bring her into new environments on food and when she has experienced that environment multiple times (over several different visits) you can try to add toys.
Speaking of toys:
You are asking her *if* she wants to play with a toy… but maybe the better question is *which* toy she wants to play with (the answer can of course be ‘none of the above’ sometimes too).To help her out with the pop rocks behavior, you can do “choose your adventure” with her before training sessions – bringing out 4 or 5 toys that she has been interested in before, you can dump them on the floor and sit with her to ask her to choose which one she wants. You can just show them or tap them or slide them around or throw them a little – let her sort through them without any training or contingency or interaction. It is pretty fun to watch the pups decide which toy they want and they can then train for it after than have chosen. Try this at home first and see what she says about it.
I do this a lot at home or in different places, before I try to train anything – it gives the pups a lot of agency and input, and has worked out really well!
The recalls looked really good! And she did enjoy the frisbee! And she was able to commit to the wrapping of the barrel/cones but she wasn’t able to do it fast yet – in new locations, choose games that she is really fluent with at home rather than play the newer games. So to get her to run fast for the barrels, for example, you can do more turn and burn and less rocking horses or race tracks (which require more thought :)) Or zipping through a short tunnel 🙂
That way the new environments are more about “welcome to the new place, let’s do an easy thing!” And less about anything that requires a lot of processing for the game (because the environmental processing will be taking up a lot of her bandwidth at the moment :)) And that is why it is perfectly fine to bring her into new environments on food, because that is easier to process as she is processing all the other stimuli in the environment.
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
I think the ring rental moments went just fine 🙂 A few thoughts for you:
>> “what are we doing here? now what?” and maybe a predictable game feels good? >>
Yes, I think that is part of it – there is a lot of things happening each time she is in the ring: toys versus cookies versus running versus… so it is a little hard to tell what is coming next because just as she gets into something, it gets changed.
I think the long distance throws of the toys and treats might be a little detrimental here, because she doesn’t seem all that comfy getting a toy from that far ahead. And, on the cookie throws, you were taking off really fast and really far: she was coming to you, but I think waiting to run away will make it more of a game. If you take off before she gets the cookie, it might be a bit of a negative for her in that whenever she is heading for a cookie, you are taking off the other way. So there is a response cost for heading to the cookie (she has to run to find you plus you disappear a bit) which could be diminishing the value of the food. So throw the cookie a little less far, then don’t move until after she has it then looks at you – then you can start the game by running away.
>>Around 0:50 I’m not sure what was going on. Was she nervous? Over it?>>
Probably distracted by being at the other end of the ring. There is a LOT of distraction in that ring and a lot of sensory input: visual, auditory, olfaction, etc. So it is pretty normal for a young dog to be needing a moment to process.
>>But I still kind of feel like I don’t know what to do, and I’m worried she will refuse treats or not care about toys and think this is lame. I’m wondering if she’s having fun or if I’m doing the right things. Am I overthinking? (Who? What? Me? Never!)>>
You are overthinking LOL!! And that is why you are always trying to switch things up to get her more engaged but that might have the opposite effect. So try just having a plan like “let’s do a few tunnels” and go in, get a little play for food eating, do a couple of tunnels, get a little play, then be done 🙂 And she is likely to behave differently at the rental than at home because of the big difference in intensity of distraction.
>>At the end, she showed some avoidance with the leash. Also not sure what to make of that. Does it mean she didn’t want the fun to end? Or just didn’t want to be leashed in that moment? >>
Usually that happens when the leashing up predicts the end of availability of reinforcement. So even if she gets a decompression walk or something, you will want to make leashing up predict more reinforcement available, such as leash on then a stuffed Kong in the ring. Or leash on, leash off and back to run through a tunnel. Or leash on, exit the ring, chew bone or snuffle mat or anything she really likes. I also shape the dogs to put their heads into the leash so it is fun fun fun to do that as a trick too 🙂
Let me know what you think 🙂
Tracy
