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Hi! I think the send connection is going really well – and on the blooper moments, you knew it in the moment and fixed it on the next rep. He responds beautifully to the big connection and low arm on the sends!
The first part of the send looks GREAT in terms of connection and if your arm stays low? He get it every time. But if your arm gets high? It turns your shoulders away from the line, so he has questions.
We have a good view of it at :31 – :33 – you sent at the barrel really well with great connection but then as he was passing you, your arm got really high and that turns your shoulder aways from the line. So, he had a little zig zag question.Compare to :44-:47 where he had no question on the send: your arm was lower and supported the connection so he drove directly to the jump because your shoulders were facing that way.
>>As you can see, Casper sends beautifully but drifts around the turn, especially turning left. I tried a few things to tighten them up without very good success. (Why do I bend over when trying to communicate something?) Ideas?>>
I think part of it is the footing: he was collecting before takeoff especially on the early reps, skittering and sliding after landing and on the way back. My guess is he was trying to compensate for that on some of the reps, and there was a lot less skittering if he stayed on the line to the next jump (like at 1:26). I would be curious to see what he does on turf or on grass if this winter ever ends LOL!
Also, you were tending to be stationary after the sending and using general verbals instead of wrap verbals, which didn’t provide a lot of cues for the exit:
For example at :35, it was fair of him to take the purple jump – you didn’t tell him to come through the gap with a verbal or handling, and you were stepping backwards… so that cued the purple jump. To paraphrase the words of Linda Mecklenburg: Backwards motion is still motion 🙂
You did add the check check verbal at :48 but it was after he took the jump – ideally the send verbal is the check check.
And on any rep where you were facing him and not moving much, he stayed out on the line.
So use his wrap verbal and add in motion away to the line you want with exit line connection (toy across the body). That should both give him a clear cue of what you want, and the motion to drive back to you (rather than the toy on the ground, that contributes to the ‘cues are too stationary’ confusion he is having)
>>Maybe I should place the toy on the tight return line? >>
I prefer to see what he does with exit line connection to get more info about what cues he reads best.
>>I thought I had tried strong counter motion but I couldn’t find it on the video. (As we used to say in the pharmaceutical industry: “not documented = not done”.)>>
>>Ha!! I love that saying!!!
>>Then I tried the next part (with the FC or BC on the far side of the two jumps). I really feel that the only reason I could get the cross in was because of how long he went over the first jump.>>
I didn’t see that wideness as a drifting behavior – it was cued by accident 🙂 Part of why he went long was because you did say GO (1:49) so he went… good boy! He does listen to the verbals! And the FCs were a bit late, so you were facing forward as he took off on the them, which cued him to go long. You can send to the start barrel from further away (closer to the jumps) so he can see the rotation of the FC or BC before he makes a takeoff decision – that should help him add a stride to set up the turn. And he had some skittering on the footing to come back towards you, so have super clear exit line connection as that will really help him drive back to the tight line.
>>Also, we (Jen Pinder and I) have decided that we really, REALLY need to get a handle on this “no recall” thing. I am doing a lot of “work for breakfast” exercises (touch, stay, sit at a distance, sit/down while I approach) while he is on a long line. For these exercises, that got really old, so I put the line on the toy for a while. I did discover, however, that a dog who hasn’t had breakfast yet will work for dog food.
>> He worked beautifully here! Will he do the no-recall thing even on your home turf? Do I remember correctly that it was happening when he thought he was finished and he was avoiding being finished? If so, you can add in pretending you are finished here: praise, reward, pick up the leash…. Then go right back to work. And eventually the leash goes on, then off then right back to work. And so on – we are basically un-pairing the “we are done” cues to help him understand that there is still reinforcement available. That can build in nicely to things like having him down or sit while you approach (for food rewards, and for tugging on his leash too because you can use that at trials).
Great job here! Stay warm!
TracyHi!
I too have slacked off on true SG crate games over the years (which cracks me up because my dog is in the video LOL!!) We have a lot of ways to teach concepts now that can leave the crate as a place to relax and no arousal added into it.
Lift did a good job figuring out this into the crate thing – fun shaping session! It is possible that the PT was a little too far away, making it harder in those initial steps. My philosophy on crates nowadays is basically to shape the dogs to go into them, to make sure the dogs know to not bolt out of them, and to make them a chill place to be 🙂
The toy session was fun to see too! I think it is great to allow a puppy to choose the Toy Of The Day 🙂 It took her a moment like you noted but then she was all in and it became a really fun session! And she brought the toy back and let you engage with it 🙂 I like that she also offered the spin trick 🙂 Seemed like a fun play session!!!! Yay!
Great job here!
TracyHi!
The first part of the video looked really strong- you got things going with the cookie tosses then added in earlier rotation and more movement. It looked great!The freeze behavior was interesting to see – were there any errors on course before that? Or was the session long? You could have been a little more connected perhaps but I didn’t see anything that caused it in that moment. The previous reps didn’t have anything that told her she was wrong and the rep in progress didn’t communicate that either. So I totally 100% agree with your instructor saying that Changtse doesn’t like to be wrong – there didn’t seem to be anything that triggered here (there was a car noise off in the distance – is she sound sensitive?) You can try for very very short sessions, 1 or 2 and then take a break, and see if that helps get rid of the freezing. And keep track of what happens before & during it to see if a pattern emerges.
The earlier reps here looked lovely so it would be great to sort out the freezing behavior 🙂
Tracy
Hi! Everything looked great on both videos!
Looking at the regular connection video – it went really well!!! Your connection looked good on all the reps. She is still learning to drive ahead of you so on the first drive ahead rep (:32ish) she had a little question. But then she got the hang of it perfectly on the other side, no questions! I think the higher value toy helped – she was able to keep focus on it more than n the toy from the other side.
2nd video: the exit line connection looked really good! You had really strong mechanics on all reps. SUPER!!!
For the FCs and spins – you can add decel to cue the collection sooner on the FCs and spins so you are rotating and moving the new direction sooner. You were tending to face forward until she takes off, and that made turns a little wide. So as she is landing from jump 1, you can be decelerating as you move forward so when you see her approaching the bar and collecting, you can rotate into the next part of the cue.
As you do that, remember to maintain that ‘regular’ connection on jump 1. When you did that? She had a lovely straight line. Yay! If you looked forward she would start looking at you (like at 3:28) and that made her have a zig zag in her line.
The BCs looked good too! You were a little late on the first one (a right turn) so she found the new line after landing but then on the other side, the BC at 2:59 was lovely! You can trust her commitment on that and start your turn when she is still a full stride before takeoff (or sooner!) so she sees the BC before she takes off.
>>Ginger is having some odd salivation/drooling when I get to the training building. I’m not sure if she is excited to be there or if there is some sort of new chemical or cleaner I. The building. There has been some salt in the parking lot. No drooling at home…any thoughts??>>
That is really weird!! Do you think it might be a little car sickness? Does it happen anywhere else? It could be a chemical or cleaner or salt… It could be excitement but it seems out of character for her breed in general? Let me know what you think.
Great job here!
TracyHi!
I think what might have felt a little weird at first was that with tighter distances it was harder to get the rotation in and the connection shift. You had a little too much forward motion at the beginning, sending him with a few steps forward so he was driving to the jump with a little too much extension. You can stick closer to the wing wrap in the center so you can end him to the jump with just one step, then rotate and shift your connection – that will feel a little better! And adding more distance might feel a little less weird too 🙂
The circles on the middle wing all looked good! He has really strong commitment to those, so you were able to really play with your shifting connection – the reps of that at 1:37, 1:56 and 2:01 were AWESOME! Very clear connection shift and you to waaaay ahead – he was great with his commitment and had a lovely turn too!
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
I agree, she is doing AWESOME and you get a massive click/treat for really embracing the connection. You are starting to look like a smoooooth fast em!I like that you switched back to something totally different – too much repetition is not something super useful for her!
She looked great here – her commitment is already so much stronger, so you are able to just focus on connection. The camera angle gives us a really clear view of your face – connected throughout! Plus, low hands, so she could really see it on every rep.
One small detail on the circle wrap – when you were sending her around the cone, you were stepping to the side then continuing on your path behind her. See if you can use shifting connection instead of the step to the side – that will be a lot more challenging for her because there will be no motion support, and it will rely on the connection shift entirely 🙂You can see what I mean at 2:04 approx, when you send her around the cone on your left, you then step back and to the side then move forward. See if you can just move forward as she passes you – with a massive connection shift with your eyes and other hand to show where the landing spot would be.
This will be harder for hero do it slowly 🙂The other thing you can do on any of these to make them even more spicy is to spread out the distances even more! 🙂 Try 23 foot distances betewen the jump and the cone, and another 23 feet or so between the cone and the next jump because that will get you both running (she will like that a LOT!) and it is a good challenge to try to maintain connection while running even faster 🙂 Or feel free to make it more like 25 feet between the jump and cone 🙂
Great job here!!!
TracyHi!
>>What is so interesting to me is that when I look at the video just 24 hours later it seems so much simpler than what I was making it.>>
That is the thing about connection – when you watch it, it looks so simple! But when you are doing it? Not nearly as simple feeling 🙂 But keep practicing like you are and it will all start to get really natural feeling! It is looking terrific!
The reps on the video looked great here! Connection was really strong on each element so her turns were tight and she seemed to have no questions about commitment. Super! The only other thing to add to the set up would me more distance (not sure if you can set it diagonally in this ring so you can add another 5 or 6 feet between the jump and wing on each side?)
More distance means you’re running faster so it will challenge you to maintain the connection like you did here 🙂
And I am glad you like the break week! The goal is that people don’t feel rushed and can have fun, even when the weather is bad or life commitments make thing busy 🙂
Great job here!
TracyGood morning!
She gives really good feedback bout what she sees 🙂
>>In the beginning, she was really confident & even took jump #2.
Yes – the first several reps had great connection but also forward motion to the jump in the form of several steps towards it, so she very clearly had a cue to go to the jump.
>>Then later I tried to move across from jump 1 to 2 (like a serp) and something about my movement or body position pushed her off jump 2.>
That was :37 and after that – what was happening was you were running parallel to the bar with a closed shoulder, so she was staying out on her line. She would need you to open up your shoulders towards her with your dog-side arm back so she sees the cue to come in (or turn your shoulders towards the house to cue a 180).
Then I think you were thinking about getting that 2nd jump so you were not cuing the first jump as clearly. For example, at :47 – you immediately turned away after the wing wrap and that is what was happening on the next reps too. That might be why you felt bent over a bit – trying to turn quickly to get the next jump.
So be sure to make the big connection and take one big huge step to the jump. That will get the commitment cue look more clear and she should propel away to the jump (this is more of what you did at 1:27 and she got it nicely!) As you do that big send step and connection, watch her face: when she is locked on the line to the jump, take that as your cue to slide away to the next jump. Don’t slide away until you see her tell you she has it by driving towards it 🙂
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! This went really well!
The warm up reps with the wing-to-jump looked good – it was easier to rotate earlier to add the countermotion to the jump when you had more of the sequence happening (like at :24). As you rotate earlier (before he even fully passes you) you can exaggerate the shift of your connection even more with your eyes and your ‘new’ arm doing a big pointing motion to the landing spot. This will make it part of the cue, and that will help override motion as you move the other direction. So at :24, as you rotated, the right arm would be the ‘new’ arm and pointing to the landing spot to help support the connection shift. You were tending to follow her with your connection through the line the whole time which is really good – so now we can pump it up a little more by having you look at her and then deliberately lear her eyes to let her see you look back at the landing side.The same can be done with the circle wraps – shift your connection sooner to cue it as you move forward right on her tail 🙂
You are following her around (like at :45 and 1:01) the line which does support the commitment. At :51 you shifted to the landing side as more of the cue and that went really well! Shifting earlier to cue it will give you even more independent commitment 🙂As you focus on the shifting connections, remember to keep the other connections going too:
Use more regular connection on the release – at :35 the side of your face is visible but you were not looking at her (so she comes towards you first then back out to the wing). And remember to not connect and release quickly together (or the connection becomes the release).The exit line connections at the beginning were very clear so she was nice and tight -as you focused more on the shifting connection, the exit line connection got less clear so you can see she was wider on the turns at the end (looking for more info). So, in a nutshell – all the connections, all the time LOL!! It is really hard on short drills like this because they happen in rapid succession.
>>P.s. what’s the distance of the wings to the jump for the serp exercise?>>
Depending on how much room you have at least 12 feet would be good! 15 or 18 feet will be even better if you have enough space.
Great job here!
TracyHi!
He did great with the tugging at the seminar!>>I haven’t tried tugging at trials yet because I don’t feel like we have proficiency in the skill yet and I don’t want to fail. >>
Don’t think of it as a skill. Weave poles are a skill! Tugging is a game 🙂 Can’t fail at a game! So bring the most exciting toy you have, tie it to something even longer so you can swing it around, and starting in a relatively less distracting area… start swinging it around and letting him chase it and tug. No contingencies required, no ‘work’ – just play 🙂
Let me know how it goes!
TracyGood morning!
Yes, latent learning can totally help and he did well with his rotated sends! Remember to reward by dropping the reward back by the landing spot when he takes his first step towards it – you were dropping the rewards in near you when he finished the wrap. Getting the rewards back towards the landing spot will help you be able to add countermotion and start moving away (because he will look at you less and at the barrel more :))
Looking at the rear crosses: Smart to use the plank as the “wall” here! Love it!!!!!
The left turn rear crosses looked great. You had a good cookie toss and then did a great job appearing on the new side early enough that he could make the turn the new direction.
On the left tun videos: Your timing was much later so when he picked up his head after eating the treat, he could see you on his right side so that is where he turned. Compare to the first video when you were past his shoulder and a lot by his head by the time he lifted his head, so he easily turned. On these 2 videos, you were still behind him by his butt, so he turned back towards you to his right.
To get the left turns here, you will need to get past hi shoulder like you did in video 1: throwing the treat a little further and maybe throwing 2 treats o he doesn’t pick his head up that fast :)) – then run to get past his shoulder before he finishes eating the treats (you can probably start moving at the same time he takes his first step to the treat so you are definitely at his shoulder before he finishes eating.
Nice work here! Let me know how the left turn RCs go!
Tracy
Hi! It I great to see her working again!!! And I know you will work through feeling one-sided. You looked pretty balanced here!
The threadles are going well! Watching the videos, one suggestion is to make your position a little more obvious for the threadles and that will make the serps look very different:
For the threadles – stand with your stomach at the entry wing so she sees a full half of your body outside the wing.
For the serps – stand with your stomach at the exit wing, so she sees you with the bar visible between you and her.You had just your hand visible here and your torso visible across the bar, which might make it harder for her to differentiate serps versus threadles (which is the next step of the game :))
One thing that you added later in the videos was a start cookie after the MM reward – that was very effective tp help her start each rep! When you had her start after the MM reward like in video 1, she was a little confused. But then by the 3rd video, you had a quick start cookie after the MM reward which set her up really nicely for the threadle, even on hard angles! SUPER!!!
She didn’t have many bloopers at all with the quick start cookies. At :56 on the 3rd video from the angle she came in on, she saw most of the physical cue in serp position so she came over the bar. She fixed it on the next rep but that is an example of how the clearer positions can be very helpful.
Tight turns – she is off to a good start here! You were working this with the opposite arm doing the turn cues on each side – it think it will feel smoother and also let you isolate the head turns more if you use your dog-side arm. You can start her at your side with the dog-side arm doing all the work. So you start her on your left, for example: the left hand sends her to the wing and then she goes around once – then the left hand meets her as she finishes the turn and turn her away (and the right hand tosses the treat :))
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>>It’s so interesting how the first couple times at agility locations, the toy seemed to cut through all the distraction and now she isn’t able to engage with it much.>>
I think there was less distraction in the environment, she was further from the crowd in some of the places, and sometimes on her own. That is all good! Toy versus food value does seem to fluctuate, so bring out food and toys she does not see at home so there is also a novelty about it all. She probably doesn’t need the bunny tugs at home, so that can be saved for other places.
The newer places are a little closer to the distractions in terms of maybe being smaller or having more people around. I think she just needs exposure to those environments but doesn’t actually need to ‘work’ – just go in, maybe play with a toy and you run around, or eat some treats outside the ring or in the ring. No contingencies, no pressure, just basically having a fun time. She might need to come to Lazlo’s class o hang out around the crowd at the front so he can learn about what they are and how to ignore them (smoked cheese sounds magical LOL!!)Looking at the rocking horses:
I think this was the first session with wings instead of her barrels? If so, it would make sense that she was a little more sticky.
>>What can I do to help her be less sticky with the first wing? >>
It looks like 2 things are going on:
I think that throwing the cookie away and having you be stationary is cuing her to go into collection next to you instead of drive ahead of you to the wing. I think getting more excitement before the first send is best done with that gentle collar hold – you can gently hold her collar, do a little ‘ready ready’ while you make a connection to her – then after about 2 seconds, let her go and step to the wing. It builds some nice explosiveness and also is useful for other games. She hasn’t really seen this yet, so start on just one wing.
Also, try it with less arm movement – when you move your arm ahead of her, t changes the info and hides connection so she is less sure about what you want. A good example is at 1:16 – she is move nicely and then before she catches up, you are pointing ahead to the wing – that actually changes the line of your shoulders so she stops to look at you.
When you took the hand out of the picture there at 1:19 and made it more about connection, she went to the wing nicely!
So be connected and let your hand follow her nose – have it pointed back to her but don’t move it ahead of her. It can move as she passes you to support the send, but the send cue is more about your foot and your connection 🙂
>>Did you hear back from any flyball connections? No worries if not!>>
I heard that one close to you doe hold practices and is whippet-friendly 🙂 so I sent a message and am waiting to hear back.
Good work here!
TracyHi!
Hi!
The mat work is looking good -right now she thinks it is ALL feet and that is fine. The bowl and MM can be further away (8 to 10 feet) for now so she can get more strides in a she heads to the mat.Circle wraps look good! You can give this one a rest, we add onto it soon!
Threadles – you are a little too far from the jump which is why she didn’t always go over the jump – you need to be close enough to touch it with a bent, relaxed arm. That will help her automatically turn to the bar.
You can add showing the moving cue before the release here, moving really slowly, and keeping your shoulders open until she reaches the MM (don’t turn forward too early).Good job shaping her into the crate! Do you have a bigger crate? She knew it was something about something but a bigger crate will help her fly right into it. And, starting closer (and staying closer) to it will help – you started a little further away and then after one rep with al 4 feet in, you moved really far away. Moving away so quickly changed the picture too much so she got frustrated (jumped on you then lots of offered behavior but most of it did not involve the crate). So stay closer until you get repeated, quick reps of all 4 feet in the crate, then you can move a little further away.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
Good job letting her work through the leaping up at the beginning. Since she is learning to work with toys instead of food, you can reward for small pieces (like when she went to the cone but didn’t go around it – you can play when that happens because it was still an approximation)
>>She also stops to stare up to where the cheese cotainer is on the counter so I’m not sure if trading the toy for a treat would work better to release the toy as then she is thinking harder about switching between toys and treats.>>
I think for now, food is better off out of the picture (not in the room :)) because then it can just be play and not training or trading.
>>but things fell apart when I tried to trade for a toy with a reverse retrieve.>>
I think her favorite toy is the one she has in her possession at the moment. So trading for a stationary toy? It was meh compared to chewing on the one she had. So you can try throwing it because then she can grab it and possess it again. She did really well about not moving away when your hand went towards the toy, so you can also split the end of the retrieve behavior into tapping your hand on the ground for a bit and if she doesn’t move away, gently tug on the toy she has. If she moves away, try tapping on the ground a bit further or throw the other toy to kind of reset the game.
Nice work here! Keep me posted on how she is doing with the toy!
Tracy
