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Good morning!
>Yes, you can limit reps of break the CBs in half. Mine crumble into a million pieces! Maybe I have an extra dry batch LOL!>
Oh no!!! Mine crack in half, I wonder if it is because I forget and leave them in the car so they are really cold LOL!
The collection sandwich looked brilliant! I loved your connection with your arm back to her while she was getting the cookie. And you have QUICK FEET! You were able to accelerate, blind, then decel into the pivot all in a matter of seconds. Wow! That allowed her to drive to you, change sides, and also collect for the turn. Click/treat for you both! My dogs are wondering if they can trade me for you because my feet are not nearly as quick as yours LOL!!
You can add more room if you have an area where she can really run without slipping, as well as the Go Go Go with the thrown toy after the pivot.
>When I was doing the wing wrap in the very beginning and sometimes it still comes out. Here is your comment: She had a bit of a chain going for a couple of reps: going around the cone to her right (from your left hand to your right hand) then sliding between you can the cone to her left. That likely means she is a righty, so we can adjust things a little to help get the left turns (moving from your right hand to your left hand).>
Aha! Thanks for finding it!
On the dog-on-left (right turn) video: she started by mushing the barrel LOL and this I exactly why we start on barrels and not wings 🙂 She needed a moment to sort it out but then she had a lightbulb moment followed by a big energetic reward from you. She did really well after that! It is a new puzzle and she was definitely putting the pieces together on the right turns. Super!!! You can add a tug to to the right turns here!
>This video is about 3 min, I didn’t want to edit anything out. I understand if you can’t review because of the length.>
I am very flexible with length of video, especially when we are looking at the whole session to troubleshoot/problem solve. Thank you for NOT editing it!
This session was not too long as you figured out how to help her. Your goal here seemed to be figuring out how to get reward to her and that is GREAT. You did not frustrate her or tell her she was wrong, you were looking for ways to tell her she was correct. Love it!
She is definitely not a lefty on this game so she was really thinking about it. Steam coming out of the ears as she worked on figuring it out!
You got her moving with a thrown cookie and a go, then rewarded for finishing one around when she was on the way back to you. Clever!
Brilliant training moment to go back to the original game with you sitting in front of the barrel.
She was so funny when she offered right turns – definitely rewardable for now! And it helped her get the left turn at 2:29. And you had a strong finish shortly after that.
The only suggestion I have for you is when you do the turn and burn with her on your right (left turns) you can bridge the gap by putting a bowl out about halfway around the barrel – she might have an ‘a-ha!’ moment as the visual helps her turn to her left. Then you can gradually move the bowl further and further around the barrel until it is gone and she will send to her left.
>Didn’t want to go that long ( I didn’t realize at the time) to avoid in the future, at what point should I have stopped?>
If you were unable to get reward to her, or you were stumped on how to help her, you can stop earlier. We don’t want her to get frustrated. I think you had excellent ideas here and she was still getting rewarded, so stopping when you did was good!
One thing she is doing is sniffing her way through the question sometimes and I wanted to mention it because it is perfectly fine 🙂 She is clearing her head and problem solving! My 2 year old dog did the same thing at the same age as Sunnie – when it happened, I noted it as super interesting but didn’t worry about it. He sorted things out quickly without me bugging him 😂 and most definitely did not end up being sniffy at all in his agility or flyball.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning!
Super nice session on the prop here! So much good work!!!
>-Watch in real time as I realize the mistakes I’m making in this one.>
Ha!! That is exactly why we spend time on the prop: so we can sort out all the handler mechanics, markers, dog mechanics, etc – all before we add it to the real stuff like jumps and tunnels. And if we make mistakes on the prop or accidentally add frustration (you did NOT have frustration here) – no worries! We can always change the prop if needed 🙂 And we get it all done to have a really easy, happy transition to the jump.
The adjustments and engagement are what really makes it a lovely session: she got a high rate of reinforcement as you adjusted what you were doing. Love it!
For the sending: She sent really well. My only suggestion is to center the prop in the area on the sends so she can turn towards you and not away. The couch was blocking her from turning towards you on the sends, so if she has more room you will get turns in each direction more easily.
The parallel path went really well too. Switching to the thrown reward really helps get more independence. So when it stops raining, take this outside! That will give you more room to add more distance 🙂
Great job with the reward placement on the backing up! The warm up on the flat went great and she is really thinking about moving back.
>For a few sessions she was working her back legs even harder by strategically backing up to avoid the mat – but we made some baby steps in the right direction this time.>
I was very happy to see her get totally on the mat as soon as you put it down! She didn’t seem to be avoiding it here – maybe she just didn’t know how to lift her back feet to get up on it so she was backing up a bit sideways. So you can help her out – since puppies are very front-end oriented, you can lure her to get all 4 feet on it – then lure just her front feet off of it. Then wait for her to step her front feet back onto it. That might be the lightbulb moment: “oh, I need to LIFT my feet!” So do a few reps of that and when she is easily stepping back with her front feet – you can lure all 4 feet off and see if she gets her back feet bck on directly.
Great job here! She looks great!
Tracy
Good morning!
>I wonder if I should try “spinning the room” and make my left side be on the blue & green yoga mat side too?
Great idea!!! Definitely try it! For science. 😂
>I introduced the beginner Pattern Game. I think we has giving me good attention between treats.>
The pattern game went great! He is so little that he really has to lift his head up – but that is actually really good for arousal regulation (changing the plane of the head helps the parasympathetic system regulate arousal).
You can keep moving this game around – first try with different locations in the house or yard. Add in having him on leash because when you play this in the real world he is likely to be wearing a leash – and the leash is a pain to hold 🙂 When he has some more experience in new places at home… try it in a new place entirely! Road trip!
The collection sandwich game went really well!
>My turn is wide, I need to pivot more instead of taking steps to turn. >
That is the only suggestion: decelerate immediately when you do the blind, so he sees it and collects. That will help you pivot more plus give the info to him sooner. You were in fast motion the whole time so he was surprised by the turn and that is wide he was a tiny bit wide.
When you decelerated a :45 and :52 for example, he turned really well!
>We started with the cookie toss, blind cross & collection turn. Then I showed him the pivot & the thrown toy. >
He did a brilliant job and I agree – I was super excited to see him go to the toy after all the cookies! YAY!! So terrific!
>I did see his enthusiasm diminish as we went along. It could have been that he was tired & it was a lot for him by then.>
I don’t think it was lack of enthusiasm – his engagement was still really great! He really wanted to keep going! But I do think he was hot – it is a lot of running for a little brachy dude and it is starting to get hot in Florida! You can see his mouth open and his tongue getting curled.
It will take him a little time to acclimate after a cold winter. And you can also do one minute session then an a/c break to cool down, then back out for one more minute, tops, in the sun. As the games add more running, you can change up the length of sessions and stick to super short with lots of breaks to keep him cool.
Does he like water? A dip in a cool baby pool can help keep him cool too!
>Do you think we are ready to try the Novel/Exciting Stealth Self Control games or should I do a few more sessions with some novel/neutrals?>
I think you are ready! You can start with boring exciting things LOL and have it far enough away that it is easy! But I think he is ready for it 🙂
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
What a fun and informative session!
>I left the beginning in the video so you could see his immediate interest in the area where the toys were piled on the workbench. Interaction! >
So cute! And definitely interested!!! He looked like a kid on Christmas morning 🙂
That first toy was a definite winner and you were great about keeping it low and moving it away. Super! What was the dark fabric at the top of it? That seemed to be a texture he really liked.
He got a little tired by about a minute into the tugging, so you can aim for 10 to 15 seconds of tugging, then put the toy away even if he still wants to tug. Leave him wanting more 🙂
He gave GREAT feedback on the 2nd toy (braided flannel): a big instant NOPE. Good to know! But he was still interested in playing, and that is great. You can use the braided toy as a handle for the other better toys, making them all longer so you can swing them for him to chase even more with you needing to also move.
3rd toy, sheepy fleece toy was also a big winner, he was definitely into it! I agree that this might be his favorite/ And it is a nice texture for baby puppy mouths who are teething. He got tired after about a minute here too – good to know! Keeping the sessions short and sweet will be key to the toy play.
4th toy: rabbit pouch was also super fun! Many dogs love fur toys. And I like the bungee handle because it is easier for me shoulders and back to tug as they get bigger and stronger. I am sure he smelled the lamb lung but was definitely pulling on the toy like a tug toy.
>I think it is best to let the lotus ball be the only toy/food combo.>
I completely agree! And the lotus ball provides a ton of flexibility in how you reward: you can throw it to get a food reward placed on a line, or you can tie it to a line to swing it for him to chase and grab 🙂
And for now, keep the food training sessions separate from the tugging with toys – his food value is very high and it is overpowering his toy love. So the lotus ball and food can be used for much of the training, and you can separately keep playing in short bursts, and use the toy for some of the faster moving games that don’t need food (like short bursts of toy racing).
It is totally normal to have toy play and food rewards stay separate with pups (all of my dogs need this at some point too) and as he grows up, we slowly bring them back together (no rush on doing it though, he is doing great with his training!)
Great job here!!
Tracy
Good morning!
Backing up is going really well!!!
That 2nd rep was GREAT – the lower hands made an instant difference! You can toss the treat to him instead of walking it to him. When you got a little further away, he still used his body really well but didn’t find the mat as well. No worries, you stay closer for now and we will also be adding to this game soon 🙂Looking at the prop games and rear crosses:
>Can I get him to drive ahead of me on this one so that it is easier to get behind him?>
Yes, we can get more driving ahead which will definitely make the RCs easier. It has to do with how you place the reward based on which skill you want.
Looking at the sideways/countermotion sending – you were sending really well so he had a nice snappy hit of the prop, followed by the reward from your hand. That is ideal for this behavior: we want a turn, so having the reward come from your hand works great!
Going back to the parallel path and RCs: this is where you can throw the reward out ahed, past the prop, so he doesn’t focus on you as much. On the parallel path game at the beginning of the prop session, you were rewarding from your hand so he stayed next to you.
We can flip that: as you move along the line and he hits the prop, fling the cookie reward out ahead so he leaves you to get it 🙂 You will see that he will drive away to the prop (as if it was a jump) very independently. Then when you start moving forward, he will drive ahead of you – which is where the RCs get much easier. If he drives ahead, you can cut behind him easily to get the RC (and continue to throw the rewards out on the line so he doesn’t want to stay near you).
When you did the RCs, he was understanding to turn away. Super! So I think getting him to move to the prop more independently with the thrown rewards will make it even smoother 🙂
Nice work here!!
TracyGood morning!
His stay is off to a good start!A few ideas for you:
We can get more stay behavior if we change the placement of reward:
Don’t go back to him to reward from your hand – that makes him want to be near your hand, so adding distance is harder 🙂
Instead, as you move away and he holds the position, throw a reward back to him. I use a ‘catch’ marker (even though the dogs don’t need to actually catch it LOL!) and when I throw it back towards them, they can move to get it. Then I reset and start over. The reward can be a cookie or a toy!
Start with just a step or two, then mark and throw back to him. That will get the stay and the release!
I bet he can also do it without the Klimb – you can cue a sit on the flat and play. That way you don’t have to fade out the Klimb and transfer it to the floor.
Nice work here!
TracyGood morning!
>In the layering game, I was wondering at the time if I should have been saying jump but I wasn’t quite sure as the only cue I could hear on the demo video was go. We tried it again using the jump cue which he seemed to respond nicely to.>
He did great here! I didn’t want to start with the jump cue in case it all went sideways and he didn’t find the jump 🙂 He said it was easy, so you were easily able to add the jump verbal.
You can also add in a parallel line to the wing on the other side! And sometimes wrap the first wing tight and cue the tunnel instead of the layering.
>Aelfraed says that working on stay is much easier with the help of a station. Even with the slightly squeaky brother behind him. This was an unintentional hard distraction.>
Hard yes! But if I recall correctly, there were a LOT of good sessions at home when his big brother was on a station in the area, and Aelfraed was great about ignoring him. So it was a little hard but not unfair and he was GREAT! And he will experience dogs whining behind him when he is o the start line at a trial or even a class/seminar, so it was actually a rally good, real life exposure 🙂 He was super successful! And since he was able to release with speed and not slipping (the mat was not sipping either) you can mix in having the mat there to help with stays during other training sessions.
Great job!
Tracy
Hi!
>I did the wing close because he wouldn’t send from farther >
Work the connected send, and reward it with a thrown reward. If he is not going to the wing, the connection is likely the issue.
>As far as wrapping- it’s not likely to happen. I train in five minute bursts. It’s just not feasible.>
That’s relatable – it gets faster in terms of wrapping (take me 30 seconds with Hot Sauce now) but it needs to be practiced consistently.
> Maybe spray is warranted. He only slips IN the tunnel when he has to change leads.>
You have to do something. My guess is you only see the BIG slips and they are in the tunnel, which is of course affected by footing/appraoch to the tunnel. But he slips on the turf too, and has to adjust his movement which is less obvious.
>And it can’t be just me having to do it. Meaning, Am I the only one with dip sh*t dogs? I can’t believe in that concept. >
>I’m not trying to be confrontational I’m just not understanding why it only happens with my border collies. What am I doing wrong?>Your dogs are not dipshits – maybe you are the only one getting your dogs worked on and you see these issues. I see poor movement all over the place in agility, but the handlers don’t have their dogs worked on or checked out. You might be the only one who has body work or ultrasounds or sports vet checks done, so you will be the only one who finds issues. That doesn’t mean issues don’t exist – it just means others are not looking for them.
Many dogs will have underlying issues (such as trashed shoulders) and it shows up as things as changes in movement, slower times… but also these dogs might get more frantic and overaroused. Many dogs will continue to work
> but it does not mean they are sound. If I had lots of extra money, I would take the dogs that get frantic/overaroused or stress ‘low’ in agility, then dog MSK ultrasounds and physical evals. I don’t think these dogs have had that but it doesn’t mean the problems don’t exist.
>With the find the jump- I should not need a go to exit him out of the tunnel?>
You can work on being anywhere including the exit of the tunnel – but for now a little more onion closer to the line will help a lot.
T
Hi!
>I still struggle with encouraging Tarot to drive out ahead of me (she want s to turn and flank) and she will still occasionally run past an obstacle but this 4th time around was much improved over previous runs. >
You can play lots of toy races (using food or a lotus ball is fine :)) with Tarot, but add in doing it with a jump! And when you are behind her, make sure you are keeping your arms down and connected to the back of her head (or her butt). That can help a lot!
Also, if there is UKI in your area, you can enter NFC and have someone throw or place a reward or target to help her drive ahead in trials!
>The video I am sharing is not of one of our runs but the warm-up. A while back, I attended a workshop with Bobbie Bambhree at Y2K9s and she talked about these dots. Tarot trends towards high arousal and this dot game really helps her to settle. >
Yes, the pattern games with targets are known to help reduce arousal/anxiety by giving the dogs a focal point to reduce scanning the environment. She is doing really well! Just be sure you are standing still to let her offer rather than to move to help her 🙂
One other suggestion is to hold the leash rather than step on it, in case she scoots off. If you are holding it, it is easy to gather her up. If you are stepping on it, she will get accidentally yanked on the neck which we don’t want of course.
You can bring 2 of these dots ringside and play right before you go into the ring!
Have fun, keep me posted!
Tracy
Good morning!
OMG! It was so windy! I think she liked it – full of energy and speed! Fun!
She was definitely getting the idea on the RCs – there was a pretty massive difference in the straight line cues a the RC cues, from the moment she exited the wing wrap. Super!!
First right turn RC was a little late (looked like a straight line cue for a few steps) but then you got the timing in better and did great. It was fun to see you be able to switch back to the left turn RCs and she still got it immediately. SUPER!
The only blooper was at 5:20 where you ran straight almost all the way to the straight line wing – then did the RC info after she was already thinking it was a straight line. You were earlier on the next rep so she got it but even earlier & clearer on the last rep, so she nailed it. Yay!
>but still felt a little cramped so I’ll need to keep working on that. >
Part of what was getting the RCs successful was that you were setting the line with deceleration at the wing, then driving into the RC. We will keep doing that when she is running grown-up sequences 🙂 And that cramped feeling is what we will need to plan for on a lot of courses with her speed and stride length! You did great getting the info to her!
The serps are going well too – she was definitely ready to run 🙂 The hardest part might have been the snd to the start wing – that helps get you up the one to the serp! The best sends were when you had a TON of eye contact and very little arm pointing. She was not super fast on the send to the wing at first (probably because it turned her away from where she knew you were going) but then she caught on and added a lot more speed. The other side was really lovely! Great sends and great serping!
>. I realized after watching that I was rewarding her with the tug at my hand rather than having her go out to the tug, oops.>
No worries, it was lovely serping! You can add that on the next session, and you can also add moving the start wing even further away by a few feet: that will add more speed and also challenge you to get the send to it from even further away. Fun!
>We did some Diamond game too but I had to move the camera to a different spot and it was so windy it kept blowing over there, and some wings too, LOL. >
Yes, Mother Nature was not cooperating. But the rest of the training looking lovely! Great job!
Tracy
Good morning!
Serps – You are good at serps! They might be your frenemy 😂 but this session went well overall! I think having the wing so close to the jump made it harder for the first few reps – being so close, it is really hard to show the cues & position while also giving him time to process it. The last couple of reps were super good because you did show all of that! But you can also move the wing away a couple more feet to give hm and you more time.
About that wing – don’t be pointy when you send to it. When you pointed at it without a lot of connection, he did not go to it (because it turns your shoulders to the backside of the jump, not the wing). When you were very connected with minimal pointing? He sent to the wing beautifully. Little dude keeps you honest haha! And if you accidentally fling your arm/point so he goes to the backside of the jump instead of the wing, reset with a cookie because he is actually correct there.
Zig Zags –
>We did it but I needed coaching on which side to be on !>
It takes a village LOL! He can definitely make the lead changes, so it is a matter of how early you give the info.
His stays are looking strong which really helps! It will be easier if you don’t turn your back on him or face forward on the lead out. You can face him and cue the zig zags – those reps went great! When you did it more like a lead out pivot where you were facing away and then had to do a full FC, the cues were a little late and harder for him to read. You can still reward him – he was right each time, based on what you were doing on the release.
Lookng at the find the jump video:
>I have a lot of worries about tunnels since that’s how Ella blew out her shoulder.>
Poor guy!!! Hard truth: the escalation in shoulder injuries in dog agility (Border Collies in particular because of their hypermobility) is most likely directly correlated to the escalation of using synthetic, flat surfaces.
So you need to have something on his feet every time he runs on turf. Is it a pain in the ass to do it? Yes! Is it helpful to protect against injury? YES which is why it is worth being a pain. Wrapping with powerflex so it covers from his stopper pad to his large pad (leaving toes unwrapped) is my preferred way – my Mal/Whippet mix wears rubber tape over the powerflex to prevent the slipping.
If you don’t want to wrap, you need to spray his feet with one of those sprays or water of Coca Cola or whatever prevents the slipping. Sprays are easier and faster than wrapping, so use that if they work (they might not all work so you need to experiment with which one is best). But not doing something going to get slipping which is where the repetitive injuries come from. It is unavoidable and also protects the dogs from slipping/wrenching themselves when going to toys. Just.Do.It. and don’t make Auntie Tracy wag her finger at you!! Maybe in May I will do a session on How And Why To Wrap Agility Dogs For Turf Training. And at trials on turf, they all need to be sprayed. I had already been suspecting this and have gotten the lecture about it from Canapp TWICE (and I am sure I will hear it again haha because we are getting ready to do collaboration thing with him!)
He did well finding the jump when he knew you wanted the jump 🙂 On the first few reps, I think you were too far away, too decelerated, and too quiet 🙂 so he looked at you. When you were further ahead and closer, he was getting it really well! My favorites were the rep at 2:20 and the last rep – clear and connected! You can be adding more motion here to help support the drive to the jump, especially as you add more and more distance.
Nice work here!!!
TracyPS – wrap or spray his feet. I will keep bugging you 🙂
Hi!
> I think he likes wraps. You had mentioned putting cue on it. I used Dig dig for my other dogs with both directions. Do you use something different for right and left?>
Yes – I use one verbal for a wrap to the left and one for a wrap to the right, because I will never be able to outrun my dogs and can’t guarantee I will be able to show physical cues… so they are happy to get the verbals 🙂 Both of my wrap verbals are noises to prevent me from shouting them LOL (choochooochooo is wrap-right and tststs is wrap-left). Dig dig is a good one, and check checl is another common good one too!
> Backsides is around. I am assuming I use Dig dig for these.>
Yes, I consider the barrel games to be front side wraps. We will have more stuff with verbals coming soon!
>Hits on the target. Yea sometimes he seems to get it with touching and sometimes not. Does make me question his understanding of the foot prop.>
He seems to understand it well enough for our purposes here. It is basically “commit to a thing” 🙂 And we will eventually replace the “thing” (prop) with a jump or tunnel.
> Not sure if I will do running with him or not but I have DW rubber running contact mats to train that. It is much bigger than that prop too.>
Perfect! And when he is ready to start that, we will be long done with the prop.
Looking at the video:
> I will admit my training plan seemed to have gaps for the RC. After the start of the session I decided I should do a warm up of parallel path.>
I htink you might just need more room, so it is easier to get him to drive ahead. A long hallway would be perfect. But he is getting it for sure – he is very tuned in to your motion! Even in the smaller space, he was able to read the RCs based on your motion in both directions! Normally baby pups can’t do that. I am impressed 🙂 The times where he did not read the RC and turned the ‘wrong’ way were when you were a little late so he had already arrived at the prop. If you try it in a longer space, he will drive ahead more and that will make it even easier to show the RC.
Backing up: this is coming along nicely too!
>. I do question doing it with more of a shoot maybe with the cones or in a hallway.>
You totally can, but I don’t think you need to 🙂 You can do it in a chair to keep your hands low (without having to bend over the whole time). Have treats in your hands and your elbows kind of on your thighs, so your hands can dangle below knee-level. Keeping your hands low the whole time (at or below your knee level) then flicking the cookie back towards him to reward while keep his head lower and get more backing up. Raising your hands caused his head to come up a bit which stopped the backing up. You can also add a mat for him to back up on to, because that might clarify exactly what you would like him to do with his back feet 🙂
Nice work here!
TracyWow, his engagement was impressive: in a new, distracting area where he has never trained and he was immediately able to play the game. Super!!!!
This went well! Lovely engagement! The next step is that you can slow it down a shade, so he stops moving for a moment while he looks towards you. Then you can mark it with a ‘yes’ or ‘get it’ then throw the next treat.
You can also add in having him wear a leash (with you holding the other end) as a way to prepare for when you play this game in different places where he will have to be on lead. It will feel like you need 3 hands at first so practicing with the leash on at home will make it easier.
Great job!!!
Tracy
I just saw in your post below that it is a frozen tundra outside – definitely do not take this game outside! Indoors is good til the weather improves 🙂
T
Hi!
He did great with the collection sandwich! Superstar!!!
You were making really good transitions from going fast through the blind then decelerating into the pivot. :23-:27 and :43-:48 at the beginning had lovely decel, so he was able to collect and turn brilliantly. And you did that on all the reps where you were throwing the lotus ball: run, blind, decel, then run again (and throw :)) The lotus ball was the perfect choice because he really drove to it after the first rep (where he was figuring it out :)).
The next step would be to take this to a longer room, so both of you can move more! If the weather is good, try it outside. If the weather is bad, stay indoors 🙂 and maybe try this in a long hallway as long as it is carpeted so you and Rusty don’t slip.
> I need to monitor how many times a turn to each side. In this series it is out of balance – way more turns to my right.>
You can divide the treats into 2 sets, 5 treats each, and put them on opposite sides of the room to remind you to work both sides when you have to reload the treats 🙂
>Another question . . . Sometimes you pose questions in your responses. I do not know the proper way to respond to them which is why I haven’t done so. Do I just do another reply?>
You have a couple of options! You can create another reply if you like. Or you can answer the question along with anything you post – whatever is easier for you will work for me!
Great job here!
Tracy
