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Good morning!
Fun stuff here with the Under Pressure games!
For Lift:
On the baseline, don’t push her off the backside with the handling, let her see the full wing (she barked when you got in the way :))Thanks for helping, Dean!!! Very leash-runner-like! Lift was even sharper in her engagement and execution (like Elektra was in the demo). Sometimes pressure adds focus and better execution!
The highland cow statue was a stroke of genius – definitely novel!!! I mean, it is possible that a towel or something would be laying around in the ring but the cows? Ha! She ignored them brilliantly but was clearly aware of them, judging by the look she gave them at the end LOL She was ‘finished’ working in that moment so it was fine to look at them, then she went right back to work when you called her to the leash. Good girl!
>Wasn’t going to do this with him but decided to try it and he completely fell for the highland cows the first time!>
With Kaladin, even though he is highly accomplished, his generation was not raised with these brain games LOL so I am not surprised that the cows were distracting! Great practice for him, even though he is already very experienced and accomplished.
>It was in the low 80s so he wasn’t super speedy. >
He was a little slower on the release from the start on the cow rep, and I wonder if it was the presence of the cows and his brain was already trying to process it. The heat is an issue for sure (105 degree high at my house today, but I escaped and am up near Ithaca NY here the high will fell like a chilly 88 degrees LOL) – and the heat is also a novelty that the brain has to process! It is not just a physical acclimation.
>Coats on the whippets in the 80s.>
This is for when they are indoors in the cranked up a/c LOL
For both of them, you can mix in novel-neutral stuff pretty much anywhere. With Lift in particular, getting her to process & ignore novelty in the environment will help her be less responsive to it in life as well as in sport (things like other dogs moving are part of what I would consider novelty :))
The mini jumping course went well! Small suggestions:
Sending to the #3 tunnel and being on the landing side of the 4 jump created too much decel (there was no place for you to keep running too) so he added more collection than needed. You can do a blind between the tunnel and the jump to get more extension.With 6 poles to set a better line to the tunnel after it: let him hit the entry and do a pole or two before you start running on a parallel line to the tunnel. That way he sees the scramble of acceleration as he exits (which should put him right in the tunnel, no questions asked :)) When you moved as he entered the poles, there was no place for you to go at the exit so you had to decel (which is what caused his check in). It might be a non-issue on 12 poles!
The rest looked great! Lovely turns and lines!!!!!
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning! Good work with both boys here 🙂
>I tried the spin for Lennan on jump 5 and I’m unsure if I’m doing it correctly. He seems to understand where he is going but is still launching quite far.>
I agree! You did it correctly and after the first run, I was thinking that maybe a little more decel would help? But that is what you did at :30 – and he was actually wider. He doesn’t seem to read the rotation & countermotion as a collection-before-takeoff cue, so he is landing then turning.
You can isolate that skill on jump 2 jumps so you can do the spin then have him chase you the new direction for a reward. Let’s see if that helps him put collection on the takeoff side more.
There was a small blooper on the threadle at :21, when you accelerated through it and he didn’t see or read the arm cues.
Deceleration helped at :44 (which is appropriate for this tight threadle), and you can also add turn cues heading to the jump before the threadle (starting after the weave exit. That way he won’t go a long on the jump and it is easier to show him the cues for the threadle itself.>Jump 17 seemed to work well.>
Yes – the turn is looking much tighter at :58! Super! You can be one more step on the takeoff side of the jump to shape the line even more – you were parallel to the wing so being a bit more on takeoff side yes even more collection.
And to help convince him to put a collection stride on the takeoff side: You can also get there and ask him to sit on the takeoff side, as a reminder to engage his hind end and collect before takeoff. He will be surprised at first but it is a good way to help get collection in situations like that.
>He unfortunately seems to have a pain memory from his injury last year and most significantly to the dogwalk that we have access to train on regularly.>
Poor buddy, that is entirely possible!!! And it does make it tricky to train. Slowly re-building a positive history will really help, and it sounds like this is what you are doing 🙂
Aelfraed did really impressive work with the pop outs!!! Going fast, committing beautifully, and great tugging!
Run 1 went really well – he had little questions about locking onto lines that I think were mainly because you were not driving him that hard (and the distances were bigger). He was asking if you wanted collection or not 🙂 He responded really well to the brake arm to get collection on the wrap at :09!!!
On the second pop out, you were driving him harder (running faster) so he did not have the same questions about the lines 🙂 You won’t always have to run this fast to get commitment without questions but it definitely helps for now.
Nice job getting the backside at :25! You can stick closer to it for a heartbeat on that type of line, almost til he lands – it has a severe push back to the next jump so sticking closer to the backside will set the line sooner (he almost missed it at :27).
Small detail: to tighten up the exit of the FC at :31, your decel to cue the turn can be a step sooner – but I think you were driving in more to help commit him to the lines (bigger distances are newer in his world).
He is committing really well to the backside at 1:03 but you can run away closer to the next line to tighten the exit line. Small detail, but he is looking ready for small details 🙂
One more small detail: At 1:07 – you were accelerating ahead and looking a little forward, so he looked at you before continuing. That head check will go away with a little more connection and more experience 🙂
>I realized I shouldn’t have rotated so much for the threadle wrap the first time so tried that part again with less rotation
Yes – decelerate into it and keep your feet pointing to where you are going after the threadle wrap jump. It was really lovely on the 2nd time through there! Very advanced skill for a baby dog!
When you accelerate away, show super clear exit connection: for a moment he thought it was the tunnel as the next obstacle because he didn’t see the connection.
>but then missed committing him to the backside at the end.>>
That seemed to be just a product of a smaller (and inexperienced) dog running bigger distances – he has to take more strides to get to the backside, and you relaxed the cue (by turning your shoulders and line of motion slightly away from the backside) when he was halfway between the 2 obstacles. For now, maintain the intensity of the cue (verbal, connection, shoulders & motion to the backside) until he is almost at the backside wing. As he gets more experienced, you will see his commitment get earlier and earlier, like it is on the simpler lines here.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi!
This was interesting – the paper bags were less exciting, but they were plenty challenging based on her popping out of the weave on the first rep! Then she was able to process the and did really well for the rest of the session. Yay!
One of the tricks to getting the dogs to tune out distractions is to present the challenges with different behaviors – since we can’t ask her to do zillions of weave reps without tiring her out too much, you can also add these challenges to any behavior! Even if the behavior is easier (like jumps or tunnels) the challenges will still teach her brain to process the distractions which in turn make it easier with the weaves too.
Rosie did super well! She kind of glanced at the bag the first time she went towards the weaves, but was able to weave really well without questions. Super!!!
Only one suggestion with both dogs – when rewarding the weaves (or any behavior) during these challenges, be sure to not be anywhere near the neutral object. If you reward right near it (which is what was happening on the bag on the far side of the weaves) they might start to think the bag is some type of target that they need to pay attention too. Rewarding no place near it will help them learn to ignore it 🙂
Great job!
Tracy
Hi!
>t really bugs me that I can’t run as fast as I could 20 years ago. Therefore, I’m glad we are working on ways to get from here to there without being a sprint champion!>
I think even the handlers who are indeed sprint champions are finding that they need to teach a ton of independence. Course design has evolved so much that raw foot speed doesn’t serve us anymore – sure it is nice to have it, but the judges are putting all sorts of stuff in our way and places to be, so independence on Iines is so much more important.
>I am going off on vacation at a “rotten” time. I just watched your two intro videos for games package #2 and they both sound like great fun (double whammy and under pressure).>
Ha! No worries, you can jump in when you get back – there is extra time built into the course to get it all done. And the double whammys are very fun – definitely hard though, there is a small element of panic LOL!!
>Wow, do I really appreciate your comment (from Games Package 2: Under Pressure Challenges) that you created the behavior problems! >
Yes, in the words on the one and only Taylor Swift: “It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s me” 🙂
I have to train and handle the dog, so it is relatively easy for me to screw up something, somewhere. And also, forgivable! That is the challenge of agility: train and handle ALL the things, while minimizing screw ups 🙂
>Same thing with generalization: very hard to convince students that their dog doesn’t know it (here, at this moment with these circumstances) when “he knows it at home!”.>
I can see why it is hard to understand that! That was part of why we do all this BrainCamp stuff now – even understanding a little of what happens in the dog’s brain and body can be a total game changer! Understanding the science of generalizing, arousal, processing makes a huge difference. The studies are fascinating but also not everyone cares – so boiling it down to a simple sentence to get them on board with the ‘it is not the dog’s fault’ is a big challenge.
Have a great vacation!
Tracy
Thank for the update! And yes, it is brutally hot!!
>If the line required a lead change both dogs struggled to get the far jump.>
Lead changes away from us is HARD for most dogs! So you can play with using converging motion, where you run towards the line more. And you can also play with using your opposite arm – the opposite arm pointing to the jump and VERY direct eye contact can help a ton! And then you can do it from further and further away 🙂
Keep me posted! Stay cool!
Tracy
Hi!
>I will work on the stand stay too. Bazinga has it but it developed by accident. >
Same here! It just develops organically (or accidentally haha)
The strike a pose game went well – the tiny treat dispenser worked great! And pulling out the target helped too, especially because the treat dispenser had a lot of yummy stuff in it 🙂
You can also shake the threadle/serp hand a bit to give him more of a focal point, especially when he can see you between the uprights.
He looks ready to see some motion with this game, adding very sloowwwww walking through the one so he can sort out how to move through the line while you are also in motion.
He was so cute with his excited barks during the rocking horses game! This went really well – Think he likes it a whole lot so you can do more reps of 2 or 3 in a row. Be sure to make a huge connection to him before sending him to the next barrel – if you tried to use your hand to connect, he didn’t really see where to be (like at 1:18) so he stayed behind you. But when you keot your hand back to his nose to make really direct eye contact, he knew exactly where to be so was able to be quite fast around the barrels (like the reps at he end :))
The happy stay game also went really well -he seemed very happy to hold the stay and have the treat tossed back to him. You can definitely try this with mixing in releases forward to the prop – that will add in more value for moving forward, which can make the stays a shade harder! And you can add in using a toy, especially at the beginning of a session when he is wild 🙂 That might simulate how he feels at a trial!
He did great with the right turns! He seemed to think the mini jump bars were things to NOT be touched, so he looked like a rodeo dog there as he went over them LOL!! But he was bouncing the distances really well and did not seem as concerned about touching them by the end LOL! He is ready for the front crosses (as he is moving through, you do a front cross and go the opposite direction) to add even more commitment.
>We really need to revisit the tunnel games. The last time we did them, he was not in to the manners minder but maybe the other treat dispenser will be more fun for him.>
The treat dispenser might be more fun for sure. Plus, latent learning might kick in and he might love the tunnel games now 🙂 Great job here!
Tracy
Hi! He did really well here!!!!
>. Taking your suggestion I trusted him more on jump 4 and did the BC earlier.>
That was super excellent and resulted in a great blind and more importantly: you were miles ahead of him 🙂 You were far enough ahead that you were no longer visible as he took the last jump – being way ahead is very useful nowadays!!!
He is layering really well, so be sure to be patient on the line before the layering to set it up: you were a little too early on the send into the layering at :11, so you ended up turning your back on him and he didn’t take the 2nd jump. You can see him turn his head and then he thought you didn’t want the 2nd jump.
The pop outs were great too!
1st pop out – he is a layering king! Easy peasy to get him to the 1st layered jump past the weaves! Since we are talking about arm levels – when you do a bit send into the layering, you often have your arm really high (like at :25 here and also on the last pop out). Your arm is high enough there that he can still see your connection from under it, and your shoulders are still pointing to the correct line – so he had no questions. European handlers often handle like that and as long as the dog can still see the connection like Rexx did, the results are really strong.
>I feel my arm is quite high when I send him to the far backside. I actually tried it with a lower arm and he didn’t go to that jump. Thought I had a video of that! I will have to experiment with different arm levels.>
Looking at the backsides here and on the other pop outs:
On this pop out, you had a low arm and clear connection at :30 and :34 as he exited the previous obstacle and as you started the send to the backside, til he was past you so he committed really well. It is possible on the rep when he didn’t go to a jump that your arm position was good but your connection was unclear (like at :11) so he pulled off to figure out the cue.Speaking of conenction – He almost ducked behind you into the weaevs at :38 – you glanced at where you were going (maybe trying not to impale yourself on the weave poles 🤣) and he thought it was a blind cross into the weaves. It is hard not to run into the poles when you have to pass them here, so you can totally use your layering skills 🙂
2nd pop out:
Wow, nice weave entry at :48 followed by the rear cross! Rexx has some serious skills! The rest looked lovely! You had gorgeous connection on the line, clear threadle cues, and another lovely weave entry. And finished with your own excellent jump form over the blue jump LOL!
An additional challenge on this one would be to keep him on your right for the first weave entry, so he weaves on your right… then flip him away to the jumps so you end up layering the weaves. That is a challenge we see a lot on course lately, and can get you to the next position (and the threadle at the end) even sooner. Since he is showing really strong layering skills, I bet he can do it!
3rd pop out – this also looked strong! And the layering at the end looked great!
He missed the weave entry (it is a really hard weave entry) – you needed to go one more step towards it. But also – you can layer the weaves and meet him at the entry. What I mean by that is rather than go with him past the weaves at 1:14, you can send him past the weaves to the jump while you layer – and you will meet him at the weave entry with you on the side of the weaves opposite him. That is also a really hard weave entry but he is showing strong weave skills so we can expand the skills into layering – that can help you show the weave entry and also help you get to your next spot after the weaves too. If he has never seen that entry before, you can break it down by starting with him in a sit on one side of the poles (on an easier angle) and you are on the other side of the poles, then release him into the weave entry.
Super nice work here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi!
>It looks like we are taking our vacation at just about the right time. Certainly we wouldn’t be doing any training with: EXTREME HEAT WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM EDT THURSDAY>
Ewww! Hope you are going somewhere cool! Current situation here in the mountains of Virginia is 99 degrees with a ‘feels like’ of 109. Welcome to the new normal, I guess.
>I visited my hair dresser and they have free bottled water in a bucket on the sidewalk for passers-by to pick up. It’s the kind of neighborhood where people will appreciate it.>That is amazing! Hopefully people are not walking around too much and keeping themselves in the shade at this time of day. My house with 9 dogs is completely still and silent right now – the heat just zaps the energy.
>So I released him with a collection cue and had no problem getting the correct side. He comes out of the tunnel almost perfectly facing the jump (0:02). I must not be following because the line 1-2-3-4 looks pretty good. >
I agree that it was clear and set up a lovely line 1-2! When you opened up to face 2, that is when he went long and you can see him looking at you (instead of driving to the jump) as he drifted a little. Tiny detail, but pretty cool that Casper is entering the ‘tiny detail’ stage of training 🙂
>I accelerated up the line because I thought he had the turn.>
One more step in decel will get it. The “easiest” way (not so easy at first) to know is to watch his front end: head turn is usually not the full picture with these young fast dogs – we usually need to also be sure they have turned enough and committed to the new line before we blast away. And the happy by-product is that you will be super connected!
Plus, by being sure he has all of these independent line skills, layering, etc – it won’t matter if you are not miles ahead of him because you can get him on the correct line from anywhere without trying to race him (we humans would all surely lose that race!)
>Thanks again and I hope you and your dogs enjoy (endure) the fourth without too much disturbance due to the fireworks.>
I will be teaching in New York where it is both cooler AND there is rain rain rain in the forecast. I love a rainy July 4th because it means fireworks are canceled 🙂
Have a great vacation!
Tracy
Good morning!
>We gave string cheese & meatballs a whirl yesterday>
She did well here and was engaged with the good food rewards – the spins, touches, and patterns all looked good!
> but no match for the birds when they came into view, BUT I can use a scatter to get her off of them. >
On the video, she didn’t get locked onto birds so if you have video of when it happened… post it up so I can see and help 🙂 I did see things in the environment catch her attention (probably birds) – at :46-:52, and again at 2:04… but then she checked in with you and didn’t stay locked onto them. YAY!!! You can make a huge fuss over her when she does that: massive praise, jackpots, etc.
It is also notable that those small disengagements were after a burst of being perfectly engaged: :45 seconds in the first part of the video, and about a minute in the 2nd part. It is possible that it is so hard for her brain to ignore birds, that the longest she can ignore them for it 25 seconds. That makes sense – ignoring the hardest distraction does take a ton of mental energy. And that means that as you build up training outside, the sessions can be crazy short (which is perfectly fine at this time of year with the gross temperatures!)
>My problem is I freeze when she freezes because I don’t know what I should be saying! Does it matter what I do – scatter, get it or whatever it takes to get her off looking at them? >
You can experiment with a few different things to see what helps:
– you can turn and walk the other direction (she is on leash so she will move with you, even if she is looking the other direction)
– you can try gently touching her flank and see if that helps her focus back on you
– You can try putting a yummy treat on her nose and luring her attention back to your direction
– You can drop a treat on the ground and tell her to get itOne other thing I would like to try is a different visual for her to focus on: a foot target or a mat or even the prop we used earlier in the class! It is possible that the visual of the birds hijacks her nervous system so she cannot respond to non-visual cues (which is part of why the lures work, they are visual). So a big visual aid can make a MASSIVE difference.
Her response will tell you what helps!
Speaking of visual aids… I realize we can add a game to her skill set to help her process visual distractions: super bowls! We have used this game to great success to help the dogs ignore visual distractions (birds, bunnies, other dogs, etc). Here is an explanation and demo:
And adding other distractions to ignore (other dogs in this case):
You can teach her this game indoors in your training area so she is very fluent with it before taking it outside for very very short sessions. It is basically this:
* Super bowls begins with 2 to 4 bowls (or any similar visual target) placed about 6-8 feet apart.
* Place a cookie in the first bowl to start the game.
* Stand perfectly still until the dog re-engages by looking at or towards you. Mark that with praise! Then you move to the next bowl and place a cookie in it. Then stand still and wait for re-engagement.
* The dog’s re-engagement is your cue to move to the next bowl and put a cookie in it.* When the dog is re-engaging easily, you can move to the next bowl, place a treat in it, then stand still and wait for re-engagement.
* When he dog re-engages, you can move back to the first bowl. The dog’s engagement is your cue to move to the other bowl.
>don’t I have to be better than the birds somehow, do we keep going with whatever I ‘lured” her off with after she reorients to me?>
Don’t worry about trying to be better than the birds – think of it more as shaping her brain to be able to resist the instincts she has been bred to focus on. Her brain is young and learns fast, so it is doable! So if luring her works? We go with it for now as we work on other ways to help her as well. But I think you can play with super bowls and the other ideas to see what else helps! She ate the food really well here so I am optimistic about being able to start with super short sessions that you can gradually extend in duration.
>Also if she is always on a 6ft lead ( I understand better control for me!) >
For now, the 6 foot leash is a combination of safety (so she can’t take off out of the unfenced part of the yard) and security for you (so you are not tense about her taking off and can focus on some training). Plus, the long line was hurting your hands so taking that out of the picture temporarily will help you not worry about that.
>how do I satisfy her enrichment other ways since running, chasing fills her cup? >
Running and playing with people and dogs are definitely fun – it might take a bit of creativity to have that happen. Can you rent the agility ring and let her run and play? Anyone nearby have fully fenced yards you can take a road trip to? When the temperatures are not too terrible, you can also do sniffy walks or short hikes on a long line in the woods. But for now, off leash in the yard seems off the table because she can get out (she is not naughty, she simply doesn’t know any better). Also, chasing birds is probably working against you in terms of training so finding other ways to let her have fun is good.
Does she like to swim? You can get a baby pool and let her party with a hose and a bit of water 🙂 That can also be super fun!
>Won’t she get fustrated over time of not being able to get her ya yas out?>
Yes, but there are plenty of ways to get her ya yas out 🙂 besides running in the yard. And taking her on sniffy walks in the yard on leash are good too – a combination of activities will help her feel fulfilled while also helping overcome the challenges in the yard.
>Just wondering how you built on keeping them on a short lead every time she’s outdoors so eventually (hopefully at some point down the road) off leash? I know this is a long process and totally going to put in the time, patience & practice for it, I want to help her >
The short leash is to start figuring out what she likes as rewards and being able to get behavior outside – keeping her close to you will make that much much easier plus you won’t worry about her taking off to the unfenced area.
Once you’ve locked into a training structure (types of rewards, session length, etc) and the you can see her having an easier time engaging even with the birds around, then we go to a long line. We repeat the process and when she is having an easy time engaging, we let her drag the long line. Then repeat the process, until she is off leash 🙂 The process gets easier and faster each time you do it.
>Lesson today indoors on turf
I will take some throwing toys too (froz & ball) along with our tugs to see if she has any interest there. There I bring porkchops & St Roccocs, she’s great there with those snacks! >Perfect!! Get lots of video!
>The biggest ‘issue” is her cray cray for the instructor & getting a bit over threshold when we are there because she is SO excited! >
Aha! This is actually the same issue as the birds, it just manifests differently: the struggle to ignore something in the environment. It is a great opportunity to work on it in a very controlled setting! You can see if she can do her tricks and patterns on leash when the instructor is nearby – and do super short blasts of ‘work’ then give her a break, even if she says she doesn’t want a break LOL. Set a timer to 30 seconds for each tiny session, and have a crate nearby so you can give her a break. We want sessions that are fast, fun, and super successful! And if she runs off to go pummel the instructor with love 🙂 then she needs to work on leash – that leash will allow you to prevent arousal and reinforcement for leaving you, and allow you to fill her with reinforcement for behaviors we like instead 🙂
>That’s something I’d like to work on too- do you have a webinar on this?>
Yes, the MYOB webinars are the ones for this – MYOB stands for Mind Your Own Business 🙂 there is a puppy version but I think the adolescent/adult version is better. It just started up again because people have been asking for it:
MYOB!* How To Teach Your Dog To Ignore Other Dogs And Remain Engaged With You! (2026 Edition)
Have fun today and keep me posted!
Tracy
Good morning!
The Manners Minder definitely helped here! He figured it out really nicely!
The threadles went really well, he did a great job coming to the threadle side on cue and the MM helped him go back out over the bar. SUPER!
What is your verbal threadle slice cue? As you mentioned, you can use it here as you release from the stay. He was holding the stay nicely but releasing on your hand movement – you’ll get a better stay overall if the release is a verbal only, so try to get to your position, put your hand in position (no release) then say the verbal threadle slice cue.
Since he was sitting facing the bar here but did threadles to the backside on most of the reps at the beginning, mixing in the front side was good too in the 2nd half of the session because most of what he will see will be serps over the bar from that angle. He did really well with that too and with the backsides at the very end.
As with the threadles, you will want to use a verbal cue to release the stay when doing the serpentines. This can be a regular release like “ok” or “break”, whichever you normally would use.
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
She did really well here, even with the heat! Good girl!It was a fun session to watch: the object further from the camera was definitely more challenging than the toy closer to the camera… until you touched and moved the toy that was closer to the camera. Touching it and moving it added a level of enhancing it which made it harder for her brain to ignore it.
Both of the objets were pretty exciting 🙂 and maybe not neutral enough. You can use random neutral objects to make speedy progress with this stage (we add exciting stuff soon :)) Neutral can be things like a shoe or an old book or a chair that is not usually there.
The toy further from the camera was definitely a hard challenge: Note her little spin on that first run, right before going into the weaves on the very first rep! Then she was spinning a bit as she got her reward: she was PUMPED UP! She had a couple of misses during the session, but not that many and then was able to sort it out and weave really well.
If she has struggles, you can reduce the challenge by putting it up on a chair or low table. Or you can move it further away so it is present and she is aware of it, but has an easier time tuning it out.
Once she gets it right a couple of times, you can end the session or take a break after a couple of successes, then reset the environment with different challenges such as moving the exciting object somewhere else 🙂 Changing things frequently helps to generalize the behavior without even having to leave your own backyard 🙂
She was really good about not slowing down much in the weaves as she worked through this – she might have slowed down little when things were hard or it might have been the heat. But overall, she maintained her speed and rhythm really well!
Great job here! You can do different sessions with different neutral things, with the weaves or any behavior to help her brain process it.
Tracy
Hi!
> but I thought the course is over today 🙁>
It ends on July 6th, so we have more time 🙂
>Food- I have to go shopping to get some food variety. I’m not a big cook lol!>
I highly recommend string cheese (medium value for my dogs), cheddar cheese (HIGH value for my dogs), frozen meatballs from walmart (SUPER high value), rotisserie chicken (they would sell a kidney for this). Your mileage may vary, she might like other stuff like hot dogs or salmon. Elektra, the smaller demo dog in most of these videos, was trained for flyball using McDonalds Egg McMuffins which are the HIGHEST value thing on the planet for her (I like them too LOL). The flyball environment was hard, so I used the best possible food rewards.
>Not to sound like a dork, but how do I test the food if she’s not doing anything?>
Great question, not dorky at all! A couple of ideas for you:
– do some pattern games
– ask for a couple of simple tricks like hand touches and spinsAnd when you do these, she should be on leash (no heart attacks needed in she takes off for the unfenced section of the yard). And you can watch for 2 things: how quickly she responds to the cues or looks at you, and how easily she eats the treats. Does it take her a moment to eat or to respond? Or is she super quick with responses, doesn’t take her eyes off of you, and does she grab for them as if she is starving?
> She will check in with me because right now I am feeding her for every time she looks at me. >
This is good! And you can be observing how quickly she checks in:
for cheese maybe it takes a second or two.
for meatballs, maybe it is instant
for pizza crust, maybe she never takes her eyes off of you (you might need to have pizza for dinner to test this theory LOL)>This only happens when she’s close. >
Great! Keep her close for now, 4 or 6 foot leash. She is like a teenager who just got her drivers license but has been driving way too fast – license revoked! She has to hang out with mom for now!
>When she goes to the end of the line, I usually have to call her back, recall training, which she ignores me mostly. Some ‘reps’ she’s move attentive than others, but by no means is it a Rock Solid recall.>
Plus, when she goes to the end of the line, she would probably be taking off without the line on… so no need to use the long line. Short leash for the win! It will be easier to wrangle and you’ll be able to get her back on the road to success more easily.
>So same question for toy toy. Do I try to play with her with various toys?>
Yes- tie the toy to something long (a leash or another toy) and swing it around and away from her, for her to chase. Don’t move it towards her, as that might not be as much fun. You can also try a tennis ball or frisbee in class and see how she likes those! Tennis balls and frisbees are often incredibly valuable for dogs and can really help overcome distractions.
>I can get her engaged with toys indoor much easier than outdoor, probably because it’s all me not knowing how, >
The environment is much easier indoors, which really helps! So the toys will have to be better value outdoors and it is also possible that food is the winning reward outdoors and not toys.
>especially when she taps out, I tap out too.>
If she taps out, you might be moving the toy towards her (which will cause her to say ‘no thanks’). Or maybe the session went on for too long. Or maybe the toy is too short and she doesn’t want to tug near your hands or with you bending over. So think of it as short blasts of play where the super toy is moving away the whole time, for her to chase and grab. And end the play session before she ends it, so it might be 10 seconds long or less.
> Btw your toys sound much cooler than mine LOL!>
Ha! They are pretty cool toys but we can find Sunnie the toys she thinks are super cool too! (And my dogs do *not* get the super cool toys in the house – they are only for the really hard environments 🙂
>Do your dogs have high prey drive for birds too? or other animals in the environment?>
They aren’t very birdy but the terrier and the whippets/lurchers (whippet mixes) can be very prey-driven. Working whippets in general are murderers – bred to chase and kill things like bunnies, squirrels, etc. I think the best moment I have had as a dog trainer was when I was hanging out on my front lawn (no fences) with Ramen the whippet (from working lines) when he was about a year old and he was off leash along with a few of my other dogs. Suddenly, a bunny hops out in front of us. Then the bunny notices the dogs and takes off, running as fast as it could (stupid bunny). Ramen the whippet aka murderer saw the bunny take off and looked at me instead of chasing the bunny. I of course praised him and ran in the house to give him 57 meatballs.
One of my dogs DID chase the bunny…. not the terrier. Not the whippets or lurchers. It was Nacho the Papillon LOL!! He did not catch the bunny LOL
Let me know what you think and how it goes when you test drive the different rewards!
Tracy
Good morning!
Great job with course 1!!
The opening looked lovely – excellent blind cross 3-4!
> I would have liked him to not launch so far on the jump before the frame>
You can do a spin rotation (FC to BC) on jump 5 (:09) – it will tighten the turn AND it will get you facing the next line sooner. I don’t love to do a lot of spins but this is a perfect place for it because it cues more collection while getting you to the new line sooner than a post turn.
He did well with the threadle wrap at 7, that is totally the best option there! You can decelerate a bit more and lock your feet facing 8, so he can tighten the turn up even more!
He had a little question after the weaves and came towards you a bit. it was because you were lateral and relatively stationary. Being lateral was good! And you can start moving forward to support the line to 10 on a parallel path from your lateral position, before he exits the poles to elininate that little extra step (:21)
> I accidentally gave him the wrong cue on the jump before the dogwalk so he was a very good boy.>
Yes, a little more RC info was needed so it was good to stop and reward him then resend to get a nice dog walk entry.
>His dogwalk contacts have been less than stellar and I suspect would be non-existent right now on an angled exit which is why I had a reward dish for him.>
The reward bowl was smart! He did get a foot in (maybe 2 feet LOL) but helping him out and rewarding is definitely smart if the contact zone has been made of lava lately 🙂
Turning him to his right over 17 is great for setting up the next line. Doing it as a post turn widens the line a bit, even with deceleration. To tighten the turn and get you off his line sooner (and point your feet to the next line sooner too) this is another good place for a spin rotation: as he exits the 16 tunnel, you can be up by the wing of 17 – but your feet are pointed to 18. You can cue him to basically run across your feet (connecting to him then sending him to the jump past you by shiffting your connection to the landing spot will help)
It will look like what I did here on jump 2:
I led out to it, but you can easily get there while he is in the tunnel 🙂
And the layering at the end looked great! It looks easy and fast!!
Aelfraed did great with his pop outs!!
He went past jump 5 at :07 on the first run – the jump was on his line but you had turned a little and connection was not as clear, but it presents a small conundrum: we want to reward him, but we also want him to stay on his line and maybe save you if you are not perfect… so rather than reward him right there when he went past the jump at :07, you can continue for another jump or two then reward him for taking a jump. Going past the jump is a cue to you to connect more, but also we can build more value for staying on the line by getting one more jump properly then rewarding. And that way we don’t have a possibly grey area of rewarding him when he does not take a jump, even if it was caused by a handler blooper. This blooper was small and it would be lovely if he can save you and take the jump 🙂
You had perfect connection and got a little closer to that jump at :28 and :42, and he nailed it. YAY!
On the 2nd sequence:
He is jumping to his left (towards you) on 5 at :45 and 1:05 and 1:27, that is how the line is set so it makes sense that he is on his left lead there and needs to shift to a right lead to get to 6. You are parallel to him on that jump (or one step ahead) so he had a question about going out to 6 both times: big question at :46 with much cursing, and only some minor grunting/mumbling under his breath 🤣😂 at 1:06 where your position pushed in more. You got one more step ahead at 1:28 which helped, but another option to consider is using your outside arm there to push him away to 6 (especially if you are not ahead of him). So as he is approaching 5, the left arm here would be up pointing to 6 and your eyes would be on his eyes. That would turn your shoulders more strongly to 6 even when your position can’t support it that well. And it is a cue he already knows from his foundation “get out” training so this is a good place to use it.>We did also progress to pop out #3 but unfortunately the camera did not start so don’t have video of that one>
Darned camera!! I am glad he did well even if you don’t have the video. He is doing some really advanced work!
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning! I am glad you got this in before it got too hot! We are getting hundred degree temperatures this week, so any dog stuff outdoors is happening at sunrise. Pass the coffee!!!
Course 1 is definitely more complex than course 2, but there are lots of lovely parts here!!!
Some ideas for you:
At the beginning, you were facing him as he is heading to 2 – rather than open up and face forward to 2 when he commits and do a post turn (which sends him wider and makes him wait for info, note him looking at you and drifting a little at :02), just complete the turn with a spin/blind so you are facing the new line at all times. Keeps that turn nice and tight!
The rear cross switch on 5 works great – when you trust it more, add stronger turning cues (decel, take out the ‘go’ verbal before the switch verbal). You will see a common theme here: using deceleration to help set turns and lines but not when you want him to extend on the line.
> Another case of “things I thought he knew but he doesn’t”. That would be the flick (threadle wrap) which I wanted to use from the teeter to the next jump. >
Yes, threadle wraps, they are totally on the summer agenda 🙂 I agree that it is absolutely the best option here. Part of the cue is deceleration – all threadle wraps are handled with decel to varying degrees (depends on the context and how well the dog understands the cue). So for harder scenarios like 7 and dogs still learning it: lots of decel even standing still is needed! You can stand still and be using the arm cues until he gives you permission to move forward again. That permission will look like him to turning towards the jump AND setting up the turn the correct direction (so he doesn’t slice it as you move away). He won’t always need that much decel and patience, but for now he does. When you used the cue on course, you ‘let go’ of the cue too soon at :10 (moved forward and stopped giving the arm cues) so he went back out towards the weaves. it is a good one to isolate to work on (and we have more of that coming in Games Package 4).
>He also struggled with the whiskey RC.>
>That was more about him not seeing you move through the line to thecenter of the bar – it looked like a left turn cue on jump 8 (:14).
>Casper and I had a lot of trouble with the section from the weaves to the DW.>
This is where I recommend flipping the rhythm of the motion cues: when he exits the weaves, accelerate up the line 10-11 then decel into the turn cues 11-12. You were decelerated then accelerated, so he had questions about the turn.
When you were working a RC 11-12, the first one at :23 was happening as she was already taking off, so he hit the wing trying to adjust. Your timing was much earlier at :36 (yay!) so he got the turn away from 11-12 but then there was an off course tunnel. The motion was decel then accelerate – but there needs to be a turning cue on 12. What bit you there (and got the off course tunnel) was reverse motion from what he needed: he needs to see the motion go from acceleration (10-11) to decel to set up the turn on 12. At :38 he saw you go from decel to acceleration, so even though he was prepared to turn left and get on the DW, the sudden acceleration cued the line to the tunnel. And if you are already in deceleration, then you have to stay decelerated in order to set the turn (and accelerate again after you have the turn). Let me know if that all makes sense.
A BC on the landing of 11 is a great option too!! When you tried it at :28, the BC was super late (he was taking off and you were still connected to him dog-on-left)s so when he landed at :29 the blind was not done yet. He thought he needed to go to your left side so when you did make connection on the new side, he was already past you. To get that blind to work, you don’t need to serp him in to 11 as much – accelerate up the line so when he landing from 10, you can begin the blind as you are passing the landing spot at 11.
Another spot to reverse the acceleration and deceleration is the exit of the DW and the RC on 14. When you accelerated into the RC flip away on the first rep (:46) he accelerated too which led to a wider turn.
Can he flip away into the RC at 14 without you needing to accelerate across the line, just using hand cues and a tiny bit of motion? Decel and just flipping him away will get a great turn there while setting you up for better position after the next line. The turns were already better at 1:06 and 1:15 when you had more decel!
He is doing really well with all the layering he is seeing! The layering to the tunnel under the DW worked great and the layering at the end worked great too!
>I also wanted to get #17 on the slice by using a big send to 15, 16 to meet him on the far wing of 17. >
I like that plan and I think it is actually quite doable! It requires more sending away to 15 and 16, which means using less movement towards 15 when cueing the turn on 14.
> on the second time I wasn’t able to show the jump.>
That was more of a dog training question than a handling question – he didn’t understand to take the jump with all the countermotion.
You did get to a great spot at 1:19 but because countermotion was very hard for him, we have a good training opportunity: as you are moving forward past the exit wing, your connection can shift to the landing spot (and you can point to it) to support commitment. You can isolate that to be able to reward him for commitment (throwing the reward on the landing side as you move forward) to build value so it becomes more of a default behavior to take the jump rather than run past it. That way you can use your sending skills and get to good positions, and trust him to take that jump without needing a lot of help from you.
>At the very end, I slid in a quick shot of Enzo doing it – he went second so I wasn’t even trying the slice from the far side – I did a whiskey type RC and it worked fine.>
Yes, that is a good option too! Which one you choose will depend mainly on what you want to do next: getting ahead and using the countermotion would be very effective if you did *not* want to layer the 19-20 line and needed to stay ahead. Doing the whiskey-ish RC is great if you want to layer, because it keeps you at more of a distance for 18-19-20 which in turn allows you to set up the layering line more without hitting the brakes which can pull the dogs off the line.
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi! Thank you for the update – I figured you were busy with Lexie, which makes total sense of course. The video you posted on FB of Lexie and Sunnie playing was adorable!
>Sunnie was so tiny LOL! 10 weeks old>
SO CUTE too! And she is still so cute 🙂
> I also watched our last exercise above. This was the start of our demise 🙁 The birds, her prey drive kicked in even higher than before.>
I also went back and looked at it, after reading this post! I have ideas for you!
> Now she’ll chase & run & not come back! My yard is only 3/4 fneced and she’s running toward the no fenced part & won’t stop. I have a heart attack every time she does this.>
OMG, that is really scary, I can see why you would not want to take her leash off! And OUCH about your poor hands!
> I am trying really hard to help her. Been researching, but I can’t do it alone.>
We can come up with ways you can do it alone, on a 6 foot leash that won’t destroy your hands 🙂
> I think I need to pair the trigger (birds) with a marker to reorient to me & then give her (reward her) with an outlet she wants- chase- run but it has to be with me. The birds are everywhere in my yard, so that’s a challenge too. I can’t train the behavior I want somewhere else and then build up to it. >
The first step is to establish what type of reinforcement is the most valuable in that environment – we gotta fight fire with fire! In the previous video, she was not into the toy enough for it to fully overcome the bird distractions. So my suggestion is to take her outside, on a short leash, with a variety of different food rewards: cheese, meatballs, rotisserie chicken, salmon, etc. You don’t need to ask for any training (and don’t let her run around) – let’s just test drive the treats and see if there are any that she freaks out in joy about 🙂 When I was teaching my Whippet, Ramen, to handle exciting environments and overcome prey drive, I used meat from rotisserie chicken and london broil. YUM! And now that he is past that stage of distraction, I can use lower value food.
And you can also do a similar session on leash outside with several different toys and see if you have any that are mind-blowingly fantastic. Because I also play flyball and I do it with dogs bred to be want to chase motion, I do this a lot too in early adolescence to let the dog pick a toy reward that blows their mind with joy (and helps eliminate other distractions in the environment). Every dog loves something different: Contraband loves frisbees, Hot Sauce loves tennis balls, one of my previous dogs LOVED plastic water bottles. Ramen loves a squirrel skin that a tiny plastic water bottle sewn into it. And Plot Twist (Whippet/Malinois mix) is an absolute freak for raccoon pelts on bungees (they are actually full raccoon pelts, complete with head and whiskers, that I use as a tug toy).
I think that is a good (and easy) first step: what is the highest value reward we can use to begin overcoming the drive for birds?
And when we have a reward or two that will work, we can go back to training her to ignore the birds. It can all be done by yourself because your beautiful yard is a hard environment for her, for now 🙂 But I am here for ya and happy to help!
>Add in adolescence to the picture too 😀>
Oh yes, we all need an adolescence support group – not for the dogs, but for US hahahaha
>I was excited to join Max Pup 2, but now I don’t know 🙁 I’ve got to get this under control before I can even think about training agility 🙁>
You totally can join it and we can take a two-pronged approach: train the agility skills indoors or in other places where she can be off leash and can’t run off for birds. And, sort out how to get her working outdoors so you can go back to using your backyard. I feel the pain of having a fantastic young dog but also having the natural prey drive sometimes overtake the other things we want to train.
>The temps up here in NY are going to be brutal this week. Hope you are getting relief in VA!>
There is zero relief here – we are having our ‘coldest’ day of the week today (high of 86) and then into the high 90s tomorrow with temperatures at 100 degrees of highe for the rest of the week. UGH!! But I head up to near Ithaca for a weekend of teaching so it will only be in the low 80s LOL but the facility has turf and air conditioning 🙂 How far are you from Groton NY?
Keep me posted!!
Tracy
