Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Good morning!
That cracks me up that she does everything in life to the left LOL! I see that in my young dog too: one does everything to the right, the other does everything to the left LOL! It all balances out in sport training but it is good to know what their natural side preference is.
She did great with the parallel path here! A couple of reps where you were a little far so she looked at you but the rest were great even with you running.
On the reps where she missed, I think part of it is that the saw your hand holding the reward and she was a little ahead of you (turned to you) so she was not quite ready for the rep to begin. But when she was behind you a bit and your arms were in a natural position – she was more ready to start the rep and she had no trouble at all. Yay!
I see you have hoops too – you can totally play this game with hoops too!
>We finally got to play with the tunnel! My manners minder was refusing to respond to the remote, so I had to improvise but she seemed content going for the toy…>
That is part of the ‘joy’ of manners minders: they never work when we need them to 😂 😆
She was definitely happy to play tunnel games for the toy! It might have even been more fun than the manners minder would have been.
You can have 2 toys to make it more efficient: one toy is the thrown reward, then the 2nd toy brings her back faster for the next rep.
She had a couple of misses, mainly on your right side (she was looking at you and not at the tunnel on those), but we can help her out with that in the next stage of the game:
Since this went so well, you can add the next steps! Line her up at your side facing the tunnel entry (you can use a cookie to do this), hold her collar (have her wear a collar for this :)), say your tunnel verbal 3 or 4 times… then let her go. That will attach the verbal to it AND get her looking the tunnel more. When she can do that on easy angles of entry, you can start lining her up on harder angles so she can find the tunnel entry from all sorts of crazy approaches 🙂
Great job here!!
Tracy
Good morning!
>I did a session with the toy & lost him after just a few reps again. >
Was this outside too? I think the heat dampens the toy drive after a rep or two. Did he start out strong then fizzle out in terms of interest in the toy? Even in minimal heat (not hot for us humans!) the young dogs can still react to it.
What happens in the heat as is the body heats up, the brain has devote more energy to cooling the body – so less energy gets devoted to things that heat the body up (like tugging). So we get less tugging for most dogs.
Some dogs continue to tug like fiends but they are the ones that risk getting overheated.
For example, I did some training outside yesterday afternoon with my 11 month old pup. It was 80-ish degrees, sunny, no real humidity. GORGEOUS for me! But he got hot fast – after the first rep or two, his tugging got weaker. This is probably same/similar to what happened with Lew. I switched to cold treats after a couple of toy reps. I also worked 3 adult dogs with toys in the same heat using toys – their bodies & brains ‘understand’ how to handle heat so they were able to tug the whole time.
This is something I see a lot with the MaxPup crew – a blip in being able to tug outside as temps heat up because the brain and body needs to handle the heat.
So as the spring and summer heat up (literally 😂) you can do 1 rep with the toy, then switch to cold treats for the rest. I mention cold treats because I keep tiny bits of cheese in the fridge (or pop them in the freezer for a little bit) as a way to keep the dogs cooler, internally, during training. I don’t know if there is any science on that but it definitely helps when I train in the heat and humidity.
I wonder if a cooling coat would help too? How does he feel about wearing clothes? There are a couple of different types – one is basically a cape made of that cool silver reflective stuff. There are others that are actually very cool – I will gather some options and we can play with them.
>I tried a second session with just tossing a treat on treat pouch as a target and it seemed to keep his attention for longer. That is the video I included so you can see it. >
Yes! He was mentally engaged for sure! He was also trotting – was it because the visual of the treat target was hard? Was this shortly after the toy session, maybe he was still hot? The new harness felt different to run in? He was very accurate in the game so I don’t think it was confusion. I am obsessing on the heat a bit because this is the time of year where the pups do struggle a little as they bodies acclimate to warmer weather and all the distractions that come with it. Plus, as a brachy boy, I am extra obsessed with how his body processes heat.
He did have a question at :27 when you pointed to the barrel then turned away from it, pulling him off – then he offered a nice left turn 🙂 Good boy! You can mix in left turns and right turns in the same session, to keep things spicy 🙂
>I think I should try another session and actually put the food on the plate before I line him up with a lineup cookie to include the self control part of the game. What do you think?>
Definitely try it! It is definitely a good self-control challenge!! And it is fun even if he skips the barrel and runs to the treat 😂
>I feel like when I use the toy with turn & burn it is the movement of the toy that pulls him around the barrel but when I use food, he seems to understand that going around the barrel gets him the treat. >
You can do a quick experiment: in the lovely air conditioning, do a short session of turn and burn with a toy, one or two reps on each side. Get him excited then use a leg step/arm point to indicate the barrel, and let’s see what he does.
Then do a couple of reps with a treat, exactly the same as with the the toy but with the cookies instead.
Video all the things and we can compare! It is possible that the presence of the cookies are the context cue to zip around the barrel, and the toy does not elicit offering the same way food does. But if we cue going to the barrel by stepping to it and giving a low arm swoosh to it, perhaps that is all he needs in the toy sessions?
And doing it in the a/c takes out the potential heat variable.
>If that makes any sense. It is just what I’m picking up from him. Maybe I lured him with the toy in the beginning and now he is waiting for that? >
Totally makes sense! He is communicating something so we can ask him a few questions and get some answers 🙂
Looking at the lap turn video:
He was such a good boy here!! He was turning way really well and yes – the best reps were when you kept moving past the prop so he recognized it as the parallel path game at that point.
He had a little trouble coming to your left hand and ignoring the prop – so you can make the hand cue more obvious by getting it lower and shaking it a bit 🙂
Speaking of the hand cue: you can do the turn away cue with an empty hand. Having the cookie in your hand was drawing his focus to your hand (because, HUNGRY haha). The empty hand will make it easier to find the prop and you can toss the reward from the other hand.
Tandems went really well too! Something that was very effective here was that you got his focus on the dog side arm by dropping it low as you decelerated… then you brought in the outside arm to get him to turn away. I think that is great because it helps you keep moving without having to bend over a ton to show the outside arm as the primary cue. So as long as you decel & drop the dog-side arm in low (almost like you are punching it downwards), he is well-prepared for the turn away cues that are following it – he nailed it each time. You can add the prop to it now.
Great job here!!
Tracy
Good morning!
>That was a lot of fun! Although, I found the multiple changes of direction challenging. I wanted to try this with a toy but decided against it for now!>
This went really well. The toy for the ‘go’ at the end is perfect but you might feel like you need 3 arms to do it LOL!! He was happy to chase the cookies too.
The blinds looked great! And it looked like he had fun too! Very clear connection as you finished the blind helped him know which side to go to. For this game, you can add in a deceleration after the blind so he can collect to turn tight as you pivot – he was a little wide on those because he was going fast and the tight pivot caught him a little by surprise. The ‘go’ after the pivot looks great!
He was SUPER with the turn and burn too – I really like the toy as the reward here because there is an element of self-control because he has to leave the toy… and then a super fun tug reward.
>This time, I didn’t warm up with the Vito Game and I think Tribute was expecting the bowls to be out there. I think I will go back to doing that and fade more slowly.>
Actually, I think he was waiting for more of a cue to start on each rep. He was a little slower/less certain moving to the barrel and I think it was because you were completely stationary. So before adding a bowl back to it, you can try adding a cue: when he is at your side and you let go of his collar, you can step to the barrel and point to it a little with your dog-side arm and leg. That moment of ‘permission’ might speed him up to the barrel. We can add a bowl back (halfway around the barrel) if he still seems unsure about starting but it would be fun to see if the cue without the bowl helps him.
Great job here!
Tracy
One thing to consider about the running dog walk: you will also need to train all of the exits and verbal directionals. And while it can indeed be faster on course, it takes a lot more training (as in, can take a year or so).
T
Good morning! Great questions!
The teeter is easy: 2o2o for Copper, and 4on for Bandit because he will be too small for 2o2o (unless he is much bigger in real life – closer to 20 lbs).
The a-frame is a little harder – but I think you and the dogs would have a fun time training and running the running a-frame on course! How you train it makes a difference but it is not that hard: be sure to keep their heads down (rewarding low and long after the frame, not from your hands for example) and use specific criteria (like where to put their feet – I use a mat for that, some use a box, etc)
The running dog walk is much harder, especially with big dogs. A 2o2o is perfectly safe and pretty easy to train, The foundation is the same as the teeter.
A running dog walk is harder to train, you’ll need pretty regular access to the dog walk (one that is adjustable so you can lower and raise the height), and TONS of patience because it takes a LONG time and also includes the learning curve for you to learn how to train it.So what I suggest is to train the foundation for the 2o2o to use on the teeter and as a fall back for the DW. Then play with training the running dog walk and see how it goes – usually the most successful folks are the ones that video a LOT and take an online class to get regular (daily!) feedback on how it is going 🙂
Hope that helps!
Tracy
Hi!
Kaladin’s lap turns went well – they are not his most favorite move because driving into you with you facing him asks for a LOT of collection (he prefers you to be in motion), but he executed them nicely!
Then tandem turn at :56 went well too. I think getting an earlier soft brake arm and shoulder turn will get a better line from the jump before it. Also, I think he will get even more speed if you are closer to the jump before it so you can move through the tandem more. He always drives better when you stay in motion.
Lift’s video:
She did well with the lap turns too! When you executed it as a slow motion move at :48 and 1:36, she read it super well. You were too fast to step back and indicate the jump at :30, so she couldn’t really follow the cue. You can use her lateral distance skills to give more turn cue on the jump before the lap turn and get there earlier (especially at 1:35 where the bar dropped) so you are rotated and ready for it before she even takes off.
>>. I had her go straight instead of into a tandem turn at 2:30 to chase her lotus and she started to completely lose it>
That was a spillover from the 3 things that happened before it:
– broken stay at 1:10 when she released as you reconnected. Be careful to either watch her/stay connected as you lead out, or separate the re-connection from the release with more time and praise, so the re-connection does not become the release.– a disconnection at 1:50 so she almost came off the jump as you were turning but looking ahead. You fixed it but fixing it put you in a bad spot for the tandem.
– another disconnection in the same spot at 2:10 so she didn’t know if she was supposed to take the jump
So then when you said ‘get it’ but disconnected and decelerated, she tipped into the overarousal. The handful of cheese definitely helped, but it was definitely something that had piled up in the session. Yes, she had gotten lots of treats but stopping in the middle after the questions will likely read as frustrating or punishment. She knows the difference between ‘woohooo that was great’ and ‘oops that was not it here is a treat’ So even if there is a bobble, keep going and run to the end and reward for real at the end – it will help with arousal regulation more than stopping and giving her the lotus ball will.
Super nice trial runs!! Excellent warm up for Chicago!
Prioritize connection in Chicago – eyes on him every step of the way. The only questions here were connection questions:
>We were 1 handler disconnection moment (in Masters Agility) >
Yes, I think you just left him in the dust too much so he didn’t know which side of you to be on.
> Also had an almost bobble in Masters Jumping (1:20) where I think the soft arm was a bit much for him or I just botched it as he almost pulled off the red jump>
Connection 🙂 Watch it in slow motion and zoom in: you were handling the jump. Arms and eyes on the jump – but he was behind you so he could not see the connection. You can see him lift his head and look at you, and move towards you. More connection and the soft brake arms more towards him will smooth that out.
>Butn later he did reward me with an amazing switch layer at the end of Masters Jumping even with my giraffe arm >
That was awesome!!!
>Kristin was setting bars in the back corner and got close-up video of the threadle wrap after the weaves.>
Super nice! That is a popular threadle wrap to threadle slice-ish move, I bet you see them in Chicago!
> I plan to try the threadle wrap sequences with her and will try to be closer to the jump but making sure my feet & shoulders are on her line away from the front of the jump. >
Sounds good, and keep going to the end of the sequence no matter what, no stopping, even if you have to make stuff up 🙂
Nice work here!
Tracy
Hi!
>This is super helpful and thank you for all of that detailed information. It really helped me see this a bit differently.>
Happy to discuss the science stuff 🙂 My entire approach changed after learning about all this from Dr. Murphy then going on far too many deep dives on my own (currently in a neuroscience grad program because, why not.)
> I think because he “seems” to not be affected by new environments and locations I was more assuming that we would see the same play behaviors in different situations.>
Yes, we don’t really see much of what is going on under the hood with him. We are not seeing anxiety or big emotions or massive struggles or overarousal issues…. What a lovely pleasure to have a puppy that can do stay so balanced and is so resilient! So the tugging is not as perfect as everything else yet, but it will be 🙂
> But it totally makes sense that he is doing more processing than is obvious in the moment.>
It is perhaps our only tipoff that there is processing happening – similar to a pup that looks perfectly fine but takes cookies with a harder mouth.
>I’ve also been so used to Ripley being such a persistent and strong tugger, anytime and anywhere, that it’s made me forget other dogs I’ve had where we had to build that up a lot more slowly. >
He was a great tugger! He gave you other tipoffs when he was processing the environment, which you were already working on before I even met you. Things like having him put his foot on you if he was concerned about something (do I remember that correctly) and I definitely remember working on getting him to NOT knock over the tiny lady leash runners at the end of a run LOL!
>Vibe doesn’t really seem to like that very much so I’ll have to play with some different options.>
He seems to be happy to do the grabby grabby play with different parts to see what he can grab as you slide the toy around. He stay engaged, doesn’t get mad, and the behavior you are working on builds.
>Also, I’m enjoying the Brain Camp series and have added more up/down game to our stress cycle pre/post run prep (mostly for Rip, but making sure Vibe knows the game too).>
Perfect! I use the up and down a lot – I remember using it at the ring entry for Snooker at the Invitational last year: I was next in the ring and my dog realized there were 2 rings running next to each other, so he had A MOMENT. LOL!! 4 or 5 quick up and down reps brought him right back to a good state and he ran well.
>Chicago area by tonight with ring rental at Agility at the Farm on our way this afternoon. >
Have fun! Safe travels!
T
Hi!
This session also went really well!
She was wanting to look at you when getting her front feet into the box, so you can switch to a ‘get it’ marker, no more need for the clicker. The click is great for getting started but it doesn’t provide placement info. The ‘get it’ marker will both tell her she is correct AND tell her where to look to get the treat (so she will look forward more). She was already looking forward better by the end, but the click was causing her to look at you so I think a ‘get it’ marker will be perfect.The tug breaks definitely kept things fun!!! I think for the next session, you can take this outside on the grass so she can run run run if she wants to 🙂 Now, it might be harder to find the treat in the grass so you can use a manners minder if you have one, or empty food bowls to toss the treat towards/into.
Great job!
Tracy
Hi!
Nice job here shaping the value for the box! To fast-track the initial steps, you can click her early interest but then instead of tossing the treat towards her, you can toss it away through the box so she moves to towards the box to get it.
And you can continue in that mode once she started offering getting into the box: toss the treat out of the box so she leave it to get it, then she is moving back towards the box for the next rep.
Nice work!
Tracy
Hi!
Hope you are enjoying the weekend! These sessions had a really lovely understanding of what her reinforcement actually is – you were doing little adjustments of what the reward actually was and it made a HUGE difference.On the first video, she went back into picking it up for a few reps without putting her foot on it 🙂 After just a couple of click/treats, she went into a down for a moment. Then there was a pivotal moment where she picked it up and walked away with it… you clicked that but then asked her to bring it to you. I could see the calculations happening in her brain – the frisbee was more rewarding than the treats, so I think that session ended with her thinking about bringing it to you rather than just lifting it.
You (wisely) rolled with that and used the toy as the reward on the 2nd video. She was picking it up and bringing it to you! Happy dance! Sometime she would stop to chew it near you, so you did one more reinforcement adjustment of letting her take it after a little tugging (the ‘you won!’ moments).Those adjustments will really seal the deal of shaping the retrieves: using the object as the reward then letting her keep the object. Excellent!
You can play with getting her to retrieve non-toy objects by using the toy as the reward – that would be a fun next step.
Great job!
Tracy
Hi!
More thoughts about toy play, fueled by a lot of coffee 🙂 I was thinking about this last night and my views on tugging have changed as I learned more about how their brains are working.
>When he’s really I interested in tugging he gets a really good grip or if he doesn’t on the first try his next try is usually even harder.
Around agility equipment he is really not trying to grip at all. He may do a little bite at it especially if I drag it and run, but then releases almost immediately even if I don’t pull.>Toy play is really all about mechanics – his mechanics and how your mechanics impact his mechanics. With that in mind:
To look at what’s happening with the toy play a bit differently (and why I think he is doing well with it): when there are competing stimuli in the environment (especially things that are paired with higher arousal like obstacles), the puppy/adolescent brain is bombarded with all.the.things. and has to process them all and prioritize the ‘important’ ones (influenced by our actions). Also, genetics and epigenetics play a role here too 🙂
And when the brain is busy processing, it cannot devote as much bandwidth to other things that we might think are simple, but they are not simple 🙂 So we see dips in performance or dips in the ability to do things.
And the first thing that loses sharpness under this brain bombardment (multi sensory integration)? Mechanics! That is why we often see novice dogs struggling to execute weaves in a trial environment, for example. And we see puppies struggle too with some things (which is why I like to teach things in tiny bits while also teaching the brain how to process and prioritize)
Going back to toy play being about mechanics:
In the AirBnB and at home, there is not as much to process: he is either familiar with the environment (home) or it is an easy environment because there are very few competing stimuli (AirBnB) or both! So we really do see some good tug mechanics: grabbing, weight shift, pulling, etc.
Looking at those mechanics first: he gravitates towards the smaller parts of the toy (especially the big one) because it is easier to grab – even when he was engaged with the big one, he was one a small piece of it at the end instead of the big part of it.
That makes sense to me, he has a little mouth 🙂 and grabbing a BIG toy is harder mechanics.
And when Ripley is involved with the tugging, the arousal state changes which also tips the mechanics – but into more of a grab/lock on of the higher arousal. We don’t need this from him during training. Side note: A lot of people try to get it by pinching or poking at the dog, but that puts the dog in an ICK arousal state we do not wanted associated with work.
So looking at the tugging in the training facility:
He was totally trying to tug… but his brain was *busy* processing and couldn’t work out the mechanics the same way he could at home or at the AirBnB. Where to put the math, how to clamp, which part of the toy, etc. That is actually hard mechanics!Eating treats requires very little bandwidth from him 🙂 I can relate hahahaha
Part of the working with the mechanics of toy play is figuring out which toys work in difference contexts. The really floofy toy was just a bit too big so he was trying to find a smaller piece to grab, and with it moving he wanted to engage but couldn’t coordinate the tugging mechanics.
So to help him out, yes, keep the toy moving – with some stops so he can pounce on it and grab the spot he wants, the move it again. And keep looking for which toy works best with his current size & mechanical skill: something enticing, but with a lot of flatter/smaller grabby bits that fit easily into his little mouth. When I don’t know what till work best, I tie several together and let the puppy choose what they want to put in their mouth. Agility dogs often want to put the part closest to our hand in their mouth, probably because we tend towards smaller toys that are held higher, but I digress.
And in the harder contexts, semi-tugging still counts as tugging 🙂 One thing we know about puppy and adolescent brains is that the brain might be telling him that he is a TUGGING BEAST in that moment – NAILED IT! – but we see something different LOL! Then he gets confused when we are like “c’mon, tug!” You can also throw the toy for him to chase and then go grab it to move it again.
It is completely normal with most pups in this development stage that the ability to tug hard on the toy waxes and wanes, based on environment, type of toy, life stage. Most of my students over the years and almost all of my own dogs have experienced this (except the Jack Russell mix and the Staffy mix – they were deranged tuggers but I had to work on processing ‘work’ precision over tugging precision with those two :))
So thinking of it as a mechanics question and not a play question from the pup, I try to choose wisely with the type of toy and how it is presented, and I consider gentle/mouthy tugging in a harder environment to be the same as hard crazy tugging in easier environments. And as they grow up, they are able to process all the things and tug like maniacs AND have great mechanics and processing for work.
For example: my youngest dog is a 70%/30% Whippet Border Collie mix . There are some similarities to what you are experiencing with Vibey. I think Vibe has more natural work focus and more natural mechanics with his body, and Improv has more I LOVE PEOPLE focus and has 12-foot long legs that go every which way LOL but they are similar in other ways:
Home tugging is AMAZING 🙂 He has been to a couple of little seminars and recently started a local class. The tugging is different! In the class, he is being asked to work (learning new things) and ignore the other things in life that he LOVES (people, dogs, etc) so he does get on the toy but it is not the maniac tugging on get at home.
But it is all processing: his brain is devoting a LOT of bandwidth to the challenges of ignoring the obstacles, NOT running over to the people to give wiggles and smooches, coming to the mother, retrieving, etc etc. He is wildly successful with all of that – he is by far the youngest in the class and people are so impressed with his engagement and focus and success. But when I feel the difference in the tugging, I can feel how hard his teenage brain is working to balance all of that.
And so I go with what he can give me with the tugging: the toy is moving for him to chase, it is flat-ish and furry so he can get it into his mouth without devoting too much bandwidth to it, because that brain juice is being sent to the ‘ignore the people who are smiling at you’ neurons. And even though the tugging is not the same as at home, it is still very reinforcing because the behaviors we want to build up are definitely building up. Current faves are a raccoon pelt on a bungee and one of those long floramicato toys with fuzzy balls and fur on the end.
And I trust that as he grows up, the tugging will get stronger because mechanics develop. And I use plenty of food. This is the exact same path I’ve gone with all of my dogs (except those 2 terriers) and sometimes I wonder if I ever will get great toy play. But they always end up with amazing toy play because mechanics blossom as long as we don’t worry too much about it.
Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning!
>Not terrible, a little soft. I think I’ll try chicken next>
I bet she will like the chicken too!
>I may have went a little long but the lecture said use alot of cookies LOL!>
Yes! The RC game needs a lot of cookie 🙂 The length of the session was perfectly fine. And you worked out the mechanics really well – getting the cookie thrown in the right spot so you could appear on the new side before she finished eating it. After the 1st rep, the reps starting on your right were perfect.
You made the left turn reps a little harder by tossing the treat straight instead of to the wall, but no problem – you showed her to cues and she knew which way to turn. Yay!!
Using this concept, we can bring back the prop to represent the jump: start the way you did with her on your right side and the prop against the wall, where you threw the treats. You can send to the prop or even toss a cookie to it to jumpstart the game. And as she is going to the prop, you did the RC with the same timing you had here.
When she is happy with that, we can move the prop more to the center of the room like you did with the cookie tosses on the 2nd part of the session.
Strike a pose looked great! I totally didn’t remember that the lineup middle position was something she used to do – it didn’t seem like it even crossed her mind 🙂 She also did really well with the bowl on the ground, no questions. Super!!
>I was trying to line her up with middle when I was using the bowl, but now she’s mixing up left turn (which she can now do on a verbal
) >Yes – she really likes the left turn spins 🙂 She is probably learning the difference between several different hand cues that are similar, so you can clarify the hand cues for each: the spin has the dog side hand and your feet are together, and the lineup cue has your feet separated, and the opposite arm can do the cue perhaps (you did that in the video and it worked great!)
>also had some breaks in her stay, most likely because we haven’t really worked on middle and stay together?>
It is possible that the middle then stay are new together which made it harder, but the transitions from the lineup to the stay and lead out happened too fast on the reps where she moved:
The stay breaks where she moved with you as moved away (:31 and :56) happened because you had your cookie hand delivering the food to her mouth and it was still there as you started walking away. So she never really processed it as a stay and was following your hand 🙂
She caught on (smartie!) at 1:56 when you had the cookie hand feeding her then moving away – you can see her actually still trying to reach for the cookie in the hand LOL but she didn’t move out of the sit.
You can smooth out the transition by cueing the sit and wait, taking a breath and making sure the cookie hand is empty, then walking away. When you did that, she held the stay beautifully.
>I started saying Wait, that seemend to help. I’m saying Wait because that’s what I have been saying for IYC- waiting in her crate until release, at the deck gate, etc… Ok to use that in “agility stay” contexts? >
Absolutely! It keeps things consistent which is good!
>Also, going back to the Stay game and adding more distance & duration too?>
Yes, you can mix those in here and there adding the middle line up to it as well.
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
It will be interesting to see what they find on u/s and fecal!
>Her folate is below the “normal range”, but not by much.>
My vet had me put Hot Sauce on folic acid because she said it couldn’t hurt – it is water soluble and she pees out whatever she doesn’t need 🙂 A follow up cobalamin panel put all the ranges back to completely normal. We never found out why it was an issue but the supplements fixed it 🙂
>How important is the shoulder pointing too? I feel like mine turn back to him as my opposite arm goes back. And I’m not quite sure what my inside arm is or should be doing.>
The shoulder should mainly be pointing *away* from the jump and almost forward on the parallel path line past it (to the threadle wide). Shoulders to the jump generally cause front side versus backside questions.
The inside/dog-side arm and hang out with the opposite arm, making it a 2 hand move especially as we pull to set the line, and also keeping that dog side arm out of the way 🙂You can show them the hands then let her see the hands move with the shoulders to set the line. The general order-of-festivities is hands then shoulders to set the line. That will also allow you to be closer to the jump, because being further laterally might pull them off the front side but it does make it harder to get them to commit (and to get a blind cross exit).
And I agree – one jump is HARD because everything has to be so precise or the dog takes the front side. Walking through it here works but you can also jog then decelerate so you don’t get too far past the jump before he turns back to it.
When you added the wing wrap before it you had more motion – for Kaladin, you can probably drive more and decel later. The decel can happen when you are closer to the wing of the TW jump. You were decelerating pretty early so he decelerated a lot!
Looking at Lift’s one jump video: as a young dog, she expected the front side of the jump so she gave great feedback about what she saw!
Being further ahead on the release will help on the one jump as well as on the wing to jump reps. And having the threadle arms up for a few steps before the release helps too so she is sure that it is not the front side.:52 she was finding the line really well, until you kept moving past it – reremember to wait for permission to move past the jump in the form of her looking at it and taking that first step to the correct side.
:59 – the arm was visible but you were not setting the line with your feet and shoulders turned away from the jump. So she looked at you and decided you wanted the front of the jump based on where your shoulders were pointed (to the front side).
On the next rep on the other side, you were a bit further away but also facing slightly away from the jump and she found it well! And on the last rep, she was on the way to he correct side then you stopped and subtly stepped in/leaned in towards her (1:18 right before she barked at you LOL)
I think part of her question there was use you using lateral distance to set the line so she was pretty far from the jump to turn back to it. You can use less lateral distance and more turning away from it to set the line, so she is able to commit to it more easily when she gets to the correct side.
Looking at the sequences: the setup makes lateral distance into the TW pretty impossible because there are off courses on those lateral distance lines
You did a great job of setting the line by turning away from it, but also being close enough to the TW jump that he committed easily. Sequence 1 – Really good set of the line at :05!!
Seq 2: He found it really well on the good set at :17! I think a spin into a blind on the exit will work better – pushing back towards him for the post turn risks accidentally pushing him to the front side of the jump.
On the 3rd sequence – your feet definitely turned away from the jump at :31 so he got it there too! Yay! The line coming into it was a little wide, you can cue a tight left turn on the jump before it by starting those cues when he exits the tunnel. Those started when he was gathering for takeoff so he landed wide.
On the last sequence: great job keeping your feet straight to set the line to the TW after the blind! It is way too easy to turn feet to the jump after the blind, so keeping your feet straight got the info to him really well! You can do the blind sooner so it is finished before he takes off and you are already showing TW info. That way he won’t even have to look at you when he landed.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning!
Threadle wraps are hard for sure! The magic is in the line we set and how we set it – that is what will make the difference for him.
First suggestion: take the verbal off for now, so you can reward him for everything without diluting the verbal cue. He is reading you really well! Just use his name for now.
Looking at the video:
First 2 reps – he found the TW on these! You set the line from pretty far away then pushed back towards the jump after he got to the TW side. You were walking so decel was not needed as much (more on decel below).Watch the rep at :21 – :23 in slow motion to see more of what he sees:
More speed but no decel and subtle turning to the front of the jump is what sent him to it (subtle for us humans, not for Reacher :))
Similar stepping to the front happened at :47 – :48 where you had the line then opened up to the front which sent him to the front. And also 1:29 – you stepped to the jump before he got to the threadle side (look at your left foot). Dogs tend to process things as if they are in slow motion, so he saw all of this 🙂
At :58 and 1:18, I think he was guessing – you are really lateral but not really setting the line so he is guessing that it is a a parallel path to the front (he looks at you then goes to the front).
So to help him out, 2 suggestions for you:
– send to the start wing from further away, so you are further up the line and showing the cuesfrom ahead of him. Being parallel to him had too much opportunity to accidentally show the front of the jump. You can send to the wing and then run a bit as you set the line, then decel as you set the line and show the hand cues.
– to set the line to the TW, think of it more as letting him see you pull away from the line rather than already being parallel to the line. As he is exiting the start wing, you can be up the line near the jump, but showing a shoulder & feet turn away from the jump as you decel and show the hand cues. And then hang out like that until he gets to the threadle side and turns himself away to the jump (don’t help him with hands or stepping to it because that might push hm to the front side.
I think that moment of letting him see you turn parallel to his line (and away from the jump) will make all the difference! Let me know if that makes sense!
Nice work here!
Tracy
