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Hi! Thanks for the class video!
Agility in dirt is definitely more distracting! I was cool to see him get more engaged and focused as you started the patterns at the beginning!
He is faster here than at home – probably because he was more pumped up! He was also resilient to handler bloopers 🙂 like at 1:29 when he was not sure which end of the tunnel to go into so he found your face 😁 then went into the tunnel. No sniffing or concern, just continuing to work the course. Yay!
Pattern games in the bleachers looked strong! There were some good distractions in terms of smells, visuals, noises – he did great!
>>When we got to our 2nd run on the standard side, he was having himself a ball. >>
I love how he instructor was loving him up before his run on the standard side then he ignored her when it was time to get to work 🙂
Because he was zipping around offering obstacles on the way to the start, you can either keep him on leash til you get there, or have him do tricks as you move to the jump – we want him to be feeling really good but also don’t want the habit of taking obstacles when the leash comes off 🙂
I thought he was actually spot on in his focus and reading of the handling. It is harder to feel it in the moment and it is easy to see on video 🙂 so if he goes past something or off course, just go with it, reward, then reset somewhere earlier in the course so you can show him the handling with more clarity.
For example, at 3:25 he didn’t take the jump before the teeter. There was a big break in connection so he can of the line (might have looked like the beginning of a blind) so he came of the line to you. Plus, with the big visuals of the dog walk and tunnel behind you, it makes sense that he might have expected a blind to them when you turned forward. But then when you showed connection and cued the teeter, he got right on it. Good boy!
>>I probably should have handled the teeter differently, ie not run, >>
I thought it was the right thing to do and good job rewarding his passionate teeter performance, especially after fixing the line to it. It was not quite criteria but he was trying really hard to nail it and was not quite balanced enough, kind of landing himself in the dirt which probably didn’t feel great. But he drove up the board brilliantly! And didn’t do it again, so it was good to reward it as a “great try, dude” moment.
The end of the sequence here had some questions –
You had another disconnect at 4:18 which he read as a blind and sped over to the frame (which is also really high value, probably :))When you reset him at 4:26, the handling did show the line to the frame (he would need a collection cue to turn tight on the jump before it in order to not take the line to the frame) so he was correct there.
Bearing in mind how hard his brain was working to tune out the distractions and also read the handling cues, I think it is fine to assume an error on course is handling-based not pug-based LOL!! So you can reward the next obstacle, then reset the sequence by putting yourself ahead of him so he can see the clearer handling. At 4:35 you were a little behind and he was correct to read that as a line to the tunnel.
It is all hard to feel in the moment when running the young dogs but video tells us 🙂 so you can totally assume errors are yours and not his, and reward the line he ends up on before going back to reset it with clearer info. And if we look at the video and decide that nope, it was actually *his* error? Then one or two extra cookies are no big deal 🙂 and won’t build up any unwanted behavior. But stopping or withholding reward when it is our error can cause frustration, which might show up as slowing down, engaging with distractions etc – which we don’t want because he is doing awesome here!!!
Great job! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi!
One more thought about the surprise factor (reward prediction errors) and learning – I can better explain by thoughts on how to approach training by saying that learning happens through the reward prediction errors and dopamine coding… and the rehearsal where there are no RPEs but there are good rehearsals and excellent motivators also produce learning, but in a different way: specifically in forming stronger neural pathways and networks, and classical conditioning. That is why rehearsals are so incredibly valuable, even if there are no reward prediction errors that produce dopamine spikes and coding.
Let me know if that makes sense 🙂
>>so was thinking train fusion second so put scent on after traned IN Synch or put in plastic sealed bag and pull out when train.
>Yes, that might be the best bet but also, the scent does not have to be on you – it can be placed near or in the training area in the beginning stages. Having it on you might muddy the water at first and you can make it more specific to certain memories if it is in the proximity and not on you. I am not sure that having it in a sealed plastic bag is enough to conceal the scent – you might need to ask folks who do scent work how they conceal the scent when not in use.
Also, having it *not* on you will be useful for In Synch, and if you ever do scent pairing with her you can use a different scent.
Another option is to only use a specific food reward when doing scent memory pairing – something with a distinct scent that only gets used in conjunction with that training. Smoked salmon is a good example. Will it work? I don’t know but it will be fun to play with!
On the first video:
The line up between your feet is going well in terms of getting into position. She did best with holding the stay when you stepped away slowly 🙂
The pattern games are going well. She did a great job with find your face – rather than start it from the stationary up and down game, start it from the back and forth game where you are both moving (it will be a game on course where you are both moving so you will want to start that from the beginning here). One other thing to remember that she does not have to come in front of you, so be sure to peripherally keep half an eyeball on her so you can see when she patiently looks at you even if she it as your side or behind you.
On the 2nd video:
>>The toy plus a jump was harder and took ages to get a toy release.>>
Yes, the jump was harder because the conditioned response there does not involve the line up between your feet yet. So you can do the line up with something less stimulating than a jump – maybe a wing, or maybe some object that is not even related to agility. When she can do that, you can add back a jump but be further from it so that it is easier.
When arousal is higher, remember to trade the toy for a treat immediately after saying the release cue. That will help make getting the toy back more automatic and faster, plus it helps with arousal regulation.
>But then had trouble settling her again – miscommunication as to whether she was to take the jump or not>
Yes, she was confused about what to do with the line up because it was new and very close to the jump, then when she offered the sit and was wrong, she got frustrated and was jumping up.
Using the food lure for the line up was useful! That should be the first priority in new situations.
Separately from a jump, you will also want to work on the food lure for the line up with the toy in your hand.
Then as you put it all together (line up, toy, jump) starting further from the jump will really help.
One more thought:
If she is leaping up to face-level during the pattern game, delay the next reward til she is fully on the ground and standing still for a few second. We don’t want her version of offering engagement in the pattern game to include leaping up to your face. Think of it as building in arousal regulation to the pattern game, not just orienting towards you.
Great job here!
Tracy
Hello and welcome! He is lovely!!! Nice job jumping in with the pre-games 🙂
He did great here with his foot target! Only one suggestion: Try to stand still the whole time – when you were moving, he was drawn to you so didn’t target as well as he did when you were stationary. To change positions, you can do it as he is getting a cookie (and pick up the prop to relocate it and yourself) so then while he is offering behavior, you are not moving.
Hand targeting is going well too! It was hard to see where you were looking, so you can look at the target if you were not already doing so 🙂
Great job here!!! Off to a great start!
Tracy
Hello and welcome! She is adorable and I love her name!!!!! Her hello at the end was so cute 🙂
She did great with both games here! She had good hits to the foot target and was able to nose touch the post it note 🙂 Easy peasy!
>> She was sure she was suppose to do something more than put her feet on the bag and she was pretty sure I wanted her to hold the post-it note in her mouth. Always my problem solver!>>
Yes! Sometimes when things are simple, the pups add some complexity LOL!!! So you can do a few reps of the really simply behavior, then change something so she doesn’t start to freestyle 🙂 In this case, you can change your position: for the foot target, you can move to being in a chair. And when that goes well, you can move to standing up. For the nose target, you can do the same (sitting in a chair then move to standing up) – and have the post it note in the palm of your hand and have it outstretched away from you (but low enough that she doesn’t have to jump up for it). That will get us closer to the actual use for in the class too 🙂
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
>>Do some vol dial ringside during all the commotion on Friday. Enter JWW sat (evening and will be quieter). And then go back to day 1 stuff on day 3.>>
That sounds like a good plan!
>>I won’t be doing uki until Jan/feb.
That sounds good – you can enter more classes and have more options for how you approach each one, in terms of how you use the toy.
>Playing with her and a tug is hard. She wants to bite near my hands. I tried to show you a bit on the video. >
She grabs it more in the middle when the toy is swooshing along the ground – when it was a little higher and not moving as much, she definitely was up by your hand: maybe that is a way of making it move again 🙂
>The place she does not do that is a hollee roller but if I attach something to it she does.>
Have you ever seen the ginormous hollee rollers? She could probably fit inside of it 🤣 but it would be great for tugging! You can also stuff a fur toy or something inside of it for more tugging opens.
>You know she takes forever to chew her food etc etc.>
For real! You could give her an air cookie and she would still chew it 🙂
>So we did 3 things remote food first. She had exposure to this before so we started further along. I did decide my word was going to be reward.>
The RR with cookies on a chair went well, and so did the session with the toy! She had lovely responses to all the cues, and you were consistent with your reward marker.
Jumping on the chair was hilarious in the cookie session! Nothing else was happening in that moment, so……. LOL!
You can add in the leash for all of this to simulate what will happen at a trial:
Leash on to move away from the treats, leash off and getting tossed away before/during/after some tricks…. Then leash back on before you say the reward word (AKC rules and such :)) So if I have to get the leash back on, I finish the run, praise (which is NOT a cue to go get the treats), say something like “where is your leash?”, go get it, put it on, then the reward marker.You can see if she will tug on a leash, if you have a fun furry one! Leash tugging is widely accepted and it is basically a toy in the ring 🙂
Find My Face on a little sequence also went well:
>>I did a soft turn set up since I had AKC on the brain.>
If she is going to be in AKC, then this soft turn is exactly what she needs to see 🙂
I think she did a great job here! She continued on the line when you were disconnected and that is a fabulous bonus! You could see her thinking hard (“um, human, a little more info please??”) but that is fine because she then got the big rewards for staying in the game. So you can show her this sometimes in a bigger sequence – it is not something she needs to see a lot of, as long as it is always a great experience when it happens 🙂
Great job!
TracyYes, that is an awkward stage!!! Hopefully some good seminars or clinics come along… If not, no worries! Home schooled dogs do great too!
T
Perfect! And it gets Lu into the mode of “we get in the car and go to the agility place” to help her body acclimate to the travel. It might not seem like a lot, but it really can be for adolescent dogs. Are there any Lu-Level classes coming up? Or seminars? I always put my youngsters into classes or seminars that are one or two steps below what they can actually do, so I can make it a great time for them without stressing any of us LOL!
>>16 select Speedstakes for the Dec trial for NFC>>
Yay! This is on turf? If she is not turf-experienced, can you get her into a class or ring rental there? We don’t want her to have to think about a new surface when asking her to also think about all the other things at a trial.
Tracy
Good morning! Congrats on a great debut!!!!!!
She did great in a busy outdoor environment! Where is this? It is a lovely facility! Nice job with the patterns and playing outside the ring, walking past other dogs, then playing at the start line to get her engaged, her line up and stayed looked just like home and you even asked her to focus on the first hoop! Nice! She also did well ignoring the walk through in the other ring even though it was clearly visible.
>For a dog who, as you put it, has been essentially “home schooled,” she ignored SOOOO many distractions that could easily have drawn her away from working with me>
Yes! I was so proud of her and of you too, for helping her!!!!
Grounders
>>She was telling me that having the toy in my hand might have been causing her to jump up and bite at me. I’m not entirely sure what she meant since I didn’t think she did that (and don’t see it in the video either…), but I felt like it was not so much training advice as much as it was a warning that it could be considered problematic.>>
Katniss was not jumping up and biting! But she did curl into you on the last line because the ‘go’ is not yet a strong skill… Maybe that is what the judge thought was biting? It looks like you were politely listening and thanked her, which is great. And on the 2nd run, you just needed ore exit line connection to be able to show the next line – you got some curling in and barking.
>>I sure wish I had remembered that I could have thrown the toy at the end of the run instead of having it in my hand.>>
Yes! As you build that GO skill either throw the toy or if you are in a no-throw venue (AKC), don’t ask for a Go. Ideally, you get to UKI and have someone else throw it 🙂 I tell people to throw it as soon as they hear me start saying GO GO GO 🙂
>>There is a decent chance she may have done a lap with the toy before coming back, though, and if there was a dog on the line already, that could have been problematic.>
Bring 2 toys 🙂 One stays in the pocket. Throw toy #1. Then as soon as she gets to it, whip out toy 2 to have her come right back to you. She might leave Toy 1 somewhere, but that is fine, someone will get it for you.
>>I was worried that it would be frustrating for her to have to stop after just a couple of things since she LOVES to move her body and GO FAST!!! >
For simple lines, keep going. For things she might not know that well yet (RCs and GO lines), or longer sequences – break things up and reward, then reset and keep going.
Jumpers:
Lineups and stays looked good here! I think the running past jumps will go away when she has less to process in the environment. She got all the jumps on the 2nd run AND did a rear cross!!!!!Chance 1 – fun to see her be able to function so nicely outside the ring here. Very mature for a baby dog!
Yo can see the tugging was not as easy for her here, so you can ask for tricks and also change toys to something new and interesting.
She was looking around a little more at the line too, so playing with her definitely helped.>>There was a 180 degree turn over two jumps; it seemed to be a disconnection issue there. Instead of stopping, I did a circle and brought her back. I thought I’d trip over her if I didn’t swing her back around to be able to get the front cross in after that 2nd jump. I’m hoping this was ok to do!>
I think she was reading your decel into a stationary position as a turn cue, so she exited the tunnel coming towards you. Leading out less and accelerating with more connection will totally help her out (and throwing the toy :))
The rest was smooth and connected and worked great!!!! It falls into the ‘keep going’ category because you kept moving and got success.
Chances 2 – wait, did a run even happen? LOL! It took 3 seconds? I think it looked really good!
>>you can tie your toy onto your leash for the dog to grab, so it wasn’t very long after the run that she got the toy.>
Very cool that NADAC lets you do this! UKI and NADAC are the only ones. While I am thinking of it:
Will she tug on her leash? That is a toy that can come into the ring for AKC as well, so getting a nice tug leash will be a good thing to have!
On the tunnelers videos:
>The only thing I noticed in terms of focus was a delay in sitting at the startline. I’m not sure if that was due to distractions or just being mentally tired. >
On the first tunnelers run, you can see outside the ring and at the line she was less engaged – was it because you only used food outside the ring? Or end of weekend depletion, or all of the above? Either way – if she is not engaged, ask for her tricks and get her engaged rather than pull her up by the collar… the tricks will optimize her arousal and engagement more than pulling her collar will.
Looks like there was some of that too on the 2nd run – even if it is a real run, you can still play with her at the start line, do tricks, etc – then let her respond to the line up cues like she did in the earlier runs.
That 2nd run was gorgeous!
>>(although I think I started my brake arms and verbal way too late!).>>
A little late but she was still able to process them and found the correct tunnel. Super!!!
>>You can’t see it in the video unfortunately, but that definitely happened, lol. I again did a big swoopy circle to get her back on track. I really needed her to go into tunnel #2 so that I could get ahead for a blind after #3, which is why it was worth it to me to “fix” it.>>
Yes, on the first run, I couldn’t see you but I could see her response and her anger LOL!!!
For me, a “fix” is when the handler stops and walks back towards where the error was to fix that one spot. Dogs really get frustrated/stressed by that. Staying in motion and creating a circle back around to where you need her to be (like you did in the Chances run) makes it feel like you were continuing the course PLUS it set up success for the rest of it (no chaos!) so she was very happy with it 🙂
At the end of both tunnelers runs, she curled into you and barked – high arousal and not knowing what to do. So definitely prioritize getting your remote reinforcement skills going, so you can say the marker and she can run towards the leash/toy combo (in NADAC she will have to let the person hand it to you, but that is better than barking at you LOL!! In AKC, it will be a leash marker before the reward marker (unless it is a tug leash!!). The barking at you at the end of the course can easily become jumping up or biting, so we want to let her know what to do instead 🙂
>YouTube told me I had reached my limit for uploads and needed to verify my account or wait 24 hours to post anything else>
Youtube is so weird!!!
Congrats again!!!!!! Team Katniss had a super weekend!!!!
Tracy
Good morning! It sounds like he did really well this weekend!
>I was purposefully putting on the podium to warm up to keep him out of so the distraction not knowing the point was to have him practice working with distractions!>>
Exactly! The pattern games are designed for his brain to process the distractions, and his success on the podiums told us he is ready to do them on the ground, moving through crowds, etc 🙂
>> First it was just weaves-reward-leave then jump-weaves-reward then jump-weaves-jump reward. I guess it was at that point that I started working up to the weaves rewarding and leaving. So again, great observation that I basically started rewarding only at the end of the course.>>
I think you might be putting too much emphasis on the weaves, too 🙂 The weaves are the 2nd hardest thing in the ring (moving to the start line and then doing the stay is the hardest for the dogs!) so it is possible that if there is too much pressure on weaves, even with a toy being produced: that creates pressure in the ring as a whole, which can make it harder to do the weaves… so there is cycle that makes it harder for the dogs.
>I tried to be more strategic this weekend and reward mid-course. After that I took the time to reset and reengage and it made quite a difference.>
Perfect! One of the big goals of NFC/FEO is simply to make the ring a super fun, easy place to be. A grand time, a big happy party, no pressure, easy, fast, and fun 🙂 Then when that is established with the easy stuff like tunnels and jumps, we can gradually slide in the hard stuff – stays, weaves, etc. and doing it all with the reward less and less “inside” the ring. The dogs let us know when to move to the next step: I am getting 2 whippets started and they are basically the same age: one gave me the big go ahead to add a harder behavior at the last trial (based on his engagement and relaxed but focused ring entry) and they other said nope, keep it easy (he was looking around more, not quite as engaged, so I kept it easier).
>As far a vet checks…. He’s been to three different vets (two are also chiro) for physical exams and no one has seen anything of concern. That said it would be my preference to get him to a sports ortho but there are none locally and appointments have a long wait time. I’ll start with seeing if I can get a local ortho surgeon to do the X-rays and go from there. 😊>>
I am glad no one saw anything of concern! I take my dogs to a soft tissue specialist in NC but it might not be too far from you: Dr. Marie Ballengee at Pawsitive Steps
https://www.pawsitivestepspetrehab.comShe is AMAZING and works with a lot of sport dogs!
And getting trigger point massage people to have their hands on him is good too – Beverly Adams works on my dogs locally, and Donna Devanney when we are in NC. They “know” the dogs so can tell me if something is different or tight or hurting.
Keep me posted on how he is doing!
Tracy
>>We don’t have any here in Oklahoma.>>
Thankfully, AKC has made good changes to their FEO program! And is there any USDAA around?
T
Hi!
Bummer about all the rain but you still got some excellent training in!
He did well with the end of run work and also the tricks – and we got some good info!
Two things I noticed:
When he is in work mode, he doesn’t really want to be touched or played with using your hands. You can see it after he did a few tricks then when you reached for him or tried to pet him or gently tap his ribs, he backed away every time. You can see it when you reached for him at the beginning to get the leash on, and also after the hand touches at 1:06 and 4:10 – great hand touches then when you praised and reached towards him, he backed away.This is entirely normal when dogs are in ‘work mode’ and a higher arousal state – most are all business and don’t want to be touched. The ones that like to be touched will move into your hands, the rest move away. And that is fine! (I can relate – when I am very focused and in work mode, I find it icky if someone wants to touch me or hug me LOL!!!!)
This is good to know, because he is perfectly happy to follow you and do the next thing, so you can have him do that instead of reaching toward him.
That will also help for getting the leash back on – he can slip his head through it nicely but moves back when you move towards him. So you can hold the leash open like you did on a lot of the reps, and even lure his head into it the first few times – that can quickly shift into him moving his head towards it then through it before he gets the cookie 🙂
He was responsive with his tricks too, no problem moving away from the cookies. The hand touches and sit were easy peasy for him. The spins were good except for when you cued the 2nd one too quickly, so you can slow down the cues there to give him a little more processing time. The only one he couldn’t do was the down – but that makes sense because a down in a higher state of arousal is a lot harder (unless you are a Border Collie where the down is the easiest in the higher state of arousal LOL!)
Really good recovery from the stuff almost falling on him at approximately 2:00! He was startled and recovered beautifully.
He as very engaged for the find my face game and did great!!! When it stops raining 🙂 you can bring this into a sequence and deliberately mess up once or twice (disconnection) and have a huge reward for him finding your face. If you are near a jump or tunnel and he takes it? Bonus!!! That is not require but it is nice if they do it 🙂
>We have a trial this weekend & I will take Indy along & will work the Find My Face game & will try getting him to engage in play some more.>
Fun!!
The top priorities can be the regular pattern game (not find my face) so he can get engaged with you even in the harder environment, and the volume dial game (tricks for treats!) Start in a comfy quiet area, and if those go well, you can get closer to the ring. And if all that goes perfectly, you can add a little Find My Face or even a small bit of the remote reinforcement game!
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning!
>YUP!! Very timely reminder that I had just a so-so class on Monday (excitement-wise) and a downright abysmal one on Friday during rented ring time. Of course, it was all my fault for not setting things up well- rushed for time, too many reps of unfun things, a jump accidentally set too high was taken unexpectedly and not successfully. >>
That is all good to learn from! Making of list of things to NOT do again is as important as the things you will want to do again 🙂
>Good news was that we had a GREAT class today also several were absent so it was almost too quiet! I’m starting to think Reacher might like a little environmental excitement as long as he feels safe.>
Yes – exciting busy environments can actually be helpful because then the brain cannot process any single small distraction. If things are too quiet, the small distractions will seem really big to a brain, especially an adolescent brain 🙂
>Yes, I am so used to that sound I don’t really hear it! But what it actually is is that just off camera to the right is a building on our property that my husband runs his business out of>>
Your adult brain is habituated to it, and your adult brain doesn’t need to process it out in favor of focusing on the agility (agility is something your neurons know how to do :)) His adolescent brain seemed to be having trouble processing the information – noise plus agility plus ice…. So much! Maybe if it was just noise plus agility, or agility plus ice (like at the beginning) – no problem. But all 3 at once? His brain was like “NOPE!” LOL Especially since agility is hard & unpredictable, and ice is DELICIOUS lol
But learning is still happening – as crazy as it sounds, there is still learning happening and latent learning takes over (this is HARD for us humans LOL!)
On the video – he was very pumped up! This session went well!!!
>I found the furry lotus ball so that’s what I was using as a reward in this one. He likes it! But I did also have food in it so that helps!>
It a start with food and sometimes you can just let him chase it attached to the long toy, and food can come after he grabs it.
>>he was doing a lot of tugging on my sleeve and biting it, which he loves and really gets him jazzed>
I think UKI would be fine with that but I think AKC might have a heart attack LOL!!!!
Looking at the handling:
For the ‘close close’ to the tunnel, it worked best when you did not to decel as much because it pulls him in too much, almost off the line entirely (first run). It worked great when you cued a turn on the jump before the tunnel threadle (you were using his name which is probably all he needs n that context) and then keep running to the correct end of the tunnel like you did at 2:14 – that was great!!!At 1:32 and 3:10 – yes, there was a little disconnect so he didn’t take the jump. It was a moment of shoulders closing forward and you seeing him peripherally rather than being perfectly connected.
It would be cool for him to take the jump anyway (you were pretty close to both of them) so you can play a bit of running lazy game so as you move close to a jump and say jump – don’t be quite as connected but reward him for taking the jump (throw early is needed to help him out :)) That should help reduce the need to be perfect. I know you saw him miss those jumps which means there was some connection, but it is hard to be perfect so we can pay him a lot for taking the jump anyway when you are not perfect 🙂One thought on verbals:
At 3:24 – you can replace his name as the turn cue with the left verbal on the 7 jump. His name is more of a general “pay attention” thing which works great for getting ready for the tunnel threadle in this context, and the left verbal is super specific so should be even easier to get the turn there (and take the tunnel out of the picture).
One other thing to add is to shorten the distances a little, so he gets used to running tighter sequences like he might encounter in AKC, USDAA, and sometimes in UKI. He is taking 7 strides or so between the exit of the tunnel and the jump, for example, but he will see a lot of sequences with 4 or 5 strides distances. That will be good to get him used to and also good for you to be able to plan handling when there is less room.
>>Also, I’d like your opinion on whether it would be a good idea to do another NFC day (just one!) at UKI up at On the Run mid-December. It might be good practice if have a good/fun plan but I don’t feel strongly one way or the other.>>
I’d say yes! Do speedstakes! You can check out who the judge is and then decide, but I think Julie brings in the judges and she has excellent taste 🙂
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
>>I do think her tendency is just naturally be chill ring side. I fast forwarded a lot of the snuffling but she is just content to hang out listening to all the dogs going through the tunnels, etc. >>
This is great to build in the power of being relaxed and not over-aroused ringside!!! The more powerfully you build this up before she realizes that she will also get a turn in the ring, the easier it will be maintain it as things get more exciting
>>So it only makes sense the universe gave me Lu who is the sweetest chill dog in all life events but really hard for me agility wise 😂. But she’s my level up dog 🙂>>
Ha! Ye, the universe always provides balance. Think of her as different in terms of the agility training/handling, not hard. Yes, different can be harder at first but then when things click into place, it will be AMAZING 🙂Looking at the video: yes, Lu loves her patterns and snuffle mat!!!
She was great with the pattern games when you were in the chair and also ringside. When you were ringside, you can keep the snuffle mat out of the picture so she doesn’t ignore it and also so there is no ‘work’ built in around it (even patterns are work).
For the pattern game, two things to add whenever you are at the next trial or class: walk around by the ring doing that back and forth treat tossing (more movement adds arousal that she can self-regulate plus it will simulate you getting ready to run a course). And you can go near the gating and play the up and down game (cookies on the ground or your shoes, with her in front of you).
Snuffle mat was awesome!!!
The other thing you can add is the volume dial game (tricks for treats or tugging). This is how I would do it for her:
– enter the environment and start with the pattern game (back and forth so she can move). This helps bridge her up to a higher arousal state, as if getting ready to run
– do a bit of volume dial. Maybe 3 or 4 tricks for rewards. This helps her body learn to come to a higher level of arousal to ge ready to run, while still responding to cues. And it helps you learn how she is when asked to ‘work’ around the ring.
– then go back to the pattern game to help bridge her back down to a more relaxed state
– Then end on the snuffle matIt is like a physiological workout for her 🙂 It will take maybe 60 seconds or so, and will be super useful as she begins to do more and more sequencing in more exciting environments.
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi! He is doing well here!
Video 1:
The before and after run stuff looks good here (and on the other videos too!)>>I was having the hardest time getting him to take the #4 jump on this with the blind. >
Part of it was how the sequence was built – having 3 angled up against the pole was blocking his ability to turn tight and see you. The other part was your line of motion: when he could see you again after the pole, your line of motion takes you parallel to the bar of 4 and not forward to 5, which cued him to go past it at :35, 1:30 and 3:27.
You had much better turn cues at 2:07 for 3 (you can use a directional there too, but his name was pretty powerful) and you had exit line connection – and you stopped moving which we don’t want, necessarily, but it prevented you from running parallel across 4 so he took the jump.
Ideally you would send to 3 and run away directly to 5, calling him and doing the blind. Don’t handle 4, don’t get near it 🙂 Your motion should present it and handling it or being parallel to it changes his line.
Good job working the Forward focus on 1! At 1:24 – be sure that he is facing the jump you want (his feet were parallel to the bar so he had to almost look over his should to see it) and also that he doesn’t move til after you release.
2:03 and 3:05 were very nice reps of the forward focus!!!
And also, great job continuing and rewarding even if it went wrong.
Seq 5:
He was being a super good dog on the opening 🙂 The opening 1-2 line is a serp so when you released at :13, you were close to the first wing of 1 and not showing serp (open shoulders back to him and moving towards 2) he was correct to not consider flipping away to 2.
At :15, your arm was pointing sideways to 2 but your feet and shoulders were pointing to 3, so he took 3.
The 2nd rep at :45 had a better serp on 1, but then pointed forward to 2 – which turned shoulders and feet away from it and towards the backside so that is where he went. He was correct there too, you owe him a cookie. Then you shoved him to the backside at :53 – he was correct again, you owe him a cookie 🙂
He is reading you perfectly – so if he goes somewhere unexpected, look at the video before the next rep, and freeze it at the moment he decides to go to the unexpected place – you will see the handling that is causing it. So keep rewarding everything because he is correct!
So to get 1 to the front side of 2? Keep moving to the exit wing of 2 while holding the serp position (arm back, shoulders rotated, good connection) until you see him turn away and look at 2 – then you can relax the position and move to 3. Because he is young, you might have to hold it a little longer, until takeoff. What was happening here was that you were closing your shoulders too early which pulled him away from the jump if you were further from it, or pushed him to the backside when you tried to get close to the jump.
>>This showed up in class with backsides at speed this past week.>>
Slices in general are hard and need to be handled with young dogs (they are not likely to hop into a slice on their own). The backside question is probably a slightly different but similar issue – I will bet you were closing your shoulders forward and not maintaining the serp. In theory, taking the jump on the backside should be a default behavior, but he is young so is still likely to follow handling. So keep your shoulders open and look at the landing spot (and throw a reward to the landing spot as you run through, to help develop the default behavior).
3rd video:
He was great with his find my face game! But you an also see it is HARD because he jumped up at you at :25. If this session happened after the previous sequence where there was a lot of failure, he might be carrying frustration over. (BTW at :41 – :43 you had nice serp handling so he took the 2 jump :))You can also surprise him and whip out a toy for this game – the cookie is nice but I think the toy will be much more motivating and will help him work out any frustration.
Last video:
Sequence 1 looks good! The only questions he had were about going through the box 5-6-7.
When you say run at :26 to cue the line to 7, look at him not ahead – looking ahead turned your shoulders off the line and that is where he went
At 1:28 you had connection on the exit of 5 but then looked forward which looked like the beginning of a blind so he changed sides
Last run had great connection exiting 5 and great connection over 6 at 2:29 then at the last minute, you pointed forward (which turned your shoulders) and reached for the toy and he didn’t take the last jump. On tat line, try to run like there is one more jump after it, showing huge connection. He is learning how to run through the box and ignore the jumps you are running past, so the extra connection will help (and it will get easier when he gets more experienced with this challenge :))
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
I like that she could do her tricks! The barking did not take long to become the easiest trick ever :))
>>Did not get sticky on lead outs (even with me using the obstacle name) and had faster, happier line ups.>
Yes – the arousal in the environment is her friend, not a struggle at all. That is fantastic!
And she was great on the practice jump! She seemed to have perfect response to every cue for almost the first 2 minutes with people and dog walking by – at a little past the 2 minute mark you can see her attention wandering. It was good to end it right after that, but you can also go in with a goal of 3 reps on the jump then be done (which should keep you well within the ‘optimal arousal’ range).
There was not a lot of room to extend based on handing cues (no place to run to for you LOL!) so you can throw a treat or toy pat the jump to let her fly to it (think of it as Toy Races, Practice Jump Edition 🙂
>>So we’ll take the pattern games/volume dial etc on the road.>>
Sounds good – she is likely going to be a bit depleted (travel, trial, travel, flight, new location, etc) so build in a TON of decompression in there for her adolescent self 🙂
>In other news, Kaladin decided that Camille Cargol was OK in his book after he had to roll his eyes at her for a bit when she worked on the tightness in his neck.>
I am glad she worked it out! No tightness allowed heading into the Open!!
Great job here 🙂
Tracy
