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Good morning!
>>The first time I used the little blue bowl sitting on the mantle with a bunch of kibble in it >>
It sounds like the bowl with kibble was the right level of challenge.
>>then I switched to the MM on the ground with boring crunchy treats in it.
And this was too hard as he told you š
You can use the blue bowl on a table for the remote reinforcement game but you can split the difference with the MM – teach him to leave it alone until cued but *not* as part of remote reinforcement yet. As you want him to move away from the MM, reward him with food for moving with you (no tricks needed, just moving away is fine). Then when you click the MM, he can run back to it. Use the highest value food needed to convince him to move away from it, without diluting the value of the MM.
Then when you use the MM in training, like for tunnel games, you can food reward him for leaving it and lining up, then use the MM to reward the skill. Eventually you can fade out the food rewards for moving away from it but for now, I think he needs them.
>>I was using a piece of kibble placed on a dustpan as my āget itā reward. It was soooo hard for Mason to focus on anything else besides that lone cookie behind him, that I struggled to get any connection at all out of the turn. >>
This is another place you can using reinforcement of matching value to teach him to leave the reward target on the ground until cued.
He did a good job of it overall! You can start with an empty dustpan to develop the framework of doing the barrel then the handling then going to it – then add the treat to it. When the treat is in it, give him more agency to choose (less collar holding!) but also a LOT of quick high value reinforcement for staying with you. You were tending to hold his collar a little too long on the send to the barrel which delayed the next cue.
There were a few reps where he seemed to think he should go straight but you wanted him stopping with you – it was a conflicting indicators question that was causing it. For example, looking at the rep at :35-:36 approx: you were moving forward at the same pace but showing your hands to get his attention onto you, so he was moving forward (based on motion info) and then did catch the info to come to you, but you can see the question there.
I think sending to the barrel from further and then slowing down sooner and showing the hand cue to come to you after the decel will make a big difference, even when a cookie is there in the dustpan š
The rep at :40 had the most trust (letting go of his collar die and early) and the earliest ācome to meā decel and cue. The last rep was good too – I think the dustpan was empty on those? You can do the same thing but with the cookie placed in the pan š
Looking at the rocking horses:
āāThe new red crate had previously been used by Annie so it smelled like her and Mason wouldnāt stop sniffing itāā
His interest in it could have been a combination of it being new & different, plus smelling like her, so he had a little bit of trouble processing it as something to go around. Using the upright was a better choice for sure.
>>I wonder if this amount of arm motion is good or if I should wave my arms a little higher for the sends.>>
Your arms were good here! And your connection after the first FC as you sent to the 2nd barrel was GREAT, which is why he always went to the 2nd barrel. Super!!!
>>It was working pretty nicely except that I would always get a refusal on the third send.>>
On the 3rd sends (at :06, :11, :20), you were not as connected as you were on the previous send – you were pointing ahead of him, looking at the barrel, and your shoulders were f acing the a-frame in the field (:06 and :11) and towards the camera at :20. So he was behind you and no longer saw connection plus saw your shoulders turning to a different lineā¦ so he looked up at you to figure it out.
Compare those reps to the 3rd send at :26 – SUPER clear connection to his eyes as he exited the upright and you maintained it as he passed you to the barrel. Note how at :27 your shoulders were pointed to the barrel š So he was perfect and went to the barrel – very clear info for him. Yay!
So be sure to make the clear connection each time, and if you get the refusal, add in more connection on the next rep.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
She did great here too! I think she liked the toy in your left hand a little better (ok a lot better LOL!) but she was terrific about going to the other one as well in the first part of the session. I think the value of that left hand toy got really high during the game so it was harder to let go at the end, but she did it and did end ups going to the other toy. Yay!You can add in an ‘out’ cue (just before your tug hand goes stationary) to help with the release of the toy. And you can add a marker that indicates that she can get the other toy you are moving around (I added “bite” for that).
One more challenge to how her is to use food – she outs the toy, she gets a cookie, then try to get her to go to the next toy. That way she will get used to going back and forth between food and toys in training (I think she will have no trouble with this).
Great job!
TracyGood morning and happy New Year!
This went really well, and you can see how her value for going around the basket really made it easy to transition it into backside understanding. Super!!!!
Since she had no questions, you can add three things to this:
– your backside slice verbal š Start saying it as you start moving forward to the basket.– change your position to be moving forward to the center of the bar here. This will add some challenge because she will see more of the front side of the bar, so it creates more independence to the backside. Be sure to be a little ahead of her when you add this so she doesn’t slip in front of you to take the bar.
– you did a great job rewarding her on the landing side of the bar! So now, after she is definitely committing to the basket, you can start to move parallel to the bar like a serp and drop the toy in behind you (closer to the basket) to get her to take the jump as you move away on the slice line.
Great job here!!
TracyHi!
>> my next is stiffer (in general), when I am looking over my left shoulder which you noticed in the ādog on leftā video. I used to do alot more stretching than I have lately, so this is a good reminder to focus some on ME in 2024 and not just on our team training! I have gotten out of the habit of monthly chiropractic which did help my neck stiffness!>>
Totally relatable! Connection was easier when I wasn’t so stiff LOL!!!
>>I will get more video tomorrow (today is Karmaās swim day)ā¦ā¦ā¦.maybe I will just work on walking the sequences with my āvirtual dogā and then bring her back tomorrow for video. >>
Perfect! Practicing without her will also build the skill so it becomes second nature.
>>Then I need to get crackinā on the next task, the exit line connection! Will let you know if I have any questions about those diagrams once I watch the demo video! This is great!!!>>
Have fun! Keep me posted!
Tracy
Good morning!
She is so tiny, so cute, so fast! Love it!
She was terrific, especially at Robynās – very focused and engaged.I think the hardest parts were getting the toy back and getting her to look ahead and not at you.
Will she alternate between food and toys? If so, you can use food to get her to bring the toy back faster, and also use food to line her up at your side. When she is not lined up, the first send gets dicey.
Also, food is a great reset for when there is a handling blooper – you were tending to withhold the reinforcement but all errors here were handler errors, so she still needed to get rewarded at least in the form of a reset cookie.To get her looking ahead – a placed reward will do the trick, like I did with my young whippet. You can use food to reward her for ignoring it! And then food to get her lined up too.
First video: nice job here!
The first two reps needed some working out for mechanics but then you smoothed it out and the next reps were really strong with clear connection.At 1:14 – you can still reward her, she got it right š Your throw was really late and you were not moving that fast, so she was not sure if she should go straight or not. Remember that all errors are handler errors and to reward the dog – donāt withhold reinforcement if the rep is not perfect.
Last rep had more motion and earlier throw, so she did great!2nd video went GREAT with the dog-on-left reps. Nice job adding the verbals! The only thing I would suggest here is to add the placed toy so she doesnāt look at you.
The other side was a little harder because it was newer: On the first rep at :41 – I think she is very literal and was going where you were facing – reward her anyway as a reset because there was a handling blooper and she was definitely making a huge effort.
She had a question at :55- :56 where you were not as connected. You had your arm up then arm down then arm up and you were looking forward (and not at her) so she almost missed the first jump – still rewardable!
You had a little disconnect at 1:10 (getting ready to throw the toy), it changed the line of your handling so she missed jump 1 while reading the handling. You reconnected at 1;11 so she took jump 2: good girl! You withheld the reinforcement there tooā¦ But she was 100% correct – always find a way to reward at this stage, even if it goes wrong. And if you were not sure what happened, watch the video and you will see the handling oopsie.
You were better connected on the last rep, so she got the toy. Yay! Remember that the reward should get to her if you were good or not good with the connection š
Looking at the crosses video: She was getting a little frustrated with the toy play, and I think it was because you were pulling it away so fast.
Each reward moment for tugging should take twice as long as the rep she did to earn it – she was great on the first rep, you presented the toy, then immediately took it away within a second. Not sure what happened there but she was really good, so tug longer – 4 or 5 seconds – rather than taking the toy away immediately. She jumped up for the toy as you moved it away because there was no clear āoutā cue and you had just given it to her so she was probably not expecting to give it back that quickly. You were tending to take it away really quickly on all the reps, so remember to tug and praise for a while before taking it away for the next rep. Then you can give her a cookie to line up for the next rep.
I think you did a great job with the exit line connection here! The first rep didnāt have it but the rest all did and she read the lines perfectly because your connection was clear. Yay! The differences between the FC and the spins were obvious to her (super!) even if the spins were sometimes a little late. And the last rep was a blind, and you had strong exit line connection there too.
She only had one question here where she almost didnāt go to the barrel, due to a really high arm at 1:05. You had your hand up at the level of your head, and when it is that high (especially for small dogs) it blocks connection and turns your shoulders away from the line. When that happened, she had to look up at you to see what you wanted before going to the barrel.
On the other reps, you hand was low, so she had no questions š
One suggestion to add here:
For the exit line connection, keep moving after the FC or spin or blind so she can drive to you and get used to you moving to the next line.Great job here!!
TracyGood morning! Nice work here!! Kashia is so fun!!
Lovely job on video 1!! You had great connection at the start, and you said each verbal directly to her cute face. Nice low arms too! SUPER!!!! Try to resist temptation to sneak a peek ahead of you – you were probably trying to not run into anything (that is valid LOL!) but if you look downwards, you will likely be able to see the next jump and maintain connection.
On video 2: great job with your connection here too! She was comfy on all of the reps where you are ahead of her. Her question was when you were a little behind her:
>>>> She did that two times in a row until we got back into rhythm. I thought maybe it was my hand not pointing to the jump but Iām not sure. >>
I donāt think you did anything wrong in terms of connection or lineā¦ I think it was a young dog moment where she was not comfy driving ahead of you on that side (she was comfy doing it on your other side). It is totally normal for youngsters (like 17 month old dogs :)) to have side preferences. No worries! We can help her out for sure:
She seems to be working for food rewards, which is great – she was super focused and motivated! So, using the rewards, you can place a reward target out past the last jump here so she doesnāt look at you (and leaves you in the dust by driving to it :)) A reward target for a food-motivated dog can be something like a big empty food bowl (and then you throw the cookie into it when she gets there) or a Manners Minder, or one of those cookie-delivery toys like a lotus ball, treat hugger, or tuggie that you can stuff treats into. The lotus ball and treat hugger are my favorites because she can get the cookies without needing you to be there at all, plus they are small enough that you can use them on course by throwing them too!
The reward target will be useful on all the reps, because she wants to look back at you a bit on jump 2 – the reward target will keep her looking ahead as the lines get longer and longer.
>>My other dog did this exercise great so I definitely miscommunicated something with my younger dog.>>
Yes – the youngster give us very clear feedback on what they are comfortable with (or not) and if the cue is good (or not). I watched that section a bunch of times and the cue was good, so missing jump 2 was more about her learning the skill of driving ahead of you. Your experienced dog has already learned this which is why she did it so well š
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHellooooooo! Welcome back! Glad to see you here!!! I am sure you will have great weather for outdoor training š
>>First game. Do on right and left. Do we Post 4 tries on the right and then Post 4 tries on the left?
Yes, that is one way to do it, or you can switch sides of each position/each rep.
>>Use my verbals! What about Mochiās verbals?š¤Ŗ
Bwahahahaha! Yes, use both of your verbals š
>>Sheās been Really Sassy!
She has big opinions LOL! I am looking forward to seeing her videos!
Have fun š
TracyGood morning!
This went really well – it is a little harder than it looks!
He had some questions about sending to the start wing (more sending is on the agenda for this class, stay tuned for next week’s games :)) To get the send very smooth and accurate each time: Hold his collar to start each rep for the send so you can get the connection, line up your foot, start the verbalā¦ then send to the wing. When you do that, he will also have a moment to focus ahead to the wing and not look up at you, which should get better commitment.
Then on the longer sends to the start wing (when you are further away), maintain the connection til he gets to the wing – at :38 and 2:31 you looked ahead and that turned your shoulders to the yellow jump, which is where he went (nice connection when you sent him again on those reps, big difference in where he thought he was supposed to go š )
When he was on the line, you had strong connection and he drove the line really well when you were ahead and when youāre parallel to him! You can experiment with running these lines without having your arm up – try running hard with pumping arms like a sprinter, all while maintaining connection to his eyes.
The only question he seemed to have was when he was ahead of you (1:55 and 3:30) – he was not as comfy being ahead even with the strong connection, so he was head-checking back to you and changing his jumping style. So when you are training alone, you can have the reward already placed out on the line past the landing from the last jump so he doesnāt look back. And if there are other people around, they can throw a reward for you as he looks at jump 1 so he is looking ahead the whole time š
>>Is it too late to add webinar?
You can totally add the webinar! It is here:
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning! Coffee on board, I am ready to watch Chip! The video is listed as private: can you list it as unavailable so Youtube will let me see it?
>>Talk about wartsā¦this video is full of big, hairy ones! š>
Ha! That is why we do so much video review – to de-wart the training LOL!!
>> I have no idea why Chipās going around the jumps. They were only set at 12ā. Many baby steps happened in between these 4 clips to get a rare successful rep. Weāve even been working on jump grids, so Iām baffled. Hellllllllllp! š¤£>>
It is actually pretty normal for baby dogs (BCs in particular) to run past jumps when we add motion like this. Jump grids are a different planet – there is less stimulation and handler motion, so we get a different behavior. If you have a moment, check out Chaia and Lu’s thread – if Chip doing something like this? No worries, we have a plan š
Looking forward to the video!
Tracy
Good morning!
>>I was going to do the competition track with low jumps. >>
Perfect!
>>I have started to notice with more movement on my end Iām starting to get flanking behavior. You can see it pretty good in this exercise lol.>>
Thank you for the blooper moments! Those are more important to see than the perfect moments š Basically, if she was on the line, you could run. But if you ran *before* she was on the line, she would run around the jumps to the toy (I think there was a placed toy on each rep). So what was happening was that you were tending to be stationary or rotated towards her until she got on the line to the first jump, then you ran. We donāt want her to rely on your being stationary or adding rotation, plus that makes it harder to connect, so a few ideas for you:
It appears that if she gets on the line (jump 1) then she stays on the line to jump 2, so we can focus on getting her to look for jump 1 instead of running past it.
Work through this game being in motion the whole timeā¦. But walking for the first session. The big acceleration (because you are a fast runner) is cuing big accelerationā¦ but she is inexperienced so she doesnāt always include the jumps LOL! Donāt top moving but also donāt go fast and donāt rotate towards her on the wing wrap.
Along with that, letās change the reward placement to get her thinking about the jumps:
– do one session with thrown cookie rewards for finding the line to jump 1 (like GIANT pieces of string cheese). You will be connected so you will be able to see her look at the line to the jump after the wing wrap (mark and throw the cheese to the landing of 1) or looking past it to go around it (sadness, no cheese LOL!)
– If that goes well, do a session with a thrown toy to land between 1 and 2, with you walking.
– If that goes well, place the toy on the landing side of 1, halfway between 1 and 2Because each session can be just 3 reps, you can do each step, take a break, then come back and do the next step. If she struggles, you can do it more slowly in terms of spreading it out over several days.
If she can find jump 1 easily with your in motion (walking) the whole time to the exciting place toy, then you start moving the toy back – move it to the takeoff spot of jump 2 (you can take the bar out of jump 2 when you do that so she doesnāt splat herself) then to the landing side of 2.
If that goes well? Repeat the process with you jogging the whole time (started with the food rewards tossed to the landing of 1). Then it gets repeated with you running š
It might seem like a lot of steps, but it will actually happen really quickly!
>>I was going to put up a little gate to help her out but Iām sure more experience with obstacles will help as she gets older too.>>
I agree that it gets easier with experience! I personally avoid gates because sometimes they do help get the behavior but they are notoriously hard to fade out (because they are the cue for the behavior). And, sometimes dogs just run past them LOL! So I like to break it down and shape it, which allows the behavior to hold up as we add speed and excitement.
Great job here! Let me know how it goes!
TracyHappy New Year!!! I am excited to see you here!!!! Onwards to a great year and new neural pathways š
Tracy
Good morning! Nice work here! Karma is so fun!!!!!!
I think you did a great job with your connections!!!
>>I felt very connected to Karma and saw no āhead checkingā on her part, but I REALLY had to think about watching her the entire timeā¦ā¦ā¦.I know I am used to making the connection at first, and then looking where I am going, >>
Yes! I could see the angel on one of your shoulders saying ālook at Karmaā and the devil on the other shoulder saying ālook at where you are goingā hahaha!!
So you were actively reminding yourself to look at her, look at her, look at her. That might be why it felt different – but with more practice, I think it will be second nature and you wonāt have to think about it at all.
It seems like you are a shade more comfortable with her on your right (first video) – that was all quite brilliant! On the 2nd video, dog on left, it looked like you were looking a little ahead of her more, fighting the urge to look at where you going.
Compare the 2nd rep of each video – :21 of the dog on right video versus :22 on the dog on left video. On the dog on right, you looked all the way back to her and on the dog on right video, you were looking a bit ahead of her. Both were really good connection – the dog on right connection was GREAT connection š So keep reminding yourself to look for her eyes, especially when she is on your left side. The 3rd rep on your left side was great connection! You really locked in!
One thing to experiment with: you might not need to have your arm up when you are running – it might be easier to jump pump your arms like a sprinter, or use a low arm – both of those options will still allow you to show great connection and you can run faster when using less arm. She is a speedster so we want to try for any advantage to stay ahead of her!
Great job here!!! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning! Nice work here!
>>What I am now struggling with is ChangtseāsāØnot wanting to start a sequence or part of a sequence, eg, asking her to wrap the wing in the following Game wasnāt always desirable.>>
Hmmmmm that is interesting – do you have video so I can try to see why it might have been happening?
>>the no connection vs connection is pretty apparent!>>
Yes, that is why video is so fun to use! At :04 and :11, you were looking ahead at the last jump, so she didnāt take it. There was another factor though:
The wing is centered on the line here so if you are next to it when you send, you are pulling her off the line when you are trying to get past the blue jump (rather than running straight up the line). So that was a factor too – and when you used the BIG connection at :18, she got it beautifully! Nice!
Last rep (from the table) – great connection and straight line running, so it was pretty perfect!
So for these sequences, line up the start wing to match the line of the wing of the jump you are running past, so you can run a straight line.
>>When you suggested that I teach Changtse toput herhead in the leash loop, I didnāt believe that Icould train that with Changtse. Wonders never cease!>
This is great! Well done to you for teaching it! Note her wagging tail š She seems happy to have learned this new ātrickā š Great job!!
Tracy
Good morning! This went really well!!
I thought you had pretty perfect connection on all the reps. He only seemed to have one question:On the first video(when he was on your left) – the line was a little harder (good job moving the wing to straighten it out) but you had great connection so he was really good! As things get moving faster, you can tie your hair back so as you get ahead and moving faster, your hair doesnāt accidentally block your face.
His only question was at about 1:15. You were way ahead and moving fast, so he went around the jumps. Was it because of your position out ahead, or speed, or the line was harder? I am not entirely sure but it was a great challenge for him! I thought your connection was good but he might not have been able to see it that well. To help him out when you are way ahead, you can point your dog-side arm back to him to really open up the connection and for now – donāt move quite as fast when you are way ahead. We will add the speed back when he is used to you being that far ahead.
You were not as far ahead or moving as fast on the other reps, and he was back to being perfect š
The 2nd video was terrific: Perfect connection and he had zero questions: fast and perfect on the line. Yay!
Great job!
Tracy
