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Good morning! Happy New Year!
“”We’re not as far behind as it seems. I just have a backlog of videos to submit. We’re actually going to be starting on Week 7 later this week.””
You’re doing great! And this is a light week in terms of new games (one of which builds on what you did in this tunnel video :))
Super strong session here! I think you did a really good job releasing when he looked at the tunnel (you are totally correct in that he will look back at you pretty quickly!) and also, when you got a little too far from the entry and he did the spin, great job making the entry a tiny bit easier and he was great
The threadle side is definitely harder so you had to hold your position until he was definitely heading into the tunnel – on the rep at :35 when he did NOT going into the tunnel, it was because you stepped away before he was really committed, so he came with your motion. But he wasn’t just going to the MM there – note how he did the tunnel the other direction and ignored the MM LOL! That is rewardable, especially because the threadle verbal is not in place yet – so he was not wrong to go to that end of the tunnel on a tunnel verbal.
So the next step here is to add your tunnel threadle verbal so he can differentiate between the tunnel on his line, and the other side of the tunnel (then you can check out the new game added today that uses the tunnel threadle and I think he will find really fun!!)
>>Having the TT behind him was super hard, hence all the squealing. >>
Yes, he was PUMPED UP lol!!! But even though it was hard, it looks like he was super successful! Yay! You can also try this with a placed toy instead of a MM, if he finds a placed/’dead’ toy to be motivating. If not, you can stick with the MM.
>>I see that Week 7 has a remote reinforcement game, so hopefully that will help make setups like this one easier.>>
Yes, it is the very beginning of working away from a placed reinforcement.
Great job here! Have fun!
TracyGood morning!
>>with some tugging in between sides I cut for time>>
I keep forgetting to mention – you don’t need to edit out the tugging for time. It is fine to leave it in and probably easier than editing it 🙂
The threadle session looked fantastic! I think she is really beginning to understand that in in means in THEN ALSO back out and that is a critical part of it. Great job with your reward marker and placement to help create that.
You can see at 1:01 and 1:30 that she was coming in and going back out in flow without needing extra help or cues from you… this is exactly what we want 🙂 So you can now start to delay your ‘cash’ marker until she turns her head to the jump.
>>The 2nd to last rep made me laugh haha! Smart girlie!>>
That was awesome LOL! She decided to go fast, almost messed it up, but then nailed it (and went back out to the bar on her own there). SUPER!!!
So 2 approaches for the next steps: you can keep the easier angles and add in the advanced level where we show her the difference between the threadle slice and the serp (by changing your position and verbal). And, separately, you can do a session where you change her start angle so she figures out how to threadle from any crazy angle.
>>And to answer your question from the drop in class at the new facility, the instructor was Grace Huffman.>>
Cool! Regular drop ins would be great just to get Vesper out and about in those settings, or even a class! I always enroll my pups in a class that is one level below what I think they can do…. That way I can set them up for BIG success in a harder environment and not worry about the skills.
Great job here!!
TracyGood morning and happy New Year!
He is getting the idea of going around the upright twice!
>>It was really hard for me to discern when he was turning his head away because I kept thinking he’s just following the treat in my hand.>>
Following the treat in your hand is definitely the starting point 🙂 You were actually clicking a little too early on most of the reps – the click was happening as he was coming towards your hand. The reward placement was spot on which really helped but you can actually click later (I know, we humans are almost always late so it is funny to be early LOL!!)
For the timing:
Lead him through the turn with the magic cookie hand like you did here. Cue the turn away and wait until you see him turn his head away from the cookie hand and towards the upright… then click and toss the treat. You will see the definite moment and that is your cue from him to click 🙂The 2nd rep here was closest to the perfect timing (:12) – you clicked right after he turned his head. I think you tossed the treat before the click on this rep, though, so remember to wait for the head turn then click then toss.
Getting a shade closer to the upright might help too because you can create the turn more easily (or not – play with it and see how it feels :))
Ooh, nice new cavalettis and he did well here! Really good balance for a teenager (usually these teenagers have crazy spider legs going every which way LOL!!) He is not rushing as long as you are not too far ahead and not moving fast.
He needs a focal point to keep his head straight to keep the movement balanced (and so you don’t have to move fast) so you can add an empty food bowl about 6 feet past the exit of each end of the cavalettis: that can provide the focal point for him to trot to, then you can drop a treat in it. Introduce the concept on maybe just 2 cavalettis at first so he realizes that trotting to the bowl gets the prize. Then you can easily build up to the full set.
Once the focal points make sense to him, you can also add in working the Cavs in higher arousal – this will challenge him to keep his balance and footwork even when he is more stimulated (which is useful for every single sport :)) You can do that with fun silly action tricks for cookies, or with tugging!
Holy wow perching looks GREAT!
>>Well, holy cow he was doing so well that I had to turn it on!>>
I am glad you did! Latent learning is magic and also after the head turning session and the cavaletti session, his body awareness was definitely activated and he was brilliant here. So cool!
>>, I see that his head is still high, but I’m not sure how to fix that when I am NOT using my hands. Should I try keeping hands by my sides?>>
Yes, you can get his head a shade lower by holding your hands lower: you tended to have them at the bottom of your rib cage here, so you can shift the hand position to the top of your thighs or just below your belly button. I find that having my hands together in front of me is most comfy and gives a clear focal point for the pups, as opposed to a hand on each thigh which can split the focus a little.
I think he is ready for you to add a something to step over, like a jump bar taped to the ground (so it doesn’t roll).
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHappy New Year!
Sounds like you and Teagan had a good weekend at the trial! And it also sounds like he was comfy in the trial environment (and the car ride!) – that is great 🙂
The 2 toy game is looking good – he really liked the new toy but also really liked the original toy! He might particularly enjoy ‘new’ toys or toys that belong to other dogs, so you can keep a rotating stash of toys that he doesn’t get to see that often. That way when you pull it out, it feels brand new! Or, you can let one of the other dogs play with it – for some reason, puppies love to steal toys from other dogs LOL!!
Since he has the cool new toy – put it away for a couple of days so it retains its ‘newness’. Then put a small bowl of the most boring possible treats (if there is such a thing as ‘boring treats’ for him LOL!) in one room. Play with the toy in a different room – then run to the cookie room, give him one incredibly boring cookie…. Then run back to the toy room and see if he will play. The goal is to oh-so-gradually get him playing with toys even when cookies are around (this is so hard for him at this point because he loves food).
This can all hold true for the squeaky toys – you can feed the boring cookie in one room then run to the other room with the squeaky toys!
He interacts with them beautifully and he seems to really like chomping on the smaller one rather than bringing it back. I think the smaller one might be his favorite one because he drives to it better overall. I think the novelty of the green toy squeaking helped him retrieve it on the first rep, but then his love for the smaller toy took over. Good news though – he loves the toy! And he isn’t running away with it. And I agree with you, the retrieve will develop as he grows up (he is still really young).
You can try tying the green squeaky to a longer toy so you can drag it around and move away from him, to help him want to retrieve the smaller toy (no guarantees that it will overcome his love for the smaller toy though LOL!)
>>I had trouble, mechanically, trying to hold 2 toys and him.>>
Yes, it is hard because the toys are big and you kind of need 3 arms… you can try stuffing a toy in your arm pit on the same side that holds his? Or under your shirt?
Great job here!!!
TracyHappy New Year!!
>>I can’t figure out what I am not doing right in this head turns thing.>>
What was making it a little harder here on the first rep was that you sent him around the upright with your left hand but then tried turn him away with your right hand, but that didn’t mark a lot of sense to him. On the other reps, you were sending with your left and trying to turn away with your left which will make it all easier for sure. I think what was missing was a cookie in your left hand so knew to follow it. It looks like you had the clicker in that hand so he didn’t know to follow it.
When you changed sides – you had the right mechanics at 1:08 (right hand sends then also turns him) and I think there was a cookie in that hand too – but you were too quick to try to turn him away so he was confused.
Two suggestions – practice the turn away on the flat without the upright, letting him follow your hand in a slow circle so he understands to follow. The cookie hand, and so you practice moving the hand slowly so he can follow it.
Then you can add it back to the turns – letting him really lock onto the cookie hand and follow it as you slowly turn him away.
>>when Axel is done with his training turn, I can’t get him back to his crate.>>
It looks like everything else is soooo fun and he just doesn’t like being in his crate – possibly even finds it punishing (negative punishment) or because he just doesn’t like it. If the crate signifies the end of the fun and the end of reinforcement…. Then he is going to avoid it like he was doing here. The snuffle mat and 123 game are all fine, but he might start avoiding those too if it they predict going back to the crate.
To help him out, get a different crate (a nice big one) and separately from training, let him have some really amazing chew bones or stuff kongs in the crate. And during training, you can sometimes randomly go into the crate but don’t close the door – instead, immediately release him back to the game so that the crate isn’t always associated with being finished or being confined or having to watch other dogs (all of which can lead to him not enjoying the crate).
Le me know what you think!
TracyHappy New Year!
Yes, so many words!!!
>>Ok so I should be using in-in as a backside slice and back as a backside wrap.>>
Question – for backsides, do you mean threadles or pushes? Ideally there are 4 ‘backside’ verbals” 2 for when the dog pushes away and we are on the landing side as they go the backside, and 2 for when they threadle into us and we are on the takeoff side. Let me know if that makes sense, or I can send video.
>> Then I have two different verbals for front right wrap and front left wrap.
That will serve you well, though!! She is fast!!!!!
Tracy
Happy New Year!!
>>But more distractions and smells also was on dirt where they do barn hunt.
I would imagine that is *significantly* more challenging that Sarah’s turf, so it sounds like she still did really well!
>>I got some help with stay. When we practiced using catch, she got real good at catching the treat, not so good at staying even a few seconds. >>
Get some video! Sounds like you might need to delay gradually more and more before the ‘catch’ toss? Or you can teach the stay with a platform – check out Taq’s thread (Taq & Dannika) to see how quickly she learned it with a platform.
>>Video or perch work, second attempt. We first tried a clay saucer that my others had used. I was too small. Then I switched to bucket lid…too big.. going to get it just right soon. Felt like the 3 bears.>>
Totally relatable! I think the lid might be fine, actually! She was getting the idea of pivoting around it but we want to now get her to do it without you also moving. So for the next session, you can add in you standing or sitting (for lower reward placement without bending over). Start her facing you on the center of the lid, then throw the reward off to the side – then reward her for coming back and pivoting back to center. That might get her to pivot without you moving more easily.
I love her tugging and retrieving at the end! YAY!!
Great job :)
TracyHappy New Year!
Wow, sounds like you had a great weekend! Fun!! I am excited she did so well with the travel and all different ages of family, human and canine 🙂
She did well with her backside slices here using the cooler and towel. Just as I was about to type “you an add your verbal”, you added the verbal LOL!
When you get home and try the barrel for this, you can add a pool noodle (maybe sliced in half lengthwise so it doesn’t roll around) to start to fade the towel and simulate a jump bar 🙂 And when you have more room, you can move faster up the line and also add positions 2 (closer to center of the bar) and 3 (almost where the exit wing would be).
>>That jump up at the beginning was her only one the whole time and then she settled down to actually tugging.>>
Yes, just that one leap. Could be any number of reasons why but she went right into tugging especially at the end! Yay!
Great job!
TracyHi!
>>I’ll be here at home, still in my PJs,>>
Same, same. Currently getting ready for dinner here and in my pajamas hahaha!!!
She did great with her cone wrapping – no questions at all and she was nice and tight to the cones. Your mechanics were very precise which is exactly what we want for this early stage.
Since it went so perfectly, you can add more excitement 🙂 Spread the cones out so they are more like 10 feet apart and add speeeeeed 🙂 FUN! It will be challenging for you to maintain connection after each FC and before each send, so if she ends up on the wrong side of you, no worries: keep going or reward because it was probably caused by broken connection.
And she was awesome with her tunneling and cone-to-tunnel 🙂 So feel free to add the tunnel to the rocking horses: you can do cone – FC – cone – FC – tunnel tunnel tunnel! Wheeeee! Then throw the toy so she can blast out of it. And if that all goes well – add your wrap verbals. Things get really exciting once we start adding seed to the rocking horses 🙂
Great job here! Have a fantastic New Years Eve and see ya in the New Year!
Tracy
Hi!
>>OK, trying this again!>>
Yay! The internet is behaving itself today (for now haha)
>>Yes! I’m still not totally comfortable with toys haha. She’s also been very into food in all other situations, so it was really throwing me. On her off-leash walks, in stores, at the familiar agility location, etc. She’s always liked a variety of treats.>>
You might also be seeing the transition into adolescence as well as a value shift to toys now that you are using them more.
>>When I’m using toys at home with her, I am also using food. For example, I may reward her “out” with food, or use a cookie to lure her into position, or to toss a treat for a cookie reset. So if she won’t eat, I feel like I can’t use toys as effectively either. At least with where we are currently at with her training.>>
You are making an excellent point here, that is it more ideal for effective, clean training to be able to use both food and toys. I also find it a zillion times easier to use food for certain things, so not really being able to use it can throw off our mechanics. But I have full confidence that it will all balance out and you will be able to use both. And it will happen pretty soon because you are spending quality time bringing her to new places with super high quality food motivators too!
>>Ah, okay, I totally see that now! Definitely helped to rewatch the video with your commentary in mind.>>
In the moment, it is really hard to see everything that is happening. It was really cool to see it all on video!
>>“I don’t think she loved the play without the toy… yes, she was jumping up at you but then she moved away. The jumping up might have been frustration behavior.”
We play like this a lot at home. She jumps up, I push her off, she jumps right back up. But it may not have been what she was after in that moment and in that location. So definitely something to keep in mind for me.>>Exactly! When the arousal state changes (which is a good thing), behaviors that were fine in a lower arousal state (like being touched) might not be as fine in the higher state when her brain is processing soooo many things. It might be fine in the future but in that moment, it was too much.
>> Question: Since chasing and tugging is more physically taxing than eating food, will this tire her out before it’s her turn in the ring?>>
GREAT question! It might tire her muscles more than eating food, but it might actually be less expensive for her brain and less tiring than the effort it takes to eat. The only way to really know is to experiment with it and see how she does. All of her training is done in age-appropriate, short sessions so I don’t see any possible damage if she is mentally tired. Plus you are really good at breaking things down (and the instructor in the video was very supportive) so Vesper is going to have a great time even if she is a little tired.
>>The food pattern games seem to weave in acclimation so nicely. >>
For real!!! That is one reason that I love it! But it only works with food if the dog wants the food 🙂 It works just as well with toys, but using toys is harder for us humans for sure.
>>Does toy play offer her a chance to take in the environment as well?>>
Yes! I need to find the 2-frisbee pattern game I did with Contraband when he was a youngster and couldn’t really eat outside the agility/flyball ring. It was a similar pattern: tug a frizzy, out the frizz, opportunity to re-engage, get the next frizzy, and so on. And because it helped him acclimate, it also helped him be able to eat in that situation. Now he is adult and he is a total PIG for his food in that environment LOL!
>>I feel much better after reading your response and rewatching the videos. It’s not a cause for panic LOL.>>
TOTALLY NO PANIC! I thought it was great in sooooo many ways and I think she had a fantastic experience while also having the agency to communicate her opinions to you. So cool!!!
Great job and happy New Year :)
TracyHi!
She did a great job with these – accurate and fast! Adding the verbal was easy too. Yay!
>>It feels weird to just stand still for a slice
You can keep moving through the slice, parallel to the bump, as you drop the reward in – that might feel less weird. And towards the end, I think you might have gotten too far ahead and there was no place to go, which ended up in standing still a little. So you can go closer to the cookie toss to start it, as long as you are a step or two ahead of her. Starting further from the barrel might actually require you to also jog forward to stay ahead, which she is ready for and I think she will like it a lot 🙂
Also, going to position 2 and position 3 (in the advanced level) will make it feel less like standing still.
>>We did another ring rental at our regular facility today and she was great! Able to eat right away, tugged really well too. >>
Awesome! Where there other people/dogs or was it pretty quiet there? Sounds like she was very comfy, either way.
>>I noticed she had a harder time eating food after playing with her bunny fur toy. She could easily eat between playing with her other toys. >>
It makes sense that real bunny fur might kick in some higher arousal that also shuts down the eating desire – after all, in full bunny chase mode she probably won’t stop for snacks 🙂
>>We did a little parallel path with a real jump bump, a couple reps of rocking horse and a couple tunnels. She was very enthusiastic!>>
Super! Sounds like a fun time!!!
Great job 🙂
TracyHi! All sorts of fabulous stuff on your videos here!
He was able to turn around on the narrow plank but using a wider plank was soooo much easier for him 🙂 You can re-visit both: doing the wider plank in both directions with more speed, and doing the narrow plank very slowly.
He did really well transferring the concept to the new hamper and in a new place with new distractions. Good boy! I really like how he is using his head to turn really tightly around the hamper. Yay! It was smart to NOT add turn and burn in this session because there were other things happening. So for the next session, start like you need here then if he zips around it like he did here: move into turn and burn (and add a toy :))
The toy races with Auntie Sarah were great! Yo can try to legit win but I think he will continue to leave you in the dust LOL! I was perfect to get him really driving ahead and getting more confidently leaving you – it is nice to have a momma’s boy but it will be nicer for him to drive ahead 🙂 You can try to cheat to win by tossing a cookie behind you for him to get and then you take off running while Sarah drags the toy 🙂
He was great with the pattern game – this is where it helps that he is a momma’s boy! Since he did so well in a neutral location, you can try it in new places (and eventually we can apply it to thing in the environment that concern him.
I hope he had a great time meeting rats today! Happy New Year!!
Tracy
Hi!
Nice sessions here! On the first video, it took her minute to realize that yes, it was the backing up thing 🙂 But on the 2nd session, she had it! You were also feeding her a little lower on the 2nd video, so that really helped – on the first video her head was a little high which makes it harder to back up. I think you might have been a shade too far from the wobble board so she sometimes turned around then backed up – so you can split the behavior a tiny bit more for the next session by staying closer to it.
She didn’t seem to mind the wobble at all so you can start fading out the pillows to add even more movement 🙂
Great job!Tracy
Hi!
>>So my position on the serp would be closer to the exit wing and on the threadle it would be closer to the entrance wing?>>
Yes – I think of it where I line up my belly button 🙂 With the reward target being in the same place each time, your belly button on a serp is right where the bar meets the exit wing. And on a threadle, your belly button is on the outer edge of the entry wing. You can see the visuals in the video here, starting at about 6:00 –
Strike A Pose Part 3: Concept Transfer For Threadles (Slices)
Have fun!
TracyHi!
>> I finally responded to all your insights on the in-person class experience, but the internet seems to have eaten it, argh! I’ll have to re-do it when I have time.>>
SO FRUSTRATING! The internet has been on bad behavior all week. YouTube has eaten 4 of my video uploads this week. Ugh.
>>I just watched the video for the head turn exercise. For the advanced version, can you help me understand how it’s different from just a regular wrap, apart from the reward placement? Just want to be sure I’m not missing something!>>
For the advanced version, it is a matter of timing of the marker: rather than our general marker of “yay thanks for going to the wing” or “thanks for finishing the wrap”, we are looking to mark the instant the dog turns her head to do the wrap. So it is ultra-precise (which is why it is one of the few games where a clicker is useful :)) Let me know if that makes sense!
Tracy
