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Good morning!
The wind-in -your-hair I going well! The first couple of reps were smooth and then she had questions about the RCs:
>>Not quite sure what I was doing to turn her off the jump early in the next RC unless I wasn’t keeping my shoulders pointed to the bar enough for longer as I pushed on her line?>>
What was happening was that you were looking ahead of her to the jump and running the RC line… but not in according to where she was on the line. You were ahead of her a bit and were pushing across before she was past you, so it was more like sideways pressure on the line which pushed her off. The successful reps at the beginning and at 2:27 had more forward motion to the center of the bar, parallel to her line but also with the RC pressure (forward rather than lateral) so she could get past you and make the correct turn. Yay! So adding more connection to see where she is on the line and also setting the RC from closer to the tunnel entry will smooth out the question spots.
Looking at the backside video:
>>Starts out brilliantly with me moving a bit faster. Then starts cutting behind me. >>
I think what was happening there was on the first rep at :09 you were close enough to the wing and connected enough that the backside was obvious. One thing on the arm placement there is that it is fine to let your hand travel with her a bit when she is past you, so the shoulder doesn’t pull open like a threadle. The shoulder opened on that rep at :10 so she considered coming in to the front side. For the shoulders & connections, I think of it more as the opposite shoulders coming forward and less as the dog-side shoulder pulling back (which might be too much rotation and too threadle-looking).
On the 2nd rep at :31- :32, two things pulled her to the front of the bar: you were looking ahead of her to the backside wing and also your shoulder was opened – add in being further across the line and she took the front.
And then she was locked onto the front, between the reward and the value of the bar and proximity of the tunnel and tiny moments of you looking forward. That put you into the 2-failure land at :47 – even though she got cookies, there were indicators that the behavior was incorrect and she knew the difference. Rather than keep going after the 2nd failure (which can get more failures), you can either go back to closer to the entry wing or angle the jump so the entry wing is closer to the start wing, making the backside line easier to see and the front of the bar harder to see.
The countermotion looked good – so switching to that was a good idea, she did well! That is a good spot to end the session there (and watch the video or make a new plan) rather than try to put things together. The 2 failure rule holds for the full session, not just successive reps, and we don’t want her to slow down or fail more until we’ve adjusted the plan. On the 2nd part of the session, she was a little slow on the first rep trying to sort it ut, but your position was good so she got it, then drove to the backside fast on the 2nd rep. For now, rather than trying to add the countermotion, keep rewarding driving to the backside. The countermotion will be easy to add on when she can go to the backside more independently.
Let her sleep on it for a couple of days, and I bet latent learning will work its magic 🙂
Nice work here!
Tracy
Good morning!
The plankrobatics session on the teeter was great! She was so cute, trying to get on the end at the very beginning 🙂 She seemed to have no questions or struggles with the early part (back and forth slowly) and hopping on, and at the end she was running across it beautifully with a bit of tip. Yay! So you can keep going with the happy sessions like this, running across it with gradually add more tip in tiny increments.
The decel session looked super too! All of the reps where you were up at the jump looked great – she powered to the jump, collected, and turned brilliantly. Yay! The sends worked best when you had connection as she exited and then let her see the send movement. At :36, she had a question and I think that was mainly the connection not being as strong and the send a little too soon (she didn’t quite see it as well). Compare to the reps before and after it, where she was easily able to send with the bigger connection and more visible send step.
And adding more speed and the FCs definitely made it faster but not harder, you both nailed it 🙂
The heat & humidity does get challenging at this time of year! At the very end, she pulled off the tunnel because you turned away from it on the send (facing the other entry at 1:00. If she was less hot she might have found the correct entry anyway but when she is hot, you’ll see that she is more likely to come off lines if you turn too soon. Does she like water? As the summer heats up, you can do one or 2 reps then let her sit in a baby pool or cool off with a hose or even a wet towel draped over her, so she can stay cool 🙂
Great job here!
TracyHi!
The pushes went well! He found the backside line really well! My only suggestion on those is to drop the reward in on the landing side of the bump, right where the bump and the wing meet (and nowhere near you 😀 ) that way when he comes around the wing, he defaults to looking the bar and not at you. I prefer dropping it rather than placing it because it will draw his eye better, and for now use a bump not a bar so we don’t have any rehearsal of hitting bars.You can see him watching you a lot when you added more motion by starting from the wing, so consistently dropping the reward on the landing side will shift his focus to the bar rather than watching you for more cues to come take the jump. The independence will open up lots more handling options!
The countermotion reps looked really good – nice mechanics and great toy placement! And having the tunnel visible but not really “available” seemed like it was just right for him.
Putting it together was a bit of lumping, because he hadn’t seen you be far enough across the bar on the push to be able to get the backside push while you easily did the countermotion of moving forward. He hit the bar on the first one then had a big slide when you tried to run.
So before putting it together, work the walking and jogging up the parallel line on the backside pushes, first getting to center of the bar and then eventually working your way over to the exit wing. I say eventually because it is not intended to be done in one session.
When you can jog then run up the line with your line heading to the exit wing, and the reward placement is on the landing side… putting it all together into the German turn for example will be super easy 🙂 because the smaller pieces will come together nicely. The tunnel entrt being visible is not that important right now, so you can gradually add it back in but no need to emphasize it as a discrimination because he is still learning the skill 🙂Nice work here!!
TracyGood morning!
Looking at the jump grid:
I think he is really sorting out form, especially over jumps 1 and 2. When there was a stationary food target, he was slowing down over 3 so you can move that target another 12 feet or more further away so he can maintain his power and not slow down as soon.He did well with the moving target when it was moving very slowly 🙂 When you did the first rep and one of the reps where it might have been moving a little faster, he was rushing a little and touched the middle jump. No worries, he will sort that out, but for now the toy can be stationary about 15 feet past jump 3 or moving sooooo slowly 🙂
>>he manages ok though sometimes he just makes it over the bump?
Mechanics are percolating nicely, so with more practice he will be more centered (but that is not really all that important). Plus he still has to muscle up into an adult body, so you will see changes happening in coming months and until he is 3!
>Am not sure if there is any progress using his rear out of the sit???>>
He totally is! Much more organized, balanced, using his core, and pushing from the rear. Yay!
>>Tried the wind in the hair rear cross but I think I was running an L too much?>>
Yes, a bit too much “L” but that was because you sent to the start wing from too far away… so you couldn’t show the RC info til he was past you, which put him too close to the jump.
At :28, because you were far up the line, the RC info started as he was setting up his takeoff – and it was visible as he was in the air. You can see his head come up over the bar when he sees the RC info but it is too late to turn. The 2nd rep was earlier but still a little late (he turned his head over the bar and turned on landing), maybe one stride late. But this rep shows us that he is understanding the RC info, just needs to see it a stride or two sooner.
Easy fix! On the RCs, you can start right at the wing, and hang out there til he is almost exited (rather than send from a distance) to begin to set the RC line as soon as he is exiting. He will pass you sooner but will still have plenty of time to see the RC info.
>>West did a great job with his pattern games with a lot of distance at the back door – he was able to look around and reinitiate the pattern on his own and he had some excitement but was still able to think, engage, and respond>>
SUPER! This is better than probably 80% of dogs currently running flyball 🙂
>>He HAS learned his pattern games in calm environments but I’ll make sure to do lots of practicing in calm environments since now I’m mainly using them in high excitement situations>>
Perfect 🙂 Keep them neutralized as much as possible.
Looking at the flyball video:
One thing to note is that the 5 minute mat time for NAFA and the 7 minute Pre-Flight for UFli is a really long time, and toooooo long for most dogs. So you can do a rep, give him a break outside the lane, do a pattern game or snuffle mat, do another rep in the lane, then back out for some decompression, etc. You will get fewer reps in the lanes… but the quality will be much higher!
>>Recall looks ok to me, he is distracted but still engaged>>
Yes – do shorter recalls so you can call him before he looks away. Also, for recalls, do you ever run around the holder? So while the holder is holding him, you run around the back of the holder in a full circle before running straight up the lane. That can really help focus him away from the other lane.
>>However I’m not sure about later when he was attempting ball to tug and his teammate is doing recalls>>
This might have been too hard to do side-by-side. If a dog is recalling at one end of the lane, I like the young dogs to be doing ball stuff at the back of the lane. He didn’t do badly in this rep when getting the ball, but he couldn’t remain engaged when the teammate went racing by and also more than one rep is hard to get in that pressure cooker moment.
>>he managed to just keep his thinking until the excitement begins and then he is “over threshold” he breaks off tugging, is staring, unable to respond and would 100% take off chasing if not for long line>>
I personally have not used a long line in a while because if it is being used to prevent running off or chasing… then the dog is not ready for the situation I am going to put him in. Giving away all of my long lines has forced me to make sure the dogs are ready to be off leash LOL!!! So I can do short stuff on leash, up close to me and far from distractions, and maybe drop the leash if thy are ready… but when I ask for the harder behaviors like recalls or ball retrieves, I always do it off leash so that I am pretty darned confident the dog is not going to leave.
Yes, it takes me a little longer to get my young dogs doing those things – but they do not have focus issues in flyball. My whippet will be 2 in July and he has not debuted yet, but he has zero interest in chasing and is totally engaged. That is pretty different than the dogs locally that are debuting at 15 months or whatever the minimum is, and they are chasing or have to be held til everyone else is finished. They are not ready to be in that situation. So something to consider is taking the long line out of the picture and making training decisions based on not being able to catch him if he leaves (it will totally change your planning LOL!!).
And the main goal is to put him into situations where he won’t want to chase. At this age, the front part of this brain is not developed enough yet to tell the back part of his brain to chill out. The back part of the brain is saying “CHASE! CHASE!” And the front needs to develop enough to be able to say “shhhh, amygdala, no chasing.”
So part of that is just patience, and not having him in an environment when he wants to chase. In mat time and training sessions, work alongside a seasoned helper dog who can be walking or trotting… but no crazy recalls yet because he can’t be successful yet. You will be able to systematically work up to the helper dog jogging, running, tugging, etc. Same with the people – the handler running/yelling/holding a toy is a bit too much for now.
>>Once the recall was over he re- engaged and retrieved the ball in a distracted manner while they walked back but next recall he was completely gone>>
Yes, too many reps, too hard, he couldn’t do it. You can build in a break after that first rep, maybe share the time with another dog. He is not trying to eat the other dog or anything, but he just doesn’t know how to ignore that level of stimulation. And one good rep is better than 4 or 5 where there are struggles!
>>My feeling is that this is probably not productive and that I should move him out of the lanes for more distance before recalls start so that I can work on engagement rather than struggling to work with him in this state?>>
Agree! And when he is in the lane for his mat time, ask for a seasoned helper who can be less exciting, as you build up the desired behavior and he learns to override the stimulation of the other dogs running. He is really young, we have PLENTY of time. He is about 11 months old now? PLENTY of time and the executive function part of his brain is still under construction – and there is nothing we can do about that other than set up great rehearsals and wait for biology to work its magic.
>>And I think there are sessions in brain camp flix that are relevant to him right now?>>
The Under Pressure webinars and the MYOB webinars both have stuff that can help, plus I have included young dog flyball examples in each of them.
Stay tuned for more flyball content coming up – the best flyball trainer in the US is going to do some webinars for BrainCamp and I am so excited. Yay!
Nice work here!
TracyGood morning!
>>THE COOKIE HAND!!!!!!!! Bwahaha!!! She is so stinkin’ smart!!! She was (correctly) convinced she was supposed to hold at the target!!! Ummm – thank you for letting me see it!>>
Ha! Yeah, when she kept offering the chin touches, I was like: what is she seeing that is cuing that? Is she stressed about something? Nope, not stressed. And yep, the magic cookie hand was saying “more cookies coming” LOL! Dogs see everything 🙂
When do we do the “Find ’em” tracks? After the regular 2×2 & Channels tracks are complete?>>
The Find ‘em descriptions will generally tell you when to d each step, but you can start them after step 2 of channels and step 3 of 2x3s. No need to wait til the other tracks are complete 🙂
Have fun!
TracyGood morning! Hooray for MaxPup 3!
>>Are there going to be live sessions for it? >>
There will not be live sessions – the original MaxPup 3 lives were multi-hour seminars (3 hours, I think?) and that was back when we were all pretty much at home doing nothing LOL!!! I tried it spread out across a couple of weeknights but life has gotten back to the normal crazy schedules, so now the content is a bit updated and also tweaked to be at-home seminars that you can do all in one multi-hour session with lots of breaks, or spread out over multiple sessions. The most recent MaxPup 3 folks have spread the sessions out which has allowed for repeating skills and adding new stuff, and that has worked well 🙂
>>(not that I really need more things on my calendar since I want to get 2 of the Camp live sessions for Kaladin!)>>
Yes, I figured trying to schedule live sessions for Maxpup 3 was going to be nearly impossible for all of us LOL!
>>So a quick release added to where the chest strap connects to the saddle part of the harness? Do you go over his head when putting it on but use the quick release just when taking it off?>>
For a harness, the quick release can probably be anywhere on the strap. Ramen’s is a martingale not a harness, so the release is on the collar (and it is pretty and fluffy LOL). When I first put it on, I slip it over his head (because he doesn’t mind it at that point). Then I use the clip to get it off. Then when it needs to go back on, I can either clip it then slide it over his head, or put it on from under his chin and then clip it. I like the flexibility – sometimes he has a toy in his mouth so I can put it on again or take it off while he can still hold his toy 🙂 It was Robin’s idea to add it and I am very glad I did.
On the tandem turn video –
Yes, she is totally recognizing the cue (the hands and the position too) and is responding early in a good way. Check out the rep at :34 and also at 2:00 where she turns to look at the wing for the turn away as soon as the cue starts – this is going to bode well for independent threadle wraps!>>Had about a minute of her being completely distracted sniffing at something on the ground in the middle – no idea what it was.>>
Yes, something caught her nose at 1:18 – maybe a cheese scent in the grass? Or some type of other smell? But it definitely looked like a scent question. If she is getting caught in drifting cheese smells, you can go to a food-holder toy like a treat hugger because that can help isolate the smell and prevent a pool of scent from flying around.
On the accordion video:
>>She also didn’t think much of me adjusting the jump distances and even did a lap under the deck during one of them. >>
You can bring her station out and she can chew a bone or hang out on it while you are moving the jumps! I know she has a background in that behavior but it might have been a while since you used it?
The session is going well – the bounces are going well on reps 1, 2, 4, 5. The 3rd rep was the one with the questions indeed (and it is the hardest rep, so that makes sense). She didn’t release on the first release, and took the line with her head up a bit so the jumping was a little inverted. It was definitely a puzzle for processing! Show it to her again in a couple of days and see what she does – her brain probably just needs to lock in the mechanics.
>>I feel like the 1 stride distance can spread out a bit more. She looks like she was shortening her stride to fit it in.>>
Yes – it is good to have a variable stride! I do want her to see the 7 foot distance again to see if she can figure out the mechanics puzzle. When she is fully adult, she will probably be able to bounce it but for now it will be good to see how she sorts out the distance! And in future sessions, you can move the 3rd jump out more to present different puzzles – you can do 6 feet and 9 feet for example.
Great job here!!
Tracy
Good morning!
Look at her go on those sequences! Super!!! I am so excited for her future!
On the first couple when she was on your left: SO NICE!!!
First run – super nice connection! She was really fast so the timing on the FC between 2 and 3 can come sooner (starting when she is halfway between 1 and 2 is probably the sweet spot), but the connection is more important and you nailed it.The second rep with the throwback also looked good – when you are throwing her back at 2, you can back up less (leading out a bit more laterally) and look at the landing spot sooner (as you point to it). She is ready for that cue to come sooner too!
On the other side, dog on right:
Great lead out and release… but you were not connected at all so she just came to you. Compare to the next rep where you had lovely clear connection before the release (:19)It looks like connection was the question at :27 too – you are looking at the jump and pointing to the jump, but she doesn’t see enough info on that and at this point is going to just come to you. You can reset her with a reward because when that happens, it is entirely possible that the pup doesn’t have enough info to get it right – after all, based on your position, it could be a forced front cross so she kind of has to guess)
You gave her a bigger step at :31 and a verbal, both of which totally help! But add in more connection back to her eyes before the release, as well as stepping to the takeoff spot (even though you are on the landing side). That will mean you are slightly rotated which is great for this, because it will also cued the turn that is coming.
Nice work here!!!
TracyGood morning! 85 degrees doesn’t sound terrible but 80% humidity is DEFINITE melting weather! Ewwww! Hopefully the storms clear out the humidity without making things too wet.
Looking at the videos:
Reps 1 and 2 went great! Great job with the connections and verbals. The tandem turns are going well – you are probably able to do the turn away with the hand cue even sooner, because especially on the 2nd video he was locked in to the cue really nicely! And the threadle to the tunnel at the end of both looked strong too.He had a question at :09 on the first one and :07 pm the second one (same spot in the sequence, coming out of the tunnel to the soft turn wing) because the tunnel is long, you can spread the wings out as much as possible and run in closer to the tunnel, so there is motion when he exits. That way he can see the wing and the connection, and will keep moving up the line.
On the 3rd video, you are doing the tandems a bit sooner and he is reading them better and better each time! Nice!! They are definitely going well. Super!!
>>Venture demonstrated the ridiculous tunnel behavior he started this week, WT#?>>
That is actually not that uncommon! My dogs have done it and I remember some of my smaller dogs running along the top of the tunnel a couple of times LOL! And I have been plenty of dogs do it at this stage too. What is probably happening is that the angle of entry to the tunnel when sending from there is a really hard collection AND they have to take their eyes off of us to do it… AND we are taking off and running (it never happens when we are stationary!) So the youngsters don’t quite get it all organized and run past the entry. And the neuroscience people tell us that the adolescent brain might be telling the dog that he absolutely nailed it perfectly (thus the confusion when we are like, dude, that was wrong. LOL!)
It will go away, and we can help them 🙂 When starting at that angle, send and walk away so there is motion but it is easier. Then gradually add more motion – and reward the tunnel when sending a those angles.
And if he goes past it? Two options! If he looks confused if you tell him he was incorrect, it is fine to keep going on that rep and reward at the wing. Then on the next rep, you can slow down your motion and reward him for getting into the tunnel.
If he does not looked confused if you stop – you can call him back and send him again, but with less running as you send and then reward the tunnel.
As he develops the mechanics of the turn into the tunnel, he will definitely stop running past it or standing on it looking at you LOL!
Nice work here 🙂
TracyHi!
He did great here with you both the takeoff side and on the landing side. Super! Nice job with your releases and the reward throws too. Easy peasy!
Since this went so well, you can add distance two different ways: keep the wing & jump close like they were here, and move his start position further back from jump 1. Or, keep him close to 1 like he ws here and move the jump and wing further apart.
When you switch sides, though, and he is on your right side – do exactly what you did here on your left to be sure he can do it on your right too.
Great job!!!
TracyHi!
The proofing game is looking great! The tunnel cues were easy for him and were very distinct in terms both physical and verbal cues.He came in each time on the serp cue – your shoulder was closed forward on these, so it might be more helpful to use and open shoulder/upper body rotation (think of it as center of your chest rotated to face the center of the bar). There are two reasons for this:
– The serp is a 2-part cue (come in then go out) and with the shoulder closed (perpendicular to the bar) the cue only shows the ‘come in’ element. By opening the upper body towards the jump, you will be cuing both the come in and the go out elements of the serp.
– when in motion, a closed shoulder on both the tunnel cue (even if your arm is a little ahead) and the serp cue will start to look a little too much the same. So, having your arm back and shoulders rotated to face the jump will make the serp look distinctly different as you add more and more speed, building up to running 🙂The threadle is looking really good too! Your arm cue and shoulder position was very clear. You can keep the arm in position and shoulders open for longer, until he looks at the jump. That way he will find the jump without you stepping to it, and that will bring even more independence to the skill.
Since he did so well, you can keep adding motion! You had walking at the end, so you can build up to jogging 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi! I hope Jackpot is feeling better!! Poor guy!
>> I still have other videos already cued for review that I completed before this last submission. I’ll start posting those games, one at a time, to clear them from the desk >>
If you have videos that are ready to be posted, feel free to post them at the same time (rather than one at a time). That will speed up the feedback process!
Tracy
Yes – it is here:
Hi!
>>I think my mechanics on the “wait” are still incorrect. Why is it so hard???
Because stays/waits are one of the hardest things! Dogs are brilliant at pairing things, and also motion is a HUGE cue for dogs. So it is super easy to pair motion with the release and then motion (of a hand or head turn or subtle things) becomes the cue. Sigh! I think you did a great job here really paying attention to the releases and NOT pairing them with the same motion consistently. Sometimes you were stationary, sometimes moving, etc. All good!
Looking at the accordion:
You might have noticed that he was not really powering up the line on these, and it was because he was trying to read handling cues and not the grid. This is because you had different cues going and also they didn’t match the toy placement so he was being a little careful (good boy!)For the accordion, because we want him reading distances and not also having to read handling, to get the power jumping it is best to lead all the way out to the reward then release. You were moving slowly on the first 2 reps so he was matching his pace to you. On the 3rd rep, you were stationary but the toy was ahead and you were near jump 3, so he was not sure if he should power to the toy or pay attention to your decel. The same happened at :48 (4th rep) where he put in a collection stride on 3 (good boy!) because of your position. And he had a bit of a hitch stride (watch his front feet) at :56 – you were stationary but said get it so he was trying to figure out which to pay attention to: position/motion or toy.
So you can make it all easier if you and the toy placement are indicating the same thing 🙂 Leading out to it will help, and also having the moving target of the dragging toy will help a lot! I think you will then see some really powerful striding on that because he won’t have to think about handling cues or decel.
The Backsides session also looked really good! Only one little blooper at :08, where I think you were just a little too far across the bar near the exit wing (as compared to the first rep and the following reps) and not moving a lot to support the parallel path. On the other reps you were a little closer to the entry wing (looked like you ended up on the line to the center of the bar) and he did great!
GREAT job dropping the reinforcement in! You can add more motion to this, jogging up the line then working up to running 🙂
Great job with the countermotion! Nice job dropping the toy – excellent timing and placement there too. When he is comfy with you sending to the backside from further across the bar, you can add the fancy exit 🙂 with countermotion to begin to set up backside serps (with the wrap exits) or the German turn exits.
Great job!
Tracy
Hi!
Short video, yes, but great session! He did really well! Only 2 small details to add for the next session:– he might be an inch or two too far back from jump 1 (literally, an inch) to get that sweet spot for takeoff. So you can try to cookie lure him so he is in a sit maybe 4 inches from the bar and we can see if that centers him between 1 and 2 a tiny bit more.
– as the 3rd jump moves further away, the reward can be further away too so she doesn’t have to decelerate to it. So the reward will always be about 12 feet from jump 3, no matte where jump 3 is 🙂 And, since he is doing really well and his stay looks great, you can add the moving target to this game too!
Great job!!!
Tracy
Interesting to see this! When it was going over her head in the ‘traditional’ way, she flicks her ears a lot, kind of like a horse flicks their ears when flies are being annoying or there is a weird feel. When the harness was sideways, she didn’t flick her ears. She put them down and back for long enough to get the strap over them, but it was a different movement that seemed to indicate a different mood about it.
Watching this and also I think you said she doesn’t love it coming off over her hear – you can probably alter the chest strap to put a quick release buckle the harness doesn’t have to go over her head – it can add an easier way to get it on & off while retaining the benefits of the harness. I got a martingale made for Ramen with that release clip on the next part – he doesn’t mind it going over his head but he tries to “assist” by moving his head back really fast and ends up looking like a flailing fish LOL!! Robin made it (I cannot remember the name of her company, but it is Robin from MN who is at OTR).
Keep me posted!
