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I like the 4 times compromise LOL!! So the cue would be tunnel-tunnel, tunnel-tunnel… then let her go š
Thanks for the video! The wrap verbals are going well – it looks like she will commit nicely as long as you didn’t move away before she got to the wing… but that might just be because she was starting from a standing still. I am betting that in the heat of a sequence, she will be happy for you to do the FC before she gets to the wing.
>>She had feelings about my holding her collar to start so I dropped that since she is sending from a bit further away.>>
She sure did have big feelings about it LOL!! I don’t think it was being held by the collar – I think it was because being moved into position by the collar was uncomfortable. No worries – you can use a line up hand cue or cookie lure to get her to be at your side where you want to start, then hold the collar so you can start the verbal. That way she is in the correct spot, but without being moved around by the collar.
Nice work here!
TracyGood morning! Happy Monday!
>>So weād already done this exercise once but from the other direction. Are dogs like horses in that switching the direction can seem like a completely new exercise to them? I>>
1000% yes! Playing flyball really rammed the point home to me, because it taught me a whole lot about side preferences in dogs. And humans are the same way – I can write my name pretty well with one hand! And I am terrible at it with the other hand. The good news is that the dog can practice and learn. And same with the humans – we practice on our weaker side too. For example, one of my dogs is a righty and I am a lefty. So when he is on my right side having to turn to his left? We are both more likely to screw it up š So I teach all new concepts to him with him on my left first, so I am stronger and he can turn to his stronger side (to his right) unless he has to turn away – then I have to start on my weaker side so he can turn to his stronger side as he learns. Then yes, it can often appear āunlearnedā on the other side but really it is a mechanics processing thing.
>>Ha ha ha well Iām glad Iām not the only one with those annoying moments! These dogs keep us on our toes, thatās for sure!>>
TRUTH!!! Haha!!!
>>So for a RC to her left, I should throw the treat/toy to the landing spot which would be the left side by the jump standard? Will she finish the RC if I do that or will it just be telling her that she was a good girl to jump ahead and bend left as if she was turning around the left standard to come back to me? It seems like I should reward her if she makes the correct turn towards the left but I understand you want me to reward her before that so she knows going ahead of me is okay. >>
Yes – throw it a few feet past the landing spot as you see her passing you at first, then eventually we change it to when she is lifting off. The turn will be the easy part once she is happy to drive past you š
>>We did the backing up game again today. Itās her 4th session. Wowzer. She is FINALLY getting it! >>
YES!!! That is great!!!!
>>Iām just so used to things being quick for her that I could not understand why this one was so challenging or what I was doing to not make it clear to her. >>
It is good to challenge the smart dogs with the really hard things – they learn to sort out the higher level challenges.
>>Sheād jump on the plank and then walk her front feet off. She never offered actually backing onto itā¦ā¦Now that I say that out loud to you Iām realizing she never actually ābacked upā, is that okay? I mean she understood she needed to get her two back feet on it only but she didnāt really back onto it except maybe a few reps. Was that wrong? >>
It was definitely not wrong! It is the first piece of the puzzle. So for the next rep, revisit it and see if she remembers it. And if so, you can sit in front of the plank, pretty close, lure her so her back feet step a tiny bit off the plank, and see if she resets herself into position. You can see some of the other sessions getting posted: Bev & Chip (BC) and Kathy & Bazinga (Boston Terrier). Both of them sometimes turned around to get to position, and sometimes backed up into position. All gets rewarded! It is a good next step for Kashia.
>> So I guess I need to know is the concept backing up or is the concept just knowing how to put the two back feet on something?>>
The concept is basically to get her to get into her position at the end of the plank no matter what crazy things we are doing hahahaha so she gets rewarded for getting into position no matter how she does it š
>>We are still struggling a bit with the motion override game. She enjoys it but she is still having a hard time sitting on the first command and sitting when I do more than a slow walk or walk in place. I was hoping sheād be to a speed walk by now but sheās not so I havenāt sent a second attempt video yet for that exercise.>>
You can break it down even more, like tapping a foot or swinging your arms a little. As soon as she sorts if out, the motion will be much easier to add.
Have fun!
TracyGood morning!
The countermotion game is going well! Great job with a SUPER clear indications: arm, leg, verbal, connection shift! Perfect! Her commitment looked fabulous and this is a ridiculously hard game (you two made it look really easy š )
All of the reps were spot on with connection and sending. There was only one connection blooper: at 1:23 you didnāt quite get the connection on your left side and it looked like you wanted her on your right. Good girl Bazinga! Good job rewarding her instantly. And you know it was a legit response from her because the toy was in your left and she still moved to your right side.
You adjusted for more connection on the next rep at 1:27 and nailed it š So yes, we humans sometimes have connection bloopers but because you are sooooo good about quick reinforcement and then you make immediate adjustments, she is able to maintain her drive and confidence to commit. I am sending you a cyber high five!!!!!
The double rotations are harder for us handlers and you nailed it at 1:33, she had no questions. Happy dance!
You almost had a little disconnection at 1:37 but your motion supported the line and she got it. Super! And that allowed you to set up the rotated send after it. Yay!
You can start the next session revisiting where you ended her to see if she remembers it š and then you can move to the next steps and add the race tracks š
>>I moved the teeter into our daily yard just because I was feeling stressy about all the things in the bigger field I didnāt want her to get into. I didnāt want to pass that feeling onto Bazinga about the teeter.>>
That was smart – being stressed about the environment will make it harder for you as a trainer, which definitely can be passed to the pups!!
She was great here, figuring out how to get the MM to click. She gets an extra gold start for figuring out that bopping your hand might also get the MM to click (I am *still* laughing about that, she is so clever!!). She was backing then jumping on sideways here, but then by the end had some good reps of backing up fully too! I donāt mind that she was was backing up to the side then hopping on – she is looking for her 4-on position and that is GREAT!!!! Nice timing with your clicks!!
Great job!
TracyHi!
Motion override went really well! Wow! Interestingly, he was better on your right side (most of the dogs are better on our left side, probably because we humans work with them on our left sides a lot š )
He was still really good on your left, it just seemed that there was a tiny bit more delay on that side before the response- that might have been because you were more connected when he was on your right and connection is a key element to him.You added a little more motion and some arm swinging at the end, he was still terrific. YAY! So in the next sessions, you can add faster walking, jogging, running. Have fun! Great job!
TracyGood morning!
He seems very confident with the teeter. He offered plenty of good reps here! I think he was not 100% sure if what you wanted was backing up or just getting into 2o2o, which is why he was offering turning around too.For more backing up, he might need you to start the session with you closer to the teeter and with the board lower, so he immediately offers the behavior. You can start with him in his 2o2o, release forward just enough for his back feet to come off. Then it will be a lot easier to step back onto the board (with less room to turn around to get back on it, which is definitely easier LOL!)
Great job!
TracyGood morning!
Awwww, good baby dog doing his first set point! You can leave the distance a bit wider for now, I would prefer him to extend a bit and not compress as much for now. The reward target is great – it should be another 6 feet away from bump #2 so he can stride out to it (and be sure you are up at the target and not closer to the jump).
One thing to focus on is lining him up straight to the bump (you can use a cookie lure at your side) so he is facing straight. He was a little sideways here so for future jumping skills, getting him nice and straight will help.
>>I tried a placed ball for wind in hair, but he didnāt see it. So tossing (the heavier toy) was a better result. This is a good one for (me) practicing verbals! We added distance; next time will try jogging.>>
Yes, the placed toy faded into the background for him so throwing it was definitely better! You can try lining him up facing the wing then letting him see you throw the toy, then sending him around the wing. That is similar to a game in MaxPup 1 and is a lovely impulse control game too! If you train with other folks, you can have them toss the toy or drag it for you.
>>We used a cookie for set up on set point and that worked well. >>
Yes – cookie line ups are very helpful and you can add it to lining up at your side.
>>Since I donāt want to use the collar to move him into position, I picked him up. He tolerated that ok.>>
I think he kinda tolerated it because of his intrinsic interest in playing the gameā¦ but I donāt think it something to keep doing. Dogs generally donāt like to be picked up to be put into position and it adds tress/pressure and then they start to avoid it (you can see him really flattened on the ground at 1:23 as you were going to pick him up). And when he is leaving if you are trying to line him up with a cookie, or toy, we definitely need to get him happy with that.
>> I have been working (only a little) on a set up position; maybe I should move that to a higher priority.>>
Yes – before trying the discrimination again which relies on a line up and collar hold, you can work up the happy game of lining up at your side, collar hold, driving forward. It goes back to some of the MaxPup 1 games like toy races (no sits or stays in those, just line up, quick collar hold, toy throw and go), so that is something you can do to pump up his value for lining up and being held.
For the next session of the proofing game, you can make the toy a little less obvious for the wraps! But hold off on that until youāve got the line up and collar hold in a happy place where he moves to it and you donāt have to go towards him to get it.
Nice work here!
TracyGood morning! This is going really well!! She was looking ahead brilliantly and that is what we want.
>>Iām thinking I could be a bit more connected? >>
Connection on the wrap exits all looked good! And connection on the short distance looked good. A place to strengthen the connection is when you added more distance at :14 – you were looking at her but closing your shoulder forward, so that could potentially break connection.
>>And sheās responding to āgoā and maybe thatās delivered a bit late?
She totally liked the Go verbal, you can use it repeatedly GO GO GO especially as the distances get bigger. You can also add more motion to support this: as she is wrapping, stay connected like you did but take off running š You canāt really say the āgoā verbal until she is exiting the wrap, but showing the motion earlier will get her driving out even sooner.
>>Wrap cues are a bit weak because Iām shifting from words to noisesā¦>>
I could hear them! They contrasting nicely with the GO verbal.
You can add 2 more things to this (as well as more distance between the wing and jump):
ā start very close to the wing and stay near it until she finishes wrappingā¦ then move forward to get her driving ahead of you.
āØā start as far from the wing as you can and send to it. As soon as she commits to the wing, take off to get miles and miles ahead. This is also a challenge because finding the jump behind you versus chasing you might be hard šGreat job here!!
TracyGood morning!
Wind In Your Hair is going really well! That toy is awesome LOL! Your timing is spot on and she is looking ahead really well and finding the jump perfectly. On the reps here, you were saying the reward marker when she looked forward. Since it is going so well, you can replace the reward marker with a cue like “go!” or “jump”. And throw the reward at the same time to keep her looking ahead (you might not have time to say a reward marker here, but a cue followed by the reward on the line is also an indication that she should take the toy).
How is your weather looking? Any opportunity to take this outside so you can add more distance between the wing and the jump?
For the indoor version, you can change your position. The 2 options that can work indoors are:
– start very close to the wing and stay near it until she finishes wrappingā¦ then move forward. That should get her driving ahead of you.
– start as far from the wing as you can and send to it, then take off to get miles and miles ahead (donāt run into a wall though!). This is also a challenge because finding the jump behind you versus chasing you is HARD!Moving target is also going well. Yay for the stay!!! My only suggestion is to have it in the dog-side arm as you drag it, rather than in the opposite arm. That will make it easier to run forward. We add it on Wednesday – stay tuned!!
Great job here!
TracyGood morning! I hope the vertigo goes away asap!!!
Nice job on the set point here! On some of the reps you were stationary and at the reward target (like at :44) and that totally helped. On some others, you were moving to it or standing nearer to jump 2 – on those reps he as looking at you, so be sure to always be out at the reward target and not moving (for now). That was when he was looking forward the best.
Good job mixing in the stay rewards and trying to get him to line up straight! He sometimes sits a little sideways (maybe to look at you) so luring him into a very straight position is perfectly fine š
Because he is so young, try to limit to 2 or 3 reps per session because the pups do get physically fatigued pretty quickly and we donāt want to overdo it. Note that his sit changes at 2:25 and after that – more leaning and more rolling hi hind end under himself. Then he lost focus a bit as well – all of these are fatigue indicators. So, 2 maybe 3 reps through the set point then be done š And, that includes broken stay reps because he is still jumping on those reps.
As we build on this – do you have 2 jumps where the bars are more adjustable? Or removable to use a bump instead? These are actually a little high for now, especially the first one, so you can sort out how to use a bump and lower bars.
Nice work here!
TracyGood morning! These sessions went well!
On the discriminations, she is processing off of the physical cue for the most part, which is why you were needing to step to the tunnel to help her out. That is fine, of course, because agility is mostly physical cues š We can totally get the verbals stronger by having you hold her collar until you say the verbal at least 3 times, then let go. The verbal and release were basically simultaneous here, or the release was before the verbal except for at :18 were you sad the wrap cue several times before letting go of the collar – that was great!
The verbal cue happening before motion will strengthen it very quickly because it will predict the motion, so she will skip the waiting to see the motion and just drive to the obstacle based on the verbal.
But, she seemed to NOT love the collar hold here, necessarily. So you can line her up with a cookie, slip a finger under her collar, give her another cookie, then start the verbals. That will mean you either need a 3rd arm to hold the toy š or you can stick the toy in a pocket (the marker can cover the time it takes to get the toy out of the pocket :))
Smiley face looked fantastic – her commitment is getting really BIG and I love it! Great job with your connection here. We build on this later this week, but if you want to take it for another spin you can add even more distance!
Great job here!
TracyGood morning!
Nice lead out! He was really good with his stay (one blooper but the rest were really strong)! He is pushing into the grid really well.
You might notice he is slowing down to a trot over the 2nd jump. Part of that is the stationary reward which we will change later this week, and part of that is that you were facing him which cues a collection. So to get more power over jump 2, when you get to the reward target (the MM in this case or a toy in the future), face forward as if there is one more jump out ahead rather than face him when you release. We will be adding to this game later this week šOn the 2nd video, the first minute didnāt have sound so we will assume the verbals were perfect š The verbals were great in the 2nd have!
The best part about this video was the super clear connection throughout – that is a HUGE help to him! There was one moment at :51 (soft turn wing to wing to his left) where the connection got a little fuzzy but you caught it happening in the moment and strengthened it so he got the line. When you did that section again at 1:36 – gorgeous connection!!! And the connection on the tunnel exits to how the line to the wing looked great too.>>Watching the videos again shows me I have to be extra patient with his tunnel commitment (practice that separately with the wrap/vs tunnel game?). The countermotion pulls him off the tunnel >>
Yes – he has to decelerate, coordinate, and basically duck down to get into the tunnel so the more patience there, the better. His commitment will improve with experience and you can also reward a LOT of tunnels to make it really valuable for him to run through š You did have some short fast reps that you rewarded and that was great!
Only one suggestion – when running, have the treat in your hand so you donāt have your hand in your pocket, as that can draw his focus off the line. Same with the toy – but if holding a toy is too distracting, it can be in your pocket but donāt move to pull it out until he is in the tunnel (at 1:52 reaching for the toy pulled him off the tunnel because he thought it was reward time).
You can see him watching the toy a bit when it was behind your back on the wind in your hair game too – a little on the first rep and also at :42 when you sent to the cone to start the rep. This setup is a good one for getting him to ignore the toy in your hand so you can run with it: have it scrunched up in your hand but not behind your back and play this gameā¦ the instant he looks forward, you throw it.
Nowā¦ that is a great plan but what if he looks at you the whole time? LOL!! You can have a MM out past the jump and carry the toy but reward from the MM sometimes and throw the toy sometimes. That can help him understand to look ahead and not at the toy.
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
>>Had a poprocks episode when I asked for too much.>
Actually, it was not too much (although yes, keep things short and sweet especially when there is a lot of tugging and running). What was happening here was that conflicting indicators were causing errors and she found that frustrating.
When motion/verbal/connection worked together? Super! She found the lines to the tunnel/wings. Fast and focused! Her questions were when motion and verbals and connection were conflicting, o she was unable to process the cue or respond correctly. And due to youth, inexperience, and adolescent feelings, she has about 1 maybe 2 reps of lack of clarity before she gets really frustrated.
The early reps of wing/tunnel stuff looked good – very connected, and motion & verbal matched that so she got it easily.
Her first question was at :41 where verbal said tunnel and motion was in that general direction but turned away, and connection broke. She was not sure where to be (and most young dogs will pull off a tunnel in that moment of conflicting indicator).
Then the other spot that had conflicting indicators was when she would exit the tunnel on your left to go to the wing – motion was towards the wing but connection was not clear, so she did not know which side to be on. For example, at 1:26 and 1:54 on the first video, she was behind you and your arm and eyes were ahead of her. So it was unclear where to be and she got frustrated (and gave up after a few reps) You had clearer connection when she was on your right, so that was quite smooth!
On the 2nd video, nice connection at the start! It was not a conflicting indicator at :56 when she changes sides behind you – it was totally the correct response to a blind cross cue. You tried to reward but reward with a marker as if it was completely correct (the marker was a āoopsieā tight marker so she didnāt take the toy). Or, go with it and wrap her around the other side of the wing because stopping can be frustrating.
Connection was much better at the end of the session on the 2nd session but you can shorten it up and end on a win – no need to do a lot of reps especially when all that running and tugging is involved.
So to help her out, prioritize the connection as. The most important cue for her. On the tunnel exit, you can have your arm pointing back to her nose and making eye contact the whole time, until you see her lock onto the wing. Motion is probably 2nd in the priority order here, moving towards the obstacle with connection. And the verbal is the cherry on the sundae for now but not as important as the other cues LOL!!
And, because handling baby dogs requires us to be basically perfect (so hard!!), if something goes wrong: assume it was a conflicting indicator and either keep going as if it was perfect, or reward as if it was perfect. And I think rewarding with food in that moment will be the winner because on the 2nd video you tried to reward with the toy and she was like OH HECK NO. Each pup have a ātellā when we are handling without as much clarity as they need – she barks/jumps up a little: āHEY HOOOOMAN CONNECTION PLEASEā LOL!
Also the 2 blooper rule can come into play: if there are 2 little bloopers, she is probably reaching the top of her tolerance limit and blooper #3 might produce too much frustration, even with rewards. So if you get the 2nd one, take a break for a while and start fresh in a different session.
>>Should I be using a right cue for the soft right turn. >>
Yes, you can totally use a right cue and saying it to her can really pump up the connection.
>>For the wrap Cues, should I mix up a FC and a Post turn for when I move?>>
On this setup, I think the physical cue of the post turn for the wrap and the soft turns to the next wing might look too much alike, so the FC will make more sense to her.
>Wrap Cues ā 3/10/24>
This video is the smiley face video – can you repost the wrap cues video?
Nice work here!
TracyGood morning!
Nice job with your connection and verbals on all of the concept transfers!
>>The first several reps I tried to run ahead of Kashia on the GO lines like you said and she completely bypassed the jumps. For a few reps sheād skip the first jump but do the second one or the other way around. I didnāt include all the bloopers because I was struggling to keep it close to 2 mins but I did include a few so you could see. What was I doing wrong to cause her to bypass the jumps?>>
It was not a matter of you doing anything wrong – I think it was just a new concept and she was like WHOA THIS IS HARD. Her brain had to process the āchase the mommaā versus the āfind the jumpsā which is really hard for any dog bred to work. So, you can revisit it and see if latent learning helped! You can also get way ahead but do it at a fast walk instead of a run and see how she does, maybe starting with just one jump.
BTW – she trains just like my whippet. He did the same thing the first session of me getting way ahead: went nice and fast and took zero jumps LOL!!! No worries, these youngsters figure it out. I helped him by dialing back the motion and starting with one jump, then building it back up.
>>it was annoying it even happened.>>
This made me laugh. It is TOTALLY annoying. Iām like: DUDE TAKE THE JUMPS and he was like: I did! Nailed it! LOL!!!!
The other parts of the session went well. It is a hard drill for sure.
She was giving you the funniest looks on the rear crosses LOL! It was cracking me up – it was like there was steam coming out of her ears and her thought bubble was saying WHAT THE HECK IS THIS hahahaha
Your first RC at :22 was really a perfect sweet spot – you were a little ahead to set the line and you were driving to the center of the bar, so she did move ahead of you AND get the turn. Super!!! That is hard. The RC at :40 was good too!There was a little blooper at 1:54 where you said go jump and physical cue was saying go straight til almost take off, then you did the RC which confused her. You adjusted at 2:22 and got it – that RC looked more like the one at :22.
>>I included some bloopers where I again pulled her off the jump during deceleration. We tried the rear crosses this time and they actually worked out better than I expected.
She is not totally comfortable moving ahead of you on the rears of when you decelerate, so you can keep throwing the reward to the landing side of the RC or FC wrap jump to affirm that yes, moving ahead of you is a good thing!
Your FC wraps were super nice and you had super nice backside pushes – SUPER clear connection and pressure on the line, which was very convincing especially after all the reps to the front side of the bar. Yay!
>Watching my full video back, I didnāt realize I had two cats playing jungle gym around us the entire time.>
The cats were adorable! And a great distraction for her, she totally ignored them.
>>There were a few snippets where they were in the tunnel when Kashia came through or they were at the jump standard when Kashia jumped. Itās like they were waiting to pounce on her but chickened out last second!>>
Cats!!!!! Love it. On one of the teeter videos in this class (I think it is in this class somewhere) my cat comes out and basically pushes the dog off the plank I am using. So funny!
She is totally figuring out the back feet on the mat thing!!! This is going well! Her left hind is perfect and she really has to think about her right hind. And sometimes she forgets what she is doing (I can relate) and sits. Resetting to help her out there is fine when. That happens. This i a fantastic exercise for her to really think about offering behavior independently and also think about her back feet. Great job letting her offer and think through it!!! Your other dog was fascinated by it all too hahaha!
>>When we have those āstaring contestsā, what is the correct thing to do?<>>
In those moments, it looked like she was just having a āwait, what was I doing?āmoment. So she offered the sit which probably has a zillion rewards. It looks like you used subtle body movement to reset her, and that helped a whole lot.
>>Also, when I try this on the teeter, what kind of indicator will tell Kashia to put her back feet on it vs going up it like sheās used to? >>
The cues will be different – the end of the teeter will eb a tiny bit off the ground, and also you will be facing her and her butt will be facing the teeter š And when she is backing up more and more, you can add a verbal cue which also cues it. I say ābeep beep beepā for my cue.
>>Anytime I go near the teeter out now she excepts cream cheese! That one rep high value drill was a genius idea except now she expects that very animatedly and Iām not sure how Iāll translate that to the backing up drill.>>
This is great news! Cream cheese for the win!!!! You donāt need to use cream cheese for the backing up LOL and we can make it clear that it is a back up moment and not a run up the board moment.
Great job!
TracyGood morning!
She is so joyful when she works, it is so fun to watch!
>>the first part was intended to be a backside>>
Oh! I watched it and then came back to read the post. She was reading you correctly, I thought the intention was a rear cross. When she lands from the first jump after the tunnel, she needs the next info already to be underway. What was happening here was that the info at :03 and 1:05 looked pretty much the same, with you facing straight to the 2nd jump. You then added some pressure to get a RC at :03ā¦ but that also explains why she did the RC at 1:05 when you wanted a FC wrap: facing straight like that was predicting that pressure was coming, so she was basing the decision on that.
Ideally, you run on more of a pressure line to the center of the bar to get the RC (without facing straight first), more like what you did at :40. And then when you do face straight (especially when you add the decel you added at 1:52) you will totally get the nice wrap!
Now for a backside – the pressure line also starts no later than landing of that first jump, with you moving more towards the backside wing and using a lot of connection. So basically it is 3 different lines she can see as she is over that first jump:
– straight line will indicate wrap
– motion to center of the bar can indicate RC (as he backsides get more seasoned, she can also see this motion and get the backside verbal to push to the backside)
– for now, the backside cue can be motion towards where the wing meets the barYou can see that backside line of motion on the short video where you did the one rep to the backside – lovely! Remember to have massive connection to her eyes which turns your shoulders to the line even more, so you donāt have to be as far ahead (she was flying!)
First short clip – Nice save! You ended up a little past the backside and on the other side but you were PERFECT in how you handled the moment: stayed connected and just changed plans. That is a great skill!!!
2nd clip – the connection was great, you might not need the outside arm for her there when you are connected strongly and ahead of her. It was hard to see your position but it looks like you might have been blocking the upright and rotated before she got a chance to look at it and commit to it.
So facing forward a little longer til you see her locking onto the wing, and giving her more of the upright to see – that can be accomplished by you running to where the bar and upright meet (and adding a wing or barrel will give her a bigger visual for the backside). You donāt need to start the FC until her nose arrives at the wing. That is more of what you did on the 3rd clip, so she was was able to find the backside better here and commit to it. Super!!
Great job!
Tracy
