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Good morning and welcome! I am excited to see more of Katniss – it was great fun to meet her at the puppy seminar. She is a super cool pup!!!!!!
Looking at the moving target game: Her head was low enough and he was grabbing the low part of the toy well enough that any of these are useful for what is coming next. Now, why she wants the ‘boring’ handle instead of the super fun toy? I don’t know LOL!!! But as she was moving to it, her head was focused on the low end of it, she was not looking up at you, and she was not splatting herself into the ground. So, I call it a big win especially because she was very successfully holding her sit stay. Yay!!! So when we add to it later this week, we can use any of the toys you used here.
On the set point video – she is doing really well holding her stay and releasing into the little grid! Super!!! Her set up position looked good too!
>>putting it in this new context seemed to blow her mind a bit, >>
Ha! Yes, different context can be HARD but I thought she adjusted really well and did great.
You can click the MM instantly so she looks down and ahead before she even takes off for #1. I think you were using it as a reward, clicking for jump 2. It will better serve our purposes if it is a loaded target, so you can click it as soon as you say the release word.
And, you can move it another 8-10 feet away from jump 2 now, so she can power over #2 like she is over #1 (the MM being close causes all the dogs to slow down over 2, so giving her more room will allow her to stride over it better).
On the 2nd jump, it looks like there are 2 sets of wings – it is adding a depth challenge that we don’t need right now (eventually 2 sets of wings will mean 2 bars) so you can use just one jump there.
Nice work here!!! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning!
Yes, there are two thing at play in each session:
>> We do puppy level drills and the puppy is learning, but they don’t really *know* the skill. >>
The skill or concept is not actually learned in the session – it is learned when they sleep! Crazy how the brain works! But what we now know is that somtimes the session itself will be mediocre or bad… but the pup has still learned the skill and they wake up the next day and they know the skill. Latent learning is magic!
You might not have experienced this “meh session then great skill 2 days later” thing but I am sure you will at some point. When it happens, it is fine to end the session and trust the pup’s brain to do the rest. This happens ALL THE TIME with my young whippet and it has taught me to chill out a lot LOL!!!
Also, the setup we are working on (like the smiley face game) is part of a concept foundation, like sending out of a tunnel and also gives the handler rehearsals on how to really connect and send a pup that will not save our butts if we are not clear 🙂 So the actual sequences themselves are unimportant – it is the framework of the skill and the rehearsals.
And, also it teaches us handlers that these pups are always correct in responding to our handling so we need to reward even if things didn’t go as planned LOL! Puppy training is humbling hahaha
>>We’re building relationship, and how to learn, and other process concepts.>>
Absolutely! About the relationship side of things – the human-pup bond is already in place, so there is a lot the puppy is learning about how fun it is to do the thing with the momma as well as about arousal regulation.
>> We have to revisit and build levels as they mature.>>
Ain’t that the TRUTH!! And survive adolescence when things can go completely sideways LOL.
>> I saw that Crescent did well on a lot of these exercises, but I know he doesn’t *really* know what he’s doing, he’s just having fun-which is what i think is the real point.>>
He is learning that by responding to the cues you are showing, the reinforcement will come in a certain spot. So he is learning the skills/concepts, and also developing arousal regulation to present behavior to get the toy or treat as well as not just chase you when you move. And he is developing positive conditioned responses to the games and equipment. There is a lot going on in his brain every time he plays one of the puppy games – and we don’t want to make it overwhelming which is why everything is in such tiny pieces 🙂
>>Thank you for pointing out the real goals here (concepts). I may have to hear this a few times.>>
We all do! The hardest part for all of us is that the puppies have no previous learning to save our butts if our handling is not clear in the handling games, so we need to assume they are reading us correctly if something goes wrong, and reward them anyway (then look at the video which shows us what went wrong :))
Tracy
Good morning!
>>Stays were, um, not perfect, but okay. >>
The stay element of not moving forward til released was great! The sit stay is definitely better than the down stay in terms of takeoff, so it was good when you reset her into the sit (or when she held the sit).
>>Paul thought she was driving ahead better. In watching, I agree. >>
Absolutely and this distancing is definitely better! And I think we are likely to expand it more as she gets outside onto grass to do it – I have found that whippets move themselves differently through these grids in terms of how they use their hind ends (which makes TOTAL sense based on their structure and how they are bred to move/use their rear) so she will likely end up at a 6 foot distance when she has more room to land and power out to the reward. No rush for that, we can let is percolate for now and as she gets her clearances and as the weather improves, we can take this game outside. She has learned the framework really quickly! We will be adding one more element to it this week to challenge her 🙂
Great job!
TracyOMG! She LOVED your sweatshirt as a toy! LOL!! Click/treat to you for thinking outside the box on that one!!!
>>More true confessions, I’m TERRIBLE at toy play. I’ve taken classes on it, I try to be better..but…>>
Maybe it has become work (icky) instead of play, so don’t worry about being good at it… just be goofy and have a laugh by attaching your sweatshirt to a leash and dragging it around. That looked so fun!!!! Play doesn’t need to be clean or precise or have rules – as long as no one is getting bitten and everyone is enjoying themselves, it will be fun!
And for this game, you can also attach a food reward and drag it. It can be a lotus ball on a line, or a food pouch, anything that she will target to (it will make more sense when we use it for real: cliffhanger!!!!! LOL!!)
She was perfect here!!! And good job to you for stepping outside your comfort zone and being super creative while doing it.
Great job 🙂
Tracy
Nice work with the fluffy crosses 🙂 You had a little blooper or two at the beginning of the session but then made excellent adjustments so there were no repeated bloopers.
The first run with the BC went great – he had bonus tunnel at :10 maybe caused by handler motion: he saw you straighten up to face the jump after the blind, so that cued the tunnel (he was VERY sure of it LOL!)On the rep at :21 and :39 and on all the next reps, you had a better turn to the outside line and he didn’t go to the tunnel. Super!
His only other question was on the tunnel cue at :25 – you lost connection and turned away a little too soon, which pulled him off it. You had great connection at :46 and all the other reps.The other side went great, lovely connection! He did seem to think the exit of the #5 jump was weird (turning away from the course) but you did a great job staying in motion and staying connected so he kept going.
The FCs went well too! It will ultimately end up being handler’s choice about which to choose – I personally think the blinds are soooo much easier to get through the rotation on time. And the blinds also get a great turn with Skeeter!!
Wow, his sending to the lines is really looking awesome on the 2nd video!!!! That helped you easily get ahead for the blind to the tunnel. SUPER! And you are really connecting beautifully 🙂
My only suggestion is that you don’t need to go as far towards the bar of the BC jump – that puts you closer than needed to the off course side of the tunnel. Your connection and line of motion still got the correct tunnel entry at :07 and :26 and :59 – you can try supporting his line from further away so you are still on a parallel line to him, but you don’t go anywhere near the wrong end of the tunnel. At :45, you went almost to the center of the BC jump which put you a little in his landing spot then pushed back into his line, so he didn’t take the jump. It will be a good challenge for him to see if you can handle the BC without getting too close to the jump!
Great job here 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
The wobble board totally sounds like a teeter now LOL!! She seemed to notice but also didn’t seem worried about it – she was happy to keep slamming it around to get more food 🙂 You can revisit this game sometimes but having her run back and forth across it for tossed treats – she doesn’t need to stop on it so she will really be smacking it as she runs across. You might need to duct tape the cans to the bottom of it so they don’t go flying around as much 🙂>>My cows came in wanting more treats again.>>
Ha! I love it!!
>>. I was going to give up but decided I’d see how my older dog could do it. She caught on super quickly which actually made me figure it out as well. >>
That was smart! A trained dog can help us humans sort it out before trying it with a youngster.
The session went really well! The skill is incredibly hard. She was committing very successfully when you sent back and looked back to the wing (shifting connection), especially when she had to turn to her right. When you didn’t look back and loked at her instead (like at 1:07) she did not commit as well.
When you add multiple wings in a row, you got the most speed when you ran forward then did a quick decel then rotated to send he rbehind you. You can see a great sequence of it at 2:13 – 2:30, that was super fast especially at the end of the session!!
>> Plus Kashia was losing steam quickly as you’ll see in her gait>
Her brain was working hard, so she probably got mentally tired by the end! I swear that on a couple of reps that she looked at you as if she was saying “this is NUTS” hahahahaha
About the backing up – shaping this is definitely hard! Grab a video if you have a moment, so I can see what she is doing.
>> When I tried to drop a treat behind me and have her go underneath me and then back out, she just did a really tight spin. I never really got her to back out from under my legs. >>
Do you mean she would move forward to grab the treats, then turn around? If so, try it with your back against a wall: she will have just enough room to get her head in to grab the treat but not enough room to turn around. She will take at least one step backwards and that is a great start!
>> If I said “back” or leaned into them a half step or so, they’d back onto the mat.
Absolutely! Shaping it without you moving or leaning gets them to think about their own back feet – it is super challenging but the results are worth it because they will be great about thinking about their own footwork (for jumping, weaving, etc) so you can have an easier time as a handler.
>> I don’t really understand that since the concept is similar to the wobble board. I know backing is harder for dogs but the whole “do this behavior and get a treat, repeat” concept was easier for her on the wobble board. I don’t understand why it’s not translating to the backing up mat.>>
My guess is the wobble board is more obvious, and doing it on the flat or with a mat is more like what some folks call free-shaping which is SO HARD 🙂 But worth it! Try doing it against a wall, or sitting on a couch, to take out the option of turning around.
Great job!!
TracyHi!
>> I will return to posting more of the straight line work. My issue with the FC is not slowing down and then somehow cuing J to turn away not towards me.>
Yes, that is a common occurence when we handlers pressure in towards the takeoff spot and bar too much without decel: we end up accidentally pressuring the rear cross line then accidentally seal the deal by stepping towards the rear cross line with the leg next to the jump as we try to do the FC or spin. I have totally done that LOL!! Adding the decel solves the problem, but decel is hard for us humans 🙂
The wing game looked great – we worked on these backwards sends on the prop and barrel in MaxPup 1 and she totally transferred the concept here. You had VERY clear indications with the arm/leg and connection all showing the wing. Yay!!
>> often more interested in her surrounding obstacles.>>
These were pretty legit line finding moments – I loved it LOL! She was following your cues really well – and since there were obstacles on her line at times, she was correct to go to them.
At :06 of video 2, your post turn presented that blue jump (and almost at :43 and 1:07 with the post turns towards the orange jump, also on video 3). Post turns do present a wider line when we handlers move through them, so to tighten a post turn you can decel and treat it more as a send.
Note how at :27 she did not look at the jump when you did the FC or any of the countermotion 🙂On video 3, she was a little wide on the first rep when you were looking fowrard (connection was a little fuzzy there) then drove to the tunnel at :07 based on her line, your motion (accelerated and forward) and your position (blocking the wing a little).
So overall, I think things went great! Having the other obstacles out there gave you a clear look at how well she reads lines (VERY well!) so that will help you choose handling when you are running bigger courses!
Great job! Have a fantastic weekend judging!
Tracy
Hi!
Wow, the next level games went great! She seemed to have zero questions even when you were miles away. Super!
You can repeat this game adding 2 more challenging variables:
Send to the tunnel and get far far ahead, so you are past the jump when she exits the tunnel: can she still find the jump and keep the bar up?And you can do the complete opposite: instead of sending to the tunnel, run with her to the entry and follow the curve of the tunnel for a few steps before moving up the line to the jump: can she drive ahead of you to the jump?
These will be fun and useful challenges!
Motion override is off to a good start – she definitely thinks it is HARD!!! You got the game going with a bit of help in terms of body language (decel or a hand movement). She is getting it! So now take out the decel and just move very slowly and at the same pace the whole time (shuffling more than walking). When she can do that, then try not to move your hand at all (she was cuing off the hand lifting up a bit). All of that will help her think about her hind end and also be able to respond to verbals when you are moving even if the motion and verbals are ‘saying’ different things 🙂
Great job!!!
TracyGood work on these!
Wow, super nice timing and connection on the first blind at :13!!! You nailed the timing and connection, just perfect! After he gets the side change, add in more decel as he lands on the way to the wrap jump. You were still moving fast which cued a more extended takeoff, then the bar dropped when he tried to adjust in the air after he saw the decel.On the 2nd blind, going to the other side: The timing was good (not as perfect as the first rep, but still good). There was not enough exit line connection (eye contact back to him at :22 so he didn’t pick up the side change and stayed on your left side. You can totally reward that – if the dogs end up on the wrong side of us, then it is a handler blooper and the dogs are 99.99% of the time responding correctly.
The 3rd run started with the bar down at 1 (:37). You can stay connected for longer, and keep moving forward til after he lands. You disconnected and turned away as he was taking off for 1, so he go ta conflicting indictor: verbal said tunnel, body said ‘turn left’ so he dropped the bar trying to process it all. That will get easier for him as he gets more experienced but for now you can support the line for longer to support the jumping.
The timing and connection on the FC was good! But it is hard to get it completely finished before takeoff because he is so fast, so you were a bit in his way as you were finishing the FC – and that contributed to the bar coming down. He will get better at being able to process the jumping and handling, so keep showing him these lines to put more experience into his toolbox 🙂
After the FC, you had really good decel and he had a really nice collection for the next jump! YAY!!!
Great job here!
TracyYay for him doing really well!! And I can totally relate to the best runs coming when I have forgotten to turn on the camera LOL!!!
Hi!
You can try a 4 foot spacing and have the MM at 10 feet away, and see how she does!! Then give this game a few days off so latent learning can work some magic 🙂Tracy
Hi!
>>I’ll try the trading!! The jumping seems to be increasing by the day. I usually don’t really mind a little jumping and don’t take much notice but he has to do it each retrieve – yesterday I was bending down to move equipment and once he bounced off my head/scalp and once my face 😢
Oh yes, trade for a cookie tossed away from you. He might be regulating his arousal by pummeling you – hooray for arousal regulation but we can help choose a different way to do that LOL!!! So as he is coming back, but before he gets to you, use a get it marker and toss a big cookie or two away from you. It will get the retrieve without the pummeling or bruising or frustration!
>>And there are a couple people with train with in person occasionally that he could really injure…….>>
Arm them with get-it-cookies so if they see him coming, they can redirect to a cookie. And if he sometimes does adolescent-stealth-pummeling, you can structure the sessions so he is either on a station, or held, or leashed between reps so there are no surprise pummels. He is being a very engaged teenager so we can channel his energy into less bruise-inducing activities 🙂
>>It definitely doesn’t usually look like that but it’s nice to see with low distractions, he can do it>>
It was excellent and a big win! We can gradually add distractions.
>>I need to get working on this – I watched that video and had a puppy moment “that sounds hard, I’m going to go check my email”. But I’m very curious and interested to see what we do next so will work on it>>
Ha! Totally relatable, I do the whole “let me just check facebook” hahaha The moving target is a little hard so you can break it down a lot to get success 🙂
Have fun!
TracyGood morning!
The smiley face games are going well!
She had a couple of legit questions about finding the line to the tunnel at :06 and :30, for example. On those, you were looking forward ahead of her and that turned your shoulders & feet away from the tunnel before she was committed. She was more successful when you were connected to her and kept moving forward until she totally locked on the tunnel entry. So definitely stay connected until you see her really moving towards the tunnel entry, like you did at :15 and :44.The Wind in Your Hair game looks great – because we have been really emphasizing the low head position and looking forward, check out how different her jumping looks already! YAY! Your reward throws are well-timed and that really helps too.
She was super smooth and focused forward on the reps where you did a post turn around the barrel. She needed a bit more connection on the FC exits, so you can make a really big connection to hre eyes to get the side change super clear (sticking closer to the barrel can help too) and then drive up the line.
Great job 🙂
TracyGood morning!
Wheeee! Wind In Your Hair went great! She was on fire! She was looking ahead nice and early so you can throw the reward even sooner. She *definitely* preferred when you were running versus when you were walking and she didn’t lose any of her forward focus or accuracy with the added speed… huzzah! That means you can add a little more distance and run run run 🙂 (and add the go verbal as you mentioned).The wing wraps went well too – she liked the left turns for sure, the right turns without handling were harder.
Since she likes moving toys… you can take off and run wth the toy when she is committing to the wing, like you did on the last rep. That made it super fun for her to get that left wrap going!Since the weather is still looking good, try the smiley face games! Great job here 🙂
TracyGood morning!
The set point intro went really well!!!
>>Started with set point at 5 feet
Yes, leave the distance here for now – it is likely to change to a bigger distance when we add height and she is on grass or turf or dirt. Whippets have power butts and a different jumping and movement style than the dogs these grids were developed for <
> so it will take a little experimenting to find the sweet spot. >> because she’s in between the medium and large sizes (which is absolute blasphemy! She’s a teeny baby. Microscopic!). >>
Ha! She has grown since the last class too!
>>I was expecting to need to spend more time on rhe stay aspect but she had zero issue.>>
She was fantastic!!!!! One thing I noticed… Cash and catch sound a lot alike in this context. Hmmmm. We can work around it without having to change markers 🙂 The easiest work around is to use a toy instead of the cookei dispenser 🙂 and then ‘catch’ an be reserved for times when there is no cookie dispenser out ahead. We will be moving to a toy anyway soon, so you can try this with a stationary toy. How is the moving target game coming along?
Wind In Your Hair is looking strong – really good timing with your get it markers and cookie tosses! Your were nailing the instant she looked at the jump and not at you. Super! In the smaller space, we can still add challenge for her!
For the next session, use the same motion you used here… but with a toy reward instead to challenge her to find the jump even when in high arousal. If that goes well, you can add more of your motion, getting further ahead – can she still find the jump or does she just chase your motion? Keep tossing the reward the instant you see her look at the line 🙂Great job here!!
Tracy
