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Hi!
>>There is an added complication that I am training her for conformation and heavily discourage sitting facing me. >>
You ca n help her differentiate by adding contextual cues for conformation to help get the stack. These can be using the show lead because it will feel really different, plus the hand position that helps her focus on the cookie. She should be able to learn the different pretty quickly. And, using a platform will totally help!
You can also have her line up between your feet for the agility line ups – it is not part of the offering game, necessarily, but it is a good way to help her understand the difference between a sit cue and the conformation stack.
Looking at the video – excellent feet with strike a pose! You can be in your position before you toss the treat to get her to move away from you. She drives back really quickly, so already being in position will make it easier.
You can also use a toy now as the reward! That will help build up even more impulse control as well.
The leg bumps looked great! And hilarious and adorable 🙂 She was happy to do this with food and with the toy. At this stage, you can hold her on one side of you and tap the toy on the other side of the opposite leg, so she bounces across both of legs.
If you have another person who can sit next to you and provide another set of legs, you can have her bounce all the way across all 4 legs in a row like a mini jump grid.
Great job here!! Let men now what you think!
TracyHello and welcome! Oakes sounds like a really fun pup!!! I am glad you two are having fun 🙂 I am excited to hear more!!
Tracy
Hi!
>>I currently have a tennis ball drying out in the dish rack. She put it in the water bowl
Ha! So funny!!
>>She likes hiding balls.
A good brain game for her is to hide things and have her find them – for example, put out a bunch of things like upside down bowls, upside down boxes… and hide a ball or treat under one of them. You can then help her find it, using her brain and her sniffer 🙂
>>We played with the resilience game. No distractions though, being out in the yard, on lead, was distracting enough today. So that will be a good one to continue. Never having read it before, I recently read Leash Uncontrolled a couple weeks ago.>>
Yes! I believe this pattern game is referred to as ‘back and forth’ in Control Unleashed (or the ping pong game) and it is incredibly useful! Practicing at home will make it easier for when you take it on the road 🙂
Tracy
I am glad you are feeling better!
The marker for a reward being thrown back to the pup has been really helpful for rewarding stationary positions from a distance, like stays, stopped contacts, etc. I use it in moving contexts too but the stopped position context has been the most useful 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
Look at her being brilliant and getting on the plank as soon as you put it down. Super!!
She looks balanced in her standing and was very happy to offer a sit! She was also really working to get into a tight sit, with all 4 feet under her on the board without a foot dropping off the side. That is hard but she showed lovely hind end awareness as she was making the adjustments. And turning around went well too!The hardest part was chewing the cookie, that took the longest LOL!
Since she did so well here, my suggestion is that you add arousal in the form of tugging beforehand. That teaches her to think about her body even when she is in higher arousal – which is a great skill in dog sports!
And you can also elevate this plank by putting it on blocks or anything stable to lift it off the ground a bit more.
Backing up also looks terrific! Happy dance! She is using her feet independently and backing up relatively straight to ‘find’ her destination.
How does she feel about wobble boards and moving objects? If she thinks that wobble board is fine and dandy, then you can start getting her to back up to a moving board. Make the movement of the board really minimal (you can stuff towels or something under it so it doesn’t move a lot), and have her hop on it forward so she knows it will be moving – we don’t want to surprise her if it suddenly moves under her back feet.
She is doing well with the drive to handler/decel and pivot too! Because she is so small, try to bend lower to present the magic cookie, so she doesn’t have to lift her head up to decelerate (it makes the mechanics of collection harder, because it is harder to weight shift into her rear when she is reaching up). I think the ideal magic cookie hand position would be just below your knee.
The pivots are looking really strong! You are moving nice and slowly, so she is able to turn nice and tight next to your leg.
You can definitely add in the next part with the toy throw and the go go go at the end 🙂
>>She definitely wants to run away with the tug. >>
You can try having it on a really long line or tie the toy to another long toy, so she has some freedom with it but you have the other end of it – and so she can’t take it on any victory laps 🙂 Then, you can help encourage her to bring it back and reward her when she does. And yes, I would love to see video so we can figure out how to best help her bring it back 🙂
I also like to start retrieves in a very small room (I have done them in bathrooms sometimes too LOL!) so that the smaller space eliminates options for running off and that way there is ore of a chance she will bring it towards you.
Great job on these! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
Looking at the tug-sit-tug video: this is all about arousal regulation and he did really well. Yay!!
The chatter during tugging – all good! And hilarious LOL!
Great job being quiet and patient when he had to figure out what to do when you stopped tugging – nice sits!
It was a hard game for him, mentally, because he was struggling to let go of the toy for a bit but then he was able to do another sit. You added a little bit of a stay at the end, and you released before he moved – super! For now, keep the stays super short so he can be successful and doesn’t start offering other stuff (like jumping up LOL!)
Plank work:
>>You may want to shut of sounds lol I tend to chatter a lot >>
Chatter and singing before the shaping is great! While he is on the plank, be quiet and talk less because he looks up at you and stops offering. Then you can get loud and silly again after you release him off the plank to play.
He did a great job getting on immediately! Hooray! And he was great about going back and forth between the food and the toy. He seems like a confident little dude 🙂 And he was able to offer sits and also some reps where he had all 4 feet on.
If you have another plank, you can put them together side-by-side so that he has a wider plank to get on. That way he can immediately get all 4 feet on, and also work on turning around while keeping all his feets on 🙂
Great job here!!
Tracy
Hi!
The home wrapping session went really well! I love the singing LOL! The inflatable in the laundry basket was clever 🙂
To get him on the tug right away, the better toy certainly helped and picking up the food bowls will help too!
At the club – yes, there were more distractions but he did really well! It is especially hard with the loud dog barking! Try to be more quiet when he is offering: no helping LOL! But then you can be loud and silly during the tugging 🙂
His only question on that clip was whether to go behind you or stay in front. My guess is that was partially because of the distractions and partially because it was easy to go behind you. So you can stand with your back to the gate so it is harder to go behind you and easy to stay in front.
He was not quiet as engaged with the tug at the end of the 2nd video – partially because the food bowls were still present and partially because the environment was distracting. So you can bring out the highest value craziest toy when you are at the club and see if that helps! He really liked the crazy toy you used at home, and you might need an even crazier one at the club with big barking dogs nearby.
Great job!
TracyHi!
Separately from any training games work on arousal regulation by having her tug for a few seconds, then trade the tug for a treat scatter. It seems really simple (because it is :)) but it “trains” her body to self-regulate internal arousal by stimulating the arousal, then using the food and sniffing to get her to go back to a more centered arousal state. Doing this every few days can really help!And when using a toy or even the ready dance in training, mix in snuffle mat or lickimat or treat scattering in the grass, to bring that arousal regulation into the training as well.
And because arousal regulation is mentally ‘expensive’ for puppies and they will get depleted and overaoused, definitely don’t do it everyday. Mix in days of really simple stuff in training, and days of no training 🙂
Keep me posted!
TracyHi!
Sounds like you have had a busy couple of weeks! And hope you are feeling better!!!Great job with FEO #1. Looks like the goal was engagement, play, tunnel. Mission accomplished! A great first ring experience! And it is amazing how fast the time ticks by
On the 2nd run, really liked Prytania’s engagement when the leash came off and on the way to the tunnel – SUPER! And the jump-tunnel-jump mini sequences were just perfect. It looks like Prytania had a relaly strong experience and that is sooooo important. Terrific job setting that up for her!!!!
You can keep sprinkling in happy experiences like this doing FEO, adding in some stays, etc – the #1 goal is to have a happy time in the ring with no added stress 🙂
>.Only goal for me… to be less soccer mom 😳🤣! It’s soooo hard.>>
I am sure Annalise will help you out by reminding you LOL!!!!
Great job, Team Prytania!!!!
Tracy
Hi!
>>But we continued to play all the games. We’re getting better at engagement but it’s sporadic. You’ll notice I make all the mistakes. Pizzazz makes none. I posted the hiccups as well as our successes.>>
Yes, the dogs do the best they can with the info we provide 🙂 And in the moments when something goes wrong on course: it is really important that you do not react or stop or mark it or anything: just keep going as if it was completely correct, even if you have to make up a line 🙂
There are a couple of reasons why it is really important to keep going rather than stopping, even if you give her a cookie:
Staying in motion will be more motivating to her because stopping is deflating – she read you correctly, so stopping because it was wrong can be confusing! Continuing will be motivating, which helps her stay super motivated in general.
Also, staying in motion helps you think on your feet and make adjustments in the moment while staying connected, which is a useful agility skill!
So try to retrain yourself to keep running no matter what, no stopping until the end even if there is a blooper.
>>I’ve added the start line stay since we’ve been playing Leash Off Engagement On with mixed reviews. She doesn’t leave the stay but she looks around not at me.>>
If sh eholds the stay and is motivated and focused when released, then she doesn’t have to look at you. You can also add in the volume dial games to help optimize her arousal, which can generally help her look at you more.
>> I still have food on me but mostly I run with empty hands.>>
Terrific! Keep working towards being able to sometimes run with no food in your hands or pockets.
>>Our RR game with squirrel distraction is also mixed results. It’s always on leash. We play that every day.>>
One thing that will actually help is to NOT play it every day. That game is really hard, so play it every 3 or 4 days, and then let her brain and body reset on the in-between days. If you play every day, she doesn’t have time to let the arousal in her body reset back to normal levels.
>> I’m able to leave the station about 20 feet and she loves to do the actual tricks/skills but it requires me to jump around like a crazy woman to keep her engaged until we get away from the station to do a trick. If I try walking away like a normal person then ask for a hand touch, for example, she’s already disengaged until I bring out the crazy woman. I can keep her pretty much engaged if I run with her on the leash.>>
While it is not a bad thing to have a lot of energy in training, I think she also needs to see this game with less energy from you so you can simply walk away. 2 ideas for that:
– play this game in a less distracting place, like a quiet, distraction-free hallway in your house.
– don’t worry about distance, just take one step away and if she moves with you (without you talking to her or doing a dance routine), mark it and run back for the cookie. Engagement in this case is simply moving with you. No worries about tricks yet until she can move with you.The sequences are looking really good! Yay! She is reading the information beautifully!
On the first couple of sequences, I think you made things a little harder by starting with her on your right then threadling her to the tunnel, then having to run hard to get a FC to show the next jump. A smoother and less complicated way to show the line is to start with her on your left 1-2, then you will have an easier time getting her to your right side for jump 3.
On the first sequence:
You had a connection break at :25 where you looked forward while she was behind you, so she ended up on the other side of you – that is a perfect place to just keep going rather htan mark it and stop, to keep her motivated. She followed you correctly! The connection was much better on the 2nd run so she was able to see what you wanted and did really well. Super!!!On the 2nd seq – you had a handler error at :14, and marked it and stopped… she was reading you correctly, so you can see that she started stress sniffing there. Just keep going, even if things are not perfect.
The question she had there was because of conflicting indicators: your upper body indicated the threadle side of the tunnel, but your lower body indicated the other side of the tunnel, which is where she went. When you were clearer about it on the next rep, with upper and lower body working together, she was great and then got the straight line beautifully too.On the 3rd sequence: really lovely connection on this run, and all of your cues worked together in harmony, so she nailed it. Happy dance! The rear cross switch looked especially good!
On seq 4 – She had a question about the straight line – was the reward out there off to the side? Looked like she was driving to it for a moment. That causes the handling of the wrap to not be as clear – so it is another place to just keep going, rather than stop. Dogs know that agility is a running game (not a stopping game LOL!) so even with a reward there, the stopping can be deflating.
The 2nd rep was much smoother and she did a great job on the lines! Adding in a bit of deceleration as you are cuing the wrap will help her tighten up that turn.
On seq 5 – super nice run! You had really clear smooth handling (nice blind nice rear and nice GO lines!) and great connection so she nailed it. SUPER!!!!
Well done here 🙂 Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>> If she stayed in…which she did…I was going to reward. But, I was facing the tunnel and she took it. No harm, no foul.>>
Exactly! You were both excellent 🙂
>>First is snuffle like you suggested.
I think the only thing she needed was a clearer transition away from the snuffle mat, like picking it up and then walking away with the pattern game going. After having her entire focus on the snuffle mat, she needed a moment of mental reset after you moved her away from it. She moved away from it pretty well, but she needed a bridge behavior (mats goes away, pattern game starts). You can also have it closer to the ring, so the transition is faster (and a friend can pick it up for you).
>>However, on ring approach she’s watching the action. FAST was in the far ring>>
The environment is a LOT! And it is fine for her to notice the action. I don’t expect her to ignore it entirely 🙂 What we are mainly looking for is arousal regulation and I think she did GREAT here!
And, to help her be better prepared to be ringside at a trial – playing these games ringside in class with the exciting dogs will REALLY help. I think you have kind of avoided that a little LOL! But it is a great opportunity to work that piece of the puzzle.
And, a great step to add in is the engaged chill – she might not like the calmer petting, so it might be the pattern game delay version of it – but that game is great for existing ringside without getting too stimulated by the action.
>>I took her leash off and she just left.>>
Wellllllllll I think it was a cue confusion issue in that moment. Watch that section of the video in slow motion:
– Leash off at :28-:29– You were facing her, you took the leash off, she stayed there (:30 – :31).
– note how she is making eye contact with you (happy dance!) at :31 as you are thinking about the next thing for a heartbeat. Engagement right there!!!
– You did a quick turn towards the jump for a heartbeat (:32) and because she was engaged… it looks like she mistook it for the cue to go take the jump. Oopsie! Video is a wonderful thing because she definitely did not just take off when the leash came off. It was just a little miscommunication, plus I will chalk that up to lack of experience on her part. She will soon realize that when you are in the line up process, that your slight turn to the jump to sort out your location is not actually the cue to start. I am confident she understands that in the training/class setting, but I am also confident that she does not (yet) understand it in the trial/higher arousal context. Working this in class by having her closer to the ring when her wilder classmates are running will totally help!
No worries though, because watching it back, she was not disconnected, she just made a bit of a young dog error due to inexperience. So for now, you can slow your mechanics down and ask for the line up before you turn to face the jump (take the leash off after she is in a relatively good spot to be asked for the stay).
After that blooper, though, she showed magnificent good arousal regulation. By bringing her back, you were basically saying “That was incorrect” which is fine and I would have done the same thing – and that is where a dog might shift into overarousal and struggle. Not Sprite! You’ve done your arousal regulation homework so she came back right, lined up, held a super nice stay while you fixed the bar then did a lead out – and ran brilliantly.
That, plus the arousal regulation after the a-frame error, are the biggest wins here. HUGE!!!>>>>> I wasn’t surprised she didn’t stop with my BC. First missed contact. >>
If that error was not surprising, you will want to work that to fluency in class with high arousal before adding it back to the trial setting.
>> Probably I should have put her back on leash and walked in again. But, I didn’t.>>
I thought you made the right decision! It was fine to call her back and ask her to line up.
>>She just disconnects in that piece.>>
That will get better with experience – she will get more and more comfy in the trial environment. But I LOVED how she engaged when the leash came off, especially with the eye contact that you would prefer she offers. You were busy in that moment so you probably missed it, but video shows it clearly. Yay!
>>I’m not sure why I didn’t try tugging her into the ring. I feel like she’s so high that will make it worse.>>
Try it! It might actually really optimize arousal! What we are seeing is that a lot of dogs are happy to do the pre-run stuff like tricks/snuffles/patterns, then tug on the way to the line (or at the line) – then they are brilliant. Tugging won’t make arousal worse – lack of arousal regulation will make it worse 🙂 and so far, she is doing GREAT! So happy with that!!!!
>>Still can’t figure out rear crosses.
They get set from the previous obstacle so that you can move to the center of the bar of the RC jump. There are some juicy RCs in the sequences from the various games packages, so feel free to pull them out and we can work on the RCs!
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! I am glad you are having fun!
I don’t have any running contacts classes here, upcoming or as independent study courses (just not enough hours in the day to add running contact training LOL!)
Two of the classes that have been getting great reviews are from Katarina Poplipnik Capuder: http://www.funtasticdog.com/on-line-classes/
and Kirstin O’Neill:
Tracy
Hi!
This is a great update!! Modifying the leg bumps to be slower/calmer for now with the 2 bowls was terrific! And I am glad you are both enjoying the 2 head down trick 🙂Here is something to try while she is recovering: teaching her to pick things up and put them into a basket or bin or something. It can evolve into teaching her to put away her toys, or even stacking rings on a toy like this:
It s a calm, controlled game where you can shape her with the clicker to take something out of your hand or pick it up from the floor and put it in your hand. Then put it in a bin or bowl, then eventually onto the ring toy 🙂
Here is kind of a finished product – this dog was learning to bring a ball back for some flyball work, but for Kishka you would not want to throw the item yet because we don’t want her running. You can just put it down and shape her to pick it up.
Have fun!
TracyHi! How are you feeling? Hope all is well!
>>With Robie, I have always used the name of the first obstacle to release him on course, and I was planning on doing the same thing with Yuzu. When I taught the stay to Robie,
When I taught the stay to Robie, I used “get it” to release him to a thrown toy, food bowl, manners minder, etc. Do I need to teach a specific release word?>>This all sounds great, plus you already have experience using the verbals consistently with Robie. So it is great to do this with Yuzu too, and no, you don’t need to add another release to the mix. You can add a ‘catch’ marker for when we throw the reward back to the pup, if he doesn’t already have one.
Keep me posted!
Tracy
Hi!
Fingers crossed that all is good with his toe! He was moving really well here and tugging beautifully too!
He did really well with the focusing forward and driving ahead.
He wanted to turn to his left even when you were on his right side (when he was starting on your left), so you can be moving away from him more (towards your right) to help convince him to turn to his right.
When his toe is cleared, you can add more distance and running to this! Try it outside if the ground is not too wet or slick!
He also did really well driving to you with the decel, You can have your magic cookie hand in place sooner – let him see your hand in position as he begins moving towards you, so he can lock onto it – that will help him decel more and also help him predict the pivot is coming. When you do the pivot, you can start the slow pivot just as he is getting to you (rather than feeding him then pivoting) – that way he can keep his butt in nice and tight to your leg as you are pivoting. He swings out a little wider when he stops for the cookie, so the pivot should help him bend into the turn.
This game can go outside or into a bigger space as well – you will see we add in handling combos in weeks 2 and 4 which use the acceleration, the decel-then-pivot, and also the blinds.
The blinds looked terrific! He had no trouble finding the new side and your connection was lovely. Ideally, a toy reward would be best for this but you would definitely want to have more room to run when you add the toy.
Wing wrapping with the bowls looked great – so if he in the groove really quickly like he was here, you can change something more quickly. Pushing the upright out a little was pretty easy for him but then he hit a bit of a wall where he could wrap to his left (moving toward your left) but had a little trouble to his right (scooting between you and the wing a lot. We seem to be seeing a left turn side preference! So when we see that, you can move the upright out a bit on the left turn reps then back in when he needs to go to his right (you can move the upright while he is eating :)) That way he can be equally successful on both sides.
Next up for the wing wrapping, separately from adding distance: you can start changing your position to standing. You went from low kneeling to high kneeling here, so the next session can start with you on the couch (and the upright very close to you) and if he is happy with that, you can move to standing up (with the couch still behind you, so he is less tempted to go behind you :))
Great job here! Keep me posted about his xrays!
Tracy
