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The tricks video is so cute!!!! Thanks for sharing it!!
>>And, in class we had trouble…people, new dog, etc…hard to get her to work straight off the bat.
Were you able to try the pattern game? That can help get her engaged when there are new distractions!
Tracy
Hi! I’m so glad she had such a great day!! Yay!!!!
And yes, Bazinga was like “I KNOW THIS LET’S GO” HAHAHAHA! Love it!!!
Hi!
Great job with driving ahead! I love his toy drive!!He got better and better with leaving you in the dust 🙂 I think he had a little question on the very last rep – the toy might have been a shade too far away, with you also moving next to him? So on the next session, start with a shorter throw then build back up to the bigger distance. And, to keep him comfy leaving you behind, you can let him go to run to the toy and when he is 2 or 3 steps ahead, then you can start moving too 🙂
The decel and turns are also looking good!! The hardest part was waiting for him to finish chewing LOL!! Do you have any treats he can just slurp down, or is he a chewer?
You can definitely start adding more running away, so he sees a more dramatic deceleration and can shift his weight back sooner.Only one suggestion – for now, bend at the waist a little more so his chin is parallel to the ground or pointed a little downwards. That will help him engage his rear even more as he decelerate into collection.
Yes, you can totally add in the front crosses. 🙂
Great job here!
TracyHi! Nice work on these!
Wrapping foundation game:
The stool was perfect for this!!
Yes, she had an error when you moved the upright further away. You don’t need to go to a lure when that happens – let her think it over and make a decision. If she fails again? Move the upright back in, no worries.In a session where you’ve made one big change (like changing your position) you don’t need to make a second change right away – you can do that in the next session. So for the next session, start with the stool and the upright close to you, and see if she goes into the pattern right away. If so? Move it out a tiny bit and see how she does.
The decel game is going well! You’re going to need to get further ahead in order to get the Decel in sooner, especially as she gets bigger 🙂 so as you send her to the cookie, you can be moving away so you are further ahead when you call her. That way you can decelerate when she is halfway to you. You can take this game outside too, that will give you both plenty of room to run!
She did well ignoring the cookie hand to hit her prop. Super!! I think you can keep rewarding out on the prop for a bit longer, one or two more sessions. No need to add distance yet – we want the sideways and backwards sending to be in place first. And you can try this with a toy, too!
Speaking of toys… I’m glad you did the driving ahead game! It went really well!!! Your mechanics were really good, she drove forward, she played beautifully and switched back and forth from the toy to cookies
Yay!!!This game is going to be GREAT for arousal regulation for her – once you added a little more running, you can see her arousal state change (in a good way!) So add more distance here so she can run more. And you can start adding your motion too, jogging as she is driving to the toy.
And you don’t have to edit out the tugging, feel free to leave it in! It won’t be a problem with video length.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
Driving ahead is looking great!!! I’m loving his toy drive!!
Yes, you can lead with the dog-side leg but soon enough his drive forward will be so strong that which leg you use won’t matter 🙂
When the toy has landed, try to release pretty quickly – you were saying ready ready so he was not sure if he should look at you, or at the toy, so his cute face was flipping back and forth between you and the toy.You can definitely add more distance now, so he can really start to run. And that way you can start to move forward more too!
The decel to handler looks great too! As soon as he is on his way to get the cookie, you can start running forward so he can drive to you with more speed then go into decel. You can take this outside too, if he can find cookies in the grass.
He was pretty pumped up (in a good way!)at the end and didn’t quite know what to do with his mouth – you can whip out his toy, to help direct his happiness to the toy and not to your flesh LOL!
About the reinforcement zone:
Yes, you can continue to reward in front of you like you did here… but I will try talk you out of it LOL!! Ideally, rewarding at your side will accomplish two things :– it helps support the parallel line motion that has become soooo popular in course design nowadays
– it isolates and promotes weight shift into the rear (which is great for jumping, weaves, etc). Coming around in front of you does not isolate the weight shift, because he is using his front to swing his booty around in front.
So rather that reward in front, I’ve shifted the reward to the side. And in some of the games coming up, we isolate other elements of turning (like the head and neck) so the pups use each body part beautifully 🙂
The ready dance before the sends looked FANTASTIC!!! Lovely shift from engagement to sending and his prop hits looked great! Yay!!!
He does have a little mouthiness when he gets pumped here too, so after every couple of treats, you can do a little tugging. That will help him learn to self-regulate his arousal while Keeping him in a higher arousal state. Being able to do that is great for dog sports, where he will be asked to work with precision while in a really high arousal state.
Great job here!!
TracyHi!
Great job at the trial! Overall, I loved her focus and how well she was able to regulate her arousal while still going super fast. Yay!!! And you had the toy in your pocket for a couple of the runs, I believe, and she was great. I took some notes for each run, then a few more ideas below as well:Run 1:
Tugging while people were fixing the tire in the ring was a great way to get her used to people in the ring!Starting far away is always a good idea, her stay looked great!
Are you allowed to throw a toy in AAC? If yes, throw it more on the line after jumps. Or, if helpers are allowed, someone can present the reward on the line out ahead of her.
Bang game looked good! When doing the fumm teeter, try to give her more momentum across the full teeter so she can drive a little faster across it.
2nd run – cookies on the cot are going well. You can start to ask for more volume dial and tugging before the run, so she enters the ring in a higher state of arousal.
Good line up!
Weave entry as obstacle 3 was a little too hard with that visual clutter against the wall. You can start her at jump 2 to show the line to the weaves to help her out.If something goes sideways, try not to stop and fix handling – she was confused when you did that and then going past the frame confused her too (her facial expression was pretty funny lol). You can tug past it rather than walk her past it, that will be smoother!
3rd run – good tricks here! Next step is to be sure to do them on the flat in case there are no cots around.
She was finding lines really well here! I think you wanted some jumps in between the tunnels but the cues were late – good job staying in motion! And plan to be ahead to cue the weaves so she can see the line to the entry (the tunnel exit here turned her away from the weaves and you were behind, so adding in a little extra jump to get you ahead will help you set the line better.
Overall, this is going really well. Do you have any classes of just jumps and tunnels where you can do longer sequences with the toy in your pocket (empty hands). She looks ready for that.
Also, you can add in leaving a toy at the start line (and still have one in your pocket) to begin adding in the next stages of remote reinforcement. In AAC, is there a leash runner or does the handler carry the leash? If there is a leash runner, show Muso that yes, her leash will move (and the toy can go with it :)) She will definitely see it in UKI.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi!
>>I’ll add the leash to our practice runs too. *I* need that practice because I’m very clumsy with the leash.>>
Yay!! Using the leash in practice will make it so much easier at trials for both of you.
>> Also I am just beginning to expose Pizzazz to the empty hands concept but she won’t consistently play with me very long without food. So it’s hard to practice sequences without it.>>
No need to do empty hands training yet – I think she needs more time to slowly build up the remote reinforcement before we add it to sequences. Empty Hands will be too be of a leap, for now. More on that coming tomorrow 🙂
Have fun!
TracyHi! Thanks for the remote reinforcement video!!!
Good lets go marker!!
I think that this is on the right track, but you’ll want to take fewer steps away from the reward station – 2 or 3 to start, then ping pong in 4 or 5, then back to 2 or 3, then 6 or 7, and so on. That way you gradually build up duration.
You can add more engagement as you walk away – look at her and start to add in asking for a trick before going back to the rewards.
And, most importantly… a leash for now. That will help transfer to trials, but more importantly, a leash will put a stop to the squirrel chasing where she runs across the street to do it. I think that was partially because she was still learning the remote reinforcement game and needed smaller steps, and partially because she has a reinforcement history of darting off in this context to chase the squirrels (I remember this happening in an earlier handling video).
Having food in your hands can help prevent some squirrel chasing at home, but it doesn’t help us teach her how to run in the trial ring when you don’t have food.
So having her on leash will help shift things so that she can learn the new game without taking off – in effect, we are stopping the undesirable behavior as we replace it with behaviors we like better 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
>>Well, the pulling is my spatial awareness. Probably the same going in too deep to the pinwheel jump.
You can use the wing of the jump to “mark” your running line away to the tunnel – it is like imagining an invisible string from the wing to the tunnel threadle entry. You would then move along that string, watching the wing. Let me know if that makes sense or if a visual would be better 🙂
>>But….I was very pleased with her.
Heck yeah! She was great!!
>> Plus, I did NOT try the BC again as I felt she’d done enough reps with the various sequences. Most were one and done.>>
She’s developing a lovely history of high success one and done reps. Yay!!
>>I’ll probably need more tricks. Other than a spin and nose touch what else do you use moving? I don’t think I can leg weave with a leash attached. Or, can I?>>
Leg weaving is hard on a leash (I take the leash off for it). You can do high fives while moving, as well as things like “dancing” on their back legs. And also, my favorite, barking on cue (this is SUCH a great arousal regulator!!)
>>So, if I understand correctly… get her “give” command under better stimulus control,>>
Yes, you can do out then strike to reward it with more tugging. It will also give you a good window into her arousal state.
>> use moving tricks and reward with tug on the way to the line, take the leash off and immediately go into either the up and down or back and forth game, then ask for the line up?>>
Yes, try that and see how she does. She will provide feedback, which will either help us solidify the toolbox or change things up
It is really individualized so a bit of experimenting will help.>>I can practice this in the yard tomorrow and try it out in class Tues.
Great!! Video all the things lol
And I hope Gemma feels better! Poor girl!!!
Tracy
Hi!
>>No worries – just keep ruining your invisible dog happily>>
Omg darned autocorrect!!!! RUNNING not ruining lol
And no, you didn’t ruin your invisible dog – and you got actual course work by the end!!!
It was a good session in terms of information gathering, even if the runs didn’t go as planned.
As you mentioned, the environment was really hard for her, too hard at the beginning. So you can let her response act as feedback to you about whether she is ready for the next step.
What I mean by that is:
Ask her if she can play thr pattern game for really good cookies, far from distractions.If yes? Move closer to the distractions.
If no? Move further.
If she can’t do the pattern games at all, move further from the environment and just let her sniff around and watch the world. Then go to higher value foods and try again later.
If she can play the pattern game close to the crowd of distractions, then you can go to the next step: volume dial! Tricks for treats or tugging.
And if she can do that? Using the Cato board, start somewhere in the middle of the course, away from distractions, and do a sequence.
If she can’t do that? Move further away and try. Not being able to do the volume dial means she isn’t ready to run the course, so you would move away and try it further away.
If she was able to do the volume dial and you try the sequence, but she zooms off? That’s feedback that it is too hard. I think trying to start her in front of the crowd is too hard for now, especially if the location is different or the distractions are different. So based on how she often struggles when right in front of the crowd especially on that first run – don’t start in front of the crowd 🙂 start far from the distractions and see how she does! With a history of success established, we can then get her gradually closer to the crowd at the start.
Based on what she can do when she does run the sequence, it is worth it to get the success from further away from the big distractions, then gradually get closer based on her feedback.
Let me know what you think!
TracyHello and welcome!!! I’m glad the surgery is behind him now, so you can totally start the fun games! Enjoy!!!
TracyGood morning!
>Today we went to a CWA meet not far from here, for visiting and puppy socializing. She even got a tiny chase on the lure. Lots visiting, some tugging, some treating. So a mainly work free day. I’d forgotten I do have another longish, fluffy tug in the Expedition, so that’s also on the agenda. I want to get these going well before the next game.
Sounds like a great day!!! I am sure it burned a lot of mental energy for her, so don’t be surprised if she is a bit tired or a bit less perfect in any training today. If she seems mentally tired, just do easy stuff 🙂 It is amazing how much mental energy these pups spend on those field trips 🙂
>So, I will try both with a tiny toy first. I think that will work. Paul holding would work too because he can yell, “You are turning the wrong way!” >>
Let me know how the small toy goes! And you can ask Paul to yell “AWAY!” to remind you to turn away from her for the blind, rather than towards her for a front cross 🙂
Have fun!
TracyGood morning! He did well here! He ended up being a bit more stationary than we need him to be, so a couple of ideas for you:
Have the cookies in your hand – keeping them in a pocket creates a delay where he stops moving and looks at you. Plus part of the challenge of the game is that he has to ignore cookies in your hand to go hit the target.
You were actually rewarding the down a lot on this session, accidentally – with the placement of reward being stationary, he settled in to hang out near the target… so you brought cookies out to get him out of the down. But based on the frequency of the down behavior increasing, he thought the cookies were for doing the down 🙂 So, to keep him moving and offering on the target, no more stationary cookies when he is in a stationary position 🙂
You can switch the placement of reinforcement so he doesn’t hang out by the target – Rather than feed him at the target, you can market the target hit then toss the cookie to the side.So he will be going back and forth, chasing cookies in between hitting the target. He is still pretty small so you will likely need to bend a little lower so the target is just below his chin level so it is easier to hit.
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>>The metal tin wasn’t a great choice.
I thought your mechanics of holding it away were good and you were looking at it, so either he didn’t want to touch metal, or it was too small, or he didn’t quite realize that touching it was what brings the food out. My guess is that it can be a bigger target and also he was looking at the cookies so hadn’t realized how to get you to deliver them LOL!!
So you can use a bigger target, but also for the first couple of reps, tweak the placement of reinforcement: as he goes towards the target, the cookie hand can deliver the cookie right onto the target. I am guessing that after 2 or 3 reps he will have an a-ha moment and lock onto the target, then you can go back to tossing the cookies to the side to reset each rep.
Decel to handler – I honk the hardest part for him here was finding the cooke on the first rep! But then he came driving back to you on each of the other reps. Because he is so small, you will need to bend at the waist a little to get the cooke hand down to his nose level – ideally, his chin is parallel to the ground or pointing slightly down to the ground. It will be easier when he is taller 🙂 He was definitely happy to drive to the cookie hand so get the hand in position as soon as he starts heading back to you – and you can add in the pivots now too!
The bowl game is going well! He had to go past the cookies in your hands to get to the bowl and he was great! He was definitely thinking it through so I bet he will have even more speed in the next session. For the next session, start just as you did here, and do a quick refresher. If he remembers it and gets right into the pattern, you can side the upright into the picture right in front of you.
>>with guest cameo by Thor who always shows up for cookies.>>
Ha! I was expecting a Cocker! LOL!! Thor was very polite 🙂
Great job on these! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
