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Hi! Could be a teething thing, or could be that she shallows it whole and then pukes it up 🙂 tiny tiny bits of cheese or meatball might be great!
And no worries about how far along she is – the more we learn about puppy development, the more we understand that going VERY slowly at this age is far better because we can set up so much more success!
TracyHi!
>>I was trying to move more slowly, like you said, but I think maybe I wasn’t giving her enough handler motion for a lot of the wrong entries?
I think the reps where she went to the incorrect end still had handler support to them (shoulders and feet facing them) even when you were not moving that fast 🙂 The correct entries had you turned to the correct entry a lot sooner 🙂
>>Also, she has learned to love tunnels, LOL, so we’ll have to do a bit of unlearning.>>
She will get it! We want the big tunnel love nowadays because there is so much distance work involving tunnels.
Starting with just the tunnel element was a good refresher for her – when you started with the wing, your shoulders were late and pointing to the tunnel entry you didn’t want (same at :45) so turn faster and sooner on those to NOT be facing the wrong end of the tunnel. A this stage we want body language and verbal to match more like 1:31 when you were turned and lateral.
To help her out, you can make your position and turn cues even clearer by starting yourself in the positional cue (laterally towards the correct entry and further from the incorrect entry :)) and send her to the wing from there. That way there is no accidental turning to face the incorrect end of the tunnel – you are already in position and won’t need to move fast to get there. You can also move the wings further away, to buy yourself an extra heartbeat of time to show her the cues 🙂 She is going faster than ever, so even one more moment to show a cue can really help 🙂 This is closer to what you were doing on that last rep, and she looked great!!
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning! The cool part of these skills is that he seems to understand them nicely, so it is all about handler timing to show him the difference. That is exciting!! Everything looked good here, just some timing to sort out.
One general thing to add: you can say the left/right and push verbals several times instead of once – that will help them break through the other things that are happening so he can respond even better.
On the first video – the first RC at :37 was late because you were too polite in setting the line LOL! But the rears at 1:08 and 1:28 were great because you got right up on his tail to set the line. Yay! The last one on the video was also a little late (3:17) – you ran forward a few steps then got on the RC line, so he tried to adjust in the air and hit the bar.
For the push backsides on this video: you were setting the RC line at 1:52 even though you said push – so he took the RC. At 2:36 and 3:40, you started by showing the RC line then switched to the backside and he got it. You can be moving towards the backside line the whole time, from the instant you pass the tunnel exit – and if you get there before him, you can tuck in where the wing and bar meet til he passes you. You were running the line really well in the next video, and he was perfect in getting to the backside.
On the 2nd video on the other side:
Good timing on the RCs, right from the start. Super!!!!! I think 1:03 was your body showing rear and your brain thinking about backside so he was correct to take the rear cross line.
Your push lines here were all great –
At 1:22, 1:56, and 2:33 you never showed even one step of rear cross and he went directly to the backside each time. He is still learning to commit to the jump on the left turn backside wraps, so definitely keep dropping the reward on the landing spot, that was terrific placement! And as you move through – keep moving like you did but maybe more slowly and also look at the landing spot (not his cute face haha) after he passes you – all of that supports commitment to the bar.Great job! We are getting more rain this weekend but hopefully you can still enjoy some outside time to play!
Tracy
Good morning!
Nice work here – this game is hard!!!! She seemed to only have a question on the first rep of each thing: first rep of serp (took the tunnel) first rep of tunnel (wanted to take the jump). But she sorted it out nicely and your cues looked and sounded different, which really helped. The other reps looked really strong!
On the threadles – try to use less handling and let her find the jump without you handing to it by closing your shoulders after she comes in. Ideally, the in in cue means come in AND take the jump without extra handling needed, so you can remain stationary with your shoulders showing the threadle cue until she takes the jump (then reward of course :)) And then when you add movement to the threadles, keep your shoulders in threadle position as you move so that she offers coming in and taking the jump on the threadle side, without waiting for your shoulder movement. This can help create even more independence on the threadles.
Great job here!!! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
>>I kept the reps short and she stayed engaged. I didn’t do any more than you see on the videos but did take out video dead space while she retrieved the ball, etc. I asked her to lie down in the grass in between exercises which she was fine doing while I reset the tripod and a few things. We took a slow walk around to make sure she had cooled off enough (it’s humid today) and then did the 2nd exercise. I think she’s still hormonal from her season so I’m going to keep on doing things this way.>>
That is great – and I think it is a good training lifestyle, regardless of whether she is hormonal or not: short sessions, fast, and fun!
The zig zags are going well! She is definitely sorting out her footwork! My only suggestion is to keep the reward in your hand til she arrives st it – because it is being thrown, she sometimes lifts her head up to track it (rather than keep her head down to look at the bars. Keeping the reward in your hand will keep her looking downwards more 🙂
This game can go into the general rotation – what I mean by that is if you want to work on a jumping exercises, you can pull this one out maybe once a week. No need to do it daily or anything at this stage.
Lookin at mission transition – on the fist decel on your left, she was looking straight for the GO toy, but the other decel reps were great! You were turning away from her on those rotations – try to turn towards her for a FC after the decel.
When you changed sides – you handled differently when she was on your right side here, driving harder to the jump and accelerating later…. Too late for her to collect so she was wide on those turns. I think what was happening was that on the other side (dog on left) you were decelerating when she was passing the 2nd cone. On the dog on right side, you were decelerating when *you* were passing the 2nd cone… but she was already ahead of you and taking off, which is why her turns were tight to the right and wide to the left. So remember to decelerate no later than when she passes that 2nd cone, and her turns will be lovely on that side too.
>>Since I never got to the get out in MaxPup1 should I go back and do that first?>>
Yes, before going to the proofing, work the Get Out from MaxPup 1 so she understands it.
Great job here!
TracyActually – if she is on your left, throw it slightly to your left so she goes in a straight-ish line to it. And as you let her go, you are going to move to your right, to encourage her to get the toy and turn right to get to you. Let me know if that makes better sense 🙂
TracyHi!
>> I did start initially with a little higher object but she was just going around it. I wanted something she could just run across. I’ll try something a little higher when she gets this better.>>
Starting with it low was the correct way to start – and thanks to her feedback, we can raise it to help encourage a little bit of feet on it LOL! Part of this early shaping stuff is trying to figure out how she thinks so we can plan for future shaping stuff 🙂 Going around it and stopping in front of it is great feedback from her, so now we can help her realize that she can use her feet to get on it too 🙂
She did really well with the wrap foundation games!!
The food game looked great – you might want to do 5 or 6 treats then break it off for a mental break – she would sometimes forget what she was doing (like at :40) because she is so young, so 5 or 6 treats, then maybe 10 second of play, then 5 or 6 more treats, etc should help her out with that.
I think she is ready for the upright (Advanced level) to come in now! Start with a quick refresher of the pattern with the bowls, then after a few treats, bring in the upright. It will be right between your feet with the bowls still very visible. I am sure she will have no trouble with it 🙂She did well with the 2 toy game! To help her begin to go back and forth like she did with the food bowls, you can let the toy in her mouth get passive for 2 or 3 seconds before bringing the next toy out – the passive/dead toy will predict the next one is about to be available, so she will begin to offer going to the other side before the other toy begins to move. She is a smartie!!!! And for now, keep the toy sessions very short (30 seconds) because she is so young and wants to lie down and chew LOL! Now, that might have been because of time of day or when the session was done relative to the other training, so you can also try doing the toy sessions first.
When she is going back and forth with the toys like she does with the bowls (probably in the next session), you can add the upright to the 2 toy game as well.
Great job!!
TracyHi!
It looks normal now – glad it was not any excessive caffeination that caused it 🙂Generally, I tell handlers they are late in their handling and that is what is causing the dog to ask questions… but in this video, all of her questions were because you were too early LOL!!
By too early – you were moving the arm & leg back for the lap turn when she was still pretty far from you, so she either zig zagged or (correctly) read the cue as a throw back.
So to be later on the timing, remember the 2 inch rule: don’t start the cue til she has gotten to about 2 inches from your hand (and looking at your hand/following the hand with your eyes as you move it) will really help her drive right in for the turn too). That will get rid of the zig zags and also help her know which side of the wing to go to.
She was sometimes ending up on the other side of the wing because when you are really early and looking at her, the cue looks like a throwback (countermotion FC) like at 1:16 and 1:24 and 1:58. When that happens, just reward like you did at 1;26 because it is handler error especially when there are no verbals attached. Note how she got a little frustrated at 2:04 and grabbed a tunnel: ‘human, you keep cuing a left turn on that wing then you tell me it is wrong, so I need a moment right here in this tunnel’. LOL!
So try the lap turns being later – done correctly, you will feel like it is in slow motion and quite late 🙂 but she will read it beautifully 🙂
Nice work here!
TracyHi!
The tandem turns went well! I think you had the smoothest starts when he was coming in from a stay so you could line things up. When you were starting the next rep from wherever he was eating the cookie, it was harder to set up the angles and line.
>>On the tandems, I know that some of these are actually probably lap turns because I’m facing him.>>
Yes – I think that was just at the early part then you were moving forward more, like after 1:50. Things went well! He did his best on the tandem turns (in both directions) when your dog-side hand was also involved. I don’t think he can see the opposite hand when it is being used by itself (like at 1:52 and 2:22). But when you dog-side arm was also very visible to him like at 2:07, 2:40, 3:07 and especially 3:30 (last rep), he was perfect! So I think a 2-handed tandem turn cue is what works best with him.
I think the transitions are going well! They are getting very distinct and he is committing in collection, ready to turn tight and drive . SUPER!!
He had a question about commitment at 1:29 – there was not enough connection and also it looks like your angle might not have been directly towards the jump. At 1:48 and the rep after that both better connection but that side is harder for him – either because it is a right turn, or maybe because you were angling away from the jump and toward the other stuff out there? Or both? LOL! But you were able to get him to do it nicely on that side! And the left turn wraps all looked great.
The next step on these is to the transitions the same way, except make the front cross sooner on the jump: as he is approaching the jump but before he takes off, you can be starting the FC and moving away.
>>Has anyone asked you yet what comes after MaxPup2? I’m assuming there will be a part 3? >>
Yes, people are asking LOL!! There is a MaxPup 3 coming and it starts June 14th (I believe). The info should be posted in the next day or two, and registration begins in May.
>>Will we be working on weaves or contacts?
We do contacts foundations in MaxPup 3. The weaves are a separate class, currently independent study because there are not enough hours in the day to run it as a working class:
>>Baxter is coming on 15 months – can you believe he could actually be competing next month?>>
It is UTTER insanity that 15 month old dogs are allowed to compete! These adolescents are totally not ready, and we know that now 🙂 We all started a dog (or two) too young at some point, and we learned that it was a bad idea 🙂
>>Also lastly, any suggestions on improving his endurance? He certainly is not the dog that can go on and on forever.
He is still really young, plus it is getting hotter out, so endurance will need to be built.
The main thing to do is go to a veterinarian who specializes in fitness/PT/rehab and who also knows a lot about dog sports. That way you can get an assessment and they will build you a fitness plan specifically for Baxter. There are a LOT of people out there who are ‘fitness certified’ but very few are actually experts that I would trust. If you want someone to meet with you in person (HIGHLY recommend at least one in-person assessment), I use Dr. Marie Ballengee of Pawsitive Steps in Burlington, NC. I know it is a bit of a drive but she is worth it! Dr. Marie has been keeping my dogs sound and happy since 2019 🙂 and she works with a TON of agility and flyball dogs.
https://www.pawsitivestepspetrehab.com/
I can also poke around and find recommendations closer to you if you want.
My favorite online fitness profession is Dr. Leslie Eide. She is also a high level agility competitor, so she understands the needs of performance dogs, And her programs are highly individualized. She is based in the Seattle, WA area so online is ideal. Here is her website:
https://www.thetotalcanine.com/>> treadmill their dogs regularly.
Treadmill is only a small piece – a great program includes core, balance, flexibility, strength training, and explosive cardio as well.
Great job with the videos! Let me know what you think of the other ideas!
Tracy
Hi!
This went well! You were able to get her to do the out AND start the FC and BC.
On the FC reps, you had a little decel on the get out cue which actually helped with the FCs, making it easier to rotate because you were already decelerated and a little turned towards the jump.On the BC reps, that little deceleration made it harder to get the blind because after slowing down, you had to speed up again. So when planning the blind, stay in motion the whole time so the blinds feel smoother.
You can do both the FC and BC sooner. You were waiting til she was jumping, but now you can move up the timing to start as soon as her head turns to look at the jump. This will definitely challenge her commitment skills!
>>I turned the wrong way towards the end of this video.
I think the spot you are mentioning happened at :29, so she turned to her left. That was because on the out cue, you decelerated and then slightly turned back to the takeoff spot – which read as a rear cross to her (good girl!). So definitely keep moving forward through the FC and BC as you deliver the out cue, and trust her to find the commitment 🙂
Great job!!
TracyHi!
>>We tried bowls with tiny kibble and was going well, then after several treats she vomited them all up. >>
>>She gets full quickly, picky on treats, and sometimes vomits them up.>>Oh dear! Talk to the vet about the vomiting. That is something to get checked out because she should be able to eat some treats without immediately vomiting. Does she vomit after meals?
Getting full with a tiny dog might not be getting full… it might be she is nauseous! Most dogs eat til they explode (except sighthounds LOL!) so if she is turning off food relatively quickly, it could be a different issue, like being nauseous or tooth pain. And you can also try tiny strips of soft food like cheese, if the kibble is not working. We don’t want her to develop an aversion to training or treats because she pukes during training.And, with this in mind – every session with food should be 30 seconds then done, so let her body go into ‘rest and digest’ mode to avoid vomiting. And if she does *not* puke after meals, use her meals for a little bit of training, just a little, to develop a puke-free pattern 🙂
>>Compared to my other pups, I haven’t considered Mochi very operant. >
She is indeed very operant! She just does it differently than your other dogs and also the reinforcement strategies have not been sorted out yet with her making it harder to train. As soon as that gets sorted out, everything will be super easy 🙂
>>So maybe I haven’t figured out what SHE needs yet to be successful at shaping.
Accurate! And that is normal, she is VERY young. And that is why we start with several easy, no pressure shaping games, to mainly sort out what the pups need from us in order to train effectively 🙂
On the video: She did great here, TOTALLY figured it out! Super!!!
It was harder for her to leave your left hand – but easy to leave your right hand and go to the left (maybe she is a lefty?). But she did a great job going both directions and she definitely loved the toy!!
Only one suggestion: during the warm up when you are establishing the back and forth…
Let the toy that goes dead be stationary for 3 seconds before you start moving the other one, so the stationary predicts the other one will move!On the next session, go the advanced level: start with the back and forth warm up to re-establish the pattern… then after a few successful reps of going back and forth, grab an upright to put right in front of you for her to go back and forth around (like we did with her classmates in the live class :))
Great job on these! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! The oven mitt is perfect!
She did really well in the warm up.>>Not sure what’s going on here. Not hungry? Gotta pee?>>
A couple of observations for you – she gave great feedback!!
Then when you went into the sending, you changed a lot of things in the picture by moving really far away and moving the prop somewhere else. That is a lot of a baby dog!
So it gave us some good insight int the mechanics of training her. She was happy to send to the prop, but try not to be as far away yet. Stick to maybe 2 feet away so she doesn’t have to travel too far yet.One thing I notice is that she does not love it when you do a lot of hand tapping during play. When she has a toy, she tolerates it more here but let go of the toy when you pulled it up high and fast (watch 1:55 – 1:58 to see it) so she lets go. Then when you reached for her and the toy was relatively stationary, she sniffed. Good info!! So, use a longer toy so you can drag it around and bend over her less… and don’t do any of the hand tapping/smacking/touching her during play.
And same with the food – the food has a little less value (especially if she might be teething and the kibbles are hard) – so when you tried to do the ready dance and your hands were coming towards her, she turned off a little especially on the first rep where she didn’t know what you wanted. So, the ready dance can be hands free – she moves away each time you do it, which is great info about how she likes to play.
So the prop game is going well, and the tweaks to mechanics and staying closer to it will really help!
Tracy
Good morning!!
>>She didn’t mind me holding her collar at all.
Perfect! Keep going with the gentle holding – we need the tiny pups to be happy with us holding onto them and not squirting away when we reach for them. You made the transition from the collar hold to the toy toss very fast, which really helps!

>>She wouldn’t take food in exchange for the tug. I don’t think she was much into food this afternoon. IThis is something good to work on separately from training – back and forth from toy to food to toy. What kind of food was she refusing? You can go to something a little higher value. And taking the skill away from training will mean she is less stimulated (which is helpful in this case). You can sit on the ground or a chair and just play the back and forth game, like this:
And the quick transitions will help her let it go as well: she was figuring out that letting it go meant you were going to throw it again, so she was getting really good about letting it go LOL!
>>Towards the end my watch thought I fell so I had to reset it before the paramedics came.>>
Ha! That is the sign of a high energy session LOL!
You can now let the toy land and hold her for one more second before releasing her to get it (to slightly extend the duration of focusing forward.
Bear in mind that she doesn’t have to retrieve the toy on this game – it is as big as she is LOL! So you can go to her and play like you did at about 1:56.
You were adding your motion by the end and that went really well! So on the next session, add more of your motion: holding her for another second or two, you can let her go and move at the same time.
Great job here!!!
TracyHi!
>>We switched our prop because the bag I used yesterday was really slippery and I thought she might kill herself on it if she was turning for a toy. We switched to an oven mitt.
Good call!!!
The warm up looked good, she seemed to transfer the understanding very quickly to her oven mitt.
>>I really struggled with the mechanics of this, more when I was using food. I also was having a hard time seeing if she was really touching the prop so I missed some clicks.>>
If you felt the mechanics were hard, it is because the mechanics are hard on this game LOL!! So many moving parts and things to do and look at. I think the session went well!
She quickly figured out that the game here involved going to the thing and turning back to the momma. And she did it nicely in both directions!
She definitely liked the excitement of the toy here and was great about sending to the prop!! Definitely keep playing this with the toy. And since the toy is so exciting and she knows it is coming from your hand, stay a little closer to the mitt for now – she was not quite as good about fully touching it when you were 3 or 4 feet away, so for now stay in the 2 foot range.
The only thing to add here is the ready dance before the send 🙂 This gets her fully into handler focus (with you looking at her, saying ready ready ready… ) and then she has to switch to obstacle (prop) focus on the send. That will help build up that skill and also the dogs find it really fun – making the send even snappier 🙂
Great job!
Tracy
