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Good morning!
She did a great job with the focus forward and driving ahead! I don’t think she had any questions and she is definitely ready for you to add more and more of your speed like you started doing at the end. She has a good retrieve too!! Nice!!
One thing I noticed is that she seems to be a lefty – even with starting on your left side, which should theoretically cue her to turn to her right towards you, she was mostly turning away to her left. This is GREAT to know, it is very helpful to know their natural turning side preference!
So on the reps of this game when she is in your right side to start, she should turn left, no problem. This is the side (starting on your right) where you can begin adding in all of the speed and distance.
When she is on your left, we want her to turn to her right – so break that side down a bit for now so she is not as far ahead or feeling as much pressure from the motion. When you throw the toy, throw it further out to the side, away from you, so she almost triangulates to get to it. That opens up the peripheral vision so she can see you off to the side better and is more likely to turn to the right towards you.
Now, if she turns left, still reward as if she was perfect (because she was). And on the next rep, start even closer and with less motion. Let me know how she does with turning to the right! Many of mine pups have VERY strong side preferences at this age, which is great to know and easy to balance out 🙂
Nice work here!!
TracyGood morning!
I literally gasped when she came on the video – so cute, so tiny! And she is so smart too!! This was her first time shaping?!?!?! Impressive! Yay!
She was perfect with her nose touches! Very strong session: you had great timing, high value rewards, and she had a ton of success! For now, sitting on the Climb was perfect because it kept you nice and low for her current size.
For the next session, you can switch to tossing the reward away with your ‘get it’ marker (I think you say “search” for this) after she hits, so she can then come running back to the target. No rush on the next session though, we don’t use this game for a couple of weeks 🙂
On the 2nd video: she was great! You did a lovely job of splitting things to so that she got reinforcement for tiny bits of the behavior, and using placement of the treat to really emphasize the prop target. Lots of success! By the end, she seemed to know that it was something about the prop to interact with – but she was leaning toward stopping and looking at it rather than foot tapping it. So, 2 ideas for you:
– you can raise it up, put it on something (like a book or something, we only need it to be maybe an inch higher). That way she can step up onto it with a front foot. That can help her realize “aha! It is a FOOT thing”. When she realizes that, you can remove the book from under it. My guess is it won’t take more than another few reps to get that going.
– you can create a little loopy chain to get her feet on it: toss a ‘search’ cookie to the side. Then as she is heading back to the prop, before she stops moving, put a cookie on the prop, kind of on the other side of it so she gets her feet on it to eat the cookie. Then after she eats it and has feet on it, feed her again with her foot/feet on it and her head up (to help emphasize the whole “be on the thing” idea :)). Then toss a search treat to start the process again. When she is getting on it, we can fade the cookie that is on the prop, then we fade the cookie fed with her head up. But no rush on that, she is a tiny baby dog 🙂
Let me know if that makes sense! You have excellent mechanics so I know you can nail my crazy pre-coffee ideas 🙂
Feel free to add in toy play breaks to the shaping sessions! That will keep the arousal higher and gives her brain a break in between reps. If she is not ready to go back and forth between food and toys, no worries, you can break off the shaking and move to a different room and throw the toy around a bit 🙂
Great job!!
TracyGood morning!
>>Very sorry that my camera was in auto zoom mode>>
it made for very dramatic cinematography! LOL!!!! No worries, we could see the important parts 🙂
This session went really well! You were really good about keeping your feet and line of motion pretty much the same on all reps, letting the upper body and verbal show her the different cues. Yay!
On the go reps, you can soften the connection more but not having your arm as far back, especially on your right side ( keep doing it more like what you did at :59 when you were just running :)) That will also make the get out look really different – the opposite arm was in a good position on these! She had a couple of questions on your right side, mainly because your right arm was so far back so it was causing your feet to rotate more than needed. The dog-side arm on the get outs can just relax at your side (hard to think about all the mechanics on this game!!)
She is definitely ready for the advanced level of this game where you add the crosses 🙂
Great job! Have fun with the advanced level!!
TracyHi! No worries – I could see from your facebook posts that April was crazy for you! And a training break is always good for adolescent dogs – I haven’t done formal training with my 9 month old puppy recently either! Between work and life and being a little lazy, Ramen has had a break 🙂 And it gives the pups time to mature, which is also great 🙂
>> I can get a pool noodle but he tends to think they are great toys and will run off with them. 🤣 So I may need something he can’t carry.>>
I put the jump bar inside the poodle noodle to prevent carrying LOL!!! Or you can do a bit of 4 inch PVC pipe, cut in half lengthwise so it is 2 inches high.
>>I’m looking over some of the lessons to see what we can do>>
Look for anything silly an fun to get back in the groove: I vote for the smiley face game! So fun! And then the Diamond. And the Wind In Your Hair games for the Go and the Mission Transition elements. That will get you both back in the saddle 🙂
Have fun!
TracyGood morning!
>>One is that I tend to do my cues really fast like the tandem turn flipping my hands. I am glad for the reminder and just need to try to relax and take more time. When Caper goes fast, I start thinking I have to react faster.>>
One thing that really helps is to think of it as a step by step process, and her behavior will give you permission to go to the next step. So for the tandem turn, for example:
You show the hands – then wait til you see her responding and arriving at your hands. When she does that, it is your cue to turn her head away with your hands. Just think of it as turning her head away – then when she turns her head away, it is your cue to show her the obstacle. Kind of like a tennis match! You serve, she returns, and so on.>>I also completely am in with the reward even if wrong or you think you are wrong or think the dog might be wrong and then somehow in the course of things I don’t do that. Not sure where my brain goes on that but again thanks for reminder.>>
I think it is muscle memory and focus on task overriding the concept of reward even if there was an error, which is much newer for all of our brains and bodies 🙂
>>I hope this is what you wanted regarding no editing. I am not very efficient with my time so not many reps which I actually think is probably better for both of us. Today was beautiful outside and every time I headed for the gate to go play a game Caper would run to the gate and start whining until I got there. Let me know if you want me to continue to do ~2 minute unedited videos. It certainly makes getting them up and posted easier.>>
Yes! The unedited videos are great! I think these videos/sessions were mostly on different days? That is great because we don’t want to train a lot of different concepts on one day – so doing maybe 2 games per day can work out nicely.
Get out video: This is going well! You can pay more attention to the line on the ground (maybe move it closer, or put a leash on the ground as the visual aid for you) so you don’t migrate to the jump on the get outs 🙂 Your line on those and your line on the go reps should be the same 🙂 And yes, thanks to Brad for suggesting you cleanse the palate LOL! and for being the timer as well.
Getting the toy back made things a little harder in terms of starting the next rep: will she trade for a cookie when she brings it back? That can help keep things moving along in the session 🙂
The rocking horse threadles are going well! The rhythm of the cues looked good! They look especially good when your hands are very obvious when she is moving fast, like at :39 when you seemed to be reaching your hands back to her. Try not to hide your hands in front of you 🙂
Lap turns – this went well too! At the beginning, you are too early in your movement on the first couple of reps, moving before she arrived at the 2-inches-away-from-the-hand position. After that, you got into the groove of better timing (being later) and she did really well on both sides! Yay!
On the jump grids – video taping from the side (not from the front) will give us a fuller view of what her mechanics look like. I like to play it in slow motion to obsess on movement 🙂 She looks good here but it is hard to see all of the feet at the same time 🙂 It looks like she had a very organized takeoff and was balance and powerful over the other jumps! You can flatten out the angles of the jump by another inch or two 🙂
The zig zags looked good too – and it looks like you were trading the toy for a cookie, which made things smoother in terms of starting the next rep. And great job moving back towards the 3rd wing more gradually. She did really well here! Note the little decompression moment she needed from about 1:54 to 2:10. You were great about letting go of the toy and giving her 10 seconds to ‘take a moment’. Then she brought the toy over and said “I am ready for the next one!” And the next rep (last rep) looked really terrific! Yay! So you can keep gradually moving back on these, revisiting it here and there.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
I am glad she liked 8 inches! I figured she would 🙂 try 10 inches next time!
Either I had waaaaay too much coffee (always a possibility) or YouTube is being insane or the first 15 seconds of the video is a strobe overlay of some sort! Things were clear at 16 seconds and after – she did well with the lap turn! There was only one rep, so only one suggestion: shift your gaze, moving it from her eyes downwards to your lap turn hand. That will get her driving very directly to it, making your timing much easier.
Nice work! Let me know if there is a clearer video of the first 16 seconds LOL!
Tracy
Good morning!
Great job lowering the toy to the ground with lots of reinforcement for holding the sit! Very nice! He did well with the stay element and that helped him be successful as you added your movement on the flat. You were able to get further and further away, as well as start releasing AFTER the toy was dragging. Super!
To make it easier as you add the jump, start him closer so you don’t have to lead out as far – and then get the toy on the ground and dragging before you release him. You were releasing him then dropping the toy as more of a reward, but for the jump grid purposes we want the toy on the ground and moving before the release as a focal point (like you were doing on the flat).He is definitely ready to see the moving target game added to the set point!
Smiley face is looking good too! The pattern game at th every beginning was great to help him be ready to focus. One detail: make sure you connect very clearly wen he eixts the tunnel, with your dog-side arm back so he can see the connection. You were looking forward a bit and arm pointing forward, so he was not sure where to be. When he is not sure, he jumps up a bit or reaches for the toy (both valid answers from him LOL!!) So adding the connection will help, and stuffing the toy in your pocket so your hands are empty will help too! We don’t need precision rewards for this game, so you can reward a little later on these 🙂
The 2nd video here was also included in the first video 🙂
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>>I think it was before we started??? I let her off leash first and then went into turn. Didn’t work lol!>
Yes – I like puppies to come off leash after I have their attention 🙂
It is also a great routine to establish – get attention, leash off, reward more attention, don’t leave the momma 🙂>>I may need to do a sniff and explore the new areas first on leash and then put her up in crate for her “real” turn. She really likes to sniff and check out new places!>>
This is where the pattern game can be SUPER useful! It is not always possible to do sniff walks in new places, so it is great to teach the pup to assess the new environment with that resilience pattern game from MaxPup 1! I use to with all of my dogs to bring them into new places with focus and engagement – they get to check out the environment, sniff, and offer engagement.
>>I think another “key” is to keep the sessions super, super short. I rewatched my videos and at around the 2 min to 2 min 30 sec mark she was more likely to disengage.I had the sessions just over 3 minutes. I have to remember that the tugging time counts also!
Yes! Timer at 2 minutes – then be done! Especially in the heat, because she is doing a lot of running and will wear down fast as it gets hotter for now.
>>She is “slower” to warm up. Typically takes a good minute to get her tugging very well!
The pattern game will help this too: when she is engaged and not feeling the need to assess the environment, the tugging will be easy and immediate.
>>She is not a fan of the heat at all!
Totally relatable! Plus she has never had to ‘work’ outside in heat, so it will take a while to acclimate.
>>I do have a timer!!! I need the timer lol!! I will put it to use! We will figure out her exact “recipe for success” just like promise😊.>>
Totally! The timer will help but also before you try to train, work the pattern game in the new environment and let me know how she does 🙂
Tracy
Good morning!
>>>>And you can also try to see if he likes toys!
He doesn’t really like them very much in this context, but is a supreme cuddler, which I why I thought that would make a great alternative, but you are right he didn’t seem to like that and he gave me valuable information on that point so I switched things up today.>>Part of the reason we start with these simple games it to get that feedback from the pups, Thanks, Reacher! Noted! LOL!! It was worth a try to see if he likes the cuddling during training and he said “no thanks, it is ALL BUSINESS here” 🙂
And you can build up toy love separately from training – just tossing toys around and generally playing but not having him “earn” them or anything 🙂
>>I did get inspiration for a “toy” he might like and I think I might have hit on something… Turns out he really likes my sweaty weight-lifting glove!! Ew, but whatever works! >>
Yay! But ewwwww. But also YAY! haha!!!
Looking at the videos:
Prop shaping – nice session! The glove was a winner! When you are breaking off to play, move him away from the pool of scent from the treats but running to the other side of the room and throwing the glove around. You can also use other non-toy items such as big old socks, the cardboard from inside paper towel rolls, anything he likes 🙂
This is a great size prop! Remember that we only want foot touches – you might have been looking for both front feet, but he was convinced it was a bow or a down LOL!I think rewarding sooner will help (he started offering the down/bow when he hit the prop but you didn’t reward) and also standing up will help (because it will be inefficient to lie down or bow when the cookies are coming from much higher up.
The target-in-hand game looked great! He is hitting it nicely! This game can go on the back burner now,until we need it in a few weeks. And the ending of the session looked good too – a couple of treats then off you go LOL!
Looking at the drivnig forward video:
>>Again I used the “very used” weight lifting glove and he seemed motivated by that.
Yes! I wonder if he will still like it is you tie it to a light leash or something so you can drag it for him to chase? And have you tried one of those flirt pole type toys? He might like the glove tied to a flirt pole, something similar to this:
https://www.cleanrun.com/product/chase_n_pull_dog_toys/index.cfm
Also, does he like balls? Just trying to figure out what he might like 🙂
>>I realize this session was a little long so will set a timer next time, but I wanted to show the complete session.
I think the session length was great! 2.5 minutes as a full session including the before and after? Great! And plus the dog gives feedback: if he had lost interest, then it was definitely too long. But he seemed fully engaged all the way through, and did the entire session for a ‘toy’ LOL! Yay!
His focus forward looked terrific too! You can add more distance and also add more motion from you (walking forward as soon as you let him go). Having him wear a collar will really help as you start to be upright and adding motion.
Great job on these! Let me know what you think!
TracyWelcome and OMG a BC/Frenchie! SO CUTE!!!! How big is she? I am looking forward to hearing more and maybe meeting her someday since you are in NC now, right?
Tracy
Hi!
>>I think I went a little too long during this session. I did have toy play sessions but edited them out. I probably should start setting a timer. >
I am a big fan setting a timer and doing the session, then not even bothering to edit it – just post it all up LOL! Those in-between moments are just as important as the skills moments 🙂
But I don’t think you went too long here! She had a few questions, mainly because she couldn’t quite pick the target out of the other visual sensory input.
We can help her “see” the nose target by changing how you present it, to help her drive right to it. A couple of ideas for you:
Good job moving the bowl of treats away, it was too hard for her to ignore it in favor of seeing the nose target when the treat bowl was in front of you. BIG yummy treat bowl versus tiny target… treat bowl won LOL!
When you want her to touch the target, put it in your flat open palm, hold your hand fully extended out away from you, locking your elbow (she can see you extending your arm) and this is the important part: as you extend your arm away, also let her see you shift your gaze to look at the target. Don’t look at her, look at the target.
By moving the target away from you, it takes out the other visual stimuli and she can really see it. And plus, when we look at it like it is fascinating 🙂 the dogs also look at it and often move to it (it is a non-operant form of learning called enhancement). And then you can get your click/treat going. And as she runs to get the treat in the next session, bring your arm in close, hide the target… then after she eats the treat, you can extend your arm and look at the target again,
That will get things rolling, and then it will be easier to leave the target hand out to the side, and she will keep hitting it.
Great job on these! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
She did really well here!!! Yay!! What a fun puppy – smart and drivey!! I am especially excited that she can do from toy to food to toy so nicely!!One tweak to the shaping session: start with play like you did, transition to food like you did… but keep the prop hidden til you are ready to begin the shaping part. Then when you are totally ready, with the cookies and clicker and you are situated where you want to be: then put the prop in. That will really highlight it for her, so you will get immediate interaction and less looking at you 🙂 If the prop is out there the whole time, it fades into the background for her 🙂
For the next session, try this with you standing up! That will lead us nicely into the first official game with the prop 🙂
Great job!
Tracy
