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Hello and welcome!!! I am excited to have TWO baby whippets in the class!!
Lovely sessions here with the foot targeting – you had really good timing with the clicks and adding the tossed rewards got her really driving back and forth nicely! The value is looking strong for the next steps that we will be adding tonight. You might need to find a reward that she doesn’t need to chew as much LOL!! And it sounds like she was able to tug between the cookie sessions? Terrific!
Did she clack at you at 1:00? LOL!!!! LOVE IT!! HA! Spicy 🙂
Great job here! I am excited to see more!
Tracy
Hello and welcome! Maui sounds so fun, devil horns and all! I like ’em spicy like that LOL!!
>> I was also at that seminar in Colorado Springs. You may remember I had a 3 week old cocker baby that I was tube feeding. The hosting club was very gracious and let me have a spot for him in the break room since it was so cold. 🙂 That seems like a million years ago and these puppies are distant relatives of that one.>>
OMG! I do remember that!!! Wow, seems so long ago!
>>I also have two more litter mates, Carley and Quill, and I will try to keep them following along as well, but Maui will be my focus.>>
You have 3 pups? I like your style! Fun times ahead!!!!!
Tracy
>>I don’t mind victory laps when training by myself but we are doing more advanced classes and I need him back a little quicker. I have been trying two tug game and rewarding with food. Any other suggestions?>>
They throwing the reward then just as he arrives at it – call him, run the other way, and offer a very exciting reward like a treat or cookie 🙂 That can help him drive back pretty immediately.
T
On this last video, you made two terrific adjustments:
-More active tricks, to get him into a higher state of arousal (which can give more focus when working with distractions)
-Using a bag of treats (great minds think alike LOL!!)
He was very successful! So definitely keep the higher action tricks when using food, and the cookie bag instead of naked cookies. And adding the leash should make it all even easier.
Great job on these! Let me know what you think!
TracyThis is volume dial and remote reinforcement with obedience behaviors. I would say he likes his obedience behaviors, but they might not be enough crazy ‘action’ like the tricks 🙂
“Around” near the reward station: very hard! You told him he knows this… but he doesn’t know it with a stool of cookies right there! LOL! For obedience, that is a GREAT little proofing challenge to add because it will help him learn to ignore ‘easier’ distractions like the judge or stewards.
And he definitely has trouble with the cookies on the reward station because he didn’t move away here and ended up eating the cookies. So, using the leash will help cue him to move away, and also having the treats in a bag or container will help too. That way there is still some excitement and distraction, but it is easier than naked treats sitting there 🙂
This is Volume dial with toy – he was clearer that he should move away with you, probably because you were talking to him on the first rep. And possibly because the toy is more stimulating? Or because the food was more interesting than the toy was in this session :). On the 2nd rep of moving away, he was not as certain, maybe because you were quieter.
Since we don’t want your verbals to have to be the cue here, you can definitely add the leash in when you move away because the leash will always be part of the picture at a trial.
I definitely like this setup for the box work! It will help him look forward more and at you less. One adjustment: Carry the remote for the MM rather than have it on your neck, so the timing is better and your hand can be in a more natural position. The timing of the clicks were a little inconsistent here because you had to reach for the remote after he was through the box, or reached for it before sending to the cone and ended up being too soon. So the remote in your hand will allow you to run and click as soon as you see his feet in the box, making it really consistent.
For this behavior, limit each session to 5 reps (about a minute) then give him a break while you look at the video. Then a few minutes later, you can do another 5 reps and either switch sides, or adjust what was happening. Definitely add in starting closer to the cone so he drives ahead of you – your comfort zone is to send to the cone and be parallel to the box, but we need you to be in all sorts of different locations 🙂
Hi!
This is a bit of volume dial tricks before remote reinforcement. The tricks were good! He had no idea that you wanted him to come with you when you walked away. My guess is that it is a combination of lack of context (you put the treats down and walked away, so he was offering an impulse control behavior) and he had a big weekend, so he is probably mentally tired from that.If you see him freeze like that, you can help him by making the context clearer – add a leash! That is an inherent cue to move with you 🙂 and can set up success.
When he was offering behavior and you were moving back to it and talking to him, it was a little less clear so he did a frustration leap. So rather than let him percolate that long, you can help him sooner so he doesn’t go too long without success.
The other thing to consider is that, after a big busy weekend – he needs recovery of a couple of days before you do any training. Sure, he didn’t do a zillion runs over the weekend but being in that environment AND all of the focus and mental energy required for the FEO runs is exhausting. Monday training after a trial weekend is not likely to be as good (even with adult dogs) so it is better to plan decompression and rest 🙂
Good morning! Nice work on these!!!
Great video angle here to show us what she is seeing! When she is going towards the tunnel, you were beautifully connected. When she is exiting the tunnel going towards the next jump, you were looking forward so she was not always sure where to be. So as you move to the line after the tunnel, look back to her. This will help her see where to go and it will help your timing on the next line.
She ran the first sequence really well! The only adjustment I suggest is at 7-8 (after the 2nd tunnel) is to add more connection (like a serpentine, eye contact back to her and upper body a bit rotated towards her) and getting past the 7 jump as early as possible REALLY worked to get a nice turn to 8.
At :08, you were running straight for a few steps too long, so she jumped 7 straight and turned after she landed.
Compare to the next rep:
You got across the jump sooner at :21 so her line was better and she turned before takeoff! Just add a little more connection and it will be perfect!The BC you did at the end there (between the tunnel and the jump) will work well too – I think she has really great tunnel commitment so you can use your “go tunnel” verbals sooner too on the 4-5-6 line so you can go to the blind cross even sooner and without feeling rushed.
Seq 2:
The smaller distances are great for sharpening up timing!
As she exits the tunnel, and as you are setting up for the RC, you can accelerate to get closer to the #4 jump then decelerate to face the RC line, so she sees motion to the RC line and can turn before takeoff.At :33 she thought it was a left turn based on your position and didn’t get the right turn info til she was in the air. Then having to stay there to help her out delayed setting the line to 6 so the bar came down – make sure you are moving more on those straight lines so she doesn’t ask if your decel means collection or not (that is part of why the bar came down).
Compare it to the timing of your rear cross at the end (:51) – you started moving to the rear cross line MUCH earlier, as she was exiting 4, so her turn was lovely and that also set up a nice ending line. Yay!! Super nice!!!
The blind on this sequence will be very effective too, because I think she can be really independent on the 3-4 line allowing you to get up the line for the blind. At :43, the BC started as she was lifting off for 4 and ideally it should start as she is over 3 or landing from 3 (depending on distance, so in this case because it is a smaller distance, it is over 3). That way the BC will be finished before she takes off for 4, which also gives you time for the decel and send into the wrap at 5.
The decel/send to 5 will start pretty immediately as she is landing from 4 on a shorter distance, maybe even while she is in the air over 4. At :45 here, you were starting the verbal wrap cue but continuing to move directly forward with a lot of motion, so she was not sure if she should respond to the verbal or physical cue. She jumped straight over the bar, and then when you moved away for the wrap she tried to adjust (bar down). You marked it with an ‘uh oh’ and stopped… but that is entirely a handler error moment 🙂 so I recommend you don’t mark it and just keep going. When you watch it back in slow motion, you will see that the info was late. I only mark bars and stop the dog when I am 10000000% sure that my cue was really timely and clear… which almost never happens for me. LOL!!
So if a bar goes down, keep going. And if you know what caused it, you can change it on the next rep. If you are not sure, watch the video in slow motion and freeze it when she takes off: that shows you what she is seeing as she is jumping.
Great job here! Let me now what you think!
Tracy
Good morning!!
>>How long ago was it that Matrix chewed out of the crate at that seminar in Colorado? >>
Ha! I think that was about a million years ago? It must have been 2009.
>>Zubie did running dog walks with you through agility-u years ago. Looking forward to the chance to work together again with my new puppy.>>
Me too! Can’t wait to see Venture!!!
>Ven already has some skills but we’ll go back to the basics with each game.>>
Perfect! Some games might seem simple but there is specific underlying theory for why we do it – a combo of agility concept work and also arousal regulation, and confidence and resilience building. I will try to explain the underlying concepts but feel free to ask if it seems like I need more coffee haha!
>>I didn’t video but did a couple of quick sessions for pre-games 1 and 2 and he got them really fast. Venture is teething so I’m not asking him to tug much but he does have tugging skills.>>
Fantastic! And yes, we want to protect the tugging and keep it fun fun fun, so you can stick to super soft toys and limited tugging during teething 🙂
Have fun!
Tracy
