Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Hi!
I am liking this lazy agility plan a whole lot! The two of you are a lot more connected, you can get the handling in, and she is finding jumps a zillion times better. Hooray! It seems less frustrating for you both, and really helps support the cheese industry LOL! So for now, tackle all sequences like this and over time, we will incorporate a little less laziness 🙂 Just keep turning your shoulders to the line you want and see if she finds the jump, then toss a treat. For when you want her to drive ahead on a line, you can place a toy or MM out ahead and drive her to it.>> I am not sure why she zoomed off to the tunnel after the blind. I wonder if she could have been feeling a bit too much pressure.>>
She was correctly reading the info as rear cross cues. This happened at 1:25 and 1:39, because you were on the center of the bar and turning towards the center of the bar (rather than moving away from it) – and that is 100% a rear cross cue, so she is correct to have read it as a rear cross. At 1:40, you also stepped backwards across the rear cross line, really (accidentally :)) solidifying the info as a rear cross. And since she is being well-paid to find lines and not run past things, she was a good girl to continue on the line to the tunnel (her head was up and her ears were oriented towards you and she was taking short strides, meaning she was still paying attention for more info).
Then at 1:44 you called her back to the jump and your cue to it was late, so it looked like a turn away on the flat which presented… you guessed it… the line to the tunnel. She even glanced at you as if saying “are you sure?” but your body language said “yes, tunnel” so off she went LOL! Good girl! At 1:49 you gave a much better cue for the right turn over the jump and she happily took it. And you rewarded. Super! Great job to just keep going, not marking her as being wrong, and rewarding when you got the jump.
And you went on to do good jogging and cookies for the last line, and that is also a good spot for the MM placed out on the line.
>> I don’t think this is on the video, but I did the pattern game and then we heard two big gun shots and she gave no indication of hearing them or any worry at all.>>
This is a huge moment is sports history!!! I remember over the summer that she was very upset by gunshots (I mean, I can relate!) so this is a big win!!!
>>What type of medications are you referring too? I want to be able to give my vet as much information as possible.>>
There are a lot of possibilities, so I can put you in touch with an expert if you like. The experts (Veterinary behaviorists and certified behavior consultants) prefer that we dog trainer types allow them to do more of the supplementation discussion. There is soooo much amazing stuff available!!
>>The book I am reading that talked about the dreaming rats is mainly about octopuses and is called The Soul of the Octopus.>>
Thank you!! I will definitely get it – I love hearing about Octopuses (Octopi? LOL!) because it turns out they are brilliant!!
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyYes, seems like there was drama! That is a bummer but it leaves you more time for agility. And if a no-drama team starts up eventually, it is easy to go back to it 🙂
Have fun!
TracyGood morning!
All of these look great!Remote reinforcement – he did really well moving away from the cookies in the bowl on the first video!
The toy on the 2nd video was harder for him – it was at nose level so he was not as able to leave it on the chair. Rather than block him from it or use a leave it, you can put it on something higher up so it is harder to grab and easier to move away with you 🙂 That will help get more reinforcement into the behavior to make it easier for when the toy is lower or even on the ground.
What is your remote reinforcement marker specifically? It was changing (go get it, let’s get it, get it, let’ sgo when moving away from it, etc) I think you mainly used “let’s get it” later on in each session – it was only at the beginnings of the sessions where you were using some of the different markers, so remember to use the same marker throughout.
Empty hands is looking really good! He was very happy to run the sequences with your hands not holding a toy. YAY! I didn’t see any change in his focus or engagement or speed – still perfect! So, try this game the next time you run a sequence in a new place and see how he does!
End of run video 1 – at the beginning here, he seemed a little confused about why he was on leash and wanted to chew it or tug it. He did really well on the sequence and then we happy to tug the leash. I think he is still a little unsure about going to get it, but the more you practice it, the more he will recognize the cue to go get it as a way to start the game. I think it will be very useful!
End of run video 2 – this was lovely! He got lots of rewards for coming to you, getting the leash put on, and getting cookies and tugs. Perfect! He was happy with it. It seems like such a small detail to work on, but it is so important and he did great!!
The next step for all of these games is to take them on the road – keep playing them in small pieces like you did here, but go to new places and play them to help him understand them everywhere.
Great job!
TracyHi! This was fun to watch – those race tracks are hard, right?!? Makes me laugh too when I do them because they are so much harder than they look LOL!
The success of the lap turns here depends on your footwork. She is driving into the lap turn hand perfectly! And, your feet need to stay relatively together & stationary until you start to move your hand back – that is when your foot can step back too (same side as the hand that is moving). For example, you moved your hand and foo tat pretty much at the same time at :08 and 1:22 – very nice lap turns from her and no questions. It was just right!
When you don’t move the foot at all, she has legit questions. This is what happened at :18, :31 :38 1:14, and 1:39 – the dog-side foot never stepped back which is more of a cue to go to the other side of the wing which is what she was doing (or sometimes she would kind of jump over your leg LOL!!) So definitely remember to move your foot back when you start moving your hand back (which begins as she is arriving at your hand)
On the flip side, being too early can cause her to ask questions – if your dog side foo moves back while she is still several feet away from your hand, that can read as pressure into the line (especially if you lean forward into her) and that can cause her to stop in front of you for a heartbeat (:24) or pushes her to the other side of the wing (like at :46 and 1:32).
So keep working the footwork of keeping your feet together and stationary until your hand starts to move – that should help her get it perfectly!
Nice work here!
TracyHi! These are going well – it is hard for sure, but she is sorting out her slicing and lead changes. I think some of the placed toy reps might have been too hard (she was not sure if she should go directly to the toy or no t:)) so better to hold the toy on this for a few more sessions than it is to place it for now (eventually it will be placed out past the end).
When you are out at the far wing of jump 2, she needs a bit more handling especially when she has to slice to her right – you were doing it as a serp on your left arm and she had more failures than successes (missing jumps, bar down, broken stay) so you can do it as a FC for now (release on your right side and then FC to rotate to your left side). That will help her have the light bulb moment of taking the first jump and after that, you can go back to the serp 🙂
If the next session goes well, you can totally move the first wing of jump 2 closer to the bar, so it is touching it – that adds more challenge with a shorter distance!
Nice work!
TracyHi!
>>But, they do cause alarm on xrays! Ask me how I know. >>
OK, now I need to know LOL!!!>>She is getting the hang of it, but it’s hard
You are correct – it is really hard! I have a ton of empathy for the pups… I mean, I get nervous at the start line and I am an adult (theoretically haha) human who has seen the course map, walked the course, AND taken mental prep classes for all of this crazy stuff. So I imagine that the dogs can get butterflies and arousal shifts too! And in thinking back to all the dogs I have had over the 25 years of dog sports, there has been exactly 1 dog that naturally shifts into the optimized state and always seems perfectly fine in every environment. Only 1, and that is the whippet and he is only 15 months old, so there is still time for real adolescence to kick in LOL!!!!
Keeping mind it is hard and that we have tools to help really makes things go much more easily.
>>It’s a little hard for her to release the toy and there was some definite grass grabbing.>>
A little hard and only some grass grabbing is good! There will still be some arousal behaviors because nothing is black & white, so we are going to watch for a gradual diminishing of those behaviors.
On the sequences: Looks like she was moving into the sit pretty well at the start and you were quick to get started, which is great! You can mix in some instant releases as the arousal comes up later int he session – as soon as her butt is on the ground, you can release and go as a way to keep the sit line up motivating 🙂 And you can do some hodl-collar-and-go reps too, so the sit is not always something she has to think about. We want to keep the sits in a low latency state, so it is fine to NOT as for it (by waiting for it) when there is a high latency possibility.
Seq 1 looked great! The blind was really strong!!!
The Rear cross on rep 2 was good – you don’t have to call her as much (it got too much turn towards you after the tunnel) and you can start moving up the RC line sooner (just as she is exiting, you can be already moving to the center of the bar for the RC). She read it well and found the last jump with no questions.
Rep 3 – yes, the blind was late 🙂 but good turn after it! When you came back to it on the last rep at 2:27, it was earlier but still late because she turned after landing and slipped. Based on her speed and length of stride, you can be more lateral as she exits the tunnel (heading into the gap 4-5) and start the blind when she is over jump 3! That will feel early but will be on time, because your motion will support 4 and that way she can see the blind starting when she lands from 3, so she can adjust before takeoff for 4 for the side change.
Rep 4 – the rear was really good! As she lands from 3, you can decelerate and rotate towards 4-5, so you get a little more collection on 4 to land her facing 5 (the rear cross jump). That can make the RC even easier. Her turn on the RC jump was great!
>>P.S. I need some AU tshirts and ideally a crew neck sweatshirt. I’m not a big hoodie fan. Where do I find the merch?>>
Stay tuned! We have a new vendor that can do all sorts of stuff!!! I hope to get it done after the US Open.
Great job here!
TracyHi!
>>Yes, thinking bout it, this is what I do now. I always shave a food bowl waiting outside the exit gate for some immediate reward and then the celebration when we do get back to the crate
I am sure he won’t be sad about more cookies at his crate, but the cookies right outside the ring will make the most impact in relation to the run.
>>Volume dial – Yes, I’m always thinking about turning down the volume.>>>
Think of it more as centering the volume – just the right amount of volume. Too high is obviously going to create struggles, but so will too low 🙂 Being a bit high on the arousal bell curve is actually an optimal state. Totally counterintuitive but very effective 🙂
>>Friday class – much tighter facility – no room for the routine I described above. >>
What you describer about the difference in facilities is why it is more of a toolbox to pull from, rather than a routine. You are making adjustments and that is great!!
>>Also, crating issues are specific to agility / obedience – he does crate like an angel at home. I think the boy has FOMO issues – he thinks every turn should be his. >>
Yes, I bet he is feeling some barrier frustration, seeing & hearing the game and being in a crate. That is pretty normal so having the door open when Coal works is great, or crating as far from the action as possible is great too!
>>he sound of another dog running a tunnel is a huge trigger for Coal.
Good point! One thing you can do at home is get recordings/videos of agility trials and someone yelling TUNNEL TUNNEL TUNNEL and play them in the background while you do your pattern and volume dial games! Start at a low volume and then over the course of several sessions you can get it nice and loud or even use some flyball videos if you want extra noise LOL!
>>Working on building strength for his jackpot cue – working at home – leaving the food bowl, move about 5 to 10 feet, ask for a simple behavior such as a sit or down – mark with a jackpot cue and then go back to the bowl with him for reward.
Will get started with NFC Part 2 at our classes – no lotus ball, food in my pocket
Also working on end of run put your leash on – shaping his putting his head thru the leash loop.>>All of this sounds really good!!!
>>I assume it’s OK remote reward, NFC Part 2 and leash routine concurrent;y – yes?>>
Absolutely yes! Working all of the pieces separately will make it easier to put it all together.
Sounds like you are totally on the right track! Thanks for the update and keep me posted!
Tracy
Hi!
>>Thanks for the info on using a Cato in UKI. It’s highly rewarding to her so she gravitates to it whenever she sees it.>>
there are all sorts of ways you can use the Cato in practice and UKI, such as getting two of them: start on one, do a short sequence to the 2nd one, reward, do a sequence back to the first one, reward, and so on 🙂
>>I started talking to my imaginary dog when she dropped her head to eat dandelions. She popped right back up.
I must have missed that, I was distracted by the wind just like a dog LOL!!!
>>YES she found my face for real. We had worked on it on it with a couple of jumps the day before. That’s so cool. I will work on it in the ring.>>
yes- that was so cool to see!
>>I’m going to make up a flash card with my game plan on it so I can review my plan before I take her out of her crate.>>
Love it! I like to text things to myself or take a photo of my plan – short and sweet, and memorable!
>>I need to develop something fun for after the run other than inviting her to jump up on me. I have a remote reinforcement word (chips) which means we’re running to a container outside the ring for cookies. In my dreams, she would tug with the leash. In my nightmares, she would grab the leash and play keep away with it. She does not bring things back.>>
Maybe have her run to the leash, then you pick it up, put it on her, then run to the cookies? The leash can be the gateway for the cookies. That is what I was teaching my merle dog in the video, because he was TOTALLY the type who would have grabbed the leash and gone feral with it LOL!!! The video was when he was a teenager (he is 4 now) so I sent quality time teaching him the end of run routine to ward off the possibility of going feral. His end of run game now is running to the leash, I hold it open (it is a martingale), he shoves his head into it, then we run out to cookies. Works nicely and was easy to teach.
Let me now what you think!
Tracy
Hi!
>>You were right on about using higher value treats for the “Get It!” Pattern Game.>>
Terrific! High value treats can be very motivating for her 🙂
>> I juxtaposed our class room “Get It!” with our yard in the following video. There is still a difference.>>
Yes, there was a definite difference. So you can keep going with the super high value treats in the class ring or new locations, and eventually it all evens out. The difference you are seeing is good feedback from her about how she is still a little uncomfortable in the class environment. So, along with the pattern games, keep the class sequences simple, highly reinforcing, and using very motivating food or toys 🙂
>>With the trying to begin a Sequence and C’s taking off, I should have acted sooner in getting a pattern game going, because she wan’t just taking a moment. It seemed to degenerate into comfortable sniffing.>>She was engaged until you reached for her leash. Interesting! That was when she left to sniff. So you can try different ways to get the leash off – I think as part of the pattern game will be most effective: pattern game holding the leash so you don’t have to reach for it on the ground, when she is engaged the take the leash off, more pattern game, then volume dial, then sequence.
>>Am taking Changtse to a trial tomorrow just to be in the trial atmosphere and to practice pattern games, tricks, and Find My Face.
Fun! YEs, try to get video. No need to practice Find My Face, it is context-specific for sequencing. Instead, replace it with some decompression and snuffle mat time!
Have fun and keep me posted!
TracyHi Annalise and Team Prytania!
Yes, she was a little rusty on the tunnel threadle cue, we haven’t worked it in a long time! No worries 🙂
One small detail: if “here” is the verbal for the tunnel threadle, you don’t need to also say “tunnel”. If “tunnel” means ‘go to the tunnel entry in front of you’ then ‘here’ can easily mean “come in and take the other side of the tunnel.
For now, since she didn’t really remember it, the next session can start with the refresher you did here, working on just the tunnel. Then you can do a wing to the tunnel threadle. As you are adding more and more jumps, you can run more info the pinwheel before it, then you can decelerate and turn on the jump before the tunnel to set up the tunnel threadle. That decel and turn will help her collect on the jump, then you can run to the tunnel entry you want her to go into.
I was also doing the decel & turn and using my ‘brake’ arm in the demo to help my dog turn, because he didn’t really remember it either and needed the help LOL!!
The mid course video is also the tunnel threadle video – can you repost the mid course sequences? I am looking forward to seeing them!
Great job here 🙂
TracyGood morning!
>>Pattern games. YESSSS! Very successful. At the trial on grass and dirt and concrete. >>
Terrific! Keep working these games at home and at new places, with high value food, so she has very quick responses and re-engages easily.
>>We’re continuing pattern games but we haven’t done much remote reinforcement. I plan to add that soon. >>
I vote that you start it now! (Do I get a vote? LOL!!). It is the biggest piece of the puzzle for Pizzazz – learning to run agility in new places without food and toys in your hands. This is really important for her, more important than the sequencing work at this point, so move it up the list. Yes, sequencing is more exciting but the remote reinforcement is what bridges the gap from training to trialing.
>>When we worked this week’s courses at Amy’s this evening she did so well with cookies on my person, not in my hands, I hated bring on the remote reinforcement yet.>>
At this stage, the remote reinforcement is entirely separate from agility. We teach it in tiny slices so we don’t get stress behaviors. Stress comes on when we go from all cookies & toys visible or in a pocket while running courses, to suddenly all cookies/toys outside the ring AND in a trial environment. So keep the remote reinforcement totally separate from any sequencing and get it started asap 🙂
>>another trial at the end of December but I have no intention of entering her now. >>
That is a good choice. She is telling us that she is not ready for the trial environment yet so skipping it for now is perfect!
Tracy
Hi! Great job on these – my suggestions are mainly about timing and turn cues because she is super fast 🙂
On the first sequence:
Think about naming some full lines for her, rather than cuing each obstacle when she is on the previous one. For example, as soon as you see her turned over 4 and looking at 5, give her the ‘go tunnel’ cue so that she can drive the full line to it. You wee cuing each obstacle and so as she was over 5, she turned and looked at you for the next info, not hearing it til she landed (:12 and :32). If you cue the entire line, she will drive directly to it without. Head check, which will then allow you to peel away to the blind even sooner.The ideal timing for the blind after the tunnel would be to start it before she even enters the tunnel (when she is about a meter from the entrance) – so picking her up with the connection on the exit is easier 🙂
And to make it all easier, you can handle the entire 4-5-6 line from a lateral position, in line with the center of the tunnel, so you have fewer steps to get to the blind.
The RC at the end was good! It looked like it felt a little awkward because you had to wait for her, so the blind is a better choice in this context.
On sequence 2: she was really flying, so 2 suggestions for you to tighten up the line from 4-5 on the blind:
– you can be more laterally away from the 3 jump, heading to the gap between 4-5 after you cue the tunnel. That way, your line of motion will help draw her to 5 sooner.
– because of her speed – you will likely have to start your blind when you see liftoff for 3 rather than when you see landing. Your timing was starting it at landing and theoretically that is correct, but she is very speedy so try starting it at takeoff for 3 and see if that allows you to get the blind finished sooner, which will tighten the turn up too.
The turn on 5 was great – she did a great job responding to your cue, even after all that extension! Yay!
>>I’m literally just standing there and expecting her to do it, poor girl.>>
Haha yes, that is relatable LOL!! I also forget sometimes that I am handling a 3 year old dog and not a 10 year old dog LOL!
>>We will keep working on doing rear crosses from different angles as that is probably a hole in my training as well.>>
I think setting the turn at 4 will allow you move to the rear cross line sooner to set up the turn. I think a brake arm (outside arm or both arms) pressing downwards and a bit towards her after she lands from 3 and as you turn to 4-5 will help get a collection before takeoff for 4, which will make the RC line even easier for her.
On both the BC and RC reps, she was terrific about driving straight through the box, past the off courses, on the 5-6-7 line!
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
>>She really wants to be right. Repetitions make her slow down & start to be sticky.>
I think ALL dogs want to be right, they just respond differently when they are not sure or not getting it right. Some dogs fling themselves into it and get a little frantic – some dogs slow themselves down and get careful. And yes, repetitions of the same thing can cause the dog to question the behavior (“I did it 3 times, but we are doing it again, is it supposed to be something else?”). So limit yourself to doing it twice, if she gets it right, then move on to something else. And this includes if she gets it right but you do not get it right. She won’t know that doing more reps is about you wanting to change something you are doing, and you will see her start to get concerned about it.
>> That seems like it could be the latency issue or is it her being thoughtful? >>
I think it is just too many reps! As in, “why are we doing this again exactly the same way”. Frame it differently in your mind: you are at an agility seminar, you run a sequence, I give you a reward, and have you do it again with no changes and no real reason for doing it again. And again. And again. You would pretty quickly start to change your behavior and get frustrated – how you change your behavior would depend on who you are an individual. You might slow down and get careful, or you might get frantic and try to go faster, or you might try changing things because you are no longer sure of what is supposed to happen. So, the answer is: if she gets it right twice? Move on to something else, don’t keep repeating the exact same thing.
>>I have always trained tricks by repetitions and the dogs are thrilled to repeat. >>
They might not be thrilled… they might be a bit frantic about it all, and the motivation of the food overrides any potential frustration about the repetition. And Liz says she is not thrilled with it, so we can definitely limit the reps.
>>I need to get past the thought that things need to be repeated ‘X’ times for the dog to learn. >>
This is correct! They do not learn by repetition – they learn by first doing a bit of training, a couple of reps, then the actual learning occurs during sleep! So they are doing stuff in a training session but not really learning it til they sleep on it. Tons of interesting science about it!
>>I also expect the dogs to do everything very quickly. We have talked about this all through Lizzie’s training and I understand now that starting skills slow is good – she is plenty fast enough when she has learned a thing and her brain is still engaged. I really like that now I understand it. But I default to my old thought patterns.>>
You need to set a timer or a number of reps limit, if old habits pop up. 30 seconds on the timer if using a toy, or bring 3 cookies and that is it. Put a post it note on your camera to remind you to limit the reps and let her move at her pace 🙂
Looking at the videos:
The back and forth pattern game looks really good – she was very quick to re-engage. That is what we are looking forth! Same with the up and down game – really strong! You can definitely take this on the road! And yes, doing them in a new location without other dogs present is a perfect middle step.
Looking at the tricks – you might be looking at them as tricks, but she does not look at them the same way here 🙂 Bearing in mind that the volume dial game is a pressure-free dance party, I think you can change what you are asking for here and get different results.
The hand touches out to the side can be a trick, but you would need to change the placement of reward so the game is less stationary and more movement. When she touches one hand, you praise then you can run away a few steps so she chases you, then hand her the next cookie. Remember that this is not intended to be hand touch training, it is a high action trick so movement is important.
The cookies-from-heaven touches to target also would need more movement, and I think she does not like the pressure of you leaning over (more below on that). So while yes, it is a contact training game, I don’t think she perceives it as a trick so you can take it out of the list of tricks. -it is just a behavior, nut not a stimulating action trick so you don’t need to use it as a trick.
Based on her body language, she most definitely does not think of the ‘shake’ cue as a fun action trick. The part of the cue with you bending over/reaching towards her/touching her foot is a lot of pressure – you can see her get sticky, her body gets tense when you reach for her foot, her mouth gets tight, tail stops wagging, and she turns her head away sometimes. She is basically saying “ewww, no thanks” especially when you are doing the right foot where you are lifting it. So, take this out of the tricks toolbox too, as she doesn’t think it is a trick.
You can tweak it to be a wave where she lifts a foot without you bending over or touching her foot and then you can move away to let her move and chase a cookie or toy.
Movement will be key in the volume dial game, so any place you can get her moving to chase you for the reward, you will see her light up like a dance party. And if she gets sticky about any of it, watch the video and look at her body language to see if she is communicating that she is not comfortable with it.
Other moving tricks can be spins (hand/cookie lure is fine for that!), leg weaves, waving, etc.
Looking at Axel’s video:
>>this is Axel who will be in the next puppy class. Is this what decompression looks like? We had been working on wraps for about three minutes, then I introduced a much newer skill. It was too much.>>
Well it is not decompression the way we want to use it – it is a stress response so while it is his body attempting to return to homeostasis, it is because he got overaroused in the training session and doesn’t have the tools to self-regulate (he is a baby puppy, so he is not expected to have those tools yet :))
3 minutes is a long time for a puppy especially if there is movement and pressure, so set a 30 second timer for him and after the 30 seconds, be finished with the session whether you like what happened in the session or not. And then don’t go on to a new skill – let him percolate and sleep on what he just learned. Repetition in his case get the stress/overarousal in the frantic realm, and we don’t want his body learning that zoomies and cone grabbing is how to relieve the stress of it all. He is really young, so it is also possible that the game is too hard (wing-tunnel-wing), so make things easier so he can be more successful for a short session.
On the last video – look at her taking both jumps! YAY!! Super job with the connection and line! Love it!!!
So now you can keep your handling line moving over to 3 and not moving towards the bar of 2 (you can see yourself getting more and more between the uprights of 2 as she is landing from 2. Put a line on the ground on the outer edge of the wing of 2 (between 2 and 3) and keep yourself on the jump 3 side of the line, so you continue to set the line to 3 and not move towards 2.Great job here!! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
>>I have been doing a little herding with her and my instructor mentioned that she is very sensitive to noise (not as in a bad thing but that she really notices) she knows her breeding and her parents (all from Wales) and said that the Welsh specifically breed for noise sensitivity since the collies have to pay attention to the shephard from long distances over rugged ground.>>
This is really interesting! The genetic component of selecting for noise sensitivity can drift over into making it hard to handle the noises of household living or the weird things they encounter in regular life & sport (the Welsh herding BCs are unlikely to live in houses or go places like our sport BCs do :)) so she likely will need extra support to handle that sensitivity in different environments. One thing to consider that has been highly effective is to incorporate meds/supplements into her routine for now, to give her brain more of a ‘blank slate’ platform to be learning how to handle the noises and weird things. See how the other tests pan out and we can go from there!Looking at the sequencing: She did do a lot of nice things! Your motion was pushing her past the jump when you were trying to set up the RC, so be fully facing forward on jumps for now.
>>is it more her teenage brain just not processing things quickly enough. I will try more with the lazy game but my aim or timing seemed off on this.>>
Yes, it could be a processing thing: your motion inspires more motion in her, and motion at a distance (BCs…. LOL!) so we can shift that will less motion from you for now. Have the bulk of the session be the light jogging lazy game. No worries if your aim or timing isn’t perfect – as long as you have 2 handfuls of treats, you are great!
I think the fast running needs to get to the tunnel exit is pushing her past the jump. So for that stuff, live by the 1 failure rule – if you move fast and she misses once, dial it back to you being ahead (sending to the tunnel from further away so you can get into a decent position for the next obstacle). We want her to have over 90% success in taking the jumps, so you will do more walking/jogging than running so she takes jumps more. The rear crosses have a lot of handling pressure that she needs to drive towards, so take them out for now as she is learning to find jumps as you move. You can try them walking and still rewarding for taking jumps (doesn’t matter if she turns the correct direction or not for now, we will just keep rewarding as she is taking the jumps) so there are no more running past the obstacles.
>>you also mentioned decompression in between. Would a snuffle mat be something that you would have her use?>>
Yes – pattern games and snuffle mat before each run, tugging as reward then snuffle mat after each run 🙂
For the volume dial with food – the tricks were very engaging and your body language & voice were very engaging! Yay! And she seemed to ignore the barking dog in the background too. Don’t worry about it looking or feeling clumsy – it is more of a mosh pit game and definitely not ballet LOL!! When using food, you can have her chase your hand for a few steps then give her the treat, rather than feed it to her in a stationary position.
She was definitely more aroused with the toy (note how it too longer to let go of the toy) so you can balance that a bit by trading the toy for a treat). But also use the game of getting her really aroused then doing the lazy game – can she find the jump through the haze of arousal? That will be a very good challenge for her!
Find my face – yep, she liked this one LOL! “All I have to do is look for momma? COOL!” Easy peasy. I think this game will also help her gravitate towards you in handling rather than stay out away and run past things. Note how she was finding the jumps really well when you added the sequence!
So with this in mind, a tweak of the game for Caper:
Do find my face on the flat (no jumps at first) with you run run running back and forth 🙂 That will help her learn to deal with motion and come in tighter to you! And if she can do that – we can add jumps. But get that game going without jumps and then after a few sessions, we can add the jumps. Keep me posted on how she does.
Decompression – she was definitely stimulated with the volume dial and then was easily able to snuffle. Perfect! It doesn’t look like much in these practice sessions, but it has helpful long term ramifications that will help her out!
>>Is this practice designed to help them understand how to bring themselves back to a calmer frame of mind after being very aroused?>>
It is not a frame of mind in terms of thoughtfulness or engagement, it is change in physiological state of returning to baseline with body chemistry. It is not operant but it will change what is happening ‘under the hood’, which is course can change how they respond operantly.
>>You mentioned that you would give me some ideas on novel places to practice the just like home games and if you have a chance I would love to hear them.>>
Any place where dogs are allowed is good! You can bring a jump and play the pattern games, volume dial, a bit of ‘find the jump’ (maybe embedded into the find my face game or lazy game) then decompression. Rehearsing in different places will help! And also, every time you go someplace new or use the games around agility (even at home), you are pairing these games with arousal – so be sure to neutralize the games by playing them at home with zero arousal associations. The neutralizations are part of what keeps them effective. If we only play them in highly arousing scenarios, then just starting the games will immediately bring the dog up to the overarousal state.
>>Finally, I am reading a cool book about animal minds and they talk about how by looking at areas of the brain that light up in sleeping rats that have been taught to go through mazes, they see that the brain activity patterns when dreaming match the patterns when they were doing the maze. In effect they think they are practicing the mazes in their sleep – Maybe this is how latent learning happens.>>
Yes, such cool stuff! What book is it? I would love to read it! And what they are describing with the rats (who are brilliant creatures) is what we know about sleep consolidating learning. So basically you can ‘teach’ something to the dog, but they have not learned it until they get a good sleep on it. The rehearsal they see in the sleep states is probably the brain cementing the new neural pathways. SO COOL!!! So yes, definitely let her get great sleep between training 🙂
Tracy
