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Hi!
He read 1-2 really well on most of the reps! At 1:40 it was hard to see if he was in a line up spot that was off the line or you pushed to it too much (or both 🙂 ) so he missed it but the rest was good!The send to 3 depends on what your next cue would be. When you went closer to the 3 jump at :54, he had a better line and that sets up the rear cross really well. To get the BC, though, you would need to send from much further away so you can takeoff to do the BC between 4 and 5.
On the RCs, you can put more pressure on the line to get a better turn to the tunnel: you were running straight for a few steps then adding the RC pressure, so he was turning to his right first before turning left.
For the blind – sending to 3 from far away (as soon as he lands from 2) then taking off for the line 4-5 should get it! Doing the blind on takeoff side of 4 totally supported the off course at 1:58 – that is totally rewardable with the toy 🙂
You can do a BC between 3 and 4 but it would have to be finished before takeoff for 3 and it doesn’t set a good line to 5, so it works better on the landing side of 4.
Great job here!
TracyHi!
This also went really nicely!!!
The best reps on jump 1 were when you set him up on more of a slice facing jump 2 (like on the 2nd run) so he had a better angle and a more direct line rather than turning after he landed.
The 3-4-5 line looked really good each time!
Be sure to cue the turn on the exit of the tunnel before he goes into it. In this context all he needs is a soft name call to tighten up the turn on the exit.
The only tricky part here was the 7 jump. The bar came down at 1:50, due to a late turn (you were facing straight til after he was in the air so he tried to adjust and hit the bar). At 3:24 you were too early, disconnecting a bit early so he came off the jump. If that happens you ca just keep going. The last rep looked really good, it was a nice balance of timing and connection!
Great job here!
TracyHi!
This is going really well too, especially because he has a strong stay. Keep rewarding it so he doesn’t release when you reconnect. When you get to your lead out spot, always reconnect, then praise.. then either reward or release so the release/reward is not simultaneous with the reconnection.For this type of lead out, you will want to be positionally further across the bar at 2. I like to stand on the line I want him to take to set up the best turn (because of course when he lands, you won’t be there anymore LOL!!)
That will set up a better turn over 2 – at :41 and 2:25, based on your position he thought you wanted a straight line over 2. He turned after landing, but that didn’t give him quite enough time to set up the tight turn at 3. So better position at 2 (more in the center of the bar) will get a better turn, so when he lands from 2 you can start the decel to get the tight turn for 3 🙂The ending line looked great! He is very committed and very fast!!!!!
Tracy
Hi!
Great job adjusting the handling to show him the lines! One thing to keep in mind is that when you are running sequences, his response is a reflection of the info you are giving. So if he ends up somewhere unexpected? Just keep going, get on the next line, then reward. That will be less frustrating for him than stopping or being marked as wrong, because he is not wrong 🙂
On this first sequence, you did really well with making the adjustments to show the line such as calling him less out of the tunnel, and connecting more to show him 3… then you got earlier and earlier on the FC, added the turn verbal and it was great!!
The 4-5 line was tricky here – the natural line as to the backside of 5 so you had to decel and get the turn. That is a good place to keep going – if he ends up on the backside of 5, note it in your brain but keep going and fix it on the next rep.
One other thought: you can praise him less as you run (praise is not informational and he has plenty of motivation so doesn’t need the help). Give more directionals and obstacle names : )
Great job!
TracyThe up and down game is looking good here – nice quick response from him in terms of re-engagement. You were getting eye contact here before putting the next treat down – that is fine for an easy environment like this, but if the environment is harder he might not be able to offer eye contact. And that is also fine – you can place the next treat down for any type of re-engagement and looking towards you, even if it does not have eye contact involved.
Next step is the leash on for this game too.
And the step after that for all of the pattern games is to add a novel thing in the environment. Nothing scary, just a new random thing. That will teach him the pattern game framework to assess the environment and return engagement to you!
T
Aha! Back and forth with a leash on. Perfect! It seems strange to train with a leash in a comfy environment, but it gets you and him ready for doing this on leash in trial environments (where he will be on leash outside the ring).
He did a great job here too, both with the leash on and the quickness to re-engage. Yay!! I will give you the next steps if I don’t see them in the other videos LOL!!Tracy
Nice job here with the back and forth pattern game! He was very quick to re-engage, so he is clearly very comfy in this environment. Super!
The next steps are to add a leash and to start moving – you might have this in the videos below.Great job!
TracyHi!
He did really well here with the volume dial game! The spins are a great trick for this. For the sits and downs, be sure to release him from the position (so he doesn’t release on praise) and it is also fine to use a small physical cue: when he is in the higher arousal state, it is harder for him to differentiate verbals so you can totally use a hand signal to help him get the sit or down.Next steps are to add a leash (because you will be doing this with a leash on :)) and to try it in different locations to see how he responds.
Great job!
TracyHi! Super strong session here!! She is so fast and fun and bendy and ALL IN for everything here. Love it! And I agree – a definitely difference between the right turns and the left turns: super tight on the left turns, the tunnel was more in play, and on the right turns she was in more extension and never looked at the tunnel.
So for the right turns – you can isolate the commitment to the jump a bit more, so she always finds it even when you say GO or when you move a lot.
There are two ways to do this and you can do both!
– you can make a jump a double-wide by having 2 jump bars or jumps bumps next to each other, so the distance between the wings is 8 or 10 feet and not 4 or 5 feet. That is a much bigger visual to pop out during all the excitement 🙂 If you use 2 bars, one end of each bar will be in the jump cups and the other end will be on the ground, so there is a bit of a V shape to the picture she sees. I have used the double-wide concept a lot in agility and flyball and it really helps the dogs find the jump and is also really easy to fade.
– the other thing you can do is click the moment she reaches the bar. Yes, a third arm might be necessary LOL! But you can have the clicker in whichever hand is easier for you even if it means the toy throw is a little delayed. So as soon as she is arriving at the bar or you see her front feet liftoff, click and then throw the reward. That click will really stand out in the environment and should help her lock onto the jump, even when you are running. You won’t need to click for more than a session or two, but it might be very useful info for her!
On the left turns, leaving both ends of the tunnel down for a session or two should do the trick 🙂 You might get a lot of extension when that happens and zipping past the jump like she did sometimes on the right turns, but no worries, we can also do the double-wide and the clicks on that side too 🙂
Great job here!
TracyGood morning! Great seeing you in class last night 🙂
>>So, weird, here Winter is our best season for training and trialing. 🤪>>
I know! That is why I feel the need to come up with a winter class rather than skip the winter LOL!!! Stay tuned…
>>Do you think I will have enough space to do Pup 3?
Yes, it needs more space but not a lot of space.
>>Today we had an excellent private with Amy Mescher.
Thank you for the update! I am so excited to hear that things went really well, especially the part about the sudden appearance of the yard guys. Puppies are not robots so of course she noticed them… but the wagging tail and relaxed demeanor is lovely! And thank you to Paris for the social learning cues to Mochi. I love social learning!
>>So, in other news. Amy has kindly agreed to trying semi-privates with my Friend and her Corgi and Me and Mochi. And we will take turns working our pups while the other is resting/learning to be calm while watching another dog work on their mat.>
This is fantastic! And you can also start to play side-by-side games where they are both working at the same time, and eventually both off leash working at the same time. Fun times ahead!!
Tracy
Good morning! He is doing well here!!
Looking at the Find the Jump clip:
Yes, he had a couple of questions but nothing major or concerning. He found the jump each time! Yay!
On the first couple of reps, I think you had some decel that he could see and hear as he was entering the tunnel so he exited looking at you. And you said “YES!” on some of the reps when he was in the tunnel, so he exited looking at you because “yes” often means “COOKIES!” LOL!!!And then yes when you were pretty far away it was harder for him to see the connection so he had a little look at you to confirm the cue. You can exaggerate it more by pointing back to him a little but overall I think he just needs the experience of seeing lateral distance. You can be telling him GO GO GO before he enters the tunnel so he accelerates out of it on the straight line.
The diamond is looking good, even with a few extra spins thrown in LOL!! In general, the blinds look good, he is very speedy and tight on his turns, so you can definitely add more to this!
Serps – This is good feedback from him about how he reads positional cues!! The threadle positional cue is before the first wing of the jump (between the start wing and the jump) and the serp positional cue is more center of the bar of the jump on the landing side.
I think you were trying to close your shoulder and open it back up for the serp… so it read as a threadle on the first rep. Note how you re-connected and opened the arm up as you were approaching the jump and that is the positional cue for the threadle slice. GOOD BOY!!!
So try to send to the wing from a lot further away (ideally you are at the wing of the jump when you send him to the start wing) so that you can be showing the positional cue for the serp when he exits the wing. That positional cue is more on the center of the bar.
Rear crosses:
>.On this on I felt I was doing too much of the an ‘L’ move, cutting in behind him at the last second, on most of the reps.>>
Yes, on the first several reps, you were definitely doing a bit too much of the L shaped line. But click/treat for you for adjusting it and the last few reps were really good! The good news is that he is reading the RC pressure in both directions. So to get onto the RC line sooner and not end up with the L, start right next to the wrap wing, and don’t move til he is finishing his wrap… then run directly to the center of the bar. You can put a line on the ground to keep you honest LOL!!! That way the cue will look different sooner, and won’t get confused with the wraps that we added last night.
There are now 4 handling moves to do with this setup:
Go, rear cross, backside circle wrap, front cross wrap. After a session of the FC wraps, if that goes well, you can try to do all of the different cues in one session to get feedback from him about how clear the cues are.Great job here!!
TracyGood morning!
>>As far as one of the other dogs being good role models they both are although Reilly can show some sensitivity to some noises. Jackson is pretty solid about everything.>>
Ok then, Jackson gets to be the stable pony (he will get paid in cookies LOL!!). Plus he is very experienced in new environments and I think that will model really nicely for her!
Looking at the sequences:
She is a good honest girlie! I loved this session! Excellent feedback from the dog 🙂
One thing for her (and all dogs in sequencing) – if something goes wrong, just keep going was if it was correct. If you stop and send her back to a jump, the implication there is that she was incorrect when, in fact she was reading you really well. And that can be confusing/frustrating: “I did exactly what the cue said, why are we stopping?”
With that in mind, she was not taking 3 at :04 and :14 because your cues specifically told her not to 🙂 Yes, you said jump but there were all sorts of other jumps out there too 🙂 When she was exiting the #2 tunnel, you were a little disconnected, running towards 4, and starting the FC before she really looked at 3. So she figured the FC was for the tunnel exit and she should skip 3, based on the body language. Super good girl!
Since she didn’t take it, you can totally complete the FC, cue 4, then reward – then figure out what went wrong 🙂
To get her to take 3:
I suggest a GO cue before she goes into the tunnel so she exits looking straight. When you get quiet, she exits looking for you.
Then as she is exiting the tunnel, make a direct connection to her eyes and move forward towards 3 (you will be ahead, but move on a parallel line to it). Maintain this connection and cue until you see her turn her head and look at 3… then you can start your FC. You were too early here (starting while she was looking at you and before she looked at 3, because you were not cuing 3) which is why she didn’t take 3. She is s super responsive lady!>>I am not sure why I couldn’t cue #5 for her.
I think that the way this was built, the line from 4 was a direct line to the backside of 5, as she mentioned to you during the session :). So you would need a soft turn cue before she took off for 4, so she could land facing 5. I think it was just a little tight in the course build, so you can spread it out and move 5 onto a more natural line for her, but I would still give her a turn cue for 4 (after she lands at 3).
Which turn cue to give? Probably just her name. When she lands from 3, you are moving along the line 4-5, and call her name softly once or twice – and see how that turns her before the takeoff for 4. If it is not enough, we can add a ‘brake’ arm too and that should be perfect.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
These look fabulous! Low latency, good timing from you, and she was happy to engage with the food. SUPER!
>>I wasn’t sure how we would go with these as Sonnet isn’t food motivated at all. I’ve worked on this since she was a puppy as I like to be able to use food as well as toys but it’s been a long hard slog at times.>>
You’ve done a GREAT job because I would not have guessed that it was a struggle based on this video. She was happy to eat! With that in mind, it is entirely possible that she will not take food in more arousing environments, but I have ideas for you for that!
The reason we want her to take food in these pattern games is not necessarily as a reinforcement or motivator in the operant sense, but more so we can easily get the pattern going in a state of arousal that is more optimized for waiting her turn or ignoring other dogs. The patterns with food are far easier for seeing the re-engagement and self-regulation. Also, the pattern game allows her the outlet of movement, which I am sure she appreciates and needs in arousal situations. Also, food is easy and fast to use in small spaces 🙂 and theoretically has a ‘calming’ effect on the dog.
So, if we think of food more as a behavior and less as a reinforcement or motivator, then we can insert a toy into your pattern to help her eat the food any time, any place 🙂 You can do it like this:
toss a treat – she eats it then re-engages – you give her a tug moment with a toy in your hand – then toss a treat in the other direction – she eats it then re-engages – you give her a tug moment with the toy in your hand. And so on 🙂 Part of the re-engagement is eating the treat.That will add higher arousal of course (which is INCREDIBLY useful when we consider the importance of state dependent memory) and should make eating food more exciting & motivating. Plus, you can be more stationary with the food and won’t have to run at all. And should make it easier to take patterns into harder environments.
As will all of the pattern games, do this a bunch at home first so she is totally used to it before adding challenge.
>> I have to pick my times to be able to use food.
The goal is to use it any time, any where – and we can figure out how to get that. BCs are a puzzle with food sometimes, but it is a puzzle I like to solve LOL!
>>I also had a pretty big distraction without realising at the time. A toy belonging to one of my other dogs was on a shelf just out of picture and I had no idea. She obviously did though, as soon as we finished she went racing up to the shelf and tried to grab it so pretty happy she managed to work through that for the food as I don’t think she even looked towards the shelf at all.>>
That is hilarious! Good girl!! She did NOT look at the shelf at all. Yay! And I thought the sounds on the video were distracting but not for her, she is used to them.
As far as progressing:
– try the food -toy version of the pattern games described above. If that goes well for a short session or two, we will add in the novel distractions 🙂
– how is the volume dial game going? It sounds like she goes into a higher state of arousal in agility, so we are going to teach her how to self-regulate and we are going to figure out how to help her 🙂Great job!
Tracy
