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Good morning! It looks like she is really fun to run on these sequences. So fast! And she also can turn really well!
Looking at the blinds:
The key that you worked out was to keep moving the whole time. At the beginning, you were stopping a bit to cue the wing then driving forward into the blind. That causes a reverse transition (slow then fast) which cued extension so she was wider into the turn.As you kept moving more and more, the commitment to the wing and you timing of the blind got better and better, and that allowed you to get the turns looking really good!
>I tried to be closer to the wing where I was doing the blind so my position would help commit her to it and my motion away would be more obvious and help her turn and I think the turns got better after that in both directions.>
Exactly! Motion and position cue the wing, so you don’t need to step to it or use an arm cue.
>Something I always seem to have an issue with with young dogs, never knowing if they are going to hold commitment so I can blind early enough.>
That is definitely the hardest part of young dogs!! They are still learning so things can be unpredictable.
As you handle, use big connection and a line of motion indicating what you want (like you did with the blinds). Think of it as use the cues then assume commitment rather than wait to see commitment or do big steps/sends, because that either makes us late turns our shoulders away from the line and pulls them off the line.
You were basically assuming commitment at 1:02 and 1:13 by cueing the wing as she exited the tunnel and then doing the blind. On those 2 reps, the blind was finishing a she got to the wing which was great! You did the same at 1:52 and that was a lovely rep too. There were other lovely reps but those 3 are my favorites 🙂
When you added that into the bigger sequences, the run at 2:12 – 2:19 was particularly nice, a real glimpse into the future of how fast and fun she will be on course!!!!
>I really struggled at the end with just the race track part with getting her to actually commit to the things.>
The race tracks are actually a lot harder than they look – so much more distance and the dogs are young enough that they can’t really help us out LOL!!
> I left in a bit in the second session of me practicing the sequences, just to prove I did it, though I have no idea what I was doing with my arm on one of them (adjusting my shirt?)>
The walk throughs looked good! I think that arm moment was just a bit of centrifugal force grabbing your arm and flinging it upwards or something LOL!!! No worries at all 🙂
> Don’t know if she was just hot and tired or if it was a connection error, but I felt like I had to babysit her the whole way around and escort her from wing to wing. >
It was connection. When you were running with low arms and moving along the line with big connection? She was perfection. For example, from 2:36 – 2:39 the handling was all connection and no arms pointing to the wings, and she had no questions.
When she did have questions and went past wings like at 2:40, 2:52, 3:02 – that was when you were pointing at the wing with your arms. The arm coming up turns your shoulders away fro the line to the wing, so she turned with the shoulder turn and didn’t take the wing. You can reward after she gets back on the line or into the tunnel, she was being a good girl.
The last rep had more connection and motion along the line (even with your arm trying to come up and point) so she got it a lot better. So for the race tracks, try to keep your arms low and have big connection – even as you are further away. Use the big connection especially on the exit of each wing, as that will keep your shoulders and line of motion pointing to the next wing. You will be able to add more and more distance by doing that too.
Great job here!
TracyHi!
He did well here, and definitely is doing much better with ignoring people in the ring. YAY!! And the tire was not an issue in flow here, so it was probably just weird (in his perspective :)) to have it in as t he first obstacle with you turning.2 ideas for you:
– There was a lot of stopping to fix things such as handling bloopers or weaves, but the rewards only came at the end (or after the weaves). So be sure to balance a lot and have a ton of rewards appear (like a thrown lotus ball) when things are going well. That will help him find the line even if the connection is not perfect – that is where he often comes off a line because the info if not as clear.– You can also line him up without a treat in your hand to help prep him for what will happen on the start line at a trial. The treat can be in your pocket, and you can of course reward the sit or stay – but having an empty hand to line him up will mimic what he will see at a trial so it is good practice.
One other thing I notice is that he paces (front and hind leg moving together on the same side rather than in opposition) as you are walking back to the course at the end of the 2nd video (at 1:34). I don’t recall ever seeing him pace, so keep an eye on it and see if his back is tight or anything. Pacing in dogs can be in indicator of tightness somewhere. We want him loose and feeling good 🙂
Nice work here!
Tracy
Hi!
>Sass got chased and is now quite hypervigilant in the ring, even small trials like ours with bunting around the rings. I don’t think it is the reinforcement issue because she learnt that as a baby. And no toys, only food for her. Anyway, I’ll keep working on the pattern games etc>
Oh no poor Sassy!!!!!!! I agree that it is probably not a reinforcement issue and more of a hypervigilence issue. Poor pup! Have you seen the Super Bowls and Power Bowls pattern games? Those are the absolute best for helping the dogs get past the anxiety of hypervigilence.
>I am not sure Maisy is that interested in the toy reward – agility, running fast and jumping is her most valuable thing and I feel the weaves cause an unnecessary delay, lol. At home I usually throw the toy when she completes the weaves but I can leave it indoors. As she trains at the trial grounds I thought there was a fighting chance she would do the weaves there like she usually does in training…>
I think getting the toy involved as a fun reward will really help in this case. If the main rewards at the moment are tunnels and jumps 🙂 then she can skip the weaves pretty easily and grab the reward (tunnel for example). But you can build up the love of a favorite toy or two, and bring that into the ring. It doesn’t have to be a tug toy, it can be a ball or whatever she really loves (even if she doesn’t love it as much as running courses or tunneling :))
Looking at the send and serp video:
>So hard for the little dogs to stay out so I narrowed the gap before widening it again. My speed away from the wing also seemed more likely to pull her through.>
So true! It is very easy for the tiny dogs to slip through the gap. You did a really well supporting her line to help her see the bar rather than come through the gap. At the end you were starting to add speed back, and she still did great. Yay!
For the next session, add more speed 🙂 But to help her still find the jump, angle the jump a bit towards her line so she sees the bar pretty clearly after exiting the wing. That will help her take it as you run. Then as she gets happy with finding the jump with a lot of handler speed, you can angle it back to the position you had it here. It will probably only take 1 or 2 sessions.
And you can approach adding distance between the wing and jump the same way: add more distance and angle the jump towards the wing so she sees the bar even with the bigger distance.
Another consideration is that due to her size, the jump on this line might appear to be a backside to her (because she sees both sides as she exits the wing). So you can start using a backside verbal even though it would not be a backside for a bigger dog like Maisy.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi!
I looked like he had zero questions about layering to find the jump! Your foundation work with the dead toy really helped!
>he has no idea what they are as yet, or any interest in interacting with them.>
Perfect! He probably thought they were a fence LOL!!! Plus with weaves he can see you line of motion very clearly which of course helps support the layering. The tunnel blocks your line of motion a tiny bit, but I think he is going to be fine with it. And it allows you to ad balance reps where you do cue the tunnel by doing a cross on the wing or pulling him in and giving the tunnel verbal cue.
As you add the tunnel, you can also use a jump verbal instead of a go verbal – getting obstacle name in place can really help with the crazy discriminations we are seeing lately, like a jump between 2 tunnels and we need to layer the closer tunnel and get the jump (but not the 2nd tunnel).
>I think it might have been easier to rotate the wing and just have a 90 degree turn to the jump, but he was a good boy and I liked the way he was seeking the jump out. >
I think the setup you used was great, and you can also play with different angles for the start wing to show him some of the different contexts he might see layering sends in.
>I had my husband throw the toy in so I didn’t hang it up on the poles with my crappy throw and cause any issues.>
This worked really well, both in terms of timing and placement of the toy.
>At the end I added a tunnel after the jump as it was already set up there and then let him so a straight line for decompression.>
It looks like he thought that was great fun! And he stayed on the line beautifully. And it is a very common layering scenario for the dog to end up layering to a tunnel, so it was a great concept to show him. Super!!!
Great job here!
TracyGood morning! Another super session here!! It looks like he is so much fun to run!
>For such a big dog, he’s giving me a pretty tight RC!>
Yes, he is really super about being able to extend when cued (the GO reps looked great) and then turn as tight as cued too!
When you did the turns towards you to get the wing (and not a pure ‘go’ rep0 at :11 and :48, he does need a bit of a turn cue and not a Go cue. It can be a tiny bit of decel and shoulder turn, and his name or maybe a sprinkler if it fits into the line a sprinkler cue would create.
>I overestimated on that first RC rep and had to move them in even more. >
Yes – on the first side with the RCs, you were actually a little ahead so the line you ran for the RCs had a bit more decel and was a sharper angle, creating a tighter turn. He did get the wing but you had to push back out to it a little bit.
Compare to the other side, where you set the RC lines up a little differently:
The RCs at :55 and 1:03 were perfect in terms of getting in a little closer to the previous obstacle (end of the tunnel) so you can accelerate up the line in the RC – he got the RC turn and was able to find the wing very easily. These RCs to the wings do require a bit of extension for him to find the wing, and your acceleration up the RC line worked perfectly there. RCs so involve some finesse in setting up the line you want, and you nailed it here on those reps.
Great job!! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
The get out session went really well here!
>I think I was having trouble because I kept forgetting to throw the toy until after Ellie had landed. >
Things were happening very quickly which made timing harder in the smaller space. But we like speed 🙂 so you can spread things out a little more now, to give yourself one more stride for the timing of the toy throw as well as the crosses after the jump. Now that she is getting the concept, it is not as important to throw the toy super early.
>although I think I surprised her with the crosses at the end. >
Yes, but that was just a timing issue because she was moving so fast! The crosses work best when you start them as soon as she looks at the bar, which you were basically doing… but she was flying so by the time she saw them you ended up being a little late. No problem, adding a little more distance between the wing and jump will help with that. The commitment was what we wanted here and that is what we got. Yay!
>Using just the dog-side arm and waving to the jump seems like it would be a whole lot easier for the human.
Yes, totally easier for the human! But….
>Do the dogs read the opposite arm a lot better than the dog-side arm? >
Yes, they read the cue so much better with the opposite arm 🙂 You can see it here: your go straight reps had your shoulders going straight forward on the line, she knew exactly where to be. The get out with the opposite arm completely changed the line of your shoulders, it looked completely different, so she was able to change her line to move away and find the jump.
>If so, I’ll work on my twisting, but only if you think Ellie will really appreciate it. >
Ellie says ‘yes please and thank you’ 🙂 It gets easier and feels less twisty as she learns it more and you get more comfy with it.
I think the zig zags also went great! She I holding her stay brilliantly, and then changing lines when cued super nicely too.
>I noticed that she was turning in the gap between the bar and the next wing instead of hopping directly over the bars. I figured I was probably late (wild guess, lol), so I went down to 2 wings and then back up to 3.>
It is always a good when problem solving to assume we are either late or disconnected LOL!! Yes, you got the cues in sooner so she started going over the bars more.
The other thing I think was happening was that she was just being efficient – and the most efficient line was closer to the wing where there was no bar. Clever!
I don’t think she was avoiding the bars. You can change the set up to emphasize the bars more by having wing 2 touch the bar that comes off wing 1, and wing 3 touch the bar of wing 2. Basically, shorten the distance so there are no gaps. That will tell us if she was avoiding the bars (she would go around them at that point) but I think she will do really well with it.
Great job here! Keep me posted!
Tracy
Hi!
He was definitely trying hard to sort the RCs out but they are hard! Part of what was happening seemed to be that he wants to maintain a certain working distance from you (6 feet or more) so it makes it hard for you to get close to show the RC line. And the other part seemed that while you were moving up the line for the RCs, your feet were facing straight but the actual motion was to your left, pushing in towards the other side of the jump rather than forward to the center of the jump (let me know if that makes sense of if I need more coffee – it is subtle LOL!)When you ran parallel to his line, he took the jump really well! And when you turned your shoulders to the line to the jump (:22) he also took the jump. Yay!
So 2 ideas for you:
– jog up the line towards the center of the bar, directly forward, as if you are going to jump the bar (and since the bar is low, you ight end up going over it as he is figuring out how to run really tight to your line. Don’t try to change to the other side of him til he has passed you and looked at the bar (which might be why you end up jumping it too at first LOL!)– since he has a great stay, you can teach him to love you being right next to him and also to change sides with this game:
I am teaching her to let me get very close to her on the RC line (apologies for the pajamas haha) and then when I change sides, to turn her head the new direction. She is in a stay, I am moving behind her (rewarding that a lot) and then moving up on a rear cross line very close to her and rewarding when she turns her head the new direction. You don’t need to use a clicker, you can use a release marker or ‘get it’.
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
That was weird – he looked happy (not in pain or stressed by anything) so it might have had more to do with the tire being the first obstacle, and you trying to turn to obstacle 2. They was changing his line a bit, making it hard to organize the jumping effort for the tire. When you cued it straight, he got it with no problem.
He might need more experience with the tire as obstacle 1 and also on slight angles on course. It is challenging footing because he can’t really adjust really quickly (he was dropping bars here when you were late on the cues) so he might be going around/under the tire to avoid hitting it if he isn’t sure what the turn is.Did he take the tire as part of a sequence in the class that night, or was it always obstacle 1? Let me know what you think!
TracyI can relate – we get so focused on the skill we are training that it is easy to forget to play during the in-beween moments!
Tracy
Hi!
>We should be back on deck tomorrow. I have been sick, mostly in bed, with a cold/flu, >
Oh no! I hope you are feeling better!
> Sassy was just not keen to do the 3 jumps I tried to put her over NFC in a couple of runs which makes me sad because she is so good at everything, having done this course. >
Sounds like she might have been a bit overwhelmed in the environment? In the NFC run, what reward were you using? I think if she knows where the reward is and how to get to it, she can be a lot more relaxed.
>I actually got a time on (7.3m/sec) over a flowing 130m course, 17 seconds start to finish, 2 knocked bars.>
Wow, 7.3 METERS per second!!!!! That is incredibly fast!!! Great job!
>I’ve tried raising her arousal with mad tugging sessions etc but it never seems to translate to a trial. I>That is good to practice at home!
Where else are you able to take her to weave to be able to reward her? The trial environment is the most challenging context, so maybe she can do a tour of other places first and runs weaves in sequence – first with the toy present, then without it in the ring.
>I did NFC to try and get her back in – 3 attempts and no weaves, just straight through whichever gap she chose. >
Did you have a toy, or were these re-starts? We probably need to bridge the gap between training at home with the toy present, and trials without it – can she weave at home when she is really excited… but the toy is in the house? Let me know and we can devise a plan.
Tracy
Hi!
>I have a follow up question about this game/setup. I’ve seen videos online of some trainers in Europe training with off course jumps near the entrances of tunnels and the weave poles that are maybe one step off the dog’s line. >
Yes, that is a super popular trend right now in course design in Europe and UKI here in North America.
>It’s almost as if they need a “pass” cue. >
They are using verbals but not a pass or bypass cue: usually it is obstacle names or naming the line (like GO!). There are some layering verbal cues too. The pass or bypass cue has fallen to the wayside because the dogs are just staying on their lines, or getting turn cues/obstacle names for discriminations.
> I am wondering for this game, when it’s time to take the tunnel, should they be going around the wing to take the tunnel or just go straight into the tunnel without going around the wing? >
It depends on where you set her up: If she is on an angle and facing the tunnel entry? Then she can go directly to the tunnel. If she is lined up facing the wing? Then she can layer the wing and go to the tunnel. So be super precise about how you set her up and where you hold her, while she is hearing the verbals. I like to be sure the pups can layer the wing because it is a skill they will need (layering jumps to get to the tunnel).
>I know for most of the agility I’ll be doing I may not need training to that level even in local UKI trials but I like to think about my training criteria.>
You will definitely need layering skills, even in Novice AKC! It is popping up everywhere 🙂 Plus it is FUN to train 🙂
let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning!
This session was lovely!! Soooooo much to be pleased with! And it was a busy environment – lot of people and noise, but she was completely focused and engaged. You did a great job with your connection so she was able to find each line and her turns were lovely. YAY!!! I could not really hear if you were using your wrap verbals, so if you were not – you can totally add them in now. You can also add a toy in, to get a little more excitement so she can continue to process her arousal regulation (she did great here). For example, you can tug before a rep, reward with a tug, trade for treats.
>The first rep she wiped out coming out of the tunnel, a prime example of her uncoordinated teenager-ness.>
Yes, poor girlie!! The tunnel might have had a little too much curve in it for the first run – she wiped out in the curve. You can keep it very gently curved for now so she doesn’t splat herself 🙂
Great job!
TracyGood morning!
She did really well in class – fun sequences! And the triple didn’t seem to be an issue.
She was a super good girl getting the tight turn away from the tunnel after 3 tunnels in a row!>I had treats in my pockets, but didn’t use them setting up or until the end of my planned mini sequences. >
You totally can bring the food out mid-course for challenging moments, such as the tight turn when she did not go off course to the tunnel. That would have been a great surprise-you-get- treats moment! Rewarding only at the end or at the leash risks shifting the balance to the end and to the leash 🙂 so yes, do that sometimes… but also have plenty of reward out on course with you for the excellent moments mid-course 🙂
>Running Snooker for realzies is tempting if I can devise a good course, but of course the nice thing about running Snkr NFC is not risking getting whistled off after 2 jumps. >
Yes, good point about being whistled off – she is unlikely to drop a bar, so if she ends up off course you can mark happy hour time and run out to the reward. Or run it NFC is she can have a lot of flow – the decision can be made when you see the course design.
> Actually, if I’m not going to carry the toy as a marker that the reward is coming later, should I skip having someone toss the empty toy before heading to the reward box and instead just do the mini sequence and cue “happy hour” to run to the box sans tossed toy?>
I think at this point, you can fade the bridge of the thrown empty toy and see what she thinks. Use your verbal marker only. If she thinks it is STUPID she will let us know (she is good at sharing her opinions :)) and then you can go back to the bridge if needed.
Have fun! Keep me posted about the weekend!
Tracy
Good morning! Thanks for the videos, he was a really good boy here!!
>This is working the stay and not as much on engagement.>
You can work on both at the same time – we cannot separate engagement out from anything we do 🙂
One thing I notice here in both videos is that there are frisbees… but no play. He gets released to retrieve the frisbee after a stay, but you don’t actually play: you are moving back to start again. And note how he doesn’t want to bring it back because you take it away and put him back to work – in particular, being stationary to do another stay. So he is remaining further and further away from you. He brings it back when you present another frisbee but you don’t actually play, so he is going to stop bringing it back pretty soon even when you show another frisbee 🙂 Dogs are very good at predicting!
So definitely add in play that lasts twice as long as the stay: when he is released to get the frisbee, ask him to bring it back and then tug tug tug praise party! Then throw it 🙂 Then tug more! Then maybe trade it and do another rep. The amount of play should greatly outweigh the amount of work, especially on a behavior like a stay. That will also give him a lot of opportunity to move which is very reinforcing too.
>
I am working on the jumping on Momma! 😉 >Those moments where he pummels you are frustration behaviors – you are using a lot of control but there is minimal outlet for play and fun (stays are really not that much fun LOL!) so the frustration is bubbling over. That will go away when you add in a lot of play!
>I try to change up my duration to keep him guessing. I also didn’t need to ask for the down since he automatically does it because I have always asked for it at home and there are less distractions.>
Changing things up is really good! Also be sure to change your position relative to the jump, so you are not next to the wing when you release. Plus, you will need to fade the frisbee from the stay and see if he can do stays without a frisbee there – and then throw it as the reward after the behavior (right now, when it is on the ground, it is actually the cue for the stay). And yes, cue the behavior because that will be useful in more challenging environments.
>In this video he does the butt up in the air, I wait long enough and he puts it down but then I try to move and he does creep so I decided to to tell him to get it so he didn’t continue to fail but I am not sure that is what I should have done. I don’t know if he creeped because I stopped and then I moved and he might not be ready for that. He seems to be more solid when I stand still and release or continue to walk and release vs stopping and then moving again.>
Yes that looked a little confusing – he was not sure if you were releasing or not. So after he puts his butt back on the ground (good boy!) you can walk forward confidently again, then stop, then release. You were kinda moving but not moving a lot, so he was not sure what was happening next.
>In the 2nd video you will see he was trying to get the frisbees so I asked him for a hand touch and after the hand touch I moved them to my other hand and he thought I was going to throw them so he took off over the jump and waited. >
Yes, he didn’t want what you tossed ahead of the jump because it is not a reward (not associated with play in this context). The other frisbees in your hand could potentially be thrown, which is much more rewarding – plus confusing to throw one and have 2 others in the hand. So any placed reward should probably be the only one visible for now, so he can direct his focus to it. Then be sure to play with that toy, to build up its value (rather than take it away and reset for the next rep).
>We do play frisbee in the backyard and after I threw it I thought I probably shouldn’t have since we are working on him not leaving me for a jump unless I ask. Other than that he did great.>
Well yes, there was confusion on that rep… but there was also play. And play is important! Frisbees often elicit the behavior of running out to wait for them to be thrown, so you might consider using toys that don’t elicit that response when you are holding them. Will he play with a tug toy? Those are also easier to play with between each rep.
>He is always better at home but you will get to see him in action at Fleischmann field in a little over a week!>
Awesome!! Bring a big variety of toys (not just frisbees) and we will keep building on this! See you soon!!
Tracy
Good morning! I am excited to see you in June – next month! (How is it May already??)
The video was funny! You got some great noises from Ronin and I think maybe even some noise from Reacher? You can reward grunting or weird breathing LOL He was definitely excited just not as free with his singing as his brother was LOL!!
I think Ronin was a good helper because Reacher was definitely processing the whole “hey, why did he get the cookies?” thing. He might have thought it was a bit unfair that Ronin got the cookies – which can be great for getting a big reaction which can be shaped into a trick (which is what we want :))
Here is a video of the big response LOL :
Reacher would be the money on the right getting the cucumber 🙂 which is the equivalent of praise in this case as opposed to the deliciousness that Ronin is getting.You can try stuff that might set them off like saying whatever you would say if someone came to the door (Hi! Or Be right there! for example). Keep playing with it – it might take a bit to percolate but them once he has it, he will love doing it!
>We haven’t done much agility in the past 2 weeks due to our weekly class being cancelled twice in a row for odd reasons, but do have a 1/2 day seminar this Friday and trial on Saturday (entered only two runs). If I get some agility practice video from tonight I’ll share it!>
A little break is good! Have fun at the seminar tomorrow – is it with Stefanie Theis? I hear good things about her seminar!! And keep me posted for the weekend.
Have fun!
Tracy
