[Tracy Sklenar]

Hello and welcome!!! Thanks for the video; it is insightful. She definitely finds the trial environment VERY challenging. How does she do in her FEO runs (where you are running with a reinforcement, right?) We will definitely help answer her questions. She is not lacking in focus, she is struggling with what to do in a very challenging environment.

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hello and welcome!
No worries about the smooth sequencing, that will come together 🙂 And I like your goal about being able to be hands-free in the ring – both in the flyball ring and in agility, especially at the end of the run. It is good to know that he can eat food in the agility ring (because I know he can’t always eat in flyball!) And on our agenda for ALL the dogs here is teaching what I call ‘engaged chill’ where they just chill out without us holding them or having to entertain them or tugging 🙂

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hello and welcome back! And I am very excited to watch Muso get into the ring!!

>. We are having trouble steering as ‘going fast’ is a top priority for her; I know some of it is my timing,

Going fast is great! Yes, we will look at timing, but also her processing will be delayed at this early stage (high latency in different environments). No problem – I prefer a young dog to be fast fast fast and we fine tune the turns as she gets onto the harder courses. Dogs like Muso can win by wide margins without looking like they are turning tight 🙂

>>and we are also going to need A LOT of distance and independent skills. I am looking forward to getting eyes on my training again. Her teeter is about halfway done and we have started mat training for her contacts. She weaves SO WELL and we are working weird angles, layering, and distractions for proofing; she loves it, and I couldn’t be more thrilled!>>

Yes, all of those independent skills are the wave of the future in agility! I am glad she is doing so well! It is exciting to see everything come together!

Tracy

Happy to be back!

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! Welcome!

A new knee – that is going to be AWESOME!!!!!!! And we can tweak everything here to be done with somewhat limited mobility. It is great timing to start this with him now.
Have fun!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hello and welcome! He is the perfect age for this!
And you can totally tweak the sequences to fit your space – be creative! We do want about 20-25 feet between obstacles but otherwise, anything else is good!

Have fun!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hello and welcome!!

>> As Sprite decided agility was fun and exciting she also lost the ability to pay attention and line up on the start line.

Arousal + adolescence = all sorts of exciting behaviors LOL!

>> I’m trying to avoid stress and conflict at the start line.

YAY!!! We want teamwork, no conflict.

>>But, previously I was using food as a transport and to help her sit. Once the food was gone she had no idea what to do.>>

Yep, that is precisely correct. The internal state is different, and the external state (no more food) was different. So she indeed does not know what to do.

>>I’m working on more acclimation in high arousing environments, but we really cannot trial until this piece improves. The few trials I’ve done she was very distracted and took forever to sit with me recueing and/or putting frontal pressure on her. It is taking forever! I’ve taken her off the line and just tugged to the other side if she just couldn’t sit. Once she starts running she’s doing well making baby dog mistakes. But, I really don’t want conflict on the start line and it’s a slippery slope.>>

I agree that you don’t want to ask for a sit in a trial environment until there are more tools in the toolbox, particularly in the arousal regulation area and in state dependent memory. You can still do stuff without a sit stay (NFC stuff) and then bring the stay back. We will plan for all of it!

>>Currently in class I’m doing a ready to work protocol in front of the jump.

What are you doing, specifically? This will help us plan.

>> but the more times she runs the longer it takes to line up and sit. We definitely need more surfing the YD curve and arousal dial games.>>

Yes, the arousal is constantly shifting, and also the toolbox might need to change. I don’t call it a protocol or a routine or a ritual because there are waaaaaaaay too many variables to limit ourselves like that 🙂

I am excited to start!!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>>think it’s just a mental thing for me that for whatever reason I think that being close to the jump will mean too much pressure and he won’t come in. But the other cues should override that.>>

Yes, there is pressure when you stay closer, but that is the joy of serpentines LOL! And doing it with you walking at first, and with the jump angled as needed, will help him drive in. You can put a line on the ground to keep you nice and close to the bar – the ideal position is about an arm’s length away.

It was fun to see him blasting through the wings on the zig zags! This game will help the serps too, because he is practicing moving to the right AND to the left (and both look really good!). The right side lead changes look smoother than the ones to the left (notice how he does a little hop up to the left sometimes LOL!!) He only had one question, at 1:37 – that was to his left, and the cue was a little late and maybe not dramatic enough, so he didn’t quite go to the wing. No worries! The other cues were earlier and clearer, so he got those left side lead changes nicely.

You can revisit this in the next day or two, trying to give the cues faster and adding the rest of the wings 🙂 We add to this game on Wednesday by adding bars to it 🙂

Great job!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
I am sorry to hear you’ve been sick – hope you are feeling much better!!! I bet a staycation will be NICE!

The find the jump game is going well! You can spread the distances out more so he can run run run – I agree that he liked it so we might as well let him rip!

What a good boy – look how he went and found the jump, as soon as you said jump on the first rep. Yay! I think it was clearer for him when you added more and more motion on each rep. He was able to stop looking at you and really lock onto the jump. If you stood still too long at the start wing, he was confused but as long as you moved, he as perfect.

At the end of the session, you started added more lateral distance and he did well. When you add more lateral distance, you can keep moving because that will support the line too. And it looks like he is definitely ready for more distance and motion! And remember to add in running hard to get way ahead, to see if he will still find the jump 🙂

On the send’n’serp videos – the left turns are not his thing yet 🙂 The right turns in the first session? Yes, no problem. The left turn? Nope LOL!! His brain just wasn’t processing that he had to lead change to his left until after he was past the jump (you can see him start to do it as he was passing the jump). On the last rep, he was able to find the bar but note how he had to slow himself down and add all sorts of little steps LOL!

So, let’s chalk it up to him being a righty 🙂 When you re-visit the left turns, I am sure his latent learning will have kicked in to an extent, but definitely help him out by angling the jump towards him a LOT more to make the bar is very visible and the shift to his left is much easier. When he can consistently do that for a session or two, you will be able to then start angling the jump back to the original position.

On both sides – your line of motion was pulling away from the jump, and ideally you would remain pretty close to the jump (close enough to touch the wing) and move parallel to the jump bar without moving away from it. Ideally, you would send around the wing and move directly to the reward, keeping you nice and close to the bar.

When he is turning to his right, you can start with this staying-close and see how he does. If he is fine, you can add more motion! When he is turning to his left, stay close to the bar but don’t add more motion yet 🙂

Great job! Let me know what you think!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
I like visuals with rear crosses because the line is subtle for us, but HUGELY important for the dogs! I am glad you are finding the visuals helpful 🙂

T

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

>> When I normally train, the temperature is higher, but the sun on us really makes a difference.

The sun does seem to make a difference with my dogs too – heats them up faster than ambient air temperatures do.

>>In total, I only had her outside about 15 min, including a dip in the pool before we started and in between taping. I could tell as our 3 sessions went on she was less willing to bring the toy back and go again.>>

One thing to keep in mind is how “expensive” the behavior is, and keep that in mind when deciding length of session and number of sessions. By “expensive”, I mean the physical and mental output required to execute it. And an “expensive” behavior will tire the pup out a lot faster than we might expect.

Two things that make the behavior more “expensive”:

– is it new and does it require more focus and mental processing to sort it out?
– do it involve a lot of physical output, like running,chasing/retrieving, especially in the heat?

This is a new game with running, so the answer to both questions is a resounding YES, it is expensive. More expensive for the pup than for us humans because we are not running or thinking nearly as much 🙂 So plan for just one introductory session of about 2 minutes then either end the training for the day or do something that is less behaviorally “expensive”.

>>Although, after this I brought all the girls out and played fetch. M had no problem going straight into that. But fetching doesn’t take many brain cells.

Correct, this is not an expensive behavior at all 🙂

First video – she is finding the jump really well! Be sure that you are moving the whole time, rather than sending. You started adding more motion at about 1:30 and the more you moved, the more she found the line and the less she looked at you. Perfect! And remember to connect to her eyes on the intial send to the start wing: when you connected to her eyes, she went to the wing every time. If you disconnected and looked forward, she did not go to the wing (looking forward changes the line of your shoulders which changes the info she sees)

2nd video went well too – you were moving the whole time and she did really well ignoring the tunnel. She did tell you at the end that she needed a break (and a little at the start of the 3rd video). So even with the skill you are teaching her going really well and a high rate of reinforcemnet, the behavior being “expensive” caused her to check out a bit. That is great info for the next sessions:

Familiar behavior? Easy behavior? You can do a bit more.
New behavior? Harder behavior? Do a short blast of training and then let latent learning do the rest 🙂

>>Perhaps we’ll try Advanced after the sun goes down.

Give it a day or two for the latent learning to kick in, then try it. I am sure it will go really well!

Great job here!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

>> I’m a bit of a dog geek and always find it fascinating to see how each puppy learns ever so slightly different than others.>>

Yes, me too, I love that! Breed differences, individual differences, similarities… SO COOL! I am a full-on nerd LOL!! And that includes the side preference thing – if we build things up carefully, then we will never see a side preference. If we skips steps or add pressure, then a side preference issue can become frustrating for the pup (and the human :))

She is doing well on the zig zags – she seemed to have gotten the framework so now you can add to it and emphasize the lead changes more:

For the cookie toss starts, toss the treat further away from the start wing so she turns around to head back to your further from wing 1 – which will get her lined up facing you before she passes wing 1. If the cookie is too close to wing 1, she is approaching you sideways so while she is turning, she is not really doing the back-and-forth lead change.

And, if she is facing the correct direction before passing wing 1, then you can start to do the lead change cues sooner 🙂 She is ready for that!

Then as she arrives at the wing you are next to, you can reward her for being parallel to the wing (the exit of the lead change) rather than turn her to wrap the wing before rewarding.

You can add in the 3rd wing too now – that adds in even more lead change action (but requires better long distance cookie tossing to line her up for wing 1 :))

Great job!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

>Rears are hard.

TRUTH!! Rears need to be trained and handled – same as threadles! Both are hard, neither are natural to the dogs.

>>Maybe we need more basic Lft Rt practice on the Mini Pini. Trying not to bring up my arms to turn her.>>

Things that went really well on this video:
– connection was great!
– your arms were great, nice and low!
– adjustments in the moment to try to help her out
– lots of reinforcement even when things were not perfect
– she is very motivated and fast and also gives you some BIG OPINIONS haha
– her commitment to the jump is really strong and also her ability to follow your physical cues is excellent (which is the good news, and also the bad news haha!)

I don’t think you need to go back to do more left practice on the minny pinny – it won’t hurt to do it and it will help solidify the verbals, but it is the physical cues we can adjust here to smooth out the rear crosses.

The main thing I see is that on the rear crosses, you are running L-shaped lines. What I mean by that is as she is exiting the tunnel, you are going straight until she passes you and then you are moving into the RC pressure line.

That means that she is not seeing the RC info until the last minute. When she is turning to her right, she is able to make the adjustment in the air or just before takeoff. For example, on the first video:
1:21 – you were going straight
1:22 – she is passing you, looking to her left, based on your straight line.
Then as she takes off, she sees the RC info starting and turns to her right over the bar

On the 2nd video, you were taking fewer steps straight before getting onto the RC line so she was able to make the turn before takeoff at :48.

Looking at the left turns – the same thing was happening with the L-shaped running lines. For example on the 3rd video: she exits the tunnel at 1:11, you are running straight
she passes you so you start the RC pressure line at 1:12
but too late – she takes off turning to her right.

So why is she able to adjust on the right turns, but not on the left turns? The right turn cues were a tiny bit sooner but also, she is a righty 🙂 so the left turn coordination will be slightly delayed at this point.

Toward the end of the session, you were sensing that the info was late and starting to put pressure on the RC line sooner. PERFECT and exactly right! So why did she end up not taking the jump? You were cutting across her path too soon.

I know, it is a total Goldilocks thing: Too little, too much, just right LOL!!!

So what to do instead? As she is exiting the tunnel, be running directly towards the center of the bar until she is very close to takeoff – then cut in behind her (she was still several strides from takeoff when you were too early). You might have to tuck in closer to the tunnel after sending her to it, so you can run forward to the center of the bar without getting too far ahead and having to slam on the brakes.

Here are some visuals on what I mean by the L-shaped lines and also being too soon to cut through her line, along with a drawing at the bottom of what the RC line would be:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/17wLrVAa4LEjKa85zdTBdBB1twktnqjIjwJ2D8if3i6s/edit?usp=sharing

For now, no need for the left/right verbals as you smooth out the physical cues. If the physical cues are different than the verbals, she will go with the physical cues (which might dilute the verbals). So when you are consistently getting the turns want, you can add back the verbals and it will all come together.

Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi –

>>Pesto pieces out today when we went in the yard to do some jump work with the manners minder. He probably need la a day off – so rather than even try to get him to re- engage – I tossed tennis balls and then had him chase me for the ball and then throw it behind me. No pressure chase the Mama game.>>

Yep, adolescent dogs will generally have days where their developing brains just need to not try to learn new stuff. No worries! Give him a day or two and he will be back to normal 🙂

>>I feel like he is processing a lot of information and stimulus these days. I’m seeing a level of hyper awareness of the environment.<< Yes, you are seeing the combination of genetics (this particular breeding is hyperaware of environment) and normal adolescent development (adolescent dogs are hyperaware of environment). It is extremely important to back off the pressure during adolescence, especially early adolescence (where you are now with him) - rather than try to teach the hard skills, focus on happy-making games in short blasts in various environments. The hard skills are very very easy to teach if the dog has the framework to self-modulate their internal state and knows how to assess the environment and re-engage. The science behind this is amazing and it helps me understand why the Covid MaxPup generation (the cohort that started this version of the class in July 2020) was able to transition very easily from Covid lockdown to the trial ring without the normal group class/seminars/socialization: they had a TON of arousal modulation skills and environmental assessment tools, so it was shockingly easy to get them into the ring and competing with confidence. Let me know what you think! Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! These are excellent questions and important to geek out on a bit 🙂

>> 1. In a training setting do they need to be on leash? If there is a distraction like another dog, or food, or a human I am guessing the answer is yes.>>

Yes – and that training session starts on leash. Since the leash is an important part of the context, you need to get the leash involved at home in your training space as you teach the foundation patterns. Don’t wait til there is a distraction because then the leash becomes another distraction – and humans and dogs are not good at multitasking LOL!

>> Pesto will often leave a training session during class or a private to say hello to another dog, often when the work is getting harder.>>

It is not abnormal for this to happen but if is it happening often like you mention (as in, more than maybe twice, period, total, ever) then you can adjust your training so it does not happen. Letting it happen sets up a rehearsal of behavior and neural pathways we don’t want to be carved out in his brain.

So a couple of ideas:
– if it is consistently happening when the work is getting harder as you mentioned, then the work is getting too hard too quickly and he is communicating that to you. Some dogs get frantic, some dogs get sniffy, some dogs visit other dogs – all of it comes back to how the training sessions is set up and can be easily changed.

The main thing is to live by the 2 failure rule: 2 errors in the session (not in a row, but in the total session) that he does not get rewarded for means that the work is too hard and you need to dial it back. Once you go past 2 errors, you will see frustration behavior (like visiting other dogs). So – error #1 is a yellow light of caution. Error #2 is a red light of stop what you are doing and ask him easier questions. I have found that most people do NOT embrace the 2 failure rule and run into frustration behaviors from their dogs. And anyone who embraces the 2 failure rule? No fustration and fantastic engagement and learning 🙂

Also, other details in classes and privates:

Embrace errors in handling as human errors and reward him anyway. I know that a lot of instructors will tell people not to reward the dog, but the video never lies: the dogs are always responding correctly to the information they get. And if it is not great info? The response will not be what we humans want, but it is still rewardable. After all, these inexperienced dogs don’t have a crystal ball to know what we want when the info is unclear 🙂

In harder situations like a class or a private when someone is nearby, use higher value food and toys, as well we shorter sessions. Fatigue sets in when a session is too long and that is when you will see loss of engagement. And too long for a 10 month old pup is 2 minutes.
And I highly recommend some type of station for those in-between moments when you are talking to the instructor, like a mat or cot or even being held or put on leash.

>> I am not always in a position to immediately break out the pattern games >>

You can go to him and start them. If this is something that has happened more than once, then it is not going to be a surprise if it happens again 🙂 so be prepared!

>>and I am not sure that after he is already stimulated they are going to work.>>

They will work perfectly if he knows what they are, and they will still work pretty well if he is still learning them. That means you will want to do multiple short sessions at home and then do them at class or different places. Don’t when til there is a loss of engagement or distraction to start playing these games – they need to be solid before you take them into distracting areas. So, if you try it in class, say, tomorrow, they might not work as well as they can because he won’t recognize the framework. But they will work!

>> I have been able to get him back and refocused. .>>

Right, but getting him back and refocused sounds like there is too much emphasis on returning to work, when the priority needs to be simple engagement and not leaving you in the first place.

>>There was one time in his private where he went into Zombie mode when someone was in the room moving things around while we were asking him to do something hard>>

That is an anxiety (freeze) response, amplified by the frustration of the work being harder. The freeze response will be broken with the pattern games – that is exactly why we teach them. And ideally you would start them as soon as the trigger (new person entering room) appears, before you get the freeze response.

>> How long is the pattern game and how do I know when he is sufficiently reset.>>

You will know when he is reset based on latency of his re-engagement. If he can grab the cookie then immediately re-engage with you? Then he is ready to move on. If it takes a second or two or longer? Not ready, keep playing the pattern game. And if the pattern game is well-taught at home and practiced a lot, you will see him go to the low latency engagement really easily.

Here is a visual of low latency – note how fast the dog returns his engagement to me after getting the treat in a really distracting environment:

This pattern game was rehearsed extensively at home and at easier places before being brought into this environment.

>> Do the cookies have to be tossed? Can they be from my hand or on top of my shoe (I’ve done the shoe at trials with Skipper when we are waiting our turn to run).>>

Tossed yes, on top of your shoe yes (as long as you bend down to place them there to exploit the co-regulation and vestibular response that comes from the bending over and standing up). From your hands? Nope 🙂

>> When I take Pesto into the building at a trial I often lose his focus and the word “Here” becomes irrelevant. He is sooooo stimulated by the environment that I cease to exist and he is either staring at other dogs hoping they will notice him, or he is being the Walmart greeter. In these cases he is on leash. Does this mean I should not let him say hello to other dogs which is incredibly self reinforcing?>>

The environment is overwhelming to his brain and body when this happens and he does not have the tools to be able to engage with you the way you want him too. That is why you need to get those pattern games into your toolbox with him, so you can give him the framework to be able to modulate his arousal and re-engage with you.

>>I am thinking about the MYOB webinar by the way.

It is gonna be a good one 🙂

T

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning! I heard you all had some CRAZY weather down there! I am glad it has passed you now!

The Go and RCs are looking good! She is looking ahead REALLY well and that is really important.

You are a bit better at showing the RCs to her right (even though you called the first one a left I think LOL!) because you are getting on the line to the center of the bar sooner and more emphatically. On the left turn RCs, you are running near the line but not quite pushing to the center of the bar then cutting behind her like you did on the right turn RCs, so she is jumping a bit straighter on those. The toy throws on all of them are great, which really helps!

And you are making the Go lines look radically different from the RCs (like at :30) and that is SO helpful to her! Yay!!

Connection overall looks really good (one little blooper at :17 where you didn’t get connection after the wing wrap so she thought it was a spin LOL!) so keep up the good connection!!

>>I’m excited to try the blind crosses again. I am finding that I’m having a tough time keeping my eyes on her.

I have always found it harder to connect with the smaller dogs because they move really fast and are so much harder to see. Those 25 year old tall German handlers at worlds often run scrunched over to make better connection, but since I am more than double that age, running scrunched, being fast, AND being able to stand up again are no longer things I can do HAHA! So with the littles, looking downwards and keeping arms out of the way becomes critical.

Have fun! Great job here!
Tracy

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