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Good morning!
Nice job with the set point!! He seems to be figuring out where all of his feet are quite nicely 🙂 A couple of ideas for the next session (this is something to do once maybe twice a week).
There were a lot of stay rewards, which is great!! Be sure that the connection of looking back at him is not associated with the release – if you lead out without looking then look back and release (releasing forward or throwing a cookie back) then the looking back at him becomes the release (which is what was happening here a bit). So either lead out with connection the whole time, or look back but pause/praise and don’t release immediately.
We was looking at you a bit here even with the toy on the ground. So, be sure to be all the way-out at the toy and for now you can even bend over to point to it so we can lower his head position.
But that brings me to a question: how is his moving target game going? That will help us get him focusing ahead and not at you 🙂 We add it in starting tomorrow 🙂
For the next session, you can move the cone out of the way so he doesn’t need to process it being there (teenager brains are busy enough hahaha) and see if you can video from the side so we can see his mechanics more. They look good from the front!!
Wind In Your Hair is looking good! Nice timing of the toy throws – he was really looking ahead and leaving you in the dust 🙂 Yay!
You can add more distance between the wing and jump now, and add more of your motion – he seemed to have no problem with you jogging at the end.
He did have a couple of questions about the wing wrap start – if your leg was back, he was not sure about committing especially if you stepped away early (like at :23, :57, 1:10). So use the dog side leg to step to the wing and you can also reward the wing wrap – he figured out that the frisbees was coming after the jump 🙂 so was anticipating moving to it. Rewarding the wrap a bunch will help balance that out.
Great job!
TracyHi!
I use the MinnyPinny to teach the left/right verbals. Here is the Maxpup 1 start to them:
And you will see more of that upcoming here!
Tracy
I like the 4 times compromise LOL!! So the cue would be tunnel-tunnel, tunnel-tunnel… then let her go 🙂
Thanks for the video! The wrap verbals are going well – it looks like she will commit nicely as long as you didn’t move away before she got to the wing… but that might just be because she was starting from a standing still. I am betting that in the heat of a sequence, she will be happy for you to do the FC before she gets to the wing.
>>She had feelings about my holding her collar to start so I dropped that since she is sending from a bit further away.>>
She sure did have big feelings about it LOL!! I don’t think it was being held by the collar – I think it was because being moved into position by the collar was uncomfortable. No worries – you can use a line up hand cue or cookie lure to get her to be at your side where you want to start, then hold the collar so you can start the verbal. That way she is in the correct spot, but without being moved around by the collar.
Nice work here!
TracyGood morning! Happy Monday!
>>So we’d already done this exercise once but from the other direction. Are dogs like horses in that switching the direction can seem like a completely new exercise to them? I>>
1000% yes! Playing flyball really rammed the point home to me, because it taught me a whole lot about side preferences in dogs. And humans are the same way – I can write my name pretty well with one hand! And I am terrible at it with the other hand. The good news is that the dog can practice and learn. And same with the humans – we practice on our weaker side too. For example, one of my dogs is a righty and I am a lefty. So when he is on my right side having to turn to his left? We are both more likely to screw it up 🙂 So I teach all new concepts to him with him on my left first, so I am stronger and he can turn to his stronger side (to his right) unless he has to turn away – then I have to start on my weaker side so he can turn to his stronger side as he learns. Then yes, it can often appear “unlearned” on the other side but really it is a mechanics processing thing.
>>Ha ha ha well I’m glad I’m not the only one with those annoying moments! These dogs keep us on our toes, that’s for sure!>>
TRUTH!!! Haha!!!
>>So for a RC to her left, I should throw the treat/toy to the landing spot which would be the left side by the jump standard? Will she finish the RC if I do that or will it just be telling her that she was a good girl to jump ahead and bend left as if she was turning around the left standard to come back to me? It seems like I should reward her if she makes the correct turn towards the left but I understand you want me to reward her before that so she knows going ahead of me is okay. >>
Yes – throw it a few feet past the landing spot as you see her passing you at first, then eventually we change it to when she is lifting off. The turn will be the easy part once she is happy to drive past you 🙂
>>We did the backing up game again today. It’s her 4th session. Wowzer. She is FINALLY getting it! >>
YES!!! That is great!!!!
>>I’m just so used to things being quick for her that I could not understand why this one was so challenging or what I was doing to not make it clear to her. >>
It is good to challenge the smart dogs with the really hard things – they learn to sort out the higher level challenges.
>>She’d jump on the plank and then walk her front feet off. She never offered actually backing onto it……Now that I say that out loud to you I’m realizing she never actually “backed up”, is that okay? I mean she understood she needed to get her two back feet on it only but she didn’t really back onto it except maybe a few reps. Was that wrong? >>
It was definitely not wrong! It is the first piece of the puzzle. So for the next rep, revisit it and see if she remembers it. And if so, you can sit in front of the plank, pretty close, lure her so her back feet step a tiny bit off the plank, and see if she resets herself into position. You can see some of the other sessions getting posted: Bev & Chip (BC) and Kathy & Bazinga (Boston Terrier). Both of them sometimes turned around to get to position, and sometimes backed up into position. All gets rewarded! It is a good next step for Kashia.
>> So I guess I need to know is the concept backing up or is the concept just knowing how to put the two back feet on something?>>
The concept is basically to get her to get into her position at the end of the plank no matter what crazy things we are doing hahahaha so she gets rewarded for getting into position no matter how she does it 🙂
>>We are still struggling a bit with the motion override game. She enjoys it but she is still having a hard time sitting on the first command and sitting when I do more than a slow walk or walk in place. I was hoping she’d be to a speed walk by now but she’s not so I haven’t sent a second attempt video yet for that exercise.>>
You can break it down even more, like tapping a foot or swinging your arms a little. As soon as she sorts if out, the motion will be much easier to add.
Have fun!
TracyGood morning!
The countermotion game is going well! Great job with a SUPER clear indications: arm, leg, verbal, connection shift! Perfect! Her commitment looked fabulous and this is a ridiculously hard game (you two made it look really easy 🙂 )
All of the reps were spot on with connection and sending. There was only one connection blooper: at 1:23 you didn’t quite get the connection on your left side and it looked like you wanted her on your right. Good girl Bazinga! Good job rewarding her instantly. And you know it was a legit response from her because the toy was in your left and she still moved to your right side.
You adjusted for more connection on the next rep at 1:27 and nailed it 🙂 So yes, we humans sometimes have connection bloopers but because you are sooooo good about quick reinforcement and then you make immediate adjustments, she is able to maintain her drive and confidence to commit. I am sending you a cyber high five!!!!!
The double rotations are harder for us handlers and you nailed it at 1:33, she had no questions. Happy dance!
You almost had a little disconnection at 1:37 but your motion supported the line and she got it. Super! And that allowed you to set up the rotated send after it. Yay!
You can start the next session revisiting where you ended her to see if she remembers it 🙂 and then you can move to the next steps and add the race tracks 🙂
>>I moved the teeter into our daily yard just because I was feeling stressy about all the things in the bigger field I didn’t want her to get into. I didn’t want to pass that feeling onto Bazinga about the teeter.>>
That was smart – being stressed about the environment will make it harder for you as a trainer, which definitely can be passed to the pups!!
She was great here, figuring out how to get the MM to click. She gets an extra gold start for figuring out that bopping your hand might also get the MM to click (I am *still* laughing about that, she is so clever!!). She was backing then jumping on sideways here, but then by the end had some good reps of backing up fully too! I don’t mind that she was was backing up to the side then hopping on – she is looking for her 4-on position and that is GREAT!!!! Nice timing with your clicks!!
Great job!
TracyHi!
Motion override went really well! Wow! Interestingly, he was better on your right side (most of the dogs are better on our left side, probably because we humans work with them on our left sides a lot 🙂 )
He was still really good on your left, it just seemed that there was a tiny bit more delay on that side before the response- that might have been because you were more connected when he was on your right and connection is a key element to him.You added a little more motion and some arm swinging at the end, he was still terrific. YAY! So in the next sessions, you can add faster walking, jogging, running. Have fun! Great job!
TracyGood morning!
He seems very confident with the teeter. He offered plenty of good reps here! I think he was not 100% sure if what you wanted was backing up or just getting into 2o2o, which is why he was offering turning around too.For more backing up, he might need you to start the session with you closer to the teeter and with the board lower, so he immediately offers the behavior. You can start with him in his 2o2o, release forward just enough for his back feet to come off. Then it will be a lot easier to step back onto the board (with less room to turn around to get back on it, which is definitely easier LOL!)
Great job!
TracyGood morning!
Awwww, good baby dog doing his first set point! You can leave the distance a bit wider for now, I would prefer him to extend a bit and not compress as much for now. The reward target is great – it should be another 6 feet away from bump #2 so he can stride out to it (and be sure you are up at the target and not closer to the jump).
One thing to focus on is lining him up straight to the bump (you can use a cookie lure at your side) so he is facing straight. He was a little sideways here so for future jumping skills, getting him nice and straight will help.
>>I tried a placed ball for wind in hair, but he didn’t see it. So tossing (the heavier toy) was a better result. This is a good one for (me) practicing verbals! We added distance; next time will try jogging.>>
Yes, the placed toy faded into the background for him so throwing it was definitely better! You can try lining him up facing the wing then letting him see you throw the toy, then sending him around the wing. That is similar to a game in MaxPup 1 and is a lovely impulse control game too! If you train with other folks, you can have them toss the toy or drag it for you.
>>We used a cookie for set up on set point and that worked well. >>
Yes – cookie line ups are very helpful and you can add it to lining up at your side.
>>Since I don’t want to use the collar to move him into position, I picked him up. He tolerated that ok.>>
I think he kinda tolerated it because of his intrinsic interest in playing the game… but I don’t think it something to keep doing. Dogs generally don’t like to be picked up to be put into position and it adds tress/pressure and then they start to avoid it (you can see him really flattened on the ground at 1:23 as you were going to pick him up). And when he is leaving if you are trying to line him up with a cookie, or toy, we definitely need to get him happy with that.
>> I have been working (only a little) on a set up position; maybe I should move that to a higher priority.>>
Yes – before trying the discrimination again which relies on a line up and collar hold, you can work up the happy game of lining up at your side, collar hold, driving forward. It goes back to some of the MaxPup 1 games like toy races (no sits or stays in those, just line up, quick collar hold, toy throw and go), so that is something you can do to pump up his value for lining up and being held.
For the next session of the proofing game, you can make the toy a little less obvious for the wraps! But hold off on that until you’ve got the line up and collar hold in a happy place where he moves to it and you don’t have to go towards him to get it.
Nice work here!
TracyGood morning! This is going really well!! She was looking ahead brilliantly and that is what we want.
>>I’m thinking I could be a bit more connected? >>
Connection on the wrap exits all looked good! And connection on the short distance looked good. A place to strengthen the connection is when you added more distance at :14 – you were looking at her but closing your shoulder forward, so that could potentially break connection.
>>And she’s responding to “go” and maybe that’s delivered a bit late?
She totally liked the Go verbal, you can use it repeatedly GO GO GO especially as the distances get bigger. You can also add more motion to support this: as she is wrapping, stay connected like you did but take off running 🙂 You can’t really say the ‘go’ verbal until she is exiting the wrap, but showing the motion earlier will get her driving out even sooner.
>>Wrap cues are a bit weak because I’m shifting from words to noises…>>
I could hear them! They contrasting nicely with the GO verbal.
You can add 2 more things to this (as well as more distance between the wing and jump):
– start very close to the wing and stay near it until she finishes wrapping… then move forward to get her driving ahead of you.
– start as far from the wing as you can and send to it. As soon as she commits to the wing, take off to get miles and miles ahead. This is also a challenge because finding the jump behind you versus chasing you might be hard 🙂Great job here!!
TracyGood morning!
Wind In Your Hair is going really well! That toy is awesome LOL! Your timing is spot on and she is looking ahead really well and finding the jump perfectly. On the reps here, you were saying the reward marker when she looked forward. Since it is going so well, you can replace the reward marker with a cue like “go!” or “jump”. And throw the reward at the same time to keep her looking ahead (you might not have time to say a reward marker here, but a cue followed by the reward on the line is also an indication that she should take the toy).
How is your weather looking? Any opportunity to take this outside so you can add more distance between the wing and the jump?
For the indoor version, you can change your position. The 2 options that can work indoors are:
– start very close to the wing and stay near it until she finishes wrapping… then move forward. That should get her driving ahead of you.
– start as far from the wing as you can and send to it, then take off to get miles and miles ahead (don’t run into a wall though!). This is also a challenge because finding the jump behind you versus chasing you is HARD!Moving target is also going well. Yay for the stay!!! My only suggestion is to have it in the dog-side arm as you drag it, rather than in the opposite arm. That will make it easier to run forward. We add it on Wednesday – stay tuned!!
Great job here!
TracyGood morning! I hope the vertigo goes away asap!!!
Nice job on the set point here! On some of the reps you were stationary and at the reward target (like at :44) and that totally helped. On some others, you were moving to it or standing nearer to jump 2 – on those reps he as looking at you, so be sure to always be out at the reward target and not moving (for now). That was when he was looking forward the best.
Good job mixing in the stay rewards and trying to get him to line up straight! He sometimes sits a little sideways (maybe to look at you) so luring him into a very straight position is perfectly fine 🙂
Because he is so young, try to limit to 2 or 3 reps per session because the pups do get physically fatigued pretty quickly and we don’t want to overdo it. Note that his sit changes at 2:25 and after that – more leaning and more rolling hi hind end under himself. Then he lost focus a bit as well – all of these are fatigue indicators. So, 2 maybe 3 reps through the set point then be done 🙂 And, that includes broken stay reps because he is still jumping on those reps.
As we build on this – do you have 2 jumps where the bars are more adjustable? Or removable to use a bump instead? These are actually a little high for now, especially the first one, so you can sort out how to use a bump and lower bars.
Nice work here!
TracyGood morning! These sessions went well!
On the discriminations, she is processing off of the physical cue for the most part, which is why you were needing to step to the tunnel to help her out. That is fine, of course, because agility is mostly physical cues 🙂 We can totally get the verbals stronger by having you hold her collar until you say the verbal at least 3 times, then let go. The verbal and release were basically simultaneous here, or the release was before the verbal except for at :18 were you sad the wrap cue several times before letting go of the collar – that was great!
The verbal cue happening before motion will strengthen it very quickly because it will predict the motion, so she will skip the waiting to see the motion and just drive to the obstacle based on the verbal.
But, she seemed to NOT love the collar hold here, necessarily. So you can line her up with a cookie, slip a finger under her collar, give her another cookie, then start the verbals. That will mean you either need a 3rd arm to hold the toy 🙂 or you can stick the toy in a pocket (the marker can cover the time it takes to get the toy out of the pocket :))
Smiley face looked fantastic – her commitment is getting really BIG and I love it! Great job with your connection here. We build on this later this week, but if you want to take it for another spin you can add even more distance!
Great job here!
TracyGood morning!
Nice lead out! He was really good with his stay (one blooper but the rest were really strong)! He is pushing into the grid really well.
You might notice he is slowing down to a trot over the 2nd jump. Part of that is the stationary reward which we will change later this week, and part of that is that you were facing him which cues a collection. So to get more power over jump 2, when you get to the reward target (the MM in this case or a toy in the future), face forward as if there is one more jump out ahead rather than face him when you release. We will be adding to this game later this week 🙂On the 2nd video, the first minute didn’t have sound so we will assume the verbals were perfect 🙂 The verbals were great in the 2nd have!
The best part about this video was the super clear connection throughout – that is a HUGE help to him! There was one moment at :51 (soft turn wing to wing to his left) where the connection got a little fuzzy but you caught it happening in the moment and strengthened it so he got the line. When you did that section again at 1:36 – gorgeous connection!!! And the connection on the tunnel exits to how the line to the wing looked great too.>>Watching the videos again shows me I have to be extra patient with his tunnel commitment (practice that separately with the wrap/vs tunnel game?). The countermotion pulls him off the tunnel >>
Yes – he has to decelerate, coordinate, and basically duck down to get into the tunnel so the more patience there, the better. His commitment will improve with experience and you can also reward a LOT of tunnels to make it really valuable for him to run through 🙂 You did have some short fast reps that you rewarded and that was great!
Only one suggestion – when running, have the treat in your hand so you don’t have your hand in your pocket, as that can draw his focus off the line. Same with the toy – but if holding a toy is too distracting, it can be in your pocket but don’t move to pull it out until he is in the tunnel (at 1:52 reaching for the toy pulled him off the tunnel because he thought it was reward time).
You can see him watching the toy a bit when it was behind your back on the wind in your hair game too – a little on the first rep and also at :42 when you sent to the cone to start the rep. This setup is a good one for getting him to ignore the toy in your hand so you can run with it: have it scrunched up in your hand but not behind your back and play this game… the instant he looks forward, you throw it.
Now… that is a great plan but what if he looks at you the whole time? LOL!! You can have a MM out past the jump and carry the toy but reward from the MM sometimes and throw the toy sometimes. That can help him understand to look ahead and not at the toy.
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
>>Had a poprocks episode when I asked for too much.>
Actually, it was not too much (although yes, keep things short and sweet especially when there is a lot of tugging and running). What was happening here was that conflicting indicators were causing errors and she found that frustrating.
When motion/verbal/connection worked together? Super! She found the lines to the tunnel/wings. Fast and focused! Her questions were when motion and verbals and connection were conflicting, o she was unable to process the cue or respond correctly. And due to youth, inexperience, and adolescent feelings, she has about 1 maybe 2 reps of lack of clarity before she gets really frustrated.
The early reps of wing/tunnel stuff looked good – very connected, and motion & verbal matched that so she got it easily.
Her first question was at :41 where verbal said tunnel and motion was in that general direction but turned away, and connection broke. She was not sure where to be (and most young dogs will pull off a tunnel in that moment of conflicting indicator).
Then the other spot that had conflicting indicators was when she would exit the tunnel on your left to go to the wing – motion was towards the wing but connection was not clear, so she did not know which side to be on. For example, at 1:26 and 1:54 on the first video, she was behind you and your arm and eyes were ahead of her. So it was unclear where to be and she got frustrated (and gave up after a few reps) You had clearer connection when she was on your right, so that was quite smooth!
On the 2nd video, nice connection at the start! It was not a conflicting indicator at :56 when she changes sides behind you – it was totally the correct response to a blind cross cue. You tried to reward but reward with a marker as if it was completely correct (the marker was a “oopsie” tight marker so she didn’t take the toy). Or, go with it and wrap her around the other side of the wing because stopping can be frustrating.
Connection was much better at the end of the session on the 2nd session but you can shorten it up and end on a win – no need to do a lot of reps especially when all that running and tugging is involved.
So to help her out, prioritize the connection as. The most important cue for her. On the tunnel exit, you can have your arm pointing back to her nose and making eye contact the whole time, until you see her lock onto the wing. Motion is probably 2nd in the priority order here, moving towards the obstacle with connection. And the verbal is the cherry on the sundae for now but not as important as the other cues LOL!!
And, because handling baby dogs requires us to be basically perfect (so hard!!), if something goes wrong: assume it was a conflicting indicator and either keep going as if it was perfect, or reward as if it was perfect. And I think rewarding with food in that moment will be the winner because on the 2nd video you tried to reward with the toy and she was like OH HECK NO. Each pup have a ‘tell’ when we are handling without as much clarity as they need – she barks/jumps up a little: “HEY HOOOOMAN CONNECTION PLEASE” LOL!
Also the 2 blooper rule can come into play: if there are 2 little bloopers, she is probably reaching the top of her tolerance limit and blooper #3 might produce too much frustration, even with rewards. So if you get the 2nd one, take a break for a while and start fresh in a different session.
>>Should I be using a right cue for the soft right turn. >>
Yes, you can totally use a right cue and saying it to her can really pump up the connection.
>>For the wrap Cues, should I mix up a FC and a Post turn for when I move?>>
On this setup, I think the physical cue of the post turn for the wrap and the soft turns to the next wing might look too much alike, so the FC will make more sense to her.
>Wrap Cues – 3/10/24>
This video is the smiley face video – can you repost the wrap cues video?
Nice work here!
Tracy
