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Hi!
To avoid getting dizzy, throw in more front crosses so you are not looping the same way more than once or twice in a row 🙂He was definitely very stimulated by this game! He ws breathing hard and had more tension in his muscles! But he was still perfect with the stay – SUPER!! You can do this with a toy in your hand (doesn’t need to be remote reinforcement) to also sometimes add in throwing the reward back to him for holding the stay.
Nice work!
THi!
Playing with him at the beginning and between each lead out looked really good, and he seemed happy to be moving away from the reward station. You can also mix in some engaged chill so that he builds that skill up as well.The cartoon silly lead out looked great on the first rep, he was more stimulated but did not break his stay or move a muscle 🙂
Something at 3:01 tipped him off that you were releasing, he moved right before the release. It might be a mouth movement or inhalation that caused him to predict the release was coming. So mix in less start-then-stop-then-start on the lead out, because it might cause him to start asking questions, thinking the release is coming.
The bar down there was because you turned to head back to the reward station while he was in the air, without a lot of info about where to go next before takeoff.
The last rep with the all-business approach is probably what the best choice will be at a trial – he was great with it! But practicing the crazy lead outs will help him rehearse stays while he is in that more stimulated state that he will find himself in at a trial.
Great job here!
Hi!
>>when we go jogging (our new thing so I can freaking get in better shape and run in trials)>>
I need to get my own butt back in gear for this… I used to run and have slacked off severely. If I want to run 4 dogs in UKI, then I need to get back to running LOL!!! EEK!!
It sounds like you have really high quality seminars and trials planned! Fun! And high quality presenters, along with nice big rings and good equipment. Fun times ahead!!!!!
And yes, the ISC trials look fantastic and I am jealous that my mixes are not testicularly-legal for them.
Have fun!
TracyHi!
Maybe a group of local folks can get together to create your own fun match? Or if there is a local-ish trial, you can go spectate and hang out 🙂
And yes, try to use your leash a lot so that he is used to the leash being part of the process.
Have fun!
TracyHi!
The sequences looked really strong- you two are working together beautifully!First sequence:
The openng looked really good! Small detail: You can finish the spin earlier at :10 by giving her the collection cues for 3 as she is passing you then try to complete the spin so you are looking over your left shoulder again before she takes off.>>The rear cross was a bit hairy but we got there.>>
It was designed to be hairy LOL!! To get the RC more smoothly there, the key is setting the line from the exit of the tunnel #4 to jump by staying there so she sees your position… then getting directly on the RC line. It is a bit of a wicked rear cross because the tunnel exit line is so hard.
On the 2nd sequence – Super nice drive to the tunnel, giving you a good position for 4-5!
>>I was too much of a chicken to cut across her line for a serp on the next one so I stayed lateral and did a threadle slice with 2 hands to cue some collection instead.>>
That fear is understandable, with all of that power coming at you! You can be one or two steps further across the bar for the serp at :39 so she can turn before takeoff – it will still be pretty far from the jump, but further across the line.
You had more pressure on the serp line at :53 (further across the bar but safely way ahead), so she turned really well and you were not in jeopardy of being run over :))The FC on 6 had a question from her: at :42, you were too far across the bar so it set a slice line, then she dropped the bar trying to adjust when you took off down the next line. As you drive those big lines and she is behind you, you can keep your left shoulder open to her, fingers pointing to her nose, so she has no questions about where to be. Having your shoulders closed might have contributed to the bar becasue her ears came up and she was looking directly at you (seeking more information) instead of looking at the line.
The bar stayed up at :56 but she still jumped long looking at you. Now, we don’t need a super tight turn on jump 6 because that wold mess up the straight line coming next, but you can be more on the line from 6-7 to set the turn (closer to the center of the bar), decel into it, and when you finish the FC, stayed more connected back to her so she has side information and is not looking at you as much.
Lovely drive down the line to the tunnel!
Last sequence – look at her collecting brilliantly at 1:15 after the huge extension line! You gave her a massive collection cue with a lot of eye contact, so it ended up being too much collection. That cue was in progress as she was taking off for jump 4 at 1:14 – perfect timing.
She was not as tight on the next rep – you started the cue for the wrap when she landed from 4, plus the cue was more to the jump and less to her. So she committed, but her collection was not as strong as it was on the previous run.
So to get the best possible turn, start the collection cues like you did at 1:14 (so she seems them before she lands from 4). And look her in the eye for a heartbeat then as she starts to collect and as you start to move forward to 6, shift your connection to the landing side of 5 (wrap jump). That will support her passing you into the wrap commitment while you are moving the other way 🙂 It is like shifting where you look: from her eyes to the landing spot.
And I agree – it is pretty fantastic that her turn was so good, that we can discuss really fine tuning it! Yay!
Great job here!
TracyHi!
You can do a homemade version: taking a small square or round piece of wood, attach a yoga mat to the top of it (staples or glue will work :)) And on the bottom to make it wobbly: put a tennis ball in a sock, and attach the sock to the bottom of it too! That can work really well 🙂
TracyHi!
Looking at both tunnel videos:
She offered really well on the first video as you moved to the tunnel right at the beginning. Then I see what you mean about staring at you. When you started her on an easier angle on the 2nd video with the toy (she as facing the tunnel entry more) she had an easier time. When she was perpendicular to the tunnel and not directly facing the tunnel entry, she took longer to offer.You can also lure this behavior for a few reps: line her up facing the tunnel and gently hold her (she might need to wear a collar or harness for that), throw the toy or treat to the other side of it, then let her go. You might get some good lightbulb moments there and also then you can start to add very simple angles.
That can also help add the verbal. Gently hold her, throw the toy, start saying the verbal, then let her go.
I don’t mind a couple of lures for this behavior, because it is easy to fade the lure because the tunnel becomes so fun 🙂 I totally taught my youngest dog (the BC mix) the tunnel with a few quick lures because he needed to understand to NOT look at me. Right now she might need the lure as a visual target to help direct her gaze to the tunnel and away from you and your cookies/toy 🙂
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
She did well getting herself back on the raised mat! She did better when you were not moving your hand back to her and she just offered it. When you hand was moving, she seemed to just be thinking about your hand 🙂 But when you out down the start cookie then let her step back on her own, she got some really good reps in!The distance you had in the middle was the best, so she could have a short distance to step back right onto the mat. When you moved further away at the end, I think it was too far so she was more likely to turn around to get on the mat than she was to step back to it.
Nice job!
TracyGood morning!
The link you posted took me to your YouTube page, but I think this is the link to the video:If it is the wrong link, let me know : )
The pattern is looking good! When saying ‘Get it’ – try saying it then moving the hand to toss it. You were moving the hand then tossing it which makes it harder to attach the verbal ‘get it’.
She was responding brilliantly the back and forth as well as the up and down at your feet, and offering engagement really quickly. Yay!
You can add in walking back and forth with this game, so you can take it on the road when you will be moving. And since she is doing really well, you don’t need to do a zillion reps so she doesn’t eat too many treats 🙂
Take this game to new places to help transfer it to different environments.
Great job!
TracyGood morning!
The rear crosses are coming along nicely! Part of the challenge is the timing to show the RC line and get to the other side early enough, which you did at :09, :19, and :45 so she got it really well. Yay!
You were a shade late at :26 and :31 so she turned to her right before turning to her left – as she as beginning to hit the prop, you were still on the right turn side. So especially for the left turns, you might need to be crazy early for now so she can process the cues and mechanics
Plus, we have another rear cross game being posted today that can help make it easier for you both!
>>She seems to think spinning on the prop is fun even on the straightaways.>>
Yes, on those reps, I think she was following you/looking at you then was almost past the prop – and her thought bubble looked like OH CRUD I NEED TO HIT MY THING so she went to hit it but ended up on the other lead, so did the spin. No worries! That will go away as we do some concept transfers (starting this week!!)
The tunnel shaping looked really good! You can add the tunnel verbal now since she seems to be reliably doing the tunnel: hold her collar gently, say your tunnel verbal a few times, then let her go to do t he tunnel while you keep saying the tunnel verbal (and throw the reward like you did here :))
Great job!!
TracyGood morning!
Good job adding the verbals to the wrapping! To help attach them separately from your motion, you can hold her collar, say the verbal a couple of times, then let go and indicate the barrel. That way the verbal and the motion are not simultaneous and she will be better able to process them individually.
The wraps looked really good, especially with the toy on the ground behind her! She ended up on the other side of you at :49 – on that rep, you didn’t have quite enough connection before the take it marker so she had not yet gotten to the new side. And since ‘take it’ means to go get the thing on the ground out ahead… she was correct to go take it.
Looking at the turn and burn: check out how she is not hitting the box anymore! Even with the toy! Gotta love whippet latent learning!
Like with the handling game, you can hold her collar, start the verbal, then let go and indicate the barrel. That will help her move to the barrel cleanly when adding the verbals.
I agree with your assessment that the bowl helped her sort out the left turns, but now she has it and doesn’t need the bowl anymore. We can always bring the bowl back if she has a question, but so far, she seems to have gotten it nicely 🙂
And you are using the toy and tugging a lot more in all of these sessions – looking great!! You both look more comfy using the toy 🙂
Looking at the tunnel shaping:
>>I was especially thrilled with how well she did with the toy! Just a few days ago she was having a hard time doing anything with the toy in my hand, and now she’s offering the tunnel, which involves quite a bit of movement away from me!>>
Yes, it is REALLY exciting because a sighthound wants to see the toy and the momma… and to do a tunnel, she has to take her eyes off of you. And she did brilliantly! (Border Collies and similar herders have the same struggles, making tunnel shaping harder). BTW – her ‘out’ behavior is looking good too!
The bowl and the cookies were a great way to jump start behavior. And I am glad you went to the toy really quickly – it cracked me up when you said “this is going to be hard” and she was like um, no, it is easy” LOL!!! Good girl!
So for the next tunnel session: add the verbal, the same way you’ll do it with the wraps. Get her pumped up, gently hold her collar, add your tunnel verbal 3 or 4 times… then let go and see when she does. If it is hard, you can say the word once or twice only, and calmly 🙂
And if that goes well, you can add more of your motion – walking past the tunnel as she is offering, then building up to jogging then running.
Great job here!!!
TracyGood morning!
Strike a pose is going well! She did well finding the target with the food bowl there and also with the toy on the ground. And also, because you were in a hotel, you were quieter than usual and she did well with that too!
Was this a before-breakfast session? The might explain the leap/grumble when you moved the bowl as well as the leap up at the end when you wiggled the toy. Definitely feed her a little bit before training in the morning, because it will actually help her food drive and focus rather than hinder it. We don’t want her to be hangry LOL! (Or the scientific explanation has to do with glucose in the brain as well as the brain prioritizing hunger over other behaviors).
An idea for the toy play when it is on the ground for this game (she didn’t really dive on it):
You can revisit some “get it’ dead toy games starting with the toy further from you (like toy races) and letting her see it thrown. Then you can go to putting it down so it is less stimulating (then make it really exciting when she moves to it). Then you can put it down close to you like here where it is at your feet – and work ‘get it’ without working other behaviors too. You don’t need to do a lot of that and you can make the toy really exiting when she moves to it, but it will help her grab it when it is ‘dead’ and in close proximity, like in these serp and threadle games 🙂Great job!!
TracyGood morning!
Yes, the food bowl is really motivating for him to drive to so he was leaving you in the dust. SUPER!!! Yo can also do this with a manners minder if you have one.The food bowl allowed you to have a fast-moving head start so you could get the blind really well – he is moving faster, so you can decelerate sooner. The decel can start when he is just a stride or two into driving towards you, and that will give him more time to shift into the collection before the pivot.
>>Toys just don’t have high enough value to reward for work. yet. I hope.>>
We have plenty of time to bring the toys into training. He plays with them when food isn’t around, yes? So you can keep playing in a variety of food-free situations, then go into a food training session. That will help get him into the arousal state we want, plus it will help to bring food into the games. For my foodie dogs, I would start the toy play in a different location (like a different room) then run to the food training room. And then you can end on the food training (no need to go back to the toy yet) because food is plenty stimulating for him 🙂
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning! She was so great with her releases game here! FUN!!
On the first rep, you moved to the start line without the leash after tugging on it (UKI-style) and the 2nd rep, you moved to the start line with the leash (AKC-style). She was a rockstar on both – no problem ignoring the reward station and perfect stay & engagement. LOVE it!
I think she is ready to see a variation on this game: get her pumped up like you did here, then do the moving lazy game with cheese throws like you have been doing when you are working sequences outdoors. She is ready to see that game in super high arousal.
Then you can start doing variations on it: getting a couple of jumps in a row without cheese throw, then the let’s go cue to go back to the reward station.
Then you can approach the what I think is the hardest thing for her: finding a jump after a tunnel. Get her pumped up like you did here, then put your stuff on the reward station – then send through a tunnel and walk past the jump. Try to put the jump on a pretty obvious line and let’s see if she can find it!!
Great job here!
Tracy
