Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Good morning!
Good job getting toy play in the yard!
When you send to the barrel, stand totally still and let him offer – he was trying to figure out how to go around it and move away from the toy, so the more stationary you are, the easier it will be for him to offer moving.You had a lot of pointing and verbals and moving, which drew his attention entirely back to you, so he was watching you and not considering offering on the barrel.
>>I decided to take a step back and try the Wrap exercise using the tug toy, which I had not done in the past.>>
This was a really smart training moment! Yay! You recognized that there was a step that could help him and switched to that without abandoning the session, and then he was really successful. Click/treat to you š
Note the difference on the second video, where you were a lot quieter and more stationary, and he was able to offer a lot more! He is better when turning to his right on this, so you can do a couple of reps in a row of turning to his right before asking him to offer to his left. He did get it really well! You were moving the visual of the toy away a little more and that helped too!
For the next session, repeat what you did here on the 2nd video (but with more right turns to get started before asking for left turns) and then I bet you will be able to add in turn and burn really easily.
āØGreat job!!!
TracyGood morning!
Seems like EOTT is going well!!!
The first rep was super hard because between you moving to the position and the big toy, the had target was not as clear til after she was on her way to the toy.
You were clearer o the 2nd rep (and it was to her stronger side like you mentioned). On the 3rd rep, you were stationary before she finished finding the treat and that made a world of difference – she was not processing motion, so she could much more easily āseeā the hand target. She drove directly to it on that rep, and also on the last rep where you were stationary and she was moving to her less-strong side. SUPER! And a big gold star to her for ignoring the giant dangling tug toy, in favor of hitting the little target. NICE!!!
You can move to adding an empty food bowl as a reward target on the ground and then the toy can eventually be the reward target on the ground.
How is she doing in the amped up EOTT environment?
Great job here!
TracyGood morning!
Tugging on the first video then the treat scatter went well! And the strike a pose game went really well too – he drove right into the target hand on both sides, and good job getting the reward placement across you, so he got the 2nd turn of the serpentine line too š And back to tugging at the end (looks like throwing the toy was a good way to re-engage after all the cookies :))
I didnāt see any overarousal moments with the toy or any humping š on this clip – just really good transitions and training mechanics. YAY!
You can do th strike a pose game now with a toy as the reward – a cookie toss starts the game (or a stay) then the toy is the reward after hitting the target, placed just like you did with the treats here
Lap turns are looking good – remember to see your feet together until he arrives at your hand, then move the hand and foot back together to set the turns, When he as turning to his left, your leg was back too early on the first couple, which tends to get the pups turning towards us (and not away). Then after that, you starting moving your leg later, and he was Abel to turn the new direction easily.
Tandems looked great! You had one rep where you moved your hands too high and a little too fast, so he didnāt turn – but all the other reps were slower and hands were lower, so he was great!
Adding the prop went well too! He was able to find it easily after the turn away. With the lap turn here, delay the foot step back til he is a couple of inches from your hand – when you were too early, he didnāt turn away but when you were slightly later: perfect!
And the toy play looked harder for him here in this session, but he didnāt get overaroused from what I could tell (not grabbing or humping).
>>although I continue with my struggle to get him to tug with me. Sometimes it seems to me he is looking for the food.>>
I agree, I think it is hard for him to tug in a smaller area where there is sooooo much food scent on the ground and in your hands. You donāt suck at it! Even training in another room or moving from room to room to split the area between cookies and toys will help! And being able to train outside will help too. The main focus is the arousal regulation, and he did well here (bearing in mind that since he is entering adolescence, that might not always be the case LOL!).
Nice work!
TracyGood morning!
Tugging on the first video then the treat scatter went well! And the strike a pose game went really well too – he drove right into the target hand on both sides, and good job getting the reward placement across you, so he got the 2nd turn of the serpentine line too š And back to tugging at the end (looks like throwing the toy was a good way to re-engage after all the cookies :))
I didnāt see any overarousal moments with the toy or any humping š on this clip – just really good transitions and training mechanics. YAY!
You can do th strike a pose game now with a toy as the reward – a cookie toss starts the game (or a stay) then the toy is the reward after hitting the target, placed just like you did with the treats here
Lap turns are looking good – remember to see your feet together until he arrives at your hand, then move the hand and foot back together to set the turns, When he as turning to his left, your leg was back too early on the first couple, which tends to get the pups turning towards us (and not away). Then after that, you starting moving your leg later, and he was Abel to turn the new direction easily.
Tandems looked great! You had one rep where you moved your hands too high and a little too fast, so he didnāt turn – but all the other reps were slower and hands were lower, so he was great!
Adding the prop went well too! He was able to find it easily after the turn away. With the lap turn here, delay the foot step back til he is a couple of inches from your hand – when you were too early, he didnāt turn away but when you were slightly later: perfect!
And the toy play looked harder for him here in this session, but he didnāt get overaroused from what I could tell (not grabbing or humping).
>>although I continue with my struggle to get him to tug with me. Sometimes it seems to me he is looking for the food.>>
I agree, I think it is hard for him to tug in a smaller area where there is sooooo much food scent on the ground and in your hands. You donāt suck at it! Even training in another room or moving from room to room to split the area between cookies and toys will help! And being able to train outside will help too. The main focus is the arousal regulation, and he did well here (bearing in mind that since he is entering adolescence, that might not always be the case LOL!).
Nice work!
TracyGood morning!
The narration on the video was great LOL!
The handler of the dog before he was LOUD and also those big loud NO NO at the endā¦ well that was hard! I think you also send something like āI am not going yetā because of the end of run ruckus of the previous dog – that was appropriate, I would not have started the lead out process either.
The run itself went great. She seems faster in trials than she is at class which means your cues have to happen sooner & faster. And at the stage of running her, you are probably splitting your focus between āwhat is she going to do, behaviorally, on contacts, etcā and getting the info to her super early.
So everything you described as having gone wrong just goes back to the cues being late. When she is moving that fast, she is going to make choices earlier (jumping, lines, etc). And the hard part of running an inexperienced dog who is fast like Sprite is that she needs the cues early, but she also needs extra time to process them because she is still learning to work in that environment.
So if you feel like running an inexperienced dog at the beginning of her career is hard? I agree! It is hard! And it gets easier for you both š
Good job accepting the line up even though she was slightly sideways. Her brain (the back of it, in charge of emotions) might have felt a bit unsafe after the ruckus of the handler yelling at her dog as Sprite entered the ring. So that part of the brain was in biological āstay safeā mode and would not allow Sprite to turn away from that person/dog entirely.
>>I tried to play either her, but I struggled to get her attention.>>
Yep, her amygdala was probably temporarily in charge there – stay safe! Stay safe! But that was only a couple of seconds then she was back into a pretty good attentional state.
Looking at the middle of the run:
>>Then, I didnāt cue the turn from 4 to the teeter and she locked on a line clear across the ring. >>
At 1:34, you were accelerated and facing the line, so the cues told her to do exactly what she did. Good girl! She came back to you (find my face!) with a āwe nailed it!ā expression on her face š
>>A few bars fell. Might be slipping versus just not paying attention to her form versus late information. >>
Looking at the video: late information. She was totally paying attention and she was not slipping. The first downed bar was at 1:35 and she saw you slam the brakes as she was in the air, so she dropped her feet but it was too late to adjust the jumping or line commitment.
The 2nd bar down was at 1:45 and it was a conflicting indicator there too: you had decelerated (which predicts turn) then as she took off, you said āpolesā and accelerated. So she tried to adjust.
I am not sure if you wanted the tunnel after the weaves, but you were moving and facing it as she was exiting the weaves, so she was correct to go to it.
Gorgeous handing line from the end of the weave area to the a-frame. Wow! That is a look into what is coming soon at trials! So great from both of you!
>>We need to work on RC as she turned the wrong way on the jump after the AF.>>
Yes – late info š At 2:13 when you released her from the frame and cues the jump, you were on the right turn side of it and moving forward on that line – the RC info did not start til after she took off, so she could not adjust til landing. Ideally, you would be closer to the frame and even a little further ahed before you release, so you be running to the center of the bar to set the RC before she has to make a takeoff decision.
But even with these little bloopers (and they really are little bloopers, due to getting used to her speed and being in the trial environment) – note how she never shifted into overarousal, she always was able to āfind you faceā and was easy and happy to re-start for the next session. The contacts and weaves looked fantastic!!! YAY!!!
So looking at the before-run and entry to ring moments:
>>Not sure what else to do to get her to pay attention as we walk in.
>>Sheās still very distracted in the ring.She is definitely finding that being near the ring while the dog before her runs is hard, and the moments in front of the jump before the line up is hard (she is not finding the line up itself to be that hard, all things considered, and that is GREAT!)
So for a general āwhat to doā – this waiting ringside while exciting dogs run needs to be practiced in class while the exciting dogs run š I donāt think she is that strong in class with this skill yet, so it makes sense that it would be harder in a trial. So at class, seize the rehearsal opportunity and start playing your pre-run games while her exciting friends are finishing their turn.
If my memory is correct, doesnāt she have a couple of exciting and maybe loud Aussies in her class? You can use these canine friends to help rehearse these moments right before the ring entry. Start as far from them as needed but even if she is not perfectly controlled, no worries – practice makes pathways! And you will see the arousal regulation kicking in more and more.
In a trial, for today (for example) – you can keep her a little further back then move into the ring quickly when they need you inā¦ but no need to rush into the ring or get close if the person before you will be screaming NO NO at their dog (I mean, I would not bring my novice dog into the ring if that was going to happen! If the judge says anything (which I doubt he will do) you can just tell him that the other handler was screaming at her dog and it is unfair for your dog to be subjected to that, in a trial environment. It is a pretty classic example of why it is sometimes perfectly fine to delay entering the ring.
If you are running today you can do a little experiment outside the ring – try a snuffle mat while the previous dog is running. And as that dog is finished, maybe your videographer can grab it while you move into the ring. That might help her out in that situation a lot!!
And, interestingly – she is more stimulated and frustrated here with the leash onā¦ so when you get into the ring, take the leash off as soon as possible. She is a little less aroused with it on. Take it off and go into the line up and see how she does!
Overall I think she is looking fantastic! And if you run today – maintain the lovely connection you had here, and if she goes off course, assume it was a late cue š and carry on like you were doing.
The one piece that she is struggling with is the piece that is the least rehearsed (waiting while exciting dogs run) so we add that piece to the puzzle and boom! It all comes together š and that is really exciting!
Let me know how it goes today!
Tracy
Good morning!
This went well! The tunneling had the intended effect of really stimulating him so you could then challenge the stay behavior to see if he can do t in rial-like arousal.He could line up beautifully. A sit on the flat ended up being a down (we can blame his BC heritage for that LOL!). And it is good info because if you want this sit stay in this context, you can use your line up which seemed super solid in all reps.
And adding the silly lead out also was fine for him, no problem at all holding the stay. Super!!! Aroused, yes. A little twitchy here and there? Yes, but still really successful with the stay behavior.
At 3:10 he did have a question – he had done the game had a good jump, you said yes, and moved the toyā¦ then asked for a middle line up. He was confused and was looking around. The line up was out of the regular context so it didnāt make as much sense to him there.
He was able to do it, but it falls into the category of conflicting indicators: everything about the context leading up to the moment and the way you were praising/moving seemed to indicate toy play comingā¦ then the line up cue conflicted with that so he needed a few extra moments to process it. That is similar to when our physical and verbal cues donāt match, so the dogs need to try to sort us out š
You can also do this with targeting on a plank for lots of quick, high arousal reps of end behavior on contacts!
And, is it also great for end of run behavior: 10 tunnels in a row, then praise and run over to the leash, then onwards to the reward station.
Great job here š
TracyHi!
>> He doesnāt like it and lays his ears back when I ask him to āwalkā (not pull). I want that to be more positive.
Yes, definitely add toys/treats when you arrive to the destination but also you can use treats or toys along they way, if he is pulling and there is conflict when you want walking and he wants pulling š
>>Iāll also practice all the outside the ring behaviors more regularly at home.>>
Practicing these get and behaviors away from agility and with increasing levels of arousal (also away from agility) will help when you are outside the ring at a trial. The proofing with arousal game can be helpful for that, and the behavior you “proof” can be eating treats, for example.
>> Once Liz is back from EOTT Iāll see if we can get some people together that he can watch doing agility so we can practice. Heās been to a couple of seminars where heās better but far from where I hope to be so maybe I can conquer these smaller scenarios first.>>
Great! Seminars (even if you just audit), classes, etc – all are great build ups to trials. Keep me posted about how he does!
Tracy
Good morning! The rear crosses are going well – he was reading you correctly: when he was turning to his right when you were rear crossing, it was because you were cutting behind him late so he saw you on the right turn side as he was arriving at the prop.
At :38 then :41, you were sooner to get to the left turn side so he turned left š Yay! Then he was on to you and just started offering that regardless of what you were doing LOL! Good job just going straight to reset that so you could work the timing. The reps at 1:18 and 1:23 and the last rear cross rep all had you cutting to the new side sooner, so he read the left turn well.So the key will be to see how early you can get to his other side. You might end up pulling him off the prop (getting a turn on the flat) if you are too early, but that is fine for now and still rewardable.
Nice job with the goat tricks on the plank, that was easy for him! He was able to get up on the plank and balance himself into the straight line up. You can try this with you standing, so he can have his head higher (for better balance) and so he is not as likely to lie down. Turning around went well too – the slow hand cues helped him maintain his balance.
Since he seems to be doing well with the plank, you can add in backing up onto it and see how he does.
Great job here!
TracyGood morning!
The lap turns with a prop are looking really good! She is very fast driving into your hand cue, following the turn, then hitting the prop. Your mechanics were really strong and that really helped her.The next step is to have your magic cookie hand empty (it might have been on the last couple of reps but I was hard to tell because your transitions were so quick :))
When your hand is empty and your are going to give her a treat for coming too it, remember to keep your hand outstretched and feet together until she is just about at your hand (try not to move too soon).
She is driving back so hard to the hand on the strike a pose game that she is rattling her brain LOL!!! Donāt worry about the pounce, that will go away when we add a jump and motion. And she was GREAT about it even with the big new toy in your other hand – more arousal from the toy being used, but she was still super precise with the behavior. And fast!!!!
Nice mechanics on these – yes, another arm would make it easier LOL! But you were still able to make excellent transitions so there was never a moment where she had a question. Big click/treat to you!!!We build on this game next week so you can let it percolate until Tuesday š
For the toy-cookie trades:
>>Can you explain this a bit more? At what point do I give her the treat? And how? Iām just sure the order of events for giving a treat to get her to bring the toy back.>>
You can experiment with exactly when it all happens, but generally you can throw a toy, and when she gets it, call her back. When she turns to you (rather than having a zoomer with the toy), you can mark and present a cookie from your hand. She might not bring the toy all the way back, but that is fine to start. Eventually you can shape your way to getting her to come further and further back with the toy, then you give her the cookie. She might pick this up really quickly and bring the toy back right away š Let me know if that makes sense!
Nice work here!
TracyGood morning!
It sounds like a fun weekend at EOTT so dar!!It was really cool to see her play toy races and the blind cross game in a new area – outdoors at the hotel! That is a really great opportunity for her to play her games but also to work with focus and engagement in a new place. She was terrific! She also went back and forth between food and toys, and didnāt run off with the toy. All of this is great!
The toy race at the beginning looked good, and she was quite perfect about reading the blinds (and NOT doing a blind unless you cued it). She also did well with the pivots – you will need to do the blind sooner, so you can decel sooner. You were decelerating right as she arrived at your leg, which made it harder for her to see up her collection for the pivot. So do t he blind right as she starts moving towards you, then decel right after you reconnect on the new side.
>>For Kaladin, I cue the threadle slice with āComeā and my off hand up a bit and across my body (itās not usually very high). Works great for him. With Min I did the inside hand back and then switched her to the off hand even though she was smaller. Recommendations for Lift given sheās going to be small too? (and my threadle wrap is usually 2 hands and lower to distinguish it from the threadle slice)>>
I think it is always easiest for us humans to use the same cues for all of the dogs, so the threadle the same way as Kaladin is probably easiest. And I am sure she will read it. You can still teach the dog-side-arm threadle because that is a big part of the picture even when the full cue uses the off arm (the off arm also uses the dog-side arm a bit by pushing it back).
>>Tug- Stop tugging & wait for offered sit. Then ābreakā to release to tug.āØIs this a case where break releases her and the tug is the reward? Wondering about using āgrab itā to get the tug or is it better to be very clear about using break and then presenting the tug?>>
The reason I use ābreakā in this game and not the toy marker is two-fold:
– To build up the stay release as something to explode forward on (like we will want on the start line)
– To keep the release super precise because we humans tend to be more precise with the break releases than with toy markers.
That being said – you can also use this game to help develop markers, if you donāt move the reward before you say the marker. The āgrab itā is also a release, but it just has a slightly different meaning then break. So you can use āgrab itā, but also make sure you use break too – and then you can mark the release with the grab it marker, or throw the toy for with the āget itā marker too šGreat job! Have fun today!!!
TracyGood morning!
THE FEO went well! My only suggestion is to play with her on the way into the ring – she was definitely having arousal regulation questions on the way to the line! You can play tug, maybe do a trick – she is not quite ready for the all-business a a trial yet. She did line up and it was a good choice to do a short stay.
And the contacts and weaves looked TERRIFIC!!!!! And well done to you for maintaining contact criteria!!
Dod you hear someone in the background say āNICE AUSSIE!ā At about 1:00 when she was on the way to the poles? Very cool š And correct too! Yay!
>>If the course looks nice tomorrow Iāll do FEO with a hidden toy. Iām having to talk to her a lot on the start line. She thought about leaving when the leash came off.>>
Because of her question at the start line today, I donāt recommend hiding the toy yet. Do another FEO (or as many as needed) til you feel her more relaxed on the start line. Talking to her is perfectly fine, but we want her to be a little more relaxed and engaged when the leash comes off (and not considering leaving). So no rush to hide the toy until she has more experience moving to the line at a trial.
Let me know how it goes today!
Tracy
Good morning!
>>We have continued to play lots of leash on/off games. We have progressed to being able to sit in front of a jump at home and working on the basic behavior at different places. >>
Yay! Sounds good!!
>>So, I changed that picture to doing circle work on leash. That is working. >>
The circle work probably has a lot more action, so finds it more exciting than the fake heeling. I am glad it is working!
>>We do some circle work, then some tricks, sit, reward, remove leash, do some behaviors, reward, leash on. And now sometimes leave her at a jump or tunnel. Sometimes I throw treats to her from the lead out side and release her to the treats ā I mix it up releasing her over the jump and giving treats or tugging.>>
Terrific! You are building up a nice framework here!
>>This morning she worked in front of family ā just with the tools above and nothing extreme. She did great. Of course, when I released her from our play, she ran directly to her dad and jumped all over him. I called her to me for a quick behavior and released her again ā did this twice ā and she was great. So, little bits of change are showing up.>>>
Working in front of the family and waiting til she was finished to go jump on her dad is a big win! That sounds like a big distraction in her world and she is making good progress!
>>Iāve also started giving her a tug when those times when she turns into a velociraptor and starts biting me. So, itās only taken me two years to figure out what she needed to displace her arousal. >>āØ
Yes – the tug is good! When is she coming at you and biting? I havenāt really seen that in the videos. Ideally, you give her something manage the arousal before she start chomping on you šThank you for the update, I am glad she is doing so well!
TracyGood morning!
>>So we didnāt make it to try outs. Iām bummed but also know it was the right decision. >>
It is a bummer but I hopefully you are feeling relief in knowing you made the right decision.
āØ>>1. He is not going outside with anyone but Gibbs and Prue at the moment. He doesnāt display the same stalking chasing behavior with them that he does with Marky and Tic.>>
Great! No more rehearsals!
>> one thing he needs to do is stop turning around in front of Marky or Tic and staring them down, then waiting for them to move so he can chase. I donāt mind them running together but itās the hard stare then chase and grab at the scruff that needs to stop.>>
Yes, that is a behavior that would be nice to stop! He might have to be on a leash for a while as you try to shift the behavior. The leash and being with you will let you reward behavior you want (like walking at your side) and prevent rehearsal of the unwanted behavior. Even if you can call him out of the unwanted behavior, the rehearsal of it is keeping those neural pathways finely tuned. Stopped the rehearsal will begin to help those pathways whither away.
āØ>>2. Keep working on my outside the ring behavior. What I need is something(s) concrete that I can do with him that helps refocus him. >>He might need a combination of distance from the ring (the area at RSCR is possibly too small for him, no place to go to avoid being right next to the ring) and at a big distance is where you do most of your warm up and waiting. Ideally there is a sweet spot of distance where he can actually eat and play tug, because the games can be played there. The Hunt arena is Raleigh is MUCH bigger so might work!
Then as you get closer to the ring, something like standing/sitting on a bed or board or something can be a good waiting spot. That way he can have something to do and just hang out with you. The hand touch is his best ātrickā when he is close to the ring, so you can do some hand touch then tugging before you go in, and see how it goes.
And keep working the food value in training – if you slip food rewards into work (like do a short sequence, deliver some food, then tug) you will find the he becomes more and more interested in eating food.
Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
This is a challenging setup for sure LOL!
>>especially my 14-15 year old whoās talking here (her favorite thing at this point in her life) is intentional as that kind of barking/staring pressure just outside the ring is something that he doesnāt appreciate and is getting better at just ignoring.>>
That is why we place these games in a controlled environment š It provides the opportunity for arousal regulation games like this. It might appear like a stay game but it is really all about the arousal regulation needed when he is in more of a trial-like arousal state. The crazy lead out with the other dogs barking definitely changed his internal state (he almost broke his stay on the first rep) but then he was great!
And I agree that for now, he is an all-business dog as you lead out (at trials). You might find that as he gets more experienced, you can do the pink panther at a trial. The reason to do this is because the dogs go faster LOL! We time the difference on courses in training or when there are re-runs at a trial and the pink panther crazy lead out always gets more speed. I donāt ask for it early on because I donāt want to try it if the dog might not be able to hold the stay.
>>I have moved toward taking my leash off as soon as I enter the ring and do really like how heās responded to that.>>
I personally prefer that tooā¦ but also if you do AKC, I believe it is not legal to do that. So you can tweak it to be head to the first jump, the leash off, then line up.
>>am definitely someone who in the past has asked the person coming in after me to āgive us some space on the Startlineā if the lineup is right in front of where they are anxiously waiting to come in ā especially when I plan a longer lead out. And, in the past Iāve also asked them to let me get my leash on before coming in ā especially when the course ends close to where it starts. There havenāt actually been any issues with that but it tends to worry me to have him coming in hot and not know how the other dog might react to that.>>
Yes, that whole Facebook uproar was a little silly. If there is a dog right behind mine at the start (especially a young dog!) then yes, I see no problem asking them to move back. And for young dogs, it is fine to tell the net person āhey this is a baby dog, first trials, give me a little spaceā.
I think the issue that blew up on social media was poor communicated and a couple of people trying to make things black and white in a situation where things are NOT black and white. The main issue as I understand it is that people do it for the entire career of the dog and also are trialing dogs that are not functioning well in the trial environment. This doesnāt apply to you and Ripley š I donāt think anything will change and there wonāt be faults called, nothing to worry about.
Great job here!
TracyGood morning!
>>When she does not want to stop whatever we/she are/is doing! She will not go to the cato board at such a time. She recognizes all the situations where i might leash her up, except getting cornered in an enclosed space,>>
This is where the plan begins! If getting leashed up predicts the end of the activity, it also can predict the end of the access to reinforcement and also possibly predict that undesirable things will happen next (like going in a crate).
So we need to un-pair the leash from being finished. You can start with simple stuff like praising her, picking up the leash, then going back to do more agility for rewards in the ring. And gradually you can work up to putting the leash on, but still mixing in a LOT of taking it off again and going back to do more stuff. That will hopefully helping her past avoiding the leash being put on at the end of a run
You can also add recalls away from or out of activities she is enjoying – then reward and send her back to the activities (eventually putting the leash on gets built in too).
Two other things to build value for being leashed:
– shape her to put her head into a martingale collar or harness, so it is more of a fun trick to get leashed up
– do lots of end of run games where getting the leash involved means access to the BEST reinforcement. She loves balls, so it can be something like doing a sequence, get a cookie, get leashed up, get a ball!I would do all of these because they all hit on different aspects of the behavior. And avoid having her off leash in bog open spaces (like big agility rings) into she has more value for coming back (and so there are no ‘catch me’ games happening).
Let me know what you think!
Tracy
