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Hi!
Strike A Pose is off to a strong start here! He was a little careful but the mechanics (yours and his) were correct and that is what we want 🙂 I think he was being careful because there is a lot of handler pressure wen we are facing them, so he was sorting it out to be sure he was correct. Good boy!You can work the other side too. I think adding the food bowl on the ground will add more excitement to the game: he was careful about driving directly at your hand, but the value of the food bowl will make it worthwhile (then you can plop the treat into the bowl).
Great job!
Tracy
Hi!
At the start of the video, letting him see you put the prop down got him more focused on it, so that is also a good way to get more drive ahead to it – he was super fast driving to it on the first rep.You can see him looking at hands in pockets here too, so I think having your hands out of your pockets will help (and having the temperatures return to normal will DEFINITELY help!!! Brrrr!). So adding more of your motion and more driving ahead will get the RCs to be easy here too.
Nice work!
Tracy
Good morning!
He is doing well sorting out the cues for the rear cross! We can add more value for driving ahead like you mentioned at the end of the video:
It will be easier to get the RCs if he drives ahead to the prop more and looks at you less. So start each rear cross session with several reps of him going straight and driving ahead, with you throwing the reward straight ahead.
And try not to have your hands in your pockets (even though it is insanely COLD out :)) because hands-in-pockets are an accidental cue for “cookie is coming out soon” 🙂 That might be why he was watching you a bit extra.
You can add more motion on the parallel path game on the prop so he is running more. When you were walking, he was not sure if he should stick with you pr drive to the prop but when you added more speed, he was also happier to drive more.
I think once he is blasting ahead, the RCs will be easy peasy to throw in because your line and timing were really good!
Nice work! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning!
Wow, he did great on the send and serp game! You had a lot of motion and you were ahead, and he found the serp jump beautifully. Yay! You can start to add in the advanced version where it is a backside by moving the start wing, and remember to mix in the FC on the wing balance reps.
Yes, the zig zag requires quickness for dogs and humans when the wings are really close. He did great here! They were so close that it is almost a weave-like pattern of movement.
Getting up to 5 wings was a bit harder with getting him to do wing 1-2 but he was great when yo were out at the 4th wing! You can revisit it eventually (no rush, we have other stuff coming up to play with) and you can try backchaining with you at wing 5 but he starts at wing 4 then 3 then 2 then 1.
Great job here!!
Tracy
Good morning!
>On the backside wraps, are you using a verbal?>
On the first one on the demo video, I did not because I wanted to see if he could do it. Then on the others, I added it quietly. It is ‘dig dig dig dig’.
> Is that verbal different than the backside/slice verbal? >
Yes – ‘back’ is for backside slices and ‘dig’ is for backside wraps. They are entirely different behaviors so need different cues. I used to use back then a wrap verbal but it was way too late for fast dogs and that caused bar issues. No issues with 2 separate verbals!
>And then does there have to be a different verbal for right vs left backside wrap?>
That is trending lately but I don’t yet see a reason why we need it. If the dog knows it is a backside (and not a front and not a threadle) then the visual of the bar provides the info on whether it is left or right once they arrive on the backside. If anyone gives you a reason why we might need to add more verbals to it, let me know 😂
>Also, I know you are using right and left for the rear crosses.>
Yes – all soft turns are dog’s left or right, regardless of handler position.
> I have forever used “switch” as my rear cross verbal. >
I have found switch to be a little too vague for today’s course design, because it does’t really tell the dog anything about what happens next (how much to turn or where to go).
I do use ‘switch’ to me turn away and layer, but that is a separate context from a regular rear cross.
>I have a separate verbal for a turn on the flat “turn” >
That is a good use for it!
>And I am anticipating I will need a RC wrap verbal….which I currently have no verbal for that but I do see a need for it but then am I going to give a separate word for right vs left RC wrap? >
Yes – there is a need for it. And that is why I use the dog’s left or right on the soft turns versus the wraps. A left wrap verbal cue is always wrap-to-your-left, dog 🙂 no matter where I am (turn towards, turn away) and it saves me from having to train and remember additional sets of verbal cues.
So on my rear cross wraps, I use the left-wrap or right-wrap cue. My handling attempts to support that but the verbal helps the dog even when my handling is, um, not good LOL
>My head is spinning…too many words!>
TOTALLY agree! But it gets easier when we raise the pups using the words. It becomes second nature for dog and human 🙂
>Not sure I have the space to do the RC exercise in my basement but I can try. I hate skipping games because I can’t do them outside right now.>
This winter has been GROSS! Fingers crossed for better weather ahead!
Tracy
Good morning!
She was flying here! Wow!!! And she was locked on the line brilliantly.
I think part of it was your clear cues: motion and connection. And part was latent learning – she was like I GOT THIS after a good sleep. FUN!! She was also bringing the toy back really well and ignoring the FOMO barking of the other dog.
>We did some more Find the Jump this evening. I tried to keep my arm back, make eye contact, and stay turned to help with connection. >
Mission accomplished! It is hard at that speed but she also is building a lot of value for the jump which makes it easier too!
>One time I didn’t as she came out of the tunnel and then she missed the jump. I was also trying to stay further away from the jump and run parallel to it rather than angling in.>
The was at 2:49 – I think you might have been feeling the pressure of her speed 🙂 and threw too early – the toy was in flight just as she exited the tunnel so she was looking at you and not at the jump. That was the anomaly though, the rest were strong!
> I still think maybe I threw the toy too late and then didn’t keep running after I threw it. >
On all of the reps where she got the jump – your throw timing was great and you definitely kept running.
You can add a GO verbal or a jump verbal to help supper the line now too~
>I did short session before this one and at first she was running a lot with the toy so I ran away and when she came I gave her treats. So in this session she did better.>
Aha! That explains why her retrieve looked really good – well done making it fun for her!
>I have trouble cueing deceleration which is not good given the size of my dogs. I was thinking about doing your opposite arm course. Do you think it would help with deceleration cues? >
Yes – there is an entire section devoted to getting better turns 🙂 And we will work on decel in this class too. It is possible that given her huge stride and intense speed that you are doing it right but it needs to come sooner. Stay tuned for more decel stuff coming up!
>I see what you mean about maybe jumping 20 inches for AKC. I’m a little frustrated right now with a lot of the courses I’ve run in AKC. But UKI courses are pretty hard for me too.>
UKI courses are hard for everyone LOL!! But the lower levels (Beginner/Novice) and the Speedstakes classes and their new DASH program will be lovely and flowing and not as hard because you won’t see the crazy international challenges.
My whippet is eligible for AKC courses but I feel his stride is too big and the footing at facilities around me is not safe for his speed (plus I don’t want to ask him to run in collection… BORING 🥱 😂) so I stick to UKI and some USDAA. He would jump 16 Preferred in AKC but that is too low and it will be more like speed bumps and not jumps, so it might make it even worse.
Now, looking at Carmen who is bigger and faster than Ramen the whippet – 24” might land her too far out from the jump to have time to sort a stride for the next one. 20” is more appropriate because she will still have to jump but won’t land as far, giving her more room to get the next stride in without having to run the whole course in extreme collection (because… BORING 😆🤣).
I like for these sighthounds to get the chance to open up and run in agility – it is breathtaking and super fun for dog, handler, and spectators. There is nothing more amazing than watching a sighthound run, but maybe I am a little biased haha!!!!
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning! She is doing really well here with her commitment and staying on the lines!!
There was only one blooper: At 1:17, you had disconnected when she exited the tunnel and were not looking at her (you were looking at the wing) and your hand was swinging a toy around, so she came to the toy. Compare to the next rep at 1:36 where you were looking at her and she was great (didn’t look at the toy at all!
>OMG I don’t know left from right lol! Poor Torch.>
Yes, you will want to give yourself a quick walk through to plan the verbals before bringing her out 🙂
More importantly, though, you will want to give her the turn or go info earlier – you were saying it as she was getting into the tunnel, so it was harder for her to hear. You will want to say when she is still a stride away before getting into the tunnel, so she is about 6 feet away from the entry. That way she will easily hear the verbal and see the handling.
Looking at the set point:
>I’m feeling like she’s leaving a bit early. I think it’s the moving toy. Should I practice more without the jump?>
Her form with the moving toy is really nice! She is not leaving a bit early in terms of jumping form (she is not taking off too soon).
Was she leaving the stay early? Yes, possibly 🙂 so the thrown reward for the stay should happen while the toy is moving. And yes, you can practice it without the jumps – we don’t need to do a lot of actual jumping here because she is so young. The 2nd bar here doesn’t even need to be at 8 inches, it can be 2 bumps or 4 inches. But based on her form, we definitely want to keep the moving target as part of it.
Here is what I see on the video:
When you are using the stationary set point, keep your position next to or parallel to the reward so she doesn’t accelerate past deceleration (that could dilute deceleration cues in the future).
But the stationary target was all front end use and her hind end was not pushing off (because she was getting ready to stop at the reward target).
When you did the moving toy – she was in the correct jumping form: lovely rounded form and lots of hind end power. As she develops, this distance might be a bit too short for her and her power!
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
Ah yes, the Turn And Burn game is coming up! His commitment is looking strong, he is ready for this game!
For these sessions, keep him on the same side for a bunch of reps rather than change sides a lot – that will make it easier for him to know the framework of the game.
Remember to have a line on the ground as a visual aid for you – the line tells you when you can do the FC and run the other way. The line starts on the exit of the wrap, then you can move it closer to the start area by a bit, after each successful rep or two, so you are cued to do your FC earlier and earlier 🙂
I don’t think you will need to wait for him to fully finish the wrap before doing the FC, so the use of the line on the ground will actually get you progressively leaving earlier and earlier 🙂 with the goal being that you start your FC before he even arrives at the barrel.
>(He had sniffy training last night and I’m starting to get some nice freeze indications on odour today. Such a good boy.)>
What a good boy!!!! He is doing so well!!!!
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
Toy races are great for sorting out how to get more toy play. When he likes what you have thrown, he is very happy to drive ahead!
Question: was there any food in the room? He might need to build up toy play with you when there is no food in the room including on a shelf or in your pocket. He is definitely food motivated but he is also toy motivated!
The first toy might have been too small for tugging on with you and he doesn’t want to play that close to your hand or with you bending over. He is a polite fellow. And maybe he is not as polite with his ‘big brother’ Folger.
I think tying that first toy to a long toy (3 or 4 feet long) will be great because then you can pick up one end of the toy and swing it around for him to chase and grab. That will let him really grab it without being careful about your hands or leaning over.
Notice the difference with the longer toy with the white fuzzy thing on the end – he was really playing! Yay! But then when he got a cookie, he was waiting for the cookie instead of picking up the toy, and you were waiting for him to pick up the toy. So I think he was confused about what the actual reward was and once the cookies came out, needed a really exciting toy to go back to.
He was also interested in the toy you threw at 2:00 – but that is also small so it can be attached to a longer toy to swing for him to chase and grab.
For now, let’s separate toys from cookies in training, and use super long toys that you can swing around for him to grab. If he has trouble letting go of the toy when there are no cookies, let me know and we can teach him an ‘out’ that doesn’t require cookies.
Nice work here!
Tracy
Good morning!
>He is latching on and wanting to chew more of the tug toys than he did before so maybe both. >
It can absolutely be a bit of both!
>For tug maybe one with more of a ball?>
Yes, or shorter bursts of sessions so it is easier to regulate arousal.
He was very confident on the wobble board!! He doesn’t seem to mind the noise or movement at all. And super good balance for a baby dog. Yay!
Yes, keep the toy lower so he shifts his weight back to pull on it. You can also get the weight shift by gently tapping or petting his sides while he is tugging – many pups like that a lot and will pull back more. If he says he does *not* like that tapping or petting, we don’t need to do it 🙂>Omg I stopped the toy play and tried to do break after the wobble board and he kept getting on it. I finally had to do a scatter of treats to quickly pick it up lol>
Ha! He is obsessed!
>For the folding in, I added new marker of take for getting food from the dish since yes should mean from my hand.>
Perfect! The session went well! Super job with the smooth lineups into the collar hold, and I thought the timing of your ‘take’ marker was spot on – you were saying it after he made the choice to go around the cone.
You can keep moving the bowl around the cone so it gets more and more visible as he is heading to the cone 🙂
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
It is so interesting that she will happily move to the empty right hand but not the left hand as much. You were spot on to go to luring her in with a treat and then you used both hands which was also helpful. Excellent adjustment to get her happy on that side and she was much happier by the end of the session.
The other thing you can add to the left hand is hand touches where she just boops your left palm with her nose then gets a reward. That can build up the left hand love too.
She worked most of the Fold It In game on your left side with no concerns about being on your left so maybe try the collar grabs in a different location and see if there is something about the location that made the left hand hard?
Her face on the first rep of the Fold It In game was so cute! She looked at the bowl, looked at you, then looked at the line to the cone. She was calculating what she needed to do to get the cookie! Excellent patience on your part to let her work it out and get it right.
After that, she was quite lovely with looking at the line immediately. She was also terrific on the other side, and you got the bowl all the way around the cone. Brilliant!!! You can get the cone all the way around the wing on the other side too, and also try it with a toy.
Great job!
Tracy
Hi!
>Love this! I am learning so much from you! Breaking down the behavior like this!
>I am so glad you are enjoying being a bit nerdy with me 🙂 It is fun to understand how their brains work!
>My “cooperative” little puppy went feral at class last night LOL! >
Ha! I love it! She was the life of the party!
>I brought a bully stick for when the instructor was talking, but that backfired this time. She was all about the bully or just wanted check out everything else, including her neighbors.>
You can use the bully stick as a tug toy, especially if she might be tugging.
> We went on a bunch of objects again, this time a play tunnel came out. She was GAME ON! She knows a tunnel from when she was just a wee one. Sunnie – tunnel= in & out by herself back & forth, then we jump on the tunnel>
Hilarious! Be sure to get video even if it is silly – you will cherish how cute she is!
The prop game went really well!
>My YES marker is run to me for reward. I don’t think she knows it yet & I think I needed to add movement to myself to drive her back to me.>
I agree, she is still learning that yes involves running back to you, but you were adding hand movement and a TON of praise which helped her come back. Reaching into your pocket drove her to you immediately 🙂 You can also add in shaking your cookie hand. I figure she will figure out that ‘yes’ has a ton of value before she wakes up tomorrow morning 🙂
Her plankrobatics look great! He is very confident getting on it and was really good about turning around while keeping all 4 feet on it! Very coordinated for a baby dog! Her down was also very balanced. All of that is also a great foundation for future fitness work.
This plank is a perfect size for her current size, so you can maybe put a folded towel under one end of it to make it wobble the tiniest bit. Then you can repeat the challenges you showed her here: can she still do it while the board is moving a little?>I have a teeter plank buried under the snow. One day we’ll be able to use it! lol!>
Ha! This winter has been way too long already.
Her barrel wraps are going great! She is speed and confident. No trouble when you were standing up, no trouble when you moved the barrel away. SUPER! We add to this game in the next set of games. To prepare for that, you can start to fade out the bowls by putting them behind you even more. And you can also try this with a toy in your hand – tug before you start, then have the toy in your hand either as the reward to replace the cookie, or while you still drop cookies in the bowls. The toy can be in your armpit if you are rewarding with treats so you can enough hands to get the treats out.
Great job here!!!
Tracy
Hi!
>I don’t even know where I am anymore, I don’t think it is Florida!!!! Do.Not.Like!>
I know! WHAT THE HECK, FLORIDA haha
>All my dogs choke with treats & training. Brachy dangers!>
You might have to make slower transitions, or use treats that just slide down. When I had a tiny 2 lb Papillon, I would use tiny strings of shredded cheese. No choking!
> He is better about his harness being held than a real collar. Maybe the collar has hands going closer to his face? >
This is entirely possible! Many small dogs are sensitive to that, especially because it is right near their eyes.
>I need to try that again and make sure to touch the collar from above & behind vs from the front & next to his face.>
Try lining him up next to you or between your feet, then come in from the side/behind and see how he feels.
>We did Plankrobatics! He liked it!
It looked great! His Meerkat is the cutest thing ever and also – nice strength there in his legs and core!
His plank work went really well too. You can elevate the plank a bit. Or, if you have access to a longer plank, get him running across it to see how feels with the wind in his hair 🙂
>Folding It in (sniff, so sad & now such an epic tribute)>
SO SAD! She was way too young. I need to go watch Best In Show and sing along with God Loves A Terrier in her honor.
I admit to snorting in laughter when he almost feel over driving to the bowl when you were letting go of his harness LOL! I guess he likes treats LOL! He did great! You can keep moving the bowl around the cone til he passes it.
You can hold your hand point a little longer before you let him go – at this point it is to pair the hand point as the cue for the forward focus. As the bowl gets to harder spots, the hand will actually cue him to focus forward (so hold him until you see where he is looking).
He did well with the toy! One thing you can do is hold the other end of the toy and when he is moving towards it, you can start sliding it for him to chase. That will be more exciting as a reward than the dead toy.
Great job here!
TracyHi! The wing wrapping looks fabulous! I agree – he loves it!! Not a lot of feedback needed here because it looks so great!
He is ready for the next level which is coming next Monday. In the meantime, a couple of higher level things you can do:
– we can fade out his targets by making them smaller (maybe just 2 inches big) or just use a piece of duct tape on the ground on either side 🙂
– you can break this up with toy play and see if he can still go wrap while you are holding a toy.
Have you decided on what you’d like your wrap verbals to be ?
Great job!
Tracy
