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Good morning!
>So do you think toy or more interesting treats in a bag next?
At this stage, it doesn’t have to be harder – just different. Different object or different location or both.
>We took break from agility type training the last two days. Wednesday he got to go to the pool for the 1st time. He did great retrieving toy in the pool. If you want fun video to watch I can share.>
FUN!! I love this! And yes, I would love to watch his super cuteness in the video 🙂
>Yesterday we went to a large forest preserve. Did a walk and got to try retrieval of a quail. 1st retrieval was great. 2nd and 3rd was tough 🤣. I thought it was hard to get him to release a tug toy. Glad we practiced that a bit before trying this 😂>
Ha! It was what he was born to do… and his young age probably means his brain couldn’t do the ‘good decision’ of letting go of the quail 🙂
No video but Tuesday night at our in person class I sat on the bench and did his back up. That worked way better with me sitting. I will try it again at home.
>I plan to do a rental this weekend and will try RC. Do you have suggestions for 2nd game? I don’t think I will have friends with for distraction since they are trialing.>
Because the RCs are hard, you can add in an easy game. Cone/barrel wraps are fun, and any of the handling on the flat is good too because you both get to run around and be crazy 🙂 And of course, doing pattern games is always great 🙂
Keep me posted!
Tracy
Good morning!
>I ask because a tunnel for me with nothing else should mean exit in extension so I just want to make sure if the timing.>
I think he doesn’t know this yet 🙂 because he exits looking at you for more info. This might be why he doesn’t look for the jump – he is waiting for info. Do you have different tunnel verbals to indicate turns, or do you say tunnel then a turn cue on those? If you say tunnel then a directional, I think you should also say GO when you want a straight exit because he will be waiting for more info. If ‘tunnel’ only ever means ‘go straight’ and you have an entirely different word for turns on tunnel exits and don’t say tunnel for those… then he just needs more reinforcement to know that tunnel means to exit straight.
The timing would be starting 6 feet before he enters the tunnel and keep saying it til he exits and is looking straight. Then if you want him to go straight over the jump – say it a few more times 😂
>For the SERPs yeah he almost clipped me but I’m noticing patterns and I’ll post my next video to figure out how to address his cray cray moments as he’s getting older he’s hitting harder so to speak.>
Post it up! I didn’t see any cray cray moments – I saw you in the way 😂 and he did a great job NOT hitting you. You needed to be faster or further ahead or both 🙂 So if he is hitting you – post it up so we can see why he is doing that.
>When you say be a step ahead you want him in a sit stay or still hand in collar
Type send?>Both! If he is looking at you and there is not a strong indication of the line, he is going towards where he looks. Good boy! You can have him a little behind you in a stay or in a collar hold, and use a big step and really big eye contact for the sends. And if he is in a stay, you can also revisit having him focus forward before the release because that will totally help too!
Keep me posted!
Tracy
Good morning! I am glad the rain is done!!! It is all at my house now LOL 😂
The layering session went GREAT so we can add on it!
You were correctly using the ‘go’ verbal here (because we didn’t know if she would take the jump or not :)) so now you can add an obstacle name like ‘jump’. And you can move the other wing in to see if she will stay on the line as you move parallel to it, doing wing – jump – wing. And she is ready for the advanced levels, adding the tunnel after the layered jump. And if you really want to add some spicy to it – you can throw in a tight wrap on the start wing and cue the tunnel (no layering).Looking at the rear crosses:
>Overall this went all crummy. Definitely the kind of session I would normally just delete the video and avoid trying again until I had forgotten about it.>
Definitely NOT crummy!!! I’m glad you posted it. The blooper reals are the BEST! We got good info about timing and also she got info that when the human does that pressure thing, the reward will come after turning away on the new line.
What was happening was that on the reps where she turned the original direction, the cues were late in terms of driving to the center of the bar. When she spun in front of the jump, that was because you were driving in at the last moment and that sudden pressure pulled her off.
By ‘late’ what I mean is that you were running straight for a few steps then after she passed you, you were moving onto the RC line. When that happened, though, she had already made a takeoff decision and could only change direction after landing. You tried to get across her line to the other side sooner which is when she spun in front of the jump.
There were two reps where you had backside pressure which pushed her around the jump and then she say the bowl 🙂 at rep 1 and also at 1:30. I bet if the bowl was not there, she would have taken the backside of the jump based on your running line. Good girlie!
And you had a great rep where she nailed it (:38) because you got the info to her on time. Yay!!!
So ideally you set the line to the center of the bar from your very first step after the wing wrap (this is what you did at :37).
I think it will be easier if you send her to the other side of the start wing and do a FC so she exits on the side next to you. Then as she is exiting, you can accelerate up the line to the center of the bar and trust that she will pass you based on your acceleration cue. If you accelerate straight, she should pass you and continue straight. But if you accelerate to the center of the bar, she should pass you and turn to the RC direction.
Because visuals are super useful, I made a slideshow! It really was a good, informational session!
Here is the link. Let me know what you think!
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1rYwnTGl3hC009_oeI9h12DRioc7TfItvEg_Rd0YT1b4/edit?usp=sharingNice work here!
Tracy
Good morning!
>I toss rubber toys and let her run around while I’m setting up; >
Does she bring those back for the next one to be thrown… like an informal retrieve? We can build on that!
>adding some easy stretches would probably be a good idea.>
Yes, and even fascia rolling if she will let you do that. But you can wait til after Monday when we know more.
The proofing game went really well! She had NO questions on the ‘go straight part. Good girl! The ‘out’ was harder of course and I think your motion in towards the jump was helpful here! In another session or two you can put a line down (like a leash or something you won’t trip over) right at the wing exit to give you a visual guide to not get too close to the jump.
And good job rewarding the ‘almost’ out moments. She was not perfect in finding the jump on those but she was moving away and trying to sort it out.
She was so cute and funny at :29 when she jumped *next to* the jump but not over the bump LOL You rewarded her and I agree with that 🙂 It was a strong effort fro a baby dog!!
At :47 when you added the FC – you were a shade early with the rotation which pulled her off the jump; Excellent adjustment on the next rep of that challenge when you did it again at :54!
One thing I noticed here was that you rewarded all of the strong efforts – even if there was a delay which I think was you processing “should I reward that?” 😂 you still got a reward in. No telling her she was wrong. And no frozen moments, I believe! So let’s keep going with that trend: reward all the things. You can save the hugest parties for when she is 100% correct but still reward the good effort.
>I’d like more help with her retrieve (really need to get this soon) and also her rear end awareness (perch work). I’ve been holding off on perch work till we have a better idea of what’s going on with her.>
We can totally work on those! That is why I asked if she brings the rubber toys back during your setup time. Getting retrieves informally is the best way to get the formally 🙂
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
>Today still eating the boiled chicken and pumpkin. Tomorrow I will try a small amount of his raw and see if he will eat it.>
How is he feeling? Did the vet say anything? Maybe he just hates winter like I do hahahaha
Nice job with the zigzags here! He is sorting out his feet really well, good boy! We can keep challenging him with this setup: you can move the wings closer together so they are touching the bar – no gaps between them. That will ask him to go faster (you will have to go faster too haha). Eventually we will switch to weave poles instead of jump bars so he has to do this even faster 🙂
The get out proofing game also went super well! The timing of the FC is a little tricky because it has to happen so quickly – you were nailing it! 1:57 was my favorite rep: you gave him the ‘out’ cue and really trusted him while staying connected, so the FC there was the earliest. That timing set up a fantastic turn with plenty of time to connect to him on the new side. Excellent! You can add a little more distance between the wing and the jump to see if he will ‘out’ further away and have even more commitment while you do the FC. Having more distance makes staying on the line and passing the jump easier, but he has had no questions about that at all.
?I attempted to do the tandem turn but for the life of me I couldn’t get the mechanics on one side so I’ll save it for another day. He was getting pretty good on the side I got correct.
>I attempted to do the tandem turn but for the life of me I couldn’t get the mechanics on one side so I’ll save it for another day. He was getting pretty good on the side I got correct.>
Feel free to post a video. It is probably either a side preference (turning to his harder side) or your cues were too early.
Great job! Hope your hamstring is feeling better!!
Tracy
Hi!
The zig zags are going really well! She seemed to have no questions, so you can move the wings a little closer together so you both have to go faster 🙂
She understands the concept of the ladder grid and that is great! We can now adjust her line up spot and the reward placement to get even more powerful form.
You can set her up closer to the first jump, maybe one hand-width away from it. That way she will jump immediately from her rear and not tap her feet down before the first jump.
Since her stay looks great, you can lead out 10 feet past jump 3, and put the reward on the ground. Having the reward come from your hand pulled her head up, so the reward on the ground will promote a lower head. The reward can start off as stationary then we will begin to drag a long toy as a moving target.
SUPER nice job on the rear cross!!!! You did a great job showing the RC line here – your very first step was to the center of the bar and then you drove that line and cut in behind her. She read it briliantly! You can add more distance between the wing and the jump so you both have to run more 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi!
The serp session went really well! He was finding the serps really well. There was only one blooper and it was on the send to the wing – you can be more forceful on the send there with a big leg step at :51. But that was pretty funny that he serped himself rather than just ran to the toy there LOL!!
The other reps had clearer sends so he had no questions. You need to start moving faster so you are not in his way when he serps – start jogging! You can angle the jump to help him find it as you add speed, or your an empty food bowl instead of a toy to dial down the level of distraction as you add motion.
Find the jump: Yes, it went better when it was closer but you can add more info – more movement and a directional like GO or something or a jump verbal. Silence is not golden here LOL Walking without verbals is causing him to look at you so you can connect more, move more, and give verbals 🙂
He had a question on the send to the tunnel at 3:22, similar to his question on the wing send in the serp video. You can be a step ahead of him and take a big step forward when you cue the tunnel. When he is looking up at you and you say tunnel, he is not necessarily wrong to go where he was looking (the other end of the tunnel). Being a step ahead and using a big leg step will set the line to the tunnel entry you want.
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
>I think my steering wheel is broken ! Is he really committed that soon? More space needed? I didn’t dare do more gos! lol>
Nothing broken here and you can do more Go reps… You were just late getting the info to him 🙂
What was happening on the first reps where he did not turn was that you were facing straight til he was at the takeoff decision point, then tried to cut behind to the new side and throw the toy… but that was late so he turned after landing.
The RC cue is actually more about the pressure on his line than changing sides, so as he exits the wing you should be moving up the line to the center of the bar – even if he is behind you. It was facing straight, letting him pass, then trying to change sides which was making you late. He will see you accelerating up the line to the center of the bar, then he will pass you and turn the correct direction.
You were earlier with that on the last couple of reps (the last one was the BEST!) so he turned better – but also he had just had a bunch of toy throws that direction. So you definitely need to do GO reps because we need to know if he is reading the cue, or if he is remembering where the toy throw was 🙂
I made a slideshow so you can see the timing:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1k9pmVxfgHHI4q3cp6PRen4my04waxYdi3afzddWidq4/edit?usp=sharingNice work here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning! Yay for decent weather!!!
Looking at the lead changes on the zig zag:
>It looks and feels like I am over handling these. Rather than just turning my chest I’m taking a step toward the “jump”.>
Overhandling is perfectly fine for this 🙂 It is a weird game for the puppies (no visible easy line) so you can give as much help with physical cues as needed 🙂 You won’t always have to overhandle it but for now I think it went really well and accomplished the goal of getting her to shift her leads. It is not an easy game at all, so if the cues were too subtle or a little late, she didn’t always get it. But overall, the lead changes were a bit success! You can move the wings in closer so the wing is touching the bump of the previous jump.
>Should I position myself further up the line so that I’m handling from the end?>
Yes – eventually 🙂 You are 100% on the right track to that.
>Or should I be moving up the line, connecting and showing the line without so much zig zag on my part and also so much arm? >
Eventually yes, you will handle it as a serp but for now, she might need to see the big exaggerated rotations to help her shift back and forth.
>I started off with some tugging. We were then able to get 1 sequence done with toy reward, then it was back to the stuck release. >
Since we don’t quite know what causes the frozen moments, let’s take the tugging out of it for now as we rule out any pain issues. We know she has good tug drive so it is not something we need to worry about.
Question: do you do a physical warm up with her before working on these games? I ask because I noticed that she was moving more/less frozen later in the session, maybe because she was more physically warmed up. Using food, you can do a back-and-forth pattern game to get her moving and warmed up, then try one of the games.
You can also add in a release where she just comes to a hand touch: instead of a normal release word, you can present the hand and use a ‘touch’ cue and see how she feels about that.
>Her line ups are coming along – I didn’t have to lure her into position. >
YAY!!! That is super!!!
>I did alternate rewarding her for the line up as it seems that sometimes she is stuck waiting for the reward. Not sure what to do about this.>
Separately from a training game, you can play with stay releases and the flying squirrel as a bit of an experiment. If you think back to the sit-tug-sit game from MaxPup 1, you an do a sit-release-throw the squirrel game to see how she feels about releasing form the stay for her beloved flying squirrel 🙂 You might need a 2nd flying squirrel to get her to bring back the first one, but it would be a fast & fun way to isolate releases 🙂
>I did notice the bunny hop when we were playing after. Really hoping to get more insight with the x-rays next week.
>Since she has an appointment coming up, try to get every.single.thing on video 🙂 It is possible that at the appointment, she will be filled with adrenaline and endorphins, and might not have any sort of pain response. But if you can get things on video, you can provide a visual for the vet. I video things like going up stairs, running loose with a toy, etc. And I do video in slow motion because, well, I am obsessive about movement hahahahaha
Nice job with the zig zags! Keep me posted on how the other games go and if a warm up before training helps at all.
Tracy
Good morning!
>When I think of running contacts for my hounds I guess I think of it more like they would slow and collect to hit the contact and then continue moving through.>
That is where you can modify your stopped contact progression – maybe begin by teaching a stop with a target, then move the target further and further from the end of the board (and eventually fade it) so she is collecting but also not stopping.
> So not necessarily running full speed through them, if that makes sense.>
TOTALLY makes sense… we really don’t want the fastest breed on the planet running full speed on a tiny plank 😂 I like the moving-collection concept better – but unfortunately, just about every running contact class is all about getting full on extension with split rear foot hits. There is a Canadian handler named Kirstin O’Neill that has a running contact class that is well-received AND she has worked with a lot of non-BC breeders (terriers, Malinois, etc) so that is someone who might give good info for a grey!
https://www.facebook.com/kirstin.oneill.3
>And definitely agree that lots of repetition doesn’t work well with sighthounds. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been in classes or training with others and my dogs are like “we’re done” on their third turn, and the others are still flying around on their 10th rep. It’s fine, but frustrating when others don’t understand and think there’s something wrong with my dogs..>
I think sighthounds are brilliant – “We have done it right 3 times… why are we doing it again?” They want us to get ourselves together without making them do it a million times hahaha and we also need to trust their incredible latent learning. Plus they are not built to maintain a moderate level of speed for extended periods: they are more about intense blasts of speed then they need a recovery. I personally think the other breeds should also not be doing 10 reps just because they put up with it – yes, they do it, but it is not good for their brains or bodies. Fortunately, our hounds don’t let us do that hahaha!
Keep me posted!
Tracy
Good morning!
Turn and burn is looking good to the right! It is a high energy game especially with the tugging – he was most engaged when you also took off and ran, dragging the toy 🙂 Keep inching that line around so you can be doing the FC earlier. He is really small (obviously haha) so move the line in small increments.You can also add in the wrao verbals here. Since he is likely to do the wrap, you can start saying your wrap verbal then use the arm & leg send to get him going around the barrel.
>He got distracted once because he heard something right while I was taking off.>
Yes – those sounds really stand out when the environment is quiet! He did come back pretty quickly so you can reward for that then do the next rep.
>he was happy to chase me (after he found his cheese, of course!) and happy to pivot and run back with me, but he wasn’t all that thrilled with chasing the thrown toy. I think he had food on the mind. Do you think the lotus ball may be good for this game? I still have to show him the secrets of the lotus ball!>
It is entirely possible that he was having food feelings 🙂 That could also depend on when the session was: after the turn and burn or anything where there was a lot of toy play? He might have been tired. Or at a time of day where he was particularly hungry?
I think you can try the toy again and use a lower value food reward (a less interesting treat and use it in a bowl so he can find it easily). And don’t have food in your hands or pockets – reload for each rep. And use a high value toy, with toy races as part of it: when you throw it, try to race him to it and if you win: party without him for a moment, showing it to him, dragging it around. Then when he wants to engage, you can engage and start the next rep 🙂
We can introduce a lotus ball, but he has such great toy drive and such a small belly that I think we can get this going with a toy first 🙂
Keep me posted on the rear crosses! Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
The prop game went really well! She is finding her prop nicely and you were adding distance bit by bit! Yay!If she misses, you can just keep walking forward, then turn and do the next rep – no need to mark or re-start. That way you can stay on your line at a bit of distance away and I am confident she will hit it on the next rep.
For the game, you can keeping adding distance. At this stage, you don’t need the clicker anymore – you can switch to your ‘get it’ marker, which will keep her looking forward even more.
>then something scared her. However, she was able to come back and engage with the prop!>
Yes, something worried her for sure! She was so funny when she was like “I AM BACK!” And smacked the prop LOL!!
One thing you can do when she gets concerned about something is switch to the pattern game. It helps her sort out whatever is worrying her, and dismiss the concern.
It is here:
Teach it at home first so she understands and loves it, then you can go to it in a variety of new places and circumstances. It is great for helping get through adolescence when she might have shifting opinions about things 🙂
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning! February is definitely the worst weather month of the year for most of us. We have wet and cold here too 🙂
He did well with the barrels here (this is the rocking horses game coming up in class here soon). Nice job with your connections and verbals! Was that him starting to bark while he works? Doesn’t sound like Ripley or a Swissy 🙂 If he was barking – build in decompressions after each rep. Can be snuffling around for a bunch of treats, or licking some cream cheese out of a Kong to Toppl, or mouthing a toy/running around with a toy. The barking is generally an indication of arousal coming up so we can also build in arousal regulation throughout the session to help his body learn to do it. And it will also help him get to play barrel games without too much repeated wrapping, which we will want to be careful of at this age as his skills grow.
Tails is such a fun marker! Much more clever than my ‘catch’ hahaha. He liked that squeaky toy too and was bringing it back nicely! I like these informal approaches to retrieving because there is so much less pressure and so much more fun 🤩 It is all play here and that is what it is all about! And you build in ‘magic words’ like ‘ready’ which are super useful in the future too. He did well ignoring the songs from Ripley and the Swissy – they completely understand all the chatter and magic words 🙂
I think the last video of bridging him back down to a state of arousal that you want for daily life and not play/training was great! The patterns are so useful for this. Bridging down from back and forth to up and down is what I recommend (and do with my own dogs).
For the up and down game, you can have the up and down cookies placed on the outside of each foot, so there is still an element of back and forth movement rather than being stationary. That will be super useful as he enters adolescence as well as in harder environments.
After he finished here, you can also give him a decompression of some sort. You might already be doing this 🙂 If you are able to, a nice pack walk or something is perfect. Or if you need to settle in to your workday and can’t do a walk, you can let him have something to chew or lick.
When my other dogs are aroused when I am training the youngsters, I also give them a bridge down and a decompression, rather than leave them stewing in their arousal. For example, I had 2 adults “helping” me train something with the young dog where I asked the adults to run back and forth and bark bark bark bark. So after the training, I had the adults also do a pattern game then a decompression. It was much quicker because they are adult and those neural pathways are easier to access. And doing so has brought so much more peace to daily life in the household and they are all managing arousal at events really well too.
>We’ll head to a trial tomorrow where we’ll have space in the covered arena for some training. Any suggestions for what to think about working on there?>
Fun! You’ve got lots of things to choose from, of course. You can aim for balance: for every fast, exciting session, balance with a calm, settling session. For example, you can take your up and down game, and slow it down to the ‘engaged chill’ where he is standing in front of you, not actively offering behavior, taking in the environment, and relatively stationary.
You can also take him closer to the ring during a walk through and practice little bits of what you might eventually use while waiting for a run: some tricks/hand touches/etc for a toy, pattern games with treats, hugs & kisses 😂, etc.
One thing I also love to do at this age is the leash off, engagement on game… but with 2 leashes so he can’t go anywhere if he makes a mistake. He is wearing 2 leashes, both of which are hooked around your wrist (not dragging and not under a foot). Take off one leash by unhooking it from his collar or slipping it over his head – then reward very quickly! At first the reward will be basically instant 🙂 Then you can start waiting to see if he orients towards you when the leash comes off – then reward. That begins to condition leash off as an engagement cue, which is such a nice relaxing thing to have when moving to the start line in competition 🙂
Keep me posted! Have fun today!
Tracy
Good morning!
The rain gets in the way of the fun! We have a whole bunch of it here too, but I have whipped out my rain boots and still getting the dogs out to do little things. Everyone, old and young, is happier in the house when the young dogs get out even if it is a walk in t he rain LOL
The rocking horse game looked really good, both the forward send element and the more advanced rotated sends! Super! There is more room to spread the cones out, so you can stand in the middle and she can do all the work 🙂 It is probably a good game to take out in the rain too – there is not a lot of movement from either of you, so it won’t be too slippery but also a good way to get out between raindrops and do stuff.
>I tried the toy in the middle, but she kept trying to jump up to get it rather than work. So, I went back to food.>
A couple of ideas on that! Overall, the toy use went well enough that we can tweak a few things and get it involved – partially because the tugging is just a fun interactive thing to do, and partially because it allows us to pump up arousal a little to help install the arousal state she will be in during course work.
When you are working on new or unfamiliar or weird-feeling mechanics, you can start with food because the mechanics are easier for sure. But with comfy things, add a toy back. Here are some thoughts on getting her to NOT leap for the toy:
When delivering it, say your strike marker then move the toy. The toy moving was happening before the marker – that is something we all do, but for now to help her ignore the toy, you can be hyper precise about that particular marker.
And with that in mind – leave the toy scrunched up in one hand and don’t switch it back and forth. The switching draws her focus to the toy, and it is confusing about whether the toy is available or not. Because sometimes it moves before the ’strike’ marker, so she was thinking maybe it was time to tug when you switched it. You can see that at 1:13 for example.
She was pretty good about releasing the toy/cookie trading – just remember to slowly lift the toy and not whip it away as that will cause her to be more interested in grabbing it 🙂
Great job here! Fingers crossed for dry weather ahead!
Tracy
Good morning! Hooray for good weather, finally!
The rocking horse game looked GREAT!! Your connection was lovely throughout and that really helps support her line. And you got the directionals in the right spot too! The more you practice with the directionals, the less you will have to think about them. You can add more distance between wings now, and add the advanced level 🙂
She also did well with the stays outdoors – it is harder when the pups are more pumped up, but it will really help for the future when they need to do their stays while being pumped up 🙂
The next steps are to get you to be moving away and not facing her. I think part of the reason you felt like she would going to blast off the board at any moment was because you were facing her and rewarding from your hand.
So two things to add, to switch things up and start to get the distance and duration:
– ask her to sit but start slowly moving away and turning away
– While you are doing that, reward by throwing a treat back to her (or a toy). I use a ‘catch’ marker then I throw it. The catch marker doesn’t mean she has to catch it 🙂 it just means a reward is being tossed back to her and she can move to get it.That will help her learn to stay in the spot while you move away – do short increments at first but she is smart and I know she will figure it out really well. Plus, that will allow you to fade the platform – it is helpful but we need to plan to fade it out too 🙂
Great job here!
Tracy
