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Wheeeee! This is an exciting update!!!!!! Good boy š We are teaching his physiology how to handle the arousal and bounce back from it. And at 14 months old, his success is particularly lovely because teenage dog brains are pretty immature and often struggle with this.
>> how often should we do this? >>
Great question – because it is SO stimulating, I’d say once a week is the most you would want to do it, because his body will have to reset back to baseline between sessions. That can take 72 hours! So once a week should work well. Keep me posted!
Tracy
Good morning!
I hope it is not too cold there!!Huckās first run had some baby dog moments of running past stuff while going fast. This often happens with young dogs because they are fast fast fastā¦ but canāt always coordinate the mechanics need to make the sharp turn into the tunnel or take the jump on th backside. Good for you for just carrying on! He was trying hard for sure.
Because you didnāt make a big deal out of it, he sorted it out on the next run. Yay! And you helped with even more connection to be sure he could stay fast AND take the obstacles.
He is doing well on the first two jumps of the go line, and then looking at you for jump 3. To help him leave you in the dust and look straight, you can place a reward as a target for him (the manners minder might work great there) so as you are running you can click it when he looks ahead. That will help build up the understanding of driving ahead on a big line like this.
Mae was a super speedster on this! Love it!
On the FC on the backside jump 3 – stay closer to the entry wing, so as you finish the FC you are on the line to the 4 tunnel entry. You ended up past it on the first run so she was correct to go to the other end of the tunnel. (Based on what you said to her, it was a brain blooper LOL! )
On the 2nd run, you stepped across the bar on the backside so she turned a little wide – the closer you stick to the line you want, the tighter she will turn. The rear cross into the tunnel worked well on the 2nd video!That RC put you further behind on the big line at the end, so we can see her questions. To help her confidently drive ahead, using a target will really help too. A toy on the ground past jump 3 is great, or the Manners Minder for her too. That way you can get the behavior, and then we can fade it out. You were handling it well (running, connection, verbal) but she really was not sure that it was cool to get that far ahead of you (yes, Mae, it is totally cool to do that!). A placed reward or target will help get the behavior stronger.
Nice work here! Stay warm!
TracyHi! Some really good work here! And good info from Yuzu!
On the first video:
He did look at you like were nuts with the counting at first but it worked well š You can do a short snuffle mat after the tugging (not sure how long he was in the mat here) or toss treats too.The parallel path looked great! Very nice!!
You had an overarousal moment in the transition from the prop to the toy at 1:07. We can make it faster and easier for him:
– take out the ready word for now, as it is a hump trigger at the moment. As soon as he heard ready, even with the toy in your hand, he tried to hump you, then you pulled him off so he got more aroused and he grabbed your wrist. Soā¦ have the toy closer to you, and when it is time to leave the prop, get the toy out without a lot of stimulating chatter more like what you did on the 2nd transition. That was much smoother!
And to clarify for him what to focus on, pick up the prop before you do bring the toy out and also I think for now, not having a treat pouch will help: when you are asking for tugging but the prop is on the floor and there are treats in the picture, he is not entirely sure of where to look so doesnāt entirely grab the toy.On the countermotion game -he is hitting the prop nicely here too, so you can start to move the other direction away from it a bit sooner. On this clip, you can see how āreadyā gets a lot of arousal too (barked at you). So, you can use some casual and engaged body language but we can take out ready for now.
And pick up the book here too to clear the environment so he can focus on the tug.
What was happening at the end when he was humping you? Trying to end the session and leave? You can do that āwe are doneā with a pattern game so there is no frustration when the end of access to reinforcement is indicated by you gathering up your stuff and leaving. Plenty of dogs get frustrated in that āwe are doneā moment so we can help diffuse it with pattern games leading to a snuffle mat in a different room.
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>>We are not threadling yet though right? And when we send, it is dog side arm and leg?>>
Correct, we are not threadling yet (we actually start that foundation tonight!) On the sending… for turn and burn, yes, it is currently the dog side arm and leg (that will change as the games get wilder though LOL) The main different on the regular wrap versus the threadle is where the dog goes:
On a regular wrap, Taq puts the barrel between her and you, going out around it then back toward you. On a threadle wrap, she puts herself between you and the barrel, turning away from you then coming back. I will have some video examples tonight!Tracy
Because I did that wrong on the video in rep at 25 sec.
Hi! Yes, it is recorded and posted on the Course Syllabus page, and also here:
https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/mPTgFznrP_pmSBLQbQuO20stWIxJ-Pl_ojNk-SNJ-HV3K6Wzgf4XQjn-cs6zymRV.dF2KKn5Sb5nbQ_dLI am glad Mitre feels better!!! YAY!! Back to doing the fun things š
Tracy
Hi! This went well too!
>>I did open up the angle from 1 to 2 as youāll see he struggled with it on the first try and I didnāt want that to become an issue.>>
That is a hard angle indeed! And requires a turn cue – you can use a right verbal and earlier shoulder turn (so he sets up the turn a stride or two before takeoff), because it is a pretty significant collection for him. The tunnel verbal was challenging because that is a forward verbal (meaning, look ahead on the straight line) but this was a turn. Even with the more opened-up angle, he still jumped long on the tunnel verbal at :17 and :29 so that gives us a good indicator of how he processes ātunnelā as a forward cue.
The turn at :09 should be a wrap verbal ad you were using āleftā – I think that is your soft turn verbal? Or am I remembering incorrectly? Or do I need more caffeine? LOL! Also, you can do it as more of a throw back (rotated sooner to cue it with your feet facing 7 and left arm) rather than trying to finish the rotation then cue the wrap.
Moving into the blind cross there added challenges and a bar down at :18 – you were decelerated by the 6 jump when he was exiting the tunnel, so he was preparing t turn then you accelerated forward into a blind so he was surprised.The blind would work better there if you were running into the whole time, then decelerated to start it. That would probably make more sense to him if you did not layer.
I think a FC might be a better choice there because it turns you feet to 7 sooner than the blind does and you can layer to get to it – the blind turns you to face 1 and 2 before showing 7.
>>For both sets, I kept him in the car crate as I set the courses up, walked each course, and practiced bringing him in and out on a leash. ā setting up for each of the 3 tries per sequence. He did really well with that.>>
Yay! Great rehearsals!!
Nice job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyThe sequences are looking good! Your connection is getting really solid and that is the most important part.
He only had questions on 2 parts of this:
On the exit of the #2 tunnel, he was not sure about driving to 3. You can start your go for 3 before he enters the tunnel (:04) and then later in the sequence the jump cue (:11) can also start before he goes into the tunnel. Keep accelerating, donāt let him see you decel to set up the layering. If you donāt lead out as much, thatāll keep you accelerated there. He figured it out on the next reps but was still looking at you.The threadle was the other hard part. I think you were rushing a little and that was what made it challenging. He got the first one at :06, but then at :21 he didnāt get it – but it looked and sounded different than the ones he got at :06 and at :26
It looks like your threadle cue is a cross arm, so be sure to rotate at the waist more but donāt turn your feet – you turned your feet at :27 so he came in but dropped the bar.
At :34 you didnāt rotate but you will want to move towards the jump more until you see him lock onto it, then you can move away.
The last run looked better! I think you can slow it all down and let him see it and hear it clearly. That will also make the verbal clearer!Speaking of verbals, you were using a right verbal on the exit of the threadle jump – it is a wrap exit, and I think right is your soft turn cue? So a wrap verbal would be better there. If I am remembering incorrectly, please ignore this LOL!!
Nice work!
TracyHi! Good job here with the TSA Game – good job with the setup and I think this is looking really good!
Definitely rehearse this at home a lot where there is not as much arousal so it is not just at the training field.
>>Itās our first try at putting it all together so looking forward to your feedback.>>
It is more about interpreting his feedback and he did great here!!!
>>I felt his arousal and focus go up as we got close to the gate so that is really good to know>>
Yes for sure! I feel that with all of my dogs too š
>>I tried adding in a few extra volume games there with food to get him focused back. >>
The arousal shift might be a good thing, though! We need a pretty high state of arousal to run great agility š We wonāt really know til we try this with more dogs and people around.
The order of festivities looked good here! He was definitely engaged and ready to go into the ring, and I can see this being what you do in a trial setting.
>>Oh yea, sorry the leash coming off and going on wasnāt in the video, but he seemed to do really well with that part.>>
It seemed like it all went really well!
The next steps are to take it to a situation where other dogs are running, like in a class or group training so you can play with this with the distraction of other dogs doing agility. So, try it the next time you are with your training group or in a class and see what he says! Donāt be afraid of that higher arousal – that might be a very good thing! If you feel he is overaroused, too stimulated by the dog in the ring (not engaging with you, obsessing on the other dog, for example) you can add more distance and do more pattern games or experiment with volume dial with food or toys. Sometimes it makes perfect sense (like food is better than toys in that moment) but sometimes the answer is counterintuitive, like the toy is a far better choice, or tugging on the leash. He will let you know!
Tracy
Hi!
Correct, I don’t teach the RDW because it is all-consuming LOL!! And it is too different for each dog – most of the really good running dog walk courses are taught by people who only do RDW courses š
My big beef with the way most RDW training is done is that it takes too long to get the correct angle of the down ramp and height of the dog walk – what he is doing here with the low plank is nothing like what his actual striding will be, and I don’t want to do the 10,000 reps required at each step of the way whenever the angle changes. So I personally would get the plank on a low dog walk and do a couple of sessions to get the foot targeting and back chaining it across the dog walk (some turns, yes, but we really don’t see this incredibly tight turn exits so no need to worry too much about them at this topping). Then raise the dog walk and get to full striding as soon as possible – that is where the real training is.
Since you are using the mat, have you tried Katarina Poplidnik’s course? I have heard good things. And I think there are a couple of other good ones out there, I can poke around if you want.T
Hi!
>>I was also thinking I could probably set something up with the larger group to make it more like a fun match with an entry gate, dogs in line, pretend judge, etc. Not as good as FEO/NFC, but maybe helpful? I donāt know of any fun matches locally.>>
Great idea!!! Brilliant! And I know a lot of the locals have young dogs that need this too. Maybe ask Suzie and Keith, who also have youngsters?
>>I was also wondering when working through the NFC work, do you move forward within one trial if the dog is successful or do you try and keep the same routine through the trial you are at?>>
It depends on the dog of course š If the dog is pretty much the same as he is a home training, then yes, I might go to the next step that same day. If things are a little harder for the dog, I will take longer to go to the next step.
And because our goal is to support the dog and because he is going to get rewarded – if you decide to try the next step and it turns out to be too hard, no worries at all! Nothing is ruined LOL!! You can go back to the previous step on the next run.
Tracy
Hi!
Thanks for posting these – I am glad you had some good daylight to play!
Looking at staying on the table and how it works into your training goals – Based on these videos, I am not sure it is helping you get where you want him to be. I agree that he did well with the sequences, but I think also that it is rehearsing some undesirable behavior outside the ring that you will want to steer in a different direction.
So if you want to work sequences in high arousal, do it with tugging and crazy tricks or maybe have him run through the tunnel 10 times in a row LOL!
But for outside the ring behavior, I donāt think the table behavior or the tie out is going to help him outside the ring at trials. What is happening on the table here is that there is a lot of rehearsal of stress and frustration which is not what we want him to be rehearsing when seeing other dogs run in the ring (or when watching his housemates). I donāt think it helps your cause, in terms of outside the ring behavior. Here is why:
There is a lot of impulse control required for him to hold the down on the table while you run Marky. And that needs to be built up slowly with you nearby – he had a lot of failure here (or another way to look at it – a lot of rehearsal of undesirable behavior).
He immediately got off the table a few times and was immediately told to get back on it. It looks like he did eat a cookie but I donāt think it was an actual reinforcement LOL!Being tied looks pretty frustrating to him based on his body language and I am not sure we want that frustration associated with watching agility to his housemates right now, especially if he hardest thing is getting him to NOT watch movement of the dogs in the ring at a trial or not obsess on his housemates at home.
On the 2nd video, he did lie down for a bit on the table but ended up standing anyway – more importantly, though, look at all the stress body language – ears pinned, tight mouth, looking away, flattened posture, slooowwwww moving into position. So there is pressure/stress being built into watching other dogs run. Then when Marky was running, Vinny was moving and took off for a moment when you came back.
So if the goal is to get him to stay somewhat relaxed on a table while you work another dog, I suggest starting it in much smaller pieces such as he stays on the table and you walk away. The come back and reward – the reward for him in this scenario is probably the release from the table to do something. Then you can build up to him seeing you do a trick or two – and very eventually, he watches agility. That can be very systematic and sliced into small pieces, to keep the frustration out of it.
Or, someone else can run Marky while you work on playing with Vinny – and by ārunā, I mean just a little jogging or a trick or something, then build up to more action.
The sequence was really nice on the first video! Timing and connection all looked good , and he was responding to everything beautifully! His only question was at 2:56 when he ticked the bar. You were cuing collection and rotated towards him, so he was driving to that lineā¦ Then you opened up back to the original line and he mad the adjustment in the air (bar tick). So to help answer the question, you donāt need to rotate towards him on that collection cue (verbal and brake arms) – you can rotate away from him. That should smooth it out!
The sequence on the 2nd video also looked really strong! Connection in particular looked lovely! On the wrap at 4:25, he had a similar question as the previous sequence: you did the same verbal and you rotated towards him, so it looked like you wanted him to drive to you right away rather than commit to the jump. To get smoother commitment there, you can be closer to the wrap wing so he sees the line better.
The other option is to turn him to the outside on that jump (to his right) which will set a lovely line to the last 2 jumps.
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>>He was quiet in his crate unless someone walked right in front of the crate & then it was a normal kind of bark. >>
The barking might indicate that it is a hard environment , so you can crate them someplace where no one will walk in front of him, or have cardboard barriers in front of and on the sides of the crates. That way he is not rehearsing barking in his crate in stimulating situations.
>>In our first puppy class the teacher told me a pattern games ā walk along on the leash & count, 1, 2, 3, put a treat down in front of him. 1, 2, 3, tx. Magic.>>
Fantastic advice from the instructor to introduce the 1-2-3 game. And you can also add the resilience pattern game (back and forth from week 3). Both pattern games really help the pups š
On the videos:
His parallel path game is looking good! And so if the sending!
He only had one question about the sideways sending, which was when he should start going to the prop š So you can be more precise about when you want him to start the sending: keep your feet stationary during the ready dance, the move the foot when you do the send.
That will help with the countermotion too, because you will be able to start the send and be ready to move away as well. If he is struggling with countermotion, start a little closer to the prop so the value of it is very close to him – and make it easier for you to move away from it.
On the 2nd video – I see a big difference in him being happy to let you hold his collar! Yay! You had really nice mechanics of that tug-collar-throw. And he is happy to tug right on your leg and let you touch him when that is happening.
The harder part was giving the toy back – have you tried trading for a very low value cookie? We donāt want to lose the tugging but a cookie trade will get the toy back nicely.
He went back and forth from food to the tug toy really well on the blind crosses! The singles looked good and so did the double. He is definitely ready for you to go to the next steps (the collection sandwich from last Tuesday) which involves the decel, pivot and then accelerating for a thrown toy).
There was one turn and burn rep and it looked good š Feel free to start you FC earlier and earlier as he is wrapping his barrel.
Great job here!
TracyHi!
This setup worked really well for him, it was just the right amount of movement of the board. Try to keep the toy lower, just below his chin height – that is when he has the best balance and can shift his weight back. At :45 you did a 2-handed tug moment and that was perfect for this! You can do. the 2-handed tug and bend over a little, so he can tug with his head low and balance with his weight shifted backwards.
Great job!!
TracyYes, there is a definite sweet spot to the distance (especially at the beginning of each session) and it might change day by day. But I think the most important thing will be changing the reward placement, and getting it onto the prop and not in your hand anymore.
T
Hi!
On the video – she did well on the sideways sending here! Tossing the treat to the prop is fine to do like you did here, especially if you are seeing her be too locked onto your cookie hands. That will strengthen her commitment for sure – but one reminder is to try not to say “go” because “go” will mean something else entirely. I promise we will add more verbals but for now, you can use ‘hit it’ or something like that for the prop.
>>Should I try this with a toy instead of treat?
You can totally use the toy, but it will be harder to throw than the cookies. The toy will work better on the sending if she comes back to you for tugging.
>>Also if I am standing sideways, was I using the wrong foot?
Nope, you were good! The sideways sending is with the arm & leg closer to the prop (which is what you were doing here), not the arm and leg crossing in front of you.
>>I tried to work on the rear cross. I reviewed parallel path, then i tried to send her.
For the rear crosses, you won’t want to send her. Instead, you will be moving towards the prop like you did with the parallel path game, and as she gets ahead of you, you will cut in behind her. Now, if she is not getting ahead of you on the parallel path, you can try 2 things:
– you can start further away from the prop, then as she drives to the prop, you can throw the reward away out ahead of it to get her driving even further ahead.
– you can start close to her, and don’t move forward til she is ready. If you get too far ahead, she might just catch up to you can not drive past which will make the RC pretty hard.Then when she is driving ahead of you on the parallel path game, you will cut in behind her to the new side before she gets to the prop. Feel free to put a video in, so we can see what she is seeing with the cues.
Great job! See you in class later!
Tracy
