Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
PS – since you are a teacher, you can also ask yourself what you would tell a student in that momen twhen you want to make it perfect 🙂
Hi!
>>, specifically wraps where I was decel’ing, was put her Lotus Ball near the wing of the jump where she was landing. It made a BIG difference with just a couple of reps. I will be adding this in where we have issues in sequences but also just to build value for obstacles as you have mentioned here.>>
Yes, this can totally help as long as you are not relying on the lotus ball to create the behavior (which means we humans are not actually cuing it properly :)) I do a lot of either-or in this context where the lotus ball or Manners Minder is there the whole time, but only available when I cue the jump. Otherwise, we don’t really develop the handling skills or commitment we think we are developing.
Like this:
>>>You don’t need to run it clean
I need to write this down and read it before every training session! >>
Yes, the brain is a crazy creature!!!
Maybe think of it like this:
Practice Makes Plasticity (Not Perfect)
Our goal in training is to create new neural pathways (plasticity in the brain) for 2 creatures: you and Nox. The practice creates the plasticity. Too much practice doesn’t create perfect behavior or more plasticity – it just depletes the brain. So do the 4 reps total and then be done with it 🙂 No need to revisit it or try to make it perfect, because you have accomplished the mission of more plasticity 🙂
T
Hi!
Yes, that was the only hard part for him: finding the jump after the tunnel. He had no trouble finding the line back to the tunnel when you asked him to layer with the jump-jump-tunnel line (probably because he could see you). So, we can build that layering skill from a tunnel with placement of reinforcement:
For each time he looks at/heads towards the jump after the tunnel, throw the reward to the landing side of the jump. You did that once (:55) and that was spot on!! The other rewards (especially the 2 reps after the rep at :55) were all tossed close to you, which is why he was confused and offered coming to you at 1:05. The placement of reinforcement will help him predict what the behavior is, so being more precise will make a big difference. And for now, it doesn’t matter if the bar is up or not, you still reward for looking at and seeking out that jump.
And to make it easier, you can move the jump in a bit more so that he sees it very easily on his line and doesn’t have to seek it out as much. When he doesn’t feel the need to head check anymore, you can then start to move it back out to where it was in this session.
The rest went really well! I only have one small suggestion: when you do the switch away at jump 4 at :38, do it more from the takeoff side of jump 4 and not the landing side – that will set up a tighter turn there 🙂
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyThank you for this! It explains why she couldn’t do it with layering: She doesn’t understand the RC pressure/convergence/arm cues unless you actually do a real real rear cross on her line – which we can’t do when layering. She got it at :49 but that was the only one.
So I htink the main thing is going to be to get her to read the arm cues and not rely on the foot work. You can go back to the tandem turn cues on the flat (like we do with Audie and the turns aways!) and then on a wing – I suggest using 2 hands: first both hands get her attention, then both hands ‘flip’ her away – and then you turn your feet 🙂 That can be easily done at a distance. We can get it started on the flat then on a wing, then apply it to a jump and the distance lines. Let me know if that makes sense!
TracyHi!
The pop outs are looking really good! You can totally add more layering too 🙂Pop put 1 – went very nicely when you ran in and handled it (no layering) but of course you can layer the weaves here in the opening.
Without the layering, you can get further ahead on the poles to blind cross the exit or show the smoother line to to RC the tunnel entry (she had a question there and did a zig zag)2nd rep – you did the BC at the exit of the weaves – yay! You can do it while she is weaving so it is done before she exits (do it approx while she is at pole 6) and that will be smoother – you were a little in her way because you started it a little.
Layering will make it much easier: layer the poles while she does the 3-4 jumps, then you can do a FC on the weave entry then it is all dog on right after that.
Pop out 2 has the option to layer the poles both times you go past them 🙂
This sequence really needs the layering to get the backside at 5 – without layering, the dogs leave us in t dust (as you experienced LOL) putting you behind, blocking the line as you try to get past the dang weaves, and having the teeter there did indeed make it look like you wanted the teeter.
She got the backside at 1:33 but had big questions there. Layering the weaves will get you to 5 much sooner and ahead of her, and will take the teeter out of the picture entirely 🙂Layering the poles at the end worked beautifully! You had to stay in motion and that really helped her stay on the line. Yay!
Great job here!
TracyHi!
He is pretty darned confident with this game! But he is also starting to think about it a lot, and we don’t want him (or you) over-thinking it 🙂One thing that is important about all training but especially about teeter training… don’t obsess!!! One super short session with incredibly high value food every few days is all he needs 🙂 Mountain climbers is a value building game so it takes time to build it up – he is doing well and we don’t want him to over think it by doing a lot of reps.
He seemed happy to go up the board for hte cookies the first time or two, but the value of whatever is at the top was not that high (for whatever reason) so he wanted off the board at that point.
So a couple of ideas for you:
– use the highest value treat at the top, placed there and let him see you place it there like you did on the very last rep here).
– do a total of 2 reps only per session and then be done (regardless of whether it looks like he wants to do more or not :)) Leave him wanting more!
– do this maybe once or twice a week, no need to do multiple sessions per week.>.Would it be okay for me to lay the teeter flat and use that? It can lay completely flat and I can make it so it doesn’t move.
Yes! That would work perfectly! Keep me posted!
TracyTiming and connection videos are also looking really good!
You were super connected on both of these and he is finding his lines beautifully. YAY!! So now, with that same strong connection, try to add more verbal cues (you were quiet here): as his feet are landing from the jump or exiting the tunnel, give him the cue for the next thing. That is challenging for us humans but will be easy for him 🙂Great job on all of these!
TracyHi!
One step sending: Easy peasy! I am super happy with his commitment!
The first rep (first video) was perfect! On the 2nd rep (2nd video), he was also great about finding his lines! The distance was not a problem for him at all, so you can keep adding distance by spreading out the jumps more and more, little by little.
Great job 🙂
Tracy
Looking at all 3 Mountain Climber session – I don’t think he liked having his collar held in the first one, it was worrying him a bit – so no need to hold his collar 🙂 You can let him jump off if needed, that way he has agency over what is happening and you can reward whatever he does. You’llfind that the more we let him choose, the more he will choose to go up the teeter!
That is what happened on the 2 next sessions: you were not holding him and it sounds like you said you had chicken, so he was very good about going up! He still had concerns but that will go away as he get more chicken parties on the teeter. So this is a game to play every couple of days with incredibly high value food, one or two reps, so he comes to associate the teeter with BIG YUMMIES and will get more and more confident gong up the board 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi!
The lazy game look good – slow and easy is the goal for sure! His commitment is looking really strong!It took him a heartbeat or two to find the treats at the beginning but then he figured it out – you can try using highly visible treats like big pieces of cheese, that might be easier for him to find.
And remember to only throw the treats when he takes the jump – I think you were also throwing the treats before he took the jump, so he was not entirely sure what the behavior was. Throwing only for taking the jumps will really clarify things for him.
Nice work!
TracyHi! He did really well on the planks!
Plank work – he did best when you were tossing the treats off the end so he can get off for the treat, then get back on – that way he doesn’t have to go slow, but he will still have to think about his balance. Delivering the food to him from your hand on the first video was actually harder for him, because he had to look up at your hand and lost his balance. You can now start tossing cookies away on slight angles, so he learns how to get on the board at slight angles and remain balanced!
Tracy
Hi!
>.I am worried a little that she won’t go fast. Now I guess the answer is lots of reward, short sessions. She has great ground speed when she is gathering her sheep or running with Hoke. She is powerful too- the ground shake>>
This is a common worry when we have youngsters! A couple of things to remember:
She is too young, in terms of brain development and body development, to go fast AND be thoughtful. So she leans more to the thoughtful side at the moment, which is GREAT because the fast is easy to get. But thoughtful is not easy to get and we really, really, really need the thoughtful for agility success. So let her continue to think things through and the speed will come.
Side note: Over the course of the MaxPup classes, you can see how slow my pups started out being, and how they gradually get faster and faster (you can start to see some speed here in MaxPup 3 from them). They are adult now and very fast – and still thoughtful. That means they can lay down a run of over 7 yps in Jumpers with weaves (closer to 8yps when there are no weaves!) and be incredibly accurate and precise too!
Lizzie is definitely not slow – she is already pretty speedy! So imagine in a year, she will be super fast AND have a ton of great skills. That is really exciting!!!
Tracy
Hi!
>.. I worry about poisoning crates in the house. Or developing new habits/patterns of not going in.
Do you mean she might bark in the crate or she might not want to go in if she thinks Saphira is getting trained? Would she be able to chew a bone or eat from a Kong or Toppl in those moments? Would she be able to relax in the car? I often put 2 or 3 dogs in the car and bring it next to the field so they are relaxing and not barking in the house.
>>The other distraction is deer. I think she chased one out of the pasture the other day and a few (maybe babies) hung out in the back field for a week or so. She looks out the livingroom window for them too. Deer send her into orbit but she comes back pretty fast.>>
Looking out the window for them might be a bit too much rehearsal of hypervigilence for now – is there a way to prevent that access?
>>This really helped me see the importance. I probably ask too much from my curious independent puppy and have for most of her life.
“I think having her mom barking in the background is really hard, in terms of processing – the brain has to devote a LOT of bandwidth to deal with being barked at and still process cues. Basically the barking activates the alar m in her brain, so then her brain has to actively try to de-prioritize that while also trying to follow you cues.”>>Understanding adolescent brain development better was a game-changer for me. We can only ask them to do the things that their brain development allows them to do!
>>I would LOVE to get her going faster and be more passionate about things. A trainer recently commented that she does things but she’s not physically putting herself into it. We’ve also struggled with reinforcement as you might remember. The world is a wonderful place in her mind with so much to explore and discover. It has gotten a ton better though. I’ve worked hard. I see moments of crazy so I know it’s in there.>>
What are her current high value reinforcers and motivators? That will help sort out ways to build up tons of speed!
Tracy
Hi!
>> That’s what I was trying to do, to have him hear the tunnel threadle verbal rather than motion
yes, but you were actually using too much arm cue because you were not moving LOL! If you are moving your feet the whole time and sometimes it is the tunnel cue and sometimes the threadle cue and sometimes just coming to you, then you will get more response to the verbal. If you are facing him and only using arm cues, then he will rely on the arm cues which is not necessarily what we want there 🙂
TracyHi!
You might have gotten an email that had ,y reply to Linda’s post in your thread – sorry! Here is your reply 🙂Looking at the video:
Great job staying in motion! The layering is all about motion, even in a small space 🙂And then to get the tight turns, you can change your motion: let her see you transition from going fast to decelerating into the wrap at :28, so she has more time to set up the collection. There was not a clear enough decel there so she was a bit wide
She found the layering back to the tunnel perfectly!
You had a very clear decel at :41 (wrapping towards you on 4) and she had a great turn! If you stay more on the takeoff side of 4 (don’t go past the jump) the positional cue will support the turn even more.
She sent back out to the layering really well here too!!!
When you did the switch at 4 at 1:04 – you had the reverse of the motion needed to get the tight turn: you were stationary when she was taking then then you accelerated to 4, so even though she did the switch, she didn’t jump in collection because your acceleration cued extension. Compare to 1:26 when you stayed decelerated and she was much tighter on the switch. Yay! So definitely plan your decel into the tighter turns to come as she is over the previous jump so she can set up her collection.
The get out to the jump behind the tunnel was trickier! Remember to reward her if there is an error, the error is yours not hers. Mainly, pointing ahead of her to the jump blocks connection and turns your shoulders to the tunnel entry, which is why you had to go a little past the tunnel to get the jump on the first rep, and why she went into the tunnel on the 2nd rep when you didn’t go past it.
That was at 1:46 – if you play it in slow motion then freeze it when she sticks her head into the tunnel, you will see your high arm is blocking your face, and your feet and chest/shoulders are pointing at the tunnel. Yes, you were saying ‘out’ but all of your physical cues said tunnel, so she was correct there. I don’t think she got rewarded there and she should have been rewarded 🙂
Compare to 1:52 and the reps after that, with the vey different physical cues (massive connection, outside arm, you can see your whole body was pointing to the correct line) and she got it every single time 🙂 That set up a really nice ending to the sequence because with the clear cues she was able to work at a big distance!Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
