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Hi!
I think we can split this behavior/change the session setup and get the backing up going!
The wobble board her is a little too angled and a little too small for now. So to get the backing up going with her turning around to get into 2o2o:
– use something relatively flat and stable that she has no history of 2o2o on
– use something that is big enough for her to easily stand on with all 4 feet, with plenty of room to stretch out a bit. She is little, so something that is 2 feet x 2 feet can work and it can be something like a flat dog bed for now.Start her with all 4 feet on the object in a comfortable stand, with her front feet kind of near the edge. Lure her forward to get her to put one front foot off the object, then withdraw the lure: when she offers putting that front foot back on the object – reward!
So we are not starting with back feet at all, we are mainly working on the “don’t turn around” and “step backwards” elements by keeping her hind end out of the picture and isolating her front end.
Then when she quickly puts her front foot back on – lure her forward to get both front feet off then withdraw the lure… and reward when she steps her front feet back onto the object.
If she starts turning around at this stage, use the long jump boards to narrow her space and see how it goes.
Eventually you can shape your way to luring 3 feet off and rewarding stepping her back foot on – the all 4 feet off. At this stage, a lure will work to move her forward r a hand touch.
It might take a couple of sessions but it should help split the behavior more.
Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
I am glad you are having fun!!! You and Taq look terrific!
>>I need to up the cookie since she would rather chase me on the blinds! She is not always eating them.>
You can be slowly walking away while she is eating, and when she has swallowed it: run! That can actually reward eating LOL! No eating = no running 🙂
>>I have 2 little wobbles so maybe I can set them both out. I also have a small pivot for that plank- not sure if I should use that?>>
Two little wobbles next to each other can work, and I recommend stuffing towels under them both at first so there is a little movement, but not a lot and it is easily controlled.
The cookies in the bowls session went well – it was hard for her to pass by the cookies in your hands to get to the next bowl, but she figured it out! Yay! So the next step would be to place the cookies more quietly and stealthily, then let her start offering the behavior before the cookies get plopped in. Then it will be easy to add the upright.
With the toys: Crawling under your legs was SO FUNNY!! She is so clever LOL!
>> How do I get puppy to release toy one?
Try tugging then relaxing the tug hand so the toy goes ‘dead’ (but don’t let go of it). After maybe 2 seconds of ‘dead’ toy, you can start tapping the other toy – she should release and go to the live toy. I also like to ooh and ah over the new toy, really focusing on it so the pup focuses on it too. The ‘dead’ toy moment will become the cue to out the toy, and she will start offering going to the next side.
>>Also maybe identical toys until she gets it.
It might make it easier to have to same or similar toys, so she is not focused on the higher value toy only.
>>Should I just try without a wall first? I think I have done that with her successfully in the past. >>
Yes, it is a good one to work on separately – in the reward procedures posted on Tuesday, I have a demo on switching back and forth between 2 toys. And finding a comfy way to sit so the toys are low but she doesn’t go under or over your legs will be helpful too! Kneeling or sitting with legs crossed might help? Or sitting on something really low to the ground?
>>I was also trying to im prove my tugging behavior so please comment on that!
This is an awkward game for tugging mechanics, so that part went really well! One toy being ‘alive’ and snaking around on the ground can be really enticing to her 🙂
Hi!
>>However, after I “win” the race and set up for another rep, she takes the toy and runs off with it on that next repetition. I’ve only managed to beat her to the toy twice during our games and this has happened both times.>>
What you are likely seeing is a bit of arousal self-regulation. There is pressure when we start adding handler motion, so the pups often decompress with a quick runabout.
>>Because I saw a behavior change that I wasn’t expecting, do you feel like I should not “win” the race for awhile and keep working on developing the game? >>
I think it is a good thing when the pups decompress, so you can still win every now and then (you don’t want to win a lot, just maybe one out of every 10 times spread out over the course of multiple sessions). But on that next rep, you can help shift the decompression towards you by turning and running the other direction as soon as she gets the toy, then offering a second toy for coming back towards you.
Let me know how it goes!
Tracy
Hi!
>>I tried this at 6 inches & we had some dropped bars. It seemed like if she was set up too close to the bar, she dropped it & if the reward (moving MM) was too exciting, she dropped it.>>
It looked like it only happened at the beginning, when she was in between the 2 jumps. And when she started from the first jump and did both, things went much better (looks like she did not drop a bar on the last 2 reps but maybe the camera angle hid it?)
>>Should I go lower?>>
Nope! Do another session with her starting in front of jump 1 and using a slooowwwllllly moving MM, and see how she does. She might have just needed to sort it out on this session, and will be perfect in the next one 🙂 Let me know how she does!
Tracy
Hi! Thanks for the update, I am glad she is doing so well!!!
>>When it was our turn she was focused and ready to go. Did that diminish with time, yes. We kept things very simple and rewarding and shorter as time went on.>>
Great! Keep the sessions really short and easy – ending way before you think you need too – in order to help her be able to maintain her focus and engagement.
>>Did not use xpen or crate, she doesn’t do well in either. But happy to sit in her chair.>>
How does she do in a crate when she is not in the ring? Or when you go to trials? We definitely want to help her be able to settle in a crate.
T
Hi!
How far are you from Brandon? Karen Holik is there and she is top notch! I have feelers out to see who else is in the area.Tracy
Hi!
>>My main concern is the 2 jumps after the second set of weaves>>
Two things I noticed here, watching the bars:
– on the bars that were down, the motion and timing didn’t support the line enough so she was trying to make adjustments over the bar.
On run 1, at :13 – you were lined up straight then as she was jumping, moved to 3 so she tried to adjust in the air and dropped the bar on 2. At :14 you were running straight til she was gathering to take off then gave the weave verbal then turned – so she tried to adjust in the air and dropped 3.Looking at the line after the weaves, being ahead was fine! But you were moving too far off the line and across the bar after the weaves then as she was lifting off so she thought she was jumping towards you on that line. Then you pushed back towards her so she tried to adjust and dropped the bar. That also caused the next bar to come down (kind of like a domino effect!) where she was still adjusting after landing, plus you had to push in towards it which made you late turning her to the next jump.
So for the lines, try not to over-help 🙂 by going too far from her line. Instead, run on the line you want her to take so that she knows exactly where to go and can adjust her striding before takeoff.
– the other thing I notice is that she looks a little “short” in her striding, almost like her shoulders and hind end are a little tight. She might have been a little sore? Or the footing might have been harder or slippery?
Have fun in PA and happy Thanksgiving!!!
Tracy
Hi!
This went really well! Great job with your connection and it also looks like you were doing volume dial tricks and remote reinforcement. YAY!She read the tunnel threadle handling really well each time. I think on the first couple of reps you were using a left cue, but on on the last rep it sounded like a ‘here’ cue – so be sure to be consistent and use the turn cue and tunnel threadle verbal so she can really drive through it.
Her only question was about jump 1 at :42 and 1:11 – you were sending but also moving away, so she was not sure if she should commit or not. So try to face forward for longer until she has really locked onto it, then you can move away. Also, you can turn her to her left on this line because it sets up a nicer line to the tunnel.
>>she did amazing first 6 obstacles, petered out before the 2nd tunnel, then re-started and finished strong. Best she has been in ages. Started with pattern games and volume dial. Seemed to help but everyone was far away which made it easier for her.>>
This is great! Sounds like she needs more reward in the middle of a course, so you can surprise her with a reward in the middle, or use your remote reinforcement marker and run off to get the treats. I am glad she did well!!Tracy
This is the sequence with the tunnel threadles:
Nice job on the tunnel threadles here! He really is following the handling and verbals beautifully. You are running the correct line, with tons of connection too. Yay! That helped make is easy for him, and also it looked really different than the other cues which is part of why he did so well on all of these videos.Great job here!
TracyThis is the sequence with the tunnel threadles:
Nice job on the tunnel threadles here! He really is following the handling and verbals beautifully. You are running the correct line, with tons of connection too. Yay! That helped make is easy for him, and also it looked really different than the other cues which is part of why he did so well on all of these videos.Great job here!
TracyHi!
Was there room to turn him to his left on jump 1 so he has a straight line to the #2 tunnel? Turning him to his right sets up a harder line.
On that send to 1, try not to back up as you are sending him – he was not sure if he should commit or follow you (it happened on the next video too). Be sure to face the jump til you see him lift off for it.
On the first rep, you didn’t do the spin to get the jumps instead of the tunnel and he read that really well! You did a little decel and brake arm – so you don’t need a spin there 🙂
You did the spin on the 2nd rep – I don’t think he needs it when we compare the two reps, because he is reading them both well! And taking out rotation when you don’t need it will keep you further ahead on course.
Hi!
These all went really well 🙂
I think you posted them in reverse order, so this video is the full sequence with all 3 variations. It went great!
Small details:
You don’t need to say jump for 5 – when he lands from 4 and looks at it, you can say “go tunnel” to name the whole line and keep him looking straight. I think you said it earlier on the 2nd rep and he did really well driving ahead!The spin at :45 and 1:56 can be sooner (start them after he lands from the previous jump) so you are done and moving away before he lands. But after watching the next video, I don’t think you need the spin there (see below).
Nice tunnel threadle cue on both reps!! You are running a great line there too, pretty directly to the tunnel entry you want.
Hi!
>>I’m a klutz and tripped over a dog cot hurting my knee and twisting my ankle.
OUCH! Hopefully your feel better today!
>>BTW, how are you getting to forums while course building and running? Superwoman!>>
I didn’t enter that many classes because it just gets too exhausting. Running at 8pm last night after being in the building at 4:30am to start building did NOT produce good results for my handling LOL!!
>P.s. Sprite practiced couch chill while I watched the US open. I saw you with HSM and Bandit!>>
Fun! I was halfway decent with them in Speedstakes. It was a challenging but fun course!
And I was trying to watch all of the dogs at the line to see if we had eye contact going – nope! We are basically “all business” and they do not need to give me any direct eye contact. We go in, we are looking at/towards each other, and then I ask for the stay position, then lead out. So yes, we are connected and looking at each other, but at no stage is eye contact something I wait for, if that makes sense.
And when the youngest (Elektra) needed to run in the rain, I asked her if she could sit and she said no – so I asked her to stand and stay and she said yes, so I led out from a stand. In a really challenging environment (2 rings close to each other, no real ring fencing, dogs and people everywhere, trialing outdoors for the first time, plus rain!) it was really important to help her out and not add any pressure. She was terrific in her run!
I mention all this as food for thought – you and Sprite will develop a communication system that works really well!
Leash off/engagement on looked good! She was engaged the whole time, which is great. This is something I do before all of the line ups with my dogs – leash off, engagement on (whatever we have hashed out as engagement) then into the line up cues.
>>I also did remote reinforcement. She wanted to eat hackberries rather than walk away with me. I could have put her leash on. But, I decided to add more energy and switch to a toy.>>
It looked really good! She definitely liked the higher energy! It brought her up to a more optimized arosal state and she did really well.
You can bring this magic chair as your reward station to class and trials – that can help make the reinforcement more predictable.
Next step can be to combine the leash off/engagement o n with the remote reinforcement game 🙂 She can be on leash, you leave the reward station, move to the jump – leash off. She engages? Cue the jump, then back to the reward station.
Pretty soon after that, if all goes well, you can cue the line up before you cue the jump, then back to the reward station 🙂
Great job here!
TracyGood morning!
The runs are looking good!First run – really nice opening! You can use more of her distance skills here to strategically get where you want to be 🙂
To get to the blind at the end even sooner, you can stick closer to the 3-4 line and send her to the #6 tunnel from further away – that way you will be right there to get past 7 to serp it more, and get the blind nice and early. At :13 she was jumping straight over the bar at you because you were just getting past the jump.Same with the blind between the 6 tunnel and 7 jump on the next run – send away to 4 while staying closer to 3, so you can be on a parallel line pretty far away from 5 so as she enters the 6 tunnel, you are basically already at the exit of the tunnel for the blind. That way you can start the blind before she even goes into the tunnel.
About sending away to 4: be super connected so as she is in the air over 3, you can be getting ready to end her to 4 as she lands. That will also help her keep the bar up by giving the turn cue sooner for 4.
3rd run – you wrapped to the left on 5 and she got it but ti set up more of a zig zag line 5-6. You can turn to her right on the outside of 5 (as a rear cross, or do a BC between 4 and 5) and that will set up a really smooth line for her.
4th run – Really nice! She found the shoulder turn (aka don’t take the tunnel cue) really nicely!
5th run – tunnel threadle – she is following this really well too, so you can move more directly to the tunnel to get it nice and smooth. You pulled your shoulders towards the jump, so she was heading to the jump. You can be cuing the threadle and moving to the tunnel entry to get the smoother line there – and that way she will go directly to the tunnel without needing an additional tunnel verbal (because “tunnel” in this scenario means to take the other side of it, so the tunnel threadle word should be the cue to come take the entry closer to you.
>>One thing I know is I really want that independent running A FRAME! I know that is beyond the scope of what you can and want to do here. Any suggestions for a class?>>
There are a couple of good classes out there – let me poke around the internet and see which links I can find for you!
Nice work here :)
TracyGood morning!
>>I have been doing a toned-down ready dance and it is definitely helping her control her arousal>>
Yes, totally agree! The first session looked really good! My only suggestion on that one is to be closer on the send, so you only do one step and not have to run towards it. So after you reward her with the tugging, you can tug her back closer to it then send from a couple of feet away.
>>Her arousal level was too high and she ran off with the prop>>
This was at :37 in the 2nd session – I think a bit of frustration sent her into overarousal there (these were 2 very short sessions, so unless other things happened in between, I don’t think it was a session length issue). The frustration was because you delayed the send for a side too long, so she sent herself (predicting the rhythm of it) and you didn’t reward – dogs are very clever at knowing when a reward is NOT coming, so she got frustrated and grabbed the prop.
So yes, it was arousal, but it is rooted in a lower resiliency (not being able to bounce back from the unexpected error or delay in the send).
No worries, we can build the resilience up! One way to do it in this game is to praise, call her back and give a reset cookie if she sends herself because the ready dance was a little long. And keeping the engagement just a bit shorter will help her be able to regulate the arousal.
>>She also has a history of running around the yard with toys. She enjoys it and I enjoy watching her, but it’s not ideal when we are in a training session, as opposed to a burning-off-energy session.>>
You can shape those sessions into cued reinforcement procedures, like “go for a run!” with the toy and then bringing it back for a cookie, then being sent off for a run again.
Third session – you can be walking away as she is getting the cookie, so when she eats it you can run then show the deceleration when she is halfway to you. That will get really nice collection into the pivot !
>>When I have her come to hand, she sometimes blind crosses on me, so I was trying not to turn too soon. Let me know if you think I am waiting too long to turn.>>
If she is moving to the other side of you, that is feedback from her that your connection is not strong enough 🙂
I thought you were strong here with connection so she stayed on on the correct side. You don’t really want to turn earlier – you were doing it just as she was arriving at your hand – but you can decelerate earlier to get her even tighter to your leg.
I love how she got right on the toy after all those cookies! Yay!!
>>I have worked separately on touching her and giving her treats since she likes to dance away if she thinks she is going to be restrained. I have also been touching her when we tug. Not in a rough way, but just a gentle touch. I like how that’s progressing.>>
Fantastic! Make being touched/help into a super fun party! And since she loves her toys and loves running with them, you can put her in a collar or harness and tug, touch the collar harness, then let go and let her run around with the toy. This will quickly progress to being able to hold the collar or harness.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
