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Good morning!
Nice job with the blind cross here! Being able to do it on the flat with the pup right there is hard and you nailed it!
>>Paul holding didn’t work great,>>
What went sideways – was she not happy with being held, or was it hard to show her the blind?
The goat game – this went well! She was more than happy to touch the new thing. Super!!! Her early foundations with the cardboard box are probably what helped make it easy for her 🙂
Only one suggestion about mechanics: You can get the treats ready in your hand before the object gets presented (rather than after), for speed of rewarding her.
You can shift the placement of reinforcement so instead of feeding her for standing still on it, you can reward and simultaneously release’ her by tossing a treat off to the side, then reward again when she gets back on it. That way she is moving and offering more and more feet on the thing each time 🙂Keep changing up things that she can get on or in -you don’t need to get it perfect on any single object, it is better to work this game on as many different things as possible.
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
Yes, this is definitely ready to go outside! And indoors, you will probably need to get a carpet or something for him to run on, so he really digs in 🙂
His drive forward was excellent, and he didn’t mind that you were also running. Yay! And yes a longer toy will be good to be able to engage after he gets to it 🙂
I think the hardest part for him was letting go of the toy. So when you are wanting it back, you can quiet your voice and your hands til he lets go… then you can go wild with your ready ready chatter and start the next rep 🙂
Great job here! Let me know how he does outside!
Tracy
Having Shane restrain him worked out great! Thanks Shane!!
>>All I can say is LATE, LATE, LATE! I think I am incorporating all your great advice, and then…well…not so much. >>
That is why I don’t tell the puppies that they were wrong or wide on these… it is all about human timing 🙂
For timing, you will want to decel or start the blind no later than when he is halfway to you. You can put a visual marker off to the side, like a cone. And you will start running, call him when you are past the cone (keep running) and then when he is getting past the cone – you decel or start the blind (you would be way ahead at that point).
That will allow him to organize for the collection or side change.
>>I think I am mostly struggling with the space. In my head I feel like there is not enough room to execute properly, but I am certain that is wrong, lol!>>
I think this is a good amount of space, so if you start sooner, it will feel more comfy in that space.On the decels:
>>So on the Decel exercise, you want me to run forward, let him catch up to me, and continue to run forward with him right by my side BEFORE I decel, correct? >>
Actually, the decel should start when he is on his way to you, before he reaches halfway to you. So you would run forward til he hits that halfway point, then decelerate and as he is arriving at your side, start the turn.
Looking at the video, the rep at :25 had earlier decel than the others, and he collected really well! Yay! The other reps had deceleration starting as he got to you, so he would blast past by a stride then make the turn (because that is when he saw the info). So starting even earlier than the rep at :25 will make it even easier 🙂
I am not sure if he knows when to grab the toy on this game, so you can scrunch it up a little more so it is not as dangly, then as you pivot you can tell him to take it (we will be adding markers soon that will tell him he can have it).
Looking at the blinds – great job with the connection on the new side! He was able to changes sides easily, thanks to that. As with the decals, you can scrunch the toy up a bit and keep your arm touching your stomach as you show the new connection so the toy is a little visible but not flapping around as much til he is almost near you.
>>And on the BC I am still waiting too long before I switch sides, so he is doing a bit of the “drunken sailor.”>
On this flatwork game, you will see the change of line on the flat as he changes sides so that looked good! But yes, you can be a lot sooner 🙂 You can anticipate the halfway point and start the blind: Shane releases him and when you see Yuzu take one stride, you can start the blind.
Definitely keep up the great connection, though, as that is the most important part.
And the toy play looked good – I didn’t see any tooth hugs or clothing grabs, unless you edited them out LOL!
Great job 🙂
TracyHi Annalise and Team Prytania! These were great rainy day sessions 🙂
Very nice high energy session with the toy here! The Sheltie howling in the background was HILARIOUS!!!
She had a little trouble dropping the toy, so you can trade for a low value treat. Not being about to drop the toy means she is in a high arousal state, so the cookie trade can help balance that.
She has some really useful tricks for this too! The spin and twist are good ones! And she was super with her sit and her touch! The smacking her gets her super stimulated which is good to know but you don’t always need her to be that stimulated 🙂
The next step here is to take it on the road and see how she does is different places.
She also did well with the food version of the volume dial. The backing up is a great trick too! And the line up trick is good too – that might be her way of saying she is ready to work!
Try to feed her from your hand on this one, so she is sticking closer to you – picture this happening right outside the trial ring where you don’t have a ton of room to move around. So you can cue a trick then deliver the cookie from your hand – she can follow your hand to eat it so there is still some action, but you might not have enough room to catch it.
Remote reinforcement is also looking good! Great job with the let’s go marker! She found the version of the game with food to be pretty easy 🙂 Remember to mix in short distances with the longer ones too, so it is not just getting harder all the time.
The ball was harder for sure! I love how she picked up the toy – that was her way of saying “this is hard, I need to put SOMETHING in my mouth!”
She got better and better in this session – you did a great job of just doing short fun reps, so she was getting the tennis ball pretty quickly. That made a big difference and helped her a lot.
We have added the next steps to this game – I think she is ready!
Great job!
TracyHi!
>A question right off the top on engaged chill. This will be a big one for us as chilling is not his favorite activity and I haven’t found something he likes yet. >>
Most dogs struggle with engaged chill, which is why we just teach it now 🙂
>>I’ve already noticed he doesn’t really like being petted when work might be possible.
That is pretty common in BCs, so no need to pet him.
>>He does relax on a mat, but as you stated that’s not really him doing the chilling.>>
Engaged chill and actual relaxation are two different things 🙂 So if he can stand on a mat without intervention from you in the form of cookie parades or repeated cues, then it is a potential first step to engaged chill.
>>I started at home, with the food up and down game, and tried slowing it down just a bit. He started whining quickly and then ran down the hall and back. I tried it again with similar results..
Two suggestions: slow it down more gradually, and put him on a leash. He wants to move and we are asking him to self-regulate and NOT move… so hard! So the leash helps and slowing down more gradually helps.
>>’m going to try the snuffle mats next. (Amazon’s delivering a 2nd one tomorrow :),
Yay! I was using two cut up cleaner mats from the grocery store LOL!
>>but I wanted to ask you how I should handle the vocalization/running off. Do I try to time the cookies to prevent it or do I let him work through it? >
Both are feedback that he is frustrated. So alternate the pace so it is fast, slow, fast and gradually oh-so-gradually sloooooow down the pace a heartbeat at a time. And a leash keeps him with you so you can the chance to do it.
>>He’s responded well to the snuffle mat, so I think it may really help him.
The snuffle mats will also let you use several cookies, which helps slow down the pace. So you can use several cookies when you are doing it without the snuffle mats and see if that helps.
Keep me posted!
Tracy
Yay! Yes, rear crosses are about setting the line then driving it so the dog sees it pretty early – not about letting them get ahead of us.
T
Hi!
2 dogs in one class is a lot for you to split your focus! Are you able to spread. them out in the running order, so you have plenty of time to focus on each for their runs? That way Tipsy can get a good mental and physical warm u before her run, without you and her feeling rushed.
If there is no way to work them both in the same class without feeling rushing or having enough time to give them both what they need, I like your idea of giving Probie a session off (sorry Probie!) and that way you can devote all of your focus to Tipsy 🙂
Tracy
Thanks for the info!
>>What works best is tugging at the line and then taking the tug and dropping it and running. But that gets her energy up. Then she runs beautifully. >>
Yes – classic Yerkes Dodson arousal states: higher arousal optimizes her state and that is when you get the best performance!
>> I think now a nose touch back start or a collar grab start would fire her up too. Her arousal is going up in general. >>
You can add in moving tricks to this, and some ‘demand for the jump’ with a higher arousal state behavior such a barking at you! Sounds crazy, I know, totally counterintuitive… but completely in line with the science and works like a charm!
Tracy
Hi! I love that he puts himself in the kennel 🙂 That kind of agency bodes well for when we add in stuff like carrying the toy and other arousal regulation stuff!!!
Safe travels to Florida!
Tracy
Hi!
Good session here with the leash on then off! The Cato board helps too, plus all the cookies.
>>It went very well while she is not over the top aroused.>>
You can add in a tunnel then the board then the leash on then leash off then the tunnel. And we can gradually extend the time on leash and moving away, before leash off and back to play – or leash on and exiting for bigger rewards.
Question about al the cookies… do you bring cookies on the hikes? That can help, of course!
>>Next, plan to take your hiking suggestion to a highly charged fenced in area to see whether I shall be able to put on her leash treat and then remove leash to”hike” some more.>>
I think this is a good plan eventually, but not now. That sounds more like testing the behavior, but I want to build up the behavior more first. You can put the off leash hikes on hiatus until you are able to get more reinforcement and rehearsal into this behavior (practice makes pathways!). For now, do hikes on a long line so you can rehearse only desirable behaviors and re-wire the existing pathways of undesirable behaviors.
Let me know how the next rehearsals go!
Tracy
Hi!
First video – very nice with the get its on the line and getting the blind! Have you noticed that you are able to move faster now and she is finding the jumps? HOORAY! You were really hustling to get the blind and she got the jumps!
On the threadle section:
>>realize that either she doesn’t know the Left verbal very well or the excitement of running overrides it.>>
Neither! You had ‘conflicting indicators’ going on (my new favorite phrase!). Your voice said turn but your body said go straight. So she chose to go with the motion. To get the left on the jump, you can be using a more obvious brake arm and turning your shoulders away from the obvious tunnel entry. And don’t do the threadle verbal until you see her turn left on the jump.
>>On the reminder to be careful about my reward markers I had a couple of questions. On the threadle sequence, if I would say Get It (which is her marker for food or toy on the ground she should run to) that helped her turn from going into the tunnel straight on. Is that okay and what you meant about using the correct marker? >>
Yes – and you can add in calling her name then saying get it, because then her name can become part of the turn cue on softer turns like that.
>>Is it confusing to the dog to have so many verbals given in succession, Left, Whoop, Get It?>>
It is not confusing to use all the verbals… as long as the physical cues support them at this stage. Conflicting indicators will confuse her and she will have to choose: verbal or physical cue.
With that in mind though – don’t use your get it as a lure for the behavior 🙂 For the threadle reps at the end, you were not really showing the motion consistently so she was staying on the line til you said get it and dropped the toy. You will want to get the behavior then say get it.
She did well with the remote reinforcement! Very engaged 🙂 You can definitely try this with a toy! And we build on it with the new games added today 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi!
Lots of really good stuff here!!!Ramping up the arousal state outside the ring – no trouble at all, and she still entered the ring with complete engagement and a pretty great Tate of arousal.
Snappy line ups on each run!That tunnelers run looked great – toy on the ground, a nice remote reinforcement practice ! Good girl! Did you have anything in your pocket?
>>You’ll get a kick out of her absolute SHOCK when her toy walked away WITH SOMEONE ELSE!!!!! After that, she had no brains at all.>>
I am glad we asked her that question! She did lose her brain – what you saw was a divided attentional state – she was unable to prioritize one thing over the other. You can literally see her looking back and forth. That is why latency to the cues was super high or she couldn’t really respond (especially when you were not moving). So you can stay in motion, simplify the sequence (it was pretty hard!) and whip out the other to a lot sooner. This is especially important if you see her struggling – change plans to something simpler and show lots of motion, because that is more likely to help her prioritize.
On runs 3 and 4, there were some handling errors on the line – try to ignore those rather than stop and fix, and rather than stop and reward with the toy. I think it is just as important to not stop and give the toy, because that reinforcement can be confusing. Yes, if everything has cone to a screeching halt and there is no way to continue -give her the toy 🙂 But if she is still moving? You can keep going 🙂
So, if something goes wrong like she runs past a jump or takes an off course line, just keep going, get her back on a line, and reward when things are going right 🙂 The off courses/ running past stuff are just handling errors of being a little late or conflicting indicators (verbals versus motion) and she isn’t experienced enough to save you yet 🙂 Fixing can be frustrating, and stopping to reward after missing obstacles can be confusing, so it is better to intensify connection, get on a line, and reward that 🙂
Really nice job here! When is her next trial?
Tracy
>>Yeah, I spent several sessions just working on me while the pups were roaming. Still couldn’t get it when I added the dog.>>
Try it with an older dog first! Adult dogs will process the cues sooner than a puppy will. A pup will take longer to process the cues, which means you have to be earlier too – that is hard, so you can try it with an adult and see how that timing feels 🙂
T
Feel free to post it, I am sure it was not awful!!! Probably just some delays as your brain was processing the new mechanics, and a puppy who was coming at you FAST lol!!
>> It seems things we learned years ago have to be exorcised.>>
That is relatable. I originally learned handing using a system where blinds were forbidden LOL! So have to learn blinds was HARD and I did a lot of walking up and down hallways, practicing them slowly and without dogs.
And the very first blind I did in competition? Nope! Didn’t work. I was late and didn’t connect enough LOL! Oops! But it all got figured out with practice and cutting myself some slack 🙂
>>ewarding across the body worked like a charm – when I got a handle on my body.>>
Yes – it is a European way of training blinds (from folks like Jenny Damm) that opens up the connection brilliantly! Then we fade out the rewarding across the body because we have ‘taught’ your shoulders how to show great connection.
T
