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Absolutely! You can take this game outside and just have the leash looped onto your wrist (or a long line) so he can’t go too far away 🙂
Have a safe trip!
Tracy
Hi!
The bowl game is looking great! Rather than tossing a cookie off to the side, you can mix in a game of tug to help bring tugging into the game.She did really well when you adding the upright – no problem, easy peasy. Yay! Next step – you can sit on something so we can start to move you to a standing position. And when you are sitting on something, if she thinks it is fine, you can start to move the upright away. No rush to do. This – you can do this every 2 or 3 days, so the magical whippet latent learning has a chance to kick in 🙂
On the prop game – I think the approach of pumping up the value really helped her – the jumping up at your hands was probably rooted in. Bit of frustration about not knowing where to look. So shaping it a bit then putting the treat on it seems to have made a big difference. Yay!!! Something you can add is changing the placement of reinforcement: the empty hand sends her and then the other hand tosses the treat to the prop as she hits it (yes, 3 hands might be needed :)) But that can continue to solidify her looking ahead/down at the prop, and not up at your hand.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
She did a great job here too! Part of the challenge here is that she has to ignore the handful of treats in order to go around the pole – that is hard! And she did it really well (only a few passing glances at the treats LOL!)She did find it easier to go around the upright to her left (towards your left hand). It was a little harder going around it to her right (those were the reps where she was trying to squeeze in between you and the upright, she never did it going to her left). But overall she did a super job! And she will figure out the rights turns nicely – you can add a little more distance going to her left (moving towards your left hand) and then shorten up the distance when she needs to go to her right (moving to your right hand) by pulling the upright in closer to you.
But, since she is a whippet, I bet she wakes up tomorrow or Sunday and has it all figured out and doesn’t need us to help at all LOL!!
The next thing you can do is sit in a chair for this game – then we will get you standing!
Great job here!
Tracy
Hello from WRA Nationals! So many amazing whippets!
I agree, she is very intense with her toys… but she was GREAT here with being able to go back and forth between the 2 toys. She was releasing the toy pretty quickly to go to the next one!
One thing that will help is if, after making the toy she is tugging on “dead”, you make a big fuss over the toy you want her to go to by looking at it, talking to it, ooh-ing and ah-ing over it… that gets the pup looking at it faster. Here is a visual of what I mean:
And you can use longer toys and sit on something, to help preserve your flesh (the puppies that love toys often are happy to grab our flesh too!).
Overall, this is definitely going the right direction – getting what you want in terms of better releases and good tugging, while still keep it super for for her. Great job!!
TracyHi!
Excellent session here! She was very snappy going to the prop, and it didn’t really matter if it was a forward send or sideways or backwards. Good girl! She had a little trouble lining up in front of you for the ready dance on some reps, but I think that was more about some of the space limitations 🙂 The ready dance was great, by the way! Love it and you showed a very clear transition into the cue.
That was 100% success, so you can now be one step further away. And feel free to use toys here too! Remember to give her a nice big step to the prop, because she is likely going to be small enough that your feet are a primary cue for her!
And you can take the baby level of this to different locations, just rewarding for interaction – it is a fun way to get “work” in new places 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi!! Overall, these games are looking great and you should now start to take them on the road 🙂 to add in new locations. Here are some specifics:
Prop sending is looking great here! She was terrific both with hitting the prop on the various types of sends (forward, sideways, backwards :)) and she also told you when your send was not as clear – at :59, you did a send that actually turned your feet and shoulders to the house…. So she too turned to the house. Then she went “OH CR*P!” And went and hit the prop. Good girl!
Compare to the next rep at 1:05, where you were more clear about sending to the prop, and she had no questions. Yay!She did want to start without you on a couple of reps 🙂 so the more you get some eye contact and talk to her, the more you can cue it rather than she cues herself LOL!
You can also try this with the toy! She is doing an awesome job with the treats.
On thing I notice is that when he doubt here, she turns to her right. And when in doubt on the wing wrapping, it is the left turns where she cuts in between you and the upright (not the right turns), Seems like y9our girl is a righty! This is good to know and can help us plan training by starting any hard to concepts to her right at fist.
Speaking of the wrapping: this looked great too on all of the right turns! And she had a few questions on the wraps that would require to go to her left. So, you can totally move the upright further out for the right turns… and back in close to you for the left turns (you might need 3 hands for this LOL!!)
And definitely bring it back in closer so you can work your way up to standing 🙂 She seems ready for that.
She was great with the two toys – I love her little growls LOL!! Not surprisingly… when she had to do a lefty turn (even sorta) it was harder. Going to the right turn side? Easier every time. So you can have the higher value toy in your left hand, to help increase the value of the left turns. And you can also put the upright in now, using the 2 toys! Fun!
Great job on these! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi! Nice session here! He was working with some distractions and did really well!!
The reps from :50 to the end were spot on – you had a good transition from tugging to the collar hold, his feet were all on the ground, and he looked directly at the toy then drove to it. Super!
You can start throwing the toy further. The throws seemed to get his attention more than the dangling, so add more and more distance on the throwing should be very exiting for him.
Keep letting him go quickly like you did here – then you can move up the line with him, walking or jogging forward to the toy. He should get to the toy before you 🙂 if you are close to the toy, you can grab the other end and play tug 🙂 if he smokes you, you can run the other way and call him, so he drives back to you. He might bring the toy, or not – he might just run to you 🙂 either way is good and you can have a 2nd toy stashed in your pocket to reward him for coming back.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! I think adding the bar went pretty perfectly! She had lovely form and didn’t seem to touch the bar or be concerned about it at all. Yay!
On the set point, you can try the bar at 6 inches. And you can also play with the moving target to help her maintain her form while things are more exciting.
On the ladder grid, keep the bars low but add a bar to jump 2 and see how she does!
On the wing/tunnel video:
These are looking good! She has great commitment and is fast fast fast!! Yay! The racetracks looked terrific and so did the wraps.>>I think I’m getting better at looking at her as I move. I am so blown away at what a big effect looking at her has on the results!>>
Yes! It is so cool to see how well connection works to support the line we want.
For example, the blind at :17 was too early, she never really saw the connection as she exited the tunnel and you were looking forward instead of back at her. So she did not go to the wing.
Compare it to the next rep at :24, where you had a BIG connection, saw her look at the wing, then started the blind. NICE!In general, your connection is super strong so definitely keep emphasizing it!
On the blinds – You can decel into these so you don’t get as far past the wing, and that will also tighten up the turn a little.
>>We are still having a little trouble with the left turn tunnel threadle
I think that when she is on your right, turning to her right… you are moving directly towards the tunnel entry you want (like at 1:02). When she was on your left, you were moving away from it (your feet were pointing at the wing at 1:09) or you were not moving much so she was not sure. But then you started moving towards the tunnel entry you wanted like at 1:36 (last rep) and she nailed it! Yay!!! So keep your feet moving towards the tunnel entry you want until you see her turn her head and step towards it.
>>Also, when does MaxPup 3 start?
I think there will be an intermediate step between MaxPup 2 and 3, to allow folks to get through the winter. MaxPup 3 has a lot of big setups, so we need to wait til the snow is done LOL!! So stay tuned – I will sort it out and get it posted by the end of November 🙂
Great job here!
TracyAwesome! Keep me posted! There are lots of ways that we can reduce anxiety with nutrition, meds, etc – and it leads to all good things for the dogs!
T
Hi!
>>Timing is definitely a big goal at the moment with her – just when I think I have it worked out she finds another gear lol.
Yes, good news, bad news, right? You get an idea of the timing, and she brings on a new level of speed. Ok, that is all good news, no bad news at all LOL!!!
In general, I think you will find the timing easier if you think of it as a ‘window’ and not a moment. The window to be giving your cues will begin at takeoff to the previous obstacle and keep giving the cues til she lands and you see her lock onto what you want her to do. I think of it as giving cues early and often, so the perfect timing is in there somewhere and I can’t miss it 🙂
You can also name full lines (like “go tunnel!”) and so more complex handling like wraps or threadles, the timing for the next cue begins when you see commitment to the completion of the current cue. What I mean by that is:
For a threadle slice for example, coming to the correct side of the jump does not indicate commitment to completion. Coming to the correct side of the jump AND turning her head to the bar? Yes that is her way of saying “I know my job, carry on mum!” So when she looks at the bar, that is your cue to give her the next cue.A threadle wrap is a little different – it is come to the correct side, turn your head AND take the first stride with the inside leg to the wrap. That is your cue to give the next cue.
On a front side wrap, her indication to completion is not just collecting before takeoff, it is turning her head as she lands to look the next direction.
So a lot of timing is based on where the dog is looking, which is what makes connection so important 🙂
Remote reinforcement with food –
She was perfect about leaving the food behind. Maybe not overly excited about the game in the context but she was great about ignoring the food til you used your marker. She will like the food version of this game a lot better when you add in agility 🙂
The toy version also went really well – she like tugging better and she made sure to look at it as you were walking away – that made me laugh too! But she was also great about ignoring it til she heard the marker. You can definitely start adding some tricks and behavior to this – we build on it even more starting on Monday. And since she definitely wants to know where her toy is, this is a great game to develop so she learns that the toy is going to be in a predictable place so she doesn’t have to think about where it is.
>>She didn’t see me hide the toy and I put it in a place where I haven’t ever put it before but she seemed to know it was there. >>
The more I learn about how well they can smell things, the more I realize that we can’t hide anything from them LOL!!!
She was great with the find my face in sequence – it helps prepare the dogs for when we humans mess up LOL!!! She came right back and grabbed the toy – so you can have the toy hidden now, so she finds you and doesn’t just look for the toy. On the 2nd run, she went and found a jump – yay! I like when the dogs keep trying to find lines, because we do eventually want them to save us when we mess up 🙂
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
I am glad that Gemma is on the road to recovery!!
>>“open the 2×2 of a straight set.” I have one set of 12 poles in line. So, are you suggesting using 6 of those and then 3 sets of 2×2 with an angle on the last set? I might need a visual.>>
Yes – 6 straight normal poles and the next 6 can be 2x2s – and if popping is a struggle, all the 2x2s can be a little open! Show it to her first in isolation then use it in sequencing.
The volume dial game gave us good feedback. When you were moving your hands towards her right at the beginning? Instant grass eating. That is a big “no thanks” from Sprite about moving to the line like that. Why? Could be any number of reasons, but that is less important than knowing her opinion on it.
Compare to tugging to the line? No consideration of grass eating, just engagement with you! Yay!
When you were moving her to the line for the sequence, you were both moving but not tugging so she seemed to have a grass-eating consideration moment… almost like she doesn’t know what to do with herself and needs an outlet for the arousal. Since you prefer she NOT eat the grass 🙂 , you can direct her to the outlet you like better (tugging!) I like tugging better than grass eating too 🙂
When you were doing the volume dial and I think you were wanting her to offer a sit – make a clearer transition to ‘tugging is done, let’s do a thing’ by getting the toy fully out of her mouth so she realizes you want something else. It was a little unclear, the tug was in her mouth, so she was happy to stand there and chew on it. A clearer transition into the ‘out’ to end the tugging and position relative to the jump can help her.
>>These were decent line ups for Sprite. Not super fast, but not too much extra time either.>>
These were really good and if she does that in a trial, I would be very happy with it! On the first one, which is harder because it was first and the leash was on: You cued the line up a little after 1:11 and she was solidly in her sit at 1:13. I will take that! A little under 2 seconds and a solid position & stay. Next time you go to a trial, you will see that many dogs have the same latency (or higher).
Great job here! Let me know how it goes at the park!
Tracy
PS forgot to add – the hardest part of the this sequence was the middle jump of the pinwheel, so you’ll definitely want to reward that a lot, with a thrown toy. Get nice and close to it with a TON of connection for now (less arm, more eyes 🤩 ) and then throw a reward for taking it.
And, since these were all left turns, you can try going the other way and see if it is easier with right turns – maybe all these left turns are just crazy hard and the right turns will e easier as she is learning these skills 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
I think the session at ADG went well – she was very engaged and gave good information!
She is already panting pretty hard at the beginning of this session, was she running before it? Curious to know what was causing the panting so we can make sure it is not stress-related.
>>Changtse was not exuberant to say the least!
I think that she was fully engaged but not necessarily moving fast. It is quite possible that the harness with the leash clipped to the front of it was restricting her front end range of motion (which is exactly what they are intended to do, in order to stop leash pulling). But with her front end reach restricted based on where the hardness was on her front legs, and a leash hanging from it – she was uncomfortable moving faster than a walk.
So her brain was fully engaged, and trying it without the harness here might make a big difference in how she moves. A regular collar and a super light leash might be all she needs (plus she might think that dragging the leash is weird, so you can work in taking it off as part of this game too).
She did well with the tricks too – the stretch up on you was the only one she didn’t want to do (too much pressure in that moment? Or harness inhibiting her front end reach? Hard to know, but she clearly said ‘no thanks’ to it ). So good job asking for something else. She liked everything else especially when you were moving around 🙂
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
>>I think she kept her enthusiasm up better for the most part.
Yes! She was good! I think part of her question was about how long the sequences are getting – a bit too long, for now, because she would start off great and then start asking questions. Then when she has to do it again, she asks more questions. That means Annalise has to be perfect (which is REALLY hard to do with a baby dog!)
>> I do think she was still quite a bit handler focused and wondering about the toy.
It is super important to remember her age and her lack of experience 🙂 Because she is so young (14 months, right?) she doesn’t have the experience to get on a line and stay on a line, plus she doesn’t really know that sequences can go to 15 or 20 obstacles and not have a reinforcement! Eek! LOL!!
So rather than run the full sequence, take the pressure off and break them into smaller chunks to help build up the duration (# of obstacles) of the sequence. It will be that ping pong effect:
Sometimes reward after 8, sometimes after 4, sometimes after 3, sometimes after 10! Then sometimes after 4 and so on, gradually building up the length (over multiple sessions) and putting LOTS of rewards into the sequence and not just at the end.And since she is young, stick really close to the jumps for now to help support her. You also sometimes revisit that lazy game, where you get to just walk through the sequence and toss a big piece of cheese when she takes a jump – that will strengthen her commitment.
You can also have a smaller reinforcement in your hand, something that is easier to throw – does she like a hollee roller, or a hollee roller with a ball in it? That can be easier to scrunch up in your hand throw on a line, and I think she will like it.
>>I left a turn in with potter in case Annalise is doing anything differently between the two.>>
I think what you are seeing here on the run with Potter versus the runs with Prytania is the difference between an adult, trained, experienced dog… and a young adolescent who is still learning all the things 🙂 It is great practice the handling with Potter, but that doesn’t mean Prytty will be able to respond the same way 🙂
Basically, it is like learning a foreign language, like French. Potter has been learning French for years now, and can speak it fluently anywhere. Prytania is like a 6th grader in her first year of French class, so she has a big vocabulary of words and phrases, but she has to think really hard to be able to string it all together into full conversations 🙂 Patience and reinforcement will help build it up 🙂
>>In my little experiment with long breaks, I think she did much better with the one and done and larger breaks! Not on video, but Annalise went out maybe 2 hours after this (haha she snuck out on me) did a one and done and they knocked it out of the park>>
Yes! Long break, let the learning percolate, let her sleep – and she will come out even stronger! Yay! But also keep breaking down the sequences so she is working in short, fast bursts. We have plenty of time to build things up into longer courses.
Great job with the tunnel threadle rep! You were very clear with the motion, position and verbals, and she nailed it! Yay!
Find my face also went really well! Not all of it was visible, but based on your praise, it sounds like she was amazing 🙂 She was great about finding your every time. Yay! You can start acting even more disconnected and pretending you are lost on course LOL!
This is an easy game for her at home base, so you can start taking these pattern games on the road (just the basic game at first). That way she can learn lots about her environment and get lots of rewards for doing so 🙂Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
Yes, she definitely liked more room to leave you in the dust LOL!
>>The first time I added a bit of speed she pulled up when she got to the toy and looked at me (it went off camera to your right). >>
Yes, you went to running and she was like “wait, what??” You had slightly less motion on the next reps and she was great! So as you add more and more motion, to keep her driving to the toy – you can release her before it even lands. She knows the game now, so she will probably be tracking it as you throw so before it lands, you can release her to get it. The motion of the toy should override any distraction of your motion 🙂
Prop sending –
The ready game totally jazzes her up! Love it!Was this the first time she saw the prop in a different room? Or the first time she did it with the toy? It took her a moment to remember but then she was great – when you were switching toys, note how she went and smacked the prop (at :23) 🙂 She did seem to think this was a cookie only game, so after the good hits, she didn’t come driving back to the toy, she stood there looking at you like you were nuts to offer a toy LOL!! Let her sleep on it and see how she feels about the toy in this context during the next session.
>>I decided to do the shaping session to see if it settled her down after & it worked.>>
She needed to burn off some puppy energy LOL!
>>“Roadkill raccoon” is a favorite of hers when playing in the kitchen but apparently less so tonight in the living room.>>
This might be part of why she wasn’t too into the toy with the prop sends – toy play in different rooms is not yet generalized. So you can do a house tour and play the driving ahead games in each room 🙂 That will be really exciting to her, I believe, so then you can be able to use the toys more for the other games too.And after lots of cookies, you can get toy engagement by throwing for her to chase – that will really bring it to life then you can get her tugging from your hand more easily.
She was great about getting into the basket and even got her back feet in! Super!! Definitely keep adding in all sorts of different crazy things for her to get on or in!
Great job here!
Tracy
