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Good morning!
He is SO CUTE!!! I love it!
He definitely seems to love the toy play and the driving ahead for the toy! Remember to release quickly on the toy throw, so he does not look back at you at all.
He does not love the collar holding – there is some avoidance, some rolling on his back, etc (which might be part of why he takes off with the toy, to avoid the collar holding). You can use this game for that: make VERY quick transitions and don’t move him by the collar. During tugging, you can gently slide a finger under his collar, take the toy out of his mouth, throw it immediately and release immediately. That way the collar hold is really quick and paired with toy chasing. You can also use a body harness where he might prefer being held on a harness.
You can also use a cookie to line him up and another cookie for when you put a finger under his collar. He was able to eat the cookies here, which is great, so you can use that to help with the line up and collar hold.
He did not immediately get back into the toy after the cookies, possibly two reasons why:
– The toy was not moving much, he did a lot better when it was really moving
– I think he was avoiding the collar holding.So the faster there is action happening, the less he will think about the collar holding and the more he will get back into the tugging 🙂
>>You can see he wants to take off with it. My dogs ALWAYS do that.
In this case, it might be a bit of collar avoidance and also most puppies run around with toys and don’t naturally retrieve it. We can shape it! Play this game in a smaller space so there is not as much room to roam (a long hallway is great), and after he gets the toy, you can call him back to you with another toy or treat. He doesn’t have to bring the first one back, he just needs to come back to you 🙂 That will be. The first step to bringing the toy back too.
The sending to the prop looks great! Add in the ready dance more consistently, like you did at :45 so it is engagement followed by the cue, rather than lots of reps in a row. That will also give you time to adjust your position to add in the sideways and backwards sending from the advanced level (and remember to stay closer to the prop so he can hit it consistently).
Great job here!
TracyGood morning! The pregames are looking great! Well done to you with your reward markers and also getting the toy involved. I love his engagement and drive, and he is definitely built like a sportswear!!!!
He did a great job hitting the book with his feet! The cookies worked great and I am very excited about the tugging! I love that you are using a marker for it and also your narration was hilarious: Murder and mayhem!! LOL!!!
Definitely keep going with that chatter during tugging, as it can build up even more engagement and will help when you go into the ring with no toy.One suggestion for the sending (and you will see more of this in the week 1 send game) – add more transition between the reward and the moment to send to the prop. Take a moment between the toy or cookies going away, and the sending. In the send game, I do a little engagement with “ready, ready…” (and a little dance LOL!) then a send. That way he will be ready for it and you will get more explosive behavior towards the book and less looking at you.
On the hand targeting – He is doing well touching it but he also wants to look at your face and make eye contact. So you can help direct his attention to the target by extending your arm and target hand all the way out away from your body – and while you do that, you shift your eyes from his cute face to look at the target. That will help him drive to it without looking at you as much 🙂
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
>>We had a couple breakthroughs there, but few.
A couple of breakthroughs are good!!!
>>Switching to two toys, no upright, hopeless. She’s too intense about it. And, the biggest problem, she wanted one more than the other. I tried varies combos. I don’t have two identical tugs. Time for a trip to Clean Run again 🙄 >>
No need to buy more toys (although a trip to Clean Run is always fun!). Show me what she is doing and we can sort it out – this is a perfect age for us to shape the toy play to be the way you want it!
>>Though she does work well with the two bowls for plain old kibble.
Yes! You can play this game with kibble while we sort out the toy play. This game does not need to be played with toys, but we will definitely want more toy stuff for other games 🙂
>Oh, and swapping out the tug for a treat 100% today. Because I was consistent.>>
Terrific! That is a great update!!
T
Hi! This was hard for her but she did great!!!
>>I obviously failed at having a JuJubee proof container.
I laughed out loud when she jumped on the rock and knocked the container over LOL!!! That was so funny. But it also shows that she knew where it was and was a very good girl to NOT go to it til cued! Yay!!
She had trouble when the leash went on – you can see how she was moving a lot, a little frantic, etc. Was she grabbing grass on the last rep (hard to see what she was doing there) However, she was able to stick with you and do some tricks – that is a BIG win! Yay!
Because this game is so hard, don’t do it every day. Mix in games where she doesn’t have to mentally work as hard, so her brain and recover. And on the next session of this game… take the treat pockets off too and leave them with the Chips container 🙂 that will be the ultimate! Super challenging but definitely something she needs to see 🙂
Great job here!
TracyHi!
>>Are we going to have any rear cross work coming up?
Yes – there is some in the games package 3 coming on Monday, and there are more in Games package 4 too! The key is to be running forward to the center of the bar and he will pass you, rather than waiting for him to pass you and then show the RC (which will end up being too late).
T
Hi!
The bowls game is looking good! Now that she is predicting the pattern, you can go to soft treats that she can swallow rather than chew 🙂
The next step is to slide the bowls back more, so they are kind of behind your knees when you are kneeling like this – that gives her more of an arc to move along.
The next step after that would be to put an upright in front of you, nice and close, for her to go back and forth between the bowls.
On the decel/pivot game – you can throw the cookie a little less far away, then run! Vesper will LOVE if she sees you running when you call her. Then when she is halfway to you (or maybe less than halfway). You can decelerate and show her the cookie hand. That will help her learn to collect and turn after being in extension – definitely a valuable tool for a whippet! Great job keeping your cookie hand nice and low, as well as close to your leg – that helped get a nice tight pivot.
>>Feedback on our tugging welcome!
The tugging after the bowls looked great – long fun toy that she was chasing and the puppy sploot flop is awesome! That is part of her play style (most pups outgrow it, eventually) so it was great that you rolled with it and kept going. She seems to like being dragged around LOL!! And when you get the ‘out’, you can reward with the toy for more tugging.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! No apologies needed, these were all fast, fun sessions!!
The first video with the pre-games looked great! She was on fire to do both the foot target and the nose target. And, she was happy to get right back into the toy play, which is really terrific! We put the nose target away from a couple of weeks, while we do some work with the foot target 🙂
The focus forward to the toy looks really good! She is not a fan of the collar hold, so try hold the collar but not move her by the collar – so tug her back to where you want her to be, then gently take her collar… then go right into the game. If she is not facing the way you want to go, no worries – you can move your position and where you present the toy, rather than move her by the collar. That way she gets happier with the collar holding because it indicates a fun game starting, rather than being moved by the collar.
Adding running to the toy like you did in the 3rd video was great – she was ready for that step and left you in the dust (just like we want her too LOL!). And it looks like you were holding her but not moving her by the collar – and she seemed very happy with the gentle hold here 🙂
This is going well, so take it to new locations and make sure you start her on your left and your right side, so she is happy on both sides of you 🙂
On the sending: The ready dance got great engagement and her little foot touching is SO CUTE!!!! She did really well here. You an stay a little closer for now, so she doesn’t ask any questions about how far away from you she needs to go. And a nice low hand will help her be able to see the connection, which will support her one as well.
Since she loves the toy, you can play this game with the toy too, instead of cookies. And she seems ready for the advanced level, with the sideways and backwards sending to begin developing countermotion (just be sure to start nice and close to the prop, and look at the prop when you send her to it).
Great job here! Have fun at the trial!!
Tracy
Hi!
>>It’s been a challenge to get motivated to train agility after losing Annie,
That is totally understandable and relatable. The grief can make it really hard to do more agility!
>>but Mason and I had fun with these games. >>
YAY! I am glad it was fun! Mason is adorable!
>>I think it helps that we’re not doing obstacles, so we’ll probably follow the baby track for a while and see how that goes.>>
Yes, plenty of time before ‘real’ obstacles, which gives us time to figure out how to best train and handle him.
>>These went pretty well given that Mason prefers food over toys and prefers to play with toys by himself. I’m trying to build value for playing with toys with me, but we’re not there yet so I couldn’t get him rev’d up with toy play. >>
I see what you mean! He likes the toy you threw, a whole lot, and his focus forward/drive forward looked great! And he was interacting with you – playing NEAR you rather than tugging. So you can shape that into the more interactive style of tugging for sure:
Going with his like of playing near you – when he gets the toy, you can back away from him, clapping & praising, so he can do his happy dance with the toy and bring it towards you. And then you can do a little happy dance with your hands closer to the toy but not actually touching it, still backing away a little. I bet he will come forward towards you with the toy, and eventually we will shape it to being in your hands and tugging.
You can also get a super long fluffy toy, 3 or 4 feet, and let him play with one end of it while you hold the other end. You can wiggle the toy, you can slide it away from him, and then you’ll be tugging with him soon enough 🙂
>>I also have trouble getting the toy back. >>
Will he trade for a cookie (a low value one) then be able to go back to the toy? You can do a bit of playing near him then trade for a cookie for the next rep.
>>Mason just started bringing a ball back to me in the past couple weeks, but the ball isn’t very interactive and he doesn’t seem to care about a ball on a tug or ball with a handle tab. >>
A ball is a great motivator, so I have no problem with you using it because he likes it and brings it back! So as long as he doesn’t smash himself into the ground trying to get it, you can totally use it. Have you seen the toys. That Kong makes, which are basically variations on giant tennis balls? He might like those too 🙂
>>I like that he looked at the toy, ran to get it, and that I remembered to look at him. >>
Yes! All of it was excellent! You can add even more distance and motion. And we will gently shape our way to getting more tugging and retrieving going 🙂

The decel and turn game looked good! His stay us lovely and that makes it easier to play! His turn was a little better when he was on your right on the 2nd rep, because you decelerated sooner. He is young but he already has a big stride, so start your decel when he is about halfway to you (or sooner).>>Did he do the head turn, the weight shift, and change of focus from line to handler?>>
Yes, he was fantastic! Having your magic cookie hand low and in position nice and early really helped him focus and turn. Love it!
Great job here!!
TracyHi!
>>She was losing her zest for this game so I quit and will rework it tomorrow.
That is why adding in more toy play will help. I use toys during any session that has a lot of cookies, to be sure we keep the pups pumped up 🙂
>> Paul was helpful in my hand position.
Yes! Thanks Paul, you rock!
>> My handling is frequently off! My biggest challenge with agility, as well as being strongly one sided. From decades of obedience training.>>
No worries!! By starting with her as a pup, you will develop the handling she needs to see and soon enough it will feel smooth as silk 🙂
Tracy
Hooray for the sending! She didn’t try to bite you during the ready dance 🙂 and sent really well to the prop. SUPER!
On the forward sending at the beginning and then later at the end of the session, she wants to turn away from you -at first I thought it was because she was a lefty, but she did it to the right too 🙂 So my guess is either you have a spin trick or something where she turns away, or she was reading your position to turn that direction. So to help her turn towards you, you can put yourself off to the side more so she sends forward to the prop and then has a more obvious line to turn towards you.
She always turned towards you on the sideways and backwards sending, which is perfect.
Was she giving tooth hugs to the send hand? It was hard to tell on the video but I thought I heard you say “biting” ? If so, you can play this game with am empty hand to indicate the prop, or an open hand to indicate the prop. And stay nice and close to it for now so she can have an easy time going to it.
You can also add a toy to this game! I think she will like that excitement: you can use a cookie as a reward then break off for a tug party after every two or three cookies, or you can use the tug as the reward (and trade her for a treat to get it back :))
Great job!
TracyHi!
>> She slept on it, and nailed both sides this AM! Video soon. Minor “ready dance”.>>
Good girlie!!!! That is the thing I have learned about whippets – they are GENIUS with latent learning, the best I have ever seen. All dogs do it, but I have never seen it happen the way it happens with these whippets. We give them a halfway decent training session, then let them sleep on it. They come back to training in a day or two with a full understanding and already seeming to know the next steps. It blows my mind!
>>She’s been doing the two bowl game for a couple weeks, so clear on that. Paul is getting a jump standard out of the barn. We will video that too. >>
Awesome! Before going to the jump standard (thanks Paul!!), do some tall skinny upright, then we move it to a laundry basket. That allows us to smooth out any questions before we go to the ‘real thing’ 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
Hooray for pajama training! It is an important element of foundation work LOL!
She totally remembered her prop hits! Super! When you start sending, you can be closer to it at first, just maybe 2 feet or so. You were a little far at first, so she had some questions especially when her brother starting barking. Also feel free to use your arm & leg like you would when sending to a jump – arm & leg pointing to the prop and you can hold that position til she hits it.
When she is happy to send from up close, you can add some distance but distance is not that important right now – it is the drive to it that is important. And, starting nice and close, you can add the advanced level of the game with sideways and backwards sending, to begin developing countermotion 🙂 Just be sure to look at the prop as you send to it when you are sideways or backwards.
Great job with the 2 bowls and quality getting the next treat into the bowl. She totally had it! Excellent decision to move to the toys – you don’t want the game to get dull with too many reps, so since she had it so nicely, switching out after 30 seconds or so was perfect.
The toys were a little harder for her – was it that there was a lot of cookie smell lingering? Or was it that her brother was barking LOL! She definitely gets a little distracted when he is barking, I can see it on both videos so far (and on the wrap video below too). So you can move further from him and swing the toy around for her to chase, or give him a bully stick or something to chew on, so she doesn’t have to split her mind between figuring out the game and listening to her bro 🙂
And to test out whether the cookie smells made it harder to tug, you can switch the order and do tugging before cookies next time, and see how it goes.
Excellent job adding the upright to the bowls – pretty darned perfect! She is ready for the next steps on this:
– Move the bowls a little further back behind you, so she has more of an arc to make.
– While you are still on the floor, move the upright a little further away (doesn’t need to be too far, distance is not important right now).
– If that is easy, you can change your position to sitting in a chair but have the upright close to you again, and see how she does.
– If that is easy, you can try standing up!
Based on her feedback when you make each change (is she still happy to go back and forth) – you can probably do all of these 3 things in one session 🙂 If she thinks you have lost your mind 🙂 then you can take a couple of sessions to add these.Great job here!!! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
The strategy of when to run in closer to the line versus when to get way ahead will percolate over time as you get used to running him! On the smaller setups, running in closer to the line rather than big sending can keep you in motion better, rather than ending up too far ahead and decelerating with no place to go 🙂I’m looking forward to seeing you in Florida!!! Safe travels!
TracyHi!
That’s correct, we are not working loose leash walking. Ideally the pup leads the way, without pulling much 🙂If you find that the pup is pulling a lot, you can move further away, or be stationary so it is more like “world watching” 🙂
Have fun!
TracyGood morning!
>>Have all the confidence in the world that she will help herself to the chips once that leash comes off. >>
Have the chips in a closed container that is too big for her to grab – that way if she goes to them, she will not be able to eat them or run around with the container of them 🙂
it sounds like there were a lot of victories in class!! Moving through the crowd, using her Cato board, and staying in motion (invisible dog!) when she had a moment of disengagement in the first run – she came right back! And that all led up to a great second run. Happy dance!!!! Great job!
Tracy
