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Hi!
I think she really likes the tunnels 🙂 That is a super long tunnel and she was really zipping through it! Great job holding her so she could hear the verbal before letting her go – that also allowed you to change her position.
She was having a little trouble ignoring the dog barking but was super clever to find the other end of the tunnel when you were pretty far from the entry you wanted. She had to sniff it out to deal with the barking dog in the distance, but then she finished really strong at the end: finding the entry from really far away AND ignoring the barking dog. SUPER!!!!!
You can definitely add in the threadle side entry where she is between you and the tunnel o she turns away to get into it.
And, since she is small, we want to throw a reward further so she blasts out of the tunnel instead of turning really tight towards you. I want small dogs to have really big commitment so we don’t have to run close to the obstacles with them 🙂 So to get that, you can throw a toy or a ball, or even a lotus ball to be able to throw food so it easy to throw and easy to find.
She was brilliant with turn and burn, in both directions! You got a little too excited at 1:52 and pulled her off, so you can do the FC nice and early like you did there but try not to have big praise until she has completely the wrap 🙂
The only thing to add here is that you can step to the wing as you say the push verbal ,so she as that physical cue to support starting. She did move on the verbal but the physical cue of stepping to the wing will get even more propulsion to the wing.We are building on this soon and she is definitely ready. Great job!!
TracyHi!
>m I understanding this correctly, the only cue we are giving the dog is the Release cue? >
Yes, for now. We are getting the offered sit then uses releases.
>We never say Stay (or Wait is what I have been using when she needs to wait before exiting her crate) When does the Stay cue come into the picture? Once they know it then we start saying it? Or are they learning this position (sit) means stay put until I release you?>
They are learning that sit means stay until released! With that in mind though… the stay words are more for us humans LOL so when she is reliably staying, you can add it is you want to. It helps us humans stay connected and it is perfectly fine to add it 🙂 even if the dogs don’t exactly need it 😂
The catch game is going great with the cookies! You can fade out the clicker now – all you need is ‘catch’ then throw the treat. She only had one blooper where you tried to move away fast. Moving away a little more slowly was successful every time. Super!
On the second video:
She did well here too with the ‘ok’ release! You can take the clicker out of this one too – one less thing to worry about and then there is no confusion about if the clicker is the release or not. The click doesn’t provide information past “that was correct!” So it can indeed be a release. Using ‘ok’ and ‘catch’ is better because they both has the same “that was correct” info as the click and they also tell her what to do next :). You can do both in one session, and mix in some quiet praise too.
>When I release her from her crate I am sometimes in this position (drive to handler) to do a hand touch, sometimes I face her & she does a hand touch. Most of the time she gets a cookie for either the HT or “driving” to my hand. I don’t know if this carries over into this, but I thought I would mention it! >
She night be thinking that the click is the release, and that is fine because we are going to maybe be using verbals rather than clicks. I am sure her understanding of the release from the crate is carrying over to this in a positive way!
Great job!
Tracy
Hi!
>but didn’t get to eat all my snacks because I had a gall bladder attack!!>
Oh no! Ouch!!!! I had my gall bladder out when I was 49 (emergency surgery) and I am so happy it is gone!!!
Plankrobatics at the beach looked great! He did a lovely job balancing on the plank and hopping on & off. Turning around was hard – I am guessing the plank was too narrow so he couldn’t quite do it. But it was really fun to see him off leash and training/playing with total focus, in a new environment!
Nice work!
Tracy
Hi!
>Bloody hell you make this rear cross look easy!!
They aren’t easy but I have a lot of practice being behind my dogs LOL!
The turn away here’s are big well! You can lean forward and make your arm cue even more exaggerated, reaching the magic cookie hand directly towards him so it is very visible when in competition with the prop At :33, for example, the prop was more obvious so he didn’t realize you wanted him to come t your hand.
For the tandem turns, you can make the outside arm more visible earlier too – as you slow down when he catching up to you, you can let him lock onto the outside hand joining the inside hand before you start turning him away. I think he is reading the outside arm as the main cue, so letting him see it sooner will help him lock onto it. On the reps where he didn’t turn away, the dog-side arm was the main cue and that didn’t make as much sense to him as the reps where you also had the outside arm turning him away.
> But I do manage to rhyme armpit and shit when singing to the Baz.>
That was excellent LOL! The singing is super important 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
The threadle flatwork is going well! He was happy to come in and hit the target hand. You can be more precise with the cookie delivery: deliver the cookie in exactly the same spot that you delivered the toy (in the other hand so he turned in front of you) – that was great!
And I agree – that was lovely self-control on the toy!!! It was hard but he did it. And you let him have a victory lap which was a smart and fun reward. One small blooper and then he was great And I also love how well he went back and forth from the treat to the toy. Super!
>As I watched it back I realised I didn’t release him from the wait>
Yes, you should release the wait 🙂 and you might need to do a session where you reward waits when you put the hand in position so he learns that the hand is not the release cue.
>I’m just gonna blame perimenopause.
>That is legit! Perimenopause does cray cray things to be brain LOL!!
Great job!
Tracy
Hi!
>I switched from his harness to his tiny made-for-a-kitten collar and it was hard to hold him without pulling his fur. >
Can you split the difference and use a cat harness? That way he can pull but it will be less restrictive and heavy with more freedom of movement.
Great job with both the tunnel sends and adding the threadle cues! He was really funny in the middle when he kept trying to get to the left turn tunnel entry. Maybe the draw of the TnT was pulling him there but he didn’t actually go to it? So maybe the harder angle made him think about going the other direction. No worries, he will sleep on it and then be able to do it to his right as well 🙂
He most definitely loves the clicker sits! He reminds me of my Hot Sauce: all sits, no duration at the early stages LOL Two things to add with him to get duration:
When you cue the sit, continue to click it right away – but you are in motion the whole time, slowly walking away. So as you say sit, you are already moving away (but click and throw the catch cookie immediately). That introduces the motion very early on, and it doesn’t require him to see you start to move while he is in the sit (which might entice him to move with you).
When he can do that, add in the next step which is to delay the click. You are moving the whole time for this too, but clicking a little later then tossing the treat back to him.
You can see it a bit here starting at 1:34 where I am moving away as soon as he starts moving into the it, but click pretty immediately (before he gets his butt up).
Great job here! Have fun this weekend!!
Tracy
Hi!
Looking at the set point:
I think he looks great with the new height and he had no questions. Super!!!!
>You can see clearly in this video how he slouches back in the sit position when I walk away.>
It looks like his back gets a little curved perhaps, and on a couple he ends up with his hind too far under him, like at 1:31? Since the jumping looks strong, can you get video from the front so I can fully see his front feet? The jump was blocking the front feet but it looks like he was not really even with his front feet on some of the reps in the sit. The jumping looked good so I am not worried, just curious. You can also try a stand-stay and see if that looks more balanced.
>Rain, rain, rain today. So lateral lead out in the basement. Worked both sides dog on left and dog on right:>
Bummer about the rain but the session went great! He had a pretty easy time finding the jump on both sides – great job with your lead out, releases/stepping to the jump, and also mixing in lots of rewards for the stay 🙂
Before trying the advanced level (which will be easy for him), we can add in getting him to look at the jump on cue before the release. That will help you add even more distance!
Using a toy on the ground, you can replace the jump with the toy: he is sitting and facing the toy. You lead out laterally. When you get to position, you turn to face the toy and slowly raise an arm to point to it. Watch his eyes: the instant he looks at it, release him to get it.
When he can do that reliably with the toy without breaking the stay when you raise your arm, you can add the jump back in. To bridge the gap and get him looking forward, you can put the toy on the landing side of the jump for a few reps. Then fade it out to see if he will look forward to the jump when you indicate it with your arm.
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi! Sounds like you’ve had a crazy week so far!! It must be nice to see your grass again!
Nice sessions with both dogs here! They were virtually identical sessions: on the first couple of “get out” cues, you were migrating towards the jump but then fixed it as the session went along. The last part of Kaladin’s session (where you were moving towards the camera) had a perfect line – no convergence towards the jump at all. Yay!
Interestingly, both dogs had a little trouble ignoring the jump when you were just going straight. They seemed to assume it was the jump and headed towards it, even though you were not cueing it. That got ironed out with a bit of practice, and I am sure the sequences will make it more obvious to them too.
They are both ready for the sequences, just keep reminding yourself not to gravitate towards the get out jump 🙂
>Also – how do you throw the reward with your opposite arm if you are not supposed to be flapping it? If I throw it on the first arm movement isn’t that a bit of a lure?>
You can flap a little, in the name of toy throwing 🙂 I thought your throws were good – the toss movement was happening after both dogs were on the way to the jump – definitely not a lure.
Great job here!!
Tracy
Hi! He did super well with the toy and the stay! I think the toy made it more exciting – he seemed very pumped up in a good way! And getting these stays when he is excited will serve you well at the agility start lines in the future! He really loves the line up between your feet 🙂
Since this is going really well, and you want him to focus forward: when he is in the sit, you can place the toy on the ground about 6 feet in front of him: can he hold the stay? And you can release him to the toy when he focuses forward on it 🙂 Start by releasing pretty immediately when he looks at it, then go to adding some duration and quiet praise before the release.
Great job!
TracyHi!
For the stay, you can add a cue if you like! I don’t think the pups actually need it, because the sit position really means ‘sit until released’. But saying the stay or wait word makes us humans feel better 😀 so if it connects us to the dog better, then use it. I totally use a stay work even though my dogs dont need it LOLWHMhen adding the toy reward: yes, I do toss it back using the catch marker, mixed in with releasing forward then tugging.
Have fun!
TracyThanks for the video!!
>I tried placing the toy and he did do better. I just don’t feel the connection & him offering to go around the barrel yet. >
He did great then his brain got tired, there was a LOT going on in this session and it was really hard. The game itself is hard: ignore the beloved toy. Now add in the chainsaw in the background (or whatever that is) – his teenage brain was processing a LOT, and that is ‘expensive’ meaning he will get tired faster.
He started really strong – was he able to tug on the toy after he got to it? The video edits happened just as he arrived at the toy. If he had trouble, be sure there are no cookies in your hand: you can give him a cookie or two as he moves away from the toy then cue the barrel wrap with empty hands.
And, watch for signs that his brain is working extra hard: he was looking back at the toy, did a couple of full body shake-offs, felt a little ‘sticky’ (moving a little slower) and then tried to pee on the barrel LOL!! All of those indicate the level of challenge, so you can keep the session really short (2 reps, for example) then go do something mindless like running around with a toy 🙂
>Do you think I need to back up & reinforce the turn & burn?>>
I think another short fun session or two of this will be perfect! The challenge here was more about the level of distraction and not a barrel-wrap challenge.
Nice work!
TracyHi!
Strike a pose went really well! He was happy to come in to the target hand even with the target down by your feet. My only suggestion is to turn your lower body a bit so your toes are facing the reward target – this will set you up really well for when we begin moving.
Moving away from the reward to go to the barrel went well You can reward him a lot more for doing thst – he saw the treats in you had but he didn’t really get any in this session. So you can deliver a treat for each step he takes away from the reward target rather than letting him see the treat or only getting one nibble of it 🙂
>I realise he shouldnt be running away with it but he had to work hard to leave it . he was coming back fast when i had a better toy. but step one was to get him to leave>
I agree – I don’t mind the quick victory lap at all! And it sounds like he was bringing it back pretty quickly. That quick lap with the toy might be a good way to release the pressure of having to ignore the toy. That is hard!!
On the turn aways:
Your hand mechanics are good! Using your leg to step back more consistently on the lap turns helped to get him to smoothly turn away: when he reaches your hand, step back and draw your hand back (same hand & leg) so that sets up the turn. Then you can relax the hand and let him find the prop after the turn away.For the tandem turns – he was locking on to your turn hand nicely! Turning him away first then you turning will help that feel smoother too. If you turned him and yourself at the same time, it got a little tangled up 🙂 so let him start turning first (with your hand cue) then you follow that line and turn too.
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
He was happy to add duration to the stays! I did a happy dance when he lined up and held the stay as you moved away!! What a good boy! It was hard (note the big yawn at 1:12) but he did it 🙂 Be sure to convince him to line up on your right side too – you were asking for it, I think, but he put himself on your left side LOL! You might need to use a cookie lure to convince him that lineups can be both side 🙂
Two next steps for this:
When using the clicker and treats, ping-pong the number of steps you take before the release. We humans are creatures of habit and we tend to do the same thing over and over, such as taking the same # of steps before a release. Dogs are brilliant and yes, they will actually count the number of steps and then predict the release… leading to early releases. On these reps, you were consistently doing 4 steps before the release (sometimes 4.5 steps, but all in the 4 step range).
So to avoid him predicting that it is a 4-step-then-release dance, mix in 1 step reps, 2 step reps, 6 step reps, 8 step reps, 3 steps, etc. Keep it unpredictable so he waits til the true release and doesn’t count your footsteps.
You can also get a toy involved! You can replace the treats here with a toy, or play the entire game with a toy (no clicker). It might be harder for him to line up and hold the stay, so start with short stay and quick releases. The toy brings super valuable excitement to the game, which helps bridge the stay into the new exciting environments like agility start lines.
Tandem turns are going well! He is turning away really well in both directions!
You can add in starting with a cookie toss so he is behind you as you begin moving. That gives you an extra moment to show him your hands before turning him away – which will help him get past the prop. When you were moving together, he was reading that as a parallel path game to the prop.
But when you were locking him onto the turn hands like at 3:22 and after: that was great! He was going past the prop until cued to turn away, then he easily found it after the turn. Lovely!
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
He was definitely rocketing into the tunnel: LET ME GO, HOOOMAN!! So fast! And he was finding the entry angles brilliantly on both the normal send side, and the threadle side. Good boy!!!!
These were left turns into the tunnel, so you can repeat the session with right turns into the tunnel. I bet he will be great with those too!
Then you can add the tunnel threadle verbal: starting on an easy angle with him on the threadle side and holding his collar, you can start saying the new verbal then let him go find the tunnel. You can also show him the threadle arm if you are using the outside arm as part of the threadle cue too. If he is happy with that with the new verbal, you can start adding more angles.
>We did another SSC with Handling Combos – baby level. I tried placing the toy and he did do better. I just don’t feel the connection & him offering to go around the barrel yet. Do you think I need to back up & reinforce the turn & burn?>
This video is the tunnel video -the site will tell me when you post the handling combo video so I will come back to watch it 🙂
Thank you for the tuna fudge recipe! My dogs will love that!!! And I might even try to put it into the air fryer to see if that makes it crunchy. Maybe I will do that outside so it doesn’t stink up the house LOL!!
Nice work here 🙂 Tracy
Good morning!
The tunnel threadle session looked lovely! You can totally move to the next steps where you add it into a sequence. It appears that she was not looking at you to drive into the threadle entry of the tunnel, and that is what we want 🙂 When you add it to the sequence, try to hold your threadle arm in position as you move along the line until she turns herself away to the tunnel, rather than use it to turn her away to the tunnel.
The lap turns
She worked really well for the food at the beginning! Then yes, seemed to be looking for the toy after the rep – and that is perfectly fine 🙂 You can use food to help lock her onto your hand and get the turn, then whip out the toy to reward the turn or to use after each rep. The toy can stay in a pocket so it can be easily used but it is not in the picture to distract from the hand cues.She had a question at the end and it looked like a timing question: you were actually a little early on the cue 🙂 She went around the wing at :36 as you were backing up into position. Then before she locked onto your hand, you were turning her away while still moving backwards. So like a proper BC, she went into a down 🙂 I don’t think she was looking for a toy here, I think she was waiting for clearer info.
So to clarify the turn cue timing for her, you can lean over more with your cue hand fully extended forward towards her (elbow locked so the arm is really visible). Then as she arrives at your hand, almost reaching it – that is when you can start moving the hand and foot straight back to begin setting the turn. Your hand was a little high here and you started moving it back before she reaching it, so I don’t think she really saw it. And because she has good sends to wings, you can send her to the first wing from further away so you don’t have to back up as much: you can basically be in position with your turn hand extended down to her as she exits the wing.
Nice work here!
Tracy
