Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Hi! Welcome back! I am excited to see you and the boys! And I think we need to bribe the weather gurus to make sure it is NOT a hot summer 🙂
Enjoy!
TracyHello and welcome back! I am glad you are here and I am looking forward to seeing Coal!! He is all grown up now!!!
Have fun 🙂
TracyGood morning! Looks like a gorgeous, busy weekend!
The parallel path went well, his commitment is looking strong! It will be even easier if you can toss a cookie behind him so that you can be further ahead (or move out to the side) as you start moving to the jump. As you add the cookie throw, like at 1:16, be sure to be super connected so he can see the cue to take the jump (the connection is an important part of that) and so you know exactly when to throw, like at 1:51 where there was better connection so he drove to the jump with fewer questions
>> I can still get a lot better at the timing of my throws!
I think your throws were well-timed (can always be earlier lol) but you were saying “get it” after throwing – so try to say ‘get it’ as soon as you see him looking towards the jump, then throw it. You can say ‘go go go’ as soon as you start to move, then switch to get it.
Rocking horses:
On the outside video: He was fully on board with going around the barrels. but it took you about 30 seconds to sort out what you needed to do in terms of which arm and leg and the FC LOL! So try to walk it without him a few times, so it is very smooth when he comes on the scene.When you did get it rolling, the only suggestion is to add more connection – look at him when you send to the barrel, rather than looking at the barrel. When you looked forward a lot, he was not as sure (like at :45) because the lack of connection turns your shoulders and feet to the other side of the barrel. The connection will point everything to the entry part of the barrel.
You can see that same connection question at :05 of the indoor video. He exited the blue barrel but then as you sent to the green one, you stopped looking at him so he curled in front of you to see the connection (then ended up going to the toy because it was the only obvious thing).
Good job playing with him when that happened – it was not an impulse control error, it was an information-seeking moment. At :41 you had more connection (all he needs is a little) and he went to the barrel.
At 1:01 – you had no connection on the send (looking forward and not at him), he came to the front of you (but not to the toy).
You put the toy in your pocket at 1:23 but it was not the toy… and be careful of putting the toy away because it could be confusing to him: if he has a question and staying engaged like that causes the toy to go away, he could get frustrated and/or lose interest in the toy. So if he ends up at you or at the toy (or at the cookies), reward him and then increase the connection on the next rep.At 1:32 you had much better connection so he nailed it, then at 2:02 coming towards the camera you can see the beautiful connection of your eyes following his head allllll the way around from the send to the exit. Lovely! YAY!! I bet he will be just as smooth even with the toy in your hand, if you maintain this level of connection. SO NICE!!!
You can add your verbals, but be sure to say them to him (connection!) and not to the barrels 🙂
Running contacts:
>> I added a slightly raised platform and started standing up, but I think based on this session I made it too hard too fast.””Yes, I agree that there were too many variable changes all at once. The last session (May 30) had you stationary and low, and this one had you standing, moving a lot, adding distance, and an elevated prop (and crunchy cookies that took a moment to eat, so he was trying to eat and offer all at once). Good job recognizing that it was too much and regrouping!
The second session was only had one variable change from the session you did on May 30’s post – you were holding the mat. I think that was to isolate the front foot hit and that is fine – but same rules apply for the next session:
– just say’ get it’ to both mark the behavior and to tell him where the treat it. The “yes” is like a click, which is not informational in terms of where the treat is, so he looks at you a lot here.
– we need to fade your hand and your position out of the picture as quickly as possible, so rather than hold the mat to get the front foot pounce, attach it to something to give it that angle so he can go away from you to do it.Then we you add more variables – add just one at a time. So if you elevate the prop, that is the only change. And when you stand up…that is the only change for that session. And when you add distance, you can be stationary. Or if you add motion, don’t add distance too 🙂 That will move things along really quickly but only changing one variable at a time.
He did really well at Cabelas! So fun that these places allow dogs and there was definitely a lot to look at! Yay!
>>So far he is the least environmentally-sensitive terrier I’ve had. I hope it stays that way!>>
The 2 things you can add to help him remain this way are:
– social support from another environmentally perfect dog that he knows. For example, my whippet is the most environmentally perfect dog I have ever had (it is genetic, he came that way) so he acts as the Emotional Support Whippet for my 5 month old puppy, who is much more normal about environments LOL!! Are there any incredibly stable dogs that he knows and can be his support in new places?– play those pattern games. Any time my dogs have environment questions, I whip out a pattern game and voila! The sensitivity goes away. Cool stuff!!
>>Reacher gets SO excited about the food and toys and playing that he tends to really do a lot of vertical jumping. Not very well planned jumped either. I am worried about him getting hurt doing this but I’m not sure how to stop it without curbing his enthusiasm. Thoughts?>>
We definitely don’t want to curb his enthusiasm (which is also one of the funniest and most offensive shows I have ever watched LOL!!) 2 suggestions:
in training situations, you can have your cookies and toys prepared before you bring him into the training, you can go right into it without him seeing you get the treats or fiddle with them, etc. That will help reduce the jumping up.and if he does jump up, in life or training – try absolutely zero response to it. No attention, just keep doing what you are doing, as if it didn’t even happen. Don’t withdraw attention or treats or toys (punishment), just carry on with whatever you were doing as if he didn’t jump up at all – then you can really enhance the moment he does NOT jump up by giving him the toys or treats. Let me know if that makes sense.
Great job here!
TracyHi!
His tunnel session looked great too! He definitely loved tunneling LOL!!! And he did really well with being on both sides of you and finding the entry from different angles. Super!!!
Only 2 small suggestions:
– As you start each rep, hold him as you say tunnel a few times then let him go, so he processes the verbal before he moves. This tunnel verbal is easy 🙂 but the other verbals will not be as easy, so holding him as you say the verbal will help establish the whole “dude listen to the verbal before you move” routine that we use as we add harder verbals.
And speaking of verbals… you can add your threadle-side tunnel verbal so he begins learning to differentiate between the 2 cues.
– you can be saying your ‘get it’ for the toy rather than ‘yes’ especially on the threadle side reps, where he was more likely to look at you. So as soon as he turns he head and is committed to going to the tunnel, you can mark that moment with ‘get it’.
>.He loses interest in the Manners Minder and starts curling back toward me when he exits, but drives forward for the toy when that’s the reward>>
Yes, the toy is definitely more exciting! So using the toy worked perfectly here. You can build value for the MM by doing an easy tunnel entry then to the MM for the reward… and as soon as he eats the cookie, you throw the toy 🙂 This can be super useful if you wanted to use the MM for running contacts, because it can build up the drive to it quite nicely.
Great job here!!
TracyGood morning!
Strike a pose is looking great! He was great abut driving into the target hand then making the turn to the reward – exactly what we want the behavior to look like 🙂 And just as I was about to type that you could add a toy as the reward…. Boom! You pulled out a toy. LOL! And that went well too!
Since he did so brilliantly with this (and your mechanics were lovely), 2 things for the next steps:
– you can have the toy on the ground instead of in your hand, so he comes to the target hand then you can mark that with a ‘get it’ or whatever your marker is to cue getting the toy 🙂 This is MUCH harder so if he struggles at all (or if you think he will struggle), you can split the behavior by having the toy dangling to help him understand what to do, before putting it on the ground.
– you can also move this to the concept transfer posted last week:
you can do the concept transfer exactly like you did this session, then move to the toy on the ground after he has seen that on the flat.
Great job!
TracyHello and welcome!!! It will be great fun to see Enzo and Casper 🙂 We can totally break things down into concept work for Casper – it is stuff he is going to need to know! and Enzo can do the hard stuff 🙂
>>HOWEVER, it is the beginning of June and the temperature in Michigan has been flirting with 90. We don’t train outside at 90. So I’m hoping it will ease off a bit.>>
That is INSANITY!!! Here in the hot South, we are still in the mid 70s, maybe a day of low 80s. The good news is that the skills and live class games will all fit in your building, and then you can fit the courses into whenever the weather decides to cooperate.
(And shhhhh, all the stuff should be visible early tomorrow morning :))
Have fun! Stay cool!
TracyHello and welcome to CAMP! It is so fun to see the MaxPup grads here 🙂 His runs look lovely!!!!
>>I also need to figure out my timing of cues – not too early, not too late and preferably not suddenly while he’s in the air which increases our risk of dropping bars.>>
Yep, normal stuff with a 2 year old! We will definitely be looking at cue timing and helping him process cues while also maintaining proper form over the bar: because of his age, it might simply be a little more months for brain development to take him out of adolescence and into adulthood. All of my boy dogs have had the same progression: At age 2, hitting rails if I did a verbal over the bar. At age 3, no problem with the rails when I talk over the bar. For most of the them, I didn’t do any training and I definitely did not punish – I just let them grow up and get experienced. With one of them, I did a few games to help him but I also think he grew up 🙂 My girl dogs did not have this issue at all – gender difference in terms of processing? Or different issue? Or pure luck? LOL! Processing all of this stuff is hard for youngsters!!
Have fun!
TracyOne way to think of it is:
– chatter, talk, praise, make silly noises during play and reward moments.
– information-only to start each rep and during ‘work’ (information includes cues and markers)And a breath and eye contact between the two!
T
Hi! The clicker or verbal click are generally fine for the first session… then we can get rid of it for the next sessions and replace with placement markers 🙂
T
Good morning!
>>Gemma is 15 weeks today and has really grown. 17.8 lbs at the Vet today and about 16″ tall!!!!>>
She is definitely growing fast! And still soooooo cute 🙂
>>We’ve been practicing and are in weeks 3 and 4. I just can’t seem to get video posted. >>
Totally relatable!! Finding time to practice is easier than posting videos LOL! All of these are looking really lovely 🙂
First video:
She did well with the position changes, responding well! One thing to look at when doing this is getting her into proper form – she was movnig into thedifferent positions, but losing form by keeping her left a bit rolled out so that was affecting her form. It is pretty normal at this age 🙂 but for now, get the position changes on a stable surface so you can get the tight sit (all of her feets lined up properly under her) and also the tight down. That allows you to help he rrehearse proper form as she grows, and then you can add it back to the fitbone later on.Backing up is going really well!! Super! Yes – you can totally add a bit more distance – partially because she is ready for it, and partially because she has grown and is a bit scrunched up in that small space LOL! So you can inch yourself away frm the Cato board a bit, and you can also change up what she is stepping back to: a low plank, a big balance disc (under-inflated) and eventually a wobble board too!
The blind cross-then-decel game is also looking good! Only one suggestion: start the blind as soon as she starts moving towards you – that was when she was able to changes side easily (like at :46, that was perfection!) When you were a little late or not far enough ahead, she had a harder time finding the new side. The decel all looked lovely!
>>I couldn’t get her to chase a toy. She very much prefers food at this point. >>
I think there was a lot of food here so she was in food mode when the toy came out at the end. So, since we want to maintain and build up the toy play, two ideas for you:
– start each session with toy play, before she sees the prop or barrel or anything else you will be shaping with. This might mean play with the toy before she even sees the food rewards (and also be sure to play with toys throughout the day, separately from training and particularly :)) That will help bring the toy play into the training more, and also will accomplish our goals in terms of arousal management and state-dependent memory (both of which help her produce the trained behaviors even when – and especially when – she is more stimulated).
– you can do some sessions entirely with toys, no food at all. It looks like the turn and burn session was entirely toy based and that is great! You can do the handling combos with the barrel entirely with toys and that will also help bring the toy into training.
Turn and burn is looking good – I think the main root of her distraction was that she is a righty not a lefty (at least she was that day :)) Note how she kept offering going to the right even though you were trying to get her to go left. And on the first couple of offers, you called her back to go to her left and she couldn’t… so she checked out a bit.
At 1:30-ish she offered going to her right and you rewarded it then changed the rest of the session to be right turns… BOOM! No more distractions. YAY!!!! So for the next session outside, start with her right turns (on your left) and then after a few successful reps, change sides and see if she can do left turns. 🙂 And on the right turn side, you can start doing the FC and moving away sooner and sooner.
>>his is the only toy she’s been willing to chase. It’s actually a leash so I really don’t like it to for tugging due to the snap flinging around.>>
Yay for the tugging but also yes, it is important that she doesn’t end up with the snap hitting her or in her mouth. I have used duct tap over the metal parts of the leash that my pup loved. The new toys will help, and you can tie a bunch of them together (or to this leash) so it is as exciting as it was here.
Tunnel shaping is going well! She wants to look at you when she exits, (you have some fun things in your hands here :)) so you can pre-load the bowl and send her through the tunnel to it. That way she doesn’t look for you to put the cookie i nthe bowl. And the 2nd bowl will totally help you go back and forth really nicely!
This is another game that can be toy-only too. Will she chase that frisbee/ flying squirrel you were holding? You can hold her collar in front of the tunnel, toss the frisbee to the exit, then let go. Ideally she runs through the tunnel to get it 🙂 The toy sessions will be shorter because she will tire out faster, but that is fine because the toy brings more excitement and also brings toys into the training, in a context you are likely to use the toys in too!
Strike a pose is looking great too! Since she did so well with the game itself (touching the target then going to the toy), I think this is a great game to bring toy play into the same session as eating a cookie. At 1:11, you gave her a treat for letting go of the toy and then she was great about going back to the toy play. She was very engaged with the toy here!
Ideally, we would start her with a cookie toss so she is further away and on different angles, so she can drive to your hand to set up the in-then-out turn. You can use your cookie towel that you used in the blind cross/collection video: toss a boring treat to the towel so she moves away from you. Then you can do the target-to-toy that you did here! The cookie towel might be very exciing for her so you might need to be even more exciting with the toy (dragging in even more :)) That way we add the skill of cookie-then-toy-then-cookie into her toolbox while training something fun and useful for the future.
Great job on all of these! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi – another great session!
Since I was thinking about toys – she was great about running to the toy here! You can start the session with play before you put the toy down – that will get even more engagement right at the beginning.
Great job with the toy play after she got to it, then the transition into the line up at your side. Try to talk to her less during that process (less praise) so that your verbals can indicate the start of the rep. I think she doesn’t always know when to start! So quiet or a soft “ready”, followed by your wrap verbal and your arm and leg stepping to the barrel should be clearer for her.
The other thing that will make it clearer is to stop feeding her after the line up treat, kind of what you did at 1:10 – she got a treat for lining up and for NOT chasing the toy when you tossed it, then you sent with the verbal and she was perfect.
>>I’m not sure we’re ready to try transfer of Rotated Sends. I think we may need more of the work separately with our prop and barrel work. ??>>
You totally can try the rotated sends on the barrel work! Use the easier barrel and slight rotations, and see how it goes.
>> Yet in this vid, I can see about 35 sec she actually turns herself into my leg which to me is progress>>
That was GREAT! Yay! So now the next step would be to feed her for the line up and slide you hand towards her collar (but don’t really touch her yet) and then send. And if she is fine with that, you can slide yur hand towards her collar and put your flat palm on her neck (no real pressure or holding, just gentle touch). And we can build it up from there.
>.I’ve been thinking about my other dogs on the start line, none of them, not even my superstar, want me touching them, moving them around, placing them on the start line. They all like a swing start the best and are more motivated and run faster when we use it.>>
Most dogs don’t want to be touched on the start line. Some dogs will tolerate it (like the Border Collies who are “placed” in the stay by the handler – they don’t like it but they put up with it). So the ultimate goal with Mochi would be to have a happy-making line up that leads to a stay and lead out. Between your feet? At your side? Totally depends and we have tons of time to sort it out. But none of it needs to involve touching her – it can all be cued and fun!
>>BTW. We saw the Vet yesterday. Mochi’s still puking but not near as often. Vet thinks she’s fine and will grow out of it. Or perhaps if I stop driving like Mario Andretti in my van 🤪>>
I am glad the vet says it is all good! Is she only puking in the car now?
>>Also. I don’t have an agility ladder. Should I put something together that works like. Ladder for her?>>
Do you have cavalettis or thin weave poles? You can use those – maybe tape down some thin weave poles so she can trot over them (taped down so they don’t roll around under her feet).
Great job on these! Everything is looking really good!!
TracyHi!
Looking at the running contacts games: also going really well!
1st session with the box went well – she immediately figured out how that you wanted her to offer getting in the box. The 3rd video was also the box and she did great with it too. You can work to flipping it over so she has to hop into it, but that will be better out on the grass so she has a lot of grip and won’t slip.
Same with the mat – you put it down, she offered getting on it. Perfect! On this 2nd video and 4th video, she did well when you rewarded for moving across the mat. Super nice!
>> I know she shouldn’t be looking up at me. I think my timing is off?>>
It is the yip marker that you are using before the get it – the ‘yip’ is drawing her up to your face because of the higher pitch and also because it doesn’t imply location of the reinforcement. So she looks at you and then goes and gets the treat when you say ‘get it’ and toss it. So take the ‘yip’ out and just use the get it. And when running contact training starts for real, we will have a reward target (like a Manners Minder) so she won’t look at you.
For the next sessions, add a little more arousal and excitement with some toy play before the session! And you can add walking back a forth a bit too.
Nice work 🙂
TracyHi!
This also went really well!!!>>Also, she’d never seen the second barrel before.>>
Yes, she needed to figure it out and get some reward for the new thing, but she figured it out. I think that turning left might also be her harder side, so maybe put the easier barrel on the left turns and the new barrel on the right turns, which seem like her easier side
>>At 1:44 I lost her for a moment. There are French doors there. I don’t think I’d ever had the blinds open and she saw someone drive up.
That was fine, she came right back and finished strong 🙂
One suggestion about the transition into each send: Try to give her a bit more of a quiet moment, then a “ready ready” and look at her and stand still before you start each rep. You were praising and moving and then suddenly sending her, so she was surprised to see the cue. So praise as you deliver the cookie, then get quiet and still for a heartbeat, look at her, says something like “ready, ready…” then send.
Try one more session just like this and then we can decide which variables to add next! She is doing great!
The other thing to add here is to use toys more – I think too many food sessions become problematic because she gets full and also because food sessions are not that exciting 🙂 So you can do the rocking horses with toys only, or a low level treat to get her into the line up position.
T
