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Hi!
Parallel path is looking really great! She only had one miss but I think that was in the aftermath of extended chewing so she kind of missed the start of the rep. The rest was great! You can try adding a little more distance, and also using a toy as the reward.>>Perhaps we can get outside and get more space, although the distractions will increase.>>
Yes – but if you are moving more and using a toy more, it will help reduce distractions. Just don’t add distance yet if you go outside because we don’t want to change too many variables.
Strike a pose video:
The seat you used for the serp was great!! Clever! And I think it worked really well – she was able to get the serp from all the angles, even the hard ones. Showing her the treat (and using a bigger treat) before the toss seemed to really help her track it and find it (and when you did not do it when you got greedy, it was harder to find LOL!).
>>Perhaps I can sit now or get even higher?>>
Try it standing! And lean over with your target hand – but remember that we don’t really care if she actually touches the target, we mainly want the in and out behavior.
Great job!
TracyHi!
>>, we did some Parallel Path and Rotated Sends. He was anxious to start without me both times
He was great! It was like he was saying “I GOT THIS MOM LET’S GOOOOO!!!” He was on fire!
Parallel path commitment looks great. At this stage, only one suggestion: move faster and throw even sooner (OK, that is 2 suggestions). The reason I suggest it is because he was (correctly) reading your position/lack of motion as decel, so he was turning and for this game, we want straight line. So feel free to jog and to throw the reward as soon as he looks at and takes one step to the jump. And definitely take this outside with a toy or lotus ball! FUN!
The rotated sends are looking really strong too. You can add your wrap verbal(s) and you can also start adding more countermotion by sloooowwwwllllly walking forward as he is arriving at the barrel.
I think he is also ready for the rocking horses added this week (2 barrels). So you might want to get 2 pop up laundry baskets and see how it goes!
Great job 🙂
TracyGood morning!
Lots of good work here!!
Leg bumps are going well! She was a little more engaged when you used the toy with the other people around ,so that is good!!! She was not as coordinated with the toy, but that is fine – the coordination will come with more experience and the engagement is the most important part. You can enlist one of the other people there to sit alongside you, so she has 4 legs to bounce across in a line!
Backing up – this was harder for her. I think the board might be on too much of an angle for her right now and also maybe not stable enough. It looks like she was comfortable with interacting with it but not backing up onto it and she was actually avoiding backing up onto it a little. Getting on it forward, sitting on it, doing a 2o2o…. All good! But I think she needs less angle and more stability to feel very comfy offering hind end work. So a lower plank that is completely stable will work, or a dog bed that she can step back onto will work too.
Running contacts – very nice start here!! You definitely had good value building for the box! And she was a good girl to ignore the people distractions too!
Next steps on this one: no more clicker 🙂 because the clicker gets her looking up at you and watching the reinforcement. You can switch to using a ‘get it’ marker, so she doesn’t look at you as much and looks directly forward for the cookie.
You can also delay that marker now, letting her get back feet in the box before you say ‘get it’ and toss the treat. In order to get the timing of the back foot marker, I just stare at the box so. I can see the feet rather than watch the pup (which makes it harder to see the feet).
Strike a pose:
The hand target is a bit too high for her especially at the beginning, which is why she had trouble going directly to it (she had to jump up to touch it). So two options to help her:
– you can lean the target hand down more (closer to what you were doing when it was in your left hand – the lower the hand got, the better the hits got by the end of the session)– you can be sitting on something so you don’t have to lean over as much 🙂
You can also keep the cookie hand behind your back for now, to help minimize the cookie distraction and really enhance the target hand.
Parallel path is going well! Nice job transferring the concept!!
For the next session, 3 ideas to advance things even more:
– I suggest using wings on the jump, so it is a bigger visual for her to ‘find’.– With this game, you can also replace the clicker with your ‘get it’ cue (you were using search – is that for one cookie or multiple cookies? Use whichever marker means one cookie)
– you can now change the timing a bit: mark the instant she looks at the jump and takes her first step towards it, so that the cookie lands out ahead of the jump before she looks back at you (this is marking the intent to go to the jump, not the actual arrival at the jump)
Since this is going so well, you can also add a little bit of lateral distance!
Ladder 1: Yes, this was hard! She wants to go fast it is too hard to go fast and still get into the ladder here.
When luring, the luring hand needs to be lower – the higher head changes her gait. You can also change the approach to the ladder – instead of straight down and back, which is hard, you can have her go across the center. So if the ladder is on a clock face and the first run is 12 and the last run is 6… you can have her go across the center on the 3 to 9 axis. That way she can sort out her feet and not have to do the whole thing. This will be especially useful when you turn the ladder over.2nd video:
>>Ladder session 2 – only 1 day later and so much better!>>
Latent learning for the win! Yay!
And your lure hand was lower too at the beginning, which really helped her keep her head lower. Your hand started to get high, so be sure to bend over and have a low hand if you are luring – her chin should be ever so slightly pointed down to the ground and not lifted up.She had a little trouble when you turned it over – so now you can do that 3 – 9 axis across the center and no need to lure it. You can reward the back and forth like you did at the end. Doing it on the 3-9 axis will be easier because she doesn’t have to maintain the coordination for quite as long.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
These handling combos are all about handler mechanics and timing 🙂 and above all else – play 🙂
Looking at the first video – she did great with her disc! Yay! A couple of changes in mechanics will make it all feel smoother:
– before tossing the disc behind you, line her up fully facing the wing so you don’t have to move her by the collar or physically turn her body. I don’t think she is a huge fan of that, so it will feel smoother for you both if she is already lined up at your side (you can tug her to position or use a cookie), then you can use the other hand to toss the disc. Then after the disc lands, you can let go of her collar and step to the wing to start the rep.
>>, but she was not really interested in getting it before me. >>
I think she was trying to get there first, but when she had a clear line to it, it took a moment to pick it up because it was flat. And sometimes you were blocking it so she couldn’t quite get to it – she had to go wide around you to get a path to it but by then you were already at the disc. So think about running straight past it and not straight to it, so she can have a clear path to get it.
Also, set a timer on these sessions for about 90 seconds – there is a lot of running for the pups especially when there is tugging involved and she was fried by about the 2 minute mark (note how long her tongue was at the end!) So try to be finished before she is finished, so she can maintain the high energy and not leave the session before you. There is a LOT going on with the puppies, mentally and physically, so even 2.5 minutes can be too much.
On the 2nd video, she was very happy to run to the food too! I think the food target was also her disc, which was a bit confusing as to where she should look or what to do – so a food bowl or flat target that is not a toy will clarify that for her.
>>in the beginning I was dragging her away from the food and in retrospect I should have probably lured her away with the food I think.>>
Yes, the food lure would work better because it is more comfy for her and also allows for a bit of agency: she can follow the food lure, or leave the lure to get the cookie on the ground 🙂 It helps build in some self-control even with the lure!
>>I also decided to try the decel and turn, but noticed that I was not moving prior to the “decel” so this did not look right either. >>
The decel is a timing challenge for the handler: as she is exiting the wrap, you can already be showing the decel cues: slowing down and showing her the hand to drive her to you.
Also, since this is a handling game: assume all errors are handler errors – resist the temptation to mark them as wrong and always reward her for her effort, even if it appears to be an imperfect response.
For example, at :51 based on your motion and where you were facing, she was correct to go straight to the target so that was rewardable.
At 1:14, the decel cue was a little late and she responded as soon as she could process it… but didn’t get rewarded.
And that culminated in her going straight to the target at 1:23 because of the confusion of the previous reps. So even if she is wide or ends up someplace you didn’t intend, tell her she is a good girl and reward as if she was 100% correct (because she probably was reading the handling correctly 🙂 ).
And if things continue to be different that what you planned, you can end with a reward and watch the video – that always gives us great info especially about timing.
By the end, it was so much smoother because you were earlier, which allowed her to see and respond to the decel cues even better 🙂
Video 3 – This is going well! You can start the BC element of it sooner – as soon as she was exiting the wing. I think you were waiting for her to almost get to you, which made the timing a little later than she needed.
Even if you are late, carry on as if it was totally correct so she gets rewarded for her responses (marking yourself as late can often delay the reinforcement and confuses the pup – “what is mom saying there??”)Video 4 –
>>I can feel when I do not decel well enough >>
Yes, on this one you can slow down earlier, timing it as soon as she exits the wing so that she sees it nice and early.
Using less forward motion will really help as you move away from the wing, because then you won’t end up right over the food target (she was not sure if she should turn with you, or look at the target when you were decelerating on top of it). You can do that by sending to the wing from a step or two further from it and taking only one fast step – so that way you are fully stopped and connected with her when she exits the wing. That can give her the info early enough to process it into a nice, tight turn 🙂
>>I wish I could have a coach on my shoulder giving me a blow by blow commentary so that each additional run would improve with the constant reminders.>>
One thing you can do to help nail the timing is mark spots on the floor with a tiny piece of tape or a cone off to the side: you can mark where you will send from and where she needs to be for you to decelerate (like a piece of tape just past the exit of the wing). The visual markers will help get the rhythm of the timing and then it will be easier to make adjustments. And if needed, you can take a video review break and look at the rep – freeze the moment when she is at one of your markers and see what your handling was telling her?
And of course, reward all the efforts 🙂 99% of the time she is simply correct per the information. Sometimes she might actually not be fully correct, but that is rare LOL! And even in those situations, a reinforcement for lining up to try again will help keep her working at a high rate of reinforcement 🙂
One other reason to reward all.the.things in handling: we humans mess up our handling at all levels of the sport LOL! So building in reinforcement for putting up with us and our lateness is GREAT for resilience for the pups (I actually teach my dogs what to do in the ring when I mess up my handling, so they don’t get frustrated with me haha!!). So no worries if your handling is a work in progress – we all have to re-learn handling with each new pup, no matter how good we are with our current adult dogs 🙂 And during that re-learning process, the pups are learning too! That is why we pump them full of play and reinforcement 🙂 and we cut ourselves some slack as we learn how to handle each new pup 🙂
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
I love running contact training too, even when it drives me crazy LOL!!!
>>Unlike some running contact trainers I do not require a split rear foot as the ultimate goal. For my dogs that I’ve tried that with it was always less clear to them IMO than just front feet on.>>
I think the split rear foot criteria is very useful for certain builds of dog – and structure is the one thing we cannot change through training LOL! So my more angulated that can get lower as they move do really well with the split rear feet. But my dogs that are straighter in the front or have really long forelimbs (whippety dogs!) do a whole lot better with front foot hits. Schnauzers are bit more along the lines of the whippety dogs in that respect so the front foot hit makes sense.
>>Maybe it’s not as fast but I think I get more reliability and that’s my goal vs. speed.
And as long as it is clear to the dog, it is PLENTY fast 🙂 It is the understanding that gets speed – not simply flinging themselves across the DW and hoping for the best LOL!
The session is going well here! A couple of ideas for the next steps:
– no more clicker 🙂 He is building in hitting the mat AND looking at you because the clicker naturally draws his focus to you, and then he has to watch your hands to see where the reward will be. That was also contributing to backing up if you were a little late (because he was looking at you, rather than moving forward to the reward placement). So, no need to use the clicker, you can replace it with a ‘get it’ marker. That marker will both be less likely to get him to look at you, and also tells him specifically where to look for the reward.
– attach his mat to something so it is a little elevated, maybe an inch or two off the ground (just be sure it doesn’t slide around). That will continue to solidify the understanding because he will have to do more to hit the mat (stepping up onto it).
And you can totally build in changing your position: sitting on the floor, in a chair, on a couch, standing, walking back and forth, etc.
Great job! Let me know how the next session goes!
TracyGood morning!
Great session here! Nice job “activating” the new toy here just as he got to the toy you tossed! You can see the retrieve starting to really percolate! Bearing in mind that it might take a while to percolate, you should take this exact same low-pressure, super-fun approach to any time you toss a toy (have a 2nd toy available to activate as part of the strategy to build up the retrieve). Eventually you will be able to trade for food but I am not sure how balanced his interests are in food versus toy right now.
>>Pesto has a very bad recall at the moment.>>
For the recall, especially now with adolescence approaching: build in a ton of random name recalls throughout the day, with cookies. You can have cups of treats placed around the house (up high so no one else grabs it) so you can randomly reinforce response to his name. And you can also call him and run to another room, to reinforce name response and chasing you 🙂 In more distracting areas, you can use a light long line so you can prevent any skedaddling away while giving him lots of reinforcement for head turns and moving towards you.
Great job! See you in class tonight!
TracyHi!
He is doing well with this too! I really like how quickly he is offering the sit, and looks pretty darned happy to be doing it 🙂 And good job to you for starting the game wherever he sat, even if it was not where you might have wanted him facing.>>I feel like I get a better and more engaged stay with a toy.
I agree, and also you want to do toy OR food (not both) in this game so he knows what to focus on. When you started with the toy but then used a food reward on the first rep, he was a little surprised. The other reps were all toys and those were smoother for sure!
>>If he breaks given we don’t want him to be wrong, what is the best way to handle it in the moment?>>
You can handle it happily bringing him back to the start spot and trying again, with the understanding that you need to ask for less distance and duration on the next reps. I think you were trying to get too many steps away here, so he broke once and he moved when your arm moved on another rep. You can take more of a ping pong approach: sometimes release/reward after 1 step, sometimes after 3 steps, then 2 steps, then 4 steps, then reward immediately, then 5 steps, then 2 steps, etc. That will help prevent anticipation errors and also gradually make things harder (rather than all at once).
Great job!
TracyHi!
Really good first session here, looks like he got the concept transfer right away! Yay!!
>>So for this first session with the wings I decided to leave my mat between the wings rather than introducing a pool noodle or towel.
Because this went so well, you can definitely move to a pool noodle or tiny bump for the next session. And you can try it outdoors too, as long as he can find the reward in the grass (or use a toy).
>>I noticed that as soon as he crosses the plane he looks back at me – does that mean I’m throwing the treat too late?>>
Yes, at that point there is nothing else to look at 🙂 So two ideas for the next session:
– mark and throw sooner. Watch his head, and mark the moment where he looks at the jump and then toss the reward.
– when you mark, use a location marker like “get it” to help him understand to look ahead for the reward. The “yes” markers will tend to get him looking at you, especially when you are very exciting 🙂
The next session can totally be in a bigger location, so you have more room to add lateral distance.
Great job!
TracyGood morning!
This session went really really well! Fast, fun, connected & engaged, and well-timed MM clicks. Yay!! I think he also did really well on the moments when you did NOT want him to go to the MM but rather wanted him to turn with you on the flat – no problem at all, he was easily able to turn with you, no problem SUPER!!!
>>I also learned that setting your timer on the phone causes your video to stop!>>
It was actually hilarious towards the end when you were basically like “WHY HASN’T THE TIMER GONE OFF YET” hahaha!!! Being more engaged like this with the line ups, etc, means more running. So you can totally end before the timer!
Well done here! We build on this will new stuff coming tomorrow :)
TracyHi!
The tunnel games went well too – she was very happy to drive through it to the toy! FUN!!!
Adding more length to the tunnel and more motion from you were not a problem at all, just be sure to watch where she is looking before you let go of her. You can also use the MM with the tunnel games (it is a great foundation for using the MM in weave training eventually).
You can add more angles of entry to the tunnel now (using the MM or toy as the reward, but the MM is easier to control access to the reward if she skips the tunnel) And on the easier angles, you can go ahead and add in the threadle side entries (and start adding the threadle verbal if she ha no questions about the threadle side entries 🙂 )
Great job on all of these! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
The MM intro went well. She seemed interested in it and happy to eat the cookies, and that is exactly what we want at this stage.
Helping her with the barrel at first was great because it got her started and then she could figure out the pattern on her own: around the barrel to make the MM click. You might have to help her out so you get more left turns and not as many right turns LOL but overall it went well. You can incorporate the MM into the baby dog RDW training by having it replace one of the bowls.
Nice work!
TracyHi!
She did really well with this!>>I’m not sure exactly what method I’m going to use yet so I smooshed then altogether lol.>
Ha! Perfect! You don’t want to choose a method yet – now is a good time to play with the concept foundations and se how she responds to it all because that will help you decide on a method eventually. Some dogs do better with a rear foot targeting method, some dogs do better with front foot targeting, etc. These foundations will help it all get sorted out.
Next session with you on the floor – try this with 2 toys, no food, one toy in each hand. That will ask her for proprioception in a higher arousal state, which will be incredibly useful later on!!
And the next food session can have you sitting on the couch with the bowls next to your feet – and the pads/mat moved a little further away from you. That will add a little more distance to the game, which is also useful! Start with exactly what you did here – back and forth to the bowls by going over the pads/mat here. When she gets into the groove of that, you can start to mark back feet (2nd back foot in particular). Staring at the mat will really help you see that 2nd back foot.
Nice work!
TracyHi!
Parallel path is looking really good!! Yay!!
As you ad more challenge to this, two tweaks for you:– No more clicker, because it gets her automatically looking at you 🙂 Just use your get it marker and toss a treat or toy. The toy will be easier to use when you move this to grass.
– Change the timing of the marker so it is earlier: watch her head so you can mark her intention to move to the jump (instead of marking arrival at the jump) then toss the reward, so that the reward lands before she gets between the uprights. Intention to move to the jump will look something like she looks at it and takes that first step towards it. That marker moment will really help build up commitment.
Since this is going really well, you can begin to vary your position and motion: get more lateral, get further ahead (by moving ahead of her while she is chasing the cookie) or go all the way to the tossed cookie with her so that she drives ahead of you to the jump. And you can start moving from a walk to a jog and build up to a run!
Great job!
TracyHi!
Very nice job here! These are challenging and she did really well! Make sure you don’t block the barrel 🙂 Pretend it is a jump wing and let her see all of it 🙂
Things went best when you were really patient so she could get committed. If you moved too early, she was not as sure.
If something goes wrong, don’t tell her “no” because at this stage it is allllll handler error LOL!! For example, compare the difference between reps 1 & 3, and rep 2 in terms of your movement:
Rep 1 and rep 3, you held your send position until she was about halfway around the barrel, then said get it and moved. This was the same for all the successful reps after that too! Super! At this stage, she is committed when her head it turning to the other side of the barrel, so wait to move until you see her do that.
Rep 2, you moved just as she arrived at the barrel and you started to say ‘get it’ – so of course she came to the toy hand. You told her she was wrong but it was handler error and she was responding correctly at this stage. So, you can reward that 🙂 but be more patient like you were on reps 1 and 3 . At 1:01, you had a similar moment of moving too soon (backwards sending is HARD! And backwards sending to a left turn was REALLY hard for her) .
The super patience you gave her on the last rep was perfect! So for now, you need to hold position til she is turning her head and almost halfway around, before marking or shifting your weight forward to move away. As she gets more experienced and more reinforcement, her commitment will come earlier and earlier (less patience required :))
Nice work!
Tracy
