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Good morning! Thank you for the update, this is GREAT!!!!! Yay Team Levy!!!!! Great job!
>>Another lucky circumstance is that in the agility environment he will easily go back and forth between tug and food. >>
I don’t think it is luck 🙂 I think it is a combination of training and arousal level. And being able to go back and forth food to toy to for is great!
>>I built in a few catches and find its into the 2 toy game and he loved it. >>
Terrific! As the environment gets more stimulating, the food might be come more of a ‘behavior to do’ and less of a yummy delicious reinforcement but that is still fine! Keep mixing it into the 2 toy game. If you find he starts to struggle with the food, you can move further from the action to find the threshold for where he can still eat. Or, if you need to keep getting closer to the ring because you are going in for your turn, you can skip the food and use the two toy pattern game (this is what I did with brother Contraband when he was learning to be civilized around flyball LOL!)
Have you tried a snuffle mat with him, before a turn and also after it, at a distance far from the action? The snuffling does not have to be close to the ring.
>>Now I am not sure if this will be the case at a real agility trial but I am very happy with his progression with these games in practice while other dogs were running.>>
You can do field trips to local trials to bring these games into the trial environment – without the pressure of entering. That would be fun for you both!
Great job here 🙂
TracyGood morning!
>So, Sprite’s eyes were as wide as saucers in class last night. She’s moved into a new class on Wed night that’s a higher level. I was able to have her out while the dog before her ran. We did pattern games and I did use the back and forth game with a treat toss to get her out to the first jump. No grass grabbing last night. Yay! >>
This is HUGE!! Doubly huge in a new place, where the change of environment can really shift the dog into overarousal. I am so excited that she did really well!!!
>>I left in a hackberry snacking clip at the end. >>
As long as a couple of hackberries won’t upset her GI, you can always incorporate them into brain breaks/decompression. As in – good girl, let’s go eat some hackberries! That might have been what you were doing at the end. I like to incorporate natural decompression into the ‘work’. And hackberries in the grass are basically a real life snuffle mat 🙂
I liked the tug-sit-jump work! Her sitting was in a good spot (relatively at your side) and she sat pretty quickly. She struggled to sit while still holding the toy, which is fine because she does not have to hold the toy while sitting 🙂 So it might be a tiny bit harder to get the toy back (because of the arousal state) but that is GREAT because then we are getting feedback from her biologically that she is indeed in that higher arousal state (similar to what a trial would produce). So the toy release might have a higher latency for now but no worries – that will get easier for her and also serve as an indicator or where she is in terms of state.
You were ping ponging quick releases with some slightly longer stays – perfect! They were all pretty quick and you were super good about criteria maintenance (no accidental releases before she sat :)) So keep going with that variable schedule of releases, gradually adding more of a lead out – moving quickly enough to get things rolling but not so quickly that she breaks because we definitely want to incorporate the “work” of the release to the jump as part of the reward. You can also add the leash back in, but when the leash is in the picture be sure to use quick releases. The general order of festivities can be – approach jump while tugging, leash off while tugging, release the toy, offer sit, release. You can also see if she can offer a sit before the leash comes off, but I find there is more failure because the dogs often move again when we try to take the leash off (because we really haven’t trained them to hold a stay while the leash comes off).
And if you have time to get to the park this weekend- bring this game of tugging – offered sit – release to jump. I am curious to see how she does in other locations that are stimulating but where she has a long history of huge success.
Great job! Keep me posted!!
Tracy
I am glad you are enjoying the games – they will be really helpful when he brings his agility skills to new places 🙂
TracyHi!
The last day here is November 22.
>>What is the next class in the series and when is that scheduled to open?
The next class is MaxPup 3, which is actually a big class with sequencing and contacts foundations that requires big space… but the problem is everyone is going into winter! The series is supposed to run from November to November of the following year, but starting in the spring for this group puts MaxPup 3 in the dead of winter. Hmmm.
So my plan is to do a Max Pup 2.1, which will have small space handling stuff, contact foundations, and some small space weave foundations (most of the pups are still a little young for real weave training, despite what you might see on Facebook LOL!!) Then we will do a real MaxPup 3 in the spring and the 2.1 folks will get a discount to make up for any overlap in some of the contacts foundation stuff.
It will be posted later in November when I figure it out 🙂 and will start in December so we can make it through the US Open and Thanksgiving insanity LOL!! You will hear about it before it goes public.
I will keep you posted!
Tracy
Hi!
I think the tunnel threadle session went really well and also she gave you good feedback 🙂
When you were connected and moving the right direction (like towards the tunnel entry you wanted) – she was perfect every time throughout the video. YAY!!!
When you were moving the right way, but not connected? She had questions, like when you went from the tunnel to the wing at 1:54 and 1:58 and she didn’t know which side of the wing to be on. Watch it in slow motion and you will see that your arm was high and you were looking forward, so she didn’t see connection – and connection provides the info as to which side to be on.
Compare it to 2:13 with MUCH clearer connection and she nailed it!When you were connected by pulling up too short in your motion and not driving to where you wanted her to be? That was harder for her to read, so she would stop short too. For example, that is when she stopped going into the tunnel like at 2:48 and 2:59 – you were stopping short so she was not sure if she should keep moving.
So, stay connected, keep moving 🙂
>> I am thinking maybe I was crowding her on the way to the tunnel for the threadles on the later reps. >>
Yes- on those last couple, like at 3:15, you were rear crossing her line before she was committed to the tunnel so she turned.
One thing to do on these is to keep moving and watching her head – and when you see her head to turn the tunnel entry, that is your cue to also turn and go to the next spot 🙂
The tight blinds are super connected and worked really well! You can start to do the blind sooner – when she is about a foot away from the wing an looking at it/driving to it, you can start the blind so you are finished and reconnected before she exits the wing.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>>With my other dogs, for an offside tunnel, I use my dog side arm and tap my leg
to pull and push. >>Something to consider- that will be effective when you are pretty ahead of the dog, but not as effective when you are behind or when the judge puts an off course jump or another tunnel there (which is currently the course design trend). So it is worthwhile to consider driving the line directly to th ecorrect obstacle because a pull or push could open up off courses obstacles as things get more complex.
>>For the running more, I don’t have much space with 18ft to run. So should I meet her at the exit of the tunnel? Or/and move the jumps out farther? Or/and use my longer tunnel?>>
You can meet her more at the tunnel exit, use as much space between jumps as possible, and use a short tunnel too!
>> If I say Left etc before a jump they are likely to turn Left before the jump.>>
Try it with them in a training session and see what they do! Maybe if you are moving to the jump they will take it and not turn in front of it?
>>So my timing for Mochi’s Verbals is new to me. But we are enthusiastic to have that kind of commitment from her. 😎>>
You will love the commitment!!!!!!
>>Will reward when I stop. She does get that Hard Angry voice. In the moment, My intuition says reward. But I must admit I’m guilty of trying to Save Time during the video…giving her the tug and getting it back for a treat takes precious seconds of our 2 min time.>>
No worries, you don’t have to be exactly 2 minutes. If you spend a few extra seconds rewarding each time? You’ll end up with a few extra seconds in the session but it is time well spent for sure.
>>Yes, she sees tunnel bags in class. Never had a need for them at home. I put the wings behind the tunnel for her because she doesn’t like it when it rolls.>>
Perfect! I just didn’t want her to be surprised by the giant tunnel bags 🙂
>Weirdly in my private today, I asked her to take a tunnel and she went to the side a few times before going in. Once she went in, however, she was fine with it, and did it multiple times. It was shorter than at home, bright blue, and brand new, practically just out of the box. She’s taken other tunnels in different class. Weird.>>
New tunnel, new smell, new color. Weird so she needed a moment. Totally normal and fine 🙂
>>On another note. I believe you once said for dogs that bark a lot, you can put the bark On Comand and then Stop on Command. Well, I finally discovered a specific noise I can make that will trigger her to bark on that noise. So can you please tell me how to cultivate that into Bark On Command and Stop on Command. And, oddly enough, it when I say
‘Achoo’. 🤪>>Oh! HAHA! I said that it is an old wive’s tale that putting barking on cue and the never cuing it will get the dog to NOT bark (it doesn’t work) and also bark – then -shut up as cues doesn’t really work either. Barking is soooo joyous for the dog that if you teach a bark on cue… you will get more barking and yes, you will say “shut up!” more but they won’t shut up LOL!! I still teach the dogs to bark on cue because it is SO great for engagement, then I tune out the extra barking LOL!!
>>Also, I’m not finding how much longer we can submit videos?
I can’t find it either! I know it is here somewhere. On my main calendar, the date is November 22 so that gives us plenty of time 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
These all look really good!He thought the first game was really easy and fun – tug like mad, eat a treat scatter. Heaven!
On the 2nd video, can you see his body relaxing as he was snuffling? High fast tail wagging to start, then his body really relaxed and he had a different (very chill) body language.
So definitely keep playing this game to ‘teach’ his body how to do this, and bring the snuffle mat with you as you go to new places to help with decompression!He was great with find my face! He thought it was super weird at first but then caught on fast and was happy to find you when you disconnected.
Good job adding the little sequence. You were rewarding him for taking the jump, but remember that you can disconnect as he is on a sequence and reward him for finding your face 🙂Great job here! You can use the decompression as part of every day training life! And keep practicing find my face so he in prepared in case you disconnect on a real course 🙂
Tracy
Yes, Contraband is Poeta x Quicksilver aka Breeder Drama x Breeder Drama LOL!!! No worries 🙂
If it is too hard to deal with, just keep her intact for now and leave things alone and revisit later on 🙂
T
>>This was ENTIRELY too much for my immature baby.
Yes, 4 days is a LOT even for adult dogs (and adult humans LOL!!) If you are at a 4 day trial, you can run day 1 and day 3, or day 2 and 4 – no need to run every day. Rest is helpful!
>>Yes, she’s 23 months old, but she’s a very young-in-the-head 23 month old.
23 months old is still fully adolescent, so she is pretty normal. The scientists tell us that adolescence doesn’t end in dogs til closer to 3 or maybe 4 years old. Eek!
>>She has the skills but as you can see as the days wore on she became more and more frazzled until I FINALLY got the message on the 4th day and took her over just one jump so she could experience some fun in the ring. I post these videos so others may benefit from what an overwhelmed young dog looks like when over aroused and not able to cope.>>
She does have the obstacle skills but not in the trial environment, not quite yet. And the coping skills are what she needs for sure! So for now, the only thing I would suggest you do in a trial is just play tug with the toy she liked in run 1 – no obstacles, no handling. You don’t even have to take the leash off! AKC is an expensive venue to do this in, so finding UKI or ASCA or CPE will give you more runs to do this for less money 🙂 UKI also has ways to use food in NFC and I bet she would like that!
One thing to keep in mind is when she is running off in the ring at a trial, she is looking to get out of the ring. I dno’t think even one jump in run 4 was fun, because she didn’t really get to play. So for now, put the emphasis on training in different places and working the pattern games and volume dial and remote reinforcement. Then, when she can run training sequences in new places with engagement, you can bring it back to trials for NFC. She will tell you what she is ready for 🙂
Were you able to work any of the pattern games outside the ring? If so, how did she do?
Tracy
Hello and welcome!!
>.The last trial, we just entered 3 runs FEO. It was a masters-only trial so we couldn’t run for real anyway – haha. But there were two gamblers runs so I was free to work on whatever for 40 seconds.>>
How did it go? Did he have any struggles?
>>He’s at that adolescent boy-dog stage, so working on dialling down his excitement a tad.>>
I love those adolescent boy dogs LOL!!! He did really well here. Definitely add in the pattern games and the volume dial game, because that will help teach him the arousal regulation he needs.
The sequences look great here!
First video – very nice run!! Yes, line him up on a slice but you already caught that 🙂
He had a good turn on 3, nice job cuing it! He slowed down a bit 3-4 because you had to finish the rotation – a blind cross there might be more effective because it is easier to finish the rotation and move up the next line sooner, making for an even better turn on 3, 4, 5 (those were a little late because you got behind on the FC). Blinds can produce surprisingly lovely turns!!And excellent job with your connection throughout 🙂
2nd run – he has a great stay! I liked your position on the line between 2 and 3 at :28 but you can rotate your feet to 3 (rather than facing the tunnel) Facing the tunnel caused him to jump straight in extension over 2 and turn after landing
Note the difference in your position at 1:26 – still in basically the same spot, but feet facing 3 and upper body facing 2 – NICE TURN! You can start to move sooner, trust him to stay on his line as long as you stay connected like you did (your connection is lovely!)
You can add a little deceleration and a wrap verbal on 3 to tighten up that turn a little. But overall it was lovely!
3rd video: Nice line up position! He read the opening perfectly.
With big stride, you can start the decel for the send to 3 while he is over 2, so when he lands from 2, you can send and leave for the BC. You started the decel into the send when he landed so the send happened as he was approaching takeoff of 3, so he was wide on 3. It was one stride too late for such a big striding dude 🙂 So starting the decel into it as he is over 2 will get it on time.
That will get you up the line sooner so as soon as you see his feet lift off for 3, you can disconnect and start the blind (as you run up the line as fast as you can 🙂 )
For the RC, try not to pull to your right then move into it – you will get a sweeter line and stay further ahead if you drive directly to the center of the bar on jump 5 – he will pass you and do the rear smoothly.
The only spot on any of these runs so far where you needed more connection was at :21 here – your arm starting coming up and forward and you were looking a little ahead, which turned you away from the jump and he looked at you, questioning the line. On the last rep, you made an excellent adjustment – kept the big connection and arms stayed low, so he had no questions and found his line. SUPER!! So definitely keep the low arms and big connections, he does brilliantly with that.
Great job on these! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
I totally replied to this yesterday but clearly I never hit “submit”. SORRY!!!<> Frantic is an excellent, accurate description. I can’t avoid thinking that she is going to leave me and go hunting …lizards under tunnel bags, behind the white barrier to the side of the A-frame and on the back wall. Someday I hope I will have her full attention.>>
I can totally relate! But she is a talented dog and you are doing a great job handling her, so it is totally worth it to help her get comfy in the ring!
>>Funny thing about the table… according to Dr. Brainiac, patterns create neuro pathways…or something like that. We have played lots of tugging and food games on the table since she was a baby. Who would have guessed she’d drive to it on a course. 😂>>
HAHA!! Practice makes pathways 🙂 So now we just need to make other pathways too!
>>I was ALMOST using food as a lure? Oh, I assure you, I WAS using food as a lure. 😂
Also relatable! My first agility dogs were Dalmatians so I spent a lot of time with panic cookies in front of them, trying to keep them from running off (spoiler alert: they ran off faster LOL!!)
>>Yes, I will use the up and down game and take the leash off while we do that. I will practice calmness.>>
Let me know how she does with adding the pattern games, right in the ring! And I affectionately call the calmness “Team Fake Chill” because we are not actually calm… we are totally faking it LOL!!
>>The leash is such a big thing! I don’t know who has bigger feelings about it – her or me!>>
Yes! That moment of taking the leash off can be scary if we don’t know what the heck the dog is gonna do. All of these games will help both of you feel more comfy in that moment.
Tracy
Hi!
>>Yes, she really likes the Cato board. I can try it if you think I should.>>
Try it! Make it really fun with lots of cookies and see how she goes! (FYI, UKI does allow Cato boards in the ring for training start lines in NFC runs :))
>>We worked on find my face the past few days and did that after a few jumps (unrecorded). She came right around to my front. ☺️>>
Super! That will give her something else to do if you accidentally disconnect, rather than bite you or hunt lizards 🙂
These videos are sequence 1 of the mid course sequences.
First run on the video (but I think it was not the first run in the session, based on your notes?) – amazing. YAY! You were a little far ahead for the rear cross so had to wait for her. With her speed, pop into the blind cross so you can keep moving 🙂
2nd run – the wind was CRAZY so maybe she was concernd? You noted on the video that you needed your imaginary dog but the run went well. So maybe there was a run left off? She did really well!
Last run on the video, first run according to the notes: SUPER nice!
At the end, you lost a tiny bit of connection on the way to the last jump: you started looking forward at the obstacles and not at her, so she pulled off the jump. Even though she missed a jump and you reacted to it, note how she circled back and found it and then she did FIND MY FACE at 1:20. YAY!! You gave her big praise and it looks like lots of cookies: Perfect 🙂The very last run on th video was the blind at the end. The opening looked great again and you nailed the blind. Happy dance!!!
So yes, keep handling like this: aggressive and connected. And in class where it is so much harder, handle like this but add a cato board to see if it helps her, and starting further from the pressure and distractions. And, add in the pattern games in the ring, and a litlte bit of find my face 🙂 You can think of that game as rewarding her for not jumping on you and not hunting lizards LOL!!
Have you started the remote reinforcement? That is a good one to add here.
Great job!
TracyHi!
Did she say why the breeder wouldn’t approve, or it is just breeder politics? There are lots of breeder politics out there 🙂 I mean, my whippet baby come from world-record holding royalty so it is not like there is anything wrong with the dog 🙂 Or maybe she wants smaller dogs only (both of my boys are over 20″ tall).
Either way, you will definitely want a say in the stud dog. At least the breeder is willing to consider breeding! So that is a step forward. The next step is to gently massage her into letting you have a say in the stud (so many great stud dogs out there!!!!)
T
