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Hi! I am excited for you to try these when you get her back!!! They will be very helpful for her, I believe.
Sorry about the missing PDF – I had a brain fart đ It is visible now!
Tracy
Hi!
>> He did the up/down game the first time I tried it, but the other times he ignored the cookie. So I switched to the back/forth game which worked. It seemed harder for him to do the up/down game after he was stimulated by the first run.>>
Interesting! It probably has to do with his need to move when he is in higher arousal (back and forth has movement, up and down really doesn’t). You could do a couple of reps of back and forth then try up and down mixed in to see if he can eat. If he can’t eat, try moving a little further away and see what happens.
>> Does this mean we need to play it more in less stimulating environments until itâs stronger?>>
Maybe, or further away in more stimulating environments. What might also be very helpful is practicing the decompression games posted this wee: tugging/volume dial then decompression (snuffle mat) so he gets used to self-regulating.
>> Do you ever up the treat value in the moment?
Yes!
First sequence – very nice! Great send and go on the pinwheel, great connection!! Two little suggestions – move in closer to the tunnel at the beginning so you don’t get caught standing still with no place to go then have to accelerate like mad to get the blind. And, put the toy in your pockets so you don’t switch it from hand to hand when you should be busy running LOL!!
Definitely seems to be a different level of speed in the 2nd video after the volune dial! So you can plan for that! The open section was great. Keep moving in closer to the tunnel #6 so you can accelerate to the center of the bar for the RC. On the first rep you were running straight and he didn’t see RC info til after he made a takeoff decision.
Bar down at 1 2nd rep – even with the wrap verbal, you had a lot of forward motion so he was not sure if he should collect or extend.
You were better trying to get onto the RC line on the wnd rep but call him before he goes into the tnunel, so he exits turned. Yo uwere quiet here so he was wide on the exit and then had to come back and find the jump, so he got the turn in th eair.The 3rd video had the blind on landing side of the 2nd to last jump… NICE! You got there really well and maintained connection! Totally have the toy in a pocket because that moment of changing hands does delay the blind, and he is too fast for even a tiny delay đ
The last sequence on the last video went really well too!! Yay!! You were connected really well and hustling – a great combo đ You got the blind with lovely timing. And a nice send to 5 (you did do a spin on the exit of it, but it was well done in that you set up the line and send, and the spin was only to get you up the next line.
He was looking at you a bit on the GO at the end – I think he is watching you to see the toy move. In his defense, you do move it back and forth, hand to hand, a lot LOL!! So run with a toy in your pocket so you don’t switch hands (I am sure you don’t realize you are doing it) and for the big GO lines, you can use a placed toy to get him to drive ahead and not look at you.>> I was trying to understand this last sequence where you RC on the take-off side of 5. Which side do you then pick them up on? I confused myself when I tried walking it so I didnât try it.>>
It is an unusual angle for a RC, but you can start with him on your left, RC 5 and pick him up on your right for the last line.
>>Yesterday we played the volume dial game and then a snuffle mat. My question is do you usually do just one session (volume dial/mat) and then take a break or do you go back and forth?>>
You can do 2 or 3 reps of this, but long sessions aren’t needed.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
Was that his leash at the end of the run there? It took me a minute to figure that out LOL!! He did really well with it – he seems to like tugging on it, which is helpful! You can build on this by putting it on after he gets to it, so that he gets used to the leash going on. And you can have him do that handling loop twice, so he goes past the leash the first time then gets it the 2nd time around. This is a common thing in AKC in particular (passing the exit and continuing the course) so we want him to be prepared.Great job! Do you have any NFC/FEO for him coming up?
Tracy
This is awesome! This is progress!!!!!
An idea for you – there are a lot of noises associated with motion that you can use to help her be in a better state when dogs are moving. For example, the sound of a handler yelling TUNNEL TUNNEL TUNNEL or the sound of a flyball tournament can be playing in the background while you do pattern games! Start at a low volume then gradually turn it up, then add your Kelpie working to it. It is a simple way to add challenge to home training and prepare for harder environments.
Tracy
Good morning!
>>And we were knocking a lot of bars tonight>>
The bars were all either disconnections or late cues, so she was trying to process over the bar. As her experience increases and as your timing gets earlier, the bar dropping will fade away because she is overall a strong jumper!
>>it got COLD here: 85 on Monday and 51 on TuesdayâŚI havenât adjusted yet!!)>>
Same here in SW Virginia – it is 24 degrees this morning and I am NOT in my happy place especially because it is the ONE time this year I am teaching locally⌠outdoors. BRRRR!!! LOL!!
The sequences are going well overall!! Yay! She is reading the lines well and giving feedback on timing. Good girlie!!
And you were generally staying in motion and keeping going when there was a blooper – keep doing that so you can really develop the flow đA couple of suggestions:
Seq 1:
For the opening line, you can put her on a slice at jump 1 rather than soured up to it, so she sees jump 1 clearly on the release and lands facing 2. Setting her facing straight to 1 creates extra turns and is easy to miss (rep 1) or drop the bar (rep 2) The slice line also allows you to be more lateral and have more distance, making 3-4 easier to get to (3-4 is the hardest part of this sequence).For 3-4 – the main thing will be to have more distance on the lead out so you can get between 3 and 4 sooner, so you can start the BC or FC when she exits the tunnel. The reps here were starting after she made a takeoff decision as you were running to position, so the turns were a little wide.
On the ending line – you can totally get ahead as long as you open up BIG connection back to her. There was a disconnection at 7 at 1:00 so she missed jump as your shoulders turned off the line. There was disconnection at 1:45 and 2:31 before the tunnel , so the bar came down there.
One other thing I notice is that when the handling to the tunnel is a little late and you say tunnel over the bar, the bar come down pretty consistently as she tries to adjust. So for now, try to start saying tunnel when she has landed from the previous jump plus turning your shoulders sooner so she
Seq 2:
She is reading the lead out push really well! To help her turn before takeoff of 2, you can be more center of the bar on 2 and closer to the jump, so she jumps turned towards 3 When you are further away from the line and the jump, she jumps long over 2 then turns after landing. So being very close to the line and the jump – then moving directly to 3 after you release her – will set a gorgeous line, more like what you got on the RC rep. I loved the rear cross rep, it was pretty perfect!Seq 3:
Yo can add more of a lead out advantage by lining her up on a slice at 1 as well, so you can be a bit further ahead and so she can see the line 1-2. That will give you time to set the turn at 3, which is the hardest part of this sequence.sThe timing was a little late on these – you were driving to 3 and then starting the turn cues, but she read the info as âgo long over 3â. That is why you have the off course and then some wide turns/bars. The timing at 1:36, for example, was the best timing here and you can see her turning sooner! That turn cue was happening when she was just about gathering from takeoff.
You can definitely start it earlier: when she has landed from 2 and looking at 3, but still 20 feet away from it đ you can start the verbal and the turn cues. Being further ahead by leading out more can make it much easier to start the turn cues earlier. That would also allow you to set up the RC sooner, to help her see the turn on 5.
Doing the FC between 3 and 4 would start at the same timing, which would give you more time to move up the line to the 4-5 line.
So it all comes down to the land ing of 2 being the spot to start the turn cues for 3 to set up the next line. She is small but has a big stride and great commitment, so it will be fun to see how early you can start the cues!!
>>After a sequence, if I reward Syn with the toy and say good job or something like that, she tends to take the toy away from me and play with it a bit. I go over to her and grab it and then we tug. However, if, after a sequence, I throw the toy and also say âYay Puppyâ or something similar, she runs back to me and offers the tug for tugging. >>
Good question! I watched for this when watching the videos⌠I think it is just that Yay Puppy is a retrieve cue, and when you donât say it, you are generally fixing a bar or setting up the next rep. I donât think she was doing it as a needed decompression, more as a âwait for momma to be readyâ moment.
So it is possible that she has figured out that if she doesnât hear âyay puppyâ then she can stay a little further away with the toy. So you can say yay puppy for every reinforcement, tug tug tug tug⌠then let her go for a run with the toy while you reset for the next sequence if needed. Let me know how that goes
Great job here!
TracyGood morning!
>>Iâm happy to geek out about this as Iâve been working on it for months and itâs not improving. So, Iâm doing something wrong. >>
I donât think you are doing anything wrong – I think you are trying to figure out how to have a happy, conflict-free start line and that is really important!
>>Ideally she would understand sit gets you access to agility.
I play a game called âDemand For Jumpâ where dogs that love to do the agility, DEMAND it by offering a sit or a control position.
Basically, it is an off-shoot of the tug-sit-tug game we did with them as puppies – tugging (changes arousal state, state dependent memory) then a sit or down is offered, then a quick release to tug again. And we gradually extend the duration of the sit or down (at first it is offered and I donât care which behavior – then it becomes a cued sit or down eventually).
When that age is strong (I love that game because both the dog and I can be nutty LOL!) then we insert it in front of a jump⌠it becomes tug-offered behavior – release to jump – tug. So if the dog wants the jump, then they quickly figure out that the offered behavior is the cue for ME to cue the jump.
And yes, eventually it becomes something we build into the remote reinforcement game.
Here is a clip with my dog Matrix, a Border Collie/Staffy mix who would tend towards over-arousal around obstacles. On this clip, I was getting her very aroused, and by leaning over, I was maintaining the arousal with the body tension and excitement from me đ I did not cue the down, she offered it – and I released to let her take the jump. She had a great stay and a happy line up thanks to this game!
You might notice that she had trouble looking at the jump initially and offered a behavior facing away from it! It is a fascinating insight into how she was managing her arousal. She would often line up a bit sideways to the jump at trials and would often stare at something else⌠but always held her stay, always found the first jump perfectly and ran really well đ Arousal regulation is a crazy thing đ
I have more video elsewhere, I will try to find it. But we can play this with Sprite!! Super fun!
>> In yesterdays video she offered that sit and I stupidly asked for the hand touch afterwards as that was the piece I had planned. So, I didnât actually ask for a line up and sit.>>
She offered a sit! Good girl! And yes – the environment is fluid so you are ore than welcome to abandon the plan in the moment and go with what she offers đ
>>In classâŚshe cannot be out of her crate when either Aussie runs. >>
A good training goal is to be able to have her out when one runs, even if it is at your car or super far away, using super motivating food or toys. And definitely use super motivating food/toys to help break through the arousal of dogs moving.
>>So, if sheâs glancing around on the volume dial then go back to a pattern game? I can try that tonight in class. >>
Yes, definitely try it. Generally attentional states in trained need to go from divided to selective to sustained in that order – and if she is looking around, it means she is still on the divided end of the spectrum and volume dial is asking for sustained. So working to get her into the selective state with the pattern games might be most helpful.
For other behaviors (natural ones, in my experience), the dogs can go from divided to sustained immediately, such as going from sniffing the ground to chasing a squirrel đ
>>I donât think I can do another dog without a start line. >>
Oh, we will have a start line! It is almost there now we are figuring out how to transfer it more successfully into the ring. I donât want to abandon it, I just want to fade it in, carefully and happily đ Part of my NFC goals is to do runs specifically for start line training.
>>Sprite is capable of staying in a lead out. She was fabulous when I was using food to get the line up snd sit. >>
Yes, in certain contexts, she has it perfectly! So now we expand the contexts. Part of it is internal state, part of it is external environment. You can play around at home with a bowl of cookies on a countertop and doing line up and sit with empty hands, then reaching over to get a cookie from a bowl. That can be fun and get lots of reps of line ups with empty hands. Then you can move further away, etc.
>>Plus, the sequences were easier back then.>>
If one variable gets harder, others must get easier – so if you are working a start line and it is hard, you need to set up an easy sequence đ Or if you are working an hard sequence, make the start line very easy (Cato board, cookies in your hand, a send around a wing, anything that helps her).
>>having a dog everyone thinks is out of control and untrained.>>
Yeah, that is a bad feeling and people are quick to judge. It sucks! But I bet they also have had issues of their own, yet still judge others. Sigh. Dog sports can be soooo judgey.
On the video –
Good practice coming in on leash! She did well here – she was in a happy stand stay and ran really well! You didn’t ask her to line up in a specific spot (you moved her to a generally good spot and then took the leash off). And you had a pretty causal stay cue (leash off, then moment of standing there looking at her, which is the international sign for ‘offer me something” and she offered a stand). You didnât take much of a lead out and didnât ask for much, but notice how she was holding the stay on the 2nd run with a lot of readiness for the release! She was a little wide on some turns but I think that was mainly that you were free-styling the sequence and not really worrying about it, thinking more about the pre-run stuff.
Re-visit this game here and there, to gradually keep building it up. I like how she was able to be happily stationary here in front of the jump (adding a position wonât be too hard when you have the âhappily stationaryâ element :)) And try the demand for jump game, it is fun!
>>Of interest, after the last run on this video she decided to snack on hackberries! >>
Good to note! Remote reinforcement is hard and depleting⌠and hackberries are delicious from what I am told đ One or two reps of this are all she needs per session, mixed in with other fun easy stuff.
Great job here! Keep me posted!
TracyGood morning and welcome to you and your girls! I can’t believe Saphira is all grown up – I feel like she is still 16 weeks old LOL! Time moves fast đ
Finishing the obstacle training and jump height training will be easy for you đ How did she do in her trials with engagement and being happy in the environment?
Good morning!
>> I used Back and Forth to get her thinking again and that seemed to work!
Fantastic! Did you try a pattern game before her turn, as you were moving to the line, then a little more after you take the leash off? Let me know! And if not, definitely try it to see if it helps get the run off to a good start.
>>There are people and dogs sitting around the ring with no barrier, so thatâs a huge accomplishment for her. She was *mostly* quiet in her crate when I ran her sister. I did not fix any mistakes, when she ran past something we just continued on. I know itâs my fault anyway for not supporting things as I should.>>
That is a hard environment and it sounds like she did really well! The challenge of people and dogs around the ring with no barrier is probably far more difficult than what she would encounter in a trial!
>>That was another reason I decided not to run Tipsy at the trial this past weekend, I was so anxious over her leaving me to go visit everyone that I knew it would negatively affect both of us.>>
Yes, it is stressful for both ends of the leash!
>> And talked to my classmates last night, I guess there were some murmerings about dogs being reactive at the trial, running amok in the ring, etc. Hopefully this will all blow over by the time weâre ready to trial again, but itâs definitely holding me back.>>
Yeah, that was probably part of the fallout of an ugly, divisive social media fracas that made a LOT of people feel badly and get even MORE nervous about starting their young dogs in the ring. Ignore it! Carry on with your training and have fun with your girls!
Tracy
Hi!
<,We did a grind commute and drove all day Saturday & got to FL Sunday<< Long drive but I bet you were glad to get home!! And let me know when you need the info for NC and SC, happy to help! Really nice session here! I think she got 100% of the reps correct (which means you did too!!) Yay! >> I was really concentrating on looking at her as she came out of the tunnel.
She felt the strong connection and was able to really drive to the jump! Nice!
>> I think I still need to get closer to her to push the line than I did in this session. I was concentrating on the center of the bar so hard that I didnât really clear the jump laterally as I came behind her on some of them.>>
On those reps, I think you were just running so fast (and so was she LOL) that you ended up a little too far up the line to clear the jump. She still turned the correct direction, but one thing you can do to prevent getting too far ahead is to run in clsoer to the curve of the tunnel, so as she is exiting, you are just barely past the tunnel exit and heading for the center of the bar. That can make for the perfect balance of fast running and not getting stuck behind the jump.
You can definitely add some mission transition to this, so this setup can be go, rear cross, and decelerating into the front cross wrap!
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi! I thought this went really well!!
All of the driving straight to the tunnel looked good – I don’t think you needed to use the outside arm for the tunnel here, because as long as you moved up the line and stayed connected, she zipped right into the tunnel (and you didn’t always use the outside arm for the straight line into the tunnel, and she was still perfect).
For the tunnel threadles – great job with all the verbals! You were pretty correct on most of them! No worries if you mess on one – if you have to stop, reward her so she doesn’t get The Big Mad because she doesn’t understand why you stopped.
When she is on your right side to the tunnel threadle, you are using your outside arm (left arm) and going directly to the tunnel entry you want…. and it looks GREAT! That was consistent across all 3 videos.
When she is on your left side to the tunnel threadle, you were using your dog-side arm and doing the pull- push you mentioned… so she got it but she looked at you more. So try to match that to what you did on the other side: outside arm and going directly towards the tunnel entry you want. You don’t need a huge outside arm cue, but you want to be consistent and use it clearly so it helps her read the line.
>>And when Iâm concentrating So hard on correct verbals, which way sheâs turning etc, I donât show a Lot of enthusiasm.>>
You don’t have to be extra enthusiastic, she brings enough for a party of 4 đ But you do need to run more on the advanced level – you were walking and decelerating (thinking hard probably) so she was confused about whether to collect or not, which is why she came off some of the lines or looked at you a little more. Keep moving more and she will be fine đ
As you add more speed in the advanced level, you can start all the verbals sooner (it is great practice to use all the verbals!) Ideally, you are starting the next verbal as she is exiting the previous obstacle. So if you are doing wing-tunnel-wing-wing-threadle, you would start the tunnel verbal as she is rounding the first wing, Then as she is exiting the tunnel, you would be saying left or right for the next wing. When she is arriving at that wing, you can start saying the wrap for the *next* wing. And then as she is arriving at the next wing? Start you MISS tunnel threadle verbal. SO MANY WORDS lol! But excellent practice for full courses.
One last thought – does she see tunnel bags at her classes? If so, great! If not, be sure to put tunnel bags on the tunnel so she is not surprised when she does see them somewhere.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
>> I really am loving working with this dog and going through these activities with her. Itâs so much fun to see her think and grow.>>
She is really terrific and is so fun watching you two! You are both looking great!
The rear cross videos are looking good! For all of the Go reps and left reps, you can throw the reward sooner (as soon as she looks ahead at the jump).
The timing of the RC is trickier, and on a couple you were a little late (:23 and :41 on the first video, and :55 on the 2nd video). In those reps, she was just about getting ready to take off and then you pushed into her line for the RC so she turned after landing.
Compare to 1:13 on the first video and :20 on the 2nd video, where she saw you moving towards the center of the bar on the RC line after she exited the tunnel, so she turned before takeoff and had gorgeous turns!
One thing that can help you consistently set the RC to the center of the bar is to start moving on that line before she even exits the tunnel, so you are less lateral (being closer to the tunnel will help) and so she can see it really early and adjust before takeoff).
Get out videos – looking really strong and she seems to understand the concepts here!! Yay!
Going straight past the jump looked great in all 3 videos. It was a little harder on video 2 when you moved faster and she had been rewarded for the jump (she looked at it on the first rep) but she was still great about not flicking away to the jump. She was also great when you added go go go on video 3! This will be a useful skill since running through boxes of jumps with off course jumps very close to the line is a common course challenge in ALL venues lately!
She was terrific with the get out cues too – super!!!! To add more distance, make sure you look directly at her so you can stay on your line. When you have permission to really run, add the advanced level where you do a FC or BC as soon as she looks at the jump (that requires quick movement so you might not be allowed to do it yet :))
The only thing she had a question about was wrapping the start wing – she needs one little step to the wing before you rotate your feet away to the next line. If you did not step to the wing, she was not sure if she should take the wing. If you stepped to it, she was perfect each time.
Zig zags – yep, shes looking good here too. Such boring feedback today because everything looks great!
At :46, she held the stay til released then took a different side of the jump than I think you intended, but based on where you had her lined up and how you used your arm on the release (like a threadle), I thought you wanted that side of the jump too. So if something like that happens, don’t mark her as wrong – reward her because chances are, she was right and you will see why on the video đ Then she broke the stay (she was a bit confuse). You moved her further over on the last rep so she got the line you wanted. Yay! So be sure to set her up very clearly on the side of the jump you want. And then as you move along the line, you can handle it more like a serpentine now (feet forward, arm and shoulder open to face the bar) – I don’t think she needs the exaggerated handling anymore and is ready for you to do the serp-style handling.
Mission transition timing is tricky! And she was responding perfectly to all the info, good girlie đ
On any of the wide FCs, you were decelerating when she arrived at the 2nd marker you had on the ground – but that is when she was just about taking off, so it was too late for her to respond til after she landed (:02, :28, for example).Ideally the decel would happen as she is arriving at your first marker on the ground – you would decel and move forward. The rotation would come when she arrives at the 2nd marker. You were closer to that timing at 2:52, where the decel happened just after she passed the first marker, and it produced early info and a good collection đ
For all of these, try not to say GO (like at 2:34 and 3:10 were you had big go verbals happening) because that should put her into extension and not consider wrapping. And, positionally, you can be on the outer edge of the wrap wing. Don’t go in close to the bar or between the uprights, because that is when things look like a rear cross (like at :48, 1:01, 1:20). On the accidental rear cross reps, you were running towards the bar more, so she read it as rear cross info – then when you decelerated and turned your feet, you accidentally cued the rear cross. Keep rewarding that, because she was correct.
If you find yourself getting rear crosses it could be because:
a) you are running to the center of the bar too much
b) you are decelerating and rotating at the same time, which also looks like a rear cross
c) all of the above LOL!!She had one rep where she did not take the jump as you decelerated (2:52) and that was because you disconnected and looked forward, so she looked up at you to figure it out.
Since visuals work well for explaining this, I grabbed some screenshots for you so you can see what happened:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/16wJa5744LAUOqcIHhH6te8AD6MvCjf4vFoKrgFNXHo0/edit?usp=sharingGreat job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>>. I am assuming that is what you ment by olfaction activity or did you want something more formal>>
yes, a good sniffy walk is perfect for the end of a session or before a break, as part of your physical and mental cool down. The snuffle mat is great to be used during a session so you don’t have to leave the ring or take a longer break – it can help maintain the arousal state so the pups can be more ready for the next rep đ
Tracy
Hi!
This went really well! Nice job gradually introducing more and more disconnection. She did really well finding your face. Interestingly, she was doing something we see on course a lot when connection is not strong enough (particularly with Border Collies) – she was going wider and wider from you to try to get a better view of your face to see where the connection was. Good girl! That is why some less experienced dogs run past obstacles when our connection is a little too soft.So the next step for her is to put it into an easy sequence and deliberately disconnect and act lost LOL!! And of course, reward her for finding your face (can be with a toy in sequence work). If you are close to an obstacle and she takes the obstacle – great! It is not required, she gets rewarded anyway, but it sure is a bonus if she stays on the line đ
Great job! Let me know how the next step goes!
Tracy
