[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

I love practicing all of the ring entry and leash stuff, before and after the run. It is a critical element of trialing, no different that training weave poles for example – if it is trained and the dog is comfortable and familiar with it, trialing will go MUCH better 🙂

He seemed very happy with it here! On the first run, you delivered a cookie to his mouth when he sat at the start line, which you probably don’t need to do. I mean, he wasn’t sad about it, but it won’t be something he sees in a trial and it might be more of a behavior to do or distraction than a reinforcement or motivator in that moment.

>>. First rep I also had a toy on me (but that makes him want the toy from me and not his leash) reps>>

Yes, it could be confusing being sent to the leash when the toy is on you and possibly the toy is higher value 🙂 He was perfect without the toy. So on sequences when you are not working a specific skill? You can have the leash as the reward. But if you are planning to work or reward specifically in the sequence, the toy will be more effective.

One thing to add when using the leash on the ground at the end:
be sure to continue past the placed leash so he knows to keep going even if he sees it. All the reps here ended with the leash n his line, which can form the habit of visible leash on the line meaning go to it. Yes, you cued it here but dogs are brilliant over-achievers who will anticipate going to it. I have seen people lose national championships because of this anticipation error (totally training error, not the dog’s fault) so I am sure to balance things – sometimes, yes, you are done and go directly to the leash out past the tunnel, And sometimes you can have him exit the tunnel and take a couple more jumps for another loop, then back around to end with the leash. This is a really common course challenge in AKC so we want him to be prepared for it.

>>Let me know if you want me to continue showing that before and after part on future sequences or not. I plan to do it for every sequence just so that we get super fluent in those before and after moments so that trials really are just like home.>>

Definitely film it all! If things continue to go smoothly like here, it is up to you if you want to post it or not. But if there is a blooper or behavior shift, the video can be very helpful!!

The sequencing went really well! Yay! There are a couple of spots to tighten up your running line which will tighten up his running line 🙂 The goal for when you are doing crosses ahead of him, is for your to be quite literally running on the most perfect line you want him to take (and keep moving so you are not in his way when he needs the line :))

On sequence 1:
I think ultimately a BC will be more effective 3-4 than the FC because you can set the line better and then you have time to give him a little turn cue when he lands rom 3 to adjust the line 4-5.

With the FCs for 3-4, your timing of starting them were great! The rotation of the FC can delay the finish of the FC, which ultimately makes them late – finishing a BC is much quicker. Also, with the FC or BC – you were going straight past 3 so even with the timely rotation, he was still (correctly) jumping long to your position relative to 3, which made it harder to show 4-5. That is why he ticked 5 or dropped 3 or landed long then turned on landing. So the ideal perfect line would be just past the wing of 3 and heading to 4, not really getting between the uprights of 3. It can be done with a FC, but it is really hard to finish the rotation without backing up (which presents as forward motion) and get out from behind the wing of 4 🙂 With a BC, it is easy to get on that great line and then move forward sooner so you are not stuck behind the wing of 4.

Everything else looked great so I think trying it as a blind on the perfect line would smooth out the 3-4-5 line!

Seq 2 also went really well! As with the ideal line on sequence 1, you can work the ideal line 2-3 here. That ideal line is very close to jump 2, and at the center of the bar. So that is the ideal lead out position and then as he takes off for 1, you start to move to 3. You were on the center of the bar but well past 2, which was causing extension jumping on 2 at 3:57 and 5:28. He was taking off earlier and not really turning until he was over the bar or landing. You can freeze the video as he was taking off at 5:27 and your position was well past 2 and probably 6 or 8 feet from 3. Being right on his line with tighten that line for him and still keep you well ahead beause he will find 3 without you needing to do much at all – you would be able to turn and leave as soon as he looks at 3.

Note the difference between where he was on the bar over 2 on those 2 reps versus the BC rep where he turns before takeoff at 7:00 and 7:28, because your line is closer to what his line should be. I think on the BCs you can be moving towards 3 even more and less past 2 (the timing was great!) Anything forward past 2 will read as extension, which is why he did tick 2 at 7:01. If you freeze the video as he is lifting off at 7:00, you can see your line is closer to his line but still not quite moving to 3.

Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

The volume dial-decompression game is looking really good! Practice makes pathways!! The food finding in the upside down cato plank was clever LOL!!!!!! You might want to get some type of snuffle mat, where the food is not visible – visible food can be a visual thing for the dogs (especially for the sight houndy types), and the food not being visible can bring more of the olfaction into it. And getting the olfaction involved is really great for decompression!

>>Our current issue is that she doesn’t come down enough to rest. She can self-regulate to think and do things, no problem, but she really struggles to relax. >>

This is not terribly unusual for the smaller sport mixes who are really not selectively bred for their ability to chill out LOL!! We can help her, of course, and maturity will help her as well.

>>It’s gotten tons better over the past year: we’ve gone from car sick and stressed, to whining if the trip is too long, to parking on site and screaming in the car crate no matter what, to settling outside in a crate if I am not in sight, to settling in the car if the car doors are closed. She is fine on leash or tied, but the crate is tough at a venue.>>

Those are definitely big improvements! If memory serves, some of the car anxiety is genetic so it is good you were able to work through that! For settling in the crate – if the way to get her settled in the crate is in the car with the door closed (and maybe some music on) then that is going to be go-to for a while! You can also try other locations in a facility, but I would recommend the crate covered and visuals blocked, and maybe some music on there too so she doesn’t hear everyone else yelling TUNNEL TUNNEL TUNNEL and the sound of thundering paws through the tunnel – it is too hard! Blankets, blockers, and music can help dampen that, plus crating as far away as possible. On leash or tied up might be less arousing than being worried in a crate, but they aren’t restful either. And to help her out – if there is a venue where you cannot crate in the car and you cannot find her a quiet spot to settle? Then skip that venue for now because it doesn’t do anything to help her in the agility environment to be steeped in the stress hormones of being crated in a challenging environment.

>She also doesn’t settle easily at night. She is trained/exercised, does a food scatter in the lawn, then bows for stretching, then a chewie, and sometimes a food puzzle, but she won’t stay focused on the chewie and brings us toys and balls non-stop for 2-3 hours (we don’t usually touch them) before she finally gives up and settles down for the night. She can focus on puzzles and kongs, but won’t necessarily settle afterwards. Thoughts?>>

That is an active evening agenda LOL! Might be too active, even the puzzles and kongs. Those things might ideally try to tire her out, but it is possible that they are stimulating her then she is seeking an outlet for that stimulation with movement and bringing toys to you. You can do any training as early as possible in the day/evening so there is more time to wind down. And then after training? No more stimulation so her body can wind down for the night too. Sometimes I am tempted to train something at 9pm, but it is always a bad idea because it gets everyone too active LOL!

So you can get her to match your energy a couple of different ways. For example, if I am settling down for the night or sitting on the couch to watch TV, I will turn down the lights a bit and the puppies are either in an xpen or crate nearby with a great bed and maybe a chewie or kong. Or they are tethered to me (with a bed right there too). And we all chill (including the adult dogs who are happy to be chill and not have a puppy on their heads, which also leads to nice social learning). No access to balls or tug toys or anything they can throw at me, because that is very active for the pup and also very annoyong for everyone else, which could create a variable schedule of reinforcement when one of us touches it or moves it or throws it.

You can try to toss treats onto the mat or bed, intermittently, as she is standing or sitting or laying on/near it in the crate/pen/tether, but if that activates her and she starts offering behaviors, then I would not do it 🙂

And part of it is just surviving adolescence, because we do see adolescent dogs moving more and being able to settle less. This is normal so while yes, we do want to set up a home ritual of chilling out (xpens or big crates are great for this), sometimes it is just a waiting game for them to grow up a bit more.

>>She’s 20 months and has started getting possessive of chewies in the last few weeks. She’ll leave it and walk away, but no one else can go near it, or sometimes she’ll see it on a shelf from across the room and start growling at the other dogs who aren’t even moving or near it. She may be going into heat soon, so I hope it’s just that…>>

Might be a hormonal thing, or it might be an adult behavior. Either way – set some rules on it 🙂 If she is chewing and one of the other dogs sticks their face into her face, with the bone in her mouth, and she grumbles? OK fine, I would ask the other dog to move away. But if she is guarding it after walking away from it, or if it is on a shelf? That is not a desirable behavior so you can remove the bone from that situation – if she walks away from it, you can pick it up and put it away, out of sight. If she continues to guard it when it is out of sight or when other dogs are in the room, you can start a resource guarding protocol for her to make sure it doesn’t blossom into full on guarding. I can find you some good resources for that!

Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

>>Frantic is an excellent, accurate description.

I can relate! It is hard running young dogs when you don’t know what they will do!!

>>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. >>

And she might! Because lizards are awesome and agility is HARD. But since you might be thinking about it (which is normal!) you can add a plan to your thoughts: if she has a lizard moment, you can keep moving and running and calling her, so she can come back fast (sorry/not sorry, lizards LOL!) Having a plan definitely will reduce your anxiety over if she takes off for lizard hunting.

>>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. ..

Ha! Practice makes pathways!! So since she loves the table so much 🙂 have you ever done stays on a Cato board? You can use a Cato board or low table to help her at the start line 0 quick hop on, then release to go go go can be super fun for her, with treats as rewards! The table in the class video was close to the people and distractions and she did great!

>>I was ALMOST using food as a lure? Oh, I assure you, I WAS using food as a lure. >>

LOL! Totally relate. I started agility with Dalmatians and I had ZERO knowledge on how to keep them with me and prevent running off, so holding onto them and using food on their noses and hoping for the best was my training plan LOL!!

Keep me posted!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>>I want to make sure I understand your comment about the pinwheel. 🙂 So it’s like a send to the middle jump of the pinwheel? i.e I show the line out to the pinwheel, send to the middle jump and then show the line back to jump 5 and the tunnel? So he knows the line back to the tunnel before he takes the middle pinwheel jump? Is that right?>>

Yes, a total send and go there too, rather than a speed circle. So as he is in the air for the 3 jump (jump after the tunnel) you are decelerating, adding more connection so as he is landing, you are doing a big one step send. When he looks at 4, you stay connected but are moving away to 5 and 6. It might take a bit of experimenting to get commitment to 4 but that should also cue the line nice and early, so he can set up his turns.

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Yes! Totally a send and go, get outta dodge, starting no later than landing from the previous jump. Making great connection will help with commitment! And it will also give him more time to set up the turning.

T

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

>>Very interesting that flyball creates a different environment. I want that big toolbox!>>

The only way to play flyball is to be able to function in that environment, so it is kind of mandatory. And it if funny – other dogs sports slam flyball as being too loud or too chaotic or too dangerous. Well, yes it is loud LOL!! But the precision and high level engagement is unmatched.

T

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

>>I actually had done some pattern games with her when we got there. She did okay with them but not as good as usual as she was quite distracted by everything. >>

It is normal to see her have more processing delays and have a harder time with the pattern games in new places. Start as far as needed (can be right next to your car!) and remember to play the games at home afterward or the next day, to keep the games neutralized. You will see her get better and better as she learns these!

>>I suspect as she gets more familiar with this place that it will be easier for her. >>

Exactly! It is a learning process that almost all dogs need to work through.

>>Is there any value to trying the Just like Home exercises in novel places. >>

Yes, see below on ideas on how to do it 🙂

>>The video is my last effort to do sequence 3. I didn’t show all the reps but this gives you an idea on what was happening. I tried to follow what you suggested but had very spotty success.>>

Actually, as an outside eye: there was a LOT of success here!! 2 things I see here:

– She is not ready for you to run for real yet, as in running fast in your handling. When you get going fast, she has trouble processing the handling cues/finding the jump versus her BC inclination to run really fast and go wide past the jumps, looking at you. So, the BC wide behavior takes over.

This is actually far more normal than you might realize with young Border Collies LOL!! The problem is that no one puts videos if this on Facebook 🙂 so when our dogs do this, we feel isolated or like we are the only ones with this question from the youngsters. But I see this all the time with young BCs and we can work through it.

You might see that she is not as good as she was with finding jumps when she was a young pup… welcome to the joys of canine adolescence. This is also quite normal – hard for us humans, but definitely an adolescent processing behavior.

When you walk/jogged the sequence? MUCH BETTER and she found a lot of jumps.

– doing the fast lazy game like you did at the end was GREAT! It helped her balance her arousal and she found a TON of jumps.

So what to do? For each sequence you try, begin with a go-round of walking lazy game, the jogging lazy game, throwing treats after every jump. Then give her a break and let her do some decompression like a snuffle mat (adding the decompression will really help!!).

We will keep building up the lazy game so the cookies are not thrown for every obstacle… you can be jogging and make it more variable by throwing for every two obstacles, or after one obstacle, or after 3 obstacles. It is a ping pong to build up the duration of finding obstacles as you move fast.

You can also do a rep or two with a toy and NOT the lazy game, but with you walking. I think the next set of sequences will be very easy for you to walk through. A chill walk will give her the bandwidth to process the lines better.

And keep the sessions nice and short, with LOTS of decompression in between. It is hard being an adolescent girlie!!!

We will eventually merge the two tracks (fast moving any game, walking sequences) into real handling. We’ve got plenty of time to do it, no rush.

>>I also have a question regarding using pattern games to help her overcome her fear/aversion of a lot of agility equipment that manifested when she was having her homrmone issues. Things are definitely better now but she doesn’t want to go near the tire (which is on the lowest setting and I have never asked her to go through or even asked her to go up to). She heard it rattle once and that was that. She is scared of the teeter having seen her brothers go over it when it was set to only drop about 4 inches and avoids strongly – I have not asked her to go up to it since but she did the mountain climber in the last Max Pup and was okay with it. >>

Does she have generalized anxiety or noise sensitivity elsewhere in life, to normal things? I remember her being worried about gun shots in the distance during a live class, but that is a valid concern and she came right back to work with the pattern games.

Generally yes, the pattern games can help, starting really far away at first.

But also, if there is generalized anxiety or noise sensitivity, you can do behavior work or add some supplements/meds to get her over the hump of it for now. Have you heard from her littermates about anything, or with the parents? Sometimes asking the right questions gives us answers, gently, so they don’t feel attacked because there is so much pressure on dogs nowadays – something like “hey, anyone see any concerns about noise or weird things with their pups?”

Yes, this is normal in adolescence but sometimes it is pervasive and you see it in regular life too, so we can help rather than wait it out 🙂

>>she was fine with this in June but no longer. >>

Also make sure that she has no underlying pain issues, so a soft tissue person can check for anything ouchy. And when she was spayed, did the vet get X-rays of hips and elbows/shoulders? Underlying pain can create all of the behaviors you are seeing.

3 other things that can create these behaviors:

– tick illness! Definitely ask for a C6 tick test. I have seen tick illness manifest as obstacle avoidance and noise sensitivity over and over. Fix the illness, all the concern goes away.
– UTI. If the dog has a UTI, the only symptom might be avoidance and noise sensitivity. Totally worth a check!
– Hypothyroidism. Yes, low thyroid can also manifest as everything you are seeing. While it is *highly* unlikely that is it not hypothyroidism at her age… it is not impossible in Border Collies where there is a ton of hypothyroidism that starts early on.

I can give you multiple case studies/examples of each of these in dog sports, including my own dogs and many many dogs that I know. Sure, the vet might think you are nuts 🙂 but it is worth a look because pain or illness can re-wire the brain and you will see behaviors you never saw before.

So, a full work up can give you some answers! And if nothing else, you have a great health baseline for the future.

I would not try to acclimate her to the things she finds scary til you have looked at some of the other potential causes. You can still do the pattern games far from this scary stuff, and you can still do the walking sequencing/jogging lazy game 🙂

Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

Good information from Sprite about the jackpot markers. She does seem to understand that it means go to the cookies and toys.

And later in the session, we can see some of the questions about doing the hand touch right in front of the jump and the line up being not super fast, that you’ve described. But she did do the hand touch and the line up, which is great! The latency of those might be the latency you get in trials, a little sticky, but that is fine: optimized arousal might skew the latency of those behaviors a little bit, but it might also indicate an optimized state rather than overarousal. It is all stuff we will learn by observing and will teach us what, specifically, good arousal states look like with her (spoiler alert: it can be entirely counterintuitive LOL!!)

>I used the leash and had jumps out as she still really struggles walking towards jumps. It’s becoming a negative CER and making me sad. This clip is a little long as I did both markers>>

This is an insightful video. She has an understanding of the framework of the game (yay!) and it is entirely possible that doing multiple reps of this on leash in front of the jump (with food and toys) and never being able to take the jump is resulting in lessening interest in this game.

She is at the stage in her training where the jumps and the running are the game, the action is so fun! – and by presenting her with the opportunity by moving towards the jumps then withdrawing it by not taking the jumps (for a long period, this was a long session LOL!) can result in the reduced enthusiasm for it and possibly some confusion.

Yes, the food and toys are technically reinforcement and motivators… but are they, in this context? Maybe not! And maybe being asked to leave the jumps is akin to a negative punisher to her? Maybe, if you are seeing a shift in the CER.

So since she learned the framework before the actual agilitying became higher in value, we can move to the next step and move this game into the agility context. She comes out on leash, you do a bit of play, you put the toy or treats down on the reward station, then you move to the jumps/tunnel (set up a little fun sequence with no stay required), off goes the leash, run a short sequence, mark, run to reward.

I think that next step will put this game into context and she will have the light bulb moment of “AHA! Now I know where this fits!!” Making it all more exciting.

By doing this, we are making it all a little more complex at first and there is definitely arousal self-regulation that is happening, plus we will learn a lot about her needs at the start line. So what I would *NOT* do is ask for a line up or tricks as you move to the line or a stay. After you put the toy or treats down on the reward station, just move to the line, leash off – if she is engaged by sticking with you (not taking off into the sequence), then you can put a hand on her collar, start with a send, and have some short sequence fun before marking and running to reward.

I suggest doing this all-business approach because some dogs, when learning how to surf the arousal curve, do far far better when we just go in, line up, and start. No tricks, no hugs & kisses :)) They don’t have to even look at us (many herding dogs cannot look at the handler in that moment). We have seen soooooo many dogs excel with this all-business approach when they enter the ring and that is GREAT!!

(From the human perspective, many of us are deeply concentrating when it is a hard important run, and we are all-business too!)

I suggest doing this without a line up or stay for now, because the point of the game is bringing the remote reinforcement into the context of sequencing. The line up and stay is different and hard and we don’t want to add additional challenge to something that she says is already plenty challenging. The line up and stay can come back in later.

One more thought about this:
This game is hard, in terms of mental and physiological bandwidth for the dog. So, add in decompression! If a loop is A-B-C, add the D in after the reward. Break out of the loop to let her breathe, run around, sniff, eat a hackberry LOL then you can do another rep a few minutes later. The A-B-C-D format will also reflect what she will see in classes and trials too!

>>I tried hand touches in class earlier, but she just couldn’t to it. Her brain is elsewhere and she can’t respond to much in that environment as she’s walking to the line. >>

Do an experiment and try the all-business, and see what you get in the ring. It is possible that her brain is trying to move into the selective attentional state and preparing for the sustained attentional state, and the cues to hand touch are getting in the way, creating clutter in her arousal and attentional state self-regulation.

From the human perspective: if you were focused on a run, and I was walking next to you going into the ring, and I was like “Ginger, sing me a show tune. You can’t run til you sing me a show tune.” You’d be distracted by me (“STFU, TRACY!”) and have a hard time focusing on the task at hand and processing what needed to happen. It is possible that asking for the additional behavior is distracting and unnecessary pressure.

What we want to do is play outside the ring and when it is her turn, go directly to the line and get started (all-business). And then, over the course of multiple runs/classes, observe what happens. If she able to respond to handling cues, execute trained behaviors? If so, then we have one of the all-business dogs on our hands and that answers a lot of questions 🙂 If not, then we will change things up – bearing in mind that responding to handling cues is contingent on the quality of the cue, so lack of response would be more like zoomies or other typical overarousal behavior (not wide turns or a bar down here and there, because that depends on handler timing and connection).

And, when trying the all-business – take out the start line line up and stay for now. That is a complex behavior that can muddy the waters as we figure out other stuff. Yo can use a Cato board or something to help her out on the start line for now. If she was not yet able to weave the way you wanted, you would skip doing the fully closed weaves in favor of maybe doing open weaves or adding wires or skipping the weaves, to avoid failure and frustration. So treat the stay like an obstacle performance that will go in context when she is ready 🙂

>>She typically runs after two very barky Aussies and she’s not allowed to be out when they run. >>

They sound very stimulating!! What does she do when they are running and they are out on leash? What does she do in the crate when they are running? It is a good opportunity to use working her on some pattern games or snuffle mats at as big a distance as needed while they run. And if they are now running after her, it can also be used as decompression which is great!!!

>> Once the order switched I could have her out. She’s definitely glancing around with the volume dial. Pretty split brained. >>

Yes, sounds like somewhere in the area of the divided attentional state and the selective attentional state – mostly able to attend to cues, but still aware of the environment. Is she able to engage more with the pattern games? When I am trying volume dial and still seeing the dog glance around, I will go back to the pattern games because basically the dog is saying “I still need to process the environment thanks.”

Which do you think is more helpful for the volume dial – food or toys? Is she able to play pattern games on the way to the start line in class, such as back-and-forth for tossed treats or a toy in each hand? Just curious so we can plan more.

And remember that all of this take practice (practice makes pathways!) and sleep to solidify the pathways 🙂 so you might see improvements in future classes or coming days, rather than in the moment.

>>Round two started on the table do that was much easier for her.>>

Perfect! And that lends support to adding the Cato board as a start station if you need a lead out for now. Part of the reason for that is to just make the ring entry really easy peasy fun, which will shift the CER and help with self-regulation.

Great job here, thanks for nerding out with me 🙂 Let me know what you think!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Thanks for the reminder! I do have another video somewhere, doing this while being close to flyball. But I can’t find it and it is driving me nuts!!

It is easier to do this with toys than frisbees – I was laughing because it was so hard to hold the damn frisbees LOL!! And I also added clip of another thing you should do with Levy, where it is work (which he loves) to eat a cookie tossed on the ground (which he is meh about) to tugging (which he loves). This will begin to get food into the training loop so he will eat it and so you can use it! Start all this at home and let me know how it goes!

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
I don’t think less control is counterintuitive at all 🙂 I love it!
I think it gives the dog more agency (which we know is great for them, physiologically) and it also is pretty close to what we do at home by cavorting to the start line off leash 🙂 But it is scary for us humans LOL!! I take the leash off at the ring entry for all of my dogs – but I play in UKI which is really chill about such things.

I think technically AKC allows it but I am not entirely sure. I personally don’t think AKC is a great place to start young dogs, but sometimes it is the only place available. Sigh.

And also, less control can still have the leash on – loose leash, being a little silly with the dog, remembering to breathe 🙂 Just like at home!

T

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>> It took an unusually long time (almost 2 hours) to get to class last night for our 2 minutes of ring time>>

OMG 2 hours for 2 minutes… I would need a snuffle mat FOR SURE!!! That might contribute to things feeling a bit frantic.

>>Okay, here comes the sh*t show. >>

Not a shit show at ALL!!! Plenty of good moments and great info to work with in the other moments. I see things differently than you do – I see a TON of good stuff happening and the 2nd run was totally better!! You are just going to have to believe me and not believe yourself LOL!!

So first up, the good stuff to keep:
Once you both get moving, your connection and handling energy is very good. Keep doing that!!! Lots of lovely sections!!

And she loves the table. What’s up with that? LOL!! What a nut!!!

And when things did come off the rails, you were actually good at going with the flow, you didn’t get mad at her, and you got her back on track to finish strong. That is huge!!!

And she didn’t jump on you or go feral at all. Any disconnections were short and she came back fast and finished strong.

So what to change?

>> And I didn’t keep going when we made a big mistake at the weaves, I repeated.>>

Yes, but you caught yourself and probably got mad at yourself, so next time you carry on even if there is an error.

One thing I notice is at the beginning, you are using the food almost as a lure to keep her with you… but when the leash is off and the food is not on her nose, she may not stay with you. And it was making you a little frantic (especially on that first video, after 2 hours of traffic!)

I am SO glad you posted the video because we can TOTALLY work on this!!! Yay!

So what I want you to try at the start line is the pattern game of up and down (cookies on your shoes :)) with you doing it SLOWLY 🙂 No fast & frantic to try to keep her with you. You can do a couple of tricks as you enter the ring, but then go into the up and down pattern game. Keep doing it until she can do 2 things:

a) return engagement to you pretty quickly! Use you highest value food.

b) let you take the leash off while you keep playing the pattern game and keep returning engagement to you, without a cookie on her nose and without the leash on 🙂

Slow and calm (even if you have to fake it LOL!!). You were more calm on the 2nd run and she was a lot better!

If she can do this? Run the course!

If she CANNOT return engagement to you, because the start area is so hard, try it at obstacle 3 or 4.

And, rehearse all of this on a sequence at home, from the tricks for treats, to the up and down game, to the leash coming off (yes, use your leash at home LOL!) so she has been prepared for it before the next class.

I have a game coming soon for the leash coming off, but we can start her right away with it!

I think you are on the right track!!! Let me know what you think!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! Thanks for the update!

>Still working lots of pattern games with him. Primarily up and down, ping pong and 1,2,3. Use the 1,2,3 for transport and the up and down for waiting ringside. He organically inserts some LAT into the up and down to check out what’s going on in the ring and then focus back to me.>>

Great! How is the volume dial game going? The pattern games are helpful but you will see the best results in terms of arousal regulation when we sort out how tohel him work in arousal and how to regulate arousal when not working – and the volume dial is great for that 🙂

>>Quiet crating is still an issue – the sounds of agility get him all ramped up – doesn’t have to see just needs to hear. Interestingly enough, if I put him on a mat or station right next to the crate, all is good – I’ve built enough value for mat work so he can hang in the open. Crating is getting better, down to about 10 minutes or so to settle down.>>

Being in a crate (or even on a leash) can create a lot of barrier frustration, which is why it is harder to be crated for many dogs than it is to be on a station or cot. No barriers fencing him in on a station! But… stationing is more like work and less like relaxing, so the ideal situation would be to have a place where he can truly relax, like in the car. Rest is important, so indoor crating is not that important right now 🙂 So yes, work on creating a quiet crating space for him as far from the action (you can play some music for him, put on crate covers and barriers) but be sure to give him lots of time to also relax in the car.

?>Ran him in some CPE this past weekend. Would bring him in about 10 minutes before his runs to let him acclimate – do out thing in the ring, back to the crate for reward and then out to the car to let him decompress – It’s a routine that has possibility for him.>>

Cool! You can also bring him in without running and just play some pattern games – that keeps the trial location more “neutralized” so he doesn’t go into a higher state of arousal simply by going into the building, if it always means he is going to run a course.

>>His skills are coming along very nicely. He is super responsive to my body which puts a lot of pressure on me. One wrong step and damn, I’ve sent him to the backside again>>

That is a champagne problem! A super good fast dog that is listening! Yes, it puts pressure on you as a handler but in a good way 🙂 I am confident you will get it sorted out and it will all come together.

>>Still working on building some toy drive in him. Got him playing tug in the LR now, still no chance when his arousal is up. A work in progress and I need to commit to getting it worked out.>>

Great! Keep making it a no-pressure game in a no-pressure space, and it will slowly become something you can use in other places too!

>>One other hole I need to fill is remote reward. Reliance on the lotus ball is a problem when I can’t bring the ball in with me – takes him just one run to figure out there’s nothing in it for him.>>

That is perhaps the most important skill for agility dogs! We have remote reinforcement on the agenda this week, so start it off ncie and easy as described, then we will gradually extend it til he can run a full course without the beloved lotus ball. It takes a little bit of time to do it systematically and without stress, but it is a requirement for agility success!

>> I need to start building a ring routine leading to remote reward – would ultimately love him to be dragging me back to the crate. >>

Think of it as a toolbox and you can pull out the right tool for the moment. A specific routine might be too rigid for an environment that is very fluid. For example, when fishing – I am confident that you have a tackle box and a different way of doing things, depending on your goal and water conditions and type of fish, etc. Ocean conditions are fluid, just like the agility environment, so we need a toolbox 🙂

And I think reinforcement/reward station should be really close outside the ring, rather than all the way back at the crate – it is MUCH quicker for the dogs and also being ringside makes it more predictable for the dogs (and they thrive on predictability of reinforcement). Too many things can happen between end of run and crate, and we really want to get the reinforcement to the dogs as quickly as possible.

>>He’s such a foodie so I do think that’s attainable.

Totally agree! Food is life! I am sure you will get it sorted out 🙂

Keep me posted!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>. He is missing a lot when ramped up, cones further apart or I move too fast. Just not reward ?>>

Yes, you don’t want to reward if he doesn’t hit through the box… but if he misses a total of twice in a session, then it is too hard and you need to dial it back a bit (probably more internal arousal for him but less motion from you).

>He seems to look at me more on one side than the other>

Totally agree about this! Running contact training is a little different than sequencing in that we want him to do a behavior chain on the contact and not need each part to be cued. So yes, start the cone wrap with a physical cue but then just run – you can say hit it but you don’t need to for now, and you don’t need a dig dig for the next cone because we don’t want him looking at you waiting for the next cue. If he has trouble finding the cone without looking at you, move it closer (he definitely had more trouble on your right side than on your left side). He seemed to be waiting for a cue and was looking at you (especially on the 2nd video) so we want to get the chain to be nailed so he doesn’t look at you at all 🙂

And you can change your position to be ahead, behind, lateral by changing how close or far you start from the first cone. That is definitely something that will be useful on the a-frame!

Really nice job on the sequencing!

The first run was good, 2nd run was GREAT. I really loved the send to 3 – great connection, timing and TRUST as you sent and took off. That put you way ahead and also allowed him to set up a great turn on 3. For such a big dude, he can really turn too! Yay!

The 3rd run was good too but I think he had it memorized by then LOL! He went and took the jump after the tunnel even though you were way up the line and not really cuing it. So, remember to balance each run with something different so he responds to handling and not just learns the sequence 🙂

Great job here!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
He seemed pretty happy and playful here, shaking his toy toy. I don’t see anything wrong with what he was doing 🙂 And he was minding his own business, playing with his toy 🙂 There might be a decompression element to it especially if he needed an extra moment before giving it back to you. All good!

And yes, no need to do it next to the ring. But he was NOT shaking it as part of a frustration behavior or staring at another dog. And, part of the problem in agility is that agility dogs are not trained to be able to work in any type of pressure from other dogs, so when there is pressure, handlers look to control the outside forces and sterilize the environment. In flyball, we have no choice but to train the dogs to thrive with the pressure of other dogs staring and barking at them 🙂 When my dog is in start, there are at least 3 other dogs staring at him and barking, and in start he will start behind them so he has to run past them on the way to the box. And it is no problem at all, because it is the way the sport works so we train it. Agility needs to do some of that training! But alas, the culture is to sterilize the environment which leaves the dogs under-prepared. That is why we want a big toolbox to prepare the dogs for anything 🙂

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
The timing of the BCs here seemed to be good, but I think adding the spin was causing the other errors. Both spins were late (he was already in the air when you started them) so it sounded like he hit the bar on both. Then that put you behind him for the ending line and he had trouble running past the 3 jump (partially because he is still learning to run through boxes, and partially because you were turning your shoulders a bit to get around the 6 jump.

So you might find it smoother to accelerate into the BC 4-5 then as you are finishing it and he is jumping 4, decelerate, send to 5 (no spin needed) then turn and leave. That way you can be showing him the straight line with big connection from ahead of him, as he is jumping 6, so he understands to go straight and not curl into 3.

Let me know if that makes sense! Nice work here!
Tracy

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