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Hi!
>>On the jumping drill, I’ve been using 3’ steps on the last jump. In the videos you use 5’ but I *think we were using 3’ I. The last session. Hope I’m not kray.
You are not kray – the first interval which does not change, is 5 or 6 feet for the bigger dogs (I believe it was 5 feet on the demo video) then jump 3 moves away, 3 feet at a time (not 5 feet).
>>He went around the jump when I tried to raise it from 10” to 12” on one rep. What I think should be relatively easy for him, Bob has other ideas. So I didn’t push it.>>
Yes, don’t push it was the right decision. More below!
>>Oh, on the accordion, should he be hopping vs. single striding at the first jump movement location? It’s a long hop! And should I be moving the bar in 3 or 5’ increments as we proceed with this drill?>>
Depends the dog and the distances:
Say the interval between jumps 1 and 2 is 6 feet for Bob.
Rep 1 would be 6 feet- 6 feet, he should bounce those (one hit of the front feet in each gap)
Rep 2 would be 6 feet then 9 feet between 2 and 3 – ideally he would bounce that too
Rep 3 would be 6 feet and 12 feet – he is probably a little too young to bounce that, so you might see a bounce between 1 and 2 then one stride (2 hits of the front feet) between 2 and 3.That is basically what happens on the video – bounce bounce bounce, including a longer bounce at :16. Then a one-stride at :25.
He went around the jump at :28 – two variables had changed (distance and height) so only change one variable at a time (distance OR height not both). And I couldn’t see where you were, it is possible he was reading something in your line too. The rest of the session went well!
So in the next session in a couple of days, work up to the distance you had at :28 but don’t raise the bar and see how he does.
At the end of the video, he did more jump grids – was it all the same height as the previous session? I think so, but he was not powering over 1 as much – could be the jumping towards the wall was sitting him back a little more than usual. The rest looked really strong!!
>>The lap turn drill is easily the hardest thing we’ve tried. I think we’re getting there but please do tell me how to proceed. It’s hard AF>>
It is hard indeed! But clearly you have been working on it and it looked great here!!! There was only one blooper: You were late at 1:22 (he gave feedback on that LOL!) then you tried to get him to do it again on the same wing and it didn’t make sense (then there was an edit LOL!)
The hard part with the lap turn is that you basically have to be decelerated and waiting for him as he exits the previous wing, then hold that position til he just about gets to you. Lordy!!!! It is hard but you were doing it! I think you should now move to the tandem turns, which are easier to do while moving and you will probably use ore often on course nowadays 🙂
Great job here!!
TracyHi!
>>I’m not sure for the “German turn” which side the dog is supposed to end up on?
The German turn involves a bind cross exit, so he ends up on the other arm than the one you started him with 🙂
In the first session on the video:
He did really well with the backsides here! Nice! You were able to be all the way across the bar and do countermotion. Nice job getting the toy to the landing spot as you moved past the wing – the only thing to add is looking at the landing spot as you move past it (like you were doing on the countermotion moments) and also point at the landing spot as you look t it and run through. The isolated countermotion also looked great!1:04 was early, great job pretending was perfect 🙂
Second session also looked great – you were more patient on letting him commit to the backside before turning to the tunnel. He committed well and the little sequence looked great! He did indeed smoke you on the last backside LOL! So you can drop the toy on the landing side as you run through the line – you wee dropping it towards you so he was putting on the afterburners to get to you.
>>I figure I’m late giving him the end-side information.>>
Yes, I think you wanted the German turn there at the end but it was too hard on the low bar – you will have a lot more time on a higher bar and also you will be able to disconnect to do the blind sooner.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
I am glad you had a fun weekend at the trial! Sounds like his did really well!!!
The Starfish is going well – the left/right/tunnel/etc turns and commitments look great!!
But here is a big thing to consider: TUNNEL TUNNEL! And KoTAUlo! KoTAUo! Sound very similar when you are shouting them fast and in the heat of the moment LOL! That might be why he had trouble coming off the line on the tandem turns on the wing to his left (heading towards the camera). When he was doing it to his right earlier in the video, you were further ahead, decelerated, and quieter on the name call, so he picked it up better.
He did sort it out after several reps but I think a clearer verbal will help: a quiet “Ko” can be very distinct as the attention getting and you can start using the threadle slice verbal on the tandem turns instead of his name. That will help differentiate the ‘forwardness’ of the tunnel verbal and the ‘gimme your attention’ of the name and the threadley behavior of the tandem turn.
And that can make things easier when you add the bigger sequences like at 1:18 – you had his attention but it was harder to get him to turn away from you to find the wing. So the threadle verbal will get that going.
I think you were using it a 1:33 (‘in in in’ and that totally helped – remember to keep moving forward as you get him to the correct side of the wing, you almost stepped behind him too soon there.
Nice work! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>>We having trouble finding shade and room to run. She was a trooper.>>
Yes, she was definitely getting hot towards the end – poor little one has not been alive long enough to experience real heat! Her heat tolerance will develop over time but definitely keep her cool for now. Are you a morning person? I try to train at sunrise when the weather is really hot LOL!
Does she like water? You can have a baby pool nearby so she can cool off every 30 seconds or so.
Parallel path looks great! Try to stick with your ‘get it’ and not the ‘yip’ marker, to keep her looking ahead. You can add more lateral distance now, gradually getting further from the prop.
The countermotion is also going really well! She did well to her right but she did better to her left! Hmmm, maybe she is a lefty LOL! Keep slowly adding the countermotion like you did here – she was vey successful and we want to add it gradually to keep her successful.
Well done! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
She did well here, this is exactly how the first session of this game should go! Keep reminding yourself to NOT move til she gets to the line 🙂
You can add in a little engagement and step to the barrel after you get the toy back – on the last rep, you got the toy back but then disconnected and froze, so she was unsure. At this stage, we are moving the wraps from an offered behavior to a cued behavior, so you can engage with her and use your arm and leg to step to the barrel.
>>I think I’m going to find a different object that might work better.
This barrel was perfect – don’t change it 🙂 Keep playing the game and let latent learning work its magic 🙂
You can also try the other side to see if she is a righty? The left turns looked good here so it will be fun to see how she does to her right (starting on your left).
Nice work!
TracyHi!
The food session looked great! The ‘get it’ was super easy and happy-making for her 🙂 and she was really polite about taking the treat for your hand – if you hadn’t mentioned that it was sometimes challenging, I would not have known. Your delivery to her mouth was spot on, great mechanics.
Toy races looked really good – she won them all except the big cheat when you pushed her back LOL!! You were a great winner too, engaging with her as you went back for the next rep. She is doing really well, so you don’t need to worry about trying to win a lot 🙂
It is a high energy, high pressure game – so if she needs to take the toy on a little run before coming back to you, that is fine 🙂 I like to count to 3 in my head while the pup is having a runabout, then call the pup back (and trade for another toy to help build up the retrieve). That short lap with the toy is the pup learning to regulate her internal arousal – and the skills get better when we let them do it 🙂 It sounds counterintuitive, I know, but the decompression moment really helps 🙂 More on decompression later in the class 🙂
>>JJ was sleeping between turns. She has a Household puppy class that day and she also did some Cato board work and a few games earlier in the day (not to mention running around with the other two dogs in the yard), so she did not have the drive that she has earlier in the day in the live class. Not much I can do about that.>>
She was great in class last night! Love her!!! If she has a busy day on class days, you can build in more daytime sleep for her. Sleep consolidates learning, so a long sleep after her puppy class would be great, as it can serve 2 purposes: to consolidate the learning from the class and rest her for the evening class. She can skip other games that day, and you will get fill force JJ during the evening class 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi! Lots of good work here!
>>still working on week 1 games and trying to get those right before we move on.
They are going well – time to move on 🙂 There is no need to wait til they are perfect, you only need to get them roughly right then move onto the next stuff 🙂
>>Struggling with distractions in the basement.
I think she was not really distracted, just a couple of mechanics and time issues (see below). And you can have everything more ready by the time you bring her in: toys/treats/etc ready, camera on…. Then bring her in and get right to training.
>> Should I move to somewhere less distracting first, and then move to basesment with exercises?>>
Nope! The basement distractions give you valuable insight into your mechanics and her focus was mostly really good! And the re was only one toy that was a bit les-than-exciting – the main thing with the toys is going to be use really fun ones, keep the toy moving so she can chase it, and do short sessions.
Focus forward 1: This went really well. The main suggestion here is to remember to trade the toy for a cookie for the “out”- you were pulling the toy away while lifting her by the collar, which can actually cause her to hold the toy longer.
The session was very active and went on for too long – at 1:00 is when she lost focus. So try to time these higher energy toy-based sessions to 30 seances or 45 seconds, using the timer on your phone. That way you will be finished before she loses energy to keep playing.
Toy races – these went well! And this session of about a minute was a good session length – no loss of focus and the trade for the cookie went well!
To keep building this up, you can let go of her sooner – as the toy lands, she looks at it so let her go drive to it before she looks back at you.
2nd toy race video was also good! This was a super short session – one thing I notice here and on the previous video is that she looks at you when you make noise as you are running forward, so try to be quiet so she can keep focused on the toy. And if she looks at you because you are running, you can slow yourself down so she looks straight at the toy the whole time.
Cookie turns – this went really well with you standing still, so now you can add motion forward – as she is getting the cookie, you can be waling forward. When she is halfway to you, slow down nd show her the decel cues that you did here.
This session is also a perfect length and no loss of focus!
Blind crosses – I don’t think she was distracted here, I think she is not yet great at finding cheese on the carpet 🙂 You can use a towel or something to toss the treat too, so she can easily see the cheese, or use the darker treat because she found that nicely (iust be sure it doesn’t roll under the couch, which is what happened later in the video).
Wraps –
>>This session was too long but didn’t want to end on a fail)>
Actually…. When time is up, you can totally end on a failure! It won’t be a problem at all and it is better to keep the sessions short. And also if she fails, don’t make a big deal of it. When she was successful, you were a very quiet cookie dropper. But at 2:04, you had moved it too far away then made a big deal when she missed… which brought attention to what she did and so she kept doing it a few more times 🙂
She got back on track but then you made it harder agin and did several more – then she was very done and didn’t want to play.
So for the wing wraps, you don’t need to make it harder and harder throughout the session… just make it a littler harder in each session, keep the session short, then you can build on that in the next session.
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! Auditors are totally welcome to ask questions!
yes, you can sit on a low chair or even on the floor with your legs in a V -that can all help the very small dogs. Let me know how she does!
Tracy
Good morning!
The resilience walk was super – she had a good exploration of a place where she is probably going to be asked to do exciting things 🙂 and she seemed really comfy! Going through the tunnel was adorable and so was checking out the frog and admiring the gorgeous puppy in the mirror LOL!
She looked very confident, even when there were noise. She was scratching but I think that was more about the harness being something relatively new in her work and not a stress response to anything.
Note how she started engaging when you were talking in the beginning, so being quiet was better to let her really explore 🙂
>>Hope it’s ok that I did this off leash.
Yes, it can be without the leash in super safe spaces like this, then on leash or a long line when you are out in the big world (which is a good next step).
Prop game is going really well!!! It is a good choice of prop because it won’t move and also because you and unfold it to make it bigger as she grows 🙂
She did well sending to it, even as you rotated and send from being a bit more sideways.
One thing to add here is a bit more arousal by doing a bit of the ready ready ready and eye contact before sending her. That will get snappy behavior 🙂 and also help her see the difference between handler focus and “line” (prop) focus. When you re-loaded your treats, she when into handler focus so the ready game will help that by clearly showing her when to shift her focus away.
Blind crosses:
Her engagement looks so lovely in such a big space. Yay! She was moving with you and engaging even in the ‘in between’ moments. Super!!
>>For some reason I couldn’t interest her in tugging. Likely a combination of working in the new place and needing a more enticing tug.>>
Yes, I think a more enticing tug will do the trick – something big and furry and crazy 🙂 she was interested in it but when you stopped moving it, it as not enticing enough especially with the food smells around (you were working the tug in the same spot she had just gotten the prop cookies :))
To get her tugging in the new location, do some tug only games (like driving ahead) with a big crazy toy that you can drag around for her to grab 🙂
>>I was super late with my blinds I think>>
Not always super late with starting the blind – it was the eye contact that was late on some of the reps which is why she had trouble reading the blind early.
Looking at the very first rep (:12) and second rep (:41) – starting the blind was good timing and then, more importantly, you opened up your dog side shoulder after the blind and got a little eye contact, so she made the side change beautifully.
At 1:03 and 1:28 and 1:45, for example – you started a little late but you were trying connect by looking down at your dg-side hand next to you, so she didn’t see the connection and made the side change at the last minute.
At 2:07 and 2:43 you had better timing of starting the blind but you’re looking down at your hand and not at her, so she didn’t make the side change as soon.
So, keep using the timing you used at the very beginning and the end – but reach back to her with your eyes, pointing back to her nose so you can see her eyes and she can see you eyes. That will help her make the side change immediately 🙂
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
>>It’s funny; no sooner had I read your response about deleting social media, then Muso’s breeder messaged me and asked when she was going to start trialing!>
Yeah………. LOL! There is SO much pressure out there. The road to success includes ignoring it all. Tell the breeder that she will start when she ‘gets clearance’ but don’t tell her what that means LOL!!!
>>They’re doing a breeding with Grifter’s sister and Smidgen, puppies due soon.>>
Yes – I believe one of my friends is on the list 🙂 Summer is coming soon, you should get one too! #BadInfluence
Backside slices are looking good! I am not sure she needs the outside arm cue – she is very happy to stay out on her line and the outside arm might push her even further out (further than needed). So feel free to try the backside slices with less outside arm, or no outside arm (just a big connection).
Or, keep the outside arm if you like it LOL!! Just keep it low: the faster you ran, the higher it got – try to keep your hand at or below shoulder level (it was ending up over your head LOL!)
She was doing really well on finding the bar after getting to the backside – when you had a lot of countermotion, dropping the toy early REALLY helped enhance the bar (like at 1:59). When you didn’t drop it (early or at all) she was failing but either running around the jump or just coming to you.
If she just comes to you, like at 2:07: you were a bit too far past the jump, too much countermotion there and you were looking at her more than at the landing spot. When that happens, no need to freeze and wait for her to offer the jump – it became a 12 second stare down from your side of things and she legit didn’t know what you wanted. And even if she did go back and get the jump, it is not the ‘question’ our handling had originally asked… so it is better to just tell her she is cute and try it again, throwing the toy sooner and/or using less motion with your speed, or don’t get as far past the jump.
You dropped the toy sooner and were not as far ahead on the next reps – she saw plenty of challenge and countermotion and was very successful! There was one rep at 2:58 where you got to the threshold of her current countermotion understanding: about 2 feet past the jump and running, so she went around the jump. Try 2 feet past the jump and walking for now, then we can work the speed up to jogging then running as her understanding grows even more.
The reps on the Backside wraps video look good – just be sure that the wrap verbal is used on the reps where she is exiting very close to the entry wing, with a lot of collection. Some of the FC exits had you further across the bar, so she was doing more of a slice there (entering on one wing, exiting closer to the other, not a lot of collection).
The threadle was a bit too much for her in this session – she might need the threadle in a different session after all of the backside reps the threadle was not even registering 🙂 And you can give her a wrap verbal on the wing after the tunnel for more collection, and a clearer threadle cue – arm swinging back and the threadle verbal (I think you were using her name?)
Lateral lead out – When you get to your lead out spot, you can turn and face the takeoff spot more: when you are on the takeoff side, you can put your right hip next to the wing, your eyes on her, arm and leg stepping to the spot about 3 feet in front of the jump. And when you are on the other side of the wing, landing side of jump – it is your left hip on the wing and you are even a little more rotated to you can show the step to the takeoff side of the jump.
Once she sees that it is the jump, she gets it so that first rep is really important for feedback on what the cue means to her.
At :08 (takeoff side) and 1:12 (landing side), you were facing a little too forward so you were indicating the landing spot which she read as a cue to come through the gap.
At :55 you were facing the takeoff spot a lot more and it was definitely clearer 🙂 Yay!
One other suggestion – since this is a turn cue, be sure to drop it on the line back towards you like you did at 1:34 rather than throw it straight and long.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning!
Sometimes with adolescent dogs things do feel like spinning our wheels, but that is always a sign to switch to something else 🙂 You worked on the same behaviors here but it is better to switch to entirely different games on days when he just can’t seem to find the right answer.
>>in between sessions, I thought about what you said with higher arousal level helping his success. >>
Yes – could have been higher level of arousal at the trial, and also could be that there are too many failures in your yard (so he is coming in at a higher stress level before the training starts) and it is entirely possible that he has some pain memory from the yard from when his shoulder got hurt and you are seeing avoidance behavior (especially when he is not moving as much like in stays)
>>Back to square one with not knowing how to stay, forgetting how to serp, rolling on something stinky.>>
The lack of stays and the rolling were stress behaviors. The not serping was just not understanding the setup (more on that below). It is pretty normal that adolescent dogs “forget” something they might have been fine with in the last session or in a different place.
So the main thing is to make the 2 failure rule a fully-embraced lifestyle. I think you recognize that there are too many failures but keep trying anyway. That leads to failure and punishment (by withdrawing access to reinforcement) which leads to stress because adolescents are far more reactive to punishment than to reinforcement (there is some cool science on this!).
I think the 2 failure rule will be life changing for you and him in your training 🙂 2 failures is not 2 in a row… it is 2, period, in the session. The first failure is the yellow light, he has a question. The 2nd failure is the red light, full stop, something has to change before the next rep. That way you can train behavior without getting the stress built in.
For now, step away from any game that involves a stay right now – he doesn’t quite understand, in your yard, for whatever reason, how to hold the stay especially when you put the toy down. The reason doesn’t really matter right now 🙂 we can accept that he finds it too hard at the moment without worrying about the why. And trying to get it with a lot of failures if shifting the needle the wrong way. You can replace the stay on the flat with a bit of staying on a bed or platform, then add in the moving target in that context eventually.
If you want to work on his mechanics in the jump grid, you can hold him at the start and send him through it to the MM, so he can work his mechanics without having to deal with the stay.
On the serps – angle the serp jump towards him so when he comes around the start wing he can see the bar. Some of the dogs in the class needed the jump to be angled at a 90 degree angle at first, when the handler was moving. Your line of motion is the same as if the jump is flat. And over the course of multiple high-success sessions, you can angle the jump back to the flat serp position as long as you live within the 2 failure rule 🙂
And you can add in a lot of the games that involve running forward, doing the thing, coming back, the tunnels, fast and fun! I think that is especially important in the yard so you can establish that high success level before going back to the harder precision behaviors like stays, serps, or proofing. Try the tunnel-wing games and also the wind in your hair variations (Go, decel, backside circle, rear cross) because those games are challenging in a different way 🙂
Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
>>He actually really really REALLY hates to be grabbed and held, even if I try to do it positively. I have been working on that in non-agility training sessions but it’s slow going.>>
You can do a little cookie lure to line him up at your side and the neither just send him directly, or slip a finger onto his collar then immediately send him – all without actually making him feel like he is being grabbed or held 🙂
>>He would sniff and do his own independent thing even if I ran around, so I brought out the big guns… Dreamer! That got Kaz’s attention! I just did a little tunnels outside with them both, then I put Dreamer away and did a couple with Kaz by himself.>>
The more we learn about how dogs learn, the more we see that social learning is a real thing, and we can use it! If you have another dog that can model behavior you want (Dreamer!) then you can totally ask Dreamer for his help in teaching. Dreamer seemed perfectly happy to help 🙂
So Kat was overwhelmed by the environment on his own… smells, heat, the great outdoors… but Dreamer provided the social support and modeled behavior for him, so you got great behavior but with Dreamer there, and then afterwards. So cool! His tunnels at the end looked great, and good for you for only doing a few!! So in places where he might struggle, adding a 2nd dog to assist in the social learning can really help him!
>>Then we moved inside because he really loves it inside and it’s a bit cooler, and there are a lot fewer distractions. >>
Yes – it is a comfortable environment, in terms of having familiar smells and lower temperatures (heat is VERY distracting for puppies, because they brain processing gets devoted to dealing with the heat.
He did well with t he tunnel here! And yes you can fade the MM by gradually moving it further and further away, or even putting it off to the side or behind you 🙂
It looks like you were lining him between your feet on some reps at the beginning and he seemed to like it! That will be a useful way to start him rather than holding him.
I loved him big entry on the first barrel wrap video – he was PUMPED UP to be there and that carried over to the barrels. YAY!! Lots of distances and commitment!!!!
At :39, you asked if he was tired already… maybe not tired, but definitely hot. Look at the size of his tongue! Running and tugging heats him up, so you can do maybe 2 reps, then get a water break or let him breathe for a second. He did come back and finish strong, after standing still to breathe for a few seconds.
You can start adding the wrap cues to this now, since his commitment looks strong! His tugging looks strong too!
And the 2nd barrel wrap video was after a food session? Looking great and I am especially excited about how well he was tugging. Yay! You can do an arm and leg send to get him to start, rather than waiting for him to offer. The length of this session seemed pretty perfect – the las rep was at about :39 then the rest was play. So for now when it is hot: 30-40 seconds is perfect for games with running and tugging (which is about the length of a standard agility run).
Was the last video where he was not coming back something that happened only at the end, or at the end of all the sessions, or when he gets a ball (looks like he had a ball with him). Does it only happen when his harness is on?
On thing to do is call him back like he is going to go back to the car, then send him back into the ring. That can help break the association between being done and having to go in a crate or a car.
You can also try the pattern game to get his engagement at the end of the session – that can work really well especially if he is having any car or crate anxiety!
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
