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Good morning!
>>Hopefully more video today. I’ve been busy getting ready to go to the Open so poor Vinny hasn’t gotten much attention.>>
This is totally relatable! Sorry Vinny!!
>> My friend Norm took him around the AWC course in segments last week and he ran beautifully for him. I can see how my anxiety plays a role in his arousal >>
While yes, I think they can smell/process OUR state changes and that can play a role in their states… there is also some interesting science out there about how arousal states change when a different person works with a dog, versus THE MOMMA! For example, I think it is Emory U that did a study using fMRI and could see the dogs’ brains lighting up very differently when it was a different person versus their beloved human.
Anecdotally, I see this over and over. The association with the owner changes arousal state, so a stranger like me can take a dog and make things look genius (once or twice) because the dog is a little under-aroused. But it doesn’t hold up long and we want the dogs working with the owners.
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>>Question about his arousal around my dogs. He can get so excited that he will go after one of them. Usually it’s Marky because they play together outside running and chasing each other in high excitement. >>>>They don’t wrestle in the runs but for some reason yesterday Vinny went after Gibbs. I immediately yelled at him to stop and he did. I know it’s excitement and not meanness. He’s easy to stop now. >>
Easy to stop is good! It is a rehearsal of over-arousal and lack of self regulation that we don’t want his body doing (practice makes pathways even if it is not desirable behavior). So it is REALLY important to stop the rehearsal of this so he doesn’t get over-aroused. I am sure the other dogs will appreciate that!
Stopping the rehearsal might mean limiting the the amount of free play time and stopping to take breaks – set a timer and after 1 minute, they are done playing and they can all go chew a bone or sniff for cookies or something.
You can also give him an incompatible, alternate behavior such as “you must carry a toy if you are running with the other dogs”. No exceptions! It is easy enough to teach (“here if your toy, go for a run”) and if he drops the toy, you stop all the running and ask him to go get his toy. He will quickly associate holding the toy with the fun!
I have the “you must have a toy in your mouth” rule for the baby whippet so he can self-regulate his chase behavior (works like a charm, he is great now!) and I also have it for the dogs that are fast enough to keep up (sorta) when he runs, so they don’t try to mouth him at top speed and accidentally rip his skin. At this point, when he feels his arousal coming up, he goes and finds a toy (or sometimes a shoe LOL!) and puts it in his mouth. It has been great for household peace!
>>I never try and play with them all together because they will start fighting unless we’re out in the open field behind the house. >>
Yep, arousal management for the group is a definite! Not playing with them all together is good management, but the dog trainer mantra is “Management always fails” so you will want to have trained behavior in place just in case they all get out at the same time in a small space. I use a combination of “toy-in-mouth” and a solid ‘lie down’ for the herding dogs to maintain calmness 🙂
Plus, I think getting this going at home (arousal self-regulation) will bubble over into training and sports REALLY well because you have built the neural pathways you want, rather than trying to build them in sports training. If he is building neural pathways for behaviors we don’t want, then the sports training becomes so much harder. A common situation I see is fence fighting: dogs that fence fight at home are getting lots of practice running a fence line and barking at other dogs in a high arousal manner. Practice makes pathways! So we then see it in dog sports – they are in the ring and a dog walks by outside the ring… so they go fence fight through the ring gating. Neural pathways! And to fix that behavior, we fix it at home first and then take it to trials. So, fixing this at home will go a long way to getting more relaxed outside the ring behavior at trials too!
>> Although all 5 of them get along he has not endeared himself to all of them. They all keep one eye open when he’s around >>
That could be part of why rumbles break out sometimes – a bit of heightened awareness and stress when they are together. So definitely add in some rules about “you must carry something” as well as LOTS of hanging out on cots while other dogs play. That can give everyone a ‘job’ and more structure during the more arousing times of day.
Let me know what you think! Safe travels to FL!
TracyGood morning Ken and Skeeter!
These videos are marked private – can you set them to unlisted when you get a moment? I am looking forward to seeing them!
Tracy
Good morning!
The toy warm up before the prop sending was great – both for getting her pumped up to play, and getting her looking forward to a thing 🙂
You can reward her for near-ish to the prop when she is turning left (which seems a little harder). She also had trouble when you stopped moving and just sent… so reward that for going near it (and if she goes to 2 failures, total, move closer). Try to hold that send position so she can commit to something past your decel. Yo were continuing to rotate a bit like a post turn, so she was not entirely sure if she should keep moving with the line or hit the prop.
If she has trouble with the sending and you standing still, you can mix in some reps of you tossing the reward out to the prop rather than always having it back on your hand. That can help support the drive to it even when you are stationary.
She did really well with the two toys! Both toys are fun and she had trouble leaving the one in your left hand in particular. You can add in letting her offer more: the toy she has goes dead but don’t bring the other one ‘alive’ until she leaves the first toy and takes a step to the 2nd toy 🙂
I like the bigger cone there for her to go around (it was easy for her). The smaller blue cone might not even register on her radar LOL!
When you get back from the Open, we will get you sitting on something (like an inflatable or stool or something) so we can start moving towards doing this with you standing.
The hand target is going well! Great job getting the concept going with just the hand touch, then moving it to the post its 🙂
She quickly figured out the cookie situation here and wanted to watch the cookies while targeting. So, we can get her looking at the target more: as she is approaching you, extend the magic post it hand all the way away from your side, elbow locked so she goes the full length of your arm away. And, looking at it as you extend your arm will help Then when she hits it (or goes towards at first), toss the cookie way away, so she doesn’t look at the magic cookie hand 🙂
To be able to extend your arm fully, my guess is it will be easier to be sitting the whole time, which is great for now! No need to get standing soon on this one.
Great job! Have a safe trip and see you in FL!!
Tracy
Good morning!
>>Well, you changed my mind about the reward zone, especially with the argument about what is better for the dog and their body. We’ll rework things — he is a quick and smart boy.>>
As the sport evolves, we make this little adjustments to build in these skills earlier. This MaxPup class has more of an emphasis on distance, parallel lines, and even a bit of layering! Eek!! But, that is where the sport is going and it is all really fun.
>>the struggle is real with his tendency to literally leap in the air and grab whatever is in front (me, Skye …). >>
Yep, puppies 🙂 “My flesh is not a toy” was a common phrase with my whippet puppy LOL! They just need an outlet for all of their energy and when in doubt, they often use their mouth.
>>Having a toy on me in all high arousal states is becoming a must but even if I have it,
Put a name to the behavior when he is not over-stimulated. I say “get your toy” which means “you need something in your mouth or you will not be moving forward with your plan for the day” LOL!! So he will learn to just carry something as an outlet, and pretty soon he will look for it on his own: arousal self-regulation in action! Yay!
>>he still ignores the toy and grabs me sometimes (if that happens all play stops). He’s never put a hole in anyone, but still – ouch!>>
Yep, he is not being aggressive, just an over-aroused dude. If it happens in training where he disengages from a toy and grabs you instead, you can stop the game. And in that moment of stopping, do a mental review of if he had errors and he might be frustrated (puppies will often get mouthy when frustrated) or if the session went too long (they can get mouthy even on the most perfect of sessions, if it is too long or repetitive). I like to keep my sessions to 2 minutes or less, including the tugging, so I can be finished and get the pup to decompress and play or run around, before they get over-aroused and maybe use me as a chew toy LOL!
You are doing awesome with him!!! Keep me posted!
TracyHello and welcome to you and Jamothy, Jamioca, JimmyBean, PB&Jam, and all of his other nicknames 🙂 I am excited to learn more about him!!!!
I personally LOVE it when Border Collies come with high food interest, because we can teach precision and engagement and arousal regulation so much more easily. FUN!!!!!!
Keep me posted!
TracyHi!
He was very excited about the bowls here! Love it! He was very happy to go back and forth between the bowls!!
>>. I had to go on one hip because of my knees, so I had to have the treats in one hand. I found it interesting that it seemed he went to the bowl on my left more quickly then the one on m right, though maybe it was because of the way I was seated.>>
Possibly! Or it could be the pressure of the ladder right there was inhibiting his movement to the bowl on your right. Or he just is turning a little better one way than the other right now – no worries, it is all normal and good.
He is very food driven, but you don’t want to go a full 3 minutes on a food only session. You can see by the end he was chilling out and beginning to offer sits. So keep the timer at 2 minutes, then you can break off for some tugging.
For the next session of this, you can move to sitting on something (low chair, fitness ball, etc). Anything that keeps you halfway between sitting on the ground and standing up will work 🙂 And repeat what you did here with you sitting. If he is happy to do it in the first minute, and is offering going back and forth between the bowls, then you can break it off for some tugging and do another minute with the upright in front of him to begin the wrapping concepts 🙂
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyMoving away from the cookies was HARD in the beginning (poor starving puppies LOL!) Good patience from you! He then had a lightbulb moment and started hitting the target. I could not see where you were looking, so be sure to look at the target (if you look at him, he is more likely to come sit in front of you then offer the down when the sit doesn’t get rewarded).
As with the prop game, throwing the cookie makes a big difference and he did fewer sits and downs here because the cookie was moving more. And if he starts moving into a sit, pitch a cookie off to the side so he doesn’t settle into the sit or down.
I think tug breaks will be good here too! After every 3 or 4 cookies, break things off for a short tug party. The higher state of arousal is more likely to get more targeting.
And try to end the session while he is still standing up and targeting. On this session and the previous session, you ended it with him in a down where he has stopped offering other behavior. So, shorter sessions with more moving rewards will really help direct him to the targets.
Nice work!
TracyGood morning!
He was very excited to interact with the tote bag when you put it down! Perfect! That was a good choice and he got lots of good hits! And nice tugging at the beginning!
>>As an FYI, Teagan’s default position is a down. As I have big dogs, I like a strong down.>>
With that in mind, be super careful about any stationary reinforcement where he is sitting or downing in front of you… That all get more sits and downs which is exactly what was happening here 🙂 So even for targeting gets, emphasize the placement of reinforcement off to the side.
And you can split the criteria even more as you shape this to NOT get the sits or downs. Reward him for going towards the prop (don’t always wait til he hits it) and place that reward by tossing it off to the side so he is moving the whole time. If you wait too long and he sits or downs, just pitch a cookie to the side as a reset, and reward sooner on the next rep.
And to also help keep him moving… after revery 3 or 4 treats, pick up the prop and take tug break.
Nice work here!
TracyGood morning!
>>So…outside, with the little ball, no go. No real exercise yesterday meant total yeehaw, running a million MPH. No focus, just running. Been there, for 10 generations worth >>
Yes, sometimes they just need to run run run especially after a day when they didn’t get to run 🙂

>> Back inside we regrouped. Better. *I* finally got it, with much coaching.>>And yes – you nailed it! You asked at the end if it was better and the answer was hopefully “yes!” Looked good to me!
If the weather is still clear, maybe Paul can hold her outside while you run and do the blinds – start close so you don’t build up too much speed, then gradually increase the distance. You will want to start the blind as soon as Paul lets go of her (other breeds can start it before the dog reaches the halfway point, but with whippets we start it a lot sooner because, well… whippets! The ground speed requires timing to be sooner 🙂 )Prop sending:
You mentioned it being pretty snappy and I agree – when you did the little moment of ready, she was very ready and fast very quick to do it. YAYAnd doing it while moving away from the cookies behind you… that was hard and she did it really well!
She wants to turn to her right a lot when you were on the left turn side. When she starts on your right side, we want the left turn – it might have been that there was limited space on that side, so she was turning away based on that. It is also possible that she is a righty 🙂 So be sure to give her more room on the left turn sides, so you can send and move away from the prop to help her turn to her left more consistently. She would be starting on your right for those, so you can send to the prop then take a step or two to your left to help exaggerate that line.
Next with this game… use a toy 🙂 You can send, reward with a toy in your hand, trade for a cookie, and so on. And you can also go into the advanced level, where you are sending sideways and backwards 🙂
Great job here!
TracyHi! Looking at the two bowls:
>>now that she gets the concept, not to reward when she went behind. She clearly understood what I wanted.>>
Keep count of failures and also which direction they happen in – for puppies, we don’t want more than 2 failures total in a session, especially if they happen with the same skill. On this session, I think there were 3 failures and they were all going from your left side to your right side. So when she is going from your left to your right , keep the upright in a little closer for now. And when she is going from your right to your left, you can keep adding distance but moving it away a tiny bit.
>>Two inflations a bit better, but ultimately food works at this point. On to the next games.>>
Yes, food is easier at this stage and we will add the toy back in when we get to the next step. The food helps her, but when we want to add more speed we will go to the toy 🙂
You can break up these cookie sessions with plain old regular tug breaks after very 4 or 5 cookies. She slowed down with the repetitive nature of all the cookies at the end and wandered away, so tug breaks throughout the session will keep her more engaged.
And definitely keep working on trading between the 2 toys, separately – it is a good skill to have. You can do it as toy 1 – cookie – toy 2- cookie and so on.
Great job on these!
TracyGood morning! The toy mechanics are going well! I looked at these mainly to see where he was getting your shirt or hands, and I think both are accidental.
Video 1 –
The back and forth between the toy went well here! He did more of the tugging and. The toy stayed nice and low so he could weight shift back
The shirt grab was accidental each time – when you went back behind you, he lost his grip a bit so when he re-gripped, the shirt was part of it. So you can give him more length to the toy, so he is pulling back on it and is further from you (less likely to grab a shirt by accident).Wrapping the upright with the 2 millers went well too – but these toys are too small, I think, to keep his teeth off your hand right now (especially when your raise your hand off the ground). He is being asked to drive in hard to something small (your hand is actually bigger ) so puppies will often get our flesh with small toys. It is unintentional and he might not realize he is doing it. So what to do? Bigger toys, more like the first video. Big, fluffy toys that are bigger than your hands 🙂 The milkers will be fine for when you are placing a reward or throwing it, but I don’t recommend using them in your hand because you’ll get his teeth on your hand by accident.
>>The super furry toys are VERY high value.>>
You can attach the milkers to a long fleece toy, so you have the medium value of the milkers but the long toy to protect your hands. Eventually the dogs do get better about grabbing just the toy, but I still prefer to present big long toys when the dog is driving to it, so there are no painful errors.
Decel and turn – He is driving in nicely to your cookie hand. When you were straight on the first couple of steps, his butt was swinging out 🙂 so I am glad you went to the pivots: no more butt swinging out! He was nice and tight!! And I think he liked the action!
Two ideas for you:
– use a bit of tugging between each cookie reps, to keep this exciting and to keep building the skill of back-and-forth between food and toys
– add in more moving forward as he is getting the cookie, so he can see you go fro running fast to making a big decel. You can also do this as a restrained recall, where someone else holds him while you run away and then release when you call him. Decelerate when he is halfway to you, so he has time to make the collection at a higher speed.Bind cross foundations -he is reading these nicely and you mechanics are very strong! Like with the decel, start the BC when he is halfway too you so he can change sides sooner (your timing was more like when he was 2 strides away so he was adjusting at the last moment). And… use a toy as the reward. He was happy to eat the cookie but was tending to trot or canter to you. Let’s get him running by using a toy as a reward for the blind (yes, still toss the cookie to get him started but then reward with the toy using the same great mechanics you had here).
Great job!! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
These games are looking really good and he is ADORABLE!!
Drive to handler/Decel is looking strong. Nice job with your reward hand position! You can stop moving sooner – show the decel when he is halfway to you so he can shift his weight into his hind end sooner for the turn. You can take this to a bigger space too, to get even more motion (and if there are any treats that he doesn’t chew, feel free to use those because that way he can run to you sooner LOL)Driving ahead – really nice tugging! Yay!! You can use a bigger/longer toy so he can tug it and you don’t need to bend as much. Great job turning and going the other way as soon as he had it because that totally helps build his retrieve up!
He is ready to do this in bigger locations so you can both run more 🙂 If you have a long hallway or a grassy yard, definitely move this to where you can gradually throw the toy further and further, and let him leave you in the dust 🙂Prop hits are going well! Try to add engagement in between each rep: after he eats the cookie, make eye contact, dance around a bit, say your ready ready word… and when he engages with you for a couple of seconds – do a big send. That can get an even more explosive drive to the prop, plus it gets hims switching focus from handler focus to line focus (and gives him time to chew LOL!!)
The bowl game is going great! At this stage, you can put the upright in front of you, nice and close, so he begins wrapping it. I believe the progression will be like this for him (over the course of a couple of sessions):
– put the upright in front of you so he goes around it
– move it away a tiny bit but he kept going around it
– pull the upright back in front of you and change your position to sitting in a low chair or on something
– move it away again, a little bit
– repeat the process with you standing!You will know when to go to the next step based on how easily he can establish his groove on each step. If he has some failures, no need to go to the next step. You can stay on the previous step for another session. If he has no questions? You will be able to move through the steps pretty quickly! He will let you know 🙂
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
I don’t think you needed to quit sooner, I just think his favorite toy was the toy in your right hand. The fur toy was the winner! To get him to switch, you can hide the squirrel toy a bit, then make the other toy really wild!
It is fine and normal that the fur toy is higher value 🙂 so you can start with the less exciting toy and reward him for tugging on it by trading for the better toy.
Then try trading for a cookie, then go back to the non-fur toy so it is kind of a loop: non-fur toy then fur toy then cookie then non-fur toy then fur toy then cookie. That order can pump up the value of the non-fur toy.
Great job here!
TracyHi!
>>She definitely struggles with playing on my left side, regardless of which toy I use (I’ve tried switching) Part of it may be that my mechanics of tugging are better with my right hand. >>
Could be that you are more comfy on one side, or that she has a side preference, or a little of both. No worries, it all evens out.
And yes, she is so cute 😍 💕
Looking at the videos:
Wing wrap with toys is going well!!
She is ready for the next step, which incorporates a subtle cue and reward for the “out” of the toy:
Tug with one of the toys for a couple of seconds, then let it go dead. Don’t make the other toy come alive until after she let’s go of the toy she had in her mouth. That might start with just a tiny bit of relaxing her jaw, then building up to letting go of it, then building up to letting go AND offering going around the upright. That can take a couple of sessions but it will help her with the wrapping even with high arousal levels 🙂With food – this went great too! You can keep moving the upright further away, it was easy for her here.
You can also pull it in closer to you and try it with you standing up! Bringing it in closer makes it easier as another variable gets harder (you standing up).
Prop on the road: hooray for having no questions in a new place! Yay Nadja!!!
These are looking great. The sideways sends and backwards sends are particularly awesome!!!
On the forward sends, you tend to curl along the line with her, like a post turn, so that turns your shoulders and feet away from the prop a bit.She misses the prop sometimes when you do that, following your body cues which pull her past it. So for the forward sends, point and step forward directly at the prop and hold that position til she is just about at the prop. That will mirror what you do on the sideways and backwards sends when she is nailing it!
Driving ahead on the road –
She is really beginning to smoke you now 🙂 she is driving forward, focused on her line, with a niclow head. The only thing to remember is to look at her (connection!) rather than ahead of her at the toy.Since she is very keen for this game, time to start really running. Throw the toy as far as you can and as soon as it lands: if she is looking at it, let her go and run!! You can also add a verbal go cue if she has no problem driving ahead.
Drive to handler – using the Cato board worked well! She held her position better when you stayed connected as you moved away, so remember to keep an eye on her as you lead out.
Nice low hand really helped her drive to position and pivot with you. Super!!!
Being able to go from running into the decel was really good here – you can see how she was able to collect and use her rear to set up the turn. SUPER!!
And doing it with the toy was easy for her too.
To add even more speed, you can do this as a restrained recall: someone holds her as you sprint away. When you call her, they let go. You start the decel when she is halfway to you, then pivot.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hello and welcome!! She is adorable and also very smart!!
Pre-game 1 looks great! She was super about hitting her target. You can definitely move to the Week 1 Sends game! When she was moving faster, she was slipping a little when smacking the target, so you can add something like a yoga mat on the top and bottom to add traction. A cheap yoga mat cut to the same size and some duct tape should do the trick 🙂
Great job!!!
Tracy
