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Hi!
> I don’t remember how I taught Sprite to bite the toy in my hand. I’m not sure Dot is there yet.>
You probably added it in situations where you were confident she would take the toy: right before presenting the toy, you might have said the marker then presented the toy from you hand.
She was absolutely brilliant about leaving you in the dust! However… I think she was heading to the giant ball on the reps coming towards the camera! LOL! She was locked onto the toy on the rep at the end going towards the tree- you can remove the other toys from the playing area, or throw the toy the opposite direction from the ball.
For this game, you can use a bigger toy so she can scoop it up more easily. It can be a big hollee roller or anything that sits high enough off the ground. That way she doesn’t need as much coordination to run to it and grab it 🙂 She might tug on the other end of the toy because it is flatter, but something larger will be a good focal point and easier for her to decelerate into 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi!
Finding the prop in the new environment was a challenge at first! You helped by getting closer to it and adding even more tugging – proximity plus increased arousal can help with environmental distraction.
He was being very thoughtful about this behavior – probably because there was SO MUCH stuff to ignore in the environment and because of the toy in your hand that he had to pass. But he was able to do it, which is great!! Super! You will see his speed increase when there are fewer distractions in the environment.
Have fun on the ferry! And since he had a big weekend (travel, trial, new places to stay, travel home) – he will need a few days to rest and reset his nervous system. It can be a minimum of 72 hours for pups to bounce back to baseline (HPA axis and all that good nerdy stuff) so I would give him a solid day to sleep and do nothing structured – running in the yard, play, chew bones, etc. Then as he rests, you can add in simple training and then in a few days – new stuff to train.
He might not *appear* tired 🙂 in fact he might appear over-active! But the weekend adventures definitely activate the stress response in the HPA axis, which will take a few days to come back to baseline/normal. Now, stress is not a bad thing – it is just a physiological activation. Fun things activate it too! I am sure you had a great time this weekend but your HPA axis was activated too and you might be tired today 🙂 So letting everyone rest and recover will help him learn all the new stuff coming later this week.
Great job!
TracyHi!
He did well here too! New environment, the rest of the family on the other side of the door, etc – this is all a high level challenge for a pup! Plus add in the challenge of travel which is stressful on their bodies – he indeed coped with a lot.
And he did great! He recognized the setup as “please offer behavior on this red bag” and he was super! Then he tugged with his toy even with the little bucket of treats basically at eye-level (and nose-level :)) Then right back into the shaping.
>If there’s a better angle, let me know!!!>
The angle was good! You can also add in shaping games like this but with you standing up and see how he does.
This all is really great experience and exposure for him. Yay!!! Well done!
Tracy
Hi!
Look at this baby dog being brilliant in a new, giant, outdoor place! I am so proud of him!! And you were a perfect momma: clear cues, super connected, and great rewards. You showed him just enough decel that he could turn with you, but there was a lot of running so he was able to open up and fly 🙂
It seemed like he was having a grand time and tuning out all of the distractions in the environment: people talking, I think I heard a teeter slam or something similar, and some dogs barking nearby.
Finding the treat in the grass while the other dogs were barking seemed to take the longest amount of time. Perhaps his brain was processing the distraction of the dog barking? But he drove to you 100% of the time when you called him, so it is a big win in terms of him learning to stay engaged with that distraction.
You had a leash dragging as a bit of a safety net, but he was basically off leash and choosing to engage with you. I love it! Great job!
Tracy
Good morning!
>No video on toy races as I had the camera set up at the wrong angle… she smoked me – not sure if I’ll ever beat her to the toy.>
Excellent! We can always set up ways you can cheat to win LOL! But I am glad she is winning right now 🙂
>Also did the wrap foundation with toys waiting till she was off the dead toy before activating the other toy. she did great. >
Super!!!!
Thank you for the bitey video! This provides great visuals!! She loves her toys. She loves to play with you! And also – ouch! It almost seems like she thinks your hand/arm/flesh is an extension of the toy 🙂 or better than the toy.
>I realize I shouldn’t raise my arms up – unconscious response to her biting behavior but only encourages jumping and biting. >
Correct! But also – ouch!!! I don’t want you to leave your flesh there (more on that below). So here are some ideas for you to help protect your flesh while also still maintaining toy drive.
The toy: the toys here are small and a little low in value (believe it or not LOL!) so she leaves them to bite you (flesh is very high value LOL!). So you can switch to a longer/bigger toy that is higher in value – something like a bigger hollee roller that you can stuff a fur toy inside of. That will be really exciting and more grab-able than your hand, plus the bigger visual should direct her focus away from your flesh. I have a few of these for these for my whippety dogs because they are absolute sharks as puppies!
And – attach the bigger, more enticing toy to something longer so the enticing side is squiggling around for her to chase further from you flesh. In this video, your hand was so close to the toy that it was easy for her to leave the toy and grab your hand. And the gloves help protect you but I think she also likes to tug on them or above them.
You will see that my toys are pretty big and furry in the demo videos, especially for the whippet. That was all part of Operation Don’t Bite Me 🙂
So with this bigger more enticing toy that is further from your flesh – let’s also add more food into any/every game that involves the toy. That is mainly for arousal regulation – the play biting is all about arousal regulation/impulse control, and puppy brains are not developed enough to self-regulate yet. Food is excellent for arousal regulation and getting the food on the ground where there is also a little bit of olfaction to find it is ideal!
Arousal regulation and impulse control in puppies improves as their brain develops and as we help them develop neural pathways – it is really not an operant conditioning thing, but we can help her through operant-looking additions to the games 🙂
In transitions where she releases the toy and you’d like more behavior offered, you can insert a treat or two tossed off to the side the let her sniff to find it – that will both redirect her away from your flesh and give her a framework for self-regulation.
For example: on the 2 toy version of the barrel wraps, you can tug on toy 1. Let it go dead and when she releases it – toss a treat to the side. Then when she goes to the other side, tug on two 2. Then let it go dead and when she relaxes her grip on it – toss a treat to the side, and so on.
Another example: a lot of our games here begin with toy play then move to shaping with treats. In that transition after a short bit of tugging, tossing a treat or two away from you (using a ‘get it’ marker) will redirect her away from your flesh, allow you to remove the toy without any re-gripping, and helps her self-regulate. Then onwards to the shaping with treats.
Will you need 3 or 4 hands to do this? Potentially LOL! It might be challenging on your mechanics but you can try having a treat in the hand holding the toy, or in your pocket.
Will it be worthwhile to sort the mechanics out, even if they are a bit awkward at first? Totally yes, because flesh preservation is at the top of our list.
So any place you can insert food into toy-based games… awesome! And no worries if her toy-drive diminishes a bit for now, we can always balance it back when the bitey behavior is gone.
And if she does move from toy to flesh and bite you? You can deliver feedback in the form of a high-pitched yelp (because it legit hurts!) and then take a momentary break from the game. You were using a lower sound to give her some ouch feedback, but the higher pitched yelp might be more useful for her, in terms of info. She is not a terrier, so I don’t think she will come back harder after a yelp LOL!! But the yelp followed by an immediate stop of the game (I usually put the toy away and do something else for about 5 seconds, then back to the game) for can be valuable info for the pup about how biting affects the availability of the toy and the ‘work’.
If you find that you are doing the yelp a LOT, then using more food in the transitions will be more helpful.
Have you found that you get bitey behavior more at certain times of day? Puppies definitely have a cycle where they are more or less stimulated at different times of day (9pm here is a crazy time LOL!) So you can play the higher arousal toy games, in the morning after breakfast for example, if that is a better time of day. And food-only games in the late afternoon or evening.
>We do lots of recalls with collar touch and I’m still having challenges getting her leashed up.>
Thanks for this too! She was definitely stimulated here. The food really helped! And since we don’t want to create any avoidance of the leashing up process – 2 ideas for you!
One is a fun game is to convince her to put her own head through the leash. I have video of it *somewhere* but I can’t find it, so I will film it with my puppy later today when there is more coffee in my system. I do a TON of this because it is a fun way to end sessions and I want them to love running to their leash.
The other thing is that puppies often avoid leashing up because it becomes paired with ending the availability of reinforcement. Even if they get a cookie for leashing up… it is not the same as the big party they were just having 🙂
So be sure to add in *more* party action after she gets the leash on: you can give her a giant scatter of treats in the grass (this is also great for regulating arousal), or you can tug with her (I often cue the pup to tug on the leash, or I whip out a nice long toy).
Or, you can take the leash off immediately and go right back into a game. This was an absolute mind-blowing thing for one of my dogs, who was avoiding leashing up because I have accidentally paired it with the games being finished. When he realized that it didn’t mean that the party was over, he happily let me put his leash on.
>Really need to get the bitey behavior sorted out. She is a pretty willful girl – My Last three have been boys so bitch behavior is new to me!>
We totally will! My boys have been different than my girls, but we sort them all out. She is an absolutely fantastic pup and we will focus her teeth to the right spot 🙂 while building on all of her amazingness 🙂
Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning and welcome back! Tons of great stuff on your videos!
Collar grabs: he was a super good boy here! As the games get more intense and exciting, try not to lift or pull up on the collar – when he is in a calmer state like he was in the video, he will let you do it but in a more aroused state, he might avoid it because pups are more sensitive to that feeling. You can see that bit of avoidance in the toy race video.
You can also line him up at your side or between your feet, hold the collar, the throw the treat – that helps the collar grab get associated with movement and fun stuff, plus increases arousal from the cookie chasing 🙂
Goat tricks:
Very clever to have the yoga mat to help add grip to the upside down bosu!! He already has good balance (not surprising, you are a pro) so you can give him indoor ‘hikes’ to do by spreading out all of your random stuff that he can trot over, climb on, turn around on, etc – make a different trail each time 🙂 We will be building on this soon!Wing wraps w/ forward focus:
He loves that flirt pole at the beginning! And it was VERY cool to see him go back to the toy at the end, after 2 minutes of cookies *while the cookie bowls were still on the ground*!! That was a huge happy dance moment!!During the session:
You can ask him to line up at your side (cookie lure and hand cues are perfectly fine for that) so he gets even more value for lining up. At 1:21 you sent him for a ‘search’ cookie which helped line him up, which I think he preferred in terms of clarity over being swung into position. At 1:41, you had a hand cue/cookie cue and that was lovely!!He did well going past the bowl when he was on your left side, pretty perfect! It was definitely harder when he was on your right but he worked it through really well by the end!
So on the easier side, dog on left, especially since you were able to stand up: you can add a verbal cue to this if you want a verbal on it. Because he is going to look at the cone when you point at it, you can line him up, hold him, say the verbal, point at the cone… then when he looks at it, release to the bowl.
He might not quite be ready for the verbal when he is on your right side, or latent learning might kick in and he will be perfect next time 🙂 You’ll definitely want to hold him, though, because he needs to hear the verbal and see the hand cue before he starts to move.
If you don’t want to add a verbal, no problem – lots of folks do this without a verbal.
And on both sides – you can keep move the bowl around the cone so it eventually ends up right next to him 🙂
Toy Races – he totally smoked you even without a lot of running room! Good boy! And it was a good win for you on the 2nd to last rep – he might have thought that something fell out so he stopped short of the big prize: you win! He was not going to let that happen again haha and smoked you on the last run.
This was easy peasy – when the weather is clear, it is a good one to take outside. And we can always have you cheat to win if we need him to dig in more 🙂Proprioception cavalettis: This was an interesting session to watch!
He was very smooth and balanced on your right but rushing when he was on your left. Of course we always look for a side preference or an imbalance in the dog, but I don’t think that was the case here. It is entirely possible that the rushing had to do with the raised dog bed as the target, and no wall behind it. He was getting excited to hop on the dog bed! And with the wall & smaller bed on the dog-on-right side, he was not inclined to rush to hop onto it.
It would be fun to test the theory if you can use a small bed & wall with him on your left! You can also see how he does when he is more excited by the big bed without you moving – I am a big fan of working proprioception with arousal, but we want to find the starting point where things are super smooth before adding more 🙂Plankrobatics: I loved his limbo moment at the beginning LOL! Then his between the feet moment at the end 🙂 So clever!
Once he was on the plank, he was happy to move across it and turn around. The sit was easy, the down was good too once he realized what you wanted haha Can he go from a sit to stand, or down to stand on the flat? That would be a good one to add to the plank!Getting on the plank was a harder – he wanted to use his front more than his rear, so in a separate session y can use the top of the klimb (no legs) and the plank so he can practice jumping onto the plank without as much height. That can get more hind end involvement.
He seems to be showing us a side preference here! Turning right? Easy peasy!!
Turning left was harder, whether it was getting on the plank or turning to the left on the plank. He would either choose a right turn, or his feet would not be quite as coordinated on the left turn. When he was getting on, he almost always chose the right turn like at :53 when a left turn would be the most efficient way to get on the plank but he jumped up, turned right, then got on the plank. At 1:13 chose the right turn side to get on, even with your body position indicating that the left turn (blue klimb) side would be easier.
You can help him more on the left turns, showing him which side to jump up on and using slower hand motion/body cues when you are indicating the left turn on the plank. That way he gets to practice the left turns too.
Great job on these! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning!
>Haha. Everyone wondering what’s in my hand. >
The brain is wired to focus on what is being hidden from view LOL!!! And I guess my brain-state is similar to a baby puppy 😂😆
>I’ll try the food toss. In the past, she wouldn’t come back and step on it. But, she seems to have a better understanding now. >
She has had really rapid development in understanding. Part of it is the pups learn how these games are played, including that cookie toss being a context cue to come back and get on the thing again 🙂
>I do believe she’s a thinker versus a doer at this stage in life.>
That is good! I believe that pups that fling themselves at things can be grappling with an internal franticness or overarousal. She is a really lovely balance of offering behavior and playing 🙂
On the video: a lot of what we teach puppies at this stage is the transition in-and-out of ‘work’, and I think this session really looked great in this respect – and she was also great about offering the barrel behavior, which we want for future stuff too! YAY!!!
That long toy was PERFECT – nice and long to get maximum squiggle and chase, but also flat enough that if fits in her mouth.
When you went from the toy to the shaping on the barrel, she was great about getting into the offering for the treats! She was definitely working that puzzle and did some lovely back-and-forth offering!! Yay!
Then the energy of you going across the room to grab the toy got her right back into toy mode after both shaping moments.Her second transition back to the shaping was even quicker – she was like “I got this!” even with the slightly different picture of the barrel being fully expanded and on the ground.
And the last transition back to the toy was great! That energy burst to go grab it really shifts her focus away from food and back to play. And you didn’t even have to run too far away LOL!!
So much good stuff here!!!! With the other food-to-tug games, this setup will work well too (moving across a room to get the toy play). You won’t have to do it forever 🙂 but it is lovely for now!
For the wing wrap foundations… let this one sit for a day or two to give her brain some time to lock it in 🙂 Then pick up where you ended: sitting with the upright barrel. And if she ‘remembers’ it in that session, within a couple of treats you can add a tiny bit of distance. Separately (keeping the barrel close) you can add in you standing up. Which one you do first (standing or adding distance) is totally up to you! We need both but we don’t want to add them both in the same session.
Great job!
TracyHi! Hooray for her smoking you in the toy race game!
Ah yes, I remember the backgammon game! Little Dot did GREAT here! I am very happy with the instant offering. The next step before sending to it will be to have you standing up as she is offering to hit it. That might make it hard to place the reward right on it or deliver from your hand, but that is ok – you can use your ‘find it’ to toss it off to the side so she hops off then comes racing back to you. And if she does a good session of hitting it with you standing? Onwards to sending!
And she did well with the toy after the food! She and I were both drawn to your hand behind you back – we both were looking at it, wondering if you had cookies in it LOL!! So rather than challenge her with that (at least, not yet), you can toss the last treat for the offered paw hit, then tug with visible and empty hands, then you can end with a scatter after reaching for a few treats from up on the table. I think she will eventually have zero trouble tugging while you have treats in your hand, but for now we can take baby steps to get there and keep things a little more separate.
Great job!
TracyThank you! It is a free webinar on using video, so I am going to play it without the sound first, then turn on the sound so folks can hear what was going on and how well she did!! I will send you the recording of the webinar 🙂
T
Hi!
The shaping in arousal went great! The goal is to convince her brain to still be able to use her body well, even when she is more stimulated (many adult sporty dogs struggle with this!). She did great! It looks like she offered interaction with the dog object really well – and when there was a moment when she didn’t get the treat (it looked like she thought you had tossed it?) she gave you a super deliberate “look I am smacking my paw on it!” at 1:12. Ha! Brilliant girlie!
You can keep showing her different things to offering behavior on – this will bring you into the various goat games too!
>My partner was doing yard work so I “lost” Jazz at one point but moved my location (saw your feedback to Ginger) and got her back.>
Yes! She seemed to have a visual distraction and then she caught a scent. Your response was great, to move yourself and the toy to a new spot to get more movement in the toy and more engagement. Super!
>Next up will be toy races – when the yard cools off. The challenge I’ve run into with this is that she becomes very bitey when highly aroused. Sharp puppy teeth and old skin don’t go well together.>
Show me all the bitey moments! There are a lot of ways to teach her to not get bitey but seeing them in context will help. For toy race, you can use the bigger possible toy. For general tugging, super long toys help keep little teeth off of our flesh 🙂
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
>We laughed so much about him telling me to go fetch his toy!>
It was so funny! IF he could snap his fingers or ring a bell to have his staff gather his toy up, he totally would have LOL!
It sounds like the big city trip was fantastic exposures for him!
> He had a great time exploring and had one startle moment when a tent side suddenly flapped in a gust of wind right into his face but he recovered quickly and was right back to exploring the same spot a few seconds later. He really was not a fan of super loud motorcycles (I don’t blame him for that) but otherwise handled all the busy places well too. >
This is all good, even the stuff that was new or startling.
>He thought it was quite concerning to see a dog tied to a tree outside a shop without its human present. The dog was calm, Aelfraed likes dogs, and we had also passed a couple of dogs with their people as other points in the walk which was fine so I don’t think he was upset about the dog specifically. However, seeing this dog all by itself caused him to issue one single sharp bark and was the only time he barked during our whole outing. It was very interesting.>
Super interesting! I wonder if he has never seen a dog without a person? And the tree was a weird looking person LOL!
>He has only met my sister once before so far, about 3 months ago, but he was quite happy to play tug and some version of fetch with her (indoors) which I thought was great.>
So awesome! It sounds like a really great adventure for the little dude. I love it! The next step is to bring him to outdoor cafes 🙂
Tracy
Hello!
These are a series of superstar sessions 🙂Wing wraps:
That first video was GREAT – there was a party in your yard and she ROCKED it! There was a toy behind you so she brought it over, then went back into the game. Much to be proud of here, especially how well she engaged with you!! Can I borrow this video to show people as a great example of a baby dog staying engaged, even with big distractions in the background?Scrolling down to the 2nd barrel wrap session: much easier, no party in the background LOL! She did great! And I am glad you were standing, that was the next step .She wrapped really well and did get back on the toy even though there was good food smells around. You were so fun, re-engaging her with the toy. Super!! This game is ready for the next steps coming on Tuesday.
Looking at the collar grab video: Lovely! She was half nose-touching here, which was also great because she was very happy to be next to your hand and have you reach towards her. You can add in lining her up at your side, then taking her collar. But I think she will be perfect there too.
I loved the crazy wobbly setup for the goat games! You read my mind – I was going to suggest taking the toy out of her mouth and see if she would hop onto it by herself… and that is exactly what you did. Yay! Super! Yo can keep showing her crazy setups for her to walk around on.
Great job on all of these!
Tracy
Hi!
>I wasn’t going to go straight into standing up, but he went straight into it!>
It was great! He said he was ready! He was a good boy zipping back and forth around it.
I loved when he worked through the frustration of not being sure of what to do, when you moved it too far away so he didn’t get rewarded for a couple of rep – you brought it back in a little closer, he barked at your for a heartbeat… then put himself back into the game. SUPER!!! And that was a good way to handle it: no need to mark his miss with an oops or anything. And when he missed twice, you moved it back in a little and waited. It was a big resilience moment for him, to be able to regulate the frustration and get back into the game. YAY!!!
Do you have anything taller? That would be the next object to wrap around, and we can use it in the new game coming on Tuesday 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi!
This was great fun to watch. Thanks for your help, Sprite! Dot was like “we are getting on things now? Cool!” so you got a ton of offering then continued offering while you put Sprite in the x-pen.
Yes, the disc didn’t have as much offering on it but that might have partially been that it was further from the other stuff, and also that it feels weird (that stubbly surface) and it moves. You can cram it in among the other stuff more, and cover it with a towel so the surface is not as weird.I wonder if, for now, the square blue thing would be good for the prop games here? We don’t need to use it as a prop for long, then it can go back to being used for conditioning stuff.
> I’ll see what I can do with separating the toy and food. I’m not sure how to film that though.>
Part of it will probably be off camera, so you can choose one or the other to get on camera. Or, you can do it outside where the camera can cover a wider area.
Have fun! Nice work here with the ‘stuff’!
Tracy
Good morning!
> I feel like I’m playing “catch-up” with my videos so I hope I’m not overdoing the postings. >
You are doing great! And feel free to post multiple videos, if you’ve done multiple sessions of stuff 🙂
>All my cones are in our RV so I may try using a bucket for her to wrap around.>
Perfect!!!
>Here is our Blind Cross Foundation session from two days ago. I feel like my timing is off (gee… I haven’t heard that before LOL). >
Ha! Yes, this game works the dual-purpose of working on our timing, and teaching the pups that we humans might be late with info LOL!!
>Should I be rotating right when she leaves the treat? >
She is a speedy pup, so yes – as soon as she starts running towards you, you can start the blind. She was running toward you as soon as you said her name.
>I’ve been waiting till she is actually running to me so I’m late with rotating.>
That was making the blind happen when she was about halfway to you, which is maybe one stride late – but the timing will matter less if the reconnection is super quick, which comes from reward placement:
> Also not sure which hand I should have the toy. I start with it on the original side and then transfer it when I rotate. Not sure if that’s the best approach.>
The best way to let her see fast, clear connection on the new side is to place the reward across your body (opposite arm) and not in the dog-side arm. You would start with the toy in the dog-side/original side like you did – but don’t transfer it to the other side. Keep it in the original side and put it across your belly as you finish the blind. This pushes the new dog-side shoulder back and really opens up connection!
Yes it will feel weird LOL!! But the toy in the dog-side arm when you finish the blind actually delays the visible re-connection after the blind, and you can see her responses were delayed on those. Visible connection is what produces the side change and the toy across the body is the best/fastest way to do that.
On the first rep, you had the toy in your original dog-side hand (right hand) and as you finished the blind, you kept it there and showing it across your body. Her side change there was super snappy, even though you probably had the shortest head start (and therefore late blind, she was almost to you) on that rep. On the other reps, you showed the toy with your new dog-side hand and even with earlier timing – she was later in seeing the new side.
So keep doing what you did on that first rep! If you freeze the video at :05 you will see absolutely beautiful connection and she knew exactly where to go. Yay!
>Worked on the Shaping in Arousal game this morning. That will be our next post.
Looking forward to it! Great job here!
Tracy
