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Good morning and happy New Year!
He is getting the idea of going around the upright twice!
>>It was really hard for me to discern when he was turning his head away because I kept thinking he’s just following the treat in my hand.>>
Following the treat in your hand is definitely the starting point 🙂 You were actually clicking a little too early on most of the reps – the click was happening as he was coming towards your hand. The reward placement was spot on which really helped but you can actually click later (I know, we humans are almost always late so it is funny to be early LOL!!)
For the timing:
Lead him through the turn with the magic cookie hand like you did here. Cue the turn away and wait until you see him turn his head away from the cookie hand and towards the upright… then click and toss the treat. You will see the definite moment and that is your cue from him to click 🙂The 2nd rep here was closest to the perfect timing (:12) – you clicked right after he turned his head. I think you tossed the treat before the click on this rep, though, so remember to wait for the head turn then click then toss.
Getting a shade closer to the upright might help too because you can create the turn more easily (or not – play with it and see how it feels :))
Ooh, nice new cavalettis and he did well here! Really good balance for a teenager (usually these teenagers have crazy spider legs going every which way LOL!!) He is not rushing as long as you are not too far ahead and not moving fast.
He needs a focal point to keep his head straight to keep the movement balanced (and so you don’t have to move fast) so you can add an empty food bowl about 6 feet past the exit of each end of the cavalettis: that can provide the focal point for him to trot to, then you can drop a treat in it. Introduce the concept on maybe just 2 cavalettis at first so he realizes that trotting to the bowl gets the prize. Then you can easily build up to the full set.
Once the focal points make sense to him, you can also add in working the Cavs in higher arousal – this will challenge him to keep his balance and footwork even when he is more stimulated (which is useful for every single sport :)) You can do that with fun silly action tricks for cookies, or with tugging!
Holy wow perching looks GREAT!
>>Well, holy cow he was doing so well that I had to turn it on!>>
I am glad you did! Latent learning is magic and also after the head turning session and the cavaletti session, his body awareness was definitely activated and he was brilliant here. So cool!
>>, I see that his head is still high, but I’m not sure how to fix that when I am NOT using my hands. Should I try keeping hands by my sides?>>
Yes, you can get his head a shade lower by holding your hands lower: you tended to have them at the bottom of your rib cage here, so you can shift the hand position to the top of your thighs or just below your belly button. I find that having my hands together in front of me is most comfy and gives a clear focal point for the pups, as opposed to a hand on each thigh which can split the focus a little.
I think he is ready for you to add a something to step over, like a jump bar taped to the ground (so it doesn’t roll).
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHappy New Year!
Sounds like you and Teagan had a good weekend at the trial! And it also sounds like he was comfy in the trial environment (and the car ride!) – that is great 🙂
The 2 toy game is looking good – he really liked the new toy but also really liked the original toy! He might particularly enjoy ‘new’ toys or toys that belong to other dogs, so you can keep a rotating stash of toys that he doesn’t get to see that often. That way when you pull it out, it feels brand new! Or, you can let one of the other dogs play with it – for some reason, puppies love to steal toys from other dogs LOL!!
Since he has the cool new toy – put it away for a couple of days so it retains its ‘newness’. Then put a small bowl of the most boring possible treats (if there is such a thing as ‘boring treats’ for him LOL!) in one room. Play with the toy in a different room – then run to the cookie room, give him one incredibly boring cookie…. Then run back to the toy room and see if he will play. The goal is to oh-so-gradually get him playing with toys even when cookies are around (this is so hard for him at this point because he loves food).
This can all hold true for the squeaky toys – you can feed the boring cookie in one room then run to the other room with the squeaky toys!
He interacts with them beautifully and he seems to really like chomping on the smaller one rather than bringing it back. I think the smaller one might be his favorite one because he drives to it better overall. I think the novelty of the green toy squeaking helped him retrieve it on the first rep, but then his love for the smaller toy took over. Good news though – he loves the toy! And he isn’t running away with it. And I agree with you, the retrieve will develop as he grows up (he is still really young).
You can try tying the green squeaky to a longer toy so you can drag it around and move away from him, to help him want to retrieve the smaller toy (no guarantees that it will overcome his love for the smaller toy though LOL!)
>>I had trouble, mechanically, trying to hold 2 toys and him.>>
Yes, it is hard because the toys are big and you kind of need 3 arms… you can try stuffing a toy in your arm pit on the same side that holds his? Or under your shirt?
Great job here!!!
TracyHappy New Year!!
>>I can’t figure out what I am not doing right in this head turns thing.>>
What was making it a little harder here on the first rep was that you sent him around the upright with your left hand but then tried turn him away with your right hand, but that didn’t mark a lot of sense to him. On the other reps, you were sending with your left and trying to turn away with your left which will make it all easier for sure. I think what was missing was a cookie in your left hand so knew to follow it. It looks like you had the clicker in that hand so he didn’t know to follow it.
When you changed sides – you had the right mechanics at 1:08 (right hand sends then also turns him) and I think there was a cookie in that hand too – but you were too quick to try to turn him away so he was confused.
Two suggestions – practice the turn away on the flat without the upright, letting him follow your hand in a slow circle so he understands to follow. The cookie hand, and so you practice moving the hand slowly so he can follow it.
Then you can add it back to the turns – letting him really lock onto the cookie hand and follow it as you slowly turn him away.
>>when Axel is done with his training turn, I can’t get him back to his crate.>>
It looks like everything else is soooo fun and he just doesn’t like being in his crate – possibly even finds it punishing (negative punishment) or because he just doesn’t like it. If the crate signifies the end of the fun and the end of reinforcement…. Then he is going to avoid it like he was doing here. The snuffle mat and 123 game are all fine, but he might start avoiding those too if it they predict going back to the crate.
To help him out, get a different crate (a nice big one) and separately from training, let him have some really amazing chew bones or stuff kongs in the crate. And during training, you can sometimes randomly go into the crate but don’t close the door – instead, immediately release him back to the game so that the crate isn’t always associated with being finished or being confined or having to watch other dogs (all of which can lead to him not enjoying the crate).
Le me know what you think!
TracyHappy New Year!
Yes, so many words!!!
>>Ok so I should be using in-in as a backside slice and back as a backside wrap.>>
Question – for backsides, do you mean threadles or pushes? Ideally there are 4 ‘backside’ verbals” 2 for when the dog pushes away and we are on the landing side as they go the backside, and 2 for when they threadle into us and we are on the takeoff side. Let me know if that makes sense, or I can send video.
>> Then I have two different verbals for front right wrap and front left wrap.
That will serve you well, though!! She is fast!!!!!
Tracy
Happy New Year!!
>>But more distractions and smells also was on dirt where they do barn hunt.
I would imagine that is *significantly* more challenging that Sarah’s turf, so it sounds like she still did really well!
>>I got some help with stay. When we practiced using catch, she got real good at catching the treat, not so good at staying even a few seconds. >>
Get some video! Sounds like you might need to delay gradually more and more before the ‘catch’ toss? Or you can teach the stay with a platform – check out Taq’s thread (Taq & Dannika) to see how quickly she learned it with a platform.
>>Video or perch work, second attempt. We first tried a clay saucer that my others had used. I was too small. Then I switched to bucket lid…too big.. going to get it just right soon. Felt like the 3 bears.>>
Totally relatable! I think the lid might be fine, actually! She was getting the idea of pivoting around it but we want to now get her to do it without you also moving. So for the next session, you can add in you standing or sitting (for lower reward placement without bending over). Start her facing you on the center of the lid, then throw the reward off to the side – then reward her for coming back and pivoting back to center. That might get her to pivot without you moving more easily.
I love her tugging and retrieving at the end! YAY!!
Great job :)
TracyHappy New Year!
Wow, sounds like you had a great weekend! Fun!! I am excited she did so well with the travel and all different ages of family, human and canine 🙂
She did well with her backside slices here using the cooler and towel. Just as I was about to type “you an add your verbal”, you added the verbal LOL!
When you get home and try the barrel for this, you can add a pool noodle (maybe sliced in half lengthwise so it doesn’t roll around) to start to fade the towel and simulate a jump bar 🙂 And when you have more room, you can move faster up the line and also add positions 2 (closer to center of the bar) and 3 (almost where the exit wing would be).
>>That jump up at the beginning was her only one the whole time and then she settled down to actually tugging.>>
Yes, just that one leap. Could be any number of reasons why but she went right into tugging especially at the end! Yay!
Great job!
TracyHi!
>>I’ll be here at home, still in my PJs,>>
Same, same. Currently getting ready for dinner here and in my pajamas hahaha!!!
She did great with her cone wrapping – no questions at all and she was nice and tight to the cones. Your mechanics were very precise which is exactly what we want for this early stage.
Since it went so perfectly, you can add more excitement 🙂 Spread the cones out so they are more like 10 feet apart and add speeeeeed 🙂 FUN! It will be challenging for you to maintain connection after each FC and before each send, so if she ends up on the wrong side of you, no worries: keep going or reward because it was probably caused by broken connection.
And she was awesome with her tunneling and cone-to-tunnel 🙂 So feel free to add the tunnel to the rocking horses: you can do cone – FC – cone – FC – tunnel tunnel tunnel! Wheeeee! Then throw the toy so she can blast out of it. And if that all goes well – add your wrap verbals. Things get really exciting once we start adding seed to the rocking horses 🙂
Great job here! Have a fantastic New Years Eve and see ya in the New Year!
Tracy
Hi!
>>OK, trying this again!>>
Yay! The internet is behaving itself today (for now haha)
>>Yes! I’m still not totally comfortable with toys haha. She’s also been very into food in all other situations, so it was really throwing me. On her off-leash walks, in stores, at the familiar agility location, etc. She’s always liked a variety of treats.>>
You might also be seeing the transition into adolescence as well as a value shift to toys now that you are using them more.
>>When I’m using toys at home with her, I am also using food. For example, I may reward her “out” with food, or use a cookie to lure her into position, or to toss a treat for a cookie reset. So if she won’t eat, I feel like I can’t use toys as effectively either. At least with where we are currently at with her training.>>
You are making an excellent point here, that is it more ideal for effective, clean training to be able to use both food and toys. I also find it a zillion times easier to use food for certain things, so not really being able to use it can throw off our mechanics. But I have full confidence that it will all balance out and you will be able to use both. And it will happen pretty soon because you are spending quality time bringing her to new places with super high quality food motivators too!
>>Ah, okay, I totally see that now! Definitely helped to rewatch the video with your commentary in mind.>>
In the moment, it is really hard to see everything that is happening. It was really cool to see it all on video!
>>“I don’t think she loved the play without the toy… yes, she was jumping up at you but then she moved away. The jumping up might have been frustration behavior.”
We play like this a lot at home. She jumps up, I push her off, she jumps right back up. But it may not have been what she was after in that moment and in that location. So definitely something to keep in mind for me.>>Exactly! When the arousal state changes (which is a good thing), behaviors that were fine in a lower arousal state (like being touched) might not be as fine in the higher state when her brain is processing soooo many things. It might be fine in the future but in that moment, it was too much.
>> Question: Since chasing and tugging is more physically taxing than eating food, will this tire her out before it’s her turn in the ring?>>
GREAT question! It might tire her muscles more than eating food, but it might actually be less expensive for her brain and less tiring than the effort it takes to eat. The only way to really know is to experiment with it and see how she does. All of her training is done in age-appropriate, short sessions so I don’t see any possible damage if she is mentally tired. Plus you are really good at breaking things down (and the instructor in the video was very supportive) so Vesper is going to have a great time even if she is a little tired.
>>The food pattern games seem to weave in acclimation so nicely. >>
For real!!! That is one reason that I love it! But it only works with food if the dog wants the food 🙂 It works just as well with toys, but using toys is harder for us humans for sure.
>>Does toy play offer her a chance to take in the environment as well?>>
Yes! I need to find the 2-frisbee pattern game I did with Contraband when he was a youngster and couldn’t really eat outside the agility/flyball ring. It was a similar pattern: tug a frizzy, out the frizz, opportunity to re-engage, get the next frizzy, and so on. And because it helped him acclimate, it also helped him be able to eat in that situation. Now he is adult and he is a total PIG for his food in that environment LOL!
>>I feel much better after reading your response and rewatching the videos. It’s not a cause for panic LOL.>>
TOTALLY NO PANIC! I thought it was great in sooooo many ways and I think she had a fantastic experience while also having the agency to communicate her opinions to you. So cool!!!
Great job and happy New Year :)
TracyHi!
She did a great job with these – accurate and fast! Adding the verbal was easy too. Yay!
>>It feels weird to just stand still for a slice
You can keep moving through the slice, parallel to the bump, as you drop the reward in – that might feel less weird. And towards the end, I think you might have gotten too far ahead and there was no place to go, which ended up in standing still a little. So you can go closer to the cookie toss to start it, as long as you are a step or two ahead of her. Starting further from the barrel might actually require you to also jog forward to stay ahead, which she is ready for and I think she will like it a lot 🙂
Also, going to position 2 and position 3 (in the advanced level) will make it feel less like standing still.
>>We did another ring rental at our regular facility today and she was great! Able to eat right away, tugged really well too. >>
Awesome! Where there other people/dogs or was it pretty quiet there? Sounds like she was very comfy, either way.
>>I noticed she had a harder time eating food after playing with her bunny fur toy. She could easily eat between playing with her other toys. >>
It makes sense that real bunny fur might kick in some higher arousal that also shuts down the eating desire – after all, in full bunny chase mode she probably won’t stop for snacks 🙂
>>We did a little parallel path with a real jump bump, a couple reps of rocking horse and a couple tunnels. She was very enthusiastic!>>
Super! Sounds like a fun time!!!
Great job 🙂
TracyHi! All sorts of fabulous stuff on your videos here!
He was able to turn around on the narrow plank but using a wider plank was soooo much easier for him 🙂 You can re-visit both: doing the wider plank in both directions with more speed, and doing the narrow plank very slowly.
He did really well transferring the concept to the new hamper and in a new place with new distractions. Good boy! I really like how he is using his head to turn really tightly around the hamper. Yay! It was smart to NOT add turn and burn in this session because there were other things happening. So for the next session, start like you need here then if he zips around it like he did here: move into turn and burn (and add a toy :))
The toy races with Auntie Sarah were great! Yo can try to legit win but I think he will continue to leave you in the dust LOL! I was perfect to get him really driving ahead and getting more confidently leaving you – it is nice to have a momma’s boy but it will be nicer for him to drive ahead 🙂 You can try to cheat to win by tossing a cookie behind you for him to get and then you take off running while Sarah drags the toy 🙂
He was great with the pattern game – this is where it helps that he is a momma’s boy! Since he did so well in a neutral location, you can try it in new places (and eventually we can apply it to thing in the environment that concern him.
I hope he had a great time meeting rats today! Happy New Year!!
Tracy
Hi!
Nice sessions here! On the first video, it took her minute to realize that yes, it was the backing up thing 🙂 But on the 2nd session, she had it! You were also feeding her a little lower on the 2nd video, so that really helped – on the first video her head was a little high which makes it harder to back up. I think you might have been a shade too far from the wobble board so she sometimes turned around then backed up – so you can split the behavior a tiny bit more for the next session by staying closer to it.
She didn’t seem to mind the wobble at all so you can start fading out the pillows to add even more movement 🙂
Great job!Tracy
Hi!
>>So my position on the serp would be closer to the exit wing and on the threadle it would be closer to the entrance wing?>>
Yes – I think of it where I line up my belly button 🙂 With the reward target being in the same place each time, your belly button on a serp is right where the bar meets the exit wing. And on a threadle, your belly button is on the outer edge of the entry wing. You can see the visuals in the video here, starting at about 6:00 –
Strike A Pose Part 3: Concept Transfer For Threadles (Slices)
Have fun!
TracyHi!
>> I finally responded to all your insights on the in-person class experience, but the internet seems to have eaten it, argh! I’ll have to re-do it when I have time.>>
SO FRUSTRATING! The internet has been on bad behavior all week. YouTube has eaten 4 of my video uploads this week. Ugh.
>>I just watched the video for the head turn exercise. For the advanced version, can you help me understand how it’s different from just a regular wrap, apart from the reward placement? Just want to be sure I’m not missing something!>>
For the advanced version, it is a matter of timing of the marker: rather than our general marker of “yay thanks for going to the wing” or “thanks for finishing the wrap”, we are looking to mark the instant the dog turns her head to do the wrap. So it is ultra-precise (which is why it is one of the few games where a clicker is useful :)) Let me know if that makes sense!
TracyGood morning!
She is doing well with the threadles!
>At first she didn’t seem to understand to go over the bar. >
It was the reward placement that made the difference for her here. The reward target was originally placed so it was more visible on the takeoff side than on the landing side of the bar. Then after the chase game (at :20 and beyond) the reward target was more on the landing side so it was an easier read for her and she got it really nicely. You can make the reward target even more obvious on the landing side (it doesn’t need to be tucked into the wing as much).
One thing that will help is moving your position more to the start wing and less on the enter of the bar. Ideally, you would line up your stomach with the start wing at least half of your body (threadle arm and torso) is visible outside the entry wing. You were located more on the center of the bar here so she was able to read the threadles on the position 1 (easier) start angles but not as well on the harder angles.
So if something goes wrong, no need to mark with an uh oh or nice try if she doesn’t read the cue – it is entirely possible that the cue was not salient enough in time for her to read it, so it is better to just reset with a start cookie rather than mark her as wrong. At :49, most of you was visible between the uprights which is a serp cue, so th threadle cue was not all that visible to her especially on that angle… so she was not necessarily incorrect.
At :54 you made your cue more salient and 1:12 was even better in terms of you being closer to the entry wing and less on the center of the bar. So she got it perfectly on both of those 🙂 So if something goes a little sideways, you can just throw a start cookie and as she is getting it, check your position to make sure you are showing her the line clearly. Marking her as incorrect if there is a chance that she was correct can be confusing(this is my general philosophy for handling: the dog’s response is really always a reflection of the cues they see).
>>I think I’m moving too much though and not staying totally frozen in the pose.>>
Maybe the tiniest bit of extra movement? But overall really good! You can stay totally frozen until she arrives at the reward 🙂 And you can also start to add your threadle verbal (I think you were saying an interim cue here?). When she can threadle in both directions and you’ve got the verbal added, move to the advanced level where we show her the serp and the threadle slice in the same session, by changing your position and your verbal.
Great job here!!
TracyGood morning!
>>We are going to a trial tomorrow so I will try some of the pattern game in the warmup area, away from the craziness to start.>>
Have fun at the trial! If he has not yet done the pattern games at home to develop the framework, don’t start them at the trial. It might be too hard. So do stuff he has already seen at home, like tugging or hitting his hat with his cute little feet 🙂
He did really well with wrapping the bucket! Having the klimb behind you was the only hard part of when you were standing up – so next time you can start by standing so the klimb isn’t there. You can totally start the turn and burn game 🙂 And also, since he is getting taller, you can transfer this game to something taller like a barrel or big cone so he cannot lift his head over it (like he can with the bucket here).
For the backing up – this is a hard skill especially for pups who are still learning how to use all of their various body parts LOL! The reason he wants to sit is because you are standing up after the start cookie, so he is looking way up to your hands and that produces the weight shift back into the sit. Ideally, your cookie hands would stay at his nose level the whole time so he can use the hands as a focal point to move away from – and the neutral head position should help eliminate the sit.
The easiest way to do this is to have you sit on something so your back doesn’t get angry from being bent over 🙂 So try it sitting on the klimb and see if that helps him!
>>I think I should try something behind him that feels different for him to target with his back feet?>>
Yes, I really like using a destination for this. Here is more about it
For the destination, you will still want to be low and sitting on something. And start him with all 4 feet on it, then lure his front feet off with the start cookie so he only has to put his front feet back on 🙂 Then when he can do that, you can lure all 4 feet off with the start cookie and reward for putting his back feet on the destination.
On the retrieving video – the first rep was pretty perfect! He brought it close enough that you could reach it easily. On the 2nd rep, you were on the ground rather than standing – so maybe standing up has been built into the retrieve cue? Definitely something to experiment with. And also if he was tired, it was good to end the session and try it again another time.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
