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Hi!
I am so glad he is cleared to play! Yay! What was the injury? I can help you sort out what to do, based on where we need to bubble wrap him 🙂
>My plan is to resume slowly and try some of the games that are at a slower pace for another week or so. >
We can tweak the games so you are sitting on the floor or on something low, to help him keep his feet on the ground.
On the strike a pose video:
Everything is great about the mechanics here! Your position, your timing of the click, and the reward placement – lovely! He was understanding it really well. So we can tweak it by having you sit on something low: an ottoman? Stool? Or do you have any of that inflatable fitness stuff like a peanut or donut? That can work too. That will get you lower so he won’t pop up to touch the target.
The other thing to add is an empty bowl on the ground, as the reward placement target (it will go kind of below where you were delivering the cookie here and your feet will be pointing at it )) That way you can drop the cookie into it – and he will start keeping his focus lower, knowing he is going to it after touching your hand. And if he doesn’t touch the hand as much because he is kind of side swiping it on the way to the bowl? Perfect! That is the behavior we will need in the long run 🙂
You can move right into the concept transfer of this game (posted this week) even with you sitting on something to stay low.
On the parallel path video:
He surprised himself by landing on the prop at the beginning LOL! You were very smart to get down low for a bit, then shape it. He was definitely starting to remember it! He is very locked into your hands so you can tweak the game to make it more about the target and less about your hands:
Rather than do this as a parallel path with you walking back and forth, you can stand a few feet away on 1 side of it. Then send him to it (or let him offer going to it). When he is on the way to it, use a get it marker (not a click) and toss the cookie past the prop ahead past the prop. In order to make the timing of the throw early enough, it is perfectly fine to throw it before he hits the target. You would be marker his decision to move forward to it and more importantly… not look at your hands 🙂
>And I made the mistake of using too-exciting treats (sometimes it seems like it’s either exciting or not-worth working for).>
You can experiment with when the best time to train with food is – I have found that my food driven puppies work best *after* a meal. I usually give them a partial meal, then use decent value food and get a really nice balance of interest in the food reward: motivated for it but not insane for it LOL!!! I almost never work food-driven puppies for their meals, because it is mentally too hard (unless I want to do something that involves no thinking, just doing LOL!)
It is great to see him back! Nice work here!
TracyHi!
>we did backing up to a low mat last night for his “night snack”, and he’s so freaking clever- we progressed super fast using his kibble, I will try to do another session and actually press record 😉>
Yay! And the best sessions happen when we forget to hit ‘record’ LOL!
Looking at the videos:
First video – yes, he is super quick around the barrel! You can move yourself more slowly so you can point your hand back to him, more like what you did at :35. On the reps where he did not read the side change, you did have your opposite arm across the body but the dog side arm was next to your leg (not pointing back and down to him). That blocked his view of the connection, so he didn’t always see the side change (especially on your left side).
The parallel path game was fast & fun, he did great! But more importantly – check out how far back your dog side arm was here – that is what we need on the exit of the FCs 🙂 Your arm was pretty extended back to him with a low hand – and plenty of space between your hand and leg (the hand was not next to the leg :))
>cue with both arms pointed back to him to open my body>
The opposite arm doesn’t have to be back to him, it can be resting on the dog side hip to help open up your dog-side shoulder. Your dog-side arm does need to be pointing back to him like you did in the parallel path game.
You can see good dog side arm back to him at 1:16 on the 2nd wrap video – super clear connection and he had no questions! Yay!
He has figured out the game and know he will be going to the bowl of course 🙂 So when sending him to the barrel with the added distance, wait a little longer before moving away from the send – let his head get to the barrel.
On the video where you ran to the toy – he did great here too! And your connections on the exits of the FC were looking clear, both on the first rep at :15 and also later at :50.
Adding decel & turn – very nice job getting his attention for the decel after all the reps of driving forward to the bowl! Yay!
OK one more thing about the arms 🙂 When indicating the bowl or toy on the ground, don’t point forward to it 🙂 That is a rehearsal of disconnection and shoulder line change that will come back to bite you when we add more obstacles 🙂 So as you use your dish or toy marker, keep your arm back and say it to him even as he passes you. It will feel weird but you will be happy to not have the forward pointing habit 🙂
>I’m really happy with his send commitment to the barrel (when I cue correctly)!!! I think we’re ready to work more on the rotated sends to the barrel and maybe try the rocking horse two barrel game.>
Yes, for sure! And those are fun 🙂
>also trying to build in cookie scatters for decompression in our training sessions- the decompression guide was a GOOD reminder! We also do off leash walks/hikes with friends (either just my 3 dogs or with Danika’s pack) once a week, and more when possible. And chews a few nights a week 🙂>
This is awesome!! So good for his puppy brain and body ❤️Keep adding more as training gets more intense, which of course coincides with adolescence LOL He might like snuffle mats too or lickimats for the days when you can’t get the walks in.
Great job here!
TracyHi!
I agree, this went really well!! You did great! She was into it and really driving hard to you, but also collecting for the turns really well.You were making clear decels on almost all reps, so she was really able to set up her collection – then balanced really well into driving ahead for the toy race ending 🙂 Super!!!!
You had only one little blooper, a disconnect at 1:50 that read as a blind cross as you did the pivot. You can just reward that, no need to ask for a touch – when they end up on the other side of us in that situation, it is always handler disconnection showing blind cross info 🙂
My only suggestion on this is to accelerate more so it is easier to show the decel – you might need more room to do this, or start closer to the tossed cookie so you really have to run after she gets it 🙂
If you are happy with her barrel wraps, you can take these skills to the Handling Combos game!
Great job :) Tracy
Hi!
> Let me know how we can transfer my Independent Study Max Pup 2 to the live version >
Sounds good! You will get an email when the course is posted (probably sometime in late January) – then either post here or email me to remind me to transfer it for you!
Tracy
Hi!
>Had a chair positioned at the end of a 3 jump to tunnel sequence – that one was not problem, marked it with a “good boy” followed by a lotus ball toss.>
Nice!!
I just thought of an idea! What if you did a remote reinforcement version of this and give the lotus ball to the ring crew person, with very strict instructions to quietly throw it after Coal is past them and after you mark his good choice. That can combine the remote reinforcement concept (dad doesn’t have the treats!) with immediate rewards for ignoring ring crew.
>Had another chair positioned behind him at the startline – that one was tough with the pressure behind. Did some volume dial games, some ready steady Freddy slow lead outs and some one jump focus forward to help him work thru it.>
Awesome – chairs behind the dog at the start line are SO HARD!! Good job working through it!
>Last chair was positioned next to a tunnel about 3 feet behind the entry. 1st rep the ring crew got a bit rude playing with a towel, he fell into the trap.>
Dog abuse! LOL! Just kidding 🙂 You can arm the ring crew with the towel and with the lotus ball to throw when Coal ignores him.
>But then I started wondering what was I marking and rewarding, successfully passing the ring crew or the tunnel performance itself.>
Might not matter which you were marking, as long as he keeps doing his tunnels and keeps ignoring the ring crew 🙂
>Also did some work with him watching me placing his lotus ball on a table and then doing some work with clean hands – did have some cookies in my pocket. I think I need more work on fading the visual of the ball in hand.
Yes, that is good! You can fade the visual of the ball for sure. You can also hand it to your instructor or ring crew to throw, so it has the double whammy effect of reward AND distraction. They can leave it in a pocket until it is time to throw, so he is not seeing it in their hands.
>All sounds OK?>
Sounds great! Really good challenges for him and sounds like he did really well sorting them out!
Tracy
Hi! Nice session here!
The first run is always the most insightful when we are playing with variables! Great job with the leash added and the husband added , very good to expose her to those things. You stuffed the leash in your pocket which is AKC-legal. You can also show her the leash being tossed away, which is UKI & USDAA-legal.>seemed to me she felt the pressure of his presence.>
Totally agree!! Without the pressure, she might have been able to find the line more after the tunnel to 3-4 on the first run (like she did at 5:17), but definitely needed more support here because of the pressure. Could also be that the hat and hoodie are making you move differently, which is harder for young dogs to process too (so much to process with young dogs!!) That is definitely a good reminder for young dog – extra support and connection! Good job to you for continuing and supporting her.
On the 2nd run, you didn’t have quite enough connection on the lead out – she was standing up for a long time (in dog years haha) then she released when you reconnected. The reconnection on your lead outs might be getting paired with your release (they are happening too close together in time), so add in staying connected as you lead out, then praising, then releasing.
On the 3rd run, she had processed the pressure in the environment and smoked you out of the first tunnel 🙂 So interesting to see her say “I GOT THIS!” And also definitely good to recruit people to hang out during her practices. The more the merrier!
For the threadle – you will want to be further ahead to set it up, so work it without pressure like you were doing in the 2nd half. The husband pressure made it hard for you to be miles ahead for the threadle, but that is fine because by the time she ‘needs’ this skill in competition, she will be very used to having people in the ring with her 🙂
As you move through the threadle, you can be a little closer to the threadle jump because your position is part of that cues her to turn back to the jump (about an arm’s length away from it and moving parallel o the bar). When you were further ahead (like at 5:20) the threadle was very easy and smooth! Super!!!!
You started the other sequence on the last rep – you can call her sooner (using your right verbal) at 6:34 then as you do the serp to blind at 6:36, shift your connection to the landing spot to support the countermotion – as you are moving forward past the wing of the jump, you can use your left arm and eyes to indicate the landing spot to help her commit.
Great job here!!
Tracy
Hi!
>She got her 6 weave poles yesterday! Here is a shameless 14 second clip!!!
I’m putting together a montage video from day 1 that I’ll post on FB.> OMG! She is doing great! And yes, she was totally thinking hard about getting it right – she is already pretty fast in them and will keep getting faster! I am looking forward to your montage 🙂
Looking at the videos:
On the first video:
She is doing well with threadles! On the first few reps when you were a little ahead of her, it looks like you were a little far from the threadle jump so remember to be within an arm’s length of it. If you are too far away, she might not move away to take it.When you added more to the sequence, she was definitely reading the ‘come in’ part of the threadle. Yay! She had questions about going back to the jump – I think this was mainly because you were either parallel to her or behind her (depending on which rep it was). To help her in these early stages, you can lead out more to get ahead, which will allow you to set the line more (and you can move closer to the jump more there too!)
Adding more to the sequence on the 2nd video: She was coming in on the threadle really well here too!
To help her see the slice line on the threadle jump, we can get you further ahead of her (when she is more experienced, this will not be as important 🙂 ) You can send to the tunnel more and support the jump after it with more lateral distance, so you can stay ahead more for the threadle. You were getting close to the jump there at :15, :44 and 1:12 so she had questions about which way to turn on the threadle jump because you ended up behind her
She got the slice at 1:13 because you did a great jump of running hard towards the slice line. Yay! She did the left turn on the last rep (wrap not slice) and I think you did want the slice there – to differentiate slice versus wrap, your verbals can be different and also for the wrap, you can decelerate and use both hands to turn her away. She will then figure out that continued motion (no decel) means slice, even when you are not ahead of her.
>We are not getting all the obstacles>
I think you were meaning the line back to the tunnel here – what was happening was that you got a little too pointy (arm high pointing at the jump and tunnel) so she had some questions about the line back to the tunnel. The arm pointing at the obstacle turns your shoulders away from it, which is why she come off the line or looks at you.
It feels counterintuitive, but the further away and further behind you get, the less you will want to use your arm and he more you will want to stare at her and run 🙂 Even if you are staring at her butt and running LOL!!
Nice work here!
Tracy
Hi!
>She had a very strong touch on the left ( this is the one I use for all things) the right she was t coming in on occasion so I did pay it randomly when I thought she needed help>
Maybe use your right hand for more touches in other contexts LOL! 🙂 But I think she did well on both sides here!
>Can I tell you I feel like I have a mental block every time I stand of which way the target vs the feet go.>
Yes LOL!! Your feet point to where the next jump would be (towards the reward). And if she breaks the stay because you were noodling with your feet, reward and reset. She got frustrated and jumped up when you were figuring out your feet and moving, but she didn’t know what the release from the sit was.
Looking at the toy on the ground:
She did really well with the toy in your hand, elbow bent so the toy was visible but not that tempting.
When she started going to the toy in your hand towards the end of the first session, it was probably a TMRSDT issue: Too Many Reps, Same Damn Thing. So she was probably just ready to play and tired of the hand touches over and over. Even with the pressure of the other dogs, she did well because there was no TMRSDT 🙂
So to get the toy on the ground, 2 ideas for you:
– introduce the concept of the reward being on the ground but doing a session with an empty food bowl on the ground and cookie rewards 🙂 That might be a good bridge to be able to get her understanding to target to the hand even with a thing on the ground.
– using the toy, split putting the toy on the ground into smaller pieces. She can do it with it dangling from your hand and our hand kind of high (elbow bent). Can she do it with your elbow straight and toy more visible, not as high? Then with your arm straight, and toy dangling down by your knee? Can you make the toy longer so it is resting on the ground? And so on, until you can get the toy all the wy on the ground. And yes, you can totally reward the target with a really high value cookie to help jump start the ignoring of the toy element of the game 🙂
>it has always been get it if I’m between her and toy or just break when she looks ( focus forward ish) >
For the serps, don’t release her if she is looking at the toy (I don’t think you were here?). And I am not sure what you mean about you between her and the toy, but probably a forward focus line like toy races? This context is different enough that she will figure out that it is not a forward focus game.
>Could I use a touch cue ? I mean then I’m not really teaching the impulse to ignore the toy.
>You can add a verbal touch cue if you like – you are already giving a physical touch cue 🙂 by extending the target arm and looking at the hand. You can also shake that target hand and reward her for coming to it when the toy is on the ground.
Nice work here! Let me know how it goes getting the toy to the ground!
Tracy
Hi!
That was very smart to introduce the tape measure line so she didn’t think it was a toy LOL!!!
She seemed to have a big breakthrough here!!! She was targeting your hand a bit on the first few reps, but at :34 it was like she had a big lightbulb moment – then she was driving around the barrel perfectly! You were able to do the FC earlier AND you had a toy in your hand! Super!!!!!
Since this is going really well, you can also look at the Handling Combos games – they incorporate the barrel wraps as well as some of the other games (blind crosses and driving ahead).
Great job!
Tracy
Hi!
She was so funny here – at the beginning she was like I GOT THIS LET’S GOOOOO Then waiting for you with one foot on it when you reloaded? SO CUTE and hilarious!
I agree, this was a really good session!
>(Had one yesterday on that same town green where she worked so well last time, but this time she left working to go jump on a person, so we won’t be able to work off leash in public any more 😔)>
Sounds like adolescence is arriving, it is your Christmas gift LOL!!!! It is ok to dial back freedoms in early adolescence.
The value for the parallel path is really locking in, and that allowed you to get rear crosses easily at 1:00 and 1:17. Timing was good on both of those! But I also think turning left might be her stronger side, because that timing on the right turn cues was not working as well.
The timing of the right turn RC at 1:27 was very similar to the previous RC, but she turned left (possibly because she had just turned left, or because she is a lefty or both).
When you moved up the line forward while changing sides, she was able to commit – at 2:19 yo were legit late because she could still fully see you on the left turn side.
But at 2:39, that was the best timing of the session – moving forward and fully on the right turn side so she nailed it. Yay!!
At 1:42, 2:10 and 2:33 you were actually a little too early 🙂 You were a little ahead of her so as she was just getting past you, you were pressuring in behind you. She is starting to read the pressure as part of the RC cue which is good! Her commitment to the prop was better when you were pressuring into the RC line and moving forward towards the prop (as it if it was on the center of the bar of a jump)
I think you might need to start running on these – doing the parallel path game at a jog, so when you do the RC part of it, you can move faster to the new side to make yourself more visible there before she arrives at the prop.
>I guess still more than two “failures” so I should have done more just going with her on the parallel path?>
Yes, but you were actively in “let me help her out” mode – and even with a few more failures, she still got reinforced a if they were successes. So you hit the goal of getting the training going while making sure she didn’t get frustrated.
Great job here!
TracyHi! Orlando sounds like a blast!! That event always seems so fun!! Sounds like a really wonderful road trip!
Firi did super well in the new place with his barking friends!! It is especially cool that he worked with so much focus and engagement since he loves small dogs!
He definitely seemed to enjoy doing the tunnel-to-dish game 🙂 Nice timing of the marker (just before he entered, but when yo saw him turning his head and ducking down to definitely enter. Yay!
He did better and better about being able to ignore the placed cookie in the dish when you had lots of food reinforcement happening as you walked away from the tunnel. That will help you be able to walk away with him without holding his collar 🙂
He only had one question, and that was at about 2:08 when he almost went directly to the dish. I think that was probably because the previous rep (1:52) was a lot closer to the tunnel entry, and the rep at 2:08 was almost at the tunnel exit. It was a pretty big change, so he had a little question but then was able to be successful after that.
Since he did so well with the threadle side entry and turning away, you can add your tunnel threadle verbal!
>We started with food then when I did the other direction I used a toy. It was so much fun. Went to check the camera and forgot to turn it on. Waaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!! So you don’t get to see it.>
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry LOL!!! The best sessions happen when we forget to turn on the camera 🙂 But since he did so well, you can move to the handling combos!
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
>I’m sure no one would notice. “Who’s the skinny one?” Esther? You might want to feed her more.”>
Just get him a thick Border Collie colored coat, no one will notice. LOL!
> I was not using my verbals – wasn’t sure if we were supposed to for this exercise.>
You totally can! I tell everyone to use their verbals as early as possible in the training, but if the verbals are new and the handling is new, then you can prioritize the handling over the verbals for now.
>Tonight we did sad indoor things. >
Ha! You can get a lot done indoors and it is a whole lot warmer!
For the get out:
Yes, you can add the verbal now! He was reading the physical cue really well.
>I think my issue would be if we had to bypass the prop – he’s so drawn to it- as soon as the bag hits the floor he’s on it. And my arm was not even up and he’s going to it.>
A couple of thing you can do to help him:
– for the next session, move the prop closer to the wall so you have more room laterally. That way there is a very clear line to you and a very distinct moving away to get to the prop.– For each rep, lead out so you are ahead of him when you release him, but about 5 or 6 feet – and not moving with him to the prop. That way he can see/hear a clear difference between the ‘get out’ cue versus the ‘stay on my line’ cue. Moving with him is not as clear as a lead out will be.
Then, when you want him to stay on his line with you, you can call his name and make your dog-side arm obvious (feel free to shake it a little :))
>Baby level of the strike a pose serpentines with the jump -no issues, no cutting behind me.>
He did really well here! Thinking about the circling – it might be something he does when arousal level is higher, and there is more pressure (serps have pressure because the dogs have to drive right in at the handler). But pressure and arousal are not the same as stress, so it is not concerning other than try not to let him rehearse circling you, ever 🙂
And since he does this serp behavior SO NICELY with the jump… no need to do it without the jump 🙂
Two details here:
Be sure to separate your hand motion of the serp hand going into position from the verbal release (he was starting to release on the verbal). Get yourself entirely in position, wait a heartbeat or two, then release.
Also, I think you are a little too far from the serp jump (he can fit his whole self over it with you there without having to turn). Get closer to it so you can touch it with a casually bent elbow. That will help him collect and turn before the bump, not after he goes over it.
He is ready for the next steps on this game:
– you can get an empty bowl on the ground and drop the reward into it, to replace feeding from your hand (it would go right below where your reward hand is, on his line to the exit wing). And you can use a toy! The toy can be in your reward hand then get to the ground as well.He did well with the 3 different positions here, so you can all exaggerate position 3 (the hardest position) and have him start on an even harder angle, to ask for more collection.
Great job here!!
Tracy
Hi! I think the target totally helped, as soon as he figured out to target to it! Yay!
before adding more distance, you can reduce the angle to board so it is much easier for him to step back onto (all he will have to do is lift his back feet about an inch to get onto it). There are 3 reasons for that:
– it will be easier to add distance away from it if stepping onto it is easier – and you can start him further and further away from it
– a lower board will keep him from shifting his weight onto his shoulders (we don’t want any headstand effect, because it is hard on puppy shoulders).
– the lower board can turn into a wobble board to add motion under his feet 🙂 That is a nice teeter foundation too!Since he was happy to target to the board, you can add more distance away to see if he can go back more steps. Brace the board with a bunch of towels or something under them so it does not move at first. Then if he is happy with that, you can fade out the towels gradually, so the board moves more and more… eventually he will be backing up onto a board that moves a lot 🙂
Great job here!
TracyHi!
I am so glad you had fun, and hopefully the content will continue to keep you busy as he continues to learn!
>looked around to see if there was any UKI or USDAA events near me just to try some different venues since we run NADAC (and maybe some day in the future will dip our toes/paws into some AKC). Unfortunately there is no UKI or USDAA events in my area on the calendars yet. >
My guess is that the UKI stuff just isn’t posted yet – that sadly doesn’t get posted that early! And there is not a lot of USDAA around, unfortunately.
>We will be running local NADAC trials in January, March and April.>Perfect!! Plenty of opportunities. There!
>Also very interested if you are able to set up a follow up forum as discussed in the Zoom!>I will get it sorted out after the holidays, when I have more brain power to come up with a good format 😁🤣😂
>This might sound silly, but is there a cheat sheet for all of the different pattern and arousal games. I tend to get stuck in routines and revert back to the same games.>Do you mean a list of all the different ones, or a general chart of when to use a pattern game? I do have charts like this in the planning section:
If it is the different pattern games, think of it as The Big Two:
– back and forth (which also builds into Find My Face)
– up and down (which builds into engaged chill)The main arousal game is the volume dial game (tricks for tugs and treats), which you can use any time – the trick is to figure out when it works best, based on how he responds 🙂
>(oh and I will sneak her secret in here because no one else is probably reading this post 🙂 …. her BIG secret that I can not wait to announce in all public forums….she is in the 2025 Puppy Bowl!! >
That is SO COOL!!! Now I will totally be watching! FUN!!!!!!!!!! I will absolutely be cheering for her!
>I enjoyed your teaching so much, that I would like to get her into the live Max Pup3 class. Do you know when you will be offering it next?>Right now we are about 2/3rds of the way through MaxPup 1, so the next class is MaxPup 2 (March). You can transfer your enrollment into that one! Then the net MaxPup 3 will be in June or July, which would make her the correct age for it 🙂
Thank you for the update! Keep me posted!
Tracy
Good morning!
You’re right, she looked at you like you were an alien 👽 LOL!!!!!I think the tunnel verbal has value and also a specific verbal energy. And movement towards the tunnel has value as a cue too. But the new verbal alone doesn’t have value yet.
So we can use it in a specific order to get the tunnel threadle verbal to have meaning and value:
Say the new cue (tunnel threadle verbal) then the “old” cue (either the tunnel verbal or movement to the tunnel.
So it can be zoom zoom zoom (I think that’s what you are saying 🙂 ) then tunnel tunnel tunnel without moving. Or it can be zoom zoom being completely stationary… then keep saying it as you step to the tunnel (kind of what you did at the end of the video).
That should help her understand the new cue, because it predicts the original cue coming. Then we fade the other cue (like the tunnel verbal) and maintain the value/meaning of the new cue.
Let me know how it goes!!!
Tracy
