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Hi!
I imagine that is it really frustrating (and painful) to deal with the broken arm! But JJ is doing great and I am sure you will have an AMAZING trip to Greece!!
And Sandie is doing a great job as JJ’s interim handler 🙂
Set point – this is looking good! We are in the stage where we want the pup to make adjustments and sort it out, so her responses might look a little different on each rep (kind of like they did here). You can lead out further and start moving with the release on all reps now, as she seems to understand the set up so we can add the moving target for all reps.
>>I think it’s the third attempt where JJ did not jump towards the Center.
Yes, it was the 3rd rep that was not quite center – my guess is she was surprised by the moving toy 🙂 It was still a good jumping effort, but the goal is to see if she makes an adjustment: and she totally made the adjustment to more balanced jumping on the next reps. YAY!!
I think my favorite was the 2nd to last rep – the toy was moving and a bit further from the 2nd jump than on the last rep, so she was more powerful in and out of the set point. Really nice!
This is the kind of thing to train maybe twice a week at this point (and we will be adding more grids each week, so you can rotate through them so it won’t get boring :))
She had a little start line confusion – when the toy is stationary for a couple of seconds and then moves, she is anticipating the release. When Sandie reminds her to wait then moves the toy? Perfect! So keep the reminders coming!
Wind in your hair – looking good! JJ is very happy to drive ahead to the jump and get the toy 🙂 Add the Go verbal now – as soon as she exits the wrap, you can be saying GO GO GO (and throw the toy as soon as she looks ahead like you were doing here :))
After the GO verbal is added, you have two options with motion:
– you can accelerate ahead at high speed, to challenge her to find the line and not look at the fast handler motion
– you can be stationary like you were on the last video, so she drives ahead with the verbal only but definitely use the verbal (no motion and no verbal means don’t go anywhere to the dog :))>>It was funny to hear my commentary as they were working. I sound really flat. I think it’s because I was trying to analyze what was going on as JJ and Sandie were working through the activities.>>
I didn’t think it sounded flat – it sounded like you were in full-on dog trainer mode. Perfect!>>I realize that if I post directly from my phone, I can speak into the phone to type my responses. >>
That must be so much easier than typing! Yay!!!
Great job on these! Let me know what you think! When do you leave for Greece?Tracy
Hi!
You are totally not being difficult! I appreciate the background on the things that are harder for her.
>>With the rep where I used the toy to get her, she’d have bolted if I’d have reached for her. She also loves to play “you can’t catch me, chase me” so we are working on a whole package of things related to this. It’s a good thing puppies are cute.>>
Ha! Yes, I am thankful for their cuteness LOL!!!!
One of the things that can help is a rhythm of lining up at your side with a cookie lure (you can be super obvious with it) then gently touch or reach towards her without touching, then start the game without actually holding her. A cookie lure to line up is a magical thing! And it is easy enough to fade the lure after the value has been built up. How does she feel about a body harness?
And, you can also teach her fun games like doing a behind-your-back start (I have video of how o do this if you are interested) as well as a between-your-feet line up (she might be a little too tall for this though LOL!)
>>We have started stay on a Cato board, but it will end up a battle at this point.>>
We definitely don’t want a battle, so keep working the Cato board separately with super high rates of reinforcement. No need to add it to other games yet.
>> If she will send to the manners minder and go ahead of me, can we go that route or should we skip this exercise.
Definitely send her to the MM on the set point! Start her nice and close to jump 1, put the MM about 12 feet or more past jump 2, trigger it, then send her to it.
>> there will be many opportunities for us to practice other drills if need be.
The handling games can be done without a stay and without a collar grab to start, so you will be plenty busy 🙂
Have fun!
TracyHello! I am so glad to see yo both here – she is feeling good, finally!!!!
Looking at the moving target game:
>>I started with Moving Target so that we could use a toy before any food came out. Once I got her riled up with the toy she was having a blast & doing well!>>
Using a toy is great but we can also use food toys, such as a lotus ball or a treat hugger tied to a leash and dragged 🙂 I have also put my Manners Minder on wheels and dragged it LOL!!! Food based toys are still toys 🙂
Thank you for the close up at the beginning. She is just the CUTEST!!!
Playing on a mat was very clever! It keeps the very visible! She did well with the stays and moving to the toy on the flat! She was focusing on it and driving to it, exactly as we want her to do.
When you added the jump, she did indeed have a harder time like you mentioned. Could be the value of the jump was very simulating. You were a good trainer to reward the stay, even though it put her into food focus. That is where a food toy on a rope could be effective, so you can reward stays with food and also drag a food toy as the moving target. And we can use the toy in places where we don’t need food.
>>I feel like I was not the best reinforcer with all my chatter. It is interesting how I was affected knowing I was recording. I’m usually not such a nag! (I hope!)>>
I didn’t hear any nagging – you were quiet when you needed to be (during the lead out, just reminding her to stay) then you had silly voice and praise while getting her to play. Carry on with that!
>>I’d love advice on how to keep the toy interesting & how to train the “out” too. I may just need to stick to just 1 reinforcer based on what the game needs though.>>
Take a look at these for the toy release:
Yes, you might not yet be able to reward with food in sessions you are using a toy, but you can certainly reward with another toy or a release to run around with the original toy 🙂
The wrap verbals are looking good! She definitely loves going around the barrel 🙂 It looks like you were rewarding her for letting you hold her, which was very smart because she wanted to start without you LOL! I don’t think you confused her – I do think she was starting without you and wanting to turn to her right, so you had to get a hold of her LOL!! But overall she was really strong and you can totally move to the next games: the wing/tunnel discrimination and the smiley face games!
(Which reminds me – did we ever transfer her barrels wraps to a wing? You can totally do that if you haven’t yet, and also you can use a wing in the other games too :))
Great job!!
TracyGood morning! It was great seeing you in class for a bit last night!
Thank you for posting the bloopers – they are really helpful. She is definitely thinking, but her version of solving the puzzle is to keep offering moving behaviors until she gets it right. So here are a couple of ideas to set up success and reduce frustration (which gets her offering even more movement):
– use the toy for correct responses, and use a reset cookie at your side for incorrect responses, so you are basically lining her up again for the correct response. The reset cookies will keep the frustration lower if she is incorrect, and more importantly: they get her to stop moving in a happy way so you can set up the next rep 🙂
– for the reset cookies, I will say something like “you’re cute!” or “c’mere!” when using the reset cookie, any random phrase is good. Avoid using any type of “you’re wrong” markers like ‘oopsie’ because she can tell from your response that she is incorrect, and the ‘you’re wrong’ markers stimulate more movement and offering from her even when they are delivered happily.
– she seems stronger on the right turn side, so start the next session (and every session for a couple of weeks :)) with right turns.
– we can set up the environment to help her “see” the wing wrap more and the tunnel less. You can focus on getting just the wing wrap with the tunnel present by:
** turning the ends of the tunnel down to the ground, so it is visible and stimulating, but not available to go into.
** use handling to help her be correct: a FC on the wing wrap, or a shoulder turn to get her into the tunnel when it is time for the tunnel (and when you make the entrance/exit available again). The verbal is less important than getting success at the early stages, so definitely use handling to get started here.
For the FC on the wing, you can use a long toy and put it on the ground in the gap between the wing and tunnel, to give her a focal point (besides the tunnel) to help her come around the wing. A lure and/or more handler motion will jump start the behavior, then we can easily fade it out and get it on verbals only 🙂
Keep me posted on how she does! I am confident she will sort it out really quickly.
Tracy
Hi!
Zoom gets the recording sent overnight, so it is generally posted the following morning. You can see it here:
https://agility-u.com/lesson/link-and-info-fo…-13th-live-class/Have fun!
TracyHello and welcome back!!!
I remember seeing on Facebook, I think, that you had broken your arm but I had no idea it was 5 breaks! Ouchie!!!!!!!We will of course do whatever is needed to train JJ and keep your arm safe and protected. I am excited for you about the Greece trip!!!
>>I do not type fast or well right, but I will do my best until I get out of my cast and am allowed to use my hand again. The first video is of the wrap verbals.>>
Since typing is a pain at the moment, feel free to talk into a camera and just post the video 🙂 That should be easier and faster.
>>Since I only have one hand available, collar grabs are to a minimum along with tugging and treat dispensing, JJ’s other owner is going to have to work her at times.>>
We can definitely work around using collar grabs and tugging – she was having no questions about those so we don’t need to worry about it until your arm is cleared for use (although other owner is definitely welcome to train her!!!). We can do cookie toss starts, some cookie lures, platforms to send her to, etc – creativity is the name of the game LOL!
Looking at the videos:
The wrap video looked great! JJ got tons of correct reps and the substitute handler did a great job with the releases, rewards, verbals, and adding distance. (Let me know Substitute Handler’s name LOL!) JJ is definitely ready for the game being added tonight using wraps.>>We had used RiRiRiRiRi.. as a sound for a right wrap and LeLeLeLeLe…as a sound for a left wrap with the other dogs. Do these sounds seem to close to each other or to our Right and Left directional commands?>>
Maybe… it will depend on how the words sound when you are running. For the wraps, you can emphasize the consonants like you did here. And on the soft left/right, you can emphasize the vowels so instead of ‘right’ it would sound more like “aight” and “ehft”, both of which would be very drawn out and not choppy like wrap verbals.
The moving target games looked great! Her stay is looking great, she was focusing on her toy, and tugging like a maniac 🙂 She might have started releasing on the inhale before the release on the first video and definitely released the stay as you started to move on the 2nd video, so add in some praise for the stay as well so she doesn’t anticipate and release before the actual word or when you start moving.
You can do a bit of trading for the release of the toy – say the release once and then trade for a treat
Repeating the process with the jump bump went really well! She had no questions on the first video. Good job adding the moving target before the release on the last video – the extra “wait” cue before you started moving it was a good reminder, and clears up any confusion about whether motion was part of the release or not (it is not part of the release LOL!!)
Great job here! She is ready for the new stuff we start tonight.
Have fun!
TracyHi! She did really well here on the different steps!
>>I felt strongly to protect her Stay, We needed to work through these with treats. But I find elevating it on something, like you taught us, gives her Real success.>>
She did well here with the toy on the ground. The trick to protecting the stay is criteria maintenance and not making things too hard too quickly. At this point, there is no need to feed her in position when the toy is on the ground – the toy should be the focus and we don’t want to draw focus away from it or move her out of the stay if the food falls. The release is the reward and she really liked the toy! Yay! This will become more important as you get further away from her and can’t easily deliver a food reward. And it is really fun that she is big enough to get her mouth on a bigger toy.
>>So, With a high value toy, I think she’s just not ready for this Moving Target game. We hadn’t worked much with a Holee Roller, and if so it was the tiny one.>>
The hollee roller looked pretty high value! You don’t need anything higher in value than that for now.
>>Watching this back, I’m talking too much again.>>
You can probably say “good” less frequently but she certainly did not seem confused and it did not hurt her behavior at all. Maybe it helped because it as a bit of a ‘keep going’ signal?
1st video
She did just fine holding the sit while you put the toy on the ground then drove to it beautifully when released! YAY!!2nd video – this was also easy for her because it was very much the same as the first level, except the toy moves after you release her. She did really well here too!
3rd video – she was a little mentally fried here early on(not quite as quick to sit or hold the sit at the beginning). Because there is indeed a lot of self-control involved, you will want to resist the temptation to do multiple sessions of this or to do long sessions, especially when the jump gets involved. So now that the foundation is in place, you will want to do maybe 4 or 5 reps over a jump bump and that is the entire session.
>>Are we ready to move to the advanced level with a jump bump?
Yes! She looks ready to me!
>>Also, I’ve already seen the different ways you have me doing things compared to my local instructor is problematic. But it’s a group class and I don’t to appear to contradict her. So for now, while in class I’ll comply unless it’s a safety issue.>>
Different might not be a bad thing, it might just be different. The main thing is that you will want to live by the 2 Failure Rule which is exactly what it sounds like: no more than 2 failures, total, per session. If she fails once and you think she can get it right? Try again. If she fails twice (doesn’t have to be in a row), make it easier for her to be successful.
Great job :)
TracyGood morning and welcome back!!!
Really nice session here with the wraps!!
>>This was the first time we got more distance other than right next to the jump.
You got a LOT of distance going here. Yay!
>>And I must admit, I got greedy and went for more distance. It seemed she then needed a bit of help with the left.
She only had one error, then was correct after that, so one error is not a big deal at all.
>>So I think it’s best for me to use two words which make sense for my brain, Rit,Rit,Rit…and Lef,Lef,Lef.
That works well, as long as you use different words for the soft turns that are not wraps.
>>On the rep where she turned before the jump, my instructor here ( Not Kodie or Amy ), had us teach them to spin ‘Right’ and ‘Left’ right in front of our feet. So she may have thought we were doing that. I know😉, problematic.>>
I agree that teaching spins in front of us using the wing wrap verbals could be problematic, but I am not sure that was the issue here – it was probably just a blooper because the wing was further away. You stepped to the wing on the next rep and she did really well!
>>BTW. Still difficult to get the tug from her without trading for a treat. The only benefit is perhaps it saves time?>>
It is perfectly good to trade for a treat immediately when you want the toy back (say your out cue then offer a treat) because it makes the out into a habit, rather than a fight 🙂 Eventually it won’t be a problem but for now, in this adolescent stage, definitely keep trading 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi again!
The moving target game looks great too – the sit stay is the best part of it and will be very helpful as you work her skills! She was a SUPER good girl, holding the stay even while the toy was moving. She had no problem with the game added in front of the jump as well, even with the ball moving before the release: click/treat for you BOTH!!The only other thing to add here is more of your motion – you can work up to jogging then running! It is not a big priority for now to do that, you can do it eventually, because we will be adding the moving target games to the jumping games starting tonight!
Great job! Have fun!
TracyHello and welcome back! She is in the all-legs stage of development 🙂 and looks great!
The wrap pre-game looked great. She was having no trouble with the wraps and was very driven to do them, even when you added distance. I loved the rep when she almost missed it then caught herself then got it right. Brilliant! Great job – we build on this tonight.
Tracy
Hello and welcome back!!! yes, there is a bit difference in development between 6 months and 8 months – you will see a lot of progress coming up! Fun!!!!
See you in class!
TracyGood morning and welcome back to you and brother Pesto!!
>>1. He is very hoppity in his jumping style and I am wondering if get him to be less bouncy can be addressed in the foundation work.>>
Yes, 100% yes to this. The Pizza 1.0 litter was also a bit upright/inverted so the tweaks in the jump foundation here are based on addressing that specifically. Check out the moving target pre-game, as that will be incredibly useful.
>>2. He naturally wants to look at me after doing a jump instead of looking ahead. He doesn’t understand the idea of the go – line or and his drive ahead requires a reward to be placed in advance instead of tossing it, particularly is there is a second jump before the reward.>>
That is normal and fine 🙂 We will be working with either SUPER early rewarding (especially if you are in a place where someone else can throw it) as well as placed rewards. He is only 8.5 months old, yes? So no worries, we will get him looking forward.
>>So far we have worked 2 jumps and a tunnel – he is very fond of his tunnels and he has no problem going behind me to steal them.>>
Well, that is a skill we work on and he is not stealing them… he says your info and connection is not clear enough 🙂
>>I have a mostly solid startline so that is one thing in my favor.>>
That is SUPER and will be really helpful 🙂
>That’s my list (for now). I am sure the list will get longer as we move through the lessons the next few months.>>
Perfect! He is right on track!
>>Last question, regarding live classes, it is starting to get darker earlier, will be working outside in the live sessions?>>
Some of the sessions are good for outdoors, some are good for indoors. But they can all be done indoors if needed. We will be doing the running order and games in order of daylight amounts, so stay tuned.
See you soon!
TracyHello and welcome to you and Makai!! Have fun and keep me posted, I am looking forward to seeing you in action!
Tracy
Hello! Great to see you here with your two girls!
And it is funny how they are so different – that will make for different training adventures for sure. We can tweak any of the games so that Miracle is super confident playing them, while keeping Merry confident as well 🙂
Have fun!
TracyHello and welcome back!!
Training will be interesting for sure, but I am game to figure out how to keep things fast & fun while advancing her skills… without you having to move too much 🙂 Challenge accepted!!
And we can play with ways to add motivation to the things she finds poopy (stays/line ups before movement, collar holds) by casually and informally pairing them with things she loves loves loves 🙂 And for training skills, we can totally use the cone wraps and body wraps or cookie tosses so we don’t lose her motivation with stooooopid stays 🙂
See you in class tonight!
Tracy
