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Hi!
Nice work with the left & right verbals, and holding your position until he is finishing the minny pinny! Yay! He is understanding this setup nicely!
Yes, only one blooper with the verbals but that will get fixed when you add gently holding him by the collar as you start saying the verbals – don’t let go til you have said it 3 or 4 times (and you will also be sure that you are saying the correct one haha!!) Holding onto his collar will also build up his excitement to drive through the setup, because he will get all pumped up and then explode into it when you let him go 🙂 That moment of anticipation where you both stand still, you are holding him and saying the verbal, then BOOM! You let go and he drives into it.Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
He is doing really well here! He is a little better at turning to his right on these than he is at turning to his left. On the left turns, he tends to turn to his right first then turns to his left. On the right turn (:53) he was perfect! So, two ideas for you to help him with the left turns:
When he is on your left side and turning to his left, start on an easier angle, so he can see the tunnel entry better. Think of the tunnel entry as being at 6 on a clock – you were starting him at 4 or 5 on a clock and that was hard on the left (no problem on the right turns). So on the left if the tunnel entry is at 6, try starting him at 2 or 3 so it is an easier turn away. Let me know if that makes sense, or if I need to drink more coffee to make more sense 🙂
The other option is to place the toy inside the tunnel entry, a couple of feet into the tunnel (yes, the toy is in the tunnel LOL!) You can do this by holding his collar, tossing the toy in, then saying the tunnel verbal, then letting him go 🙂 The reward will be very quick because it is already on the inside of the tunnel – he may or may not finish the whole tunnel, but either way is fine because the toy will move to the end of the tunnel quickly. It is a well-placed lure that we can fade very quickly. I did exactly this yeterday with my 6 month old puppy, he can turn perfectly to the right but has trouble to the left, just like Charlie.
When he is happy to make the turns, then we can add the tunnel threadle verbal. Have you decided what verbal you want to use, and if you want to use a cross arm or not?
I posted a video of this with my puppy (including the toy inside the tunnel) from yesterday, you can see it in his thread here:
You will see on this video that I do the harder stuff (like the harder angles and the double whammy) using the right turns only – and I am still doing the easier levels with the left turns. Charlie is about the same age, so I believe you will find yourself doing the same progression of the hard stuff on the easier side for him, and the other side will catch up later. Bazinga in this class is doing the same thing (one side is easier than the other on this game :))
Nice work!
TracyHi!
Wrapping the wing went really smoothly! She really has strong value and had no problems at all offering the behavior on a jump wing. So now you can move away from the immediate wrap offering she was doing when she releases the toy, and start to do what you started approximately in the middle of the video: holding her, saying the verbal, then letting go. We will put a sit on this soon enough 🙂 but we don’t want her to zip into offering things in that tiny heartbeat of a millisecond between letting go of the toy and you having a moment to cue her LOL!! That could make it harder to get her lined up for a stay if you dare to take 2 milliseconds LOL!
One small placement of reward idea: She sometimes doesn’t finish her commitment in favor of chasing the toy (this is normal :)) so as you add more and more speed along with more countermotion, you can throw the toy to the exit of the wrap as you take off the new direction (rather than have her come to your hand for the reward) to help solidify the commitment as you move away. I posted the first video of doing this with my pup yesterday. As soon as he realized we were doing a turn and burn game, he felt it was faster & more efficient to sometimes skip the wrap and chase me immediately LOL! A couple of thrown rewards to the wing exit helped him out a lot. Muso has a good retrieve so this can be fun and efficient.
Looking at your markers list: what is the cue for a thrown reward that is not dead? It is not really a “catch” situation because of the context and it is not ‘get it’ – maybe the shhhhhew noise? Unless shhhhew is chasing it in your hand?
One last thought: because she is very verbal (these pointy dogs are SO verbal and it makes me very happy) – be clear with your verbals if it is a front side wrap or a 360 (backside wrap). I believe the verbals here were for your front side wraps but you threw in some full 360s. Hold off on the full 360s til you have that verbal going (and also adding a bump will help her differentiate if it is the front of backside).
Great job!! Enjoy the rest of the weekend!
TracyGood morning!
Thanks for the marker cues list! You are really pretty consistent with your markers and that is great!
>> (often used for ALL of the other markers at some point 🤦♀️)>>
Yeah, relatable. Usually it is something like “get it dammit bite I mean whatever just have it” LOL! Dogs are brilliant so sometimes messing it up is fine.
>>Yes = …I have no idea any more, but I think it’s become: come to me to get food>>
Yep, I feel this pain too 🙂 And I found this out the hard way, which is why I am trying to ward it off in this next generation LOL! We all have a tendency to train “yes” to mean “stop what you are doing and come get this thing from my hand or watch me throw it” It usually involves stopping what they are doing and watching the human. And it is fine as long as we are aware of that and manage to use the other markers 🙂 but ideally we don’t overuse “yes”.
>>Your previous question about stays: ‘needle’ is adorable! It’s actually ‘middle’ as per Absolute Dogs, but pronounced meeeeeedle. She learned to charge in through the front and flip around and it was messing up our leg weaves, so we’re slowly retraining it.>>
Ha! I totally thought it was needle, as in “thread the needle” LOL!!! If the line up is looking too much like leg weaves, you can add to the cue to make it more distinct – different leg position for the weaves, maybe, and definitely a hand cue to go with it. The line up and the leg weaves don’t need to be on a verbal cue only, so adding to the cues to help her out will reduce the time to train and allow you to use them with more clarity. For example, my Hot Sauce has a leg weave, a line up between feet, and an around my back send – all of which look distinct based on my foot position and hand cue.
>>As for the release on the hand cue, I do that on reward markers too. I need to work on that. I think a Podcaster gets their clients to say “banana” in their head before releasing for start lines; I’ll have to try that again. Do you have any high tempo (Broadway) songs I can sing to get a beat going?!>>
I had to think this one over, so many tunes to choose from. I vote for The Schuyler Sisters from Hamilton – it is more of a medium tempo tune but I think it will work because you can either use the “the schuyler sisters” part of the melody. Or, you can use one of the names or a combo of the names (“Angelicaaaaaaa” or “E-laaaah-za” or “andpeggy”) to get different durations so you are not being predictable. If you become too rhythmic and predictable, the dogs quickly learn to release on that rhythm.
Tracy
Tunnel Games!
Refreshing the tunnel and threadle skills on a longer and slightly curved tunnel. I was able to do the double whammy with him turning to his right (his stronger side). He had more trouble turning away to his left, so I broke it down by placing the reward in the tunnel itself – that really helped! A well-placed lure can be a thing of beauty LOL!!! Then I ended with an easy one. I will let latent learning do its magic and see how he does in a day or two.Tracy
Hello!
>>Well, poop on a stick. I just wrote some comments and posted them and got a message saying ‘you aren’t allowed to do that.’ Hopefully that was a one-off!>>
Hmmm that is odd – did you have to log in again after it?
>>On the backside drill, I feel like I am still not doing it well.
Disagree! It looked really strong. I have a couple of small suggestions but overall it is 100% headed the right way. One small suggestion – start moving for 2 or 3 steps before you say the back cue. That will make a big difference when we use the front and back cue in the same session!
>>On why I would consider the good reps, it’s more of a wrap than a slice.
The toy placement was in that grey middle ground between wrap and slice, which is fine for now 🙂 It over-exaggerates the slice placement but it sets him up to immediately look at the bar after he rounds the backside wing, rather than look at you. Trust me, he will not over-collect when you cue backside slices and his backside wraps will be great too!
>> If I try to slide too far to the side, I pull him with me and he doesn’t go over the jump bump. >
Yes – this is my small suggestion #2 – when you are sliding across the slice and throw the toy, look back at the toy and don’t look at him. If you throw it and look at it (and point back to it) then he is going to go to it rather than follow you. For example, at :59, I really liked your timing and toy placement – but you were looking at him while you moved forward, which does not really indicate the toy. So that is when you can look back and point back to it.
>>Feels like he really has a feel for the ‘back, back, back’ part though!
Yes! He did great! And leads me to small suggestion #3: when you throw the toy, stop saying back back back and say ‘get it’ (while you look back at the toy and not at him) so he knows he has permission to disengage from the handling and go to the toy.
>>Pretty pleased with the left and right drill. At least to my eyes.
Agree!! He looked great! You can try to move away sooner and faster on the FC as he is going around the minny pinny, but otherwise you can back-burner this until MaxPup 2 when we build it up 🙂
>>I have been either rewarding the toy release with a treat or giving him the toy again after he releases it. Been doing this a lot and it seems to have helped with him giving the toy up more readily.>>
Yay! That clenching/clamping on the toy is a sign of arousal or frustration, so it is good to know he is able to let go of the toy more easily!
>>I’ve also been working on his startlines with liberal amounts of ‘catching’ a toy. That also seems to be helping a lot.>>
Perfect! He really likes to do the action things, so the stay rewards will be something we keep doing all the way through when he starts doing NFC at trials and beyond 🙂
>>It all adds up to even more fun training with Bobbie Bobbertson! (His nom d’jour.)
Yay! I am glad you are having fun with Sir Bobbertson Of House Sponge 🙂
Have a great weekend!
TracyHi!
Is your set up verbal “needle”? Very clever!
She seemed happy to line up between your feet but was not clear about the release – sometimes it looked like it was when your hands moved, so it was harder for you to move away. Try to add in moving away as soon as she gets in position – and she probably will also be happy to learn it starting from anywhere – behind you like you did here, at your side, in front of you, etc. (It is also a great flyball skill!)On this skill and later in the video on the flat – when you are stationary and looking at her, she seems to take it as the sign for “offer more” (so she offers the down or something else). So as soon as she is in the sit, you can move into the lead out as a way to affirm the sit.
The stays on the flat with the prop in front were terrific! She was especially good when you were closer to the camera – it was a little harder for her when you were on the other side of the room, not sure why, so maybe start on that side next time and see how she does. Overall, it is going well!!
Rocking horse – commitment looks really good! I can’t wait for the snow to melt so you can run run run run 🙂 Add as much movement as you can at home or if you take it to the barn. She seems ready, your connection is good, and you have added your verbals. YAY!
Remind me – is get it is your toy-in-hand marker? If so, carry on 🙂 If it is the thrown reward marker, be sure to use your toy in hand marker for these. I couldn’t find it when I scrolled back, but I want the markers to be consistent because she really does well with them!She only had one question which was at 1:32 – she was not sure which cone to go to. It looked to be because she was close a cone and your leg was back/you were sideways… but you wanted the other cone. When you moved your leg into a forward position? She nailed it!
Serps:
The serp part was easy for her! She really had trouble with the stay so this was more of a stay session than anything – it was more about impulse control on the hand target and she ended up very successful on the last set of reps! Yay! You did a lot of going back to reward in position – that was good! You can also walk all the way around the jump without releasing (and reward her) and you can also do lots of the ‘catch’ rewards as you arrive in serp position.When you did release her, the serps looked good so the stay is the main challenge here. You can also try to be past the halfway point on the bar before releasing her – you were a little too soon on most of these but that might have been more about trying to release before she broke the stay.
Threadle- the stay was not hard here, it was the ignoring of the toy that was hard. As with the serps (at the end of the serp video in particular), she did a LOT better on the crazy “hard” angles than she did on the so-called “easy” angles. Hmmmm! My guess is that the harder angles turn her visually away from the toy, so they are actually easier in terms of the stay!! That is good to know – next time, start with the crazy hard angles and see what she says 🙂
The stay degraded a bit when you released early on one and by the end you were releasing when your hand moved… so be very careful to maintain the clear distinction between the hand moving into position and the release happening several beats after it.
One more detail – she seems to be VERY verbal (which is GOOD!) So with that in mind, be super careful of your marker timing: at 2:51, she was heading to the jump bar so you said pounce… but the most efficient line to the toy was NOT over the bar. She was correct 🙂 And also it happened in the rocking horses where you said “get it” on one rep so she stopped what she was doing and went to the toy. Both of those are legit (and very literal LOL!) interpretations of the markers, so just hold them one step longer if the reward is not placed on the obvious line to include the behavior you want her to continue.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyTurn and burn concept transfer!
As soon as he realized that I was trying to leave sooner, his commitment waned. So I changed the reward placement to help him out (2 failure rule is always in effect!)He was also definitely teething – he kept putting the toy in his molars to chew it, which is unusual for him.
Hi!
Really nice connection here on these rocking horses and good job adding the spins! You can start them sooner at :55 and 1:04 by beginning the rotation before she reaches the cone and so you are finished and connected before she exits the cone.
And definitely try my ideas about either leaving the toy in one hand or sticking it in a pocket (and adding a marker for it) so that he doesn’t have questions about the toy or looks at it (you an see his question at :38 for example, when he comes to the toy then back out to the cone).
Take a look at the race tracks – he is ready for those and they are fun!
Great job on all of these! Have a great weekend!
TracyHi!
Minny pinny is looking really strong, he really has the concept!! Nice! For the left verbal, you can say it a few times before letting go like you did on rep 2 but then keep saying it as he goes all the way around. You did this on the right turn verbals (say it a few times, let go, keep saying it) and it worked really nicely!
As you are saying the verbals, you can stretch them out and be q little softer in your delivery, which will help him differentiate these from the fast/short wrap verbals.
It looks like the footing is a little slippery so he is not quite fully coordinated going around – you might want to use 3 bumps if you have them so he doesn’t hit the bars at all especially as he finishes the turns
Because he seems to have really figured out the concept, you can add in doing a front cross and moving away to reward as he begins going around it. Your reward placement was really strong, so now we can add motion too 🙂 You started that on the last rep and he is ready for more 🙂
Go back and watch the end of the video at 2:09-2:10 and you will see him do a hilarious and adorable leap in the air with this toy as you were turning the camera off LOL!
Great job!
TracyHi!
His sit and stay looks good! Remember to movee forward away from him as if leading out past a jump, and not backing up away from him.(Side note: he is trying to catch with his feet which is adorable!)
He is ready for the next level, so now you can have him do the stays in front of his prop – make sure you line him up on both sides of you to be sure the right side line ups are strong like the left side lines up. Then lead out as if the prop is a start jump, and release to reward before he breaks.
Nice work!
TracyHi!
The rocking horses looked good here! Your connection looks really clear which totally helps too. His commitment is good but it can be even better with some toy clarity 🙂 You might not realize it, but you are passing the toy from hand to hand and sometimes he is given it when you do that, sometimes not… so he is looking at the toy first, which delays his commitment. When it is clear that it is not toy-time, he carries past you to the cone but I would like him to not look at you or the toy til it is reward time. That will get even more commitment!
So two ways to do that:
– definitely use a toy marker that is not “yes” or “good” 🙂 Use something that means: grab the toy now! I say “bite” 🙂 A distinct toy marker when it is toy-time will help him NOT look at the toy til you say the magic word.
– either keep the toy in the same hand (no switcheroos) or tuck it into a pocket. Most people find it easier to tuck into a pocket, which works great in this game. The reward doesn’t need to be a precision reward, so you can say your toy marker and whip out the toy from the pocket when it is toy-time 🙂It was hard to hear if you were using your wrap verbals. If not… he is ready for them! And he is ready for the spins and the racetracks too 🙂
Great job!
TracyOooh I would think crawfish was an excellent reinforcement!
>>wonder if I could have been a factor in Roulez’s uber arousal level.
Hard to know! But Audie is a super engaged boy with a ton of lovely drive… so we don’t need to jack him up LOL! With dogs that have natural drive like Audie, I prefer to let them be chill and even a bit slow at this age… because once that have a thoughtful understanding of the skills, it is very easy to turn on the speed 🙂 You can probably see in the demo videos how slooooowwwwwwww Contraband (the merle border/whippet) is, so slooooowwwwwwwwwww LOL!! He turned out to be crazy fast AND able to think in arousal (huzzah!) – he is a good posted child for us needing to be on Team Fake Chill at this stage so we can get speed AND thoughtfulness later in life 🙂
THi!
He did super well in a new place! Yay! And yes, I agree with your videographer/coach who wanted you to chill out a bit LOL!!! He is doing all the right things, so now we can be clearer on mechanics.I think Jamie and I will now officially invite you and Audie to join Team Fake Chill so you can focus on mechanics 🙂 (OK, Audie is fine, but you are officially invited :)) A lot of what was happening was going really fast (too fast for a baby dog) and really stimulating (Audie doesn’t need the extra giddy up, he brings plenty of it already :)), so he had errors in spots where more of a Team Fake Chill approach to start each rep will smooth things out nicely.
At the start of each rep, whether it is the 360s or the tunnels, remember to use super clean calm mechanics:
line him up at your side with a cookie, take his collar when he is at your side. Do this instead of grabbing his collar and pulling him into position – that causes a lot of neck torque, causes higher arousal, and also pulls his front feet off the ground. We want him to start balanced and with all 4 feet on the ground and you holding his collar. That way, you can say the verbals a few times then let him go (so he is not seeing the motion and hearing the verbals all at once).
And starting with all 4 feet on the ground is more balanced so he can move forward. When you have his front feet off the ground, the first thing he has to do is shift all of his weight forward to put his front feet down, which puts him off balance and makes the turn games harder as well as the tunnel games.
On the 360s, this will translate to him standing at your side, your hand on his collar (you can be one or two steps further from the barrel at this point). Say his backside wrap verbal 3 or 4 times, then simply let go of him (you sometimes throw him forward LOL!) And the calmer mechanics will also get rid of the READY GO you were using before each rep (which Jamie gets a click/treat for pointing it out LOL!!)
And on the harder tunnel entries, the smoother mechanics and letting him hear the tunnel verbal a few times will also help him find it. He was having trouble on the backside tunnel approaches because his front feet were up in the air and you tried to rush away with the verbal and motion all happening at the same time 🙂 You were more zen on the last rep so definitely keep going that way.
I think he is also ready for you to add the tunnel threadle verbal when is in on the threadle side! Be sure to hold him and let him hear it 3 or 4 times before you let him go, so he can find it with the verbal getting added as the cue.
Nice work here! And I hope Jamie paid up that chocolate reset cookie she was offering hahahaha!
TracyBaby Ramen’s first parallel path concept transfer! He was a good boy! The main goal was to get rewards in early so he would look straight ahead and not at me. I used food and a toy in this session.
When he was on my left: perfect!
He had a harder time on my right, for whatever reason: maybe I have a lot of value for training on my left and not enough on my right? Or because he is probably a righty, being on my right requires him move with a left lead leg more? Not sure, but no worries: I helped him out and he was getting it by the end.
