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Hi!
Hooray for good weather and going outdoors! This looked great – he drove ahead beautifully on the first rep (he fell on his head on the second rep so you won) then he completely left you in the dust on the 3rd rep LOL!!! Good boy 🙂 You can add the GO GO GO verbal here too, to help prepare him for driving ahed on a jump line (eventually :))
While the weather is still good, try the turn and burn around a barrel outside and see how he does! It will give you more room to run.
>>I found that I needed to not have any treats on me for him to be interested in the toy. >>
That is great for now! He can do toy-only sessions or have the treats really far away, so he can focus on the toy. Over time it will be easier to have treats in your hands or pockets.
>>I also had to try a few toys to see which one was of interest to him.>>
Good job finding the motivating toy – he really seemed to love it!
>>Teagan jumps up a lot, grabbing at things in my hands and counter surfing. >>
In situations where he has more access to counters or grabbing things from your hand, try giving him an alternate behavior. So in the kitchen, for example, you can give him a spot to hang out (like a climb with a bed on it) and when he is on his spot, he can gets treats and chews. If he leaves the spot to counter surf, his “prize” is quiet removal to a different room (not a prize he wants, probably). My guess is he is likely to choose to hang out in his spot!
What type of stuff is he jumping at in your hands?
Nice work here!
TracyThose are for sure essential, and since she likes food, I bet she will think they are fun.
Do you have a snuffle mat? She might enjoy that as a way to keep her brain busy.
Another fun game is teaching her to pick up stuff and hold it, like a retrieve but without tugging (for now) and more of a stationary hold. It is a fun shaping game!Tracy
Hi!
>>Sometimes I tend to work to long and you can see it with his wandering lol I definitely need to break more and play tug!>>
Yes, more tugging is great for both getting him to learn in higher arousal (very useful for his future trialing career :)) and also to reduce wandering. Interestingly, the videos below had no wandering. Maybe because he was on home turf? Or because he liked the food and action? Either way all good – definitely add in tugging and that will make it easier in new places too or with games where there is less action 🙂
The foot targeting looks really good here! Tossing the reward back and forth was great for training the behavior, but I also think he really liked the ‘action’ of running back and forth for the treats. He was really engaged for the cookies here for over a minute, which is a long time for a baby pup 🙂
The only think I would add here is tugging before and after, and also adding in a couple of tug breaks in the middle. This will help him learn in higher arousal, and will also set the habit of taking breaks for when you are doing a food-based game without as much action built in 🙂
The parallel path looked terrific! He loves his prop 🙂 This is another game where you can add in some tugging before/during/after. This session was another example of him staying super engaged with the food even with the longer session, because there was a LOT of action of running back and forth for the treats 🙂
Now that the parallel path game is going so well.. add in the rear crosses 🙂 Start pretty far from the prop so he drives ahead of you to it, then you can cut in behind him before he gets to the prop to create the rear cross.
Great job!!
Tracy
Good morning!
>>For what it’s worth, we also hike every day in the woods so he gets to figure out a lot of his body then with all the rocks, fallen logs and chasing Skye (my other Berner, who is objectively ridiculously agile for her size and I hope he learns a move or two while they are at it)>>
I love this! There is so much good learning that happens when a pup can do this with you and another dog. He will learn more about his body by doing this than any other puppy game!
The collection sandwich is looking really great! Your connection here was super strong – check out how he can see your face the whole time (except when you did the blind, where you have to turn away from him LOL!). And he was great about driving ahead to the toy – he really loves that toy and tugging in general, which is great especially because there are treats in the picture. He was even bringing that toy back really well!! Yay!
Now that you are adding distance being outdoors, you can show even more of a distinction between the acceleration and the deceleration – run like mad until he is halfway to you… then slow down a lot. I suggest halfway to you as the decel point because he is really fast so if you wait longer to decelerate, he will possibly go blasting past you 🙂
You can try to add the barrel to this game now (based on the Handling Combo we added on Tuesday)
Backing up to the Klimb looks super! He is remarkably coordinated for a young, big, dude 🙂 Finding the sweet spot of how far away you needed to be was hard – so another option is to create a bit of a channel for him to step back onto the Klimb so it is harder to step off the side. Maybe have one side of the Klimb next to the couch, and something on the side of it (like a box or x-pen). That can help narrow the field of backing up to get more regular stepping backwards.
>>totally focused for 10 seconds or so and then complete fry up/overenthusiasm/forgot what my body is about for the other 10 seconds.>>
The joys of teenage boy dogs! LOL!! Brilliance followed by “wait, what was I doing?” Followed by more brilliance.
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
Looking at the turn and burn left turn progression with the bowl –
The first video seemed a lot smoother with the left turns. She didn’t seem to try to change sides and zipped directly around the box. Yay! So for the left turns, you can definitely leave the bowl there and change the reward placement.
On the 2nd video, walking then running with cookies worked well to get her to not hit the box. You can add the toy back to that for the next session (let this percolate for a day or two before going back to it). I think towards the end of this session she needed a brain break, because she was offering the other side of the barrel.
Strike A pose is off to a great start – your position and reward mechanics looked great! She hit the target well on both sides and your reward placement was spot on. Next step – use a toy instead of a cookie 🙂 That will makes things more spicy!
The handling combo with the toy was great! She REALLY seemed happily surprised when the toy came out at the end of it LOL!! Fun! On the flat on the first video, she did really well going from the cookies to the toy then back to the cookies. The toy really raises the energy level of the entire game, in a good way! You also had really clear decels so even though the game was more exciting, she was still able to collect and turn really well.
Since she loves the toy and was not really retrieving it quickly, you can trade for a cookie pretty quickly so she brings it right back.
Adding the barrel was harder of course but she figured out the first rep and then had the big reward of being dragged around on the ground LOL!!! The 2nd rep was even easier for her, which is great because it was too her left, the harder side. SUPER!
You can add in your wrap verbals on the barrel now, she looks ready for them in this game.
Nice work with getting her to hit the hand target – it is HARD to look away from the amazing toy so showing the target again really seemed to help her have an aha moment. Good job NOT rewarding when she jumped up at smacked with her feet. That was likely because she was very stimulated – but asking her to use her nose only is something that requires a lot of impulse control. So because there was no reward for jumping up, she was able to get the nose only on the next rep. YAY!!!
Great job on these! Let me know what you think!
TracyOk then! In this first week of recovery, let’s do some precision trick shaping 🙂 She has learned to touch her nose to the target in the pre-game, so you can sit on the floor with her, with lots of cookies, and teach her to put her head on the floor. She should be in a down position (on a comfy bed is great!) and you can use the target to get her to progressively lower her head more and more until her chin is flat on the ground (the target can be under her chin). It will be the classic head down trick which is adorable and also requires a lot of brain power and impulse control.
Let me know if that makes sense and how she does!
Tracy
Hi!
I am glad you are having fun – you and Roux look terrific!
The strike a pose game is looking really strong. She did really well coming in to hit the target even with the MM and then the toy on the ground. And she drove directly to the target on both sides you, especially when you looked at the target.
A good next step for her, since she is so good with the impulse control is to either have a toy in your reward hand, or on the ground nearer to your feet on that reward line. That will still get the good in-then-out turns while adding challenge to the ‘come in’ element.
Lap turns – you are actually a tiny bit early with your movement to turn her (In agility we are so often late LOL!). Keep your hand extended to her and feet together until she is about 2 or 3 inches from your hand, then step back and pull her through the turn.
You were stepping back when she was several feet away, so she was slowing down and moving wide on the turn. The lap turn might be the only handling move where later is better LOL!
Tandems were well-timed! Note how close she got to you and then you turned her, so the turns were every smooth. Super! You can add a little decel on these tandems to add more tight turning.
Tug-Sit-Tug is looking really good too. She was definitely stimulated, which is the goal. She was only having a little trouble grabbing the toy so you can get it lower for the initial tugging before you ask for the out and wait for the sit.
Since the sit stay does not appear to be a new behavior for her 🙂 you can keep playing with ramping it up: After tugging, she is doing well with holding the sit while you walk away, even with t he higher arousal. YAY! So you can add in jogging away, and eventually building to running away. Running into the opening line on a lead out is a great way to handle certain lines, so you can start teaching her that now 🙂
The handling combo with the barrel looks lovely too – no problem to have the toy on the ground. You did some FCs in there, so you can definitely keep doing those and also add the advanced level with the decel and pivot before driving to the toy.
You can also add your wrap verbal to the barrel. Which verbal(s) have you been thinking about using?
Great job here! You are ready for next steps/advanced levels/adding challenge on all the games 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
Coming in and out with the leash was great practice! You should definitely also isolate the getting the leash back on at the end as a separate training game, not just in sequences, so there is a whole lot of value built for it. You will want to have your whole remote reinforcement toolbox built up for trials 🙂 Also, when doing the harder sequence work, bring a toy with you so you can reward in the moment too.
>>I noticed today that there are some really hard spots and then some really “deep” spots with lots of stone.>>
That could totally be part of it – making it harder to run on!
Good job on the sequence here! She only had 2 little questions: at :43 you were praising her (which sounded like a reward marker) and didn’t quite have the connection on the line. That pulled her off the line. No need to stop there – you can get back on the line and keep going.
And the Check cue was a late starting (verbal and shoulder turn) so she had a bar down.
Much better on the last run – you were connected all the way through and cues were timely. Nice!
“”It is amazing how I consciously try to make sure that I don’t talk over the jumps and then watch the video and….I’m talking over the jumps!””
I don’t think talking over the jump is any problem at all… her question comes when the cue starts over the jump that she is supposed to also be responding to it. If you start the cues sooner (no later than landing of the jump before it, for example) then talking over the jump will be no problem.
One other consideration is to work on and teach these skills on low bars. She as you are both sorting these out, a lot of bars are dropping so to avoid that, try an 8 or 12 inch bar at first. That also saves her body for the jumping and she won’t get as tired.
On the go lines, this is a spot where lower bars will help you – she is doing the line but still having to think about it hard so a lower bar will help her keep the bars up. Also, placing the reward another 10 feet away or so will help because she had to collect here to get it. Ideally she could drive to it in full extensions.
On the 2nd sequence, the exit of the tunnel is the hard part 🙂 staying close to the tunnel exit like you did at 2:50 was what set the line and got the Go line as well. Nice!!! Setting the tight line to the jump and then turning your shoulders worked like a charm.
You didn’t set it quite as well on the last rep or the first couple, so the go line took her right past the middle jump.
>>I know I was pushing her a bit hard because I’m behind and trying to catch up.>>
No worries! She does get tired and changes the way she moves, so one or twice through each sequence is all she needs if you have a lot planned. We have several more weeks in class so fingers are crossed that the weather stay good 🙂
Nice work here!!
Tracy
Hi! Yay for wanting to do more agility!!!!
Yes, you can be mostly “home schooled” and then move into seminars, workshops, trials, etc. We just need to be creative. The skills training is the easy part – getting the dogs happy to engage in higher arousal environments is a little more challenging. But we can use a variety of different environments to teach that – even doing field trips to play these puppy games will build a strong foundation for that 🙂Tracy
Hi! Your stance was good!!! She figured it out immediately.
Question: what is she allowed to do in terms of activity, while she is healing? We can figure out things to have her do while still following vet’s orders 🙂
Tracy
Hmmmm yes, we definitely want to turn the tide on this. Is this a relatively new behavior in class (not wanting to be leashed or caught at the end)?
Having her on a long line while hiking is a good start – when she is on the long line, how is her recall? Definitely keep rewarding that.
For class – will she jump on her board at the end and let you touch her?
When does she start avoiding getting the leash back on?
Let me know more specifics and we can make a plan – there are a number of things we can do to help her because I agree, we want to get her to come back and get leashed up.
Tracy
Thank you for keeping me updated about how she is doing! Congrats on your successes with her and also with Zivah!!!! Yay!!!!
Tracy
Hi!
>>we had a marathon prop night>>
It was a propalooza!
>>His value for actually stepping on the prop isn’t great – I kept going, taking stepping near the prop.>>
Actually, he is showing plenty of value for it – just the right amount to get the concepts. I think on some of the reps where he didn’t quite touch it, you were a little early on the clicks (clicking before he finished getting to the prop) but that is fine – you were clicking the commitment. And on the parallel path, the pups tend to go over the prop more than touch it, which is great because the prop was intended to simulate a jump bar there.
>> but it was a lot, and normally I have him do much shorter sessions.>>
I thought he was mostly really happy with the session length and amount of work. The rate of reinforcement was super high. He only had one moment of takin a break (first session, see below) but didn’t seem to need that in the other sessions.
On the videos:
He did well with the forward sending on the first video! He was trying to sort out his leads, trying to figure out if he should use his inside leg or outside leg. That is great to see him sorting it out because we want his mechanics to be comfy before we add in any jumping.
The sideways and backwards also looked really strong! It was interesting to see him give himself a breather towards the end, then come back and do 2 really strong reps. You can limit the number of reps within each session to maybe 5 or 6 before giving him a break (then coming back for more after the break).Parallel path is also looking strong – he is understanding the concept of commit to the prop and stay on the line parallel to you, even if you are getting further and further away. And he was not looking at you until after the click – yay! If the weather is decent enough to keep adding lateral distance, take this game outside.
You can also work the rear crosses in now, staying closer. In your training room, having the prop in the middle of the floor should give you enough room to get to the other side.Countermotion looked good too – the backwards version of it was a little harder at first but then he sorted it out. You can start slowly moving away sooner by walking the other direction (don’t be too quick or exciting LOL!)
I am glad you brought the toy out on this one – you were adding excitement with your ready dance and he was great, but the toy takes things to a new level. He was definitely more excited and he showed it by just going faster and being more precise. SUPER!!!
Great job on these! The next prop steps are the rear crosses and turn aways. Have fun!
Tracy
Good morning! Lots of stuff went well here, but also there were a lot of bars down. So 3 ideas for you with the bars:
– When getting a lot of bars down, drop all the bars lower so the jumping effort is easy
– if you get a bar down more than once, stop the session for a moment and watch the video in slow motion. That can give you and idea of what was causing it so you can change the info on the next rep.
– do shorter sessions 🙂 There were a LOT of runs here, a lot of full height jumping. So by 3:50 on the video, she was just tired and changed her striding. Most of the bars after that (especically the pinwheel bar) came down after that because she was tired and short-striding, not really powering over the jumps. So if the plan is to do all the sequences, then do each one once only so she doesn’t get tired out and change her jumping form.On the sequences:
Good job starting her without the RC! The send worked well. Now, add in starting her on a slice so she is facing the landing spot before she takes off and not jumping straight then turning.
On this sequence, you were running with your arm up and looking forward a lot, so she was not always sure where to be. For example on Jump 3 she would either hit the bar if you were looking forward and not at her (:05 or :33) and same at jump 4 (1:29) so when you are ahead, remember to keep your arm pointed back to her and eyes on her.
Some of the other bars were due to conflicting indicators, meaning your motion was saying one thing but your voice was saying something else. For example on jump 5, you were trying to leave early but ended up decelerating then suddenly accelerating/rotating/cueing the tunnel, so she had to sort it out as she was taking off (:36 and 1:04 for example).
That can happen on the last jump too, so be sure to accelerate past it until she lands, then you can slow down and get the toy out 🙂
The first run on the 2nd sequence went really well – nice timing on the blind! Nice timing on the collection on 5! Nice go! Yay!
Be sure to maintain connection on the go lines: at 3:03 (2nd rep) for example, you were looking ahead with no connection on 6, so she was looking at you/curling into you for more info. She doesn’t always drop the bar, but she was definitely looking at you when you were looking ahead. So remember to keep looking at her as you accelerate on that line.
For the 3rd sequence: – you can add in a turn cue when she lands from 4 and before 5 (before the tunnel threadle) so she is already turning and ready for the next cue. A name call can work in this situation, or a left verbal. She had trouble with the tunnel threadle at 3:57 and 4:20, especially because she had just done so many reps to the tunnel straight ahead 🙂
>>However, I’m not sure why we kept dropping 4 (the bar perpendicular to the tunnel). >>
That was mostly because she was tired by that point and not able to use her power as much. You can run the sequences with all the bars lower, or limit the reps at full height to one or two passes on each sequence. Otherwise she will lose steam and we want her to stay fresh and sassy.
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! Great update!
>>She was really high,
You might need to reframe this, as it is a pretty normal state of arousal for dogs doing agility 🙂 Science says ‘high’ is a good thing, so she might closer to the optimal state and not overaroused!
>>but she was able to line up, sit, hit hard weaves and do her contacts. We did pattern game and the volume dial off to the side. Toy toy was in my pocket.>>
Super!! For simpler sequences, you can add in toy outside the ring every now and then if the instructor doesn’t mind and see how she does.
>>But, I have a question about leash off, engagement on. She is not giving me eye contact, but she also not leaving. So, what then counts as engagement? >>
Not leaving and being able to respond to cues counts as engagement. Eye contact is something that we humans decided along the way that we like, but we also like focus ahead on the first jump. So if she manages her arousal by looking ahead or not at you, and responds to cues? Rock on!
Since I ran 4 different dogs at the US Open, I paid a little extra attention to where we were both looking during the line up process. I would consider all dogs to be fully engaged, but we were not really making eye contact with each other. I was looking at the line where I wanted them to set up, then at their bodies to see if they were in the sit stay. Did I see their eyes? Yes. Did I make direct eye contact? Not really. They were looking towards me and responding to cues, then at the jump. Did they make direct eye contact? Not really.
So it doesn’t have to be direct eye contact. Plenty of dogs go into the ring, are fully engaged, line up beautifully, and focus on the job that is coming next (especially herding dogs, they are not big fans of eye contact in that moment).
>>She definitely lined up all 3 turns. Maybe slightly slower on the last turn. She was almost screaming, so I was pleased she could still hit contacts and weave in addition to lining up while her brain was in the stratosphere.>>
This is great! The slower line up at the end might have been a bit of depletion or needing more time to reset between turns, which is really hard in a class because of the time limitations. But it sounds like she did great! Super!!
Tracy
