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This is the Prop shaping game:
Great job going back and forth between toys and treats! Super!!We definitely want this to be a foot touch and not a down, so on the next session: when he hits the target, you can toss the treats off to the side so he keeps moving back to target it again, rather than holding a down on it. That will set you up really nicely for the sends that come after this! As soon as you get reliable paw hits but no downs, you can move to the sends.
You can also consider attaching this to something so it is a little raised, making it more obvious and easier to target. This will be useful when we add more challenge to it.Great job on all these! Have a great Thanksgiving!
TracyThis is the blind cross game. The first 2 reps were really just sorting out mechanics, but then you nailed it! Nice! He is speedy so you can start running away as soon as you send him to the treat, then start the blind as soon as he grabs the treat. The last rep was the best one – really nice early timing! Great job with all of your connections here!
The next step is to add more distance, either by throwing the treat further away or having someone hold him like a restrained recall so you can get really far ahead 🙂
This is a the wing wrap foundations video – looking really good!!!
He did really well with the bowls, cone and upright here. No need to add a lot of distance yet, we will make some tweaks before that to add more challenge 🙂
Using the jump upright, the next step is to move the bowls further back behind you (make next to your heels here) so he has more too to make the turn and approach the upright, which adds more challenge to the turn. The upright can be maybe a foot away from you when you do this.
When he is fine with that, you can change your position to sitting in a chair, which is the next step to be able to get you standing up 🙂
Each time you change a variable, move the upright in closer to you so he can be successful, then you can inch it back out. For now, it doesn’t need to be more than an arm’s length away, because we will add distance later on and change lots of other things before adding distance.
Nice work on the prop sends here!
Try to start the sends with engagement with you (the ready dance :)) rather than a collar grab or just sending. That will give you a snappier behavior, because he will be more excited and will know exactly when to start the send. Yo can see on these reps he was not entirely sure of when to start, so was not driving to it immediately.
When you got too far away he started offering a line up behavior, so stay a little closer for now 🙂
Nice job with the hits and rewards, so the ready dance for engagement will really help him be faster to start the send 🙂A-ha! This one’s got motion! He did well driving ahead of you here with motion, no problem! Be sure to throw the toy on a line more directly in front of him – when you throw it in front of you, I think he might take you down in a collision! You can try throwing it further to add even more distance.
Hi!
More driving ahead on this clip, he is rocking this game!
Definitely add in your motion now too, so you can build to the toy races that got posted today 🙂
This was driving ahead with more distance, and it went really well too! You didn’t pull him back or up by the collar, so he was more balanced on the release. Yay!
You can start adding your motion forward on this game, walking towards the toy as soon as you let him go (building up to having you jog then run).And to encourage more retrieve, you can start running the other way as soon as he arrives at the toy. And, play heartily with him – on this clip, you were teasing him with the toy more than playing with it, which might be why he doesn’t bring it back when he gets it LOL! So, more play with him will definitely help!
Hi!
This one was the focus forward/driving ahead. He definitely likes the toy! Try not to pull him back or up by the collar (that can get him off balance), just hold him and let him get excited without the pulling 🙂 And to help him bring the toy right back, you can run the other way as soon as he gets to the toy.
I can’t see your face on this video, so be sure you are looking at him (connection!) and not at the toy 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
This was the decel to handler – nice start here! It was hard to see what he was doing but I could ee him driving in really nicely to your hand and pivot. You can add more distance to this and you can be moving into the deceleration as well.T
Hi!
The new prop looks good – good size and doesn’t slide 🙂 He was definitely getting good value for it already! In the next session, let’s get him looking at you less by either dropping the treats on the prop rather than overing from your hand, or tossing off to the side. That will also get him moving which will lead nicely to the sends 🙂
The wraps foundation games looked good! The bowls looked great and I am glad you added the stanchion – he was great there too! Next step: change noir position to sitting in a chair so we can start working towards you standing up 🙂
The Blinds were not a disaster ta all, we just need to sort out the cookie versus acorn issue. What if you used a bowl: holding him, place a cookie in the bowl and show it to him. Then carry him a few feet away, send to the cookie bowl, and then you can run away and start the blind nice and early without worrying about acorns? That can help him know what to grab and also get you a nice head start to do the blinds sooner. Or, have Jamie come over and hold him so you can do this as a restrained recall 🙂
Great job on these! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
He is definitely the cone master! Yes, keep trying to get the cone in as the very last thing so you don’t miss that first reward.
Before we move to having you stand, let’s add a taller upright (like the stanchion of a wingless jump) while you are still in the chair. And then you can add in a barrel or laundry basket or something even bigger. When he is happy with that (won’t take him long at all!) then we can get you standing up 🙂When you used the two toys, it was not cheating at all to add the squeakers LOL! Check out the new Any Toy Any Time game I posted today, that will help too. For now, you can make a giant fuss about each new toy that comes into the picture, so he will also make a big fuss and switch to the new toy 🙂
>>I also tried some of the blind cross exercise by tossing a treat, then having him chase me with a nice long toy I dragged. But he did not really want the toy, he kept looking for the treats. This was right before dinner so maybe he was hungry? I’m not sure, because he’s always hungry. Oh… I bet it was because the treats were higher value. I probably should have used kibble. >>
Yes, it is probably a value issue: hungry pup, good treats so his brain probably didn’t even register the toy 🙂 Try it after a meal with the most boring treats you can find 🙂 and the best toy you have.

>>I can show you that video too if you like. I can have my husband hold him instead of tossing the treat. But we’d still need to use treats to get ahold of him. >>You can post the video if you like! And yes, you can have the hubby hold him, offering a super boring treat to grab him LOL!! Do you have any long toys with fur or anything wild attached to them? That can help!
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
The blinds look almost perfect! Yay! He was reading the side changes perfectly and your connection & toy placement was great!Only one suggestion – when you are running away looking over the dog-side arm before the blind, try to have your dog-side arm back & down towards him to open up your dog-side shoulder. You were holding it perpendicular to your ribs, which closes the shoulder forward so he will have a harder time seeing the connection. Ideally your dog side arm is extended back & down towards his widdle nose 🙂 with your elbow locked. The toy placement across your body really opened up the shoulder after the blind, so he read it really nicely 🙂
Nice attempt at the catch reward LOL! His surprise was adorable LOL! He got it nicely the 2nd time 🙂
Great job on all of these! Let me know what you think!
Have a great Thanksgiving!
TracyWhew, this looks like a big workout for you both! LOL! Having the whole floor looked FUN! Shorter stays worked better, I don’t think he is fully ready for the long stays yet. Or, if the weather is good, have Kevin hold him so you can do big distances as a restrained recall into decel!
Be sure to show a very clear and early decel. When you were a little late, you would get him hopping up trying to stop (1:24) or running past you because he wasn’t prepared to stop (3:56) or going a little wide (4:15 and the last rep).
But when you were pretty early and he had time to get coordinated? Beautiful collection! Good examples of the earlier timing were at 1:59, 3:15, 3:40 – you were early so he was nice and tight to you. Yay!!!
So even though he is little, use big dog timing to be earlier, starting the decel before he is halfway to you.
Great job!
TracyHi!
His prop commitment looks really strong, and I admit I miss seeing the box of wine though. Ha!
He was a good boy to ignore the student talking to you – he was great with the unplanned distraction.
The distance away from the prop is good, you don’t need to get further because he was getting unsure in the final step or two and sometimes turning the wrong way. So, stay a little closer for now and rather than add distance, try to drop your send arm sooner (before he arrives at the prop) so that he sees the beginning of countermotion without distance. We will work up to having a TON of distance but not quite yet.
Also, place yourself a little more off to the side so he has a clearer picture of which way to turn. When you were squarely behind him, he wasn’t always sure which way to turn so he sometimes defaulted to turning to his right. So you can be further off to the side towards the direction you want him to turn, especially when he starts on your right to make a left turn on the forward sends.
>>I tried sending him from me facing the other way. He was funny on this, he was like, this is strange.>>
Well, he is not wrong, it is strange LOL!! Did you show him any of the sideways sends? I think the video above this was all forward and this video is all backwards, so the sideways sending can help bridge the gap so he thinks it is less weird haha!!
He did really well though on the right turns at the beginning. The left turns in the 2nd half were definitely harder for him!! He is not quite as fluid or coordinated when he has to turn left – it even takes him a moment to get started on the left reps! No worries, it will all balance out and I think he turned correctly each time. SUPER!!! But definitely show him the left reps starting sideways so he can have fewer questions and more success (I swear, there was steam coming out of his ears). I think the right turns can also see a rep or two of sideways, then go back to the backwards for the right turns which are turning out to be his stronger side.
Great job!!
TracyHi!
I see what you mean about the toy versus food! He did it for food but he wasn’t that impressed with it. He was a wild man for the toy and the touches were definitely better!!
So two ideas for you for the next sessions:Put yourself in a low chair or on an inflatable peanut or something – so you aren’t standing but also not in a high chair (too high, too much bending) and not on the ground (too low for the next steps LOL!!).
And, sometimes you can do the session with just toys. But we can also build the excitement for food by making a loop out of it:
Tugging – target – cookie – throw toy. The toy sandwich will get the great targeting AND raise the value of food – double winner!!Great job! Let me know what ya think!
T
