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Good morning!
It looks like you helped her sort out how to take the jumps to get to the broom! Maybe at first she was running around them because the broom was very stimulating? But now it looks like she has figured out to get to the broom by going over the jumps. Will she use any other toy for this? It might be easier to manage than the broom LOL!
>> Have not been able to make any strides with flattening the jump angle.
There is no rush to flatten then angle, she is doing well! Plus, adolescent dogs are know to have trouble managing their coordination, so this stuff takes a little longer than with adult dogs. For the next session, do the same exact thing you did here, no changes (except maybe see if another toy will work too). And if that goes well, you can start with the same angle for the next session – but drop the bars to 4″ and flatten then angle of one jump by one inch. And do several reps like that and see how she does.
The jumps are flat enough now that it will probably be an inch-by-inch progression, one jump at a time but that still gets us to our goals of strong jumping skills and lots of strength.
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! Thank you for the compilation!!!!
I think we take a 3-pronged approach:yes, continue to have him target his leash (or any of the places his leash would be) as this is basically legal in UKI, USDAA, and AKC. Not sure about ASCA.
Separately, work on the down as a motion override game: you are running and cue the down and he splats into it… then you release to the reward or his leash. The down here in the trial ring was after the decel and end of run… so he seemed to know it was the end of the run and not a continuation of the fun game. So he was not as quick to respond and it seemed like a bit of a bummer to him. So at the end of the run, you accelerate to the ring gate or leash and cue the down as part of the fun. You can start it with him moving towards a toy on the flat, with you walking – and as soon as he hits the down position, release to the toy.
And, since he does the big behavior when you have stopped and the flow of info has ended… definitely tweak the find my fafe game for this! Normally in find my face we act confused or disconnected. For Ripley, you can tweak it to act like the run is over: decelerate, clap, look for the leash, etc. It can start with that basic pattern game and you install the ‘we are finished’ body language so within that framework, he learns to self-regulate and keep all feet on the ground 🙂
I think I would start with the find my face tweak in the pattern game, as it most directly looks at the self-regulation. The other games are cued behaviors, which will only hold up if he is able to self-regulate. I will try to get video of the find my face tweak this weekend!
let me know what you think!
TracyHi! I think we will put all the leash chat into the other forum LOL!!
On this video:
His stay looks great (even with your dance moves LOL!) and being able to lead out to that lateral position made the line on the first rep look fabulous – just the right combo of speed and tight turn, with you way ahead.The 2nd and 3rd reps were more of a throw back – the throw back arm can be more of a soft downwards move and less swish back to the jump, to get a tiny bit more collection . With all the motion of the arm, he jumps a little longer. And if you give him a soft indication to the takeoff spot, with not a lot of arm movement, I bet it will be just the right amount of motion.
The in in looked good, nice and independent! The way this sequence is set up, the foot rotation was the best option to help him find the threadle (these are more of the “American style” threadles that are less intuitive to the dogs. On a more European style threadle, I bet you can keep your feet forward and not need to rotate!
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! Lots of great work here – and I agree, he is such a fun puppy! You and Baxter rocked the live class 🙂
For the sends – I think you were subconsciously using the edge of the rug under the prop as your boundary LOL! So yes, you can be closer to the prop to start. And, bearing in mind that we are shaping the behavior, you can reward for effort on those first couple of reps even if he doesn’t quite hit the thing. You were a little too far away, he did a pretty good send – so you can toss a cookie out anyway. That he’s shape the behavior to where we want it to be while setting up a high rate of success. For example, at :54, he did a great send and didn’t quite touch the thing and you rewarded anyway: perfect!
He was really getting the hang of the sending. You can leave your send hand and leg out a little longer ti indicate the prop, I think it draws his attention when you bring it back really fast. He was little better with the right turns but then right at the end, he totally nailed a left turn! Super!!!
Wing wrap foundations. What as he chewing in the beginning? Bubble gum? LOL!! Two ideas to get the rhythm going even faster:
You can make the bowls more visible and less behind you by having them out past your toes and not behind your knees.
Also, you can wait til he finishes chewing before dropping the next treat – like me, he can’t think about anything else while chewing. I can relate LOL! So let him finish chewing then plop the next treat on the plate.
He was really catching on by the end, and I bet one more session of this Baby Level is all he needs before you can go to the Advanced Level.
Blind cross foundations looked lovely! He is fast and has a very snappy recall!
Yes, the hardest part is where to put the toy to get the connection but you were working it and he appeared to know where to go on each rep.Everything else looks great – I really love how he goes back to the toy so nicely after the cookies!!!
When you were a little earlier with your timing, when he was only halfway to you and you did the blind – those were the smoothest reps like at 1:05 and 1:40.
He still made great adjustments when you were late! But keep trying to be early 🙂
Super job on all of these!!!!! Let me know what you think!
TracyPS – I love your training room!
Hi!
>>She enjoys her holee roller for sure and many other toys. I do use them in training as a secondary R+ so we should be able to incorporate them where needed or when preferred. I used to have a bungee tug and may get another one…>>
Sounds good!
>>And FYI, we are not likely to compete in agility. I will take plenty of classes though for the joy of it>>
This is great! The training is the best part of it all, whether or not you compete.
T
Hi!
>>I have been doing the collar grab game and was offering a treat to get her to release the toy & also to reward her for me moving toward her collar. I think it is starting to work.>>
Super! That is fast progress! It is definitely something to do all the time so she really learns to love it!
This was a great session!
She was driving forward really well when you were low and when you were standing and stationary. And the food trades for the toy seemed to work really well – she gave the toy back and the food got paired with the drop AND the collar grab. And she still had tremendous toy drive: PERFECT!
Plus, you added connection (looking at her) about halfway through the session, and that worked really well too.
>>I noticed she looked at me when I ran with her. I’m not sure if that means she is uncomfortable with it, or if she was just noticing the change
I see what you mean! She only looked at you when you let go of her AND moved at the same time. When you let go of her, she took a step or two, then you moved… she did not look at you. So for the next session, use that rhythm: throw the toy, let go, she takes 2 steps, then you move forward.
As she gets more experienced with your motion, you can let her take 1 step then you move.
Then it will be easy to add back you moving at the same time you let go of her, probably in the next session or two.
>>I have a few questions on how we should be working as the class goes on. Do we keep doing all the games (week 1 & week 2 etc) or just work each week’s games?I know it will be variable based on how each dog progresses, but how many sessions of each game do you recommend we do during the week?>>
Great questions!!! You will find that the games build on each other, so there is no pressure to get anything perfect. Because there are a lot of games, maybe try 2 sessions for each per week: Baby level and advanced. And if you don’t get through them all? No worries because there is plenty of time and some of the weeks don’t really have new games so people can catch up 🙂
>>Sorry that all most posts seem so long!
Your posts are not long at all! Keep ‘em coming!Have fun! You two look great!
Tracy
Hi!
>>I was trying my best to look into puppy not the toy, but failed a few times.This is my weakness, I have a hard time watching the dog when I run. Good reminder and practice for me.
This is why we start the connection at the very beginning… to train us humans hahaha!
The first video here is marked private but. I can see the other 2:
First video: he was great! And yi were connected 🙂 And I agree, he didn’t love that toy all that much.
Second video: he definitely loved that toy! You can also tie together several toys, especially if he likes fur or fleece toys. That will make it even more fun to chase the toy. His focus forward was perfect, and you were great with your fast transitions into the game and you connection. YAY!!
My only suggestion is that as soon as he reaches the toy… you can start running the other way so he chases you. He wanted to take of with the toy, so running the other way will help get him coming back to you. Now, because he is so young, he might not bring the toy with him LOL! So you can have a second toy with you in your pocket, to reward him when he comes back to you (with or without the original toy). We will fine tune the retrieve as he gets more experienced 🙂
Great job here!
TracyHi! Definitely have coffee before trying to win the race LOL!!!
>>Where did the gal with the cute golden boy find that AMAZING big toy with the long handle! Sid would love 💕 it.
That toy is from Floramicato and Clean Run sells them. They are actually pretty durable: my dogs use them in flyball and they hold up really well!
This is the toy she was using:
https://www.cleanrun.com/product/floramicato_fluffy_squid_tugs/index.cfmAnd these are the other toys Clean Run sells, they are all great:
https://www.cleanrun.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=page.searchResults
Tracy
Hi! It works!
>>PIVOT!
(do you hear Ross from Friends now?)100% yes. I hear it every time I say the word pivot. LOL!
Also, if this is the full session, it is not really too long (4.5 minutes approx) for his age. You know I would tell you if it was too long LOL! And nice focus in a busy environment.
It is possible the line was inhibiting his movement, he was tending to stop when he was touching it. Next time: naked Papillon!
One idea for the shaping the help things progress more:
Throwing the reward off to the side was getting more pivoting because he can get on from the side and pivot back to center (and past center, heading to where the next throw will be)) – so if you are standing at 6 o’clock , throw to 5 and 7 so he leaves the perch then approaches sideways and pivots around on it. When you tossed to 12 o’clock, you didn’t get quite as much pivoting (some hind end tap dancing LOL but not as much pivoting).
He was offering it in both directions, but more frequently to his right – so changing the cookie tosses to the 7 o’clock side should encourage more pivoting to the leftMaybe you should be in a low chair to get his head into a slightly lower position, chin only slightly raised (we don’t want it too low, but when his head is way up his weight is shifted back which makes pivoting harder.
One other thing to make the session really smooth: During tugging, pick up the perch so he knows to get back to it when you put it back down, otherwise he was unsure what to do after you take the toy back, because the little perch has kind of faded into the background.
Great job! Keep me updated!
TracyBaby Ramen’s first session of Focus Forward and Driving Ahead:
I am confident that he will win all the toy races LOL!
Hi!
Good questions here:
>> re: tugging
She is strong. And when she tugs it hurts my neck and shoulders. Also, she gets a bit amped.Is it important that she tug?>
We use toy play in training to help with arousal management: it is a great way to get the dogs stimulated enough to ignore distractions, and it is a great way to get them as stimulated as they would be in a trial environment (and teach them to control that stimulation and keep arousal levels centered). So, it is good for the pups to learn to get amped and work in that state… without getting over-amped 🙂
Plus, some of the games are easier to play with toys because the toys are bigger visuals and easier to use as targets or thrown rewards.
But with that in mind… we don’t want powerful tugging to hurt your neck and shoulder! So toy play does not have to be tugging 🙂 You can use toys that she can shake and chomp while you cheer her on (then trade for a cookie), or large toys like hollee rollers that are easy for us to throw and dogs love them, and we don’t need to tug on them. I also have a lot of toys on bungees, which provides protection for shoulders/neck/back because the bungee absorbs plenty of the energy. And with my more powerful tuggers, I will leave toy on the ground and stand on the bungee part of it: so the dog is tugging happily and I am not getting wrenched or pulled too much.
let me know if that makes sense! What type of toys does Mai like to play with? We can see what she likes and use them, while also protecting your shoulders and neck.
Tracy
Good morning! You are doing a great job with the tech!!!!
The focus forward game looks fabulous! Sid is focused, driving straight (no curling out or flanking out even as you added your movement), was turning the correct direction back to you, and bringing the toy back! YAY!!! You structured the session really well to gradually add more distance, while maintaining your connection. Click/treat for you 😃
Session 2 had even more movement from you and he was still fabulous. He is leaving you in the dust but also decelerating to set up the turn back to you with the toy. You asked if he was running straight but your videographer was too task focused LOL so yes, he is running straight and not flanking out. SUPER! (And the videographer did a great job of getting both of you in the video).
So since this went beautifully – add in right side reps. These were all on your left side, he was lovely, so now let’s get the game going with him starting on your right side as well. I am confident he will be fine with that too!
And, since you added movement with no problem, you can go fully to the advanced level and try to win the race haha! So after throwing the toy, try to get there before him (feel free to cheat if needed, gently pushing him back so you can get ahead). If you get there first, you win! You can have a big party with the toy, then do the next rep and I bet his wins the toy race by a mile haha!!!! If you can’t win the toy race, he wins every time? Perfect! LOL!
>> Think I need a longer handle toy or a leash on it……
He was doing a great job about not running off with the toy, but a bigger toy will make it easier for you to grab without as much bending. You can try a large Hollee Roller which sits higher off the ground, so it is easier for him to grab and also easier for you.
Great job here!! Onwards to the next games!
Tracy
