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Hi!
This SSC game looks really strong! I love that she got right back on the toy without needing you to get up and run around LOL! You were great about swooshing the toy around to make it enticing and irresistible:)
Her forward focus was fabulous 🙂 It was fun to see her deliberately look at the line even with a cookie right there in your hand. EXCELLENT! She had a double whammy of self-control happening there: passing the cookie in your hand and going around the cone instead of just diving on the cookie in the bowl 🙂 Super!!!
You can keep moving the bowl around the cone, picking up where you left off here with her on your left hand. And switch sides so she can do this on your right side too (but start with the easy reps to make sure she can do it on that side too.
Great job!!
Tracy
Good morning! She did really well here!
For these collar grab, try to come in slowly and from the side rather than fast and from overhead or over her face. There is a natural reaction of backing up/looking up when we reach over their heads or directly towards their faces.But when you reached in from the side (like at :35 and :56 and after that with your right hand) she was happy to come in to you and looks like she was even moving towards your hand! Perfect!
Great job here!!
TracyGood morning!
Plankrobatics on the teeter plank when GREAT! You had it braced really well so there was no movement other than a little bounce and a little noise: perfect!
>I did sense that he noticed the banging noise.>
Noticed, yes. But he didn’t seem concerned or tentative at all. The next session will tell you: if he jumps right on like a wild man, then there is no need to dampen the sound. If he acts tentative at all then yes, dampen the noise with some towels.
Rusty seemed more than happy to play on the plank. My only suggestion is to keep your hand lower for now, so he doesn’t have to lift his chin to get the cookie. Lifting up was causing him to lose his balance on the turns to when he was walking across. When he had his head lower, he was beautifully balanced!
So aim for having the cookie hand low (just at or above your knee) for him to follow when you are asking him to sit, down, or turn around. He didn’t need a cookie hand at all when going back and forth – that looked great!
>Also I assume that having the plank a greater distance off the floor would be advantageous, in which case I am going to have to fetch a dog walk plank which I can elevate further with cinder blocks.>
Yes, but no need for that any time soon. He is growing really fast right now so if you use this plank every few days or once a week, he will be bigger and have to organize his movement because his body will be a different size compared to the plank. And you might be able to lift is a little more with another couple of bricks. You can get the dog walk plank out eventually when he is more of an adolescent and less of a puppy 🙂
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
That pop up crate is perfect 🙂 And it is great that he can see through the middle – it makes for an easier transition as he learns to go around it and not always see you 🙂
As soon as he saw his bowls, he got right into the game. Good boy!!! And he was going fast too. And he was great about ignoring the tug on top of the crate even when it was dangling or when it fell in LOL! So it combined in a bit of the stealth self-control too 🙂
This went super well – the only thing to add here is to move the bowls a little bit back to be in line with your heels. That is the first step towards fading the bowls out.
The plank being a little raised up went really well. Turning to his left was harder for him – either left turns are harder, or it was harder because he was turning away from you at the beginning? So you can lead him through the left turns very slowly so he can coordinate his feet even more. Turning to his right seemed generally easier for him, so both of you were able to move faster on the right turns.
Using this plank (and while he is still small haha) you can ask for sits and even downs. Hand lures are fine for that because sitting on a plank or moving into a down might be weird at first 🙂 but the position changes are great for balance while he still fits comfortably on the plank.
Great job!
Tracy
Good morning!
>I agree his affect was a little subdued. Suspect the pressure of the leaning over him and the concept, plus not as much “fun” as our other sessions contributed. >
In terms of physiological bounce back and resilience – this is not a bad thing, though! It is notable in terms of scheduling: don’t do it more than maybe once a week so his brain can work on carving out those resilience neural pathways. And it can be sandwiched with the woohoo-style games too!
>I’m also under a ton of work stress (annual impact report due for my program’s funder and setting up for our next ask to continue our program) not to mention the country has gone to hell >
Ugh, I am sorry about all the work stress! The stress of the world definitely piles on. I know you’ll present a fantastic annual report!
> and couldn’t sleep so got up at 2 AM and this session was at 4 AM when my wife got up. >
Ah yes, the 4am hour can be very productive. If only we could sleep til a reasonable hour though!
>I suspect this puppy will end up an empath like Rip (and most border collies I’ve had) so just gonna need more mental management on my end so real world stress I feel doesn’t impact them. Plus shorter sessions for this type of stuff and more play breaks like you suggest.>
Boy dogs are often empaths! It is one of the many things I love about boys. And I think you are sp tuned into your dogs’ emotional states that they co-regulate and tune into you. It is so lovely! Mental management is good for the general life anxiety we are all experiencing but also I do expose my dogs to my nerves in training sometimes. My theory is that I am going to be nervous sometimes (big important run, working with a big name seminar presenter) so if I feel nervous or super stimulated, I let the pup see/hear/smell that for a bit despite all of the cool tools we have to calm ourselves 🙂 And I try to do it only when I know the pup is about to have a great time, to get some associative learning going. I do work to hide any life stress, general frustration, and my general rage at current events, which is good practice for mental management skills.
>FYP a bit of Ripley training the puppy for me,>
That was hilarious!!! Was that Vibe making those little tiny tug growling noises? I think most of it as Ripley but I believe I heard a tiny voice in there too?
> a peak into what I suspect his stride will be>
Lovely! Do you have a stack photo? I am curious to see his structure.
Your slow, quiet, crouchy readddddy steaddddddy was so fun in the switch moments! He seemed to get really engaged with that and the switching is going well!
Position changes are going well! He was processing the cues really well, even with the motion added. You can do a bit of pre-conditioning training where he sits on a small platform for the tight sit work or does stand to down to stand on a longer platform (Cato plank).
>my somewhat craptastic attempt at cone wraps with SSC. I>
I see nothing craptastic here. I see a lot of benefit and great work!
>I’m going to leave this exercise here for now (we have tried both directions). >
This video went REALLY well and it was to his right, which might be the harder direction! Good boy!
>His knowledge of the concept of cone wraps is interfering a bit >
That might be benefitting you!!! His natural ability to tune out distractions combined with the value/understanding you’ve built on the cone allowed you to progress all the way to him running over the bowl to get around the cone. Wow! From the viewpoint of what we are trying to do: We don’t need to see any struggle or error when introducing challenging elements into the games, because we can rely on the knowledge that his brain is processing it.
>and my mechanics are not great >
I think the combination of kneeling and using one hand to hold and the other to point might feel weird, but the mechanics were still good here. My only suggestion is to move over a bit so he can see more of the cone – it looks like you were blocking the line to the cone a bit. It was hard to see where he was looking from the camera angle, but it looks like he was also tossing his head a bit when he knew where the line was LOL Border Collies tend to stare at the line, but other breeds will present other behaviors like tossing their head along with the looking at the line.
>but I feel like he got the benefit out of this we were aiming for >
Yes – it is about brain stuff and not actually training cone wraps 🙂 And you were able to add your wrap cue with the bowl present! Super!
It is a good game to revisit here and there (not as a daily thing) – you can challenge him to go past a bag of treats or even a cookie in the bowl. Or you can repeat the process with a toy! This helps with the impulse control on food/toys and builds to excellent placed rewards.
> we don’t want to do a ton or tight wraps at this age.>
Yes!! Honestly, we don’t want to do a lot of tight wraps until they are physically adult. But we can definitely teach concepts at this stage that lead to easier training in the future 🙂
Great job 🙂
Tracy
Good morning!
Sounds like fun! It was more of a pattern game/engagement session which is incredibly valuable in the new and exciting environment. The novel-exciting random object can be added into a familiar environment with any of the games that she is already good at.
The parallel path game went GREAT!
>On occasion she was leaping over the prop and I didn’t reward. Is that correct?>
Good question – leaping over the prop when she is going fast can be rewardable, although when you did not reward it :09, she hit the prop SO HARD on the next rep (:11) that I almost snorted out my coffee hahaha! She went over it one other time later in the session (no reward there) and smacked it really hard on the next rep too. So I think you can maintain the criteria of hitting it because she seems to have a good understanding.
Going past it entirely (:22) is not rewardable 🙂 so I agree with the no reward there.
You were ahead of her on a bunch of these reps – the next step is to start right next to her and see if she will drive ahead of you. That will set us up nicely for the rear crosses!
>I couldn’t figure out the rear cross part. I’m so ahead of her on the parallel path. >
The trick to the RCs is that you start right next to her (you both begin moving at the same time) and she will drive ahead of you to the prop. That will allow you to change sides and be fully visible on the new side before arriving at the prop. If you are ahead, she is probably not seeing the side change in time so turning the original direction.
For the countermotion: the backwards sends and sideways sends are looking great! You can start moving forward as soon as she is past your send foot: this probably means you will need to start another step or two further from the prop than where you ended here on the video when you send her. Keep your connection and hand pointing back to the prop as you slowly move forward. That last rep tells us she is ready for you to leave even sooner now.
Great job!
Tracy
Hi!
The countermotion game here went really well too. He was being very good with his commitment. To add more countermotion – you can do a big send (arm and leg) and as soon as he passes your foot, you can keep pointing to the prop and looking at it, but you can slowly walk forward before he gets to the prop. Feel free to reward for getting close to the prop (and you can even toss a cookie back to it to solidify the commitment)
One thing to add here is the ready game before each send (or tugging) so he is driving hard to the prop. That will make it easier to start moving the other direction sooner too, because he is will be more pumped up to go to the prop.
Great job!Tracy
Hi!
Adding the toy also added in more excitement which is great! He wanted to look at you more (because TOY!) so he had to work a little harder to get commitment to the prop. Well done maintaining criteria for when he didn’t exactly hit it – that helped him understand how to earn the toy. He did a great job taking his eyes off of you and looking at the line to the prop. Yay!
For the next steps here, you can use the toy as the reward and incorporate the start cookie so you can get further ahead to ask him to still find the prop. And you can use the toy when starting next to him: can he still drive ahead and leave the toy behind? When he does drive ahead, you can throw the toy as a reward.
Lovely sessions here!
Tracy
Good morning!
The parallel path game with food is going GREAT! Mojo immediately figured it out and was able to stay on the line (even while chewing LOL!) You were adding a bit more distance which is perfect – he had a couple of close-to-the-prop moments where you maintained criteria and didn’t reward. He had a lightbulb moment on that and got right back into very clear hits of the prop. SUPER!
Using the food reward, you can incorporate a start cookie (tossed away so he goes to get it) so you can change your position to get further ahead of him.This challenges him to still commit to the prop even when you are ahead. And you can also start right new to him: this will challenge him to drive ahead of you to the prop (which sets you up for the rear crosses to be added).
Great job!Tracy
Good morning!
>The outings also help humans’ mental support. It’s one of my favorite ways to relax, out walking with the 4 dogs off leash, doing their thing.>
Totally agree! Sunshine and fresh air work miracles on my brain. Plus there is something magical about just watching these dogs run and play.
The backing up went great! She was able to offer a bunch of independent steps backwards without you needing to move.
When you added the mat: the destination really helped her out – she has good back feet awareness here!! And the mat keeps her moving straight. Since this went so well, you can take a step away from the mat (add more distance) so she takes a few more steps backwards. Then if that is easy? Move a little further away 🙂
And when your back is feeling good: add some tugging! Or you can let her run around with a toy (save your back) – then go back to this backing up when she is in higher arousal. Can she still back up and think about her feet when she is more aroused? That is super helpful for dog sports so we start it in these early stages of training.
Excellent job teaching her the pattern game! Yes, it looks like she was used to more of the running back and forth but she very quickly caught on to adding engagement to get you to throw the next cookie. Brilliant! This game is great for learning to ignore distractions and to regulate internal arousal, so it is something to practice regularly. You can also take it ‘on the road’ with high value treats, to teach her to engage in busier places too!
It is also a good game to teach Rebel, because it will help with her arousal regulation.
Great job!!
Tracy
Good morning!
>Question, am I using the same cookie to have her release the toy & toss the cookie?>
Yes, you can toss the cookie away as the reward for the trade, which gives you a little more time to move the toy out of the picture.
The Folding It In game went great! She was very focused on the bowl (and was happy to start without you haha!!). You got the bowl a little past the halfway point – you can start there in the next session then keep moving the bowl around the cone so she eventually has to go past it to get to the cone. You can work that element of it with an empty bowl so it is a little easier than going past the cookie in the bowl.
>Again I’m not good at getting the food in the bowl quick enough before release – She wants to GO! >
Yes – it looks like she immediately understood the assignment LOL! But you can hold her longer, no need to release immediately. That small delay builds in a bit of duration on the forward focus in this stage – and in the next stage when the bowl is even further around the bowl, it gives you time to indicate the forward focus and see where she is looking before you release her. Looking at the line? You can let her go. Looking at the bowl? Don’t let her go because she will probably skip the cone 🙂
Plus adding that little delay before letting her go will help us when this eventually becomes a stay behavior: looking at the line and going to the line are two separate things because you will be releasing the stay (she will not be going to the line as soon as she sees it :))
Pod shaping:
>I feel like I totally forgot how to shape a behaviour!
You did great!! My only shaping suggestion is to have the treats in your hands already so it is a very quick delivery after the click. Ideally you get the treat to her while she is still touching the pods.
>Sometimes I fee like Sunnie doesn’t think as hard, if that makes sense. >
Based on this session: I think she figures things out very quickly and moves fast! That means she is thinking but she is also communicating about what is happening when you don’t get the desired behavior (see below)
>I do have to realize she is a puppy and she is not Kelsie! >
Truth! Kelsie has a different approach and is adult – baby Sunnie is doing great in a different way!
>When I see this, should I break it down even further, not sure how I did with the pods. In the moment I asking myself oh should I have marked that?>
She offered a lot of behavior with the pods and you marked plenty of good stuff: touching them, looking, sitting by them. So why was she not getting her feet fully on the pods?
I think the question here was not that she was unsure that you wanted pod behavior – I think it might have been more about the shape and texture of the pods. They are hard and have those stick up thingies – many puppies do not like standing on them. She did put a foot on them a lot but never really put her full weight on them. So my guess is that she was totally thinking and offering, but it was kind of an icky feeling to stand on the hard nubs so she was not offering it.
We can test that theory by doing a similar shaping session with getting her to put her feet on something small – but use a softer/smoother texture (maybe a small box?) and see how she does.
She did great on the wobble board! She was very happy to offer behavior on it and the noises seemed to be no problem at all 🙂 You can add a soda can under it if you want more slam in future sessions or take the wobble board to a harder surface to make noise on. And you can totally add a tug toy into the game too: she might really enjoy slamming the board around while tugging, because the tugging encourages weight shift into her rear.
Nice work here! And let me know how she does with the foot shaping on non-pods 🙂
TracyHi!
He had zero questions about leaving you behind to get to the toy first. Yay!
Then he was taunting you with a victory lap LOL!! You can shorten the victory lap with a trade for a second toy or treats.He still beat you there when you tried to cheat to win – good boy!! He even leaned in to give you his collar when lining up for the rep where you won – that was great (also, nice job cheating to win 🙂 )
>You will see at the end why I’m currently sitting on the couch icing my knee>
Oh no!! That looked painful!!! Hopefully your knee is already feeling better!!!!
Nice work here!
Tracy
Hi!
This was a really good refresher of the wraps! He seemed to remember it right away and got right into wrap mode. Moving the barrel away went really well and he was super successful!!He had a little trouble going to his right around the barrel when it was at its furthest point (but not to his left, that was still easy). You pulled the barrel in a little closer to get some success then pushed it back out and he did great.
When adding distance to the barrel, you can keep the barrel far away on the left turns (from your right to your left). Then you can step forward to the barrel so it is closer when he is going to his right (from your left to your right) so there is a little less distance at first, then I think you will be able to work up to staying at the the same distance from the barrel the whole time.
Nice work 🙂
Tracy
Thanks for the explanation! Link sounds really fun! I am not sure about the knockout format of flygility – that might result in a dog running way too much?!?
T
