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Hi!
Strong session here! Looks like you started off clicking for back feet, then went to waiting to click for front feet. It went really well!When you went to the bigger cushion she got a little sideways: you can start with her having all 4 feet on it and luring her front feet off then click when she steps them back on. That can get her used to the surface and how it moves, so she will then be better able to process the mechanics of backing up. Puppy brains are NOT great at processing new surfaces AND hard motor skills, so you can break it down each time a new surface is added and then you will see her have an easier time with the motor skills.
On the next session, you can start the stool a little further away from the carpet or cushion and see if she is able to add more steps backwards!
>> I also ordered some more tugs from Clean Run (been putting it off for 2 months probably because of my mental block against toys lol).>>
Perfect time of year for it! Should be some good sales!!!
Nice job here!
TracyHi!
>>Wow you guys were working super hard! The magnitude of setting all those courses! >>
Yeah, it was a beast of an event but we have it down to a science š And planning for next year began today LOL!
She did a great job adjusting to all of the distances here! The bounce distances at the beginning and end looked great. She bounced the 6 foot distance but I am curious to know how she felt about it – she didn’t seem comfy, so it would be interesting to see if she would still bounce it or add a stride.
The 12 foot distance was good – she used lovely striding! Just be sure that you give yourself room to keep dragging the toy forward so she has plenty of room to land and stride to it.
So keep varying the striding so she can be exposed to all sorts of distances š
Looking at the backsides:
You were a little too rotated towards her on the first rep – – on the others you were facing forward more and moving to where the wing and bar met, so she got it. Yay! Her only question on that line was at :36 when you curled away too soon (I call it a banana line because the line of motion was curved like a banana :)) On all the others you kept moving straight forward until she locked onto the backside.When you moved more to the center of the bar, she was not quite reading it so you can angle the jump a bit so the entry wing is pulled towards the wing wrap you started with. That can help her see the entry even as you get further and further over.
>> I am not sure I did the exit line part correctly. Am I missing an obvious nuance? hahaha
You can look at the landing spot (and point back to it with the hand next ot the jump) as you move forward. You were looking at her (understandable because she is so cute!) as you moved forward, so she was not sure if she should take the jump or follow you. Add in letting her see you shift your connection from her eyes to the landing spot (and point to it too) and that should help you be able to move forward even more.
Transition video:
>> Is it ok to use the verbals on these or are we wanting to teach them to tune in to the body cues?>>
Yes, totally ok to add your verbals on this š And it helps us humans get used to using our verbals too š
The GO reps looked good!
The decels were a little late which is why she was a little wide sometimes (like at :16 where you were starting the decel as she was preparing for takeoff), or if they happened at the same time as you tried to turn your fet: you got a rear cross (like a :36)
But when you added the verbal (:57 and the reps after it) you also did a GREAT transition: earlier decel, good timing on the foot rotation and an excellent wrap! Yay! The timing on the decel was starting when she was a stride or two after the wing wrap, and before she passed you – perfect! The other side was good too but can be a shade sooner (she was hitting the noodle, which means it was a tiny bit late).
>> Do you have any suggestions about how to transition her to the class environment? Maybe I can ask if I can drop in on some of her more advanced classes and bring her crate and do pattern games nearby at first?>>
Yes to bringing the crate and doing pattern games š You can enroll her in a class that is at least one level below her actual level of training. That way the skills stuff she is asked to do is very easy, because the environment might be more challenging for her. We don’t want both the skills and environment to be challenging.
And also, prepare to be an advocate for her. If there is something you don’t want to do, or she fails too much (2 failure rule!) then you can politely decline to do it: “I am going to skip this one, she is not quite ready for it, I will practice it at home” or something like that.
>>Do you play with your dogs? Like throw the toy, fetch games. >>
Yes, as much as possible, but with a zillion rules so they don’t get hurt. For example, they can each go for a big run with a frisbee already in their mouth, but I rarely throw it for them (I might roll it, because that is easier on their bodies). I don’t do ball fetch because that is where they can slam themselves into the ground. I will do fetch stuff with bigger toys (like a giant hollee roller) or big tug toys. I also let them run together and play and wrestle, but there are strict “no slamming each other and no biting each other” rules. So the younger dogs (whippety dogs!!) are required to have carry a toy while they run around, because that keeps everyone safe LOL!
>>Iāve become so paranoid about saving their bodies that I donāt play with them and I feel like we are either training or they are bored.>
Relatable! You can let them run around with something in their mouth that you hand them, and see how it goes! I also play tug with my dogs regularly and for no reason other than to be silly LOL!! For example, every night before bedtime, I play a silly tug game with Ramen: he tries to put the toy in my hand while I wave my hands near his face, and while I yell “onion chicken filet!” over and over in a French accent. Then I grab the toy, tug, let go, he runs in a circle, then brings it back for more of the Onion Chicken Filet game. No, I have no idea where that came from but it is definitely a game LOL! So you can make up little silly non-training games too š
>> I donāt leave toys in the house for them to play with on their own because Bazinga is an āIāll eat itā hazard. So they kind of donāt know what to do with themselves when we arenāt training. I feel like I forgot how to just have dogs vs athletes and they are missing out on just pure dog fun.>>
What can Bazinga have that she won’t ingest? The Kong wobbler is really fun, and maybe a giant chew bone? And I don’t leave most of the tug toys around, they are up on a counter or something and easy for me to grab and play with.
>Iām looking forward to the next class. Iām kind of hesitating on trying to tackle weaves on my own, so if you are going to be offering a course on that Iām definitely interested!>>
We might have to wait til spring so there is no snow š I will keep you posted, I hope to have more classes posted by the end of this week š
Tracy
Hi!
>>Also, I am pretty darn reluctant to us a BC on such a young dog, since he might go anywhereā¦!
He has been spot on about following your handling, so he is totally ready to do the blinds. The blinds will get you further up lines and can be started/finished sooner, which means he gets the info sooner. And if he ends up somewhere unexpected? It is great feedback that either you were late or not connected enough or on the wrong line. This is all good info to get from the pup š
>>I tried to leave a toy on the ground (not on the line but for after the run) but he had a really hard time ignoring it. We will work on it but for now, Iām sticking with throwing it. At least he brings it back in my barn. Still working on it at Markās place (Highest Hope Dog Sports) where I take lessons from Jen Pinder.>>
You can work on it separately for sure on something simple like wrapping a wing to a tunnel (with the toy on the ground past the tunnel), or use a Manners Minder if he finds that easier to ignore. On the bigger sequences, throw it sooner so he is not looking back at you. And you can ask Jen to throw it or place it during your lessons.
>>Interesting thing that Iād like your feedback on: Casper will work well and willingly for about 15 minutes. That includes actual work plus toy fetching and some tugging. >>
That is actually a really long time!
>>BUT, when he is done, he is done. Yesterday, we played a bit and I threw the toy and we played a bit and I had the toy; then when I asked him to line up for another rep, he just didnāt.>>
We have always known that going too long is not great for the dogs, and now the neuroscience types have told us what is happening ‘under the hood’ š What you are seeing is that he is depleted, physically and mentally. The brain of an adolescent dog burns so much glucose (trying to process the bombardment of sensory information, trying to self-regulate arousal, trying to move properly, and so on) that they reach a point where there is simply not enough energy in the brain to power the brain and body. The behavior people call it ‘expensive’. There are actually some interesting studies about how depletion leads to impulse control errors (including reactivity) which helps explain why dogs cannot do things when cued, if they are depleted.
>> It looked like playing keep away but without a toy involved. Of course, no recall. After a bit of BS, I got a couple more reps on the A-frame and got ready to leave.>>
Yep – depleted. Doing the aframe or anything in that state can actually be more detrimental (building in overarousal/frustration as well as the icky feeling of depletion) so it is far better to do what Bob Bailey says to do when we have pushed the animal too far: bang head here (spot located on the wall LOL!!)
>> He was totally on board with that, no problem with recall or anything: he met me at the door, I put on the leash and we walked up to the house.>>
Yes – that requires no really brain energy.
As a side note, depletion in different dogs/breeds can look different. It can look like Casper’s “I am done!” behavior, or it can look like overaroused, frantic behavior, or slowing down and sniffing. We don’t want to see any of that, of course.
>> But I would like to train (with breaks and so on) for more than 15 minutes. Ideas?
Very very gradually build up to it while simultaneously waiting for him to be adult and not adolescent. And always always be finished before he is showing the depletion signs because all behaviors build neural pathways, and we don’t want those behaviors to become entrenched in his brain. Set a timer and resist the “just one more” rep that we humans all like to do LOL!
Gradually building up to it will allow the “expensive” behaviors to develop neural pathways so they are easier to produce and therefore less expensive/burning less glucose. That can help expand mental endurance. And in between reps, you can give him breaks to walk around and sniff (which resets his system better than chasing toys would)
So you might start at 2 or 3 minutes then give him a break – getting to 15 relatively continuous minutes of activity takes a while. And yes, he can probably run around with Enzo or chase a frisbee for 15 minutes… but those are not ‘expensive’ behaviors for the brain.
I also feed my dogs a lot – before training, during training, etc. Anything to get more glucose to the brain is fine with me! This is especially important with the toy-driven dogs, because it can become all burning energy and not replacing it.
>>(aside: I have not done much with working Enzo and Casper alternately because the non-working dog SCREAMS. My only solution has been to drive the van down to the barn and crate the non-working dog in the van. I suppose I could just plan on that every time.)>>
This is relatable. The van is a great option because they can each get breaks.
Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
This first video was noted as engaged chill, but it was volume dial with remote reinforcement – definitely very active and not chill LOL!!
I recommend adding the leash to this – so he can get used to moving away from the treats with you, and doing the tricks, then going back to the reward station. He definitely had his eyes on the treats so moving away from them was hard.This second video was the engaged chill. Try to get him to stand still more by doing the up and down with the treats (putting them on your shoes) rather than tossing them side to side which causes him to move.
As you do the up and down with delay, try not to look directly at him – he thinks it is a cue to offer stuff š So, just delay the pattern game treats and look around casually, as if watching the ring or planning your handling.
3rd and 4th videos were the remote reinforcement with tricks – he seemed to be able to move away from the treats at first here, but then found it harder as each session went on. So you can mix in doing just one trick then going back to the treats, then 3 or 4 tricks before going back, or moving far away towards a different jump before going back… I think moving a little further away might be easier because the treats are not so close they are distracting.
And yes, he didn’t want to turn right here – maybe because it is the harder side to turn for him, or maybe because it turns him towards the treats very directly and that was harder. Either way, you can use the left turn spins when you are close to the treats, then add in the right turn spins when you get further from them.
Driving forward video 1 – this is going well!! You be connected on your lead out so he holds the sit (he was up and moving on the first one here and on the stay in the last video too) and also don’t lead out as much – we want him to get ahead of you š So you can lead out maybe one step ahead of him, but that is all when working on him driving ahead of you.
Was there a placed toy at the end? Try to give him that as a focal point so he drives ahead of you and doesn’t curl back to you on the last jump.
Driving forward video 2 & 3 (same sequence): the sequence went well! I think the backside of jump 3 was very close to the wall so he thought the front side was a better option. You can angle the jump to give him more room there so he doesn’t have to be as close to the wall.
He drove ahead nicely on the ending line – you can see him collecting and curling back to you on the last jump, so having a toy on the line will keep him driving straight through the end. This will be very useful especially as the distances get bigger. To practice bigger distances in the indoor space here, you can take out the middle jump so there is more yardage on the straight line after the tunnel.
On the last video, you did the FC 3-4 and that was your best line to the 4 tunnel! Yay! He read it really well! And as with the others, have that placed reward out past the last jump so he can drive to it. And if there was something there and he was still curling in, you can go to a higher value reward so he can drive to it even more.
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi –
This is the double snuffle mat engaged chill – he was unsure of what to do at first, and was offering behavior and movement. So you can start the game by establishing the pattern, then gradually slow it down. That can help him go into the most ‘chill’ behavior. And you can put several treats in the snuffle mat each time you do it, so he spends a few seconds sniffing around (that can really help the chill).
Great job on all of these! Let me know what you think!
TracyThis is delaying the pattern/Engaged chill – this went well. It was hard to see what you were looking at, so hopefully you were looking around as it planning your handling on a course š The next things to add would be a leash (he will be on leash when you use this game) and also doing it in front of mild distractions (like other dogs walking around). Eventually you can try it while other dogs are running courses!
Great job!
TracyThis one is remote reinforcement with a sequence. I am glad you did this! He seemed very happy to run the sequence with your hands empty and great job for adding in some easy reps of just little tricks for the reward. And, he is not locked onto the reward station: he is ignoring it until you use the marker. YAY!
The only thing I would add to this is the leash – bring him into the area on leash, play at the reward station, go to the start line, take the leash off, toss it to the end, run a little sequence, go to the leash/put it on, then out to the reward station.
You don’t need to do a lot of reps of that, but rehearsing the whole thing will be very helpful for him as you start to build up to doing real trial runs.
Great job!
TracyHi!
This is remote reinforcement in front of the jump – also looking great, no problem at all. His only question on this one (and the previous video) is at the very end, when you walk away to turn off the camera. You can have him come with you as if he just finished the course. Onwards to adding this to sequencing!
T
Hi –
This one has the next steps of the remote reinforcement game – lots of tricks and more distance. He was offering the spins before you even asked for it LOL!! I think he has the idea of this and is doing beautifully, so you can start adding in sequencing (it might be posted below).T
Hi –
This is leash off/engagement on – also looking great! He doesn’t seem to think about anything other than offering engagement when you take the leash off, and that is perfect.Keep rewarding it in all environments, just to maintain it. Looking terrific!
T
Double gold star to you for playing the game properly AND having the correct music going!!!! Ha! Love it!
It certainly put him into a higher state of arousal (look at how hard he was breathing!) but he was perfection with his stay. Nice! A little twiychy but did not break. You might not need to use it on the start line at a trial, but you can certainly play this in training to get him into the higher arousal state he will be at a trial. That can be useful for start lines, and also weave poles and contact criteria – getting him more stimulating will help his brain and body feel like it does at a trial š
Great job!
Good morning!
I think he did really well here! Yay! Most (all?) of my suggestions are about trusting him more and using better position on course, so that you can easily get to all the positions on the handling cues. He seems to understand how to stay on the line, so now you can use that to your advantage.
One overall thing: you can use more placed rewards or early throws on the lines, especially the ending lines. He is looking at you a lot, probably because the toy rewards are coming primarily from your hand after he is finished. If he has trouble bringing it back, you can use a less exciting reward and then trade for a more exciting reward š
On the simply pinwheel circles where he is going to the tunnel on his line, you can send to 4 sooner and use more accelerated motion 5-6 and earlier tunnel verbal. You were quiet and decelerated, so he was looking at you and curling towards you over 5 a lot (:09 :24, :37, :54).
Also, since he is doing so nicely on his line: you can totally use more lateral distance away from 4 and 5 and 6 to more easily get the BC on the tunnel exit and the serp on the landing side of 7. You can do this by sticking closer to the edge of the 3 wing, sending to 4, and staying on that line to accelerate to 5-6. Then as he is locking onto the tunnel, you can easily start the BC for the exit (or the FC as you did here, but that takes longer to finish, which makes cuing the next turn a little harder).
For the serp on the landing side of 7, you can go past 3 but still be laterally away from 4 and 5. That way you can commit him to the 5 tunnel from pretty far away and easily get further across the landing of 7, so when he exits the tunnel he sees you on the center of the bar with serp arm/shoulders.
At :37 you had gone a little too close to 4 and 5, so when he exited the tunnel you were on a straight line path so he jumped long over 7, making the turn after landing.
He is reading the RCs at :26 and :57 really well (thanks, Jen!!). You can set them up differently so he reads them sooner and so you can actually be further ahead: rather than remain lateral, you can get closer to the 4-5-6 line and drive more to the tunnel, so as he exits the tunnel he will see you accelerating to the center of the 7 bar – that can set the RC sooner and he will drive past you, so you can cut across to the new line sooner too.
The other sequence went well too – this is where you can strategically use your position to set up the crosses 4-5.
For the RC at 1:06, you can send him to the tunnel and get further ahead and closer to jump 4, to decel then set the line of the RC to 5.
At 1:07 and 2:14, you were on the left wrap wing and so he was setting up to turn slightly to the left – then as he took off straight you said switch and gave the physical cue. He got the RC after landing, but setting it form the 4 jump and moving to the center of the bar will set it sooner (so he turns before takeoff) which also keeps you further ahead, without potentially diluting the wrap cues/position on the wrap wing.When you were doing the FC 4-5 (like at 1:19), you used lateral distance more strategically and that really helped! You can keep playing with trusting the 3-4 line even more to get closer for 5 for the FC (or a BC :)) – those can ideally start when he has landed from 3 so being really lateral will make that easy.
He did well with the throw back especially considering it was a new cue! On the first one at 1:22, the collection was good but you needed to look over your left arm to get the collection finished not your right arm. You made that adjustment on all of the other reps there and he was great! Yay!
Great job here! I think the main takeaway is to trust his understanding and use your position on course to set up the turns and crosses. Let me know what you think!
Tracy
ļæ¼
Good morning!>Weāre wrapping up our big trip to Florida (from California) for the US Open. >>
Hope you made it home safely and are getting some rest! I am sad that I didnāt get to see you and Ripley more than just waving a hello as I was running by LOL!!!
>>My biggest priority was to try to make sure Ripley had a great time. I kind of had in mind that this year our goal was fun without a ton of pressure since weāre still such a new team and need more mileage to push to be super competitive. >>
Mission accomplished! He looked great in the videos!
>>I think he had a great time and was super surprised (and happy) that all of our focus on āTransitions to Trialsā stuff and recent NFC stuff at home really carried over.>>
That is fantastic!!!! YAY!!!
>>Our biggest challenges this past year in shows (vs at home) have been sits on the startline, startline stays and contacts. Over the 5 days of the US Open he sat on EVERY startline with no or minimal delay, only broke 1 stay (and just a partial break ā moved forward but didnāt take the first obstacle) and only missed 1 contact. >>
Super! He looked really good on the start lines in the video below – moving into position quickly and holding them pretty well even though he was definitely excited. Maybe a little more soft connection on the lead out will help support the ādonāt moveā criteria but otherwise, I wouldnāt change anything.
For the contacts, he has gone to moving contacts – not quite stopping, not quite running š So you will want to choose which you want to be able to clarify it and be consistent with it.
ļæ¼
>>since I donāt want to rush him right back into too much training the next few days.>>Between the length of the event and the air travel, I would give him a week off from any ātrainingā and just let you both clear your heads and rest, with some hiking, playing, running around, etc.
>>He did some amazing work and only had 1 run where things really fell to pieces. >>
Considering the challenge of the coursesā¦. Only 1 run coming off the rails is GREAT!
>> but he always immediately found my face to get better direction and immediately got right back on track with no fallout or frustration.>>
That is critical! Yes, there were a ton of Es at this event so be sure to minimize frustration was really great.
>>Posting our last run of the event on day 5 because I was so proud he was still able to do everything I asked after being here for a week. >>
LOVELY run!!! It was a nice course too!
>>On the video he does look like his tail wrapping the wing on the tight wrap was what caused the wing to wobble and the late bar drop. >>
What happened in that moment was you were ahead so you decelerated – then sent him past you and accelerated. It is what I call a āreverse transitionā where we decel so the dog is thinking collection then we accelerate so the dog thinks extension but we are accelerating through a turnā¦ so the bar comes down. The dropping of the rear/tail is his effort to adjust over the bar.
Two things will help that: strategically not getting as far ahead so you can show the turn cue and still get to the next position (this will come with more experience on these whopper courses).
And, using the brake arm to cue those āsoftā turns as you keep moving.
>>Iām not sure what to do about that as it does seem like a good number of his bars this is whatās happening.>>
Three ideas for you:
– from the handling perspective, start your turn cues sooner, with brake arms for the sort turns, and strategically thinking about using motion to support the cue rather than trying to accelerate and turn all at the same time.
– more plyometrics and conditioning to get more power from his rear. A Cato board for organizing the plyo helps and so does the zig zag grid. He is probably in fabulous condition but just needs one more notch of plyometrics so he can have more effortless power over the bar as he is processing handling cues.
– a bit of jump proofing in high arousal, where you show him late cues or sudden bursts of motion and reward heavily for not touching bars. This is done from the viewpoint of setting up success and I live by the 2 failure rule (2 failures in the session means I need to make it easier). Here are some ideas on video, oldies but goodies starting with low bars:
Let me know what you think!
āØTracy
Good morning!
He did really well getting stimulated with the toy play but then giving it back and offering behavior on the mat. YAY!! The mat behavior here is not that important – the important behavior is that he could regulate his arousal and interact with the matā¦ after letting go of the toy then ignoring the toy in favor of shaping. I was so happy to see him do it!!
You can see how much brain energy this burns: at about 1:00, he was a bit exhausted by it (mentally) so it took longer for him to respond to the āthank youā cue and he was rolling on his back. So while he was very successful here, you can keep these arousal regulation sessions shorter (45 seconds) and then end with tossing cookies on the ground for him to snuffle around and eat š
You can repeat the session with you standing and being a bit wilder with the tugging. The goal is the same: getting him to be able to relinquish the tug and offer behavior when he is very stimulated.
He was great with the driving ahead!!! This video shows how small he is – totally a sports car size! I love it!!!
>>would you look at how useful camera recording is ā I saw Iām not looking at Obi when releasing at all! He bailed me out here ā¦>>
Yes! You can totally look at him more as you throw the toy. And also yes – video shows us that errors are 99% our fault, which is why I reward the dogs when something goes wrong : )
You can now start to throw the toy further and further, and start going into the toy races where you try to get to the toy first š
Bowl game is going well! You can keep the bowls in your hand until you are seated and ready ,so he doesnāt offer any behavior before you are ready.
He figured this out really well! The hardest part was going past the cookies in your hands (or behind you LOL!) By about 1:00 into the session, he totally had the idea. SUPER! So for the next step – you can be sitting in a chair or something that is halfway between sitting on the ground and standing up.
When you are in a chair, and if he remembers the game, you can add in an upright for him to go back and forth around.
And if that is easy (and I am guess it will be :)) you can add a little distance between you and the upright.
Then for the next session, you can keep the upright close to you and stand up š
Great job on these! Let me know how he does with the next steps!
Tracy
Hi!
The bowl game looked really good – easy peasy!If things are going well, you can change what you are doing after about 30 seconds so things are not as repetitive – rather than drop the cookie in the bowl so he can hear it, you can quietly put it in so he starts to offer. Then break off for some tugging (which might need to be in a different room if it is too hard to tug in a pool of cookie scent), then later on try again and see if he can offer it without hearing or seeing the cookie drop. That way you can make fast progress without things being boring š
On the blind cross video:
>And today we did some blind cross foundations. I think I need a little more space for this, because I couldnāt really move much, but it maybe wasnāt the worst way to start with a baby?>>
I think it was a great way to start! The session was not so much about blinds, because you know how to do them and your mechanics are good (and if you do it right, he will do it right, which he did) – this session was more about ignoring the distractions in the space, and also going from food to a toy. Perfect!!! He did great š
Yes, you can bring this to new places but because he is so small, donāt move so fast that he loses you. And you can also add in people holding him as restrained recalls with the blinds, which builds in a nice little element of āpeople are cool but ignore them.ā
>>Also, I realized weāve been doing tiny resilience walks around the neighborhood! Iāve just been taking him out on leash and doing little short exploration walks, letting him lead the way ā heās largely been great! >>
Yay! This stuff is far more important than we realize.
>>A little bit of initial stranger danger, where he wants to back away, so Iāve been moving with him, and he typically gets over it once the person is closer.>>
If he wants to back away and you go with him? Perfect! And in coming weeks, we will be adding games to help him deal with anything that concerns him in the environment.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!āØ
Tracy
