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Good morning!
Good job with the focus forward game! You can now start to move the bowl further away, so he can start moving further ahead of you. You can start the bowl right in front of you, put the cookie in it (while you are holding him), the slide the bowl away – if he looks at it, you can let him go.
Adding distance will make using the bowl a bit unwieldy at some point, so you can switch to using a lotus ball or treat hugger (much easier to throw!) or a tug toy for this game. That will really help you expand the distance he can drive ahead.
>>was trying to lead him around instead of moving him into position. I think it worked a lot better but I need to work on his just following my hand I think.>>
Lining him up is the hardest part of this, because he doesn’t really want to follow a cookie lure to line up. So here is an idea: he was fantastic with the decel game and drive directly to your side. So you can mix that in here to help with lining up! After he comes back to you and you want to start the next rep, you can toss a treat behind you and then have him drive forward to your side for a cookie. Then you can gently take his collar and he will be in line up position for the next rep of driving ahead 🙂
Looking at the 2 bowl game:
>>I didn’t really point but felt like he was going to the bowls better tonight.>>
Yes! He was offering a LOT of behavior, going back and forth really fast! Super!! And he was not relying on your placing the cookies as a lure – he was offering to go back and forth before you put the cookies in. Super!
He is ready for the next step: if sitting on the floor like that was comfy, you can sit on the floor and put the upright in front of you for the next session.
If sitting on the floor like that was NOT comfy 🙂 then you can sit on the Klimb and try the 2 bowl game. If he is happy with that and goes back and forth easily, you can add the upright.
He did really well with the decel game too! One thing this will also help is the lining up at your side – he wants to dance around in front of you or be a little further away to ‘do the thing’ so this game of driving to your side can really help get the line up position to be valuable too!
You can definitely add in the pivots to this the next time you play, and you can also try it outside or in a long hallway, where you both have more room to run before decelerating 🙂Great job on these!! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
You and Hazel were great here! One thing I really loved was that after that little ‘ready dance’ moment, she was pretty explosive to the prop. That is what we want! Yo can add a little more excitement to the ready dance to get even more of that quick-feet drive to the prop.
She was looking forward to the prop really nicely here too! It looks like she is ready for you to do the advanced level with the sideways and backwards sending.
Great job here!
TracyHi!
Good job getting the rhythm started! He was offering a lot of good behavior, with a couple of sit moments mixed in. I think that after 2 or 3 back-and-forth moments, he loses his train of thought for a moment, perhaps, so ends up in a sit.
So for the next session, try getting 2 back-and-forth from bowl to bowl… then either break off for a tug moment, or toss a cookie out away so he leaves, then comes back towards the bowls for another couple of reps.You can also let latent learning kick in – rather than daily practice with these games, you can rotate them so he sees each game every other day or every 2 days. That can be really effective for letting his brain cement the learning (and it will be easier to do this as we add more and more games 🙂 )
Great job on these!
TracyGood morning!
>>First off, thank you for all your replies, even while getting up at the crack of dawn and staying late to course build at the US Open. >>
Thank you for the kind words! Things are nuts this week LOL!!
>>I don’t know how you are doing it. >>
I could lie and say it is good time management, but the truth is that it is a lot of caffeine LOL!!!
>>(BTW, I was not able to open your first Wobble Board video, it said Private)>>
Thanks! I will try to convince YouTube to let me fix it.
Looking at the wobble board – I think he was keen to eat the treats, but the board itself was really hard so he was not comfy putting his back feet on it. He was more interested in the toy, so you got more front feet which is good! He did get his back feet on it a couple of times with the toy but then he immediately took his back feet off, which means he was not entirely comfortable with that.
So the next step is to help him want to put his entire body on it: start by stuffing all sorts of towels under the wobble board so it barely moves. It will be a tiny bit unstable but generally won’t move more than 1/4 inch. And that way you can use food or toys to help him jump on it, run across it, etc. Make it really easy for now then when he is really happy to put his whole body on it, we can start fading out the towels and stuff that is supporting it.
Nice work!
TracyGood morning!
Really nice session here, especially for the first time with this challenging skill! You got the behavior going immediately by being quick with your reinforcement and precise with your placement – that is really awesome!
>>Her coordination of eating and working with the cookies so close together got messy. Next time I’ll do short cycles, just a couple reps then break to reorganize her mouth!>>
Yes, that was the only hard part. I don’t think you need shorter cycles but you can slow down the quickness of the cycle: cookie between your feet, she backs up, gets another cookie… then you can stand up for a second or two which will get her lift her head and swallow her cookie 🙂 Then when she swallows, you can bend over, put the next cookie between your feet, and so on.
The other option is to use ‘slurpable’ treats that require no chewing, like little bits of cold string cheese. That is both visible and easily swallowed 🙂
The next step is to start to mix in reps where she backs up a little more (and some reps where she only needs to back up a step or two, so we are only gradually increasing the challenge).
Great job here!!! Baby girl looks great!
Tracy
Hello and welcome! He is super cute 🙂 Is he a Pizza 2.0?
I agree – cross training can make each individual sport better! Elektra does both flyball and agility, and I can see how the skills work together for both 🙂
I am excited to watch the videos! They are listed as private – can you change them to unlisted so they are visible?
Thanks!
TracyHi! I’ll watch the videos below when there is more coffee in my system 🙂
But for seminars: first and foremost, be an advocate for you and your dog. Avoid using any punishment or unfair practices. Limit the # of failures to no more than 2, so her rate of success remains very high. Break things down if the challenge or environment is too hard.
Reward all the things 🙂 and listen to her for feedback 🙂 and, watch your video between turns to get an idea of what was going in.
Try the various crazy handling options 😜 as long as she can be set up for success.
And enjoy the ride! Most seminars with fast baby dogs don’t produce a lot of clean runs in the seminar – they produce short blasts of brilliance and good homework lists 😀Thanks! I’ll look him up! The game has been around for a while because we’ve been using patterns like this for a long time 🙂
Good morning!
>>How do I post videos? Do I put them in here or on my youtube with a link?
Yes, you can put them on YouTube then copy/paste the link here.
>>Do I keep playing until I get mastery or just go on and keep revisiting?
Play each game maybe 2 or 3 times til you have it pretty good/roughly right and lots of value, then move on. No need to get mastery of it.
>> Will I be able to keep doing new skills without mastery of each one>>
Yes, many of them build on each other so that will help develop the skills fully.
Tracy
Hi!
Looking at the video in reverse – all of the reps where you were on the far side of the wing in the 2nd half of the video looked really good! The only challenging stuff was when you were on the takeoff side of the wing and she had to send a little bit past you.
I think a couple of little tweaks will help her out:
>>After I watched the video I can see that I am too pointy & I did not start with my dog side leg & arm back a little.>>
Yes, a little too pointy towards the jump, and you can point to the takeoff spot more than at the jump.
Also, as you indicate the takeoff spot , be sure to look at her cute face and not at the jump. When you looked at her, she got it pretty well! When you looked at the jump, she didn’t get it. For example, at :57 it seems like you had connection to her and she got it. Compare to the next rep at 1:00 where you were looking at the jump and pointing at it, and she did not get it.
So definitely connect more and point to/step to the takeoff spot.
Also, because this was hard and she will turn naturally, you can tweak the placement of reinforcement a little so that she has more value of the jump: toss it to the landing side of the jump rather than deliver it near you.
>>To commiserate, I stepped in dog poop 3x in the last 2 days and it was my own yard!>>
Eek! I can relate, I have done that at home. And after the little bit of public shaming on Facebook yesterday, suddenly the grounds here are MUCH cleaner – I have not seen any random poop anywhere! LOL!
Nice work here :) Tracy
Hi!
I have asked some folks for more ideas on who is local to that area. To reach Karen, you can try http://www.oncourseagility.comT
Hi!
I am glad the Cato board is helping! Keeping making it a high value place for rewards and you can use it eventually as part of the remote reinforcement game too! And her chill looked good as well 🙂
One thing for classes and agility in general – the front clip harness that sits across her chest & shoulders can restrict her movement, so you will want to take it off for running sequences so she can move naturally. That will mean practicing the leash going back on using a neck collar in agility, like she would see at a trial.Nice work here! Keep me posted on how she does!
TracyHi!
The engaged chill delayed pattern game looked good! She was able to be stationary in an exciting environment and just hang out. You can add a leash to it, to simulate what trials would be like.
>>either laying near me while I pet or scratch her or putting her front legs on my lap while I scratch or pet her. We haven’t really done a behavior like this while I am standing, so that is what I worked on. Would you eventually add a verbal to this?>>
Super! This has great potential! Try it standing and try it in different places so see if she still likes it 🙂
Eventually you can put a casual verbal on it. I say “hop up” and pat my leg to invite the dog to chill like this. They recognize the context pretty quickly.
Looking at the remote reinforcement video – this game definitely shifted her arousal because she was vocalizing a lot more than I remember her doing! She was able to do all the things and ignore the treats, but it was definitely hard. So keep playing it in little bits and pieces, to help her rehearse it. I am sure she will be very happy with this game with some practice 🙂
>>a little worried about where I had the reinforcement.>>
Yes, she totally did seem a little worried about the location especially at first (but then was fine by the end). Maybe the sound of the food container opening at the beginning was worrying her? But she seemed to have gotten over it by the end. You can have a specific reward station that you use all the time (like a portable chair or table) so she doesn’t have to think about new reward stations.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
Pudding shots are delicious, highly recommend! Yesterday was Oreo flavored and today will be chocolate and strawberry 🙂
>>I’m still working on the leash on/off routine without much progress. She is patient while I put the leash on…almost to the point where she offers a sit. Once we start moving around with it on, she is totally disengaged and running in circles.>>
Do you mean at home/in your yard she is doing this frantic-sounding behavior with the leash? It is possible that the leash changes arousal state A WHOLE LOT which is exactly why we want to work this game… because the leashes required in most agility scenarios.
>> When I get her to slow down and stop, she sits and then I wait her out to connect with me. >>
What if you put the leash on, and did some heeling (fake heeling, it doesn’t have to be precise LOL!) for cookies? Make the leash use a less arousal-shifting thing for her with food. Or, a snuffle mat can help too.
>>If I try to play games with her, she gets too aroused and the mouthing/jumping up starts. So, it’s definitely frustrating for us both. Any suggestions?>>
I think just getting her to move with you giving her treats will be a good start. Then when she is less frantic about it, you can do the leash off/engagement on game. It is the type of game you can do in the house, in a calm place, so she can learn it without the stimulation of the obstacles.
And try to get some video, so we can see what she is doing and help her out!
Keep me posted 🙂
TracyThanks. I definitely need some pudding shots.
Hi!
>>Gemma barking in the background for authenticity! >>
Ha! Gotta make it trial-like LOL!

>>I’m a little concerned about the pink panther game in the real world. She could stay in my yard. But, she’s barely hanging on in class with whining and ready to go. >>It is entirely possible that the cartoon games are training-only games, to take her into the more trial-like arousal when you are in environments that are a little too relaxed 🙂 And in trials or classes, it is possible that the environment itself puts her into that arousal state so you will want to be an all-business handler. Teach her the game at home and see how she does!
Leash off/engagement on looks super good! You might see her start looking at the jump when the leash comes off and that is fine too – focusing forward on the line is always good! And knowing that she is going to engage when the leash comes off will help you worry less about what the start line procedure will be.
>> You can see she almost left on one rep here based on my motion. >>
I think that was just because you were not entirely clear it was a stay – the leash came off and you started moving away right away, so there was not a really clear indication to stay. But when you asked for the stay, she was perfect!
>>Do you want to see the pink panther in my yard?>>
Yes please 🙂 We want her to know the game because it has a lot of applications besides just being used on the lead out. For example, if a dog is scanning on the way to the start line and acting uncomfortable, we can play the pink panther game heading to the first jump and that can immediately et the dog looking at us.
>>Also, where’s the engaged chill with the remote reinforcement? Do we add that later?>>
It is a long way off – we want the engaged chill to be really solid and we don’t often need it in a remote reinforcement application. It is 99% of the time something that is done outside the ring and very very rarely do you need it at the start line.
>> I didn’t do the tug to the line today. She didn’t seem to need it and my knee is still pretty bruised.>>
I agree – she was pumped up and I am sure your knee appreciated the extra day of healing.
Great job!
Tracy
