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Hi! Sorry for the delay, just finished a day long webinar!
I agree – this game is SO HARD because motion should not tip off the dog as we emphasize verbals. Eek!!
>>And honestly, I didn’t like them. I didn’t like what I was doing – way too many errors (thank goodness for reset cookies!) and I couldn’t seem to figure out how “to progress” without them – Felt stuck, not enough time to edit video, blah-blah, blah-blah, blah-blah.>>
This is pretty normal – some “meh” sessions then the skills lock in. Latent learning! This session looked really good! LOTS of huge successes!!! Good for you for regrouping and trying it again!
He loved the layering to the tunnel 🙂
At :13, it was fine to reward because at least he looked at you LOL! “Mom said something different!”
I was also watching this to figure out what he was cuing off of when he was successful versus when he was not, in terms of finding the jump or tunnel. I think what was happening was that he was reading subtle motion cues that were overriding the verbal cues:
– the tunnel cue was when you were moving parallel to the bar and with some speed
– the jump cue was when you were pulling away from the bar slightly and decelerated.For example:
1:09 – parallel – tunnel (correct)
1:15 – moving away – jump (correct)
1:23 and 1:31 – more parallel and more motion. Voice said jump but body supported the tunnel. (Error)So keep trying to have your motion and line be as identical as possible for these verbal-emphasized sessions. It is hard to move parallel to the jump bar and get him to take the jump with ‘closed’ shoulders, so you can start super close to the barrel so he is ahead of you the whole time and doesn’t need to be ‘serped’ in to take the jump, if that makes sense. The barrel can be on that same angle, but further away so as he rounds the barrel, he can drive ahead and see both the jump and tunnel.
The early ball throw totally helps – try to minimize your arm motion so that is less of an indiction to him. But also bear in mind that on course, we will of course use motion as well 🙂 So as the verbals solidify, your motion will support him too!
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
This went really well!
All of the tunnel sending and backside slices were really strong! The only question he seemed to have was at 1:27 when he looked at the jump before going to the tunnel. That was because you stopped in backside wrap position while saying tunnel, so he had to take a look at it. For now, et up a little more motion so he doesn’t ask questions about the backside wrap position – you can do that by not being as far ahead (starting closer to the start jump).Looking at the backside circle wraps:
I think he was generally reading them well!
>>Looking at the video I can see that often he can’t see that off arm due to my body blocking it so I want to figure out how to show him a clearer physical cue for this skill so he doesn’t read it as a slice.>>
I don’t think you need the outside arm that early or in that position (I sometimes do use an outside arm, but it is low and right before the dog gets to the backside wing, kind of a stop sign before the dog starts the turn.
The key to making the backside circles clearer will be the positional cue and decel if you are ahead, the positional cue is you where the wing and bar meet, so he can see the whole wing, with your feet pointed wherever the next direction is – and you wait there til he passes you (decel!).
And, the verbal should be quiet like the front side wraps, to draw him in.If you are behind, you will still run towards the wing & bar meeting point but you may not be able to decel if you are really far behind.
I think there is a misconception that the backside wraps and threadle wraps should have the same fast & steady motion as the slice versions, but the wraps all have decel. How much decel depends on the dog and the context like handler position.
On the video, staying in motion the whole time was what caused a couple of questions on the backside wraps:
He was a little wide at :29 because you were blocking the wing. And he ended up in the tunnel because you moved too early at :34, which pushed him off the line (he chose the tunnel as opposed to going through you :))
The next rep was better – better position, better patience.
And I think the threadle wraps looked good here too! You were much clearer that it was NOT a slice!
So the main thing is going to be the decel to set it up as well as the patience to get the turn before you run to the next position. You will know you have the turn when he turns his head AND starts the lead change the new direction. As he gets more experienced, you can leave as soon as he turns his head 🙂
>>Rip the sooner he knows what he needs to do the better, and if he doesn’t have all the info he’s likely to make an assumption OR drop a bar trying to adjust at the last minute for the late portion of my cue.
With the decel on both cues, he can see that as he is over the previous obstacle so that begins the cue – decel plus position (push wrap or threadle wrap) will really help!
He did have a bar down at 2:10 but I think it was probably a little fatigue at that point because the wraps and slices are all really challenging – the turn was nice!
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
>>Field is still under water so we’re on the front lawn again, no real room to open up yet.
I hear you are all under some type of atmospheric river or something. EEK!
This was a great session! It almost had a ‘proofing’ element to it because you didn’t do a lot of handling. In fact, your line of motion looked almost identical on each rep as he was approaching the first jump. YAY!!!!
>>He had 1 wrong obstacle – tunnel instead of backside of jump at the very beginning and then was fine. >>
That was probably the most important rep of the session. He was reading motion (your line of motion was pretty similar to the tunnel line you had just run) – then SURPRISE! Not the expected outcome for doing the tunnel. Not a bad outcome, just not the expected outcome, and that is how they learn. I have been geeking out on reward prediction errors and dopamine coding – fascinating stuff and that is why it is fine for the dogs to sometimes have this type of error with this type of human response 🙂
Speaking of line of motion: he had 2 bars on the rep at 1:06. That was a processing question because it really looked like your motion was saying tunnel but then he processed the jump verbal (first bar). Still rewardable, because it was a great response! And the reward was coming as he was in the air over the 2nd bar (the big yes) so he dropped that bar too, probably because he was in full brain-exploding processing mode. This is why I don’t get mad about bars – he was 100% fabulous on that rep and it was HARD!!
I think the reps at the end were actually easier because the line was easier to see and the tunnel was a little less on the line.
Yes, when the speed is higher and your have more room and you don’t have 10 days straight of rain, this might be harder but I think the main thing would be to add more speed into the challenges where your line of motion would be basically the same for both obstacles. If you stay in the smaller area, you can try adding more internal arousal with crazy tugging before each rep.
In a trial, I would probably add a little handling help (like a brake arm or decel, depending on the context) but in training, we can control the outcomes to the responses like you did here on reps 1, 2, and 3 to set up great learning. 🙂
Great job here!
TracyHi!
Another really nice session here! You did a great job showing her the difference between the jump and the tunnel after the switch away. Since she did so well, you can add the switch away verbal on the jump too, she is ready 🙂 I didn’t have it in the video on all the early reps because it was the first session and I wanted to be sure the dog could do it.Only one blooper, at :34 – you needed one more step like you did on the next rep, then she was back to being perfect.
Adding the rear cross to the tunnel – awesome! She was brilliant! I think she really likes these!
Give these skills a day off so latent learning can kick in – then try the bigger super combos.
Great job on both of these!!!
TracyGood morning!
This session went really well! You can tell she is figuring out the situation, where she would be asked to turn away and do the big layering. Yay! I thought your handling looked great – nice easy timing, clear verbals and physical cues, and great connection. Click/treat for everyone! And great job gradually changing the angle of the jump. So good!!!!
If you wanted to play with this setup again, you can see if you can hang back and not go as far past the tunnel exit – can she turn away without you there? It might take a few sessions but definitely something to work on.
Great job!
TracyHi! This run looked GREAT!!! You were running aggressively and that REALLY helped him!!! He was working really hard and was a super good boy 🙂 The future is amazing!
>> We are still learning how to go from tight sequencing to finding a jump out on the line >>
There were 2 spots on that course that looked easy but were REALLY hard with fast dogs – finding the jump straight out ahead after the straight tunnel at the beginning was HARD! Good job rewarding or staying in motion, even if a jump was missed. This was so lovely!
TracyGood morning!
>>Challenge 2: I never got the BC. I will have to make this easier with more distance and blocking the tunnel entry or taking the tunnel out for a bit. I am very late.>>
The tunnel is what gives us the feedback that the info is late 🙂 The goal is that you are finished with the blind and making BIG eye contact as they are jumping the previous jump. With Watson, that eye contact needs to be downward because he is really little – so you will literally need to look down to the ground. Connection with Levy should be easier.
Now to get that timing, 2 ideas:
– you either have to start much earlier and trust their commitment
or
– you have to keep your arms out of the way so they see the connection.Or both!
it is possible that you are starting with perfect timing but they are not seeing the connection because your arms are blocking it. Or, you have great connection but really late 🙂 Either way they would end up in the tunnel.
Let me know – you can freeze the video as they are in the air and that will tell you if it is timing, connection, or both 🙂
Tracy
Good morning!! This looked really good!
On the jump switch aways, your footwork was great when you were moving away from the camera towards the street. She read that wonderfully!
When you were moving towards the camera, you wanted to turn your feet to her more, so you can start with less of a lead out and then walk through it, so you are moving the whole time.The tunnel exits are looking good too!! On the first rep, she needed one more step to show her the jump. You gave her that on the next reps and she nailed it! Super! It is definitely a trained skill, so keep giving her that extra step for another session, then you can start to fade it out.
To add more motion, lead out less so you are still ahead but moving into position (rather than releasing her when you are in position). She’s definitely ready for that!
Try adding the motion in the next session and if that goes well, you can start trying the Super Combos in handling 6 🙂
Great job!
TracyGood morning!
>>. I have always tried to set the line midway between the obstacles…for a small dog>>
I think that is too late for her speed and commitment. Think of the cue timing as putting cream cheese on a bagel: start in one spot and spread it all around (keep maintaining it, calling her, etc) til she is reading it. It you start it sooner but don’t maintain the cue, she might be left to her own devices to decide what to do.
Keep me posted!
TracyThank you for butting in LOL!!! Great info 🙂 I’m totally going to need all of those ideas to keep the whippety dogs cool, they get hot so fast!
Hi!
>>Yeah I got a lot of push back from my regular vet asking for the full panel 🤷♀️
Range is 1.0-4.0 so he is low end. The lab even notes “ hypothyroid dogs can have a low normal T4 (1-2 ug/dL). Hypothyroidism may be further assessed in these dogs by adding a free T4 and canine TSH.” but I was told no further work up needed 🫣>>A million years ago when my Export was tested, I got push back too because he was youngish and not the typical fat/greasy dog. He actually lost weight. I basically said “it is not really intrusive and I am willing to burn the money and if nothing else, we will have a baseline if he is old” so they let me do it because they trusted my thoughts on his behavior changes. I do have the before & after panels somewhere if you want to see him, and the BC side of his pedigree (there was a LOT of hypothyroidism in the BC side of his pedigree, it turns out)
Then I took the panel results (it was sent to Cornell) and sent it to Hemopet for analysis (I know Jean Dodds is not everyone’s fave but her database is really good). She came back with “yes, he needs meds” and happily, my vet concurred.
Export’s case was not an anomaly, turns out that it happens a lot.
>He did have electrolytes checked too. He had a mildly low K (3.9) and normal is 4 but we were dock diving the day before so I assumed that was dilutional.>>
I am always on the lookout for Atypical Addisons, so we want to watch his Na and K ratio. It sounds like all is good though!
T
The T4 is a standard test on most bloodwork, but it is not provide sufficient info for any potential diagnosis. (That is the full extent of my veterinary knowledge, right there. LOL!) What was this lab’s range on the T4?
I believe the panel is the only way to go with a young-ish dog. A truely low T4 means things are REALLY bad. But with a young dog, you also need to see the TSH, TGAA, T3, FT4, and other values to see what is dropping, what is rising, etc. Like if the pituitary thinks the thyroid is not working, you will see other values increase, etc.
I found this useful for my non-medical brain:
https://cvm.msu.edu/vdl/laboratory-sections/endocrinology/thyroid-function-in-dogs
Have they tested his electrolytes too?
t
Hi!
Out of curiousity, what were his thyroid numbers previously? Or maybe they didn’t pull the panel, I can’t remember LOL!!!If his thyroid is happy – and it might be happy, but I do know plenty of relatively young BCs with autoimmune thyroiditis (if that is what it is called) – then it might be gentle conditioning followed by heat conditioning? So as spring goes to summer here, I work up the conditioning cycle for the dogs and then gently build up heat tolerance: sprinting in the heat of the day, etc. But it is gradual and I am careful – these whippety dogs run even hotter than the BC type dogs!
T
Hi!
>>Note to self, watch video or read field guide before attempting exercise
>>LOL!!! The session went pretty well, I think his only question was on the arm cue:
On the switch aways, I totally think an outside arm will help him. On a normal serp, it will be your left arm (dog side arm here) and it really never means a switch away. On the switch aways, you can bring that opposite arm (right arm) up before commitment so he prepares to turn. You were doing both the switches to the tunnel and the regular serps with left arm so it could have been either – and that is why he was confused and not necessarily going to the tunnel (waiting for more info on which it was).
After the tunnel fiesta, you did the outside arm more clearly at 2:21 and it was SO clear!!!
>>My handling isn’t clear and he’s really hot so I almost lost him and brought him back >>
A little hot, yes, but also he deflated when the handling was a bit grey. Running through the tunnels was great fun! And finishing the session at about 3 minutes without adding on the tunnel to jump section was smart training! Get the behavior, finish happy 🙂
Great job here! Onwards to more switch aways in the next session.
Tracy
Good morning! Thanks for being patient with me being offline yesterday!!
This was a really terrific session – lots of flow, lots of reinforcement, very happy-looking red dog 🙂
He was definitely very happy to do the big distance to the tunnel LOL! Wheeee!
Very nice blind to the threadle! You are going to laugh…. I think you were too early. LOL!! At :33 as his nose exited the wing wrap, you were almost done with the blind so theoretically, he should have turned immediately. So you can be one step later: look at him no your left side as he exits the wing wrap, see him look at the jump, use a jump verbal then do the blind.
The FC was better timed (pretty perfect) at 1:25 and you got a better turn on the FC. Now, I think with more exposure to the blind there, he will be tighter as well – and the blind can be super helpful for staying miles ahead on course. But it is also great to see the FC being incredibly effective there for him!
>> I did the 4th set up twice trying to tighten up his turn out of the tunnel and added a directional verbal, but didn’t get a tighter turn. I wanted to know your thoughts there, although we might lose speed tightening the turn>>
I think the speed will be faster if it is a little tighter. We don’t need him to decelerate in the tunnel to turn sharply, but taking out a couple of extra strides towards the fence will definitely be faster. I think on the last rep you didn’t get the tighter turn because he might hve been tired by then (he gets hot easily) or because the ‘right’ verbal is not that powerful in this context (big distance). You can try a big name call (first name and middle name haha) at the same timing as your right verbal was here (a few feet before he enters the tunnel). And try it at the start of the next session when he is feeling spicy 🙂 (And remember to run through the last jump before throwing the frisbee, so he keeps the bar up :))
Great job! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
