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The decels are looking super – both in terms of your handling and his response!!! I was going to suggest that you didn’t need to wait for him at the wing like you did in the first part, but you could get ahead and then decel to see if he could drive past you… and that is what you did on the 2nd part of the video. Super!! He was GREAT about reading the decel and setting up the wrap. YAY!! So keep doing what you did here 🙂
You can use this setup to show him 4 different cues: Go, rear, wrap, and backside circle, all in one session!
Nice work :)
TracyHi!
The zig zags all look good – it was HARD footwork for him, he really had to think about the leads! Good boy! The “bigger” and more obvious the cue was, especially when you were out at wing 3, the better he did – so keep those cues super obvious. He had a question on the 2nd to last rep hen you were not as obvious.
I think one more session of this, just like this, would be good – and it if works smoothly, you can then move the setup closer so that the bar touches the next wing (no gaps). That will challenge him to be even quicker with his footwork 🙂
T
Hi! The get out looks really good here! It was a little too easy when the wing was far from the jump, so moving it in closer totally upped the challenge! But he only had one oopsie of taking the jump on a go cue, otherwise everything looked good, including adding the blind. Yay!
>>I had a target out there to run a straight line, but I still tend to turn in. Maybe I need to draw lines on the ground for a roadmap. For obedience, I like using basketball and tennis courts. LOL.
You did a very admirable job of running straight! It is a wicked hard game to be straight in your running path!
I am glad everything is healing! Yay!!! The 4-6 week range puts us at the start of MaxPup 3, which will be perfect timing! We can just carry over any unused MaxPup 2 into that class if you want 🙂
TracyYou are correct – she will cut you no slack for connection questions 🙂 So placing the toy will make it much easier for you to manage the connection without worrying about the toy 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
>>I am not sure that she has this down enough to try to point and toe point at it. Maybe I need to return to ground level for this. JJ does not seem to understand what I want of her with this.>>
After reading this but before watching the video, I figured it would be a video where she struggled and didn’t have a lot of success… it was the opposite! She had a ton of success!!! It was a really strong session where she clearly knew it had to do with heading to the prop. Yay!
What was interesting is that she is very fast going to the prop and then very methodical about the actual foot touch (kind of hilarious, actually to see her be so methodical after all the tugging and the running to the prop LOL!!!
So, I score it a big win! What I suggest for the next session is using the toy only, rather than treat. Get her tugging like she did here, that looked great. Then do the send and wait for her to touch the prop. Then mark the touch and present the reward so she runs back for tugging. The click as a marker was great (your timing was spot on!) but I think that cookie delivery might have been putting her into ‘thoughtful’ mode.
Getting her into toy mode should help her be less methodical with that actual foot touch. And also, latent learning will help – in a day or two, her brain will have cemented this then she will be hitting it even more clearly. She is totally on the right track! Having seen her do the beginning of the prop lat week and then watching this today – massive steps forward! She is doing great!
Fabulous mechanics on the goat game 1 video! Great transition with he mat coming out last, which got you and immediate paw hit. You can now go to marking the paw hit and tossing the treat to the side, so she runs to get it, then runs back to smack the mat again 🙂
Goat trick 2:
>>She will typically do anything for food.>>
Me too, I can relate LOL!!
She did well on the wobble board wi the food! She was happy to stand on it and move around on it – terrific! When you had her working for food, she had her weight shifted forward and not evenly distributed into her rear. That is why tugging on the wobble board was a lot harder: to tug properly, she had to shift her weight into her rear, which as very uncomfortable on the wobble board. That is pretty normal! So to help her feel more comfy with the weight shift into the rear, you can stuff a bunch of towels under the board so it doesn’t move very much, and try the toy. As she gets more comfy with the tugging and weight shift, you can gradually fade out the towels.
She was super brave jumping on the peanut! Super!!!
Goat tricks 3 (plankrobatics :)) She was super confident here too! He was definitely more comfy turning towards you than away from you – try to have your turn cue hand lower, just below her nose level, so she doesn’t have to reach up while turning. That will help with the balance of the turn and even out turning to both sides.
On the taller plank, also no concerns from her! Yay! Good job stabilizing it with your foot so she had a stable surface. She had no question sabout jumping up, and great balance!!!! The jumping off looked good too 🙂 A with the previous game, a hand jut below her nose level will help her stay balanced on the turn-around moments, because when she has to lift her chin all the way up, it changes her balance so the turn is not as smooth.
Wing wrap foundations are looking good too! It took her a moment to get into the rhythm because she was simply engrossed in the first food bowl 🙂 You were great about re-establishing the pattern then it was smooth sailing, she looked great as you added the inflatable to go around.
So now we can start to add more:
– you can sit on a low chair or couch to play this
– you can add a wingless jump upright to go around
– you can start to add a barrel to go around too! I use pop-up laundry baskets for that 🙂The goal is to get her progressively going around bigger things, while we get your progressively closer to standing up 🙂
Looking at the backing up:
>>If she is in a huge state of arousal she had a more difficult time remembering where her hind end was going.>>
Yes, because puppy brain and processing: she is trying to process the arousal which means there is not a lot of bandwidth for something hard like backing up, so we start it without a lot of challenge in terms of arousal.
On the first video, she was moving backwards but I think it was more about following your hand in the first part. It was much better when you switch to having her on the mats.
So definitely keep going with the mat, but now she is ready to let her offer more and move your hand less: have her start with all 4 feet on the mat, the lure her front feet off. Then be totally still and see if she can step her front feet back onto the mat. So the hind end is not really involved yet but she is offering the backing up 🙂 Then when that is going well, you can lure all 4 of her feet off the mats and then wait for her to offer (don’t cue it with your hand) – when she reps even one back foot back on, you can reward.
I think the angled board was too hard for now, even when your hand was moving – she just couldn’t quite get the coordination of it, because she would have to shift her weight more forward in order to use her rear on the angle.So for now, keep her on the flat mats to get the ball rolling – then we can revisit the angle when she is more easily able to offer it independently.
Great job here!!! She is doing really well!!! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
This went super well 🙂 She had no questions with it and she ignored the bowl of cookies on top of the basket pile! Yay! I was just about to suggest that you stand up… and then you stood up LOL! Perfect!She has the concept we want her to understand here, so now it is time to move the skill to a barrel of some sort. The barrel will get used for all sorts of wrapping and commitment games – I use a pop up laundry basket from the dollar store 🙂 and one folks use giant cones. So, if you don’t already have big barrels, grab 2 of them (one for now, and the second for later on) and she can play this game on the barrel.
You can also try this game with 2 toys, to challenge her to do it when she is in higher arousal 🙂
Great job!!! She is looking great!
TracyGood morning! Lots of good training here!
I see what you mean about her being more in work mode in the resilience walk – probably because it was I the training building, which is associated with training (especially olfaction) so she might have thought that is what you wanted. So a resilience walk will work better out in the world somewhere, not associated with training or treats 🙂 The back room of the training center with all the “stuff” was a cool place to explore, but I think she was still in work mode and possibly indicating. So, definitely trying this someplace not associated with agility or odor will look and feel more like a resilience walk 🙂
Driving ahead looked great! The space used here worked well – just big enough to get driving ahead, not big enough that should would get lost or distracted. She seemed perfectly happy to let you run, which builds us up nicely into Toy Races! So you can totally take this to the training center next time you are there. For the yard, you can try a long line on her to get more running room without any potential recall mishaps!
Decel and turn – he was really blasting back to you on this one! It is a fine balance to let her finish chewing and giving yourself enough of a head start so you can be ahead and have time to decelerate.
>>She really seemed to be tighter with food treats than she was with her toy>>
I agree – I think it was because the cookie hand provided a vey clear target as you decelerated (at :36 and the last 2 reps, for example) so she could get right into position next to your leg. She was not as sure about using the tay as a target or if she should grab it, so the toy worked better as a way to play between reps. The toy and cookie use here got a lot of speed and excitement, but also got the collection and decel. Super!
>>The fourth video is the Prop game. >>
I don’t see the link here – can you repost it? Thanks!
Goat game video:
>>Here I can tell that my own coordination is failing me. I had a hard time making sure that I had treats when I needed them to keep her on the object and also to reward her for staying on the object.
One of the parts of the goat games is to figure out the training mechanics for each puppy. One suggestion is to get the cookies ready and in your hand while you are tugging… then take the tug toy away then put the mat down. That way the mat going down is the last thing that happens (and therefore incredibly salient to her) and you can get a quick first click and treat in. The mat was going in before the toy was fully gone and before the treats were ready, so she was not as focused on the mat – and would wander off a bit. A good example of that is :48 – 1:10 where the mat was in before the toy was gone, so she watched the toy get put on the chair and was watching your hands… so the mat was not salient and she kind of wandered away from a moment.
>>She does wanted off to try to find treats even when they are not offered to her. The area was the same area where she got rewarded a number of times for finding random treats on the floor from others who had trained their dogs in the building. >>
No worries! This will all go away and shift to great focus on the shaping soon enough. The mechanics will help that – try to tug, then get the food ready, put the toy on the chair… and then bring the mat in. That should get instant focus on the mat, and lots of rewards 🙂 And once that gets rolling, o can shift to tossing the rewards for her to go grab o she can then run back to the mat (which will be very stimulating!)
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning! Rear crosses are indeed hard and take time to percolate – but you are getting them!!!
>>She also tends to spin.
Most of the spins were coming when you were a little ahead of her and started pointing forward, which broke connection so she got frustrated – when that happened she would jump up at your arm and then spin. So always keep the eye contact connection and your fingers pointed to her nose, and that will help get rid of the spinning.
>>If I say left/right, she often turns on a dime BEFORE the jump.
That happens sometimes with baby dogs! You can delay the timing of the left and right, and just say “jump” (don’t say “go” because go means straight, and rear crosses are a turn).
But mainly, I think a placed reward will work wonders for her to be able to processing finding the jump AND turning, while you are running. You can go back to the MM placed out on the landing line where you want her to turn, or you can place the toy there! A couple of sessions with the toy placed out there will help smooth it all out, because she was really starting to get it nicely here 🙂
>>her vulture stay has progressed from a “mama beats me’ look to a “bad-ass border collie” look, so I’m good with it now.
HA! That is great! Probably because you took the pressure off by just being like “as long as you hold you stay, it is all fine” so he is a happy vulture now :) Great job!
TracyGood morning!
Good job with the tunnel warm up on the first video! And he did well with the wing to tunnel, with t he wing nice and close! I think the dark color of the tunnel and the big angle of the first turn into it is still causing him to ask a few questions, so stretch it out more fully so it is less curved and so he can see light coming through from the other end. That will help you be able to add more distance between the wing and tunnel because he will commit better to the tunnel.
The short tunnel at the barn was perfect, it really helped build up a lot of value and is a great way to add more of your motion too! I am glad he had fun and didn’t want to leave : )
The barrel wraps at home are going really well This was a short, fun session! You can hold his collar or do a ‘ready dance’ til you are ready to cue him so he doesn’t start without you 🙂 He definitely is liking the wrapping!
On the 2nd video from home… yep, he said a BIG NO to the wet tunnel, especially the side with the big curve. You can work the wet tunnel question with the very short tunnel, so it is easier for him to get through and he can see the reward – and it will still be wet inside 🙂 That is what you did in the 3rd video – so now you can add more handling and move the MM further away, working up to fading the MM out so that he can run through it with you holding the reward. And you can definitely wet this little tunnel down so he practices going through a slightly wet tunnel.
And he did indeed say he was done by the end – I think part of it is that he didn’t want to offer going through the wet tunnel and there was not a strong cue, so he didn’t really offer. So with the wet tunnels, go to your highest value rewards to help overcome the ickiness of the wet 🙂
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning! Lots of good work here!
Wind in your hair He is finding the jump really well! So now you can add more handling – try to give yourself a line to run that takes you past the jump, so you can run run run on the Go lines rather than stop to throw the reward. That will support the Go with a physical cue (and you can use a verbal cue as well).
The last couple of reps were a rear cross, I think, but there was not enough connection exiting the wing wrap to how him which line to be on, so he had questions then the video ended.Send and Serp: He is reading the serps really well! You were dropping your dog-side shoulder and facing forward to come in, which got him to come in but then I think it will be hard to get him to go back out when we add the next jump. So try opening up your shoulders to “face” the jump (footwork was perfect) especially when he is on your left side, s that can cue him to come in and go back out, without extra handling.
I think the hardest part here was him going to the start wing! Make sure you have big connection to his eyes as you send, and try not to move away to the jump until you see him committing to the wing. That will make that start wing easier to find for him.
Slice jump video 1: Nice! Remember to stay close to the wing, on the 2nd rep you were far from it which makes the slicing harder.
JF 2 – perfect! (Just one rep)
SJF 3 – also perfect (also one rep)SJF 4 – you were going out to 3 wings here and he had a lot of trouble holding his stay so feel free to throw lots of reward back as you get further away, especially when there are other dogs in the room complaining that it is not their turn 🙂 That can be really distracting for a puppy! He ha one really lovely rep but broke the stay on the ret – I think he was really uncomfortable about the other dogs and how far away you were going, so he kept following you. To help him out, increase the distance very gradually, by maybe a step every few reps, with lots of rewards for the stay. The slicing is great but we all want him to feel really comfortable in the stay.
Find the jump 1 – you can add a verbal if you want but more connection will help him find the jump without questions. He had a little question here because you were looking forward.
On Find the Jump 2, first rep, much better connection but you were pressuring towards him so he pushed away from the jump. The lat rep was better for sure, as you moved straighter up the line. Definitely keep adding connection and distance from the jump.RC from the tunnel: the GO on the first video looked great! On the 2nd video, you tried to get in front and pick him up on the other side (blind cross) but didn’t quite get the connection.
3rd video had a rear cross to start – yay! The first one didn’t quite have enough pressure on his line, but the 2nd rep was GREAT and he got the rear! Super! The 3rd rep was early and pushed him off the jump. Then on the last rep he was slowing down to ask questions, so be sure to mix in Go reps to help keep the speed up.Great job here! These skills are coming along nicely!
Tracy
Hi!
>>Just so you know, that would be an 8″ bar on Mission Transition. We haven’t raised a bar over 8″ for Hola yet in any of the jumping skills other than set point.
8″ is fine for now!
>> If I work in a ladder drill or set point during the week, keep jump height and distance the same as we did before?
Yes, but the new game tonight will replace those two for a while 🙂
>>So, going forward on the basic jumping skills (wing & 1 jump) like transitions, wraps, rear crosses etc. use 8″ height for now? I appreciate the advice to use a wing and one jump to practice the different turns, that’s perfect.
Yes 🙂
>>I’m also glad to know that doing the exercises 1-3x a week is fine. We love balancing agility training time with nosework outings. 🙂>>
Yes – the more we take it slowly, the better the outcome 🙂 Everything comes together very quickly between 18 months and 24 months.
>>One thing you mentioned in rotation was contacts and weaves. I haven’t done anything with either of those although Hola does love to jump on the end and bang the teeter. Will you have a separate class on contacts and weaves? Should I be starting to work on those now that Hola is 16 months old?>>
You can start them now for sure. I have the weave independent study and the teeter independent study – not sure if I am going to be able to do those “live” any time soon,
Tracy
