Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
As with the game above – start with your back to the wall so he remembers to come in front of you and not offer anything behind you. Going behind you here is MUCH easier than wrapping the big new thing LOL! Smart dog! This is especially true if he has learned any go-behind behaviors. So, we take that option out by putting you up against a wall 🙂 Then you can move away when he figures out the wrapping.
He did get it going but he also had several reps of going behind you (especially to turn left rather than turn to the right) so if you move away from the wall and notice he keeps going behind you – move back to the wall so he can’t do that.
So for the next session, start with the folded pop up crate and you with the wall behind you. After he gets into the flow, you can open up the pop up but stay with the wall there to make sure he builds the value of wrapping in front of you.
T
You did a great job of breaking this down! I think he probably needs you to start this with your back to a wall at first, so he remembers that it is a not a ‘go behind the momma’ game. He got into the rhythm really nicely after a cookie or two. You can break off the session to play tug if you have another hand LOL but you can also open up the pop up crate to add a little more challenge right away without ending this session and starting another one.
T
Good job with these toy races too! On this session, you got the toy landing more in front of him so I was not as worried for your safety 🙂 He also won the race where you tried to cheat with the cookie LOL!! Good boy! You cheated more on the next reps then he completely smoked you after that. Perfect!
He also really liked it when you ran the other direction after he got to the toy – he turned and immediately came back to you. That was super! Great job here!
TReally fun toy races session here!! I liked how you cheated to win on the rep with the cookie toss haha! Note how he was even faster on the rep after that! The mechanics were really strong and it was a super choice of toy. My only suggestion is to throw the toy so it lands on a straight line in front of him – and not in front of you. I was worried that he would curl in and knock you down in the race to get it 🙂
This is a good game to take on the road if you have access to other spaces! It is a super fun way to get engagement in different environments.
T
Good start to the backing up here! He is tall, so it is hard to keep your hands low LOL! But you did a really good job of getting the rewards in fast and low, so you were able to get some good backing up steps! Super!!!! Keep going with this til he gets the flow of doing 4 or 5 steps back.
T
Hi!
He was definitely happy to offer behavior while stimulated here! Super!!! As with the earlier disc session, he was offering only 2 feet on when standing – you were using your position a bit to get the back feet on, which is fine to get that started. So the next step now is to use 2 of the big discs or 3 or 4 of the little ones, all squished together 🙂 so he can get all 4 feet on them in a stand 🙂T
Hi!
I think this might be a bit too hard for him at this point, in terms of balancing while standing (note how he keeps wanting to sit). Before coming back to this one, try getting him to stand on just a couple of discs squished together, so he can get super confident with all 4 feet on something that moves a little.And when he is ready for a plank to move, do you have access to a wobble board? The plank here was moving out from under him when you released him, which he didn’t seem to love that much (he was a little reluctant about it afterwards). So to keep confident high, let’s separate the two: first get the balance and confidence with four feet on some low discs, and then we can add the wobble board.
T
Hi!
He seemed very confident here! He wants to face you, so throw the treats on a perpendicular line so he moves through the end of the board rather than stop in the middle and face you 🙂
Do you have access to a longer board? I think he is ready to see something longer for him to move back and forth on, and also something a little higher too!T
Hi!
He feels comfortable getting his front feet on, yay! Now we can aim for getting all 4 feet on while he is standing. Toss treats to the side rather than feed him on the disc, so he doesn’t offer a down. You can also wait for 4 feet on before rewarding – he is not totally comfy balancing with all 4 feet on with just one disc, even though it is big – maybe set up a playing field with several discs so he can get comfy standing with all 4 feet on something without feeling scrunched.Tracy
Hi!
I agree, turning foundations went super well! My only suggestion is that since she is so small, you will want to bend over to deliver the cookies so she doesn’t reach up to get them – she should have her chin tiled slightly downwards (this will be easier as she gets bigger :))
Looking at the prop sending…
Try not to say go>>made it very clear that she loves working on my right not my left… and not just a little. We are doing obedience and everything is on the left so I am a little surprised, my right is my favorite handling side so maybe she senses that>>.
I think it is possible that she is a lefty and not a righty, s the sends on your right side were easier for her (because they are left turns).
Also, on your left side sends at first, you were too far from the prop on the first couple. As soon as you got closer… she was the prop send very nicely. All dogs have a ‘bubble’ (how far away they are comfortable sending) so for now, stay a little closer and inch your way back to add distance over the course of a few different sessions. I think you will find that this is easier on anything involving a left turn, so make the left turns gradually harder at first, keeping the right turns easier. The right turns will catch up 🙂
>>Forward focus revealed a problem with collar grabbing all over a sudden. I think the forward drive was good, but I will be working on grabbing her. Not sure what happened at the vet.>>
I agree that the driving forward looked great! And yes, she did not want to come in for the collar grab element. I don’t think it has anything to do with the vet, it is probably ore of a young BC behavioral milestone where she wants to stay out away to do the ‘work’ and doesn’t find the physical contact to be super reinforcing. She also lets go of the toy a lot when you touch her during play, so that leads into it as well.
With that in mind, work on transitions from tugging, to gently touching her, to more tugging – and also you can use food rewards for coming in close to you after tugging, to reset the game. You might need a high value cookie, because the ‘work’ and the toy seem to be super reinforcing! So without trying to focus forward, just play some tug- cookie- touch collar – tug games and see how she does (and keep me posted).
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
Sounds like she has had a rough time lately but I am glad you are getting into the swing of training 🙂Both pre-games are going well!
Paw target:
She was definitely getting the idea of the paw target here! Yay!A couple of ideas to help get the behavior a bit faster:
Before you start the shaping session, and before you pt the target on the floor, have the cookies ready in your hands so that the delivery is super quick, almost instant.. and so she doesn’t look at your hand or pocket as you get the cookie out 🙂Also, since she wants to offer the sit and down when you are on the floor, let’s put you up on the couch or in a chair, so she is less likely to offer the down and more likely to offer the targeting. So yo can sit in a chair, get the cookies ready… then put the hat down 🙂 That way the hat is very interesting and you can get that first click in right away.
Tossing the treats was great for getting her out of the down, so definitely keep doing that 🙂
You can also more tug breaks so you can pick up the prop, play a bit, then put it back down. It is a nice mental break for her, balances the toy and food drive, and gives you a moment to reload cookies and plan the next part of the session.
Nose target: she is doing well here too!
Same as with the foot target – have the cookies ready in your hand so the delivery is super quick and so she watches your hand and pocket less. As the session went on, she was watching your hand & pocket more and more because that is where she could see the rewards being delivered from. And for this one too, let’s more your position up to the couch or in a chair so that she isn’t also offering the sit or down because you are low.You can add more tug breaks here too – Like to break off the cookies for tugging after every 4 or 5 cookies, to give the pup a mental break and let me switch hands, reload, etc.
Great job here! Onwards to the next games!
TracyHi! He was a good boy here!
Bear in mind that since he is so small, you can still outrun him (enjoy it while it lasts haha!) so you can show him that it is OK to win. I think he was being polite LOL!!! So when you throw it and race, you can set him up to win by letting him go before you start to run, so he has a head start. Then when you start to move, you can run a little less fast so he wins 🙂 As he gets bigger and faster, you can try to win more by starting to run at the same time as you letting go of him.
So for now, try a few more days of letting him win… and then we can see if he is ready for you to try to win 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi!
He was great about getting all 4 feet on this plank! Yay! And it fits nicely with the emphasis of getting all 4 feet on all the things. So definitely keep this in the rotation 🙂And as I suggested above… no other dogs in the training zone LOL! You can see that his corgi sister was a distraction here so he didn’t always know what to do and you missed some reward moments because you were telling her ti lie down (and then he was confused and ended up in a down LOL!). She can wait further away, so you don’t have to split your focus between the dogs and you can give your total focus to him 🙂
The next step here is to toss treats off to the side, so he can run to get the treat then come back to hop on the board with all four feet. And you can add in luring him around in a slow circle, trying to keep all four feet on the board.
Great job!
TracyHi!
He is doing really well with these games! I have some ideas for you to build more of the behavior we want, while also isolating his hind end.
There are a lot of different sessions here, which is fine at this stage to get a lot of confidence built up. So now we can strategize to isolate the hind end more and getting his whole body on things, rather than just front feet.
To do that, take a ‘less is more’ approach and stick to the same behavior for more short sessions, rather than changing things as often. Also, bear in mind that there is a strong physical component to all of these so at 12 weeks old, he will get tired easily – I suggest just one session of the goat games, per day, otherwise he will begin to compensate because he is tired.
The next step is to get him to put all 4 feet on or in things. He was GREAT about getting all four feet in the big bowl on the 2nd video!!! Super! So keep that one in the rotation for now, maybe do it every other day. Feed him with his head a little higher so he can keep his feet in the bowl (dropping the treat in the bowl might cause him to pop a foot out to get the cookie) and you can also toss a treat off to the side for him to get, so he can run back and get all 4 feet in the bowl again.
The other thing I think you can prioritize for now to get all 4 feet on is the fitbone. He was close to getting all 4 feet – you can take a semi-deflated disc or another fit bone and put them close together, giving him a bigger playing field to get all four feet on. As he gets more coordinated (on the 16-18 week range) he will be able to get all 4 feet on the same item, but for now add 2 or 3 items together.
With that in mind, you can take the 4 paw pods out of the training rotation for now, it is just too hard for him to get all his feet on and it is also possible the odd feel weird to him. So put them away til he can get all 4 feet on other things, then eventually we can bring them back out. You can also skip the hind end pivoting on the disc for now – it is too hard for a pup to balance with a big inflatable and move his rear, so he was getting wobbly pretty quickly. Plus, we can emphasize getting all 4 feet on things for now so you can deflate that disc a little and use it next to the fit bone to encourage all 4 feet on things 🙂
I think your other dogs were REALLY good about staying in their downs! They were a little too close – that adds pressure to the pup and also a bit of distraction, as he was trying to multi-task figuring out his coordination AND watching them and seeing them get cookies. That was causing him to focus on more on your hands & treats. To help the pup out, ask the other 2 dogs to be in a stay outside of the shaping zone, so maybe 6 or 10 feet away. And in the middle of the training session, at this stage… no cookies for them LOL!! The total focus should be on Charlie 🙂 Please send the other dogs my apologies and give them cookies before and after the session haha!
Great job here! Let me know wha =t you think!
TracyHi!
I think this went really well! Yes on the first video, trying to do that little push-back-and-run game was fun for him for recalls, but he was too fast for you to get the blind cross in 🙂
On the 2nd video: You did get plenty of great blinds in! And on the last clip too. I think the more important thing than the blind cross is getting him to understand (and enjoy) going from cookies to toys to cookies to toys. He did pretty well with it! To get him even stronger with this, use the lowest value, smallest cookie you have, and place it in a bowl so it is easy to see. Send him to get it from the bowl, and then as he gets it call him as you run away: and use the best, craziest, furriest toy you have 🙂 So the boring cookie versus the amazing toy will definitely get this even easier for you :). Eventually you will be able to use fun cookies too, but for now, use the boring cookies and the amazing toys and you’ll continue the success he had here 🙂
Great job!
Tracy
