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Hello and welcome! I am so excited to see you here 🙂
The pre-games look really good1
She totally though the prop hit was a little BORING at first LOL! But she was super about hitting it 🙂 And if the thinks it is a little dull at first? That is fine – train the precision and value, then we add the crazy into it later 🙂
On the next session with the foot target, you can add in the sending game that we added this week. There is an element of action to it, which I think think she will find super fun.
The hand target look strong too! Holding the the target a tiny bit higher, so her chin was a little up, helped to get rid of any thoughts of foot smacks 🙂 You can try this game with you standing up next time. Otherwise, it can go on the back burner because we will revisit it as a handling game in a few weeks 🙂
Great job with these – onwards to the driving ahead!
Tracy
Good morning! Bummer about the video bloopers – I have done that and it is a pain LOL!!!
She looked great on the video here:
Great focus forward and you did a great job being connected/looking at her when you let her go!>>Yesterday when I did this game (video error) I used a 2nd toy to get her driving back to me which always works well. She usually races all the way back and drops the toy to grab the 2nd toy I have in my hand. Today I decided to see what I had if I didn’t use a 2nd toy (I did have one on me just in case I needed it) and I thought she did quite well! She loves to whack herself with the toy but she also loves tugging with me, so she has that incentive to bring it back. I try to give her a good tugging party for bringing it back hoping that will help with the retrieve.>>
I agree, she did really well here without the 2nd toy being visible. I think she will bring it back more directly if you move the other direction, either running away or backing up. Standing still is less enticing than you moving away, when the other toy is not present.
When you added a bit of going the other direction she did bring it to you more directly, (especially on the last rep) so you can start moving the other direction as soon as she gets her mouth on the toy.
And definitely keep playing the game where you have that 2nd toy, because it also helps solidify the retrieving.
You can move to the advanced level of this game! She is ready for some toy races 🙂
Tracy
Hello and welcome!!! 11 months old is a great age for this – you can add to foundation and also survive canine adolescence 🙂
Have fun!
TracyHi!
Yes, it is here:
The recordings can be found in the Course Syllabus section posted in the week that we do them.
Have fun!
TracyGood morning!
>>And I always have treats when I pick him up, and he’s happy about that!
Perfect! You will see the value build for being reached for and picked up!
He did super well with the decel!!! His butt only swung out a bit when you were straight – as soon as you added the pivots, he had perfect butt placement LOL!
One suggestion in mechanics: have your cookie hand so close to your leg that you are touching your leg. You were reaching the cookie hand out to him, so he was staying a little further away – use the placement of your hand to get him to come to your leg and even curl his cute little head towards you knee 🙂 This will help him be super tight on turns AND also help him get happy being close to you for being picked up too!
Looking at the drive forward video:
Yes, outside, things were different LOL! He did not like the touching as part of play as much (he was definitely backing away from being grabbed on the first rep) and the big distance between you and him on the first rep was too hard (distractions out in the great big world :)) You made man excellent adjustment, though, and immediately dialed back the distance to set up success and it worked like a charm. Click/treat for you! And since he loves toys, you can have a second toy: when he arrives at the first toy, you can be running away and then present the 2nd toy to get him to drive back. He doesn’t have to bring the first toy for now – it is more of a recall game then a retrieve game 🙂
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi there!
Lots of great work here!!!
Starting with the Zog zags – he is doing really well!!!! The main suggestion is a simple one: use a longer to so you can be upright and not bent over (your back will thank you for that LOL!!)Otherwise he was super! Be sure to keep him in the line up next to the wing – on a couple of the reps he was more center on the bar creating a straight line, so the line up on the wing is what creates the zig zags (like 2:05 was a great line up position).
On that rep at 2:05, he hit the first bar:
The line up was good and the angles were harder but a bit but the release had you facing him with the toy close and you bending over – all of which is a very strong “drive to momma “collection cue so took off looking at you and not the jumps, and hit the first bar on takeoffNote how on the next rep you were facing forward and moving forward – and he jumped it really nicely 🙂
AS the angles get harder, you can lower the bars to 6 inches so he can read the new angles without the challenge if height – then raise the bars up a little when he is happy with the new angles.
Looking at the Motion override videos – I think the challenges were too hard in terms of motion because it took several sit cues on each rep and he was able to do it when you stopped moved (or he would do a down). So – try it with less speed for both of you by having him next to you or only a step behind you while you move soooooo slowly (maybe even marching in place)/ Then you can say sit just once and keep moving at a snail’s pace – and reward when he sits.
>>What do I do if he lays down during the motion over ride? Just prompt him to sit up or reset?
If he goes into the down, you can release him to you, reset, and move more slowly on the next rep.
The moving target looked great! You can definitely use this for the zig zags or make the other toy longer – it keeps his head down without you having to lean over (and allows you to move forward pretty fast too!)
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
I am glad that the massage person was able to help him! He puts so much of himself into every bit of work that I bet he felt really good after the massage 🙂
Looking at the zig zag video:
>>He got through them. I’m just wondering if I flattened them out too soon? In some ways he looks like he’s struggling. Is it possible that a dog never gets to a very flat line?
I think he did really well on these – this is an incredibly hard skill, especially on 3 jumps!!
Small detail: On rep 3 and the last rep, the toy was a little too close so he hit the last bar going for the toy, so try to have the toy another 10 feet away from jump 3.
I agree that he is working really hard on these! You have gotten to the stage where the flattening of the angle will happen much more slowly – maybe one jump moves, per session. So he did get through the whole thing here but once he got to re p5, it was a hard angle. So you can leave it at, say, the position for rep 3 to start the next session, then move one of the jumps to a flatter angle and leave it like that for the rest of the session. Then the next session begins there and then one jump can get flatter. In other words – this game starts off easy enough that we can flatten things quickly to a point… then we slow it down to ultimately get it totally flat or almost totally flat (but that takes a longer time).
One other thing to help – I think on the harder angles, he is slipping just enough that it changes the jumping. – for example, at :43 on the front view when he lands from jump 2, you can see his left shoulder slip under him towards his chest the tiniest bit. I don’t see it on the side view but do see it on the front and rear views.
With that in mind – do you have grass or dirt that you can work the really flat angles? That can give him more grip and allow him to get the power bouncing going on the really tight angles.
Plank work looks fabulous on both the wrap and the slice!! He is well-organized and you are able to stay in motion, even as the bar gets higher.
Only one suggestion: on the slices, move the MM 6 or 8 feet feet away from the landing spot as the bar gets higher s he can land and take 2 strides to it.
He is ready for the fading process on these front side wraps & slices, but I want to show him the backside versions first so he doesn’t get confused. So the next session can be the backside circle wraps, and the backside slices. Then when he is happy with those, we can go into the fading games.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
It looks like you helped her sort out how to take the jumps to get to the broom! Maybe at first she was running around them because the broom was very stimulating? But now it looks like she has figured out to get to the broom by going over the jumps. Will she use any other toy for this? It might be easier to manage than the broom LOL!
>> Have not been able to make any strides with flattening the jump angle.
There is no rush to flatten then angle, she is doing well! Plus, adolescent dogs are know to have trouble managing their coordination, so this stuff takes a little longer than with adult dogs. For the next session, do the same exact thing you did here, no changes (except maybe see if another toy will work too). And if that goes well, you can start with the same angle for the next session – but drop the bars to 4″ and flatten then angle of one jump by one inch. And do several reps like that and see how she does.
The jumps are flat enough now that it will probably be an inch-by-inch progression, one jump at a time but that still gets us to our goals of strong jumping skills and lots of strength.
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! Thank you for the compilation!!!!
I think we take a 3-pronged approach:yes, continue to have him target his leash (or any of the places his leash would be) as this is basically legal in UKI, USDAA, and AKC. Not sure about ASCA.
Separately, work on the down as a motion override game: you are running and cue the down and he splats into it… then you release to the reward or his leash. The down here in the trial ring was after the decel and end of run… so he seemed to know it was the end of the run and not a continuation of the fun game. So he was not as quick to respond and it seemed like a bit of a bummer to him. So at the end of the run, you accelerate to the ring gate or leash and cue the down as part of the fun. You can start it with him moving towards a toy on the flat, with you walking – and as soon as he hits the down position, release to the toy.
And, since he does the big behavior when you have stopped and the flow of info has ended… definitely tweak the find my fafe game for this! Normally in find my face we act confused or disconnected. For Ripley, you can tweak it to act like the run is over: decelerate, clap, look for the leash, etc. It can start with that basic pattern game and you install the ‘we are finished’ body language so within that framework, he learns to self-regulate and keep all feet on the ground 🙂
I think I would start with the find my face tweak in the pattern game, as it most directly looks at the self-regulation. The other games are cued behaviors, which will only hold up if he is able to self-regulate. I will try to get video of the find my face tweak this weekend!
let me know what you think!
TracyHi! I think we will put all the leash chat into the other forum LOL!!
On this video:
His stay looks great (even with your dance moves LOL!) and being able to lead out to that lateral position made the line on the first rep look fabulous – just the right combo of speed and tight turn, with you way ahead.The 2nd and 3rd reps were more of a throw back – the throw back arm can be more of a soft downwards move and less swish back to the jump, to get a tiny bit more collection . With all the motion of the arm, he jumps a little longer. And if you give him a soft indication to the takeoff spot, with not a lot of arm movement, I bet it will be just the right amount of motion.
The in in looked good, nice and independent! The way this sequence is set up, the foot rotation was the best option to help him find the threadle (these are more of the “American style” threadles that are less intuitive to the dogs. On a more European style threadle, I bet you can keep your feet forward and not need to rotate!
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! Lots of great work here – and I agree, he is such a fun puppy! You and Baxter rocked the live class 🙂
For the sends – I think you were subconsciously using the edge of the rug under the prop as your boundary LOL! So yes, you can be closer to the prop to start. And, bearing in mind that we are shaping the behavior, you can reward for effort on those first couple of reps even if he doesn’t quite hit the thing. You were a little too far away, he did a pretty good send – so you can toss a cookie out anyway. That he’s shape the behavior to where we want it to be while setting up a high rate of success. For example, at :54, he did a great send and didn’t quite touch the thing and you rewarded anyway: perfect!
He was really getting the hang of the sending. You can leave your send hand and leg out a little longer ti indicate the prop, I think it draws his attention when you bring it back really fast. He was little better with the right turns but then right at the end, he totally nailed a left turn! Super!!!
Wing wrap foundations. What as he chewing in the beginning? Bubble gum? LOL!! Two ideas to get the rhythm going even faster:
You can make the bowls more visible and less behind you by having them out past your toes and not behind your knees.
Also, you can wait til he finishes chewing before dropping the next treat – like me, he can’t think about anything else while chewing. I can relate LOL! So let him finish chewing then plop the next treat on the plate.
He was really catching on by the end, and I bet one more session of this Baby Level is all he needs before you can go to the Advanced Level.
Blind cross foundations looked lovely! He is fast and has a very snappy recall!
Yes, the hardest part is where to put the toy to get the connection but you were working it and he appeared to know where to go on each rep.Everything else looks great – I really love how he goes back to the toy so nicely after the cookies!!!
When you were a little earlier with your timing, when he was only halfway to you and you did the blind – those were the smoothest reps like at 1:05 and 1:40.
He still made great adjustments when you were late! But keep trying to be early 🙂
Super job on all of these!!!!! Let me know what you think!
TracyPS – I love your training room!
Hi!
>>She enjoys her holee roller for sure and many other toys. I do use them in training as a secondary R+ so we should be able to incorporate them where needed or when preferred. I used to have a bungee tug and may get another one…>>
Sounds good!
>>And FYI, we are not likely to compete in agility. I will take plenty of classes though for the joy of it>>
This is great! The training is the best part of it all, whether or not you compete.
T
Hi!
>>I have been doing the collar grab game and was offering a treat to get her to release the toy & also to reward her for me moving toward her collar. I think it is starting to work.>>
Super! That is fast progress! It is definitely something to do all the time so she really learns to love it!
This was a great session!
She was driving forward really well when you were low and when you were standing and stationary. And the food trades for the toy seemed to work really well – she gave the toy back and the food got paired with the drop AND the collar grab. And she still had tremendous toy drive: PERFECT!
Plus, you added connection (looking at her) about halfway through the session, and that worked really well too.
>>I noticed she looked at me when I ran with her. I’m not sure if that means she is uncomfortable with it, or if she was just noticing the change
I see what you mean! She only looked at you when you let go of her AND moved at the same time. When you let go of her, she took a step or two, then you moved… she did not look at you. So for the next session, use that rhythm: throw the toy, let go, she takes 2 steps, then you move forward.
As she gets more experienced with your motion, you can let her take 1 step then you move.
Then it will be easy to add back you moving at the same time you let go of her, probably in the next session or two.
>>I have a few questions on how we should be working as the class goes on. Do we keep doing all the games (week 1 & week 2 etc) or just work each week’s games?I know it will be variable based on how each dog progresses, but how many sessions of each game do you recommend we do during the week?>>
Great questions!!! You will find that the games build on each other, so there is no pressure to get anything perfect. Because there are a lot of games, maybe try 2 sessions for each per week: Baby level and advanced. And if you don’t get through them all? No worries because there is plenty of time and some of the weeks don’t really have new games so people can catch up 🙂
>>Sorry that all most posts seem so long!
Your posts are not long at all! Keep ‘em coming!Have fun! You two look great!
Tracy
Hi!
>>I was trying my best to look into puppy not the toy, but failed a few times.This is my weakness, I have a hard time watching the dog when I run. Good reminder and practice for me.
This is why we start the connection at the very beginning… to train us humans hahaha!
The first video here is marked private but. I can see the other 2:
First video: he was great! And yi were connected 🙂 And I agree, he didn’t love that toy all that much.
Second video: he definitely loved that toy! You can also tie together several toys, especially if he likes fur or fleece toys. That will make it even more fun to chase the toy. His focus forward was perfect, and you were great with your fast transitions into the game and you connection. YAY!!
My only suggestion is that as soon as he reaches the toy… you can start running the other way so he chases you. He wanted to take of with the toy, so running the other way will help get him coming back to you. Now, because he is so young, he might not bring the toy with him LOL! So you can have a second toy with you in your pocket, to reward him when he comes back to you (with or without the original toy). We will fine tune the retrieve as he gets more experienced 🙂
Great job here!
TracyHi! Definitely have coffee before trying to win the race LOL!!!
>>Where did the gal with the cute golden boy find that AMAZING big toy with the long handle! Sid would love 💕 it.
That toy is from Floramicato and Clean Run sells them. They are actually pretty durable: my dogs use them in flyball and they hold up really well!
This is the toy she was using:
https://www.cleanrun.com/product/floramicato_fluffy_squid_tugs/index.cfmAnd these are the other toys Clean Run sells, they are all great:
https://www.cleanrun.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=page.searchResults
Tracy
