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Yay!!!! I am glad it is working! It looks to be a YouTube issue – I am seeing the same error messages with embedded videos on other sides. Maybe they have resolved it?
T
Hi!
She is off to a great start here!! It is an excellent choice in props, and you were smart to move this to where it would not slide.
You got lots of rewards in and she is figuring out that hitting the pillow gets a paycheck 🙂You can be a little closer to the pillow for now – I think with you being a few feet away and the cookie tosses being pretty far, she was not sure if she should hit the pillow or if she should scout out the perimeter 🙂
For the next session, start with a quick refresh on the pillow and if she remembers it, you can move to the send game we posted on Tuesday!
Great job!
TracyHi!
Cookie recalls were good! He was responding to his name really well and driving to you. For the toy play, have a bigger party 🙂 Take a few moments and let him really engage with you and the toy when he gets to you, before bringing him back to the start spot. That way the play is the big reward, not just the toy.
Nice job with the toy races too! Your connection was spot on and he did a great job looking forward to the toy.
>r he literally went off and looked for Ella. It was funny except you couldn’t see him on video just standing there looking around like where did everyone go?>
That was cute! And also tells us what gets built into behavior which is why I am a pain in the butt about environment LOL!!!
You can keep adding distance on this game so he drives ahead more and more. And like with the cookie recalls, you can take more time to really play with him and the toy, before heading back to the start spot. Tug, tell him how cute and brilliant he is, and have a big party 🙂
>He’s not a super fast runner. He has what I feel just enough drive for now. I think he will kick in to gear soon>
I think he is plenty fast – but he is not frantic. And that is good, we don’t want frantic 🙂 Sometimes frantic looks fast but I definitely prefer a level-headed boy who moves really well. He is doing great!
Tracy
Hi!
>this is the best I can do for now if I have to train at hkme. Outside is worse. Ella will scream If they are away from me nothing will keep them from barking and I only have 2 crates in my car.>
Definitely something to work out to minimize home screaming! Do you have an xpen or something so that if they have to be in the room, they stay in one spot? Moving around with the lick mat was the biggest distractor.
>One reason my dogs struggle is because they don’t get a class setting and so they never learn to handle the distractions. >
Adding distractions is different from teaching the behavior, and they can learn to generalize after the behavior has been taught to some degree.
>I understand the concept of the pressure, but most people learn things in a class setting and puppies are able to be off leash together and work or on leash too lol. And just from the years of watching they do well. Not every dog of course but the basic norm. So im a bit conflicted with it all.>
Yes, that is the norm. But as you know, a lot of ‘stuff’ gets built in: arousal issues, criteria questions/lack of precision/understanding of the behavior, frustration, etc. That slows the rate of learning because their brains are processing a LOT at once, plus other things get built into the behavior that eventually need to be undone or the handler has to live with it. That is how both of us make a living LOL!! For most people, it is the only way to be able to train so they are willing to sacrifice the end result a bit (or they are blissfully unaware of the sacrifice).
For your dogs, you can get the behavior itself to be great by tweaking the learning environment. And you can introduce working around other dogs by doing games that allow the dogs to devote bandwidth to handling the environment without also having to learn new skills. And when other dogs are added to the environment, use a behavior the pup is strong with and also control the environment so you can really limit what is competing for his brain bandwidth.
T
Hi!
>I am not good with managing a handful of food so I kept it between my legs to reload which was distracting for him.>
That is part of the training – the self-control of ignoring the cookies in our hands or laps! He did great! I don’t think he was distracted by the food all that much. He was starting to look at it a little later in the session, but that was more because things were a little too repetitive.
You started off using just your right hand to go back and forth, and I think things got smoother when you used both hands. Overall your mechanics might have felt uncomfortable in the moment, but they looked really good on the video! He totally had the idea of what to do.
One suggestion for this game:
You can break it off to play a lot more frequently – you were thinking about your mechanics, but it gets repetitive and a little boring for him to do 3 minutes of back and forth between bowls for cookies 🙂 You can see he was slowing down a bit as if saying “is this all there is?” LOL!! So after every 5 or 6 cookies, toss a cookie to the side for him to chase, scoop up the bowls, and have a tug break. That will keep it more exciting for him, and then you can also make changes like bringing in an upright for him to go around.>I think we need to do more of this before adding the prop. >
Nope, let’s add the prop because he will get bored if you do more of just back and forth on bowls. Start the session with a couple of treats to refresh the bowl back-and-forth. Then add the upright nice and close to you. If he does great? Cool! Move the upright out by an inch. Don’t move it out much because we don’t want failure, but you can keep things exciting by bringing the upright in and then adding the tiniest bit of distance.
Nice work!
Tracy
Hi!
>Allowing his collar to be taken on cue is something he has previously learned but usually something he still has to think about. He was actually enjoying the game so much he was starting to allow quicker collar grabs.>
Incorporating collar grabs into action games is really helpful for building love for collar grabs 🙂 I no longer teach collar grab games on their own… I slide collar grabs into fun action games so the pups really enjoy it, as you saw here.
You don’t even need to use a verbal at this stage – you can just be quick about getting the collar, delivering the treat, throwing the toy. That way he doesn’t even think about the collar at all.
He was SO CUTE scampering around with the frisbee! He parading it around you and it was just the cutest thing ever.
He has a lot of drive for the disc – have you ever tried rollers? That way he can be chasing it while it is rolling on its edge, which will get even more speed. He was getting faster and faster a the distance increased, and I think using rollers will be super fun for him too.
>I left it in because we had an interesting moment. He caught an interesting scent in the air and I decided to wait to see what happened.>
That was really cool, thanks for leaving it in. I think he legit smelled something that his brain had to lock onto (turns out that the amygdala also has a section devoted to olfaction, so we might see olfaction responses as reflexive the same way we see other reflexive responses that override the prefrontal cortex (which is not fully developed at his age yet anyway).
>I wasn’t sure if we had played too long and he was done or it was just something he really needed to check out and he would come back after. T>
I don’t think the session was too long, and I don’t think he was having an arousal struggle… it was just a big enough distraction that his brain needed a moment. You were great to just wait and see what happened. Perfect! He came back and finished strong!
If he was stressed or tired, we would probably see sniffing or maybe barking (I don’t know him well enough to suggest one or the other). But we can track it and see if air scenting is indeed a stress response or a response when he is tired.
The cone wrapping went well. He noticed your change in position to standing but was still very successful. Yay! His right turns seemed very easy here – left tuns were a little harder (that is where he missed the wrap on one rep and smacked his face on the cone on another rep LOL!).
>but adding distance is definitely harder for him.>
Because he is small, adding distance will happen in small increments – so when he is going to his right (from your left to your right hand) you can move it out a couple of inches. But then when he is going to his left (your right to your left) pull it in closer so it ends up moving away only an inch or so at a time). We don’t need a ton of distance on this game, so you can take your time adding distance on both sides.
Great job!
Tracy
Hi!
This was a good resilience walk! Lots of good world watching – trees, cars, birds, noises in the sky, etc.
>She wanted to go up to a house with a dog that is a known barker. I think she got a little scared, but she recovered.>
It was perfectly fine to keep her from getting close to the barking dog house – she had no idea it would suddenly get weird! But she did recover really well.
>Everything is new to her.>
It is really interesting to see the world as viewed by a creature where everything is new! So fun to see!
Nice job 🙂
TracyGood morning!
He did great reading the blinds in the great outdoors! Lovely engagement even with all of the distractions that come with working off leash and outdoors. Yay! And he loved it when you were running 🙂 So definitely keep adding running to this so he can have fun driving to you 🙂
He did well with the wing wrap foundation here! A couple of next steps to add:
– you can move the targets a bit further back now, so they are behind your knees (closer to where your feet are when kneeling) so he has more room to turn around to get back around the wing– We will also want to get the wing a little further away, gradually adding more distance between you and it. Since that variable will be harder (and distance is always bigger for small dogs than big dogs 🙂 ) you can use a single upright or the original smaller prop you used, so it is easier to go around. That way we dial back the variable of size of wing while adding the challenge of more distance to move around it and away from you.
– When you get a little bit of distance, you can pull the object back in next to you (to make that variable easier) and we can change your position (which might be harder for him). The goal is to get you standing up, and sitting on something low is a good intermediate step. A low chair or big inflatable ball or even an agility table are all good options to sit on 🙂
I think you will find that he can progress through this pretty quickly!! It might all even happen in one session, or in 2 sessions. He is very smart about figuring out all of these games 🙂
Great job here!
TracyGood morning! I am glad you are feeling better already!!
>I tried to film a resilience walk which I’ll show after this. Used a chest harness as I wasn’t sure how to film it otherwise. She does stop and soak in things.>
They are definitely hard to film. But I am glad she is able to do some world watching! It is really good for baby puppies.
>. But, I had them in the yard today and I was able to call her off Sprite twice. Once she bites, she goes in a different yard. >
It sounds like Sprite is being very tolerant so far 🙂 She might at some point tell the puppy to stop biting her and that is fine too (I trust that Sprite will be very appropriate). My dogs have taught my puppy more about where to put his mouth than I have, and I am grateful for it because at 17 weeks he doesn’t chew on any of us LOL!!
>She had trouble finding the treat in the grass.>
Finding treats in the grass is definitely a learned skill! You can spread out a big mat or towel to toss the treat onto, making it easier to find and giving her a clear focal point.
Great job with the blinds! Your timing was really good and your connection was super clear so she had no questions at all. I think the distance away from her that you used was spot on: not too close, not too far. She could easily run to you and see the side change with enough time to change sides. You can gradually extend the distance you get away from her, as she grows and gets more coordinated.
>I’ll play around with different toys. The bending is adding pressure. If I’m on the ground she may try to. It’s my shoes or ankles.>
Part of the reason we play super simple games is to figure out the reward process! You had a really long toy here which worked really well! You can tie something to the end of it (like her smaller toy) which also gives her a focal point to grab instead of shoes/ankles and helps prevent bending over.
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
Your focus forward game looked really strong and super fun! I loved your verbal chatter and singing in the in-between moments – it really brings up the energy. And then you were quiet in the focus forward moments, which was perfect.
The reps where you tugged her into position at your side then took her collar (like at :43 and 1:12) had the best transition from tugging back to the game. That will be more fun for you both than moving her by the collar which some puppies start to avoid. You can also use a cookie lure to get her to your side, which is useful for getting her to switch between food and toys 🙂
If you get a chance to do this game again before we add to it on Tuesday, you can throw the toy further and add more distance. But if you don’t have a chance, no worries, she is ready for the new steps that will get added 🙂
Prop game: she is so cute with her very deliberate front foot smacks! Love it!
Quality time in this session was spent learning the valuable skill of “finding treats in the grass” and figuring out the difference between the send to the prop and a cookie throw. Your mechanics were strong: fun ready game, high energy, ‘search’ marker for the treat, and open hand for the seed (plus a clear step. Really strong session!!!
You can use food rewards from your hand in this game, and you can also use a toy reward from your hand. That will incorporate a bit of self-control too, because she will need to move away from the toy to go to the prop.
Since this went so well, you can add the advanced stuff in the next session: sideways sending and if that goes well, backwards sending. Because those are harder, you can get closer to the prop again to start them.
Great job here!!
TracyHi!
>Again 4 min but includes some play so you can scroll thru that. I figure if it’s going well, it is worth trying the progressions in the session then can revisit anything that looks like it might need more work. >
We definitely want to work through steps quickly if is it easy for him – otherwise it can become boring and repetitive!
>Let me know if you think I’m doing too much and should break it up more.>
I think the energy level required in this session was higher than the drive to handler session, so he was actually kind of tired by the 3 minute mark. That is when the accuracy and crispness of the behavior started to wane, and he was breathing harder. He kept going, but for higher arousal behaviors, you can set a timer for 2.5 minute to be finished before he gets tired. For lower arousal games, 3 or 4 minutes is probably perfectly fine 🙂
Looking at the video:
Great job with the ready dance, because it really emphasized the transition from the engagement with you to the send. He was great!
The forward sends were great too 🙂
The sideways were a little slower, probably meaning he was thinking harder 🙂 He was still accurate, but you can be closer to the prop for those sideways sends to get the snappy drive to it.
You were close to the prop on the backwards sends and he was definitely fast and snappy! Yay! I think the backwards sends are starting to reveal a side preference: He was faster/snappier/more accurate turning to his right than turning to his left. This is good to keep track of because it helps us teach new things to the easier side first before asking him to do it from the harder side.
That was all in the first 3 minutes – then at right about the 3 minute mark, he was running out of brain juice so was not as accurate. He kept working, but you can note that and finish these types of sessions sooner.
Great job!
TracyHi! This went well and can progress really quickly, like you did here.
>He doesn’t come in lined up to my side with stage 1 of the exercise. Is that important?>
It is kind of important but not critical 🙂
The pivots in step 2 keep his butt from swinging out but on both sides: keep your hand tight to your leg (especially on your right side) rather than reaching towards him. And you can use a wall to help him come in straight, but being just far enough away from the wall that he can come to your side but he will also stay straight.He also did well when you added motion, so now we can do more 🙂 You can toss the start treat further away and that will allow you to run more – then show a bigger decel into the pivot. When adding more motion, you will also want to decel sooner because he is going faster 🙂 so you can decel as soon as he takes one or two steps towards you.
And it is a fun game to take outside too, because it also works the recall!
Nice work here!
TracyHi! He is super fun!
Decel is looking good on both sides! You can even hear his little feet padding into the collection LOL! He also did well with the pivots – if you keep your hand lower so his chin is parallel to the ground, he won’t swing his butt out 🙂 That would mean your hand position is at or below your knee for now.
You can add more motion to this: as he is eating the start cookie, start moving forward pretty fast, so you can show him big decel as he starts to move towards you. You might need to do this in a bigger space or outdoors so you have room to run 🙂
The prop game is going well – he wants to watch you, so I think tossing the treats to the side is the better route to get him to watch your magic cookie hands less at this stage 🙂
Great job tugging in the middle too, so it doesn’t get too repetitive with the treats.
The second part of the session was actually a little harder because the presence of the other dogs became more obvious. I think having both of the adult dogs licking food off mats might be drawing more bandwidth of attention away from the game than it might have felt in the moment. He didn’t go over to them, but it is still a distraction so while he did well ignoring it, I think some of the questions he had were based off of that (like being a little more frantic with the prop, not eating the treat at the end, ending up behind you at one point, looking at Julee a couple of times, etc). So… the girls can lick their mats elsewhere for now, to give his puppy brain chance to devote itself to the training session. I think the girls will be happy because they still get to lick their mats LOL!!
Warm up the prop in the next session and if he offers it pretty freely – onwards to the sends! Yay!
Nice work here!
Tracy
Hi!
Her forward focus and driving ahead is also going really well! She did a great job looking at the toy and driving to it. Yay!To get more tugging, keep the toy lower to the ground. She was really grabbing it when it was low but wasn’t able to keep a good rip when you lifted it. And you can tie two toys together so you can keep it low without having to bend over a much 🙂
She had the most speed when you kept your hand low on her collar rather than pull back or lifting up before letting her go. And we like the speed 🙂
She is ready for you to add more distance so both of you can move even more! You will probably need to be outdoors to do that or maybe in a long hallway 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi! It is great to see you getting back into agility and I am REALLY enjoying seeing a Dal 🙂 I love the breed so much! And I love her dad, Hudson… he is spectacular!
The wing wrap session went really well – she was in spotty dog heaven to go back and forth to get the treats! When adding the cone, you moved it out a little too far so the right turns (moving from your left to your right) were pretty hard for her – lots of shortcuts on that side, and mostly successful going to her left. She was VERY creative in trying to go under you LOL!!!
But yes, the cone was just a bit too far away for this stage of training, so you were spot on to pull it back in closer to get tons of success. She is showing a bit of a side preference – left turns (going from your right to your left) seemed easier. That is totally normal!
And you can use that knowledge in the next session: when she is going to her right starting on your left, keep the cone in closer. When she is going to her left (starting on your right), you can move the cone further away. That will mean some sliding back and forth of the cone, but that is perfectly fine to do 🙂 And that will help balance out her turns to be equal both directions.
Nice work!
Tracy
