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Hi!
I am so glad she is feeling better!
>>Sheseems to resodn to “jump” better than “Juuuump!”>>
I think it also had something to do with the volume – after :36, the volume of the jump verbal got quieter and so it helped gather her in for the jump, rather than propel her away to the tunnel. So definitely keep the volume softer on the jump verbal and nice and loud on the tunnel verbals 🙂
She had a little trouble finding the jump, so I think
we can also tweak the set up a little – the blue wing ended up sending her past the pink jump even when she turned super tight around it, so try to move the wing further away so as she exits, she can see the tunnel and the full bar of the front side – that way you won’t have to do any handling help!Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
The tunnel double whammy game looks strong!! She only had one question, which was at :50 when you didn’t step to the tunnel. But you had a great reset moment and a big step to commit her on all the other reps. Yay!
Time to add more motion 🙂 You can be walking forward as you are cuing the threadle (you were moving slowly so you can have a faster pace now). You started to add in more motion at the very end and she was great!
And throw in a couple of reps where you connect with her at the exit of the tunnel but just run forward and do NOT cue the threadle, so she doesn’t put herself back into the tunnel unless she is cued 🙂
The left/right minny pinny is also looking great – she completed the turns even though you were already moving away, and her footwork was really strong (one moment of rushing when she saw the toy but she was great on the rest of the reps). We will be building this up even more in MaxPup 2 🙂
Great job on these!!!
>>The volunteer wing wrap is something that I think I can do in the driveway or maybe in the house so I can try those suggestions.>>
Perfect! Fingers crossed for NO MORE SNOW 🙂
Tracy
Good morning!
>> We are going to be spending some time making more deposits in our stay bank.
It think it is not so much about making more deposits, it I think it is more about clarifying what the release is.
>> Crazy how it can all fall apart so easily.
Ain’t that the truth!!! This happens because we pair the release with movement or position by accident… and the dog learns this immediately so releases based on these as “cues”.
He was most successful when you were in motion and connected the whole time, and either released forward or tossed the reward back – your continuous connection and motion are notpaired with the release, so he was waiting for the verbal.
He released because the verbal when you got near the barrel (because of accidental pairing of your position/arrival at the barrel with the release) and when you reconnected after leading out (because you have paired reconnection with the simultaneous verbal).
The focal point of the stays, then, should be to unpair these accidental releases LOL!! Lead out, stand still, praise…. then either release or throw the reward back. And when you lead out, you can stay connected the whole time so you don’t accidentally connect and release simultaneously. And, the connection really supports the stay with puppies. When you disconnect, he starts to wonder if he should be staying or not, like at 4:55 when you moved away with no connection so he started to move at 4:59 when you arrived at the barrel.
And also, be sure you lead out near the barrel but don’t release as soon as you arrive: the praise will help unpair your arrival near the barrel with instant action.
And if something goes awry, like he moves and then you release or cue the barrel… you need to reward him and reset rather than tell him he is wrong if you have said the release or cue (like at :15 or at 1:25 when you led out, then reconnected/released and he moved on the reconnection – but you gave a cue and then told him was incorrect… so to avoid frustration, make things clearer and unpair the reconnection and arrival at the barrel with the release.
He was great about holding the stay when the leash came off, and putting his head into the leash! YAY!! That all looked fabulous 🙂
Nice work here! Let me know if the ‘unpairing’ ideas make sense 🙂
TracyThere have been a lot of positive outcomes and return to high level agility after this injury!!! I can put you in touch with some folks if you want some moral support.
T
Good morning!
He did well on the verbal only session, nice high rate of success!!! Tis is a good game to revisit here and there – so the next time you play it, try to say the verbals 3 times and then release him… regardless of where he is looking. You giving a bit of help by holding him til he looked at the correct obstacle. He is ready for more challenge you let him go ecen if he is looking at the wrong obstacle. Yes, he might have an error but that will help him sort it out even more, without hanler help 🙂
The combos are going well! And yes, remember the jump verbal – when you did say the jump verbal, he drove the line even faster than when you were quiet. It doesn’t defeat the purpose to not use it, because we also want him to read the handling. And the handling all looked super strong – nice connection! I don’t think he had any questions here!! YAY!!!
So since these went so well… onwards to week 2 games that are now posted! I will send the official email in about 2 minutes 🙂
Great job!
TracyHello to you and Rocky!! He is adorable!!
>>Rocky is 16 months old and a product of the pandemic and a couch potatoes Mom. I know he should be farther along but that’s life.>>
I don’t agree that he should be further along – he is an adolescent boy, so doing simple stuff at this point and letting him grow up a little is going to set up long term success later in life!!! I don’t want you to feel pressured – enjoy the training adventures with him!
He was a good boy in the first video! Perfect! You supported him with motion and connection and your verbals were strong. And, he ignored Grady being jealous in the background (hi Grady!)
The 2nd video was also super nice! You know the handling cues are clear when a baby dogs get it right, because the baby dogs don’t know how to save us if we are unclear 🙂
The next two links are marked private, can you switch to unlisted?
Great start here!!!
TracyGood morning!
Wow, she looked so good on these combos!! Your connection is fabulous and that makes a big difference to her (along with the verbals). Even when you were way ahead (like at :38) she still found the line to the tunnel with the verbal and connection. And when you were closer to the wing like on the last rep – still no questions. YAY!!! Her tightest turns around the wing to the next obstacle were all when you had the clearest connections (like at :13 when you did the FC to head back to the tunnel).I don’t have any suggestions other than “keep up the great connection and verbals” LOL!!!!
So, challenges mastered… onwards to the week 2 games which build on these skills and are posted (I will be sending the official email in about 5 minutes).
Great job here!!
TracyGood morning!
This is a hard game and he was doing really well, especially on the last couple of reps!! Yay! I love how you had the toy swinging before you gave him the verbal cue – it helps take out any possible toy movement as part of the cue. Because you were sitting, the verbals were sounding a little similar (in terms of pitch and rhythm) so try to get them to sound the same as they do when you were running (which is pretty different, having seen you run him and heard the verbals in action).Adding the subtle help to get success was perfect! For the next session, a suggestion for you so you can fade out the subtle help:
he is wanting to move on the very first inkling of the cue, almost as he hears you inhale to start the verbal… so he is making the decision before actually processing the verbal. Sometimes he was correct, sometimes not so much correct 🙂 To raise the success rate, hold onto him so you can say the verbal 3 or 4 times, then let go. And yes, it might raise his arousal level to be held but that is actually really helpful – it challenges him to process the verbals when he is aroused (like he will be on course) and also if we encode the skill in the state he will be in when asked to retrieve the memory… then he will retrieve it better aka respond to the cues better.You can definitely also do the handling games because those challenge different skills 🙂
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
The sitting game is off to a great start!
The backside is correct-ish so you can reward it. It is not entirely incorrect (I mean, she didn’t run into the tunnel LOL!) and it she made the choice to move towards the jump… It is probably just the dogs asking a big WTF?? question because the game is weird LOL! So they go out and try to look at us at the same time, and end up on the backside. You can reward it for now. She also leans away when she is held, so that contributed as well.
The tunnel from the chair was the easiest thing ever from her LOL!!!! So you can definitely try the discriminations on the verbal only with the chair involved.Handling games:
She did really well with all the positions with you connected and running Yay! You can try sending her miles away to the start wing, so you are past the jump-tunnel when she exits the wrap, to see if she can see the connection/hear the verbals when you are running fast and both obstacles are visible.I love how both you and Jamie were looking up at the sky on the first disconnection rep LOL!
The biggest and best moment on the video was at 2:41 when you were saying jump but she was facing and looking at the tunnel…. but then stopped herself (“wait, I think the momma was NOT saying tunnel!”) You can totally reward that moment – part of the jump criteria is a “not the tunnel” choice LOL!!! She ended up in the tunnel there only because she didn’t get feedback so she carried on. Good girl, though!
So you can reward “close enough” answers on these games because the games are so hard!!
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>>Callie is experienced enough she saved me (which is interesting because although more experienced, her words aren’t as strong)>>
It is cool to see when that happens! With Callie’s generation, we were NOT really doing much with verbals… but her ability to get it right even without strong connection shows us just how much the experienced dogs can process. So cool!!!
The connection parts with Fever looked great! With the connection portions, you can try to get waaaaaaay head and see if he can still pick up the connection and verbals even though your motion is smack in the middle of the 2 obstacles.
I see what you mean about the disconnection! Interesting to see that he chose the jump over the tunnel! You helped a little with arm position at the very end. You can also help a little by going from real connection (which is what you were doing earlier in the video) to soft (or bad :)) connection, where the dog sees your cheek and you can see him out of the corner of your eye. That will be a good middle ground, I think, to bridge the gap to full disconnection (plus the dogs tend to see bad connection from us pretty often – sorry, dogs haha – so it is a good one to practice)
Since we were discussing markers – when you said “good” then get it, he slowed down and looked at you hesitantly. When you said “get it” then good… he was faster and more explosive on the line (and I don’t mean explosive pee hahaha – he had to go! LOL!)
Overall this is looking great – you can work on handling combos and also adding the bad connection in too!
Great job!
TracyGood morning and it is great to see you here!!
>>When I take classes or seminars (not with you) people get after me for not praising my dog and I just want to please everyone- Fever included!>>
Mark – then – praise. Rapidly hahaha 🙂 because yes, we want the praise and engagement but we also want the clarity of the markers. We want it all LOL So with my baby bitey Whippet, I will mark with the toy marker (Bite!) then praise praise praise. Everyone else hears the exhuberant praise, but Ramen hears the marker first, for clarity. Doing it like that will provide a lot of clarity for Fever (who thrives on clarity) and the other instructors will be happy because you are praising a lot too LOL!! And if you praise him mid-course and it confuses him by stopping the flow of info or causes him to look at you? Well, that is not helping him so the next cue is the praise 🙂 If you can praise and it is not distracting to him and he likes it? Cool beans, keep praising! Every dog is different in what they like and what is helpful.
He liked the verbal obstacle sends with the frizzer! BEST DAY EVER! ~ Fever, probably. That first video looked awesome!
Looking at the 2nd video: the chair-sitting is definitely hard for the dogs at first!!! It shows us how much they are relying on certain cues like motion or even standing! When he went to the backside of the jump at :56, I think that was friz-worthy because it was jump-ish even if it was not perfect.
It was hard to see how close you were to the obstacles here, so you can move closer to be within 4 or 5 feet of them. You were kneeling/sitting pretty close to the jump and the tunnel later in the video and that really helped him understand the framework of the game: go do the thing while I sit here. And you can also split the difference between sitting with no handling help and actual real handling: when he is in neutral position (probably easier in a chair LOL!) you can say the verbal a few times, then point to the obstacle you want. That gives a little more help to get him moving, and the pointing is also pretty easy to fade out.
Great start here! Onwards to the handling!!
TracyGood morning!
First of all, thanks for the great tunes – they are agreat Monday morning bop to start the week!!! Excellent choices!!!
The feedback on the video is a little boring… it was great, he didn’t have questions, you were running hard and he was VERY stimulated… but still nailed it. Your connection was great!!! And he even still found the lines when you took off and pulling the toy out – he continued to nail it with all that distraction. Yay!
So, I think our work here in week 1 is done 🙂 Perfect timing, because week 2 is posted! I will send an email about it shortly but he is definitely ready for it.
Great job!!!!
Tracy
Good morning!
It was great seeing you on Friday, you and Nox looked fabulous 🙂 And yes, I can see BIG progress and you can definitely be in the Masters level next time. So fun!!
>>I suspect she will, in fact, have some opinions about having to hear the verbal multiple times before she’s allowed to go, lol! >>
Yes 🙂 But that is good because she will learn to process the verbals even when arousal is increased!
She did really well with the handling games here!
She was so smooth about finding the tunnel on the first video that I was trying to remember if she used to have BIG FEELINGS about tunnels or not. And then it was super easy for her to find the jump. She also found them both easily when you were past the obstacles and running.
She also didn’t get angry at all when you went to disconnection – she found the line so nicely!!!
You can add in starting so close to the wing that you can touch it, so she drives past you.
I think the hardest part was it was so windy and that was a little distracting but switching to the food rewards helped her with that.
The combos looked really good too! I didn’t see any questions from her about the jump or tunnel cues on any of the sequences – smooooth and clear throughout. Her only question was on the send to the wing:
for example, at :04, :24, 1:07 stepping forward too early, you were stepping forward a little too soon and looking forward (she was too far behind you, exiting the tunnel, so she was not seeing the connection and send step). Compare that to :36 and :51 – that was perfect connection and great timing on the step on the send. It looked like you connected strongly to her as she exited the tunnel (arm back to her and lots of eye contact) and then as she started to catch up to you, you did a clear step to send her past you. Looked great!!!So definitely keep that big arm back, eye contact connection when she is exiting the tunnel and exiting the turns (rather than bringing your arm to your side at all). You were looking at her the whole time on all of those, but when you arm was at your side she was not seeing it as clearly as when your arm was pointing back to her.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
The neutral position looked really good!!!
> We had a slight bobble at the beginning because he had retrieved one of his precious tennis balls and initially wanted me to play BALL not tunnel/over. Once I picked up the ball, we did fine.>>
Aha! I was wondering what was happening there 🙂 You can also repeat the verbal – go tunnel tunnel tunnel tunnel tunnel – rather than saying it once, because the repetition will help him process the cue without handler motion.
Looking at the 2nd video – he did well here too!
>>. I promise I WILL NOT indulge in an ice cream sundae right before I train again…>>
I *highly* recommend ice cream sundaes before, during, or after training 🙂 YUM!!!!!
He did well finding the jump and the tunnel and you had enough connection/motion that he seeemed to have no questions on that part of it.
>>. I had more trouble getting him to go OUT (my verbal to have him go away from me and take a jump…but the wing isn’t a jump so I think he was a tad confused). >>
Yes! This was the hardest part of it – and it was more about connection than the wing not being a jump. What was happening was that when he was behind you and passing you, you were pointing forward and looking only at the wing. That causes your connection to break and your upper body to turn away from it, so he was confused (like at :45 where he didn’t go, and at :53 where he had a big wide turn. On both of those moments, you can see him looking at you for more info when you are looking and pointing ahead at the wing. Because this will help all of your course work, try to keep your arm back and pointing to his nose (and not pointing to the wing). And when you give the verbal to send him way from you, say it to him as you move (yes, make eye contact with him as you do it). That will show him connection and line info by turning your shoulders to the line, which will totally help him with those big sends.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
He did really well in the new environment! His only question was that he was having trouble finding the treats in the grass and reengaging, so the pattern game would be VERY useful for that. With the pattern game, he can learn to get the treat and re-engage immediately while ignoring the smells.
The tunnel rocking horses looked really good, he is finding his lines really nicely!!
Try to be connected while you are leading out and he is in the stay in front of the tunnel (have your plan ready so you don’t have to think about what to do or look ahead when you are leading out). I suggest this because he is starting to release from his stay when you reconnect before you say the release word and we want to protect that stay like it is gold 🙂He did well with bringing the toy back – you can also have a second toy in your pocket so that you can reward him from bringing the toy back, rather than trying to get the toy is he carrying, to make it even more rewarding to bring the toy back.
The serp exit/countermotion went well too!!
The Manners Minder was useful as part of the reward for the countermotion! Yay! He was happy to let you drive forward 🙂 So you can keep using it, nicely tucked behind the wing, as you add more and more motion to this.
Great job on these! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
