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Hi!
The cone wrapping went really well here! Great job with your patience, letting her get to the line on the ground before you did the FC and ran away.You asked in your previous post if she is a righty or a lefty… the jury is still out on that one LOL!! She was pretty balanced, turning well to both directions. I bet we will see more when you start to leave earlier on both sides – she seemed a little smoother to her right but we will find out soon. Try starting with the left turns on the next session, and starting your FC earlier and earlier. If you hit a point where it gets hard and she has questions, you can make it a little easier so she remains successful.
Great job!
TracyYes, it is smart to keep her by herself til you have a perfect buddy to walk with 🙂 Will I see you in Minnesota? We can do a walk with Lu and Ramen!!
Oopsie! Totally a copy paste error!!!
Here is the actual reply:At the beginning, it looks like she was not sure of what to offer (lining up or pivoting or touching the prop), so things worked out better when you stood up and starting rewarding for moving back and forth. That got the parallel path game really nicely! 2 suggestions as you build this up, to help get her to look at you less:
– you don’t need to click anymore, you can say “get it” and toss the treat. That will get her looking forward more, and at you less
– try to have a couple of treats in each hand, rather than carry the entire bowl of cookes 🙂 That was a giant visual that made it harder for her to look away from you and at the prop 🙂You can add more lateral distance to this now too!
>>I also did separate sessions for countermotion and rear crosses. Do you want those posted as separate?>>
If they have been video’d, you can post them! Looking forward to seeing them!
Great job!
TracyHi!
Her retrieving really looks lovely! What a good girl! Love it!
Here are two “next steps” for you:
– using a bigger room or longer hallway, throw the toy into a corner to help her turn both directions, equally. When you throw it straight, she is generally choosing to turn to her left. That is good to know! So you can stay in the center like you did here, and toss the toy off to the sides and a bit off-center, to encourage her to turn to her right as well. That can be a fun rainy day activity 🙂
– You can send her to the toy and start to move the opposite direction (asking her to bring the toy). When she gets to you, play, then trade for another toy and throw it in the opposite direction – so now she is sent off to retrieve the other toy from another direction. This can help balance the value of different types of toys, as well as add more motion to the retrieve (start by walking away, then jogging, the work up to running eventually :))And of course, you can work retrieving into all of the games we play with toys here – she has a great retrieve already so we don’t need to teach it, we just need to keep it fun and reinforcing 🙂 The most common way we ‘break’ retrieves? When the pup brings the toy back to us, then we take it away and put the pup right back to “work” by asking for the next rep. That can accidentally punish the retrieve, and the pup stops bringing it back. So, whenever she brings the toy back…. play play play play or throw it again, or trade for something else, to keep it really fun 🙂
Parallel path video:
This is going super well!! The first part of it had very clear foot hits!
>> JJ still does not always go to the prop on her path.>>
Yes – that was after :48, when there was more lateral distance and more handler motion. So she ended up going over the prop instead of hitting it with the foot. That is perfectly fine for the parallel path game! On the parallel path game, the prop is a jump bar replacer – so you are seeing her “read” the extension over the “bar” as you move, which extends her stride and takes her over it rather than onto it. She was still going to it and staying on her parallel line to it, so it was still a very successful session 🙂 You can totally add in the rear cross game now!
And on the collections (like the countermotion, etc), you will see her hitting the prop because she has to collect to hit it in those instances.
And that is what she was doing on the sideways sending/countermotion game here! Yay! She had good hits on all except for the almost hit on the last rep.
Workng on your left was a little harder for her than working on your right. It could have been food in your hand like you mentioned (moving past our hands is challenging and definitely part of this game) or that at :52 she was able to see behind you when you sent her (so she went behind you to hit it, very clever LOL!) Or it could have been that the hand play where you were tapping her with your hands drew her focus to your hands too much, which made it harder to shift her focus from your hands to the prop. Or a little bit of all of the above 🙂
So, an empty send hand will definitely help, and doing the ‘ready’ moment without touching her will help too. You can also try this with a toy in the non-send hand. Overall, it is going well and that countermotion will continue to build up more and more.
Decel games:
These are going well! And yes, there are a lot of handler mechanics to coordinate but you are doing really well!!First video: addnig more motion before the decel definitely helps her be prepared to turn. On the first couple of reps, you motion was steady, no change in motion. At :16 you mentioned she was a little wide – it was because you were moving forward then suddenly turning so she was surprised. When the pups are wide and their front end pops up, it generally means we either transitioned into the decel late, or didn’t show enough transition.
Compare that to the rest of the session – At :28 you showed her more motion and moved faster, then slowed down to a clearer transition so she was prepared to turn. Lovely! Same with the last 2 reps after the blinds – those looked great!
>>JJ was pretty obsessed with the food so I tried to integrate a toy for the go go go. This did not work out well at first. I went through a number of different toy options without success. She did not want to run ahead for a toy, but food was a different story.>>
Mixing in a cookie-from-hand to a throw reward is a good one to practice in your retrieve games! You can throw a toy to be retrieved, trade for a low value treat when she brings it back, then throw it again. That can rehearse going back and forth from toys to food to toys as needed here.
Looking at where she was looking at the cookie hand more than at the toy (2nd video, mainly at :24 and :39). Was there a cookie in the hand that she saw but didn’t get to eat? It is possible that was the distraction (‘why am I focusing on the cookie but not eating it’ LOL!). So you can totally eed her the treat while you turn, then throw the toy after she finishes it. Or, you can do the turn with an empty hand. If the hand was already empty, you can open it up a little so she can see it is empty.
One last though, although this might not have been the source of her question – maybe the value of the treat was too high, and you can go to lower value treats. Or, go to a higher value tug toy, like you did in video 3 🙂
The frisbee worked great in the last video!! She was totally happy to drive to it! The landing spot is little less predictable when it is thrown so you had to be careful not to run forward too fast but it was certainly a high value toy! So you can try to roll it away from you in the opposite direction, exaggerating a bit, so you can run forward without the frisbee (and JJ) running across your path.
>>unfortunately did not always keep her on the correct hand as you will see her sneak around behind me to chase to the toy.>>
The connection is challenging when you also need to use 3 hands for all the cues! I feel that pain! You can turn more slowly to help maintain the connection – since is a decel cue, turning slowly is something that is good for her to see too.
>. I hope that I will have a chance to play some of these games in a less restrictive space in the next day or two.>>
Yes, she is ready for a bigger space so you can both run more 🙂 Have fun! Great job here!!
TracyHi!
The rear end awareness/backing up was a really interesting progression! On the first video, the backing up to the stable surface looked good. She was foot targeting to the mats really well and shifting her weight into her rear. You can add in getting your left hand more involved, alternating it with your right hand to deliver the cookies. Because it was all right hand delivery, you could see she was starting to angle ever-so-slightly that direction. Alternating left and right hand, and keeping them both in front of you, will help her stay straighter.
Video 2 and 3 with the fitbones: this was harder for sure! The fitbones are very hard in and a couple of ways… too hard for now. On the first fitbone video, she was not fully comfy standing on them with all 4 feet in that context, which is why she was not offering much with her back feet on them. She did get a back foot on them 2 back feet on at the end but not much weight on those feet – most of her weight was forward in her shoulders.
She was very clever in video 3 to use the stable boards to get started with offering then she had some terrific rear foot targeting! Nice!!! Like in the 2nd video, though – she kept her weight mainly forward into her shoulders and not balanced and in her rear as well. That was why she was not offering more than the 2 on, 2 off position: more would have required more weight shift to the rear and using her core.So she was doing really great rear foot targeting! to get her more comfy and using her core and balancing her weight more, you can deflate the fitbones by about 50% and see if that helps. First get her happy to sand on them with all 4 feet in a balanced position, then work the backing up onto them. That will help her be able to evenly distribute her weight, and maybe even shift more of it into her rear.
It took her a moment to get that first wrap to her left, then she did a couple of good ones, then she had more questions. I guess we can officially say she is not a lefty LOL! Bu we can help her out…. take one of the bowls that you used in the original shaping sessions, and place it where the line and the barrel intersect. Send her around a couple of times to the bowl, dropping the reward in the bowl. If she is happy with that (and I am confident she will be) you can shift the reward: when she gets to the line, do the FC and run, ignoring the bowl, rewarding with the toy from your hand. That should be a good middle ground to help jump start the left turn wraps. Let me know how it goes!
Nice work here!
TracyHi!
The turn and burn game went well here! After the first rep where she figured out what it was all about, she really started blasting around the barrel 🙂 And she did really well in both directions (although I think she is more of a lefty :))
For the next session, add a line on the ground that you can move a little – that will give you the exact moment when you can move, so you don’t move too soon (you were moving a bit early on a couple of the right turn reps, which is why she froze a couple of times or starting coming back to you.>. it probably required a little more brain power for me because some of the reps I did the cross body reward and some I did not.>>
Ha! It was hard to see your upper body on the video, so yes you can keep reminding yourself to reward across the body. You can also bring this to a bigger space (outdoors would be perfect!) so you can run run run after the FC, she will like that 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi!
Looks like you all had fun at the Midwest Cup!!! And she did really well taking in the various sites and sounds.At 1:05 she looked at something and kind of said “oh heck no” and went the other way (right before Emmie barked at her from the crate LOL!) Do you remember what it was she saw? She recovered just fine from it.
>I spent a lot more of the weekend having her out by herself, wandering around and meeting people and checking the place out. She was able to hang out ringside and play with her toy too later on during the weekend. >>
Very cool! It is great to hear she felt confident by the ring and was playing.
>> In the video, that was the first time she met that person at the end which was very brave for her!>>
She did say a wiggly hello to several people she walked past! Very cool!
>>Some people and dogs spooked her a bit but overall I was really happy with her experience.
>>You can also take resilience walks if you have a buddy for her that is ridiculously calm and happy in all situations, so that dog can model calm happy behavior in all situations. For example, I picked up my Whippet puppy at flyball nationals, so it was a busy crazy place. And my 3 year old adult dogs sandwiched him on our walks, creating a resilience sandwich LOL: confident happy adult, 10 week old puppy, confident happy adult. He learned a whole lot! And now he pays it forward by being the resilience buddy for my 4 month old pup – he helps out at vet visits for the pup, new places, etc, because he models calm happy behavior. So, if one of your other dogs can do that, great! If not, maybe there is an adult dog that you can borrow who can assist?
Also, check out the new resilience game added last Wednesday (Patterns) because we will be able to use that in any place that she shows any concern 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi!
Looks like you all had fun at the Midwest Cup!!! And she did really well taking in the various sites and sounds.At 1:05 she looked at something and kind of said “oh heck no” and went the other way (right before Emmie barked at her from the crate LOL!) Do you remember what it was she saw? She recovered just fine from it.
>I spent a lot more of the weekend having her out by herself, wandering around and meeting people and checking the place out. She was able to hang out ringside and play with her toy too later on during the weekend. >>
Very cool! It is great to hear she felt confident by the ring and was playing.
>> In the video, that was the first time she met that person at the end which was very brave for her!>>
She did say a wiggly hello to several people she walked past! Very cool!
>>Some people and dogs spooked her a bit but overall I was really happy with her experience.
>>You can also take resilience walks if you have a buddy for her that is ridiculously calm and happy in all situations, so that dog can model calm happy behavior in all situations. For example, I picked up my Whippet puppy at flyball nationals, so it was a busy crazy place. And my 3 year old adult dogs sandwiched him on our walks, creating a resilience sandwich LOL: confident happy adult, 10 week old puppy, confident happy adult. He learned a whole lot! And now he pays it forward by being the resilience buddy for my 4 month old pup – he helps out at vet visits for the pup, new places, etc, because he models calm happy behavior. So, if one of your other dogs can do that, great! If not, maybe there is an adult dog that you can borrow who can assist?
Also, check out the new resilience game added last Wednesday (Patterns) because we will be able to use that in any place that she shows any concern 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi!
>>I have a hard time adding distance. He keeps cheating.>>
I see what you mean – especially when he needs to turn to his left to go around the object, he will often scoot in between you and it, turning to his right. This is good info from him! So a couple of ideas:
Try another session or two with this object (instead of changing to a different one) to help him get the idea to go around this one. Start each session with a quick refresher with you being close to the object to get him in the rhythm, then take a step back and start to add some distance but only on the reps where he goes to his right (when he is going from your left hand to your right hand). Then when he needs to go to his left, from your right hand to your left hand, step in closer to help make those left turns easier for now.
The left turns will catch up to the right turns 🙂 but for now, we can keep the left turns easier than the right turns. And by doing several sessions with the same object, we can build up value for the object to go around it with you standing because the object is familiar – and that will also help build distance.
>>Also I noticed in your class video you phased out a bowl for someone. Is that something I can try?
The first step to fading them is having you be standing up – got it! So now we can go to the next step of fading htem, which is moving them back a little. When you start standing close to the object, put them back by each of your heels, which will give him more room to cover and make them a little less visible.
Nice work here! Keep me posted on how he does with this! I figure another session or two of this level, and then we can go to the Turn And Burn game posted last Wednesday 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
The parallel path game is looking strong here too! He hit is prop beautifully when you were behind him and parallel to him, and when you were ahead but not moving that fast, When you started running AND you were ahead? That was much harder so he was running near it but not really touching it. So for now, move at a walk or slow job when you are ahead, so he still looks for his prop.The countermotion sending looked great! He was super successful on both sides, with you sending and moving away pretty quickly. YAY!!
I think he is ready for you to try the Advanced level with the rear crosses. Give him a refresher and warm up by doing some parallel path reps where he drives ahead of you (start with him and don’t move too fast) then try the rears!
Great job 🙂
TracyGood morning!
The decel game is looking good! The bowl is working nicely to help give you a head start to show the deceleration. And he was reading the deceleration really nicely! There was only one oment where he had at question: at 1:26 there was no clear transition into decel so he bounced up a little (you were moving fast and he was surprised when you stopped suddenly). But the reps before it and the two reps after that looked very strong!As he is arriving at your leg, you can deliver the treat a little more at the front of your leg now, so he turns his head a little and starts to bend, That will lead in nicely to the turns added in the next parts of the game. And to add more speed into it:
As he is eating from the bowl you can try to leave soon and if he is cool with that and continues to eat his cookie rather than ditch it to chase you, you can leave faster too. That should give you more of a head start to show the decel, plus you will be moving faster and that will show a more exaggerated transition too. He definitely looks ready for it!
Great job 🙂
TracyNo worries! here is the reply moved over, I will go delete the other one.
Hi!
>>Funny that the backside warps were easier than the rears crosses!
I agree – backside wraps are often easier than rears and they take a lot less training 🙂 For backside wraps, the handling does most of the work so if we get it right, the dog gets it right. The only training element is helping the dog understand the commitment to the jump with as we move forward past the takeoff side (countermotion). I mean, of course we have to get the handling right, which is not always easy LOL!! I have found rear crosses to be the opposite: mostly a trained skill, and even if we totally get it right… the dog might not know what to do! and on these games, it is very easy for us handlers to get it wrong LOL! Rears are definitely harder!
Rep 1 (:06) was a strong rear cross, all the elements: show her the line & pressure by running towards the center of the bar then when she passed you, cut in behind her. Yay! Replacing the bar on the ground with a bump was smart, so she didn’t roll a wrist there.
Rep 2 (:10 ) was early because you try to cut in behind her but she was not past you yet, so you pushed her off the line (you can reward her – on these games, if the dog does it wrong, generally it is hander error so you can reward her as you reset for another try. Compare that to rep 3 at :19 and rep 4 at :27 (and reps 5 and 6 too!!) – you showed all the strong RC elements without being early, and she got it nicely 🙂
GREAT job showing her the difference with the push at :44!!! And again at :55!! And 1:04! WOW!! After all the RCs you were very clear with the cues and she nailed it. Click/treat for YOU!!
One of the things that really made them so successful was your fabulous connection as you said your push verbal, and also your running line. Spot on! And extra click/treat for you, for looking at the landing spot as you kept moving past the jump – that is why she was so successful. I am sending you a giant high 5!!
Well done here! Because she is young and inexperienced, you had to be very convincing in your handling to help her out… and you were 🙂 YAY!!!!! Super!!!
Tracy
Hi!
>> It’s partly serious intent to have a solid start line this go round
Totally understandable – and that is the hard part. Reducing pressure and less training is generally the best road to a stay 🙂 Totally counterintuitive but works really well!
>> and partly because, except for rare instances, I am training solo. Need to figure out where and when I can do a backward cookie toss instead of a stay.>>
He loves his MM, right? So when you want a lead out but don’t want to bother with stays, you can put the MM where you want him to hang out, then send him to it and click it once or twice. You can also use a ‘station’ like a cato board or something, but that also requires criteria so it might not make things as simple as using the MM.
>>I’ll keep that adolescent brain in mind when training.
Yeah, we need a support group LOL!!! It has been interesting to learn more about canine brain development and basically it means that we all have to take a more relaxed approach and let the brain mature. It is hard!!
T
Hi!
This is looking really strong! He is showing lovely commitment to the jump after the release, and turning beautifully based on your position. Yay!
At :08 he went to the backside of 2 based on your position (staying near the jump and entry wing for a few heartbeats). You were further away at :16 ad on the reps on the other side too, so he found the front of 2 nicely – the wall was inhibiting your motion, but ideally you would do the FC and connect and keep moving rather than stop there (but NOT running into a wall is always a good option haha)
When you changed to the left turn direction, that is where you had more room to run so you can totally FC when he is locked onto 1 and move away from 2 staying on the takeoff side (rather than moving to landing side), staying connected so he commits to 2 as you move away (in the direction of an invisible jump 3, as if it was another jump on a serp line). Let me know if that makes sense 🙂
Great job here!!
TracyHi!
He is doing well here! He did have some organization questions, and I think the cause was that the
bars are too high. Looks like the first bar is 8″ and the other two are 12″ – and he is having to process striding AND height, when ideally we only want him to process striding. That is why he bounced the middle intermediate distance in rep 2 then added a stride in rep 4 – not quite sorting out the striding and height. So, keep all the bars at 8″ for now so he doesn’t have to multi-task yet – and I bet he can figure out how to bounce all of the distances here 🙂 The bars can start to go up on jump 3 only when we have comfortable striding through all the variations here, and bar 3 is at least 15 feet away. That will happen soon!Tracy
