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She was so cute with her big rawr!
And I noticed all the right turns on the retirve video… so interesting because she is totally a lefty in other situations!Have a great weekend!
TracyHi!
>>In earlier reps, she really drifted on the parallel path & that would also be lack of connection.
Yes – one of the responses to lack of connection is that the pup might drift wide to look at the handler. Other responses include ending up on the wrong side of the handler (which is a good response!) as well as biting the handler 🙂 or sniffing 🙂
Thanks for the link! It looks like a program that is both strong AND afforable 🙂
Have fun!
TracyHi!
>> However, my Kromis have taught Casper how to bark. LOUD. UGH! And with all Casper’s energy, he thinks barking is super fun now.>>
You can totally put it on cue as a trick – super useful for engagement in distracting situations!!!!
>.( and I bet you are saying, wow, she has new jammies pants!>>
Ha! Pajamas are an important element of puppy training (and yes, I am still in my pajamas haha)
he had really nice tugging on the tiny toy at the beginning of the retrieve video and he 1000% retrieved the toy to you on the first rep! He didn’t run off with it on the 2nd rep, and definitely was bringing it towards you after that as well! It was great that you didn’t try to grab for the toy, so it seems like he never felt the need to take it away from you. Happy dance! And he liked your spider fingers tapping the floor too LOL!
I think this was all created through your pressure-less play. And the pajamas, of course LOL! Keep it up!
On the barrel video – he was definitely still pumped up for the toys! And he has good value for the barrel too. I think he was not entirely sure about when to offer the wrap versus when to look at the toy. You can give a cue to wrap the barrel by pointing your arm and leg at it (like you did at 2:22), so he has a bit more clarity of when he can mov away from the toys (or when he should obsess on the toys LOL!).
You can also add a ‘bite’ marker for when he should grab the toy in your hand – so when he wraps the barrel, you can say “bite!” then play with the toy. I have found that to be really helpful for teaching the pups when to “work” and not look at the toy, versus when the toy is available for grabbing.
Perch work looks great! You can alternate which side you toss the cookie too after each rep, so he starts to pivot even more (in anticipation of the cookie being tossed to the other side). He was stopping the center which was really goodm so you can toss the cookie to the other side of you and see if that convinces him to pivot past the center.
He was so funny during the sit session! He was not distracted by your hubby too much at all 🙂 I think the platform might actually bit a bit too small for him now – he has to sit rally tight to hold position on it, but that is physically demanding for him (it is actually something used in conditioning all the time). then when he got tired (muscle tired, not brain tired) he couldn’t quite get all feets on the platform for a good sit, and offered other stuff.
So, two things to help –
for the sits, make a bigger platform so he can stay on it even if his sit is not perfectly tight.for conditioning, keep this smaller platform and once a week or so, ask for these really tight sits – but only do about 5 reps at a time because it will be a conditioning exercises rather than a stay exercise.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
He is doing a great job of watchin the threadle cues here! Nice use of your verbal cue too! Your upper body was great, lots of connection and the threadle arm swinging back a tiny bit to bring him in. Try not to rotate your feet at all – try to keep your feet moving forward the whole time (very slowly, but definitely forward). You were rotating your feet on the first part (where he was coming to your left hand) and we want him to read the threadle cue on upper body and verbal, not foot rotation.
When you switched sides (he was coming in to your right hand), you did NOT rotate your feet and that was perfect! So try to make the left hand reps look just like the right hand reps.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
This one is the concept transfer of turn and burn moving to the wing – super! He transferred the concepts beautifully in both directions, maintaining his commitment while you left earlier and earlier. You can definitely add your wrap verbals (I don’t think you were using them but it was hard to hear).
There was one blooper at 1:56 when you tried to move away too soon, before he was fully past you. It was fine to try it and see if he could do it, he said it was too hard, so you changed your timing on the next rep. The interesting thing was his response to the error: jumping up, getting a little mouthy, etc. That is a frustration/arousal behavior that is pretty normal and also he did it again when you took the toy from him to line him up for the next rep.
We definitely want to help him regulate his arousal/frustration in those situations – so after a blooper like at 1:56, you can immediately use a reset cookie as you move back to the start spot for the next rep. As soon as you recognize that something has gone awry, you can toss a cookie on the ground with a ‘get it’ marker, go back to the starting point, then line him up again with a cookie – then do the next rep.
The reset cookies – especially being tossed onto he ground where he sniffs a tiny bit – will help him regulate internally and you should see far less pummeling you 🙂 And he is gets stimulated by the motion and the toy tugging and jumps up when you try to set up for the next rep (like he did at the end before the last rep), you can develop a little loop of tug – out – cookie line up – start the rep. That will help him line up rather than jump up. And I believe his toy play is strong enough that using cookies will not reduce the toy play at all.
One other thing that I notice – he is tall and fast (and getting faster :)) and the games are asking for gradually more speed, but the footing is a bit too slippery for him to run fast through turns. He is managing himself by holding his back feet together and being a bit more careful. It is entirely possible that having to do that was contributing to the frustration behavior/jumping up on you! And, as the games start going faster, we don’t want him to slip or have to get careful – fingers crossed that the snow melts and you can work him outside on these games! Or, any dirt or turf indoor places you can train in? He is just about getting to the point with this speed and understanding that we will start thinking about footing 🙂
Great job!
TracyGood morning!
Serps are looking good – your mechanics are good and he is happy to drive in over the bumps from all the different angles 🙂 Make sure you trust him and don’t overhelp by stopping to help him (at :51, for example, you kind of stopped but he didn’t need the extra help).He had a little blooper at 1:20 and 1:58 – I think he was going to do the serp in both spots but then you clicked the dispenser too early, so of course he went to the cookie LOL!! And if you click it too early, just let him have the cookie… it was human error, not canine error 🙂 And when you kind of dove on the treat to block him, he got a little hesitant. We want him to trust the click of the dispenser means that it is ok to get the treat, so if you click it wrong you can still let him have the treat : )
One suggestion: Be sure to stay connected as you move away from him in the first couple of steps of the stays. When you disconnected immediately, he would sometimes break the stay to follow you. So let him get settled into the stay an just maintain a little connection as you move through the serp line.
He did well here, so the next step would be to add a little more motion, and also the countermotion we added in the new games last night 🙂
Nice work!
TracyHi!
>>I did have a great couch day! With a long nap too.😉>>
Ahhhh, sounds like perfection!!!
>>I do think I have chained together coat, harness, car. So hopefully that will fade since I won’t put the stuff on anymore. I can put some super yummy freeze dried liver in the crate when I put him in the car so hopefully it’ll get better.>>
I am sure any connection will fade, because nothing aversive or traumatic happened 🙂 And I am sure the liver treats will help too!
>>That’s a great idea about having something he really loves after I put his harness on. I can do that at the training barn and then let him chase Dreamer though the tunnels. He would think that’s awesome fun!>>
That sounds great! As long as they don’t slam into each other 🙂 But yes: the sound of the harness clipping on should be immediately followed by a ‘go run around’ permission 🙂 Back when I used Gentle Leaders, I would have the sound of the clip act like a click: if the pup let me put it on, as soon as he heard the clip clicking I would then either throw a toy, or let him run, or let him dive into a bowl of food 🙂
>>I am bummed that this is the first year in years that we have so much snow and I can’t work on the backyard. But then again it’s a nice excuse to veg in the winter lol>>
Yes, snow is ANNOYING but hopefully winter gets over itself soon, so you can use your yard in March when the games get big and even more fun!
Tracy
Awesome! Thanks for finding the sizes!
I found the website, in case anyone wants to check it out:
The friend I was talking about last night in class used this during training with her young dog, so he could train and she wouldn’t have to worry about him grabbing mulch or mushrooms. The dog was a happy dude with it on, and could play with toys and catch a ball with it on. She would slide treats in through the side LOL!
Tracy
Good morning!
This was a really fun session to see – she drove fast to the ball each time, clearly she likes the ball a whole lot. But she was slow on the first return: “I got my ball, I chomp my ball, be back soon”. But you made it super fun to bring it back (cookies, play with the ball, praise, etc) so each return was faster and faster – no “be back in a moment” and not much chomping the ball. YAY! So definitely keep practicing these “ignore the cookies and get the ball” games – you can use a 2nd ball as a reward since she loves the ball, and you can also switch the balls out entirely to a different toy!
I think she turned to her right on all of these 🙂 Good to know! And a good reminder to be patient with left turns.
Was she mouth wrestling with you in the slow motion moment? Or practicing her dragon imitation? LOL! Nice teef happening there!
Great job 🙂
TracyGood morning!
>>The coming in for the serp has progressed nicely with a few sessions of throwing balls for it then using the MM. >>
Great! And when we eventually put it in the context of sequencing, it will be even easier for her 🙂
The rocking horses are looking strong – she is committing easily on the FCs, the spins, and the race tracks. YAY!!!
One suggestion is to add more connection directly to her eyes. You were tending to look forward and ahead of her. I am sure you could see her peripherally, but she couldn’t really see the connection so was looking at you a lot. You can really see it in the slow motion secton at :32, for example. Compare it to the exit of your spin at :08, where you made a fabulous connection back to her – she drove the line there and didn’t need to slow down or look at you.
It is totally counterintuitive, but the more we look at the dogs while we move, the less they look at us an the more they look at the line or obstacle. So strange LOL!!!
When she is back from her spay, you can spread these barrels out so there is more running for both of you : )
>>We are going to follow a spay rehab program.>>
This is GREAT!!!! Do you have a link to the program you are using or is the vet giving you a program? A spay is pretty big surgery and I think it requires a rehab program, but so many folks just return to normal activity when the stitches come out 🙁
Nice work here! Fingers crossed for a fast & easy spay recovery!
Tracy
Hi! Welcome back from Dayton – I am sure it was fun but ewwwww snow! Ha! You are really not falling behind – everything builds up from what you already had, and we have the rest of February to finish all the games 🙂 A little time off is a good thing!
The serps are looking good in both directions – he needed you to be slower in your motion than you were on the first rep of the first video, but then you slowed down a bit and the rest were strong!
As you very gradually add more motion, be sure to look at your hand more (at the landing spot) and not at him, that will help too.
>>We are struggling with holding stays and I have to work harder on this. I’ll go back to the stay games and concentrate on them more frequently.>>
Yes, he had questions about the stay and the release – he seemed to be anticipating the release, meaning he thought it was your position relative to the bar and your hand movement, not the verbal-only. So, for now, take the stays out of this game entirely. We don’t want to muddy the waters: you stopped when he broke the stay, but he had already done a picture-perfect serp when he got the feed back the he was incorrect. The question he would be asking is: “what is incorrect? The serp that I just did?” And trying to mark the stay break sooner is going to make both of you twitchy 🙂
So to keep things from getting muddy, don’t use a stay 🙂 You can work this game (and the threadle games) by switching things up a little: put the MM where you would want him to start, with an empty food bowl in the reward spot. Put yourself and him where you want to start – send to the MM (you can totally click it as a lure) then when he gets the cookie, you can be moving through the serp (and reward by dropping a treat in the empty bowl). That should allow you to work the skill without having to worry about the stays 🙂 And yes, work the stays separately to strengthen them a bit more.
Wing wrap concept transfer: easy peasy! He looked great in both directions! He had no problem maintaining his commitment as you moved away. Great job with the toy placement too, he really seemed to like chasing the toy as the reward!
When you got further from the wing at 1:53, he needed more connection and less pointing to see which side of the wing you wanted (when you pointed ahead, it turned your shoulder to the other side of the wing and he had a question about that. Compare to 2:58 and 3:18 when you were further away again, looked at him a little more and pointed less… and he got it. Yay!
Next up on the wings… verbals! Add your verbal wrap cues, he is totally ready for that.
Great job here! See you in class tonight!
TracyThis is great! Was he able to play the pattern games with treats too? That will be incredibly useful as you get closer and closer to the ring.
T
HI!
I think this is about the right size – his face looks so dramatic LOL!!! You can see his baby dog sit is still a little loose – as he develops more, you will see him draw his knees in under him and his back toes will line up behind his front toes pretty directly. So practice this a couple of times a week and you will see things change as he physically matures 🙂
Great job on these! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
The ball retrieving is looking good! Yes, he is a strong lefty 🙂 And he did a great job of bringing it all the way back to the toy. Super!!! And any time you do something like this where you emphasize one direction, you can do the next session of. the day with a few reps going the other direction, to keep him balanced.
You only had about 5 reps on this, which is perfect (that is about the # of reps we limit to in flyball, because it is so explosive). So 5 reps in 4 minutes? That means it was mainly play play play which is great 🙂 Yay!!
T
Hi!
>>up that there were no wings. I wanted to ask you about doing this with no wings versus wings. Do you start with no wings and then add the wings in later? Is it easier without wings?>>
Good question! It is easier without wings at first because the pup can see more of you without the wings blocking anything. That way the pup can see where your arm/shoulder is, without it being hidden behind a big wing. The bump is also more visible that way too. Then we eventually add in the wing.
On the threadles – Bloopers are good to see!! When he was having trouble coming over the bar, part of the reason was toy placement that was causing him to not find the bar – it was on a strange angle so he had to over-turn to find it on the first few reps. The placement was better at :33 and :45 where he could see it across the bump more easily.
To help him remember to default to the bar after he comes into the threadle, set the toy on that angle but warm up the session with a couple of reps without you moving at all. If he can find. The bar 2 or 3 times without you moving you can add in some very oh-so-slow motion, almost shuffling.
And if he still has questions, you can angle the exit upright a bit: leave the entry upright where it is, and your line will be the same, and the toy placement will be the same. But you will move the exit upright towards you so that as he comes around the entry to the threadle, the bar is far more visible and an easier turn to get.
About where to look – yes, ideally you look at the threadle hand when you say the verbal, you might have to tie your hair back because it was hard to see when hair was covering both sides of your face 🙂 But then don’t worry about where to look next – you can follow him with your eyes, but the toy will do the heavy lifting of creating the default to the bar.
On the serps –
>>Also, am I saying “break” too early on the serp? I realized I’m saying it more in the middle versus at the 2nd pole.>>
That timing was fine, as long as you keep moving so you are out of the way when he gets to the bump 🙂 You were releasing but then decelerating so you were in the landing spot both times. So keep that motion going so he has the landing spot all to himself 🙂
Nice work!
Tracy
