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Hi!
An earthquake notice? Holy cow!!
>Send right and left. We struggled.
Did you think there were struggles in these videos? Because I think they looked really good! He was sending really well! And your markers and rewards were clear too.
First video looks good (right turns) – he was pushing the prop away so you can either move forward to stay at the same distance to it or pull it back to its original spot.
The 2nd video was the left turn sends: he did great! He was grabbing the prop with his mouth too LOL!
So let me know where he was having trouble – sideways sends, or more distance? Or with a toy? He was super here so we can sort out what his questions were.
Great job!
Tracy
He did great here too! Great job bracing the donut and egg so it was more stable. He was super brave here: the foundation you’ve already done is really shining through! Yay!
I loved his trail of “stuff” to run over 🙂 The inflatables and pillow were easy 🙂 The wobble board was harder to balance on, sports this is another spot where you can reward him a lot lower – by reaching up for the reward, he was losing his balance. You can also put a couple of rolled up towels under it, so it wobbles a lot but doesn’t slide around as much.
You can also see if he will play tug on the wobble board – keep the toy nice and low, to see if he will pull back on it 🙂
Great job here!
TracyHi! He did really well here on the plank!!!
Only one suggestion: when you reward, reward lower so that he doesn’t have to reach up to look at you or get the cookie. That was part of what was causing him to get a little off balance.He was not slipping off here, but I can see that if he is going faster and looks up at you for a reward, he might skitter right off the plank 🙂 So getting him to look down a little for the reward will help him stay balanced.
Great job here!
TracyHi!
Thanks for resetting the videos! YouTube definitely does weird things sometimes : )
Turn and Burn to the right went well! You were able to do the FC really early so his countermotion and commitment were looking great!
My only suggestion is to begin with him at your side, facing the barrel. When you were sideways to it and he was facing you, he was not always sure about where to go on the send and would jump up on you. So facing the barrel with him at your side, also facing it will make it much smoother. You can hold his collar and start saying his wrap verbal before stepping to the barrel to begin adding that.
I think his questions on the left turn send had to do with 2 things:
– the sideways start (where he was facing you rather than facing forward), so you can both be acing the barrel to start.
– Your yes marker is taking on a meaning of ‘come to reward right now’ so when he was in the midst of wrapping you would say ‘yes’ exuberantly… which would pull him off the wrap. Then he lost a little confidence about when he should follow you or not.
So, you can start the FC when he gets to the marker on the ground… but don’t say “yes” or get excited about it until he finished the wrap. That way he can see the countermotion but not have any confusion about when the reward is available.You can also replace your ‘yes’ with toy-specific marker (I say ‘bite’ for the toy in my hand when the dog knows that marker) so he doesn’t start to think that yes is a come to you right now marker 🙂 It might be in other situations, so you definitely don’t want to use it here.
Nice work! Let me know if that makes sense!!
Tracy
Hi!
>Dellin does not have a “get out”, I may have trained it (since she took this class), but I have not used it. I might use left and right for her in those situations (trying to think what I do…but coffee hasn’t kicked in yet).
>We can definitely discuss it more as we get to the ‘get out’ – it does not fit the turn that a left/right creates… and it is not a rear cross. It is its own special beast LOL!! So it might be something to add – it is SO helpful on UKI courses!
T
Hi! He did really well!!! The first run was definitely hard – the environment was so challenging! But he was able to tug and that is a big win! The next 2 runs got better and better, with run 3 looking more like what he can do at home. Yay!
I think his biggest question was the ring crew – so in classes, definitely beg/bribe people to come sit around the ring to be ring crew 🙂
On the 3rd run, you did a ready-set-go start of holding them taking off to run. That was the most effective! So you can do that tomorrow too, to set him up for success: do a tunnel like that as the start, the take off and run calling him. Try to work the inner part of the course (away from the ring crew :)) to make the environment easier.
Great job! Keep me posted!!!
Tracy
Hi!
>Work keeps getting in the way of agility!>
Doesn’t work know that agility is more important? LOL!
The agility at this new location is looking good! There was some noise in the background that provided a bit of distraction but she processed it really well – you can see her looking around. It might have been a rabbit issue but also the noises in the background were challenging. But then she sequenced really well!! And surprise: Sparkle ball!
She seemed to have no questions about responding to the pattern games then tricks to get going, then ignored her reward station til you cued her to go to it. Super! The next step would be to leave the sparkle ball at the reward station 🙂 But she also ignored all the bunnies really well!!! Super!!!!
>I need to try the U sat or my mom’s place. Invitationals are next week so I also need to focus on momma dog😀>
Perfect! Getting more people involved will be very useful. And the Invitational will be a blast!
>She was a bit reluctant to sit but that was the off side start line that we noted was a problem A few weeks ago.>
Ah yes! And definitely something to remember when you are planning her starts, to set her up on the easier side until you have had time to build up the value for the harder side.
>Tester and A frame are at full height and I am adding in sequencing for those. Working on her mat which is going really well now.>
Great! It sounds like the teeter and frame will be ready for FEO soon too!
>Ps do I need to do more of the ping pong between food bowls?
This leash seems to be working well for her.>
Do you mean the pattern game with the reward stations? I think in easier environments you don’t need to, but when it gets harder like adding more people, it can be super useful to help her ignore them.
Great job here!!!!
Tracy
Hi!
>We are only entered in 1 class this weekend on Saturday. Hopefully it will be a good course to try starting at the startline & doing some more obstacles before bringing the toy out.>
Keep me posted!
>There are a bunch of young-dog friendly USDAA trials in Florida over the winter, and starters jumpers is jumps & tunnels only. And the runs are cheap! LOL!! Something to consider 🙂 I will be in FL over the winter so I will go with you if there is one that fits the calendar. > OOOOOOOO! I would LOVE that if we could find one!!! Do you have any suggested dates/trials?>
I will gather a list!
>Oh boy, she sure knew right where to go at the end of the sequence! LOL I will need to do a contrast session where we turn back into the course and not go directly to the bowl.>
Ha! Yes! We want her to hear a lot of the marker to go get it when she is moving away from it and heading back to the course so she doesn’t assume that heading towards the exit means she is definitely going towards the exit 🙂 Lots of courses loop back around after passing the exit so it is good to practice that too. So you can even do a FC on the last jump to turn her back down the line to the tunnel- then send her back through the tunnel before marking that it was time for the rear 🙂
The sequence went well – fast and fun!!!
Only one suggestion: On the very first rep, you can lead out more to the tunnel to set the line to the tunnel. You got caught behind the wing of 1 a bit which got her curving towards you, so the line to the tunnel was hard for her to read. She got it nicely on the other reps because she saw the sequence and because you were giving her a bit of a ‘get out’ arm too.
Great job here! I am looking forward to hearing how tomorrow goes!
Tracy
Hi!
>I am so glad that I had all the games fresh in my mind because I needed pattern games and volume dial for Kaladin waiting to go into Gamblers finals. For some reason they thought it was a good idea to lower the score sheets in a bucket banging down the concrete wall from the scoring area in the stands and then have someone run them to the office to do the cummulative scoring. Not sure why the cummulatives scorer couldn’t have sat up by the scoring table or used a Google Sheet but it is what it is. Kaladin thought the martians were invading the first time he first saw the bucket being lowered and then the racket that it made. Luckily I still had lots of treats so I had him doing pattern games on the concrete steps behind the podium since tossing tiny brown treats on dirt can be a bit too hard when the bucket aliens are about to attack you. I got him mostly back but he was still over-aroused going into the ring and he actually jumped up and pushed off my belly pretty hard before I cued it at the start. I asked him for another one and then we just ran. I still wonder if part of the reason why he popped his weave poles (in the opening since I knew the gamble was an exercise in futility) was a bit of a holdover of him still getting over the craziness at the startline.>>
Wow, good for you for using the games to help him out!!! That method of sending the scores is really unexpected, to say the least! And yes, it is entirely possible that the weave issue was a holdover. He regulated really well but a small error like a weave pop can be caused by that.
>And – I have a Galican Dogwalk with a brace and I use it. It’s not the Intercan line they have at the US Open – I think it’s their Lite line. I didn’t notice that the DWs didn’t have a brace at the Open until after the issues started happenign. (and Kaladin never ran on contacts in the covered arena because we scratched Natl Rnd 2).>
Yes, there was a LOT of movement on those dog walk planks, that was part of the problem (but not the whole problem). So many details combined to create a pretty big issue.
>Other stuff from the webinar – I think I’ll add the swing behind running start to Lift’s toolbox in a few weeks and see what she thinks. >
This is a fun one, I think she will like it!
>Also wondering if another option is to take the leash off, let her shake, move towards the line, ask her to push her collar into my hand, say ready and take off. Might not work if she’s too aroused and bouncing, but offering her collar is pretty strong and there’s no stay involved (set position or her choice)>
If she likes the collar part, then yes! Also does she know how to line up between your feet or we’ve your legs? That is the entirely the opposite of leaping up and might be really helpful to have in the tool box!
> We’ll also work on the offered stay which will be a new skill since I don’t currently have a “stay” cue for my dogs -it’s the position not an additional stay cue.>
I will try to get how I trained it on video – it is kind of like the game Freeze Dance if you ever played that 🙂
>I also had an interesting FB Msgr chat with the gal who has Lift’s brother – the other little one. He’s also very boingy and is the one that will jump up and try to bite her at times. Turns out he’s very similar to Lift in thinking that toys are great fun outside the context of agility but can’t handle the arousal of them while doing his agility work. >
I think it is great to talk to littermate owners and compare notes! So helpful to discuss similarities!
>When I met him at the end of August at the Canandian Open he was a tugging fiend even with that much excitement around, but apparently that doesn’t transfer to his agility job right now. The other male litter mate is with Bev Benson in Winnipeg. She’s not training him for agility now but he’s also incredibly boingy by nature. So it’s got to be some kind of a genetic component in there (or genetics plus early environment flipping that switch on or something like that).>
Probably all of the above: genetics plus environment. Do either/ both of the parents do it? It is a frustration behavior in general, so we can really focus on frustration reduction to survive adolescence 🙂 and help her out 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
The sequencing is looking good and big tunnel sends are always good work for UKI! And your connection was clear which is really helpful.>, my plan going forward is to get off the line quickly so I will be dropping or short tossing to the leash runner. >
Perfect! And as you are leading out be super connected and you can even try a bit of the cartoon silliness or a quiet ready-set game to keep him pumped up on there start line. When you are too quiet and not connected, he loses energy and was starting to scratch a bit early in the session.
>He’s got the go tunnel down fairly well, it worked out well in the 1st set. Should I have used the go also at the tunnel exit, it might have helped with his checking in with me.>
Tunnel sends are looking really good! And yes, if you want him t continue on a big line afterwards you can totally use a big GO cue as well as a jump cue.
Thinking ahead to the trial, you can talk to him more on course in general: his name, obstacle cues, directionals – that can all be very engaging and help cut through the distractions of the trial environment.
>2nd set, I can see that the verbal said tunnel, but my body said jump at the 1.42 mark.>
Yes that was definitely a conflicting indicator moment: voice said tunnel but body said jump 🙂 so it was a good place to reward or keep going. When you are trialing, you can really exaggerate the cues to support each line.
>Whole session is an example of less arousal = less speed. Now I’ve got to read the YD stuff and see what arousals effect is on learning – is he learning more when he’s thinking clearer? >
YD is not about arousal and learning, it is more about arousal and performance. So the more optimal the arousal is, the better the performance will be 🙂 The trick is to find that optimal sweet spot – and that is usually higher arousal than people think it is. That is what more connection on the start line, getting off the line fast, more verbals, etc – that can all be more arousing, which will increase performance! And using the pattern games and snuffle mats, etc. is to help him regulate all that arousal.
Nice work here! Let me know how it goes this weekend!
Tracy
Good morning!
Looking at the prop game:
>But then I started questioning if I should reward it or not because the point isn’t so much the foot target as it is the staying on his line, right? So I just rewarded the effort, but let me know how I should be doing this so I can do it right next time!>
Yes, because this becomes an extension line (over a jump eventually) you will see different mechanics in his movement. He made a great adjustment in mechanics to stay on his line and also go fast. So you won’t see the foot smacks we see on the other games (because those are about turns). And you were 100% correct to keep rewarding his commitment to the line, because that is the goal 🙂 Yay!
So the next steps of this game are to add more distance laterally away from him 🙂 And also, you can stay closer to him and start with him next to the cookie toss… so he drives ahead. That will build in nicely to the rear cross game which I think he is ready for too!
YouTube is hiding the next two videos from me (they are marked private). Let me know when they are relisted so we can figure out why he had trouble on the left side. Could have been brain-tired from the effort of being awesome on the right side! I am looking forward to seeing.
Great job!
TracyGood morning!
He is a barrel fanatic! Love it!!!
While I am thinking of it, you can start to generalize the behavior and make the barrel look different each time… but shoving stuff in it LOL!! Different color towels, for example, can make it look a little different each time just like how jump wings are different )Since he loves his barrels, you can add a little more distance away – the bowls stay next to you and the barrel moves away from you.
He is also ready for turn and burn with the barrel, which is serious fun but probably needs to be outdoors. So the first outdoor barrel session should have the bowls so he can recognize the game 🙂
Strike A Pose is indeed more about handler mechanics than dog behavior 🙂 If we get it right, they get it right LOL! I think the session went really well 🙂
He was coming in at a hard angle with the way you were turned here, so you can soften that a little bit by facing the camera and throwing the treat towards the camera. That way, he is coming in a bit straighter to the target hand. And he did totally sort out the right hand targeting, no problem at all!!! Yay!
>I switched to ‘get it’ instead of ‘yes’ partway through because he was chomping my fingers when I was holding multiple treats and that was the quickest way for me to not get chomped! >
The reward placement from your hand at :25 was spot on, drawing him in front of you to get the full in and out of the serp/threadle turns. If you were getting chomped because he was excited, you can present the hand like you did there and the gas he is turning to it, toss the treat in that direction of his travel (to where your feet aer pointing) so he continues moving past you.
Sounds like he did great in the new location! And I am sure he will learn to look for rats/friends 🙂 The Farmies can really do anything – super cool dogs!
Great job here!!!
Tracy
Good morning!
>It has been stupid cold (-7 windchill yesterday with gale force winds), but supposed to be 40 on the weekend, so I hope to be able to use the yard for the games that need room.>
40 degrees will feel like summer!!!
>> I got one of those 4’ tunnels for training, so I’m hoping that is ok so I can work in the basement on the tunnel exercises?>>
Totally yes! And you can emphasize attaching the verbal by holding him, saying it 4 or 5 times, then letting him drive through it. Separate the verbal from your motion so he can learn the verbal.
>> I’m going to I use the same ones that Dellin has:>>
These are great!
I am guessing you also have a GO verbal for straight line acceleration, and obstacle names?
Do you also have a ‘get out’ verbal for lead changes away to get on a parallel line (but not a rear cross, because handler and dog continue forward). We add the get out verbal here pretty soon.
>Swing – for rear cross (not using it with Judge yet) – I’ve really found this to be helpful for Dellin>
Because of the huge emphasis on layering on course lately, I have also added a rear cross into a layer cue! That way the dogs know to turn away and then get on a big line. Very very useful!
Stay warm!
Tracy
Hi!
Very cool to hear you use this a lot in your rehab work! It is one of my favorites too, for about 1000 reasons 🙂
She is very long LOL!!! A little more room would be good but I don’t think you need much more room for now. She definitely thought it was about keeping her back feet on the step – so maybe for now, the step is too tall? Since it is tall, it might be too salient so she might be thinking this is a rear foot target only game. So something to consider is a lower rear foot target for now, maybe an inch tall. She had a really strong last rep! But even then she really had to work stepping back AND stepping up, so perhaps we isolate it to just stepping back with something lower.
But don’t change anything til she has slept on it for a day or two so we can see how WLL (Whippety Latent Learning 😁🤣) kicks in. You can switch to a lower target if she starts the next session telling you she is still not sure of backing up to the taller target.
And she was not easily lured to get a back foot off the step LOL!!! So you can cue her to come off with a hand target if she will step forward to touch your hand.
>I also should have been quicker to scatter in some of her breaks.>
I thought you were good here! She was very engaged and trying to solve the puzzle, and the session was only 2.5 minutes. You can throw a toy at the end and let her run around at the end, as a nice balance for all of the highly focused body awareness work she did here!
Great job!
TracyGood morning! Everything is looking strong, so here are a couple of small tweaks and lots of next-step suggestions 🙂
Collection sandwich – he is reading everything really well! You can decel sooner – as soon as you do the blind, decel immediately so he can both decelerate and keep driving in to you even though you are not accelerating.
The only other thing to add in terms of mechanics is to reward him with his head lower, chin parallel to the ground and not lifting up for the treat. That way he can decelerate into his rear even better!
He is ready for you to add the next part: driving ahead (toy race!) after the pivot.
Bummer about stepping in dog poop at the end! LOL!
Backing up is going well too! He seems to have the concept of backing up away from the initial cookie. So now we add getting more steps 🙂 To jumpstart that and reward more steps of backing up – as he backs up from under your knees, toss the next cookie between his front feet (under him) so he backs up more to get it. Then after he gets it, place the next cookie between your feet to start the next reps. We will also be adding a ‘destination’ for backing up soon too!
Sideways sending on the prop looks really really great!!! The forward sends looked strong and so did the backwards sending. Super!!!! You can play tug after every couple of reps to fold in more excitement without losing the accuracy that the food brings.
He is ready for countermotion – using the sideways sending to start it, start close to the prop and send him – as soon as he is passing your knee to get to the prop, you will oh-so-slowly slide the other direction. I suggestion starting slowly because I only want him to notice the motion a little, and not be drawn to follow you til after he hits the prop.
When he is able to do it with you close and moving slowly, we will add more speed of you moving (close up to the prop) as well as more distance away from the prop no the send (but slowly again, because we don’t want to change too many variables at once).And extra special thanks to Nix for her supervision in these indoor sessions LOL!! She seemed please 🙂
Great job here! Safe travels to Vancouver and have a blast!!
Tracy
