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Hi! Nice session here too!
!
When he was on your left side at the beginning, things were really nice: you were walking straight and not pushing into his line too much. I think the right side is not as comfortable for you – you were not as straight and pushing into his line more there. So try to walk straight on the right side too 🙂He had some errors of ending up on the front side a few times, and it was because of your motion & upper body position (he has not yet fully learned the verbal).
Two things will help:
Set the line with more motion from ahead of him. At :51 and 1:07 when he is getting the cookie, you waited for him then he ended up getting ahead of you. So when he is getting the cookie, you can start moving up the line so he is not next to you and can see the line with you a little ahead and moving faster. You did this really well at 1:18 where you kept moving and set the line nicely!Also, add more connection to his eyes, and don’t use your dog-side arm to point ahead as much. When the arm was high and ahead of you, it broke connection so when he is getting past you at :55 and 1:10 , your left arm is pointing ahead which turns your chest/shoulders to the front side of the jump. That is why he took the front of the jump there.
You were more connected at 1:43 and that totally helps! On these, I like to remind myself to keep my fingers pointing to the dog’s nose the whole time (never ahead, never high) as I make eye contact – that turns our shoulders to the backside lines and that helps the dogs a lot because they read our shoulders, not our hands.
Only having one cone out there will help too, because it will look less like a front side jump. That will help him find the cone you want – then eventually we add the rest of the jump.
Nice work!
TracyGood morning!
>.You said a few times don’t switch the toy in your hand. I still do. Automatically, not trying to sabotage>>
Yes, we do it without even realizing it, I totally understand 🙂 So the easiest thing to do it stick the toy in your pocket or under your shirt 🙂 It will feel weird at first but it will be much easier to do the handling without the toy. Then when it is time to reward, you can run a few steps then take it out while he is chasing you. We don’t need a precision reward in this game (meaning, we don’t need to be very exact with placement or timing) so it is fine to take an extra moment to dig it out of your pocket.
The FCs and racetracks went really well!! One small detail:
When he is on your right, accelerate forward for a few more steps, then decel and rotate (like you do when he is on your left). You are really clear with the decel-then-rotate when he is on your left but running a bit sideways when he is on your right so he is not always sure if he should go to the wing or stay with you.
Great job!!
TracyGood morning!
I think overall the backside game is going well! He is finding the backside barrel really easily – nice job with the connection and line of motion!
>>I had a question about why Bob doesn’t always come around the jump bump but I watched my video and I think I answered it: I’m going to forward toward the bar and putting pressure on him?>>
Yes – he is still learning the eventual default behavior of taking the bar/bump no matter where you are – so when he didn’t take the jump, it was because you were pressuring forward a bit too much and dropping the reward too late.
Now, the pressure on the line is fine (thinking ahead to things like German turns) so the reward placement will be the key to get him to take the bump:
bearing in mind that we are not waiting for the pup to take the bump, we are dropping the toy there as the reward for going to the correct side of the barrel, you can drop the toy with the dog-side hand so it is easier for him to get the toy as you pressure forward. And look back at the toy when you drop it (rather than looking at him) and that will help too!)
For example, when he starts on your left side, the toy can be in your left hand, scrunched up 🙂 As he gets to the correct backside part of the barrel and you continue to pressure forward, you can drop the toy on the ‘landing’ side of the bump with your left hand. In the oopsie reps, the toy was in the other hand and late being placed (and you were looking at him and not at the landing spot), so he was unsure of where to look and where to go.
The minny pinny is going well too – good job catching yourself with the wrong verbal on the first rep LOL!! We all do it, but very few of us catch ourselves before letting the dog go LOL!!!
He is not entirely sure of the footwork yet, so keep the wings touching for now so he can sort out the bouncing. On the left turns, he was trying to stride it, change leads, etc and on the right turns, he would bounce the first gap then add a stride. So keeping things closer will be easier to get the bounce on the bend (we don’t need to expand the minny pinny any time soon 🙂 )
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
We had some gross storms yesterday too – it was a great day to stay indoors LOL!
>>Hotsauce is Bazinga’s soul sista!!!!❤️ They are boing-y! Thank you for the videos – they were helpful.>>
Great! The Boing Sisters have to help each other out LOL!
>> I have a funny ticktok of her doing her boing” for the MM when she was much tinier.
Link please! I would love to see it 🙂
>> It is interesting that she doesn’t do it when it is paired with the tunnel, so maybe the novelty wears off in each situation.
Could be that the novelty wears off, or the stride pattern is different in the tunnel – but now that I think back, Hot Sauce didn’t boing for the MM after the tunnel either. Hmmmm!
>>I am thinking that I need to change my left wrap verbal from RevRevRev. The “R” is messing with my head as my brain tries to confirm what direction I’m sending to & then what word to use. Would it be super confusing to Bazinga if I change it now?>>
It won’t be confusing to her, the verbal is not solidified yet. I can see why Rev as a left verbal would be hard because the R leads you to right.
Have fun!
TracyGood morning!
She did a great job here with the find my face game! Nice!
Remember to use your ‘get it’ marker when you toss the treat away. And at this stage, you can use the get it to toss the treat away after she finds your face too, rather than rewarding from your hand.You can also throw the treat sooner, when she is arriving at your side, rather than waitnig for her to curl all the way in front to make direct eye contact. That will make it easier to gt back on track when things go awry in a sequence 🙂
Sits – she already had some good stay foundation so a couple of ideas to polish it up:
– you can add a more ‘formal’ line up to make sure she is facing the correct direction and both feet down on the ground before you lead out. She was responding to the sit cue pretty immediately, but was sometimes facing the wrong way or had a foot up, so she was moving as you lead out. Since we don’t want any movement, you can use a line up to help her – either a moving hand target at your side to get her lined up, or a between-your-feet-line up. And then let her get both front feet down before you move away
– no need to add crouching or bending to this, I think she feels some pressure with that and then starts offering other behaviors (like a down). You can use the toy play as a way to add more arousal, and also you can move away faster to add more arousal while maintaining the stay.The next steps are too do all of this… in front of her prop 🙂 The prop is a jump replacer so it helps her learn to stay in front of something that is super high value without creating any struggles in front of an actual jump or tunnel )
Great job here!!
TracyHi! She is kinda medium sized so a shorter distance will help 🙂
You can try the passing games diagonally across the barn, maybe? And when one dog is doing the recalls, the other dogs can be out, walking around, doing the pattern games for cookies or toys so they are not at the end of the leash wanting to chase the dog that is running 🙂
T
Good morning!
>Motion. YES—She is continual motion always at all times. We did platform when she was wee and she waited well, outgrew the platforms and seemed to get really frustrated with waiting.>>
Time for a bigger platform 🙂 that can be used in training loops. That can make the waiting element fun because it predicts reinforcement and predicts action. One issue with constant motion is that it can be self-stimulating for high arousal. The other issue is that is causes us humans to rush so our mechanics get sloppy…which is frustrating for the dog, and frustration builds higher arousal. So to break that cycle, using a platform in a training loop will help: she waits on the platfom (standing on it is fine, doesn’t have to be a sit or down), you get into your start position for whatever skill. you release her to you to the start position. You start the rep, reward her, then send to the platform (rward again) and do the next loop. The platform can be added to the start position, or off ot the side, depending what the skill is. And tons of reinforcement for being on the platform will help too!
>>She does not wait well in an open crate, but sends herself to any crate frequently.
It seems like she likes crates! So you can play old school Susan Garrett-style crate games too, to work the waiting in the crate too. Those can be super fun! A high rate of reinforcement helps build up that skill as well.
>> have held her collar before rights and lefts. Holdback like that brings her up more of course.
Does she amp up when your hand goes on her collar, or when you use opposition reflex? I don’t use a lot of opposition reflex with collar grabs, so you can just put your fingers under her collar, hold it gently, and then let her do the left or right after you have said the verbal a few times. It should be almost boring 🙂
If she amps up with just your hand on her collar in the presence of “work”, you can play a resilience game of collar grab then treat scatter for her to sniff a bunch of treats out of the grass or a snuffle mat. That (the sniffing) practices the self-regulation and bounce back from higher arousal (from the collar hold).
Let me know what you think and how she does!
TracyHi!
>>One funny thing is that your Max Pup Music is now a trigger. He knows it means something is coming. Cracks me up.>>
Ha! I have heard this before from other pup owners LOL! The MaxPup music changes with each class level, so you will be able to have new tunes to listen too LOL!
Looking at the first part when the barrels were someone close together:
The rocking horses are going well! He is balancing speed with turning – not slipping, not smashing the barrels, not grabbing for the toy. You were connected and cuing clearly – it looked really good!This is the stage where I would add the wrap verbals – less handler motion means it is easier for both of you to process the verbals.
And for the race tracks, you can send and leave sooner, so you are not right at the barrel turning with him.
I think on some of the more complex reps here, you were making it up as you did it (meaning, deciding which handling to do in the heat of the moment) so your cues were a little late. Give yourself a walk through before you do the rep with him, so your plan is at your fingertips.
When you spread the barrels apart…. holy cow that was a massive leap in distance between 1:12 and 1:15! The distance went from 2 strides to about 5 or 6 strides – It was a bit too much, and there were errors. His commitment is strong so we don’t want him to start looking at you too much because the barrels are much further apart. Move the barrels apart more incrementally so that there is only a stride added at a time. That will maintain the flow and accuracy (the speed is already there so I am not worried about speed :)) That will also help you maintain your connection and spit out the verbals because you won’t have to run as much all of a sudden LOL!
>>I kind of feel like both of us are being pretty careful and feeling each other out for lack of a better way of describing it. Is that right for where we are at or should I start adding more excitement/running? >>
I don’t think you were being careful, I think you were being clear (especially when the barrels were closer). He was lovely when you did that – smooth, correct, fast, and not really touching the barrels. Yay! You don’t need more excitement – that is his job LOL! And he is already very speedy so we don’t need to ask for more – we just need to help him understand what we would like him to do 🙂
>>I want to make sure he is having fun.
He seemed to be having a great time, and he got lots of rewards. I didn’t see anything in his behavior or body language that indicated he was stressed or sad or frustrated – he seemed happy!
>> I’m wondering about the balance of us (meaning me 😉 ) getting it together (not rushing things) while also letting him feel the “wind in his hair” and enjoy it. Not sure if what I described makes sense?>>
Totally makes sense! This game is about turning, so there is a bit of wind in the hair in the race tracks and he was great. He is not frantic at all, from what I can see. Because he is not acting frantic, maybe it feels like he is not having fun? But frantic is not fun – he was fast and accurate, and definitely engaged, so I think he was feeling the wind in his hair and having fun 🙂 The straight line games like the recalls and toy races have more good wind in the hair moments too.
Nice work! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
The recall is going well too!!
Remember to run around the holder – you were sometimes running around her, sometimes doing the old school agility recall which is not as exciting 🙂 One big thing on these: let him ‘run through’ the toy. What I mean by that is as he reaches the toy and grabs it, you let go so he has it and you are not holding it. That will eliminate the high speed torque on his neck and spine (you can see t at :22). Then when he has it, you turn and run the other way, for him to bring back to you for more playing. So it works the recall AND the retrieve 🙂 and is much safer on their bodies. I know that a lot of people in agility AND flyball still “catch” their dogs on the toys that way, but running through the toy and not getting yanked is much better for their bodies (and easier for us humans).You had another dog walking around while he was doing his recalls, and he was 1000% focused on you. SUPER! So when he is the helper/distraction dog, you can be playing the pattern game to help him not get too excited about the motion of the other dog. Food is easier to play the game with, but might not be that interested in that context – so you can play it with 2 toys 🙂 The pattern game while watching other dogs run is a great foundtion for waiting outside the ring at an agility trial!
Great job!
TracyGood morning!
>> I noticed in the video the tape wore off of his tags. I’ve retaped them but didn’t notice while we were at Suzie’s.>>
I noticed it too LOL!! Yes, taping them is one less thing for the adolescent brain to have to process.
He did well here! The bending is looking generally good (see below abou the spacing) and your reward placement is good too. My only suggestion is to hold his collar more consistently to start the verbals, so he hear them first then starts to move. You started doing it more on the 2nd part of the session, but he was not sure if he should move immediately (like in the first part) or wait til released. So the more consistently you hold his collar to say the verbal a few times, the less he will try to pull your arm out to start 🙂
>> I’m wondering if I should keep them at the same spacing until he gets his footwork consistent between each section/direction. Not sure how much that matters?>>
It matters for now – keep the spacing the same and no need to spread the wings apart yet. He was having some trouble with the footwork for the 3rd bump/bar in each direction, losing balance a little and having to sort out strides. So you can keep the wings together for now, we don’t really need to spread them out at all any time soon 🙂 and that way he can sort out his foot work. You can also try it with food rewards so he doesn’t try to go quite as fast yet.
Great job!
TracyThis is the rocking horse clip:
Ah yes, I see more of the constant motion from her here – all action all the time, starting the reps before you are ready, and not offering being stationary (what would she do if you asked her to stop moving? Would she get frustrated/aroused? How does she do with her stays?) As a side note: does she have an off switch in the house, when she is not training?Stopping for the treat seems fine, she does it, but she keeps moving right after it. I think adding in the cato board or some type of platform for her to wait on will really help – ‘waiting’ then becomes a fun bit of ‘work’ so she doesn’t want to stay in constant motion. That will also give you a moment to reset your mechanics, which makes things smoother too!
Being able to teach her some stillness is actually going to hugely help arousal as well! Let me know if she has any platform training underway (or waiting in a crate with the door open) because that will make things smoother for both of you!
As you add more to this give, you can do the spins/blinds sooner (start them as she is arriving at the barrel). That will allow you to have more time to show her the connection, like at :29 for example: it looked like a spin because there was a blind but the blind needs to start just as she arrives at the barrel so she can see the connection on the next side before she exits. There was another right at the very end, but the video cut off before she exited the barrel.
Nice work! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>> I’m not always such a low energy mom
The energy here was correct for this particular game 🙂
She turned left and right really nicely! You can stretch out the verbal (lehhhft lehhhft instead of leftleftleftleft for example) so help her differentiate it from wrap verbals. Nice reward placement too!
One thing I notice is that she seemed to want to stay in continuous motion between the reps – is that something you notice in training? Ideally, for this game – you start with her stationary at your side, with your hand on her collar, say the verbals, then let go so she can start. Will she allow a collar touch in this situation? You could split it and shape it, with the reward being the action: your hand moves towards the collar, then send her through the setup. Eventually, you put a finger on the collar, then send her through the setup (my guess is action is more reinforcing than a cookie in this context).
And to get the standing still and lining up, you can use a platform like a Cato plank or something so she can get on it or stay on it after the reward, so you can reset and then cue the next rep. The cato plank or board can be in the starting position so she gets rewarded for the minny pinny then you cue her to get back on the plank then you reward that. Let me know if that makes sense!
Nice work here!
Tracy
