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Good morning!
>>>>And you can also try to see if he likes toys!
He doesn’t really like them very much in this context, but is a supreme cuddler, which I why I thought that would make a great alternative, but you are right he didn’t seem to like that and he gave me valuable information on that point so I switched things up today.>>Part of the reason we start with these simple games it to get that feedback from the pups, Thanks, Reacher! Noted! LOL!! It was worth a try to see if he likes the cuddling during training and he said “no thanks, it is ALL BUSINESS here” 🙂
And you can build up toy love separately from training – just tossing toys around and generally playing but not having him “earn” them or anything 🙂
>>I did get inspiration for a “toy” he might like and I think I might have hit on something… Turns out he really likes my sweaty weight-lifting glove!! Ew, but whatever works! >>
Yay! But ewwwww. But also YAY! haha!!!
Looking at the videos:
Prop shaping – nice session! The glove was a winner! When you are breaking off to play, move him away from the pool of scent from the treats but running to the other side of the room and throwing the glove around. You can also use other non-toy items such as big old socks, the cardboard from inside paper towel rolls, anything he likes 🙂
This is a great size prop! Remember that we only want foot touches – you might have been looking for both front feet, but he was convinced it was a bow or a down LOL!I think rewarding sooner will help (he started offering the down/bow when he hit the prop but you didn’t reward) and also standing up will help (because it will be inefficient to lie down or bow when the cookies are coming from much higher up.
The target-in-hand game looked great! He is hitting it nicely! This game can go on the back burner now,until we need it in a few weeks. And the ending of the session looked good too – a couple of treats then off you go LOL!
Looking at the drivnig forward video:
>>Again I used the “very used” weight lifting glove and he seemed motivated by that.
Yes! I wonder if he will still like it is you tie it to a light leash or something so you can drag it for him to chase? And have you tried one of those flirt pole type toys? He might like the glove tied to a flirt pole, something similar to this:
https://www.cleanrun.com/product/chase_n_pull_dog_toys/index.cfm
Also, does he like balls? Just trying to figure out what he might like 🙂
>>I realize this session was a little long so will set a timer next time, but I wanted to show the complete session.
I think the session length was great! 2.5 minutes as a full session including the before and after? Great! And plus the dog gives feedback: if he had lost interest, then it was definitely too long. But he seemed fully engaged all the way through, and did the entire session for a ‘toy’ LOL! Yay!
His focus forward looked terrific too! You can add more distance and also add more motion from you (walking forward as soon as you let him go). Having him wear a collar will really help as you start to be upright and adding motion.
Great job on these! Let me know what you think!
TracyWelcome and OMG a BC/Frenchie! SO CUTE!!!! How big is she? I am looking forward to hearing more and maybe meeting her someday since you are in NC now, right?
Tracy
Hi!
>>I think I went a little too long during this session. I did have toy play sessions but edited them out. I probably should start setting a timer. >
I am a big fan setting a timer and doing the session, then not even bothering to edit it – just post it all up LOL! Those in-between moments are just as important as the skills moments 🙂
But I don’t think you went too long here! She had a few questions, mainly because she couldn’t quite pick the target out of the other visual sensory input.
We can help her “see” the nose target by changing how you present it, to help her drive right to it. A couple of ideas for you:
Good job moving the bowl of treats away, it was too hard for her to ignore it in favor of seeing the nose target when the treat bowl was in front of you. BIG yummy treat bowl versus tiny target… treat bowl won LOL!
When you want her to touch the target, put it in your flat open palm, hold your hand fully extended out away from you, locking your elbow (she can see you extending your arm) and this is the important part: as you extend your arm away, also let her see you shift your gaze to look at the target. Don’t look at her, look at the target.
By moving the target away from you, it takes out the other visual stimuli and she can really see it. And plus, when we look at it like it is fascinating 🙂 the dogs also look at it and often move to it (it is a non-operant form of learning called enhancement). And then you can get your click/treat going. And as she runs to get the treat in the next session, bring your arm in close, hide the target… then after she eats the treat, you can extend your arm and look at the target again,
That will get things rolling, and then it will be easier to leave the target hand out to the side, and she will keep hitting it.
Great job on these! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
She did really well here!!! Yay!! What a fun puppy – smart and drivey!! I am especially excited that she can do from toy to food to toy so nicely!!One tweak to the shaping session: start with play like you did, transition to food like you did… but keep the prop hidden til you are ready to begin the shaping part. Then when you are totally ready, with the cookies and clicker and you are situated where you want to be: then put the prop in. That will really highlight it for her, so you will get immediate interaction and less looking at you 🙂 If the prop is out there the whole time, it fades into the background for her 🙂
For the next session, try this with you standing up! That will lead us nicely into the first official game with the prop 🙂
Great job!
Tracy
So great to “see” you in class!!!
Yes, I’ll post the recording shortly – it takes zoom a few hours to process it so I don’t get it till the morning 🙂Hi!
The skills here looked great but the most impressive part was how Prytania was so fast and focused in a new location! And it is a really challenging location, and it was hot too – yay Prytania! She looked great! I notice there were no chickens LOL I wonder if the chickens are the source of distraction at your house?On the videos:
The rear crosses are looking good! Left is looking really good- she was still thinking a little but she got it! The rights are a little harder (especially wen you call them left hahahaha) so if you are training with someone, you can ask that person to toss the toy as Prytania is trying to sort it out 🙂 It sounds like Carrie, she is an excellent toy thrower!
The Smiley face game looked great too! She had that one blooper at the beginning on the wrap to the right where she didn’t fully come around the wing – probably because you were going fast and turning right is hard! But everything else looked great – you were connected and fast and had your verbals going, so she nailed it! Yay! You can definitely do the Diamond game and also take a look at the tunnel threadle game I added today 🙂
Great job!
TracyThe next class is called MaxPup 3: Putting It Together and it will begin in mid to late June (date will be finalized soon!)
Hello and welcome! Feral is my favorite! And she seems spicy too, also a great thing 🙂
>. She doesn’t love training yet.
She will learn to love it, we will convince her that it was all her idea LOL!!! She was GREAT in your video below!!
>>She will lose interest after 3 reps.
She did really well in the video here – you had lots of good fast clicks/treats then went to the toy really quickly. Does she lose interest after 3 reps with food only? Or also with toys? We will take a look to see why this is happening.
>> Loves toys, not really food. Will NOT train for kibble only special treats>>
It is pretty normal for BC babies to not have a lot of food interest (the 2 demo dogs in this class both did not start with a lot of food interest, I built it up). So to help build it, play tug after every 1 or 2 cookies in training especially these introductory shaping sessions. Sure, it might take longer to shape a behavior like the foot target, but it is totally worth it to build up the food value.
And will she eat kibble from your hand or on the ground (not in training, just if you offer it). We can play a little game of “swallow the kibble, get your toy” to raise the value of kibble too! But she needs to swallow it and not put it in her mouth to spit out later LOL!
The pre-games looked really good! Great job with your clicks/treats – it is hard with baby dogs! As you move to tugging, be sure to get the foot target out of the picture immediately, so she doesn’t have to ignore it in order to tug.
With the target in your hand, you can make things more efficient by dropping the ‘yes’ and only using the ‘find it’ marker – this will also strengthen the find it because it means both “you are correct and cookie is over there”.
Great job! See you in class later!
Tracy
Hi! So fun to see him in action, what a cutie!
Foot target – he did really well! I am glad you got down closer to his level in the middle – stay low (you can sit on something) so he doesn’t have to look all the way up at you. And being low will make the foot target even more visible!
Before going to much further with the foot target, you might consider something bigger so he can get 2 feet on it when as he grows 🙂
At the end, he was still looking for the target and didn’t realize you wanted to play without the target or food. You can make that transition into play by using cookies (just toss a few on the ground, kind of as a ‘game over’). And you can also try to see if he likes toys!
He did well with the nose target too, especially in the 2nd session. Yay! It really helped that you were nice and low to the ground. It was hard to see where you were looking, so be sure to look at the target rather than at his cute face 🙂 And hold the target out to the side, so he doesn’t look at you AND the target 🙂
At the end of the 2nd video, you tried to finish by petting him… he had the same response as with the foot target session. He doesn’t seem to think cuddling is a great way to end a training session LOL!! Note how he kept moving away and sniffing (I don’t think he was looking for treats, I think he was trying to figure out what was going on).
So, definitely try ending differently: tossing a few treats on the ground and petting him, or moving away to play with a toy, or having him move with you away from the training spot.
With both of these targets, as you are getting set up for the session, keep them hidden behind you or in a pocket until you are in position, cookies ready… and then BOOM! Target can come out. That will get him focused on the target right away and he can hit it in the very first moment. In both of these sessions, he hit the target a few times before you were ready, so be sure to be ready before present the target so he doesn’t it it then stop hitting it.
>>I seem to forget my words a few times
No worries! Your timing was really good and that is a lot more important than which words you used at this point 🙂
Great job!
Tracy
