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Hi!
Good questions here:
>> re: tugging
She is strong. And when she tugs it hurts my neck and shoulders. Also, she gets a bit amped.Is it important that she tug?>
We use toy play in training to help with arousal management: it is a great way to get the dogs stimulated enough to ignore distractions, and it is a great way to get them as stimulated as they would be in a trial environment (and teach them to control that stimulation and keep arousal levels centered). So, it is good for the pups to learn to get amped and work in that state… without getting over-amped 🙂
Plus, some of the games are easier to play with toys because the toys are bigger visuals and easier to use as targets or thrown rewards.
But with that in mind… we don’t want powerful tugging to hurt your neck and shoulder! So toy play does not have to be tugging 🙂 You can use toys that she can shake and chomp while you cheer her on (then trade for a cookie), or large toys like hollee rollers that are easy for us to throw and dogs love them, and we don’t need to tug on them. I also have a lot of toys on bungees, which provides protection for shoulders/neck/back because the bungee absorbs plenty of the energy. And with my more powerful tuggers, I will leave toy on the ground and stand on the bungee part of it: so the dog is tugging happily and I am not getting wrenched or pulled too much.
let me know if that makes sense! What type of toys does Mai like to play with? We can see what she likes and use them, while also protecting your shoulders and neck.
Tracy
Good morning! You are doing a great job with the tech!!!!
The focus forward game looks fabulous! Sid is focused, driving straight (no curling out or flanking out even as you added your movement), was turning the correct direction back to you, and bringing the toy back! YAY!!! You structured the session really well to gradually add more distance, while maintaining your connection. Click/treat for you 😃
Session 2 had even more movement from you and he was still fabulous. He is leaving you in the dust but also decelerating to set up the turn back to you with the toy. You asked if he was running straight but your videographer was too task focused LOL so yes, he is running straight and not flanking out. SUPER! (And the videographer did a great job of getting both of you in the video).
So since this went beautifully – add in right side reps. These were all on your left side, he was lovely, so now let’s get the game going with him starting on your right side as well. I am confident he will be fine with that too!
And, since you added movement with no problem, you can go fully to the advanced level and try to win the race haha! So after throwing the toy, try to get there before him (feel free to cheat if needed, gently pushing him back so you can get ahead). If you get there first, you win! You can have a big party with the toy, then do the next rep and I bet his wins the toy race by a mile haha!!!! If you can’t win the toy race, he wins every time? Perfect! LOL!
>> Think I need a longer handle toy or a leash on it……
He was doing a great job about not running off with the toy, but a bigger toy will make it easier for you to grab without as much bending. You can try a large Hollee Roller which sits higher off the ground, so it is easier for him to grab and also easier for you.
Great job here!! Onwards to the next games!
TracyThanks! I agree. And your Muso is INSANELY CUTE!!!! I saw her littermate at US Open… such a cool litter! Looks like Muso is really amazing!!!
I am in my new sighthound obsession! On the demo videos, there is sighthound in the 2 main demo dogs: the blue Merle, Contraband, is 50% Whippet (and 50% Border Collie) and the little black & white girl is 25% whippet (and 25% BC and 50% Papillon). So these 2 have given me sighthound experience to prepare me for full-on sighthound Whippeting! I love the way these dogs think and really enjoy training them!
Hello and welcome!
We had enough interested puppies to do 2 live classes! All of the recordings will be posted in the Games Package for the week we do the class. So this week’s Wednesday class is here:The Thursday class will be posted shortly (the recording just came through). You can find all of the recordings and the games/demo videos on the Course Syllabus page:
[AU-051] MaxPup Performance Puppy Foundations: Puppy Camp (Supersized Edition)!
Click on the white text (such as Week 1 Games Package) to get a drop down list of gold-colored links for each game.
Let me know if you have any trouble finding it!
Thanks,
TracyGood morning!
He did a great job on the circle wraps with the MM!! It was hard indeed but he never really tried to just run to it – the hard part was remembering the sit instead of just powering through the circle. But he got it really well, with only a few wistful looks at the MM hahaha!!!
So for this skill – I think one more session just like this would be great. And if it goes well, you can begin the fading process on this one too. That basically means giving your backside wrap cue and letting him set up on the plank and do the wrap, without the sit (which is what he wanted to do anyway LOL!)
The zig zags looked great! 3 jumps, no problem!!! SUPER!!!! You can flatten out these angles a tiny bit, maybe 2 inches. That’ll make it harder to see the straight line for him, and the zig zags will be more pronounced as he jumps them. He did really well here so you can definitely move forward with this!
>> Can you remind me what the last posting date is for the class?
November 30th! We extended to the end of November so folks can work through things, and then give the dogs a break for the holiday season 🙂
Great job!!!!!
Tracy
Hi! You can fade the plank at the lower height. And, when raising the height, you can use the sit-on-the-flat to help keep the skill fresh. I use it especially with the backside circle wraps!
Tracy
Woke up thinking of Ripley! Have you done the Find My Face game with him on course? I believe he has played them but maybe not in course work. That game has been key to help my dogs be more chill and less aroused/not bitey when there is a ‘break’ in the action on course. This can include my screw ups as well as at the end where they are less sure about what to do. That might help too!
T
Hi! Sorry for the delay! I thought I replied, by clearly only replied in my mind 🙂
>> I totally agree that I up the ante a bit too quickly and push for harder faster. I know I need to stop doing that and let him be really good at doing it and get situated in a successful pattern. I saw that on some teeter work I was doing the other day! It is so hard not to think… well if he did so well, maybe I should… and then watch it backfire a bit WHEN I SHOULD HAVE JUST STOPPED!!
Ha! You can promise yourself to do 5 reps with no changes… then stop the session, assess, come back and either make it easier, or keep it the same, or make it a little harder. Or you can decide not to do another session, that is fine too LOL!
>>I have not tried the three-jump exercise and I’d really like to. If I keep the angles open enough, do you think I should try it?
Yes! Totally try it. It is a different challenge than the backsides. He has a strong stay and you can lead all the way out past jump 3. He is ready for it!
>>And that being said– I know eventually we fade the platforms out, how often should we train this concept across his career? Is it enough that he did it once for a few weeks and now he knows? Or a little tune up here or there?
Great question! I train these as tune ups and also as part of the conditioning program for the dogs – i don’t do it that often, but the tight sits are the most important part of it. I probably play the games maybe once a month, after the dogs have “learned” them.
Let me know how he does with 3 jumps!
TracyYou would have enjoyed the FL courses but probably not enjoyed the hurricane LOL!! EEK!!! It was a great event and I am still sleep-deprived 🙂
I put some thoughts about the leash stuff in the other class.
On the backside slice video here:
Ah yes, i see the 2o2o feelings when you try to get to the center of the bar and stay in motion – it is a forward weight shift so this is great to convince him to shift back to his rear on this. We definitely want you to keep moving like you were trying too, so you might have to move very slowly 🙂 He was great with the sit when you stuck by the entry wing, so you can try a very slow shuffle forward to the center of the bar to help him shift back even though you and the MM are out ahead 🙂 When he has that concept, it will be easy to add more motion 🙂
Great job! Let me know how he does with more motion!
TracyHi!
I really liked this session!!!! She was doing really well! It took her a rep or two to lock onto the reward target but then she was super. She was definitely organizing herself nicely – there were maybe two spots where she was not totally perfect and one of them (:24) was because I think you started her too close to the wing. But she never touched the bar and was really high speed!! YAY!
So yes… add a bit of tugging her, to change her internal arousal. And then yo can go back to food and raise the bars a tiny bit 🙂 Or, you can go back to the front side and do the 3 jumps with progressively tighter angles.
Excellent job, she was really organizing herself and powering from her back end!
Tracy
Hi!
I see what you mean about the end of run behavior! It looks “bigger” in the more stimulating trial environment! You did a great job telling the leash runner very specifically, she placed it perfectly on the last run LOL!So, when the leash is right there, he is perfect. And that is something to keep building up, including having the leash further and further, eventually hidden so he has to search for it, and adding the chair like you have been doing.
And also, I think you can add a “bridge” behavior sp he has something to do when the leash is not visible or in some fragile Zombie’s hand, to protect the zombie and your flesh. Does he love a moving down? Any tricks he loves? You can add in the down or a trick after the last jump and before the leash cue. I used a down with my dogs that wanted to give me a victory chomp 🙂 and it really helped give them one more job to channel the energy into.
I think every single opening option looked great here. The sending, the ‘marking’, the throwback – all seemed comfy! The behind-the-back also looked good but it seemed less comfy for you both. You were way ahead on all of the reps and also had beautiful position on the backside sends (and connection on the exits! So nice!). So since this went so well, try them all again but have him facing 1 on a slice angle so he jumps slicing and landing towards 2 (he was jumping perpendicularly to 1 here and had to add an additional turn. The slice will add more of a lead out for you on the sends/throwbacks/marking, but he has a great stay so I think it will be fine. And then we time them all and see which is fastest… and use the fastest one of course LOL!
Great job! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
