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Hi!
>Could I try a dead toy without me hanging on to part of it? He enjoys retrieving. Or will I need him to target the end of the toy (on a rope) for this and future exercises?>
For jumping exercises, we will want something you can drag while you are moving, that he will look down at to grab. If you have a toy that he will do this with – great! If not, we can try a food based toy.
He did really well finding the jump here and he was definitely loving the wrap too! He was trying to start without you on those LOL!
>I feel like Skizzle sometimes responded to the verbal for the wrap and was mostly eyes forward over the jump. >
Yes! He was beginning to go to the wrap on the verbal alone (yay!) and was definitely eyes forward to the jump. Super!
>I stalled out at barely walking towards the jump (vs. running). >
I think this was mainly because you didn’t have a lot of room. This game can totally go outside and you can use a ball or thrown toy as the reward. And it will give both of your room to drive up the line and let him feel the fun of driving ahead of you.
Great job!!
TracyYou and Ender were Rockstars here!!! Super session!
His tug drive looked great and he drove ahead brilliantly. You can throw the toy further and further, so he can learn how to get ahead of you 🙂 Throw it as far as you can, then let him leave you in the dust 🙂
I wonder what he would do with this toy game if you went back to it after a very short session with cookies? It is something to try, to see if he will play with a toy again after treats!
His sends to the prop were also great! He was able to do it with precision in both directions, and that is unusual! Usually the pups have a strong side and a weak side, but he was strong on both sides. Super!
My only suggestion is to add a bit of the ready dance to ramp him up and put him into handler focus, so the send shifts him to obstacle focusYou can also go to the next steps with the sideways sends and also the backwards sends.
Driving you and decel look great too – you can go to the next step here as well, by adding more movement as he is getting the start treat, so he accelerates then see deceleration when you slow down. I think he is ready for you to add the pivot here, just remember to keep your cookie hand nice and low for him to follow.
Great job on these!
Tracy
Hi! You’re on the right track here! He is still learning to find the tossed start cookie so it ess hard to predict when he would start moving back to you. But when he did, he drove to ypur side really well! My only suggestion is to get your cookie hand lower- knee level or below – to keep his lower jaw parallel to the ground, or just pointed slightly downward. That make it easier for him to deceleration.
You can also add in moving faster as he gets the start cookie, then the moment he starts moving towards you, let him see you slow down so he can prepare for the decel into your side.
He might only need one or two reps of that, then you can add the pivot (definitely keeping your cookie hand nice and low there too).
Great job!!
TracyHi! Well done to you for making that smooooth transition so he never noticed the collar! The game went GREAT. Focus forward was lovely, he was happy to be held, and he was not bothered by you moving. You had excellent mechanics which make all this good stuff look easy. Click/treat to you!
The next step is to throw the toy and let go of it, and you can run too. If he gets there ahead of you, you can encourage him to bring it back and not run off by doing a front crosd and run the other way. Doing this indoors will let us know what he does when he gets sole possession of the toy 🙂 so we can plan for outdoors to avoid potential taking off with it 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi! Well done to you for making that smooooth transition so he never noticed the collar! The game went GREAT. Focus forward was lovely, he was happy to be held, and he was not bothered by you moving. You had excellent mechanics which make all this good stuff look easy. Click/treat to you!
The next step is to throw the toy and let go of it, and you can run too. If he gets there ahead of you, you can encourage him to bring it back and not run off by doing a front crosd and run the other way. Doing this indoors will let us know what he does when he gets sole possession of the toy 🙂 so we can plan for outdoors to avoid potential taking off with it 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi!
>I tried a variety of toys to heighten arousal with little luck so tried to create arousal with food. I should add that I will work on the toy play separately in addition to these exercises. >
When you tried the toys, was he not interested in playing, or was he playing but didn’t seem highly aroused? Let me know and we can make a plan to build on the toy play.
He did really well with the paw pod. You can add things for him to get on, so he has more room to get more feet on things – right now, he can get one maybe 1.5 feet on the pod 🙂 so you can have 3 or 4 low things out next to each other so he can get all of his feet on them at some point. And keep changing what you use so he can get experience on all sorts of stuff – as long as it is low, stable, and not slippery, he can climb around on anything!
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
>ump bump, jump standard and cardboard box. Except when I introduced the box, he seemed to ignore these neutral objects. Now to make them less neutral. I like this exercise!>
These are good neutral objects for now because he doesn’t know what they are 🙂 Eventually they will have a lot of value, so you can use neutral objects like a random garbage pail or chair, or fan or your hand bag or something 🙂
He did great ignoring the stuff here with the cookie recalls! So the next step is to put the random neutral object into the environment before he enters – then bring him in and begin the game. That is a different approach to getting his brain to process it 🙂
Great job!
Tracy
Hi!
The blinds are also going really well!It is sometimes hard to tell when he is going to start moving back to you after finding the treat, so some of the blinds were a little late. To help make the timing more predictable, you can use a giant bowl or mat so he knows exactly where the treat it – and as soon as he grabs the treat, you can do the first blind.
He is reading the blinds brilliantly! You connection looks good, so definitely keep making that bit of eye contact back to him as you complete the blind.
Another option is to have someone hold him as a restrained recall for the blinds, to give you even more distance – they can release him when you call his name and you can start the blind as soon as he starts moving.
Great job!
Tracy
Good morning!
I love the hat on top of the cone LOL!! Brilliant! A great way to change it up. He did super!!! And he was super with the barrel too. He loves to wrap!
Since this went so well, you can add a few next-step things:
Pull the targets back closer to you, so they are slightly behind your knees – that will give him even more room for wrapping and adds a little more distance.
Pull the barrel or cone in a little closer, and change your position to standing 🙂 Making the distance easier between you and the cone is a good transitional step because having you standing up might be hard. Or it might not be! He will tell us 🙂 And when you are standing, you can drop the treats in the target. No worries if they bounce a little – he can chase them then get back to wrapping 🙂
We will build on this over the next few weeks, so you can plan to do a quick session every few days (doesn’t need to be daily) to keep his skills sharp 🙂
Great job!
TracyGood morning!
Awwww, I love this! What a fun walk! And what a smart pup to find the original stick!!!! Will there be scent work in his future along with agility? And he was so cute with the stick in his mouth 🙂
If possible, try to do this type of walk in safe places once a week or so as he grows – it is just so great for his mind and body especial when he starts to move through adolescence.
Tracy
Good morning!
>Yes the hat for the foot target shaping was the same as with the bag. I will try it again over the weekend. Should I continue to try the hat or something else?>
Stick with the foot target you used that he was hitting -the hat might seem too much like the mat.
>I read over the goat game and since we are having issues with shaping I thought better than to try it today. >You can try the goat game with anything he can get on or walk over, as long as it is stable and he won’t slip. Part of it is developing the body awareness, and part of it is working on shaping skills so you can totally try it! It helps us figure out how he thinks during shaping.
>Should I do four feet item or two?>
Eventually we want 4 feet but for now, we can start with 2! If he is really comfy, he will offer 4 feet.
>I will be honest having the toy in that hand makes me nervous since my older golden tripped me when I had it like that when he was puppy. I went down very hard. >
Eek! That sounds painful!!! You can think of it as having your opposite hand on your hip – not so the pup can see it, but more so you can make very clear eye contact. And then you don’t need to dangle the toy as much or risk getting tripped. You can also use treats in the hands then whip the toy out as a reward between cookie reps.
The goal is to make super clear connection and you achieved it here! Your blinds were well-timed and the connection on the new side was VERY clear so he had no questions. Dublin knew where to be even when you did 2 blinds at the end – the power of connection helped him out!
If he likes being held and you have people around, you can do the blind cross game as a restrained recall: someone holds him, you start moving away – then call him. As soon as he starts to move, do the blind 🙂
Wrap session:
You were great at moving the cone in and out! Wow! And he did great. Super!>I wonder until he get it if I leaned in or out might work? Or even used my legs as block? Unless you think that might be too much pressure?>
Next time, I don’t think you have to move the cone – just start it where he can be successful on both sides 🙂 Do you have a taller cone you can use? Or a barrel? We can put something in that is bigger – when you do that, bring it in closer to you so it is a little easier a first.
>Based on Dublins lack of interest in things I put down also trying to figure item to use for my novel neutral for the next game. >
Do you mean his good engagement? You can put anything new into the environment – he doesn’t have to look at it or go to it for us t trust that his brain is processing it 🙂 A random box or trash bag or anything 🙂 it is a good way to prepare his puppy brain for the adolescence that lies ahead, where his brain will be interested in *everything* LOL!!
Great job here!!
Tracy
Good morning!
Food – toy switches are going well! The chase elements to keep movement in it were really fun and active! He seemed very happy to do it and you are also building in the magic ‘ready’ word here and in the other games. I am a big fan of having a charged word like ‘ready’ that can get instant engagement 🙂
The decel to your side is also going well – the pivot takes out his bum swinging wide. He was popping up a little at first because your hand was a little high (also because he is very small :)) – but then he figured out to just stay on the ground. That is great because it will save your back from have to get lowered til he gets taller – super!!
He was interested in the food with the food play, following the hand movement and interacting but seemed a little cautious about getting tooooo close to your flesh. Maybe he was trying not to chomp your hand? That is appreciated, though! LOL!!
And he did great with the retrieve game! Good boy! He really rips it right back to you, almost like a great flyball box turn 😉
All of this looked lovely! Have fun at the trial – let me know how he does playing his games!
Tracy
Hi! She did well here!!
I agree, wrapping to her right then dog-on-left to the jump was the easier, smoother side and she did great!! You can add more distance between the wing and the jump.On the other side – it was harder for her. Because she was looking at you, it could be that adding more connection is what helped her. And not moving as fast also helps, as she sorta out that left lead.
Also, reward it all even if it is not perfect. At :23, she did find the jump but you indicated it was wrong, so she actually looked at you *more* (and at the jump less) for a few reps after that. So definitely reward any effort towards the jump or getting over it, even if she is not looking forward yet. The motto for the reward on that side can be: Throw early, throw often! That will get her looking forward more easily 🙂
>Should I try this side with a planted reinforcement (MM or toy)? Not sure if that would be counter productive>
It isn’t counterproductive so you can put it in to jump start the behavior- and as soon as she gets it right for a couple of reps, start to replace it with your thrown rewards.
Nice work here!
Tracy
Th
Hi! Great job jumping in with the moving target game!
For some reason, this video didn’t have any sound – weird! So I will assume all the verbals were perfect 🙂He did break a few times like you mentioned – it might have had something to do with putting the toy down, waiting… then walking forward. He might have thought that walking forward was part of the release? So be careful to separate the release from sudden starts of movement.
You got lots of good stay rewards in the 2nd half of the video and it went really well! He’s ready to see this on a jump, then onwards to the set point!
Nice work!
Tracy
Hi!
I totally see what you mean about where he grabs on the toy!! With all of the other games. No problem, he can grab there. For the moving target in the jump grid, we want him looking at the end and not up – so the easiest thing to do is drag a treat holder of some sort 🙂Do you have a lotus ball or treat hugger? We can tie it to a toy and drag it – I’m pretty sure he will focus on the food end. If not, we can make other food toys: a food pouch and then ypu can open it for him. I’ve dragged food bowls on little rollers (piano leg movers 😆) and that works too! Let me know what you have available and we can plan.
For the jumping itself, his form is on the right track. Yay! You can switch the moving target to start further away, at least 6 feet past jump 2 so he has more room to move to it after he lands. That will give him even more power, especially when we convince him to look down at the moving target 🙂
Great job!
Tracy
