Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Hi!
He did well working in a very distracting environment! He didn’t quite ‘recognize’ the barrel at first with the cars right there. Then it was a bit of work trying to get the jump – it is a small bar so at first you had a tiny bit of pressure to the backside line on the first rep, then on the 2nd rep you were pulling away from the jump so he went with you.
But after that was clear sailing! Yay! You showed him the jump and also showed him the line when you added back the barrel – super! He was able to do that then he was also able to do the rear crosses to the right. Good for him for not running off with the toy! Overall, a really good session. You can add a bit more distance between the jump and the barrel now, so there is more time to show the RC info.
Nice work!
Tracy
Hi!
> I was more tired than I thought. Took the day off work and spent half of it sleeping.>
Good for you!!!
The zig zags went really well. The hardest part was convincing him to line up very close to the wing on when it was on his right side 🙂 He read the zig zags really well when you cued them – great job working out how to cue the line when he was on your left. You can move the wings in closer together now, so he has to zig zag even faster.
One thing I notice here is that on a bunch of his sits, he rolls back and pops a leg out (usually his left hind, like at :27, 1:29, 1:55). Ideally, he shuld have a nice tight sit like at 1:40 and 2:05 for example – do you have a sit platform where you can do a little bit of conditioning to get the sit nice and tight, all legs under him? And when lining him up at the start, you can try for a tuck sit – usually holding the treat or the hand signal higher over his nose will do the trick.
Nice work!
Tracy
Hi!
He did really well with the left turns here, even with the big barking from the neighbor dog! Using the toy as a focal point really seemed to get the game going, then it was good to start to fade it out after a few reps. You can also use a food bowl as a focal point especially to the left – when the toy there at all, he had some trouble so a small visual aid like a bowl can be a nice transition to having no visual aid.
Since he has 3 turns to make, you can repeat the verbal a few times – that will help support the line as you fade the visual aid and start to add your movement.
When starting from the middle, he was not sure if the verbal was the release – be sure your hands are empty so there is no cookie above his head (poor starving dog haha) and definitely have the toy or bowl out there for now, until he realizes that the verbals are indeed releases from that position.
Great job!
Tracy
Good morning! Hope you are having a great weekend!
>I use the word “break” when we are done with exercises and walks etc. I notice you use it for front releases or future straight jumps I think. What would be another good word for that?>
Since ‘break’ is your ‘all done’ verbal, other options for stay releases can be ‘OK’, or ‘free’ or ‘start’. I am sure there are others but might need another cup of coffee or 3 before I can think of them haha
Your rocking horse game is going well! He has decided he really likes it and wants to go really fast 🙂 Yay!
There is a lot of good work in this session: he loves his barrels and you were staying really connected.
One thing that I think will really help: have the toy in a pocket of your hoodie or tucked into your shirt. That way your hands are free and you will find it so much easier to move and make connection. Trying to hold the toy in your armpit and move and connect was too hard with such a fast pup!>I still need to take more time to make better eye contact with him.>
Actually, I think you were really strong with your connection! The moments that felt a little disconnected were probably when you were reaching for the toy in your armpit 🙂 For example, at the very end you had great connection, he was heading to the barrel, then you went to grab the toy and he came away from the barrel because the toy is fun 🙂 Having your hands free will help a ton! And we don’t need a precision reward for this game, so you can praise and get the toy out fast, but it can totally be in your pocket while you are cueing him.
>Also I fall at the end, that is how coordinated I am lol.>
Ha! No worries, we all fall over at some point LOL!! You landed gracefully.
>I haven’t added the words yet because I have enough to focus on my moves at this point>
You will be able to add them soon! And you can also spread the barrels out a bit to have more distance – that will be fun!
Great job 🙂
Tracy
Good morning!
This is going well!
>I started out with one mat and Tribute has such high value for the prop that I couldn’t tell if he was responding to my cue or if he was making a bee-line towards the mat on his own.>
Yes, on the first couple of reps you were moving towards the mat so Tribute was totally on board with going to it 🙂
>I added a second mat, one to cue forward parallel motion and the second for the out. >
Adding the 2nd mat got him on a line but it was not really a get out at that point (no lead change away).
So to clarify for him which we want (the get out or continuing on a straight line and *not* going to the mat) you can lay his leash on the ground as a straight line, with the mat 5 or 6 feet away from it laterally. Your feet will walk along the leash on every rep. On some reps, you will walk straight, no get out cues, and reward him for NOT going to the mat. That might be hard, so you can call his name and shake your dog side hand to help convince him 🙂
And on some reps – you will still move along the line on the ground, but your upper body will cue the get out so he has ‘permission’ to go hit the mat. That will be the verbal, very direct connection, and the opposite arm cue.
For the outside arm – using it might feel weird at first 🙂 You can look at his eyes pretty directly like you did here, and make the outside arm more obvious: as you look at him, you can point the outside arm ahead to the mat you want him to shift away to. That will make the outside arm visible across your body, turning your shoulders to the mat and he should drive to it.
Nice work here!Tracy
Good morning –
>(BTW Rip had a nice clean A3 on a Fanny Gott course yesterday >
YAY Rip!!! Sounds like you are having a great time there!
Find My Face went really well. He certainly seemed to think it was WEIRD at first. You are normally super engaged and connected, so he was like “what the heck?!?!”. But that is exactly what we want him to experience: that what the heck minor stressor that gets turned into a “oh! This is a cool game!” He was running back to you by the end and seemed more confident in what to do and how to get the reward.
When you did it inside in the much harder environment, he recognized the game and was very happy to play. Yay! One thing you can add in that warm up area environment is the leash: coming in on leash, taking the leash off in front of the jump, then into a game (can be a stay or FMF or anything). Any rehearsal of that critical moment when the leash comes off in a crazy environment is so valuable! A find that a lot of dogs have a spike of arousal into a high stress zone when the leash comes off near a jump in that environment, so I do a TON of leash off, play, leash on, leash off, play, leash on, etc etc at this age now. And by doing that, the arousal shifts into a really optimal state as the dogs transition into the trial ring, rather than struggle with overarousal or stress.
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
>Should I practice this at home too when we train? Once she has a station behavior I’ll use that?!>
Yes, you can make it a lifestyle 🙂 I do have a ‘go for a run’ cue which I use to let him have a big run with the toy… but I tend to use it sparingly at home and almost never in other places at this age. A station can help but bear in mind that it is work for a puppy… so it uses plenty of brain juice. I will either hold the pup by the collar, or let them have a chill in the crate if I need more time.
Adding the wings at home went great! Mission accomplished: wraps with verbals and independence, and no touching the wings 🙂
Adding the rocking horses:
Also lovely! So exciting!!! Your connection was very clear so she totally understood where to go on the wings. You can add in more of your movement – when you were a little far from the 2nd wing and only took one step, she had a question. When you took a couple of steps: perfect!You can also add a toy reward in – it can be scrunched up in your pocket and then whip it out when you want to reward, so you don’t have to worry about a big toy in your hand 🙂 We don’t need precision rewards on this game, so having it in a pocket or stuffed in your jacket will work really well.
>What ended up mostly in these 2 lessons is Sunnie breaking her stay. I have to admit I am not saying “wait” and then when she does break there is no consequence (except not doing the thing right away) I just “reset” her. Should I help her out by saying Wait at this point in her training? And what should I be doing when she does break?>
I think she was not sure if she should wait or if she should offer the wrap, so she offered the wrap because that is something we like 🙂
When you used your wait verbal – that seemed VERY clarifying for her!! She held her position til you released and then she really exploded to the wing with more speed. So definitely use your wait verbal so she knows it is not an offering game. Or, hold her collar/harness til you are ready.
>he struggled a bit at the pole barn the other night too with staying, so finally I said my words & she stayed put.>
Words are good! If that tells her specifically what you want, then totally use the wait because it sets up a lot of success.
>With so much going on in the environment I wait until she looks at me, same when we train elsewhere. OR should I ask for a “LOOK” (which means look at me) ?
>She was such a good girl, ignoring the lawn mower zipping around!!! In the harder environment, you can use the volume dial game to get her looking at you and really engaged, or a pattern game. I don’t ask for a look cue because the engagement gets built in through the other games, and I don’t want to bug or nag the dog to look at me 🙂
Once she is lined up and in a stay, though – she does not have to look at you and it is actually preferable that she looks at the wing or whatever is on her line that you will want her to do.
Looking at Find My Face:
>I got a little turned around myself, LOL! “did I go this way & I need to turn away from her” thoughts swirling in my head>
Ha! Perfect! We do want her to see human confusion and hesitation – because she needs to know what to do when we accidentally do it in the agility ring LOL! She was great and I loved her fancy dance move at the end. She seemed to think it was silly fun and that is exactly what we want 🙂
>But if I start playing Get It she drops the toy toy and we make our way up to the house. Once we get close she races up to the deck to get more kibbles! I taught her Get It & toss kibbles on the deck so now she knows when her she’s up there kibbles come. I do this every time we go in, potty, play time, Get It > kibbles on the deck >
FUN!!! That builds the value for coming in because the fun games continue. Super!! A great teenage-dog-survival application 🙂
Great job here 🙂
Tracy
Good morning!
>It really is a lot of fun with so many of us doing the same stuff>
I think it is absolutely fantastic that you all train together!
Sequence 1:
She is driving lines really well! Bar down is probably just her sorting out the bigger distance, no worries, I think it was the only bar down on this video.Sequence 2: She found jump 2 really well so you can move laterally up the line closer to 3. That will cue the turn in advance, making the blind easier to start sooner.
Lead out push – it is possible that you were too close to the jump and looking at her too directly, so she didn’t feel she had room to drive to the bar on rep 1 at :54.
You were having a discussion about where to look/connect to:
Your eyes stay on her for the beginning of the cue and then if you feel there is a lot of countermotion when you start moving away, you can shift to looking at the landing spot.
That is what you did at 1:33 (eyes on her and kept looking behind you towards her as you moved away, which showed her the landing spot). That went great!Sequence 3:
She is reading her lines really well so I think you can push her a lot harder 🙂 Your connection was beautiful for keep that and see if you can drive more to give earlier info.
The BC at 2:05 and 3:30 were very timely!
Decel sooner at 2:08 for the wrap FC – you did it sooner at 3:34 and she was much tighter!The FC worked well 8-9 but be sure to get outta there fast so you don’t end up in her way 🙂
Then get right on her butt to drive to the center of the bar for the RC line at 2:19. As she landed from the jump there, you turned and faced the wrap line so that is what she locked onto
Better at 2:38 in isolation! At 3:43 there was a bit of a turn to the wrap side (your shoulders said wrap but your feet said rear cross) so she looked at you before moving to the jump.
Sequence 4:
For the FC on 2 at 3:55, you will want to led out a little more so you can decelerate as soon as she approaches 1 – you were moving forward fast for a few extra steps there so she didn’t see the turn cue til after she took off in extension.The spin can also had a deceleration into the FC. Think of it as a 2-part cue: the deceleration into a wrap front cross as she is landing from 1, then do the BC as you are moving away to the tunnel. Getting a little further ahead on the lead out will help you also get past jump 2 to show the line to the tunnel. Decel is a major part of the cue: if she was pulling off or turning the other direction like a RC (like she did on the video) you were probably slamming the brakes 🙂 So add in moving forward in decel and she will commit really well.
The post turn worked GREAT on the last rep there!
Nice work here!!
Tracy
Good morning!
I love that you all got together to use bigger distances! So fun!
Lead out push went really well – being a bit closer to 2 like you did on run 2 made the line clearer to her so she committed and turned beautifully.
The FC lead out also looked good! She seemed pretty locked onto jump 2 at :25 so you can be closer to jump 3. She barked at you there – she said she didn’t need extra help finding 2 LOL
The throwback went well too, nice turn and no off course tunnel! Getting closer to jump 3 will make it easier so you won’t have to back up. And exiting on your right arm showed her the line very clearly.
The full sequence looked really strong, nice blinds 3-4 and 8-9!
On the last run you did a FC 8-9 and that works well – you were decelerated so it made more sense to your feet to do the FC there instead of the blind.Yes, the 2 toy game keeps her from taking her prize into the tunnel 🙂 Be quick with it so she doesn’t think tunnel thoughts.
YAY for the switch rear crosses! Those went beautifully. And yes, the dog walk was right on her line LOL And it was very cool to see her read it in the full sequence too.
She had a couple of questions on the line (looking at you, and that is why the bar came down on one of the reps) when you were switching the toy from hand to hand – you can stick it in a pocket so your hands are free, and they whip it out at the end or you can have someone else throw the reward for you.
Great job!
Tracy
Good morning!
The bigger sequences are great – these pups are ready for it! You can really see Torch thinking about it at the beginning here but she did great. Then she locked in and got faster and more confident. Yay!
Run 1 – went great! You pulled up and turned at the end, so she came off the last tunnel and :16. Drive all the way to it for now, like you did at :50, that was amazing 🙂
The BC 3-4 at :09 was good timing – you can trust her commitment there. The blind was late at :43, she saved your bacon there 🙂 so you will want to be earlier like you did at :09. That blind started after she got out of the tunnel and the blind at :43 started just before she took off for the jump.
Speaking of blinds: you can do the blind at the end (8-9), not the FC 🙂 The blind will get you up the line faster and will clear the line for her to power through.
The FC wrap on 5 looked really good 🙂 And SUPER NICE switch at :46!! WOW!!!
Lead out 2:
>Should I continue having Kathy throw the reward or should I bring the jump in and gradually move it back out?>
There are a couple of things we can do to help her!
Have her on a slightly different angle at 1 – she should be facing the line to 2 rather than facing directly at you (1:06, 1:26), She will be closer to the inside wing of the jump and angled to face the line in her stay.
You can also back chain it so she understands the line: start her halfway between 1 and 2 so you can be lateral and be moving closer to 3. Then try it from the landing side of 1. And if that goes well – try the takeoff side of 1 🙂
Having Kathy throw the toy was very helpful – definitely keep that so you can start running up the line and getting closer to 3 – your motion can support the line but you won’t need to step to the jump.
The lead out push was great!!! She really understands it and had a lovely turn followed by a GREAT go line at the end!
Nice work here 🙂
Tracy
Good morning!
Christine was HILARIOUS “This is more important than the sequence” haha I am sure they have heard that from you LOL And there was a lot of good activity in that first video in particular – really great to be able to work a baby dog with a busy environment.
Looking at both of the videos: we are training 2 separate behaviors (stay and find the line) but they are also linked.
For the stay – It is possible that the frisbee is very high value and that made it too hard in the first video, especially on that first lead out. If you need the frisbee to get engagement in the busier environment, do a shorter lead out (see below for back chaining idea). The frisbee was also drawing his focus away from the jumps, making it harder to commit. Food or a less interesting toy (or someone else throwing the reward) would make it easier.
Looking at the stay:
He did struggle with the long lead out and frisbee at the beginning. He got better as the first session went along, but there is still the feet issue.You are a little inconsistent with dealing with the feet – sometimes you go back fix it, sometimes not – that will be frustrating for you both in the long run. There is way too much fixing already… I am not even sure that he knows that it is about the foot movement when you come back to fix it because there is a timing lag. And the cookie is nice when you reset but I am not sure it is actually going to help him understand what you want without getting frustrated. And we definitely don’t want the start line to be a frustrating area!
So, for agility, I think you should use a different position at the start. Try a down stay – he is a proper Border Collie and will probably love the down stay! Plus, it will be very clear if he breaks the stay – no grey area of foot movement. And no grey area means no frustration.
You can also try a stand stay (I use those a lot). Train both of them and take the sit out for now (maybe for always :))For the jump finding:
Getting closer to the line on the 2nd video definitely helped him find it! Super!
Since we want to teach him a lead out position, you can back chain the sequence:
Have him do his stay on the takeoff side of 2, so you can do a shorter lead out (better stay!) and still get to good position of 3.
Then if he is successful with the stay and taking the jump, you can back him up to stay on the landing side of jump 1. And when he is successful with that, start him on the takeoff side of 1. Your goal is to be moving laterally towards 3 (or leading out to 3 if you do the front cross).Since there is a group around during a lot of these sessions, have someone else throw a reward on the line. We don’t want him to splat himself, you can use a giant hollee roller or something that is easy to scoop up. That will help him get his focus on the line and off the frizzer that you are holding 🙂
Nice work here!!!
TracyGood morning!
The stool is a very clever way to prop up the teeter! The teeter moved a little but that was appropriate for this. And Skizzle was happy to get right on the teeter too.
The angled entries were really no problem for him at all. Easy peasy! I think his only question was when he was going up the teeter and you were moving towards him (“why are you going that way, human?” LOL!!)
You can add a little more speed by having him wrap a wing or cone before the teeter. That will get even more drive up the board to the treats on the target. I love that he is looking for confident!
Tracy
Good morning!
>In the mean time, I’ll just do what my friends do and submit that LOL
>Perfect!!! I know they would love to train as a group!!
The tandem turns are going well! She is responding brilliantly to all cues – even if it was not what you wanted her to do 🙂
The hand cues help but she is really reading your feet & motion. On all of the correct reps, your feet were pointing the right way so she knew what you wanted.
At :19 & 1:53 & 2:01, when you were sending to the wing – you stepped toward the outside of the wing so that is where she went. Subtle and maybe hard to feel in the moment, but you can see it on the video.
When you added the tunnel and she went to the ‘wrong’ side like at 1:08, your feet were pointing to the line to the wrap side of the wing not the tandem turn.
Rather than rotate towards her or stop moving to get her to come to the correct side, you can stay in motion but add in turning your line of motion (and feet) away from the wing, parallel to the line you want her to take. That will set the line to the correct side and she will get it easily. If she ends up on the wrong side, it is safe to assume your feet cued it 🙂
Great job here!!
Tracy
Hi!
I think Christine would be up for more young dog training as a group – check out her recent post where she said she was going to rely on you all to tell her what to do next in terms of which sequences LOL!! And Tina setting stuff up gives her the chance to train her own youngster too. It is great to have everyone train together – these young dogs have made tremendous progress!
T
Good morning!
>But nobody warned me how hard it is to run a fast dog. Seriously, who knew?>
SO TRUE!! Definitely a big learning curve – but it is sooooo much fun that even though it is incredibly humbling at first, it is a blast and then when the teamwork locks in – it is just an incredible feeling!!! I have personally found that each new speedy dog brings new learning challenges and it doesn’t matter what I thought I knew… time to learn new things 😂 This is especially true when it is a different breed of speedy dog – training different breeds is a whole ‘nother learning curve.
>When I bought this house, agility wasn’t yet a thing. If I’d known, I would have held out for more space.>
This is the story of my life LOL!!!! I was a born & bred New York City girl… now I live in rural Virginia because I needed big spaces for the dogs and agility hahahahaha You are welcome to come over any time, it is a short trip 😂
Looking at the video:
>Let me know how I did with my arms…..not 100% sure. >
Fabulous!! I agree, things are going great! And that is great news about the lead out in FAST.
>she doesn’t understand the concept of a going to the tunnel if I”m not moving forward, but that’s a whole other problem, and outside the scope of this class.>
Actually, it is in the scope because we need giant commitment in order to make blinds easy. And a tunnel send on a verbal only is soooo helpful. I recommend a nice chair for you to sit in, near the tunnel at first: sit in the chair, hold her collar, say tunnel 4 or 5 times – then let go. She will fly to the tunnel, you can throw a toy. Then gradually move the chair further away (and work your way up to standing but not moving :))
Rep 1 – I think this rep had good timing, nice low arms, and she is getting quick to respond to the first part of the blind (the shoulder rotation and the deliberate disconnect).
Rep 2: GREAT timing!! You were finished with the blind and re-connected before takeoff at :13 and again at :20 and :28 (even with a Terv visitor LOL). These were fantastic.
You chanced the angle of the wrap on the first wing (did a FC which set a different angle). It should not change the timing but the different angle took a moment to adjust to and the blind at :40 was a little late and on a slightly different line, so she hit the wing. I don’t think she liked that (and neither did you) so you both adjusted and the next rep at :45 was much better! The last rep was strong too!
But the absolute best reps where you fully trusted her and did the blind with fabulous timing were at :13, :20, and :28. Yay! You can add the collection cues after the blind now – that will require a lot of very timely blinds and quickly going to the collection cues.
>P.S. I recommended your puppy class to my friend Sally. Sorry it got interrupted because of the Eaton fire. She was grateful for the concern expressed by you and her classmates.>
Thank you so much for the recommendation!!!! The Eaton fire was so scary, even from across the country. If I remember correctly, she was doing one of the live classes and there was ash falling from the sky. I am glad things turned out OK, I am sure it was terrifying.
Great job here!
Tracy
