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Hi! Lots of great stuff here on these videos!
Threadle: This went well! It looks like he did not have trouble on your left side coming in to the threadle line. Big improvement!!!
He almost had trouble on the first rep on the right side but then caught himself – good boy to him, and good for you for holding your position to let him fix it. Yay!
So now the next step is to have a reward target out where the reward goes so you don’t have to move to indicate the jump at all (he will automatically zip in then out). And when he can do that, we add your motion!
Tandem turns are going well – be sure to decelerate as he is getting to your hands, to help him predict that the turn away is coming. Steady motion or acceleration makes it harder for him to prepare.
He is ready for the advanced level now, which has him come past the prop then you turn him back to it.
Stays are also going well – you can add in turning away to move forward rather than backing away from him. As you turn and move forward, you can throw the reward back to him while you are still moving away – that makes it harder for him to predict the release and easier for you to add more distance & duration.
The turn aways (lap turns) also went super well! They looked really easy for him. Like with the tandem turns, you can move to the advanced level and add the prop in 🙂
Looking at the combo game – he did really well with the treat already placed in the dish! The next step on that is to reward him for walking away with you rather than holding his collar (I do love the light-up collar though!) You can reward each step to help convince him to move away from the treat.
He was very good about following your pivots too rather than going directly to the bowl!
Another thing to add to this game is a toy reward (you can add toys more to all of the games so he gets more toy play and excitement built in.
Since this game went really well, you can move forward to the rocking horses with 2 barrels 🙂
Great job here! Have fun!
Tracy
Ha! Fun! No need to panic, just hold on to the pole tighter 🙂 He is so fun! If he goes into keep away mode, you can whip out treats or another fun toy and sit on the ground, pretending you are rewarding another dog. That might bring him back super fast (and reward him when he does come back :))
T
Good morning!
Well, he wasted no time at all slamming the wobble board LOL! And he got mad when the reward was NOT FAST ENOUGH (according to Lew LOL). I love his big opinions!
Yes, I think he is ready to be introduced to the teeter. Because the teeter is the real thing, be super careful: don’t let it move or make noise at first, and reward every touch wih super high value food, end finish the session after just a couple of reps.
The plank game also went well, super easy for him. He only came off the side when he thought a treat was being thrown. Do you have anything you can elevate the plank a bit more on? And that way you can show him hopping on and off, and turning around with a little more drop to the ground.
>This is an early question about the Dogwalk and tiny featherweight dogs.>
Definitely don’t run the dog walk outside on windy days!
> Do you have any recommendations? I don’t want to take the same running contacts class I took with Bazinga for Lew. Do you have anyone who does online classes you would recommend that teaches a run through like you are teaching me?>
Good question! I hear good things about Kirstin O’Neill and also she teaches & runs a lot of non-Border Collies 🙂 Let me poke around the interwebs and see who else is presenting a good class 🙂
>We started doing the very first session of the Weaves independent study. This is getting real!
I bought the channel weaves that I borrowed for Bazinga from a friend so we can do the 2×2 and the Channel tracks.>FUN! I think he will really enjoy the weaves!!!
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
>Unfortunately, Chip split a nail this afternoon. I have no idea how it happened, but he’s not a happy boy right now. >
Ouch! Poor Chip!!!
Have you ever seen a product called Silver Honey? I always have it with me, even when traveling. It is a combination of manuka honey and microsilver BG, which promote really fast healing and protect against bacteria getting in there. It sounds crazy but the healing is insanely fast – we use it all the time on the whippets who are a combination of wild and fragile: skin tears, cracked nails, burned pads, etc. I have seen wounds heal in just a few hours. I also used it on myself when I walked head-first into the open door a microwave, ouch haha!!You can put it on the wound directly, then wrap it with vet wrap nice and tight (so he can’t lick it off) with you watching him so he doesn’t take off or eat the vet wrap. Or, he can wear a cone or donut so he doesn’t lick it (sorry, Chip). Licking it won’t hurt him or anything, but it slows down the healing.
He did really well in the session here! He is definitely looking confident and picking up speed 🙂
Yes, as you noted – a disconnection on the first run so he thought you were cueing a blind cross to the other end of the tunnel. You were GREAT about continuing, though, and getting the connection as soon as he came through that part of the sequence again as well as on the other side too. Lovely! And the connection in that spot was super on the 2nd run as well. You can add that level of connection (where he can see your eyes) when he exits the tunnel too. If you were looking a bit forward as he exited the tunnel, he would look up at you to check the line. When you looked at him more, he was able to find the line without looking up at you.
The plank work looked great too. He was super confident. and it was very easy for him (so he was looking at you). You can elevate the plank if you have stable stuff to put under each side. That way you can cue him to hop on and off, as well as turn in a circle without having to step off the plank (he can follow your hand to do this).
How does he feel about moving boards, like wobble boards?
Great job here! Fingers crossed for dry weather ahead and quick healing of his nail, so you can go outside to train.
Tracy
Good morning!
> I don’t even have 5 minutes these days -i I feel like my complaining college students. Once I get to November 15 I can spend a lot more time with him!>
Ha! It is hard to be on the faculty nowadays – SUPER busy from what I have seen! Only 10 more days til November 15 🙂 The games build on each other pretty easily, plus we have a true “break” week at Thanksgiving then a ton of time throughout December to keep playing. You are in a good position to get all of these games played 🙂
> was going to talk about the slicing for ability to work near distractions. I have used pattern games (although only once – darn fall) to work on focus while another dog is running. Obviously still a work in progress. >
Patterns are great for this, as well as any goofy little behavior like cookie recalls. For baby dog slices, we can introduce small bits of things that might end up being really hard in the future. And introducing them at home is easier than trying to use the trial environment, because we can control things at home and not at trials. In the demo, I was doing cookie recalls with my other dogs running around – because the puppy in the demo is part Whippet and part Malinois, and both breeds are likely to be very very interested in the motion of other dogs.
Later in his training, the slice got more specific – here is a training session with lots of folks around, and the slice was a Border Collie staring at him (because that can feel CHALLENGING for other dogs especially non-BCs!) So you can do stuff like this if you have friends to help and good helper dogs 🙂
I also use videos to create slices using noises – ring noises, someone yelling TUNNEL TUNNEL TUNNEL on course, the sound of a dog running through a tunnel, etc. It is really interesting how even when played at a low volume, that can be super challenging for young dog brains to ignore while continuing to play the game we are asking for!
I have a video somewhere of my Whippet doing pattern games in a room in my house… and a video playing someone running a tunnelers course in the background at relatively low volume. My dog definitely had to work through that puzzle! But he did and now he is perfectly fine outside the ring, not distracted at all by people yelling TUNNEL a thousand times on course LOL! I will see if I kind find the video, it is pretty funny 🙂
Other slices I like to add at this stage involve proprioception. Using something the dog is really good at in terms of movement & mechanics, we add a slice challenge to that. For example, my dogs are really good at going up-and-over a little platform. So I use this proprioception skill in the framework. This dog had worked through the novel-neutral and novel-exciting stages, so this is the first session of a slice – moving towards other people while still executing the ‘simple’ proprioception behavior.
This was during a walk through and the slice was having people NOT facing him. Great plan until the person turned and faced him! He definitely noticed and had to process. Super nice impulse control experience!
>Plus he was able to maintain some focus at the trial, just not start lines.>
That is good about the focus, but definitely will still want to work the impulse control separately throught he framework. The results have been soooooo strong in terms of ease of transition from training to competition. And the start line stays can be worked at home through the framework at each step, making them soooo much easier to get at trials 🙂
> He did better with a prop, but I was doing some quick releases which I know is already a problem>
Yes, a quick release at the beginning is a good start but we want to make sure the release is super clear so we don’t run into questions later.
Looking at the video:
The rocking horses are going really well! Great job making it fast and fun for him 🙂 You can make a little bit more connection after the FC on the barrel to really make sure he sees the connection. You can also add more distance between the barrels, so he sends further and so you can also add more of your motion (the advanced level)
Serps & threadles:
He is understanding the 2 cues really well so far! Only a little question here and there, but that might have more to do with the release than with the cue (see below).
The next step is to create more independence with the reward target on the ground, so he can zip through the in-then-out elements here. Throwing the reward from your hand is causing him to watch you for an additional cue (reward throw) rather than independently going to the bar on the threadles or next line on the serp. A cookie bowl on the ground can work or a toy on the ground, as long as you are not moving an arm to create the 2nd part of the behavior. The reward target on the ground will also allow us to start adding your motion too!He is holding his stay nicely on the board here so now you can very consistently separate the hand moving into position from the release (you did a little bit of that at the end of this game). You can see he was building in the hand movement as the release (moving when your hand moved and before the release), so you can go to position, put your hand into position… but do not release! Either praise then throw a reward back to him for holding the stay, or praise then release him forward to the serp or threadle. Mix it up and keep the release very separated from your hand moving into position.
Tunnel threadle – he was getting the hang of the concept here! Yay! I think having the weaves and a-frame so close added enough environmental pressure that he was unsure of what to do or if he should tug. The food helped a lot but you can also get him tugging near obstacles in general, to him understand how to process the pressure. This could be a fun slice: tugging near obstacles, especially since he doesn’t know what weave or the a-frame are yet 🙂
For the threadle cue: You were adding your ‘me’ cue, which is great. You won’t need to say ‘me’ then tunnel, so you can start him close to the threadle tunnel entry, hold his collar and say the ‘me’ cue a few times while holding him… then let him go find it. Will your tunnel threadle arm cue be the same arm like you had here, or the outside arm? You can add the arm cue as well – the outside arm might be more visible for him.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning!
Omg, he did a great job with his stays in front of a jump! I am so proud of him!!! Great job to you for making it fun for him 🙂
Because his stays are going really well, you can gradually add more before the release: looking at him, quiet praise, raising your hand (to indicate focus forward on the line), then release. Don’t add these all at once 🙂 but just one at a time, bit by bit. And we will also eventually add running starts (where you are running before the release, for future courses that have fast lines in the opening) but for now let’s focus on forward focus.
I also show young dogs stuff they will see at trials, at this point in training: this includes bringing him to the line with a leash then taking it off then lining up for the stay. And for my Paps, I would often carry them to the line, so I did that in practice too at this stage. I try to show baby dogs everything they will see in the future, so there are no surprising things when they begin to go into the trial ring.
The bow on the board is also going well, he seems to really love it 🙂 It looks like there is a target on the end of the board, so you can use that to fade out your body language as part of the cue. You were stopping and turning towards him a bit here – so for now, try not to turn towards him. And if he can still get into the bow and hold it, you can add in slowly continuing to walk past him.
That board moves a tiny bit, and that is great! You can put something under it so it moves a little more as a good prep for the teeter.
Tight wraps: the bending is looking really good here, I think he is understanding how you want him to turn REALLY tightly, so he is turning his head AND bending through the ribs. Yay! And you can see him setting it up as he approaches the upright. The only confusion was when he was already facing you – he was not as strong about the turning on those so you can always start him facing the upright (and next to you) instead of facing you.
You can transfer this game to something bigger: a large cone or jump wing. And then you can move it into the 360 backside circle wraps (advanced level).
Great job!
TracyGood morning!
Threadle wraps are hard indeed – and it might not be as much about the arms with Sprite as it is about the other cues: setting the line properly and the decel. I have found that everyone talks about arms & verbals but the arms/verbals are fairly useless if the line and motion indicate something else!
So with both of the girls, we will emphasize whichever arm you choose, along with line & decel.
>Previously she was a definitely right turn girl. So, I’m not sure why it’s harder now.>
It could be handler mechanics are harder on that side and it could also be that she has a trigger point that is restricting her movement to the right. Young dogs don’t exactly take good care of their bodies LOL!!! Have you ever done skin rolling with her? I have found that is Ian easy at-home way for me to loosen my dogs up if they are stiff one direction or the other.
I can understand a bit of stiffness restricting movement – I’m of the age where I can pull a muscle while sleeping haha!!
Looking at the video for the tunnel threadles: overall a good session!
About the leaping up at the beginning: She did a lot better when your arm did not move as much (rep 1 versus rep 2). When your arm moved forward and up, she was like “am I supposed to pay attention to that?” On the other reps, the arm was stationary and she did great.
And also, decel is important here: if you are moving forward in steady motion past the tunnel entry, she is very literal right now: she, too, will move forward and not turn away (:19). When you were moving forward on the other side, you were also turning your feet a little towards the tunnel which helped her.
The little bit of sniffing/jumping up towards the end of the first side was probably just too many reps of the same thing. So she was like “got anything in your hand? Oh look, hackberries YUM!” I know that we adult humans have the capacity to do it over and over while working on our mechanics, but teenage dogs will get bored with that 🙂 You switched sides and she did great!
So you can do one or two reps of it, then do something else: change sides or do it as a double whammy so she can do the tunnel twice!
The reverse retrieve is looking great! On the first rep, her only struggle was trying to pick it up can carry the darned thing. She drove pretty directly to you on the other reps – and even if she went past you a bit, it is still a massive improvement over taking the toy on a victory lap without you LOL!! Great job making the retrieve fun fun fun!
Nice work here 🙂
TracyGood morning!
He is doing well figuring out that it is legal to do the tunnel twice in a row LOL!! I think on the very first rep he was like “this can’t be true” haha! But then he was really strong after that with turning away into the tunnel.
Two things to consider as you build on the skill:
You can add an arm cue to it – I like to use the opposite arm across the body because it is really obvious to the dog even with the ‘wrong’ end of the tunnel in front of them 🙂
You can also make the verbals sound different: your tunnel verbal can be lower in pitch and more elongated, kind of like Tuuuuunnnnnel tuuuuuuunnnnnel. That will be a sharp contrast to the threadle verbal which can be shorter and faster: kiskiskiskis for example 🙂
I mention this because I am not 100% convinced the dogs understand the individual words. I think they tend to understand words, yes, but the context & delivery style (length, volume, pitch) makes a massive difference especially in these early stages.
>We’re still using a short tunnel. Should I start using a longer one?>
The short tunnel works great here but yes, you can totally show him the longer one – I think he will LOVE it. And you can start to gently curve it, we have some fun games coming up with that 🙂
Great job!
Tracy
Good morning!
Wobble board/backing up:
It was smart training to do a quick refresher on the board to make sure he still likes it 🙂 Teenage dogs sometimes wake up suddenly not liking something they used to like 🙂
The initial backing up was good, it was one step back onto the board. When you changed your position, it became multiple steps back and that was harder for him to sort out that big step up onto the board. He knew it was *something* with backing up but had trouble sorting out how to lift his back feet.
You can come in a little closer, so there are fewer steps backwards. Then he can sort out the lifting up of the back feet to step on the board.
Another option is to put a towel under the opposite end of the board so the side he steps up onto is a little lower to the ground.
>Should I not help and just let him find the board?>
Try not to help by touching him (he didn’t seem to like when you tapped his sides) and when you placed his hind end next to the board, it didn’t help him solve the puzzle of adding more steps because you put his back feet right next to the board. So it is better to change your position (get a tiny bit closer) or put the towel on the board than it is to manipulate him physically.
Leading with the head: He is starting to get the idea!
I think it will feel smoother is you use the hand next to him to get the turn. For example, when he is on your left (like the beginning of the session) – send to the upright with your left, then use your left hand to get his attention as he comes around the upright then turn him away. That will get the head turn and should feel a lot smoother 🙂The Get Out:
This looked pretty easy for him! Time to add some more distance! Rather than starting next to him and relatively close to the prop, you be 5 or 6 feet or so away from the prop. Use a cookie toss start so he is a little behind you and so you can start moving – then add in the cue as you are both in motion (mixed in with sometimes *not* cueing it so he stays with you.He had a couple of questions when you did add more distance but that was because you were starting together with him and he didn’t see the new cue in time. He got it at the end but using a cookie toss start will make it even easier for him to see the cue 🙂
The stays are looking strong here! You can also use it with the get out game! You will probably have to reward a lot for holding the stay with the prop on the ground, but it is a good intro to doing stays in front of a jump for a future start line.
>There are so many games now I’m feeling behind!>
They all build on each other so you are in a good place! There are just a few this week that add on to things you’ve already done, then we have a full break week during Thanksgiving week (plus time at the end). You are positioned nicely to get everything done with no problem 🙂
Nice work!
TracyGood morning!
The backing up form looks good! To keep her moving straight, use both hands to reward. You were rewarding with the right hand only, so she was locking onto that hand and backing up from it. If you alternate hands and reward from the left hand a lot, she will back up straight because she won’t lock onto any single hand.
If she starts going sideways, take it as a reminder to alternate hands more.
>It really seems like this is a bit boring to her. I played tug a few times during the session.>
It was really interesting, and I agree! High value food that she seemed interested in, high rate of success… but yes, I think she is like “ok, this again, dull.” It is extremely repetitive so you can keep making it a slightly different puzzle (like flipping the board over and bracing it with towels so it moves a little bit).
And you can use the toy as the reward: she doesn’t think the toy is boring! You can tug with her in front of you while you are seated in position. Then hold the toy still… when she backs up onto the board, mark with her coming in to tug more.
You can of course throw the toy like you are throwing the cookie, but that assumes she will bring it back so you don’t have to keep getting up to get it (I am WAY too lazy for that hahaha)
Great job here!
TracyHi!
Speaking of ‘woohoo!’ mode: he totally seems to love the teeter because you have paired it with all of the exciting toy play! Super fun! And he seems very confident too. YAY!!!
>Wondering if I should change another thing up?>
No need to add to this yet! We add a different game next week.
Wraps: his commitment is looking good! Super! Your connection is also looking strong! Only one suggestion: you can add more decel as part of the wrap cue, starting the slowing down as he is at the jump before the wrap. For most of the reps, you were maintaining a steady speed so he turned a little bit wide (making the turn after landing). But then you had decel at 4:39 and that was the tightest turn – really nice!
And yes, you can start the cues one stride sooner for him, his commitment is strong: when you see him lifting off for the jump before the wrap, start the decel and verbal cue. You don’t need to rotate until he is closer to the wrap jump and getting ready to take off.
>Other than me accidentally cueing RC>
Yes, you were a little late with the shoulder turn at 3:04 (too much help showing him the middle jump) and he totally read rear cross. Good boy!!
>Should we try the blind crosses? I am questioning moving wings a little more so I have more room for the cross.>
Definitely! Those will be fun! Be as far away laterally from the jump after the tunnel to get ahead enough for the blinds. They will be a very useful tool with him.
Nice work here!
Tracy
Hi!
I did totally miss this, sorry!!!! Thanks for the poke 🙂>Should I redo that commitment exercise or move on?>
You can move on!
He did well with the mini teeter and wobble board here. I think he was better on the wobble board than the mini teeter, because the toy took him into more of a “woohoo!!!” mode 🙂 On the mini teeter, he got very much into his thinking brain and started to over think it a bit. You can use food to reward, but also break it up after every rep or two and throw the toy around, to keep him all pumped up about it.
Nice work here!!
Tracy
Hi!
> he could leave the static toy when I lured him with the toy in my hand. he could walk with me without tugging on my toy – or offered wraps to start.>
Yes! He did great! Lots of focus and impulse control, but also running really fast with accuracy. And I think he was even offering a start line sit stay a couple of times – that is nice too because we want him to love his start line stays 🙂
> He could do wraps ignoring the static toy when I had the toy in my hand. We switched between static and running toys and his forward focus was much stronger.>
This was super. And you had a bunch of VERY successful forward focus reps where you ran with low arms and big connection – my 2 favorite spots with that were at 2:47 and 3:36. Running with a low arm shows the connection better and also allows you to run even faster!
There were 2 spots where he did not take the jump (coming towards the camera at 3:56 and 4:28). That had nothing to do with arms or connection – he missed the jump because you took several strong steps to your right, which pulled him towards the other jump that was there as he exited the barrel wrap.
Compare to the reps at 5:01 and 6:32, also coming towards the camera, when he saw you runnng forward on the line as he exited the barrel wrap so he found the jump nicely there with wonderful forward focus.
Take a look at the threadle wraps! We can start working on those with the barrels, so he learns the discrimination that sometimes it is a regular wrap send, and sometimes you will cue the threadle wrap.
>when he got closer – he jumped in the air and ran into the runnel with the toy in his mouth. The got our and make huge happy circle to me.>
That is hilarious and so fun! The tunnel under the dog walk is a very common challenge nowadays so it is great to see him being able to find it so confidently (especially before he has too much value for the running dog walk 🙂 You can teach him to find obstacles after the tunnel while you stay on the other side of the DW by putting the barrel in close and the static toy near it. Think of it as foundation for him finding the weaves as you layer the dog walk – that is something that we are seeing all the time now!
Great job here 🙂
Tracy
Good morning!
> I’m unsure, and therefore inconsistent, about which hand to use to indicate the turn.>
Which hand(s) do you use with Sprite? It is easiest to keep it the same. If you haven’t really worked this with Sprite, you can decide what feels comfortable! I use 2 low hands, with the outside arm visible to the dog. Some folks use the dog-side arm punched down low (my dogs never really ‘saw’ that cue). And some folks use the outside arm up and across the body. so hands are handler preference: what feels comfy for you and what does she see?
The other parts of the TW cue are just as important: setting the line and the deceleration into the cue though:
>How does this differ from tandem turn hands?>
It can be the same hands if you want (my hands are basically the same). The main difference is the foot work:
For both, there is a deceleration as an important part the the beginning of the cue (hands appear with the decel).
For a threadle wrap, we are putting our hand cue in position and not moving it – and feet remain facing forward and we are holding the decel, until after the turns away.For the tandem turn, the hands can pull and turn the dog away – and the handler’s feet follow that line turning to face the next direction.
She was able to find the TW pretty independently on the left turn side. You can make the hands a little more obvious, but she didn’t really need you to flip her back to the barrel. Yay! On the right turn side, the outside arm seemed to be doing more, so she might have been waiting for more arm movement before starting the turn away. So you can fade out the extra help of the turn away, and I bet the right turns are as good as the left turns 🙂
Nice work here! You can start adding more motion!
Tracy
Good morning!
>I was so psyched to read this!
Fun times ahead!!!
He was a happy little jumping bean here! The session went well!
>He was really excited to play but after a few reps, I realized I needed to get him used to the thrown treat hugger>
That was smart and I think it helped him make an easy transition into the more challenging sequence!
He only had a couple of questions, most of which had to do with the tunnel entry/exit near the camera:He was missing the jump after the tunnel mainly because the tunnel was propelling him out straight past it (on a backside line) and he was feeling fast! Yay! The other side of the tunnel was facing the jump more, so he didn’t seem to have questions there.
And coming into the tunnel entry near the camera was hard too, mainly because of the angle – it was a little offset. Ad young dogs are very literal: at 1:02 he was looking kind of straight on the go verbal and missed the tunnel, so I think he needs more of a tunnel verbal there to find it.
Staying more connected to him there (and at 1:09) like you did at 1:14 will help him find the entry too!
His only other question was at 1:32 – you broke connection by loking forward so he maybe thought you were doing a blind and came off the line. So maintain the direct connection to his cute face all the time (easier said than done, and it will get easier as he learns more about commitment).
Overall, a lovely session!!!
>Listening to the video: I’m loud. I say each obstacle verbal 3 times in the same cadence. Are those drawbacks? Am I too loud? Would it be better to make each verbal different so they are easier to tell apart? Different cadence?>
Loud is not a problem, but I think that dogs are responding to the different volume/cadence, energy of the verbal and not the actual word. So you can be super loud and repetitive on the forward cues, like GO GO GO and TUNNEL TUNNEL TUNNEL
But for the turn cues, change the delivery: so my wraps, I am super quiet and I repeat them 5 or 6 times. You might notice that my wrap cues are noises that I make in the front of the mouth – specifically so I cannot shout them LOL! They are very quiet and help the dogs collect into good turns (and helps me decelerate because the noise cannot be made while running full blast). And my soft turns (left & right and my general ‘jump’ cue) are in the middle: not yelled, but not whispered. I try to say them in a conversational way, more of a question. The verbals all sound totally different , which helps me to deliver them and helps the dogs to process them,
> I have not ever used “Go-tunnel-go-tunnel” but I could see why that makes sense in your video because you are saying the verbal before they take the jump before the tunnel. I like that. I’m stealing it 🙂>
Ha! It is a fun verbal for handler AND dog LOL!
>I may be giving Bazinga her verbals too late after watching your intro to >
You can run this with her and video it – then play it back in super slow motion (youtube lets you adjust the settings). Then you will really hear when you are starting the verbals!
Great job here!!
Tracy
