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Hi!
These looked great! No questions from him, from what I could see.I love how the helpers asked if you were threading or serving – keeping ya honest! It all looked clear to me! And to him too. I don’t think you need the “get it” marker anymore, he understands the chain from what I can see and is already driving to the toy.
My only suggestion is to settle into position, get the hand in position, count to 3…. Then release 🙂 Your release and your hand moving into position were getting a little close together in timing and we don’t want him to think that the release is the hand movement/
We build on this soon, so you can back-burner it til we add to it (not this week, it will happen next week :))
Great job!
TracyHi! Happy New Year!
The class ended on December 31st but I am happy to answer questions!
>>I chose to move the jump height up versus flatten. Is my goal to get her up to 24inches. I’ll admit, I tried her at 20 and she did great. Once at 24inches, I go back to working on flattening the jump and move the height back to 8 inches. Do I go all the way up to 24in again before flattening it some more.>>
You don’t need to start back at 8 inches each time you flatten it a little – you can try starting at 12 and see how she does. Getting the angles flat AND full height is really incredibly challenging so not that important because it is so hard on the body. I think getting the angles flat at a high height is good – doesn’t have to be full height.
>>Adding a 3rd jump? When do I do this?
The third jump gets added pretty early in the progression, before it is flattened – because that 3rd jump helps build stamina and balance. 2 jumps are easy… 3 are hard!
>>I did the same progression with the backside and she is at 16in with me moving more. Do I go all the way up to 24 and then try to flatten the jump.
You can flatten things out at a lower height – there is no need to get it at full height, because you can accomplish the strength/balance/coordination at 20 and still see the good effects of it on course at 24″.
>>Only add the 3rd jump when it is flatten?
The 3rd jump usually is significantly harder for the dogs, so add it while the height is still lower (16″) and the angles are still open.
>>can I book an online private/phone call? I do feel committed to continue to work on this and I want to make sure that I am doing it right.>>
I am sure we can find a time for a phone call or zoom call! Let me know what your schedule looks like. Fingers crossed that Mother Nature is kinder to you all in coming weeks!!
Tracy
Hi –
I am so sorry about your dad. I am keeping you in my thoughts, and I am sure your boys are keeping you company. Let me know if you need anything.>>I didn’t actually realize that any behavior between the click and the treat can become part of the behavior, which made me laugh and was eye-opening. I am pretty sure I have put that in my other dog’s training lol, and I would like to not have it for Casper. >>>
I learned it the hard way with my first small dog 🙂 And then I was lucky enough to go to a Bob Bailey seminar and he drilled it into us while we train chickens.

>>This morning when I was talking on the phone to my mom I was also playing with Casper, because playing with puppies is very therapeutic. And he was taking a few steps towards me with this mostly chewed little ball that he likes.>>OMG! He was retrieving! I guess he saw the post about flyball and wanted to practice his ball carrying 🙂 And he is also practicing his bitey ring sport skills by biting your arms too. I suggest wearing a long sleeved hoodie 🙂
I am so glad he brought a smile to your face and to your heart in that moment! Yay Casper!!!!!!
T
Hi!
She was a perfect girlie here! You know she has it when she gets the reward, lines herself up again, and starts without you if you are not quick enough hahaha! Yes, she was not quite as smooth on the right turns but she was able to do them all beautifully! Yay!
So… what do you want your tunnel threadle verbal to be? Time to add it, on easier angles of entry. And also, you can move to the double whammy game (posted last week).
>>I was thinking it would be easy because Frankie is a tunnel sucker big time!
Some dogs are natural tunnel-lovers, and some dogs need to learn and we forget that we taught them as puppies LOL! And some dogs HATE tunnels – so strange, right?!?!?
>>Is there a way to transition from driving to the Manners Minder to returning to me for a treat? In the next video I see that you are holding a toy and Contraband is coming back to you for the reward after he goes through the tunnel.
My highly NOT scientific method of doing this was that I just didn’t put the MM out and used a toy instead LOL! But also bear in mind that CB is a large dog, and we want to promote turning for the large dogs because otherwise they end up wide. For the smallz, I prefer for them to be in extension as much as possible – so even if they look wider on a tunnel exit, they are actually faster because of all of the speed and power. I mention this so you don’t feel the need to tighten her turns at this point: she is a powerhouse! And very small. The dog in my house that puts down the best YPS? One of my smaller girls 🙂 That dog is the widest-looking dog because she is small, she is part Staffy and part Rat Terrier so very front heavy/bully-ish, so I let her run run run on course. She turns just fine and listens beautifully but also lays down amazing times because she is mostly in extension 🙂
>>We practiced the Parallel Path game with a helper & distance & I forgot to hit record! She did really good though. I’ll try another session ang get video
On the barrel games…>>The best sessions never end up on video LOL!!
>>Is there only ever 1 release word? I don’t want to muddy “break” if I get used to useing it. Should I use that only for agility & agility training & another word for day to day stuff? Like releasing from a crate or to their meals?>>
The dogs have us all figured out and there are dozens of release words 🙂 I use ‘break’ in agility to do things like release off the start line in most situations, and I also use it as a crate release. I use ‘get it’ and stuff like as to get meals – so get it is also a release. And verbal directionals are a release 🙂 The dogs have us all figured out 🙂 so you can totally use break in any situation where she should leave a control position and move towards you or into “work”.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyAha! Here is the double whammy 🙂 Perfect! He did really well here and seemed to have fun too 🙂
Question: for your tunnel threadles, will you want to use your dog-side arm, or your opposite arm to go along with the verbal? You were using a little of both and he had some questions about it 🙂 I think you were ,mainly using your opposite arm, which is great! You can make it even more obvious by showing it to him (up high and across your shoulders) – but just walk forward as you do it, rather than using the arm ti flip him to the tunnel or using your motion to step to the tunnel. The verbal and the arm visual are his cues to leave you to go into the tunnel, so we want to help him understand this without needing your motion to turn him into the tunnel.
Great job on all of these! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
On this video, you letting him find the tunnel threadle even more independently, which is great! I think you should now add the double whammy where he gets to do 2 in a row (added last week).
One other thing for him: because he is a tall dude 🙂 you can throw the reward on the tunnel exit, so he exits straight more and powers through. The taller dogs have to scrunch down a bit to get through the tunnels, and if he thinks he is turning on the exit he is going to slow down. So to help him go fast fast fast, throwing the rewards straight on these will really help get the powering through the tunnel 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi!
He did well finding the threadle side tunnel entry! Super!!To help solidify the verbal, try not to help as much with physical cues: You can use the verbal and and the arm but walk slowly forward and resist the temptation to turn to the tunnel or flip your arm… let him turn himself away to the tunnel. And when he does that – you can also turn and throw the reward. You were turning yourself towards the tunnel before he turned to it, so he was reading the physical cues. It will feel WEIRD haha! But it will help get him even more independent.
Tracy
Hi!
He is doing really well with his reverse retrieve!
>>Moving toy – Yes! Laying down – no interest. It will change. I am not worry.
That is pretty normal and I agree – he will develop the love of the dead toy (it is a fun thing to train while sitting on the couch: sending him to a dead toy 🙂
He did well with the retrieving here! Yes, you moved away a little early a few times but then the next few reps were much better! You can also move early but move quietly and walk…. Then when he gets the toy, you can start the happy talk and the running 🙂 That way you can add motion without distracting him from the retrieve.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>>That one is hard for me. I am very inpatient personYour patience will be rewarded with a great start line stay so you can do big lead outs 🙂
You can start to extend the duration of the sit before the click now – you don’t have to move as much between reps, so he can get the cookie and come back to you to offer the sit. Then, while he is sitting, wait one heartbeat before the click and toss. Then you can start to ping pong: sometimes click immediately when he sits, sometimes wait one heartbeat, sometimes 2 heartbeats, sometimes immediately, etc.
I bet he would LOVE this with a toy too – click then toss the toy back behind him. That would also help him learn to stay even when he is pumped up (because he is going to be pumped up at trials!)
Be sure to NOT release and move at the same time. Either – stand still the whole time, or be moving the whole time. But try to avoid stopping-then-moving because that is how we accidentally build the dog thinking the movement is the release.
And for now, you don’t need to release him forward with your OK at all in these sessions yet 🙂 We can get a more solid stay and then add the release forward.
Great job!
TracyHi!
Nice work with the rotated sending! I love your energy here!
He definitely finds it easier turning to his right on these but he caught on very quickly to his left too! Yay! Super! So for the next session: Start with him turning to his right with the sideways sending, then move to the backwards sending (also turning to his right). Then if that goes well – try to turning him to his left with the sideways sending and then the backwards sending.
Great job!
TracyPerfect! I use left and right for the 180s as well, and then you can use tide for one direction and a different word for the other wrap direction.
T
Good morning! These are all looking strong – the Utah crew is Rockin’ it!!
She did really well with the tunnel double whammy and she definitely liked the toy as the reward!!!
>>I am not sure why she was turning so wide out of the tunnel going to the right. The first time I didn’t call her but I think I remembered to after that. Was there something about my dynamics that led to that and/or what do you suggest to improve that. >>
It looks like the first several reps had a toy thrown out straight on the right turn exits, plus a person standing there – she learns quickly, so my guess is she was going a little wider due to placement of reinforcement from the early reps and late name calls. Nothing to worry about at all! On the other side, it looks like she didn’t have the same toy throws out straight or a person there, so she turned better.
Either way, no worries, the goal was to do the threadles and she did great!! You can add in meeting her more at tunnel exit so you can move to the threadle side more – adding motion to add challenge 🙂
She did well with the threadles in general, especially when you stopped moving your shoulders 🙂 One tweak: be sure you look at her to see what she is looking at before you release her. If she is looking away, or at the front side, take an extra moment to release her. I think her attention was wandering a bit because it took you a while (in dog years LOL) to get into position and you didn’t connect before releasing her – yes, you should look at the hand target, but look at her first – then at the hand. And be sure to have more of your body situated by the wing – at :45, most of you was visible through the uprights (I am not sure she could see the threadle hand) so you can move over a bit more so your hand, arm and shoulder are all visible outside the wing rather than between the uprights.
Speaking of releases: time to add the threadle verbal as the release! The regular “ok” verbal will mean the front side of the jump on a lead out, which might be part of why she had the error on the 2nd to last rep. So for the next session, replace the “ok” with the threadle slice verbal 🙂
Looking at the ‘out’ video – at this stage, I think it is OK to use a different prop as long as you have built value for it with a click/treat session before using it for something more complex. She did well with this new prop, because she understands the concept and also seems to understand that it is about the concept and not about only that one original prop. YAY!!!
As you add more motion, try to have a line on the ground to keep yourself from moving towards the prop at all – on a couple of reps, you were definitely migrating towards the prop 🙂
>>Which hand should the reward be in?
Whichever hand is easier to throw from 🙂 You will want to throw quickly and out ahead, so you might want to have it in the dog side arm so that you can toss it more easily before she starts coming back to you.
Nice work on these! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
The impulse control on the toy is off to a good start with the sits, he did really well with these! And he was able to respond to his name and look at you – you can reward that focus on you as you shape your way to getting the touches going. The sit and the name response are easier because the touch involves moving away from the toy and that is HARD! With more practice, the touches will be easier and he will be able to move away from the toy to do them.
The other thing to play for impulse control on the toy is the beginning of the remote reinforcement game:This helps establish impulse control too!
Looking at the backsides:
>>I realized I can’t use “back” because that sounds too much like “Bax”, which I call him a lot. I think I’ll use “push” when we get to that point.
Ah yes, good catch! Push is a great word! I think you are ready to add it – make sure you stay connected and look at his face when you say it as you are moving up the line.
Overall, he seemed to have no trouble finding the backside line when you were connected (one blooper in connection, see below). You can put a leash on the ground to create a line to the center of the bump now, to add more distance away from the cone.
>>I realized he didn’t seem to be his usual joyful, bright self so I cut it off after a few reps on each side.>>
I think it had to do with the motivation value of the reinforcement.
If there is a blooper, you can reward with a reset cookie when he ends up in the wrong spot: assume it was handler error, reward, and reset. For example at :36 – when he had to make a decision about which side to go to, you were looking forward so there was no side info… and he chose the front side. That was an excellent choice when there was no other info. But he didn’t get rewarded for it which can deflate motivation when he doesn’t know why he was incorrect.
He had a little trouble finding the tossed cookie for whatever reason, then was distracted by the search for it – and I think the dead toy as the reward was also not as motivating. He likes the chase and party for sure! For example, on the 2nd to last rep, you tossed the toy and then got it moving for him to chase and he loved that! Compare to the last rep where you were bending over and putting it down in front of him… not as enticing 🙂 So keep the reinforcement very exciting – you can throw it but then keep it moving so he can chase it. That is more of a real reinforcement for him. Asking him to retrieve it for a cookie is not as much of a reinforcement: because retrieving is ‘work’ and the cookie is not as high in value as chasing the toy is.
Tunnel games:
He did great with the tunnel! So speedy, finding the entries, playing with the toy (no running off and no hiding in the tunnel LOL)He had one question on the send, at 2:03 on the threadle side – he was going from a pretty hard angle then you stepped back – he caught that motion and had a big question. That is also a spot for a reset cookie. He got it nicely when you did not move on the next reps. So you can move on the threadle entries, but move towards the tunnel rather than stepping back from it.
Also, you might have done one rep too many… sure, he did the last rep, but he had to be moved into position because he was not offering moving into the line up when asked. Bearing in mind that the dogs are sprinting in this game and we are not 🙂 he might have needed a break. You can set a timer to 2 minutes and be finished before he asks to be finished by not moving into position.
Separately from tunnel games… you can just go outside and ask him to eat cookies, or give him his meals outside. He seems pickier for food outside, which makes sense and is pretty normal for a lot of dogs.
He was a good boy on the reverse retrieves! I think his retrieving overall is looking really good – not just in this game, but I noticed it too in the backside game. It is a useful reinforcement skill and also a fun game 🙂
Great job on these! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>>I use “Tide Left” and “Tide right” for wraps
Based on what I am seeing, he is going to be too fast for you to be able to use tide before the left and right, because if tide means it could be either left or right, he his going to have to be delayed in his response by a stride, waiting for the left or right. For example: say he needs to wrap jump 3, and he only has 1 stride to make the adjustment for the wrap. If he is in the air over 2 or landing from 2 and you start the cue “tide right” – the tide is not enough info so he will take one more stride waiting for hear left or right before he can make the adjustment properly. But if you say “right” as he is landing from 2… then he can totally make an immediate adjustment, no delay. Let me know if that makes sense.
I suggest either using tide for only one direction, or using only left or right.
>>I use “Push” for Backsides
Perfect!
>>I was always wondering, when we teaching our young dogs to wrap the cone
is that foundation of Wrap or Backside jump?>
I assume for Wraps, but it looks like Backside to me.>>The rocking horses will become front side wraps. We add backsides with the visual of a “bar” (a bump) so the pups understand backside as go to the other side of the bar.
>>I also generally BAD with Verbals. It is so much to do on course running a dog!
Stay connected, know your line, show the dog line from possibly ahead, remember the course. Pronouncing the verbals at correct time is adding extra effort, that I am struggling with.
That means – I need to practice more. Having a puppy and no speed just yet with simple exercises IS the perfect way to start!>>I agree that is it a LOT 🙂 But since we are starting this with the young dogs, I also agree – lots and lots of practice will make it so much easier 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
>>How did you know I was freaking out? LOL.
Ha! Because you are a normal human who might have been freaking out a bit LOL!!!
>>I mean, I know BCs do stuff like this, but she’s only 6 months old. Eeck!>>
Welcome to the beginning of canine adolescence 🙂 Teenage dogs are unpredictable and spicy, and that is what was happening here 🙂
>> know it’s more than 2 minutes, but it was having a hard time editing, giving you enough before and after, so here’s an index, I totally am not wanting you to look at the whole thing. >>
No worries! If it was an easy skills session then yes, edit it down. But when you run into a question? Post the whole video 🙂 Thank you for bringing this up, it is good to plan for and she is a pretty normal spicy teenager.
>>I’m anxious to work on arousal management! I want to start now! But raining through Tuesday, so it will have to wait.>>
We can start it now, we just don’t need to use the tunnel yet.
>>I totally get her frustration, by the way, I was annoying, and she actually does better when I’m moving with her.>>
You were NOT annoying LOL!!!! She is wanting the action action action do the thing. And I think on this video she didn’t know where to look or when to start, so she was frustrated because she wanted to run run run run. But it is good to teach her that not everything involves running all the time 🙂 And, having the MM out past the tunnel TOTALLY helped because she knew where to look.
So a couple of ideas:
I think we can bring a toy into the session. Food is a good motivator for her, but I think the action of a toy will be a better motivator and reinforcement. And you can develop a loop, such as:
Tug to get her to the position in front of the tunnel. Out the toy, cookie reward. Hand on collar, cookie reward. Send to tunnel: throw toy or click MM. Then tug tug tug back to the position in front of the tunnel again.And after every 1 or 2 reps, I suggest breaking off and doing a few reps of the cookie pattern games. That is because the tugging and tunneling brings her arousal state way up! So the pattern game will help teach her to self regulate bak to a more centered arousal state.
And if there is an error on the tunnel, you can throw a reset cookie for her and start again. The thrown cookies will provide more action, which will be more motivating than handing her the treats.
And since it is going to rain, you can teach her this loop in a less arousing state by using the prop or a balance disc or something. She is GREAT at touching these and also she doesn’t get as stimulated by the as she does with the tunnel. The already reduced arousal level will help you teach her the framework for self-regulation… then we can add back the tunnel when (or if LOL) the rain ever stops.
And if you haven’t had time to check out the most recent resilience game, take a look at the Volume Dial game – it will help you be able to change her arousal state and hat is something we use throughout training!
And video everything 🙂 And keep me posted!!
Tracy
