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Howdy! Can you break the cheese puffs into smaller bits, so maybe she only needs one chomp and not chomp chomp chomp chomp LOL!
Hi! He looked great here!
Looking at the turn and burn game: he was just about perfect on all of the right turns, and he was letting you leave earlier and earlier. His left turns were not quite as strong as the right turns – he had the little oopsie when you rotated earlier than he was ready for, and in general you were rotating a little later than on the right turn reps. And that is fine, because it is normal that one side is a little stronger than the other. A couple of ideas for you:
on the right turns (starting on your left): you can start where you were, a little further back from the object – and do the FC to move the other way just as he arrives at it, but do it at a walk on the first couple of reps. Leaving earlier AND running might be a bit too much haha! So start off walking then if he is fine, you can job. Your goal for the next session is to do the FC and run the other way *before* he arrives at the wrap object for those right turns.
For the left turns, when he is on your right to start – do the FC a little sooner, but you will probably need to wait til he has arrived at the object and turned his head to his left. You might be able to begin the FC sooner and sooner on that side, but as with the right turns: dial back you motion to a walk at first. And if he can’t quite match his left turns to his right turns? No problem, the left turns will catch up 🙂
The backing up is looking good!!!! He was producing his best form when you were stationary and using cookies. He was producing a lot of excitement when you were tugging… but he had some interesting form moments LOL! He was almost trying to walk backwards on his front feet to drop his back feet on the wobble board. So, we can split the difference: start with the some tugging to increase arousal, but then bring out the treats and reward with food. That can hopefully help him work in a higher arousal state without losing form.
He seems super confident on the wobble board, and that is great because we can use it as a way to help him learn about body awareness and balance even when he is all amped up 🙂
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHooray for posting! Lots of great work here!
Nice job building up the collar holds!!!! Instead of dropping the toy then walking him by his collar, keep him where he is and throw the toy – that’ll help the collar hold he a lot more of a game starter 🙂
He plucks the toy a bit so if he does not run away, you can count to 3 and then go in and play. He actually brought it to you on the 2nd rep!!!!
In moments like that, when he is doing a great job, you can break up tue session and add in a “go for a run” cue to build in the decompression before he takes the decompression 🙂 you’ll need to take the line off the toy, but I think he is ready for that.
You can also talk to him more while he is playing, and add a bit of Go Go Go while he is driving forward to the toy. I think he is also ready for you to be moving forward as soon as you let him go here, rather than waiting til he gets to the toy.
For the decel game, try to do it with no jumps around because he really should be taking the jumps on this line on the way back to you. But since we don’t want him jumping yet, a clear floor will be easier 🙂
He made pretty good use of his back end here – he was at his best when there was a clear transition to decel. If you were walking then went into a pivot, he was a little wider. But it you showed a decel, he was much tighter and bendier, like at 1:12. So you can toss the cookie and jog away, rather than walk – then as he begins to move towards you, show him a dramatic slow down before he gets to you to pivot. Then I think he’ll be perfect! And you can add the blinds in now too 🙂
He is doing well on the prop!!! Stay close for now as the other variables change – don’t add distance too quickly, he had questions especially when you changed your position.
Also, remember to add that ready dance before each and every rep because it raises arousal (we like that high arousal in the training stages!) and keeps him learning to go from handler focus to line focus.On the last video: This was not a mess! It was really good to figure out what helps him. He did fine with the exercise.
This was a very hard environment, holy cow!!! My main suggestion is that I would start with a pattern game here as you move into the ring, to move him from that divided attention to a relaxed selective attention, before asking for tugging or training. The pattern game in the 2 most recent resilience games will work nicely!And the wrap shaping targets are actually a pattern game too, which is why he focused so nicely when you did that! I would start with the pattern where he can look at the environment, though rather than at targets, so he can assess the environment and and re-engage when he is ready.
One thing that was interesting here was that when you were exciting with tugging, the other dogs got ramped up, making the environment harder for him. We don’t want him to associate that concern with tugging (“when I play, the other dogs get all weird, that makes me uncomfortable”) so you don’t have to tug in that environment! You can help him by keeping the other dogs quiet by not tugging, for now 🙂 eventually it will be easier for him to ignore.
Great job on these! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
Super nice retrieve session here! You started calling him back to you with a lot of fun encouragement sooner and sooner… so his retrieve got fast and faster 🙂 YAY!!!! You can tug a little longer before you take his collar and take the toy away for the next throw – we want to be sure that he gets highly rewarded for such great retrieves, instead of being put back to “work” LOL!
On this video, a lot of your tugging was with your hands down by your waist – I really liked how that looked for you both! He had better neck position and was using his rear more. And I wasn’t worried that he was going to bop your nose by accident. So definitely keep the hands low when tugging.
Great job on all of these!
TracyThis one had more tugging – and we could see more of him here too 🙂 I totally want to go with my previous suggestion of keeping your hands no higher than your waist – it will protect your face from any accidental contact, and also it will be better tugging form for him and easier on his neck. When the toy is that high, he is cranking his neck up and mouthing the toy but not really tugging. If you keep your hands down by your waist, he can tug more with a more natural head position, and use his hind end more.
T
Hi!
Really blind- decel – pivot work here!!! Super! The best decels where when you decelerated early and dramatically, like at :25 and on the last rep – that allowed him to really set up a tight collection! Yay! Your blinds were getting later and later as the session went on, so remember to start the blinds as soon as he turns to come back to you after he gets the cookie off the ground.You should also move the tire out of the way: pretty soon, he is going to learn to find the tire and other obstacles on his line, so we don’t want to teach him to ignore it here 🙂
Nice work!
TracyThis one had some tugging at the beginning (the rest off screen). I definitely want to go with the retrieve to your hands at waist level for him: when he comes up for the toy, his head is almost at the same level as your face, and I worry that he might accidentally head butt your nose! Ouch! So lower the game and it will be easier for you both 🙂
This was mostly off camera too, I think maybe it was the beginner retrieve? From the part I saw: Because he is so tall and wants to jump up for the toy, you can tweak this for him: have him retrieve with all 4 feet on the ground, putting the toy in your hands at waist-level. I think you can get that by backing up a little and encouraging it, rather than having him come all the way up on you.
T
Hi!
This is the resilience pattern game – he probably thought it was the best and easiest game ever. Ha! Good boy!I know I mentioned that it was fine to mark and toss the cookie regardless of how the dogs approached us to re-engage…. but we are going to revise that for Golly G. His current default behavior is to go behind you and he did a lot of that here.
So let’s unwire that as the default, because almost all sport behavior involves being in front of you or at your side, and not wrapping around behind you. Since we don’t want to tell him he is wrong to do it (because it has been so heavily reinforced and we don’t want to confuse him), we can change the picture: put him on leash for this game, and walk slowly back and forth while you play. That should help keep him moving without offering the going behind you. And, separately, make sure you don’t work toooooo much changing sides behind you because he defaults to that a little too easily 🙂
His engagement was GREAT so that suggestion to add a leash and move a bit will help us take this game on the road.
Great job!
TracyHi! This was all off camera – I hear noises and stuff, but there was no dog LOL!!! Let me know if I missed something?
Hi!
This was turn and burn 🔥 – very nice! He is showing really super commitment and you were able leave sooner and sooner!!!
2 ideas for you:He found this to be VERY EXCITING 🙂 and when you took the toy back to start the next rep, he was grabbing for it and jumping up a lot. So, you can help him self-regulate his arousal by trading for a cookie (tossed on the ground will be helpful!). That way he can take a breath, get a cookie, and reset without pummeling you 🙂
The other suggestion is a handling suggestion:
Send and keep your feet a little more together, especially when he is on your left. You were stepping to the right with your right leg, which makes it harder to leave sooner and sooner.Great job!
TracyHi!
About that increased noise and surface sensitivity… that is totally normal for adolescent dogs! A less-is-more approach: yes, do some training and pair it with LOTS of treats and toys. But don’t over-expose her to things that she might be more sensitive too, because her adolescent brain can’t handle it. Things like this were easy when she was a puppy and will be much easier when she is adult. 🙂
Backing up:
This went really nicely! You don’t need any more angle on the cato board: the sports vet advise against any inversions where the pup is moving into a handstand-like position. But you can replace the stable board with something that moves a little! Just a little, though, so she is totally comfy with it.
You can also do this sitting down for now, to help her head stay low and for ease of reinforcement without bending over too much.Strike a pose:
Also very nice! Your target hand position was good – you can’t get it further away without getting it higher, and we don’t want your hand higher for now.Adding the toy went well, but the cookies were a bit too crumbly, I think, so she was distracted. What cookies do you have that she can just scoop up and swallow, no crunch crunch crunch? That way she can drive back immediately without losing her train of thought, and get right on the toy.
She needed the toy victory lap when there was all the background noise – the noise was challenging to her so she needed to decompress. More about decompression coming soon. So you can let her do that and then move further from the noise, or end the session.
Turn aways:
Yes, find less crunchy treats here too 😆 She was chewing basically the whole time, which divides her attention and spreads treat scent all over LOL!! So a soft, small treat would work best so she can respond more quickly. You won’t see a huge difference on the flatwork game because it was easy enough that she could chew and do it, but the prop game will be much crisper in terms of driving in to you and not stopping to sniff or chew.She did have some good prop hits, but definitely go back and revisit the parallel path game before doing more turn aways, because the exit line to the prop is a parallel path game.
I don’t think you were flipping your hand too fast, but you can keep it lower so she doesn’t pop up at all. And yes, you can throw the reward out past the prop after she hits it.
She is doing well with the retrieve games here!!! Playing in a small space like this totally helps build it up! When she takes the toy for a run (outdoors, for example), she might just need a head-clearing moment like we saw in the earlier video. So you can allow it in a safe place, and I also recommend you put it on cue 🙂 Let go of the toy and tell her to go for a run, and let her zoom zoom zoom around! It is a great way to help her self-regulate her arousal during training. And it actually improves the retrieve because we are removing any pressure and letting her blow off steam 🙂
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
Great job with the video, she did really well!! She drove ahead perfectly and your connection was spot on. Nice work adding motion – you can keep adding motion and more distance so she drives way ahead. 🙂She didn’t totally love being held or moved by the collar, so you can use some food to line her up, take the collar, give another cookie, then throw the toy. That can help her like the collar grab/hold a lot more 🙂
She did well with NOT trying to run away with the toy (the long line totally helped :)) and you can also build up the retrieve: as she is arriving at the toy, you can turn and run away, calling her. And when she takes even one step towards you… you can whip out another toy from your pocket and reward her for not running away 🙂
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
>> Yeah, it was a strange new place. I was smart enough to bring my “barrel” before I read your reply.
That was great, and totally helped! He actually did a LOT in the new location! And did some really good wraps. It is totally good to jumpstart the behavior by dropping the first cookie to help him, as if to say “this is the same wrapping game”. Once he got going, he did really well. And kneeling was a smart move, that helped too!
>> So no Turn n Burn for us yet 🙂 I could try to turn n kinda short burn at home lol.
No worries, you made all the right choices. You can try the Turn n Burn at home with that short burn 🙂 or you can wait til the next time at the barn (but it is really fun so I recommend the short burn variation 🙂
He also did well with the driving ahead, and that was an excellent choice to play to help balance the wrapping. I was especially excited by how well he went from kibble to the toy!!! When you throw the toy, you can also be moving forward so he gets to accelerate ahead while you are also accelerating. Will he let you hold him by a collar/harness or his chest? That will help build the fun of the hold and also allow you to play the big toy races 🙂
>> I think I over tired him. :p I did bring Dreamer and we worked his threadles too. I put each of them back out in the car in their crates when the other was working. Dreamer wanted to bark when Casper was working, and Casper definitely wanted to bark in the crate inside the barn when Dreamer was working. >>
Yes, I am sure he was exhausted! The games were not physically demanding but the travel, the waiting in the crate, and the brain power he needed to pay attention in the new place all probably caused him to be tired, mentally. But it was a great first experience in the barn and I think he looked great (and also super cute in his coat :))
Nice work!
TracyNote on both of the stay videos I am trying to use a variable schedule:
sometimes I reward immediately, sometimes I go a couple of steps, sometimes 1 step, sometimes 5 steps, sometimes 2 steps… the goal is to extend duration by using this ping pong concept without making it harder and harder and harder (which can be deflating for puppies!)And also note that I don’t care where he sits – if I ask for a sit (or he offers it), he can be sideways or facing me or anywhere. I don’t require he line up at my side or anything at this stage.
I also don’t use a ‘stay’ verbal for him. Sit implies stay. There is nothing wrong with using a stay verbal, but it might not be needed 🙂
T
