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Good morning!
It sounds like you are doing the right things with the puppy class – it is really only for distraction training at first, because it will be really hard to learn new stuff at first 🙂 But it is a great opportunity to get him into that type of environment! And food motivation is a GOOD thing because it helps a lot in that environment (and the toy play will come roaring back when he is done teething and when he is used to being in group classes :))
Yes, the cookie pattern games are the resilience games – they build up in 3 steps. I use these games to get my pups used to new environments. My whippet pup has a working spot in a seminar this weekend and I believe there will be something like 50 auditors… and yes, I will be playing his pattern games as soon as we get into the environment 🙂
I am so glad he had a good time in the barn!!! And letting him sniff around a bit if fine because it allows him to investigate the environment before “work”. The short fast barrel game was awesome!!!! He was actually faster than he is at home, and look at how he is bending through the turn – so nice! And I also love that as soon as you put the barrel down, he came running over and immediately engaged with the game. YES!
He was keen to party with the toy, but not quite tug at the beginning of the 2nd video. So chasing you and the squeaky worked well, then throwing it got a lot of engagement! He didn’t quite retrieve it on the first couple of reps but also he didn’t run away with it, and he tugged! And lovely drive ahead! And look at the very end of the video: he is getting comfortable with the environment and the toy play, and he retrieved the toy to you at 1:10. Good boy! Be sure to play when he does that, throw the toy around a bit more, to encourage more of that 🙂
Good job using a napkin as the threadle target LOL!!! It looked like the normal target so he was perfect. More importantly, look at his offered engagement all the way through this session. By bringing in an easy game and a high value reward, he was easily able to both be super engaged AND produce great responses to the cues. I am really excited by how he looks here! Yes, the threadle looked good (nice mechanics on your part!) but I am MORE excited by his engagement and happy attitude here. And click/treat to you for short, fun sessions.
Looking at the blind cross session: I think you made a good choice to just play. If this was the last session, he might have been a little brain tired (engaging is exhausting!). I know you do great blinds, so it was not important for you to practice. It was more important for him to learn about the environment and how to chase the toy and not sniff. Excellent choice to switch motivators and run run run…. then be done.
So overall – you made a zillion excellent training decisions here and he looked fabulous! Any dog training facility is going to have soooooo many good smells and distractions, so I loved seeing him be so engaged here! The skills also look great, but that is going to be a natural by-product of all of the decisions you are making about getting play and making it fun without pressure. I am sending you a cyber high-five!!!!!
Great job! Enjoy your weekend!
TracyHi!
What is that white stuff on the ground? Ewwww!! Any time you want to make a road trip south, we still have green stuff!! I confess that I chuckled seeing you wack the snow off your boots with the hollee roller LOL!
Her commitment looks super solid – you were a little too early at :35 (she hadn’t reached the halfway point) – so you waited one extra heartbeat to give her a couple more inches on the next rep and she was perfect on that rep and all the reps after it when you did the FC at the same timing.
I don’t mind the error, though… there was only one error, you made an adjustment, then she was perfect. That was a ‘good’ error in two ways: it was a resilience moment of “that was unexpected” and note how she did not get frustrated or bark or anything, she just reset and tried again. And, operantly, it was a good moment of “this does not get the toy” versus all of the other reps where you were like “this is what gets the toy.” So look at 1:33 and 1:42 (the last 2 reps) – you were doing the FC and running the other way before she even got to the barrel. And all of it was done in high arousal. Super!!!
3 suggestions for you for next time:
– you were throwing the toy, and ideally we would have her drive to you for the reward (because wraps get the best collection when here is handler “chase” after them, for now). The throwing might have been that you were trying to run in the snow though, so having her chasing you for the toy might be better in the barn if you can get her there.– try not to block the line to the barrel, especially when she is in your left side. You were standing on her running line, so she had to go wider to find the barrel. Move over a step or two so she has a straight, tight line to the barrel.
– add your wrap verbals. Start this by having her next to you, wearing a collar. Hold her collar, say the verbal cue a few times, then let her go and start the game (keep saying the verbal cue). That will let her hear the verbal before motion gets involved, and it will also make for cleaner starts (she wanted to be out away from you to start, and being in closer will allow you to set up better lines when this game goes crazier 🙂
Great job here!!!! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
This was fun to watch! On the first couple of reps, it looked liked she started backing up before letting go of the toy, pretty hilarious! She was on FIRE here in terms of arousal, in a good way – wand yet was still able to produce really good backing up on almost all the reps!! She had one or two reps where she flung herself backwards a bit (first rep then one in the middle) but overall the quality of the backing up was REALLY strong with mostly independent footwork! It is fun to watch in slow motion! You can mark with the get it as soon as she gets on the bed, unless you are specifically looking for the down (but I think marking for the independent footwork will be ideal).I am doing a little happy dance that she is able to produce quality footwork even when in high arousal – really cool for an adolescent dog! (Although there will be some days where she can’t do it, but on those days just skip and it do other things :)) I am sure that this also has something to do with the other movement games you play with her (like the cool one you posted on Facebook yesterday) Those games don’t need the high arousal but they sure do help her out when we want to add in the high arousal!!!!!
Great job!!!
Good morning!
She is looking super confident here on her plank! The spins don’t need to be as fast – she is losing her feet when you cue it to be fast, so you will see she puts at least one back foot off. So she can be in high arousal but cue the spin slowly 🙂 That way she can keep her feet on – I think you were wanting to reward that (all 4 feet on) at the end but she had already gotten several rewards for dropping a foot off, so she was not sure what you wanted. The presence of the toy will make the footwork challenging for her, so the cue can be nice and slow 🙂
The other thinG you can add now is to ask for position changes: Down to stand to sit, for example…. ideally without her moving her feet 🙂 SO HARD!!! Make sure she can do it on the flat when she is stimulated before going to the plank – and a lure hand is perfectly fine, she probably can’t do that on verbals alone yet when she is amped up 🙂 Great job!
TracyHi!
>., that is a good point that Connor was eyeballing from inside the xpen. 😀 And him just being there could have been too much pressure.
It didn’t look like Connor was doing anything other than just hanging out being a good boy, but I think all of that so close was hard for the puppy.
I will rearrange it next time. All these things I don’t catch and I appreciate that you do! It’s so nice to have more eyes on my training. 🙂
>>I love impulse control games! Casper really needs them. He hates waiting for anything and things he should have All The Things NOW. So I was pleased with the threadle game too. 🙂>>
His drive to want ALL THINGS NOW is great! We are going to maintain that while convincing him that impulse control was all his idea LOL
>>I took him to puppy class last night and we tried playing with those same skunk toys and he had a hard time playing. He is great at taking treats, but in that distracting environment, the toy play isn’t as valuable. I really need to remember that.>>
Yes – those puppy classes a A LOT for puppies! So if he could eat food? That is an awesome start 🙂
>>What’s the best way to keep toys high value in distracting environments?
This sounds strange, but the cookie pattern games will be the most helpful (starting with the first one, then easy distractions at home, then take it on the road). Those games help relax the pup and when he is relaxed, he is more likely to play 🙂
>> Keep the play really short?
Yes – if he does play, keep it super short and don’t use it as part of an training. Just make it a short little party 🙂
>>I do plan on heading to the barn today even though is bitterly cold. I wish I had a warmer coat that fit him better, but he’d just grow out of it in a week. >>
Ha! There needs to be a Puppy Coat Sharing program so we all had proper fitting coats without spending a fortune 🙂 Have fun and stay warm!
TracyHi!
It is fun to take the pups new places! Definitely look at the resilience games, because they are great for new places (especially the pattern games).He read the blinds really well! He was interested in the toy, but if there were cookies in your hand, he is likely to ignore the toy. So tugging separately is great to help him get comfy in that environment, and then try the tugging with the blind but with no cookies in your hands for now.
The jump post was harder for him! I think the new location, busy environment, different jump post,and being further away all caused too many variable changes so he got a little stressed. In a new place with big distractions, start with a version of the game that is at least 50% easier than what he can do at home for at least the first couple of reps (bowls and cookies, and you really close). By making it easier, you can set him up for immediate success and he will let you know if he is ready for harder stuff 🙂 He was able to get some good reps, but there were a lot of failures and some stress scratching. So try not to allow the failures by making it easier from the very start and if you see he has a question or failures, make it even easier. The environment is harder than it looks: people walking by, dog noises in the background, big space, tons of smells, etc. It is hard for a baby puppy 🙂
Backing up –
>>He immediately play bows and skootches himself across the floor lol! How do I fix that?
It looks like you were trying to lure the backing up with your hand on the ground pushing towards him, which is why he was in a bowing and going backwards in a bow. I think he was following the cookie and not even thinking about his back feet LOL!
So you can get more backing up by trying it without the luring: you can be kneeling or sitting, and drop a cookie between your feet/knees – then he will back out from under your feet, and then you can toss a treat bteween his front feet (which should keep him standing and not bowing :))
He looked super confident getting on all of the wobble board and disc stuff but also there was a bit of stress scratching – good to know that he did think it was kind of hard! The activity might not be what was hard, it might have been the environment. So sitting down and keeping things easier really helped him and he finished really strong!
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyStarted some rotated sends to the prop! First up, with cookies:
Then I switched to a toy, which was much harder because TOYS ARE LIFE. (And the blood mentioned in the video was his blood from teething 🙂 )
Ramen’s first turn and burn! I warmed up with some rewards from my hands to help fade the bowls. Then I spent some time trying to figure out if he was lefty or righty… I am pretty convinced that he is a righty but there he was, offering some really nice left turns (all got rewarded). When I wanted the right turn only, I set him up to have a better approach to the right.
Good morning!
Looking at the target looked great here! She drove in straight to the target each time really well!
When you used the toy, you used the bite marker perfectly. When using the cookie, you did a lot of “yes” then get it for the cookie toss…. try not to use yes as it gets the pups looking at us (it is SO HARD to not say yes!!!!!). You can just say get it and toss the treat, so she never looks at you 🙂
She definitely seemed more comfortable with the bigger playing field provided by the couch cushion and towel! She didn’t always use the whole area, but having it there really helped her not feel so scrunched up. And she also didn’t seem as concerned about the wobble board, possibly because there was more room and also because there was less noise. This was a good way to get all four feet on the board! You can stick at this level for another two or 3 sessions, then fade out the towel – not by removing it entirely, but by unraveling it a bit so it is a tiny bit less supportive. Over a series of sessions, you can fade it out entirely and also fade out the cushion.
Since I was bugging you about NOT using yes in the previous session: I think it is fine to use “yes” as the marker here because you are feeding from your hand, and she can look at you while doing this. It is the best (and potentially only 🙂 ) scenario for using a yes marker: when feeding from the hand and the pup can look at you. Otherwise, placement markers will be really helpful when you are not handing her the cookie.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
The backing up started really well! Then I think what happened was he realized that the reward was coming from your hands… so he brilliantly decided it was not efficient to go past the reach of your hand. SMART! So to get more steps back, draw him forward like you did with the treat between your feet – then toss the reward for backing up onto the board with a ‘get it’ marker. That should help him add more steps because the reward will be further. I am not sure if this board moves or not, so for now I would keep it stable/not moving. That way he can add more steps backwards and not get surprised if the board moves.
Lap turn on the flat – he did really well with these!!! Be sure to remember to use your leg too – you would sometimes step back with your leg but generally your cue was hand-only, which makes it harder for him because there is less room to turn (which is why he would sometimes pop up while turning). So when the arm moves, so does the leg below it, and that will help set up the turn even more nicely.
When the prop was in, I think he was not sure where to look and so was ended up looking at you more and more. He has really good prop value, so if you get more looking at you then it is feedback from him that you reinforcement is building the looking at you 🙂 What was happening was that there were cookies in both hands for a while, I think, so started to look at your hands. And the markers were mainly “yes” markers which get the pups looking at us even if they are followed by get it. So if you say “yes” and he looks at you then you say get it and toss the treat, the looking at you is getting reinforced which is why you got more of it.
So to help him look forward after the lap turn to. the prop, the cue hand should be empty so he follows it but doesn’t question if he should look at the cookie. As you move forward, the reward can be sooner – as soon as he looks at the prop, you can say get it and throw the treat past the prop. Hitting the prop is not as important as looking ahead, so you can mark his forward focus and intent to hit the prop with the get it and cookie toss. That should help him look forward and not at Da Momma 🙂
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>> Ok it is getting better. Toy seems to put her in overdrive now so I am using food at first.
This sounds good – we can develop the impulse control on food then move it to toys (more games on that coming later). We don’t want her to get frustrated because she doesn’t quite know how to ignore toys yet 🙂 Is there any toy that she considers boring? LOL!!!
>Quick question. For the start line work. Mitre is a really good catcher and seems to actually catch a lot of the cookies. I am trying to throw behind her. Is it a big deal if she catches most of them. She does not appear to be releasing before the catch cue. I probably answered my own question.☺️ >>
Ha! I am not surprised that she is quick enough to catch it. I think it is fine if she catches it, as long as you are careful with the mechanics and don’t pair the throw with any like stopping or looking at her. You can be variable with it: sometimes do the catch throw while you are still moving, sometimes you will want to stop, praise, then toss the reward. I also mix in releases forward to a toy or treat.
Keep me posted on how she is doing!
TracySo true! Every one of them is an individual 🙂 And I like to let them express their individuality like that 🙂
Good morning!
Nice job keeping her moving slowly through here so she could isolate her footwork! The spacing in the cavalettis will change as she gets older, but this is great for her current size 🙂 My only suggestion is to reward sooner and more frequently in the cavaletti – she was starting to anticipate being through it and getting the cookies, so she was wanting to look at you. Rewarding sooner will help her look straight (and you can also have a visual target like an empty food bowl) to put the treat in. But if the food bowl makes her rush and lose her footwork, you can drop a cookie from your hand for now.
Great job!
TracyGood morning!
The barrel wraps with the toy are going well! This is also a good impulse control game – we stealthily add in impulse control on the toys by asking him to choose:
Jump for the toy (which gets no toy)
Or
Wrap the barrel (which totally gets the toy!)He was totally figuring it out and wrapping the barrel more than jumping for the toy. Yay!!! Another factor her could have been that the barrel was really close to the xpen and the other dog watching intently. That is a bit of pressure that he would have to rub but I, so he might have been having a little trouble with that. It might not be possible to move the xpen but it can be empty so there is less pressure, and you can keep the barrel in the center of the rug for a little more room.
The threadle game looked good! It is hard to ignore the empty bowl but he did a great job (it is another stealthy impulse control game :). I couldn’t see where you were looking, but be sure to look right at the target hand so he knows where to go. When the target was in your left hand, he was going pretty directly to it (more than in your right hand). So either he is more comfy on that side, or you were looking at the target more in that hand (or both 🙂 ). You can try this game with a toy now!!!
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
He did really well on the first part here, but it was definitely hard, it looks like he was twisting a little – then I think he realized that there was not a lot of distance to power through it, so plus the setup & height change and he added strides to get it back to being comfortable. He did get the bounce on the last rep when you added to lot of motion to support with momentum.
Because of winter space limitations, I think the main thing will be to either move the PT further so he can land in extension, take an extension stride, then start to slow down, or keep the bars low. With the PT close (since I am guessing it is as far away as it can go LOL!), the 10 inch bar lands him a little too close so he was changing his stride to accommodate that. And if you have a ring rental, I bet you can set it up at 10” with more room and it will be no problem for him. 🙂
Nice work! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
