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Hi! Totally agree, he did really well! Since this went great, time for the next steps –
– rather than facing him or even being sideways, you can be facing fully forward as he is leaping into positionAnd when that goes well… you can start adding movement! When he is jumping into position, you can be walking forward soooo slowly for now 🙂 and don’t stop until he has stopped (then run back and give him treats).
Great job!
TracyHi!
>Between obedience and conformation, I have a mostly-unconscious bias for having my dog on my left. >
Same here – partially because I am left-handed and partially because my earliest dog training experiences all had the dogs on my left, even though it was not formal obedience. But I do force myself to work the dogs on my right LOL
>I was wondering if I was “doing something” to cause the difference between dog-on-left and dog-on-right; that’s why I put the camera straight behind the start. And I also couldn’t see anything. >
I mean, it is possible that he did see something subtle that we humans didn’t notice. But I didn’t see anything major that would have caused the questions.
> I think as I become more capable (and can move better) that will go away. If it doesn’t then I’ll worry about it then.
> Exactly! Sometimes just leaving it alone is the best thing to do.
Pop out 1:
This is looking good! You can give him a left verbal and even a brake arm on the 2/6 jump (especially at 6) to get a better line to 3/7. And 8 s a backside to add some challenge for ya!
Pop out 2:
>On #2, my first plan was to do 3 & 6 as threadle slices – should have warmed them up.
> Better to have not warmed them up so we can look at the cues required! At :35, he needed a stronger turn cue on 2 starting from when he exited the #1 tunnel. You were giving the turn cues as he was taking off for 2, so he could not respond until after he landed.
For the threadle at 6, you pulled away too much so he locked onto the tunnel at :54 but you moved more towards 6 at :57 and he read it really well! You stepped to it at 1:09 too but turned your feet to the tunnel too much, so he wrapped there.
Also, the threadle on 3 takes him off the natural line to the backside of 3, so you can try pushing him to the outside there rather than threading.
>Then I realized that I could just lead out to a spot between 2 and 3 and the whole thing gets lots easier.>
Yes, that did make it easier! There was still a wide turn 2-3, so that is where letting him rip to the other side of 3 might be the fastest line. And sending him to the other side of 6 looked great!
Casper did really well on the opening of pop out 3! He had a legit question about which end of the poles at 1:43 – the high arm pointing to the entry actually caused the rest of your body to turn to the pole 12, so he thought it was a fancy entry. The ‘out weave’ and opposite arm pointing your feet and shoulders to the correct entry and he got it really well at 1:55 and 2:16!
For the dig dig on 8 at 1:59 – since you were walking it was hard for him to see the transition into decel. So, as he is exiting the weaves you can be jogging up the line. And when he is approaching takeoff for 7, you can show a big decel to tighten up the turn there.
Pop out 4 looked great!!! My only suggestion on that one is to give him a brake arm as he exits the 7 tunnel, to get a collection stride on 8. He jumped it in big extension, which set up a zig zag to 9. The brake arm will add the collection while you turn your shoulder to 9.
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
>It helps to have a Sheltie for the food reward box since they are so good at scarfing down small treats quickly. LOL!>
But also, she knows to not just run into the box and stuff her face with treats! That is a big win with a Sheltie LOL!
For the Find My Face game:
>So I should refresh her memory of it without obstacles and then start adding it in after I do late/confusing handling?>
I think a quick refresher is a good idea, then add it to some bad handling 🙂
>The pattern games help her alot and we use them as part of our warm up for classes & trials and in general, but she still has trouble coping with movement going past her when we aren’t doing them. (like entering the ring for a trial when I can’t toss treats for back & forth but the bar setters are moving back to their chairs or the leash runner is moving).
You can develop tricks into pattern games as you move to the line: hand touches from hand to hand, or spin then spin cued from different hands, etc. For Plot Twist, I have him keep lining up between my feet as I move to the line (so far, I have managed to stay upright too LOL!) At first the tricks can be rewarded but then we fade the cookies and the pattern remains and is still super helpful.
Keep me posted!
Tracy
Hi!
>You are probably thinking, why is a tractor in my video??? >
Ha! Yes, I totally was LOL!! The thumbnail showed the tractor so I was intrigued LOL!
The searches are really interesting to watch. Dogs are amazing. She is so talented and you are patient in your handling, really letting her lead the way. Her foot scratch alert makes it really obvious LOL>RDW is taking up way too much of my time and Indy’s body… so many reps. I am pretty close to jumping ship and doing a “target/okay” like she has on her teeter. I think she might be fast enough to make up the 1-2 second difference. Ha!😅>
Yes, the highs and lows of the RDW… where is she struggling? At full speed? I think training in higher arousal will help – going back to the early steps but doing them in really high arousal (lots of science as to why, but mainly it matches what she will be required to do in a trial).
But also, she is fast enough to have a stop on the DW and still win the class 🙂
Same with weaves:
>get her “mind” in the right place to get the entry. >
That is also arousal 🙂 I do lots of body awareness and weight shifting games while the dogs are in super high arousal – and same with finding the entries. So you can work simple sets of 4 poles but in really high arousal to help her get the entry – it literally will get her mind in the right place 🙂
Bummer that the pads and weather kept you from doing more, but she looked great on the stuff you worked on!!! Great job and keep me posted on how she is doing!!
Tracy
Hi!
>I have used a frozen toppl to throw as a reward in the backyard. It doesn’t work well indoors because stuff spills out of it when it bounces on the matting. I think we’ll stick to thrown treats indoors and try to use other options in the yard where Venture doesn’t like to eat his treats out of the grass.>
You can also use something smaller like a Kong with cream cheese in it – nothing will spill out and it is also easy to throw.
>Getting stuck – I agree there must be a stress component and also, it’s been really hot and humid. Even in the room, I’m completely soaked by the end of our hour.>
Yikes, it didn’t realize it was not climate controlled, so yes that can totally play a role! That makes the timer even more important, so he doesn’t get too hot to want to play.
Novice courses – he really liked these because there was lots of running! The first part on both courses went great. Then something happened on the first run (seems like he froze up but it is not visible on the video). Possibly because it was a long sequence already and he thought it was over, or something happened at the jump and he realized it was incorrect and stopped. Be sure to reward while things are going great rather than try to get all the way the way through a longer course.
>Ven is still working to do weaves in sequences as you’ll see in the video>
Weaves are another place to reward when he is correct rather than keep going. In this session, he was correct in flow at :17 but didn’t get a reward (the reward came after he stopped at the jump). Then he had 4 errors on the weaves, a reset cookie, and one more correct pass which did get rewarded.
So looking at the rate of success there: we had 7 behaviors (6 weave attempts and 1 lineup/reset) and 3 rewards – that is about 45% rate of success which can help explain why his weave success is still a work in progress. Ideally, his rate of success would be closer to 85-90%, so definitely reward all of his correct passes on the weaves and if you do reset them, line him up to be successful so he has fewer misses.
He had questions in the weaves on the 2nd video but got rewarded twice out of 2 attempts so he had a much higher success rate there.
Pop out 3 part 1:
Handle jump 2 with connection rather than point and move away – but keep going if there is an error rather than restart.>Couldn’t tell exactly why he decided I was asking him to jump on top of the tunnel>
It was the pointing – young dogs are very literal so when you stopped and pointed at 1:08, it turned your shoulders/feet to the center of the tunnel… so he got on top of the center precisely where the cues were pointing. Keeping your arm back and driving him into the tunnel using connection and a big step to it will help! And you can send from a little closer to help him learn the backside approach to the tunnel, then gradually get further and further away on the sending.
By the end of this he was tired – that 2 minute timer will really help! If it is hot, you can set it for 90 seconds. To keep things in perspective, 90 seconds is 3 or 4 full Novice JWW courses!
Part 2 – he was frozen on the start line here, which makes sense because he had done it a bunch and there was a lot of stopping and re-starting on the previous session. So you can start somewhere else on the sequence and or start without a stay.
Things went pretty well on the run that ended at 1:57! That is where you can end that session, take a break, cool off, do something else. You asked for more and he froze on the start line the got really sticky. That is great info from he so be sure to stop before he freezes up.
Pop out 4 – try to run these without any arm at all 🙂 You can challenge yourself to make motion and connection your primary cues by running with motion and connection – and no arm and no verbals 🙂 The verbals were good but he read the lines the best when you did not point at them. And he either went t the wrong side of the jump (like the backside) or passed the jump if yo pointed ahead. This is useful info from him! And same rule with that as the other sequences – no stopping if something goes wrong.
He has a good internal clock – as you are approaching 2 minutes, if there has been starting and stopping… he freezes up. So the 90 second timer can be helpful when it is hot and when you are working a lot. Finishing early to leave him wanting more will be very motivating!
Pop out 5:
The blind before the tunnel worked well! For the 5 backside, you can look at the landing spot when you serp to help him take the jump (rather than looking at him). The last jump was a little recessed here which made it harder – to keep more flow, you can send him around the outside to get to the correct side of 6.Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! The summer went by fast!
>Do you have any suggestions on how I should allocate my training time between now and April?>
Periodization! Cycle down for now: let her rest and recover from a particularly intense stretch of work. Then build up with skills stuff, then build up to running sequences then big courses, working to peak about 10 days before travel – at which point you rest. What team training stuff will the coaches be sending? That can be included but I think you have a good list to expand on from this summer.
> I was thinking more UKI@Home until the snow comes>
>> but I’m not sure what to do for course experience through the winter. Thoughts?>@Home is probably not the best option, the courses are all over the place. Probably better to set up sections and courses from IFCS and FCI judges. And when it is too cold to work outdoors, you can rent as many dirt barns as possible 🙂
>then conditioning>
This and body work should be on-going, plus build in rest as well.
But I think the first step is finding out what the team management will be sending for you to do 🙂
Tracy
Good morning!
>We had a very cool day course building for the Canadian WAO team at their private practice day. Kayl McCann, Susan Garrett, Tiffany Salmon, etc. >
Very fun! That is a great crew to watch: super experienced with that type of course. Plus Kayl has decades of experience with sport mixes!
>We got to try the courses too! Muso could do all the pieces, but we couldn’t put it all together. >
Yay!! That is exciting!
>You called it though, EVERY course had multiple “thing behind a thing” elements.>
Yeah… the challenges tend to get exaggerated and distorted. Sigh.
Onwards to courses! Send the video over via wetransfer and I can overlay them. I think they both went really well, just a spot here and there to work on:
Looking at course 1:
On the walk through, I thought that she might have needed more turn cues on 5 to get the weaves and not the off course jump out ahead. You had a lot of motion there so the shoulder turn alone might not have been enough.Also, your invisible dog sliced 11 based on your motion and feet 🙂 And a small nitpick is to remember to connect to her on the push to the backside t 19, so you are fully prepared for the run.
On the run – opening looked great! Really strong timing got a nice turn on 2.
You decelerated 4-5 so she got the turn to the poles, but sounds like she ticked the bar – that might be a place to use a brake arm as you keep turning. She stayed in the weaves beautifully! You need to leave more while she is weaving, so she doesn’t smoke you on the blind 7-8 🙂You handled the 11 TW differently from the walk through, so she wrapped – YAY! On the walk through, you had your arms and verbals going, but your forward motion and feet all indicated the slice. During the run, you used decel and turned your feet, so she read it as a wrap. Be sure to walk those mechanics so you don’t get any accidental slices.
The rest went great and matched the walk through, especially the BIG send to 16 and wrap back to 17. NICE!!! You can keep moving forwards as you do the backside push at 19 – you held still for a moment and she almost smoked you there 🙂
Course 2:
Walk through:
The walk through rhythm and timing were too far ahead on 1-2-3, so it was a bit blurred 🙂 Be precise even if it is easy 🙂 by making the handling of 2 and 3 bigger to really show the line.It almost looked like you were on her line on the blind after 6 so she would go into the 22 tunnel and not 7. I had to go check the map to make sure I had the correct #7 tunnel.
To get the jump after the DW, you can keep your arm back on the send to the backside after the DW as you run to where the wing and bar meet. Sending with your arm pointing ahead will turn your shoulders to the front of the jump.
But doing a side change then trying to get all the way up the line for 12 makes that section harder than it need to be: I think a threadle wrap on that jump (12) from your left side will get 12 easily and will also get you to the 14-15-16 section better.
And another option for the ending is that you can also handle the ending from the side of the DW closer to 23.
On the runs:
The opening went well! The weave entry is hard, it goes on the list for the winter because the entry is a little offset and they really have to go find it.
The section from 5-6-7 was hard! You got it the best on the first run, pushing to the backside and getting off her line to get the 7 tunnel. Nice!
On the 2nd run: You left the backside send on 6 too early so she took the front side and ended up in the 22 tunnel. When you re-started there, you were on her line (like in the walk through) so she correctly took 22. You got mad at her there (told her she was wrong, did not reward)… but video shows she was correct! So as always, a good reminder to never blame the dog 🙂The other hard part was the backside at 12:
At :29 the arm forward was showing the front side of the jump then you were pushing into the RC line so she had a question.
On the 2nd run the backside wrap cue was late at 1:52 (and the last rep) and also pointing ahead shows the wrong line. One thing to consider is not using a GO cue then the backside wrap cue – instead, just begin the backside wrap cue as she approaches the top of the up ramp.
The outside arm on the next rep was too much, she almost went to 13 – so part of it is just running to where the wing and bar meet til she gets on the line, and also working the skill of the RDW exit to the backside circle out ahead as a verbal cue so the physical cues are less important.
Also, it might be easier to tackle that section with her on your left on the DW: serp the 10 jump to the dog walk and do a threadle wrap on 12.
She got 16 really well! Big praise pulled her off 17 & 18 on the first run 🙂
You really left her in the poles – she stayed in brilliantly and you got the blind easily!
You rotated into her on 21 at :51 then opened back up, so she went wide based on where your motion/shoulders/feet turned to. If you rotate into her, you can finish it as a spin to keep the turn tight.
Another option for the ending line is to layer the DW so it is on your left – and cue a RC on 21 to get 22, putting you ahead for 23.
Great job here!!
Tracy
Good morning!
>Yes, the weather was quite lovely “up north” where I grew up 10 miles from Canada in MN. It was nice to get away to the sticks and chill a bit.>
Sounds so nice!!
>YES, it was Loretta. I have only worked with her twice now, but feel she is so good with taking on challenging topics and being a real advocate for the dog while also recognizing what’s going on in the handler’s psyche, without ever sugar-coating anything.>
That is great! Plus she makes us all laugh too 🙂 Very fun!
> It’s nice to get additional examples like that to support what I’m going through. I’m glad you have so many dogs that you can learn have such diverse experiences to draw from!>
That’s why I keep getting puppies, to support everyone LOL!! Kidding! But the transparency and vulnerability of sharing what goes wrong is often more helpful than sharing what goes right.
> I think Reacher and I are coming together slowly as a team and I’m pleased with our progress. >
You two are doing GREAT!! And each day brings you closer to surviving adolescence 🤣😂 It has been a joy to watch you two grow into such a lovely team!
Tracy
Good morning! The teeter session went really well!
>>Then moved to stacked chairs to get more movement. She does “hesitate” slightly in the middle but I think she is learning to shift her weight there.>>
I agree – she was figuring out the weight shift. Later in the video, she drove to the end more when you added more speed.
She’s ready for more speed too, and you can add it by starting from a wing wrap (about 10 feet away) then running up the board.
Do you have access to an agility table? That will be easier to use for the next step than chairs (but chairs will continue to work if you don’t have a table).
> I don’t really see fear but would like your thoughts.>
I don’t see any fear either! She’s sorting things out, and seems happy and confident.
The other thing I suggest adding to both the mountain climber and the bang game is a target about 6 inches off the end of the board, for her to drive to, so she doesn’t look for your hands. The target can be a plastic lid, or a post it note or anything she can use as a focal point to go into 2on, 2off. That way you can begin moving past the end of the board, or hanging back, or moving away laterally – so she can get into position without you near her (and then of course you can go reward her 🙂 )
The target past the end of the board for the bang game us easy, you can put it on the grass. For the chair or table at the end of the board, it can be on the chair or table.
And keep adding more and more drop to the board, she is doing great!
>>At the end of the session while I was putting things away, she went and did the whole teeter by herself. By the time I saw her, I had to cross my fingers and let it happen. She seemed unfazed by it and happily took cookies while in the 2o2o position!>>
Omg! She’s a confident girl!!! I’m glad she had fun but yes, time to block off the teeter so she can’t do it without you 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi! Hope you are enjoying the long weekend!
Looking at the sequences:
The first one went great! No need to repeat it, that is when the info was not as clear and he had bars.
Looking at the blinds:
> I’m not sure if my set up is just too tight for him or what. I thought my blind was timely.>
Your timing of starting the BC was good but the distance was very small for him – it was more of an AKC collected-one-stride distance. So even if you start the BC on time, it will finish late. You can finish it quicker by keeping your arms in tight to your ribs, and using exit line connection (opposite arm across the body with the toy) and not dog-side arm to finish the blind – that makes the side change more visible especially if you are late.
The other thing that will really help is to use positional cues to give him info sooner: you were running towards 2 when releasing and starting the blind, which sets a straighter line (as if going to the tunnel). You can use a positional cue by running directly from 1 to 3 – connection and verbal will support 2, and it will help teach him to work laterally from you.
So between the timing and position cues, he totally thought he was going to the tunnel at :19. Good boy! He didn’t go off course at :25, :31, :41, :47, 1:03 but he was surprised about the turn each time – the timing of finishing the blind and the motion towards the tunnel was pretty compelling, and baby dogs are really honest in that way.
Stay engaged even when something goes wrong. Be sure to not turn your back on him and walk away: bars and off courses are is information to the handler that the info was unclear, and turning your back/walking away while he is working is effectively a negative punishment (all sorts of fallout from that), so it is better to reward him as if he was correct, because he probably was correct 🙂 And watch the video before the next rep. Even throwing the toy then walking away can be perceived as a relative punishment, so play with him enthusiastically rather than disengage to reset a bar (we don’t want him to rehearse disengagement either).
Also bear in mind that adolescent dogs are more sensitive to punishment than puppies or adults, so definitely be careful about not rewarding when doing handling with him.
Looking at the forced front cross and in ins: he was reading the lines well, but had a ton of bars down so we can help him process it better:
On both of the cues, you can lead out then settle into position with your hand there, be stationary… then release. You got to position, put your hand up (he moved on the hand either before the release or simultaneous with it) and then released without any time for him to process before the release. You can also line him up on a slice at 1 so he is facing the line to the backside, rather than lined up center of the bar so he has to turn over 1. He might also need to be another 6 feet away from the bar to have room to set up the extension jump.
Some other ideas about bars on this setup and the blinds:
When learning new handling, he seems to focus on the lines and the work, and the jumping mechanics go away – he really doesn’t engage his rear, which is why he hits bars/wings a lot. I know you are doing conditioning work, so pick some hind end engagement stuff that he is really good at (like moving into tight sits on a platform, or stands-tuck sit- stand) and add arousal and distraction. Same with the jump grids, any choose a grid he is really good at and add arousal and distraction. Conditioning works strengthening, yes… but it should also work mechanics. And if mechanics are learned without arousal or distraction, you will see mechanics disappear when there is arousal and distraction.
This can start off something as simple as tugging before you do the conditioning work – and do easy stuff so he can maintain his mechanics. Or say he is great at moving into a tight sit on a platform… can he do it while you are swinging a toy? Or you are moving? That is a good place to start to look at mechanics.
And in the meantime, when he is working sequences: we don’t really want him to hit wings or drop bars because we don’t want the rehearsal of that and the desensitization to it. So especially when working on new handling or a new sequence, you can either use jump bumps for the first couple of reps. That way he can focus his attention on following the cues and not think about jumping mechanics (because he has already told us he is not going to think about jumping mechanics if he is thinking about handling cues :)) Then when he is comfortable with the handling and doesn’t have to think about it as much – add the bars back in. That should help because he doesn’t have to focus as much on the handling and his brain can devote more bandwidth to jumping mechanics.
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi!
>. I really didn’t expect it. She is a very social dog and loves saying “hi” to everyone. But once we were in the ring, she was totally focused on me.>
Sounds like a perfect balance of a delightful dog outside the ring and in life, and a driven, focused partner inside the ring.
>I am also very aware of how much we still have to learn. So much.>
Yes, agility is complex and there is a lot to learn, lots of ups and downs… but it is really cool to see how well she is doing! You are on the way to a fantastic partnership with her!
T
Hi! Hope you are enjoying the weekend and lovely weather!
>On that note, this seminar was mostly about ring confidence, not agility handling, so luckily on that matting we just did short very simple courses. >
Very cool! Was it Loretta’s seminar? I think she was in your area last weekend?
>The main point, for Reacher anyway, was in fact to get weird people in the ring and work through it. It was definitely a challenge for him but that exposure was set up well and he worked through it.>
Yes, that is good for him and for all dogs – the weird people in the trial video immediately caught my eye. I was like “Are they ok? Are they zombies?” LOL!! So of course a baby dog is going to be like WTAF. He did really well! The trick is to very gradually fade them into existence with TONS of reward, so it doesn’t become overwhelming or stressful. That is probably what the instructor was having you do, from what you mentioned.
And the quieter the environment, the harder it is to ignore the weirdos. It is very typical of an adolescent brain to really pinpoint the weirdness in that environment because it is so obvious. An example: my 18 month old dog can get very focused on another dog tugging in a quiet training environment, when the other dog is the only thing happening (he wants to steal the dog’s toy, sigh. LOL!!) But he was 100% perfect this past weekend in an insane environment – probably because his adolescent brain simply could not prioritize another dog’s toy when there were 15 dogs and 20 people and so much noise… he was completely focused on me and what I asked him to do LOL!! He would probably big successful in the big events coming up in October/November… but really struggle at the small local events. (No, he is not entered for real in anything LOL!)
So this means Reacher is likely to do better in busy environments of bigger events – counterinuitive, I know, but the brain wants what the brain wants LOL!!! But since Fusion and OTR can be quiet and calm sometimes, working through the random weirdo in a quiet environment is very important.
The weave versus tunnel video wen great! He sent to the tunnels really well. He picked up the tunnel on the first weave cue – in that instance, you don’t need to reward him for taking the tunnel by throwing a reward to the end of the tunnel, if you have cued the weaves 🙂 You can tell him he is very cute (because it is true) and run back to the start wing, then give him a cookie for lining up, then try again. As long as you don’t go past 2 failures, it is actually helpful to sometimes be like “that was not correct” as long as it is happy and fun. And the running back to the start wing and rewarding the lineup to start again is motivating because it rewards the effort, even if the ‘answer’ was not correct.
Then he did well with the weaves! So be sure to mix in some tunnel sends too, so he is not weaving simply because he thinks the session is about weaves only 🙂
Nice work!!!
TracyHi! Hope you are having a good holiday weekend!!
PO 1 –
He gave really good info about what he saw before he went into the #3 tunnel, that was his biggest question: he was convinced it was a right turn and not a left turn. The RC was not visible to him before he entered, so to do the RC you would want to stay close to jump 2, then as he is exiting 2 you can accelerate on the RC line so he sees it before he enters.You also did a FC, which is hard to get finished in time to show the line to the left turn too – a blind there might be able to show the line sooner!
Another option is to handle from the exit of the 3 tunnel: send him to 2 and 3 without getting close to it, then you can blind cross the tunnel exit to get him on your right side for 4, or do a tandem turn to show him 4 after he exits.
And live by the 2 failure rule: if you get 2 failures, stop the session and watch the video. The video will tell you why he was turning right and not left there 🙂
That can set up handling the way you handled at 5-6-7, or you can slice 5 to the right and pick up 6 from the other side.
When you had him on your right 5-6, be sure to keep moving to stay off his line because that will give him room over the bars. The blind 4-6 (to get him on your left) worked really well – just be sure to use connection to send him to 6 (because it points your shoulders to the correct line) rather than pointing ahead of him to 6 (which turns your shoulders to the front of the jump).
PO 2 –
This went well because there was more running, which he definitely likes!! The hardest part was convincing him to come off the start line (more on that below).The BC 1-2 worked well to get you to the other side of the tunnel. The threadle/tandem on 3 caused him to slow down a lot, so another option is to send to 1 and 2 with him on your left from further away (no side change) – then keep him on your left to do the threadle wrap on the other side of 3, or if you are far enough away you can do a blind on the tunnel exit. That would not require a stay – you can start with him next to you and do a big connected send to 1 and 2.
SUPER nice independent sends to the backside at 7 – you did them with connection as the start of the cue, so he knew where to go. Your arm came up but it came up after he was passing you and locking onto the backside, so it supported the line but he already saw the shoulders cueing the backside line.
I am not convinced he thinks the clam toy thrown to be retrieved for a cookie is actually rewarding enough to be used here – on the first reward, he trotted to it and then walk back. He seemed to move a little faster to it at the end (video ended before he got to it) but we really want to use reinforcement that he sprints to, because he loves it so much. The calm toy seems to be additional work to get the cookie, so I think using a lotus ball stuffed with great stuff that he can go open up immediately will have a much bigger impact on his overall drive around the sequences.
> Ven is continuing to get stuck in his start line stay. Need some thoughts on how to work them so he releases.>
That getting stuck is generally a stress behavior, so I looked at it to see what the stress was about. He didn’t get stuck until approx the 4:00 mark on the first video. There was a lot of start/stop/re-do in those first 4 minutes. Yes, he got a cookie for some of them but based on his reaction and also at the start of the 2nd video, I don’t think the cookie when you stop is a true reinforcement. It is more like a relative punisher (punishment in terms of withdrawing access to the true reinforcement, which is running then getting the big treat and “woohoo!” at the end). So it kind of piles of and at the 4:00 mark, he begins to freeze at the start. And that bubbles over into video 2, where he didn’t start on the first release.
So we definitely need to look at it as a stress behavior and look at what to do to eliminate the stress. Some ideas:
– rather than work til the sequence is clean or break it down a lot, set a 2-minute timer and run it through with big rewards. And when the timer says you are done…. you stop the session. No worries if it is not clean or smooth.
– if something goes wrong? Just like at trials, no stopping to fix even if he gets a cookie. He can tell the difference between a true “that was great!!! YEAH!!” reward and a “that was not it, nice try” cookie based on if you are running or not, plus your body language. And the ‘almost’ cookies are deflating because it slows everything down – the real rewards are in the running and the big party. So if he goes off course, or hits a bar, or misses a jump, or turns the wrong way? Keep running the sequence even if you have to make something up 🙂 then have a big reward! Then watch the video to see what happened 🙂
– No need to start with the stay each time. You can use a send, or teach him a behind the back start to ricochet him into it (those are fun). When he is sticky in the stay, stopping to reward then having him go back to do another stay can make it more sticky (this is what was happening in video 2).
>Second issue is that he often treats the back command as a go around the entire jump rather than taking it from the backside. I don’t know if this is from all the “back” wing work or if I’m doing something that makes it unclear he should take the jump.>
That was happening on the serp backsides, mainly. In the handling, you can look at the landing spot as you move through (instead of at him) and that will definitely help get commitment. Separately from handling, you can add in tons of thrown rewards to the landing side without connection from this game:
Super Independent Obstacle Skills: Backside Jump Commitment With Countermotion
You will definitely want to use something immediately reinforcing for that (stuffed lotus ball or Toppl or giant cheese ball :)) because to build the independence, we don’t want the treat delivered from your hand.
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
OMG Kristy you must be floating on a cloud after those runs!!!! She looked fantastic and you two looked like a smooth fast team.
Things that really stood out as looking great:
Your connection! Your crosses!!!
She was completely engaged and focused, and fast!
Gorgeous stays!
She drove ahead brilliantly and found all her lines.
Fantastic balance between extension when you cued it, and nice tight turns.
She adjusted brilliantly to the footing and seemed to not even notice any distractions.Really fabulous!!!!!!
Well done and thanks for sharing, I loved watching it!
TracyGood morning!
Sounds like you are having a lovely vacation!>Yes – Kaladin has never liked accelerating ahead of me to the poles, especially when it is an angled entry. >
You can also do some chair training – bring out a comfy chair and a frizzer. Set up near a set of 4 or 6 poles, and send him to them (while you are in the chair 🙂 ) then throw the frizz. Then gradually make the chair further and further away. That can help build value for leaving you for weaves without relying on your motion. Plus it will be relaxing LOL!
>So we’re going to do a weave pole swap where Kristin tries my PVC set to let Reacher practice with more feet on the base and I get 3 sets of her 2x2s so that I can build Lift up to 12 poles on similar base poles. Then we’ll swap back and I’ll work with Lift on my PVC set separately from building her up to 12. >
That is smart! Exposing the youngsters to different weave bases is as important as exposing them to different teeters.
>I was concentrating on my timing and was able to see during the run & via video how the spots where I was a bit late was where he drifted a bit wide. >
Yes – that one-stride of drift can add up to a full second if it happens 3 times or so on course, so getting the timing as early as possible is helpful for shaving off seconds.
>(which may or may not happen tomorrow after we go hike the “Troll Trail” and pose Shelties next to cute little Troll figurines).>
Clearly this takes priority! I want to see the photos!
>I am really happy with her Novice jumping run. I made up my own course that let her open up more and pratice layering. >
I thought it looked great! She was flying, you were flying, you were connected, just a lovely fast run! And you have really mastered the fine art of the food reward box – in, fast treat, back out. Impressive!! She looked great.
>I am especially proud of myself for cueing the tunnel-tunnel layer jump line without any Giraffing! (it’s now a verb!)>
Ha! I mean, giraffes are cool and all, but are too tall for the agility ring LOL
> luckily Shelley realized we were going to run right by her into the reward box so we didnt’ run her over.>
Lift seemed unconcerned and was not distracted at all.
On the snooker run – nice wrap on that opening line! You both really nailed the transition from extension to collection back to extension.
The BC was late but more importantly – you were kind of running sideways pushing into her line, so she couldn’t get to the correct side. That might be the source of her anger.
The blind after was late too – but she was able to get back to the correct side. Then at :44 you were not really showing the line to the jump – moving away, arm up, not a clear connection – so she hit her limit of coping and bounced upwards. Good job continuing and she made a fast recovery!
Do you remember the Find My Face game? You can revisit it using late blinds or cues that pull her off lines, so she has a practice coping 🙂
>both got too excited on the last line where she tried to extend for 2 strides in a 25ft distance between 7B & 7C and took off way too early and crashed 7C>
Ouch! I am glad she recovered quickly and Dr. Julia put her back in alignment. Poor girlie!!!
>I thought that maybe she decided to leave the stride out because I had lost my connection to her but I am still looking back at her when she made that decision. Unless it was my starting to turn forward right as she hit the end of her 2nd stride?>
It didn’t look like a disconnection issue but I think maybe it was just that you were both driving a bit too hard on the ending line and so she rushed the jumping. Add to it she was already teetering on the edge of overarousal from the sequence before it, so it was just a rushed jumping error. I am glad she is ok!!
>I did start her on the Purina CalmCare when we got back from the seminar. Did a half dose for a few days incase her stomach had issues with it and then moved her to the full dose Friday a week ago.>
Keep me posted! I put Ramen on it about a week ago because he was having some worry at flyball tournaments. I also added vetriscience “Calm And Confident” starting the day before the event. And he walked into a brutally hard environment yesterday and was simply brilliant. So maybe it does take effect quickly? Teenage dogs definitely keep us on our toes!
>Right now I feel like I would need to carry her around a lot and into the ring so that she doesn’t rehearse any bad behavior of lunging at movement during transition times. >
How does she do with pattern games outside the ring? That can make the biggest different: the back-and-forth and the up-and-down games. Plus the “look at that” version: she looks at you instead of a distraction. Or looks at it then back at you. That is what I am doing this weekend with teenager Plot Twist who has his Malinois and whippet parts both REALLY interested in motion. Those games are a lifesaver and he is working for sliced beef LOL
>Given the more charged environment at AKC Trials and my own concerns about being in that environement, I don’t think putting her in the ring at an AKC trial makes sense at this point.>
They do seem more crowded which can also be a lot more tense – plus a lot more rules rules rules. Sigh. So better to hold off!
>Oh and side note, I asked Dr Julia about why there is only 1 dosage size for the CalmCare and she said something about how small and large dogs have about the same length of intestine by surface area – the smaller dogs have more folds in their intestines to fit it into their bodies.>
Ah! Who knew!!! Thanks for asking!!
Have a great day and please post troll photos!
Tracy
