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Hi!
Thanks for your patience!Looking at the zig zags… I think what we see in these 2 sessions is latent learning in action. The first session from 11/29 definitely shows her having questions when she is jumping left to right (you are on her right shoulder, s you noted). But the 12/1 sessions shows that pretty much cleared up and looking much much better! And on the “easy” side, on the 11/29 session she definitely had to work at it… but on 12/1 it seemed much more effortless! Yay!
So only a couple of suggestions –
She probably needs a couple of warm up reps with bar 1 lower than bar 2, to get organized, then you can go to bar 1 being the same height.And, trust the latent learning process: if the rep is not great… reward it anyway. The science supports that a whole lot đ because it turns out that what we see during the session doesn’t really matter all that much, because the dog’s brain wires it in duing the sleep after the session. So we want it to be a feel-good session even if the mechanics are not perfect! And the voila! Great mechanics percolate đ
I am glad she likes the new toy and is doing so well! You can start to play around with the backsides (lower the bars, though, and place the toy out past the landing spot rather than run with it, because she is going to leave you in the dust :))
The head turn was interesting – she is pushing herself out on those turns to shape the turn by moving further from the wing rather than right towards it. If a bar was there, she would be on trhe far side of the bar! I scrolled back to look at what she was doing in earlier sessions, and she was a little closer coming in to the wing on the left turns and a LOT closer coming in on the right turns So she might need a little chiro adjustment or trigger point massage? In terms of training, you can start her closer to the wing just to re-visit that first step of getting close to the wing, but I would wait to make sure she was not out or sore anywhere – she might be changing her position to compensate.
I think we might be seeing a bit of that compensating on the organized sits sessions – not on the plank, she looked great on those! It was more on the wing wrap before it – she was not bending through the ribs or neck as much as she had in the past. So if she has an appointment coming up with a chiro or PT, let me know if they feel anything a little sore or out.
But for the planks – she looked good! You can add a reward target on the exit of the wrap so she can keep her head down more and look at you less đ It can be a manners minder, it can be a food bowl that you plop food into, or a toy. The reward target will help things be less ‘meh’ haha! We kinda needed the meh at first to get the mechanics, now we can make it more exciting đ
Nice work! Let me know what you think! I am going to post about a class continuation option in a few minutes.
Tracy
Good morning! Hope you had a great weekend!!
The wing wrapping at the beginning looked great: he was quickly able to go from the flat laundry basket to the popped up basket to the longer distance. He appears to be a righty because he could process the right turns as a distance more easily than the left turns at a distance. So, as we add more challenge and excitement to the wrap games, try to always start with the right turns to get the concept tarted. And you will probably see him progress more quickly through the steps on the right turns while the left turns and lag a step or two. It all balances out, so it is fine if one side proceeds more quickly than the other.
Only one suggestion: try not to say Go because Go will mean something entirely different very soon đ So what to say instead? You can just use ready ready and let him offer.
And, you can also now go to the turn and burn game, where you can step to the barrel and point to it to indicate the game starts without needing to say go. We will put wrap verbals on this skill soon.
His retrieve is showing big improvements! He was able to be joyous and playful with the toy and still bring it back relatively quickly for the other toy reward. Yay! That is what we want: to keep shaping the retrieve without losing that joyous bounce in his step when he is playing. More sessions like this in this relaxed style will result in a really great retrieve.
His backing up is also looking good. Towards the end, you had your hands a little lower so he could keep his head in that neutral position (not too high, not too low) and he was able to really nicely step backwards! He had a little trouble when the treat got too far behind you so putting the cot on its side to help narrow the playing field was helpful.
So he can move to the next step on this too: keeping your hands on the position (top of your thighs) you had them at the end, and using the cot behind you for when he comes forward, y can start backing up onto a
âThingâ like a flat bed. Start with all 4 feet, lure the front feet off then reward him for stepping his front feet back onto it, so he gets the idea of the destination. Then you can move to luring all four feet off to start having him step back onto it with his back feet.Great job here!!! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>>I was so happy with her willingness to work this out and wait for the cookie.
Yes, she was great! She did well getting all four feet on the plank, in the new location outdoors. Super!!
One suggestion: while he is working it out, you need to stand still đ No helping! LOL!! When you start to move about, even a little, she starts to ask questions: should I look at da momma? Or at the plank? So be perfectly stationary til she offers something, then reward. If she gets stuck, you can toss a cookie off to the side to reset her to try again.
This will help her focus on her task and also not wait for you to cue anything with movement.Great job on all of these!! She is doing so well!!!!
Tracy
Hi!
She looked great here! Good retrieves!
>> In our agility field she will sometimes make a loop before she brings it back â not really running around the field but just sort of one big loop.>>
No worries about that short victory lap – most dogs need to do that bit sometimes, so that they can decompress a bit and come back for the next rep.
And yes, try to keep the toy lower so she can pull on it more and shift her weight into her rear. But overall, the retrieves looked great! Keep making it super fun for her like you did here đ Yay!
T
Hi!
The âyesâ marker works for the hand delivery stuff like in the backing up⌠but tossed treats need a different marker so yes, totally use the get it marker (and keep tossing the treats).I think to help her get the correct direction, you need to start further back so you can cut in behind her much sooner. For comparison:
Look at the very last rep at 1:18, where you started the rear cross and cutting behind pretty early, and she got it. You were pretty much done with the RC before she arrived at the hat.Compare that to :48, for example – she was just about touching the hat before you started cutting behind her (she was touching it and turning to her left, because you were still on her left).
The timing is the key on the RCs, so more room gives you more time to show her: ideally you are fully finished with the RC side change while she is still one full step away from the prop.
But, as instructed: you rewarded ALL the things because she was correct 100% of the time (even if you were not sure she was correct⌠she was indeed correct :)) Yay! All of that reward will help her be resilient to handling errors if we even make any, and also it helps her understand that the little bit of RC starting should indicate the turn the new direction.
>>I donât want her to rehearse those spins but by the time I see that she is committed I am late in getting the reward in front of her
You were not late with the reward, because the reward throw does not create the behavior. You were late with the cue (which creates the behavior). So donât worry about the reward timing, just try to get the RC started much sooner.
>>When should I throw it?
As soon as you cut in behind.
>>Should I say get it as I throw it?
Yup – get it is the better marker for this game.
Nice work! Let me know if that makes sense!
TracyGood morning!
I agree, this went really well! She did well with you relatively close to the bed so she only had to take a step or two. To start to add more distance, one thing you can do is have less room on both sides of the bed – you can put it up against a wall on one side and maybe put a crate or open on the other side, to narrow the playing field a little so she wonât step off the side when you move a little further away.
>>I thought I was being much better with reward timing and placement and sometimes I think I was, but in looking at the video I could be faster with it.>>
I thought you were good! You can have the cookies ready to go in the hand rather than having to pick the cookie out of the other hand, but overall you were fast for what the session needed – it is not a high energy movement so you didnât need to be higher energy or faster. If you were going faster, she might get a bit frantic and lose her form. Your pace of reinforcement matched the situation really nicely!
>>I will get there and I think that will make things better for her.
She appeared to be happy with what was going on and not frustrated at all! So no need to try to go faster here.
>>Should my marker word come before I give the treat?>>
Yes, you would say the marker then move the cookie hand, which is basically what you were doing here.
>>Should my marker word come as she starts to step backwards or as she lifts her foot to put on the bed?>>
This can be variable: sometimes for that first step, sometimes for all the way back to the bed. But always toss the reward to the bed. Mix it up, as that will help her add more distance in a gradual way.
Great job!
TracyHi again!
More fun arousal work! I just love this. Look at how she was able to get stimulated with the toy and still maintain her body awareness and balance – even when she was clearly in a heightened state with more ,muscle tension. Just be sure that you donât get heightened and move too quickly with the cues: when you wanted her to spin, your hands movements were sometimes too high and fast so she couldnât process the cue. When you were using a slower and lower movement, she was perfect. So be sure that your cue remains super clear while she is up in that optimal (high!) arousal state đ
She had trouble with the down on the object and a little trouble with the down on the flat⌠good to know! We will work that skill separately as well. And, I bet latent learning will kick in here too and if you revisit the high arousal downs, she will be better able to do them.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
Yay, barrel wraps in arousal! She is a lefty, I believe. Note how all of the left turns were just fantastic! You had good distance going and she had zero question: she was able to immediately go to the barrel and wrap to her left.
The wraps to the right was ever-so-slightly-harder and she ha a couple of âwait, what?â moments like at the start and then midway through the session. She finds it harder to process the rights turns, which is fine because dogs all do have a sidedness just like humans đ
So a strategy for working the barrel wraps in arousal (which was FABULOUS):
Move to the turn and burn game, but do the session ONLY on the left turns (she starts on your right on all reps).
The take a break. And do the back-and-forth game like you did here, starting on your left (so she turns right) but you will be very close to the barrel and not moving as much. You can warm up fro a few reps like that, and probably then go to the turn and burn, but at a much simpler level (standing still longer) than you did on the left turns.
The right turns will catch up to the left turns, but for now we will keep them a little separate so she can process.
And, it doesnât really matter how it looks in that session so it if looks like crap? Cool! No worries at all, because these pointy creatures are amazing with the latent learning – even if a session looks poopy, keep rewarding and helping the dog and then the behavior will appear in the next session.
Working this in arousal is great because the science tells us that when the dogs encode/learn in this state, they will be better able to remember/retrieve the skill when they are in this state! And she will be stimulated at trials, which basically means she is going to be high, and aroused⌠and still able to produce amazing turns. It is cool to have the science on this and then see it play out with our dogs! Yay!
Great job!
TracyGood morning Deb! Hope you had a great weekend!
>>There was a disc dog event outside and Tarot was really distracted by the people coming in and out of the building and the sound of the electronic voice over the PA system.>>
Oh yes, that would be really hard for any dog! Even in a familiar building, she would definitely notice those distractions. Good for you for recognizing that it was hard for the baby dog!
With that in mind⌠she was a superstar here!!!
Warming up with the tugging was great. And then you did really short distances and LOTS of cookie rewards, also great!
If the tugging is more exciting, you can add it in after every cookie or two. You were really good about giving her the moment to look at the environment and choose to engage with you – that really builds great engagement and resilience! And you were patient when she âneeded a momentâ like at 2:25 when she needed about 5 seconds to clear her head and sniff. You quietly let her do it, then she was able to re-engage without being asked and she finished STRONG!!!! YES! So in hard environments, you can let her have that little head-clearing moment – she was not being naughty she was just saying âwhoa this is hard, ok now I am good, letâs go!â
Plus, I think the cookies on the ground lower her arousal a little o the toys will keep her more stimulated which is great for handling the distractions. In easier environments, you can do a bunch of cookie rewards in a row. But in the harder environments, you can tug after each cookie reward or after every 2 or 3 cookie rewards, to keep her more stimulated and help her to handle the distractions.
And in a less distracting environment, you can start to add even more distance for her to then run back to you for the decel.
I think you made really fabulous choices here for your baby dog and it really set her up for success. It was a true demo in how to train a behavior while supporting the needs of a youngster in a distracting environment. Big Click/treat for you!!!!
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
I agree, he is definitely part Mountain Goat. Yay! His confidence is just outstanding! We will keep playing these random goat games all the way through adolescence to make sure he maintains that confidence during all the brain changes that come with adolescence. So for now, keep doing all of the random rewards for getting on this when asked, and finding as many different surfaces as possible.
>>The other day he launched himself onto my rolling office chair and then parkour-ed onto my desk.>>
OMG! And I bet he gave himself 5 gold stars and told you he nailed it LOL!!!!!
>>Stillness on the other hand is a struggle.
He is just about getting to the age where the pups have enough development to start learning stays and stillness, so we will be adding that in soon. I train pups to stay by using motion and action, so they like the stillness and will offer it. Stay tuned!
>>Going back to toy from food was a no-go.
No worries – he was probably in a pool of cookie smells, so you can leave the room and throw a toy around in a different room to get the toy play. The toy play here is mainly to keep the arousal really high, so you can run to a different room, tug a little, then come back to shaping. It is worth it to do it because then the body awareness transfers so nicely to the ring when he is more stimulated..
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning! Hope you had a good weekend!
The driving ahead is looking great! The long line was harder to manage but you did a great job of giving him just enough agency to drive ahead and play with the toy, without soooo much agency that he was Abe to take the toy on a tour of the field LOL! Good job keeping the line loose so he was still feeling the freedom without being reeled in too much. Really fabulous!
O the 2nd video, he was actually moving back to you with the toy even faster and you made it worth his while by having a MASSIVE play session when he got back to you. So excellent!!!! You were great about play play play play rather than just taking the toy away to do the next rep. The other thing is that he found a new gear of speed when driving ahead of you đ
The only thing I would add is if he doesnât come right back and needs to stop and chew the toy (he did that a little in the first video), you can let him chew the toy for 3 to 5 seconds⌠and then start to call him back to you. He might need that 3-5 seconds to self-regulate the excitement of running outside with the toy. If you give him those few seconds before encouraging him to come back with it, he will be more likely to come back and he will get great practice with the self-regulation!
He was a rockstar with the prop games! I think we are seeing latent learning in action here: in the live class, he was good but the food in your hand was definitely something he had to think about. So we didnât see the full behavior in that first session. But then through the magic of latent learning, here it was! Yay!
He had some questions on the reps where he turned to his right (starting on your left) so at 1:07 on the 2nd video, you started him closer and got GREAT hits and you were also able to ad countermotion (which looked terrific too). Compare to the first video when you asked for some left turns with him starting on your right: he was able to do those with more distance.
Video 3 with you moving into the countermotion was really strong too – it took a rep for you to get your mechanics going but then you had it! Same with the new side – one rep to get your mechanics going then you had it. What worked best for him was when you rotated and did the countermotion and changed hands and pointed backwards and looked at the target. So if he started on your right, as he was passing you, you were rotating and then indicating the prop with your left hand and looking back at it (like at :28). When you kept him on the same arm with it crossing your body, your connection and indication was not as clear so he had some questions (:48) unless you stayed closer to the prop (:52). So to build up distance, the changing arms and pointing behind you should be super effective.
The wing wrapping with you in the hair went really well too! There is a definite element of self-control getting built in, because he REALLY wanted the cookies in your hands LOL! Plus, he had free access to the great big work! And yea, he figured out really quickly to go wrap the cone to get the rewards. Yay!
Watch the video in slow motion: look at him bending around the cone, turning his head to slide around it⌠that is an indicator that he is going to be able to turn amazingly well! I am excited!
So the next cone session can be with you getting closer to the cone and standing up, so he sees the picture of you standing. Then you can go to the turn and burn we added this week (you might be able to add that in the same session where you show him standing up.
Great job on these! Onwards to the goat games below đ
TracyGood morning! Hope you had a great weekend!!
>>Found it made a difference in MY arousal level and the work/play session because my attention wasnât split.
That is really interesting! Maybe it felt good and was a relief to just enjoy the time with one dog. I am sure that they enjoyed it too đ
>>>> If he is in a stimulating situation, it can be all about him and then you can help him with the arousal regulation. <<< What is it I can do to help him with his arousal regulation? Definitely a lack of knowledge in this area on my part. Itâs something that is a struggle for Roulez and I donât want to repeat history.>>
We are actually building in a ton of arousal regulation without the pups (or humans haha) even realizing it. All of the back and forth between toys, and using toys before/during/after is about teaching the pups arousal regulation (using food-only in training does not work that as well).
Rewarding all the things is a great way t start teaching it too!
And check out the resilience game each week – the resilience wall helps, and the games we add each week are great for it too, even if you only play it once or two (they don’t need a lot of training đ )
let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
Boring feedback for you today because once again, this looked great.
The reps where you made a little extra eye contact and less âhereâs my handâ were better, and Rogue was quicker to change sides. This was generally when she was going from your right side to your left side, and both of you might be more comfy turning that direction.
Her only question was at :27, when you made eye contact a little late so she didnât quite get the side change. You had your new hand (right hand) out and in position, but blinds re eye-contact based particularly for small dogs, so she was staying on your left side til you made the big eye contact. You were a great trainer in that moment to reward her anyway because that was a handling error and not a Rogue error đ
So two things happened in that oopsie moment:she learned a bit of resilience to handler errors because she didnât have all the info to respond perfectly, and you were like âthatâs cool, you still get rewardedâ. It might seem like a small thing but it is a BIG BIG thing because so many people blame their dogs and donât reward, so the dogs then get anxious when something goes wrong on course.
The other thing was that you then aded more eye contact on the next blinds for the rest of the session, so it went really well! Youâll find with a dog her size that you want to keep your hands behind you as much as possible for blinds so you can seek out her eyes – that makes for great blinds with small dogs.
Lovely work here! You can totally try this with toys too!
Tracy
Good morning, hope you had a great weekend!
I am so glad you are enjoying the live classes! The puppies are all so amazing!The plank worked looked great and I loved Rudyâs âhold my beer, I can do this betterâ moment! Ha! Baxter looked confident but also maybe that it was a little boring LOL! He was happier when you were moving faster and that is fine đ Will Baxter play with toys outside too? If so, you can use toys for this now rather than treats to see if we can get him more amped up about it (although having Rudy get the cookies certainly seemed to get Baxer amped up LOL!)
On the back up video: this is a really good first session!!!!
>>Iâve always had difficulty training my dogs to back up because theyâre small, coated, and I have a hard time seeing their back legs move from my position.>>
I can see how that would make it harder to mark those small movements that are easy to see on dogs without coats! Working on the light colored sheet was very clever and definitely seemed to help with the cookie finding.
I think you marked plenty of good behavior here and he was definitely backing up!!
Have you tried this with you sitting in a chair or on a stool, so you can be lower to see better, plus your back with thank you because there is less bending đ Plus, he will keep his head in a more neutral position (less looking up at you) if you are lower, which will produce more backing up too!
>>Iâm wondering if having him back up to a âthingâ very close would help me visualize and mark his foot movement?>>
Yes, totally can, and it is a game we add in the advanced version and the week 3 version. You can do something like start all four feet on a big flat dog bed, lure his front feet off, then reward him for stepping back on (front feet, because that is part of backing up :)) Then work up to luring back feet barely off, then letting him step back on.
I thought you did a good job on this video but yes, a âthingâ can totally make it easier to see the behavior for both of you đ
Great job!
Tracy
