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Hi! Sounds like he had a really exciting weekend! Hopefully the rain clears up ASAP!!!!
Looking at the videos:
Toy races are looking good here! He is learning to drive into the toy with handler pressure:
The race element was hard at first and he backed off the pressure. Staying engaged and teasing him helped him out run you on the next rep but then he was backing off and watching you after that. So to help support him passing you with the pressure of you running, you can throw the toy a lot further so that he has more room to out run you, and dial back the racing for it – be moving but not quite as fast and don’t try to grab for it for now, so he can experience the thrill of victory more 🙂
He is reading the decel really well! You don’t have to exaggerate the movement or decel as much with foot noises, you can just slow down like you did on the last rep and he will read it really well. As you add more distance, you can be moving away while he goes to get the treat then decel as he starts to move towards you, so you have more time to show him the decel because he will be moving even faster with more distance 🙂
On the Blind crosses – he was able to pick up the side change but you can see a slight tiny delay in the side change. That was because you were trying to reconnect with the dog side arm at your side, which tends to block connection a bit (thus the delay in response, because he can’t see the new side as quickly). So instead of emphasizing the dog side hand next to you, you can open up the connection on the new side more quickly by pointing the dog side arm back and downwards to his nose, and use the opposite arm resting on your dog side hip. That will make the new connection super obvious and he will be very quick to change sides.
On the stealth self-control game:
> I got greedy at first you’ll see,>
Yes, a little to hard at first but then he had a good string of successes!
I think the value of the treat in the bowl is so high that we can break it down differently to teach him to look away from it and at the ‘work’:
Start the self-control session with the easier line and an empty food bowl (this might mean a delay in getting the cookie into it because you don’t have 3 hands 🙂 but that is fine for now).
Give him a treat for when you hold his collar, then indicate looking forward… but don’t let go until he looks forward AND settles a tiny bit. He was flipping his head a bit, moving feet, twisting…. trying to get to the cookie in the bowl. Hopefully the less stimulating empty bowl will allow for a heartbeat of settling. This will go a long way to helping with impulse control so he can look at the line (not at the bowl) – and that will also help with his start line stay in the future!
>he did well until the end when I maybe tried to progress too quick?>
Yes, too hard for one session because the food value is so high, but it might be easier with the empty bowl because it will still have value but not a ton of value. Also, train him when he is not hungry 🙂 If he is hungry and we are using food, the impulse control is a lot harder. So try training him an hour after he has had a meal. Since he is small, the meal can be maybe half the meal so he is satiated but has room for training rewards.
> Also cookies in the pocket was a bit of a struggle he says FEED DA BABY!>
Clearly STARVING LOL!!!
The wrap game with the upright is going really well – you can add in standing now, and also moving the bowls back – put them just past your heels. Do you have a barrel or something bigger he can go around? We are going to use something bigger as we expand this game.
>Also really impressed with his desire to stay in the game even during disconnects/resets, hoping I don’t ruin that!!!! lol>
He was working at a really high rate of success, so he was really happy to stay in the game!! Super!!!
Prop sends are going super well to the left turn side! Still a little more challenging to the right, so I think the next session should be in a bigger space where you have more room to move away laterally and encourage the right turns.
And definitely send with an empty hand, because he struggles to leave the cookie for now. The cookie can be in the other hand, and that other hand then tosses the treat in the general direction of the prop. It is ok that the cookie toss is not super precise, as long as it lands in the general vicinity 🙂
Great job here!!
Tracy
Hi!
It sounds like you are having crazy weather out there!
>Taq is not feeling like eating (skipped dinner). After the video she curled up on my lap and her gi sounds were quite impressive.>
Yikes!!! It surprises me to hear she skips meals, but all of my dogs are such piggies that a skipped meal equals a trip to the vet LOL!! You are not horrible – skipping the meal is a norm for her.
>>So I am trying to momma bear the toy play. You told me not to loom over her so I asked to come up on me to tug then you said I was holding the toy to high🤣>>
It is a fine line! The answer is generally in having a long toy that the dogs can grab really low, while we are standing. Most agility people have really short toys and I am making it my mission to change that LOL!!!
This was a good toy! You can stuff fur or something into the hollee roller part of it to make it even more engaging in more challenging environments.
On the video – she did well here with the toy – it was a bit of a long session, so you can set a timer for 2 minutes then be done, to keep things really exciting. It looks like she has a ‘kiss’ trick that will be good for getitng her jumping up and exciting on the start line!!!
She was very into the toy here which is great – she was not into the treats, so her belly must have been a bit off, but her toy play was strong!
Since this went so well, you can move to the power pattern with 2 reward stations (ring entry and ring exit :)) and the jump, as well as the leash on and off so it is a fun part of the game. If the rain continues, you can do this in different rooms of the house: room 1 is reward station 1, room 2 is “do a thing”, room 3 is reward station 2 🙂
Nice work here!! Let me know how the power pattern goes and hopefully her belly feels better!
Tracy
Hi!
>Though still some focus issues, not too bad. Plenty of good work. I even opted to try weaves, which have been perfect at home, but I didn’t want to mess with it elsewhere. She was perfect. Since no one else showed up, we got in about 45 minutes of solid work.>>
Awesome news about the weaves!!!
Video 1 – the first rear cross from 3-4 looked good. What made it work was that as she was taking 3 (:09), you were already moving to the center of he bar of 4 so she knew to turn right. With her speed and straight length, you can start that even sooner: be moving towards the center of the bar of 4 before she even takes off for 3. Her drive on the straight line back to the tunnel looked GREAT!
On the 2nd video, you were not as early (:13) so she did not see the RC info in time. Plus, you were saying “go jump” on both videos which indicates a straight line so on this one, the physical cue also said to go straight. You can see her drop her nose for a moment, perhaps trying to process it.
So for the RC, get on that line to the center of the bar and also use a directional (such as a right verbal) or her name, instead of Go.
Then to get the RC on 5, you would need to get on the line facing the center of the bar of 5 before she takes off for 4. That will feel early but it will help give her the info. Let me know if you have any of the videos of the reps that went wrong and we can try to figure it out!
Nice work here!
Tracy
Hi!
Sequence 2 here:
> The footing definitely makes a difference lol.>
Yes, for sure! But I think she did really well on the harder footing too.
Also, I think placing the toy here was doing more harm than help here – she was trying to predict the line to the toy, which made it a little harder to get the lines you wanted. So, throw the toy when she is looking at the 2nd to last jump (rather than have it placed on the line). Even when it was not there later in the session, she was still running straight for where it was. There is a lot of reward history at home of long distance placement and toy throws, so she is definitely in go straight/find the toy mode, so let’s take that out a bit. I would almost rather get a little head check at the end of the line at home than have her running straight to the toy a lot.
On this sequence, some good info on when the spin helped and when you don’t want to use a spin:
– the spin definitely helped on the backside of 3! When you didn’t use it, she stayed on the line your shoulder presented at 1:12.
– you did a decel/spin on the tunnel entry at :14, so she did turn a bit… but then stopped turning when you did that on the next reps. We don’t want to lose that response to the decel/spin, so be sure to accelerate and use a post turn on straight line tunnel exits.About the 4-5-6 line:
> I’m just not sure how to help her get and stay on the line with a turn from 4-5 like that. Soft turn Achilles heel. I’m sure you’ll say brake arm but I just can’t seem to get myself to add it in, in the moment. >
You are correct, brake arm 🙂 You know me too well! I am confident she will respond to it, so we have to get your brain happy to tell your body to do it. So, without her – walk the sequence a few times by picking up your invisible dog a little closer to the tunnel exit than as she is exiting and passing you, you are showing her the brake arm and decel to as you turn your shoulders. You hold that position until the invisible dog’s head turns to pick up the line, then you relax the brake arm and run.
When you can do that with the invisible dog at a walk? Do it at a jog, then do it at a run. Then get the real dog out and do it at a walk 🙂 It is mainly a matter of training your brain 🙂 and also not having a toy out on the line, because we want her focal point to be on YOU in that moment and not looking down the line.
Nice work here!! Let me know how your invisible dog does with the brake arms!
Tracy
Hi!
Sequence 4: this was a Goldilocks too little – too much – just right session 🙂Good motion on the opening line on all of these!!
Rep 1 was a ‘too little’ moment in terms of there being too little info (it was a stride or two late).
Decel at :21 can be sooner – this started at landing of previous jump so I would start it at takeoff so she sees the dramatic decel when she lands and can adjust. You did a great job of NOT rotating too soon though!Rep 2 at 1:21 was a ‘too much’ rep – good timing of starting the decel but you rotated and the same time and pulled her off the jump.
The advice to tell her to dig but keep moving forward in decel there was excellent – is that Jen? Click/treat to her.The last rep was AWESOME perhaps the best collected turn I have seen her do! WOW!!!!! Perfect combo of starting the cues at takeoff of previous jump but facing forward in decel to maintain the commitment. Gorgeous!
Tracy
Good morning!
>Don’t mind all the chatter throughout the video lol.
The chatter was great LOL!!!! And the discussion about timing the reward on the straight line was valid: To keep her looking forward, you can have a placed toy or throw it before she looks back at you – that means when she is over the 2nd to last jump and looking forward, throw it rather than wait til she gets to the last jump. You were much earlier with the throw on the last rep and she did not have to look back at you. Super! I like the early throws to be mixed in, so that the dogs don’t rely on the visual target of the placed toy.
>>1) Startline connection. They are still hard but if I stay connected with her, she has really been doing well with them.>>
Yes, her start lines are looking so much better! And you actually need to be a little less predictable with the releases so she doesn’t anticipate. You don’t want to always lead out, stop, wait for 1 second then release… because she will release at that 1 second mark. That is what happened at 2:19 🙂 She busted you on the rhythm of your releases. Then the arousal came up and she couldn’t sit, because she was like “why was that wrong, it is what we always do”. So sometimes release before you stop moving, sometimes mix in praise before the release, some times wait a few seconds longer, etc etc.
>> 2) Five minute sessions (no or minimal editing of videos). This has really helped me a lot. I’m sure edited videos are helpful for you, but they have really helped keep me accountable. I think this has helped her so much because I’m not continuing to push for more when she’s done>>
I am glad this is easier! I prefer *unedited* videos because the before/after/in-between moments are important to watch. Plus, edited videos often have the reps coming so fast that I have to stop them a lot to make notes LOL !
For the handling, a couple of ideas mainly about being really consistent to maintain the understanding of all the cues:
On the driving ahead sequences at the beginning – you were standing still as she exited the tunnel so she should collect on that jump and not consider running straight. So to get her running straight, you will want to add more of your motion by either running in close to the tunnel then driving ahead. Or, get miles ahead and run (might not be enough room in this ring though). That way the physical cues match the verbals and she won’t learn to ignore decel.
Nice job getting the backside on the next sequence and also the big lines! One note on that sequence: run into the tunnel and do a post turn so you are showing extension the whole time in this context. You did a big decel and spin on the tunnel entrance at 1:43 which are strong turn cues. She did turn into you on that exit (yay!) but then you cued her to go back out on the line. She is a fast learner, and at 3:26 she did not turn on the tunnel exit even with the decel and spin. So since we are going to want the decel and spin to cue a turn, be super careful not to use them on straight line exits – running and a shoulder turn will be perfect there.
One other thing to think about, which will help collection, jumping, etc: do you do any tight sit work with her, like getting tight sits on a small platform? She has a splayed sit and ideally her toes and hips would be more tucked into her body. That is a conditioning thing which will definitely play a role in behaviors that use hind end power, so it is something to add to her routine 🙂
Nice work here!
Tracy
Hi! This also went really well!
Looking at the first video:
He is following the tunnel threadle cues brilliantly! He questions the straight line tunnel sends a tiny bit, so you can throw more reward to the tunnel exit on those to keep the line balance so he doesn’t stay in too much handler focus.On this sequence, I don’t think you need a spin on the 4 jump – you can send and run away, making it easier for you to get to the tunnel discrimination part of the sequence. You did not use a spin at :41 and he had a great line which looked just about the same as the spin lines. The spins are extra footwork for you, and were a little late here… plus it bleeds off speed to get collection in a spot where we don’t need to get more collection 🙂
For the 180 lines on the 2 jumps – he is following your shoulders really well at :44 and 1:00! You can give him those cues sooner – when he has landed from the previous jump or exited the tunnel, you can give the cue and move to the next line, staying connected like you were here.
2nd video:
Turning him to his right (to the inside) on 1 here does mean that the 2 jump needs a bit of a turn cue. Turning him left would make for a sweeter line but there was a fence in the way LOL!!Rep 1 was a spin and it worked well in this context.
rep 2 and 3 were sends (:15 and :25) so he took the jump on a more severe angle. That would be a spot to use a ‘brake’ arm (outside arm joining dog side arm) as he exits 1 and you are cuing 2, to help set up the turn.Since we are looking at the timing of the spin: At :39, then spin on 4 was little late. You might not need a spin there, a send can work really well!
LOVED the timing at :51 of the spin – you started it when he landed and it was the best spin of all of them! Yay!He didn’t take the tunnel at :54 – on that rep you pulled away really far then pushed back towards him before he passed you, so he was confused. On all the other reps, you didn’t pull away as much and your feet were moving straight to the tunnel the whole time – that worked beautifully!
At the very end, you were pulling away and trying to get him to go straight, so he said nope LOL! You can be lateral but on a parallel line and he will get it really nicely.
Great job here!!
Tracy
Hi!
This went really well – he has really strong obstacle commitment, so we can look at the timing of the cues. Because his commitment is strong, you can show him things pretty early!For the BC 4-5, you can see him land from 3 (jump after the tunnel) then start the blind (as you keep moving forward along the line). It will set a really nice line and also give you time to set up the cue for 5, which starts no later than landing from 4. At :08, :28, and 1:30 he was already over 4 when you started the BC, which cuased him to go wide (he couldn’t adjust midair) and that made the cues for 5 a little late.
You used a spin on 4 at :51 and 1:12, and that was definitely more timely! The spin was finished before he took off, so he had a nice tight turn there. Then for the FC at 5, you can decelerate and start the FC as he is passing you and before takeoff. You were close to that at :52 and he had a good turn! At 1:14, those cues started as he was over the 5 jump, so the turn was wider. I think the spin here worked nicely to set up the FC on the inner wing.
You had a spin to the RC on the last rep, which worked well! You can hang out close to the spin jump to set the RC rather than accelerate out of it, which will actually get you further ahead after the RC 🙂
He had 2 other small questions: At :25, he launches at your hand a bit because you were disconnected and pointing foward on the tunnel cue and the toy was right there 🙂 At 2:04 you had MUCH better connection but too much decel on 1 so he had a question – the decel said to NOT go to the tunnel, but the connection and verbal said to go to the tunnel, so he checked in. Combine your motion from the rep at :25 (you were moving a lot towards the tunnel) and the connection from 2:04 and it will be perfect 🙂
At 1:45 you were sending to the pinwheel jump and he turned away – your line was to the center of the bar and you rotated early so he read it as a RC. Good boy! To get him to turn to his right there, you can be a little more lateral so the send is pointing towards the inner wing and not to the center of the bar (which is the RC line).
He really pays attention to all of the handling cues, which is why you can play with the timing and see how early you can deliver the cue! Great job here!
Tracy
Aha! The cat is in this video LOL!! The cat was pretty well-behaved, just needed to make a big entrance and a big exit LOL!!
The session went really well! Brilliant job working the steps to get her to be offering it by the end without needing the cookies in the bowl before she moved. Super!!!
Since this went so well, you can do 2 things:
– use a bigger come or barrel to go around while you are still sitting on the floor
– using the same blue object you used here, start to change your position so you are sitting on the couch, and then work your way up to standing upWith each new variable-change, do a quick refresher of the cookies in the bowls to get her going around the object, then let her start offering without the cookies placed in advance in the bowl.
Great job here!
TracyHi!
She did great here, easy peasy game for her 🙂 If you are getting some shark tooth hugs here, you can try bigger/longer toys, or wear gloves 🙂 I use a glove on my tug hand in flyball for the whippet, because I sometimes tug on the ball with him.Since this is so easy for her, you can add a barrel or upright for her to go around 🙂 And you can add an out verbal: when she is tugging, say out then relax the tug hand. As soon as she lets go of the toy, you can get the other toy moving as the reward 🙂
Nice work!
Tracy
Hi!
I didn’t see any cats here LOL!
She did well with the sends – backwards sending is HARD but she was hitting the prop nicely! At :12 and :53 she went around you to hit it from the side you were not indicvating. It was good to reward anyway 🙂 On those 2 reps, it is possible that there not enough connection (meaning you were looking back to the prop too soon when you sent her) and also maybe those sends were to her non-dominant side – did we decide she is a righty? I scrolled up and couldn’t find it. She might have been processing how to do the skll by doing it to the easier side. No worries, it will all even out 🙂 She did have a good hit on the left when you were very clear, so the 2 times she went to the right might have been just needing more eye contact on the send.Great job!
TracyHi! Hope you had a smooth, safe ride home! Congrats on your successes this week!!
Look at your baby dog doing big blind cross recalls in a giant field with every opportunity to do other things available to her… but she was choosing the game with you! Love it!
Her cue response was really great – both to go find the cookie and to drive to you.
You can see a bit of her processing the environment by taking a moment to look around when she had the toy like at :39ish. But that is part of the reason for this game: yes, we are teaching blind crosses and recalls, but also we are setting a framework for subtle freedom in the environment to explore. She did great!
Did you see her whippet-speed moment at approx :33-:34? SO FAST! That is a nice glimpse into the future 🙂 Fun times ahead!
For the decel rep at the end – you can have your hand down at your leg when she is still about 10 feet from you so she can line up and to help her butt not swing wide as she comes to look at you. She knew to go to you, but not exactly what to do when she got there, so the target hand will help give her a focal point.
> Haven’t done any more specific training sessions with her as brain power for each of us is becoming limited, which I’m sure it is for you too!>
Ha! What is this ‘brain power’ of which you speak? I have none left LOL! You did really great training with her this week, so it will be easy to pick up any of the new stuff when you are home and rested.
Great job!
Tracy
Hi! He did great here! And the environment is definitely distracting – watch his ears really processing everything (dog noises, handlers yelling, obstacle noises, there is a buzz from the lights, etc). I don’t think I have ever seen his ears work that hard. It was actually pretty quiet which makes those sounds even more obvious. What a good boy!!! He was super engaged.
In that environment, you can bring your remote reinforcement station and work a little bit of that too!
>We worked some pattern games closer to the action but I didn’t get it filmed.>
How did he do? I am thinking he did really well 🙂 Was he able to do any tricks?
Great job here!
TracyHi!
> I hope you had a fabulous time at the Open and are having a safe/uneventful drive home.>
Thanks! It was a crazy week but a smooth uneventful drive home.
>>My question is about the best command structure and sequence to use for this. I know you mentioned in the video about having a different command for the leash, but how do you best stack that and the “Let’s Go!” to teach the dog that the reward is coming>
I don’t stack it, as that can be confusing or sometimes result in anticipation. The “let’s go” marker is an immediate “we go to rewards” so you can mark getting the leash on with the let’s go marker 🙂
For the time between the last obstacle and finding the darned leash and getting it on? I use praise, clapping, asking to find the leash, etc to bridge that gap (exactly what depends on the dog). So it might be something like “yay, good boy, where is your leash, c’mon!” then when the leash is on… ‘let’s go!’
And for an inexperienced dog, I am running to find the darned leash as if it is the last obstacle on course, to help them stay engaged.
>how do you keep them excited through all that and understanding that the reward is coming?>
Practice at home and in FEO runs 🙂 They pick it up pretty quickly as long as the like having the leash put on.
>Like when I finish the run do I just jam those two commands together like “Collar! Let’s Go!” then leash up and exit the ring (or the treat station bowl to start in this case)?>>
I think “collar” might be a bit of a buzzkill after a great run, so a verbal party is a good thing. And if you say ‘let’s go’ before the leash is on, he might start heading for the reward (because that is what the marker indicates).
>I’m just trying to think of what is most effective here while he’s still learning. I don’t want him all deflated by the team we end the run, get the leash on, then run to the reward even while just starting out. Thoughts?>
He won’t be deflated if you tell him how brilliant he was as you run to the leash 🙂 I think he will be happy 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
>did they ever figure out the dog walk issue?>
They improved on the dog walk issue but I don’t think it is fully resolved – there were still a lot of dogs that thought it was a teeter.
>>Here’s our 1st session with the mashup game – he started out ready to break, but then figured it out.>>
He was great! It definitely pumped him up! You were asking him if he was ready. He said HECK YEAH and was expecting the release on the next verbal… but you were saying something else at the beginning so he was a little twitchy. You made an excellent adjustment and just kept the ready ready going a couple of times and he sorted it out. So since this game will put him right on the edge of breaking, don’t have too much conversation other than ‘ready’ and the bent knees – he was great! Super excited! And we don’t want to dampen that by making him think too much about what you are saying, or possibly having him break because he thought it was the release coming.
> I could try this tomorrow night at class, but that would take the distractions up to the top of the ladder. My plan for tomorrow was to keep working on ringside chill to volume dial to ring entry.>
You can do your plan maybe for the first class run? Then if that goes well… try a little bit of this with a short lead out. If it is too much and he breaks? No worries, you can have a laugh and dial it back. But I think he liked it and so it is a fun game to bring into the ring!
Great job 🙂
Tracy
