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Hi! All good here!
I think a lot of the engagement/state of arousal you saw with the obedience, focus fist and tug toy were residuals of the state of arousal from the tricks you did first. Those first tricks were good!
The obedience and eye contact tricks are less likely to produce the stimulation we want but the only way to know for sure is to do distinctly separate sessions (separated by hours or a day) with just those and see how it goes. And when we move this game to distraction places, we will have more info about what is best too. For the obedience tricks – more space will totally help because you can move more during the trick, then explode out of it during the reward.
The tug toy is not yet a reward, it is still in the shaping process (tug for food, from what we see here, which is good) so having her already in the higher state helped – but I don’t think the tug toy will put her into a higher state yet, on its own.
Yes, as you noticed – do one trick then reward, rather than 2 in a row. Also, let’s get rid of the targets because they need to be faded anyway (you won’t have them at the start line in a trial) and this is a good game to do it! You can use the action tricks that do not involve any ‘props’.
About moving when you reward – for this game, you can use the cookies like a toy and move when you reward: either run a couple of steps, or have her follow the cookie hand to get it, or stand up on her back feet to get it. That all really helps increase engagement too!
Speaking of cookies… I suggest treats that don’t require chewing. In terms of latency… the chewing takes a long long time. In her food hierarchy, what soft, easily swallowed treats does she like? Soft treats are usually higher value too, and that is great!
Great job! This is the game to bring on the road, with super high value treats and 30 second sessions. Use it before any training and see how she does!
Tracy
Hi! These are really good videos for helping us figure out what he needs!
I know it is hard to remember the darned course when so much mental energy is spent engaging him, but it will get a lot easier 🙂
Based on what he told us: FOOD is the big winner at the moment 🙂 I think the toys will be useful again when he is more relaxed and engaged, but for now… food food food 🙂 Doing tricks for the cookies worked well and I liked how he was engaged off the start. You can also have different values of food: lower value of food for home training, and higher value of food for moving to the start line in class.
No need to toss the treats – all treats can be fed from your hands to avoid sniffing in the sand or icky sandy treats LOL!! The sniffing is most likely because he has not yet learned how to grab the treat and immediately return to focus in that scenario. No worries – for now, don’t throw treats. You can tie your clam to a line and swing it around for him to chase like a toy for the cookie, or you can throw it when you need to throw a reward.
The pattern games will accomplish 2 things that are helpful: helping him assess the environment and ignore distractions, and also grab the treat off the ground and immediately return to engagement. So definitely practice those at home then we can move them to class (do you have more than one class a week?)
At home, keep playing with tricks with treats and toys on the table or shelf. And, add in more emphasis now on remote reinforcement and volume dial and engaged chill.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
She is getting the idea of this! It is different than what you are doing, and that is fine because it can reset the understanding of leaving the rewards to earn the rewards – while knowing where the rewards are the whole time 🙂 It is a bit harder because we are asking her to offer moving away with you, with minimal “help” from you. She did well!
A couple of ideas – you can make it more of an event so clarify that the process is starting and ending: hold the bowl, put it down, move away – when you go back to it, pick it up, give a treat or two, then put it back down. Placing the reward target down is also a cue for the game starting 🙂
You were using dish here as the verbal – that is fine if you will use it at the end of the run too. If you want to use something else, yo can add it here.
Remember to ping pong the distance of moving away – throw in some easy distances where you only take a step or two away, then a bunch of steps, then a couple of steps, and so on! Short sessions will keep her engaged – she was really starting to get it here, so you end the session after about a minute. Just when she wants more more more…. you can be done 🙂
The other thing about breaking it all the way down to this is that we can pump up the success level. When you did it on the course, she had to do a LOT and had a lot of failures. So let’s keep it easy for now so we can build it all the way up – the super high success rate will transfer into a more positive conditioned emotional response in the ring, which translates to a happier more relaxed dog!
Great job here! See ya tonight for puppy class!
TracyGood morning!
Thank you for the history!
The yellow jacket incident sounds bad and DAMMIT about the drone. UGH!!!! One repetition learning can totally happen in those situations.And the physiology – I am convinced that there are changes in the dog’s brain and body in those moments, and there are some studies that look at respiration rates, cortisol levels (specific to agility!) and fMRI work with dogs responding to signals. Really cool stuff! Some of it can be added to outside the ring really easily. Some of it is coming into the area between the gate and the start line – and I hope there are more studies coming soon 🙂 Anecdotally, hormones do play a role and I believe you see that too! I don’t think it has been studied in dog sports but there is info about hormones in behavior issues.
About the ring gates – that is great to know! One of my dogs struggles with the gates too, most likely going back to the noise and motion sensitivity she has shown in the past (like when training the teeter and the flyball box). And it cropped up in one of the games (coming next week). So we can keep isolating it and working through it – it sounds like that is pretty much the biggest piece of the puzzle right now, and the spot where you are most likely to see her lose engagement. You have a TON of other tools already in place, this might be the last piece!
Let m know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
>> Ok so I went and looked at engaged chill and realised we really don’t have anything close to that.
I am glad we are working on it! There is actually some science that supports the need to have the dogs relax outside the wing (has to do with respiration rates) and plus it gives you a moment to relax and remember the course 🙂
I think he is off to a good start here. You can bring a chair and you can also look around, think about other things. He is totally allowed to look around, assess what is happening around him, etc. At home, do more of that patting around his cheeks and chin rest (without cookies) to make it a nice interactive thing that is not associated with training or work.
Then, you can try it while he is on or near the mat.I have more ideas about engage chill coming next week, so this is a great start and we can keep adding it 🙂
Nice work!
TracyDoes she smash herself getting to the balls? I put tennis balls inside big hollee rollers so they are easier to grab. And I also use those giant Kong tennis ball type games, they are shaped like sticks or barbells. Those work well for dogs that love tennis balls!
You can also throw a long toy or place a toy on a line so it is easier to grab 🙂
T
Hi! Super nice session here!!! Practically perfect 🥰
His two errors were on the dig dig wraps. I love how you just did a quick reset cookies, then tried again. It gave him feedback of “try again” with no frustration 🙂 yay!!! Since dig dig left turns are harder, you can totally help with a bit of handling in the form of rotstion/front cross.
Everything else looked great so let’s add more action 🙂
You can do that by running more with the rewards (dragging a toy!) – that will raise the excitement level of the game in general which will challenge him to still processing the cues even though he is more aroused.And, you can add handling: send to the tunnel and run, meet him at the exit and handle either the wrap, or send to the tunnel again
He’s gotta listen AND run LOL! Should be fun for you both!!!Great job here 🙂 Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
You can add a go verbal if you are running and you are pretty sure she will take the jump.
About the toy… what does she do when you throw it? If she won’t bring back a placed or thrown toy, the time is better spent teaching the retrieve at this stage, rather than bandaiding it 🙂 all the handling games will be easier if you get a retrieve going, even if it is trading for a 2nd toy.
THi again!
>>I am having a hard time with markers – partly because Of what we do in obedience and keeping it clear tho that’s on me. So I use a search cue for find treat in floor- mostly for reset cookie. a get it cue- I realize I use it in context of impulse control so like release to a toy in my hand or from a sit or control position.>>
Let’s make a list! I have been SUPER happy with how my short list of markers has helped my 3 baby dogs. I say get it for treats or toys on the ground out ahead. Catch is thrown back to them (treat or toy, I rely on the brilliance of the dog rather than my own lack of brilliance trying to remember different words. For stuff in my hand – it is critical that toy driven dogs know what to do in that moment, so I have a word for cookies in my hand (“snacks!”) and for the toy in my hand (“bite”) This has been SO helpful.
>> My last 3 dogs have never had issues but doesn’t mean I’m not open to changing I just not sure where I want to break that line down.
I didn’t think my other dogs has issues, but I will say that they had questions/frustrations and the baby dogs don’t. And they remind me every time Voodoo grabs my flesh by accident because he doesn’t know for sure if it is the cookie or toy (OUCH!) and CB never ever does that because it is so clear.
>>What do you use for say a release to you- maybe they are coming to you and not ahead. Maybe they are in a stay and you want them to break to you for whatever reason?
My fancy cue for that is “break” LOL! which means – come to me, no reinforcement available, stay tuned for more info.
>>Yes the sits- what is said here stays here like in Vegas 🤣
What happens in MaxPup, stays in MaxPup! LOL!
>>but I regret doing some of the obedience stuff first because it mucked up my cues and yes it’s way more body language. But it was I needed to get this puppy into a class setting quick and didn’t want to upset the instructor. It’s not a bad thing just is what it is and I need to make adjustments for her. She is a dog of you do x,y,z three times and that’s imbedded for life with her :).>>
Ha! You can totally make the adjustments to verbal cue- then – hand signal without the instructor even noticing LOL!
Hi!
On the set points – I agree, the 16 bar and moving target were not ideal! Part of it is the addition of the moving target, and part of it is the start position – any time she ‘double taps’ one or both of her front feet (on this video or any of the others) she lands short on the first jump(because she is not on her rear at that point) and then has to carry hr rear over the 2nd jump. Any time she lifts form the rear? Much better form. I think at :13 on the first video where she did not double tap, that was the best jumping effort. She dropped the bar on that one (probably the 16″ bar plus the moving target made it harder) but I liked the form better than the double tap reps.
Same on the 2nd video: any time we get a double tap, the form is not as good even on a 12″ bar (I think the 5 foot distance was a little short here perhaps?) The 2nd and 3rd reps had no doubletap and they were good! You can see how the double tap causes her to land short on the first jump and then carry her hind end on the 2nd one at :41.
I would be curious to see 5.5 feet and 12″ bar in the next session, starting her really close so she can’t double tap her front feet 🙂
The handling game looks good, you made it all about the fast and FUN!!!
For the Go exits of the tunnel – throw sooner, as soon as she is in the tunnel so she doesn’t look at you (like at :44, that was great – giddy up!!!) You did a great job matching your acceleration to the go verbal. You can also match the handling cue of moving away laterally to the left and right verbals to help her process those too – you were facing a bit straight on those at :13, :20. :25 for example, and especially at :46 where you were facing straight and accelerating. So when she is about 5 or 6 feet from the tunnel entry, you can be saying the verbal and moving away to the next wing.
I think she likes the racetracks here! Her facial expression was all “WHEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!” So fun!Fingers crossed that the gross weather is only for a few days and then it is back to spring! Great job here!
TracyHi! A ton of good stuff happening in this video!!!!
I am really impressed with her stay, when you put the cookie and toy on the ground, and even more so during the moving target game. YES!!!
Her jumping coordination looked pretty good so far – it was a little hard to see from the front but she didn’t look off balance at all. When using food as the target, get low with the food as you release to help keep her head down (I like her head position on the moving target much better anyway :))
>>Chata sits are weak. I am working on some different ways to motivate and maintain. I swear there’s something in the Vizsla DNA. She gets it with treats- I posted some intermittent treat sits so you can see she’s way more confident. >>
Watcing this video with that in mind… I don’t think she understands the verbal as the sit cue, I think she is associating it with a body cue.
Like at :29 on the first video, when you raised your hand and leaned into her. And raised the hand at 2:15 and 2:23 too 🙂On the 2nd video, you raised the cookie at :05 and :23 to get the sit. At :48, you raised the cookie hand but the toy was dangling so she was not as sure. Also, raised cookie hand at 1:29 and 2:06 got the sits 🙂
So… I think your current sit cue is a hand signal especially when a cookie is involved.
No worries though!
>>>> I am working on some different ways to motivate and maintain.
Use the hand signal to help her: say the verbal sit cue then after 1 second, use the hand signal. New cue (verbal) will come to predict the current cue (hand signal) and then you can easily fade the hand signal – just be sure that verbal and hand are not simultaneous!
>>Also- I’m seeing a timing issue of my cue so will adjust on that.
Yes, she needs a momen to be ready, especially after eating or tugging 🙂 Speaking of tugging – play tug with her more rather than letting her shred the toy. Build the engagement while saving money on toy replacements at the same time LOL!
Question about the reward marker ‘get it’ – does it mean to get the toy/treat ahead of her or the one tossed to her? I think separate markers will help clarify for when things get more complicated. I use ‘get it’ for out ahead and ‘catch’ when I am throwing it to the dog.
the wind in your hair game looked great! The wraps look good, definitely happier! I think she did well with the toy present – no thinking issues, just mechanics challenges. You can ramp up the cnonection on the wrap, especially when she is turning to her right – that was harder for whatever reason. Either it was a more challenging side, or you have more value being on your left side than on your right (or both?) But you did a great job of adding more connection and breaking down the turn after she had questions at 2:56 and 3:01 on the wing wraps.
I think you are ready to add more running to this one! Wheeee! Be sure to get the connection like you did here… then run run run 🙂 You can place the toy out ahead to help her find the line, because you will be at the wing and helping her make the connection.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>> I don’t acknowledge the mistake (my fault yes) but I should be treating.
If it is a training error, like she pops out of weave poles – you can call her back, reset at your side to line up, give a cookie for the line up, then try again.
For a handling error, where something goes wrong in a sequence like this? That is 99% of the time going to be the fault of us humans, so you can just reward her decision right there as if it was completely the correct decision (because it was LOL!)
Have fun!
TracyHi Wendy! These look great!
On all the reps: your connection was terrific on the wings! Your verbals sound great!! She was not distracted by the toy in your hand. YAY!!
You can add more connection to the tunnel exit – your running line was good here and she saw the wing after the tunnel, but remind yourself each time that as soon as she goes into the tunnel, the next place to look is at the exit and not at the wing.The left and rights were going well! On the first right turns, your arm got a little high and that distracted her – but then on the others, you arm was in a great position, connection was lovely and she got it. Super! You can add even more motion to it: run faster without sacrificing the connection or verbals 🙂 You can also spread things out so both of you have more speed.
Great job here!!!
Tracy2nd run – all good by keep yoru arm down for th ‘right’ and lookat her on the utnne exit
left was better yo ucan run more on those! and then the righ at the end looked good
Hi!
>>Nikita did 6 blinds on a Jww course. Help!!
6 blinds? FUN! But 24″ AKC spacing is really challenging.
>> Any seminars coming up ?
I have the summer stuff but haven’t figured out topics yet – the two weekends are July 30-31 and Aug 6-7 near Greensboro NC.
On the video –
He is good at turning in a circle on the flat – reward each one s he doesn’t get dizzy LOL! I think you were using a general around cue which is fine, because it is not the same as your jump directionals.On the go versus left – add motion 🙂 Standing still and sending was too easy for him 🙂 try to be moving through the serp line (landing side of the left turn jump) to get both the go and the serp – if you close your shoulders forward and yell go go go, he should layer the jump (you can throw the toy early or place it out ahead to help start the behavior. And for the left into the serp, you can use serp handling (open shoulders and connection) to help him come in. Start this by sending away to the start wing so it is easy to get in position without having to run too fast. Then flip the setup so he still has a right turn option for the go versus the right as well.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>>Well she’s over the place behavior and is back to normal lol!!!
Teenagers. Sigh. HA!
She did well on the circle wraps! A couple of ideas for you:
Start further back so she can drive the line ahead of you – you were too close at :07 and :30 and then made a really good adjustment to move further away!
>> I wonder if she thought maybe I was rearing on the left side?
Yes, in some moments, I think that was part of it – there is a great angle at 2:14 where you were very close and rear crossed her before she had a chance to lock onto the wing – she was a good girl to do the wrap anyway, but starting a solid 10 feet or more away will help her have more time to get to the wing.
Also, start on more of an angle so she can see the entire wing – you can be on an angle kind of in line with the far wing of the jump. You were putting yourself on the line to the wing, so she couldn’t see the full wing – so when you didn’t move as much, she got it but when you moved faster, your line pushed her off the wing.
The last section has a clear angle on it: At 1:4 and 1:55, your foot/leg was on the line that she needed to be on, which puts too much pressure on it for her.
Also the tunnel was out there on some of the reps, so she might have been having a hard time turning away from the tunnel? But I bet if you started further back and on an angle, it would not be a problem.
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
