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Good morning!
Yes, I thought it was interesting that the right turns were the harder ones on the turn aways but dogs do keep us on our toes like that LOL!!!
The Mission Transition games are going well. I see a distinct change in her movement when you cue the go versus the collection!
Part of the game is working out the timing – on the very first decel, I think she was expecting another Go rep so she didn’t process the cue til after she landed. Oopsie! But then 2nd and 3rd decels were really good, you were nice and early! You can rotate away sooner: for example, at :20 and 1:05 the decel was good and then you faced forward a little longer than needed. As soon as she is passing the 2nd cone and approaching the jump, you can turn and leave and have her chase you for the reward.On the other side, you were putting a little more pressure in towards the bar – at :44 there was pressure to the center of the bar when you deceled and rotated in one movement, so she read it (correctly) as rear cross – the physical cue said turn away and the verbal didn’t override that yet. You were clearer with keeping the decel and rotation separate after that and she was great!
What happened at :52? Ankle roll? OUCHIE!!!
She was definitely sorting out the mechanics of the wrap, so one thing that I think will help is to NOT do any GO balance reps for now. I think she really loves the go go go 🙂 so it is possible that the intermittent Go cues were causing the delay in processing the wraps.
She might have been waiting/hoping for the go cue then a little late doing the wrap mechanics. So, for now, only do wraps for a session or two. The GO looks great so we don’t have to worry about it, we will add it back in soon – the wraps look good but then can look gooder LOL! She can engage her hind end more and sooner.>> But, little Miss Sprite is starting to like running. She’s still taking off VERY early and not really adding in a collection stride. >>
She was totally changing her striding!
>> It all goes so fast and you make it look easy.>>
It DOES happen fast and I think you were starting early enough on most of them.
One thing to remember is that she is going to look different than the video demo dog for this one: I chose a demo dog that is lighter in color, has no long coat (easy to see all those legs) and who is very dramatic in his collection so it is easy to see. It is harder to see on dogs who have coat and aren’t a giant spaghetti noodle like whippets are LOL!
She is taking off further back for the Go reps, so it will be interesting to see what she does as the bars come up for both the Go and the wraps. Nothing worrisome is happening, we are just watching her mechanics percolate and helping her wherever she needs any info or help. She is about 14 months old now, right? So do the next session on wraps only, starting with the same bar height here then raise it up for a rep or two by 2 inches and we will see how she does.
Nice work! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! This was a really good exploratory session to see what she responds to best, how to cue it , etc. You are totally on the right track!
>>if she is on my right and already turning tightly to her right to follow me from the reward station (yay!) and I cue a “left” she’s got to overcome that inertia, and while possible it felt like my verbal overriding the motion was asking a lot for what is supposed to be a confidence building game – although we did sort of get there?>>
I think the hard part here is that the left/right spins are not on a verbal-only cue for her at this point, she still needs a hand signal especially if you are walking. And if the hand signal was too high she had trouble doing the spin. So, you can work these as tricks to get them more easy to cue, and on a hand cue with a lower hand.
You can put your hand at nose-level for her to do it so it is a pretty automatic response – the more automatic the response, the more useful it is for pattern games 🙂
And the left spin then right spin can be separated by several steps. So if yo cue the spin to the right, go straight for a few more steps (she is offering engagement during this time) then cue the next spin. She should not go directly from a right to a left without a few engaged steps in between so it should be easy enough to do. That will also help prevent the leash from being tangled 🙂
Also let her swallow the cookie before you move away and cue a spin, that will help her have an easier time too 🙂
She was letting you scratch her but it was not really engaging, she wasn’t moving into you for more.
Speaking of that automatic response that we want: The pop move has a TON of potential for the pattern game because it doesn’t need as much of a physical cue – she is great at responding to it! The leash won’t get tangled either 🙂 So you might want to try the pop move for this too!
Great job!! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! This is looking good! Each element of each game is looking really sharp!
Her instant focus in the grass looked great, it seemed easy for her.
Instant focus by the pool – much harder 🙂 POOL!!! LOL! You can reward that first approximation at :40 because she interacted with it even though it was not a perfect hit. That will help her be able to do it everywhere.
You can take this one on the road – what else is on her calendar where you can play this game?Line ups and the leash off game also looked great 🙂 I think you can play those in the remote reinforcement combo game now, as well as in front of any kryptonite you can find 🙂
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>>xFor the krippie games, I feel like I’m the presence of the K words, sometimes toy play is hard. I need to work the arousal with food and transition to toys. I should probably go back to the food pouch in the first weeks to try that.>>
For the really hard distractions, you an stick to food. The type of reinforcement doesn’t really matter, as long as it is reinforcement that we can manage and control.
>>Also I need to make rewarding from my hand better because in dirt places, he doesn’t like dirt covered cheese!>>
You can move the cheese like a toy, so he is chasing your hand and you can move around too!
>>Or, you can play the volume dial game – and if he loves heeling, then heeling an go into the volume dial game and it can totally be a trick you use on the way to the line!
>>As far as keeping him in the higher end of the arousal curve going in, do you think it’s too boring? What should I do to really get him going?>>For him, that heeling game is like engagement Viagra (a big YES!), so try it in the ring and see what he does 🙂
T
Hi!
I like your plan of working the remote reinforcement combo game and also sorting out what toy(s) he likes.>>I will try very hard not to run things with my heart but instead use my mind. I think we are ok when we are not.>>
TOTALLY relatable!!!! I try to let my brain read the course maps, not my heart LOL!!! My heart always tells me it is fine but my brain overrules the heart 🙂
TracyHi!
>> I was telling Sue that he really goes crazy tugging with a big Holy Rollerball but I really need a handle on it so I don’t drop it in the ring.>>
Yes. you can loop another toy through it so it is one big long toy 🙂
>>About the Pattern games, it’s hard to throw treats at dirt trials.
I use the up-and-down version of the pattern game when I am on dirt – I place the treat on my shoe, then stand up – when he engages, I place the next treat on my show 🙂 That allows the dogs to play the pattern game without treats flying everywhere 🙂
T
Hi!
Both of these were really good runs, lots to be happy with!>>the timer is pointing to the back of the ring where the judge was having a conversation with someone in the other ring…seriously??
OMG! Sigh. He was good boy 🙂 he was pumped up and so the slight delay didn’t bother him 🙂
Outside the ring, be sure to add engaged chill so you can both relax a bit – he was doing a whole lot before his run (loved his barking LOL!) but you will also want to do some engaged chill so you can both look around for a moment as you wait.
I loved the line up. Really nice run! He got a little worried when you had a disconnection moment (he sniffed) but you recovered well and he was great!
Since T2B is a class you can do FEO, I suggest that for the weaves – do lots of FEO runs to work the weaves so he stays in and gets rewarded in the ring. What type of toy will he like in the ring?He definitely likes standard! Really nice run! And yes, the leash runner was literally running LOL!!!
I totally see what you are saying about him loving the contacts! The weave popping was another way of him voting for FEO weave runs LOL!! He was fast and wonderful, just couldn’t quite stay in.
When is your next trial? We can plan some FEO runs!Tracy
Hi!
Sorry for the delay, I didn’t see this pop up!>There’s a class before us, and when we walked in a young boy was waking around waving a chair over his head. So we gave them about 100′ and worked games with treats.
Chair over the head? That is plenty distracting! Good job giving Posh a lot of distance.
In reading this, I think you did a good job of adjusting to the situation and ending up successful!!!
>>The first time, I didn’t set her up for success, didn’t do our routine, didn’t take our purple chair with us.>>
It was a good learning moment to see the important of the toolbox and the reward station.
>>But the good thing is we were able to recover and have successful segments for the rest of the class.>>Yes! That is a big wing especially because the kryptonite was still there!
>>Our first go at an exercise, I could tell she was bothered, didn’t want to tug with Kong hollee on bungee, didn’t want to do tricks for treats. But lined her up with a sit. >>This is important feedback from Posh – if she can’t play or do tricks… then don’t run her. It is her way of saying the situation is too much. Too much Kryptonite!
>>Embarrassingly, I got frustrated, even angry.:
Totally relatable, we are all so emotionally invested in our dogs that it can be frustrating for sure!
>>( I’m just worried about the Automaticity of this. >>
Right now, the reflex still tilts towards the anxiety reflex for her, but keep working these games and you will be able to tilt it towards a happy response!
>> After awhile I got her back out and went near the man, a few feet away and worked pattern games. She did well with this for him, but not the woman.>>
Great! Pattern games are perfect for this. And maybe more distance from the woman wold help?
>>Funny thing, the more I fuss with her on the start line, the worse we do. The more I get it done, and concentrate on my handling over “what she might do”, the better we do, toy on me of course.>>
That seems correct – fussing with her is pressure and she doesn’t need the pressure Bring her to the line with games and focus, but try not to fuss if that makes sense.
>>Gosh, the learning curve for both of us is hard.Yes, but you are learning it! You are ‘listening’ to her and she is doing well 🙂
S>>o, Kryptonite for us can be many things. I’ve thought of getting some blow up dolls/men and put them in the backyard for Kryptonite games. But I don’t want her to think our backyard is scary?? She reacted to helium Bday balloons we had, and I had to tie them to me and wear them around and sit on the ground with them, my other dogs showing her they were nothing and treating her….but it worked. What do you think of blow up dolls? or aliens?>>
I think the time spent finding blow up dolls would be better spent taking her to different places and using real humans (and less expensive too haha). Yes, you can do the blow up dolls… but then she will be happy around blow up dolls 🙂 She knows the difference, and I agree – don’t make your yard scary,
>>I take her to the nearby school when the kids get out, and do pattern games and action games for treats and she’s done well. I take my other dog with us sometimes and if someone wants to pet I have them pet her, while I treat Posh. If I take Posh alone, I tell the kids they can’t pet her and treat her heavily when they go by.>>
Great! Be sure that they are not that close. You can totally help her be happy without getting her close enough for the kids to touch.
>>Her only severe reaction was our neighbor’s dog, which she’s seen many time with no response. But the dog showed up with a ‘collar’ on after being spayed. ish…>>
Well that makes sense – a totally weird new visual!
>>Perhaps I can go back and work K games there.
Yes! You can work some fun games there too.
>>So, most of our biggest reactions happen in class, trials. Hopefully our ‘reactions’ will become less and less with our tool box and I’ll get better at recognizing what she needs when. >>
She is probably waving big flags when she is not comfy – in those moments, abandon the thought of sequences and go into the games: pattern games are almost always the best choice. Her ability to engage and eat and do tricks and tug will tell you if she is ready to do agility (or not).
>>Do you have any suggestions for when she takes off to bark at someone? Until this week I’ve always run the other way and then rewarded her when she does come to me. But now I feel this is ‘Automaticity’ that needs to Stop. But what’s the best way in the moment? Keep running the other way? Tell her to get in her kennel? ??>>
The best thing is to simply not let it happen. If it happens… then she is regularly in situations where she is over threshold. If you see something in the environment that might trigger it, or you see her noticing it, or she can’t play/eat/do tricks/ engage… move further from the distraction. Do your best to not let her have that response, so you can get the reps in to shift the reflex to a different response (like engaging with you).
And if she does run and bark? You can run the other way and reward, but then move her further from the distraction (or move the distraction further from her).
But a BIG thing here is: teach her how to respond by working your kryptonite games on challenges/distractions that are NOT scary at first, until she is GREAT with non-scary distractions. The happy emotional response and engagement will develop first on those (avoid working the kryptonite games on scary distractions til she is great with the non-scary distractions).
And when she is great with the happy ones? You can slowly add in the scary ones. It sounds like you are focused on the scary ones, but that builds a lot of anxiety into training for you both, because you are constantly faced with anxiety-inducing situations.
So before you worry about the scary things: what are her non-scary kryptonites?
Let me know what you think 🙂
TracyHi!
The in in turn aways looked great! And he was definitely more pumped up in the trial environment 🙂 Yo can add more distance between the wings when you get to do this at home, so he and you are really running 🙂 You can also add in some race tracks around the outside so he can get to full speed before the turn away moment.For the mission transition:
>>I am not sure if I was pressuring his line or if it was the front cross timing being too early.>>
It was the timing 🙂 On wraps to the left at the beginning of the session, your decel was a bit late and happening at almost the same time as the rotation. He was getting it, but we want 2 distinct steps: fast forward, slow forward then rotate.
It looks like you had the 2 yellow number cones on the ground – be sure to decelerate when he arrives at the first one after the start wing – that is much earlier! And you keep moving forward til he gets closer to the jump.
He had the turn away trouble on the right turns: at 1:23, 1:34, 1:40, he didn’t see you do a distinct decel – you ran then rotated, hitting the brakes hard. There might have been some pressure in towards the bar, but I think the missing decel was the culprit, not the pressure 🙂
When Karena came in at 1:49, she had a clear 3 part transition on her reps (fast – slow – rotate) so he got it, no problem 🙂
Also atAnd this is why I don’t think the pressure in towards the bar was the cue to turn away – more of your reps did not have pressure, but at 2:18 you did have some pressure into the bar… but still had the clear decel as part of the 3 part transition so he was great
Then when Mike came back in: 2:34 didn’t have decel but then you nailed it at 2:40 and on the last rep. So keep that decel in as it is an important part of the cue: run fast with connection the when he reaches the first cone after the start wing, decelerate (it doesn’t matter where you are, as long as he sees it nice and early like that). Then when he is closer to the jump.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! These are looking strong!!!
>>I had to think a lot on the mirror image rocking horse to lap turn to be sure I started the correct way and had her in the correct arm, jeez.
Well, your concentration on it paid off, she looked great! The lap turns on one wing looked great! She had a slightly harder time turning to her right on those -a slower hand motion before the wrist ‘flick’ to turn her can help her with the harder direction.
She had no trouble with you adding the wraps/FCs before them! I still see a slight ‘sticky’ feeling to her right turns, but overall both sides look really strong! Yo can totally move on to the advanced level now.
There was only one oopsie, and it was to her left at 1:18 – your arm and leg moved back nicely but you never did that wrist ‘flick’ to turn her away like you did at 1:26, when your cue looked great and she read it perfectly.>>I know I lift my arm before dropping it. Very bad habit that I can’t swim to lose…>>
I see no problem with your arms here! You were really strong, so don’t worry about feeling like your arms were too high before the cue. A little option is good! As long as you are to waving your arms really high, a little arm motion is juts fine and I didn’t see anything extra that was hurting the behavior.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
These are going well!
>>I tried to clean up the transitions and stay outside the wing and really slow down earlier. She did much better turning to her right. >>
Yes, the right wraps looked good! 2 things here – try to have more of. The ‘fast forward’ element of the transition, meaning run more 🙂 You were making the transition from a medium walk to a slow walk, so she really didn’t see a transition.
– use a tug toy for her to chase you for, rather than throwing the frisbee. Frizzers tend to create a difference response (wider run outs instead of tight turns) and that might have contributed to the left turn wideness.>>The left turns looked like they were set up ok, but then she was going really wide (for her)
Yes, these were wider for sure – I think part of it was that you could start the decel sooner (you were running in more which was GREAT! But can show the decel sooner, like when she is one stride past the start wing). Also, the reward placement here was encouraging her to stay wider rather than drive back to you frisbees tossed to her). So handle the exits of the wraps like turn and burn chase lines, where you rotate and run so she has to catch you for the tug toy. She can grab the frisbee from your hand, but I think the chase will produce better turns than tossing the frisbee to her.
>>She had some difficulty at the start and I found I could not move much or she’d run by the jump. Then she started to catch on and I could move (although I was moving at a slow walk).>>
Yes, this is totally going well! You had your feet rotated towards the out jump a bit too much on the first couple of reps but that you got more of a straight line of footwork at :22 and even straighter line of feet at :26 and after that . Nice!!! Do all the reps at that speed so she is not reading the difference based on speed – and gradually increase the speed of both cues (adding more motion) while keeping your feet straight on both.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! I am so glad you got this video, lots of great stuff here 🙂 it is great that you folks are able to be videographers for each other!
I watched all the videos to see if there were any patterns and ideas, to guide us as to what to do next. Some ideas for you!
>>I think for my dog we are getting out for the warmup way too early and by the time I have gone through all are tricks etc he has had it. >>
Yes, the pre-run time got long sometimes – not your fault but definitely longer than planned. But, that is hard to control so 2 things to definitely include:
– pattern games
– Engaged chillThe pattern games will help him relax and settle in, especially if he is a little nervous about the people near the ring. And they don’t take a lot of physical or mental energy, plus it can help him not sniff.
And the engaged chill is great to give both of you a breather while you wait. That way you don’t need to do tricks or feed him the whole time – you can just chill and so can he, especially if there ends up being a long time before the run for whatever reason.
>>What about a warm-up of about ten dogs before a bit of jumping and tricks after pottying then back in the crate until one dog waiting to go in the ring then get to the gate area and do the tricks and go in while he is still interested for now?>>
You can experiment with that, but it will be hard to control the timing of just one dog waiting – I think being able to do the pattern games and engaged chill will free you from having to think about the exact timing of how long he needs to be outside the ring, or having to do tricks the whole time.
>>This location has always been hard for my dogs to handle.
This is a challenging location!!! And that is a lot of runs. After watching the runs, I saw some patterns emerge and have ideas for you:
He was at his best when he could open up and run run run and you also had to run to do the handling 🙂 There was many lovely gorgeous moments on those runs!!!! His starts were all really lovely – on the first JWW run, did you see him think about sniffing then lift his head and offer engagement ? SUPER!!!!
On the flip side: when he had to stop? That was where he was unable to maintain the engagement especially because the stop obstacles (weaves and table, for example) were along the edge of the ring or worse yet, up by the score table and timer/scribe and leash runner. So hard!!!
So with all that in mind:
At trials, I suggest doing ONLY fast line for the next few trials. For FAST and T2B, you can run FEO and bring a toy in the ring (we can figure out if he will like a toy of some sort :)) and make up your own fast and furious course.For STD and JWW, you can’t technically run FEO but you can totally ignore the stop obstacles and just keep run run run running for now. The goal is to get him really happy in the ring environment, so he feels the wind in his hair and discovers the joy of running with you at trials even when there are distractions. Short, fast, fun courses with no tables or weaves or anything that might he too difficult along the edge of the ring.
And if you lose his engagement mid-run? Don’t take him out of the ring – call him, run the other way, get him into a tunnel and on a fast line… then exit. That way you exit on fire! Taking him out exits on a downer and he never gets the chance to feel the fun.
Separately, in training, we work on the pattern games and kryptonite games, which will help him understand how to ignore the big challenges – first on the flat, then you can add the to the weaves and table – those were the two obstacles that seemed to really have things come off the rails (and the JWW run where everything was so tight that neither of you could really run).So now a question – what do you think he would like in the ring as a ‘toy’? I think some FEO runs will really help!
Let me know what you think! I am encouraged by a whole lot of what he did here!
Tracy
Hi!
The barking in the background is a definite kryptonite, along with the pool, and come to think of it, so is moving towards a baring dog in an xpen. They are all really hard for him!
A couple of things to add in as you play the kryptonite games here –
I think the bulk of the reinforcement should come from your hands – toys and treats – rather than tossed into the grass or the pool as the main reinforcement. The pattern games can have cookies tossed into the grass (and definitely do some pattern games near the pool and near barking dogs/dogs in xpens). But the pool should be a rarity because it is a great distraction but we can’t rely on it as the top level reinforcement primarily because it is not portable 🙂 so almost all of the kryptonite games should be played with ignoring the pool in mind and using treats and toys as reinforcement. Sure, sometimes send him to the pool but don’t send every time. Send rarely! It is hard to wean from the pool as reinforcement if it gets used a lot 🙂
The other thing is tot keep the games very small and not mashed up yet, in the face of the kryptonite. You had the heeling games and the leash off game mashed up – and he was able to do the heeling but failed on the leash off. So just do one or the other, primarily because the ‘kryptonite’ element is incredibly depleting (thus the name of the game LOL!!) so you really only have about 30 seconds or less 🙂
So you can walk him in, and go immediately into the leash off offered engagement game – no mental warm up needed (but holding the 2nd leash definitely needed LOL!!!)
Or, you can play the volume dial game – and if he loves heeling, then heeling an go into the volume dial game and it can totally be a trick you use on the way to the line! (And he does appear to love heeling :)) Yo can do it as a remote reinforcement game, nothing in your hands, to help him build it up even more.And definitely keep those pattern games showing up everywhere – they are incredibly powerful and useful so we want to use them to ward off the kryptonite too! They are especially useful when he is anxious about something, so starting them in easier places will help him be able to play them in harder places.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
