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Hi!
He did great on the teeter here! Brave little pup!! He can totally keep doing plankrobatics with the teeter nice and low like this.
Only one suggestion –
Try not to lure him with a cookie hand, for two reasons:
– luring prevents offering behavior so he is not thinking about his body as much
– luring brings his head up really high, which changes his balance.So you can have cookies available but let him move around freely on it, slam it, jump on and off, and do a sit or turn around when cued (then get rewarded with his chin lower.
Great job!
TracyHi!
He is so cute, his markings make it look like he is wearing pants š
Yes, the plank was easy! Yay! You can elevate it – maybe put some books under it? – to add a bit of challenge for hopping on it and hopping off of it.
He is definitely getting the barrel wraps!! He appears to be a lefty – he found it pretty easy to go to his left (towards your left) around the barrel. But it was harder to go to his right – he either had a small blooper or had to really think about it. So you can keep the barrel in closer when he is turning to his right (heading to your right hand) and move it further away when he is turning to his left.
Sitting didnāt seem to bother him at all so for the next session: begin sitting like you were here and then when he has had a few successful reps, change to standing up. Since we are changing your position, you donāt need to also move the barrel further away.
Skipping ahead to wrapping the step stool – he did great here too! We also see this left side preference: every time he had to go to his left he was perfect. The right turn reps were harder but he was consistently getting it right (maybe only one blooper where slid in between you and the stool, and you were great about not reacting at all).
When we get to the turn and burn game, we will want him to start with left turns (starting on your right side).
I think he really like the āfolding it inā game with the cone! He was slippery!! You can add in a hand cue to point at the cone, to help indicate that he should look at it. He was looking at it anyway here in this session (good boy!) but the hand cue will help for the next session where you can totally keep moving the cookie target around the cone so he eventually has to pass it to get to the cone.
>I tried to do our toy races first but he already knew I had a bag of treats so he had no interest in the toy, I even put the treats away and he kept looking for them.>
You can do toy races before you even take out the food to get him happy with the toy. You can also play it with a lotus ball!
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
>Iām definitely not a stealthy thrower or even good at throwing >
Ha! I scrutinized the video because I couldnāt really see the placed toy, but I couldnāt see you throw it. It was magically there šš
>I think a lot of things are playing into mainly adolescence!!! >
Yep, adolescence is a beast. Impulse control behaviors? Nope! Risk taking grabby behaviors? Yep. We will get him through it though š
> Heās starting to amp the arousal up so thatās playing into all of this. >
Yes, but it could also be a frustration from not understanding how to get the toy and why your demeanor changes after he grabs your flesh. I think sorting out the play stuff will go a LONG way to balancing and optimizing arousal. The little red puppy in the sit-tug-sit video is about to turn 2 years old and I have not had bitey arousal issues because he understands the toy play parameters. And he is half Malinois and they are BITEY š I feel that Quill will be the same: a relaxed, happy 2 year old because we are going to sort it out here at 10 months old.
>Just like my human teens!>
Human teen brains undergo the same crazy changes that dog teen brains undergo š
>Today I did the serp and sends and just used food. It wasnāt lost on me that just using food persevered my limbs>
Food and toys that donāt require tugging (balls, hollee roller, etc) are powerful motivators for Quill!! Youāve built a vast toolbox of motivators so you donāt need to use tugging right now if you are getting chomped.
>If I do use a toy for training it canāt be furmania lol!!!>
Yes, you can use boring toys š
>He did great on the Serps. No questions going to left. The right he first had questions, broke it down and by the end he was equal both directions!!!>
Yes, nice job breaking it down for him! He looked great and is ready for you to move faster now š When you do add more speed, you should start with the jump angled a bit to face him so he can see the bar fairly well. That was he can be successful with the added challenge of you jogging or running. When he is successful with that, you can flatten it back out.
The FC balance reps were lovely too – fabulous connection really helped hm!
āØ>Ignore my frustration with my treat n train! It seems it canāt do its job correctly! Ugh!!! Will be long for other disc so maybe it can actually dispense a cookie.>
Ha! I have given up on my TnT. It just lives on my front porch like a garden gnome now because it was making me so mad LOL!
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
>YT was a real bugger today. Hours to upload videos.>
Yes, YouTube sometimes gets weird! Drives me nuts sometimes!
The zig zags went well! He is holding his stay beautifully and seems to have no trouble doing it to both sides. Yay!
Agreed – the 4 wings was too hard for now, no worries though. The quickness of doing the zig zag is more important than the # of wings. How far apart were the wings here? You can move them together even more and challenge him (and you!) to see how fast you can do them š If they were at 4 feet apart, try them at 2 feet apart.
Sends and serps –
This went really well! On the dog on left rep, you were pulling away from the jump rather than staying parallel to the bar. Dog on right (2nd side) was very parallel to the bar and he did great! So stay parallel to the jump on the dog-on-left side too. I think having the toy on the ground gave you a visual spot to move to.
You can start adding more speed to your motion to build up to running. When you do this, angle the jump on the first couple of reps so he can see it well and get it right because motion can be very distracting!
>Even after watching the demo video again, I still feel like Iām not doing something right on the FC part.>
On the FC wraps, you are moving to the other side of the jump. To do the proofing challenge here, you will stay on the same side of the jump as the serp – but you do a FC to get him on your other side. So the direct of your motion is basically identical on all reps but on the FC rep, you rotate your feet to pick him up on the other side (non serp side) of you.
Nice work here!
Tracy
Hi!
>Did some more discrim and Iāve decided she really has no clue what those verbals mean. Should I separate them or help physically so sheāll be more correct?>
Nice job with the verbals sounding so different on a lot of the reps! That really helps her learn to discriminate – it is partially the word, partially the sound that she is responding to.
The bloopers here might be due to the context: It is possible that she does not recognize the wrap exists with the tunnel right there. Moving the wing away is a possibility and also having it closer and using handling is a possibility.
If she fails twice, add the handling help after you use the verbal. That can help her understand that yes, we might wrap a wing with a tunnel right there, or drive to the tunnel with the wing right there.
After a blooper, though, line her up with a reset cookie. You can see she was getting frustrated and the reset cookies help keep her in the game.
The pillbug game went great! Nice job with your connection and she knew exactly where to go! You can add in the blind crosses and the 2nd tunnel setup to the advanced games!
Looking at the set point: This is going well too! Nice job mixing in stay rewards! And she did well with the moving target.
Small detail: That first bar can stay at 4ā so there is an upward view of the 2nd bar.
Overall, no changes needed other than to try to be further away from the 2nd jump when you release her. If you are too close, she is not powering into the grid (1:10) but when you were further ahead (last rep) her form was great! So being at least 10 feet past jump 2 when you release should work really well.
On the minny pinny: She is moving through it really well on the angles where she turns towards you. And she did really well turning away in both directions! Yay!
To help prep for the neutral position where she really has to listen to the verbals with no physical cues: say the verbal 3 or 4 times before you let her go. You were saying it and letting go at the same time – it was not a problem on the easier challenges but we do want her to hear and process the verbals before she moves on the harder challenges.
Great job!!
Tracy
Hi! She did really well here!
The serps are going really well overall – you were able to get further ahead which definitely set the line to the serp. You can mix in throwing rewards for sending to the wing, so the value of the send remains high.And if something goes sideways on the send to the wing for whatever reason (like at 1:25), it is better to reset her at your side with a cookie and send again. Trying to send from where she had stopped will not be as clean as resetting then sending again.
>Took her a bit to clue into the wrap rather than the SERP. >
Part of that was it was hard for her to see the connection when you switched to the serp – for example at :19 & :25 your shoulders were closed forward (arms at your side will close your shoulders and block connection). So she didnāt see the new connection and only saw motion to the serp line.
Staying in the gap between the wing and the jump definitely helped! More connection directly to her eyes will help too. We got a really good view of it at 1:15 on the other side – you were looking at her and in the gap which helped! Note how your left hand is next to your leg – you will get better connection (and better responses from her) if you point your left hand to her face to open up your shoulder more
>Had a couple of MM bloopers,>
I think on some of the successful reps you might have been clicking it early so you wait until she is landing from the bump to click it.
>Also tried the more advanced ā had to angle the jump for her to be successful. >
She was great about going to the backside!! Angling the jump helped her get the complete behavior (backside AND take the jump) so leave it angled when you revisit it again.
>Started with harness hold for release, she got a bit bitey after about 4 of these so I decided not to fit her and just send from where we were.>
The video didnāt show the line ups – were you able to line her up with a cookie, then deliver another cookie for the collar hold? All the cookies LOL!!!
>Afterwards we played tunnel send ā not on video. No hesitation ā even sending her past a wing to the tunnel ā no hesitation.>
Excellent!! Sounds like fun!!
Nice work here!
Tracy
Hi!
>Pattern games are so helpful for keeping her focused and working far enough away when a dog turns a corner, etc., so she can stay engaged and not worry.>
I agree, pattern games are helpful for that plus also great for outside the ring at trials!
>I currently use dig dig to mean left or right wrap. But I swear with this dog, I am actually going to teach left/right and transition that into our turn and burn games, etc.>
Perfect! Ideally, you will want a wrap-left, wrap-right, soft-left, soft-right for the front side of the jump.
āØ>Back is a backside wrap.Do you also have a backslide slice verbal?
āØ>Spot will be her 2o2o dog walk, aframeāØBang will be 4 on teeter.>
Perfect!
āØ>I still need to pick a forward focus word and start teaching it. I will probably use look.>
āØ>Tunnel soft turn ā soft name call (not taught yet)āØTunnel tight turn HEY HEY (not taught yet)>I have found that with tunnels, I can use the same verbals as jumps (such as left or right) and the dogs totally understand it. As long as they hear it before they go into the tunnel, they know exactly what to do. And that means one less set of verbals to train!
āØ>We donāt do too many threadles in AKC trials since I donāt do Premier but we atually do quite a few in my seminars. I havenāt named them as I donāt use them that often but I keep saying I want to do more UKI.>
We start naming them here and it is easy enough, but they are not a super high priority for now.
Strike a pose is going really well! She is driving in to the target hand nicely – you can look at it (instead of her :)) to get even more direct drive. You had your āXā marker going too which is great – just try to say it before you move the hand. You can also move to a toy as the reward, and if she is happy with that you can work on getting the toy to the ground as the reward.
>I canāt see on the first side but on the second side Iām clearly moving my arm towards her instead of staying stationary. Video catching me again.>
Video sees everything LOL!! Yes, keep that left hand stationary š I think your right hand (first side here) was stationary.
Nice work!
Tracy
Hi!
I think the game changer in the potty department is going to be doing first-thing-in-the-morning walks: out of the crate and into a long walk to potty elsewhere. It might be a pain in the butt but will be worth it! And you might even want to take her on an overnight trip where you can do the first thing in the morning walk in an entirely new location. Hotels might be challenging but maybe someone has a guest room you can stay in?
T
Hi!
He worked beautifully here in the snow! Eek!
He was definitely working to sort out the rear crosses. You can start the session by having him go straight past the prop (no RC) just to get him driving ahead, which makes the RC easier (and mix in some straight reps throughout the session to maintain the driving ahead).
When adding the RCs: You can get the info to him sooner by staying closer to him at the beginning (no need to step away laterally because it puts you further from the line). Then as he starts moving forward to the prop, you can cut behind him and keep moving forward. That way he sees you on the new side before he arrives at the prop. On the early reps here, you were waiting til he was at the prop before cutting over. But on the last few reps you were staying closer and cutting in behind him a lot sooner – that last rep in particular was spot on and he got it! Yay!!!!
Nice work here!
Tracy
Hi! The turn and burn game is off to a great start here! For this game, you can use his toy (or frisbee) to get him really excite to chase you when you do the FC.
For the next session, add the line on the ground (can be a leash or something similar) at the exit of the wrap – when he gets to the line, you can do the FC and run š Then the line and progressively move bit-by-bit around the barrel back towards his starting point, which means you can do the FC earlier and earlier.
Nice work here!
Tracy
Excellent question! The easiest way to do it will be to get you low enough to the ground that Briny can touch your hand then go to the toy. But we don’t want you to be bending over to do this (so your back doesn’t get angry š ) The easiest thing to do might be to get something low and comfy to sit on. I have used things like a low ottoman, or one of those inflatable balance donuts, or a hard plastic cooler that carries my snacks and drinks to trials LOL! Eventually you will be standing without having to bend over, but for now we don’t want the jumping up so a comfy sitting position is the best bet.
Tracy
Hi!
You and
Scholar did great here!! He is a strong tugger and easily focused forward on the toy. Perfect! He didnāt seem to mind your movement at all which is great!!You can use a longer toy so you donāt have to lean over as much š as well as have a 2nd toy available to whip out in case he takes off with the first one.
>It was short and he got away from me in the end. I will be working with him in short sessions multiple times a day>
The length of the session here was PERFECT. At his age, going much longer than this can tire their brains out! Your plan of doing multiple sessions spread throughout the day is spot on.
Great job here!!
Tracy
Welcome! We are happy to see you here! The pace of the class means you will have plenty of time to catch up.
The 2nd and 3rd windows in the thread were blank, let me know if you had anything posted in them.
Thanks,
TracyGood morning!
>this time is was my fault he had a beef cheek to chew on when we visited with some friends at a brewery. >
Ah yes, that would do it. I am glad he is feeling better!
>What should I have done differently then? He normally is very big into coming back with the toy.>
He might be teething so you can tilt towards games that are easy for you to use a long toy and pick up the other end to get engagement and help him come back. You can also use toys that are made of harder materials so they are easier to bring back and less tempting to chew (but those toys might not be great for tugging)
On the video – the get it is going well š You can encourage him to bring it back. When you praised him, he brought it back faster than when you were quiet. You can even add a ābring itā cue to help maintain the retrieve.
When mixing food in, you can slow down the transition back to the toy: you were quick and he didnāt always swallow the treat. So you can toss the treat, praise, wait a few seconds to be sure he ate itā¦ then go back to the next part of the game.
You might notice that he starts shredding the toy at about 2 minutes – that is probably an arousal regulation/decompression moment which indicates he needs a little break. 2 minutes straight can tire his brain out!
The tug it marker is going well too! Using it when rewarding after he retrieved worked nicely. Adding the tug marker to the reward for the send to the foot target went great too!
>Itās hard for me to drop the YES sometimes. >
TOTALLY relatable! We all do it when we get excited so this is more of a human training game to use the markers instead of āyesā – it is hard! LOL!
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
>Crazy that you are in FL experiencing this cold right now ā I assume you are just visiting? >
Yes, spending about 8 weeks here to avoid the cold haha!! It is definitely warmer there than home, though.
>I would love to learn more about agility training venues that you recommend in Central Florida. I live in Orlando and goto a practice facility on the East side of Orlando (Practice Makes Pawfect). But would like to expand to other venues that are in the area (both for diversification of environment and to learn from experienced trainers). >
The place I am at has classes and seminars, you can find more on the Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1399743951063718I will see if I can find links to other fun places!
He did really well with you sitting! I can see him looking up at you and processing it, then he got into the groove really well! Going under the chair was pretty hilarious – clever! It probably indicates a side preference, meaning he is more of a lefty than a righty because it was easier to turn left and go under the chair. He did not go that when the left turn was what we wanted. No worries, it is good to know about his side preference! For the next session, sit on something he canāt go under or behind you š When he can go both directions, you can add standing up and see how he does with that.
He also worked through the distraction of the other dogs barking – that was hard!! Good boy!
The trail setup was great! And I agree. – food works better for this. When the toy was in play, he was thinking about chasing the toy so there was a little bit of leaping around LOL But the food basically asks him to offer behavior – I donāt think you even need to lure him. You can move along the trail slowly and let him hop on and walk along it. And you can toss a treat off to the side after every few steps so he got to get it then gets back on the trail. You had more of this happening in the later part of the video and he did great! Tossing the treats will keep his head low and looking forward rather than looking up at you (which makes it harder to balance).
You can change the setup and add different things (pillows, inflatables, etc) to keep it new and exciting.
Nice work here!
Tracy
