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Hi!
>>Curious for the take a breath why watch the nose versus watching the rib cage expanding contract or feeling?
GREAT question!!! Watching the nose will give you the feedback on whether the dog is taking a breath on cue, as part of a grounding exercises (canine mindfulness :)). That is very different than simply watching for or feeling respiration (rib cage) because respiration might just be panting and not mindful. Also, respiration might be open-mouthed and reflexive… and taking a breath through the nose is operant and deliberate 🙂
The off leash offered engagement is going well! Very clever to have him on the green long line outdoors.
At the beginning of that, you don’t need to wait for him to offer engagement with the leash on – you can unhook the leash like you did and see what he does. Doing that with deer out there is HARD but he did well!
:33 nice engagement!In that outdoor space, there are a ton of good distractions – totally a great place to do the pattern games too, and right as I was typing to suggest that, you starting doing them. SUPER! Be insanely patient – don’t put your hand in your pocket until after he offers engagement.
>> it they eat the cookie on the ground but then something in the environment is distracting or needs assessing so they look away instead of back at you I’m assuming you just wait that out?
Yes, wait for a while… and if it is simply too difficult of an environment, you can move further away.
>>I also planning to take higher value food outside to play again sorry I had measured out his favorite kibble so I use that because believe it or not he needs to lose a couple pounds. When I’ll play again I’ll make sure to incorporate for the extra calories ha ha.>>
Ah yes, higher value will help too! Kibble, even the favorite kibble, can’t compete with the environment… but maybe meatballs can? Play around with different values and see how he does!
Great job here 🙂 Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>> I keep switching out the IF prop because I am waiting to see where we go with it. 🙂
The new gams are posted – so put value onto your favorite prop and use that for the Part 2 games 🙂
>>I am using the metal tins for the pattern game because I don’t like when people throw treats on the ground.
Ah, got it. So for the pattern games, then, do more of an up-and-down with treats placed on your shoes and not tossed away (which is something that can easily be done outside the ring).
>>Also, when we are outside, he has a harder time finding the small treats in the grass.
I train this skill, specifically: find the one treat in the grass and then re-engage. it is the first thing I train, pre-pattern games 🙂 Small, white treats work well and being able to find a treat in grass on cue and then immediately return to engagement after the cookie is a really useful skill!
>> The tins make it easier. Third, we trial on dirt and can’t throw food, so I thought the tins might be a nice visual cue for the game in new environments. What do you think? It’s basically a small space version of CU Super Bowls. I can modify it if you think my version isn’t as good.>>
The tins are good and the game is good! All CU games are fabulous 🙂 Totally recommend. But for all of the movement involved with waiting outside the ring and going to the start line, definitely focus on the patterns that can be done with no props – just your hands (and shoes haha) and him 🙂 Since there always seems to be such a huge list of things to train, I try to narrow the scope and prioritize.
>>I am worried that all this activity is going to feel like pressure to him.
It should not be perceived as pressure if it is structured training: high rate of reinforcement, high value reinforcement, very systematic and the games mixed in together to include both the active games, the engagement games, and the chill games 🙂 If the training emphasizes too much of one thing, or the rate of reinforcement is too low… then yes, he could perceive pressure or stress about it. That is why for the remote reinforcement, for example, the new step for this week is step away from the reward station, do one trick, run back. Simple and fun!
>> Coming out of his crate to a pattern game, in theory, should give him the opportunity to assess the environment. But it also feels like more of a requirement (play this game!) as opposed to, say, an awareness walk around the area.>>
A couple of thoughts on this:
I don’t bring the dogs out of the crate to a pattern game on a regular basis, unless the crate is literally in the training environment and I would like the dog to train. I also personally don’t crate in the training environment (ringside) a lot, because I need the dogs to be able to relax.So, I take the dogs out of the crate, go for a potty, have a walkabout away from the training area. Then as I enter the training area, I will begin the pattern game. And, pattern games are super enjoyable for the dog, so you’ll see the dog turn on when you start them. If the dog feels like the pattern game is a requirement, then chances are the rate of reinforcement is too low or you are too close to the distractions.
Awareness walks can be useful but also problematic. Most awareness walks are done pretty far from the training area or ring area. Or, if done near the ring area, the dog might not be using or rehearsing the coping skills we are teaching him to use. And in general – we cannot do a true awareness walk in the area that we need it the most: near the gate and inside the ring. So, the coping skills games (patterns, engaged chill, etc) are critical.
>> Maybe my fears are completely unfounded, but I really don’t want him feeling stressed when he comes out of his crate.
Are you seeing stress behaviors?
>> If he comes out of his crate and can’t play the pattern game, do you just put him back in his crate for a few minutes and then try again?>>
No – I will take him out of the environment entirely and play it further away. If he is so uncomfortable outside of the crate that he can’t play the pattern games, then he is going to be uncomfortable inside the crate too especially if it is used as a ‘time out’.
>>, should I teach him to bark on cue
Yes! Totally yes, as an action trick.
>>or play wabbits?
Yes – we are going to address more of that in games Package 3.
>>Riot is far more likely to be overaroused. Is it playing with fire? 🔥 When he offers a bark during agility practice, it is always a sign of a higher volume. But it also tends to accompany engagement.
The crazy thing with arousal is that overaroused can be modulated by getting the dogs ‘higher’ (on the bell curve) and into the optimal state. So trying to stay lower arousal can cause struggles because the dog is not in the optimal state, and more sitmulating activities (like barking :)) can put him in that optimal state. Barking at you cue is different than vocalizing out at the environment and we can turn that all into something great.
Good distractions in the video! Little barking dogs and people are great to have in the environment 🙂
For the pattern game with the bowls – he does well with this game so add in holding the leash rather than letting him drag it, because that is the picture he will see at a trial. 🙂 And bring the pattern games to your shoes and from your hands as well – so you have a pattern game that he likes for scenarios where you will not have bowls available.
When doing the tricks – He has a TON of great tricks, so now when doing them use your cookies like a toy – have him chase your hand to get them by running, spinning, standing up to eat them, rather than feed him in a stationary way. The stationary cookies put him too ‘low’ on the arousal bell curve, and we want to turn the volume dial to the optimal position.
And now for the tricks…no more cookies in your hands 🙂 In these relatively familiar settings, all cookies should be in pockets now, to start the fading process: cue with an empty hand and when he an approximation of the behavior, get excited, whip a cookie out of the pocket, and have him chase your hand for it.
Same with going over the jump and in a sequence – rather than reward with stationary cookies, try run and then deliver the cookie either from a moving hand or a moving lotus ball. Make it all about the action not the stopping – action gets focus and engagement, and stopping tends to make the engagement drop.
You can also use toys more! He likes the toy end of the flirt pole for sure. With the flirt pole – he is a little ‘party-of-one’ with it, will he interact with you more for it? Will he tug on it or chase more as you swing it? Youcan build yourself into the game more: do tricks for chasing the pole as reinforcement, or having a fun furry toy on a line to use as reinforcement for the tricks and in the ring. Bringing that play it into the ring with you in some form will help transfer the exictement and value into the ring more.
And when leaving the flirt pole outside the ring, develop a reward station where it is very clear where the reinforcement is (not just on the ground, randomly – get a little table or chair or something for your ‘stuff’). And separately from agility training – start the beginnings of the remote reinforcement games so we can build that process up. Remote reinforcement is a massive concept for the dogs and takes a long time.
He was very happy to do the foot target on the insant focus prop! So now pick your favorite one, puts lot of value on it… and onwards to Instant Focus Part 2.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
Have a blast at NAC! Send updates! And yes, you can do lots of T2T stuff there 🙂
On the video – a good session here!!!! That was an accidental tooth hug at the beginning, I think LOL!!
A couple of smaller details to help for the next session:
When cuing the wrap on the start wing with the strike marker for the toy: wait one more moment before you say strike so he has a chance to make more of a decision about wrapping (or not) – just one more step will do it.Speaking of the strike marker… when you say it like a question as you did here, it sounded just like your ‘right’ verbal so that might have been the source of some of his questions. No need to change words, just deliver them differently:
STRIKE! (an excited loud exclamatory)
Riiiight (like you did in the video)Great job with the reset cookies after an error! Threadles are going well, you can start to add more motion too keeping the same mechanics you had here. It will be easier if you start closer to the start wing so you are in the gap more (threadle position) and less in the serp position near the jump.
>>We got trapped in a small vortex towards the end but I switched the sides and got him back.
Changing sides totally helped de-vortex him! Also, after several threadles, you can angle the jump to face him more for the serp so he sees the front and not the back of the jump, which should make it harder to threadle and easier to serp, in the hopes of vortex-prevention 🙂
Great job! Enjoy your trip and send lots of updates!!
Tracy
Hi!
For the teeter, you need some type of something to prop it up. We get creative though – if you don’t have a table or teach it, we use other stuff 🙂
At the beginning stage, you’ll need only enough room to have the teeter with the dog being able to run up it. Towards then end, we need a little more room, like 15 feet before and after the teeter.
TracyGood morning! Thanks for all of the info, it is really helpful for planning purposes.
>>On course in Training, does well until we make a mistake or I ask her to repeat too many times, then she leaves me to sniff or run to bark at someone.
In training, when working on handling – work it thoroughly without the dog (run it with an invisible dog), get instructor feedback… then run it with the real dog 🙂 And if something goes wrong? Stay connected and reinforce her – even if you think it was her error (it probably was not LOL!). So you can reinforce her for taking an off course, or you can call her back and reinforce her for lining up and resetting. The sniffing and leaving to bark are behaviors that come up when the dog is stressed and the rate of reinforcement is too low. So reinforcing after handling errors and reset cookies will really help – and that changes the conditioned response to the entire environment as well!
>>On course at Trial, same, but I’ve learned to just keep going or make up my own course or circle a logical path back to where we need to be.>>
You did a brilliant job of that with your trial videos!
>>In training, toys are supreme, then treats. Her baby Tennis Ball is her absolute favorite toy.>>
This is good! It makes planning FEO easier. Will she tug on a tennis ball? Have you tried any of the Kong toys that look/feel like tennis balls but are bigger and the dog can tug on them?
>>What I’ve learned that helps: if I tug/play with Posh right next to the judge, photographer, leash runner, etc in the morning outside the ring where she can see them while she’s tugging or a judge measures Posh while I hold a pnut butter cup at her nose, she’s good with them for the rest of the day, trial, unless they change their appearance, new hat, sunglasses, jacket, etc. I may need to repeat this for someone new, change of appearance etc.>>
This indicates that assessing and a bit of counterconditioning really helps her. Yay! So you can play the pattern games near the new people and all around the ring, to generalize the behavior and help her understand how to relax herself. You can do the pattern games with food and also with 2 tug toys!
>> But it seems to me I may have chained a behavior…run to bark at someone, back to mom, get rewarded. ?? ish….
The barking is an anxiety behavior, so if we work on the root of that with the games, then we won’t have to worry about the behaviors that may or may not get chained into it 🙂 All of the games will help her learn to ignore the people and not feel the need to bark at them.
Onwards to the games! Keep me posted on how she does with them 🙂
TracyGood morning!
>>We’ve been off on border collie puppy adventures – road trip, hiking, herding instinct testing, crazy dock diving party with other crazy border collies – all the things.
He is living his best life! I love it!
Holy cow the mud is outrageous! I am glad it dried for class – he looked great!
he did a great job finding the jump after the tunnel here – such an important and underrated skill for youngsters!
The tunnel exit pointed him a little to the backside line so he was adjusting to come in for the jump which is good practice for sure! When you see the tunnel exit pointing to the backside line on a course, you can call his name before he enters the tunnel to get the adjustment before the exit (or say Go or a backside verbal to get the extended exit to the backside line). As for the various skills:
Finding it when you are running ahead looked strong!! That can be a hard one for young fast herdy dogs and he was lovely. And when you were parallel and a little decelerated, he was also finding it and preparing to turn (correctly!). The next thing to add is running all he way into the tunnel curve and then moving forward just before he exits, so he drives ahead. My guess is that the mud helped you decide to NOT do this yet LOL!!! I am sure he will find the jump easily.>>. I also apparently totally forgot my “Chase” LSM for the thrown toy. Oh well, next time we’ll get our act together.
My guess is was the distraction of staying upright in the mud LOL!!! No worries – dogs read context really well and there seemed to be zero confusion and tons of reinforcement 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi! We don’t have one at this stage, but the teeter class covers a lot of the stopped contact behavior! I will be doing skills classes over the summer so can do one then!
TracyGood morning!
This video shows that the foundation is in place. HUZZAH! So we can ramp it up: the pool, and nearer to the ring at NAC.
Now before you start to sweat about it, we can do the 2 leash version so he can’t have a big error and so you can narrow the field of choices: engage or look away, as opposed to leaving or swimming being part of the list of options.
Use your trial leash as the on/off leash, and have a 2nd light leash clipped to his collar and looped over your wrist.
Working this at the pool is great for getting the behavior in a more stimulating environment with happy feelings. And near the ring will open up possibly some concerned feelings but with the opportunity to pump him full of positive reinforcement 🙂
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyThanks for the videos! She does really well everywhere except for when she has to run past people or stuff. So definitely take the pattern game on the road, going past people and stuff, that will really help her learn to ignore all of these distractions!!!
T
Hi!
She is doing well with the pattern games – now take them on the road to play around people and dogs (with her on leash). When you play the pattern games, stick to one mode of reinforcement per game – either tossing the whole time, or on your shoes the whole time, or from your hands, rather than mixing them all up – that is because we want her to know exactly how earn the reinforcement, very predictably.
That is a good instant focus prop! When you added the distractions: I think you were moving too much so she thought it was to follow you or offer on the object nearest to you. Stand still for now! To prepare for the next set of games, put more value on the instant focus prop for now and if she gets caught in a different behavior, break off and reset the session by picking up the prop and moving it to a different spot.
Remote reinforcement:
>>I slightly modified the remote reinforcement game to align a little more closely with what I have been doing in my lessons with Perry. Before I let her go get the reinforcement I asked for a hand touch so she knows that she can’t just go and get it (like she did at the trial…). It adds one more layer of connection/slash behavior.>>
My jury is still out on the added hand touch – I like lots of criteria, but it also has to be criteria that will be maintained and I am thinking the touch will not. More on that below 🙂
For this game, clarify your marker, you had a few variations of it so I am not sure what it is. Make it super specific!
The MOST important thing here is to not ask for a ton of behavior. For now, just reward walking away for a step or two. You were doing a lot of steps, and then a touch – she was fine because she was home. As we are trying to build and isolate a specific marker, keep the steps simple and very clear. If you focus on the that, she won’t leave you for the cookies and also she won’t need a hand touch.The reason my jury is out on the hand touch behavior is partially because I think it might be a bandaid for something that we can train (and have to train) and also because I think the criteria will un-maintainable which will lead to stress. For example: she does a sequence with the rewards outside the ring. She was amazing. You ask for the hand touch before running for the cookies and she gives you a weak hand touch. What will you do in that moment? Nag her for a better one, being a buzzkill for her excellent work in the ring? Or drop criteria and just run to the reward? My guess is it will depend on the situation and that is stressful: sometimes she doesn’t have to touch (like after a great run at a trial, I think it would be really hard to maintain a hand touch criteria for the reward) and sometimes she gets in trouble (told she is wrong and the reward process is stopped) if she doesn’t touch or the touch isn’t good.
So rather than set yourself and Skipper up for MORE stress, why not just do something easy and maintainable like run to your leash first, you pick it up, then you give the specific marker?
I am bugging you because the remote reinforcement game is critical for her (for all the dogs) so I don’t want it to add any stress or uncertainty 🙂 Let me know what you think! Great job here!
TracyHi!
>>patterns along the way,
When use say patterns, which do you mean? I use ‘patterns’ to mean the pattern games where the dog assess the environment, then offers engagement back to the handler.
>>> But someone said I overuse “Ready”,
Ha! I say “ready” ALL THE TIME and my dogs love it 🙂 It is a word that really jazzes them up 🙂 It is possible you are not using it too much and she likes it!
>>so now I wait for her eye contact, if I’ve lost it, and release her to go. If I wait too long to release her, or if she looks at the obstacle and I take too long to release her, we have a disconnect. >>
We may or may not want to include eye contact at the start line for her. My most accomplished dog never made eye contact – he sat and stared at the line. Eye contact was too much pressure and that is fine! She might feel the same way.
>>As you said last night, she just wants to get it done and go. It seems she doesn’t want to be fussed with.
We will know in coming weeks if she needs engagement at the line or is more of an all business type of dog. Either way is fine!
>> If she won’t sit at all or she will sit but only if she sits toward a person, or sits staring at someone, there is a chance she will leave me.
Makes sense – those behaviors are indications that the environment is worrying her, so we will be adding these environments into the training games and FEO runs.
>>Her BALL can override most anything.
With the Ball and favorite toy – you can use those instead of treats in the pattern games here! That can VERY stimulating plus you can take them into the ring for NFC!!!!
Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! Thanks for all the great info!
>>nterestingly she wants to go up and see, sniff, get treats form strangers, but when they lean over her or do same to pet her, she can back up and bark at them. >>
Yes, dogs that might be worried about people make decisions like this: they get close then then get even more concerned. So if she wants to get close to a stranger… don’t believe her, don’t let her put herself in that position LOL!!! And ask people to not interact with her. She is VERY cute and that is a problem, because people want to make nice with her and probably makes her more nervous.
>>Ring gate to start, Trial, lately, if she thinks I’ve got her favorite toy, she’s all in.
This is MOST EXCELLENT and we can build on this. YAY!
>>If she knows I have nothing, she’s worried, distracted, people, environment,
Probably a bunch of reasons – the toy stimulates her into higher arousal, plus with the toy present she knows exactly how to earn it and where it is. Without it? She doesn’t really know how to earn it or where it is… but we are working on all of that with the remote reinforcement games and reward stations, and gradual use of FEO runs.
Have you ever tried using 2 toys for pattern games, or 2 balls? That make help even ,ore than cookies do!
>>depending how close they are and who’s staring at her. People like to watch her run.>>
She is cute and she is fast, so she draws attention. But we will work on getting her happier to have people around!
T
Hi!
I think what you are seeing here is a positive conditioned emotional response to agility in your yard. I love it! She felt this was very easy 🙂 And because she is also good at the practice jump – two ideas for you:– at home, play this game with no reinforcement in your hands, it is too easy LOL!! You can have your breakfast bowl of yummies and walk her past it on leash, nothing in your hands and pockets… then take the leash off. That might be a little harder for her to offer engagement but when she does, you can run over to the breakfast bowl and reward her.
– take it on the road. Yes to doing it at the part, and around people/dogs, etc – but with safety in mind, I would use the 2 leash option. So the agility leash is the one that comes off, and she can still be on a light regular leash just in case, so she can’t really go anywhere. And in the distracting environments, you can have food in your hands to reward her. And if it is easy in those environments, move the rewards to your pockets 🙂
The goal is to condition the response so it is basically a reflex, so you will want to do zillions of reps for reinforcement 🙂 During the coming weeks, you can do this around people (with your rewards visible) and then we can fade the rewards too!
>>lso, how often do you reward the line-up when you are practicing at home?
Pretty often! 50% of the time, or more, at least. I might reward the line up, or the stay – I really love both of those behaviors so I give the dogs tons and tons of reinforcement so they love them too 🙂
Nice work! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
Fingers crossed for good weather soon! I am ready for spring!>> While we are still working on these, is it OK to use the verbal where it is appropriate when handling a sequence even if I don’t think my dog has a complete understanding of the verbal but will most likely make the appropriate movement because of the handling?
Yes, it is totally good to do this! If you think you will be roughly correct with the handling, then it is good to pair the verbal with the physical cue (and with cookies too :))
Have fun and see you in better weather!
TracyGood morning! Here is some boring feedback for ya 🙂
Her stays have been looking awesome lately! Her line ups and stays are currently in the “If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It Stage” so you can add in things like the leash coming off before you cue the line up, doing it in different place, etc.
It was brilliant of you to incorporate the toy because yes – it is what you will be needing for FEO. Preparing for FEO is an important part of preparing to trial! This session looks great, so I think for the next line up games add a leash coming off before the line up. Then you can move to the new line up games posted last night 🙂
Great job!
Tracy
