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Hi!
I liked the standing near you and petting like at :24, and the leg hug at the end (as long as he can do it from a sit and not a ‘sit pretty’ because we don’t want him to have to work his core like that for long stretches before a run). Both of these behaviors did seem like actual chill 🙂
He was VERY hot here, so standing on you didn’t seem comfy. And it is OK to let the dog watch – but unless I ask the dog to get excited, I don’t want them getting nutty for a dog running, if that makes sense. So for example, I will whisper things like “are you ready?” when having my dog watch the fun 🙂 but only as long as they don’t get crazy and disruptive while watching. Perked up – yes. Insane? No LOL!Great job here with LEGIT CHILL!!!!
Tracy
Hi!
>>How does this look to you? I definitely said way too many ‘Yes!’-es again instead of just “Get it!” That is SUCH a hard habit for me to break.
This is looking good! You can give bigger indications of where you want him to be using big handling cues, so you can be right next to the wings. You were tending to change your position to help him but feel free to use big arm and leg motions for now. He had a harder time pulling into you, so you can use your feet more to do a front cross right next to the wing.
And yes, keep reminding yourself to use a get it rather than a yes – totally relatable about how hard it is to break the habit!Serp versus wrap
On the serps, you can be a lot closer to the jump – you should be able to casually reach out and touch the jump with a bent elbow. That also means the MM should be closer to the wing of the jump.On the FCs – this is a front versus back discriminations, so you can use a little more eye contact and you can be closer to to the start wing to get his attention off the MM. I think the draw of the MM made things harder, so when you do convince him to do the FC you can reward from your hand. And then do a complete front cross so he stays no your other side all the way to the MM – so if he starts on your left, do a full FC so he ends up on your right, so you are between him and the jump and he goes to the MM from your right side (you were doing another FC to get him back to your left side).
Minny pinny – he is a definite lefty on this game!
On the warm up – was he able to go all the way around to the right, without you moving, starting from your left side with you kind of in the center of the bump?You can help him out a few different ways: the first thing I would do is lure it by placing the toy out where you want him to go, before sending him into it. That can totally help him understand it, then we can fade the lure 🙂 Also, you can use a bit of a hand cue to get him turned away. And also you can start him between 1 and 2, so he turns away just for turn and 3. When you were stepping into it, you were stepping a bit too much so he took it as a cue to go to the easier side (left turns). Also, you can help him by tossing the reinforcement so it lands between the 2nd and 3rd bump. That way he only has to make one right turn, not several.
It is pretty normal that a dog finds one side very easy and the other side very hard 🙂 Try the ideas for breaking it down and see how he does!
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
This was a really interesting video, showing us how he struggles when the reinforcement is nearby but not necessarily accessible – he finds that very distracting!He was great with the line u game in the very beginning. My only suggestion is to lead out and throw the reward back to him to specifically reinforce that lovely, focused stay (rather than release into the course). More on that coming with the new games tonight.
Things got really interesting when you moved the table of goodies to right near the start line – he could no longer do the line up game! Totally interesting! He was perfect until the reward station moved nearby – so add in that table of goodies to your training a lot more often, sitting outside the ring or near the start or exit gate, so he gets used to working with it nearby. When he was facing the camera in his stay, note how he was looking at it. And then he went to it instead of engaging with the toy. Big distraction!
When you had treats with you and moved further away, it was not a problem. So this reward station is where you will want to work your remote reinforcement games, in those very small steps so you can get him happy to engage and work even with no cookies in your hands. When you had the cookies with you, it was not as hard but you can see it was a really distracting thing. Looking at it from a trial perspective: the reward station is outside the ring and you have no reward IN the ring, so he might not be able to run as well.
>>Wondering when to try to decrease the food need to rewatch your video today. I guess one thing he is focused on me, but I also have the food. >>
The tricks and line up games can have cookies in your pocket for now rather than you hands, but I think the most important game to tackle is the remote reinforcement game using the little table of goodies you had here as the reward station. That will really help him understand how to earn reinforcement when the cookies are not in your hands 🙂
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
No worries about the sound, sometimes YouTube does strange things 🙂Great job with your body position on the serps, and staying in motion moving forward. Serps are really hard for dogs, especially because we want you so close to the jump (close enough to touch it with a relaxed arm) and staying in motion (not moving away or decelerating). So, like several of his classmates, here is an adjustment so you don’t have to decel or move away from the jump: angle the jump towards him so it is much easier to see the front side of it and muhc harder to run past it. The start wing, your running line and the reward target stay the same as the were here, but you will take the wing clsoer to the reward target and move i tout away from you so as he exits the start wing, he can really see the front of the bar while you jog and cue the serp. As he gets better and better, you can start to angle the jump abck to its original position until it is flat. Here is a sneak peak of what I mean, with the jump after the tunnel being the serp jump and the tunnel is basically the same as the start wing:
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
The wrap and soft turn course went well, I think the hardest part was that the distances were a little short so you couldn’t really run – spread it out so she has 18 to 20 feet (or more) between jumps, so both of you are really running 🙂
You had a lot of really good timing of the dig cues, and the rotations also helped her! And big wow, nice job making left sound COMPLETELY different than dig dig 🙂 The right verbal did not sound nearly as different so she had a question on that one. Left was great!
About those accidental rear crosses – part of it was that you had no place to run to, so you were decelerated and then before she was fully past you and committed to the wrap, you stepped in on the rear cross line (:57). I thought you were better at 1:12 byt she still felt a little bit of rear cross pressure, and it is possible that she is a lefty so was defaulting to the easier turn direction.
And, if dig dig is your only trained wrap cue, then it could definitely apply to turning away as well. You might be working a ‘wrap away’ cue but my guess is that dig dig is the main wrap cue, so you would need to be super clear on the handling so she knows which direction it is.
On the serps versus threadles – the threadle vortex is a real thing LOL!!!! You can step in and help the line on the serp by staying closer to it for now, to help get her out of the threadle vortex after a threadle rep 🙂 Also, be sure that you don’t rotate your feet on threadles, because we don’t want the foot rotation to be the cue: we want it to be upper body and verbal. If you are using the same arm for serps and threadles, the verbal becomes even more important (I use a cross arm for threadles and a dog side arm for serps, to help the dog).
As with the puppy class serps, open up your shoulders more to the jump so your belly button is facing the bar to get that 2nd turn back on the serp jump.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
>>Will I end up at the jump walking forward like that? Or should I stop before ?
Keep moving forward until she commits, so you totally might end up at the jump. And keep the bar low in case you end up having to step over the jump LOL!
>>I’m wondering about my dig dig. On a couple reps I know I’m late but on a couple others I slowed things down and I feel like I was on time but she was quite wide or missed it. How can I get that cleaned up?>>
A couple of ideas for you:
first, I think the distances here were too small, even though the bars were low – she is a tall, big-striding girl who needs a lot of time to make the stride adjustment for the tight turns. These distances were maybe 15 feet, which is a little too small to come in at full speed for her. So – widen the distances and it will be MUCH easier!
second – timing 🙂 You were late on a bunch of the reps, but starting the cue when she landed (too late for her to adjust). After 1:38 you had a conversation with Christine, I think, and she suggested you start the cue at takeoff of the previous jump: excellent advice! That is much better timing especially on shorter distances, and that really helped her.
The other thing that will help on this setup is rotation. When you were facing forward and moving forward – the verbal didn’t override the motion, because the motion looked the same as it did for left and right soft turns. When you did rotate like at :24, 2:54, 3:12 and 3:21 – much better!!!!! yay! And, to help the verbal override the motion – take the smaller games (like with the wing in front of the jump, using a start wing) and add in more and more running. That way the running is not the strongest cue – the verbal will break through and she will collect even though you are still in motion and not rotated.
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
>> I was kinda planning to run away and reward from hand based on your comments in another game, but you want me still for Instant Focus, because it’s up to Zippie to offer focus.>>
Yes – some games have more excitement in the reward delivery based on our goal of getting a higher level of arousal. And some games ask the dog to do it on her own, without us 🙂 So cookies from hand, or tossed away like you did here, or ‘at the source’ (placed on the instant focus prop) work well for that. She did really well with the instant focus game here – more coming tonight with the next steps, which she is ready for! Yay!
>> I could quietly step away and reward from hand off the cardboard if you want to see that in lieu of the time to chew the cookies. Cookie #3 was the longest to chew and she had a bounce in her step to come back after that one.>>
I am not sure we are going to be able to speed up the chewing – it seems like it is part of her way of assessing the environment, thinking things through, So the only thing to do is use cookies that are easily chewed and let her do the rest. When she is at her most optimal state of arousal, I bet she doesn’t chew nearly as much, so chewing will end up being a good indicator of state for the volume dial games.
>>Remote reinforcement: I’m feeding 2 or 3 small “smears” off my thumbnail in rapid fire then putting the dish down. I’ve been finding she doesn’t run back to the treats with me – except that very first time when I was going too far away. >>
I think the choice of verbal was good and I agree that it is also something highly likely that you’d naturally say in a training or trial environment.
For the next RR steps, I would like her to offer more engagement up to you and less out to the environment (she was not necessarily moving with you here as much as she was looking out at something across the street – it is hard to know what she would have done if she was not on leash, in terms of engagement choices). In a more comfortable environment with fewer distractions, (like in the house), do a session or two where we ‘up’ the criteria: move away from the reward station and when she looks at you, use your marker and run back to the reward. When she can do that consistently (moving away AND looking up at you) then we can take the game back into other more difficult environments. Bear in mind that we are not looking for extended eye contact such as heeling – we just want her to look at you at some point as you move away from the rewards. You can mark and reward even the smallest of glances!
Nice work her! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
Overall, these trial runs were pretty successful!!
>. I used to not take the leash off until she was lined up at my side but in one of the courses I took, the teacher said it was important to take the leash off right away to see if the dog is consenting to line up for the run.>
It depends on the dog. The problem with ‘start button’ or ‘opt in’ behaviors or consent is that it can look very different for all sorts of dogs. Each dog has a different routine on the way to the line, whether we like it or not LOL!! For example, one of my dogs would totally sniff the whole way from the ring entry to the start line. Sometimes while waiting he would roll on his back on the turf or in mud. That was his pre-run relaxation technique, perhaps bringing his heart rate down? He LOVED the game and did not stress – he was a national champion and won medals at Worlds. He had a routine that worked beautifully for him, so I let him do it 🙂 because whenever I asked him if he wanted to sit in front of the start jump, he always said HECK YEAH.
I mentioned bringing her to the first jump on leash because when you took the leash off at the entry gate, she looked a little lost about what to do next. So bringing her on leash to the start jump can be a clearer indication that “this is the first jump”. And we do work on offered engagement when the leash comes off (new game coming tonight!) but we can also help the dog by making things really predictable. I mean, she can still opt out and take off when the leash comes off 🙂 but taking it off in front of the start spot can help her know what is coming next.
Tracy
Good morning! You can gradually extend the paws up on you by having a stick of string cheese in your hand and letting him lick the end like a lollipop 🙂 You can also use a bottle of spray cheese (eewwwwww but yummy for dogs haha) so he gets rewarded with licks of treats for staying up there for longer and longer periods of time. Bending over is probably fine for about 5 seconds – then my back would start to get angry LOL!
T
First video – nice focus and tricks for cookies! From the sound of it, there was a LOT OF EXCITING ACTIVITY nearbyand he was great. If I didn’t have the sound on, I would assume that there was nothing happening in the environment because he was so lovely in his focus and engagement. You can use your treats as toys: instead of handing them to him, you can move a few steps so he chases your hand with the cookie, then deliver it to him.
I am glad he was able to tug a bit too! Be sure that when you are tugging, you are also asking for some tricks so you can keep him centered in his arousal. Tugging might send him into a state that is too aroused, so mixing in tugging for tricks will move him towards that perfect centered state of arousal.
>>There was more barking in this subsequent turns, but I think he did focus a bit better at the start lines.
Some dogs bark during runs… for a lot of reasons LOL!! So, if you remember or looking at your videos:
– did he bark and continue to work really well, just barking because things were so exciting?
– did he bark and look at you, coming off a line or coming towards you?
– did he grumble while working (usually a sign that our handling was late LOL!)On the 2nd video – sounds like he was barking, maybe just because LIFE IS AWESOME and he was pumped up. One big thing here: take your hand off his collar 🙂 When the leash comes off, he will either engage or not engage LOL! By holding his collar, both of you are getting tense about the start line. So, take the leash off and do not hold his collar – let him make a decision about engaging or not. The goal is that you can be relaxed, trust him fully, take the leash off, line up, and onwards to the first jump. Being able to do that is a much better state of arousal for both human and canine 🙂
Happily, there is a game coming tonight *specifically* for this (engagement when the leash comes off).
No worries about him saying ‘hi’ to Becca 🙂 She was very close and she has more value than the fancy backside move 🙂 A judge at a trial won’t be as close, and won’t have as much value, so he will easily be able to ignore them
Great job here! April 2 is next weekend, so the new games will be in place so you can use them at the next seminar too! Yay!
Tracy
Hi!
Great start with all of these games and some VERY useful info from Grady!
Action tricks with cookies visible: you have SO MANY great tricks. YAY! Is the barking on cue? I LOVE barking as an action trick, it is very good for getting the dogs stimulated and focused.
He has great action tricks – in training, reward each one for now so he doesn’t frustrated when doing several in a row. The spins, hopping up and down, paw, tricks, etc. – this is a fabulous toolbox of tricks 🙂He thought the pattern game was easy peasy and offered engagement very nicely 🙂 To keep it very predictable, stick to one style of reinforcement per session (like tossing versus dropping on your shoes) – you can take a break between each session if you want to change reinforcement style. The predictability of it is the most important part. The next step is to add a neutral distraction, some random item, and play the pattern game near it (not agility equipment though, make the distraction something like a suitcase or a trashcan LOL!) And, take the pattern game into neutral environments so he offers engagement in different places: leash walks, different places, even different rooms in your home 🙂 We will be building this up to where he can offer engagement happily even when a judge or a bunch of people are moving nearby.
He also liked the line up games, this can be a fun way to build up a new start line routine and also a silly fun trick to get him pumped up before a run 🙂
This video answers my question about barking on cue from earlier – YAY! I am glad you have the barking as a cued behavior. You can totally use it in the volume dial game.
Treats in pockets video – aha, we see where we need to add more focus as the tricks lost a lot of crispness when the treats were not immediately visible. He was able to do them, but needed mutliple cues and/or was not able to do them as well. So keep revisiting this game – either cookies in pockets, or cookies in a bowl on the table next to you. When you do this, be hyper-aware of where you hands are – at the beginning, you were really good about keeping your hands empty and away from the magic cookie pockets 🙂 But then you started to have your hands in your pockets or move to the pockets before the cue, so he was watching to cookie hands. For example, watch the paw sequence starting at approx :49 to about :57 where he was seeing your hands in your pocket as part of the cue. To get crisp behavior in the trial ring, be super careful about not moving to the cookies until after he has done the behavior.
I think the next game to really focus on will be the remote reinforcement game – this game also focuses on getting engagement without the cookies or toys in your hands, which is going to be a really important piece of the puzzle with him.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning! Thank you for the videos, he is SO FUN!!!!
>>Grady seemed a bit bothered by the judge…more sensitive to her location>>
I agree – he is sensitive to the judge and also the presence and activity of the ring crew.
On the first run, there were relatively limited distractions near the start so he had a good opening (note the big yawn on the start line, that is a stress signal)
Later in the run, as he had to turn to the judge, he lost his train of thought.On the 2nd run, there were lots of people nearby at the start line so he was more stressed and he definitely struggled of the line, when he saw the judge (weave poles) and then after the wrap wing, he saw a ring crew person and struggled with that.
This is great info from him! We will definitely be adding people into the games after the games are well-established, so he can be happy and confident with people moving around. I’m guessing that it is this bit of nervousness that is having a big impact on his runs. We will plan how to do this even though you train on your own a lot 🙂 For now, get your training partner to act as the judge for really simple behaviors (low jumps and tunnels) so you can reward him a LOT for passing a person nearby, even though he is probably fine with the training partner.
Let me know what you think! Onwards to the games!
TracyGood morning!
Minny pinny – this went well! She had no trouble moving through it at all. Yay! 2 suggestions:
– Repeat the cue, so she hears it with each left or right turn (and be sure it is the correct one LOL!) so it will sound more like left left left instead of just one left verbal.
– And change your reinforcement position – rather than tossing straight, have her do one more left or right turn across the front of you so she ends up between you and the wings.Serps –
She had a little trouble sending to the wing with the reward target in place, so you can send to the wing and reinforce that piece before moving through the serp. I think part of it was the cue to the start wing, through: On the sends to the start wing, part of her question was about your connection. You were pointing forward and not looking at her, which turns your shoulders/chest into the gap so she was not sure where to be. Start eac hsend with your dog side arm back more, more eyes on her, and stay connected as you send her to the wing – don’t point forward until after she is past you.For the serp cue – your feet were good, keep moving towards the reward target. For the upper body, rotate your upper body to face the jump more with your dog side arm back more. Your belly button will be facing the bar, and your chest will be pointing to the bar as well. You were turning your shoulders forward (like a post turn) so your belly button was facing the reward not the bar – she did come in over the bar (like a post turn) but she was not turning back out to the reward (like a serp) so more upper body rotation will help that.
Very fun to see the smiley face show up in class! FUN! She was fast and lovely 🙂 Use the smiley face games to work on connecting back to her when she is behind you and not point forward of her because then she is not sure of where to go.
Looking at the wrap to the tunnel then tunnel to the wing at the beginning – that was lovely connection and she nailed it!
At :13 to send her to the 2nd wing after the FC, you pointed forward which broke connection and turned your shoulders… so she came off the line and looked at you. Then you recovered the connection beautifully and she was perfect at the end! So you can move more slowly in order to emphasize the connection for now (it gets a lot easier as the dogs learn the game, as you know :))Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning! Sorry that I missed the smiley face game – thanks for reminding me! I put the ideas above.
The set point here looked really strong! Effortless!!! So 5 foot distance, dragging toy, setting her up exactly where you had her here. That is our current sweet spot.
For your next session in a couple of days – do 2 reps with the bar are 8 inches. If it looks and feels as good as this session, do 2 or 3 reps with the bar at 10 inches. Then end on one rep at 8 inches. We are going to gradually increase the height while maintaining her power and organization 🙂
Great job!
TracyGood morning! Sorry that I didn’t see this one!!!
Her wrap commitment and tunnel commitment look terrific!! NIce connection on those and also nice clear connection on the tunnel exits! Great job with your verbals. She really understands what you want on the wraps and tunnels and is able to do the wraps tight AND fast, which is what we want. YAY! For the wraps, I think you can start to rotate sooner: decelerate as she is passing you and rotate as she gets to the wing, to work on earlier timing.
The only place I see her having a little question is on the racetracks – and I think that was a handling question. As you are doing the racetracks to the left and right, try to keep a bigger connection by keeping your arms lower and pointing more towards her nose. You were pointing a little ahead and looking ahead, which broke connection and turned your shoulders, so she looked up at you and zigged in a little before zagging back out. So as you run, you can keep your arms low and eye contact and keep moving – that should help her stay on the line like she did with the wraps and the tunnel cues.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
