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Good morning!
Toy races looked great! I am impressed with your long distance throws!!! That is a pretty perfect toy for throwing.
He did GREAT going from food to the toy!! On the last rep – you totally could have won that race LOL! Don’t be too polite – you can win sometimes and have your own party of one, because the he will drive even harder to get past you when you are running hard like that!
He was doing a short victory lap when he gets the toy – you can reward with another toy for bringing it back in your general direction. As soon as he gets to the toy you are racing towards, you can do a FC and run the other way. As he is running towards you with the first toy, you can whip out another toy and reward him for coming directly back towards you.
Nice work here!
TracyGood morning!
Driving ahead is going really well. Great job connecting to see where she is looking! You don’t need the break cue because she is not in a stay – you can just use the get it or you can add your ‘go’ verbal.
The 2nd to Last rep took too long before the release so she gave up waiting and just went without you LOL
The last rep and the other reps looked great!About the retrieve:
>The retrieve needs serious help. But to be honest, between the heat and Roulez and Tchoup, I’ve had trouble getting motivated and the energy enough to work on it.>
No worries at all about the retrieve! Life is busy, to say the least, and she is doing really well with all of her games.
I have found the best way to get a retrieve is to not think of it as a retrieve. I think of it as a trade or add an additional element to the game. Here is what I mean:
The long toy helps, because you can grab the other end. When you grab the other end, start moving the other direction so she begins to automatically grab the toy and move toward you.
When she is way ahead of you and gets to the toy first: just before she arrives at the toy, you can do a front cross and go the other direction, calling her name – and as soon as she looks at you, pull out another toy or treats so she comes back. She may or may not bring the original toy at first… but that is fine for now because the first step is getting her to come back to you rather than leaving with the toy. Then we can start to delay when you show her the other toy or treat, to get her bringing the toy further and further back to you.
We do work more specifically on retrieving in the next couple of weeks, but this will keep it fun for now! I also play these games in a hallway where there is really no place else for the pup to run to with the toy 🙂
Plankrobatics looked great! She was able to balance while tugging which is really hard!
When you cue her to turn around, keep your hand low and slow, so she doesn’t have to lift her head (high head makes balancing harder – and a fast hand makes it harder to be coordinated.
She was convinced there was something under the plank LOL! There might have been a good smell, so you can always move the plank over to a new spot – sounds like it was raining or something? Maybe that was bringing up new and interesting smells?
For the planks, you can maybe take the plank off your dog walk so she has a longer plank to play on, and you can also raise it a little so she has the challenge of more height.
SSC:
She was focusing on the bowl really well!! Good job adding the end cue and verbal. The bowl made it just past halfway around on both sides here – excellent! So on the next session, you can start with the bowl halfway around (as a reminder rep or two) then keep moving it closer and closer to you so that she eventually has to focus past it and move past it to go around the cone 🙂 And you can also play this with a toy!Great job here!
TracyGood morning!
>He actually already has been to an outdoor restaurant patio once and he did great!>
Perfect – learning to be a restaurant patio dog is important prep for future big events!!
Goat tricks video:
He was great about immediately going up and over the pad over the folded laundry basket. Standing on it might have been harder because he had to compress himself a little bit but he did it really well by the end of the session.>The balance disc he has also worked with before but still has not been a huge fan of rear paws on it.>
His response is pretty normal with pups and this type of disc – happy to get feet on it, but not really offering to stay on it. He didn’t look worried about it, but it looks like the fully inflated disc is too inflated for a puppy to feel comfy standing on it – they don’t have the coordination, balance, core strength to be able to hold position on it. That is why he would go over it or circle it, but not stay on it. Take out about 50% of the inflation and I bet he has a much easier time staying on it. Then you can gradually re-inflate it as he grows up and gets stronger and more balance/coordination.
Tippy board: nice job getting that first reward for moving the board, not just getting on the board. He acknowledged that and was sure to move the board on all the next reps. SUPER! The tugging got him even more excited and that is fine – he slammed the board more before looking back at you. I think he was making up his own obstacle course by the end: tippy board to the dog bed by the fireplace. Ha! Good boy 🙂
Since he is happy with the tippy board at home, you can start to change the picture. In this spot on the rug, you can put something under the board that adds a little more noise (like a small metal food bowl). And you can bring the tippy board to new places, such as outdoors, the training facility, etc. In those new spots, start each session with lots of padding under it – I’d rather have it be too easy, than have it be startling for him in new places. And we will revisit this game throughout puppyhood and adolescence to maintain the love of movement and noise even through sensitive brain development periods.
Toy races: when he did these with someone holding him, he looked at you as you started moving so I was wondering if he was thinking of it as a restrained recall. He answered that question here: Nope! He was looking at you on that first step too, so the motion is just really stimulating. He drove ahead really well! But we can convince him to maintain his forward focus by adding 2 variations:
– you can let him move without you moving, then you can walk slowly forward. That way he rehearses continuing to look forward with less motion distraction
– you can also win the game 🙂 Using a favorite toy, get to it first! And then have your own party-of-one with it 🙂 He is going to probably have a BIG MAD which is fine so you can start the next rep right from where you are having your party. Winning the toy race game can change arousal state (in a good way) and really direct focus to the toy – while eliminating behaviors like watching the handler or going out a little wide from the handler when both are running. So you can win that first one, then not run quite as hard on the next rep so he can feel the joy of the win 🙂 He has a lot of love for the toy, so I bet he dials it up when you win a rep LOL!
Great job!
TracyHi!
>Omg it’s like you know things bahahaha>
HAHA!! My dogs have trained me a lot over the years 😂 😆
He did great driving for that ball! I think the hardest part was when he was trying to figure out how to get his mouth on it! He was able to pick it up at the end 🙂 And you can use different sizes or types of balls so they are easy to pick up.
And the good news is that he didn’t mind that you were running too! YAY!!! Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
Plankrobatics went great! She had an easy time getting all 4 feet on the plank and was REALLY great about turning around without losing her feet pretty equally on both sides. Impressive! She had one foot come off towards the end, but that was also when you moved more quickly and she dropped her head to look for a potential cookie on the ground.
On this low plank, you can add in position change: stand to sit, stand to down, sit to stand, etc. Feel free to lure because she might think it is weird to do those on a plank 🙂
And if you have something to raise the plank on, she is ready for a slightly higher plank! Just be sure it is really stable so it doesn’t slip out from under her.
Driving ahead: this also went great! She was focusing forward and leaving you in the dust. She was not exactly retrieving the toy but not exactly running off with it, so having the 2nd toy helped! And since she is leaving you in the dust, you can turn and run the other way just before she gets to the toy and call her – this can help the pups retrieve the toy. That way you won’t be reaching for it as she gets to it, which can cause her to move it away or accidentally grip your hand when she is picking up the toy.
You can add in your “go” directional! Now, if her name is pronounced “BOkeh” and the BO rhyme with GO… it might be good to choose a different verbal for Go so she doesn’t get confused. A common choice is “RUN” and it doesn’t sound like BO. And be sure to be connected and looking at her when you say it.
Great job here!
TracyHi!
Nice job with the prop game here! He has good value so it was a good transition into the sending.He was sending really well, so rewarding him back at you like you did in the 2nd part of the video worked really well to help him set up the collection into the prop. That will help us teach him how to collect into and drive out of turns. You can start to add the sideways sending now!
One suggestion: Rather than hold him before starting each rep, add the ready dance. That allows him to shift from handler focus to obstacle focus, and allows you to use a big step to go with the arm send too. You will see more driving away with that big transition because the cue is even clearer and he is more pumped up 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi!
Poor Draper! I am glad his carpus is feeling better and he is back to training!Driving ahead:
He was very focused on the toy 🙂 Yay! It was hard to see where you were looking, so be sure that you are looking at him and not at the toy 🙂You might find that he releases the toy better if you are not holding his collar – you can get him to release it (I posted a video on that yesterday to get releases without using food) then take his collar to start the next rep, or you can trade for a treat (you did a bit of that on the video and it worked great) then line him up before taking his collar.
You can add more distance to the throws, and more running too! And if he continues to drive ahead as brilliantly as he did here, you can add the “GO” verbal too 🙂
As you add more distance and he adds more speed, a higher profile toy will help prevent him from having to stop short on the toy. What I men by that is if the toy is big enough to be 6 inches or more off the ground, he can decelerate and scoop it up, rather than have to come to a complete stop (which is hard on their bodies). A hollee roller is good for that, or any big toy will be big enough for this too.
Great job!
TracyHi!
She did well switching back and forth between the 2 toys here! She seems to really love those toys LOL! Since this went so well (and burned off energy as you were saying in the video haha) you can add 2 things to it:
– instead of using the same toy, you an use 2 different toys. That can help build u the ability to go back and forth between different toys.
– you can add food! Using her most favorite toys, you can get the tugging started. Then you can give her a TINY piece of the most boring food you can find (half of a cheerio, maybe?) then go back to the super fun tugging (you ight need to get up, run around, or throw the toys to get her back onto them. This is a way we can begin to incorporate food into the games that also have toys.
Nice work here!
TracyHi!
Great job starting this with you low, then standing up. She did look up at you at first but then go right back into the game. She seems to have an easy time turning to her right (from your left to your right) and a harder time going to her left (from your right to your left).
The spots where she looked up at you when you stood up and the misses where she did not wrap were all on left turns. This is good to know!
So when adding distance, add it on the right turns (when she is on your left hand side) first – but pull the barrel back in close to you for the left turns. And when that is going well, you can inch the barrel out (literally an inch at a time LOL) when she is going to her left. That will help balance out the left and right turns.
And when we add tonight’s new game – start her on your left so she learns it going to her right at first.
Nice work!
TracyGood morning!
Driving ahead went really well! You got really good distance here! Keep working on throwing it further and further so she gets used to driving way ahead. That will also allow you to add the repeated GO GO GO cues – you had one or two Go cues so we can eep expanding on that. If you get a chance to train with other people, you can also let someone else show her the toy and throw it really far to add more distance 🙂
She was jumping around when you tossed the toy (yo can see it on the last rep) so you can keep your hand lower and your elbow locked, to help keep her feet on the ground. That way she won’t twist around or accidentally wrap your fingers in her collar.
Great job!
Tracy
Good morning!
He definitely liked tugging on that toy! And he did well looking at it and driving to it. You can add in throwing it further so he drive to it even more independently – and that all also allow you to add your motion, by walking forward as he is running to the toy.
The hardest part on that game seemed to be getting him to let go of the toy after tugging. You can try to get him to release it before you like his collar (usually puppies are slower to release if we are already holding their collar and/or pulling on the toy). I posted a video last night about getting the toy back 🙂 so you can get the toy back, then take his collar, then throw it.
The prop shaping for the foot target went really well! He was offering some really good foot targeting and you did a nice job with the clicks and rewards!
For his next session – you can keep yourself in one spot (a foot or two away from the prop), and let him go smack it – then you can toss the treat to the side, so he can get his reward then come running back to hit the target again 🙂 You can also fold the prop in half, so it is a little ‘taller’ which will make it easier to see as we add the other games.>I will start practicing this with different objects>
You can totally play this game with different objects, but for the games here you can stick with this one object – we use it to teach a variety of baby dog handling moves 🙂
>I also attempted to do the blind cross activity but my brain kept telling me to do a front cross so I will try that one again! >
That is totally relatable! For the blinds, to convince your brain to look forward and break connection with him, you can choose a spot in the distance ahead of you to look at as you start the blind, then reconnect on the new side. That might help you feel comfy doing the blinds and not the FCs.
>I really struggle with flatwork stuff when there isn’t a jump for context!>
You can use a leash or a line on the ground to be a jump bar for you – that way you have the visual of where a jump would be, but he doesn’t actually do a jump 🙂
Nice work here!
Tracy
Good morning!
>I had been working more with toys as I didn’t want to encourage a food driven puppy. >
You will probably see things swing back and forth for a while, in terms of her love for food versus her love for toys. Eventually it all balances out in early adulthood, but no worries if we see shifts especially during her adolescent stage – it is a totally normal part of brain development that there are variations in reward value.
>Treats have really helped with the leashing up – I agree that the gloves, while they protect my hands and arm, are another inviting thing to grab and bite.>
I posted a video of shaping the pup to put their head through the loop – my bitey puppy was the demo dog but he was not feeling bitey when I filmed the demo LOL!
>Working on getting the toys sorted out for the wing wrap with toys. I have one larger holey roller, and a couple of fluffy toys with long lines just need to get another holey roller.>
For that game, you can do 2 of the same toys, but also you can use different toys. There is nothing that really supports using 2 of the same toys (other than us humans being superstitious) but there is plenty of science that supports using novel toys/different toys even if they are slightly different values. So I think the hollee roller and the fluffy toy can work great! Plus, tonight we add a new game with the wing wrapping that only requires one toy.
She was a happy little girl on her resilience walk! Checking things out, exploring, being exposed to a variety of really different things. Super!
>At the start of the walk I was especially pleased with her willingness to investigate the plant that spooked her when the leash wrapped on it. Took me a bit to get the leash shorted out but she went right back to check it out. >
Yes! That was a definite resilience moment: something unexpected happened (likely activated her HPA axis even more) and then her body can practice bouncing back to baseline. She didn’t seem scared, just surprised. And she got right back into her explorations and visiting 🙂
>Hard to keep up with her so the video is kind of choppy… she’s a girl on a mission!>
It is like watching Jazz’s own reality TV show. She seemed surprised when people did not come visit her at the end LOL!!!
Great job :)
TracyHi! This session also went really well.
Excellent adjustment putting your foot on the plank so it doesn’t slide when he pushes off it for his treat! He has some nice power!
He easily put all 4 feet on this – good job changing the placement so he was getting rewarded for keeping all 4 feet on the board. That way he can follow your movement or hand as you get him to turn around on the plank or do position changes (stand to sit, stand to down, etc)
If you have something to put under this to lift it so it is a little higher, you can add that too! It doesn’t need to be much higher, just a few inches, to add challenge – but it does need to be stable so it doesn’t push out from under him. Or you can use a longer plank!
For these session, you can also break things up and add some tugging after every 4 or 5 treats. That keeps things exciting and interesting, while asking for coordination in a higher arousal state. It looks like he was asking you to do that so it is great to add in 🙂
Nice work here!
TracyHi!
He did a great job offering behavior on the fit bone and disc!
At the start of each session, you can make a toy-to-treat transition here too so he doesn’t pummel you or try to grab it off the chair – he really loved the toy in the 2nd video (10,000 squeakers!! So fun!) It can be the ‘aus’ then toss a cookie to the side, so you can put the toy down and then as he comes back to the objects, you are ready for the click/treat moments.
Really good click/treats for interacting with the objects in both videos! He was happy to offer front feet, and even a bit of walking across the 2 objects. He did not want to stay on the objects with all 4 feet though- he seemed to have an understanding that you wanted him to remain there, but he was adjusting his back feet so that at least one foot remained on the ground (clever pup!!). Two ideas for you to get all 4 feet on the objects:
For the fitness objects, usually having them fully inflated prevents the pups from putting all 4 feet on them and staying on – it is too hard to balance and they are too young to have the strength and coordination. You can see his back feet getting on then off the objects when he lost his balance. So for the next session, take out some of the inflation so the objects are a bit under-inflated. That will make it easier for him to get all 4 feet on it, then over time you can re-inflate them objects and as he develops adult coordination and strength, it will be easier to stand on them with all 4 feet.
You can also change the reward placement to get him to offer all 4 feet remaining on the objects, by delivering the treats in position on the objects. I think this is less important than taking out some of the inflation, but it is a good way to reward balancing on the objects.
Nice work!!
Tracy
