Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Hi!
Two very good sessions here! You had a ton of good clicks which really helped her isolate that it was her mouth and not her feet that you wanted.In the first session, turning it over was clever because the edges would stick up which gave her something to grab. But then she would step on it which made it hard to pick up. She seemed to figure out very quickly that it was something with mouth to frisbee so now we can help her figure out that it is lifting.
She has a ton of value for it now because she immediately interacted with it when you started session 2. Big hooray when she lifted it!!! Breakthrough! Nice job being patient and letting her work through the puzzle 🙂 After that first click for lifting it, she offered that multiple times for the rest of the session. SUPER!!!!
For the next session, you can see if she picks up where she left off by picking it up 🙂 The hardest part here was getting her to NOT step on it, because it is impossible to pick it up when her foot is on it LOL
If she struggles with picking it up because her foot is on it, you can hold it a foot or so off the ground so it is easy to get her mouth on and hard to step on 🙂 But based on how she ended here, you might not need to do that. If she does need you to lift it, you can switch gears in the session but it would be fun to see if she can solve the problem without needing you to lift it 🙂
Great job here!!
TracyHi!
Looking at Kaladin’s video:
The lap turns went really well! Easy peasy!
> I kept pointing my feet to the jump as he was coming into my MCH.>
Yes – at the beginning he couldn’t really see the opposite arm (:40) so you made it more visible (yay!) I think what was happeningafter that was that you were trying to stop your motion and lean over to set the turn with your hands… but that turned your feet to the jump so that is where he went. He was pretty honest about what he was seeing 🙂
Now compare to the rep at 1:53 – you were moving more which kept you line forward, so he read it perfectly. That is good to remember: yes, you can decel but you don’t need to stop moving.
He also read the line of motion perfectly on the balance rep at 2:54 where you went straight. That is the line of motion, so you can add in your visible arms and decel to get it consistently perfect.
Lift’s session did look smooth! You were moving forward, decelerating with visible hands, then turning her away. Lovely! She almost had a question at 1:02 where you stopped moving and turned your feet to the jump (like in Kaladin’s session) so she almost took the jump like a throwback line. That was the only time, though, the rest of the tandem turns looked strong!
The lap turn and the balance reps of going straight and the get out all worked great!
>Slightly above the high end of the range for cobalamin (she was on the high end for the last GI panel in 2024). Folate dropped a bit and is now just below the low end of the range.>
So folate is low end of normal, or clinically low/not normal? Hot Sauce’s cobalamin was on the low end of normal was when her folate was super clinically low, but she was much older than Lift is. Hot Sauce also had weird numbers on her thyroid panel (super low TT3 with everything else , which indicated *something* was off but not the typical hypothyroidism.
The vet was considering doing an abdominal ultrasound to look for GI disease but we supplemented with folic acid and everything went back to normal. We have no idea why her folate was low.
> Cortisol is on the low end of the range, but similar to the last GI panel. >
What were her electrolytes?
>We did an ACTH stim test to check for Addisons when it came in low last time and that was negative. >
It might not be Addisons (thankfully) but the low cortisol can indicate why she struggles to ‘bounce back’ easily from stressors. The bounce back mechanism in the body (HPA axis) is all about ACTH and cortisol – and if the cortisol runs low, there might be something happening that causes her body to have a harder time regulating stress responses (cortisol is a VERY useful thing!)
>I’m talking to the vet about next steps to determine if there is chronic small intestine disease or something else going on.>
You can see if the vet has a good internal med specialist you can chat with? It is definitely a puzzle!
Tracy
Hi!
>I am having a hard time with posting. The site keeps erroring out. Finally got it to stop I think by closing and reopening.?>
It is possible that the server is having trouble loading all the videos? That happens especially in iOs/Apple devices. You can start a new thread if you like – it can be Dublin Part 2 🙂
Nice job with the rear cross game! You had excellent cookie toss placement so you were able to get to the new side early enough for him to turn to the new direction. Super! He was very happy to eat the cookies because the game was so easy 🙂
For the handling combos – he was very excited about the toy, which is great! When you put it down, you can reward him with treats for moving away from it rather than holding his collar.
As he exits the barrel, the more you look at him, the better he will see the new side. The blind crosses(spins) when great!
When you did the decel and rotation as soon as he exited the barrel, he rotated with you really well! When you did it when he was almost at the toy already (like at 2:53), it was a little late and he went to the toy because it was right there.
The rep that started at 4:27 was GREAT – nice connection and timing of the FC followed by pivoting with you. SUPER!!
The sideways & backwards sending went great too. Nice job getting the verbals added too! You can add in starting another step or two away from the barrel, which allows you to start moving away before he even arrives at the barrel.
The stays are also looking really strong! At this point, the ‘catch’ and the ‘get it’ can replace the click.
When using treats, you can add in quiet praise before the reward now. And you can also add in using a toy as the reward instead of treats – tug tug tug, sit and stay… then release forward to the toy or you can say ‘catch’ and throw it back to him. He will probably be more excited 🙂 so keep the stays shorter for now so he can be successful when the toy is part of the game.
Great job!!!
Tracy
Hi!
It is $100 to upgrade to working. This link should work:
https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/7HB5ZQGL579YEThanks!
Tracy
Hi!
Fantastic session here – 100% perfect! It was a really nice progression from the thrown treat, to adding the prop but still throwing the treat, then sending to the prop. He got it right every single time and you got to the correct side every time, nice and early. SUPER!!
>He is not magnetized to the prop but it did seem to draw his attention.>
He hit the prop better when he was starting on your right side (turning to his left). He kind of side swiped it when he started on your left (turning to his right) but he still got the rear crosses every single time. He might just need a clearer send to it so he isn’t think about a tossed treat in that moment.
You can add in moving this back into a bigger space to see if you can get him driving ahead to the prop on a straight line while you set the rear cross and cut in behind him.
>We were only allowed to crate one dog inside and given the frigid weather conditions, I was not willing to crate either of them in the car for lengthy periods of time. Also Sunday was Handler’s Choice and that day you can only work one dog. So I think it worked out for the better – was also Rusty’s intro to hotel stays.>
That makes sense – it was COLD!!! I am sure Rusty had a great time 🙂
Nice work here!
Tracy
Hi!
>Took Sunnie off the property for some training AND used sting cheese >
How is her belly today, post-string-cheese?
She certainly liked the cheese, it made a pretty immediate difference after the first reward on the pattern game here. She was super engaged even with the distraction – I don’t think the added distraction stood out to her, because there were so many distractions in the environment already.
You can start the game without waiting for her to engage first: when you enter a new environment, you can show her to cookie then say get it and toss it. That basically acts as a cue to engage.
She did well with the parallel path game – true, it was not as perfect as it was at home but she is having to tune out the major distractions in the environment (on top of everything else, could you also hear the dog barking in the background? I am sure she could!)
>After some crazy reps on the one side, I decided to try the other, which worked out much better. Any idea why? Or was she just getting into the groove by then?>
Hard to know why she had trouble finding the jump on your right, at first. It could have been that she has a natural default to look at you when she is not sure or having to tune out the environment? Or maybe she needed you ahead or needed you to connect more with eye contact? Either way – it was a good idea to change sides and she totally had it on the other side! Super! Her overall focus was stellar so it is still a winning session!
>I did have a tug in my pocket which I tried to engage with her after this session, no beuno so we just walked around a little bit by the playground>
In the new outdoor areas, you might need to have a really long crazy toy and get her chasing it as you swing it around: think of making the toy into an insane bunny for her to chase 🙂
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
I totally understand how travel changes routines! But it sounds like your trip is pretty amazing 🙂 Super fun to get baby Vibe into a seminar!
>Rip made 3 podiums – 2 golds 1 silver and overall Festival win >
Woohoo!!! Congrats!! That gets you into the Speedstakes Final at the Open, or do I remember it incorrectly?
Nice facility in Tulsa! He was a super good boy with the handling combos – he was able to leave the toy on the ground really well (a couple of pounce-on-it moments but he figured out how it ignore it really quickly. The barrel wraps and exits looked great, including the decel/pivot at the end. And he also did really well with the pattern game.
The only question marks I saw over his head were about what to do when he arrives at the toy reward. He was driving to it and grabbing it – but seemed unsure about what was next. I think you were trying to encourage him to bring it to you but he was not sure and then maybe was thinking about food in that moment?
You can answer that question by separating the two concepts (handling and bring-me-the-toy-to-play). Use a really big fun toy for the handling, so when he gets to it you can easily pick up the other end and tug. And in a separate session, you can send him to the other toy (or the big toy) and do some reverse retrieves to get him bringing it to you. That way you build the retrieve but also immediately reward the barrel combos with tugging (without asking for an additional behavior of retrieving).
The parallel path game looked great! Yes, he didn’t always find the treat but he was in heaven to find the line over the jump! Nice distance!! For now, the thing to add to this is getting really close to him and starting right next to him, so he drives ahead of you. Then when you throw the reward, go all the way to it with him, then wait til he is ready, so you are close to him and moving at the same time. That will set you up nicely for rear crosses 🙂 plus it is a nice balance to all the distance.
He was so cute standing on his mat at the beginning of the RDW video! He is hitting it really well with distance and with more and more speed. I could see clear split RF hits that you were marking with good timing!
Right as I was typing “Now let’s get him to not look at you” the second clip appeared with the manners minder 🙂 Try to take out the yes or yay markers because they are drawing his gaze to you. You can click the MM for the rear feet hits, then add in the exuberant praise when he is arriving at the MM. And use just the get it when he is going the other direction (instead of ‘yay, get it’) so he is looking straight.
Usually the MM will get their heads straight so if the get it does not keep him looking forward, one option is that you can recall him to you on the other side (not across the mat) then send him again towards the MM. I also used additional targets to keep the dogs looking ahead after the MM (a bit of a chain) which worked really well but you might not need it if the MM and the get it marker keep him looking forward.
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi! I was all ready for Mojo TV but the links are all private. You can reset them to unlisted so YouTube will let me see them? Thanks!
Tracy
For the leash, you can have it on him and hold it as you walk away, to simulate walking into the trial ring with the cookies/toy left outside the ring. It adds a different component for most dogs so I like to get them used to it as youngsters 🙂
Tracy
Good morning!
It didn’t really hurt but I was mad at myself for being careless by leaving the door open LOLKeep me posted on how she is feeling!
Tracy
Hi!
>. I didn’t have the camera at the best angle either, sorry about that.>
No apologies needed, the camera angle worked great!! The session went really well.
The reps of the brake arm for the wrap went really well. She turned nice and tight!
When you were right at the wing, she committed really well wioth you rotated and your outside arm up – those turns were REALLY tight! Later in the video, you added more movement into it and that was great – it gave you the chance to decelerate and show her the arm cue. The reps at 1:12 – 1:24 were really good with you moving forward and then decelerating to show her the arm, then rotating. Those were pretty realistic to how it would be on a course and it worked really well. The other reps were strong but you might not always be ahead of her to be rotated at the wing, so it was great to practice with movement into the cue.She only had one questions about where to be: When you were facing the jump and then swung the opposite arm across at 1:08- that also caused your left leg to step out so the arm and leg together pushed across the bar, which looked like a rear cross cue (which is why she turned right not left)
When you sent her back through at 1:13. the arm cue was to the left turn wing and the leg planted in position rather than stepped towards the jump, so she got the left turn there really well. Super!
> I couldn’t really wrap my brain around the exit line. It looked easy when you did it but then when I tried, I felt super awkward so I’m sure I was doing something wrong.>
The first exit line arm reps looked gorgeous! She knew exactly where to be! Loking at the reps at :27, :37. :43 your exit line arm was clear and your dog-side shoulder was back towards her.
When you revisited the exit line arm later in the video, the exit line arm was still good but not as tight as the earlier reps because your dog-side arm was not back enough – I think you were trying to show her the line with it but it ended up blocking her view of the exit line arm (like at 1:42, 1:46) So you can keep the dog side arm out of the way and let the exit line arm do all the work.
Great job here. She is ready for the sequences!
Tracy
Hi! I am glad the weather is cooperating and you & Luna could jump in 🙂 Luna is really fun and I am glad she is yours!
The evil arm wraps went really well!
>I think I’m seeing a difference? With the opposite arm, she seems to commit earlier and give me a tighter/clearer wrap. Without it, it feels a bit flatter and maybe slightly wider.>
Yes, I see it too. The opposite arm is a strong collection cue so she is turning better. Without it, she is jumping straight and landing wider.
I grabbed some screenshots of it! On the evil arm reps, you can see she is collecting before takeoff and landing on a nice tight line, ready to finish the turn. On the non-evil-arm reps, she was taking off straighter, landing wider and doing most of the turning after she landed. It is a bit subtle because she did a good job but it is definitely there.
You can see that here:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1kfd2upL0lclvAnFGZA1CTdAnM6_oW3kFImubEIWE_WI/edit?usp=sharingShe was getting a little tired by the end and trotting more than running, so you can mix in more go reps to give turn muscles a break, and also work the games with lower bars,
Adding the exit line arm will also tighten the line after the wrap – those are 2 evil arm uses that work really well together 🙂
>One other question I had is I’ve been cueing from a bit of a distance because I don’t really want to go all the way in to the jump. Is that okay?>
Yes – you can cue it from anywhere and we definitely don’t want to rely on always having to get ot the jump. When you get to the sequences, you will see that you can start timing the cues for when she is exiting the tunnel before the wrap jump. Wherever you are when she exits the tunnel, you would start the decel and bring the evil arm 🙂 into play to help commit her to the jump. The only thing to be careful of that is that you don’t rotate too early because that might pull her off the jump.
Great job!
Tracy
>but she doesn’t think he’s quite finished growing!! yikes>
Wait, what? I am glad he is feeling great but also, how old is he? He can be done growing LOL!!!!! He is already perfect 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
I agree – this was really excellent!!
Great job maintaining criteria here on the mat! You were really good about marking that last back foot, and really good about NOT rewarding when he missed and only hit with 3 feet 🙂 Super!
So the next session of this can have even more tugging so he is in higher arousal. That will challenge him: can you be precise with your feet while you are feeling wild? That will be very useful for his agility future 🙂
Great job here!!
Tracy
Hi!
> I typed up a whole thing about the week I’ve had – the week was suboptimal.>
Oh no!!! I am sorry to hear that!!! But at least you got to vent it out!
> But I lost what I typed>
Darned internet!!!!
> Which was yesterday’s attempt at ssc. I was away on the weekend and we did some ssc at all the places I went and he did great in unfamiliar places, I even added a neutral distraction (shoe) while I was camping on Sunday night.>
Yay! Good boy!!
> I thought maybe I could up the distraction in the familiar location of the backyard (narrator voice; she could not in fact up the distraction level). I cut out a bit where I go to try and find a neutral distraction.>
I think he was ignoring the toy on the ground until you said YES and tug at :53, so he went for the one on the ground. Ok, that is legit, he thought it was for him to grab it 🙂 The tug verbal might have been too general meaning any of his toys were available.
He did investigate the plastic lid you put down at 1:35, but I think that was because it looks a lot like one of the target/prop games. Then he was very good about ignoring it. It was pretty neutral!
What you can do is bring a chair out into the area before he comes out. Then put a bag of treats or a toy onto the chair… then bring him out to add more distraction. Having it on the chair makes it a little easier, because toy on the ground was very hard 🙂 And I love that he enjoys tugging, so putting the toy up on a chair can help him understand that not all toys should be grabbed 🙂 And by having it already out there when he comes into the session, he won’t see you put it down. When you interact with it, it enhances it and draws his attention to it, making it harder to ignore.
Great job here!
Tracy
