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Hi!
What is runnings – a food place? Sounds like fun and great for both dogs! And yes, the worker should not have been throwing boxes! I agree with you, Chaser.> I see such glimmers of confidence that sometimes it’s just simply put hard when it’s not there other places.>
It is coming along! Let it all percolate and it will be fine 🙂
T
Hi!
I thin this session went beautifully! She is finding the line really easily which means you can add more lateral distance between the tunnel and the jump (the jump doesn’t have to be past the tunnel exit, just further from the tunnel laterally).
You can also add using your ‘chase’ marker more consistently (she looks at you when you use “yes”) but also you can put another wing out past the jump for her to go to after getting the jump. It is possible that the game is too easy for her 🙂 so adding another wing to go to adds more challenge.
And, she is ready for the tunnel to be opened up and set for real (which also means you can add the advanced games including the sequence where she can take the tunnel 🙂 )
Great job here!
Tracy
These are definitely more specific:
>Stop moving.>
Yes, and stop talking to him. There was a whole one-sided conversation going on complete with kissy noises. Let him work! The talking was adding more pressure and distraction.
>Pick up the toy or hold it so he doesn’t make an error to go get it and get confused.>
Yes – the toy on the ground was more for his bandwidth to have to ignore. Plus for instant focus, it should be hidden for 2 reasons: a remote reinforcement element, and also we don’t want him to be confused about what he should instantly focus on: toy or object?
>Honestly I would have /should have sat on the floor. I do a lot of training sitting at home bc my back hurts a lot and brought more attention to the prop.>
Maybe, but standing was fine too here. The biggest change I would suggest is that you reward the initial interaction and be less invested in getting the perfect finished behavior. He did the correct thing of immediately going to and interacting with the prop – boom! Reward that. That is step one of the game: reward interaction, any interaction, don’t want for the finished product in the hard environment. He didn’t get rewarded, so he got confused – then you started making weird noises 😂🤣(I know, you were wanting to encourage more offering, but that doesn’t seem to be how he understands it) so be quiet and reward sooner. It is an instant interaction one-and-done game, so reward what you get in these earlier stages #DontBeGreedy
>Not drop the leash by accident and have to stand on it causing the correction I said I would never do>
YESSSSSSS I have that in writing from 8/23 at 11:09 am LOL!!! I was totally going to bust you on that but you self-busted 🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂
The pee tree and Karen coming over didn’t have anything to do with the training session, they were only interesting when he didn’t know what you wanted.
>Set up where I knew I could run if needed ( I couldn’t I’d fall. It’s hilly weedy and cars everywhere)>
You don’t need to run anywhere for this game 🙂
Great job with your self-feedback!
Tracy
Hi!
>I am glad I can work in these in class too. My instructor has done your classes or has them at least to look back at the lessons. Her view is another set of eyes for me is good and she seems ok with doing them.>
Is it Beth? It is hard to tell on the videos sometimes – tell her I say hi!
>The other dog wasn’t new. I can not remember if he had seen her run before. She is a pitty mix. Smaller brown dog.>
Was she in season? Or maybe there was another dog there in season and he didn’t quite know what to do with the scent of it all?
> I know his being cooped up more for a second week has not helped.>
You can experiment with letting him zoom around at lunch perhaps, or before he goes to class, to blow off some steam.
> I will come prepared with some better treats next time. Thanks for the suggestion of the meatballs. He seems big into string cheese right now too.>
A few of my dogs think string cheese is the BEST THING EVER (even though they get it all the time). Kind of like me with chocolate haha
> I definitely will have the instructor or a friend toss the reward. I had wondered about putting more people into that ring but on some of these harder skills I wasn’t sure if he might check out too much.>
At this age, it is probably better to get the in-ring distractions going and break down the harder skills so he can learn them and ignore the people. He is a brilliant dude so the skills are going to be easy for him. Having a lot of opportunities to train with distractions – that is a lot harder so definitely embrace them when possible 🙂
Tracy
Hi! He did great here!
His little head tilt when you praised the first couple of times: SO CUTE! He did really well here with his waits. His only real question was when you bent down (the first time) – he thought that was the release. You were smoother on the other reps and he had no questions.
He moved out of the stay before a verbal release at 1:17 too – if you watch him there, it looks like something dropped (maybe a crumb fell out of his mouth) and he looked for it as if it was a thrown reward – then he went to you, a little confused. Darned crumbs LOL! The rest was perfect 🙂
Fingers crossed for good weather so you can get outside! Nice work 🙂
Tracy
Before I give any feedback, I want you to go through the video and tell me what you’d do differently (as if you were giving feedback to a student :))
Hi!
>The next step here is to move the toy outside the ring and play a similar game, adding going through the gate.>
Play the remote reinforcement game, but with the toy outside the ring so he gets experience seeing you leave it outside the ring, go through the gate, do a few tricks, mark with the RR marker, then back out for the toy 🙂
>I took Chase to Barn hunt and got Ella tugging and he’s all in. I got him out again with out Ella and he was all in. I’m going it when no dogs are out but I’m hoping to time it when a chill dog is out wandering and peeing>
Fabulous!!! Are there people you know who you can ask for provide a chill dog at a distance?
T
Good morning!
It is really great that you can work these skills in class. And since you have human helpers… get them to throw the toy for you. He is a fast dude so running, cueing, and throwing is hard so you can delegate the throwing to someone else 🙂The other reason I like having other people in the ring and throwing the toy for him is all of the practice he gets IGNORING them 🙂 He is a really nice dog and seems to like people! So all of this practice running sequences and ignoring people even when they are holding his toy is GREAT for his trialing future!
Jumping towards the ring fencing was no problem for him and it made for some good laughs with the toy throws LOL!!
When your instructor threw the toy at about 2:50 – it was GREAT! You only needed to think about the handling and the instructor was able to get the reward in for you. You threw it really well at 3:31 so you can throw it if needed – but delegating will make it easier for you 🙂
The jump being on a slight angle made the first go rep hard but then he locked in. Your rear crosses looked good and when you were continuing to move forward past the wing, his commitment looked really strong too!
When you switched sides and wanted the go line, he actually had to move away from you so it was more of a get out – that is why it was harder for him to get that jump. But then your instructor had great timing of getting the toy there and it really helped!
For the RC on that other side – he was looking at you at 6:32 for more info (not so much at the toy) because the line to the jump was a little offset so the RC was also harder – if you are training alone and have a weird line, this is where you can totally place the reward out on the line. Having the instructor place it on the last rep REALLY helped him see the line. SUPER!
>We also had another strange thing happen in class. Prior to our turn Dublin was going crazy barking and jumping up when the dog before us was running. >
Spicy teenager! What type of dog was it – very exciting dog & handler? A dog he knows, or maybe a new dog? Girl dog? It was probably surprising but it is pretty normal at this age. And you can plan for next time, when he encounters the same or similar dog.
>I have never seen him like this in class.>
The ups-and-downs of adolescence….. fun. Not. Ha! If I am ever helping one of my dogs through a teenager-moment and someone looks at me funny, I just smile, say “teenager!” and shrug my shoulders. That way the humans can all relate and we can help the dog 🙂
>I could barely get his attention for our pattern game. He wanted to go play with the dog. It was quite shocking and actually embarrassing>
Definitely no need to be embarrassing! Anyone who has even had a teenage dog has seen this at one point 🙂 Good for you for going to the pattern game, that was an excellent option. You can also add as much distance as possible: and if even being in the room is too much, you can step into the crate area or outside the door to help him regain his focus.
And since he showed this behavior – no worries, but you can step up to insanely high value treats with you for next time in case it happens again. Anything high value and different will e great: my high value go-to treats are meatballs and Costco rotisserie chicken chunks 🙂 And you can also whip out a favorite toy! That might be powerful enough to help redirect him from the excitement of the other dog.
Great job here!!
Tracy
Good morning!
Oh wow! he did great here! Your verbals and reward placement really helped him figure it out.
It was fun to see the first session to start it off, then the 2nd session where he was putting it together brilliantly. He was a little slower on the very last rep but he might have been a bit tired – there is a lot of yardage for the dogs during layering and very little yardage for us humans so we don’t get tired and the dog get very tired 🤣😂
Layering has turned into a key skill in all types of agility (plus it is fun), so definitely revisit this game here and there: yes, switch to the other side as you mentioned. And you can also gradually expand the distance so he learns to work further and further away from you.
Excellent job here!
Tracy
Good morning! (Or afternoon 🙂 )
These runs went really well! And I agree that her waits are looking much better and also her frustration level is way down. Lots of happy, smooth work!!
1s video:
Really strong run here! You are doing a really good job of keeping your arms down and staying connected, so she can focus on finding the line and not trying to figure out what you want. Super!
The wait at the beginning was the best wait. I have ever seen her do! It looked like you were going to release her at one point so she twitched a little but didn’t break then sat again on cue. Good girl!
She had little questions about the tunnel – on the first tunnel entry, the rear cross caused a spin so keep driving to the center of the entry to support her line to it.
And at :32 the blind cross was a great idea but you were accidentally on her line – which is why she went to the other side of the tunnel. You needed to be just a step or two further over to your right so she can see the tunnel entry.But she didn’t get frustrated and kept working. Yay!
The 2nd run (2nd video) also went well – the rear cross on the first until was much smoother. You switch to a rear cross on the 2nd tunnel entry as well – but the curve of the tunnel confused her so she came back out the entry. That is a good skill to break out and work on: rear crossing a curved tunnel that turns her away from where you are. You can start with less of a curve to teach her the skill.
3nd video: the sequence looked really good here. You were super connected and kept moving, and that helps her so much!
She really only had one question (on 3 and then line to 4). You had a backjump there at :17 – you were on the landing side and a few steps away, so she thought that was the line and backjumped when you stepped forward. And a bar down there at :43 for the same reason (your position on landing side). And that caused questions on 4 as well. Be sure to get to the takeoff side – you can use a slightly longer lead out there. Even if you are a bit laterally away from the 3 jump, being on takeoff side will smooth out the line at 3 and get the line to 4 much clearer too.
Nice job getting the backside after the tunnel! The rest looked great!
Nice work here!
Tracy
Good morning! Happy birthday, Macklynn!!!! I am glad the X-rays looked good.
>And we are slowly revisiting the pressure and self-regulating games from MaxPup 1. >
Keep revisiting these until she is middle-aged 🙂 My adult dogs play those games all the time too!
>Thank you for those reminders as well- Im not sure why we are regressing in those areas, but glad we have something to fall back on and reset.>
She is in the early adolescent stages of brain and body development so seeing some regression is totally normal.
>We revisited the Strike a Pose Proofing tonight- and it seemed to go better this time around:>
Yes, definitely better! She loves the finger wiggle as part of the serp cue 🙂 And as soon as she knew the jump was in play, she was very successful – that means you can also set up more success on the very first rep t get the jump and not the tunnel:
you can have her a lot closer to the jump so there is less speed and stand completely still. She can even be angled to face the jump more and your shoulders can be facing her a lot (and wiggling your fingers).And if you do that and she still takes the tunnel? No toy reward 🙂 As long as she only has one or two errors, it is informative to be like “that was not correct”. But if she keeps failing, then either it is too hard or she doesn’t understand (or the handling is not correct) so you will want to make it easier.
Looking at the RC videos: The GO reps on both the right and left sides looked good!
I think some of the confusion she had on the right turn RCs was related to the Go reps – as you were moving forward, I think you were saying ‘go’, which means stay straight (and in that case, on a left lead). So when you were a bit lateral and saying ‘go’ she didn’t realize it was a right turn RC (the right verbals were happening at the bar).
To set the physical cues for the RC, you can get right up on the tunnel exit and run to the center of the bar so she sees the RC info as she exits (and say only the directional, not the Go verbal :))
The rep at 4:04 was my favorite RC line on this video, and she read it really well! Yay!!! Great job driving up the line to the center of the bar there.Her left turn RCs were stronger partially because yes, she is a bit more of a lefty. But also you cued them better: really nice RC info at 1:22! And also good RC info at 2:03, and you only said ‘left’ on that one and not ‘go’, so it was much clearer to her. She does like her words LOL!
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Good morning! I think she really liked the layering game: run fast, do the jump, get the bal? Yes please! It went really well!!
Be sure you are matching her line with your motion – ideally you are moving on a parallel line to her. If you are too stationary (like at :33) she might ask questions about whether she should stay on the line or not.
This will help as you make the tunnel more of an option – you can move to the next steps here where the tunnel entry & exit are visible!
>She’s much better turning right>
She is doing well to the left too! I am happy with both directions, even if she needs extra exaggeration on the left turn handling for now.
>I left in abifuer blooper because I can’t believe I hit a jump upright again – this time the top of the wing>
That is pretty hilarious LOL! But she didn’t mind, she still gets the ball 🙂
Great job here! Onwards to the advanced level!
Tracy
Hi!
Serps are hard for sure but he is doing well! The biggest thing to help him will be rotating your shoulders to face the jump more. You can do that by swinging your serp arm back more so the center of your chest lines up with the bar.
When your shoulders are too closed, he either comes through the gap to you (like at :52) or he is actually getting a cue to layer and *not* take the jump (like at :57). Good boy!
And when you opened your shoulders so he could see them facing the bar more? He took the jump every time. Yay!
Here are visuals of what I mean – you can see how the shoulder position cues his line:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Qx7Lw8aZ_uifPkU4hFkrRuzKLKnOnjZdl8lCIj3D_4g/edit?usp=sharing2 other things that will help with serps: You can angle the jump to face him a little as he exits the start wing, so he sees more of the bar. And you can send to the start wing from further away (yo can be at the first wing of the jump) so he sees you between the uprights sooner with your shoulders rotated back towards the bar.
FC wraps looked good, no questions on those. Super!
>I think it was the time of evening when many people are out with their dogs and then a BIG group of runners ran by. I lost him a couple of times to those distractions (which I cut out for time), but was able to get him back with up and down, ping pong, superbowls sort of stuff, and it’s also why I’m a little loose with his starting position on some of the sends since I was wanting to get him moving.>
He was looking around or scenting when started reps – he did well with the training, but I think if you add toy play before and after each rep, the distractions will go away. You can still line up and reward the serps with food, but the toy play seems to be his preferred reinforcement. Using it more will bring up the excitement level for sure, reduce distractions, and also build food value because it is being paired with the fun of toys.
The zig zags went really well. There was a toy involved here, so you can see he was ALL IN 🙂 Even with the control elements of the game (the stay, the lead shifting), he was thoughtful and fully engaged. He did well in both directions!
>he seemed very nervous about it so I backed up to reaching my hand through the loop with a treat. He would not allow himself to be lured at first,>
This indicates some of the reason why he might be uncomfortable with the collar grabs in general, too!
Luring is almost always done with food, because it is just easier to manipulate food. But to make faster progress in both teaching him the game AND getting the love for this game: use a toy 🙂And the very large loop is a good way to start – add a large loop to a ball or toy and it will be the most fun game ever 🙂 He might be wary of food lures (there might be a history of food lures being used to catch him) and also food lures might not be motivating enough (unless they are incredibly high value but even then… his breeds might still not be that interested in them 🙂 )
You can do a toy lure, give him the toy, give him a treat, give him MORE toy time. That builds the behavior we want AND the value of the food. His feedback about food-only sessions being “just ok” is very useful!
Nice work here!
TracyGood morning!
He was totally on board with the toy reward here! He drove to the jump beautifully, looking ahead.>I only focused on tossing the toy here, and didn’t go back to the stationary toy.>
You don’t need the stationary toy 🙂 The throws were good! You can keep adding distance to this game – how far ahead can he drive?
One thing I notice is that after the toy throw, he takes the toy and heads for the door every time. There is something about the transition into the next rep where he is avoiding giving the toy back or returning to the game. So when you throw it and he gets it, play with him more for at least 20-30 seconds (tugging, throwing the toy, having a big party) before putting him back into the work. You went to get him and tugged on the way back to the start wing, but it was more of a transport and not as much of an actual party 🙂 In a bigger setting, he might go further away with the toy making it harder to get him back. So more play here will help!
You can also have a 2nd toy: throw the first one for him to get, then when he gets it: present the 2nd toy for him to come play play play with you 🙂 And don’t immediately head back to the start of the next rep, as he might be associating that with having to give the toy back (and might be avoiding that).
>(I did plan to try with the treat hugger as well,>
You can try it and see how he feels about it. The toy is a big winner in this game so far!
On the set point:
Yes, the bouncing was hard at first – you can bounce it after the release to get him super focused on it
But I think some of the stay confusing was what the release was – he was in those stays for a long time (in dog years LOL) and probably too long for now. At 1:00 for example, you opened your mouth and started to run so he (and I 🤣) thought it was the release. The release at 1;21 had running paired with it, so he might think running is indeed part of the release.
And after he had a few questions/failures, he started looking around. For example a stay started at 1:04 but the release didn’t come until 1:21… so you got some looking around there. You can be more predictable in getting into the release sooner, as long as the verbal is not paired with the start of movement. The next reps were more like that and he did great!
>you can see the toy throw back to him was a little weird. >
Did he play with it and tug with you after you threw it? I think it was not weird as much as it was new, especially in that context.
>Again no food even for the resets, which he did well with today, but I think normally, and especially in more difficult environments, I’d like to use food at least for reinforcing the resets, and probably the stays >
It will depend entirely on how he feels about and responds to food in those environments. The difference between toy and food in the training videos is pretty big, with the toy being a clear motivator/reinforcement and food is not at the same level. It might mean higher value food will help? Or not 🙂 Many BCs and Aussies are more motivated by toys at this stage, and those are better choices as reinforcement. The food value can be built, of course, to be used in conjunction with toys. But the food-only sessions have a very different feel to them in terms of his excitement level, so definitely keep toy in the picture!
Nice work here!
Tracy
