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Good morning!
The decel foundations looked great, even with a cat distraction out ahead!2 small suggestions:
– you can use a marker cue for the cookie toss – something like “get it” so she knows when you have tossed it and where it is… especially because she knows you are going the other direction 🙂– Keep the pivot nice and slow – too much acceleration through it will cause her to swing wide (and make you dizzy :))
Great job!! You can add more distance to this if you have a longer space, so she can see you run for a couple of steps, then give her a big decel when she is no more than halfway to you.
Tracy
Good morning!
Yes, yesterday was definitely summer-feeling but today is definitely Florida winter! Does she have a pointy dog coat? LOL!
She did GREAT here – SO MANY DISTRACTIONS in the environment! She really didn’t struggle and was able to tune out most of them (the dog walking really close by got her attention but then she returned to the game). You made an excellent choice to do a simpler game that already had played, so she has a frame of reference to fall back on even though the environment was very different and even the bowls were different. And it looks like you were using your water bottle as the object to go around? Brilliant!!! Ha! I remember seeing a giant traffic cone near one of the barns, maybe you can snag that for the next session?
I am sure you can also do the blind cross game – short cookie toss then you run away and do a blind to the toy.Great job!
TracyGood morning!
I am glad to hear that he was so confident on his walk!! Yay!
On the first video – what was on top of the machine that he really wanted? Food? The 2nd toy was definitely higher value so he did well playing, and you can also have the food a little further away to get the game start.
He did GREAT trading for the kibble then driving to the toy! Very nice! He had great forward focus on the toy here. And bonus: a retrieve!! Try not to grab so close to his face when he brings it – that was a little too much pressure so grab for the end of the toy. And nice scatter decompression after all of that high energy play!
You can add in changing your position next, working towards standing up – kneeling or sitting on something higher for a few reps, then standing. We are going to add more of your motion in soon!
Prop sends:
He had a little trouble looking away from your hand, especially when turning to his right at the beginning of the session and end of the session – perhaps it is a little hand target confusion (especially when your hand was open), perhaps it is difficulty moving away from the food, perhaps a side preference challenge, or all of the above. But he is able to hit the prop AND look at your hand, so a couple of ideas for you to get him looking at it and driving away more:
– live by the 2 failure rule. If you have 2 reps that do not get rewarded, then you need to make it easier (or end the session if you are not sure how to help him – no need to end on a ‘good note’ because that is not based in any science :)) Those 2 reps do not have to be in a row, it is 2 reps total. If you get more than 2 failures, you will feel/see the frustration and we want to avoid that. Plus, the 2 failure rule is will help prevent sessions that go on too long.
– when sending, use a closed hand, pointing a finger. That might look different enough from holding a cookie.
– Mark the moment he looks at the prop and not at you, even if it is before he gets to the prop. Then toss the treat towards the prop, so you are basically making it all about the prop (the foot target criteria is not as important as the looking forward and looking away from your hand).
– Start on the left turn side to get this going. Then do just a couple of reps on the right turn side, nice and close, then go back to the left turn side. The mechanics on the right turn side are HARD so sorting this out on the easier side for him will really help.
The hand targeting is looking good! My only suggestion is to let him see you shift your gaze from looking at him, to looking at the target. That will help him drive right into the target and not look up at you.
The decel and pivot looked great – he is following the empty hand really well! You can add more of your motion into it – let hi see you moving forward then show a big decel when he is halfway to you, then slow pivot when he gets to you.
>>would love links for buying some of the fun long whippety fur tugs!!!
The flyball people have the BEST tugs! Two of my current favorites are:
TugAwayCUWin:
http://www.tugawaycuwin.comWild At Heart
https://wildatheartpetcompany.comFabulous toys! They are both here at the US Open if you know anyone who can bring some back for you 🙂
Great job here!
TracyGood morning!
The games are going really well!
On the decel and pivot game: he did really well! You had clear connection and a nice low cookie hand, so he had no trouble driving into position. You can add in more of your movement: as he is moving towards you, you can show him deceleration into the pivot, which will set the framework for handling games.
You can also start it from a cookie toss rather than a stay. That actually gives a little bit of countermotion commitment foundation, because you are sending him away to ‘do a thing’ 😁 even though you are clearly going to the other direction. It is super easy at this point but a useful foundation.The cookie toss also gives a bit of impulse control and marker foundation too by teaching the pup to get the ONE cookie and return to engagement, rather than look for the cookie cousins that might be out there.
>> left side, not sure why.>
Yes, add the right side 🙂
Really nice connection on the blind crosses!! You made it very clear so he was able to change sides with no questions. Super! You can let that toy dangle a bit more as you present it to him, so he doesn’t jump up to get it (he will be taller soon so it won’t be a question 🙂
>>It was originally hard to get the timing on this because the cookie throw ended up being him far more invested in the floor,>
This is a good game to work the cookie throw impulse control! Starting with him next to you, you can use a marker to toss it away (such as “get it”), then as he grabs it, you take off running and calling him: big party when he returns engagement to you! Then you will find it easier to get the blinds in. If he is having trouble finding the treat, you can toss it onto a mat so he can find it very easily, making engagement after getting it easier too.
He is hitting his hat prop really well! The left turn side does not seem quite as perfect as the right turn side, so he had a couple of close hits then a couple of questions. So on the right turn side, you can start at the same distance and also add the sideways sending. On the left turn sides, start closer and set up more success so he doesn’t have as many questions. If he fails twice in the session (meaning there are reps you don’t reward) then it is too hard and it is his cue to you to make it easier.
>>we also struggled with getting him excited, because excited at his age means biting, and that kind of takes away from the work there. Maybe I should just hold his collar loosely and verbally get him excited versus using physical play?>
We definitely want to work on the arousal regulation that the ready dance brings… but definitely don’t use physical play 🙂 Most puppies really don’t like physical play and I think he falls into that category for now – it can be overstimulating and/or frustrating.
Instead, the ready dance is more about you showing muscle tension, bent knees, eye contact, silly words 🙂 I don’t touch the dogs during the ready dance, so it is not really physical play in that way 🙂 And if he can reflect that back to you, you can either send him to the prop or reward him right there for being engaged without any tooth hugs. No need to hold his collar because we do want him to have some agency with the impulse control there and the collar hold might suppress that.
When he did grab your arm here, it looked like a frustration behavior linked to the session have a few too many reps on the hard side, and definitely too many failures. So at 1:15 when you weren’t quite as connected, he bubbled over into grabbing. If you are seeing that elsewhere in training, be sure to keep your sessions super short with a high rate of success – no more than 2 failures in the session.
He did great with the wing wrap foundations!!! You can move the bowls back with you as you add distance, having them just behind your knees – that will give him more room to turn around for the next wrap.
The next steps here are to:
– add different things for him to go around, such as a single upright, a big cone, a barrel (I use a laundry basket) or any big random object
– move yourself into a standing position. When you stand up, start close to the object again so we don’t have 2 challenges for him. And when he is happy with you standing, then you can add a little distance away from the object too.Great job on these!!!!
Tracy
Hi!
>>With this game how do I know when to continue to progress the bowl? I’m not sure at what point she goes into oh this is the game you go around the come to get the thing vs look at the line>>
Keep progressing the bowl, bearing in mind that the key to getting the bowl is looking away from it (and at the line around the cone). This is easy at first because the bowl is also on the line, but we very quickly progress to the bowl being visible opposite of where we want her to look. So don’t let go of her until you get at least an eye flick towards the correct side of the cone (and away from the bowl).
>( I may also be asking for a friend who is red and is struggling with FF and totally looks at the cookie bowl but will still go around the cone to get it vs be lining for the cookie itself>
This is a good game for the red friend 🙂 because the criteria is not about going around the cone, it is more about where she looks 🙂
T
Hi!
>Thanks for fitting these feedbacks in—you must be at UKI?>
No problem! Yes, I am at UKI. Note to self: do NOT say jump to a dog that has a nice grasp of verbals when what you mean is tunnel LOL!! OOPSIE 😂🤣
The blind crosses look great! Your connection was especially excellent 🙂 You can start the blinds sooner now: as soon as he is on the way to you, that very first step – do the blind 🙂 The will help prep your timing for when he is a full-speed adult on course.
The stealth self-control game looks good too! He checked out the object a bit, but that was mainly because there was a break in the action and so he just took a look. He was able to tune it out really well on all the other reps.
Great job on these! Onwards to week 2 games!
Tracy
Hi!
I agree, she did well here! You can see her change her gaze a bit to look forward. Even if it is not perfect focus forward yet, it will be soon because of how the indication was paired with going around the line.She does not appear to be a lover of the collar hold in all cases? So you can do more of what you did on the last rep: line her up at your side (cookie lure is fine!), gently hold her collar (but don’t move her at this stage – she doesn’t seem to love that), then plop the cookie in the bowl. That can make the collar hold element even smoother and more happy-making 🙂
Next step: try this with a toy!
Great job 🙂
TracyHi!
>My bad – I misunderstood and thought we were supposed to toss the cookie relatively close to the object.>
Nope, that is MY bad, I clearly didn’t make that obvious in the explanation or video. Sorry! He still did a great job!
>Typical of the breed, he has no issues with things that move or make loud noises. He loves to bang the tippy Cato board. he can also get onto 4 pods – front feet were shaped and back feet were lured (to cut down frustration for him).>
Remind me if he is your first Mali? My have Mali is an absolute joy to train. What a fun breed!!
>I have also taken a class with him just on markers. I found it lowered his frustration quite a bit.>
Yes! Markers and clear reinforcement procedures mean clarity, which definitely reduces frustration!
I love that you already have a lot of markers. In this class format, most people come in as a blank slate so I introduce them slowly. Since you already have a big vocabulary, I am excited to see you use them!!
>Have fun at the US Open – too late in the year for us to get there and back in the RV without hitting bad weather.
>We miss you! But yes, the weather is iffy and you would have hit a big storm on the way home. You can just drive up the east coast and stay in the warm parts of the winter LOL! I am not sure the 5:30 am course builds qualify as “fun” LOL!
On the video:
The pivot on the donut is both brilliant and hilarious! Then when you moved back and he kind of straddled it and looked at you: nailed it! LOL!!!Since he is confident and doing really well with his shaping to get on things, I want to add a little spice to it for him: getting him to offer good proprioception behaviors and balance… in high arousal. Easy peasy! And starts to train his brain for what he will need to do in the ring.
Take a bunch of stuff that he can offer behavior on: wobble board. Donut, plank, cot, table, low inflatables, anything at all and kind of make a low pile and trail out of them. You will need to enlist a helper (hi Terry!)and you are going to do a loop:
– starting on the pile, reward interaction with the stuff with cookies.
– After 5 or 6 cookies, hand him to the helper and do an exciting restrained recall to a tug.
– After the recall, go right back to the pile and into the shaping. Arousal should be spiked now: can he still think about his feet, balance, etc? And after 5 or 6 cookies… another exciting recall.
Do that 4 or 5 times in a row (probably takes 2 minutes or so) then let him sleep – he might not appear tired (Mal!) but his brain needs to percolate on the body awareness in arousal.We are doing this to help develop state dependent memory: in other words, can he be highly aroused in training like he would be in a trial, and be able to use his body appropriately – like we will want him to do in a trial 🙂 I have video of my 9 month old puppy doing this recently, I can find it if you want a visual.
The trash can wrapping looks great – he seems to be pretty balance in both directions. He will be ready for more soon, but we need to prepare LOL!! Are you going to use the same wrap verbals as you use with the BCs? Also, he is not even driving hard around it yet and he is slipping… as we get to the exciting games, you will want to get footing he won’t slip on. You might notice I have turf indoors in some of the demos: that is long blade turn I bought from amazon and it is GREAT – no slipping! I also use thick carpet.
>These 2 toys are roughly equivalent in value, the green one may be a bit higher>
I also thought the green one was higher value – he was looking at it then he really pounced on it when you said strike… but then he really pounced on the other one when you indicated that one. So there is value in playing with you which is GREAT! With small toys like that, you might consider getting gloves so that if he comes in hot to a toy, your hands are protected from accidental teeth.
The food skills also look good!
I think you can use all of this for the Forward focus ‘fold it in’ game: markers, forward focus, impulse control all rolled into on (food and toys too!) That would be a good next step then we can add a verbal to look forward to the line if you don’t already have one.
Great job!
TracyYes, 4 month old baby dog and half whippet…. Short sessions! Whippety dogs really don’t need long sessions, they just need a quick explanation then they go sleep on it and learn it LOL!
Hi!
>trying to hold puppy, while putting the treat in the bowl was a challenge – you’ll see this at the beginning. >
Yes, I think this game should come with a warning that 6 hands are required LOL! He was definitely into it, so you can try to hold his collar before adding the treat to the dish. You can start close and the slide it away if needed.
Good job adding the hand cue to this – it was hard to tell where he was looking, so you can wait until he looks at the correct side of the cone before saying ‘check check’ and releasing him, followed by the dish cue when he is going the correct direction. That will be easy when the dish is on his line, and harder when he has to ignore it 🙂 I *think* he looked at the line and not the dish on the very last rep at 1:55? You were watching him really well, so let me know where he was looking.
Try this on the other side too and also use a toy: and when he is able to focus on the line, we can add a verbal cue to that if you like!
Well done on a super successful session: lots of reinforcement and only one blooper. That one blooper was VERY informative to him: without getting mad or anything, you were like “that is not it” and then he got the concept. Sometimes that one blooper mixed in with all of the successes helps really solidify the concept without any frustration.
Great job!
TracyHi!
This was great! I think he is going to be a dog that gives you instant feedback in the form of barking, so if he does bark you will know that you can connect more or help him out by getting closer 🙂This session went GREAT! He was focusing forward and driving to the prop beautifully. You can try it with a toy as well. He also seems to be very verbal – I think you were saying ‘paw’ on most of these which is great. A “go” might have slipped out here or there, so resist that because it is a turn cue not a straight line. And on one rep you caught yourself saying “get it” and sure enough – he tried to pick it up. Brilliant pup! Part of the goal is to get our verbals sorted out so this is a good game for this.
The other thing I notice here (which is a GOOD thing) is that he pays attention to your position in terms of which way to turn. When you are parallel to him or a little off to the side – he turns towards you. When you step in behind him, like a rear cross – he turns away, like a rear cross. That will make rear crosses much easier to train! For now, make it more obvious that you are off to the side so he turns towards you and we will revisit rear crosses in a few weeks 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi!
You totally had bad luck with the throws on the step 1 video LOL!! But Skizzle was happy 🙂 You can use a mat to throw the treat towards to have a more obvious landing spot for it – or treats that are sticky and don’t bounce or roll? I use bits of cheese. But having some unpredictability in a game like this is a good thing! And his recall was great – on some reps you didn’t call him, so remember to call him as soon as he gets to the treat.
You did a great job of showing him the treat before tossing it, so you can now add in a marker which means he can go get it (I use “get it” which is not very fancy but I can remember it LOL!!)
The can of corn was a bit of a party LOL!!! I guess he could smell the corn in it? I thought for a moment he was going to put his treat on it and start rolling it around the room LOL!
That is fine though, the game still went really well! And things like this all happen all the time: we *think* something is not interesting to the dog, but then it is utterly fascinating 🙂 No worries at all, the game remains the same unless he struggled to ignore it – he got right into the game here 🙂You can keep introducing various novel neutral (theoretically haha) objects to this game and any of the other games that you think he is feeling super comfy with 🙂
Great job here!!
TracyGood morning! He is so cute AND smart!!
His prop hat hitting was great! You did more ‘get it’ tossed rewards than cookie-in-hand rewards and I think that wa correct – it keeps him from looking at you as much. Just reember to be consistent with the markers – sometimes you said get it, and sometimes you said yes and tossed it. So you can use ‘yes’ for coming to you for the treat, and get it for the tosses, and he will know exactly where to look.
Also – great job breaking it up with toy play!!! I think he is ready for you to move to the week 1 send game!!
On the hand target game – I am impressed with how you were able to tug then seamless get right into the session with the target and treats. Great mechanics! It was almost like you had a 3rd hand! LOL!
He caught onto the hand target very quickly. And you had a search marker here for a thrown treat – so the only suggestion is to clarify the markers to he knows where to look: if search is for cookies being thrown, then maybe get it is for toys? Whatever is easiest for you will be great!
We add to this game in a couple of weeks – so for now, you can try to have the target flat in your palm for him to touch.
Great job!!!
TracyGood morning!
The blinds are going super well! Great job showing her the treat then throwing it miles away so you have a head start LOL!
You can start the blind even sooner: when you see her first step towards you, do the blind so she can see the reconnection really early. Your mechanics of showing the toy were really good, so definitely keep doing that!If there are people who can help hold her, you can also do this as a recall (it is a great way to introduce ignoring people :))
Great job here!
TracyGood morning!
>>Can I just say how much I appreciate the field guides? They help lots!>>
Great! I will keep doing them!
The wing wrap game is going well! He was trying to go really fast and was slipping a bit, so you might want to move this to a thicker carpet or outside so he has more grip. YEs, there is a little side preference but nothing too big and things will even out really quickly.
I think the next step is to get you standing. You can start with just the bowls, and you in a chair. And if that goes well, just the bowls and you standing. That will probably take less than 20 seconds LOL!
So then you can sit in the chair and add the baskets. And if he is fine with that, stand up with the baskets – that might take a total of 30 seconds 🙂 Being able to stand will help move us to where we the game goes next 🙂
He did well with shaping the bed-side box! You can reward that very first interaction with his front feet, but he immediately put his back feet up on it so I guess he was fine without the reward LOL!! Gotta love it when the dogs understand the ‘international sign of offer me something’ (you standing near it with cookies) and he just started offering. Super!
You can make a whole goat games road by piling up a bunch of things for him to walk across like a trial 🙂Great job here!!
Tracy
