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Hi!
This is a really great facility – more room to run, looks like great footing, and great distractions!!!! Where is it? It is so valuable for a young dog to work in a setting like this!!
This course totally looks familiar LOL! It is fun to see it setup and getting dogs running on it! He did really well and his DW looked really good! The camera cut off his a-frame bottom so I will assume he was perfect 🙂
After hitting the contact and getting rewarded, most dogs will self-release like he did, so you can reward, release, then reset him on the bottom when you want to do the next part. That will help prevent ay self-releasing.
He found the backside brilliantly after the DW!! I don’t think you have time to do the spin there because it was hard to reconnect quickly and the rotation puts you behind him – he is speedy! He almost ended up on the wrong side of you on the first rep at :36 and he did end up on the wrong side on the 2nd time through there. So rather than try to be faster to reconnect… you might find it a lot easier to just send to the backside with your fly verbal on your right, and take off, o your right, no spin. A little name call or a left verbal will keep him looking at the correct line and get a good turn, and you will be ahead because you won’t have to rotate at all.
Nice job on the tunnel threadle after that big long line! That is hard and you made it look easy 🙂
Nice adjustment to open your shoulders and connect more when he missed the tunnel at 1:51 (your shoulders turned away too early) – you were much clearer at 2:12 when you kept your connection to him for longer until you were sure he was committing to the tunnel.
Great job here! I am looking forward to seeing more!
TracyHi!
Looking at both videos in a row:The evening session looked great! He was driving ahead beautifully, and going back to the tug between MM moments 🙂 When you got further behind at 1:06, he wasn’t chasing you but didn’t quite have his organization together so he bailed on the line – he fixed it on the next rep 🙂
And the other side was perfect – there was a little steam coming out of his ears but he got it right!
He is also doing a great job of wrapping the jump and chasing you to the tunnel… and committing to the tunnel without any questions. SUPER!
Today’s session looked great too – when he is on your right, the angle of the tunnel exit does present a little zig zag so you were great to help by getting close to the wings. And on the last rep, you added the wrap in really well and then drove all the way through it – looked GREAT!!!
So keep going on this track -any time we need him on a straight line, we can have a reward target out ahead – and on something like this, you can have a reward target out on the end of both lines: a MM on one side, and maybe a big empty food bowl on the other side that you can toss the lotus ball or treats into.
You don’t have to use this setup (you might be sick of it LOL!), more handling games are coming soon 🙂 You can also play with the rear crosses with the reward target placed more on the direction of the turn, because he has to drive ahead and find the jump for those.
>> I was wondering if the other exercise with the backside wraps using the MM would be good since it’s reinforcement for him not chasing me as well?>>
Yes, that is a great countermotion game!!! And different than all the sprinting you had to do here LOL!
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi –
>> I have a 4 on for the teeter (touch) and a 2 on (feet) for the dog walk (which I haven’t started training yet). How do I use this game for both, or can I?>>
Because you will have 2 separate stopped contact behaviors, use the lazy contacts game for the 2o2o dog walk position only, because the board doesn’t move. And the 4on will only be for the board that does move 🙂
>> I was going to put my foot target at the end of the dog walk using the “feet” command and then back chain. >>
Start at the end of a plain old plank, so you can sort it all out away from the actual obstacle, to protect the future understanding of the behavior.
T
Hi!
He did well here with the new distractions! His commitment is looking good – you can rotate sooner so you are sending ‘backwards’ more and not facing forward as long.
>>This is really the first time we have done this.>>
Wow, first time AND in a new distracting place? He was great!!!!
Remember to use your turn verbals all the time, you got quiet sometimes with the turn verbals.
Once you get the game started, though, after the ready ready ready moment…only say the turn verbals, stop saying the praise words.
When you were saying ‘yes’ or ‘good’, a couple of unwanted things are happening:
– you are late with the actual info, so you were rotating late and he is getting his verbals late. The rotation and verbals were happening right as he arrived at the wing, when ideally they are happening as you are sending to the wing about 8 or 10 feet away.
– you are muddying the waters of whether he should commit or not by being inconsistent with the verbals. If “yes” means come get the cookie at :26 and :48 (especially if it is also used as a verbal click) and ‘good dog’ means come get the treats at 1:13… then he is not wrong to think that “yes” means come get the treats as you run away at 1:27 and 2:13. So the easiest thing to do is simply only use information when you want him to commit and use the praise/makers for the high energy reward delivery.2:33 was a disconnection error, good job rewarding there!
Nice work here! I think you will find that it gets easier and easier with practice 🙂
TracyOn the rear crosses on the teeter: he is looking very confident to drive up the board and you are doing a great job of helping him off. But you have changed your target spot, I believe? He is now getting the reward placed on the board, further from the end, rather than on a target past the edge – the target you used on July 13 was in a better spot and got his feet all the way to the end. On this video, he is stopping further from the end which will eventually produce a slower teeter because it muddies the 4on criteria. So go back to the target/reward placement from July 13 🙂
>>, I kept adjusting the teeter, but after reviewing, maybe it was okay? >>
I thought it was fine, but you don’t want to move it during the session at all unless there is a problem – we want it to have the same amount of tip for each session so it is predictable and he can maintain his confidence. Maybe you were moving it because you saw him stopping shorter? But that was the cheese placement, he is not going to run past the cheese 🙂
Nice work!
Tracy
Hi!
The teeter backing up is looking good! I couldn’t see exactly where his feet were, but your ‘get it’s were consistent and he looked like he was right at the end of the board. Nice! The amount of tip was good here, you don’t need to add any more tip to this game and only need to revisit it once every couple of weeks.T
Hi!
The board work is going well – now you can let her get entirely on it and assume the position, then click. Then toss the treat off to the side so she gets off the board… and comes back to get back on it. If you are wanting the scratch, you can let her assume the position and give a little scratch, then click and toss the treat. That will also keep her standing (she sits or downs when she is there too long) and not biting the target.
>> Question: how does the scratching the target eventually play out when there is no target?
If you want her to scratch the board as part of er criteria, you can reward her for continuing to scratch the board without the target. Or, you can fade the scratching out and her position will be a 4on position.
For the sitting on narrow planks – I think this one is a shade too narrow, her feet are hanging off a little. Maybe try the slightly wider board to get that perfect tight sit?
The consensus with the fitness/sports vets is that getting the very tight sit is a great thing! But also, the consensus with the sports vets is that the sitting up is NOT a great thing and it really depends on the individual dog (structure, strength, age, etc.) and can do more harm than good on the spine. You can see she really struggles with it. The same goes for backing up with back feet on a wall – can be very bad for shoulders. So consult a sports vet on this behavior before doing much more to make sure she is ready for it. I have 5 dogs currently training in sports but only 1 is doing any kind of sit pretty behavior because only 1 is suited to it – the vets have told me not to do it with the others because their structure was not suited to it as being a helpful thing.
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
She is doing really well here!!! I would like her to sit faster/sooner after the cue, so I think we can increase the value/delivery of reinforcement to decrease the latency (getting the sit faster and faster :))
If the reinforcement is a cookie delivered while she holds the sit, then it is a bit too much of a “hurry up and wait” thing, so she won’t hurry up into the sit. However, if the reward comes flying back to her the instant she sits? I bet she starts sitting faster and faster rather than a couple of seconds later. So using your ‘I am throwing it to you’ marker (I say ‘catch’) you can use her ball for this. Everything remains the same as what you are doing here, except now the instant she sits: mark and throw the ball back to her. Then when she is sitting faster, you can start adding more steps after she sits, then mark and throw the ball back to her (she doesn’t have to hold the stay while you throw it :)) When she is getting faster with the sit, we can add more of your motion too!
Nice work! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! This session looked great!
>> toy in my hand. She has a much easier time on my right, wrapping left. There I felt like she was not looking for the toy. On my left she was not as strong/independent (yet!).
I think when she was wrapping left, she is not quite as fluid and fast with it so you were able to get ahead more, which is why it felt smoother. When she was wrapping to her right? I think she was finishing faster and getting to you faster – which is why it felt like she was not as strong (but she was basically catching up faster LOL!
Either way – if you get a break in the weather, add the tunnel before it!!
>>I was able to add more motion than yesterday.
yes, there was a lot more motion and she was fine with it. Super!!! So just keep remembering to let her see the whole wing like you did here, and then you can build up the motion even more by adding the tunnel before it 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi there! I agree, she did SUPER well and any bloopers were timing errors.
Looking at course 1:
1-5 looked awesome! Remember to stay connected and cue the 6 jump with verbals and connection at :19, you got quiet and looked forward there so she almost came off the line.The middle section also looked really good – you can use more verbals though and look at her more. You were looking forward and didn’t say anything til the backside cue for 12.
At jump 13 at :35, you surprised her with the in in cue and she dropped the bar trying to adjust. You can smooth that out by calling her as she exits 12 and is looking at 13 (just a soft “Mae”) so she is turning a bit and then add in the threadle cue – that will help her set the approach better. The timing still has to be early (before 13) though, because at :55 you did it later (after she landed) and she took the front of 14.
She came to the correct side of the threadle at 14 and again at 1:15 – I think your cue there is “me me” not in in – great job rewarding her there and then helping her at 2:01 so she got it. We have a game specifically for that skill coming next week 🙂
At 2:06 you forgot to call her out of the tunnel and the DW was right on her line so she took it…. good girl!
Course 2:
I like the choice of the blind cross 3-4! It needs to start sooner (at :08 you were just starting it after she was taking off for 3, so she almost went straight to the tunnel. You can lead out a bit further and then as soon as she lands from 2, start the blind. :28 and :42 were sooner (she was just beginning to lift off) so the turn was already better (and you called her) but the timing can be even sooner (remember the WOO!)Also, leading out more should help her keep the bar up at 2 – when you had to disconnect to hustle to the blind, she dropped the bar a couple of times.
The middle section looks good! I bet you can get easily get a blind on the 6-7-8 line with the 2 tunnel rather than decel for the threadle 🙂 It will be faster for you both!
The 10-11 threadle looks good!
You can decel more on the wrap at 13 at :59 and at 1:27 – you are swooshing her past you as she is approaching the jump, facing forward, so she landed then made the turn. I don’t think she needs the big swoosh forward – as long as you stay connected, you can decel and let her pass you – then turn and head back to the tunnel as she is collecting for takeoff.
You can also be sooner on the dig dig dig verbal and handling for jump 15 at 1:07 (where she dropped the bar) and also at 1:34- you were moving forward and started the handling/verbal for the turn just as she was lifting off… so she tried to adjust in the air and dropped the bar. The window for timing that turns begins when she has exited the tunnel and turned towards 15, that is when you can send with the verbal and head to 16-17.
And remember to call her before she goes into the 17 tunnel… you were quiet and didn’t say anything til after she exited and locked onto the dog walk 🙂 You used your ‘whoa’ cue on time at the end and she was perfect!
Looking at the circle wrap at the end at 1:44 – you can start getting out of her way as soon as she passes you heading to the takeoff side. You were in her way as she was getting ready to land (late getting outta there), so she dropped the bar.
So all of the bars are caused here by late info – on your next set of courses, you can focus on early WOO timing so that she sees and hears all of the cues while she is heading towards the previous jump or before she enters the tunnel.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
I am excited to hear that he is getting the hang of layering! Yay! Bummer about the lack of video but we gotta run out there to train when there is any cloud cover or coolness LOL!!!
>>Interestingly enough, he seems to like running clockwise rather than counterclockwise!
That is totally normal and something we see all the time. Just like humans, dogs are lefties or righties. It appears that he is a righty! So for the left turns/counterclockwise, you can break things down more until he gets comfortable going to that side.
T
Hi!
She was on fire LOL!! That looks like a fun snooker course! She probably assumed the course was long enough and headed for the exit LOL!
That is great news about Kaladin’s time in Speedstakes! I am sure that Min did NOT slow down to let him beat her, and .25 is a pretty significant difference. Yay!
>>He had a massage already scheduled for tonight and turns out he had some sore spots that definitely explained his recent weave issues. (esp the left trapezius which would make it hard to push back to the right for that 2nd weave entry).>>>
Poor buddy! It would also explain the contacts issues – he was probably either short-striding them or bailing if something hurt.
>>He’s skipping his class tomorrow to take it easy, but we think he’ll be fine to do the live session on Wed. (or maybe I”ll sub Min in for a rep or two…this is of course assuming we all don’t keel over from the heat first)>>
You can totally sub Min in as needed! And Kaladin can do super low heights so the sequences are easy on the body but hard on the brain 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
Super nice run here! She was a little wide on 3 here on the first rep, I think you were a little too quiet. On the 2nd rep – you said “jump” I believe, and her turn was awesome.
>>The first one I got lost but her wrap was so pretty so I left it in.
yes! That one looked great! At :50 (2nd rep on the video) – the turn looked good, you can get it even tighter if you decelerate sooner. I think you weretrying to drive to the jump to help with the turn there, but you don’t need to because it shows too much forward motion unless you are way ahead. As soon as she exits the tunnel, start to decelerate and she can pass you and take the wrap. Looking back at :18, you were ahead butas soon as she exited the tunnel, you decelerated to start the turn cues and it worked really well.
>>The next one she went to the backside instead of doing the wrap.
A couple of other dogs did that on this course,and when it happened, the handlers were doing the same thing: instead of decelerating facing the wrap wing, the handlers were drivnig in hard to the takeoff spot then rotating (no real decel) which looked exactly like a backside send 🙂 Good dogs!
The threadle 10-11 looked GREAT! You didn’t need to rotate your feet, she knows the skill. YAY!
>> A little bit of “I’m going to the toy” at the end until I reminded her there is more course to do first>>
Actually…. I don’t think that is what she was doing. You didn’t give her a turn cue on the 3rd to last jump, and had to push into the line to show it to her. So as she was committing to it, you said ‘push push push’ which dogs read as a forward cue, and will move forward to the direction they are facing (n this case, looking for the backside). As soon as she saw where you were going at 1:01, she turned to the line before you even called her. A left verbal on the jump before the backside will help smooth all of that out 🙂
>>Also, Saphira ran little sequences at her in person class tonight off leash and didn’t run away (or knock over barriers) to visit friends. We’re making progress!>>
Yay! That is awesome!!!! She is doing so well!!!
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
Very nice work on the weaves here! He seemed to have no trouble on the hard angles of entry and only a little bit of steam coming out of his ears on the really hard rear crosses. Placing the reinforcement totally helps, you can place it even closer to it is right there to see and focus on, on the crazy rear crosses.
He was simultaneously hilarious and brilliant at 1:13 – the challenge was hard, he missed, then wrapped himself back around the wing to get the entry and do the poles. Wow!!! Good boy.
You can add more speed into the 90 degree dog-on-left entry, like he very first rep and the angle you revisited a few times during the session – you can try it from a tunnel entry or a jump, with you using the verbal cue (and the helper wing :)) as you run away: can he still find that entry with basically no handling help.
Also, we can start planning the wing fading: do you have a smaller lattice? Maybe half the size of the wing here. Then we can go to a pool noodle after that.
Great job here! Fingers crossed for a bit of cooler, wet weather for your agility field to get refreshed!! I would happily send you some of our buckets of rain and 1000000% humidity 🙂
Tracy
