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Hi!
I am so glad your work schedule has eased up!!! Now we need this heat to break, it is GROSS to be out there running!!!
You and Mazi did really well on this course!!
LOVELY opening line 1-7, very confident blind then serious hustle to get 8-9 with a fabulous blind. And you nailed it each time. Click treat to you!!!!
On that 10-11-12 line, with the threadle: you can add more of a collection cue on the 10 jump so she comes into the gap for the threadle even more. I couldn’t hear what you were saying there, but for a big dog like her you can use your wrap cue to get collection then go to your threadle cue, to make that line even smoother. She was turning really well there already, but a little extra can help so that you don’t have to pull her in quiet as much for the threadle. You pulled her in less at 1:37 and she was PERFECT on that slice line.
Things came off the rails at 13 on the first rep (just that moment of forgetting LOL!) and on the other reps, you went from 12 to 15 – yo can add back the wrap at 13 if you want a little extra challenge (I am sure you will find it pretty easy)
>>We just struggled with the jump after the last tunnel exit.
That is because that jump should have been a boring ol’ front side LOL! That why it was so hard and probably felt weird LOL!
Since you had it as a backside: you can bring her to the backside from the other side of the jump, closer to the tunnel exit – that can make for a smoother line to get it as a backside and also to set up the next line too! So you could meet her on the takeoff side as she exits the tunnel, kind of like a forced front cross on your right side, then do a throwback with your right arm indicating the landing spot while your feet move forward – that would set a great line!And well done getting that backside on the ending line each time too. SUPER!!!!
Well done here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHello and welcome! It is great to see you here!!!! She looks GREAT 🙂
Holy wow she is FAST and her commitment looks lovely 🙂Seq 1 looked really good! Good timing, good verbals, good hustle!! She is driving ahead of you nicely! It would be easier if you could lead out halfway between 1 and 2 (on all of the sequences) so she doesn’t do any zig-zagging on that opening line. How far will she let you lead out before she breaks? You can build it up by leading out gradually further and further, and throw lots of rewards back to her 🙂
Seq 2: This is also looking really good! The “right” verbal was a tiny bit late on the first rep, her head was in the tunnel. She turned pretty well but your second rep had great timing there and she was terrific on the turn and line. Great job staying in motion and staying connected!!
Seq 3 – this also had good connection! The timing of the verbals was a bit later here. She read the line really well, so you can try to say things early and also send to that 5 jump (middle jump of the pinwheel) and lead sooner – it would be fun to see if you can get ahead laterally and she finds 6 and 7 on her own, based on your verbals and motion!
Seq 4: How did things go on the first rep before the storm blew your camera over? On the 2nd rep – She exited the #2 tunnel a bit wide at 1:46 – it might be how the tunnel was set up there. You did call her before the tunnel but she had a little trouble finding 4 because she was coming in over 3 on an angle. You can try a ‘get out’ cue in that situation to shift her away to find 4, since it is not quite a straight line for her. Good job staying in motion!
And she definitely had a question about the tunnel exit on the 7-8-9 line! I thought you were connected and looking at her but you were too quiet, you can add a jump verbal. But does she sometimes get frustrated and come off a line to bark at you like that? I think that was a frustration behavior at 2:01. So, you can work the line from the tunnel to the jump and throw lots of rewards for taking the jump, even if you don’t say jump and if she is coming in to it on an angle. Maybe she storm was distracting to her? I could hear the thunder in the background.
I thought you made a GREAT choice there to recognize her question and then just continue to the end 🙂 You can try to smooth it out next time with more connection, verbal, and lots of reward for the jump.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
On both videos, he is reading you very well 🙂On the warm up – try to just walk through it and show the line, rather than go fast. Walking through it creates the accuracy we need: motion obscures it for you and for him. On the line to the backside, try to move to where the wing meets the bar, and have your dog side arm back and a bit more eye contact. You were driving forward, leaning forward, and pushing past the wing, which is why he had questions except when you turned too much and then he (correctly) took the front. Dialing back the motion will really help you show clear info as you set the lines – you can also lay a leash on the line you should run, so you don’t find yourself accidentally pushing past the wing of the backside jump.
On the 2nd video, I watched it without sound to see if I could see a difference in the physical cues without the bias of the verbals. Your running line on all the reps looked pretty much the same (forward to the edge of the wing, so I don’t think he could see the wing) and your shoulder pointing forward. On a couple of reps you pulled your shoulder and deckled… and yes, he responded to that especially if it was a right after a rep he thought was a tunnel and he was wrong. So try the different lines and shoulder positions:
That forward line to the edge of the backside wing, blocking it a little, with your shoulder pointing forward, can totally be your tunnel cue. And for the backside, be moving no closer to the wing than the line to where the wing meets the bar so he can see the full wing (eventually you will be even further over, moving towards the center of the bar) – and keep your dog-side arm back, making more eye contact (but no decel – just use a slower steady motion for now and we will add back speed soon).I think that will make a big difference for him! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>>Agree, challenges are good but not at every obstacle! 😳 A friend of mine and I were looking at the maps yesterday and talking about handling options, her favorite option became “and a miracle happens here” >>
Yep! I was looking at a different map this morning and it looked just like something I would never want to run LOL!!! I prefer to save my miracles for other things LOL!!!!
On the weave video – He did really well here, you were able to add plenty motion to it!!!
This is a hard skill and the placed reward definitely helped.You can have a placed reward target out there the whole time, even when you call him to the tunnel: the placed target should have a “you can have it now” cue, and if you call him that means ‘you cannot have it now’ LOL!! The placed reward target can be something like a MM so he focuses on it but cannot grab it if you haven’t cued it.
Also, try not to say “yes” or “good boy” because it brings him out of the poles. You can be quiet or keep cuing the weavesWhen he flicked away to the tunnel at :36, there was a tiny bit of pressure from you as you moved into the weaves which he read as the tunnel cue.
Great job here! You can add this into the courses, using the placed reward to help him through as you add crazy handling 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
>>I find it’s a great option in many AKC premier courses.
yes! That line is popping up everywhere!! More on it coming next week too 🙂
>>I was super excited about course 2 and getting it done (not perfect but it felt really good). It was hot and she was getting tired so I didn’t want to repeat any of it.
It looked great! Home run!!!!!
T
Hi! This was fun to watch, he is reading everything really well!
Seq 1: this went well! I think for the “go” line at the end of a sequence (on all of them, not just seq 1), you can have a placed reward to keep him digging in rather than slowing down. He continued forward there but was floating to the last jump more than driving to it. A placed toy can simulate puppy toy races: you can race him to it and if you get there first (not likely, but ya never know haha) – it is your prize to party with 🙂
Seq 2: The 2nd rep was definitely better! He was not 100% sure about the layering on the first rep but then was great on the 2nd rep! It would be good to see if you can turn and leave the tunnel soon to head up that big line, getting miles ahead, rather than wait a bit for him. It would be a good challenge to ask him to find that line with the layer when you are ahead.
Sq 3: He had a bar down at 5 on the first rep at 1:28 – I think it was that you were too far forward ( sending to 4 from too far away which put you up near 6 as he was taking 4-5) and didn’t quite get your shoulders turned on time so he was trying to adjust in the air. You were earlier getting your shoulder turned there at 1:44 and 1:59 and he did really well!! I think in this scenario, it would work better to get closer to 4 – you can be more lateral on the lead out to do this while still cuing the right turn on the tunnel exit – then you can be near the wing of 4, send to 5 from between 4 and 5 -then be laterally away from 6-7 to show that line. That can hep you get shoulders turned sooner and also keep your further ahead for the end (you can try to get a BC between the tunnel and the last jump too!)
Seq 4: This opening went well! Yes, maybe a little too much “go on” for 1-2-3 but you switched nicely into his left and he turned well at 2:16. You were alter with the left cues by about a stride (verbal and physical cues) so he dropped the bar at 2:39. Also, you didn’t layer at 2:39 – I think the layering helped him because you had to decel to do it, which helped set up the turn.
>>I am using way too many “go ons” here watching this back and not giving him the info he really needs.>>
Yes, too much go on at 8 (I see what you mean about saying go on too much 🙂 ) You can use a more generic “jump” verbal in those situations and save the go on for the big go on lines.
>>Also feels like I’m coming in too hot to the wing wrap in sequence 4 and should be showing some decel and giving the verbal sooner instead of a go on for the jump after the tunnel.>>
At 2:22, you were beginning the decel cues with good timing but your connection turned forward to 9 and your decel moment was a bit too short – so he looked at you, barked, dropped the bar of 9. Same at 2:47, but the bar was already down (but his exit was wide because he didn’t see as much connection there. And I think he ticked a bar on that last rep (it was harder to hear the last rep, for some reason).
After watching the reps, I think what is happening is that you wee going from acceleration to the rotation – so he committed, but had a question about it and also it put you so far ahead he couldn’t see the exit line connection. (The question on the first rep was the disconnection but you were more connected on the other reps).
Your timing of starting it was good, so as you start the verbal – decel while moving forward or a couple of steps until you see him starting collect then rotate and call him and make a big connection (you were saying “go on” on the wrap exit, but he is still turning there so you don’t quite need to go to a forward cue yet).
Grear job here! let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
A couple of ideas about session planning:
>>he video does not follow the rules because I returned to the start several time to try to get the first couple of jumps. I did use the cookie reset which kept him focused and working with me. So 0-1:22 is just the first 5 obstacles and it never worked very well. Then we went on and reset a couple of times for 8 and 9. >>
Yes, sometimes it happens that we have a good plan but for whatever reason it doesn’t work or the dog doesn’t understand the skills, or both – so if you find yourself working a section of it multiple times, that can add up to 20 jumps or more so count it as the first full run. Otherwise, we risk overworking or frustrating the dogs by working sections and then trying to run the big courses a couple of times. I probably would have ended the session at the 3:00 mark because he had done a lot already.
Also, remember that if something goes wrong: Carry on, don’t repeat, don’t fix – he doesn’t like the starts and stops, it seems frustrating to him. He much prefers that you carry on, like at the very end of the first full run.
One more idea: does he like a lotus ball or treat hugger? I know you’ve told me but I am a little sleep deprived and can’t remember LOL!! You can use a treat-based toy like that to throw on the lines (and for backsides) to get even more independent commitment.
On the opening – I think more connection will help get the line – you were looking forward each time he went off course, so try to run with more eye contact. And if he goes off course? Carry on and fix later. 3 should be a backside (you are cuing it as a front) so that might be why the lines felt strange. The middle section went well! I liked the blind after the teeter!!!
He has some backside jump questions – he got to the backside nicely after the teeter, but didn’t take the jump. And he had trouble finding the backside at the end and keeping the bar up. Definitely check out the game in the Package 1 Live class (sequence 2) where we work this skill so you can reinforce him for taking the jump and you can move through.
The ending line went well when you were more connected and gave a clear backside cue – so your next focal point in handing can be staying connected all the way through – you had a great run in round 2 and then disconnected at the very end, so he missed a jump at the end.
>>I was getting it out to try it and Buccleigh grabbed it and wanted to play with it. This is the first time he has spontaneously showed an interest in any “toy”.
That is hilarious and also terrific! A new toy! He was super stimulated so had trouble lying up with it present – if you are going to run with it, maybe cut it I half? It is pretty long and floppy LOL! It certainly does help keep your arms down but it will be easier to run with if it is smaller.
>>He did engage at the end of the run but not with the same enthusiasm. I think the heat was starting to get to him and he was more interested in food treats than playing. >>
He is also used to getting treats in that situation, so it makes sense that he was expecting that. He seemed to interact with it again when you tossed it!
>> did try the behind the back start which we have been practicing 5:33. I think that is going to work. He was willing to move through the first 6 obstacles pretty well.>>
Yes, that looked really good and put you ahead to show the line nicely!!
>>After that he was definitely finished which he indicated by skipping the teeter.
Your A #1 Top Goal from now on is to always end the sessions before he indicates he has had enough. We don’t want any ‘icky’ feelings associated with agility, such as being tired or hot or frustrated. It might look like he is ready and able to do more…. But stop the session anyway and be done. That icky feeling will leave more of a lasting impression on him that all the reinforcement will!
>> I used low value food treats throughout the session since my experience has been that toys and high quality food don’t usually work together.>>
>>I would like to build the toy drive if he continues to be interested in the noodle>>That might have contributed to why he was finished – the toy drive is not that high yet, and the food rewards were low value. I don’t think we can go to low value food rewards in the heat yet – so build the toy drive away from the course work or sequences – maybe play a little beforehand and then put the toy away (before he is finished with it) and go to high value food – and don’t go back to the toy at that point.
>> Playing with the toy seemed a good way to keep him aroused but not frustrated.>>
Yes, but I am not sure it can come out into the sequence yet. I think a better option as you build toy drive separately is to have a lotus ball tied to a line or a treat hugger tied to a line, so you can swing it around and he can chase it for the high value food.
>>Do you think it might be a good idea to focus on Keltie with the complete long courses and build the startline and do the courses in pieces for Buccleigh? I was very happy that he came out to the field today excited and with enthusiasm. It is definitely hotter today and he still wanted to engage with me but in the shade and not too much running after we worked the course.>>
You can try it and see how it goes! With Keltie, be very aware of the length of session because she has definite opinions about things if you do too much, particularly in the heat.
>>As an aside, last evening we were playing in the yard with some cheese puffs and I sat each dog one at a time on the Cato board in front of and between the jump and tunnel. I was standing behind the board and I just said either jump or tunnel and watched. Keltie was 100% right and Buccleigh only missed once. It was a fun game!>>So fun!!! And I bet they were happy with the cheese puff rewards too!!
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
She is looking really good here!!First video, working through each rep:
Wish looked really good with her straight line! You can throw the reward sooner: as soon as you see her look forward to the last jump (and before she reaches it), throw it 🙂 Good timing on the wrap cues too on the first wrap! You can spread the jumps out a little more to have even more room but you started the wrap as she was lifting for the jump after the tunnel: perfect! For the RC at :37 – you can face the center of the bar on the RC sooner, to get an even tighter/earlier turn there: you faced forward then did the switch line, so she was turning on the center of the bar. Even if you are decelerated waiting for her to exit the tunnel, you can be facing the center of the bar on the RC jump rather than the wrap wing.
The push looked good – you were facing the push line before she even got to the jump after the tunnel and it was great! When you balance to the go line, she was great about looking ahead but looked back at you over the last jump, s definitely throw sooner so the toy lands before she takes off for the last jump.
She was surprised by the wrap at 1:08 because your timing was a little later: you started the decel when she landed from the jump after the tunnel, as compared to the earlier timing when the decel starting when she was lifting off for the jump after the tunnel on the 2nd rep of the video.
On the RC that was the last rep, you can see that since you were facing forward at 1:34, she is jumping towards you and then has to jump away for the RC – you can be a little more ahead and running to the center of the bar before she even takes off to set the RC. It is the same timing as the backside pushes, but a different running line: the RC is to the center of the bar, and the Backside push is to the backside wing.
Winging It is also looking really strong! Yes, use more words and be louder 🙂 But not that loud, because the wraps verbals should be quiet – just repeat them more.
She did best when your arm and leg moved together – if your leg moved first and she didn’t see it, she was not sure about the commitment. Also, be sure to show transition (you might have to spread the wings out more to do this): send to the wing, go fast as you exit it, the decel and rotate. That will help her commit when you are rotated. And, as you do those backwards sends. You can look behind you to help support commitment. When you look forward too quickly, she comes off the wing like at :57.
On the 3rd video, you had more motion in the transitions and she committed nicely!!! Try not to transfer the lotus ball from hand-to-hand because it draws her focus off the line (“Cookie now, mom??” LOL!). You can leave it in a pocket if you think you might be switching hands and not realizing it 🙂 And yes, the race tracks looked great! She is definitely not patterning, she is definitely following cues. YAY!
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
Use 1 million for the Cato plank here LOL!
He did well here with the targeting game, easy peasy. The opportunity to target is quite reinforcing! And also less sweaty than being outside 🙂 And he was great with the different positions – a good challenge because otherwise the game is just too easy.
Since he has really strong understanding here and it is almost too easy: you can try a ‘cookies from heaven’ version of it, where you hold your cookie hand up above his head the whole time. When it is too easy, he can target into position AND look at your hands. But when the cookies are above his head? A totally different brain game because he has to choose to where to look: at target position, or at the momma/cookies.
And when he hits & holds that position, you can drop a cookie onto the target. If your arm is good and the cookies don’t bounce, he won’t leave position. If your arm is bad and/or the cookies bounce, use a marker to let him leave position to get it – it is not intended as a proofing game.
The toy game was super easy for him too, even with the Swissy party on the other side of the gate 🙂 Do you have a tiny tunnel that can come in the house? I play this game with a tunnel right there in front of the plank too: it is just far enough away that the dog can get into target position. It provides an excellent game to help the dogs stop on the contacts and avoids the normal young dog mistake of self-releasing to a tunnel. If you don’t have a tunnel for indoor use you can try it outdoors, or you can use a wing which also has a ton of value. I have a photo somewhere of what the plank-tunnel game looks like, I will find it.
Great job here! Let me know if the suggestions make sense :) Tracy
Good morning!
I am so glad that he is doing well with his sniffy walks and delicious treats! I think I can see the rabbit tracks you mentioned!
This session is looking good! The 360 circle wraps are hard – if something goes wrong, just keep running like it was 1000% correct so huge doesn’t take off like on the first rep. For now, you don’t have to move as fast to help his commitment, and also so that you don’t add extra handling to help him commit: As he is passing you to the wing and turning to look at it, you will want to move directly forward behind his tail. You were adding a step back to the other side of the wing then moving forward, which causes him to get extra info that won’t be there when these going into full courses. You can see the extra step for example when he is heading to the wing on your right side: when he passes you, you take a big step to the other side of your wing (and use your hand a bit) with your left leg – then you move forward again. Try not to take that step or use the hand, try to keep your feet together, lean forward, and move forward as he is turning to the wing. That is what makes it so hard – so much countermotion! So do it very sloooowly, walking, so you don’t end up adding extra motion to it 🙂
Nice work here!! Let me know how it goes without the extra steps 🙂 Have fun!
TracyGood morning!
>> It seems like we are on a bit of a streak of poor sessions.
No worries! Learning is not linear, it is never a direct upward trend particularly with puppies 🙂 Do you remember that sports show from the 70s & 80s where the intro was ‘the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat” LOL!! Yep, that’s dog training. Plus he is in adolescence and what we know about this age in dogs is that their whole body is re-wiring, especially the brain, so we expect some things to come off the rails in training (and life). Having just been through adolescence with 2 puppies myself, I can tell you that it is a crazy time and you’ll make it through LOL!
I might be remembering the names of brain parts incorrectly, but a neuroscience dog behavior person I was chatting with recently told me that during canine adolescence, the amygdala and the frontal cortex just don’t really communicate with each other in the dog’s brain, which makes training, um, “interesting” and the best thing to do is break things down, reward TONS, have a great time, and wait for a little more mental maturity. I have seen this happen over the years with every one of my dogs (boys in particular, just like junior high school LOL!) and every student dog. So now we have the neuroscience understanding behind it, which alleviates the pressure on us – we might be doing everything right, and the adolescent still might have trouble. My motto is: no worries 🙂
Also, things often feel worse than they look – this is looking good 🙂 unless you edited out any chaos hahaha
Looking at this sequence, you did the most important thing: you made it a good time for him and got a TON of reinforcement into him. Perfect!
The wrap to the tunnel in the opening looked good! Then 1-2-3 looked good! AS you were working on getting jump 4: Lots of great reinforcement scattered throughout the sequence!
He did have trouble “seeing” jump 4 on the straight line and driving ahead of you. So you can help him several ways:– accelerate forward more. He seems perfectly fine with your motion here as you built up your motion.
– place a toy out ahead on the line or the MM, so he has a focal point past the last jump. He was driving ahead, but he didn’t really know where to go: going fast but with not really knowing the destination LOL! A total baby dog moment.
– send to the tunnel so you are ahead of him passing jump 3, so your motion can show the line to 4. You can take out jump 1 to do this to start and then put it back in.You will see him have a big “a-ha!” moment and find the line. At that point, you can then start adding the other turns, but continuing to mix in lots of straight lines.
Overall, this was a strong session. If he had more misses that were not in here or not rewarded – no worries, just keep rewarding and building it up. I promise you that we will survive adolescence together than you will be amazed at how quickly it all comes together 🙂
Great job! And welcome to Adolescent Dog Team Chill 🙂
TracyPS -the suggestion to put the target in before she gets on the plank is a ‘next step’ suggestion because she is doing so well here 🙂 And while I am thinking of it, you can go to a slightly narrower plank if you have one!
Good morning!
She seems happy to get on the board and hold position with all 4on. Is it a ‘scratch’ behavior you are looking for here, or a foot tap? You can sharpen the mechanics of this session to get cleaner behavior: Before she comes into the session, have the target in place on the board, attached to it. And have your cookies already in your hand and ready along with the clicker. Then bring her into the session and let her offer the behavior. By bringing her into the session before the target and the cookies/clicker are ready, she is looking at your hands a lot which will be hard to fade when we move your position away from being in front of her.
On the countermotion game: yes, this is part dog training for the countermotion, but also part human training for the quickness and the verbals 🙂 She did well here with her commitments, but if you see her getting too hot and tired, go to the racetracks where she runs around the outside then give her a break – we want her to love wraps so we don’t want to rehearse when she is hot or tired. And, without her, you can practice running it with the correct verbals (which is actually pretty hard, the brain and body have to be so quick here!)
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyYes, you can work more independence with the crosses gradually – lots of thrown rewards out on the line in the form of lotus balls and toys 🙂
T
Good morning!
Wow, he looks great in class – nailing that weave entry from 10,000 miles away at top speed! Good boy!
>> It was one of those things that I saw happening in the moment (him getting a little slower off each start as the day/weekend went along) but I wasn’t able to process and adjust.
Running is easy in that environment… being stationary is HARD. I think he did really well and will keep getting more and more comfy 🙂
>> As I’ve thought about it since I think we’ve worked really hard on dialing back his arousal level at the start so he is able to stay and focus (and I think he still has to work pretty hard to do that) that as the weekend went on it definitely took him a couple of obstacles to really kick the speed on.
Totally agree – the mental energy to hold the stay and check his arousal and remain focused is a high cost behavior. This is quite normal for youngsters and I think he is doing well. He is getting it done correctly and not getting frantic (high stressed) or low-stressed. With more experience, you will see the speed level out and he will be fine and dandy 🙂
>>We haven’t done much at all this week. A lot of quick releases, throw the treat so he can chase it from sits around the house and class with Lo on Wednesday where I didn’t have to do a lot of leadouts (which was good) and on the few we did do I ran and rewarded with his tug after the 2nd jump and then did the sequence. We’re not trialing again for 3 or 4 weeks so my plan is to put “the fun” back in those starts. I’m also thinking that I may need/be able to put a little more arousal back into our to the line routine…..we’ll see. But I got tools!!!!>>
Perfect – long break is needed after the physical and mental expenditures of such a big event. And I don’t think the fun was missing – if it wasn’t fun, he would not have picked up speed and would not have run so well. So it is fun, but it is hard. And yes – in class, you can start to pump him up and little more to see what helps the most, and add classmates and Lo as distractions to help him gain experience.
>> And if you are by any chance looking for some freaking challenging courses checkout the ISC ones they are running at The Fieldhouse this weekend. Whoaa!>>
For real! I saw one come across my facebook feed. YIKES! One of my FB friends called it “sadistic”. I think I would be voted off the island if I tried to ask people to run those. I think that yes, we can have courses with some challenges but there is no need to put EVERY challenge in every course and make it impossible for everyone. Lordy!!!!
Have fun this week! Keep me posted :)
Tracy
