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Hi!
>So I spend most of the video randomly crawling around!>
OMG totally agree that the mechanics of this game can be AWK.WARD. It will b 1000 time easier when we eventually add in a stay but for now, it is like we need 4 arms to do it.
Happily Rye seemed to enjoy having you crawl around with him and his forward focus was absolutely brilliant. You were able to quickly progress the bowl around he cone – he was completely understanding what you showed him here.
Because he was a rockstar… you can move this game along pretty quickly. What I mean by that is you can move the bowl further around the cone after each rep when he tells you it is the easiest thing ever.
You will hit a spot where it is harder: he will have to consider cone or bowl? That will probably be when the bowl is visible on the ‘wrong’ side of the cone. In that stage, you can go to an empty bowl then plop the treat in after he wraps. That stage solidifies the forward focus as being on the obstacle and not on the reward.
Nice work!
Tracy
Good morning!
>Winter weather in the south sucks! >
FOR REAL!! This winter has been GROSS and I am ready for it to be done. I hope you are staying warm!
He is growing like a weed!! But still super adorable 🙂 The collar grab session went great, he seemed very happy to come into your hand. He might have been thinking it is a nose touch to your hand if you’ve taught him that but then he was great about letting you hold his collar. Super!
>The boy is like Tarzan. Very anti-“clothing” but doesnt seem to mind me grabbing it.>
Ha!!! That is o funny 😄 He was aware that it was a collar game – note how he had a moment of scratching at the collar. I don’t think that was stress, I think he was just aware that his collar was engaged (especially if he is usually naked).
Since this went so well, you can add the little games like lining him up at your side (hand touch to follow or cookie lure are both great for this) then hold his collar – then throw a cookie or toy for him to chase.
Great job!
Tracy
Good morning!
OMG he was so funny on the treadmill. I laughed out loud when he was just hanging out and it was just moving him down the line.
>I found this cute extendable plastic fist target that I’d forgotten about so decided to teach him a fist bump for fun. >
The fist bump toy is adorable and clever! He did well putting his foot on the pod which seemed to lock in that you wanted one foot – and then it was a pretty easy transition to get it onto the fist. Smart boy!
That was all right leg, so now the challenge becomes: can you get him to do it with his left leg too? You might need a longer plank to do this on soon – he is getting long and was a little crunched up here!
The big boy tug looked like a lot of fun 🙂 The ‘grab it!’ is going well – I really love that type of marker & presentation because it helps pups learn to grab the toy but avoid our flesh LOL! Two things stood out to me as far as the tugging:
One of the things that Ripley did was to maintain a pretty constant tension so Vibe could really pull back on it. You were doing that with a bit of hand-over-hand sliding (pulling but not pulling) from :16-:18 approx as well as at the end, and he really leaned back into it!
At 1:12-1:14 approx you had low steady tension back and forth and he was really pulling back hard there! When the toy was moving fast, he was more in chase mode (weight shifted forward, bite didn’t look as hard) – this can be useful for other types of reward and placement too!
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
Super nice transition from tugging to the shaping here! I think your hands were fine in terms of where they were… so why wasn’t she looking at the bone? Maybe because you were sitting so she was in hanging out mode with you. She was so cute! Also very cute when she grabbed the toy at the end LOL!
You can try it with you standing or you sitting on the couch – my guess is that she thinks of you standing as the cue to offer behavior and you sitting is the cue to hang out 🙂
On the 2nd video, you were kneeling and that was a definite context cue for offering behavior She was great on the first part! It took her a moment to re-focus on the shaping after the tug break but click/treat to you for being patient and then she got into the offering again really well.
That is good to know: you need to be kneeling (or maybe standing) to cue her to offer behavior. We can teach her how to offer behavior when you are sitting like you were on the first video, but I don’t think we need to 🙂
Wrap shaping: this also went well!! She seems to be more of a lefty (turning to her left better here) – she got ‘stuck’ a bit more on the right turn (going from your left to your right) but she always figured it out!
I think she is ready for you to start changing positions: when you play this game again, try it with you sitting on the couch. And if that goes well? Add in you standing! It might be even easier with you standing because she really wants to go into ‘hang out mode’ when you are sitting on the ground 🙂
Great job here!
Tracy
Hi!
>I may have to switch to a retired dog for a seminar so we did some practice and he enjoys blinds.>
Fun! I am glad he thinks blinds are fun!!
Looks like the novel-exciting game went well! She was aware of the object when she entered the area but got right to work and was able to process it without having to go to it. Super!!
>hould I only mark a front foot touch or is back foot ok? >
Back foot is perfectly fine here, especially with the added distraction of the bag of treats on the ground.
>I think I confused her a few times when she got a back foot but I waited. I then went back to parallel path but she’d stop and look at me. >
The looking at you will go away on the parallel path game if you are consistently throwing the reward out ahead of her. On some of the reps here you were throwing it ahead, and on others you were throwing it back towards the direction she came from – the was unpredictable so she was watching you to be able to see the throw.
>It doesn’t happen often but when she gets confused I think I need to stop and go inside or play, etc. >
If she is confused you can definitely take a moment to play, and then reset with a higher rate of reward for the rest of the session. Or, you can stop and watch the video to see the bigger picture of what she saw because that will help you make adjustments to help her out.
On the turn and burn video:
She turns so tight! It is really cool to see how she gets low and suer tight around the cone. Wow!>It’s hard for her if the toy is across my body. She snagged me a few times accidentally and I couldn’t keep my hands still which created more leaping.>
Do you mean when she was grabbing for it before the sends?
I think a clearer lineup will make it all so much smoother:
For example at :08 you were facing her, she was facing you… then you tried to turn and send her to the cone but she didn’t understand that so she went to the toy hand.From :17 – :31 you were facing her but waiting for her to offer the cone wrap but she was confused.
Compare to the reps when she was on your right – you were facing forward more on those and she was terrific!
So for the next session: line her up at your side, so both of you can be facing the cone. Hold her collar, say the wrap verbal a few times then let go so you can send to the cone with arm and leg. I think will make things very smooth and eliminate the toy grabbing.
Nice work here!
Tracy
Hi!
This was fun to see! On the first rep, you did a blind then a send to the prop. On the 2nd rep, you did a parallel path line where he drove ahead to the prop. Both were really good! He has a lot of value for the prop – the only thing I would add is throwing the reward straight ahead on the parallel path game, so he doesn’t look at you.You can mix in using a start cookie on the parallel path so you can be ahead of him or adding distance by being lateral from him. And you can also try starting right with him so he drives ahead. This will set us up nicely for the rear crosses.
Great job!
Tracy
You totally can throw (or roll) a frisbee for him to chase and bring back! That would be fun. Let men now how he likes it!
Tracy
Hi!
The serp session went really well! The ‘easy’ side (left turn on the wing) was perfect! And the slight angling of the jump on the hard side was really spot on – it really helped him, along with your arm being back in serp position and clear connection. You were able to add getting pretty far ahead on that serp, and you were able to return the jump to the original position within a few reps.
He did well with the balance reps too (the wraps on the wing). To add more challenge to it, do the FC and move along the line past the jump so he looks at your upper body connection to give him info on which side of you to be on. The FCs here went great, but you FC’d away from the jump and the balance reps are ideally FC’ing towards the jump.
>. I also watched the collar grab videos. You can see that I am trying really hard in this video not to grab him so thanks for those videos too. >
He does best when you line him up then hold his collar – it works a lot better than using his collar to pull him where you want him to be 🙂
>When our sessions are done he does not want to go back upstairs….he gets a bit defiant when I call him to climb the stairs with me. Guess I will need to either pick him up and carry him or put a leash on him to signal that our training is done. He would very much like to stay and play.
>That is a champagne problem! He loves to train with you 🙂
You can end each session with a run around with the toy then a treat scatter or snuffle mat. And also yes, you can use a leash to help signal that he can come upstairs because training is over. Then when you are upstairs, you can give him a way to wind down after training like a bully stick or something like that chew on.
Great job here!
Tracy
Thanks for the video! She was offering a lot of really good stuff here but she did have questions about the turning away and the harder angles.
After watching it, I do think a visual aid will jump start the turn away element. And an empty food bowl that you can then toss the treat into will be perfect! You will be able to fade it really quickly.
Also, the best refs where when you were holding her, said the verbal, then let go. The ‘letting go’ moment I also a cue to start – when she was not being held I think she was also not entirely sure when to start moving, so adding in lining her up and holding her will be great.
Keep me posted on how she does!
Tracy
Hi!
His tugging is so great! I love it!!!The “get the behavior” of the SSC game looked great! He’s ready for you to add the novel neutral exercise.
>Do I need more room to play so there is more distance between us as he goes to get the treat & come back to me? I can expand a little further into the next room (tiny house problems!)>
This looked like plenty of room to add a novel-neutral thing off to the side, but you can also expand into the next room 🙂
The goat games also went well!
>I am not sure I did this right. The reset cookies may have been wrong>
Nope! You did it right! You were nicely patient to let him offer all 4 feet on the object! You can probably do a reset cookie more often, so he chases it then runs back to get on the thing. You can also switch objects more frequently, or make a playground of a bunch of objects! That will keep it super fun!
Wing wrap foundations are also going great! Yes, he noticed when you changed position but then carried on wrapping. Good boy! You can add some tug breaks in too. For the next session, start with you standing up. That will lead us into the next game which is coming soon 🙂
Great job!
Tracy
Hi!
<She’s not a big ball girl, but I haven’t tried it much either.>
Not being too much into balls might be helpful – she will engage with it but will also be happy to trade for treats or a tug!
> When she runs off it becomes a game of chase.>
The trade game can be worked on separately and toy play for now doesn’t need to have thrown toys.
>Independently, I’m working on a retrieve with her toys and a platform.>Awesome!!
She did super well with the turn and burn!
The first side (right turns) looked great! She was excellent with her commitment. Her only little questions were when you were not quite connected so she looked at your face (2nd rep). And later in that session you didn’t step forward as well with your dog side leg so she was a little sticky.
>We are struggling with the ready dance and she’s trying to jump to snag the toy out of my hand>
On the left turn side, you were not using your dog side leg, so I think that created questions. Try keeping the toy scrunched up and step forward with your dog side leg on the send along with your hand and connection, and I bet she does great!!
>Also, I moved the leash the wrong direction on the left turn. Oops>
Ha! No worries, she had great commitment on that side too 🙂
Nice work here 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
He was absolutely fantastic with all of the different surfaces! He was really good about getting on each one, even when there was a lot of movement. So the next step is to combine them all into a playground by having them all on the floor (touching or slightly overlapping) so he can walk around on them and jump on and off, while you walk around and reward.>he was a little confused thinking I was trying to give him a treat wehen I went to grab his collar
Yes, so showing him a flat empty hand helped. You can also reward him for reaching towards hom but not touching him, so he gets very comfy with the reaching too.
Great job!
Tracy
Hi!
The advanced level is also going well!! Excellent decel on these, especially on the 2nd rep where he was really able to collect and turn. Yay! Your treat throws were really good, nice and visible!
Note how he did grab on the toy here between th reps to tug, and he walked off at the end holding the toy. This tells me that you can use the toy in the game too: instead of throwing a cookie at the end to get the go go go, you can throw a toy! I bet he will love that and drive to it brilliantly. Plus it brings the toy into the same moment as the treats which is a super useful skill. Let me know how he does with that!
Great job here :) Tracy
Good morning!
This went really well! He is reading the handling cues nicely! Your blind cross looks very clear to him and you were decelerating beautifully, so he was able to drive to you and offer a nice tight turn. Super!!!
He was interesting in tugging, but you took the toy out of the picture before he really latched onto it. You can give him more time to grab it and play: it is excellent that he wants to play tug even with food in the picture! And you can make the toy longer to really swoosh it around nice and low for him to chase and grab 🙂
Nice work!
Tracy
Good morning!
I hope you are feeling better. The flu sucks!!!
>I definitely do not think it was our most productive session, but then I remembered just getting feedback helps!>
These were very productive! I am glad you posted! The most productive sessions are when the pups have questions. Plus she is really cute to watch, so it was fun for me 🙂 Thanks!
Backing up is going really well. Only one suggestion: keep your hands low, down by your knees, so as she backs up she doesn’t look up to your hands. Looking up was stopping her backwards motion, but if she keeps her head in a more natural straight position she will be able o back up more. You can move to the next step where she is backing up to a mat (in the 2nd half of the demo video), because that will also help add more distance.
Turn and burn: yes, she was very excited! But that is a good thing.
As you get started, ou can do a brief ‘warm up’ by having her wrap back and forth with the food bowls to help transfer the wrap concept to the barrel.
>She is soooo excited she tries to go right after the toy instead of following my direction around the barrel, how should I handle this in the future?>
At the beginning she was grabbing the toy a bit, but you worked through that very quickly. On the sends: something was making her want to go to her left not to her right. Maybe she is a lefty and was asking to do it to her more comfy side? I see that all the time in the early stages of this game, so for the next session have her start on your right side so she wraps to her left.
As you send, be sure to maintain eye contact and just use a small arm point – that supports the line you want because it keeps your shoulders pointing the entry side of the barrel.
Now, if the next session brings out the same questions even when starting on your right so she can turn left: we can provide a focal point for her. Place an empty bowl halfway around the barrel to help her see the line (but you can reward from the toy in your hand).
For the next session, you can also add the line on the ground so you have a focal point for when to do the front cross and run away 🙂 After sending her around the barrel, be perfectly stationary until she arrives at the line in the ground at the barrel exit, then do a FC and run so she chases you for the reward. You can save the running element until you are fully recovered from the flu, though 🙂
>I tried sending with treats in my hand and that worked much better as it was less visually stimulating for her.>
Treats are definitely less visually stimulating, and also she might associate treats with wrapping more than the toy.
I am looking forward to hearing how she does turning to her left! And if she asks the question once or twice, you can immediately put the visual aids (bowls) in to help her out.
Nice work here!!
Tracy
