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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
Hi!
>>I was getting frustrated with us not getting it right….but in watching the videos, I wasn’t being fair to Artie.>>
Yes, I just always assume errors on course are handler errors, and I keep going where possible, and if not – reward all the things. My dogs are very patient with me because they know they will get a nice paycheck no matter what happens hahaha
On the video – no worries about cutting off the beginning, I am sure they went well! These courses looked good, and I am sure you were hot as heck running them! Good for you for staying in motion the whole time, that was really excellent!
And yes, on hat first tunnel send at :10, you said go tunnel but your running line changed to the far side of the tunnel, she was being a good girl. In those moments either reward or keep going (you can swing her back to the correct tunnel entry here to keep going).
At :14, you maintained your running line for longer and she got it. Yay!
On the backside after the DW at :25, she was not sure of the next line (straight or turn) so pulled the bar. Maybe a quiet name call as she approaches the jump is all she needs to make the turn with no questions.
Good job on the close close and the in in after the frame! She read both lines really well – on the tunnel threadle, keep saying close close til she gets locked onto the tunnel. She head checked when you got tired
She hesitated on the in in jump because you praised her – that is a big distraction, so no praise allowed on course LOL! I am bugging Nelci about the same thing, so you can de-praise each other hahaha You were very quiet there on the 2nd rep and she was perfect, you were even able to give the weave cue over the bar. Nice!
I liked the layering on the way to the a-frame at :55! You can actually set that up by going closer to the backside after the DW, which helps her turn better on that jump. Then she will drive ahead to the tunnel so you can easily layer.
Great job on the ending line!!! Yes, the arm pumping (ear pocket!) really helps when the legs and lungs are exhausted from the rest of it all !And on the last rep in particular, you got past the blind in time to set up a great decel for the collection on 19. SUPER!!!!
2nd video: You can definitely be throwing rewards for a lot of the tunnel sending, especially off the dog walk – she was not entirely convinced she should go to the tunnel after the DW in the beginning here, so rewarding that with a thrown reward more frequently will really help.
Great job getting down the line to the backside! At :22, freeze the video right after she lands from the backside jump – all she could see was your back, so she guessed about which side to be on (she guessed the cookie side, smart dog LOL!)
When you re-worked the beginning section (at the end of the video) – the slice on 3 looked good and set you up nicely to get the line 4-5-6! I think you can release her sooner after the teeter so you can stay in acceleration and so will she there, heading into the circle wrap.
The blooper at 1:03 where she came off the jump after the weaves was a connection blooper – all she could see was your back as she exited the weaves (I can tell that because we could see all of your front, which means she could not see it :)) In those moments, you can keep going to maintain flow and speed, and fix it later (or, if it is hotter than the surface of the sun, reward immediately if you stop :))
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
I totally see it and I agree with the sentiment of “YER KILLING ME” hahaha I have run a lot of the UKI at home courses, and it is definitely harder when the dogs don’t drive ahead. She was pacing you all the through – when you could get all the way ahead, she was chasing your line beautifully. When she caught up, she stayed at your side. She was happy to send but sometimes it would be nice if she would drive ahead.So – when you are doing course work, have a total shift in how reinforcement is used. Let’s put her into “YER KILLING ME” Boot Camp, where all reward gets thrown on the line. If you have someone else to throw it? PERFECT! If not, you can throw it but it needs to be early, or place it but we would then need to fade that quickly.
So when she is on a line that you want her to drive ahead, like a speed circle or a GO line or driving to a tunnel, as soon as you accelerate and say go, throw it (or have a helper throw it) as soon as she looks ahead. throw it LONG so she races to it, and use something that she loves (ball is her favorite, if I remember correctly?) At first, the throws will be really early to get the behavior going, but then we will get them later and later, progressively, to shape the driving ahead behavior.This of course assumes she will drive to the ball… if she will not, we can change the game a bit. Let me know how it goes!!
Tracy
Hi!
This session went really well!
When she is approaching the hard entries on your left, add motion now. You were stationary fo ra lot of them, but now you should be moving the whole time. As soon as you cue her to go to the poles, you can turn and start moving down the line. Start by walking, for now, nd if that is all good – build to jogging then running.She did well on everything else, including the countermotion! That one was really hard, so you can leave a target out as a focal point past the weaves as you move the other direction, then throw the reward to the target.
Great job! Let me know how she does when you add the weaves to course work!
Tracy
