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Hi!
>> I have space and lights on my front lawn. Wondering if any of tonight’s class exercises would be better with a little more space. Let me know what you think. I’d like to try using that outdoor option for anything where it might be nice.
One game would be good for more space but doable indoors in the space you have. The other 2 games are perfect for indoor spaces, not much room to move needed on those at all 🙂
Let me know – if you want to do the bigger game outdoors, we can do it first when you might still have natural light?
>>Also, he’s not swallowing the treats on the send and turn so I ended up fading them out.>>
That is fine, we don’t want him to learn to spit out treats LOL!!! You can always refresh the “eat the cookie” behavior in different contexts, separately from when you are running away and cuing other things. I think his food-eating has been really good in training lately, so no need to create any issues – fading the treat was a good choice.
I only have “woohoo!” for you as feedback on the video LOL! Everything looks great 🙂
The countermotion looks really good, he is maintaining his commitment while you are moving the other way and that is exactly what we want him to do. So… next step is to challenge him with things that might increase arousal:
– leaving a little faster
– using toys instead of food (but you moving slowly again) so it would be tug tug tug, take a breath to setup – send, countermotion, mark it with a toy cue, tug tug tug. The toy marker can be your ‘strike’ or a chase the moving toy marker, whichever you prefer is great!
CM – looks good, go to a tug toy now which will increase arousal
ThingRear crosses – super nice!!!! He is still committing to his prop even though you are really early (aka perfectly on time) with you cutting in behind him – it gives him plenty of time to read the cue and make the adjustment. To get him started, try to use a silly noise or something and try not to say “go” because that will mean something else soon enough 🙂 The prop hits are pretty strong! No worries if they are not perfect – the concept is the important part and he is nailing it. I think you can go to a toy here too!
Collection Sandwich – this looks good even with very little room to really run. He is getting really good at fast pivots even if you don’t have time to decel – yay! And I think he likes the decels/pivots which is really important – I want him to love to turn as much as he loves going fast and in extension. This game looked FUN with the toy and going up the stairs was impressive LOL
So you can shelve this one til you have big spaces, and the games we add this week and next week can replace it in terms of extension-to-collection-to extension.Great job! See you later!
TracyHi!
I think this went a lot better than you described LOL!The first minute looks good, you were really building things up nicely! I think having her line up in ‘place’ was a good idea and also the leg weaves – because she had to turn away from the rewards in order to earn them. She did well!
>>>hen I started getting harder and lost her.
Yes, a little – I think you were making it progressively harder, rather than gradually harder. What I mean by that is there was not enough of a ping pong effect where you did an easy one then a hard one then n easy one then a hard one. Each rep was progressively more challenging, so she had a little more trouble like with the repeated hand touches (she was like, why do you want another one LOL!) and then from no lead out to a pretty long lead out (she was pretty good, just a little butt lift then she put it back down).
Overall, you are on the right track, so the only suggestion I have is to ping pong the challenges more (easy to hard to easy to hard) to gradually increase difficulty.
Nice work! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>> but see my facebook post about my amazing dog training skills and how I ended up with two dogs covered in mud LOL
Eek! I will have to go take a look!!!
>>instead I have a question about quiet being reinforcing and meaning yes…you are doing it right keep going. So if I put a remote reinforcement out of higher value than the dry kibble in my hand (assuming I’ve taught the remote reinforcement well) and I do something–like a stay–that is easy to work on duration–and I start with some quick careful and catches to warm up the behavior. And then do a longer duration saying nothing and then do the remote reinforcer…I feel like it’s almost a good thought but I’m missing a piece…Thoughts?>>
Yes, good stuff but I think there needs to be something that is an environmental “keep going” cue. For example, if you are working a stay on the mat, the mat is the keep going cue. An example on the opposite end of the spectrum (this is not something that I think you would do, just an illustration): we wouldn’t start by asking for a stay with a remote reinforcement behind the dog… then have you simply leave the room for a few minutes LOL! So I guess my question is: what is helping cue the stay in these early stages? It can be you standing there, quietly, looking at her. Or moving away a certain number of steps before marking the behavior and delivering reinforcement. And building duration gradually with these environmental or situational keep going cues will help too, so you don’t need additional verbal cues.
Let me know if that makes sense 🙂
TracyGood morning!
On contact training at your home base – get her more stimulated so you can simulate the trial level of arousal – you can use a tug toy before the contact and as the reward, and you can put a tunnel out ahead so she is more tempted to get excited 🙂
>>Do I keep working the catch on her stay to reinforce to her that she can move?
You can – throw it far enough away from her that she does move to get it 🙂 I mean, you can go the route of NOT having her move regardless of where the toy or treat ends up landing if you want to add that extra layer pf criteria.
>>I feel like the main behaviors I should keep working on are the catch and turn back for her start line stay and for the contacts it would be catch and the remote reinforcement.>>
Yes, these sound good and remote reinforcement in general because it really helps the dogs stay in a better, more centered state of arousal at trials.
Remote reinforcement video – the barking indicates that there is some arousal happening, which is great! We want to work her in an arousal that she might feel at trials. I couldn’t necessarily hear all the markers but I will trust you that it was perfect 🙂
After the wrap – you can add in her coming to you before cuing the remote reinforcement with the food, I think this will also help when you add the toy.
Toy remote reinforcement – this was definitely harder, which is great because it will help simulate trial behavior. With the higher excitement toys, you might need to revisit the initial step of moving away from the reinforcement for just a step or tow then simple behaviors to build up on it, making it easier for her to ignore it
>> the toy not so much and then doesn’t she bring it back right to my hands like I’ve been working on.>>
This is also an indicator of arousal, it is almost like she needed a moment to blow off steam because it was a hard setup (mentally). That is good news, but we don’t want to break behaviors you have been training, so a different setup (like the windowsill you mentioned) will really help. When she is more experienced with doing this in arousal, I think the toy retrieve will be no problem here.
>> The next part though is – I do want a certain behavior at the toy. Is it unrealistic for her to sit? and I give her whatever reward it is? I’m going to have to work up to that. What about if I put the reward up on a window sill? She’d be less likely to grab it up there.>>
I don’t think it is unrealistic but it definitely has to be built. At the very end, it looks like she took it and ran off. I agree that the first step is going to be putting the reward somewhere that helps you get the behavior you want – a tall table or windowsill is a great idea because it prevents the behavior of taking it by herself and running around with it. So you can shape the behavior that way – she will wait for you to get there and then you can give her the reinforcement. And then you eventually can get there and wait for her to offer a sit – then give her the reinforcement. You might find you don’t need to add the sit, especially as the leash comes into the picture, it might be easier to just add waiting for you to get there 🙂
Nice work! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
Th training video looked good – he was happy to engage with the toy, and happy to ignore it while you were running the sequence. Yay! So, with that in mind, I think the biggest thing for Cody at this point is going to be getting him really happy with the remote reinforcement games, so he understands how to run at trials when toys & treats are not in the ring.>>So I put a hex on myself talking about timing lights. Our Saturday jumpers run took us thru the timing uprights for the last 3 jumps – after the 2nd time, he said what the F I’m done. It was an adventure getting him to take the 3rd.
This is a great thing to focus on specifically, because it is definitely a remote reinforcement question for him. Does the training center have timing lights you can borrow for training purposes? If not, use a white wingless upright so you have something that looks like the end-of-run timers on a jump near the exit gate.
You can have him run through it, past the exit gate, then over a jump or two or three – and reward right there in the ring with a toy or treat. That lays the foundation 🙂
Then, use the remote reinforcement: you can have the toy you used in training on this video hanging on the ring gate or on a chair past the ‘last jump’ setup. Get him to take the last jump and turn away from the reward – then use your remote reinforcement marker and go run to the reward. Then you can build it up to taking one jump after what he thinks is the last jump, then 2 jumps, and so on. At first the toy can be in the ring and obvious, then you can move it outside the ring like it would be at a trial/
And then you can change the toy out for the tennis ball or treats – that might be harder 🙂
And then build it up to bigger courses *before* the last jump, so he gets used to that perceived delay in getting the reinforcement and to strengthen the remote reinforcement marker.
Let me know what you think! Everything else looks good so we can really focus on remote reinforcement.
TracyHi!
Having the weaves all the way in that corner makes things harder to train the weaves!! And yes, exiting from the far door does make it a little harder – does that door lead to a room or to the outdoors? Good job figuring out how to reward. I think this was the MISC class, so you don’t have to have the reward as far away at the beginning of the remote reinforcement for weaves – it can be 10 feet behind him which will make this type of course easier to get the reinforcement in faster. Then you can gradually get the reward further and further back, til it is out of the ring (and maybe post a friend or someone to toss the reward in when you use your marker for toy time 🙂The judge moving the toy did make it harder but it was a good distraction too – a very realistic scenario!!
Nice work here!
TracyWow! That looks SO FUN!!! I like the combined pairs concept. Both of you ran aggressively with connection, and the dogs looked great!!! Well done 🙂
TracyGood morning!
I am glad she is familiar with this, it is a useful game!
You were indeed a little too close since she ran right over to it – good adjustment to move a little further way. But overall she had a really successful session overall, and made great choices while offering great engagement! You can also play this with toys, since she likes toys. Toys might be helpful because sometimes arousal being higher (thanks to toys) helps distractions fade away… or toys might be more challenging because her arousal is higher and she might have more trouble making good decisions.I think she was offering other behaviors because the context of the game had no other behaviors to offer so she was asking if a stay would get the food into her mouth (and she really really wanted the food bowl LOL!)
So now, looking at your distraction hierarchy list: you can go up to the next step of difficulty in terms of distraction. You can add more of your motion and higher level reinforcement as the difficulty increases.
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning! I mist have missed this yesterday, SORRY!!
>>I thought there were a lot of really nice things happening in this run and even with the two ring-crew visits (off camera), he had more than enough points to qualify.
I agree, lots of nice stuff here! He probably needs more experience with random ring crew people – can you ask classmates to sit in chairs in the ring, during his turn?
>Unfortunately, Cowboy noticed a gap near the gate and ran out of the ring so we were eliminated.
>I thought about it for a while and am wondering if my reinforcement approach caused this.
>>Currently, most of the rewards occur at the end of the run near the exit. I am sure he was >>experiencing some stress but based upon his behavior before, during and after the run, he didn’t >>seem totally freaked out.Yes, I think there was some ring stress (there always is with youngsters in new environment – stress is not always a bad thing :)) but also yes – the reinforcement procedures will totally help!
I think he probably does not fully understand the remote reinforcement procedures of when to go to the reward outside the ring (and when to continue to run the course, even when turning away from obvious exit gate).
>>In class/practice, I plan to start tossing the Lotus ball away from the gate at the end of the run and randomly rewarding at the other end of the ring but if you have other suggestions, I would love to hear your thoughts 🙂>>
Yes, the lotus ball will help reward him for turning away from the exit gate, and that is great! Pair that will have the obvious reinforcement there, and mix in having him come to you at the end of a sequence or run – praise – then use your remote reinforcement marker to run to the exit & reward. And the next step is adding in the leash, which is mandatory for AKC. I just posted leash stuff yesterday afternoon so you can begin playing with the leash as a reward and also as part of the remote reinforcement procedures – all good stuff to teach him as he is learning how to compete. And definitely show him all this in class 🙂
>>BTW: There is someone who is speaking off camera; not sure who but not me:)
Yeah, that was strange LOL!!!
Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>>Oh and how long can I ask questions after the games weeks are done? Like how long do we have to finish the games 🤦 Do you know when you start the next session? I just have to get till the end of February…
The lass week of class begins on Feb 1, so you can ask questions at any point between now and the 15th of February. The next session will start early/mid March, I will finalize the date soon 🙂
Tracy
Hi!
>>but I’m having trouble with the rear cross, esp her bad side, turning left. She keeps turning back to me, not looking ahead. She’s very me/treat focused.
She might need earlier information – Try crossing in behind her much earlier and see how it goes: so if the prop is 12 feet away, cross in behind her when she is still 6 feet from the prop to see if that helps her. And if she turns the correct direction, reward her even if she doesn’t hit the prop (it is easy enough to put the prop hits back in). We are working on rear cross stuff more tonight and that might help too!
>>I’m hoping to get a day off to start the new stuff and pack this week. I’m leaving Saturday for 12 days road trip to invitationals in Orlando. Can you tell me what I’ll need to work next Tuesday, 12/14, games. I’m going to pack the stuff and I’m hoping to work some stuff.>>
You can bring your cone/barrel and if you have a jump bump or pool noodle, bring that too 🙂
Tracy
Good morning! I see improvements here for sure, and I have some ideas for you too!
In the Collection Sandwich game: looking at the blind crosses, yo ucan have your dog-side arm even further back as you move up the line (before the blind) like at 1:26 and 1:47 when he didn’t get on your right side, he went directly to your left side.
But, that might be related to something else that I can see in the other clips – it looks like he might have more value working on your left side (than on your right side) so he is migrating to your left side – you can iolate the right side by NOT doing the blind and having him come to your right for a cookie. That can help balance the value. Having your arm way back and TONS of direct eye contact will help get him to your right side, in order to deliver the cookie 🙂
The pivots are coming along nicely! You were a little too fast on the first couple, but then you slowed them down and he was starting to get it (like after :50). It is a little harder with a small dog, because you can bend a little but you can’t crawl LOL, so he hops up a little – but that will go away as he gets more experienced 🙂RCs – these are hard! They are a trained skill, so as soon as we ‘crack the code’ to help him, he will be great with it. This was a good camera angle! Specifically for this game, you can do the RC a lot sooner : ideally you are fully finished cutting in behind him before he gets within a foot of so of the prop so he adjusts before he arrives and turns the correct direction. Looking a the session:
freeze the video at :50, when he is about 4 inches from the prop – you are just starting the RC and he is already turning to his right. Then freeze it at 1:03 – when he was also about 3 or 4 inches from the prop – you were a little earlier but ideally you are already finished and on his other side when he gets to that point before the prop. And, if he turns the correct direction – reward him even if he does not hit the prop. You might end up being so early that he turns but doesn’t go to the prop, but that is fine – reward! We can build the prop hit back in afterwards.Separately, you can work on getting him to turn away from you on the flat, following a cookie hand. More on that is coming tonight!
Turn and burn:
>>Emmett first and it did not work AT ALL with this prop because he kept trying to figure out how to get INTO his kennel!>>
That is so funny!!!! Ha!
The turn and burn went really well! His commitment understanding is strong and your timing was good. He had some trouble on your right side (was pretty perfect on your left side… there is a trend forming LOL!) So on the right side,, make a little more connection on your sending (like at :41 and 1:10) so he gets a really strong support as he leaves for the send. You were really good about holding your position when you did th 2nd session and that helped a lot! You can work more value into the right side sending so he gets more comfy working on your right, by giving him more experience with it and a little less motion. It is also possible that he is a righty and not a lefty, so either way, more experience and reward working on your right side will help him.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
I totally understand about not wanting to do this in the drizzle!>>Plus, I’m not convinced she’s switching sides after watching the video. She’s coming to the correct side though. I’m just not sure she was really on the other line first. Need more space!
Ha! This worked pretty well indoors! She was indeed switching sides – you can see the lead change/side change at :09, :15, :22, :29, :36, :51, 1:05, 1:10 so she was totally reading the blind. I think at
:44 and maybe :57 and 1:17 you were too early doing the blind (she was still eating LOL!) so we didn’t see the side change as clearly on those. That will be easier when you take it outside and when we build up to bigger games that don’t need a cookie toss start 🙂The only other thing here is to keep feeding as low as possible on the pivots – I love how she was bending her body on those, so the lower her chin, the better. And the GO for the cookie is going well!!! Because you were using a cookie, you can also incorporate an empty food bowl as part of the go, because it is a nice big visual to drive to – that way you can have the go cookie in the other hand so she doesn’t reach for the cookie in your dog side hand as you finish the pivot.
Backing up to the target looks really good!!! She was totally ‘looking’ for the target with the back feet, good girl!!!! She is ‘sticking the landing’ on some of the reps, which is hilarious: she was finding it with her back feet then when she found it, she was smacking it with both of her back feet together. So funny! And fine, as long as she continues to use her back feet independently to back up like she did here.
Next step on this: a target that moves a little, like a big balance disc (that is not very inflated) or a wobble board that moves a little so might need some towels under it. Start her on it ad close to is, so she is not surprised by the added movement.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
