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Good morning!
The video is marked private so YouTube wouldn’t let me see it, but here are some ideas that might help:
>She’s OK on my outside leg, and she hasn’t really connected the verbal directional when turning away from me.>
You can use a target/reward placed between bars 1 and 2 on the turn way reps, and have her close enough to the bar that it is a minimal turn away (almost a straight line). The targeting (can be a food bowl that or tug toy) really jump starts the turn away for pups that think it is weird 🙂 When she gets it right once or twice, you can move the target/reward to between bars 2 and 3. Then we can fade it out entirely so it is in your hand.
>She seemed to stall out if I had her sit/stay.>
The stay might muddy the waters because she has to think about holding the stay AND turning away which is probably counterintuitive in that moment. Stay releases have also had her turning towards you so far in life 🙂
> I think she may stall out when she doesn’t quite understand what the game is. >
This is where the target or reward placement will be very clarifying.
Let me know what you think! And if you can reset the video to unlisted, I can watch to see if we can come up with other ideas.
Tracy
Good morning!
Looking at the serp game:
Dog-on-right went well! He serped really well and was good about going to the toy on the ground but not skipping the jump to get there.You don’t need to use a big arm swing for the serp to get him in, we want it to be an automatic default when your arm is back in serp position.
>We struggled with the right turn send and I believe it is because I am much better cueing with my right arm than my left plus I guess I was not where I needed to be to get the serp although initially he did it just fine.>
A couple of things where happening here:
On the other side, you were using a big arm movement to get him to come in on the jump. You were not showing that cue here so most of the reps all he saw was your back as he exited the wing. On a couple of reps, you were in threadle position and did a big arm movement so he threadled, good boy!When stuff like that happens (multiple errors)… stop and watch the video to freeze the moments where he has a question, rather than withhold reward grab him to pull him where you want him to be. That can be confusing to him.
For the serp arm cue, you can turn more at the waist and lock your arm back (like the Strike A Pose games) as you move through the serp line. If he misses, you can change the angle of the jump toward him so he sees the jump bar more and can come in to it, rather than wait for you to do a big arm movement. Turn the jump as much as needed so he can find the line easily. Your line of motion and the toy placement are exactly the same as if the jump was in the original angle.
>I do have a question on giving the “right” or “left” verbal on the wing….isn’t that actually a wrap?>
It is actually a soft left or right because the dog is not coming all the way back around the wing. When you add the balance reps, we cue a wrap FC on the wing which takes the pup off the line to the jump entirely.
>Looking at the zig zag video, seems that you pair the verbal simultaneous with the arm cue to release the dog. I just don’t want to confuse him on his stay by releasing when I move my arm. Is that a problem? Can I say break and the do the arm push or will that be a late cue?>
You can try saying break then moving the arm, but it might be late. The other option is to put your arm and leg in position, wait a second, then release. The cues will need to be quick on the first couple of reps so he can be successful, and then it will get easier when he recognizes the game 🙂
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
>So I’m going with you that the nobs on the pods feel weird lol! Should we revisit them from time to time or wait until she’s older?>
I am glad she did great with all the shaping! You can wait til she is older with the pods. We can do plenty of fun stuff without them 🙂
>Since Sunnie came home, when I throw a toy for her I say Ready ( I don’t know why, it just came out LOL)>
I can relate – I somehow build READY into a crazy valuable word but that is perfectly fine and very useful!
Her pointing moment was so cool to see! Genetics are great 🙂 I think she knew to look forward but did not know where specifically to look. The 2nd rep was great. You can add in ‘ready’ as you focus forward word when we eventually bring it to a jump!
She was looking forward really well here too – you were holding her a little longer later in the session (then putting the treat in the bowl after she wrapped the cone) and that was ideal!
For the next session when she is on your left, you can keep moving the bowl around the cone so she has to pass it on the way to the cone. And you can repeat the process on your right side too. And you can work both sides using a toy instead of the bowl.
She looked super happy to tug on the wobble board. The movement did not seem to bother her and she retrieved the toy directly to the middle of the wobble board. I love that you were pulling on the toy and she was really shifting her weight back. Super! A longer toy will let her pull back even more and you won’t have to and over as much 🙂 The next step is to move the wobble board to a surface that will be a little noisier when she slams the board around.
>While I had her engaged in toy play we went off to the races- this was FUN!! She was ALL in LOL!>
I am so glad you two had fun with this one! This is one of my favorite puppy games because it is silly fun and the driving ahead is great for multiple sports.
She was on fire! You should probably get the first toy out of her mouth before throwing the second toy LOL because she can’t run as fast with the big toy in her mouth. Was she doing the pointing again at the end here?
For the next session of this, add more space for more running. If you have a long carpeted hallway, that would be great (we want her to have good traction). If the weather is decent, you can do this outside! But most of the country is having terrible weather so it might be an inside game for a bit longer.Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
>For the wrapping should I continue to use that pop up then?>
Yes, I think that will be the best bet. Your cone tower is also a good option.
>Get It! Is the same for me. Thrown toy or food. I think he has this one. It was one of the 1st things I taught him.>
He was definitely having fun with this one! He was so cute trying to find the exact spot to carry the toy by but his retrieve looks great!
For the other toy markers: since he is very driven for toys as well as food, a marker which differentiates if he is coming in for the toy or food will save your hands from getting puppy teeth on them 🙂 He will know when to grab for something and what exactly he is grabbing for (which helps him know if he should come in hard for a toy or soft for a cookie).
>Cookie room service lol. Cookie to his mouth. Is it ok to deliver no mater where he is? Vs having snacks?>Yes – you can have a marker that says that you are bringing it to his mouth and a marker that says he can move forward to it.
>Catch! Couldn’t this be get it?>
They are different placements: get it is ahead of the dog and the dog moves forward to it. Catch is when the reward is thrown back to the dog (or behind the dog) so they stay where they are (but they can move to get the reward)
>Find it. For when I mess up and drop the cookie he was supposed to get with the yes LOL.>
Ha! Perfect!
>Scatter- Drop a bunch of cookies on ground as reward so I can do something else or end session>
Great!
The session on the video went well!
>Someone once told me to have two identical toys to try the toy swapping so I did that today with him in the 1st exercise>
Identical toys may or may not make a difference to the dogs, but value does! Similar value makes it easier (which is probably why people want to use identical toys). He did great with that and also when you used different toys!
I personally prefer using different toys/ similar value simply because in regular training life, it is easier to use the toys that are easiest to grab in the moment and it is often hard to find where all the identical toys are 🙂 It is a little more practical to use similar toys and eventually any toy you have.
I agree that these sessions went great! He is super fun to watch and he seemed to be having a grand time playing with you! And getting the cookie in there for the drop was great too. We will definitely keep this skills going as he grows up.
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
His driving ahead looked great! He was focusing forward on the toy really well and winning the race unless you had a big cheat to win 😂
At the very beginning, you used a toy for the first couple of reps – he did great driving to it! After getting to the toy, it looks like he was waiting for you to tug with him, so you can grab the other end of the toy and tug (no need for cookies in that moment). If there is a treat in your hand or you take it out of the pocket, he might focus on that more than the toy.
The rest of the session had a lotus ball toy which is also really liked. They are useful toys but not as interactive as a tug toy, so be sure to use lots of toys for this game.
Nice work!
Tracy
Good morning!
He was so cute sitting on the plank at the beginning – did he offer that all on his own?
The down was harder (ne behavior, narrow plank) but he was able to do it and that is great! Standing up after the down was harder on the first rep but I was impressed with his balance on the 2nd rep of that – wow!
Since this went so well, you can let him offer at higher speed with a little more arousal. The easiest way to get that is to tug a bit before you start, and also to toss treats to the side to reward for hopping off then reward him again for running back and hopping back on the plank.
The tugging on the wobble board went great too. The toy was the perfect length so the he could grab it and shift his weight back to tug and to balance with t he movement: that is the weight shift we will want on the teeter. Super! I might have gotten his toes caught under the board once or twice as he was tugging. He might need to move up to a bigger wobble board sooner if you have one!
Te next step with this wobble board it to move it to a surface that will make a different noise. It seemed pretty loud here but we can add a bit of metallic noise – you might be able to get that with putting a soda can under it too.
Great job here! Have fun at the trial this weekend!
Tracy
Hi!
I love that he is already driving ahead so well in toy races! And brings the toy back 🙂 Super! I think it is also building in some collar grab fun too – super happy waggy tails on those reps! And a nice resilience moment when something loud dropped and he bounced back right away.
Be sure to do this on both side to help him turn right as well – I think these were all left turns. And you can be more laterally off to the side to help he doesn’t turn to his left then turn to his right 🙂
He was so funny trying to get on the wobble board before you even put it down! And UGH about it not recording the first session! He did super well hopping on & off (great foundation for if he loses balance on the dog walk!) as well as turning around. His downs to stands were great, very impressive for a baby pup!!!!! Yes, give him more room to stand so he doesn’t end up a little hunched, but I was impressed with his ability to move from the down to the stand to the down on a relatively unstable board. You could use this Galician thing as part of his Parkour adventures – adding stacks up different things around it so he can practice climbing up and down different levels. The true conditioning stuff should be on the lower objects and stable objects but the position changes are still good to do on the allergy/moving planks!
Great job here!!
Tracy
Hi!
These blinds were gorgeous! Even the 2nd rep which was late had great connection, so she was able to change sides immediately. Super!! Well done to you for getting your arms all the way back so she could see the connection.
Both of you are moving fast on the blind, so you might have seen her skid a bit wide on the pivots – be sure to add in lots of decel so she knows the pivot is coming, the pivot while still decelerating.
She did great hitting her mat with the novel- exciting game! My only suggestion is to mark with a ‘get it’ type of marker for a tossed treat, instead of ‘yes’ so she looks at you less.
The cookie bag was a lovely distraction here – she was definitely having to process it! There was a cookie throw at :44 that was near it and you can see her look at the bag. We can almost see the gears turning in her head as she ignored it LOL! Good girl!
For the next session, you can have the novel-exciting object already in the environment before you bring her into it. Then go directly to work and see if she can ignore it 🙂
Great job!
Tracy
Hi!
>I struggle with the balance between letting him have his victory lap, and being worried if I ask for the toy too soon and he blows me off that I’m reinforcing him blowing me off.>
It is a hard balance that might not resolve until after adolescence. But I have found that the victory lap then a trade always turns out well in the long run.
>The knee was not better this morning… went to the physio, thankfully nothing’s torn but it would seem my patella has a slight tracking issue, and everything went in the wrong direction. Physio reckons i should be feeling better after a week. I currently have a crutch. (I don’t need crate rest but I’m only allowed “on leash” walks) haha.>
Ouch! Yes, only leash walks for you LOL!! I am amazed that your healthcare system got you in so fast… it would take weeks here! Jealous!!!
Tracy
Hi!
>The collection sandwich is challenging to get the reward in the correct hand. >
True, you do need 6 or 7 hands for this game 🙂 When adding the toy to drive ahead to, you can have the toy as the only reward (no cookies for those) so you only need to worry about 1 reward and not 3.
The blinds looked GREAT – nice job with your connection!! And the decels to pivot were good too! You started moving faster and then when you added the toy throw, your decel was not as strong so she was wider and you were a bit off balance trying to decel. So remember to give yourself a nice big decel to keep her tight and so you can turn easily.
The rep at 1:00-1:02 was a lovely example of spot on decel! That allowed her to turn really tightly with you. Then just remember to maintain eye contact with her as you pivot before throwing the toy – you broke connection to throw, so she read it like a blind. You can delay the throw for another step or two (more like 1:21 and really well at 1:43!) until you see her fully on the correct side and facing the correct direction.
>I let her run around and just sat down.>
She came right back when you stared singing the circus music too LOL!!
>But, it’s not efficient using toy rewards when playing with me isn’t rewarding to her.>
I think toys are rewarding, and tugging with you is rewarding… we just don’t have a retrieve yet 🙂 But she had some reps where the run away moments were not that long! 2 ideas for you:
– have you tried a ball instead of a tug. Throw the ball then as soon as she gets it, run the other way presenting the tug toy
– you can make it a bit of a loop: after you throw the toy and she gets it, you can immediately show her the start cookie then toss it to begin the next rep. Don’t worry about driving to the first toy – you can have a 2nd toy and throw that one then pick up the first toy for the next rep 🙂
Nice work here!
Tracy
Hi!
The play at the beginning of the blind cross video was very engaging: you were backing up and kind of inviting her into your space, and she seemed to really like it!
On the first blind:
>I know we didn’t get the first one and my mechanics seemed off in the others. Turning to the right is my bad side so I’m often guessing when she’ll show up.>
That ‘guessing’ feeling is all about arm position on the blinds. At :10, your arm is down at your side which closes your shoulder forward, so she doesn’t get to see the connection which cues the new side.
To create the big connection, have the new dog-side arm (left arm here) be pointed all the way back to her nose (rather than pointing to the spot near your side) and try to make eye contact. The arm back and eye contact will show her the new side immediately.
Then your arm can draw her into your side when you decelerate and pivot.
When your arm was a little further back (like at :52 and 1:36) she could see the side change sooner. So think of cueing a blind as cueing it with your eyes and not with your hand 🙂 You can have your reward hand (which was also the original dog side hand) across your body which also really open up the connection.
The pivots looked great, nice and tight! You can add more decel into it by running more as soon as you send her to the treat so you are further ahead. Then you can do the blind as soon as she starts moving towards you which also gives you more time for the blind.
On the 2nd video:
>Rou sends the prop sliding sometimes.>
She is fast and strong! You can tape a yoga mat to the bottom of it so it doesn’t slide.
>I’m not sure with the parallel path if she knew the prop was the game and it wasn’t a pattern game. >
Based on what she did here, I think she knew it was about the prop: when you started moving, she looked directly to the prop, went to hit it, then didn’t look at you til you said ‘yes’ 🙂 Super!!!
So you can add more distance laterally away from it. Also, you can start with her and be right next to her to see if she will drive ahead to it. That will set you up nicely for the rear crosses.
>She did great on the send until I accidentally was rewarding before she hit the prop. She figured it out again pretty quickly.
Yes! She was GREAT with the backwards sends! And also yes – you reward earlier once or twice so she was anticipating turning sooner. But then you maintained criteria and she got back into it. A nice resilience moment for Rou! You can add a little more countermotion by starting to move forward sooner as long as you see her really hit that prop.
Great job here!!! Have fun at the trial this weekend!
Tracy
Hi!
>Everything from last week (three training days) shifted to slow-mo after 10 seconds. While it’s informative, it’s also pretty tedious.>
Oh no!! I hate when that happens. You can post them and I can watch them at a higher speed, so it is still useful!
I was able to play them at 4x speed so they were just about normal.The sound was a little off but that is fine.
On the wing wrap foundation game, he was doing well with the 2 bowls! It went well and he was getting into the groove really nicely.
With the 2 toys: I see what you mean about the left toy being very interesting but he was able to leave to go to the other toy! That is huge! And he was able to follow the toys as you moved them, which is also great considering they re not as valuable as food.
Since the food was the main motivator for this game – you can take the food bowl version and add in a cone or small barrel for him to go around.
Looking at the other videos:
Drive to handler is looking great! He loved coming to your side and pivoting: easy and fun! You added a bind cross and that was easy too. I think the hardest part for him was finding the start cookie LOL!You can use a mat or something to toss the cookie on so it is easier to find, which will allow you to then start to run away: that will cue more speed from him, and when he is almost halfway to you then you can show a big deceleration so he decelerates too.
The goat trick video looks great too! He was more than happy to get right on the tray. Do you have a variety of different things, even if he has already been on them? You can use a bunch of stuff to get a big pile and big playing field, to get him climbing around on it and using his hind end too. He was not really using his back feet here to get on it: slippery? Too small? Hard to know, but a bigger pile will give him more room to get all of his feet on it.
Great job here!!
Tracy
Hi!
>We didn’t get to do the games from last week due to snow on the ground. >
Fingers crossed for good weather coming up – your area has had terrible weather recently!
He was so funny starting the game without you. I guess he remembered it LOL!
Sending him in both directions looked super strong, even on the harder angles of entry.
In the ‘challenge your brain’ moment of having him turn away – it was hard!! I think he is a righty so the left turns were extra hard. Yo can help him on the lefts by setting him closer to the bar like to did on a couple of reps, and also by placing the toy between bars to give him a focal point to turn away towards.
The right turns looked great, supporting my theory that he is a righty 🙂 Only one question on a harder angle that he fixed immediately. Then he was perfect when you went back to the left turns. He did shake it off a couple of times during the left turn sections (and never in the right turn sections) which also tell us that his brain was working hard 🙂
Looking at the morning session:
He got right into the left turn away. Super!!! What a good boy!!! A good sleep does help solidify the learning. He was quite excellent in both directions even on the harder angles. It was cool to watch his head looking at both the left and right turn options (when he was on your left) and get it right each time. So fun! That last one was especially challenging and he nailed it!!!You can let him sleep on the a bit too, then try it from the neutral position where he is between your feet 🙂 You might have to start right in front of the bar so he understands how to move into it from that different start position, then work your way back to the center position where all the wings meet.
>I was looking ahead at the serp games that also include a backside. I’m trying to remember from MaxPup 1, did we do a backside game? I somehow don’t remember teaching him a “back” verbal. I will have to go back and review what we did.>
Yes, it is here:
Nice work here! Stay warm!!
Tracy
Hi!
Wow, he remembered this so well! Yay! Turning away was harder at first (he turned towards you then away on the first rep on each side). But then he figured it out and was great, including all of the angles you presented. I do think he was a little stronger to his right on these turn aways – do I remember correctly that he was also more of a righty in his MaxPup 1 games?
Using two toys to bring him back faster worked great: he had a lot of fun and the session was much more efficient
>Loved our in between legs rep where he went the wrong way but then figured it out! So impressed!>
Actually… I think he was correct on the first rep unless the video was mirrored or I was hearing it wrong. You were saying “right” and he turned right there at 1:41 – he corrected it to turning to his left when you marked it as wrong, so be sure you check the directional before each rep 🙂
> He does look strangled with the collar grabs but that is because he was raring to go each time lol! I>
Ha! That was funny – he understood the assignment and wanted to go go go!!
Great job :)
TracyHi!
That is crazy about the cold turning your camera off!!This went really well! I agree that holding her until she looked the correct direction was helpful – on the reps here, she was looking that direction really quickly so I am glad she was feeling confident about the directionals!!! You can revisit this sometimes to keep working over towards being in ‘neutral’ position so she can still respond to cues even when she is in the dead center of the setup.
Great job!!
Tracy
