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Congrats on being caught up, that is impressive!!! This is the zig zag video. Can you repost the get out video? Looking toward to seeing it!
Tracy
Ah yes, she did well here! And leaving the deer is AWESOME!
Changing hands seems to have done the trick and she found the jumps really well. Now that she has the idea, you can play around with using lower hand – more at waist level – because that is more of what she will see when you are running fast. The high hands made things obvious to get the game started, so now we can lower them a bit.Your best placement of reward was the 2nd to last rep, where you tossed it past the jump but closer to your position, so she sliced that jump. That will set her up really nicely as this games builds into more and more slicing. So keep throwing the reward on that slice, parallel to the bar on the landing side, so she can jump on the slice.
Great job!
TracyGood morning!
The single lap turns looked really good, and so did the FC into the lap turn! The timing and footwork was good 🙂 At first I think she was watching your hand a lot to help her go around the wing – but then later in this session, she was much better about doing it on her own, so your hand didn’t have to help her as much.When you added rocking horses/several front crosses, I think you added some extra dance moves 🙂 but it worked! You can totally send her to the wing for the FC more, so you don’t have to run backwards to the lap turn (the running backwards definitely gets all of us discombobulated!) That will solidify the send AND the lap turn. And you can also do more sending on the race tracks, getting a little ahead of her to be at the lap turn wing a step or two sooner (she will like the added speed too :))
Great job!
TracyHi! Good session here!
I agree that the closer set up to jump 1 helps him, and I also agree that at 11 months old, we aren’t seeing his full strength or power or coordination yet. It will percolate over time, as these grids go into the training rotation of once or twice a week. Honestly, with my young male dogs, I don’t see them fully developed physically til they are closer to 3! So we have plenty of time here and he already looks great.
At the 24s mark, I think he is trying to sort out how to both jump and prepare to stop, thus that splitting and carrying of back feet: the toy and the fence are pretty close to the last jump so he was multi-tasking. So you can turn the grid so he has about 15 feet before the toy and no fence to help him stop. It was a nice split rear foot hit between the last jumps, good for future running dog walks!
The first rep of the angled jumps was hard (knocked bar) – because he is already a confident jumper, you can do one more rep exactly the same, to see if he can change something. It is like asking questions: wrong answer on the first rep, so I ask the same question (with motion) again. I’m betting he will be fine – but if he still can’t answer it correctly, then you can simplify it by changing something like taking out motion. He did really well on all of the following reps 🙂
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
I personally am a big fan of barking as a trick, as a tool to get more engagement 🙂 I might be in the minority on that but it does work! And since she likes shaping things ringside, you can shape the paw-to-foot trick ringside, a little training session before the run! It is an odd approach, perhaps, but she loves it!
Keep me posted 🙂
TracyGood morning!
It is great to have all of this video! I got to watch Ripley TV with my morning coffee 🙂 So many indoor and outdoor opportunities, that is great with young dogs. It is like you were able to get him into almost every type of trial environment all in one weekend. The facility just needs to add an indoor turf ring and you will be all set LOL!I like all of your goals and how you emphasized the procedures – reinforcement procedures before & after, pre-run, post run.
1st day is where it seemed all about establishing reinforcement procedures in the ring, so important! It looked like he was an engaged happy dog playing and chasing especially in the “in between” moments when he didn’t have a toy in his mouth or wasn’t doing a trick.
2nd video – the outdoor ring is definitely stinky! Something caught his nose but you got him back, the toy play overrides the good smells. You can use the good stinky grass ring to add in pattern games since cookies were allowed – perhaps not tossed treats in the ring but can be from your hands. That can help him assess the distractions and return to engagement without you needing to ask for it with the toy.
Day 2 – Reality TV action thanks to your partner! Yay! On that first run, I think you were moving too fast so he had trouble picking up the lines at first. It hard to know how fast/.slow to move with the youngsters but his focus was lovely and he seemed really comfy in the ring – no worries about missing the obstacles at first and happy to play with the toy!
2nd video – LOTS of other dogs barking outside the ring an heseemed fine with it. Good work on the jumps and end of contact, and going past the people to his leash then happily moving into it. YAY!
Tricks outside the ring looked strong in the waiting area – you had engaged semi-chill with the heel moments just before you went it, where you could look at the ring but the little heeling cues helped him stay engaged nicely! Good job showing him that pesky 2nd jump LOL! It was visually challenging to see with all of the other stuff in the environment and you running.
He was lifting his head on the jumping lines – ‘are you sure, human?’ – this is normal young dog behavior which will go away soon as he gets more experienced running the bigger sequences. I saw it in the outdoor ring too but his commitment was overall really strong in both rings.
Outdoor ring – Definitely smelly in that ring, he sniffs that same spot on the way in but immediately engaged with the toy when asked. The added distraction of a leash runner was no problem.
We got a glimpse into the Ripley future on the big long line of jump tunnel tunnel jump jump – WOW!In the next runL Toy placed at end – good to show him that to develop a reward station – it was a brain bender for a moment (“um, you forgot my toy, you left it over there”) as he was walking to the line, then he was fine and happy,y played with the other toy. Developing a reward station – YAY!
Good job staying in motion even if he ran past things – the running past things will go away with more training experience and more in-the-ring experience, so it is better to let him run than it is to stop and fix.
3rd video. Grass sniffing is the hardest part for him in this ring, must be REALLY interesting smells! Or maybe clearing his head a bit, lots of dogs do that on the way to the line, which is fine. It is a great opportunity to ask him what helps or what he needs: Is he all business? Need a trick? Tugging on his leash on the way to the line? A pattern game? He will let you know as he gets more experienced.
TUNNELERS SO FUN – 2 rounds of tunnelers! What a fun thing for youngsters (and all dogs!)
He was great here too! He investigated the fence line in the 2nd run – it happened after a fix. Could be related or unrelated to the stop & fix. Mental fatigue might be part of it, the fix could have ‘popped’ the focus bubble, the distraction might have been really interesting, or all of the above? No worries though, it was just interesting to note. The Find My Face game added last night will help you be able to fix things and he will know what to do, in case the fix is hard in the moment.This is a great video journal of his first big weekend – he did beautifully and great job to you for setting up the big successes 🙂 What is his next big adventure?
Tracy
Hi!
>>So I probably did the 2 leash wrong,
Not wrong, but 2 leashes are really most useful if you think she is going to bolt to some kryptonite distraction 🙂 and I think the stash is very kryptonite-like for her. And rewarding for engagement as you removed a layer is ALWAYS good (for conditioning purposes too!!)
>>. Although it doesn’t really matter what she does on the way to the line, I feel like she starts looking at other stuff (or sniffing) and if it is good enough I have to work really hard to get her back and if I reward for a hand touch as we run (and build value there as distractions increase>>
I agree that in theory: it doesn’t really matter what they do on the way to the line. I mean, my Export would sniff on the way to the line and he never had any engagement issues… but the reality is that it does matter and it is very dog-specific. For some dogs, it totally DOES matter! Lanna is a lot like my Elektra – I like her to be up up up on the way to the line, spewing energy – not sniffing. That is when I get my best results in both agility and flyball.
A couple of tonight’s new games involve volume dial to the line and through the release, so we can incorporate that for her – prepare to be silly LOL!
>> I did a lot of walking from stash off leash and she is ultra focused but the behavior falls apart on leash so I may need to go back and work it on leash too?
Interesting! 2 questions come to mind:
– what was different, in terms of how you moved or indicated that she should move with you? Position of reinforcement, cue, etc? You might be asking her to move with you in a reinforcing way!– is the leash paired with the ‘real thing’ which produces stress? What I mean is that the ‘real thing’ does not have reinforcement immediately available and the task is difficult.
You might consider moving her to the line without a leash at all! You don’t play in AKC, right? It is legal to enter the ring without a leash in UKI and USDAA or take it off at the entry gate! It would be impressively brave but if she prefers it – you can go to the gate, take the leash off, and noodle to the line with some heeling tricks, or other silly tricks. I have gone to doing this when I don’t have to get to the line when the previous dog is still mid-course. If the trial is small and it is OK to enter as the previous dog is over the last jump, I take off the leash at the gate and hand it to the leash runner – and the dogs are sooo much more relaxed (so am I LOL!)
And yes, you can totally work the games on leash too, so they don’t fall apart on leash.
Looking at the videos – one thing I see on all three is the sniffing as you mentioned, and that you had to work pretty hard to get the engagement.
Also, when she is sniffing and you are trying to engage her, you were bending over – you can try tricks that have you upright and moving away from her, rather than bending towards her. Catching lightly tossed toys/treats/balls can be a good reward for that and get her looking up/jumping up rather than downwards.
I think the tricks and volume dial games where she is physically upwards (standing, leaping, fast heeling, etc) will be very useful for her – tricks and fun stuff at the stash, then moving quickly to the line with more tricks. My ideal tricks for Lanna would be tricks that are incompatible with sniffing, like standing on her back feet, front feet on you or in the air. Or waving, or spins, or barking (I know, barking… LOL!!!)
Hand touches and tugging low are not as incompatible as I would like them to be in terms of nose-off-ground.
>>. I liked 3 best currently, but please let me know if you think a combo or changing something makes a difference. >>
I agree, this is my current favorite. I think we can add some of the new games for tonight and find the sweet spot!
>>Oh, and I have been doing some of this with my reactive terrier and he has made amazing progress quickly. He may never compete, but he looks really good at home.
Wow! That is great!!!
>>> I left the pretty weave pole hit at the very end of session 3 in to show we did manage to learn something in your weaves class :).
Yay! Good girl!!!! let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hi!
Which parts didn’t go as you wanted them to? I think this went well – the warm up games looked good (she did start barking a lot when the tug came out, but she didn’t lose her head over it. If she barks and can still respond to cues? Ok then, she can bark 🙂
For the stays – it is hard to get a lot of reps in when doing start line work, you had her really excited AND doing good stays! I think it was harder getting her lined up sometimes – I liked what you did on the very first stay in FASt, where you left her in a stay, went to your position, called her into the line up. That was nice! You didn’t do that on the others so the line up was a little more awkward. And she gets a gold star for holding the stay on the 2nd rep in FAST where you ran to the jump and indicated it… but didn’t give the verbal release, so she didn’t break. Good girl! And the stay in T2B was good too – I think a cleaner line up will be easier but she help her stay like a pro!I am happy with how she did! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>>She’s taking more strides. I guess she’s supposed to hop it. I just wonder if it was closer she might not. The 1st part was 5′ the last was 6′.In the early stages of teaching this, it is fine that she is striding between the jumps – it is all about sorting out her lead changes in that side-to-side pattern. She will be able to bounce it when we ask her too, by shortening the distance. But for now – she doesn’t always go over the bar, so leave the distance the same (I think the 5 foot was a bit better than the 6 foot). She was 100% successful when you switched arms: cued the first jump with your left, for example, and then cued the 2nd jump with your right. So definitely switch arms like that in the next session. She had a lower success rate when you used the same arm – sometimes she got it, sometimes she ran past it. I think if you can get closer to 100% success with the switching arms, we can then move the jumps a bit closer to get the bouncing 🙂
Nice work! Have fun!
TracyHi!
The zig zags are challenging and fun! They are good for him to learn to be quick with the lead changes, which makes it harder for you because you have to cue them all.
A couple of ideas: This distance is good, but you can angle each one a bit so he can see the bars more – so looking at he first rep here: the first and 3rd bars would be angled to point slightly to the tunnel on the right of the screen, the 2nd and 4th bars would be angled a bit to point to the trees on the left side of the screen. And you can start at wing 2 for a couple of reps, then go to wing 3, for a couple of reps, and if he is successful, go to wing 4.
The other thing that I think will help is keeping your feet together, so you can use your feet to step to the line you want a little more – that will allow you to have smaller/lower arm motions. Without using your feet, your upper body had to make really big motions 🙂 Adding a bit of foot stepping in (like small semi front crosses) should make it feel less crazy LOL!!
Nice work! As soon as Ronan recognizes the game, it all gets much easier 🙂 He is doing really well here and will be able to see this with smaller distances soon too. Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
>>We added speed.
I think he really really really REALLY liked that hahaha He was able to go faster, see you go faster… and not lose his head at all. Next session, you get to run. YAY!!!
>> Interestingly he kept missing the tunnel entrance when having to switch from left to right lead.>
Yes! It is pretty normal to see that with young dogs: that lead change is hard and it is easier/faster to do it while also running around the tunnel (or running on top of it).
So before the next session, isolate that skill: have him on your right side facing an easy line to the threadle side of the tunnel, doing your in in like you did here: start by holding him, saying in in, then letting go and moving, with you going pretty fast. Then you can change the angles gradually, so he has to work more on that lead change at speed to find the tunnel entry, getting to the hardest angle where he is starting near the tunnel exit and has to threadle to the correct entry. That should make the sequence here much easier for him while you run.
(The zig zag grids will also help this lead change stuff – it is a lot of coordination for baby dogs :))
he did SUPER well here in terms of responding to the different cues! he was a little wide on the wing wrap before the in in, but I think that is because you were using your soft turn verbal on the wing for both the tunnel send and the in in. So for example on the left turns: you can use the soft turn verbal (liii liii) for the go tunnel reps and your dig dig (wrap) for the reps of the threadle, to set up a tighter turn on the wing before the tunnel threadle cue.
You had one tiny disconnection at 1:32 as you were pulling away from the wing, but you fixed it instantly and the rest looked great!
Nice work! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
>>. I came out with 2 leashes and dropped both of them >>
I think we humans all need 3 hands for trainng dogs LOL!! You only need 2 leashes if you are doig nth eoff leash offered engagement game, where you are taking on leash off but want to make sure he doesn’t leave for the distraction.
This was a good session! I have a couple of ideas about reinforcement for you, especially at the beginning of the session to get him into focus-mode:
I think the disc at the beginning was for instant focus – you can reinforce successive approximations, like when he interacted with it, even if he was not perfect: reward that initial interaction, because it was right next to the cookie smells and he got right to work with the disc. Was it perfect? No… but it was instant focus on work rather than cookie smells, so it should definitely rewardable.
The other thing to think about is the ratio of tricks/behaviors to reinforcement, especially at the beginning of a session when you want o get him engaged:
With the touches and spins, you started with a low ratio – 8 cues before a reinforcement, then 7 cues before a reinforcement. So that was actually a low success rate, and that was when he was leaving for the smells (I don’t think it was because you dropped the leashes, it was more because the sucess rate had dropped. Then after that, you changed the ratio: more like 2:1, or 1:1, or 3:1… and BOOM! He got very engaged and focused. That allowed you to, by the end of the session, get lots of tricks before the cookie, and he didn’t leave for the smells.So for the next session, start off with a ratio of trick:treat that is more like 1:1 (one trick to one treat) or 2:1 (2 tricks to 1 treat) to get him really engaged… and then you can start to ask for more behavior after he is engaged.
>> i’m afraid I can’t get to the chat tomorrow … very disappointed>>
We will be sad to miss you!!! Do you have any questions or anything you want us to discuss?
Great job 🙂
TracyHi!
Glad you are back! Sorry to hear that booster 2 flattened you but it is good to have it on board!Looking at both videos – there is a lot of good work here and I think with a couple of small tweaks, you can use the APDB in training and at trials!
While I am thinking of it… you might consider buying a second or 3rd APDB so you can have one on her reward station (definitely in a jar for now) and one hidden in your pocket for the Training In The Ring step 2 (empty hands) games. And, if you throw the APDB as a reward, you can reward her with the 2nd one for bringing the first one back 🙂 The APDB seems to be her highest value reinforcement so we need to use it 🙂
>>But for our purposes at home, and maybe class and most trials, I can get better RR results with different/lessor toys.
>>I feel like I’m in a difficult situation…..I need a high value toy to curb her anxieties, yet getting them off me for RR, or delayed reinforcement is extremely hard.Totally agree that it is an incredibly high value, convenient, and helpful reinforcement. That is another reason why I think having more than one of the same toy will be helpful. One can live at the reward station (in a jar for now, it is not ready to be jar-less) and you can have another one in a pocket. That, plus super high value food as reinforcement for leaving the reward station? That might be the winning combo!
Speaking of high value food – goldfish are good but not good enough to compete with the APDB, which also means they are not high enough in value to compete with a stressful environment. She is happy to ignore the open bag, and the gives us a lot of insight LOL! You can use higher value food rewards to reward her for leaving the reward station, as well as when she is in challenging situations. For example, I use meatballs and cheddar cheese when my dogs are in high arousal, challenging situations (and kibble or dry treats at home).
>> But she also stole it and took off, hence the fence>>
The party of one with the APDB is a good lesson in the importance of controlling the environment 🙂 The APDB was naked and free for the taking… so she did. And then you were concerned about it, so you were changing your behavior to block or help her. She is not quite at the point of being able to *not* steal it yet, so the jar is the perfect way to control the environment.
Or, if the APDB is naked and available, you can have her on leash. But jar-less APDB and off leash Posh are a difficult combo for you LOL!
>>I’m blocking her a bit wanting her to get the idea.
This puts you in management mode, and that makes it harder to for training. I want you to be able to simply walk away and allow her to offer moving with you, and eventually doing the volume dial tricks, without you managing her path or asking for her attention. So the jar or the leash will help.
>>. I don’t feel I need to block her because I know she can’t help herself, but it also slows our reps down.
Overall, it is more important that she can’t steal it than it is to get in a lot of fast reps. She seems perfectly happy to let you open the jar before giving it to her.
>>. I can see my sessions are still too long, and belaboring time at the jump is unnecessary to what we’re trying to achieve.>>
I don’t think they were too long in terms of # of minutes, but yes – you don’t need to do as many reps on the jump.
>.She doesn’t try to steal it when I’m near the chair and retrieving is more successful when I’m lower to the ground.>>
That is because she is brilliant and knows she can steal it successfully when you are further from it, and she can’t steal it when you are right there LOL!
So using the magical APDB as part of your remote reinforcement combos:
– yes to the jar 🙂
– get a 2nd or 3rd one, so you can reward her (surprise!) in the ring even when there is one at the reward station – that can also help build impulse control, because she won’t be hyper-focused on just one toy.
– use higher value food in challenging environments: soft stinky stuff that is really hard for her to ignore!And I think you should control the environment a bit more (jar :)) and not get too worried about complete impulse control on the APDB – let’s get it involved right away! It will be helpful for her!
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHoly wow I think he looked better than he does at class – he was PUMPED UP but in the best way! And all this with it being a million degrees out… fast and focused! And you were very connected in your handling!
You made excellent choices for him – short leads outs, visible clam, tossed rewards, asking for the tricks… it set up a super successful day for him. YAY!!!
>>He even got in a nap (1st time). He stayed fresh.>>
This is so helpful!!!
>>After his last run, someone commented he looked happy. For his last run he was under the tent with four dogs and ignored them. I was more distracted and he was just offering his tricks to get my focus.>>
And this is great too – exactly what we want him to do!!! YAY!!!!
>>This trial was much quieter setting in the country but he’s never ran that well, especially the first time. He was a totally different dog – non-reactive, focused and fast.
A quiet setting is perfect for easing him into fast/focused competition!
>>We had a great time, much easier to walk and run your own course but I had to avoid running into the rest of the group. And my watch showed all 3 rings closed including 30 mins of exercise trying to keep up.>>
YAY! And all 3 rings closing is a big bonus too LOL!
So to debrief – what do you think were your most useful and successful tools at the trial? And what did not work as well (such as instant focus on Saturday). We can track this so you know what to use and what to skip next time.
I think you can at class be doing some Step 2 (empty hands) runs (already doing those) along with the steps 3 and 4 we will be adding tonight – so the next trial and be a combination of Step 1 and Step 2 training in the ring. If the NADAC at the end of May is his next competition, then we have plenty of time for planning and training.
Great job! I am doing a happy dance for you!
TracyGood morning!
Thanks for reposting all the videos – they were incredibly informative!! I think almost all of the pieces are in place – his engagement at the start looks great, most of the course running looks great (well done to you for lovely connection!) and there is one big Kryptonite pattern that I can see emerging after watching a bunch of his runs now:
This one is marked as no longer available:
https://youtu.be/OO2AwXolZ7asAnd this one is the lovely run from Saturday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvq8rdOO_ds
Looking at Sunday’s runs, I think we see where he is doing amazingly well (start line engagement, most of the course work is fast and focused) and where we have some kryptonite games to play – really only one Kryptonite concept and everything else looks great!!
Saturday JWW looks GREAT! WOW!
He was very successful and we do see the first bit of Kryptonite: He totally thought he was finished on the 2nd jump after the weaves – jumping away from the course AND there were timing lights on the jump, so I can’t say I blame him for thinking he was done! More on that below 🙂T2B on Sunday has so much lovely work!! He is finding his lines, he is getting faster and faster, ignoring the ring crew and the judge. I think he was struggling with the stopping but not really playing with the toy – in a class setting, will he play with the toy and chase it in the ring 9still in your hand)? It is possible that you didn’t give him quite enough time to grab it in the run here, or that he wasn’t interested in grabbing it. So it will be good to figure out if he *will* play with it at a trial, so we can plan more using it.
More importantly, though – I think we see more of the Kryptonite here (and having the weaves there right by the front of the ring did not help) – the visual of the perceived end of the course, along with the exit gate and the people).
Same thing with the Sunday JWW run – so fabulous! Even with something causing him to shake his head like that, he still got the jumps and got the weaves! Good boy! And then when it was time to ignore the exit and the people at the front of the ring, he just couldn’t (hello, Kryptonite!) and then he got worried about something (maybe someone tried to shoo him away? Or another dog was there? It was not visible on camera. )
So that is great info and we can really isolate that scenario with the Kryptonite games 🙂 And, in agility classes/training, we can set it up to reward him for carrying on andNOT heading for the exit.
Running past the front of the ring and back into the course (and not to the exit) is a common scenario on AKC courses. The reason this scenario of having to run past the exit/front of ring is so hard for so many dogs is that the area is incredibly distracting, plus the timing lights and ring exit have been paired with reinforcement (because all the runs end there!), which provides an additional layer of distraction. Definitely perfect for Kryptonite games! Having the weaves right there makes it harder because they are less stimulating than, say, a straight tunnel or jumps so he is more likely to ‘notice’ the outside-the-ring distractions. He was GREAT with his weaves on Saturday in JWW and they were closer to the middle of the ring.
A question for you: do you think he is distracted by the dogs or the people or the food items or… all of the above in this situation?
So let’s move the Kryptonite games into a high priority spot in training because everything else looks so good:
– set up a pretty realistic outside-of-ring situation. Food stuff on tables, people watching, other dogs moving/barking/tugging – do you have training partners and classmates who can help with this?
– using his favorite games (probably pattern games, volume dial tricks and off leash offered engagement), play some of these simple games in front of this high level distraction set up
– when that is easy for him, install this Kryptonite into your remote reinforcement game, so he has to move with you, doing tricks and maybe a jump, past the distractions and to your reward station.And since dogs are so good at recognizing things like timing lights on the jump, can you ask one of your instructors to put timers on random jumps, near the edges of the ring, so you can reward him for continuing past them and so he doesn’t think he is finished? They don’t have to be turned on or anything, they just need to be visible 🙂
Great job on these runs! I really think the Kryptonite games will be the last piece of the puzzle 🙂
Tracy
