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Hi!
Here is a video of the dog working on the raised platform.
I didn’t do a great job of securing the mat here so switched to duct tape for later sessions. It is a yoga mat on a sheet, over an aerobics step. Wearing pajamas is optional but very comfortable LOL!!
T
Hi! Great job working through the rear cross game.
He is very quick, so when he lifted his head from eating you were still on the original side – so he turned back towards you like a front cross.Then you made 2 excellent adjustments from :29 to the end:
– you threw the treat a little further from you, so he was moving straighter to get it
– you got past his shoulder really fast so when he lifted his head from eating, you were visible on the new side.
These adjustments got the rear crosses! Super!!!!
>why did you use a raised mat for when you were sitting with the running contact- is it to make it easier for you to se the feet or is it for the dog or both.>
Both! Partially so I could see it more easily. Those little feet move FAST! And partially so the dogs were making a more deliberate effort at foot placement because they really had to lift their feet.
Nice work here!
Tracy
Hi!
I love the St. Patrick’s Day theme on the video!!! The photo of her as a puppy in the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow – SO CUTE!
And we got exactly none of the crazy weather, thankfully!>This week’s exercises are tough so far..for me! A lot of trying to remember which way to cross and which hand to use. >
The handling is always harder for us humans 🙂 If we get it right, the dog gets it right. You did really well!!!
The Front Cross to Blind Cross on the barrel looked great! She was a tugging beast 🙂 It might feel easier if you send to the barrel from further away so you have more time to get the FC to BC in. She was moving really fast! And since her barrel commitment is looking strong you can probgably start the FC sooner (just before she arrives at hte barrel) which will make the blinds easier.
She tends to mentally wander a bit when the training is only about cookies – the toy definitely keeps her engaged more! She went and grabbed the toy at around 2:15, I think that was her way of saying you should use the toy LOL! The food is good but you can mix in the toy even if it is not every single rep.
> I used cookies to start so I could have them in both hands; trying to switch the toy around and remember which way to turn was too much for this round>
I agree that it is a giant pain to have to deal with the toy in your hand at these early stages. What you can do it shove it in a pocket (it stick it down the back of my pants LOL) and then take it out as the reward at the end of the rep. The rewards don’t have to be super precise here, so having it tucked away until you need it can help your hands be free and also help her remain more engaged.
In general, she is reading the commitment and connection really well! Your connection between the barrels after the FC to send her to the next barrel was spot on for every rep except one – you were direct with your eye contact (hallmark moment!) so she knew exactly where to go. YAY! And on the one rep where she didn’t get the side change, you knew that the connection was not as clear and you rewarded her. Perfect!
She only had commitment questions in one spot:
On the sends like at 2:40 when she was not really going to the barrel – you can get better commitment with a lower hand send so she can see your eyes more at the start of the send. When you were beginning the send with your dog-side arm getting higher (up at your shoulder), it actually turned your shoulders away from the barrel a bit and blocked her view of your eyes so that is why she pulled off of it. On the other reps, you had your arm nice and low plus the eye contact was clear, so she committed really well.Stays
These are going well! A couple of ideas for you to get even more duration:
– after she sits, you can walk away in the direction her feet are pointing, so she is not tempted to turn to follow you (and move her feet to do so).– Yes, the goal is to release before she breaks but I think we can get more duration by putting the reward in your other hand. She was locked onto the magic cookie hand, wanting to move when it moved 🙂 So you can have the hand next to her be empty like you did at 6:57 then toss from the other hand. That way she doesn’t watch the cookie as much and will be able to hold position longer. It might sound like a small tweak but I think most of her movement here was because she was following the cookie hand that was above her eyes (STARVING, obviously LOL )
Great job here!!
Tracy
He was so expressive on the remote reinforcement session here too – he is so cute! He was like “ok. this seems easy too, why is it so easy?” LOL!! Good boy! He certainly liked the ‘let’s go’ followed by heading to the bowl. Since he found it super easy, you can add in some tricks or simple behaviors after he moves away. You can also use the toy as the reward. And, one more thing to add in: his leash! I use the leash a lot in these early sessions because it helps for when we need to have the dogs on leash at trials.
Great job here!!! All of his games are looking terrific!
Tracy
Threadle wrap foundation:
His face was so cute here, almost like he was surprised at how easy it was to turn in a circle away from you. Almost like he was asking: “Is that all there is to it?” Getting him locked onto your hand before turning him away worked the best: :18 1:19 and 1:27 were great examples where he turned left, and also :26 and 1:55 were great examples where he turned to his right. There were lots of good reps like those, where he was just about all the way to your hand, then you turned him away. Super!When he had questions about where to turn too, it was because the hand was moving a bit too soon, before he got locked onto it and got close to it. You can see that at 1:02, 1:33, 1:47 for example.
You can refresh this in the next session then add the barrel to turn away to! Let me know how it goes. Nice work!
Tracy
Adding the Manners Minder: Mojo gets a gold star to immediately hit the target hand even with the Manners Minder right there. YAY!! Good boy! The MM was keeping things spicy by malfunctioning but I think he got extra treats so he was happy with that.
The MM is on the correct line tight to the jump and now you can move it over, so it is outside the line of the wing – maybe 3 or 4 feet past the wing. That way you can be positioned closer to where the MM was, and he can come in and out – and as he exits the hand touch, he has a couple of strides before arriving at the MM.
Speaking of the hand touch – we are also at the stage where you can start fading out the actual touch and we will see him do a bit more of a drive by on the hand. That is what happened on the last rep, and that is GREAT because as we get him serping on jumps, we want the in-then-out but we don’t want him to actually touch your hand anymore.
Remember to stay nice and close to the jump (close enough to reach out and touch it with a relaxed arm). If you get too far from it, he will not turn as well over the bump 🙂
Great job!
Tracy
The out game went really well too – he was lovely about responding to the ‘out’ versus the ‘right here’. For the next session, I bet you don’t even need the right here – you can run forward and either say his name once or say nothing, to challenge him to read the motion on the line.
He only had one question, at 1:14 when he went past the prop. On that rep, the cue was a little late: he was already ahead of you, committing to going past the prop. But when you were earlier with the cues on the previous reps and on the next one at 1:31, he got the ‘out’ brilliantly! Super!
You can keep adding speed to this one 🙂 with you running more and see how well he can respond. Nice work!
Tracy
Hi!
The strike a pose here went really well, he got it nicely from both of the hard angles you had here. Your position was spot on and he had no questions. I am glad you moved to the next step with the manners minder, because that is what I was going to suggest 🙂 He was definitely ready for more. Yay!
T
Hi!
The rocking horses are off to a great start here! You were very specific abour the mechanics – nailed it! One suggestion as you send – Be sure to not step past hte barrel, because that blocks his line for where to go like at 1:03. Compare to 1:29, for example, where you stepped to the barrel and he had no questions at all.
He really lit up when you got the toy involved: that made it all muchy more exciting! He had a couple of questions about going to the barrel after that, but those were more about connection than the toy. When you sent to the barrel on the reps where he curled in towards you, the arm point blocked his view of your eyes. So you can point less (letting your hand follow his nose) and look at his eyes more. That will turn your shoulders to the barrel and he will go very smoothly 🙂
Great job! For the next session, you can add more distance between the barrels and also you can add more of your motion too 🙂
Tracy
Good morning!
Great job here – this game does sort of require 3 hands LOL!! It took him a moment to realize that you wanted him to offer behavior on the mat after the tugging at the start, but then he did really well and was offering going across the mat as soon as the toy was out of his mouth.
The cookie trade to get the toy back was perfect, and you used your tug marker too. Excellent!
For future sessions of this, you can attach the mat for something low that he has to step up onto – that will allow you to see all four of his little feet going over it, and he will make very deliberate choices about getting all 4 feet on it. I use duct tape to attach the mat to a small riser 🙂 Nothing fancy needed as long as it doesn’t slip around under him.
>Afterwords I realized the mat was closer than you had suggested.>
Having it a little further away might help you be able to see his feet even better, especially as he continues getting faster and faster acoss the mat.
>I think we have Dublins tummy worked out better which is good since he lost one tooth during this tug>
Perfect! He has lovely toy drive so that takes some of the pressure off of finding treats that don’t upset his belly, but it will be nice to have a variety of treats as rewards too!
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
>Thank you for getting nerdy with me- I LOVE that stuff >
I love it too! The nerdier we get, the better we understand how to train our pups. It is great for all of us!
>Sunnie was having fun, it was really more for me LOL!!>
Yes – a lot of the handling games are for us humans and the dogs are wiling to teach us as long as we keep it fun for them 🙂 Mission accomplished, she did great!
Your turn hands were very clear so she knew exactly where to drive to. Super! I think she was hitting the prop more too – she definitely knows it is there and is able to hit it AND look at you. Only one rep where you were too early and quick (:16) but you made it clearer on all the others, and one rep where she lost her cookie 😂 but the rest were lovely.
>I am lucky in that my dogs have really solid GIs and don’t get upset stomachs, but I also introduce the food in tiny quantities.
I think I just need to cut the cord & start trying new stuff! When you say small quantities, just try a few pieces of a new food items in a training session & see how the poop goes with that particular food? >Yes – short session, tiny pieces mixed in with food I know they can digest easily. Then I wait and see what comes out the other end LOL! I introduce high value treats early in life so their developing bodies get used to the miracle of cheese, chicken, meatballs, etc.
>So silly asking this, but like I said she’s different than the others who had the typical lab iron stomach LOL!!>
Not silly at ALL!! Mixing it in bit by bit will let us know if she has any food sensitivities.
>Heading to a private agility lesson tonight in a new location – dirt arena! >
How did it go?!?! I am sensing she did great.
Nice work here!!
Tracy
Good morning!
I think she really liked this one-on-one tugging time with da momma!!! Terrific play and cuddles. And you had an excellent amount of time playing tugging after she brought it back – we want the time spent tugging to be SUPER rewarding, so longer tug sessions are perfect. She was hilarious when you were giving kisses though LOL!!!
The retrieving was spot on: she went to the toy immediately and brought it right back. Perfection! And she was still wanting to play at the end. So you can keep adding more distance to this, and changing your position to sitting and standing. And you can try trading for a different toy, so you can throw the 2nd toy after she brings the first toy back and tugs a bit.
Lovely session!!
Tracy
Hi! We can totally transfer you over 🙂 For the working spot: we have the forum working spots like you are doing here. But we don’t have the live zoom classes for MaxPup 3 (although we might add some, folks have been asking :)) Let me know if the Forum working spot is what you are looking for.
Thanks!
TracyGood morning!
The decel session went well 🙂
Good job helping support the commitment here by decelerating and facing forward until she was collecting and at the jump. Super! She had some really good collections and turns! She liked the tugging but definitely liked the thrown reward too – collection is more fun when she gets to run run run after it. Throwing the reward is not as efficient because she takes the toy on a victory tour 😂 but the power of that reinforcement will ultimately result in more commitment and collection.Her only questions here were on the straight line jump – she would sometimes go past it, next to you.
To get her to take the straight line jump, connect to her eyes more s you move past and don’t reach for the toy. When you were looking forward and going for the toy to throw, that would turn your shoulders away from the line a little and also draw her focus to the toy hand 🙂 You can even leave the toy in your pocket and throw it a little late, to help maintain connection and build commitment.The lap turns are going really well too – the timing and motion of the cues were generally spot on so she was able to execute them really well. She particularly liked it when you had her run a bit of a race track around the wings before asking for the turn away. Fun!
You were a little early at 1:38 – she was only about halfway between the wings when you started the motion back, which indicated the other side of the wing (like a rotated send). If that happens, no worries, you can keep going to the next wing or throw the toy. If you walk away from her and stop the game even for a couple of seconds, she gets confused because she read you correctly. You were a little early at 2:19 too but compare to 2:38 and 2:51 and the rest of the reps, where she got just about to your hand and she easily found the turn away. Yay! She really liked when you praised and ran a bit after the good turn away: super!!!
>At the end of this video she sees a person walking a dog on the road. She will often run over to the fence. I stoped trying to do the turns and held her collar for a few seconds but then pulled out lots of treats and started to do basics with her.>
That is super!!!! Great job to you for engaging her with fun trick and stuff – that makes a big difference! In our yards, most dogs practice going to the fence when a dog and/or person goes by. So to be able to keep her engaged with you is excellent! The simple behaviors are perfect, and you can also do pattern games.
Great job here!
Tracy
