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Good morning!
>I caught him out of the corner of my eye prance up the length of the plank on his own, just enjoying it. >
That is so cute!!!1
He did great on the plank session – very confidently hopping on and off. He was also super happy to run across it.
He wants to look up at you (makes sense because he is so little) and that was causing him to lose his balance when he was moving across the board, so try to get the treats delivered down below the level of your knee. When you did that, he was looking forward better instead of all the way up at you. To keep him looking lower when he is running across the board you can try holding him, placing a cookie a few feet ahead then letting him run to it. Keep the board low like it was here when you do this, in case he gets too excited and falls off š
Looking at the prop sends – I think he is doing really well and he has good value here. Was it his first time doing this outside? Having the neighbor noise was actually a good thing to add as a distraction here. He had a lot of success even with that. The backwards sends were definitely the hardest so you can stick to forward sendings and sideways sending where there are distractions.
The first side went great and then at about 1:08 you changed sides and he was not as snappy. It is possible he was a bit brain-tired from having to hit the prop AND ignore neighbor noise in the early part of the session. Getting the toy involved helped because it raised his arousal, which helped get him going again. So definitely use lots of toys! And in the harder environments, you can reward the āalmostā hits because he is still leaving you to send, and that can make it easier for him as distractions get harder.
He loves to offer behavior and was practically on the wobble board before you finished putting it on the ground LOL! Good boy! The very minimal tip and noise was perfect here. You can delay the click or time it so it happens for moving the board, not just for getting on the board. That can get him slamming it even more!
He was not as sure about tugging on the board but I think that had more to do with the toy not moving as much. You can have the toy moving more, even if it goes all the way across the wobble board, and see how he feels about it.
>I suspect he may notice the sounds. He is pretty tuned-in to sounds. I wonāt say sensitive necessarily, but he listens, assesses & reacts to sound quickly. So maybeeeee he is sound sensitive?>
It is hard to know for sure – but as long as he is not worried about it, we are good to go! Using super high value toys and crazy high value food – plus one or two rep sessions – will ward off any fear of sounds. I like to do super short sessions on the wobble board (one or two reps) with high value rewards so the pups donāt have time to get worried and we leave them with positive associations and wanting more š
>We have been working on toy play and reinforcement strategies. Mostly we are working on tug and out, the 2 toys game, and some retrieves and āget itā for thrown treats on the ground. >
Perfect! He has a lot of good options in his toolbox!
>With food from the hand, I think need to add a verbal. (decisions, decisions to pick one!) >
What about ācookieā? LOL It is easy to remember š
>He has been pretty good about switching from toys to food & back so far. >
I have never met a Chin who can do that. YAY LEW!!!!!!
>Iām keeping the treat value at a medium (not steak!)>
Maybe a single piece of steak for one rep only on the wobble board when there is more noise?
>I wish he would eat string cheese ā I love your suggestion about shreds being safer for him as far as choking. Iām going to give it another try since he seems to be into developing his palate these days! hahaha>
Ha! They also have shredded cheese in cheddar varieties, my dogs all like cheddar a lot LOL!
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
Starting with the end of the video:
He had some questions about the wobble board: too much movement for his little self! So you can squish some towels under it so it moves less and he can happily explore it at his own pace.>For the movement and noise- instead of luring, should I set up a treat scatter? Think heāll pay attention more. The pad is under the wobble board because itāll slid across the floor.>
Letting him offer is the best bet instead of luring or treat scatters, so he thinks about his body and also tells us what he is concerned about and happy with. Making the unstable objects *more* stable for now will make a big difference and you wonāt have to lure him to get on them.
Going back to the start of the video: He was really good with his plank games! Luring with a hand cue to turn around is useful here because it directs the behavior and he was already happy to get on the board.
I think the plank here might have been a tiny bit too high (hard to jump on for a little dude) so you can lower it a bit and keep the reward placement low so he doesnāt lose his balance reaching up for it.
He did great with the cone wrapping! He was sorting out how to go all the way around really well, especially when he could totally see the treats and could get to the them without going around š Super! He was not fully staring at the line but also I wouldnāt expect a Dachshund to stare. You can watch his eyes and see if he is looking there or glancing there to get more forward focus. He was tossing his head when he was ready to go LOL
Barrel wraps are going super! The wraps to the left were great – good job moving it for the right turns and out for the left turns š That is perfect for now at the start of each session, and then when you did NOT move it back in he got the right turns too! Yay!
The transition to standing was great. This is going make the new game on Monday much easier.
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
>We did one of our in person classes Tuesday night and wish I had recorded it to show Dublin wrapping a chair and going under a pole with fleece and cups hanging. The instructor was thrilled how he was going so close to the chair and ignoring the gap in the fleece curtain lol. >
So fun!! He is doing great!!
>Sad to say lots of chicken and we ended up with more tummy troubles. >
Poor buddy! I wonder if he has a chicken sensitivity? Lots of dogs donāt do well with chicken but are great with beef or turkey or cheese. And the pumpkin treats are perfect: tasty but also good for his belly!
āØ>Today we did some of our wrapping and I tried to keep the bowls by my feet or behind me. >
He did great! The pop up was really far away and he was wrapping beautifully. He had one frozen moment where he kind of forgot what he was doing LOL but then he got back into it really well!
You can put the wrapping game away for the weekend, so his brain can sleep on it š We add the next steps on Monday!
āØ>We also did some goat work on plank and a little obstacle course. The cot was new and the Cato plank was higherāØ
I agree, he did really well being a goat š The plank is narrow and higher but he was great about getting on and staying on – he was brilliant about turning around and keeping all 4 feet no the narrow plank! Impressive!!! Keep your hand moving a little slower when you want him to turn around – faster hand movement will pull him a bit off balance.
His little obstacle course is hilarious! He was terrific and confident. For the moving Cato plank and mini teeter – try to reward lower (with the cookie close to the ground) so he shifts his weight back and doesnāt look up at you as much. That will be helpful when you eventually train his teeter for real.
To keep creating obstacle courses for him, you can tart to overlap objects – the little orange teeter can have one end resting on the blue plank. The cato plank can land on the cot. Anything different and new is fun and helpful!
Great job here!!
Tracy
Oops, I forgot to mention that there is a discount code for the Opposite Arm class:
WINTER25
It will save you $25 šT
Good morning!
>We finally had a lesson with Jessica today after a 2 month hiatus. >
Awesome!! I bet it was fun! And since you are working on all these verbals, I am sure she has good ideas/opinions and can help. The last I checked on what she and Perry were doing, we all had the same general ideas about verbals (as in, we need a lot of them haha) even if the actual words were different.
>but there was major distractions going on in the arena next to the puppy room so maybe being home in his comfort zone helped him do betterā¦.or maybe he had all day to process it and that helped too. >
Yes, and also yes. It might have been a connection issue, or an adolescent split brain issue: he was able to devote only part of his brain to the FC because he was devoting the other part of the brain to trying to tune out distractions from the arena next to him.
Looking at the video:
The serps are going well! You can rotate towards him even more on the serps by rotating at the waist – think of it as pointing your chest back to him. The reason we want more more rotation is to get him in on the serp jump but also to be able to cue the next jump when we add it: the rotation at the waist will be the easiest/best way to cue it.
>I also want to know about my position while doing the FC. >
On the first side, standing in the gap blocks the line to the serp so he was able to get it. But I donāt think it shows enough connection – you had to stay there without moving until he came to the correct side.
On the 2nd side – your position and line were good. So why was he still thinking it was a serpentine? Lack of connection. You are trying to cue him to come into the gap with your dog-side arm low which closes your shoulders forward/breaks connection so it only works if you are stationary.
So to get the line change and be able to stay in motion, change the connection to the exit line connection where you are pushing your dog side arm out of the way by wrapping your opposite arm across your body. You can even show the toy across your body – that is mainly to get the dog side arm out of the way and establish connection to his eyes so you can keep moving.
Here are visuals:
āØ>FYI I changed my left wrap verbal to āloopā (Left ā¦.Loopā¦makes more sense to my brain) and I put the ātightā back to the right wrap as I didnāt love saying wrap wrap wrap (tight and right rhyme so that works for my brain too LOL).>These are great! The highest priority is that we remember to use the verbals, so it is useful that they make sense to your brain š
The ladder grid is off to a lovely start. The introductory back-chaining went great and you got lots of stay rewards in too. Super!!
For the next session, we can ramp it up š
I think when we ask for more power, the distances here will be too short. What distance was this? We can probably add 6ā to each distance, maybe a full foot! But the first reps can be done with an extra 6ā in each distance – and with the moving target š That will get even more hind end push and keep him looking forward.
>Not sure if you prefer a side camera angle?>
Yes, that is ideal, because I can play it in slow motion and obsess on his form š The form I see here was really good – organized and balanced! He seemed to have no questions which is why we can move to the next level.
Great job here!
Tracy
Good morning!
>I think Iāll sign up for the opposite arm class, itās something Iāve always wanted to do better. Do you think I should do it with one of my adults though since Carmenās still learning things?>
Absolutely! Part of the class is one jump and wing to one jump, with Carmen can TOTALLY do alongside your adults. We play with some opposite arm stuff here in Max Pup 2 in the proofing games but not a ton of it. And the sequences can be done by the adults. Since it is a handling class, you can split the working time and post videos of Carmen and the adults each working different things.
> My boy is awesome but we struggle some with turns and deceleration at trials. In fact, after what you said about having them jump preferred in AKC to help with striding I think Iām going to try that with him to see if it helps.>
The thing with dogs with HUGE strides is that the decel has to start really early. You might find with your boy and with Carmen too that you need to start your decel/turns cues before he takes off for the previous jump, so he already sees the cues in progress when he lands and can adjust. It will feel crazy early š but is actually right on time for these hounds š
In the Wind In Your Hair games, we are adding handling (decel into a wrap is the next game to be added, coming soon!) so you will see how early Carmen needs to see the info starting (no later than exiting the wrap of the start wing).
>This evening Carmen and I worked on the Sends and Serps from last week because I hadnāt done that yet. It went well but there were some times of her going straight to the treat and train so I did some having her come through the jump to my hand with a treat. We did 3 short sessions. I rotate through turns with my other two between her sessions.>
Perfect! You can reward from hand as a balance for the TnT, and also rotate the jump slightly so it is easier to take in order to get the TnT. I try to trigger the TnT as soon as the dog is over the bar, so make the association that it is coming over the bar that gets the cookies to appear, not just running to the TnT š
>After watching the videos I saw that for the entire first two sessions I was telling her to go left when she was going right and right when she was going left!!>
Oops! I think we have all done that at some point. When I started adding all of these verbals, I had to record my ‘walk through’ even on these puppy games to double check that I was not screwing it up š
> I feel bad because who knows how many other times of done this and Iām sure itās confusing for her. So, I didnāt bother uploading the video and Iāll redo that and start on this weeks games.>
Don’t feel badly about it! Part of what they are learning is the tone/volume/pitch of these verbals which are an important (or MORE important) than the actual word. But you might need to video your walk through without her to be sure you have the right word too
I am looking forward to the video!
Tracy
Good morning!
Tunnel exits:
He is doing really well! We can clarify some of the cues to make it perfect!
>Our biggest challenge seemed to be the turns out of tunnels. Not sure if itās me or if I can help reinforce it more.>
It is handling (too much convergence, generally), he was responding really well!! Here is the breakdown:
Run 1:
Your timing of the GO was good, say it a few more times (donāt let there be much silence :))
Your left turn verbal timing on the tunnel exit was good but the convergence to the wing pushed hum wide on both left turn tunnel exits.
To avoid that, donāt converge: move the wing over onto a mire visible line and be moving towards it on a parallel line at a distance from wherever you are when he exits – no need to be right next to it, so he wonāt push wide when he sees your line pushing into him.Then you said GO! at :10 then right when he was in the tunnel so he exited straight then adjusted after he exited. I think the GO was just a verbal blooper on your part LOL
The left soft turns wing to wing looked good and the GO GO GO at the end was lovely – he didnāt see the toy throw so you can say get it when you throw it to help him look forward for the toy
Run 2: Go then wrap on the wing at the beginning and end looked great!
As with the first run, there was too much convergence on the wing wrap after the left turn tunnel exit so he was a little wide heading to the wing. Handling on a parallel line with more distance will smooth that out.
Pill Bug:
Yay for the gentle suggestion of GO! RUN! Hahaha Yes – no standing still here, even if you are terrified LOL
And having him held also made it easier to start the game š
He was great! And your connection was great!When you changed sides, starting with a shorter run worked a lot better because he had done several reps to the other side o it made sense he would go there again. But he nailed it when you shortened up the distance a bit!
You can add in the blinds on t his game, and the 2nd tunnel š
For the Minny Pinny:
Either lock the bars into the jump cups, or use jump bumps: he is hitting bars and we donāt want to desensitize that by having a toy follow it. And we donāt want him rolling a wrist or getting hurt if a bar is on the ground.
Along with the locked in bars or bumps, you can use food for this too – reward with food then tug in between reps. That can help him work his footwork and should take out the dropping bars when you present the toy to reward.
The whole conversation about turning away was honest and hilarious! Good for you for getting outside of comfort zone. And he did well!
For the turn away, you were starting him in the hardest spot. He should be much closer to the bar you want him to turn to (he was closer to the āwrongā bar here). So for the next session, start him a little closer to the correct bar so it is even easier.
Tunnel-wing discrimination:
Finding the tunnels was easy! When he had a question about the wing, donāt move it further away (because that takes the tunnel a lot harder when you want it) – I think a better approach is to make it easier to wrap by helping him see the line. You can use a physical cue or put the toy in the gap to help him out.
He is getting the idea so you can start the next session with immediate help on the wing (rather than starting with the tunnel then having failures on the wing) and build the tunnel in after that.2nd video:
One thing to add in these sessions is to line up and reset after an error with a treat. Donāt think that happened at all, so you will want to mix that in.He was able to get the wing wrap after repeated tunnel reps but the wing was really far away – so the tunnel was out of the picture after the wing wraps and he was guessing. So definitely keep that wing nice and close and help with physical cues as needed.
Also – hold him long enough so he hears the verbal several times before you let him go. When he was missing the tunnel in the middle, you had gone back to releasing his collar as soon as you started the verbal. Compare that to the beginning of the video where you held it long enough for him to hear it a couple of times and he was far more successful with both the tunnel and the wraps – that hold so he can process the verbals is really helpful!
Nice work here!!
Tracy
Good morning!
>Iām a little worried about a toy on the ground as getting it back will be an issue>
As she is learning to bring it back, you can still have it on a line: the main part of the toy is on the ground but you are holding the line. That way you get all the benefit of the toy placement, and she gets the fun reward, and you donāt have to worry about the retrieve.
>But, she might bring it back twice and then the next rep she stands and stares at me with the toy in her mouth or she takes off running with it.>
If you know you might max out at 2 retrievesā¦ ask for only 1 retrieve then the toy goes back on the line or you do something else. That way you get rehearsal of what you want instead of rehearsal of what you donāt want.
She did well learning the tunnel!
>Mostly, she went around the outside of the tunnel and didnāt go in. >
Those were not in the video – was the bowl far away so it was easy to see past the tunnel? The placement and entries you had here were appropriate for the first session: very close to the end so it was more efficient to go through the tunnel to get it rather than around the tunnel. Going through the tunnel is hard because there is an element of having to duck down, so staying close and having a straight line of approach helped a lot.
Since the tunnel is short, you can also use a toy: have it on a long line and when she offers going through the tunnel, you can toss past the exit and move it for her to chase. You can also place it before she goes through the tunnel, but I think the next session should be more about getting her to offer it and less about having a placed reward at the end.
>Iāve finally relented and ordered a treat and train from Amazon. Never used one before. Hopefully, itāll be helpful.>
It does have a zillion uses! I think you will like it!
Nice work here! Have fun at the puppy seminar!
Tracy
Good morning!
>To be honest, I saw sits and panicked because Ingy is so high energy. >
That is understandable! Training stays with dogs that love to move can be hard if we are pressuring them to NOT move. But I love training high energy dogs to do sit stays because we can actually get wild about it š
>You can see that this week was also some training for me as I had to work on remembering which way to turn her, how to place my feet for poses, and remember to click the clicker!>
Puppy training seems to require 3 or 4 hands. Mechanics are hard but you are doing great!
The stays are gong really well! She took a moment to catch onto the ācatchā but then she was TOTALLY on board and seemed to be having fun NOT moving š
Another approach to adding steps away from her is to be moving away at all timesā¦ and what varies is the timing of click. You can click after 2 steps, 1 step, 3 steps, etc. By facing her and moving away slowly, you might have been more enticing and exciting than it you were just moving away.
You can totally try this with the toy too, I think she will love it š
Turn aways on the flat are also going really well! The best reps where when you had your feet toward and arm extended towards her until she was about 2 inches from your hand before you started to move. You can see that on the very first rep at 2:41, and also on the other side like at 3:12.
If you moved your hand when she was too far away or stepped back too early, the turn was not as smooth so remember to bring your feet together and let her almost get all the way to you hand, then start to move to cue the turn.
The same thing worked with the tandem turns: letting her get close to your hand then starting to turn her away worked great! The right turns were very easy as you mentioned but you also got some lovely left turns too by slowing own the hand movement so she could really follow your hands to turn away.
She had lovely hits to the hand target as you began the strike a pose game! Those quick warm up reps set up use success when you went into strike a pose mode! She was perfect driving to your left hand and your reward placement was spot on. She was also quite perfect when you changed sides! And rewarding with your left and throwing the treat with your left might have felt weird, but you did it smoothly and that set up a lovely loop back into the next rep. SUPER!
The retrieving looked wonderful! She brought it allllll the way to your hand and she was speedy about it. Super fun! She was happy to trade for treats and go right back to the toy. Yay! Since her retrieves are solid, it is a fun way to let her run around and you can also use the toy as a reward to throw back to her In the stay games.
Great job!
Tracy
Good morning!
At the beginning of the goat tricks video – I think there was food in your pocket so he was not interested in the toys. For now, keep the food out of the picture (different room :)) to get him interested in chasing the toy. And you can tie the toys to a long line to swoosh it around on the ground for him to chase. Having small toys in your hands with you low to the ground might be too much pressure to tug.
He did well interacting with the skateboard! Balancing on it was hard for sure but he was able to maintain his balance by the end. Having the red thing under it helped stabilize it for sure! You can set up small piles of objects for him to climb around on and balance on!
For the Stealth Self-Control game: Before adding the distraction, you can get him more engaged. For the recall elementā¦ run a bit! The room is pretty distracting so he was not fully engaged when you put the object down. But tossing a start cookie then running away and calling him will really pump up the engagement.
>He wanted to stand on the babywipe box and thought about peeing on the tripod.>
His interest in the novel objects were probably because they looked like something you wanted him to offer behavior on, based on how you placed them in the center of things and near you. The distraction is just something in the environment – it doesnāt have to be something that you interact with in any way, or something that you are actively trying to get him to go past.
So when you place the object down, put it off to the side and donāt stand near it or step towards it – that makes it look like a shaping game that you want him to offer behavior on so he doesnāt think it is something to offer behavior on.
You can also have it already in the room and then bring him in, immediately starting the game: that way he doesnāt watch you place it down and it doesnāt seem like anything you want him to interact with.
On the wing wrap video:
He got right into the wrapping! Super!!! And he had no questions about the upright getting further away or you getting further away for most of it.He had a couple of questions going to his right (from your left to your right) when the upright was further away – I think that the upright had gotten a bit too far away at that point, and he is a little stronger turning to his left than to his right. No worries, that all evens out with practice.
For the next session, keep the upright in a little closer so you can change from kneeling to sitting on something. And if he does well, change to you standing up! That will lead nicely into the next set of games š
Looking at the parallel path video: He did well hitting the hat! You can use a āget itā marker for the tossed rewards instead of the clicker, to get him looking forward more and at you less. And that will also allow you to add more lateral distance away from the prop, or starting close to him so he can drive ahead of you for it.
Decelerating to the handler and the pivots also looked strong! You can also start this with a get it verbal before you throw the cookie. It looks like he sometimes loses the cookie so it takes longer to re-engage. If that is the case, you can toss it into a big bowl so that it is easy and fast to find.
āØHe decelerated and pivoted really well! You a move to the next steps where we add more handling combos and he drives forward to a thrown reward after the pivot.Nice work here!
Tracy
Good morning! She was really interested in the plank, hanging out near it and waiting for you to come play š Good girl!
She was 100% happy to get her front feet on immediately. You had good reward placement which encouraged her to her get back feet on too. Then you made a big happy fuss each time she got all 4 feet on: click/treat to you! That helped her get all 4 feet on multiple times by the end of the session. Super!
You can get her a bit wilder with tugging before playing – that challenges her think about her feet even when she is more aroused. Do you have access to a longer plank? That will give you more room to add in turning around and sitting on the plank too.
Great job!
Tracy
Good morning! He was a tugging beast here!!!
Was he feeling a bit jealous when watching Sadie? There is an element of social learning when you let him watch her play with the toy, then give him a turn to play.
>Thereās not much room to run at all..>
You didnāt need a lot of room, he was blasting forward. Yay! When the weather improves, you can take it outside for more room but for now, stay warm and indoors š
>I had no treats in the garage at all.>
To keep going with great toy play, do a few more little sessions like this without food anywhere in the picture.
Then we can slowly add it back in:
Do a toy game in the garage, maybe 2 or 3 reps. Then go back into the house, give him one of the most boring cookies you can find š then go back out to the garage to do more toy play. You can 100% enlist Sadie to help you out here by tugging first with him watching. Social learning is really helpful.Great job!!
Tracy
Good morning!
He did a great job with the impulse control to go around the cone before going to the cookie bowl! SUPER! The timing was your bowl maker was spot on: you waited until he was most definitely committing to the wing before saying it.
He was able to do it on both sides – maybe doing it to his right (starting on your left) was easier? But he was super successful to his left (starting on your right) was very successful too.
One thing you can add to this is getting him to look at the line/cone before you release him: hold him at your side, use your other hand to point to where you want him to go, and watch his eyes: when he looks at where you want him to go, let go of the collar so he can start moving. This will build up to the ālookā cue where you can have him focus forward on his āworkā. Useful for obedience too!
>Not so sure that the best send word in this situation is āGoā but it worked for now>
You can replace the Go verbal with your wrap verbal, because it is a wrap and we can name it since he is doing it so well.
Great job!!!
Tracy
Good morning!
>I need to figure out how far it is from my house, but I cannot find the address on their FB page.
It is 2676 Saturn Road in Brooksville FL.
>Also, are you teaching any other seminars/courses while you are here? Would love to join one if so.>
Probably not, because I have to go home at some point š – but that might change if the weather continues to be terrible up north!
He wa such a good boy working with complete focus and engagement outside. He seemed very happy to offer behavior and eat treats. SO FUN! And he definitely loves the tunnel too š Did he play with toys too?
You can keep playing around with these mini obstacle courses by changing the configuration – instead of a line, you can set them up in a circle or a bit of a pile or make it completely random. It all helps him build more proprioception in different environments.
The seat was perfect for the barrel wraps – canāt go under it and it looked comfy too! And the giant barrel is also a table LOL He did great – going around it and not behind your chair. Any hesitation was because he was watching you take the treats out of the bag, so you can have multiple treats in your hand rather than reloading a lot.
Going behind you on the left turn side was his only question when you stood up. You moved the bowls to a slightly easier position which was a smart training decision, and you were very patient from 1:43 to 1:55 when he sat next to you and was thinking it over. I think the next reps were a breakthrough moment – he got it beautifully and was perfect to the end! Yay! We build on this game on Monday, so maybe try to squeeze in one more session where you are standing?
Happy 12 week birthday, Bandit! He is doing brilliantly!!!
Tracy
