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Good morning, hope you are enjoying the holiday weekend!
Remember last week we were discussing how to bring him back to a more centered state of arousal when he gets into humpy mode? It just dawned on me (thanks, coffee!) that you can use the transition to trials game I posted this morning – it is GREAT for centering arousal! I posted it in terms of helping with other distractions but it would totally apply to the internal arousal that causes him to mount your leg. In the situations where you can see it starting… go into the pattern. Or even if it starts: go into the pattern. Let me know if that makes sense!
>>There were random fireworks going off and they terrify Fever. I wasn’t super strict about my contact or stay criteria given this. I was very happy that he was resilient enough to push through the scaries. His DW is usually much better. His Aframe can be sketchy sometimes but it’s still in progress. We had to sub the teeter.
He was a good boy, then! You can use the distractions as training opportunities and just work end behavior. My only suggestion for the handling is to give him a better line up to the a-frame, he was getting on it on a hard angle which was changing the striding.
>>I didn’t make any effort for him to do the weaves, although he found them loosely most times.
Yes, he was finding the entry, good boy! You can still have a training opportunity if they are on course – an open set of 6, or even just a set of 2 poles. That way he can be correct and we don’t get rehearsal of hitting the entry and leaving the poles.
>> I didn’t fill carrie in on what course I was doing so we had action agility shots a couple of times.
Ha! Yes, that brought some entertaining value to it LOL! And I enjoyed her singing voice too lol
>>He was slicing the tire more than I cared for. Not sure if it was the course build or how I was moving down the line that ended up setting him up that way.
A little of both, maybe? See more below 🙂
Thoughts on the video:
On the opening: He was committing beautifully, just needed a better angle of approach to the frame. You can change the set up to get it, just using wing wrap to get him rolling for example.Thanks for leaving his distraction moments in the video: Roulez barking is a big enough distraction that you can totally use to work skills and focus! He had some trouble early on with sniffing – barking plus heat plus fireworks… hard stuff! That pattern game can help here!
Getting the backside at 8 in really hard for sure! Looking at it 2 ways:
from the handling perspective at 1:35, open up your upper body to him, sooner, giving more connection to his eyes and you might even need to use the outside arm or motion towards the wing to get it. The line into it is hard and he was turning to his right there, so you need to add more handling to get him to turn to his left to get on the backslide line.When you went back to it at 2:40 without the girls there, he definitely thought it was the front and the verbal doesn’t yet override the motion. At 2:50 you had definite better connection and a bit of motion converging into it and he got it. Yay! I think you will be able to maintain your original position & running line, and just give that BIG connection at that timing and he will go get the backside.
And you can see that he has the understanding of it with the big connection, you nailed it at 3:09 and he was very independent! Good boy!!!! That added more independent position from you on the exit, so keep working the connection to get him to take the bar and rewarding him on the landing side of it.From the training perspective: young dogs are sensitive to pressure in the environment and in order to get to the backside, he would have had to get close to the plank on the ground next to the fence, squeeze in next to the tub with stuff in it – and run directly towards 2 dogs in an xpen, both of whom were making direct eye contact and one of whom was barking. Pressure! He is no fool LOL! So that is a great opportunity to just take a wing and send him around a wing, with all of that pressure. There is a lot of pressure in the trial environment, so having it in the training environment is a valuable experience.
Moving away down the line looked great! Those lines really looked strong throughout the session.
He had a couple of bars down, they were no big deal . Here is what was happening, which leads to one more thought:
1:47 was you in the way a little, and praising him
1:52 was him avoiding the fence, good boy 🙂
2:02 was you celebrating 🙂
2:57 broken tire – that happened after a big “yes!” and also you were not connected enough (much clearer connection at 3:17 to the tire, so he kept it up). I think the tire slice was partially the course build but he was fine with it at 3:17 when you were more connected and quieter.So back to the other thought: he often has a bar down after you praise him or celebrate – probably because the two of you are still in motion and the praise is not informational. It tells him about the past: “that was good!” and he might even question if reinforcement is coming. And what he needs to really know about is the future: either the cue for the next thing or the cue for the reward. So you can phase out the praise and conversations (like apologies LOL!) on course, and just use cues for what’s next, or a reward marker. That lends a better level of clarity to the situation and the dogs have had an easier time with lines and bars. I tell myself that the best praise when the dog is running is timely info on what is next 🙂
He was a super good boy to get to the backside at 1:59! He was a little wide on the wrap because your position was a little far back and decel was a little late – bit that will all smooth out when he has more experience running these bigger courses.
A note on the lead outs: stay more connected as you leave, to see if that helps him hold the position. When you were walking away without connection, he was moving a bit and looking around (like at 2:11 and 2:25).
You and Fever did a really lovely job on the ending lines in each segment! He was finding his tunnels, finding his jumps, making the turns – all really well with speed and independence! And you are dong a great job with your connections to show the lines. Happy dance!!!!
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
And stay cool 🙂Tracy
Hi! Hope you are enjoying the holiday weekend!!
Good teeter warm up 🙂 She is really looking good on her teeter!!
Looking at the course work, so much good stuff here!!!
Opening 1-2-3 -4:
On the 2- line, she was taking 2 towards you then landing and turning to 3 at :22 and :41. Ideally, we want her to be turning to her left before takeoff so she can land and power out to 3 sooner (it would look almost straight) 2 ideas:
Using the dog on left that you had going here: ,You can get further ahead on your lead out and drive in more towards 3 to be further across the bar 2-3.
She should see that as she is landing from 1 so she can adjust before takeoff.You were a step further ahead and further across the bar at 2 sooner at 1:37 so she was jumping the center of the bar and starting to turn there, but we can get an even better line by having you push across sooner.
That extra motion towards 3, though, means you would then have to turn her over 3, so there is another option:
You can start with her on your right and run into the opening, doing a BC 2-3 (starting the blind no later than when she lands from 1). That keeps you running the right direction the whole time while getting the 2-3 turn too.Good job on the weaves! She was working it so hard! And great job with the reward out there and mixing in reward moments: it is so helpful to reward her for finding the weaves like that when you are moving away on a line 40 feet away.
Super job there with her staying in the weves at :48 and oh wow did she put on the speed when you turned and took off.It looks like she saw convergence as you took off so at :48, based on your position relative to the tunnel, she pushed out to the backside. You had gone past the tunnel to support the weaves then did the FC and pushed back hard to it. You can call her name more in those moments where there is convergence which should override the pressure on the line. And when she has more experience in the weaves like this, you won’t need to run as far to support them.
When you repeated it at :55 and 1:58 without the convergence she was perfect with taking the front of the jump which set up the nice backside.
For now, it was smart to run straight past the teeter and reward her – she was great both times through there. Was the reward placed out there already? If so, she gets a double gold star for ignoring it until she got there 🙂
I like the handling choice 11-12-13: doing it as a serpentine was lovely an sets a great line 13-14. It will be even easier when she is more experienced on the teeter. Just call her sooner at 1:13 and 2:20 ( call her before she enters the tunnel, you were talking to her as she was approaching the jump) so she drives in hard to you, she had a little question there on 12 because you were a little late.
You remembered to decelerate a 1:16 and 2:21 to send to 13, you can play with decelerating sooner: as she is jumping 12 – so you can send and leave earlier and get an even better turn. The goal would be that you wouldn’t have to go much past the exit wing of 12 to get the send to 13: that gets a great turn and a significant position advantage for you.
Replacing the frame and DW with a jump and a straight tunnel might have forced you to run faster but she was certainly happy with the choices LOL! WHEEEE!
Remember to call her before the straight tunnel (DW replacer): she saw you peeling away at 1:23 while she was still a stride or so from the entry (perfect timing of the physical cue) and you were even earlier at 2:28 (MORE perfect LOL!) but you got quiet: so at 1:24 and 2:29 when she exited, there was a slight hesitation in her striding while she located you and found the line. It was subtle but a name call or directional will get rid of it.The FC at 125 would need to be followed by the spin to set up the turn 20-21 – you’ll need a full rotation – that cue looked like you wanted 20-13.
O n the 2nd rep, you got the spin and she did come through the gap but dropped the bar (2:31). If you freeze it at 2:31, you’ll see that as you completed the FC and started the spin, your feet were parallel to the jump and your upper body was pointing towards the jump. So coming in with all of that speed (3 tunnels in a row, 2 of which were straight :)) it was not a strong enough collection cue – so she didn’t collect as much as needed and tried to adjust in the air (hitting the bar).So a different way to cue that collection can help in those high speed situations: when you finish the FC, don’t turn towards the jump bar at all: turn your feet to her, and use your hands to face her nose (rather than indicate the jump bar or takeoff spot). You’ll find that your back ends up to the wing. That is a stronger collection cue and she will be able to make the turn. It is almost like a half front cross followed by a throwback.
And of course use your directions – you might have been saying it but it is hard to hear because the verbal is quiet and you were facing away from the camera. Or, it might have been hard to spit them out when you are running so hard, so that is definitely something o practice without her: sprinting and saying quiet wrap cues 🙂
That segues us right into the games posted this morning: which cues are most effective for which dogs and when to use them 🙂 I use that more ‘in your face’ style of collection on the tight turn with my 2 very forward black dogs (the blue merle is easier to turn so I use softer cues) to give you a visual. I can also get a camera on what it looks like from the front if it is too hard to see on the angles of the demos.
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
Hellooooo great to see you here too!
I am excited to see Charlee in action!!!
Have fun and stay cool 🙂
TracyAh, the magic of smoked salmon! I would work for smoked salmon too LOL!
He looked really strong here – the more work we can do to associate working on leash without food and in front of a jump, the more we can get him happy at trials. And the smell of the smoked salmon will also help bridge the gap, because he will know where it is at all times. I also used my Manners Minder for this with my foodie dogs – it provided a BIG valuable target for them to work for at trials, even with it sitting 30 feet away from the ring LOL!
He did really well with his focus here and his tricks. I think the newer trick with the circle leaps over and under your legs is not quite fully ready to be done with cookies behind you, he had some questions about that in the first part of the video and couldn’t quite get it. So keep playing with that trick with food in your hand, then in a week or two we can revisit it with the food behind you like it would be at the start line.And you can incorporate this game into his other training games – you don’t need to do it all the time, just maybe once a week or so.
I have added another game that is used to help the dogs relax and get focused in new environments – it should be visible as part of the Games Package 2! That is a good one for bringing Nuptse into the trial environment and helping him relax on the way into the ring while assessing all of the distractions. Check it out and let me know what you think!
Great job here!
TracyGood morning!
The weather was really lovely, it made for a good day even if there were too many fireworks! Hope you and your crew enjoyed the holiday weekend too!
>> I played around with the Transitions to Trail with a harness and a leash.
I am glad you are tackling this! I think it is an important piece for him, to get him comfy in trial environments. If he is not comfy with that leash & harness, then that will carry over into the trial environment where he is not comfy (no young dogs are comfy in the trial environment LOL!) so he might be feeling doubly awkward in that environment. But you have a ton of good tools already and now we will put them together.
>> I started by showing Watson were the rewards were. I felt he was having some trouble with the harness and the leash so I started the game with rewards on me and transition to getting them from the table. I stayed close to the rewards. >>
Smart!! We want a high rate of success. The harness plus the leash plus the jump plus outdoors plus food on the table – SO HARD! Breaking it down like that really helped.
One thing I see in this video to add: you can reward smaller bits of the behavior, even if it is not perfect.
For example, on the line up when the harness and leash were on: he could line up between your feet but couldn’t sit. You rewarded some of the line up – keep doing that, you don’t need to wait for the sit for now. I know the sit is part of it, but the level of challenge was HIGH (leash/harness/jump/cookies on table) so rewarding the tiny bits of the behavior will actually help the full behavior re-appear because he will be more relaxed and thinking about all the other stuff less.
And on the head-through-loop: you can also take any interaction with it in this more challenging scenario. Move towards it? Look at it? Offer behavior near it, even if it is not actually the “real” behavior? Reward all the things 🙂 You can also lure his head through by holding up the loop and showing the cookie on the other side. That can all help transfer this trick to the harder environments.
>>he did struggle with this and left to chase flies(not on video) 2 times. >>
Tell me more about this – when did it happen during the session? Which trick or game were you asking for? Let me know and we will game plan.
>>My session was too long but I did end with lots of play no harness and his favorite toy.
All the tugging looked great! And it cracks me up at that we all sing to the dogs. Why do we all do that? HA!!!
>>>I want to make sure I don’t lose value for the tricks. He wasn’t able to play the loop game. I am not sure if it was because we were outside or the leash and harness was involved. >>
You won’t lose value for the tricks by rewarding the tiny pieces, like you did when you first taught them. His questions probably had to do with all the challenges being presented at once: outdoors, leash, harness, etc. The other thing to add is taking the tricks like the loop game outdoors but away from the jump and without a leash or harness, to pump up the value in the different environment.
And, separately, add the leash/harness to everyday things such as meals, couch sitting, etc, to help it become part of the routine.Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
Hope the heat isn’t too bad for you!! It has been a rough couple of weeks for a lot of folks.She looks great here – I love the confidence! She has always been pretty coordinated considering how young she is, and we can really see it here. That is unusual in a REALLY good way 🙂
>> I need to find some good treats that work well in the dirt.
Have you tried a Treat Hugger? Clean Run makes them and there are a ton of copies floating around – great for tossing treats on surfaces where a treat might get lost in dirt or sand or grass.
>> And when I threw the toy, I was spending way too much time calling her back after she ran off with it! So I just didn’t have the patience and had to adjust.
Totally understandable! I think sometime this week I will get a video together about how to convince the pups to bring back the toys really quickly – it can be frustrating for us humans if we want to train with a toy but the pups take a long time to bring it back, especially in the heat. If I don’t post it by the end of the week, feel free to remind me 🙂
>> BTW, I had to put things under the ends of the DW to keep it from moving, based on its design.>>
It was a good setup!
>>Needless to say, we have been working on both the teeter and low DW. She has no fear.>>
This is great! On this setup, she was super happy to turn, hop on it, run across it, etc. Yay! So the next step would be to challenge her balance by raising the plank so it is at least a foot off the ground, or maybe 18 inches up: then have her hop on in the center of it. That is like a gymnast jumping on a balance beam and it will challenge her to use her balance skills! We do this with the board low in case she slips off. And when she hops on in the middle, having her turn around in both directions is good too – I think that will be easy for her. And, with the board a foot or so off the ground, ask her to jump off the middle of it (rather than run off the end). Jumping off the middle will teach her how to jump off successfully if she ever loses her balance running across it at full speed. At some point, all dogs lose their balance on a full height dog walk. By teaching the hop off skill at these early levels, she will be able to hop off like a cat and avoid injury rather than fall off and get hurt.
Have you decided if you will be training a stopped contact or a running contact? As the board gets higher, you’ll want to put tables under it or something so she doesn’t run off the end, as that might dilute the stopped contact or running contact criteria that she’ll be learning in the next several months.Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning! Great to see you and Cowboy here!!!
The lazy game is a great warm up for Cowboy – at first he was a little distracted by the food in your hand but then he was TOTALLY on board with finding the jumps. He needed to work through that same progression when you switched sides and the food was in your right hand. But that is great, because we need the dogs to find the jumps no matter what the distraction is… food or toy in hand, you running, verbals, etc. He was great! Hope your other pup enjoyed it too LOL!So now that he has the concept of the Lazy Game, you can expand the distances so he drives away even more. And, you can add the games we did in the live seminar on Saturday – they involve specific send cues, more motion from you, and crosses! Wheeee! He is definitely ready. You’ll find those on the course syllabus page.
Great job here!!
TracyGood morning!!! Olive was a complete rockstar during the seminar!!! You are doing a great job with her. I think I saw an email come in about the next seminars – we will make it work 🙂 I will reply there later this morning 🙂
Tracy
Hi there! Welcome back! I am glad to see you back in action after the surgery 🙂
I am glad you were still able to work her a bit while you were recovering – she did not look rusty here! The lazy game is a good warm up for the crazy stuff we are adding 🙂
She caught on really quickly. One thing that is important here is to keep moving the whole time – if she misses the jump, don’t start, keep strolling LOL! No jump = no reward, so she will figure it out real fast haha! She was already figuring it out really well onthe first video here!
And on the second video, when you added motion, she was even better. Yay! I love how she is finding the middle jump AND turning so nicely on it – so many dogs struggle with these soft pinwheely turns and she is setting herself up beautifully without needing help. Happy dance! And, as with the first video –
if she misses, keep moving, don’t bother to even mark it (be lazy hahaha) and she will figure out that no jump means no reward.
On thing I notice in both videos is that she seems better on your left side (smoother with better commitment) than on your right side (I think she had more misses on your right) so you can do a little extra lazy game on your right side to balance it out.>>At .52 she was focused too much on me??
Just a young dog moment – that is why we play the game to be like: look for the jump, not for the momma haha 🙂
>> At 1.16 you can see me waiting for her to start coming and not taking off with out her so I can just go one step in and turn. That works good.
yes! You can totally take one step and send her and then leave. That will build nicely into the next games. Did you see the seminars games I posted yesterday? They use this setup (plus a tunnel :)) and she is ready for you to do them. There is more sending and also crosses and sequences are added.
Great job here!! Let me know what you think!
TracyHooray for obsessing on timing!
Watching the bounce striding in slow motion – he is rhythmic but doesn’t look totally comfortable – he looks a bit squished. He looks a LOT more comfy with the swimming. Yes, some of that comes from the poles being open but the comfort and the faster time do lead me to wanting to convince him to swim. So, if you have the patience to close the poles VERY slowly (boiling the frog :)) then I think we should do it! Basically, we would start where the poles are open just enough to get comfy swimming and leave them there for a while. Then we would oh so gradually close them, centimeter by centimeter. At some point the swimming will lock in and then he will be fine with it all. I did this with my Voodoo when he was young, and he has had great swimming poles ever since.
Let me know what you think!
TracyThat makes sense! You can use the Transition games to help Rosie learn to ignore those leash runners stealing her leash 🙂 And practicing walking into the ring and not being carried is great for Lily! I agree that it can help get engagement and it is a great skill to have 🙂
Hi all!
The first live seminar is starting in a few minutes on Zoom!Here is the link:
Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81670247448See you soon!
TracyGood morning! The setup looks really great! And having it a bit tighter adds more challenge 🙂
Full run –
Opening looked good 1-4! I think you’ll get more speed up the first line if you drive down to the #1 tunnel more so she sees more motion as she exits. That can also open up more connection to help support the line.
She was a little wide on the exit of the 5 tunnel because the FC was late starting (she as already in). You can call her before she goes in (3 feet from entry) and if it is hard to get to the FC position AND rotate, I think you’ll find that starting the blind will be easier: you can start the blind and keep moving into position.The middle section (5-6-7-8 -weaves-tunnel) looked great! I don’t think she needed the right here and handling cue to coming in over 6, I think she had it so you can keep moving up the line. Nice independence on the weaves!!
She also read the tunnel exit after the weaves really well – you didn’t need to give a “Keiko right here” you can just go with the ‘over’ cue – the right here moment brought too much focus back up to you. I think this is part of figuring out what she knows and where to trust her. In your next course running sessions, you can play with not trying to control the lines and only calling obstacle names and see how it goes! The less we call their names on course, the more they will drive lines. Yes – keep cuing turns and lines, but try not to control them, if that makes sense. Basically: cue and leave, and see how she responds.
At the very end getting into the last tunnel: the flip on the landing side can work if you use less motion as you exit it: at :32 you were moving parallel to the bar and your left arm & shoulders were pointing out towards the line she took (I think a table is out there). So the motion and upper body cued caused her to read that line (good girl!) To get it, try standing still on the flip away then moving directly forward to the tunnel from the wing on the inside of the course, not the one she is turning towards. A wrap verbal will also help here.
Run 2: more motion up the line in the opening and she was faster. Super!
At :47, the FC is still a little late on the tunnel entry but you got the ‘right here’ out sooner so she was better prepared for the turn on the exit. The rotation of the FC delays you from getting to a good line 4-5 so you were a little in the way, plus it slows you down 🙂 I definitely think you’ll like the blind!
You still had a bit of “right here” over 6 but it was less – and she was fine, she was making the turn really nicely anyway 🙂oopsie on the weave entry at :57 – I think she was moving faster and you were not as far ahead. Definitely a good line to practice with a lot of speed, as you revisit the weave skills. Doing one or two passes a day, or every other day, is a good idea to sharpen the skills. I like to do it on alternating days, so that the dog has a break for a bit of latent learning in between. The results have been better that way. When I am able to train every day, I will try to alternate contacts on one day, weaves the next day, then contacts, then weaves, and so on.
At 1:17 after the tunnel, she shot away and took the off course tire (definitely rewardable!) That was because you were trying to control the line by staying right at the tunnel exit to get her attention: your position there plus the line of your shoulders indicated the tire – good girl for taking it! She almost took it again at 1:23 because although you were a bit further up the line, you were still facing that way and not moving. So…. this is a perfect “cue and leave” scenario! As she exits the weaves and you cue the tunnel, start to move up the next line – with connection and verbals, but let her find it based on your motion. That should set a really good line and take the off course tire out of the picture.
The other benefit to moving up the line and not waiting for her at the tunnel exit is it will give you much better position to get the last tunnel 🙂 Yes, the wrap at 1:30 takes the wide turn/off course out of the picture and she is wrapping beautifully… but it is a slower line for both of you and on the more complex courses, will delay you from getting up the next line because you have to step back to the tunnel to cue it (rather than just yell tunnel and leave for the next line).
I bet that leaving the tunnel exit will get you up the line to get either a blind or a rear cross really nicely to get that last tunnel!
Run 4 – nice opening again, lots of motion, lots of speed!
At 1;44, your verbal on the tunnel entry was timely and she saw you beginning your cross (decel and rotation starting before she went in). Nice!! (Feel free to try the blind too if you want!)At 1:50 you gave almost no extra help turning her over 6 – she was perfect. yay!
She found the weaves really well here – you drove up a bit more to help that. And you started to leave the tunnel better… but then stopped so as she exited at 1:57, you were calling but also facing the tire – so off she went. Good girl! It is a giant leap of faith and trust in the dog, but try it with continuing to move and not stop to get her attention. In terms of verbals, You can call her right before she enters the tunnel and also use your left verbal. You can try the ‘right here’ cue as long as you don’t stop moving. If she sees and hears all that starting before she enters the tunnel (rather than you stopping to get her attention), I believe she will be able to make the tight turn tunnel exit.
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!! I interested to see what happens when you cue and leave on that tunnel – I bet it makes the ending line easier too!
Tracy
Hi! Sorry about the purple fading in, I’ll play with more visible colors 🙂
You *should* be able to see photo of the maps on the page – when I checked just now, I see them on the Sequences page but not on the Jumpers or Standard courses page. Those links seem to have been broken. I will get it fixed today! Sorry for the inconvenience of it all. Have a great day!
Tracy
