[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
She was a good girl to keep working through it, and also good job to go do something else (less is always more after the dogs get worried, you don’t even have to ask for the behavior again until the next session). A couple of ideas for you:

– She was offering a ton of speed which is GREAT so for the next session, move the teeter setup to an entirely different place in your yard – it will help her forget that she didn’t love it here 🙂
– before doing the full board, do a couple of reps of the bang game and maybe an elevator game, partially to test the waters and partially as a high value warm up. If she is really excited, you can throw in one run down the board, then back to the bang/elevator games. If she is tentative, don’t do the downhills, just focus on the bang/elevator games.
– I think there were cookies on the target which we should fade before we go more into the downhills. She was driving to the cookies but she was forward on her shoulders, which is why her butt came flying off on that 2nd rep. So before going back to the downhills, take out some of the tip and also play the bang game, with the target in place but no cookies on it. Let her offer position then the cookies come out. She doesn’t have to be fast yet, she just needs to think about the position without the treats there now that the board is hitting the ground. That will get more weight shift which will help a lot when we add back the speed.
– because this is a really difficult game for her (for all of them, really), one thing I highly recommend is releasing her away from the board between reps rather than going back to the top to try another rep. That falls into the “Think Less, Teeter More” category hahaha 🙂 So she comes down the board or does a bang game and you can reward in position then release her to chase her toy and run around, or just release her to a thrown toy. You will see me do that a lot with my blue merle dog in the demos to get him to stop thinking about where the pivot was.
This is especially helpful when the are released and the board is resetting behind them – if they are running around and chasing toys or tugging, they will care a lot less about the board behind them.

And for the dogs that might get concerned about over-running the tip and coming off the end: I also throw toys and let the dogs run around after the oopsie moments when they try to go fast but can’t quite stop or weight shift. It is a definite reward for effort but it serves the dual purpose of not giving them a moment to think, “hey, that might have been a little scary!”. So if she goes fast and overruns the end? Wheeeee! Throw a toy, don’t let her think about it too much, then try again later 🙂

The only thing you might see happen is that her 2o2o position might slip a little bit, she might drive down the board and want to self-release but that is a champagne problem 🙂 and very easy to dial back into great position and stopping (especially because she loves her end position).

So overall – don’t worry too much that she got concerned here. All 3 of my young dogs have had a session like this. And so I moved the teeter to a new spot and shifted gears for the next session, and did a lot of chasing toys… and they all came back strong. I think a moment of concern is normal for almost all dogs on teeters! And if they are never concerned, they are rare and we generally have to get them to be safer with their bodies 🙂

Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!
That is exciting news about the seminar! And I think leaving the bars at 8″ is great because we want him to feel the joys of running fast fast fast 🙂 Great job getting him relaxed in the environment then pumped up to play. Interesting about interacting with the instructor: was it more of a herding dog moment or more of a happy happy wiggle wiggle ‘i love you’ moment? Either way, I am glad the instructor helped him work through it 🙂

The target fading session looked great here! Good job narrating about your motion hahahaha and good job staying in motion! It was stimulating for sure but not mind-blowing for him.
His release *off* the board is not super strong yet, but I like that at this stage LOL! He came off eventually and that gives us a picture of value – and I prefer more value in the end position at this point than the release, because it will balance really nicely when the obstacle gets added to sequences.

Salad targeting went just fine 🙂 and the fading process did look really good here! He just needed to see it again and now he has it. And the crime of passion is good because we want the passion, which he was certainly giving us – even starting to slide into position when you were moving. Fun!!! That shows driving into position and weight shift. It is not a requirement (the sliding) but it is fun to see it!
Keep playing with this fading and you might even re-create the process with the plank in different places. You can also start the fading process on the bang game (should be very similar to what you did here). I guess I only have one other thing to consider: got any swallowable treats? LOL There is a lot of chewing and that slows things a little LOL! But, a lot of dogs are big chewers and his chewing speed has definitely increased recently LOL! And I am also glad it was pretty easy to go from food to toys, because that is HARD for a lot of dogs.

Great job!!!! Let me know how it goes on the bang game 🙂
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi there!
His bang game is looking good! I think he was a bit ‘forward’ on the first couple of reps but my guess is that he was looking at the MM 🙂 Then he was nailing it and was much better about hitting his position and staying in it. And, both sides looked more equal. Yay! So planning the next sessions:
For the next session, leave the tip the same but add motion distractions. The biggest one is that after you cue him to get on the board, keep moving for at least 2 or 3 more steps after you are sure he has stopped fully. We all get into the rhythm of stopping with the dogs 🙂 and that can cause them to rely on our deceleration. So, keep walking – you can walk all the way to the MM then either release forward or reward back at the target.
Start walking, then go to jogging.
When he is happy with that – the session after it can be adding more height to the board. Fun! But we don’t want to add height until he is very happy with you being able to stay in motion.

Good start on the elevator game! This one is a real pain with all the mechanics LOL! One thing. – is there a target attached to the end of the board? Is that from the uphills? You can take it out, we don’t need it for now 🙂

One thing he is doing on this game is that he is wanting to go into position and offering behavior but he is not sure of when – so be sure to always drop the board after you say slam – no matter what he is doing. On some reps, you were waiting for something and on others you dropped it so out was hard for him to predict. The drop of the board should come right after you say slam (not simultaneously) and that will help clarify for him.
If he offers a down while you are doing it, change the placement of your reward to encourage him to stand so there is no criteria confusion 🙂 He is very much like my medium sized dog – she doesn’t stand there, she offers stuff. So I sped up the countdown for her: instead of 3….2…..1….. target, I made it more of a 3.2.1.target so she could get on with it 🙂 It helped get rid of the downs and backing up and other things she was offering, similar to what Hero is doing here 🙂
I think this was a really strong first session on the elevator game!!!! I would give him one more session just like this and if he is happy, you can add a little height. And if that goes well, the session after that can move to the Part 2 elevator game posted last monday.

Great job here!!!
Have fun!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi again! This downhill is definitely going uphill then downhill here! Yay! He is sorting out the weight shift so we didn’t really see him driving across comfortably until the last rep here (:38) and that is fine 🙂 For the next session, pick up here: no changes to height or tip, the target should still be visible here but with no cookies on it. We might ‘sit’ here at this tip for a couple of sessions to get him super happy driving through the pivot like he did here at the end. He will let us know 🙂 And you can release forward sometimes or go back and put the reward on the target sometimes. Keep adding your motion like you did here, that really supported his drive across the board 🙂

Lovely work!! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!
He is doing well here on the plank! I like how you gradually added in your motion and kept moving after he stopped. He also did a well when you turned it around to have him face the tunnel – the only littler oopsies were sometimes he ended up in 2o2o, but then he fixed it. My guess is the movement of the teeter will eliminate some of that. I really loved his weight shift at 1:08 – he slid into position and held it perfectly. Good boy!!!!
The next step for him here is that the cookie bucket can be moved further away – still basically visible, but not as close. So for example, lower the bar on the jump after the plank and put the cookie bucket 5 or 6 feet on the other side of it. The goal is to eventually take it out but for now, we will just move it further away 🙂
Great job! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!
She is really good at catching the treats LOL! The plank session is perfect for her – she really has to think about weight shift (and I think she believes that weight shift is for losers LOL!!)
She was getting the idea of letting you move fast while she stops (it is so counterintuitive for dogs, right?) so now here are a few more ideas to add to it:
– you can do the end of plank only while stimulating her internal environment: play with a toy, get her barking, get her wilder: then as for the position as you move away. It simulates the bang game but takes out moving across the board as a separate variable as you add in more excitement.
– keep doing the wing-to-plank, adding more motion gradually. Watch her front feet, be sure both are on the grass before marking it as correct. And, you can delay the timing of the reward a little: instead of the ‘catch’ as soon as she hits position, you can praise then reward – that’s so she doesn’t start to anticipate a hit-and-go, which she would probably like a lot better than having to stop LOL!!! But hit-and-go on the teeter turns into fly off and go very easily 🙂 so a moment of praise then the reward can help her solidify the stopped position.

Bang game:
She is super confident on this, I love it! So now it is all about end position (the board does not need to go any higher). I think having you lead out laterally and then cue it was a bit too hard in terms of her not knowing where to look (at your position or at the teeter). She did figure out that it was the teeter but note the curling in towards you (her body was in a bit of a “C” shape on those) and that caused a lot of self-release moments. So to get the lateral distance, start next to her like always for the bang game, hand on her, cue her position then walk away laterally. That should help her put it in context and be straighter on the plank. By starting closer and moving away, you will add the lateral distance more gradually so she will look ahead more.
Separately, you can work the skill with you being laterally away with the mountain climbers (she can start from a sit in front of the teeter) or the downhills (she can be in a stay on the board and you can step away laterally before sending her down it). Then we will merge it all together on the full obstacle 🙂

Nice work here!!! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

He was definitely in a rush on the first rep and hit poles 3-4 but then he settled down and stopped rushing as much. My guess is that he did not enjoy hitting the poles like that so started to think about cleaner weaving. He touches the poles more when the handling is more distracting: this is especially true when you are ahead of him (when you are at or passing pole 4 when he is in them) but also happens on the extreme rear crosses. This might have contributed to the pop out problems he used to have as he got distracted and couldn’t hold on to the weaving.

But the good news is that he did not seem to think it was cool to smack himself on the poles 🙂 Fast weaving dogs will touch the poles a little and that is fine! You can also stake the poles in so they move less when he touches them which is helpful in that he will have to plan for them to NOT move if he hits them.
So for the next session, show him the distracting handling (like being way ahead) but do it at a walk for a session so he can think about his coordination and not get stimulated by your motion. And don’t click til he is fully out of pole 4 – he definitely touches the poles when he hears the grinding gears LOL! So let him finish all 4 poles and take one more stride then click the MM (or throw a reward).

Nice work! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

Yes, I took the RV up to the Washington DC area to meet family from NY – we are all fully vaccinated so still being super careful but only the 2nd time I have seen my parents in the last 15 months. Fingers crossed for a safer future for all of us, I am sure you are going to be so happy to see your parents!!!

Welcome to the swim club, Presto! Excellent problem solving on your part to show him the 4 poles with the 5th and 6th poles a little more open. Smart! And then he had it. I am glad the channels easily elicit the striding, makes our life so much easier haha!
I think his hitting of the poles at the very end of the video was about the toy being thrown 🙂 We couldn’t quite see you in that rep, but in the other reps he would look at you as you tossed the toy and hit the poles. So… for now, as the striding percolates, use the MM as a focal point on all reps (and you can mix in thrown toys on some reps with rewards from the MM on the others). The focal point and rewards from the MM will keep his head low and forward, which will also cement the striding – and he won’t be looking up at you to watch the toy get thrown 🙂 So far, that has been a common theme with the swimmers as soon as we get striding: taking the toy throws out a bit so they think about the strides and not about the toy moving 🙂
Great job here!!!! Over the course of this week, I suggest planning for another session or two (can be the same day if they are pretty short) of just what you did here. Then angle the middle poles in by about half an inch (more on that coming tomorrow). Then he will tell us how fast we can move with tightening them the rest of the way. And I can’t remember if I mentioned it or not: for now, focus only on the channels because of the striding. We can go back to 2x2s when he is really solid with the striding but the channels are getting it all done perfectly for now.

Great job! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! The turns are definitely getting better! The right turns in particular are really looking good, that is the line we want on the ‘soft’ turns. The left turns were a little wider – either she is stronger turning right (she didn’t seem to use her hind as well turning left) or the right was the 2nd part of the session, or both 🙂 So start with right next time then go to left and see how she does.
Having her come to you for the reward definitely got her thinking about looking for the turn and not just blasting out to a line – perfect! As she is chasing you, you can praise and call and be a bit silly to keep it exciting. The food being less stimulating right now is perfect, so she can think about her turns and not just about the ball 🙂 We will get back to the toys when the turns are more cemented.

She looks ready for the next step, where you add in the little sequences to balance the turns on the tunnel with some GO on the tunnel exit and turns on the wings 🙂 Great job here!!! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

He is continuing to make really strong progress on this game! I can see significant differences on each video. One thing to remember is that it is a coordination game and not necessarily a concept game, so it will take longer to fully cement into the puppies. He is picking up the zig zag motion between the wings really nicely, using his head and legs to make the turns happen, and you have already dialed back your handling. So yes, continue to help him a little with handling because you will want to actively cue it (no come in cue means he should stay out on the line, like with the race tracks)
One suggestion is to tweak his start position: now that he is understanding the mechanics better, you can change where he starts. On these, he is several feet away from the first wing and facing into the gap. Switch him to sitting very very close to the wing, less that a foot, and parallel to it: his hip and shoulder is next to it and his feet are facing straight down the line and not into the gap. That adds the challenge of immediately getting into the zig zags which is going to transfer into backside slices.

>> kip is starting to show a better pattern as long as I don’t lead out past the third wing. If I do lead out any further, he will run past the first gap no matter how much I put into the cue. >>

That is fine – don’t lead out past the 3rd wing. The coordination of getting it right on wings 1-2-3 is more important than getting down the line of 5 wings. The 5 wings are intended to be worked only after he is really perfect on 3 wings, so you don’t need to work those yet and just let him learn the coordination on 3 wings.

>>I’m starting to slowly move down the line so I can be in position to cue the third turn thru the fourth gap. >>

For now, try to get him perfect with you standing still at wing 3, with him starting right up next to wing 1. That will be more valuable in the future and so you won’t need to worry about position to get the last gaps. It will build into a jump grid without motion in the future, so that first step in is the important piece now.

>>Also, while I’m thinking of it, what is the next course in the max pup series? Is it the 031 that is now posting?

The next Max Pup is called “MaxPup Putting It Together” which I haven’t posted yet – still deciding on dates. It will get posted in early May and will be a summer class for this group 🙂

Have fun! Nice work here!!!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

My UpDog guru tells me that I can use a long line so hopefully Contraband will be less feral 🙂 He is perfect in every way but completely feral with discs (totally my fault :))

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!
The engagement play to start with looks great, as usual. That is such an important piece of the training 🙂 and I love hat you do it each time. My only suggestion is when you want to release him from the sit to play, use your release word rather than yes (so he doesn’t think yes is the release – if my memory is correct, it is not your release but I don’t have a lot of coffee on board so maybe I am wrong haha!) You used “ok” later in the session, so that is good for the warm up game too 🙂

Great job on the minny pinny! He is finding it easily, so you can add challenge by angling the jump wings in closer to each other, so there is a little less distance between the bars. He is looking coordinated for do his bouncing a little tighter to the inside of the wings and so angling the bars/wings so there is maybe 6 inches less distance between them in the center will be a really good bending challenge for him.
Great job rewarding as he continued through the turns on the exit, that helps build the bending too!
One last thing, and this also might be lack of coffee or the video got inverted: I think you were saying “left” on the right turns and ‘right’ on the left turns 🙂 So double check before each rep so you don’t accidentally get them backwards 🙂
I think he is also ready for the harder challenges of turning away from you on this setup – he was trying to start without you LOL! So that means you can add the turning away and then also the ‘neutral’ position of the advanced levels.

Great job! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi! You two look great here too – she is really reading this all so well! As with the Go video, a big piece of it is your connection. You are nailing it and it helps her sooooo much 🙂
The RC to the right looked great – you ran the right line and if I remember, she is a little more comfy turning right anyway. The lefts also looked really good here! You didn’t include any of her errors (just one moment where you turned your feet too soon and too close to the jump) but it did look like you had to be pushier on the line for the left turn rear crosses. And that is fine, you can be as ‘on her tail’ as you need to be to help her out. It will get easier with more practice. You can move the wing if you like but I don’t think you need to.
The backside wraps looked awesome, we can really see her transferring the concepts from the barrels and indoor training to the jump and outdoors. This is exciting!!!!! You seemed to be on. The correct line (I didn’t think you were blocking the jump). Connection was spot on so she knew it was the backside and you stayed connected to ‘help’ her around: looked fabulous!
Since all 3 cues are looking good (Go, rear, backside) then you can add a little more distance and mix them all into one session. Adding the GO into the rear and backside session will keep both of you on your toes: you have to execute correctly and she has to pay attention. I think you will both be great 🙂
Lovely work here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning! This is looking great: part of the reason she is doing so well is your connection! You are doing all the correct motion and being totally connected, so she seems to have no questions at all. Yay! So, keep being connected like that 🙂 It does make it harder to throw the toy when you are connected like that, but you were getting the toy throw really good by the end. It was low and straight (like at :24) so she never had to look up. Perfect!
The next step for now is to just add a bit more distance between the wing and the jump 🙂 I see you have worked the rear crosses and backside below; those are a great balance for this.
Nice work!!!
On to the next game 🙂
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
She did really well here! The mountain climbers with the balance stuff is good for all end positions, as it really works the balance needed for the weight shift. She did well running up the board, so you can totally as her to lie down too as a balance challenge. It is also good for conditioning her core! You don’t need to do a ton of this, but visiting it here and there to continue to solidify balance will be good 🙂

The end position is going well, I think she was just about perfect with all the challenges and then fixed herself when her leg slipped off on one rep (that was so funny! Ha!). So, three ways to move it forward:
– Using the target and the challenges you did here, bring it over to the bang game and play there 🙂 Start with a low height and then we can build it up, depending on how she does – I think she will do really well!

– using this plank, add more motion and more visible toy. That was hard for her on the downhills game, so you can play with that here too to help her ignore the excitement of the motion and the toy 🙂

– put a target on a wobble board and add a wing before it…. wheee! Speed into position. That will add some more challenge for sure!

She is also doing well on the downhills. She definitely thought the running and the toy were VERY exciting, more exciting than the cookie at the end. It looked like there wasn’t even a cookie there, but I am pretty sure there was LOL! So as you add your motion, you can use a higher value food reward and maybe even a lower value toy (if there is such a thing for her :))
One suggestion about the downhills – convince her to stop and wait for you at the top and balance… and then you can send her down the board. She was leaping on and running down, so her balance was getting a little off because she was trying to balance after leaping on then run fast then balance at the end – and she was happy to run fast and not balance at the end to stop LOL!! You might notice in demos that I have my dogs hop on facing away from the target end of the board, so they can’t start without me 🙂 They hop on, get a cookie for turning around, get ready… then run down the board. That will get more speed because she can explode forward more than she can after leaping onto the board.

You can also work through her toy and running excitement here before we add the targeting in: you can walk fast but swing the toy, so she learns to override the excitement of the toy and stop to eat the cookie at the end. That is, in theory, easier than hitting and holding the down at the end, so it will be a good foundation for adding the end position.

>> When I increase the tip with this, should I lower the end with the chair (will have to find something else), or lower the Teach-it bar?>>

I think leaving the chair in place and lowering the teach it bar will work best – when the bang game with the end position is in a good place, you will easily be able to lower this game to the ground and remove the teach it entirely. It won’t take her long to get to that level 🙂

Great job here!
Tracy

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