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Good morning! She is doing well here!
On the 2x2s: I like things better when you don’t click – the click was causing her to look at you and also some of the clicks were coinciding with her touching the weaves – so it is easier to not click 🙂 You can mark and throw like you did with channels – your ‘yaaaay!’ seemed like it predicted the throw so she was looking straight! Nice!
I think she is getting the idea of the entries AND not hitting the poles (as much – still a little, but less than before and definitely not smacking herself as hard when she touches them). So that is good – many big dogs do touch the poles as they enter, so as long as she is not twisting herself into a pretzel then it is fine and I am confident she will sort it out even more as the poles get tighter.
Yes, keep focusing on the harder side entries for now, getting further down to the bottom of the clock especially on your left side sends. You can also start to angle the 2nd base – put the first base back to a slightly less straight angle when you do that, so as one variable gets harder, the other gets easier for a minute.
On the channels: I love how she is looking forward and driving straight! She definitely had more trouble when you got further down the clock on the left side sends, so there are two things you can do:
– isolate the hard sends on just 6 channel poles to build up that understanding
– using the 12 poles, add in the crazier handling but from the angles that are more solid.
That can allow you to make progress in all the things 🙂Great job here!!!! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
I am excited for CAMP!!!! We have a great time – some folks have done all 9 years of it, and are on their 2nd or 3rd generation of dog CAMPers LOL!>>downhills setup like in the Week 3 game now? Get rid of the table, use the Teach It….more “downhill” but less hit/tip at the end, right? Use his target and me move past. Have him get on the board where ever is comfortable, have him walk up and turn around and then go down? Think I’ve got it! And oh yeah…both sides!!!!
Correct! By adding the variable of end position, we dial back the other variables especially amount of tip. That way, he can focus on getting comfy with the new variable (end position) and when he is happy – we quickly add in more tip. Stay tuned for more coming soon on that 🙂
Have fun!
TracyGood morning! He is doing well in both of these!
Looking at the target fading first – I think about halfway through you decided to stop using the clicker, and I support that decision LOL!!! Clickers tend to get more looking at us, and I think his best reps where when you were releasing to the reward out ahead. When you were clicking or yes-ing and placing the reward in position, he was looking at you more. So you can be super consistent about only after the release to the thing out ahead. Also, as long as he is looking straight until *after* he lands in position, I am fine if he looks at you after that (nothing else to look at LOL!). But if he is looking at you while moving into the down, then we focus more on getting him looking straight.
He seemed perfectly fine with the fading – I also agree that going to the smaller pieces of tape is the right path for the next session, just to be sure that the yellow tape is not a salient part of the target as you move forward to a tape-less world LOL
The elevator game mechanics are going generally really well! I don’t mind having him sit, but have him do it much closer to the end of the board (with you closer to the end) so the end of the board is incredibly valuable and we don’t put any value into stopping further up the board.
You can also help him hold the stand without the cookie hand in his face with one cookie for hopping on, then put your hand on his collar or back as you do the countdown.
I don’t mind if he wants to do the down while the board is in the air, because it will build a lot of confidence to move into the down while the board is dropping and arrive in the down before the board hits the ground. When he starts further up from the sit, the board is hitting the ground then he is arriving and downing. As the board gets further off the ground, he will ideally be at the end and moving into the down while it is still a foot or more above the ground 🙂 so the early down here might actually be a good thing!And you might laugh – with one of my dogs, she is SO READY for the drop that if my countdown is normal speed, she starts backing up the board, preparing the weight shift (kind of like how he moves into the down). So the answer was to do a faster countdown LOL Rather than 1…2…3…. I went to 1-2-3 target and she was much happier LOL!! I think he will like that too!
He also did well with the releases forward, in terms of looking at you less. That will really help keep him looking straight as we add more motion and independence.
Great job here! I am looking forward to adding onto these games!
TracyGood morning!
I am glad he is feeling so confident and happy here! The weaves look great too 🙂He is doing really well on the elevator game – it seems like fading the target was easy for him. Speaking of target fading – if he is going to be out and about with you, try a bit of plank work without the target in new places and see how it goes.
One thing on the elevator game: give a more distinct countdown. You sometimes did say “ready” but I think more of a 1-2-3 will get him the rhythm of when the board will be dropped (and defintiely use it all the time, this game is going to get crazy in the next couple of weeks :))
We add more to the elevator game tomorrow but in a nutshell – do the countdown, give the paw cue, let go… but now as you drop the board, you can start walking forward. We are going to start building in more independence of riding down the board and staying in position. I suggest using the target for the first couple of sessions of this new challenge, so we only change one variable at a time.
Great job here! Keep me posted!
TracyGood morning!
Yes to target fading 🙂 And yes to the markers LOL!
And I like to have the dogs settle for a moment before they jump on, to help prevent them from breaking themselves LOL!Good morning!
I think we can strengthen the 2o2o position a lot more in terms of understanding, and then revisit it on the downhills.Working backwards first – for the downhills, he is happy to run down the board but I agree that he does not know enough about the end position yet to use it with the downhill. So for now, keep a low table with a target and pre-placed cookies on it on the bottom end, so he doesn’t have to make a 2o2o decision and he can just run across the board 🙂
For the 2o2o – I think a plastic lid target is going to be more effective than the TnT as the target, because the lid is going to promote more choice on head position, foot position and weight shift and then you can place the cookie there, or you can release him forward to the TnT placed 5 feet beyond it or so. Plus, a lid or plastic target will be much easier to fade out – I think he was trying to read your body position and target the TnT and figure out how to dispense cookies, but was not really figuring out where his feet needed to be or head position. So try it with a lid as a target, starting right at the very end of the board, with you in front to get it going… then off to the side with him stepping into position. Then over the course of several sessions, you can add motion, moving past, sending ahead, etc.
When he is more comfy with the 2o2o independently of your position and without the TnT, the stepwise progression is to take it to the bang game concept: this start on the end of the regular plank, with him leaping into position from the very end, rather than starting right on the plank. When he is happy with that – it goes to the bang game on the teeter, leaping into position on the end of the teeter, with tip.
When he is happy with the bang game, then the bang game and the downhills basically merge – but I don’t recommend doing downhills to the ground until he is very happy and independent with the bang game to end position.
Let me know if that makes sense! He is doing really well so the stepwise progression will move things along really nicely 🙂
TracyOoh I am excited that you are going to a baby dog seminar today!!! Lori is excellent, you will have a blast!
And getting to do it in a new place is also fabulous 🙂
>> I’m a little nervous that she will leave me. >>
I can totally relate LOL!!! Be sure bring the BEST cookies and toys, do tricks for rewards to get her attention, reward tons while you are working her, and if she leaves you to visit or be distracted? No worries, that is normal, she will come back 🙂 I prefer the pups to be happy and go visit and learn to ignore distractions eventually, than to be worried about things. So if she is a happy visitor? No problem, it means she is a happy girl 🙂
Let me know how it goes!
TracyGood morning!
He did really well in both sessions here! Both the width and the handling (angles and motion) were highly successful! Super! So…. tighten a little more. If this was a 4 inch width, try 3 inches and repeat the handling challenges. He will let you know how he feels about it all. I am guessing he will be fine 🙂
And we might see striding at 3 inches? If so, that is when you can start adding the real cue and also put the training into an every-other-day routine, so we don’t over-work the repetitive behavior.And you can still do handling challenge stuff on 12 poles that are still 5 inches open or so 🙂
Great job!
TracyGood morning!
>> Well, darn. I just wrote you a short novella to go along with our video from today, hit the wrong key, and all the text evaporated. So, I’ll try again…>>
Ugh, I hate when that happens!!!! At least in this software, hitting the “back” arrow has gotten me back to my novellas.
>>>First and foremost, Keiko is fine. No limping, no hesitations to do anything physical
Excellent!!!! She looked fine in the video here too.
>>I found our work today, and the resulting video, rather interesting. You’ll see that I started with the second set of poles offset, nudged them closer, and then did the last 4 runs with them both straight up, about 16″ apart. >>>
>>Her pacing was interesting. I noticed in the first sets with the easier pole angles, she entered the straight poles with one leg through, then bounced the rest of the way. When the poles were all straight up, she tended to use single legs and/or a walk, and then bounce on the way out.>>>
Yes, interesting session! VERY high accuracy, which is good. I think she is officially in the “think less, weave more” stage (I am in that stage with my medium sized dog, Hot Sauce, who thinks deeply and is 100% in it to get it right LOL!)
So a couple of ideas:
First, I think she finds the game with the wings to be stooooopid and boring LOL! Noted! She just doesn’t seem to get a thrill wrapping the wings here. So you can use a tunnel instead of the weaves 🙂 I have found that certain dogs just think certain games are stupid. LOL! I don’t take it personally. I think she will enjoy the tunnel (it is on my list for Hot Sauce today too)Second – you can structure the sessions a little differently: start with an easy, slightly open warm up. Then close the poles top almost-but-not-quite closed, maybe an inch open, for a couple of reps early on before brain or body gets tired, and then end with a couple of easy speed reps. That will help with striding so she rehearses the striding we like and ends with easier versions of it.
>> I’m not going to worry about it at this point. >>>
Agree! We plan ways to make it super fun and get her super silly – then that plus the understanding will result in striding.
>> A couple of my Aussies have actually used the single step to get into the poles, then bounced the rest of the way. >>
yes, that lead change is part of the weight shift, I believe.
>>One thing I noticed was when the poles were all straight, she seemed to want a second cue of “through” for the second set. >>
That is fine! Some dogs prefer it (I say poles poles poles poles poles) and some don’t like it (my smallest dog finds it distracting and misses when I do that).
>> However, if I’m going to be cuing more than once, I’m wondering if I should switch to my usual weave cue and drop the “through.” What are your thoughts? Too soon, or are we ready?>>
Yes, add the real cue, because there is real weaving 🙂 Start it on the slightly open poles when you get the bouncing, so it names the bouncing. There is no rush to close the poles, so you can keep them a little open for now to add it.
>>I do think we need to do a few sets from the lower part of the clock to keep that fresh.>>
yes, and that would be fun to do from a tunnel!
>>What should we focus on next? Is it good to mix things up, or should I work on straight poles, but father apart, then gradually bring them in closer. Do we go all the way around the clock, or stick with the top section? Looking forward to hearing from you!>>
The main thing to work on is speed driving to the poles, as that will translate to striding. So try replacing the wings with some tunnel fun 🙂 with slightly open poles for a few sessions.
Then yes close them up, but have the 2 straight sets further apart, maybe 4 feet so she can bounce bounce and go fast 🙂I like to at least spot check all the way around the clock for now – but when we are getting her driving into poles that are straight, I do it from head on, high speed 12 o’clock entries 🙂
Getting the poles to 4 straight at normal regulation distance is the lowest priority at the moment 🙂
She is doing really well! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
About striding… how tall is she? She might be right on the line where either striding works, so we will let her choose 🙂 and if it looks uncomfortable or slow, we can help her out.Hi! This also went really well! She was not as coordinated with her jumping on the first couple of reps, but then she got it – neutral position requires her to think more!
Only one suggestion for you: alternate sides more frequently. Do only 1 or 2 on the left, then switch to the right for a rep or two, then back to the left… and so on. Your set up was PERFECT but if you do too many reps in a row on one side, she isn’t really listening to the verbals, she is just assuming she should go the same way like at 1:45 when you wanted right and she went left 🙂
So start it in easy positions but changes sides a lot – and then gradually work your way to center on both. That should really help solidify the verbals because she will listen more and assume less 🙂Great job here!!!
TracyYay! Great job with the turning away, that little bit of hand help really got her going nicely. Super!!! I see what you mean about her doing it on her own 🙂 I am really glad she likes it…. but also you can use the cookie rewards to keep her with you and line up for the next rep: line her up and have her do the minny pinny, then as you reward, use the cookie in your hand to also move her to the new position for the next rep. Or, reward right away and use a 2nd cookie to line her up 🙂 She won’t be sad about any extra cookies LOL!
Great job here – onwards to the neutral position below!
Tracy
Hi there!
He is doing well here! A couple of ideas for you as you add more motion and excitement: When you are behind, you can overcompensate for the curling by rewarding him on the other side so he turns away to get the reward, or releasing and tossing treats to that side or forward (using event markers so he knows where to look and go) – but the release to the treats on the yellow target might not be a reward LOL! So you can also use a toy out ahead (that will be both a good challenge and strong reinforcement!).
The cone added QUITE the party to it! LOL! Good boy. With the added excitement, feeding in position will help with the weight shift. And having you move more slowly helped too. I was tracking where he was successful and where he was jumping/pouncing into position: 2 things stood out:
try to start with the ‘get on’ side of the wobble board (closer to the cone) on the ground so the target side is up – that was when it was more leapy for him for whatever reason.He also seemed to do better when you were behind or parallel and decelerating, so keep moving past slowly…. casually walking past for 2 or 3 more steps until he has stopped and shifted back while you are moving. Then you can build it up to running. You can also use a toy: tugging, then let him drive across the board as you walk by, then reward with the toy (thrown back to him with the marker that he can move to get it).
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy
