[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!
I think these looked great!!!! Some details from each video:

Video 1 – one thing you can add is to get moving as soon as you send her into the tunnel – you were stationary then sprinted into the cross, which made the cues late. You were probably just thinking about wait to do, and not intentionally waiting for her 🙂 On the reps after the first one like at :30, you had much better use of motion and it made the cross smoother too 🙂 And nice low arms! Great connection!

You added more distance at :52 and 1:13 which out you in good position to start the FC even earlier. One detail is to move more towards 5 (jump after the cross) and not as much between the uprights of 4. Dogs run to our position, so getting between the uprights was causing her to (correctly) jump long, which meant you had to push her back to 5, which meant you couldn’t decel to show the tight turn at 5. Being closer to 5 to begin the cross makes it all easier.

You had really lovely patient connection on the 5-6-7 each time! Nice connection throughout all of it!!

Video 2, other direction, also super nice! Remember to keep moving when you send her to the tunnel, don’t wait and then accelerate into the cross because it causes more extension than we want there.
And try to move more towards 5 (and less towards 4) on these too.
But also really great connection on these! She looked great and you were ablw to get a lot of speed and flow!

Video 3
The BC at :10 was a little late (you were just warming up LOL!) but you had great connection on the exit of it and also strong position.

The BC to the tunnel at :24 was good… but the BC at :38 was AWESOME. And the BC at :53 was even MORE AWESOME!!!! You were really starting to trust her lines and commitment, so your timing and position and connection all looked great. It looks like you got rid of all of the questions from the first time you tried it – those last 2 reps in particular were total grand slams. Yay!

That last video is hysterical! She is an excellent student LOL!!! She really likes the tunnel verbals LOL! And she knows the little ending ditty means time for her to get to play 🙂

Great job on these! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

“”Cries in task organized fashion 😆””

Ah yes, but training is not task-focused, it is concept-focused 🙂

Good job on all of these sequences – there was a MUCH higher rate of success and reinforcement, which corresponded directly to more speed and engagement. Happy dance!

Going through the videos:

Seq 1:
The opening looked great: connected and fast!
On the 4-5 line – when he lands from 4 try a one step send and then leave to cue the turn – you’ll have to decelerate in order to send, which is perfect because the decel is part of the turn cue. You did that send and leave at 1:46 and 2:20 of the second sequence and it looked great!

8-9 looked good here, a lot more connected!

2 things caused the accidental backside at 11:
– when he was entering the tunnel at :29, the last thing he saw was you accelerating on the line which set up the extension exit (and no turn verbal, you pushed the mute button lol)
– Motion towards the takeoff spot at 11 at :30 caused pressure into the line (couldn’t hear if there was a wrap verbal or not): voila, backside!
Good job just continuing to the nice fast ending wheeeee!
So to get the front side – let him see you turn to towards the front before he goes into the tunnel, call him, and don’t pressure in towards the takeoff spot.

One thing to be careful of with tunnel exits too – when you won’t a straight line exit, do a post turn to get up the next line (not a spin). You were showing spins, but the spins are turn cues and there is no turn on that tunnel exit. We don’t want to dilute the power of the turn cue by pairing it with straight line exits.

Seq 2:
Now that I have bugged you to clarify reinforcement procedures, I will move to bugging you to clarify the start line procedure. It is a little muddy and that is going to stress him out. On the first run you did a line up cue, said sit, he downed, then he stood, then you released. At 1:30 I think you said settle down? but then there was no clear release – you turned your head, he got up, you both ran. At 2:07 you ask for a sit, he moved, then you cued lie down then stay… but he was up from the down and then there was the release. So at some point something will go wrong and he will get marked as wrong – but he won’t know exactly what is correct. You don’t need to be picky about a position: You can ask for a line up and then let him choose the position rather than cue one thing and get another. But be clear, be consistent – and be clear on the releases in terms of connection and verbal before the release.

Missing the tunnel on the opening – yes you can totally be connected longer and help with handling support like you did on the 2nd rep and also at :58.
Also, he is a youngster and he has trouble ‘seeing’ things when there is a big distraction behind it. We saw that with the backside wing on the courses from last week and I think it is the same here – he doesn’t really ‘see’ the tunnel in the face of running towards all the distractions on the street.
So it is more of a ‘set up a tunnel in front of distractions’ thing and reward a lot of sends to a short easy tunnel. Then I think the handling will be much easier!
This is also good to know for trials, as you will want to really support all lines at trials when there are visual distractions everywhere.

At :29 – you got quiet when he entered the tunnel and accelerated, so your running line totally presented the DW. Block it off with jump wings if it is not in play then you don’t have to call him off it as a discrimination if it is on an obvious line. And keep calling and showing lines before he enters the tunnel, that will help too!

4-5 – you said ‘jump left’ at 1:00 and 1:41 and 2:15 – he was not sure if it was a wrap or a 180. I think left is the 180 verbal? You used ‘right’ on the 8-9 line in Seq 1). I think a wrap verbal would help here and either a spin or a send and go so he can see how tight you want the line.
The #5 tunnel entry is another place to post turn (not spin) to cue the straight line to 6.
6-7 is also a good send moment – go only a step or two past 6 and decel so when he lands, you can send him to 7 and peel away to get the cross 8-9. You ran hard into the pinwheel on the first pass through there (which sends him long) which muddies the FC timing – but you did the send and go at 1:46 and 2:20 and it was great! And the send and leave made for a nice blind on those! Wheee!

And on that last tunnel: post turn, not spin 🙂 to show the exit as being straight.
And yes he did enjoy the last go line LOL!

Seq 3:
This opening might have felt weird because you ran it with 2 as a front side – it is a backside which makes the whole thing smoother.
To run it as a front side, you would want to lead out to 2 and get a really collected turn and FC through the gap. You were running into it and doing a accelerated FC so he was wide.

The rest looked great! Little details to think about:
On the 5 backside at :39 and 1:34, you gave a serp arm to bring him in (I think that is what was happening) – you don’t need it, you can just stay connected and keep running, that is all he needs 🙂 Pass means ‘go to the backside and take the jump’ so you should not need to stay there and give additional cues.

Call him sooner before the tunnel entry at #8 and start the blind when he can still see it. You were earlier on the blind on the 2nd rep!
You can add a little collection on 9 before the backside – decel is probably all he needs there because he is very responsive. And super nice spin on the 10-11 line to set up the ending line!!

Bugging you about the stays here too: He had a broken stay on the 2nd rep and got in trouble… I just think there is some confusion so clarify things specifically and be consistent so he knows what to expect and what to do.

Great job on these! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!
Both of these runs looked really strong! A couple of ideas for you:
When you are doing the warm up patterns, remember to use your markers when tossing treats at the beginning and I think you can add in a little more engagement/eye contact now before you toss the 2nd one. That was what you were doing right before the 2nd run (marker words for the cookie toss and a little more engagement) and he was great!
Sequence 1:
1st run – >>We had an off course into the Arborvitaae trees just before the #3 Tunnel! >>

I don’t think it was a tree distraction – I think he was looking at the weave base there as an obstacle (I think that is the weave base). So it was an honest error when he went to the weave base, the visual was on his line and we have been emphasizing independent weaves LOL! On the 2nd run, he was still looking at the weave base so you called him more and he turned. That is good to know that he is very literal – he will drive a line if you are driving a line, so you can turn and call him before he takes off for 2 to get his eyes on the tunnel and not on the weave base.

The 4-5 send looked great and the first run and even better on the 2nd run!! NICE!

8-9 looked good too but it might be too much decel on that first run. You had less decel at 1:31 on the 2nd run to 8, but then once you have the turn I think you can accelerate again. At 1:33 you were still decelerated so he slowed down to watch you a lot. So you can play with decelerating and using the verbals to get the turn, but then once he is turned, accelerate again.

On your tunnel exits here, remember to call him before he goes into the tunnel. You praise a lot too – I don’t think he needs it here in training, but it might be helpful at trials (some dogs LOVE that!) So at the NFC trials coming, see how he does if you praise a lot versus how he does if you just keep using verbals for obstacles and turns.

Remember your wrap verbal on the first rep, that will help make things even smoother. On the 2nd rep had your verbal tight tight going and he did well with that turn! You can also tell him tunnel sooner – when he came around the wing you were decelerating and still saying tight, so I think you can add your go tunnel cue the instant you see his nose coming around the wing there.

Really nice fast ending line on both reps!!!

Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
Yes, this is a lot harder than it looks LOL!!

>>Wilson thought is was nutz

Yes, all of the dogs have at least one moment where they look at us like we are completely insane. They might be correct LOL!!!
The first sessions of these games are always to hash out what the dogs truly understand or not. You did a good job rewarding the little increments and it was totally interesting to see what each dog was doing!

Wilson’s turns:
>>. I had forgotten how sit is a default for him when he’s waiting for me for something.. I had forgotten how sit is a default for him when he’s waiting for me for something.

THat would explain why he was sitting and staring at the toy. Good to know! One thing I would do, then, is hold something he wants and stand still and just cue a down or stand or spin. You can start with a cookie because that might be less exciting than the toy, then move it back to toys when he can respond to different cues.
And one thing about those cues… can you do it on verbal only? Your cues also had hand signals attached, so I am not sure he processes the verbals separately (and would have to be looking at you for the hand signal).
So you can get the verbal to be more independent by saying it while beig totally stationary – then about a second later, give the hand signal. The ‘new’ cue (spin, for example) will help him anticipate the old cue (hand signal) and he will start to respond on the verbal only so you can fade the hand signal.
Being able to respond to the verbal without a hand signal and also in the presence of something he wants will make for smooth sailing as we add more crazy motion.

Demi thought you were only a little nuts here (Wilson thought you were entirely nuts haha!) As with Wilson, I think her hardest part was that there are physical cues attached to the verbals you were using: hand signal for sit, and walking towards her for back. And when you added more crazy motion, you would then stop and do the hand signal or movement towards her. So before adding in the crazy motion, you can play with getting these behaviors entirely on a verbal only (verbal then physical cue, rather than simultaneous cues) – then you can add in moving/dancing/etc. That will also help her keep sit and down as different behaviors, because she was guessing a little when there was distracting motion.

Great job rewarding both dogs – they found this really hard (because it IS really hard LOL!)

And for both of them, you can reward the “mine” cue to get the ball back – neither was quick to release the ball, probably because there was no reinforcement directly associated with it. They would out it and then have to work to earn it, which is not entirely reinforcing for giving it back in the first place LOL! So you can give them a cookie for the reponse to mine, or give them the toy back on a lot of the reps, or have 2 toys so you can reward with the other one.

>>Incidentally, am I breaking all the rules of AU? Should I not be posting videos of both dogs at the same time?>>

Nope, you have not gone rogue or feral haha! You can post both dogs (it applies into the round 1 and round 2 videos in the guidelines section).

Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning again 🙂
These were really fun to watch – I can see definite trends that I want expand on for him and a couple of things we can compare/contrast to see what is fastest 🙂

Seq 1:
Lovely powerful opening! He slipped a little landing on 4 turning to 5 – I think because he didn’t know about the turn before 4 and was looking a little straight. You can start to turn your shoulders when he is a stride out of the tunnel to help that out. He had a great turn on 5 – partially because the slipping decelerated him and partially because he is just a really lovely turner!
He had a question about 8-9: You can start the cue when he has exited the tunnel – send and move away more laterally – keep moving and then decel, rather than decel then explode away as you give the cue. You might need to go closer to the tunnel there on these types of ‘no place to run to’ sequences but on a bigger course you probably would not need to do that.
There is also the possibility of using the opposite arm as a little ‘brake’ arm for a colleciton cue but based on how he looks overall – I don’t think you will need it. An earlier cue and decel through it is probably the key.

Really nice collection on the wrap at 11 at :26 – great turn! I would love to compare the times of that style of turn to a softer cue with only one hand, less direct eye contact (which will produce a wider turn but less collection) – same timing of delivering the cues for him but different style to see what is faster. He can really power up and down the lines, so less collection might allow him to power even more!

Nice ending line!

Seq 2:
nice opening again!
Nice turn on 4, nice and tight! As with 11 on seq 1, I would love to compare a softer turn cue here too to see if it is faster to collect a lot like he did here, or if the slightly wider turn is faster (the dude has some serious ground speed so less collection might exploit that in a good way)

On the way back to the tunnel you got into the pinwheel 6-7 to give a strong collection before a spin at :50 on jump 8, then rear crossed the tunnel entry. All really nice! But…. I would love to compare it to sending him to 7 and doing a FC or BC 8-9 there. The collection and spin gets a tight turn on 8 but the RC on the tunnel drew more of a zig zag line for him plus puts you out of position – even with significant hustle (you were really flying!) he still turned towards you on the tunnel exit at :54 (one stride, but that adds up!)
Based on his ground speed and his natural turning ability – I then sending to 7 and then BC 8-9 would be stunningly fast and also pretty easy for you, once you get comfy with it.

Seq 3:
I think whizzing by 2 on your forced front cross at 1:07 was a dog training thing not a handling thing. You stayed there for a heartbeat longer at 1:30 but we can train it so you can do what you wanted to do on the 1st rep. As you rotate and start to leave, you can reward his choice to come to the backside by tossing the toy out past the landing spot (so this is happening as he is just getting to the entry wing). This creates the default of “take the jump” on the backsides so you can leave fast like you wanted to there.

The whole middle section was full on giddy up extension but also accurate – I don’t think we would want to change a thing! Super speedy!!!

At 1:37, use your right verbal (or name call) as well as the FC physical cue when he is still about 6 feet away from the tunnel entry. That will help him know to turn on exit (he was wide at 1:39) – you can send away to the jump before the tunnel more so you are in a better position to show the turn cues on the tunnel sooner and be where you want to be for the exit. You did all of that after he entered the tunnel so he could not respond til he saw it when he exited.
The ending line looked great!
An overall thing:
Watching him nail those slice line in extension and also power out of the tighter turns makes ne really want to compare the super tight turns versus the not so tight turns – if you can get them both on tape, we can overlay or time them. As long as timing is pretty much what you did here and he knows where he is going… I want to see what the times are if we let him rip more and collect a tiny bit less. A dog with his power might not need to be asked to turn as tightly because he might bleed off speed to do it… or not, perhaps those gorgeous tight turns are best. But only the stop watch will tell 🙂
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!

This looks really good! Toys, Taken, pool… really good distractions but he was easily able to offer engagement (cheese is a beautiful thing LOL!!)
One small detail that will make it easier in new environments too: do that first ‘find it’ toss right as you step into the environment, rather than wait til he looks around or until you are a few steps into the new environment. That first toss starts the game and basically says to the dog: game on, new place, this is how you acclimate. In harder environments, I think he will be able to acclimate and engage even more quickly if you start the first toss as you step into it before he even knows what is happening 🙂

An idea about mechanics – have the cookies ready and in your hand, so your hands don’t have to move much – that way Select does all of the ‘operating’ and you just flick a treat from your hand, rather than reaching up to your mouth (or a pocket). The hand movement can muddy the waters for him, so the quieter your can make your hands/cookies, the better he will be able to make decisions. And, because there are only so many treats we can hold in our hand – when I am down to my last cookie, it is my reminder to get out of the environment 🙂

Do you have any trial or training opportunities coming up, where he can play this game on the road? Even if he just pops in for an visit and looksee. Or if he is visiting the rehab person, you can play this game there too? That would be a great place to get more engagement 🙂

Nice work here!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning!
Lots of good work here, he is REALLY great at responding to turn cues and also looks good on the lines!

Some details to obsess on:

Redo wrap video:
Because he responds so well to turn cues, stay in motion so you don’t give an accidental turn cue 🙂 For example, at :03 you can go deeper to the tunnel so you are not standing still at 4 when he exits (don’t want to stand still if we don’t want collection). I think you do the same for the 8-9: move in closer to the tunnel so you are in motion when he exits.

He seemed to have no questions about the wrap at :16 in terms of collecting and which way to turn! NICE! On that rep, you kept connection over your right side for too long so he thought that is where you wanted him -the connection to the left was a little late (:19) so he had a little zig zag there on the way to the tunnel.

I liked your cues a LOT on the next rep at :30! What did you say to him after the wrap? It sounds like zoom go weave walk it LOL! So many words LOL!

The next couple of reps had too much acceleration (:39 and :50) – this made the decel and rotation late (plus there was a lot of forward energy) so he was wide and had to turn after landing (dropped the bar at :51). He liked the hustle back to the tunnel though!! But then you were on his line and ran him past the tunnel entry – he needs you to turn your shoulders a bit and stay connected like you mentioned.
The last rep looked great! That one (1:02 approx) and the rep at :30 were great. You can also help with the collection with softer quieter verbals there – the louder you are with them, the more it propels him long. If you get quit, he will bring himself into collection more easily.

Sequence 2:
1-2-3 looked great. Wheeeee!!

4-5: I think it is worthwhile to play with a send and go rather than a spin – he turns SO nicely that you can probably send and go in places that the rest of us slackers need to do all sorts of spinny things. Your verbal was a little late on this first one and the motion away was a little late at :05, but the next rep was LOVELY at :20. That is definitely something we need to start timing to see which is faster: Send or spin?

Small detail: Try not to spin on the tunnel entries (:22) hen you want a straight exit – that spin is a turn cue and we don’t want to dilute it by pairing it with going straight afterwards.

About that jump before the tunnel… we will look at it 2 ways: handling and training.
For the handling, you were generally too early (we handlers are usually NOT too early LOL!) so he was seeing the rotation before he had a chance to really look at the jump.
You were too early at at :26 – you had decelerated to get it but the FC started as he landed so it pulled him off. I thought you were better at :34 and definitely at :45 but he said it was still too early – one thing that will help is if you shift your connection to the landing spot there as you do the FC instead of look at him. The direct connection to his eyes is part of what is pulling him and off the jump.

But there is also the training element: he is only 2 so there might be a thing or two we haven’t trained fully yet right? LOL!
I think in that moment (:35 and :45 when he didn’t take the jump) that I would send him right back to the jump and then reward, so he doesn’t just come off the line and grab the toy (the toy is not in play unless there is a cue for it). When you cue the verbal, we would like him to go take the jump even if you are early – so remember to use the verbal and also toss the reward to the landing side (don’t deliver from your hand) to help solidify the understanding to commit even while you rotate (this is the same when you do the blind, too). You can work it on a wing to get the value, then add the bar: it is MUCH easier to do it on a wing, in terms of jumping effort. And on a full height bar, it is hard to commit and jump than it is to just come to you – so shifting the value will really help him out.

You got him to take the jump at :51 and 1:01 by moving all the way across the line and being later – which means he doesn’t understand the FC as independently as we want him to, so it is good for training! I also think the reinforcement procedure comes into play too – if he thinks the toy is in play when you rotate, it will be easier for him to come off the line. The cue to take the toy will really help him not lock onto it until you use it as a reward (but for now totally toss the reward to the landing spot).

I think the blind is a great choice here – when I walked it, I felt it turned my feet to the tunnel sooner and I could finish it quicker than the FC. At 1:14 – his was a definite ‘too early’ moment, your outside arm for the blind was coming up as he is landing from the previous jump so the cue was beginning. But, the training side: you said over and I don’t want him to just come grab the toy on that cue – yes, you have another stride or two before the blind starts but you can also do a real quick send back out to the jump then toss the reward. We do want to reward him! But we don’t want to have him come off the lines and drive to the toy. It is a delicate balance 🙂

The blind at 1:23 and 1:44 both had better timing and looked really strong! I like the blind there for you two!

On last detail about your Go and Go on cues: – be careful of saying go for everything 🙂 Go is only for straight lines and not just a general commitment cue, so even a ‘go jump’ can dilute the go cue. And when you do a go on – throw the reward so he doesn’t decel to come back to you.

Great job here! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

What a good boy at the trial!!!! I think this helps us plan for him:
Keep moving and use your arm as long as you keep moving (like when you are behind him or on big distances). But if you are ahead – your arm causes you to stand still and that is when we lose his speed. So in the smaller setups, you can practice moving more by getting closer to the obstacles (for now). And then keep playing the lazy game with the thrown rewards so you can have really strong sends without having to run.

T

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good morning! There is not too much video here – just the right amount for the games! She is doing really well!

On the lazy game:
No worries about the occasional bar down – it seems to happen when she is chewing and then goes right back to the jump, so give her a little extra room and extra time to finish chewing haha! And you can also lock the bars into the jump cups if the bars are hollow and they fit, or for this you can leave them on the ground.
Her understanding of the game and of the commitment looks really good!!! And she was picking up speed! So you can spread them out a little to add more challenge by adding distance.
One thing on this game and the others too: in the words of Aaron Burr (or Lin-Manuel Miranda): “Talk less, smile more” 🙂 You talk to her a lot and praise a lot… but that, for her, is actually a bit distracting. I think she is more of a ‘just the facts, ma’am’ type of worker and you can praise her *after* you deliver the reward (not before it – before is all about cues and using reward markers like get it). This will help her keep the bars up too. More on that below because it gets more obvious in the one step sends.

Mountain climber – well, I guess she really likes this game, she was trying to do it without you LOL!!! Good girlie! Only 2 suggestions:
Try to stabilize the chair more (it wobbles under her height) or use something strong to hold the board. That way it will be very stable as you get her running up it faster and faster.
Also, you can use a long spoon and some duct tape (fancy, I know :)) to attach the spoon to the underside of the teeter – and then that is where you can put her reward. She will run all the way up to the end of the board and the spoon will be sticking out with the treats – this gets her right to the very end of. The board and helps prepare for a 2o2o behavior, which is generally what we teach the big dogs on the teeter 🙂

She was really good about going back to the toy here – if you had SUPER snacks like cheese, make sure you use the bestest possible toy because, well, cheeeeeese yum!!! Ha! I can relate.

The one step sends started off perfectly! Loved it! You can add your wrap cue to the wings so you start attaching the verbal to the wing wraps there.
The tunnel send at the end fell apart a little because of the ‘talk less smile more’ thing 🙂 It wasn’t that you asked too much of her, she was doing it great – it is just that she really has to duck down to get into the tunnel at that angle (any angle, really) and at 1:14 and 2:01, right as she was ducking down, you said a big loud YES!!! So she assumed it was reward time and came to you (because every other time you say the big loud yes, she gets a reward).
So…. talk less 🙂 Keep telling her tunnel tunnel tunnel and then be patient – don’t say anything til she is in it and going through it, then reward 🙂
At 2:20, you disconnected and turned your back on her, so she thought your were doing a blind and ended up on your other side. Then I think she got a little frustrated, and that is why she offered the other behavior of getting on top of the tunnel LOL!
The other suggestion is to run with the toy in your hand, not your arm pit – when it is in your hand, you can open up your arm back to her and have better connection. When it is in your arm pit, your shoulder remains closed to hold it there, so your connection breaks more. I don’t think the toy scrunched up in your hand will be a distraction for her if the info is clear. And you can also use a marker (I use ‘bite!’) to tell her when she is allowed to lock onto the toy 🙂

Great job here!!! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>“Tunnel Threadle Verbal (Kiss Kiss Kiss) This verbal tells the dog to take the ‘non-obvious’
tunnel entry that is not on his line (the one closer to you). It is used in tunnel
discriminations”

>>When do you teach this? Also, what is the quick primer on how to teach this. Is it really always the end closest to you? I drew something that I think of as a bi-pass, but I can’t figure out how to attach an image. Is there a way?>>

We start teaching this in MaxPup basically as soon as we have shaped the pup to run into a tunnel. I can post the videos if you want! I think it is the end closer to me but I think of it more as a sandwich – if the pup and I are the bread and the tunnel is in between us (pup is on the outside of the line, kind of like taking the front side of a jump or push to a backside) then it is a regular tunnel cue. Also, the pup drives directly to it and does not need to turn away to get into it (the tunnel might turn the pup away once he is in it, that is a different story). If the pup needs to squeeze herself into the middle of the sandwich (tunnel and I are bread, puppy is the meat haha) and turn away to get into the tunnel: then it is the threadle cue (not a bypass, that is different and pukey lol).

Let me know if that makes sense. And if the IMG tab isn’t working, can you put it on a google doc and post the link? Sometimes the IMG tab is wonky in the forum.

T

[Tracy Sklenar]

Good question! If I plan to toss treats, I do it while things are quiet and there are not many dogs around – like early in the morning, or far from the ring. Being far from the ring helps when there are dogs running. And to be honest… no one has said anything about me tossing cookies around near the ring but that might be because the locals here are fine with it and also flyball tournaments have no uptight-ness about that 🙂 I have not had any other dogs come play.

That being said: when I am waiting on line at the ring, two thoughts:
– I am not playing this game to help acclimate because at that stage, the dog should be relaxed, so no cookies tossed.
– But, I do vary this pattern with rewards in my hand – the dog offers engagement and I give a cue to get the reward in my hand, so it is a modification of the pattern.

But I do get close to the ring with this game as an acclimation/relaxation game with the youngsters, and I do toss treats. I think I just get a spot where the dog can see the ring but other dogs can’t grab his stuff 🙂

T

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hello!

>> OK, we are back in town for a bit. I worked step 1 & 2 with all three dogs (Hoot, Zing and Joe) this morning. Zing and Joe were the best LOL.

Welcome back! I am not surprised that Zing and Joe were best – we approached things differently with Hoot and her cohort LOL!! And I am glad Joe is getting to play!

>> I need another word other than “Get it” I think. I use that as permission to grab their toy. And “find it” for finding their toy. Can I use “find it”?>>

I was going to ask about your marker – I couldn’t really hear it. But if you were saying get it and get it also means ‘drive to your toy’ then something else would be appropriate here. ‘Find it’ works or something silly like “snacks” would be good too 🙂

>>I am posting with Zing. She is fairly good at working through distractions at this level, but I want to find the point at which she breaks. Might only be with stimuli that is like a trial, we will see.>>

She did well here, but I think I would like her to look up at you more. On most reps, she was not looking at the distraction but also not really looking up at you. In this game, we’d like them to eventually look at us – you can isolate it by standing still and only using the ‘find it’ when she makes eye contact for now (no distractions). And then as you add distractions, you can shape it successively by rewarding looking away from distraction or in your general direction but building up to looking at you (for example, at Flyball tournaments with Contraband, I reward looking away from the racing with a cookie but I give him a frisbee cue if he makes eye contact. That packs a wallop so now I get a lot of offered eye contact LOL!

And you might need to stand still each time you add a layer of distraction, to let her settle in and then she will move through the levels quickly.

>>Anyhow, let me know what you think. If the mechanics look good I will go on.>>

I think the only other thing is to have the cookies in your hand and don’t move your hand or reach into the bag – that is a lot of hand movement/cookie movement for a shaping game so I am being a bit of a purist in that you can keep the hand stationary for as long as possible then use the marker and flick a cookie 🙂

I think she is ready for more 🙂 Great job here!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
That is good info about what she finds stressful!!! I think the weaves and the table are secondary and will be easier when the startline stress gets resolved. And yes, these 2 games are a great place to start!

She did a great job with the pattern game: easy peasy! So now you can go to the next level with some distractions and also playing this game in other places.

The second video (which is actually the first game) is also going to be really important for your start line procedures! First thing – i think you were using ‘get it’ for the rewards behind her here and also for the tossed cookies in the pattern game. So I recommend a different word for the rewards that are outside the ring Just so it is really clear what you mean.
In the session, you went right into the sit and the stay at a jump. I think that is fine for home, but when you go to new places, keep it simpler: let her see you place the treats down, then just take a step or two away, then give the cue and run back to them. Then add in one little trick! Then we can build up from there – taking this to new places will become important.
You can also take this game into your agility classes – do it as she is starting her turn (but you don’t have to do it on all the runs, just here and there) to get her in the habit of understanding how the rewards are earned when you don’t have any on you.

Question, for planning purposes: when she is at class or a trial, will she play with a toy? Ball? Or is she only into food? Will she tug on a leash? The biggest step to getting her to run without stress is going to be NFC and FEO runs, but we need to know what she will like as reinforcement before we do that. Let me know and we will plan 🙂
Great job here! And these are games you should be teaching Maple too, start ‘em young!

Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!
Yeah, the weather has been a little nuts for so many folks but I think we can get a lot done in between raindrops 🙂 Remember, it is more about concepts and less about running all the courses.

Good session here!
Looking at the various sections of the sequence:
First run started off great! Then he went around a jump and you disconnected/lost energy and called his name, so info stopped and he almost called an Uber LOL! Yes, don’t mark errors and he likes action – always keep moving.

The 4-5-6 is like a Goldilocks moment: too much, not enough, just right 🙂

You can handle the 5 jump a little differently at :12 – rather than get up there and round the line with him (which was too much acceleration), you can send when he lands from 4 and peel away to the tunnel, to tighten the turn a bit. You used decel there on the 2nd rep, but that was too much especially since you were already there and decelerated, so he lost speed..
You had more of that “just right” middle ground at 1:31 – less of a big decel, more of a send – it worked well! One thing to consider is not getting too far ahead: on courses like this one where there is no place to go, you can drive in deeper to the #3 tunnel so you don’t end up decelerated and waiting for him when he exits for 4-5 and also 8-9.

One little detail:
If you are going to use his name as an attention cue after the tunnel (which is perfectly good, he is very responsive to it), say it before he enters the tunnel – you are tending to say his name when he exits the tunnel, which delays the next info. For example: on the soft left at :44, you called him when he exited the tunnel and then said right as he was jumping 8, so that ended up being late.
This is also a good spot to drive more into the tunnel – you ended up stationary there so he almost came in too tight.

I liked the send and go much better at 1:35!!! I think combined with a few more steps into the tunnel so there is less decel, it will be the perfect combo.

Remember to not just cue the tunnel on a verbal – connect and drive forward to it, to support the cue with motion. Being decelerated plus not connected and turning away pulled him off the tunnel (good boy) and he got concerned. Then I think there was a noise distraction, a horn or thunder or something? But I think he likes action, so if something goes wrong, no worries, keep running to the next line. If he is worried, just keep moving.

The wrap at :49 is a good place to add more decel and to stay on takeoff side – your right arm ended up a bit on landing side and you were sideways and moving wide of the wing, so he was wide based on the motion. If you get there early, just hang out a bit on the takeoff side of the wing. I think you can also try the spin there to get the BC exit, rather than FC then RC the tunnel (the spin should faster because he can chase you and it sets a better line than the RC of the tunnel does here).

He might have pulled the rail at the end when you gave him a big yes – or he might need a little more ‘extreme’ connection (hard eye contact as you keep moving up the line) heading to the bar after the tunnel because of the lead change. Extreme connection cues the lead change really nicely.

Great tugging at the end of the first run! Wheeee!

And i something happens and he turns off (thunder, for example) it is perfectly fine to stop the session (better than trying to work through it, because the pressure and the worry might get associated with agility, which we don’t want.

>> I feel less prepared when I’m running full out.

I feel this!!! Same for me hahaaha! But we will build up to that 🙂 And going deeper to the tunnel will give you more of a running full out feel.

Great job! Let me know what you think!
Tracy

[Tracy Sklenar]

Hi!

>> I will go back and look more closely at where my eyes go.

Yes – connection is so odd – we humans like to point things out, but that is not how dogs read courses. They do a lot better on sending if we look at their eyes. Strange but true LOL!!

>> I was really pleased with both of them and I will work on what you said above. Thank you so much!! I am loving this course! You are right, there is a lot to do but I am not getting overwhelmed. >>

You should be pleased with both of them – they rocked it! Glad you are having fun 🙂 And yes: Pick what you want to play with rather than trying to do all the things, and you won’t get overwhelmed 🙂
Tracy

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