Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
I figured it was the angle of the video messes with perspective. And you can also do clicker sessions with 4 oh-so-slightly open poles inside, without speed, to help him think about it: click for the turn back after the entry (into the gap between poles 2 and 3) and toss into the gap between 3 and 4. Let me know if that makes sense, but it might work during stormy days!
TracyHi! He did really well here!! You can angle the poles a little tighter, I think he is ready for more challenge with the bending.
The bowl worked well as a target – on the countermotion reps and also on the extreme rear cross reps- you can use a ‘get it’ cue to help him know he has permission to continue driving forward through the poles to the cookie (pretty impressive that he was choosing to chase your line rather than grab the cookie!) He was fine and happy with the countermotion but needed a little more support on the extreme rears. But also, on the exits of the countermotion and extreme rear crosses, he was correctly reading that the next line was where you were heading, so it is fine to reward him from your line rather than from the bowl on those. You can also throw the toy on the line, which takes a bit of an earlier throw and is going to challenge your aim, because you are moving the opposite direction LOL!Interestingly, he was solid on the rear crosses earlier in the video – I think you had more motion through them so that was helpful to him. You can run him into the extreme rear crosses and see if that helps. The rest of the handling challenges were easy for him.
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi there!
He did well in the Minnesota heat wave!
I see 2 options for moving forward here – personally, I would try both in separate sessions and see what he says 🙂
for the 2 sets of straight poles – on the video above, how far apart were they? 4 feet between poles 2 and 3? The camera perspective makes it look closer than that – if they were 4 feet apart, go to 8 feet apart and see how he does… then 7 feet, then 6 feet, 5 feet, etc. It might help him prepare for that 2nd bend into the straight poles and create a lightbulb moment – that lightbulb will help him let you get the pole bases to normal distance. (This is how Hot Sauce got to 4 straight poles)
The other option is to keep the poles bases very close, and have the 2 bases a teensy bit open, and close them up in tiny increments, together, leaving base 2 (poles 3 and 4) open for a bit longer. That is how Elektra got to 4 straight and it took a couple of sessions. I also went to food for this because she simply could not do it with a toy, the toy was too stimulating.
I think you should try the 2 straight bases further apart and see how it goes, moving them together- try that first. See how it goes, and then for giggles you can also try the poles close together but open the width of a finger.
Let me know how it goes! He is *thisclose* to straight poles and that final step might take several sessions and some finagling.
Tracy
Hi!
>>Hmmm….could I set this up so the right turn has the Go, go,go wing out there? Wonder if that would work. I think you could. Might try it. Oh, If I put the wings on the other side. The right turn would have the wing. I think……lol. Thanks!!>>
Yes – you can totally add another wing so it is straight out past the right turn side to help test the timing of your cues 🙂
T
Hi!
When you add a bit of movement, is he getting worried and leaping off? Let me know what he is doing and we can figure out how to help him.>>Should I keep working all of this first group of exercises until he tolerates more movement? Would I be harming the sequence of the process by trying something from the next section of exercises?>>
On the games that don’t require movement (like the end position on the plank, or backing up onto something that doesn’t move), you can totally work them! The rest of the games generally add motion, so I want to hear more about what he is doing before deciding what to do. If he is worried about the movement, and we add MORE movement, then yes – it could be harmful to the process.
But we can also look at getting him happy with movement in a different way, with the one hit wonders approach or by including favorite toys (my dogs go nuts for frisbees :)) – this can often be far more effective than doing the more traditional shaping sessions.
Here are some more ideas about that:https://agility-u.com/lesson/being-incremental-adding-excitement-and-one-hit-wonders/
Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
He did really well here! Hit every entry, and stayed in the whole time. No problem at all. Nice! Does he normally have trouble when things touch him? You mentioned it to him here and he seemed fine with it LOL! So, apologies for the boring “that was great feedback” LOL and onwards we go… on your next session, start with slightly harder angles at this width as a warm up – then close the poles up a little and work all the angles and motion. He is going to move through the progression very quickly, and I bet we see him start to ‘swim’ the poles within a few sessions 🙂
Great job!
TracyHi!
She did well with the added challenge of the tighter poles! When you had them really tight towards the end of the session, she got really thoughtful about it – but I think that might have also been because you were far ahead and not moving as much, so it was a bit of a double whammy of challenge. I think the Find ‘Em from the wings is a great next step – leaving the angles at about where they were at :29 on this video, start the find em game with the wings: that will challenge her but you will also not be too far ahead.
I think she also likes verbal affirmation, so you can add a ‘yes’ or similar marker when she hits the entry.
She definitely likes the flying squirrel!
And if she has fun and doesn’t have to think too much with the Find ‘Em game, you can tight the poles up a little but still do them as part of the Find ‘Em game from the wings – she will like the motion and I think she will still be able to maintain her accuracy 🙂
Great job here!
TracyHi! Great session!
Good job adding motion – be sure to be moving before he hits the entry, so he doesn’t rely on you being stationary as he is heading to the poles.I see what you mean about the bounce on one side and the singles on the other side – at first I thought maybe it was fatigue because the singles happened later in the video… but at the end you went back to the first side and he went back to bouncing. LOL! So it is probably more about how he is sorting out bending into the entry. I am not worried at all, he is doing really well and will sort it out without a problem.
I think the next session(s) should be the Find ‘Em game from wings (posted yesterday) and, separately, adding in the harder angles. If you don’t have access to channels, take a look at the games and add in the crazy handling on the 2x2s at this stage 🙂
After that – poles 1 and 2 go straight and poles 3 and 4 open back up to 3&9 o’clock, as we go into the final stage for 4 straight poles. Yay!
He definitely thought having to eat the cookies from the MM was a little stoooopid so you can fade out the MM a this point. He is looking straight and definitely drives for the toy – without losing his mind for it. Good boy!!!
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyPerfect! The heat might also be part of it – this is probably the first time she has transitioned from cold to hot weather and she is probably feeling the heat! Keep me posted 🙂
Tracy
Hi! Hope you had a lovely weekend!
Nice connection on the wing wrap exits, it was really clear from this angle and she turned really nicely!
and good verbals!
You can add 2 more challenges into this simple game:
– send her to the wing from further away (with you up by the jump) and then as she commits to the wing, run so she has to chase your line. You will ideally be past the jump as she exits the wing wrap. That will challenge her to find the jump from behind you and maintain good form rather than go into chase more.
– start right up by the wing, close enough to touch it and wait there until she is done with the wrap… then accelerate to the jump. She will have to drive ahead of you, which also challenges good form! You were close to the wing at around 1:59, but you can exaggerate it even more, getting closer and staying there so she has to drive way ahead of you.
On both of these, keep running until after she lands from the jump so she continues to read the acceleration cue.
>Should we play more than one game per day?>
For the puppy games, yes, it is fine to do more than one as long as they are short and fun 🙂 They should all be easy on the dogs’ bodies, so doing a couple is totally fine 🙂
Great job here, let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
Looking at both of these videos together, I think the frisbee on the ground as a reward target was working when she could see it through the poles – but when you straightened the 2 poles, she didn’t have the idea that she should do the poles then get the frisbee. A couple of ideas for you to help her out:At the beginning of the first video, the poles were at a nice open angle. For a session or two, go back to that or a slightly hard angle but not straight yet. And instead of the frisbee on the ground, you can use an empty food bowl or a plastic lid as a focal point (nothing on it, just there for her to see). And when she goes through the poles, toss the frisbee or a big treat towards the bowl or lid. In a perfect world, the reward would land on it but as long as you get the reward near it, she will get the idea 🙂
And with the poles angled open and the reward target out there – work all the angles with you sending and with you moving, so she gets much more sure that it is through the poles then the reward. So if the poles were angles at 2 & 8 o’clock on the first part of the first video, and she is fine with that with you moving and throwing the reward after she gets it – then angle them just a little bit so they at 1 and 7 on the clock, and repeat that process of sending her through (and you moving) and you throw the reward after she goes through.
It is fine if she looks back at you a little bit for now after she gets through the poles – she is fast and we don’t want to throw before she chooses to go through the poles. The visual of the target will help keep her head straight, and the repeated placement of the thrown rewards will help too.
And then after a couple of sessions where she chooses to go through with the poles at 1&7 and you throw the reward towards the target after she chooses… then try the straight poles again – but as with the other angles, the reward is not already on the ground. It is in your hand and you throw it after she chooses to go through (but an empty bowl or lid can be out there as a focal point to throw towards).
You will see a lightbulb go on for her when you go back to the straight poles: she will be saying “aha! It is through the poles then the reward will be thrown out there somewhere” 🙂
>>Adding the 2nd set worked pretty well, but she started to stop before going through the 2nd set. Was my husband right that I should have let him call her or mark? I was saying excellent/good job to mark, then yesterday went back to clicker.>>
Where was the reward when you were working with the 2nd set? If you were marking and she was turning back, it might be that what you were holding was a little late in the throw or whatever your husband was placing was lower value (or both :)) So with the 2 sets, we want the same idea that she chooses to go through the first 2 poles and then you throw the reward out to an empty reward target. (or he can throw it, as long as it is high value). The timing of the throw is when her right shoulder is at pole 2, for now. Let me know, or post video if you have it 🙂
Nice work! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! Nice work here, he was doing a lovely job with the cone wraps AND finding the jump! So… onwards to the next step which is to NOT have the toy out ahead, but in your hand instead. The jump becomes the target and then it is up to you to throw before he looks back 🙂 To do this, you can also progressively add more distance between the jump and the cone to build up the go into longer and longer distances (bearing in mind that the goal is to throw while he is looking straight before he takes off, and not when he looks back after landing).
If that is easy for him, add 2 more variables (when there is more distance between the cone and the jump):
– send to the cone from super far away (you can be close to the jump) – that way he will exit the cone wrap and you will be past the jump, challenging him to find it with you waaaay ahead. Many young dogs find this difficult and go into ‘chase’ mode, missing the jump. It that happens, slow down your motion so he can ‘see’ the jump more– do the opposite as well: start right next to the cone, close enough to touch it, and wait there til he is done wrapping it… then drive forward so he learns to drive ahead of you to get the jump (also with the toy in your hand, not out ahead).
These are more complex, so you might need the other dog to be safely out of the way so there are no collisions 🙂
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
She is doing well here! Yes, the connection is still super important but you are getting it more into your comfort zone and muscle memory, so she is doing better too! And also, like you mentioned: she is figuring out where to go so you don’t have to be as perfect.
There was only one connection ‘break’ (:14) where she had a question, and also she was a really good girl about not jumping up! That was a combination of clear reinforcement, clear connection, and she is beginning to understand the game 🙂Also yes – you are going to need your running leg now for Fast Forward Ruby. She is quick when she is figuring something out, but as soon as she knows it… zoom zoom super fast! And I think she is really getting the idea of it here 🙂
On your tunnel turn verbals – she is better turning to her right on the tunnel exit here. It might be that she is better at turning to her right, or there is no wing straight ahead, or both. On the left turn tunnel exits, if you were late (like at :26 or 1:23), she was wide. When you told her before she went into the tunnel, she had really nice left turn like at :56 – so keep telling her before she goes into the tunnel.
The rest of it looked great – she is getting really good at finding her line on those little racetracks after the left & right turn tunnel exits! Strong connection from you, plus she is looking for the wings, so she was fast AND did not jump up at all.
Great job!!! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
Thanks for posting these! I think this was mainly her learning how to work through distractions (and not a handling error) – whenever she had to go towards the fence to get into the tunnel, you can see her lifting her head to look into the distance. When she turned away from the fence, she got the tunnel perfectly. So, when you see that happening, you can break things down into little tricks in front of the distraction, or wing wraps, and even letting her go explore for a minute so she could check it out 🙂 It is a good thing to work through an will be useful as she gets into busier situations.
Tracy
