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Hi!
Good job adding in moving immediately rather than waiting for him to enter! That is exactly what I meant 🙂 That is going to make a big difference for him. We can get him more successful by looking a the variables (this will also help other things that he might have trouble with in terms of adding motion):
One important thing to remember as you add the parallel/forward motion is to only add or change one variable at a time. On this video, you changed two: tighter weaves and different (earlier) motion. So since motion is the focus, open the weave back up to where there were more successful, then do a couple of sessions with the motion. When he can do a couple of sessions with the parallel/forward
motion added and various angles – then you keep all the motion the same and change the angle of one of the bases. It might seem like it will take longer to work through the progression by changing one variable at a time, but it will actually be faster because there will be fewer questions from him 🙂 And you can focus in on the hard motion – he is doing really well on the countermotion and rear crosses, so you don’t have to work those as much right now. The forward running is probably more stimulating, which makes the weaving harder – and that is the thing he is most likely going to see on course, so that is a good one to focus on 🙂Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
The angles were good here, you were sending from all the correct spots! Yay! On the left side sends, he did better on the harder angle (9 o’clock and 8 o’clock) when you lined him up and your feet were pointing at the entry.
On the right side (fireplace sends) you were looking to mark the correct behavior and he did go to the other side, but then he didn’t know to come back in (that side has gotten a little confused). So two things to do there – when he is on your right side, open the poles up to 2&8 to make them very easy – and rather than click the PT, you can drop a treat in right between poles 2 and 3 when he gets it right for a couple of reps. Then after that, do a couple of reps where you do click the PT. After that – I bet you can angle the poles back to 1&7 and then in another session or 2, and then straight.On the left side sends, you can continue with poles 1 and 2 being straight. For both sides, leaves poles 3 and 4 a little open for now. I don’t want to close up the 2nd base until he is really comfy with the first base 🙂
Let me know if that makes sense for the next session!
TracyI have a little game coming for this specific issue (toy in hand) – a bunch of the dogs need more clarification 🙂
T
Hi there! Lots of good stuff here, she is doing really well!
Starting with the set point games:
Set point 1 – great job with the stay rewards! She has a really nice stay! She was not entirely sure about the cookie target, but she will get better and better with driving to it the more she sees it.
About the setup, a couple of ideas to help her find the striding – you have the jumps reversed – the jump with the bump should be #1 and the wings with the bar should be #2. That will elicit more of the jumping and less of the running.
2 other things – move the jumps a little closer together (I think the distance you used at the end should be fine, but you can also try starting them even closer to see hat she does) and move the cookie target further – that way she can stretch her stride more – she is slowing down a little to get to the cookie target, so having it another 10 feet away will help her land then run in extension to it.Set point 2
this was the right order of bump then jump, and she immediately bounced it on the first rep. YAY!!! she was not quite as sure on the 2nd rep but I think the reward being further away will help. And be sure you are practicing the hind end awareness stuff like backing up and perch work so that she remembers how to use her back end.Wrap proofing is going really nicely – she has lovely drive to the tunnel, but then also balanced easily and did the wraps. Yay! She had an error on the wrap right at the beginning, but I think that was just that you were too far from the wing: start closer to the wing so she doesn’t cut you off to go into the tunnel
She is really good at finding the tunnel, there is some real love there 🙂 And she was a really good girl finding the wrap with the dig cue! Good job alternating between the 2 different behaviors, and also well done fading the body cues so she was working off verbals too. Yay! You can definitely move to the advanced level of this.On the Smiley face games – she is showing really nice commitment for a baby dog!! Wow! I don’t think the toy was the distraction… when you connected, she was perfect even with the toy there. But when you disconnected…. she came off the line. She wasn’t being naughty about the toy, she just didn’t know where to go, or if the toy was in play. Here are specifics:
Smiley 1 – nice job with connection and turns and verbals on that first run! She nailed it and the toy was not an issue. On the 2nd run – you can run more and connect more, point less 🙂 At 1:02 she came off the line, it was a disconnection moment and not a toy-grabbing moment. Baby dogs can’t save us when we disconnect like adult dogs can LOL!
Smiley 2 video: This also looks good – she had a question at :19. You disconnected, she didn’t know where to go, and you thought it was the toy being a distraction (it wasn’t, it was a disconnection thing) and she got a little mad at you LOL!!! So the coming off the line and the jumping up had nothing to do with the toy, it was more about the connection and a little bit of frustration. So – be SUPER connected. And for now, have the toy in your hand so she shows you when you are connected and when you are not 🙂
The toy-in-hand thing is coming up with a lot of the pups, so I will be making a video to give you all some ideas on how to have the toy in your hand and still be able to train and run 🙂
Great job here!
TracyHellooooo and welcome! Can’t wait to see more of Cabo in action!!!! And I get to see him this weekend, YAY!!
Hi!
Perfect to use the prop for the seminar – the end use is different but the shaping session here will be very useful!!!I think we are on to something here. He had a little trouble offering behavior while moving off the toy… and a lot of trouble doing it when cookies were in the picture LOL!!! That would explain why he would have questions in other scenarios, when the behavior basically required him to *not* watch the food or toys.
You get him to leave you to do something and not watch you or the toy or the food, you can click sooner. You don’t need to wait til he has arrived at the target because he can hit the thing and look at you 🙂 So you can totally click that first step towards it (and reward back at you with the reward cue) and then change the timing of the click so he moves closer to the thing. Or, you can click that first step and toss the reward out to the thing so it lands there before he looks at you (or at the toy or cookie), using a cue that is distinct from the ‘come get it from my hand cue’.
I think defining the words will help this be even cleaner. The clicker can mark the engagement with the board, so you don’t need anything else for that – the next verbal can be the cue for how/where to get the reinforcement. You used ‘yes’, so what exactly does the yes mean? Define it really clearly, such as “come get the cookie from my hand” or “tug on the toy in my hand”. If it is a marker for the paw touch, that is fine, but we need something else then for the toy or treat in hand. And if it means “come get the treat in my hand” then we don’t want it to also mean “get the treat that I have tossed”. I personally don’t have a zillion different words – just a handful will help.
This is coming up with a lot of the dogs here, now that we are getting into more elaborate behaviors and sequences of behaviors, so I am going to get a video of it today and will post. But as an example, I am training weaves with my ‘older’ pups now and weaves absolutely requires them to NOT look at me and also they need to know the reinforcement parameters: what, where, how, etc.
So this is how it goes: the MM is out ahead past pole 12. I send the dog into the weaves. When his left shoulder passes pole 3, I click the MM (and then praise, because we are human and all). After he gets his treats, I say “ice cream” and he runs back to me to get a treat in my hand, and I use that treat delivery moment to also line him up for the next send into the poles (lather, rinse, repeat LOL!)
The MM click is the cue to go get the MM treats. On the reps where I want to throw a toy, I don’t click the MM – I can use a regular clicker then say get it (or just say ‘get it’) and throw the toy for him to chase (then ice cream to come back for a cookie, or c’mere for come back for a toy).
So it is wild and fun but also highly systematic and as ‘clean’ in the transitions as I can get it. And so the dogs don’t look at me and they all leave me in the dust.
I will try to get a variety of options on the video for all of us to obsess on 🙂
>>I realize that I totally failed with keeping my tone of voice the same>>
Depending on what the verbal means, it will only matter in some cases and generally you can be happy in tone 🙂
,>> I am a lot more dynamic with my verbal praise when working with the toy than with the food.
Possibly because it is linked to having more interaction and movement?
>>>Also, I am probably muddying the verbal marker and the verbal praise. Need to work on this.>>
Yes – that is where we can clean up the mechanics 🙂 He offers, you click, you indicate the reinforcement (get it! or something) then you can be wild with praise as you also line him up for the next rep (placement of reward can often also be used as a line up for the next rep, or you add in another reward to help line up for the next one) so it all gets pretty seamless 🙂
Let me know what you think and stay tuned for videos 🙂
TracyGood morning!
He did really well here, offering the behavior as the target got smaller and disappeared. If possible, move this board to as many different locations as you can, to help generalize the behavior of targeting without the target. In each new place, start with the smaller target, see how he does (different environments really change things) and then fade it. And before you fade it entirely – add in running past the end as well as sending him ahead of you with you standing still behind him. Those 2 challenges will be useful in the ring on the teeter, so we definitely want him to love targeting even as the target disappears 🙂Great job!!! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning! He seemed really confident driving across the board, both with the higher table and the 16″ table! Very cool! I am glad to see he had no real concerns about movement or noise. Yay!!!!
2 suggestions to help him out and also so yo ucan add in the crosses:
On your next session, rather than having him leap onto the first table, start him from a standstill on the table. That will allow you to change your position before you release him to run across, and also you can start next to him and jazz him up a bit too (or send him without your motion).
Also, the leaping on requires him to weight shift back on the table/beginning of the teeter and then he would have to weight shift again at the end of it, so he was trying to sort out how to make that happen and still go fast. By starting on the table, he doesn’t have to weight shift at the beginning – he can just drive across it and weight shift at the end (which is in keeping with what he will do on the full teeter)The other little detail is to have the rewards pre-placed at the end of the board on the table – you can leave cookies on a target in a spot that encourages 2o2o if that is his future end position (but doesn’t ask for him to make the decision, he just runs across the board and eats :)) Load the target for each rep, so he has a focal point to drive to – this will allow you to add in all the handling challenges while maintaining his drive across the board. And, the loaded target also helps him shift his weight back and stop, and the more we get him used to that, the easier it will be to add the end position in later on.
I don’t ask for the end position with the target on the table, for a couple of reasons: this game is all about just driving across the board, so we don’t want him also thinking about having to choose end position while you are doing all the crazy handling 🙂
And, the teeter meeting the ground is part of what cues the end position, not the table – so we don’t add it til the table is faded out.Let me know if that makes sense! He seems really confident so I bet you will be able to add more tip very quickly 🙂
Tracy
>> For a 2o2o are we looking for leap all 4 on to the edge and then move to 2o2o? Or leap on straight to 2o2o?>>
As the board gets higher, he will leap all 4 feet onto the board and then move into 2o2o – we don’t want to encourage him to put his front feet in the air because that is considered a fault in USDAA (it is a flyoff if his front feet hit the ground before the board does, and there are plenty of $*&%#*& judges who will call that even if the front feet land on the ground at the same time as the back feet). And it freaks out some AKC judges LOL!! So, I no longer encourage leaping on with front feet off the board.
T
Hi! He did really well here!!
Stark and I had the same question on the first rep – where is the target? LOL!!! He still needs it for now and that is perfectly fine 🙂 The drive down the board looked good!
One thing about the rebound game – make it a one and done rep, and don’t do it on every rep. I don’t want him to think that the end of the board is always going to do that a few times before he gets released, because he will slow down and not be as comfortable. So add it in sporadically – one little lift then release, and only once every now and then.
>>Should I raise it some now for the bang game? And down hill track?>>
Not yet…. soon, but not yet. Let it sit here for a couple more sessions, and incorporate more driving past, crosses and sending ahead so your feet are anywhere except near the target and so you keep moving after he gets to position. And also mix in more quick releases for the toy (no food on those reps, just the toy 🙂 but be sure to maintain criteria :))
Great job here!!!
TracyHi!
He is doing really well here!!!
The bang game looks really good! A suggestion about mechanics, so he doesn’t start without you 🙂
use your break release then get it with the cookie toss – then use a line up cookie to reset him for the next rep (he will recognize that from the weave training). He was starting without you a lot LOL! And we don’t want to tell him he is wrong but you need a moment to be ready on this game 🙂 The line up cookie will buy you time to reset and be ready, without having to tell him to get off the board or not to start without you 🙂 You started doing a bit of this reset when he was on your left side and I think it made the session smoother.
On your side at the beginning, he was nice and precise with the end behavior. As you change sides and add more excitement – maintain that precision, even if you need to wait an extra moment to let him remember where to put his feets 🙂 That way you won’t accidentally reward for 4 on or 3 on 1 off 🙂 And same for when you are adding motion, just layer the motion in gradually so he can maintain the precision on the end position.The Downhills are also looking good! The cheese makes it extra yummy LOL!
>>. I don’t have a lot more left to lower until we’re on the ground. I’m assuming at this point we don’t want it on the ground since we’re working on the downhill motion minus the end behavior, but let me know if I’m wrong on this.>>
Correct, we want the end behavior to be ready when he is getting the board to the ground – he is very close to being able to put it together!
You can do another squeeze cheese session at this level of tip (he was very happy about the cheese but not quite as fast as I think he can go). Then when he is flying down the board, you can maybe find a low stool or something, so there is one more increment of drop before we add in the end position. I think with one more session on the bang game and one more on the downhills, we can probably put the two games together after that unless he tells us otherwise 🙂
Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! He is doing really well here – confident getting into position and the scratch scratch behavior is increasing 🙂 Yay! You can add more motion moving away when you cue him to get into position – you had some really good reps with this, he didn’t seem distracted at all. Try to keep moving for at least 2 more steps after you are sure he has chosen to stop in position, so you don’t get into a rhythm of stopped as he stops.
He definitely was more excited about the start of the breakfast session than the start of the after dinner session, but then it evened out and he was great in both.>>What exactly am I looking for in watching for his using his hind end more. Is it just more of a jump in to position?
This brings us into the next steps, where I think you will see it more easily. He was pretty much doing it here, but you were ahead and the board was low so it was easy – we are looking for him to leap into the board in as close to one movement as possible. AS the board gets higher, he will be landing on the board with front and back feet almost simultaneously, rather than getting front feet on, pushing the board down, then stepping back feet on. He totally had the beginning of the leap-into-position here, I think it was not more obvious because the height of the board didn’t require more leap LOL! So… add a bit more to the tip and we will build in more challenge 🙂
>> I’m having a hard time getting him close enough to the board that he doens’t put a front paw on the board as he gets in to postion.>>
I noticed that as he was lining up, he was focusing ahead and wanting to get on the board… all good news! And since we don’t want to dampen than or fidget with it him too much: You can use a line up cookie
to line him up: after the release and you toss the cookie ahead, have him drive to your side with a cookie in your hand next to your leg – then use that magic cookie hand to let him follow the treat and as he is doing that, turn him to face the position and follow the treat until he is close to the board – then he can eat the treat as you get ready for the next rep. You might need to finagle with which hand delivers the treat 0 maybe opposite hand is the one that delivers it so dog-side arm can do the collar hold for the next rep? You’ll get that rhythm going and it will feel seamless at that point 🙂 Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! Great minds think alike! LOL!
This elevator game session went really well! You were really working the mechanics and that is the most critical element. She seemed happy to do it, which is not a surprise because she has been pretty darned fearless with all of this so far!!! On the first side, it looks like your mechanics were opposite arm holds the board and dogside arm feeds. When you switched side, the more successful reps mirrored this – and the reps where she curled in/fell off a bit had your dogside arm holding the board and opposite arm feeding. So I think the opposite arm holding the board and dogside hand feeding is the way to go.
She only had a little bit of patience for the countdown, so your hand on her back was helping (you can also gently hold her collar). She was doing a great job focusing on the task and going directly to target position when you cued it. YAY!!!So let’s strategixe/prioritize:
>The uphill is getting pretty close to parallel to the ground; do I lower it past parallel?
Nope – the uphill game can go into maintenance mode for the next while – just revisit it here and there for a bit, no changes in tip. We leave it alone for a bit and bring it back in the last couple of weeks (late April).
For now – play the elevator game at home and in the barn. Work on adding challenge to the bang game (but in different sessions than the elevator game) and separately… fading the target on a plank. Lots of end position emphasis! And you can work the downhills to the end position.
Great job here! Let me know if that makes sense!
TracyGood morning! What a good boy here!!! First off – triple gold star for such focus on the task while there was obvious activity AND someone with a dog entering the ring and sitting right behind him. GOOD BOY!!!!!
He did really well on the weave session – keep adding motion 🙂 He only had one question – the rear cross – where you clicked the MM and he curled back to you. If that happens, send him to the MM anyway to remind him of the line of the poles. For those rears, you can move the MM in closer so it is more obvious (I don’t think he needs it closer for the other challenges, though).
Thinking about rewards – he is VERY much like his sister and even more so he is like Contraband – the MM is nice and all, but a bit of a yawner. Hot Sauce will rip her live beating heart out of her chest to get to the MM so I get plenty of speed with it. Elektra, CB & Stark go to it, but not with as much passion as they do with the toy. In some of the MM videos, I swear that Elektra was on a casual stroll and updating her facebook status at a gentle trot lol!!
So – because he has been really successful thinking through the puzzle of how to do the 2x2s here, let’s move him to a toy reward (his sister and his pointy cousin are both on toys for the weaves now). Leaving the poles at these angles (because the toy will produce more speed excitement, so he has to make sure he can still do them properly when he is faster) and leaving the MM out ahead as a visual target for now: throw the reward when he has his right shoulder at pole 2. You can then have him bring it back, trade for a treat or another toy, reset, send again, throw toy. I think he will like this MUCHLY.
With the toy, you don’t get as many reps it because it takes longer – but I think the end result will be pretty awesome, especially in the next week as the poles start to tighten.Let me know if that makes sense! Great job here!!
TracyGood morning!
Really nice session here!!
Yay for the collar grabs! I think the routine of middle/collar grab/weave/reward was REALLY helpful because he had a really clear understanding of the what/when/how of the reinforcement – and I think he really thrives when that is clear. That was my favorite part of this video: how you set up the session to get a ton of success but also challenge him enough that he wasn’t perfect… He had a little trouble with a couple of the left side entries at the 9 o’clock area, but he didn’t lose his focus or anything – just came back and tried again. Very cool! No frustration with the error, just “ok. thanks for letting me know, let’s try it again.” YAY!!!The motion you added didn’t seem to bother him or distract him, so keep adding motion!
Planning for the next session(s):
>>Do I need to go more around the clock before I move the poles?>>
Yes, I would get the harder entries more solid (6-7-8-9 and 3-4-5-6) and add more motion before you change the variable of the angles of the poles. The other thing I suggest for him is while the poles are in this position, do a couple of frizzer sessions 🙂 Let’s look at how (or even if) more arousal changes the behavior, plus it will help him use his body when he is moving faster (because I think the frisbee will elicit more speed :))
Then, when he has a couple more sessions of various angles and motion, plus more arousal… then the next variable would be angling the 2nd base to 2&8.
>>At this point is it okay to alternate weaves where I do channels one day and then 2x2s the next – or do you think I should have a day off in between? When he does weaves it’s usually only one session a day and he usually has one night off a week (maybe two) when we have nosework.>>
Yes, for now – because he is running more than he is weaving. He is bending into the entry a little but there is no other repetitive-action weaving or bending. But… the days of training weaves daily will come to an end soon as we tighten the angles 🙂 Stay tuned for me bugging everyone about that in the games I will post on Monday LOL!!! But for now, you are still OK to train channels and 2x2s on alternating days, with a night off here and there. My guess is that you probably have maybe a week before we have to slow down the training because he will actually be weaving 🙂
Great job!
Tracy
