Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Good morning!
>>I would like to move outside but the temperature dropped back down today and I just didn’t have it in me.>>
I feel this 1000% LOL!!!! I prefer heat over cold, to say the least 🙂
She is doing really well with her bang game here! SHe is a girlie who likes a job to do, and the end position is a clear job!
Adding tip went really well and she was doing a beuatiful job driving into end position. Good girl! She did her best reps (in terms of being explosive and getting into position right on the end of the board) when you got her a little wild and started her close to the end. I love it! Any time you can grab a teeter in a new place – play this game 🙂 You can have less tip in new places but defintely work this because she seems to really like the concept of ‘go do this end position job’.>> When I was editing, I realized this was probably more reps than I should have done with this game. >>
Maybe, it never hurts to take a less-is-more approach, but also I didn’t see her get worried or turn off at any point. She seemed to be all like ” GIMME MORE END POSITION”, getting stronger as the session went on, and was also offering it before you were ready LOL! If she has a mat or something, you can have her wait for you – I love that she is being pushy for work on the teeter but you can convince her to wait and that will increase her excitement for it even more.
>>She also definitely has a stronger side getting on the teeter. She seems to struggle more getting on when the teeter is on her right.>>
Yes, I noticed that too – you can add in the excitement more on that side too, and I think it will balance out. It was a little noticeable but not glaring or worrisome.
>> I’m guessing I should probably work this outside and with a toy as well…
Yes 😉 But also, your reinforcement can come out of position as well – she hits a great target position – release and throw the reward (like what you did at :37). You will have to be a master of criteria to be sure she is totally hitting and holding the position, but she will like the release and reward chase. Start it with food and then see if she can do it with a toy (which might be more stimulating). I also do mix in placement of reinforcement in position so I don’t lose the precision of the behavior, but the release off the board to get the reward really helps pump up the love for the game 🙂
Great job!!!! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi there! Welcome back, looks like you had a great weekend in Tulsa! Congrats!!!!!
This session went well, he seemed way happy to be play 2x2s for the toy 🙂He came in with a full head of steam on the first rep and had to catch himself to bend – that seemed like the hardest part of the left side sends when you also had quick movement and lots of excitement (he was on the easier sends like 11 and 10.) See below for an idea with helping him get those bends more smoothly.
And seemed fine on the right sides with excitement – something about having to bend around that first pole was really easy for him and he did well! Good boy!I don’t think he was losing interest or too hot on the last part of the video, I think he had question based on the rep at 1:01 – he hit the entry correctly but you said ‘oops sorry’, no reward, so then he tried the other entry and was a little confused. I am not sure why he didn’t get the reward at 1:01, perhaps because he jumped at your hand on the send? If so (or if not, either way :)) – you can line up and reset more cleanly for each rep. Reward for him coming back to your side, line up, take a breath, send. Things were happening all at once on the sends so I think he was not entirely sure if he should be reaching for the toy or going to the poles.
That will also help the left side sends where the bending is harder for him: you can have him reset next to you, get him excited… and then send. That way you can get him pumped up and send without motion to get the bending going, and also you can layer in ‘fake’ motion (I pump my arms really fast – dorky but effective haha) to help the dogs bend even when things are really exciting with movement 🙂
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! Sounds like you had a great time in Tulsa, congrats on your successes!!
Uphills:
Good boy on that first rep!!! Total drive to the end and weight shift and offering the end position (I think that is his end position :)) And I am very happy to see that he did it several more times… not sure how much time was in between reps. but you can totally do just one – then let him watch one of the other dogs do something – then do another rep. So it is like a series of mini one hit wonders for high value, with the stimulation of having to watch his brother have a party 🙂 They were all good reps and some of them were what I would consider GREAT reps. Really happy!Weight shift:
I am laughing because you and I both said “GOOD BOY!” on this video at the same time LOL!!! He looked pretty darned confident running up that bouncy board, shifting the weight a little, eating the cheese. And double gold star for offering the end behavior after he got the cheese. I mean, if he was worried or hating it, he would not be trying to get back on or staying up there in the hopes of getting more magical squeeze cheese.So – I am really liking his confidence. He seems like a dog that wears his heart on his sleeve, so he was super good on both of these videos. Now we can move forward: because these games are looking good, I want to shift gears with him and look at his end position games – the bang game for sure, and the when he is rocking that: the elevator game and rebound game. The elevator and rebound games are critical weight shift games but we can’t do them til he is loving his bang game. So on your next session… grab a video of where he is on the bang games and we will make a plan to add in the others.
Great job!!!!!! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
A couple of ideas for you on the 2x2s –
I think you had the setup was reversed – on the video, poles 1 and 2 were open and 3 and 4 were closed – flip it so that poles 1 and 2 are more closed and poles 3 and 4 are the wide open ones. That will help him recognize the entries on 1 and 2 hat he has already worked and then gradually add the newer “stay in” concept on poles 3 and 4.>> One issue I had with the poles far apart was that when we did an entry at 3 o’clock he would weave the first set as a single 2×2 heading towards 9 o’clock. Since that’s not technically wrong I wasn’t sure what to do with that.>>
With dogs that have some previous weave experience, we sometimes see that (like he did at :42) – but because you had already established the reward line and poles 3 and 4 were out there… it is not correct for him to offer that, so treat it like a miss – call back, reset, try again. And make the angle easier if he misses again.
Getting the poles tighter had probably more misses than we want, plus he was not driving in and striding through when they were very tight. So for now, do a session where poles 1 and 2 are at 1&7, and poles 3 and 4 are at 3&9. That can get the striding on poles 1 and 2, then we can gradually add the angles of poles 3 and 4 til they match the 1&7 angles – we should really see the striding there. That might take 2 or 3 short sessions – then when he is successful with both sets at 1&7, you can go to the next step: poles 1 and 2 are straight and, briefly, poles 3 and 4 get wide open again (3&9).
Speaking of striding: how tall is he? About 19″? He can’t decide if he wants to bounce or swim here, so either he will sort out the striding on the 2x2s or we will use the channel approach to help him out – we will know within a couple of sessions 🙂 My 20.5″ dog and my 21″ tall dog both swim the poles, which is appropriate for their size and structure… and both had to learn the proper striding on channels not 2x2s 🙂 More on striding coming on Monday.
Looking at your channels – he did well for an intro session on something that looks sooooooo weird LOL!!! To help him out with the channel concept, the next step is to angle them all to 2&8 and that should help eliminate the weaving poles 1-3-5. Plus, your earlier clicks helped! Feel free to keep clicking early. You can also move MM a little further out and then keep working through the challenges but not the rear crosses yet – that was too hard for him as he was sorting the channel out – but also revealing that he is cueing off body language for get in and stay in! We will keep that in mind and I think the channels will be super useful for the whole “get in and stay in no matter what crazy thing da momma is doing” 🙂 So for now, give him another session or two of more sending and running parallel will help teach him the channels concept, then we can get nutty with the handling challenges 🙂
And since he is a frizzer lover, you will be able to build in frizzer throws too 🙂
Great job!!! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
Your noises as she ate the first reward made me laugh so hard!
She gives this uphill game with cheese on the target a definite 11/10 on the rating scale, highly recommend LOL! Add a little more tip 🙂Same with the downhills, behold the power of cheeses! You could have been asking her to jump through a flaming hoop and she would have been happy to do it. So… add a little more tip 🙂
One thing I like on both of these games is that she is running forward up the board and shifting her late at the very end. That bodes well for a super fast teeter!!
How is your end position coming along (with the bang game) – she is close to the downhill board going to the ground, so if you focus on the bang game end position (and elevator game) then we can merge the two together pretty quickly!!
Great job here with your teeter fiend!!!
Tracy
Good morning! Holy cow, that story about the coyote is crazy! I prefer the coyotes stay far, far awa!
Super fun to see this session. She did really well with the food reward, but the introduction of the squirrel toy was *life changing* LOL!
She did really well on the various angles – not perfect but pretty darned close to perfect. I think you can do a session where you introduce a new concept (like crazy angles of entry, or harder angles of poles) using food – and then if she is fine with that, you can go to the squirrel to introduce excitement into the game 🙂 She did clip the poles on the 2nd to last rep but rather than open the poles, I would leave them at that angle and just throw a little later. You were priming the throw as she was in the poles so as you arm was moving, she was starting to cue off of that and run faster. So you can delay the toy throw til she is past the 2nd base – and to keep her looking straight, put a little target out there like a big cone or wing. I think at she will continue to look forward anticipating the toy throw, so it will be an easy transition for her.One small detail – on the sends where you are running, try not to run towards the poles at all (unless it is an entry from the 12 o’clock area). Send and stay laterally away like you did at :09 or move away laterally away – the poles have a gravitational pull that sucks us towards them, so try to keep a big distance away unless you are doing a rear cross, so she gets used to doing them very independently without you needing to go close to them.
Great job here! Based on how she is feeling, you can do a couple of sessions with the poles at this angles adding more spots around the clock and some rear crosses. She is doing a great job!
TracyGood morning!
>>These were filmed two different days (even though I wore the same thing lol)>>
Ha! I do that – throw on the old muddy clothes to go train before taking a shower and putting on clean soon-to-be muddy clothes. It probably looks like either I wear the same thing every day or I train for 24 hours straight LOL!
On your wobble board video – yes, the MM is really helping him plus it is a good self-control game.
Question – were you using a target cue (verbal) or just a physical cue? I heard a target cue sometimes but not on all of the reps – so rather than let him offer, you can call him back to you, reward, reset… then give a very distinct cue. That will help clarify the cue (which will be helpful for the other games) and also that reset will allow you to add speed and excitement into it. You can add the wing before it too, so he wraps the wing and then you move forward with the target cue.You did an AWESOME job of not letting your feet be next to his target position. Click/treat for you! On the next session, as your motion past the board – walking at first for now, then ramp it up to joggin and eventually running. We will use all of that in the end position games on the teeter 🙂
Yay for the mountain climbers in a new place with new distractions (thanks, hubby!) It was a smart training move to have the distractions be the only new variable and NOT add tip. He was great – seemed basically the same as in the previous location – thoughtful but fast and happy. And no problems with the crosses or running past the end of the board. So since the teeter will probably live in that spot for a little while, you can add in a little more tip and also work the end position games there.
Great job!!
Let me know what you think!
TracyHi!
Our agility-u.com website pulls profile images from a popular profile image service called Gravatar. In order to change your profile image displayed on our site, you can create an account at Gravatar.com using the same email address that you use on agility-u.com. Then follow these instructions to upload your profile photo over on Gravatar:https://en.gravatar.com/support/activating-your-account/
Have fun!
TracyHi!
I agree, working both tracks has actually sped up the learning and the dogs are doing a great job of transferring the knowledge! He is doing a great job here!Well done on adding more poles and angles, it seemed like he really had very few questions and it was a smooth transition into the next steps. Nice!!!!
Both videos were really strong as you moved through the progression.
Only one tweak, for both videos: after he gets the reward at the MM, call him back, reward, and hold the reset before the send for one heartbeat longer so you can line him up and do a clean send as you add motion – it was all happening so quickly that he sometimes was watching you or not driving straight into the poles or didn’t have a chance to focus on the line. On the first video, you were sending him right back into the poles and so he had some spins and questions on the line.In the 2nd video, you seemed to have cleaner transitions and a lot of the reps and it looked really good on those reps (plus you were able to add harder entries, plan the handling, etc so it was all smoother). When you were sending as soon as he got back to you had a higher rate of error – so that extra heartbeat or line up, take a breath, then send made a big difference!
You had some really good moments of moving immediately here! Yay! Keep adding those in to help him be super independent in finding the entry even as you are moving 🙂
Great job!!!! I think if he is highly successful with the poles set the way they were in the 2nd video for one more session, then you can tighten them up even more for the session after that. Yay!
TracyHi! Really nice sessions here! And also, good boy Cowboy for not being distracted the loud noises!! He looked up and then returned to focus – nice 🙂
The sessions are looking strong. 2 little details: try to have him come back, get a oline up cookie, reset… then send. There was times where he was self-sending a bit as you were turning your shoulders. I think if you have him wait at your side (getting rewarded of course :)) You will be able to do set up different challenges like moving away, changing sides, harder angles and then send him into it. And also, when you are cuing the poles, don’t wait til he is in the entry to start to move: getting move as soon as he starts to move towards the poles. That adds a whole ‘nother level of challenge to the motion, and also teaches him to hit and hold that entry even if you are moving the whole time (which is likely what will be happening on course :)) You might have to start that at the top of the clock to introduce it at the easier angles for a session or two before going to the harder angles, and that perfectly fine 🙂
I see what you mean about that 3 o’clock angle being harder – it seems to be the hardest one for all of the dogs! Two ideas for you: isolate it on just 2 straight poles (or slightly opened poles) and work that angle, starting nice and close and dropping the reward in very close to it. When he can do it with the 2 poles, go back to the 4 poles – also starting nice an close, and also dropping the reward in nice and close which means the rewar dfor that entry will land between the 2 bases (between poles 2 and 3). I did that for a bit with one of my dogs and it totally helped her (I didn’t videotape and now I regret that lazy moment – wish I had it on tape!!)
The other thing you can do it work the successful angles as you had them here – and when you do the 3 o’clock angle, open up poles 1 and 2 to an easier angle for now. I have found that the different angles progress at different rates – and the 3 o’clock will catch up if we isolate it and keep is easy for now 🙂
Great job! Let me know what you think!
TracyHi! I think this is in the wrong forum, the joys of being in 3 classes LOL! No worries! She looks good here!!! On the wing wrap, do a front cross (some were post turns) and just like on the pre-game make a big connection to her eyes as she exits the wing. Her commitment is beautiful to the wing and the jump! But note how she was drifting a bit on the wing wrap exit, a bit wide – and since one of your long term goals is tighter turns, the connection is hugely helpful for that. The camera angle here was so perfect – we can basically see what she sees! We didn’t really see your eyes, and that is the source of wideness for a lot of dogs. So to help convince her to go tight tight tight around that wing, start a little closer to it, and as you run forward, make a big connection to her eyes (almost glaring at her, but keep running LOL!). That clarity of line will help her tighten up really nicely 🙂
Great job on the toy throws! She was straight and lovely on the jump here.
When you are more comfy with the connection on the wrap exit, you can add in more distance between the wing and the jump 🙂
Lovely work!
TracyHi!
yes, that second set is very tempting 🙂 You did move down the line a bit too soon but then you went back and he then was figuring it out. On the first sessions with poles 3 and 4, you can stay more on the top of the clock (10-11-12-1-2) until he can find the entries with you sending and you moving… then you can do another session where you add in the bottom of the clock (8-9-10 and 2-3-4) with you sending and moving. That will help him find that entry and ignore poles 3 and 4 🙂 When you have that (probably within 2 sessions) it becomes smooth sailing to tighten them up, but you can also do a top-of-the-clock session first then add the harder entries later (you don’t need to do all the entries in one session).
Nice work here!!!! I am excited to see these poles get tighter and tighter!
TracyGood morning!
I love your number cones! You are going to laugh… your clock is a little flipped – If the PT is at 6 o’clock, and your 12 is where you had it here, then flip the 3 to next to the fireplace and the 9 next to the couch. Then it will be perfect! You mentioned it feeling weird so that might be why. And then when he is on your right, you will be starting on the fireplace side and when he is on your left, you will be on the couch side. He did well finding the entries here on the first video (yay!) – they were threadle side entries, so flipping the 3 and 9 will help you also do the send side entries.
Nice set up with poles 3 and 4 there on the second video! I think he was missing poles 1 and 2 because there was not a lot of room – at :27 he got it nicely and then did well after it!! Because you are indoors and he is small, you can have your two bases closer together for now (you are being a good student and starting them further away, but now you can move them together to get the entries more easily, especially on the fireplace side of things – be sure he wraps around the first pole rather than go between the 2 poles. At about 1:59 he did wrap that first pole and you didn’t reward it, but then you were rewarding going through (incorrect entry). So on the fireplace side, he is correct to go out around pole 1 and make the entry. On the couch side, he goes through the 2 poles.
Nice work here!!! Let me know if that makes sense!!!
TracyHi! I understand the whole ‘getting slammed’ thing! Glad you got these posted, he is doing well!!!
On the first video – easy peasy, right? He found all of the angles no problem. After he gets the MM cookie, call him back to you around the poles so he doesn’t always try to come back through them (I don’t mind if the dog does that sometimes, but he thought it was part of the game and that will actually put too much value on the poles LOL!)
2nd video, adding motion – he was totally ready for that. You can present higher value reward when you want him to come back – he was looking for obstacles so you can add more value for driving-to-handler by having a toy or really good treat on you. He was fine with the motion, and Lisa was coaching really well to, to help move sooner and not towards the poles :). I put a leash on the ground sometimes to help me start straight 🙂
3rd video – I think the poles angled but the MM moved too? So the angle was a little different but not that much different. You can leave the MM in the same spot for all the reps, and the poles will move.
he found the entries here really nicely too! This was the left side angle (Lisa was good about reminding you to move after each rep) and the next video was right side angles – also really good! He is doing a really great job about finding the entries. On right side video, I think you were doing the best job so far of calling him back to you, lining him up, then sending on cue. He had a tiny bit of trouble on the 4 o’clock angle but you worked through it. Yay! It is normal that one angle is hard 🙂
So overall, he is doing AWESOME 🙂 Start to add more motion, as I think motion will be harder for him. And if he is fine with the motion, you can do more angle on that first base.
Do you have access to channels? Those are super useful for adding motion too!
Great job here!!!
TracyHi! Yes, that sums up the progression – as one variable gets harder, the other one goes back into an easier position for a bit so the dog only has to process one new variable. I have found it to make things happen faster than how I used to train 2x2s (where all variables got harder, all the time, and my dogs failed more). And while it might seem like it takes longer, I actually got to straight up poles in fewer sessions than with previous critters 🙂
On your session – this is going well! You were able to move through the variables pretty quickly while maintaining a really high level of success and excitement. He had an oopsie of distraction, I think? But was otherwise perfect. And Nemo was a great addition. You can try it without the PT entirely and only Nemo and see how he does!
You are officially in ‘onwards’ mode here – start the next session where you left off here, and if he starts off with no problem…. add angle to one of the variables 🙂 (probably second set a little tighter to 1&7) You’ll be seeing real weaving at this point, which is good news (yay! Weaving!) and bad news (yay, weaving, so fewer sessions because it is much harder on the body). As soon as I got real weaving (even before the poles were closed), I went down to 3 sessions a week for the dogs, to save their bodies from over-work. That is the good news/bad news of excellent progress 🙂 But you can do other stuff with the open ‘channels’ because there is no real weaving there yet.
Great job!!!
Tracy
