Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Good morning!
Lots of good work here, she is doing so well! It is fun to see her being able to read the physical cues really well, but also process the verbals too. Nice balance!!!!
A couple of general ideas for you: add in more engagement with the toy before you start each session and each rep, rather than going directly into it. The engagement and toy play will get her pumped up, but will also help her want to bring the toy back better 🙂 If there is a long game before each rep, she is going to bring it back more. If we humans are too serious about the next rep or too quick to take the toy away to get into the next rep… the puppies stop bringing the toy back. My general rule of thumb is to play tug for longer than the rep takes. That also means that when you do the baby dog handling games, do shorter reps and more play breaks/reinforcement within them. That will keep the focus on play, form and mechanics rather than duration (because that is when things get less clean).
On the Pre-Game wrapping video, she is showing excellent commitment to the wing/barrel! This is a game where you can break it down more both to get the engagement in more before/during/after and also to keep the mechanics clean on your side – it was a 30 second session and the longer it went, the harder it was to maintain connection and give the verbals early, so she was drifting wider (and also had a question at :28 when you rotated too quickly). Try to keep these games to maybe 3 or 4 wraps, then reward and play, then do a couple more – so you can keep the mechanics super sharp which will translate into beautiful course work in the future.
Wind in your hair game:
>>I found the barrel to be handy, it housed a boat load of toys…>>
HA! I use my barrels for toy housing too LOL!
This is a good one for engaging before you start too, that will really help her be pumped up to drive way ahead 🙂 To help build the retrieve, you can use a 2nd toy to engage – so it is throw the reward, engage engage engage then transition back to the barrel while engaging. This helps build the retrieve because she will actually have the toy for longer and play more (work less, play more :))
Her commitment is super good! Yay! Nice connection in your handling and good job with the verbals!
>>This was the last game we worked on during this outing. At the end she decided she was done.>>
She seems like a mature girl with a fabulous work ethic, so it might be easy to forget how young she is – even though this session wasn’t long, there was a LOT of training here across all the games if it was all done in one day and she said it was too much. So, because she is so young, limit it and don’t try to do all the things in each session or each day – always quit while they still want to play with us, especially as the temperatures heat up: these baby dogs have never experienced warm weather (at least not the warm weather that is coming!) so they are going to need short sessions for now. Her skills look great, so you can just do a tiny bit then be done. If she looks like she wants to do more… then you have chosen the perfect ending spot LOL!
Smiley face – so fun!!!! Nice work here: good job with your arms down! Good job emphasizing connection! Yes, use your words 🙂 but I totally understand how easy it is to go silent when focusing on specific body cues. When the body cues feel easier, the words will flow 🙂 This is a good game engage with here before starting too, to make the play part of the process before/during/after 🙂 As you keep building this, add in more rewards at the wings (thrown for commitment or from your hand after a nice turn) not just after the tunnel, to maintain the balance – we all get into the habit of rewarding after the tunnels LOL! So remembering to reward for wings will keep the value really high and balanced with the tunnel value.
She was great with the proofing games! She is definitely good at processing verbals!
Proofing 1: good girl, she figured it out pretty quickly and didn’t need a lot of body language help!
Proofing 2 – other side – she generalized the wrap to the next side pretty quickly for the wrap, but needed aa little help with the tunnel 🙂 Then she nailed it.
You can start the cue before you let go of her so she has a heartbeat to process it before having to move (so she doesn’t have to move AND process the verbal all at the same time 🙂
Proofing 3 – you started the cue before you let go, and it was a lower energy wrap cue – nice!! And when you did that with the tunnel a bit later in the session (holding her til after you started the cue and the tunnel cue was HIGH energy), it really helped! And she did really well balancing the wrap with the tunnel. Nice! Super job with the proofing. She is ready for the advanced level, where you do tunnel then the wrap right after she exits the tunnel 🙂Great job here! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
So glad you had fun in the live class, you two looked great!He was SO FUNNY when he broke and then stopped himself hahaha! Good boy.
This was good to see, he is doing well sorting himself out! Watching the different distances… 5.5′ is currently my favorite, with 6 feet finishing a strong second 🙂 On those two distances, he was the most balanced and had the best landing spots over the jumps, which leads to better hind end use. When the distances got to 6.5 feet and 7 feet, he was not as balanced and was ‘short’ on landing for the 2nd one (close to the bump) which means he was reaching from the front and not pushing from the rear as much (which is probably what you meant by lunging). So, for now – stick with 5.5 feet as it produces the best form. And because he is so young, I am confident that at 8 or 9 months, you will also get the same form at 6 feet. We don’t need for this distance to go bigger than 6 feet – we build in other things that add longer strides while keeping this set point the same to be incorporating into other things 🙂 We can’t really do much with it at this age other than work form and balance and stays 🙂
Speaking of stays, his stays look good! One thing to add: rather than move him into the sit with the hand on his collar and hand on his butt, as him to line up at your side and sit, hands-free. When you put him into position at :14, he moved into the sit but it was more of a splayed sit than a tight sit. If he can sit himself, he will get practice choosing the tight sit with his feet/hips square and his weight balanced back. That leads to better push off for jumping. That tight sit might sound like a tiny detail, but the conditioning vets push us agility people to work it specifically, as it is actually a great strengthening tool! I work tight sits on small platforms all the time as part of the conditioning games.
One other thing, and this might make you chuckle: be less exciting for now on your lead out. Ha! You are SUPER fun, leaning in… but that causes him to lean forward too, shifting weight into his front and looking at you. Ideally, he remains square and upright in his stay and looks at the line. So for now, be the very epitome of dull 🙂 Lead out, toss the toy in position, stand up straight and be casual…. then release and remain casual. If Kipling needed work to get more motivated, we might have you be exciting – but since he is fully motivated and loves his toys, you can be on Team Chill for the jump grids (you can probably be exciting in the handling :))
Great job here! This is the kind of game to take out a couple of times a week and do a few reps, mixed in with other stuff. Have fun!
TracyGood morning!
Wow, the video looks fabulous! Great connection from you even though you said it was not great at first, she said it looked good (and well done not letting her line get tangled around your ankle!), solid toy throws and also great use of verbals when you added the go on. Using the ‘yea’ at first was not a bad thing – you were connected and marking her moment of driving ahead in response to the body cue, then you switched to go on as she got good at it. Her commitment looked strong to BOTH the wrap and the GO. YAY! That is the balance we are looking for, well done! Next step: add more distance!
The other thing you can do is stay very close to the barrels til she is finished wrapping them (instead of sending and leaving) – and then as she finishes the wrap, start running forward for the GO. That way she gets the feel of driving ahead of you (thinking ahead to those long lines at the end of courses). Be as connected as you were here, and throw nice & early like you did here too.
>>Lots of play and I do kind of have to go get her a few times. That will be a thing too. Teaching her to bring the toy back.
You can throw one toy, and when she gets to it, run the other way and produce a second toy – and do a bit of two-toy game for a while between reps. I also have the dog come back to trade for treats.
>>But she usually goes and looks for her rabbit poop to eat. But…….I did get her back quite a bit on a recall and my super good treats.
Yep, that is something we will be working on with ALL of our puppies right about now LOL! At least she doesn’t roll in it….. 🙂 So the more play and more cookies you use out there to reward easy stuff, the less distracted she will be – then it is easier to reward the hard stuff.
Great job!!
TracyHi!
How did the training go at the lesson? All good, or did she have any questions?Looking at the first rep here, and the first rep on the teeter-tables video above… she might benefit from coming in with you and playing beforehand like you did here, but then that first rep can be an ‘exploratory’ rep where you either let her offer going up the board (rather than running with her), or let her jump on the middle of the board and walk down to see the new tip. Then after she says, “got it!”, you can going into the higher speed reps. The one moment of acclimation makes a BIG difference for her, so we might as well turn it over to her to do it before getting all formal about the training.
I believe that is what she was wanting to do when she was starting before you – so by having her come in and play, you are setting up the session to really be ready to support that moment when you say “go ahead and take a look” rather than going “holy cow, she has started already” LOL!
Since the games are different and the tip is changing, she might need to assess which game and what the tip is before she throws herself into it – and that makes sense to me, and is also fine with me.
I think once she gets it all assess, she is doing a great job! So it is just a matter of finding the magic of the first rep so she is not surprised and doesn’t back off when there is something unexpected. Let me know if that makes sense!!
Nice work here!
TracyHi! She was definitely surprised, but then she seemed game to get right back on and do it again, getting faster on each rep (this seems to be her pattern, right?). If she was surprised and then either did NOT want to keep playing, or was avoiding it…. I would say yes to going back to an easier level. But I think because she was game to keep playing and kept getting faster – leave the tip here. One thing you can change is try to dampen the sound – with the added tip, the board is noisier with rattles and clanks, and has more whip up and down behind her – that might be rattling her, no pun intended haha! So you can used the towels or a dog bed to soften the down on both ends til she is happy with the tip, then fade them out. That way there is only one new variable to deal with each time you add tip.
Let me know how the next sessions goes! Good work here!
TracyWheee this was fun! I love this setup, it simulates the teeter enough but is also super easy to throw in the car for new places, or take to your yard. I think he did really well here, both in nailing it on the challenges that he does not find to be difficult, and also filling us in on the challenges that are REALLY hard: running. So we can use this wobble board to teach him about targeting even when you are running (he is fine with it on the Mountain Climbers, for example, but there is a cookie helping to prompt the stop at the end of the board :))
Since running is so hard, I highly recommend you introduce it with fake running 🙂 I do this with fast arm motion, pumping my arm like I am a sprinter but not actually running with my feet (this is probably what my handling looks like to the dogs, anyway hahaha). Then the next layer can be pumping your arms and leaning forward. Then layering in running. he will let you know which elements are hardest! I am also working this skill with high excitement toys (without me running, I am standing there) because the toys can produce the same feeling as my motion.
I also think there is bleed over from any RDW training if you are doing any running there yet, where there might be a little confusion. But he will figure it out as we break it down. I am not doing any RDW running yet, so my dogs’ errors when I run are all about the excitement and not confusion between the 2 obstacles 🙂
In new environments, let the environment be the distraction before you add running for now 🙂
Let me know if that makes sense! He is doing really well with his end position so it is now a matter of teaching him to let you ruuuuun.
Have fun!
TracyWow, look at this: baby boy is running fast AND accurately, without getting distracted when you are running (also, this is during the day, which means he is developing the skills of ignore environmental distractions). The weaves look great but seriously, the other stuff is VERY happy-making!
So for the weaves – he looks solid enough here that you can add poles 3 and 4 (poles 1 and 2 open up a little and poles 3 and 4 are in that wide open introductory position).
2 other things you can play with:
Carrying the frizzer with you and sometimes tossing it as the reward. This will introduce the excitement and arousal elements – start with easy poles when you do that and see how it goes! If it is hard, leave the poles open. If it is easy, tighten ‘em up!You can also make a channel out of 3 weave bases/6 poles, leaving it pretty open so you can REALLY run and be insane and add the other motion-based challenges. Motion is the hardest thing for BCs, so we are going to embed the understanding that “the momma is going to run crazy” from the earliest stages here 🙂
Great job!!! Let me know what you think!
TracyGood morning!
Well, is the Prime truck was going to interrupt the session, the least Amazon could do is to bring you free dog toys, right? LOL!
This session went well 🙂 And no worries about also doing weaves in class… you are still in the ‘plenty of reps’ is fine stage because he is mainly running. In about a week, we are all going to have to be limiting reps and sessions because they are actually weaving (difficult for the humans but we also get to add the real verbal :))
So I think most of the angles were easy for him. He had a miss at the 3 o’clock angle, approx, where he got to the correct side but ran past the entry. That is the most common error I am seeing with all the dogs, including my own. We can tweak it: I isolated it by clicking that entry from up close and personal and then dropping the cookie between the 2 sets of poles, and we can also put the PT in between the 2 sets and then move it back out. That 2nd set PLUS the PT out ahead are pretty massive distractions and that angle is hard to begin with.
I see the misses you mentioned on the “easy” angles later on – hard to tell why it was happening: remaining distraction from Amazon truck? Mental fatigue as it was later in the session? So, you can go to those angles early in the next session and see what he says. My guess is it was a little remaining distraction so he will be fine next time.>>And I might have missed part of step 6. Was I supposed to start angling the 2nd set while the first set was still at 1&7? Whoops! He did the 2nd set at 3&9 but at the “regular” distance from the first set at 1&7. Do I push that distance out again when I start angling the 2nd set or leave it in closer but keep the first set at 1&7 instead of straight?>>
Yes, ideally the first set stays at 1 & 7 while the second set gets closer and begins to angle. I would push the distance back out a little when you add angles, so only one variable increases in difficulty at a time (for example, Elektra saw 4 poles straight for the first time yesterday so I pushed the 2nd set out a bit to start the session).
You will probably be able to make adjustments within the session: if the 2nd set is a couple of feet away and he is all fine and dandy… you can bring it in a little closer (but not changing the angle, as only one variable should change).
Then when poles 1 and 2 are straight – we start the progression over, with poles 3 and 4 wide open and a bit further away. But because the progression is sooooo recognizable at that point, we move through it very quickly: bringing base in closer, angling, etc. And of course we can always move the base out a little if we feel that BIG challenges are coming up or if he has questions. Let me know if that makes sense!Great job, have a great weekend!
TracyGood morning! Lovely sessions here!
The indoor session looked great – she was really saying “I figured it out!” On those harder 3 o’clock entries. You can add in the bottom of the clock (4-5-6-7) and one of the other indoor games I like is when I stand near the MM and send to the weaves: puppy torture! They figure it out nicely though LOL!!!!And the outdoor session was great. Yes, she needed a moment to sort out the reinforcement, and that is fine! The poles have taken on a lot more value so she didn’t seem to get stressed about it, she just had to think about finding the answer to the puzzle (weaves – THEN – PT). And she did! And then she had to figure out the bend from the 10-11 o’clock side of the poles to get into the weaves and STAY in them – that is why we click when left shoulder gets to pole 3, because I have clicked too many entries where the dog pops out LOL!! Oops! But she was able to sort out what was needed, you nailed the reward: boom! Got it. And good for you for NOT pushing for speed… let her think it through. We saw the speed blossom when she figured it out.
Your yard definitely has challenges!!! It is a bit of a blessing in disguise… if you could make a list of many of the top trial distractions, I think you have them available to you in your yard already! Weave training through those distractions is harder for sure – but I am sure you are doing focus/engagement training & rewards when those distractions present themselves (like you did when she looked at the patrol cars). It gets easier and then the rest will be easy. I used to live right on a road, and Voodoo used to chase cars… so a lot of early training was spent on “ignore the cars”. And now that it is spring, the whippet mixes had to learn to ignore the field mice that live on the edges of the field and inside the tunnel bags (those little bastards are eating my tunnel bags, but that is a different issue haha). So, just keep training through those distractions like you are – then when she is old enough to trial, you will have already worked through the harder stuff!Great job 🙂
TracyNice session!!! I like the different color weaves too, always better to show the dog a variety of colors so they don’t try to guess based on pole color!
He did well here and I see what you mean about that 10 o’clock entry. You can isolate it by having a big obvious cookie to toss – start close, and when he gets in: click and drop the cookie right in the middle of bases between poles 2 and 3. Just because there are 4 poles doesn’t mean we need to wait til he gets all 4 to reward 🙂 He might just need a reminder to hit that entry. The others are looking strong! You can also work the bottom of the clock (8-7-6-5-4) because it really makes the discrimination of the entry more obvious (and by more obvious, I mean more challenging :))
So for the next session, you can do a little warm up with the 2nd base at 3 and 9 like here, add some harder angles, spot check & reward that 10 o’clock. Then after a minute or so, angle base 2 so he has more challenge there at the ‘top’ of the clock (11-12-1-2-3). You can angle base 2 a little before angling base 1.Question – I woke up obsessing about weave striding (you’re shocked, I know haha) – the smaller dogs will easily get the bounce back and forth striding but the larger dogs or dogs the middle might need assistance to sort out whether they should ‘bounce’ or ‘weave’ the poles. Presto came to mind: how tall is he? The striding is based on size and structure – we want to get the fastest possible performance of course, but we also want a safe performance to protect shoulders. Contraband is 21” tall so I am going to detour him into striding games now that his 4 poles are basically straight. Based on Presto’s size, we might do the same detour or we might go with the bounce, depending on what he offers. Nikko and Sole are both smaller and both do the bounce striding? Looking forward to more obsessing 🙂
Nice work here! Let me know what you think!
TracyI totally saw that map and immediately thought of this class. I really didn’t think the folks who ran primarily in AKC would have to concern themselves with that discrimination and those verbals any time soon…. I was WRONG! HA! I am glad we have started training it with these dogs, you’ll all be ready for when you see it at trials. This generation of dogs will have that skill in their toolboxes before they enter the trial ring. I was surprised that so many experienced dogs did not have it… we have seen it coming since 2015, so they should have all been training on it LOL!
And the course was also a test of the teeter independence: gotta really solid reliable teeter? Then you can get right up to the weave and help. Gotta babysit the teeter? Suddenly the course becomes MUCH harder 🙂T
Good morning! Very nice session here. He was making his entries really nicely overall, and the harder entries also allowed you to get ahead for some blind crosses at the exit (he did well with those!) When he has to think a little harder on your left side, he is gravitated a tiny bit to the far side of the weaves (that is what happened when he got clicked for popping out). Based on that, and also based on his easy success with many of the other challenges: you can delay the click now, to maybe left shoulder at pole 5, to help build in more of the ‘stay in’ decision. The early clicks definitely assist the stay in decision 🙂 But I think he is ready for more now, so try delaying the click. You can also go to 12 poles if you want, I think he is ready for that too.
When you ask for weaving away from the MM, you can send him back to it for the reward, or surprise him with a giant thrown reward on the other side. We will be starting to fade the MM soon, so we can start building in rewards thrown on the line.Great job here!!! Let me know what you think 🙂
TracyGood session here!
Were these 1&7 or straight? Either way – he was fine with finding the entries. Yay! The head checks were more about the transition into the send, I think: when he was jumping around and then you sent, he wasn’t quite prepared so wasn’t sure if he should go or not. So, add in a settle moment: party, bark, come to your side, take a breath…. then send him. That should take care of those head checks on the way to the poles.Since these were straight-ish – you can add in even more motion, I don’t think that will be a problem. Then onwards to 4 poles! (The threadle session can be done separately :))
Great job!
TracyHi!
>.this video has two games so is 3+ min – is this ok or should I do a vid for each one?>>
The length is fine and having 2 games in it is also fine 🙂
Great work on these!
On your smiley face setup:
Very nice first rep! You can try rotating sooner, to challenge her commitment, but stay as connected as you were: super nice!!!She ended up on the wrong side of you at :29 – that was a combo of a little bit of a late turn before she entered the tunnel so she exited wide, and not enough connection on the exit
as you stepped forward to the wing. You held the connection longer on the next rep and it totally helped. For the tunnel exit – we will be working on more of those here, but we want her to see and hear the turn cue before she enters it – so when she is 3 feet from the tunnel entry, let her see you do the FC and quietly call her (then reward her for maintaining her commitment while also turning on the exit :))That rocking horse figure 8 moment towards the end of this game also looked good – you can rotate sooner here too 🙂 One way to be able to rotate sooner is to add more distance between the wings, and from the tunnel to the wings – that will allow for more motion and then you can decelerate as she is passing you, then rotate right before she reaches the wing.
And great job with all the verbals!!!
In the Wind In Your Hair section:
She is doing a great job figuring out the commitments! The main thing here is connection: as she exits the wing wrap, make a connection to her eyes and say the go cue directly to her cute little face. Resist the temptation to look forward at all, as that causes a connection break and she had questions:
At 1:10 and 1:48 you were looking forward which turned your chest past the jump, so she also ran past the jump. You had more connection at 1:29 and 2:25 and 2:52 and last 2 reps but she still looked at you because the connection was a little forward and not direct enough to her eyes. So because she is so inexperienced, exaggerate that connection – talk to her when you say the go cue, and don’t talk to the jump out ahead haha! The most important connection moment is when she exits the wing wrap, as it sets the line to the jump.On your next session – add in staying closer to the wing til she finishes wrapping it, and them move forward to help her drive ahead of you to the jump (rather than find the line parallel to you or from behind you).
Great job here!!!
TracyAh! I thought she might be a doodle but I wasn’t 100% sure. She is adorable! And I love her toy drive 🙂 I’ve met a bunch of doodles in agility and in flyball… they are awesome! Fun, smart, athletic, driven.
>>Almost too much toy drive if that’s possible, haha. Working on finding that balance 🙂>>
The balance will swing back and forth for a while (like a year or two lol!) but you are well on your way to finding it 🙂
>>Good call on the connection loss. I assumed it was her heading for the toy that was on my right side instead of the left that I wanted her on but we have been doing quite a lot of different crosses including blinds.>>
That connection is a big piece for baby dogs. It often looks like they are being naughty-toy-grabbers 🙂 but when we freeze the video – it is a connection break.
>>Looking forward to doing the other games this weekend and adding more challenge to this one!
Have fun! Looking forward to videos 🙂
Tracy
