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Thanks again for the feedback. I really enjoyed the live seminar.
That was so interesting seeing your dogs gain so much speed and confidence on the mountain climber. I did try it for the second time today and she was already much more comfortable with it. She tried to turn around on her own to go back down and I probably need to keep lifting her off as I don’t want there to be an accident where she falls.
I tried some of the sequences and handling that we did in the seminar. She was able to get to the right side of the blind easier when she was turning right. She is a lot quicker than Jackson and it is still a huge work in progress for me to be where I need to be for her. She is lots of fun though.
Thank you.
I tried the moving as she went back and forth on the plank and she did great. I speeded up a little and will try that again. I also, did the Lazy game for the 3rd time. I mowed the field so it was easier for her to find the food I threw. That might have been why she did so well today but it might have been that she is understanding it better. I didn’t video, but may do another one.
I like your analogy about us trying to remember all the things we need to do and say to our pups is akin to what they are trying to process. It made me appreciate her efforts even more. I definitely need to revisit the wingin it exercise again to work on my timing of verbals and physical cues.
Later I tried the teeter for the first time. She was more worried than I expected and for some unknown reason I didn’t use food on the teeter the first time. I had taped a lid to the underside of the teeter and had spray cheese and regular cheese in it but she was very suspicious of the spray cheese. She got better each time. I think the height had her a little worried. I did keep a bit of video of the help I had when I set the teeter up.
Thanks, I will start moving on the plank work. Should I continue to use food as the reward?
That cat wants to help all the time and sort of complicates things. LOLI tried the Wingin’ it exercise today and it was loads of fun. I had trouble getting the timing or connection right when she exited on my right – so was wide on those turns. Near the end, I tried to do the sequence where she goes around the first two wings and then I do a FC and she goes back into the tunnel. My timing was off. and I sent her back into the tunnel and then didn’t reward her – once things happen fast I don’t do what I plan on doing and wish I had thrown the toy. I do have a question. On that sequence do I just use my motion and position to cue her to continue to the second wing and then should I use my wrap verbal as she heads towards the second wing? I couldn’t get any words out.
Thanks for the feedback on the lazy game. I haven’t had a chance to try it again, but will do so.
I tried her turning and running across the dog walk plank today. I have done turns with her on a plank before but never the running. Several times she didn’t go all the way to the end but that might be due to my timing or aim on the cookie toss.
Hi, Tracy,
I had the same issue as Sandi did when I tried to pay for the 3 live seminars. I saw your response to her, and will wait to hear back from you.
Thanks!Thanks for the feedback. That is good information about not overdoing the stationing. She is funny because when we go outside, with or without the boys and her little bed is set up or the upside down feed pans that the perch on, she races to them and leaps enthusiastically on them wagging her tail. I think it is easy for her when nothing much is going on, but if we do stuff with the boys then it gets harder. I will really be careful to limit that sort of thing.
I did the lateral lead-outs and she did really well. The next day I did them the other direction and she was super but I don’t have video on that side.
We also did the backside challenges over 2 days. You can tell the first day from the second due to weather and my clothes. On the first day (when she started on my right) I initially forgot to angle the wing for the backside. The first time she got it and then missed the next two. That’s when I remembered and also got more organized. She did well once I was doing better. This afternoon, I did the other direction and was better with my plan from the get go. She had no errors. I am going to be gone much of the next 2 weeks but really want to take it slowly with her. Thanks in advance for your feedback.
I tried the angled grid again with more angle. I only did 3 passes. On the third one I had angled the jumps more. I edited out the part where we are not on the camera and when I changed the jump angles. I still have the bars at 6 inches and don’t know if I should be raising them at all. Is the goal to continue to get the grid straighter so the jumps are more slice? Should I be doing any of the grids that are straight on? Mostly this past week I have just been working on her ability to station while I do things with the other dogs and for her to be able to do some little things while they station. We try to make it lots of fun, and the activities I do with the boys while she stations are very low energy at this point ex. calling to hand touches or perch work. I think it is helping her overall ability to deal with the stimulation of other things going on around her but we have to do baby steps for sure.
Thank you for the feedback. I notice a few things about my training that you have pointed out and that for whatever reason continue to be a problem I have. I will try harder. One is that I tend to do my cues really fast like the tandem turn flipping my hands. I am glad for the reminder and just need to try to relax and take more time. When Caper goes fast, I start thinking I have to react faster.
I also completely am in with the reward even if wrong or you think you are wrong or think the dog might be wrong and then somehow in the course of things I don’t do that. Not sure where my brain goes on that but again thanks for reminder.
The third one is that I get the 2 failure rule, but I convince myself that this time it will be good. Crap. Agility is hard, but I am going to get this!!I hope this is what you wanted regarding no editing. I am not very efficient with my time so not many reps which I actually think is probably better for both of us. Today was beautiful outside and every time I headed for the gate to go play a game Caper would run to the gate and start whining until I got there. Let me know if you want me to continue to do ~2 minute unedited videos. It certainly makes getting them up and posted easier.
Last question for today – will there be a Max Pup 3 (fingers crossed the answer is yes)?
Here is our attempt at the Get Out
Rocking Horse Threadle
Rocking Horse Lap Turn
Grid with angles
I didn’t realize you can’t see the point after Caper grabs the toy. I do think Caper has a tendency to sort of pop her hind end up a bit so can see that the toy dragging is a better way to go.Zig Zags for 2
I have done some practices but haven’t gotten videos edited until tonight. Still have a couple to go.
Caper had her vet appointment today and he gave her a clean bill of health. I suspect her behavior is a combination of her being an adolescent intact female and me being a bit down and her reading that. We have been working on some behaviors to make the car and life in general more fun and I think it is paying off. Fingers crossed. Thanks again for your input on this.For our first video, I did the ladder grid and angled the bars. I kept fiddling with the angles and not sure if I had them right or not, but she seemed to be fine with it. This was her first time doing the angled bars and I have all reps shown.
In the live class she really struggled with the lap turn where she had to turn to her right. I did a lot of practice in the house turning around wastebaskets, bar stools, etc. and I think she is understanding this better. Here are our attempts at the lap turn both direction. Then we took a break and tried the tandem turn. I am still trying to decide if she understands better the one arm or two arms. The allure of the tunnel was hard for her even though it was a long way off. Sandi suggested moving the wings closer together so she didn’t get up so much speed and that helped. Do you think her barking is excitement or a bit of frustration with me not getting information to her as quickly and clearly as she needs?
This next video is our first time trying Mission Transition since the live class. I was pretty excited with her understanding on this. When I first tried the exercise with her on my left she turned the wrong way the first two times. Then I did one without the wing and she was correct and then Keith shifted the wing over and that made a huge difference.
And finally for your viewing pleasure (ha) we tried the Zig Zag part 2. I think this was a bridge too far for her. Generally, I only do 3 games (lap turns, tandem turns, mission transition) when I get together with the others, but this seemed like it would be an easy low key exercise and I think it was too much for her little self. 🙁
Thank you for taking the time to help with some ideas on what might be going on with Caper. I really appreciate it and it makes me feel a little less freaked out when you mention some of the changing behaviors you have in your own pups.
On her running around with the toy, I really think it will help me be more chill too if I just let her run and get it worked out. Thanks for that reminder. I didn’t even realize that my first step for the RC was not forward. Eek.
I went back to MaxPup 1 and realized that we had a lesson on backside wraps using the barrel. Should I start to add my word for that? I haven’t done that yet and I am going to have a different word for it than the backside slice. Would you suggest that when I start working on this, that I don’t mix backside wrap training with backside slice training until my handling and her understanding are clear? Thanks. Looking forward to tomorrow’s live class. I am planning on being outside here at home. The weather is going to be chilly but should be fine otherwise. I am very excited to be back outside.
Thank you so much for seeing if you can help me sort out what is going on with Caper with her reluctance to get in the car and just a feeling I have that she is stressed.
Also, thanks for the great feedback on her layering work. She just seemed to pick that up easily.
>>what stress signs are you seeing? And when do yo see them? Good for you for noticing changes and
trying to help her out before anything bigger happens. Is it mainly car-related, or are you seeing it
in life and/or training sessions?Most of it has been with the car and her sudden resistance/reluctance to get in her crate in the car. I have also noticed in toy play at Suzie’s that right from the start she struggled giving up her toy. That usually happens after we have been working a while and she is more aroused, but there have been several times recently that she started out that way. She has also at times gone into the tunnel – not just running through but going in as though she might be avoiding something.
She usually lays on the couch next to me on a fleece blanket. She has been more restless and digging at it as though she was trying to make a nest. Last night she crawled behind me on the couch as though she wanted to hide. Her meal eating has really become hit or miss. Sometimes she eats and other times she won’t even look at it (that started when Bisbee got really sick and got worse when she died)
>>Or it might be some adolescent thing (how long ago was she in season?) or she might be having a
pain response to something?Her first heat started on December 28. I am expecting her to have another one in June but I am sure that can vary. I have wondered if she might be in pain which is one of the reasons I am taking her to the vet.
>>are your other dogs around when you are seeing this? Is she on her own (this is just informational
And : On your low key trips, have you been doing short car rides or long car
rides? I am pretty sure the trips to Suzie & Keith’s place are long car rides, yes? It might be that
something is a little ouchy in agility (physically or mentally), but it could also be that she
doesn’t like the longer car rides. Maybe a bit of motion sickness?Sometimes the other dogs are there and sometimes they aren’t. On the low key trips, two of them were about as long as the drive to Suzie’s. One was meeting friends at a bird refuge which is in the middle of nowhere. Very few people were there and she got more calm during the day and chilled better than I have ever seen her on her little raised bed outside while we all sat around and ate lunch. The other long one was to her first Barn Hunt lesson. I am trying to diversify 🙂 We are taking it with all 3 dogs and we crate in the car. Unlike Jackson and Reilly, she was terrified of the rats and that might have been why she was happy to get back into the car. She actually was a little better with them the second time we went in because we kept Reilly in there.
She didn’t have motion sickness prior to this – do you know if that is something that can start later.
Two other things that may or may not have played a part that I forgot to mention (Brad reminded me) First, we had a friend (dog trainer that has kept her before) keep her for 5 days in mid March. She has stayed there before and loves this woman and some of her dogs and they get to play a lot. She was very happy to see us and the behavior started about a week later. The other thing was Brad was walking them several weeks prior to the onset of this behavior. Just as he got back to the car and was putting her in, a man that was nearby shot a gun that had some of that huge ammo so it made a huge boom. It scared her and the next couple times he walked in that area he would have to leash her up several hundred feet early to get her to the car. Her reluctance to get into the car did not start for a couple of weeks until after that incident so not sure if that played a role.
Anyway, any insight is very appreciated.
Here is the Wind in Your Hair Rear Crosses and Backsides – 4 minutes unedited as requested. I think she seemed pretty happy about all of this, so wasn’t really seeing the behavior, but we were alone with not other people or dogs there.
Is this supposed to be a backside slice? We haven’t worked on those for a very long time. Now that we can do some work at home I can do some short sessions.I also tried the Concept Transfer Rear cross game. We did not have any success on this with the rear crosses so I quit. She did do a bit of the going into the tunnel maybe to escape pressure. I am looking forward to your feedback.
Thanks for all the great feedback. I definitely need to get my words out sooner and to get a better handle on when she shows commitment so I can get the cues done before she needs them. She is really fun.
I did the first little session today since last Sunday. She might be just going through some adolescent phase, but I think she has been showing some stress. We have tried to do a lot of different things this week and I have a vet appointment with her next week to rule out any issues. I don’t know if I get too serious and not keep it light enough so if you see something let me know. She started showing reluctance getting in the car about 3 weeks ago and I think it was worry about going to do agility (the most we have been doing it in the last month is twice a week). This week we did lot of trips that ended with fun, low key non-agility things and she has been much happier about getting in the car.
Today we had enough melting to do try the layering foundation game. I have shown all the reps and this was our first try with any of it, so I am very pleased with how she did. She also did not react to the cat being out there and to one of our neighbors many rabbits who have decided living at our place is good. I don’t think they are on the video but they were present.
I loved this feedback because Caper did great and the handling issues you pointed out to me made a lot of sense. Thank you!!
We tried a few more things yesterday and today.
Diamond game – I think I did better with my handling but still have things to work on. She was wide on some turns because I was so slow in showing her what was coming next. I also did the odd weird spin instead of the blind but was more consistent overall.Serp proofing
I was off my game on this and I don’t think I brought the right energy to this. The video is actually two sessions with about 30 minutes between them. We struggled a bit and I am looking forward to trying this at home where it can be calmer for us both to focus on.Beginning Ladder grid
We have had enough melting to work outside. The jumps were 6 feet apart but I am not sure about her form. Brad videoed from front and back to hopefully give a better view of what she is doing. I forgot to let go of the toy when she grabbed it but will try to remember in the future. We will also put the other dogs in the house next time so that she isn’t distracted by the barking.Looking forward to the feedback.
Last night’s live class was so much fun. Thank you for the clarification on the 2 failure rule. I put it into play today.
Rear Crosses
We worked on rear crosses again. There was a lot more distance this time for running and we started out with several going straight reps while I worked on my timing of throwing the toy. When we did the rear crosses I think she did well. This is pretty great for me since rear crosses have been an Achilles heel for me with Jackson.We then tried the Diamond Game. We started with race track and once I stayed better connected and moved she seemed to do better. We had more room and it all happens so quickly for me it’s hard for me to react in a timely way. You will see where the first two times I tried the blind she ducked into the tunnel. I will be interested in what you have to say about why this happened. Then, we broke it down with me rewarding her after the blind. She sure likes running.
This was such good information. I am glad you said there is no hurry to straighten the jump on the send and serp. I will definitely be more patient to make sure that she understands what I want and let her drive to the toy. She has decided the Treat and Train isn’t the devil but hasn’t developed the drive to it that I know she will eventually have. I will place a toy or have someone drop it. She can be a little thief with the toy.
I sort of lose track of how many failures. That will go to the top of the list to be more aware of so I keep it to two. Would this scenario be okay: We are playing a game and she has two failures. I stop and go do something else with her. Play a different game, take her for a potty break or running around break and then try again? Or, if she has two failures are we done with that game for the day, or are we done with any games for the day? Thanks.
I also will try to be much more careful with the collar grab and moving her. Her reaction tends to be to lie down or crouch. I think this should be easy for me to stop.
I was foolishly hopeful that I would be outside for tomorrow’s live class. We have gotten more than 20 inches of snow in the last two days so no outside work. I am planning on joining Keith and Bob at their place tomorrow. The only concern is if the weather continues to be uncooperative. I am two hours away and there is a canyon/mountain pass that I have to go through to get to their place. It can have terrible roads and is often closed. I know that we are getting into games that really require some space. If I can’t go tomorrow, should I just skip it or would it be worth doing a compressed version at Debbie’s place? And finally, if I do go to Keith’s tomorrow. Could on the last game, I be the first one so I can get back on the road to get home? Thanks again.
