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I think one of the main things that is happening here is you are talking to him way to much. So ideally you should only be saying one word. Run. That should tell him to go to the target AND to the MM. So instead try to say run once (and no “yes”) then just be quiet and push the MM button the moment he touches the target. I also have found that with the target on the flat it is easier to start with a cure rather than a straight exit. So put you, the target and the MM in a soft U shape and that will likely help a lot.
If you find that he is still not completely understanding it then we will need to break it down more for him by trimming the edges of the box a bit more and slowly fading the box. Most dogs don’t need that step but some do so try what I said above first and if needed we can go this route.
Jordan
Hi Whitney,
– Yes, RF separation comes later as we are adding in speed. It is so good for understanding and getting them to fully understand the concept as well as reinforce them to go out of their way to put effort into hitting the target that it makes a huge difference when going to the flat target. Later when we start rewarding for 2 feet hits with more speed you will see that start to change but the understanding is still there 😉
– Yes, the dog should always turn into you unless you are cuing the turn away.So the side of your body is cuing the direction but they should always turn into you not away (unless cued)
– Yes, I will reward both FF and RF and I will JP for RF. Yes, if you can go additional places at this stage that would be ideal.Jordan
Oh my! I had to laugh out load a little watching this because she was so cute jumping over the target in the beginning. I am not completely sure why she is doing that. Do a few reps with it on the ground and trim the edges of the box down just a bit. Also keeping things slow in the beginning is going to be your friend. If you add too much dog speed into the picture too quickly they will try to cut corners to run faster and that usually means jumping the target. So any times anything like this comes up just slow everything way down and go back to the original shaping/targeting that you did in the beginning. You can even do the tossing cookies back and forth with the inverted box on the plank (like you have it here). It could also be that she is super jazzed to be back to doing things so she was too excited to think and remember the game.
I noticed that a tiny bit in one of his sessions. I am sure as he build speed that will go away. Continue to JP it though.
The clicker might be pulling his attention too much. If he continues to look at you when you click I would switch to just rewarding with the MM to make sure and build that forward focus. Around the clock is looking fantastic! I want you to try a session of this with the target on the flat and see how he does. And lets do a session with the inverted target around the clock with a static toy. With the toy I will usually start at the “hard angles” (so like 90 or greater) because then they are moving away from the toy and can’t see it in the beginning (when going to the target). So start with the toy closer to you and work your way backwards when working on the toy around the clock.
Yeah it is hard balancing him learning to build the coordination/RDW skill with him running faster but slower to keep the thinking involved. I think that he will be able to figure it out no problem. We still have a lot of plank work and low dog walk work ahead of him. So he has time to figure out the coordination at speed 🙂 I mostly want to make sure he is learning how to hit the target gradually faster. I have seen lots of dogs start slow and as they got faster they almost understood the behavior better because they had so many rewards for it. So don’t worry too much. Keep doing what you’re doing by trying to find stuff that gets him excited and running more.
I am so excited that he was so excited for his raw dinner! I’m sure doing at dinner time also helped too. You can try freezing the his raw dinner in small balls or in ice cubes. That might help with the mess. But some dogs don’t like the frozen food. When he does miss it try to ask him quickly for something else like a hand touch or a jump or something that he can do quickly (with excitement) to get a reward then ask for the target again. That should help with his speed after a miss. Yes, I think you running up and Jping him with extra treats in the PT or a thrown toy is a great idea.
I think there is A LOT you can do with a DW in that amount of space. I just wings a lot when training the dog walk so that is an easy way that you could have an easy entrance or exit to the DW without a lot of distance. You can work on wing/tunnel discriminations and all the possible exits to a wing. You could have a wing entrance on one end of your field to make it a small distance on that one side to create more space on the other side. No, you won’t get crazy fast full speed stuff but you will be able to work different exits/discriminations.
Target on the DW – Yes he was a bit sloppy with one of his RF. You can also put the inverted target on the DW for a few sessions to help him generalize that it is the same behavior that we are looking for on a slanted target. That helps some dogs a lot!
Target on the plank – OH MY GOSH from the sit stay was brilliant! Yes, continue doing that with him like 90% of the time and every once in a while see if you can do a send and see if he will run from the send. After rehearsing the running from the sit stay he might start to realize that he can also run from the send but for some dogs that just takes a little while. The plank work looked great! It is really just trying to figure out a way we can get him running more and more. I am a bit concerned that as we start to add the speed he might not understand it as much. I have seen this with lots of dogs like him that are hard to get running because they do not always generalize how to hit the target when they are in a full run. So we need to keep being creative on finding different ways to get him running — and the sit stay was genius!
Inverted target – This is looking great. Now would be a good time to start trimming down some of the edges gradually so he is learning how to do this same behavior on the flat eventually. It really helps them learn to be sensitive to where they are hitting their feet. Oh it is so hard for him while the ball is still moving!! Thats okay, he does run faster when it isa so keep working on it just with the ball moving slowly in the beginning. Also, mix in some reps from the sit stay here as well as that will likely help build speed with this as well!
Great work!
This is looking better and better! She is starting to get better about looking for the target more and more! Continue working just like this gradually not rewarding the hits where she is off to the side of the box. She did that a couple of times in this session as you started to add distance. She might do better with you adding distance with the elevated box. You could give that a try and see how that goes. Some dogs naturally understand getting on something better than getting in something (which is why we do both for proofing) so if she is one of those dogs that understands getting on something better than getting in something then adding distractions to the elevated target might be easier for her. Then you can build in more success and get more reinforcement for that behavior then try it again later with the inverted box. Otherwise, continue like this, it is looking great!
Oh my gosh the cheese on the ground was hilarious! So hard for the puppy brain! I would definitely do the obstacles before/after before adding this on the as well as more sessions with more excitement and “crazy” excitement/speed to really make sure he is going to understand it with all the excitement. Have you done any sessions with him running straight to the MM through the target? Then with the MM all around the clock? You will need to do this before doing the plank to be sure that he will drive away from you to the Mm through the target and understands it with all the different exits. Then I would also do this with the static toy around the clock as well. Oh and then I see some of the around the clock at the end 🙂 That is looking really good! Also around the clock with the toy when you are ready
As far as naming the behavior… It is actually my preference to continue to call this “go” or “run” because I really want the dog to understand to go to the target and continue to hit it no matter what is going on handler motion etc including other verbals… The other verbals in the end actually become SO IMPORTANT because we need to be able to tell the dog what is coming after the DW. So by the time that the dog is working on the half height DW I just am saying my “go” word then immediately the obstacle after the DW so they are learning to drive through the target to the obstacle that is cued next. So in the end I have my get on the DW word Run/Go and I actually never cue them to “hit the target” I just want that to be automatic as I am already cuing the next obstacle. Does this make sense? I think he is definitely ready for you to add a “go” word or a target word if you would like to do that.
Yes, I think you could do a session with the target just on the ground or fading the box. He seems like he is understanding this really well so far. I would continue to add the additional distraction )obstacles before/after, handler motion, etc) using this inverted box.
Yay! That is looking great!! So much better! Yes, continue like this with you just sending to the target/MM without any motion from you. That will be SO GOOD for him and likely what we will want to do throughout his entire RDW journey.
With the toy sometimes it is easier for the dog if you position the toy at an angled exit then start the dog looking at the target not the toy in the beginning. This usually helps them go to the target and then focus on getting the toy. So lets try this with him! This should help his accuracy with the toy a lot!
This is looking fantastic!! I think working on more toy distractions, handler motion and starting with obstacles before/after is the next step for him! I am really please with how well he did in this distracting environment!
Sometimes they do get a bit confused between the teeter and the running DW but I don’t worry about it too much. Just be very obvious with your teeter verbal and very clear with your criteria in that situation and he will start to distinguish between the two. For now, I would do them in separate sessions so he can build confidence with the behaviors separately then as he understand each of them you can starting doing them in the same sessions.
Yes, with the inverted target it is time to start adding in more handler motion, standing and other handler distractions. You can also do this with the elevated target if you haven’t already. I also think that this is easier to train using the elevated target first so I would start with that first before going on to the inverted target with handler distractions.
Yes, making the decision about the 2o2o later is completely fine 🙂
Hi Katie! This is looking fantastic!! I think the biggest thing that we need to build here is her ability to find the target with out as much of your help 🙂 Sometimes the elevated target helps a lot with this stage so try a session or two doing this same thing with the elevated target. This will also help her learn more precision on the target so she is really careful with where she is putting her feet. Blink looks like such a cool dog! Great work 🙂
The turns to the left look pretty good. I am pretty happy with that. Keep Jping the hits that are 2 RF split hits but I like all the hits that she did here. I think as long as she is on the target hitting then running to the MM that will be just fine. So you can start moving the MM over a bit more bit by bit.
The inverted target to the MM. I agree, she did great with the smaller inverted target but it is a bit too small. The bigger one is perfect but I would trim the edges just a bit. I would do this with the static toy all around the clock — I think that will help her get ready for the static toy around the clock from half way on the DW. Fist do it all around with the pole method. Then try the static toy all around the clock with from the sweet spot.
SUPER! Now we need to find a way to get him looking forward to the MM and not at you. At this stage it would probably be a good idea to set him up running straight to the MM away from you without any motion from you at all. Because as he is hitting the target nearly every time he is looking at you. You can trying clicking with the MM earlier for a bit. Or it is possible that without any motion from you at all that might solve the problem. I think using a larger target while you are working on the forward focus would be a good idea too. That will keep the criteria easier for him so he is still really learning the correct behavior but you can reward more often for driving forward. You could also try a static toy but that may bring out more of the creeping as well. So if that happens then I would go back to the MM.
