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Hi Bobbie,
For the duct tape method, do you have the step by step video? Trying to decide which way may work with Zoe… 😀
Thanks!Hi Bobbie,
My apologies for posting again before you have a chance to reply. I hope editing the post will make it less confusing. I know 5 weeks will go quickly, so want to maximize the time I have to learn as much as possible.
We did a 4 minute session today using the pin drop method, but it’s not as simple as I thought! 😀 I think to start with, (I am guessing) Zoe was confused that I didn’t expect her to go back and forth the plank as usual. Then, since she is not into toys, I ended up luring her.
I split the video into 3 short videos to give you an idea what I was doing – or trying to do.First: trying to play with her and get her to the end of the plank, but ended up luring her.
Second: Zoe usually goes to a play bow position as soon as the teeter starts to tip, so I am thinking perhaps that can be the end behavior, so I started with a play bow, which she got immediately, but as you can see, I was not able to make her do that on the plank.
Third: Finally decided to lure her to walk across the plank and get her to do the end behavior when she got to the end. I thought the last attempt was close enough so we stopped there.
Let me know if you see something that can work for us, or if you can help break down the exercise to even simpler steps. Thank you so much!
P.S.: We are also continuing to do assignment 2, to get Zoe more comfortable with movement.
Hello Bobbie,
Really excited to start training 🙂 Here is the video of assignment #2 with a mini teeter. I don’t have the fulcrum (?) as high as you have yours, let me know if I should raise it. Zoe gets very excited when it times for a walk, so we train before our walk. My hope is, she enjoys going out so much, maybe that will be like a reward to her after training. You can see at the end, her excitement when I said “go for a walk?”
Looking forward to your input. Thanks!
Hi, I am happy to stop practicing the teeter and my guess … so is Zoe 🙂 It has been a source of stress for me and I am certain she can sense that. I also figure, no way we can be successful in Master/Excellent Standard unless Zoe is more comfortable with the teeter.
Thank you!OK. Thank you again for everything Kim. Have a great year ahead and hope to see you in another course soon.
Thank you for the feedback. I will use the Lotus ball more on the dog walk. In general, Zoe does not like to be held, unless it’s per her request. It occurs to me, if I annoy her, by holding her (like when using opposition reflex), or blowing gently into her face that she will run faster to get away from me. But I worry that might backfire and make her dislike agility. Your thoughts?
On the weaves, yes, the way you described, it reminds me back to the lesson on almost touching the obstacle. I can experiment and video different ways so I can watch her and get some timings. I have noticed that Zoe prefers a lot of space when weaving. She’s more accurate and confident than when I am close to weave poles. Also, I don’t know if this means anything, it is easier for her to find the entry with me on her left side. When I am on her right side, I have to make sure I am at least 2-3 feet away from the first pole or she’ll enter from the left. (Watching the video again, I see that I was at least 5 feet away from her).Thank you!
I am glad we have another beautiful day today so we can submit our last minute drills and wrap things up.
More work on the low dog walk, as per your input, with a helper, using opposition reflex and back chaining, to get Zoe to run fast with me ahead of her. I am thinking maybe I need to reward sooner so she doesn’t get off the dog walk to get the treats? Also, can I do the back chaining on my own (without the helper)?
https://youtu.be/MpRpWxbTO1Y
Speed circle with weave poles. Thank you for telling us we can use any obstacle in the speed circle. I understand with Zoe running faster, we will have to re-train the weave poles, and never occurred to me I could do it in a speed circle! I was pleasantly surprised that Zoe weaved perfectly all three times. I will continue to proof with 4, 6, 8 and 12.
https://youtu.be/Lj3W_vJ_60wI’ll skip the speed circles with dog walk and teeter since we have been working on those separately.
Finally, do you have a parting advice, and if there is one takeaway you hope we get from this course, what do you hope we learn?
Thank you so much for offering this course. I will definitely be on the lookout for more courses from you in the future. I am already telling anyone who asked about Zoe’s new speed about this course! Hoping there will be more speed related courses, even if it’s only a 2-week refresher course. I learned so much, not only in speeding Zoe up, but in becoming a better handler for her as well. I couldn’t help crying when you said that “having a soft or thoughtful dog does not make you a lousy trainer or handler.” It was cathartic to realize that someone understood! And definitely helps to know we are not alone (that there are other teams struggling too). This course has far exceeded my expectations. I wasn’t sure if it would make an impact and that if it did, it would take a long time before I would see the results. As you know, what a difference it has made to Zoe and me even after a few weeks. Instead of feeling like I am dragging an elephant with me when running agility, it’s pure joy to see Zoe run FAST and HAPPY! Thank you for reminding me that above all, it’s supposed to be fun for both of us. You gave agility back to us. THANK YOU!
Hi Kim, we are finally getting a break in the weather. I am hoping you will still accept video submissions perhaps till Monday?
Here is lesson 5 drill 2 and speed circle with A-frame. You can really hear the wind from the video and Zoe seemed spooked by the wind. Both times she started slow. Both times, after I stopped and asked for tricks, she sped up.
You mentioned that if we keep going when our dogs run slow or trot that we are reinforcing that behavior, so I am thinking … when we train, and Zoe runs slow or trots, I should stop, make her do a few tricks, reward, then run. If she is still slow, call it a day. If she runs fast, jackpot, then call it a day, so we end on a happy and fast run. Is that the right strategy?https://youtu.be/5dVHFSIrafg
https://youtu.be/K5mSc4g1eFsThanks!
Yes, I understand better now. Thanks.
Still waiting for a dry morning to do some exercises, but I want to ask about the A-Frame. I think this is mostly true for smaller dogs. Zoe usually runs fast to climb the A-frame, then stops on the top. She does come down when I clap or call her name, but I think her stopping cost us 1 to 3 seconds. Do you have a suggestion as to what I can do so she doesn’t stop on top of the A-frame? She is only one foot tall, so I am guessing she is fascinated by the view from the top of the A-frame … 😀Hi Kim,
Trying to wrap up the class hopefully by the end of the week and reviewing things here and there …
Question from lesson 5, your story regarding Jack, you mentioned you did a running start “because he lacked confidence.” Can you explain why a running start is good for dogs that lack confidence?
Thanks!
FeiKim, sorry, for the linguistically challenged like me :D, what does it mean when you said “to go deeper into pockets”? Saw that when scanning over your reply to some other students. Thanks.
Thank you!
Questions:
1) I know we should train from different angles, different positions, etc as part of proofing. What I wonder is, does it make a difference whether we move ourself or the dog, or if we move the equipment? Two examples come to mind. Like the jump chute and the handler lateral movement away from the jumps. Is there a difference between the dog jumping straight while the handler gradually runs farther away from the jump, and the handler running straight but the jumps gradually set farther away from the handler? The second example is the weave pole entry. Does it make a difference between moving the weave poles, but starting the dog at the same spot, or moving the dog but leaving the weave poles in the same position? Or train both?
2) When doing speed circles with weaves, I assume I can vary with 4, 6, or 12?
3) As you know, we are still working with the low dog walk (24″) with Zoe. Progress has been slow due to weather (it’s slippery when it’s wet). Do you recommend doing speed circle with a 1/2 height dog walk?Thanks!
That is a great idea! I should keep a journal and not just a mental note on what bothers Zoe at trials. What I notice more recently, she seems increasingly more sensitive to the environment, like noise and movement, but then I wonder if being new to dog sports, I did not notice the signs before and that she has always been that way. Maybe it is just more obvious to me because I am more familiar with her.
Here is today’s exercise. Started with a little bit of warm up, then forward focus and opposition reflex to a run for lesson 5 drill 1. Our warm up session is rather simple since I only have a few moving tricks. I would walk her outside (to do her business as necessary) and the crating arena to allow her to feel safe. Then let her sit on my lap to massage her. My holistic vet taught us how to do skin roll to loosen up tight areas. Then stretches like making her stand on her hind legs, bow, spin and cookie stretches (especially if there are weave poles). When I see 3 or 4 dogs ahead of us waiting by the gate, I would make my way to the gate, and while waiting, more spins, hand touches and more stretches. This is where I will take out the highest value treats so she knows what’s she’s gonna get after the run and the treats can get her super excited. I am thinking for FF and OR, maybe we need to continue working inside for a less distracting environment first 😀 Also, I should experiment with a running start vs ff+or and get your input on that. My gut feeling tells me she prefers a running start. Interested in your thought where she ran off to chase the ‘birds’ instead of to the course.
What went well:
– Zoe was eager to train
– We ran well together in the second attempt (going from 5 to 1)Wow Kim, we did way better than I thought this weekend! I don’t know why the buzzer sounded during our Open Standard, the official result showed we were UNDER time. SCT was 82, run time was 76.92. And this is with Zoe taking a long time hesitating on the teeter! Which means she ran fast enough to make up for the handicap on the teeter. Perhaps she wasn’t as slow as I thought on the dog walk either!
So, we did two master JWW runs this weekend, Friday and Sunday. Both SCTs were 53. Friday run time was 36.07, Sunday run time was 38.56, so there was consistency. I hope this will be the new normal (and not just a one-off), but 3 fast runs out of 3 in one weekend sure is a good indicator.Thank you for the clarifications. The part about working for 20 years and don’t want to get paid less over time … That really relates to me.
One thing I want to ask from lesson 5. Just want to make sure I don’t misunderstand. You recommend finding a line for a quick exit if the dog is showing signs of stress, yes? And this includes trotting? I am certain Zoe tries hard to please me and her trotting is her way of telling me she doesn’t want to do agility at that moment, so I am inclined to cut our runs short, but I wonder if then she will learn she doesn’t have to train/trial by trotting?
Weather permitting, I will post some exercises later today. Also looking forward to this week’s lesson. I think you mentioned (in other replies) that it will be on weave poles and contacts.
Hi Kim, I hope I don’t jinx myself. Again, comes from bragging feels wrong 🙂 Maybe I should wait until we’re done tomorrow, but I am very grateful to what I’ve learned from you and want to let you know Zoe was AMAZING at trial yesterday! We managed to get 16 points from our Master JWW run! To give you an idea, for comparison, we had 7 Qs before yesterday, totaling 33 points, for an average of less than 5 points per run. The one Q we got in December, we got a whopping 0 (yup, ZERO) point. So for us, 16 is like a miracle. No video – it was a choice on my part to not distract myself from Zoe and the run, so no regret. The one comment that made my day was, when the gentleman next to me said: “she looked like she was having fun!” The strange thing was, I am not sure I would care if we Q or not. It was VERY rewarding to see Zoe ran fast!
I was reviewing all the lessons again this morning. It struck me that while I needed to change my training method (speed first instead of accuracy first), I also need to change my MENTAL attitude. And I learned a lot from this class. For Zoe, giving her time to acclimate to the environment was HUGE. We arrived 90 minutes before our run, so I could let her walk around the entire crating area a few times at her own pace. First round, she walked with head low, tail tight between her two hind legs, jumped at every slight noise and movement. By the 3rd round, her body relaxed, tail up high with a bounce in her steps. I remember your analogy about traveling with a worry wart, so I made an effort to project a confident companion. And every time I had a negative thought, I dismissed it with “Zoe can be amazing.” The big help was lesson 5 on shortening the course. Somehow, knowing I can bail out IF things go wrong, put my mind at ease. And thinking of the trial run as a training opportunity in a novel environment. I remember you said to be aggressive, to be clear and to stay connected. I don’t remember, but someone mentioned I did a lot of blind crosses.
Luck was not with us in our Open Standard run. As we were about to enter the gate, a dog barked and startled Zoe. From taking this class, I now understand, that is how some dogs express their excitement, though most unfortunate for the timid dogs who can’t handle the barking. I remember thinking, what would Kim tell me to do? Perhaps I should have shortened the course for a quick exit, but the barking ceased as we got to the start line until Zoe reached the weave poles, the dog barked, and sure enough, she missed the entry and skipped a few poles. Since Zoe kept running, I decided to continue with the course. The buzzer sounded as Zoe was on the dog walk – the timer showed 70.00 (mostly because she took a long time on the teeter). I felt bad for taking long so I thanked the judge, but he told me to finish the run, and we did. I think as far as Zoe is concerned, she had another fun run 🙂 Or so I hope.
What went well:
– Master JWW run. Even more significant when I factored in we were on unfamiliar trial environment.
– Zoe’s ability to continue running after her initial discomfort with the barking dog.
– Acclimation work.My thought after our JWW run was, wish I can hug Kim to express my appreciation! 🙂
Back to lessons, I mentioned I was reviewing the lessons (sad to think next week will be the last lesson!). I have a few questions:
1) Week 1, you mentioned: “In the protection sport world, they use this idea a lot to create food drive. Once the dog has food drive, they will taper off (or at least that is my understanding). ”
I don’t understand this. Can you explain more?
2) In your professional opinion, is it better to give 10 tiny treats or one big (the equivalent of the 10 tiny treats) treat?
3) I overlooked this when you first replied. You asked if I know “other versions of the bang game.” I only know one, where we prop the weighted end up, so the other end would be a few inches above ground, then ask the dog to bang that end. Is that the one you were referring to, or do you have other(s) in mind? If so, I am not familiar with the others and can you tell me what those are?Thank you so much. We are resting today and back trialing tomorrow. Hopefully we can build on what we did yesterday.
Hi Kim!
It’s weird to only talk about things that went well, as if I am bragging … but will do! 😀
Thank you for sharing your warmup/pre-run routines. I am often curious how the pros train the week or the day before a trial. Do you train harder? Do you take it easy? Other than long walks, I choose to do little agility before a trial. We’ll try to catch up next week. My approach to trial is to do little agility the few days before the trial, so other than class this morning, I don’t think we’ll do much until Monday.
I don’t have the video from this morning class, so nothing to show, just tell. Zoe surprised me by being amazing! We moved to a new class (I like the instructor). Didn’t know what to expect, but prepared for a worried, distracted, trotting Zoe. On the way to class, I thought about your story how Pepper became amazing after you believed in him. I told myself, Zoe would be amazing (… ok, I won’t tell you what else came to mind, like yeah, Kim is a pro, I’m not … lol). I remember you telling me that Zoe needs to get acclimated. From the moment we got out of the car, I made sure we stayed connected. Walked her around the facility, walked her around the crating area, at her own pace, and giving her treats whenever she seemed worried. I even took her in the arena during walk thru – I figured the worst was getting yelled and I could put Zoe back in the crate. And whenever a classmate chatted with me, I made sure to either give Zoe treats or have her in my arms. Anything to let her know she was not ignored. I wanted to be present for her at all times, the same way she wanted my full attention. When it was our turn, I played and teased her with some yummy treats until she could not contain her excitement, and … (again, remembering what you told us, I started running when she was excited) she RAN!!! One of my classmates (I told her I was taking an online class) said, whatever I learned from you seemed to be working. 😀 It would have been nice to have it on video, but I made the choice NOT to worry about video taping and focus on playing with Zoe. Oh, and I went with 50 tiny treats to prevent myself from over training Zoe. Also, today’s class was Snooker and we didn’t do contacts. I wanted so badly to at least made Zoe do one teeter and one dog walk after class, but told myself I didn’t want to punish Zoe with more work when she did so well, so I left! I think this was our best session in class, ever! So, here are the good things from today’s training:
– Zoe was FAST and HAPPY.
– Both human and dog had fun! Don’t know if it could be considered training, felt more like we were playing. Ha!
– Zoe was (amazingly!) focused on me. Whenever I looked to check on her, she was on a sit with eyes intently watching me.
Thank you so much for all your help. We will try to catch up on lesson 5 soon.
