Great job so far everybody! Again, please see as many videos of others as possible and read my comments to others too - I'm trying to bold the answers you really want to read, but the more you read, the easier it will be to understand what you're going for.
But things are mostly going well now, the only problem that I'm seeing more as expected is "up-in-the-air" movement. It looks like some dogs are leaping in order to get away from the plank. I think it's mostly due to the fact that everybody is going for those narrow planks and those are hard to run full speed on + they might sometimes be stepping on the edge and that can be uncomfortable and make them want to leave it as soon as possible. So again - it's no hurry to get to a narrow plank!!! If you can use two, side by side, with a carpet over, that would be perfect!
Anyway, here is your new list:
1. gradually make that plank higher&higher, still jackpotting the best hits, but make a criteria for a jackpot somewhat more strict and at this point also already stop clicking the highest hits even if the dog is striding equally - but at this point, don't click anymore the highest 20% of the hits you're getting (meaning that from 10 tries, don't click the highest 2 hits). It's no problem if the dog still gets the toy, just take it immediately when he comes back. When it's good, praise and tug and when it's especially good, be especially excited and play especially enthusiastically 🙂 And yes, dogs are smart enough to know the difference.
2. as the dog is probably already searching for the plank better, slowly start throwing sooner&sooner. Don't rush it, but you eventually want to throw that soon that the dog is technically running to a static toy. But again, you don't want to get there sooner as in 3 weeks as it's only then that we'll start using a static toy - you do want to throw it for those 3 weeks more! It's better to throw somewhat longer if necessary - usually not an issue with BCs, but with my puppy, I needed to throw VERY long to keep the speed and focus - if any of that gets weaker when you start throwing sooner, go back to whatever gives you back the speed and forward focus, we can deal with that later!
3. as you are still throwing a toy, your movement and position probably won't affect the dog's performance - but just to be sure, do try to run with the dog here and there, just to check if that's correct. If it does affect your dog's performance, add movement gradually, by first walking slowly along, then walking faster, running slowly etc. You don't need to do it on every try, especially not if it doesn't affect the performance, but do try it here and there.
4. another difficulty we can slowly start introducing now is changing starting position of your dog. Don't use the best spot all the time anymore, but vary it a little bit. If it makes their hits too bad, go back to the good starting position. But bad hit here and there is good, that's how they learn the difference between what gets rewarded and what doesn't.
5. new trick: shape a dog to go with all 4 feet in a box that is ideally as long as he is. Then gradually use smaller&smaller objects, your goal is the dog is standing with 4 feet in a small bowl. Good for balance and rear legs awareness! Also, teach backing up with you standing still, by throwing a reward for them first for one step back, then two and then add more&more distance. Great for rear legs awareness and coordination!
Send videos of the tricks and the plank work. For slow motion part of a plank work, PLEASE cut out all the parts where I can't see the dog! It's very time consuming and not much fun to watch just the plank or you, throwing a ball, in slow motion!
Also, here is a video showing different striding on a dog-walk. My puppy Le is showing the most common striding: two hits on up plank, two in the middle, two on down. Bu has this same striding. Bi can only do that if I start her from such an angle that she has no speed coming up. Her normal striding is 4 steps on whole dog-walk, on down ramp rear feet hit first and then she lands front feet above the contact, hind feet in the middle. I think that since US dog-walks are significantly shorter as mine, many of your BCs might end with this striding. Bi usually does shorter dog-walks in 3 steps (our dog-walks come in different lengths) - you can see one of those tries in this video too. She is pretty high on my dog-walk, but comes deeply in in 3 strides on shorter ones. At the end, you can see what big area she is covering with one hit, thanks to good reach forward and hind feet separation - with one hit, she is touching almost 40% of a down ramp, that's 1,5m!
Hi Silvia,
when we make the plank higher and higher there will be a step at the beginning. Is it o.k. when the dog jumps on the plank then or would it be better to restrain the dog at the beginning of the plank?
The dog is jumping on a plank then, yes, you can see it in videos of others. It’s o.k. until it gets too high for the dog to jump on it comfortably. Then you need to find an object like a bench or a long table to restrain the dog as far from the plank as it allows.
Hi there this was going to be my exact question so ok when it is too high to be comfortable can we put it onto the dog walk as an extention low down or not, as i have seen in some videos? Thank you.
Exactly. You can use a dog-walk if you have one -- if not, a bench or a long table can work too -- the longer the better.
Hi Silvia!! I´m living for vacaitions next friday, and I will come back in june 7 🙁 so this is probably the last video I post until that.
Today I began trying to stay in diferents places and run, I used a tunel and a tire, tunel 5mt and tire 4mt from the plank. We did 3 sessions, 40 minutes of break between each one. I thik the first one was better… Do you think is better for us just to have one session per day? Maybe Acqua gets tired I´m not sure, or I should keep restraing her for more sessions?
I need and advice 🙂 I´m thinking of buying a dog walk, I don´t have to much space in my garden, so probably the best for me will be a dog walk that each plank is 3,65mt long. Do you think I have a problem when running in a longer dog walk (each plank 4,20mt)? We allways compite with dog walks 4,20mt long. Maybe I can have access to a dog walk like that 2 times in a month
Three sessions a day is a lot yes, she could be tired. I usually do one, I only do two if there are several hours in between. First session was really good. Then you’re getting so many high hits that I would switch her back to her “good spot” to start, to get more nicer hits again. But she is definitely running on all tries, that’s great! So you can get more selective now and stop clicking for the highest hits.
And hm, that’s quite a difference in length… Wouldn’t matter for a smaller dog, but I’m not so sure if this length is good for Acqua… Switching from longer to a shorter dog-walk shouldn’t be a problem, but the other way around and with so much difference in length… I’m not sure. How much room do you have left on each side of your garden if you go for a longer one?
Thanks Silvia, I think I have 6mt left on each side in my garden with the longer one, Is that enough space? In my parent´s house maybe is 10mt or 12mt left on each side, and they live 2 houses from mine, I can use their garden 🙂
What king of dog -- walk do you use in world championship? That´s my dream, compete some day in a WC 🙂
FCI rules will change next year, they will shorten the DW to be 3.6 to 3.8m (now it’s 3.8 to 4.1m), so then the shorter DW would be perfect, but if you need to normally run on 4.2… Hm. Hard decision. 6m left is not too good for RC, I guess using your parents’ garden would be better then…
Well we have FCI rules, maybe I´m confused about the lengh, so I will get 3.8mt dog-walk, is that change sure?
Try to measure the dog-walk you’ll be seeing in competitions. If it’s within FCI rules, then 3.8m dog-walk for training is o.k. They are for sure shortening the dog-walk next year, I’m not 100% my source was correct on the new length, maybe you can check to be 100% before buying one…
ik, thanks 🙂
Hi Silvia,
Here are my last 2 sessions with Beatrice with slowly increasing the elevation of the board. I think I am seeing good striding most of the time. I had not started to make my criteria for lower hits stricter in these videos. If you think my board elevation and her striding are appropriate, I will now start to try to see the lower hits for reward. I think that will be very difficult for me.
Do you have hints for how to see the appropriate hits?
What do you think of our performance in these videos?
Thanks,
Heidi
http://www.youtubev.com/watch?v=IwK7IkxyoF4
Yes, she is mostly striding well, the good thing is her leaps are very obvious 🙂 One thing to be careful about is to not get too excited about front feet deep in if hind feet are very close -- like 30. It’s o.k. to reward, but don’t jackpot. Just a warning as you seem to have preference for front feet 🙂 Front feet are good, but hind feet are at least that good too 🙂 -- see what happens if you like front feet better in Gary’s videos. I also didn’t like 19 no, I think she landed on a contact by accident, it was not in her plan 🙂
At this point, I would start selecting for low yes. Your criteria now could be that you’re jackpotting if you see feet in the middle of the contact, reward when she does her normal striding in first third of a contact and stop rewarding when only one hind leg is clearly in (and the other one is at the limit or out).
Hi Silvia thanks for the feedback. It is helpful to have very definate criteria. I will learn to love the back feet, too! 🙂
So, do you think 5 sessions at each height and then add a few inches?
Since she slipped mounting the board once, do you think I should go to a lowered dog walk?
Also, thanks for your careful attention to detail and your very prompt responses
Heidi
🙂 Yes, 5 successful sessions and then add some inches. For your next step, you can use a lowered dog-walk if you have it, of course. Start with just the down ramp first so that she doesn’t get surprised, but then take her further back for each try and then just run the whole thing. Happy training!
trying again:
Ok, I moved the plank to a big field and made her do cik/cap before sending her on it. The three shots right before the very last one are with me positioned before the plank, just making her chase the ball, on the rest you should be able to see where I am.
It still looks somewhat bouncy, doesn’t it?
MUCH better! She is running well now, so just keep working that way. Meantime, find a longer plank, this one you can only raise once and then you’ll need something longer. But I would do at least 5 flat sessions more anyway.
What a relief to hear! I’ll continue doing this for at least 5 more sessions then. Yes, I’ve got a plank that’s 4 m long but I thought I’d start with this one since it’s a bit wider. Thank you!
Hi Silvia: You last reviewed a video of ours on May 11th -- where I was mostly sending to a static toy on a double plank, covered with carpet. He was running through nicely but his long stride didn’t give me much to jackpot with regards to low hits. You suggested I might try a low dogwalk. I’ve played around with some different configurations including the low dogwalk and without boring you with all the detail, I was getting a lot of leaping. So, I went back to the 2 boards side-by-side but raised a very little. I was still getting some leaping until I figured out that was happening most always when sending him to a static toy. So I started throwing the toy and while some of my throws are really terrible and some are only a little terrible, I am getting better at throwing:-). So, here is our first session after figuring that out. The ones I rewarded with excitement were 2, 3, 6, 8 and 10. 4 & 5 were really bad throws but I kept them in so you can see how I’m challenged :-).
Would love your feedback and advice for next step.
I find it easier to throw a ball without a tug toy attached and then jackpot with a seperate tug toy. Also, it’s easier for me to throw overhand. I can’t throw it straight or far enough underhand. Just a couple of thoughts. I’m sure you’ll find what works for you. 🙂
Huh, that’s not the best toy to throw… How about a normal plain ball? It’s much easier to throw + they roll well after landing, that’s very important too. Otherwise, I agree with what you rewarded, but we need better % before progressing. So change the toy and keep experimenting on what gives you best running. After 5 successful sessions, you can raise it. Do post in between too, sometimes problems are as easily solved as getting another toy 🙂
Ok. Thanks and hopefully it will stop raining so I can video more often! On the good ones, was my timing on the throw correct? My goal at this stage was for the toy to be in motion and ahead of him when he gets to the plank (or downramp when I eventually move to 2 planks or the dogwalk). Even on my bad throws he did a good job seeking out the plank so that is positive and bodes well for future steps.
Yes, you need to time it so that he sees it before getting on a plank and throw long enough to not interfere with his running on a plank.
Hi Silvia,
I increased the length of flat planks to 24 feet so you can see 3 strides now. I think 1st rep was slow, just feeling the surface, sniffed once and turned back at end looking for reward.
2nd rep was perfect.
3rd rep I led out much farther and she leaps to beat me to the reward.
So I guess I should just stick to setting up like 2nd rep, and reward for deep hits?
Exactly. And once she is running fluently for 5 sessions in a row, add some height.
Its been raining for three days and we have not been able to get on the plank… too slippery! what can I be doing instead? the hind end awareness tricks and what else? Its supposed to rain for the next three days too!!!!!
Yeap, tricks are great for rainy days! And, if you sand your plank, it shouldn’t be too slippery.
Hi Silvia!
I’ve just came back from my vacations in Switzerland, and this is the video of our training session yesterday morning. (I worked on the first homework in Switzerland but can’t use the movie here, don’t know why).
That is our first session on a dogwalk since we worked with you during the camp. So as you said, I’m trying to throw the toy sooner and I vary the place where he starts on the dog walk. I’m quite happy with his running but I still have trouble knowing what to jackpot.
This is the video
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xirwdr_rc-lesson-2_animals
Try 1: he hits a little bit high, I reward
Try 2: he falls of the plank, no reward
Try 3: kind of a jump I think, no reward
Try 4: he runs nicely but hardly hits the contact, should I reward?
Try 5: nice one for me, jackpot
Try 6: he is even deeper, jackpot again. But I notice with the slow motion that he puts his feet on the edge of the plank. Do I have to worry that he can get hurt ou is that just a way of gripping the plank?
Try 7: he hits higher, reward
Try 8: again deep one but only with one paw, I don’t know how to reward that
/*Then we had a little break*/
Try9:He hits deep, jackpot
Try 10: don’t know what to think of this one, he seems uncomfortable
Try 11: I love that one, jackpot
Try 12: quite the same, jackpot too
I didn’t use my clicker because I forgot it at home 😛
Hi Pauline! Welcome back, those were really long vacations! 🙂 Obi is doing great, slowly take him further&further back that dog-walk and vary your positions here and there too, just to make sure he doesn’t care 🙂 At the beginning stages, you would reward 4 too yes. But by the time you get to this height, you’re slowly making a criteria more strict. At this point, I wouldn’t reward 4 or anything when he is not clearly in with at least one paw and I would jackpot when he is hitting the middle. I would also jackpot 8, that was great hind feet separation. I would reward 10 too, but wouldn’t jackpot it, because yes, it’s not the most comfortable way… Great job so far! Happy training!
Ok, thank you for the explanations. I’ve worked since this video and I noticed that he is in trouble if I’m running far before him. How should I work on that? I lowered the height of the plank for now focusing on this point but I’m not sure of what I’m doing. I’ll post a video later.
How about not being too far ahead first and then slowly adding more&more distance? Could be watching you (when you’re ahead) is causing this problem, so make sure he is focusing on a toy even with you in front.
I found the reason: it’s not about me being ahead but when I run ahead I throw the toy in a weird way (remember my great throwing abilities at your place?! 🙂 ) and it does not go straight forward but in a curve, so he has his head high in the air and jump to try to catch the toy.
I’ve started to throw the toy sooner and sooner and even let it on the ground before running so I can avoid bad throwing ans it’s much better since then!
Great! Are you still using a plank on a dog-walk? Did you try moving him further back on a dog-walk to eventually start running the whole dog-walk?
Yes we are now running the whole dog walk because I can’t put him further back if he is on it 🙂 He miss the first contact but I was at competition this week end and I noticed that if dogs are coming for further, they often doesn’t miss it. Maybe I should start him with some cik/cap so he will be more in a natural stride.
And yes we are still using the plank on the dog walk, don’t know for how long we will keep this. I plan a training session for tomorrow, we will see how it is going. But I’m very confident thanks to your wonderful advices 😀
Yes, I send to a tunnel or cik/cap before the dog-walk. But even if he is still missing up contact, don’t worry about it for now, it’s not uncommon at the beginning, when the dog is not completely sure about the dog-walk and then they get too close to it before taking off for it and therefore they land too far -- but that goes away with more confidence. As he is long-strided, he might still miss it sometimes, but I wouldn’t worry about it for now.
His progression sure sounds great! Slowly make the plank higher and then you just take it away at one point, it’s usually not a problem.
So this is our morning training:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xj1i8d_01-06-2011_animals
I was not happy of the beginning, so I stopped a while, lowered the plank and tried again. The toy is static, the only variation is me running. I have difficulties finding a pattern in his success. Can you see something that can help me? What do you think of it?
Thank for the explanation for the first contact! 🙂
Well, on first session, your plank is so bouncy that that might cause him to leap off… He also starts second session with hind feet very close, but then starts to begin to run normally and I think he is also really trying to get deep in -- that’s a good sign. But, as the down ramp is longer now because of the additional ramp, I wouldn’t work like this too long, to not extend him over the apex more as we want to -- because on many of the last tries, he flew over the apex too much to be able to do additional stride if the plank wouldn’t make the ramp longer… So at this point, using a lowered dog-walk, or, if you can’t make it lower, a normal dog-walk, would actually be better…. Hope it goes well!
httpv://www.dailymotion.com/video/xirwdr_rc-lesson-2_animals