You definitely look ready for the next to-do list! I'll be answering your questions and comment videos till Friday 29th. Then I'm leaving for EO and have the camp after that, so we'll be on break till 15th August so that everybody can catch up - or you can just master the old tricks some more 🙂 I like those breaks as they take some pressure off and I can always see a huge progress after the break! The second week of this lesson will be from 15-21st August, with no video commenting in between.
1. take your dog to a city center, a store that allows dogs (pet store?) and on a train station
2. position yourself next to a high target and now only click for circling all the way to your leg (don't click for steps in between) - name it with heel for one side and something else for the other and have a dog follow your leg when you move in a circle around the target away from the dog - then tell him to come to the other side and have him follow the other leg. Use different targets, try it on a very low one too.
3. build your own cavaletti and walk the dog over it - you can use the drawers or boxes of appropriate size and height, put them in a row and walk the dog through, just as you can see on
4. try the other version of 2on2off: instead of having them go on an object and off, stop in a position and wait, let's try stepping back into 2on2off this time. Position your dog close to a low object behind his back (maybe just a folded blanket or a low pillow first!), cue him "back" and reward for stepping on an object or trying to. Slowly, you can have a dog step on higher&higher objects - this is beginning of a handstand, but with young puppies, don't overdo the height. Instead, you can have them back up stairs for example, to challenge them some more without making it too physically demanding. You need to build balance and strength slowly enough for the dog to never be sore after. You can also teach them a "pee" trick: click when they heave one leg, searching the object - before they find it and name it, it's a fun one.
5. put your paw target on a drawer or doors or simply shape the paw touch to a drawers/doors and then select for stronger&stronger touches/pushes. The goal is to have the dog slam the doors or a drawer with power, to teach them that they control the movement under their feet and the sound and that it's FUN - my favourite trick for a great see-saw!
6. don't forget on recalls and playing!!! Also, slowly add duration to a sit up, teach crossing paws with the other paw and fade the target, check if the puppy will stay in 2on2off position until "go" even with distractions (toys and food flying around) - we'll need that for next lesson!
Have fun!
2on2off progression into handstand:
Here is our Lesson III video. For those who aren’t interested in the “visits” part of it and only would like to watch the tricks, they start at 4:52 🙂
Great paw crossing! How did you do that? Just time and practice? Thanks for the inspiration! Dondi
Nevermind.. I read your description written up in the lesson 2 discussion.. a good reminder to slow down! Thanks.
Cool, Cosi doesn’t seem to have a problem with new environments at all. Great job with pivoting, great position of hind legs and very nice vertical head. Now try to get her follow your leg immediately when you move away (try moving away in smaller steps), so that she looks even more glued to the leg. Some hoping at cavelleti at first, but very nice in the last tries. Also, VERY nice 2on2off with distractions!!! For backing up stairs, slowly add more&more stairs up (reward her right there and then ask for another step back, don’t always recall her to you for a reward) to get more fluency. Great style of hoping into 2on2off, keep making that pillow more vertical to get to the handstand. No fear about the noise or movement when closing doors and too cute with paw crossing! Great job!
We will work on what you have suggested, Silvia! Thanks so much for the feedback! We are so glad you are “back” to puppy 3 class 🙂
Hi Silvia and everyone! Here is where we are with some of the tricks! I posted one problem we are having so I could get your feedback! I am having trouble getting Heidi to do 4 in -- in a smaller box! The clips got mixed up so you were supposed to see our success before our failures but oh well! Can’t wait to get your feedback! I was really surprised at how long it took for us to get both directions of pivoting and then how long it took for her to understand what I wanted when I stepped close to the bowl! For days she would just look at me -- and it seemed like she was saying “you are in my way -- I can’t spin!” I have an even bigger appreciation for the work that goes in to shaping behaviors!
Great wait with distractions, great understanding of the release!!! Almost there with the sit up, backing up and crossing paws too! The 4in actually looks pretty good to me too, but it would definitely be easier if you had another box of in between size. You can also try holding it, maybe she is unsure about it as it sometimes move some. To me, it looks like she understands the task, but is not completely comfortable about it. So I would definitely try to make it somewhat easier. If you can’t find a good size, you can use the box she is o.k. with and limit a space in it by putting some newspapers or similar to its sides. Pivoting looks good now too. When coming to your right side, however, her rear end swings out some sometimes -- make sure you wait with a click until she is completely parallel on that side too. To promote that, make sure you are not rewarding with head in, but with as vertical, high and straight head as possible. Great job so far!
We’re on break till 15th August. Please post your videos after that date.
Hi, Mia and I are both very busy the next days, so I post our first video for this week today.
Circling on target
I haven’t been able to teach Mia to move the other way around the target. When I try, she gets confused.
Sit-up
Are we doing this right? If so, what is the next step?
Crossing paw
Mia wants to give me both front feet so eagerly that I’m not sure, she understands what she has to do. When I take away the target, she insists giving me both front feet. What do I do?
Stepping back up the stairs
Mia seems to be stuck on either the first or second step, and I haven’t been able to make her walk up the third step?
Closing doors
Mia touches the door only lightly, any idea how to make her close the door with more strength?
“Pee-trick”
I can make her lift her front legs, but I do not know how to make her lift the hind legs.
2on2off with distraction
How do I make her stay?
For pivoting the other way, try putting the object next to the wall, so she can’t keep circling one way. Jackpot any attempt in the other direction and don’t reward the preferred direction at all.
The cavaletti, you need to spread the drawers further apart to get moving of one by one foot, not jumping with hind feet together. Don’t click for jumping in and out! If she still keeps jumping, try with lower objects maybe.
Shaping is an answer to most of your questions… Don’t reward for gentle touches to the doors anymore and shape for stronger ones. Don’t help with a lure for 2on2off and reward A LOT (with much bigger frequency as in the video) for duration while adding some smaller distractions first (moving a hand with a treat around, then dropping a treat, then throwing a treat etc.) -- reward immediately after the distraction if she keeps the position and only add distractions slowly enough that she is mostly successful. Keep working on her understanding of “go”, that understanding makes introducing distractions easier -- no moving before “go”.
For hind feet lifting, capture it as she goes up with one leg to climb the stairs. For backing up the stairs, try to find lower and longer stairs first, I think she is uncomfortable on those stairs.
For a sit up, try with less support now. Don’t give her a whole arm but just a hand to lean on a little, but higher up in the air so that her paws are straight up and her back is completely vertical. Click& reward when she is not leaning on you too much.
Happy training!
Good morning everyone.
I’m having a few challenges. One is how to get 2 hind feet on an object high enough to encourage a lift of both hinds together, but low enough that they’ll still do it. Another is that the door slam is a little scary for Echo. She does it, but startles herself and backs up (she comes back to do it again, so it can’t be too scary). But I’m working on getting her to make noise in other ways as well (tipping over a heavy book, paw targeting or nose targeting a tippy object). Perch going well with all dogs at different points. Echo’s the furthest along. Cross paws still a challenge with Miss Echo’s enthusiastic double paw stabs, but we’re working on it. I’m focusing on the other tricks more, though.
I’m loving this class!
Great job with pivoting, now try using softer treats that she can eat faster and move away in smaller steps so that she stays glued to the leg all the time and starts to see it as “follow the leg” vs. “pivot on a target” as that makes future fading of the object easier. It’s not unusual for the breed to be cautious about things moving under their feet and making noise, so work very slowly on it, with many jackpots. And yes, that’s the hardest step towards 2on2off… Try finding something of the height that they can’t reach with one leg when standing still, but can easily reach it by hopping up just a little bit (one leg first, but other leaves the ground too) -- jackpot that and then go from there. Finn running around as crazy is just too cute!
I just tried the Glued-To-Leg pivoting with Echo — went very well. And we used softer treats so she ate faster. 2o2o… Oy. I need some half-thickness cushions or another quilt. We’ll keep plugging!
Working on making noise -- she’s liking it if it involves treats!
Thanks for your insights, Silvia.
<3 Finn!!
Penny's the same with things slamming/moving and making noise under her feet. I use REALLY exiting treats, very few repetitions and lots of play. And I try to control the noise/moving if possible. When starting pivoting sometimes the bowl I use as a perch slided under her paws (I have some very slippery wooden floors) and she was a bit scared. Now I only do it on a carpet. Maybe you can put a cloth on the inside of the door?
Silvia,
So happy to have you back! Here are some questions that have been floating about in my head, and I would love to hear your thoughts!!
1) How much time do your dogs spend in a crate? And what do you do with the puppy when training the other dogs? I’d love for her to be able to relax while the other dogs get their turns.
2) When do you name a trick? I’m especially confused when we are “branching off of tricks” in different directions. For example, touching the lid with the paw (name it “touch”?), then crossing paws, then sit up/beg…. Or circling around the raised plate. Does that need a name? And a diff name from finding your leg? I guess I’m overwhelmed with all the “names” it feels like I need to come up with!
3) How much do you break down shaping for a puppy vs let them get frustrated? If you try not to let them get frustrated, how you do build resilience?
4) How do you balance new tricks vs refining/branching off of old tricks? I can see that starting new tricks is much more challenging than building off of old.
5) When do you train vs exercise? And how much exercise? I’m trying to balance plenty of both, vs overdoing…
1. None (other than when we travel, in a car) after they’re house broken -- some more before that, but I will always only put them in a crate when they’re tired, to teach them a concept of sleeping when in a crate. It transfers nicely to sleeping when I’m away -- it’s really funny but even my most active dogs sleep calmly when I’m not home. When I have a new puppy, I always work with a puppy first, then give her something to chew on in a crate or another room while working with other dogs. Later on, when they understand other dogs have to get their turn too, I have them free and throw them a treat here and there (more frequently at first, less later) for waiting calmly when working with other dogs. Only La couldn’t learn that (but I didn’t work on it from beginning on), so I do need to put her in another room when working with others OR she will keep starring with such an intensity at the dog getting the treats that she will make them uncomfortable.
2. I name a trick as soon as I can predict it -- meaning that as soon as they’re offering touching the target, I name it with “tap” that I then use in different situations, also for sit up and crossing paws at first -- but then switch to a new name when they get it’s not really about touching the target anymore, but about crossing paws/sitting up. For some tricks that I don’t plan to use it as much as a sit up and similar, I don’t even have a new cue, but just use a general one. I also often don’t name tricks that include objects as an object as such is a cue, so no, I don’t name pivoting until I start using it for heel position and then just call it “heel” and “side”. There are many tricks I don’t name at all as naming is the most boring part of teaching tricks for me, so I will often need to “reshape” it some meaning click for a first though in the right direction and then have them guess which trick we’re working on.
3. I break it down A LOT in beginning stages, when they don’t fully understand the system just yet. Later on, I will sometimes let them guess longer and never had a problem with them giving up, it’s more than La or Bi for example will get so hectic in offering stuff then that they can’t think anymore, so I try to avoid such situations with them some more and will stop them being hectic with a “down” to reset the brain. I never systematically work on resilience, but always somehow get it, probably through teaching them that working with me is fun.
4. I usually start a session with a new one and then go to some older ones. How many new ones I introduce before finishing the old ones depends completely on how many new ideas I have.
5. With a puppy, I do 5 or so short training sessions per day. The rest is playing, some socialization walks, some running in the woods/water/on different grounds, playing with other dogs, recalls etc. I don’t really have a program, I just observe the puppy and do as much as it feels right. I do like to give them many opportunities to run full speed, expose them to many situations that challenge their balance and coordination, but I try to avoid too many repetitions and very long activities.
Great insight Silvia, thank you! We are not far off on most things… And gosh, we are both having sooooo much fun, we must be doing something right! 🙂
🙂
Thank you for the ‘homework’ about going to a store, station and city center. We both really enjoyed those assignments 🙂
I did a lot of those things when I first got Penny (tried to do something new almost every day for the first two months) and she really enjoyed to go out and experience new things with me again. Guess I became a little lazy after the initial socialization, but from now on I’ll try to find at least a new ‘adventure’ per week.
I didn’t get a chance to film me/her in the other environments though…
Yes, first couple of months are the most important, but well, it never hurts to do some refreshing 🙂
Hi Silvia!
Could you give feedback on the video I posted on the 8th as I am having computer trouble and can’t post another video until I get it fixed! We are still about the same spot. I have started lowering the bowl for pivoting. Still can’t get her in smaller boxes even if I put it in the one she is succeeding in! Your comments would be appreciated! Thanks so much, Stacey & Heidi
Chewy is doing really well on his pivoting (it is his favorite thing). I’m hoping to get him down on a piece of paper this week.
I’m really stuck with the crosspaws. He hits the target and then immediately lifts his paw up. I’m going to try holding the click with hopes that he will leave his paw in place.
I don’t have any stairs to back up on, so I am using boxes. He has started lifting both legs at the same time intermittently.
Chewy was getting startled by the cabinet noise in the kitchen (even with jackpotting), so I switched to our bathroom cabinet, and he tolerated that noise better.
Suggestions appreciated 🙂 I’m in the process of moving, so excuse all the boxes in the background!
Wow, Chewy did some growing! Very cool pivoting! Now try to position yourself more at the side of the target, not behind it, as his feet should be where your heels are and his shoulder where your leg is -- now he is sometimes too much infront and that also makes his rear end swing out some, because of the positioning of the target. For cavaletti, try with bigger boxes, he is hopping with those some more as you would want to. Very nice backing up the object! For handstand, both feet at once are great. For pee trick, you need one leg first, so try to teach that before you progress too far with both feet up. For crossing paws, you can try to put him next to the wall, so that he can’t move so much. And yes, delay the click and only reward those where he keeps the legs in place. Great job!
What an adorable, enthusiastic puppy!
I liked Emily’s idea about using a cloth to cushion the sound of the door closing — I’m going to try that with Echo as I too have cabinet doors that won’t stay open just a tiny amount. (It’s closed or a foot or more open for mine…)
Lesson 3, second week video:
GREAT pivoting!!! Really nice position and really looking as if glued to the leg! Very coordinated cavaletti too and amazing balance in a sit up, he is a really well balanced and coordinated pup! And no fear about movement&noise! -- Sounds like a great start for agility 🙂 Great stay until release too and getting there with handstand, try rewarding even closer to the wall so that his back is completely vertical. Also, jackpot if he hops up with both feet at the time vs. climbs up one foot at the time. To promote it, you can try to do it against “empty” object like a chair or table that don’t allow climbing.
I was really impressed with your video! So inspiring!! How old is your puppy? He looks fantastic.
Thank you! He is two years old today!