As you did such a great job with your first homework, you're getting some more this time 🙂 I again marked the ones to focus on first. Post wherever you end up, we learn the most through problems, so you want to post those too! 🙂 So try to view other students' videos and my comments to them too!
1. experiment with different toys and ways to play with your dog. Tape his favourite game to give some new ideas to other participants (and me!!!). From my dogs, Le LOVES to chase things on a string, especially squeaky toys, plastic bags and everything else that makes sound! La hates squeaky toys, but goes crazy for real fur and ladder. Bi loves tugging - on anything BUT real fur, she finds it really gross and won't touch it. - Not that I would be trying in that direction either, only extra durable toys can handle her bite! Bu doesn't care so much about what toy we use, but she definitely wants ME involved: running and making silly noises. She also loves when she has a toy and I'm pretending I want to steal it from her, but am afraid to do so.
2. instead of a plate, find something a little higher this time to give them a better feeling of where to keep their front legs, click first for two front feet on an object (should be easy, you want the same thing as on a plate) and then observe hind legs and click for ANY movement (even just a weight shift) and then shape from there for more&more steps around the object. I first click both directions and once I get half of a circle in both directions, start clicking one direction only and reward with a head away from me in order to get a full circle - turning the head away from you in the hardest part, that's why you want to reward with head away at this point. The final goal are full circles in both directions, with you static (don't help the dog to circle with your movement!) - I think those that have my heeling video can already do that exercise, though 🙂
3. take the plate and hold it in different positions to see if the dog understands it's the same thing even when you hold it higher, under the angle, even vertical, to his left/right etc. Try when he is standing, sitting and lying down. If you didn't name touching an object with a paw, it's time to do it now! Also, try to change objects for this exercise, sometimes also use a hand as a paw target. Once he can do all that, you're ready for next two tricks we will get out of the paw touch:
- crossing paws: tell the puppy to down (or shape it if he doesn't know it yet), then hold the plate (or, you can use another, smaller and more convenient object, like a plastic lid or a piece of paper) close to the left paw and only reward touching it with left paw. Then hold it closer and closer to right paw, still only reward left paw touches, then hold it on right paw and eventually on the other side, jackpoting the touches of left paw on a right paw now in order to eventually get rid of a target.
- sit up: tell the puppy to sit (or shape it if he doesn't know it yet), then put the plate (or just use the hand if he will recognize that as a target) low enough first that he can reach it with a paw, but then every next time, hold it a little higher - not that high that he would stand up, but high enough that the other leg leaves the ground a little bit too. Jackpot. AGAIN, don't do too much of this exercise, it's great for building muscle, but it can also make them sore if you do too many repetitions every day!
4. observe your puppy and try to find situations when he would back up - it usually happens when they're moving out of your way - or sometimes when you're working on ignoring the food in the hand. You can try to sit down on the floor with treats in your hand and click first step back with hind foot. Don't wait for more than one as they usually sit down then. Click&reward the first step and reward by throwing a treat towards the dog. Rewarding at distance (by tossing a treat instead of giving it from your hand) will help you add more&more steps and more&more distance from you. At one point, switch to rewarding with a toy, it's easier to throw.
5. 2on2off - find an object big enough for the dog to go on with all 4 feet easily - maybe just put your first 4in object upside down? - Click for 2-3 legs on and then don't click the fourth one, you don't want any duration standing there! Only click again when the dog is leaving the object, try to catch him with 2 front feet on the ground and deliver the treat while he is still in this position. You want them go on an object and off immediately, stopping with front feet on the ground. Click&reward several times for a position, then say "go"/"o.k."/"free"/whatever your release word will be and throw a treat away so that he needs to leave the position to get it and click for leaving an object too. Do this enough times that the dog starts to expect the thrown treat after "go", so that then you don't need to throw it in advance, but only after he leaves the position on "go". Do not help with body language that you want him to leave after "go" - if he doesn't know it yet, go back to throwing a treat and progress more slowly.
upps , sorry, here in Colombia we are still on nov 11…..(not on break yet….)
Games I play:
A bit late but here is a short video with me playing Tug since you wanted to see some video of us playing. Not that original! I also play another game which I did not film called “mouse” from Kay Lawrence’s “Games with a Sausage”. “Mouse” is a variation for terriers and “sheep balls” is a variation for herders. Search for “Urban Collie -- Sheep Balls”. I will post “mouse” below.
Hi Silvija and classmates.
It’s first time I’m here, I must catch up. I’ve been working hard with my little Baloo (PRT), but we also had puppy school, agility and socialization with my other dog … so no time left for camera, movie maker, youtube and … (more time needed because I use it for the first time).
I know it’s still 2 days for breake, but I have to try putting my message and video on Puppy class -- just in case it doesnt work. So I expect no comment till next week, when more description of our work follow as well. Have nice holiday till then.
Hurray, I did it
Wow, you have been working hard! GREAT job with all the tricks! Baloo is just too cute…and smart! 🙂
Welcome to you and to Baloo, future friend of my Garlic !
Cool! Very cute paw crosses!!! 🙂 You can name it at this point and then fade the target and use just a hand signal. Very nice frog too! Great backing up, try rewarding with a toy you toss towards her next in order to get even more distance. Great balance in that bowl, time to make it smaller! Great balance in a sit up too, you can try to mix in some paw touches and select for paws up -- it challenges their balance even more as when they keep the paws down.
2on2off looks ready for the next step: when the dog doesn’t go on, turns and stops, but goes over and stops in a position -- see my conversation with Anna. I also don’t understand why you click the release twice??? It’s just another action, just like a paw touch or sit or whatever. Also, when working on pivoting, you almost always click when she stops already… That makes me think you lured it? Try to make sure she is still moving as you click and if she stops before you click, wait that she moves again as you want to reward for moving, not stopping. Also, don’t reward front position (facing you) too much, it’s better to reward facing the opposite direction (the same direction as you’re facing).
But all in all, great job and very cute little dog!
hi silvija and classmates. Thx for nice welcome and advice. I’ll use all the suggestions to upgrade nice work and to corect my mistakes. That’s the reason I made puppy class entry.
2on2off -- we already work position from all directions, different turn when we are outside on various objects. I try to use clicker for sequencing -- 1 click for position (not getting reward), and double after release (getting double reward) for purpose to get 2on2off also from the distance and not returning to dog just to reward. When making the video I wanted to show all stages (how we developed combination clicking position phase ) and me stupid ;))) double clicked reflexively. I’ll think more in the future and be more careful.
Pivoting -- we started to work by putting reward at my back as when she came from the back she automatically circled with her back feet. But as frantic she is -- the circle was so fast -- she was already in front of me when click followed. She is moving nicely, but whenever I click she stops and expects food (must I mention she is food addicted) … I’ll try with your advice …. working with fast dog and catching the right moment is quite a challange. Hope next time we’ll improve.
Nope, no clicking without rewarding. At first stage, click&reward both, the position and a release. Once she knows the position perfectly even when getting in with full speed, stop clicking the position and only click&reward the release as eventually, a release word will be her only reward for staying. Clicking is only necessary until the dog is learning something and at that point, you want to reward anyway. Once they know the behavior, you don’t need to click it anymore anyway.
And yes, it’s normal and correct that she stops after the click to get a reward, but I think she stopped before you clicked, that was my only problem with it. Try clicking when she is facing the opposite direction as at that point, she is also more likely still moving while they often stop when they get in front position.
yes you’re correct, now when she knows behaviour I click at the end of the circle -- didnt want to stop her. But I’ll try to catch her in the opposite direction -- the name of the game is Catch me if you can ;)))) Thx
Baloo is doing so great!! Looks like you two have been working hard. Baloo is so cute!!
Hi Silvia & classmates,
It was great to have a break for catching up but I missed watching everyone’s videos 🙂 Here is our latest video. Zephyr finally offered full circles on the pivot & I’ve started clicking for “glued to my leg”. Does this look ok?
Zephyr still can’t balance himself in “sit up” but I hope that will come in time. And we’re slowly adding distance to “back up”.
Thanks!
Welcome back everybody! 🙂 Great job with pivoting! Those are really nice and fluent circles for such a young puppy! Glued to the leg looks fantastic too, very nice position and really great switches from one leg to another for a first session on it, great job! Getting there with backing up and sit up too! Sit up can be hard for young growing puppies, so just take it slowly. You can try holding a hand somewhat more towards him so that he is more vertical and leaning less, but if that throws him off balance, then it’s better to wait some more with that.
Thanks, Silvia!
Wow, Zephyr is doing very well! His pivoting is really great! Nice to see! 🙂
Thanks, Mona! Silvia was so right—the longer a Border Collie puppy’s legs get, the more fun they are to work with… 🙂 Zephyr’s focus is definitely lengthening along with his legs! 🙂
He sure looks completely into the game by now!!!
This break was a very good idea ! Now Garlic gives me spontaneous circles in her prefered clockwise direction and recently in other direction.
Ready for next step ?
On the video, I am luring only one time at 00:30 for end of second circle
nice job -- new Baloo’s friend. we can use your example to correct our pivoting. Right Silvija? Keep on good work.
With some less clicking please! 🙂
Cool, but hey, what’s that clicking without rewarding?!? You need to reward after every click!!! When going for less rewarding, you need to click less too 🙂 I would do some sessions more to get even more speed and then go to the next step.
Thanks ! I am really novice in clicking ! I try to stop clicking when nothing happens, but only during action. It’s clear on the video that I click many times during action without rewarding, as if I want to get more action with clicking !!!
Another point, I will check with another target a little higher and with smaller diameter, to prepare next step and stay closer to the target.
Yes, you were clicking the right thing -- you just need to reward after the click! You don’t need a higher target for the next step (if anything -- lower…) and you also don’t want it smaller in diameter, this one is just fine.
Hi, nice to be back from the break! 🙂 Here’s some videos I made (sorry about the audio quality, I don’t know how to fix it). I have a feeling we’re still lagging behind, but I guess we’ll just have to do things on our own pace.
First some more playing. I also included some recalls although that was task of our first lesson.
Here’s some backing. Papu can actually back quite a long way but he never goes a straight line so I’m trying to get him to back just a step or two without any side steps. As you can see he still offers a lot of sidestepping and also nose touches on the floor.
I finally got Papu convinced that he doesn’t have to stand while touching the target. When he’s sitting he can touch the target which is 10-15 cm from the floor but not higher. I think the problem is that all his weight is still totally on the front feet. I try to get a video soon.
Here he’s lying down. I’ve been trying to get crossed paws but I’m not sure if he’s physically capable doing it: he has very wide chest and short feet. I’d love to get some feedback on this! Has anyone had any success with a corgie?
Hey, this is very weird! The link I try to post just disappears! I try once more:
Papu is too cute! For straight backing up, you can also use a wall on the side he is curling into -- it usually fixes the problem also when working without a wall later on. I think he could cross paws if he kept the other leg more in -- he moves it out some. If he knows the names of each of the paws, you can go back and forth between one and another: ask for the first one and as that brings it in, try the other one next, the first leg closer in will make it easier for him to cross them. Long back dogs are usually great in keeping the sit up position, but I can imagine the push up can be hard. So I think for him, it would actually be easier if you start it with a nose touch, positioning your hand just a little bit above his nose and clicking for pushing up to touch it -- as that will give you a better weight distribution and will make a push up easier. You can then get high paws with a target, but maybe first work on sit up like that.
Thanks for the tips! I’ll report back soon. 🙂
Yeah, back to class -- hello everybody! Although I must admit we were kind of lazy in the break, only recalling things we learned already…
I have a general question for Silvia and all others with more than 1 dog -- do you use the same clicker for all your dogs? Did you ever make the experience that it confused your dogs when you worked wit one and another one is standing right beside?
I never cared which clicker I use I just grab the one I find first and I always had the feeling my dogs know exactely whose turn it is plus I found it is a good training for working with distraction and for the others to remain calm and wait until it is their turn…
Happy to hear your thoughts!
Another clicker for every dog sounds way too complicated in my world 🙂 I use the same one for all, with others around and they’re smart enough to know who I’m working with 🙂 To be exact, when I have a new puppy who is still learning about the system and all, I do put her in another room when working with other dogs. Later on, I don’t do that anymore, but will still be tossing treats for her for staying calm when working other dogs -- and then less&less.
Hi, welcome back!
It says it’s a duplicate, we can’t watch it…
Welcome back Silvia!
Here our work with Kalhy. I am very busy with my studies but I did my homework
as often as possible^^ Kalhy will be 5 months old next week.
Oh, little Kalhy is not so little anymore!!! And wow, you sure mastered many tricks, what a great balance and duration with a sit up, great distance with backing up, very cute independent paw crosses and very nice stay in 2on2off until the release. You can also try running her over the object now and having her stop in a position (vs. getting on and turning before getting into the position) -- especially if you’ll be using it for contacts -- not so important if you will be teaching running contacts. Pivoting looks good too, but oh, you’re also often late with clicking the circling and click when she is already static and you’re almost feeding her already… So try to be a little faster there! Looks ready for the next step though, great job!