Time for a new lesson! And a "catch-up break" 🙂 With every class, we do a two weeks break for those who got somewhat behind to catch up and for those who are on schedule to give a dog a little break from plank running. I'll be answering your questions till Tuesday 4th October night and then again after 14 days, from 19th October morning again. Please don't post your videos during this time, I won't be reviewing old videos as things can change in 2 weeks.
If you're behind, make sure to complete lesson 1 before you start with lesson 2 and that you complete lesson 2 before starting with lesson 3 - you can't jump steps, there is a reason I'm giving you this assignments in the order that I do!
1. switch to a static toy, position it at the bar of a jump with a bar on the ground. The jump should be straight forward after the plank, about 7m away. The goal is the dog starts to look for a jump, knowing the toy is there. Occasionally, still throw a toy in advance, but mostly, have it there. When the dog already knows where it is, put a jump bar very low and a toy behind it (close after it, but far enough that the dog can land normally). Keep it there long enough that the dog is expecting it there. When you see the dog is pulling well towards the jump, knowing the toy is there, stop leaving the toy there and throw it after you click the contact, so that the dog gets it after the jump.
The goal is to switch from a static toy that is there as a target for the dog to focus him forward to a jump as a target to focus the dog forward and a toy as a reward we throw AFTER we see the contact is good. You need to be pretty quick as you don't want the dog to wait for the toy - so quick that I sometimes throw it before I realize the contact was actually not THAT good - but it gets easier 🙂 I guess this step will finally make everybody worried about rewarding leaps happy as now, you can withhold the toy for unsuccessful tries. HOWEVER, make sure the dog successful rate is high for this step as otherwise, you can loose the speed and get the dog checking back with you if you're throwing a toy or not. The same can be dangerous if you're late throwing a toy.
This is usually an easy step for BCs who will run full speed in anticipation of the toy, but can be a very hard one for some other dogs. For Le, that was the hardest step. She was running beautifully if the ball was still rolling when she saw it, but if I threw it that early that it was already static when she saw it (or when I positioned it there), then she didn't extend well enough. What finally worked was going few steps back with height, exciting her a lot with a toy, throwing it at the jump and sending her quickly to the dog-walk. That made her striding good enough to continue long enough to have her look for the jump and then I quickly switched to a toy, thrown after the contact is done, over the jump. That temporary caused some checking back with me, so I needed to go back to a stationary toy again, but then she finally got the idea to keep running full speed towards the jump/tunnel and trust the toy will appear then 🙂 and that again gave me the beautiful striding I had before trying to get rid of a toy, thrown in advance.
If the transition to a stationary toy is too hard, another way to try to avoid that phase is to pretend you are throwing a toy in advance, but then only throw it after. OR, using a tunnel as a way to focus the dog forward and throw it after the tunnel - works great with tunnel crazy dogs, didn't work with Le. Try and report back if you have problems.
2. keep adding height. If you have an option, it's also time to try the real thing. If you don't ahve a low DW you can use a normal dog-walk with additional plank at the end. Start with down ramp only and then slowly put the dog further&further back until you run the whole dog-walk.
When trying this or any other, new variable, don't vary other variables - make it as easy for the dog to succeed as possible. You can also lower a criteria somewhat. Normally, your criteria about hits by now should already be to be deeply in the contact - but temporary, you can click for good tries on a limit too, IF hind feet are well separated and the dog is not leaping.
3. new trick: have a dog back up on something very low and preferably soft first (folded blanket, low pillow) - then slowly add height, so that they need to pick up their hind legs higher&higher. At the same time, you can teach a "pee trick": click for lifting the leg, searching for an object, before they touch it. Make sure to try to get leg lifts on both sides - they usually prefer to go up with the same leg, so try to sometimes position them somewhat diagonally in front of an object so that their preferred leg is too far from it to start with that one. Also try climbing stairs backwards and cavaletti backwards.
Have fun! I'll be back to answering on 19th October and will publish new assignments on 7th November, so you'll again have 3 weeks to work on this assignment in class form - and 2 additional weeks to either catch up or take a break 🙂
Silvia, I spent a lot of time making sure that the DW was solid. I thought that because the down ramp was so bouncy that could have been why he was leaping. I placed a treat bowl 20 feet from the end and a tunnel 18’ from the DW and his first two runs were in the yellow. Not sure where his back feet were. Then he started leaping. So I then placed one of his toys 20 feet from the end and the first time he did slow down and was in the yellow. The next time he went to his 2 on 2 off position. I tried several times but he just did not want to go to a stationary toy. But if I threw the toy he would run and leap again. So I lowered the DW down from 12.5 inches to 7.5 and had the same results.
Now what?
No Video included.
His problem is he is between 4 and 5 strides and hitting the contact would require more adjustments from his part as the dogs are able to do at this stage. If also stationary food/toy doesn’t give us the right striding, then I would go back to a thrown toy, starting him at different points of a DW and jackpotting for hitting the contact, first trying to find a good spot for him to get many nice hits, then challenging him some by moving him slightly off that spot. Another thing you could try, if you have a little hill where you could train, would be to go back to the plank, positioned on an angled ground so that he is running downhill over the plank. Whole DW is too hard for him for now because he is between 4 and 5 strides there, that’s why lowering doesn’t help. MAYBE, raising it would help: if you saw Nancy’s Springer, she was having problems with low DW as she was going for 3 strides there, but does 4 on a higher one, so she is doing much better on a higher one…
Hi Silvia,
Here’s Zap and Spec’s latest. They had a week off due to my traveling. Prior to the break Spec’s rate of reinforcement was improving. Yesterday we had a session I wasn’t too happy with. I see no reason to post it unless you want to see it for some reason. Today’s session went better. The DW is at 12″. It’s been at that height for sometime now. I’ve been working on starting him from various positions on and off the DW to see if he can hit the contact zone. The toy is static beyond a jump standard. Haven’t added a low bar yet. I’m usually walking when he’s on the DW. My question for Spec is, should I start adding some height now? If yes, then how much at a time since he’s a good size BC, 21.5″.
With Zap I’m working her ‘running into a wall’. Using solid looking wings 25 ft off the end of the DW. Usually I throw the toy after she hits the contact. Some of the time I leave a stationary toy. I try to vary my running position each time. I also vary how Zap starts each time. The problem is she knows there isn’t a toy there and is looking back at me toward the end of the down ramp. I think this is causing her to come off higher than I care for. On the other hand do I want her to look at me when I’m behind because I will be cueing the next obstacle? Should she not look at me until the DW is completed? Final question. Do you give a command to the dog when they are on the top ramp to ‘go’ when you are driving straight ahead to an obstacle or just use the obstacles name? Should I continue with the ‘wall’ work or switch to working a jump slightly off midline of the DW?
As always, thank you for you help.
Spec looks great! You can raise the DW some. Or are you asking about raising the jump? Well, you can raise both, both for like 7 inches.
Zap is also doing great considering the new variable. I’m actually impressed by how nicely deeply in she is getting even when turning to you so much -- it’s hard to get that, so I actually prefer forward focus. When there is straight exit, I will say my go-go-go already on an up ramp and then when nearing the down ramp also say obstacle name. For left&right, I say it on a horizontal ramp, but even with left&right, I don’t like them to look at me -- I actually don’t like looking at me at any point of the course 🙂 Try always rewarding after the next obstacle, so that she doesn’t look back in anticipation of a toy but is instead searching for the next obstacle to take first. So yes, you can go to off set jump after DW, but can sometimes still practice going into nothing or towards “the wall” too -- but maybe when she has more forward focus.
I was curious about cuing obstacles too. Its a mouthful to mark the contact with “yes” and immediately say “tunnel”…is that incorrect? Should I say “tunnel” while nearing the down and still mark the contact with “yes”? Is this too much for Da Vinci right now?
In trails, I would say tunnel first and then “yes” for contact. But in training, with just one obvious obstacle after DW, I actually rarely bother to call it. I also sometimes won’t say obstacle name in trials, if it’s very obvious where we are going. -- Well, I will say “tunnel” for Bu to cheer her up 🙂 -- “tunnel” will definitely get her deeper to the contact 🙂
HI Silvia and Classmates,
Spec: Raised the height to 18″. First session was not good. Low reward rate. In viewing the video I realized the ramp was very bouncy. Next session I forgot to hit the record button but did stabilize the ramp:(
Oct 23 Session was a little better
Oct 24: Embarrassing to admit I missed some rewards. Should I be rewarding when one foot hits the end of the ramp?
I usually change his starting position with each run unless he missed. Then I’ll give him a couple tries to work it out. If he still hasn’t gotten it, then I’ll start him from somewhere so I can reward, then go back to the other spot.
Should I raise the ramp, it is currently 18″? The jump is now at 8″. Using a stationary toy after the jump.
Zap: working on offline jump. Problem, when it got offline by about 5 feet she started cutting the corner. Should I put a pole at the end of the ramp? Will start her from a different location each time she is successful. Will mark the contact and then throw toy after the jump if successful.
Should I have rewarded the higher hits?
Off to a trial the next 3 days.
Your suggestions are always appreciated. Thanks for your help.
Cool, Spec seems to be getting it! You can definitely raise it some more. I would mostly be doing full DWs though (from different approaches), he doesn’t need so many partial DW running anymore as he needs experience on a real DW. I would be rewarding one foot touches if above the lowest slat: lower as that, many judges won’t see.
With Zap, I would be doing some more straight exits to get more confidence and lower hits. Try to set the tunnel straight ahead and then one off set jump and then vary some, going to tunnel mostly and to off set jump just occasionally -- that might help with her peeling problem. I do make sure the dogs see all the possible situations in training, but actually don’t train turns too often as it can affect their confidence and give you higher hits. Jackpot the lowest ones and reward anything with at least one foot nicely clearly over the black line.
Hi Silvia and Classmates,
Been working on getting lower hits with Zap. Last couple of sessions have been straight ahead into nothing. Another session was with a low jump 25 feet straight ahead. I’ve been rewarding for lower hits but not rewarding for the higher hits. Do you agree with that? It seemed if I rewarded for the higher hits than she just kept giving me hits that were higher than I would like. What is the ideal place for the dog to be hitting in the contact zone? I realize this could be somewhat dependent on if the dog is going straight vs. turning. I vary the approaches to the DW. Sometimes it is straight ahead out of a tunnel, other times it is a jump with a turn to the DW.
Definitely need help with Spec. He was doing much better at 18″ so raised DW to 24″. First session was a disaster. I thought it was the new height. I tried varying approach to DW, started from different places on the DW, he hit a few times. I then lowered DW to 22″. Seemed a little better. Next session it was back to missing the contact area. He is usually fine when he is started on the DW. The last session he was almost always missing from the tunnel to the DW so I went back to starting him on the DW and slowly moving back toward the beginning of the up ramp. It hasn’t helped that I’ve missed a couple good reward opportunities:( What should I do? Thank you for your help.
Sorry, posted a video twice. This is Zap’s latest
Nice to see Zap is hitting really every time now, but yes, do select for deepness, don’t reward high hits and jackpot nice deep hits. What I mean with nice, deep hits with good separation… -- see the photo -- that’s a pretty good separation for a dog who is under 15″ 🙂 and a nice, in-the-middle hit. I like all hits with two feet nicely in and well separated.
For Spec, I would again like to see the whole DW in slow motion. Is he trying for 3 strides/4 hits? He is not leaping and I actually like his extension and hind feet separation on those tries he is too high… -- If only he would be somewhat lower! Let me see his whole DW to decide if we want another stride or we want to extend the existing ones.
thanks for the picture. That is very helpful. Zap has a ways more to go before she’s consistently that deep.
Here’s Spec on the full DW in slow motion. When starting him in various places on the DW I have a much higher reward rate. It’s off the DW that has become the problem:(
How many strides would you say Spec is taking? Thanks again.
Yes, that’s 3 strides when coming with speed… Try raising DW some more as that makes it less tempting to go for 3 strides and switch to uglier approaches: set a pole at the beginning of a DW so that he needs to go around and still comes on straight to avoid falling down or something, but send him to it from an angle, so that he has less speed getting on.
And well, you can’t expect the same deep hits in every situation. But I like to have them as deep in ideal situations (straight entry&exit, good grip on DW) so that they’re still nicely in when the situation is not ideal and they are higher.
Thanks Silvia. Will try hard approaches today.
Hi Silvia and Classmates,
How much do you think I should raise the DW for Spec? Worked ugly entries. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the good trend continues.
question: what do you do if they drop the bar after the DW? Or before the DW too. Since my criteria is the contact zone I’ve been ignoring it. Do you just ignore it at this stage and then address it once they are at full DW height and have more experience?
As always, thanks for your input.
Looks great! Try raising it for 8 inches or so. And yes, to avoid bar problems, I keep the bars VERY low (like 10 inches for BC size) for very long. I actually only raise them shortly before including DW in sequences, all other work is with very low bars. If they still knock it, I ignore it yes.
I can’t seam to get things to post tonight. Only portions are posting. So one more try. Here is our running contact practice today. Leap leap leap. She was nailing them prior to today. I must say she is so fast I thought she got a couple and marked and rewarded. Them. Slow motion showed I was wrong. Interested in your input. Thinking tunnel or jump at the end. Static toy slows her down a lot.
Try throwing sooner. I think she is shortening the stride, looking back and leaping in anticipation of the toy. Lesson 2 asks for earlier throws anyway and your throws are too late even for a late throw -- and of course far from early throws.
Hi Silvia and classmates,
Congratulations Silvia, La and Bu! I enjoyed watching your runs at the worlds!
I haven’t had the opportunity to work on the dogwalk much lately. I was able to get out to a training place on the 10th. I was previously putting a plank on a 10″ table. In this session I switched to a half height dogwalk. A bit bigger jump in height than I would have liked but I couldn’t lower the dogwalk more. The training place only has one table and I am usually there by myself and it is difficult even lowering the dogwalk to half height. I thought that I would give it a try and if it was disaster I could try something else. I don’t think that it was. I haven’t had a chance to get out again. Hopefully tomorrow. Nessa picks up on things quickly so hopefully this was okay.
I tried to record where I started her on the dogwalk. At first I put her 1/2 way on the flat part of the dogwalk and at the end I had her running the whole dogwalk. Not sure if she was going as fast I would like but she was in season and it was her first time on the whole dogwalk. I have a toy placed on the other side of a jump. I included more of the tries this time so that you can see how she was doing when I made the big jump in height. I also didn’t realize how many I had done that session but hopefully the video is not too long. She had a break between 18 and 20.
Thinking about trying to rent a building, putting down mats and buying a dogwalk. Might end up costing me a small fortune though ;). Classmates -- any suggestions on where to buy a good adjustable dogwalk in Canada or the US? I was hoping to use dogwalks at training centers in my area but not working out the way I had hoped.
Great! Really cool for first time on DW! Could be somewhat faster, but it will come with more experience. You can try running more yourself or throwing the toy again some. Good luck with your winter project… Renting agility area sure sounds cheaper though, but yeah, not always easy to find one…
Teresa,
I rented a dog walk from our local guy who provides equipment at trials. Do you have someone like that in your area who you could ask?
The one I’m renting adjusts to 2,3 and 4 ft. He does sell them too. I can give you contact information if you want to buy one.
Kristin
I was looking at buying one too, but they are very expensive -- almost $2K. Hill Agility makes an adjustable aluminum dog walk that is light so you can move it on your own -- they deliver to US and Canada. I was lucky enough that my uncle is a welder and he made me the bases and I bought three 12 foot boards and made my own adjustable dog walk. The bases are really simple. If you can find someone that welds, I can send you pictures of my bases and you can make your own, for a fraction of the cost…
Ania
Hi, Huge CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU!!! We took a break from any plank work for the break the only time he did a dog walk was at Nationals and he had one leapy one and one nice one. When I look at the leapy one I notice that he did 2 strides on the top plank which I think is why on the down plank his striding was funny and he jumped. When he does one stride on the top plank then it sets him up better for the down. Today I did one plank up and one 17″ down and he really couldn’t get a good foot pattern so I went to just the 17″ down plank and he did better. Really it’s a mixed bag still…but having a blast working on it!!
I hope Nationals went well!!! And yeah, this mini A-frame set up promotes flying over apex too much and then he doesn’t have enough room for another stride… It would be better to either use a table in between or build 2/3 DW. He is doing great on just one plank, but we somehow need to get to the next step, without loosing the nice running…
At first congratulations with the results on de WC!! Very very good!!
The night before you left for the WC I posted a video, but you didn’t see it I think. So without your comment of that one, I was a bit lost the last weeks. Instead of catcing up I completely lost it with Dazzle. We went the a full low DW, and he jumps off really high (it’s not leaping off but far before the contact jumping off). He was so insecure that he returne to his 2-on-2-off position. So we get back to the beginning, the carpet and rebuild it from there. In the setup table single downramp he shows really nice contacts with hind leg and hind feet separation. Now back on 2/3 of DW only jumping off. I tried to start him from the DW and back chain him to the end, but also a lot of leaping or front feat hits. He is not adjusting his striding (but maybe it’s too soon to expect that from him), so I start him from different places from the DW, too see when he will hit the contact, sometimes he is doing it perfect, then I think he understands it, we start from the same spot and then again a lot of jumping.
I try throwing a ball, stationary toy, the electronic ball thrower with the contact mat (than I get a lot of front feet hits, but he is hitting it) what do you prefer to use?
In my video I will show you the last training so you can see what happens. Start from beginning of DW and then back chain him. I’ve cut out a lot of tries, now it seems like we, despite of the jumping go further but it’s not. We only get one step further (to the beginning of the DW) when he showed a few good attempts. Step by step we get to the beginning of the DW and then again jumping off. And then we go to the end of the DW and start all over again . . . Also when we start from the DW we lose hind feat separation, then he is not running hard enough.
What am I doing wrong? I’m clueless don’t know what to do now, but that’s way we are in a classroom 😉
Actually, 15 was my favourite try as he is running normally there. He would need to extend some more to be in, but that shouldn’t be too difficult to get, as long as he is running nicely and not really leaping. Can you make a video of a full DW, like jumping on a table with speed and running 2/3 or even running the whole low DW? If he is running as in 15, that would be pretty cool, we can then shape for lower hits. At this stage, it’s normal they can’t always be in, so there is nothing to panic about, as long as the dog is running, not leaping. It is too soon to expect him to adjust his striding yes, but maybe we can help him some and then slowly challenge him some more. Sorry to miss your last video…
Today we did 2 sessions with the whole DW, it was much better!!
I jackpot was this time tugging, he really should not do that, because he builds an excessive muscle tension, but that what he finds so wonderful and I hoped that this way I could really jackpot his great attempts 😉 At first I got a few tries as #1 then a few nice jackpots. He makes the DW in 6 strides (is it too much?) Attempt 5 he misses the contact, I did not reward him, he is uncertain and his next try he do 2on2off, silly dog 😉 I see that his speed with a static toy slightly decreases, in the second session from # 2.3 I throw a toy.
What to do next?
In my counting (full strides only) that would mostly be 5 strides. It’s unusual considering how short your DW is, but I wouldn’t worry about it and instead focus on his hind feet separation and deepness of his hits. I would stay on this height for a while and throw a toy for a little bit longer to make sure you get really nice, deep hits (2.7 would be perfect) for several sessions in a row and only then challenge him some again, maybe by adding some height first and then by varying approaches some.
Thx Silvia, I will stay on this height for a while and throw a toy. And then adding some height before I will challenge him with the approches.
Silvia, What would be the easiest way to find Nancy Springer’s post and your comments?
Bill
Silvia, One other question: Was Nancy Springer having a problem with leaping?
She was having the same problem as I see on that first DW you sent: the dog is running, but they end up too low to add another stride and too high to be in a contact. I don’t know where exactly her videos are, look for videos of the only Spinger Spaniel in the class.
Silvia,
Congrats on all your success at the WC!
Here’s my latest video. The setup is full length dogwalk -- coming from wrap around a stantion. Static ball placed at the jump about 20′ from the end of the down ramp.
Once I put the jump out there it’s serving as a target of sorts and now he will drive pretty nicely to the ball as he knows it’s right at the jump. This really helped keep him on the plank as we got rid of my bad throwing and now he’s rarely coming off the sides. I had started off a bit too high as it was convenient and he wasn’t getting any jackpots at all so I lowered it and then the jackpots came back. YIPPEE!
I think he is actually starting to understand how to change his stride here too because before he would only come into the yellow if his first hit on the down ramp was really high.
I jackpotted 1.1, 2.3, 2.4 (hopefully the night session isn’t too dark to see).
rewarded 1.2,1.3,2.1,2.2
Then i raised the planks some and it still seems good (i also messed around with less motion from me since it’s hard to run on wet grass in rubber boots -- pretty sure the planks are the least slippery surface in my yard):
I jackpotted 1,2,3 rewarded 4,5,7
Unfortunately, yesterday Punk split a toenail up into his toe on his morning run/swim (i’m guessing). So we will have a few days of no training at least. I’m hoping i might be able to do some things with his bootie on if it’s stops being so sensitive! We should be able to work on the tricks at least!
When we start up again should i just keep raising the planks or try to challenge him with different entries? I don’t have a tunnel -- and basically just enough room for the jump + a little run out after the dw.
Thanks!
Great!!! Always a joy to see such a big dog running so fast and confidently over the DW! He sure seems to be adjusting to hit the contact -- that’s GREAT, the most important step of the process! And yes, time to try some different entries first and if that goes well, raise it some again. Great job!
Haha, this “big” dog is little to me ;).
He’s about 22 3/4″ which is on the smallish side for males about 50lbs- my current competition dog is more like a small pony at 25 1/2″ and 63lbs.
Still sounds big to me! 🙂 We don’t see many Goldens in agility here… And those that we do are fat and slow, so it’s really a joy to watch yours!
HI Grace:
I love watching your boy! He is very slight for a Golden. I compete with a 7 year old female Chesapeake Bay Retriever. I think she is small at 21″ and 50 pounds! She was trained 2o/2o and if I could have done it over again I would have trained RC with her.
Shona
Hi Shona,
Thanks! Punk is only 10 months old at this point so he will probably get a bit bigger but hopefully not much. Your Chessie does sound pretty small too.
I’m bummed at this point because he broke a toe nail badly -- going to the vet tomorrow but I’m thinking that he’s going to be out of commission for a while. I don’t even know if he did it training or just in life since he tends to have little concern for his well being. We had just made a breakthrough too so I’m sad to have to stop. He is apparently sad too because every time I let him out he goes and stands on the dogwalk to remind me we should be doing something with it 🙁
Punk is sure amazing! So sorry to hear his nail is still not o.k… I sure hope he is back to running soon!
Grace, looking GREAT! Sorry to hear about the nail 🙁 Hope it heals quick!
Hi Grace,
Sorry to hear the news on Punk. I use to have a Great Dane that had problems with her nails. She would break them to the point they would have to sedate her to fix it. The nails always seemed to heal very fast. Hope Punk has a speedy recovery.
Maureen
Thanks everyone!
Since Silvia inquired about his nail -- here’s the latest news. He was still really hurting at the beginning of the week so we went to the vet and the vet removed the broken part of his nail. The vet said that the base of the nail is still there which is good news -- he also thought Punk would be running around at the end of the week. Today he is still limping a bit when the nail touches the snow/mud/wet uck in the bad yard (yes, i said snow). It was a bit oozy earlier. We have been soaking in epsom salts. I hope he will be able to run & play in a couple more days as he is insane with the ‘rest’ now!
In good news we have been working a lot on backing up onto things and lifting a rear leg.
I’m a bit suspicious that he may have broken the nail doing RC work. My planks meet with a bit of a lip, not bad but still a little bit. I’m not sure how to get rid of that. Then again he may have done it running over roots & rocks.
I’m sure he will be happy to be back to running! Our DWs usually have a smaller rubber piece over the apex, where the two planks meet. You can try finding something like this and then fixing it over the lips.
Today I let him really run around for the first time and the nail was bleeding quite a bit. This was just running in the soft snow -- didn’t seem to bother him at all during or after but I’m not so sure I really want him on the planks quite yet.
We got >1 foot of snow Sat. night and a giant tree fell on my dw setup. Most of the snow has melted now and i got rid of the tree. We are still without power (on free wifi now) so i can’t even keep up with others videos now :(.
I do have an idea for a foam piece to transition between my planks -- so i will take care of that at least. Our dws also do have that rubber piece but what i have at home is just planks not a real dw.
Sure, foam or carpet should work too. I hope his nail is better soon, not being painful anymore is already great!
Finally got back to our DW work. (His nail is a ton better and the snow and downed trees are gone.) I put some carpet pieces on the plank transitions. We are working at the same height but I have varied his starting positions and am trying to pay attention to his ups as well. Still just running to 1 jump straight ahead with his ball stationary at the jump which works great for us.
I didn’t slow it down because I think you can see it pretty well. 2 jackpots, 1 leap which i clicked and the rest rewarded. Silvia, are those 1 front foot hits ok to reward -- i think they aren’t too low to see so probably still reward them right?
If I understand the striding correctly he is giving me a lot of 3 strides right? Well, more in the first half on my left and more 4 strides when on my right for some reason (i’m up against the fence so perhaps he doesn’t come in as fast on my right). I need to move the DW in my yard to accommodate more entry positions. Should I also go up in height?
Thanks
-grace
I think he is mostly doing 3 strides and a half -- therefore hitting with front feet. When he goes for 3 only (front feet don’t land on DW anymore, but on the floor), he is sometimes too high. He might switch to 4 strides (hind feet hitting) with more height. But yes, sure, his front foot hits are very nice and you should definitely be rewarding those too. He certainly looks ready for some new challenges so yes, either move the DW or raise the height first and move it then -- just don’t do both at the same time 🙂 The third variable you can change is moving an exit jump somewhat -- so still plenty of work -- but so far so good! I would probably raise it first, then move it, then move the exit jump again, then raise it again etc.
Sorry to hear about the nail. I hope it will heal quickly. Sending healing thoughts his way… 🙂
Tried a couple of things today. Throwing sooner and a static toy. Only got a couple of good hits.
Definitely better, but still not as good as one would wish… Do you think she understands jackpots? Or just runs to that toy and is happy to get it no matter what happens after? It might help to try to get rid of a toy, maybe by always sending her through the tunnel first and then only throwing after the tunnel -- maybe she thinks and tries more then? You can also try starting her at different points of DW to see if there is a good spot that gives you good hits.