O.k., so this is our last lesson and last 3 weeks! This class officially ends on 15th August - with the next class starting on 22nd, in case fell somewhat behind and want to continue sending videos.
1. include the dog-walk in sequences, still reward really good ones or really difficult ones, but mostly, keep running as the reward. If the contact is not good, stop and redo. Try to go to as many different places and on as many different dog-walks as possible to get the dog used to everything. When first trying it on a new place, use your dog's favourite set-up, you can also throw a toy in advance if that helps. Again, new dog-walks can be a very easy step for some dogs, but a very difficult one for others. It's usually a problem with sensitive dogs, retrains or long-strided dogs if the dog-walks are different lengths.
2. even if already doing a real DW, let's go back to the table+low plank set-up, in a seperate session from DW training, put a pole at the end of a plank (where the contact meets the ground) and have the dog jump on a contact from the side to wrap a pole. Use your wrap cue first, but then switch to left/right or come/away cues as the pole won't be there for ever. Click for touching a contact with front feet (not for wrapping) and reward from your hand. Slowly have the dog jump on a plank from further&further away, so that he needs to do a stride and then two before wrapping the pole. Don't worry if hind feet are together in this case, your major focus are front feet now anyway, front feet are better for turns.
Gradually start them further&further, use less&less noticeable (smaller and thinner) pole and make a plank higher&higher and then transfer it to the real DW. Tell them left/right at the middle of horizontal plank (can be somewhat later for shorter striding dogs), first do turns vs. straight exits in different sessions, then mix it up. A warning: teaching turns might temporary make your straight exits worse, but in a long term improves them as they get even better understanding on how to meet the criteria at different speeds.
Here is Le's first session on turns and then the rest of the steps shown by Bu to give you a better picture:
As an alternative, instead of teaching turns, you can teach 2on2off (the same way, on a lower plank first and backchaining it, using a different verbal cue) and then use it for tight turns off the DW. Only introduce it on real DW once your running contacts are good enough.
3. new rear end awareness trick - backward weaving: tell the dog to go into heel position and start spinning as we were doing on the target, then very suddenly stop and step back with the other leg (if the dog is at left side - with right leg), you can also make a gesture with left hand to try to get them to keep circling below the heeling position, eventually all the way around you leg, so that they come backwards between your legs back into front position. If the dog insists on staying in heel position, you can help with the hand a little bit, lure his head out (left for 90 degrees if the dog is on left side) and say back to have them back up in your direction. Step back with the other leg enough to have them back up between your legs. Reward and tell them to heel on the other side (right) and repeat the process. As soon as you get some smoothness with that, stop rewarding for coming in between, always first tell them to come to the other leg and reward at your side in order to avoid having them back up too far - they need to stay very close to your legs all the time.
Have fun!
Like Megan, I also want to say a HUGE THANK YOU for all your help. Spur would never be having the success he is having without a RDW and without your help I don’t think we would ever have gotten it!!! He was such a huge stress and worry case, as you know (teeter crunched on his tail/bees stung him in the tunnel, etc.). This video is horrible and shows how sad things were for us -- (I almost hate to put it here, but it does show how far we have come) --
httpv://www.youtube.com/user/lwalker316#p/u/46/0NtcYYRmbyE
I am totally convinced that the RDW work helped him so much in all ways. It brought the fun back into the game, gave him confidence and speed and changed the whole thing for him. I just knew if I was going to get drive from this dog a 2o2o would never do, but teaching the RDW seemed daunting to me. Your help has been SO wonderful! I can not thank you enough!!! Spur now comes very close to beating all the dogs in his class and recently had a 5 yps run and has runs like this --
We will continue in Contacts II so we can train solid the turns and because I am simply obsessed with how fun this class is!!!
**Just to let you know Soshana didn’t drop out. Her computer died and she only has her cell phone which can’t see video well or type well, so she can’t get into the class room much, BUT Glance is doing GREAT!! She has had some really good success and I am sure she will be back to let you know herself!!! 😀
Thank you AGAIN!!!! Amy and Little Spur
Whoops, the dreadful video didn’t show. Trying again --
Amy -- thanks for sharing and congrats. The turn around is amazing!
Thanks Anne, it has been an amazing turn around and I am very proud of him! He was just asked to team with a dog who is World Team material at the USDAA Nationals this year. I am contemplating it. Not sure he is ready for such a huge stage, but maybe. 😛
Very cool!!!
Wow! What a difference! What a joy you must feel seeing him so happy and confident now. Very impressive!
Thanks Caroline!! I knew it was in him, I just had to bring it out!!! 🙂 I SO love him!!! He is the best little buddy!!!
Thanks Amy! You’ve done a great job with Spur! And yes, I agree that RC training is not just about getting those contacts. It’s about speed, motivation, confidence and having fun with the dog. I do believe dogs with RC have different attitude towards agility as those with 2on2off and well, they sure smile more over that DW 🙂
Thanks also for an update on Glance, I was wondering how they are doing! Hope to see some video of him!
Hi Silvia:
Here is our session from yesterday morning. Since I last posted, I did a bunch of sessions with a mix of backchaining and full dog walks. I was trying to get rid of the “over reaching” we were seeing and also wanted Tai to recognize that “rear feet” are ok in the contact zone…I had jackpotted too many front feet hits; and didn’t always recognize when he hit nicely with rear feet (sigh) so I missed some opportunities to reward. I have also progressed to a thrown toy after the contact performance. He’s driving nicely to a jump placed about 20 ft out.
I’m getting better at seeing what is happening “in the moment” but still need to improve. For the high hits in the video (6,8), I honestly didn’t realize that he totally missed the contact zone in these reps until I watched the video. While I didn’t “jackpot” them, they were rewarded. I’m not sure that is a bad thing considering where we are in the process.
Let me know what you think! If you agree, I plan to keep adding height and to start lesson 4 -- start slightly moving jump after DW and also start A-frame…What do you think?
Note: I had trouble with the video processing and upload. So, the video is actually only 2:16 min. The rest is just a blank screen.
Thx
Anne & Tai
Better. Still some overreaching -- 5, 6, 8 -- ideally, you wouldn’t be rewarding that, but yes, it’s sometimes hard to see. You’re definitely getting bigger % of nice hits now, but keep working on spotting and not rewarding the overreach and jackpotting the nicest hits. But yes, I guess you can slowly introduce lesson 4 too.
Ok…sounds like you think I should get higher % of good hits before starting lesson 4. I’m ok with that. I’m not sure about slowly adding height though. Should I wait to do that too? Now if it will just stop raining.
Anne & Tai
Yes, I think some more height would be the best new variable to add -- and then slowly start with others too.
Hi Silvia 🙂
I put Liryk over another different d/w last night and actually got some jumping!! Which she hasn’t done for months and months. I didn’t reward those, most of the runs were high hits with a few random nice deep ones. I’m assuming this is pretty normal to have SUCH a huge difference, but just needing a little reassurance 🙁 especially when at home we’re even doing small sequences with those nice deep hits.
Megan and Liryk
Depends on the dog… New DWs are no issue at all for some dogs, but can be quite an issue for some others. It’s great to have a set up to resort to that will give you some good tries -- like a toy thrown in advance again or a tunnel at the end or doing down ramp only etc. You can try different things to see what helps Liryk the most. Leaps and high hits on new DWs are nothing to worry about, it does goes away with every dog, but it goes away faster and easier if you have a good set up that can help her some. But the most important ting is to not panic, lower the criteria enough for the dog to not loose the confidence and give them as many opportunities to gain experience on different DWs as possible.
So here we are again after a long “break”. We have been practising some but not videoing it since I didn’t bring the equipment on the holiday.
I have realised that she always tries to leap over the contact. So, I have very difficult in rewarding her, since there is almost never anything to reward. Even though I used my family in Sweden to pull a fur on string, run away with a toy, have her dog-friend in front,.. she wants to leap the contact (ans is good at it!).
I was thinking if I should place a piece of carpet (in a clear colour) in the middle of the play mats and click when she runs over it (she does run normal on the play mats, just leaping the end). And when she knows it is about taking a step on the carpet, move it towards the end. And at the end have her take a step on the carpet, placed at the end. And then introduce the plank with the carpet (which will then be the contact zone). What do you think?
For the tricks with backing up the stairs and peeing, I am very proud as she needed very long time to even move a little bit backwards. Now, she always back up when she wants a treat.. very qute!
Oh, and of course I am doing the next course too. Although I am worried that it will be difficult to train when the sun set comes earlier as I can only train in the evenings after the kids are in bed.
Running:
Backing up trick:
Oh, and I know that the play mats are “flying” around. Will tape them together, it was the first time I used these new ones. But she didn’t seem to mind, she even run on them on the way back.
Huh, she indeed runs better on other parts of the “plank” now, but is still leapy at the end… And you get the same leapiness on any length of the “plank”? The problem with what you are thinking about is that it’s a kind of a target training that causes problems such as promoting front feet, making things too difficult to be done at full speed, so it kills the speed and makes the behaviour very hard to maintain, especially after the target is gone. But well, you can try to use it for a short period, just to get something to reward. If you go that way, only use a piece of carpet of the same length as a contact on the floor first, click for running through (front or hind feet) and once she gets it, put it at the end of the plank.
Hmm.. I have only used the shorter play mats (about 3 meters) and longer set-up (around 7-8 meters). I think she runs and leap similar on both length, I know that she definetily leap the end of both.
I will try the “target”-mat and see how it goes. I have already bought one when I was at IKEA before, it also gave some new fun about ut. A new way with hope!
I suppose I will work on it and post the result in RC II?
Anyway, this class has ben ups and downs, too little progress for us but I have learnt a lot about RC!! Thanks for never stop helping a hopeless case like ours!! 🙂
I sure hope we get somewhat further in the 2nd class! Happy playing with a target… Just make sure it’s big enough and that you remove it fast enough!
As usually I’m doing something last minute. 😉 Before the class closes I wanted to post my lesson 4&5 trick homework and one final update on Sage and Oliver’s contacts.
Here’s the trick video…
I need to go back and work on Sage pivoting right and the “pee trick” with her right leg. I didn’t include it because she won’t do it yet. Also, Oliver’s cik & cap is really slow but I think the right idea??
On to the contacts… The dogwalk I thought was fully adjustable actually only has two heights. Whoops! Oliver is doing really well at the low height but is still funny at full height. He shuffles down the full height dw to try to hit where he thinks I want. Poor guy, he’s trying so hard! I was thinking about going back to the extra plank on the dogwalk and working on rewarding good running (I never got to full height with extra plank). What do you think? As for his aframe I think he’s figuring it out and is now running full height. 🙂
Sage is stressing me out a bit. I’m worried because of the upcoming trial. She is consistently getting the 1 1/2 stride at home but only some of the time on the low dw and never on full height. Instead she seems to have concluded on full height 2 strides is the way to go. I’m not sure if that’ll hold up in a trial with more speed??? It also doesn’t look comfortable and her feet are together most of the time. I’m pretty confused. What do you think I should do? Her aframe seems ok. She’s in almost all of the time and in the last session her hits were lower than the one I’m posting.
You know how you talked about running contacts only getting better even if they’re left alone? I’m kinda temped to start sequences and then running courses with contacts even though they’re not perfect. Do you think Sage is ready for that? I’m not sure what to do about turns. I have 2 weeks to work on them and chances are she’ll see some sort of turn at the 4 day trial soooo what should I do? I’m kinda freaked out. 🙁
I’ve loved this class! It’s been amazing to have your help every step of the way. Thank you!! Sadly, I don’t think I’ll be continuing in the next rc class but I will definitely complete both dogs running contacts and I’ll be sure to post the finished product. My hope is that’s not too far away. 🙂
Hannah, Sage, and Oliver
Great job with tricks! Loved Sage’s cik&cap, really great speed!
And no, definitely don’t start turns 2 weeks before a trial! Just let her run and turn her on the floor if necessary. For now, I would also just let her do 2 strides, include it in sequences and later on work at home and on lower DW to get even more speed, lower hits and hopefully 1,5 strides. At the trial, just run, don’t even look at her to see the contact and hope for the best. As I said, it could be she will be missing some at the beginning, but don’t worry about it, keep working at it at home and just run in trials, any kind of a pressure there can only make it worse.
For Oliver, additional plank would be a good way to transition to full DW. He is definitely trying hard, even harder as you would want too 🙂
Oops I was off on the weeks. The tricks were from lessons 3 and 4.
Ok thanks. I hope the dw will get better. It’s pretty ugly right now. With time maybe she’ll figure out the 1 1/2 strides. Do you think we’re at least on the right track? Should it get better from here on out or do you think I’ll have to retrain her dw?
Yeah, Oliver does try too hard. I think he’ll get it though.
Thanks for all your help I’ve loved this class.
Yes, DW still needs some work. I think you can keep working like that, just make sure you make a big deal about the good ones.
Should my criteria for good ones be good hits with feet seperated etc. or should it be when she’s getting closer to 1 1/2 strides or both?
I would focus on good hits with hind feet separation and let her figure out the striding herself, with a help of a set up of course.
Hi Silvia,
I just want to say thank you very much for a great RC class! I’ve kept up with everyone’s posts and your replies and assistance and will use it as my reference to complete your course when I get my knee better.
About a month ago, just after posting my last video, I had problems with my knee preventing me from any form of training that requires me to do any running/turning. But it will get better, the physio assures me…
I just want to share a great experience I had with Jake last Friday that proved to me that he really knows the criteria of RC very well and made me very happy.
Wile waiting for a client to arrive for training I noticed my dog walk & jump configuration was perfect for me to send Jake ahead over a jump and turn him onto the DW, run it and me throw his reward, all without me moving. The DW was lower already because we were about to train a young dog.
I had both my dogs out already and without putting my other dog away I just sent Jake over that jump and onto the DW (while my other dog was trying to round him up from the side), and despite my other dog trying to move him off his contact, Jake outstretched his front paw to make sure he got it before he went off to the left. I thought “was that a fluke?”. So I repeated it from the same side, same result, then repeated it from the other side (moved the jump)…same result! So, he always tries really hard to hit a paw low on the DW before leaving it, irrespective of how much he’s getting bothered by my other dog. How funny! I really wish I had a video there.
But isn’t that a great testimony to how well your course lets the dogs understand what they have to do and importantly how they can do it.
Thank you again!
Ashley
So sorry to hear about your knee… Sure hope you can get back to running soon, I’m sure Jake misses it! And yes, dogs are very smart, much smarter as some people think -- for very long, people believed RCs are impossible for the dog to understand and when La proved them wrong, I still heard rumours it’s just because she is small and lucky 🙂 But by now, I guess we’ve trained too many dogs for it to be just luck 🙂 They definitely can understand it.
Oh, I guess this class has officially ended. 🙁 I thought you would enjoy seeing Roscoe do the hind end tricks. My old man (12-14 years old!) is so much fun!!! And since he won me into this class, here he is doing the back ward weaves, the pee trick and the two legged trick. He is a BIT over-enthusiastic about the back ward weaving!!! I am trying to fade the target for peeing and getting duration, and we just started with the two legged trick, so he’ll get that soon enough. I stared on the couch, so this was only session two on the wing.
Here are Spur’s latest turns. He seems to turn better to the left. I see that now with more speed. He is probably ready to put this on the DW, right?
Always fun to see little Roscoe! I would prefer Spur a little deeper in the contact, so definitely jackpot if that happens, but yes, you can take it to the real DW.
Hi Silvia, my last video for this class, I will be participating in the next class 🙂
i`m still working on the 8`s tricks.
This time was the first session witn de DW at full height, from 1 to 11 are from a little sequence where the last obstacle before the DW was a tunel, and from 12 to 21 are from a cik or a cap.
I jackpoted many tries than were not too deep, maybe I shouldn`t or was it ok because it was first session at full height?
Thank you
Well, it’s always better to reward too much as too little 🙂 I would probably jackpot some less, but that’s fine too, especially if you then get even more excited about those really good hits that you got. Make sure she sees the difference between too high, o.k. and great. And for the greatest ones, you can make an extra party 🙂 But yes, her style looks good, 5 strides are very nice: symmetrical and easy to maintain. With more confidence, she will extend even more and come even deeper, so I think you’re almost there now. Try to take her to some other DWs too to give her experience on different equipment.
And this is the second session on the A-Frame, it is not soo good, any advices?
thanks
Try to go higher. I think she will fly less over an apex then and you will get less one-stride tries. When she does 2 strides, her contacts are perfect, but she often tries 1 and then it’s too high. 2 strides are better for her, so try to go higher and just run wrap-A-frame-wrap-A-frame: throwing a ball after A-frame promotes flying and it’s good for dogs who are too short with 2 strides, but with her, we don’t want too much flying as then she goes for one stride.
Hello again one final time, Sylvia! I have SO enjoyed this class, as I’ve said before (and I’m an auditor). This past weekend Hopps (my Mal) and I did in fact go to a show, and although she was slower and thoughtful about the dog walk, she got all but the first contact; we had not begun the turn training, so I turned her on the flat and that was fine.
Our A Frame, however….yuck! Looking forward to your answer to the above video, as that’s about what I’m getting-- very high placement of feet, so high that once the judge called it even though it was in. I don’t blame her!
I can’t thank you enough for this class, and for the opportunity to participate as an auditor. My year-old is coming along well, too, although he has been a bugger to try to get to choose the plank, not the ground. It’s just him, in a hurry.!
Thanks, Sylvia, and I hope I am able to take your handling class.
Rhea, Hopps, and Aiden
Great, how cool she did that well at the show!!! As for A-frames, I think all Aqua’s 2 strides A-frames were perfectly o.k., but she is too high with 1. Are you getting the same pattern? I think a Mal should be deep enough with 2 strides, but maybe she is too high with one? Can you talk her into doing 2? If not, then try extending the existing 1 stride by throwing a toy in advance, to get her deeper with one, as some dogs are simply too long-strided for 2 -- like my Bi: she used to be somewhat high with 1, but is not always nicely in with 1, even on hard approaches/exits. It’s the same with A-frames as with DWs: they just get better&better even if you do’t do anything about it 🙂
Yes, Silvia, exactly: she has two strides going up, and often has two descending. In getting too excited, she will sometimes stride to only one stride for the exit, and then of course it’s quite high. I think it would be better on her body to have the two strides, especially ascending, as she can really SLAM into the board otherwise. It seems as if what happens when I do not work with the clicker and the lower hit on the exit, she reverts to one stride, and effectively “jumps” the contact. It’s just a stride thing, as you say, I think! But… it’s also an NQ! So, I would like to have a few sessions where I lower the A Frame for just a couple tries to really point out the hit in the yellow, and then raise it again. Do you think this is advisable? I think it is a completely honest mistake, as it’s just her natural stride. Thanks again!
Rhea
Yes, you can try, despite if a dog’s natural stride is closer to one as to two, it’s much easier to extend one as to insist on 2… I was hoping Bi will do 2 too as it looks more controlled and safer, but she just can’t do it and is very happy now that I let her do one 🙂 It looked somewhat dangerous at first, but looks really nice, controlled, safe and 100% now.
Hi Siliva, thank you so much for answering despite that the course has ended! I don’t expect another reply, but just wanted to tell you that yesterday my Mal Hopps started sailing the apex more deliberately, and to my astonishment, landed squarely in the yellow. I think you’ve been talking to her. 🙂