O.k., time for your first homework!
1. find a way to make your dog run as fast as he can, tape him from the side and study his striding in slow motion or even frame by frame: how far apart his hind feet are, how far forward hind feet reach over front feet, how long and high the stride is, how his back look like and where his head is: many people think you want low head for running contacts, but in fact, you want the head look exactly the same as when running full speed in the fields 🙂
2. have a dog run over the plank, tape him from the side and compare it with the video above - you can tape it at an angle you're currently at. If you're just starting, restrain the dog before your plank, carpet or whatever you're using, throw a toy and release. Slowly bring the dog further away from the plank to really have them come to the plank with full speed. You don't need to overdo the distance, especially if you have long plank/carpet, as finding the plank could be problematic or the dog before you add some more height on it. Mark anything that looks like running in the fields from the first video, jackpot when feet are close to the end of a plank/carpet. Don't forget to click it or at least mark it with your voice! I prefer clicking, but you can also first use a voice and start clicking later, when you know your dog's stride better and can predict it better.
As we already discussed in comments before, we're for now throwing a toy in advance, letting the dog chase it, in order to get full speed. So yes, the dog is rewarded every time with a ball - so make sure that you really make the best tries even more special, use excitement in your voice, a play of tug on his favourite toy or food if that's his real preference - in short: make a party about the really good ones and don't worry about not so good ones - just throw that ball again! 🙂
3. to make it easier for the dog to understand what you're clicking for on that plank, we'll be teaching some tricks that are the best to help them understand how to use their feet and that you might be clicking them for using them. The two things you will try this time is cavaletti work - walking the dog over drawers or boxes on the floor - and teaching the dog to step with front feet on an object and clicking for any movements of hind feet: the final goal is a full circle in both directions, but first click even for just a weight shift and then go from there.
Post a video with all 3 assignments, first two also in slow motion please! This is a good check-up for those who are already running their dogs on a raised plank and a good stride-study that will help you see and mark the correct striding better for those just starting.
Also, read through the comments and see the videos in introduction page, you can learn a lot through videos and comments of others. Once you see your dog is running nicely, with an even stride, hind feet separation and hind feet reaching further from front feet (see discussion and video on that we had in comments!), you can put a brick or something under one end of the plank and have them run over slightly elevated plank - I'll tell you when you're ready based on the videos you'll send.
Left front foot just left the ground, hind feet reaching forward - this is what I mean by hind feet reaching over where the front feet were.
And this is what I mean by hind feet separation: hind feet hitting two different spots as far apart as possible (vs. staying parallel, hitting the same spot).
Thanks !!!!
Hi Silvia,
We are running the agility show of our club this weekend, the preparation takes a lot of time so I could not spend a lot of time following my classmates. I’ll catch up next week! In the mean time we managed to have at least one RC session a day. And to be honest, I do not see any progress, on the contrary… Without the poles Keen still sometimes misses the plank. Even with the poles about 50 cm from the plank she misses. She also started kind of jumping. So, show or no show on Saturday, here is a video! We need help!!
The last 3 sessions are in the video. The last session is longer than normal. We started off bad, then we had 3 really nice one’s. I should have stopped there! But I wanted to try one more… It went bad again and I kept on trying till we had a good one.
Missing the plank is not a problem at all, don’t worry about that. Jumping is not so good, not sure where that comes from, but I can’t see your video, it’s private, you need to change the settings on YouTube. When things start to go wrong, I simply end the session, pushing for one more good one just makes things worse. Next time, just end it and try again next time. Anyway, you can also try keeping the poles some more and only putting them away when you have enough height that it makes sense to her to stay on.
Hi Silvia,
You should be able to see the video now. I forgot to change the permissions, being in a hurry is never good! 😉
Did you change the plank??? This one looks somewhat narrow for a puppy to run on… I would stay on a wide plank until adding some height to it. Also, you’re jumping steps a little, placement of feet is not all that important for now, all you want is running. We’re only selecting for low hits is lesson 2, when the plank has been raised at least 2 or 3 times already. I would go back to the wide board, raised it a little and then go from there.
Hi Silvia,
It is the same plank, really! We only turned it around. The plank is made out of two pieces. I was wondering if the spot where they both come together was a cue for Keen, when she started “jumping”. So we painted the other side too and turned it around, so the seam is now at the beginning of the plank. That’s all. Oh yes, and since it was that wobbly we have strengthened it a bit. But the width is still the same.
Do you mean we do not have to panic since she is still running most of the time. Shall we raise this plank a bit or do we need to get another one?
Oh, it looks more narrow now, but it’s hard to say from this angle. And yes, as she is still mostly running, just raise that plank (no need for another one!) and GRADUALLY get selective about the hits.
Ok, thanks for your patience. 😉 I thought we were going slowly since I was in no hurry to raise the plank or make it more narrow. But now it seams I’m pushing it after all. I’ll try to post some more video’s next week so you can keep me on a leash! 😉 For now we will raise the plank slithly, put back the poles to help Keen and be happy with running not worrying about the high hits. It’s probably the two perfect sessions of two weeks ago that have put me in a gear to high. 😉
Yeah, with running contacts, it’s often up and down a little bit as understanding alone is not enough -- it takes lots of practice and experience to be able to always take the last stride from the end of a plank, that’s why it’s not realistic to expect it that early in the process.
Ok, here’s Oliver’s homework. I sorry it’s so late. 🙁
I’m still struggling with speed but Oliver is now playing ball. 😀 I ended up getting this by clicking and treating any interaction with the ball, then for him retrieving it, then only for bringing it all the way back. To add excitement and speed I used Ollie’s dinner and would jackpot him after he retrieved the ball. This combined with the chase toy and racing him to the ball (he loves to race) has helped a lot. He’s still better with short throws and doesn’t always run full speed but it’s improvement. That being said he still runs as fast or faster to a food bowl. I’m fine sticking with the ball if you think that’s best. As you can see from the video I used three different rewards/lures for the full speed running without the plank but only the ball for the plank. His speed on the plank isn’t great. I noticed he’s not extending but is it ok to go ahead and train with the plank? I think his speed will only get better as his confidence improves but will all the training fall apart when he gets faster? Oh, and that was my best training session with the ball and plank and I was jackpoting with food.
I noticed he’s only pivoting one way in the video. He knows how to go both ways but I’ve put an emphasis on the lef because of formal heeling, bad me.
Thanks, and again I’m sorry it’s late!
That certainly looks fast enough to proceed, but yes, keep working on speed. If he is faster to food bowl, then use that for plank for now and work on his speed after the ball separately from that, so that we can use it when we’ll have to fade the bowl. Also, are you always getting front feet, as in the video? It would be good to sometimes get hind feet too, so that he understands that’s o.k. too.
Great job with tricks! But again, position yourself more to the side of a target, his paws shouldn’t be ahead your toes!
Yea! Now I can relax a little. Can you tell I’m a bit obsessive about speed? Lol. 😉
No, he doesn’t always use front feet, in other videos I have he uses rear. Funny though, I hadn’t noticed the change. I had to go back and look at the videos. I should pay more attention to it.
The pivoting in this video was shot at the same time as Sage’s so I hadn’t heard your advice yet. I’ll make sure to change my position in the future. 🙂
Good. Try to keep both, hind and front feet.
Hi, Silvia.
I’m at a loss with Da Vinci. Seems his interest changes every day so I’m always changing toys/ jackpots for rc training. Is this a bad thing or is it just because he is a puppy? The only consistent “love” for him is food.
Also, what works one day (placement, set up, toy, running start, restrained start, cone) doesn’t necessarily give him success the next so I don’t have a consistent “go to” that is likely to give us good runs. Is that also because he is a growing puppy and his body is changing so much? …or is it just that we need to accept the need for time to find what works?
I did find a ball that rolls more like the frisbee rollers and bounces less…he ran better (less up & down), but doesn’t have as much interest in it as the tennis ball so didn’t run all the way to it.
Also, if I use food for the jackpot, he turns back to me as soon as I mark it. So I get better focus and more effort, but I lose the driving ahead to the ball as soon as he knows a jackpot is coming.
I’m trying not to worry that I’m practicing bad habits of bad running on a board, but could use some reassurance from you. Is it normal to be on a flat board for so long with a puppy?
Kristin
I think the problem is that he is not that toy crazy… It’s much easier with dogs who will always run after the ball with full speed and enthusiasm. Since he seems to have mixed feelings about the toys, you’re getting mixed results as the consequence… Running to food bowl seems to work for some, if you could get him run full speed there, you could start the plank work that way and work on his understanding of fetching the ball to get the treat away from the plank and introduce it later on. With my dogs, I can only get good speed to a food bowl with La… -- but still, maybe something to try?
Silvia, we are a bit behind, but will catch up in next a few days, video will be up very soon. thanks
Hello Silvia,
Here’s crash’s a few tries on running flat planks. with both of my boys, i didnt mark their feet on the plank during this training session, im planning to start marking their feet from tmr training session. For crash, i think it’s easier for me to mark his feet then jackpot him. so jackpot can be a tug play or a few treats, right? what do you think his stride? not full speed running, right? I tried a few things to make him run full speed such as racing with him, throwing his favorite toy, restraining him. what else can i try to make him run a bit faster? maybe losing another couple of pounds would help LOL
Here’s the video, pls let me know what you think. Thanks 🙂
Good, he is definitely striding evenly, no leaping. But yes, it could be faster… First of all, you need to throw further and ideally, try something that rolls so that he needs to chase it more. Are there situations where he really runs? Try to find them and name the crazy running when it happens, you can use it then for plank running. Also, experiment with different toys, play racing games where the one who wins it gets the treat/toy etc. Keeping the weight down helps A LOT too! When one of my dogs gained several new kg when I was in US and she had much less activity, I noticed a HUGE difference in her speed and how fast she was tired and breathing heavily when I got back. And she was not really overweight, she was just some kg over her normal all-muscle-zero-fat weight!
But well, I think you can put some height on that plank, to make him see the end of the plank better and try to get him understand it’s a good place to take the last stride from 🙂
Silvia,
I trained him a little bit with ball chasing today to get him run faster, he’s not as enthusiatic as with frisbee(lid). I think probably we didnt play ball chasing as much as frisbee, so he was not sure that chasing the ball at full speed means a treat coming up. I will work a bit more with him from now on and let’s see how he responds to it eventually. today I also tried to hold him and tease him with a treat at a distance, then release him, he was a bit better in this situation. so I think i will work on restraining his harness, treat when he puts pressure on the harness. Crash seldom runs, the only situation i saw him running full speed was in chasing mode with Toby, but he doesnt do this a lot. he’s hypothyrodism and he’s a bit exercise intolerence, so each time i keep my training session very short with him and he loves training so much. Thanks a lot for the advice 🙂
Angela
Another idea would be to throw those rings that move like a frisbee and roll really well on the ground, much better as the lid you’re throwing. Also, as Nathalie said, try to pick up the most exciting part of the day for him to train. Maybe after getting his dinner ready -- before he gets it? Or when you get home from work?
Silvia,
I will try to find those rings in smaller size. crash doesnt like anything too big to hold in his mouth. I tried to throwing the ball today, but he couldnt find it after i threw it. I think that training him a little bit before meal will work better. Im gonna try that tmr morning.
Thanks a lot
Angela
btw yes i agree with you that losing couple more pounds sure will help him a lot, we are working on this too 🙂
Angela
Silvia, here’s the video of Toby running on flat planks.
still i didnt mark his feet in this video, can you pls let me know if the jackpot moment is correct? is he even close to correct stride? do you think that he did better than his last video? sry for posting the video pretty late, we will work harder for the next a few weeks, promise 🙂
Thanks
Very good! He runs really well, other that on 5 when he is rather slow and on 2 and 3, when you throw way too late, it interferes with his stride. In general, try to throw sooner and further, a ball would be the easiest to throw. Anyway, I agree with what you jackpotted -- other than 12, I didn’t like how close his hind feet are there. No big deal, but not to jackpot. 10 is my favourite. I think you can go to next height, just throw sooner and further. Happy training!
Silvia,
Yes i really need to practice my throwing skill LOL sometimes if i throw sooner, he doesnt go on the planks right away, he passes the planks. does it mean that he’s not getting a clear idea of running on the planks? so if i throw sooner, he misses running on the planks, then he gets the toy, so that’s gonna be misunderstanding for him ,right? do you think that in this situation, i should call him back before he gets the toy that i throw?
Thanks
Angela
Don’t worry if he sometimes doesn’t run over the planks, let him have his toy and try to set him better next time, so that it’s more likely he runs over the planks.
Gotcha 🙂
Ang
Silvia, Piper and I have gotten behind (very busy at work) but we’ll start to catch up next week I promise! We still need to post our lesson 1 video and start lesson 2.
Hi Silvia, Classmates,
Here we are again, finally! I’m going to get me some mobile internet to have internet access during the (agility) weekends. I just can not follow the class like this!
Anyway, last week we took a few days “off”. The training was not going that well, maybe you remember. We started with a fresh mind and to be honest it was a disaster (for as far as anything in agility can be called a disaster ;-)). Keen did not bother to run over the plank at all, anymore.
We raised it about 15 cm but it was still the same plank. So we used the channel again and just rewarded for running over the plank. That worked.
We took away the channel last Friday. In the video you see the last session with the channel and the next 3 sessions (full sessions).
We still help a bit by searching the best take off spot. We have the impression that the further away from the plank she takes off the better. Probably it’s the effect of running faster, no?
I noticed something weird with number 4 and 6, from the session of 29 May, and number 2 of today’s session. It looked to me that the slow motion video is not the one of the fast one. I double checked it many times and it is correctly edited. In the fast one it looks like Keen’s hind legs are perfectly placed, high on the plank. In slow motion that’s not the case. I watched it over and over again and every time it has the same effect.
What do you think? Do you see some progress?
Looking forward to your feedback!
WOW, that’s a GREAT progress from one session to another! Always high on a first session and then more and more of perfect hits! SLOWLY start spreading the blue poles at the end out (further and further away from the plank) -- like 1cm further every session. You can also add some more height. It better to start far enough to have full speed yes.
Thanks!
I was wondering do I already need to include some tips from lesson 2? Like walking along once in a while, throwing the ball sooner…?
Or is it better to first focus on fading the poles? I’m not in a hurry, we have time! I was just wondering if it’s already time for that.
I expect that you will tell me when it’s time, no? I have the impression that the RC class pace is pretty individual, right?
My first focus would be to add some height as it’s only when you have some height that you can start expecting low hits and only when you have those, you can add new challenges. And yes, there are very different levels and problems in this class, so I knew we’ll be adjusting the program to each individual.
I hope you can give some comments and tips before you leave so we can enjoy some more RC training during your absence.
Again we needed about a week to get consistent “runs” after we slightly added some height. The blue poles are about 30 cm from the plank now.
The fact that Keen sometimes jumps after changing a variable but then picks up the running again convinces me that she is really learning something.
So can you give us some work for the next two weeks?
What about the setup? At this moment we do not use a “platform” or up ramp, Keen jumps from the ground straight on the plank. When we are going to add some more height we probably have to build a “platform”, no? Since speed is so important I was thinking about making it pretty long (at least like the two tables in my classmate’s video). Does not this “platform” influence the stride? So what ‘s the best setup?
Ok,this is what I prepared to post, yesterday. I wanted to add today’s session to the video and then post it. But….today’s session was, euh…bad!
I did move the poles away some more and I also moved the “funnel” (I had to look this word up) at the beginning of the plank a bit away from the plank. Keen started missing the plank again. No worries about that. But then she put in two amazing jumps!! Never seen it before!
I stopped and tried again a few hours later. Again she ran besides the plank. So I moved the “funnel” closer again and then it got better again.
Just move away everything even much slower? Or what do you think? Help!!! 😉
Well, I see some leaps in this video too… Enough good ones too that there is nothing to worry about if you make a big difference between the two, but be careful about it. And yes, you’ll soon need some kind of platform or an up-ramp… Up ramp can probably give you the most speed, so if you have room for it, that’s a good option. Also, it’s about time to start selecting for lower hits, meaning not rewarding 1:25 anymore and going for hits like 1:00 or 1:41. You also have other variables to vary, height to add and maybe you can even try to switch to a toy, thrown after, as explained in lesson 3 -- it’s usually an easy one with BCs, so you can try and see if you can get the same speed that way. That will allow you to not reward the leaps. And yes, move the poles and funnel (not sure exactly how that looks like?) away slowly.
Thanks Silvia. The leaps are in the video indeed, I did add that terrible session, where she really jumped twice, in there (June 9th session I).
I’ll try to switch to the toy being thrown after. Is it an idea to remove the static toy in case of a “bad one”? Rudy is still helping so he could take it away if I do not click. Or will it discourage Keen to much? She is really sensitive in that. That’s why I probably reward too much, even the “not so good” one’s. If I do not reward twice in a row I tend to “loose” her. You probably noticed it in the puppy class too. You just told me to higher my criteria. I realize that but that’s caused by the same thing, I try to avoid her “switching off”. I have to say while doing the tricks she does not switch off anymore. With the RC she sometimes does. No reward? Ok, I’ll take a tunnel instead before I come to you. Or I go sniff (that did not happen anymore the last two weeks). You see what I mean? She “tricks me” in not increasing the cirteria. 😉
I see, that sure does make increasing the criteria harder! In that case, I would only take the toy away (or not throw it) for big jumps, let it have it for all others and have a BIG party for the really good ones! Slowly fade the toy into a thrown one anyway, the idea is not only to not letting the dog have it for jumps, but also to make a situation more “real life” -- if the dog gets too dependant on a toy on the floor, then he maybe won’t perform the same without a toy. At one point, teh dog needs to stop focusing on a toy and start focusing on the jump/tunnel after.