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).
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/k6CBgVmS7CSomD25R33
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/k4cwIV3ShIa7UU25R9O
voici 2 vidéos avec les exercices que tu as demandé. Courir sur l’herbe et cavaletti pour la première et courir sur la planche + tourner ses pattes arrières pour la 2eme. Dis moi si elles ne sont pas trop longues (peut être que moins de passages te suffirait ?) et si elles te conviennent pour voir le chien. C’est loin d’être parfait ! et j’ai du mal à bien utiliser le clicker ! En vitesse normale je vois pas bien si elle courre comme il faut ou si elle saute ! Pour l’instant je ne suis pas une super bonne élève ! Donc dis moi ce que tu en penses et ce que je dois changer …
here are 2 videos with exercises that you asked. Running on the grass and cavaletti first and run on the plank + turn its back paws to the 2nd. Tell me if they are too long (maybe less passes would you?) and do you see the dog well it’s not perfect yet ! and I find it difficult to use the clicker! Normal speed I don’t see if she run right or if she jump! For now I’m not a really good student! So tell me what you think and what I have to change …
Looks good, she is not so bouncy when running after the ball as she was before! Now just vary her starting point a little to find one that gives you nice hits so that you have something to jackpot and then go from there. If you don’t see how she runs well, tape every session and review it in slow motion, it will get easier then. It’s true it’s harder to see with smaller vs. bigger dogs, but it’s very important you learn to see it in real speed too.
Keep working on cavaletti, the ladder works great for her. For pivoting, stop luring, she is not thinking when you have a treat on her nose and just follows the hand instead of thinking about her legs. For running contacts, it’s very important the dog understands clicker well and knows the concept of shaping, so you definitely want to stop luring and start shaping some basics tricks NOW.
httpv://www.dailymotion.com/video/k6CBgVmS7CSomD25R33
httpv://www.dailymotion.com/video/k4cwIV3ShIa7UU25R9O
lien des vidéos …
Hi Silvia and Classmates,
Here we go, I must be crazy! 😉 Me and Running contacts, I hope we are going to be friends. 😉
1. Filming running on a football field, that was great fun, for us and the dogs. 😉 Since Keen is still a puppy, will her stride change over time? It looks like she has a nice stride already. I have the impression she covers quite some ground. But is that an advantage or a disadvantage for the running contacts stride?
2. I missed a step here, I suppose. I was a good girl, waiting for the first assignments before starting on a plank. So Keen does not know the plank. She has no clue that she needs to run over it. It will not be that hard to teach her that but I wanted to ask if you mind using some wires at the end, just for a few sessions. I use them when teaching a 2on2off (to help them to lay straight) and I have the feeling they could help Keen to get the concept of running in the plank. Do you mind that?
3. I taught Keen to walk on the ladder… So no real cavaletti work but still a good exercise for hind leg awareness and clicking hind legs, no? I have to find some boxes and then start the cavaletti work (I need it for the puppy class lesson III, anyway ;-)). Pivotting is going well, anti clockwise without luring, clockwise is still a bit difficult.
Her stride looks good, but yes, it will still change somewhat. But you’re getting nice hind feet separation and a reach over front feet, that’s very good for running contacts as that way, the dog is touching much bigger area as those dogs who run with hind feet together and front feet coming on the same spot. With such a puppy, I would probably do the flat work on a carpet as it’s wider and easier to run full speed over. You can switch to a plank when you want to raise it the first time. You can use some poles/traffic cones to mark where the plank is, I’m not sure how your wires looks like? You definitely don’t want to use a hoop or something that isn’t well visible.
Very nice coordination on a ladder! And yes, puppy class covers a lot of important things for running contacts already, so tricks part will be somewhat simillar 🙂
From what you say I think that the “wires” are ok. I place them at the side, at the end of the plank. Not in front, like a hoop. It’s in fact a pole, about a meter from the end and another one at the end. In between there is some transparent gauze. I put these at both ends so they create some kind of channel at the end of the plank. If it does not work out I’ll change to the carpet asap.
I’ll film the setup later to make it more clear.
My concern would be that as it’s transparent, the dog might run into it and get injured… How about using jump wings instead? Still, I prefer a carpet as I think the dog can run faster that way as in a strange, narrow channel on a narrow board… How wide is your board?
It’s 45 cm. And the transparent gauze is not that transparant. 😉 I’ll film it tonight. That will be the easiest. And I’ll send my husband to the carpet shop. 😉
O.k., 45 is good, I guess that can work, just set your channel additional 5cm or so away to give her room to run.
This is my homework that was set 🙂 I have one question in that, on Liryk’s contact the very last stride she seems to put her head up?? Not sure if that’s a problem…
Her striding looks great, great speed and hind feet separation. Where is she starting on that plank? Table? Can you make a video of the whole set?
Also, try pivoting without you moving -- she is not thinking so much about her feet if you help her move with your movement. Nice work with caveletti, you can try with higher ones too and vary the distances a little bit to make her think more.
Firstly …. thankyou for your advice!! She is starting from a tunnel about 5 metres from the start of the dogwalk. Will get video of the whole thing to show.
I was watching the other videos and noticed the dogs pivoting on their own and I started that again with her last night. Will vary and create higher caveletti too :-))
THANKS!!!!
Sounds good! You can start varying her approach a little, maybe use a jump on different places etc.
Hello Everyone,
Here’s an update of our RCs. We’ve been working on them since the beginning of March but they have really just came together in the last 3 weeks.
Quick Question -- Do you see anything in particular that you think is wrong with Pixie’s running Aframe behaviour. We’ve just started working on this part and I don’t want to go any further if I need to fix something.
Any feedback would be great 🙂
It says your video is private, you need to change the settings at YouTube for us to be able to see it.
Sorry about that everyone. I thought I changed it to unlisted. You can try my video now.
Perfect!!! I don’t see anything wrong no! You seem pretty much done before we even started! Time to set up some entry and exits challenges. Where and how are you rewarding for now?
I am rewarding after the next obstacle mostly, however she can do it with no equipment in front. I’ve added jumps, tunnels, weaves, tables before and after the dw and frame. I reward with a toy.
Do I need to change anything with her aflame performance?
Sounds great! A-frame looks good, just leave it as it is. She sometimes goes deeper as I would prefer, but that usually goes away on it’s own. Just use it in sequences and leave it as it is and she will pick one style, she is still experimenting now with how deep she should go. Great job!
Hi there 1stly you say tape and post a video, that is only for those who have payed for full course and not us on audit i guess or is it for all of us to get us started?
2nd if we have done video and think we have a nice picture do we still do flat work or just work on the flat plank now for these 3 weeks?
Do we set the dog up from the same place always, restrain, through and send? Mark great feet in the contact zone and jackpot with extra if they hit well with either front or back feet. How many reps per session and how many session in a day?
Great thanks
Yes, only participants are posting videos, but of course, also auditors should do the taping and study their dogs’ movement. Once you have a clear picture on how the dog is moving when running in the fields and have a way to make him run the same way over the plank by using a ball, you focus on plank work. You first start fairly close to it to have the dog actually run on it and then slowly restrain the dog further back. When you find a good spot that gives you nice low hits, use that starting point a lot to have plenty of things to jackpot, but do vary it here and there once you’re getting really nice ones from that spot. You’re marking everything that is running, not jumping (hind feet separated, not going higher or longer as in other strides) and jackpotting when hind or front feet hit the end of the plank. If that goes well on a flat board, you can already raise it a little bit by the end of those 3 weeks. How many repetitions the dog is happy to do depends on a dog. When starting, I usually do about 20 per session, one session per day, almost every day. But of course, two times 10 or 15 would be even better.
thank you will work on all this.
Here is my first homework!
I filmed Glance just running for fun- so he is running in a circle chasing my other dog…I can film him running straight if necessary- but I think I can see his stride pretty well from just this.
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Here is the video of our last session (yesterday) running the plank. Since our first introduction I have been just working on getting Glance to run more and have lowered the plank to almost flat. At the end of the video I raise it just a bit to see what I get. Do you think having the plank on the table is disrupting his stride? Should I find another way of raising the plank? Bigger table maybe?
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Wow, that’s much faster! It’s true that with a table, you are now mostly getting just one stride and then he is too high, but at end, he is already adjusting nicely, so if you see the trend goes towards lower&lower hits, then the table will do. But do start searching for something longer as once he can’t jump on it anymore, you will need something longer. A long table with carpet over it or something similar -- or maybe simply lean it on a dog-walk then? Nice work also with other exercises, running in circle is perfectly o.k. for the purpose we needed it for.
Soshana -- were you throwing a toy or sending to a placed toy? Looks great to me!
Thanks Anne! It is a placed toy. We did some work with the thrown toy to get speed up, but he drives well to a static toy, and I am a bit clumsy with the thrown toy… I can also watch his feet better when I am not throwing. 🙂
Silvia, is there a certain or minimum number of repetitions you want us to include in our videos. I was thinking just a few, but most people seem to be adding many more. Is there a number you need to watch to give complete comments? Thanks!
Well, it’s good to have about 10 repetitions on a plank. On the ground or on tricks, I don’t need so many. In general, videos should be under 5min.
Hi Silvia,
I filmed the “channel”. I also added a few poles. After a few tries Keen seemed to get it so I took away the channel and replaced it with two wings.
I have the feeling this will work, what do you think?
During this session I already found out that I do click way to late and as expected, I do not “see” hind legs.
I’ll really have to train my eye…
I’ll try to edit the next sessions better. As a start I included 3 slow motion fragments. I hope your comment gets me started.
1. Hind leg separation looks pretty good.
Hind feet are between front feet but it can be better (faster)
Last step is not close to the end.
2. Same but closer to the end
3. Looks good. Hind feet should be a bit further up between front feet.
Is this interpretation correct?? And if it is, how will I ever see it “life” and be able to react correctly??
Other that not being full speed (especially not the third try), it’s o.k. -- keep working to give her more confidence and speed over the plank. Also, throw sooner, they usually run more if they’re actually chasing a toy. For me, the easiest is to restrain, throw and release and then just stand back and focus on how the dog moves -- it’s much easier when you don’t run. I think you just need some practice, it’s actually very easy to see BC legs (much easier as with smaller breeds!), so you’ll get there.
Hi Silvia,
Thanks for your positive feedback. I’ll need it! 😉
Seriously, I do know that your system works but I think it’s really tough to do it correctly.
I know you do not want us to be “scientific” about it but that’s my nature. 😉
The main problem I have is that I do not feel like I’m clear to Keen. For me dog training is all about “passing correct information at the correct time”. I want to be fair to the dog and to be fair I need to be correct with the info I pass.
With this training I do have the feeling I just will confuse Keen. I do not even see, myself, what I’m clicking, how will she figure out??
I’m clumsy, I will not be able to change that after 43 years. 😉 That makes it extremely hard to restrain a dog, throw a ball, release, watch for hind legs click (correctly) and reward… Help!!
I want this to work! It’s a huge challenge for me but I will do my utmost best! But I’m affraid I will need a lot of coaching!
I will try to stand still the next sessions. I just think that my throwing will get worse then. But I’ll try!
Is it ok if I, for now, just focus on the separation of the hindlegs, regardless of where she is on the plank. I mean her last step on the plank but not focus on whether this is very close to the end or not? So I can learn it step by step?
Did you ever try one of these ball throwing machines? Will they help clumsy people like me? 😉
Yes, you will definitely need to learn to see what she is doing. But as I said, it’s really not too difficult if you’re just standing still in watching. For now, the important thing is she is running nicely yes, you don’t need to focus on placement just yet. You can also have a helper to click for you and mark what to jackpot -- that way, you will have an immediate info on what you just saw. When you don’t have a helper, tape it and review later.
Hi Sylvia and everyone,
Here is Beatrice’ and my lesson one video. Apologies in advance for the multiple errors of an amateur videographer and video editor.
I have learned a lot already from looking at everyone’s videos. I think I am getting better at judging when Bea is running and striding toward the end of her carpet. Most of her not so good runs are due to mechanical issues, such as my poor aim with throwing.
Question: The carpet she is running on is 20 ft long. Do you think I should shorten it to the length of the down ramp on the dogwalk?
Her pedestal work reveals that she already knows and has been rewarded extensively for pivoting toward her right. This is the first session I have asked her to move toward her left.
The official assignment ends at 4:26. Feel free to skip the bonus puppy cuteness at the end.
Second question: So from now till next assignment I should just work on rewarding running with empasis on higher reward of runs the hit closer to the end of the carpet? I am happy to keep doing that. I am just not sure when I will know to move to the next step.
Thanks very much,
Heidi
Great job so far! We’ll get to the 4in a bowl too! 🙂 She seems to be moving less up in air by now. Still, pay attention to it, she sometimes has her hind feet separated, but still goes more up in the air as you would want to. I would stay on a carpet for another week or so (no need to make it shorter!) and then try the plank again -- I would just put it on a carpet, so that she first runs over the carpet and then on a plank that ends where the carpet ends. Send another video then to see how she is doing and if we’re ready to put a little bit height on it.
Thanks Silvia,
I do think she is finding her striding better. Watching her video makes me remember what puppy she still is. Still not sure of how to move her body.
One more question. She has a really good stay, so it is easy for me to position myself at the end of the carpet for throwing the toy and then watching her feet. She really bursts out of her stay into a run. Is there an advantage to staying back at the starting position to when releasing her?
Thanks again. I have a plan now.
Heidi
Well, for me, it’s much easier to see their feet from behind as when I’m right next to them, looking from above. If you see better from there, that’s o.k., but do sometimes stay behind too, just to get her used to the idea of running ahead with the same speed as after you.
Thanks, I will practice watching her feet from the rear. I’m sure I can learn.