Agility Training Talk Thread

[Tiggy]

Has anyone worked through the Rachel Sanders Pre-Sports Puppy DVD? I started on her hands on control today and boy oh boy my dogs haven't been handled enough. I'm exhausted! :D I did get them calmly accepting it though and it's a good one for starting the release cue.

So you'd recommend the DVD then? I'm looking for some more foundation stuff to do with the new pup that I never did with my two. Started watching Success With One Jump the other night and thought it looked good! But I need some real puppy type stuff. Pup is almost 9 weeks old

I do recommend it. It kind of seems like common sense stuff but it wasn't until I watched it that I thought dah why didn't I think of that. :D

[B-Q]

I'm wondering about Quinn's motivation level. We train twice a week, once at a real agility club. We're in beginners and still working onleash due to her movement reactivity, she's very motivated when training here but its not very challenging stuff.

On Sundays we train close to home, a couple of the same instructors from the club run some extra practices, the idea is to give normal dog people a taste of agility and provide an extra practice for anyone that really wants to learn.

On Tuesdays we are just working on basics, start line stays, looking down the line, 2o2o, weaves etc.

On Sundays we parctice more sequencing and I find it tends to be more about me learning about handling.

On Tuesdays, Quinn's motivation level is high, she works really hard and fast. If it wasn't for the odd reaction I'd be happy with her offleash as she's quiet focussed on me.

On Sundays she's started to seem more distracted and docile, because there isn't as much going on I can have her offleash but she seems to get more easily distracted, she runs slowly and just seems to be going through the motions and not really enjoying herself like I know she could.

I can think of a couple of reasons.

1. Its hard work for her, my handling is dodgy and confusing at best. She's more intune with me than I thought and if I'm not relaly thinking about my body it sends her off.

2. I'm concentrating so hard on my mechanics that its boring for her. I had to remind myself to get silly and amp her up and it did seem to make a difference last week.

So during the week I played a lot of Ready, set, go! with her which she picked up on quickly and loves. And at training on Sunday she was ust flat, she did everything I asked of her but seemed bored with it. On the positive side she did play a good game of tug at the end.

So, might it be because in that class I'm moving too fast for her? Could it be that she doesn't have enough value for the equipment? Should I not be worried about her being slow at this stage? Will she speed up as her understanding gets better?

[Vickie]

Generally, Speed should come with confidence & experience, both yours & Quinns.

I suspect your reward rate is much higher when you are working on individual things as opposed to small sequences and this will affect her motivation.

What is your reward & how are you delivering it?

How long are the sequences? I would shorten them so that they become an exercise you can mark & reward.

Eg if the exercise is a curve...jump, jump, tunnel,jump, jump...just do the tunnel until she is driving into it fast. Get her excited "ready,ready", then as soon as she's in, "yes" and take off so she learns to power out to get to her reward. Then add a jump in front. When you are getting the same level of motivation as you got for just the tunnel, add 2 jumps,etc.

IOW, Only extend what you are doing when you are getting what you want.

[caffy]

Has anyone worked through the Rachel Sanders Pre-Sports Puppy DVD? I started on her hands on control today and boy oh boy my dogs haven't been handled enough. I'm exhausted! :D I did get them calmly accepting it though and it's a good one for starting the release cue.

So you'd recommend the DVD then? I'm looking for some more foundation stuff to do with the new pup that I never did with my two. Started watching Success With One Jump the other night and thought it looked good! But I need some real puppy type stuff. Pup is almost 9 weeks old

Mary Ellen Barry's DVD is excellent.

[B-Q]

Thanks Vickie.

I try to make sure I'm using a toy when I can. She loves her food but is more driven for her toy. At the same time though she takes food easier than she plays if distracted so I have to remind myself not to fall back on it because its easy, she is improving with playing tug and keeping engaged with me.

Thanks for the advice. I think the sequences are probably too long for her at the moment, they're good to make me think but I think the fact that she gets soo mentally pushed there every week might be wearing her out a bit.

[RallyValley]

Has anyone worked through the Rachel Sanders Pre-Sports Puppy DVD? I started on her hands on control today and boy oh boy my dogs haven't been handled enough. I'm exhausted! :D I did get them calmly accepting it though and it's a good one for starting the release cue.

So you'd recommend the DVD then? I'm looking for some more foundation stuff to do with the new pup that I never did with my two. Started watching Success With One Jump the other night and thought it looked good! But I need some real puppy type stuff. Pup is almost 9 weeks old

Mary Ellen Barry's DVD is excellent.

I really like this DVD too! I am using a mixture of this, Agility Right from the Start and agility classes for Zora's agility foundation.

[The Spotted Devil]

Thanks Vickie.

I try to make sure I'm using a toy when I can. She loves her food but is more driven for her toy. At the same time though she takes food easier than she plays if distracted so I have to remind myself not to fall back on it because its easy, she is improving with playing tug and keeping engaged with me.

Thanks for the advice. I think the sequences are probably too long for her at the moment, they're good to make me think but I think the fact that she gets soo mentally pushed there every week might be wearing her out a bit.

B-Q.....I like what Vickie said.

One other thing - my Dally is not into repetitive sequences i.e. he'll do it once or twice and then get bored and lose some of his zing. He's much better now but he used to be dreadful. As it's the handler who struggles with the course I used to run the sequence on my own 3, 4 or even 5 times and get my handling right. Then I would bring him out, run him once (twice max) and he would fly through - not only was he not getting bored, but the crating was building drive and I wasn't frustrating him on course by stuffing up my handling....well not as much as usual anyway ;)

[Tiggy]

Mary Ellen Barry's DVD is excellent.

I shall add it to my list. :D

Is it this one?

http://www.agilityclick.com/prod51.htm

Edited August 9, 2011 by Tiggy

[sheena]

Mary Ellen Barry's DVD is excellent.

I shall add it to my list. :D

Is it this one?

http://www.agilityclick.com/prod51.htm

That's the one I've got & it is excellent...that's a good price too if the site is Australian

[Vickie]

I think the sequences are probably too long for her at the moment, they're good to make me think but I think the fact that she gets soo mentally pushed there every week might be wearing her out a bit.

possibly, but they are only likely to be wearing her out if you are asking for too much at a time & your reinforcement rate is not high enough. People often think their dog is worn out, only to find they have a heap of energy left to chase a ball or play with other dogs. Means your reward history is not strong enough.

Try to be a bit more unpredictable with your rewards & break things down more. Do you crate her between runs? Putting her away when she's wanting more will help her come out fresh for each run.

[Seita]

I'm just starting to dabble into agility with my (very) obedience trained dog (aka a dog who has only ever worked on and been rewarded from my left) and am looking for some ideas on how I can get her to be more comfortable on my right hand side? We're doing 2x2 in the backyard at the moment and it took ages to get her to go through 2 poles from all angles and directions from both sides but we got there but now that I've added another 2 poles she's gone back to having trouble doing anything from my right side again! Are there any good games or little exercises that I can do to get her to want to be on my right a bit more? Thanks!

[Kavik]

Have you done circle work/shadow handling on both sides? That might help.

[Seita]

Have you done circle work/shadow handling on both sides? That might help.

Sorry I'm a newby, I'm not completely sure what that is? I've done sort of luring with food in circles on both sides but I'm not sure she actually understands what I'm trying to teach her as she's soo focussed on the food!

[ness]

Have a look at Greg Deretts Foundation dvd Seita.

[J...]

I'm just starting to dabble into agility with my (very) obedience trained dog (aka a dog who has only ever worked on and been rewarded from my left) and am looking for some ideas on how I can get her to be more comfortable on my right hand side? We're doing 2x2 in the backyard at the moment and it took ages to get her to go through 2 poles from all angles and directions from both sides but we got there but now that I've added another 2 poles she's gone back to having trouble doing anything from my right side again! Are there any good games or little exercises that I can do to get her to want to be on my right a bit more? Thanks!

Your dog has a heap of value being on your left hand side and next to none on your right. Start simple and just reward her for being on your RHS in correct position (reinforcement zone), then add a step here and there like you would if you were teaching her to heel on your RHS. Keep building the understanding and value until she is proficient at full circles with you and then multiple circles at slow speed and progress to running.

Then go back to your 2 poles and work on your right side work a heap more until she has a more solid understanding.

Edited August 9, 2011 by Jess.

[B-Q]

I think the sequences are probably too long for her at the moment, they're good to make me think but I think the fact that she gets soo mentally pushed there every week might be wearing her out a bit.

possibly, but they are only likely to be wearing her out if you are asking for too much at a time & your reinforcement rate is not high enough. People often think their dog is worn out, only to find they have a heap of energy left to chase a ball or play with other dogs. Means your reward history is not strong enough.

Try to be a bit more unpredictable with your rewards & break things down more. Do you crate her between runs? Putting her away when she's wanting more will help her come out fresh for each run.

She is crated between runs but she's slow even when she comes out. She listens and does as asked but there isn't any spring in her step. Not like Tues nights, on Tuesdays I have to enforce downtime for her or I think she'd work the entire hour.

I could definetly start mixing up when she gets the reward more though, now that she's playing tug more enthusiastically I can hopefully amp her up more if she knows thats coming.

I was really happy with her tonight, first time ever over a low A-Frame and Dogwalk and it was all I could do to keep reminding her she was getting treats just for BEING on it and she didn't have to go right to the end straight away.

She only reacted at running dogs a few times, most of them she recovered quickly from but the dog doing a frisbee demo at the end of the night sent her way over the edge. We'll get there though, it was only 6 months ago that a single dog playing a single game of tug 200m away would have her lunging, barking and being a general lunatic and now she can be in the vicinity of multiple tugging dogs like its no big deal. And have another agility class running only 30 metre away with multiple dogs doing different obstacles and its no big deal.

[Agility Dogs]

Have you done circle work/shadow handling on both sides? That might help.

Sorry I'm a newby, I'm not completely sure what that is? I've done sort of luring with food in circles on both sides but I'm not sure she actually understands what I'm trying to teach her as she's soo focussed on the food!

Hey,

Circle work is (basically to begin with) a fancy name for heel work that is done in a 10m (or so) circle. As the dog gets more and more proficient you can add complexity and do the work with her on tboth the inside and outside of the circle. Really though as others have said it is about building as much value for RHS as for LHS.

Both CK and Xena have reasonable heelwork (for dogs that don't trial) and work similarly on both sides, but don't get confused. The number 1 rule is that they are not allowed to cross behind me.

I think with the 2 x 2's what you are describiing suggests that the performance is not independent of you - if it was it wouldn't matter whether she was on your left and right.

Give me a shout next time you are at training and we can have a look at it off to the side.

Cheers

T

[Kavik]

I have a 2o2o contact question

I have been oing lots of work on my plank to get more accurate, faster and independent contacts. Biggest problem is when I am behind him or slowing down. So have been working on being stationary beside him, lateral distance, and then behind him. starting with him on edge of board, slowly moving him further back. Have been using food rewards, one dropped on the ground for position, one thrown for release.

He is tending to curl around to look at me and coming off crooked, especially on one side. I am trying rewarding for looking forward and not rewarding him when he is crooked.

Just for fun I decided to try with his favourite toy. revved him up and did a restrained send from far end of board and he was perfect - fast, driving to the end in position. Then I released and threw toy. So he CAN do it. Is the problem using food rewards or should I continue with them? I can't reward in position with his toy (rubber squeaky) and he won't tug reliably.

[The Spotted Devil]

Kavik, do you need to reward in position? Can you mark the 2o/2o and then release to thrown food/toy???

[Kavik]

I just worry that if I don't reinforce in position enough his performance there may deteriorate - worried he may self release