I'm not seeing as much progress as I would like. We are still having fun, but I am not sure that he "gets" what he's supposed to be doing. I am going to give this a few more days, and then may go back to channels and see how that does. But first, 2 more days.
This session wasn't terrible. I clicked on some things that I shouldn't have (which doesn't help him understand!), but I get eager when it looks like he's just about to do the right thing and them messes up. The first set of poles is actually pretty good. It's the second set that he wants to blow past. So I may make them shallower again tomorrow and see how that impacts things. And move to the other side of the yard, just for a change of location.
It's been blazing hot out here, so we haven't done as much practice as I would like. And what we have done has been fairly late at night, so that the weather will be cooler. He does seem to be getting the idea. He's definitely thinking that he needs to go through the poles, but sometimes decides to go in entirely the wrong direction. But the systematic method does seem to have given him the idea.
Day 8 video:
So, based on that, I decided to try the double set again. And today it went much better! Still not perfect, but pretty good. I need more room than I have in that particular location, so I will probably shift back to the other part of the back yard. I think I am going to try the next step, which is either moving them closer together or angling them more. I'll need to check before tomorrow's session.
Well... first off, I don't think we will have this in 12 days. On the other hand, he's not a border collie, so things don't go as smoothly! But we had good progress today! Keeping it shorter and being methodical really seems to have helped. There was even one point where he started to go outside the poles, and then stopped himself and found the entry! So I am quite pleased with him. Got to around 11 o'clock before we ran into difficulty. So tomorrow is more of the same, going in the opposite direction. I should try this at a different location, but it's being so hot, and I am trying to think of a place that's fenced and coming up blank. I might try one of the dog parks, but that's iffy. I think about the open area near me, but it's got critters and scrubby weeds instead of grass. But I will think of someplace. And after doing weave poles, we worked a bit of 2 on/2 off, and some go outs. And I am beginning to learn when to use food (for precision) and when to use toys (speed and drive). Don't have that on video, but it was fun!
Cheese in the tug toy trumps salmon treats in the Manners Minder.
Shorter sessions are definitely better.
Start the camera AFTER the timer, or else it shuts the recording off. Hence only the one, shorter video. But we did three sessions.
I like his energy levels in this set of training. However, I am not sure he "gets" the idea yet. I know, the video I am following says to let the dog fail (so that they can learn the right thing on their own), but I'm not sure that he should be failing as much as he is. So, for tomorrow, I am going to go back and take a page from another "modified" version of this training and work the arc in a very systematic way and see if that gets him to understand that his job is to find the entrance and go through the poles. Right now, he is good at it if I am low on the arc, but still not getting the idea high on the arc. And I will take notes on where we have issues, success/failure ratio, etc.!
Today was not a good day. It was blazing hot, so we didn't do anything until late tonight. He wasn't eager to work in the heat, and was highly distracted by critters. Some things that I have noticed: he does well when I am behind the poles, but struggles when I am "high on the arc", because he doesn't want to go back behind the poles. And I really need to shorten my sessions! It's hard to stop when he is working nicely, and even harder when he isn't! But I think if I stop earlier, we will do better. So, goals for tomorrow: bring in the second set of poles, which I am hoping will help him get the idea of going back behind the poles, and a timer to make sure that the session is no longer than 2 minutes. I'm hoping that I can get in some multiple sessions through the day, but the heat may make that hard. And I may not get video of the early morning session, but we'll see!
Yesterday was Pixie's class, so I didn't get around to updating the blog. But we did practice our weaves!
There were some issues that I have been struggling with: Rigger's devotion to gazing adoringly at me while go through the poles (how he does that without running into them amazes me!), and his desire to run back through the poles to get to the start line. I think I have solved the first problem yesterday by using the Manners Minder to reward him. Our video for that day is below.
And today, after getting some good advice from my Fenzi friends, I have added tugging in to keep him from going through the poles when we reset. I am actually very pleased with how this is going, and plan on going to the next level tomorrow. Which means watching the video again to see what that is!
Here's today's video:
And having watched the video again, tomorrow we move the poles to the other part of the yard where there's slightly more room, and work on more of the arc. And I may start mixing up the food and toy rewards, just to see what happens!
Some things I learned today: Rigger is much more distracted on grass. A lot more things to smell! And, I probably shouldn't try and train when I am feeling "a little under the weather". You know, that "not great, but not really bad" feeling? And yes, this session is still too long, but we hadn't done anything else that day, and he was really eager to get out and work, so I'm not too upset with it. Especially since a lot of it was also tugging, and I am happy to see him bring that level of toy play.
So, issues that I need to work on: He is focussing on me too much. He doesn't want to drive away from me, but rather to me. Hopefully repetition and high-level rewards will help with that. And I need to alter my position and movement more, so that he learns that what I am doing doesn't matter. I'm going to go back to food rewards on hard surface, so that we can build more value for the poles as opposed to me. Still we had a lot of fun, and even worked on some "fetch" training after this.
Sorry that this is out of order. I apparently didn't "publish" it after I wrote it, and since I published it after today's, it put it after today's.
So, day 1! I'm not good at keeping these sorts of journals, so these are just some things I have noticed in a rather free-form way.
First, class this morning. I definitely need to bring more energy. He was rather distracted by the other dogs, and by the other dogs' bones! But he waited quietly in his crate through the first class, so that was a success! And my notes for next week are rather simple: start playing freeze-frame on the ground, with more energy and be more playful!
Now, on to the actual 2 x 2 training. First note to myself: take the camera off pan! It's very hard to watch these videos (physically), and not really necessary for the camera to move. Second note: I should have stopped MUCH MUCH sooner! These went on way too long, and that affected his performance towards the end. Day 1 is pretty simple: build value for the first 2 poles. I think we have achieved that. He is offering to go through them, and willing to leave me to do so. He doesn't have the entire idea yet, especially when I am standing at the 8-9 position, where he wants to go through the wrong way. I need to try bringing him around the other way (behind me instead of cutting in front) to try and make that a much smoother transition to the entrance. Tomorrow, I will move out to the grass, have the poles at 2 and 8, and see if I can get those sessions shorter, so he has more down time for latent learning.
Here's today's videos:
Final note: Today's walk was much easier than normal. I'm thinking that he was a bit more tired due to having to think this through, and more connected than normal. Interesting!
I have decided to get serious about Rigger's weave pole training. I've been trying the poles with fences, which works as long as the fences are there, but not so much when I start trying to fade them. So I am going to give 2 x 2 training a try. He's a good dog, and so proud of himself when he figures things out. So I am hopeful that this will create a more independent, willing dog. We will see! And by that, I mean that I will be recording and analyzing how the sessions go. The new set of weave poles arrives tomorrow. I have watched the intro sections. We can do this, and it does look like fun!
Pre-day-one prep: Build value for the toy. Mission accomplished! Didn't get it on film, because I forgot that I switched out routers and had to go reconnect all the cameras. But at least that is prepared for tomorrow!
Which is also the day that Rigger starts his Advanced Obedience class, so we will see how that goes. It's after the Intermediate class that I assist with, so he is going to get to practice settling quietly in a crate for an hour or so as well. I am prepared with bully sticks, which should keep him content. And it will be good practice for the future!
