Ok, I know this doesn't look very exciting, but...the issue that Breeze and Liz have been having is understanding reading a line of jumps. There is almost a 120% chance we will be seeing that in the trial this weekend-or any trial...so that is a huge thing. We are trying to do a handling system where the dog is looking for and reading movement so I am not teaching with toys lying out on the ground or using a go on cue without the movement to support the line. ANYWAY, it is still new for these dogs who are very inexperienced dogs. So I have a video of our practice today, I tried to video Liz's practice but when I got to the camera.....it had run out of room, so that was a bummer when I was sure I had caught her practice too, but then I got out Breeze and made sure I had room. Liz was having a lot more trouble and would catch up to me then turn around in front of me and bark and dance......Breeze is getting it. Breeze actually did pretty good this week she did a drop in class and did her first full course, she actually did it twice. She really did pretty well. I am discovering Breeze actually likes to work further away and reads lines much better when I am further away from her, sort of opposite of Liz. YES, I am going to have my work cut out trying to work with both of these young dogs who are so different, LOL. So we have our first trial with Liz and Breeze this next weekend. We have chose a NADAC trial because there of the flowing courses and we can train in the ring, and I imagine we will be needing some of that. The greatest thing though is that when I dropped in on the class this week Breeze and Liz nailed their weaves, it is gorgeous and they got them every time-not bad when working in a class is new to them and this was a new yard and they have never run a full course. All in all I am happy with how things are coming along this week.
ACTUALLY after watching this video I am thinking I have some pretty cool neighbors -I usually put my sheltie Skyler up before I practice, and I guess there are some obvious reasons for that! I think what they say about shelties being barkers...in my experience it is very true, Chloe wouldnt have been much better if she had been out.
Whoops, tripod accident
So I let the dogs out, and I wanted to video them playing, so I had the video recorder in my hand, I had been out trying to tape some exercises, and as soon as the girls were let loose....there went the tripod, of course it really upset the dogs -NOT- who just looked like hummm....were there any treats involved? Of course there were not...so they continued their play, just glad I had not left the video recorder on there. Check out Cherry, Breeze and Cherry are both ball FREAKS, very obsessed by them, but Breeze is bossy, so Cherry just sits and herds the other dogs until she gets her turn to get in on the game. Cherry is definately a border collie with that herding behavior. Now for the cast of characters, Breeze is the blue merle border collie, Liz is the split face red/white girl and Cherry is the pretty red merle border collie, they usually are in the house, but when they go out to potty it is usually in the smaller yard, but once or twice a day I go out with them for a longer play session and they get to play in the agility yard and they LOVE that, wild play is always happening there. I love to watch them play in the big yard where they can really stretch out and run and they always look so happy.
Let's Hear it for Latent Learning......
Latent learning as I understand it-refers to the fact that some things can be taught and then will be learned or "gel" after a period of time for the learning to be processed in the learners brain. It is a very cool thing and I have seen several examples of behaviors, especially harder behaviors, that when teach them then leave it alone for a period of time- BOOM you come back and they are way better then when you left off with them. This sometimes works even with very simple concepts say you are working on a sit for example -you stop do something else for a few minuetes then go back to the sit and Wha Laa, there it is.
It is a well known fact that I hate contacts...but I hate them a little less today, LOL. Origionally Lizzie was taught a four on the floor contact and she LOVES that behavior, she feels comfortable with it, she understands it. She would run up and over the contact and hit the ground in a down at the bottom of the obstacle. The problem is that Lizzie is a smart girl and figured out how to do the Aframe with a leap up over the yellow up contact and into the blue on the upside, she would leap over the Apex of the Aframe and then hit about in the middle, but definately above the yellow contact and then hit the ground with her butt touching the Aframe but definately missing all parts of the actual contact area. She is a very clever girl and you know I couldnt have taught anything like that if I was trying. I know she thought she was super clever and had figured out a way to save us a little time. I do believe my down fall with the four on the floor was I never did anything to teach Liz that she had to touch in the yellow, I ASSumed she would have to hit it to get to the down, so she was being a super good girl and doing all I asked. I just fogot to ask a key componant thinking surely she would have to stride through the yellow to hit her mat on the ground, well, Liz is much more talented then that.
Soooooo....I deceided since I am slow and this is my first really fast dog, Liz tends to spazz and run off if she gets nervous or feels alone, so we could really use another spot to connect-with a stopped contact, and because I couldnt think of any other options we deceided to do a 2o2o with her. Poor Liz was just so sure her contact behavior is the down on the mat at the bottom of the Aframe, and I think she thought when I was trying to teach a 2o2o that it was some sort of weird proofing behavior for the four on the floor, so she just kept doing everything possible to get into her four on the floor position. I felt so bad for her because she loved the four on the floor, and she really understood it and it really seemed to be messing with her confidence when we worked with it. She had the 2020 position on curbs, she had it on a block, she could do it everywhere but where she "knew" she was supposed to get into her four on the floor position.
I deceided that my biggest goal in training right now was to build her confidence, and get her to work with us. With her running off and the fact we still werent able to have her work with other dogs around I knew we were no where near trialing so I made the decision to leave the contact alone and not mess with it for a period of time, build her confidence and get her working with us in other areas, and we would just figure out what to do with the contacts when we had to. I was really glad I had the luxury of a little time before we had to worry about it.
So....about a week ago, Liz was playing in the agility yard before class, and I have not touched the 2020 behavior in maybe a month or two...but I went over and popped her on and BOOM---SHE GETS IT!!!! It just took a little while to process, but taking the pressure off and letting it all work out for her seems to have worked. So not a finished behavior, we need to of course add it to the whole obstacle, proof it, sensitize her to movement---all that good stuff, but hey, think we are definately on the right track now.
It is a well known fact that I hate contacts...but I hate them a little less today, LOL. Origionally Lizzie was taught a four on the floor contact and she LOVES that behavior, she feels comfortable with it, she understands it. She would run up and over the contact and hit the ground in a down at the bottom of the obstacle. The problem is that Lizzie is a smart girl and figured out how to do the Aframe with a leap up over the yellow up contact and into the blue on the upside, she would leap over the Apex of the Aframe and then hit about in the middle, but definately above the yellow contact and then hit the ground with her butt touching the Aframe but definately missing all parts of the actual contact area. She is a very clever girl and you know I couldnt have taught anything like that if I was trying. I know she thought she was super clever and had figured out a way to save us a little time. I do believe my down fall with the four on the floor was I never did anything to teach Liz that she had to touch in the yellow, I ASSumed she would have to hit it to get to the down, so she was being a super good girl and doing all I asked. I just fogot to ask a key componant thinking surely she would have to stride through the yellow to hit her mat on the ground, well, Liz is much more talented then that.
Soooooo....I deceided since I am slow and this is my first really fast dog, Liz tends to spazz and run off if she gets nervous or feels alone, so we could really use another spot to connect-with a stopped contact, and because I couldnt think of any other options we deceided to do a 2o2o with her. Poor Liz was just so sure her contact behavior is the down on the mat at the bottom of the Aframe, and I think she thought when I was trying to teach a 2o2o that it was some sort of weird proofing behavior for the four on the floor, so she just kept doing everything possible to get into her four on the floor position. I felt so bad for her because she loved the four on the floor, and she really understood it and it really seemed to be messing with her confidence when we worked with it. She had the 2020 position on curbs, she had it on a block, she could do it everywhere but where she "knew" she was supposed to get into her four on the floor position.
I deceided that my biggest goal in training right now was to build her confidence, and get her to work with us. With her running off and the fact we still werent able to have her work with other dogs around I knew we were no where near trialing so I made the decision to leave the contact alone and not mess with it for a period of time, build her confidence and get her working with us in other areas, and we would just figure out what to do with the contacts when we had to. I was really glad I had the luxury of a little time before we had to worry about it.
So....about a week ago, Liz was playing in the agility yard before class, and I have not touched the 2020 behavior in maybe a month or two...but I went over and popped her on and BOOM---SHE GETS IT!!!! It just took a little while to process, but taking the pressure off and letting it all work out for her seems to have worked. So not a finished behavior, we need to of course add it to the whole obstacle, proof it, sensitize her to movement---all that good stuff, but hey, think we are definately on the right track now.
birthday...
My youngest daughter saved her money, went to the store and got me the softest, cuddliest little slippers with a penguin on them-VERY CUTE-she even got a card and wrote some of the nicest things on it and wrapped the whole thing, and then had it waiting for me when I got up on my birthday morning. what a SWEETHEART!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)