We didn't have any squishy balls at practice today, so rather than use a regular ball and have to put it in a different hole, he just ran with no ball today. He's getting there, we need to have another lane set up so he can practice running with a dog in the other lane, just didn't work out for that today. I keep reminding myself - he's not even a year and a half old yet!
Sunday, May 10, 2009
AKC - USASA National Specialty
On Saturday, May 2nd, Cherish ran novice FAST, novice B standard and open jumpers. She had a really nice FAST run with 60 points but it still put us down in 7th place. Novice standard had good weaves but she bailed off the a-frame AND the dogwalk. The a-frame was my fault, I lost sight of my dog. She was behind me and I didn't see her start up the a-frame, when I turned and looked at her she thought that meant to get off and follow me. After the table they went through a tunnel to the dogwalk. Well with my bum knee I thought I should send her through the tunnel and then get a headstart running along the dogwalk. Cherish started up it but then guessed that she could catch up to me faster if she got off. In open jumpers they came out of a straight tunnel to the weaves slightly off to the left also in a straight line to the tunnel so of course the dogs had alot of speed going into the weave entry. Cherish made a real nice correction and set herself up and made the entry but did not stay in. I brought her around again but she came out early again. Raven's FAST run was miserable, we weren't working together at all. Open standard she took one bar down but she stayed in the weaves. Open jumpers she came out of the weave poles twice so I stopped her and left the ring.
Since it was the Aussie specialty, only Raven went back for the same 3 runs again on Sunday. This time her FAST run was excellent. We made 71 points in 35.55 seconds. SCT was 32 seconds so we ended up with 68 points for a 4th place. Open standard was the same as yesterday, 1 bar but stayed in the weaves. Open jumpers, again 1 bar, completed the weaves and 1 refusal. The refusal was at the end of the run. They came out of a tunnel and had 4 jumps in a line to finish. I sent her to the tunnel and started down the line of jumps, she caught up to me and was driving ahead but at the last jump she turned back to check where I was.
Raven weaved 3 out of 4 runs correctly but the thing is, all 3 of those she was on heel side of me. The one run that she kept popping out early was when I had her on my right side. Coincidence or training issue???
Since it was the Aussie specialty, only Raven went back for the same 3 runs again on Sunday. This time her FAST run was excellent. We made 71 points in 35.55 seconds. SCT was 32 seconds so we ended up with 68 points for a 4th place. Open standard was the same as yesterday, 1 bar but stayed in the weaves. Open jumpers, again 1 bar, completed the weaves and 1 refusal. The refusal was at the end of the run. They came out of a tunnel and had 4 jumps in a line to finish. I sent her to the tunnel and started down the line of jumps, she caught up to me and was driving ahead but at the last jump she turned back to check where I was.
Raven weaved 3 out of 4 runs correctly but the thing is, all 3 of those she was on heel side of me. The one run that she kept popping out early was when I had her on my right side. Coincidence or training issue???
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Amana, IA flyball
It was SOOOOO fun to be back at flyball! Man it's been a long 5 months since the last tournament. During the time off Raven was spayed and I worked on her box turn. She was rounding the box and she would come off wide. We worked on getting her to spin more and based on how she looked this past weekend it seems to have really helped, she had very few wide turns. Even in the last race of the day on sunday she was still turning well and putting in 4.4 times. She had as many 4.4's this weekend as she probably had all of last year. I can't wait til she really gets in peak condition. I know we're going to hit some 4.3's and cross your fingers for some 4.2's!! I think she's really improved how to handle her feet and position herself on the box to get the ball, during a race she didn't bobble at all during the whole weekend.
Mr. Rush thought flyball was both fun and stupid. Stupid because he had to spend most of the weekend in the crate in the car, but really really fun when he got to go in the building. I stood next to the lanes and propped him on my feet like he was going to start, then screamed READY RUSH!!! He was whining and jumping to go. Once he was all worked up in a frenzy then I gave him his tug and let him take his frustration out on it. Don't get too close to him when he is giving it the death shake. It really hurts when it whips around and catches you across the legs, arms or face!
Hopefully we'll get to practice flyball Friday night. On Saturday, Raven and Cherish are in an AKC agility trial at Purina Farms and then on sunday only Raven gets to go back. It is the Aussie National Specialty show and on sunday the trial is for Aussies only. I'm hoping she does really well there. Tonight I set up two sets of 6 weave poles about 12 feet apart. With both dogs I worked each set of 6 separately; starting between the two sets, rewarding between the two sets, rear crosses and with Cherish practiced moving away from her at an angle while she was weaving. Good Girlie! She stayed in and finished them even with me moving away. I didn't want to tempt Raven with that. Looks like we'll be out there every night this week - rain or not!
Mr. Rush thought flyball was both fun and stupid. Stupid because he had to spend most of the weekend in the crate in the car, but really really fun when he got to go in the building. I stood next to the lanes and propped him on my feet like he was going to start, then screamed READY RUSH!!! He was whining and jumping to go. Once he was all worked up in a frenzy then I gave him his tug and let him take his frustration out on it. Don't get too close to him when he is giving it the death shake. It really hurts when it whips around and catches you across the legs, arms or face!
Hopefully we'll get to practice flyball Friday night. On Saturday, Raven and Cherish are in an AKC agility trial at Purina Farms and then on sunday only Raven gets to go back. It is the Aussie National Specialty show and on sunday the trial is for Aussies only. I'm hoping she does really well there. Tonight I set up two sets of 6 weave poles about 12 feet apart. With both dogs I worked each set of 6 separately; starting between the two sets, rewarding between the two sets, rear crosses and with Cherish practiced moving away from her at an angle while she was weaving. Good Girlie! She stayed in and finished them even with me moving away. I didn't want to tempt Raven with that. Looks like we'll be out there every night this week - rain or not!
Thursday, April 9, 2009
We're not gonna make 12 :((
Once it started raining this afternoon it has not stopped. There's not gonna be ANY weave work tonight.
On Tuesday Cherish did well and Raven didn't but last night it was the opposite. I started with Raven and the two sets were still 12 feet apart. Worked them the same way that we did Tuesday night and she did really well! Alright then! Let's move them to 6' apart. She did really good and made very few mistakes.
When I brought Cherish out I left the poles at 6' apart. She started out really and we worked up to sending all the way through both sets of poles. She did it the first time I sent her but after that she kept missing the entry on the first set (she would enter at the 4th pole). I thought 'no problem' we'll just go back to rewarding between the two sets for a couple of reps. Well that's what I was thinking but now she was totally missing it EVERY TIME. I took a couple of steps away from the poles and just played for a bit then set her back up and sent her. She entered correctly so I rewarded between the two sets and went off and rewarded her with more play. Not how I really wanted to end the session but I took the success while it was there.
I actually did wake up earlier with the intent of going out and getting another session in, but it was STILL DARK! Maybe saturday when we get home from the trial we can sneak one in in preparation for moving up to open on sunday. This is of course since I'm POSITIVE that Angie is going to qualify on saturday. NO pressure ANGIE!!!
On Tuesday Cherish did well and Raven didn't but last night it was the opposite. I started with Raven and the two sets were still 12 feet apart. Worked them the same way that we did Tuesday night and she did really well! Alright then! Let's move them to 6' apart. She did really good and made very few mistakes.
When I brought Cherish out I left the poles at 6' apart. She started out really and we worked up to sending all the way through both sets of poles. She did it the first time I sent her but after that she kept missing the entry on the first set (she would enter at the 4th pole). I thought 'no problem' we'll just go back to rewarding between the two sets for a couple of reps. Well that's what I was thinking but now she was totally missing it EVERY TIME. I took a couple of steps away from the poles and just played for a bit then set her back up and sent her. She entered correctly so I rewarded between the two sets and went off and rewarded her with more play. Not how I really wanted to end the session but I took the success while it was there.
I actually did wake up earlier with the intent of going out and getting another session in, but it was STILL DARK! Maybe saturday when we get home from the trial we can sneak one in in preparation for moving up to open on sunday. This is of course since I'm POSITIVE that Angie is going to qualify on saturday. NO pressure ANGIE!!!
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Okay, Okay! Finally a new post!
Let's see . . . since my last post . . . we had a trial the end of February that didn't go well, so we won't talk about it. I went to the Susan Salo jumping seminar in Council Bluffs, IA, which was GREAT! On Saturday, Rush spit the ball out for a frisbee (YAY!!) and on Sunday Chris and Angie ran Raven and Cherish for me at agility. Chris had two decent 'practice' runs with Raven. The plus side is that she ran for him and din't leave the ring to come look for me, the downside is that she didn't stay in the weaves on either run. Cherish however, had perfect weaves and qualified in both runs along with first place finishes.
When I came home tonight I went out and put a second set of six poles at 12' away from the first set. I went back to the 2x2 book and followed it. I'm going to work both Cherish and Raven, hoping that it will help Raven learn to stay in and complete them no matter how many there are. I started between the two sets and rewarded at the end of the second set, making sure that I sent from both my left and right side. Then we sent from the beginning and rewarded between the two sets. Raven was not as consistent here and we had to do it a couple of times. For the last step I tried sending her from the beginning all the way through. The first time I was late telling her 'weave' again to go into the second set and she missed them. Then when we tried again she kept blowing by the first set so we went back and rewarded a couple more times between the two sets. Once she did both sets successfully we had a big reward.
I repeated the same steps with Cherish and she never missed. If the weather were to cooperate and hold off the rain that they are calling for, I really think she might be weaving 12 by Sunday. If I could get myself up an extra half hour earlier, I could get a session in in the morning before work and another at night. Yeah, we'll see how that works out for me.
When I came home tonight I went out and put a second set of six poles at 12' away from the first set. I went back to the 2x2 book and followed it. I'm going to work both Cherish and Raven, hoping that it will help Raven learn to stay in and complete them no matter how many there are. I started between the two sets and rewarded at the end of the second set, making sure that I sent from both my left and right side. Then we sent from the beginning and rewarded between the two sets. Raven was not as consistent here and we had to do it a couple of times. For the last step I tried sending her from the beginning all the way through. The first time I was late telling her 'weave' again to go into the second set and she missed them. Then when we tried again she kept blowing by the first set so we went back and rewarded a couple more times between the two sets. Once she did both sets successfully we had a big reward.
I repeated the same steps with Cherish and she never missed. If the weather were to cooperate and hold off the rain that they are calling for, I really think she might be weaving 12 by Sunday. If I could get myself up an extra half hour earlier, I could get a session in in the morning before work and another at night. Yeah, we'll see how that works out for me.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
And now for lookin' ahead
Prior to the last trial, the ONLY piece of equipment that I did NOT own was the broad jump. As of yesterday, that is no longer the case. I've got plans on Saturday, but on Sunday this weekend I'm sure we'll be out there putting it to use. I went ahead and entered Cherish only in the trial at the end of February, even with not knowing how my knee would be and if I would be able to run her. IF I can't, then once again I'll have teammates there to cover for me. For Raven, I decided not to even enter her. For anyone that knows her they'll understand why. She hasn't been in season since November. For her, that could mean she'll be coming in anytime!
Keep your fingers crossed for perfect weather this upcoming week. Too cold, I can't stake OR un-stake the weave poles and if it rains I'm screwed with the mud.
Keep your fingers crossed for perfect weather this upcoming week. Too cold, I can't stake OR un-stake the weave poles and if it rains I'm screwed with the mud.
Catchin' up
I never did post after our last trial. Probably because it was too painful - both physically and mentally. I had Raven entered in open JWW and standard and Cherish in novice JWW and standard both days. I was SOOOO excited! I couldn't wait to see how Cherish would do with her weaves. It ended up that my first run of the weekend was open JWW with Raven. I set her at the start line, lead out to between jump 1 & 2, looked back and released her, and as soon as I started running POP! went the left knee. I stopped right away while Raven went on to #3. Then she looks back like "WHAT? WHAT? WHY ARE WE STOPPING?" Poor girl didn't know what was going on. I had to be helped off the course and couldn't put any weight on it at all. I spent the rest of the day in a chair next to the ring with an icebag vet-wrapped to my leg. I think if anyone else tried to run Raven, she would just run around the ring looking for me so i scratched her entries for the weekend. Cherish, however, I thought might. As long as Angie was up to it, I thought we may as well try it. Cherish DID make a lap around the ring after jump #2 but when she didn't find me she went back to Angie and finished the course. She made a really NICE weave entry too! The judge however did not appreciate Cherish's pretty pink collar with rhinestones on it, she said they were considered attachments and it was illegal.
For their standard run (naked, with no collar!) Cherish ran across the broad jump instead of jumping it. Didn't make her weave entry the first time (off the table to weaves) but Angie called her back and resent her and she did. Sunday's jumpers run was fun, clean and good enough for first, even though it didn't seem that fast, 22 seconds. The standard run was not fast at all, Cherish just kind of loped through it, and again ran across the broad jump. It also didn't help that she was distracted by a truck and trailer pulling in to the other ring to load equipment.
I owe a HUGE Thank You to Angie. Just goes to show ya how great it is to trust your teammates.
For their standard run (naked, with no collar!) Cherish ran across the broad jump instead of jumping it. Didn't make her weave entry the first time (off the table to weaves) but Angie called her back and resent her and she did. Sunday's jumpers run was fun, clean and good enough for first, even though it didn't seem that fast, 22 seconds. The standard run was not fast at all, Cherish just kind of loped through it, and again ran across the broad jump. It also didn't help that she was distracted by a truck and trailer pulling in to the other ring to load equipment.
I owe a HUGE Thank You to Angie. Just goes to show ya how great it is to trust your teammates.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
How 'bout some flyball ! ! !
I think Rush is back to his old self. He had a good flyball practice on Sunday and is doing full runs but without a ball in the box. We're working on dropping the ball for the tug separately from flyball practice. Once he gets that concept in place watch out! All the pieces will be coming together soon. Once we DO put the ball in the box I think his drive to the box will increase. He won't get to go to flyball practice this weekend (because Mom will be at agility with that 'other' red dog and that crazy aussie dog) but at the next practice I'd like to add some more distraction with a dog in the other lane. Maybe by then he'll be dropping the ball for a tug too.
Snow . . . Snow . . . Snow
It's a good thing Cherish at least got to weaving 6 when she did. Who knows when we'll be able to pick up with the 2x2 training again, now that we have 6" of snow and it's supposed to start melting tomorrow. Then you know what that means - MUD! YUCK! I hate mud!
When I reviewed the two sessions from Day 15, my success rate at session 1 was 48% and session 2 was 64%. In the first session we started out with alot of trouble on the 2-5 side. In the first 2 minutes she had 9 consecutive incorrect, but in the last 4 1/2 minutes she only had 5 incorrect. Session 2 seems to follow the same pattern, first 2 1/2 minutes had 6 incorrect and then last 5 minutes only had 3 incorrect. Hmm . . . now I'll have to think about what to do to get her thinking from the beginning.
When I reviewed the two sessions from Day 15, my success rate at session 1 was 48% and session 2 was 64%. In the first session we started out with alot of trouble on the 2-5 side. In the first 2 minutes she had 9 consecutive incorrect, but in the last 4 1/2 minutes she only had 5 incorrect. Session 2 seems to follow the same pattern, first 2 1/2 minutes had 6 incorrect and then last 5 minutes only had 3 incorrect. Hmm . . . now I'll have to think about what to do to get her thinking from the beginning.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Friday, January 23, 2009
Day 14 - So-So
Not our best session as far as success rate %, but I WAS happy with how we ended. With seeing how much she was moving the 2x2s in the last session, and due to the fact that the ground is still too frozen to get them staked down, I made the decision to switch to the set of 6 on a solid base. Ideally I would have liked to have done one more session with the 2x2s but I also didn't want her to learn that she could move the poles out of the way. I think that changing the picture threw her off a little bit in the beginning. I also didn't help the situation by twice rewarding when she was incorrect. BAD Mom! Talk about confusing the little red dog! She only had two correct out of the first 11 but then the last 4 in a row were correct. It was a good way to end and it kept our session nice and short, about 4 1/2 minutes. I also have the same clip as below but added in slow motion on the last 4. You can see it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPlq0ucCZKA. On Saturday we'll be moving the poles and going to Katy's school and then Hamel Park on Sunday.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Day 13
FINALLY! I ended up just editing out some of the titles that I had originally put in and just cutting off some of the beginning and ending where I am playing with Cherish as I'm walking back/from the video camera. I did a quick refresher on 4 poles then added the last set of 2x2.
BTW - the stupid shot is not working yet!
BTW - the stupid shot is not working yet!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
No training tonight
Even the best laid plans can go awry. I put it off, and put it off and put it off as long as I could, but I finally went back to the foot doctor this afternoon. Just as I was anticipating (hence the avoidance of returning) he recommended a cortisone shot in my left foot. Other than the constant daily pain while walking, my other motivator was the upcoming agility trial in 10 days. It is painful to walk now while I sit at my desk all week. The thought of what it would feel like after running two dogs over two days made me cringe. Dr. Lamb assured me that he was very good at giving them and most people tell him afterwards that it wasn't as bad as they thought it would be. I of course did not believe that last part (and I was RIGHT!) but gave him the go ahead anyway. As I was trying to talk myself out of it I asked him if after the shot I could do more damage to it by increasing my running on it when it felt better. He matter-of-factly informed me that I had already tore all the ligaments anyway so I probably couldn't do any more damage than what I had! Hopefully this will put off the surgery until a more 'convenient' time; i.e. in-between flyball tournaments and agility trials. Well hopefully I can work in that really short session tomorrow after work and before I have to take Katy to her basketball game.
Day 13 - going to 6!!
Well I found out this morning that my video from yesterday way rejected by youtube because it was too long. It was 11:06 so tonight I'll split the clips apart (one for the refresher on 4 poles and then when we go to 6 in a separate clip) and re-upload. In the meantime, as I was going through discs last night I finally found the clip of Cherish's very first session outside. It's only 6:30 and her success rate is 79%. Unfortunately I did not tape any other session between day 3 and day 12 mostly because I was working in the dark behind my house with just the floodlight and I didn't think the cameria would pick up much.
Last night I was finding that Cherish was moving the poles alot. The first set is staked down but sets 2 and 3 are not. Hopefully the ground will thaw enough in the next couple of days to either a) be able to pull the stakes out of the first set or b) be able to drive stakes in for set 2 and 3. This weekend I really want to go back to the Hamel Park one day and to Katy's school the other and set up 6 poles and a jump so we can work on H-habitat. If I can't stake or un-stake the sets of 2x2's then I'll have to consider using my set of 6 poles on a solid base.
Tonight the plan is to do a really short session working the arc with 6 and getting a high success rate. I'm not going to push for more speed until I can get them staked down. I also want to zoom the camera in more on the poles so I can better see what is going on with her footwork. Tomorrow night Katy has a basketball game and Friday is flyball, so after tonight no practice for Cherish until Saturday. Sometime before then I want to go back to the DVD and re-watch the next part so I can get a plan on what to do next.
Last night I was finding that Cherish was moving the poles alot. The first set is staked down but sets 2 and 3 are not. Hopefully the ground will thaw enough in the next couple of days to either a) be able to pull the stakes out of the first set or b) be able to drive stakes in for set 2 and 3. This weekend I really want to go back to the Hamel Park one day and to Katy's school the other and set up 6 poles and a jump so we can work on H-habitat. If I can't stake or un-stake the sets of 2x2's then I'll have to consider using my set of 6 poles on a solid base.
Tonight the plan is to do a really short session working the arc with 6 and getting a high success rate. I'm not going to push for more speed until I can get them staked down. I also want to zoom the camera in more on the poles so I can better see what is going on with her footwork. Tomorrow night Katy has a basketball game and Friday is flyball, so after tonight no practice for Cherish until Saturday. Sometime before then I want to go back to the DVD and re-watch the next part so I can get a plan on what to do next.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
WOO HOO!!! Weaving 6!!
Okay, so I didn't make 12 weaves in 12 days like the video title but we are weaving 6 in 13 days! I noticed last night that it was 5:15 and there was still barely enough daylight to work without the floodlight. So my plan at work today was to race out of there at 4:30 get home as quick as possible and get outside. I even had my plan laid out to just change shoes, throw a sweatshirt on, grab the video camera, and get the dog and the wubba. Since we didn't work any yesterday I thought I would just refresh her on 4 straight poles around the arc and then add the 3rd set of 2. She did great! Had a few missed entries but it would only be one in a row and the next time she would be correct. Video will be uploaded tonight and should be posted on blog by the morning.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Sunday, January 18, 2009
My first blog post!
I'm finally joining the blogging world. Of course it's with a little prompting from my friend Angie. We're both trying to teach one of our (many) dogs to weave using Susan Garrett's 2x2 method. I've got a little catching up to do since I've already started training this method with Cherish. Here's a quick recap.
I have never taught Cherish any behavior using shaping. Because of that I was a little worried about using this method because it relies pretty heavily on that concept. We started out in my kitchen with 1 set of 2x2's. I struggled the most with not tossing the treat to lure her thru the poles. But Cherish is a smart girl and caught on pretty quickly that moving toward the poles earned a click/treat. I kept upping the criteria and soon she was moving toward and through the poles (with no prompting) to earn her reward. YES! We were building value for the poles! We did that for 2 nights and then it was time to move outside.
I waited until the weekend so that we could work multiple sessions in a day for 2 consecutive days. It was time to test if I had successfully built value for the poles! We started outside in a grassy area next to my driveway with one set of 2x2's set at 3 and 9. I set them so that I had a tree out ahead of them so I had a target for my reward line. We worked like that on Saturday and then on Sunday rotated the poles to 2 and 8. The next time were able to work was in the evening when I got home from work. I have a floodlight on the back of my garage and I set one set of 2x2 there at 2 and 8. We worked on sending around the arc for 2 nights. On day 6 I added a second set of 2x2 at 12' from the first set. We continued sending from around the arc and would reward every so often between the two sets. The next day I moved the poles approx. 4' apart. Day 8 was on a saturday so I loaded up 2 sets of 2x2's and Cherish and I headed to the big metropolis of Hamel to set up and work in the park. It was only about 25 degrees outside so needless to say I had the whole park to myself. We did one session with the 2 sets 4' apart at 2 and 8. Then we took a break and I went and got a cup of cappuccino and drove around with the heater on to warm up. About an hour later we went back and worked another session. I picked up where I left off for a refresher and then rotated the poles to 1 and 7. She had a good success rate in a new environment so we headed home. Day 9, sunday, we worked at home again with the sets 2' apart at 1 and 7. On Day 10 we worked the same as what we did on day 9, just kept working the arc.
After that the bottom dropped out of the temperature here and we didn't work anything for 4 days. I know how to bundle up and layer and to keep my head warm with a hat, but by the time I get off work and get home it's dark and the temp would be down to about 4. That's just too cold to go out and practice in - hat or not. The next opportunity that we had to work was on saturday, January 17th. I guess you would technically call this day 11. I had a great opportunity to work at a different location and it was INDOORS! Hallelujah! I packed along 2 sets of 2x2's and headed to Wentzville for a show-n-go. When it was over I got my poles out and she did great. Picked right up where we had left off 4 days ago. I set the poles at competition spacing and rotated them to 1 and 7 and worked the arc. One thing that I have found that is the same as what Susan Garrett says in the video is that I hardly every work the low challenge area of the arc. It just doesn't seem near as fun as sending Cherish from a greater angle and watching her make a successful entry. The other challenge for ME has been to let her learn by failing. It has been so hard when she misses an entry 2, 3 or even 4 times or more in a row to not move to make it easier for her. I have always went by the "set the dog up to be successful" method and it just didn't seem right to let her keep doing it wrong over and over. What I'm seeing now is that her misses usually only happen once, maybe twice before she gets is right. You can see she's THINKING!
Now we're finally to today! I started by re-watching some of the Susan Garrett video to refresh my memory on what to do next. The weather was decent today so we were worked outside at home. I set up in a different area of the yard with 2 sets of 2x2's, competition spacing, rotated to 1 and 7. I only worked a few entries around the arc and then decided to make the leap to 4 straight poles! The little red dog did great. Later this afternoon we went out for a second session and I decided to really push her and add a jump. She hit her entry the first time, missed the next two and then hit the next 15 in a row! I stopped there for the day so we ended on some good runs.
I videotaped both of today's sessions so I'll be uploading them to youtube and will post a link. Unfortunately, now I have to go back to work tomorrow so I'll be limited to the area behind the house that the floodlight can cover. I don't know if I'll be able to get a jump in there or not.
I have never taught Cherish any behavior using shaping. Because of that I was a little worried about using this method because it relies pretty heavily on that concept. We started out in my kitchen with 1 set of 2x2's. I struggled the most with not tossing the treat to lure her thru the poles. But Cherish is a smart girl and caught on pretty quickly that moving toward the poles earned a click/treat. I kept upping the criteria and soon she was moving toward and through the poles (with no prompting) to earn her reward. YES! We were building value for the poles! We did that for 2 nights and then it was time to move outside.
I waited until the weekend so that we could work multiple sessions in a day for 2 consecutive days. It was time to test if I had successfully built value for the poles! We started outside in a grassy area next to my driveway with one set of 2x2's set at 3 and 9. I set them so that I had a tree out ahead of them so I had a target for my reward line. We worked like that on Saturday and then on Sunday rotated the poles to 2 and 8. The next time were able to work was in the evening when I got home from work. I have a floodlight on the back of my garage and I set one set of 2x2 there at 2 and 8. We worked on sending around the arc for 2 nights. On day 6 I added a second set of 2x2 at 12' from the first set. We continued sending from around the arc and would reward every so often between the two sets. The next day I moved the poles approx. 4' apart. Day 8 was on a saturday so I loaded up 2 sets of 2x2's and Cherish and I headed to the big metropolis of Hamel to set up and work in the park. It was only about 25 degrees outside so needless to say I had the whole park to myself. We did one session with the 2 sets 4' apart at 2 and 8. Then we took a break and I went and got a cup of cappuccino and drove around with the heater on to warm up. About an hour later we went back and worked another session. I picked up where I left off for a refresher and then rotated the poles to 1 and 7. She had a good success rate in a new environment so we headed home. Day 9, sunday, we worked at home again with the sets 2' apart at 1 and 7. On Day 10 we worked the same as what we did on day 9, just kept working the arc.
After that the bottom dropped out of the temperature here and we didn't work anything for 4 days. I know how to bundle up and layer and to keep my head warm with a hat, but by the time I get off work and get home it's dark and the temp would be down to about 4. That's just too cold to go out and practice in - hat or not. The next opportunity that we had to work was on saturday, January 17th. I guess you would technically call this day 11. I had a great opportunity to work at a different location and it was INDOORS! Hallelujah! I packed along 2 sets of 2x2's and headed to Wentzville for a show-n-go. When it was over I got my poles out and she did great. Picked right up where we had left off 4 days ago. I set the poles at competition spacing and rotated them to 1 and 7 and worked the arc. One thing that I have found that is the same as what Susan Garrett says in the video is that I hardly every work the low challenge area of the arc. It just doesn't seem near as fun as sending Cherish from a greater angle and watching her make a successful entry. The other challenge for ME has been to let her learn by failing. It has been so hard when she misses an entry 2, 3 or even 4 times or more in a row to not move to make it easier for her. I have always went by the "set the dog up to be successful" method and it just didn't seem right to let her keep doing it wrong over and over. What I'm seeing now is that her misses usually only happen once, maybe twice before she gets is right. You can see she's THINKING!
Now we're finally to today! I started by re-watching some of the Susan Garrett video to refresh my memory on what to do next. The weather was decent today so we were worked outside at home. I set up in a different area of the yard with 2 sets of 2x2's, competition spacing, rotated to 1 and 7. I only worked a few entries around the arc and then decided to make the leap to 4 straight poles! The little red dog did great. Later this afternoon we went out for a second session and I decided to really push her and add a jump. She hit her entry the first time, missed the next two and then hit the next 15 in a row! I stopped there for the day so we ended on some good runs.
I videotaped both of today's sessions so I'll be uploading them to youtube and will post a link. Unfortunately, now I have to go back to work tomorrow so I'll be limited to the area behind the house that the floodlight can cover. I don't know if I'll be able to get a jump in there or not.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
