Happy Holidays

Taari posing nicely with the reindeer and Santa.

Spice with Santa.

Nessa with some wrapping paper.

Another photo of Nessa.

Introducing Nessa

I am happy to announce a new addition to the family - Nessa. Her registered name will be Plail's Nessa at Alhena. I picked her up from her breeder, Nina Plail, on Tuesday in Florida. Her father is the very handsome Maverick and her mother is the beautiful Yin. Both parents are fabulous athletes with agility and herding titles. Yin's friendliness reminds me much of my Angel (Taari's mom).




Nessa chose me in a way. When the puppies were let outside for me to see them, all the other puppies were playing with each other except for Nessa, she was saying hello to me with her tail wagging.


It was heart breaking when we drove away from her breeder's place as she cried. But she adjusted well and here is a photo of her snuggling up to me while taking a nap at the hotel a couple hours later.



She is very flashy in her markings.




She has such a pretty face.



At first Taari wasn't thrilled with the puppy (perhaps an understatement) but within an hour the puppy was sleeping on me and Taari was curled up next to me. They are getting along much better than I had expected. I was hopeful that Taari would come around eventually but she has surprised me by how quickly it is happening. Taari was trying to play tug with Nessa today (with me holding the tug in the middle). I just need to figure out how to get Taari to be more gentle.



Here is a video of Nessa and Taari playing with the stuffed sheltie.

My Agility Jacket

I love my new agility jacket. It was made by Discovery Trekking Outfitters (DTO) in Campbell River, B.C. The fabric is Polartec Power Shield. Usually DTO makes them out of Polartec Wind Pro but given the cold winters of Ontario and that I would be training in an unheated facility it was decided that Power Shield would be warmer. It is definitely wind resistant as I tested it out at the Thanksgiving trial at Spot On and I was quite warm in my upper body (I just needed matching pants). I have yet to test out how water repellent it is in heavy rain though I expect it will be okay as the water beaded in a light rain. I chose the colour black which is hard to photograph but looks really sharp in person. The fabric stretches so I can move easily. Check out our run below.



I have been layering the jacket for added warmth though I have been noticing that I don't need as many layers as other people do.

One of the things that I was looking for in a jacket was the ability to wear it out shopping after training in a sandy and dusty place and still look relatively presentable. I often pick up Taari so am likely to get hair on me as well. The jacket has done a great job of staying clean.

I customized my agility jacket by asking for a hood, reflective piping, and a back pocket for toys. DTO did a great job and was very helpful. I was amazed at how well the hood fit. I could have easily worn it during the Thanksgiving trial when running with Taari but since I haven't worn a hood at a trial before I decided I should probably practice first with Taari. The back pocket for toys is very handy. I even stored my gloves in it.






The jacket looks great and I have had complements from neighbours and friends. I am even wearing it to work. No one has stopped me to ask me about the back pocket yet, though I tell the people I know what it is for before they get a chance to ask.

Maintenance needed

Last weekend Taari got her 4th jumpers Q for her Masters Jumpers Dog of Canada (MJDC) title at the K9 Klubhouse trial in Pickering. It was a fantastic run. She was 14 seconds under time and the fastest dog in the whole class. The second fastest dog was a BC and was 2.5 seconds slower. I would have liked to have had that run on video. Taari also had a really smooth Steeplechase run and was 18 seconds under time. She ran by a jump though and missed her A-frame contact. On the weekend I discovered that at times I didn't have enough energy to be where I should be for her. I haven't been keeping up with my physical training (cardio and run faster exercises) over the summer because I have been busy.

This weekend at Spot On Taari had a great Advanced Snookers run. I avoided the teeter since she is not quite ready for the teeter as I discovered in earlier runs. We were able to Q with three sets of weaves in the opening (7 point obstacle). She also Qed in Steeplecase and the run can be seen here.



I am wearing my new agility jacket from Discovery Trekking Outfitters. It was really warm especially with the wind on Sunday. More about the agility jacket in another post.

This weekend I noticed that Taari was refusing tunnels - especially when I rear crossed them. This is something that I have been working on but apparently I haven't been keeping up the maintenance that is currently needed.

So as well as making sure I keep in shape I also need to maintain some of Taari's skills.

Update on Contacts

If I could go back (famous last words) I would have trained Taari differently on the teeter. The methods that were used in the classes that I took at the time focused on the tip point. As well as this method being slower than running to the end I believe that it has cause problems when the teeter behaves differently than what Taari expects. If the teeter is slow in tipping Taari jumps off. In training with teeters that Taari knows and in environments where she is more comfortable issues rarely arise. So I am attempting to retrain Taari's teeter. I want Taari to run to the end of the board instead of trying to find the tip point. I bought Wendy Pape's teeter DVD but didn't have a chance to watch it until Taari had a bad teeter weekend. So I am starting to work through the steps and modifying them so I can still do teeters in my weekly group class. During my class I put a poll under the teeter so that Taari will drive to the end, I give her treats and then I kick it out lowering the teeter with varying amounts of speed and height before I drop it. This seems to be working in class. Here is a video demonstrating this.




I have decided to move away from any type of prop on the dogwalk. This has resulted in slower dogwalks but I am hoping that with understanding her speed will increase. If she misses her contact I say no and get her to sit. Then we try again. I have been noticing and others too that her success is related to my body position. You can see her progressively getting faster in this clip.



I am still using the box on the A-frame and have not attempted to change Taari's striding at this point. Here are some videos of her with and without the box. Taari is very good at adjusting herself depending on whether or not she sees the box as can be seen in this video.

2009 AAC Nationals

Taari and I were not able to attend the Regionals in May due to family reasons so we did the prequalifier on Thursday at the AAC Nationals in Ottawa. We needed 350 points in 6 runs. Our first run of the day was a standard in which we accumulated 20 faults so we ended up with a score of 80. Then we ran jumpers and we got an off course (score 55) but were otherwise clean. The next run was the first gamblers run. I haven't been working much on Taari's gambling skills so my goal was to try to get as many points as we could in the opening as I didn't think we would get the final gamble as there was an A-frame in it and I was correct (score 30). Then we ran the second standard and it was worse than the first with an off course, bar, refusals and missed contacts (score 45). The second jumpers run run went really well except an off course (score 55).



We needed 85 point in the final run which was another gamblers course but we came up short with a grand total of 296. We had a few errors that cost us big time. Our jumpers runs were our best runs and if we had been clean in them we would have qualified since we would have got 40 more points plus the time bonus points which I estimate at about 25. Taari also had a unusual off course in the second run which cost us 20 points. We were not alone as 8 out of the 25 teams did not qualify.

On Friday we had two Steeplechase runs. Both were standard AAC events in which you could gain qualifying scores that count towards Steeplechase titles. The top 25% or 10 dogs in each class (which ever was less) advanced to the finals on Sunday night. The finals was not a standard AAC event and there was prize money for the winners. Taari was clean in both Steeplechase runs but we had bobbles, including missing weave entries, that cost us time. We qualified in both runs. The best run was our second Steeplechase run. We placed 20th overall out of 58 dogs.


Taari did well for her first big event and running 6 runs in one day. We haven't done many trials where there are dogs running in adjacent rings at the same time. You will notice her looking at the other ring at the beginning of the Steeplechase run above. I knew that she was not quite ready (contacts and gambling skills) but that there was a chance that we could qualify. Taari reacts to clapping so I had a hard time catching her at the end of her runs as she would sometimes take a victory lap! It was a good experience for both of us and I am glad that I went. On Saturday and Sunday I got to see some great agility and do some shopping. With 6 rings running at the same time it was hard to watch and see everyone though I did try to make a point of watching my friends. It is great that people are posting their videos on Youtube. I enjoyed watching the Steeplechase finals especially since I had friends in it.

24" weaves and the 2009 Canada Cup

This past weekend at the 2009 Canada Cup we got to try 24" weaves for the first time. Here is the video of Taari weaving.



The first three weaves that Taari does are from a regular AAC trial at Royackers in Ontario. I believe the separation is 21". I estimate her times at 2.64 and 2.94. Note that she slipped in the second set - it had been raining. The third set was impossible to time due to the tunnel. The last two sets of weaves are 24" weaves are from Canada Cup the next day.. This is the first time Taari has seen 24" weaves. I estimate her times at 2.77 and 2.60.

I will admit I was a bit concerned about whether or not she would be able to get into the "groove" with the wider spacing. She was fine as far as I can tell. After her runs on Saturday I had her checked out by a chiropractor vet who was at the trial. She had some sore muscles on her back. I wonder if she slipped in a tunnel on Friday because there was more noise and it took her a bit longer to come out. I do believe it was something that happened before Saturday given that she didn't want to jump on the bed Friday night. I thought at first it was because it was new place.

On Friday there was a regular AAC and I ran Advanced Gamblers and two Steeplechase runs with Taari. Taari got the final gamble but because I was working on contacts with her and she missed the A-frame contact we did not have enough points to qualify. We had a great Steeplechase run. She was second in her 16" class to a Dice who is on the CAT team. Taari was 4th overall (Encore and Feature were the top two dogs). Our second Steeplechase run had a few refusals but we still qualified. There was thunder in the distance in both Steeplechase runs so I felt that Taari ran really well all things considered. Below is the video of her Steeplechase runs.



On Saturday we ran the Canada Cup rounds 1 and 2. Taari would not tip the teeter and I decided to continue on. She also missed her her dogwalk and A-frame contacts. I find it harder to watch her at a trial since I am trying to make sure I am in the proper position for the next obstacle I need to be quicker and louder with some of my cues as we also had some off courses. Even though we didn't qualify for the final round I felt that overall Taari and I were better than last year. Below is the video of the runs.




On Sunday we ran the Jumpers Challenge round and we had a great start. It wasn't until I looked at the video that I noticed what when wrong with the pinwheel. Taari slipped on the wet grass and then had to tell me about it. She is a vocal dog. Sometimes she just grumbles when going into tunnels (especially if there is a lead change) or if I am late with my handling cues. Nothing like getting feedback on your handling from your dog! Other times she feels the need to bark at me. Unfortunately after that slip the rest of the run was not as good and we didn't qualify for the final round.




We had a great time at the Canada Cup and I am looking forward to next year's.

Master Jumpers - July 12 2009

Taari and I had two Master Jumpers runs at the K9 Klubhouse trial on July 12th. Here is the video. Taari ran well for me. Need to work on start line stays and being quicker with my cues. A couple of handler errors in the first run. Too bad about the bar in the second run. That run was our fastest jumpers run to date.

New Website

I needed to move my website since geocities is closing so I have purchased a domain and started the move. My new website is www.alhenashelties.ca. Some of the links will go back to the old website until I finish the move.

Taari's contact training is still going on. I am finding that props are not working. As I lowered the posts she started to jump. So I am trying to not use any props and just reward her for the right behaviour. It helps to have an extra person when working on them.

I audited a great workshop by Dave Munnings in June. Dave has a great sense of humour and I learned quite a bit. I had been working on left and right and now I have more reasons to. I hope that he comes back to Canada again soon.

Spice a year after his surgery

Spice has been doing pretty good since his surgery. I didn't walk him much during the winter when it was cold and the sidewalks were icy. We did stuff inside the house - ball work, fit disks, ladders, and wobble board. I have been walking him more and doing a bit of agility with him. His front leg can still get sore at times but that is to be expected with the arthritis. Here is video of him doing some jumps and tunnels.





I tried the AudioSwap function at YouTube. I picked a song with a good title but bad lyrics "Catch me jumping". I couldn't get the preview function to work so finally gave up and picked one based on it title.

Catching Up Part 1

I have been busy so I haven't been able to keep up with my blog. Here is a brief description of some of the videos of Taari's runs and our contact training.

April 24 2009

This was our first time at a new trial location - Ratpack in Orangeville. This run had some good parts and there are some things that I need to work on. To name a few - start line stays, speaking while she is over a bar, her reaction to clapping, faster catch at the end of the run. I believe that certain sounds cause her to drop a bar. She may also drop a bar when she is racing me.



May 2 2009

First I did some box work on the ground. I lowered the posts on the dogwalk about 3 inches and Taari was still successful. She wasn't successful without the posts though. I also tried the TnT at the end of the teeter. This seemed to help with Taari's confidence and she wasn't looking at me. At the end I did a couple of A-frames with the box - mostly to see what her A-frame currently looks like a roughly full height.




May 16 2009

We did some box work on the ground to start of with. We worked on the teeter both with the TnT right at the teeter and a distance away from it. I put the box on the A-frame as well. The A-frame is close to full height. She is successfully getting in the box but not striding over the A-frame well. I worked 18 weaves with Taari both with and without the TnT as a distraction. Taari popped out of the polls early in a trial.




May 18 2008

Since I was training with a friend I was able to lower the A-frame. It was good to see what Taari would do when it was lowered but the next time she tried a full height A-frame she had problems. I am not sure at this point that a lower A-frame is helping Taari with her striding.




Current status

The dogwalk is progressing nicely as I lower the posts. Without the posts Taari is jumping and I haven't gone back and tried no posts recently.

Taari is able to get into the box when it is on the A-frame most of the time. Her striding over the A-frame apex isn't what I am looking for as she is coming down on her front feet for few steps before taking a longer stride.

Taari has gained more confidence on the teeter with the TreatNTrain at the end of it.

First Indoor trial and Running Contacts

Last weekend Taari had her first indoor trial. I signed her up for one Steeplechase and two Master Jumpers runs. We haven't trialled since October and I had a bad cold. So bad I wasn't sure I would be going to the trial. The venue was quite nice. I liked how far away the last obstacle was from the fence. We had some nice parts to our runs. The last Master Jumpers was our best run. I had taken a 5 hour energy drink in the morning but found that it was wearing off so I took another one. I felt energized and the Niacin flush they warn you about. I am sometimes concerned that Taari will turn back and get in front of me. This happens when she feels needs to tell me that she doesn't know what is next. My defensive response to this is to put out both arms to try to balance myself. I noticed this on the video. I didn't run that last run the way that I had planned. I ended up on the wrong side at one point and we had a tunnel discussion. We were first place in the 16" class with 5 faults. Here is the video.




Today during our agility practice we concentrated on running contacts. Taari's box work on the ground has improved but she is still taking off too early and I missed her only putting one foot in the box a few times. I am a bit late with the Treat N Train. I was trying to be more careful and not "click" bad behaviors. I think that this resulted in me being late. Here is the video.



Then I put the box on the A-frame. I back chained it a few times and then tried Taari on the whole A-frame. I tried moving up the box and using stride regulators to get her to do one hit before the box. It wasn't really working and I need to think about this some more. I need advice. Ideally I would like a solution that doesn't involve putting too much on the A-frame because of group classes. Here is the video.



I am not sure how to fix her apex. I think that she is doing 3 and half hits in the last couple of A-frames as she is walking down on her front feet (more than 3 hits) but her back feet only hit 3 times.

Is it just a matter of doing more work on the ground and more work with the box higher up on the A-frame? Should I being trying for 3 hits or 2 hits? She will jump off the A-frame too high and miss the yellow sometimes in competition.

I decided that the box wasn't working for Taari on the dogwalk. She wasn't comfortable with it when other dogs were around. Since I have been using the PVC hoop in class around other dogs and she is quite comfortable with it I decided to go back to it. I will attempt to fade it by first removing part of the top bar and then the whole top bar. After that I will make the sides shorter. Today I got to the point of removing the top bar. We were practicing by ourselves and she was successful. I am going to try it at class Monday night. I may also try the box on the A-frame as well. Here is the video of the dogwalk.

Running Contacts March 21 2009

Yesterday I tried the box on a low A-frame (around 4 ft). My box is a bit smaller than the yellow area but I don't really want Taari to hit the top of the yellow zone (before the first slat). Taari did well when I put her on the A-frame. She didn't come back to me promptly as I don't think that she likes being picked up and put on equipment. I also have this problem with the dogwalk. So as soon as it looked like she was ready I had her do the whole A-frame. I was hoping that she would be able to do only one hit on the downside of the A-frame before the box/yellow zone. At one point I tried a stride regulator to see if that would help but it didn't. Perhaps they are not the right shape or I don't have them in the right spot. It may also require further training with the stride regulators to get Taari to stretch out more (gradually moving the stride regulator down). I will have to think about this some more.

After doing the box A-frame I decided to go back to doing the box on the ground. I was quite pleased that Taari seemed to be doing one hit on the ground. I don't have a good enough eye yet as when I looked at the video I missed Taari twice only getting one of her front feet in the box and more obviously there were two times when she hit the box. She seems to be taking off too early over the jump.

A couple of other things that I noticed after watching my video and reviewing the Reliable Running A-frames DVD again was that I am forgetting to give the box a cue and I am late or the Treat N Train isn't responding right away when I "click".

Here is the video.

Progress report on Running Contacts

Last weekend was house league so I didn't get to practice during my regular Saturday time. In my regular Monday class I am still just using the hoops. This week I did some more box work in my basement.

Today I had my regular practice at the dome. Brigs and Spider were also there and I find that Taari is more distracted and we don't get as much done as when we are on our own.

I did some dogwalk box work on the ground and then put the box on the dogwalk. Taari was avoiding the box on the dogwalk and jumping off the side. I was putting her on the dogwalk down ramp (i.e. not having her do the whole thing). This is somewhat strange since she did so well the first day when we had the dome to ourselves. So I got a table and removed the plank from the dogwalk and put in on the table. She did the box well with this setup. The table was the height we use for large dogs - 22" so the incline wasn't as steep as the regular dogwalk.

I worked with one jump and the A-frame box on the ground. Taari did well and seemed to be only doing one hit between the box and jump. I am not positive since I didn't video tape the session.

I am looking forward to being able to work outside.

Running Contacts in my basement

I have what used to be a ramp board from a dogwalk. It is now two boards - a 5 ft board with the yellow zone (lost a foot due to the wood rotting) and a 6 ft board. My basement isn't very big and is fairly cluttered but I managed to make a mini dogwalk contact trainer out of them. I can't wait until we can work outside. Hopefully the snow will melt this weekend.

I experimented with and without the box on it. Taari doesn't have the same speed she usually has on a real dogwalk. There were times when she was fairly excited and faster. She had no problems getting the contact zone either with or without the box.

Earlier in the week I used the long board as the down ramp board but Thursday night I used the short board with the yellow zone. I started with it low and then found some blocks and books so I could raise it up.

Taari was definitely having fun and Spice did too the other night. Spice did quite well considering his 13th birthday is coming up. I should have taped him. Tonight I only had Taari working on the boards. Spice just got to run back and forth in the basement.

Here is the video. Watch for the part where the Manners Minder starts making a funny sound - one that Taari doesn't like. I thought that it was quite funny but Taari apparently didn't. Luckily when Manners Minder stopped making that noise Taari was fine with the it.

Week 2 of the box

We were back in the training facility this weekend. Taari's friends, Brigs and Spider, were also there. Taari was much more excited during the session. Taari did manage to do one hit between the jump and the A-frame box more often which was good.

Because Taari was much more excited she wasn't as good with the box on the dogwalk. Then we had a bit of a set back. She slipped going up it and then was jumping off part way up the up ramp. The dogwalk is quite slippery and I wish that it had something like Contactacoat on it.

I didn't video tape my session since I forgot my tripod.

Running Contacts

I gave up on stopped contacts over a year ago with Taari. I could not be consistent in a trial and I didn't think that stopping was good for her. It just wasn't working for us. We were having too many discussions on course.

As a management technique to prevent her from jumping I used PVC hoops last winter. My PVC was grey with white fittings. The PVC is for underground sprinklers so it requires no glue as the pieces screw together. I have had quite a bit of fun making hoops, boxes, barriers for Spice so he wouldn't do stairs after his surgery.

I painted my hoops camouflage green in an attempt to make them blend in with the grass. I then found some wire (actually an old weave poll guide) and made one for the dogwalk out wire. Left it white at first and then painted it green. Found some even thinner wire. Under the right lighting conditions it was very hard to see. Taari hit the wire a few times and recovered quite well. She had some really nice dogwalk contacts in competition last year.

We moved indoors and I painted the thin wire dogwalk hoop to match the sand. It was a very good match. I made the mistake of introducing this hoop at at a fun match (and Taari was also in season). I put out the hoop one run then took it away the next run and put it back in the third run. Taari hit it on the third run, like she had hit it before. The hoop moves if she hits it so it doesn't hurt her physically. Nothing seemed odd to me about it as she kept running. She did seem startled perhaps that it was there the third time. The next run she would not get on the dogwalk at all. It took weeks to get her back on the dogwalk. I went back to using a very visible hoop. I should mention that we had problems with the dogwalk from the beginning of her training. It took a very long time to get her to do a small dogwalk.

Thinking back I think that the environment of the fun match and the hormones of her heat cycle really complicated things. The other times that she hit the hoop were in a comfortable class setting. One time she was barking at me and not even looking where she was going.

Not wanting to go through dogwalk fears again I have been thinking about what to try next. I ordered the DVD by Rachel Sanders Reliable Running A-frames. Perhaps I should use a box with both the A-frame and the dogwalk.

On the A-frame I have been using hoops and stride regulators. See this video.



Together (or even the stride regulators alone) they seem to work well but in a class situation it is hard to have both stride regulators and hoops put out when it comes to my turn so I have just been using the hoop. Even the stride regulators alone take time. Just the hoop isn't working well as I discovered when reviewing some video footage. She isn't coming over the top of the A-frame well and often then runs down on her front feet for a while. So perhaps the Rachel Sanders method will work for her.

I built a A-frame box and a dogwalk box and had Taari running between a TreatnTrain and Manners Minder pouncing in the boxes in the basement. I would love to be able to do this outside but there is too much snow in our backyard.

Yesterday I had a practice session in a unheated facility about 50 minutes away from my house. I worked mainly on running contacts. I need to work on my timing as I sometimes rewarded something that I didn't really want to (Taari hitting the box for example). I am trigger happy.

I first worked with the A-frame box on the ground. Varied my position and Taari was very successful. I used the TreatNTrain.

Then I tried the box on the dogwalk. First putting Taari on the down ramp. Then having her do the whole dogwalk and then a few obstacles before the dogwalk. I noticed that she was taking quite a few steps when coming down the dogwalk. This is easier to see in later footage when I widened the view. I also used the hoop with and without the box. With the hoop I think that she is leaving the dogwalk from a lower spot on the down plank but perhaps I am wrong.

Then I tried a few A-frames with the hoop only. She is barely making into the yellow and jumping from quite high up :(.

Then I went back to the A-frame box on the ground. I should mention that my box word is "zone". Being the impatient person that I am I decided to try the box with the jumps. Perhaps I should have done a few more session with the box alone. I didn't have a tape measure with me so I was estimating the distances. I moved the first jump a bit closer after a few tries. I also raised up the front part of the box. Taari was doing two hits after the second jump before the box except when I ran with her. This is what she is doing on the A-frame - taking too many steps before the yellow. She is better when the stride regulators on the A-frame. Do I want two hits or one hit before the yellow on the downside of the A-frame? I am a bit confused about this especially after watching the DVD. Rachel says that dogs are often higher in a trial situation and will not do the two hits like they do in practice and miss the yellow.

Looking back at the footage she might be slowing down to approach the TreatNTrain. Maybe it needs to be further away or a jump after the box. Throwing a toy may be better but she tends not be as enthusiastic about toys especially when she is getting sand in her mouth and eyes.

I probably worked her too long as well. It is hard when you spend around two hours driving just for one training session not to try to get as much out of it as you can.

Here is the video of the training session.



Sorry for the long post but sometimes it helps just to write things down even if you are the only one reading it ;).

Too late for my post

I was a bit surprised to find out that the CU_Dogs list has been disbanded this week (before I had a chance to post my question). I found another list CU_Support so I will join it and perhaps post there instead.

Reorienting in Control Unleashed

I wrote a post that I was going to send to the Control Unleashed (CU) list but thought I would think about more and post it to my blog instead.

I have started watching the Control Unleashed: A Foundation Seminar DVD set. It has been a while since I read the entire book.

Taari, who was a singleton puppy, is not very confident around other dogs. She also is very motion driven to the point of not being able to watch agility on TV without getting excited and barking at the dogs. Even while watching the first two CU DVDs she was making low "urrr" noises. She gets very high at trials and in situations with other dogs.

I have a really big problem that is starting to get better with Taari. She will get in front of me on course and bark at me when she doesn't know what to do next - especially if I am not able to keep up with her. See one of her runs for an example of this behaviour especially the last few jumps. I am leery to try the reorienting and encouraging her to come in front of me outside of the ring for fear that it will make things worse inside the ring. I think that I have rewarded her already too much in front of me and that is what has caused the problems in the ring. It got so bad that it was suggested that I do not reward her in front any more (including where she is when I feed her). I would prefer that she stay at my side and just look at me. I will have to think about this some more and see how I can still apply the CU principles without further exasperating the problem of her getting in front of me on course.

I should also mention that she gets in front of my Spice as he comes in the house or comes down the stairs. So it is a bad habit that not limited to me.

Matching

Counting isn't progressing as I hoped. I think that the dogs are looking to me for some sort of cue and that I have confused them. There are times when they seem to be getting it but other times not. I should have kept better records.

I am going to try something different - matching symbols. I have created three pairs of matching symbols - circle, triangle and plus symbol. I will rerecording the Talking Symbols and try to see if the dogs can match the symbols. I am also going to try to be more careful and make sure that I am not confusing the dogs. Perhaps even using the Manners Minder so that they are not watching me so much.

Counting

I have been trying counting with my dogs. I recorded "one", "two", and "three" on different Talking Symbols. I put a piece of paper in each of them with large dots on them corresponding to the recording. First I put out each symbol individually and the number of objects on the symbol. They I asked how many? Clicking and treating when the dog touched the symbol and the symbol played its message. Now I have been putting out more symbols (at first two and sometimes three). I have been changing the positions of the symbols as well as I don't want the dogs to be choosing the symbol based on location. I have gone back to just putting out one object for now. Once they seem to be touching the correct symbol most of the time I will go to two objects and then three. Not sure when I should try a different set of objects.

A couple of interesting issues I have been having is my older sheltie Spice (almost 13) is rapidly going from one symbol to the next. Good exercise for him but not what I want. If a dog touches the wrong symbol should I just wait and click when the right one is touched or should I say "too bad" and have the dog sit and re ask the question? I am worried about the dogs developing a pattern or not really looking at the symbols and just touching them at random. I sometime remove the extra symbols so that they are able to get it right and break the pattern of touching multiple symbols. Things brings up something I am struggling with. I think that I often tend to make things easier for my dogs - perhaps too much. This may have resulted in them not thinking enough and not dealing with failure very well. I also may be expecting the dogs to learn quicker than they are and I need to be more patient.

Spice was better tonight and not going from one symbol to the next as much. I also thought that Taari was also better tonight as well. Both were touching the correct symbol more often. I have to be careful with Taari because she may find the Talking Symbol rewarding in itself.

Talking Signs - more testing

I tried putting the Go Talk Buttons in a muffin tin but that didn't work out. The muffin tins were too deep and the dogs didn't really want to paw the buttons when they were in there. I tried putting several layers of cardboard in the muffin tin to raise the buttons up but that didn't work either.

Then it occurred to me that I should try Velcro. I didn't want to use the Talking Symbols Velcro so I searched the house and finally found some and a board to attach the buttons too. I first tried regular Velcro and it didn't work that well as the buttons still moved too much. The Industrial Strength Velcro was better. Now I had a new problem. If the dogs pawed at the buttons just the right way the battery compartment opened and the top came off. This can be solved by either putting a larger piece of Velcro on the back to hold the battery compartment closed or using a piece of tape.

If only I could get my dogs to put some weight on the button when they pawed it. Right now they are not and the button doesn't always play the message when they paw it. Sometimes what happens is that the light comes on but no message is played. I duplicated this by rapidly pressing the button twice.

Talking Signs arrived

I got my talking signs yesterday. I ended up buying 6 of the Go Talk Buttons and 3 Talking Symbols. The Talking Symbols are twice the price of the Go Talk Buttons per sign.

The sound quality appears to be stronger and better on the Talking Symbols. Both will allow 10 seconds of recording.

Both have a small red LED that lights up when recording and when playing. The Go Talk Button takes one battery and the Talking Symbol three.

The magnet in the Talking Symbols is stronger than the Go Talk Button. The Talking Symbols come with velcro as well.

Just to get the dogs using them I recorded "yes" on both and rewarded them for getting it to play back the recording.

The Talking Symbols are more sensitive as well. My dogs had to often paw several times at the Talking Button before actually pressing the button and making it play the recording. Taari my younger sheltie (13lb and 14" at the withers) has become better at it so it may just be a matter practice. The Buttons move quite a bit and at one point last night Taari was starting to play with it like she does a Babble ball (a ball that plays phrases when moved). It was amusing to see her batting it around between her paws. There is a larger surface to touch on the Talking Symbols (more than 4 times the area of the Button). The Go Talk Button requires more pressure than the Talking Symbol.

It is not readily apparent which one is more robust. The Go Talk Buttons may be more slobber proof given that the Talking Symbols have a grill over the speaker. The speaker appears to be made of metal though. It is my plan to have the dogs paw the talking signs so hopefully slobber will not be an issue.

I think that the Go Talk Buttons will need to be placed in something or attached to a board to hold them still. I will have to think more about this.

The Talking Symbols could be used on their own as is.

Here is a Youtube video showing both kinds of talking signs and Taari playing with them.

More Silent Signs

Today I continued working on getting the dogs to target the correct coaster. At first I started with only the coaster with the picture of the game on it. Then I added a blank coaster. Both dogs were pretty successful in the morning session so in the afternoon session I decided to switch games. They were also successfully pawing the coaster of the other game. Next I added a blank coaster. Sometimes helping them out by pointing to the coaster. In the evening session I decided to have the dogs go to a mat and then I would release them with okay. Taari seemed to be less successful. Then I noticed that she was looking at both coasters and when I released her she frequently went to the one she was looking at. I realized why this was happening as that is what I expect when I do gambling work with her. So I now have to be careful and make sure that she is looking at the right coaster when I release her. She did start to release herself and go to the correct coaster. I am not too worried about her releasing herself because she was picking the right coaster and was not waiting for me say "yes that is the right one".

I haven't added the question yet as I am unsure if I want the question to be "Which game do you want?" or "Which game is this?"

One problem I am having is making sure that they touch the coaster with a paw. This is where I think that the talking signs would help. I would wait until I heard the sign talk (i.e the dog would have to hit the sign and cause the recording to play). There would be feedback to the dog that they had touched the sign appropriately - it would speak the word or words associated with what they touched. I would also not be confusing the dog by clicking it for a bad paw or not noticing when they did hit it. (Aside - I can see that a Chicken Camp would help with my skills.)

Silent Signs

While waiting for the for the talking signs I decided to work on getting Spice and Taari to paw a coaster with a picture on it. I went too fast at first and have back tracked so I will describe what I am now doing.

1. First I started with a "blank" coaster and worked on their pawing technique (clicking and treating for a good paw on the coaster).
   
2. Then I printed a picture of the Dog Tornado Game and put it on a coaster. I put the Tornado Game between my feet and held it so that they couldn't try to play the whole Tornado Game. Then I put the coaster nearby. I pointed to the coaster and when they pawed it I clicked and put a treat in the Tornado Game.
   
3. Eventually I stopped pointing and they were pawing it on their own.

I will repeat 3 and maybe 2 if needed in more sessions. After that I think that the next step is to do the same with the Dog Brick Game.

Keyboards, Signs and Buttons

After hearing about and reading a paper by Alexandre Pongrácz Rossi and César Ades I thought it would be interesting to try teach my dogs to use something similar to the keyboard device that they used. The device in the paper turns out to be quite expensive so I am going to give other devices a try (they are essentially talking signs). I will associate something with the sign that will identify it to the dog and the dog will press the sign/button and a word or short message will be played.

I can think of at least a few applications or experiments I could do with these devices.

1. Teach the dog to press a specific sign/button when it wants something (i.e. go outside, food, play, petting, a specific toy, etc.).
   
2. What types of symbols work best for the dog (arbitrary, pictures, drawing). Taari is very visual - watches TV, sees images on bags. Spice on the other hand isn't and it might be a good test of his eye sight.
   
3. Teach the dog to count. Do I use a number two "2" or represent two with two large dots?
4. Another way to play some of the games that are in Kay Laurence's book Learning Games.
5. Teaching the dogs a sequence. First push A, then B and finally C. This may be a way to exercise the dogs in the house when it is too cold and/or the sidewalks are too dangerous.
   
6. Expanding on the above, as well as a sequence have a "command" attached to the sign. For example when the dog pushes A the sign says "sit", then the dog goes and pushes B the sign says "down", etc. You could almost imagine a rally type course set up with these signs. Of course you may have to program the signs to say "command" pause "release". But I think that would be doable since they can record up to 10 seconds.

Too many choices at this point. I will have to figure out something simple to start with.

Also after thinking about it - do I want the talking signs to talk to me or to the dogs? I think that to explore what the dogs can communicate to me the signs should talk to me. Can I have the signs do both? Perhaps especially if they are "different".