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.