So my training goals last night were to work on some gamble challenges with G & K. We have set ups that allow people to work on what the need too. I wanted to work on my directionals, verbal discrimination, timing etc. and see how far we have come with furthering our development of these skills. I made the gamble lines the sam colour as the numbers to keep track of what I was doing. Anal, perhaps.
TUNNEL AND WEAVE SET
I also wanted to work on sending to tunnels with Gyp - not a big deal you say?? Well, I had to send PAST the weaves to GET to the tunnels from about 30' away. (SEE TOP DIAGRAMS) She had to make the choice - go past her most valued object - to one of her least valued objects. So by doing this we also worked on her verbal and discrimination skills. These sets also worked independent weave performance. 6 months ago I would have to break this down alot.
The Green numbered gamble at the top was the first we tried: Its challenges were sending away to the weaves, moving out to the jump which was around 30' away and then coming back to weave towards me. I was so proud of her, she didn't flinch or question it at all. I ran it with K and he nailed it too I was super proud of him!
THE BOTTOM CONTACT SET
with the A-frame was set up again to test the verbal skills RED SET - go OUT to the far end of the tunnel - past the close tunnel and the FRAME, again which is super high value for Gyp, this is good proofing for both of us, and good practice for my timing. Again I had to send out past the obvious jump in front of the tunnel BOTH BLUE AND RED SETS, K & G did great on this, though it is much harder given Kalebs not-so-awesome contacts, but I just have to have my timing correct to turn him or push him out, and I can easily redirect him if I need too, where as Gyp is a work in progress, and I have far less time to work with given their speed difference, so my timing and body position is VERY important.
I wish I would have practiced my moving WAIT with Gyp a bit more (just on the flat last night), but my timing and confidence were better, so she took direction great, and I didn't have to use WAIT as a back up plan to redirect her.
We also practiced just a verbal from the frame into the tunnel with me 20' away GREEN SET She is doing great with this, and so long as I keep my arm away, she doesn't think about blasting ahead to the obstacle ahead of her - VERBAL ONLY SARAH. so I say "Left Tunnel" or "Right Tunnel" depending on which side she is on. My L & R are positional verbal cues - she turns 180 degrees away from me.
Kaleb is getting better with this too. I used to use OUT for this with my off arm, but I also used OUT for sending away which would have posed a problem on that gamble - does OUT mean move out over that Jump or Turn into the tunnel when my arm comes up - from my dogs perspective I was telling them alot, but at the same not enough. So I have broken this down to make it clearer for my dogs, and it is paying off already.
2 comments:
Wow, pretty intense. No wonder you and your dogs did so well last year in agility =]
What kind of methods did you use to train Kaleb as a puppy (basic obedience up to basic agility)? Treat training, verbal, that sort of thing...
Kaleb is always a work in progress :) where do i start .....
Pete did his "Basic Training" haha, he was a certified SAR dog at 2 years old. He is VERY food and toy motivated. He WAS Pete's dog. I did some basic Obedience and show dog stuff. The only thing he lacks (STILL AT ALMOST 7 - is some self control), I wish I would have known more about that when he was younger. His SAR training was all about teaching drive - and we forgot about the off switch ....
It's great that he never gives up, but DUDE really did you have to jump a 4' fence just to steal a toy out of someone's bag at Agility training. HE WAS BAD as a 2 year old.
People often has memories of him being "the Asshole", he has come along way since then, but still has his moments.
I really didn't do much with K agility wise until he was 2 - he began competing at 3. Again training him LOTS of RANDOM reinforcement.
I use mostly positive reinforcement, but he can take a correction, and needs to know right from wrong.
He loves the word YES, and he likes the clicker too.
He is to this day, my most challenging dog in many ways, but his moments of brilliance make it all work it, he is a great, great dog. I love his spirit and his sense of humor and loyalty to his mama.
wow that was good question!! thanks for asking!!!!! i hope that answered it all!!!
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