Agility Training Talk Thread

[wuffles]

The new seesaw sure is little. I don't think Ava even really realised that it was moving

Thanks to KTB we had some fun things to try in class last night including obstacle discrimination... I must say I think it really helped both my dog and me... a light went on in her head that she actually has to watch what I am telling her to do, and there was some tricky handling involved that made me think.

Elbie and Ava are both weaving 8 straight poles nicely, they are very cute

Edited August 25, 2011 by wuffles

[koalathebear]

Thanks for all the tips. Elbie will go into intense see saw training! :D

Last night was a lot of fun but I spent so much time on the dratted see saw that I didn't get to do as much discrimination work as I hoped for! Next week - or we need to buy an agility set :p

[megan_]

Remember to take it slowly! When I played the bang game with Fergus and he started to really enjoy it and offer the behaviour with a wagging tail, I was very keen to try him walking the seesaw. The instructor said to play the game for a few more sessions and not rush into things. It worked and the first time he ran on the seesaw he didn't bat an eyelid as it fell.

[RubyStar]

If you've got a dog who isn't terribly confident, I also wouldn't do see-saw or bang games on the see-saw in the same session as you do the dogwalk, regardless of height of either. After really enjoying the bang game on a very very low see-saw, Ruby had a meltdown going over a baby dogwalk when I first started her. Intense dogwalk rehab got her back over the dogwalk. Now I'm starting to teach her see-saw again (I waited til after she got her AD in the end ), and while she is in two minds about it (wants to keep playing on it, but is also a bit "stiff" in her legs as she does it), I did get her to go back over a fullsized dogwalk so I am hoping that she is finally getting confidence about discriminating the two Meanwhile, Millie is a fruit loop and goes crazy for both (and Millie is the one scared of the vacuum and lawnmower, while I practically have to drive the two over Ruby as she won't move out of the way )

Edited August 25, 2011 by RubyStar

[skip]

I used the new wee-saw at a trial on the weekend and my dog LOVED it!

Mind you she is part chihuahua so it's PERFECT for her.

Don't know what all the other dogs will make of it!

[Tailwag]

Well the Weesaw has arrived and all i can say is 'Oh Dear'. I am sure Links pups went over something bigger than that for playtime.....all i could do was laugh there was no other option it really is rather funny. I suspect this thing is just gonna be used as a running contact with most dogs.

[aussielover]

What is a wee-saw?

[Kavik]

The weesaw is the nickname for the new small height seesaw that is coming in next year

[The Spotted Devil]

What is a wee-saw?

The new height see-saw ;)

Ziggy gained his first ADX pass yesterday (with a first place to top it off) but the best thing was the way he attacked the seesaw with ever gaining confidence. He entertained the judge and onlookers in one of his rounds by sailing right over the new low height table Very funny indeed....think we need more training on that one!

Em had her first agility class today. We had so much fun....tyre, tunnel and table in the first session and contacts in the second. She is quite tired after all the novelty.

Edited August 28, 2011 by The Spotted Devil

[stonecutter]

Just wanted to say hi and big thanks to Kavik for the chat at Spring Fair about starting a pup in foundation training for agility - I'll dig up my clicker and start on some of the suggestions. I'm going back through this thread and others for some ideas as well My Jap Spitz loved watching the dogs run and jump Look forward to being able to join in the conversation one day!

[Kavik]

It was great to meet you to stonecutter, glad I could help you Japanese Spitzes are very cute. I am sure you will have lots of fun.

[whiskedaway]

Argh I am going to tear my hair out, Akira is driving me INSANE.

One of the foundation exercises is a touch, which needs to be used after the see-saw, A-frame and dog walk. We use a carpet to teach it and they have to go and find the carpet and lie down on it when they're told "touch". They can't graduate until they can do it. Somehow we managed to get out of puppy class without being able to do it (no clue how) but we're not going to be allowed to go to pre-triallers until she can do it. We work on it for five minutes every day (any more and she gets bored) and have been since the start of the year and she still doesn't get it. Halo on the other hand has been doing it for a week, and already knows if I throw the carpet down and say touch, she has to run over to it (though she jumps up and down on the carpet cos she gets excited). Akira looks at the carpet like "what do you want me to do that for?" and ignores it. The only way I can get her to do it is if I touch the carpet myself.

I've tried shaping it and she just doesn't get it or want to do it. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to teach it? They've decided we're not allowed to do 2o2o because they want everyone to do it the same way.

[Tassie]

Ack - that's frustrating!

Woild it be worth starting over - shaping to a different target - takeaway container lid or something? Being me and impatient, I actually start with a lure - treat on the target, although if you want to be purist, youi would just sit and wait for her to pay attention, then C/T. I usually have a treat there a couple of times - then try without - usually works pretty quickly. Treat may have to be really high value in the first instance, and high excitement reinforcement.

If you have success, you could progressively transfer the new target to the piece of carpet (if you have to use that specifically).

[Kavik]

Have you done lots of shaping? What about shaping it is giving you problems - what will she do while you are shaping it?

I'm sure it would be easier for the club if everyone does the same thing (though I'm not sure xwhat they are trying to teach with this ultimately? 4 on the floor? Obviously you have to fade the carpet at some point) but personally I would hope that a club would be flexible enough to allow me to choose the contact behaviour I feel is more suitable for my dog and myself.

[whiskedaway]

The carpet becomes the colours, so they learn to put all four paws on the colour. They're actually using mousemats now because they've run out of carpet, so I'm sure shaping a different target would be fine with them.

Have tried luring her to it (hence why I can get her to do it if I touch it because she thinks I've got a treat) but she just doesn't seem to be making the connection that I am clicking for her being near/on the carpet when I'm shaping it. She's just not connecting the dots at all and hasn't been for months. She's a typical Sibe and has her "I don't know why you want me to do that so I won't do that" moments. I just can't work out how to show her WHY I need her to do that.

[sheena]

I wouldn't like to teach my dog to do 4 on the floor after the see saw. When the see saw lifts it could take her back end much safer with 2o2o. A bit of a bugger being made to teach one method then try to change to another. I taught my 2o2o by shaping. Have you shaped him to go to the mat, first. Break it down into tiny little movements & use really high value treats. Does he really understand what the clicker is all about, or do you need to go back to basics ie. putting value on the click.

[Tassie]

When I say luring, I don't mean I actually touch the target. I'll put/drop a piece of food on it while the dog is a little bit away, then at home, I just let the dog choose to go and investigate, and mark/click as the dog gets the treat/touches the target. (In puppy class, the pups are on lead, so I might drop the treat and then have the owner just walk the pup by and mark as the pup goes to investigate.) Ussually after a couple times with treats on the target, you can just let the pup walk by with no treat on the target, and mark/treat as the pup investigaates (which they usually do LOL) Gradually I'll start with the pup further away from the target - little by little. This gives a nose touch to a smalll target (like a lid), but with a slightly larger one, you could get a paw touch.

[whiskedaway]

Okay, so if I make her sit stay away from the target, put the treat on it, then come back to her and tell her to touch? She'll go straight for it (though I'll have to let her realise that she's allowed to break her stay if I say touch) because she's a garbage guts and will know exactly where it is. Then slowly phase out the treat on the target?

[corvus]

If I'm trying to get a dog to target, regardless of the target or the body part to target with, I approach it much the same way. Pay BIG any time they are in the desired place. A handful of treats in a matter of seconds. Then call them off it. Start from very close to the mat so she only has to take a step. At first, I wouldn't care if she is down on it or not. I'd just pay for moving onto it. Once she's moving to the mat, then you can either add down on it or get it happening from all angles. Toss the food in every direction so they have to go get it and go back to the mat from a different angle/distance. Erik has a "bugger off" cue that means he should go to his mat and lie down on it. He takes it very seriously, the cutie. It's a good skill, whether you want to use it in agility or not. I use it to station my dogs when I'm training one at a time.

[wuffles]

whiskedaway, my 'slower' dog (not saying Akira is slow, but mine certainly can be) has trouble learning behaviours involving 'items'. We have an exercise in our companion obedience classes which involves sending the dog to a mat from 3m away. My smartie pants girl learnt it in a few quick sessions yet my doofus seems to have trouble comprehending, even if I lure him, that he is even ON a mat. He understands 'go away from mum and sit' but whether he's near the mat or not is just coincidence. He just doesn't get it.

Anyway, he knows how to target my hand so to get him to target an object, I firstly just placed it on my hand and asked him to 'touch'. Then I just held it in my fingertips, then progressed to having it on the floor. I did a nose touch but if you really have to teach a drop on the object you could perhaps start with asking for a paw touch and hopefully she may start offering a drop after that (my dogs seem to transition from a paw touch to drop pretty quickly without being asked).