So here I am in the dead of winter. The backyard is frozen, agility trials are scarce, and the dogs are going crazy. I usually try to fit in a training session each night, but to be honest, I've been a bit lazy, so we keep practicing the same tricks over and over. I decided it was time to get our brains in gear and try some new stuff.
When I was thinking of what to teach, I figured it might be a good idea to teach something useful. Why not teach the dogs to put their toys away?? Chad's always complaining that I don't clean up as much as I should, so I'll just pass that duty along to the dogs!
Trick training is a great mental workout for dogs, but it is also equally challenging for the human. Each dog learns differently and has unique strengths and weaknesses. Shaping is like a puzzle: you need to figure out how to split the behaviors just right so that the dog can be successful and maintain motivation.
I first started this endeavor with Breeze. Breeze is a workaholic and a quick learner. She generalizes well and has a very good memory. The main challenge with putting toys away is that it requires the dog to manipulate another object. So far, most of my training has revolved around Breeze moving her body. When I give a cue, it usually means to do something with her body. When I tell her to go out and jump, it means run towards the obstacle, jump over the obstacle, and come back. Not run to the obstacle, move the obstacle 5 feet away, and come back.
The closest thing Breeze knows about manipulating an object is fetch, so I started with this. I put a basket in front of me, threw a toy, and when she brought it back, I clicked for dropping it close to the basket. Now one tiny hiccup in this matter is that previously, I had trained Breeze to put her feet in a bowl. Unfortunately (or fortunately) she generalized this to the basket and whenever she came back, she put her front feet in the basket. After a few sessions, the toy was dropping in the basket along with her feet, but she wasn't really understanding that it was the toy that was supposed to be in the basket, not her feet. Finally, after about a week of training, she finally got this concept and the rest was downhill. I added distance between myself and the basket and added more toys. She generalized beautifully to other objects and this is what I got:
Zoe was a different story and challenge. Zoe is a confident but inhibited dog. She plays with her toys gently whereas Breeze tears them apart. She fetches, but only with objects that really excite her. Bring in the squeaky tennis ball! Zoe is very paw oriented and when I ask her to interact with a toy, she is more likely to paw it than mouth it. But a ball that squeaks is much more fun to chomp on, so I started with this. Zoe didn't grow up with shaping training (due to a novice trainer), so she will wait and wait and wait patiently until asked to do something. I wanted her to get the idea that a ball dropping in the basket equals treats. So I literally had to sit there with the ball above the basket, have her grab it, and let gravity drop it in the basket. Over and over and over and over again. This lasted for quite a few sessions and for a while there, I was a little worried she wasn't going to get it. But SLOWLY I moved the basket away to the side and low and behold she turned her head to drop it in. Once she made a solid connection that ball in basket = treat, it became much easier to increase the distance of the basket and have success. We are now at the point where I can throw the ball a few feet and she will retrieve it and bring it to the basket. Yay! Success! However, when I introduced a NEW object (i.e. a stuffed toy), we practically had to start over at step A and repeat the whole process. I am sure the process will be speedier, but it still demonstrates the vast differences in how my two dogs learn. Here is Zoe's progress so far:
My goal is to continue teaching new tricks regularly. For me, the hardest part is choosing a trick and figuring out where to start with the training. For Breeze, the next trick will be wrapping herself in a blanket and after one session, she is catching on fast!
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Monday, January 3, 2011
Ringing in the New Year with Agility
We finally got to play in NADAC again this past weekend. While we only picked up 3 Q's, I felt very good about how the weekend went. First of all, NADAC is becoming more challenging for us. I now have Zoe in the preferred category, so she is jumping 20'' which shortens the standard course time by a few seconds. Also, we are running in Elite Regular, which also shortens the course time a bit too. Time is now our nemesis, which is humbling, but also changes my attitude regarding competition. We missed several Q's by only a few seconds - less than a second in two of our runs. However, in most of these runs, Zoe ran clean, fast, and focused. Running fast and focused is something she has been improving on greatly. She isn't the most driven dog out there, so she still gets distracted from time to time by smells, the judge standing on the course, shiny things, etc. In the past, I've really had to cheer lead her on to get her head in the game. This weekend I did a bit of cheerleading, but it was more to pick up her speed. I had very few problems with her wandering, which was a major improvement. And while we had problems making time, she was still running fast.
On to the other good stuff...we got our Open level Touch N Go title. Two of the three Q's we go this weekend were from the Touch N Go course. Zoe really demonstrated how much she loves this class. I really think her favorite obstacle is the A frame. In CPE Full House or Jackpot, I will try to get in the A frame at least twice. She always speeds up for it and will defer to it in a discrimination. I haven't heavily treated the A frame, so she just seems to have an intrinsic motivation to go over it. So when she got to do it twice in the touch n go course, she was jazzed. Both of these classes were run at the end of the day and in both, she ran over 4 yards per second. So the combo of contacts, tunnels, and no jumps equals jackpot for Zoe.
Also, we got our first open level chances Q. This was a surprise for me because I was unsure that we made time. Our first challenge was a tunnel/a frame discrimination with the tunnel being the correct and outer option. This was frustrating to see because this same discrimination was in the chances course the day before and Zoe took the A frame despite my desperate pleading. However, this time she got it and continued on. Midway, she got a bit stopped up because she had to do a distance 180 to a jump. She didn't get it at first, but then I reset her and sent her out. Once she knew what to do, she flew and finished the course with speed. I was concerned that the reset took too much time, but fortunately we made it. I've always been confident in her distance skills and she is comfortable with it as long as she knows where she is going. I was glad to see it pay off this time!
I did a lot of thinking about NADAC yesterday. I mentioned it changes my attitude because unlike CPE, I know that Q's are not easy to obtain and the runs are slightly beyond our level speed-wise. So when we NQ, I actually feel better about it than if we hadn't qualified in CPE. I am sort of at a crossroads with NADAC. I can always go back to novice and get more titles there. I can also change her to skilled, which would mean jumping at 16'' and a time break. But this would set us up for a MEDAL, which is the skilled equivalent of a NATCH. I need to think more about what titles mean to me and what my long-term career goals are.
Ultimately, I think it is up to my patience and whether or not I think Zoe can get there. No matter what I choose, she will always be having fun and I will be lavishly rewarding her. The difference will be our Q rate. I think I can handle NQs and still feel good about the runs. Regarding whether or not Zoe can get there time-wise. Currently, I am optimistic. We didn't miss our regular runs by much - especially the one we missed by .7 seconds. If she speeds up her weaves and dog walk, we'll have a few more seconds. Also, running on dirt speeds her up too. In the past, she has run regular courses at elite-level speeds, so I know she can do it. I also am banking on her gaining speed as she gets older. Confidence equals more speed and training and maturity also equals more confidence. So I think if I stick it out, she will eventually get there. I am also learning more about what motivates her. I am learning to rotate treats and use the ones that are really special to her. I also need to incorporate more play in our warm up. Finally, my goal for training this year is to treat more for shorter sequences and not just at the end. She consistently speeds up at the end of courses and I think it is because I mostly treat at the end too. I think if I reward her in the middle of courses in training, her head will stay in the game throughout the entire run.
My schedule this year will involve much more CPE than NADAC, but my goals for NADAC will transfer well to CPE. NADAC is always a nice breath of fresh air because of the smoother courses and fewer games. Next up for us will be CPE in Ham Lake in mid January!
On to the other good stuff...we got our Open level Touch N Go title. Two of the three Q's we go this weekend were from the Touch N Go course. Zoe really demonstrated how much she loves this class. I really think her favorite obstacle is the A frame. In CPE Full House or Jackpot, I will try to get in the A frame at least twice. She always speeds up for it and will defer to it in a discrimination. I haven't heavily treated the A frame, so she just seems to have an intrinsic motivation to go over it. So when she got to do it twice in the touch n go course, she was jazzed. Both of these classes were run at the end of the day and in both, she ran over 4 yards per second. So the combo of contacts, tunnels, and no jumps equals jackpot for Zoe.
Also, we got our first open level chances Q. This was a surprise for me because I was unsure that we made time. Our first challenge was a tunnel/a frame discrimination with the tunnel being the correct and outer option. This was frustrating to see because this same discrimination was in the chances course the day before and Zoe took the A frame despite my desperate pleading. However, this time she got it and continued on. Midway, she got a bit stopped up because she had to do a distance 180 to a jump. She didn't get it at first, but then I reset her and sent her out. Once she knew what to do, she flew and finished the course with speed. I was concerned that the reset took too much time, but fortunately we made it. I've always been confident in her distance skills and she is comfortable with it as long as she knows where she is going. I was glad to see it pay off this time!
I did a lot of thinking about NADAC yesterday. I mentioned it changes my attitude because unlike CPE, I know that Q's are not easy to obtain and the runs are slightly beyond our level speed-wise. So when we NQ, I actually feel better about it than if we hadn't qualified in CPE. I am sort of at a crossroads with NADAC. I can always go back to novice and get more titles there. I can also change her to skilled, which would mean jumping at 16'' and a time break. But this would set us up for a MEDAL, which is the skilled equivalent of a NATCH. I need to think more about what titles mean to me and what my long-term career goals are.
Ultimately, I think it is up to my patience and whether or not I think Zoe can get there. No matter what I choose, she will always be having fun and I will be lavishly rewarding her. The difference will be our Q rate. I think I can handle NQs and still feel good about the runs. Regarding whether or not Zoe can get there time-wise. Currently, I am optimistic. We didn't miss our regular runs by much - especially the one we missed by .7 seconds. If she speeds up her weaves and dog walk, we'll have a few more seconds. Also, running on dirt speeds her up too. In the past, she has run regular courses at elite-level speeds, so I know she can do it. I also am banking on her gaining speed as she gets older. Confidence equals more speed and training and maturity also equals more confidence. So I think if I stick it out, she will eventually get there. I am also learning more about what motivates her. I am learning to rotate treats and use the ones that are really special to her. I also need to incorporate more play in our warm up. Finally, my goal for training this year is to treat more for shorter sequences and not just at the end. She consistently speeds up at the end of courses and I think it is because I mostly treat at the end too. I think if I reward her in the middle of courses in training, her head will stay in the game throughout the entire run.
My schedule this year will involve much more CPE than NADAC, but my goals for NADAC will transfer well to CPE. NADAC is always a nice breath of fresh air because of the smoother courses and fewer games. Next up for us will be CPE in Ham Lake in mid January!
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