Tonight's 2x2 and "out" session

[wildo]

Finally got my 2x2's all painted and setup outside. Current offset is set at about four inches. I also practiced some outs and you can see she is not overly responsive. The very first out was the "make the toy dead" method. You can see she continues to pull even when it's dead. The second one I used the "collar choke out" and to be honest- I had to pull so hard I lifted her legs off the ground. I really didn't like that method. To have to literally choke out my dog every time I want her to drop it simply wouldn't be acceptable. Near the end of the video, I used some very high value treats (actually, some elk sticks I brought back from a recent trip to Montana and Yellowstone national park). She responds nearly immediately to the elk, but yeah... That would get expensive FAST! Besides, the elk is MINE! haha!

Anyway- she's progressing really well on weaves in spite of my really crappy handling. I made a LOT of mistakes in this video: bad shoulders, bad hand signals, not setting her up very well, throwing the ball high instead of bowling it out, and throwing the ball far instead of short. Like I said, lots of errors. Even so- Pimg is driving pretty well, and I'm still quite proud. We do need to work on our Line-ups as well. There's just so much to learn/train...

The second to last time through, she actually caught her leg (or something) on the pole and moved the whole set! Man, that was scary!! Can't wait until she is weaving straight in a row so I can better secure these things together. (I currently have 6" nails in the ground holding them in place.)

Anyway, enjoy.

YouTube - ‪2x2 Weave Poles 6-13-2011‬‏

YouTube - ‪2x2 Weave Poles 6-13-2011‬‏

[Whiteshepherds]

I love the time and dedication you have for Pimg, he's one lucky dog!

[wildo]

Thanks Whiteshepherds! Actually, Pimg is female. I honestly just love sharing things. For me, it's very rewarding to be able to share our training. That said- comments like yours make me feel so guilty because compared to a lot of the active members on this forum- I feel like a HUGE slacker!!! I'll get there- eventually. In the meantime, I just do what I can!

[MaggieRoseLee]

Originally Posted by wildo

compared to a lot of the active members on this forum- I feel like a HUGE slacker!!! I'll get there- eventually. In the meantime, I just do what I can!

Well you can't be talking about ME! Besides my weekly classes, I'm lucky if I go WAY OUT INTO MY BACK YARD (oh the miles and miles to go out that back door ) and do some jump and weave training once or twice a week.

I tend to rely on my weekly classes and then if there is a skill we have trouble with in class, my 'homework' is to try to get into my yard to work on it for a bit.

I know that I have trouble with OVER training in my yard to get things perfect and hence sucking out the fun...... so it's great that 'the toys' are a huge part of my yard training (and I do that on purpose). Cause the chasing and tugging is always fun.

Wildo, I was just talking to a the only other person with a GSD at the trial on Saturday and he was raving about a 'How to Tug and Release and Use the Tug to Train' type video that Leerburg has by Michael Ellis. He said it was a DVD and so it's not this... but this may be a clip from it: (or not)

You Tube

You Tube

[wildo]

Thanks for that MRL! I'll be sure to check it out. I've never seen really anything on toy play. I kinda was just going on common sense and practicality. Well, come to think of it- I have watched the Ivan DVDs, but that's my only exposure to the concept. It will be nice to see another source on the subject!

I was curious what you thought of our weaving as well?

[TaraM1285]

Pimg's weaving looks great to me! I love her attitude, she seems to really like weaving. One thing I would definitely work on that I didn't see you mentioning is make sure to work entries high around the arc on both sides. Most of your entries in the video are from about 5 o'clock to 7 o'clock (where the entrance is at 6 and exit is 12).

On teaching "out", don't forget to reward it when she does it. Other than your method at the end where you traded food for the tug, I didn't see any reward other than being sent back to the poles. I'd mix it up and reward her by sometimes letting her tug again and sometimes using a food reward. I use the "make it dead" technique and if she continues to tug, I walk with her as she backs up so that there is no tension on the tug whatsoever.

[wildo]

Thanks Kristin! I did work a few other entry positions, but overall she is most strong at the 5-7 o'clock positions. I think I left most of the attempts in, but some I did cut out since she missed them. I *try* to adhere to the "if you fail two times, I have made it too difficult" rule- though admittedly I tend to stretch it to three or four times. So when I was working the harder entries (past 6 o'clock) I would keep making it easier each failed attempt by repositioning the send to an easier clock position. So when I made the video, I might have cut out a lot of the failed attempts at harder entries.

Like I said, I think I learned a lot just by watching myself in this video. I am doing a lot of things wrong. When we were practicing in the house in a very confined space- it seemed like she had her entries pretty well solidified. Now that we have a lot more space outside, I can see that she doesn't quite get it yet. She's definitely getting there- no question, but not there yet.

I will modify my training by continuing with the 6 poles offset to help build confidence and drive [I noticed in class that she will do six poles straight in a row but she does it much slower without confidence], but I will also mix it up by practicing with only one pole set (2 poles) to help reestablish my requirements for entry. I definitely agree we have work to do here.

[MaggieRoseLee]

I don't train 2x2' s so can't really comment too much cause I wouldn't know what I was talking about!

LOVE the speed and enthusiasm, the toy makes all the difference to keep your pup in the game (even if they aren't quite sure of the rules!)

Do you have the DVD's about teaching the entries? I'd almost back up and watch those cause you may have rushed the training just a bit. Cause though she's mostly amazing when she starts right and continues, clearly she isn't REALLY clear about why the heck where she enters seems to matter so much to you....

Do you initially just do the ONE set of 2 poles to teach entries with this method?

I know the way I teach I use 3 poles on my set of 6, just pulling off the other 3 and setting on the ground way off. Then I JUST practice the entries and my rewards/markers don't mess up the rest of the 6 that my dog may be weaving beautifly but the entry was wrong and so my TIMING for the correction is when my dog is doing the 'weaving' correctly at pole 5/6/7/8 but the fact the dog darted in between pole 2/3 is the real issue. For me, removing the extra poles and only having the entry poles helps.

So I'm thinking maybe that's when just one set of 2 is used?

Truthfully, you are both almost there and weaving already much better than many dogs I see in excellent that the handler is coaxing thru with a pretend treat in their hand!

[wildo]

Wow- I wasn't expecting a compliment like that! Thanks! Yeah, I did start with only two poles, then four, then six. The big gotchya is that I started in the winter in the biggest room in my house. (I have a video of that- I posted it a month or so ago.) When I was in the room (with two poles, mind you) she seemed to be nailing the entries. That's when we added two more poles, and eventually six total. I also worked from pretty wide offsets (like over 12") to a pretty narrow one (currently at about 4"). Once we got outside though with much more room to run around, that's when I noticed she started missing entries. I discussed that with my trainer today, and she definitely suggested to continue the six poles to help Pimg build confidence, footing, and drive- but also work a single set to reestablish the rules of the game. There's no question she is missing them a lot.

I will say that she nailed the entries in class today. My instructor asked me if the trip I went on to Montana last week was really a trip to an agility seminar! haha! It sure is awesome when your dog is doing awesome!!!

[Rerun]

I think it looks great, and I will say I'm impressed. Nice training job