I didnt get a chance to record catch the dog in heel outside so I got you a video of it indoors. Its a little harder and I think I need to wait for him to have his head up on one of the reps?
2nd video is circle arm, hes doing much better with this and just popping his front feet up and not standing on me!
I also recorded our sit in heel because last time I did he was lifting his paws and looking behind me. He's not doing that as much now and he might lift a paw as I reward but he's not leaning all the way back.
Yeah, this is awkward inside, because I think he would react differently if you could stride out and walk fast - like how you would in a trial! Do you notice a difference outside?
It also could be that he is defaulting to an "old" style of heel (from previous training I mean) where his head is dropped?
Would he be more animated for a toy reward?
He also just might do better with the formality of starting from a halt, right now. That would also be totally okay! There are many different games/exercises to get the job done.
Circle arm: Yay! So much better!
Now play with doing the reward and then going back to a neutral right hand position in between. (Unless you want to heel forever with your fist in your elbow, hehe.)
Sit in heel: Nice, your hand signal keeps him nice and square, and he sits perfectly. I also see that he is not doing the dramatic lean anymore. Good job!
In regards to leveling up: I think you're ready! I'll go ahead and send it to you.
There’s a quick video of our heel rewards. I really like the “touch“ but it seems to work better when I have a bit more space. I also tried to video the feeding through the circle arm but I probably should have done it not moving in heel.
im going to try and get some video of hw 4: catch the dog in heel Outside of the smoke clears this weekend. that activity seems better in a bigger space. I’ve been using my hall but it’s a little hard to record.
also we have been working on halt in heel and he’s not leaning back as much if I mark it sooner. I’ll keep working on it and get video soon.
This looks great! I love the touch for him! And I like that he can jump up and then pop back into heel again. That means that you can mix it up in your heel for some variation/extra excitement, instead of only using it at the end of your heeling. Woohoo!
Circle arm - Yep, definitely practice this stationary first. I always feel the need to pop my left arm up slightly to make room for my right hand, but after rewatching your video and trying my own arm moves again, I do not yet have an explanation for why that is, or if it actually helps... But try that!? (It's surely how I do the move in the example video.)
Catch the dog in heel - Definitely makes more sense with more room. I've done it inside before, but it all happens very quickly, inside.
here are two quick videos I took tonight. They’re not the best but I wanted to show you. I’m working on still getting him closer in his right side finish. i need to make sure he’s coming all the way around me because sometimes he’s still sideways behind me.
but my main question is at the end of each video I show the sits. And I’m using a hand signal like you said to get him to sit straight which I think is helping. But now you can see he’s leaning and putting all weight on his left foot (so he can look at me?). It’s like it’s faster for him to get the treat if he’s leaning toward me? Idk. Any ideas?
Ok, after watching several times and pausing the video, I think he is trying to stare at the treats behind your back. The leaning is to make looking back at your hand easier (I THINK).
It's kind of funny, because I never noticed him doing that before, but it's possible that he just started trying, because treats are cool and he knows where they come from, and then stuck with it.
Try marking and rewarding when he actually looks away from the treats behind your back. It might be kind of awkward at first, and we can play with different games to get the point across if it proves to be challenging. But maybe with that explanation, it'll be easier for you to work through what's going on there.
Also!
Don't do hand signals with your right hand while he's in heel, for the same reason that we generally don't want his attention drawn across the body for rewards etc.
The only exception to that is that I'll use my right hand to reach around to tell my dog to stay. But that's me leaning over and sticking my right hand right in front of their face in heel.
For wraps:
These look lots better! And your luring is very precise.
I see what you're saying about kind of not finishing the wrap. But that's a better problem than him going wide. Also, it actually may not even matter that much, because right finishes always end in sit or motion. At least in AKC Rally, I'm 85% sure that there is no "right finish, stand without sitting."
I think you can add your sit back in now. He'll likely finish bringing his rear around to sit - especially if a hand signal guides him.
That makes sense! He does look like he’s trying to look behind me or get to the treats quicker when I bring them lol. But he doesn’t do it when hes standing so it’s weird. I will try marking differently! And I’ll try to get some video of that.
for the right hand cue are you talking about when I asked him to stand? Or just having my hand in front on my stomach? Remember I was doing the left there but with treat fumbling I put the right hand there and thought it would be okay if I were holding a leash with my hand anyway? I can go back to the left! I think I need to try using my treat pouch on my backside and see if that helps.
and sweet I’m glad our wraps are looking better. That makes sense that it’s better than too far wide. He’ll definitely straighten out if I start walking.
we’ll try to get some more videos in the morning! Thank you!!
Thank you! And lol so true time is such a mess right now 😅
I didn't even notice that he's stopping in a different place on his finishes but watching it back I see how much closer his left side finish is! Using the word "wrap" is new for him but he does know the hand signal. I think I'll go lure him for a bit and see if I can get him closer consistently. And maybe throw in some practice with the touch pad.
I'll practice the hand signal for sits. Do I want to have him sit automatically or is it okay to keep cueing sit? I'm wonder about when I come to a sign that says a stand stay do you end up telling the dog to stand when they already are so they don't sit when you halt?
I'll probably practice these couple things for a couple days before getting more video!
"Do I want to have him sit automatically or is it okay to keep cueing sit?"
For Rally, you can cue it every time.
"I'm wonder about when I come to a sign that says a stand stay do you end up telling the dog to stand when they already are so they don't sit when you halt?"
Great question. Even without a true automatic sit, the dog will usually at least somewhat anticipate sits when you halt, because so many more signs have halt-sit than halt-anything-else. (Like, way way way way more.) My dog Mars has an autosit for comp OB, so what ends up happening is that you just give your stand cue very quickly, almost while you're still in motion, and then you stop together. My stand in heel cue is "stand" + sticking my hand right in her face. She can't miss it, lol!
I can take a video of this if you'd like.
But, depending on the dog's understanding of "stay," and stand-stay's, if you stop and they're standing, it might also make more sense to just cue "stay." Similarly, if I'm doing a sit-stay walk-around, I don't cue my dog "sit" again after she already sat, before I walk around. I say, "stay."
Either way, make sure you decide how you're going to do it, and practice! Feel free to show me video of that, too.
Okay sorry for the week off it’s been busy and when I typically train in the morning I have not been camera ready 😅😅
Here are some more pivots without the touchpad. im trying to be more aware of where I’m rewarding him and also when I mark it.
here is a video of our two finishes. I’m working on changing the verbal “around” to “wrap“. Just Attaching this for you to see. (and also I notice in video one I tell him “heel” and he comes as a left side finish since that’s what he’s been doing so much. I want to try and keep using “side” and “wrap” for heel enterances and then ”heel“ for movement. Is this okay?)
and lastly for homework 2 it says halts and sits in heel. I was working on heeling and then cueing the sit. Hope this is right but I’m not quite sure so im looking forward to criticism lol.
No need to apologize! Time doesn't exist during social distancing, anyway. 😅
Pivots - Looking super! I love how close he stays to you. He is definitely getting the hang of this.
Finishes - Yes, those cues sound great to me. Generally if you have specific finish cues but then cue "heel," the dog just gets there however they feel like it, or whichever way is closer based on where they are in relation to you, or whichever way has been rewarded more.
His left finish looks lovely! His right finish is good, but he finishes wide. Look at where his front feet are in the right finish vs left finish. When you're doing this in real time, if you look down at your own left foot, you'll be able to tell as well.
There's a few things you can do to fix this. As he comes around, you can start luring him into place before he has the chance to stop on his own. (So, he sees your hand right away as he comes around your back.) Or, you can wait for him to stop, but then use a lure (turning his head left but then pushing towards you) to push him closer to you, and then reward. Or you can have the foot target out and practice having him finish right and step on the target. (There are so many options!)
Sits in heel - These look good! His butt is ever so slightly crooked on some reps, but that's really me nitpicking. Since he has a history of forging, though, it might make sense to use a hand signal for sits in heel, too. This allows us to guide their attention up and to the left with our signal, in order to keep their rear straight.
I posted a video in Oona's level 3: teardrop and wrap thread that shows how I do a hand signal for crooked sitters:
Homework 2- I had a couple videos before this one and he’s really over turning if I don’t watch his back. This session I tried to mark sooner and be more aware of it. It seems to help?
180 on the target - Check, he's got that down pat.
For your first repetition in video 2, I would like you to use the reward to lure him closer into your body. So he gets rewarded for effort, but fed for precision; he's standing a little wide from you in that first rep. The step backwards after that, I would not reward, because that was him moving in the wrong direction (too far back) and also over pivoting. You could reset, or maybe show him to step forward with your hand, but not release the treat yet, if that would make sense to him/not be too frustrating.
But, your reward after that does set him up in the right position! And from there he is perfect! Nice and tight, and doesn't over pivot, so your marker timing is good. His head is nice and high, and you do a great job not pivoting until he looks back up.
I didnt get a chance to record catch the dog in heel outside so I got you a video of it indoors. Its a little harder and I think I need to wait for him to have his head up on one of the reps?
2nd video is circle arm, hes doing much better with this and just popping his front feet up and not standing on me!
I also recorded our sit in heel because last time I did he was lifting his paws and looking behind me. He's not doing that as much now and he might lift a paw as I reward but he's not leaning all the way back.
There’s a quick video of our heel rewards. I really like the “touch“ but it seems to work better when I have a bit more space. I also tried to video the feeding through the circle arm but I probably should have done it not moving in heel.
im going to try and get some video of hw 4: catch the dog in heel Outside of the smoke clears this weekend. that activity seems better in a bigger space. I’ve been using my hall but it’s a little hard to record.
also we have been working on halt in heel and he’s not leaning back as much if I mark it sooner. I’ll keep working on it and get video soon.
here are two quick videos I took tonight. They’re not the best but I wanted to show you. I’m working on still getting him closer in his right side finish. i need to make sure he’s coming all the way around me because sometimes he’s still sideways behind me.
but my main question is at the end of each video I show the sits. And I’m using a hand signal like you said to get him to sit straight which I think is helping. But now you can see he’s leaning and putting all weight on his left foot (so he can look at me?). It’s like it’s faster for him to get the treat if he’s leaning toward me? Idk. Any ideas?
Thank you! And lol so true time is such a mess right now 😅
I didn't even notice that he's stopping in a different place on his finishes but watching it back I see how much closer his left side finish is! Using the word "wrap" is new for him but he does know the hand signal. I think I'll go lure him for a bit and see if I can get him closer consistently. And maybe throw in some practice with the touch pad.
I'll practice the hand signal for sits. Do I want to have him sit automatically or is it okay to keep cueing sit? I'm wonder about when I come to a sign that says a stand stay do you end up telling the dog to stand when they already are so they don't sit when you halt?
I'll probably practice these couple things for a couple days before getting more video!
Okay sorry for the week off it’s been busy and when I typically train in the morning I have not been camera ready 😅😅
Here are some more pivots without the touchpad. im trying to be more aware of where I’m rewarding him and also when I mark it.
here is a video of our two finishes. I’m working on changing the verbal “around” to “wrap“. Just Attaching this for you to see. (and also I notice in video one I tell him “heel” and he comes as a left side finish since that’s what he’s been doing so much. I want to try and keep using “side” and “wrap” for heel enterances and then ”heel“ for movement. Is this okay?)
and lastly for homework 2 it says halts and sits in heel. I was working on heeling and then cueing the sit. Hope this is right but I’m not quite sure so im looking forward to criticism lol.
Homework 2- I had a couple videos before this one and he’s really over turning if I don’t watch his back. This session I tried to mark sooner and be more aware of it. It seems to help?