Need some DW feedback

Sharon said:
Just curious but didn't you post awhile back you weren't going to do Standard because you were working on proofing his DW contacts and then you put him in an ASCA trial because you could train?Now you are having problems again?:gaah
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The ASCA trial is to proof and work on things since I can train. Mostly because I don't think walking off and NRM's really work as well as getting him back on the contact, marking the correct behavior and moving off.

But yes, he's now creeping. I think the target may help a lot, so I can remind him if he stops early, to touch the ground. Just need to fix that darn creeping! He's been doing really well at the ASCA trials otherwise. Heck, we've been doing so well, I think we've moved up to Elite Standard, Open Gamblers, and have been in Elite Jumpers. LOL.
 
Dogwalk

k9kreationz said:
The ASCA trial is to proof and work on things since I can train. Mostly because I don't think walking off and NRM's really work as well as getting him back on the contact, marking the correct behavior and moving off.

But yes, he's now creeping. I think the target may help a lot, so I can remind him if he stops early, to touch the ground. Just need to fix that darn creeping! He's been doing really well at the ASCA trials otherwise. Heck, we've been doing so well, I think we've moved up to Elite Standard, Open Gamblers, and have been in Elite Jumpers. LOL.
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I think you are rushing him and you need to step back and really proof it at home before you run any more trials be it ASCA or any other venue.I have been taking my travel board everywhere and proofing Sting's contact at the beach, at the soccer field,home etc.
 
Sharon said:
I think you are rushing him and you need to step back and really proof it at home before you run any more trials be it ASCA or any other venue.I have been taking my travel board everywhere and proofing Sting's contact at the beach, at the soccer field,home etc.
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I'd say he's about 95% proofed at home, but I may try more tricks again.
In class, he stops 100% of the time in a 2o2o, but I am in the middle of proofing his stay and stops now (so, when I try to make him break, he sometimes breaks).

He's doing really well. The trials are for testing. I know where I"m at now and that's what they showed me. I need more proofing. And I need to figure out why he's creeping.
 
DW

k9kreationz said:
I'd say he's about 95% proofed at home, but I may try more tricks again.
In class, he stops 100% of the time in a 2o2o, but I am in the middle of proofing his stay and stops now (so, when I try to make him break, he sometimes breaks).

He's doing really well. The trials are for testing. I know where I"m at now and that's what they showed me. I need more proofing. And I need to figure out why he's creeping.
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You confuse me !!! I tell my guys and every dog is different to "Touch" when they are just about in the middle of the dw and I get them driving to the end with the 2020 with no creeping.
 
ortegah said:
With Trax we had to go back to basics and do target training. He would stop WAY short and then jump off the side. In class or at home I would be in position but in competition I was always behind him and so he had no clue where to be. So I started with targets. Once I could toss the target across the room and he'd go find it and stick his nose to it, then I started putting it at the bottom of my contacts and then staying behind the obstacle to teach him to go ahead to the bottom, find it and get the treat. It took only a few weeks of doing it over and over again and now he has almost perfect contacts. Every now and then I have to remind him during a gamblers or fast course and stick him back on it, but he's been really good about it now.
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For my own curiosity, since I have never taught target, you train target as separate exercise/ behavior? Dog is not actually running to the plate with food, right?
 
Sharon said:
You confuse me !!! I tell my guys and every dog is different to "Touch" when they are just about in the middle of the dw and I get them driving to the end with the 2020 with no creeping.
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I don't know what to tell you. Koji has never driven to the bottom, ever. Actually, there's very little that he drives to in general. In fact, now that I'm thinking about it, he drives to two things, food or something in motion (usually I try to make it me).

So I may always have a creeping issue because of that fact. But that's Koji. Why do you think I'm always trying to be in front of him.
 
k9kreationz said:
Yup, I'm thinking this is the way to go for me. When I retrained his 2o2o, I didn't use a target plate really. As I said to Ashley, I see where it's beneficial now. Especially for reminders.

Just curious, how long did it take you go get Trax pretty darn consistent?
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It really only took a few weeks to get it down pat. It was like one day it just clicked and the light bulb went off in his head. He honestly truly didn't understand what I was asking of him when I said contact. Now if I say contact, no matter where I am, he goes ahead finds the contact and sits his butt down on it until I release him. The target is definitely the way to go, but try tossing the target away from you and training him to go find it, touch it and then come back to you. That way you also get the distance training in there too and it definitely helps out on the course.
 
ortegah said:
It really only took a few weeks to get it down pat. It was like one day it just clicked and the light bulb went off in his head. He honestly truly didn't understand what I was asking of him when I said contact. Now if I say contact, no matter where I am, he goes ahead finds the contact and sits his butt down on it until I release him. The target is definitely the way to go, but try tossing the target away from you and training him to go find it, touch it and then come back to you. That way you also get the distance training in there too and it definitely helps out on the course.
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Where's the "jealous" emoticon? LOL. Well, Koji is turning 5 this year, maybe all of a sudden he'll turn into a Trax? Yeah, I didn't think so either. I'll give it a try with the target. I think that will help him understand more of what I want. Time to go back to basics.

Dangit, I just signed up for one last trial. Oh well. I'll be taking off May-June (trialing only), so we'll see what happens during that time period.
 
SheltieChe said:
For my own curiosity, since I have never taught target, you train target as separate exercise/ behavior? Dog is not actually running to the plate with food, right?
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Absolutely! I first train target as something completely aside from agility. I use a lid from an oatmeal container or whatever and first touch it to his nose and then click and treat. Then after a while I'll put it on the ground and wait to see if he'll do it on his own. If not, I'll point to it and as soon as his nose touches it, click and treat again. Pretty soon he's offering the action as it causes numerous clicks and treats. That's when I put a command to it. Once again, lots of clicks and treats. Pretty soon you can toss that target lid anywhere and they will run over to it and put their nose on it and run back for the click and treat. In all of this, I do NOT put the food on the lid. I only treat for when he puts his nose on the lid. It gets their head down which helps when you start to combine it with a contact obstacle.

Once Trax had all that down then I started to put it at the end of the contacts. You can put food on it once you have it at the end of the contact or not put food on it. Totally up to you. I personally put food on it when its at the end of the contact just because it helps to keep them there with their head down for a few seconds so you can reinforce the stop. Also it helped drive Trax to the end of the contact even if I wasn't around, because quite frankly he loves food :lol:

It really helped us because I realized after years of showing that Trax had no clue what a contact was. He only knew that he stopped when I stopped and if I was behind in competition he'd just bounce off or jump right off the side. Now he drives to the end of every contact and most of the time waits for me to release him. Sometimes he gets too excited and won't hold it, but he hasn't missed a contact zone in over a year.
 
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