Some people are aware and some people are not that Viper and I have been having some issues with his dogwalk performance at trials as of late.
Some people are also aware due to some physical limitations and the amount of time I have already focused on a running dogwalk with results that are not ideally what I want, I made the decision to put a stop to Viper's dogwalk (he still runs his Aframe).
I introduced the stop gradually over a span of several months AWAY from the dogwalk obstacle itself. Viper figured it out in like 0.2 seconds. I focused a lot more on the proofing of the bottom behavior at trials, at parks, in the house, out in the yard etc. Lots and LOTS of proofing. Then I added it back to a low dogwalk last fall.
Only problem with that? Since last fall we haven't gotten a TON of opportunities to train on "other" dogwalks. So, we worked what we could and I made sure I reinforced what I wanted when I got it and ignored it when I didn't. The only problem with that? It created a HUGE gray area for Da Vipe.
Insert problem.
Insert video proof of said "problem".
Insert video proof of said "problem".
The video itself only shows the last two trials I entered Da Vipe in. The first few clips are from our weekend up in Fargo a few weeks ago. The very first dogwalk you can see the dramatic decrease in Viper's forward momentum as soon as he caught sight of the dogwalk. You can also hear the crowd's reaction to his behavior. I even had a couple of people come up to me afterwards and tell me what a "brave boy" he was for overcoming his fear.
Note, Viper is not afraid of the dogwalk.
Far from it. It is probably his favorite obstacle next to tunnels.
You can also see that he "downed" on the middle of the dogwalk. Although I give him originality points, it is most definitely NOT his criteria for his "Zoom!" behavior. I replayed AND replayed videos and the conclusion that I have come to is: Viper was so unsure of WHAT the correct behavior was seeing a full sized dogwalk at trials that he offered me the very first "stopped" behavior I accepted from him. For a while I just "moved on" after he offered me incorrect behaviors and you want to know what? They started showing up more and more (that started long before the Fargo shows). After that first Standard run I sat down in the crating area, put in the headphones and mulled over the entire thing for over an hour.
And I new plan of attack was formed.
Critieria for Da Vipe's Dogwalk?
DOing and not TRYing.
I believe 110% that Viper understands the "Zoom!" behavior, which means race across the contact and get into the 2o2o end position.
I believe he understands the behavior well enough to also verbally mark any incorrect performances.
As the video progresses I made the change from simply restarting Da Vipe and "moving on" to marking TRYing behaviors. At 0.55 seconds Viper simply DID the behavior to criteria and you want to know what? When I gave him verbal praise, the look of understanding on his face solidified to me that he NEEDS that feedback. So what about the jump afterwards we completely annihilated? That one simple act made the gray area diminish quite a bit!
The remaining dogwalks are from the ASCA trial we dropped in at yesterday and during the first few rounds we got a ton of TRYing again. Mind you, the game plan going INTO the day was to focus on Viper DOing his 2o2o contact behavior. I could tell there was a lot more thinking going on between his ears than at Fargo simply because he had trialed at that location multiple times with a RUNNING dogwalk.
Focusing on the game plan was hard.
But THAT was the reason I entered the show in the first place.
Decrease the gray and increase the confidence.
It payed off in spades.
The last two dogwalks are not even CLOSE to what Viper's confident performance is across the dogwalk but it IS a start. A start that reinforced (AGAIN) how important it is to stick to the plan! Knowing that, I just love it when a plan comes together!
Note, Viper is not afraid of the dogwalk.
Far from it. It is probably his favorite obstacle next to tunnels.
You can also see that he "downed" on the middle of the dogwalk. Although I give him originality points, it is most definitely NOT his criteria for his "Zoom!" behavior. I replayed AND replayed videos and the conclusion that I have come to is: Viper was so unsure of WHAT the correct behavior was seeing a full sized dogwalk at trials that he offered me the very first "stopped" behavior I accepted from him. For a while I just "moved on" after he offered me incorrect behaviors and you want to know what? They started showing up more and more (that started long before the Fargo shows). After that first Standard run I sat down in the crating area, put in the headphones and mulled over the entire thing for over an hour.
And I new plan of attack was formed.
Critieria for Da Vipe's Dogwalk?
DOing and not TRYing.
I believe 110% that Viper understands the "Zoom!" behavior, which means race across the contact and get into the 2o2o end position.
I believe he understands the behavior well enough to also verbally mark any incorrect performances.
As the video progresses I made the change from simply restarting Da Vipe and "moving on" to marking TRYing behaviors. At 0.55 seconds Viper simply DID the behavior to criteria and you want to know what? When I gave him verbal praise, the look of understanding on his face solidified to me that he NEEDS that feedback. So what about the jump afterwards we completely annihilated? That one simple act made the gray area diminish quite a bit!
The remaining dogwalks are from the ASCA trial we dropped in at yesterday and during the first few rounds we got a ton of TRYing again. Mind you, the game plan going INTO the day was to focus on Viper DOing his 2o2o contact behavior. I could tell there was a lot more thinking going on between his ears than at Fargo simply because he had trialed at that location multiple times with a RUNNING dogwalk.
Focusing on the game plan was hard.
But THAT was the reason I entered the show in the first place.
Decrease the gray and increase the confidence.
It payed off in spades.
The last two dogwalks are not even CLOSE to what Viper's confident performance is across the dogwalk but it IS a start. A start that reinforced (AGAIN) how important it is to stick to the plan! Knowing that, I just love it when a plan comes together!
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