I have not yet watched Susan Garrett's 2x2 DVD, but my friend Elissa lent me her set of 3 2x2 poles, and I HAD to get started training right away. I figured it out as I went along.
I've been using Tiny Dog's rubber ball as a reward, as it's his #1 toy, it's easy to throw, and the "fetch" format meshes well with teaching the dog to run out over and over and over.
Day 1:
Had Dragon on my left side. Started with just throwing the ball for going straight between the poles, at 6 o'clock. He figured that out very quickly thanks to jump training and running through PVC square that I made to keep him from jumping contacts. I started to move to the left (toward 5 o'clock). I did this faster than I should have -- I should have built more of a reinforcement history for easy entrances at 2-4 first -- but he mostly managed to figure it out. I figured out quickly that I should throw the ball to the right, making him exit the poles in the direction that he would have gone to continue weaving a full set.
Day 2:
Worked Dragon on my left again, and moved to the right, toward 1 o'clock. Again threw the ball to 12 o'clock, so he was wrapping around the right pole as if to continue weaving. This was easier for him than working the 5 o'clock entrance, since he has a strong history of running out, wrapping around a standing object, and returning toward me.
Day 3:
Started off with Dragon on the left, reviewed 1 through 5 o'clock (no problems!), then moved toward 6 o'clock. After a few mistakes he figured it out and nailed it every time. It was super cool to see him bounce to the right, left, right to go through the poles and chase the ball!
Then I switched him to my right side and worked 6 o'clock again, edging toward 7. This was difficult for him. However I'm assuming that latent learning will fix that up next lesson, just as it did for the left side.
Now I will actually watch the 2x2 DVD, as I'm sure it will make my training more efficient than figuring it out on my own!
2x2s test my patience. I'm so used to shaping behaviors within a few days that building reinforcement history with just the entry is super challenging.
ReplyDeleteI had Elli targeting/pouncing on a plate to the right out of her 2nd set of 2's - to the right - because my ball throwing is far less than accurate. She's now addicted to the exit of the four poles rather than the entry... so back to entries we go. Oy.
Heh, Dragon and I often work on shaping complex behaviors that take a looong time to complete. For example, his dumbbell retrieve -- it's taking a very long time to get him confidently and consistently picking up the dumbbell in the correct manner and holding it in front position while I reach for it. So I'm used to slowly plugging away at the same end behavior chain.
DeleteGood luck fixing Elli's weaving! Just keep telling yourself that it will pay off in the end. Or give yourself some special reinforcement after every time you train weave poles. ;)