Quit

Posted on January 11, 2014 by Jamie

I love shaping. I love that it makes our dogs really think about what they’re doing. I love that it makes me a better trainer because I have to watch for small changes and not ask for too much all at once. I love that the final behavior is very strong because the dog herself figured it out.

I wanted very badly to teach Risa a freestyle trick using shaping alone. For her Advanced routine, I have a segment involving a prop: a basketball. I wanted her to go out and around it then come back. I figured it was an easy way to get more distance work in our routine and I know how much Risa likes to run. So I placed the basketball on the ground and I waited. I clicked her when she showed interest in the ball so that she would understand the game has to do with it. After a multitude of resets when she started batting the ball with her paws (she is very foot-oriented), I eventually got her to stop smacking it. But that’s all I could get. My dog standing next to the ball staring at me. I adjusted my position to see if I could get her to move towards it. I moved again. It wasn’t working.

This happened over several sessions. Eventually I would get Risa to stop batting the ball but then I would get nothing else from her. She would either stand and stare at me or shift positions. I knew part of the problem was that we’d spent so much time working on platforms and positions downstairs. That’s why she kept adjusting her spot hoping that would be right and she’d earn the click. She just didn’t understand that I wanted her to work with the ball. I was getting frustrated. She was getting frustrated.

I could have taken the basketball somewhere else to work with her to determine if that might change her frame of mind away from position work. But the basement is really the best place to train. So I had to give up on my plan. I wasn’t going to be able to straight shape this behavior.

I pulled out my training gates and made a ‘U’ around the ball. I started to click/treat when Risa moved towards it and, eventually, around it. I still had to reset the ball a few times after she knocked it over (she just loves using her paws) but I was making progress. I added in some work with the target stick to get her to move around the ball. Eventually, I was able to fade out both the gates and the stick and get a decent final behavior.

It was a weak behavior by the time competition rolled around. She did it once or twice but not with enthusiasm or drive. I could tell she didn’t quite understand it well enough for it to withstand the stress of competition. (She did, of course, remember how to swat it! 🙂 )

Winter is typically our downtime in regards to competition which gives me lots of time to polish things up before we start again in the spring. I’m extremely pleased with how well her “dunk” behavior has progressed. I backchained a portion of it to get her to drive to the end. Besides, running through my legs is one of her favorite things to do. While I don’t quite have the speed and determination to go to the ball, she whips around it to come back to me. 🙂

I still love shaping but, sometimes, you have to adjust your expectations and training plan when things aren’t coming together.

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Testing 1. . .2. . .3

Posted on January 5, 2014 by Jamie

You can learn a lot from failure. When you trial your dog you learn what you know and figure out what you still need to work on. No surprise for us, Risa’s lack of focus is still a huge issue.

We were supposed to trial both days this weekend but things didn’t work out that way. So it was just Sunday and an attempt at her first RAE leg. I honestly do not care if we ever earn that RAE. However, is a goal to reach for and gives us something to do that is local. I don’t need to drive far to find AKC trials! 🙂

Her Excellent run was a little sketchy. There were moments when she was definitely connected with me and we looked good. Then there were times she wandered off. We probably would have had a better score had she been able to do the back up 3 steps (we’re still working on perfecting this so I’m not surprised here) and had she not stood up as I came back to her on a sit/stay. We managed a 72; the minimum score needed to qualify is 70.

It wasn’t pretty but it was a Q! I looked over the Advanced course and knew she could do it. There wasn’t a sign she couldn’t perform and it was a much shorter and simpler course than the Excellent course. I also figured she’d be a bit more comfortable the second time through since she does still get stressed out at competitive venues.

We were excused from the course. A dog came very close to the ring gates while we were working and she took off after it. (Actually, it was a Sunday at this trial last year when she was also excused for pretty much the same reason.) Surprisingly, I was able to get her back and working but it did not last. Eventually, the judge decided she was just too unfocused and asked us to leave.

Even though it was not a good run, there was a lot of good there. Risa did not have a huge reactive meltdown. She started, yes. But then switched to curiosity. She also came back and worked with me after it. Risa remained thinking. It wasn’t enough but it shows that the hard work we’ve put in is paying off. 🙂

However, it seems that just taking classes regularly is not enough to help Risa’s focus issues. When the world is crazy, she doesn’t have enough incentive to stay connected with me. (And her new-found joy of checking out other dogs isn’t helping either though I hesitate to find fault with it given her history.) Now I know what I need to do. We really need to start working on focus in very distracting environments. Especially around dogs. Unfortunately, I am unsure how exactly I’m going to do this. What I really need are some friends with and without dogs who are willing to work with us on very specific issues. Something I won’t find in the classes we typically take. I have no friends to enlist.

So, for now, I plan on taking her to her least favorite place to work: pet stores. It’s the closest thing I have to a super distracting (and stressful) environment. I think at least once a week should help and might even help her overcome her fear of them. Once the weather improves, we will probably be able to find other opportunities as well. I just hope I can do enough to improve her concentration. She’s really a spectacular rally dog. It’s just not very easy to see trial-time!

Posted in AKC, Dog Sports, Fear, Rally, Reactivity, Training | Leave a comment

The Other Side

Posted on December 24, 2013 by Jamie
"I submit you you, alpha leader. LOL!"

“I submit you you, alpha leader. LOL!”

I remember, before I switched over to positive reinforcement-focused training, laughing when I thought about not ever correcting a dog or telling them “No.” I couldn’t understand how on Earth that would work. While I was debating the thought of “positive only” training, a friend shared with me an example from a seminar attended by Suzanne Clothier. The presenter was discussing positive reinforcement-based training and Suzanne agreed to “play the dog” with this trainer. As the trainer began to work with Suzanne, Suzanne got up and left the room. When the trainer got upset and questioned Suzanne about leaving, she replied “You didn’t tell me not to.”

At the time, I read this as justification for using corrections when training dogs. After all, the dog does need to know the boundaries and rules you expect. The dog does need to comply with your wishes to a point. So corrections and “No” are necessary in dog training.

Then I “drank the Kool-Aid” and switched over to a very different style of training and set of beliefs. 🙂 In doing so, I see what Suzanne did in a very different light. Yes, you do need to be clear to your dog what the rules of the house (or training game) are. But that doesn’t justify the use of corrections. Simply that you must give the dog more information.

For example, if you see your toddler putting a fork into the electrical outlet, you can scream “NO!” which doesn’t really tell him anything. “No” what? As I’ve written before, “No” is a very abstract concept. It’s much easier (for dogs and humans) to be clear. “Honey, keep the fork away from the electrical outlet. It’s dangerous.” While it’s true that the toddler might not understand the implications of what you’ve said 100%, you’ve given him more information about WHY he shouldn’t do what he was doing. You might even suggest he play with another toy rather than the fork.

I think it’s important to do the same with dogs. Rather than simply telling them not to do something, tell them what you’d like them to do instead. Using Suzanne’s example of leaving the training session, if your dog starts to leave you could tell them to “come!” You’re giving them information. Something to do instead. And something you can reward. (Of course, if your dog is continually leaving your training sessions, you might want to re-evaluate what you’re doing!) No need to punish here!

It’s amazing how the same thing can be interpreted two different ways depending on your point of view at the time. 🙂

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The Power of the Dance

Posted on December 13, 2013 by Jamie
The bond formed between two partners through something as "silly" as canine musical freestyle can make all the difference in the world to that canine/human team.

The bond formed between two partners through something as “silly” as canine musical freestyle can make all the difference in the world to that canine/human team.

Last night was the final night of my canine musical freestyle class. This is the class I have waited 3 years to teach and the first class I have ever taught. It was an amazing 8 weeks. There was not a single night that I didn’t come home after class with an enormous grin on my face and a happiness in my heart I haven’t felt in years. I felt challenged. I could see the progress in the dog/human teams. And the positive feedback I got from my students was so uplifting. Three of my seven students have already signed up for the class again. 🙂

Each team was unique and each made great progress throughout the course. My students had great questions and they challenged me to think on my feet. Each of their dogs was different yet they all eventually began to understand what their handlers were looking for. It was a joy to watch the light bulbs turn on for both dogs and handlers.

I didn’t realize how much of an impact I was making, however, until one of my students emailed me last night before class. Her dog is a rescue. A fearful dog who was skittish and not well socialized. She has done a lot of training over the 2 years they have been together using various methods. She told me she made the biggest breakthrough with her dog using the methods I taught in my freestyle class. My student truly feels her dog is beginning to trust her in a way she didn’t before. This warms my heart. I know that freestyle helps create a strong bond between dog and handler. I have experienced this with Risa. But maybe I needed a little reminder that it’s more than that. It’s a way to build trust and security when the world can be a scary place. I’m glad I was able to help my student and her dog on their journey towards greatness. I have no doubt they are already there. 🙂

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What’s In Your Toolbox?

Posted on December 1, 2013 by Jamie
Training gates, treat bag, two sizes of platforms, treats, clicker, and an Easy-Walk harness. Just a selection of the various tools I utilize to train dogs.

Training gates, treat bag, two sizes of platforms, treats, clicker, and an Easy-Walk harness. Just a selection of the various tools I utilize to train dogs.

What’s in my training toolbox:
Rewards (treats, toys, real-life rewards)
Flat collar/Martingale/front-clip harness
Training gates
Platforms (of various sizes)
Exercise pen
Mirrors
Target stick
Target mat
Wobble board
Clicker
Marker word
Positive reinforcement (addition of something good to increase behavior)
Negative punishment (removal of something good to decrease behavior)
Negative reinforcement (removal of something bad to increase behavior)

What’s not in my training toolbox:
Corrective training collars (prong, choke, citronella or electronic)
Positive punishment (addition of something bad to decrease behavior)

And those of us who prefer to stick to behavior-building methods versus behavior-suppressing methods are supposedly the ones with a limited toolbox. 🙂

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