Maisy finished her CDSP Novice Obedience title yesterday. Here's her run:
She scored a 183, which is really quite good considering her... creative... heeling during the figure 8. I'm not sure what that was all about, although I have some ideas. Notably, I have done practically no training with her. I had good intentions, but I've been busy at work and something had to give. And since I enjoy hiking with her more than training, well... the training gave.
I had also given her a clonidine that morning, just to be safe. I did that partly because her favorite auntie and best doggie friend slept over the night before the trial (and good stress is still stress, after all), and because after the last trial, I thought maybe having it on board in advance would help. It did not. It's supposed to calm a dog down, and it calmed her just a bit too much. I think if she'd had more spunk, she wouldn't have lagged as bad. Oh well- now I know. We'll only use it when she's getting over the top.
I'm really pleased with her performance. Her heeling, while not great, really wasn't that bad. She absolutely nailed the honor exercise (I wish I'd gotten video!), and the judge complimented her very nice stand for exam.
Anyway, this means that my recovering reactive dog is now URO1 Maisy CD-C, RL2, RL1X, CGC.
Showing posts with label obedience. Show all posts
Showing posts with label obedience. Show all posts
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Anatomy of an NQ
Despite our success at the CDSP trial last weekend, our first run was an NQ. I was totally bummed out about this. It wasn't the NQ itself that bothered me (they happen), it was how it happened. See for yourself (the non-qualifying moment happens about about 3:20):
I knew we were in trouble as soon as I walked in to the trial site that morning. Maisy was wild with excitement. Last week was difficult for two reasons. Although I don't think it really impacted her much, in the days leading up to the trial, the city was tearing up a street near our house. It made some weird noise, but Maisy seemed okay.
What probably made the bigger difference was me. I've been doing some physical therapy for a shoulder injury, and while I'm seeing improvements, it's a painful process. This has meant that Maisy has not gotten much (okay, any) attention in the last few weeks. Her life has been very boring, so when we got to a trial! With friends! And people who might be friends! Maisy was pretty “up.”
Here's the thing: although it was good stress, it was still stress. A lot of the same neurotransmitters and hormones are at play whether it's eustress or distress, so the end result was basically the same. Maisy was highly aroused.
The honor was also located in a very difficult location. You can see that we are standing directly next to the ring gates, and on the other side was the general crating/warm-up area. What's more, our backs were directly to the main door in and out of the trial site. So there were a lot of distractions in all directions.
As you can see in the video, despite all this, Maisy performed very well during the rest of the exercises. She was remarkably focused and responsive to cues, a fact that I attribute to her knowing what's expected of her. We have worked on those other exercises often. I train using her tennis ball so that she can learn to think through arousal, and we work in high distraction environments. She understands heeling very well.
But if I'm honest... I haven't put even a tenth of the effort into stays. I find them boring, so I haven't spent the time I should have proofing them. While I've taught her to stay put, and I've made a half-hearted attempt to introduce distractions, I really haven't spent the time needed to create a stay worthy of a trial. Bad trainer.
So all of this came together- a difficult week, an aroused dog, a tricky honor location, and a complete lack of training- to form an NQ.
I'm not upset with Maisy at all for her performance, although I am sad that she broke her honor in order to bark at the other dog in the ring. (Incidentally, when I apologized to both the judge and the other handler, neither of them had realized what Maisy had done! What's more, the judge told me not to worry about it- dogs bark at trials, and there's really no difference between doing it in the ring or two feet further away outside the ring. Since both dogs are on leash, nothing bad can happen.)
In fact, the NQ brought about one of the moments that I am most proud of: the way Maisy checked in with me before barking at the other dog. If you go back and watch the video, you'll notice that she stands, tenses, and then looks at me for direction. I asked her to lie down... and she did! If I had been thinking quick enough and rewarded that, I might have been able to prevent the subsequent rush towards the working dog. So even though the end result was the same, I am beyond thrilled; it's a long cry from the days when she didn't even consider where I was or what I was doing when she was at her threshold.
I didn't plan to take her back into the ring for the second trial, but she had relaxed in her car crate, taken a nice long awareness walk in the field behind the trial site, and then insistently pulled me back into the building. When we got inside, she laid down, rolled on to one hip, and just chilled. She was still mildly stressed (video here), but nothing that I was overly concerned about. So I entered the second run, and came back with a 197 and 4th place.
I'll admit it: after the trial, I was freaking out. My philosophy has always been that obedience should be fun for both of us, and that if Maisy is overly stressed, I won't make her do it. The trick, of course, is figuring out how much is too much stress. So, I emailed Maisy's veterinary behaviorist. She said that while Maisy had “a bad moment” during the honor stay, she didn't think we needed to quit entirely. Because Maisy looked really good in the ring, because she was able to recover and do so well during the second trial, and because her stress behavior outside the ring was so mild, she thought that if I did a better job training the stay so that Maisy would know what to expect, it would be just fine to continue competing with her.
So that's where we are. I'll spend the next couple of months working on stays with Maisy. Hopefully, when the next trial rolls around in July, we'll completely rock it and get her title. And if not, well... we'll have fun trying! And that's the most important thing anyway.
I knew we were in trouble as soon as I walked in to the trial site that morning. Maisy was wild with excitement. Last week was difficult for two reasons. Although I don't think it really impacted her much, in the days leading up to the trial, the city was tearing up a street near our house. It made some weird noise, but Maisy seemed okay.
What probably made the bigger difference was me. I've been doing some physical therapy for a shoulder injury, and while I'm seeing improvements, it's a painful process. This has meant that Maisy has not gotten much (okay, any) attention in the last few weeks. Her life has been very boring, so when we got to a trial! With friends! And people who might be friends! Maisy was pretty “up.”
Here's the thing: although it was good stress, it was still stress. A lot of the same neurotransmitters and hormones are at play whether it's eustress or distress, so the end result was basically the same. Maisy was highly aroused.
The honor was also located in a very difficult location. You can see that we are standing directly next to the ring gates, and on the other side was the general crating/warm-up area. What's more, our backs were directly to the main door in and out of the trial site. So there were a lot of distractions in all directions.
As you can see in the video, despite all this, Maisy performed very well during the rest of the exercises. She was remarkably focused and responsive to cues, a fact that I attribute to her knowing what's expected of her. We have worked on those other exercises often. I train using her tennis ball so that she can learn to think through arousal, and we work in high distraction environments. She understands heeling very well.
But if I'm honest... I haven't put even a tenth of the effort into stays. I find them boring, so I haven't spent the time I should have proofing them. While I've taught her to stay put, and I've made a half-hearted attempt to introduce distractions, I really haven't spent the time needed to create a stay worthy of a trial. Bad trainer.
So all of this came together- a difficult week, an aroused dog, a tricky honor location, and a complete lack of training- to form an NQ.
I'm not upset with Maisy at all for her performance, although I am sad that she broke her honor in order to bark at the other dog in the ring. (Incidentally, when I apologized to both the judge and the other handler, neither of them had realized what Maisy had done! What's more, the judge told me not to worry about it- dogs bark at trials, and there's really no difference between doing it in the ring or two feet further away outside the ring. Since both dogs are on leash, nothing bad can happen.)
In fact, the NQ brought about one of the moments that I am most proud of: the way Maisy checked in with me before barking at the other dog. If you go back and watch the video, you'll notice that she stands, tenses, and then looks at me for direction. I asked her to lie down... and she did! If I had been thinking quick enough and rewarded that, I might have been able to prevent the subsequent rush towards the working dog. So even though the end result was the same, I am beyond thrilled; it's a long cry from the days when she didn't even consider where I was or what I was doing when she was at her threshold.
I didn't plan to take her back into the ring for the second trial, but she had relaxed in her car crate, taken a nice long awareness walk in the field behind the trial site, and then insistently pulled me back into the building. When we got inside, she laid down, rolled on to one hip, and just chilled. She was still mildly stressed (video here), but nothing that I was overly concerned about. So I entered the second run, and came back with a 197 and 4th place.
I'll admit it: after the trial, I was freaking out. My philosophy has always been that obedience should be fun for both of us, and that if Maisy is overly stressed, I won't make her do it. The trick, of course, is figuring out how much is too much stress. So, I emailed Maisy's veterinary behaviorist. She said that while Maisy had “a bad moment” during the honor stay, she didn't think we needed to quit entirely. Because Maisy looked really good in the ring, because she was able to recover and do so well during the second trial, and because her stress behavior outside the ring was so mild, she thought that if I did a better job training the stay so that Maisy would know what to expect, it would be just fine to continue competing with her.
So that's where we are. I'll spend the next couple of months working on stays with Maisy. Hopefully, when the next trial rolls around in July, we'll completely rock it and get her title. And if not, well... we'll have fun trying! And that's the most important thing anyway.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
CDSP Trial: 2nd Novice B leg!
Maisy and I went to a CDSP obedience trial this weekend. Although she's not perfect (we had an NQ on our first run of the day- more on that later this week), she tries hard and is capable of some excellent work:
She received a 197 for 4th place. She was also the high scoring mixed breed of the day! Go Maisy!
She received a 197 for 4th place. She was also the high scoring mixed breed of the day! Go Maisy!
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Training Tuesday: High Distraction Obedience
Maisy and I are attending an obedience trial this weekend. I'm hoping to finish her CD-C title. We haven't done much obedience training since our trial in December. Our house is small, and it was cold and dark when I got home from work, making our training field difficult to use. Thankfully, spring came early to Minnesota, and we've been working diligently over the last few weeks!
Today's video is HIGH DISTRACTION. You can't see it, but you can certainly hear the half a dozen or so kids on the playground that's only 30 feet or so away from where we set up. (It's just barely off camera to the right. If you look carefully, you can see the sandy edge of playground in the middle right side of the frame.) You'll also notice that I put a ball on the figure 8 “post” in the beginning. And yes, those are children on bikes in the background- two of Maisy's big triggers.
Some notes: first of all, no, I do not normally train on concrete. I don't think it's good for her joints to run/chase her ball like that, so usually we work on grassy or sandy surfaces. But I didn't think one session would hurt, and I wanted to set up there so we could work near the distractions (and there was a convenient place to set my video camera).
I find it hilarious that Maisy is getting “jump sucked” in the video. I worked hard to build value for the jump. Now I need to help her build some self-control. After the trial, I'll start working on proofing that.
A number of bad habits have reemerged over the winter. She's forging again, her sits are terribly crooked, and she's going wide. I suspect all of this is partially due to her short stature- it's hard to make eye contact when you're close and in proper heel position! Some of it is also probably because she's a little stressed. This was a hard training scenario, and whenever you increase one criteria, you have to loosen the others temporarily.
But I also think that some of her going wide is because of how I walk. Look how my left foot sometimes swings out towards her (and how she compensates for that). It's especially obvious at about 2:30 in the video. Boy, do I have some stuff to work on.
Overall, though, I was really happy with this session. I love Maisy's enthusiasm and engagement during the session. She's giving me a lot of attention, too! Although I have a sneaking suspicion that if we Q this weekend, our score might not be as high as our first time out, I'm pretty excited for the trial anyway. Time spent with my dog is always awesome.
Today's video is HIGH DISTRACTION. You can't see it, but you can certainly hear the half a dozen or so kids on the playground that's only 30 feet or so away from where we set up. (It's just barely off camera to the right. If you look carefully, you can see the sandy edge of playground in the middle right side of the frame.) You'll also notice that I put a ball on the figure 8 “post” in the beginning. And yes, those are children on bikes in the background- two of Maisy's big triggers.
Some notes: first of all, no, I do not normally train on concrete. I don't think it's good for her joints to run/chase her ball like that, so usually we work on grassy or sandy surfaces. But I didn't think one session would hurt, and I wanted to set up there so we could work near the distractions (and there was a convenient place to set my video camera).
I find it hilarious that Maisy is getting “jump sucked” in the video. I worked hard to build value for the jump. Now I need to help her build some self-control. After the trial, I'll start working on proofing that.
A number of bad habits have reemerged over the winter. She's forging again, her sits are terribly crooked, and she's going wide. I suspect all of this is partially due to her short stature- it's hard to make eye contact when you're close and in proper heel position! Some of it is also probably because she's a little stressed. This was a hard training scenario, and whenever you increase one criteria, you have to loosen the others temporarily.
But I also think that some of her going wide is because of how I walk. Look how my left foot sometimes swings out towards her (and how she compensates for that). It's especially obvious at about 2:30 in the video. Boy, do I have some stuff to work on.
Overall, though, I was really happy with this session. I love Maisy's enthusiasm and engagement during the session. She's giving me a lot of attention, too! Although I have a sneaking suspicion that if we Q this weekend, our score might not be as high as our first time out, I'm pretty excited for the trial anyway. Time spent with my dog is always awesome.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
2012 Goals
What does 2012 hold in store for Maisy and I? Greatness, I’m sure of it! I have no idea what form that greatness will take, but I'm hoping it will look something like this...
1. Teach Maisy 12 tricks.
This was one of my goals last year, and I failed miserably at it. But Maisy loves to train, and anyway, we need to have something to show to friends and family members who just don’t appreciate a flashy heeling pattern.
I have a few ideas for tricks- like a bow, chin down, play dead, take it/hold it/give it with a variety of objects, spinning, leg weaves, crawling- but I would love to hear your ideas, too! Does your dog have a cool trick? Please, tell me about it in the comments.
2. Improve my heeling handling skills.
Although I took a class on heeling handling skills, I have yet to really use what I learned. Some of the moves are still difficult for me to do. It’s not that they’re awkward, exactly, it’s more that I just need to practice them so they’re second nature.
As I learn the skills, I also need to take time to integrate them with my work with Maisy. Some things don’t need to be explicitly taught to her, but others do, especially things like slow pace vs. halts. We're both going to be better at heeling this year.
3. Complete the Relaxation Protocol.
If there is anything I’m likely to fail at doing, it’s this one. I worked on the Relaxation Protocol once before, and oh my gosh, but it was mind-numbingly boring. Maisy probably doesn’t need to do the protocol, but I want to work on it for two reasons.
First, we haven’t worked on it since she started taking medication, and I want to see how that changes things. I imagine we’ll have a very different experience this time around. And second, I frequently advise students to do the protocol with their dogs, so I feel like I need to follow my own advice, you know?
4. Work on some Open and/or Utility Skills.
Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself, since we haven’t even completed our novice-level obedience title, but I’d like to start working on open and/or utility exercises this year. Well, we’ve already started working on some- like retrieves, the drop on recall, and directed jumping- but we haven’t worked on others at all.
I feel like we have a pretty good handle on how to start working on most of the open/utility skills… except go outs and scent articles. I know there are a ton of different ways to train both, and I’d love to hear how you taught your dog’s go out and/or scent articles. Which method did you use? Did you like it? Would you use it again? What were the benefits and drawbacks?
5. Take (and hopefully pass!) the CPDT exam.
I’m a little nervous to post this one publicly, but here it is. I’m hoping to take the CPDT-KA exam in the fall testing period. I don’t need it, strictly speaking, but I like the idea and the added credibility it lends me. And besides, this gives me a very good excuse for going to seminars!
If you are a CPDT (or if you’re in the process of studying for it), I’d love some book recommendations. I have a pretty good handle on learning theory, but am mildly concerned about some of the other sections. Let me know which books you’ve found helpful!
Anyway… this is what I’m hoping 2012 will bring. It might not, of course. So much can change over the course of a year that it’s hard to know what to expect. Still, this is the direction I'm hoping it will go. And if it doesn't? No big deal. As long as Maisy and I have had fun together, that's all that matters.
1. Teach Maisy 12 tricks.
This was one of my goals last year, and I failed miserably at it. But Maisy loves to train, and anyway, we need to have something to show to friends and family members who just don’t appreciate a flashy heeling pattern.
I have a few ideas for tricks- like a bow, chin down, play dead, take it/hold it/give it with a variety of objects, spinning, leg weaves, crawling- but I would love to hear your ideas, too! Does your dog have a cool trick? Please, tell me about it in the comments.
2. Improve my heeling handling skills.
Although I took a class on heeling handling skills, I have yet to really use what I learned. Some of the moves are still difficult for me to do. It’s not that they’re awkward, exactly, it’s more that I just need to practice them so they’re second nature.
As I learn the skills, I also need to take time to integrate them with my work with Maisy. Some things don’t need to be explicitly taught to her, but others do, especially things like slow pace vs. halts. We're both going to be better at heeling this year.
3. Complete the Relaxation Protocol.
If there is anything I’m likely to fail at doing, it’s this one. I worked on the Relaxation Protocol once before, and oh my gosh, but it was mind-numbingly boring. Maisy probably doesn’t need to do the protocol, but I want to work on it for two reasons.
First, we haven’t worked on it since she started taking medication, and I want to see how that changes things. I imagine we’ll have a very different experience this time around. And second, I frequently advise students to do the protocol with their dogs, so I feel like I need to follow my own advice, you know?
4. Work on some Open and/or Utility Skills.
Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself, since we haven’t even completed our novice-level obedience title, but I’d like to start working on open and/or utility exercises this year. Well, we’ve already started working on some- like retrieves, the drop on recall, and directed jumping- but we haven’t worked on others at all.
I feel like we have a pretty good handle on how to start working on most of the open/utility skills… except go outs and scent articles. I know there are a ton of different ways to train both, and I’d love to hear how you taught your dog’s go out and/or scent articles. Which method did you use? Did you like it? Would you use it again? What were the benefits and drawbacks?
5. Take (and hopefully pass!) the CPDT exam.
I’m a little nervous to post this one publicly, but here it is. I’m hoping to take the CPDT-KA exam in the fall testing period. I don’t need it, strictly speaking, but I like the idea and the added credibility it lends me. And besides, this gives me a very good excuse for going to seminars!
If you are a CPDT (or if you’re in the process of studying for it), I’d love some book recommendations. I have a pretty good handle on learning theory, but am mildly concerned about some of the other sections. Let me know which books you’ve found helpful!
Anyway… this is what I’m hoping 2012 will bring. It might not, of course. So much can change over the course of a year that it’s hard to know what to expect. Still, this is the direction I'm hoping it will go. And if it doesn't? No big deal. As long as Maisy and I have had fun together, that's all that matters.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
CDSP Trial Results
Well, it finally came! After 16 months off from trialing, Maisy and I have returned to the world of competition! What's more, instead of doing rally, like we've done in the past, this was our very first time doing obedience. I chose CDSP for our venue because I knew it would be a small trial, relatively low-pressure, and because I could take treats in the ring in case things went horribly wrong.
They didn't.
In fact, they went very, very good. See for yourself:
The trial was a success in many way. First, as you can see above, her performance was very good. Although there were a few missteps here and there, she did well enough to score a very respectable 192 in the ring! This score, incidentally, was good enough to tie us for first place! As a result, we had to do a run-off:
Huge thanks to my friend Laura for getting video of the run-off. I did not expect to need to go in the ring a second time, so Maisy was in the car when we were called. In the midst of running to get her, I didn't even think about getting video. Laura did, though, and even uploaded it for me!
Anyway, we lost the run-off, but I can't say I'm too upset about that. I mean- look at her! She did really well for having absolutely no warm-up. I stuffed two cookies in her and went. Still- 2nd place at her very first obedience trial? NICE.
On top of that, she also ended up being the high-scoring mixed breed of the day as well as the high-scoring club member (I belong to the club that hosted the trial- the Minnesota Mixed Breed Club.)
The trial was also a success in terms of her attitude. We were connected throughout the majority of the run, and she just seemed happy to be out there with me. She was a bit stressed, too, to the point that I actually scratched her from the second run, but I did that more to prevent issues than because we were having them.
And I think the trial was successful for that reason, too. It is easy to push a dog too hard, especially on the heels of success. But when you're working with a reactive dog, it's important to avoid putting your dog in a situation she cannot handle. We were toeing that line today, and I am proud of myself for being able to recognize and act on that.
Anyway, it was an amazing day. I am so incredibly happy with how Maisy did. What an awesome little dog.
They didn't.
In fact, they went very, very good. See for yourself:
The trial was a success in many way. First, as you can see above, her performance was very good. Although there were a few missteps here and there, she did well enough to score a very respectable 192 in the ring! This score, incidentally, was good enough to tie us for first place! As a result, we had to do a run-off:
Huge thanks to my friend Laura for getting video of the run-off. I did not expect to need to go in the ring a second time, so Maisy was in the car when we were called. In the midst of running to get her, I didn't even think about getting video. Laura did, though, and even uploaded it for me!
Anyway, we lost the run-off, but I can't say I'm too upset about that. I mean- look at her! She did really well for having absolutely no warm-up. I stuffed two cookies in her and went. Still- 2nd place at her very first obedience trial? NICE.
On top of that, she also ended up being the high-scoring mixed breed of the day as well as the high-scoring club member (I belong to the club that hosted the trial- the Minnesota Mixed Breed Club.)
The trial was also a success in terms of her attitude. We were connected throughout the majority of the run, and she just seemed happy to be out there with me. She was a bit stressed, too, to the point that I actually scratched her from the second run, but I did that more to prevent issues than because we were having them.
And I think the trial was successful for that reason, too. It is easy to push a dog too hard, especially on the heels of success. But when you're working with a reactive dog, it's important to avoid putting your dog in a situation she cannot handle. We were toeing that line today, and I am proud of myself for being able to recognize and act on that.
Anyway, it was an amazing day. I am so incredibly happy with how Maisy did. What an awesome little dog.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Training Tuesday: Busy Sunday
Sunday was a big day for the little dog.
In the morning, we went to the first meeting of our newly-formed training group. Organized by my friend Ninso, it's an informal gathering on Sunday mornings. Half a dozen or so of us each kick in a few bucks to rent a facility for an hour, and then we each do our own thing. Maisy and I worked on heeling (looked great), some dumbbell retrieves (more enthusiasm and speed), and jumps. I tried Maisy over a broad jump for the first time ever, and she didn't even hesitate (though she did cut the corner). I was pretty happy about that.
Of all the dogs there, Maisy had only met one of them before, but that didn't matter- she was wonderful. She did try to chase one of the dogs, but came back quickly when I called. I was a little bummed she even ran after the dog, but given how quickly she bounced back, I was pretty happy with her. And I was thrilled with how social she was with a bunch of new people. She was a world-class floozy, pulling out her best tricks in order to charm hotdogs out of people.
After the class, I was talking with Ninso about ring nerves and trial stress, and Maisy just chilled at my feet. We were standing in a hallway, and strange dogs kept passing at both ends (talk about sudden environmental changes!), but she barely even noticed. She wasn't even working me for treats, she was just sitting there. I was very proud of her.
After all that, I probably should have just taken her home and called it a day, but there were CDSP runthroughs scheduled that afternoon, and since I signed us up for a trial in just over a month, I figured we'd better go so I would understand the exercises. After all, it's one thing to read the rule books, but it's another entirely to really know what I would be asked to do.
Maisy settled in nicely, chewing on a trachea in her crate. But when she came out, she seemed just a bit tenser than usual and definitely a little edgy. She did end up lunging at another dog, which was disappointing. I was hoping she wouldn't demonstrate any reactivity, but she was pretty quiet and returned to me immediately, so I suppose I should count it as an improvement. Sometimes it's just so hard to sort out which expectations are unreasonable, and which are reasonable, though.
She was a bit slow to warm up, which was probably partly due to stress, and partly due to the new environment. Also, I didn't have her ball, and I didn't have as much room to move around in with her, so it was a pretty different picture. At some point, I should probably think about a warm up routine for her...
Anyway, we got in the ring, and... well, it's hard for me to know what to say. Here's the video:
As I said over on Facebook, I left feeling kind of disappointed. She lagged on the fast pace, which completely surprised me since she has been forging in practice. As a result, I was sort of at a loss on how to respond. I'm not sure if you can hear us talking on the video, but that's what I was trying to tell the judge. I was not surprised that Maisy didn't do as well in a new environment as she does at home- that's a normal training thing, after all. It was just that it wasn't the behavior I was expecting! Talk about throwing me for a loop!
The judge's advice, while greatly appreciated, only threw me off more- I felt like I was trying to juggle way too much at once. In retrospect, I think that's the part that I was most disappointed in. Not the suggestions- those were great, and definitely things I needed to hear- but rather the way they broke my concentration. In the video, you can see a lot of time in the ring where Maisy doesn't have any of my attention... and she should have had all of it! As a result, we weren't as connected as I would have liked, and that coupled with her stress issues left me feeling a bit sad.
Despite how I felt, there is actually a lot to be happy with in the video. For the on-lead heeling portion, Maisy nailed her halts, did a lovely left turn, stuck with me on the about turns, and overall paid a lot of attention to me. She doesn't give me constant eye contact, but then, that's never been a criterion. Even while the judge and I are talking afterwards, Maisy remains attentive and engaged with me- love it!
The off-lead figure 8 is nice, too, especially considering that Maisy and I have worked on figure 8s, oh, maybe twice. And never with people. Despite the fact that I let her flooze all over people that morning, and despite the fact that one of the posts is a friend of hers, she stays right with me through the exercise. Good dog! Again, lots of attention, and she nailed her halts.
Another exercise we've barely practiced is the moving stand for exam, but she did a great job with it, too. I absolutely love the way her tail went nuts as the judge approached. She was just a bit uncertain when the judge reached down to touch her, but none of her little feet moved at any point during the exercise, which is fabulous.
Finally, the recall over bar jump exercise. I was a bit nervous that she might anticipate my call (she's been doing that in practice), but she held her stay! She did tick the jump on her way over (10” is a lot for her), but whatever. The front was nice, and I was very excited about her finish. It wasn't perfect, but it was a heck of a lot straighter than what we had just a few weeks ago.
Although my handling wasn't always the best (um, turning back towards her while she was lagging, anyone?), I am very proud of myself for being upbeat, happy, and enthusiastic in the ring. I squealed with the best of them out there, just like I do in practice, and I'm sure she knew I was proud of her. In the end, that's all that really matters, right?
After the runthrough, we came home and Maisy just absolutely crashed. The poor thing was so tired she couldn't even finish her bully stick. I guess being awesome is hard work!
All in all, it was a great day. It wasn't the easiest of days, and there are definitely things for us both to work on, but if she does this well in December, I will be very, very pleased. I think we've both grown a lot since that last time we were in the ring, so whether we qualify or not, I'm positive we'll be successful!
In the morning, we went to the first meeting of our newly-formed training group. Organized by my friend Ninso, it's an informal gathering on Sunday mornings. Half a dozen or so of us each kick in a few bucks to rent a facility for an hour, and then we each do our own thing. Maisy and I worked on heeling (looked great), some dumbbell retrieves (more enthusiasm and speed), and jumps. I tried Maisy over a broad jump for the first time ever, and she didn't even hesitate (though she did cut the corner). I was pretty happy about that.
Of all the dogs there, Maisy had only met one of them before, but that didn't matter- she was wonderful. She did try to chase one of the dogs, but came back quickly when I called. I was a little bummed she even ran after the dog, but given how quickly she bounced back, I was pretty happy with her. And I was thrilled with how social she was with a bunch of new people. She was a world-class floozy, pulling out her best tricks in order to charm hotdogs out of people.
After the class, I was talking with Ninso about ring nerves and trial stress, and Maisy just chilled at my feet. We were standing in a hallway, and strange dogs kept passing at both ends (talk about sudden environmental changes!), but she barely even noticed. She wasn't even working me for treats, she was just sitting there. I was very proud of her.
After all that, I probably should have just taken her home and called it a day, but there were CDSP runthroughs scheduled that afternoon, and since I signed us up for a trial in just over a month, I figured we'd better go so I would understand the exercises. After all, it's one thing to read the rule books, but it's another entirely to really know what I would be asked to do.
Maisy settled in nicely, chewing on a trachea in her crate. But when she came out, she seemed just a bit tenser than usual and definitely a little edgy. She did end up lunging at another dog, which was disappointing. I was hoping she wouldn't demonstrate any reactivity, but she was pretty quiet and returned to me immediately, so I suppose I should count it as an improvement. Sometimes it's just so hard to sort out which expectations are unreasonable, and which are reasonable, though.
She was a bit slow to warm up, which was probably partly due to stress, and partly due to the new environment. Also, I didn't have her ball, and I didn't have as much room to move around in with her, so it was a pretty different picture. At some point, I should probably think about a warm up routine for her...
Anyway, we got in the ring, and... well, it's hard for me to know what to say. Here's the video:
As I said over on Facebook, I left feeling kind of disappointed. She lagged on the fast pace, which completely surprised me since she has been forging in practice. As a result, I was sort of at a loss on how to respond. I'm not sure if you can hear us talking on the video, but that's what I was trying to tell the judge. I was not surprised that Maisy didn't do as well in a new environment as she does at home- that's a normal training thing, after all. It was just that it wasn't the behavior I was expecting! Talk about throwing me for a loop!
The judge's advice, while greatly appreciated, only threw me off more- I felt like I was trying to juggle way too much at once. In retrospect, I think that's the part that I was most disappointed in. Not the suggestions- those were great, and definitely things I needed to hear- but rather the way they broke my concentration. In the video, you can see a lot of time in the ring where Maisy doesn't have any of my attention... and she should have had all of it! As a result, we weren't as connected as I would have liked, and that coupled with her stress issues left me feeling a bit sad.
Despite how I felt, there is actually a lot to be happy with in the video. For the on-lead heeling portion, Maisy nailed her halts, did a lovely left turn, stuck with me on the about turns, and overall paid a lot of attention to me. She doesn't give me constant eye contact, but then, that's never been a criterion. Even while the judge and I are talking afterwards, Maisy remains attentive and engaged with me- love it!
The off-lead figure 8 is nice, too, especially considering that Maisy and I have worked on figure 8s, oh, maybe twice. And never with people. Despite the fact that I let her flooze all over people that morning, and despite the fact that one of the posts is a friend of hers, she stays right with me through the exercise. Good dog! Again, lots of attention, and she nailed her halts.
Another exercise we've barely practiced is the moving stand for exam, but she did a great job with it, too. I absolutely love the way her tail went nuts as the judge approached. She was just a bit uncertain when the judge reached down to touch her, but none of her little feet moved at any point during the exercise, which is fabulous.
Finally, the recall over bar jump exercise. I was a bit nervous that she might anticipate my call (she's been doing that in practice), but she held her stay! She did tick the jump on her way over (10” is a lot for her), but whatever. The front was nice, and I was very excited about her finish. It wasn't perfect, but it was a heck of a lot straighter than what we had just a few weeks ago.
Although my handling wasn't always the best (um, turning back towards her while she was lagging, anyone?), I am very proud of myself for being upbeat, happy, and enthusiastic in the ring. I squealed with the best of them out there, just like I do in practice, and I'm sure she knew I was proud of her. In the end, that's all that really matters, right?
After the runthrough, we came home and Maisy just absolutely crashed. The poor thing was so tired she couldn't even finish her bully stick. I guess being awesome is hard work!
All in all, it was a great day. It wasn't the easiest of days, and there are definitely things for us both to work on, but if she does this well in December, I will be very, very pleased. I think we've both grown a lot since that last time we were in the ring, so whether we qualify or not, I'm positive we'll be successful!
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Training Tuesday: CDSP Novice Requirements
Since we’ve decided to make our obedience debut in December, I’ve been reading up on what our chosen venue, CDSP, requires in the novice class. Here is an overview of what’s required, and what our progress looks like so far.
On Lead Heeling
This is your typical obedience heeling pattern, including pace changes, left and right turns, and an about turn. It also includes a distraction in the form of a steward walking towards you and your dog about 8 feet away.
Although we aren’t anywhere near a heeling pattern yet, our heeling is coming along nicely. I’m pleased to announce that we’ve really solidified the criteria of close. Maybe too close- although she still makes the occasional mistake and goes wide, most of the time she’s so close that I’m afraid I’m going to trip over her! She’s also started to “wrap” around to look at me, something I have mixed feelings about. On one hand, I’m thrilled with the amount of attention she’s giving me, but on the other… well, to wrap, she must forge!
I’ve been working on reducing the forging by following Denise Fenzi’s suggestion of slowing down every time she forges. In order to receive the reward, Maisy must slow down enough to be in correct position. I would have never tried this on my own, but it's working. Maisy is quickly falling back into position, and is even offering the correct position during normal pace! In our last session, I began using the slow pace to correct and then returned to normal pace before rewarding. We will continue to do this until Maisy’s position is good.
We’ve continued to struggle with reward placement. Throwing the ball forward is easiest, but it is undoubtedly contributing to Maisy’s forging problem. Dropping it straight down doesn’t seem to be very reinforcing for her (she wants to chase). The obvious solution is to throw the ball behind us, but that’s been difficult. Every time I did, Maisy would shoot forward before circling back, making the whole thing counter-productive. Thankfully, an awesome friend saw what we were doing and then demonstrated how I should use my body to be more successful. It was a frustrating learning curve for both of us, but we’ve finally started to get it!
Here is this week's video. I'm really pleased with Maisy's progress, but feel like I'm really lacking in energy and enthusiasm.
Off Lead Figure 8
Two people stand as “posts,” and you and your dog must heel in a figure 8 pattern around them. You will be asked to halt twice. Maisy and I haven’t practiced this at all, but I assume that all of our heeling work will transfer over and create nice results here. At least, I hope so! I’m more worried about who the posts are… if they are friends, Maisy will be much more likely to approach them than if they are strangers.
Moving Stand for Exam
You and your dog heel approximately 10 feet, and when directed by the judge, you both stop. The dog must remain standing instead of sitting. You then leave the dog and move six feet away so the judge can briefly examine your dog before you return to heel position.
Maisy has actually done a stand for exam in competition- way back when this exercise was still an APDT bonus exercise. She didn’t love it, but she did it. I have been practicing the exercise with my husband, and had a friend do it as well. The moving stand part is fine, though we do need to keep working on it to minimize paw movement, but the stay part is hard. I thought she was going to dance with excitement towards our friend the other day… it was pretty cute, actually, and I will never, ever be upset if she NQs this exercise because she’s being friendly!
Recall over Bar Jump
In this exercise, you position your dog at least 8 feet from a jump, then move to the other side of the jump. Your dog should come over the jump when you call, sitting in front of you.
I was initially quite worried about this exercise, and indeed, the first couple of times, she came around the jump instead of going over it. We’ve been working on it almost every day, and she’s now pretty solid at 10-15 feet on either side. It’s a bit tougher with distractions of course, but we’re getting there.
The type of jump doesn’t seem to matter, either. In practice, I use a homemade PVC jump, so I wasn’t sure what she would do when she saw a real bar jump. Thankfully, when we tried it with proper, legal equipment last week, Maisy did just fine. So fine, in fact, that she anticipated my call front… that brat! I couldn't help but laugh I was so pleased that she knew what she was supposed to do (we can always work on the waiting part).
Honor Stay
CDSP does not do group stays. Instead, your dog can sit or lie (your choice) in heel position while another dog completes the on-lead heeling pattern.
Because of Maisy’s reactivity, this is the hardest exercise of them all. She’s motion reactive, and the other dog will be running at one point (during the fast pace). I’m also not good at stays, but we’ve been practicing tons of distance stays (that’s more interesting to me), and I’ve done some baby honors with other dogs. She’s doing quite well, and we honored a fast-moving toller the other night.
Anyway, that’s what we need to do, and where we’re at. I’m pretty pleased with my little pup. I know we won’t be perfect, but then, I don’t really care about the Q at this point. What I want is a dog who goes into the ring happy and connected with me. I’m training with that in my mind foremost, and assuming that everything else will follow…
On Lead Heeling
This is your typical obedience heeling pattern, including pace changes, left and right turns, and an about turn. It also includes a distraction in the form of a steward walking towards you and your dog about 8 feet away.
Although we aren’t anywhere near a heeling pattern yet, our heeling is coming along nicely. I’m pleased to announce that we’ve really solidified the criteria of close. Maybe too close- although she still makes the occasional mistake and goes wide, most of the time she’s so close that I’m afraid I’m going to trip over her! She’s also started to “wrap” around to look at me, something I have mixed feelings about. On one hand, I’m thrilled with the amount of attention she’s giving me, but on the other… well, to wrap, she must forge!
I’ve been working on reducing the forging by following Denise Fenzi’s suggestion of slowing down every time she forges. In order to receive the reward, Maisy must slow down enough to be in correct position. I would have never tried this on my own, but it's working. Maisy is quickly falling back into position, and is even offering the correct position during normal pace! In our last session, I began using the slow pace to correct and then returned to normal pace before rewarding. We will continue to do this until Maisy’s position is good.
We’ve continued to struggle with reward placement. Throwing the ball forward is easiest, but it is undoubtedly contributing to Maisy’s forging problem. Dropping it straight down doesn’t seem to be very reinforcing for her (she wants to chase). The obvious solution is to throw the ball behind us, but that’s been difficult. Every time I did, Maisy would shoot forward before circling back, making the whole thing counter-productive. Thankfully, an awesome friend saw what we were doing and then demonstrated how I should use my body to be more successful. It was a frustrating learning curve for both of us, but we’ve finally started to get it!
Here is this week's video. I'm really pleased with Maisy's progress, but feel like I'm really lacking in energy and enthusiasm.
Off Lead Figure 8
Two people stand as “posts,” and you and your dog must heel in a figure 8 pattern around them. You will be asked to halt twice. Maisy and I haven’t practiced this at all, but I assume that all of our heeling work will transfer over and create nice results here. At least, I hope so! I’m more worried about who the posts are… if they are friends, Maisy will be much more likely to approach them than if they are strangers.
Moving Stand for Exam
You and your dog heel approximately 10 feet, and when directed by the judge, you both stop. The dog must remain standing instead of sitting. You then leave the dog and move six feet away so the judge can briefly examine your dog before you return to heel position.
Maisy has actually done a stand for exam in competition- way back when this exercise was still an APDT bonus exercise. She didn’t love it, but she did it. I have been practicing the exercise with my husband, and had a friend do it as well. The moving stand part is fine, though we do need to keep working on it to minimize paw movement, but the stay part is hard. I thought she was going to dance with excitement towards our friend the other day… it was pretty cute, actually, and I will never, ever be upset if she NQs this exercise because she’s being friendly!
Recall over Bar Jump
In this exercise, you position your dog at least 8 feet from a jump, then move to the other side of the jump. Your dog should come over the jump when you call, sitting in front of you.
I was initially quite worried about this exercise, and indeed, the first couple of times, she came around the jump instead of going over it. We’ve been working on it almost every day, and she’s now pretty solid at 10-15 feet on either side. It’s a bit tougher with distractions of course, but we’re getting there.
The type of jump doesn’t seem to matter, either. In practice, I use a homemade PVC jump, so I wasn’t sure what she would do when she saw a real bar jump. Thankfully, when we tried it with proper, legal equipment last week, Maisy did just fine. So fine, in fact, that she anticipated my call front… that brat! I couldn't help but laugh I was so pleased that she knew what she was supposed to do (we can always work on the waiting part).
Honor Stay
CDSP does not do group stays. Instead, your dog can sit or lie (your choice) in heel position while another dog completes the on-lead heeling pattern.
Because of Maisy’s reactivity, this is the hardest exercise of them all. She’s motion reactive, and the other dog will be running at one point (during the fast pace). I’m also not good at stays, but we’ve been practicing tons of distance stays (that’s more interesting to me), and I’ve done some baby honors with other dogs. She’s doing quite well, and we honored a fast-moving toller the other night.
Anyway, that’s what we need to do, and where we’re at. I’m pretty pleased with my little pup. I know we won’t be perfect, but then, I don’t really care about the Q at this point. What I want is a dog who goes into the ring happy and connected with me. I’m training with that in my mind foremost, and assuming that everything else will follow…
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Denise Fenzi Seminar: Working Spot
Maisy and I had a working spot on the final day of the seminar. The night before, a bunch of us went out for supper with Denise, during which she let it slip that she already had an idea of what she was going to see with Maisy and I the next day. This piqued my curiousity, so I begged her to tell me, and she said, “At some point, you will ask your dog to do something, and she'll do it wrong. But you'll think the way she did it was cute and funny, so you'll laugh and maybe even give a treat anyway.”
Um... Yeah, I think I might be guilty of the occasional Cuteness Cookie. The implication was that I probably make things too easy for Maisy. I don't raise my criteria fast enough, and I settle for “good enough” instead of holding out for truly good performances. I was surprised that she nailed me so completely, without having even seen Maisy yet. And I was a little nervous. What would she find when she saw us together?
I shouldn't have been worried. Maisy and I had two sessions with Denise. The first was devoted to heeling, and the second to a formal retrieve (with just a bit of heeling thrown in), and both were awesome. Denise is a brilliant trainer, it's true, and it was really helpful to get a chance to put what I'd learned into practice, with the benefit of immediate feedback and suggestions tailored specifically to us. But she was also kind and funny, and she never made me feel dumb. At the same time, she pushed me. It was hard work, but wow! I learned so much.
Heeling
Before we started, I shared that Maisy is a recovering reactive dog, and that I sometimes struggle to remember who Maisy is now instead of who she was before. I said that my primary goal is to support her during training and at trials, and that my focus is on us having a good time instead of a good score. The great irony is that I completely failed at this. When Denise had me show her Maisy's heeling, I immediately fell back into my old habits of being silent. Maisy lagged and got droopy, and Denise stopped us. Despite my good intentions, Densie told me that my silence was not supportive, and in fact, was confusing and stressful for my dog.
Denise coached me through using my voice effectively with Maisy. When I spoke to her with more enthusiasm, she drove into heel position, at which time I could reward her. I initially used cookies, but Denise said that the way I was handing out the treats (slowly and calmly, likely a holdover from all of our reactivity work) was only contributing to Maisy's overall sobriety. What I needed to do was be exciting and create more energy, and make the rewards more about our interaction.
I worked on being over the top with my rewards. Instead of simply handing Maisy a treat and continuing on, Denise had me mark the behavior, and then crouch on the floor in front of Maisy as I fed her the treat and told her what a good girl she is. Denise had us do this for two reasons. First, getting down on Maisy's level is more interactive, and second, it allows Maisy to chew and swallow the food. If you just hand a dog a treat, they typically disengage momentarily to eat it, and Denise does not want dogs to learn to disconnect with you for any reason, and especially not as part of the reward sequence!
After I got the hang of using my voice to encourage Maisy, I asked Denise to help coach us through using the ball as a reward. In the past, I've really struggled with this, because while she loves it and it's obviously higher value for her, it also seems like her brain melts out of her head and she has trouble doing what I ask. I end up frustrated and Maisy learns nothing.
The moment I got the ball out, Maisy went from mild lagging to forging! Although this is a better problem to have (apparently it is easier to scale back too much enthusiasm than it is to build it up in the first place), I still wasn't sure what to do. Thankfully, Denise was there to help us. She advised that every time Maisy got ahead of me, I should turn around and walk in the other direction. I did this a lot, and then Maisy fell into position and bam! I threw the ball! We discussed the proper way to use the ball- always use the left hand to prevent too much shoulder rotation, toss the ball behind you if the dog is forging, ahead if she's lagging. Sometimes even toss it to the side so the dog doesn't know what to expect.
What I found really interesting was that despite the fact that I've done tons of “Choose to Heel” work with Maisy, Denise doesn't really think that Maisy is a Choose to Heel dog. She said that Maisy is one of those dogs who, when she gets more than about a foot out of position, just can't seem to fix it on her own. The dog then starts to worry, which typically pushes her further out of position, creating a terrible cycle. Denise's advice was that I not try to wait it out, and instead, simply turn to face her, show her a cookie (but not give it), and then try again, using my voice to encourage her.
Retrieve
During our second session, we worked on Maisy's retrieve. Again, I struggled to use my voice with Maisy. At one point, Denise said, “Are you pleased with your dog?” When I nodded, she asked, “Well then could you make it more obvious?!”
Denise had me praise Maisy like crazy when she picked up the dumbbell in order to encourage her to bring it back. Unfortunately, every time I praised her, she would drop it. My theory is that Maisy thinks praise is a verbal marker (and I certainly have quite a few of those, including the words “yes!” “here” and “good”). Denise said we needed to work through that, because Maisy was pretty slow and methodical about bringing back the dumbbell and praise will help create more enthusiasm.
Maisy found this whole process rather confusing, which was beneficial in a lot of ways because it meant Denise could help me figure out how to help Maisy through it. She coached me to wiggle my fingers to get Maisy to bring the dumbbell to my hand. If Maisy didn't pick it up at all, she had me snatch it away and gleefully say that it's mine. She recommended that I make the dumbbell into a toy, to play hiding games with it, and... she recommended that I teach Maisy to retrieve her ball to my hand.
Denise, I know you're reading this, so maybe you should skip this paragraph. Okay? Are you gone? Great, because I sorta haven't really followed this advice. Maisy has this absolutely adorable behavior where she drops the ball about five feet from me, and then pushes it towards me with her nose. It's so cute and I do not want to extinguish this behavior. I know that I could create cues, but let's be honest- I suck at cuing. And, while I understand Denise's point that muscle memory may kick in and Maisy may drop her dumbbell and push it to me in the ring... well, I guess that's something I'm willing to risk.
She was right about me, you know. I do reward cute-but-incorrect behaviors.
We also tried a combination heeling and retrieving exercise that was pretty neat. I had Maisy walking next to me, and then I'd hold out the dumbbell at Maisy height while encouraging her to grab it. When she did, I'd start walking backwards, encouraging her to come towards me and place the dumbbell in my hand. This helped Maisy begin to experience the concept of bringing the dumbbell to front.
Personal Qs
Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't mention our personal Qs for the day. I had been very worried about how Maisy would handle the day. It was over eight hours, with lots of crate time, and plenty of strange dogs. That's a long time for any dog, I think, but especially for Maisy. Still, she did great. She did lunge (silently) at a dog once, and another time she gave a dalmatian the hairy eyeball, but she was responsive and wonderful while out of her crate. In fact, Denise gave us the biggest compliment when she said that she expected to see Maisy kind of fall apart and quit working. Instead, Maisy hung in there with me, and remained engaged despite all the stress.
Maisy did wonderful in her crate, too. She did bark a handful of times, but for the most part, she laid quietly. She cleaned out a Kong and ate a beef trachea- things she's never done in her crate in public before! She also laid flat on her side in there, and while I don't think she actually fell asleep, she did seem fairly relaxed. I was very happy with that!
Even more amazing, when I went to take behavior logs for the week after the seminar, I found that I didn't have anything to right down. That's right- despite the stress of the day, it had no long-lasting impact. I think this was the part I'm most excited about. For Maisy to be able to bounce back from stress like that, for her to not experience any long-lasting effects... well, I'm just thrilled.
All in all, I'm really glad I did a working spot. It was lovely to get some excellent coaching, and it was thrilling to see how well Maisy did in that environment. I definitely recommend Denise Fenzi's seminars for anyone interested in obedience. I know the auditors learned a lot, but I honestly think the working spot made the difference for me. It was a great weekend, full of fun, and I really feel like it will make a lasting difference in training.
Um... Yeah, I think I might be guilty of the occasional Cuteness Cookie. The implication was that I probably make things too easy for Maisy. I don't raise my criteria fast enough, and I settle for “good enough” instead of holding out for truly good performances. I was surprised that she nailed me so completely, without having even seen Maisy yet. And I was a little nervous. What would she find when she saw us together?
I shouldn't have been worried. Maisy and I had two sessions with Denise. The first was devoted to heeling, and the second to a formal retrieve (with just a bit of heeling thrown in), and both were awesome. Denise is a brilliant trainer, it's true, and it was really helpful to get a chance to put what I'd learned into practice, with the benefit of immediate feedback and suggestions tailored specifically to us. But she was also kind and funny, and she never made me feel dumb. At the same time, she pushed me. It was hard work, but wow! I learned so much.
Heeling
Before we started, I shared that Maisy is a recovering reactive dog, and that I sometimes struggle to remember who Maisy is now instead of who she was before. I said that my primary goal is to support her during training and at trials, and that my focus is on us having a good time instead of a good score. The great irony is that I completely failed at this. When Denise had me show her Maisy's heeling, I immediately fell back into my old habits of being silent. Maisy lagged and got droopy, and Denise stopped us. Despite my good intentions, Densie told me that my silence was not supportive, and in fact, was confusing and stressful for my dog.
Denise coached me through using my voice effectively with Maisy. When I spoke to her with more enthusiasm, she drove into heel position, at which time I could reward her. I initially used cookies, but Denise said that the way I was handing out the treats (slowly and calmly, likely a holdover from all of our reactivity work) was only contributing to Maisy's overall sobriety. What I needed to do was be exciting and create more energy, and make the rewards more about our interaction.
I worked on being over the top with my rewards. Instead of simply handing Maisy a treat and continuing on, Denise had me mark the behavior, and then crouch on the floor in front of Maisy as I fed her the treat and told her what a good girl she is. Denise had us do this for two reasons. First, getting down on Maisy's level is more interactive, and second, it allows Maisy to chew and swallow the food. If you just hand a dog a treat, they typically disengage momentarily to eat it, and Denise does not want dogs to learn to disconnect with you for any reason, and especially not as part of the reward sequence!
After I got the hang of using my voice to encourage Maisy, I asked Denise to help coach us through using the ball as a reward. In the past, I've really struggled with this, because while she loves it and it's obviously higher value for her, it also seems like her brain melts out of her head and she has trouble doing what I ask. I end up frustrated and Maisy learns nothing.
The moment I got the ball out, Maisy went from mild lagging to forging! Although this is a better problem to have (apparently it is easier to scale back too much enthusiasm than it is to build it up in the first place), I still wasn't sure what to do. Thankfully, Denise was there to help us. She advised that every time Maisy got ahead of me, I should turn around and walk in the other direction. I did this a lot, and then Maisy fell into position and bam! I threw the ball! We discussed the proper way to use the ball- always use the left hand to prevent too much shoulder rotation, toss the ball behind you if the dog is forging, ahead if she's lagging. Sometimes even toss it to the side so the dog doesn't know what to expect.
What I found really interesting was that despite the fact that I've done tons of “Choose to Heel” work with Maisy, Denise doesn't really think that Maisy is a Choose to Heel dog. She said that Maisy is one of those dogs who, when she gets more than about a foot out of position, just can't seem to fix it on her own. The dog then starts to worry, which typically pushes her further out of position, creating a terrible cycle. Denise's advice was that I not try to wait it out, and instead, simply turn to face her, show her a cookie (but not give it), and then try again, using my voice to encourage her.
Retrieve
During our second session, we worked on Maisy's retrieve. Again, I struggled to use my voice with Maisy. At one point, Denise said, “Are you pleased with your dog?” When I nodded, she asked, “Well then could you make it more obvious?!”
Denise shows me how it's down in this video still.
(Thanks to Robin Sallie for taking the video!)
Denise had me praise Maisy like crazy when she picked up the dumbbell in order to encourage her to bring it back. Unfortunately, every time I praised her, she would drop it. My theory is that Maisy thinks praise is a verbal marker (and I certainly have quite a few of those, including the words “yes!” “here” and “good”). Denise said we needed to work through that, because Maisy was pretty slow and methodical about bringing back the dumbbell and praise will help create more enthusiasm.
Maisy found this whole process rather confusing, which was beneficial in a lot of ways because it meant Denise could help me figure out how to help Maisy through it. She coached me to wiggle my fingers to get Maisy to bring the dumbbell to my hand. If Maisy didn't pick it up at all, she had me snatch it away and gleefully say that it's mine. She recommended that I make the dumbbell into a toy, to play hiding games with it, and... she recommended that I teach Maisy to retrieve her ball to my hand.
Denise, I know you're reading this, so maybe you should skip this paragraph. Okay? Are you gone? Great, because I sorta haven't really followed this advice. Maisy has this absolutely adorable behavior where she drops the ball about five feet from me, and then pushes it towards me with her nose. It's so cute and I do not want to extinguish this behavior. I know that I could create cues, but let's be honest- I suck at cuing. And, while I understand Denise's point that muscle memory may kick in and Maisy may drop her dumbbell and push it to me in the ring... well, I guess that's something I'm willing to risk.
She was right about me, you know. I do reward cute-but-incorrect behaviors.
We also tried a combination heeling and retrieving exercise that was pretty neat. I had Maisy walking next to me, and then I'd hold out the dumbbell at Maisy height while encouraging her to grab it. When she did, I'd start walking backwards, encouraging her to come towards me and place the dumbbell in my hand. This helped Maisy begin to experience the concept of bringing the dumbbell to front.
Personal Qs
Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't mention our personal Qs for the day. I had been very worried about how Maisy would handle the day. It was over eight hours, with lots of crate time, and plenty of strange dogs. That's a long time for any dog, I think, but especially for Maisy. Still, she did great. She did lunge (silently) at a dog once, and another time she gave a dalmatian the hairy eyeball, but she was responsive and wonderful while out of her crate. In fact, Denise gave us the biggest compliment when she said that she expected to see Maisy kind of fall apart and quit working. Instead, Maisy hung in there with me, and remained engaged despite all the stress.
Maisy did wonderful in her crate, too. She did bark a handful of times, but for the most part, she laid quietly. She cleaned out a Kong and ate a beef trachea- things she's never done in her crate in public before! She also laid flat on her side in there, and while I don't think she actually fell asleep, she did seem fairly relaxed. I was very happy with that!
Even more amazing, when I went to take behavior logs for the week after the seminar, I found that I didn't have anything to right down. That's right- despite the stress of the day, it had no long-lasting impact. I think this was the part I'm most excited about. For Maisy to be able to bounce back from stress like that, for her to not experience any long-lasting effects... well, I'm just thrilled.
All in all, I'm really glad I did a working spot. It was lovely to get some excellent coaching, and it was thrilling to see how well Maisy did in that environment. I definitely recommend Denise Fenzi's seminars for anyone interested in obedience. I know the auditors learned a lot, but I honestly think the working spot made the difference for me. It was a great weekend, full of fun, and I really feel like it will make a lasting difference in training.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Denise Fenzi Seminar: Work is a Privilege
I've heard competitive sports people say that they don't care if a dog likes an activity- they give their dogs a great life, and in return, he can pay them back by performing in the ring for five to ten minutes. I've certainly seen lots of miserable dogs and stressed handlers at trials. And while I believe the vast majority of dog people have only good intentions, the joy of working together is often missing in the ring.
It's probably obvious at this point that Denise Fenzi's style is different. It places a lot of emphasis on having fun, from making the work interesting and engaging to giving her dog her undivided attention to using tons of play as a reward. I love this concept, but Denise took it to the next level when she said that work is not something the dog is obligated to do for the handler, but rather, that it is a privilege that the human allows him.
It sounds a bit weird at first, but it makes sense if you consider that her goal is to build value for training in and of itself. If you've done that, then the dog should want to work. More than that, he should ask and even beg you to train.
The implication is that if you aren't both enjoying what you're doing, you're probably doing something wrong and need to adjust your approach. This doesn't mean abandoning a fun-centric style; one of the things that I love about training is its creativity. Even when you limit yourself to using only positive-based techniques, there are still many ways to teach a given task. Denise demonstrated this well- I was absolutely amazed by her ability to size up a team and create an individual training plan that might be the polar opposite of how she instructed another team to work on the same task.
That's not really the point, though, because Denise said you should actually refuse to work with a dog who isn't interested. If work is a privilege, then it's only given to dogs who are willing to put forth some effort. If the dog is only humoring you for the sake of a cookie- don't work him! Sure, he's willing to work and get paid, but as Denise pointed out, there's a huge difference between the job you get paid for, and volunteer work. Although I enjoy my job, there are days that I go only for the money. When I volunteer with my dog club, though, it's because I want to do it. My motivation is internal rather than external.
So what should you do if your dog is going through the motions?
Stop working. Denise advised us that we should never reward subpar effort with the opportunity to work. You might stop for a few minutes, or you might stop for a week- that's up to you, but during this time, you need to figure out what you should change in your approach. You might need to teach the skill in an entirely different way, but often, Denise said that if your dog is bored, it's because you aren't pushing him hard enough. Make the job harder.
I was initially surprised by this advice because I've always followed the clicker rule of splitting, not lumping, but what Denise was getting at was the fact that while many trainers are great at breaking tasks down, they don't raise the criteria fast enough. Sticking around at any given level too long often results in a dog who thinks that step is the finished behavior instead of simply a stepping stone on the way to the final product. Making the task more difficult makes the dog think, and when he's thinking, he can't be bored. Denise said that this is especially true with smart dogs, who can work beautifully with only 5% of their brain engaged.
Better yet, prevent ho-hum behavior by being observant for signs of stress that might result in a displacement behavior like sniffing. It's much better to tell the dog to take a break than for him to disengage from you on his own. That said, it is unreasonable to expect that your dog will never experience stress- learning is, by definition, stressful. Nor should you protect him from all stress. Instead, your goal as a handler is to learn to recognize when your dog is feeling unsure and support him through that. This results in a dog who can continue to work in the face of stress. (As a side note, Denise did say that you should never try to work through stress caused by “safety issues.” Address the fear or anxiety separately, outside of an obedience context, before returning to training.)
In addition to using your voice to support your dog, Denise also recommended that handlers always honor the working space. Since dogs are very contextual, it's important that training and trialing spaces be about interaction with you, not other dogs. You will never play as good as another dog can, so don't even try. You should make it clear to a dog when and where he's expected to perform.
Like I said, I really like this approach. It really meshes with my desire for dog sports to be about something fun that I do with my dog. I have ruled out entire activities that I'm interested in simply because I know that Maisy is not well suited to them. But I also think that treating work as a privilege helps create a certain amount of desire and enthusiasm in the dog. I'll admit, though, I don't have a ton of practical competition experience to apply to this idea though. If you do (or even if you don't), I'd love to hear what you think. Does the concept of work is a privilege work for you? Leave a comment and let me know!
It's probably obvious at this point that Denise Fenzi's style is different. It places a lot of emphasis on having fun, from making the work interesting and engaging to giving her dog her undivided attention to using tons of play as a reward. I love this concept, but Denise took it to the next level when she said that work is not something the dog is obligated to do for the handler, but rather, that it is a privilege that the human allows him.
It sounds a bit weird at first, but it makes sense if you consider that her goal is to build value for training in and of itself. If you've done that, then the dog should want to work. More than that, he should ask and even beg you to train.
The implication is that if you aren't both enjoying what you're doing, you're probably doing something wrong and need to adjust your approach. This doesn't mean abandoning a fun-centric style; one of the things that I love about training is its creativity. Even when you limit yourself to using only positive-based techniques, there are still many ways to teach a given task. Denise demonstrated this well- I was absolutely amazed by her ability to size up a team and create an individual training plan that might be the polar opposite of how she instructed another team to work on the same task.
That's not really the point, though, because Denise said you should actually refuse to work with a dog who isn't interested. If work is a privilege, then it's only given to dogs who are willing to put forth some effort. If the dog is only humoring you for the sake of a cookie- don't work him! Sure, he's willing to work and get paid, but as Denise pointed out, there's a huge difference between the job you get paid for, and volunteer work. Although I enjoy my job, there are days that I go only for the money. When I volunteer with my dog club, though, it's because I want to do it. My motivation is internal rather than external.
So what should you do if your dog is going through the motions?
Stop working. Denise advised us that we should never reward subpar effort with the opportunity to work. You might stop for a few minutes, or you might stop for a week- that's up to you, but during this time, you need to figure out what you should change in your approach. You might need to teach the skill in an entirely different way, but often, Denise said that if your dog is bored, it's because you aren't pushing him hard enough. Make the job harder.
I was initially surprised by this advice because I've always followed the clicker rule of splitting, not lumping, but what Denise was getting at was the fact that while many trainers are great at breaking tasks down, they don't raise the criteria fast enough. Sticking around at any given level too long often results in a dog who thinks that step is the finished behavior instead of simply a stepping stone on the way to the final product. Making the task more difficult makes the dog think, and when he's thinking, he can't be bored. Denise said that this is especially true with smart dogs, who can work beautifully with only 5% of their brain engaged.
Better yet, prevent ho-hum behavior by being observant for signs of stress that might result in a displacement behavior like sniffing. It's much better to tell the dog to take a break than for him to disengage from you on his own. That said, it is unreasonable to expect that your dog will never experience stress- learning is, by definition, stressful. Nor should you protect him from all stress. Instead, your goal as a handler is to learn to recognize when your dog is feeling unsure and support him through that. This results in a dog who can continue to work in the face of stress. (As a side note, Denise did say that you should never try to work through stress caused by “safety issues.” Address the fear or anxiety separately, outside of an obedience context, before returning to training.)
In addition to using your voice to support your dog, Denise also recommended that handlers always honor the working space. Since dogs are very contextual, it's important that training and trialing spaces be about interaction with you, not other dogs. You will never play as good as another dog can, so don't even try. You should make it clear to a dog when and where he's expected to perform.
This handler is honoring the working space by making it clear
to her dog that he is on a break. Photo by Robin Sallie.
Like I said, I really like this approach. It really meshes with my desire for dog sports to be about something fun that I do with my dog. I have ruled out entire activities that I'm interested in simply because I know that Maisy is not well suited to them. But I also think that treating work as a privilege helps create a certain amount of desire and enthusiasm in the dog. I'll admit, though, I don't have a ton of practical competition experience to apply to this idea though. If you do (or even if you don't), I'd love to hear what you think. Does the concept of work is a privilege work for you? Leave a comment and let me know!
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Denise Fenzi Seminar: The Only Thing You Can Take in the Ring
Denise Fenzi told us that while you can trick a dog into thinking that you have food or toys in the ring, you can't do it indefinitely. If you're lucky, you'll fool the dog through his UD, but if you plan to try for the UDX or the OTCh, things will probably fall apart. At some point, you need to create inherent value for both the work and for yourself.
Take a moment to think about your closest friends. What do they have in common? For me, there are three main things. First, my friends and I often do fun things together- whether it's a silly board game or tubing on the lake. Next, I find them endlessly interesting. We come from all sorts of backgrounds, so I'm always learning something new from them. Finally, and most importantly, my best friends are the ones who support me when I make mistakes, who encourage me to try harder, and who celebrate with me when I succeed.
While my answers are honest, they're also convenient, because many of the things I saw Denise do (or that she encouraged us to do) fit into these three categories. The way she trains lends itself well to developing great relationships with dogs, and I really think this is the part of the seminar that will change my training life.
Let's start by talking about play. Part of the reason Denise spent so much time talking about tugging is because it's a great way to play with your dog. But you can't take toys in the ring, so you need to find ways to play without them. On day two of the seminar, Denise had each of the working teams play without toys. This was easy for some, and harder for others, but Denise coached each pair on how to have fun together.
For example, she played a tag and chase game that many of the dogs loved- when the dog got into heel position, she would lightly touch his shoulder or chest, and then turn quickly and run away so the dog would chase her. She also encouraged the dogs to be physical; running and jumping is rewarding to most dogs. She did this by using things like the opposition reflex (where she pulled the dog back and then let him shoot away towards a jump or dumbbell) or hand touches in order to get the dog to jump in the air.
Play is a great way to reward the dog, but you need to make the work itself interesting, too. Simply drilling the exercises is boring, even if it is interspersed with play, and most dogs will droop under the weight of endless repetitions. Denise encouraged us to think outside the box- you don't need to train the exercises in a set order, nor do you need to do the full exercise every time you train. Instead, she recommended mixing things up each time so that the dog never knows what to expect. Sometimes you might recall the dog to sit in front of you, and other times you might have him run between your legs. Do signals backwards, or start from a down instead of a stand. Have the dog sit on recall instead of drop. The opportunities are endless.
While most people don't think about it this way, heeling really is just one long drill. Walking in straight lines? Not that exciting. Your job as the trainer is to mix it up, and Denise does this by walking erratically. She drifts left and right, makes frequent turns, and spins in circles. She does serpentines. She keeps it interesting by being unpredictable. And when she goes in the ring and walks in a straight line? Well, since that's so unusual compared to what she does in training, her dogs find it interesting too.
Finally, a good relationship will be supportive. One of the things that was so absolutely revolutionary to me was the way Denise used her voice in training. She is always talking to the dogs she's training. I am often rather quiet while training- that's what many of the leading clicker trainers recommend you do, after all. But one of Denise's cricitisms of clicker purists is that it uses silence as a “No Reward Marker.” In other words, clicker trainers tend to allow silence to let the dog know he hasn't got it quite right yet, and uses a marker- either a click or a verbal word like “Yes!”- to let him know when he's got it right.
This can backfire in the ring, where the handler must remain silent, even when the dog has it right. Denise's solution is both brilliant and obvious, and it makes me feel a bit stupid that I never thought of it myself. Simply put, she talks to the dog when he hasn't quite met her criteria yet, and then falls silent when he's got it right. After a few seconds (or longer, depending on the dog's level of training), she'll break the silence to reward him with praise and play. Thus, the silence begins to act as a secondary reinforcer by predicting exciting things. Genius.
But remember what I said about being supportive? It's important to note that she isn't scolding her dog or using a stern tone- she said that suppresses behavior instead of increasing it. Rather, she's encouraging the dog to try harder by being his own personal cheerleader. As I've begun to incorporate this into my heeling training with Maisy, I find myself saying things like, “Where's my puppy? I know she's around here somewhere! She should be right by my side!” in a very happy, upbeat tone. When she gets there, I'm quiet for a moment, and then BAM! I throw a verbal party.
In order to help the dog understand the difference between "you're almost there" and "you've got it," Denise said that you need to have two different levels of tone and energy when you're praising your dog. The “encouragement praise” is cheerful talk meant to keep the dog in the game, while the “party praise” should be over the top excitement. Both will be happy and positive, but it should be obvious to the casual bystander when the dog has gotten it right. In other words, Denise praises the dog for his efforts, and rewards the dog for success.
When the whole package is put together, what happens is that working becomes interesting and engaging because the handler is keeping things fresh and unpredictable. The dog remains motivated to keep trying because he's encouraged to do so. And when he gets it right, his reward is to celebrate with his trainer. Sometimes that means he is told how amazing he is, sometimes he gets a bit of food, and sometimes he gets to run and play. The common thread is that he always gets 100% of his person's attention, and the reward becomes more than just the tangible item he's given. It's about the interaction and relationship with his person.
Look, I know it sounds a little crazy. I don't entirely understand how it works myself- and I certainly can't explain it all in scientific terms- I just know that it does. Not only do Denise's accomplishments speak for themselves, but in a few short training sessions, I'm already seeing improvement in Maisy's enthusiasm and performance in both heeling and her dumbbell retrieve. Better yet- Maisy and I are having fun together.
What do you guys think? Do you talk during training, and how or when do you use silent? What troubles have you encountered? Do you think some of these ideas would help, or are you a bit skeptical? I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Take a moment to think about your closest friends. What do they have in common? For me, there are three main things. First, my friends and I often do fun things together- whether it's a silly board game or tubing on the lake. Next, I find them endlessly interesting. We come from all sorts of backgrounds, so I'm always learning something new from them. Finally, and most importantly, my best friends are the ones who support me when I make mistakes, who encourage me to try harder, and who celebrate with me when I succeed.
My good friend Sara and I talking to Denise Fenzi.
Photo by another good friend, Robin Sallie.
While my answers are honest, they're also convenient, because many of the things I saw Denise do (or that she encouraged us to do) fit into these three categories. The way she trains lends itself well to developing great relationships with dogs, and I really think this is the part of the seminar that will change my training life.
Let's start by talking about play. Part of the reason Denise spent so much time talking about tugging is because it's a great way to play with your dog. But you can't take toys in the ring, so you need to find ways to play without them. On day two of the seminar, Denise had each of the working teams play without toys. This was easy for some, and harder for others, but Denise coached each pair on how to have fun together.
For example, she played a tag and chase game that many of the dogs loved- when the dog got into heel position, she would lightly touch his shoulder or chest, and then turn quickly and run away so the dog would chase her. She also encouraged the dogs to be physical; running and jumping is rewarding to most dogs. She did this by using things like the opposition reflex (where she pulled the dog back and then let him shoot away towards a jump or dumbbell) or hand touches in order to get the dog to jump in the air.
Play is a great way to reward the dog, but you need to make the work itself interesting, too. Simply drilling the exercises is boring, even if it is interspersed with play, and most dogs will droop under the weight of endless repetitions. Denise encouraged us to think outside the box- you don't need to train the exercises in a set order, nor do you need to do the full exercise every time you train. Instead, she recommended mixing things up each time so that the dog never knows what to expect. Sometimes you might recall the dog to sit in front of you, and other times you might have him run between your legs. Do signals backwards, or start from a down instead of a stand. Have the dog sit on recall instead of drop. The opportunities are endless.
While most people don't think about it this way, heeling really is just one long drill. Walking in straight lines? Not that exciting. Your job as the trainer is to mix it up, and Denise does this by walking erratically. She drifts left and right, makes frequent turns, and spins in circles. She does serpentines. She keeps it interesting by being unpredictable. And when she goes in the ring and walks in a straight line? Well, since that's so unusual compared to what she does in training, her dogs find it interesting too.
Finally, a good relationship will be supportive. One of the things that was so absolutely revolutionary to me was the way Denise used her voice in training. She is always talking to the dogs she's training. I am often rather quiet while training- that's what many of the leading clicker trainers recommend you do, after all. But one of Denise's cricitisms of clicker purists is that it uses silence as a “No Reward Marker.” In other words, clicker trainers tend to allow silence to let the dog know he hasn't got it quite right yet, and uses a marker- either a click or a verbal word like “Yes!”- to let him know when he's got it right.
This can backfire in the ring, where the handler must remain silent, even when the dog has it right. Denise's solution is both brilliant and obvious, and it makes me feel a bit stupid that I never thought of it myself. Simply put, she talks to the dog when he hasn't quite met her criteria yet, and then falls silent when he's got it right. After a few seconds (or longer, depending on the dog's level of training), she'll break the silence to reward him with praise and play. Thus, the silence begins to act as a secondary reinforcer by predicting exciting things. Genius.
But remember what I said about being supportive? It's important to note that she isn't scolding her dog or using a stern tone- she said that suppresses behavior instead of increasing it. Rather, she's encouraging the dog to try harder by being his own personal cheerleader. As I've begun to incorporate this into my heeling training with Maisy, I find myself saying things like, “Where's my puppy? I know she's around here somewhere! She should be right by my side!” in a very happy, upbeat tone. When she gets there, I'm quiet for a moment, and then BAM! I throw a verbal party.
In order to help the dog understand the difference between "you're almost there" and "you've got it," Denise said that you need to have two different levels of tone and energy when you're praising your dog. The “encouragement praise” is cheerful talk meant to keep the dog in the game, while the “party praise” should be over the top excitement. Both will be happy and positive, but it should be obvious to the casual bystander when the dog has gotten it right. In other words, Denise praises the dog for his efforts, and rewards the dog for success.
When the whole package is put together, what happens is that working becomes interesting and engaging because the handler is keeping things fresh and unpredictable. The dog remains motivated to keep trying because he's encouraged to do so. And when he gets it right, his reward is to celebrate with his trainer. Sometimes that means he is told how amazing he is, sometimes he gets a bit of food, and sometimes he gets to run and play. The common thread is that he always gets 100% of his person's attention, and the reward becomes more than just the tangible item he's given. It's about the interaction and relationship with his person.
Look, I know it sounds a little crazy. I don't entirely understand how it works myself- and I certainly can't explain it all in scientific terms- I just know that it does. Not only do Denise's accomplishments speak for themselves, but in a few short training sessions, I'm already seeing improvement in Maisy's enthusiasm and performance in both heeling and her dumbbell retrieve. Better yet- Maisy and I are having fun together.
What do you guys think? Do you talk during training, and how or when do you use silent? What troubles have you encountered? Do you think some of these ideas would help, or are you a bit skeptical? I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Denise Fenzi Seminar: Drives and Why They Matter
Saturday and Sunday of the Denise Fenzi seminar was about “Drives and Motivation in Obedience.” I was pretty excited about the topic because the concept of “drive” has always perplexed me just a little. You often hear people say that a dog is “high drive,” but so much of the time it seems like they're just talking about energy level, or worse, a dog who is out of control.
While it's true that a high drive dog is typically pretty energetic, drive is so much more than that. Drives are more like instinct, and are linked to survival. If a dog doesn't have the drive to hunt, stalk, chase, kill, or eat... well, he's not likely to survive! Therefore, Denise told us that when a dog satisfies a drive, he's also satisfying a basic need.
Drives are also innate. It is either in the dog or it's not, largely because we humans have impacted drives by selectively breeding dogs to perform various jobs for us. Herding, hunting, live-stock guarding- all these tasks use different drives. While a terrier has been bred to seek and destroy, a retriever has been bred to seek and return. Each dog, therefore, has it's own unique mixture of drives, high in some areas and low in others. While we can't create drive in an individual dog, Denise did say that we can strengthen what already exists by using it.
So what are the different drives? Denise identified four main drives that are useful in dog training:
Hunt drive is the act of finding something, typically with scent. A dog needs hunt drive in order to search for and get close to his food source (a bunny, chipmunk, whatever). Denise said that there are relatively few opportunities to use hunt drive in training. That said, when the opportunity arises, it can make boring exercises quite exciting! It is particularly useful for building obsession for an object- Denise showed us how to make a dog love his dumbbell by playing hide-and-seek games with it. Hunt drive can also be useful for teaching scent articles, as well as exercises that are not handler focused or require the dog to work at a distance from his handler. The downside to hunt drive is that it creates a lot of energy, and with that can come hectic thinking that can be difficult to channel into the task at hand.
Prey drive is a complementary drive. Once a dog has gotten close to his quarry, he switches into prey drive, and uses his sense of sight to find and catch it. We can harness prey drive in both tugging and retrieving games, both of which make great training rewards for known behaviors because they help increase speed, intensity, endurance and enthusiasm for the task at hand. Harnessing prey drive in training also lets us give distance rewards (by throwing a toy), can relieve stress, and is a great relationship builder.
We spent lots and lots of time discussing the application of prey drive to training, specifically with tugging. So much, in fact, that I'll have to devote a separate blog post to the proper way to play tug. I didn't really think there was that much to it, but considering the fact that before the seminar, Maisy wouldn't tug, and now she's waking me up in the middle of the night asking to play, well... clearly it's more complicated than I thought!
Food drive is... not that interesting. I mean, yes, a dog needs to eat, and I consider myself a consummate cookie pusher, but as Denise said: even a five year old can feed a dog. Food drive is great for teaching behaviors, because it allows you to get many repetitions in a short amount of time. It's also great for puppies who don't have much hunt or prey drive yet, for promoting calm, thinking behaviors, and for use in behavior modification.
The downside to the use of food in training is that trainers are often too generous with it. While this sounded like heresy to me, Denise shared that being liberal with the cookies actually devalues their power. She compared it to M&Ms: if you get one every 3 seconds, you'll probably get bored of them pretty quickly. If, on the other hand, you only get one every 3 minutes, they'll remain interesting much longer, and you'll be willing to work for them harder.
Finally, pack drive. This drive is all about relationship, which Denise described in her handout as a “fluid, dynamic process which is continually being reinforced or undermined.” You need to be fully present when training with your dog in order to harness this relationship to its fullest.
I have tons and tons to say about this in future posts (this woman is amazing at interacting with and engaging dogs), but for now I'll simply leave you with a few of Denise's suggestions to develop and maintain a strong relationship with your dog. Always support his needs and recognize his limitations. Protect him from scary people, places, and things, not only during training or at trials, but in everyday life. Make sure that you're meeting all his needs- physical, mental, and emotional. And ensure he gets plenty of attention from you. In return, you'll receive natural focus and obedience.
So, why is it important to understand drives?
While work like herding or hunting is directly tied to a drive, performance sports are not. There is very little in obedience that intrisincally motivates a dog- heeling does not satisfy any dog's needs, for example- but we can use drives indirectly to engage and reward a dog for his performance. Denise said that handlers who develop their dog's drives to a high level will have reliable and intense competitors because the dog, when well-trained, will perform with the same enthusiasm that he plays- and that's a gorgeous picture!
The take away message is that you should figure out the drives that your dog naturally engages in, and then find a way to use them during training. Part of the reason we spent so much time learning to tug well with our dogs is because it is a very easy way to tap into prey drive. Doing this will not only help build value for obedience exercises, but also build value for the handler. Since using drives satisfies basic needs, we can make it very fulfilling for our dogs to interact with us! Considering that we can't take toys or food into the ring, but we can take ourselves... well, it should be obvious that this is a huge benefit for competition!
As for Maisy, well, she's huge into chasing things (prey drive), although she's not so interested in the catching and killing part of the prey sequence. That's okay- I can still use the portions of that particular drive that she's interested in, work on building up the rest (it's there, just not well developed), and get some amazingly flashy performances as a result. Our heeling has already improved by leaps and bounds, far more than when we used food alone, and Maisy has tons of food drive!
I'd like to build on Maisy's hunt drive. She likes to sniff and search for things, but we haven't done much with this. Still, creating a bit of obsession for her dumbbell would be awesome, so I see some hide-and-seek games in our future.
And as for pack drive, well, I like to think we have a good relationship. Denise did say during our working spot on Monday that she was impressed by the way Maisy hung in there with me-she didn't wander off or give up- even when she wasn't sure what I expected from her. I just need to work on making sure Maisy knows how pleased I am with her. I can't take that relationship for granted, but rather, continually nurture it.
But more on that later. For now, I'd love to hear from you. Which drives does your dog naturally engage in? Which would you like to build up? How do you think it might affect your training? I can't wait to find out what you think!
While it's true that a high drive dog is typically pretty energetic, drive is so much more than that. Drives are more like instinct, and are linked to survival. If a dog doesn't have the drive to hunt, stalk, chase, kill, or eat... well, he's not likely to survive! Therefore, Denise told us that when a dog satisfies a drive, he's also satisfying a basic need.
Drives are also innate. It is either in the dog or it's not, largely because we humans have impacted drives by selectively breeding dogs to perform various jobs for us. Herding, hunting, live-stock guarding- all these tasks use different drives. While a terrier has been bred to seek and destroy, a retriever has been bred to seek and return. Each dog, therefore, has it's own unique mixture of drives, high in some areas and low in others. While we can't create drive in an individual dog, Denise did say that we can strengthen what already exists by using it.
Maisy's prey drive- at least the chasing aspect of it- is well-developed.
So what are the different drives? Denise identified four main drives that are useful in dog training:
Hunt drive is the act of finding something, typically with scent. A dog needs hunt drive in order to search for and get close to his food source (a bunny, chipmunk, whatever). Denise said that there are relatively few opportunities to use hunt drive in training. That said, when the opportunity arises, it can make boring exercises quite exciting! It is particularly useful for building obsession for an object- Denise showed us how to make a dog love his dumbbell by playing hide-and-seek games with it. Hunt drive can also be useful for teaching scent articles, as well as exercises that are not handler focused or require the dog to work at a distance from his handler. The downside to hunt drive is that it creates a lot of energy, and with that can come hectic thinking that can be difficult to channel into the task at hand.
Prey drive is a complementary drive. Once a dog has gotten close to his quarry, he switches into prey drive, and uses his sense of sight to find and catch it. We can harness prey drive in both tugging and retrieving games, both of which make great training rewards for known behaviors because they help increase speed, intensity, endurance and enthusiasm for the task at hand. Harnessing prey drive in training also lets us give distance rewards (by throwing a toy), can relieve stress, and is a great relationship builder.
We spent lots and lots of time discussing the application of prey drive to training, specifically with tugging. So much, in fact, that I'll have to devote a separate blog post to the proper way to play tug. I didn't really think there was that much to it, but considering the fact that before the seminar, Maisy wouldn't tug, and now she's waking me up in the middle of the night asking to play, well... clearly it's more complicated than I thought!
Food drive is... not that interesting. I mean, yes, a dog needs to eat, and I consider myself a consummate cookie pusher, but as Denise said: even a five year old can feed a dog. Food drive is great for teaching behaviors, because it allows you to get many repetitions in a short amount of time. It's also great for puppies who don't have much hunt or prey drive yet, for promoting calm, thinking behaviors, and for use in behavior modification.
The downside to the use of food in training is that trainers are often too generous with it. While this sounded like heresy to me, Denise shared that being liberal with the cookies actually devalues their power. She compared it to M&Ms: if you get one every 3 seconds, you'll probably get bored of them pretty quickly. If, on the other hand, you only get one every 3 minutes, they'll remain interesting much longer, and you'll be willing to work for them harder.
Finally, pack drive. This drive is all about relationship, which Denise described in her handout as a “fluid, dynamic process which is continually being reinforced or undermined.” You need to be fully present when training with your dog in order to harness this relationship to its fullest.
I have tons and tons to say about this in future posts (this woman is amazing at interacting with and engaging dogs), but for now I'll simply leave you with a few of Denise's suggestions to develop and maintain a strong relationship with your dog. Always support his needs and recognize his limitations. Protect him from scary people, places, and things, not only during training or at trials, but in everyday life. Make sure that you're meeting all his needs- physical, mental, and emotional. And ensure he gets plenty of attention from you. In return, you'll receive natural focus and obedience.
So, why is it important to understand drives?
While work like herding or hunting is directly tied to a drive, performance sports are not. There is very little in obedience that intrisincally motivates a dog- heeling does not satisfy any dog's needs, for example- but we can use drives indirectly to engage and reward a dog for his performance. Denise said that handlers who develop their dog's drives to a high level will have reliable and intense competitors because the dog, when well-trained, will perform with the same enthusiasm that he plays- and that's a gorgeous picture!
The take away message is that you should figure out the drives that your dog naturally engages in, and then find a way to use them during training. Part of the reason we spent so much time learning to tug well with our dogs is because it is a very easy way to tap into prey drive. Doing this will not only help build value for obedience exercises, but also build value for the handler. Since using drives satisfies basic needs, we can make it very fulfilling for our dogs to interact with us! Considering that we can't take toys or food into the ring, but we can take ourselves... well, it should be obvious that this is a huge benefit for competition!
As for Maisy, well, she's huge into chasing things (prey drive), although she's not so interested in the catching and killing part of the prey sequence. That's okay- I can still use the portions of that particular drive that she's interested in, work on building up the rest (it's there, just not well developed), and get some amazingly flashy performances as a result. Our heeling has already improved by leaps and bounds, far more than when we used food alone, and Maisy has tons of food drive!
I'd like to build on Maisy's hunt drive. She likes to sniff and search for things, but we haven't done much with this. Still, creating a bit of obsession for her dumbbell would be awesome, so I see some hide-and-seek games in our future.
And as for pack drive, well, I like to think we have a good relationship. Denise did say during our working spot on Monday that she was impressed by the way Maisy hung in there with me-she didn't wander off or give up- even when she wasn't sure what I expected from her. I just need to work on making sure Maisy knows how pleased I am with her. I can't take that relationship for granted, but rather, continually nurture it.
But more on that later. For now, I'd love to hear from you. Which drives does your dog naturally engage in? Which would you like to build up? How do you think it might affect your training? I can't wait to find out what you think!
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Denise Fenzi Seminar: Introduction
This past weekend, I had the extreme pleasure of going to a seminar presented by Denise Fenzi. I'll be honest; I didn't know who she was until a few months ago, when she put an OTCh on one of her dogs using positive training. In a happy coincidence, shortly after I learned who she was, I heard about the seminar (and it was local), so I signed up.
The seminar was actually more like two in one. Saturday and Sunday was about drives and motivation in obedience, while Monday was devoted specifically to problem-solving. I audited the first two days, and had a working spot on the final day. Although I'd been hesitant about signing up- I really wasn't sure if Maisy would be up to eight full hours of seminar-ing- I am so glad I did. (And Maisy was awesome, so I needn't have worried.)
I came away from the weekened with a great deal of respect and admiration for Denise. It's clear that she's a very skilled trainer. I was incredibly impressed with her ability to quickly read both people and dogs, and then tailor her advice to that team. I really enjoyed her message that methods don't matter if they don't work- and that not every approach will work for every dog. That's not to say that she advocates compulsion-based training, because she doesn't, but rather that she thinks there are many, many ways to approach any given exercise. Luring, shaping, physically prompting- it all has a place with the right dog and the right handler.
Unfortunately, this strength of Denise's is also a bit frustrating for me as blog writer: since so much of her advice was directly related to any given working team, taken as a whole, it could seem contradictory. After all, what worked for one team won't work for another. Another frustration was the fact that I know next to nothing about AKC obedience, so many of the finer points went right over my head. As a result, I've decided that while Denise offered lots and lots and lots of advice for particular obedience exercises, I won't be writing about that. (If you're disappointed by this, I highly recommend you go check out her youtube channel. She has tons of great videos over there.) Instead, I'll post more of the general stuff: about drives, and relationships, and rewards. And, of course, I'll write about our working spot on Monday.
I was also incredibly impressed by Denise's attitude. Sometimes, positive trainers can seem holier-than-thou, myself included. But Denise doesn't lecture people on why positive training is superior. Instead, she simply shows people how to do it successfully. She helps identify their training issues, and then gives suggestions on how to approach them. Often, you could see immediate improvement in the working teams. It wasn't uncommon to hear someone exclaim, "You fixed it!" I left the seminar feeling that Denise made a real difference, not only in terms of performance, but also in the relationships between dogs and handlers.
As a result, I cannot recommend her enough. Although her primary focus is obedience, I really think that anyone, in any sport, could benefit from working with her. If you ever get a chance to attend a seminar with her, take it. And while the auditors in attendance all agreed that they learned a ton, I would highly encourage you to snag a working spot if you can. Not only can she assess you and your dog specifically, but getting a chance to practice what you've learned with immediate feedback is invaluable. Even though I tried to apply what I'd learned during the first two days in my session with her on the third day, her coaching really helped me incorporate those lessons into my work and relationship with Maisy.
The best part of the seminar, though, was that it left me feeling totally invigorated. She helped me figure out how to take my training to the next level, and as a result, I had an amazing heeling session with Maisy this evening. I am so, so very excited. Watch out, Minnesota: Maisy and I are going to blow you away!
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Clicker Expo 2011 (Chicago): Cecilie Koste- Top OTCh: Skills for Top Obedience
Cecilie Koste is an amazing trainer. She's one of the top European obedience competitors, and the videos she showed were darn impressive. I enjoyed her presentation a lot, although like many of the sessions at Clicker Expo, I wish it had been longer. Talking about the skills you need to attain an OTCh in only 90 minutes is pretty much impossible, to the point that I kind of feel like her presentation was more about clicker training obedience skills for competition in general, and less about champion-level behaviors.
Without further ado, here are Cecilie's five steps for achieving great things in the obedience ring:
Step 1: Find the right puppy (and prepare it for training).
Declaring that good trainers deserve good dogs, Cecilie advised that we should take the time to find the right dog. After all, some dogs are better suited for competition than others. She didn't really say much about what the right dog is, which is too bad. While I understand this was not the focus of her talk, I would have loved to hear her perspective on what makes a good competition dog.
For those of you who already have the “wrong” dog for competition- it's okay! She said that any dog can be trained for obedience, it's simply more work. I'm not entirely sure I agree with this- a trial environment may be too stressful for many dogs. And while I certainly don't have a problem with picking a dog with a certain performance goal in mind, it bugs me just a little that this is listed as a step. It's certainly best to pick a dog that is suited to your life and desires, I also think there needs to be a spark- some relational compatibility. Maybe that's why she didn't talk about what the perfect puppy is- your perfect dog and my perfect dog are likely different, even if they both have the ability to attain high-level obedience titles.
Once you find the right puppy, you have three tasks. First, and most importantly, you need to socialize the heck out of that dog! Make sure he experiences as many different environments and as many different (nice) people as possible. (Interestingly, she didn't mention other dogs. I'm not sure if that was simply an oversight, or if she doesn't think that's as important.) Second, develop your reinforcers: Play. A lot. With as many different toys and objects as possible. And don't allow your puppy free access to food. Really work to build a reinforcing relationship with your dog. Finally, get your puppy used to rough handling. No, not too rough, but you don't want a sissy dog in the ring. This is especially important for clicker trainers since we tend to be hands off in training, and thus need to make a concerted effort to teach our dogs to accept handling.
Step 2: Teach the basic skills.
These are simple behaviors that form the building blocks of many different exercises. Cecilie called these the “letters” in the “doggie ABC.” Letters make up words, and words will make up sentences and paragraphs. Just as you can't write a book without knowing the letters, you can't achieve obedience titles without teaching your dog the basic skills.
The goal is for your dog to learn how to offer each of these basic skills without a cue, and without any help or luring from you. Once your dog knows them all, Cecilie said it's quite easy to teach him all of the obedience exercises you'll ever need because you simply wait for him to offer the behavior, then add the cue and develop them into exercises.
The basic skills you'll need are:
1. Look at you (focus)- Cecilie said your dog should be able to do this while standing in front of you, while you're walking away backwards, while in heel position, and with distractions.
2. Targeting- She recommended teaching a nose and paw target, and teaching both with duration.
3. Sit- The dog should be able to sit from a stand, while walking, and at a distance.
4. Rear end control- She teaches this mostly by teaching the dog to back up, but it can also be done with perches.
5. Sit at heel (finish)- She sends the dog to heel position from the front, back, left and right sides.
6. Gallop towards you- Your goal is a dog who runs at you with speed and enthusiasm.
7. Walk and look up (heeling)- Like most Scandinavian trainers, Cecilie recommends starting this by walking backwards and having the dog follow you, walking forward/toward you before teaching the dog to walk in heel position. (This site isn't Cecilie's but shows a good overview of the concept.)
8. Down- Like the sit, the dog should be able to down from a stand, while walking, and at a distance.
9. Stand- Cecilie teaches this while walking backwards away from the dog. The dog will simply stop walking and stay put. She also uses “reverse luring”- teaching the dog not to follow a food distraction.
10. Stay (remain in position)- The dog should stay in all positions: sit, down, and stand. Again, she uses reverse luring here.
11. Doggie zen- This is basically an uncued “leave it.” The dog should not chase or eat food he has not been told to take.
12. Hold- As in the dog holding objects in his mouth. The dog should be able to hold something while at heel, while sitting at front, while you lean over him, and while you touch the object.
13. Let go- As in, letting go of the object. I'm not quite sure how this can be an offered behavior if the dog is supposed to hold an object despite the distractions noted above.
14. Bark- The old “teach the dog to bark so you can teach him not to bark while working” idea, I think.
15. Jump- Including going away from the handler, towards the handler, and curving away (ie, a directed jump).
16. Scent discrimination- Cecilie recommended using duration targeting while teaching this so that the dog doesn't learn to depend on “tasting” the scents.
17. Tracking- This may not be needed, depending on your venue.
18. Go to person- This may not be needed, depending on your venue.
Now, if you're like me, you're probably thinking that sounds overwhelming. That is a lot of behaviors, and a lot of variations on each behavior, to have the dog offering uncued. Cecilie is adamant, though, that she wants voluntary, offered skills in order to fix the problems that surface during the course of trialing. She says it's easy to do this when you can go “back to basics.”
So how does she keep it from becoming chaotic? By utilizing something she called “the Windows principle,” which takes its name from the computer operating system. Basically, she thinks of each behavior as a file to be put in different “folders,” much like you would do on a computer. Each folder is based on the dog's location in relation to the handler. The dog will offer the behaviors that make sense based on context, and since there's only 4 or 5 behaviors he can do in each context, he'll quickly find the one you want. You'll click it, which will tell him to offer it again.
The basic folders are:
Folder 1- the dog is standing in front of the handler. His options are to sit, down, stand, or finish.
Folder 2- the handler is moving backwards. The dog's options are to sit, down, stand, or follow.
Folder 3- the dog is sitting in heel position. His options are to down, go out, or sit and look up.
Folder 4- object dependent. Targeting, jumping, or retrieving can only happen when targets, jumps or dumbbells are present.
Step 3: Perfect the separate parts of each exercise.
Once your dog knows all of the basic skills, you'll use the doggie ABCs to make words by developing each skill into parts of exercises. Split the complete exercises down into manageable parts- that's what you're working on here. Develop the maximum speed and precision you want before you name it, then add the cue and get stimulus control.
Step 4: Back chain the perfect parts into complete exercises.
Now take those words and make sentences by creating a chain. A behavior chain is two or more behaviors that are performed in a fixed order, with the reinforcer coming only after the last behavior in the chain. Back chaining works by teaching the last behavior first, which takes advantage of Premack and uses cues as reinforcers.
When you're doing this, if the dog doesn't perform one part of the chain, don't reinforce that mistake by giving the next cue. But don't be dismayed, either. Cecilie said it's good when your dog tests the behavior because that means he is figuring out exactly what you want. So, if your dog slows down in anticipation of the down cue in the drop on recall exercise, don't cue the drop! Go back to building up speed, and then reinforce the speed by giving the drop cue.
Step 5: Competition training.
The real challenge is to teach your dog to perform at a trial just as good as he does in training, which means your job is only half over. Your dog can (and will) mess up in a trial. This often happens because he doesn't recognize your cues. Maybe there are too many distractions for him to notice, or maybe he is dependent on something you've done in training. Or, maybe he's having an extinction burst, which shows up as increased variability in the behaviors performed. The problem is that bad behaviors are often reinforced in the ring because you allow him to continue the exercise anyway. If this happens just two or three times, you may end up with a ring-wise dog.
So what can you do to prepare for competition? First and foremost, don't compete before you're ready! Don't damage the behaviors and exercises you've spent so much time developing. Next, start training for competition in the beginning, while you're training the basic skills. You don't need to wait until you're training the full exercise to train with distractions like other dogs, an audience, a judge, etc. Then, begin working on a schedule of variable reinforcement, but do it gradually. And, as you decrease the quantity of reinforcement, increase the quality of reinforcement. Finally, Cecilie believes you shouldn't need warm ups, so you know you're ready for the ring when your dog can perform a perfectly backchained exercise on the required schedule of reinforcement on the first try.
As you can see, Cecilie spent most of her time talking about the basic skills needed and relatively little time talking about what she called “half the job”- polishing and proofing your dog for competition. I really feel like it's that polishing and proofing that will get you an OTCh, but I do appreciate that a solid foundation is necessary. I do think that Cecilie did a nice job of breaking down the exercises into the skills needed as well as the different variations on each skill. Just working on each of those little pieces- even if you put it on cue- would go a long way for most people, I think.
Still, despite her explanations, I continue to feel apprehensive about having all those behaviors being offered, not cued! I have so little on cue with Maisy that the idea of having even more behaviors thrown at me is a little scary. People who attended the lab said they felt the same way until they saw it in action with their own dog. They didn't expect that their dog would stop and offer a stand while they were walking away, they told me, and yet the dog did!
Anyway, it was an interesting session, and I definitely want to use some of the ideas. I can see where Maisy is missing some foundation skills (we definitely could work on more rear-end control, for example), and I definitely need to work on training around distractions more. I also love the idea of increasing quality of reinforcement when decreasing quantity, and will definitely implement that. (Maisy's excited about that.)
I'd love to hear your thoughts. Do you think Cecilie's basic skills cover all the bases for competition obedience? What would you add to or remove from the list? What do you think of having all those skills being offered, not cued? Does the "Windows principle" make any sense to you? Let me know!
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Obedience Run-Through!
Tonight, my friends Elizabeth and Beckett and Maisy and I went to an obedience run-through. We both did Novice CDSP.
Maisy waiting patiently for Elizabeth to pick us up.
It was the perfect kind of run-through: Laid-back. The "judge" for the night let us redo exercises when we needed to, and gave great training advice. The best part is that the "judge" is a local R+ trainer, so all over her suggestions were things I am willing to do!
Maisy did wonderfully. Here's the play-by-play:
Honor: The entire reason we went was to practice the honor. Maisy and I struggle with stays. I find them boring to train, and she has issues with impulse control. Since the honor requires her to stay while another dog moves (and moves quickly!) I wasn't sure if she would be able to do this exercise. Well, she passed! We did a sit, and she held it very well. She did look around a bit, but I was able to get her attention back without problem, and I didn't even have to give her a second cue!
On-leash Heeling Pattern: Maisy's heeling has improved a lot this year. Elizabeth said that Maisy never took her eyes off me! We've worked hard to build focus and attention, and I'm glad it paid off. The best part was that we did the entire pattern- normal, halt, normal, right turn, slow, normal, about turn, fast, normal, left turn, halt- all of that with no treats! And she still paid attention! Okay, so she lagged on the fast pace- we've struggled with that for awhile now- but I'm still quite happy with her performance. Handler-wise, I was encouraged to walk faster, something I've been working on, but clearly need more work yet.
Off-leash Figure 8: We spent a lot of time on this one. She did well going to the left (where she is on the inside), and I was pleased that she didn't go visit the "posts." However, I really lost her on the right, and she lagged quite a bit. Again, I'm not surprised, as this is one of our weak areas. We worked it several times, and I got excellent advice.
The big thing was they encouraged me to do was to run on those right turns, and to not look back at her. Every time I looked back, she got slower. I was also told that I need to make my circles "softer" and rounder, instead of turning so sharply. Finally, the "judge" correctly noted that every time she slows down and sniffs, I slow down too.
Moving Stand for Exam: Other than the fact that I should have read the rules, we did well. I've been practicing having her stop and stand or stop and down while I keep walking, so I did that at first. I guess I'm supposed to stop, too. Once I figured that out, it went well.
Recall over Bar Jump: Whoops, NQ. Didn't expect it here! I set her up about 10 feet away from the jump, then I went to the other side about 10 feet away, and called her to "come front." She went around the jump. I thought perhaps my cue was wrong, so I set her up again, this time about 8 feet on either side of the jump, and cued "come jump," the correct cue. Again, she went around. When we set her up at 3 feet on either side, she got it. It was a very nice jump, too, so clearly it was just a lack of training instead of a physical issue tonight.
Reactivity: I'm pleased to report that Maisy handled herself very well. We were there for about an hour, and okay, she did growl a bit at a lab (only when the dog was 50 feet away. When the dog was sitting right next to her earlier, it was fine, and she was fine once the dog got close again. I have no idea what to make of that- perhaps the dog moved oddly?). However, it was a single isolated incident towards the end of our time there, and she was easily redirected, so I'm not going to stress over it too much.
She was also incredibly good about being chill and hanging around. I had her mat, of course, and she went right to it. She mostly sat on it, although she occasionally lay down, too. She looked happy and relaxed about 95% of the time, which is really encouraging!
Overall, I'm quite pleased with her progress. I feel like she's come a long way in the past six months or so. Although I'd been considering trying CDSP at the next local trials at the end of the month, now I know that I want to spend some more time training first. Maybe Elizabeth, Beckett, Maisy and I can make our obedience debut together next winter, instead!
Maisy waiting patiently for Elizabeth to pick us up.It was the perfect kind of run-through: Laid-back. The "judge" for the night let us redo exercises when we needed to, and gave great training advice. The best part is that the "judge" is a local R+ trainer, so all over her suggestions were things I am willing to do!
Maisy did wonderfully. Here's the play-by-play:
Honor: The entire reason we went was to practice the honor. Maisy and I struggle with stays. I find them boring to train, and she has issues with impulse control. Since the honor requires her to stay while another dog moves (and moves quickly!) I wasn't sure if she would be able to do this exercise. Well, she passed! We did a sit, and she held it very well. She did look around a bit, but I was able to get her attention back without problem, and I didn't even have to give her a second cue!
On-leash Heeling Pattern: Maisy's heeling has improved a lot this year. Elizabeth said that Maisy never took her eyes off me! We've worked hard to build focus and attention, and I'm glad it paid off. The best part was that we did the entire pattern- normal, halt, normal, right turn, slow, normal, about turn, fast, normal, left turn, halt- all of that with no treats! And she still paid attention! Okay, so she lagged on the fast pace- we've struggled with that for awhile now- but I'm still quite happy with her performance. Handler-wise, I was encouraged to walk faster, something I've been working on, but clearly need more work yet.
Off-leash Figure 8: We spent a lot of time on this one. She did well going to the left (where she is on the inside), and I was pleased that she didn't go visit the "posts." However, I really lost her on the right, and she lagged quite a bit. Again, I'm not surprised, as this is one of our weak areas. We worked it several times, and I got excellent advice.
The big thing was they encouraged me to do was to run on those right turns, and to not look back at her. Every time I looked back, she got slower. I was also told that I need to make my circles "softer" and rounder, instead of turning so sharply. Finally, the "judge" correctly noted that every time she slows down and sniffs, I slow down too.
Moving Stand for Exam: Other than the fact that I should have read the rules, we did well. I've been practicing having her stop and stand or stop and down while I keep walking, so I did that at first. I guess I'm supposed to stop, too. Once I figured that out, it went well.
Recall over Bar Jump: Whoops, NQ. Didn't expect it here! I set her up about 10 feet away from the jump, then I went to the other side about 10 feet away, and called her to "come front." She went around the jump. I thought perhaps my cue was wrong, so I set her up again, this time about 8 feet on either side of the jump, and cued "come jump," the correct cue. Again, she went around. When we set her up at 3 feet on either side, she got it. It was a very nice jump, too, so clearly it was just a lack of training instead of a physical issue tonight.
Reactivity: I'm pleased to report that Maisy handled herself very well. We were there for about an hour, and okay, she did growl a bit at a lab (only when the dog was 50 feet away. When the dog was sitting right next to her earlier, it was fine, and she was fine once the dog got close again. I have no idea what to make of that- perhaps the dog moved oddly?). However, it was a single isolated incident towards the end of our time there, and she was easily redirected, so I'm not going to stress over it too much.
She was also incredibly good about being chill and hanging around. I had her mat, of course, and she went right to it. She mostly sat on it, although she occasionally lay down, too. She looked happy and relaxed about 95% of the time, which is really encouraging!
Overall, I'm quite pleased with her progress. I feel like she's come a long way in the past six months or so. Although I'd been considering trying CDSP at the next local trials at the end of the month, now I know that I want to spend some more time training first. Maybe Elizabeth, Beckett, Maisy and I can make our obedience debut together next winter, instead!
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Magical Heeling
One of the really cool things about obedience is that if you and your dog are having a good day, it looks effortless. You walk around, and your dog is right there, paying attention to your every move. If you're really good, you shouldn’t even need to speak a word. Your dog should be able to anticipate your every move, somehow knowing when you’re going to stop, speed up, or make a turn. In short, to the casual observer, it should look like magic.
Except it’s not. Instead, the hours upon hours of work you have put in with your dog has created a common language that you both understand: body language. Every move you make is intentional and has meaning, or at least comes close. The way you hold your hands, move your shoulders, and even the way you walk all can have deep meaning to your dog.
I’ve struggled for a long time to make my footwork clear and consistent. For one thing, a lot of the movements are kind of unnatural, and they simply require practice in order for them to become part of your movement. Once you figure it out, you have to do it every time, so that your dog comes to associate that plant-right-foot-close-with-left-foot as a cue to sit.
For a long time, I didn’t have a clear idea of what I was doing with my feet while Maisy and I were heeling. I knew where my shoulders and hands ought to be, more or less, but I didn’t even know where to start with my feet. However, over the past year, I’ve started to become more comfortable walking in weird ways (I often practice in the hallways at work- is it any wonder my co-workers think I'm a bit odd?), and I’m finally starting to see the payoff!
Because I thought it would be interesting (and it is, or at least, it’s interesting to me), here’s what some of my footwork and body language looks like these days:
Heel: Step forward with left foot, left hand hanging naturally at side. If she starts to forge, I drop my shoulder back slightly, which also brings my hand back a bit.
Sit: While heeling forward, slow slightly, then plant my right foot, and close with my left foot. It’s hard to describe what’s happening when I “plant” my foot- I’m sure the rest of my body changes somehow, and I know it feels differently than if I just stop walking, but I’m not sure how.
Stay: Left hand moves in front of her nose in a stop type of gesture, with the fingers pointing downward. I leave by stepping off on my right foot first. When I return from the stay, I walk around her, making certain that as I step into heel position, I put the left foot next to her, and close with the right one. If I do it the other way around, she thinks it’s a sit cue, and will break a down-stay.
Exception to the above: There is one time I break all these rules: On the 1-2-3 steps forward exercise in rally. When you do the odd number of steps, it’s impossible to both step off on the correct foot and give the correct auto-sit cue. In rally, you’re allowed to talk, so for the 1 and 3 steps forward, I step off on the right foot and give a verbal cue. This allows me to use the correct footwork for the sit cue, which is the part she has more trouble with, anyway.
Moving Down: We’re still working on teaching this one, but I pause mid stride, with one foot in front of the other, and kind of curtsy so that my left hand moves close to the ground in front of her nose. I should pay attention to see if she responds better depending on which foot is out front. I bet she does.
Moving Stand: No specific foot work yet, but I do give her the stay hand signal to indicate she should stop moving. What do you all do?
Pivots: Pivots should be done so that you don’t move in space, so I pretend I’m standing on a paper plate and move my feet. I don’t think much about it. I either drop my shoulder back, or bring it forward depending on if I’m pivoting left or right. I also point to the spot I want her to sit.
Right Turn: Still working on this one. What do you guys do?
Left Turn: Slow down slightly as I approach the turn for about 1-2 steps, then drop my shoulder back, and point slightly behind me. No specific footwork yet.
About Turn: Slow slightly, then plant my right foot before bringing the left foot up and placing it perpendicularly in a T shape. Then move right foot so it is next to the left foot, and step off on the left foot. Shoulder should be slightly forward.
U Turn: Still working on this one. I drop my shoulder more or less like the left turn, just further.
Fast Pace: Plant my left foot, lean forward slightly, and move off faster with the right foot.
Slow Pace: Lean slightly backwards, take a half step, and then slow down.
Normal Pace: Relax into a neutral body position and walk normally.
So… what did I miss? I’m sure there’s something. And what do you do differently? I’d love any guidance you guys have since I’m still learning (and occasionally switching things up as I find out what works better for us).
Except it’s not. Instead, the hours upon hours of work you have put in with your dog has created a common language that you both understand: body language. Every move you make is intentional and has meaning, or at least comes close. The way you hold your hands, move your shoulders, and even the way you walk all can have deep meaning to your dog.
I’ve struggled for a long time to make my footwork clear and consistent. For one thing, a lot of the movements are kind of unnatural, and they simply require practice in order for them to become part of your movement. Once you figure it out, you have to do it every time, so that your dog comes to associate that plant-right-foot-close-with-left-foot as a cue to sit.
For a long time, I didn’t have a clear idea of what I was doing with my feet while Maisy and I were heeling. I knew where my shoulders and hands ought to be, more or less, but I didn’t even know where to start with my feet. However, over the past year, I’ve started to become more comfortable walking in weird ways (I often practice in the hallways at work- is it any wonder my co-workers think I'm a bit odd?), and I’m finally starting to see the payoff!
Because I thought it would be interesting (and it is, or at least, it’s interesting to me), here’s what some of my footwork and body language looks like these days:
Heel: Step forward with left foot, left hand hanging naturally at side. If she starts to forge, I drop my shoulder back slightly, which also brings my hand back a bit.
Sit: While heeling forward, slow slightly, then plant my right foot, and close with my left foot. It’s hard to describe what’s happening when I “plant” my foot- I’m sure the rest of my body changes somehow, and I know it feels differently than if I just stop walking, but I’m not sure how.
Stay: Left hand moves in front of her nose in a stop type of gesture, with the fingers pointing downward. I leave by stepping off on my right foot first. When I return from the stay, I walk around her, making certain that as I step into heel position, I put the left foot next to her, and close with the right one. If I do it the other way around, she thinks it’s a sit cue, and will break a down-stay.
Exception to the above: There is one time I break all these rules: On the 1-2-3 steps forward exercise in rally. When you do the odd number of steps, it’s impossible to both step off on the correct foot and give the correct auto-sit cue. In rally, you’re allowed to talk, so for the 1 and 3 steps forward, I step off on the right foot and give a verbal cue. This allows me to use the correct footwork for the sit cue, which is the part she has more trouble with, anyway.
Moving Down: We’re still working on teaching this one, but I pause mid stride, with one foot in front of the other, and kind of curtsy so that my left hand moves close to the ground in front of her nose. I should pay attention to see if she responds better depending on which foot is out front. I bet she does.
Moving Stand: No specific foot work yet, but I do give her the stay hand signal to indicate she should stop moving. What do you all do?
Pivots: Pivots should be done so that you don’t move in space, so I pretend I’m standing on a paper plate and move my feet. I don’t think much about it. I either drop my shoulder back, or bring it forward depending on if I’m pivoting left or right. I also point to the spot I want her to sit.
Right Turn: Still working on this one. What do you guys do?
Left Turn: Slow down slightly as I approach the turn for about 1-2 steps, then drop my shoulder back, and point slightly behind me. No specific footwork yet.
About Turn: Slow slightly, then plant my right foot before bringing the left foot up and placing it perpendicularly in a T shape. Then move right foot so it is next to the left foot, and step off on the left foot. Shoulder should be slightly forward.
U Turn: Still working on this one. I drop my shoulder more or less like the left turn, just further.
Fast Pace: Plant my left foot, lean forward slightly, and move off faster with the right foot.
Slow Pace: Lean slightly backwards, take a half step, and then slow down.
Normal Pace: Relax into a neutral body position and walk normally.
So… what did I miss? I’m sure there’s something. And what do you do differently? I’d love any guidance you guys have since I’m still learning (and occasionally switching things up as I find out what works better for us).
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
A Twist on the Five Times Challenge
So, about six weeks ago, I posted about training schedules. In an effort to drill less and have more fun with my training, I decided to do something I called the “Five Times Challenge,” where I would train five times a day for 60 to 120 seconds. I did that for a few weeks, and then found that I really hated trying to keep track of it. It’s easy to do, but I tend to get a bit rigid about things like that. If I only did four sessions and not five, I felt like I’d failed for the day, which is patently silly, but even so, it created more stress than it was worth. So I quit doing it.
Which means I needed a new training plan. Now, as much as I get stuck when I create plans, I also need plans to keep me on track. The trick is creating a plan that helps keep me on task while allowing me the flexibility necessary so training remains fun.
I started by taking a look at my 2010 goals. I thought about the things I’m doing, and the things I’m not doing. Then I made a list of what I needed to be doing in order to meet those goals.
It looked like this:
I’ve been wanting to include more pictures in my entries because it’s supposed to be more interesting to readers. I’m not sure this actually qualifies.
Which is when I realized… a lot of the specific exercises I needed to work on could be done anywhere. My living room, my back yard… and… on walks?
YES! On walks! We’re already out and working together. I need to practice with distractions anyway. And I can use treats and environmental rewards!
And so I started something new. Every few blocks, I do an obedience exercise. I try to switch it up so I’m doing different things. Sometimes I repeat an exercise, sometimes I don’t do one at all. But at frequently during the walk (I’m not counting, because that makes me crazy, but really, it’s gotta be more than five times), I stop and have Maisy auto-sit, or do a moving down or a moving stand, or practice sit and down stays, or come front, or do finishes, or do about turns or pivots or change pace, or… well, pretty much anything you might see in rally or obedience except jumping or food bowls. (Those we do outside in my backyard on the weekends.)
It’s amazing. I’m getting so much more focus, and I swear, today I felt ready to tackle that CD-H, or maybe even a U-CD! For now, anyway, this variant of the five times challenge is working wonderfully!
Which means I needed a new training plan. Now, as much as I get stuck when I create plans, I also need plans to keep me on track. The trick is creating a plan that helps keep me on task while allowing me the flexibility necessary so training remains fun.
I started by taking a look at my 2010 goals. I thought about the things I’m doing, and the things I’m not doing. Then I made a list of what I needed to be doing in order to meet those goals.
It looked like this:
I’ve been wanting to include more pictures in my entries because it’s supposed to be more interesting to readers. I’m not sure this actually qualifies.
Which is when I realized… a lot of the specific exercises I needed to work on could be done anywhere. My living room, my back yard… and… on walks?
YES! On walks! We’re already out and working together. I need to practice with distractions anyway. And I can use treats and environmental rewards!
And so I started something new. Every few blocks, I do an obedience exercise. I try to switch it up so I’m doing different things. Sometimes I repeat an exercise, sometimes I don’t do one at all. But at frequently during the walk (I’m not counting, because that makes me crazy, but really, it’s gotta be more than five times), I stop and have Maisy auto-sit, or do a moving down or a moving stand, or practice sit and down stays, or come front, or do finishes, or do about turns or pivots or change pace, or… well, pretty much anything you might see in rally or obedience except jumping or food bowls. (Those we do outside in my backyard on the weekends.)
It’s amazing. I’m getting so much more focus, and I swear, today I felt ready to tackle that CD-H, or maybe even a U-CD! For now, anyway, this variant of the five times challenge is working wonderfully!
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
2010 Goals: First Quarter Update!
So, it’s been three months since I set my 2010 dog training goals, and I thought it would be nice to evaluate our progress so far. Overall, there’s been some great successes, some moderate progress, and a few places where I’ve dropped the ball entirely.
Goal: Complete the relaxation protocol.
Progress: We did the relaxation protocol daily for several weeks, getting to the point where I was ready to progress to the “second day” of the protocol… but then petered out.
Looking Forward: Doing the relaxation protocol is a bit boring, especially to do it every day. This quarter I’ll try to work on it once or twice a week.
Goal: Increase Maisy’s physical exercise.
Progress: I feel like we made a ton of progress here! Unfortunately, the numbers disagree: I walked Maisy 47 out of 90 days, which is a success rate of only 52%. Still, this does include the month of January, when we had sub-zero temperatures for the first two weeks, as well as the two weeks at the beginning of March when I had pneumonia.
Looking Forward: I am anticipating even more progress next quarter. The thing that really surprises me here is how much I love walking Maisy. I actually tried to walk her while I had pneumonia because I missed it so much.
Goal: Develop novice obedience stays.
Progress: None. Haven’t even tried. Oops!
Looking Forward: I would like to spend some of my Five Times Challenge time on this goal.
Goal: Improve heeling so that we can complete a novice-level heeling pattern.
Progress: I’ve really built a lot of attention into her heeling. I’m getting excellent eye contact through the first several steps of heeling, and she often offers a nice, attentive heel during the off-leash portion of our walks.
Looking Forward: I’m hoping to continue to build these skills. First, I need to work on improving duration. Then, I want to work on reducing food treats. Finally, I’ll need to drop the verbal encouragement, as well. That’s three sub-goals, and I have three quarters of the year left. Neat!
Goal: From heel position, hit the proper front position on the first try.
Progress: Some progress seen. She’s usually getting heel position on the first or second try, but not yet from heel position.
Looking Forward: I’d like to spend some of my Five Times Challenge time on this goal, too.
Goal: Develop jumping skills for a recall over high and directed jumping.
Progress: I was able to send her over a jump from heel position during a trial in February, and one of those times, we were six feet away- the required distance to avoid taking a 3 point deduction!
Looking Forward: I learned at the Suzanne Clothier seminar that due to Maisy’s structure, jumping will probably never be her strong suit. We’ll continue to work on it in small pieces, and I think a jump or two will be doable for her.
Goal: Reduce ring nerves.
Progress: I did get through a trial without using stomach medications, which was a huge improvement! I did this by using Rescue Remedy. Unfortunately, I was so nervous that the judge actually took me aside and had me smell an essential oil to help me relax a little. Oops.
Looking Forward: I have an appointment at the end of April to get hypnotized to help deal with my ring stress. Hopefully it helps, but if not, I suspect I’ll talk with the therapist about some visualization and other exercises to incorporate.
Goal: Complete ARCH.
Progress: Maisy completed her Level 2 title in February, which was the first step towards the ARCH.
Looking Forward: She already has enough Level 1 points, so we just need 40 Level 2 points and 5 QQs. I don’t think we’ll actually achieve all that this year unless we travel, and that, of course, is going to be dependent on whether or not I can get my ring nerves under control.
Goal: Get one leg towards a CD (any venue).
Progress: None officially, but we are working on the skills necessary (heeling, etc.).
Looking Forward: I’ll probably try St. Hubert’s CDSP program first. The problem with that is that the only local trials are held in conjunction with APDT rally… and that might be too much for one day since I want to work on her QQs then.
Goal: Complete the relaxation protocol.
Progress: We did the relaxation protocol daily for several weeks, getting to the point where I was ready to progress to the “second day” of the protocol… but then petered out.
Looking Forward: Doing the relaxation protocol is a bit boring, especially to do it every day. This quarter I’ll try to work on it once or twice a week.
Goal: Increase Maisy’s physical exercise.
Progress: I feel like we made a ton of progress here! Unfortunately, the numbers disagree: I walked Maisy 47 out of 90 days, which is a success rate of only 52%. Still, this does include the month of January, when we had sub-zero temperatures for the first two weeks, as well as the two weeks at the beginning of March when I had pneumonia.
Looking Forward: I am anticipating even more progress next quarter. The thing that really surprises me here is how much I love walking Maisy. I actually tried to walk her while I had pneumonia because I missed it so much.
Goal: Develop novice obedience stays.
Progress: None. Haven’t even tried. Oops!
Looking Forward: I would like to spend some of my Five Times Challenge time on this goal.
Goal: Improve heeling so that we can complete a novice-level heeling pattern.
Progress: I’ve really built a lot of attention into her heeling. I’m getting excellent eye contact through the first several steps of heeling, and she often offers a nice, attentive heel during the off-leash portion of our walks.
Looking Forward: I’m hoping to continue to build these skills. First, I need to work on improving duration. Then, I want to work on reducing food treats. Finally, I’ll need to drop the verbal encouragement, as well. That’s three sub-goals, and I have three quarters of the year left. Neat!
Goal: From heel position, hit the proper front position on the first try.
Progress: Some progress seen. She’s usually getting heel position on the first or second try, but not yet from heel position.
Looking Forward: I’d like to spend some of my Five Times Challenge time on this goal, too.
Goal: Develop jumping skills for a recall over high and directed jumping.
Progress: I was able to send her over a jump from heel position during a trial in February, and one of those times, we were six feet away- the required distance to avoid taking a 3 point deduction!
Looking Forward: I learned at the Suzanne Clothier seminar that due to Maisy’s structure, jumping will probably never be her strong suit. We’ll continue to work on it in small pieces, and I think a jump or two will be doable for her.
Goal: Reduce ring nerves.
Progress: I did get through a trial without using stomach medications, which was a huge improvement! I did this by using Rescue Remedy. Unfortunately, I was so nervous that the judge actually took me aside and had me smell an essential oil to help me relax a little. Oops.
Looking Forward: I have an appointment at the end of April to get hypnotized to help deal with my ring stress. Hopefully it helps, but if not, I suspect I’ll talk with the therapist about some visualization and other exercises to incorporate.
Goal: Complete ARCH.
Progress: Maisy completed her Level 2 title in February, which was the first step towards the ARCH.
Looking Forward: She already has enough Level 1 points, so we just need 40 Level 2 points and 5 QQs. I don’t think we’ll actually achieve all that this year unless we travel, and that, of course, is going to be dependent on whether or not I can get my ring nerves under control.
Goal: Get one leg towards a CD (any venue).
Progress: None officially, but we are working on the skills necessary (heeling, etc.).
Looking Forward: I’ll probably try St. Hubert’s CDSP program first. The problem with that is that the only local trials are held in conjunction with APDT rally… and that might be too much for one day since I want to work on her QQs then.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)