Practice Makes Perfect….right?

As lucky as I am to be doing something I love for a living and as much as I sincerely enjoy instructing dog training and agility classes there comes a point where it can become frustrating.  No so much frustrating for me but for the students and for the dogs.  One of the things I enjoy so much about my job is coming back to class each week and seeing the improvement in both dog and handler as they work towards accomplishing their own goals, but there are days where this does not always seem to happen…  Now I realize that everyone is not as fortunate as me and is not able to spend all day/every day training their dogs, I know people have jobs and families and other commitments but this post is about what I believe is 99% of most agility peoples weakness, and that is training efficiency. 

Most serious agility enthusiasts seem to go to some form of organized practice or class 2-3 times per week.  By the time you drive home, load up the dogs, drive to practice, set up, train, tear down and drive home it is basically your entire evening.  I would say that if I combined the time that I trained my four dogs in a week which is a before or after classes and one morning a week my weekly training time would not come close to that of most of my students…and I have four dogs.  So this blog entry is to share some tips on improving your training efficiency.

Test Your Training

Use your classes, seminars and competitions as purely a test of you and your dogs abilities.  From every class or trial I will always walk away with three things that each dog needs to work on.  Learn to prioritize your training goals as I find tackling three issues is much easier than a page long list of your dogs weaknesses.  Also make note of the things your dog did very well, not only as positive reinforcementfor you but as trainers we tend to train the things our dogs are good at, so if your dog tends to do the same things brilliantly you likely don’t need to focus your training time there.

Know What you Have and Know What you Want

I can tell you what each of my dogs performances on each piece of equipment look like and what each of their weaknesses and strengths are.  I can also tell you my idea of what a perfectly trained agility dog looks like and what I would like each obstacle, each skill and each handling maneuver to look like.  You can’t make training plans if you don’t know what your end result should look like.

“Be a Splitter not a Lumper”

Just like when training behavior Bob Bailey reminds us to split the overall end goal into smaller, more manageable pieces.  So if you know what you have and know what you want, this is where you devise your training plan.  In each training session you do whether it be 20 seconds or 5 minutes you should know exactly what you want to accomplish.  By setting a goal for each individual session you can ensure you progress and if you don’t accomplish your goal at the end of the session make sure to evaluate your timing, criteria and reinforcement then devise a new plan.

“Think, Plan, Do, Review”

Most people skip the thinking, planning and go straight to the doing.  Even though the thinking and planning does take time, the overall training time you will save is well worth the effort.  By splitting the overall goal into pieces and devising a plan you will become more aware of your progress and your dog will thank you for the clarity in your communication during each session.  After you do the doing remember to review and always ask the question ” am I better off now than I was before” don’t be afraid to change your plan if things aren’t going well.

Foundation, Foundation, Foundation…

When you have a training issue try to always go back to your foundation and fill in any and all hole in your dogs training.  I would bet that there isn’t a training issue that could not be fixed with a set of stairs, 4 weave poles, one jump, a crate and an open feild.  Going back and fixing your training issue away from the equipment will be faster, easier and better on your dogs body and mind.  I try as much as possible to avoid drilling exercises on the equipment not only for motivational reasons for for physical stress on the dog’s body.

Focus on the Small Stuff

Rather than going to your weekly practice and running courses or handling sequences use that time to focus on those three things that you aim to improve that week.  I believe most students would be better off only working handling drills in class and at seminars where they have someone watching them.  It is too easy to execute your handling in an inconsistent manner and teach and reinforce behavior that are counter productive to your dogs understanding.  Even when handling and running drills successfully your dog does not receive near enough reinforcement for the things they do well because it is so hard to stop mid sequence to reward that tight turn or their response to a threadle arm.   If you really want to run sequences I suggest you plan the drills to reflect those three things you have been working to improve.  This is a good way to test your training progress thus far and a good opportunity to build more reinforcement for the things you aim to improve.

Condition

I strongly believe that any agility dog should be in great condition as it is so important for the health and motivation level of the dog.  After a long winter off I would not work my oldest sheltie Bounder on any equipment until she had slimmed down and built back up her endurance and muscle mass.  It was just this week that she started to work some jump grids.  I have seen so many dogs whose careers have ended far too soon and it is really not fair to a dog to ask them to do things that they are not physically capable of.  For all those handlers who tell their dogs to “hurry up, run faster!” I would really like to see them run through the course at full speed for an entire evening after sitting at their office desk all week.    Rather than doing agility three times a week use one of those nights to take your dog for a run.  I am trying to keep up to Silvia Trkman’s 2 hour off leash run a day and even if I am very busy I will get them out for 15 minutes of fetch or recalls.  Use your off leash walk to train some startlines while you throw the ball for the other dogs or work on your circle throughout your walk.

Every Day Life

Since we don’t have all the time in the world to train dogsports make those other hours your dog is around you at home proactive to your agility training.  By teaching your dog to show self control before being released to go outside or out of the kennel you can strengthen your control behaviors on course.  Work on your loose leash walking, does your dog respond to your decel cues when you stop walking or do they continue to lunge forward?  Does your dog rehearse behaviors that are counter productive to your handling system when you are away from the agility field?  Does your dog respond to their recall every single time you call?  You never know when that recall may save an agility run or more importantly the dogs life.  Always remember that you spend far more time at home than you do on the agility Field and your dog is always learning. 

Here is a video of Riot’s last training session from Sunday night.  Circle work is almost always on Riot’s list of things to work on since she has a history of ignoring my body.

So for the next month I challenge you all to become more aware of your training efficiency.

Have Fun!

“Timing, Criteria, Reinforcement”

I have a confession to make… I really am a lousy blogger.  This blog reminds me of all the record keeping books I have started; the first few pages are packed with relevant information and comments but the pages following are completely blank.  But as I sit here pool side in Arizona soaking up the hot desert sun I can’t help but feel a titch of guilt, so here I am back in the blogging world!  Seeing as my “quantity” has been lacking lately I will try my best to make it up with some ”quality” posts.

Today’s post is dedicated to all the students and fellow dog trainers out there struggling with an issue that they feel is somehow specific to them and their dog and seems hopelessly impossible to fix.  We have all been there and every dog has their issue, but how is it that you endure and overcome these struggles?  My dogs have all had their fair share of struggles, whether it was Bounder who was timid and extremely soft, Chase and his bar knocking issues, Riot’s inability to show any form of self control, or Preston who managed to run full speed between obstacles and somehow still managed to pick up a horse turd to snack on half way through a course. 

Every dog will have their own struggle, but its how you react and respond to these issues that will result in either triumph or defeat.  I am of the opinion that it is never the dogs fault, likewise Susan Garrett has a well known quote that reads “Your dog is a reflection of your abilities as a trainer”.  The quote is not meant to punish people for their lack of skill or understanding but rather to give them hope.  If the dog is merely a reflection of what you do and what you know than that means rather than giving up on the dog you have the power to change your own behavior and consequently fix the issue.

It sounds far too simple but all dog training is is finding a way to communicate to the dog what it is that you want, then making it worth the dogs while.  One of the most important things I have learned about dog training from Say Yes  is to view behavior as a science rather than becoming emotionally involved.  If you dog is giving you an unwanted behavior it is because it has somehow been reinforced, not because the dog is stubborn or wants to frustrate you.  Bob Bailey says its all about “Timing, Criteria and Reinforcement” if things are not going well evaluate those three things and you will find the answer. 

By simplifying your seemingly unsolvable issue into just three simple things you can find a way to communicate to the dog what it is that you want and then follow up the correct responses with loads and loads of positive reinforcement, its just that easy.

Happy Training!

Great Dog Training

I have been living under a rock for the past couple months just getting classes and seminars scheduled, teaching every night and during the day and haven’t really had much to post about.

I just returned from NB for the third session of a five part mentor group series.  I have three different level groups that I teach there and all showed huge signs of improvement.  I walk away from most seminars I teach knowing so much more and being very motivated to go home and train.  Seeing students who didn’t have much knowledge of positive dog training or students who new little about handling improve so dramatically over a short period of time is really so inspiring.  The thing I enjoy most is seeing dogs enjoy working and thinking and gaining confidence and speed.  Agility is definitely a huge passion of mine but much more important is that there are fewer and fewer dogs who are trained and treated like crap, anyways I am going on a tangent here. 

With the masters group in New Brunswick we ended the weekend with some courses and the first course we ran was not overly complicated and almost every dog ran clean.  So I told them we were going to run the same course once more but this time people were to put in as much effort as they expected from the dogs, everyone was lined up and tugging waiting to go into “the ring” they left their dog on the line and ran out to position and drove ever line and ran hard as if it were the steeplechase finals.  Well I almost killed myself laughing because half the dogs broke the start line, didn’t hold contacts, mislead the lead out, knocked way more bars and took way more off courses.  Which dogs do you think they will have in a trial?

When you go out to your clubs practice night it is usually extremely hard for me to watch.  People get lazy and just “practice” rather than training something specific and ensure that in that hour session there is huge improvment in both dog and handler.  This blog was inpired from the video below:

In this training session Greg gives the dog absolutely no time to be distracted or disinterested.  The transitions from reward to work and back to reward are flawless.  Even though this is not a young dog it gets 6 rewards in one sequence.  I think it every dog was trained this well not only would they show much more improvement in a short amount of time but there would be no unmotivated dogs.

So next time you go to class or practice be aware of how much time your dog has to lose that 110% effort and focus that we all aim for.  Think about the dogs rate of reinforcement, are you more worried about running the sequence or are you looking for specific things that you would like to see more often.

For the last month I have focused on keeping sessions short and having a plan of something I would like to improve within that one session.  I have tried to run every sequence as if it were the world championships so my dogs learn how to deal with that level of arousal and still respond to all cues and keep the bars up.  When my dog makes a conscious effort to turn tight, increase speed, respond to a cue such as deceleration or a shoulder turn I immediately reward.  Reinforcement builds behavior and the more you reinforce a certain behavior the more it will occur.   Which dog will be faster and which dog will learn more, one that receives a reward every 20 obstacles or every 5 obstacles?

Teaching Old Dogs New Tricks

Since I have been back from Florida I have been focusing on teaching Bounder (9 1/2 years) and Chase (7 1/2 years) lots of new stuff.  They miss working and hate seeing me take Riot and Preston into the next room for training.  I decided to go back and teach them  all the foundation games that I have learned at Say Yes.  Our biggest focus has been teaching Susan’’s nose target method for contacts but we have also been working lots of it’s yer choice and shaping new tricks.  I figure this will be good practise for my next dog and there’s not much else I can do inside. 

So every night for supper time all four dogs gather round and wait patiently on the couch for their turn at nose targets on the travel plank.  I have gone back and fixed Riot’s nose target and it is near perfect after these past two weeks.  In two weeks I have worked all my distractions and generalizing with Chase and we are just about ready to fade the target.  Bounder has taken a little longer as a foot target is the first thing she learned and getting rid of the foot movement has been a struggle.  Neither dog ever learned a hand target or the it’s yer choice game so the biggest struggle was to get them focused on the target rather than the food…Pavlov was definitely on their shoulder

Also since last week I have decided to try Chase and Bounder with running contacts.  Bounder has learned many different methods, none that I ever followed though with or could classify as independent and Chase has always had a 2 on 2off but they are very slow.  I figure if I can teach these old dogs an independent running dogwalk it will be easy for my border collie puppy (thats right!). 

With Preston I have been working on lots of proofing with the rnning dogwalk as I want it to be gamble proof if we see it at regionals or nationals this year.  Here is a quick video of a bunch of different challenges:

Classes are busy as ever and I am very excited for this trialing season as there will be lots of students who will be ready to start trialing.  I am even teaching three classes on Friday night for competition specific training.  We will be focusing lots on handling and strengthening the dogs understanding of driving lines and reading position and motion.  Also I am hoping to have two regional/national preparation groups starting in May so keep an eye out for the info on my website.

Fanny Gott is Coming Back!

Fanny will be coming back for some more workshops in June.  She is planning on coming for our AAC regionals with her cocker Shejpa.  I don’t have details yet but she will be doing a 2 day advanced handling seminar, a double box day and one day on dog training or foundation.  I should have all details sorted out by the end of the week so check back soon!

It is so nice to have someone come teach that has such a great understanding of positive dog training AND a great understanding of Greg Derrett’s handling system.  A combination like that is hard to find!

For more info on Fanny

http://www.fannygott.com/about-me

also check out her video’s on you tube, lots of good stuff!

http://ca.youtube.com/user/klickerklok

Video from Florida

Here are some of Riot’s runs from the Vero Beach USDAA trial:

And from the Orlando trial:

Florida 2009

Our trip to Florida this year was a non-stop action packed agility enthusiast’s dream vacation. 

The trip started with a red eye flight to Orlando after teaching my Thursday night class on the 8th.  I arrived in Orlando the following day at 2:00 pm then took a cab to the PBAC USDAA trial where I arrived 3 minutes before judges briefing.  The trial went well and we came away with a Grand Prix win by Riot and a 2nd Place in the steeplechase finals by Preston.  I had to pull Chase from the trial as he was sick, likely from the stress of travel.

After the three day USDAA trial we had handling camp with Greg, Laura and Susan.  This years camp was the best yet, the combination of the three instructors is just perfect as you get a great mix of handling, dog training and lots of great feedback.  I ended up working Preston for most of the camp but ran Riot in a few sessions to give him a break.  His biggest feat was staying in his crate the entire camp with no barking. 

We worked on rear crosses with Greg wich was great as it is definately my weakness.  Also Greg clarified a lot of questions about threadles that helped make things much clearer.  With Susan we worked a lot on understanding your dogs lines and how to change their lines with the use of motion, bcbl and position.  We also had lots of sequences with killer weave entrances which I am happy to say Preston was successful on each and every one.  With Laura we worked on FC timing with the use of video analysis to observe our position, timing and footwork.  The video analysis was very cool as people could watch their timing in slow motion.  Laura also taught serps and threadles where I had a realization of why Preston struggles with his threadles. 

This was my first camp since last April so I was very happy to see that some time off to fix a bunch of dog training issues really paid off.  In Greg’s session I don’t think I heard him yell “RUN!” once which hopefully means I am running faster (are you happy Fanny?).  I cam away from camp with a list of things to work on but  for the first time the list is not overwhelmingly long. 

After camp we were off to Orlando for the dog-on-it USDAA trial where Chase got his Grand Prix qualifyer (2nd place) and Riot won the steeplechase finals.  Riot graciously donated her winnings to pay for Chases vet bills   It was a great trial and running on nice grass was such a bonus. 

I flew home ealry monday morning after the trial and gotinto Edmonton just in time to make my Monday night class.  I walked out of the airport at 5:15 pm and the sun was still up, it wasn’t -40 and it was good to be home!

I will upload some videos later this week but right now I have lots of catching up to do with classes, e-mails and unpacking.

2009- from good to great

It always seems that in the sport of dog agility, and probably most sports out there that there is such a small jump from being average to being good at what you do.  Most people in the sport of agility will make it to the masters class, obtain their ATCH and possibly compete at a regional or national level.  Assuming you work hard and are given decent information you can do well in the sport.  On the contrary it seems the ascent from good to great is monumental; it is the difference between a sport or hobby verses a lifestyle. 

I believe agility or any kind of dog training is all about detail.  Whether it be foundation training, obstacle performance or handling, in order to gain greatness it must be all about the details.  I have never been a detail person, not any part of me has ever cared about details.  Ask anyone who knows me and they will tell you the only part of my life that I pay any detailed attention to is my dog training.  Ironically a huge part of my life has become about dog training therefore I have learned to become a detail person – at least when it comes to anything that may pertain to my success with my dogs. 

I follow the Say Yes program of training which is based on component learning and is oozing with detail and many small but important elements that help to build a strong foundation for any dog sport.  Even with a program that is so progressive and dynamic, it is so easy to simply train the exercise and move on.  Of course you likely don’t need to train each skill until it is 110% to have success, but just imagine how much better you could have been had you trained that last 10%.  When Susan Salo was here in November she said something that rung so true to me ” you either pay up front or you spend a lifetime paying back in interest”.  Dog training is so easy when you put forth all your effort and pay everything up front, the difficulties come when you cheat yourself by moving too quickly and a year down the road you become swamped with interest, always having to go back and fix as everything begins to fall apart.

I have come to the conclusion that great dog trainers not only have to focus on the details but they must also find joy in the details.  It is so easy to become smothered by all the details and that is the main reason I find myself and those around me moving on too quickly.

I am not a very goal oriented person but I am going to try and make year 2009 to be all about finding joy in the details, moving from good to great.

Home for the Holidays

Well we have had about 2 weeks of freezing temperatures with daily highs averaging around -30!  Since we are off to Florida in less than 2 weeks we have been trying to train a couple times a week and boy does -30 in an unheated barn put things into perspective.  I have been out at the arena for hours at a time running with 5 layers and winter boots, hovering under the propane heater while my dogs and I catch our breath.  I think I may be crazy   I keep thinking that one day I will have a nice heated building, but the truth is that I probably wouldn’t get as much out of it.  I remember when I was too young to drive and at the time I didn’t train with anyone so in order to practice I would load up the car with all my pvc jumps and my 12 electric fence posts and my ikea tunnels and I would convince someone to drop me off at a public park where I would haul everything out of the car, set up my equipment, train my dogs then get someone to pick me up and load everything back into the vehicle then out of the vehicle and into the back yard.  I did this often and I think that it forces you to be a better, more efficient trainer.  My agility practice was a lot of hard work and you didn’t just mosey around and “practice” I always had a plan and trained something specific.   I really think this training helped my older dogs as they have trained in so many strange environments, moving from park to park so we didn’t get caught and fined.  We would practice by the skating rink and in the midst of a soccer or baseball game, it was great distraction training and helped generalize all of our training.  I think I may find it hard to make my training sessions so efficient if I had a nice heated facility that I could use at any time, so for now the -30 unheated barn will have to do.

We ended our teaching season for Sherwoodbarks withthe annual Christmas party.  A good time was had by all as we gathered withour dogs and played an assortment of games.  Riot’s team won first place overall with her help by winning the wienerdunking competition and getting second place for best trick.  Other highlights from the party included musical crate games (great for proofing!), clicker training humans, virtual agility and some weave pole challenges.  I now have a week or so off then back to the drawing boards.  We have some new classes starting in the new year including a “high octane” class filled witha bunch of crazy border collies, and I will be continuing with the competition classes on Wednesday nights.

We loaded up the van and on the morning of the 24th we headed South then to the mountains and we have been enjoying the holidays in Canmore (just outside Banff) with family.  The dogs are enjoying a nice break from agility and finally some warmer weather.  It feels way too much like work to put on 16 boots and coats just to walk the dogs, especially when they end up falling off half way along the trail.  The last couple of days it has warmed to about -10 and the dogs can actually walk a good distance without boots.  We are going dog sledding early tomorrow so hopefully the weather stays warm. 

I am getting really excited about Florida, I haven’t worked withGreg or Susan since April with seems like forever.  We have a USDAAtrial before and after camp which both have local qualifyers for Steeplechase and Grand Prix so maybe this year we can qualify to go to a regional.  I will be sure to take lots of pictures and video while I am down there, that is as soon as I find my camera

Say Yes instructor Tracy Sklenar has a new youtube page with videos of her new puppy “Matrix”  she is training lots of cool things at just 7 weeks old – check it out http://www.youtube.com/user/Tracysklenar

See Saws and Broomsticks

So I left the trial on Sunday frustrated with Preston and spending yet another $15 to haul him out of the ring.  I decided to devise a plan to make his teeter performance much harder in training, aka more proofing.  I was working in an environment that was very familiar and ICOULD NOT make him fail.  We tried from a tunnel, to a tunnel, racing past, sending ahead, throwing the ball, throwing the cookies, three other shelties going through the tunnel while he did the see saw…he could not be out smarted.  So I drove home thinking of how I could make it harder. 

When Preston was a baby my mom had a hard time getting him motivated to tug, but with most dogs you can find one or two things that just make them go crazt and for Preston it was a mop and a fly swatter.  Since it is so hard to find fly swatters that don’t have a metal handle and we didn’t have a mop on hand I resorted to the best available option which was a broom, and boy did that get him good !  He really struggled to stay in position and his nose targeting got faster and faster because he really really wanted that broom.  Anyways it made me laugh so hard I thought I would video the session and post it to show the world how strange we agility people really are…

We also started our Excellence in weave poles training tonight.  Our plan is to work through all the challenges provided in Susan Garrett’s exercise book.   Tonight we did ex 1-12 with Chase, Riot and Preston.  I am going to use my blog for record keeping since I always seem to lose my records.  A success is the dog getting it right the very first try, everything else is a failure. 

Chase was successfull on challenges 1-12

Riot failed challenge 1, 3, 4, 5 and 12 (need work with DOL)

Preston failed challenge 2 and 8

I worked each challenge until we had success and plan to re-visit the failures in a couple days.