Hoot's Running Dog Walk

Hoot will be the second dog that I have trained on a running dog walk.  It is interesting to me how it is still a huge learning experience, but in different ways.

It seems the first time around you don't really know the process, but you have to have patience and faith in that process as it is revealed.  This second time, I know the process, but there are different twists and turns in the journey because of a different dog.

Split was my first dog that I trained.  He was 7 when I re-trained him from a 4 on.  Some things were easy for him because of his experiences and some things were hard because of his experiences.  For instance, proofing with motion was really easy.  He already knew to stay on task when I am running crazy next to him.  He understood that the yellow zone was really important already.  Getting him into a full stride was hard, really hard.  He wants to take one more stride than he needs on the dog walk.  But, that means that his turns off the dog walk are easier for him.

Hoot is my second walk down this path.  She is a puppy with no prior experience.



Hoot has been very easy to get her to adjust her stride, she totally loves the process (actually Split does too), and if she has epic failures it is really easy to take her back a step and get her back on track.  But she doesn't take to changes as easily as Split.

Last week I tried to see if I could get her to run to a dead toy.  This would allow me a bit more freedom to begin to introduce motion.  She runs to the dead toy like a champ, but she gives me 3.5 strides on the dog walk (4 being ideal).  3.5 strides leaves less time to adjust strides to hit the yellow.  So, back to tossing the toy I go.  I will just try to throw it earlier and earlier to see if I can ease into it.

Also, she can tolerate some faster starts (like from a tunnel), but I can't do a whole session of them.  She begins to give me less strides again.

The absolute nicest thing about doing a running dog walk with Hoot is she resets herself.  That is, after she has been rewarded she knows we will be doing it again.  She runs to the start, places herself where I have been starting her and she is ready to run again!

Helping your fellow competitor

I have pondered this topic for several years now.  Should we or should we not share how we train something in agility (for money or free).  Or even give advice (when asked) on what went wrong and how to fix it.

I guess my opinions have become very clear to me on this one.  Yes, we should help our fellow competitor!

In helping our fellow competitor I believe that we are increasing the body of knowledge in our sport and advancing the sport, we are helping to raise the competitive level of everyone, I an learning more about the topic myself, and we are paying forward for our own time in need.

Why should we add to the body of knowledge.  Just look at the history of agility.  When I started with Tip 8 years ago my first day of instruction with her was running an AKC Excellent course with the dog on leash.  If people had not shared how to train new dog we would still be doing that.  I believe our training methods are better and easier on the dog and human today.  Not to mention, more fun!

Why should we raise the level of competitiveness around us?  Personally and selfishly speaking it helps me be a better competitor.  I want there to be a ton of competition around me, I want competition to challenge me to improve, I want the bar HIGH!  I want to watch great agility all the time.  I want to be wowed by improvement and performance.  I can only achieve these things if I agree to help lift those in need up!

Success

I think the concept of learning more when you have to teach it is not new.  I have a burning desire to always learn my topic better.  By helping others I help myself.

Paying forward in my mind speaks for itself.  If we are all helpful and giving to our community, doesn't that make a much better community?

Now the caveat!  I want to help, really I do.  But I have found that those who ask casually for help are not the best people to help sometimes.  Not because they aren't in need, but because they are not ready to receive.  I think that people have to be hungry for the help and knowledge.  They have to have that burning desire to improve, not just the weekend wish to improve.  You have to be willing to take risks, put yourself out there, and open your mind to new concepts even if they don't make complete sense at the time.

So pay it forward, share the skills you are good at, and open your mind to strengthen your weaknesses!

Be THE FUN for your dog

In a nut shell, you must be "the fun" for your dog! You must be the leader of the fun, the initiator of "it's time to play", and the one who can play through any kind of situation or stress (even if you can't).

 Also subtitled "Leave your baggage at the door".

If your dog won't play, it is your job to teach them.

This blog entry was really hard to write. Mostly because there is so much to say on this topic and it is so important and fundamental to our success as a team. All kinds of teams deal with issues around this topic. Daisy Peel eluded to this (http://www.daisypeel.com/blog/the-brass-ring/) when saying that she had to be a certain person for Frodo, I have to be a certain person for all my dogs and different for all of them, but then again I have to be a certain person for my husband too.

They should adore you!

I am not being who I am not, I am recognizing that I have certain personality traits that should probably be kept in check (or come out) for this person or dog.

I have had a number of students lately that are having trouble with their dogs. Either the dog is shutting down or getting wound out of control, both can be stress behaviors. There is a reason we use dogs as therapy animals. They are very sensitive to our emotions and issues! We need to remember that.  We, as their human partners need to recognize, honor and respect that.

There are some dogs that can power through our stress and brush it off, but in my experience, the majority will react somehow.

If your dog wouldn't say that you are the funnest person on earth, you are missing HUGE opportunities with that dog. Why would they want to give everything they have (energy-wise) to someone who is boring, neutral, stressed, ie...not fun. So, the real trick for us is identifying what the stress is, admitting it, and letting it go (at least for the moments you are with your dog).

It doesn't matter what the stress is: are they going to weave, will they take all 18 obstacles twice (yes, I have had that happen), will they leave the ring, will they shut down at the startline, I hate work....you need to leave it behind.

Find the method that works for you: write each problem on a piece of paper and put them into a Tupperware so that you can leave them behind, or breath deep and think of the beach, or run a mile.. I leave my troubles at the door by remembering how amazing my canine partners are, and what they do for me everyday.

I remember that every problem is a training challenge and I bring the ones that stress me to the top of list.

Cynosport 2014

Well Cynosport 2014 is in the books and I can't decide how I feel about it!

I guess the easy things first, I liked the site, but I am still not a fan of turf outdoors.  It just gets too hot for the dogs.  I would much prefer grass if we are running outdoors (and I do prefer outdoors).  I think that USDAA did a great job getting things organized and keeping things running. For the most part I think the judges were great (I don't want their job, I know it is hard to stand and judge all day).  The courses were fairly nice as well.  Favorite courses were Team Jumpers and Fancy Standard.  Challenging, yet fast!

In terms of my own runs, I had a lot of great moments on course, but each run was plagued with "one (or two) little thing(s)".  I would also say for the most part the "one little thing" was almost always handler error.  I didn't execute something correctly.

I never felt like we encountered things on course that I didn't know how to handle, which is awesome.  There was only one instance where I would say that I would have handled something differently than I walked it.



So why can't I decide how I feel?  Well that is always the six million dollar question.

I have been struggling with the minor errors for a while now.  I think because I am tired, I went into the competition being tired and I am still tired.  Probably not a great state of mind for success.

So, whenever I get stuck on something I have to walk away from it.  Let the problem rest and come back to it when I am fresh.  So, it is time for a break. 

P.S. comments on Tangle's teeter call are for another blog post

Dangerous course designs, should we train them?

There has been a lot of conversation lately about what is safe on course and what isn't.  Approaches to contacts, exits from running dog walks, turns out of chutes.  Let's face it, our game is getting faster and faster and we must adjust the design of the course with it.  I would love every course to be fast, challenging and safe, but they aren't.

I am not going to debate if something is safe or not, I really just want to bring up some points that I think about when I spot something that isn't safe and hear "I am not going to train that" from my fellow competitors.

One scenario that I have run up against now three times in the last six months is a table directly after the DW.  If I have a 2o2o DW this probably wouldn't get my attention, however Split has a running DW.  The first time I saw this it was a USDAA Advance course and the table was 12 feet from the end of the DW (technically legal) with a tunnel directly after.  The second and third time, the table was a generous 18 feet after the DW.

12 feet was fairly dangerous in terms of distance, 18 feet isn't that great either.  Think about a 22" - 26" jumping dog and if they don't have time to prepare their take off to the table.  They will hit the table with their chest or shoulder or lower leg.  I don't want to think about the injuries that could happen.

So, people walk away from that and say "I am not going to train that, it is dangerous".  I walk away saying "I am going to train that, it is dangerous".  I don't train it so that I can endorse the dangerous design or so that we can conquer all courses.  I train it so that when there is a dangerous design I have a fair idea how my dog will execute it and if I should pull him from that course. I train it so that they can keep themselves safe if I ACCIDENTALLY cue something unsafe.  I train it because sometimes we can figure out how to do something in a safer manner.  I train it in a manner and scenario that I can keep my dog safe while we learn.

When I trained the table after the DW I can tell you I didn't set it 12 feet after the DW, that would be dangerous.  I set it about 18 feet and at a very low height (8 inches).  We started from a stop at the end of the DW, backchained and then ultimately ran the DW.  I wanted Split to see that set up and I wanted to know how he would negotiate it.  He was treated for ALL his reactions.  He was treated for choosing to run around the table, fly off the table and finally stopping on the table.  I want him to know that what ever option feels safe to him it isn't wrong.

This is just my way of trying to keep my dogs safe in an ever changing environment of dog agility.
 

What are your foundation "go to" resources?

I sat down at my desk this morning and had to laugh.  The desk is full of DVDs, books, and printed papers.   All of these materials are about something "foundation".  This happens every time I train a new puppy.  There is no room for my day job materials.

None of this reference material is new, it all has coffee stains on it, and pages bent over/marked.  The DVDs have been burned so that I can watch them/reference them on my Galaxy Note as I have 3 minutes to burn.

So you ask, what are my foundation "go to" resources?

• Developing Jumping Skills, Linda Mecklenburg - it isn't just about jumping.
• Foundations Fun!, Silvia Trkman
• Running Contacts that Make you Smile, Silvia Trkman
• A ton of material on building drive/impulse control, Tracy Sklenar
• Many articles from OneMindDogs relating to teaching dogs/puppies

Each puppy, something else gets added to the list.

Tip, Tangle, Hoot and Split

Why do I keep referencing them?  As my brother once said to me "because I slept last night", referring to the fact that his memory was bad (I am sure mine is better).  But really, because each time I read/watch/refer to them I pick up something new.  Probably because I have grown wiser as a trainer, but also this puppy is different from the last.  I train them all a little differently.

 Some may worry that I am combining too many opinions, or too many 'systems'.  I am not worried at all.  The puppies understand motion (all of these handling materials are based on motion) and as long as I am consistent in my cues and my puppy understands them, isn't it all good?

Trying to hold on to what is good and human (or K9)

Sometimes life is just filled with "Too Much Information".

We find out too much about our "friends" on Facebook or we are exposed to things that we would rather not know exist.  I can take this kind of stuff in small doses, but I can't take it everyday.

I know that it is shocking, but I don't really want to know about Brad Pitt, nor am I interested in what NFL player beat his wife (happy with my head in the sand).  I don't want to know which Harry Potter character, insect, or gem stone you are.  I don't want to be invited to play games--ever!

I do want to know when my friends have had huge accomplishments, or interesting stores, or babies, or grand-babies, or new puppies.  I do want to know if you are struggling and need support.  I am interested in people and what makes them human. I am interested in the things that "connect" us as humans.

My Facebook feed has been filled with more things from the "I don't really want to know" category then the things that help me "connect" with humans.

So, I created a new Facebook account.  One that has no friends, no family, no personality, but one that I can get my agility information daily.  One that helps me obsess on the good and interesting in my sport.

I read this everyday.  I get news about OneMindDogs, FCI, USDAA, Clean Run, Agility Courses, etc...

Reading about things that help me learn and accomplish more in agility is what makes me happy.  Reading things that help me be a better human for my K9 is what makes me happy.

About twice a week, I put on my armour so that I can wade through all that is bad, in order to discover the little golden nuggets that my friends have posted.  I know I won't be the first to congratulate someone, or the first to console a friend.  But I will be happier and more "human" when I do connect.

P.S. Facebook can't stand it when you don't have "friends".