Denise Fenzi's Blog, page 31

Reducing reinforcers/Ring Readiness

Today I had an opportunity to do a semi-formal run through.  I had a few interests:

I wanted to test Brito’s heeling in a distracting environment and when being directed by a pretend judge.  Because I am not ‘training’ heeling and because I need to begin reducing reinforcers, I do not reward him in position at the end of the pattern.  Instead, I now give a high percentage of my cookies BETWEEN exercises.  Separately, I will continue to work the fine points of heeling,  in my house and with low value reinforcers,  for the rest of his career. But here on this day I’m rewarding the game that we’re playing together – not the heeling.

I simply expect the finished exercises to be correct or I would not be testing them.  The classic reinforcers cannot continue to mark correct work or you’ll struggle horribly in the ring where you cannot reward, regardless of how amazing your dog is.

If Brito had struggled with heeling there is a chance that I would have continued anyway because I need the information.  Then, for the next several weeks, I would focus on cleaning up those weak areas and then I would test them again.

If he struggles and I believe that it’s stress related then I stop instantly.  I never work a stressed dog. (same in trial – I’d leave if he was struggling with stress in the ring).

1:28 – I chose to reward the “waiting” for the figure eight posts.  It occurred to me as I stood there that this expectation was new, and I wanted him to know that I appreciated his good choice.  I did not reward that exercise at all; I moved on to the stand for exam.

Brito did well on the stand for exam.  This was actually a risky move to include in this trial readiness chain, because he is still learning to remain in a stand when I return.

I did not reward this exercise, though with hindsight I probably should have.

I did reward his set-up for the recall at 2:40.

I rewarded generously after the recall but not in the finish position.

Retrieve on the flat.  Brito anticipated the finish – now I know and I can work on it!  I did not reward that exercise but not because of the anticipation – I simply moved to the next exercise.

Retrieve over high jump.  He anticipates the send over the jump.  This is a long standing issue (either going before being sent or not going at all on the first cue) so…back to the drawing board on that one.  But again, this ring time was to test where we are at – the last thing I want to do is call him back and erode his confidence.   Heck, I know I have an issue with anticipation/not going on cue.  No reason to address it here when it’s not even correct at home.

Broad jump is nice.  I end this run through on that exercise.

On balance, I’m happy.  We’ll continue to work on various aspects of reducing reinforcers and ring readiness.

Starting February 1st I’ll be teaching a class called Bridging the Gap; Reducing Reinforcers, Proofing and Generalization.  It’s a ton of materials so this course runs for two terms (and is priced accordingly).  For twelve weeks, we’ll consider the wide variety of issues that need to be addressed before sending in your trial entry. Ideally, you take this class when you have several finished behaviors, and you think you’re about trial ready.  This class is also excellent for dogs that are currently trialing but are starting to run into trouble.  Registration opens January 22nd.

 

Brito – Way back when!

I wrote the following blog when Brito had been in my home for about two weeks.  It’s always fun to look back, so…here’s Brito when he was about five months of age:

Here is an eleven minute training session of Brito from this morning.  You can see a variety of things.

Shaping with a dumbbell.  I normally hold it because he tends to put his feet on objects sitting on the floor.  That is not a habit that I want to encourage. ( First two minutes)

Heeling Skills.  In particular, I want Brito to learn to set up in position close to my body and under my hand.  I am not doing “choose to heel” type of work because walking close to my sides is not in his natural repetoire at this time.  (2 min to 4 min)

Front and recall skills.  In particular, I’m trying to click for forward motion towards me so he is not relying on my movement to come to front.  He’s starting to get it.  I take him through my legs to discourage him from backing away from me.   (4 min to 6 minutes).

Personal play without a toy.  Everything is “up” and into my space – Up to my face.  Up to my hands.  Up on my body.   (6 min to 7 min)

Toy and personal play.  Note that I tug him AWAY from my body.  This is to get him to come back to me with his toy, and you can see over the course of a minute exactly how effective this is. If you play tug with a dog pulling them towards you, then you encourage opposition reflex which sends them away from you when you let go.  In Brito’s case I’m working on getting a strong return with the toy, so I tug him away from me.  This works with larger dogs too but it is easier when they are still puppies or small in size. Eventually it is likely that he’ll return no matter what I do with the toy, simply because the game is fun for him.  (7 min to 9 min)

Dumbbell, a bit of reactivity, and the challenge of being a human parent while training dogs (9 min to the end).

There are also themes that you’ll see throughout.

I constantly encourage a heads up/body up position in his work. All of my petting and interaction encourage him to keep his head high and to stretch his body up to me.  Notice what I’m doing every time I say “up, up!”

I encourage a lot of physical interaction and play.  While I’m liberal with the cookie rewards, I also back them up with my personal approval and pride in his accomplishments.  There is no “pure” shaping going on here – it’s a package deal.

Brito stayed in the game for a long time!  The easiest way to get that is to change activities often enough that your trainee won’t get bored.

Brito is working on skill building in this session in this video.  Later today I’ll take him outside and work on playing in public – or at least my front yard.

Total training time per day is about twenty minutes but the quantity of interaction is a good deal more than that.  This is how I will build our relationship; spend lots of time together working, playing and simply existing.

Brito Training

 

 

Controversy

My last blog stirred up a bit controversy.

Wait a sec.  Let me rephrase that.

My last blog made some people so angry that I was worried for their physical health.  In short – because I said there is no ‘have to’ in competition. You get what you get based on the training you put in.

And the reason people got so angry?  It’s not likely that it was caused by my words.  I was pretty clear that neither adding cookies nor corrections would increase reliability – better training would.

So what happened?

People are hyper sensitized right now because there is a split between the people who…..

Wait a sec.  What is the split? What are we arguing about?

We are arguing about words.  The vagaries of language.

We can’t say balanced because that word has lost any and all meaning.  It covers me (because I may use a cheerful interrupter when my dogs make an error) and it covers the most extreme shock level trainers, (because when the dog succeeds they remove the shock and say “good dog.”)  And it surely doesn’t mean ‘middle’ (because no one I know actually strives for that.)

We can’t say force free (because I’ve told my dogs “no” so I don’t qualify.)

We can’t say purely positive because…I object!  I don’t think it exists, so I’m uncomfortable with it.

What most balanced trainers mean is that they use the appropriate method for the given dog at the given time.  Or at least that’s what I think it means.

While that statement sounds awesome, it’s equally meaningless because each of us has radically different ideas of what that might mean. What is appropriate and at what time?  What is appropriate to one person is appalling to another.

So, to help people make sense of it all, I have a suggestion.

Why not just start a blog?  If you’re a trainer, start a blog and post unedited videos of your training sessions when you feel like it.  You don’t even have to add words if that’s not your thing.  Just show what you mean.  How do you teach something? What does your session look like?

No, you won’t be giving away all of your special training secrets.  You could train a dog off my blog and it hasn’t hurt my business.  We’re in the age of information sharing – hoarding is a poor business strategy these days.

No, this is not time consuming.  Turning on a video camera once or twice a month is nothing.  I mean, if you have time to argue on Facebook over meaningless words, then you have time to turn on a video camera and upload unedited footage.  One less argument means one more video. And one more video might just mean one less argument.

People can watch.  They can decide through their own observations what they like and what they don’t.  What they want to try and what does not work for them.  What seminars they want to attend.  What trainer demeanors resonate for them.  What seems logical and what seems…not so much.

To say that words are failing us right now would be a pretty serious understatement.  So forget the words – and forget edited videos and only finished performances.  Show the process; the whole thing.  Assuming you are comfortable with how you teach, which I believe most people are, then showing unedited videos should be fine.

Then it all becomes very simple.  People can look at the process.  Look at the dog and look at the trainer.  Then they look at the end results and decide what they want to do, who they want to see in person, and maybe even clarify their own training program.  No surprises.  Everyone benefits.

And if in the process of making your videos, you realize that you’re not too comfortable showing your sessions to the public…think about that too.  If it’s your training, then own it. You don’t need to make excuses or explain anything to anyone.  Stand behind it or change your behavior.

There is no downside.  If you don’t want negative feedback just turn off the comments.   People say they are constantly misunderstood – here’s the solution.  When people aren’t sure what I mean by “force free” I simply point them to my blog.  Then they know what the words mean to me.  They can like or not like it.  They can have a different vision of what force free means. It’s irrelevant.  We can speak the same language.

Now, when someone starts to use words like ‘balanced’ or ‘force free’, ask them to show you their blog.  No more arguing over words.  Discuss videos.  Not to “prove” anything but so that you can be speaking the same language.

If the first thing that pops into your head is all of the reasons why you can’t do this then think about that.  I presume you want to be understood, right?  So make yourself understood.  Show people what you mean.

That’s my challenge for 2016.  More videos.  Less words.  The good, the bad and the ugly.

Go for it.

 

 

“Have to” vs “Want to?”

One of the most pervasive myths is the world of competition obedience is that at some point in your training, corrections will be required to convince your dog that performing is not optional.  Corrections are added to give…reliability.

How’s that working for us?  Let’s consider it.

The logic goes as such:

“There are no cookies in the ring.  If the dog dog only wants to work when there are cookies to motivate him then he can simply opt out.  You must add corrections so that the dog understands he has no choice about working, even in competition where there are no cookies.

I’ve been competing for about 35 years in AKC obedience.  I started well before anyone used cookies; the only training method on the table was corrections – from start to finish.  It wasn’t pretty.

The “pass” rate in Utility B – the highest competition level for seasoned dogs, was roughly 50% at that time.

35 years ago – no cookies and all corrections in the highest level class for dogs that had demonstrated competence with all of the exercises.  Yet, half of the dogs in that class – the well trained “good” ones – had figured out that they did indeed have a choice.  Sometimes they performed, and some times they didn’t.

How about nowadays?

Most competition trainers use cookies and toys, and the quantity and severity of the corrections has decreased.

And????

The failure rate is STILL about half of the dogs in Utility B.

So we have a logic problem here.  Our pass rates should have plummeted if compulsion gave compliance in competition, or our pass rates should have skyrocketed if it’s the combination of cookies and corrections that’s the real ticket.  We still have to try and explain that pesky 50% failure rate.

We all fail.  Regardless of method.  Without exception.

The fact is, dogs trained with “have to” fail on a very regular basis.  Maybe the dog lost attention, got stressed, or just decided that they weren’t going to do it on that day.  How is this possible if that dog was trained that it would be corrected for…losing attention, stress was no reason not to work, and that opting out is not an option?

It’s possible because there is no “have to” in competition.  What happens, happens.  Now go home and train better.

If you’re looking for a guarantee, it should be obvious that neither corrections (have to!) vs. cookies (want to!) is going to get you there.

The solution is excellent training.  The best trained dogs have the highest pass rates.  Not the ones who got the most cookies or the hardest corrections – the ones that are well trained, regardless of the handler’s choice of method.

And the best trained dogs are often of breeds that, by temperament, do very well under the stress of competition.  They are not stupid. Seasoned dogs know perfectly well that there are no corrections or cookies in the ring, yet they do it anyway.  They like to work or they perform out of habit.

And the best trained dogs with the best temperaments are often owned by…the most experienced or determined trainers!  Who, regardless of their choice of methods, have worked hard enough that they have figured out how to get dogs trained – or at least dogs of the temperament that they tend to select for.

I choose to train with positive reinforcement.  I do this because I want my dogs to work for me because they want to, and it is obvious to me that the “have to” method is just as risky as the “want to” method.  There are no guarantees.  Instead of worrying about that, I’ll put my energy into becoming the best possible trainer I can.

It’s a myth that adding corrections to your training will make your dogs more reliable in competition.  Pay attention to what actually happens on trial day and this will become clear to you.

I know the “have to” idea sounds good in theory but in practice?  It’s not holding up.

 

 

Directed jumping – proofing the exercise

Brito is working on a variety of issues related to the directed jumping exercise.

At home we are working on:

 Full ring distance.  We are almost there.
Correctly responding to the various cues that I might give to him when he arrives at the “turn and sit” location.  These may include jump left or right, turn and continue out to the stanchion, signals, or a recall back to me.  Most of the time he’s pretty good at performing correctly.
Turn and sit without a foot target.  Going fine.
Now I am adding “go out between the jumps – even if the jumps are close together and even if we have just finished doing retrieves over the high jump.”

This last one is critical, since a common training challenge is the dog that is sent to the go-out spot but heads for the left jump stanchion instead, or takes the jump in the outward bound direction and then stands there, looking confused.  This behavior is often more pronounced if the handler has been working on the retrieve over the high jump, since the dog is thinking about finding the high jump in the outward bound direction.

The dog is simply confused.

Here is a simple drill to help the dog distinguish between “go out between the jumps” and “jump the jump on the way out”

I start with a platform in front of the go-out spot to give that location more  ‘draw’.  If you haven’t trained go-outs with a platform then you can skip that step.

 Thread the needle for the go-out.  With the jumps VERY close together (approximately 4 – 6 feet) and very close to the go out spot, send your dog from only a few feet away.  If you are close enough, most dogs will go between, because the go-out location/platform creates a draw.  Reward generously.  Add jumping on the way back, or any cues that you may wish to incorporate, once the dog is reliably heading to that spot.
Add a retrieve over high jump, or simply send your dog to jump for free cookies (depends on how your dog is trained).  Note that I leave the jumps exactly where they are.
Return to the send out exercise – nice and close!  Send dog between the jumps to the go-out spot.  If your dog makes an error and goes over a jump – no big deal.  Bring the dog back and try again.  I do not give cookies for errors in this scenario, but I will move in closer if needed.
As your dog shows understanding of the difference between these two exercises, begin standing further back for both exercises – the retrieve and the go out.
Put the jumps back in their “normal” location – a small bit at a time. To do this, first move the jumps closer to you without making them wider so your dog will continue to thread the needle.  Using this technique, eventually placing them in their normal position will be quite easy.
Take the show on the road, starting from the beginning!  Soon your dog will generalize this behavior to a variety of training locations.

Here’s a video of Brito working through some of these steps:

Brito proofing go outs

 

 

Brito’s Rainy Day Training

Too much rain outside so we worked inside.

I apologize for how dark this video is and for the lack of trimming at the front and rear – my video editing program is giving me grief so it was all or nothing today.  I decided to go with “all.”

The challenges:

Stay until I send on the dumbbell retrieve, and then go even if you don’t see me put down the object.  This went reasonably well, except once he went before he was sent.  That’s fine – we usually have the opposite problem (I send and he doesn’t go) so no worries there.  I’m happy he’s going!  This exercise has done wonders for our retrieve on the flat and over the high jump; he goes about 90% of the time even without seeing the object being thrown.

Gloves – fetch the one straight ahead, even if another is much closer.  On the first send he reacts without thinking so he fetches the wrong one first, but then his behavior makes it clear that he recognizes his mistake.  I reward dogs for problem solving, so he gets his cookie.  He does fine after that.

Articles had two challenges.  The first is to stay until I send you to go, and then go, even if I’m giving you cookies for staying.  This is the same basic process as for the dumbbell retrieve that I showed a couple of weeks ago.  For reasons that are not clear to me, he really struggled to hold his down stay for this exercise when I set out the articles.  No worries – I’ll address that at another time, but I did have to put him back repeatedly (not good training there!)

I also sent him to a large (30+) mixed  article pile with a variety of objects (baby shoes, regular articles, wooden blocks, etc.).  To help him I did a couple of sends with two correct articles in the pile instead of only one.   He did well on this exercise, even when he had to show a good deal of persistence to find the right one.  His reliability with articles is increasing notably as his confidence increases.

What I am hoping to accomplish with the large piles is to teach him a global search pattern rather than checking each object.  He is just beginning to get this idea, but we’re not there yet.  As a result, it can take him much longer than it should to succeed.  I’ll know that we’re there when he scents a few inches above the articles and then narrows it down, rather than bringing his nose down on each object.

 

Shaping a Retrieve

I am often asked how to teach a retrieve.

I train a “structured” retrieve.  That is neither a forced retrieve nor a play based retrieve.

In a structured retrieve, the retrieve is taught in a systematic manner. This is the same process that is used for most forced retrieves.  The difference is that rather than punishing a dog for dropping or failing to take the object, I click and reward for performing correctly, and mistakes are simply ignored.

I teach the hold portion of the retrieve at the very end, after the dog understands to pick up objects and place them in my hand.  You can teach the hold first but I prefer to teach the pick-up first, because it’s a more active process, and that is more fun for both of us.

A couple of years ago I taped a Border Collie’s lessons on the shaped retrieve.  The following videos were taken over five days; there was no practice or work in between sessions.  As you watch, you can see that the owner and I trade off teaching – this is both to help the owner refine her technique, and also to demonstrate that different approaches can be used to get the results.

The choice of a slipper rather than a dumbbell was pragmatic – it’s what the owner had in her car at that time.  Go ahead and use a dumbbell if you prefer, but if this is one of your first retrieves, you might also choose a non competition object, just in case you make a bit of a mess.

Each dog is a unique individual and should be taught at their pace and with their temperament in mind.  A clicker savvy dog will progress much faster than a dog that has had mostly lure or correction based training.   Don’t worry about following this exact progression; simply use it as a guide to help you work through whatever challenges you may encounter.

Shaping a retrieve is not hard, but like most dog training, it takes time to learn how to progress with each individual.  If you get stuck, search youtube for more shaped retrieve options – you’ll find plenty of them.  Good luck!

Denise Fenzi http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpbcztihP8Q




Denise Fenzi http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUkN8I348E0



Denise Fenzi http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_kkARr1V0w




Denise Fenzi http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZX9OU5ZAOIY



Denise Fenzi http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlvAXY1ge4M

Acclimation vs. Satiation

For my purposes, “acclimation” means to settle in – to be familiar (and comfortable) with a given environment and “satiation” means to exhaust one’s interest in the environment.

If you’ve been reading this blog for awhile, you know that I’m a strong proponent of allowing dogs to acclimate before asking them to work or compete.  I think grabbing dogs from a crate and expecting instant work and attention is causing all sorts of issues with our competition dogs.  For more information on that topic, you can see a blog that I wrote here:  Acclimation

In my mind, allowing for acclimation is just good training.  The hard part is getting the humans to do it.  Humans tend to be in a hurry, and that extra ten minutes at dog training class is just not part of the schedule.

Satiation takes the concept of acclimation a good deal further, and does not make sense for all dogs – but it does for some.  Let’s consider these two types of dogs:

Dog A:  Possibly a bit nervous or curious about the world, but very motivated by either work, classic motivators like food and toys, and easily focused on the task at hand after a reasonable acclimation period.

This dog does not need to explore the environment to the point of satiation.  Indeed, if the dog is lower energy overall, then satiation may be a very poor idea, because the dog may run out of energy for work before you even get there.  Dog A is a good candidate for normal acclimation and then…get to work!  Walk the dog through the working space for about ten minutes, pick a spot, and then wait for the dog to engage with you at Stage 2 or greater in order to start work.  (search “Engagement” on this blog to better understand this concept or sign up for my online course on Engagement at Fenzi Dog Sports Academy that started Dec. 1st, 2015; registration is still open ).

Dog B:  Significant nervousness (or curiousity) about the world, or not very interested in work (or your classic motivators) as a reason to work with you.  Plenty of energy, but that energy is not directed towards your training interests, unless the dog is working at home or in her most comfortable training location.  Checks in and out of work.  Focuses when close to you and your reinforcers but either drifts, sniffs or multitasks at any distance outside of your “span of control”.

If you feel like you are working a lot harder than the dog, even though you’ve allowed your dog to thoroughly acclimate, then take that as a sign that Satiation might be an option worth exploring for you.

What does that mean?

Your are not going to stand still and wait for your dog to check in as we normally do with engagement training.  Instead, you are going to head to your working spot and allow your dog to explore – for a very long time.  On leash or off, depending on safety.  Until your dog is done.

How do you know when your dog is done?  Your dog lays down to take a nap.  Your dog starts looking at you or trying to interact with you while you are walking, questioning why you’re walking around.  If you’ve chosen to sit in a chair while your dog explores (perfectly reasonable), your dog returns to you for attention.

In short, your dog is satiated.  Bored.  Done with the environment.  Ready to move on.

Looking for something else to do.  And that is where you can step in.

NOW ask your dog to work.  Be prepared to head home several times before your dog even gets to that point of boredom.  And then – when your dog bored to tears, ask for work.  The stronger your dog’s interest in the world, the longer this will take. Not minutes or hours – think…days.  Returning to the same place over and over and doing not much of anything for thirty minutes or so.

At this point your dog can choose.  The environment has lost any attraction.  All that is left is either you and training, or a nap.

Dogs go both ways.  If your dog opts for a nap, it could be that your dog lacks enough physical energy to work through a program based on satiation.   It could be that you’ve worked so hard and so long to start training that it simply doesn’t cross your dog’s mind to ask for work.  It could also be that working with you is less interesting than taking a nap. In which case, take a pretty close look at your training.  

If you were the dog, would you find working or napping more interesting?  Really think about that for a moment, because in the satiation method, you have to be worth the dog’s while.  Your toys, food, personality and choice of work have to motivate your dog.

I am currently training Brito with a good deal of satiation, and as I look back there’s no question that it was an excellent option for him.  I open the door into the training yard and set him free – off leash. First he chases squirrels up the trees.  The he sniffs around the grass for a few more minutes.  And then he shows up – bored – and requesting work.  That is when I get out of my chair.  It used to be two or three sessions a day of Brito exploration time – no work at all.  Now it’s usually a few minutes of Brito exploration time, followed by as much as fifteen minutes of very well focused work.

Before I did this, we did a lot of on leash acclimation. It helped a lot, but not as much as just letting him go and allowing him to decide when he wants to come back.  And before the acclimation approach, I tried being more interesting than the world.  When you have to do that in your own training yard – you’re pretty much dead in the water.  Since his interest is usually curiosity (as opposed to fear) based, I figured it was safe to try the “being more interesting” approach.  Which it was; no harm done except that I was probably irritating and it go me nowhere fast.

Like I said it’s not for everyone.  But maybe it’s a good choice for your team.

This video shows basic satiation – I sit in a chair.  Brito comes and asks for work – and we can proceed from there.  If he opts out of work while training – I release him and head back to the chair.  It’s true he can go off and do what he wants, but it’s also true that he lost the opportunity to interact with me, my toys and my cookies.  And those motivators holds a good deal of value to him these days.

In the beginning I could sit for fifteen minutes or more until he remembered me.  Now it’s usually more like five minutes – not so bad!

In the following video, I show the very beginning of the session for the first 30 seconds, then edit out the next four minutesion of satiation, and then show the next minute.

Brito video

 

 

 

Positive Proofing

“Proofing” means to make a dog strong in their understanding of an exercise by adding MEASURED challenges.  I’ve talked about that before.  All dogs should experience some proofing in their training; whether a pet dog or a dog destined for competition.

The reason is that proofing, done well, is what eventually gets a dog from the beginning phases of training to maintenance.  “Maintenance” means that the dog can perform reliably without the promise of a cookie and under even more distracting conditions.  To better understand concepts like Management, Training and Maintenance, check out my two part post on my other blog where I discuss these in detail:  Management, Training and Maintenance Part 1  and  Management, Training and Maintenance Part 2.

Once your dog is able to withstand basic proofing and distractions without losing concentration, you’ll want to significantly increase the challenge levels.  The following video is my efforts to teach Brito the difference between “stay” until I send you to fetch and “go” when I cue you to fetch.  To do this, I’m adding proofing.  Done well, this exercise makes the path to reinforcement very clear;  cooperate with me and it works out for both of us.  It also does wonders for teaching that “get it” means just that…get it.

Note that I am feeding Brito after throwing the dumbbell; that is reinforcing his stay.  That is fairly straightforward training to prevent a dog from leaving before being sent.  Now I need to communicate the next part; “Go” even if it seems to be against your best interests.

To get this message across, I am feeding Brito treats to reinforce the stay and I cue him to fetch.  At that point the treats immediately stop.  I do not take them away from his mouth and I say nothing if he continues to work at my hand.  He’ll figure it out – cooperating with my cue is the route to reinforcement; not messing with my hands.

Finally, I add his bowl of treats to the mix.  By leaving them on the floor with the dumbbell, he has to make a choice.

Here’s an Unedited video  with errors included to make this more clear.  If you add this exercise to your training, start with extremely low value treats and over time, work your way up to the most powerful options that you have available.  And after working challenging sessions like this, consider making the next training session really easy for both of you!

I’d suggest not adding this level of distraction training to your training until you’ve given your dog a solid base in understanding cooperation under a wide range of circumstances.  I’ve written a book, designed for all dogs (pet as well as competition dogs) to make this a lot easier.  It covers the topics of generalization (working away from home), without a cookie in the hand (reducing reinforcers) and distractions in the working area. If you’re interested, the book is called “Beyond the Back Yard: Train Your Dog To Listen Anytime, Anywhere!”  You can order it directly from me at The Dog Athlete or pick it up off of Amazon if that works better for you.

 

 

Routine Training

I have heard that watching how a trainer trains – the good, the bad, and the ugly, is highly beneficial to some people, so here is a full training session from start to finish.  Here are my goals in the first minute:

1) See how Brito reacts to a brand new training space where he has never been, without allowing him to acclimate to the ring.  Obviously this is the “trial reality,” so I need to look at that once in a while.

2) See how Brito handles a longer stretch of formal work before receiving his first reinforcer.  We do this routinely at home, but not necessarily in a new space where he has not worked before, so this is a shift in criteria (new location).

After that, we moved into a routine training session with a high rate of reinforcement.

Finally, we finished off with another stretch of formal heeling to see how he was holding up after working for about ten minutes.

I was pleased with most of his work.  I can see where I need to improve my handling and where his precision suffers but on balance, we’re heading in the right direction.

Over the next few months we will continue to work on basic skill building for Open and Utility at home, and I will add more ring formality in public spaces.  For example, I will work more often with a judge calling a pattern, longer stretches without reinforcement, removing reinforcement from my body, and no acclimating inside the ring itself.

On an unrelated note, if you’d like to enter a contest to win a free bronze spot in my Engagement class at Fenzi Dog Sports Academy (new term starts December 1st), go ahead and enter the contest here. Your email will not be used for anything else; just the contest: Contest for Engagement class

I’m also teaching heeling games if you’d like to bring a bit more life to your dog’s work . Check out the entire schedule if you think you’d like to learn something new!:  Fenzi Academy December Schedule