Fretting over the little stuff is getting in the way of the big picture

Why is it so difficult to put the behaviors we've been working on for so long all together and finalized? It seems like I'm always waiting for it to be perfect, but things are never going to be perfect. (See Denise Fenzi's blog from today for her view). The slightly crooked behavior on their contact board, the not 100% confident weaves, even their jumping form, it's all a continuum that can go on forever!

While trying to train Rosey how to do her walk contact, I struggled and struggled. It was a real game of whack-a-mole that never ended! As soon as we were able to teach her one thing, she would start a different behavior. I think she finally decided that the end of the dog walk was filled with so much stress that she would avoid it all together! I ended up taking a summer and started training a running walk contact using Sylvia Trkman's method. I no longer had to worry about perfection, and neither did she, and we started to have fun!

The walk contact is still an issue realistically hasn't been "fixed," but it is consistent and I know where our weaknesses are. Her striding lands her comfortably inside AKC's contact zone (yay!), but too high for USDAA. I'd love to put more criteria on it or train it longer, but at 8yrs old, I don't know if the effort is worth the time. I'd much rather be out there running with her and having fun than worrying about a walk contact. Maybe it's a gamble, but with a little management from me, it's consistent and hasn't been an issue for a while. Doesn't mean I don't dream about perfect easy contacts, but with our past, I'm content with where we are at and I'll keep reinforcing what I need while practicing at home.

What I've learned about the whole process is to spend a little extra time at the beginning to assess their natural tendencies, what their body type is, and what they like. Some dogs have a huge powerful stride. With high arousal from a trial, it's unlikely that this type of stride will naturally flow into a dog walk contact. Other dogs are small and have short quick strides that naturally move them through the contact zone without a second thought; a running contact would be lovely with this type of dog.

It's not just the dogs. I am able and love to run, so a running contact for my long legged & lower drive dog is perfect. Someone with a fast, powerful dog and have trouble keeping up with them, will benefit from a stop of some sort at the end of the contact. There's no way to get down there in time to tell them what to do! In this case, it's up to you as a trainer to make the stopped behavior REALLY fun and totally worth their time. Easier said than done for some dogs :)

Take a look at your dog's structure, its temperament, it's drive to play the game. What best suits them? Can it work for you? There's so much more to a contact behavior than what everyone else is doing, each dog is so unique and it's up to you to be their advocate to make this game the best it can be!

Wise Words

Nose work has been awesome, and going great! More on that in another post, I'll need to download and put together some videos :)

I'm letting this post be about Sam and I and our progress towards our goal of being better bonded. We've been working hard with the nose work and I can see she's more confident while working, but I don't know how much of that is translating outside of nose work. Here's our plan I made 2 weeks ago:

Sam's 2nd JWW Novice P Q
- Ears forward, tail waggin -
Photo at the end of a trial, no dogs around.

1 -Work on weaves - Entries, completion, and speed
We've been working on this and I've seen great improvement, but I'm still struggling with her doing the weaves when she's over stimulated or already starting to avoid doing anything difficult.  
New plan - don't push the session when she's starting to loose focus. Also - pull out the weave-o-matics, I need to get her with some sort of rhythm! If she's got a rhythm, it'll be easier for her to stay in the poles.

2 - Obstacle focus - speed circles, and up the difficulty with angled jumps and maybe even a set of 6 weave poles.

Started with tunnel and jump, but haven't had time to set up a speed circle. On the list to do. Also, need to do lots of rewards after short sequences and tough sections - tug! I need her to realize that she's rewarded for doing extra hard things. I get so excited I want to keep going, but I should be playing with her and releasing the pressure at this point.

3 - Work on our relationship.

Samantha's 1st Title - Novice P JWW
-Ears are back: sign of stress -
She's worried about the dogs around her.

I was reading Denise Fenzi's post from today and this really hit home. I need to start looking at me and how I'm contributing to our issues. I know that with my expectation of how well I know she can do, I forget about how nervous she gets and how I've been playing into her nervousness, babying her. I've been told to give her more space to work and to stop worrying about "what if". I need to work on a few things (taken from Denise's post):

• Don't worry so much about what the course is in class, work the sections of the course to best reward and engage Samantha.
• Really look at the pieces of our relationship to encourage engagement:
• Best motivators (mainly select toys, fur, treats?)
• Surfaces we are best on (inside on matting) and worst (grass in a park)
• Times of day best to train (As soon as I get home from work, after a meal, other?)
• Environmental triggers that negatively impact (prey animals, unknown high energy dogs, start lines that are "open" to threat
• What exercises are more difficult in public/agility ring (weaves, serps, long stretches of jumps)
• How long before she gets tired (1-2 runs with moderate difficulty)
• What stress looks like (running to a door, sniffing, going around obstacles, ears back)
• Start throwing a toy and playing after harder sequences, letting her know she does a good job with a well placed "good"
• Don't just call her name where I think she's going to disconnect, be ahead of her mentally.
• Working independence in the field (see #2) and give her room to do her thing (mentally and physically)

Summary of #3, don't push her if she's in a state she can't learn. Be proactive and assertive. Keep it short and fun. Reward and praise in a timely manner. Take a step back to easier training in harder environments.

Staying Connected

I figured that today is a Dog Agility Blog Event and I might as well use it as an excuse to write. The topic is “The Mental Aspect of Agility”. To find more blogs exploring this topic, head over to Dog Agility Blog Events.

My view from the computer.

I find this topic well timed and very fitting for my situation, it seems that most of my failures on the agility field are when I’m not focused or mentally prepared. The mental aspect of agility can be pretty tough, especially in a show situation. I have dreams of having perfect runs, but I know what my limitations are and go into any agility situation with realistic expectations and aim my mental strength to improve as a team, not necessarily to Q or win every class (yeah right!).

Running a Flat Coat and now a GSP I understand I need a sense of humor, patience and love. I enter the ring with the goal of doing justice to my dog and being better than last time. For Rosey, my goal is to be on time with my cues so she doesn’t get worried about being wrong (and thus goes off sniffing), and for Samantha, my goal is starting together and finishing together… the middle section has yet to be worked out. My mental game is focused towards these goals, which in the long run will get me to Qs (so far its been working out).

I find I can break the mental aspect into 4 parts:

Knowing the Course

The most obvious part of agility’s mental aspect is memorizing the course; knowing where your path is and where you need to direct the dog to get around a course. I like to look at the map, draw my dog’s path and figure out where I need to be in relation to the obstacles and my dog. Then I’ll walk the course from both the dog’s point of view and then a second or third time from my point of view and I start memorizing where I need to be. The third aspect is to be able to visualize this course while standing on the sidelines. If I can’t remember something or can’t “see” where I should have been standing as they come out of a tunnel or after my front cross, I’ll head out for a last walk of the course to make sure the course is clear in my head.

Relationship building

The second mental aspect of agility is building a relationship and being able to be connected with my dog in the ring. This starts with the instant that she gets out of her crate/xpen. I make sure that I am completely ready to give her my complete attention before I go even to put my hand on the latch. This has been the hardest thing for Rosey and I, it’s been a really hit-or-miss aspect of our agility and really depends on everything going on around us. As we are getting more solid in our relationship, it’s gotten easier, but I still make sure that I’m 100% mentally there for her when I get her out to make sure that I don’t lose her trust again.

In the ring

AKC - October 2013 - Rosey

Keeping my mind in the ring and connected with my dog is the hardest part for me. I have learned that if I’m thinking too far ahead (or worrying about what people on the sidelines are thinking or if my dog might leave and sniff), my dogs will start to lose interest and get sluggish, start sniffing, and get zoomies. I’ve learned that I need to be actively playing with my dog, not just directing her where to go. As long as I’m in there with them (mentally), they are more than happy to keep playing with me.

Staying mentally sharp

Agility isn’t all about the dog, it’s about how physically fit and mentally acute I am. I find that a perfectly well thought out and well planned course can go completely downhill if I’m struggling with my mental sharpness. I make sure I always bring food for me to munch on and water to drink. If I’m feeling a little hazy I make sure I have some protein or complex sugars (bananas, apples, or protein bar) to perk my brain up. It definitely can get tough by the end of the weekend! All the training, all the practice and relationship building I work on is all worthless if I don’t take care of me. Without the right nutrition, it doesn’t take too long for my reaction time to slow down, my thinking get hazy and I start tripping over my feet by the time I get to the end of a run.

I’ve found that the idea of preparing mentally is starting to catch on in the agility community. It’s become a topic and I’ve seen more and more people talking about getting mentally connected with their canine teammates. I know its definitely made the difference in my dogs!