Rome Wasn't Built in a Day

It has been a week since Jefferson and I took a private lesson with Stuart Mah.  And, it was the first week of not having any tasty cookies AT ALL in the field during our classes or practices.  Stuart had recommended quite a laundry list of do’s and don’ts to incorporate into our training.  Some of his suggestions include:  staying exceptionally close to Jefferson during front/rear crosses so he will not have the opportunity to make up his own course; work up from 5 seconds of praise to 15 seconds at the end of the run and before dolling out cookies; teach him to jump up on me at the end of our runs; and absolutely no cookies in the field or in my pockets during classes and practices – reward at the completion of our run and OUTSIDE of the ring.  Oh, yeah…last but not least, no corrections during our runs while at a trial.  If Jefferson takes an off-course, I am supposed to go with the flow and make up my own course. 

So far, so good…well, not so good actually!  I have gotten Jefferson to “shut down” during class and practice by not feeding him treats inside the ring.  Normally, tasty cookies line my pockets during our runs and I will deliver the treats quite frequently.   Jefferson is such the chow-hound:  he really looks forward to earning his agility cookies each time we go to the field.  Apparently, my over-treating was a bigger problem than I had suspected because without treats in my pockets, his agility behavior quickly erodes.  This is much like his behavior during the last few trials at our field.  As I reflect about the differences in our everyday practice/class and trial routines, I have determined that the method and frequency in which I deliver the cookies to Jefferson differs.  During my practices and classes, I am now keeping all treats outside the ring; making Jefferson successfully run a sequence of obstacles; praising him for at least 5 seconds; and exiting the field prior to delivering the cookies.  In essence, what I am working on is transferring the value from the cookies to me and running agility.  Here is an explanative blog post by dog agility trainer Susan Garrett that contains great training information about using effective triggers and the transferring of value:  http://susangarrettdogagility.com/2012/03/building-effective-triggers-into-your-dog-training/

I am amazed at how fast Jefferson has caught on to this new routine (and new triggers) and am encouraged by our progress.  I am looking forward to incorporating the latest techniques and becoming a better dog trainer.

We have an upcoming AKC trial this weekend so I will be able to put this new training “to the test’ so to speak.  I am not setting lofty, pressure-filled goals for this trial either – like “Q”ing every run and moving out of Novice and Open.  Rather, I want to stick to the plan that Stuart helped design.  And, of course, remember to have fun!

Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither is a good, consistent agility team.

“Training positively is getting into your dog’s head and knowing what he needs to be joyfully connected to you so that you can bring out the best he has to give.” – Susan Garrett