A Critical Key To Training the Running Contact?

I have had a few of you email me privately and one post to my blog why I thought a “fool-proof method of running contacts was unlikely.” I don’t pretend to have all of the dog training answers and I am not a pessimist about ANYTHING. However,  I do believe I have a pretty good grasp of how behaviours are learned and how they are eroded. That is why I think a fool-proof, cookie-cutter running contact method is unlikely. Notice I didn’t say impossible, I am still holding out hope. But lets look at the facts, there is yet to be anyone running at the elite level of the sport that has produced a running contact with more than one dog that has stood up for the dogs’ entire career.  I have trained 3 dogs to run their contacts and I would say they are 95-99% successful. But that is not 100%. I know without a doubt I can train a dog that can compete at the World Championships level of this sport with stopped contacts and have that dog go through his entire career without ever missing a contact. I have done it with Buzz.  I can’t say that about the running contact. Although Encore has only missed one of her running A Frame’s that one was unfortunately at the World Championships, it cost our team a place on the podium. I am still working at it because I would love to have a method I could teach my students, knowing they will have success. So far no one has showed me that has happened. No disrespect to those of you that may cry “foul” because your dog may happen to look good at this point, but lets see these dogs when they have put in a career running contacts and then lets see that be followed up with more dogs that can do the same, finish a career with their running contacts AS RELIABLE as they started it. Then we are on to something.  I am a person that sees the possibilities where few others see them. I will continue to experiment, any of you that think you are onto something I have over looked please let me know! 

In the meantime I will leave you all to ponder this video and the methodology that you may have overlooked while training your own running contacts. Have a great weekend everyone, I am off to Omaha for fun and games with all of those crazy mid-westerners. Super bowl party here we come!

Today I am grateful to be heading south for the weekend, oh wait, it is Nebraska . . . south of Canada does not necessarily always equate to warmer weather

Is Agility Keeping Pace with Technological Advances?

Earlier this week John and I had to spend the day in the car running errands an hour or more away from home. Yes of course he drove, I do love me life. As he was driving I was thinking about all of the technological advances that surrounded me in the car. First and foremost with it being -18C outside I was grateful beyond belief for the advancement of heated car seats and couldn’t imagine living in Canada (or anywhere really as I even use these on some summer evenings) without the ability to warm my bottom on a cold day. Next as I spent 10 minutes placing a few orders on my cell phone I tried to remember the days when I had to stop to use a phone at a phone booth. Have you noticed there are far fewer phone booths out there these days? And lastly I would be remiss if I didn’t give a shout out for one of the worlds best invention of late: the trusted GPS that allows us to be mindlessly lured to our final destination like lemmings running off a cliff. Looking around at all of these recent advancements caused me to question what advancements have we enjoyed in agility in the last 20 years? I think to start with you would have mention how far we have come with our execution of handling. I know my own dogs personally will be forever grateful for Greg Derrett setting me on a path to more consistent and clear handling cues. As someone that lost a National Championship by 0.016 seconds, I for one was thrilled to see the advancement of electronic timing lights at the following year’s USDAA National Championships. Doing away with the cross-over obstacle sure was an advancement if you ask me! Perhaps some would consider my nose tap contact training method and the many “msg” versions of it (Wendy Pape coined the msg phrase years ago when teaching her own “modified Susan Garrett”  contact method). CRCD and other computer programs for planning courses and sequences have made life easier for a lot of us as have blogs, Clean Run magazine and the multitude of internet information groups that are available today.  I would hope that one day the 2×2 method of weave pole training would also be included in this list as well.  Then I started thinking about a list of things that have yet to be discovered to make our agility dogs more successful? What about a safe, clean, inexpensive, indoor running surface. Or a safe, breakaway tire (possibly one of the new magnetic tire designs???). Or what about about jump heights that can be changed remotely with the flick of a switch or a collapsable chute material that dogs never get tangled in. A killer revolution would be if someone could come up with a fool proof way of teaching a reliable running contact. Man would that be cool, unlikely but way cool. Any others you guys can think of?

Continuing with Life’s Processes

I am continuing the topic I started yesterday, describing how I have emotionally coped with the advancing progression of my dogs lives.

Denial and Grieving. The day after losing Stoni I had to leave for 3 weeks of teaching in Australia. Stoni had been sick for over a year. We all knew she was living on borrowed time, so her death was not a shock, you would have thought I would have been better prepared. I thought it was a perfect scenario for me, as I was getting on a plane, I could leave all of the memories of giving her those Sub-Q fluids, of the big adventures and come back and just start my life from that point. Not so. Once I settled down for my 26 hour journey, I started sobbing. Poor guy next to me on the plane. I thought to myself, this is not going to work, I need to be happy to be an effective seminar presenter. I got the idea to pretend Stoni was still at home with John. Remember how I said I can visualize myself anywhere?  Well, here is where this came in very handy. I got to Australia and had blocked the event, entirely from my mind. I didn’t send out the email announcing Stoni’s passing, even Greg and Laura Derrett, who are my good friends and who were staying in the same house with me in Australia,  didn’t know. I would call home and ask John how everyone was and, although he was concerned for my mental well being, he played along for me.  That period of denial helped me a lot. Part way through the month in Australia I was able to come clean. I wrote the email about losing Stoni and thought that was the end of it. It wasn’t. I got back home and all the memories were stirred up, it was as if the month away hadn’t happened. I had to start to grieve all over again once I was home with all my memories of Stoni. Unfortunately my relationship with Buzz and DeCaff really suffered during the following few months. Twister and Encore, my other two remaining dogs, were always very good with Stoni as she as grew older and weaker. Twister would clean her eyes and Encore, even though a puppy, was very respectful and often would curl up on the same bed with Stoni. Buzz and DeCaff took a far more feral approach and would growl at her if she came near them, it was as if the pack instinct to remove the weak, older dog had kicked in and they treated Stoni as if she had no right to stay. As guilty as I felt for it, I held that against those two when Stoni was gone. For the next  two months I wouldn’t train either of them. In April of that year I went to a big USDAA event in Myrtle Beach and not surprisingly my performance with those two dogs was terrible. I had to heal my relationship with my dogs. I did it by bringing them down to my work out room in the morning and just gave them treats for staying on their beds while I worked out. From there I gradually was able  to do more  with each of them and eventually we were once back to our normal training routine.

Recovery. Guilt really is a waste of emotion. I think it is normal to ignore one (or more) of your dogs when you lose another that was so special to you. It doesn’t make the other dogs any less special, just not as special at that moment in time. I think my recovery would have been faster if I had allowed myself to feel the way I did and not judge myself for it. DeCaff and Buzz forgave me, I just had a harder time forgiving myself. Forget guilt and do what you can, your dogs will appreciate any amount of time you can give them and when you are ready they will be waiting to start back to your training once again. When I lost Speki it was a sudden accident, with no time to prepare. Shelby and Stoni were there and saw Speki’s lifeless body and my outpour of emotion. Stoni had difficulty with it and for the next few weeks any time I would cry, she would run and hide. Shelby, on the other hand , was amazing. This will be hard for you to believe but any time during that period I cried, she would go over to my dog training bag and sit pretty beside the utility articles,  holding that position for an hour if it took me that long to get up of the couch. That is not a lie or even an exaggeration, she really did that. She had never done it before and never did it after those few weeks of me grieving.

Stoni, Shelby and Twister on a Christmas card in the mid 90's (no this was not photoshopped:)).

I know people that lose a dog and have to remove all of the pictures of that dog from their home, for at least for a year or two. For me it is opposite. I make sure I have a picture somewhere I will see  everyday. Seeing pictures of the dog never makes me sad, quiet the opposite, it always makes me smile. I think once again, you need to follow your heart and do what is right for you. When I lost Twister (less than a year ago) I was so grateful to have my puppy Feature. Feature is comedian and you can not be sad for one minute with her in your presence. I know that is a big part of the reason why I had to go all the way to England to get her. Another thing that has really helped in my recovery from the grief of losing a dog, is something that was recommended to me by Jo Sermon. She suggested I start a journal. What I did was to write only one line that would remind me of a funny story with that dog. I love to look over my journal, it really makes laugh, I mean belly laugh when the memories of those funny stories come back. Who knows, maybe one day it may turn into a book, one that has nothing to do with training, but everything to do with joy. For now it is a great reminder of what awesome dogs I have been blessed with and how they have enriched my life so very much.

Today I am grateful for Speki, Shelby, Stoni and Twister, my four, now passed, great teachers that have all left their mark not only on my abilities, but also my heart.

“I think God will have prepared everything for our perfect happiness. If it takes my dog being there in Heaven, I believe he’ll be there.”  ~Rev. Billy Graham

Lessons in Life’s Processes . . . get the kleenex.

A friend of mine is facing the loss of a dog that, over the years, has become part of her identity. The dog is not particularly old, not that it would make the loss any more bearable if she were.  Although the passing of a much loved family pet is always difficult, I believe the loss of a dog that was once your agility partner is far more devastating.  This has nothing to do with the amount of winning, or the number of titles, or the number of world championships you may have participated in together. It  has to do with the oneness you develop with that dog on the agility field. You are a team. The time and dedication invested in a relationship to reach that degree of unity only helps to fuel the burning pain of loss, as your time together draws to a close. I think it may be one of the first question I will ask my maker when my time comes “why did our dogs have to grow old so fast?”  

I remember when Shelby (my first agility dog 1988-2004) was about 5-6 years old,

Ten year old Shelby with her most treasure reward, a rock.

someone tried to convince me to convert to feeding my dogs raw, telling me they would live to be much older. I recall thinking, well if they live to 12 or 13, that would have been a full life and it would be ok to say to good bye at that time. Hmm, how my feelings changed when I had my first dog live to be 12 or 13, I was in no way ready to say good bye.  As much as I adore my agility dogs and get so much from the experience of training and competing with them, that relationship goes into a completely different dimension once the dog retires. I look at my dog’s geriatric years not with sadness, reflecting back on their glories of yesterday, but rather with great amusement as the dogs disclose a new side of themselves to me. And yes, I now do feed raw today, if I can squeeze out even one more month of productive life for my dogs, it would have been worth it to me.  

At my friends request, over the next two days I will attempt to describe how I have coped with the transitions that I have experienced as my own dogs advance through life’s processes.

 

The Big Adventure Phase.  I have a good friend, Dr. Leslie Woodcock, who coincidently owns the Vet clinic with the pool my dogs love so much. Leslie and I have been friends for more than 20 years. She is not a dog trainer by ANY stretch of the imagination, far from it, she is a push over, and her dogs know it. What Leslie has, is great insight into, not only her passion of canine sports re-hab, but also into canine geriatrics. She is the last to give up on a dog. Leslie gave me this great tip when Shelby had to retire due to geriatric vestibular disorder (she was 12 and still competing at the time).  I believe this simple little thing has not only extended my dogs lives, but also improved the quality of their geriatric days unbelievably. Leslie said, “don’t forget to make her feel special everyday, or whenever you can.” That advise started the first of hundreds of “Big Adventure Trips” for my retired dogs. It could be a trip to the mail box in the car, or a walk with just the two of us, or hanging out with me while I set up a course for class. As the dogs got really old the trips got much shorter of course, they were nothing more than a walk outside around the house or possibly shortened to just a walk around the car. With Twister (1992 -2008 ) I would

Little 4 kg Twister's amazing running A Frame.

 

 

 

 sometimes put her on the last slat of the dog walk and tell her “go!”  As she leapt off I would announce her as the “Champion of the WORLD!” to which she would bounce off my leg, barking at me in agreement. It doesn’t matter what the big adventure is, they all start the same, I tell the dog “ok special girl, its big-’venture time!” It doesn’t take long, possibly on a few minutes, but it usually involves a few doggie treats and me telling them stories of their brilliance.

The Borrowed Time Phase  When Stoni (1990 -2005) was 12 1/2 I had 3 different veterinarians tell me she wouldn’t live out the month. Her kidneys had crashed and she had stopped eating. I found a holistic vet who gave me the glimmer of hope I needed. He thought he could help, if I could get her to eat. At his suggestion, I made a paste of pre-digested whey protein and coconut butter and every 2 hours I would smear it on her upper lip. Stoni would lick off the paste, with great annoyance at me for disturbing her rest. Within 3 days she was eating again, This moved us into the “borrowed-time” phase of life with Stoni. For the next year or so John, (or I) gave her sub-Q fluids twice a day. Stoni would always wagged her tail and never complained about all the needles. The borrowed time phase is an unknown time frame, so you end up observing little details about your dog that may have passed you by before. I remember one morning, John and I were eating breakfast and Stoni purposefully got out of her bed and walked over to where Encore (who was four or five months old at the time) was playing. Stoni walked over and stuck her nose into the puppy’s ear. There they both stood motionless for a few moments.  I nudged John and whispered, look she is telling the puppy all of her secrets! It is easy to be sad during this phase but really it is

One of my all-time favourite pictures with puppy Encore & stately Stoni.I like to call it "The Two Legends"

 a time to enjoy every extra moment you are squeezing out together. During the fall of 2004 we were at the USDAA nationals in Phoenix during Stoni’s borrowed time phase. She decided she wanted to go and say hello, and as it was, goodbye, to all of her agility friends. It was a long walk from the RV’s to the ring, but that was where she determinedly dragged me. It is still a great memory for me. Stoni wagged her whole body as she recognized people she had known over the years and who also were fan’s of hers. I will always feel gratitude to the people around the ring that day that made Stoni feel so special.  Please when you see an older dog,  take the time to acknowledge him, I can’t describe the difference it makes to the spring in the step of that dog. 

My parents would give up on an old dog with the first major health issue that cost any amount of money, so the borrowed time phase would be a short one. With so many kids to feed, I can see how that may have been necessary. For some of us, doing what we can for our older dogs comes without hesitation. Either way, I think it is important not to judge others or ourselves when these decisions have to be made, for the decision itself is part of our own unique journey.  Regardless of what you decide, allow your dog to have dignity and do not draw this stage out longer than gives your companion quality of life.  

Giving me “the sign”   I have found that each one of my dogs have let me know when it was their time to go. As much of a cliché as that may be, it is so true. Each dog has given me clear signs when they had shared all of the lessons that they were intended to bring to me. With Stoni, it was February 13th 2005. I pulled out my suitcase to start my packing for a series of camps Greg Derrett & I were teaching in Australia.  Stoni, who had been her normal bright-eyed self that day, came in and sniffed the inside of my suitcase.  We were alone in the bedroom when I said to her ”this is a really long trip my girl, da mama will be gone for 28 sleeps.”  That night John commented he thought Stoni was a bit dull, not herself. At 5 AM the next morning, she had her first seizure. I sat with her until 8 AM when I called my vet, as I knew Stoni was telling me that 28 sleeps was too many for her to wait for me this time.  She had one more seizure before my vet arrived at our home to help her leave us peacefully.  That was almost 3 years ago and the tears are just streaming down my face tonight as I write these words. It is fitting Stoni picked Valentines Day to say goodbye, since she will always own such a big part of my heart. 

Burial or cremation? Again I think this is a direction your heart will decide for you. When I lost Shelby I wrapped her up in one of my red USDAA National Grand

Sprinkling Stoni & Twisters ashes into the floor of our new house last fall.

 Prix finalist shirts and put her in a box that John build, with a rock of course (her favourite motivator of all time). We buried her behind the house, at the top of a hill overlooking a treed area where the squirrels always hang out. I have a stone marking her grave and every time I walk my dogs, I say good morning to her. With Stoni and Twister I felt the need to have each of them cremated. I didn’t know what to do with their ashes at first, but it recently hit me.  John and I are having a new house built, the floors are concrete throughout (so we can have radiant heat put inside– for the dogs of course:)). I decided I would mix Stoni and Twisters ashes together and sprinkle them in the main living areas of our new house. So they are in the kitchen, the great room, the master bedroom and my office and will always be a part of my life, as I have no intentions of ever moving from this Shangri-La we call home.

I think that may be enough emotion for all of us for one day. I will finish up with this post tomorrow.  Today I am grateful for all of the wonderful “Borrow Time” experiences I have shared with Shelby, Stoni and Twister.

2×2 Weave Pole Training with a Food Only Motivated Dog

Now that there are so many of you excelling with the 2×2 process I thought I would answer a few questions that you have sent in about training dogs that are not toy motivated. First of all yes, this method works well with all dogs, regardless of what motivates them! As I outlined in my 2×2 Weave Pole Training DVD, the key to success (which really is the key to success with all dog training) is the transfer of value. You must start with a motivator for which your dog has an intensive drive and, by applying the laws of how dogs learn, you will transfer the value of that reward into the weave pole entry.  If problems arise while using this method, it is more than likely due to the technique being altered from what is outlined in the DVD.

Now I would like to address the topic of value. Ideally you are starting with high value food and moving to a high value toy when you train. However I recognize that not all dogs have the same high value for toys that they do for food. My personal advise is to work at this, do not allow food to overtake the toy drive. I have written some suggestions below that should help you get started. We get tug-drive with the all of dogs at our school, so it IS possible regardless of what breed of dog you own. Having said that, I realize some of you have what you have right now and my goal here isn’t to source out the reason why your dog isn’t tugging, but to suggest solutions to your current situation so you can still train brilliant weave poles.

I have had people write in to say they want to use a Manners Minder or Treat and Train for their 2×2 weave pole training. I would caution you against doing this.  It is not that I do not like the product, quite the opposite, we have two of them at the school and do find them very useful for various applications. My caveat goes back to what I said to start this blog. The 2×2 works incredibly well and fast if you apply good dog training fundamentals.  You can do this with a Manners Minder BUT it will A) will take you longer as you will have to fade out the massive lure of the MM and B) will require a greater knowledge of dog training as  you have a high potential for problems to crop up that you may not notice.  The problems will arise because the dog is always focused on the value.

The big advantage of the MM is that you will have a well established reward line that does not depend upon your ability to throw. However, there is a good chance that you will not get the “transfer of value” that you would if you were throwing the reward as the MM is just a big ole lure isn’t it? It is similar to putting a cookie on a target plate at the end of a contact obstacle. The dog rarely develops the drive for end position, only for the plate. Once the plate goes, often times the understanding of end position goes with it, at the very least it is weakened by the removal.  I recognize this isn’t exactly the same as a MM as you can remotely control the distribution of the treat, but it is similar enough to cause issues. The dog’s attention will be focused on the “value” the MM rather than his job of finding his entry.

The other issue I have with the MM is that there will be a conditioned reinforcer built in. I  stated on the DVD the problems that may develop if you use a clicker during the training of the 2×2. Both the marker tone when you hit the remote and the delayed sound of the drum rotating to spit out a cookie become conditioned reinforcers to your dog and you may unwittingly be rewarding things you don’t intend to when using one.

Is it possible to use the MM and have great success with the 2×2? Yes of course it is, but I think there is an equal chance for disaster. Some of you may try and have great success. Others may end up with a poor behaviour in the poles and a lack of understanding of entries. My warning is if this is you, please do not blame the 2×2 method as it is not the method’s fault but rather your own alteration to the process that caused your issue.

So for those of you that want to use food only in your 2×2 training I am going to lay out  a couple of suggestions. First of all please do not just throw chunks of food. Yes, I suggest using food for the first 2 or 3 sessions on the DVD, but then I transferred to a toy. If you are not moving on to a toy,  move on to a toy you can stuff with food. There are a few reasons I am not a fan of just throwing cookies throughout all of the stages of your 2×2 training. Number one, it will be difficult for your dog to see the treat so he will likely slow down to make sure he can track it. With this will often come sniffing. Watch your dog, is that how you want him weaving when he has completed his training? Of course not. Your dog should really be driving hard to the poles within the first few sessions of 2×2 training.  Secondly, you can not throw a piece of food very far, especially if you are training a mini dog, which so often are the dogs that have been trained with food alone. With little guys we have to use little bitty piece of food, that will be difficult to see and limited in how far you can throw. All of this means you will once again be staying close to the poles, losing that great independence we want from the 2×2 trained dog. In addition, you will not be able to throw a small morsel of food with any degree of accuracy, so your reward line will not be as well defined. Rather than just pitching chunks of food, I strongly encourage you all to get yourself toy that you can stuff with food. When using one please do not be one of those people that throw the toy, run out pick it up yourself and give your dog a treat from your pocket. OUCH! Where is the value there? The goal when using these toys is to get a transfer of value from the food to the toy. Do not allow yourself to be shaped by your dog. Picture yourself in the middle of one of those Gary Lawson’s Far Side Cartoons. Your dogs are hanging out in the yard before training and one laughs and says to the other “yeah, just watch how I get her to not only throw the toy but bring it back for me before I get my treat! How much fun is that?”  So if you are currently stuck in your own animated toy-retrieval hell, get out! One of the best food-toys on the market to start a dog that is truly unmotivated by toys is the “Tug it”

 toy.  I am a big fan of this food transition toy.  The Tug-It is an awesome way to move away from exclusively using food, to incorporating a toy in your training. Even if you never make the transition, you can just use Tug-it stuffed with food for all of your regular training. The toy is very durable with large meshing that food can squish out of into the dog’s mouth. The starter version (pictured here) has a wider mesh allowing for more food to escape from the toy with each bite your dog takes. You can transition down to the smaller holed mesh in the process of creating a dog that will work for both food and toys. If you are using the Tug-it for the first time PLEASE DON’T TRY TO USE IT IN YOUR WEAVE POLE TRAINING! Take a week to build the value for toy. Your goal is to get the transfer of value from the food to the toy prior to using it in any  training.  Once you have that, you can easily transfer the value of the toy into your work (such as weave poles). Start with really gooey food like liverwurst or something similar that the dog will immediately drive towards, and will get reinforcement from, the moment he bites into it. One of my students uses raw ‘guts’ (liver, kidney etc)–it is really gross, but I must admit, the dogs’ go crazy for it (note: if using raw organ meat in your training be certain to have disinfecting wet wipes with you and don’t train indoors on surfaces that can’t be disinfected afterwards).  To start, attach the Tug-It to your leash and drag it around on the floor until your dog pounces on it to hold it still. Don’t do too much ‘teasing’ with the toy, allow the dog to learn how reinforcing it can be to chop down on the new toy. Allow the game to go on only for a minute or so. Put the toy away and try a few hours later. Stop with the dog wanting more. Do not make the mistake of having your session go so long that you end up stopping after the dog’s interest starts to wain. Be disciplined about this, less really is more when teaching drive for a toy.  The manufacturer of the Tug-It has a great video clip to show you how to easily make the transition from the Tug-It to tugging on a regular tug-toy (for those of viewing this at work the link is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dD8p8-XkdLg)   Once the dog is showing drive for the Tug-it, you can move to stuffing it with a less messy treat  like more traditional dog treats or cheese or meat.  If you want to create toy drive the key is to transition. Do not leave the dog obsessing about the food at the early stage or you will be stuck using those gross, gooey treats forever! Trust me, if you don’t shape your dog your dog will shape you!  If you really don’t care about creating toy drive (seems a bit strange to me) then can just use your Tug-It for your 2×2 training with the food in it, no problem with that at all. You may need to weight it down though, with something such as a small hard rubber toy, in order to get the Tug-it to throw a long distance with good accuracy. Now here is the really good news, I am so crazy about the “Tug It” I have arranged to make it very easy for all of my blog readers to own one (or a set) and get a discount at the same time!  You can click here to go to the creator’s website and order the product, once you have put in your address etc there is a spot where you can put in a “DISCOUNT CODE”  Your promotional code will be the word TUGSY put it in and receive 10% off the purchase price. So do it now, spend a week building high value for the Tug-it, then get to you weave pole training. Don’t forget to report back on how your 2×2 training with your Tug-It has progressed.

Today I am grateful for a warm place to train on a very cold day in Canada.

Doggie Diction

 I talk to me dogs. I don’t mean I talk to my dogs the way normal people do, saying things like – ”yeah boy, get the stick”. I mean I talk to them like I expect, at any moment, they are about to answer back. I don’t talk this way all the time, but for important things I do. Look, the entire world knows that dogs can’t understand conversations and only know the cues we teach them or learn from the tone of voice that we use with them right? Of course I am right. But what if, even it is just one chance in a trillion, that everyone is wrong. What if all along they could understand every word that came out of our mouths? Wouldn’t you feel silly in the end if you knew you could have just said “Look, it is numbers 1 through 20, follow my lead, hit all the yellow zones and enter the poles with the first one on your left!”  All that training and frustration for nothing! Okay maybe not, but I do talk to my dogs anyway. Every time I pack my suitcase to go to teach a seminar somewhere I, tell all the dogs that are not coming with me how many nights I would be gone. I would say something like  “okay, this trip will be just three sleeps then da mama will be back home.”  John thinks I am certifiable, but he loves me anyway.

When I train my dogs I talk to them in a different way. I have so much fun and so do the dogs. I think if you could rank the amount of enjoyment you got out of a training session from 1 -10 and based it on how many times you were happy or proud and how many times your dog appeared to be happy or proud (if that is possible) and you set goals for your training not so much upon “teaching a dogwalk” but rather, hitting an 8 or higher on the quality-of-fun-for-training scale, you possibly would end up with the best trained dog you have ever owned. I think that last sentence could very well be the longest sentence I have ever written in a blog. Heck, it may be up there for the longest one ever used in any blog in the history of the world!  Anyway, there are those that train here at Say Yes that end up picking up some of our expressions and the intonations in which we speak to our dogs. Things like “good girlie, whirlie” or “to da mama” or “smack da baby”  amoungst many weird others.  If you have seen my DVD’s you know what I am talking about. It is contagious, we have so much fun with our dogs, so it is enviable that others will pick up on the way we play and the things that come out of our mouths. It is a crack up.

When I really want to get one of my dogs going, (which I will admit gets John going in a different direction if I do this in the house) I tell one of my dogs,

The dawning of Encore's jolly ball obsession at 7 week of age.

“co’mere, mama gonna talk diry to you.”  So lets say it is Encore, I get her close to me then I whisper things like: “wally” which is dog-talk for her jolly-ball–in Encore’s opinion the most amazing toy on the planet. Or I may tell her “buffy”  which is dog-talk for her ball-with-feet--2nd place to the wally. Or “frisser” which of course refers to her frisbee– which is very distant, a long distance away  from having the value of either the buffy or the wally. The expression “go-for-a _____”  is another guaranteed over-the-top-reaction from the dog. You can fill in the blank here, it could be: “swim” or “run” or “walk” it really doesn’t matter for the  “go-for-a” is all the dog ever needs to hear to know ’she wants in!’ “Swimming” is a great one to get the head tilt thing working and “weavers” is easily her favourite agility obstacle “the daddy”   is her favourite person on the planet (next to me, I would like to think). All this is like doggie telephone porn to them. It gets the dog so worked up, really I only do it like once a year but it makes me laugh so much.

I think talking dirty to your dogs is fun, but make sure you don’t abuse the privilege or you will lose the impact. If you have words you know will crank your dog up you can then use them in your training to produce a ton of drive when you need it.  I have a game called the “smoke ya” game that is described in Shaping Success. Often, before I start this game of chase I will take a long deep inhalation.  That intake of breath soon becomes a cue to my dogs that something very fast and very fun is about to start. Once you have these triggers you can use them for key moments. For example I will use one for DeCaff at the start line to get more drive in an important class. I will avoid them with dogs like Encore or Buzzy who tend to get “too over-the-top”  Try it with your own dog. You will need at least a week or two of “planting” the seed of anticipation before you can uncork it to get the dog jazzed up. But it really does work!

Today I am grateful for a much needed Saturday off, giving me a chance to get caught up on my life at home!

More About Me Than Anyone Really Needs to Know

This is a great read by a seven your old kid, really you have to check it out. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99478226  In it he says “I believe everyone is weird in their own way.” I am about to prove it. For a light-hearted change of pace I thought I would tell you alot of weird (and maybe some not so weirdl) things about myself.

I like to think of myself as gracious and approachable to everyone.  I am quick to forgive and pretty much trust everyone I meet (much to John’s great chagrin). I follow Zig Zigler’s philosophy that it is better to trust everyone and be disappointed every now and again than to live your life in suspicion of everyone you meet.  I love to laugh out loud and to make people laugh out loud, I like spicy food and although I am a bit of a tough nut, who doesn’t do well with people that cry, I am a true romantic at heart.

My favorite movies include happy romantics like: As Good As It Gets, Pride & Prejudice, Shadowlands, Regarding Henry and  The American President but I also love the Shawshank Redemption, the Thomas Crowne Affair and Rainman.  I am not a fan of sci-fi (I think John and I are two of the only people on the planet that have never seen a single Star Wars or Star Trek movie) although I did enjoy ET but really, who didn’t?  I am not much of a reader, but always have a book on the go (right now it is “Winning Every Day” by Lou Holtz).  Although I don’t get much time for TV,  I was hooked on the original CSI (until Sara and Grissom left) and love to watch NFL football. I go to church any weekend I may be at home and love to cook (although I am a vegan). 

All I need to add now is I love long walks on the beach and candle-lit dinners and I would have written the perfect singles ad. No, I am not single. John and I have been together for 12 years.

John and I vacationing in England.

I met him while showing dogs, he was an obedience judge. It took me a year or two of chasing to convince him I was the best thing that ever happened to him:).  I used to have quite the off-colour-potty-mouth but saw the unsavoriness for myself after listening to two other agility instructors swearing like truckers at a dinner two years ago. Although I try not judge others for their choice of diction,  I chose to change mine, and did so overnight. 

I can be short-tempered, but rarely with my dogs, funny how that happens. I have all the patience in the world for those that are learning, and far less for those that blame their dog for their lack of success. I don’t drink soft drinks and haven’t had any form of caffeine in over 20 years. I can be a pretty wound up personality, so to add caffeine into the mix was never a pretty sight (water, herbal tea and beer are pretty much the only fluids I drink). I am a bit of a health nut and try not to eat white (bread, flour, sugar)  or anything with artificial sweeteners.

I avoid using a microwave or eating pre-packaged frozen foods whenever I can. I have a sweet tooth but can not have anything with chocolate in it. I love to work out, however lately I have fallen out of rhythm with my morning ritual. I am very much a morning person, 5-5:30 am is my time of the day.

I sometimes get myself in trouble by speaking my mind. Occasionally the filter between my brain and my mouth doesn’t work as well as it should and I feel the need to speak out, especially if I think there has been an injustice done to someone. If I am intolerant of anything, it would be that of dishonesty, prejudice and hypocrisy.

I love to observe people, to see if they treat a waitress or chamber maid with the same respect they treat me or someone they think is “worthy of their respect.” I am a person of few close friends rather than many causal ones. Although I love to entertain, and we often have people stay at our home for camps, reunions, you name it,  John and I are private people that rarely go out anywhere when we get time at home.

My favourite colour is green, but I rarely wear it and all my life I have had an obsession with the number 35. I have no idea when it started but it has been with me since I was a kid. I am not a particular superstitious person, but that number follows me everywhere. I wore number 35 in hockey when I was young and later in basketball as well. I paid $135,000 for the first house I ever bought. I started dating John when I was 35 and won my first USDAA GP Nationals when I was 35. I could go on, but then I fear you would run like frightened children the next time you saw me.

I have an eclectic taste in music. My ipod includes everything from HipHop to Classical to Christian Rock to Country to Rap and most everything in between. I am obsessive about music. If I like a song I can put it on repeat and let the same song play for 8 or 9 hours and I have done so on more than one occasion. 

I constantly remind myself of something Greg Louganis told me years ago,”Where ever I go, I want to leave that place a bit better than before I came”. I take this to heart, even when we stop at a truck stop to refuel the RV, so while I am picking up after my dogs, I will pick up one extra piece of trash. I love puppies, nothing makes me laugh out loud as much as a puppy. I don’t understand how people can tell me they just ‘tolerate’ their puppies and can’t wait until they grow up.  I have a tatoo, it is of Winnie-the-Pooh giving Piglet a hug. I will leave it up to your imagination to figure out exactly where that tatoo is located.

I am dyslexic, although it wasn’t diagnosed until I was in university. I also have two brothers who are as well. As a kid I was a voracious reader. I would go through a Nancy Drew novel every week. The Mystery of the 99 Steps was the bomb man!  When I was 10 or 11 years old I started to really struggle with my reading. Within a few minutes of starting to read a line, each word would grow on the page, right before my eyes, so that one word filled the entire page. It would be like a switch would go off in my head and the words would start growing. It made it difficult to read, as I had to do it one word at a time, waiting for that word to get smaller before I could see the next one. My mother took me to a ophthalmologist and I will never forget that day. He turned on the lights, when he was finished his exam, brought his chair very close, looked me in the eye, put his hand on my shoulder and said “Susan, what would you say if I told you there was nothing wrong with your EYES?”  The implication was that perhaps I was not right in the head and I was just making up the whole “growing words story”. That was the last time I spoke about my reading issue until I was in university when I saw an episode of  60 minutes (or one of those news-magazine shows) on dyslexia. There they talked about laying a coloured film  over what you were reading to stop the words from growing.  For me the colour that worked best was yellow. For the rest of my university days every book I read, I did with a yellow film over it. When I graduated I swore I would never read another book and I never did until Greg Louganis asked me to read his autobiography about ten years ago. That is what started me reading again, funny enough, the words now rarely

Christmas dinner at the Garrett household, circa 1970's. (I think I took the picture).

 grow. Rather than reading,  I was always good at observing people and mimicking what they did. I am the 7th child in my family (I have one brother and one sister that are younger). My brother Brent, who is four years older than I, is mentally handicapped as a result of a childhood accident. He is the next oldest to me in my family.  When he was eight years old,  my brothers took him onto the boulevard in the front of our house to teach him to ride a two-wheeler bike. I was the youngest at the time and don’t really remember much of this story but have heard my brother repeat it many times since.  After a hour or so of trying to teach Brent to ride the bike they gave up and were heading back to the house when I piped up that I wanted a turn. They all laughed at me and told me I was too little. I would not accept that and within minutes I was riding that bike.

When I was eight years old,  my brother Steve (the next oldest to Brent) was 13 and fell and broke his right arm on the last day of school. He was in a cast all summer and had to try and write with his left hand. He was terrible at it and I remember thinking I could do better. So I started to practice, you know, just in case I broke my arm:). I would write with my left hand so much I became pretty good at it. Then I saw comedian Jonathan Winters on the Johnny Carson show writing two different thoughts one with each hand at the same time. I had a new challenge but alas, I could never conquer that one.  

I have always loved sports and played in the Ontario Winter Games three times and a teenager. When I play sports I mixed up my hand choices as I played. I shot hockey left handed but golfed right handed. I throw a baseball with my right hand but kick a soccer ball with my left foot.  

Even though neither one of my parents had more than a high school diploma, my mother insisted that each of us go to university. However with 9 of us, we had to finance it ourselves. I went away to school and paid my own way through four years, by milking cows and not living beyond my means. I just love cows, they really crack me up. I was determined back then, that cows were going to be a part of my livelihood. However a firmer hand changed the course of my life’s passion as I developed a violent allergy to cows.

I dabbled in horses (showed up to Medium 1 Dressage) before I turned back to dogs (I used to help my sister in the conformation ring as a kid). I am absent-minded to a fault, if that is possible, John compares my memory to a fart in a colander. One of my greatest attributes is my ability to visualize things. I can put myself anywhere, even places I have never been, especially if I can see pictures of that place. Hence, I have no problem visualizing runs before I run them. However I absolutely can not visualize things as you describe them to me with spoken word alone,  but strangely enough, can do it if you make hand gestures or motion a line on the palm of your hand to demonstrate what you mean. So if you are on the phone describing an agility run to me, telling me what obstacles were where—just know I will be somewhere else mindlessly agreeing with you until you are finished, as I can not imagine spoke descriptions, no matter how hard I try. Strange eh?

I have a long list of mentors; those I know personally, those I have met only once and some that I have never met. Perhaps that will be another blog posting.

There you have it.  I have no idea why I wrote it, but I know there is a reason somewhere, perhaps one of you has some weird psych paper that is due next week.

Today I am grateful for potpourri of experiences that have uniquely allowed me to become me.

 

 

Perspective

Once I finished writing the following post, I really questioned whether  I should put it up on my blog. It didn’t feel as light-hearted or uplifting as others I have written. I decided to let it go because there are a few lessons that I have learned that I would like to share. Perhaps they may help any of you that are currently struggling with transitions in your life. So here goes . . .

While trialing away from home these past few weeks a couple of incidents made me think of something “Karen” wrote on my blog. It was in her response to my question: “what separates you from the best agility competitors in the world.”  Within Karen’s thoughtful reply was this sentiment:

Then again, I’d need one more thing…the desire to BE the best-of-the-best.  While I admire those who are at the top of their game, I could not imagine living in a fishbowl in which your every move is scrutinized.  And God forbid if the “top” handlers make a mistake!

This got me thinking about the label of “top-handler.”  I remember teaching at  one of those Clean Run sponsored mega-camps many years ago. Here a mass of “top handlers” where assembled to teach in one camp. I was exercising my dog outside when I overheard one novice-level student compliment another person on what a lovely  dog she had. Now, unbeknownst to this novice student was the fact she was addressing a camp instructor, one of the so-called “whos-who!”  The instructor turned to her and acidly questioned; “Don’t you know who I am? Don’t you know who this dog is?” In the process, I am certain, she must have made this student regret her attempt to compliment another human being that day.  

True, some of us do live in a fish bowl, but we need to remember it is only a small fish bowl in the big ocean of life’s accomplishments. We are not Mother Teresa, nor are we racing each other for a cure for cancer. It is dog agility. As important as it is to each of us at this moment, it still remains a hobby. Yes it is true, this hobby has turned into a wonderful career for some of us, but for me, the reason I compete remains the same. I love my dogs, I love to see them be excited by the chance to do something with me and I love to bring out the best in them. After years out of the veterinary pharmaceutical sales trade, I still have head-hunters phone me with offers to go back in the business and trust me, I would do it in a heart beat, if my motivation for dog training ever changed.

I think for some people that make the jump from an agility “wannabe” to an agility “look-at-me” somewhere in this transition things do change. Sadly that is often when dogs, ring stewards and other competitors get looked at with judgement rather than acceptance. It is here where more objectionable training techniques, that previously would have never been considered, are now routine, all born out of a disparate quest to beat another competitor with a great dog.  Friends are “out grown” in a insatiable hunger to move upward and hang with people that support these new training views.

I was recently sent a insightful piece of writing by Maya Angelou. Maya was writing about negative thinking people whom she referred to as “haters”.  As strong as that word is, it made what she was saying all the more powerful. In her piece Maya wrote:

“When you make your mark,  you will always attract some haters…”  

 “The problem I have with haters is that they see my glory,  but they don’t know my story…” 

 and 

“If the grass  looks  greener on the other side of the fence,  you can rest assured that the water bill is higher there too! “

I think life in the fishbowl is exactly as you would have it be. If it causes you anxiety, stress or embarrassment, I am sure on some level, it is where you want to be. It doesn’t need to be a top-handler -fishbowl either. It is no different that those of you that are amongst the “best” at anything; the top realtor, the best local quilter, a national’s agility judge, the parent with the best hitting little leaguer. There are lessons to be learned on the way up and and revelations about people on the journey. There is a great quote that  “Sport doesn’t build character, it exposes it.”  In the past few years there has developed an unfortunate “us against them” mentality in agility as people at or near the top of agility have chosen to follow one handling system over another. There has been some pretty blatant ridiculing (calling those of us that choose to follow the GD handling system “kool-aid drinkers,” not being the least of it.)  During my recent trialing in Florida people actually laughed out loud, I mean really loud and pointedly long, when Encore and I weren’t on the same the same handling page and we had a mis-direction. To find that much joy in someone else’s struggles, is loathing on a level I hope I never feel personally for anyone. 

I consider myself to be a good dog trainer in a world of many other exceptionally talented dog trainers. Young Gabreille and Tori are perfect examples of the existence of many others around us that possess great talent to train dogs. These two young girls are in a fishbowl of their own right now but the view from the outside looking in is not quiet as clear yet. With more success will come more viewers and more who will judge. Let them look girls, while you continue to be brilliant, never try to be perfect, only do what is best for you and your dog. While spending time in my fishbowl I try to put a positive spin on anyone that openly sit in judgement of me. Seeing their actions, immediately makes me think of gratitude.  I am grateful for those that truly care about me, who are genuine in their delight of my successes, who support my dog training and rally around me when I fail– making it easier to fail once more and to learn from the experience. We all will fail occasionally and you need to not let those who will belly-laugh at you for doing so, alter your enthusiasm to allow yourself to opening fail once more. I believe I have won as much as I have in agility because I am not afraid to fail, I don’t get particularly nervous before any run because I am confident I am living out God’s plan for my life. A statement like that may make some of you uncomfortable, but I would hope you all have a higher power that gives you the peace that I have knowing He guides me in every aspect of my life. Our life’s plan includes dealings with the few morons out there as well as our enjoying the highs and yes enduring our tragedies too. In September 2005  I was at an USDAA Regional event in Dallas, Texas. I was having a great weekend. It was Saturday night and I was excited about the next day as Encore’s Dam team was in first place heading into the final round and I had qualified both her and DeCaff for the finals of the Grand Prix, with an automatic bye into the finals at stake.  Then, after dinner that night, my brother called to tell me that my father had been killed in a car accident. My priority was to get home to my family as quickly as possible. The thought of agility was the furtherest thing from my mind. It is easy to let yourself forget, but important to make yourself remember, that the balance of world peace does not depend upon the outcome of your next agility run.  I, like any of you I would imagine,  am far from perfect.  I get irrationally irritated at times. Just this past weekend I snapped at a ring stewart as I was trying to juggle my two dogs running in both rings at the same time.  I felt like a schmuck right afterwards and I am glad I felt that way. Feeling that way makes me more accountable to people around me. Rather that reacting, I continue to try to think of gratitude. Gratitude always makes me feel good and helps me to see what a waste of time and emotion it is to allow yourself to be irritated by the actions of others.

Beautiful shot taken at by the photographer at the trial in Orlando. (c) 2009 Pix 'n Pages

Today I am grateful to the vast majority of people out there that can embrace the triumphs of others. Some of you, as Karen suggested,  may just admire others achievements as some unattainable accomplishment that you have no desire to try to match.  Others may be like me, you may be watching, but at the same time planning to take up the challenge to push the limits yourself, hoping to exceed all of your expectations in the process. Hopefully though, regardless of how competitive you may be, you can still respectfully acknowledge the mastery of that which you witness, regardless of who the conquerer is, or which side of the sandbox they normally play in.

Running the “baby” dog

Well Feature and I had a chance to get to know each other better as a dog and handler team while we were in Florida. First of all, we worked together at camp for three days and then we had two weekends of trialing. I have to say bringing out a new dog is one of the few times I still get nervous in agility anymore. I think it is the unknown factor. At a world championships I am excited, but I know my dog and know if I do my job she will do hers. There isn’t all of those unknowns that there is with a dog in the ring for the first time like; Did I train enough? Is she mentally mature enough? How will she react to the judge? The other dogs, the leash runners and other distractions found at a trial? Did I prepare the dog well enough at home before I have taken her to her first trial?  You shouldn’t have any of these questions with your older dogs, but no one can be really certain to the answers of those questions with a baby dog.  Ideally, if you have done your foundation work, these questions will be more or less answered in your first couple of runs. 

When I think of my first three agility dogs; Shelby, Stoni and Twister, all were phenomenal dogs, all were National Champions, as a matter of fact between the three of them they won 12 National Championships, however my level of confidence of what I would get in the ring was not there for years with them (and for Twister it took most of her career before I had that level of confidence.) By way of contrast, Encore won both a Grand Prix and a Steeplechase class when she was 18 month of age.  Feature at 20 months old, came 2nd in the Grand Prix in Florida and qualified in both of her Steeplechase classes (coming 4th in one and 2nd in round one). The difference is the work I do away from the equipment, that and Greg Derrett’s handling system. Foundation work allows me to keep mistakes down to a minimum when the dog does get in the ring. I don’t work my dogs on ‘real’ agility equipment until they are 14 or 15 months old, by that time they understand how to weight shift to drive into contact position and are less likely to make mistakes. Greg’s system allows the young dog to understand my movements right from the start. It is all dog training really. That is why the Greg’s system works so well with my dog training program. It is all just science. Dog training is science and handling is just dog training. You have trained your dog to sit, you give a cue to “sit” and the should respond, immediately. When you handle, you give cues with your body; arm changes, motion or positional or occasionally verbal cues. You should have the same expectancy with those cues as you do with all of your other dog training. It is all just science, it is black and white and once you understand how it works both you and your dog will be much happier. How well you have taught your handling cues and how consistent you are with their use will indicate how much success you will have with your young dog in the ring.

Here is collection of some moments that Feature and I had at the trials in Florida, I put in some great ones and some not so great ones to show she is still a baby and she and I are still learning about each other. She is learning the boundaries of my criteria and I am learning to gauge her speed (which I failed miserable at several times). Overall I couldn’t have been more happy with her performance, in and out of novice in two weekends.

Today as I look at the early accomplishments of my youngster,  I am grateful to Bob and Marion Bailey and all they added to my understanding of dog training.

Heading Home

Well all good things must come to an end and so we must leave the sunny south and head back home.  We had a great time in Florida, topped off with one of my favorite trials of the year the “Dog-Gone-it!” trial in Orlando.  I must take this opportunity to encourage all of you all to join us next winter at the Orlando trial. The trial site is beautiful (not to mention the Orlando outlet malls:)) the people very welcoming to us northerners and to top it off, they always seem to pick some of the best judges in agility.  I think this is our tenth year going to this show and it definitely is a keeper! Feature started her agility career off with a bang having 2 great weekends of agility down here in Florida.  She managed to qualify (and come first) in all of the games classes plus got her 3 standard legs thus earning  her novice title.  In addition she came in  2nd in the Grand Prix in Orlando and got two Steeplechase Qs! I am very pleased with the baby dog’s start to her agility career. I will post video when I get home, but for me the highlights where her beautiful jumping, the way she followed by body language so well, her weaves, dogwalk and seesaw. Her running A Frame is still a work in progress so, although I am not disappointed , I am not satisfied she understands her criteria. She is now getting into the game and getting very excited outside the ring. She pushed me for an early release on 2 of her dogwalk contacts but gave me beautiful nose touches even at the trial the weekend before which was on a surface of packed dirt. Overall I am thrilled at the performance of my 20 month old puppy. However, I must tell you though she wasn’t the only impressive 20 month puppy there. A young handler by the name of Tori Self had an amazing BC, Revolution, that was putting in times within one and half seconds of Encore and won the GP in Orlando (missy En knocked a bar:().  Tori and I where partnered together  in the Novice pairs on Saturday and our two youngsters where 12 seconds faster than the 2nd place finishers!  Tori and another young handler from Florida Gabreille Blackburn really impressed me. I didn’t get a chance to speak to either of them much but it appears that Tori is following Greg Derrett’s style of handling so that means her dog is just going to keep getting faster and faster!  Gabrielle has 2 really fast dogs but sadly for us, she didn’t make the trip to Orlando so we didn’t get to see as much of her.  She is the same Gabrielle that wrote that inspiring note about her Sheltie Q.  Wow, is all I can say, I would guess each of these young ladies are in their late teens– at best and with that much talent as dog trainers and handlers already, it is very obvious the future is INCREDIBLY bright for both of them! There were also a few talented junior gate keepers working the novice ring and what a FANTASTIC job they all did. In particular was the cutest little boy, Javon, he was maybe nine or ten years old with big over sized glasses and a big booming voice. He had us all snapping to it, getting to the line without delaying the ring. There was another young girl working the gate as well, she too did a terrific job for her first time gate stewarding. Shame on you if you were one of the “grown-ups” that gave these dedicated young kids a hard time at the gate (you know who you are) I am sending out a cyber red raspberry your way. Not only were these kids great gate keepers they added colour to the trial and put a smile on my face each time I came check in. 

One training tip I took away from the trial (there were a few) was an observation of confusion while weaving with handler’s motion or lack therefore.  I saw more than one young dog (Feature included) that pulled themselves out of the poles if their handler stopped moving.  The dog’s had not made a mistake but it appeared they were misinterpreting their handler’s lack of motion as a non-reward marker. On my DVD I mentioned using a non-reward marker (like “oops”) before you stop and start again. I know I have proofed this a bit at home but obviously not as much as it needs. Your dog needs to learn you lack of motion is not a NRM. Make certain when using a NRM that it always comes out of your mouth BEFORE you stop your motion when pulling the dog out of the poles.  If you mess this up your standing still will become the pre-cursor for your NRM. Soon you dog will think he is incorrect if you are not moving or talking while he is weaving. Easy one to fix but be on your toes to avoid it but becoming observant about how you indicate a mistake to your dog in training.  

Today I am grateful for the 26 hour drive home. Really, so far the weather has been great, the drive smooth and I have been able to clean up alot of emails while John does all the driving (yes of course I am also very grateful to have John to do all the driving!)