March Training Update

 I showed Ty in Utility once in February. I'm very happy to report that she earned her 2nd leg with a solid 194.5 performance, and even won a runoff for 4th place in Utility B. The only thing that gave me any anxiety was that just as she arrived at her glove #1, she whipped around and looked at me. I had a very brief "Oh, no, don't go to glove #2!" thought dash through my head, but she recovered and turned back around and grabbed the correct one.

   Joker was entered, but on Tuesday when we were practicing gloves, he just didn't seem right. Once several years ago, he had similar symptoms - not wanting to jump up - and he had a sore back. Sure enough, a trip to our wonderful local rehab vet showed quite a bit of back soreness. He had an acupuncture treatment, but the next day, I decided to pull him since we wouldn't have the training time needed to make it worthwhile.

   I've got a nice rehab & strength training routine worked out with Gryffin that he seems to enjoy. We've been doing the workout 2-3 times a week. I mentioned last month that I'd just gotten the "Building the Canine Athlete" DVD. I've incorporated several exercises from the DVD into our routine. A friend did Gryff's workout with him 4 times while I was out of town, and I could see some nice improvements on several of the exercises as I got back to doing them with him myself. I've been enjoying this so much, and see so much benefit for Gryff that I'm offering a couple of 3 week classes called 'Tricks for Strength', one in March and one in April.

Joker & Ty Utility Training Update

As field training has been winding down, I've been managing more obedience work, particularly articles with both Ty and Joker.

I start my dogs off with Janice DeMello's 'Around the Clock Scent Discrimination', because I like the enthusiastic attitude it helps to produce. However, I've had a few of my own dogs and several students who were flummoxed the week the cheese goes from a microscopic dot to none. Joker was one of these confused critters. He would go out, pick up an article at random, and then turn and sit facing me. I finally got around to setting up a tie-down mat and I'm happy to report he seems to be grasping the idea. After 2-3 sessions with the articles tied tightly, he seemed to get over his anxiety about the whole thing, and is dashing out to the pile and back to me with a wagging tail. He's made enough progress that I loosened the ties on about half of them. I do 4 retrieves each time we do it, 2 of each type. I'm using a platform for the front to try to subtly work the front without having to work it. He's only occasionally tugging a tied one. I'm lengthening our distance from the pile, and need to have more and different people scenting them, but I'm hoping we're over the worst of his confusion.

He's got a pretty decent idea of directed jumping, the moving stand, and the directed retrieve. He is showing me what a nuisance it is to train a dog for Utility without a solid foundation of heel position - his pivots have been pretty ghastly, which make getting to the correct glove harder. I do see improvement on the pivots, though. I'm not looking for perfection, but I do want him close enough to heel position that he has a decent chance of following my mark signal. He dashes out and back to the glove, and mostly doesn't drop the glove on my foot anymore .

I now think signals are his least understood exercise. He's had the down and sit concept up close for most of his 8 years, but I only taught him the signal stand about a year ago. Somewhat to my surprise, he seems able to stand at a distance. I started counting steps when I leave him, and he doesn't really get signals, at least not the sit, much beyond 8 steps. Given that it was only 5 steps in mid-November, I'm happy with his progress.

I finally had Ty spayed last month, so her progress has been slowed because of that. I have her articles tied together in 2 sets of 4 articles. After using a tennis ball to reward a good delivery, she started working with a great deal of speed, but still mostly accurately. At home gloves have been mostly a no-brainer. Her biggest training lack is her signal stand stay. I put a small barrier out (same kind we used for drop on recall training) and stood her behind it and was dismayed to see how far across it she stepped as I walked away. We've spent a lot of time this past week working on 'stand still'. I put her on a 6-foot leash to reduce her sometimes wild leaping about that she offers. I do know where this lack of clarity comes from - I've used her for a year or so to demo clicker training the first night of my Fundamentals class, and one of the strongly reinforced behaviors is 'lie down and cross your front paws'. In the process, she also offers 'lie down and roll onto a hip'; 'lie down and put chin on the floor'; 'leap backwards out of the down', and probably others I'm forgetting about. So in trying to get her to simply stand still, she would start going through her repetoire. The use of the leash and clicking her for quite short stand stays has helped her make progress. While she does a decent signal down (a bit too much butt shift to my left, but not overwhelming), she also almost always immediately does her pop-up sit on her own. So I have also been clicking and treating her for holding her down longer, especially with her chin on the floor.

Both dogs do very nice full-length go-outs to a visible target here at home. I've done some work with Joker moving to targetting on a stanchion. Given the generous size of my training building, they've both done go-outs to several different backgrounds. All of Ty's field training blinds have given her a very strong response to my 'look' command (I want her to focus straight out when I say the command, and maintain that look). She just doesn't always wait for me to say 'go' :-). Joker's response isn't as strong, but he's getting there, too. He was showing a LOT of right arcing on go outs earlier in the week at a park, so I think I need to use center guides for him for a while.

Both need reminding via a side step on the first jumps we do each session, but are jumping full height confidently. I haven't started jumping them from off center (for corner go-out disaster recovery, something I'm a strong proponent of).

Both dogs have a reasonably good stop on the moving stand, though I've not done much having other people exam either one. Both can do a decent call to heel.

It's fun to be teaching/solidifying some new stuff that isn't Open :-).

Seminar Musings

I got home Sunday night from a quick trip to Florida for 3 days of obedience lessons/seminar presenting in Lakeland. I had very little voice left, in spite of a great sound system. I had chorus rehearsal Monday morning. Having a 6 note range that kept changing didn't make for particularly great sounds. (I'm in a local women's chorus, and our concert is only a few weeks away.)

I have honestly enjoyed every seminar I've presented over the past 6 months. How lucky can I be that I'm getting to meet all these new dog friends and their nifty dogs all over the country, and getting to help them with their dogs?

On Saturday afternoon, I showed everyone how I start to shape a retrieve, and got a young (about a year old, recently neutered male) Brittany with no prior experience with the dumbbell taking it in 10 or so minutes. His owner reported Sunday morning that he was taking it every time she presented it. I think that most of the people at the seminar have never seen the db introduced this way, and have started their dogs right out with the ear pinch. The cool thing with this dog was his gnat-like attention span when we started. He was actually standing very still and thinking hard about what he needed to do as we got further along with the process. I asked his owner if he'd ever been that still in his life :-).

After working with several other dogs with hold issues, someone came out with her metal article and her Border terrier. He had learned Scent Discrimination just fine, but then started refusing the metal article a while back, and even with a fair bit of correction, still wouldn't take it. So I had her start with some nose touches, get several of those, then wait for a few, then to use a treat by the bar to start taking it. In probably 5-10 minutes time, he was taking it on his own. She was so thrilled (as was I)! On Friday, during her lesson, I'd suggested that she have her dog work for his meals, with the goal being to build some "want to" into him, since he was lacking a lot in the enthusiasm-for-obedience department. No work? No meal, or at least a significant delay in its arrival. Saturday morning, she greeted me with excitement. On Friday, we had worked on just doing an efficient set up, including head-up attention. The first time she asked for the set-up, I think she said he just sat wherever. So she said, "Oh, too bad, no meal," and walked away. She said the look on his face was hilarious. I think he did a decent set up 10 minutes later and got his meal. The next morning, he set up promptly, did a pivot as asked, and got his meal. For his dinner Saturday night, he had to take the metal article, and for Sunday's breakfast, she had him take it a couple of times, and then retrieve it, which he did. So late Sunday afternoon, as I talked about how I teach Scent Discrimination (Janice DeMello's Around the Clock), I walked her through the process with her dog. I knew it was a gamble - after all, he'd just started retrieving it again that morning, but he did great and was retrieving the right one each time with very little extra help. It was so incredibly satisfying!

Also, she said when she arrived at the building today, he was eager to get out of her vehicle, and he came in and ran and greeted several people enthusiastically, which is unusual for him. He was also awake and watching in his crate much more than usual.

There were several Border terrier owners there this weekend and they loved the fact that I've trained a bunch of terriers. I also got expressions of appreciation because I talk candidly about my failures as well as my successes (heck, I show terriers - it's part of the territory!). Last weekend, with my 3 Open B NQs, was a prime example ;-). I asked my host if any of her other seminar givers ever talk about failures, and she said no, absolutely not!

It was another exhilarating trip, and I am so lucky to get to do this with so many fun people.

What to do between exercises in the obedience ring

I was in Gonzales, Louisiana last weekend to teach a "Balancing Act" seminar. Because I flew there, I didn't have any of my dogs there, so I prepared the following video to take along to show the variety of ways in which I release and interact with my dogs between exercises in the obedience ring. You can tell from the video that all of the dogs enjoy my touch, which makes it easier to reinforce them in the ring. In how many different prop-less ways (i.e., no food and no toy) do you release your dog? There is one particularly looooong stretch - a full minute - between finishing the UKC Open Figure 8 and starting the Drop on Recall. The judge had to wait for the Honor dog's handler to return, and then she had to give instructions to a steward. What would you do for that length of time in the ring? Practice and find out!

Obedience Numbers Quiz

The following quiz is designed to test your knowledge of the many different numbers that you should know when training for and showing in AKC obedience. There are 21 questions altogether. Have fun!

1. During the Figure 8 in Novice & Open, the ring stewards stand:

a) 6 feet apart
b) 8 feet apart
c) 10 feet apart
d) Not sure

2. When you throw your dumbbell for the Open Retrieve on Flat, you should throw your dumbbell:

a. Less than 20 feet
b. Exactaly 20 feet
c. At least 20 feet
d. Not sure

3. When you leave your dog for the Novice Stand for Exam, you should walk:

a. About 6 feet
b. About 8 feet
c. 10-12 feet
d. Not sure

4. The obedience jumps are how wide?

a. 4 feet
b. 5 feet
c. 6 feet
d. Not sure

5. On the Utility Moving Stand and Examination, after the judge's command to "Stand your dog," without pausing, the handler will command and/or signal the dog to stand and continue forward:

a. About 6 feet
b. About 8 feet
c. About 10 to 12 feet
d. Not sure

6. When lining dogs up for the Group Exercises (AKA stays), the judge should allow (updated 5/1/14, due to changes to the AKC regulations):

a. 2 feet between dogs
b. 4 feet between dogs
c. 6 feet between dogs
d. Not sure

7. The minimum ring size for Novice and Open is:

a. 30' X 40'
b. 40' X 40'
c. 40' X 50'
d. Not sure

8. The minimum ring size for Utility is:

a. 30' X 40'
b. 35' X 45'
c. 35' X 50'
d. Not sure

9. On the Open Retrieve over High Jump, the handler will stand a minimum of how many feet from the jump?

a. 6 feet
b. 8 feet
c. 10 feet
d. Not sure

10. On the Open Retrieve over High Jump, the handler must throw the dumbbell at least how many feet past the jump?

a. 8 feet
b. 10 feet
c. 12 feet
d. Not sure

11. When setting up for the Open Broad Jump, the handler will stand at least how many feet from the jump?

a. 6 feet
b. 8 feet
c. 10 feet
d. Not sure

12. When the handler leaves the dog for the Open Broad Jump exercise, the handler should stand to the right side of the jump,
between the lowest edge of the first hurdle and the highest edge of the last hurdle with their toes about how far from the jump?

a. 6 inches
b. 1 foot
c. 2 feet
d. Not sure

13. When setting out the articles for the Utility Scent Discrimination exercise, the closest artricle should be about how many feet from the handler?

a. 10 feet
b. 15 feet
c. 20 feet
d. Not sure

14. When setting out the articles for the Utility Scent Discrimination exercise, the articles should be arranged about how far apart?

a. 4 inches
b. 6 inches
c. 8 inches
d. Not sure

15. In a Utility ring that is 40 feet wide, what's the approximate distance between either of the corner gloves (1 & 3) and the center glove (2)?

a. 13 feet
b. 15 feet
c. 17 feet
d. Not sure

16. In a 50 foot Utility ring, the jumps are placed how far from the unobstructed end (the one without the judge’s table) of the ring?

a. 22 feet
b. 25 feet
c. 28 feet
d. Not sure

17. In an AKC Utility ring, the jumps are set up:

a. 18-20 feet apart
b. 20-22 feet apart
c. 22-24 feet apart
d. Not sure

18. To qualify on Utility Directed Jumping, the dog must stop and remain at least how far past the jumps?

a. 8 feet
b. 10 feet
c. 15 feet
d. Not sure

19. On Utility Directed Jumping, the handler should command the dog to sit on the go-out when the dog is about how far past the jumps?

a. 20 feet
b. 22 feet
c. 24 feet
d. Not sure

20. A substantial deduction is how many points off?

a. At least 2
b. At least 3
c. At least 4
d. Not sure

21. A minor deduction is how many points off?

a. 1/4-1 point
b. 1/2 to 2 points
c. 1/2 to 2 1/2 points
d. Not sure

That's all the questions. Need to check out your answers? Click here to see a list of the correct answers.

Did you enjoy the quiz? If you answered "Not sure" often, you better pull out your rulebook for some study time!

Open Training Concepts

I’d like to explore some of the concepts I typically include when working on maintaining and polishing the Open exercises. They are training ideas that I frequently include when working on a given exercise with one of my dogs.

One overall concept in all of my training is that of varying the time I wait before giving a command. Dogs have such natural internal clocks and are such creatures of habit that if you are too consistent with the timing of your commands, your dog will anticipate the next part of an exercise, not waiting for your command. While most judges use a pretty consistent rhythm, there is variation, with some hesitating longer than others.

This is particularly important on finishes. Most dogs will anticipate their finish at some point. When I was preparing my first two dogs for Open, they both did a lot of finish anticipation, mostly during training, thankfully. Going from one finish in Novice to four in Open makes this a very common problem for the new Open dog. Sometimes I finish my dog after only a brief sit in front. Usually, on the next front, I remain silent, testing whether my dog understands he should wait. After a successful silent interval (my dog waits correctly in his front sit), I might give him a treat or simply release out of the front sit, or I might finish him after this longer-than-usual pause. I always want to be ready to catch him if he starts to finish on his own.

Applying this concept to any of the retrieve exercises, sometimes I release my dog quickly to retrieve. Other times, I pause longer than usual. I might then send my dog; I might release him; or I might give him a treat. I might use some other command than my retrieve command, such as SIT or WAIT to make sure my dog is listening and waiting properly.

On the Drop on Recall, I mix some straight recalls (i.e., no drop) in with ones on which I have my dog drop. I might drop him in the first third of the recall, at the halfway point, or in the last third. I might motivate (i.e., do something fun like a cookie-toss recall or a chase recall) the recall off the sit or off the down. I vary how long I make him wait in the down, which is especially important if you do UKC Open in which a steward walks past your dog while he’s in a down. Sometimes I go give my dog a cookie for a particularly good drop.

On the Retrieve on Flat (ROF), I practice alongside a High Jump regularly, since all of my recent dogs have tried out jumping the jump when they shouldn’t. I’ll practice minimum distance throws (20 feet) and full-ring-length throws. Sometimes I purposely throw off center to make my dog work on finding fronts from different angles.

On the Retrieve over the High Jump (ROHJ), I purposely throw off to the side to proof for dumbbells that take a bad bounce. Given my training building’s rubber flooring, these bad bounces are all too common. I want my dog to understand that when I say JUMP on this exercise, he is to jump both going out and coming back, even if it isn’t the most obvious and straight path. In my opinion, this is the most important proof to work on with this exercise. I will also alternate between a ROF and a ROHJ. I use a different command on each of these two exercises to help clarify my dog’s job (FETCH on the ROF, JUMP on the ROHJ, in case you really want to know :-)). I watch where my dog focuses after picking up his dumbbell: if it’s on me, he’s most likely going to come straight to me; if it’s on the jump, he’s probably going to take the jump.

As I write this, I realize I don’t have a concrete list of concepts for the Broad Jump. I do want to see my dog driving hard enough to the jump that he is clearing it comfortably. I’ll motivate the jump itself or the return.

Since having some stay issues during trials last fall (mostly lying down during the sit stay), my dogs have been doing mostly back-to-back sit stays. They usually get through the first 3 minute sit, and sometimes the 2nd 5 minute sit, but Gryffin has gone down during the 2nd one a few times. If you have a dog who lies down on a sit stay a lot, make sure you are training sit stays frequently, daily if possible. This will help build up his core strength that he needs to have in order to keep himself up in the sit. If you correct your dog for mistakes almost every time he does a sit stay, you build up a lot of stress (been there, done that). If this is happening with your dog, go back to kindergarten: stay close, stay in sight, keep the time short. I build up duration first, then where I am in relation to my dog (not directly across from him), then being out of sight.

When my dog has a good understanding of the exercises, I also add other types of proofing to challenge my dog’s understanding. Simply training around other people working their dogs is a great step. If you increase difficulty gradually, and are fair about your proofing, your dog will be ready for the Open ring in no time.

Training with Limited Space or Time

With the onset of cold and wintery weather here in the north, many people have limited training time because of darkness and bad weather. While I have the luxury of space because I have a training building in my back yard, I don't always have the luxury of a lot of time for training. I'd like to discuss how I spend that limited time to make progress towards my goals with the 3 dogs I'm currently training.

If there is room to do so, I work on heeling. Even if I only have a few minutes, I can work on building my teamwork with my dog by doing what I call Rhythm Heeling - moving with my dog at a consistent and brisk rhythm (I still use a metronome sometimes, set at 124 steps per minute for my male Flat-Coated Retriever, 122 for my female FCR, 119 or so for my terriers), with the dog's attention on me, and maintaining a consistent position at my left side, i.e., heel position. We heel in big flowing circles, just to the right with an inexperienced dog, in either direction for the more experienced dog. When my experienced dog is working well with me - maintaining attention, position, and rhythm, I might add some turns, smaller circles, pace changes, and halts. With the inexperienced dog, I don't put these elements together until my dog can "do" Rhythm Heeling consistently well. I work on the components that will become turns, halts, and pace changes separately. I use the Rhythm Heeling exercise to limber up both me and my dog before we enter the ring at a trial.

When space is also limited, I work on what used to be called doodling. I've referred to doodling as Maneuvers for years, and it's now called rally :-). Doodling consists of pivots to the left and right of varying degrees; side-stepping left and right; backing up; working on fronts in several ways; working on your dog getting himself to heel position (AKA a set up); and finishes. When did you last work finishes with your dog in all sorts of oddball but qualifying locations around you? I am currently working on front position maneuvers with Ty, my youngest dog, with a dumbbell in her mouth. She is showing definite signs of improvement, but she is just beginning to remember to hold the dumbbell without mouthing while she does the small position shifts I ask her to do. She can do this minor shifts beautifully when her mouth is empty. When we add in holding her dumbbell, it is much harder for her.

In a hallway, you can work short recalls, distance position changes (verbal or signal), beginning retrieving work, dumbbell retrieves, glove retrieves with different turns before the retrieve, go-outs, moving stands, stays, scent discrimination, fronts, and finishes. You can teach your dog to touch a target with his nose or a front paw. You can use this later for working on go-outs or the broad jump. You can proof you dumbbell pickup by placing it near a distraction, such as a toy or something that looks like food but isn't. You can also work many of the rally stations.

You can simply practice your shaping skills by playing Karen Pryor's "101 things to do with a box" game, where you put a cardboard box in the center of the room and click and treat your dog for interacting with it in a different way each training session. My Border terrier Java has circled the box, jumped in the box and sat, jumped in and immediately jumped out again, jumped on the upside box, put front paws up on the side of the box, dug in a corner once inside the box...

Do you have a formal dining room that is collecting dust? Move the chairs out of the way and heel rectangles around the table, which will help your dog make tight left turns. Do you have an office chair on wheels? You can do multiple moving chair fronts, like scoot fronts, using your legs to keep your dog straight. When you run out of space, toss a cookie behind your dog, scoot yourself back across the room, and start over.

You can work on various tricks that help to build your dog's strength and flexibility, such as sitting up/begging, waving, doing figure 8's around your legs, rolling over, and spinning to the left and right.

I have been reviewing my goals for my dogs recently and updating what I want to achieve in the coming week and month. Don't forget to do this from time to time.

If your dog is too perfect at home, talk to a friend who also trains, and go train at her house. Invite her over the next time. Sometimes just adding another dog around will cause your dog to be less than perfect at home. Be creative with your limited time and space and have fun with your dog.

Until next time, happy training!

A Quiet Weekend

I spent the weekend at home, having failed to get into the Sportsmen's trial today that I entered. Dratted mail!

I did hear that Raissa Hinman and Aura finished their CDX today, Mary Kuhns and Caitlin won the Novice A class with an impressive 196 and earned their first Excellent Rally leg, and Nancy Stein and Reuben earned their 2nd Novice leg today.

Earlier this week, I started teaching Joker a stand signal for Utility. This is harder than with the other dogs I've taught one to, since I never taught him a solid kick-back stand for Novice or Rally. He does seem to be catching on already. The part that confuses him is he thinks any hand presented needs to be nose-touched. Using the leash to hold him back seems to be helping. Another Utility exercise we are working on his Directed Jumping. I'm really not sure when he learned how to do such nice go-outs, but with a visible target and two sticks to make a chute at the end, he's doing full-length go-outs with a great sit at the end. I've even started combining a go-out with some jumps. We did a two-target marking game today. I think that's the first time he's ever done marking with two targets. He seems to have the concept pretty well. And he's done several sit stays (after failing both at last weekend trials).

With Ty, I've been working on her drop on recall. She's finally understanding dropping at the bar from a sit stay with us 50 feet apart. I figure I'll go to 2 bars the next time we train it. She's also doing pretty decent Directed Jumping. Her sit at the end is loopier than I like, so I narrowed her chute to try to tighten it up. She used to have a very loopy sit out in the field, so it isn't that surprising. We also drilled some finishes. Her left finish via a signal is still the most consistent.

Gryffin is also in sit-stay boot camp. He doesn't really seem to have the concept that front foot movement is BAD, so that's what I'm working to help him understand. I am seeing some improvement, though I haven't gone out of sight much this week. We've also done some go-out sit proofing, with toys to either side of the go-out spot. Today, we worked some DOR with a bar, just to remind him about stopping promptly.