It's all about Want To...

Cala demonstrating "I WANT TO!" on the startline. (Photos by Cindy Noland)

I'm privileged to say that Cindy Noland is a friend of mine. Professional dog sport photographer, accomplished artist and probably the best motivational trainer I've ever seen. She's had a Doberman who was in both the Obedience and Agility Top 20s in the same year, she finished a Schutzhund 3 on a young intact male while he was going for his MACH. I should hate her freaking guts. But she's too darn nice. So alas, I can only sigh with admiring envy.

Cindy wrote a post on a dog list today that I thought was so good it deserved to be shared. So with her permission, here it is. The "her" in this post is the dog.

Agility is NOT about "have to." Agility is about "WANT to." Instead of focusing on telling your dog what not to do, think of ways to convince them to WANT to do it. Instead of trying to tell her something is not acceptable, try to think of a plan that will prevent the unwanted behavior from happening in the first place.

First of all, I would make sure that she totally enjoys doing all of the obstacles. That all you have to do is point her at one and she will run to it as soon as you release her. Make it easy for her to earn the reward and make sure she knows how happy you are with what she did. Happy handler equals good things for dog! You are now conditioning her to your praise, so that it has some value. Praise should always predict reward, so then the praise itself will become rewarding. If she tends to stick with you, sometimes throw the treat and tell her to GO get it.

In my experience, people new to the sport do not spend enough time with the obstacles and making sure the dogs know how to do them and that they thoroughly enjoy doing them. It is natural to want to hurry up and start putting things together, but then this weak foundation will crumble. The handling in between obstacles should just be some effort on your part to point the dog toward the next thing that it really wants to go to. And your dog should also be taught handling maneuvers without equipment, so they can learn what all of your movements, arm signals, and verbal commands mean without being attached to equipment. Again, sometimes reward at your side and sometimes throw the reward and release the dog to get it. And coming to you also needs to be very rewarding, so just handing them a treat is sometimes not enough. Lots of dogs find the control of the handler to be stressful and they avoid it. Watch dogs in the ring, most of them who stress and either shut down or run off do s after the handler tries to change their direction.

So with a lot of foundation practice and repetitions the dog now loves the obstacles, understands your various cues for direction, and also enjoys coming close to you when needed. It should then be easy to start stringing things together. I have found toys easier to work with, the dogs tend not to get so focused on the handler that they cannot return to obstacle focus. And you can also throw them and the dogs can see them easier than a treat and don't continue to sniff for more. The old rule is "toys for action, food for position."

But with either toys or food, they should NOT be used as lures. The dog must be taught to understand that sometimes they must move away from the reward in order to earn it. Try holding the reward in your hand where the dog can see it and ask them to perform an obstacle that they like. Does the dog run to the obstacle, or do they continue to stand there and stare at the reward? If you have paired the two together enough, she should run to the obstacle with the understanding that that is how to earn the reward. This is accomplished simply by consequences. If the dog goes through the shortened tunnel they earn the reward that is still held by you. If they offer to jump up onto the table when you move toward it they can earn the reward still held by you, etc. Move farther away from the obstacle and see if the dog can think about it and do what earns the reward. Then ask for two behaviors in a row before reward is available. Sometimes they do more, sometimes less and now your reward is being put on a variable reinforcement schedule. Also important is that when you want the dog to come to your for reward, you actually call them. Many people just quit what they are doing and when the dog comes to them on their own they give the reward. Then the dog has to guess when the reward is available.

But I cannot stress enough the value of making the obstacles themselves rewarding. I hold my reward, a toy or small ball, in my hand while I run my practices. The dogs know I have it and it is visible. I will tease them with it before asking for a behavior. I pound Fever's ball on the floor to wind her up and then ask for a sit and point her at the obstacle we are going to do. Through repetition she knows to go to the obstacle and not directly to the ball. Inci tries to pummel me into giving up the toy a bit more, but when that is not successful she knows what she needs to do. The toy is both a reward and a distraction in one. But they do not rely on it's presence to be able to perform. It is not used as a lure, therefore it is not part of the cue to do the equipment. I do not NEED to show them the toy in order to get them to do the equipment.

The only cue they need is the sight of the obstacle and my release word. They know just by looking at it what they need to do. And once they do it, my further cues tell them if we are stopping or continuing on to other things. Cues such as whether I am standing still or moving, what direction I am facing, what arm positions I have, and if I am calling them to come to me or not. They WANT to continue on, but they know it is also fun to come to me if that is what I am cueing.

So you see there is an awful lot for a dog to learn before going in the ring to compete. Putting your dog in over it's head is a sure way to build stress. And then expressing displeasure with them only escalates it. So take a step back and look at your training. Make sure you are being fair to your dog and that you have properly taught them everything you expect them to be able to do. Make sure YOU have held up your
end of the teamwork.

Cindy Noland
www.nolanddogart.com
Inci and Fever
In Memory of:
Britta, CDX,MX,MXJ,WAC,BH,CanCD,UKC Ch.,U-AG2
Tagi, ScH3,MX,MXJ,WAC,AD,EAC,UKC Ch.,U-Ag1
Maverick, AmCanUKC Ch,UDT,ROM,CanOTCh
Paradise,CD Aura, UDT, Ajay, CDX, and Magnum, CDX, CanCD

--Robin