Clean Run - April 2014 - 41

Part 1

Why
should i
care about
This science stuff?

i Just Want To Do agility!
By Lynne Stephens

Did you know that cues can be used as reinforcers?
What is shaping and is it really of any benefit to my agility dog?
What is the problem with luring my dog over the dogwalk?
What is a behavior chain and how is this relevant to my
agility training?
What is a poisoned cue? Sounds painful! Do I have one?
How do I know and what can I do about it?
Maybe you are thinking, "Do I really want to know about all
of this? Surely all this scientific stuff isn't relevant to me. It's
hard enough finding time to train, let alone learn any science.
Why should I take the time?"
I know! I really do know how you feel. You see, I used to feel
just like this! I first came across some of these scientific concepts after I'd been training for a few years. What I had been
doing for some time had served me pretty well. I'd managed
to win a few placements in local obedience shows and was
beginning to make my mark on the British Working Trials
scene. My dogs behaved when I needed them to-in the
competition setting. So why should I make the effort to learn
something so seemingly irrelevant to get the same results?
My goodness, did I have a surprise in store. Little did I know
that I was I about to embark on the journey of a lifetime. A
journey in which the learning, not only the dog training, was
to become a life-long passion. A journey which, ultimately,
April 14

| Clean Run

led me to my new life here in America where I'm training,
teaching, coaching-and, yes-still learning for a living. And,
if you are really new to dog training in general and agility
training in particular, that's great! Knowing this science stuff
early is going to make your life a whole lot easier and your
training a lot more fun than it already is-trust me!
When I first started dog training way back in 1978, we did not
have a great deal of knowledge about the science of animal
behavior. There was, of course, an obscure group of strange
people, those marine mammal trainers who seemed to possess magical powers when it came to training dolphins for
Disney World and television. They were certainly out there
wowing the crowds and we all marveled at the antics of Flipper, Lassie, and other well-known animal heroes. But what
relevance could they possibly have to the huge body of experienced dog trainers who were instructing the general public
on how to get their dogs to heel, sit, and stay reliably week in
and week out around the country and beyond?
The little animal behavior knowledge we did have was not
terribly well applied. Most beginner obedience classes relied on pulling or pushing our poor animals around to a
greater or lesser degree. Leash pops and a firm belief that
the dog "should" do as he was told simply because "we
said so" abounded. In some enlightened classes, however,
food or toys were given as "rewards" for compliance to the
above methods.
41

Clean Run - April 2014

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