Clean Run Magazine - October 2007 - 63

Applying the Homework Table Here’s an example from my own recent training with my two-year-old Malinois Bright. She knows Down and listens well the first time she is asked, even with distractions— someone offering her food as I ask for a down. Her enthusiasm in the ring, however, is increasing every time we show and she recently started keeping her elbows up on the table, all the while crying frantically under her breath begging to be released. She never has this level of excitement in a typical training session. Since I didn’t want to start raising my voice or repeating commands, I decided to apply the Homework Table to the problem to see if I could fix it. The problem: Bright does not down completely under high distraction. I first had to identify areas in her life where she is as excited as she is in the ring. Then I had to work the down in those areas until she could reach the goal I had set: a down with elbows on the floor in response to a single, cheerful command and hold that position until released. Since there are very few agility matches or run-throughs in my area, it took some thought to come up with five situations that were as high distraction as the ring: • Greeting me when I come home from work • Running the fence barking at the dog next door • Running with me toward a thrown toy • Greeting her favorite people • Getting the Frisbee out to play (jumping on me and sometimes grabbing the Frisbee out of my hand) I filled out five Homework Tables, one for each situation listed above. The first homework table (for greeting me when I come home from work) is shown at left. I filled out the “Lesson 1” column in advance in order to plan my first training session. I filled out the second column when I had finished with the first lesson so that I could plan progression based on my dog’s actual performance. Likewise, I filled out the “Lesson 3” column after I completed the second lesson. For Lesson 1, I started with Bright on lead and chicken in my hand. Standing still, I quietly asked her to down while luring her into position and rewarding her with praise and chicken. I repeated this several times, and then the ultimate reward was to go outside to play. On subsequent days, I October 07 | Clean Run © ANIGRAPHS up greeting her. Success! Bright now does an immediate down on one command with elbows on the ground until released. The above example shows how an agility problem (down on the table) can be worked and solved in regular life situations. Without ever working on the obstacle, we were able to work the down in many situations and greatly improve our table performance. After the work described above, Bright is now able to get elbows down on the table in trials even though she still barks at me and tells me how much she really wants to go! Great Places to Practice Run-throughs, matches, get-togethers at a friend’s home, kids’ baseball games, family picnics, and pet stores are wonderful places to practice homework. Some dogs need run-throughs and matches. If a dog gets stressed at shows, the dog may have never been exposed to new places as fun. Perhaps every time the dog was in a new place, there were no toys, treats, short sequences, or intermittent rewards and the dog has come to associate new places with a lack of reward, lack of fun, or even scary. That’s why it’s very important to take dogs to several new places, rewarding them for positive behaviors in the new environment, before they trial for the first time; they need to realize new places can be just as happy as their home training ground. Weave Pole Homework Weaves are another example of an excellent homework obstacle to train. You have to be thoughtful when evaluating a dog’s weave performance. In the usual training environment, with minimal distractions, can the dog weave accurately 90% of the time? If the answer is no, then the obstacle training category would be helpful; practice from the left, from the right, call and send, all at varying distances and speed, from various angles, with right and left front crosses, rear crosses and post turns. If the answer is yes, that the dog weaves perfectly in class but can’t weave at a show, then consider whether the dog has had positive experiences weaving in new places. Perhaps run-throughs and matches are in order. Apply the Homework Table! Is the weave problem really a distraction problem? Then work purely on distraction. To test, can your dog walk next to you, off lead, with a cheerful command (no yelling, nagging, or threats) while someone offers your dog food? Can your dog sit, down, stand, stay, and come when food is tossed on 63 Racing another dog along the fence was very exciting for Bright. After working through all the stages of the Homework Table, Bright is able to be off lead, lie down on command, and stay calmly while giving me attention. planned to accomplish the same response with a dragging leash and eventually no leash. I worked toward the reward being in my pocket. I wanted her to maintain elbows down even if I move away quickly and my other dog gets to run out the open door. I asked Bright to down while I greet and praise my other dog, while I run away to the door, and so on. Be creative; be thoughtful. Progress to the next level of difficulty only when your dog can manage the less difficult steps. As I increase the distraction level, I may have to put the dog back on lead with a reward in my hand until the dog can manage the increased distraction. Once Bright mastered the down when released from her crate, then I applied the same systematic approach to the other problem areas. When the dog next door was out, I put Bright on lead, took her to the fence, and asked for a down, luring her (if needed) into a down. We progressed through the steps until we could approach the barking dog and Bright would down with one cheerful down command and hold that position until released and rewarded with a toy from my pocket. We took the same systematic approach and applied it to greeting Bright’s favorite people. Because she was a fearful rescue, I admit I have allowed her to get carried away greeting people—jumping, licking, whining. We started on lead, with a reward visible, and the friend being neutral. We progressed to off lead and no reward visible (but in pocket) with the friend whooping it

Clean Run Magazine - October 2007

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run Magazine - October 2007