Clean Run Magazine - November 2009 - 25

Another aspect that differs from training to a trial situation is not stress related and is often overlooked. Much of agility training involves transferring value from the reward to the performance of the obstacle. This can make obstacle performance rewarding for us in and of itself. Thus, running a course becomes self-rewarding; that is, the reward for completing an obstacle becomes the ability/permission to do the next. This completely changes when an obstacle performance is inherently punishing for us. To overcome this training challenge, offer us the prospect of a highly probable, highly valued reward. However, it does not take us long to figure out that this particular obstacle is never rewarded during a trial. Over time our performance of the obstacle becomes progressively slower, to the point we even avoid it altogether at trials. But we will happily perform the obstacle, oftentimes seeking it out in other situations, because we love the reward for doing so. While it is theoretically possible for this behavior to occur on any obstacle, it most commonly occurs on that most dreaded obstacle, the table. For dogs like me that are heavier and slower than average, accelerating and decelerating is much more physically demanding. The table can be the most physically demanding obstacle for us. The easiest way to prevent or overcome this problem is to trial as you train, which means rewarding the table at trials. Give us a verbal reward marker to let us know we did the obstacle to your satisfaction and a reward is coming, soon! Politely excuse yourself from the ring and sprint for the exit. Reward us with that high-value reward we loved while training as soon as the rules for a particular venue allow. At least in my case, since I never liked the table, if my handler wanted a consistently fast performance, I required him to be equally consistent and liberal with reinforcing me in the ring. Those of us that move slowly through the first part of a course then speed up as we near the end are often rightly accused of suffering from reward-only-at-the-end-of-along-sequence syndrome. Varying where, in a sequence, we get rewarded easily cures it. But this is not the only cause of starting slow and speeding up as we run as Julie Daniels once pointed out to my handler when I was suffering through this problem. We dogs need a proper warm-up, just like our handlers. Without a proper warm-up dogs can spend half the course getting our heart rate and breathing up to speed. Do not underestimate the value of warming us up for a speedy performance. Motivation is often assumed to be the key in speeding us up. Just find that magical motivator and speed problems simply vanish. It doesn’t work that way. While motivation and desire are needed to get the performance initially, in the end we need to have that speed when the magical motivator is nowhere to be found. Lack of speed and cautiousness can often be traced to training. We all know dogs with unrealized potential. They carefully make their way around the course, never in a hurry, always moving at a safe speed. Cautiousness is not necessarily a bad trait and is a requisite for self-preservation. Dogs with no regard for their health and safety on an agility course are an injury waiting to happen. We would rarely be slow over an entire course because we are afraid of getting hurt, unless we have an injury. Cautiousness on an agility course is rarely about preventing bodily harm; rather it is often about not making a mistake, a learned response that can be unlearned. And it means a serious change in training criteria. Speed is often not a training criterion. It goes unrewarded and way too often it’s assumed that speed will improve without further training. Yes, the cure means getting a stopwatch out and using it. For example when training a dogwalk our partners take control… Learn how to turn stress to conndence and distraction to focus so that your dog can work oﬀ leash reliably in either stimulating or stressful situations November 09 | Clean Run

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Clean Run Magazine - November 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run Magazine - November 2009