Just a quick update about Brit and her training in various things. This is more for me to be able to look back and see where we are/were at our training.
Scenthurdle
She LOVES this game. She has the jumping down pat, and the fetching. She is speedy, and really pulls for her turn. She is fast on the box, and is very confident in her job. Now the discrimination is what we are focusing on- she doesn't always think carefully at the box so we've been doing lots of box work. She is getting it though, and I suspect she will be racing on our second team by the summer.
Obedience/Rally
She is so fun to train. We've straightened out (literally) her heeling, and we've made a lot of progress in the past few months. She has the best "front" of any dog I've ever trained. Her sit, down and stand are pretty solid, and she has great finishes. Often she is a little too eager in her finishes and is a bit out of position. Her stand for exam is pretty great, and I've been working on lots of right turns, and big loopy circles. We've been doing lots of work against fences, and walls to encourage her being straight. I've just started pairing rally signs together and we actually did a pretty tough course last week. She has some work to do on duration but I am pretty pleased!!
Sheepherding
I blog about every lesson because there is so much to learn and absorb. She has taught me so much, and I am completely addicted to it. We are very very novice still, but we are novice together at least. :) I filled out my first ever Herding trial entry form. It was pretty exciting. The trials are in June- and I entered all four. I am super nervous and it is still months away. She is a natural though, and as long as I can keep my head we will do just fine. She has the skill. Mostly. lol
Agility
I have not done much at all. She has the ground work, and the mechanics for contacts, and handling. She can front and rear cross, understands a serp cue, and a threadle. But doesn't have the actual training on equipment. She is still at the backchaining on contacts, and jumping 16". She can weave, sort of, not really. And I have a list a mile long of things she still needs to learn. First on the list is jump work.
Despite this list I do not spend all that much time actually training with her. Mostly we play and train little bits here and there. I am really enjoying her. She is so sweet, and happy, and eager to do whatever I ask her. I really love that about her. I am in no hurry with her in any venue- we'll get there when we get there. I think Rally will be her first actual ring experience of any sort. But time will tell!
manymuddypaws; a blog about dogs, training, dog sports, life, and pretty pictures too...
Showing posts with label training. Show all posts
Showing posts with label training. Show all posts
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Balance with Rewards
Last night I had an Orientation for a new class I'm teaching.
One was for puppies and the other for a class called Beyond the Basics. This is a class I am pretty excited about, I've got lots of fun things planned and I think it will be a good group of dogs. The point of this class is to challenge owners and their dogs. Put their training to the test and really work at making the people better trainers. For some of them it will be a challenge mostly in the fact that they've never trained this way before. One of the things I spent a lot of time talking about was rewards. And because I was talking it so much last night I figured it would make a great blog post.
I find that people really have no idea how to use rewards or even what to use. Food is the most obvious one, and the one that people use more than anything else. The problem with that is that we often create a dog who only wants a cookie or worse a dog that will not work unless they know a cookie is in your pocket or hand.
There is nothing wrong with using food to train. In fact for most of my training, specifically tricks, shaping, and new behaviors I use food. But we need to have balance with our reinforcers. Teach our dogs that if we ask them to sit (or down, or target, or heel, or stand on their heads...) that they will get something. The key is in the something. The don't need to know what they are going to get, or when they will get it. But that shouldn't change how hard the dog works.
As mentioned, Food is the most common reinforcer. Which is great- there is nothing wrong with using food to train your dog! But be creative with it. Don't use the same thing each time, and keep in mind that "food" is a pretty broad category. With all dogs there will be different levels of food rewards- kibble and cheerios are generally low value rewards, then you move on to a middle of the road store bought reward, and then you bring out the big guns- hot dogs, cheese, chicken, steak.... yummy. lol. Don't be afraid to use a variety of treats- I get students to put them all together in a baggie and then you never know what you're going to pull out. It keeps food exciting. Even the delivery of the food reward can be varied- calm, thrown, jackpot, excited, moving around, jumping up for it. Sometimes the delivery is actually what makes the reward exciting for the dog.
Toys- tugging in particular is a fantastic way to reward your dog. It's fun, gets the dog engaged with you And it riles them up. So for fast things, like heeling where you want the dog up and excited- a tug is a great way to reward. Not all dogs tug, and I get that but it's not hard to teach. It takes time, but isn't as hard as you might think. The most important thing is to present the tug or the toy when you know your dog wants it, or be prepared to make the dog want it. Don't offer them the toy, and when they refuse give them food instead. Remember that toys need to have value too, and every time you do this you lower the value of the item.
The other reinforcer we need to have in our tool box is ourself. It's the only thing we can take into the ring with us. So we had better be sure to balance out our reinforcers and use praise- verbal and physical. Teach your dog to enjoy being handled or have their collar grabbed. Teach them that a good dog! And a pat on the chest is worth as much as a hotdog. It can be done. Most dogs like physical touching, or a good game of chase, a hand touch can be taught as a reinforcer! There are lots of ways you can use your voice, or your touch as a reward.
In training our dogs with a balance of these three reinforcers we will be able to use them at any time, in any situation. Because dogs will have a "favourite" it is our job as trainers to make sure that the dog learns to like all three, and to want all three. If you get this, and can use them properly, it certainly will open up all sorts of possibilities in training and trialing!
I've got a few more thoughts on training in general that I'll blog about tomorrow!
One was for puppies and the other for a class called Beyond the Basics. This is a class I am pretty excited about, I've got lots of fun things planned and I think it will be a good group of dogs. The point of this class is to challenge owners and their dogs. Put their training to the test and really work at making the people better trainers. For some of them it will be a challenge mostly in the fact that they've never trained this way before. One of the things I spent a lot of time talking about was rewards. And because I was talking it so much last night I figured it would make a great blog post.
I find that people really have no idea how to use rewards or even what to use. Food is the most obvious one, and the one that people use more than anything else. The problem with that is that we often create a dog who only wants a cookie or worse a dog that will not work unless they know a cookie is in your pocket or hand.
There is nothing wrong with using food to train. In fact for most of my training, specifically tricks, shaping, and new behaviors I use food. But we need to have balance with our reinforcers. Teach our dogs that if we ask them to sit (or down, or target, or heel, or stand on their heads...) that they will get something. The key is in the something. The don't need to know what they are going to get, or when they will get it. But that shouldn't change how hard the dog works.
As mentioned, Food is the most common reinforcer. Which is great- there is nothing wrong with using food to train your dog! But be creative with it. Don't use the same thing each time, and keep in mind that "food" is a pretty broad category. With all dogs there will be different levels of food rewards- kibble and cheerios are generally low value rewards, then you move on to a middle of the road store bought reward, and then you bring out the big guns- hot dogs, cheese, chicken, steak.... yummy. lol. Don't be afraid to use a variety of treats- I get students to put them all together in a baggie and then you never know what you're going to pull out. It keeps food exciting. Even the delivery of the food reward can be varied- calm, thrown, jackpot, excited, moving around, jumping up for it. Sometimes the delivery is actually what makes the reward exciting for the dog.
Toys- tugging in particular is a fantastic way to reward your dog. It's fun, gets the dog engaged with you And it riles them up. So for fast things, like heeling where you want the dog up and excited- a tug is a great way to reward. Not all dogs tug, and I get that but it's not hard to teach. It takes time, but isn't as hard as you might think. The most important thing is to present the tug or the toy when you know your dog wants it, or be prepared to make the dog want it. Don't offer them the toy, and when they refuse give them food instead. Remember that toys need to have value too, and every time you do this you lower the value of the item.
The other reinforcer we need to have in our tool box is ourself. It's the only thing we can take into the ring with us. So we had better be sure to balance out our reinforcers and use praise- verbal and physical. Teach your dog to enjoy being handled or have their collar grabbed. Teach them that a good dog! And a pat on the chest is worth as much as a hotdog. It can be done. Most dogs like physical touching, or a good game of chase, a hand touch can be taught as a reinforcer! There are lots of ways you can use your voice, or your touch as a reward.
In training our dogs with a balance of these three reinforcers we will be able to use them at any time, in any situation. Because dogs will have a "favourite" it is our job as trainers to make sure that the dog learns to like all three, and to want all three. If you get this, and can use them properly, it certainly will open up all sorts of possibilities in training and trialing!
I've got a few more thoughts on training in general that I'll blog about tomorrow!
Wednesday, January 04, 2012
Speed and Want in Obedience
Wednesday nights I run a "obedience work group." It's really great. A small group of serious people interested in serious obedience. Lots of different backgrounds, opinions, and ideas. We did a similar thing last year, but this year has been even better. Each week we pair up into different groups, so you are working with different people.
Tonite my partner was a woman who has working style bouviers that she does Schutzhund with. She is, of course, very into Drive. And Speed. And Enthusiasm. She is very nice and positive with her dogs though, and they are amazing workers. In any case tonite I went with the goal of working on Pixel's finishes- they are slow, and she often stalls out. "C" had some great advice, but there are a few things that really stuck out.
First- if I had the drive into front, I'd likely have drive around to finish. Duh. Makes sense right. Don't get me wrong. Pixel has a beautiful front. All nice and perfect like. But she doesn't have the oomph. And then is flat for her finish. So we'll be going back and working on fronts. Again. This time with the basic priniciple of make her want it. Make her try harder, Make it hard for her to get there. All of that is going to make it faster and more exciting. Just like I used to proof Wicca's weave pole entrance buy trying to get her to do it wrong- holding her at the second pole and trying to push her in- she pulled away of course and ran to the first pole to do it right for a huge jackpot. With the fronts, push the dog away, turn away, run away, change your angle. Do all of that and instantly be rewarding in position. Makes sense.
Second- something called Tug and Miss? lol maybe Miss and Tug, or Hit and Miss. lol. I dunno what she called the game, but it was interesting, and I'm going to try it with Brit and Pixel. I play lots of tugging games already- and keep to the main rules (push the dog away, don't push the toy at the dog, keep it moving, make them want it, don't food reward if the dog doesn't want the tug, quit before the dog is bored, let them win lots.) But this game was a little different. Offer the tug, take it away fast and sharp movement. Turn away even. The dog should never really know if the tug is going to stay in one spot, you should get tons of excitement and drive before letting them have it. Of course you don't do this all the time- but it is a fun game to help build the "want" for the tug. I think its the sharp movement that really gets the dog. It was interesting to watch her dog (who is already in mega drive) turn into a freaking alligator for the toy. I do understand that my dog is different, but I think I can build it up to be similiar.
I also showed her what I've managed to teach Brit. lol. I did a ton of perch work (how I taught heel position) so now she just swivels her head around so she is actually looking sideways instead of forward. It's hard to describe. I'll try and video it. Anyway- with C's good eye she actually saw that not only was it my reward position but in my timing. So I've got a better plan to work on that. It also occurred to me on the way home that I should go back and do some choose to heel games with her. Because I taught the position first (which I normally teach later), I think that I initally forgot I hadn't taught her how to walk beside me and look at me. In other words I am lumping too much together combining the movement and the head position- she is confused. The choose to heel game will fix that in a few sessions...duh.
So a good Obedience night. Lots to think about, and lots to work on. In other brief news Brit retrieved her dumbbell tonite out of a pile of three on the box!!!! Woo Woo.
Tonite my partner was a woman who has working style bouviers that she does Schutzhund with. She is, of course, very into Drive. And Speed. And Enthusiasm. She is very nice and positive with her dogs though, and they are amazing workers. In any case tonite I went with the goal of working on Pixel's finishes- they are slow, and she often stalls out. "C" had some great advice, but there are a few things that really stuck out.
First- if I had the drive into front, I'd likely have drive around to finish. Duh. Makes sense right. Don't get me wrong. Pixel has a beautiful front. All nice and perfect like. But she doesn't have the oomph. And then is flat for her finish. So we'll be going back and working on fronts. Again. This time with the basic priniciple of make her want it. Make her try harder, Make it hard for her to get there. All of that is going to make it faster and more exciting. Just like I used to proof Wicca's weave pole entrance buy trying to get her to do it wrong- holding her at the second pole and trying to push her in- she pulled away of course and ran to the first pole to do it right for a huge jackpot. With the fronts, push the dog away, turn away, run away, change your angle. Do all of that and instantly be rewarding in position. Makes sense.
Second- something called Tug and Miss? lol maybe Miss and Tug, or Hit and Miss. lol. I dunno what she called the game, but it was interesting, and I'm going to try it with Brit and Pixel. I play lots of tugging games already- and keep to the main rules (push the dog away, don't push the toy at the dog, keep it moving, make them want it, don't food reward if the dog doesn't want the tug, quit before the dog is bored, let them win lots.) But this game was a little different. Offer the tug, take it away fast and sharp movement. Turn away even. The dog should never really know if the tug is going to stay in one spot, you should get tons of excitement and drive before letting them have it. Of course you don't do this all the time- but it is a fun game to help build the "want" for the tug. I think its the sharp movement that really gets the dog. It was interesting to watch her dog (who is already in mega drive) turn into a freaking alligator for the toy. I do understand that my dog is different, but I think I can build it up to be similiar.
I also showed her what I've managed to teach Brit. lol. I did a ton of perch work (how I taught heel position) so now she just swivels her head around so she is actually looking sideways instead of forward. It's hard to describe. I'll try and video it. Anyway- with C's good eye she actually saw that not only was it my reward position but in my timing. So I've got a better plan to work on that. It also occurred to me on the way home that I should go back and do some choose to heel games with her. Because I taught the position first (which I normally teach later), I think that I initally forgot I hadn't taught her how to walk beside me and look at me. In other words I am lumping too much together combining the movement and the head position- she is confused. The choose to heel game will fix that in a few sessions...duh.
So a good Obedience night. Lots to think about, and lots to work on. In other brief news Brit retrieved her dumbbell tonite out of a pile of three on the box!!!! Woo Woo.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Outreach day 1
I am typing this on my blackberry, so I apolagise for any spelling errors. It likely has more to do with the itty bitty buttons than my ability to spell.
Anyway, day one of outreach is over and I am tired- but again came away with some great reminders.
Interestingly enough I never even considered bringing Boone to the seminar until Sarah asked me about it. Turns out today was perfect for him! He did very well, and I got some pretty good ideas for him.
We started with a challenge course from a recent trial. It was very tricky and beyond Boones skills, but we did pretty well. He had a hard time weaving- I think it is the bases on the crappy poles...
After that we talked about handling and what we expect from our dogs. We talked about specifics like the differences between motion, physical, positional and verbal cues. It was a great discussion and really helped some of the new people understand more.
The next exercise was focused on decel and basic handling...this was a perfect exercise for boone as he doesn't always pick up on my decel. He did pretty well although had a hard time with really tight rear crosses.
My favorite part of the day was the last two exercises- we did some double box work focusing on positional cues. Boone had had enough and was pretty flaky. I didn't get through all the exercises with him. I brought him back after a break with a higher value reward and worked through it- but I could definitly feel my frustration rising and his focus dissapear.
The very last exercise I brought Wicca out for- she was a little wild and smashed almost every bar the first time...the second time she was better and so was I. Kim pointed out some valuable tips about rear crosses, and we ended with some pretty good success. It had a pretty simple layout but lots of handling choices. It was fun.
It felt like a really long afternoon and the dogs and I are pretty tired. I think we will sleep good tonite!
I wasn't going to blog tonite but am not tired enough to sleep and thought I might aswell get it out while its fresh in my mind!
Anyway, day one of outreach is over and I am tired- but again came away with some great reminders.
Interestingly enough I never even considered bringing Boone to the seminar until Sarah asked me about it. Turns out today was perfect for him! He did very well, and I got some pretty good ideas for him.
We started with a challenge course from a recent trial. It was very tricky and beyond Boones skills, but we did pretty well. He had a hard time weaving- I think it is the bases on the crappy poles...
After that we talked about handling and what we expect from our dogs. We talked about specifics like the differences between motion, physical, positional and verbal cues. It was a great discussion and really helped some of the new people understand more.
The next exercise was focused on decel and basic handling...this was a perfect exercise for boone as he doesn't always pick up on my decel. He did pretty well although had a hard time with really tight rear crosses.
My favorite part of the day was the last two exercises- we did some double box work focusing on positional cues. Boone had had enough and was pretty flaky. I didn't get through all the exercises with him. I brought him back after a break with a higher value reward and worked through it- but I could definitly feel my frustration rising and his focus dissapear.
The very last exercise I brought Wicca out for- she was a little wild and smashed almost every bar the first time...the second time she was better and so was I. Kim pointed out some valuable tips about rear crosses, and we ended with some pretty good success. It had a pretty simple layout but lots of handling choices. It was fun.
It felt like a really long afternoon and the dogs and I are pretty tired. I think we will sleep good tonite!
I wasn't going to blog tonite but am not tired enough to sleep and thought I might aswell get it out while its fresh in my mind!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)