Dusty gets a qually

Dusty's second trial at Newcastle this past weekend. She had two runs - one in Standard Agility and one in Jumpers under ANKC rules.

We were second in the ring for Agility. I didn't really have Duz's attention and when she saw our instructor running in the next ring, she did the whole course looking over her shoulder. I thought it was a fairly difficult novice course with 90 degree turns away from discrimination obstacles - and it wasn't one we could do without her full attention.

By Jumpers, I had settled down and had taken the time to go through her pre-comp routine with stretches, focus tricks and settling obedience commands, and a game of tug. She had a great run, a couple of wide turns when I forgot that she needed much earlier cues than Thommo, but finished clear in 2/3 of the standard course time for a qualification and a third place medal.

Summer Camp Two

Our second Summer Camp with Canine Fun Sports dealt with skills to succeed in the Games that were introduced in ANKC Agility in 2006.

Summarised, we covered:

1. Distance
2. Discrimination
3. Distractions
4. Directions

Silvia Trkman

Negotiations are underway to bring Silvia Trkman to Australia. Often the promoters of agility seminars here ask you to sign up for a visiting instructor, without knowing more about them than what they have won.

Silvia Trkman has won plenty, but her website also tells us a lot about her training philosophy.

She says:

Many people ask why I don’t write a book… Here is your answer: because I can tell everything that I think is important for success in agility in 10 paragraphs:

1. Develop a firm and trusting relationships with your dog .
2. Properly condition your dog.
3. Teach your dog tricks.
4. Teach your dog obedience, obedience in high-drive of course.
5. Boost your dog’s confidence.
6. Don’t be afraid to do things your way.
7. If something goes wrong, always remember it’s your fault, caused either by your training or your handling. That’s good to know since it gives you a power to fix it yourself too.
8. Never forget that results don’t count.
9. Dogs’ work best when they work for themselves.
10. You want agility training tips? If you follow the advice from above, agility gets so easy that you don’t need those. Just go out and have fun with your dog!

The points are expanded on her website.

Rockclimber

Calling all Pets

Calling All Pets on Wisconsin Public Radio features Patricia McConnell and co-host Larry Meiller providing "down-to-earth advice about pet problems, big and small, and fascinating information about wildlife, too."

Check the archives for a series of shows on "For The Love Of A Dog" discussing whether animals experience emotions just as we do, how to read a dog's facial expressions, and why we love our dogs so much.

Canine Campus Podcast

Canine Campus offers excellent audio 'lessons' from Deven Gaston, on dog training and behaviour modification. The most recent are reports from the US 2006 APDT conference, and include a geat summary of Patricia McConnell's biology of emotion in you and your dog.

Something to make productive use of those hours driving to your next trial?

For the Love of a Dog

For the Love of a Dog: Understanding Emotion in You and Your Best Friend
Patricia B. McConnell Ph.D

McConnell presents a compelling combination of stories, science and practical advice to show how understanding emotions in both people and dogs can improve owners' relationships with their pets. This is more than a simple dog-training book: much of what McConnell discusses concerns how dog owners can learn 'the language' of dog by recognizing important signals and reading them correctly. She provides numerous helpful examples of how owners can observe dog behaviour, especially differences in posture and facial expressions, in order to help dogs be better behaved and help dog owners to be better handlers.

Dusty greets people she knows with bared teeth. Given that she is an Australian Cattle Dog, a breed given to biting first and asking questions later, this can be a bit disconcerting. My visitors anxiously asked “Is she going to bite me?” and all I could say in reassurance is “I don’t think so.”

McConnell describes her expression exactly in the section Smile for the Camera. Smiling dogs raise their upper lip vertically, wrinkling the skin of the muzzle and exposing the teeth. But the shiny, sharp teeth are accompanied by a relaxed body, a lowered head, friendly squinty eyes and a tail wag that starts at the shoulders.

She says that this is most likely the expression of a nervous dog anxious to please, and compares it to the grin of a teenager picking up his date for the first time.

Cues

I must admit to being caught out a number of times during Summer Camp by being asked to say, and then demonstrate, my cue for a particular behaviour. So:

Startline Procedure:

• Position - lead Thommo with a hand touch as he doesn't like being man-handled, lift Dusty into place.
• Stance - put Thommo in a stand, Dusty in a down. The cue means stand/down stay until released so no need for a wait.
• Walkout - without looking back or repeating a command.
• Take up position and look back.
• Raise hand.
• Say "Go!"

So now I actually have a procedure I can begin to train it. Better late than never I guess.

Release cue on contacts and table "OK"

Attention - "Tom" and "Duz"

Directionals - "left" "right" "out" "close"

Obstacles - "over" "through" "walkup" "teeter" though not routinely used.

Cues as Reinforcers

At Summer Camp we did some work on the timing of cues, which reminded me of the Karen Pryor article on the use of well timed cues as reinforcers in agility.

An agility run involves a long series of cues about where to go and what to do next. Some are physical cues—turns and moves by the handler— and some are verbal cues: “Tunnel!” “Weave!” “Left!” You have an opportunity to make each of those cues work in your favor by presenting it during (not after) some other behavior that you want to maintain or increase.

Of course if the dog doesn't know or understand the cue, it has no reinforcing ability. Cues have to be built carefully, consistently, and preferably off-course, so you as handler don't get fooled into assuming the dog knows what you mean.

The message is that you need to know what your cues are. Are you using moves? Fine, just use them consistently and also with appropriate timing, so you make use of their powers as reinforcers. Are you using both moves and verbals? Great, again as long as you know what the dog is really responding to and what is just superstitious behavior on your part.

Precision Steering

From Summer Camp with Canine Fun Sports

• Use your arm to establish and maintain distance - arm out to the side, dog at a distance; arm beside the body, dog in close.
• Use your finger to trace the dog's path, pointing at the specific point where you want your dog to be,
• Keep your eye on your dog, maintain a connection between the two of you.
• Use front and rear crosses strategically. Front crosses can tighten up turns, and speed up the dog. Your dog must be taught to allow you to cross behind.
• Position yourself on the course to provide information about the direction of travel. eg Use the 'handling line' to do a front cross.