TEAMWORKS AGILITY JOURNAL CONDITIONING RELATIONSHIP This journal belongs to the agility team of:
CONDITIONING Why is conditioning important? Agility is a running sport. Your dog will be asked to sprint and jump in all kinds of weather on all kinds of surfaces. Making sure your dog is well conditioned will help provide protection against injuries. Try not to let your dog become the weekend athlete or once a week athlete these types of dogs frequently get injuries. Plan for at least three conditioning sessions per week. Conditioning sessions should be geared to your dog and his physical structure and weaknesses (see Dr. Sherman at VetHab in Raleigh 785-3210 if you would like your dog to be assessed). Begin sessions at 10, and work your way up to 30. Vary the types of conditioning exercises you do each session. Be sure to stretch your dog before and after conditioning sessions. Swimming Brisk walk Hiking Carrying a backpack Sprints Climbing hills Climbing stairs Treadmill work Digging Walking over poles on the ground Walking through the rungs of a ladder Weaving in and out through cones
RELATIONSHIP It might sound really odd to be talking about relationship to someone who is taking the time to come to an agility class with their dog. However, it is very true on the agility course that dogs and handlers who play together stay together. You should spend as much time building a play relationship with your dog as you do training and conditioning. Please see the following handouts on motivation and play, but here are some ideas for relationship-building activities with your dog that will enhance your training relationship. Try to play these games on a regular basis. A good game of tug Recall relays recall your dog back and forth between two points or between two people A game of hide and seek -- you hide and the dog finds you (begin this game in a non-distracting environment) Playing fetch or low-impact Frisbee (making sure to also play games where the toy is close to you) Target to the hand games Running or walking regularly with only this dog (This exercise also counts as conditioning) Teaching the dog to do tricks Tandem running --your dog runs in a circle around you in tandem with your outstretched arm. You can put this together with the clock exercise and have your dog run around objects like trees. (This exercise also counts as conditioning) The Hrr-mnn-rrr game. Run wildly around the house like a kid and then ask for a quick sit or down. As soon as you get a sit, treat, release and run away wildly again, repeating the game. If you have multiple dogs, treat only the dog that sits first, then start running again.
HOW TO AVOID DE-MOTIVATING AN AGILITY DOG Disclaimer: The following summary is for motivation training for agility or competition sports. The assumption is that the owner and dog already have a relationship in which the dog respects the owner s leadership position in the pack. If leadership is an issue, the owner should first consider the Ruff Love program by Susan Garrett. DE-MOTIVATING Uh-uhnt, No, Enht, Wrong when dog takes wrong obstacle or doesn t execute it properly Shoulder drop, head shake, sigh, frown, clenched fists Stopping after mistake, ignoring dog, and looking to peers or friends to ask what you did wrong. Cheerleading, babbling while the dog works. MOTIVATING Use Come or Off in an upbeat tone and reward for that action rather than focusing on what the dog did wrong 99% of all agility errors are the fault of the handler whether a handling error, a lack of training, a lack of consistency in training, or a lack of repetition in training. Own your mistake, but more importantly, don t take your frustration out on your dog by expressing it with your body language. When you make a mistake, laugh at yourself out loud. Then call your dog over to you and ask for a known behavior and reward him for being patient with you! Ignoring your dog will send a strong message to your dog that he did something wrong. In fact, ignoring your dog like this is basically negative reinforcement! Own your mistake but don t pass the blame on to your dog. If there s a mistake, immediately ask your dog to do something simple like a trick or a recall, reward him, put him up in a crate or tether him, and then talk to your friends about what you did. While we humans think this is encouragement, most dogs find it very frustrating. They don t hear the words you are saying, they mostly focus on the tone of your voice. If you sound stressed, they will pick up on the fact that you don t trust them to do the obstacle. Instead of cheerleading or babbling, use your voice sparingly only to indicate when your dog does a great job. This will make the use of your voice a very positive thing the dog looks forward to, not a demotivating thing the dog works to avoid.
HOW TO AVOID DE-MOTIVATING AN AGILITY DOG continued DE-MOTIVATING Stopping after mistake and calling your dog back to repeat an obstacle Starting the dog or re-starting the dog without connecting with him first. Using all treat rewards and no play. Rhythmic clapping or cheerleading during a run. MOTIVATING The best advice in a trial is to just go on, assuming it was your mistake and there s no need to take it out on the dog. The other option in practice is to pretend that you meant to send the dog off-course or past the obstacle. Don t slow down -- re-connect with your dog, and continue on a circular path that would bring the dog back over the obstacle. Don t forget that agility is a team sport! Make sure you and your dog get eye contact before you run. You should strive to have the same connection with your dog in the ring at a trial that you have when you practice alone. Try not to be so focused on what YOUR goals are (i.e. qualifying and ribbons) and focus only on your training goals for your dog. Think of your ribbons as your reward for working well with your dog, not your goal. Food has a very calming effect, whereas toys generally cause the dog to become more excited. Toys stimulate prey drive whereas food generally reduces it. (Think about it -- there s no need to chase more prey when you ve just had a full meal.) Use treats sparingly and as rewards not bribes. Develop a play relationship with your dog (see Rules of Play) These are often stress behaviors exhibited by the handler in a trial but not in practice. The effect is the same as a teacher hanging over your shoulder as you take a test. Again, try to imagine in competition that you are practicing with your dog and it s just the two of you. Praise your dog when he does well, but don t cheerlead him when he is slow.
How to Play with Your Dog and be Fun to Play With! Have you ever watched two dogs play? Have you ever watched a pack leader dog play with a subordinate dog? In order to initiate play with your dog, you have to play like a dog plays, not like a human plays. Like a pack leader dog, you can still retain status if you play the game correctly. Note: these suggestions are for competition dogs, not for dogs with dominance aggression issues. DON T Don t leave toys all around the house and yard for your dog. Don t let the dog choose which toys to play with and when to play with them. Don t let playing with you be optional. Don t shake a toy at your dog s face. DO When two dogs play with an item, it is always an item of value. If you want your dog to value toys, you need to select some toys that are for play just with you. Store them out of your dog s reach. Leave the nonvaluable chew toys out, but keep all of the squeaky toys, tug toys and interactive toys for invitation only. You should initiate the CHOICE TO PLAY. The toys you use for motivational play should be special toys that are pulled out only for this purpose and later put away. Start with toys you think your dog will really enjoy, but work your way toward less exciting toys as you get better at this game. Try to start your play sessions in a relatively distraction-free environment so that if the dog doesn t play with you, there s nothing else fun to do like go sniff out a trail or chase squirrels. PLAY WITH YOUR DOG ON LEASH SO THAT HE DOESN T HAVE THE OPTION OF RUNNING OFF WITH THE TOY. There s nothing fun about having something shaken in your face. If you want to get your dog excited about a toy, make a big deal about getting it out and try to hide it from the dog in your arms. Say Ooooh. What do I have here??? Then drag the toy along the ground and encourage the dog to pounce on it. You might even want to tie the toy to a rope. BUT THEN, LET THE DOG HAVE THE TOY. Don t be so quick to grab the toy away! (Don t treat a toy like its something you don t want the dog to have or he will give up playing.) Let him shake it around and while he does, put your hands on the dog, ruff him up, and let him celebrate getting the toy.
How to Play with Your Dog and be Fun to Play With! Continued DON T Don t have your hands on the toy all the time. Don t let the dog just stop playing with the toy. Never tug harder than your dog can tug back. Don t get in the habit of always throwing the toy far away from you. Don t get caught with only one toy around. Don t play until your dog is exhausted. Don t grab the toy out of the dog s mouth or over-use the release command. Don t let your dog run off with the favorite toy. Don t get boring. DO Let the dog spend most of the playtime possessing the toy. Spend more time revving up the dog by ruffing him up than holding the toy. Convince him that the game is even more fun because you are playing with him. If the dog stops playing with the toy, pick it up and play with it yourself. Act like a dog!!! If he comes back for the toy, let him get it and ruff him up to initiate play again. Tugging for motivation training is not a battle of wills. If you always win then your dog will stop trying to tug. Let your dog think that he pulled the toy out of your hands and won every now and then. Go ruff him up when he does. Encourage your dog to play with you. The toy should only be fun for the dog when you are around. While retrieving can be fun and useful for distance work, you want to make sure your dog relies on you to activate the toy. Toys on ropes can help make this transition. Have alternate toys ready nearby in case one breaks or gets thrown in a place that you can t retrieve it. Quit while your dog still wants more. Try to stop the game when you have possession of the toy. It sends the strongest message about the start and end of the game. However, if you need your dog to give back the toy, its better to just gently hold the dog s collar and go still and quiet until he gives the toy up. Don t ask him to release the toy every few minutes while playing. That s not a game or play, its an exercise. (bor-ring) Have your dog on leash when you play. Always have more than one toy on your person to play with and retain the better toy hidden. If your dog breaks free and runs off with the toy, start whooping it up and playing with the better toy that you have hidden. Run around, leap, throw the toy in the air until he comes back and wants to play with your toy. Change toys frequently and be genuine. Dogs know when you re having fun and when you aren t. But more importantly, after you play this game correctly for awhile, your dog should start to view the toy as secondary. It s YOU and your play with the dog that makes the toy fun. If you do this well, your dog won t even want to play with the toy until you activate it.
Coming to class once a week is not going to be enough training for you to make significant progress in agility. We are giving you equipment in pre-agility to encourage the habit of practicing at home. We are giving you this journal to help you keep track of your training and to encourage you to also spend time on conditioning and relationship building with your dog. You will be given training outlines and exercises in your classes. Please feel free to add them to this notebook. In general, these are some rules you should remember in training. Keep your sessions short 5-10 minutes maximum. Train one dog at a time. The others can listen from a distance, which will be motivating for them. Think about your goals ahead of time and work toward them. Start your session with a high rate of reinforcement. Think about where you give your dog the treat or toy use the position of the reward to make a point to your dog. Reward your dog, don t bribe him. The treat or toy comes out after the behavior, not before. Use play as a reward when you want your dog to be moving, confident, and energetic. Use food as a reward if you are helping your dog build confidence, or if you want your dog to be stationary (calm). Change the food and toys you use on a regular basis. Raise your criteria when you have about a 70%-80% success rate. If your dog drops below 33% success rate, change the exercise or the way it is presented so he can succeed. End your session while your dog still wants more. End your session on a high rate of reinforcement. After your training session, sit down and record what you did, how successful it was, and what your plans are for next session.
CONDITIONING-RELATIONSHIP- LOG DATE CONDITIONING RELATIONSHIP GOAL TYPE OF REWARD USED RESULT % SUCCESS NEXT SESSION S PLANS
CONDITIONING-RELATIONSHIP- LOG DATE CONDITIONING RELATIONSHIP GOAL TYPE OF REWARD USED RESULT % SUCCESS NEXT SESSION S PLANS
CONDITIONING-RELATIONSHIP- LOG DATE CONDITIONING RELATIONSHIP GOAL TYPE OF REWARD USED RESULT % SUCCESS NEXT SESSION S PLANS
CONDITIONING-RELATIONSHIP- LOG DATE CONDITIONING RELATIONSHIP GOAL TYPE OF REWARD USED RESULT % SUCCESS NEXT SESSION S PLANS
CONDITIONING-RELATIONSHIP- LOG DATE CONDITIONING RELATIONSHIP GOAL TYPE OF REWARD USED RESULT % SUCCESS NEXT SESSION S PLANS