As I packed my cooler, the urge to grab string cheese, cut up hot dogs and leftover chicken was overpowering. My first “real” trial without any cookies for my dog. I swallowed hard and filled my cooler with drinks for both of us, but snacks just for me.
Fortunately, this test was going to be at a location my dog was familiar with. This took a little of the stress off of me, but I was still left with a feeling that I was forgetting something. I packed my gear bag with my selection of tug toys and the things I needed for the trial. Dumbbell...check. Articles and gloves...check. Leash and collar...check. The list was considerably shorter, now that I didn’t need 5 different types of food rewards and jackpots.
Warmup for the ring was a little stressed. Gunner wasn’t super attentive, but I was able to get some good tugging and effort before going into the ring. Once we entered the ring, we were able to get into a flow. He knew what to do and things went pretty smoothly. He wasn’t looking outside of the ring, and his finishes were a million times better, now that he wasn’t concerned about the cookies that MAY be outside of the ring waiting for him. A car alarm had him a little concerned in the Utility ring, but he worked well and pulled a nice score to win the class. Open had some impressive dumbbell pickups, but also a failure to drop on the recall. But, I walked out happy, excited about the rest of the work and the commitment of his dumbbell pickups. (Open NQ run https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDo-5Njb8Pw)
All in all, a great first trial with our new methods. He had earned enough points with his Utility win to meet one of our 2015 goals...to have more OTCH points than any other English Springer Spaniel in AKC history. Maybe no where near the point levels in some breeds, but I didn’t care. I was ecstatic with his work and the effort that I saw.
Sunday brought a little less effort, but I was expecting this. To him, reinforcement still meant food...which he had earned none of the day prior. Dumbbell pickups were a little worse and we had some attention issues in Utility (I think partially from the stress the day before with the car alarm). But, the finishes stayed good and I didn’t feel like I had to fight to keep him in the ring. We had skipped stays on Saturday, since we had busted the drop on recall, so Sunday was our first stay group. Traditionally, he earned a jackpot for doing stays. He came out of the ring and tried to head straight for his crate...and his jackpot, which wasn’t waiting for him. I redirected him and asked him to play with me instead. It was lackluster, but he finally played and stood for some back scratches while we were waiting for the scores to be finalized. First place and High in Trial...not bad, especially considering I had no idea of what to expect our first weekend out.
There is no magic potion, no magic wand that can fix our problems overnight. But the light is a little brighter at the end of the tunnel. I may change the warm up slightly at the next trial. I may try to work in a few food reinforcements for some cued behaviors and some motivational pops. The jackpots need to stay gone (forever), but I also need to use the things that my dog finds highly rewarding. Practices are still highly tug related. Effort and speed are required on all exercises. Social drive is fostered and encouraged.
I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t hard. It is easy to reward your dog’s work with a cookie, even if you make him chase it down and turn it into a little reward event. It is hard to get a dog, who has no desire to tug with you, to latch on and tug with conviction after a correction for looking away during heeling. Seemingly impossible to require a fast return on a glove pickup when you are outside working in the heat. But, requiring effort (without the promise of a cookie payout) is what is necessary to help solve our problem. I’m grateful for the friends who keep me on track and hold me accountable for my new training methods. No one ever said it would be easy, but it will be worth it in the end.
Train hard. Play harder.
Shannon
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