Criteria...the word of the day

Gunner’s new training has brought forth some new criteria. While I have always asked for high level work, I’m now insisting on some fairly rigid requirements on certain parts of exercises. This, however, sounds a lot easier than it is. It requires that I break down exercises (some all of the way back to the beginning) and reteach certain skills with the new requirements. I needed to explain to him what is and what is not the correct way to do something. And, in doing so, my criteria needed to stay consistent and clear.

Lets start with the definition of criteria - it is "a rule or principle for evaluating or testing something”. If you do not know what your criteria is, how do you know when your dog does (or does not) give it to you?

If you walk into the practice ring without a plan and without clear criteria, you are setting yourself and your dog up for problems. That does not mean a plan can not change, it can...and often does, depending on a lot of factors. Say, for example, your plan for the day is to work articles, but when you walk into the practice ring, it starts to thunder outside. Now, your noise sensitive dog is too concerned with the weather to even think about doing articles. What would happen if you stuck with your original plan and asked him to do articles? Articles have now become very stressful and your dog may start to make abnormal mistakes, which lead to even more issues. You have not accomplished anything and you could have actually made things worse. 

What is your criteria for articles? I’ll list some of Gunner’s criteria for an example. None of these are “new” criteria for Gunner, but it is an exercise that has a lot of pieces to maintain. These also were not his criteria when we first started teaching articles. 

1. Set up needs to be crisp, perfect heel position and with focused attention on me.
2. When I mark the pile, my dog needs to stay seated in heel position and look at the pile.
3. Perform an attentive, left, 180 degree pivot to set up with our back to the pile.
4. Maintain attention in heel position while I pick up and scent my article.
5. Stay focused (and quiet!) in heel position when I hand the article to the judge and while they take it to the pile.
6. Prompt and focused pivot to face the pile. No noise!
7. Sit straight in heel position after pivot.
8. Wait (with attention on ME) to be sent to the pile. 
9. Go directly to the article pile at a fast pace.
10. Work the pile quickly, without sniffing the mat and he must stay in the pile.
11. Ignore the judge and other distractions.
12. When he finds the correct article, he needs to pick it up cleanly.
13. The correct article should not be set back down and he should not pick up or taste other articles.
14. Come directly to a straight front, maintaining at least a crisp trot, without mouthing the article.
15. Not allowed to drop his head on front, as he has a tendency to be a little possessive of fetched items. 
16. Release the article when prompted, while maintaining his front. No leaning. 
17. Finish promptly when directed. No sightseeing. Finish must be straight and in position, with attention. 

Wow, that’s a lot of criteria to maintain isn’t it?! So, what would have happened if my dog had started throwing out stress signals because of the thunderstorm outside? We probably would have failed criterion number 1 and, if I had kept going, we would have continued to have problems. So, instead, I would step back and work on maintaining some quality moving attention until he started to relax. I would also make a mental note to incorporate more noise work into my training and to start taking advantage of the (almost daily) thunderstorms by playing with my dog during these times at home. I would ask for quality setups and increase my reinforcement schedule to help him work through the stressor. If he started to relax and his focus increased, I would reevaluate whether or not we should do articles.

Now, say there is no thunderstorm. You walk into the ring, set up your dog with attention and mark the pile. But when you go to turn around, your dog drops his head and starts to sniff the ground. Your dog has just failed criterion #3. What you do about it depends a lot on where your dog is at in his training. If he’s a green dog, I will remind him that he needs to keep his attention on me and I will help him get back into position. I may ask him to repeat the requested behavior. However, if he is aware of what the requirements are, I may push him a little more OUT of position (to over exaggerate the error) and he may get a slight scolding. If I do not address it, I have now made criterion #3 very grey. 

Personally, I do not like grey criteria. I like to make it very black and white for my dog. He should know exactly when he is correct and exactly when he is wrong. And, I am not afraid to tell him each of those things.  I think it is much less confusing to tell my dog that he is doing something I don’t like, rather than let him try to figure it out by himself. I will always take the approach of correcting my dog. Because after all, correcting literally means to “make something right” or to “point out or mark the error in” something. How you correct your dog is completely up to you. 

What if you do NOT address the failed #3 criterion and you continue to work the articles? You have now told your dog it is okay for him to drop his head on the left about turn. Remember, you are ALWAYS training your dog...you are either training him how to do something correctly or you are training him how to do something incorrectly. Make sure it is the first one! 

Your criteria for articles may not be as long as mine or it may be even longer, but whatever your list includes, you need to make sure the criteria is very clear to your dog. Address anything you would consider as not meeting your criteria. If your dog gets stuck, look at your criteria. Does he understand exactly what you are asking? Have you allowed your criteria to change? Are you asking too much of your dog for where he is at in his training? What external factors are coming into play? Are you training or testing?

I asked someone today what their criteria was on a specific exercise....they could not give it to me. (But in their defense, I kind of sprung the question on them.) Can you list your criteria for each exercise? Maybe you should try. Because maybe, if you are having some issues on certain exercises, spelling out ALL of your criteria may help you find the hole you are searching for. After you find the hole, put together some fundamentals to help you fix it, before putting the exercise back together again. 

We ask our dogs to perform a lot of tasks during training, some of which are a lot more complex than they are at first glance. And, some of these tasks may not even be related to a specific exercise. For example, one of my criteria for Gunner is “don’t show me your rear” when he has been released from an exercise. Because honestly, if he shows me his rear, he’s definitely not paying attention to me. So, if this happens between exercises or drills somewhere, he’s going to get a little tag on his rear. He can spin or twist, but he needs to come back immediately with attention. He is also not allowed to self-release himself to food, toys or people.

Every handler’s expectation of performance and criteria for their dog will be different. What is important is that YOUR criteria for your dog is clear. And, as your dog’s skills progress, your criteria will also change. And do not forget that you have to uphold your end of the team as well. The criteria for YOURSELF as a handler should also change as you gain experience. Have others watch you or videotape your sessions to make sure you are accountable to your own set of criteria. :)

Train hard. Play harder.
Shannon