Day 28: Makes an A** out of You and Me...(but mostly me)

So for anyone keeping track, I spent the past day chasing my tail at work because of a mistake that could have been avoided had I just taken the time to fully understand what was happening. Instead, I ASSUMED that I knew what was happening rather than going the extra mile to understand. After a long and stressful day, I drove home and started thinking about dog training. I thought about what I could do from a training session to write a cleverly didactic blog post about not missing small details, focusing not only on the outcome but on the steps, taking all measures possible to avoid failure; blah blah blah.

With this in mind, I headed out for the three Hs and then decided to work on his T drills which have been on the shelf for too long and which I assumed would make a great blog post and allow me to tie dog training to life lessons. I started with the drill as we have always run it. He hupped on the whistle, but in a very lackadaisical way which definitely took him further off the line where I want him to go as you can see in the following video.

So I decided  to crisp up his whistle hups and handling with this trusty new found collar tool that I have. I started with the device on a 1. I was hoping that a small blip would keep him from drifting over and that I would use this magical device to make a dog that runs like a pro...but instead, after I used it twice; he popped on the third one; and fourth one, and fifth one. Following this debacle, I made a new back pile (taking the sides away) and just ran him on it six times. We then transitioned to a bit of quartering and sit to the whistle drills.

All in all, it wasn't an awful session, but it made me realize something that I hadn't initially expected to extrapolate from this session. I learned that things don't always go according to plan, and when they don't there are no silver bullets or aces up the sleeve. Generally getting the most information that you can up front is the only way to ensure that when things don't go as planned that you can minimize the risk.

Tomorrow brings a new day at work and in training; so I'll be ready for whatever it throws at me...but no matter what it does, I will do everything within my power to make it a good day, not just assume that it will be.

Day 27: Wide Open Spaces

Today Rob and I headed out to the club to take the pups for a swim. The weather was beautiful and the dogs were all ready to take a dunk. When I think to my issues with Fred, a lot of them were rooted in trips to the club. The majority of our sessions there for the past year have gone like this:

• Let dogs out of car to run
• Put on boots
• Yell for dogs
• Yell for dogs again
• Walk down to the pond
• Yell for dogs
• Run marks and blinds
• Let dogs run
• Yell for dogs
• Put dogs up

Today we altered the plan a bit and went with:

• Take dogs out of the car
• Walk to pond on lead
• Run marks and blinds
• Walk back from pond on lead
• Let dogs run

This new plan appeared to work much better than the old as Fred heeled nicely with no shenanigans at all. We shortened up what we had been doing just to see where we stood after the two weeks off and all of the obedience. He did a wonderful job. It was great to not have to fight with him, and certainly made my entire experience much calmer and more enjoyable for both of us.
 
After training, while Rob worked on force with Hondo, we talked about the fact that there is a big difference between getting the job done; and being a good all around employee. Hopefully we are taking more and more steps towards a long and happy employment!

  

Day 26: He Still Loves Me!

Today I got home about 45 minutes before Rob came over. I have more work to do tonight than I can even begin to explain; but somehow the nice weather and my desire to be fair to Fred made me decide to go out on a nice long walk with him to work on our H's. We went all around the property heeling (where I only had to correct him once) and hupping (where the count was five). He did a great job and was not stressing at all. It was some good time between just the two of us.

When Rob got there; we let the dogs have a bit of free time, then did the smart thing (for once) and put Hondo and Ranger up and headed out to work Fred. I kept him on a nice loose lead the whole way to where we were running the first set of marks from. He was focused and paying perfect attention. I had Rob throw four sets of long doubles for Fred from different locations, and he did a nice job. He actually hunted a bit on the memory birds (which isn't like him) but I'll have to admit that the trade off for his level of discipline was completely worth it.

I didn't do anything with the collar on his retrieves as they were really as good as gold and better. So, once we were done I made another good decision. I put Fred back on lead and heeled him as we walked back to the house, scattering in a few hups and heres. When we got back to the house, I had him sit and took the lead off before releasing him to ease the tension. Rob made a valuable comment about letting him know when the pressure is off, so I told him what a good boy he was and even gave him a biscuit.

As I sit here on the couch (still not doing work in case you are keeping track) with Fred sleeping peacefully at my feet, I realize that all of this pressure, and consistency is not bringing him down or making him love me any less, but rather making him love and respect me more than he has in awhile. I suppose that this is how my parents felt after they grounded me for being an idiot, but knew that I was learning not from my mistakes; but from the way that they handled them.

Day 25: Another Tool in my Belt

For those who know me, you know that I'm generally opposed to the use of an e-collar for training. I don't ever want to nick Fred for something that he doesn't know, but I do agree that it can be an effective training tool. I think my stubbornness, and abandoning the collar too early may have been contributing factors to getting where we were. That being said, I have had my new-ish Hawx collar on Fred for the past few sessions. To anyone who hasn't purchased one of these yet (a low cost add on if you have the upgraded Bumper Boy Electronics), I highly recommend it. For a novice trainer such as myself, the rigid expansion strap makes placement a snap and keeps you from making it too tight or loose which helps to ensure proper contact.

I didn't turn the collar on until today when I decided to get back to conditioning from the ground up. We revisited the undeniable H trifecta: hup-heel-here. I set the collar on the lowest stimulation and gave myself the "keep calm, carry on pep talk". I started with hup and just kept on the lowest stimulation when I gave the command and tugged on the lead. We hupped dozens of times, but it sure didn't take long to crisp up his response. Next we moved to heel. I kept the leash loosely in my left hand. Every time that the lead tightened at all, I gave him a low nick and repeated the command. Sure enough in 10 minutes or so we were on very loose lead and hupping perfectly. We did several here's as well, although I didn't need to use the collar at all on here as his response on this was immediate.

We took a big and exciting walk around the property for about 30 minutes and I kept this up when needed. I realized that I was being a very responsible trainer as I was not using it to train and for once I was being completely honest with myself and Fred. When using this method, my timing is much better than it is when I am simply trying to jerk him into place (anyone who has seen me dance knows that I lack all sense of coordination and timing!)

I have always been very cautious with the collar, so going back to these basics is helping to re-collar condition both of us. As I cautiously rebuild my Lincoln Logs with Fred, I will continue to use the collar fairly and consistently as yet another tool that can help me help him to reach his full potential.

Day 24: The Truth Hurts

Two weeks ago I was away for a conference, and on Wednesday night L.C. had six beautiful puppies. I took a few days off and was planning to get back at it last week when my BFF and training buddy Rob hit me with a ton of bricks. I was talking about Fred flunking out of Seasoned on the water double (as he wouldn't swim through a big patch of lily pads); and I mentioned that I had issues with control that almost got him pitched. Rob sat quietly and listened to me, then threw it all out there. He mentioned that he had re-read all of my training blogs and got thinking that between what he read, and what he saw on a daily basis; that I had bigger issues with Fred.

He mentioned that I often repeat commands and that both before and after training I let him run like a mad man. He talked about how I struggle to get him lined up and use a litany of here, heel, look, etc. etc.  He went on and on and I kept coming up with excuses and explanations. I have to admit that the wine wasn't helping, but I went to bed thinking that he was crazy. I woke up the next morning, however; with a new sense of clarity. I was refusing to see it because I was getting what I wanted out of Fred in the blind running and marking; but the more I considered it, I realized that all of these little things that I was accepting were starting to add up and would soon be a great big problem.

I talked to Rob (and apologized) then came up with a new plan. I decided that each training session needs to contain a good amount of heeling, whistle sits, recall drills and just basic control. I needed to remind myself that these little behaviors are not acceptable, and that duplicate commands and refusals are not fair to the dog.

I headed out this afternoon for a good 45 minutes of heeling and short marks. I was very honest with where he was and very cautious about what I was accepting and saying. After the session, Fred was stressing a bit, but is now happily sleeping at my feet. While the truth hurt a bit, I know that I need to be clear and concise on what I want out of Fred. This is the only way that I can continue to improve my dog, and improve myself.

I'm not sure what other training elements I will incorporate, but I am sure that this tough love conversation helped me to turn over a new leaf and we will start looking at the coming weeks as a whole picture, not just a little dog who can run a blind.

Day 23: HRC Help?

Today Rob and I headed out to the club to enjoy the beautiful whether and get away from LC who is ruling the roost with her big belly at the moment. I have come to grips with the fact that with only a few days until we take a crack at a our first Seasoned test, I have to be honest about where we are. I have realized in the past few weeks that our water handling just isn't there yet. Sure I can put on a whistle clinic and get him through it, but its more of an etch a sketch than anything else.

That being said, today I tried something new. Fred got off of his line while swimming across the pond. It wasn't awful, but he probably drifted two or three yards left while swimming across (i think he fixated on a stump that he saw). Instead of trying to get him to take delicate angle backs, I let him go. When he got four paws on the ground I gave him an over to the blind then called him in. I have posted the video below; but my question for all of you HRC gurus out there is whether or not this would constitute a failure at the Seasoned level?

If it would, I'll plan on hacking him through, but if not; I'll take my chances once he gets to land. Let me know, because I'm clueless on this one!!

Day 22: Trust is a Two Way Street

I didn't write yesterday because it was a fairly uneventful training day. We trained at the farm and stuck to some long bumper boy marks and a few simple blinds. A storm rolled in and cut us short; so this afternoon we picked up where we left off.

Rob, Kevin and I headed to the club and set up some fun situations. We went back to the water double followed by a water blind for our first scenario. The double seemed like it would be pretty straightforward, but when Kevin threw the memory bird and neither I or Fred could see it fall (or so I thought).

Despite a little cheating on the way back from the go bird, Fred did a great job on this. I got ready to send him on the memory bird, and realized that if he got in trouble I wouldn't even be able to handle him from where I was standing. As soon as he sat down and locked in to his far left, I thought he just might have an idea so I sent him....and he nailed it!

As you can see it is difficult to see the fall, but just that little splash was enough for Fred. I was so proud of him, and just like I'm asking him to trust me in the blind work, I am learning to trust him a little bit too.

The blind went moderately well. I knew that I lined him wide right and just let him go. Once he hit the other shore he was about 5 feet off of it so I blew the sit whistle...right as he saw it. Oops. I need to keep at it though, because as hard as my little guy is working to learn for me I need to keep learning for him!