THIS SIMPLE CONCEPT MAKES ALL DOG TRAINING EASIER!

In training are there are so many details that it is easy to let some pass by the wayside. But as the saying goes, “The devil is in the details.” This is definitely a truism for dog training. Although we may get frustrated by the amount of details and the clarity that is required to create great behaviors or even decent skills, the fact remains that whether we embrace these facts or choose to dismiss them, they are facts that exist regardless.

If we agree that there are many facets to the behaviors that we want to create, and that dogs learn best when we are clear and consistent with our training, then would it not make sense to state that if we do not totally understand what we want out of the behavior or a session, then it will be impossible for us to communicate that clearly to our dog? If we don’t totally comprehend it, than how the heck can we teach it to someone else??

Some of the basic points I always make to my students is that before you take your dog out to train a drill you need to:
*Have a plan!
*Know exactly what you want the dog to do.
*How you are going to begin.
*How you are going to end the drill.
*What to do when the dog succeeds.
*How you are going to react if there is failure.

WHAT’S THE SIMPLE SOLUTION??
While analyzing reasons why students struggle, I found that that there was one simple component to training that most were neglecting: They did not have a complete vision of what the behavior and session they are trying to create looks like. I call the visualization of what your training session should look like your Perfect Picture.

If you can’t envision exactly what you want the behavior and session you are training to look like, then how you can you possibly tell your dog accurately when they are right and when they are wrong?

Even more importantly, if you don’t have a Perfect Picture of your session, how will you notice when undesirable things are occurring? Ummm, you can’t. And guess what happens when your dog rehearses behaviors that you don’t want? THEY CAN GET REALLY GOOD AT THEM!!!

Now you may be thinkin’, “ Wait a minute, that is so not me.” Oh, but very likely, yes it is you. I’ll just go ahead and tell you why :-).

Having a Perfect Picture isn’t just about the big details of the behavior. I am talking about the whole training session – every little bit. Most people miss the nuances. You know, those pesky little details that are so vital to giving our dogs a clear understanding of what we want them to do.

To qualify, my ultimate Perfect Picture (when the training is perfected) may not be what I am working on at the moment. My current Perfect Picture can partly be about what I want to accomplish in this drill, but the most vital part of that P.P. is that I visualize the entire session start to finish. The drill is only a piece of the whole. My P.P. begins the moment I approach my dog and is complete when the session ends and the dog is in their crate.

If I am not clear about what all the pieces of that drill should look like, one piece of training may be accomplished while I may inadvertently be creating failure somewhere else that could cause big problems in the future.

Let’s break down my Perfect Picture of a simple sit-stay in front of a jump. What should that look like? You could be sitting there thinkin’ “ Hey, it’s a sit-stay. The dog should sit and stay!”

But what does that sit-stay really entail? What should that really look like? Close your eyes and imagine what you want to see when you set your dog up at a jump.

My Perfect Picture for that sit-stay has many components. I try to keep it simple, but I need to know what is desirable and what is not. I begin at the beginning:

1. I connect with my dog as I approach them in the crate and create a state of anticipation and arousal.
2. I release my dog dynamically from the crate with focus and drive and reward with play or food.
3. I maintain a connection as I bring my dog to the start line. When I set my dog on the start line they should be engaged and working at a high level of intensity.
4.  They should sit quickly when asked, ready to jam.
5.  They should hold their sit no matter how much they are pumped up and they must have no foot or butt movement. (I will reward accordingly)
6. Their eyes should stay on me the entire time until I tell them to look for their line.
7.  They should leave only when I give them their verbal cue and not a moment before.
8.  I work my drill with attention to all the details.
9. I make sure to keep my connection throughout the skill work particularly as I finish one repetition and begin another.
10.  I manage the session, maintaining intensity and drive until my dog is back in the crate.

If anything deviates from this picture, I need to train the issues. Break behaviors down, add more intensity, focus and value..…

SERIOUSLY??!!
If this feels overwhelming to you in any way, take into consideration that the bulk of the Perfect Picture is exactly the same for every session. The only thing that really changes is the actual drill that is the focus of the training. The rest should look the same every time I train. I always want connection, attention and a desire to work. I always want to manage my sessions and so forth. Sometimes my sessions are extremely short . Or I may just be building on, strengthening or creating the skills and attention that will be the core of my training sessions, such as with a puppy or a new dog. I am not saying that this needs to be perfect immediately, just that you know intimately what your goals are so you are able to work with clear intent towards those goals.

I use the start-line as an example because it is the biggest point of failure in most people’s training. And I feel it is also the biggest point of stress for dogs. Not only can it be very confusing and produce a ton of failure, but it is also how most sessions begin.

For instance you take your dog out to work, put them on the start-line, they pretty much immediately leave. Then we give some sort of verbal or physical correction. Verbally I am referring to some sort of non-reward marker ( UHUH or AAAAAAGNNNNN) (I have no idea how to write that and hopefully you get the idea). Physically I am referring to slumping our shoulders or looking disappointed; I do not mean beating on the dogs with a stick.

Even though these corrections may seem minor, they are often the lead-in to your skill work. NOT A FUN OR MOTIVATING WAY TO BEGIN TRAINING! We are starting drills that should be exciting and fun with some NOT very happy campers. This of course makes everything more difficult to train. After all, the dog’s motto is “if it ain’t fun, why the heck do it!” You are beginning your training session in the hole.

Getting on a start-line soapbox here, almost all start-lines issues I see have to do with a lack of clear criteria. Too many releases on an “almost.” It always pains me to see trainers get pissed-off at their dogs for start-line failures. Especially when on the previous repetition they allowed the dog to leave early. Training 101, yes I know, but is it fair to correct a dog one moment for what you said was just dandy the repetition before??? Now to be reasonable, many trainers have no idea that their dog left the start-line early in the first place. But unfortunately, just because you didn’t see it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. And because it has happened, the dog is likely to learn a lesson from it. I frequently tell my students it is just as easy to teach something incorrectly as it is to teach something correctly. Yes, it’s a bummer. Removing feet from soap box.

BE A DEEP THINKER
As I mentioned earlier, when we concentrate on an aspect of training, some things may get by us. We all know that the need to always be consistent can suck, but whether it sucks or not, it is a fact. If you don’t know comprehensively what your session should look like, important pieces of training will be missed. If you are not detail oriented you can inadvertently cause issues that may take a great deal of time to resolve.

By looking deeper into your training and considering the session as a whole, not simply one facet of the session (the sit-stay), you will be elevating and progressing a much more extensive amount of behavior all at once.

I will use my foundation contact training for one more example of the need for a Perfect Picture. I do most of my contact training on a baby A-frame. It is 2’x4’ on each side rather than the standard size.

When a young dog has a training session, I always emphasize the importance of the trainer taking time to imagine a comprehensive Perfect Picture before they begin their session. Most folks are only concentrating on the contact work ( the drill) itself: such as will I work distance? Speed? Where will I lead out to and so forth? That is usually where the picture begins and ends for most folks. Unfortunately by simply focusing on one aspect of the session, the drill itself, rather than the session as a whole they are missing a ton of important training details that can negatively impact the success of your training .

GETTING IT RIGHT
First I will plan what I want to accomplish on my repetitions, always prepared to adjust my session if the dog is struggling, and knowing that if I struggle, my best Plan of Action is to give the dog a break and figure out how to proceed.

My P.P. will then include:

1. Get connection, desire and drive from the dog in the crate.
2.  Release the dog dynamically from the crate and play.
3.  Keep my connection with the dog to the start line (can be with play or treats)
4. Put the dog on the start line with drive and intensity.
5. Keep my connection while I lead out (rewarding successful connection and the stay).
6. Raise my arm to get focus on the obstacle and release the dog on my verbal.
7. Implement my training plan.
8. Make the reward an event if the dog does well, then release the dog dynamically from the contact.
9. Maintain connection and enthusiasm with my dog from the conclusion of one drill to the beginning of the next drill.
10. End the drill by running the dog back to their crate.

Of course I am not going into the minutia of the actual drill here, but hopefully you get the idea.

Remember most aspects of the P.P. are the same in every training session. I am not reinventing my whole P.P. every time I train. Principally, especially once my connection foundation and play training is where I want it to be, only the details for the individual drills change.

Therefore, my P.P. will always contain pieces concerning focus on me and intensity out of the crate; connection from the end of one drill to the beginning of the next drill or to the crate; enthusiasm from the moment the dog comes out of the crate until the moment they return. The variations include having a comprehensive plan for the individual drill and knowing what to do when the behavior is going well and what to do if there is failure.

Without a Perfect Picture, what I frequently see are sessions with some attention to detail but one where many other vital bits fall by the wayside. Connections are frequently not maintained and session pieces are not managed. While the handler focuses on the most central aspect of the training (in this instance the contact) their dogs get distracted, leaving their handlers to sniff the ground or have a pee. They beg for rewards by continually trying to jump onto the contact (or cookie machine) without being cued and at the same time ignoring the handler’s body language and so forth. But when the handler has a comprehensive picture of what the whole session should look like these issues can be minimized or erased completely because the session is clearly defined and directed.

To recap, remember that your dog is always learning so you must visualize your Perfect Picture from beginning to end. If you do, you will know exactly when your training is on the money and when there are problems.This knowledge will propel your training sessions to new heights. Not only will you train more successfully but you will get more accomplished in a fraction of the time. It’s worth it!! Embrace the P.P. concept and if you need help, ask your instructor, or for online help with me, contact me at www.avx019.wpengine.com for private or group classes. Yes that was an extremely shameless plug 🙂

Have fun training!!
Stacy Winkler