Lets have a party
Now I just need to get Simon to weave again. I've had three different trainers give me three different ideas as to why he stopped and I've taken their suggestions under consideration and....decided they don't know my dog.  Actually, I'm going to incorperate their suggestions into my training.Under all that hair is a wimp dog. He's unsure of doing things and I helped him to be a wimp. What I mean is that although I give praise(and food) its not enough. We have to have great parties when he does things right and even when "I" screw up, I still have to give a great party that he listened to me. He really has improved alot but he needs a better partner. One who knows he's trying to do what they tell him and just doesn't just stop when they do wrong and go back to try again without giving their dog due diligence. Kristine will know what I'm talking about. I was reminded again the other night when "someone" was watching and yelled out "GOOD DOG" after I stopped when "I" made a mistake. Thanks Sue. So now I'm determined to throw the best party in town. |
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| Pam, Sounds like you have done quite a bit of reflection on what needs changing and how to go about it. Bravo! IMO a good party NEVER hurts. I have been told the ratio of praise for the dog doing something right should be "at least" the same as (better yet if 2X more!) than the attention that one pays to what the dog has done incorrectly. That is so often not the case. When you think about how hard they try and how willing they are to do what we ask of them, the dogs deserve our praise in very large measure. Good luck at the "Hounds" trial! Linda Z |
| Good luck at the trial. I can't remember the ratio of positive to negative feedback that was recommended in behavioural psychology when I studied it but it was huge. Tiggy is not a wimp but she loves to get things right so she gets confused and upset if she can't figure out what I want and then loses interest |
| Pam, he's not a wimp. He just really wants to please and a lack of (positive) feedback can make any dog unsure of himself. And, Sue, ah, yes.  We were working on some really difficult handling sequences a couple of weeks ago and I was so concerned about getting my part right that I forgot to let Sybil know she was holding up her end of the bargain just fine. I didn't see a big difference in her demeanour, but it didn't take long for Sue to give me a nice, loud verbal reminder <vbg>Don't sweat the weaves too much or you'll get tense, he'll pick up on that and regress more (been there, done that  ) Just remember that he has nice weaves and he just needs to remember that. But, heck, yeah, party like it's....     when he gets it right. A little reassurance and he'll be back on track. Almost every dog goes through ebbs and flows. With Sybil right now it's sending her for the retrieve. She anticipated twice in a row so I resorted to gently holding on to a little hair before I threw the dumb bell. Once I did that she decided she WASN'T supposed to go when I said take it. I went through a number of frustrating attemps trying to send her, but then backed off. Breathe deeply then repeat after me: "this too shall pass, this too shall pass" Regression is part of the learning process. But then as they proceed forward again, it's usually with a more solid understanding of the exercise or equipment performance or whatever it is you're working on. You have a month till Hounds. I had Mace fall apart on me two weeks before her first Hounds. They're dogs. She was fine once Hounds rolled around. I just had to believe that. That'll be key for you. You have to trust him or you'll micro manage or do something strange (to him) that makes him question himself. Hard to do, believe me, I know. Kristine |
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