Comments on: Irritation is Motivation

By: Lauren

Lauren — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 21:34:42 +0000

Rainha, my two year-old Portuguese Water Dog has completely shut down in agility class. She sheepishly leaves the crate for the start line and jumps – walks, jumps – walks, on and on . . . The other dogs in the class are, in my opinion, unmanageable. They aren’t obedient and bark incestantly. The class is an hour or so and we only get to run the course three times?? I’m disappointed because Rainha’s not having any fun at all and neither am I. I’m looking for me motivational advise or perhaps starting over with the more fun Foundations class.

By: Misa

Misa — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 16:19:39 +0000

Ellie, you’re going to get advice from many others, too but here’s my hit list.
1. Ruff Love – build that relationship. Every time your dog comes out of the crate, it’s for *fun, fun, fun with YOU*
2. Short training sessions – again, a lot has been written about this.
3. What’s you dog’s best motivator? What’s the best thing that happens to your dog in the course of a day? There’s a way to tie these things in with your relationship building.
4. A big ‘lightbulb moment’ for me was Rachel Sanders “We ROC” (Reward On Course) seminar at Clean Run Camp in 2006. She said : Break down those practice runs in to small, rewardable pieces and remember that the time you spend both before and after you run and/or practice are the *most* important. Charging up those times with tons of reinforcement and staying connected with my competition dog at all stages has made the most difference in my dog’s now-stellar attitude.

It’s a fine line between labeling one’s dog as “shut-down”, or “soft”, and a realistic acknowledgement of the particular training challenges that we face in training our dogs. Surrounding yourself with excellent instruction (as you are, by reading this blog) will help you so much. Good luck to you!

By: Mary M

Mary M — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 03:44:36 +0000

I am so glad to hear someone else obsess over the one time criteria issue in the ring…so many people I see let a dog blow the criteria because of the Q…

Just this weekend I blew the chance of an overall level title with my green pup (okay this was a CPE event so not anything like what you are doing on an international level, but it’s my first agility pup)…anyway, he blew his contact, and I will repeat those silly words, “this has never happened before”.

So I chose to blow the class and ask him for his contact again (which made the time run out and we did not complete the gamble)…..however he hit the second contact and guess what were working on this week……backchaining contact criteria at home.

It was a difficult decision to stop the run, change course and ask my boy for the correct contact, but in class today no matter what I did to proof his contact (and boy did I look and sound silly doing it!) his contact criteria is now back again with perfect form and execution…small sacrifices for bigger (and safer) gains in the end I think!

By: Ellie

Ellie — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 02:01:12 +0000

I enjoyed your post and find myself easily motivated by irritation. I don’t always have the skills needed to get the criteria I’m visualizing (I’m a fustrated perfectionist) yet I find the process stimulating.

My young soft dog “shut down” during a recent class and it has left me devastated. How did you and Decaff overcome?

By: Gay

Gay — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 00:18:49 +0000

Wow. Another great post combining guidance and inspiration. I’ve cut and pasted this line and put it in my journal:
“Stop allowing ribbons and titles to dictate what is important to you and let your dog’s level of enjoyment and the mastery of the sport be the standard you measure yourself against.”
Perfect. That is usually my goal, but to see it put so concisely puts it in a vision will help me dedicate myself to it.
thanks!

By: Krystal

Krystal — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 21:18:17 +0000

Im so happy you wrote a little bit about decaff. You say that he had some issues with shuting down when he was young and now he’s over it. And i love that. It makes me feel like there might be hope for me and my dog Kasper and his issues/shut downs to. Your such an inspiration!

By: Sherry in MT

Sherry in MT — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 17:10:41 +0000

I’m also finding that Inspiration is Motivation! As I’ve just recently found your blog and newsletter, it is inspiring me to be a better trainer, improve my techniques and yes, recognize and be irritated by the behaviors before they get too far out of hand (and am finding that I’ve inspired those unwanted behaviors by letting them continue).

I’m grateful for talented trainers willing to share with those of us in the “stix” that don’t have access to one on one talent like Susan!

By: Trudie

Trudie — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 14:10:17 +0000

Thank you for your newsletter, I’m looking forward to when your preview assemblage of Training Tips and Foundation Notes become available !
Some feedback for you: we live in the country and my pyr shep dog is a warning barker, who turns into “I’ll cope with this stress by being a frantic, persistent nuisance barker”, even when it’s the mailman, friends, or harmless strangers just hiking by in front of the house. Thanks to “Ruff Love” (– run, don’t walk, everyone who hasn’t got a copy, it’s a light little book, summer reading.) I started doing crate “time-out”, and this has been amazingly effective. Rewarding eye contact, turning back to me — he caught on fast — and this is rewarding for me because he now offers these behaviors. I am calmly chip – chipping away.

By: Emily Louise Svendsen

Emily Louise Svendsen — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 14:06:38 +0000

Thanks! I just made myself the same promise, I’m never going to let the ‘shut down’ scenario happen again. As a reward for that promise (and a result of some serious planning) we’ve just had a kick ass training session. My puppy was showing tons of drive + offering behaviours she has never done before. Magical!
Please do write more about DeCaff ;o)
Uh can’t wait until next tuesday…

By: Chris

Chris — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 13:56:00 +0000

Sometimes we work for our own rewards in agility – whether it’s Qs or ribbons or finishing a sequence (and therefore not stopping to reward a fantastic execution part way through). I’m guilty of this latter problem, and what it means for my dog is if I ever stop him on course he knows he’s done something wrong and is starting to shut down.

I’m now going to try to be really irritated with myself for not rewarding him enough, and hopefully get his enthusiasm back.

Thanks