What word do you believe is synonymous with the word criteria? I want you to pause for a moment right now and think of the first word that pops into your mind when you think of the word “criteria.” Don’t read on until you have that word. Say it out loud when you hear the word Criteria what does it mean to you? Do you have the word?
If you are like most people the word you would come up with is the word “rules.” Criteria equals rules. It is what govern the expectations we set in place for our dogs. Criteria for a start line, criteria for a contact position, criteria for the execution of weave poles, criteria when meeting guests at the front door . . . the list goes on.
Of course criteria must equal rules. Doesn’t it?
So right now, before reading further get a mental snapshot of how you think about your dog when you are thinking of his criteria for any behaviour. Lets take a behaviour you are struggling with right now. Something that maybe is frustrating you in training or competition. Maybe it is a down on the table or a nose touch at the end of the contacts in competition or a straight front in obedience. Think of your dog, that behaviour and the word criteria (or rules).
Try to take a body scan of how you feel with that specific combination of thoughts. The mental image of your dog, THAT behaviour and the word criteria (rules).
Now how does all of that change for you if was to suggest we change the meaning of the word criteria from “rules” to the word “joy”. Rather than working to teach our dogs to “maintain our criteria for a behaviour” what if we changed it to “how can we help our dogs find the joy in the work we want them to do?”
Criteria = Joy.
Take the example of a dog at the start line in agility. You have been frustrated by his lack of self control or his inability to stay where you want him to stay. You may have angrily stomped him off and given multiple time outs or physical corrections for his naughtiness.
THIS dog is not meeting your criteria, or THIS dog isn’t living by YOUR rules at the start line. Now lets make that mind shift and rather than it being about the dog, lets make it about you.
Have you showed this dog how to find the joy in his job at the start line?
See how thinking of criteria as joy completely changes your mindset in training? It takes away responsibility from the dog living up to your expectations and puts the responsibility on us as trainers to create motivation and desire in our dogs to do what we want, how we want and when we want.
Anything your dog has pure joy for he never has to be nagged, reminded or corrected for does he?
He will do it and he won’t disappoint us if we can help just him to find his joy.
I think that could be my new job description; Susan Garrett, Keeper of the Joy. Sounds much better than plain old dog trainer does it?
Today I am grateful for Encore and Feature who had such a terrific weekend of agility. Even though they have had very little training over the past six months. They inspired this blog by demonstrating their joy to me.
I join everyone else in really loving this concept of focusing on joy when training. I do alot of different training but the one that affects my heart the most is herding – with a breed that people don’t see alot – an Old English Sheepdog. I’m learning to do herding at the same time he is – which can be challenging. This joy is the reason herding means so much to me – it is what I saw the first time he was exposed to sheep and sometimes we’ve forgotten to focus on it and frankly have lost it when I get too focused on the “final picture”.
This post plus your most recent newsletter will form my “goals” for 2011 and onwards for both of my sheepdogs in all the fun joyful activities we do. Thanks! Judy
The word for criteria that came to my mind was opportunity. Each time I am writing a criteria down it is an opportunity to think of how the dog can learn and succeed and move on to the next learning opportuniy and be rewarded.
The opportuhity for the handler and dog to learn and succeed has given me some great relationships.
Criteria has been a journey for me .. started out as “criteria = criteria for training” until I was put straight that
“criteria = criteria for life”.
Now THAT was my first major lesson about criteria, and not always an easy one to live. That was the take home message for me when Susan came to Australia last year. I thought Susan would fall instantly in love with my boy Tiger .. well maybe it wasn’t love at first sight, but something more lasting!!
Today for me “criteria = confidence” for me and for Tiger. It is what we both need. Things are really coming together for the both of us and for every positive comment I get I say thank you out loud to Susan, Lynda, Say Yes … I don’t know where we would be without you.
The word that came to me was goals, but joy is a much nicer word and I know that Abbey will like that a lot better as well. all I know is that all I have learned from Susan has made me appreciate my dogs so much more and I love to see them work things out for themselves. I am a believer of the recallers program.
I came up with not a word but a phrase. The phrase I came up with was “How it will look when the dog does it correctly.” I am an artist and I imagine the finished behavior like a completed work of art. But, I shift in and out of a state of satisfaction…like this is work…this is a job.
Susan, I love your word JOY because I immediately come back to the most important asset a dog brings to the “endeavor” and that is playfulness. The way you know it is playful is when there is that sense of JOY. A perfect word to pull me back to the ultimate purpose for pursuing the sport of agility- both me and my dog “enJOY” working together.
Love the way you hit the mark.
For years I’ve been watching dogs at obedience trials that are just going thru the motions with very sad eyes and not very enthusiastic responses to commands. I know I didn’t want my dog to look like that. I want her to be happy, eager to work with me and really enjoying what she does. That’s what brought me to your site! The first video of you that I ever saw was Crate Games and I thought Wow! That’s what I want my dogs to look like and be that eager to work with me. When I saw that you could get great responses AND happy dogs I know that’s what I wanted. Joy in my training and working with my dogs! Your article about criteria = joy is that way I want to train my dogs and with your help in the e-course and your videos that’s just what I’ve been able to do! Thanks so much for bring your training abilities to all of us who can’t physically get to your classes in Canada!
The first word that came to mind was fun. I know with my BC if she isn’t having fun she just loses interest so I need to think of ways to hopefully keep things fun for both of us..
Susan, WOW! What a difference in perspective one little word makes! I am going to have to read over the post a few more times to really cement it in my brain (I’m kinda like my BC in that way…love repetition of reinforcement!)
You were right. The first word I thought of was RULES, that is not a fun word! Changing it to JOY rewrites the whole concept! You never cease to amaze me. You have so changed my way of thinking about and training my dogs. Thank you, thank you for being the guardian of our JOY!
My word that came to mind was ‘expectation’. Susan, your suggestion has changed my mindset. I’m off to create some joy in my dogs life! Thanks heaps.
The word I thought of was consistancy. Constant joy – yay! After a weekend of weave pop outs our training solution is going to be show him more fun in the poles. The recallers course is working in my brain, and my trainer is brilliant too!
The first word I thought of was “skills” (which equals “games” to me) and as I paused before reading on I recognized that the most important skill I need to break down the “criteria” is a reward… and that goes for BOTH me and my dog. I have a breed that can be quite independent and before training anything I must take a tally and ask myself if I have enough invested in a reward or game to train that behaviour and am I going to enjoy the process myself.
I don’t have to ask myself that with my younger dogs but my first two I did! Shows you that following your advice over the years made training so much more fun!! I know they are going to have a good time and be rewarded heavily by us working together because the early work gives us the “skills” to keep on working through the tough stuff and enjoy the whole process!! Criteria to me is broken down into a zillion tiny skills (games) to train each piece of criteria and every time I read your posts it drives it home again that all those relationship buiding games are at the root of it all!
The word (or phrase) that came to my mind for criteria is “gotta-have’s.” When I imagined my golden retriever puppy coming around for a heel and facing me at a 45 degree angle instead of facing forward with me, I thought of how I feel when I think of the “criteria” that way.
Cosmo wants to please me. If I worked so hard to please someone and they looked at me that way when I didn’t meet the “gotta have’s” in their mind, I would probably give it up.
Thanks for a wonderful new way to view his behavior (and more importantly, my own). I’m a newbie to your blog, agility (my newest interest), and just received the crate games CD in the mail yesterday. It is all starting to make so much sense. Thank you!
Well I came up with “standards”. And I think one of my new “standards” will be joy 🙂 Joy was my late grandmother’s favorite word so I always think of her when I hear it. Like someone else said, I need to help my Jack Russell rescue find the joy in staying quiet when someone drives in. Made a good start today when the grader was working on our (washed out) road. She thought tuna fudge was quite the joyous way to ignore the grader!
Well, Susan, you must meet up with Deborah Lee Miller Riley who teaches Canine Water Sports. Same philosophy. We had her do a “dry dock” seminar for us two weekends ago and the dogs had a blast.
The most fun and joyful game we played was tic-tac-toe — a grid of 9 (3 x 3) 2 ft x 2 ft squares made of pvc piping. Goal was to either have your dog deliver a toy to a box and drop it on command or pick up a toy from a box and bring it to you. Of course, ultimate goal was to try to get 3 boxes in a row or diagonal to win the game. Could scramble it up so that dogs got their own toys — or, even harder, another dog’s toys. Could also direct them to a box and command a sit from a distance.
Obviously, we had to have markers taught, retrieves taught, and directional signals taught — but the dogs thought it was fabulous and the people were laughing and having a blast and it was great fun. And the dogs wanted to do it again and again.
Joy — and obedience — all wrapped up in one exercise. There are pics on my FB of it if interested.
Criteria = “Operational Definition”
When I think of “criteria” I think in terms of an “operational definition” for a specific behavior. This is a behavioral psychology term used to specifically and precisely describe a behavior of concern so that two observes can study the same exact behavior, including the behavior’s duration, intensity, frequency, etc. Personally, I think “joy” is a much better definition, regardless of whether you are working with people or puppies!
Since the expectation is that we’re honest…. to me…. today…
Criteria = :::banging head on desk:::
I know that’s not a word. Try as I might, no single word came to my mind. I cheated and read the rest of the post without coming up with one single word. I couldn’t even manage the criteria of not reading the rest of the post without identifying that word! (Yes. I self-rewarded!!!)
Why?
Right now, criteria is so closely tried to a negative emotion (frustration) that I couldn’t be objective about it!
But… I am working Recallers 2.0 with my boys. Within Recallers, we are finding the joy. Lots and lots of joy to be had with these boys who are teaching me way more than I’m teaching them!
@KristineD you have me laughing out loud with your admission to not being able to stick to the criteria of not reading ahead!
Criteria=Understanding
Standards..that’s the word that came to my mind as synonymous with criteria.
But, I think of it as standards for my own behavior and not my dogs.
It’s my job to be sure my dog is doing what I asked correctly.
If I don’t get what I’m asking for, then it’s because I have been lazy and let my standards slip!
You have done it again Kiddo, brilliant and I will start using it tonight in my classes.
Thank you, thank you.
Nice…. I like that visual.
Leica finds such JOY in the anticiPAAAAtion of the release at the start line… and she shows it by playing her favorite roll of “princess butt up in the air”… Even when I wait for her to put it down, even when my eyes are crossed holding back the howling scream that is pushing up against the back of my lips “PUT YOUR A** DOWN! She is joyous, Leica, princess butt up in the air, keeper and protector of all joy.
This post kept popping into my head yesterday. I turned it around to:
“how can (I, Susan) help (my students) find the joy in the work (I) want them to do?”
You are doing it every day in the Recallers 2.0 course!
Another keeper thanks Syd!
This post brought tears to my eyes. My word was also ‘standards’ and it was rigid and full of expectations that are usually not met. JOY is such a better word! It carries over to so many other areas of life as well.
Your going to have to add shirts to your store soon. “I am the cookie” or ‘be the cookie’ and “keeper of the joy”
Thanks (to you and coach John Cullen)
The minute I read this post yesterday
“Help your dog find his joy”
this is something I have control over so I’m putting it on the top of my list of cues to use as part of my training (performance) plan.
Another your quotes I try to put in my plan is
“Think of it as a continuation
of your recall games”.
(This may sound easy but isn’t really all so easy ideal mental state to maintain!)
Finally I add a quote I really like (taken from your will-be-famous webinar “blueprint for recall success”)
“Dogs live in the moment. That is one of the things that make them so special”
You make a point in the webinar about the limited time we have with our dogs, to learn to be effective and efficient trainers. If life would be made up of one moment, we would want it to be a moment of joy.
Very nice and very simple….need to write it somwhere in the training barn, and my journal….thank you for writing this post, I need it and more importantly my dogs need me to get it 🙂
I cannot express how timely this post is for me. I had a tough day competing yesterday with my young girl. I knew enough in my head that it wasn’t her fault, but still couldn’t shake my dissapointed feelings. And I truly did not want to feel that way. When I read this post this morning and got to the part about criteria=joy, it brought tears to my eyes! That is what I was missing. It was like a big aha moment. I really did need to, as you said, “completely change my mindset”. And for me, it did instantly. I am so grateful. I know that I will refer to this post over and over. and I will probably talk about it to all my friends until I make them crazy. but this is just too good and too important not to share.
I think you have a really inventive mind, Susan.
The best inventions are those that people will say ‘oh, why didn’t I think of that – it’s so simple’. It’s something I find myself saying to many of your ideas!
…ah ya,
and THAT is why SHE is making the big bucks !!!!!
:):):)
Yesterday and last weekend we had a tough time at agility. Today I had a bit of a lightbulb moment… To get my dog more motivated on the start line I need to become her cookie, and give her joy – thanks for your blogs and your 5 minute recall videos – I feel like we’re at the start of a new beginning!!
Keep saying it, over and over….joy joy joy…the A+++ reinforcer for a trainer. Twenty-five years ago I got some funny looks coming out of a Nov B obedience ring after a barely qualifying performance, grinning and saying over and over “his tail was wagging!” I’m grateful that there is a Susan Garrett promoting joy!
Wow! The word I thought of was must! But joy just totally blew my mind. I am sitting in the library at my school and was like well duh it should be joy! I want to run home and find joy with my dogs.
I am training in agility currently and Ive decided to go back to the basics and work their foundation and get their foundations stronger. I ve decided to implement toy drive and tugging but with my one girl it is a total battle when it should be joy I see now I need to find the joy in tugging with me for her. Any suggestions would be great! She does not bring it back to me always and she doesn’t always tug when I pull it out. She will sniff she will go off rather play tug as reinforcement. I have always used a treat as her reinforcement so this is reapply hard for us!
As always, your viewpoint makes a better world for dogs and handlers.
Thanks!
You were right SUsan. It IS the BEST! 🙂
Hi Helen, just want to say THANK you for helping me find and put the JOY into my girl’s tugging last year. It keeps growing – makes me more joyous everytime I see it!
Oh Sydney! Thank you so much for telling me that! Sometimes we forget and get frustrated but the more fun we put in, the more fun we get out. 🙂
Brilliant! Too often it seems the dog is blamed for a faulty run.
How true Tori! It really is a shame to see dogs being held responsible. For the sake of our dogs we need to take that burden upon ourselves.
Interesting… The word I came up with was maintain as in maintain the bar, and I was thinking of myself and not the dog. If I maintain the bar (criteria) on myself, the dog will follow – I’m not letting the criteria on myself slip or waffle. I was thrilled with my runs this weekend because I maintained the bar on myself and the results followed – blazing runs and a very very happy dog. My goal/criteria involved my handling timing.
Oh, Susan, what a grand concept! I should of figured that out when I see Snap’s face when we play ball or frisbee or tug-a-war..it’s pure unadulterated joy in her eyes. I truly want that look when we work together… It’s really me you are training; not my pup! I’m so glad your name was given to me when I got my BC…It has really changed my thinking of dog training…or I should say “Joy Training”!!
Thanks Susan for your words of joy and encouragement which you share so graciously with us. Before starting each training session my “training mantra” will be: I must find the joy, I must be the cookie.
Criteria = Performance for me. And “joy” is part of my dogs’ performance. If there isn’t joy, why are we doing this? 50 years ago it was all “corrections”—motivating the dog with positive methods works so much better–and both members of the team share the rewards. One think I try to keep in mind when setting criteria is that it is not THE DOG’s criteria, but OURS. We are a team. It isn’t how fast my dog can get through the weaves, it is how fast WE can do it. That alone is a game changer. Another great post, Susan. Thanks for sharing with us!
Susan, you may be the guardian Keeper of the Joy for your dogs, but you are Sharer of the Joy for me and my dog!
Thank you for helping me really be able to capture and define the relationship with my dog that I’ve always intuitively felt was possible (blog, books, articles). Thank you for showing me tools and thought processes to achieve that beautiful relationship (Recallers!!). May the joy you share with people like me be returned to you in a thousand delightful ways and may you continue to find inspiration for the meaningful work you do throughout your life.
@Kristi I think your comment has got to be up there with one of the nicest thank yous I have ever gotten. I think I will have to print it out and post it some where I will see it often:).
Susan, I was thinking the EXACT SAME THING about Kristi’s post. Beautiful compliment.
( I think most of us feel the same way )
Thanks Kristi for putting the right words on paper. )
First thank you for jumping out of the computer again like you are talking to me! I came up with expected my daughter came up with standard. She does not train dogs college student.My little BC gets nervous or excited on the start line and will not always sit she continues to stand. I feel like sooner or later a judge will not like the time this is taking.I had already started trying to make it a happy,fun place to be.THANKS Susan I might actually be on the road to becoming a better dog trainer!!
What a fabulous post!
WOW what a Joy…thxs for the great post.
So spot on! I recently got a puppy and have to constantly ask myself when I’m frustrated over criteria, “where is the reinforcement?”. And then it’s suddenly clear to me what I really need to be doing!
Being my second dog, I’m also a lot more aware of criteria this time around. So still learning to put as much fun as possible in each training session. It’s hard work!
Beautiful.
You have said this in different ways many times I think, because I know it crosses my mind more often when I am setting up criteria, and it is so helpful for me in measuring what is going on with my dogs. Is the dog showing JOY? If not, I am doing something wrong! It is different retraining dogs that have already been taught the wrong things, and Bee would sort of glare at me (as though she was saying “my previous owner let me cause I’m so cute.”) when I was waiting for a reinforceable moment. Life can have its frustrations, but that reminder that I am supposed to be cultivating joy is a great guidepost that helps me keep my sessions short and sweet and on track,not try to force my way through some challenge, but to keep expectations where they should be, more joy not only for my dog, but also for me! Great post!
Keeper of joy – sounds perfect!
I was training my young Malinois with your 2on2off method for the dogwalk and I was stuck in the last stages of backchaining the full obstacle. He was doing well but a bit too slow in my opinion. So I reminded myself not to be too serious and to have fun with him. Then within a couple of repetitions he got his full dogwalk with a nose touch at the end under 2.3 seconds (not so bad I think for a beginning).
In every behavior I teach my dog I never forget to first and foremost have fun with him and make the training fun for him. That way I always get DASH.
Now I’m working on his dogwalk up contact. I’m struggling with it but I always try keeping the joy on.
Wow, I agree with Wendy, that was an eye opener. Thank you!
Thanks for this article – it’s a new take on dog training! And Wendy, you’re right that we have to ask ‘how can we make it fun?’ rather than getting annoyed at a dog for not behaving ‘right’.
My first thought was joy, thanks to the seminar we took with you last weekend. Thank you Susan, for those two words, I think them whenever I train my dogs now. If my dogs don’t love their criteria, I’m not doing something right! Thanks for the inspiration. Now I just need to make ‘not barking at the door’ MORE FUN!!
Wow. Thank you Susan. The word I came up for was expectations, rather than rules, but it amounted to the same thing – then I saw “joy” and my brain exploded. I’ve had moments of this… “How to teach my dog how much FUN weaving is…” but I always forget when she doesn’t get the steps right, and fall back on expectations, rules, details… instead of FUN!
I always thought your 2×2 system was about breaking a long behavior chain into smaller behavior chains so you could teach expectations. But now, suddenly, I realize it’s so you can make it SO MUCH FUN they can’t stand to be away from it. It’s practically impossible to take a dog struggling with weaves, point them at 12 poles, and not be disappointed when they pop out between 10 and 11. I can teach her JOY when I’m disappointed, so I have to refocus. How come she pops up? Because it WASN’T FUN! Now I don’t have to think “How do I make her understand” I just have to think “How can I make it fun?” That’s totally a creative challenge I’m up for! BRING ON THE JOY!
I am having a problem showing my dog how to have joy in holding onto his ball while driving for his tug (we compete in flyball). When I first adopted him, he had no desire for or drive for a tug toy, but I spent months teaching him how much fun tugging was. Now, I am at a loss for teaching him how much fun holding onto his ball (which used to be the most rewarding thing in the world for him, having his ball).
We had that problem too as my BC has zero interest in tennis balls. I have simply taught him that unless he brings the ball within a foot, he doesn’t get a tug.
Have you taught your dog the command ‘get it’?
We have a “get it” command, but I don’t want to teach him to go back and get the ball if it was dropped. There will be times in tournament where he has to rerun, and I want him to do the full course then, no go grab whatever ball is laying around on the ground.
And, he starts shutting down if he doesn’t get the tug. Since I know he will drop it way more than a foot away, setting criteria like that for him to meet is setting him up for failure unless I can come up with a way to show him what I want.
Thank you for this!! Truly inspiring!
I had this problem just this weekend at a tournament. My solution was to not bring the toy into the ring at all. I had him run back to me with the ball and then we tugged with the same ball in his mouth (using gloves!) After a couple repetitions of this in the warm-up, he was blasting back to me with his ball ready for a game! My next step will be to start bringing in the tug but still just play with the ball. Then I’ll start exchanging the tug for the ball about halfway through the game, shortening the delay each time.
That might work for us! I think I’ll start getting him to tug with his ball now, then see how it works to do that in class. He uses small balls, so it might be a little difficult to grab onto for a game, but I’m sure we can do it.
We generally don’t have a problem in tournaments, because I can get far enough out in the run back that he holds his ball until closer to me. At practice though we have very little (25 feet) of run back, making it much harder.