Zero Tolerance!

Just thinking out aloud here …

At training last night Ticket almost tipped me over the edge … pushing my patience to the limit knocking 90% of bar jumps to the ground. She was not focused and she was racing me. I raised my voice (which is not like me) and finished the evening (for Ticket) on a negative … it’s a bit hard to finish a jumping course on a positive when all the bars are on the ground! I’d have to say I was almost tempted to throw in the towel and stick her on the “retired” list … but my stubbornness won’t allow me to let this challenge beat me, plus I've invested far too much in our relationship to let this go now.

Ticket trained nicely on Tuesday night and we actually moved together on course, like one. She was tuned in and I felt we had a real connection … then last night you would have thought she was a different dog. It’s the inconsistent and unpredictable behaviors that make her really hard to work with, sometimes to the point where it leaves you feeling quite frustrated and for me, close to tears.

I know it’s not all my fault … yes, sometimes I am late with a cue or front cross, yes I sometimes don't move quick enough, yes I should work on rear cross skills more … but hey! Give me a break! For goodness sake, I am trying and I AM consistent with my handling commands and it’s not all my responsibility … we are supposed to be a TEAM and that means there’s more than ONE of us!

I do see moments of brilliance and potentional in Ticket and that keeps that dim light glimmering at the end of the tunnel … but I tell you, it’s a bloody long tunnel!

Ronda Carter gave me two options when Ticket performed like this at the end of the seminar weekend a couple of weeks ago … she felt that Ticket was a very capable jumper and that she handles jumping nicely when she wants to, therefore she doesn't need to learn HOW to jump. She offered two options:-

Option 1.
“Band Aid” Handle and stay behind this dog … don’t get too far in front of her so she doesn’t race me and limit her potential abilities & speed and also the development of my own handling skills;

or

Option 2.
Zero Tolerance. If she knocks a bar then she pays a price … i.e. immediately after the knocked bar (not after the bar after the knocked bar) she is returned to her crate and can watch other dogs being trained and having fun. This, along with a few other things to mark the wrong performance, should teach her that she is not allowed to continue to have fun unless she keeps the bars UP. This could be a long process, as any re-training process is.

What to do? Obviously Option 1 is a bit of a cop-out and Option 2 is the only way to go if you’re serious about competing … so, I guess I’ll be emailing Ronda shortly for suggestions on the Zero Tolerance program!

Ronda Carter - Advanced Agility Handling Seminar

I learnt and achieved a lot this weekend ... the sequences we worked through with Rhonda were challenging and fun. With straightforward but encouraging guidance from Rhonda, everyone managed to be successful and come away with valuable advice.

I've written a quick summary of notes from the weekend ... remember, this is my take on some of Ronda's general advice that could apply to many rather than my detailed notes on specific skills we worked on.


Contact Behaviours
Be consistent - insist on the behaviour you want in training AND in the competition ring. You must be prepared to give the dog a consequence - even if in the ring, i.e. leave the ring if they don't perform the contact how you want (and have trained) it. Let ONE go and your on the road of 'fighting' contacts for the rest of your trialling career.

Don't lie to your dog - let them know where they are headed next.
Your dog needs to know where they are going in order to prepare their take off/landing at the previous obstacles.

Don't handle each obstacle individually - handle the line

If you lead out - MOVE as soon as the dog takes the first jump - don't just stand there waiting for the dog to catch you up!

The quickest way to teach your dog NOT to trust you is to correct it for taking the wrong obstacle when your body language told him to do so.

Do not layer unless it's going to buy you something!

All courses are a play on:-
- pin wheels
- boxes
- serpentines
- threadles
- straight lines

Practice those in their entirety, not as individual obstacles, and your courses will become a number of "lines" rather than a heap of obstacles.

Motion begets motion! Move! Run!

Teach a default to "side" position, i.e. come to side after a jump for a tight turn, etc. Ronda prefers to push the dogs rather than pull so a default to side means a push for distance work.

Only give them what they need - they'll take as much yardage as you give them.

"oops" does not build trust in your relationship ... do not oops, sigh, groan, uh uuhhh or use a "nope" or "try again" marker for incorrect performance - simply just try it again. However, be careful that you were not responsible for the incorrect performance, i.e. if your body language told the dog to take that obstacle don't make them repeat it - continue on and reward so the dog is successful. Then try it again (if in training) if you need to correct your own handling.

We seem to be micro-managing most of our dogs and courses - we need to trust our dogs and get out there and work the lines as a team.

TRUST YOUR DOG!

Travelling Ticket & Ronda Carter Seminar

Ticket has covered a lot of ground in the last week ... literally and mentally. Flying to Melbourne on Friday, staying in a strange place, travelling in different cars with different people, being in unfamiliar and changing environments surrounded by new people and dogs with two days of intenstive agility seminar work and then returning to Perth yesterday, Monday.

To my pleasant surprise she took most of it in her stride, showing little stress and adjusting quickly to her new environments, also taking a liking to a new friend, Donna, along the way.

I am pround of little Tick ... she worked well, tried very hard and stayed focussed all weekend ... mental tiredness creeping in on Sunday night. She adjusted quickly to her new routine and I'm sure she gained a little more self confidence in herself with the whole experience. Photo above "waiting for our ride".

Melbourne was the usual ...

sunny one minute ...

cloudy the next ...

The Action Dogs Club crew and seminar attendants were all very welcoming and certainly made us feel included. Ronda's seminar was well worth the journey and I enjoyed every minute of it. She is a demanding but positive instructor, full of suggestions and always with an explanation why, leaving you with many idea's and options buzzing around in your head.

Working in the indoor horse arena was new to us. The surface is compacted sawdust which took a little adjusting for me, Ticket didn't seem to care, however I certainly found muscles that I didn't know I had ... the people who train on this surface regularly would surely find it an advantage when they go out to compete at trials on grass. I feel the only disadvantage is that the weave poles are not pegged down and even with heavy bases they wobble about when the dogs are weaving, and the surface does need regular leveling where the dogs are consistently landing after jumps, etc.

Home now and well rested, Ticket is back to her usual self ... lounging around in the sun, conserving her energy for our next training session!

Notes on Ronda Carters' Agility Seminar to follow ...

Rhonda Carter in Melbourne - April 2008

Last week I submitted my application for a working spot at the Ronda Carter Advanced Handling Seminars to be held in Melbourne, in April this year ... they approved my application! So we’re off to Melbourne in a few months.