Bad Training Session ....

[Tilly]

You take your dog out to the local park for a short training session. It was quiet (no one around) and no real distractions. It is a place they have trained before so it is not new. The exercises you are going to do are familiar to the dog and they have usually done them well.

You get him focused and starts out with a nice sit and then heels for about 5 steps ... and then his mind starts to wander and everything goes downhill. He starts to play with the leash. He is given a quick verbal correction and we walk another 4 steps and then he is put into a sit and told to stay while you walk 3 steps and turn to face him ... he had decided sitting is not his thing and is laying on his side. He is given a verbal and you step forward to sit him ... and he rolls over and tries to chew your hand.

You put him in a sit and walk another couple of steps in a heel and he is all over the place. He is told to drop and he sits - you put him in a drop and he is up almost immediately. He is told to sit and he drops - again put into a sit and he lays down almost immediately. He fights against his leash, he just isn't focusing or paying attention.

So what do you do?

Edited October 7, 2009 by Tilly

[sas]

Check to see if there is something physicaly wrong such as a sore back, this is often a reason overlooked when "good dogs go bad".

If he's simply testing the waters, I would give corrections where neccessary but not let it frustrate me, keep going for a little bit until the dog gets something right and then finish it there.

Edited October 7, 2009 by sas

[persephone]

ANY positive/correct response wouil;d end the session, and we would go straight home for a bit of a health check, as previously mentioned. ..also a dissection of what YOU were/are feeling/thinking ...as a dog's behaviour can reflect this!

[Kavik]

I'd do something really simple that the dog likes and can perform well and finish there

[huski]

I'd do something really simple that the dog likes and can perform well and finish there

Yep I'd probably do something similar, if the dog really had no focus or interest I'd end the training session.

[Sue & Waldo]

Were you watching me yesterday? Honestly. Cindy finally heeled well for 5 steps and we went home. There weren't even any Swallows to chase but her mind wan't on training. Tried again in the afternoon and no problems. Nothing "obviously" different. No idea what was different.

[Vickie]

I voted other.

I probably would have put him on lead & taken him for a run to burn off some energy & then started again. If he failed in one exercise, then I would work on that, rather than asking for 3 other things when he was unfocussed. So when he got distractred in the heelwork, then I would have pulled out some big rewards & worked on getting 10 nice steps. Have a play & then 15 nice steps.

[Tilly]

Were you watching me yesterday? Honestly. Cindy finally heeled well for 5 steps and we went home. There weren't even any Swallows to chase but her mind wan't on training. Tried again in the afternoon and no problems. Nothing "obviously" different. No idea what was different.

It could have been you at the park ... but I swear it was a male

I swear this guy is there everyday when I drive down to the park (at the end of my street!!!) - normally the dog performs well but last night he was saying sit and it was dropping but he just kept at it and each time the dog would offer up another behaviour and it never matched what was asked ... or just looked at him like he had said nothing at all. The guy ended up dragging the dog home ... literally dragging it as the dog refused to walk with him as he could tell the guy was ticked off.

I sometimes have this problem during obedience classes were my pup is not focused as he is distracted by everything else going on ... and the instructor keeps telling us to pull them into line and make them sit if you tell them to sit. I don't like physically correcting (with check chain) a 6 month old and prefer to get his behaviours through reward ... but at the same time he knows the basics and I do expect him to sit when he is asked to sit etc.

Was interested to see what everyones responses would offer...

[Vehs]

If my dog isn't 'getting' a trick and I'm getting frustrated I end with the last trick he learnt that he's solid on and we celebrate that trick and then training is over

but I want him to comply with what I am asking, not just end because he's bored/distracted - sort of like he has to earn the right to stop training

and then I sit back and think how else I could approach the trick

if he is getting a trick I'll end training after he does that trick really well

[Agility Dogs]

When things don't go as I have planned I just decrease the complexity of the exercise, make it heaps of fun and then start again next time from there.

eg: I go down to a local park and do some obedience exercises and some agility foundation work with my two a couple of mornings a week. Xena always works consistently and well. CK on the other hand has ups and downs depending on other dogs that might be walking through the park, the weather and the angle of the moon........

On the down morning I'll sometimes have to go from the really cool fun stuff, right back to just getting his focus and making sure he will stay close and play under the distractions around us.

The following morning I start him off again at this point and quickly progress back to where I want us to be.

[Nekhbet]

is your dog bored? Are you becoming uninteresting?

if a training session is NOT working i would rather cut it and try again when the dog is in the mood. Obviously he had energy to burn and you probably would have benefitted from doing some physical routines with him at a higher pace and then try some calmer exercises.

dont push training or the dogs interest slips further and further.

[ness]

I guess to me it would depend at what level the dog is working at. If its a dog who I know has been doing what I want for a while and its not new ie. when my older dog gets like this during a training session, I will put her away (or tie her up if we are at the park) and get my youngster out and train and then I will either reattempt something with my older one or sometimes I will just go home again after that.

[megan_]

My boy did this (and still does) after he got very sick for a few days. I thought he had recovered about 2 weeks later but apparently not. He wouldn't even look at his tug, which he normally loves. So off to the vet we went, and he had a temperature and his gut made a lot of noises when touched.

I would go to the vet if a dog that normally loved training suddenly showed no interest in it.

We are now in a training break until he fully recovers.

[TerraNik]

I guess to me it would depend at what level the dog is working at. If its a dog who I know has been doing what I want for a while and its not new ie. when my older dog gets like this during a training session, I will put her away (or tie her up if we are at the park) and get my youngster out and train and then I will either reattempt something with my older one or sometimes I will just go home again after that.

I do the same. No focus = game over for you and now you get to watch the other dog get attention and food

I bring them back and do attention exercises and one simple exercise then we go home.

[RallyValley]

When I am practicing agility at home I can only have 3 or 4 mins before my boy wonders off. At training or out with the sheep he will focus as long as i ask him to!

But sometimes he decides that it's oppiste day! So maybe this dog just decided that it was opposite day?

[W Sibs]

I kind of make it a game when we do training in the park. It's probably wrong thing to do.

Charlie is still a puppy, so he can still gets distracted easily. I know at the park he loves to run and often we play chasey with each other. So, our training in the park is:

I start running, he runs after me.. when i know I got his full attention. I will stop and make him do a series of sit, drop, stand, stay etc... when i know that i'm loosing his focus again, i begin running around again. We do this for about 10 minutes. (i just want to add.. i only do this on an off leash park).

Our training session at the park usually leave me and him snoozing on the couch afterwards

[Tay.]

I voted other;

I'd get my dog to sit in front of me, tell her watch and then either let her run off her energy or if I'd got her attention do a quick heel/sit and then let her run (praise before run). After shes got rid of some energy I'd try some quick training and praise heaps if she's a good girl. I always try to end training on a happy note

But if she was being really naughty I'd tie her up for a few minutes and do something else then go back to her. (similar to ness and TerraNik, but would probably wouldn't train my other dog because he's got the attention span of a pea at the park! If I were home I'd train him though )

[TerraNik]

But if she was being really naughty I'd tie her up for a few minutes and do something else then go back to her. (similar to ness and TerraNik, but would probably wouldn't train my other dog because he's got the attention span of a pea at the park! If I were home I'd train him though )

Well of course it does back fire when the other dog decides to follow suit and being a little PITA too!! Thankfully that rarely happens!

[The Spotted Devil]

Hmmm....went through this a bit I did with my Spotted Devil

Zig LOVES to free run so if his focus was awful I'd ask for something really simple, reinforce with food, then reward by releasing him to run and sniff and pee Then I'd call him back, reinforce the 'casual' recall, ask for slightly longer focus, reinforce with food, then reward by releasing. I still use the same system but he can focus for minutes now rather than seconds!!!

Oh, and if he didn't come when he was called, I quietly walked over and put the lead on - no sniffing allowed for a few minutes, then released to try again. Coming when called became SO much more rewarding. The other lovely thing is that he often chooses to cut his free run short and comes back looking for food and training.

I also make sure I stop BEFORE he loses focus and give him a clear release command so that I am the one who decides when training is finished. I was at an agility/jumping trial at the weekend and observed a number of handlers who turned their back on their dogs when the dog (read handler ) stuffed up - the dog was simply allowed to disengage when THEY chose to and in the ring!

Of course you have to ask the usual questions - is the dog well? Have you been doing too much training? Too little training? etc etc.

ETA: The very first thing I would do would be to ask the question: What did I do wrong?

Edited October 8, 2009 by The Spotted Devil

[corvus]

I think it depends on the dog. When Erik's focus wanders, it's because he's bored of what we are practising and so I get down with him and we do something else that he likes more, and then maybe I'll teach him something new. But we are just training for fun.

With Kivi, I think that he loses focus usually because he's not very excited and thus he needs more pay to keep going. Or he thinks it's too hard. I might try revving him up a bit, or I might ask for something else, or I might just increase his reward rate. Usually it's the last one that works best. But whatever happens, if he's not really into it I keep the session very short and easy.