aussielover Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 Can dogs just have a "bad day"? Yesterday my dog was appalling at agility training. From start to finish she was unresponsive, spent the entire time sniffing for food/ interesting smells, refused obstacles that she normally has no problems with and was generally just naughty. She wasn't physically tired or sick as she ran off into the creek during the break and chased some ducks for about a km down the creek! It was the worst training session I've ever had with her. This contrasts to the week before when we had a in-club trial, where she was awesome, focussed, fast and accurate and came 3rd in intermediate and 1st in her height (although there were only a few dogs jumping at that height). Today, she did an agility demo and was awesome again, really fast and did everything I asked of her. I was almost going to pull her out of the demo after yesterdays training but I am glad we went ahead with it. She even did quite well in an obedience demo on the same day. She did bad and got distracted in the trick competition but I think in that case she was actually tired as she'd already done the 2 demos and been there for 3 and a half hours meeting and greeting. We are hopefully starting a drive training program soon which I hope will make her focus in training a bit more reliable. What do you guys do when you have a bad training session (if you ever have a bad one lol)? Do you just keep on training and competing the same as you normally would?- and assume your dog was just having a bad day? Do you "rest" your dog from training for a while? I was thinking about giving her next week off from training? Can dogs get "over" (ie sick of it) doing training? Do you only train in a low distraction environment for a while eg home, and work on your reward system? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spotted Devil Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 First and foremost I try not to take it personally ;) Generally there is a good reason for bad training sessions ...mentally/physically tired dog, tired/distracted handler, poor planning, lumping. Notice I keep picking on the handler? In your situation I would have taken her away from the obstacles and played some focus games - simple, fun and highly rewarding and then thrown in the towel for the day. Had a couple of amazing retrieving sessions with Em during the week (huge leaps of understanding) but a short session of simple handling drills yesterday was below par for her. Did a couple of easy blind retrieves and left it at that. Long day at a trial, hasn't been out for a while (in season) so everything was distracting - maybe I lumped a bit at new grounds after such a break from proper training? I was tired after running Ziggy in 7 runs, a bit of an airhead after a flu shot - I know Zig picked up on that and was less focussed than normal. Today at Em's first agility class she was just lovely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue & Waldo Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 Take a rolled up piece of newspaper and hit myself until I work out what I should have done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussielover Posted August 28, 2011 Author Share Posted August 28, 2011 I've asked before but forgotten what is lumping? Is it doing too much at once or something? I don't understand how she can run a whole novice agility course well one day and then not be able to/want to do a few simple exercises with only 4-5 obstacles. I ended with a game and swim- honestly took a lot of effort not to just stornm off and throw her in the car but yeah I think I should have just ended it sooner, as it was obvious we weren't achieving anything. Isn't hindsight wonderful :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spotted Devil Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 Lumping is too much all at once - that might involve the specific exercise you are training (think all the aspects that make up heeling) or the number/type of novel distractions (numerous!!!) Dogs aren't great at generalising either. Stress/anxiety can cause zoomies and sniffing in agility - not uncommon in a green dog and often mistaken for being over excited. Just too much pressure for a novice dog! In retrieving some dogs will munch the bird when under too much pressure!!! One thing about refining positive training skills is that I am SO much less likely to get frustrated but rather I shrug it off and work out what went wrong afterwards. Like when Ziggy cleared the new, smaller table in ADX yesterday (it reminded him of the trolley at training, I suspect, which he has been known to jump) - the judge was most amused and we both had a good laugh when I got Zig to stay on the table. The result was a very happy dog who nailed the rest of the course and went on to win his next run in the same event. Hindsight is BRILLIANT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeK Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 On the bad training session, good trainer blame himself, bad trainer blame the dog ;) Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussielover Posted August 28, 2011 Author Share Posted August 28, 2011 On the bad training session, good trainer blame himself, bad trainer blame the dog ;) Joe For sure! I know I have lots to work on with my dog. But surely dogs can have a "bad day" just like humans as well? I know there are days where I have really felt like not working and only put a half hearted or no effort into it Of course it is up to the handler to motivate the dog though... Which I clearly need to work on lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inevitablue Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 Console ourselves with chocolate and liver.... Jokes aside, I don't stress unless I see a pattern forming. I have off days and I bet our animals do too. If I see a pattern forming then I will give the dog a break. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gsdog2 Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 On the bad training session, good trainer blame himself, bad trainer blame the dog ;) Joe For sure! I know I have lots to work on with my dog. But surely dogs can have a "bad day" just like humans as well? I know there are days where I have really felt like not working and only put a half hearted or no effort into it Of course it is up to the handler to motivate the dog though... Which I clearly need to work on lol I sometimes wonder what comes first - is my dog having a bad day, or is it me and I'm influencing how my dog is feeling? I've just come home from a not-so-great session, and the first thing I did at the end of class was talk to my trainers and ask them what I might do better next time. I've come home armed with some great idea's and am now feeling very motivated to put their suggestions to work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulesP Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 I stayed in class for approx 2 mins today before I excused myself. Poppy didn't do anything wrong but I wasn't in the right head space at all. Normally if things are just not working I will finish on something super easy so I can finish the session on a reward. If my dogs aren't working then they are either sick or I am being useless. They don't have bad hair days. Mine really pick up on my mood and that is usually the problem. I know my own dogs have a brilliant work ethic though. Other dogs it can depend on factors like the weather, the days treats etc. If I see the pups in my class struggling because of environmental issues I move to really easy stuff that they can all achieve so the handlers go home happy or I finish early. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rileys mum Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 When i have an average session i watch this video and remember the real reason i train my dog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inevitablue Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 I know there was another thread about working bitches in season, and Tess is my first entire (all others were desexed rescues). She has a great work ethic but is in her first season now. She is normally so keen to work but showing at the Spring Fair this weekend really showed that she wasn't 100%. She looked hot/bothered and didn't want to move out. Be it hormones, tiredness, physical soreness etc, they are bound to have off days. When I show jumped with my horses, I remember one big comp in a place where the nights got quiet cold. Stupid me over estimated just how cold it would get and put way too many PJ's on my mare. Poor girl sweated a lot and must have had a terrible dehydrated headache the next day. I rode her for 5 min then retired her from the competition. I think our animals have less chance of off days though if we manage more than just their enthusiasm, like making sure they are fit for the task, no soreness, proactive health care (like Chiro checks etc), marking their hormonal changes on the calendar! Lol Aussielover, maybe she wasn't having a bad day as such, maybe she just woke up in an extra feel good mood Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huski Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 (edited) If I am having a bad training session I put the dog away, let myself chill out and then get them out later and ask for something relatively simple. Edited August 28, 2011 by huski Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cala Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 If I am having a bad training session I put the dog away, let myself chill out and then get them out later and ask for something relatively simple. Yep! Same here. No point getting all hot and bothered about it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC4ME Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 If I am having a bad training session I put the dog away, let myself chill out and then get them out later and ask for something relatively simple. Bec means she put Daisy to bed and then Bec consumes multiple bottles of wine and then everything is simple after that ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huski Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 If I am having a bad training session I put the dog away, let myself chill out and then get them out later and ask for something relatively simple. Bec means she put Daisy to bed and then Bec consumes multiple bottles of wine and then everything is simple after that ;) It works like magic every time!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gsdog2 Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 If I am having a bad training session I put the dog away, let myself chill out and then get them out later and ask for something relatively simple. Bec means she put Daisy to bed and then Bec consumes multiple bottles of wine and then everything is simple after that ;) It works like magic every time!! Wine is absolutely crucial after a bad training session Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huski Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 (edited) Wine is absolutely crucial after a bad training session GSD PLEASE. It's crucial after ANY training session! (and before and during and...) Edited August 28, 2011 by huski Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corvus Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 I always fret when one of my animals is not very interested in training (including the hare). I think that sometimes they are out of sorts. I usually find it does go all day and sometimes into the next. It's good to keep in mind, I think, that we don't know what their cortisol levels are doing and how they are feeling. In my books, my animal is out of sorts if I can't get them interested by asking for easy things and giving a very high reward rate. They will be withdrawn and inactive and not show any interest in what I'm doing. Who knows why they are out of sorts? I just keep an eye on them and get happy when they start acting like normal again. If it's more like they are being scatter-brained or distracted, I usually consider there's a problem with the environment and I'm asking too much. It's incredible what the dogs will do even when they are not entirely comfortable. Erik is highly functional even when he's barely there because he's so distracted. It just shows in a drop in reliability and focus. If my dogs are looking around, missing cues, performing the wrong behaviours, needing several cues instead of one... I up the reward rate or take them away from the immediate surroundings so I can better see what is upsetting them. Distance makes everything clearer, I find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tassie Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 When i have an average session i watch this video and remember the real reason i train my dog Lovely! Susan has lots of wisdom to share - and not just about training specifics . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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