Motivation

[leopuppy04]

Hi again .

I'm curious about what everybody does to keep their dogs motivated during training.

Do you vary your rewards/ the way you reward?

If you use food, do you always use the same type?

Does the reward change in relation to the difficulty/ distractions?

If you use yourself as a motivator (as we all should) how do you vary your own interaction?

When you release your dog, using yourself as a motivator, what do you do?

For me:

I use a whole variety of rewards - toys, me, food......

Each varies in itself - I have an array of toys and tugs as well as the dry/processed food and a huge variety of soft/moist food.

Yes, the reward changes in relation to what we are doing - out and about = super yummy yummies .

The location of the reward also changes - sometimes it is from the bait bag (but i'm beginning to use this less and less .... more often it is either from my pocket or a 'target' bag.... they can be sent from anywhere to the bag . Sometimes I even reward them with the 'boring' food from me and run to the target bag to get the super yummies - that way they will really drive for the target bag coz that is where the BEST stuff comes from...

I always find using myself the hardest motivator as I myself need to be really into the training .... also - it is hard when you are jumping up and down and the dog just looks at you

When released, I ask the dogs for 'hugs' (Leo) or "up" (Kinta) - Kinta has a diff command coz up means jump into my arms (still a working progress).... I find this really works, but to razz them up if they are a little flat I blow in their faces (it makes them go nuts) and then we have a big game .

Just interested in what everybody else does as i'm always interested in new ideas.

[Arya]

Hi Leo, good thread I use a number of motivators, ball being the main one as this is what works best for my girl. I've also discovered to my cost that I need to use myself as a motivator more, which is now what I am doing LOL (think sausages at that trial!!!). To keep Tess motivated I vary the places I train at, which she likes - go to different ovals, work at different times. She will work for a long time and stay highly motivated so I have to watch I stop before she is ready to stop, to keep things fun for her. I vary the exercises a LOT, placing slight emphasis on things that need fine tuning. For new things she is learning or has just learnt I work mostly in the back yard at first with lots of food and ball. When releasing Tess using myself as a motivator I use her release word and then say 'give me ten' and she jumps up, which is something she loves to do so is a great motivator! If using food I vary food using high value (to her) soft foods such as cheese, kabana, skinless franks. But, the tennis balls are like gold to her so they are the best reward of all. At the moment I am asking her to wait for her motivator ball until we do a whole novice routine on an oval first, as the first part of our long training schedule. We do one or two short training and one long training every day. One of the shorts is always tricks. Interaction with me is the reward between exercises on obedience stuff. Then a good play with the ball and interaction with me as a reward at the end. Maybe some food too but depends where we are training. This is a deliberate change in my training plan and not one I usually do with her but she has to be proofed more for trials after our last experience!

When training individual exercises I will release her during the exercise if I am working on one bit and she has done it well, or at the end of one or two exercises. Depends what we are doing.

When training tricks I use a continuous schedule of reinforcement for most of them as many of the tricks are now quite complex and involve chaining a few complex behaviours together, so I treat that differently from regular ob training.

Hey, intresting that you ask for hugs cos I ask for cuddles LOL I too find myself the hardest motivator and I think this is because this is kind of the last stage of proofing for a lot of dogs. At least, that's the way I look at it. It will be good to see what others do too!

Anyway, that's what I do with my own dog.

[Cosmolo]

Good question- my motivation will depend on the dog i am working. I do vary between food and toy reward for Cosmo during agility but its rare that she will take food rewards during obedience. Georgie's main motivation is me followed by food and we vary the value of the food fairly regularly. The reward given definitely changes depending on the difficulty of the exercise. Loose lead walking for my guys will usually earn them some mild intermittent verbal praise while off lead tight heeling earns them a whole lot more!

If i'm using myself, i'll usually run, spring from crouching to standing, ask Cosmo to think (her command for barking which she loves) spin them around etc. I am about to start using a target bag as well but will use it only at the end of the training whatever it may be if they've done a good job- is this how you use it LP, or do you send them to it multiple times within a training session?

I think we need to have as many different levels of reward as possible- i've seen too many people only able to give all or nothing and never vary their 'all' if using themselves. The dogs get pretty bored pretty quickly!

I remember doing scent detection with Cosmo which was difficult as she was only 3-4 months old when we started. When we were proofing her with non targets we upped the anty of rewards and if she'd worked well, she would get a big play and then straight to the fridge for a reward of a meaty meal. She worked well for 2 days an earnt her dinner. The third day she decided she wanted to skip the work and get her reward- worked terribly for a minute or so then kept motioning toward the door to the fridge. She was put away instantly, lost the chance to work and didn't get her meal at that time. You should have seen her the next day- she never looked back after that and worked very hard! Thats how i would intend to use a target bag.

[Sayreovi]

Do you vary your rewards/ the way you reward?

Nova is a food driven dog so i like to vary what foods i use in training, everything from kabana and cheese to roast chicken. Darcy is happy to work very well for food but his main reward is to retrieve or play tug, it depends on what i want him to do with what reward he gets.

If you use food, do you always use the same type?

Nope, it changes pretty much each week from the last.

Does the reward change in relation to the difficulty/ distractions?

Yes, for instance in the first few flyball comps Nova got dim sims as a reward LOL now he knows what to do he doesnt get them but a less rewarding food. The dim sims are on hold for the Nationals LOL

Darcy gets to retrieve if he does a really hard exercise instead of the usual treat or if i dont have something to throw i wrestle with him and pretty much just give him heaps of attention which he loves.

How do you use yourself as a motivator? Is that like playing with the dog and giving praise and/or pats?

Edited April 9, 2007 by tollersowned

[.................]

Do you vary your rewards/ the way you reward?

Yes, but not to any great degree.

If you use food, do you always use the same type?

Pretty much, will sometimes change it a little but rarely.

Does the reward change in relation to the difficulty/ distractions?

Yes, teaching and initial proofing stages especially.

I think we need to have as many different levels of reward as possible- i've seen too many people only able to give all or nothing and never vary their 'all' if using themselves. The dogs get pretty bored pretty quickly!

Interesting observation, I totally agree with the different levels of reward being very important in maintaining motivation. Unfortunately I believe a lot of people translate this to mean many different types of reward instead.

I'm not totally against varying the type of reward but I do feel you will get more consistent results if you work with the dogs strongest motivator the majority of the time and vary access, volume, quantity etc...

[leopuppy04]

Hey, intresting that you ask for hugs cos I ask for cuddles LOL I too find myself the hardest motivator and I think this is because this is kind of the last stage of proofing for a lot of dogs. At least, that's the way I look at it. It will be good to see what others do too!

Anyway, that's what I do with my own dog.

Haha -if you are lucky you will see him do it at the obedience trial :D. When I release him I get really excited and ask for hugs, at which point I have a 24kg bullett lunge himself at me! LOL! Aussies are big jumpers and I find this is their outlet for actually being allowed to jump and rewarded for it . Other ways I motivate them using myself is to make funny noises and just generally razz them up :p. It's time to be silly ;)

I am about to start using a target bag as well but will use it only at the end of the training whatever it may be if they've done a good job- is this how you use it LP, or do you send them to it multiple times within a training session?

Yeah this is pretty much how I use it, but I build up to it. Usually we run to the goodie bag if he has done some REALLY nice work for a slightly longer duration if ya know what I mean..... It it the ULTIMATE reward and I guess also coz he doesn't know what is coming out of it (what toy did she bring today? What food is in there?). I'll release him and generally say something like "Go get your biccies" and keep running with him and praising him when we run to the bag together. Other times i'll release him, we'll have a play and then i'll say "Ready.......set..... GO get the biccies"...... usually with me holding his back legs like they do for flyball - that gets him running like a rocket

The HUGE benefit of this is that when I enter a trial - I will have a little play with him with the 'goodie bag' outside the ring doing short heeling but mainly razzing up. When we get to the start peg i'll usually say to him "do you want your biccies" and continue to say that throughout the exercises (in release time of course).... because I haven't actually told him to GET them, he won't, but just gets more excited knowing he is going along the lines of getting a reward :p. When we leave the ring i'll run with him to get the goodies ;).

Sometimes the goody bag will offer handfuls of yummy treats and other times it will offer a game with a toy.... and sometimes the cheeky man will stick his nose in 'just to see' what is in there and pick out his favourite *sigh*

How do you use yourself as a motivator? Is that like playing with the dog and giving praise and/or pats?

Yeah myself as a motivator is basically lots of pats and praise, but not quiet pats and praise -hypo pats and prase with running, chasing, barking and being all around silly - I use it to really razz them up a little!

A little OT - Cosmo - I tried your 'refining 'come' ' we were talking about a while ago in the 'heeling' thread and I must say that I really liked it - getting Leo to find 'come' - I think it really helps him understand that he has to come in 'straight'!!! So thanks for the idea - i'm a fan ;)

Another question now- does anybody 'coach' (talk to their dog) when heeling? I used to, but found it did more harm than good, so now I only say 'good boy/girl' when they do something really nice, or perhaps just C&T..... that way they don't fall apart when i'm not saying anything :p.... I do talk to them when we are LLW though .

[B-Q]

i try to use myself as much as possible but he's not very motivated. sometimes toys but that brings the other dogs running. so i mainly use trreats. they vary a lot, special dog treats, dog biscuits, cat biscuits, cheese, vego sausage. he loves it all.

[Tangwyn]

The reward I use depends on what exercise I'm training. My pup is 4 1/2 months old so we're still very much in the teaching phase of everything. If I'm doing retrieve training I'll intersperse "serious" retrieves with "fun dummies". At the moment its about 1:1 ratio. However, he still gets tactile and verbal praise for each and every retrieve he completes. I use birds about once a week to keep his retrieve drive firing on all 6 cylinders.

For the obedience component of training I have phased out food almost altogether now. Using myself as the primary motivator keeps me on the ball and also ensures that I maintain a very active and positive attitude. I have also found that this is almost a failsafe way to ensure that I only train when I'm in the right frame of mind. If I'm unable to adequately reward my pup with my play and praise then I shouldn't be training that day!

I use a release word to indicate when his tactile reward is coming. Because I tend to throw the "Ok" in at any point I find he is now looking up at me in anticipation for most of our heelwork. This tells me that I'm using the right reward ;)

Edited to fix my rubbish spelling...

Edited April 10, 2007 by Tangwyn

[Cosmolo]

LP-am i right in thinking you vary whats in the 'goodie' bag'? What if he expects something thats not there? A concept that i have learnt about but don't necesarily agree with is that you should always stick to the same motivator for that kind of work (this is with the assumption that more than one think motivates the dog- not talking about trying to motivate a food only dog with a toy) so that the dog knows what type of reward they will be getting and doesn't ever feel 'ripped off'. What do you think?

Good to hear of your success with finding 'come'. I am using it with a few clients dogs with success as well.

[leopuppy04]

LP-am i right in thinking you vary whats in the 'goodie' bag'? What if he expects something thats not there? A concept that i have learnt about but don't necesarily agree with is that you should always stick to the same motivator for that kind of work (this is with the assumption that more than one think motivates the dog- not talking about trying to motivate a food only dog with a toy) so that the dog knows what type of reward they will be getting and doesn't ever feel 'ripped off'. What do you think?

Good to hear of your success with finding 'come'. I am using it with a few clients dogs with success as well.

I agree and disagree at the same time .

I do vary what is in the treat bag - but this changes all the time so I don't think that he can 'expect' what is in there. Mind you - he does have favourites. I will always produce something that he 'likes' such as a squeaky or ball.... rarely a tug as he is not a tuggy dog. He knows what he is working for as we usually will have a razz up session before a trial with the said toy - that has never once made him 'not work' becuase he didn't like what was in there, as there is always the prospect of food also ;).

I think if I had the same toy in there ALL the time, he would get bored and the motivation to work for that one toy would decrease - much the same as rotating toys in the yard. So, one day he may be a little 'dissapointed' with what is in there, but the next training day brought something super good.....therefore I think you are working on 'intermittent' rewards - sometimes, just maybe the toy may be my ab fab fave .

Having said that - all of the toys in the bag are 'my' toys ie: he never has a chance to play with them without me, and he must work for these toys.... so I think taht in itself increases the reward. He seems to love them all and the only time i've seen him flatten off is when I produce a tug, as we just DONT tug.....

ETA - I think it is the 'suspense' as well of when he is going to be sent to the bag and 'what' is in the bag that keeps the motivation up..... so I probably don't really agree that you should only use one toy

Edited April 11, 2007 by leopuppy04

[Cosmolo]

I tend to agree with you LP, and i think i will do something similar for Cosmo very soon. It is an interesting concept though that a dog could be 'disapointed' with what you had as a reward. Its interesting that you play with the toy beforehand- i would do the same but i just wonder whether the dogs response would be different if they didn't know what toy/ food was in there? Suspense is an interesting idea to- is it suspense or uncertainty? Could the dogs response be altered by termperament- uncertainty in a confident dog may arouse curiousity and increase drive, uncertainty in an insecure dog may worry them and decrease drive?

I am thinking and pondering aloud so apologies if that doesn't make sense..

[Flames_Daddy]

Suspense is an interesting idea to- is it suspense or uncertainty?

I am very sure this works but I cannot divulge how I know this. Secret men's business. VERY HUSH HUSH. :rolleyes:

:rolleyes:

[.................]

I think if I had the same toy in there ALL the time, he would get bored and the motivation to work for that one toy would decrease - much the same as rotating toys in the yard. So, one day he may be a little 'dissapointed' with what is in there, but the next training day brought something super good.....therefore I think you are working on 'intermittent' rewards - sometimes, just maybe the toy may be my ab fab fave :rolleyes:.

Have you given any thought to attempting to change the dogs mindset from "sometimes, just maybe the toy may be my ab fab fave" to "sometimes, just maybe there might be a toy in the bag"?

I think, if done correctly, this could provide a marked increase in reward value and decrease your reliance on multiple toys to maintain motivation. If you were succesful in this you could still use different toys but on a less frequent rotation which could again, provide an increase reward value.

Just an idea. :rolleyes:

[Vickie]

Good thread...I must confess I don't really have a uniform plan/routine for motivators but I always reward my dogs. I think I use my relationship with them a lot. I make it fun & they believe me.

I use everything from my lead, a tug, a ball, it kind of depends where I am & what I have. I do use food to teach new behaviours sometimes. If I wasn't getting the enthusiasm out of my own dogs that I wanted then I would obviously do something about it.

ETA...I know some people won't agree with this...but I think motivators do & should depend to an extent on the breed that you are training and I am fully aware that my routine would need to be different if I had a different breed or breeding.

Edited April 11, 2007 by Vickie

[leopuppy04]

I tend to agree with you LP, and i think i will do something similar for Cosmo very soon. It is an interesting concept though that a dog could be 'disapointed' with what you had as a reward. Its interesting that you play with the toy beforehand- i would do the same but i just wonder whether the dogs response would be different if they didn't know what toy/ food was in there? Suspense is an interesting idea to- is it suspense or uncertainty? Could the dogs response be altered by termperament- uncertainty in a confident dog may arouse curiousity and increase drive, uncertainty in an insecure dog may worry them and decrease drive?

I am thinking and pondering aloud so apologies if that doesn't make sense..

Yes it *is* an interesting concept and not one I had really thought about before. I also thought of the playing with the toy beforehand - is it bribery - this is what I have to offer you, so are you going to work for me.... but I've never seen a negative to this as it tends to get Leo all pumped and ready to work... :rolleyes:. Definately wouldn't say uncertianty as when I release Leo to go and get his 'biccies' he charges over and either sticks his head in the bag and pulls out what *he* wants or he stands there wiggling like a maniac until I get there :rolleyes: ;) As for the unconfident dog - perhaps they would be better with a more regimented system?? Dunno!

Have you given any thought to attempting to change the dogs mindset from "sometimes, just maybe the toy may be my ab fab fave" to "sometimes, just maybe there might be a toy in the bag"?

I think, if done correctly, this could provide a marked increase in reward value and decrease your reliance on multiple toys to maintain motivation. If you were succesful in this you could still use different toys but on a less frequent rotation which could again, provide an increase reward value.

Good point Jeff - but I don't see myself as reliant on toys nor reliant on varying them. Leo works just as well for the 'kong on rope' that he gets every day in the park as he does for some of his toys - but he definately has more 'drive' to work with the toys in the bag (and yep, even if it is the Kong in there *g*!). He also doesn't know what i'm going to pull out of the bag be it toys or food (obviously I can't pull myself out of there ).... so I don't see myself as reliant on multiple toys, but I feel that if I stuck to one toy, it would eventually decrease the value of that one toy

ETA...I know some people won't agree with this...but I think motivators do & should depend to an extent on the breed that you are training and I am fully aware that my routine would need to be different if I had a different breed or breeding.

YES! Definately, and on each individual too! For example - Kinta is a mad tugger so that is usually her reward. She doesn't retrieve half as much as Leo, but when pulled out of the magic bag, she retrieves like an OCD ball freak . Leo will rarely tug, but loves retrieving. The downside of this is that it is REALLY hard to keep his motivation up at one particular agility club coz it is inside, enclosed space and not much room to throw the reward :D. I get a much better response out of him at our other club. Also - Aussies tend to love jumping - so that is part of their reward for both of my dogs... I think it *definately* depends on the breed & individual!

I love hearing other peoples thoughts - what else can someone throw at me

[Vickie]

Have you given any thought to attempting to change the dogs mindset from "sometimes, just maybe the toy may be my ab fab fave" to "sometimes, just maybe there might be a toy in the bag"?

I think, if done correctly, this could provide a marked increase in reward value and decrease your reliance on multiple toys to maintain motivation. If you were succesful in this you could still use different toys but on a less frequent rotation which could again, provide an increase reward value.

Good point Jeff - but I don't see myself as reliant on toys nor reliant on varying them. Leo works just as well for the 'kong on rope' that he gets every day in the park as he does for some of his toys - but he definately has more 'drive' to work with the toys in the bag (and yep, even if it is the Kong in there *g*!). He also doesn't know what i'm going to pull out of the bag be it toys or food (obviously I can't pull myself out of there :rolleyes: ).... so I don't see myself as reliant on multiple toys, but I feel that if I stuck to one toy, it would eventually decrease the value of that one toy

Sounds like his motivation is about the bag or more likely the routine that you have with the bag rather than any specific reward.

My guys are very much like this. Although I don't use the same rewards, I always start with "are you ready?" That gets them excited & they know a game is about to happen, then at the end we have another routine. They like the routine & they know what to expect, it doesn't matter what the reward is, it's about the game. I always start the same way & the praise is always genuine. Yesterday I did some training with Shine & the reward was playing with a piece of fluff from a cushion ...she thought it was the best game ever, her motivation was high & all for a tiny piece of white fluff :rolleyes:

I think you have to be an extremely good trainer to provide 100% consistency in what you ask & how you reward...so I try to provide as much consistency/routine as I can in my rewards to make up for what I may lack in other areas ;)

Honestly I think motivation is very much a 2 part equation. One is the rewards/value/timing etc but the Other is consistency. Think about how often the average (even good) trainer actually decreases motivation accidently via bad timing or poor body language or ambiguous signals, I think this can often have a greater effect on motivation than what we are using to increase it.

I see it all the time in agility training. The dog goes the wrong way & the handler says "ohhhh " slumped shoulders & plods back to try again. Meanwhile the poor dog is clueless about what he did to deserve that. Then 15 minutes later, the handler uses exactly the same body language to send the dog that way & suddenly the dog is showered with praise & treats. How can this kind of confusion not demotivate a dog? and can we undo this with a special ball or treat? We all do it...in fact we have to work extremely hard & smart not to do it. For now, I am more focussed on this aspect than the type of toy I am using b/c I think it is more important.

Edited April 11, 2007 by Vickie

[Cosmolo]

LP, i am not suggesting that Leo is uncertain as he runs to the bag- He is a more confident dog so that uncertainty serves to increase his drive and excitement. Just don't know whether it would be the same for a less confident dog. I get Cosmo wound up before some of her work and i agree, i don't think it has any negative aspects.

Vickie, you make good points re body language, i have seen some very confused dogs at agility lately- they just don't understand what they should be doing or what they've done to 'cause' their owners body language to change so significantly

[leopuppy04]

Honestly I think motivation is very much a 2 part equation. One is the rewards/value/timing etc but the Other is consistency. Think about how often the average (even good) trainer actually decreases motivation accidently via bad timing or poor body language or ambiguous signals, I think this can often have a greater effect on motivation than what we are using to increase it.

I see it all the time in agility training. The dog goes the wrong way & the handler says "ohhhh :rolleyes: " slumped shoulders & plods back to try again. Meanwhile the poor dog is clueless about what he did to deserve that. Then 15 minutes later, the handler uses exactly the same body language to send the dog that way & suddenly the dog is showered with praise & treats. How can this kind of confusion not demotivate a dog? and can we undo this with a special ball or treat? We all do it...in fact we have to work extremely hard & smart not to do it. For now, I am more focussed on this aspect than the type of toy I am using b/c I think it is more important.

Yes I see that all the time in training too and I try my best not to do it.... Vickie, what do you do when the dog makes a mistake - do you tend to just say "oh no" and go back to the start nice and peppy or what??

You raise an interesting point about 'motivation'..... which gives me another question to ask.... SHOULD we be reducing the level or rewards???? I don't think we should - we should reduce predictability and we should ask for more to get that one reward, but IMO the dog should ALWAYS be paid for good work and ALWAYS have something to work for - I hate seeing trainers who never reward their dog aside from a simple "good dog" because the dog knows it and therefore doesn't need the full-on rewards anymore. Do you see a lot of this also? I mean, the dog has to be 'paid' after all - sure vary what they are being paid with, but not take out the rewards.... it amazes me how many people make this mistake. I was actually told when I started training Leo that since he knows it, he shouldn't be rewarded anymore...... hmmm.....

Interested to hear thoughts on that :rolleyes:

LOL - Cosmo - know you weren't saying that Leo would be uncertian about the bag but I was rather affirming that the 'uncertianty' can work to your benefit. I'm unsure about it going the other way though as the dog IMO, even a nervy dog is 'certian' it would be getting some form of a *good* reward.

Edited April 12, 2007 by leopuppy04

[Cosmolo]

LP- i know you asked Vickie but i'll answer too- if Cosmo makes a mistake, misses a weaver or similar, i give a no reward mark, usually 'no' as i've never used it as a correction. She really started to click last night as to what she had to do (particularly weavers) to get the reward and what it was that caused the no reward mark. If i feel that the mistake was in part due to lack of motivation, sometimes i'll have her toy and say (in a ridiculous voice) 'Don't you want this?' a few times, ask her to bark and go again. She rarely makes the same mistake twice. On the other hand i see people whose dogs make a mistake and the handler carries that burden into the next run or exercise so the dog makes the mistake again and again and it spirals downwards very quickly.

In terms of reducing rewards, i think the dog should always get paid, the level of the reward should be determined by how hard the dog has worked for you, and yes, that is related to how well the dog knows the exercise. If i am loose lead walking, a verbal good dog every now and then will be all the dogs will get and the same for a simple sit or drop. So i would be a person who in certain situations would say, my dogs don't get a huge reward because they know it and know it inside out- if i reward them at a higher level for that, it limits my options when the dog is exceptional in terms of levels of reward i can provide. I reserve the great rewards for great efforts and great behaviour.

Not rewarding a dog for simple things can get the dog frustrated- go too far and the dog loses drive to work, but a little bit of frustration will increase drive and allow you to reward at a higher level next time. eg. The dog sits on command and doesn't get an expected reward. The next sit command the dog is frustrated and tries something a bit different- sitting quicker or straighter- reward that and you elevate the behaviour to a new level. After a few more rewards you can repeat the process. Thats different to just stopping rewards altogether- which would see the dog deteriorate quickly as there is nothing to work for.

[Vickie]

I see it all the time in agility training. The dog goes the wrong way & the handler says "ohhhh " slumped shoulders & plods back to try again. Meanwhile the poor dog is clueless about what he did to deserve that. Then 15 minutes later, the handler uses exactly the same body language to send the dog that way & suddenly the dog is showered with praise & treats. How can this kind of confusion not demotivate a dog? and can we undo this with a special ball or treat? We all do it...in fact we have to work extremely hard & smart not to do it. For now, I am more focussed on this aspect than the type of toy I am using b/c I think it is more important.

Yes I see that all the time in training too and I try my best not to do it.... Vickie, what do you do when the dog makes a mistake - do you tend to just say "oh no" and go back to the start nice and peppy or what??

You are missing my point. In the example I gave, the dog did NOT make a mistake. The dog followed the handlers body language which sent him left...even though the handler thought in their mind they were sending him right. This is extremely common and it usually takes someone observing to point out to the handler that the dog was doing exactly what their body language requested.

In general terms, if I send my dog the wrong way, I will always praise her for doing what I ask. It is very rare for her to blow me off, mostly my timing was off, my body language was wrong or I am asking something I haven't yet taught/proofed properly. I try to continue when I get an off course, I don't want to give any negative reaction to her driving out fast ahead of me...I was late & it is my responsibility. The last thing I want is a cautious dog who is unwilling to move ahead in case it's the wrong way.

Saying that, she also needs to take some responsibility to do what I have taught. At our last seminar, we did some work on waiting them out & getting it right, then rewarding. It is proving very effective in training and lets the dog take some responsibility for working it out in a positive manner.

Although the above is all agility related, I think it applies to most interaction/training we have with our dogs.

eg.

We are in the middle of training & someone comes over to chat or the phone rings...do we attend to our dogs, complete the behaviour & reward or do we get distracted?

Is it OK sometimes for our dogs to jump on us but not other times? How do they know the difference?

We are walking along & they fall into a perfect heeling pattern, do we notice, stop & reward? or not notice b/c we didn't ask for it?

The list is endless, I think dogs are simple creatures & we are complex. We communicate so much to them without realising it & it is often not the right communication & I think we are often imacting their motivation without even realising it.

Edited April 12, 2007 by Vickie