Different but the same

So I am still thinking about yesterdays topic of discussion and I feel like I definitely left a few things out. First, how do you recognize what is the "best" course of action for any given dog? This is not an easy question to answer and I think it is definitely a stumbling block in all training programs. The answer, although simple enough, requires a lot of innate skill on the part of the handler or trainer. You must be able to "read your dog" and go beyond what the books and DVDs tell you. You have to look for nuances that are unique to every individual and notice them. Some are more obvious than others. 

Back to Veruca, I said that her build was not what I would consider appropriate for a 2on/2off contact performance, so I wanted to do something else. What was not so obvious was a) what to do, and b) the ability to finally see that she was very comfortable with her "learned" behavior of running to the mouse pad and laying down on it. It soon became clear that using the pad in some way relative to teaching the contacts was a given but again, how?

When I placed the pad on the floor directly against the base of the A-Frame or Dog Walk plank she was very careful to stride all the way through the entire ramp or plank every time. This was important as it meant that my prior reservations about a 4 on the floor and a dog's desire to simply launch off the contact to the mouse pad and drop were not necessarily going to be an issue for Veruca. This helped narrow down the options considerably and when I moved the pad out away from the base of the planks she told me very clearly that this would work for her. Although she was targeting to the pad she was willing to run all the way through the obstacle to get there. 

The moral of the story is that although this method of contact training is not my method of choice, Veruca "told" me that it was a good option for her and rather than force her to conform to what I thought the behavior should be, I worked with what was comfortable for her and ultimately she learned beautiful, consistent contacts that are in large part due to the fact that it was a team effort.

My dogs' start line behaviors are another case in point. As I mentioned yesterday, I have several different behaviors going on amongst the several dogs that I am showing and training. I am very careful to pay attention to what my dogs natural default behaviors are and work with them to get what I want. I have always been a "stay" person, attaching it after every stationary behavior (other than stopped contact behavior). Start lines with fewer battles are far better, this led me to what I have done with a couple of my dogs. I ask them to line up in a parallel position on either my right or left side and simply tell them to stay, allowing them to assume whatever position they find the most comfortable with the stay being the only potential battle to be fought, instead of the stay and the position. 

With Merger my 6 month old, he just "gets" positions and I noticed one training session that whenever he was placed in a position or just assumed a position he would not leave that position until he was released. I never introduced a stay command, he simply inferred the stay from all of the shaping work we have been doing. I noticed this and just went with it. It is unlikely that Merger will ever learn the word stay he has already told me that he does not need it. 

As long as I maintain the criteria that sit means sit and continue to sit until I release you he will have a stay that was almost self taught. His input will surely make the behavior stronger because it was primarily his idea and as long as he believes it to be true and I do not give him an idea otherwise we are golden!

So, although many of my dogs have different behaviors they all add up to the same thing, consistency and understanding that lends itself to a high rate of success that stands the test of ring nerves and adrenaline!