Once again, we discussed briefly HOW AND WHEN TO REWARD (also see Class Notes: Oct 26).  Highlights:

A sheepdog is hardwired to work sheep, just like a spaniel is hardwired to flush birds. It would be crazy to offer a treat to a border collie “here, if you go get those sheep, I’ll give you a cookie”. If a behaviour is in the genes, doing that action is all the reward the dog ever needs.

Agility is not natural. Sure, dogs run through trees and over logs. But an agility course is highly stylized, and there’s nothing “natural” about how we ask the dog to perform. It helps to think of agility as a string of tricks. And in order to convince the dog to do those tricks quickly and happily, we need to reward the dog.

Dogs do what works best for themselves. When they know what the payoff  will be (treats, play) they will work hard to get it.

Rewards: anything the dog wants and will work eagerly to get.

Treats should be small, about the size of your little fingernail. Use soft, yummy treats like hot dogs or string cheese. Dog biscuits aren’t nearly as tasty, and take time to chew up. They also leave dropped crumbs behind.

Timing is everything in dog training. We need to get the reward to the dog the moment he performs the desired action. But logistically, it can be very difficult to toss a treat to the dog at the exact right moment.

Fortunately, we can teach the dog a word or sound that means “yes, that was right!” The word or sound precisely marks the moment that the dog performs an action correctly, telling the dog that what he was doing the moment he heard the sound is the thing being rewarded.

Initially the word or sound means nothing to the dog. The sound must be paired with a reward, teaching the dog that every time he hears that sound, a reward is coming. Using a reward marker effectively communicates to the dog what action is being rewarded. Once he understands that he can make the reward marker happen — that is, it’s his actions that cause the reward — the dog becomes an inspired and engaged participant in the learning process.

Pairing: often called “charging the clicker”. We will begin by pairing the sound with a reward. Simply say YES and give the treat. Don’t ask the dog to do anything for the treat. He doesn’t have to sit, give attention, or anything else. Just say YES and treat. YES and treat. HINT: say YES and then give the treat. Pause briefly between the word and the motion to give the dog the treat. This isolates the word from the motion. If you say YES and move at the same time, the dog will only see the motion and won’t hear the word. RULE: physical always overrides verbal.

We’re looking for the dog to recognise that YES means treat. When you say YES and the dog looks for the treat, we’re ready to go on.

Shaping: takes an unskilled dog — a blank slate — and teaches a complex behaviour by progressively and selectively rewarding any action that takes the dog closer to the desired final action.

Contact behaviour

The dog walk, teeter and A-frame are called contact obstacles. The bottom portion of contact obstacles is a safety zone called the contact zone. Usually it is painted yellow or marked with tape. Dogs must run through the safety zone (at least a toenail must touch) or they cannot qualify in that round. If not taught some behaviour that takes them through the safety zone, most dogs, excited and running fast, would jump from the top of the obstacle, landing 20′ out and that much closer to the next obstacle. Exciting, but an injury waiting to happen.

There are two basic contact behaviours: running contacts and stopped contacts. In running contacts, the dog runs down and through the contact zone without stopping. The dog is progressively taught to run and never jump. Running contacts are obviously faster, but realistically you need a dog that doesn’t have a long stride or a tendency to leap over tall objects.

With stopped contacts, the dog is taught to run over the obstacle and slam on the brakes at the bottom, waiting for a release word from the handler.

There are pros and cons to each method. Any contact method needs maintenance training throughout the competition life of the dog. We will teach all the dogs a stopped contact behaviour initially. Over the next few weeks we will be watching the dogs to determine which may be candidates for running contacts. Dogs with big strides like my malinois need to learn to stop at the bottom: their natural running stride will take them over the safety zone even if they don’t try jumping it. Jeannie will be teaching running contacts; I will teach some form of stopped contacts.

Shaping the plank: beginning stopped contact behaviour. We will use shaping to teach the dog to eagerly run to and get on a plank. Depending on the dog, we may reward sitting at the end of the plank, a down in the dirt just past the end, back feet on the plank and front feet in the dirt, or one back foot on the plank. Whatever behaviour is decided on will later be transferred to the dog walk.

Possible steps:

• look at
• move towards
• step over
• step on with front feet
• step on with front and one back foot
• get on with all four feet
• back feet on; front feet in dirt
• run to & get on from a short distance away
• run to & get on from further away
• run to & get on after a tunnel

Hoops

Before we introduce jumping and the other agility obstacles, we’ll introduce hoops and gates. These give us the ability to teach the dog (and handler!) some agility moves without having to worry about correct obstacle performance .

Agility is a timed sport. We never want to reward lackadaisical performance. We want the dogs driving through the hoops quickly, with focus and intensity, to the best of the individual dog’s ability.

Tunnels

Borrowing from the horse world, we’re going to “make the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard.”

1. “Call to” — with the dog on harness, the owner goes to the other end of the tunnel and calls the dog. There is only one right answer. There is back tension on the harness when the dog makes the “wrong” choice and tries to get to the owner by going around the tunnel. The tension is released when the dog is in front of the tunnel. Eventually (and there is no “right” amount of time, each dog learns in his own way) the dog will try going through the tunnel. Voila! Right answer! After the first time, it’s easy. And, the dog will always be driving through the tunnel, eager to get to his owner.
2. “Run with” next week, you’ll start running with your dog as he enters the tunnel.
3. “Send” from various distances away, and from both sides, so that the dog is working out in front and independently.

We’ll use this same progression of call to—run with—send when teaching many of the obstacles.

Next week:

• body & space awareness, using body pressure to move your dog out and away and back in again.
• Moving with your dog, reversing direction, crossing in front, come and switch.