Agility jitters

You will absolutely not look like a fool who has zero control over your dog. Relax and don't expect so much. It is all about learning and those dogs that you see doing great, well, they were all there at one time also. You are new at it, your dog is new at it and everyone is nervous. The only way you will ever get your dog to be in public, as it is in home, is to practice in those situations. With agility, there is so much energy flying around, as all of the dogs are hyped up to do what is being asked of them that it is to be expected that you will lose your dogs focus. At our agility club Christmas party, where we had so many dogs in a smaller enclosed area, than you normally would, the dog energy was almost just too much for a even the very experienced dogs.  I went to a trial once that was an absolutely huge trial...a regional was being held. My border collie went flying like a crazy in the ring. It was just way too much excitement, for a lot of the dogs that were there, if they weren't real seasoned trial dogs. They don't learn over night.....patience and remember they all started just as you will be tomorrow. If your agility class works with treats..hoping they do..don't forget to give lots of treats and praise and make yourself like the most important thing in the whole wide world. It's all about that...making yourself better than anything else. When you lose control, don't forget to give treats and praise when Zoey comes back to you. The problem that I always see is people are so nervous that they forget or don't give their dog enough praise. And also, don't forget, this is all about fun, fun and more fun.

 UPDATE:

Well, i'm happy the day went as well as it did. i learnt lots of useful things. the most important being about keeping Zoey's attention when other dogs are distracting her! She did well tho- we showed up early to let her run around and get used to the place. There was a cat there, but she approached him politely and one hiss told her that he didn't feel like playing haha.

We did some passive attention exercises, and that went well. we showed off our awesome staying power (grin) and table tricks that we've been doing for months now...

There was ONE DOG there, who Zoey just HAD to play with. He was so handler-focussed, he couldn't care less about this barky little jack, but she could not contain herself from barking and lunging whenever he was doing something!!!!

Once it got time for A frame work, there was no keeping her in control, so we had a little 1 on 1 time with one of the instructors, while everyone else did some tunnel work. She did so well on the A frame, holding our 2 on 2 off, making the instructor giggle at how funny and cute Zoey was. and how smart!!!!

Next week: bring better treats, and work on improving better behavior around new doggies.

:)
 

Glad class went well! I agree that exposure is the only way to get the dog used to those situations, and agility combines the best of both worlds in my opinion.

My Teddi is the friendliest dog, she just has to say hi to everyone. People are more of an issue than other dogs, but I just keep working on exposing her and making her focus on me. She had come a long way, but still has a long way to go.

Enjoy your class!

 

Hehe.

 

I think everyone has been what you are going through. 

I was worried about my energy level of my JRT during the beginning and I played with her before class. It seemed to help. The instructor thought i was over doing it so I stopped and then found out that Jacks don't tire out when we did several sequences in which majority of the dogs would tire out. Chloe just kept on going. In fact, after class, we played in the snow 45 minutes.  

Don't over think, just go with the flow. You'll be surprise how much your dog can read and hear your body language.  

i'm having a bad day, and i need a pick-me-up :S

we had our second class of agility, after missing a week (since we were gone on vacation down south)... we wanted to show up early, but ran late and ended up just showing up on time. i have to say, there is this wonderful woman at our agility class, who seems to have made it her mission to get Zoey on track. there was a great part in the class while we were away from everybody else where she really shined, and impressed the pants off the instructor, but you can really tell when she just checks out and it's almost like she's had enough for the day.

the instructor suggested a book called "when pigs fly: training success with impossible dogs" and i'm looking forward to getting it in the mail. 

I'm finding it hard to stay positive, kuz i feel like Zoey will never have the focus on me that is needed. someone please tell me that it's possible to get a dog like mine to act the way it should lol... and maybe someone could give me some reeeeally good suggestions on how to build Zoey's focus on me with her number one distraction- other dogs. next week's class is cancelled kuz there's a competition in the area (that i'm excited to go to, since it'll be my first time) so i'll have 2 weeks to work on things.

 Also check out the book Control Unleashed.  It has lots of great information on distraction training and "Look at that" games.  My friend runs two JRT's and her newest dog was very focused on her in class last week.  And this was a rescue about 2 years old, so had lots of time to learn to NOT pay attention to his handler.  It CAN be done, but it takes time.

control unleashed and when pigs fly will both be very useful for you!   in the meantime, I would suggest you immediately institute a firm rule that your dog NEVER be allowed to "go say hi" to other dogs. You shouldn't limit socialization, but only under your terms and in certain situations-  set up play dates, use a "go play" cue,  or have a specific area like a dog park where your dog gets to frequently socialize OFF-leash, but other than that, remove the expectation from your dog's mind that she will get to meet n greet dogs she encounters. Now you need to go places with dogs visible but at a distance and do simple behaviors like hand-touches or a sit. Then you gradually move closer to the dogs and continue your work on simple behaviors in the presence of the distraction.

mudpuppy

Now you need to go places with dogs visible but at a distance and do simple behaviors like hand-touches or a sit. Then you gradually move closer to the dogs and continue your work on simple behaviors in the presence of the distraction.

 

thanks for your advice! i can't wait to get my book!!

can anybody offer a good way to get her focus on me once she does see a distraction? i think that's where i'm missing pieces to the puzzle, or having a tough time figuring out...

 Distance.

If at 30 feet, your dog goes ballistic, then move to 40 feet.  If 40 feet is still not good, move to 50 feet and so on until you find a distance where the distraction is not that great and you can get her attention.  This is your "critical distance".

Then there are two things you can do:

1) c/t every time she looks at you.  Do not call her name, do not ask for a behavior, just stand there and c/t when she looks at you.  (and verbal praise, etc)  if she looks away, fine, just go silent and wait for her to look back.  Even small glances at you is c/t'able.

2) Or c/t every time she looks at the distraction and she is NOT barking/lunging/etc.  So c/t the *calm* looking at the distraction.  This is the basis of the "Look at That" game in Control Unleashed.

Both of these help to desensitize the dog to the distraction and make you more interesting.  Then, as she gets better at the "critical distance", slowly move closer.  Go to 45 feet, if it was 50.  Each day work on getting a little closer and still keeping her from "ballistics".  Don't rush it, don't push it.  Go slow and if she goes "ballistic" then back track to the previous distance.

ex:
You have found that she will watch a dog without barking/lunging/etc (ballistic) at 50 feet.  You c/t when she calmly looks at the other dog.  You do this for short sessions, a couple times a day.  She has not gone "ballistic" in the last 5 training sessions.  You move to 45 feet for the next one.  This goes fine and you have 5 sessions of no ballistics.  You move to 40 feet.  You have one w/o ballistics, but then you have two with ballistics, move back to 45 feet.

This is just an example and by no means an exact thing, only you and your dog can determine the times and distances.  But this is to illustrate the concept.  And I don't use ballistic to mean anything other than the reaction she has that you find undesireable.
 

You can have two methods via counterconditioning (cited above) or Dr. Overall's Relaxation Protocol (it is mentioned in the CU book and the exercises are on the CU mailing list website). Using CC work but you need alot of time to work through the issue(s) IMHO. 

The RP looks like a stay at your place exercise but it really isn't because you are rewarding your dog to relax while things happen around her thus increasing their threshold to react.

I have used both methods for success but don't forget the bond with your dog as it matters IMHO. And you could also use the Premack Principle - also cited in the CU book since the dog wants to do something.

 

 

 thanks tash and jdata...

i'll definately be trying to practice the things you mentioned :) .... now, where do i find a dog to practice with?! lol... i'll talk to the neighbours and i'm sure they'd be willing to help. there's a pretty aloof newf (haha) who lives across the street who Zoey is friends with. she's always so excited to play with him, they've been friends since we brought her home. is it better to start with something like that, or go right for a dog she doesn't know??

also, i'm having a "fun" time finding Control Unleashed here, and online. I live in Canada, and the only places i can find the book online are on american sites, that have intl shipping charges that would make you blush! i did manage to find a Canadian one, but after shipping it's $40! is this a big thick book?! does anyone know a place to get it cheaper??? from all i hear/read it's a great book, and i'd love to get my paws on it :P

~V~ 

Have you tried cleanrun.com or dogwise.com for the CU book?

Shipping prices blows!

jdata

Have you tried cleanrun.com or dogwise.com for the CU book?

Shipping prices blows!

 

i HAVE.... it's still a  little pricey for my blood. mainly kuz i live in canada, which is considered international.

thanks for the hint tho! :)

 

Is amazon.com better?  I found it there.  Obviously I need to move to Canada and open a dogwise type store.    All those books aobut dogs, I'd never get anything done.