When Taking a Class...

No, my drop-in classes are constantly changing arrangements, so there is no 'designated space' that would be ours...  How is it your students are choosing a "spot"?  Aren't they constantly moving and changing positions relative to the other dogs and handlers??

 Yes, they are.  I'm talking about when they first come in before we start to work:-)  They've actually done studies about where people first look or walk when they enter a store.  Maybe we should do studies on which type of dog owner wants to gravitate toward the same spot when they enter the training hall lol.

I don't actually have a specific spot, but I usually try to get next to, what looks like, the most rambunctious dog there.  I like having my guys work through distractions, & it's usually pretty easy to pick out the dog that will cause the most distractions.

spiritdogs

Do you and your dog always go to the same spot each week?  If so, why?  I notice a lot of my students doing this, and wonder what that phenomenon is all about.

 

No, our instructor tells us where to go.  It changes every week (which spot and which dogs you are next to).  Some of the reactive dogs need a corner or get blocked off with ring gates.

If I do have a favorite spot it's generally to avoid certain dogs.  Distractions are one thing but being constantly pestered and interrupted by a really reactive dog is another.

Sometimes I move off to the side for rewards because Nikon is generally not rewarded with food and I've had other dogs go crazy while I'm rewarding my dog.  In his CGC class we ended up bringing an extra of his toy for another team to use with their dog because all he wanted was Nikon's toy and would bark the entire time.   I reward my dogs with what I see fit but I don't want to intentionally cause too much distraction for the others.  Besides conformation, I've been doing training classes with Nikon that meet outdoors so there's more space for me to reward him the way I prefer without all the other dogs barking and lunging at us.

spiritdogs

I'm talking about when they first come in before we start to work:-)

 Well, my first thought is to get further into the room, away from the door, to allow more people to get in and find a spot.  Then it depends on the trainer and the handlers.  Since I left NH, it's hit or miss if I get a trainer who will keep handlers from letting their dogs encroach on others unchecked.  You know, the roaming gnomes who don't hold a stationary position and visit or challenge nearby dogs while the handler is chattering away, paying no attention to where their dog is.  I don't go to training for play time, I expect people to control their dogs to the best of their abilities in a training class and for the instructor to be aware of trouble and manage it.  If I'm in an environment of unchecked dogs, I manage who I'm next to, particularly when handling an aggressive dog, and I will pull out of a formation if an unchecked dog isn't being managed by the handler or instructor.

So, I tend to avoid starting near specific handlers that I don't like or trust.  I get peeved getting stuck behind the slow pokes, too - I hate traffic jams.  I can handle the ones who come up too closely behind me, I don't care if I need to pull out of formation for them to pass me, but I like it best when an instructor identifies different paces and creates concentric circles.  Gracie also tends to get moved around because she's a safe buffer between two or four reactive dogs and I can handle trouble if those handlers can't. 

Before we start to work there are chairs grouped in about 6 or 7 rows right inside the door.  I try to choose a spot where Finn won't cause too many problems and can't see any dogs, usually along the left side where most dogs/handlers don't walk right past.  Once he makes eye contact he is quite vocal, however, once we are out on the floor, he is fine.  I don't know what it is about those chairs.  Too close for comfort, I guess.

It's just one less decision to make.  I try to park in the same area at the mall every time.  Then Its easier to find the car when I come out.

 I am a creature of habit. When we were taking classes, I would head to the same corner. It wasn't a conscious decision. It's just where I felt comfortable going.

 At the place I go to regularly, I do tend to gravitate towards the same spot every time. I have gone to the same spot with multiple dogs too. I tend to go to a certain crate or wall hook in that place. Once in a while I went somewhere different, but I think I was usually asked to do so in order to put my dog in between two who needed to be separated, or to separate mine from others.  I only do it at that place though. At the place we're doing agility at, I haven't done that. I tend to stay in the area closer to the exit, but I am not so specific about which side we're on. Luke generally doesn't have issues with anyone, though the other night someone had an issue with him. So, we'll probably try to move so that we're not in direct eye contact with that dog.

I do this also when I am working, and in most of my classes. I tend to work with my right hand closest to the child, except when I had no choice, I always set up that way. If the kid works on the left with other people, with me they work on the right. I briefly had to move everyone to the left after having surgery on my right hand, because I have some who will hit or grab. I can't work quite as fast with this set up. When they are on my right, I can present things on my right, and set up the next items on my left. I can't quite manage to do this as efficiently the other way around.  In classes, I tend to sit in the front on the right side. I will not sit in the seat directly against the wall though. I think it has, at least partly, to do with my general pervasive ear congestion. The right is worse than the left, so I will sit so that I can have the left ear closest to the speaker.

I guess it's probably a case of our tendency to choose the known reinforcing situation, instead of the potential risk of picking the unknown quantity.

 I suppose we did.  But I notice this happens in all sorts of classes.  When I was in school, people always had "their" spot and the students I teach always sit in the same place too.

 Back in grad school I had a friend who decided to sit in a different seat every night, therefore forcing someone else to sit somewhere else and then yet another person, etc.  It was fun to see the havoc he wreaked and people's reactions to being displaced.

 just like our dogs, we are all creatures of habit for the most part. My theory is that the same spot thing goes back to how we grew up in school. Remember in elementary school we had assigned seating? Then when you grow up and go to college, you still sort of practice that same behavior - sit in relatively the same spot in class. Dog training class is just another class so it makes sense.

spiritdogs

Do you and your dog always go to the same spot each week?  If so, why?  I notice a lot of my students doing this, and wonder what that phenomenon is all about.

 

You're going to get completely different answers depending on how experienced and knowledgeable folks are.   Some *know* that dogs are very spatially oriented so moving around so they get used to doing a thing in ANY spot is a good thing.

But most folks are simply doing what they did before (because we humans are like that) -- I stood here last week and I could see and hear ok and I JUST HOPE that idiot with the big un-neutered male doesn't pen us in the corner again" (or whatever they may have been concerened.

If you're doing a beginner class it is always good to explain to them that dogs are very situational and just because the dog did an excellent "down" this morning in the kitchen doesn't mean he's gonna do it tonight, outside, with four other dogs around him!  

Some owners just aren't sophisticated.