HnH Easter Thoughts

Posted on April 28, 2011 by Leanne

Somebody (think it was Julie) said this weekend that Dylan just can’t let go, and that’s exactly it. He is so much better now than even 12 months ago, but even when he’s at his most relaxed and most confident, he’s still not giving 100%.

If Dylan was a person, he’d be an accountant. He’d have a small but cheerful office and only deal with people by email, and probably have a very safe hobby, maybe like indoor rock climbing. He’d look out of his office window and long to go outdoor rock climbing, but he’d never do it because he’d be afraid of falling down a cliff and having to chop his own arm off.

Dylan and I have a lot in common, really.

Speaking of me, I am useless at cueing turns, if this weekend is anything to go by. I was consistently early with both dogs. I think part of the problem with Kim is that she needs a much, much later cue that Dylan anyway, and I found it very hard switching between them. I have no excuse with Dylan, I was just really early and he responded accordingly. We’re working on the cik/cap turns at home and it’s going quite well, I’m attempting to clicker train it as it’s such a specific action. The jump height is between 15-20cm at the moment. If I can do this right it will make a big difference to how we run courses, so I’m optimistic.

Badly Behaved

Posted on January 30, 2010 by Leanne

There’s been loads of talk recently on almost every forum and blog I visit about dominance theory, behaviourists, clicker training. I think most of it has kicked off from the Cesar Milan tour in the UK, which has brought him into the sights of people who don’t normally talk about him. I don’t much want to talk about Cesar Milan either. He doesn’t do anything for me, but I don’t watch his shows and I try to avoid the online clips. But reading all these threads and posts has got me thinking, and in some cases left me a little uncomfortable. Maybe I’m just reading it wrong, maybe I don’t understand. (That’s perfectly plausible!)

I’ve read some really passionate arguments demolishing dominance theory recently. I don’t buy dominance theory, so that’s great! A lot of it focusses on clicker training, and again, great! However — and maybe this is just the way they’re choosing to present examples – most of the clicker training, (or even just the non-dominance training), outlined by people seems to suggest that it should be approached as a clinical exercise, between trainer and dog, even when free-shaping.

That’s what makes me kind of uncomfortable. The detached way people assess their dogs, look at training as a kind of curious, scientific interaction between human and dog. Or that you should approach it as a meeting between strangers. And the one that really bothers me; if isn’t done right, you will ruin your dog forever. If you make a mistake, or punish your dog with a verbal correction, it will ultimately be the cause of your dog’s spiral into depression and perhaps death. (Ok, perhaps I exaggerate. But that’s what I was beginning to feel like!)

Allow me to establish that I don’t think my dogs are people; I know that they’re dogs, a completely different species who don’t work like we do. I can see that they do manipulate us for their own selfish needs and wants, and I don’t think my dogs feel the same way I do about … anything!

But. The but! I don’t want to own dogs as a training exercise. I stopped reading all those long threads and passionate arguments. I made a conscious decision that I don’t want to know. I like making mistakes, I like figuring it out. I don’t think my dogs suffer for it. I do think that sometimes my dogs are naughty, and it’s not because I’m a bad trainer, it’s just because they’re feeling playful and silly and don’t want to concentrate. I think sometimes they are over-exuberant or over-cautious because they’re feeling that way out, or perhaps because it’s in their personalities to approach things in such a way. Sometimes, when I’m clicker training, I’ll make a negative verbal “ah!” sound, which doesn’t appear to have turned any of my dogs into neurotic, stressed or anxious dogs (I swear Dyl was like that when we got him!)

So if I don’t comment on your blog post, or reply to your thread on whichever forum, please don’t worry. I know I usually write long, argumentative, opinion-based rants, but I am actually healthy and happy, because I’m giving this one a miss.

Clicker Day

Posted on January 22, 2010 by Leanne

It feels like this week has just flown by. I’ve been out every evening from Monday to Thursday, at work all day, and pre-occupied making decisions about other people’s dogs. I’ve been neglecting the dogs I do have, and I felt very guilty about it, so we had a fun hour playing some clicker games this evening, which we don’t do nearly as often as we used to.

Kim worked on her “fetch the cauldron” trick. Kim is a little witch, so she needs a cauldron! We made huge progress on this today, she went from being a little bit hesitant to being totally confident and throwing the cauldron across the room at me. Not quite what I was aiming for! We chilled that down a bit, and she’s fetching it nicely. The only problem I’m having is that the handle is very thin plastic, and it’s a bit sharp on her gums, so she’d prefer to pick it up by the rim. I’ll try and fleece-line the handle for next time, so she has something to grip.

Dylan worked on putting toys in the cauldron. He too would prefer to throw it across the room at me, but we made a tiny bit of progress. Dylan’s fetch wasn’t very strong a couple of months ago, but we’ve been working on it and he will now bring things right to my lap, which is good! Getting them in the bucket is a bit more difficult, but we had a better hit rate towards the end.

I love watching both dogs getting annoyed when they’re working with the clicker. I know that’s a naughty thing to say! But it makes the pay-off for both of us so much more rewarding. Kim is always frowning when she’s figuring something out, you can see the cogs whirring away, but she goes all sparkley when she figures something out, all excited and happy and barking at me in her smiley voice. She likes it complicated, she wants something to puzzle over. Dylan, on the other hand, is always impatient and huffy when he’s doing something new, he makes lots of noise and complains a lot. I always have to break it right down for Dyl, he gets too annoyed about complicated things. He reacts differently when he eventually gets it right too, by just relaxing and offering it again and again. I don’t think the tension (pressure?) he feels when he’s working on something is entirely negative, he doesn’t shut down or give any stress signals. He just finds it frustrating!

Looking forward to tomorrow, flyballing at Doncaster, and then my month of agility which I’m very excited about! I have four shows, and am running three dogs, although thankfully not all at the same competition! I have Dylan and Katie’s lovely Jet at Waldridge Fell, and then Dylan and my lovely Kim at Newton Heath. Should be fun!