Where Izzie spent most of her seminar weekend..., originally uploaded by mandypug.
So this weekend was the Terry Simons seminar. I'm certainly not at the level that most of the handlers were at this clinic but I came away with a ton of information that was very helpful to me in the now and lots that is going to be very useful in the future when Izzie and i start working on more complex things.
Now for the highlight of the weekend... But first a little backstory.
Right now Izzie and I are focusing mostly on getting her confidence up. We had a rather shaky start to agility, too much was thrown at us at once with no foundation work for that stuff to build upon. Like anything with a less than strong foundation, it collapsed. Izzie shut down at the sight of agility equipment or an agility ring. This is not good at all, and i thought she'd never come out of it.
When we started our lessons at Go Dog Go (after taking quite a break from agility all together) Izzie was perking up a bit, but she still wasn't as happy to be playing as she was when we started her very first few classes. As we went on she got better and better, she was overcoming her mental blocks and regaining her confidence albeit slowly. Then we had to take some time off for winter, when we finally got a space to do a workshop i jumped at the chance to put Izzie in. It didn't go as well as i hoped. She was okay, but not enthusiastic. She'd do the exercises, but wasn't thrilled about it and would just saunter along with her tail down (well except for some of the tunnel stuff). To put it bluntly, I wasn't too thrilled. So i left that workshop with a problem in mind, and searched for ways to help fix that problem. I came up with a few.
1) We need to build confidence.
2) We need to build drive
3) I need to be more exciting
4) Rewards need to be higher value
So we got started on our exercises.
To build confidence i lowered the jumps, at first they were just bars on the ground. Build confidence, drive, and speed then add height later.
To build drive i did a ton of restrained work. For everything. Want to fetch? Restrain to make her want it more. Want dinner? Restrain. Want to chase the other dogs? Restrain. Gotta wait for everything, which made her want it that much more. This also helped make the rewards much more valuable.
As for me being more exciting? I worked on that... Speaking in a higher voice, encouraging her more, learning to wind her up more before we train.
We worked and worked and worked on these things. I could see the gears turning. We worked on them at the park (when it wasn't freeeeezing), we worked on them at work, and we worked on them at home. All the places where i know Izzie is comfortable already.
However the test is not whether she can perform in places she knows, but whether she can rock it when she's in an actual agility setting. That's where this weekend came in. I didn't originally know i could bring her with me while i audited, but on Saturday after the morning session i was informed that i could so i raced home to get her. She was naughty of course, broke her stays a couple times when left on her chair while i walked the course, but she made it up in that she listened very well when i told her to stop and sit... From about 30+ feet away. Good Pug, sort of. It's certainly not something we've worked a ton on (never had the opportunity). Anyways, she was relatively good so at the end i let her come out to walk around while Terry set up a U-shaped tunnel and three jumps in a line and explained the game. Start your dog through the tunnel and then over the three jumps and race them to the jerky and $5 bill... You win, you get the money. Dog wins, they get the jerky. So we watched, Izzie observed closely. So once all the participants went, Izzie and I tried.
It was magic.
She didn't hesitate, she was confident and she flew. She may not have beat me to the end, but she got the jerky anyways and i didn't take the money. The performance Izzie gave me right there was reward enough. That short moment let me know that we're on the right track with what we're doing to fix our problems. That was the highlight of my weekend. My good little girl showing me the fun she has for agility like back when we first started.
I'm proud of you Izzie, very very proud!
To build drive i did a ton of restrained work. For everything. Want to fetch? Restrain to make her want it more. Want dinner? Restrain. Want to chase the other dogs? Restrain. Gotta wait for everything, which made her want it that much more. This also helped make the rewards much more valuable.
As for me being more exciting? I worked on that... Speaking in a higher voice, encouraging her more, learning to wind her up more before we train.
We worked and worked and worked on these things. I could see the gears turning. We worked on them at the park (when it wasn't freeeeezing), we worked on them at work, and we worked on them at home. All the places where i know Izzie is comfortable already.
However the test is not whether she can perform in places she knows, but whether she can rock it when she's in an actual agility setting. That's where this weekend came in. I didn't originally know i could bring her with me while i audited, but on Saturday after the morning session i was informed that i could so i raced home to get her. She was naughty of course, broke her stays a couple times when left on her chair while i walked the course, but she made it up in that she listened very well when i told her to stop and sit... From about 30+ feet away. Good Pug, sort of. It's certainly not something we've worked a ton on (never had the opportunity). Anyways, she was relatively good so at the end i let her come out to walk around while Terry set up a U-shaped tunnel and three jumps in a line and explained the game. Start your dog through the tunnel and then over the three jumps and race them to the jerky and $5 bill... You win, you get the money. Dog wins, they get the jerky. So we watched, Izzie observed closely. So once all the participants went, Izzie and I tried.
It was magic.
She didn't hesitate, she was confident and she flew. She may not have beat me to the end, but she got the jerky anyways and i didn't take the money. The performance Izzie gave me right there was reward enough. That short moment let me know that we're on the right track with what we're doing to fix our problems. That was the highlight of my weekend. My good little girl showing me the fun she has for agility like back when we first started.
I'm proud of you Izzie, very very proud!
You should be very proud of yourselves!!! that you and izzy had a great time!
ReplyDelete