Training begins at home...
 You've set off early in the
morning to get to the show, walked your courses and now you're setting your dog up on the
start line for your first run of the day. The next 30 or so seconds go by in a blur as
your dog jumps the first hurdle before you're ready, takes a few off course obstacles for
good measure, sails over the contact points with high abandon and, after a few attempts, just
about manages to negotiate the weaves. You're left wondering whether all that time, money and
effort is worth it and head back to the car more than a little disappointed with your dog's
performance. If you are not careful, you can quickly end up in a cycle with future dogs not
meeting your dog training expectations. Gemma Fisher thinks it's worth considering where the roots of that performance began....
at home.
When you are experiencing difficulties, various things may spring into
your mind. Perhaps it's the breeding of your dog. Maybe you'd be more successful with another
dog from a different breeding line - or perhaps even a different breed. Maybe you need to change
the food you're feeding. Maybe your dog's diet is causing over-excitement or possibly the
opposite - lack of enthusiasm. Possibly it's the training you're getting or the methods you
are
using. Maybe changing instructor or moving around to gather ideas could be the answer. While
there's a certain
amount of truth in each of these scenarios, for me,
the key thing that handlers forget to consider is what the dog is doing during the rest of
its normal day, and what it's learning about your expectations of it over any given 24-hour
period.
In the very first dog training class I attended over 10 years ago, the
instructor explained that the most important part of successful dog training was consistency.
At the time, I confess to thinking that this didn't bode well. Remembering all the things
she was teaching us was quite complicated enough without having to enforce it at all the
time, too!
Now I'm an instructor myself, I try to remember that, like me, people can be overwhelmed by the information
that is being presented at first . When l plan my lessons and stand in front of my students,
I am aware that they might not take everything on board straight away.
 With
new studies and ideas coming out all the time, there is so much to learn in the
modern dog training world, but some key
lessons remain unchanged.
Consistency is essential
Quite simply, I believe that reliable responses in our dogs come from consistent
expectations from handlers who live according to their training rules. Those people aren't just training
their dog when they go into a formal training environment like a class, they're aware that
their dog is learning all of the time. It's about being aware of what you are saying to your
dog as much as anything, and not using cues in general conversation with them.
I can think of many occasions when I'll have been chatting to
someone as they've been getting their dog out of the car. I hear them tell their dog
to wait just as the dog barges out to say 'hello.' When I've jokingly pointed it out, people are
usually a bit red-faced and try to shove the dog back into the car again. Of course,
this really it
isn't the dog's fault. It hasn't been taught any differently, Moreover, in the handler's eyes, it
isn't really a major problem. But how often is this the same dog that doesn't stay on a start
line which does, causing the handler tremendous frustration. Can you see that if our expectations
aren't consistent - a nice, crisp black and white - then how can we expect our dogs to
perform to our expectations?
So now, when I'm teaching, can I realistically expect people to completely
re-think their home live so it revolves completely around their dog's training needs? Once upon a time
when I was young, foot-loose and fancy free, I might have, but now my life is rather busier. With lots of
demands on my time and money, I appreciate the stress that other people are under in their
daily lives.
 Being
realistic
So now my expectation of what each student can achieve differs from
person to person. My key aim is to help handlers realise that, as most are not able to devote
themselves fully to dog training on a day-to-day basis, they shouldn't be too disappointed in
themselves - or their dogs - if they're not making massive strides forward each week.
They should aim to celebrate the little successes which contribute to the the whole.
One of the
key messages that most modern dog trainers teach is that we need to allow our dogs
to fail. Funny how we're happy to be patient explaining this to our dogs, but forget that the
same rule could - and indeed should - apply to us, too. Dog training is a skill like
anything else. How much practice time you're able to devote to the theory and mechanics
side of things has to be taken into account. When you are goal setting, you need to be
realistic about what time you have available to meet your goals. Our priorities will be different
according to our own personal experiences.
 It's
also about realising that simple changes can have really long reaching consequences. It's
important to be aware of the cues you are giving your dog when you are talking to them. If we don't actually expect the cue to be followed, then
best not to use it!
What the dog is actually doing
may not be what we think they're doing. Videoing yourself doing some simple training and watching that back can be
incredibly helpful. Here I'm thinking of the people who turn to me and say 'Did they move
before I released them?' when their dog does the contact equipment. I've
practiced being aware of what's happening even when I'm running flat-out, so that I would
know if my dog has moved before I released them. But it's a skill that needs practicing, just
like anything else.
 Simple though it might sound, working on key points like this help make the
difference between a run like I described at the beginning of this article to a run that could earn you a
rosette to pin proudly on the board at the end of a long day.
And more importantly, this sort
of focus helps remove a lot of the frustration surrounding your dog agility game and can
serve to remind you just how much fun agility can be. At the end of the day our dogs
spend more time as our best friends and loyal companions than they do canine athletes.
A long
walk in the woods with my lovely lot is one of my favourite ways to start the day. Their
enthusiasm and joy in the simple act of running and playing never fails to make me smile.
They remind me then - as they do often throughout the day - that sharing my life with them is
much more than just the dog agility training we enjoy together. It's about how much fun we
have together the rest of the time, too.
 About the author...
Gemma Fisher
is a busy mum who shares her life with her boys and partner along with a motley
crew of seven dogs who range in age from a year to 11 years young.
She is also a self-employed
dog trainer who runs Daybreak Dog Training, a North Somerset dog training school, teaching
everything from Kennel Club Good Citizen classes through to competitive agility and specialist workshops.
She has been in agility
for about ten years now, and currently competes with Ella (Border Collie) at G7 and
Championship classes. Her two youngsters Diva (Shetland Sheepdog) and Jade (Border Collie)
are due to come out to play in G3 next year.
For more information about Daybreak training go to
www.daybreakdogs.co.uk
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