E282: 로레타 뮐러(Loretta Mueller) - 더 반응이 빠른 개 만들기

It's super easy to do a ton of focus, especially early in training on individual obstacles instead of, you know, especially for a newer handler. Instead of kind of knowing what the big picture needs to look like and like working on all the big picture stuff right from the beginning. So, can you talk a little bit about how you kind of try and create that balance as you're working with a dog that's new to agility to ultimately create a responsive dog so you don't spend too much time on obstacle focus or too much time on any other individual piece? Gotcha. Yeah. So, I like to work on responsiveness separate. So, with like jumps and tunnels, just like I do in my class. Um, this allows me to show the dogs the handling, uh, teaches them how to go from extension to collection easily or vice versa and work on responsiveness kind of away from just the obstacles. So, the obstacle training is going to be done separately until I get the obstacle behaviors the way I want them. Uh, I don't want to add a lot of handling or sequencing into obstacles if the final behavior for the specific obstacle is not done. And because that just, you know, kind of muddies the waters. And then once I, once I get the obstacle trained completely the way I want it, then I will start adding in jumps and tunnels to create the handling situations that they'll see in sequences. I like to mix things up a lot with my sequences. So, the dogs really have to pay attention and don't get pattern. And also, they start seeing the consistency and the predictability in my handling. So, it all kind of comes together. And I think it's very important that you separate them because if you start to add them together too soon, it just can create a lot of issues. It can create a lot of stress, frustration on the dog's part and our parts as well. And you just have to kind of build it up slowly and then finally put them together. And then once you put them together, if you've done all the foundation for the obstacle and the handling, it goes together pretty darn smooth. But it's just a matter of being patient and separating those two skill sets, if that makes any sense. I think so. So, are there specific foundation skills that you kind of work on just for that responsiveness piece? Like from the beginning, you mean? As far as like a brand new young dog? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I start when they get home. So, recalls versus sending a dog two things. So, and I'm not talking like, you know, doing obstacles. Like my puppy Z, she knows how to recall. She will go away from me. So, it's just about on the ground stuff, calling the dog to me, sending them away from me.

You know, no equipment is needed. They're just learning to come in and go away. I do this on walks in my backyard, inside the house, wherever. So, the dogs really pay attention to what I'm telling them. And again, you know, being consistent with what I want from the dog when I ask this specific thing, would I like you to go into handler focus or obstacle focus? Consistency is the key. The more consistent you are, the more consistent your dog will be, right? And we always say that to ourselves. Yeah, yeah, I'm going to be super consistent. But we have a tendency not to do that. Like, we'll, you know, let them get away with maybe kind of coming into us and then going away or things like that. So, we want to make sure even from the beginning when they're puppies or you've just started a young dog or an older dog in agility, you want things to be very clear so they know, okay, I need to come into my handler or I need to go away from my handler. And that really, that's kind of agility in a nutshell, right? Are you either an obstacle focus or handler focus? And if they can do that immediately and that's all they've learned, that really prevents a lot of these different behaviors that get you into this class in the first place. The shopping and, you know, just the lack of responsiveness, taking a line and not paying attention to the handler, those types of things. I mean, you touched on the importance of being consistent, right? But can you talk maybe a little bit more on the role the handler kind of plays in that picture? You know, what kind of skills does the handler need to have so that we can do our job as part of the team? You know, I mean, teaching the obstacles is the easy part, right? People are like, oh, you know, I have to teach the weaves and I have to teach the A-frame and the dog walk, et cetera, et cetera. But in reality, getting from point A to point B is the tough part. The handling in between the obstacles. There are so many factors that come into play. So really understanding what your body's telling the dog to do is very important. And dogs don't always see handling the way we do because we're two different, you know, creatures. So we have to, I prefer to adapt to their instinctive nature as opposed to trying to get them to adapt to mine. I mean, obviously we have things where they just have to do certain things, but I like to try to use a language that's going to be with their instinct. And it really can depend on, you know, your handling system, whether it's motion-based, verbal-based. But regardless of that, you are the director.

You show the dog the next line and how you show it will be based on whatever training you've done. So being consistent with the cues you use, working on knowing how you show obstacle focus versus handler focus is extremely important for you to be able to be the handler your dog needs you to be. And so understanding when I run forward, I'm cueing this. When I decelerate, I'm cueing this. Or if I'm pointing this way up to the sky, down to the floor, to the jump, away from the jump, all those types of things. It's really important for you to get that consistent so that you can give that clear communication to your dog. And I think that that's a big piece. We're dealing with that in the class currently. You know, we're on week two and we're starting to see some of the weaknesses in the teams. And a lot of it can be contributed back to, you know, a person meaning to cue one thing, but in reality, their body's cuing something else. So you really want to work on your consistency and knowing exactly what you're communicating with your dog. So we've been talking a lot about kind of dogs who are newer to agility, right? But what about those dogs who they've been training, maybe even competing, and they've got some of the problems that pop up, right? So the dog is going off course, they're blowing off their handler to go to other things. Can that really be rehabbed? And then if so, kind of how do you approach it? Okay, so it's really going to depend on why the dog's going off course. So is it handling? Is it a communication error? Or is there stress involved, right? Because there's always that possibility as well. You have to figure out the why first. Once you have the why, then we can address the cause and hopefully, you know, deal with the behavior. Many times it is handler error or just handler lack of consistency. So an example of that would be, let's say they just assume a tunnel. What I mean by that is, you know, you're handling a course and you just kind of throw your arm out towards the tunnel and your dog takes it. In theory, that's not a consistent cue because you just kind of threw your arm out there. You weren't deliberate and methodical. You didn't say tunnel, maybe. That's where the start of tunnel sucking begins. So one has to, right? Yeah. So one has to always remember tunnel suckers are not born. They are created. And so there's something that's causing it. And yes, it can be rehab, but you must get to the root of the cause of the issue first, right? So if you assume a tunnel or if your dog, let's say, is really stressed in the ring and tunnels

or A-frames are a, you know, calming factor, it's fun, it releases stress for them, they're going to be sucked to that specific obstacle. And if you don't deal with the stress, you're not actually going to end up fixing the problem. So it's really going to depend on whether it's a skill situation or like an emotional situation. Mm-hmm. So just kind of expand on that a little bit more. What are some of the reasons that a dog might just start going, eh, my handler's kind of optional when they're in the middle of a run? Or at the beginning, whatever. Yeah. I would say, you know, confidence is a big one. So let's say, you know, you'll see this a lot with younger dogs where they're like, okay, I like this game. Ooh, I really like this game. This is fun. I recognize patterns in handling. I'm understanding what my handler wants me to do. And then they just, they think they know where they're going. And that's, people will say that's a bad thing. It's not necessarily a bad thing. It means that you've created a confident dog, right? With a healthy ego, which is great. So we don't, we don't want to take that away from them. But what we want to do is say, okay, this is where you think you're going. Now, what if I change the handling this way? Are you acknowledging it? Are you noticing it? Are you being responsive? And that's what a lot of these drills do is they just make these dogs go, oh, okay. I don't know everything. But the big part of it is the dogs don't lose confidence because they get reinforced continuously for these short drills where the, you know, they make choices based on whatever their handler is doing and they get reinforcement. And so it's kind of like a, you know, a game to them where they're like, oh yeah, what are we going to do next? And that's the goal. So you don't want to get rid of that confidence. You don't want to correct, you know, when they're doing stuff like that. You just want to say, okay, you really, really want that tunnel. Here's how you get that tunnel. Now I'm going to show you a different way and let's see if you acknowledge it. And that's what we're doing in the class. And so that can be something where the dog's like, yeah, yeah, I don't need you. I know what I'm doing. Again, you've also got stress. The owner isn't able to help the dog with stress. So the dog chooses another option. Like I said, taking tunnels, you know, it can calm them and get sort of stress. The dog has to learn how to trust in the human to help them with their stress. The human has to learn how to help the dog with stress. So again, the dog's not necessarily blowing them off.

They're just looking for a way to release that stress and get rid of the icky feelings that they have. Um, you've also got, you know, chronic late commands. Dog just makes up the course because they don't know what the handler wants. And that's, again, I don't feel that's blowing them off. I just feel like it's the dog's like, well, I, you don't know where you're going. And so I'm going to help. Okay, fire. So again, we work on timing, right? To get those late commands in a better timed situation. So the dog can actually have information. Um, you know, you've got the situation where the dog is more rewarded by doing the equipment than anything else. So there's no other really high value reward. Um, that's tricky because there's nothing more rewarding than taking stuff. So if the dog's just running amok, they're still having fun. And we, sometimes we have to kind of figure out a reinforcement schedule or reinforcement strategy. If we have a dog that's more rewarded by doing the equipment than anything else. Um, dog is frustrated again, just trying to figure things out. So they just shop. Maybe they're hoping to pick up the right obstacle, those types of things. So I, people say, you know, my dog's blowing me off. There's, and I hear that a lot. It's, that's a, that's a way to describe it, I guess. But for me, it's, uh, for me, it's the dog telling us, okay, I don't know what's going on or I'm unsure, or there's a higher value situation somewhere here. Let's figure out what it is. And then we can address it so we don't have any of those types of behaviors. So let's say somebody's like worked on it. This was a problem for them that they're at the point where they'd really like to start getting back in the ring. Is there a way or how do you kind of tell when you've worked on this stuff and the dog skillset has rehabbed enough or is strong enough to kind of get back in the ring? Like, how do you know when the dog is ready to go back at it and you can actually expect a different result? Gotcha. Um, again, depends on if it's a skill issue or stress issue. Normally I tell people to go back to trialing when they are consistently having no issues with responsiveness at home and to other places. Um, why do I pick two? I don't know. It's easy. It doesn't mean like you have to go, you don't have to go to like two agility facilities, but you want to, you know, if your dog can do the things you need them to do on jumps and tunnels in another person's backyard or wherever at a park, wherever you can take your dog to get them in a different place.

You want to generalize it and make sure you're getting that responsiveness there. Uh, once you have that, then you can go to a trial. If you can run FEO, which is like four exhibition only, it's not for a queue. You can bring, you know, reward depending on the venue in with you and you can reward some of that responsiveness. Um, but be prepared for some default behaviors to possibly come back and have a plan for that. Whether, you know, you regather the dog, center them and let them continue on or whatever you need to do for the dog specifically to help them understand that we're not going to, we're not going to do those old behaviors. We're working on this other behavior. Um, but you have to play by ear. Sometimes you'll go in and you'll do one day of trialing and you'll go, yeah, no, not ready. If you're getting a lot of shopping or long lines or things like that. And then you have to maybe step back and kind of work on some more responsive. But usually if you can get good responsiveness at home and to other places, um, the dogs are, the dogs are telling you that they're ready for that next, next step. If you have stress, it's a little different. You're looking for a happy running dog goal. Number one. And then if we can get rid of the stress, the responsive dog will show up and you should have the consistency, but sometimes it can be a little hairy. The first few weekends you get back in, uh, but you just have to make sure you have a plan. So that way, if you do end up with some default behaviors that, you know, come back, you can, you can assess those and work forward or stop, reassess, work a little bit more at home and then go back at a future date. So the dog's going to, the dog's going to give you the information. They're going to tell you whether they're ready or not. Yeah. So I mentioned, uh, the class. I know we've talked about a little bit kind of throughout, but, um, can you, can, you can share a little more on what you cover specifically in the agility drills class? Uh, yeah, absolutely. So, um, we talk about how to cue both obstacle and handler focus properly to ensure your consistency and understanding for you and the dog. I will give them tests every week to see where their dog's weaknesses are as a team, as far as the responsiveness, is your dog a tunnel sucker? Um, does your dog like to shop long lines? Is your dog, you know, blowing off your turning cues? We need to work on timing, things like that. I'm going to diagnose the issues with the specific dog's responsiveness. Cause again, it's always really important to know why you can't attack the training problem

without knowing why, uh, the rules, we go over the rules of having good timing to communicate with your dog effectively, how to cue the perfect turn. So you give them all the information, how to cue those longer lines. Um, also talk about how to prevent and cure tunnel sucking. We have a few of those in this class for sure. And, uh, sometimes we have to address some behavior stuff occasionally, like stress over arousal and how that can cause issues. And, um, but I mean, there's just a lot going on in this class. I love it personally. And the goals, um, they're all very, they're working their butts off already. I mean, they're working really hard and we're already starting to see some changes and we're identifying and diagnosing what those communication issues are. So it's, it's a pretty fun class, but that's kind of a general idea of what we go through in that class. I know one of the things you mentioned on the syllabus is kind of having students set specific goals for the class. Can you share a little more about that and maybe an example? Sure. Yeah. I, I think not just with this class, but you know, every class, it's really important to focus on what the individual student or team wants out of the class. Are they just looking to work on tunnel issues, um, off course shopping or possibly getting more consistency with timing? You know, you, you can't work on everything at once. You can try, but if you try to work on everything, it's going to become way too much very quickly. So I really want my students to focus on a few goals that they can test and measure so they can see where their improvements are happening. It really helps. Number one, see if you're, what you're doing is working. And number two, it helps motivate you because you can see the changes in your dog. And so that way, if you have a frustrating session or whatever, you know, you have a bad day training, it doesn't set you back mentally because it can, for many of us, we can get very frustrated. So I want to make sure that they're just focusing on a handful of goals, um, as examples, but you know, a better timing for my big strided dog. So we're going to work on the timing specifically needed to cue that individual dog. And then we determine what the lack of timing causes for both the dog and handler in that team. And, you know, go from there. It's, it's really tempting to try to fix all the things in six weeks, right? You get in there, you have a gold or a silver or bronze, and you want to just fix everything. But reality is you kind of want to start slowly, slowly working on the big things.

And then as you get them figured out, you check them off the list and you move on to, you know, the next most important thing. Um, just so it really helps students zero in on a few key things that they really want to get out of the class so that they don't get frustrated and overwhelmed or, you know, just like, this is never going to work. If you're trying to work on 10 things, that energy that you're putting into class gets spread across those 10 things. But if you're going to work on two or three things, you can provide a lot more energy into those two or three things. So that's why I have people set specific goals, because I do feel it helps them, you know, really think about why they're in class and what they're wanting to get out of it. For folks who are kind of thinking about the class, what skills do they need kind of to qualify for the class to kind of be relevant for them? Are there any prereqs? Um, I say that they need to be able to sequence five to six obstacles, jumps and tunnels, and we can work on the rest in class. We'll talk about timing. We'll talk about, you know, obstacle versus handler focus, things like that. And then if they need other pieces, like working on sends and stuff like that, either if they're, they take advantage of the Facebook group, which you absolutely should, because my TA is freaking amazing. Um, she is really, really awesome. And she would love to help you. But, you know, if you're bronze, silver, or, you know, if you're gold, obviously I'll be there with you every step of the way. If you're silver, you can still do some video stuff with me too. But again, take advantage of the Facebook group. We can work on timing and all those other little things with sends and stuff that maybe you have some holes in your, you know, your training or whatever. Um, but as long as your dog can do five to six obstacles, jumps and tunnels, we can, we can make it work. Um, we'd even have some people that are breaking up some of the sequences into smaller, because they have a smaller area. Cause it's supposed to be a 60 by 60 area to get the maximum, you know, use of the course. But we have people that are breaking it down and that's working well also. So we can, we can make most things work unless you're trying to like, you know, train in a 10 by 10 area, that's going to be a little rough, but otherwise we can, we can make it work for most people. Anything else you kind of want to share about the class? You know, who should take it? Anything else you're working on? We have a really, we have a really fun mix of dogs in this class.

We've got big strided dogs of all different breeds. We have some tunnel sucking dogs. Um, we even have some dogs needing some motivation or confidence building. And, you know, if you're just looking for some fun drills to do in your backyard, you know, sign up if you're, um, wanting to work on specific things. Specifically timing, even if you think you have a really responsive dog, but you just want to work on timing. Maybe your dog, you know, you feel like you're just not communicating well. It's a good class for that as well, because it's not like we're doing very long sequences and short sequences and lots of reinforcement. And you'll, you know, when you get in a class, if you haven't taken a class with Fensi before, you get to see everybody work and all their different videos and feedback. And I give second by second feedback, um, to people. And it's just, it's a, it's a great group of people. Again, all different breeds. We're not just dealing with, you know, I obviously have border collies. I have a few of them, but you know, we're not just dealing with border collies. You've got all different sizes of dogs and breeds of dogs. And I don't know, it's just, it's a fun class. You should try it. It's just check it out. Just come see. Just come see. Yeah, exactly. To kind of round things out, um, if we were to kind of drill down what we've been talking about today into, I guess, one takeaway or kind of a key piece of information you really want people to understand, um, what would that be? Um, if you have a training issue, don't ignore it. Figure out why. Analyze the info your dog's giving to you and develop a plan to fix it. And instead of just, you know, being frustrated or saying, you know, like you said, my, my dog's blowing me off or my dog's a shopper, instead of labeling your dog as something, figure out why that's happening and then decide what you want the behaviors to look like and work towards that, develop a plan to fix it. So that way you have a consistency because I don't know about anybody else, but the fun for me of agility is the fact that it is a predictable sport. So if I'm running a dog, it's unpredictable. It makes it not fun for me. And yeah, I, I just, I'm not, not, not into, you know, spending my weekend, not having fun. So my goal is to have fun with a predictable teammate. So if you have something that's not predictable, don't just go, well, that's just how the dog is. Most likely it's not, you can change it, you can fix it and make it better. So that way you've got that teammate that you can look back when you lead out on, off

your start line, you can look back at your teammate and say, okay, we've got this. And that's, to me, that's what agility is all about. Awesome. Well, thank you so much for coming back on the podcast, Loretta. Yeah. Thanks for having me again. I appreciate it. It's fun. Absolutely. And thanks to all of our listeners for tuning in. We'll be back next week. Don't miss it. If you haven't already subscribed to our podcast in iTunes or the podcast app of your choice to have our next episode automatically downloaded to your phone as soon as it becomes available. Today's show is brought to you by the Fenzie Dog Sports Academy. Special thanks to Denise Fenzie for supporting this podcast. Music provided royalty free by bensound.com. The track featured here is called Body. Audio editing provided by Chris Lang. Thanks again for tuning in and happy training. cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop cop