Clean Run - March 2013 - 57

What is your favorite training treat? “I never
use anything of higher value than kibble. A lot of
people use very high-value treats when the dog is
young, and then it is difficult to go back to kibble.”

Training
with the Stars
Greg Derrett

Favorite toy: “A tug of course. We use the basic
small white rope tugs.”

Consider this mathematical equation: cue equals behavior equals reward.

Trainer: Greg Derrett
Base: Evesham, England
Training since: 1988
Venues of competition: UK Agility, KC, FCI
Number of national competitions: around 100
Number of international competitions: 10
Dogs: Border Collies Detox, age 6.5; Rehab, age 4

By Sally Silverman

What’s in your training bag? Lead, collar,
running shoes.

Simple enough, yet it is the theoretical basis of the successful agility career

Piece of technology that has benefited your
training: The computer for recordkeeping.

for their dog. And that system is simple. It involves clear cues so that the

Superstitions: Using his competition collar and
lead, and taking his watch off so his arms are bare.
“And the collar of my polo shirt has to be up.”
Secret to share: “I have been deaf in my left
ear since I was 18. That’s why I turn my right
ear to face people when I am talking to them.”
Most difficult part of training: Self-motivation. “It’s about wanting something, setting
that goal, and making sure that I really want to
compete at the top level.”
Best agility advice he was ever given:
“When I was 12, my instructor taught me to do
circle work and was adamant it would take me
to the top. I agree with him to this day!”
Agility moments you are most proud of:
“Winning Olympia (KC Agility Stakes Final) for
the first time in 1997 with Jaycee, my second
dog.” Seeing this event prompted Greg to start
agility. “Today this event means more to me
than any other, including Worlds.”
March 13

| Clean Run

of Greg Derrett. “Everyone should have a system that works for them and
dog can understand what the handler is asking and receive his reward.”

Greg’s ﬁrst foray into dog training was
in 1988, when he began training dogs in
obedience. Within a year he was doing
agility, and became a professional trainer
in 1991. Offering agility lessons paid his
way through college.
His focused approach on cue = behavior
= reward is built, in part, on the fact that
his university studies were centered on
companion animal behavior, earning him
an advanced degree which, in his native
England, is comparable to the Bachelor of
Science in the USA. “A lot of people tend
to do different things on different days. Because I come from a more scientiﬁc background, dog training has to make theoretical sense. I take a more scientiﬁc approach,
trying to keep things more mathematical.”

Adding Up the Building Blocks
His simple equation is at the heart of all
of his foundation work. This is the place
where he sees the biggest holes in training, which create the most problems for
handlers. “People don’t put enough effort into their reward structure, so they
aren’t creating the right reinforcement.
It’s important to make sure that the reinforcement you are offering is a real reward to the dog. When we start training,
I make sure that I have the million dollars that the dog wants.”
A good trainer, he says, will work on
those reinforcement structures throughout the dog’s life. “It means not allowing
bad things to become too rewarding—like
fence running. And making sure that you
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Clean Run - March 2013

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