Clean Run - August 2017 - 39

to the dog. For some the habit was so
strong I had to place a physical block in
the form of cones before they were able
to run the obstacle with some distance.

* Now add handler movement: one

So what does "maintaining criteria"
mean? "Stick to criteria" has become a
buzz phrase in the UK and the US. What
are your criteria? What are your aims
when you step up to the start line in
training? Do you focus entirely on the
sequence? On handling? Do you reward
every dogwalk? Is stopping rewarding
to criteria? If so, when did you reach
80%? And if you reached it three years
ago, why have you not moved on?

* Now up distraction levels
* Now look at the type of sit, is the

Let's think about a sit. To begin with the
criterion is dog's behind touching the floor.
While training sit, Shady's criteria progressed as follows:

* Inside, no distractions: Behind
touching floor

* Inside, no distractions: Add
verbal cue

* Inside, no distractions: Sits within
3 seconds after verbal cue

* Inside, no distractions: Sits within
2 seconds after verbal cue

* Inside, no distractions: Sits within
1 second after verbal cue

* Outside, only dog: Sits within
3 seconds after verbal cue

* Outside, only dog: Sits within
2 seconds after verbal cue

* Outside, only dog: Sits within
1 seconds after verbal cue

* Outside, with old dog: Sits within
3 seconds after verbal cue

* Outside, with old dog: Sits within
2 seconds after verbal cue

* Outside, with old dog: Sits within
1 seconds after verbal cue

* Outside, with two dogs, three dogs,
etc. until we can all walk as a pack
and Shady can sit within a second
of the verbal cue

* Now up criteria and add duration,

start at 2 seconds and gradually
work up to 12 seconds. Go back to
the beginning as far as distractions
are concerned

August 17 | Clean Run

pace away, two paces away, etc.

* Now add handler movement and
increase duration

dog's weight back on the haunches?
Revisit basic training and add new
criterion.

That's a lot of work! The benefit of having it all written down is that it's easy
to pick up when you only have 5 minutes to spare. If after you've trained, you
spend 2 minutes either ticking the stage
off or writing out your next aims, is that
it also helps you focus on moving the
behavior forward. Keep in mind that the
goal is to have the behavior fully trained
and as part of a chain; that is, with no
physical reward needed.
What's this got to do with record keeping? In my experience the only way to
properly train, to mindfully train, is to
keep records. If you add in the challenge of training three young dogs and
one experienced dog, it becomes essential. How do I mindfully take Shady
out in the 10 minutes I have available
and train effectively?
At his age (8 months) most people are
thinking about equipment, it wouldn't
hurt to teach a tunnel would it? Or
maybe a low jump? My response is always to see how well the foundation
training has been taught. I've taught
agility to 6-year-old dogs with excellent results, so in my experience there's
no rush. Rushing foundation training is
problematic because it leads to poor associations being built with equipment.
Those poor associations directly result
in "ring only" types of problems. How
many times have you heard "my dog will
sit everywhere but on the start line"?
Shady is also a big dog! Having spoken
to many vets on the subject, growth
plates closing isn't a benchmark for
me, but him being fully grown is. There
are many dogs who are fully grown
much earlier, Darcey (Whippet) being
a prime example. She was fully grown
at 8 months. She lacked maturity, but
I'd have been happy to start introducing her to equipment if her foundation
training had been of a suitable standard.

It wasn't. At 8 months Darcey wasn't
happy to walk along a road with people,
much less concentrate in that situation.
Someone might touch the princess and
offend her mortally-Whippet shivers
really do need to be experienced!

Bullet Journaling
Over the years I've experimented with
all sorts of records to inspire students to
take the plunge, this is an early spreadsheet. I worked with a cognitive therapist and a professor of Behavioral Science to see if we could improve record
keeping habits. I've made pre-printed
sheets with tick boxes and handed
them out as part of class. I've had drawings made with dogs in various poses
for people to tick. We even started an
app to load. I have failed miserably, with
perhaps a 20% success rate if I'm lucky.
But a good friend recently introduced
me to "bullet journaling," and given that
I'm never one to admit defeat, I'd like to
discuss it here.
First, the journals I keep are cheap, as is
my pen. I'm not at all artistic, as you will
see. My handwriting is terrible because
of my now probably permanently handicapped right hand. So be kind please
when you look at my records!
The first journal is my ideas journal. This
is essentially a brain dump. I don't put
dates on anything unless I'm attending a
particular event; I keep an index of those.

The ideas journal is essentially
for brain dumps.
39

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - August 2017