Clean Run - October 2014 - 49

ship. Accept the dog you have, work in
positive ways to strengthen your dog's
"weaknesses," and keep your expectations fair and realistic; you will be r ewarded with a r ich personal r elationship if you do.

Personal Relationship Summary
Most people have a dog because they
really enjoy dogs, not just to satisfy their
performance interests. Those who do
not, often ÿ nd disappointment. Getting a particular breed or type of dog
because it tends to do well in a particular dog sport can result in frustration if
the dog isn't a good ÿ t for the person's
lifestyle. After all, such a small par t of
time is spen t training and c ompeting
compared to the amount of time spent
living together. The result will be that
the trainer and dog are likely to be unhappy and have a di˛ cult personal relationship together. This is unfortunate,
because the time y ou spend t ogether
developing your personal r elationship
will yield great dividends in your working relationship.
One of the g reatest beneÿ ts of dev eloping your personal relationship is
that it takes the pr essure o˜ both of
you when y ou are working together.
Personal relationships tend to keep us
focused on what is most important in
our lives, and y our dog's performance
at any one trial is not that important in
the greater scheme of things . Before
you compete, make a poin t of looking
down at your dog and reminding yourself how much you value him for who
he is, not simply what he is going to do
for you at that moment.
Sometimes, when you remind yourself
what really matters-you and your dog
being together-you can r educe the
stress of the ac tivity in fr ont of y ou.
Paradoxically, that often leads to much
greater success in the long run.

Working Relationship What Is It?
Your working relationship is the sum
of all y ou are with y our dog within a
working context. This includes training,
practicing, and trialing. It also includes
everything that you bring to the table
in a w ork setting. The food, toys, and
personal interactions that you o˜ er,
and the beha viors that you expect in
October 14 | Clean Run

return, all become a part of your working relationship. The more e˜ ectively you are
able to use training reinforcers such as food and toys, and the more clearly you link
your dog's behavior to the reinforcer, the stronger your working relationship will
become over time.
If your dog's performance begins to deteriorate, one of the ÿ rst places to look for a
solution is in the w orking relationship. Have you changed your reward structure?
Have you asked more of the dog than he was able to give? Have you trialed excessively or beyond the dog's abilities for the training you have provided?
Your working relationship is always in ˝ ux. If you have a terriÿ c training day where
both you and y our dog ar e highly sa tisÿ ed, then y ou have likely impr oved your
working relationship. For you as you came closer to your goals, and for your dog as
he earned rewards at a level su˛ cient to motivate and excite his interest in working
with you. When a training session ends in frustration, then your working relationship has been eroded. Keeping a close ey e on the status of your working relationship and nur turing its health with g reat care will help keep y ou progressing towards your goals while also keeping your dog happily engaged.

Why Do We Want a Working Relationship?
When you create a strong working relationship, you are well aware of what rewards matter to your dog, and what quantities and frequency are necessary to
get the best possible results. The most obvious beneÿ t to having a good working
relationship is that you will be able t o alter your dog's energy level at any given
time simply by providing more or less of a speciÿ c and desired reinforcer. For example, if your dog tends to become calm and thoughtful in the presence of food,
you will know to put the toys away while you are attempting to train a new and
complex skill. On the other hand , if your focus in a training session is improving
speed and enthusiasm, then you will know that it's time to bring out the toys. You
will also know how intensely and frequently to use them to have your dog in the
best state of arousal possible for the type of work you wish to perform.

Trust
A strong working relationship creates trust between the dog and handler. It is especially important that your dog can depend on r eceiving consistent rewards for
his work. If your dog knows what level of work is likely to earn a reward, and if you
honor that understanding, then you are developing your dog's trust in your working relationship.
If, on the other hand , you have always provided your dog with a gener ous stream
of cookies in training but withdraw them completely in competition, then you have
breached your implicit trust ag reement. This erodes your dog's feeling of security
in the working relationship because you have not adequately prepared him for this
work requirement. Raising expectations in a systematic and reasonable fashion is a
crucial part of preparing your dog for whatever goals you may have for your team.

Awareness of Well-being
A strong working relationship, much like a strong personal relationship, allows us to
know our dogs physically and mentally well enough that we can spot problems early before they become serious issues. A trainer who is very aware of her dog knows
what is normal and what is not. She has a good sense of her dog's normal head carriage, posture, gait, speed, and ˝ exibility. She knows if her dog barks when happy or
when stressed. Trainers who have a close working relationship with their dogs will
notice such changes and investigate further. Trainers who lack this relationship are
less likely to notice these minor changes. Pay attention as your dog works with you
so you can be aware of any deviation from his normal states.
Often, serious physical problems start with subtle signs. In our human interactions,
we rely on people t o tell us when they do not f eel well, even if they ar e showing
no outward symptoms of discomfort. When it comes to very small children or our
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Clean Run - October 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Clean Run - October 2014