Clean Run - December 2014 - 32

of being unable to give the dog a physical command
correctly because of your position (not being in the right
place to execute it well). These times are not what I'm
referring to when I say "blabbermouth." I'm not talking
about using select verbal commands when physical
commands are not an option and the verbal cue is the
only way to communicate. I'm talking about repeating the
same obstacle or directional command over and over,
and using lots of gas pedal words. The question for you
is when does being a blabbermouth become a problem
more than an enhancement? I would suggest that you
be very aware of this question every day.
If you are a blabbermouth, get the most out of it by having specific, consistent voice inflections for your directional and your obstacle commands. These commands
should always sound different than your gas pedal
words. Your dog has to be able to pick out key instructions when those words are buried in blabber.

Blabbermouth Benefits
*

Keeps the dog engaged and motivated: Some dogs
like cheerleading, some dogs don't. The ones that
really like cheerleading do benefit from it, as long as
the delivery is done as genuine encouragement and
not "hounding" or badgering. It is pretty easy to watch
a dog and see if he is benefiting from cheerleading
or not. And, of course, there is a tipping point on the
scale when the verbal encouragement (cheerleading) turns into good old-fashioned nagging. Every
species hates nagging. I like to think of using verbal
encouragement like adding salt to my soup. Use little
dashes until it's perfect; some dishes need a lot more
than others.

Confidence builder for the shy dog: Shy, insecure,
or confused dogs are going to need some extra help
in training. Softly encouraging them more can make
them feel supported. These dogs can often feel abandoned by silence, contributing to their insecurities.

Makes handling out of position possible: Verbals may
be totally necessary when you can't (or didn't) get to
where you needed to be (thought this isn't really considered being a blabbermouth).

Can save an off-course in a discrimination scenario:
That is, if the dog has been taught to recognize verbal obstacle commands (not really considered blabbermouth).

The Benefits of Silent Handling
I think that every handler should experiment with silent
handling while training. The benefits cannot be duplicated any other way. If you choose to add more verbals
to "seal the deal" on the communication, you can.
Here are some of the many benefits you can achieve
with silent training:

The dog learns to watch you, not just listen to you:
The dog learns to keep one eye on you and not be
too obstacle focused. This can build drive in some
dogs as they are rising to the challenge at hand.

The dog is not distracted: Have you ever really
wanted someone to shut up when you were trying
to focus on something? Did it make you want to bark
at them loudly?

Your brain juice is spared: You can redirect all that
brain juice from your mouth to your legs and to focusing on the task at hand. Gotta use that brain juice to
your advantage, right? There's only so much of it to
go around! This can dramatically improve communication with the dog and make life much easier for
you. If you can focus hard on what your feet are doing, those feet of yours can get really good at line setting, which can help your dog more than your words.
But if your brain juice is split up all over the place,
everything suffers a bit. That is why so many of our
commands, both verbal and physical, are often late.
Wouldn't it be grand to have better timing?

You can see what your dog understands: When
handling silently you can tell if your dog is really
picking up the physical cues, like deceleration and
acceleration, front cross, rear cross, lateral movement, send cues, push cues, serpentine cues, and
back sides. Handling silently is an excellent test of
comprehension.

You will become a more consistent handler: Your
handling can't be sloppy if you are not relying on calling your dog after every turn cue. You will be forced
to repeat the physical cue the same way in order for
your dog to learn it.

You save your breath! Running takes breathing and
you might need all you have for that!

Keeps the handler engaged and motivated: Talking to
the dog can be fun and make the whole experience
feel more interactive. It can keep your adrenaline
pumping and it can be fun to tease the dog to catch
up and run faster.

This is about knowing your dog and remaining flexible
to his needs.

Small dog aid: The little ones can need an obstacle
command repeated a time or two (or six!) if the distance is great. They have so much farther to travel
than the bigger dogs. Whether you want to use more
commands to get the little bugger out there is another
story. You may need to use multiple commands at
this point in your training program, but still have a
goal for the dog to learn to cover greater distances
with less verbal help.
You can tailor it: You can use as many or as few verbals as needed. Some dogs need more verbal commands or encouragement on some days than others.

Clean Run | December 14

Clean Run - December 2014

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