Clean Run - December 2014 - 61

Raising Your Pup 2 Perfection:

Food Work
By Lauren Langman, photos by author and Matt Rouse except where noted
Okay, so when I started this whole agility malarkey I was told that your dog had
to tug. It was the only way to get drive
and if your dog couldn't, wouldn't, and
simply didn't tug, then you had problems coming your way.
I have since grown and learned vast
amounts regarding trying to fit squarepeg dogs into round holes. They all learn
at different rates, in different learning
styles, and ultimately enjoy different
reinforcers. And the best bit? This is all
absolutely okay. So here are a few secrets to using food in your training to
make sure we keep speed and attitude
in everything we do. The one concern
for many people when using food is that
they will slow the dog down, however,
this is certainly not the case if you use
food correctly.
Say that you want more action, arousal,
attitude, and speed in your training. Here
is one way that you are guaranteed more
speed: feed only for attitude. Ask your
dog to sit. Look at his face. Are his ears
pricked? His eyes bright? Does he look
coiled and ready for work? If the answer
is no, stop and take a breather. You don't
want to start a training session this way.
You want your dog excited so that when
you ask for a behavior his reaction is
snappy. You want him on edge. So you
need to get his arousal level up before
you train.
December 14 | Clean Run

Here are five quick ways to increase your dog's
arousal:
1. Run, run, run: get moving and get your
dog's heart rate up!

2. Motivational breathing: look into your
dog's eyes and take a big, excited deep
breath. You want to see his pupils dilate
in anticipation.
3. Have a game of tuggy or chase.
4. Do some fast recalls.

5. Practice some motion behaviors/tricks.
Think action behaviors like spinning or
walk backward or rolling over. Get your
dog moving!

So now that we have a coiled spring ready to work, we need to use that arousal to the
maximum in our training. I want to create anticipation to maintain that arousal. For
example, I ask for a sit. As soon as my dog's bottom hits the deck-if I am happy with
the sit-I release him as a reward for the sit rather than feeding him for duration. Why
you may ask? Dogs love behavior chains. The cue, sit, release is a great little chain
that creates excitement and action. Give it a try, dogs love it! The release is key, and
the dog's anticipation of the release drives the behavior up a gear! Mix up rewarding
the dog in position and releasing the dog out of position as his reward. Ping pong and
surprise your dog: five fast releases and then ask for duration.
Another strategy to add more attitude into our food work is to use the placement of
the reward effectively. We want action and we want attitude, so why are we feeding
the dog for being stationary? Let's feed action! For example, I send my dog over
a jump and I run forward. As the dog catches up to me, instead of stopping and rewarding him, I throw the reward farther ahead for him to get. This is a great way to
reinforce movement. Don't always feed static end behaviors; always consider motion when you reinforce.

Clean Run - December 2014

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