Yesterday I posted about recall and said I would post recall tips today. There was a varied response as to what everyone was struggling with but many said their recall was ok, until it wasn't. So I want to show you how to break your training down for success.
You see most mistakes are made when several of the training steps are lumped together. So as our dog's trainer we need to be able to help explain to our dogs what we want of them rather than taking the lead off and hoping nothing too distracting appears. In the Border Collie Academy we have a whole module dedicated to recall training and building the steps from the ground up as well as another for proofing. And it is proofing that I want to share about here.
Most struggles occur due to lack of proofing and also that dogs don't generalise very well. So if we teach our dogs something in one environment then they may not understand it in another environment until we have repeated the training in enough new places for our dog to understand.
We also need to consider the levels of difficulty of the 3 D's of distraction, duration and distance. This is often where us humans can jump ahead in the training and lump several steps together which will add to the likelihood of failure. So when taking our training on the road to make it foolproof make sure you are only increasing the level of difficulty by one D at a time.
For example if you are in a park with multiple distractions of dogs, people, vehicles or squirrels then don't also increase the distance that your dog is from you or the duration of time since your last interaction with your dog. You can also think of the distance your dog is from the distraction. A rabbit or squirrel running right across in front of your dog would be a lot harder than the same at 100m distance.
Train your dog on one D at a time so if you are working on other dogs being the distraction that your dog needs to call away from first think of the level of difficulty of the dog as a distract
What would it mean to you to be able to change your Border Collie's reactive behaviour? This is one of the questions I asked participants in this weeks Reactive Border Collie training.
The majority answered it would mean the world. This is because it would be more relaxing and enjoyable to walk their dog and they wouldn't have to fear judgement by others either but there is a difference between wanting something and making it happen.
The reason I asked this question is because we need a reason to keep going with our training. Working to change our dog's emotions is not an instant fix and that can lead to discouragement if the 'problem' isn't 'fixed' as quickly as we would like.
The fact is we will only change the behaviour by changing the emotions that drive it. And identifying what emotions are driving the behaviour is the first step.
This video is of Beau who used to react to dogs at 100m away or to be more specific moving dogs. Being a typical Border Collie he wanted to control their movement and would lunge and bark because he was restrained by the lead. I documented his whole journey in The Movement Sensitive Border Collie Module which is part of the Border Collie Academy.
If you would like help working with your Border Collie then come and join us in our breed specific membership. All details can be found via this link 👇👇👇
https://courses.dingbattdogtraining.co.uk/academy
Both Border Collies but so very different. Beautiful is so lovely to live with while Sparkles keeps life interesting 😂 #bordercollies #bordercolliepuppy #blacktribordercollie
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It's National puppy day who needs any excuse to look at puppy pics 😂❤️
Sparkles first training in the ring day today and she sparkled! A good confidence building day for her #bordercolliesrock #dogobedience
I was 20 mins late with his dinner to be fair 😂#bordercollie #alwayshungry #hungrydog
My unpopular opinion on Border Collies and balls! 🥎
There are much better ways to engage your Border Collie which do not have the potential fall out.
I am sure some will argue that their BC loves them but addicts love coke but it doesn't make it healthy...
Think about this before getting a Border Collie 😊
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Dog on a log
Do you use the environment when on a walk to help your dog grow in confidence, have fun while also working on their proprioception? I’m working on proprioception, balance and body awareness with Beau at the moment and these logs were ideal
Happy New Year!
It is National Train Your Dog Month and with that and a new year with new goals and plans it was time to get out and train puppy Sparkles despite the rain.
We didn’t want to get wet though so trained in the barn with the horses 🐴
Goal setting can be hard as if we just focus on the end goal we don’t recognise the smaller steps we are taking towards our destination and many give up before getting there. It is important to have an end goal but probably more important to break that goal down into tiny steps that are achievable. This will keep you motivated and keep you training and thus you are more likely to reach your goals.
When training our dogs we need to repeat and be consistent as by repetitions and consistency they will learn.
Many will set New Year’s resolutions but will fall off the wagon before the month is out so to help keep yourself accountable write your plan in advance so you know what exercises you are going to work on each day. You can also find accountability with a friend or trainer to help keep you going on the days it is more difficult. Use National Train Your Dog Month to push yourself out of your comfort zone and train even if just for 5 minutes each day.
Are you up for the challenge? If so why not stick a piece of paper on your fridge door and tick off each day you train so you can see your commitment to progress
Merry Christmas everyone!
I hope your dogs got lots of presents and had a fun filled day. Dings favourite present was his toy bottle of mulled wine 🍷
I met a friend for lunch this week before the madness of Christmas and we got chatting about dogs surprise surprise!
We had a lovely lunch and chat. The food was great as was the company BUT it was really busy. It was really noisy.
We were there for 1 1/2 hours and by the end of it we were both pleased to leave due to having to strain to hear each other speak. Now we could chose to leave when we were feeling overwhelmed but our dogs may not get the chance this Christmas and that can lead to unwanted behaviour. The dog is then blamed for ruining Christmas by barking or worse biting.
If you are having a full house this Christmas be aware of how this may effect your dog. They may too become overwhelmed by all the movement and noise, even if like us they start out ok.
Be prepared and make sure they always have an escape route. Advocate for your dog so if your dog needs a sleep no one goes up and touches them. Your dog may even appreciate you for putting them somewhere quiet where they can fully relax.
Also be aware that many Christmas foods are poisonous to dogs. So do not share your mince pies, onion gravy or Christmas chocolates and make sure any visitors know this as well.
There is also the possibility for friction in multi dog households or if you have visiting dogs. Prepare ahead so you can separate if or when needed maybe by baby gates or separate rooms. Monitor arousal levels and be aware of any potential guarding of new toys or their owners.
By setting us all up for success we can all enjoy our Christmas day in our own ways.
Happy Christmas all x
Recall. Arguably the most important skill a dog can learn
This week I was videoing Sparkles as there was something specific I wanted to capture. I didn’t capture what I wanted but instead a recall opportunity.
The better your dogs recall the more freedom they can have and I think this is really important for Border Collies who are bred to run as well as work at a distance.
When Soarkles came to me she showed a strong eye and chased my horses in the first week she was here so we have been working hard on her chase drive and building a strong recall. While I was videoing her the horses in the next paddock started to move. This caught her attention and off she went. But what I loved most in this recall was her speed of reaction when I called her.
When working on recall we can and should break it down into many components. Speed of reaction, speed of coming back to us, the end behaviour as well as proofing all of these things using the 3 d’s of distance, duration and importantly distractions.
If you want to learn more about recall then listen to my recall presentation in the Border Collie Summit which is available today again until 9pm
