09/20/2024
This post might be about herding, but it 100% applies to agility training as well. Our sport is done off-leash. To be successful, your dog must WANT to work with you. They must WANT to stay with you. They must WANT to respond to your cues. If you want a fast, responsive, and successful agility dog, that starts FAR FAR away from equipment. You must build that working relationship first, where your dog finds joy in whatever task you are doing together. If it takes your dog five seconds to sit when coerced with a cookie, you're probably going to see that in agility, too. Give them a reason to want to work with you, try hard, work through failure, and find success. This is such an important part of foundation training that so many people want to skip in favor of "getting to the fun stuff." Foundations ARE fun. They are the very core of your relationship with your dog.
Our dogs recall quickly, shed enthusiastically, outrun eagerly, turnback positively and try harder than most, for one simple reason, they want to—
You can't force or bully a dog into wanting to try for you,
especially when conditions are hot or the task difficult; you have to earn it.
Key to this is helping him enjoy aspects of training he finds difficult; it’s an integral part of gaining trust .
Your dog recognizes situations that make him feel uncomfortable. When you help overcome that discomfort and turn it into something he enjoys,
he connects the positive feeling comes from working with you.
It elevates your connection and empowers your bond, growing confidence both in himself and you.
You’ll need to also be fair, consistent and teach in a way your dog understands.
It’s your responsibility to communicate clearly; it’s not your dog’s burden to interpret accurately.
The more unambiguous and intuitive your method, the less room for misinterpretation.
You empower your dog’s development by setting him up to succeed and this includes keeping reasonable expectations of gradual improvement.
Training should never be about ego or an agenda to compete in X trial.
Success at competition is the knock on effect of good training.
A dog’s ‘try’ is ultimately a reflection of his desire and enjoyment. There are different methods that are successful but there’s a big difference between training in a way that makes sense to your dog that he enjoys
versus only drilling or imposing your will. The latter doesn’t result in your dog giving you his heart—
You can just train or you can partner.
macraeway.com
