The High Drive Dog

Home
The High Drive Dog

The High Drive Dog is a subscription based Training Program designed to make advanced training goals
(1)

01/12/2024

I think I inadvertently taught Xen that "back up" means I’m correcting whatever he did before. For example, if I say back and then sit, and back and then down? I think he thinks that what I said he did it wrong, so he starts being confused about the whole exercise.

The different cues were not sufficiently clear. And I think it’s better now!

Moral of the story? Be very careful about running several things in quick succession unless you’re quite sure the dog knows each individual piece.

To fix this… I am emphasizing having many steps of backing before giving another queue like sit or down or stand. And so far? The results are much better!

19/11/2024

Premack means using a behavior to reward another behavior.

Xen enjoys sniffing girl p*e. That’s fine! I asked him to do something for me… Come back to heel position… And then I send him right back to what he was doing.

This is only going to work if you can either pull the dog off the thing they want, or prevent them from getting to it in the first place. But I know he’s going to cooperate, so I just do it to insert myself in the equation, and get some practice giving him a non-toy or food reward… Back to sniffing. the second time I asked for a little bit more before I send them back to the sniffing, and I also incorporated toy. Not necessary, but not bad either.

Do you use Premack with your dog?

08/09/2024

I’ve been fairly successful at training in new locations most days of the week. I see a difference! Xen shows much less fascination with dogs in the area. He still looks! He probably always will. But he can dismiss and get back to work.  We still need practice going new places and working on scent discrimination. We also need more time at the full distance of about 100 feet. Sometimes he forgets what he’s doing when he goes quite that far.  To get there? I work hard to make sure he is acclimated to the area, because I want to set him up for success. that is probably the biggest thing… I need to emphasize success over failure.  Every time I set him up and he does it wrong? We have harmed our training.  So then the question becomes… What do you do in a trial when you cannot acclimate?  And the answer is simple. He needs very little acclamation to do most work in new environments, yet, when he was young? He couldn’t do anything in a new environment! 

01/07/2024

What happens when we change criteria?

This weekend, Xen was asked to do an exercise he knows very well but we changed one variable...Suddenly, he couldn't release his toy anymore!

The important thing? This is normal. It’s part of the learning process. It doesn’t mean you need to go in a new direction or that it’s not working.

It means that you need to watch carefully, and see if you’re still on the right path.

15/06/2024

Hats off to all dog parents creating great habits through management while maturity does its thing 🧢

Socialization never ends, and indeed… for some dogs it’s better to minimize (not eliminate) how much you socialize when they are young, and try again when they are older and naturally more able to make calmer, clearheaded decisions.

12/05/2024

You want to prevent failure whenever possible. What if you just want to see what might happen?

Rarely does that end up in good training.

01/05/2024

Not to mention, videoing my training these past few years everyday and uploading it for our fine subscribers has improved my training. So thank you to our members for helping me be a better trainer!

13/04/2024

Foundation skills are things you teach so that you can use them later on in various ways. Maybe you string together a bunch of foundation skills to teach a formal exercise or, maybe you teach them even though they will never show up in a competition.

But! Even if you never use them in competition, you can use them to help refine your competition behaviors. If you want to see you foundation skills can make your competition behaviors even better, join The High Drive Dog subscription to see how uses them for everything from positions, to heeling, to retrieves and bitework.

Foundation skills are your friend!

16/03/2024

In excellent training, you do not need to work full exercises. You need to be aware of your dog’s weaknesses, tendencies, and strengths – and from there train the appropriate pieces.

If you have a weak area and you know it, then work on that weak area. Isolate it from the chain. Do not put it back until you are thrilled with it on it’s own!

The urge to “just see where I’m at” is strong. Resist! Why not hold yourself to one formal exercise for each training session, just “to see,” and spend the rest of the session working on “the bits?” It’s good training. It’s fun for the dog. And it avoids creating problems where none existed before.

07/02/2024

It's gonna happen. Problems creep into your competition behaviors you're gonna have to fix. Don't dig yourself a hole by trying the same things over and over again hoping your dog will just get it. Get creative! Could be changing up your reinforcement strategy, changing the order of cues, or simply a happy interrupter. Whatever you do, don't forget to video your session so you can identify the points of confusion for your dog so you can make it more clear for them next session!

Have you ever had to come up with a creative solution because of failure in competition training? What worked?

31/01/2024

Food for thought 💭 Eye contact doesn’t always equal connection. Actually, it can cause pressure for some dogs. Eye contact is definitely useful, but you can also use physical touch and contact to simply connect with your dog.

22/12/2023

Flow is achieved when trained behaviors blend together and become self reinforcing for the dog.

To train this way, you need a variety of foundation behaviors to work with, and a relaxed, confident, and willing partner.

Invest in those foundation behaviors and go back to them frequently, so when you're at the point of stinging them together, your session will just...FLOW.

Address

Website

http://www.thehighdrivedog.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when The High Drive Dog posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to The High Drive Dog:

Videos

Yes, Xen, the girls smell lovely. If you do some work for me, you get to go smell the pee! This is Premack in action 🫶 #premackprinciple #dogtraining #boydog #highdrivedogs

Shortcuts

Address
Alerts
Contact The Business
Videos
Claim ownership or report listing
Want your business to be the top-listed Pet Store/pet Service?

Country:

City: