The High Drive Dog

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The High Drive Dog

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

20/11/2023

Slowly, and over time, you can increase the quality of behaviors and chains you request while ensuring your dog’s head stays “clear.”

It’s not always necessary to push it; be absolutely certain the dog can complete each behavior under lower levels of arousal and distraction before asking for more.

02/11/2023

Why are we always talking about foundations, anyway?

Because, guess what? All the pieces you see a 2+ year old Xen performing, come from the same basic, foundation behaviors he learned at the beginning of the High Drive Dog program!

Now that he’s confident performing those behaviors under a variety of conditions, we can layer them together. The more we layer the pieces, the more he has to listen, the more interesting the work becomes, and the stronger the basic behaviors will be! All the way to competition!

26/10/2023

It’s that simple. It’s also that difficult!

Add a tiny bit of complexity to what your dog knows… A little more and a little more, and your dog will understand with confidence.

29/09/2023

Yes, even when they get it wrong! The responsibility for setting up the session to be successful is on you. Keep changing what you’re doing and keep reinforcing until your dog gets it. That way, they’ll never stop believing in themselves and want to play your games. You will probably find that you can get to where you want to go pretty quickly and then some this way 💛

23/08/2023

Lots of high drive dogs can work around tempting distractions because they tend to be pretty good at channeling emotions into work! Control through training helps your dog cooperate in spite of difficulty and behaviour work helps your dog cope with the emotions around those distractions. Take advantage of both!

31/07/2023

When using work to keep your dog’s focus around distraction, the pace should match the dogs arousal against whatever is out there. That is the beginning of focus work! Give the dog a reason to pay attention.

What distraction sends your dog into high arousal? Let us know in the comments!

06/07/2023

There will come a point in your training when your dog will be well trained – the exercises will be reasonably fluent and your dog will be comfortable working in a range of training situations.

Good trainers prepare their dogs for more than the exercises. They prepare for competition.

19/06/2023

Which comes first? The emotion or behaviour?

At every stage in your training, you should be asking yourself if it would be wise to focus more on the dog’s emotional needs, or more on the actual expressed behavior.

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No need to hyper-focus on impulse control when they’re young! Let experience and maturity do it’s thing 😉

Arousal isn’t a dirty word BUT there are caveats when working with dogs on the high end of the drive spectrum OR the lower end. #thehighdrivedog #highdrivedogs #buildingdrive #drivebuilding #dogtraining #dogtrainersofinstagram #k9 #dogbehavior #dogthoughts

There’s a lot you can do with a platform and ball! @catooutdoors #thehighdrivedog #highdrivedogs #mondio #obediencetraining #belgianshepherd #dogtrainingtips

When shaping a behavior, it’s a good idea to prevent offering multiple behaviors under stress by not reinforcing. Throwing out known behaviors can become an ingrained habit that’s hard to undo. Plus, we want to teach our dog to think through a problem instead of “moving” to solve the problem. They’ll be much more successful that way and hit the correct behavior. #thehighdrivedog #highdrivedogs #dogtrainingtips #obediencetraining #dogtrainer

Train for bad weather! Hope this inspires you if it’s a crappy day out today. If you compete in this sort of weather, than you should train in it as well. #thehighdrivedog #highdrivedogs #rainorshine #trainearlytriallate #getoutandtrain

Here’s a video from the archives! Engagement training is a huge part of the Adolescent & Overaroused classroom for High Drive Dog subscribers. If you’re dog loses their brain in public, check it out — it’s 40-days worth of behavior work! #thehighdrivedog #highdrivedogs #reactivedog #overarouseddog #higharousaldogs

Here’s an example of how your attitude matters when responding to an error. In this case, Xen makes an error of anticipation in fronts. No big deal—this is challenging work! So big party when the dog gets it right 👏 #thehighdrivedog #highdrivedogs #competitiveobedience #prodogtrainertip

Reward placement is often a trade-off between speed, accuracy, and calm. #thehighdrivedog #highdrivedogs #competitionobedience #obediencetraining

Did you know? Your choice of work can become the reinforcer for the last thing you did! If you want to learn more about arousal modulation in work and reducing toys and food, join us in the High Drive Dog program for the nitty gritty! #thehighdrivedog #highdrive #highdrivedogs #prodogtrainertip #onlinedogtraining #competitiondogtraining

For those of you working on bite work skills without help from a decoy, your entries may be a little tame than what’s ideal. You have some options if you don’t have access to a decoy, but the main thing that’s going to help is maturity & confidence 💪 #highdrivedogs #highdrive #bitesports #bitework #mondio #decoywork

Testing Xen’s bite strength on the ground! This was a bit weird for him at first, but as you can see here, he’s getting pretty good at it! #bitework #biteworktraining #mondio #mondioring #belgianshepherd #highdrivedogs #biteystuff

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