AgilenosticS

26/05/2024

"The fidelity of a dog is a precious gift demanding no less binding moral responsibilities than the friendship of a human being."
~ Konrad Lorenz

13/10/2022

This is what agility is.

The outcome is super cool. In dog training, the outcome is the finite desire. However, we must not put the outcome so far ahead of the actual process. The teams who partake in the process and take the time to perfect the foundation skills are those who will actually enjoy the sweet and satisfying outcome. Work hard, the results will come.

13/03/2022

29/12/2021

How dogs see the world.

While your dog would fail the standard vision test needed to get a US driver's license, his vision is unique and even better than yours in other important ways.

19/09/2021

Weaving is hard work.

I think we underestimate what dogs have to do physically to run through the weave poles. I've got some great photos that demonstrate all that is going on.

12/07/2021

Some lumps and bumps on pets are better off left alone. Sebaceous cysts are one of them.

12/07/2021

Milk thistle🌸 is an AMAZING herb for liver disease, high liver enzymes and gall bladder issues, but have you seen the research for all of the other amazing things it does?!

This week's Inside Scoop Live Podcast with Dr. Karen Becker & Rodney Habib will air today at 3pm! ET

We’ll be discussing this herb’s diversity and all the different suggested doses for hepatitis, mushroom poisoning, cirrhosis, heart support🫀, skin problems, allergies🫁, brain support🧠, cancer, kidney support and weight/insulin control.

We’ll also be covering two hot-button studies hitting the news this week:

-Antibiotic resistant bacteria found in the industrial pet food sector: recently the Guardian posted about raw food being an “international public health risk🦠,” but failed to look at the incidence of antibiotic residues in dry food….

-Kibble quality: how does grocery store kibble compare to premium and “super premium” pet foods when it comes to contaminants and toxic elements (including arsenic and mercury)? Spoiler alert: the study concluded "It is necessary to improve the legislation regarding the food safety of pets, for their health and to protect the rights of consumers.”

See you this afternoon!

Not a member of the Inside Scoop membership community? You can get to the inside scoop group by visiting the Planet Paws page and clicking on the support button.

https://facebook.com/PlanetPawsMedia

10/07/2021

I talked to Dr. Jean Dodds about the latest updates on the Rabies Challenge Fund, as well as potential new vaccine protocols, titer testing and all things immunization and vaccine related.

Check out our interview here:
https://bit.ly/3qyPbHb

06/07/2021

Steve Martin Natural Encounters, Inc. Check out their website. Think of a trainer you recognize as an expert. Now, think of the characteristics that inspire you to call that person an expert. Is it the Read more…

14/06/2021

MACH2 Keepsake Dauntless Shyenne!
June 12, 2021

09/05/2021

Why you don’t need to spend hours to train a well-behaved dog, and hacks for everyday life training.

07/05/2021

03/05/2021

This xylitol products list can help you identify the brands to keep out of reach of your dog. Xylitol toxicity can be fatal to dogs. Extreme caution!

21/04/2021

Researchers conducted a study to investigate how owner personality and other human characteristics may influence a dog's training outcomes.

19/04/2021

Every living organism is programmed to avoid aversive contingencies. Antecedents (cues, people, animals, sounds, objects, environments, contexts, etc.) that predict aversive consequences will engender avoidance behaviors.

Although we come up with countless reasons for why punishment is appropriate—dogs need to know it’s “wrong”, dogs need to be held “accountable”, dogs need to experience “consequences”—these are nothing but human constructs.

In truth, when we punish a dog for barking at another dog or for jumping up on the counter, they’re not learning that these behaviors are “wrong.” They’re learning that icky things happen when other dogs are around or when they’re in the vicinity of counters.

Avoidance can and does expand beyond the intended scope in which punishment was originally used. It can extend to us, training environments, our cues, other people, dogs, places, and spaces. If punishment is consistent and repeated then avoidance becomes a lifestyle.

We should be striving to build sustainable behaviors through motivation and competency. Our goal should be to create learners who know what to do and have the skills to do it. Behavior (or lack thereof) by means of avoidance is not that, no matter how many cookies we follow it up with.

[ID: On a pale pink background large words in dark gray read “Punishment doesn’t teach skills. Punishment teaches avoidance.]

19/04/2021

Motivation is a necessity for accomplishing your biggest goals 🏆🤩

Instead of constantly searching for motivation, you can create your own magic. Here are three ways you can create sustainable motivation to use every day.

📈 Actually use micro-goals.
You probably already know breaking our goals into manageable chunks is helpful for achieving goals. The problem is that what is “manageable” is different for each person, and can even vary (wildly) day-to-day for any individual. Do what's manageable.

🚫 Don't give 100% to your goals
If you take off from the start line of a running race at 100% effort, you won’t make it very far before you’re winded and ready to quit. The same is true for your goals. You need to pace yourself.

✨ Remember your why.
Your “why” is your purpose for setting a goal in the first place. The one thing your “why” has to be is meaningful to you. Remembering my why is the most helpful when I’m doing what’s necessary, but not enjoyable.

Want to learn more about how we use these mental strategies to stay on top of our training goals? Read our newest article:
http://www.agilityandbeyond.com/motivation-is-magic/

16/04/2021

INTENSITY

22/03/2021

Super milestone for Shyenne!
#10 QQQ, TQX title.
FAST 1st, Premier JWW 1st.

15/03/2021

Fact: Your dog’s performance is a reflection of the time and effort you put into training them.

On our best days it’s easy to take credit for our dog’s accomplishments in the agility ring. As the trainer and handler of your four legged teammate you contribute a lot to their performance in the ring. But, too often handlers aren’t so ready to take ownership of their dog’s performance when faults and losses are the outcome of a trail day. Blaming your dog for poor performance on a specific obstacle or challenge on course is unfair and unacceptable.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I get it. I get frustrated. I make mistakes. I really f-ing care about my agility goals. I get disappointed after a bad run just like everyone else.

Ownership is hard, and it takes practice to control your emotions in the heat of the moment. You won’t always be perfect, but by being mindful of our reactions we can do better for our dogs in the long run.

Start by throwing out statements that put responsibility in your dog’s paws.

In other words, don’t come at me with the “they should know better” argument or any other excuse for poor sportsmanship.

Smore missed her dog walk and aframe contact in Grand Prix Semi Finals yesterday. She is 6 years old and has had the same stuck contact criteria for years. It would be easy for me to say she should know her job. This poor performance isn’t Smore being “naughty” or “ignoring her responsibilities”. Missed contact criteria is often due to a diminished reward history. That’s right, I’m the one that hasn’t been maintaining the criteria! 🤦🏻‍♀️ ack!!

What doesn’t help your dog’s performance:

1. No reward markers in the ring.

“No”-ing your dog after a mistake does not help them or you. Increasing your dog’s ability to complete a task requires valuable feedback and reinforcement at the right time. “No”-ing provides neither of these key components of training. It is a vague, over-used word with no context for the dog about what behavior should follow the “no”. Your dog literally can’t win with no-ing. And, a negative emotional reaction from the handler will more than likely create additional stress and confusion when the dog is asked to complete that behavior in the future. ...more on this one coming because y’all, I’m DONE with the needless “No”-ing.

2. Shaming your dog post run.

Being a human is really cool because we have cognitive abilities beyond that of other animals. We can create complex mental representations of agility courses in our minds and our memories allow us to play with visual, auditory and kinesthetic (i.e. movement) information long after an event happened. Your dog does not have this ability. They do not know what happened two minutes ago or twenty minutes ago in the agility ring. You “reminding” them that they missed their criteria doesn’t register the way it would for a human. By the way, shame and guilt-tripping don’t produce motivation or increased performance for humans in sport either.

I should NEVER see you leash popping your dog, putting hands on them, or hear you endlessly scolding them after a bad run. Punch a pillow if you really need to take your frustration out on something. All your dog knows is that mom or dad is upset with me now and that is stressful. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want my dog to associate me or agility with a stress response. This is detrimental to their long term health and our relationship.

What does help your dog’s performance:

1. Rewarding your dog.

Opting to reward your dog post run after a mistake happens on course is your best choice. Chances are your dog did something well; focus on the positive. You’ll have an increase in other-efficacy, aka, you’ll have more confidence in your dog’s ability to perform well in the future. Confidence and competence are woven together to create exceptional performance in any domain. Positive psychological momentum will take you places 🔥📈

By rewarding you’ll also avoid adding MORE stress to a potentially stressful situation. Mistakes in competition often happen due to ring stress, injuries or a lack of competence (i.e. your dog literally couldn’t do what you were asking of them).

Until you fully understand what factors contributed to a poor performance you can’t fix it. If your dog refuses to accept a reward, please understand that they are either way outside their comfort zone or totally over aroused.

2. Writing out a training plan.

Think critically about what factors might be contributing to the mistake or fault on course. Then, write out what your next training session or series of training sessions should look like to reinforce the behaviors you do want on course. Having a training plan will help you feel motivated to invest in your teammate and allow you move on from a bad run.

By making practice more like competition and making competition more like practice, we can help our dog’s skills transfer to performance situations.

You may need to teach skills outside of agility, like life skills or fitness, to help your dog complete the task you’re asking of them in competition.

Remember: It is your job to make your dog successful in agility, not the other way around!

15/02/2021

If your dog suffers from the occasional upset stomach, there are several natural remedies you can use to help him feel better.

12/02/2021

In celebration of Encore's 17th Birthday and her bonus years after recovering from traumatic brain injury.

10/02/2021

Dog body language can be confusing. But if you know the signs and signals to look for, it can make it easier to communicate with and understand your canine.

26/11/2020

When I am asked what is the biggest problem in dog training today, it is the same problem I saw fourteen years ago, thirty years ago, it is the misunderstanding of time. It takes time to lea…