Hey all, here's another quick post from the Ring Confidence Facebook group:

Let's talk again about how we want our dogs to view our silence and formality. This is primarily an obedience post because silence in our work, plus long pauses as we wait for the judge are a huge part of the sport. But I do think it's an important part for agility and other sports too, because I don't want the dog to get frantic and think that they are wrong if they're not getting constant feedback.

Many of us teach things through shaping. During shaping, it is very common to give dogs a little bit of time to think and to shut our mouths as we wait for them!

But this can also bleed over to other sessions when we are no longer shaping something, and we want our dogs to know that silence means that they are on the right track. They should keep doing what they are doing, whether that's pausing calmly and waiting for a cue from us, or continuing to heel, or continue to send to the jump, etc.

This is extra important when we're teaching things that have a duration-based component, such as position changes and fronts. I see a lot of students, when working on their dog coming to front, being quiet and still when the dog is crooked, and they wait for the dog to offer fixing itself. And what this leads to is a dog who is never quite sure if they are right. Some dogs start windshield wiping back and forth until they hear a click from their handler, while other dogs are slower to come in as they feel so much uncertainty in the pauses!

Even in the early stages of training something, I'm pretty quick to jump in and either quietly start encouraging the dog to tell them that they are close but need to do something different, and/or move my body in a way that resets the rep, or cue a behavior that resets the dog so they can get setup to try the rep again.

I don't wait for my dog to get frantic and start throwing out tons of guesses and just stand there quietly and watch.

I tell my students to be silent when the dog is on the right track, and then we can quietly encourage the dog when we want them to do something different, and/or reset the behavior. Silence has to mean the dog is correct!

And, of course, I praise and party a huge amount in my training! My reward sequence is more than just handing over the cookie. I want to be involved!

If you are struggling with your dog getting frantic when working on duration or if you have a dog who shuts down in your formality, then think about how you can communicate with your dog when they're on the right track and when they need to try something else. Being consistent in how we communicate this to our dog is incredibly important for helping their confidence!

Do you have any hints you want to share on either helping you with this thought process or helping your dog understand the difference?

Online Classes

Registration closes soon for TEAM2 obedience! One working spot is still left if you want help with pivots, fronts, retrieves, etc! In November, I have an obedience games class put October 22nd on your calendar for registration.

Teach a retrieve from step 1. Have fancy fronts and heeling through pivoting. Teach the foundations for marking a line, and more! Obedience is fun!

TEAM 2 Obedience

Obedience can be intense, it can be fast, it can be creative, and most importantly it can be joyful for both you and the dog! In this class we will look at using a few simple games that you can build into a variety of training exercises to bring more engagement, creativity, and joy into your training.

Up Your Game in Obedience

Follow me on the social media platform of your choice to try and catch all my daily training videos. I hope they inspire you to try something fun with your dog! And join my free facebook group on building ring confidence for dog sports!